Jake gulped and looked back toward Tae and Raye. He had never been the adventrous one out of the three, and he hesitated and then turned to Raye.
"Um Raye, why don't you go first?"
Raye blinked hearing his name. "M-me? No no Tae you opened it you go first!"
"It's J-man's house!"
"Good point, Jake you go first!"
A groan escaped his mouth as he turned his attention back to the gaping pit.
"Ok, but if I fall and get impaled on a spike i'll come back to haunt you guys."
Tae laughed nervously and scratched his head. "I'm sure there aren't any spikes down there..."
Then the son of Kawa and Trowa Barton gingerly stuck his foot down in the hole, hoping to find a set of stairs or at least a ladder on which he could climb down on. And he was rewarded with a steel ladder leading down into the darkness.
"Yes, a ladder!" the boy exclaimed giving his friends a smile and a peace sign.
"Alright! Now go on and climb down!! We're RIGHT behind you!" Tae said patting Jake on the back.
"That's what I'm afraid of.." Jake grumbled while proceeding to climb down the steel ladder.
"Wait Jake!" Raye called, and then he disappeared around the corner and returned a few moments later with a flashlight. "Take this."
"Thanks Raye!"
"No problem."
Jake smiled and then clamped the flashlight in his mouth and continued to climb down. A few moments later his blue tennis shoes hit a hard surface, but before Jake moved an inch he cleaned the cob webs from his face and then flicked on the flashlight.
"It's ok to come down you guys! It's jus a desk, a computer, and a buncha papers."
Raye exchanged glances with Tea and then the two slid down the ladder and accompanied their friend who was standing by the large wooden desk located on the far left side of the gray slab room. He had flicked on a lamp that hung over head and was inspecting a large sheet of paper.
"Whatcha lookin at?" Tae asked looking over Jake's shoulder.
"It looks like plans, to a mobile suit." Jake responded. "But it's bigger than the Leos, and Aries."
"A gundam..." Raye breathed. "But those haven't been around in forever! Why would your mom and dad have plans of them??"
Jake shrugged, "They have always really been interested in gundams."
Tae laughed suddenly thinking of something.
"Whats so funny?" Raye asked him.
"Heh, what if our parents were gundam pilots?"
Jake and Raye cracked up, "THEM?! Man Tae you're really wacked!"
Tae chuckled and brushed his hair out of his eyes.
"Wait Jake go back to that one page!" Raye yelled pointing. "Whats that?"
"It's directions, to a hanger." Jake responded knowingly. "My parents used to take me to some when I was younger to look at the new mobile suit models. They haven't taken me in a long time, I wonder what happened?"
"Maybe this gundam is there!" Raye suggested. "Look it's name is there."
"Gundam Orion." Tae read. "Hey that's the name that's on your shirt J-man"
Jake looked down to his shirt and smiled, "Yea I guess it is. Mom said this was always her favorite!"
"Why don't we go have a peek at it?!" Tae asked poking his friend. "By the looks of this it's gotta be one bad mobile suit!"
"I don't know, you have to have a admintance pass to get inside.." Jake began.
"Passes are asses!" Tae said grabbing the instructions. "Lets go!"
Jake sighed, "Here we go again.."
Raye laughed and patted his friend on the back. "Where is your sense of adventure?"
"Hidden away, where it should be if I don't want to get arrested."
"Aww getting arrested isnt so bad!" Tae spoke over his shoulder. "You get a nice room, and one phone call!!"
Jake shook his head and climbed up after his friend. "You should know you've been there plenty of times."
"You're point being?"
"That maybe you should try and be good?"
Raye laughed, "That'll be the day!"
"Shhh quiet down you guys!" Tae whispered down to them. "Someone's in the house.."
"Close the doors!" Jake whispered up to him.
Tae did as he was commanded and shut the doors to the hidden room as quietly as he could, and then joined his friends back on the ground.
"What do you think they're looking for?" he asked.
"I don't know..this is all to weird for me." Jake said, "First the strange errand, then the brick, the plans, and now this."
"Something has to be up.." Raye concluded. "Maybe there's another way out of here?"
Jake pointed to a far wall. "There's some light over there. Maybe there's a window."
The three boys shuffled quietly over to the spot Jake and pointed to and felt around for a knob.
"A hah!" Tae whispered rather loudly as he creaked a small door open.
"Alright now lets boogey!"
Raye climbed out of the opening first take a deep breath of the fresh air and dusted himself down. "Welp we're in your backyard Jake!"
"Now lets move!" Tae said grabbing Raye and Jake by their collars.
The boys ran out in front of the house and into the street grabbing their fallen boards and leaping gracefully onto them.
"Where are we going?" Jake asked as they sped down the winding streets.
"The hanger!" Tae said excitedly while holding up the directions. "I still wanna see that suit!"
"And maybe we can find some answers to all of this..." Raye thought.