AN: I forgot to mention, all Cats babbling between Kim and Foaly was written by the real Kimberly. I've seen Cats once live and many times on video, but I'm not crazy like she is. Well, I am, but I write my craziness down, she just babbles it. And the Tower of Terror is a ride that cranks you up thirteen feet in an elevator, and then lets you freefall. Basically, you feel like your stomach is going to come up your throat, out your mouth, and land in your lap.

Kim woke up sore, which wasn't unusual for her. On a good day, at least 65% of her body was completely covered in bruises, and she often had at least two semi-major injuries healing. She was used to it, of course. The only time it had really been a problem was when she was eleven, and her teacher thought she was being abused because she came to school with a massive bruise across her forehead, and a story that she had run into a sliding door. She had, of course, actually run into her aunt's clear glass door.

She tried to groan, but there didn't seem to be any air in her lungs. In fact, it felt like there was a huge weight in her chest, threatening to crush her. Realizing that, she tried to groan, but there didn't seem to be any air in her lungs, which was why she had been trying to groan in the first place.

God damn bloody asthma, she swore to herself. Why couldn't her stupid little blonde sister have it? Maybe it would stop her from singing so much…

Her mind flickered back to the pain, which wasn't severe compared to most of the wounds she had gained in her thirteen years, but it wasn't exactly something to be ignored. It was an all around numbness/soreness/aching, all over her body. It was a bit like the time her cousin Sarah had gotten the bright idea (or had it been Kim herself?) to try the infamous Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer double cartwheel, although neither knew how to do a basic cartwheel. That had hurt.

Kim noticed that she was starting to breathe again, which she assumed was a good thing. Still not ready to open the eyes, she thought. I'll wait until my brain's got enough oxygen so that I can think in a straight line. Hey, I never did get to see the rest of that Singing in the Rain movie…

Root shakily pulled himself into a sitting position; looking around at the four others lying in various stages between loosely awake and out cold. Holly was easing herself up, Butler was still trying to get the rest of his body working, and Artemis was lying down with his eyes closed, giving the occasional twitch.

He glanced over at Kim's nearly still frame. The only movement from her was her chest, which was going up and down heavily, first slowly, then quickly, then slowly again. The commander wondered briefly if she was having a heart attack, and then thought that if she was, it was really none of his concern.

Holly had finally managed to ease herself up. "Where the hell are we?"

Commander Root looked at the surrounding. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think we're in the middle of a forest, and I think Fowl is lying in a patch of poison ivy."

"Nah, it's not poison ivy," she muttered, slightly disappointed. "Hey, everyone's recovering in order of the amount of magic they've been exposed to."

"Come again?" groaned Butler, putting a massive hand to his head. He felt like he had the mother of all hangovers.

"Well, look. Commander Root's had the most exposure to magic, since he's the oldest by far, and has received more magic over the years than anyone else. I'm next; I've had quite a number of huge healings, my major one being the reattachment of my finger. Butler, you're third, you got a huge shot of blue sparks when I healed you in Fowl Manor. Artemis has had some minor healing, but more than Kim. He seems to be better off than she is, in any case."

"Are you sure she's alright?" Butler frowned. "She doesn't look too good."

"To take a cheap shot, she didn't look all that great to begin with," Root smirked.

"You know, she does look a bit… blue," Holly pointed out. "Are you sure she's breathing?"

"Her chest's moving," the commander said, waving his hand in her general direction. "Sure, it's not even or consistent, but it's moving."

"Am I lying in poison ivy?" Artemis asked blearily, pulling himself up so he could lean his back against a tree trunk. "And why do Holmes's lips had a bluish tinge on them?"

"No, it's not poison ivy. And her lips are blue because whatever just happened probably affected her the most," sighed Captain Short. "It could be because she was closest to the flash, it could be because she's had the least exposure to magic, or it could be because she's asthmatic."

"She doesn't look good," he commented. "Then again, she didn't look overly great to begin with."

"Hey, that was my joke!"

"Hey, I'm awake, so quit insulting me before I kick your asses," she hollered, opening her eyes. She looked around, before easing herself into the half-lotus position, although she had no idea it was called that. The girl looked at the red stone still clasped tightly in her hand, before saying "Is it just me, or are we in the forest?"

"It's just you," Root said sarcastically. "Now that we've established that you're alive, care to tell us just what the hell happened?"

Kim rubbed her chest, it felt tight and her breathing was still restricted. "How should I should what the hell just happened?"

"Because you made it happen," scowled Artemis. "I told you not to touch the Maple Stone, you did, there was… something… and then we ended up here. So reverse it!"

"But I have no idea how I did it!" she protested. She reached into her deep jeans pocket and fished out a metallic object. She uncapped it, put it to her mouth, and pushed the top, steadily breathing in.

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," sighed Root.

"It's an inhaler, stupid," she snapped, replacing the cap back into place. "It makes my lungs work with the rest of me. Do you want me to drop dead?"

"Yes."

"Wise ass," she muttered before capping it again. "God, that stuff tastes like battery acid."

"What's in that?" Holly asked curiously. She had never seen one before; faeries had little use for medicine.

"No bloody clue," she shrugged, looking at the label. "A whole bunch of crap. As long as it works, I really couldn't care less."

"Could we get back to the issue here?" Artemis snapped. "We're stuck in the middle of a forest, we don't know how we got here, we don't know how to get back, and you two are discussing medication!"

"It's odd, I haven't felt this crappy breathing-wise since I was seven. Well, other then that time my older cousin John held me underwater for two minutes," Kim frowned. "I'm usually fine as long as I use my inhaler every day. Must be that magic stuff that makes it worse."

"Can we please try to focus on the obvious problem?" the teenaged boy scowled. "We need to get back to Fowl Manor, and we don't even know how we got in the middle of this forest in the first place!"

"Uh, something tells me this isn't a natural forest," the brunette girl muttered, turning her gaze towards the sky.

Everyone else looked up as well.

There was no sun and no moon. There was something lighting the strange world, but it looked like a sort of coloured moon turned up to Ultra-Glow. There were three of them, in red, green, and purple. Multicoloured stars dotted the black sky, making the whole thing look like a Lite Brite toy arranged by someone randomly shoving pegs in.

"Gods…" was all Commander Root could manage.

"Frodo," Kim said shakily. "We are so not in the Shire anymore."