Knowing Andrew

Chapter 132: Sidetracking

2010-07-12T12:34:00.001-04:00

~ Takyle glanced desperately from screen to screen in front of her. On the right the two hyenas that had fallen on their first wounded brother were still busy with their dinner, and the two remaining hyenas were working their way around Jaden, looking for an undefended angle. On the left was Andrew, still pinned down by the leopard. Takyle felt she was getting the idea of what the girl had so dryly called "the game", and it terrified her. Still, not playing was an even worse option than interfering, and so she interfered.
"Get away from the bodies," she willed Jaden, and when she saw him start to edge away from the two dead hyenas she turned her attention to Andrew. The wind and birds didn't work; what else could distract the big cat?

*****

Andrew saw the leopard twitch once, and then again. Its tail flicked in annoyance and it lifted one paw, as if something on the ground were irritating it. And then Andrew saw it: ants. Big red ants were climbing over the dirt at the leopard's feet, and they were beginning to bite.

"Oh hell", thought Andrew.

*****

Jaden maneuvered himself around the media station and edged several feet backwards, trying to keep all the live hyenas in his line of sight. He felt a pressure to hurry and do something before the two eating had had their fill.

"Of course, at that point, perhaps they'd just leave," he tried to tell himself.

"Fat chance."

A droplet of sweat stung Jaden's eye and he used a sleeve to quickly swipe his face. One of the hyenas that had followed him dodged around toward his right. Jaden swung his hatchet as he retreated another step, barely missing the animal's head. Its jaws snapped on air, frightening in their power. It advanced again, while the other hyena of the pair began slinking around behind Jaden.

"Crap. Crap, crap, crap," Jaden's mind chanted helpfully as he tried again to cut the second hyena off by backing away. Suddenly Jaden felt his heart leap to his throat as a hare came bursting out of the undergrowth behind him and shot in a zigzag pattern for the nearest cover. It had startled the hyenas as much as it had Jaden, and he was pleased to see that as it ran past them, no more than a tawny blur, both of them jumped back. Jaden grabbed the distraction, leaping forward to deliver a hard blow to the nearest animal, a chop to the nape of the neck. He felt the blade strike bone, and quickly chopped again, this time feeling the blade go deeper, between the vertebra, slicing through flesh and integral nerve. As before, after a strangled, heart wrenching cry, and a short, futile struggle to get away from the pain, the animal fell and at least died quickly, if gruesomely.

Jaden hurriedly stepped away from the bloody corpse and found that the other hyena who had been trying to circle him had backed away, choosing to observe from a short distance. After a moment of contemplating Jaden, it seemed to decide that he wasn’t worth the trouble and wearily moved away to join his two brothers over the carcasses of the fallen. Jaden waited for a moment to be sure that they were fully absorbed, and then edged back over to the media station and snatched up his pack before moving away as quickly as he thought safe.

“Stupid computer.” ~

Chapter 131: Impellere

2010-07-09T00:00:00.003-04:00

~ "You say I have to play the game, but I don't know what to do," Takyle reminded the girl in as scathing a tone of voice as she could work up.

"That is for you to discover yourself," said the girl. Takyle opened her mouth to respond but at that moment she saw one of the hyenas that was in Jaden's blindspot to his left begin to rush in.

"Oh! Turn around!" she gasped and to her amazement and relief, Jaden did just in time.

*****

Jaden caught the hyena under the jaw with a hard upwards kick and heard the sickening crunch of bone.

"Him or me, him or me," he reminded himself as the animal gave a cry that sounded disconcertingly similar to a human scream and stumbled back looking dazed, its lower jaw hanging slack and crooked. Long strings of blood and saliva began running from its broken mouth as the hyena shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of the pain. In a vicious display of savagery, three more of the hyenas jumped forward, two of them falling on their wounded brother, mercilessly ripping huge chunks of flesh from its neck and shoulders, while the third went for Jaden. Jaden tried another kick, but the animal shied away just in time to be missed, ducking it's head and charging back in towards his weight bearing ankle.

Like an independent thought, Jaden felt a voice, an instinct telling him to chop straight down with his hatchet, toward his own leg. Mindlessly, in the heat of the moment, Jaden followed the direction, having fought too much to risk ignoring it. With a solid thunk, the think blade was buried in the hyena's neck, severing its spinal cord. Jaden jerked the blade out and a thick gout of blood spurted up as the hyena sank, twitching, to the ground, finally lying still with its bared teeth inches from Jaden's shoe.

*****

Andrew stayed near the ground, hoping against hope that if he remained still enough the big cat would simply grow bored with him and leave. He could feel the ache of muscle exhaustion setting into his back and thighs, but he held. Just when he began to think that his nerves couldn't possibly take another moment of the tension, a sudden. violent gust of wind blew through the grass, startling up a bevy of birds. At the rush and whir of wings overhead, the leopard whipped its huge head around to watch, held by its predator instinct. Andrew grabbed the split second distraction and used it to put his knee under himself to take his weight. Before he could do anything else, the leopard's eyes were back on him, focused with all the intensity of before and then some. The birds had only inflamed its desire for the kill. ~

Chapter 130: Type A

2010-05-21T00:00:00.006-04:00

~ Jaden froze in place and reminded himself in Andrew's cool voice not to panic. Emerging from the grass in front of him in a wide arc were half a dozen large spotted hyenas, each easily standing three feet high, stalking forward. One of the burly animals drew up its lips in a silent snarl, baring bone crushing teeth.

"Oh God, oh what the fuck am I going to do now?"

"You're going to remain calm."

"Easy for you to say, you're safe inside my head!"

"Oh shut the hell up, for crying out loud, what the hell is wrong with you, you raging moron?!"

Jaden backed slowly away from the advancing hoard until he bumped into the media station just behind him. He quickly decided that this was as good a place as any to make his stand, and shed himself of his backpack. He briefly considered trying to get on top of the media station, but chose to remain on the ground where at least he knew he could fight effectively, rather than try to scramble up and balance on the steeply slanted screen.

With one hand Jaden unsheathed his dagger, and with the other he pulled his hatchet from it's holder on the side of his pack, flipping and locking it open with two smooth movements.

"Alright dogs, gimme what you got," he muttered under his breath.

"Actually, though the Spotted Hyena does share some characteristics with the canid family, it is really not a relative of the dog."

"Shut the hell up!"

*****

Takyle whipped around to face the girl.

"What the hell is this? What are those things?" she demanded. The girl nodded calmly and coldly.

"Those are hyenas, approximately half a dozen of them. And your other friend, the tall fellow, is facing a leopard."

"Why? Why are you doing this to us?"

"You chose this."

"What?! You know what, nevermind. Put me back, put me back now!" Takyle overruled her fear for just a moment to move toward the girl menacingly. The girl didn't even blinked, let alone back away.

"You cannot. You must control the game."

"What game?!"

"This game. The game with the animals... If you want your friends to live you must control the game. We will play together."

With that the girl turned back toward the images hanging in the void, and with a growing urge to panic, Takyle slowly turned with her. ~

Chapter 129: Succinctly Screwed

2010-03-12T21:58:00.001-05:00

~ As Jaden drew nearer to the media station, he slowed to a walk, glancing around himself cautiously. There was nothing to hear over the waving of the tall grass in the wind, but his mind kept telling him that it could not be that easy.

"You're just going to walk right up to the station and that will be the end of the level? You just happened to stumble upon it because you picked exactly the right direction to go on the first pass?"

"What? What do you want from me?" he demanded of himself. "Want me to turn around and go back. I'm being careful, now shut up already."

"Fine. Whatever. But it couldn't be this easy!"

Jaden sighed a bit more noisily than he intended. "I'm insane. I am frigging insane," he muttered.

~~~~~

Takyle stared at the two huge images in front of her. Both of them showed a view from far above. The screen on the right held Jaden, walking across the grass, toward what she couldn't tell. The picture on the left was clearly of Andrew. At first she thought the image was a single shot, he was so still. In front of him, nearly hidden in the grass, Takyle could barely pick out the shadowed form of some kind of big cat.

~~~~~

Despite Jaden's forebodings, he couldn't help feeling a sense of elation as he stood in front of the media station.

"I did it. I found the thing. Now just to find the on switch." He tentatively pressed one of the keys on the board and was pleased to see the screen come to life and words begin to fade forward.

"Look out," he read, immediately glancing around. When he found nothing but the unchanged, rolling grasses, he turned back to the screen. The words had disappeared and were being replaced.

"Watch your back." Jaden turned again, just to be doubly sure no one was sneaking up on him, but the plain persisted in being deserted.

"What the hell?" he asked aloud, expecting the words to change again, but they did not. In a minute the message faded away and the screen darkened. Jaden tapped the keyboard, with no response.

"What the bloody hell..." he asked again, his voice trailing off as he turned around. ~

Chapter 128: Double Jeopardy

2010-03-05T12:06:00.002-05:00

~ Andrew crouched low, eyes fixed on the leopard's face, pointedly taking deep, slow breaths and trying to keep his heart from racing. Now that the big cat knew Andrew was aware of its presence, Andrew's experience with nature programs told him that there would be no more stalking. Andrew was suddenly very sympathetic toward the nervous, twitchy little deer that never stand a chance of getting away.

"Once the prey is on to you the only real option is to charge while there is still the chance of capture," Andrew thought, knowing full well that the slightest move on his part would trigger the chase instinct and that would be it.

"Well when you can't run and you can't hide, what possibilities are you left with?"

Andrew tensed his fingers around his dagger.

"I'd prefer not to have to go with that option..."

~~~~~

"Come with me," the little girl said, holding her hand out to Takyle. For a moment Takyle hesitated, then stepped forward and reached out for the pale fingers. As soon as the girl's smooth, cool skin brushed against hers Takyle felt the ground whirl around her dizzyingly. Everything but the child seemed to streak away and she was left standing on a rock, surrounded by starry sky and vast emptiness. Takyle gasped in fear at the sudden, disorienting change and stood frozen in place, too terrified to near the edge of her rock.

"What the hell did you just do?"

"I've taken you out of the game."

"It looks like you've taken me out of the freaking solar system!"

"Are you frightened?" the girl asked calmly.

"Hell yes, I'm frightened! What do you expect when you just go and slap someone on a floating hunk of rock out in the middle of space?"

"You are easily frightened," the girl stated blandly. Takyle gaped at her.

"Look here, Red. I didn't ask to be transported to another dimension. Quit speculating on my fear levels and tell me what the fuck is going on already!" The girl never even blinked at Takyle's escalating rage.

"You must complete a task. You will control the game."

In the blackness in front of Takyle two transparent squares appeared, growing and stretching until they merged to comprise a rectangle the size of a wall. Two pictures began to fade onto the clear slabs and when the images were solid enough to make out, the only sound in the eternal emptiness was Takyle's sharp intake of breath. ~

Chapter 127: On the Veldt

2010-02-26T12:53:00.007-05:00

~ Takyle took a surreptitious look around the rolling grassland, but there was no one else in sight. She took a tentative step toward the girl.

"The game within the game? What's that supposed to mean?" Takyle demanded. The girl laughed her starched laugh again.

"It means whatever you want it to mean," she said, shrugging her thin shoulders.

"You're going to have to do better than that. Tell me what you want, and while you're at it, if you know so much, tell me what I want." The girl shook her head.

"If you want answers you must play the game," she insisted. Takyle stopped herself from outright sighing in exasperation, but couldn't keep it out of her voice.

"Fine. What game? Tell me what you want!"

*****

Andrew whirled again to a rustle behind his back, desperately searching for the source of the sound. With his knife clutched in his right hand, he fumbled to get his radio out of his belt with his left. In his haste he managed to drop the walkie talkie once it was free of the pouch and he cursed under his breath as it hit the ground with a soft crack. A quick glance down revealed that the radio had struck a rock at his feet, its back cover jarred open from the impact and the batteries knocked out.

"Shit!" Keeping his eyes up, he stooped down and felt for the batteries and the scattered parts of his radio. He cast his eyes down for a moment to pick up the plastic back cover, and when he looked up again his heart fell to his gut. Staring, unblinking, out through the stalks of grass a pair of orange eyes bore through him.

Andrew made every attempt to keep his breathing in check as around the eyes he made out the spotted and unmistakably feline face.

"Alright... Alright, stay calm. The important thing here is to stay calm. No sudden moves," he thought to himself. He exhaled slowly and shifted his weight to carefully rise to his feet. The big cat's eyes followed the minute change in his body and Andrew stopped.

"Ok, maybe no moves at all." ~

Chapter 126: Interplay

2010-02-22T00:00:00.002-05:00

~ Jaden crested a hill and in the distance saw a speck of white. For a moment he stood still, shielding his face with one hand against the glare of the sun, unable to even tell if his eyes were deceiving him, let alone what the object was. He finally decided that there most definitely was something there. Jaden glanced back to the direction he had been traveling, and then again at the object in the distance. He waited in conflict for only a brief second before deciding that he needed to find out what it was.

"After all, you have no real reason for continuing in the direction you were going. You picked it at random!" his mind told him as he started across the plain toward the white speck. As he grew closer the shape resolved itself into a box, and then finally into a media station.

"Yes! I rock," Jaden murmured to himself as he quickened his pace. This had to be what he was supposed to find. Why else would a media station be set out here?

*****

Glancing up from the brambles that she was picking her way through, Takyle caught sight of a flash of red disappearing into a shallow dell. She shook her head as if to clear her vision. She could have sworn in was a young girl. Takyle ran up the hill after her, only slowing near the top in order to peak over into the hollow. There was nothing there, but as she straightened and turned she heard a laugh. She spun to her right just in time to see the same glimpse of loose red cloth and flowing auburn hair disappear for a second time.

"The hell?"

Again Takyle followed, again to find nothing. Just as she turned around to go back to her previous path she heard a voice behind her, small and innocent, yet strangely passive for the words.

"Please help me."

Takyle spun toward the voice to find a girl, 13 or 14 years old from the looks of it, standing only a couple of yards behind her on the declining slope.

"Please help me. If you help me I will show you what you're looking for."

"How do you know what I'm looking for?" asked Takyle. The girl laughed again with the same passive voice.

"I am the game within the game. I know all the secrets." ~

Chapter 125: The Unknown

2010-02-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

~ Andrew stood up from re-tying his bootlace, and immediately pulled a pad of paper, a pen, his compass and a stick of gum from his utility belt. After folding the gum into his mouth, he started a crude map on his notepad, sketching in the identifiable characteristics within his sight. Without further ado he aligned his compass to North, marked down his heading on his map, and headed off, singing quietly to himself.

"Joy to the world, all the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me..."

Half an hour later, as Andrew moved to the fourth stage of his grid search, he fell suddenly silent when he heard a twig snap behind him. For a moment he stood frozen, concentrating hard, wishing for Jaden and his near bionic hearing. The only sound that greeted him was the whispering of the prairie grass in the wind. Andrew had dismissed the sound to his imagination and started forward again before it hit him: just the wind? What happened to the cricket song?

He spun around, searching the tall grasses behind him for movement, but all he could see was the waving of the dry stems. For a moment the wind stilled and in the distance he could hear oblivious birds singing. Again he whirled when he thought there was a rustle to his left, but he found nothing there either. He stood with his feet set wide, pulling his dagger with one hand and fishing with the other for his radio. He felt him legs and back tensing as the silence around him seemed to deepen.

~~~~~

With a sigh and a shrug Takyle pocketed her radio and, judging from the position of the sun, struck out in a Southwesterly direction. She walked briskly, pushing her fatigue, her throbbing cuts and bruises, and the deep ache in her limbs to the back her mind, forcing herself to not slow down.

"Why are you so devoted to winning this?" Andrew had asked her two long years ago.

"I want to. I have to."

"You know there's a very good chance we'll lose?"

"If that's the attitude you're going to bring into this I'll find someone else," she had informed him coldly.

"Why am I so devoted to winning this?" Takyle asked herself, trekking up yet another rolling hill.

"Ask yourself that when the race is over," she murmured harshly. ~

Chapter 124: Solitude

2010-01-11T00:00:00.001-05:00

~ Jaden blinked and looked around himself. By all appearances he was standing in a rolling meadow... Alone.

"Andy?" he called, as loudly as he dared. When he got no answer he tried again. "Anybody?" Still no one answered. He quickly pulled off his pack and unzipped one of the front pockets, dumping out a couple of nutri-bars in his hurry to get at his radio. Jerking open the zip-lock bag it had been protected in, Jaden flipped the radio on.

"Team 6, this is Jaden, please respond." A moment passed and Jaden repeated his call. There was silence for a second more before the radio crackled.

"Takyle here, where are you and is Andrew with you?" With Takyle's message Jaden was simultaneously hit with relief and fear.

"Andrew isn't here and I don't know where 'here' is. I'm in some sort of grassland or something."

"Me too. Give it a minute, maybe Andrew will key in." Takyle advised calmly.

As if called by prophecy that second the radios buzzed one more time and Andrew's voice came through, tinny and distant sounding.

"Team 6, Andrew here, please respond."

"We're here Andrew," Takyle answered.

"Oh, thank Ishvara," said Andrew.

"Andrew, do you know where you are?" Takyle interrupted.

"No clue."

"Ok, then I'd guess that this is an independent level."

"Is that normal?" asked Jaden.

"Not extraordinarily so," said Takyle. I remember them putting one in six years ago."

"Oh, okay."

"So what, Boss?" asked Andrew. "Explore but maintain radio contact?" Takyle was silent for a short moment.

"Yes, that would probably be best. Be careful."

"Yes Ma'am," Andrew and Jaden both answered.

"Good. Takyle out."

"Ditto," chimed in Andrew, and Jaden's radio went quiet. He tood a deep, calming breath and then tucked the walkie talkie into one of the pouches on the back of his utility belt. Swinging his pack back onto his shoulder, he took another look around. A bush bearing pinkish flowers grew a few yards to the left. Not as good as a tree, but it would do as a landmark.

Jaden snapped one of the branches off and lay it on the ground, pointing in the the direction he intended to go first.

"I'll call it "North"," Jaden murmured to himself as he started off. As he walked, Jaden kept up a running commentary under his breath, partly to cement anything that might be of importance in his memory and partly just to fill the void of no one else to talk to. He found himself tending toward mildly disabling continual curiosity about what his surroundings might signify.

"Those rocks are sort of in an arrow shape. That's encouraging."

"Wind to my back, that's always a good sign."

"The sun's still high so there's probably more than enough time to finish whatever this is before dark."

"A pair of geese flying in the same direction that I'm walking; How could that be anything but a good omen?"

"If a grasshopper jumps out of the way when you're walking... What does that mean?"

"Shut up," his mind ordered.

"Fine, geez! What's your problem?"

"No really. Shut up."

And so Jaden did. ~

Chapter 123: Validation

2009-10-02T00:00:00.002-04:00

~ Takyle took a deep breath and glanced around at the men on the floor, her eyes finally resting back on Cmd. Tucker.

"You have no idea what you're doing!" Cmd. Tucker hissed back at her. "This is not your war."

"Exactly," agreed Takyle. "So we have no reason to be helping you decimate these...Caltens. We don't even know why you're fighting, let alone if it's necessary."

"I told you that I'd explain everything later," he said.

"Yeah, conveniently after the deed has been done. No thanks."

Andrew cleared his throat. "Takyle," he said quietly. "We should move, don't you think?"

"Yes." Takyle moved around the commander to the console he'd been working at and yanked the computer chip out of it's port. All around the room screens blanked.

"Hey! You can't just do that," protested the commander.

"Be quiet," Takyle ordered. "And sit still if you don't want to be tied down." She backed away from the chair, studying the computer chip, gun trained on the commander's chest. She glanced at Andrew and Jaden to make sure they were keeping an eye on everyone and then propped the chip against one of the consoles. Without another look around she pointed the handgun at the chip and shot one round at it at point blank range.

As the chip and surrounding components of the of the console exploded into millions of shards of plastic the commander jumped up.

"NO!"

Takyle smoothly turned, arm still extended to point the gun back at Cmd. Tucker.

"Sit down," she ordered coldly. The commander took a tiny step back but refused to sink into the chair. He glared at Takyle.

"Do you have any idea how far that will set us back?" he hissed aggressively. Takyle shrugged.

"A long time I hope. Now move over to that wall, all of you." Takyle flicked the gun barrel toward the far wall. The commander hesitated for only a moment before walking to where Takyle had pointed, joined by the three other men.

"Face the wall, hands behind your heads. And don't stand too close," said Takyle. She glanced over at Jaden and Andrew and nodded toward the door.

"Let's go."

Jaden stepped back and swung the door to the main room open. White light flooded over them and the concrete bunker faded into the brightness. ~

Chapter 122: Disambiguation

2009-09-25T00:00:00.006-04:00

~ Jaden stood unmoving, his heart in his throat and his entire attention fixed upon the vague shape of Takyle's arm in his peripheral vision. As if in slow motion he saw her arm begin to withdraw from her pack and in her hand he caught the blue glint of gun steel. Beside him Andrew started to spin away, smoothly pulling his knife as he turned, and Jaden followed. He saw a look of surprise falling over the faces of the officers behind them.

"This has to be quick. This has to be quick or we could be in big trouble."

Jaden and Andrew reached the two men at the door before they were able to finish opening their mouths to shout a warning. Jaden gave a quick chop with his left hand to knock the hand of the officer in front of him away from his weapon and then followed up with another blow to the man's windpipe. The soldier gasped and clutched as his throat, vainly struggling to get a breath. Beside him Andrew already had the other man immobilized with one arm trapped behind his back and a dagger at his throat.

As Jaden and Andrew had moved on the guards, Takyle had crossed the room and spun the commander's chair around to use him as a shield, pressing the barrel of her gun to his temple. By that time the third officer had turned around and reached for his own gun. He looked panicked as he tried to decide how to act.

"Order them to stand down and keep quiet," Takyle hissed at the commander. "Do it now!"

"Do what she says," Cmd. Tucker ordered, his voice breaking slightly from the gruff monotone he had been using. Jaden almost laughed. The man was scared; he wasn't going to offer much, if any resistance.

"Disarm them, Andrew," said Takyle, retaining her hold on Cmd. Tucker. Andrew quickly pulled the guns of the two officers held by Jaden and himself and then gestured at the third officer.

"Hey you, slide your sidearm into the middle of the room and lie down on the floor with your hands behind your head." When all three officers were on the floor Takyle turned Cmd. Tucker to face her.

"Alright then, now I feel like we can talk." ~

Chapter 121: Untenable

2009-09-21T00:00:00.001-04:00

~ The slight unrest that the look in Cmd. Tucker's eye had given Jaden was growing more concrete by the second. He caught himself nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot and forced it to stop. Thankfully Andrew was already on the issue.

"Commander, just who are the Caltens?" he asked.

"They are the enemy."

"And what did this...other race is it? What did they do to start this war you're fighting?" At that the commander turned around once again.

"They exist." The commander stared Andrew down, cold fervor marking his features. "For now." Andrew held the man's gaze for a few moments and then lowered his eyes. As soon as the commander turned away Andrew glanced pointedly at Takyle.

"We have to do something," he whispered, keeping his face pointed straight ahead so that the officers behind them couldn't see his mouth moving. Takyle looked around hesitantly.

"Who's to say we're supposed to interfere?"

"This is genocide we're talking about, Takyle! And we made it possible with those codes. I'm going to do something." Andrew glanced over at Jaden.

"I'm in!" Jaden whispered. Takyle nodded.

"Ok, you're right. What can we do?" Andrew took a quick look over his shoulder to place the two other officers. They still stood stoically on either side of the door. Andrew lowered his voice even further.

"We have to get that chip back. I don't know if the commander is armed, but the other three definitely are, so we need to take them out first."

"The two behind us are watching for something to happen," Jaden warned.

"And if we allow too much noise others might come in here. We need to make this fast and quiet."

"I've still got the thing I found in that desk," murmured Takyle without taking her eyes from the screens across the room. "If I can get it out..."

"Ta," said Andrew aloud. "Do you have any more of the pain tabs the medic gave me in your pack? My stomach is getting pretty sore." Takyle had never carried any of Andrew's medicine and it only took a split second for her to catch on.

"Uh, yeah I think so... Let me look." As Takyle slipped her backpack off and began to unzip it Andrew glanced at Jaden and made a quick motion to indicate what he needed to do. Jaden gave one minuscule nod in response. He felt his heart rate begin to increase and his legs tense in anticipation. ~

Chapter 120: Preemptive

2009-09-18T00:00:00.002-04:00

~ Just as Jaden placed the chip in Cmd. Tucker's hand the man glanced up to meet his eye and in the back of Jaden's mind a warning started to sound. As the commander inserted the computer chip into an adapter, and then into the console in front of him, Jaden quickly backed up to were Andrew and Takyle were standing, glancing around as subtly as he could. One member of the escort was typing busily at a second console about 12 feet away and the other two stood flanking the door, their eyes fixed on Team 6. Jaden looked to Andrew but he was busy watching the commander. Jaden cleared his throat nervously.

"So uh...what are you guys going to do with that chip, Commander?"

"We're going to win a war, thanks in no small part to your help," Cmd. Tucker answered absently. Jaden glanced back to Andrew to see if perhaps the longshot plan to get Andrew's attention with just his tone of voice had worked. With great relief he saw that it had; Andrew was giving him a quizzical look. Now that Jaden had his friend's attention he realized that he had no idea how to communicate his vague feeling of disquiet without attracting suspicion. He tried doing it with just a significant look and a twitch of his head in the commander's direction, but if anything that only increased the look of confusion in Andrew's eyes.

"Who is this war with?" Jaden asked.

"A group called the Caltens," said the commander.

"What started it?" For the first time since Jaden had given him the chip the commander took his gaze from the screen in front of him to shoot a quick glance back over his shoulder.

"It was a complex political situation, I doubt I could explain it properly."

Jaden watched as a series of maps scrolled across one of the console screens. He swallowed his timidity.

"Well why don't you try." By this time both Andrew and Takyle had their attention on Jaden, and Andrew seemed like he might be working out what Jaden was getting at.

"Look, I don't really have time for this right now. I assure you all of your questions will be answered later," Cmd. Tucker snapped impatiently. Andrew spoke up.

"Yeah, I don't think that will be good enough. I think we have some questions that you should really answer now. What are you going to do with that?"

The commander spun around in his chair to finally face them.

"We're going to use it for a weapon that we've been working on for a very long time now. Millions of our people have died in this war and this strike will put an end to it! Now be quiet so we can finish the job." ~

Chapter 119: Elemental

2009-09-13T13:14:00.003-04:00

~ Before either Takyle or Jaden could reply to Andrew the box beeped again and a second panel popped open. After a short pause Andrew reached into the tiny compartment and pulled out a green and silver computer chip, snugly fitted into a clear protective case.

"Maybe we did do the right thing. Wonder what this is for," he said, passing the chip to Jaden.

"There is nothing else in the "instructions" that we were given," stated Takyle, leaning back.

"Well then maybe we're supposed to give this to Cmd. Ready-With-Information, now that we've gotten it out of the box," Jaden suggested.

"Could be." Takyle rose from her seat and crossed the room to open the door. In the war room the activities were still ongoing and it took a moment for Takyle to locate Cmd. Tucker and catch his eye. When she did get his attention he quickly strode over and immediately demanded an update.

"Well? Did you get it open?" Takyle paused a moment before answering.

"Yes...yes we did."

"Good; where is the chip?"

"In here, but may I ask you what it is for?" Takyle inquired. The commander tilted his head impatiently.

"I'll do you one better than that; bring the chip and you can come along and see for yourself." Takyle nodded and gestured for Jaden and Andrew. As they left the side room and followed Cmd. Tucker across the floor of the war room three other officers fell into step behind them, keeping a respectful distance, but very obviously not just coming along for interest's sake. Jaden felt himself stiffen slightly in either nervousness or excitement. He glanced over at Andrew to make sure that he had noticed as well. Andrew met his eye for only the briefest of moments and it was more than enough to let Jaden know that he was aware of their escort.

"Play it cool and see what happens," Jaden thought to himself. "This could be nothing."

On the opposite side of the room the commander led the entire group through yet another door, but this one into a chamber with several large control panels set against three of the walls. Cmd. Tucker sat down in front of one of them and held out his hand without looking at any member of Team 6.

"Give me the chip," he ordered. At Takyle's nod, Jaden stepped forward and placed the tiny piece of plastic and metal in the commander's open hand. ~

Chapter 118: Opperant Conditioning

2009-09-11T00:00:00.007-04:00

~ Without another word Cmd. Tucker spun on his heel and marched off toward a door in the far wall. Takyle glanced back at Andrew and Jaden; they both shrugged.

"Let's go," she said, turning and walking quickly to catch up with the commander. At the door he stopped and turned around.

"This job I have for you is of the utmost importance. Do you understand?"

"Sure, why not," said Andrew blandly. The commander shot him a scorching look.

"I'll need to know that you are going to give this your all," he said, this time addressing Takyle directly.

"I'm sure we'll do our best, Cmd. Tucker; why don't you go ahead and tell us what the task is?"

The commander tightened his lips and opened the door, stepping into the small room ahead of Team 6. He waved to a table set in the middle of the bare floor. In the center of the table sat a nondescript black box and a thin file folder.

"There are instructions in that file. Read and follow them." With that the commander turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"You know what I like about that guy?" said Andrew. "He's so succinct. Abbreviated even. You see the point up ahead on the horizon and, bam, he's already there!"

"Alright Andrew, let's get to work," interrupted Takyle. Each of them took a chair around the table and Andrew flipped open the file.

"Ok, at the top it says Department of Cryptology and then under that there's a bunch of gibberish. It must be a code."

"And we have to break it?" guessed Jaden.

"Looks like it."

"Here," said Takyle. "Let me see." Andrew pushed the file across the table to her and she scanned the document quickly. "This could be a simple substitution code, in which case this shouldn't be too difficult. I know for a fact that e, followed by t and then a are the letters used most often in the English alphabet, so let's start by substituting those for whatever letters appears most often here." Takyle pulled out her pen and began tallying letters in the first few sentences of code.

"Ok, it looks like the three letters used most here are g, r, and u, in that order, so I'll sub those out and from that it's pretty obvious that these words are all 'the', 'an', or 'and'." After saying that Takyle fell silent as she quickly figured out the rest of the letters by simple trial and error.

"Alright, it says to press down the first two and the last of the small buttons at the same time to open the front panel of the box." Andrew pulled the box that was in the middle of the table toward him and flipped it over in his hands. On one side he located a row of small black buttons and pressed pushed the three that Takyle had indicated. With a near silent whir a panel above the buttons raised itself exposing a row of colored lights and three more rows of buttons.

"Ok, now what?"

"Now...input the initializing codes?" Takyle looked up. "Was there anything else in this file Andrew?"

"No, just that sheet of paper."

"Well, there has to be something else. Right under that is says 'Warning: Termination will ensue if proper initializing codes are not entered.'"

"Termination of what exactly?" asked Jaden quietly.

"Don't know. Hopefully not us. So let's figure this out." The team fell silent as they thought. Jaden felt his concentration slip, and he allowed his mind to wander, dreamlike, through memories. Suddenly he jerked and sat up straight.

"Hey! That scepter that I found in the dessert sim right before Andy got stabbed had numbers on it!"

"Who has it?" asked Takyle.

"I did have it, but we've switched stuff around since then," offered Andrew, slipping his pack off and looking through his gear. "Yup, still got it! And you're right, there are numbers etched on it." Andrew laid the scepter on the table. "You think that those numbers are the code?"

Jaden leaned over to look into the open panel. "Well, the numbers on the scepter are in three groups of eight, and the box has three rows of buttons inside, so maybe each bunch of numbers corresponds to one line of buttons?"

"Seems like that could be the case, but is that a chance we're willing to take?" asked Takyle. "You know, what with the "warning" and all."

"Well I don't have any better ideas," Andrew said with a shrug.

"Ok...let's do it."

Andrew bent over the box once again. "So, you're thinking that these buttons represent the numbers zero to nine from left to right, Jay, and each of the number strings is entered on its own line?"

"Yeah, I mean, it seems logical doesn't it?"

"Sure, I guess. Ok, so the first line of numbers is 38661942?" ask Andrew, his hand hovering over the buttons. Jaden glanced at the scepter to confirm the digits for Andrew and nodded. Andrew gingerly pressed the first button and the lights began flashing red. He quickly but carefully finished the other seven digits and pulled his hand back. The lights flashed yellow once and then went back to blinking red.

"Is that a good sign you think?" Andrew asked, looking up to get the second string of numbers.

"Maybe," said Takyle. "Keep going."

"75204019," Jaden read off for Andrew. Again the lights blinked yellow once.

"Ok, last one," said Jaden. "65523960."

As soon as the last button on the last line was pressed the blinking lights sped up disconcertingly for about a second and then all turned to solid green. With a final small beep the entire box went dead. For several moments Team 6 sat still, waiting. Finally Andrew spoke up.

"Huh... Well that was anti-climatic. Did we do something wrong?" ~

Chapter 117: All The King's Horses

2009-09-07T00:00:00.005-04:00

~ "Yep, I heard it that time," confirmed Andrew.

Takyle quickly started up the stairs again, this time bounding up two at a time with Andrew and Jaden right on her heels. Within 20 seconds they had reached the top landing of the tower and crashed through a loose wooden door that stood a foot ajar. Seamlessly they stumbled into a bunkered war room, officers and orderlies bustling in and out around them. Men in various breeds of uniform shouted at one another across maps and sand tables, a din of hurried conversation all around them. Screens and monitors, some of them being continually updated with line after line of data, lined the edges of the room over banks of computers.

"Hello," stated Andrew, breathlessly.

"What the hell?" demanded Jaden. No one in the war room seemed to care at all that they had come bursting through the door. For that matter no one seemed to have even noticed them.

"Excuse me," Takyle said to a passing officer. He didn't pay her any mind. "Excuse me," she said louder, snagging a young man in crisp khaki's by the elbow.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am?"

"Where are we and who's in charge here?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer your first question ma'am, that's classified, and you'll need to speak to Cmd. Tucker to be debriefed." The young man snapped off a quick salute and started to turn away but Takyle maintained her grip on him.

"Hang on there Zippy, where's Cmd. Tucker?"

"Over there, ma'am," answered the soldier, pointing to one of the sand tables where a man was gesticulating wildly to what was clearly a subordinate.

"Thank you," Takyle said, releasing the soldier to go about his business and starting across the crowded room. Andrew shot Jaden a look and they followed, both of them keeping a hand on their daggers and a watchful eye on the men moving around them. Not a single person seemed concerned with them at all, but Jaden and Andrew weren't about to take it on faith that that would remain the case. When they reached the sand table Takyle brusquely addressed the man behind it.

"Cmd. Tucker." The man didn't look up.

"What do you want?" he asked rudely.

"I want you attention for a moment," she replied in a scathing tone. At that the commander raised his eyes. He looked slightly taken aback but only briefly before his eyes narrowed and he looked Takyle up and down critically.

"Well, you've got my attention now and I've got precious little time to waste so what the hell do you want?"

"We were told to come to you for debriefing," answered Takyle, matching the commander in impatient, no-nonsense attitude.

"Team 6?"

"Yes."

"Well it's about time you got here! Come on, I've got a job for you." ~

Chapter 116: Reprise

2009-09-04T00:00:00.002-04:00

~ It was not long at all before Team 6 reached the tower and discovered, neatly tucked away in the shadows cast by the massive wooden legs and framework, a media station. While Jaden and Andrew stood looking around warily, Takyle touched its screen and it began to hum quietly. Lighted text and a map blinked into life on the dark green background and she quickly scanned the dots on the map.

"Looks like there are three other teams on this level now and eight teams are somewhere behind us. Two teams are ahead and all together six teams are out of the race so far... Four people are dead and it looks like all but five of the teams have at least one injury serious enough to declare here."

"And look at that, we're one of them," Andrew stated blandly, reading over her shoulder.

"Well I wonder which of us they could be referring to?" Takyle answered. "Come on guys, let's climb."

"What do you think could be up there?" asked Jaden as they started up the rickety, wooden steps.

"Rapunzel?" guessed Andrew.

"If that were the case then shouldn't we be on a hair-powered elevator or something?" said Takyle. Jaden nodded.

"Yeah, but in the story I think you had to call to the maiden, and we didn't do that, so we have to walk up." Takyle shook her head regretfully.

"Damn. Oh well, lessons learned."

Jaden began silently counting stairs and got somewhere past 150 before he lost track of his tally and happened to look up. Through the sparse, dilapidated scaffolding that supported the steps, Jaden could see the vast, mountainous terrain stretching spectacularly out away from them in every direction. From this high up the thorny shrubs and sharp rocks covering the slopes were smoothed over and in the new light of day everything looked fresh and clean. Jaden opened his mouth to ask Andrew why the hell they didn't bring a camera, but caught himself.

"It's not real, moron." He shook his head and kept trudging up the stairs.

"Hey, don't be too hard on me, I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Andy?"

"Yup," answered Andrew.

"Think there are really places like this?"

"Like this fire tower?"

"Yeah, well, all of it. This," said Jaden, gesturing outward to everything surrounding them.

"Yes, I suppose so. Not a lot of places like this left, but there are some." Andrew paused on a landing to take a deep breath before tackling the next flight. "Ever been to Yellowstone?"

"No."

"It's amazing," chipped in Takyle.

"Yes, 'tis. We should go there sometime if we ever get out of this friggin' race," said Andrew. Jaden suddenly grabbed Andrew's arm to stop him.

"Quiet! Did you hear that?"

"What?" whispered Andrew. Jaden stood perfectly still, head cocked to the side. There it was again.

Shouting. ~

Chapter 115: To the Future

2009-06-22T00:29:00.003-04:00

~ By the time Team 6 got on their way, the still hidden sun was just beginning to color the horizon a radiant orange. Jaden felt that his spirit had improved considerably from the night before, but he was still incredibly tired, not to mention on edge in the constant expectation of attack. He did take heart in the fact that Andrew didn't seem to be in a terrible amount of pain. As they walked Andrew talked and joked softly with Takyle while Jaden followed, lost in his own thoughts.

"Just press on," he told himself. "How much worse can it get?" Jaden immediately began berating himself for the thought. He knew very well that it could get much worse and he held to the illogical belief that by even thinking he had hit rock bottom, he was just begging for the floor to drop out.

"So then I said to her, well I'd like to see you take that to the bank!" said Takyle with a laugh in her voice. Beside her Andrew grinned.

"Ok Ta, either I'm missing something here or that is a lot less amusing than you think it is," he said in a teasing tone.

"Oh come on! Maybe you had to be there to get the full effect, but that was damn funny!"

"Alright, if you say so," Andrew conceded with a laugh, slipping his arm around Takyle's waist and pulling her toward him.

"Geez, Andrew, you're breaking my stride," she scolded gently, but didn't pull away immediately.

"I'd do more than that to you, given the chance," Andrew replied, flashing her a grin that could charm the legs off an insect.

"Andrew, you're not a douche; don't act like one," said Takyle, pushing him away from her.

"Ok hun, I'll only act like a prat from here on out, scout's honor."

"Were you ever even actually a scout?" Takyle demanded.

"Yes, I absolutely was. I earned all kinds of badges. The tracking badge, and the fire badge, and the assisting the elderly badge, and the knot tying badge, and the bird feeding badge."

"The bird feeding badge, ey? I bet those learned skills have a lot of applications in your day to day life."

"You'd be surprised!"

As they crossed the side of the mountain, the scrub brush and stunted trees grew thicker but in front of them they could just see the top of the tower that they were headed toward. In the dawn's light the flashing beacon at the very top of it was dimming. It appeared to be an old fire watch tower, the tiny cabin at the apex enclosed with windows on all four sides.

"What the deuce could there be in an ancient fire tower?" Jaden wondered. ~

Chapter 114: Ahead of the Sun

2009-05-22T11:40:00.001-04:00

~ Before dawn Takyle was up and banging around camp, packing up the few things that the team had left out the night before.

"Come on guys, rise and shine."

A loud groan answered her.

"What kind of moron volunteers for this kind of competition?" Andrew moaned from his bed.

"The masochistic kind," Jaden responded blearily.

"Yeah well, this masochistic moron wants the two of you set to head out in five," Takyle ordered brusquely.

"Ok, we're up," snapped Andrew, still wrapped in his sleeping bag. As Jaden sat up he heard his back creak.

"Ah frick," Jaden groaned, pulling himself to his feet and stretching, twisting his shoulders from side to side. "Are we going to eat breakfast, Takyle?"

"Nope. We can wait or eat on the way."

"On the way where?" asked Andrew, disentangling his legs from his sleeping bag.

"There." Takyle pointed off to the right, perpendicular to the slope. Above the horizon a dim orange light was suspended, blinking every couple of seconds.

"What is it?" Jaden asked.

"I don't know. But if it was there last night we missed it. I was also thinking that as a general rule we want to be moving up in this race and here we are going downhill."

"Oh," Andrew muttered. "Yeah, I didn't think about that."

"None of us were thinking all that clearly yesterday, for very good reasons. So let's take a quick detour to see what this is and if it's nothing we'll keep doing what we were. Even now I don't know that that is wrong. Technically no decisions we make are supposed to be wrong; just better or worse."

Jaden began to put on his backpack and then stopped.

"Andrew, how long has it been since you changed that bandage on your stomach?"

"Um, a while," Andrew answered. Jaden tightened his lips disapprovingly and turned immediately to Takyle.

"Takyle, I know we're in a hurry, but that is something that he should definitely do, so you need to make time for it right now." Takyle nodded.

"Do it," she ordered. "Oh, and Jaden, you have a few wounds there yourself. Take care of them."

"Ha, you just caught a ricochet," Andrew scoffed as he took off his pack and set it back down.

"Yeah, Andy," Jaden answered skeptically. "I really got the short end of this stick. I have to take care of myself. Obviously I should be more careful when placing requests that could keep you from dying."

"Exactly." Andrew agreed, unbuttoning his overshirt. He pulled up the side of his black t-shirt to expose the bandage that the medic had wrapped around his torso. "Man, seems like this happened a long time ago." He turned away as he unwound it, but he wasn't quick enough.

"Andy, you've been bleeding! What the hell man? Why didn't you say something?"

"Well largely because I didn't realize that it was happening. You know I was captured and interrogated right?"

"Are you in more pain than before?" asked Jaden as Takyle stepped over to look at Andrew.

"Not really. About the same," he said.

"Andrew, that really worries me," Takyle told him, glancing down at the blood soaked bandages.

"Look, the medic never said that it's not normal for a wound like this to bleed some. The stitches seem fine; doesn't look infected to me, so I'm ok. Jay, will you give me some antisep please?"

"Yeah, hang on." Jaden knelt and unzipped his pack to get the medkit out.

"How's the leg, Jaden?" asked Takyle.

"Fine. Doesn't really hurt much more than the rest of me right now."

"Well that's good I suppose."

"Could be a lot worse," he said.

"Yeah," chimed in Andrew. "You could be ugly too." ~

Chapter 113: Words Spoken

2009-03-25T10:41:00.006-04:00

~ "What do you mean you shouldn't have gotten me into this?" asked Jaden.

"I mean that it's my fault that this happened in the first place. I knew what kind of a race this is. It's about exploiting a person's every weakness."

"I'm not weak," Jaden protested.

"That's not what I meant, Jay." Andrew sighed and fell quiet.

"Then what did you mean?" Jaden asked after a moment of unbearable silence.

"You can have a weakness without being weak. There is a point in every chain that is not as strong as all the rest and that can be by a lot or by a little. Everybody has weaknesses."

Jaden turned his face to the darkness outside of the small circle of their camp.

"Yeah well, you didn't "get me into this" anyway. I wanted to be in this."

"Even now? After everything that's happened so far?" asked Andrew, quietly.

"Especially now. This is the most awesome thing I've ever done. It may kill me, but it's awesome. No matter what happens, this makes things different for my entire life."

"Jay, somebody tried to rape you," Andrew stated incredulously.

"Yeah well, I've had worse things happen to me and I'm still kicking."

"I can tell you one thing Jay, you've got what it takes. Whether we win this race or not you are going to make something of yourself. There's no reason why you shouldn't. You're smart, you've got the will for it, I don't see anything stopping you."

Jaden tried to smile but found it difficult. "Well I can see something stopping me. College costs money, and if we don't win this I haven't got any aside from what Takyle's paying me."

"Don't you worry about that," said Andrew, his voice as reassuring as it had ever been. "There are options. We'll get you taken care of." For a long moment no one spoke and then Jaden cleared his throat.

"Thanks Andrew."

"Sure thing Jay."

"I think I can go to sleep now."

"Ok, well, good night."

"You too Andy." ~

Chapter 112: Eventual Release

2008-10-31T02:37:00.008-04:00

~ As Jaden settled to the pace that Takyle was setting, he allowed himself to relax just enough that he was able to block out most of the throbbing pain radiating from various points on his body. Behind him Andrew quietly hummed unknown melodies, the stanzas interspersed with an occasional observation about their immediate surroundings. The group walked on through the day, pausing only briefly for lunch and a short break before moving on again. The path continued on a downhill trend, with brief stints upwards over smaller rises, though the scenery remained similarly uneventful.

As the hours passed, Jaden found himself slipping into a melancholy that he couldn't shake. With each step he felt himself sink a little deeper still. In the back of his mind a constant nagging voice threatened to tell him the reason for it and he continually shoved the thought away, only to have it return again and again, pressing against his defenses, pushing through the cracks.

A mantra set itself up in his mind, chanting over and over, "Just keep walking, just keep walking."

After the sun slipped behind the horizon and the slopes had faded to black Takyle finally called a halt to their long march.

"Alright, we're going to eat, sleep for a couple of hours and then head out again. I want to get off of this stupid mountain."

Jaden and Andrew both nodded and silently went about pitching their impromptu camp and fixing something nondescript for dinner. The meal was eaten for the most part in silence and in the dark each member of Team 6 crawled into their sleeping bag for a fleeting bit of rest.

Jaden lay staring up at the stars far above and the deeper blackness surrounding each point of light, wishing for sleep and lying in continual disappointment. Eventually Jaden's vision blurred and he gave into the thoughts that were screaming to be heard, until he was startled by Andrew's voice.

"Jay, why are you still awake?" he murmured. Jaden sat up and looked over to where he knew Andrew was supposed to be sleeping.

"How did you know?"

"We've been rooming together for nearly a year dude. Your breathing changes."

"Oh."

"So what's wrong?"

Jaden sat for a long moment in silence, staring out into the dark. Finally he spoke.

"Are you scared to be around me, Andy?"

"If I was would I be sitting here in the dark with you, knowing that you're armed?" asked Andrew, his voice carrying his smile. "But um... What would make you say something like that Jay?" The quiet that surrounded them was heavy while Jaden thought about his response.

"Well... What happened with Kathleen... I don't... I didn't really think-" Jaden's failing speech ground to a halt when Andrew interrupted his stammering.

"You mean because of the fact that you fully intended to kill that woman before I stopped you?"

"Yes."

"What did she do to you, Jaden?"

"How does he know?"

"Because he can read you like a book."

"I want to tell him everything."

"I don't know how."

"Just say it. Say it now."

"How?"

"Just say it!"

"Kathleen tried to rape me." The words spilled out quickly and Jaden regretted them immediately. Inexplicably he felt a rush of shame.

"What's wrong with you? You didn't do anything."

Andrew was silent for a long time and for a moment Jaden imagined that his friend was judging him. Surely Andrew would think that he had brought it on himself somehow.

"Don't be such an idiot. He's on your side," Jaden reminded himself harshly.

When Andrew did finally speak his voice was edged with icy anger.

"What happened? What did she do?"

Jaden drew a deep and somewhat shaky breath, allowing himself a moment of relief over Andrew's response, and then he began to describe what had happened. He left nothing out and Andrew was silent through the entire narrative, though Jaden could feel his eyes on him through the darkness. When Jaden had finished pouring his heart out the stillness of the night settled itself around them once again. Eventually Jaden heard Andrew sigh.

"Andrew... What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I was an idiot for getting you into this." ~

Chapter 111: Indistinct

2008-10-27T02:37:00.013-04:00

~ Jaden was not awake long enough to see the traps that Andrew and Takyle were discussing put into place. As soon as they were done eating Jaden cleaned up their mess kits and then, at Andrew's nod, curled up on top of his sleeping bag and passed out. Three hours later he woke, shaking in the chill air, the left side of his body slightly numb from laying in one position on the rocky ground. He fumbled around with the zipper of his bag and took a half-asleep glance around to locate Andrew and Takyle's still forms in the dark before crawling into his sleeping bag. Now that he was aware of just how uncomfortable he was, Jaden found it more difficult to fall asleep again, but it wasn't long before his exhaustion overcame even that and his thoughts slipped away. After another three hours passed, Jaden was startled awake when Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Morning Beautiful," Andrew whispered. Jaden sat up stiffly and looked around at the surrounding darkness.

"If you say so," he said, scrubbing his palms across his face.

"It will be getting light soon; we need to be moving."

"Ok. I'm on it." Jaden blearily dragged himself out of his bag and began rolling it up while Andrew moved off and fired up their camp burner again. By the time Jaden and Takyle had stowed their gear Andrew had warmed up what was left of last night's dinner and mixed some instant coffee.

Jaden scarfed down his portion of breakfast as quickly as possible, more to get it over with than to conserve time. Aging hadn't really helped the gruel at all, but the coffee wasn't bad. A quick glance around showed that Andrew was already done eating and packing up the tiny stove as Takyle finished off her coffee.

"Do you have a plan for today Takyle?" Jaden asked.

"Other than "Try to make progress," no." Takyle hoisted her pack onto her shoulder after shoving her tin cup into one of the pockets. Jaden nodded and followed suit while Andrew swallowed two of the painkillers that the medic had given him.

"Well I'm ready to go," Andrew said with a good deal more cheer than the situation merited. Takyle's mouth turned up in a smile for a moment before she silently turned and led off down the sloping mountain path. ~

Chapter 110: Too Close For Comfort

2008-10-24T02:36:00.005-04:00

~ It didn't take long for Team 6 to cover the surrounding territory, but by the time they were finished the sun was already sinking low on the western horizon. They regrouped South of where they had scaled the cliff at Takyle's call. On that side of the mountain the grade was much more shallow and the granite was clothed with a thin layer of rocky soil. A little further down the slope the occasional scrubby tree had managed to get a toehold among the boulders. Stunted and bent to the wind, but still standing nonetheless.

Takyle stood on top of a large rock, gazing down.

"So guys, there seems to be a path here. It looks like it winds down the mountain."

"Awesome, are you thinking that's what you want us to follow?" asked Andrew.

"Well I don't see any other clues, unless one of you two found something?" Takyle said, hopping down from her vantage point. Andrew shook his head and Jaden joined in.

"Alright then. Our options seem to be to go ahead and make camp right here, or we could follow the path down for a little ways while there's still daylight. If we do that though we have no idea what we might run into."

The three people looked between one another for a second. Finally Jaden spoke.

"Listen, I am sore and exhausted and, make no mistake, I would love to collapse right here. But if you guys want to go on for a little while then I'll do it. I still want to win." Andrew nodded.

"Well Jay, I'm all about the winning side of things, but I did promise you some rest, and to be perfectly truthful I wouldn't mind a bit myself . My stomach is killing me, or at least trying damn hard. Ta?"

"Even though it doesn't feel like we've made it very far today, we've been hitting it pretty hard in the last 24 hours, so yes, let's go ahead and find somewhere to camp. I will suggest going at least down to one of those little trees so that we can have a fire though."

"I'd support that," Jaden agreed.

"Ok, let's do it then," said Andrew with over the top cheerfulness.

As it turned out, even at the base of the tiny trees there were very few fallen branches and what twigs they did find were not anything that would feed a fire for more than a couple of minutes.

"I guess maybe it's time to break out that camp burner that we've been hauling around for all this time," suggested Andrew.

"I suppose it is." Takyle found a large patch of ground that was relatively level and set her pack down. "I think I have that. Shit, I hope it still works. Remember, when we fell into that stupid dungeon thing my pack was open."

"Sit down Jay," Andrew ordered and Jaden did as he was directed without a complaint. Takyle quickly located the little burner and its tank of fuel and set them up on a flat rock.

"Ok, the moment of truth." Takyle hit the primer and auto-ignition buttons and held them down. For a moment the small contraption sputtered impotently before a small blue flame suddenly burst forth. All three team members cheered quietly and gathered around their tiny beacon.

"Fantastic. Warm food. And it will be for reals warm because I know that this fire is actually here," said Andrew.

"Yup, warm food. If you can call it food," Takyle agreed.

Jaden didn't really care if it was really warm or even really food. All he wanted was to have something in his stomach before he just gave up and let himself fall asleep. Luckily, Takyle and Andrew seemed to be similarly motivated and it wasn't long at all before there was a little pot of something nutrient rich and steaming over the flame.

"Should we take watches, or do you feel confident that we're away from danger?" asked Andrew.

"I don't know that it's possible to be away from danger in this race," Takyle answered. "At least it's beginning to look that way." She leaned over to stir the pot on the burner and then picked up Andrew and Jaden's mess kits and spooned out some of the colorless gruel for them before doing the same for herself. "I guess that means we should probably rotate watches. Unless of course you feel that you sleep light enough to hear someone sneaking up on us."

"He sleeps very lightly," Jaden contributed helpfully between bites. "If I get up he knows." Andrew shook his head.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure I'd gamble our safety on that... Unless... I could rig a couple of traps real quick. A trip wire maybe. We are surrounded by gravel, which is hard to be silent on as well. I don't want to take undue risks, but I doubt I can overstate exactly how tired I am. If I had the first watch I'd be afraid that I'd go to sleep."

"Yeah, me too... I like the idea of the traps. Let's do that," Takyle decided. "I'll help you with whatever you have to do for that after we're done eating."

"Sounds like a plan," said Andrew. ~

Chapter 109: Purely Academic

2008-10-20T02:35:00.004-04:00

~ For a moment all three members of Team 6 stared up the ramp in disbelief. Finally Jaden spoke.

"Couldn't be that easy could it?" Andrew shook his head in response.

"Seems doubtful. But then, I've been surprised by this race before, so who am I to talk."

Takyle placed a foot on the ramp experimentally. When nothing happened she continued several steps up, and with one last look around Jaden and Andrew followed her up towards the sunlight.

"Watch yourself, Ta," Andrew directed. "There could be someone waiting."

"Yes Andrew," Takyle whispered down. "I am fully aware that I might die any second now."

"Ok, just so you're looking out for it."

"Hell, I really hope Takyle doesn't die right now," thought Jaden. "That would be damn inconvenient for any number of people. And it would suck." Jaden realized that he had begun to like Takyle. He rather saw her as more his friend now, as opposed to just his boss. He couldn't say when it had happened, but the dynamic had changed somewhere along the way, and he was fairly sure that she felt the same. That being the case, he was rather resistant to the idea of watching her get shot down in cold blood, and hurried to draw even with her on the ramp. If Kathleen had given orders to shoot someone, he figured it would probably be him.

Jaden held his breath as they rose above ground level, having half convinced himself to expect a bullet through the temple at any moment. When nothing happened he glanced around for danger, then gave a sigh of relief and hopped up and off of the ramp to one side as Takyle did the same on the other. Andrew hurried off the ramp and knelt to take the third point of the triangle.

"Clear," Takyle called quietly and both Andrew and Jaden responded in kind. Andrew pointed off in the direction of the setting sun.

"I think that's the outcropping that we tried to get out of the rain under."

"Well that's almost poetic," said Takyle with a hint of bitterness. "We're literally right back to where we started."

"Well I do love me some friggin' poetry," Andrew replied.

"Don't we all Andy, don't we all," Takyle muttered. "We should get moving. I have no idea what we're supposed to do next and it's going to be dark very soon. I'd prefer not to be stumbling around blindly on a mountain top if I have a choice in the matter."

Jaden stood and adjusted the shoulder staps of his pack.

"Maybe that map had something to do with what we're supposed to do next."

Takyle shook her head. "Well if it did it's too late now. I wasn't lying when I told them that I'd lost it. I noticed it was gone just before we fell into that dungeon."

"Can you remember what was on the map?" asked Andrew.

"Yes, quite clearly. It wasn't detailed at all. It showed the foothills and the woods and this mountain. It had a path leading from where we came out of that quiz show thing to the point where we climbed the mountain. Everything other than that was pretty vague."

"That's not very helpful. Though I am glad that you remember it or we would be left wondering just exactly how helpful it would or would not have been," said Andrew. Takyle nodded absently.

"Yes well, now a plan would be good. I really would prefer not to stand here counting dust motes. I think maybe we should take a quick look around, make sure that we didn't miss anything in the rain, and then see if we can't find somewhere relatively secure to make camp."

"Good, yes, food, rest, good," Andrew grunted.

"Well then let's hop to it," Takyle ordered. "But keep a sharp eye out."

Jaden very much intended to keep a sharp eye out. He twisted his shoulders and heard his back pop loudly. The idea of taking yet another plummet into a rocky abyss was not at all tempting at the moment. ~

Chapter 108: Stage Right

2008-10-17T02:34:00.004-04:00

~ Team 6 jogged across the open passage spanning the marble court and back through halls towards the stairwell that they had come up from the dungeon in.

"How much time do you think we have?" asked Takyle.

"I have no clue," answered Andrew. "We may have Kathleen's entire guard tied up. On the other hand there might be an army waiting for us around the next corner. There's really no way to tell."

"Well that's reassuring."

When they reached the door to the stairwell Takyle pulled it open and waited for a second to listen. Finally she slipped through with Andrew and Jaden right behind her and they began to climb. For the most part they remained as silent as possible, but what little noise there was echoed throughout the stairwell, making Jaden very worried about who else might hear the ruckus.

After what Jaden counted to be another seven flights, the stairs simply ended with a door just off what would be the last landing. Looking wary, Takyle pushed it open and peered through cautiously. She turned back to Andrew with a scowl.

"What the hell? It's just a little room."

"Do you think it's a trap?" Andrew asked, stepping up to take a look for himself.

"I don't know, but I think I might have to kill me a woman," growled Takyle.

"Well before you go and slaughter anybody let's have a closer look inside. Maybe there's more to this." Andrew stepped into the tiny room and gazed around. Indeed there didn't seem to be any other outlets of any kind. Takyle waited impatiently on the landing and Jaden stood in the doorway watching as Andrew made a quick circuit of the room, gently tapping at the walls. Finally he shook his head.

"I don't know what the deal is, but if there is a hidden passage in here, I can't find it."

"Um, Andy, what's that?" asked Jaden, pointing up at the top of the far wall. Just barely set out from the ceiling was what appeared to be a thin handle, painted white to match everything else.

"I don't know what that is... But judging from the way the ceiling panels are arranged, it could very well be the exit. If I give you a boost up do you think you could reach it?"

"Yes, I think so, but why don't I lift Takyle up since she's lighter than me?" suggested Jaden.

"What are we doing with me now?" Takyle asked from the door. She directed her gaze toward what Jaden and Andrew were looking at. "Oh hey, a handle. I totally missed that one. Yeah, why don't one or more of you guys lift me up there."

Without further discussion, Andrew and Jaden linked their fingers together to form a place for Takyle's foot and lifted her up to grab the handle. She gave it a quick jerk and suddenly natural light flooded into the small room as one of the ceiling panels pivoted downwards. Jaden and Andrew gently lowered Takyle to the floor while she kept her fingers hooked in the handle, pulling the panel down until it formed a long ramp from floor to what had been the ceiling. The top surface of the ramp looked as if it was either covered in, or made of, stone; presumably so that it could blend into the mountain top when closed.

Takyle looked back and forth between her teammates and then up into the sunlight.

"Oh my gosh... I think we're out..." ~

Chapter 107: Conservation

2008-10-13T02:34:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden made quick work of securing their three prisoners' hands behind their backs. As an extra safeguard he looped a zip tie through the backs of each of the guards' belts and then through their wrist bindings. Once they were all tied, Andrew slipped his knife into his belt and pulled the guards over to a set of locked cabinets that were built into one wall. He swiftly fastened the men to the metal handles with additional ties and then placed Ms. Scarlet in one of the wooden chairs.

At Andrew's nod Takyle lowered her pistol and picked up her pack, swinging it onto one shoulder.

"We have our stuff. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Do we know how?" asked Andrew. Takyle stepped over to where Ms. Scarlet was bound to the chair and pressed the cold barrel of the handgun into the side of her neck. For the first time Jaden saw fear in Kathleen's eyes. Considering the aura that Takyle was projecting, Jaden didn't blame her.

"Don't make me ask you this twice," Takyle warned in a low voice. "How do we get back to the surface?"

"Find the stairs and keep going up."

"That's it?" asked Takyle.

"Yes."

"If this doesn't work out for me you have my word that I will come back here and gut you alive." Takyle withdrew the gun and turned to the door. "Let's go," she ordered.

Jaden and Andrew grabbed up their packs and moved to follow Takyle as they buckled their utility belts back on. Jaden looked over at Andrew as he fastened the lower strap on his dagger's sheath around his thigh. In addition to that he also still had his own and Jaden's requisitioned knives tucked in his belt.

As soon as they were out in the hallway with the door shut behind them Andrew turned to Takyle.

"You're amazing. And where the deuce did you come by a gun?" Takyle grinned.

"It was in the desk. The drawer was open just a crack and I thought I saw something in there but I couldn't really tell what it was; when that one guy started getting all up in your grillz I thought that it was probably a good time to risk finding out."

"I'll say; well done."

Jaden was shaking slightly as he followed Andrew and Takyle back the way they had come and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he began to review everything that had just happened in his mind.

"Oh God, you were ready to kill someone. You were really going to do it."

"She's not real."

"That you know of! It could happen just the same in real life."

"No it couldn't. I wouldn't do that."

"Like hell you wouldn't."

"Andrew."

A stride ahead Andrew and Takyle both turned around to look at Jaden.

"What is it?" asked Takyle. Jaden felt the moment draw out as he searched for something to say.

"I...I don't feel good."

"Well you don't look good either," Takyle answered, dryly.

"Is it very bad or can you keep going, Jay?" Andrew asked.

"I can keep going."

Takyle gave him a look that suggested she wondered why he had brought it up in the first place if that was the case. Andrew just nodded understandingly.

"As soon as we get out of here we'll see about getting some rest and food. Right, Ta?"

"Yeah, sure, but let's worry about getting out of here first." ~

Chapter 106: Where it Counts

2008-10-10T02:33:00.006-04:00

~ Jaden stood in the middle of the room, clutching his journal and shaking with rage. One thought fought its way to the surface of his mind.

"This is ridiculous. You probably look like an idiot."

"I don't care."

In front of Jaden, Andrew held his ground, staring at the woman in the door.

"You know, I don't feel all that comfortable with the idea of dying today. I'm not sure why you've got it in for us, but I'm going to ask you to please move away from the doorway and keep your hands in sight."

"Oh, I don't think so," answered the woman. She beckoned with one finger and on either side of her a guard appeared in the wide doorway. Neither of them looked at all familiar except for in one respect. They were just as burly and dangerous looking as the ones hopefully still locked up downstairs. Jaden began to realize that they were going to have to fight again. Part of him clung vigorously to the overwhelming anger that was still inflaming his body and mind, the other part urged in a voice very reminiscent of Andrew's that it would be better to have a handle on his feelings in order to act in a more controlled and deliberate manner.

"Anyone can strike out when they're mad enough," he would say. "It takes a good fighter to know when to hold back."

In front of Jaden, Andrew had not yet wavered from his position. Jaden wondered what he was waiting for. Perhaps for one of the enemy to make the first move. If that was the case then he didn't have to wait very long. The man on the left of Ms. Scarlet began to step forward. Before the fellow's foot had touched the floor Jaden heard a drawer being jerked open behind him followed by the unmistakable, metallic sound of a round being chambered.

"I wouldn't," Takyle warned in a steely voice, and the man froze in his tracks.

Jaden turned halfway to look at Takyle, his rage suddenly lost in bafflement. Takyle stood behind the desk holding a semi-automatic handgun trained on Ms. Scarlet, her finger on the trigger. Without lowering it she spoke.

"You should know that I don't take kindly to being threatened. I also don't include coercion, manipulation, or torture in my list of fun summertime activities. Now I think you and your boys should step all of the way inside here like Andrew said, and if you try anything at all somebody will be dying today and I promise you it won't be one of my team."

For a moment Ms. Scarlet seemed to weigh her options. Finally she stepped out of the doorway and her two guards followed her. Andrew backed up two steps and gestured to the left with the knife he'd taken from Jaden.

"Put your hands on your head and face the wall," ordered Takyle, never taking her aim off of Ms. Scarlet as she stepped around the desk. Jaden looked at her eyes and suddenly realized just how feirce and protective Takyle could be. He had the distinct impression that it was not for herself that she had stepped up.

"Jay, find some zip ties," Andrew said over his shoulder, prodding Jaden out of his reverie and into action. He quickly located the ties that were in Andrew's pack, as the last of his had been used in their own capture. He set his journal on the desk and stepped over to stand beside Andrew.

"Got 'em."

"Great, now you hold the knife and... Tell you what, I'll keep holding the knife and you tie them up," suggested Andrew. ~

Chapter 105: Simplicity of Plan

2008-10-06T02:33:00.007-04:00

~ Jaden knew beyond the barest shadow of a doubt that this one time there was no way that he would miss. Just this once his aim was impeccable. All he had to do now was let go. He wasn't even throwing really. He was just releasing the knife. Into her throat.

Jaden remembered the rattling gurgle that the hellbeast he'd fought had made with Andrew's blade buried hilt deep in its neck. The sound of a living creature drowning in its own blood as its life fluid rushed to fill its lungs, suffocating it from the inside. A horrific and perfect way to die.

With shocking and disturbing clarity Jaden could visualize Ms. Scarlet slowly collapsing, crimson liquid spurting from her throat, spilling down to soak her breasts, painting them the color that she seemed so enamored with. Could hear her take once last gasp of air before the blood flooding into her trachea began to fill her lungs, drawn deeper with each subsequent attempt at breath.

Jaden felt his hand draw back.

*****

From behind the desk Andrew had watched as Jaden had picked up his knife. It was with no small amount of horror that a second later he realized what was about to be done with it. In a fraction of a moment a decision had to be made. Andrew was nothing it not decisive.

With a quick heave he vaulted himself across the desk, scattering countless papers to the ground and knocking Jaden’s pack off the edge and onto the floor with a loud thud. He lurched into Jaden’s back, throwing his friend off-balance as he grabbed the knife with one hand and jerked it out of Jaden's fingers. Andrew landed squarely on both feet in front of the desk and took two strides forward, brandishing the knife at the woman in the doorway.

"Give me that book this instant!" The woman sneered but didn't resist as Andrew snatched the journal from her hands. He thrust it out behind him and Jaden, having regained his feet, quickly grabbed it. Retreating one step Andrew gestured at the woman angrily, the dagger still in his hand. "Now you better thank me for saving your freaking life!"

"For whatever it's worth," he heard Takyle mutter from behind him.

"Saving my life? Sure. If you say so." Ms. Scarlet replied with a smirk. Andrew shook his head.

"You have no idea. Now who the hell are you?"

"I'm the woman that is going to kill each one of you with my own two hands, and you," Ms. Scarlet addressed Jaden, gazing past Andrew's shoulder to meet his eye. "You are going to watch these two go." ~

Chapter 104: No Place for Contemplation

2008-10-03T02:31:00.005-04:00

~ While Andrew fished the keyring that Takyle had given him out of his pocket and began fiddling with the lock, Jaden turned around to keep watch on the hallway. The seconds ticked by as Andrew tried each key on the door, muttering his irritation under his breath as each one successively failed to disengage the catch.

"Andrew!" Jaden hissed. "Hurry the hell up, I think I heard something." Takyle immediately lifted the hand that she held her knife in and stepped around to Andrew's other side to defend if necessary. The latch clicked quietly and Andrew slipped through the door.

"Clear," he whispered out to Takyle and Jaden, and they followed him into the room. After pulling the door shut Jaden turned to look around the room that they had broken into. A huge mahogany desk filled a good bit of the floor space, and its own surface was nearly covered with stacks of papers and files. Andrew stepped around the desk and gestured for his teammates to join him.

"Guys, I found our packs."

"Fantastic," Takyle answered, coming around to pick hers up off the floor. Andrew handed Jaden's pack across the desk to him and set his own up on the desk chair to unzip it.

"Better check and make sure that your stuff is still actually here," he advised his teammates, quickly rifling through his own supplies. Takyle nodded and knelt to do the same as Jaden lay his pack on one of the only clear spaces on the desktop. For a moment all three people were silent as they took a quick inventory, but then Jaden looked up at Andrew.

"My journal is gone."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. It was right here in this pocket. It was the only thing in there."

Andrew looked over at Takyle and began to open his mouth to say something but whipped his head around when there was a quiet laugh from the door. Jaden spun to see the woman that he had taken to referring to as Ms. Scarlet in his mind there. She stood with her feet set wide, one fist resting on her hip, a scowl making her eyes look dark and vicious. Dried blood stained the front of her dress and all across the bridge of her nose and the undersides of her eyes was already taking on a sickly purple-green bruise. In her left hand she gripped a small leather-bound book.

"Looking for something, Sweetie?" she asked, her voice cutting the silence like an edge of steel. Jaden felt the core of his being flood with fiery heat and his vision narrowed. Of its own accord his hand moved to grip the knife that he had lain on the desk beside his pack. The fire rushed through his limbs and as a distant and ethereal thought in the very back of his mind Jaden heard himself make note of the fact that he had never in his life felt the kind of rage that was now threatening to take him.

"Give it back." To his own ears Jaden's command sounded as far away as his thoughts had and he wondered for a moment if he'd actually spoken it aloud.

"I don't think so," Ms. Scarlet responded, drawing her hand in to let the book rest against her stomach.

"Give it back to me now!" Jaden hissed, incapable of even thinking of holding the menace from his voice. Every second that she held his journal in her hand, against her body, his rage escalated further, and he did nothing to stop it.

Jaden could feel her hands on him all over again, pressing up against him, choking him, her body wrapping around him, her lips on his neck, her teeth, her fingernails biting into his skin. Trapping him, suffocating, hurting, killing. For a split second Jaden's vision went completely dark before one thing snapped into crystalline focus.

Her neck, bare and white, mere feet away. Whole. Not for long.

Jaden felt his hand lift, felt his fingers release his dagger on the upswing, flipping it in the air 180 degrees, grasping it once again, but lightly this time, barely caressing it, holding it only by the tip, only just enough pressure. His arm came up. He took aim.

Satisfying wouldn't be the word. ~

Chapter 103: A Level of Exposure

2008-09-29T23:41:00.005-04:00

~ When they reached the top of the stairwell, Andrew paused momentarily to turn and face Jaden and Takyle.

"Do we have any kind of a game plan for this deal?" he whispered. "And am I the only one who finds it kind of strange that we haven't met anybody else on our way up here?"

"You think that they know we're out?" asked Jaden.

"I don't have any idea. Could be coincidence I suppose."

"Well whether or not they know we're out isn't really going to change what we have to do that much. At most it robs us of our element of surprise. An advantage but not integral," Takyle said. "Now let's talk about what it is that we have to do. I have two copies of a set of keys that I was told were for rooms up here. In case we get separated one of you should take a set."

"Damn," muttered Andrew. "If I'd thought about it I bet Thomas had keys on him as well."

"Yeah well, too late for that. The longer we stay here talking about it the more likely it is that someone will find us. Here." Takyle handed one of the small keyrings to Andrew. "First we have to find our packs and then we have to find a way out. We'll try to stay together and search methodically. If we run into anybody we'll hide if possible and if not, subdue. Ready?"

"Yes," said Andrew.

"Yes," Jaden echoed.

Takyle gave Andrew a nod and he edged the landing door open a crack to look out, and then pushed it just far enough to slip through with Jaden trailing him. The hinge made an almost inaudible creak as Takyle let it close behind her and the latch clicked. In the surrounding silence that one sound was like a gunshot.

Team 6 hurried down the wide hallway that they found themselves in. After having grown accustomed to moving with a full pack on, Jaden felt surprisingly light now without it.

"There's always a bright side."

Not far from the stairwell the hallway opened up to transform into a floating walkway extending out over a courtyard some twenty feet below. The walkway and white banister were supported by tall marble pillars, the stone polished to a high luster.

"Where are we?" murmured Jaden, looking out over the expansive tiled court.

"Well if I had to guess I'd say that we're still inside the mountain," answered Andrew.

On the other side of the walkway the walls closed back in and the hall continued with doors on both sides. Andrew approached the first one on the right and listened at it for a moment before trying the knob. The catch disengaged and he pushed it open, his knife raised in the other hand. He took a quick glance around the room and then shook his head.

"It's empty. On to the next." Andrew carefully pulled the door closed and on they went down to the second door on the right which turned out to be similarly devoid of anything at all. It wasn't until Andrew tried the third door on the left that they were given pause.

"This one is locked." ~

Chapter 102: Additional Information

2008-09-26T23:39:00.004-04:00

~ "Oh hey, check it out," said Andrew, looking down at his chair as he passed it. "It has electrodes on it. Guess I did get off easy. What's the plan, Boss? Where are we going?" Takyle paused at the door.

"Good question. We need to get our packs back, but I don't know where they are."

"I think maybe I could get us back to that big room we fell into, but we don't really have a guarantee that our packs are still there," offered Jaden.

"Let's go ask What's-his-face in your cell, Jaden," Takyle decided. "Quickly now children." Jaden pulled open the door and glanced up and down the hallway twice to ensure it was clear, then strode quickly back down to the neighboring cell with Andrew and Takyle behind him. They all slipped into it and the man on the cot jerked his head up to see who was there. He looked incredibly disheartened to find that it was only Team 6. Also more than a little frightened.

"Nice going, guys," said Andrew in a tone of approval. He stepped over to the cot and bent to unfasten the gag, but before he pulled it from the man's mouth he paused.

"Ok now buddy, we have some questions for you. I'm going to take this gag out now, but if you yell or scream I'm just going to have to kill you. Am I perfectly clear?" The man nodded vigorously and Andrew lowered the gag from his mouth. Takyle moved over to stand beside the cot.

"Where are the backpacks that you all took from us back in that big room?"

"They were taken upstairs. Kathleen wanted them searched."

"Where "upstairs"? How do we get there?"

"Go left from this cell and take the first right turn you come to. There's an entrance to the stairs just around that corner. Go up three flights. I honestly don't know what room they've got your stuff in, I swear I don't."

"Very good," Andrew told him. "I hope you haven't lied to us about any of this stuff though..."

"I haven't, I swear I haven't."

"Well then I guess you don't have anything to worry about," Takyle told him cheerfully. Andrew slipped the gag back between the fellow's lips and straightened. He looked from Takyle to Jaden, who was standing at the door, keeping a watch on the hall. Andrew raised an eyebrow.

"Guess we're ready to go then."

Takyle nodded. "Onward and upward."

As they left the cell behind and moved down the hallway, leaving hostile and unknown ground for yet more hostile and unknown ground, Jaden noticed a strange feeling in himself. It wasn't trepidation; that had been a constant undercurrent throughout the entire race. Jaden recognized this new feeling to be a waning of eagerness.

Yes, he wanted to get off this level and, no, of course he didn't want to be caught, but he was terribly tired. His body ached all over, both from the various beatings it had taken and the near constant heightened state of arousal and hyper-awareness that it was being forced to maintain. At this point Jaden almost felt that any sensation at all; sight, sound, touch, even instincts and feelings, were very nearly painful in their vividness. He could feel everything around him and the sensational overload was almost staggering.

He could not shut down though. Of all places, he could not shut down here, where other people were counting on him. He felt a hand touch his shoulder and he whipped his head around. It was Andrew. He smiled at Jaden.

"Doin' alright there, Jay?" Jaden nodded quickly and began to turn back to continue on down the hall but Andrew's hand gently restrained him. "Why don't you let me take point?" Andrew asked.

Jaden glanced back at Takyle and she nodded her agreement with a concerned look in her eyes. Gratefully Jaden moved back a spot in the line, giving Andrew the lead while Takyle took up the rear.

"You just chill there for a bit," Andrew counseled him. "We've got this."

Jaden immediately felt the muscles in his shoulders relax. Never in his life had he known anyone who could make him feel as safe as Andrew could with a word. Most of his childhood and adolescent relationships had been marked by their capacity for upheaval, whether good or bad. And the trend had been mainly bad.

As they proceeded on their way Jaden did not completely zone out, but he did have total confidence in Takyle and Andrew to respond to any incidental danger. Slowly his guard relaxed and some of the ache behind his forehead began to fade.

"You're pretty lucky, Jaden," his mind told him.

"Yeah, I know," Jaden told his mind. ~

Chapter 101: Timely Resolution - Bonus Chapter

2008-09-24T23:38:00.004-04:00

~ This time Jaden led the way back up to Andrew's cell door. He placed himself to one side of it, and Takyle stood opposite of him. They paused for a moment and Jaden drew a deep breath. He could hear Andrew's voice faintly inside. He lifted the knife in his right hand and placed his left on the door handle. Takyle nodded as he met her eye and without further pause he flung the door inward.

As he burst into the room, time slowed for Jaden and he used that split second to take stock of his surroundings. In the center of the room Andrew sat bound to a chair. A cot was pushed against one wall and there was Thomas, perched on the edge of it, hands on knees. Jaden saw him look up, surprise sweeping over his features. His right hand began to drop, down the outside of his leg, toward the top of his boot.

By the time Takyle and Jaden had taken the two strides to reach him, he was rising to his feet, unsheathing his small dagger as he straightened. With his fist wrapped around the hilt of his knife, Jaden threw a punch into Thomas' stomach, twisting to the left as he did to place his body between Andrew and Thomas. Before Thomas could make another move Takyle delivered a kick aimed at his wrist, flinging his knife from his hand and across the room with a clatter. He recovered more quickly than they would have hoped and knocked Jaden away with two hard punches. As Takyle leapt at him, he caught her in the air, slamming his elbow into her chin and throwing her to the ground.

Jaden had scrambled to his feet and flew at Thomas again, knife poised to end this, when something happened that took them all by surprise. As Thomas came around to finish Jaden, so he thought, Andrew somehow managed to stand halfway, still bound to the chair, and whip it around, smashing its legs into the side of Thomas' knees. Thomas cried out in pain, his legs collapsing beneath him.

Andrew stumbled and fell to the ground as Thomas pitched backwards against the cot, smacking his head on the rail at the foot. Jaden jumped over Andrew and dove at Thomas, putting all of his weight behind a punch that crashed into Thomas' face. Jaden scrambled back, shoving himself off of Thomas, fist raised for another go, only to stop himself when he realized that his last punch had already put Thomas out cold. The large man lay half on the cot, half off, blood pouring from his nose, his head cocked over at a weird angle.

Jaden looked immediately to his right to locate Takyle, finding her just getting back to her feet, a hand on her jaw. Jaden fell to his knees beside Andrew on the floor.

"Andy, did he hurt you?" he gasped, only now noticing that he was out of breath.

"No, I'm ok, but I can't get up with this chair strapped to me."

"Hold still," Jaden told him, running his hands over the straps binding Andrew and finding them to be fastened with locks. Takyle knelt beside him and Jaden noticed a line of blood dripping from her mouth.

"I think I might have the keys for these locks," she said, pulling the rings from her pocket and sorting through them. In short order she had found the correct one and had managed to release Andrew. He pulled himself free of the broken chair and sat up, rubbing the shoulder he'd landed on.

"You look awful Jay, you ok there?"

"Yes."

Andrew gently tilted Takyle's chin up to look at her face and she quickly wiped the blood from her lips.

"And what about you, Ta?" Andrew asked softly.

"I'm fine."

"He hit you pretty hard; did you bite your lip?"

Takyle nodded. "Yeah, jaw's a little numb."

"Well thanks for saving me, guys. I was beginning to think that I might be in some real trouble there."

"You were," Takyle informed him with a smile, getting to her feet. Her teammates stood with her and Andrew turned back to Jaden.

"Thomas told me that you got out briefly and that he beat you up. Sure you're alright?"

Jaden nodded. "Yeah, still hurts like hell, but I'm getting used to that." He almost said something then about Ms. Scarlet, but stopped himself. He'd tell Andrew about that later. Maybe.

Andrew stepped over to where Thomas' knife had landed and picked it up.

"Ok, well let's get the friggin' hell outta here while we still can. Oh, and by the way, I'm very glad that both of you are still alive." ~

Chapter 100: Complications

2008-09-22T13:42:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden followed Takyle a short distance back up the hallway as silently as possible until she stopped and gestured at a door. For a moment Jaden stood still and listened to what was happening on the other side of it. Distinctly he heard Thomas' voice, speaking in a conversational tone. Jaden beckoned to Takyle and they backed away from the door.

"That's Thomas in there," he whispered to her. "The fourth guy that was in charge of the ones that caught us." Takyle made a face that told Jaden she definitely remembered Thomas' leering attitude towards her. It also told Jaden that she probably wouldn't pass up the chance to give a little back if it were handed to her.

"Think we can take him together?" she asked in a murmur.

"Probably, if he's the only one in there."

"Let's not assume that he is," advise Takyle, passing Jaden the knife she'd taken. "Here, we're going to need to go in fast and use whatever element of surprise that we have. Keep in mind that he has Andrew in there and may be in a position to hurt him."

Jaden nodded, hefting the knife in his hand to get a feel for it. The thought that Andrew was in the middle of a possible hostage situation very much bothered him, but at the moment there was nothing for it. He startled when, off in the distance, he heard footsteps.

"Someone's coming," he hissed urgently. Takyle did not wait to hear the sound for herself.

"One? Which way?" she mouthed and he nodded, pointing back in the direction they had come from, past the room that he'd been kept in. She immediately spun and rushed back that way, Jaden imitating without question as she ducked back into his cell. She pushed the door closed but for a tiny crack, pressing her face to the frame to watch the hallway. Jaden saw her stiffen and knew that someone had come into view. She turned to him and mimed the plan. He nodded and she laid her fingers on the door handle, her improvised blade in the other hand. At the very last moment she shoved it in her pocket and pulled the gag out of her waist band instead.

Jaden didn't have time to question any move that she made as at that very moment the footsteps drew even with the cell door. Just as the heavy tread passed it, Takyle whipped the door open and they leapt out right behind the man. Without hesitating she threw the gag over his head, keeping a hold on both ends to drag him backwards. He dropped the glass of water he'd been carrying and his hands flew to his throat, a look of complete surprise on his face. The glass smashed on the concrete floor, splattering water on Jaden's legs as he leapt forward to help Takyle pull the man back through the doorway into the cell. Jaden shoved the door shut behind them and then pressed his knife into the small of the man's back.

"Hands on your head, now! And don't say a word," he ordered. Takyle let up the pressure on the man's neck enough to allow him to breath. After one more quick prod from Jaden's knife, he did as he'd been directed.

"Put him on the bed," Takyle breathed. Jaden pushed him towards the cot while Takyle kept the gag tight around his neck. "Lie face down," she directed and as soon as he was down she placed a knee in the small of his back and nodded at his legs. While she held the man's upper body down, Jaden swiftly buckled the man's ankles into the thick leather straps, and then bound his wrists as well. Takyle pulled the gag from under the man's neck and stood up. She looked over at Jaden, and drew a deep breath.

"Wow, second time that method has worked for me today. Maybe I should stick with it." She bent and gave the man that they caught a quick pat down, removing two keyrings that looked exactly like the ones she already had, and another knife, along with a small radio.

"Ok, we have another knife, so that's good. Shall we take another shot at getting Andrew?"

"Definitely."

Takyle took a moment to slip her gag into the man's mouth and fasten it around his head. "There now, you just stay here and be a good boy." She turned back to Jaden and nodded. "Ok, let's do this." ~

Chapter 99: On the Up and Up

2008-09-19T13:41:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden lay in his cell where Thomas had left him, bound securely to the cot; his mind persistently interrupting his desperate search for some way out with thoughts of his teammates and worry for their well being. He had just reached the point where he was beginning to think that there was absolutely no hope for escape when he heard a soft sound outside of his cell. He fell still and turned his face towards the door. After a moment's pause there was what he thought sounded like someone gently tapping twice.

"What the hell?" For a split second Jaden's mind scrambled to explain the noise, and he only found one answer. Heart in his throat over the thought that it was only a futile wish that it might be Andrew or Takyle, he opened his mouth. And then shut it again. What could he possibly say?

"Um, hello?" He jumped when a bolt clanged followed by some faint scrabbling and finally a lock click. The door opened a crack and a familiar face peaked around it.

"Takyle!" Jaden gasped, keeping the presence of mind to hold his voice low, even through his surprise. Takyle flashed a grin at him and slipped quickly through the door, pushing it almost to behind her after she'd pulled a key on a ring out of the lock. She was beside the cot in a blink and bent to inspect Jaden's bonds.

"How did you get loose?" whispered Jaden in amazement. At this point he wasn't completely convinced that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Good story; I'll tell you the whole thing later. Suffice is to say that it was awesome. You alright? You look like shit."

"Well I feel worse than shit, but I'll live," he answered. Takyle unbuckled the strap across his abdomen and pushed it off, before going to the ones on his ankles. "Is Andrew out too?"

"No, his cell is just up the hall. When I passed it I could hear at least one other person in there talking to him. We need to get out of here as quick as we can."

"No arguments here," murmured Jaden as she moved to release his hands from over his head.

"Happen to know where we might be able to get more weapons?"

"No idea."

"Alright, I guess we'll...play it by ear," said Takyle as she freed Jaden's left wrist.

"Ok, whatever you say." As soon as his other hand was loose Jaden swung his feet off the cot and sat up. As he came to his feet he glanced at his wrists. They were both bloodied and lined with bruising.

"Tried to get out on your own, huh?" asked Takyle.

"Yeah, think I almost had it too, just before you came in," he groaned, flexing his shoulders gingerly. Takyle laughed quietly and moved towards the door. Jaden followed. "Thanks Takyle. I owe you a solid, that's for sure."

"Anytime; the pleasure was mine. Now let's go rescue Andrew's skinny ass and get out of this damn place."

"Ok," said Jaden as Takyle pulled the door open and slipped out into the hall after a quick look both ways. "We might as well get the rest of him too while we're at it," he added in a whisper. ~

Chapter 98: Essence of Time - Bonus Chapter

2008-09-17T13:40:00.006-04:00

~ For the present time Takyle's main concern was that it would only take one person wandering down the hall to hear her three captives shouting and let them out of the cell. When that happened she had no doubt that the level would be immediately locked down, and she would be found. Locating her teammates and getting at least off of this "cell block" was of the most vital importance.

She kept close to the wall, as if she were ready to melt into the white paneling if someone happened upon her. Several yards up from her cell the hallway ended in a tee. She leaned out, carefully checking both ways only to find it empty, and turned left again.

When she had been blindfolded Takyle had been the last in line and just before she'd been out in her cell she remembered taking a left turn. When her blindfold had been removed neither of her teammates had been in that hall with her. Because of this she deduced that when she'd been turned, those in front of her had continued going straight. She would not describe herself as being comfortable with that logic, but for the moment it was all she had to go on.

Only a few yards from the tee in the hall, Takyle approached the door of what appeared to be another cell judging from the locks. She slipped up to it, standing a bit to the side and leaning close to catch any sound that escaped it. Faintly she heard a man's voice, speaking in a reasonable tone. There was a long pause and then a second voice answered; a voice that Takyle recognized immediately as belonging to Andrew. A glance down revealed the bolts on the door to be open. Based upon that, Takyle assumed that Andrew must be restrained. As of yet, she'd only heard the one other voice but she had no guarantee that there was no one else in the room. What she did know beyond a doubt was that the longer she lingered in the hallway, the greater the chance that someone would see her.

For a very brief moment Takyle was torn, but at least for now whoever was in the room with Andrew seemed to simply be engaged in conversation. She decided to leave Andrew, try to find Jaden and assess that situation, and then come back, hopefully with Jaden and a few more weapons. With that resolution Takyle turned swiftly from the door and continued on down the hall. She was shocked by the immediate brick that fell in her stomach at the idea of leaving Andrew. She glanced back at the door, listened to his voice for a half second longer, and then moved quickly off, swallowing any hint of trepidation that threatened to give her second thoughts.

"Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," she breathed. ~

Chapter 97: Necessary Actions

2008-09-15T13:39:00.004-04:00

~ "Put your hands against that wall," Takyle ordered. "Do you have the keys for these cuffs?" The man nodded. "Unlock them. One false move and I'll slit your throat."

Takyle watched the man closely as he reached into his pocket and slowly drew out a ring of keys. He chose a small silver one and raised it to his neck. Takyle pushed her left wrist out slightly to allow him to unlock the cuff, keeping the blade in her right hand pressed to his skin. As soon as the lock clicked she transferred the blade to her left hand and the process was repeated.

"Drop the keys and put your hands behind your back," she ordered, taking a step back. Within a moment Takyle had slapped the cuffs on her former captor's wrists. "Down on the floor; lay on your stomach."

Once the man had gotten to his knees she made him pause long enough for her to quickly pat him down; removing his belt, a small knife from his boot, and another ring of keys.

"What are these for?" she asked, holding them over his shoulder for him to see.

"They're for upstairs."

"How many more people are out in the hall?"

"Just one," he said. Takyle assumed that he was lying.

"What are you supposed to do in the event one of your prisoners gets loose?"

"Subdue them. If they get off this level we sound the alarm."

"Well thank you. You've been incredibly helpful." Takyle pushed the man down on his stomach and bound his ankles with the strip of cloth she'd taken off the bed. She then looped his own belt through the chain on the cuffs and the knots on his feet, pulling it tight so that his knees were bent, leaving him quite literally hogtied. Takyle pocketed both keyrings and stood.

"Now I want you to scream like I'm killing you. And if you're not convincing, I actually will. Get my drift?" The man nodded. "I'm going to stand behind the door there and you'll do your thing," Takyle informed him, stepping away to take up her previous position. When she gave him a silent nod, the man hesitated for only a second before opening his mouth and yelling loudly for help as he'd been told. Takyle heard a scuffling outside in the hallway and then the door swung open and two men charged in.

The first one stupidly ran right over to his compatriot on the ground, while the second man recognized something to be awry and skidded to a stop just inside the door. Takyle ducked out from her hiding place and the man dove at her, just missing as she jumped out of the way. As the man turned around for another go she leapt out of the doorway, catching the handle and slamming it closed just as he reached it. She drove one of the bolts home only the barest fraction of a second before the man would have been able to jerk the door open again.

Takyle quickly whipped her head around to see if there was anyone else in the hallway and found no one. The ridiculous levels of adrenalin that had allowed her the quickness of wit and foot needed to pull off that last stage of her daring escape left her hands shaking and her heart pounding in her throat. She refused to think about how close that last man was to pulling the door open when she'd bolted it, nor what would have happened if all the locks had required keys. Faster than these men she was; stronger, not a chance.

Keeping her vent cover turned blade and the knife she'd requisitioned to hand, Takyle turned immediately to her left and moved quickly and silently off down the hall. Time to locate Jaden and Andrew. ~

Chapter 96: Planning Takes Priority

2008-09-12T13:39:00.013-04:00

~ All things considered, Takyle had made better progress than either of her team mates. As soon as she'd been put in her cell, she'd immediately looked for windows or cameras and, finding none, set to removing herself from her bonds. She'd gotten her hands around in front of her by stepping through the loop of her arms, very nearly dislocating her shoulders in the process, and then proceeded to remove the gag that had been placed in her mouth. Once that was out she'd spent a second seeing if it would be possible to free at least one hand from the cuffs. She quickly decided that the effort was futile, and so gave up and went to planning an escape instead.

She kept the gag in her hand, in case it should come in handy later, and searched the room for any more potential weapons. The pallet against one wall didn't have any blankets or sheets, but it did have a cloth cover sewn over the thin layer of padding. Within moments Takyle's fingers had found a weak point in the fabric near one of the seams. With a quick jerk she ripped a long strip of cloth free and, hanging it around her neck, continued searching the room.

After a moment Takyle noticed the vent on one of the walls. She quickly tucked her erstwhile gag into her waistband and stepped up on the bed to take a closer look at the small metal cover. She bent and unlaced a boot, then caught one of the hooks under a lace and torqued it outward. When the small metal tab was at about a 90 degree angle she lifted it to the metal cover and used the bent lace hook as an impromptu screwdriver. Her boot did not prove to be the most efficient tool ever made, but the cover came off easily as soon as she'd loosened the four screws enough to complete the job with her fingers.

Once she had the vent cover off, Takyle hopped to the floor and stomped her boot back on. She studied the cover for a moment, considering her options, and then knelt on the ground and used the heel of her hand to begin to bend the four short sides of the vent cover down. She stood and gave the edges of the cover several good stomps to finish the job. When she picked it back up what she had was a nearly perfectly flat, sharp-edged square of metal. Almost good enough.

After several minutes spent rubbing the edges of the metal on the concrete wall, Takyle had even managed to sharpen the edges a bit more.

"Hello MacGyvered throwing star and/or knife," she murmured, studying it thoughtfully. A second later Takyle heard footsteps outside of her cell and she quickly sprang backwards to stand behind the doorway. A lock clanged.

Go time.

Takyle braced herself, placing one of her feet slightly further out to keep the door from hitting her if it swung too far inward. There was the sound of one more lock and a man's voice saying something unintelligible, and then the door opened.

As the man who had taken her prisoner stepped into the room Takyle leapt forward, simultaneously throwing the chain on her cuffs over the man's head, jerking it tight across his throat, and slamming the door behind him with a quick kick. In her right hand she held her improvised blade, it's sharp edge pressed to his skin. She reached up to whisper viciously right into his ear.

"I've got two different ways I could kill you here; I suggest you do what I say." ~

Chapter 95: When Negotiation Fails

2008-09-08T22:16:00.009-04:00

~ A surprisingly short distance from Jaden's cell, Andrew was not having as easy a time of it as Jaden had wished for him. At the moment he was being strapped into a questionable looking chair, still gagged, and hands still cuffed. The man who seemed to be in charge of him had not forgotten that Andrew had nearly broken his nose and he was, as a consequence, a good deal less gentle than he could have been. The fact that Andrew couldn't fight back at all emboldened the man who was, like most bullies, cowardly in nature.

Once he had Andrew firmly strapped into the chair, he pulled the gag from his mouth. Andrew coughed, glad to finally be rid of the object. His tongue was dry and his throat felt parched. His captor stepped to the door and opened it.

"He's ready," he said to someone outside. "Go tell Thomas." Andrew wondered who Thomas was and if he might be slightly more inclined to be helpful than this guy. He heard a door close not far away and in a moment a man stepped into his cell. It was the fourth man from the group that had taken them. Andrew thought a few choice expletives but kept his face neutral.

"Thank you, Chase," the fourth man said, not taking his eyes off of Andrew. "Go and get an update on Kathleen for me."

Chase nodded and slipped out of the cell, closing the door behind him. Thomas walked a slow arc to stand behind Andrew.

"You seem to be at my mercy."

"Yeah, and your point?" Before the last word was clear of Andrew's lips he felt the sharp point of a knife pricking the back of his neck.

"Well my main point was that your life is mine if the idea happens to strike my fancy."

"Fair enough." The knife withdrew and Andrew heard it being re-sheathed. Thomas circled back into his view. Andrew couldn't see where he'd put the knife. It wasn't on his belt, so probably in a boot. A quick sweeping glance revealed no other weapons on the man that were immediately obvious.

"But I don't want to be forced to kill you," Thomas continued. "I'd prefer that you just give me what I need and then maybe I'll let your little friends off in relatively good health."

"How do I know they're not dead already?" asked Andrew.

"You don't."

"May I have a drink?"

"Sure." Thomas opened the cell door and spoke a quiet word to whoever was outside, and then closed it again. "While we're waiting for that, why don't we talk?" he said, sitting down on the pallet and leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

"Alright," conceded Andrew. "How about we start with you telling me what all that noise was out in the hall just a little while ago?"

"You really want to know what that was?" asked Thomas. Andrew nodded. "That was your friend Jaden trying to make a run for it and consequently getting the shit beat out of himself. But don't worry. He's still alive, for now. Says that he might be able to draw the map that was given to that pretty young lady that you were with. What do you think about that?"

Andrew shrugged, choosing to ignore the baited way the man had mentioned Takyle. "Maybe he can. How should I know?"

"Well, if you know that he can't then you might want to speak up now. Kathleen is already awfully angry with him; I don't imagine that finding out she can't get the map from him would help his case much. If he can't, it'd be best to just get that out now, before I tell her what he said. Get me?"

Andrew nodded solemnly. "Oh yeah, sure bro, I feel ya'." He kept up his perfect poker face even though his mind was racing frantically. "Quick question: If I can draw the map for you, would you let them go?"

"Why sure! No reason to keep them here if you can supply us with the map!" agreed Thomas, just a tiny bit too enthusiastically. He was obviously lying through his teeth. Andrew sighed. He hated lose-lose situations. ~

Chapter 94: Unexpected Questions

2008-09-05T22:13:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden frantically jerked at the restraints binding his hands above his head and when that had no effect, forced himself to calm down and try a more methodical approach. As he worked at the strap holding his right hand, he lifted his head enough to look around the tiny room. It sure looked like the same cell. The door was closed and he could hear no sounds from the hallway, but it would be stupid to assume that he was alone at this point. The ache all over his body had settled back into a dull throb with several points retaining their former glory to serve as white-hot nexuses of pain.

Several minutes later and the only headway Jaden had made was to rub both of his wrists raw in his bonds. The bolts on the door clanged and he went still. Thomas stepped inside.

"So you're still alive," the man said, conversationally. "You might wish I'd done a bit more damage later on. Kathleen is pissed."

"Yeah I guess so," Jaden answered, watching Thomas carefully. Perhaps if he played his cards right he could get another chance at this.

"Did you look at the map that the girl you're with supposedly lost?" asked Thomas. Jaden was slightly surprised at the change of subject.

"Maybe. Why?"

"Can you draw it?"

"Shit," thought Jaden. This could easily go very well, or very, very badly for him. He had done no more than glance at the map that had been given to Takyle, so there was no way he could actually duplicate it even if he wanted to. If he said yes though, maybe Thomas would at least give him one hand free. Then again maybe not.

A chance was a chance.

"Yes, probably most of it at least." That was sort of the truth. He remembered it being square with some mountains on it.

"Good. Maybe that will give you something to help convince Kathleen not to kill you quite as fast as she would have. Fast being a relative term of course."

"If she's going to kill me anyway, why would I give her information that she wants?" demanded Jaden. Thomas shrugged.

"People do strange things when they're in agony. Sometimes the shadow of a thread of a hope is enough to make them grasp."

Jaden gazed at Thomas impassively for a moment.

"Well thanks a lot for this bit of heartening conversation, Tommy. Very cheering. The message of hope you spread is invaluable to those of us in dire straights."

Thomas smiled. "I do what I can."

"That being the case, perhaps you could answer a question for me," Jaden said casually.

"Maybe."

"Once I've died my long, undignified, and horrible death and Kathleen has what she wants, what's going to happen to my friends?" At this point Jaden was assuming that neither Takyle nor Andrew had violently rejected someone's sexual advances or, put more succinctly, rape attempts, and subsequently tried to stage an escape.

Thomas turned towards the door. "Well that might depend on whether or not you get that map right." He stepped out into the hallway. Jaden let his head roll back.

"Shit." ~

Chapter 93: Not All Fun and Games

2008-09-01T22:12:00.013-04:00

~ Jaden was shocked at how drastically having his hands cuffed behind his back slowed him, but even so he thought he still had a fighting chance at outrunning Thomas. The man didn't exactly have a sprinter's build after all.

Jaden darted around the first corner he came to, intent on lengthening the distance between himself and his pursuer, and barreled right into the man that had captured Takyle. With surprising speed the man's fist connected with Jaden's face, knocking him to the floor with a powerful blow that left his ears ringing. Through the fog drifting across his vision Jaden saw Thomas come around the corner and skid to a stop above him, breathing hard.

"What the hell is going on here?" demanded the first man.

"The little son of a bitch kicked Kathleen! Get somebody down here to take care of her right away; I'll deal with him."

Jaden felt the man who had punched him move off and he forced his eyes open. Thomas bent over him.

"That was a stupid thing that you did, little buddy. I'm going to fuck you up so bad; but it won't be anything compared to what she's going to do to you."

Jaden closed his eyes.

"I had to try."

Thomas' first kick drove into Jaden's side and the second caught him in the stomach. By the third kick, aimed at the side of his head, Jaden's tenuous grasp on consciousness was mercifully slipping. His last coherent thought floated up from the depths of his mind in a ludicrously cheerful voice.

"Way to not kick a man when he's down there, Bucko!"

*****

Jaden's first thought upon waking involved his mind demanding why in the hell he was here and how could he get out while he retained his life, accompanied by overwhelming pain that seemed to radiate out from his very core in angry, pulsing waves. He forced his eyes open and winced at the bright light glaring down on him. After a moment he figured out that he was staring at a concrete ceiling. On one side of him was a concrete wall with a small vent on it about halfway down.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" chanted one half of his mind, while the other side frantically scrambled to catch up with reality.

"How long was I out? Am I back in the same cell?" He attempted to sit up and discovered that he couldn't. His arms and legs were bound to the iron bars of the pallet he was lying on and a thick leather strap was cinched tight across his waist.

"Well this can't be a good thing," his mind contributed helpfully. ~

Chapter 92: Unwanted Techniques

2008-08-29T20:11:00.009-04:00

~ For a brief moment Jaden considered trying to take the man Thomas when he came near; Or at least try to pickpocket a knife or something. He decided against the first option almost immediately; recognizing it as an exercise in futility. The second plan was ruled out for him, as Thomas pulled him up and grabbed most of his fingers in one hand, gripping them tightly while he removed Jaden's gag with the other. The lady in red smiled at him again.

"Now that's much better, isn't it? Tell us your name."

"Jaden McAllister," he spat at her. "What do you want with us?" Thomas' grip on his fingers tightened and he gritted his teeth.

"Why, I just want to speak with you, Jaden. You're not opposed to having a bit of light conversation, are you?"

"I am if I've been forced into it," Jaden said, jerking his chin in the direction of Thomas.

"Oh I disagree," breathed Ms. Scarlet, gliding towards him. "I've had experience with your type before and I think that you love being "forced into it"." She leaned in close to him and Jaden felt the warmth of her breath play on his neck. The subtle scent of her perfume that he had not fully registered when she'd first walked in now threatened to become overwhelming.

"You've got to be kidding," he said with a forced laugh. "I'm 18; what are you? Like 40?"

For a split second Ms. Scarlet drew away and looked slightly shocked, before that expression quickly melted back into a smile. She tilted her head back and laughed a sliver laugh that was a fair impression of real.

"You are a vicious one!" She let her right hand glide down his chest and over his stomach to finally rest on his crotch. Her fingers tightened slightly and her voice dropped to a husky whisper. "But maybe I like to take them young."

Jaden was forcefully reminded of a praying mantis as the woman's lips touched his neck. He tried to take a step back but was held firmly in place by Thomas. A wave of nausea washed through him. As Ms. Scarlet grew more insistent, he retreated into his mind.

"Well this is one of the weirdest things that has happened to me today," he thought to himself. "It might even be flattering if I weren't being molested." For a very brief moment Jaden considered his feelings. Mostly there was apprehension of what else the woman was capable of. As it stood right now, she could whip out a knife and gut him right there. She seemed the sort that wouldn't be that bothered by the prospect either. A close second was an unspeakable rage that had begun building in his gut. How dare she do this and even go so far as to act like he was suppose to enjoy it? He would not stand for it.

"I am a person; I have rights."

The fear, anger, and confusion that was forefront in his mind completely drowned out any arousal that might have been possible under slightly better circumstances.

"What now? I can't just stand here. If I act like I'm into it, will she unchain me? Probably not. Good Lord, does she plan to do... whatever it is she wants to do with Thomas here holding me still the entire time? What is she some kind of psycho? That's irrelevant. Action is needed."

Jaden was slightly cheered by the fact that this was not his first time being held down and outnumbered. If nothing else he had experience on his side.

"Use every resource given to you..."

Jaden's eyes came into focus on Ms. Scarlet's face. It really was a shame; she wasn't a bad looking woman. Jaden drove his knee up as hard as he could into her stomach and as she reflexively bent forward, caught her face with the next quick swing. She crumpled to the floor. Thomas immediately drug him backwards by his wrists, the motion of which caused Jaden to pitch forward in order to keep his shoulders from being jerked out of socket. Rather than let that pain immobilize him as was expected, he continued to roll forward, jerking his bound hands free of Thomas' grip and diving over the woman on the ground. He tucked his head in and used the forward motion to somersault back to his feet, barely making it before Thomas lurched after him.

Jaden had not yet figured out how he was going to get free of his cuffs, but he'd worry about that when the time came. For the moment he just made for the open door with all haste. As he skidded into the hallway, he could hear the pounding footsteps of Thomas right on his heels.

Chapter 91: Reminiscent

2008-08-25T10:47:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He began to count the seconds passed in his head, having decided that if he did not hear any response within 30, he would give up and go back to trying to get his cuffs off. He could feel his jaw already going sore and stiff around the gag and he suddenly felt a wave of claustrophobic panic. As he compulsively swallowed, trying to fight back against his instincts, a faint metallic ping interrupted his personal crisis.

Jaden's eyes flew open and he bent closer to put his ear against the vent. That had been a short pause, then three long, break, two short, two long, two short.

"J?"

Jaden could barely contain the feeling of relief that rushed through him. It was absolutely tangible. He quickly tapped out his response, all the while silently blessing Andrew for getting him to memorize Morse for a stupid game they had played when leaving notes for one another.

"Yes."

"R u ok?"

"Yes"

"T w/ u?"

"No."

A sudden flurry of about half a dozen taps told Jaden that something was going on and Andrew wanted him to "maintain radio silence". He held his breath again and pressed his ear to the small opening. He could hear faint voices drifting through the vent, but couldn't make out any words. One of the voices raised to a shout and then Jaden heard a louder thump, like a door slamming. A split second later there were footsteps in the hall. Jaden quickly jumped to the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed just as the locks on his cell disengaged and the door opened.

The fourth man walked in with someone else right behind him. A woman of medium height and slim build, wearing a red dress. A scarlet, backless evening gown to be specific. Her rich chocolate auburn hair was piled high on her head with several loose tresses falling elegantly down over her shoulders.

Jaden overruled his first impulse to rise and take the best defensive position he could manage. Instead he opted to remain seated and, looking past the man, fixed Ms. Scarlet with a belligerent stare with undertones of disinterest. He hoped she was getting all that.

The woman gazed back at him through heavily made-up eyes and after a moment a subtle, but obviously cruel smile drifted over her red lips.

"How very cliched," thought Jaden.

"Take the gag off of him, Tom," she ordered in a silky voice. ~

Chapter 90: Alternative Communication

2008-08-22T11:01:00.009-04:00

~ At the bottom of the stairs the man leading Jaden pushed him around two more corners; one to the left and one to the right. He heard a door creaking and people murmuring in hushed tones and then the blindfold was jerked down off his eyes. Jaden blinked at the sudden bright light surrounding him and winced back as the fourth man approached him.

The man holding Jaden, whom he'd begun to think of fondly in his mind as "Tiny", held him firmly in place. Before the fourth man reached him Jaden took a quick, frantic scan of his surroundings, looking for his teammates. They were nowhere to be seen. He was standing in a brightly lit hallway, facing the open doorway of what was obviously a cell.

"You're going to be staying here for a while," the fourth man told him in a taunting sing-song. "We can't have you making all kind of noise though, now can we?" From behind his back he produced a gag and shoved it into Jaden's mouth while Tiny held him. After the gag was tied in place, the zip tie was cut off of Jaden's wrists and replaced by a set of cold, metal manacles. When that was done, he was shoved forward into the cell without further preamble.

He stumbled against the far wall, unable to catch his balance with his hands chained behind his back, and turned just in time to see the solid door bang shut. The sound of a bolt being slammed home resounded in the small cell and he heard the men walking away down the hall.

The very first thing that Jaden did was quickly scan his tiny cell for openings, weaknesses, cameras, anything. Meanwhile he tried to free himself of the gag and cuffs; and he was unsuccessful on both counts. After a couple of minutes of futile struggling, Jaden moved to the door and stood completely still to listen. The hall seemed to be silent.

Jaden turned back to the room and took a moment to evaluate his surroundings once more, this time being a bit more thorough. Against one wall a thin pallet stood, and above that Jaden spied a small vent. He clambered awkwardly up onto the bed and turned halfway around to run his fingertips around the edges of the vent. The cover was held on securely, but when one of Jaden's cuffs clinked against the metal, he decided to take a long shot.

With the edge of the metal cuff Jaden carefully rapped on the vent cover, with pauses between. Three short, three long, three short. The old Morse code sequence for SOS. If Andrew could somehow hear it, Jaden was sure he would understand who it was from.

He stood still on the bed, holding his breath, offering up a silent prayer that his shot in the dark would work. ~

Chapter 89: Overpowering Logic

2008-08-18T11:27:00.004-04:00

~ "Ok, I'm not going to try anything, I swear," said Andrew, standing frozen with the barrel of a rifle jammed in his back.

"You bet you're not!" the man behind him fumed, pressing his sleeve to his nose to try and staunch the blood flow. "Just give me a reason..."

"See if they've got any cable ties on them," ordered the fourth man, though Jaden noticed that he kept his distance. He looked ready to make a break for it if Andrew went ballistic again.

Jaden heard an outer pocket of his pack being unzipped and the man holding him rummaged around in it.

"He's got some."

"Take off their packs and tie them up. All of them. Now," the fourth man said, very conspicuously not offering to help.

"Don't move unless you want to have your head blown off," Jaden's captor hissed at him as he released him momentarily in order to wrestle his pack off; dropping it to the ground and immediately slipping one of the thin strips of plastic around Jaden's wrists and pulling it tighter than was really necessary. That done he pulled Jaden with him over to Takyle and her escort to repeat the process. Once that man had Takyle's hands firmly bound, he tossed the small bundle of ties to the man behind Andrew. He caught them with one hand, still holding his gun to Andrew's back with the other.

"Here," he said, smacking Andrew's arm with the ties. "Put one of these over your wrists behind your back."

Andrew did as directed, making one of the cable ties into a loose circle and slipping his hands through it, carefully avoiding any sudden movements. Once it was on, the man grabbed the tail of the zip tie and jerked it tight. He then lowered his gun long enough to take a second tie and add it on top of the first, just for good measure.

"Alright, get them out of here and into the cells," barked the fourth man and the three others shoved the members of Team 6 out of the stone room and into a damp, narrow hallway. As they were escorted past the iron doorway the fourth man tied a thick blindfold around their eyes. Just before the strip of cloth was placed on his face, Jaden manged to shoot one more look back at Takyle. She firmly shook her head.

No more trying to fight back.

As he was shoved down the hall Jaden tried to keep track of his footsteps. It felt as if the path was curving slightly to the left, but he was fairly sure that it had to be his imagination. The brief look he'd be able to take before being blindfolded had revealed a long straight passage.

After two hundred some steps he was turned to the right and he heard a door open.

"We're going down stairs," his captor informed him gruffly, immediately shoving him forward off of the first one. Jaden felt his stomach jump at the split second sensation of falling, but quickly regained his balance and felt carefully for the next step, counting silently to himself. Ahead and behind him he could hear people moving and he hoped that he was still with Andrew and Takyle.

"I'll be ok, just as long as I'm not alone." ~

Chapter 88: Confrontational

2008-08-15T22:33:00.007-04:00

~ Andrew sagged for a moment after the blow and then appeared to rally himself by force of will. He stood up straight and fixed the fourth man with a hard glare. The fellow smirked and drew back his fist again.

"Stop!" screamed Takyle. "Just stop! I don't have the map. I lost it, ok?"

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes! It's gone. I must have lost it while we were climbing up here."

The man was silent for a moment while he studied her, slightly less lecherously this time.

"Well if that's the story you're going to stick to, that's fine. We'll find out if you're lying soon enough. Take them!" he barked to the three other men.

Jaden found himself being hustled towards the door and for a moment put up a fight. His escort quickly brought about a change of mind in Jaden by twisting his wrist up between his shoulder blades. He gasped and stumbled over the uneven floor as the man roughly shoved him forward.

"I'm going, I'm going," Jaden protested. He shot a quick look at Andrew and Takyle to try to catch a sign; anything at all that would indicate a plan of action. He caught Andrew's eye, and his friend gave a minute shake of his head before looking away.

"Where are you taking us?" Takyle demanded as she was pushed in the direction of the hallway.

"Shut up, bitch," the fourth man responded, harshly. If Jaden hadn't been already watching Andrew, he would have missed what immediately happened. With no warning Andrew whipped around, somehow getting one arm free and using it to throw a powerful punch into the face of the man holding him. In surprise the man staggered backwards, barely keeping a hold on Andrew's other arm. Andrew grabbed the back of the man's head with his free hand and drove it down onto his raised knee to finish the job. His erstwhile captor fell backwards onto the ground, blood spurting from his nose and Andrew whirled to go for the fourth man, only to skid to a sudden halt as soon as he'd come around.

Several yards away, the man holding Takyle had one arm around her neck and was using the other one to aim his handgun at her temple. Andrew stood frozen in his tracks, breathing hard, eyes locked on Takyle's face. For a moment it felt to Jaden as if time had stopped. He was expressly aware of his heart beat thumping in his ears. Slowly Andrew raised his hands to chest level, palms out. A long moment passed in dead silence.

The man that Andrew had overpowered regained his feet and rushed up behind him, shoving his rifle into the small of Andrew's back.

"Move a muscle and I'll blow your fucking guts all over this room," he hissed. ~

Chapter 87: Visitors

2008-08-11T08:17:00.019-04:00

~ A second resounding clang followed the first one and Andrew grabbed Takyle with one hand and Jaden with the other, pulling them back away from the door.

"Quiet!" he hissed. "I think someone's coming."

"Prepare to defend," ordered Takyle, pulling her arm loose from Andrew's grasp and laying a hand on her dagger in its sheath.

"Step away from the door!" a man's voice ordered from outside. "Face the wall and place you hands on your heads!"

"Ah hell," muttered Andrew."Boss?" Takyle shook her head.

"Stand your ground," she said quietly, eyes fixed on the door. Andrew and Jaden drew their daggers and Jaden moved around to the opposite side of the entry. There was more noise on the other side of the door and what sounded like locks being removed, followed by a moment of silence.

Out of the corner of his eye Jaden saw Takyle make a slashing movement across her neck with her torch. Jaden and Andrew nodded their understanding and switched off their flashlights, plunging them all back into darkness. Jaden held his breath.

With a bang the door flew open, flooding the chiseled room and the waiting trio with light. Four huge men stood in the opening with guns that looked capable of bringing down an elephant, and it was immediately obvious that resistance might not be the smartest option.

"Stand down," Takyle ordered as the men rushed in. Jaden's knife was quickly wrested from him and his arms were pinned behind his back by one of the unnaturally burly men.

"Hell dude, you don't have to be so rough, I'm not fighting back at all!" he heard Andrew protest. A third man grabbed Takyle's wrists and twisted them cruelly until she cried out and dropped her dagger and flashlight. Jaden thought that Andrew was going to come unglued.

The fourth man looked on silently as his three compatriots subdued Team 6 and then he stepped forward.

"Who do we have here? Team 6 is it? Scrappy bunch aren't you? Not that it did you any good."

"Who are you?" Takyle demanded.

"You just don't worry about that, missy. Now I'd like you to give me your map."

"What map?" asked Takyle, indignantly.

"I think you know what map. The only map you have. What did you do with it?"

"If you want it so bad, why don't you try to find it," she said. The man shrugged.

"Have it your way." A short distance away, the man holding Andrew wrenched his wrist up behind his back a good deal further than seemed natural. Andrew drew a quick, pained breath and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking through clenched teeth.

"Hey Takyle, you wanna consider going ahead and playing along with them before She-Hulk over here breaks my arm?"

"Yeah Takyle," taunted the fourth man, giving her a hungry leer; slowly running his eyes down her body and then back up again to her face. "A pretty little thing like you should know that you have to do what you're told, or you might get yourself in trouble with Daddy." The other three men laughed lecherously.

"Don't even think about it, you son of a bitch!" growled Andrew, with so much menace in his voice that it didn't even sound like his own. The fourth man fixed his cold gaze on Andrew and walked over to where he was being held. As Andrew struggled against the man gripping his arms, their leader drew back his fist and punched him hard in the face. ~

Chapter 86: Subterranean

2008-08-08T18:22:00.014-04:00

~ "This is kinda freaky weird," commented Andrew as he played his flashlight beam over the chiseled granite walls. The room that they had fallen into was expansive and roughly cut from the surrounding stone. On one wall a riveted iron door was set into the rock, and it seemed to be the only access.

"I don't like the looks of this at all," he murmured.

By the light of Jaden's flashlight Takyle quickly located her backpack and pulled it close.

"Oh shit. A bunch of stuff fell out."

"It's ok; I'll help you gather it up," offered Andrew.

"And uh, I'll take a look around." Jaden got to his feet gingerly and flexed his back, wincing slightly.

"Be careful," Andrew reminded him, unnecessarily.

As Andrew and Takyle set to reassembling Takyle's pack, Jaden took a quick circuit of the room. The floor was rough and uneven, with large pieces of rock scattered here and there. It seemed more like a natural cave floor, with parts of it chiseled away so that it was for the most part vaguely level, than an artificial excavation.

"Perhaps it was a natural cave that was expanded at some point to form this chamber," mused Jaden silently. He shone his light up the walls and noted that they were almost perfectly vertical, and definitely worked, but the beam was too weak to reveal any detail on the high ceiling.

When he finally approached the large door, he did it cautiously and from an angle. He stood to the side of it and gave the handle a tug. The door didn't budge. He gave the slightly rusted iron a quick rap with the butt of his flashlight and heard a very solid thunk in return. So not a thin door either.

"Great. This is just great."

Jaden turned around to go see how his teammates were getting on and very nearly ran into Andrew.

"So the door's locked then?" Andrew asked, gazing up at it. Takyle stood next to him fiddling with her flashlight.

"Yeah. And at first inspection seems to be pretty solid."

"So what do you want to do, Boss?" asked Andrew.

"Um, well, first let's- Oh! I got it to work! And now it's not- And now it is again... Sorry. Let me see now. No other accesses, Jaden?" said Takyle, shining her now operational flashlight around the room.

"Sure don't seem to be."

Takyle opened her mouth and for the second time she was cut off. This time by a resounding clang from behind the iron door. ~

Chapter 85: Into the Unknown

2008-08-04T15:14:00.013-04:00

~ Jaden stared out across the rocky mountaintop through the curtain of rain that poured over their ledge and couldn't help noticing that a sense of uneasiness was settling itself around him.

"How long are we going to stay here?" he asked without turning around.

"Hell Jay, you sound like you have someplace to be," said Andrew. Jaden paused before answering, listening for any signs of... well, anything really, but all that he could hear over the heavy rain was the occasional clap of thunder.

"I don't feel right here."

"Anything in particular that's bothering you?" asked Andrew, immediately attentive.

"I don't know... Just a feeling I guess." Andrew turned to Takyle.

"We should think about our next move as soon as possible then. As a general rule Jaden's feelings tend to be pretty spot on."

"Ok, Jaden, can you be any more specific at all?" asked Takyle.

"I think that part of it is I don't like the fact that we're stuck in this corner and we wouldn't be able to hear, or hardly even see anything that happened to come near. Maybe I'm just being too jumpy, but I feel damn uncomfortable about this."

Takyle opened her mouth to respond, but didn't have to chance to actually say anything before the ground dropped out from underneath them. They plummeted downward into darkness and the only thought on Jaden's mind was: "If this fall doesn't kill us, it's not going to do any favors for Andrew's stomach." And then he hit the ground hard and his breath was knocked right out of him. Above them the piece of rock that they had been sitting on under the ledge slammed shut again, leaving them in absolute night.

Before Jaden could manage to draw enough breath to say something, he heard Takyle moan quietly, and then Andrew's voice.

"Ow! Freaking hell, ow... Ow."

"Jaden, are you ok?" asked Takyle, her voice sounding faint and small in the black void.

"I think so," he gasped. He had managed to go somewhat limp before hitting the ground, and so seemed to have avoided any major injury, but when he tried to sit up, a shooting pain speared into his back. He held his breath until the wave passed, and then tried again, but slower this time. "Yeah, yeah I think I'm ok. You?"

"I'm fine, but I lost my pack in the fall. Do you still have yours on?"

"Yes."

"Where the hell are we?" moaned Andrew.

"Inside part of the mountain I guess. I think that my flashlight is broken. Yours?" Takyle asked. Jaden could hear her moving around, groping for her pack. A hand grabbed his leg and he yelped.

"It's just me," said Takyle. A beam of light cut through the darkness and played across Jaden's eyes.

"Oh, sorry," said Andrew, quickly directing his light elsewhere. The small torch sent very little illumination into the blackness that surrounded them. ~

Chapter 84: Rock and a Hard Place

2008-08-01T16:08:00.001-04:00

~ Cover on the mountain top was sparse at best, but after some scouting Andrew managed to locate a small outcropping of rock that created a sheltered nook. Plenty deep to get out of the wind and most of the rain, but shallow enough that it wasn't harboring any interesting animal life.

"Guys, over here. Think I found what we're looking for."

Jaden and Takyle hurried towards his voice and found him crouching below the rock.

"What do you think? Good enough?"

"Excellent!" said Takyle, bending her head to join him, and finally get out of the downpour.

"Are you sure there's nothing...cute in there?" asked Jaden, warily.

"Well I'm in here," replied Andrew, in a hurt tone of voice.

"Oh tee hee. I'm comin' in; I better not crawl over anything exciting." Jaden bent at the waist and edged into the small space and immediately noticed something.

"This nook doesn't look exactly natural to me, guys. The rock almost looks machined."

Takyle switched on her flashlight to get a closer look. "You may be right about that. Think it means anything?"

"Dunno. Is it going to make a difference to us staying here even if it does?"

"Probably not. We won't stick around long," said Takyle. Andrew sat down and leaned back against the rock, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Wow, that climb didn't do me any favors."

"You're face doesn't do me any favors," replied Jaden, perfunctorily.

"I'd say something about your mom here, but honestly, she's so hot I just can't speak ill of her," said Andrew without opening his eyes.

"Jaden, give me some antisep will you? And you'd best clean yourself up while you have time," said Takyle. Jaden unzipped his pack and handed her a couple of packets. Takyle quickly swabbed down the deep cuts on her arm and inspected the damage.

"Well that ain't hardly nothin'," she commented, borrowing one of Andrew's phrases. She sprinkled antiseptic powder over the cuts and then reached over and tipped up Andrew's chin. "Let me clean that up for you." Andrew laughed.

"Oh, now you're nursing me back to health; that's pretty hot."

"Yeah, don't get too used to it. I'm not much of a caregiver."

"Have you told you mom that? Because last time I saw the two of you together she seemed pretty set on having grandchildren."

"You mean the only time you saw the two of us together, and yes, I have told my mother not to hold her breath. Don't know that it did any good, but I did tell her," said Takyle. Andrew flinched as she cleaned the abrasions on his jaw.

"Full disclosure: what more could a mother ask for?"

"That's what I said," Takyle agreed with a nod. "I was very nice about it."

"I've no doubt Ta. You're the soul of discretion."

"Don't I know it." ~

Chapter 83: Vantage Point

2008-07-28T23:15:00.001-04:00

~ While Andrew and Jaden sat and gazed out over the storm-ravaged land below them, Takyle lay back on the rock with her face to the sky, eyes closed. Raindrops hit her eyelids and ran down her face like hundreds of tears. After some time had passed marveling at the elements raging around them, Jaden regained his senses.

"Hey guys... Is it exactly a good idea for us to be sitting up here, out in the open, on top of a mountain, in the middle of a lightning storm?"

Andrew shrugged. "Eh, truth be told I'm not too worried. It seems to be letting up a bit, and the main activity is off to the east anyway. And even if we wanted it, there's not a lot of cover up here."

"I suppose." Jaden pulled up his pant leg to inspect his knee. It was beginning to bruise and it seemed to Jaden that it had already swollen up. Below the knee his leg was bleeding slightly from a few superficial scrapes, but the bandage for where the hellbeast had stomped on him had actually protected the better part of his shin from the rock.

"Well aren't you lucky?" said Andrew. "You injured the same leg twice in one day. That leaves you with one good one!"

"Yes. I'm lucky. So very, very lucky," murmured Jaden dryly.

"Check this out." Andrew tilted his head back and pointed to his chin. Deep abrasions ran all along the underside of his jaw, from the right side of his face to the center of his chin. "I slipped and banged it on the rock. Bit my tongue something awful." He paused and his eyebrows drew together in overdone concern. "Be honest with me Jay. Is it bad? Will it... Will it mar my beautiful face forever?"

"Oh that's nothing." Takyle sat up and raised her arm to show its underside. "How's that for abrasions, huh?"

"Yeah ok, I guess she wins this one," conceded Andrew, after taking a long look at Takyle's bloodied arm.

"Well I also bent the corner of my fingernail back, and it really hurt. Surely that counts for something," Jaden added.

"Well if we're counting the small stuff now, then my stomach is killing me and I got some dust in my eye at one point," said Andrew. They looked at one another for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess Ta still wins," Jaden finally said. She grinned and pumped her fist.

"Yes! I'm awesome! At getting hurt... Alright guys, let's see if we can't find a little shelter somewhere to nurse our wounds and rest for a bit before we press on. Perhaps by that time the worst of this storm will be over too."

"I'd also suggest that we try to get a little drier so we don't get hypothermia or something equally as fun," added Jaden.

"Indeed," said Andrew. "By the way, good job picking the route there Boss."

"Why thank you Andrew; I enjoyed doing it. Well, up until that bit where it started raining real hard. You remember that bit?" asked Takyle.

"You mean the bit that's still going on right now?"

"Yep, that's the one!"

"Oh, that bit... I have very fond memories of that bit..."

"Yeah, there were some good times in that bit I guess... Like that one time I almost fell off the mountain!"

"Oh yeah! Man, we were so crazy back then!"

"I've got good news for you, Andrew," interjected Jaden, unclipping his harness. "You're still that crazy now." ~

Chapter 82: A Bigger Challenge

2008-07-25T21:28:00.002-04:00

~ Just as they passed the point in time when Jaden's injuries were making the climb not strictly enjoyable for him anymore, the breeze rushing over and down the cliff face began turning colder and stronger. At first Jaden thought nothing of it. Until the sunlight suddenly dimmed and he looked up to find a thick blanket of dark clouds quickly taking over the skies. They were scudding fast and low in front of the wind, looking ominous and angry.

"Those don't exactly look healthy," Andrew called up to him.

"I'll say. Takyle, you notice the weather?"

"Yeah, let's get off of here as fast as we can," yelled Takyle, her voice getting caught and carried off in the wind that was ever growing stronger. Not terribly far off in the distance, Jaden heard the first low rumble of thunder and a large drop splashed against the back of his neck. The storm was coming fast. The wind buffeted the ropes, pinging Jaden's carabiners against the rock with hard gusts. More raindrops splashed against the cliff, falling on Jaden's hands and face, turning chalk dust into paste.

Not five minutes later the rain was coming down in icy sheets. Jaden blinked water out of his eyes as the drops streamed down his face, in a useless effort to clear his vision to find handholds on the slick rock. This was not good. This was not good at all.

A tiny shower of wet grit tumbled down from above and Jaden looked up to see Takyle struggling to regain a foothold. Their fun little stint of rock climbing had quickly taken a very treacherous turn. Jaden's own foot slipped and he banged his knee hard against the slick granite, sending a shooting pain all the way down to his foot.

"Ah, dammit! Ow!"

"You ok?" yelled Andrew, his voice sounding faint over the rain and wind. Jaden bit his lip.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He experimentally put some weight on his still tingling foot and found it to yet be operational. He shook the water out of his eyes, and began edging upwards again. As he continued on, his hands grew numb from the cold rain and he began to shiver.

"Good Lord, this is ridiculous. Why the hell am I here?"

"Not far to go!" Takyle shouted down.

"There's nothing quite like the thrill of a win."

"We can do this!"

"And there's also nothing quite like dying."

"No Jaden, take the left one!" directed Andrew.

"Don't be stupid. You're not going to die today."

"Keep that rope clear!"

"I hope you're right about that."

"A little further!"

"I am. You'll see."

"Jaden, give me your hand." Takyle leaned over the top of the cliff, her arm outstretched to Jaden. He grasped her wrist and threw his over elbow over the rock ledge, hauling himself up beside her. He quickly turned to look down at Andrew, only to find that he had swiftly closed the distance between them and was already grabbing Takyle's hand to scramble up onto the top of the cliff. A deafening crash of thunder followed immediately by a stunning double fork of lightning shook the entire mountain beneath them. The members of Team 6 looked at one another, and then out over the land.

For a moment, it didn't matter to Jaden that he was battered, bruised, soaked to the bone and shivering. Storms are impressive from any vantage, but viewed from atop a mountain they are nothing less than awe inspiring. Streaks of lighting chased through the clouds over and over again, running down through rain soaked air to touch the earth here and there in the blink of an eye. Fire slipping through water; then quickly back again to hide in the thunder.

Takyle sat back on the wet granite and shook her head.

"I've never seen anything like it," she said over the roar.

"And you may never again," mused Andrew.

"This is why I'm here," thought Jaden. "It really is the experience of a lifetime." ~

Chapter 81: MacCrimmon's Lament

2008-07-21T08:40:00.001-04:00

~ Despite the trauma of the day, once he was on the cliff Jaden found it easy to put everything else out of his mind. The cool rock pressed under his hands and against his stomach and, as they climbed higher into the light, the sun's warmth on the back of his neck calmed him. Rock climbing was something the required his complete concentration and he was more than happy to give it. His burned hand throbbed, and a dull ache was beginning to settle into his shoulders, but it wasn't bad enough yet to detract from the experience as a whole.

After 15 minutes of steady climbing he heard Andrew below him begin to sing.

"O'er Coolin's face the night is creeping. The banshee's wail is round us sweeping; Blue eyes in Duin are dim with weeping, since thou art gone and ne'er returnest.

"No more, no more, no more returning; In peace nor in war is he returning; Till dawns the great day of doom and burning, MacCrimmon is home no more returning.

"The breeze of the bens is gently blowing; The brooks in the glens are softly flowing; Where boughs their darkest shades are throwing, birds mourn for thee who ne'er returnest."

Andrew's singing voice was smooth and strong, and it did the sad, ancient song justice. The words rang out across the rock, getting caught in the wind and carried here and there, giving them an ethereal quality the likes of which Jaden had never experienced before.

"Its dirges of woe the sea is sighing, the boat under sail unmov'd is lying; The voice of waves in sadness dying; Say, thou art away and ne'er returnest.

"No more, no more, no more returning; In peace nor in war is he returning; Till dawns the great day of doom and burning, MacCrimmon is home no more returning."

Even though Takyle continually paused to set anchors, she was a faster climber than Jaden and so was able to steadily maintain the distance between them. She was mindful of their limitations and chose the easier route over the slightly faster one more than once.

"We'll see no more MacCrimmon's returning. In peace nor in war is he returning. Till dawns the great day of woe and burning; For him, there's no more returning."

Twice when Jaden felt he had a firm handhold, he hazarded a look over his shoulder. The late morning sunlight spilled over the treetops on the foothills below, painting them yellow. Far away, beyond the hills a rolling plain began, stretching to the horizon. Clouds floated across the sun, casting huge shadows to race each over the tawny grasses. Jaden took a deep breath, and turned away from the gorgeous view to push upwards, ever higher. A warm wind ran down the rock face, eddying for a moment around him. It smelled damp and clean, and just a tiny bit salty. Jaden had never felt so alive.

"Sensation is deception," his mind reminded him.

"When sensation is this beautiful, I don't mind being deceived," he told his mind.

"No more, no more, no more returning; In peace nor in war is he returning; Till dawns the great day of doom and burning, MacCrimmon is home no more returning." ~

Chapter 80: A Matter of Expertise

2008-07-18T20:19:00.004-04:00

~ "I guess we have a decision to make," said Takyle, looking back and forth between Andrew and Jaden. "Someone has to lead and set anchors. Andrew, of the three of us, you have the most experience rock climbing, with me next, but I'm worried about your stomach. I think that I should probably set."

Andrew looked at his hands.

"Ok, if you're comfortable doing that, Ta."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You know I don't mean it like that. It's going to be a long climb. I've done more than either of you. I just think that it would really blow to die falling from a cliff after we've gotten this far. I trust you to get us to the top safely. I wanted to make sure that you were confident. You know that there's no room for second guessing yourself when you're climbing," said Andrew. Takyle crossed her arms and looked him up and down.

" I don't know if you were back peddling there, but if you were you did a pretty decent job."

Andrew gazed back seriously. "I wasn't. Jaden, I suggest that you go behind Takyle, and I'll be last. That way if you get stuck I might be able to help." Jaden nodded absently, tugging at the straps of his harness, testing their security.

"Do you want me to check it?" asked Andrew.

"Um, yeah, if you don't mind." Andrew stepped over and ran his hands quickly over the connections on Jaden's harness.

"Now listen," he said quietly. "This is going to be a tough climb, harder because we're carrying full packs, but we've practiced together and you'll do fine. Just keep the basics in mind. I taught you everything you need to know for this. Takyle will pick a good route, no need to worry about that. Keep your ropes taut and don't forget to clip in."

Jaden nodded. "I'm ok. I enjoyed it before."

"That's the spirit." Andrew gave Jaden a pat on the shoulder and pulled his ropes out of his pack before putting it back on. "I think we're ready Ta. Be careful, huh?"

"You know it." Takyle pulled her pack on, checked her ropes once more, and dusted her fingers in the little pouch of chalk on her belt. She looked upwards for a moment, choosing her path, and then began scaling the wall. She was a fast and decisive climber.

"If you want the honest truth, I've got a bit more time in, but she's as good as I am. Maybe better," Andrew murmured to Jaden when she was over their heads.

"Thanks," Takyle called down.

"And she has very good hearing," Andrew added, conspiratorially.

When Takyle was approximately ten feet from the ground she paused to place an anchor in the rock and clip in before continuing on. Andrew tapped Jaden's shoulder.

"It's all you. I'll be ten behind."

Jaden dusted his fingers and stepped up to the cliff. He looked over his shoulder, glancing once more back at the woods. In the shadows between trees he was sure he could see a blacker darkness lurking, out of reach of the sunlight. He quickly turned back to the wall, pushed those thoughts out of his head, and started climbing. ~

Chapter 79: Moving Up in the World

2008-07-14T06:37:00.004-04:00

~ As Team 6 made their way cautiously through the woods, Jaden's bruised leg settled into a dull, throbbing ache and his head began to hurt to match it. Ahead of him, Andrew slipped easily through the black trees, making very little noise, but Jaden couldn't escape the feeling of being watched. Every time he managed to calm his mind, a rustle of leaves or the soft crack of a twig would immediately return him to a heightened state of alarm. Shadows seemed to take form and move around him and he was unpleasantly reminded of lying in his darkened room as a small child. Trying to sleep, but unable to close his eyes on the malicious faces staring out at him from the wood paneling.

A soft breeze blew through the forest, bringing with it the faint scent of far off rain. Jaden noticed that the underbrush was growing steadily thicker and the huge deciduous trees were giving way to slightly smaller pines and scrub. As the darkness started to go gray and birds woke, relief began to slip over Jaden. They had lived through the night. It was going to be alright. The sun broke over an unseen horizon and the treetops overhead were painted golden in the morning air.

"Hey guys. Do you want to take a break for a few minutes for some food?" asked Takyle. "More importantly: Do you think it would be safe to?"

"Yeah, I think it'd be ok," said Jaden. He was in a decidedly more optimistic mood now that it was light out. If he hadn't been sore all over he might have even been able to convince himself, with considerable effort and a good bit of repression, that last night was a horrible dream.

"Let's just stay on our toes," suggested Andrew, setting his pack on the ground and kneeling next to it. "What do you two want to eat?"

"We have a choice?" asked Jaden incredulously.

"Well... Sorta. Powder or cake of powder... That's a choice. Technically."

Takyle sat down and leaned back against a tree, taking a long drink from her canteen.

"Hit me with a Cake o' Powder, Andy." She took another drink. "You know, I think the tasks are getting harder. I mean, sure the first ones were difficult, but not quite so life threatening." She fell silent for a moment, staring into the distance. "My parents didn't want me to do this."

"No kidding," said Andrew with a laugh. "Your parents didn't want you to take time off school and spend your money to be part of a race that you could quite easily be maimed or killed in? How very illogical of them." Takyle shot a quick look at him.

"Don't tell me that you're taking their side in this. Because you don't have much room to talk. You're in the race with me."

"Yes well, you're paying me. And I stand a chance to win more money than I've ever seen before. That's not bad motivation. And, you know, I like winning and international acclaim. At least, I know I like the first one. I'm not sure about the acclaim; I've never had a chance to find that out."

As his teammates continued their conversation, Jaden studied the surrounding forest. It was definitely thinning out, and the ground had been steadily sloping upwards for some time now, rather than rolling as it had before in the foothills. They were getting close. He could feel it.

Jaden finished the remains of his protein bar and stood. He noticed that before Andrew joined him, he swallowed two of the capsules that the medic had given him. He saw Jaden watching him and raised an eyebrow.

"Remind me to change this bandage tonight, will ya bud?"

"Yeah, sure... Are you... In much pain?"

"Not as much as I would have expected," said Andrew, and started off. Jaden shook his head and glanced at Takyle before following. She met his eye. They both knew Andrew. That was not an answer to the question.

After another hour of hiking they broke through a line of trees and were suddenly out of the forest. Jaden stopped in his tracks.

Just ahead of them was a sheer vertical granite wall. Apparently they had reached the mountain. Andrew stared up at it.

"Well, shit," he remarked calmly. Jaden silently nodded in agreement, tilting his head back to gaze, open-mouthed, straight up the towering rock face in front of them. The sun in the sky overhead glared down on them, washing out Jaden's sight and effectively hiding whether or not the granite cliff had an end.
It was several seconds before Takyle broke the silence.

"Ok well, break out your climbing harnesses, guys." ~

Chapter 78: Falling In

2008-07-11T21:27:00.001-04:00

~ Jaden quickly mixed a salve and bandaged his burned hand by the light of his flashlight while Andrew packed their sleeping bags. Takyle sat down beside him and took a packet of antiseptic powder from his medkit.

"Burned bad?" she asked, ripping the corner of the pouch off with her teeth.

"I'll be ok." Jaden rolled up his pant leg and shone his light on the side of his calf. "Friggin' hell."

The place where the beast had stepped on his leg was a large bluish mass of bruising, painted over with blood from three lacerations.

"Damn..." Takyle leaned over to take a closer look. "Andrew, get me some water over here, would you?" she called.

"Sure Boss." Andrew came over with a canteen and knelt down in front of Jaden when he saw his leg. "Dude, what the hell? Scratches? Really? The word you used was "scratches"." Jaden shook his head.

"It's not as bad as it looks. It doesn't really even hurt yet."

"Yet being the key word there. Your shoulder is all bloody too. Take off your shirt," Andrew demanded as Takyle washed the blood from Jaden's leg and began bandaging the cuts. Jaden did as he was told, momentarily surprised by how much blood there actually was on his shirt.

"What happened here?" asked Andrew, cleaning off the deep puncture wounds.

"One of those things grabbed me and gave me a bit of a toss right across the clearing there."

"Hmm, well it ain't pretty. I'm betting that's going to be pretty sore. The good news is that you probably won't get any nasty diseases or anything, what with this being a sim," Andrew told him.

"Oh yes, that's delightful news... Andy, how is it that you don't have a scratch on you from this fight?" asked Jaden. Andrew shrugged.

"I'm lucky. Lift your arm." He carefully placed a gauze pad over the wound and wrapped a bandage around Jaden's shoulder, crossing it over his chest and under his arm to keep it in place.

"Ok, there you go. That ought to keep you together. Alright, Ta, let's see yours." Andrew quickly inspected the shallow gash on Takyle's upper arm and helped her wrap it before standing. "Let's get out of here. I'm not at all convinced that we've seen the last of those things."

Jaden closed up the medkit and stowed it away. He quickly pulled a clean shirt over his head and shouldered his pack as he came to his feet.

"If more of them come... Do you think we'll be able to win again?" asked Jaden. Andrew gave him a quick glance up and down.

"Well you might not, but I intend to," he said dryly. Takyle pulled her pack on and killed her flashlight, sticking it back into its pouch on her belt.

"Ok guys, listen up. I think we should probably try for stealth. Keep quiet, stay aware, keep your daggers handy and your hatchets unfolded and on your belts please."

"Sure thing Boss," Andrew replied. "I'll take point."

"Ok, let's go," said Takyle. "Oh and incidentally, good job with the fighting. So far we're all alive, and that's how I'd like to keep it." Jaden switched off his light and checked once more that he had his weapons.

"I can agree with that sentiment," he murmured in response. Andrew looked at his compass once and set off into the black trees with Takyle and Jaden just behind him. His soft voice drifted back through the chill night air.

"Oh, you people and your ridiculous hopes and dreams." ~

Chapter 77: What It Takes

2008-07-07T01:15:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden stared up into the beast's face and felt suddenly sick. It was flat; small nostrils placed high between the wide set eyes. The thing had a freakishly wide mouth with thin, transparent lips that didn't quite cover yellowed, serrated fangs. But it was its eyes that were the worst part.

The creature seemed to stare right through Jaden with those eyes. They were darker than the night. Blacker than anything that Jaden had ever seen before. Staring into the beast's eyes was like staring into the abyss of hell, and he couldn't look away. They were hypnotizing and horrifying. Nameless terror rose in Jaden's throat like bile.

The beast bent forward and snarled over him, its wounded arm hanging useless, blood and saliva dripping down onto Jaden's legs. He tried desperately to get his fingers to work, but it was no use.

"Guess you're going to die now, Jay... That kinda sucks."

"Oh, shut up."

Jaden slowly edged himself backwards, in an attempt to put at least a couple of feet between himself and the beast. Even a few more inches would be an improvement. It snarled again and stepped on his leg with a clawed foot, crushing it into the ground and pinning him in place, causing him to gasp as the talons dug into his flesh.

As feeling finally came flooding back into his arm in the form of a million tiny pinpricks of agony, Jaden realized that his shoulder was resting on something soft. It was his sleeping bag. The creature had thrown him all the way back into the center of the clearing.

The beast reached down to grab his other leg, presumably to either drag him away or rip it off. Jaden left off fumbling for his knife, trapped underneath his pinned leg, and threw his hand out to where he knew the fire had been. He thrust his fingers into the ashes and grabbed a handful of the still scorching coals underneath, flinging them up into the beast's face. Into those blackest eyes. The beast screeched and leap back, swiping at its face with the backs of its furry hands.

Jaden's action had been split second, but it had not been fast enough to avoid also burning his own hand. As he scrambled to his feet, he frantically scrubbed off the hot ashes that were still stuck to his palm. Before he had a chance to decide what exactly he was going to do next the creature sprang at him with a terrifying scream. It seemed the decision was made for him. Jaden tucked and rolled, thankfully coming out of it, once again, on his feet. He spun to face the beast, at last unsheathing his knife.

That was when he realized that his little avoidance maneuver had placed him with his back to the woods, and the beast with an open shot at Takyle and Andrew, still in the thick of their own battles. That was unacceptable. The beast ran at him, driving him still further from the center of the clearing. A glint on the ground caught his eye as he spun away a third time. His hatchet.

He scooped it up and, as the creature came at him for the fourth time, he stood his ground and without pause threw the small ax with all the force and precision that he could muster. The blade landed with a thunk in the beast's chest and it staggered backwards, momentarily stunned. The world paused for a moment as the creature stood there, wavering, and then to Jaden's astonishment it began stumbling forward again.

He sprinted around the slowed beast, and once again gained the center ground. As he stood there frozen, possibilities racing through his mind, something whizzed by his shoulder. A dagger buried itself to the hilt in the creature's throat and with a soft gurgle, the beast gently toppled to the earth. Jaden spun to find Andrew several paces behind him, arm still extended from the throw. At his feet, a third creature lay unmoving. A short distance away was another, Andrew's hatchet lodged in the thing's face. Its mouth was open, teeth stained with its own blood and bared in a hideous grimace.

Jaden's eyes darted to Takyle to find her just pulling her hatchet out of the abdomen of a beast that towered over her. She stepped back and watched it fall, writhing, its belly slit diagonally, entrails spilling over the ground, glistening with dark blood. She moved forward and with one more quick chop she severed its throat and slowly, gradually, the thing stopped struggling. She glanced around the clearing and, seeing no more enemy, called softly to Jaden and Andrew.

"Gather your weapons and regroup."

Jaden cautiously approached his former enemy, still not completely able to trust that it was at last dead, and dislodged his hatchet and Andrew's knife. He attempted not to look at either the beast's ghastly wounds, or its nightmare face, with limited success on both counts.

Back in the center of the bloodied clearing Takyle stood catching her breath.

"Are either of you hurt?" Andrew and Jaden shook their heads no.

"You seem to be limping there, Jay," noted Andrew.

"That thing tossed me a few yards and I just landed wrong. Bit numb; I'll be fine." Takyle nodded at him in the dark.

"Well let's pack up. There are five of those things dead, but at some point one that I wounded apparently drug itself off into the woods. Who knows; maybe it's going to get reinforcements. In any case I don't particularly like this spot that much anymore."

"I agree. We need to move," said Andrew, his voice grim.

"Ok, get your stuff." Takyle began to turn away.

"Hey Ta," said Jaden. "I kinda got a bit of a burn and a couple of, um, scratches. Do I have time to put something on those, or do you want to clear out ASAP?"

"No, do what you need to. One of those things clipped my arm, too. Suppose I ought to put some antisep on it." Jaden heard Andrew snicker in the dark as he turned away.

"I didn't get hurt at all, losers." Takyle shook her head.

"Yeah, go ahead and rub in your superiority there, Stab Wound Lad." ~

Chapter 76: The Valley of the Shadow

2008-07-04T19:56:00.007-04:00

~ "Alright guys," said Takyle. "It's been a long day, why don't we try to sleep for 6 or so hours and then we can move on?" Jaden nodded sleepily and pulled his boots back on to grab a few more pieces of firewood before sinking down on top of his sleeping bag and falling immediately into a deep sleep.

What seemed like only minutes later, Jaden was pulled abruptly from his dreams by a shrill scream. He jolted awake and lay perfectly still, his eyes searching the black trees around them. The woods were silent. He had just decided that he must have only dreamed it when another shriek tore through the forest.

The fire had all but burned out, but by the glimmer of light that it cast Jaden saw Andrew's hand move to his knife as he raised himself up. He reached over and tapped Takyle's shoe to rouse her.

"Are you awake Jaden?" he whispered.

"Yes."

"That's the second scream I've heard-" Just then another shriek cut him off. When it died he continued. "That's the third scream I've heard."

"Me too."

"What the hell is it?" asked Takyle. A fourth shriek coming from the other side of the clearing made Jaden jump.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound human to me," answered Andrew grimly. "Jaden, put out the fire. Takyle, grab a couple of thick pieces of wood that we can use as weapons if we need them." Jaden pulled out his hatchet and loosened his knife in it's sheath while Andrew freed himself from his sleeping bag. Another horrifying scream reverberated off of the hills around them, this time seeming to come from atop the trees.

Andrew was right; it didn't sound exactly human. But it also didn't sound like any animal that Jaden had ever seen. He felt his heart race and a rush of adrenalin steadied his hands. Another scream answered the last one, closer this time, and Jaden was brutally reminded of some of the things he had read about. Demons and harpies, soulless nightmare beings, damned to tread the earth. He reminded himself firmly that these things are not real.

"In a live-sim, anything can be real," his mind answered, coldly. A second animalistic scream joined the first. Either the things were moving quickly, or there were a lot of them. Jaden stood in a triangle with Takyle and Andrew, scanning the line of trees and the deeper darkness between. He whipped his head around when he heard a twig snap and thought he saw movement to his left. There was nothing there. The screams continued, closer together now, and always moving.

"I don't much like being prey," mused the voice in Jaden's mind. He gripped his hatchet tighter, his eyes always moving, heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"Oh just come out and fight already," he murmured aloud.

"Guys, if we do have to engage...whatever this is, stay close. Don't get drawn away from camp by the fight," warned Takyle, hefting her club.

"Maybe they'll just move on and leave us alone," said Andrew.

"Doesn't sound like they're interested in moving on to me, Andy," Jaden whispered. "Sounds to me like they're circling for the kill."

"How very optimistic of you Jaden," said Takyle.

"Well you know me; I try to be a realist."

"Thought you were going to leave that to me."

"Yeah well, you can have the job back if we live through this." Jaden's eyes jerked to the right when he saw a branch move. At first he thought that there was nothing there, and then he saw a pair of eyes, glittering back at him in the faint moonlight. There was more movement beside it and another shadowed form came into view. He heard Takyle draw a deep breath and felt Andrew stiffen behind him, but didn't take the time to look and see what horrors each of them was facing. He knew that the time had come.

The beasts lumbered forward. Nightmare beings they were. Slightly taller than a man, and definitely broader; their shoulders tapered up to a thick, short neck that held a head twice the size of a human's. Two horns, curved like a ram's and thick as the breadth of Jaden's hand, curled out and down, shadowing their faces.

One of them tilted its head back and issued that wretched shriek and they broke into a run. Jaden heard screams coming from behind him as well and felt his mates move to defend. He roared a battle cry in response to the creatures' wail and took four strides forward to meet the beasts halfway.

The first of the two to meet him took a wide swipe with a clawed hand, and Jaden ducked low to avoid it, temporarily throwing himself off balance. He came up on the beast's right and swung his hatchet hard, burying it in the thing's shoulder. The creature roared and whirled at him, jerking the hatchet right out of Jaden's hand. Jaden danced back and watched with dismay as the beast grabbed the shaft of his hatchet and ripped it out of its own shoulder with a jerk, dropping it on the ground. It didn't seem to be that bothered by the wound. The second beast roared and lumbered around its compatriot with surprising agility to take up the fight.

Jaden shifted his makeshift club to his right hand and bolted forward again. The second beast took a swing at him that he successfully deflected with his club, but by the time he pulled the unwieldy thing back to strike, the beast's defenses were back up. The first creature was already on him again, though blood poured from its shoulder, reflecting wet and black in the moonlight.

Jaden ducked another swing from the second beast and drove his club straight up into its groin. From its reaction he could tell immediately that these things had the very same weakness as the one he'd found on Frank Hursey when he was seven and the older boy was trying to beat him up in the alley behind the school. Handy.

Jaden dodged right to avoid the first beast's clumsy left-handed grab and delivered a quick jab to where the thing's kidney would be if it were human. It didn't seem swayed at all, but did turn too sharply to follow him, overcompensating slightly. Jaden took the opportunity afforded him and grabbed its wounded arm, wrenching it around. He heard a sickening pop and the arm became unnaturally loose as the shoulder slipped out of joint. The beast bellowed in rage and whipped around, but by then Jaden had let go and dodged back again.

He glanced over to keep tabs on the second beast and was shocked to see that the creature was already trying to get back to its feet. So they were more resilient than Frank Hursey apparently. For a split second he considered throwing his dagger at the thing while it was relatively still, but just as quickly dismissed that idea. That was exactly what he needed; for his knife to be carried off, buried in the back of some hellish beast. He had no idea what kind of hit could possibly be fatal on these things.

Instead he ran at the first beast, then dodged around the thing at the very last possible moment. He continued at full speed, heading for the second creature on its knees. He raised his club over his head and brought it down with a jarring crash into the base of the beast's scull. The wood cracked, splintering into several pieces, and the beast fell forward. Jaden flipped the jagged piece of wood in his hands over and drove it with all his might into the creature's back. He felt the thing lurch and quiver and then go still. Jaden spun back to face the first beast, his hand reaching for his knife, but he was too late. A deafening roar filled his ears and pain shot up his neck as the creature, already caught up with him, clamped onto his shoulder with a clawed hand. Those things were quicker than he gave them credit for.

The beast lifted him easily off his feet with its one uninjured arm and heaved him away from the creature on the ground. Jaden landed hard on his side and for a moment, lay stunned. He struggled to get back to his feet and pull his knife and found that his right arm was dead numb and completely useless to him. From inches behind him he heard another shriek and rolled over to find the beast with the wounded arm standing over him. It roared again and as it raised its head to the moonlight Jaden finally caught a glimpse of the its face. And he dearly wished that he hadn't. ~

Chapter 75: Beautiful Irreality

2008-06-30T23:59:00.004-04:00

~ Team 6 followed their escort down three hallways and up a flight of stairs before he stopped in front of a white door.

"Alright, here's your exit," he told them in a bored monotone. Takyle gave him a quick nod, and stepped through the door with Jaden and Andrew just behind her. As one, Team 6 stopped in their tracks just inside.

The doorway had deposited them right in the middle of a bunch of wooded foothills. Above the hills, shining silver and gold in the evening sun, towered huge mountains, capped with snow. The entire scene was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Whoa," said Andrew, in an awed voice.

"And you'll need this," said someone from behind them. They all jumped at the voice, having already forgotten about their escort. He was leaning through the door, which from this side looked like nothing except a frame, freestanding on the hillside. He was holding out a map. Takyle took it from him and he nodded and closed the door. It popped out of existence, leaving them alone in the shadow of the mountains. Takyle studied the map.

"Looks like we're going to climb the mountain, guys." She rolled it back up and stuck it through her belt. "Let's make time while we've still got daylight. Seems that we've got a bit of hiking to do before we even get to the mountain.

"Oh boy, more walking!" Jaden's mind cheered sarcastically.

"Endurance. This entire race is about endurance," he reminded himself and fell into step behind Andrew. As he plodded along through the forest, he allowed his mind to drift and enter what Andrew called his "meditation coma". Years ago Jaden had found that while he was doing a repetitive activity he could slip halfway into a trance-like state and hold himself there, whilst still remaining aware enough to carry on with what he had been doing. It wasn't the same as sleeping, but it was at least somewhat restful. At this point, Jaden was exhausted and it didn't seem like that was going to change any time soon. He'd take what he could get.

The team continued walking for a little over three hours, taking only two short breaks. When it was too dark to efficiently navigate through the woods, Takyle called a halt in a small glen.

"Why don't we make camp here, eat something, and sleep for a while?" she asked. Jaden stared at her. Did she really think that anybody was going to disagree with that? He dropped his pack onto the ground behind him and began to sink down. He stopped when he saw Andrew pull out his hatchet, presumably to gather firewood. Jaden pulled himself back up.

"No, Andy, I'll do it. You need to rest." He knew that Andrew must be in pain because instead of arguing, he handed over his hatchet with a grateful nod.

Jaden walked a short distance away and shone his flashlight around the woods bordering their little clearing looking for a fallen tree or large branches. He quickly located a few and Takyle joined him in hauling the wood back to where Andrew sat, mixing water with some kind of powder in a little tin pot. He looked up from what he was doing as they dropped the firewood in a pile to the side.

"Great. As soon as you guys get a fire going we can have..." He picked up the empty packet and read the label. "Dehydrated, nutrient infused, chicken flavored, extra calorie, complete protein carbohydrate meal."

"Oh yum, my favorite," said Takyle, dryly.

"Andrew, don't we have a little gas, camp burner?" asked Jaden.

"Why yes, yes we do. But I saw no reason to break that out when we were making a fire for warmth anyway."

"Yeah but, we're not actually building a fire. This is a sim. We just think we are."

"And so we'll actually be eating our slop, I mean, ehem, p.c. meal cold when we think it's hot. But since it doesn't actually have to be cooked it doesn't matter." Andrew smiled. "It's all in your brain," he said in his 'creepy voice'. Jaden shook his head and sat down by his pack.

"I don't want you guys to get the impression that I'm not enjoying myself in this race here," he said. "But I'll be honest with you, I'll be delighted when we're out of it."

"Oh you don't mean that!" Takyle said in a mock scandalized tone as she stood up and put her lighter back in her pack. "Day to day life will be so boring for you after all of this is over Jay."

"Yeah, maybe." He pulled off his boots and rubbed his feet. "But I think I'll be able to live with that."

Andrew suspended his little cooking pot over the fire that Takyle had started.

"I'll be happy to get back to school. I'm having a blast at this, but I do miss it," he mused. Takyle sat down on her unrolled sleeping bag and nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess I do too... Never thought I'd hear myself say that!" She smiled. "Guess maybe I'm growing up, guys."

"Uh oh, better watch out, pretty soon you'll be getting all "responsible" and stuff," warned Andrew.

"Nah, I wouldn't dare," she replied. For a while they sat in silence, staring into the hypnotic flames of their small campfire until Andrew stirred the now steaming gruel one last time and pulled the pot away from the flames.

"Get out your mess kits, folks. Soup's on." He grimaced as he spooned a portion of the meal onto the plate that Jaden held out. "I'll tell ya, the real world might be boring after this, but the food won't be! While you're eating this imagine that it's prime rib with a baked potato or... something... that's actually good..."

Takyle dug in her pack and tossed Jaden and Andrew each one of the apples that she'd taken from the dressing room.

"Here. At least this time we can have some real food for dessert anyway."

Andrew grinned. "Hey, awesome. Thanks."

"Thanks Ta." Jaden raised the apple to his nose and breathed in. He didn't think that as long as he lived, he would ever get tired of the smell of a fresh apple. Never, ever. ~

Chapter 74: A Definitive Victory

2008-06-27T08:49:00.006-04:00

~ The surreality of Jaden's calm little world crumbled around him. As the make-up people swarmed onto the stage one last time to check the faces of their charges, Jaden looked around the room. His eyes trailed over the studio audience and he imagined that each and every one of them were staring back at him. An irrational fear began rising in his stomach, slipping up his throat, choking him. He quickly diverted his gaze to across the stage, and he once again felt the nervousness being infused with anger.

Cal was giving him such a look of belligerence that Jaden very nearly came out from behind their console to go give the man a piece of his mind. He thought better of it just in time though. Slitting a man's throat in front of a studio audience probably wouldn't be the smartest thing he could do, so he stayed where he was and settled for just glaring back.

The lady with the clipboard gave Elwin a countdown and they were suddenly back on the air.

"Hello again America!" gushed Elwin. "What a fantastic show we've had here today, with our two teams running neck and neck all this time, fighting til the very end! Now here we have scores that are exactly even and the ball is in Team 5's court for the tie breaker! It's still anyone's game. If Cal of Team 5 can't give a satisfactory answer for this last question, the points could easily be stolen by Jaden over there in Team 6. Are we ready to finish this, teams? Alright, let's play!

"Cal, for the win, what use does a monomer have in my day to day life?"

From the way that Cal smiled, Jaden instantly knew that he had the answer. If he was correct then there was nothing at all Jaden could do to save this.

"Well Elwin, monomers are the molecules that can bond together to form polymers. Of course you use polymers every single day in plastics, and even certain proteins in your body." Cal grinned at the host and the audience, knowing full well that he had just won the day for his team. Elwin tried for suspense.

"Well Team 5...Does our great audience here think that that sounds about right?" he asked the crowd. They cheered in response. Jaden felt sick.

"As the saying goes...the audience is always right! Congratulations Team 5, that is correct and that makes you the winners today!" The crowd roared. "Now let's take a look at what your special prize is going to be!" Elwin waved his hand one more time at the screen behind him.

"Your team has won a mini-vacation from this very taxing race! For 18 hours you'll be put up in the best accommodations right here in our facilities, with the finest foods and spa treatments provided by our sponsor, Maelow Spas and Resorts! Obviously, so as not to disadvantage you to the rest of the teams, when you re-enter the race you will get to skip the level above this one. Well done!" Elwin turned to the audience.

"Let's also give a big hand to our other contestants, Team 6. They played a great game. Thank you all for joining us here tonight for That Sounds About Right, and please continue to tune into the RBC network for more special EPIC Race updates and gameshow editions! I'm Elwin Longtwig, have a great night!"

Elwin bowed to the audience and then shook the hands of Team 5 as the theme music played and the cameras took their long roll-away shots for the credits. Jaden turned away in disgust and he caught sight of Takyle. She was keeping her face straight, but he could definitely see her eyes sparkling happily.

Joel came and escorted them off the stage and back to their dressing room.

"When you're packed up and ready to move on, just stick your head out into the hall and there will be someone to take you to the exit," he told them, before pulling the door shut behind himself and leaving them alone. Jaden immediately turned to Takyle and she broke into a grin.

"Why the hell are you so happy? We lost! To those douche bags!" He would have been yelling, had his teeth not been clenched.

"I'm happy because I would bet money that they're going to take that little break that they've won. And that means we have a very good chance of getting ahead of one more team that's in our way of winning." She smiled happily and began to peel a banana from the bunch on the coffee table.

"Yeah, and if you'd been listening you'd have heard that when they get done with their cute little break they get a free level and they'll be rested!"

"I did hear that. I don't really think that the next level will take us any 18 hours so we'll still be ahead, and rest is overrated anyway. Now let's move out." Takyle threw the banana peel away, and opening her pack, placed several apples and cookies in it.

Jaden shoved his spare uniform, freshly laundered thanks to Karen, into his pack. He silently went into the bathroom and after he'd rinsed his make-up away in the sink, inspected his eye once more in the mirror. It was still inflamed, but the swelling seemed to have gone down a tiny bit.

Andrew took his turn at the sink and then stood by the door until Takyle and Jaden was ready to go. As they pulled their packs on he cleared his throat quietly. Jaden and Takyle both looked up at him. It occurred to Jaden that he'd been completely silent since they'd exited the stage.

"We lost because of me. I'm... I'm sorry," Andrew told them quietly. For a moment they both just looked back at him.

"Meh, it was a gamble." Takyle gave a shrug. "That's what the game is about. We all bluffed at some point. Could have been any one of us. Don't give it a second thought." She headed for the door. "Now let's make good on this possible head start that we've been thrown while we still can."

Jaden went to follow Takyle out into the hall, but paused in front of Andrew. He didn't look like he 'wasn't giving it a second thought.' He looked more like he was kicking the crap out of himself for it.

"She's got a point, you know," Jaden said to him. "Somebody once told me that you can't ride a bicycle looking backwards. He was right." Andrew stared back at him.

"That was me. And at the time I was talking about an actual bicycle."

"Yes, but it applies here too. Of all the times I made mistakes that would have cost us the race when we were practicing, you always told me to just keep going and make the best of what I had."

A long moment passed as Andrew just gazed silently at Jaden. Or at least in his direction. Jaden could see Andrew's thoughts behind his eyes. Takyle stuck her head back in the room.

"Are you losers coming or not? We've got a race to finish here." Andrew finally broke from his reverie.

"Yeah, we're right behind you, Boss." As they followed her out into the hall Andrew patted Jaden's shoulder.

"Quite the pep talk there. Have you thought about going into motivational speaking career-wise?"

"Uh no, not until this moment. Think that's a possibility for me?"

"Yeah, I can kinda see you rocking that. And you wouldn't be working for The Man; that's always a plus."

"Oh yeah, totally. That's not really an option my high school counselor ever brought up to me, but I can see it. Jaden McAllister: Motivational Speaker and Etiquette Coach. It does have a ring to it, I have to admit," mused Jaden, his faced impressively contemplative.

"Is the etiquette thing just for kicks there?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay, yeah that's cool. Etiquette is hot. You could get a lot of chicks with that one. Lot of young men looking up to you as a hero-type," mused Andrew.

"Oh, sure! Definitely."

Up ahead Jaden saw Takyle shaking her head.

"You guys are insane," she said over her shoulder, but Jaden could hear her smile in her voice.

He hoped she was right about the head start thing. ~

Chapter 73: Ineffective

2008-06-23T08:47:00.006-04:00

~ At the first break for commercials Joel came rushing out on stage with the make-up lady in tow. He fussed with Ta's hair and then he waved a hand at Jaden's face.

"That bite thing is still way too visible. Do something about it!" he demanded of the girl next to him. Jaden immediately took a step back and warded off a brush with a raised hand.

"No. It is fine, Joel," he commanded firmly. "My eye is sore and I do not want anyone else messing with my face, understand?" Joel didn't have time to argue, as the clipboard lady was frantically waving him and the other crew members off of the stage.

"Welcome back!" chirruped Elwin to the camera, like some insanely happy cricket. "If you've just tuned in, you've arrived right on time for our shows' signature game: That Sounds About Right!

As Elwin went on to tell the audience all about the game and its rules, which happened to be almost exactly the same as the rules for Define It, Jaden caught himself tuning everything out and letting his mind drift.

"You should be paying attention," his mind admonished him. "This could be important."

"Eh, I've seen the show before. I know the rules."

"Still, you could be given valuable additional information."

"But I'm so tired. I just want to-"

"Jaden." He jumped at the sound of his name, and then he realized that Elwin was back in his podium and gesturing at the board. "The first round goes to you. For 20 points. Here's your question:

"While you are watching a lunar eclipse, a man leans over to you and says that the moon has now reached penultimate totality. What does he mean?"

For a moment Jaden considered trying the bluff again, but decided against it. Cal looked relatively smug after hearing this one. Jaden quickly ran through an explanation of totality and penultimate, all the while thinking that if he kept getting questions like these, winning would be easy. As Jaden had suspected, Cal agreed with his explanation and the score went to 50/20.

The game drug on and Jaden found himself becoming more and more detached. That fact wasn't exactly hurting his performance though. The fog that settled over him seemed to put a surreal, sharper edge on his focus and drown whatever anger and nervousness he had left in him.

"Vin, I'm looking for a quick egress. Tell me where I can find it."

"Takyle, for 20 points, please give an example of a tautological statement."

The scores hovered irritatingly close, Team 5 never quite pulling even, but coming dangerously close. After a round boringly devoid of bluffing, when it came to Andrew's turn he took a chance to widen the gap between scores.

"Andrew, please describe the effects of hysteresis."

"Hysteresis is a medical condition that affects only women. One of the effects is a softening of bones, and typically it causes yellowed skin and hormone imbalance. It usually only occurs in women who have already gone through menopause," Andrew explained.

Jaden looked over at Team 5 to catch Vin's response. He didn't know what hysteresis was himself, but he figured that if Andrew was bluffing, it was a pretty good one.

Vin didn't think so though. A grin spread over his face and he punched the red button in front of him.

"Ooh, we have a rejection!" exclaimed Elwin excitedly. "Vin, you are correct; Andrew's explanation was not satisfactory. You have a chance to steal those points if you can describe for us the effects of hysteresis."

"That I can Elwin," said Vin, smugly. "It's when an effect lags behind a cause. Like a piece of iron being magnetized. If you have a system with hysteresis, it means that you can't tell the output just by looking at the input of that moment, you have to see the input history to make a prediction. That is hysteresis."

"That is correct!" cheered Elwin. And just like that, the scores were even.

"This is just getting more and more exciting," Elwin gushed. "Both teams are doing extraordinarily well, and we have ourselves a tie coming up on the end of our show! Don't go away, we'll be right back after this short break!" ~

Chapter 72: A Sure Thing

2008-06-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

~ Elwin took his place behind the clear podium in the middle of the stage and gestured up at the board.

"Team 6, play starts with you. For ten points Takyle, you're word is... Reprobate." The word appeared in large, red letters on the screen. "Please define it."

Takyle cleared her throat and spoke with certainty. "Reprobate can be used in three ways. As a noun it means a person who is morally reprehensible. As a verb it means to condemn something or someone. As an adjective, like the noun, it describes something as being morally objectionable."

"Well that was very thorough. Team 5, time for you to judge. John, this one is for you to decide. If you reject the definition, press your red button, if you accept it, the green one," directed Elwin. John considered his options for just a moment and then pressed his green button.

"Team 5 has accepted Takyle's definition and that is... Correct! Team 6 has taken first blood with this ten points. Team 5 of course hasn't earned any points from this, but they've not lost any either. And now it is their turn, and they have a chance to get even.

"Team 5; Vin, your word to define is: Clandestine, also worth ten points." Vin cleared his throat.

"Uh, clandestine. It means like if something is under the table, or in secret."

"Well isn't he just terribly clever and articulate," thought Jaden to himself. Andrew accepted Vin's brief definition and Team 5 gained ten points. Jaden set his teeth and tuned out everything in the studio except for the host and the opposing team. He stared across the expanse of the stage at Cal, sizing him up.

The man's broken nose was swollen and red from the fight earlier that day and he looked nothing short of determined. Elwin gave Jaden his word: Dendrite. In the split second before Jaden opened his mouth to answer, he decided that Cal didn't seem the type that would know technical or anatomical terms that well.

"A dendrite is a kind of stone structure that you see in caves. That's what you call it when a stalactite from the ceiling meets a stalagmite on the floor and it makes kind of a pillar. It's a dendrite." Jaden nodded casually at Elwin, hoping to God that Andrew and Takyle had kept their wits about them and not given his bluff away with a glance or facial expression. He didn't dare look at them now.

Cal seemed to be caught. Jaden watched him closely. Inside he felt like cheering. It was immediately obvious that, even if he didn't believe the one Jaden had given, Cal wasn't sure of the correct definition himself. At this point he could call Jaden's bluff if he wanted to, but if he did that he'd have to give the true definition himself. Rock and a hard place.

Slowly Cal reached forward, closed his eyes, and pressed the green button on the console in front of him. Elwin gave a theatrical gasp and wince as a loud buzzer went off and red lights flashed.

"Oooh, I'm sorry Team 5, but you've been had! Congratulations Jaden, that did sound about right, and the score is now 30 to nothing!"

Now Jaden felt it was safe to look at his teammates while the crowd cheered. He grinned and Andrew returned it. He mouthed the words "well done" to Jaden before turning back to face the host. Elwin gave the real definition of dendrite for the edification of the audience, and the show went on.

One more round of Define It was played, so that each member of either team had a chance to both judge a definition and give one. Team 5 rallied, putting up a good fight, and in the end the score was 30 to 20 but still in favor of Team 6.

"That first game was nothing short of rousing!" exclaimed Elwin, with insufferable cheerfulness. Jaden gritted his teeth. Apparently Team 5 wasn't going to go down easily, but there were going down. He'd see to that. ~

Chapter 71: Parameters

2008-06-16T23:33:00.000-04:00

~ Elwin Longtwig swept back to the middle of the stage followed closely by the center camera.

“Alright then! Now that we've met our competing teams, let's take a look at where they fall on the map compared to their rivals in the race. Jimmy, can you pull up the map for me please?” Elwin gestured behind himself at a large flat square up high on the stage's back wall. Immediately a large but crude diagram of some of the race levels appeared on the screen.

“Now, as all of you know, the map we display here only shows the race stages up to this point. Obviously we don't want to give anything away about the future obstacles for the contesting teams.

"You'll also note that even though two teams seem to be on the same level, they could be facing quite different obstacles, depending on what paths they choose to take. There are many, many different ways to get through each level, some being faster or easier than others. What paths teams choose to take largely depends on their individual skills, and whether or not they even noticed other possible routes. That having been said, let's see how Teams 5 and 6 are doing.”

With that word, another version of the map appeared, identical except for this one had a bunch of little orange dots on it.

“Ok then, here we have Teams 5 and 6.” Elwin gestured to the map and two small labels appeared on the map with the team numbers pointing to two of the dots. “As you can see there are eight other teams on this level as well, four of them taking part in other shows as we speak, to be aired on this network! There are another five teams still in one stage or another of the previous level, and two teams that are not on this map because they have already moved on to the next level, which we're not showing here.

“It is my unfortunate duty to let our viewers know though that Team 10, who had a member get injured on the first level, dropped out of the race during the previous level. Also, even worse, Team 3 was disqualified from the race, as their leader was killed while attempting to overcome one of the race obstacles also in the previous level. The second team this year to have had such a fatal accident.

"Teams who have injured members, but are remaining in the race are Teams 18, 14, and Team 6, who we have here with us right now.

“Now that we've had our progress report, let's play That Sounds About Right, beginning with one of my favorite games: Define It! Let's review the rules of play:

“One player of one team will be given a word to define. They will either define it correctly, or make something up that is convincing enough to bluff their opposing team. Either way, their definition will either be rejected by the opposing team, or accepted by it. If the definition is rejected by the opposing team, that team will be given a chance to give a correct definition, taking the points for themselves. Should they call rejection on a definition that is already correct, they will lose as many points from their total as the first team gained for the answer.

“The only remaining possibility is if the opposing team should fail to reject a false definition, then as many points as the word was worth will be taken from their total score and given to the team with the bluff, plus the original point value for the word, giving the team with the bluff double rewards.

"Are we all clear on what's going to happen?” he asked, looking from one team to the other. “Yes? Alright, let's play!” ~

Chapter 70: Innermost Desires

2008-06-13T23:27:00.005-04:00

~ Much to Jaden's relief, the audience was finally hushed by the clipboard lady and they took on a collective air of expectancy. She showed them the prompts for "applause", "laugh", and "silence". They responded to the signs like so many trained seals. Good audience. Have a cookie.

A man who Jaden recognized as being the host of the show entered from the left side of the stage and began shaking hands with the members of Team 5. The man's name was Elwin Longtwig. Every time Jaden heard the name he fully expected it to be attached to an elf. Logic said that he must be human, but Elwin's hair was fashionably shaggy, effectively hiding the upper halves of his ears, so Jaden could never be one hundred percent sure.

Elwin crossed the stage and, starting with Takyle, shook all of their hands, introduced himself as the host, and wished them the best of luck. He then conferred with the lady with the clipboard and apparently it was decided that the time had come to start taping the show. He took his place in the middle of the stage and she ran around giving last minute instructions to people. She checked the stage one last time and then the cameras were rolling and the crowd was cheering heartily at the "applause" sign, throwing in some extra screams and whistles for kicks.

A camera on a dolly was pushed across the stage for a long panning shot ending with a close up of Elwin, who was giving a really dazzling example of the Game Show Host Grin.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to That Sounds About Right!" The audience once again erupted into applause. Elwin had some fans.

"Thank you for joining us again here tonight for another installment of our special series of EPICsodes!" Takyle shot Andrew and Jaden a look and rolled her eyes.

"Let's meet out two teams of contestants!" said Elwin with incredible perkiness, striding across the stage toward Team 6, never taking his eyes from the camera lens. "Here we have Team 6! Hello there!" Team 6 nodded back at him. He moved to the end of the counter, furthest from the audience and leaned over to offer his microphone to Takyle.

"Takyle Marianne Carlyle! Leader of Team 6 and also a private sponsor for your team." Takyle nodded her agreement to the statement. "You come from New York, as do both of the other members of your team actually, and you're currently working on a degree in business administration at the prestigious Frenner University." Elwin made a quick reference to the cards in his hands. "And if your team happens to be the winners in the EPIC Race, you will be splitting your winnings between the World Wildlife Fund and investing in your family's business."

"That's correct," said Takyle.

"Anyone you'd like to say hi to at home?" asked Elwin.

"Um, hi mom and dad." Takyle gave a vague wave at the camera.

"Fantastic, good luck!" chirped Elwin and moved down to Andrew.

"Andrew Allen Vienna, hello there."

"Hello," said Andrew, flashing Elwin, the camera, and the entire audience a quick, charming smile without looking awkward at all.

"Apparently, you spent the summer of your junior year in high school, all three months of it, surviving alone in the Appalachians! Is it true!?"

"Uh, yeah. I like to hike," said Andrew, casually.

"You'd have to!" The audience laughed good-naturedly on cue. "Did you learn anything from that experience, not all that long ago actually, that has helped you in the race?"

"Knowing how to bathe in streams is handy." More laughter.

"Alright then, it says here that should you win, your share of the prize money will go to paying off the student loans that you do have already, and paying the rest of the way through college. It would also be used to finance graduate studies at MIT."

"That's right. If they'll take me, that is." Third round of laughter.

"Great to meet you Andrew, best of luck with all of that!" Elwin flipped to his next card and moved down one last time to stand in front of Jaden.

Jaden's mind raced, wondering what the hell they would see fit to tell about his life? All the members of every team had been interviewed before the race, that's where this information was coming from. He tried to remember what he'd told the interviewer. Nothing that was very specific, surely.

"Hello Jaden Edward McAllister, how are you doing?"

"I'm well, thanks," said Jaden into the microphone, pleasantly surprised that his voice did not shake at all.

"According to what I have here, you are one of the youngest race contestants, having just recently graduated from your senior year in high school with honors. You're a bit of a history buff and you enjoy reading and spending time with friends." Oh yes, that was pretty vague.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Should your team win you would like to pay for a university degree with your share of the prize money, and also learn how to sail. A nautical buff as well then?" Oh yeah, and there was that detail.

"Um, yeah, kind of."

"Well that's just great; good luck to you!" Elwin crossed the stage, all the while talking to the camera. "And now to meet their rivals: Team 5!"

As the members of Team 5 were all introduced in much the same manner, Jaden felt his anger begin to doggedly creep back up inside him. He shoved it to the back of his mind. There was no time for that; he needed to concentrate. The excitement was about to begin. ~

Chapter 69: Never Hurts To Be Prepared

2008-06-09T17:24:00.008-04:00

~ The clipboard lady hustled the team through the passage and out toward the stage. The stadium style seating formed a half circle around the stage, the rows of chairs already packed with people. The noise in the studio was bordering on overwhelming, and Jaden's thudding heartbeat did nothing to help him.

Before he was clear of the cover of the passageway, Jaden paused for half a beat to check for possible escape routes. His eyes found three doors, all of which were clearly labeled as exits, plus the two halls leading from the left and right sides of the stage. There was also the thin fabric wall that made up the background for the stage. He was fairly confident that if worst came to worst, a quick slash with a knife would create yet another handy way out.

Despite his elevated respiration and heart rate, Jaden still had the distinct feeling that the team was not in any immediate danger and he was fairly confident in that impression. He glanced at Andrew and found his teammate's eyes to be casually sweeping the crowd and studio area. It may have looked like nothing more than muted interest, but Jaden knew that Andrew wasn't missing a single thing. That was a comfort.

Jaden took three deep breaths and ordered himself to relax. As usual, his body obeyed him. He felt the tension in the muscles of his shoulders and neck ease. His heart quieted.

The clipboard lady directed them to stand behind a long counter that was situated at an angle to the audience. Across the stage was another counter identical to theirs. On the front of each the name of the show was emblazoned in shining letters. That Sounds About Right.

The first thing that Jaden did was reach for the two big, palm-sized, red and green buttons directly in front of him to see what they did. Takyle, who was standing next to him in front of her own buttons, caught his hand half way there.

"No. Leave it," she ordered firmly. From her tone of voice Jaden half expected her to pull out a spray bottle and squirt some water in his face as well, but she didn't. He looked up in time to see the team they would be going up against enter from the opposite side of the stage. His mouth dropped open. It was the back-stabbing, illogical, and freakishly aggressive Team 5.

"What the hell?" he demanded, angrily. Due to the noise of the crowd, he didn't think that anyone heard him except for Takyle.

"Chill, Jaden. This doesn't change anything," she warned.

"Like hell it doesn't! They stabbed Andrew! They shouldn't even still be in the frigging race!"

"There is no rule that says you'll never be pitted against another team," she reminded him in a fierce mutter. "They were trying to win, and so are we. They did nothing technically wrong. If you're angry, then use that to beat them in this task."

"Yes, because rage-fueled game show contestants always win," the voice in Jaden's mind retorted sarcastically. He glared across the stage at the other team, but none of them were looking his way. The fact that his death stare was lost on them made him a little bit madder. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder and he angrily whipped his head around to see what they wanted.

Andrew stood behind him, with half a smile painting his lips. He leaned a little closer.

"As flattering as your righteous indignation on my behalf is, Jay, can I give you a word of advice?" Jaden nodded silently, feeling his anger begin to simmer away under the humor in Andrew's eyes. Andrew lowered his voice one more notch, as if what he was about to divulge was of the utmost secrecy.

"Being angry isn't going to help anything. Pretend that they're just another obstacle in this race and move on. They don't matter." Jaden stared into Andrew's eyes for a moment more, then finally nodded.

"Alright. I'm sorry." Andrew shook his head.

"Don't apologize; you didn't do anything wrong. Just help me win this thing, ok?"

"You got it," promised Jaden, and he meant it.

Takyle had moved down to the end to give Andrew room to talk to Jaden, and after that short conversation, she remained where she was, leaving Andrew in the middle. Jaden banished what remained of his anger from his mind, and once again practiced breathing to regain his calm. Andrew noticed and waved his hands in front of himself, illustrating the flows of energy. He began to drone in a horrible nasal monotone.

"That's right, balance your chi. Breathe the negative energy out, let it escape. Now draw the positive energy into your core being. Feel the forces of the energy invigorating and awakening you. Feel the good health expanding outward. Once more together now."

Jaden laughed aloud at the voice. Apparently Andrew held some power over his rage because it was now not much more than a memory. He did, in fact, feel invigorated. He felt ready to take on whatever this stage of the competition had to offer.

Andrew smiled at him and nodded.

"We've got this in the bag, buddy." ~

Chapter 68: The Agony of Waiting

2008-06-06T22:19:00.001-04:00

~ Jaden paced up and down, attempting to disguise his nervousness for restlessness, or maybe even excitement. He didn't figure he was probably doing that great of a job.

"You ok there, Jay?" Andrew asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I'm cool," said Jaden absently, beginning another trip to the far wall.

"Cause you look a little..."

"Nervous?"

"Well I wasn't going to say it. But since you did..."

"I don't know, Andy... I've never really been around a lot of people like this. I didn't think that I minded audiences, but the truth is I really don't know. And this show... Andy, I've seen it and those questions they use are hard!" Jaden looked at Andrew for some bit of reassurance, or maybe just acknowledgement. Takyle spoke up from down the hall, where she was looking at a rack full of props.

"Dude, it'll be fine. Just ignore the people, and if you know an answer give it. You're a smart guy; you'll do great." She went back to what she had been doing, as if that completely settled the matter. Andrew tilted his head a little.

"Yeah she's right you know. It'll be fine." Jaden wasn't really convinced, but he did stop pacing. He tried his best to lean casually against the wall like Andrew was doing.

"I knew this girl one time," said Andrew. "It was back in high school. We went on a couple of dates actually. I am completely serious when I tell you, she had a trench in her back yard. She would always go out there to talk on the phone and stuff and she would pace up and down. I'm not exaggerating one bit, this thing was a good 10 feet long and at least a foot deep. You could like, break a leg in it if you didn't know it was there. She was a little OCD."

Joel came running back over and the three members of Team 6 regrouped in front of him to hear what he had to say.

"Ok guys, we're almost ready for you. They're just bringing in the new studio audience, and we'll start taping just as soon as we get everybody set. Now, you know what to do right? Remember what I said about the introductions? Fantastic." He paused for a minute to fuss with Takyle's bangs, then stood back and looked them all up and down.

"Oh, I really wish you people would have gone for the wardrobe change, but that's cool. It's ok. It'll be fine." The look on his face said that his definition of "fine" was probably a good deal less optimistic than the dictionary's.

A woman with a headset and clipboard came out from the passage that was labeled "Stage, Left Wing", and strode over to them.

"Team 6? Are they all set?" she asked Joel. He nodded, pausing to pick a speck of lint off of the sleeve of Andrew's jacket.

"As ready as they'll ever be," he informed her with a sigh. She gave a curt nod, checked something off on her clipboard, then addressed the trio.

"Great. Follow me please, we're ready for you on stage." ~

Chapter 67: It Must Go On

2008-06-02T23:47:00.001-04:00

~ Jaden woke with a start when something touched his arm. He jerked upright and gasped as a pain shot up his back.

"Whoa there buddy, it's just me," said someone, in Andrew's voice. Jaden's vision cleared and he realized that it actually was Andrew.

"Joel still isn't back so we figured we might go try to find somebody, at least have a look around."

"Ok, let's go." Jaden murmured blearily as he stood and stretched, wincing again at the tenderness of his back and shoulders.

"You alright there?" Andrew asked him and not for the first time Jaden marveled at his friend's powers of observation. Andrew noticed things like little twinges in people's facial expressions. He was just good at...people stuff.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just a little stiff. Are you sure we're supposed to leave here?" asked Jaden. Andrew shrugged his shoulders.

"Nobody told us not to."

"And if they come back while we're out?"

"Ta's leavin' a note" said Andrew, throwing a thumb back over his shoulder. Jaden looked around him, and sure enough, there was Takyle, scrawling her signature on a torn out page of her notebook. She placed it in the middle of the coffee table and stood up.

"We'll only be gone for a few minutes," she said. Jaden picked up his pack and pulled it over his arms. Andrew opened the door and looked up and down the hallway. The way was clear so he slipped out, Takyle right behind him and Jaden bringing up the rear. The team maintained their silence as they carefully made their way down the long hallway.

At the moment Jaden did not feel like they were in any danger, but out of habit he kept a watchful eye on the open hall behind them. Better safe than sorry. In Jaden's experience, being surprised was never a good thing.

They passed several racks on casters, hung with any sort of clothing you could imagine. Near one corner there was a long couch with faded upholstery next to an antique refrigerator. After a minute, Andrew held up a hand from up ahead for them to stop. Jaden and Takyle automatically fell into a crouch up against the wall. After a moment Jaden heard what Andrew had. There were people talking, up the hall and around the corner. Andrew waved them forward and as they drew closer, Jaden heard and recognised Joel's voice emphatically explaining to some poor sod why his choice of a certain stage prop was insanely stupid and how, if he ever wanted to actually get an important job, he'd have to find some taste somewhere.

Andrew turned around and led them back to the last corner they had taken, and instead of going right, they took the left hall this time. The end of it widened into a small lounge with several couches, a television, and a coffee maker with a stack of styrofoam cups beside it on a table. A couple of people were sitting around the room, talking to one another. One man looked up, his eyes running over Andrew's uniform.

"Team 6, huh? I heard you guys got in. Shouldn't you be back in your dressing room?"

"We got tired of waiting so we decided to take a bit of a stroll, see if we couldn't find somebody to talk to. You don't happen to know of someone who might be able to tell us when we're going on, and what show we're doing, do you?" The man pulled himself up out of his seat by the arms of the chair and walked over to the doorway. He pointed back the way they came.

"Go down this way and the, let's see, that'd be 5th door on your left is the stage manager's office. He might be able to tell you something. If he's not in there then you should really probably just wait in your dressing room for somebody to come get you."

"Ok, thanks a lot man." Andrew shook the fellow's hand, and they again backtracked to the door he'd indicated. Takyle knocked on it, then waited, and knocked again. After a moment she turned around.

"He doesn't seem to be here. Shall we just go back and wait?"

"I guess so," Andrew agreed, reluctantly. "I just hate wasting time like that when we're on such a tight schedule." Just then Joel came scurrying around the corner.

"Oh for goodness sakes, there you are! You better be awfully grateful I was able to find you so quick. Why did you leave the dressing room? Come on, come on now! We haven't got all day! You're about to go on!" Joel hustled them back down the hallway and past their dressing room, through two more rooms and finally into an area that could definitely be identified as "backstage". Joel checked his watch, said something to a woman striding past, then turned to Team 6.

"Alright then. The show that you'll be going on is called 'That's Sounds About Right'. Are you familiar with it?" Team 6 all nodded silently at him. "Fantastic. Then this shouldn't be a problem for you. Now once you're on stage the host will introduce each one of you individually and tell some interesting fact from your life. Is everybody clear on that? Once that has happened for both teams on the show, we'll take a look at the current positions of all the teams in the race. Any of you have stage fright?" Team 6 all shook their heads no. "Great, because there's a full studio audience." Joel smiled serenely. "Ready to go on then?" he asked. Team 6 nodded again.

"Wait right here for a moment," Joel commanded them as he spun around and ran off in search of something or someone. Andrew turned to look at Takyle and Jaden.

"I swear, whenever that man is around me, my jaw just freezes up. I couldn't get a word in if I wanted to." Jaden nodded, absently.

"Yeah, me too," he said. Takyle smiled sweetly at them.

"Some people would consider that a good thing," she said, quietly. ~

Chapter 66: Prime Time

2008-05-30T14:53:00.004-04:00

~ Sarah finished painting over his spider bites and "bringing out his cheekbones" ("He looks positively ethnic!" gushed Joel) and Kevin managed to add a surprising amount of gel to his hair before Jaden escaped from the chair. Joel stood back and surveyed the trio.

"Oh that is just loads better. You almost look human!" he laughed aloud, as if his joke were actually funny, and turned to Kevin and Sarah. "Clear this up then. Hurry along now. We've got to make room for the wardrobe carts." Andrew cleared his throat.

"Hey, about that, Joel, ol' buddy. I think we'd probably all be more comfortable if we just stayed in our race uniforms. That alright with you?" For a moment Jaden thought that Joel wasn't going to go for it, but he finally nodded his head in begrudging consent.

"Ok, if that's what you want. I won't force anything on you." The expression on his face said that he thought that the world would be a better, prettier place if he could force his style upon it, but he didn't press the issue with Team 6.

"So what about this show?" asked Takyle. "Can you tell us when exactly we're going on, and if you don't know what we're going to be doing, is it possible for you to send somebody to us who does?"

"You go on whenever they're ready for you, and yes, I can try to find someone for you to talk to. But no promises!" Joel warned in a sing song. Jaden felt his skin crawl a little, then he thought that maybe there was just something wrong with him. So far the only person that he had liked in this race was a wizard that had had it in for them. That couldn't be healthy.

Joel waved the make-up team out of the room with little flipping motions of his hands.

"Alright darlings, I'll be back!" he sang over his shoulder and shut the door with a slam. And just like that the room was left blessedly silent. Jaden looked from Andrew to Takyle and back again. Andrew opened his jaw, moving his lips.

"My face feels stiff," he finally said.

"Haven't you ever worn make-up before?" Takyle asked him.

"Uh, no, as a matter of fact I have not ever worn make-up before. And if I have my way, I will not ever wear it again after today."

"Killjoy," said Takyle, sitting back down on the couch.

"I'd eat another apple," Andrew said to Jaden. "But I'm scared of messing up my lipstick."

"You're not wearing lipstick, Andrew," said Takyle.

"Well maybe that's not what you call it, but they did put something on my lips," Andrew assured her. "And it was of a stick-type form, so, by definition..." He tapered off, leaving that thought to rest. After a few moments he spoke up again.

"Our friend Joel is taking his time isn't he?" Takyle nodded.

"Yeah, I wonder which show we're gonna get. Remember last time there were like five shows that all filmed special race episodes."

"You mean EPICsodes," corrected Andrew with a pained smile. Takyle groaned.

"Oh my gosh, they did call them that, didn't they? That's awful. And they're probably doing the same thing this year," she said. Jaden stifled a big yawn behind his hand, slumping back down into the chair at the dressing table.

"Mmh, sorry. I guess the adrenalin and caffeine are wearing off. "

"Yeah, and we didn't exactly get a full eight hours last night," agreed Andrew. Jaden thought back to the wizard telling them to sleep while they could in the white box house with the fireplace and short door. That had only been a little more than 18 hours ago, but it seemed like weeks. Jaden's thought processes wandered from there and ended up at the usual place. Always returning to: "I wonder how the other teams are doing..."

"Like a loyal dog. Always coming back. Predictable. That's what my thoughts are," Jaden mused drowsily to himself, laying his head down on his folded arms, and closing his eyes. "I'll just rest for a minute. Just for a minute..." ~

Chapter 65: Just Below The Surface - Bonus Chapter

2008-05-28T14:52:00.006-04:00

~ Andrew sat down on the couch and Takyle scooted over and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"How's your stomach?" she asked.

"Mmh, not too bad. The meds helped. Couldn't exactly take a normal shower with this bandage on though." He lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders, holding her close. She sighed quietly. "That sounded downright feminine, Ta. You sure you're feeling alright?" She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I can just be a girl sometimes you know."

"Well yeah, theoretically. I mean you have the equipment and all, but..."

"The equipment?" Takyle laughed. "What's the matter? Don't you like the technical term: Girly Bits?"

"I'm ok with that phrasing, I just blush very easily is all and I didn't want to lose that machismo that swathes my very being," Andrew told her. She laughed again.

"Oh yeah, sure, machismo, totally." Takyle felt him kiss her damp hair, and she closed her eyes, listening to his heart beat.

"Andrew?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"I panicked back there in the tunnel."

"Well that's understandable."

"You didn't," she said.

"Well that's because I didn't get a proper chance to. If I'm going to panic, I need to do it right. It's a matter of pride for me," he told her.

"You don't need to try to make me feel better. I just wanted to tell you thank you for keeping me going. I... I would have tried to go back otherwise. I know I would have."

"I wouldn't bank on that. We surprise ourselves sometimes," Andrew said. Takyle began to open her mouth to answer when Jaden came back out of the bathroom. Takyle sat up, pulling away from Andrew.

"Well that was fantastic," Jaden proclaimed, sitting sideways on the dressing table's chair to put his shoes back on.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" asked Andrew.

"Oh yeah, I think so. I hope so." Jaden turned around to look at himself in the mirror, raking his fingers back through his hair to give it some semblance of order, and for the most part failing. He leaned close and gingerly touched the angry red bite that was swelling his left eye half closed, wincing as his fingers brushed it. "So I take it the guy hasn't come back yet?"

"No, not ye-" Andrew began to answer, when, as if on cue, the door burst open for the second time and the blonde man came waltzing in again, this time with three other people in tow.

"Oh, now don't the lot of you look so much better!" he proclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet and looking inordinately pleased that Team 6 were slightly cleaner now. "Karen, take these dirty clothes and have them laundered, chop chop now." He clapped his hands at a pale redhead that looked nothing like a "Karen".

When no one else in Team 6 said anything, Andrew stood up to address the man.

"Hello there. I'm Andrew, and you are...?" He extended a hand politely over the coffee table. The blonde man grasped it with the tips of his fingers.

"Joel Hampton, pleasure. Now who wants to get their make-up first?" Joel looked around excitedly, as if he was expecting one or more of them to jump up and down and beg to please, please, please let them go first. Andrew reclaimed his hand, and Jaden saw him immediately wipe it on the seat of his pants, as if he'd just been holding a wet fish or something.

"About that make-up, care to tell us exactly why we would need such a thing?" Andrew pressed. "And while you're at it can you give us some sort of assurance that Karen will have our clothes back by the time we're ready to move on?" Joel took a deep breath and then used it to sigh noisily.

"You don't have to have make-up. If you want to go on stage looking like you do, then fine, but you'll look awful under the lights, just trust me. And of course you'll have your uniforms back, honey, what kind of place do you think this is?"

"Ok, so we're going on stage. To do what?"

"It's some sort of game show, I don't know, I just have to have you ready, so if you don't mind..." Joel seemed to be losing his bounce and pizazz along with his patience. Andrew looked at Takyle.

"Boss?" She shook her head and shrugged.

"This seems to be the next task. Let's not hold it up." She turned to Joel. "Where would you like me for make-up?"

"Over there," he said, pointing to the vanity. "Sarah! Kevin! Let's go, people!"

Sarah and Keven jumped to do Joel's bidding, one attacking Takyle's face with various liquids and powders and the other pouncing on her hair. Joel hovered, tsk-ing, and giving advice, and sticking a hand in wherever possible.

"No, her hair's too flat for that style, try something more "up"," he commanded Kevin.

In eight minutes Takyle was expelled from the chair and Joel gestured for either Jaden or Andrew to step up. Andrew moved hesitantly forward and took a seat.

"I love your hair color!" Joel gushed, as Kevin and Sarah worked away. "Tell me it's natural!"

"It's natural," Andrew told him, obligingly.

"It's fantastic is what it is," Joel informed him. Jaden thought that Joel seemed to have a thing for hair. After another few minutes, Jaden was in the chair, taking his turn under the brushes. Joel grimaced at the reflection in the mirror, gesturing impatiently at the bite under Jaden's eye.

"Can't you do something about that, Sarah?" he demanded. "It's awful!" Sarah didn't reply, but began painting it with some kind of skin tone liquid. Jaden winced away from her fingers.

"Ouch! Please be careful, it hurts."

"No doubt, but you'll feel so much better about yourself once we all can't see as much of it," Joel told him. Jaden glared back at him.

"I'll feel much better about myself once I can't see as much of you," he thought bitterly. ~

Chapter 64: Refreshing On Many Levels

2008-05-26T21:02:00.005-04:00

~ "Well, my guess is that we're not in the mansion anymore," observed Andrew.

"I can't say as I care," said Takyle. "If this is a dressing room than one of these doors probably leads to a bathroom and I call dibs on the shower." Andrew raised an eyebrow at her.

"You do realize that those spiders were probably a sim and that this stuff is in fact not actually on us?"

"It feels like it's real and on me, and the bites hurt, and that's all that really matters. I want to change clothes," she said, trying the door beside the dressing table and finding that it did indeed lead to a bathroom. "Four minutes, time me," she told them, grabbing her pack off the floor and carrying it into the bathroom. Jaden looked at Andrew, shrugged, then marked time on his watch. They began to move over to the couch to sit down, but stopped when they realized that their pants were still smeared with spider gook. Instead of sitting they just stood silently in the middle of the room, looking around. Behind them the other door burst open and they both spun to face it. A small man with unnaturally wavy blonde hair came running in.

"Well it's about time you all got here! Team 6? Yes, I can see that you are. You're going on quite soon, you know that right? Where's the third?" Jaden stood with his mouth open, staring at the man, and Andrew pointed silently at the bathroom door. "Getting cleaned up? Well that's a good idea. No offense, but I dearly hope you two plan to do the same! Hurry though; I'll be back in ten with make-up and wardrobe." With that he gave a flip of his hand and left the room, slamming the door behind himself. A silent moment passed.

"Did that just happen or did I hallucinate it?" asked Andrew.

"Wardrobe?" asked Jaden.

"Make-up?" responded Andrew.

"What the hell?" added Jaden. The bathroom door opened and Takyle strode out, wearing a relatively clean set of clothes and pulling her fingers through her loose, wet hair in lieu of a comb. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes bright. All in all she just looked much happier. And cleaner.

"And, time! How'd I do?" Jaden glanced at his watch.

"Three point five," he told her automatically.

"What's going on? You two look fishy." Andrew turned to face her.

"Some guy just came bursting in here and told us to get cleaned up because make-up and wardrobe would be here in ten minutes, then he left. And he never took a breath." Andrew shrugged after relaying that and, picking up his pack, went into the bathroom and shut the door. Takyle looked at Jaden for an explanation. He shrugged too.

"I dunno. He acted like we were expected or something. I think that we must be in the next level."

"Ok well, that's good I guess. Did he give an idea of what we'd be doing?" Takyle asked.

"Not really. But he'll be back "in ten" and you can ask him yourself what we're doing."

"Wow, you guys sure are good at digging information out of people," noted Takyle, with amused sarcasm.

"Hey, you weren't here. He seriously didn't pause longer than three micro-seconds," Jaden protested. Takyle smiled and shook her head.

"Oh gosh, it sure feels good to rest and have a shower," she said, sinking down onto the couch and leaning back with a satisfied sigh. For the first time Jaden took some interest in what was on the coffee table.

"Saints above! There's sodas!" he exclaimed, grabbing a can of cola off of a tray.

"Jaden," said Takyle, with her eyes still closed. "Did you just say: "Saint's above"?"

"Uh, yeah. What about it?" He popped open the can and took a long drink.

"Nothing. I've just never heard anyone except my great-aunt Rose use that particular phrase is all."

"Huh, well obviously she has discerning and classy taste," he told her, picking up a handful of crackers and a few squares of cheese to go with his soda.

"Oh yes, most definitely." Just then Andrew emerged from the bathroom in a wave of steam, dirty clothes slung over his arm. He dropped his pack on the floor.

"Oh hey! Sodas!" He grabbed one of the chilled cans and grinned happily. "Did that fella come back?" Jaden shook his head.

"Nope, not yet. I'm gonna clean up. Holler for me if he comes back whilst I'm in t'shower."

"Sure thing," promised Andrew, choosing a red apple from a basket and taking a bite. Jaden moved towards the bathroom then turned around, gingerly feeling below his eye.

"Think I should put something on this bite? It's pretty swollen up, and it hurts a lot worse than the others, but if it's not real there's really no point is there?" Andrew stepped over to get a better look at Jaden's face.

"I'm not sure. Want to let it wait for a few minutes and maybe we can find out something when that guy comes back? Maybe he'll give us more of an idea of what's next."

"Yeah, ok." Jaden turned and stepped into the bathroom. As he closed the door behind himself he heard Takyle moan from the couch.

"Ugh, I hate spiders!" ~

Chapter 63: Heart's Content

2008-05-23T20:37:00.002-04:00

~ The bite under Jaden's eye burned and itched and he could already feel it beginning to swell. He found that concentrating on that one bite removed his mind somewhat from the hundreds of spiders swarming over the rest him. Where the hell did they all come from? Not that that mattered all that much, what was important was that they kept coming.

The tunnel turned a sharp corner and just around it Jaden bumped into a panel blocking the path. A door. Blessed saints above, it was a door. Jaden grabbed the handle with both hands and and gave it a hard twist. And nothing happened. He jerked at it again with one hand, using the other to beat at the wood, in the illogical hope that that would jar it open.

"It's locked!" he cried desperately.

"Takyle, the key. Give it to me," ordered Andrew. He sounded so friggin' firm and calm and in charge. How the hell did he do that? Jaden, on the other hand, sat in the tiny tunnel, waiting for the key, his heart hammering away like it was trying to break out of his chest, reminding himself to breathe in as well as out. Turns out it is exponentially harder to sit still with hundreds of spiders on and around you, than to crawl over them. At least then you're doing something to get away from them.

"Hurry up, please!" he begged Takyle, shocked, first by the panicked sound of his voice, and second by the fact that he'd added "please". Takyle continued to fumble around in her pockets, looking for the key she had found back in the desert.

"Ugh! There's spiders in my pockets!" she cried. At the moment Jaden couldn't imagine a place on his person where they weren't. "I got it!" she shouted. A moment later Andrew passed the unassuming silver key up to Jaden. Now it looked like sparkling salvation. He jammed it into the lock on the door and in that split second before he tried it a thought entered his mind.

"Maybe it won't work."

It did. The key turned to left with a smooth click and the catch disengaged. Jaden threw his pack out of the tunnel and scrambled after it, never in his life so glad that a door had unlocked for him. He jumped up and began beating at the things crawling over him before he realized that they were now all streaming off, running back to the tunnel. That knowledge did not stop him from helping them on their way.

Jaden shivered all over, began to raise his hands to itch his scalp, and stopped when he realized what was crushed all over them. His pant legs from the knees down were also coated with the sticky, leggy remains of the more unfortunate of his arachnid attackers. He shuddered again, trying to wipe his hands off on his pants, the only thing available.

Andrew and Takyle were standing next to Jaden, Andrew attempting to rub one hand clean on his hip, while hugging Takyle with the other arm. Jaden was a little shocked to see tears running down her face. Never, ever had he seen Takyle actually, seriously cry. A tear now and again sure, but not like this, and he had seen her hurt pretty bad. He didn't really know what to do, so he just stood there... Feeling awkward.

"Wow, this is familiar," said his mind.

"Shut up," he told his mind.

After a minute more Takyle stopped crying (apparently by force of will) and pulled away from Andrew. She started to wipe her face off with her hands, but stopped just in time. She grimaced and looked a little ill for a moment. Jaden pulled something from his pocket and shook it to make sure there were no hangers-on, then handed it to Takyle. She looked at him for a moment with an unreadable expression, then she started giggling. Jaden glanced at Andrew to find out what he'd done wrong, but Andrew was busy still trying to get spider guts off himself.

"Jay, you packed a handkerchief? I... I'm not sure what to say."

"I, thought I might get a cold or something," he told her, still not sure if he should be laughing with her or defending himself. He shot for a middle ground and smiled a little.

"Jaden, I love you. Thank you. Thank you for thinking you might get a cold and being prepared and giving me your handkerchief." Takyle gratefully wiped her eyes, being careful not to soil more of the white cloth than was necessary.

"I'm prepared too," Andrew inserted, peevishly. "I brought... Granola bars." Takyle stood on her toes to give him a quick kiss.

"I appreciate you too, hun." She suddenly shivered all over. "Ugh, that was awful. I never want to see another spider again as long as I live." Andrew shook his head.

"The chances of that happening are slim, seeing as how they're smashed all over us. First order of business, I say we find some water."

"Great idea!" agreed Takyle. "So where exactly are we?" The first response that sprang to Jaden's lips was: "Not in the tunnel!", but he kept that to himself and looked around the room that they had exited into. It was green and not too big, with modern furniture, including a vanity with a big mirror framed by lights on the wall in front of it. To another side was a couch and a small table with some fruit and other snacks laid out on its surface. It looked like a dressing room. ~

Chapter 62: Cartoon Heroes

2008-05-19T15:19:00.007-04:00

~ The tunnel that Team 6 crawled down seem to go on forever. About 50 feet from where they had entered it through the trapdoor, it narrowed slightly and the ceiling moved down a little.

"Good call on the not wearing our packs, Jay," said Andrew. Jaden very nearly smacked his head right into the wall when he turned it to answer, but halted the motion in time.

"Thanks, I'm just hoping that it doesn't close up any more. I'd like to think that we could turn around if we wanted to."

"Yes, escapism is a beautiful thing," grunted Andrew as he lowered himself to his stomach to creep under a low beam. "Da, geez, that doesn't feel very good."

"Maybe now would be a good time for a couple of those pain killers?" suggested Takyle from the back.

"I think I agree with you," said Andrew and Jaden heard him stop and rummage through pockets until he came up with the little, white packets that the medic had given him. He read the directions on one of them carefully, and then counted them. He tore open one and shook it over his hand. Two blue and green capsules fell into his palm. He put one in his mouth and returned the other to its plastic wrapper, rolling it closed and placing it along with the others in his pack.

"You only took one?" Takyle asked. "Is that a full dose?"

"No, but I've only got ten packets, I need to make them last. Half a dose is probably plenty anyway." With that he tapped Jaden's shoe to indicate that he was ready to go again. They crawled on and Jaden's knees began to get sore. The tunnel narrowed one more time so that now the top brushed their heads, and the sides were just barely shoulder width. Jaden also noticed that it was getting quite a lot dustier, with cobwebs draped from corners like macabre Christmas decorations.

Jaden had never been claustrophobic per se, but he wasn't exactly enjoying this set up. A moment later he heard a small sound from Takyle. He would have described it as half shriek, half gasp. He heard something thump against the wall.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Ugh, there was a spider right on my hand." A moment later there was another thump, and a near silent curse from Andrew.

"And I got one too."

"Gross. Where are they coming from?" asked Takyle. And then it started. Jaden felt something on his neck and slapped at it. A black spider, writhing and broken, but not dead, fell down in front of him, next to his hand. He caught another in the act of climbing up his arm and quickly swatted it away. He heard Takyle gasp again as he felt something on his scalp. He was positive that it had to be his imagination but he put his hands in his hair and scrubbed them back and forth. Two spiders fell from his head, one dangling by a silken thread in front of his eyes. Jaden frantically knocked it off and his eyes followed it to the floor.

"Shit!" The tunnel was teaming with the things, all kinds, all scurrying towards him. For a moment he panicked, but Andrew put a stop to that fast by pushing him hard from behind.

"Move, Jaden, we've got to get out of here!" Jaden began to crawl forward, forcing himself to breathe. Forcing himself to not try to scurry backwards.

"Think about something else," he commanded himself, just as his hand landed directly on a largish gray spider. He felt it move under his palm, and then its abdomen squish and flatten. "Think about something else, dammit!" He could hear Takyle muttering behind him.

"Shit, shit, shit shit, gross, gross, gross..." The two words had become her chant. Andrew was stonily silent. Jaden knew that he very much disliked spiders.

"Really? That's the best Something Else you can come up with?" his mind demanded. He could feel them all over him now, their prickly little legs on his arms and neck, crawling down his back, wriggling into his pant legs. He could feel them under his hands, and dropping onto his head. Then he felt a burning prick on his upper arm.

"Ah, one bit me!"

"I know, keep going!" yelled Andrew.

"They're just going to get worse!" said Takyle, and Jaden heard a choking sob in her voice.

"It's ok baby, just keep going!" Andrew coached.

Five times Jaden heard Takyle squeak as the spiders bit her, and just as many times he hoped to God that these weren't venomous. How could you possibly tell? Each one he got a decent look at seemed to be a different kind. Pushing his pack along in front of himself temporarily cleared a spot for him to set his hand, but the spiders were jumping on his pack and then just scampering up his arm. He cried out as a spider bit him just below his left eye and couldn't stop himself from pausing to slap it away. Andrew pushed him again.

"Keep moving, Jay! If we stop we're going to die here!" Jaden heard Takyle choke back another cry, and the thought entered his mind that they were probably going to die here regardless. ~

Chapter 61: Onward and Upward

2008-05-16T23:25:00.000-04:00

~ Takyle stood biting her lip and staring up at the hatch in the ceiling.

"Well hell. What are we supposed to do now?

Andrew lay still on the floor, studying the rest of the room. Jaden finished writing down a description of the artifacts that they had cleaned in a log book that he assumed was there for cataloging.

"Are we going to finish up here or move on? Votes?" asked Takyle. Jaden set down the log and joined Takyle beside the second table.

"Well maybe the least we could do before we decide is hop up there and take a look at what's on the other side of that door," he said.

"Good suggestion, Jay," said Andrew. "My vote is for doing that." Jaden nodded and picked up four goblets, moving them to the first table. Takyle gathered the remaining few artifacts from the second table and cleared them out of the way. Jaden slipped his pack off, jumped up on the table and stood to slide the panel above his head up and to the side. He placed his hands on the lip of the roughly two by two foot opening, testing its strength. He hoisted himself up far enough to look around, then dropped back to the table.

"Just looks like a crawl space. It's a couple feet high, maybe two, two and a half feet wide. Wooden panels, insulation, exposed beams in a couple of places."

"Shall we take it?" asked Takyle. Jaden knelt on the table, looking back and forth between Takyle and Andrew, who was still on the ground. No one said anything, so Jaden finally broke the silence.

"I don't like the lady. Let's go." Andrew sat up.

"Well I'm not opposed to doing that, but I can tell you one thing." A soft groan escaped his lips as he stood."I'm not going to be able to pull myself up into there like Jaden just did."

"What if we stacked a chair on top of the table?" asked Jaden.

"Yeah, that might do the trick, but there are no chairs in here."

"I'm sure one of the other rooms on this hall has a chair in it," offered Takyle. Jaden jumped down from the table.

"I'll find one." He moved to the door and opened it a crack, peering out into the hall. Seeing no one, he slipped out and and strode over to the next door on the hall. He listened at it for a moment, heard nothing and so tried the knob. It was unlocked and the door opened silently. The room looked to be some sort of bedroom suite and next to one of the windows were two heavy easy chairs. Jaden forwent those ones and instead took the small chair from in front of a vanity which was a good deal more compact.

After he got it back into the room he lifted it up and set it on top of the table.

"How's that Andy, think it'll work?"

"Yeah, I think it will. Shall we go then?" Takyle stepped over next to Andrew and touched his hand. He gazed down into her eyes.

"I'll only ask you this one more time Andrew, I promise. Are you sure want to go on with this?" He bent his head and pressed a light kiss to her temple.

"Yes babe, I'm sure. Let's not lose this now," he murmured. He picked up his pack and began to put it on.

"Might as well not, Andrew," advised Jaden. "The space is small enough that we'll need to go single file and push our packs in front of us. Want me to take point?" The question was directed at Takyle. She nodded.

"Yeah. Andrew, you go after Jaden and I'll take last." Andrew smiled a little.

"So you guys can protect me?" Takyle began to open her mouth to respond but Andrew held up a hand. "No, it's ok. I appreciate it. I actually really do... Let's get this show on the road."

Takyle handed Jaden his own pack from the ground and he hoisted it up and pushed it through the opening. He gave Andrew a hand up onto the table and then pulled himself through the trapdoor. Once in the narrow passage he actually managed to get himself turned around to take Andrew's pack from him, and help to pull him up.

"Hey, thanks," said Andrew. The two of them edged further up the passage to give Takyle room to crawl in behind them. Once she had, she slid the hatch panel back into place.

"I'm not sure why you did that," said Jaden. "The chair on top of the table right underneath the trap door is kind of a dead give away, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well when you put it that way I'm not sure why I did it either," agreed Takyle. "Let's move out." ~

Chapter 60: Not Unheard Of

2008-05-12T21:29:00.002-04:00

~ Andrew made his way around the room, tapping on wall panels with the butt of his flashlight and feeling at seams, sliding his hand around where bookshelves met the wall while Takyle and Jaden continued to busy themselves with brushing hard packed dirt off and out of pottery.

"Wonder how the other teams are doing?" Jaden mused aloud.

"Mm, let's just assume that they're ahead of us," said Takyle, absently.

"Well that's very... optimistic..." Takyle raised her eyes from her work long enough to give him a look that was mostly amused with a bit of admonishment tagged on the edges.

"We're in a competition. It's dangerous to be optimistic," she stated succinctly. "I prefer to think more realistically, that way I'm a lot less likely to be disappointed."

"Well I suppose that's, um... logical," conceded Jaden, reluctantly. Takyle laughed.

"I'm not telling you to give up hope, Jaden. You keep being optimistic, I'll worry about the other end of things." Jaden reached over and set the shard of painted pottery that he had been cleaning on the end of the table, adding it to the short line of objects that had already been cleaned.

"These aren't very dirty. Makes me think we're just doing busy work," Jaden said.

"Yeah, well we probably are. Part of the race name is 'endurance', I just didn't think it would be this type," Takyle said, using a tiny brush to scrub grit out of the chain of a necklace. She looked up as Andrew rejoined them and raised an eyebrow in question.

"I didn't find anything. As far as I can tell, all of these walls are solid." He reached across the table to pick up a brush and gasped, pressing his hand to his stomach. Takyle was around the table in a second and holding his arm.

"Are you alright?" Andrew nodded, but remained leaning heavily on the table's edge, his breaths coming shallow. "Why don't you lie down for a bit, Andy? Jaden and I can finish this." Andrew paused for a moment before answering, and Jaden knew that he was trying to decide whether or not it was worth the small time set back that that would cause. Finally he agreed with another nod of the head. Jaden quickly pulled off his pack and unrolled his sleeping bag on the floor for Andrew to rest on. Andrew thanked him, laying down and closing his eyes.

Jaden and Takle went back to work, silently this time. After a while Takyle pulled the pad of paper with her translation on it back in front of her.

"This has to be right," she muttered to herself. "It says there's a passageway."

"Maybe it's not even talking about this room, Takyle," Jaden whispered across the table. "Maybe it's not even for this task. It could be anywhere."

"I suppose so, but races in previous years never really required strategy that was that far reaching or obtuse." She shook her head. "I just don't know."

"Uh, hey guys," called Andrew from the floor. Jaden turned around to look at him. He had rolled over and was now lying on his back and gazing at the ceiling. He pointed one finger upwards silently. Jaden's eyes followed his direction to immediately above the second table. There in the ceiling was a trap door. Jaden laughed.

"Oh hello. I think Andrew found it after all." ~

Chapter 59: When in Rome

2008-05-09T23:45:00.002-04:00

~ After a few minutes Jaden left Andrew and Takyle at the first table and stepped over to look at what had been lain out on the second. More pottery, several trinkets, and a cracked tablet. The tablet looked to be marble and its face was delicately carved with words and symbols. Jaden carried it gingerly back to his team mates.

"Hey guys, what do you make of this?" Andrew leaned over to look at the tablet, then glanced over his shoulder at the other objects on the table.

"All that stuff looks Greek or Roman to me, Jay." He took another look at the writing. "Think you could translate that Takyle?" Jaden lay the tablet on the table in front of Takyle.

"Yes I can. It is Greek, very old Greek granted, but I don't think that'll be a problem." Takyle set down the copper cup she had been cleaning and pulled a pad and pen from a pocket, leaning close over the table to study the piece of marble.

"I have a second cousin that lived in Italy for a year," Andrew said helpfully. Jaden tilted his head and studied Andrew. Andrew gazed back, not a hint of humor showing on his face. Jaden wondered if Andrew had ever tried playing poker.

"That's um... That's good to know, Andy. So how do you feel about Five Card Stud?"

"You're a Five Card Stud," Andrew responded automatically.

"Your mom's a Five Card Stud," threw in Jaden, putting a question mark at the end of the sentence with his voice and making Andrew laugh.

"This seems to be a set of instructions," broke in Takyle. "These phrases here are talking about a passage, and I think these symbols might be a combination. A code maybe," she said to her paper.

"Instructions for what exactly, Ta?" asked Andrew.

"I think it's how to get to the next level."

"Why would that be sitting here on this table waiting for us to find it when we're in the middle of this task?" said Jaden. Takyle shrugged.

"Maybe it's a shortcut," suggested Andrew. "Not everyone would think to translate it." Takyle nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I suppose so, or maybe we're just supposed to use it later? After this task is done I mean."

"What exactly does it say about a passage, Takyle?" Jaden asked.

"Not a lot, just that there is a hidden door, and I think this here says something about a hollow wall. So maybe a fake panel? Tell you what Andrew, why don't you look around this room real good for any hollow panels, and me and Jay can keep doing this cleaning stuff. Then maybe we'll be prepared for either case."

"Ok, I'm all over it... Like hair on an ugly man's a-"

"Thanks Andrew, that'll be fine. No need for analogies," Takyle interrupted him.

"Haha, you said anal-ogies, and I was just talking about as-"

"Yes, thank you! We all see how funny it is." Andrew grinned at Takyle, and left the table, handing the brush he'd been using to Jaden. Once he was across the room Jaden leaned toward Takyle.

"It was pretty funny," he said.

"Yeah ok, it was funny," Takyle conceded, hiding a smile.

"It wasn't that funny," Andrew called back at them. ~

Chapter 58: Getting Somewhere

2008-05-05T22:03:00.004-04:00

~ Jaden pressed close and peered over Esther's shoulder, trying to get a glimpse into the room that she had finally gotten around to escorting them to.

"Here is where you will work," she announced, confirming Jaden's theory that it was, at long last, time to get to the task of this level. As he stepped into the room with Andrew and Takyle right behind him, Jaden looked around for some indication of what that task might be, any clues as to its nature or form.

The room was sunny and open, containing a couple of high tables, wooden, serviceable. There were also a few shelves of tools, and a couple that held various other objects. The tables each contained a scattering of things as well. Other than that, the room was depressingly void of anything that would hint at what they might be asked to do.

Behind them Esther Barcelworth cleared her throat daintily. Jaden hated the sound.

"There are a few things here that need cleaning and cataloging. When you are done Samuels with check your work." She turned as if to leave the room. Andrew raised an eyebrow.

"Um, excuse me? Cataloging? Cleaning? Are you serious?" Esther looked back at him. She looked serious.

"Please don't be too long, there are other things to be attended to. You should find everything that you need here." And with that, she walked out, closing the door behind her.

"Ok, what the hell?" demanded Andrew. Takyle moved over to the first table and surveyed the objects on it.

"Apparently we are to clean and catalog these artifacts," she responded, calmly.

"Yeah, so I gathered. But why?" Takyle shrugged.

"Because she told us to. Either of you study archaeological methods much?"

"I've got a passing knowledge of techniques from what I've read, but I've never done any of it myself," offered Jaden. Takyle nodded.

"Well it looks like that's the best we've got. Tell us what we're supposed to do." Jaden moved to stand beside Takyle and looked over the items spread out on the table. Several pieces of pottery, a roll of papyrus, some metallic jewelry, coins, and goblets.

"Ok, for the pottery you're probably just going to use these brushes to clean the dirt off of them. After that, maybe a little water, unless there's painting or pigment of some kind. If that's the case I'd leave it alone for fear of messing it up. The jewelry could probably be cleaned like any other jewelry, and the scroll... That could be delicate. I'll take care of that one. Then if I mess it up she can just blame me and not you guys."

"We're in this together, Jay. We act as a team," Andrew reminded him.

"Yeah, but she already doesn't like me, so I've got no favor to lose. It might make a difference later, you never know." Takyle nodded thoughtfully.

"You do have a point."

"Thanks Takyle," said Jaden. "You know how I like positive affirmation."

"Yes, yes I do," she agreed, pulling a tarnished, silver circlet towards herself and picking up a cloth.

"Positive affirmation, my ass. You're an attention whore," Andrew laughed, just loud enough for Jaden to hear him. Jaden shook his head and tossed Andrew a soft, horsehair brush.

"The best kind. Get to work." ~

Chapter 57: Room For Advancement

2008-05-02T13:42:00.005-04:00

~ Jaden ran up the stairs two at a time to catch up with the rest of the group. Esther had stopped on the landing and had started talking again about another painting, a portrait of an ill-looking man. Takyle stood still, both feet planted rigidly on the floor. The effort to keep from tapping her toe impatiently was probably killing her. Andrew was staring at the painting and nodding thoughtfully at everything Esther said. From the look on his face, Jaden could tell that, though he was giving a good show, Andrew's mind was altogether somewhere else.

The entire group continued on to the next landing, where the scene played out again. As he stood listening to Esther prattle on, a discordant and random thought slipped through Jaden's mind.

"If my father could see me now..." Jaden shook his head slightly, stopping when he realized that if anyone was paying attention it would just make him look psychotic. Nothing his father did or said or thought mattered anymore. And all the better for it. His loss.

As they began climbing to the third landing, Andrew winced and his hand crept to his stomach. He caught Jaden looking and forced a thin smile.

"Whatever the doc gave me to sew me up seems to be wearing off." Jaden immediately began worrying accordingly.

"How bad does it hurt?" he asked.

"It's nothing I can't live through," Andrew assured, straightening up a little. Jaden stepped closer to him and lowered his voice.

"Andrew, there's no reason to kill yourself for this race."

"I'm not killing myself for the race, it just hurts a little is all. I'll be fine." Takyle turned around at the voices and fell back to walk on the other side of Andrew.

"You're in pain? How bad is it? I knew we should have thought more seriously about stepping out of the race." Takyle stopped talking and bit her lip, looking at Andrew expectantly for answers. He shook his head.

"I'm fine, it just hurts a little. The doc gave me some pain pills, I'll take one after a while."

"Why don't you take one now?" asked Jaden.

"Because I want to see how bad it gets and I don't want to waste the pills and they might have side affects that could interfere with this task that we're eventually going to do. Are those reasons good enough for the two of you or should I go ahead and think of a few more?"

Jaden glanced at Takyle, fairly sure that she would go off on Andrew for his snippiness. She didn't. She took a deep breath.

"Ok, just please don't hurt yourself, Andrew." She sounded surprisingly calm. Jaden felt the need to throw in his own thoughts.

"Yeah Andrew, don't be an idiot," he said. Andrew glanced sideways at him.

"I try Jaden, but it's just so very hard to deny my true nature."

"Oh hardy- har. I'm serious."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Would the two of you just calm the hell down?" Jaden felt that he and Takyle were already being pretty damn calm, especially considering the circumstances. Their good friend in absolute agony. Well maybe not agony as such, but still.

"We're calm," was all Jaden said. "We just love you sooo much is all," he added, leaning in towards Andrew with his eyes squeezed shut and his lips forming a grimacing, over the top purse.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Andrew shoved Jaden away from him, but he was laughing as he did it. "Freak."

So he wasn't in enough pain that he wouldn't laugh. Jaden took that as a good sign and let most of his worry go, simply determining to keep a careful eye on Andrew for now.

The three finally reached the third floor where Esther stood, holding a door open and looking huffy since they'd made her wait for five extra seconds. That, and all their attention wasn't on her now. Jaden figured that that was most of it.

"Come now," she snipped. "There's a task you need to get started on." ~

Chapter 56: An Application of Horticulture

2008-04-28T23:04:00.003-04:00

~ "This," Esther Barcelworth announced, throwing open two beveled glass doors. "Is the atrium." Jaden felt his jaw go slack and he did nothing about it.

The room was huge, positively vast, even compared with the ones they'd already seen, and it was made completely of glass. It housed entire trees contained in massive pots. For a brief moment Jaden stared up at the gleaming walls and ceiling that was a good 40 feet above him, and wondered how many birds met their death per day at its expense.

For once Esther has stopped talking, apparently content to bask in the uncouth awe that the simpletons had for this place, the atrium. Jaden moved several more steps into the indoor garden and gazed around. There were shrubs, flowers, even stretches of grass like tiny, edged-in meadows. In a bower protected by the branches of three tall birch trees, was a wrought iron table with four matching chairs. There were flagstone paths leading off in several directions, meandering between flower beds and small bunches of trees, winding out of sight, as if you could go hiking. Inside. Jaden glanced back at his team mates. Andrew looked nearly as impressed as Jaden felt. Takyle looked appreciative, but impatient.

Jaden wanted an atrium. Right now he didn't even have a house. Didn't even have an apartment all to himself actually, but he wanted an atrium regardless. He wanted birds to die because he was keeping some of the outside inside, not Esther. People like Esther Barcelworth didn't deserve to have Outside in their homes. She probably never even came in here except to show it off.

Outside was rare where Jaden came from. Sure you could go out to the streets, but that wasn't real Outside. The idea that you could have some of it in your house, where you could visit it whenever you wanted to, was beyond amazing.

"This is beautiful Ms. Barcelworth," said Takyle sweetly. "But shouldn't we be getting on to that task you'd like us to do for you?" Jaden could tell immediately from her tone that she had had enough of the rich person ceremony and wanted to get down to business. Great, and just when they finally got to something that Jaden was really interested in. He felt slightly peeved at the unfairness of it. Why couldn't she have gotten impatient when they were all "enjoying" tea together back in the drawing room? Esther Barcelworth looked slightly peeved at the idea that Takyle did not want to spend time in every single room of her house, admiring her wealth and good taste. She silently turned and walked back out into the hall.

Andrew and Takyle followed her, and after one last long, envious look at the verdant green of the atrium, Jaden trailed along, leaving the doors open behind him intentionally, in the hopes that perhaps it would allow some of the Outside to leak into the rest of the house.

"Could you build an entire house like an atrium?" he wondered as he followed the others down the hall. He didn't see why not. Then you could just sling up a hammock between two nice maple trees and that would be your "bedroom". One wall could have a hearth and chimney instead of just glass, maybe even a dutch oven. Call that the kitchen. It would be nothing short of wonderful, Jaden was just positive of that much. Plumbing might be an problem, as well as privacy, but he was sure these were not insurmountable issues.

He'd discuss it with Andrew later. Andrew had solutions. ~

Chapter 55: Le Grande Tour

2008-04-25T10:59:00.006-04:00

~ Esther Barcelworth set her tea cup back on the cart and picked up her portfolio.

"I'd like your help with a little project of sorts."

"What kind of project?" asked Andrew. She gave him a strange little half-smile.

"Don't worry. Nothing that you all won't enjoy." Jaden just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

"I'd prefer to be the judge of that," he murmured.

"Would you care to describe the task for us Ms. Barcelworth?" asked Takyle, politely. Esther rose from her chair.

"I'll show it to you if you wish."

"That would be fantastic," pronounced Andrew, tossing back the rest of his tea and standing to set his cup back on the tea tray. "Let's have a look see." Esther Bacelworth's lips tightened almost imperceptibly.

"So charming," she murmured, turning to the doors. "To begin with I'll take you for a tour of the house and grounds." She impatiently waived the maid out of her way without ever making eye contact with the girl.

"Like you might do to a stray dog," thought Jaden. He was just liking this lady less and less with every minute he was around her. And his estimation hadn't been that high to begin with.

He returned his own basically untouched cup to the tray with a clatter and hurried after his team mates. Just outside of the drawing room Esther stopped and began to talk about a painting in the great hall that they had entered via. As she droned on about a revolution or something to her captive audience of Andrew and Takyle, who were both doing a damn good impression of interest, Jaden took a look at the so called itinerary that he'd been given.

Down one margin were times, next to which, in elegant script, were written the various things they were supposed to partake in. All seemed to have one thing in common; the descriptions were impressively vague. Jaden folded up the paper and tucked it into the interior pocket of his coat. Esther finished her lecture on the painting and turned to walk into the next room. Andrew looked back over his shoulder, caught Jaden's eye, and mimed shooting himself in the head. Jaden quickly stifled a snicker and followed everyone else through the large sliding oak doors.

"This is the library," announced Esther, unnecessarily. Every one of the walls of the room was completely lined with shelves, sliding ladders attached in order to reach the volumes nearer the ceilings which had to be at least 12 feet high. The room looked quite similar to the drawing room, only it housed many more books and a lot less other stuff. It had the same large fireplace against the wall opposite the door, and similar wingback chairs, except that these were scattered all about the room, accompanied by lamps and small sidetables. Jaden gazed up at the shelves in awe. There were hundreds of books, thousands of them. A person could read for decades and not get through them all.

Esther was telling them something about the fireplace, and how the mantle was historic. Jaden ignored her and pulled a book off of a shelf near him. It was entitled 'Perspectives' and, opening it to the middle, Jaden discovered that it was a book of poetry. Nihilistic poetry apparently.

"Do you enjoy Vanderbeerge?" Esther queried, interrupting Jaden's thoughts.

"I've never heard of him, but uh, I do like some poetry now and again." Jaden answered, replacing the book on the shelf. Despite Esther's civil tone, he definitely got the feeling that she'd rather he didn't touch anything.

"You've never heard of her. Wanda Vanderbeerge," Esther corrected. Jaden smiled sweetly.

"Ah well, I'll have to remember that name and as soon as I get home I'll check my local public library and see if they have any of her work."

"Yes, you do that." Esther turned on her heel and lead briskly on to the next highpoint of the tour. Jaden was fairly sure that he'd seen her wince a little when he'd mentioned the public library in connection with the venerated Vanderbeerge. ~

Chapter 54: Socially Acceptable

2008-04-21T19:50:00.008-04:00

~ Jaden crossed the room and bent over to look at an Eye of Horus, cast in gold and set with ivory, lapis lazuli, tiger's eye, and moonstone.

"This is crazy shit," he murmured.

"Yes, you might say that," agreed a woman's voice from the door. Jaden jumped. Andrew, in the center of the room, spun around, his hand automatically going to the hilt of his dagger. A gray haired woman stood in the doorway holding a leather organizer in one hand.

"If you had no taste," she added calmly, ignoring Andrew's reaction. "Good afternoon, Team 6." Takyle stepped around her chair and approached the lady.

"Good day to you." She extended a hand, but stopped two steps short of the woman. The lady smiled knowingly, and after the pause of a beat, she made up the distance and delicately shook Takyle's hand. Jaden remained still at the side of the room. So far the woman had not looked over at him and he wondered if she cared that he was there, out of her line of sight. Just as well if she didn't; that way if she tried anything funny, he could act without hindrance. Andrew maintained his place in the middle of the room, nodding politely when she gazed up at him.

"Afternoon, ma'am."

"Well aren't you just wholesomely charming?" she responded in a tone that wasn't quite sarcastic.

"Thanks, I do try." The woman smiled at that and finally turned in Jaden's direction. He stepped forward, giving her a quick look up and down as she did the same to him.

"You all look like you've been in a fight. What did you do?" she asked him. Jaden didn't like this woman.

"We didn't do anything," he informed her coldly.

"Oh my, and you're testy. How very pleasant for me." The lady turned back to Takyle, presumably because she was the only one of the three that acted as if she wasn't a hoodlum or barbarian. "I am Esther Barcelworth." Takyle bowed her head slightly.

"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Barcelworth. I am Takyle Marianne Carlyle, this is Andrew Vienna, and this is Jaden McAllister. Thank you for allowing us into your home."

"Certainly. Samuels informs me that tea will be ready shortly, so we may as well get started." The woman waved a hand to the chairs by the fireplace. "Please, sit." Takyle did so, and Andrew and Jaden followed suit after exchanging a look. Ms. Barcelworth took a chair and then flipped open her portfolio and extracted a thin sheaf of papers.

"I took the liberty of making each of you an itinerary." She passed each of them a sheet of heavy paper, watermarked with a crest and decorated with a scroll border. Sure enough, it was a docket planned out to the minute. Jaden looked up at a faint tinkling sound, caused by a maid wheeling a small metal cart into the room with a tea tray atop it. The girl pushed the cart up close to Esther Barcelworth's chair and then stood a step back, eyes on the floor.

"Mm, wonderful," Esther murmured, laying her portfolio on her lap in order to serve the tea. "I hope you all enjoy hot tea, if not we can make some coffee for you." Takyle quickly shot Andrew and Jaden a look. Andrew cleared his throat.

"Ah, no, tea is just fantastic, Ms. Barcelworth, thank you."

"Good," she replied. "Sugar or cream?" she asked Takyle.

"One sugar please." Esther handed the cup and saucer up to the maid to deliver to Takyle, and began pouring the next. When everyone had their cup, the maid began offering the small sandwiches, muffins, and cakes. Jaden studiously scrutinized Takyle as she effortlessly balanced the fragile bone china and selected a watercress sandwich to eat. He was up next.

Jaden focused his coordination and held the saucer rock steady, taking whatever was nearest to him off of the tray that the maid was offering. It turned out to be some sort of hard biscuit. He glanced up at her face, catching her eye for a split second.

"Thank you," he told her. She looked confused for a moment, nodded hurriedly, and quickly moved on to serve Andrew. Jaden looked back at his hands. He had a napkin and a saucer holding a cup and spoon in one of them, and a biscuit in the other, with a sheet of paper balanced on his knee. Now he was stuck. He glanced up and found Ms. Barcelworth watching him. He quickly shot a glance at Takyle and discovered that she had taken a small bite of her sandwich and then laid it on the edge of her saucer. He decided to imitate.

"Easier said than done," scoffed his mind.

"I can do this just fine!" he told his mind. "If I can solve wizards' riddles, I can do this..." He carefully raised the biscuit to his mouth, keeping the very full tea cup in mind, and took a bite off of the end, miraculously managing to keep the rest of it from crumbling all down his front. He quickly transferred the remainder of the biscuit to the saucer before something could happen. Now he had a free hand.

"Haha. I rock."

He looked over at Andrew and grinned. Andrew didn't miss the opportunity to smile back, but raised one eyebrow in a I-don't-know-why-you're-so-happy-but-it-amuses-me kind of way.

"So," said Takyle, taking a sip of her tea. "What can we do for you, Ms. Barcelworth?" ~

Chapter 53: Decorative Appeal

2008-04-18T14:05:00.007-04:00

~ The Race Official unlocked the door at the end of the hallway and held it open for them.

"Alright, you're set to go."

Nodding her thanks to the man, Takyle stepped into the live-sim room with Andrew on her heels. Jaden looked back over his shoulder. The hallway was deserted, the other ROs and Team 5 having already made their exit. He turned back to the door in front of him and shot the RO a smile.

"Thank you." The RO nodded once.

"No problem. Good luck." Jaden stepped through and was standing in what appeared to be an ornate, wood paneled front hall. Paintings and tapestries hung the walls, the vaulted ceiling illuminated by a chandelier that seemed to be holding hundreds of real candles. A tall, very straight man with graying hair entered from a door on the right of the hall. He was dressed in an impeccably black suit.

"Good afternoon madam, gentlemen. The lady of the house will see you shortly, if you would be so kind as to follow me?" He turned on his heel and started down the hall. Without further prompt Takyle fell into step behind him, Jaden and Andrew trailing her after a second's hesitation. The butler, or at least Jaden assumed the man was the butler, escorted them to the drawing room before taking a small bow and slipping out. At least Jaden assumed that it was the drawing room. Not that he had a lot of experience in that area, but it looked like a drawing room. Takyle went immediately to a couple of easy chairs bunched around a huge fireplace and sat down. Andrew and Jaden stood in the center of the large room, looking perplexed.

The room was lined with shelves, many of which held leather bound books, the rest, covered with glass doors, contained various knick knacks, running the gamut from a large glass orb set on golden claws to a piece of a clay cone with cuneiform writing on it. Upon closer inspection, Jaden found that a good number of the objects seemed to be artifacts of some description.

"Takyle...What is this place?" asked Andrew.

"I don't know. Based on appearances, I'd say the home of a rich person. The likes of whom we'll be meeting soon according to the butler."

"What are all these things doing here?" Jaden asked, leaning down to look at a piece of red and black Greek pottery on a low shelf.

"Again, I don't know, though it has always been a habit of the rich to collect various bits and pieces of artifacts, it's just not as easy anymore."

"So, expensive kitsch," Andrew stated bluntly. Takyle gave him a sarcastic look.

"You might say that...If you had no taste at all whatsoever." She turned back to Jaden. "Many of the things in this room are probably invaluable and might have been in this family for generations."

"You talk like this is a real place..." mused Jaden aloud.

"Well we're really supposed to treat it as if it is, aren't we? And besides, it's not a reach; I've been in homes very similar to this."

"I haven't," Andrew muttered to Jaden.

"Nor I," agreed Jaden.

"That's because we're poor," Andrew stage whispered. ~

Chapter 52: Time Honored

2008-04-14T22:27:00.007-04:00

~ It took no more than another 15 minutes for the medic to finish his work on Andrew's stomach and Andrew rose gingerly to a sitting position. He carefully inspected the bandage wrapping his torso. He glanced up at his audience and grinned, looking half his age.

"Hey Jaden, wanna sign my bandage?"

"I think that casts pretty much have that whole signing market cornered," Jaden replied. The RO that had first spoken with Takyle came over for the second time, and looked Andrew up and down.

"Well alright then. Now that you've all been taken care of, we'll talk about what's to come." He turned to Takyle. "If Team 6 wants to quit the race now, we will escort you out. If not, the committee has authorized that you be shown immediately into the next live-sim, as the amount of time used by your encounter with Team 5 was approximately equal to the time it should have taken you to get through the maze. If you'd like to talk it over for a moment-"

"I'm ready to go now," Andrew cut in, beginning to stand. Takyle placed a hand on his arm, holding him down.

"Wait just a minute. I'm not sure that we should just jump right back in." She turned to the medic. "Is it even safe for him to continue the race?"

"Yes I think so, as long as he's careful not to overstress himself or tear out the stitches." Takyle nodded.

"Was there something in here that was making us aggressive?" she asked the RO.

"I am not permitted to give you any other information about what has gone, or what might go on in the race. I'm sorry." Takyle looked back and forth between Jaden and Andrew. She looked positively torn. Jaden felt sorry for her. Andrew spoke up.

"Look, let's just go Takyle, we're losing valuable time here." She looked at him for just a split second more and then turned to the RO.

"Alright, we'll stay in."

"Excellent. Please gather your supplies." Jaden and Takyle nodded and turned to find their discarded packs amongst all the people and things in the crowded hallway. The medic held up a hand for Andrew to wait a moment and fished around in his suitcase of supplies, at last producing several small white packets.

"I can give you some pain medication in case you need it later, you're going to have to ration it though, as you'll have no way of getting any more until the race ends unless you drop out. It might cause you to feel a bit tired with slowed reactions as well, so be careful of when you take it. And one more thing; pain is your body saying you're doing too much. Don't ignore it."

"Yes sir," answered Andrew, accepting the medication. "And thank you for patching me up."

"Not a problem. Best of luck to you." The medic snapped shut his case and, followed by his assistant once again hauling the table, headed back down the hall to the door that was the emergency access to the maze. Andrew made his way down the hall and found his backpack, but not before Jaden and Takyle already had their hands on it, and were dividing the bulk of its contents between themselves.

"Um guys, he didn't say that I couldn't carry anything."

"Yeah well maybe he forgot to," said Takyle dismissively.

"I'm fine, give me my pack. The two of you can't carry everything."

"Shut up, Andrew," ordered Jaden, shooting for commanding, and as a result just sounding petulant. "We're not going to carry everything anyway. Just most of the heavy stuff." Andrew opened his mouth to complain, then seemed to think better of it.

"Thanks guys." Jaden zipped up what was left in Andrew's considerably lightened pack and Takyle stood to help Andrew pull his clean, spare shirt over his head and then slip the backpack on. He winced slightly at reaching back, but covered it quickly. "Ok then. Looks like I'm all set."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Takyle softly.

"Yes I want to do this. Now let's get going before I change my mind!" Takyle nodded and Jaden stood, pulling on his own pack.

"We're ready," he called to the RO. The rest of the Race Officials and Team 5 were already going back towards the access door. The first RO gestured up the hallway to the live-sim entrance.

"After you." ~

Chapter 51: To Err is Human

2008-04-11T00:08:00.002-04:00

~ "Could we just leave them here?" asked Jaden.

"What? Alone and all trussed up like so many sides of ham?" Andrew shook his head. "If another group came along they might get hurt." Jaden stared down at Andrew.

"One of them just stabbed you and you're worried about his well being?" Andrew started to shrug, then winced.

"Well misguided as they may have been, I wouldn't want any less if our positions were switched," he said. Jaden took a deep breath. Andrew was definitely a bigger man than he was.

"Ok, whatever you say. Well how about-" Takyle cut him off abruptly with a wave of her hand.

"Shh! Somebody's coming." Something like 30 feet down the hall a door opened. Jaden tensed. If it was another team that would decide to attack them, they didn't stand a chance. A Race Official stepped out of the door and looked up and down the hallway, caught site of the two teams and gestured behind himself to someone else, then started towards them.

"Good day," he called.

"Um, hello?" said Takyle, cautiously. Six other people had followed the first RO out of the door, carefully closing it behind them. The first man approached Takyle, while two of the others immediately knelt and began cutting the ties that held Vin and Cal.

"There's been a bit of a mistake made," said the RO to Takyle. "Long story short, these mazes for each team are all next to each other, and an emergency access door that should have remained closed was left unlocked allowing Team 5 into the section meant only for Team 6."

"They attacked us," Takyle told him.

"Yes, we know."

"And you only decided to intervene now? One of us could have died!" The RO shrugged.

"You signed waivers didn't you? It was a decision that had to be made by committee." Takyle gaped at the man.

"Oh of course. And that justifies it." He shrugged again.

"You signed waivers didn't you?" One of the other ROs in a white coat came towards Andrew followed by a young assistant who seemed to be carrying a thin folding table by its handle in one hand and a large suitcase in the other. Jaden stepped in front of them, blocking the path.

"What are you thinking to do?" he asked. The RO waved at him impatiently, as if trying to shoo away a large fly.

"Medic. Move aside," he barked. Jaden did, but he kept a close eye on them. The assistant quickly set up his table in a clear section of the hall, past where yet another RO was caring for John. Meanwhile the doctor knelt by Andrew and gingerly pulled back the bandage on his stomach. He inspected the wound rapidly, said a few words to Andrew, then waved his assistant and a woman over. The three of them carefully hoisted Andrew up and lay him on the table. Jaden felt a hand on his arm and turned. One of the ROs that had been dealing with Cal and Vin was standing beside him and without invitation began dressing the bleeding cut on his forearm.

When next Jaden checked, the medical team down the hall had re-cleaned Andrew's wound, apparently given him some sort of local anesthetic, and were stitching the gash in his stomach closed. Takyle was still talking with the first RO, and the members of the other team were all getting similar attention.

When the woman bandaging his arm was done advising him to keep it clean and dry, Jaden walked over nearer to Andrew, close enough to observe, but far enough back to stay out of the way. Andrew caught site of him and the corner of his mouth raised a little.

"I'm getting sewn up."

"So I can see."

"You were lucky," the doctor chimed in. "The wound wasn't as deep as it could have been." Andrew nodded.

"I blocked him with my arm. Not enough obviously, but I guess it helped."

"Yes it did. As it was, the blade still nicked your small intestine, but I took care of that."

"I appreciate it." Takyle came over and stood beside Jaden.

"He's going to be ok?" she asked. Jaden nodded. Takyle crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"I can't believe this. I didn't plan on getting killed by another team when we entered this race!" The doctor glanced up from his work.

"You signed waivers didn't you?" Takyle sighed noisily.

"Yes, I signed waivers. I suppose that means I can't complain."

"Oh you can complain all you want," the doctor told her. "Just not in a courtroom." ~

Chapter 50: Can't Get Enough

2008-04-07T19:54:00.001-04:00

~ Andrew's breath caught painfully in his throat as Jaden swabbed up the blood oozing from the wound in his abdomen with clean gauze. Andrew opened his eyes and looked around.

"Where'd Takyle go?" he asked. Jaden glanced up from his work and looked down the hall. She was nowhere in sight.

"I don't know." He wasn't sure that he cared at this point. "Takyle! Get your ass back here!" he shouted over his shoulder. He pulled out a packet of antibacterial powder and sprinkled it over Andrew's wound, placing a thick gauze pad over that and bandaging it in place. A second later Takyle came running back into the hall from around a corner.

"Hey guys, I found another unlocked d-" She skidding to a stop several yards away when she processed what Jaden was doing. "What's happened to him?" she asked. She stepped over the other team's leader, who now lay tied on the floor, and approached slowly.

"What do you think happened to him? He got stabbed while he was fighting," Jaden answered, scathingly.

"You're bleeding too," Andrew murmured softly. Jaden remembered his arm.

"Oh it's nothing impressive. You know me, just another scar to show off with no good story for it. Not like what you got here. Now this'll make a great story for the ladies. Will you lay down and rest for a few minutes?"

"Sure. I love resting." Jaden rolled up Andrew's jacket and placed it under his head as a pillow. Andrew's mouth twitched and he opened one eye.

"Quit doting, Jaden, and go patch up your arm."

“Sure thing.” Jaden straightened up and turned to Takyle, drawing her away from Andrew. She was staring at him with a shocked and rather stupid look on her face.

“Is he going to be alright?” she asked. Jaden blinked at her.

“I don't know. He was bleeding pretty bad.” He looked her over coldly. “You were an idiot. Standing there arguing with him when he was seriously wounded. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I didn't realize he was hurt. I feel like an idiot.”

“And you look like one too,” Andrew sang from the floor. “Have you guys thought that maybe we should all stop fighting amongst ourselves and try to actually win this friggin' race?” Takyle walked back and knelt beside Andrew on the floor. She laid one hand on his shoulder gently.

"I'm so sorry, Andy. I didn't know...I didn't mean..." He raised a hand to lay on top of hers.

"It's ok, Takyle. I'm going to be fine." Takyle looked up at Jaden then back at Andrew.

"I don't know what came over me."

"Do you feel jumpy and moody?" asked Jaden.

"Yeah. Ever since we got in here," Takyle agreed. Andrew groaned quietly as he raised his head.

"So um, maybe we shouldn't be lounging around in here if it's messing with our heads, huh guys?"

"Yeah, but what about our archnemeses here?" Jaden threw a thumb in the direction of the silent Cal and Vin. Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Good question..."

Chapter 49: Consequences

2008-04-04T17:51:00.009-04:00

~ Takyle lightly slapped Andrew on the arm again.

"Seriously." Her lips almost looked pouty. Jaden thought that she'd never seemed so girly. Well, that is, she would have if she hadn't been holding a bloody dagger in one hand. Andrew looked lost and a little peeved. That was obviously not the reaction he'd expected, or perhaps been hoping for.

"What?"

"I was fine! I had him. Then you came rushing in and finished him off!"

"Well you didn't look like you had him! You looked like you were just holding your own and thinking that you were doing well. And besides, I'm not going to put your ego in the way of winning this race."

"My ego?" Takyle demanded. "I was fine! And I'm a better fighter than you'll ever hope to be! At least I could afford real lessons!"

"You were fine? So you never make mistakes do you, Takyle? If you'd slipped he could have killed you while we were all standing back letting you prove your worth to yourself because your daddy never loved you enough!"

Jaden didn't turn around from his watch over Cal and Vin, both sitting propped against the wall now, but he did flinch. Partly because of Andrew's angry tone, mostly because he was imaging the look on Takyle's face right now. It entered Jaden's mind that he hoped they had the sense to be keeping an eye on John whilst they fought it out. Then he decided that he probably shouldn't count on that.

Jaden backed up to where his pack lay on the ground and dug a small bundle of cable ties out of it. Andrew's idea, bless his soul, so prepared. He trussed Cal and Vin's hands behind them, then, as an afterthought, had them sit back to back and secured them to each other as well. As a kindness he checked Vin's wound and found it to be superficial, the bleeding already slowing. And then he set Cal's nose straight again with a quick wrench.

"Sorry," he told the man quietly when he yelped in pain. The he turned to take a look at the real fight scene. John still lay on the floor. Takyle still gripped her knife, but her arm had tensed and her knuckles were white. Jaden had never seen Andrew looking quite that mad. The fact that he was actually shouting said it all.

"We're supposed to be a freaking team here! What is it exactly that you think teams do, Takyle?"

"Apparently they cut each other down and utilize backstabbing as often as possible! At least the teams that you're on do!"

"I didn't do anything wrong! I was trying to help because I didn't want you to get hurt because I frigging love you!" Andrew stood there in front of Takyle, breathing hard. She stared at him in silence.

"I didn't need help," she muttered.

"I don't care. That's not something I can chance," said Andrew, in a much more reasonable tone of voice. "You're the one that kept friggin' telling us to always go with our gut instincts anyway!" Takyle looked down at John, then at her knife, apparently for the first time noticing the blood splattered on her hand.

"I'm...sorry." She turned and stepped over John to walk a short distance down the hall, away from Andrew. Andrew finally looked at Jaden.

"Are you ok?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, I'm fine." Jaden looked hard at Andrew's face. He looked pale. Then Jaden noticed that he was also bleeding profusely through fingers pressed to his stomach.

"Andrew, you're-"

"Yeah, I know. Hurts like hell. I'm just gonna sit down now." Andrew half lowered himself, half slid down the wall to rest on the floor. He looked over as Jaden grabbed his med kit. "I've never been much one for fainting, but I see now that it could have its advantages."

"You'll be ok," assured Jaden, sounding as if he knew what he was talking about. He carefully pulled Andrew's hand away and grabbed his knife to cut off Andrew's shirt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Andrew demanded. "I only have two sets of clothes you know. Just help me take it off like a normal person." So he was not in enough pain to override his conservatory instincts; Jaden took that as a good sign and helped him take off his jacket and pull the shirt over his head.

Jaden used the sullied shirt to wipe some of the blood off of Andrew's stomach, as carefully as possible. Andrew bit his lip, and barely stifled a groan.

"I'm sorry," apologized Jaden. "I'm trying to be gentle." Andrew let his head fall back and closed his eyes.

"I hope you're at least planning to make me breakfast tomorrow morning, sailor."

Chapter 48: Head to Head

2008-03-31T23:17:00.004-04:00

~ "Oh for cryin' out loud!" Andrew muttered.

The apparent leader of the other group snapped at the man on his right.

"Vin you're an idiot. Why would we do that?"

"Because if this is a sim, that might be the challenge, and if it's real, we'd at least but cutting down on the competition!" John tilted his head.

"My gosh, he's actually considering it," murmured Jaden in disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding me," said Takyle, in an exasperated tone that suggested she didn't believe that they were. Jaden felt the familiar thrill of fear and adrenalin from the prospect of a fight. He slipped the straps of his pack off his shoulders and let it fall to the ground behind him. He felt his pulse begin to thump in his neck.

"Let's talk about this guys," Takyle addressed the other team calmly. "You're not in a sim. Look at your clothes; they're spotless. And why would you be put up against another team in a sim? We're as real as you are." John nodded thoughtfully.

"You make a good case. This is probably real." He turned to his companions. "We don't need to kill them." Jaden felt Takyle relax just the tiniest bit. "All we need to do is injure one of them enough for their team to be crippled. I'd say the girl is the best candidate for that." He smirked. Takyle sighed and unsheathed her own knife.

"Ok, if that's the way you're going to be...Bring it, bitch," she spat at him. John smiled grimly.

"Oh you are going to be eating those words."

The three men charged forward and Team 6 acted as one. Just as their attackers reached them Jaden jumped forward, keeping close to the wall. Due to the tight formation their rivals had adopted, he slipped through easily, shielding his own body with his knife hand and planting an elbow hard into Cal's kidney on his way past. He spun around, now behind the other team. Meanwhile Takyle had fallen back three steps, luring John after her, while Andrew had ducked back into the door they'd left, allowing Vin to just miss him.

Before his guy could turn around, Jaden hit him as hard as he could in the back of the head with the hilt of his knife, causing him to stumble before coming around. Jaden ducked as the man swung and came up in time to hit him while his stomach was vulnerable. Jaden was momentarily surprised at how invulnerable that stomach was. He was reminded that he wasn't fighting a skinny teenager. The man had abs.

Over Cal's shoulder, Jaden saw the one called Vin stumble backwards across the hallway and crash into the wall. He'd made the mistake of trying to follow Andrew into the other room. Farther down the hallway Takyle parried and danced back from John's hatchet. She was a precise and delicate fighter, something that John seemed to be having a hard time getting used to.

Jaden jumped to the side as Cal dived forward, knife leveled at his belly. He just managed to catch Jaden's lower arm, tearing his sleeve and nicking flesh. The line of pain was like a cue to Jaden's body. Anger surged through him. He threw his fist, clasped around the metal hilt of his knife, into the man's face. He felt Cal's nose crunch beneath it and blood gushed out.

"I don't need another frigging scar!" Jaden shouted at him, punching him again in the face. Cal took a step back, looking somewhat surprised Jaden thought, and Jaden drove a powerful kick into his solar plexus. Cal looked faint for a moment, and then dropped. Jaden spun to check Andrew and Takyle. John was erratically swinging his hatchet at face level, apparently growing tired of being outmaneuvered. The only member of the other team that seemed to be winning was Vin, who had somehow gotten the upperhand and lured Andrew back out into the hallway. He now had him up against the wall. Both Andrew's and Vin's knives were gone and Vin had one hand pressed to a bleeding wound in his side, the other clenched on Andrew's throat.

Jaden reached them in two strides, wrapped one arm around Vin to hold him and pressed his knife to Vin's throat. A thin line of blood sprang up and three droplets slipped across the face of the blade.

"Let him go before you're a dead man," he hissed into Vin's ear. To Jaden's immense relief, Vin did what he was told. Andrew grabbed his knife off the floor and ran over to Takyle, who had just slipped in and delivered a quick slash to John's chest. She looked like she was almost enjoying herself. Andrew put his years of kickboxing to use, ridding the tired man of his weapon and landing him on the floor with three well placed blows. Takyle looked down on her conquered opponent and slapped Andrew on the arm.

"Dude! What the hell?" ~

Chapter 47: Surprise Party

2008-03-28T17:10:00.005-04:00

~ Takyle proceeded down the hall, cursing under her breath at each door that her key failed to open. Andrew cleared his throat.

"Maybe we're missing something here. We don't know if this key works in any of these doors. I mean, the thing just said the items were for the next level." Takyle turned to Andrew and raised her hands.

"Well what do you propose we do, Andrew? We've already been through this once and we know that the unlocked doors just lead back here!"

"Maybe since then some others have been unlocked, I don't know."

"Hey, shut up, you two!" Jaden hissed at them. "Listen." Without the cover of Andrew and Takyle's conversation, what Jaden had heard was obvious. Unfamiliar voices, not terribly far off, and sounding as if they were coming closer. Andrew touched Jaden's arm and along with Takyle they withdrew and ducked through the only unlocked door, the first one Andrew had marked on their previous time around. Takyle, leaving the door a quarter of an inch ajar to observe the hallway, gestured to Andrew to watch their backs. Meanwhile she pulled a tiny mirror out of a pocket on her backpack and set it in the opening so that she could watch the end of the hallway where the voices had seemed to be coming from, in the opposite direction of the live-sim door,.

"I see them," she murmured. "They...It looks like another race team. What are they doing here? It must be a mistake..."

"Well we heard them, so they probably heard you guys. Even if they didn't they'll see the marked door and try it," Jaden whispered to her. "Maybe we should just go ahead and beat them to finding us, or get the hell out of here while we can." Takyle shot Andrew a glance. He shrugged.

"I've never heard of a race in which the teams met up. Maybe it is a mistake somehow?" Takyle nodded and took one more look in her mirror before pocketing it and waving them forward. They stepped out into the hallway facing their competitors, who looked just as shocked and bewildered as the members of Team 6 felt. They immediately stopped in their tracks and compressed into a tight knot, obviously assuming the worst.

Jaden eyed the competition. They were all male, all looked to be older than anyone in his team, but still in their twenties, if barely. They looked a good deal swarthier than the average citizen as well.

Takyle took one step forward, slightly closing the gap of several yards.

"We're Team 6. I don't know what happened here, or why we're in the same level, but we-"

"Quiet, lady!" one of the other team interrupted rudely. He turned his face slightly to his teammates, keeping his eyes on Takyle. "What is this, Cal? Is this supposed to happen?" Cal answered in a strained sounding tenor that seriously mismatched his appearance.

"I don't know. Maybe? This might just all be another challenge in another sim."

"I don't think so-" Takyle started to say. The first speaker jerked a hatchet from his belt and strode forward three steps in a show of bravado.

"I said shut up!"

Andrew and Jaden stepped up to either side of Takyle, knives unsheathed.

"I think you need to simmer down and take a few deep breaths," Andrew counseled in his usual quiet, strong voice, but it was laced with threat that always at once scared and reassured Jaden. The man did take a step back, but didn't look as if he calmed down all that much.

"As I was saying," Takyle stated in an icy voice."I don't think that this is a sim. We believe that this is real. Possibly the first real obstacle. Why we're in it together, I don't know. Have you been in a sim where you had to find three objects yet?" All three men on the other team glared at Takyle.

"Don't tell them anything, John! It's probably a trap, real or not," said the last of the trio, finally getting to throw in his three cents worth, and looking satisfied for having done it. Then he excitedly added another thought. "Maybe we're supposed to kill them!" ~

Chapter 46: Glass Half Full - Bonus chapter

2008-03-27T01:02:00.001-04:00

~ Andrew immediately handed the two items off to Takyle and moved to the door, cracking it open and peering out.

"It seems to be a doored hallway much like the one we just left," he noted. Jaden looked around the room.

"Is this...real?" he asked. He studied his clothes. "I feel much cleaner than I did a minute ago." Takyle nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Of course, it would be possible to make us just think that while still in a live-sim."

"I suppose so," Jaden said absently. "So are we going out into the hallway?" Takyle unzipped a flap of Andrew's backpack and pushed the scepter into it. She pocketed the key and turned to Jaden.

"Don't seem to be any other doors, so yes." Halfway down the hall Jaden stopped.

"I think this is the same hallway. Here's the door Andrew marked. I think this is real. We left a live-sim by exiting the wizard's cabin into this real hallway maze. We wandered around in a circle, came back here and entered another live-sim. After completing that, it essentially kicked us out by shutting off when the time was up. If we hadn't found the items by then, we wouldn't get them."

"But we still have them; they're real objects..." began Takyle.

"Yes, but there's nothing stopping real objects being planted in a live-sim. We can really eat in live-sims," added Andrew. Takyle nodded.

"So either they're very consistent with the sims, maintaining the marks that Andrew left, or this is our first obstacle that's actually real life."

"Either way it doesn't really matter," Jaden added. "I think the first thing that we should do, given our history here, is try turning right around and going back in." Takyle nodded her agreement and jogged back up the hall. She tried the door at the end and turned to yell back at them.

"It locked behind us. I'll try the key I found." When she came running back it was obvious that that didn't work. "No dice, I think we're cursed to wandering some more."

"Maybe that key would work in one of these other doors..." Jaden wondered aloud. Takyle sighed noisily.

"Well that's shit. Do you remember just how many doors we passed when we were here before?" Andrew grinned.

"Maybe it will work in the first one you try, Ta," he offered. Takyle rolled her eyes at him, but her frown melted a little. In fact, there was actually a tiny bit of a smile there.

"Thanks Andy. Always so freaking optimistic aren't you?"

"Well I do what I can. Right Jaden?"

"Right Andrew, you certainly get an A for effort." Takyle shook her head and placed her key in the lock nearest her. It didn't turn. ~

Chapter 45: The Gamble

2008-03-24T01:58:00.004-04:00

~ Jaden crested the sandy hill and stopped to look down on where the media station stood. Takyle was already there and pacing nervously up and down. Jaden was suddenly very worried that he had misjudged the time and that he was late. He slid down the dune at the run and skidded to a halt in front of Takyle, panting. She raised an eyebrow.

"Did you find your item?" she asked. Jaden held up the scepter and glanced over at the com screen. 6.33 minutes left and counting. "I found the key," Takyle continued, and gestured at the top of the com screen. Sure enough, there sat an unassuming, silver colored key. "No word from Andrew yet." Jaden nodded and leaned back against the station, laying the scepter next to the key. After another three minutes had passed he began to open his mouth to ask if they should possibly try radioing Andrew, but he was saved that by Andrew jogging back over the dune that Jaden had watched him disappear behind at the beginning. He held up his empty hands.

"So um, yeah, did you guys find the key and code?" Takyle and Jaden nodded silently. "Ok, I'm fairly certain that the so called "sphere" mentioned is actually referring to the sun, because I couldn't find one other friggin' thing. Kinda makes sense when you look at the clue too," said Andrew.

"What was the clue?" Takyle asked and Andrew pulled the paper out of his pocket and, unfolding it, read aloud.

"Look to the East for life. High treasure, giver of all."

"And you went East?" she pressed.

"Yup, nothing there. Nothing but sand to the horizon. I mean, it could be somewhere else in here, but I don't see any other clues in this as to where you'd look. Sounds like the sun to me...At least I sincerely hope it is because, as I said before, I couldn't find any other explanation." Takyle bit her lower lip. She looked as if she almost wanted to run off and have a look-round for herself, just to make sure. Finally she spoke.

"Alright Andy. If you think that's it, I trust you." Andrew nodded.

"I do think that's it." He picked up the key in one hand and the scepter in the other. "I wonder what we do with these?"

"I don't know," said Jaden. "But what's going to happen when the clock hits zero?" He didn't actually have too long to wait to find that out. The trio all held their breath as the last minute counted down. Painfully white, but familiar light swelled around them and washed out Jaden's vision for a moment. A second later when his eyes adjusted, he saw that he was in an empty, square, white room. Takyle and Andrew stood beside him, Andrew still clutching the key and scepter. They seemed to be in a live-sim lab. ~

Chapter 44: Topical Analysis

2008-03-21T14:32:00.004-04:00

~ Jaden attained the top of the hill and paused to catch his breath, looking back. He could barely see Takyle, moving steadily towards a stand of brush and palms and Andrew was out of sight. Jaden shielded his eyes from below and scanned the dessert all around him. At first he didn't see anything, but then he noticed a strange swirl in the blowing sand not far off. The wind was catching on the corner of what Jaden dearly hoped was a rock of some sort. He slid down the far side of the dune and set off again. He checked his watch and then cursed himself for not marking time when the clock had started ticking on the media station. Oh well, that couldn't have been more than five minutes ago.

Jaden waded through the loose sand, attempting to keep his face at least partially shielded from the hot grit. The wind was picking up, whistling over the dunes with a low and eerie wail. Jaden reached the stone he'd spotted on the upper edge of the dune and, to his surprise, found it to be one of the top corner stones of a doorway, set in the side of the hill facing away from his vantage point. It looked like the entrance to an ancient tomb from some low budget archaeological adventure movie.

"Oh great," he thought. "Let's get all Indiana Jones-y shall we?" He rolled his eyes, and pulled out his flashlight. He shone it around just inside, inspecting the walls and ceiling.

"What are you looking for? Booby traps?"

"Yes!" he told himself sternly. "Better safe than sorry!" He cautiously took a step into the tomb. Nothing bad happened so he took another.

The chamber Jaden had entered wasn't very deep and wasn't very impressive. The walls were made of stone exactly the same color as the sand, and they were devoid of any interesting markings. Just across from Jaden though, was another doorway, and this one had a carved and painted lentil and posts. The figures looked Egyptian. Big surprise. Shining his torch through the door Jaden could just barely see something glinting out of the darkness. Jaden moved forward into the second room, his time constraints causing him to be bold. This room was also mostly empty, except for a backless Egyptian chair, and on the chair sat a scepter topped with the golden head of a little vulture.

Jaden peered around himself looking for...crocodiles or a boulder or something. He cautiously approached the chair, and searched around it.

"I'm looking for a key, code, or sphere," he reminded himself. He reached out and laid a gentle hand on the scepter. He looked around. Nothing happened. He slowly picked it up and turned it over in his hand. Three strings of eight numbers were scratched into the shaft. Arabic root numbers.

"How very authentic," he muttered and, gripping the scepter, stepped away from the chair, still expecting something to happen to him. He waited stock still for a moment, watching, listening, and then bolted for the door. There was a crash from behind, and he felt a whoosh of air rush past him. He stumbled out into the daylight and kept going. After about thirty yards he stopped and turned to look back. The tomb entrance shook and trembled, dust spilling out of the opening as the stone sank back into the sand, the dune swallowing it whole, filling and hiding it.

Jaden watched until it had disappeared from sight altogether, then he looked down at the rod in his hand. The golden eye of the vulture glinted up at him. He realized that he was still holding his flashlight in his other hand. He switched it off, returning it to its pouch on his belt, and started back towards the media station.

"That was easy," he thought. ~

Chapter 43: The Other End of the Spectrum

2008-03-17T13:11:00.004-04:00

~ Takyle stalked back to the marked door and glared at it malevolently.

"Just what are we supposed to do now?" she demanded. "We went through the only unlocked doors there were! What exactly are we supposed to do?"

"How the hell should I know?" Andrew snapped back. "You're the one that decided we should go that way!"

"It was the only way!" Takyle shouted. Jaden took that moment to physically step between his team mates.

"Hey guys, have either of you noticed that you seem a bit moody here lately?" Takyle glared at him.

"Just what are you trying to say, Jaden McAllister?"

"I'm trying to say that you both seem a bit moody here lately," Jaden reiterated calmly. "Now why don't we just go back the way we came in and try redoing this from the beginning?" He gestured to the door at the end of the hall where they had exited the last live-sim. Takyle breathed deeply for a moment.

"Ok. I personally don't think I'm moody...But Andrew definitely is, so let's go," she said. Andrew's jaw tightened, but he didn't respond to her jab, just headed for the door. The three stepped back through and, instead of re-entering the wizard's white building, they were seamlessly standing on the edge of a vast expanse of rolling dunes, sun relentlessly beating down on them, blinding them. A hot breeze picked up the sparkling, tawny sand from the tops of the hills and threw it into the air like morbidly brilliant confetti.

"Oh hello," Andrew said mildly. Just in front of them was a media station, just like the first one they had encountered back on the plain. Text scrolled onto the com screen.

"Team 6: Your task here is to locate three things required for the next level before your allocated time expires. The three items are: A key, a code, and a sphere. You will find three clues to their locations printing out below. Good luck." The text disappeared and was replaced by a ticking clock already counting down from 20 minutes. Takyle jumped forward and grabbed up the three sheets of paper that the media station had spit out. Each held a line or two of print. She thrust one each at Andrew and Jaden.

"Let's go. We've all got our radios, yes? Meet back here when you've found your item. And be careful!" Takyle took one glance at her sheet of paper then set off at a jog towards what appeared to be an oasis in the distance. Andrew looked over at Jaden, then at his own clue. He shrugged, checked the compass on his watch, then headed towards the East without a word. Jaden silently watched his companions leave, then looked down at his own paper.

"Essence of Earth, steady, true, hard as iron, fall to wind and water, shelter of the pursued," Jaden read aloud. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He looked back up but Andrew and Takyle were already far away. And the clock was ticking.

Fall to wind and water...Stone. Water and wind both wear rock away. Shelter of the pursued. He needed to find a cave or stone structure of some sort. Jaden looked around, located the tallest dune in sight and headed for it at a run. Perhaps from that vantage he would be able to see something other than just miles of sand. Hopefully. ~