A/N Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 11: What lies beneath
"Huh... That's unfortunate." Jake said as he glanced at the map, then to the path in front of him. The map showed a fork in the road, but there was only one path in front of him. "I think we took a wrong turn somewhere."
"You mean we're lost." FP grumbled.
"No, I know exactly where we are. Just uh... let me get my bearings..." Jake looked around and shook his head. He realized it would have been a good idea to stretch himself wherever he went to make sure they could keep track of where they were.
"Well... standing here isn't doing us any good. We should just keep moving, and you should keep eyeballing that map. Look for landmarks and whatnot to find a point of reference." Mike suggested.
"Hmm... not a bad idea..." A low grumbling noise caused them all to stop talking. Heck, it caused them to stop breathing too. They heard it again. Then again. It sounded like... breathing. Breathing of a massive creature.
"That does not sound good at all..." FP whispered as she shook her head. "It was niaeve to think that massive crashing from earlier didn't alert anything." Jake looked around at the absolute darkness, save for the flames FP gave off.
"Ok... we gotta assume this... thing, whatever it is, has lived here its whole life, so itsit's eyesight can't be good." Jake said.
"Hmm... Makes sense... That also means we gotta double our efforts to being quiet. So from now on, we shouldn't talk at all unless it's important, right?" Mike asked. The others nodded as they began to tiptoe their way through the dark, dank, pungent sewer. The way everything exactly the same, the dull grey and green made everything blend together. It was slightly nauseating, not to mention the low grumble of whatever-it-is, it was a stressful time indeed. They tried their best to push forward, the the psuedo-labyrinth made it a challenge. Every time they thought they were making progress, it just turned out they were dunning in circles or coming to a dead end. The grumbling never receded, no matter how far they seemed to get. Every now and then, wind would brush against them and cause their hair to stand on end. Well, at least for those who had hair. Suddenly, Mike had an epiphany and stopped suddenly. This caught the attention of Jake and FP, who looked at him in confusion. Mike mouthed the word,
"Wind." They cocked their heads at him. He tried to explain how a draft meant their was an opening somewhere. It was hard for them to Understand. He groaned silently and spoke in a voice that was barely a whisper. "Listen, a draft means an opening, an opening means freedom. You with me so far? So, if we travel the opposite the wind, we should find an opening." He explained.
"You sure that'll work?" FP asked.
"You got a better idea?"
"No... But how are we supposed to pinpoint where the wind is coming from?" Mike silently explained by licking his finger and holding it up. He then showed her the dry end.
"That way. Also, your hair is flowing with the wind." He pointed out. Jake frowned a bit.
"Uh... guys... You hear that?" He murmured. They listened for a moment.
"No..." FP said. Her eyes went wide as she realized what that meant. They all went still as statues. All of a sudden a foul, warm breeze rushed against their skin that was definatly not wind. It smelled of rot. Though they could not see it, they knew exactly what lay in the dark. Whatever it was, it had to have heard them. Mike looked at Jake and FP and motioned for them to walk back slowly. They nodded and did just that. They inched ever so carefully backwards trying to put as much distance between the mystery beast and themselves. However, due to walking backwards, Jake failed to see a small bottle that was just behind him. He froze, and so did the others. They paused in fear. Mike squinted at the dark but saw nothing. He waited for just a few moments more.
"DUCK!" He screamed. The others waisted no time and didn't think twice. They ducked down and just in the nick of time, for a massive set of jaws clamped down just above their heads. FP took this brief opportunity to send a blast of fire at their attacker. It struck and illuminated it. They stared for a few moments at the monstrosity in front of them. It seemed crocodile in nature, but it was grossly oversized and albino, its jaws were little more than bone and a thin layer of skin housing rows of jagged teeth. It had no eyes to speak of, just smooth skin where eyes would normally be. The fire blast had little effect on its tough skin.
"Run!" Jake commanded. They all burst in the opposite direction and the monster gave chase soon after. "What do we do?!" He asked as they ran though the sewers, the monster hot in their tails.
"I don't know! Fire didn't even phase it! You! You're strong, you fight it!" FP said as she looked at Mike.
"First of all, I'm not exactly immortal! Getting cooked alive doesn't feel good at all! I still feel a little singed!" FP grumbled and continued to run.
"We can't just run forever!"
"Watch me!" Jake replied. They all racked their brains thinking of a way to defeat or at least slow down the beast. Fire didn't work, Mike's blade was too short to reach the beast without losing a limb, and Jake's fists would be nothing more than a chew toy for that thing. Mike looked around, trying to find another angle. Weapons weren't gonna cut it, so cunning will have to do it. It was then he glanced at the ceilings. Old, cracked, and ready to come down at any moment. He grabbed a loose rock from the ground and chucked it at the roof. It did exactly what he thought it would do. The ceiling cracked and split wide open, causing loose stone and rubble to come down in small rocks, then giant chunks, then massive boulders. It crashed into the beast, slowing it down, but not taking it out. However, the roof continued to crumble, slowly burying the beast. They tried their best to stay ahead of not only the monster, but the collapsing ceiling as well. Eventually, weighed down by the massive weight of the stone, the creature collapsed in a heap of rock and rubble. Its mass caused a blockade and supported the remaining ceiling, stopping the crumbling. The trio stopped to catch their breath. Their lungs burned and their legs ached, but they were alive. More than that, the roofing that was left had a decent sized opening to the city. All they needed to do was climb the rubble.
"Good going, guy." Jake said as he patted Mike on the back.
"I gotta admit, I'm impressed." FP added as they started to climb the rubble.
"Ya know, you'd think it would have taken more to take that monster down-" No sooner had the words left Jakes lips, the massive jaws of the creature lunged through the rubble and surrounded the trio, ready to clamp down on them and end their lives. However, Mike was closer now, and he had a nice big target. He acted faster than the monster could snap its mouth shut, he glided his blade down through the lower jaw, severing it clean from its skull. It roared in pain and tried to bite them anyway, but now having a mobile upper jaw, it could do nothing but flail in pain as green ooze poured from the wound.
"I... I didn't even... see you do it..." FP said in astonishment. Mike grunted and arched his back. Several joints popped in response.
"Ugh... I'm getting slow..." He shook off the rubble and smiled at the others. "Shall we continue?" He added. They stared at him for a few moments. However, the grunting of the still-living beast caused them to quickly scramble out of the sewers and into the city above.
"Ah... sunlight... I missed you." Jake said. FP stared at Mike, though.
"What are you?" She asked. Mike looked at her and gave her a smile.
"Why, I'm only human, Phoebe." She continued to stare, but the sudden assault by an unknown assailant caused them all to scream in shock.
