Hi everbody! Thanks for reading (again) and the great reviews. I'd better do another copyright spiel:

Captain Planet and its associated characters do NOT belong to me. They remain the property of the cheeky Season Six-withholding Cartoon Network and Jane Fonda's husband.

The Tunnel

Chapter 9

Creeping around in the dark was beginning to take its toll on Kwame. He had several cuts and scratches from walking into walls and sharp objects, water had begun pooling around his feet at a steady pace, and he had realised within the last half hour that he was totally lost. The concerned Planeteer had heard the distant echo of voices twice now, however each time he had attempted to seek out those responsible, they had moved on. Sighing unhappily, he kicked at the warm, muddy liquid that continued to rise. Quickening his pace, he briefly wondered if Gi was responsible for the flood, a thought that brought a brief smile to his face.

The voice had now returned, bouncing of the cavernous walls loudly and assaulting Kwame's ears. A torch beam moved haphazardly across the path in front of Kwame, accompanied by rigorous splashing and loud muttering. Without thinking, Kwame flattened himself within a small crevice, hoping the torch beam would miss him. Unbelievably, the action worked as William Plunder strode past, talking to himself and obviously deep in thought. Taking advantage of this, Kwame turned and followed the distracted man, counting on the fact that he would eventually lead him out of the maze.
William had good cause to be concerned. Everything was beginning to fall apart: Linka had gotten away, the Planet Pests had arrived and broken through the water chambers, leaving everything a muddy, chaotic mess. Ba'ra was reportedly furious with the events that had transpired, as William's parents were currently realising . Expensive equipment had been destroyed and many of the enslaved workers had escaped. The only redeeming thought was that just as many had been swept into the bowels of the tunnel, deep within the earth. Chuckling to himself, William hoped this was where the Planeteers had ended up. They wouldn't survive for much longer since their 'secret weapon' would be awakening soon, hungry and cranky at the intrusion.

Feeling anxious and nervous, William finally entered the circular cavern, its walls somewhat resembling Swiss cheese due to the numerous pockmarks scattering the surface. Glancing around uncertainly (he had been momentarily spooked by the feeling of someone watching him), he passed through the archway uncertainly, mentally preparing himself for the instructions he was about to receive. So far, he hadn't seen the mysterious Ba'ra, responsible for the mayhem that they were about to unleash on the unsuspecting public. He had carried out orders given by the spirit, listening to its deep, booming voice through a curtain. William thought he sounded like a thunderstorm: the rumbling, gravelly voice would suddenly give way to a sharp bellow, like a crack of lightning (making himself and any other poor soul standing nearby jump 3 feet).

Standing uncertainly beside the same curtain, William listened to the raised voices coming from within, pondering whether or not he should make his presence known. Strangely, he only heard his mother's voice competing to be heard over Ba'ra: Blight was in fact pleading with the spirit, protesting her innocence. Barely able to wonder what happened to his father, the curtain pulled itself aside and William gasped in horror at the sight that greeted him. Barely noticing his father's crumpled, bleeding form in front of him, his attention was held by the appearance of the spirit itself.

"Unaccustomed to perfection, you sniveling humans." Ba'ra remarked acidly, kicking Plunder Sr's leg aside like it was a piece of discarded chicken. Dr Blight watched the spirit warily as it strided past her and sat against the wall, eyeing William with malevolence. Realising he was still staring, William proceeded to pick his jaw up of the floor and sat down quickly, looking anywhere but at it's form. This dude was ugly: it was hard to believe it was in the same league as the previously impenetrable Gaia. About eight feet tall, Ba'ra was obviously of alien origin. Its thick-set body was hidden within flowing red robes, matching the shade of his scaled skin. Talons replaced fingers: William wondered if he was capable of ripping a body apart with those suckers. It was the face that drew your attention, however. Shiny protrusions covered his entire head, giving it an eerie, uneven looking surface. Two small, beady eyes peered out from heavily hooded lids and a squat, pig like nose completed the picture. In a nutshell, William thought rather hysterically, this is one guy you'd want to avoid in a dark alley.

"Take him out of here. Leave this place before I wake the creature up." Ba'ra ordered to Blight, gesturing lazily towards Looten Plunder's stirring form. Moving quickly, the mad scientist hurriedly dragged his body out without a second glance at her stricken son. Wiping sweat from his face, William was already uncomfortable in the humid surroundings, more so at realising that Ba'ra was closely observing him.

"You have them?" Ba'ra asked, at which William immediately reached into his pockets and withdrew two rings: Wind and Heart. He moved to hand them over, but the spirit shook his head firmly. Leaning back, he began to explain.

"No, you still have a job to do for me. I have instructed the others to leave, but it won't do them any good. The creature will ultimately devour anyone in its path. I brought it here several thousand years ago, burying it deep in the earth where it continued to grow in hibernation. It is now ready to feed."

"Some of the Planeteers still have their rings; I imagine they're down there with it as we speak...."

Ba'ra laughed, amused. "That's where you come in, my friend. Put the rings on." Leaning forward, Ba'ra placed Linka's ring on his index finger and uttered the word that unlocked its power. "Wind!" he commanded looking on amazed as a small hurricane whirled around them, picking up dirt and water that had been steadily building up. As the hurricane died down, Ba'ra stood and beckoned for William to follow.

"The creature will not harm you, as I control it. Just keep the remaining Planeteers busy while it gains strength. It will be susceptible to harm until it reaches the surface. Then nothing can stop it"

William didn't bother to ask how many civilizations Ba'ra had destroyed using this method. He didn't want to know, all he knew was that soon he would be a God: he had been hand chosen to be the right hand man to the most powerful spirit in the universe. What could compete with that? Smiling happily, he followed Ba'ra and climbed into one of the many makeshift mechanical trays, designed to carry tonnes of earth from below to the surface using a simple pulley system.

Making their descent into the depths below, they were unaware that an extremely pissed-off Planeteer was crouched inside the next tub, having heard everything that had transpired and desperately formulating a plan to save the trapped towns- people and his friends.

A low rumbling pervaded throughout the chamber, then stopped as quickly as it had started. Opening one eye, Wheeler realised he had been asleep for some time. Retrieving the arm that had been wrapped tightly around the girl sleeping next to him, he checked the time, seeing with shock that it was about 2am.

"I hope that was your stomach, Wheeler" commented a nervous voice from behind him. Sitting up, he positioned his jacket securely over Linka and shuffled backwards to sit next to Ma-Ti. The air had cooled a great deal over the past hour, and the rumbling had increased: not a good combination in Ma-Ti's opinion. Sitting with his arms around his knees, Ma-Ti silently observed the people trapped with them: 17 in total, including he and his friends. A young man lay against the wall, an injured woman sleeping in his lap. A small group of middle aged women huddled together for warmth, all asleep. Gi with her arms around two little boys no older than 8 or 9, heads lolling on their chests. A couple of older men continued to talk tiredly in Russian away from the others, still looking for a way out. An elderly man hadn't survived the fall: the others had left him in the water where he had sunk to the bottom. The hysterical woman from earlier now sat at the edge of the water, awake and obviously his daughter. Two of the captors, including 'muscle man' were taking it in turns to sleep while the other stayed awake. Ma-Ti could tell by their frightened expressions that they probably knew something they did not.

Then there was Linka. Even without his ring, Ma-Ti could tell she was ill. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, and her breathing had become shallow and erratic, tremors continuing to rack her body. Wheeler had eventually found the cause of the problem: a deep cut on her shoulder that had probably led to an infection. Gi had dressed it as best she could, but it was too late for preventative measures. Ma-Ti felt terrible for his American friend who now had his head resting on his knees, knowing that he was feeling utterly devastated at Linka's condition.

"We're all gunna' die down here, you know." Wheeler remarked quietly without lifting his head. Contemplating their situation, Ma-Ti shook his head defiantly. "Have faith, Wheeler. Kwame is still around. He'll find us...."

Wheeler wasn't so sure. Sighing, he raised his head finally and the two men talked idly for a while, only stopping when the rumbling occurred again.

"What the hell is that?" Wheeler whispered. "You realise there's something down there, don't you?" Nodding, Ma-Ti focused on the white glow emanating from the water, casting their only source of light into the chamber. Ma-Ti thought it wise to change the subject from their impending doom to something lighter.

"Got any plans for when, or if we get out of here?" Ma-Ti asked. Noticing a wistful smile spreading over Wheeler's face, Ma-Ti laughed and held up his hand. "Do not tell me, my friend. I don't want to know." A comfortable silence settled upon the two before Wheeler repeated the question towards him. Contemplating his answer, Ma-Ti shrugged.

"I don't know, really. I can't even accept the fact that Gaia's gone. Maybe I'd........perhaps travel. I mean, we've been to so many places, but we've rarely been able to stay and explore. I'd like to visit some historical landmarks: Stonehenge, Pompeii, Valley of the Kings.......maybe even revisit the Incan and Aztec ruins."

"Nah, Five Star resort in Hawaii for me, man: swimming, snorkeling and generally doing nothing." Wheeler's eyes lit up, lost in thought.

"Don't forget eating." Ma-Ti added smartly, earning a light punch from his friend. Chuckling softly, Wheeler crawled back to Linka who had begun to stir. Watching him wrap his arms around her affectionately, Ma-Ti smiled as he cheekily added her name to the list of things Wheeler wouldn't mind doing in Hawaii. He had occasionally used his power to gauge how things were going between the two and was always disappointed by the lack of progress. He was never really surprised though, since both of them were stubborn as mules and Linka often felt shy and intimidated by his confident, forthright manner.

Lost in his own thoughts, Ma-Ti didn't notice the bubbles rising to the surface of the water, or that the light within the chamber was becoming brighter. It wasn't until a solid shape came barreling out of the water that Ma-Ti was roused from his daydreaming. By now Wheeler was sitting back up and watching the shape with mounting horror as it glided elegantly through the air before losing momentum.

In a very surreal moment, Ma-Ti watched, transfixed while the object crashed back down to the surface, waking the inhabitants with a wet thumping sound. Wheeler had by now realised what it was as the corpse of the elderly man careened towards Gi and the boys who jumped up and ran, screaming in terror.

Before they had the chance to react, a fierce cracking sound assaulted their ears as debris began falling from the roof of the cavern. Yelling for everyone to move towards the walls, Wheeler and Ma-Ti grabbed Linka under the arms and dragged her to safety as the rocks fell.

"What's going on?" Gi's hysterical voice only just penetrated the noise which then stopped as quickly as it started. Bewildered, the survivors stood alert and watchful as Wheeler surveyed the area.

From her position on the ground, Linka opened her eyes and gasped. Tugging on Wheeler's jeans, she summoned her remaining strength as he bent down towards her.

"Look up." She whispered, pointing towards the ceiling. Turning, he found the large hole just as a very small figure appeared at the edge and jumped, careening into the water like a bullet and disappearing from view. Stunned, the others looked at each other warily and backed up as a deep roar vibrated through the air, knocking some of the women off their feet. Running to the waters edge, Wheeler and Gi were ready, rings outstretched for whatever was about to surface. Absurdly, William Plunder appeared and swam towards them, babbling incoherently. Gi lowered her defenses; uncertain while Wheeler kept his ring raised....this guy was not to be trusted. Talking at high speed, Gi only caught fragments of the frantic ramblings as he stumbled towards her,

"Help me.......monster.........eat us all!" Lunging forward, he grabbed Gi and pulled her with him down to the ground. Momentarily shocked, Gi was unprepared for the assault as William pinned her arms above her head with one hand and tried to retrieve her ring with the other. As Ma-Ti, Wheeler and two young men moved in to intervene, William turned briefly and bellowed "Wind!", blasting the surprised group into the water. Spluttering to the surface, Wheeler retaliated immediately. "FIRE!" He roared angrily, setting fire to William's shoes. Screaming in pain and fury, he was then tackled by Wheeler and the two Russian men into the water, more moving to assist.

Struggling to keep her eyes open, Linka watched as the group was thrown around by the power of her ring. Rubbing her swollen eyes, she tried to focus as Wheeler put a cursing William into a tight headlock and dragged him to the beach. As the group struggled to retrieve the rings and sedate the villain, Linka noticed the light was now overwhelming within the chamber. Once again, bubbles began to rise violently to the top, dispersing with circular waves lightly crashing in front of her. Crawling forward, Linka noticed that something else was surfacing: something much bigger than before.

"Guys?" She hissed, an hysterical edge to her voice as the light became concentrated within the water, forming a large shape. Getting unsteadily to her feet, she stumbled over to the group as the shape began to emerge from the water, solid and glistening. Whimpering softly, Ma-Ti glimpsed her approach: a terrified look on her face as she struggled to warn them. "What?" he mouthed to her as Wheeler pocketed the rings and punched William in the stomach for good measure.

"BEHIND YOU!" Linka shrieked. "MOVE!" Turning quickly, they glimpsed the massive, sparkly blob towering over them, emitting a blinding light. Transfixed, they simply stood staring at it for several moments, including William. Out of reflex, Wheeler pointed his ring towards the beast. The fireball that erupted was quickly extinguished by the fluid circulating throughout it's body.

"What in the friggin' hell is that?" Wheeler breathed softly. As if in reply, the thing opened it's massive, gelatinous mouth and bellowed, the vibrations again sending the group sprawling to the ground. "You've pissed it off now, Wheeler!" Gi chastised him as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

"I think it is best if that flee?" suggested Ma-Ti, advice that the group followed as they moved quickly towards the edge of the cavern, seeking out any protection they could find. Grabbing Linka's arm, Wheeler frantically searched for a space. With the bellowing still ringing in his ears, he motioned towards a hollow crack edging along the bottom of the wall, large enough to accommodate them. Understanding, Linka lay down on her back and wriggled inside, followed by Wheeler. Wrapping an arm around her neck to support his weight, he turned his head and watched the creature lumber towards the other side of the cavern towards the young men.

"Oh, shit...." Wheeler muttered. Linka attempted to look for herself, twisting her head around to see what was happening but Wheeler blocked her view, lowering his face next to hers. Cheeks touching, he listened to her rapid heartbeat and hugged her for all she was worth, trying to block out the screams and silently wondering where the hell Kwame was.

Oh God, the longest chapter I've ever written!!!! Two more chapters to go, I hope to finish it before school holidays end. For those who don't know, there will also be an epilogue to this fic. It will chronicle a tour that two certain characters will undertake as a result of all that has happened. I've got it all SO planned out in my head! I'm not gunna' go into too much detail regarding nocturnal activities, but If you are really craving a little detail or have any requests/suggestions, email me or post on CPC. Thanks for continuing to read, guys. I had an incredibly bad year last year, and writing these fic's keeps me motivated and positive.

Till next time, luv Sarah.

P.S: Fellow writers: did you receive an email from a Random-House offset company called Xliberus? Do you know anything about them?????