Chapter 7: Forced Shut-down

"What more intruders?" Vinmill read from his phone that chimed him out of meditation. The phone alerted him to an incoming call. "Hello this is Vin," he answered.

"You're dragging your feet," the man who called for status before seethed on the other end.

"Unlike you, I actually care about collateral damage," Vinmill said un-amused about his superior's behavior.

"Protecting and stalling are two different things!" the man roared.

"Stalling!" Vinmill snapped. "I've been busting my ass trying to corral the inhabitants away from dead zones, no help from the intruder who now is targeting Nazz for some reason, and the new intruders that appeared less than three seconds ago!"

"Oh sorry I didn't know barriers required more than the three brain cells over what is left in you. You are aware that the world you're currently rooting around on is restarting in 10 minutes right? Because you can always play with your 'intruders' while you four are stuck in temporal limbo," the superior said provoking a hiss out of Vinmill, more over the insult than the possibility of collapsing time paradoxes.

"Watch the news," Vinmill forced through grit teeth.

"Make me proud my boy," the man spoke and the call ended again. Just then another beep and intruder found, in a final act of rage Vinmill threw the phone into the water making it short out.

"So much for a clean cut," Vinmill said solemnly. The platform started to glow a bright hue of silver as he returned to his meditative stance.

"Great spirits of the forgotten land, grant the rouge spirits of this earth peaceful transition to the nether. And cleanse my soul of the sins I will create tonight."

"Maku私はあなた自身のあなたの誇りに願っています," a boy's voice spoke out as Double d regained consciousness.

"私は自分のいつも誇りに思う," a young girl responded with a laugh. Double d tried to look at the source of the voice but found only darkness.

"まあ、思い出は," the boy spoke again his voice displaying a brief tinge of panic. Double d tried to stay still but the fear and the confusion of his predicament didn't provide any assistance to him.

"Oh no you don't," The young girl spoke slyly a fist broke into the side of Double d's head knocking him out. "See you in the future."

"Sarah? Where are we?" Jimmy asked as the two wandered through pipe after pipe.

"Beats me Jimmy it's not like those IDIOTS DIDN'T MAKE A MAP OR ANYTHING!" Sarah voice echoed across the labyrinth. She wandered into a tunnel and ran into an invisible barrier, the 14th one that day. "AND WHO'S IDEA WAS TO MAKE THESE STUPID INVISIBLE WALLS?"

"Sarah," Jimmy squeaked.

"What?" Sarah asked frustrated.

"A way out!" Jimmy exclaimed pointing to a ladder in the corridor adjacent to the invisible wall.

"Not again!" A voice from above yelled. Kevin ran into a pitfall on the upper levels and now was plummeting down to Jimmy and Sarah. Jimmy shrieked as Kevin landed on him causing an indent in the stone pipe. Kevin immediately stood upright Jimmy in all and started to bolt in the same direction as Sarah did.

"Hey!" Sarah roared as Jimmy fell off Kevin. Her anger quickly changed to laughter when Kevin collided off the same invisible wall.

"FORGET THIS PLACE I'M OUTTA HERE!" Kevin yelled both in fright and rage. He dodged Sarah's fists and leaped at the ladder.

"GET BACK HERE BUSTER!" Sarah roared. Some sort of liquid started dripping on her head.

"S-s-s-sarah," Jimmy stammered, Sarah turned back to her squeamish friend and saw him stark white staring up the hole Kevin fell in from, red droplets dripping on his face and clothes. She looked and immediately wished she didn't. Because what was scuttling down was a six- armed humanoid figure with bloody garbs, open wounds, and three elongated heads with black sunken eyes and trapezoid mouths of bleeding razor sharp teeth. Needless to say she and Jimmy bolted as fast as they can up the ladder after Kevin, the thing reached the bottom of the ladder and shrieked as the kids jumped out of the opening into the crisp night air.

"LET'S GO!" Johnny yelled as he, and Rolf started closing the hatch.

"NO MEAL TIME FOR THE DEMON OF THE TUNNELS!" Rolf yelled. The hatch rattled in a large clang and the inside fell silent. The corridor that housed the hatch provided no light or a sense of direction.

"What was that?" Sarah yelled scared out of her mind.

"That thing was hungry for me Sarah!" Jimmy cried. "It's eyes, oh it's eyes."

"Whatever that was I never want to see that it again man!" Kevin stammered shaking like a leaf.

"All I did was touch an orange wall," Johnny spoke out gripping his friend Plank hard.

"Where are you Ed?" Sarah cried for her big brother. The yelling and crying was compounded by a small quake that started to rattle the system. The quake grew along with a very bright light that blinded the group in a silver and blue cascade.

(October 10)

(Time 2min)

-ENTRY BLOCKED-

(October 10)

(Time: 25 sec)

(I'm sorry)

-TRANSMISSION LOST-