FicWad

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Xander held still, waiting to see what trap had been sprung. He heard a grinding above them, as though a machine which hadn't been used for years had just been started up. Then something started to creak. Next came a roaring sound, like a distant waterfall. "Forget that," said Xander. "Run! Now!"

They dropped each other's hands and ran, down the tunnel and around the curves. They stuck to the sides of the tunnel as best they could, but as the roar of water grew louder, they gave up watching their step and ran at full speed.

Suddenly the tunnel ended, opening into a huge cavern with a gaping pit. Xander skidded to a stop at the edge and threw out his arms to stop the others from falling.

"Oh, god!" gasped Andrew.

Xander could smell the musty water now and taste the moisture in the air. Great. Not only was he going to die on some stupid quest, but he'd dragged three other guys to their death along with him. Anya was right, he should have left the heroing to people with superpowers.

"There!" Jonathan lifted the light and pointed to their left. About ten feet away, a thin bridge made of ropes and old planks stretched across the pit to a ledge on the other side.

Jonathan ran for the bridge and ran across it without hesitation. Xander and Andrew followed. Warren paused for a moment at the edge, but grabbed the rope handrail in determination and followed the others. Just before Warren reached the ledge, a torrent of water rushed out of the tunnel and hit the bridge. It tore the rope supports out of the wall and poured over the edge of the pit, taking the end of the bridge with it. Warren hung from the side of the ledge, clinging to the remaining bits of rope and wood. His feet scraped the wall as he tried to climb up, but the dirt was loose and his sneakers couldn't get a grip.

Xander dropped to his stomach and grabbed Warren's arms, hauling him up to the ledge before he could fall into the pit with the bridge.

Jonathan pulled an asthma inhaler from his pocket and took a hit off it.

"You okay?" Xander asked Warren.

"I'm good. Appreciate the save, man," said Warren, with a weak smile.

"Anytime," replied Xander, smiling back.

"Everyone else okay? Jonathan, how's that breathing?"

Jonathan nodded, and exhaled. "'M okay," he said.

"Me too," said Andrew.

"Great! Well, that was a nice adrenaline rush, wasn't it," said Xander. "How about we catch our breath for a few minutes, then see about getting this door open?" He sat down and leaned against the wall. The others joined him, dropping to the ground with exhaustion. After a few minutes of just breathing, Andrew opened his backpack, and passed around the bottles of water.

After taking a long drink, Xander asked, "Didn't you say you had some food, Andrew?"

"Yeah," said Andrew, digging into his bag. "I have Pop Tarts, Twinkies, and Hot Pockets. The Hot Pockets are a little soggy, though. They were frozen when I packed them."

"Ooh! I'll take a Twinkie," said Xander.

"Me too," said Jonathan.

"Pop Tart, over here," said Warren.

Andrew passed out the food, and took a Hot Pocket for himself. They ate in silence (Xander ended up having several Twinkies), and passed the water bottle around again.

Andrew stood up first, after stuffing the used wrappers into his backpack. He studied the door in front of him.

"Is it more of the Kerchief demon stuff?" asked Xander.

Andrew nodded. "I should be able to open it. Are you guys ready?"

"Ready enough," said Xander, standing up.

"Me too," said Jonathan, rising to his feet. Warren just nodded as he got up.

Andrew coughed, gargled and hacked until the door swung open. Jonathan led the way in, holding the light in his outstretched hand.

They entered another round room. This one had unmarked doors all the way around, instead of open tunnels. In the center of the room stood a short pillar, with a small wooden box resting on it. Jonathan stepped toward the pillar and suddenly a sphere of blue light appeared around the box. He stood at the edge of the sphere, frozen for a moment. His stick-on-a-string started to vibrate, then began spinning in place, faster and faster. Suddenly it exploded into dust, and the sphere pushed out and disappeared, throwing him backwards into Andrew. They both fell to the ground.

"I'm okay!" said Jonathan. "Sorry, Andrew," he added, getting up and offering the other man his hand. Andrew accepted the hand and let Jonathan help him to his feet.

"Is that it? The Chraka?" asked Xander, not approaching it.

"I think so," said Jonathan. They all looked at each other for a few minutes, wary of touching the thing. Finally Warren walked over and grabbed the box off the pillar. Everyone except Warren flinched, waiting for disaster to strike, but nothing happened.

"If we're going to be stuck down here, we might as well have the damn trinket that we came for," said Warren. He opened the box. It held a small amulet, made of twisted silver wire and embedded with five small iridescent stones. He passed it around so the others could see.

"It's pretty," said Andrew, who put it away in his backpack after everyone had looked at it.

"Beautiful," said Warren unenthusiastically. "Jonathan? Want to send one of your inter-dimensional instant messages now?"

"I might not have to," said Jonathan, starting at the doors around the room. All of them now bore an exact copy of Andrew's chalk Quake III symbol.

"Can we get out through those?" asked Xander.

"But which one?" asked Andrew.

"Maybe any of them," said Jonathan. "This is a pocket dimension. Normal rules of travel don't apply."

"Well, we won't know unless we try," said Warren. He walked up to one of the doors and touched it. His hand passed through it. He looked back at Jonathan, who shrugged.

"If it's a way home, it's probably another dimensional portal," said Jonathan. Warren looked back at the door, took a deep breath and walked through it. Andrew followed him almost immediately. Jonathan stepped forward, then looked back at Xander.

"You coming, Xander?" he asked. "I'm taking the light with me, so you should probably go first." Xander nodded, and walked through the portal to the other side.

He found himself back in the cave where they'd started. Warren and Andrew were there, and Jonathan appeared right after Xander, banishing the light spell as soon as he stepped through the portal. The angle of the sun indicated it was nearly sunset.

"We made it!" said Andrew. "That was so cool!" Jonathan and Warren stared at Andrew for a moment. Then Warren shrugged.

"Okay, it was kind of fun. Now that we're still alive and all," he said, smiling.

Jonathan laughed. "I finally got to use that light spell!"

Xander grinned. "There were moments of coolness. Let's get back to the Magic Box, and get rid of this thing."


They talked about the adventure all the way back to the Magic Box. Survival gave them a different perspective on the events.

"We need pizza for weary adventurers," Andrew called out to Anya as they entered the store.

"Sorry, Anya. I just promised them I'd buy pizza - what's he doing here?" said Xander.

Spike looked away from Anya, who he'd been talking with when they entered the store. "What? I'm a customer!" Xander glanced outside at the setting sun. "Sewer entrance," Spike added. "Gotta stock up on the burba weed. Makes the blood all hot and spicy."

"And yet, I'm still hungry," sighed Xander. The four travelers headed back to the table, and dropped into the chairs.

"You were successful?" asked Anya. Andrew pulled the Chraka out of his backpack and handed it to her. "Oh! It's pretty! Do you have to destroy it?"

"Pretty, yes, but a danger to the fabric of reality, remember?" said Xander. Anya set the box on the table, and went behind the counter. Spike opened up the box and examined the Chraka.

"You folks might make a team of heroes yet," said Spike. "Gotta get yourselves some tights and bright colored underwear, though."

Xander rolled his eyes, too tired to respond to Spike's baiting. Jonathan opened a book on the table, and began preparing the supplies for the destruction spell.

"Andrew? Can you get me the small cauldron off that shelf?" Jonathan asked, pointing. Andrew got up to get it.

Warren lay his head down on the table. "I'm done for the day. Wake me when pizza arrives."

Anya brought Xander the cordless phone.

"You order the pizza, honey. They don't like me," said Anya. "Just because I was a little bit forceful in speaking one time-"

"I got it, Anya," said Xander, taking the phone. Spike set the box down on the table.

"Sun's down. Time to party," he said, leaving.

"Yeah, have fun not biting people," said Xander as Spike walked out the door. "Hello? Pizza Palace?"

"Get pineapple!" said Andrew.

The pizza arrived just before the destruction spell was completed. Jonathan took a break from the spell preparations to eat. After eating, Jonathan picked up the Chraka box to finish the spell. The others were still munching on bits of pizza and drinking soda. Jonathan opened the box. He stared into it for a moment, then looked up at the others.

"Guys? The Chraka's gone."