City of the Gods

by Stargate

  And they were pissed.

  The clouds broke off into humanoid forms and swirled around the valley, megalithic specters on a violent rampage. More energy beams ripped into the huge caldera. But why were the Omeyocans blowing up Xalo when the entire moon was selfdestructing? And who was in the Goa'uld ship attacking them? Tzcatlipoca or Tonatui?

  "No relation to Casper, right?" cried Dabruzzi.

  Coughing on the ash, Atlatl joined them. His eyes followed the movements of the enormous Omeyocans.

  "You can see them?" Daniel yelled above the stupendous noise. Energy weapons tore across the sky and into the mountains, ripping away the crust and spilling the liquid heart of Xalotcan into the wrecked caldera.

  Atlatl looked at Daniel like he was nuts, then he turned to Jack and said, "False gods they may be, but they do battle as legend says, and our world is ending. You said you could save my people. Tell me how!"

  Most of those who had fled were men. Infused with terror, they now sought to reach Tzcatlipoca's temple, desperately hoping for entry to Omeyocan before the final world ended - except that the Pyramid of the Moon was also beginning to collapse. Daniel looked down at the remaining refugees, mostly women, children and the steadfast warriors under Atlatl's command.

  "Look!" Dabruzzi leaped up and pointed to the receding lava rivers around the city. "By blowing holes in the thickest rock formations elsewhere in the caldera, the Omeyocans have reduced the pressure in the magma chamber beneath Teotihuacan."

  Daniel grasped Jack by the arm and shouted, "Quetzalcoatl said that only those who renounced the Goa'uld could use the crystal skull network. And he told you to lead them!"

  Now Jack looked at him like he was nuts. Where? He silently demanded.

  "Through Quetzalcoatl's temple," Teal'c declared.

  "Exactly!" Daniel yelled. "We arrived both times in the cave beneath the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. The fifth skull must be inside."

  Atlatl stared at him curiously. "Only the secret Brotherhood of Quetzalcoatl knows of the existence of the fifth skull."

  Brotherhood ...coatl meant snake - the Brotherhood of the Snake! Atlatl could know about the Brotherhood only if he was a member. Suddenly, like pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle, everything fell neatly into place. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but his words were drowned out by a stupendous roar overhead.

  Jack's face screwed up. "Daniel, the cave we arrived in collapsed."

  "We don't know that for sure!"

  "Assuming it hasn't, and we can find the skull, what's the bet it leads to Tollan?" Dabruzzi said gloomily.

  Jack stared at him. "Are you trying to out-pessimize me?"

  "Pessimize isn't a real word," Dabruzzi countered.

  "Is too."

  "Jack!" yelled Daniel. While a part of him was glad that Jack was still, well, Jack, they didn't have time for this. He turned to Dabruzzi, and said, "The fire priest gave the skulls to Wodeski because they tried one and couldn't get it to work - it must have been the one to Tollan. Wodeski also had the rose skull, which means the fifth skull has to go to Earth, Yaxkin or Orban."

  "So, Atlatl, you know where to find this skull?" said Jack.

  Atlatl shook his head. "I know only that it was hidden in the heart of Quetzalcoatl's temple."

  Jack wiped his face, and then looked at each of them.

  "Jack?" Daniel demanded impatiently.

  "I'm thinking about it! Alright." He pointed to the sensor in Dabruzzi's hands. "Can you use that thing to figure out the best way there?"

  "You mean the least worst way?"

  Jack scowled at him. "Yeah, that."

  Dabruzzi waved his hand. "Let's go!"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  eal'c was not oblivious to the pain he felt at the loss of Major Carter, nor was he unaware that the possibility of success was remote. However, Master Bra'tac had taught him to focus on the path directly before him, to dedicate his attention to now and not on the world disintegrating around him. He would grieve for Major Carter, a formidable warrior and a friend, when the time was right. And he would grieve with O'Neill, who would not grieve for himself.

  The madness that had tried to capture his spirit from the time they had arrived on Xalotcan, a madness that Dr Dabruzzi said came from the movement of fluid rock within the moon, had vanished moments prior to the volcano erupting. A new form of madness now ravaged the once great city. With the collapse of all pyramids bar one, the people of Xalotcan could no longer gain entry into any level of Omeyocan.

  As O'Neill led the refugees along the Avenue, they were obliged to fight off men marauding like jackals, and women screeching like shrill termagants. The inhabitants seemed determined to be killed on the broadswords of the jaguar warriors, or by his own equally deadly staff weapon.

  "To be killed by a god is to go to Omeyocan," Daniel Jackson called out as he ran past them once more. "They'll throw themselves at you - you don't have any choice!"

  O'Neill grabbed Daniel Jackson by the arm. "They have a choice, and we're going to give it to them. Tell them they won't be getting into any Heaven unless they calm down and follow me!"

  Word spread quickly that the human embodiment of Quetzalcoatl was leading a procession along the Avenue of the Dead to his Temple, even while the spirit forms of Quetzalcoatl and Chalchiuhtlicue, and countless other apparitions, tore the heavens apart in the monumental battle of the gods at the End of Time. Despair and madness swiftly turned into hope. People flooded into the streets from unseen quarters, no longer huddling terrified in dark comers, until tens of thousands swelled their ranks.

  "There's no magma directly beneath us," Dr Dabruzzi announced when they eventually stepped down into the Citadel. The swell of people surged around them. "The bedrock must be a solid plug of basalt, probably goes down hundreds, maybe even thousands of feet."

  "And this helps us, how?" O'Neill demanded.

  "It would explain why Quetzal's Pyramid is still standing. If the cave beneath it, the one we arrived in, hasn't collapsed, it won't be flooded with magma. We have to get everyone into the Citadel; it'll act like a cork bobbing on the lava. Give us extra time to find the skull."

  Atlatl moved off to direct the jaguar warriors. The Citadel could easily contain a hundred thousand people.

  "Quetzalcoatl must have known the Citadel and temple dedicated to him would act as an island," observed Daniel Jackson as another explosion echoed overhead. "I don't think he would have directed us here without knowing there was a way out."

  A burst of light rent the sky. It was instantly followed by a second, much larger explosion. Before the sound had even reached them, the center of the Citadel illuminated and transport rings delivered three figures to the ground.

  "Jaffa, Kree!" ordered the central figure imperiously. He was wearing a wing shaped cloak of eagle feathers, and a huge eagle's beak, open at the front, over his head. The thousands pouring into the Citadel fell to the ground in supplication.

  "Okay, that's Tonatui," declared Daniel Jackson.

  Teal'c looked overhead. "I believe his ship was destroyed." The swirling masses of Omeyocan quickly receded and the great white cloud contracted in upon itself, leaving behind darkness pierced by an impressive, but natural, lightning storm. The false gods and Omeyocan might have ceased battling, but Xalotcan continued in its death throes.

  The two Jaffa with Tonatui, one with a gold sun tattooed on his head, lifted their staff weapons and began shooting randomly into the crowd.

  "Whoa!" O'Neill cried.

  Teal'c dispatched one of the Jaffa just as O'Neill took out the second. Then they both fired upon the Goa'uld, but Tonatui had already employed the defensive shield of his hand device. The cries of terror from the crowds abated until all that could be heard were the sounds of the rending ground and hiss of nearby lava fountains.

  "Who is it that defies his god?" boomed Tonatui. His massive bronzed muscles bulged, and his eyes blazed with unfettered rage.

  "Ah... so much for not being able to ma
intain the host's body," Daniel Jackson observed.

  The crowds dared to look up - and stared at O'Neill. "Quetzalcoatl!" they replied.

  Tonatui laughed manically. "I have just defeated Quetzalcoatl in battle, as I defeated my brother, Tzcatlipoca, for his betrayal."

  "Oh yeah?" O'Neill called. "So if it wasn't your ship that just blew, what exactly are you doin' down here? Or haven't you noticed that old `Mick is rearranging the real estate?"

  "You are not Quetzalcoatl!" Tonatui took a menacing step towards O'Neill. "You are but a human."

  The crowds looked at O'Neill, uncertain.

  "Who has killed many false gods, including Ra!" Teal'c replied.

  Tonatui paused, momentarily nonplussed. "You lie!"

  "You are not worthy to battle Quetzalcoatl," Teal'c declared contemptuously. "As First Prime, I will defeat you in his name!"

  "No, Teal' c, hang on - "

  "He's right, Jack," Daniel Jackson said. "Look at the guy, he's built like Teal'c! You might have been able to go one-on-one with him if he were human, but he's a Goa'uld."

  "Might?" O'Neill glared at Daniel Jackson indignantly.

  Teal'c could see the reluctance in his brother's eyes. "I will not fail you, O'Neill. And I have no doubt that you and Daniel Jackson will find the crystal skull."

  With no need of an answer, he stepped into the arena and declared again, more loudly, "I am Teal'c, First Prime to Quetzalcoatl. I challenge the false god, Tonatui, in Quetzalcoatl's name."

  "Then you will die screaming my name for mercy!" boomed Tonatui. He picked up the staff weapon dropped by his now dead First Prime and swung it in a practiced maneuver.

  Teal'c had once read a book written by the Tauri warrior, Sun Tzu. Though the book was two and a half millennia old, its wisdom, like that which Master Bra'tac taught, was ageless. Tonatui's staff weapon arced towards his head, and the pace of time slowed into this one perfect moment of the battle. The teachings of Master Bra'tac and Sun Tzu flowed through his spirit, guiding him, schooling him with patience.

  Observe his weakness as he dances; see how the dance becomes a routine. Practiced rigidity. Inflexible, predictable, for he relies on this movement too often. Watch how he overbalances at this point. Observe and wait; the opportunity will come.

  Teal'c accepted the blows with equanimity. They served a purpose, for the Goa'uld's weakest point was its hubris. He set aside the pain, oblivious to all but that which mattered now. To choose the moment too soon would bring defeat. Left too late and his body would fail as the blows rained upon him. A Goa'uld cannot be defeated in hand-to-hand combat, because a Goa'uld cannot die.

  But a Goa'uld could die, for a Goa'uld was not a god.

  Jack was loath to leave, but Teal'c was buying them time, probably with his life, and he wasn't about to waste that sacrifice. With the help ofAtlatl's men, he and Daniel made their way through the crowds and into the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl.

  Once inside, Jack was surprised by the relative lack of damage. Although the passages were filled with bodies and debris, none of the walls had collapsed. The warriors set to work clearing a path for the hundreds that would soon crowd in, desperate to follow Quetzalcoatl. Jack estimated there were probably fifty thousand people outside now, and more than double that number scattered throughout what was left of the city. Of course before they could evacuate anyone, there was the little matter of finding the skull. He looked around forAtlatl. When he couldn't see him, he asked Daniel, "What's with this secret Brotherhood?"

  "Also known as the Knights Templar, the Brotherhood of the Snake were sworn to protect the knowledge of the skulls from `evil alien reptiles'."

  Daniel helped him move a heavy beam aside, then continued, "On Earth, four skulls were left at Teotihuacan. The fifth skull was spirited away, probably by the Brotherhood, centuries earlier. I think they're the ones who built the pyramid in Belize and became Mayan `priests'. The oath to protect the skulls passed down through the generations until the time of the Aztecs, who adopted an essentially Mayan belief structure - along with members of the Brotherhood. Some of the Brotherhood, including Atlatl's ancestors, obviously carried the tradition off world, keeping the secret, and their a priori allegiance to Quetzalcoatl, alive."

  They entered a room with several passages. Jack turned to ask for directions but Atlatl moved past him, saying, "This way. As you say, the Brotherhood were sworn to protect the skulls. However, with Tzcatlipoca's purge and the death of my sons..." Atlatl's voice cracked when he added, "I am the last."

  Jack faltered. But he could not allow Atlatl's pain to distract him. Once they found the skull, Daniel would use it to take Atlatl and the first group of kids to Yak Skin, or wherever. Dabruzzi and Teal'c - assuming he was alive - could go with the next groups. Meanwhile, Jack intended to go back outside the Temple and keep the lines moving. Carter would have told him that there was no way he could save everyone in what little time they had left. But Carter was dead, and he'd never been good with numbers, so it didn't much matter. He had no intention of leaving until every man, woman and child was safely off the planet.

  Atlatl pushed aside some fallen masonry, and stepped into the cavern. Jack followed and looked around. The floor was littered with huge chunks from the cracked ceiling but otherwise was intact. Then the ground and the walls seemed to shift as one. Was he imagining it, or were they moving? "A little help here, Daniel! What are we looking for? Secret passages, rooms, what? ...Ali!"

  The toy dog, Spiffy, leaped from his pocket and ran across to a solitary body, lying heaped against the far wall. A crushed green-feathered headdress lay nearby. The body was a couple of days old.

  Glancing at the dog, Atlatl said, "It seeks its master."

  "I thought it belonged to that little girl?" Daniel was staring in concentration at the glyphs on the wall.

  "The dogs are guides. They lead to redemption and rebirth. Thus they belong to Quetzalcoatl's high priest, who was charged with providing one for each journey through the Roads of Mictlan."

  "That makes sense," said Daniel.

  "But it doesn't get us the hell out of here!" said Jack, exasperated.

  Daniel ran his hands along the glyphs. "Did many Aztec warriors come here through the skull?"

  Atlatl nodded. "Their reward for conquering this world was to become Jaffa."

  "Having a snake shoved into your belly was a reward?" Jack stared at Spiffy; it was pawing at the dead priest and whimpering.

  "For most, it was considered a great honor," Atlatl said. "Alas, for members of the Brotherhood, it was the ultimate betrayal of their birthright. Those who denied this `honor' were put to death. Some, including my ancestors, chose the burden of life so that we could protect the skulls." He pressed a hand to the pouch in his stomach. "And so it has been ever since, even amongst our priests."

  The cave moved. Nope that definitely was not his imagination. The entire structure was lilting like a boat cast adrift from its moorings.

  "The priests were also Jaffa?" Daniel grabbed the wall to steady himself. "I wondered why the Brotherhood hadn't informed Quetzalcoatl. They couldn't use the skulls!"

  Atlatl turned to Jack. "This was the burden of slavery to false gods, who called the symbiotes our `second heart'. But we knew that when the world ended, you would return and set us free."

  Second heart. Jack crouched by the dog. Nose twitching with distaste, he ignored the sickening, swaying motion of the cavern and rolled the body over.

  Outside in the Citadel, Tonatui grew more confident, more predictable. Teal'c knew his moment was coming; he could smell it as he could smell the terror of those who looked on. Just a little longer.

  A loud hissing noise followed a shudder and wrenching sound. Just beyond the Citadel, a shower of ruby and white burst up in a pyrotechnic fountain, and then cascaded down onto the crowd in deceptively slow motion, dropping people in their tracks. It was a shocking reminder of what would happen to all of them, sooner or later. But rather than screaming in terror and
fleeing aimlessly, the crowd went quiet and still, for a glob of lava had landed directly behind Tonatui.

  The Goa'uld lunged at Teal'c, grappled with him and forced him backwards. Teal'c felt the heat on his back, and realized that an equally fiery blob lay directly behind him.

  "You see?" Tonatui yelled, his eyes blazing with triumph. "I now command the god of the Underworld!"

  It was a deadly tug-of-war, one in which the outcome held greater significance than Teal'c's mere death. For if he perished in the small patch of lava, it would prove that Tonatui had indeed usurped Quetzalcoatl's power over Mictlantecuhtli. Even with the crystal skull in hand, few would follow O'Neill to Yaxkin.

  Tonatui increased his force. It was the moment for which Teal'c had been waiting. He firmly grasped Tonatui by the arms, bent his knees, and fell backwards. As he hit the ground, he brought his feet up and thrust them into the belly of Tonatui. Unbalanced, the Goa'uld's forward momentum carried him over Teal'c's head.

  Teal'c felt the sticky rock burning into his shoulder, but he maintained his grip until Tonatui's roar of agony abruptly ceased. Then he rolled away from the lava and staggered to his feet. The stench of burning flesh - his own and Tonatui's - filled his nostrils, but the pain was quenched by what he now saw. On the ground where Tonatui's head and torso had been was a bubbling mass of flesh and rock. Beside the twitching limbs lay a Goa'uld tail.

  "Quetzalcoatl has commanded Mictlantecuhtli to destroy his enemy!" he shouted.

  "Hey, big guy," said Dabruzzi, supporting Teal'c by his good arm.

  "I am -

  "Not so well!"

  In the cavern, Jack pulled the priest's blood-encrusted cape aside. He was a Jaffa, all right, but with a dead symbiote clutched in his remaining hand. Jack looked up when Dabruzzi came into the temple, Teal'c's staggering beside him. The big Jaffa looked about as bad as Jack had ever seen him. He started to stand. "Teal'c?"

  " Tonatui is dead, O'Neill, and my symbiote will heal me."

  Behind them dozens of children began pouring into the cave. "The entire caldera is a sea of lava," called Dabruzzi. "We're floating on top. Ah...you know, as much as I'm enjoying this, have you found a way off this liquid rock? It's getting a little toasty outside."