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It was evening over Roy Thomson Hall as Brianna, Brian, Duncan, and Richie emerged from the performance of "Riverdance." Despite the fact that Brianna knew the Immortals didn't quite trust her, she could tell that MacLeod was attracted to her. He had sat next to her in the concert hall, and they'd traded a number of warm glances and remarks. Once he'd gotten into it, even the suspicious Richie had relaxed and enjoyed the show. Now that it was over, he quite bubbly. The production hadn't been as cheesy as he (or MacLeod, or even Brianna) had expected. Orser had steered them correctly. The entire group was laughing and chattering about it. "Man!" Richie enthused. "That Riverdance thing actually rocked! It was pretty cool! I loved that part at the end, where they all came out in a line like the Rockettes and they all stomped their feet together -- I thought they were going to bring the ceiling down!" "Maybe people in glass concert halls," Orser quipped, "shouldn't do Irish jigs." "I liked the Flamenco dancer," Brianna said. "though I don't quite understand why she was in with the Irish dancers...I didn't get the Russian dancers being in the show, either." "Well," MacLeod said, "Russian dancing -- it's not unlike the Highland Fling. And the steps of the Highland Fling are very similar to the Irish step dance -- you just hold your hands up in the air instead of down at your sides..." Richie grinned evilly. "I've seen you do the Highland Fling." Everyone paused and gazed expectantly at MacLeod. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked uneasily. "You know why," Brianna teased. "We want to see you Fling, Highlander." MacLeod blushed. Richie said, "Well, the last time he did it, he was really drunk." "I'll pay for the drinks," Orser offered. "In fact, I'll put in for the kilt." Just then, the three Immortals froze. A chill ran down Brianna's spine as a new "WHOOSH" overwhelmed the low- level buzzing that had settled into her consciousness during her time with MacLeod and Richie. All evening, a tiny, almost imperceptible "Just one year of love..." had been playing in the back of her head. Now, all of a sudden, the little Queen soundtrack acquired a hard bass beat, and a raspy voice sang, "Don't lose your head, don't lose your head." "Immortal Alert!" Brianna muttered. Duncan and Richie, meanwhile, were scanning their surroundings warily. Orser blanched. "What's going on?" "Brian, you have to get out of here," Brianna commanded. She pointed to a Romanesque-Revival-style church across the street. "You'll be safer on Holy Ground. Go over there to St. Andrew's and stay inside, or at least on the church steps, until I personally come and get you." "Holy Ground?" Orser asked in confusion. Brianna narrowed her eyes. "This is one of those times where you just have to follow my weird instructions!" Orser, hearing the urgency in her voice, nodded and jogged over to the gray stone house of worship. Brianna watched him, hearts pounding, until she saw him go through the door, and it closed behind him. Thankfully, the church was still open to the public despite the hour. Then, she turned to the other Immortals, still on alert. "What do we do now?" she asked them. "It's got to be Them," MacLeod pronounced. "It's a trap," Richie said. He glared at Brianna. She knew he thought she was behind this. MacLeod said, "They won't take us on here. There's too many people around. We're right in the middle of the Theatre District, and all the shows are letting out. They're going to try to lure us somewhere else." Brianna suggested, "We don't have to take the bait." MacLeod shook his head. "No -- I want to take Them on." Richie cried, "This could be suicide, Mac!" Perhaps it was the fact that Brianna really wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on. More likely, it was her intense lust for the comely MacLeod that was interfering with her good sense. Whichever it was, she found herself saying, "I'll take Them on with you!" Richie glared at her again. "I'll bet you will." As the WHOOSH began to subside, MacLeod said, "There's no time to argue this, Richie -- he's moving away!" At that moment, they finally espied a shadowy figure emerge from a darkened arcade across the plaza. It darted down the street. "If it's a chase he wants," MacLeod snarled, "he'll get it!" He took off at a run. Richie gave Brianna one more hostile glance before taking off after him. With a frown, Brianna joined the hunt. They were quite a sight, running west and north from the brightly lit theatres towards the darkened glass monoliths of the business district of Toronto. There was the heroically-proportioned Duncan MacLeod, clad in tight black jeans, a peacock-blue silk shirt, and a long, billowing black leather coat that bore no indication of the katana that resided within its folds. At his heels, the smaller, agile Richie Ryan, in his faded blue Levi's, black t-shirt, and denim jacket which somewhere, inexplicably, harbored a huge steel weapon. Not far behind came Brianna Belmont, in lavender leggings, purple velour Doc Martens, and a short Toronto Raptors varsity jacket that hid a deadly arsenal. They were in hot pursuit of an enemy they could sense more than see. As the three adventurers pursued their quarry, led only by their perceptions of the Immortal Buzz, Brianna worried about Brian Orser. She knew no Immortal would ever harm another on the universally-respected neutral zone of Holy Ground, but she wasn't sure of the nuances when it came to mortal companions. She hoped she had deduced correctly that Immortals would generally avoid perpetrating any mischief on consecrated soil. Darkness closed over the three as they entered the glass canyons between looming skyscrapers. The small concrete plazas below the buildings were nearly devoid of passers-by. Even in the City that Never Sleeps, New York, the financial district around Wall Street generally emptied out by early evening. The phenomenon was similar in Toronto. The Immortals saw their quarry dash across the street a couple of blocks ahead of them, then disappear. When they caught up to the spot, they found the yawning mouth and descending staircase of a subway station. "Mu zein wallah!" Brianna complained. "If he hops on a subway train, we could lose him for good!" MacLeod dashed down the stairs. "He doesn't want to lose us. He want us to catch up with him eventually." Brianna and Richie followed him. The staircase did not lead directly to a subway platform. Instead, they found themselves flanked on both sides by the glass display windows of stores. Brianna knew a similar underground shopping concourse under Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. "Duncan," she said, "We can't have a fight in here! You know what a Quickening would do to all this glass and these electric neon signs!" Like what happened at Maple Leaf Gardens, she added mentally. The Highlander continued to lead his comrades through the capitalistic labyrinth. Most of the stores were closed at that hour, and the tunnels were empty, giving the place an eerie feel. MacLeod said, "This Underground Toronto complex stretches for over 10 kilometers. He could surface at any point." "Or he could trap us in a dead end," Richie said, looking sideways at Brianna, "with no escape." "He won't want to trap himself with us," MacLeod countered. The Highlander's prediction turned out to be true. Their elusive Immortal quarry led them under several more blocks, winding through subway stations, shopping courts, and office buildings until finally he brought them back up to the surface. Judging from her earlier peregrinations through the city, Brianna saw that they were now considerably north of their original position, passing a through a large hospital complex. Ahead of them loomed an imposing structure built of heavy stone blocks. It consisted of a large rectangular central node with two flanking wings, edged by round turrets and topped with peaked oxidized copper roofs. The doors and windows were surmounted by imposing stone archways. Brianna recognized this Romanesque-style pile as the Ontario Legislative Building, home to the Provincial Parliament. (Though Ottawa was the capital city of Canada, Toronto was the seat of the Province of Ontario.) She didn't have time to admire the building any further, for the chase continued behind the Parliament house to a large grassy expanse adorned with numerous flower beds. "Queen's Park," Brianna said, also recognizing the spot -- it wasn't far from the Royal Ontario Museum, where her day had started. A nearly-full moon shone above, illuminating the space, and the Immortal Buzz was very strong here. That was because there were three Immortals facing them, all wearing long trench coats, and with sharp blades threateningly drawn. "And...we have a party," Richie declared.
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