Chapter Six
The Gates of the Web
It was a chamber. Relatively narrow in width and average in length, it was of immense height. Along the walls and ceiling, wiring could be glimpsed, snaking its way across the expanse of the room. At the far end, there stood a vast, circular frame filled with a shimmering blue-green substance. Vague shapes could be glimpsed through it, but the substance was too murky to make any of them out in much detail.
Calhoun picked her scanner up from the floor and examined it. Satisfied that it was still in good shape, she did a quick check. "No signs of life," she said, moving forward. "You can come in now."
"What is this place?" Ralph said again.
"I share your curiosity," said Gene, glancing about the chamber. "I've never seen anything like it."
"What's that thing over there?" Vanellope asked, pointing towards the odd framework.
"A portal of some kind, I guess," Calhoun replied. She knelt down to examine the ground.
"More footprints," she said. Still on her hands and knees, she moved forward slowly, inching steadily towards the portal. Five feet away from it, she stood up and gestured for Ralph, Gene, and Vanellope to join her.
"There are several sets of footprints in this room," she said. "But one of them is definitely Felix's. And it leads this way- into the portal."
There was dead silence for at least a minute.
"Where does this...er…portal go?" Gene asked.
"I have absolutely no idea," said Calhoun. "But I know Felix is beyond it. We have to go through."
"So be it," said Gene. "I'm not backing out now."
"Neither am I," said Ralph.
"I didn't come this far to quit," said Vanellope.
"Follow me, then." With that, Sergeant Calhoun stepped into the portal.
The substance was gelatinous, yet smooth. Cold, of the most soothing kind, seemed to creep into every fibre of Calhoun's being. She felt lethargic, yet she was still vividly aware of her surroundings.
A weird contradiction she thought. I'd never have been able to imagine it before now.
Electrical pulses danced before her eyes, as if in slow motion. Colors flared around her: violet, scarlet, yellow, green, and teal. They coalesced into strange shapes that lasted for only fractions of a second, before fading away as if they had never been.
And then the electrical pulses increased in size, until they filled the whole of her vision…
Calhoun stepped out of the portal onto a vast carpet of blue. The room she had entered was immense, with passages winding outwards from the wall ahead, as well as the walls to the left and right. The ceiling was a circular dome. The entire room was as blue as the floor, except for bright red lettering on the floor which read:
Welcome to the Internet
As Calhoun began to move forward, she heard her companions emerge from the portal behind her.
"That was like swimming in electric jello," said Vanellope. "We should do it agai-" She stopped speaking as soon as she saw the red letters.
"So, he did go to the internet," said Ralph.
"You guessed that?" said Gene.
"Hush," said Calhoun. "I hear something"
There was a muffled clanking sound from one of the passages along the far wall. Calhoun glanced back at the others.
"You all saw the shapes through the portal when we first came in, right?"
They nodded.
"Where did they go?"
The clanking sounds were now coming from passages in the left and the right walls as well. Calhoun drew her blaster and held it at the ready. Vanellope stayed next to Ralph, who readied his fists, while Gene glanced about the chamber warily.
Three four-legged beasts emerged, one from each wall, and began to walk slowly towards the little band. Their shape was wolf-like, but instead of flesh, they appeared to be made of iron. Their eyes were a sickly yellow. With every step they took, they produced a harsh noise as of metal grinding against itself.
"Iron wolves?" said Gene. "Whose idea was this? Welcome to the internet indeed. Humph."
"Stay together," said Calhoun. "Whatever happens, don't let them separate us."
The wolves continued to move forward. Calhoun raised her blaster.
A loud, metallic crash mingled with a fierce growl prompted Calhoun to look behind her. Another one of the beasts had just leapt from atop the portal down behind the group.
Calhoun spun about and emptied several shots into the creature. It howled in irritation and pain, but did not drop.
"Ralph!" Calhoun cried. "Wreck this thing, will you?"
As Ralph turned to engage the beast, one of the other three sprang forward, swatting Gene across the room towards one of the passages. Vanellope glitched towards the mayor, arriving just in time to break his fall with her own body. She groaned as Gene landed atop her. The mayor rolled off of her onto the ground and she sat up.
"Anything…broken?" Gene asked, pausing between the two words for a breath.
Vanellope shook her head.
"That's astounding," said Gene. "By the way, thanks for- ah!"
One of the creatures was moving towards both of them again. Calhoun, who had witnessed the entire scene, opened her hoverboard and leaped atop it. No sooner had she gunned its engine, however, than one of the creatures tackled her, knocking her from the hoverboard. Calhoun felt herself pressed down onto the ground briefly, before the creature began to rise into the air, caught in Ralph's grip. Ralph smashed the beast against the floor, before hurling it's corpse beside that of the one from above the portal, which he had left in a thoroughly broken state.
"Thanks," said Calhoun, rising to her feet. "Now, where's my hoverboard?"
"Look!" Ralph cried, pointing. Calhoun followed the direction of his finger. The remaining two beasts had backed Vanellope and Gene into one of the passageways and were blocking the opening, preparing to spring within. Before Ralph or Calhoun could react, the hoverboard smashed into the archway above the entrance to the passage. An energy field sprang up between the startled creatures and their intended prey, prompting yowls of fury.
"Hey, Ralph!" Calhoun heard Vanellope calling. "Ralphie! Sarge! Get us out of here!"
Before Ralph and Calhoun could make a move, the two beasts whirled about and charged them, forcing them towards another passageway. Their attack was swift, and before either arcade character knew it, they'd been forced into the passage.
"I've still got plenty of ammo left," said Calhoun. "And you've got your fists. If we can just-"
She stopped talking as a red light blinked atop one of the creatures. Both of them stopped growling and backed out of the passage's entrance.
"What's going on?" Ralph wondered aloud.
One of the creatures reached a paw out towards a space that was just out of Ralph and Calhoun's sight. Another energy field sprang up, cutting them off from the main hall.
"Hey!" Ralph cried. "No!"
The creatures bared their teeth before walking slowly away and disappearing into one of the numerous unblocked passages.