Rodimus Prime's ~HIGHLANDER~ [Legacies Edge]

[dubiousbystander]

November 8, 11:18 AM
~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p1.

Ramirez: "You are Quentin MacLeod! Killed with your parents while traveling in Scotland nine years ago and you have never aged since!"
Quentin: "My father said he was the last and the Prize was his... [Quentin tears up and chokes up] ...he said I was his Prize! How is this possible now?!"
Ramirez: "Life has a way of repeating itself, dear boy!"
"The clock has been reset, the stars realigned. The MAGIC has awoken and the GAME is on!"

[dubiousbystander]

November 9, 1:02 PM
~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p2.

Kay: "This is SICK! You've been following us, spying on us!?!?"
Joe: "We're Watchers, honey, it's what we do!"
[Joe looks to Quentin]
"I knew your father. My condolences for the loss of both your parents and I sincerely mean that!"
[Quentin nods his head in silent acknowledgment. He has no words for the moment.]
Joe: "How much of this have you told her?"
Kay: "Wait! We've just met you both and you think you know us!?"
Joe: "Your name is Kay Welsch... you're an only child with both parents deceased. Something you both tragically have in common and it's also what strengthens your bond together! You've been with Quentin for five years and happen to be a damn good musician from what I hear. We should jam sometime."
Kay: "This is ridiculous! Insane!!!"
[She points to Ramirez.] "First, he tells us that he represents Quence's father and that he inherited an Antiquities Business in New York that we've never heard of?? Then you two drop this Immortal nonsense on us!? His father won a game... What game???"
[Quentin's hand goes to her thigh and she freezes in shock and disbelief as he begins to explain it in a tone of voice she has never heard from him.]
Quentin: "An endless Game that knows no limit of time or place! A deadly gambit of swords, skills and knowledge for survival combat... ...as my father once told it!"
Ramirez: "Since the dawn of time, we've played! Living and taking many secret lives."
Joe: "The winner takes the other's head and with it, their power, lifeforce or essence."
Ramirez: "It is called the Quickening! It's what drives other Immortals to kill us. We must fight until only ONE remains!"
Quentin: "In the end... there can be only ONE!"
[Kay covers her mouth and tears up.]

[dubiousbystander]

I agree with the person who said Eric Stoltz was the perfect choice for a son of Connor and Brenda.

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p3-1.

[Quentin takes a deep breath and dials in his emotions... understanding that exposure to such a scene is training for him.]
Joe: "You doing okay with this?"
Quentin: "Yeah... I can handle it."
Ramirez: "You're Immortal now, young Highlander, better get used to this sight! Imagine having to fight through a field full of these!!!"
Joe: "Jesus... Juan, EASY!"
Quentin: "How long have Immortals worked with Watchers? I thought there wasn't supposed to be interaction or interference?"
Joe: "Well... let's just say special times can call for special circumstances."
Quentin: "Why didn't the Watchers disperse after my father won the Prize?"
Ramirez: "I was born 2,437 years before I was eliminated from the GAME, and the Watchers existed even before my time!"
Joe: "We don't just monitor Immortals. Our organization has monitored and recorded many types of supernatural and paranormal PHENOMENA throughout history. We kept a close eye on your father even after he had won! The Immortal division was thinned down to archives only... until YOU and the Awakenings that have followed."
Quentin: "Who was she...?"
[to be continued]

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p3-2
Quentin: "Who was she?"
Joe: "This is Annie Devlin... born in 1855 from Ireland. She became Immortal in 1881 and was eliminated from the game in 1979. She was reawakened three years after you and slipped away from our agent last night."
Ramirez: "Your people missed the duel, or lack thereof!? No sign of struggle or footwork and her sword was still sheathed in her coat."
Joe: "Yeah. We noticed that too!"
Ramirez: "Her head didn't fall here... it was carefully placed. The wound is clean and precise. No traces of metals or alloys. The victor used a new blade!"
Quentin: "Like a serial killer?"
Joe: "Yeah... and this style is all too familiar! Beautiful young females were a weakness for a Swedish pretty boy named Axel Whittaker, or Stewart, depending on which last name he was using. Born in 1567 he became Immortal in 1601, executed for the seduction of a young girl. He was killed during the 1986 Gathering in New York by an Immortal named Kastagir."
Ramirez: "How long has he been reawakened?"
Joe: "That's the catch! We've had no report or sign of him... till now!"
[Joe turns to Quentin with a gesture of utmost importance.]
Joe: "You watch over Kay, and you watch her close! If this is Axel, he has an appetite for seduction and manipulation. It's how he plays the GAME."

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p4.
Kay: "How was it? You okay!?"
Quentin: "It was fine. I'm okay. These guys are the REAL DEAL. They are actually concerned for us!"
[She crawls into the bed and lays her head on his bicep. She calls it her "perch" and then goes to slip her left hand just under the side of his lower back... but he presses down before she can get it!]
Kay: "Don't...!"
[His face remains calm and stoic.]
Quentin: "What? I'm just laying here."
Kay: "You know damn well where this hand needs to be!"
Quentin: "You already have the Perch, you don't REALLY need the Nest too, do you?"
Kay:
"Oh...you’re a bastard!"
[Quentin feels her hand going for his ticklish hips and shifts them REAL quick!]
Kay: "Uh huh. YEAH! You know what's coming if I can't get in there."
[He cracks that million-dollar smile that always melts her.]
Quentin: "Have to make you work for it every now and then!"
[She bites her lip because he knows what the tease and stubbornness does to her. Their bodies settle down into each other and the comfort of the quietness holds a haunting question.]
Kay: "How long can we actually do this? How long will you hold me?"
Quentin: "Whaaat!?"
Kay: "You'll never grow old, right? So, it's just a matter of time till I grow old and I was just thinking...
...will you still love me when I'm old?"
Quentin: "Well... You should be a RICH ROCK STAR by then and I'll definitely need a Sugar Momma! [She instantly slaps him on the chest.] So... I'll OBVIOUSLY still LOVE you!"
[She counters his sarcasm with her own snarkiness.]
Kay: "Good... ‘cause I'll need a Young Buck with good looks and stamina for some Red Carpet Arm Candy! You’re definitely gonna have to work for it!"
[The banter is cut to a draw with a lip lock that holds the night.]

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p5.
Quentin: "This is what you guys use for a Dojo? It's a DUMP!"
Ramirez: "Seclusion and secrecy are KEY to what we do, young Highlander! I'm told this facility was a training ground for select Immortals during the Gathering. Even amidst its dust and cobwebs, you can feel the spirit of the Quickening here! So... have you any skill with a sword?"
Quentin: "My father raised me with swords! Even after the Prize, he couldn't put them down. We belonged to Kendo Clubs in Scotland and here in the States. Dad had a particular blend of European, Japanese, and Persian blade work he really favored and cheated with on occasion."
Ramirez: "Good! Sounds like he remembered everything I taught him. [Quentin's face illuminates with surprise and fascination] Let's get you started!"

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p6.1-2

[Joe clears the top of the bar and places a sword wrapped in purple Japanese Silk on top. He motions to Quentin to unwrap the handle as he begins to pour some drinks.]
Quentin: "Damn! It's BEAUTIFUL... almost magical!!!"
Joe: "Have you ever seen this before?"
Quentin: "No, never!"
Joe: "It was recently discovered in one of your father's vault rooms in New York. It's the oldest Katana of its kind! I'm showing this to you at the request of its rightful owner. This is the sword of Juan Ramirez."
Quentin: "Whaaat?! This is Ramirez's sword!? My father told me many stories about it. Preserving it, concealing it, repairing and mastering it over the centuries! He always referred to it as Ramirez's, said he was merely the keeper and gave a prayer of thanks for every duel he walked away from with it." [Quentin's face illuminates with a realization.] "He won the PRIZE with this!"
[Quentin tears up and takes the glass from Joe with shy appreciation.]
Joe: "Kid... this is more detail than most Watchers get in a mortal lifetime!" [Raises his glass.] "Keep talking. CHEERS!"
Quentin: "Said he always felt Ramirez was with him when he held it... and now he's actually with me and training me!"
[Joe smiles and starts laughing as he lays another enduring bomb on him.]
Joe: "It's also the reason your parents met!"
[Quentin spits his drink into the air and looks Joe dead in the face.]
Quentin: "Whaaat!?"
~to be continued~

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p6.2-2

Joe:
"Oh yeah! Your mom was fascinated with the possibility of this type of Katana existing in 600 B.C. a thousand years before the style would be rediscovered and used in Japan. Hell, she practically stalked your dad over it!"
Quentin: "Jesus! It's that old!?!?"
Joe: "It's that old, yes SIR! Custom made for Ramirez by the father of his bride on a Japanese island in 593 B.C."
Quentin: "WOW! It must be something for him to hold it again! Look at the journey it's taken to get back to him!"
Joe: "No kidding, pal!! Our NYC Watcher Division had to tiptoe around your mom. She damn near spotted Connor's Watcher under Madison Square Gardens the night they met! He hid the sword so the cops wouldn't find it."
[Quentin swigs his drink and wipes his eyes, laughing.]
"She was relentless if she put her mind to something!"
Joe: "Was she ever! We had to pull some of the Gathering Watchers back! The NYPD Crime Scene Photographer was actually one of us at the time. He covered most of the close work since she already knew him. Check these out! [Joe pulls out an old archives envelope and reveals some select photos.]
Quentin: "Gawd, they were so young! Well, Dad looked young anyway!"
[Joe and Quentin laugh aloud and give cheers to each other.]
Joe: "You know... all this digging in the archives led me back to the night of the PRIZE. Your mom wasn't just present... she was encompassed in its energy! There's a new theory brewing about your Immortal gene."
[Quentin slams his glass on the bar for a refill.]
Quentin: "I'm gonna need another drink for this!"

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p7.
Joe: "What do we have?"
Watcher: "What we have is a REAL problem! Tell your Golden Boy to be about his sword. Multiple players are gathering and Whittaker is the least of his concerns with our new arrival! There are no records or reference points in the archives for something like this! You have to realize that he is the draw of the new Gathering."
Joe: "MacLeod will be ready for his first challenge, you can count on that!"
Watcher: "Hope he realizes that he may have to eventually face Ramirez's blade as well."
Joe: "He knows."

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p8.1-2

[Kay is on stage at Joe's Bar drumming away on his house set! Joe pauses in pouring and cracks a satisfied smile]
Joe: "Damn, she is good!"
Quentin: "Hell yeah, she is! I met her in a pub in Scotland when she was touring with a band."
[Joe leans in and acts inquisitive, although he is quite familiar with the details of that evening from the Watcher files.]
Quentin: "She's BEAUTIFUL and BAD ASS!!!"
[Joe smiles at the glow of youthful love radiating from him! Something that's distant, but never forgotten to weathered hands and hearts.]
Quentin: "She's crazy too! Once she came home..."
[Quentin feels the rush of the Quickening and a darkness in the energy?]
"Joe, someone's here!"
[Joe remains calm in movement and sly in observation as he turns and pours a glass. Motioning to Quentin with his eyes and position.]
Joe: "At the end of the bar, kid."
[Quentin gets to his feet and places his hand inside his coat, gripping a Chinese straight blade from his father's collection.]
Joe: "Easy, Quence!"
[He ignores Joe's warning and speaks out. Perhaps in frustration, impatience or sheer protectiveness of Kay! Joe notices his faint Scottish accent has arisen strong with his anger and anxiousness.]
Quentin: "Aye... what's your name!?"
[The hooded figure begins laughing maniacally behind his glass, which seems to amplify it in a strange way!]
...to be continued.

[dubiousbystander]

HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p8.2-2
[The hooded figure at the end of the bar rises and removes his hood.]
Kane: "Just an old friend of the family. Come to see the kiddo I've heard so much about! This is the hangout... isn't it?"
[Quentin and Joe slowly close the distance. Kane raises a hand towards Quentin, letting him know that he is close enough! Joe stops at the end of the bar and triggers a silent alarm button underneath. This one, however, doesn't call the police. It is a Watcher dispatch signal.]
Kane: "Funny... I thought Immortals couldn't have children. Then again, I was dead and now I'm back! All the while it looks like you Watchers aren't just watching anymore. That is if you ever really did! Your kind cost me my head with Daddy MacLeod. Now I'm back to return the favor!"
[Joe braces himself at the bar and reaches for his hidden Remington 12 gauge. Kane smiles sadistically at the sound of the hammers cocking back!]
Joe: "My job is just to watch, but you come in here, threaten me in my place? I'm an American, pal! I'll blow you in half and let him have your head."
[Kane steps back and points to Quentin.]
Kane: "The PRIZE was never meant to be yours and now it never will be!"
[Kay sees the stand-off and cuts through the bar crowd, breaking a beer bottle and stepping to Quentin’s side with it raised.]
Kay: "Oh... hell no!"
[Kane walks backwards, with both hands held out in an inviting gesture, then disappears out the door with his voice lingering behind.]
Kane: "You've been challenged... Highlander."

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p9.
Joe: "Damn... Juan! Is that blood?"
Ramirez: "Oh, just a scratch. He learns quickly! We've trained on all the levels and grounds here."
Quentin: "Why would he pick this location? Think this is where he practices?"
Ramirez: "Possibly!"
Joe: "That... we don't have a report of. Alright guys, check these out!"
[Joe passes out two weathered files to them.]
"I searched the archives for everything we have on this Kane. He is one obsessive and elusive son of a bitch!"
Quentin: "What's his deal with Watchers and hatred for my dad?"
Joe: "From Khorasan in outer Mongolia, he was born around 1000 A.D. and grew to be a scout, hunter and warrior. When your dad left Scotland in 1590, he traveled east and encountered a Mongolian horde led by three Immortals loyal only to Kane. Connor escaped from them and killed Kali-Sa'tele, Kane's lover and General. Once Kane discovered this, he and the other two Immortals pursued your father across the continent until they caught up with him in Japan. Studying under an Immortal that you supposedly knew, Juan? Nakano of Niri."
Ramirez: "My God, he found him! I had told MacLeod of Nakano and his mystical ways. He was the first to teach me of Japanese metallurgy."
Joe: "Well... it was short lived, pal! Kane was also a student of his once and killed Nakano when Connor escaped. We have no record of Kane or the other two after Niri for at least two hundred years! Not until Connor's Watcher in the 1800's documented a cat and mouse game between them that led to Kane killing one of his own and Connor slaying the other beneath a sanatorium in London. Kane trapped your father on Holy Ground and would have killed him right there if three Watchers hadn't intervened and stopped the beheading and whatever catastrophe would have followed! Your father turned the tables on Kane and finished him off in 1853. Saving the daughter of a Merchant Importer in the process and earning himself a Captain's commission of the HMS Rosemary."
Quentin: "So this isn't just the Game for him... it’s about hatred, revenge and obsession!"
Joe: "That's right kid, and he's gonna unleash it all on you, here, tomorrow night!"
Ramirez: "Nonsense. Those poisons are his weakness! You are ready, young Highlander. All you need focus on is Heart, Faith and Steel."

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p10.

[Kay walks into the service garage attached to their apartment and is startled by what Quentin has up on the lift.]
Kay: "WOW! Ok... Where did this come from?"
Quentin: "It was one of my dad's. Now it's ours!"
Kay: "Wait, what!? One of!? How many did he have?"
Quentin: "He supposedly had a couple stashed around the world! Dad raised me working on his Porsche in Scotland. Joe brought me to this one... Dad had it stashed in the garage behind the bar!"
Kay: "Was there any paperwork of his with it?"
Quentin: "Old registration to one of his aliases and a flirty/dirty letter from someone named Amanda. Guess they had a Porsche thing together!"
Kay: "Don't you have a challenge tonight? You actually have time to be giving this full service?"
Quentin: "If I'm the SOURCE of all this, if they're being drawn to me, after tonight, we need to scramble for a bit!"
Kay: "We have a life here Quence! We FINALLY have stability, and we're just gonna speed off and run!? You can't run from this!"
Quentin: "Look... I'm NOT gonna be a sitting target! YOU'RE not gonna be a target for one of them to just roll up on like he did the other night! What if I don't come back? You take this and..."
Kay: "STOP... Stop it!!! You don't EVER say it! You don't even think it! Come here, NOW!"
[He knows this tone in her voice is not be contested or argued with! Their routine is synchronized at this point together. He steps up with his eyes closed and breathes in a ZEN breath as her arms go around his neck, bringing him into her space.]
Kay: "You go and face this guy, you win this, okay? You bring your ASS home, then we worry about the next one. We do this together! Because I not gonna have..."
[She just pulls him in and TAKES the kiss! She's done with words.]

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
P11.
Kane: "This is your last sunset, boy! It's best you enjoy the view." ~HA, HA~
[Quentin reaches into the denim trench coat draped over his arm and draws out Ramirez's Katana.]
Kane: "That's VERY cute!"
Quentin: "Your head has fallen to this sword before... aye!? Very soon, it will again."
Kane: "You are NOTHING! A figment of the Quickening's imagination."
Quentin: "Oh... no!? Then why is there fear in your eyes? You know this blade! All too damn well."
[Kane spins his sword and steps into an attack position as Quentin moves to a counter stance.]
Kane: "The PRIZE was never meant to be....."
Quentin: "I AM THE PRIZE!!! You're just history! I am Quentin MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod! Born of Scotland and heir to the legacy. There can be only ONE!"
[Kane feels a cold shudder through the Quickening and hears the unmistakable voice of Connor MacLeod speak to him from beyond.]
Connor: "You have already lost!"

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacies Edge]
p12.
Watcher Chronicles:
September 9th, 1992
Joe Dawson; Instructor Log #195
~Dr. Alex Johnson has passed all field training requirements and, in spite of her youth, shows seasoned composure in exposed surveillance. She is the first candidate that I have trained since the Immortal Division and I am hereby forwarding my recommendation and certification for her to begin field operations in our Paranormal Division.~

Alex: "I've been promoted and assigned by the council!"
Joe: "Hey, that's GREAT! Which sector are they running you off to first?"
Alex: "Southern California, actually!"
Joe: "Alright now! Most of the Newbies get to freeze out on the eastern seaboard for at least the first three years. Somebody's lucky!"
[She laughs and looks at him suspiciously because she knows he had something to do with it! She can't hide her glow from him in these moments.]
Alex: "I'm supposed to report to a Giles in Sunnydale to aid in setting up a new local HQ there, then I'm off to Japan to begin our dig and investigation into the Immortal Archives."
Joe: "I've heard Sunnydale isn't all that sunny. You watch your ass down there, kid!"
[She wants to hold his hand, but is not sure whether they are being watched themselves at this moment. So... she simply leans, pressing firmly into his shoulder.]
Alex: "I'd rather have you watching it!"
[Joe feels the attraction too, and smiles at the acknowledgment of it while they both look away.]
Joe: "From a distance, sweetheart! I'll be admiring from a distance."
Alex: "Just watch it!"

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacies Edge]
p13.
[Quentin and Kane's duel began at sunset and it has been well over an hour since. Joe had closed the bar doors and only he and Kay sit inside. He has some of his guitars out on the stage and the old Fender fired up! Even though Kay is smothered in the warmth of Quentin's leather bomber jacket, (the one Connor was wearing the night of his final duel with the Kurgan) her nerves and trembling are at NO end! She picks up a guitar and begins to play... to slow her mind and tune in her emotions.]
Kay: "When will we know?"
Joe: "As soon as it's over this phone should ring... then we'll know! I have one of my best Watchers on site, I trained her myself back in the day."
Kay: "Oh yeah, an old friend?"
Joe: "Oh yeah, something like that! She's special!"
[Another tear rolls down Kay's cheek as she looks toward Joe and realizes he has someone in his heart as well. She plays with RAW emotion and the haunting sound tells of it. Her love for Quentin, her need for him to walk back through those doors, burns with her fingers into the chords. As she plays, crying... the guitar weeps with her. Joe pours two glasses and moves over to the stage, trading his cane for the bass guitar and begins playing with her. They play a tune all too familiar to Highlander fans... Michael Kamen's original theme on metal guitars!]

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p14. 1-2
[Joe throws his polo shirt back on and grabs his coat as Kay's anxiety is boiling over! The phone hasn't rung and there has been no report back on Quentin's duel.]
Joe: "Hell with it! We're heading over there. Flip off that power switch for me."
[Joe ducks behind the bar and unlocks the front doors from a remote button as Kay powers downs the stage. He strolls down the bottle rack to hit the last breaker that powers the front sign, entrance and old jukebox, but hesitates at the switch as someone abruptly opens the door!]
Quentin: "Sorry! Was I supposed to call first?"
[Kay's chest sinks in with a deep breath.]
Kay: "OH... YOU BASTARD!!!"
Joe: "Son of a bitch... He made it!"
[Quentin is obviously exhausted and emotionally drained from the experience this night has been! His first real duel... his first Quickening. He braces himself on Joe's front door with help from someone standing quietly behind him. Kay is frozen at the bar by an emotional flood of shock, anger, relief and tears of joy as she hysterically laughs and sobs.]
Kay: "He made it! Oh gawd, he..."
Joe: "Hell... Go get him, honey!"
[Kay bolts off that bar stool and it hits the floor while she runs to Quentin. Joe cracks a million-dollar smile as his seasoned eyes well up a little at the sight and energy of youthful love and innocence; something not often seen or felt through the lives of old Immortals. Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" has been softly playing on that jukebox in the front corner and does not seem to be lost on their moment it comes to an end.
Those two stumble out onto the bar's porch in each other's arms as the unseen figure behind the door quietly steps in.]

To be continued...

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p14.2-2
[Joe drops his head and breathes a sigh of relief as his jukebox cycles its vinyl and a familiar ragtime piano sounds off with the velvet voices of Sam Cooke and his crew.]
~Bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me~
[The unseen figure steps in through the door and speaks to him in that soothing and unmistakable voice.]
Dr. Alex Johnson: "Hey there, old man!"
[Joe smiles while still looking at the bottle rack as he realizes that she was the one who had brought Quentin back here. He flips the bar light back on, then turns to give her his undivided attention.]
Joe: "Hey kid!"
[They both take a moment to just enjoy the view. She's crushed on him since her training days and now thinks to herself... "Damn! He is still sexy!" She had been a young lady when they first met, but he is definitely enjoying the woman standing at his doorstep right now! He admires how good the age looks on her.]
Alex: "You've expanded here, I see!"
Joe: "Yeah, I bought the place next door back in the late 90's. We took the wall out and added a bigger stage area."
Alex: "Very nice! I was wondering what got all your time and attention!"
[Joe blushes at her flirtation, but keeps his cool even though he knows that he can't hide his glow from her.]
Joe: "So, he did good out there tonight?"
Alex: "He did GOOD!"
[Their eyes simply hold the moment as Sam Cooke settles the silence.]
~That ain't all, that ain't all I'll do for you...~
JOE: "How long are you in town?"
Alex: "I fly back to Japan tomorrow."
[She leans into the bar and he pauses because she smells AMAZING!]
"Curious if you've got a bottle of Sobieski back there!?"
Joe: "The lady's got a taste for Polish Vodka! Of course I've got one!"
Alex: "Good, cause you're gonna need to bring that out here with some chilled glasses and turn the jukebox up!"
[She reaches over the bar and grabs the lemons as she winks at him.]
"Doctor's orders!"
Joe: "You got it, Doc!"
[His smile and glow is radiating as he thinks to himself... "It's been a victorious day, it's gonna be a DAMN GOOD night!"]
~Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me~

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p15.1-2

Joe: "Did he return the sword to you?"
Ramirez: "Yes, this morning. It served him well, as it did his father over the years! You know, one of the last things I said to Connor was to let his wife go and walk away from love. The death of my last wife had shattered me to a point of such self-devastation that it took the intervention of other Immortals to bring me back."
Joe: "That would have been one Nakano of Niri and the legendary Methos if the records are correct?"
Ramirez: "Indeed, young Joe! Indeed they are, but also incomplete. Nakano and Methos set me on the path, but it was Rebecca who salvaged my soul and restored my spirit many years later. I would have preferred to save Connor that process and pain!"
Joe: "So what did you tell Quentin?"
Ramirez: "I told him to take the journey and enjoy this time in love. Told him to cherish her! He doesn't know what's coming...does he?"
Joe: "No, Juan, nobody knows! We control the only observatory that can see it at this point. If the trajectory calculations are correct... we're talking about a new Dark Age, pal! One that most of us won't live to see, but you awakened Immortals will. We thought your awakenings were by some means of random selection, but it's certainly not looking that way now!"
Ramirez: "No... it's not."
"Ironic how most coincidences unfold with years of universal timing, isn't it!?"
"Those of us awakened by the Quickening have lived many lifetimes and seem to have also inherited a knowledge of technologies even beyond our years of the Game! A game which must go on hold if this impending fate is certain. Mortal civilizations will need our knowledge to rebuild their futures and restore their legacies.

Tell me...young Joe, in all your years of research and archiving, have you ever heard of an ancient Immortal Clan known as the Jettators?"

...to be continued!

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p15.2-2

Joe: "Only one division of the Watchers, the Legacy, even have access to the Jettator chronicles. I was allowed to study with them once! This Rebecca you speak of, her teacher was one of the few members ever identified in the records."
Ramirez: "They were an ancient Clan that laid down their swords and swore an oath of peace between each other to sustain humanity throughout cataclysmic tragedies, together as ONE. To preserve and rebuild cultural knowledge and history as a living ARK. It was they who are believed to have enacted the Rule of Holy Ground due to their experiences within the Keep."
Joe: "Damn! Sounds like we need YOU in Archives, pal! So I have a question. Is there any truth to the stories and legends of the Jettators or other Immortals being placed in a form of suspended hibernation/meditation?"
Ramirez: "In ancient Egypt we had many mystical ways with potions and preservation, but there was an Immortal elixir that only few had knowledge of over time. It was this elixir that was used to restore and heal my mind and spirit. Imagine being able to harness the powers of the Quickening through a substance!

"Nakano had sorcery of the MIND, Methos drew from a Holy Spring for the SPIRIT, but it was Rebecca that held the knowledge of the WILL. I was sent from one to the other with portions of each element, but she was the KEY and final step!

"It could unlock many powers within an Immortal, so its safeguard was quite unique. No single Immortal held the knowledge of the elixir themselves."
Joe: "Juan... you have been invaluable to us since your awakening! After Quentin's rebirth there have been multiple awakenings around the world. Some good, some evil as you well know. Nakano's awakening has now been confirmed by our Dr. Johnson in Japan! His is the most recent recorded. She'll be escorting him to us once he's settled and acclimated."
Ramirez: "The old mystic. I shall look forward to toasting with him again."
Joe: "We also have the Methos journals on an elixir, but as you've pointed out... they are incomplete! What if I told you that you are not the only Immortal that has been working with us. What if I told you that your KEY is here with us now.... in this time!"
[His eyebrows and energy rise with a grin of surprise and excitement.]
Ramirez: "Really!?"

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacies Edge]
p16.1-2
[Ramirez has arrived at a fortified schloss in northern Germany that was once known to Immortals and Watchers alike as the KEEP. He walks down the stairs into the south gardens and pauses at the presence of another Immortal. Just then she appears from the hedges like a walking dream!]

Rebecca: "Hello... old friend!"
Ramirez: "My God! You are here!"
[Rebecca's smile and warmth are as radiant as the sun to him.]
Rebecca: "It has been a long time, hasn't it. I must say you look well in a modern suit."
Ramirez: "Much obliged, but by NO means fairer than the lady present!"
Rebecca: "So the Quickening has reunited us in its own peculiar way."
Ramirez: "It has always favored its own kind of magic. Perhaps we are pawns in a grander game than we imagined?"
Rebecca: "Quite. I mourned at the news of your death. I sensed it, you know?"
Ramirez: "Sounds as if I finally bested the lady who so graciously refused me on more than one occasion!"
Rebecca: "I seem to remember besting you both in the saddle and with the sword!"
Ramirez: "I was merely off my skill due to my condition at the time, as you well know."
Rebecca: "Is that an excuse I detect!? I'm curious as to what condition led to your defeat."
Ramirez: "I happened to be entertaining for the evening with stories and a glass or two of wine. Why, it was the Kurgan himself that I faced, and on quite an unstable footing, as it were!"
Rebecca: "Juan, Juan! Excuses, excuses!"
[He smiles bashfully and welcomes the banter of such an elegant opponent whom he has sincerely missed.]
To be continued...

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p16.2-2

Rebecca: "So I heard you went on to teach after your time with me."
Ramirez: "Oh... on occasion. Here and there for those that needed guidance or direction."
Rebecca: "Sounds as if I rubbed off on you a bit!"
[She smiles at the thought of it... then glances at him with inquisitive eyes.]
"Also heard you became a bit of a womanizer as well! Perhaps I restored you too well?"
[Ramirez reveals a boyish grin with a bit of devilish cheek behind it.]
Ramirez: "Perhaps."
Rebecca: "Ummhmm... a bit naughty you became, much like my Amanda."
Ramirez: "Would it be rude of me... to inquire as to the circumstances that led to the lady's personal demise?"
Rebecca: "Yes it most certainly would! Although I will confirm it had nothing to do with some damn mythological crystals, let alone one of my own students. Festive rumors seem to roll along as swift as the years do... PLEASE!"
[Sensing the heat in her scoffing tone, he quickly and wisely diverts the subject.]
Ramirez: "Did you ever meet my student?"
Rebecca: "The Highlander was your student, wasn't he!? The older one, I mean!"
Ramirez: "Yes, that would've been Connor MacLeod. He was the eventual winner of the PRIZE with the defeat of the Kurgan, which is what I trained him for from the very start! I teach his son now, on occasion."
Rebecca: "So I've heard. An Immortal's child... I must admit to a bit of jealousy on that note! However odd the circumstances may be, to have had a child of my own would have most certainly been a prize."
[She falls silent on those words for a moment, as he intuitively awaits her next ones.]
Rebecca: "He is the SOURCE of our awakenings... isn't he?"
Ramirez: "Yes, he is!"

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy’s Edge]
p17.

Nakano: "To the MAGIC, old friend!"
Ramirez: "Yes, to the MAGIC indeed. Cheers."
[Ramirez takes a moment to admire Nakano's appearance and attire.]
Ramirez: "I see the good doctor got you tailored and fitted for the modern age."
Nakano: "Yes. She was most helpful with the confusion of it all! Especially awakening in my cave startled, naked, and surrounded by strange people with lighting and recording devices. She was quite accommodating and generous with the situation."
Ramirez: "At least you had a welcoming party! I awoke just the same at MacLeod's old farm on quite a cold morning."
[Ramirez pours another round of sake.]
Ramirez: "To the warmth and comfort of a good suit!"
Nakano: "Hai. Cheers!
[They sip the sake.]
Nakano: "Any complications with the others joining us for this endeavor?"
Ramirez: "Oh yes... some have arisen."

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p18. 1-2

[The sun glows off the amber skin of this woman as she stops to bask in the warmth of it. A stranger in the heart of a strange city, drawn here by the irresistible pull of the Quickening. She leans against a fence and enjoys its warm embrace. Thinking about the irony of taking comfort from a type of cage. She was caged and kept once, back before she learned the sword. Before she was killed for her own freedom to live and love!
Just then she feels the whirlwind sensation of another's presence, something she hasn't felt in two years.
Something she's only felt once since her awakening, which poses the haunting question... "Am I truly reborn, or is this a state of Naraka?" Her hand slips inside her long coat to her sword. She looks to her right down that long fence and sees a well-dressed and groomed elderly man gazing upon her.

Ramirez: "Greetings, dear Hatalyah!"
[She remains silent for just a moment to analyze him.]
Hatalyah: "I do not know you!"
Ramirez: "No... but I believe you knew one of my teachers. That would be a Graham Ashe. I am Juan Sanchez Villalobos Ramirez, and I am at the lady's service!"
[She smiles at the warmth of his voice and the memory of Graham's beautiful face!]

To be continued...

[dubiousbystander]

~HIGHLANDER~
[Legacy's Edge]
p.18 2-2

...18 hours earlier.

[Joe walks into the Sake Bar and pauses at the sight of the two of them pouring the bottle.]
Joe: "You boys feeling no pain yet?"
Ramirez: "Not quite yet!"
[Nakano slumps over with a slight chuckle that quickly erupts into boastful laughter!]
Nakano: "Aaaaah, hah, haaah!!!"
Joe: "We've got a task that we particularly need you for, Juan."
Ramirez: "But of course you do... after this bottle!"
[Nakano chuckles off to the side as he takes the bottle from Ramirez.]
Joe: "Serious now! We've located another Immortal here in the city. Hatalyah Najhal of India, she's a bit of a Wild Card! After her last husband was killed during a shootout in a Shanghai night club in 1935, she vanished into the underworld of market and trade. We know she worked with Connor as a partner in his antiquity marketing in the 1950's and 60's while helping raise his adopted daughter, Rachel. She lost in a duel with Zachary Blaine in 1973."
Ramirez: "Still not seeing what exactly this has to do with me?"
Joe: "Because after her mortal death in 1504, she fled from India into southern Europe and met up with one of your old teachers...
...Graham Ashe!"
Ramirez: "Old Graham... really!?"
Joe: "Really! She became his student and eventually his intimate lover until his death in 1657. Figuring she's spent quality time with both a teacher and student of yours... we thought you would be the best choice of a contact to bring her in."
[Nakano raises his cup in a drunken salute!]
"Hai... Ramirez is the one!"
[All three of them begin laughing together.]
Ramirez: "I'll look into it."