1Dinah lay tiredly in the semi-darkness of the theatre, afraid to close her eyes. The combination of a train eating plant and Frank N. Furter had been enough to keep her awake for the last four nights since she had come to the island. It seemed that every time she closed her eyes she would open them again to find Frank on top of her, under her, besides her, or simply starring and waiting for the best time to make his move. The worst part was the dreams she had when he was... she wouldn't even think of that. At least she always woke up to stop him. Somebody shifted nearby her.

"Mark?" She whispered under her breath. The passenger's response was muddled and unclear. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"How come?" Dinah got up and scooted in a little closer to Mark, hoping they could talk with out disturbing anybody. Mark seemed hesitant to answer.

"Frank."

"You to?"

"uh-huh."

"Is he awake right now?" Dinah asked.

"I wouldn't know." Mark shifted into a sitting position. Dinah looked around, seeing only shadows in the darkness.

"Dinah?" A sleepy voice called.

"Electra? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." Dinah relaxed slightly as Electra crawled over and curled up against her.

"Sweet transvestite..." Mark laughed lightly, "I've met sweeter."

"The closest I've ever met are electric engines, and those as a rule aren't very sweet." Dinah said.

"I'll keep that in mind when I'm buying train tickets." Mark's voice was extremely tired, as if it would fade completely any minute.

"You go to sleep." Dinah whispered, "I'll keep watch for now."

"Me too." Said a soft voice, slightly muffled by Dinah's arm.

"And Electra too." Dinah added. Mark didn't reply. "I think he's already asleep." Dinah said. Electra shifted against her.

"I don't usually sleep at night. That's a human thing." Electra did indeed sound more alert.
"My engine usually does his runs during the day, so we sleep at night."

"Is your engine like you?" Electra asked. Dinah laughed lightly.

"Of course not! He's an engine, and I'm a coach. Big difference."

"So he's not a talking train person?" Dinah was momentarily confused by this question.

"Well... yes. I've never met a train that didn't talk. What I mean is instead of having a space inside him to carry people, he has a lot of diesel fuel." Electra wrinkled her nose. She had smelled diesel fumes coming from a gas station near the junkyard before. It wasn't nice stuff at all.

"Why would he want to carry that inside of him?"

"Well, it makes him go very fast, and he can pull a lot of coaches..."

"Ah." Electra said. It was evident from her tone of voice that she didn't quite get it. "Does the food inside you make you go fast and pull things too?" Dinah laughed again.

"No!" She said, between giggles, "Off course not! Coaches don't have their own source of power. Instead they have to find themselves the right engine to pull them around. I found Greaseball."

"Do you like Greaseball?" Electra asked.

"I love him." Dinah said dreamily. For a several long minutes Electra was completely silent. Then Dinah heard a muffled sob.

"Electra?" Dinah's voice was nearly dripping with concern, "What's wrong?" Electra didn't reply for a long time. She hardly knew what was wrong herself. All she knew was that she didn't want Dinah to love this Greaseball... whoever he was. She just wished she knew why.

"I... want to go home." Electra managed to say through her tears. She felt Dinah's arms tighten comfortably around her.

"I know." Dinah whispered gently, "I know..."

The Phantom was nearly buried in papers, as one beautiful composition after another was thrown into the heap besides him. His music was his magic. He knew he could write music that could make hearts soar or stones weep. The only problem was writing music that his randomly assembled group of performers could actually sing. He had yet to hear a single note from any of their mouths, but somehow he found it difficult not to doubt their skill. That and he was still waiting for the Mastermind to finish bringing performers, and get to work on the story of his musical. She would write the lyrics, and the plot was hers. She was very adamant on these two points. The casting would be a joint effort.

He sighed, rising gracefully to his feet. Though the doors had never been locked, he couldn't help but feel he was in a prison. He could observe as he chose through the little crystal ball he had been given, but he couldn't participate, even in the hidden way he had back at his opera house. It had taken him years to forge the trap doors, and hidden halls that were his entrance into the liar of the human race. Here he had only his room, and the open spaces he loathed so much.

Reality shimmered. In an instant The Mastermind was standing before him, a length of paper in her hands.

"Ah, Phantom!" She stepped over to him as naturally as if he had been a handsome young pupil of hers. There was something very unnerving about her complete lack of fear.

"What is it now?" The Phantom growled.

"I think it is time a brought in my final batch of performers." The Phantom looked up at her through his mask.

"Your final batch?" He questioned hopefully.

"You sound so excited!" The Mastermind commented. When she didn't receive a reply, she continued, "A rather large batch I think, but my final batch. I'll be better able to create my story when I know what I'm working with." The Phantom nodded.

"And how does this concern me?" He questioned. The Mastermind just laughed.

"My dear partner..." She started

"I am not your partner, in any sense of the word Madam."

"Would you rather be my enemy then?" An opaque image of Christine flashed before The Phantom's eyes warningly.

"No." He said, "I think not."

"Good." The Mastermind let that word hang in the air for several ominous moments before continuing. "As I was saying, I've come to ask your opinion on who I should bring into my musical."

"My opinion," The Phantom said coldly, "Is that you do not bring in another person, and you send your prisoners home right away." The Mastermind continued as though she hadn't heard him speak.

"Well, I want to bring in another train person..."

"Is that really necessary?" The Phantom was beginning to consider Dinah to be one of the single most annoying people he had ever been cursed to have to observe. He certainly had no desire to see another one of her running around.

"Yes. Now, I either want to bring in Greaseball... he's a..."

"He and Dinah are close." The Phantom interjected, remembering a conversation he had observed just the previous evening.

"Yes, I believe so." The Mastermind agreed.

"Leave him where he is." The Phantom said shortly. The last thing he wanted to watch unfold was the sickeningly sweet reunion of two lovers, a reminder of what he could never have. "What is the other choice?"

"Well, I was considering bringing in a sweet little steam engine... Rusty I believe." The Phantom didn't seem particularly interested.

"As you wish."

"He's on my list then. Now, there's also a young lady named Mimi..."

"What are her qualifications?" The Phantom asked in a business like tone.

"She's a dancer."

"Very well. Dancers may be necessary." The Mastermind grinned, with the air of a little kid in a candy shop. There were so many wonderful characters she wanted to share with The Phantom.

"You should be proud of me. I researched this well." The only answer she received was icy silence. "Maybe another cat..."

"Absolutely not." The Phantom ordered.

"But..." The Mastermind argued.

"We do not need another cat!"

"It's my musical, and if I want another cat..." The Mastermind seemed ready to hurl her magic ball in The Phantom's face.

"Then you obviously don't value my opinion on our musical."

"I'm bringing in another cat! Now, You can choose between either Victoria or Sillabub. Both are friends of Electra's." The Phantom didn't respond. The Mastermind's face contorted in anger. "Which do you prefer?" Still no answer. "Fine. I choose Victoria then. It's to bad, you just lost a lovely voice in Sillabub." The Phantom remained silent. "And... and I'm also bringing in a young lady by the name of Eponine. And... um..." Suddenly in the face of The Phantom's silence, The Mastermind felt all her well planned thoughts falling to shreds. She drew two names from the depths of her mind, "And the servant girl Yonah... and... and Amos...." Finally she went silent, her list fully constructed. "What do you think of that Phantom?" The Phantom, once again didn't respond. "It's your musical too!" She shouted indignantly.

"It is not one of my choosing."

"Then make it one of your choosing! You are my partner in..." The Phantom's cold stare was enough to silence The Mastermind, at least momentarily.

"If your plan was to make a partner of me, don't you think imprisoning and torturing me into submission was a bit of a poor start?" The Phantom laughed humorlessly. "While I am still your slave, I can never be your partner." The Mastermind just stared at him, before disappearing from the room in a shimmer of blind rage.

Mark stretched, and yawned in his half sleep. The beginnings of sunshine were just beginning to creep through the windows of the theatre, alerting its occupants to the coming morning. Florence was the first one fully awake, as she usually was.

"Mark?" Mark moved into a sitting position, fishing around the floor besides him for his glasses. Florence had to stifle a laugh. In the early morning light he was a bedraggled mess.

"Did I sleep through any disasters last night?" He asked.

"Not to my knowledge." Florence moved closer to him, "But I have a plan." Marked rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"It's to early in the morning for plans."

"Not for this one. It might just get us out of here." It was obvious Florence was excited, if only by the prospect of leaving.

"Okay..." Mark prompted, feeling more awake.

"We can start a small fire on the beach, and make sure it never goes out. Then if a ship or..."

"You're just thinking of this now?" Mark asked. Florence, for once, did not have a quick answer, "Listen, I haven't seen a single plane, boat... anything pass this island. Even if one did, this isn't a normal situation. This place is..." Mark paused, searching for the right word, "Magic."

"So I've noticed." Florence agreed, "But we have to try." Mark looked at Florence, so desperate beneath her calm façade. He couldn't do anything but agree with her.
"We'll try."

"Good... we can go start it now if you like. You and I can be in charge of watching it for today." Florence said. Mark glanced around the theatre. Dinah and Electra lay asleep, close to one another as always. Frank was asleep further away, and the plant sat still and silent in the corner of the room. Its leaves were drooping weakly. Dinah's diet of fruit and odd metal pieces didn't seem to be doing anything for it.

"And what about tomorrow?" Mark asked, with another glance around the theatre.

"Dinah and Electra. They may be insane, but I'm fairly certain they're trustworthy maniacs."

"Okay." Mark agreed, "What do you say we leave the others out of this?"

"Definitely." Florence got to her feet. "Lets get going then."

The Mastermind sat still and silent in her library, her magic ball dim before her. She had been up through the night, not watching her guests, not bringing more in, but thinking. She enjoyed having prisoners, and pets for her own amusement. That's what her guests were in essence. She was fond of them, true, but her fondness was that that a master might feel towards a litter of dimwitted puppies. The Phantom was not that to her, nor did she want him to be her slave. She wanted an equal, in at least intellect if not power. The Phantom was that, but he despised her. She didn't understand it.

She picked up her ball, gazing into it deeply. The dirt caked face of Eponine appeared, showing the unlucky gamine singing her final love song.

"The Phantom bid me leave you be." She whispered into her magic ball as the girl's life waned. The Mastermind shook her head. The Phantom would hate her no matter what she did, even if she let him leave the island now. She watched as Eponine sang her final note, and her eyes closed in ever lasting sleep. She waved her hand, taking her dead body out of the picture, and setting it down gently on her own little beach. As an after thought she willed life into the corpse, readying it to perform.

She would bring in who she chose.

Next was the steam train Rusty. Dinah would be pleased to see him, The Mastermind thought. She willed him to appear in her theatre, and then moved on to the next person without a second thought.

Amos, a black leather clad youth upon a motor cycle. He was nothing special, but somehow he still intrigued The Mastermind. He was too sure of himself. He would be interesting to watch. Him she placed in her forest, to find his own way.

The Mastermind sighed. Why was this no longer exciting? Each new guest increased her feeling of hopelessness. Perhaps she had too much power over them. With a single wave she brought in the other three she had been planning to. Yonah, Victoria, and Mimi all appeared together, in the middle of her forest. The Mastermind set down her ball, and let it go blank. Letting out an angry yell, she threw it against the wall with all her strength. This wasn't right.

Yonah glanced around her in complete confusion. Noah's comfortable little home had been replaced by a vast and wild forest. How or why she did not know. Had she angered The Father some how? Habitually she reached out to touch the small marking on her forhead that labeled her as a daughter of the cursed race of Cain. The Father's wrath was not difficult to come by for her type. But what could she have done, besides the inherent sin of being born?

She would have pondered this further, but she quickly realized that she was not alone. Standing besides her was a snow white animal. She seemed more than vaguely cat-like, but her tall bipedal appearance made her an oddity. Surely Noah had yet to find a creature such as her to travel on his arch! Also staring at the cat-thing in obvious confusion, was a lovely Hispanic girl. Her outfit was sleek and tightly revealing, in contrast to Yonah's own modest servant garb.

The white cat was the first to break their frozen stance. She regarded each of them in turn, her posture poised and regal, before scampering behind a tree like a frightened squirrel.

"Okay... what rabbit hole did I just crawl into..." The Hispanic girl sat down by a tree, looking extremely dazed. Yonah was the only one who stood her ground. She had been through enough in her life that not much scared her. This didn't mean she wasn't troubled and confused... she was. She just knew how to take it in stride.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Yonah made sure to keep her eyes averted. She did not know this girl, and she didn't want to offend her. The girl just looked up at Yonah as if she couldn't possibly be real.

"Um... yeah?"

"You don't know where we are, do you?" Judging from her appearance, Yonah suspected she would not. A quick shake of her head confirmed this. "Would you take it amiss if I asked your name?" Another shake of the head.

"I'm..." The girl paused, "Lost, very, very lost..." Yonah offered her a hand tentatively.

"I'm Yonah." She said softly. The girl wasn't looking at her forehead. That gave Yonah at least a little security. "Of the race of Cain." She added. She paused. The girl did not comment, or even look disgusted by the admission. Indeed, she seemed to barely comprehend it. "Servant to Noah."
"Uh-huh.." Her companion still seemed stunned, but she stood up anyway. "I'm.. they call me Mimi." She smiled ever so slightly. Slowly the white cat began to creep out from behind her tree.

"Sweet heavyside..." She muttered under her breath, staring at Yonah and Mimi as if they were monsters. Perhaps to her they were.

"Hey! You talk!" Mimi sounded surprised. The white cat backed away a bit, her tail swishing back and forth nervously.

"You... you understand!" The cat said. "And you're tiny." She crept a little closer, apparently picking up courage.

"Do you know how we got here?" Yonah asked evenly. The white cat shook her head. Somehow Yonah had been expecting that. "Who are you?"

"Victoria..." The cat whispered. For all her boldness she was still very young, and frightened. Yonah just nodded, not knowing what to say or do. Her randomly assembled group of companions seemed to be in a similar state.

Then a crocked old man burst out of the trees. Yonah jumped despite herself. Victoria's fur stood on end.

"Who are you?" Mimi asked. The old man's eyes twinkled.

"Though I may seem out of place, I'm not the strangest in this space. If you think the only mystery is me, then follow now and you shall see!" The Mysterious Man seemed to nearly leap in the air, and then he ran off into the woods. "Come on!" He called. Yonah broke into a jog behind him, and the other two followed her example.

"Your actually gonna follow him?" Mimi whispered from besides Yonah. She merely shrugged.

"I want to see where he is going."

Before Dinah even opened her eyes, she could tell something was wrong. As usual, Electra was snuggled close against her, with her head cushioned against her chest. However, someone else was lying close on her other side. This person was harder, larger, and most definitely male. It could only be Frank. She sprang up into a sitting position, effectively tackling the man who lay next to her.

"You! I thought I told you to stay away from me!" She snarled.
"Ahhh!" Dinah looked down to see that who she had in her grasp was definitely not Frank N. Furter, "Dinah?"

"Rusty!" Dinah exclaimed, giving him the biggest hug ever. Rusty's eyes went large, as he looked around him in confusion.

"Dinah?" He pulled away, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm being forced to perform in a musical for some Evil Mastermind-O.G-thing."

"Okay..." Rusty said slowly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I... don't know." The steam engine looked as if he might cry. "Where's Pearl?" Dinah took one look at him and had to hug him again.

"Not here I don't think." She said sympathetically. At that moment Electra woke up. Her eyes widened as she saw Dinah hugging some strange man, with wheels like hers. She leapt upwards.

"Is that him?" She asked frantically, "Is he Greaseball?" Rusty made at face at this.

"Um... no..." He said, pulling away from Dinah. Electra relaxed slightly.

"Rusty, this is Electra..." Dinah introduced calmly.

"He's changed..." Rusty said, looking at the sweet furred creature in front of him. She was certainly not the haughty electric engine he knew.

"Huh?" Electra crawled closer to Dinah and Rusty, looking confused.

"Not that Electra." Dinah clarified, "This one's a friend." Electra smiled at Rusty as if to verify this. Dinah sighed, and got to her feet. She skated up onto the stage, and gestured for Rusty to follow.

"We'd better start getting you settled in." She said softly.

"Settled in?"

"I've been here six days now. I don't know when... or if we're going to ever get to leave. I can show you around at least. But we're going to have to be quiet, Frank is sleeping, and we definitely don't want to wake him up." Dinah gestured to where Frank lay deep in slumber. Rusty didn't move. Electra however, did, walking over to Dinah's side. "Rusty, please?" Rusty followed her up onto the stage. She was going to have a lot to show him.

Florence led the way down the vast stretch of beach. In the morning's light the ocean water shimmered invitingly. It really was beautiful. Only a complete fool wouldn't see that. Florence, however, wanted nothing more than to leave the island and the beach behind.

"I don't suppose you know how to start a fire using two rocks?" She asked, in her typical clipped tone. Mark shook his head no. "Well, I'm in bad company then."

"You don't know how to either?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." Florence said, all the while searching for a suitable clearing to house their little blaze.

"We'll figure something out." Mark assured her.

"No doubt." For a long time both were silent, searching the beach like children on a treasure hunt. Unfortunately, their search yielded little results.

Reality shimmered. In the distance something appeared that looked more like a heap of rough brown cloth than a person. Mark stepped a few feet closer, with Florence following behind him. Even as he approached the thing, it still didn't take on the appearance of a living creature. Rather it was a ragged old coat, with a greasy mess of brown hair protruding from it. Mark exchanged glances with Florence, before kneeling down besides the fallen creature. Now he could see that the old coat was more than just tattered and torn. It was the crimson color of shed blood. He gently moved it, so that they could see it's face. Florence gasped slightly.

The disgusting heap they had found seemed to transform, as if by magic, into a beautiful woman. Her face was deathly pale where it wasn't caked in dirt and grime. It looked as though she hadn't washed in weeks, and she was so thin that Mark couldn't help but think of those sponsor a child commercials he had seen on TV. However, despite all this, her face was smiling and she had the loveliness of a fallen angel.

"She looks ill." Florence said. Mark reached out behind her neck, searching for her pulse. He skin was frigid beneath his fingers.

"More than ill."

"You mean she's..." Mark's nod confirmed the worst of her fears even before she had the opportunity to voice them. Mark respectfully moved the body so it was lying flat out on the sand. He was about to walk away, when the corpse's thick lashes parted to reveal a pair of pale brown eyes. The only person more surprised than Mark was the ragged girl herself. She stared at him briefly, before scrambling up into a defensive sitting position.

"You stay back! You hear?" She ordered in a trembling voice. She had a distinctly French accent. She looked around her as if searching for something she could use to fend Mark off.

"Easy." Mark soothed, holding his hands above his head in compliance, "Nobody's gonna to hurt you..."
"Then your planning on turning me into that rat Javert, eh?" Mark shook his head confused. "Then what do you want of me? I can tell you that you ain't going to be receivin' any of it." The girl tried to get to her feet, stumbled as if dizzy, and quickly found herself back on the ground. She glanced down at herself, her eyes widening as she saw her tattered old jacket was stained with blood. "I'm dead..." She whispered, clearly stunned.

"You were." Florence agreed.

"Your not anymore." Mark added, kneeling protectively over her. "Who are you?"

"Eponine Thenadier."

"I'm Mark, and this is Florence." Mark gestured to himself and his companion in turn. "Do you think you can walk?" When Eponine shook her head no, Mark gently lifted her up in his arms. She didn't protest. She was every bit as light as Mark had expected her to be, a bag of bones hidden beneath a long coat.

"I think we're going to have to wait on the fire." Mark said. Florence nodded in disdainful agreement. "We're going to take you back to the theatre." Mark explained. For a long time Eponine was silent in his arms. Finally she spoke in a soft, mesmerized tone.

"Monsieur, is this heaven or hell?"

Amos's motorcycle devoured up the road beneath him, reaching similarly inhuman speeds. In the quiet of the little town he was James Dean, young, rebellious, beautiful. Then suddenly everything changed, and he was flying through the sky instead of over an open highway. He came to a painful stop in the midst of a large green bush. Several furred creatures chattered indignantly at having a clumsy human land in their home. Amos simply looked around, stunned.

As much as he had always wanted to his sleepy little town behind him, he had never imagined the wild vista stretched out before his eyes. He had also never considered teleportation as his mode of travel. All in all, the situation was rather unnerving.

"Hello!" He called out as loudly as he could. "Is anybody out there?" The only answer he received was the sudden silence of the chirping of birds around him. He growled, and began to work at untangling himself from the bush he was in. It seemed the more he fought, the harder it got to move. He muttered a few profanities under his breath, before calling for help in a louder tone. Still no response.

"Help!" Mimi looked up at her mysterious guide in confusion.

"Hey, didja hear that?" She asked. The old man's eyes twinkled merrily. Mimi couldn't help but thinking that he looked like some sort of cross between Santa Claus and a goblin.

"All that need finding will be found!" He said cheerfully, not even pausing in his speedy gait.

"I believe the cry came from that way." Yonah said meekly, indicating the opposite direction. The mysterious man paid no attention to her. She didn't complain. She merely followed, keeping her head bowed low. There was an odd little mark on her forehead, Mimi noted, that she seemed to be trying to hide.

They soon arrived at a lovely, ornate, building in the midst of the wilderness. The Mysterious man gestured to it, and then scampered back into the woods, seeming to disappear behind the trees.

"Well... I guess he wants us to go inside?" Mimi looked at her two companions. They were certainly strange, and she didn't know anything about them, but there was some small comfort in not being alone in this situation. Yonah nodded, almost eagerly.

"But... how do we know it's safe in there?" Victoria asked.

"Do you wish for me to go in first?" Yonah offered.

"Yes, please..." Victoria backed away several feet from the door. Mimi found something infuriating about that. There was no reason that Yonah should have to face the unknown by herself. She stepped up besides her, as she swung the door open.

The scene with in with definitely a strange one, though not clearly dangerous. A gothic drag queen stood stiff, auguring angrily with a pretty roller-skating girl. Behind the roller-skating girl stood an oddly dressed black man, also in skates, and a black and tan cat person. Behind them there was a huge stage.

Yonah took a cautious step inside, and was nearly run over by Victoria.

"Electra!" The white cat ran out to meet her friend, skidding to a stop a few feet away from her, as she seemed to remember her composure. "I didn't think I'd see anyone I knew here. Please tell me you know were we are, and how we're going to get back to the junkyard..." Before Electra could answer, the theatre door opened, allowing in three more people.

"Florence! Mark!" The wheeled girl skated up to meet them. She glanced down to see what Mark was carrying in his arms.

"Hey Dinah...could you..." Mark started. Now it was Mimi's turn to leave Yonah's side.

"Mark?" She asked, stepping out to meet her friend, "Who's that?" She gestured to the girl he was carrying in his arms.

"Mimi! She... I..."

"My gosh, the Mastermind's at it again!" The Dinah interrupted, looking around her at all the new faces.

"Mastermind?" Mimi questioned.

"What Mastermind?" Victoria asked from her place besides Electra.

"The evil one!" Electra explained eagerly.

"Don't you mean the O.G.?" Dinah corrected.

"What O.G.?!" Frank N. Furter asked indignantly. He walked over to Dinah, taking her arm possessively.

"O.G.?" Mimi echoed.

"Don't touch me!" Dinah yanked her arm out of Frank's grasp.

"Yeah, don't touch Dinah!" Electra stepped up besides her, and Victoria followed.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Yonah suddenly yelled loud enough to be heard over the myriad conversations. For a moment there was absolute silence. Yonah bowed her head, abashed, refusing to look at anyone.

"Oh for pity's sake..." Florence muttered, breaking the quiet. "Everyone please sit down... we'll get everything straightened out." For a long time nobody moved. Then Mark sat down in one of the red velvet chairs, gently setting the girl he was carrying down next to him. Dinah and Electra followed the suite, also sitting near Mark. Slowly the rest of the group began to file into the chairs. Florence sat down on the edge of the stage, watching the group in front of her uncertainly. "Mark? Would you join me?" She said with calmness didn't betray her inner turmoil. Mark glanced at the girl he had been carrying, and then at Dinah.

"You'll watch her?" He whispered. Dinah nodded trustingly.

"Of course." Dinah agreed. Mark took his place besides Florence.

"Alright then," Florence started, "there are two possibilities here. One is that we are all dreaming, in which case nothing I say or do here matters anyway. The other, is that we are awake, and this is real. In either case, you are all probably wondering what's going on." Florence glanced over at Mark. It was his turn to speak.

"Yeah... and.. um,... here's what's going on. We're on an island. It's small, and wild, and.. we think magic." Somebody in the crowd chuckled, as if finding this to absurd to believe. "Anyway, we think it's run by this woman, with super powers, who disappears and stuff like that."

"We've been calling her The Mastermind." Florence added, "And we believe she is the one responsible for taking all of us out of our homes and bringing us here. Dinah and Electra," As she said this Florence gestured to each of them in turn, "Have also found a note stating that we are here to perform in a musical. It was signed 'O.G.'"

"And... yeah... that's just about all we know." Mark finished. Florence nodded stepping down off the stage.

"We are, however, working on a plan of escape." Florence said, looking once more out over her strange audience, before silently walking over to join Dinah and Electra.

"We're gonna have to work together, and hopefully get through this." Mark said, before he to left the stage.

Amos tried to brush himself off, having finally managed to untangle himself from the bush. He was a mess, and he was lost, and he hated it. He was free now, but what he was going to do with this freedom was beyond him. He would have to explore, see what sort of situation he was really in.

Suddenly, seemingly out of know where, came a tiny bowlegged old man. He gestured for Amos to follow him. Amos looked at him skeptically.

"Who the hell are you?" Amos asked. The Mysterious Man merely smiled.

"It doesn't matter. Come with me!" With that he was running off into the woods. The Mysterious Man didn't stop until he realized that Amos was not making any move to follow him. Indeed, he was just standing around looking confused. The Mysterious Man cocked his head to one side.

"You're not planning on following, eh?" He asked.

"Why would I want to follow some creepy old geezer?" Amos asked, turning away defiantly. The Mysterious Man chuckled.
"Because, son, perhaps he'll help you find your way."

"Well, I ain't your son, and I can find my own way." Amos turned to walk away, but The Mysterious Man stopped him.

"Ah, then you get on well with man eating plants." The Mysterious Man said. Then he started to scamper away from Amos.
"Man eating plants?" Amos asked, trying not to let his nervousness show through. For a moment the old man was silent.

"Anything can happen in the woods." He said enigmatically.

"But, have you seen these man eating plants?"

"The question is, have they seen me?" The Mysterious Man was plainly amused.

"Not funny geezer!" Amos advanced threateningly towards The Mysterious Man. "Now tell me what the hell is going on here! Where am I?" The Mysterious Man gestured grandly around him.

"The woods." He answered. Amos muttered under his breath. "Nobody ever learned anything standing around here. Now follow me!" With that The Mysterious Man raced away. Amos waited until he was almost out of sight, and than ran after him.

The soft buzz of many voices echoed through the theatre as its occupants made their introductions, talked, gripped, and planned possible routes of escape. Some however, were completely silent. Yonah sat in one corner of the theatre, silently observing everyone. Eponine was also quiet, as she slept with her head resting against Mark's shoulder.

"Do you know what happened to her?" Dinah asked quietly, so as not to wake Eponine. Electra was near Dinah as always, and the train girl seemed to have gained another kitten follower in Victoria. Mark shook his head in negation.

"No, she was like this when I found her on the beach. I didn't think to ask her."

"She looks like she was shot!" Victoria piped in, seeming horrified at the thought.

"I looked her over." Mark said, "The blood's there, but I don't see any bullet wounds." Mimi, who was seated besides him, smirked slightly. "What?" Mark asked.

"Nothing." She said, with a wink.

"I only checked to see if she was hurt." Mark said defensively.

"Uh-huh. That's why you're letting her drool on your shoulder." Mark blushed. Mimi smiled, having proved her point. "So, that was a nice little speech you made." Mimi changed the subject.

"Really?" Mark asked.
"Yeah. Coming from anyone but you I'd say the whole magic island thing was a load of shit, but it was a good speech."

"You think everything we're seeing is real?" Mark looked at Mimi seriously. Before Mimi could answer, there was an angry cry from the corner of the room.

"Let go of me!" Yonah shouted, wrenching her arm and her lips free of Frank N. Furter. She flushed with embarrassment when she realized most of the room had turned to look at her, but she held her ground against Frank. "You will not touch me." She hissed, and then quickly walked away from him, towards the door. She felt as though she had to get out of the theatre as quickly as possible. As she reached the exit, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"We were planning on going down to the beach too start a fire to alert passing ships." The one who called herself Florence said gently, "Would you like to join us?" Yonah hesitated.

"Do you wish it?" She asked hopefully.

"If you'd like to come, your more than welcome to." Florence replied. Yonah smiled.

"I think I'd like that."

"Good. Mark!" Florence waved her companion over to her. He gently repositioned Eponine, and then went to Florence's side, with Mimi following him. "We're going to continue our fire starting attempts. Florence explained. She led the way out the door.

Amos looked disdainfully up at the ornate little building that The Mysterious Man had led him to.
"Yeah? Why are you bringing me here?" The Mysterious Man nudged him slightly.

"Look inside." He prompted. Amos opened the door a crack, and quickly shut it. Inside was the strangest group of people... and not-people... he had ever seen in his life.

"What's wrong? Afraid you'll see something you've never seen before?"

"No!" Amos said. He opened the door a little further this time. Before he could protest the Mysterious Man had pushed him inside, and slammed the door loudly shut behind him. All eyes were on him. A pretty looking girl in roller-skates, followed by what looked like two giant cats went up to great him.

"Hi!" She said cheerfully, "I'm Dinah. You're new here. Don't worry though, we'll show you around..." Amos was unable to protest as she dragged him further into the theatre.

Yonah watched the waves crashing against the beach with a feeling of cold apprehension. It had a sort of ethereal beauty that sent shivers running down her spine. Soon the entire world would be an ocean, like the one in front of her. Soon she would be drowning in its waters. The Father had told Noah to bring rats and skunks onboard his ark, and to leave her behind to die.

"Yonah?" Yonah looked up to see who was speaking to her. It was Mimi, "Hey, is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing." Yonah said quickly. "If we are to build a fire, we will need wood, and fire stones." Florence smiled.

"You know how to start a fire using stones?" She asked. Yonah nodded.

"Aren't we a good little Girl Scout." Mimi said. Yonah appeared confused at this comment. "You're really not from my time, are you?" Mimi guessed. Yonah looked down at Mimi's more than form fitting garb, a stark contrast to the dresses that females were expected to where.

"I think not."

"1987 AC, New York City." Mimi said. Yonah just stared at her, more confused than before.

"That's where, and when we live." Mark explained.

"Oh. I live in The Wilderness, with Noah and his family." Florence raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"The Wilderness?" She questioned.

"Yes," Yonah said, "The Wilderness... everywhere except for the Garden Of Eden."

"Wait..." Mimi said, trying to get everything straight, "do you mean Noah as in the guy who built the ark?" Yonah nodded eagerly.

"Yes! He just finished it. The animals will be boarding soon." Yonah couldn't help the pang of sadness that hit her as she said this. The animals would be boarding soon. Her beloved Japheth, who wanted to take her for his wife, would be boarding as well. She would not.

"This is nuts!" Mimi said. She certainly wasn't complaining. Rather, she sounded excited. "Lets see... according to the bible, Noah's Ark happened..." Mimi paused, not actually knowing the answer, "A really long time ago. A few billion years or something like that." Yonah looked at Mimi, amazed. So Noah had set sail as many years ago as there were stars in the sky? "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"I am not." Yonah said calmly, wishing that they could switch to a less painful topic.

"This place is weird!" Mimi exclaimed.
"You're just noticing that?" Mark teased. Florence cleared her throat loudly, calling everyone back to attention.

"Yes, the fire." Yonah said all too readily.

"Phantom?" The Phantom growled under his breath as one again The Mastermind invaded his little room. He ignored her, trying to look otherwise occupied. A chair appeared out of nowhere, and she sat down close to him. "You must have seen I've finished bringing in the cast." The Phantom nodded cruelly. "I hope in time you will be pleased with their ability."

"Ah. You brought them here for their ability then." The Phantom said sarcastically.

"Well... I brought them here because they were interesting."

"I have seen many interesting sopranos pass through the Paris Opera House. I have only seen one with any real talent." The Phantom said this, refusing to look at The Mastermind. He wanted nothing more to do with the despicable woman.

"Because you taught her!" The Mastermind sounded excited, "So teach them. If they don't ant to learn, I will force them."

"They are not worthy of my teaching." The Mastermind let out a disappointed sigh.

"Then be satisfied with what I have given you to work with. It was the best I could find. Now, I believe we have a musical to write."

Eponine kept her eyes tightly shut, as she slowly drifted back into a state of semi-consciousness. She had very clear memories of what had happened, her sweet death and her awakening on the beach. The only problem is the didn't make sense. The man who had found her had said she was not dead, but it wasn't as though she had merely gone to sleep in Marius's arms. The blood upon her jacket, and in her hair, was a testament to that. She had bled, but she could find no wounds.

Finally she opened her eyes, glancing wildly around. She was in a strange place, like nowhere she had ever seen before. There were people, and things, all around her. Most of them were clean, and dressed well if not strangely. As usual, she was the dirty fugitive, who didn't belong in any setting except the forgotten slums of France. She forced herself to sit completely upright, not to show these strange people any weakness.

"Oh. Your awake." A soft voice said. She turned to look at the darkest skinned man she had ever seen in her life. He had strange little wheels on his feet, and his clothing had the hidden sheen of rusted metal. Eponine jumped up out of her chair, momentarily pleased to find that her legs were now steady.

"Yeah." She said, in a tone of defensive fear, "Yeah, I'm awake alright. And who are you then?"

"Rusty." The man's voice didn't sound threatening. Eponine couldn't think of anyway to respond.

"Ah." She sat back down in her chair, but she refused to take her eyes off him. Her heart pounded in her chest, as she sat surrounded and overwhelmed.

Rusty was silent, wishing he could think of something to say to this strange passenger girl. He had been afraid when he first entered the theatre, and still was, but being met by Dinah had absorbed some of the shock. Eponine was alone here, and from what Mark had told him she had very recently been dead.

"Are you feeling any better?" Rusty asked.

"Yes!" Eponine said all to quickly, sitting up a little straighter as if to prove this. Rusty glanced around, looking for anyone to help him handle this situation. Noticing Dinah on the other side of the room, he quickly waved her over. She came, followed by Electra. Apparently Victoria had found someone else to talk to.

"Rusty? I was just showing that new Amos boy around the theatre." Dinah smiled proudly. She was glad to be of use to others in this strange situation. "What's..." She noticed Eponine, "Oh! You're awake. How are you feeling hun?" Eponine respond right away, or even look at her. Rusty spread his arms helplessly.

"Alive. Can't see why, but I am." Eponine finally answered. Dinah sat down near Eponine.

"The Mastermind must've done something..." Electra commented.

"The Mastermind?" Eponine asked.

"She want's us to perform in a musical!" Electra explained excitedly.

"Well... Well I ain't performin' for nobody." Eponine said. She could feel a cold lump forming in her throat, trying to strangle her, and a tight knot between her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling, trying to fight against both of them. This wasn't right. She was supposed to die, and enter a sweet oblivion. She knew better than to expect heaven from a god that obviously cared so little for her, but she had never foreseen something this awful. At least before she had known her way around, and had her dreams of Marius. Now she was lost, and more alone than ever.

"So... this it!" She called out to the ceiling, "Heaven's as petty as Earth, it is! This my punishment for stealing enough food to feed myself?" She sat back down, disgusted. Nothing she had done mattered. People like her were always punished for their evil deeds in the end, and what ever good they did was always ignored. She shut her eyes tightly, but was unable to stop the tears that came, so she just wept and wished for the rain.

Yonah knelt down in the sand, calmly rubbing the two white rocks she had found together. Occasionally one or the other would spark, but the wood she and her companions had gathered was never set alight.

"It is no use." She said finally, "I'm cursed." She handed the stones over to Florence, "Perhaps if you tried..." Florence did not take the stones.

"Nonsense. You're not cursed, and you're the only one of this who has done this before." Yonah laughed at the absurdity of this statement, and pointed to the mark on her forehead.

"Not cursed? What do you see upon my face?"

"A birthmark?" Mark said, not following her logic in the least. Mimi nodded.

"It's the mark of Cain." Yonah explained, wondering how these people could know so little of a story every child was told. "Cain and Abel were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Abel was a good, obedient boy, who took after his father. Cain was defiant, and refused to follow The Father's rule. Because of this, The Father favored Abel. Cain was jealous, so he killed him." At this point, Yonah paused from her retelling of the ancient story, and shuttered. It was a constant reminder of stain of blood that was upon her soul. "When The Father discovered what Cain had done, he was furious. He cursed him eternally, as well as his children, and their children after them, through all generations. I am a daughter of the race of Cain, and his sin is mine." Once again, Yonah pointed to the mark upon her head, "This is the mark of Cain, that I bare so that I may be recognized for what I am. Later, Eve bore a third son, named Seth. It is his ancestors that The Father has chosen to save. I will be washed away in the coming flood." Yonah hit her two rocks together one last time. This time, the sparks found the wood, and a lovely blaze was ignited. "There." She said, getting up off the ground, "Your fire has been started."

"Good..." Mark said, looking at Yonah uncertainly, "Thanks." Yonah smiled at him.

"Mark and I will stay behind to watch the fire." Florence said, "Can you two find your way back to the theatre?" Both Yonah and Mimi nodded. "Good. I would like you to assemble a group to watch the fire, two people at a time. Have the next two people relieve us when night falls."

"As you wish." Yonah said calmly. Mimi hugged Mark.

"I'll see you later, 'kay?" She said with a grin, "I'll tell Eponine you missed her." Mimi followed Yonah back into the woods. After they had traveled a ways towards the theatre, Mimi's watch let out a series of shrill beeps. Yonah jumped, surprised.

"What is that?" She asked.
"AZT break." Mimi smiled sadly, "But I didn't bring anything with me." Yonah just stared at Mimi, clearly confused. "Yonah?"

"Yes?"

"I think that you will survive the flood." Mimi said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the race of Cain still exists in my time. It just isn't written on our foreheads."