NEW NEWS! Okay, so I record my chapters (read aloud) and email them to my sister so she can listen to them when she is driving to work. It also helps me edit-and it's a TON of fun. Like an audio book. My sister liked chapter 82, and she suggested that I share one with you guys. So, if you are interested in hearing my audio from Chapter 82, let me know. I try to act them out, but they are not flawless (i.e. I often say "lost my spot" once or twice:)).

So, again, there are a few ways we can do this. I can make a YouTube channel or just email the audio to people who are interested. Let me know.

thanks -sultal.

Chapter 83: Pixiepunk

The heat woke him up. A thick, beefy heat that swelled, and pushed, and stuck to his skin.

Jim opened his eyes. Nothing. Nothing but black reflections in bronze mirrors.

Blinking, Jim shook his head. The heat and darkness were so disorienting, it wasn't until his spine hurt did Jim realize that someone was dragging him. His collar was pulled up around his throat as his body clunked over nasty, pointed metal things.

"Hey!" Jim hacked. His throat was sandpaper dry. Jim reached for the person pulling his collar.

His heart stopped. Whoever was dragging him…had a metal hand.

"Shit!" Fingers slipping in sweat, he yanked the metal hand.

"Ahh!"

"Ah!"

'Jimmy!"

"B.E.N.? Whoa!" B.E.N spun, blinding Jim with lime green headlights. Twisting like a lizard, Jim stumbled and crashed into what felt like a pile of tiny springs and gears.

Sifting through the metal bits, Jim groped his way through the darkness. He buckled as B.E.N's lime green eyes blasted into his face and the robot hugged his waist.

"Jimmy—!"

"—Oh for crying out—"

"You're alive!"

"Would you get the Hell off of—"

"Oh Jim!" B.E.N sung, hugging crease marks into Jim's stomach. "Oh Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jim Jim! Jim Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jim J—"

Suddenly B.E.N. and Jim stopped. A brilliant, white column of fire exploded from the darkness. The violent contrast of the bright flames was so sudden, it hurt to look.

One arm raised, Jim fell back into B.E.N. Heat undulated from the fire column. Squinting, Jim could just make out a dragon as it soared over miles of spare metal gadgets and parts.

"What…" Jim whispered as the fire extinguished. Darkness returned as the dragon swept overhead. "…what the Hell was that?"

B.E.N scampered beside him. The pile of gears sifted downhill as the robot pushed and prodded. "No time! Come on Jimmy!"

"Was that a dragon? A dragon? B.E.N., where is Wendy? She was with –"

"—No time! No time! No time!"

Jim pulled back. "B.E.N.!" he said, colliding with Morph in the dark. "B.E.N.! What's going –

"We gotta skedaddle, Jimmy!" B.E.N. said, computerized eyes alternately flashing red with worry. Seizing Jim's sleeve, B.E.N. dove into the darkness. "We gotta skedaddle before they come! They're attracted to the light!"

"Who?" Jim asked, stumbling in the dark. Fighting for balance, he suddenly thought of Silver and Facilier. "Who's attracted to the light?"

Then, he heard it. Softly at first, like a distant waterfall. Then, the murmur raised to a rattle as a cloud, blacker than the darkness, fluttered overhead like a swarm of bats.

Jim ducked. He felt B.E.N. trembling beside him, eyes covered.

The blackness spread over them like a sandstorm. The attack was brief but painful – Jim felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper against his brain. All he could think about was his father…his father's rotten, twisted smirk and identical deep, sunken eyes….looking at him…looking straight at him!

Suddenly, the vision of his father snapped away. The black swarm flew at a second column of fire. Jim watched as the blackness devoured the fire, and the dragon, like locus.

"What is that?" Jim whispered as the dragon screamed. Fire poured from the dragon's throat, but the light invigorated the blackness. "What is that black thing?"

B.E.N.'s lime pixels quivered. "Shadows." he said as the dragon crashed to the ground. Metal gears sprung up like fountains about the monstrous girth. "Shadows of the Underworld. Come on, Jimmy!"

Jim stepped back. Painfully, he tore away his gaze as the weeping dragon was stripped of its power.

"This is where the magical oven leads?" Jim asked, clumsily following B.E.N.'s luminous eyes. Outlines of broken edifices and spare parts gloomed in the thin green light. "Hell?"

"No, no! Not Hell!" B.E.N. trotted over something that clattered. Jim paused, then followed cautiously across a flat bridge. The iron framework trembled with every step. "This is the Underworld. Not Hell. Big difference."

"Fooled me." muttered Jim, stumbling off the overpass. The dragon's echoes extended outward and upward without ending. Jim looked up into the darkness. This place – the Underworld – must be huge.

"B.E.N." Jim reached for the robot's head. "Hey, slow down. I can't see a thing! B.E.N., where are we going?"

"My place, Jimmy! Safer! Lots of light – especially since you were dripping with pixie dust back there at the oven."

Jim frowned. "What?"

"Pixie dust!" B.E.N. said. His green eyes bounced as he hopped over a pile of scrap metal. He turned as Jim tripped. "You can't see it, Jimmy, but the Underworld is made entirely of mechanical-technological-industrial gismos! There are cities and cities stretching into every tunnel from Fantasia to the Fantasian Seas! And long ago – when folks use to live here – pixie dust powered the machines!"

"So!" B.E.N. continued, head revolving to look back at Jim. "We can use the pixie dust I scraped off you and your friends for light! In'it fantastic?!"

"Hold it!"

B.E.N squealed. Lunging forward, Jim clammed his hands over the robot's head. Angrily, he squinted into the lime, computerized eyes.

"Are you telling me that you saw Wendy and left her?"

B.E.N.'s eyes shrunk to green periods. "Ummmmm…I'm not sure if that is a trick question, Jimmy—"

"Answer!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" B.E.N. wailed, casting a hand over his eyes. "Ohhhh the shame! The horr—"

"Damn it!" Jim raked his hair. He thought furiously for a solution, but could only hear the dragon moaning in the distance. Cursing, he remembered Facilier had Wendy's thimble. "Damn it! Why the Hell would you leave her?"

"She wasn't alone!"

"Oh even better! So her safety is up to Pan!"

"And those guys were out for you Jimmy!" B.E.N. insisted, crawling forward on his knees. "Ohhhh BOY were they mad at you! And since we're best pals and all, I just had to take you in my arms and –"

"What guys?" Jim demanded. "What guys were out for me? Mad at me?"

"Wellllll….." B.E.N. cocked his head. His tone creaked with discomfort. "Well, some stringy looking fella with a questionable moustache. I mean I wouldn't call it Vogue but—"

Jim scowled.

B.E.N. continued. "—annnd that nice cyborg always asking for spare parts. Oh boy, let me tell you Jimmy it broke my heart to tear you away from him, but I said B.E.N.—you and Jimmy are old friends and—"

"Would you shut up for a minute?" Jim gripped his hair. Helplessly, he stared into the darkness. "Let me think. Okay….okay…okay…"

B.E.N. rocked on his heels. After timing exactly one minute on his internal clock, he slid quietly beside the boy. "Hey Jim. Any thoughts at all?"

Even in the dark, he could see Jim scowl.

"Welllllll!" B.E.N grinned sheepishly beneath Jim's glare. Nudging Morph, he inched away. "I think that Jimmy could use a little quiet time. So I'll just keep up with my namesake and bio-electronic-navigate and find me a back door."

Jim looked up. "What? Bio-navigate what?"

"Bio Electronic Navigate – as in Bio Electronic Navigator. My name. My job. My reason for waking up in the morning." B.E.N. beamed, oblivious as Jim rounded on him. "Jimmy I feel like we've been through this befo—"

"So you can navigate the Underworld?" Jim demanded, gesturing to the darkness. "You know how to get through here? To a back door? Exits?"

B.E.N nodded. "Sure thing!"

"Can you bring me to Wendy?"

"Is she a machine?"

"No."

"Part of the Underworld infrastructure?"

"No."

"Then I would have to say negative, Captain Jimmy!" B.E.N. said. "I'm just your average friendly neighborhood walking-talking compass! Not a detective! Not a bloodhound! Not an online dating service! Not –"

"—Okay I get it. Shut up." Jim scanned the darkness. Twice, he almost yelled Wendy's name. He even considered calling for Peter Pan. But the faint rumble of the dragon reminded Jim that the shadows, Facilier, and Silver were still on the hunt.

Cautiously, Jim cleared his throat. He did not like to leave Wendy. Especially without her thimble. Jim shook his head as terrible scenarios needled through his mind. But…so much was at risk. Who knew how much time had passed? How close was sunset on the third day? Was Headmaster Mickey all right? Was he even alive? And the school…the students…Ariel…

Jim clenched his fists. If anyone – anyone – hurt Ariel….

And then…there was the map. Billy Bone's map to the Wishing Star.

Jim closed his eyes. "Shit."

B.E.N. glanced at Morph. Concernedly, he focused his green headlights on Jim. "Uh….Jimmy?"

"B.E.N." Jim turned. His blue eyes glowed aquamarine in the lime light. "B.E.N. where does the back door exit?"

B.E.N. tapped his chin. The tinny sound reverberated down his throat and chest. "Puh! There are oodles and oodles of back doors Jimmy. Most empty in the ocean – dragons power the ocean vents, don't ya know. Buuuut, some open up to the land."

Jim nodded. His heart started to race. "B.E.N. Do you know Fantasia School for the Magically Skewed? Well there's a forest, a ravine, and field behind it. Can you get as close as possible to that field? Behind the school?"

B.E.N. jumped up and down. "Oooo! Oooo! Yes! Yes! Huzzah! At last I can be useful! Let me see, let me see…well we could use the back door that leads to Edna Mode's….or the back door that leads to Tony's Restaurant. Eh, but those might be a little out of your way—"

"B.E.N.!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I got it!" B.E.N. grabbed Jim's hand and sped off into the darkness. They ran several feet before B.E.N. slammed into a scaffolding structure the size of the skyscraper. "How about this one! This one This one!"

Jim looked up. The skeletal building looked ancient and abandoned. And, judging by the way B.E.N. was pointing, he expected Jim to climb up into the darkness.

Jim paused. He smoothed a hand over the metal framework. "This is a back door?"

"Yep!"

"And it goes to the outside? Land?"

"Right again, Jimmy!"

"Uh, huh. W—" Jim stopped. Sharply, he turned. For a second, he thought he had heard something.

But there was nothing.

Warily, Jim returned to B.E.N. "Where does this lead?"

B.E.N. seized the lowest rail. He scampered up the rungs like a squirrel. "Some white rabbit hole." B.E.N. smiled. "Just outside Petrified Forest. Right by the castle."

"Castle? You mean Fantasia School?"

"Whatever makes you happy, Jimmy! Come on!"

Jim gripped a crossbrace. Guiltily, he cast one last look into the darkness.

"You better fucking take care of her, Pan." he whispered before swinging up the rungs after B.E.N.

Curiously, the darkness intensified. Even the light from B.E.N.'s eyes dimmed as they climbed.

"How much longer?" Jim asked, boot slipping on a loose rung.

"No idea!" B.E.N. called. He hummed cheerfully, looking down. "In the old days, I'd use m big brother as a reference."

"Big brother?" Jim grunted, hauling himself over an iron plank. "Who's he?"

BAM!

Jim almost fell. Fingers sliding down two rungs, Jim whipped about as a brilliant, beautiful golden-white light shot up like a pinnacle in the distance. Like a gunshot, thousands of twinkling lights exploded concentrically about the pinnacle of light for miles and miles. Light-bulbs hummed. Engines purred. Gears tickered. Whistles blew. Machines buzzed.

Hundreds, and hundreds of cities bounded to life. In one second.

Jim stared. The Underworld wasn't huge. It was monstrous.

It was a chasm vast as the sea and twisted as a sailor's knot. Dragons sulked over stone mountains. Shadows screeched to the never-ending ceiling, startled by the light. And the cities, the cities burned with mechanical energy despite the absence of biological life. It was a steampunk vista, sprinkled with an illuminating power source…

"Pixie dust." Jim said, watching sparks of dust spit from rotating gears. His eyes lifted to the golden pinnacle of light that had detonated the Underworld's rejuvenation.

Squinting, Jim leaned forward. The pinnacle was so far away, but he could just make out the face of huge clock.

A bell tolled as B.E.N. dropped beside him. "Hey! There he is right now, Jimmy!"

"Who?" Jim asked, spine shivering in the haunting toll.

"My big brother!" B.E.N. laughed, waving ecstatically to the massive clock. "He use to hold all the pixie dust! Gives power and light and time to the Underworld! AND, his tower points the way directly to the Seaworld entrance!"

B.E.N. thumped his chest proudly before clamoring up the scaffold. "Yup my brother – Big B.E.N.!"

Jim gazed at the clock– Big B.E.N. Light pulsated from the tower like blood from a beating heart.

Distractedly, he followed B.E.N.

"So…pixies use to live here?"

"Yup!" said B.E.N.

Jim glanced at the chasm mountains. "And…dragons?"

"When the pixies left. Dragons made steam to power the city – from the volcanic ocean vents!"

"And…." Jim said, looking up into the writhing black ceiling. "…the shadows?"

B.E.N paused. He seemed to be pawing at something.

"The last guardian of the Underworld…played with shadows." B.E.N. finally said, a little sadly. "…even after all that nasty business up there on land with the star or whatever the caboozle happened up there. He was kind of a bitter puppy."

"Who was the guardian?" Jim asked, glancing again at the glowing clock tower.

B.E.N. squeaked. Victoriously, he punched a hand through a small hole. Tuffs of grass and wedges of dirt tumbled into Jim's eyes. Jim blinked. He could see stars on the other side.

"Old guy. Long beard. Sorcerer. Real grouch." B.E.N. said, grasping the edges of the hole. Gleefully, he held a hand to Jim. "Name was Yen Sid. Okay, Jimmy! Up we go!"

And with one last look and the first of many prayers, Jim left the Underworld through the rabbit hole.

sultal's note:

Hey all- hope the first week of school has been legendary. Good luck to everyone starting school this week.

next chapter peter and wendy -per request :)

keep writing.