Three Delivery "Another Dimension"
By Crystalquirt
Finding clues of a recipe being hidden nearby send the kids to the local used bookstore, where they unexpectedly encounter Kong Li. He uses a recipe to separate them to try to get what he wants. They are sent to a magical dimension where they experience their worst fears.
Violence, scary situations, mild expletive.
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Tobey overshot his turn and wound up going through an alley that the city workers had torn up. It was so wet from all the rain, that the workers had already stopped working, so no one yelled at him as he went through on his bike.
He weaved through the orange cones and jumping a barricade. It was the best show they had seen all day so instead of yelling at him, they applauded! Tobey raised his arms in victory. He and his bike were covered in mud from top to bottom.
After he caught up with Sid, Tobey whined, "Aw man! I want a do-over! You totally cheated!"
Sid, laughing and way ahead of him teased. "It's not my fault you missed that turn and had to go through the construction zone."
He found the sight of Tobey covered in mud very funny. "Nice coating of mud, by the way. Are you still facing forward on your bike? I can't see your face!"
Tobey frowned and mumbled, "I wish I couldn't see your face."
Sid didn't hear him. He was waiting for Tobey to 'almost' catch up to him and when he did he challenged him again. "Ok slow poke, rematch it is! - first one to the next alley starting with the letter 'P' . . . GO!"
When Sid yelled 'GO' he took off again.
Tobey complained, "NO FAIR!" and hurried after him.
He poured on the speed, determined to beat Sid to the next challenge. An alley starting with 'P' could only have been Pontiac Alley and it was less than a block away so he didn't have much time! Sid rounded the corner first, and went out of Tobey's sight.
Before Tobey got around the corner he heard Sid scream. He rounded the corner after him quickly, but couldn't see Sid anywhere. He couldn't be that fast, and there is no place else to go?
"SID!" he called and looked around, he even looked back where he had just come from.
"Sid! Where are you?" he stopped, looked around and listened before calling for him name again.
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Tobey was in another area under construction that had been interrupted by the rain. Just front of where he had stopped his bike, the workers had covered a hole up with two large square steel plates. There was yellow caution tape around it, but the tape was broken on the nearest side and one of the heavy steel plates was sitting crooked over the hole.
Tobey imagined the worse and blamed himself! "OH NO! He vanished and it's my fault! I said I wished I couldn't see Sid's face!"
He jumped off his bike and dramatically went to his knees. "I didn't mean it! I want to see Sid – even his face!"
". . . SID?" he yelled and got up.
Tobey went over and got down on his knees to look in the hole. As he bent down, he accidentally touched the heavy steel plate and made it rock on the edges of the hole it was supposed to be covering. He steadied it so it wouldn't fall in, since he was pretty sure he knew where Sid was and he didn't want it falling in and landing on him.
"Sid!" he yelled again. He took his helmet off to make his head smaller and very carefully put his head down in the hole, next to the steel plate, but all he could see was darkness. "Hey Sid!"
"Ow" and a moan was all he heard.
"Sid! Is that you?"
"Who else?" came Sid's voice from the darkness.
"Where's your bike?"
"Down here with me – and thanks for the concern - I'm ok!
. . . GET ME UP!"
"How? Your bike has the cable on it."
"Ai-ya."
"What're ya doin' Tobey? Where's Sid?" When he heard Sue's voice, he jumped up and started talking so fast she couldn't understand.
"Tobey! Slow down!"
"I said, Sid fell down the hole! You have to help me get him out!"
"Oh no – can't I leave you two alone for a minute? Alright then!" Sue got on her hands and knees and called down the hole. "Can you see anything Sid? Isn't there a ladder or something?"
"I can't see my hand in front of my face, and even if there is a ladder – I'm not sure I can carry my bike up alone – my arm hurts."
"Sid! You ARE hurt! But you said you were ok! We better call Nana!"
"NO! I AM fine – it just hurts a little – get me out of here!"
"Stay here Tobey, I'll be right back." Sue ran off and only a moment later came back with a flashlight, a rope and Mr. Goldberg from the hardware store, just one door down from the hole.
Mr. Goldberg, Sue and Tobey all slid the steel plate to the side so they could see better and it wouldn't fall in. Sue got down on her stomach and looked down with the flashlight first. Shining the light straight down, she saw her brother. Tobey got down next to her so he could see too.
"Gee Sid, are you sure your ok? Your bike's on top of you."
Tobey added "Wow, that's a long way down!"
"Hurry guys! It's cold down here . . . and it smells!"
A rope came down as the flashlight beam jiggled along the walls and water, blinding Sid in quick flashes as it went over his location. He was looking up trying to see the rope coming. Sid caught it and tied the end around his bike.
The three on the surface pulled Sid's bike up easily and then let the rope back down to get him. Sid tied the rope around his waist and held on still sitting in water. They started to pull him up, but he saw something on the wall nearby when the flashlight swept across it.
"Whoa! Wait! Shine the light back down on the wall to my left."
They stopped pulling and Sue aimed the light down at him.
"Not on me – the wall to my left!"
The light moved.
"No – my other left!"
The beam finally shined on the wall and revealed some smallish, faded lettering. It said:
Blac . . . ECIPE to ston . . . quid
Chi . . . Bookstor - Egyptian book o. . . ead, 1824 e
"Sue there's a message down here – I think it's about a recipe! We'll have to come back with Nana."
Sue and Tobey shrugged and looked at each other. "Maybe the stink is getting to him." Tobey offered for explanation. Mr. Goldberg didn't understand at all, still only concerned with rescuing Sid he reminded them to continue pulling Sid up.
The wall was stained and chipped in places and letters were missing. While Sid stared at the message trying to read it, a shadow with glowing pale blue eyes remained motionless in a dark tunnel behind where Sid fell. The angry eyes glowed dimly watching as the little reject friends pulled the clumsy reject out of the sewer.
He was very angry because the juvenile antics of his enemies interrupted his discovery of the secret instructions to find a recipe. Kong Li had seen enough anyway, and now knew he must act quickly since his little enemies also saw the writing on the wall.
Sid didn't see Kong Li leaving the tunnel in a flurry of dark cape.
Tobey grabbed Sid's hand and pulled him up the rest of the way out of the hole. "Oh man! WHAT STINKS!"
"The sewer 'stinks' Tobey."
"Well ya, but so do you – you have 'sewer juice stink' all over you!"
Tobey almost fell over laughing so hard. Sid grabbed him and gave him a bear hug. Tobey squealed and squirmed. Before letting him go, he put Tobey's head in his armpit and wiped sewer juice in his hair.
"Oh YUCK. I'll get you for that."
"I don't think so." Sid replied, and sidestepped Tobey's charge. He thanked Mr. Goldberg for the use of his items and the help getting him out.
Mr. Goldberg was rolling his rope back up. "No problem Sid, glad I could help this time, but don't fall into any more holes, ok?"
"Yes, Mr. Goldberg." Sid answered.
"Next time you come by Sid, you owe me a fortune cookie." Mr. Goldberg smiled and put the rope over his shoulder. All three teens smiled and waved at him before he went back to his store.
"You guys will both have to have a shower before you can take anymore deliveries – HA! – More tips for me tonight." Sue giggled and stood up to pedal ahead of them.
"I don't think so Sue, are you going to go on deliveries while the rest of us go back down there to investigate the clues about a recipe?"
"Well guess your right Bro, don't want to miss out on that. Hey!" Sue stopped and the boys stopped behind her. "Let's just call Nana and she can meet us here right now!"
"No way – I don't want to go recipe hunting until after a shower – I'm even offending myself."
"Right Sid, and worse – you're even offending ME!" Tobey teased.
Sid was feeling to sticky and gross to go fast, and it was cold being wet in the night air. Tobey saw how miserable he looked and circled back to him. "Come on slow poke – the faster you get home the faster you'll be warm. First one there gets the first shower!"
Sid smiled and picked up speed.
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Within an hour, three flashlight beams were shining on the wall at the writing. Sid had been right! It revealed clues about another lost recipe. Nana, Sue and Sid were carefully examining the whole area with their flashlights. They only clue they found was still the writing that Sid found when he fell.
Tobey was the last to come down the rope with a camera. He took several pictures of the writing and some more pictures of Sue while she was looking at the writing. Those were for his album.
Blac . . . ECIPE to ston . . . quid
Chi . . . Bookstor - Egyptian book o. . . ead, 1824 e
"How fortunate that you fell down here Sid!" Nana exclaimed and looked closely touching the edges of the paint that made up the lettering.
"Well, I guess – wish I would've found it an easier way." Sid wasn't feeling very fortunate yet. He rubbed his bruised shoulder.
Nana continued, "It is a little hard to read, but I am sure it must be a clue to finding the Black Liquid recipe, a recipe to turn solid to liquid. It's like having the ability to melt something without using heat. Can you see what it says?"
"Sure Nana," Sid volunteered. "We need to find the Egyptian book of the dead, 1894, probably in a Chinatown bookstore, right?"
"Right Sid, it is a very dangerous recipe – we must find it immediately."
Nana took the camera from Tobey and sent all three out of the sewers to start checking bookstores before they all closed for the evening. Nana took the camera home to process the digital pictures on the computer. Sue, Sid and Tobey went to the nearest bookstore, first.
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On the way they talked about their exciting evening. Tobey was still teasing Sid. "Imagine Sid finding a clue to a powerful recipe's hiding place after he completely klutzed-out and fell in a hole!"
"At least I'm not the klutz that was covered in mud and lost two races in a row!"
"I'd rather be covered in mud than stinky sewer juice and I didn't lose the second race! How could I have lost? You were in a hole!"
"I was in the alley first!"
"Would you guys just knock it off, we're here! Be serious!" Sue jumped her bike up on the curb and hopped off while it was still rolling.
They were in front of Mrs. Thompson's used bookstore, 'Chinatown Rare Books'. They really hoped they would be lucky enough to find the book at the first place they stopped.
"It would be so great to find one magic recipe that we don't have to fight Kong Li for and he'll never get the chance to use it. We'll get it to Nana before he even knows it exists." They boys agreed took off their helmets and hung them from their handlebars before going in. Tobey was first up the five steps to the entrance with Sue and Sid right behind him.
The little bell rang as they walked in, but Mrs. Thompson didn't turn around to greet them. She was shuffling nervously through a stack of books on a cart near her desk.
"Hey Mrs. Thompson?" Tobey began, but she interrupted him "Just a minute I am helping this customer first. I know I have the book 'The Egyptian Book of the Dead' that he wants someplace!"
They were surprised at the title of the book she was already trying to find and looked to the back of the store where she pointed. Her customer was the cape-shrouded Kong Li himself! He was standing near the back of the bookstore behind a row of shelves that held the mystery book section.
"NO! Kong Li?" Tobey shouted and they ran to the back of the store. They surrounded him and took up their defensive stances in between the rows of double-sided bookcases. Mrs. Thompson was too involved in looking through the stacks of books near the front door to see what was happening between her customers yet.
Sue whispered to Sid. ". . . and he's here looking for the same book we are!"
"Well if it isn't Nana's little rejects come to spoil my visit to the bookstore too? I only want to enrich my life with the addition of more books in my home."
Sid spoke up, "Whatever you're doing here - we know it isn't innocent!"
"How did you find out about the book?" Tobey demanded, but didn't really expect an answer. Kong Li laughed maniacally and swung his staff at him.
Tobey rolled away. Sue jumped forward next and kicked, but Kong Li blocked and pushed her. Tobey caught her and kept her from falling. He delivered a punch of his own but it was also blocked by Kong Li's staff. In two more strikes of the red staff, Kong Li had Tobey face-down on the carpet.
After a blocked punch Sue fell back but still had a tight hold on Kong Li's cape. She dropped and rolled back to throw Kong Li over her head by his cape, but Kong Li grabbed her too and being the heaviest, threw her into the air before she could take him down.
Sue charged back at Kong Li and delivered an impressive series of punches and blocks while Tobey held his head for a moment before standing again. Sid instructed, "You guys take Kong Li - keep him busy while I find the recipe!"
"Right!" Tobey agreed eagerly.
"Right, um sounds easy!" Sue charged him again. Sid ran back to the front of the store to talk to Mrs. Thompson.
Sue's next punch was met by a side kick from Kong Li. His foot connected with her side before her palm could touch his face. Sue flew backwards through the air. She twisted in mid-air to try and protect her head before she crashed into the third oak bookcase in the row.
Tobey flew back the other direction and hit the wall after Kong Li's staff struck him again.
Sue hit a shelf hard enough with her shoulder that the bookcase rocked back on the soft carpet. A few books on the back side fell off the top shelf. The weight changed and the bookcase rocked back toward Sue. The base, under the bottom shelf squeaked loudly as the nails came out and the wood cracked. The books over Sue's head shifted and started sliding out farther. The weight of the shifting and falling books caused the bookcase to continue to fall toward Sue!
Among the books that had already fallen on her Sue strained, trying to push herself up to crawl out from under it, but her body felt so heavy. Books started hitting her back and bouncing off the back of her head. The carpet started spinning under her hands as she started to feel dizzy.
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Kong Li thought Tobey was down, and was satisfied that Sue would not bother him anymore, he ran quickly to the front of the store to attack Sid.
"I don't know what happened to it! I'm sure I have a copy of 'The Egyptian Book of the Dead" around here somewhere. Mrs. Thompson explained. Sid was involved in talking with her when Kong Li attacked him from behind.
Mrs. Thompson ran to hide behind her desk. Sid didn't see where Sue and Tobey had wound up, but was irritated that they hadn't at least shouted a warning at him. He didn't have time to yell at them before Kong Li body-slammed him. He hit the wall by the front door and banged his head.
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Tobey got up quickly from where he was lying and saw the bookcase just as it started to fall on Sue. She was on her hands and knees in front of it. He caught the top edge of the bookcase with both hands just in time to keep it from crushing her. The rest of the books showered down on her and pushed her down flat on the carpet.
Tobey strained under the weight of the heavy oak bookcase. "SUE! Get out from under it! I can't hold it!" The shelves on the back of the case were still lined with books and made it very heavy.
He yelled at her, but he didn't see her crawling out or hear her answer him. "SUE? Ahhnnn!" he strained harder. He couldn't bend over to see where she was and hold the bookcase up at the same time.
Oh man, she must be hurt! Tobey thought as he stuck his leg under the edge to help support it on his thigh.
"Sue? Answer me!" The bookcase slid down closer to his knee and he gritted his teeth.
"AAhhgh! SID! Help!"
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Sid found himself flying through the air after a lucky kick from Kong Li. The polished wooden floor at the front of the store, made a nice hollow sound as his body slammed down on it. He rolled twice before hitting the wall by the cash register with his head – again! That was when he heard Tobey yelling.
Sid yelled back, "Tobey! Sue! Kong Li is kicking my butt! Where are you?" Sid was greatly annoyed that he found himself alone in the fight.
Kong Li jumped to Sid while he was still down and grabbed him by his shirt to pick him up. "I will kick more than just your butt you brat."
Mrs. Thompson stayed behind her desk watching this strange grown man and Sid fight. She knew Sid well and knew he had just turned sixteen. All three of the teens came in often with their Nana looking for books. She thought they were all nice, polite kids and couldn't believe this 'adult' was beating Sid up – right in front of her. She would have called 911, but Sid's body had smashed the phone when he landed on her desk after a particularly cruel hit by the man using his staff.
Kong Li held Sid up by his shirt to threaten him some more. Sid struggled to pull Kong Li's hands off of his shirt, and when he kicked, Kong Li struck his legs with the staff. He kept yelling for his friends to come help him, and they weren't coming, so she decided it was up to her.
She had seen enough, Mrs. Thompson stood up and scooted her glasses down off her nose. They bounced at the end of the delicate chain that held them around her neck. She put her hands on her hips and tried to look threatening.
"Stop it you brut – leave him alone – he's a minor! What's going on here?"
"Sorry Mrs. Thompson – we'll just be another minute more!" Sid promised as he used his feet to push back out of Kong Li's grip in spite of another strike by the staff.
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By now, Tobey was really straining to keep the huge, oak bookcase half full of books from crushing Sue. Sweat ran down his face and dripped off his chin.
"Sid! HELP US! Sue's gonna be crushed!"
"What? No!" Sid broke away from Kong Li and ran toward the back of the store. "Tobey I'm coming!"
Kong Li pulled Mrs. Thompson out from behind the desk and demanded that she find him the book immediately.
"I can't find it! Maybe my husband sold it over the weekend!" Kong Li pushed her aside and started knocking stacks of books over and sweeping them off the shelves with his staff. She slid down the wall and wound up sitting on the floor in the corner.
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As Sid got close, all he could see of Sue was her hand, and Tobey was about to lose his battle with the bookcase that still threatened to crush her.
"SUE!" Sid got next to Tobey and helped to lift up on the bookcase. Together they lifted the bookcase up high enough to rest across Sid's thighs.
"Ok – Tobey, I got it - pull Sue out!" Tobey ran to the side that was closest to her hand and crawled under.
"Ahnnngh!" Sid gritted his teeth and pulled up harder on the case determined not to let it crush both of them.
A moment later he saw Tobey backing out, pulling Sue facedown along by the shoulders of her shirt. Her face rested on his arm. When her legs were clear Sid let the case fall and jumped over it to get to her side. He helped Tobey roll her over. Tobey was very worried and needlessly instructed Sid, "Easy! Don't hurt her!" as they tried to make her comfortable and wake her up.
The boys looked over to where Kong Li was harassing Mrs. Thompson. Sue moaned and put her hand to her head bringing their attention back to her.
"Tobey, go get him – help Mrs. Thompson! I'll be there as soon as I make sure Sue is alright."
"Ok Sid." Tobey would have whined about having to face Kong Li alone, but he was very worried about Sue. He bravely got up and jumped into a run right at Kong Li. He yelled a kung fu 'Ki' worthy of Bruce Lee himself as he jumped up to kick Kong Li away from Mrs. Thompson.
After a well-placed kick, Kong Li fell against the wall this time and staggered forward. He snarled and turned to face Tobey.
"You sneaky little reject, kicking a guy in the back. Doesn't your Nana teach you anything about honor?" he pointed at Mrs. Thompson "YOU! Find me that book!" before lunging at Tobey.
"You're not anyone to talk about me about honor!" Tobey said as he lowered into his defensive stance, ready to fight alone for as long as he had to.
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Tobee continued . . .