Title- The Greatest Expectation

Author- Elvenwolf

Summary- Takes place around chapter 25. Pip's life becomes a who lot more unusual. I wrote this for English extra credit. I was all "Hey I wander if there's any Fan fictionof Great expectations" and my teacher was all "I have no idea"so I took it upon myself to make some. Little did I know there was a whole Charles Dickens section on FFso excuse the randomness. It's funny but has really nothing to do with the book besides the charactors and setting.

Disclaimer- I do not own Great expectations or any of the charactors but I probably do own... oh nvm just read it.

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Chapter one, Of Obession and Oddities

These were grand times for Pip. His dream had finally come true! He was a gentleman. Life was really delivering. He couldn't help but think happily as he and his two best friends sat by the side of the lake eating a packed lunch. They had just taken a break from canoe racing for their noon time meal.

"This has been a pleasant afternoon."

"That it has." Hebert Pocket answered taking a bite of a sandwich.

"May I inquire as to the whereabouts of a certain young lady who may have enjoyed this?" Pip asked cautiously in case the other two did not want to hear of the subject yet again.

"Oh Handel, must Estella always be everything that is in that mind of yours?" Herbert asked in a friendly yet exasperated manner. "The truth is Handel none of us know where the lovely Estella is."

"Oh." Pip looked down at his own sandwich dejectedly.

When they returned later that day, followed sullenly by Drummle, Pip, Startop, and Drummle were due for lessons so Herbert left them and went home.

Matthew Pocket was waiting for them in his study and they quickly set to work on their various tasks of expanding the mind. Some time passed and none of them paid much attention to their teacher except for instructions until Mr. Pocket suddenly lept up from his desk chair and fixed them all with a very uncharacteristic stare.

"I think you boys are about ready." He said in a tone that none of them had ever heard him use before. The exchanged unsure glances, and Startop was seen to be thinking that Mr. Pocket had finally gone off the edge, or rather taken a flying leap off the edge. Mr. Pocket circled round his desk and strode forward till he stood directly before the three boys and in a confidential tone he spoke,

"Come closer it wouldn't do for anyone but those chosen to hear." The boys leaned in starting to catch on to Matthew's excitement.

"Now I have deemed you ready to bear the burden that every Gentleman must for it is our way and our tradition." Suddenly the frenzied old man stood straight and practically ran over to one of the plentiful bookshelves and pulled a dusty old ceramic bookend off the shelf. Then he pulled back his gentlemanly arm and smashed the bookend on the floor. There was no doubt in the boy's minds. Their teacher was utterly bonkers, but Matthew on the other hand had bent down and was sorting through the smashed ceramic till he stood holding a tiny brass key in his hand.

"Now you young sirs! Now we may proceed." He lead them over to the other side of the study where their was a globe on the table, and lifted the earth out of the globe handing it over to a very confused Pip and inserting the key in the base of the globe. The floor started to vibrate as gears turned, and the desk the globe had been resting on cracked in half as the floor opened to revel a long dark staircase.

"Um… what's that for?" Startop asked nervously.

Drummle stared in an unfocused way as if he believed himself to be in a very odd dream, and Pip just looked like everything that was going on was seven feet over his head.

"All in good time boys now get along please." He gestured for them to enter the yawning abyss in the floor. With varying degrees of denial and fear they did so.

The stairwell was dark and damp and they had to be careful not to slip. The farther they went the darker it got till they finally reached the bottom and could no longer see the light of day. Suddenly the flickering light of a fire flared up as Mr. Pocket held a wooden torch with a wrought iron handle above his head. The young gentlemen stared about in amazement. They were in the beginning of deep caverns that seemed to stretch on endlessly. The huge main cavern they stood in now was totally barren but for one solitary tea table covered in a checkered clothe and set for tea.

"As you can see we've been expecting you." Mr. Pocket said with a smile striding confidently over to the quaint little very out of place tea table.

"W- we?" Startop stammered out on the verge of panic.

"Yes, me and the… others…" Mr. Pocket let that trail off somewhat ominously. Dark shadows started to dance out of the adjoining caverns and eerie singing came from who knows where in the dark. Startop let out a shriek and clutched onto Pip for dear life. Drummle still looked clueless and Pip quaked in his boots, scared out of his mind. Then Mr. Pockets voice rang out above it all,

"Come now boys the tea's getting cold!"

-end chapter one-