'Someone help her! Jessica cried out as Ariel's knees buckled underneath her.
The Hare automatically reached out to steady the Elizabethan fairy.
His touch caused Ariel's green eyes to focus upwards. Recognition spread across her tiny face and those bright green eyes widened.
'Hare!'
The Hare smiled reassuringly. 'It's me Ariel. You're safe now.'
Rage engulfed the fey's beautiful face. 'Thou ... pusillanimous ... Trull! Betrayer! Deceiver! Addle pated truculent loon!'
'Hey now, wait a minute!'
Ariel pulled free of his grasp and clenched her right fist, which began to glow brightly.
'Fie on thee Hare! Tell thy master Loki, we shall meet anon ... in the realm of Hel!'
The next second, The Hare found himself slammed against the wall as Fey energy burst forth from Ariel's fist, which was instantly raised again.
'Wouldn't do that if I were you lady.'
Ariel felt the nozzle of Future Hare's AK47 press against her head.
'What wizardry be this? A poltroon doubled! No matter, thy vile compatriots reckoned not with the power they hath brought forth!'
The gun barrel began to glow and heat traveled the length, causing Future Hare to yelp and drop the weapon.
'Enough!'
'Eh! Mistress Jessica? But thou art dead and ... beside you stands the minion known as Goldie Lochs, she who I hath cause to hate as torturer and fiend. But soft ... can I be mistaken? She is missing the scar I put upon her visage!!'
Jessica took a deep breath. 'Ariel, this isn't the Goldie you know and there's a reason I'm alive here and there are two Hares.'
As the wrathful fairy listened, Jessica breathlessly told her story. Finally she was finished and Ariel responded.
'Tis as fanciful a tale as hath ever passed mine ears, yet, by my troth, thy words ring true. Aye and despite my loathing for this ... these clowns ...' she glared at the Hares, '...tis also true thou hast ended my torment and now, unshackled and empowered like unto the thunderbolts of great Zeus, I would see this mare' ended. Thy mission be mine.'
'What I don't understand is ... well, everything. What were they doing here and ... what's that Wiley?' The coyote was signing frantically and scribbling equations on a pad that he always carried.
Ariel glanced between Jessica and Wiley. 'I know not what the furred one draws but his actions hath uncuffed me from the vile devices these fiends used to draw and extend my power.'
Cottontail leaned over. 'Wiley is a bit of a savant. All those years chasing his enemy, the Runner and designing complicated traps ... he says you were being used as a power source to open ... a portal ... to other realms and ... wait up hon, slow down.'
The coyote obliged, ceased his signing and returned to the pad.
Cottontail and the Hares were reading over his shoulder, the latter with looks of complete bafflement.
'We detected a surge of immense power,' mused Cottontail, 'But by all rights you should have been drained instead of ... he says something about exponential energy ...'
A burst of gunfire somewhere in the building caused everyone to pause. 'The hell?' muttered Future Hare.
George, who had been standing quietly by the Gingerbread Man, stepped forward. 'We have to go.'
'Where? Sounds like there's a war going on out there!' exclaimed The Hare.
'You know where Mr Hare.' George pointed upwards.
Future Hare raised his gun. 'Chances are the Zodiac placed all their forces on the few floors above us. I hope to hell they weren't shooting at Goosey and his team. We're going to need all the luck we can muster to reach the top floor.
As if that were a signal, suddenly a portion of the roof fell inwards, crashing heavily against the floor. All guns swung upwards as a head emerged from the ceiling.
'Did someone say luck?'
Future Hare stared uncomprehendingly for a moment at the upside down head of a rabbit he didn't expect to see again.
The newcomer hung for a moment, his ears drooping floorwards, then flipping over he dropped and somersaulted the right way up. 'Hiya boss!'
It was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!
'Ozzie! We thought you were ...' Future Hare was overcome with emotion and hugged his old friend.
Oswald grinned. 'Nah ... I'm luckier than that boss.' He pointed upwards. 'There's a clear path upwards to the top - the power cables run directly through and we can go straight up.'
'That makes sense,' mused Jessica, 'They were using Ariel to boost their power for whatever reason ... they would have tapped her into the existing set up.'
'Indeed,' added George, 'Those cables were the very reason I chose to hide my machine beneath the roof, to repower.'
'Let's start climbing!' declared Future hare, slinging his AK47 over his shoulder. Ariel was already levitating upwards.