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| Kronos Stone | Page 3 of 3 |
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Iolaus dashes over and pushes Alcmene out of the path of Callisto's fire-bolt, which explodes behind them. They make their escape; Callisto, obviously relishing the prospect of a chase, lets them go. Alcmene, confused, asks Iolaus why Callisto is after them, and he replies that although he can't explain now, he's there to protect her and she must trust him. Alcmene quickly can't deal with all this and wants to go home, but Iolaus persuades her to continue running. He says if she goes home it will mean certain death both for herself and her child. Meanwhile, Hercules is watching these events from the netherworld, powerless to intervene. He suggests to the Sovereign that the two of them should work together to escape, but the latter is not interested. Hercules reminds the Sovereign that if Callisto kills Alcmene, the Sovereign's mother in his world will also die, then neither of them will ever be born and everything would change as a result. The Sovereign says if that means he won't be trapped here with Hercules, he'll take it. Then he realises that his own family died because of the deaths of their other selves in Hercules' world. Furious, he blames Hercules for everything. Callisto sees Iolaus at the foot of a water tower and asks where Alcmene is - she's tired of waiting. Iolaus says she'll have to go through him first. Callisto launches a fire-bolt and hits the water tower, but is caught out by the torrent which hits her as it collapses. His trap sprung, Iolaus has successfully won Alcmene some time. Stopping to recover her breath, Alcmene asks Iolaus why Callisto would want to kill her baby, so he tells her about Hercules, that he'll be the greatest hero in history, who'll fight injustice and help people in need. Iolaus also reveals that Hercules is the son of Zeus, king of the gods, to Alcmene's amazement. They head for a barn but Iolaus reminds her that nowhere is safe. He needs to stop Callisto and explains that her pendant contains Hind's blood - that could be their only chance. Alcmene seems surprised that Iolaus is prepared to risk his life for her and the baby, but Iolaus merely says that Hercules would do the same for him, and has many times. Alcmene says she now knows her son must be special and has a lot to live for. Iolaus can't imagine a world without Hercules. Leaving Alcmene in the barn, he encounters Callisto and asks her what it would take for her to forget about all this. Surprised, she listens, and while her guard is down, Iolaus grabs the pendant and runs away. Angry, she quickly retrieves it but not before Iolaus can cover his dagger with some of the Hind's blood. Iolaus asks why she cares whether Hercules lives or dies. Callisto says she doesn't, but she made a deal and if she doesn't deliver, she won't get paid. Callisto approaches Alcmene's hiding place, and with a horrified Iolaus looking on, explodes the barn with a single fire-bolt. Alcmene dies. In the netherworld, Hercules sees Iolaus at Alcmene's graveside and realises his mother is dead. Both he and the Sovereign will now never be born, neither of them exist outside in their own worlds and that means they are trapped where they are. All of history has changed and now the world will never know Hercules, unless he can somehow reach Iolaus. Iolaus is travelling through time, witnessing scenes from this changed historical timeline, showing Xena's conquests and reign of terror. He reappears in a town obviously in a state of panic - asking a villager, he discovers it's Cirra, Callisto's home town. Xena's army has laid waste to the surrounding area and is heading their way. Iolaus realises he is still in the past and this must be Callisto's price for killing Alcmene. She wants to stop Xena destroying the town and the deaths of her family. Iolaus asks where he can find Callisto, but the villager only knows of a young girl by that name who lives in the town. At Xena's tent, King Quallus is brought in. He has come to offer Xena a tribute to dissuade her from attacking his country, but Xena is unimpressed and kicks him into grovelling submission. Ares looks on, complaining how spineless mortals are - he's surprised that a champion hasn't come forward to fight for them, but Xena replies she'd only have to kill him or her. Quallus pleads with Xena to at least consider his offer. He's brought with him "a rare jewel, unlike any other, possessing a strange power." It is the Kronos Stone. Xena examines the Kronos Stone, and asks what its power is, but Quallus does not know. He says if she spares his people, it will be hers, but Xena replies that it already is. She orders her soldiers to send his body back to his kingdom, tossing the Kronos Stone aside onto a pile of other treasures. The crystal momentarily glows with power. Watching from the netherworld, Hercules immediately recognises the jewel. In Cirra, Callisto hears her name called and, looking around sees her mother. Delighted, she watches as her mother tells her younger self to stay close to her. Callisto follows them, and is herself trailed by Iolaus. Taking out his dagger he seems ready to act, but some of Xena's men capture him, taking him off to join their army. Callisto's father tells his wife and daughter to go to the barn, where he'll meet them later. Present day Callisto approaches and frantically tries to tell them they're not safe and if they don't get out of the town, they'll all die, but her father says he's paid off Xena's lieutentant so they'll be spared. Desperate, Callisto pleads with them, but they all seem unnerved by this mysterious stranger and leave. At Xena's headquarters, a soldier brings in Iolaus. He quickly says he doesn't want to join her army, but just wants to talk. Xena thinks this is just another plea for her to spare Cirra - not an option, she says. She throws her chakram, which richochets around the tent until Iolaus deflects it with a shield. Impressed, Xena asks who taught him that move. You did, he replies. Xena then attacks him with a staff, not listening to Iolaus' claims that he knows her and they are friends. He tells her about Darphus' future betrayal, the gauntlet and what will happen to Callisto if Xena destroys Cirra. Iolaus says that Xena can change all that. He tells her he's from the future, but still she doesn't believe. She laughs off suggestions that there's good in her and she is destined for greatness as a hero. Only does she start to believe when Iolaus reveals he knows about Solan. Xena is distracted for a moment which allows Iolaus to escape. She gives the order to get the women and children out, then attack the town. Hercules has an idea that the electrical storms raging above the netherworld may be the key to his escape. Back in our world, Xena's army launches a devastating and bloody assault on Cirra. Iolaus sees Callisto heading for the barn where her mother and younger self are hiding, but is caught up in the fighting and unable to follow. Callisto pleads with her mother and younger self to go with her again to no avail. A soldier enters and tells them the women and children should be out of the town, but Callisto kills him when he tries to take her mother and younger self away. Callisto hears another voice behind and, whirling around, throws her dagger thinking it is an attacker, only to stab her own father in the stomach. He dies, watched with horror by all three of them. Callisto's mother tries to attack her, and Callisto has no choice but to incinerate her with a fire-bolt. Young Callisto is especially horrified by this. Distraught, Callisto cradles her younger self in her arms, saying that the girl will have to die now, for the sake of both of them. Callisto leaves, and Iolaus draws his dagger to attack, but is distracted by the anguished cries of the younger Callisto coming from the barn. Making a snap decision, he runs inside and saves her. Back outside, her uncle approaches and learns Callisto's parents are dead. Iolaus says to Callisto that if she cried, it might help. "No" she replies, "I will never cry." Knowing he has missed his chance in this time, Iolaus follows Callisto forward to her next destination, amid scenes of mass slaughter perpetrated by Xena and her army. Iolaus finds himself in Corinth, but it is a very different Corinth. Crucified bodies hang all around, soldiers keep order and peasants cower on the streets. Picking up a dinar, Iolaus sees it is inscribed with Xena's head, "Xena the Conqueror." With horror, he realises what has happened in this time. A grand entourage approaches and a crowned Xena takes up an ornate throne in the town square. An order is given to bring out the prisoner, and a young woman is dragged out, then thrown to the ground before Xena. It is Gabrielle. Xena asks what the charge against this person is, and her lieutenant says Gabrielle has incited the people against Xena's rule. Gabrielle simply says "I spoke." Xena approaches and looks at Gabrielle. She asks whether Gabrielle is guilty, and the young woman replies that she gave voice to the people, the fearful, the starving and the disappeared. Addressing the crowd, she asks whether they have no dignity or rights, but this appears to fall on deaf ears. Gabrielle protests that she isn't the only one with such views and Xena will never break their spirit. Xena says the cure for spirit is fear. She orders Gabrielle be crucified, as an example. Soldiers bind Gabrielle to a cross, and Xena instructs them to break her legs. Gabrielle screams in agony as the blow falls. Rushing to Ares' temple, Iolaus pleads with the God of War to send him back to put right what has gone so horribly wrong, but in this timeline Ares doesn't know who he is. He has never heard of the name Hercules and certainly has no desire to stop his greatest disciple Xena, who now rules the entire known world - the Roman Empire, Gaul and the Far East as well as all of Greece. Totally uninterested in Iolaus, Ares disappears. In the netherworld, Hercules is urging Iolaus to remember the Kronos Stone, and suddenly Iolaus seems to hear a voice in his head. Somehow he knows that Xena has the jewel mounted on her sceptre, and realises that Hercules must be guiding him. Overjoyed, Iolaus sets off to try to recover the Kronos Stone. Meanwhile, Hercules is rigging up a primitive lightning conductor as his key to escape, much to the Sovereign's contempt. Surely he won't be able to exist outside even if he does manage to escape? Hercules simply says that he's sure everything will be fine in the outside world if Iolaus does what he thinks he will. Xena the Conqueror is in the town square watching a gladitorial contest, obviously bored. Iolaus sneaks up behind her entourage, his eyes fixed on her sceptre and the Kronos Stone; he gradually edges himself closer and awaits an opportunity. At the end of the contest, he rushes over, grabs the entire sceptre and fights off Xena's soldiers with it. As more approach, he detaches the Kronos Stone and promptly disappears into thin air, travelling back in time to find himself once again in the barn where Alcmene is hiding. Looking outside, he sees himself trying to fight off Callisto, and quickly hurries Alcmene out of a rear entrance. Callisto destroys the barn, seemingly killing her prey, but this time Alcmene is secretly saved. Hercules prepares to leave the netherworld, and Iolaus returns to the present day, outside Ares' temple, where he is attacked by Callisto, also now returned. She kicks the Kronos Stone out of Iolaus' hands, it falls to the ground and she destroys it with a fire-bolt. Callisto is furious that Iolaus' restoration of the previous timeline has meant she was never able to go to Cirra to save her family. She prepares to kill Iolaus, but is interrupted by the reopening of the gateway to the alternative universe, which returns Hercules to this time. Fighting, Hercules throws Callisto into the closing vortex, imprisoning her. Reunited with Iolaus, Hercules smashes the Hind's blood dagger into a stone block. Iolaus is happy that everything is fine and normal again, but Hercules reminds him that the evil behind all this is still out there. As they leave, the cloaked figure of Hope is visible behind them, watching... Unconnected to these events, the Kronos Stone made one final appearance in Love Amazon Style, when Deimos, the god of terror, managed to reassemble the shattered fragments, which had previously been given to the Amazons by Artemis for their protection. |
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