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No matter how long time goes for, the cycles of history never fail to continue. Two Hundred Years ago, great heroes saved the world from a terrible evil. That may seem like ancient history to some, but for Gold the Tenrec, it affects the present more than many could imagine.

The Genesis Portal closes behind the Silver Hedgehog, leaving Gold and the Professor alone once more. "Are you sure you didn't want to go with him?" Professor Von Schlemmer asks. "After all, the past is practically falling apart as we speak." "I have faith in Silver," Gold says. "Besides, we've been fighting this battle against the Council's regime for four years now. It's about time he took a little break from that."

"Ah, yes, a break. Very good," says the professor. "But wait, this is something far more important than what we're doing. The very fabric of reality could tear apart and-" "You're supposed to be the optimist here," Gold says, giving him a polite smile. Now, then, is there anything new on the resistance network?

"Ah, yes. We're getting some strange readings on the reality scale."

"More than the temporal fluctuations in the past?" "Quite similar, yet they are coming from here and now!" "Where...?" "That is what is proving to be the most difficult. Ah, let's see. If I recalibrate the confabulartor and adjust the whatchamalic diode, then..."

...Gold... Gold stumbles back, her eyesight clouded by reddish-purple cubes and her footing becoming loose. She falls back, and the world around her disappears in a miasma of the strange, reverberating sounds that hit her.

When Gold awakes, the clanking of chains accompanies her movement. Eventually, she is halted by the manacles that hold her to the walls. She gasps, struggling against the binds, but her powers have no effect. She can't sense the things holding her to the wall. She curls up, hyperventilating, but even as the panic attack sets in, she knows she isn't alone. Gold gasps as she looks over her shoulder, beyond the world of her cage, but she is no longer in a cage. In fact, she is no longer bound by any chains at all. Instead, she is sitting upon a familiar bed in a room she never thought she would ever see again. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" comes the husky voice. Gold hops off of the bed to see the hooded figure before her. "What is this? How did I get back here?" "Is that any way to speak to an old flame of yours?" The figure approaches, dressed in the cowl of the Council.

"Old flame," Gold spits. "You betrayed me, just like the others. I warned you of the danger and yet you still brought this world seconds from ruin! You didn't care for me--you just wanted to use me, to control me." The figure sighs and pulls the mask free, letting the robes drop to the side. Underneath is a mature Jackal woman, her eyes a bright yellow, and her hair tied in a long ponytail. She dresses in a body-hugging white dress, but on her face is not the confident smile Gold once knew. Instead, it is weariness of age and regret.

"I admit, there was a time I wanted to have you wrapped around my finger," she says, placing the council mask down on its stand on her dresser. "But that time has passed. It's been four long years, my Gold."

"I'm not yours!" the Tenrec snaps back. "I'm owned by no one, especially not another council puppet."

"That's right. You are your own woman now... so different than when we found you, so strong instead of so weak... the situation has reversed, it seems.

"Anu...? What are you talking about?" The jackal sighs, stepping up towards Gold. The Tenrec stands her ground as the older woman looks up towards the taller woman. "You're not the only member of the Council who had little control over herself. Those chains you saw... those are as much mine as they are yours, but I cannot go to the Council--they will surely put me to their own use." "So, are you asking me for help, then? Why would I do that?"

"Because, despite our difference in opinion, my flame, we are still very much compatible together. I remember those all-too-cold nights after you first had your powers trained when you sought solace in my arms. And it was I who helped keep the rest of the Council from making you a slave."

"Every member of the Council is a slave to the Council," Gold says. "That might be true... and I know you do not like having no control of yourself. I care not to call the Council my master anymore, either." Anu looks to Gold with a weary smile. "I must show you something... is that alright? Otherwise, you may step through that door and return to whence you came."

"Fine," Gold says. "I'll listen to you just this once." Anu reaches around to the back of her neck, undoing the strap of her dress. With one tug, the garments fall down off of her body to her ankles.

Heat rushes to Gold's cheeks for a moment before she gasps. She had seen her former lover unclad before, but now there is something new there. A violet-red gem nestles between her breasts, pulsating slowly. "My power is growing with no end in sight," she says. "And I need you to help me contain it."