(I know - at LAST - a new story!

Sorry I took so long - finally have earphones that work in both ears, so I can write easier… Mousey edited it… Honestly, it should have been up a couple days ago. I'm sooorry!)

Penny held her breath as the ground gave a final shake, shooting an apologetic look to Rose as the ground gave way beneath them. She felt the air around her, breath momentarily lost from her lungs as they dropped through the fake crust to the hollow center below.

"What do we do now?" shouted Greg, struggling to be heard over the wind. Penny sighed, rolling her eyes a little at the boy's stupidity before gathering enough air in her lungs to answer:

"We die. Duh."

He gawked at her a moment, jawbone working silently as she tugged his red tee shirt close enough to wipe her face. He yanked it out of her grip, angrily glaring down at her. "That's your plan! We die! We could have died up there!"

"Yeah," she shrugged, stretching a little bit. "But what the hell would the fun in that have been? Now stand still, I wanna try and dry myself off on your shirt before I die."

"Wait - wait a minute!" snapped Rose, forcing Penny to twist around with a sigh. "Are you actually telling me we're going to die? That you don't have a plan?"

"Well, actually, I'll probably live," she muttered, thinking for a moment. "You might die, though… Or not. It all depends on what we find at the center…" she hesitated, glancing between their disbelieving faces. "Do you think it'll be chewy?"

She caught Rose's hand, twisting it and Rose around before pulling her near to sit on top of the girl. "Relax, would ya? I'm only eighty percent sure anyone's going to die down here, and at least ten percent of that is because Greg is an idiot." She shrugged, ignoring the quiet protest from Greg as she kept her eye out. "Look, it's a fake hollow planet, right?" she demanded, waiting for the telltale shift that told her Rose was nodding. "That means we're dealing with fake gravity, a fake power supply, and prooooobably some sort of equalization to stop the whole thing from cracking open like an egg. By the way," she added, "do you have any candy?"

She blinked as a building passed, a grey blur almost too fast to note with a burst of blue that had to be the controls. She grinned to herself, squeezing down a little on her sonic screwdriver to assure herself, before turning to the proffered stick of red candy from Greg.

She took it with a grin, swinging her legs over Rose's back as she munched down on the candy. "Licorice," she muttered, appreciatively. "Red, too - absolute fave, even if it is totally inaccurate… Did you know it's only called that because it pretty much looks the same?" she shrugged, taking another bite. "Most delicious inaccuracy on the planet, sitting right in my hand… God, I love this stuff." she turned it in her hand, taking a bite of the other end before blowing through it. "Plus, it makes just a wonderful little tube…"

"Are you talking about candy when we could all die!" snapped Greg, voice rising a little bit in panic. He squirmed, trying to get closer to her.

She yawned in return, smacking his hands away before jumping off of Rose and onto his back. "I'm talking about her because we're slowing down," she informed him, taking another bite and chewing with reluctance.

She fidgeted a little in the silence that ensued when the others realized that she was right, chewing on her licorice slowly as they began to fall in the opposite direction. "I hope you realize what I'm giving up for you people," she murmured to no one in particular, aware of their eyes on her as she shoved her sonic screwdriver into the hollow tube of candy, using it to press down the activation button. "This is probably going to kill my treat. Which, by the way, I don't get to have very often."

"You knew this was going to happen, she accused. "Oh my god! You bloody knew we were going to… to…"

"'Course I didn't know," she muttered, taking careful aim. "I just didn't wanna die at their hands, and I wasn't going to bloody leave you up in my place. Abandonment issues, remember? If I die, I'm taking you with me. Now shush for a moment, I'm going to need a good platform." She hooked her hand across Greg's body, crawling up to his stomach as they flew through the air, and stepping lightly over to Rose. She hesitated for a moment, one foot on each of their falling bodies as her hair swirled around her conscious of the fact that the slightest shift in aerodynamics could send them flying from each other. She aimed carefully, picturing the device in her mind's eye, and waiting for the connection to be made.

Biting her lip, she threw it forward, waiting for the telltale explosion as the building came into view. She heard it within moments, a grin of relief pressing through her as a burst of energy floated from the building, slowing them to a standstill before yanking them towards the structure. She grinned as her feet touched upon metal, a small whistle coming from her lips when she recognized what they were standing on.