Heya

Sorry this is kinda later in the day than normal. Woke up at five this morning with stiff knees. Don't ask me why. Last time this happened, I got tendonitis from some bad meds. Hopefully it's not that. But since my Dad asked me and my sisters to clean the entire house, I've had to hobble excruciatingly slowly back and forth.

Anyway. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H. and Flash.

-Thirty-Six: Sewers-

"Does… anyone else think that this is completely insane?"

Nigel and Matt both snorted at Eric's question, wincing appropriately just afterwards. To snort meant to inhale sharply, and if it hadn't been a pure necessity to life itself, inhaling would be the very last thing they would be attempting.

"Course it's insane," Nigel replied, picking a sneaker up and shaking it slightly before stepping forward once more. "In case you haven't noticed, a lot of $hit has been insane lately. Sane people don't start flying."

"Or running so fast the Flash would be jealous," Matt added with a smirk, being careful to breathe through his mouth and not his nose. He wouldn't be able to get the taste of the air out of his mouth for weeks, but he thought it better than having to live with the stench for however long they would be down there.

After Al had fainted, Eric had revealed another Protector in his hands, a bit larger than his fellows were. The two of them had tried to run for it the second they saw the humans' faces, biting each hand respectively—the darker-skinned one had giggled at Nigel's choice swearword.

The pair of little beings had almost made it back to the sewer line. At the very last second before they completely disappeared from sight, Matt had used two more infinitesimal forces to drag them back to the surface.

Needless to say, they had been amazed. Not just that a human could have that kind of power, but also when Nigel gently picked up Al and put her down next to them. They apparently weren't used to humans being all-too careful with Protectors.

It was at that point that Al had woken up and marveled at the two members of her once-thought extinct species. Once introductions had been made—the larger, blonde Protector was Liam and the smaller, darker one, Tro—explanations had been demanded on both sides.

Liam had almost as short a temper as Al.

"Yeah, but, being led through a really disgusting sewer by two Protectors, which we thought were gone except for Al, to some kind of Protector City hidden underneath Heatherfield that's inhabited by Protectors, who we thought were nature hippies and not city-people reaches a new level of insane for me."

Nigel put his lower lip out in thought. "Lyndon's got a point," he admitted. "This is pretty weird, even taking in everything that's happened to us since Saturday."

"I guess," Matt consented. Honestly, he didn't find it all that strange. He wasn't sure why, for most people even the realization of Protectors would set their worlds on ear, but it seemed almost… normal to him. Just another day in Heatherfield, USA.

"If you guys are done wondering how your sorry lives led to this point," Al commented dryly, her voice echoing several times around the rounded sewer line. She was walking next to Tro and Liam, on a small piped that ran along the very top of the ceiling. Since she was in close proximity to more Protectors, the magic she'd collected in solitude was spreading out towards the rest of them. She, Tro, and Liam were even able to use small sparks of golden magic as miniature flashlights.

Matt, Nigel, and Eric had to make do with the penlight and laser that had been inside Nigel's jacket and Eric's pocket.

"Why were you guys in the forest?" Tro asked suddenly.

The boys looked up in surprise. "You know, we could ask you two the same question," Al retaliated from his side. "If Protectors really have started living in cities, why would they come over into the parks?"

"Uh, well…" Tro turned the color of a beet, chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck.

Liam rolled his blue eyes and glared suspiciously at the girl. "We asked you first," he replied in a frigid voice.

Al narrowed her eyes at him before turning amicably towards Tro again. "Ask Matt down there. We just followed him into that place."

"Which one's Matt?" Tro asked, leaning down to gaze in wonder at the three giants below them. It had taken a very strict mother to rein in his Protector's curiosity, which seemed to be heavier on him than most.

"We have ears, you know," Nigel commented, smirking. Tro flushed slightly, still nothing compared to the blush he'd presented to Al.

"I'm Matt," he said, looking up at the Protector. "Matt Olsen. That's where I go when I need to think and, well, I needed to think over a couple things."

"Your turn," Al challenged Liam. "Why were you two there?"

Liam scowled at the girl before shoving his hands into his pockets. Unlike his fellow Protectors, Liam wasn't dressed in homemade clothes—no leaves, like Al, or newsprint, like Tro. Instead, he was in what seemed to be clothes like the ones humans wore a few feet above their heads. Jeans and a t-shirt.

"We caught wind of a rumor a few weeks ago," he admitted, grumbling, as if he didn't want to reveal his reasons to her. "That one of the nature Protectors had survived whatever was wiping 'em out."

Tro smiled shyly at Al. "Apparently the rumor held water, huh?" Al blushed for a moment, not meeting anyone's eyes, before her own pair grew huge.

"You guys know that my people've disappeared?" she asked. "How? Do you know who did it?"

Tro's smile melted off of his face. "We know cause it's happening to us, too," he replied, watching his feet. "Smaller scale, of course, there's still plenty of us, but… my grandma vanished a few weeks ago."

The boys and Al grew quiet, as if in respect for the grandmother Tro had lost. Al was reminded of her own family, every member gone because of the same reason… whatever that reason was.

Liam nodded sadly. "A good few of our friends've gone missing," he explained quietly. "All Protectors, and none of them have ever returned."

Eric frowned at his words. "What do you mean, 'all Protectors'?" he wondered. "What else is there?"

Liam shrugged. "Most of the settlement is made of Protectors," he continued, "but there's a lot of weird things going on on the surface, boys."

"Don't have to tell us," Nigel muttered, earning Matt's elbow in his ribs.

"A few giants have woken up shrunk down to Protector's size. The city welcomed them, because they had nowhere else to turn. A few more are from separate worlds and found themselves trapped on Earth from something called…"

"…Folds?"

The group quieted, looking down at Matt. The boy was frowning and holding his right temple in his hand, his fingers threaded through his hair. "Yes," Liam replied, confused. "How did you know that?"

Al shook her head. "The boys down there have severe cases of amnesia, not to mention craziness." Tro smiled and looked away to hide it. "Nige and Eric can't remember any of the day before yesterday, starting from when the sun was a third of the way across the sky and ending when it set. Matt has flashbacks from even before then, so a big bit of his life was erased."

"If it's got something to do with folds, then he must've been on other worlds before," Tro spoke up.

Suddenly, Liam leapt from the pipe and landed squarely on Matt's shoulders. The boy froze so he wouldn't lose his balance and didn't flinch as Liam clambered up to look him directly in the eye.

"Which world's've you been on?" he demanded shortly.

"Uh-I…"

"Arkhanta? The world of Stones? Have you been to the Fast World?"

"Um… I don't think…?"

Liam grabbed a few strands of inky black hair that had been falling into Matt's eyes. "You've gotta tell me!" he shouted, almost seeming desperate. "The Fast World! Does it ring a bell? Tell me!"

Matt blinked in surprise at the volume of the shout coming from the small man. "No!" he yelped. "I-I've never heard of a Fast World in my life! It's not ringing any bells or anything."

Liam dropped his arms. The boys stared as the small blonde's shoulders drooped heavily and a tired sigh escaped his lips. "Are you sure?" he asked once more. "What about Mariko? You ever heard that name before?"

Matt shook his head again. "No. I'm… sorry."

"Why?" Nigel asked. "Who's Mariko?"

Liam climbed to the top of Matt's head and leapt back onto the pipe, brushing past a confused Al and a sympathetic Tro, walking down the metal towards the city.

"The Fast World is where I'm from," he replied, not stopping and making the others rush ahead to catch up with him. "I fell through a fold almost a year ago. It was man-made. A girl named Mariko had been researching interdimensional travel. She and I…" Liam sighed, shaking his head. "A few months ago, there was an accident. A… horrible accident. The fold she was building exploded while it was being formed. The magic went everywhere…

"When I woke up, I was this size," he continued, after a moment of silence. "I was a little taller than you three before. And Mariko… Mariko was gone."

On the next chapter, this part ends and the next begins. The end is in sight, my friends. It's still a while away, but is in sight.

I tried to incorporate the comic-story of Liam and Mariko into this one as best as it would fit. If you see any irregularities, then just PM me and I'll try and fix 'em.

PEACE

~Tibki