Into the Labyrinth - Chp 5 - PG-13, AU, Sp, WIP

[Core]

Into the Labyrinth
adaptaion by
Cory "Core" Belote

adaptation of "Labyrinth: The Movie" by Jim Henson,
Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, and Elaine May

from "Labyrinth" writen by A.C.H. Smith


::Rated PG-13::

::Warning::
This adaptation contains shounen-ai, crossdressing, language, musical and other
things that may be offensive to some.

Chapter One
"The Black Bat"

The light of the moon shines against the raven black bat illuminating it into a pale white and blue, only to vanish into darkness against the starlight sky. The wings of the large creature make no sound as it flies, seen by none, but hearing and seeing all. He continues on towards the horizon night turning to twilight as he reaches a point, a place where the voices are not as loud. He glides down through the thick clouds, finding himself over a park to a small town a few miles outside of a large city, his clawed feet and thumb catching the limb of a tree. The wind causes the tree to moan as it rushes past, ruffling the soft fur covering the bats body and moving something of reddish pink in the distance. The creature watchs with gold and crimson eyes, another creature running through the woods wearing a white dress and cloak, a tiera in the fiery hair trailing like the tail of a comet.

The blue eyed figure moves through the trees of the large park to a large white gazebo with stone colums and rails partly covered by a creeping vine, the water of a large pond next to it ripple as the wind blows across the surface. A rather large beast like creature with spike like hair and fangs lays next to the water silently, looking like he is alseep. The reddish pink haired figure slows to a walk, each step radiating with purpose and determination as the trees sigh with the growing breeze.

"Give me the child," the white figure says, voice low, but strong with an inner courage. "Give me the child."

The slender but shaply figure reaches a hand out towards the gazebo, continueing forward slowly. "Through dangers untonld and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours ... and my kingdom as great ..."

The blue eyes close tightly as thunder rumbles in the distance, the large bat blinking once, his blood red eyes watching intensely.

"My will is as strong as yours." The figure says again with more intensity and determination. "And my kingdome as great ..."

The figures shoulder slacken as the outstretched hand reaches into the cloak, "Damn it! I can never remember that line."

An aged book with 'The Labyrinth' etched in gold lettering on the front reveils itself from under the cloak, the figure opening it to a marked passage close to the end, holding it up in the waning light to read outloud. "You have no power over me ..."

A loud clap of thunder causes the blue eyed figure to jump, the book falling form the delicate hand as the animal near the pond stirs, letting out a growl at the sky, the wind picking up more. The figure clutches the cloak, the old curtain held by a glass brooch not offering much protection from the bitting cold carried by the wind.

"You have no power over me," the figure whispers, eyes closes as the line is repeated over and over in an attempt to remember it.

The clock in the old court house sounds the hour, the bell sounding over town and wind, annoucing to all the time and breaking the still figures conscentration.

"Wha- was that seven Beastman!" The figure exclaims, looking at the hunched animal coming towards him. "I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

The figure breaks into a run with the beast following close behind, the storm building quickly as lightning darts across the sky and thunder rumbles the ground, large droplets of rain starting to fall upon them. The large bat watchs as the pair runs off, not bothering to follow them or give up his perch on the branch as of yet, for even as the storm swirls in the sky it was his time and he knew all that he needed or wanted.

The fiery haired figure runs quickly down the street as the rain comes down in sheets, Victorian houses lining both sides similar to the one she heads towards. The wooden door to the house opens as she is less the a block away from the shelter, an other figure wearing a dark blue dress and heels standing there with her arms folded over her chest, her eyes cross at the running white clad figure.

"It's not fair, it's not fair!" The blue eyed figure pants as it heads for the house, seeing the woman standing there looking at the jeweled watch on her wrist. The sight almost bring the fiery haired figure to tears, "It's not fair!"

"What isn't fair is that we have to wait for you to come back more then an hour late." The woman says as the rain soaked figure and beast slow to a walk along the short garden path to the porch. "When are you going to start thinking of others instead of yourself Burnerman. This is an important night for your father and I."

"If its so important, then I don't see why I can't go." The blue eyed navi states as he marchs up the stairs of the porch, the beast following and shaking the rain off of its body before going to a spot to lay down out of the rain.

"Because no one is available to babysit your brother. Look at you, not only are you trying to ruin this night for me and your father, you are out running in the rain in that. Don't you at least have any respect for yourself?" She berates the younger navi, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry." Burnerman says with a sigh, rolling his eyes, reflecting his true feelings of not even caring for the woman before him.

"Don't you take that tone with me, I'm your mother." The woman snaps.

"You are not my mother!" The blue eyed teen yells, "You will never replace her so don't even try to!"

Burnerman pushes the brown haired woman out of his way as he runs into the house, tears burning in his eyes as he retreats up the stairs to his room, rushing past his father holding a crying child. He shuts himself away in the blue and pink painted room decorated with white shelves holding stuffed animals of all types, as well as book and small pictures of himself with his dark haired father and another woman with blue eyes and hair the same as his. He sobs as he gets out of the wet gown, placing it carefully on a hanger on the door leading to his private bathroom dispite the anger boiling inside of him along with the sadness. The blue eyed teen changes into a pair of faded black jeans and a loose fitting sweat shirt, collapsing on the bed and hugging a pillow that catches his tears.

He looks at the small picture next to the bed of the happy family he once knew and was part of, his memory venturing back to when his mother was alive and well. The fiery haired woman a professional actress and musician, staring in a number of films and even allowing him to go to work with her to view things in the movie buisness, sparking his intrest in performing arts. His father a stun man and cooridinator of special effects and fighting scenes used in the fast paced martial arts movies made a the studio, the man quiet in public and seeming almost as cold as steel. The man truely being a silent and strong family man, that in private moments with them was as warm and friendly as a clear spring day, all of it changing in a flash with a mishap at the studio where a car used in another film went off course and hit the building they were in.

A light tap at his door brings him out of his reminecing of the past, causing him to look up at it. "I want to be left alone."

"I understand." His father's voice says through the door, "Yuriko is just upset about things not going as planned. I'm sorry that you can't attend with us, I know your mother would have wanted you there to accept the award for her. But they don't allow children under the age of 5 to attend the award shows, and there was no one to look after your brother. Try and think of what your mother would do if she couldn't find someone to look after you when we had to go out to another award show."

Burnerman sniffles as he draws his legs up to his chest on the bed, hugging the pillow and recalling how his mother would call and tell the award society that she was staying to take care of him. "I'll look after Aquaman while you and Yuriko are out."

"I already fed him and put him to bed, he should he asleep for a few hours and shouldn't give you much trouble." The scar faced man says, silence following before footsteps sound that he is leaving.

The blue eyed boy sits on his bed silently, his eyes looking around at everything from his dresser to his books, something bothering him about his room. Burnerman studies the room carefully his eyes finally meeting with a vacant spot on a shelf with his stuffed animals, a low growl starting to rumble through him as he realizes what is wrong, the sound of the front door closing eclipsed by his own fitfull roar of anger.

"Someone," he growls, stressing the word, "has been in my room!"

The fiery haired boy slings his legs over the side of his bed onto the floor marching towards the door, everyone in the house knew that he kept his room as he likes it, arranging everything so that it has its own place with its own meaning to him. He had even learned how to repair outlets and other things in the room incase something happened, leaving no one with the slightest reason to violate his sacried space, save for if they wish to speak with him. Burnerman opens the door and starts down the hall to the room his brother is in, knowing that the woman had violated her privacy and taking one of her precious things to give to her child. As he starts to reach for the door, he hears the child within start to cry the storm outside rumbling loudly with flashes of light, mirroring the one inside of him in fierciness. Burnerman pushes the door open to see the small year old child standing up with his hands on the side of the crib, tears running down its face and looking for someone to comfort him. The blue orbs fix on the stuffed bear in the crib with the small navi, a slightly fadded red ribbon around its neck, one of the last things that his mother had given him.

"Give me back Launcelot you brat." Burnerman growls as he ignores the child, picking up stuffed toy, hugging it.

The small infantile child cries louder at the sight and the ignorance of its older sibling to his plight.

"Oh," Burnerman wails. "Oh, someone ... Save me. Take me away from this awful place."

Aquaman cries louder for attention, the storm growing worse as thunder claps loud enough to cause the windows and the dishes in the kitchen to rattle, lightning burning the skies above the house. Beastman growls as he is disturbed from his rest, looking at the sky as if it were a vile creature to rob him of his precious belongings and family. The blue eyed navi in the house continues to clutch the bear to his chest, his eyes closed as he sobs at the turn of things in his young life.

"Someone save me," he begs.

"Listen!" An odd creature says amongst a mass of his kind, a goblin.

All around the goblin, its fellow armor clad brotheren stir from their long slumber. Their red eyes looking around them, the different scraps of armors adorning their bodies making slight noises as they listen carefully from their castle.

"All right, hush now, shush." Burnerman says to himself, trying to calm both him and his baby brother down. "What is it that you want? Hmm? Do you want a story? All right!"

The blue eyed navi clears his throat, the words from his favorite book coming to him clearly. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful young man whose stepmother always made him stay with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child who wanted everything for himself, and the young man was pracitcally a slave boy. But what no one knew was this: the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with him, and had given him certain powers."

The goblins in the castle stir more as more of their kind awaken, all paying close attention to the sound reaching their ears. The storm erupts once more with light and sound, but both siblings become quieter, enclosed in their own world in the house.

"One night," Burnerman continues, "when the baby had been particularly nasty, the boy called on the goblins to help him. And they said to him, 'Say your right words, and we'll take the baby away to the Goblin City, and then you'll be free.' Those were their words to him."

The small heads of the horde of armor plated creatures nod enthusiastically as they listen and wait from their stronghold. Aquaman lays back down in the crib tiredly, giving only light protest as his brother leans close to him with a smile. The older sibling enjoying having an audience under his spell and Launcelot in his arms once more.

"But the boy knew," he says, "that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and he would turn the baby into a goblin. And so he suffered in silence, through many a long month ... until on night, worn out by a day of slaving at housework, and hurt beyond measure by the harsh, ungrateful words of his stepmother, he could bear it no longer."

Burnerman leans close to the baby, whispering the lines into the small ear, the child almost alseep. Aquaman rolls his head to face him, looking into the large blue orbs in silence for a few moments before erupting once more into a loud series of cries.

"Oh, fine then!" Burnerman growls with disgust, standing up and picking the child up in his arms along with the stuffed bear already there, walking around the room with the two as the storm continues. "All right, all right. Come on, now. Rock-a-bye baby, and all that stuff. Come on, Aquaman, knock it off already."

The small child refuses his siblings urging, continuing to to wail his grievances at the older boy. The walking around the room seems to fuel his anger more, causing him to cry out louder.

"Aquaman, be quiet will you? Please? Or --" He lowers his voice as he looks at the child crying at him, "-- I'll ... I'll say the words."

Burnerman looks at the wall cast in shadows by the toys in the room from the flashing of the lightning outside, addressing them dark shapes like a theatrical audience. "No! No! I mustn't. I mustn't. I mustn't say ... 'I wish ... I wish ...'"

"Listen," the same goblin says again to the others now awakened, ears straining.

"He's going to say it!" Another goblin says excitedly, boucing with energy.

"Say what?" One of the slower goblins ask, still trying to wake up fully.

The goblin that awakened them slaps him on the head lightly, "Shush!"

"Shut up!" Another snaps with a growl.

"You shut up!" The sleepy goblin says with a grunt, causing the others to go crazy with activity telling him to be silent only to have him answer back defiantly.

"Sh! Shhh!" The first goblin to awaken says as he places a hand over the other ones mouth.

The goblin next to him hits those around him with a small club, "Quiet!"

"Listen," the goblin says as he removes his hand from the others mouth. "He is going to say the words."

Burnerman grimaces as the ear splitting cries from his brother continues on, Aquaman turning red in the face from his screaming and drawing in ragged breaths to keep up the volume. The small child struggles and kicks in his arms, knocking Launcelot to the floor and causing the blue eyed navi to shug his eyes as his body shakes with aggrivation.

"I can bear it no longer," the reddish pink haired boy exclaims, holding the child up like a sacrifice to an ancient sun or moon diety. "Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, Come and take this child of mine Far away from me!"

The storm crashes as the goblins lower their heads sadly.

"That's not right," the first awaken says crestfallen.

"Where did he learn that rubbish?" The other gobling scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "It doesn't even start with 'I wish.'"

Burnerman stands there with his sibling still up in the air, Aquaman screaming even louder then before and causing his ears to ache from the sound coming from the small body, the noise further aggrivating him to a level beyond what he thought was possible. He brings the child close again, cuddling the small boy against his chest, the action lowering the volume of the screams to a normal level.

"Oh, Aquaman, stop it. You little monster. Why should I have to put up with this? You're not my responsibility. I ought to be free, to enjoy myself. Stop it! Oh, I wish ... I wish ..." The blue eyed boy says exhaustedly, the tormoil inside of him from the combination of the noise, anger, guilt, and weariness bringing him to tears. "I wish I did know what words to say to get the goblins to take you away."

"So where's the problem?" One of the goblins asks with a slight Jamacian accent, "'I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now.' Hmm? That's not hard, is it?"

"I wish ... I wish ..." Burnerman says as he stands there with the baby in his arms.

The goblns lean forward, once more alert and listening for the word to go into action.

"Did he say it?" The tired and dumb founded goblin asks, looking around him.

As one the others turn to face him, irritated by the constant questions. "Shut up!"

Aquaman whimpers as he draws in each breath deeply, his cries now gone and replaced by silence as he rests his head against his brother, his throat tired and hoarse from his screaming. His eyes slowly close, the blue eyed navi moving silently to the crib to place him there gently, pulling a blanket around the child to tuck him in. Burnerman walks quietly toward the door, the small child letting out an odd shriek before starting his cries once more, louder due to the pain in his throat, voicing his disposition. The older sibling takes hold of the handle and starts to close the door to leave the room, his head hanging limply.

"Aah," he moans as the lines from book come to mind once more, the annoyance and forgetting them coupled with the frustration of the crying child deepening his quickly growing depression. "I wish the goblins would come and take you away."

Burnerman shuts the door, leaning on it heavily as he hears the muffled cries from his younger sibling. "... right now."

"He said it!" One of the goblins exhales, the others milling around quickly to move out, leaving the larger and not so quick to think goblin behind.

The large goblin smiles as he realizes what the words meant, looking around him quickly to see that the others were already leaving, "Hey, wait for me!"

The lightnigh flashes as the storm drums the air with its furious beat, Aquaman's cries growing to a high-pitched screech as Beastman growls and snarls in warning as if an army of thugs and burglars from around the globe are decending upon his territory.
_________________

[Core]

Into the Labyrinth
adaptaion by
Cory "Core" Belote

adaptation of "Labyrinth: The Movie" by Jim Henson,
Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, and Elaine May

from "Labyrinth" writen by A.C.H. Smith


::Rated PG-13::

::Warning::
This adaptation contains shounen-ai, crossdressing, language, musical and other
things that may be offensive to some.

Chapter One
"The Black Bat"

The light of the moon shines against the raven black bat illuminating it into a pale white and blue, only to vanish into darkness against the starlight sky. The wings of the large creature make no sound as it flies, seen by none, but hearing and seeing all. He continues on towards the horizon night turning to twilight as he reaches a point, a place where the voices are not as loud. He glides down through the thick clouds, finding himself over a park to a small town a few miles outside of a large city, his clawed feet and thumb catching the limb of a tree. The wind causes the tree to moan as it rushes past, ruffling the soft fur covering the bats body and moving something of reddish pink in the distance. The creature watchs with gold and crimson eyes, another creature running through the woods wearing a white dress and cloak, a tiera in the fiery hair trailing like the tail of a comet.

The blue eyed figure moves through the trees of the large park to a large white gazebo with stone colums and rails partly covered by a creeping vine, the water of a large pond next to it ripple as the wind blows across the surface. A rather large beast like creature with spike like hair and fangs lays next to the water silently, looking like he is alseep. The reddish pink haired figure slows to a walk, each step radiating with purpose and determination as the trees sigh with the growing breeze.

"Give me the child," the white figure says, voice low, but strong with an inner courage. "Give me the child."

The slender but shaply figure reaches a hand out towards the gazebo, continueing forward slowly. "Through dangers untonld and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours ... and my kingdom as great ..."

The blue eyes close tightly as thunder rumbles in the distance, the large bat blinking once, his blood red eyes watching intensely.

"My will is as strong as yours." The figure says again with more intensity and determination. "And my kingdome as great ..."

The figures shoulder slacken as the outstretched hand reaches into the cloak, "Damn it! I can never remember that line."

An aged book with 'The Labyrinth' etched in gold lettering on the front reveils itself from under the cloak, the figure opening it to a marked passage close to the end, holding it up in the waning light to read outloud. "You have no power over me ..."

A loud clap of thunder causes the blue eyed figure to jump, the book falling form the delicate hand as the animal near the pond stirs, letting out a growl at the sky, the wind picking up more. The figure clutches the cloak, the old curtain held by a glass brooch not offering much protection from the bitting cold carried by the wind.

"You have no power over me," the figure whispers, eyes closes as the line is repeated over and over in an attempt to remember it.

The clock in the old court house sounds the hour, the bell sounding over town and wind, annoucing to all the time and breaking the still figures conscentration.

"Wha- was that seven Beastman!" The figure exclaims, looking at the hunched animal coming towards him. "I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

The figure breaks into a run with the beast following close behind, the storm building quickly as lightning darts across the sky and thunder rumbles the ground, large droplets of rain starting to fall upon them. The large bat watchs as the pair runs off, not bothering to follow them or give up his perch on the branch as of yet, for even as the storm swirls in the sky it was his time and he knew all that he needed or wanted.

The fiery haired figure runs quickly down the street as the rain comes down in sheets, Victorian houses lining both sides similar to the one she heads towards. The wooden door to the house opens as she is less the a block away from the shelter, an other figure wearing a dark blue dress and heels standing there with her arms folded over her chest, her eyes cross at the running white clad figure.

"It's not fair, it's not fair!" The blue eyed figure pants as it heads for the house, seeing the woman standing there looking at the jeweled watch on her wrist. The sight almost bring the fiery haired figure to tears, "It's not fair!"

"What isn't fair is that we have to wait for you to come back more then an hour late." The woman says as the rain soaked figure and beast slow to a walk along the short garden path to the porch. "When are you going to start thinking of others instead of yourself Burnerman. This is an important night for your father and I."

"If its so important, then I don't see why I can't go." The blue eyed navi states as he marchs up the stairs of the porch, the beast following and shaking the rain off of its body before going to a spot to lay down out of the rain.

"Because no one is available to babysit your brother. Look at you, not only are you trying to ruin this night for me and your father, you are out running in the rain in that. Don't you at least have any respect for yourself?" She berates the younger navi, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry." Burnerman says with a sigh, rolling his eyes, reflecting his true feelings of not even caring for the woman before him.

"Don't you take that tone with me, I'm your mother." The woman snaps.

"You are not my mother!" The blue eyed teen yells, "You will never replace her so don't even try to!"

Burnerman pushes the brown haired woman out of his way as he runs into the house, tears burning in his eyes as he retreats up the stairs to his room, rushing past his father holding a crying child. He shuts himself away in the blue and pink painted room decorated with white shelves holding stuffed animals of all types, as well as book and small pictures of himself with his dark haired father and another woman with blue eyes and hair the same as his. He sobs as he gets out of the wet gown, placing it carefully on a hanger on the door leading to his private bathroom dispite the anger boiling inside of him along with the sadness. The blue eyed teen changes into a pair of faded black jeans and a loose fitting sweat shirt, collapsing on the bed and hugging a pillow that catches his tears.

He looks at the small picture next to the bed of the happy family he once knew and was part of, his memory venturing back to when his mother was alive and well. The fiery haired woman a professional actress and musician, staring in a number of films and even allowing him to go to work with her to view things in the movie buisness, sparking his intrest in performing arts. His father a stun man and cooridinator of special effects and fighting scenes used in the fast paced martial arts movies made a the studio, the man quiet in public and seeming almost as cold as steel. The man truely being a silent and strong family man, that in private moments with them was as warm and friendly as a clear spring day, all of it changing in a flash with a mishap at the studio where a car used in another film went off course and hit the building they were in.

A light tap at his door brings him out of his reminecing of the past, causing him to look up at it. "I want to be left alone."

"I understand." His father's voice says through the door, "Yuriko is just upset about things not going as planned. I'm sorry that you can't attend with us, I know your mother would have wanted you there to accept the award for her. But they don't allow children under the age of 5 to attend the award shows, and there was no one to look after your brother. Try and think of what your mother would do if she couldn't find someone to look after you when we had to go out to another award show."

Burnerman sniffles as he draws his legs up to his chest on the bed, hugging the pillow and recalling how his mother would call and tell the award society that she was staying to take care of him. "I'll look after Aquaman while you and Yuriko are out."

"I already fed him and put him to bed, he should he asleep for a few hours and shouldn't give you much trouble." The scar faced man says, silence following before footsteps sound that he is leaving.

The blue eyed boy sits on his bed silently, his eyes looking around at everything from his dresser to his books, something bothering him about his room. Burnerman studies the room carefully his eyes finally meeting with a vacant spot on a shelf with his stuffed animals, a low growl starting to rumble through him as he realizes what is wrong, the sound of the front door closing eclipsed by his own fitfull roar of anger.

"Someone," he growls, stressing the word, "has been in my room!"

The fiery haired boy slings his legs over the side of his bed onto the floor marching towards the door, everyone in the house knew that he kept his room as he likes it, arranging everything so that it has its own place with its own meaning to him. He had even learned how to repair outlets and other things in the room incase something happened, leaving no one with the slightest reason to violate his sacried space, save for if they wish to speak with him. Burnerman opens the door and starts down the hall to the room his brother is in, knowing that the woman had violated her privacy and taking one of her precious things to give to her child. As he starts to reach for the door, he hears the child within start to cry the storm outside rumbling loudly with flashes of light, mirroring the one inside of him in fierciness. Burnerman pushes the door open to see the small year old child standing up with his hands on the side of the crib, tears running down its face and looking for someone to comfort him. The blue orbs fix on the stuffed bear in the crib with the small navi, a slightly fadded red ribbon around its neck, one of the last things that his mother had given him.

"Give me back Launcelot you brat." Burnerman growls as he ignores the child, picking up stuffed toy, hugging it.

The small infantile child cries louder at the sight and the ignorance of its older sibling to his plight.

"Oh," Burnerman wails. "Oh, someone ... Save me. Take me away from this awful place."

Aquaman cries louder for attention, the storm growing worse as thunder claps loud enough to cause the windows and the dishes in the kitchen to rattle, lightning burning the skies above the house. Beastman growls as he is disturbed from his rest, looking at the sky as if it were a vile creature to rob him of his precious belongings and family. The blue eyed navi in the house continues to clutch the bear to his chest, his eyes closed as he sobs at the turn of things in his young life.

"Someone save me," he begs.

"Listen!" An odd creature says amongst a mass of his kind, a goblin.

All around the goblin, its fellow armor clad brotheren stir from their long slumber. Their red eyes looking around them, the different scraps of armors adorning their bodies making slight noises as they listen carefully from their castle.

"All right, hush now, shush." Burnerman says to himself, trying to calm both him and his baby brother down. "What is it that you want? Hmm? Do you want a story? All right!"

The blue eyed navi clears his throat, the words from his favorite book coming to him clearly. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful young man whose stepmother always made him stay with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child who wanted everything for himself, and the young man was pracitcally a slave boy. But what no one knew was this: the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with him, and had given him certain powers."

The goblins in the castle stir more as more of their kind awaken, all paying close attention to the sound reaching their ears. The storm erupts once more with light and sound, but both siblings become quieter, enclosed in their own world in the house.

"One night," Burnerman continues, "when the baby had been particularly nasty, the boy called on the goblins to help him. And they said to him, 'Say your right words, and we'll take the baby away to the Goblin City, and then you'll be free.' Those were their words to him."

The small heads of the horde of armor plated creatures nod enthusiastically as they listen and wait from their stronghold. Aquaman lays back down in the crib tiredly, giving only light protest as his brother leans close to him with a smile. The older sibling enjoying having an audience under his spell and Launcelot in his arms once more.

"But the boy knew," he says, "that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and he would turn the baby into a goblin. And so he suffered in silence, through many a long month ... until on night, worn out by a day of slaving at housework, and hurt beyond measure by the harsh, ungrateful words of his stepmother, he could bear it no longer."

Burnerman leans close to the baby, whispering the lines into the small ear, the child almost alseep. Aquaman rolls his head to face him, looking into the large blue orbs in silence for a few moments before erupting once more into a loud series of cries.

"Oh, fine then!" Burnerman growls with disgust, standing up and picking the child up in his arms along with the stuffed bear already there, walking around the room with the two as the storm continues. "All right, all right. Come on, now. Rock-a-bye baby, and all that stuff. Come on, Aquaman, knock it off already."

The small child refuses his siblings urging, continuing to to wail his grievances at the older boy. The walking around the room seems to fuel his anger more, causing him to cry out louder.

"Aquaman, be quiet will you? Please? Or --" He lowers his voice as he looks at the child crying at him, "-- I'll ... I'll say the words."

Burnerman looks at the wall cast in shadows by the toys in the room from the flashing of the lightning outside, addressing them dark shapes like a theatrical audience. "No! No! I mustn't. I mustn't. I mustn't say ... 'I wish ... I wish ...'"

"Listen," the same goblin says again to the others now awakened, ears straining.

"He's going to say it!" Another goblin says excitedly, boucing with energy.

"Say what?" One of the slower goblins ask, still trying to wake up fully.

The goblin that awakened them slaps him on the head lightly, "Shush!"

"Shut up!" Another snaps with a growl.

"You shut up!" The sleepy goblin says with a grunt, causing the others to go crazy with activity telling him to be silent only to have him answer back defiantly.

"Sh! Shhh!" The first goblin to awaken says as he places a hand over the other ones mouth.

The goblin next to him hits those around him with a small club, "Quiet!"

"Listen," the goblin says as he removes his hand from the others mouth. "He is going to say the words."

Burnerman grimaces as the ear splitting cries from his brother continues on, Aquaman turning red in the face from his screaming and drawing in ragged breaths to keep up the volume. The small child struggles and kicks in his arms, knocking Launcelot to the floor and causing the blue eyed navi to shug his eyes as his body shakes with aggrivation.

"I can bear it no longer," the reddish pink haired boy exclaims, holding the child up like a sacrifice to an ancient sun or moon diety. "Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, Come and take this child of mine Far away from me!"

The storm crashes as the goblins lower their heads sadly.

"That's not right," the first awaken says crestfallen.

"Where did he learn that rubbish?" The other gobling scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "It doesn't even start with 'I wish.'"

Burnerman stands there with his sibling still up in the air, Aquaman screaming even louder then before and causing his ears to ache from the sound coming from the small body, the noise further aggrivating him to a level beyond what he thought was possible. He brings the child close again, cuddling the small boy against his chest, the action lowering the volume of the screams to a normal level.

"Oh, Aquaman, stop it. You little monster. Why should I have to put up with this? You're not my responsibility. I ought to be free, to enjoy myself. Stop it! Oh, I wish ... I wish ..." The blue eyed boy says exhaustedly, the tormoil inside of him from the combination of the noise, anger, guilt, and weariness bringing him to tears. "I wish I did know what words to say to get the goblins to take you away."

"So where's the problem?" One of the goblins asks with a slight Jamacian accent, "'I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now.' Hmm? That's not hard, is it?"

"I wish ... I wish ..." Burnerman says as he stands there with the baby in his arms.

The goblns lean forward, once more alert and listening for the word to go into action.

"Did he say it?" The tired and dumb founded goblin asks, looking around him.

As one the others turn to face him, irritated by the constant questions. "Shut up!"

Aquaman whimpers as he draws in each breath deeply, his cries now gone and replaced by silence as he rests his head against his brother, his throat tired and hoarse from his screaming. His eyes slowly close, the blue eyed navi moving silently to the crib to place him there gently, pulling a blanket around the child to tuck him in. Burnerman walks quietly toward the door, the small child letting out an odd shriek before starting his cries once more, louder due to the pain in his throat, voicing his disposition. The older sibling takes hold of the handle and starts to close the door to leave the room, his head hanging limply.

"Aah," he moans as the lines from book come to mind once more, the annoyance and forgetting them coupled with the frustration of the crying child deepening his quickly growing depression. "I wish the goblins would come and take you away."

Burnerman shuts the door, leaning on it heavily as he hears the muffled cries from his younger sibling. "... right now."

"He said it!" One of the goblins exhales, the others milling around quickly to move out, leaving the larger and not so quick to think goblin behind.

The large goblin smiles as he realizes what the words meant, looking around him quickly to see that the others were already leaving, "Hey, wait for me!"

The lightnigh flashes as the storm drums the air with its furious beat, Aquaman's cries growing to a high-pitched screech as Beastman growls and snarls in warning as if an army of thugs and burglars from around the globe are decending upon his territory.
_________________

[Midnight]

Ooh, quite intriguing this is.

Though I have never read the book upon which this fic is based, I still believe that you have done a marvelous job of extrapolating the events of that book into this fic. I must admit I did get a bit lost in the middle, since it seemed that the story got a little hard to follow, but as the chapter progressed, it became that much more lucid.

Poor Burner...dealing with what he believes to be an intolerable brat...and this is just getting good. Great adaptation.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Core]

Thank you Midnight, I'm using both the book and the movie as references so that I can get things right. The movie closely follows the book, and I remember it all so vividly. This does have character changes, and some other things different from both. I just hope that the adaptation of this using Rockman.EXE characters works well and continues along the path it is to write since it seems to flow so well from my brain to the keys for typing. \^non^/

More comments and questions are welcome from all. I'll try and answer as many questions as I can, as long as it doesn't lead to spoilers for the other chapters yet to be posted and that I'm working on.
_________________

[Core]

Thank you Midnight, I'm using both the book and the movie as references so that I can get things right. The movie closely follows the book, and I remember it all so vividly. This does have character changes, and some other things different from both. I just hope that the adaptation of this using Rockman.EXE characters works well and continues along the path it is to write since it seems to flow so well from my brain to the keys for typing. \^non^/

More comments and questions are welcome from all. I'll try and answer as many questions as I can, as long as it doesn't lead to spoilers for the other chapters yet to be posted and that I'm working on.
_________________

[Sol]

Oooh, very nice indeed.

I must admit, I really hate reading things in the present tense. However, your fic manages to make me want to read it, with the characters and all the vivid description. Very nice.

I look forward to more, Core. =o
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Sol]

Oooh, very nice indeed.

I must admit, I really hate reading things in the present tense. However, your fic manages to make me want to read it, with the characters and all the vivid description. Very nice.

I look forward to more, Core. =o
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Core]

Sorry about writing in the present tense, but it's how I see and hear things in my head and I just write it all down that way. ^n.n^() I am touched that you read the chapter even if you don't particularly care for that format, and since you are looking forward to another installment, here is the second chapter~

Chapter Two
"What's Said Is Said"

As the storm continues to rage over the house, clouds boiling like a couldron in the skies. The rain falls in heavy sheets, lashing at the trees and the side of the house like an angry master at its servant. Lightning dances along the clouds, stretching like spiders legs as thunder rumbles and roars like the sound of a Sleipnir's hooves. Burnerman listens to the sounds around him, the cries of his brother no longer present admist the tourmoil of sounds. He opens the door to the nursery bedroom of his sibling, the light in the room now gone and eerily still and quiet.

"Aquaman?" Burnerman calls, no responce from the child, not even a whimper.

The blue eyed teen flicks the light switch on and off to no avail, the creeking of board halting him from the action to look into the intermident darkness of the room. "Aquaman? Are you alright? Why aren't you crying?"

He steps forward into the quiet room nervously, the light from hall filtering in through the doorway stretching his shadow to the other wall as flashes of lightning casts more shadows into the room. A low humming reaches his ears between the claps of thunder, seeming to hang in the air from some source unseen.

"Aquaman?" Burnerman's voice whispers as he walks to the crib, his hand reaching for the sheet he covered the child with.

He pulls the sheet back to find the crib empty, a flash of lightning illuminating the fact as it casts shadows on the vacant mattress of the childs resting place. Burnerman stares at the sight, his body trembling and mind as blank as surface before him. A sudden slap against the window causes him to turn and stare at a large bat, the creature beating its wings against the glass urgantly and demandingly to be let in. The flashes of light outside shine on the raven black surface of the creature, its eyes meeting his, holding them in their gaze. As Burnerman stares at the winged creature, two goblins poke their head around from the furniture in the room only to hide once more behind it, unseen by the reddish pink haired boy. A bolt of ligthning crashes close to the window, the flash of light causing him to look away, his eyes shut from the brightness of the charged energy.

Burnerman opens his eyes to see the clock resting on the mantel of the nursary, the hands on the mechanical device pointing at thirteen o'clock. As he stares at the strange sight, the carpet under his feet tugs lightly, his body turning to see another perplexing sight as the crib his brother was in starts to crawl on serpantile legs. He opens his mouth to speak, to cry out from the shocking sight, only to find his voice gone as if he has forgotten how to speak. The goblins hidden in the room snicker as they poke their heads out from their hiding spots, causing him to spin around quickly, seeing them laughing at her before the vanish. His blue eyes venture around the room to see the dresser also with clawed feet, the scaly legs dancing along with the goblins that move in the shadows of the room cast by the storm.

Burnerman looks around himself for something to serve as a weapon against the creatures, finding only a broom left by the house cleaning lady resting in one corner. He moves quickly to take the simple cleaning tool up, swinging it at the goblins.

"Go away! Go away!" He cries, swinging his broom like a sword at the armored mischievious thugs.

The wooden handle of the broom twists in his grasp like a snake, making him drop it to the floor in startled shock and watch as it slithers away. The storm outside rises in tempo, the flashes of lightning now following one after the other to make the room as bright as if the morning sun is pouring into it. The horde in the room ducks out of sight quickly as a blast of air throws the window open, the curtains reaching out like arms towards Burnerman as the bat flies into the room. The blue eyed boy shuts his eyes and covers his face with his arms as the bat flies at him, screaming in fear from everything that is going on around him and the sight of the creature heading towards him.

As no impact meets him from the frightfull winged beast, and the wind blows his hair around him, he peeks to see where the creature had landed and hopes that it just flew out as quickly as it had entered. The lightning outside the house silhouettes a tall figure of a man standing before the window and him, the man's dark raven black hair well kept and reflecting the light as it casts on it. The tall man's cloak swirls around him in the wind as something around his neck glints more then it should in the dim light on his shadow.

"Uhm ...," Burnerman says, swallowing hard to clear his throat of the fear he was feeling. "Who are you?"

"Don't you know?" The man replies in a calm kind voice, lightning illuminating his face as it dances along the sky.

The raven haired man smiles, the effort kind and unfierce dispite the long fangs he has. Crimson eyes fix on Burnerman's, the gold and red orbs compelling to him, locking him into place even as part of his brain screams for him to run away. The man steps towards him and into the light coming from the hall, the teen remaining in place, the eyes and golden chain around the mans neck having a hypnotizing effect on his body. The sickle-shaped ornament hanging from the chain rests on his chest, the front of his cream colored shirt showing his pale green skin, the long loose sleeves of the shirt ending with silken cuffs at the wrists. A tight black waistcoat adorns over the shirt, giving him a slim but muscular figure. Interesting black boots cover his feet, ending at mid-calf on the gray tights covering his lower body. Black gloves cover his four fingered hands, one of them holding the jeweled knob of a curious cane, the end of which is shaped like a fishtail.

"I ...," Burnerman attempts to answer. "I ..."

The faint humming in the air that he heard earlier takes on a distant and musical tone, as the stranger smiles at his hesitation. The blue eyes study him for a moment, knowing who he is, the man before him more handsome then he had expected or pictured.

"You're ... him, aren't you?" Burnerman asks, his voice a whisper. "You're the King of the Goblins."

The man bows politely, "Shademan."

The blue eyed boy resists an urge to do the same or curtsy, mildly wondering why he would even feel the ridiculous impulse to do so.

"I have saved you," Shademan says. "I have liberated you from those bonds that distressed you and frightened you. You're free now, Burnerman."

"Oh, no. I don't want to be free," the boy says back. "I mean, I do, but -- I want my little brother back. Please." He smiles at the handsome creature before him. "If it's all the same to you."

The raven haired man folds his hands over the top of his cane, looking at the boy. "What's said is said."

"But I didn't mean it," Burnerman protests.

"Didn't you, now?"

"Oh, please. Where is he?"

Shademan chuckles as he lowers his head, eyes closed and a smile on his face. "You know very well where he is."

"Please bring him, back, please." The boy finds himself speaking in a small voice, almost suprised of himself at the feelings for the being that only a short while ago he would have given anything to be rid of. "Please!"

"Burnerman ..." Shademan sighs with a frown, shaking his head slowly, his expression of concern for the boy. "Go back to your room. Read your books. Put on your costumes. That is your real life. Forget about the baby."

"No, I can't."

The two stare at each other, their eyes sizing the other up, the course set for a battle between the two as the thunder rumbles. Shademan raises his left arm, making a gesture with his hand, causing the blue eyed boy to look around thinking the man is summoning assistance from the goblin horde to deal with him. Burnerman turns his eyes back to the tall pale skinned man, seeing that in his left hand is now a small glowing crystal ball.

"I've brought you a gift, Burnerman." The man says, holding it out to the boy.

The long haired boy pauses for a moment, considering for a moment if he could trust the tall man, and deciding quickly that he could not. "What is it?"

"A crystal, nothing more. Except that if you look into it ... it will show you your dreams."

Burnerman's lips part involuntarily, a teasing smile spreading on Shademan's face as he watches the boys. He spins the shining crystal around in his fingers, the object seeming to hum with a musical ringing. The blue eyed boy reaches for it, mesmerized by the strange crystal, only to have it withdrawn away by the taller figure as he smiles at him.

"But this is not a gift for an ordinary boy, one who takes care of a screaming baby." His voice quieter and huskier, raising the cane slightly in his other hand. "Do you want it, Burnerman?"

The man holds it out towards him, this time Burnerman's hands remain at his sides, not replying to the mans question posed to him. The blue eyes fix on the dancing and flashing glints of light in the crystal, to see his dreams -- who would pass up a chance at that?

"Then forget the child," Shademan says firmly as he gazes at the boy.

Burnerman hesitates, another crash of thunder and lightning illuminating the sky behind the Goblin King. His emotions and mind torn, the seductive offer from the man that understands him and cares for the secret places in his imagination, that knows how much they mean to him. All he would have to do is trade his responcibility for the screaming spoiled child that has made endless demands upon his life, and never showing gratitude. The crystal spins as it rests on the fingers of the man, sparkling and glowing with Burnerman's dreams.

The boy closes his eyes in thought, a voice calling to him from what seems like a long distance, the voice his own and growing louder. "I -- I can't. It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me ... but I want my baby brother back. He must be so scared ..."

He opens his eyes to see Shademan snort with disgust, the goblin king having finally lost his patience with him. The man waves his hand and the crystal vanishes as quickly as it appears, another wave of this hand and he plucks a snake from the air, the creature appearing from nowhere. Shademan holds the creature out towards the boys face, the body of the snake wrapping around his arm as it hisses violently and threatening at Burnerman.

"Don't defy me," Shademan warns as he tosses the snake at the boy.

Burnerman screams as the creature wraps itself around his neck, his hands clawing at it and pulling it free to find that it was now a red silk scarf. He lets out a scream of shock as he drops the red cloth, stepping back as it hits the ground and breaks into a number of ugly miniture goblins that scatter snickering to the shadows of the room. The other goblins poke their heads up to see what is happening, no longer hiding in the darkness and wanting to see what their king will do next to the boy.

"You are no match for me, Burnerman." Shademan says with a slight snarl, impatiance in his voice. "Let the child alone. Take my gift. I will not offer it to you again."

"No." Burnerman states, halting the man from summoning another crystal of dreams. "Thank you all the same, but I can't do what you want. Can't you see that? I must have my brother back."

"You will never find him."

"Ah," Burnerman says, taking in a deep breath. "Then ... there is a place to look."

For a slight moment, Shademan's face flinches, but the boy saw it ... the merest trace of fear in the gold and crimson eyes. The king of the goblins tightenes his grip on the cane, hesitant to answer the boy. Burnerman stands there almost in disbelief of what he is seeing, the mighty Goblin King for a moment was afraid, afraid of him and it encouraged him.

"Yes," Shademan states. "There is a place."

The black gloved hand stretches to point out the window as a bolt of lightning splits the sky and thunder roars. "There!"

Burnerman moves past the man and looks out the window to see a distant hill with a castle, he leans on the windowsill to get a better look at the castel on against the night sky. The stone structure with its turrents, massive walls, spirels and domes, a portcullis and drawbridge rest on top a raised mound. Beyond the darkness the storm flicks and spits lightning as the clouds stretch over the sky like a serpant.

"Do you still want to look for him?" Shademan whispers over the boys shoulder from behind him, his voice silken and smooth.

"Yes." The boy swallows the lump in his throat hard. "Is that ... "

Burnerman struggles to remember the words and give them voice. " ... the castle beyond the Gobln City?"

Shademan doesn't reply to the question, instead backing away. Burnerman turns to see the man standing there, the room and house gone, replaced by a dirt hilltop being licked by winds under a golden colored sky. The boy looks behind him once more to see a broad valley spanning up to the castle, the valley cast in such darkness that he could not see what it contains. The blue eyed boy looks back at the goblin king, the man standing with his left leg resting on a large rock next to a twisted lifeless tree. Burnerman turns around to face the valley once more, the wind blowing at his hair as he takes a step forward timidly, brushing his reddish pink hair out of his face.

"Turn back, Burnerman." Shademan's voice calls from behind him. "Turn back, before it is too late."

"I can't." The blue eyed boy says, shaking his head slowly as he gazes at the castle beyond the valley filled with untold dangers and the Goblin City. "Oh, I can't. Don't you understand that?"

"I can't." Burnerman repeats, quietly to himself.

"What a pity." Shademan says, in a low but gentle voice filled with sorrow.

"It doesn't look that far." The reddish pink haired boy states as he looks at the distance between him and the castle.

Shademan stands next to him, looking at him with an icy smile. "It's farther than you think."

The goblin king points behind them towards the tree, "And the time is shorter."

Burnerman turns and gazes at the tree, seeing an antique clock hanging from a branch as it it had grown as a piece of fruit or leaf. The face of the clock counting down the hours from thirteen, just as the one in the nursery was.

"You ahve thirteen hours to unriddle the Labyrinth," Shademan informs him, "before your baby brother becomes one of us."

"Us?"

The pale green skinned man nods slowly. "Forever."

The air hums with magic as Burnerman stands there still as can be, his hair being tossed by the wind, looking across back across the valley towards the castle. "Tell me where I start."

"A pity."

"What?" Burnerman asks, turning his head to look up at the man only to find him gone. He spins around looking only to find himself alone, with only the whispers of the wind and the ticking of the clock to keep him company on the hilltop.

He looks across once more towards the castle, the storm passing away far less quietly then it had been during its violent life. The clouds over the moon silhouet what looks to be a large bat flying across it, wings spread wide and gliding steadily away from him. Burnerman swallows hard as he starts forward once more, stepping towards the valley below. No ground meets his foot as he places it down, fear springing up in him as he falls forward.
_________________

[Core]

Sorry about writing in the present tense, but it's how I see and hear things in my head and I just write it all down that way. ^n.n^() I am touched that you read the chapter even if you don't particularly care for that format, and since you are looking forward to another installment, here is the second chapter~

Chapter Two
"What's Said Is Said"

As the storm continues to rage over the house, clouds boiling like a couldron in the skies. The rain falls in heavy sheets, lashing at the trees and the side of the house like an angry master at its servant. Lightning dances along the clouds, stretching like spiders legs as thunder rumbles and roars like the sound of a Sleipnir's hooves. Burnerman listens to the sounds around him, the cries of his brother no longer present admist the tourmoil of sounds. He opens the door to the nursery bedroom of his sibling, the light in the room now gone and eerily still and quiet.

"Aquaman?" Burnerman calls, no responce from the child, not even a whimper.

The blue eyed teen flicks the light switch on and off to no avail, the creeking of board halting him from the action to look into the intermident darkness of the room. "Aquaman? Are you alright? Why aren't you crying?"

He steps forward into the quiet room nervously, the light from hall filtering in through the doorway stretching his shadow to the other wall as flashes of lightning casts more shadows into the room. A low humming reaches his ears between the claps of thunder, seeming to hang in the air from some source unseen.

"Aquaman?" Burnerman's voice whispers as he walks to the crib, his hand reaching for the sheet he covered the child with.

He pulls the sheet back to find the crib empty, a flash of lightning illuminating the fact as it casts shadows on the vacant mattress of the childs resting place. Burnerman stares at the sight, his body trembling and mind as blank as surface before him. A sudden slap against the window causes him to turn and stare at a large bat, the creature beating its wings against the glass urgantly and demandingly to be let in. The flashes of light outside shine on the raven black surface of the creature, its eyes meeting his, holding them in their gaze. As Burnerman stares at the winged creature, two goblins poke their head around from the furniture in the room only to hide once more behind it, unseen by the reddish pink haired boy. A bolt of ligthning crashes close to the window, the flash of light causing him to look away, his eyes shut from the brightness of the charged energy.

Burnerman opens his eyes to see the clock resting on the mantel of the nursary, the hands on the mechanical device pointing at thirteen o'clock. As he stares at the strange sight, the carpet under his feet tugs lightly, his body turning to see another perplexing sight as the crib his brother was in starts to crawl on serpantile legs. He opens his mouth to speak, to cry out from the shocking sight, only to find his voice gone as if he has forgotten how to speak. The goblins hidden in the room snicker as they poke their heads out from their hiding spots, causing him to spin around quickly, seeing them laughing at her before the vanish. His blue eyes venture around the room to see the dresser also with clawed feet, the scaly legs dancing along with the goblins that move in the shadows of the room cast by the storm.

Burnerman looks around himself for something to serve as a weapon against the creatures, finding only a broom left by the house cleaning lady resting in one corner. He moves quickly to take the simple cleaning tool up, swinging it at the goblins.

"Go away! Go away!" He cries, swinging his broom like a sword at the armored mischievious thugs.

The wooden handle of the broom twists in his grasp like a snake, making him drop it to the floor in startled shock and watch as it slithers away. The storm outside rises in tempo, the flashes of lightning now following one after the other to make the room as bright as if the morning sun is pouring into it. The horde in the room ducks out of sight quickly as a blast of air throws the window open, the curtains reaching out like arms towards Burnerman as the bat flies into the room. The blue eyed boy shuts his eyes and covers his face with his arms as the bat flies at him, screaming in fear from everything that is going on around him and the sight of the creature heading towards him.

As no impact meets him from the frightfull winged beast, and the wind blows his hair around him, he peeks to see where the creature had landed and hopes that it just flew out as quickly as it had entered. The lightning outside the house silhouettes a tall figure of a man standing before the window and him, the man's dark raven black hair well kept and reflecting the light as it casts on it. The tall man's cloak swirls around him in the wind as something around his neck glints more then it should in the dim light on his shadow.

"Uhm ...," Burnerman says, swallowing hard to clear his throat of the fear he was feeling. "Who are you?"

"Don't you know?" The man replies in a calm kind voice, lightning illuminating his face as it dances along the sky.

The raven haired man smiles, the effort kind and unfierce dispite the long fangs he has. Crimson eyes fix on Burnerman's, the gold and red orbs compelling to him, locking him into place even as part of his brain screams for him to run away. The man steps towards him and into the light coming from the hall, the teen remaining in place, the eyes and golden chain around the mans neck having a hypnotizing effect on his body. The sickle-shaped ornament hanging from the chain rests on his chest, the front of his cream colored shirt showing his pale green skin, the long loose sleeves of the shirt ending with silken cuffs at the wrists. A tight black waistcoat adorns over the shirt, giving him a slim but muscular figure. Interesting black boots cover his feet, ending at mid-calf on the gray tights covering his lower body. Black gloves cover his four fingered hands, one of them holding the jeweled knob of a curious cane, the end of which is shaped like a fishtail.

"I ...," Burnerman attempts to answer. "I ..."

The faint humming in the air that he heard earlier takes on a distant and musical tone, as the stranger smiles at his hesitation. The blue eyes study him for a moment, knowing who he is, the man before him more handsome then he had expected or pictured.

"You're ... him, aren't you?" Burnerman asks, his voice a whisper. "You're the King of the Goblins."

The man bows politely, "Shademan."

The blue eyed boy resists an urge to do the same or curtsy, mildly wondering why he would even feel the ridiculous impulse to do so.

"I have saved you," Shademan says. "I have liberated you from those bonds that distressed you and frightened you. You're free now, Burnerman."

"Oh, no. I don't want to be free," the boy says back. "I mean, I do, but -- I want my little brother back. Please." He smiles at the handsome creature before him. "If it's all the same to you."

The raven haired man folds his hands over the top of his cane, looking at the boy. "What's said is said."

"But I didn't mean it," Burnerman protests.

"Didn't you, now?"

"Oh, please. Where is he?"

Shademan chuckles as he lowers his head, eyes closed and a smile on his face. "You know very well where he is."

"Please bring him, back, please." The boy finds himself speaking in a small voice, almost suprised of himself at the feelings for the being that only a short while ago he would have given anything to be rid of. "Please!"

"Burnerman ..." Shademan sighs with a frown, shaking his head slowly, his expression of concern for the boy. "Go back to your room. Read your books. Put on your costumes. That is your real life. Forget about the baby."

"No, I can't."

The two stare at each other, their eyes sizing the other up, the course set for a battle between the two as the thunder rumbles. Shademan raises his left arm, making a gesture with his hand, causing the blue eyed boy to look around thinking the man is summoning assistance from the goblin horde to deal with him. Burnerman turns his eyes back to the tall pale skinned man, seeing that in his left hand is now a small glowing crystal ball.

"I've brought you a gift, Burnerman." The man says, holding it out to the boy.

The long haired boy pauses for a moment, considering for a moment if he could trust the tall man, and deciding quickly that he could not. "What is it?"

"A crystal, nothing more. Except that if you look into it ... it will show you your dreams."

Burnerman's lips part involuntarily, a teasing smile spreading on Shademan's face as he watches the boys. He spins the shining crystal around in his fingers, the object seeming to hum with a musical ringing. The blue eyed boy reaches for it, mesmerized by the strange crystal, only to have it withdrawn away by the taller figure as he smiles at him.

"But this is not a gift for an ordinary boy, one who takes care of a screaming baby." His voice quieter and huskier, raising the cane slightly in his other hand. "Do you want it, Burnerman?"

The man holds it out towards him, this time Burnerman's hands remain at his sides, not replying to the mans question posed to him. The blue eyes fix on the dancing and flashing glints of light in the crystal, to see his dreams -- who would pass up a chance at that?

"Then forget the child," Shademan says firmly as he gazes at the boy.

Burnerman hesitates, another crash of thunder and lightning illuminating the sky behind the Goblin King. His emotions and mind torn, the seductive offer from the man that understands him and cares for the secret places in his imagination, that knows how much they mean to him. All he would have to do is trade his responcibility for the screaming spoiled child that has made endless demands upon his life, and never showing gratitude. The crystal spins as it rests on the fingers of the man, sparkling and glowing with Burnerman's dreams.

The boy closes his eyes in thought, a voice calling to him from what seems like a long distance, the voice his own and growing louder. "I -- I can't. It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me ... but I want my baby brother back. He must be so scared ..."

He opens his eyes to see Shademan snort with disgust, the goblin king having finally lost his patience with him. The man waves his hand and the crystal vanishes as quickly as it appears, another wave of this hand and he plucks a snake from the air, the creature appearing from nowhere. Shademan holds the creature out towards the boys face, the body of the snake wrapping around his arm as it hisses violently and threatening at Burnerman.

"Don't defy me," Shademan warns as he tosses the snake at the boy.

Burnerman screams as the creature wraps itself around his neck, his hands clawing at it and pulling it free to find that it was now a red silk scarf. He lets out a scream of shock as he drops the red cloth, stepping back as it hits the ground and breaks into a number of ugly miniture goblins that scatter snickering to the shadows of the room. The other goblins poke their heads up to see what is happening, no longer hiding in the darkness and wanting to see what their king will do next to the boy.

"You are no match for me, Burnerman." Shademan says with a slight snarl, impatiance in his voice. "Let the child alone. Take my gift. I will not offer it to you again."

"No." Burnerman states, halting the man from summoning another crystal of dreams. "Thank you all the same, but I can't do what you want. Can't you see that? I must have my brother back."

"You will never find him."

"Ah," Burnerman says, taking in a deep breath. "Then ... there is a place to look."

For a slight moment, Shademan's face flinches, but the boy saw it ... the merest trace of fear in the gold and crimson eyes. The king of the goblins tightenes his grip on the cane, hesitant to answer the boy. Burnerman stands there almost in disbelief of what he is seeing, the mighty Goblin King for a moment was afraid, afraid of him and it encouraged him.

"Yes," Shademan states. "There is a place."

The black gloved hand stretches to point out the window as a bolt of lightning splits the sky and thunder roars. "There!"

Burnerman moves past the man and looks out the window to see a distant hill with a castle, he leans on the windowsill to get a better look at the castel on against the night sky. The stone structure with its turrents, massive walls, spirels and domes, a portcullis and drawbridge rest on top a raised mound. Beyond the darkness the storm flicks and spits lightning as the clouds stretch over the sky like a serpant.

"Do you still want to look for him?" Shademan whispers over the boys shoulder from behind him, his voice silken and smooth.

"Yes." The boy swallows the lump in his throat hard. "Is that ... "

Burnerman struggles to remember the words and give them voice. " ... the castle beyond the Gobln City?"

Shademan doesn't reply to the question, instead backing away. Burnerman turns to see the man standing there, the room and house gone, replaced by a dirt hilltop being licked by winds under a golden colored sky. The boy looks behind him once more to see a broad valley spanning up to the castle, the valley cast in such darkness that he could not see what it contains. The blue eyed boy looks back at the goblin king, the man standing with his left leg resting on a large rock next to a twisted lifeless tree. Burnerman turns around to face the valley once more, the wind blowing at his hair as he takes a step forward timidly, brushing his reddish pink hair out of his face.

"Turn back, Burnerman." Shademan's voice calls from behind him. "Turn back, before it is too late."

"I can't." The blue eyed boy says, shaking his head slowly as he gazes at the castle beyond the valley filled with untold dangers and the Goblin City. "Oh, I can't. Don't you understand that?"

"I can't." Burnerman repeats, quietly to himself.

"What a pity." Shademan says, in a low but gentle voice filled with sorrow.

"It doesn't look that far." The reddish pink haired boy states as he looks at the distance between him and the castle.

Shademan stands next to him, looking at him with an icy smile. "It's farther than you think."

The goblin king points behind them towards the tree, "And the time is shorter."

Burnerman turns and gazes at the tree, seeing an antique clock hanging from a branch as it it had grown as a piece of fruit or leaf. The face of the clock counting down the hours from thirteen, just as the one in the nursery was.

"You ahve thirteen hours to unriddle the Labyrinth," Shademan informs him, "before your baby brother becomes one of us."

"Us?"

The pale green skinned man nods slowly. "Forever."

The air hums with magic as Burnerman stands there still as can be, his hair being tossed by the wind, looking across back across the valley towards the castle. "Tell me where I start."

"A pity."

"What?" Burnerman asks, turning his head to look up at the man only to find him gone. He spins around looking only to find himself alone, with only the whispers of the wind and the ticking of the clock to keep him company on the hilltop.

He looks across once more towards the castle, the storm passing away far less quietly then it had been during its violent life. The clouds over the moon silhouet what looks to be a large bat flying across it, wings spread wide and gliding steadily away from him. Burnerman swallows hard as he starts forward once more, stepping towards the valley below. No ground meets his foot as he places it down, fear springing up in him as he falls forward.
_________________

[Plantman]

Damn you folf, you're teasing me! ._. Making me want to watch the movie so badly now.

The lecture is a little confusing at times, but it's really nice and interesting nonetheless, the personalities while remaining an adaptation of Sarah and Jareth also relate firmly to their EXE counterparts. And damn the cliffhangers! XD
_________________
Hecha en MÉXICO - Avatar by Me.
"Logic is the Ultimate Weapon."

[Plantman]

Damn you folf, you're teasing me! ._. Making me want to watch the movie so badly now.

The lecture is a little confusing at times, but it's really nice and interesting nonetheless, the personalities while remaining an adaptation of Sarah and Jareth also relate firmly to their EXE counterparts. And damn the cliffhangers! XD
_________________
Hecha en MÉXICO - Avatar by Me.
"Logic is the Ultimate Weapon."

[Core]

Yeah, the chapters in the book also end with cliffhangers. xD But it makes you want to hurry to read the next chapter also when you reach the end of the previous one. hehe

I'm working on the third chapter now, and hopefully will have it ready by later today to post. :3

Thank you for fixing the typo's tha I made also Planty. *hugs* ^n_n^ And for those that don't know Sleipnir is from Norse mythology, the horse of Odin.
_________________

[Core]

Yeah, the chapters in the book also end with cliffhangers. xD But it makes you want to hurry to read the next chapter also when you reach the end of the previous one. hehe

I'm working on the third chapter now, and hopefully will have it ready by later today to post. :3

Thank you for fixing the typo's tha I made also Planty. *hugs* ^n_n^ And for those that don't know Sleipnir is from Norse mythology, the horse of Odin.
_________________

[Core]

Took a bit longer to get done, and I have edited things down to try and make the chapters shorter. ^n_n^


Chapter Three
"Pipsqueak"

Burnerman falls down the hill end over end, decending further into the darkness. His arms swing wildly as he finally manages to right himself, the movement of his arms keeping him balanced as he slides down the steep slope of the hill. He finally sits down on the steep hill, attempting to slide down it on his rear only to be stopped by rocks and shrubs along his path. The blue eyed boy slows himself to a halt on the slope, looking forward into the inky darkness of the valley, tears starting to rise in his eyes as the expanse seems impossible to transverse. Burnerman shuts his eyes, blinking the tears away as he growls with determination, trying to think of a way to get down the hillside to continue his quest to regain his brother.

The singing of a lark causes him to look upward at the sky, seeing the silver moon hanging there and remembering the large black bat that flew past it. As he looks at the sky he notices a changing of color staining the dark rim of the sky. He watches as light starts to spread, changing from hues of red to pink, then to a pale blue. The sun slowly inches it's way over the horizon, bathing the land in its light and warmth, melting away the darkness of the valley slowly. Burnerman watches as the rays of the sun reflect off of the distant castle, the towers and turrents shining in the golden rays.

The land's size reviels itself to him under the light of the rising sun, the blue eyed boy surmmising that he can run the distance easily in an hour. Burnerman smiles as he remembers the conversation with the goblin king, thinking that the man was trying to trick him into giving up by taking him to a place that allowed the land to appear more dark and dangerous then it truely is. Thirteen hours was more then enough time for him to reach the palace, get his brother, and return home with time to spare. He wonders idely if thirteen hours in this land of Shademan's is the same as at home. If so then his father and stepmother would be home before he is with Aquaman, most likely thinking he'd run off with the child or worse, calling the police to report them missing.

Burnerman snorts as he realizes that there is no way for him to contact the adults once he gets his brother back, doubting that Shademan even had a phone in the castle that he could use. He continues watching the valley as the sun rises higher over the horizon, his smile slowly fading as the color drains from his face at what the light reveils what the night swallowed. A mass of arranged walls and hedges twist and turn their way towards the palace, the maze wrapping around the mound the castle sits on.

"The Labyrinth," he whispers. "So that is the Labyrinth."

His blue eyes study the maze from a far, trying to figure out some pattern or principle to its design to help guide him to its center, finding none. The maze reminding him of the pattern in a fingerprint, only being a mesh of several hundreds overlapping each other. Countless gateways leading into corridors that wind and coild themselves like snakes in a mating ball, leaving no end in sight. Burnerman wonders if the one drawing the plans for the structure was driven mad, or if it had just happened to turn out the way it did without the aide of one. As the sun gets higher, a path down the dark slope of the hill imerges, the path twisting like a snake downward.

"Well," The blue eyed boy says as he stands up, fist clenching and jaw set, "here we go. Come on, feet."

Burnerman walks carefully down the path, supporting himself on the slope with the aide of the large rocks, picking his way carefully through the shrubbery. As he reaches the bottom of the steep hill he looks up at a monstrous wall stretching as far as his blue eyes could see to the left and right, buttresses strengthening the great wall. He walks carefully up to the wall, wondering what exactly he is to do when he reaches it, seeing nothing in the way of a door to enter the maze beyond. As he draws closer, a movement at the base of the massive wall catches his eye, a small man cackling as he grinds something underfoot.

"Uh, excuse me," Burnerman says in a timid way, not sure what to make of the man.

The small blue man jumps at the voice, as if being yelled at. "Just going," he says, not bothering to look behind him and moving quickly.

He finally turns to face the blue eyed boy, "Well!" The small man looks at him in a mix of expressions, eyes hidden behind an aqua green visor, "Well!" His eyes continue to study the being before him, never having been caught by surprise by someone like the redish pink haired boy. "Well!"

Burnerman looks at the little man, his wide lips and rosy cheeks doing nothing to make him look as fearsome as he seemed to be trying to be by setting his jaw and glareing at him. The eyes behind the visor never look him in the eyes, the dark orbs seeming to be looking at the boys hands, following their movements. A skullcap with an odd hose like decoration rests on the little man's head, a chain of ornaments hangs from his belt, the ornaments looking like nothing more then costume jewelry.

"Well!" The man says again, looking at him.

"Excuse me, but I have to go through the Labyrinth." Burnerman explains, "Can you show me the way in?"

The odd little man blinks at him a few times, his mouth frozen in a W. His eyes dart to the side, a soft sparkling light flying near an creeping vine on the large wall. His hands move quickly as they pull out a weapon from behind his back, pulling the trigger to send cloudy spray like insect repeliant at the light. The floating light coughs as it fades, another spray causing it to fall to the ground, dimming to show a fairy with withering wings.

"Fifty-seven, puku!" The man smiles with satisfaction, resting his spray gun on his shoulder as he waddles a way a short distance, looking for more flying lights.

"Oh, how could you?" Burnerman moves quickly to the downed fairy, "You poor thing!"

The little man grunts in reply, continuing his hunting.

The blue eyed boy picks up the wounded fairy in his hands gently, glaring at the fairy-slayer. "You monster."

A sharp quick pain, as if grabbing onto broken glass tears through Burnerman's hand, causing him to drop the fairy from his hand.

"It bit me!" Burnerman shouts as he looks at his finger, seeing a small bite mark from the winged creature.

"'Course she did." the small man chuckles, "What do you expect fairies to do? Puku?"

"I ..." Burnerman frowns, confused as he looks at the fairy fluttering away on the ground. "I thought they did -- well, nice things. Like granting wishes."

"Ha!" The man chortles. "Shows what you know then, don't it? Puku!"

He growls as he sees another shimmer of light, spraying it quickly with his gun, the fairy's light dying out quickly as it falls to the ground like a stone. "Fifty-eight, they breed as fast as I spray."

Burnerman sucks on his bleeding finger, "Ooh, it hurts."

The man sighs as he walks over to one of the plants near the wall, tearing off a broad grayish leaf. "Here, rub that on it."

The blue eyed boy gratefully takes the leaf from the man, starting to rub the sappy plantery on the wound only to drop the leaf and cutch his finger in pain.

"Ow!" The boy shouts, "That makes it worse. Much worse. OWWW!"

The small man holds his sides as he roars with laughter at the boy. "'Course it do. Fancy rubbing one of them on a fairy bite. Puku! You don't know nothing, do you?"

Burnerman snarls as he looks at the short man, holding his finger in pain still, "I thought you were giving it to me to make it better. Oh! Ooh!"

"You thought that too, did you? You've got a lot of opinions. Puku." The man chuckles, "All of them wrong. And you've got grass all over the seat of your trousers! Puku!"

In spite of the pain, the blue eyed boy glances over his shoulder to see the little man was right, the trip down the hill leaving a streak on his pants. As he brushes some of the clinging bits of dirt and grass off his rear, he realizes that the dwarf was getting him back for catching him unawares.

"You're a horrible man!" Burnerman says with a growl.

"No, I'm not." The man says, surprise in his voice. "I'm Bubbleman. Who are you? Puku?"

"Burnerman."

"That's what I thought." The man says nodding, his movement of affirmation stopping as he sees another fairy, spraying it with his gun then stopping on it as it hits the ground. "Fifty-nine."

"Do you know where the door to the Labyrinth is?" Burnerman asks, wondering how the small man might have known who he was before he told him his name.

"Maybe." Bubbleman replies, as he tracks another target.

"All right, where is it?

Bubbleman fires his spray gun again, killing another fairy. "Sixty."

"I said, where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"The door."

"What door?"

"The door into the Labyrinth."

"The door! Into the Labyrinth! Oh, that's a good one. Puku!" He laughs unkindly, causing Burnerman to want to punch him.

"It's hopeless asking you anything." The boy says with a growl.

"Not if you ask the right questions. Puku." Bubbleman looks at him with a sidelong gaze, "You're as green as a cucumber."

"Well, what are the right questions?" Burnerman huffs, his anger boiling inside of him.

Burnerman strokes the top of his nose as he smiles, "It depends on what you want to know. Puku."

"That's easy. How do I get into the Labyrinth?"

"Ah! Now that's more like it." Bubbleman sniffles with a twinkle in his eye, the faint music rising through the air again as he points behind the boy. "You gets in there. Puku. You to to ask the right questions if you want to get anywhere in the Labyrinth. All you got to do now is find the key. Puku puku."

Burnerman turns around to see a massive gate covered in vines, the wall and door appearing where he could have sworn there was nothing before. A key rests on the ground near the door, and he moves quickly to it with a triumpet smile. The blue eyed teen grabs hold of the old fashion metal key, the thing the size of his arm. He bends over to pick the key up, grunting as he finds he can't even lift the thing.

"I suppose it's too much to expect you to give me a hand?" Burnerman asks, glaring at the man.

"Yes," Bubbleman replies, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This is so stupid!" The blue eyed boy growls as he tries in vain to pick the key up.

"You mean you're so stupid." Bubbleman corrects him.

"Shut up, you rotten little pipsqueak!"

"Don't call me that!" Bubbleman shouts, "I am not a pipsqueak."

"Yes, you are." Burnerman says, reminding himself of tormenting younger kids in school. "Yes, you a-are. Rotten little nasty ugly pipsqueak!"

"Don't call me that!" The little man shouts, beside himself with rage. "You! Ha! You're so stupid you are, you take everything for granted."

"Pipsqueak! Pipsqueak!"

"I'm not. I'm not. Stop it! Stop it!"

"Nasty, creepy little pipsqueak!"

Bubbleman shakes with anger before collecting himself, "If you weren't so brainless, you'd try the gate. Nobody said it was locked."

"Very clever." Burnerman smirks as he looks at the door.

"You think you're so clever," Bubbleman says. "You know why? Because you ain't learned nothing. Puku."

Burnerman pushes the gate door open and peers inside cautiously, seeing nothing but forbidding darkness, the musci humming in the air more intense beyound the gate. The smell of things rotting assault his nose as he steps into the Labyrinth. He looks up along the narrow walls, the sky appearing as nothing more then a slit above, water dripping continually, echoing. He walks forward towards a wall placing his hand upon it, the stone slimy as if covered with mildew.

"Cozy, ain't it?" Bubbleman says, poking his head through the gateway.

The small man blinks as he watches the tall boy, "You really going in there, are you?"

Burnerman nods as he hears the tiny bit of consern in Bubbleman's voice. "I ... yes. Yes, I am. Do you ... is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

"There's every reason why you shouldn't." Bubbleman replies, "Is there any reason why you should? Any really good reason?"

"Yes, there is." Burnerman answers, looking at the passage. "So I suppose ... I must."

"All right." Bubbleman sighs, consern in his voice more evident. "Now, which way will you go? Right or left?"

"They both look the same." Burnerman shrugs, looking at the narrow walled paths leading straight on both sides of him.

"Well, your not going to get very far, then, are you?" Bubbleman tells him.

"All right," Burnerman growls, "which way would you go?"

"Me? I wouldn't go neither way. Puku." The man laughs.

"Some guide you are." Burnerman snorts with disgust.

"I never said I was a guide, did I? Although you could certainly use one. You'll probably end up back where you started, given your record for being wrong."

"Well," The blue eyed boy snaps at him, "if that's all the help you're going to be, you might as well let me go on with it!"

"You know your problem?" Bubbleman asks, watching the boy look both ways rather confused as to which way to go. "I told you, you take to many things for granted. This Labyrinth, for instance. Even if you get to the center, which is extremely doubtful, you'll never get out again."

"That's your opinion." Burnerman syas moving to the right.

"Well, it's a better opinion than any of yours."

"Thanks for nothing, Bubble gum."

"Bubbleman!" The small man yells, his voice echoing from the gateway. "And don't say I didn't warn you! Puku!"

Burnerman sets his jaw as he runs between the damp, dire walls of the Labyrinth, the gate closing with a mighty bang that causes him to stop. A thought comes to his mind as he runs back to the door, checking it to see if it would open, only to find that it was now locked. The blue eyed teen listens, hearing the dripping of water and his own breath, alone in the maze.
_________________

[Core]

Took a bit longer to get done, and I have edited things down to try and make the chapters shorter. ^n_n^


Chapter Three
"Pipsqueak"

Burnerman falls down the hill end over end, decending further into the darkness. His arms swing wildly as he finally manages to right himself, the movement of his arms keeping him balanced as he slides down the steep slope of the hill. He finally sits down on the steep hill, attempting to slide down it on his rear only to be stopped by rocks and shrubs along his path. The blue eyed boy slows himself to a halt on the slope, looking forward into the inky darkness of the valley, tears starting to rise in his eyes as the expanse seems impossible to transverse. Burnerman shuts his eyes, blinking the tears away as he growls with determination, trying to think of a way to get down the hillside to continue his quest to regain his brother.

The singing of a lark causes him to look upward at the sky, seeing the silver moon hanging there and remembering the large black bat that flew past it. As he looks at the sky he notices a changing of color staining the dark rim of the sky. He watches as light starts to spread, changing from hues of red to pink, then to a pale blue. The sun slowly inches it's way over the horizon, bathing the land in its light and warmth, melting away the darkness of the valley slowly. Burnerman watches as the rays of the sun reflect off of the distant castle, the towers and turrents shining in the golden rays.

The land's size reviels itself to him under the light of the rising sun, the blue eyed boy surmmising that he can run the distance easily in an hour. Burnerman smiles as he remembers the conversation with the goblin king, thinking that the man was trying to trick him into giving up by taking him to a place that allowed the land to appear more dark and dangerous then it truely is. Thirteen hours was more then enough time for him to reach the palace, get his brother, and return home with time to spare. He wonders idely if thirteen hours in this land of Shademan's is the same as at home. If so then his father and stepmother would be home before he is with Aquaman, most likely thinking he'd run off with the child or worse, calling the police to report them missing.

Burnerman snorts as he realizes that there is no way for him to contact the adults once he gets his brother back, doubting that Shademan even had a phone in the castle that he could use. He continues watching the valley as the sun rises higher over the horizon, his smile slowly fading as the color drains from his face at what the light reveils what the night swallowed. A mass of arranged walls and hedges twist and turn their way towards the palace, the maze wrapping around the mound the castle sits on.

"The Labyrinth," he whispers. "So that is the Labyrinth."

His blue eyes study the maze from a far, trying to figure out some pattern or principle to its design to help guide him to its center, finding none. The maze reminding him of the pattern in a fingerprint, only being a mesh of several hundreds overlapping each other. Countless gateways leading into corridors that wind and coild themselves like snakes in a mating ball, leaving no end in sight. Burnerman wonders if the one drawing the plans for the structure was driven mad, or if it had just happened to turn out the way it did without the aide of one. As the sun gets higher, a path down the dark slope of the hill imerges, the path twisting like a snake downward.

"Well," The blue eyed boy says as he stands up, fist clenching and jaw set, "here we go. Come on, feet."

Burnerman walks carefully down the path, supporting himself on the slope with the aide of the large rocks, picking his way carefully through the shrubbery. As he reaches the bottom of the steep hill he looks up at a monstrous wall stretching as far as his blue eyes could see to the left and right, buttresses strengthening the great wall. He walks carefully up to the wall, wondering what exactly he is to do when he reaches it, seeing nothing in the way of a door to enter the maze beyond. As he draws closer, a movement at the base of the massive wall catches his eye, a small man cackling as he grinds something underfoot.

"Uh, excuse me," Burnerman says in a timid way, not sure what to make of the man.

The small blue man jumps at the voice, as if being yelled at. "Just going," he says, not bothering to look behind him and moving quickly.

He finally turns to face the blue eyed boy, "Well!" The small man looks at him in a mix of expressions, eyes hidden behind an aqua green visor, "Well!" His eyes continue to study the being before him, never having been caught by surprise by someone like the redish pink haired boy. "Well!"

Burnerman looks at the little man, his wide lips and rosy cheeks doing nothing to make him look as fearsome as he seemed to be trying to be by setting his jaw and glareing at him. The eyes behind the visor never look him in the eyes, the dark orbs seeming to be looking at the boys hands, following their movements. A skullcap with an odd hose like decoration rests on the little man's head, a chain of ornaments hangs from his belt, the ornaments looking like nothing more then costume jewelry.

"Well!" The man says again, looking at him.

"Excuse me, but I have to go through the Labyrinth." Burnerman explains, "Can you show me the way in?"

The odd little man blinks at him a few times, his mouth frozen in a W. His eyes dart to the side, a soft sparkling light flying near an creeping vine on the large wall. His hands move quickly as they pull out a weapon from behind his back, pulling the trigger to send cloudy spray like insect repeliant at the light. The floating light coughs as it fades, another spray causing it to fall to the ground, dimming to show a fairy with withering wings.

"Fifty-seven, puku!" The man smiles with satisfaction, resting his spray gun on his shoulder as he waddles a way a short distance, looking for more flying lights.

"Oh, how could you?" Burnerman moves quickly to the downed fairy, "You poor thing!"

The little man grunts in reply, continuing his hunting.

The blue eyed boy picks up the wounded fairy in his hands gently, glaring at the fairy-slayer. "You monster."

A sharp quick pain, as if grabbing onto broken glass tears through Burnerman's hand, causing him to drop the fairy from his hand.

"It bit me!" Burnerman shouts as he looks at his finger, seeing a small bite mark from the winged creature.

"'Course she did." the small man chuckles, "What do you expect fairies to do? Puku?"

"I ..." Burnerman frowns, confused as he looks at the fairy fluttering away on the ground. "I thought they did -- well, nice things. Like granting wishes."

"Ha!" The man chortles. "Shows what you know then, don't it? Puku!"

He growls as he sees another shimmer of light, spraying it quickly with his gun, the fairy's light dying out quickly as it falls to the ground like a stone. "Fifty-eight, they breed as fast as I spray."

Burnerman sucks on his bleeding finger, "Ooh, it hurts."

The man sighs as he walks over to one of the plants near the wall, tearing off a broad grayish leaf. "Here, rub that on it."

The blue eyed boy gratefully takes the leaf from the man, starting to rub the sappy plantery on the wound only to drop the leaf and cutch his finger in pain.

"Ow!" The boy shouts, "That makes it worse. Much worse. OWWW!"

The small man holds his sides as he roars with laughter at the boy. "'Course it do. Fancy rubbing one of them on a fairy bite. Puku! You don't know nothing, do you?"

Burnerman snarls as he looks at the short man, holding his finger in pain still, "I thought you were giving it to me to make it better. Oh! Ooh!"

"You thought that too, did you? You've got a lot of opinions. Puku." The man chuckles, "All of them wrong. And you've got grass all over the seat of your trousers! Puku!"

In spite of the pain, the blue eyed boy glances over his shoulder to see the little man was right, the trip down the hill leaving a streak on his pants. As he brushes some of the clinging bits of dirt and grass off his rear, he realizes that the dwarf was getting him back for catching him unawares.

"You're a horrible man!" Burnerman says with a growl.

"No, I'm not." The man says, surprise in his voice. "I'm Bubbleman. Who are you? Puku?"

"Burnerman."

"That's what I thought." The man says nodding, his movement of affirmation stopping as he sees another fairy, spraying it with his gun then stopping on it as it hits the ground. "Fifty-nine."

"Do you know where the door to the Labyrinth is?" Burnerman asks, wondering how the small man might have known who he was before he told him his name.

"Maybe." Bubbleman replies, as he tracks another target.

"All right, where is it?

Bubbleman fires his spray gun again, killing another fairy. "Sixty."

"I said, where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"The door."

"What door?"

"The door into the Labyrinth."

"The door! Into the Labyrinth! Oh, that's a good one. Puku!" He laughs unkindly, causing Burnerman to want to punch him.

"It's hopeless asking you anything." The boy says with a growl.

"Not if you ask the right questions. Puku." Bubbleman looks at him with a sidelong gaze, "You're as green as a cucumber."

"Well, what are the right questions?" Burnerman huffs, his anger boiling inside of him.

Burnerman strokes the top of his nose as he smiles, "It depends on what you want to know. Puku."

"That's easy. How do I get into the Labyrinth?"

"Ah! Now that's more like it." Bubbleman sniffles with a twinkle in his eye, the faint music rising through the air again as he points behind the boy. "You gets in there. Puku. You to to ask the right questions if you want to get anywhere in the Labyrinth. All you got to do now is find the key. Puku puku."

Burnerman turns around to see a massive gate covered in vines, the wall and door appearing where he could have sworn there was nothing before. A key rests on the ground near the door, and he moves quickly to it with a triumpet smile. The blue eyed teen grabs hold of the old fashion metal key, the thing the size of his arm. He bends over to pick the key up, grunting as he finds he can't even lift the thing.

"I suppose it's too much to expect you to give me a hand?" Burnerman asks, glaring at the man.

"Yes," Bubbleman replies, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This is so stupid!" The blue eyed boy growls as he tries in vain to pick the key up.

"You mean you're so stupid." Bubbleman corrects him.

"Shut up, you rotten little pipsqueak!"

"Don't call me that!" Bubbleman shouts, "I am not a pipsqueak."

"Yes, you are." Burnerman says, reminding himself of tormenting younger kids in school. "Yes, you a-are. Rotten little nasty ugly pipsqueak!"

"Don't call me that!" The little man shouts, beside himself with rage. "You! Ha! You're so stupid you are, you take everything for granted."

"Pipsqueak! Pipsqueak!"

"I'm not. I'm not. Stop it! Stop it!"

"Nasty, creepy little pipsqueak!"

Bubbleman shakes with anger before collecting himself, "If you weren't so brainless, you'd try the gate. Nobody said it was locked."

"Very clever." Burnerman smirks as he looks at the door.

"You think you're so clever," Bubbleman says. "You know why? Because you ain't learned nothing. Puku."

Burnerman pushes the gate door open and peers inside cautiously, seeing nothing but forbidding darkness, the musci humming in the air more intense beyound the gate. The smell of things rotting assault his nose as he steps into the Labyrinth. He looks up along the narrow walls, the sky appearing as nothing more then a slit above, water dripping continually, echoing. He walks forward towards a wall placing his hand upon it, the stone slimy as if covered with mildew.

"Cozy, ain't it?" Bubbleman says, poking his head through the gateway.

The small man blinks as he watches the tall boy, "You really going in there, are you?"

Burnerman nods as he hears the tiny bit of consern in Bubbleman's voice. "I ... yes. Yes, I am. Do you ... is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

"There's every reason why you shouldn't." Bubbleman replies, "Is there any reason why you should? Any really good reason?"

"Yes, there is." Burnerman answers, looking at the passage. "So I suppose ... I must."

"All right." Bubbleman sighs, consern in his voice more evident. "Now, which way will you go? Right or left?"

"They both look the same." Burnerman shrugs, looking at the narrow walled paths leading straight on both sides of him.

"Well, your not going to get very far, then, are you?" Bubbleman tells him.

"All right," Burnerman growls, "which way would you go?"

"Me? I wouldn't go neither way. Puku." The man laughs.

"Some guide you are." Burnerman snorts with disgust.

"I never said I was a guide, did I? Although you could certainly use one. You'll probably end up back where you started, given your record for being wrong."

"Well," The blue eyed boy snaps at him, "if that's all the help you're going to be, you might as well let me go on with it!"

"You know your problem?" Bubbleman asks, watching the boy look both ways rather confused as to which way to go. "I told you, you take to many things for granted. This Labyrinth, for instance. Even if you get to the center, which is extremely doubtful, you'll never get out again."

"That's your opinion." Burnerman syas moving to the right.

"Well, it's a better opinion than any of yours."

"Thanks for nothing, Bubble gum."

"Bubbleman!" The small man yells, his voice echoing from the gateway. "And don't say I didn't warn you! Puku!"

Burnerman sets his jaw as he runs between the damp, dire walls of the Labyrinth, the gate closing with a mighty bang that causes him to stop. A thought comes to his mind as he runs back to the door, checking it to see if it would open, only to find that it was now locked. The blue eyed teen listens, hearing the dripping of water and his own breath, alone in the maze.
_________________

[Plantman]

And Bubbleman gets revenge for all the times Burnerman has got him in the past. Bwahahahaah.... >_> Hurry with the next chapteerrrrr. Poor Burnerman though, XD he's got more patience than often this time.
_________________
Hecha en MÉXICO - Avatar by Me.
"Logic is the Ultimate Weapon."

[Plantman]

And Bubbleman gets revenge for all the times Burnerman has got him in the past. Bwahahahaah.... >_> Hurry with the next chapteerrrrr. Poor Burnerman though, XD he's got more patience than often this time.
_________________
Hecha en MÉXICO - Avatar by Me.
"Logic is the Ultimate Weapon."

[Kitty-Chan]

An interesting read; I really should go get the movie...
_________________
Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Core]

I need to find the movie also. Use to have an old copy of it that no longer can find, and one that I got for my sister she took when she moved out to live with her husband. Thanks for the comments, and here is the next chapter for you all to read and enjoy, complete with music from the movie written by David Bowie. :D

Chapter Four
"Which Is Which"



Burnerman sighs as he looks down the passage, starting once more in the direction he started in, the path continueing to go straight ahead with no end in sight. The lichen clinging to the surface of the wall opens its many eyes to look at him as he passes, the plants looking back at themselves in silent dismay at the path the fiery haired boy is taking. The plants wish they can offer advice to him, but remain silent, having no voice to even carry their message. As Burnerman walks his aggitation grows, each step forward seeming to take him no where.

"Is this what the labyrinth is?" He says out loud, more for the company of his voice then anything else. "There's not a single turn, or corner, or -- anything. It just goes on, and on."

Burnerman pauses as he recalls what Bubbleman had said to him. "But maybe it doesn't. Maybe ... I'm just taking it for granted that it does. Because that's all it's done so far, go on and on. It could do that forever -- and I haven't got forever."

The boy draws in a deep breath, wishing that he knew how much time he had left, he shakes off the unfairness of not knowing the time as he breaks into a run. Burnerman runs quickly between the two wall, jumping over puddles of mud, finding still nothing before him but a never ending stretch of passage. After several moments he slows to a stop, panting for air as he kneels, resting his hands on his knees, his eyes closing in frustration. The lichen on the walk continues to stare at him sadly, able to do nothing. Burnerman opens his eyes slowly, hoping that a door or something would appear before him like the gate did that allowed him into this mess in the first place, finding only the same stretch of passage before him.

He growls with anger as he stands up, thrusting a fist into the stone wall. "SHIT!"

"'Allo?" A small voice says, causing Burnerman to look at a crack in the wall at a small snake like creature inching its way out from between the bricks, as if his punch had summoned.

"A talking snake?" The blue eyed boy states, looking at the thing puzzled. "Uh, do you know how to get through the Labyrinth?"

"Who, me?" The snake grins, shaking its head. "No, I'm just Ssssnakeman."

"Right, I should have expected as much." Burnerman sighs, hanging his head with a slight laugh at himself.

"Come inssside and meet the misssusss," the snake invites him, his s's drawn out with a hissing sound.

The boy shakes his head with a faint smile, "Thank you, but I've got to get through the Labyrinth. And there are no turns, openings, or anything. It just goes on and on."

"Ooh," Snakeman says, "you ain't looking right at all. It'ss full of openingsss. It'ss just that you haven't ssseen them, that'ss all. There'ss an opening just across there. It'ss right in front of you."

Burnerman looks at the wall he just punched, seeing nothing but the same stone, mildew, and lichen. "No, there isn't."

Snakeman sniffles as he looks up at the giant, annoyed slightly at being the size of an inch worm. "Come in and have a nice cup of tea." He offers, smiling at the boy kindly.

"There isn't an opening." Burnerman insists, looking at the wall closely.

"Have you tried walking that way?" The snake says, nodding encourageingly. "You'll see. But first, why not have a nice cup of tea?"

"Where?" The reddish pink haired boy asks, looking at the wall still.

"I got a kettle on."

"That's just a wall," Burnerman mutters, ignoring the snakes hospitality towards him. "There's no way through."

"Ooh," The snake inches his way along the crack between the stone bricks, "this place, my dear. Things aren't always what they ssseem, you know, hot here. Not here, no. Sso Don't you take anything for granted."

Burnerman glares at the snake, the creature echoing the words of the short detestable Bubbleman he met earlier. The blue midgets voice repeating in his head 'Me? I wouldn't go neither way.' Neither way? Not left, nor right, but back ... or forward. The blue eyed boy closes his eyes as he takes a step forward, expecting to slam right into the stone surface of the wall.

As no impact greets him, he opens his eyes, smiing as he finds himself in another passage, the opening blending seamlessly with the other to appear invisable. He turns around and and sees the snake crawling through the wall to the other side of the passage.

"Thank you." Burnerman says greatfully to the snake, "That was incredibly helpful."

He starts to walk down the passage to his right, smiling as he takes a few steps.

"Don't go that way!" The snake shouts in warning, causing the boy to stop.

Burnerman blinks as he looks at Snakeman, "What did you say?"

"What I said," Snakeman hisses, "was don't go that way."

"Oh," The boy smiles, nodding at the small advisor he found. "Thanks."

The lichen on the wall seem to sigh in relief as it sees the blue eyed boy turn and go to the left.

"Whew." Snakeman rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "That wass close. If he'd gone that way, he'd have walkd straight into that dreadful castle."

* * * * * * * * * *

In the stone chambers of the Goblin King, Aquaman, still in his pink and white pajamas, howls with his mouth wide open. Water jets out from the spout on his head, falling into two bottomless water basins, the childs face scarlet from his endless crying. His small blue fists wave as he shouts is discontent, eyes shut tightly.

Shademan watches the boy with an amused smile, sitting on his throne covered with monstrous furs and horned. Goblins take no notice to the child, scuttling about their business and raising their own racket in the place. A carved crown fitted with rams horns hangs above the throne, signifying the importance of the one seated there, the crown serving a double purpose as a next for a large swallow or lark creature that seems to be happily perched in the nest with its red chest puffed out proudly. Wheither the avian took up residency on its own is unknown to any in service to the king, most like their master placing it there to amuse himself, which he needs, finding the goblins to be a bore.

The goblins short on wisdom or with, fight or squabble admists themselves over non-important things. Shademan remembers back to the ancient times, when many babies were offered to him, taking them in the hopes that one would prove to be worthy to train as a companion to his throne. A child whose young blood would serve to refresh his, the being in such high spirits that it would dispel the depression set on him by ageless time. The calls to take children growing rarer and less frequent, sinking the mighty King of the Goblins further into the depths of dejection. Avoiding mirrors and reflecting pools, he could feel the centuries tugging at him, making him feel old even if he is ageless.

He looks over at the crying Aquaman from his throne, smiling as he hopes that the child will grow to he an intelligent goblin. One that might make some jokes, or see things in the same point of view as Shademan. The child might be some help in ruling the ramshackle empire of his. At the very least, the boy might have some fresh ideas about mischief. The raven haired man yawns as he looks at the walls decorated with skulls and bats, his eyes shifting to look hopefully at the clock. The sword-shaped hands point out the time, half past three, only another nine and a half hours to wait and the child will be his.

Shademan stands from his throne, stretching his arms and pacing restlessly as another goblin comes dashing past him. He reaches down and picks the furry creature up by the scruff of the neck, the goblin looking at him with boggled eyes.

"You're a boggling goblin," Shademan states, forcing a laugh that sends the others in the room into an uproar of amusement.

The tall man walks around for a bit with a smile, an idea coming to him as he sees a goblin crying from stubbing his foot on one of the stone steps.

"You remind me of the babe." Shademan says to the creature.

"What babe?" The goblin blinks back at him.

"The babe with the power."

"What power?" One of the horned goblins asks, looking up to see what is going on.

"The power of voodoo." Shademan answer, moving his hands as if casting a spell.

"Who do?"

"You do." The raven haired king says, thumping his hand against the chest of one of the goblins and causing the small thing to fall over with a clanging sound on the stone floor.

"Do what?"

"Remind me of the babe."

Shademan smiles as he turns around, his voice warmed up to sing.

"I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry
What could I do?
My baby's love had gone
And left my baby blue
Nobody knew."

"What kind of magic spell to use?" The goblins join in,
"Slime and snails
Or puppy dog's tails
Thunder of lightning."

"Then baby said..." Shademan sings, turning towards Aquaman.

Aquaman looks at him oddly, "Goo goo gaa gaa..."

The goblin king picks up the child in his arms as he continues to sing,
"Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance"

"Put that baby spell on me." A goblin sing.

"Jump magic, Jump." Shademan sings, smiling as he tosses Aquaman into the air and catches him. "Jump magic, jump."

"Put that magic jump on me." The goblin sings again.

"Slap that baby, make him free!" Another cheerfully sings as he spins around before falling over.

Shademan smiles as he brings Aquaman close to him the child smiling along with him as he is held and spun, listening to the song as the tall king continues to sing.

"I saw my baby, trying hard as babe could try
What could I do?
My baby's fun had gone
And left my baby blue
Nobody knew"

The goblins break out in chorus once more as they bounce and dance around the chamber,
"What kind of magic spell to use?
Slime and snails
Or puppy's dog tails
Thunder or lightning"

"Then baby said..." Shademan smiles as he looks at the child in his arms, wiggling his fingers above him.

"Goo goo gaa gaa!" Aquaman cheers as he smiles and waves his hands at the fingers happily.

"Dance magic, dance." Shademan sings and chants, the goblins echoing his words, moving around the chamber with Aquaman. "Dance magic, dance.
Dance magic, dance.
Dance magic, dance.
Jump magic, jump!
Jump magic, jump!
Jump magic, jump!
Jump magic, jump!"

"Put that baby's spell on me."

The goblin king turns sharply towards one of his underlings, "You remind me of the babe."

"What babe?" The goblin replies smiling.

"The babe with the power."

"What power?"

"Power of voodoo" Shademan waves a hand magically, calling forth a crystal globe before making it vanish again.

"Who do?"

"You do."

"Do what?"

"Remind me of the babe." The dark haired man sings as he spins around and dips the child down before standing back up. "Dance magic, dance.
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic.
What kind of magic spell to use?"

"Slime or snails?" A horned goblin asks, watching a snail crawl past him

One of the smaller ones looks at a dog faced goblin wagging its tail, "Or puppy's dog tails?"

"Thunder of lightning"

"Something frightning." A goblin sings in bass.

"Dance magic, dance." Shademan sings, making Aquaman all the more happier.
"Dance magic, dance
Put that baby spell on me
Jump magic, jump
Jump magic, jump
Put that magicjump on me
Slap that baby make him free
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Jump magic, jump
Jump magic, jump
Put that magic jump on me
Slap that baby"

"Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Slap that slap that baby make him free
Dance magic, dance..."

* * * * * * * * * *

Burnerman continues to walk around in the massive maze, happy that the tall walls have changed to stone with some hedges and better cared for plants. As he ventures further into the twists and turns he marks his path on some of the stones paving the ground with some clear strawberry lipgloss he forgot to remove from his jean pocket. Making arrows pointing in the direction that he was moving in so that he could find his way back if one proved to be a dead end. As he head off down a side passage, a small yellow helmeted creature pops up from under the marked paved stone, grumbling as it flips the paver over and vanishes under it once more. The blue eyed boy sighs as he reaches a dead end, turning around to back track over his marks only to stare at the paver stone in shock, looking further a head to see the others gone as well.

"Someone's been rubbing out my marks!" Burnerman shouts loudly, throwing the lip gloss down, "What a horrid place this is! It's not fair!"

"That's right," a voice states behind him. "It's not fair!"

Burnerman squeaks as he jumps, whipping around quickly to see who is behind him. He stands there in amazement as he sees the dead end transformed, now showing two large carved doors in the wall with a potted tree between them. Two guards stand before the doors, holding a massive sheild before them that covers their bodies. The red helmets on their head sport a horn stretching back, the one on the left with a white band and neatly kept white hair while the other has a purple band and wild untamed hair. He studies them for a moment before noticing another pair of heads peering out from behind the sheilds, upside down as if hanging on the other end of the shield. The one of the left a dark shade of blue with crimson eyes and purple on his helment, the other with kind green eyes and a blue and red marked helmet.

"And that's only half of it." The crimson eyed head states with a snearing smile that sends a shiver down Burnerman's spine.

"Half of what?" Burnerman asks, twisting his head and ducking down to look at the head.

"Half as twice as much," the dark one replies to his question.

"Twice as much of what?"

"Twice as much as half of it."

Burnerman growls as he points at the wall, "Look! This was a dead end a moment ago."

"No." The green eyed head says timidly, "That's the dead end behind you."

The blue eyed boy stands and looks behind him, seeing a solid wall where the path he just left was. "Oh... It's not fair. This place keeps changing. What am I suppose to do?"

"It all depends on who's doing the supposing," The evil red eyed head mocks.

"Not half." The green eyed one says, "Try one of the doors."

"One of them leads to the castle," the wicked head informs him cheerfully, "and the other one leads to certain death."

"Which is which?" Burnerman asks, swallowing hard at the term 'certain death'.

"We can't tell you," the head replies.

"Why not?"

"We don't know." The other says, looking up at the other pair above. "But they do."

"Then I'll ask them."

"Ah! No, you can't ask us. You can ask only one of us." The crimson visored one says with a smile as evil as the one on the lower left.

"It's in the rules." The dark visored one speaks, "And I think I should warn you that one of us always tells the truth, and one of us always lies. That's a rule, too."

The finely kept head turns as he finishes the statement to look to his right, "He always lies."

"Don't listen to him," The wild haired one says in a calm voice. "He's lying. I'm the one who tells the truth."

"That's a lie!"

"You see," the blue head says as he looks up at Burnerman from his upside down position on the lower right, "even if you ask one of them, you won't know if the answer you get is true or false."

"Now wait a minute," Burnerman says, holding up his hands to the guards. "I know this riddle. I've heard it before, but I've never figured it out."

The purple banded head mutters to himself, "He's lying."

"He's lying." The other red head retorts.

Burnerman scratches the back of his head in thought. "There's one question I can ask and it doesn't matter which one of them I ask it." He clicks his tongue, growing impatient at himself. "Oh, what could it be?"

"Come on, come on," The crimson eyed head snaps. "We can't stand around here all day!"

"What do you mean, we can't?" The green eyed one asks, looking at the evil twin. "That's our job. We're gatekeepers."

"Oh, yes. I forgot."

"I tell the truth," The well kept head says, standing up a bit straighter behind the shield.

"Ooh!" The other head says, looking sidelong at him. "What a lie!"

Burnerman bites his knuckle in thought, "First thing to do is find out which one's the liar ... but, no, there's no way of doing that. So ... the next thing to do is to find a question you can put to either one ... and get the same answer."

"Oh, that's a good one," the blue and purple helmeted head cackles. "One of us always tells the truth and the other one always lies, and you want to find a question we'll both give the same answer to? Oh, that'll be the day. That's a good one, that is. Oh."

"Now," The blue eyed boy says, "whom shall I ask?"

The two upper heads point at each other.

"Answer yes or no." Burnerman smirks as he looks at the eyes behind the crimson visor, Would he tell me that this door leads to the castle?" He asks, pointing at the door behind the guard he's talking to.

"Uh ... yes."

"Then the other door leads to the castle," Burnerman smiles in conclusion. "And this door leads to certain death."

"How do you know?" The wicked looking red and purple helmeted head asks slowly, aggrievation in his voice. "He could he telling you the truth."

"Then you wouldn't be," the boy smiles as he replies to the question. "So if you tell me he said yes, I know the answer was no." He smiles widely, pleased with himself.

The two upper heads look dejected, feeling as though they have been cheated out of a prize.

"But I could be telling the truth," The crimson visored one objects.

"Then he would he lying," Burnerman smiles, "So if you tell me that he said yes, the answer would still be no."

"Wait a minute," The guard frowns. "Is that right?"

"I don't know," replied the well kept guard. "I never really understood it either."

"It's right," Burnerman tells them. "I figured it out. I never could until now."

The boy moves past the guard and opens the door, stepping through to another passage before turning to face the four.

"You know, I may be getting smarter." Burnerman says, placing a hand on his hip and thumbing his nose. "Piece of cake."

The floor under him splits open, dropping down into a dark chasm. Burnerman screams as he falls seing the light above from the hole shrinking as he falls into darkness.
_________________

[Core]

I need to find the movie also. Use to have an old copy of it that no longer can find, and one that I got for my sister she took when she moved out to live with her husband. Thanks for the comments, and here is the next chapter for you all to read and enjoy, complete with music from the movie written by David Bowie. :D

Chapter Four
"Which Is Which"



Burnerman sighs as he looks down the passage, starting once more in the direction he started in, the path continueing to go straight ahead with no end in sight. The lichen clinging to the surface of the wall opens its many eyes to look at him as he passes, the plants looking back at themselves in silent dismay at the path the fiery haired boy is taking. The plants wish they can offer advice to him, but remain silent, having no voice to even carry their message. As Burnerman walks his aggitation grows, each step forward seeming to take him no where.

"Is this what the labyrinth is?" He says out loud, more for the company of his voice then anything else. "There's not a single turn, or corner, or -- anything. It just goes on, and on."

Burnerman pauses as he recalls what Bubbleman had said to him. "But maybe it doesn't. Maybe ... I'm just taking it for granted that it does. Because that's all it's done so far, go on and on. It could do that forever -- and I haven't got forever."

The boy draws in a deep breath, wishing that he knew how much time he had left, he shakes off the unfairness of not knowing the time as he breaks into a run. Burnerman runs quickly between the two wall, jumping over puddles of mud, finding still nothing before him but a never ending stretch of passage. After several moments he slows to a stop, panting for air as he kneels, resting his hands on his knees, his eyes closing in frustration. The lichen on the walk continues to stare at him sadly, able to do nothing. Burnerman opens his eyes slowly, hoping that a door or something would appear before him like the gate did that allowed him into this mess in the first place, finding only the same stretch of passage before him.

He growls with anger as he stands up, thrusting a fist into the stone wall. "SHIT!"

"'Allo?" A small voice says, causing Burnerman to look at a crack in the wall at a small snake like creature inching its way out from between the bricks, as if his punch had summoned.

"A talking snake?" The blue eyed boy states, looking at the thing puzzled. "Uh, do you know how to get through the Labyrinth?"

"Who, me?" The snake grins, shaking its head. "No, I'm just Ssssnakeman."

"Right, I should have expected as much." Burnerman sighs, hanging his head with a slight laugh at himself.

"Come inssside and meet the misssusss," the snake invites him, his s's drawn out with a hissing sound.

The boy shakes his head with a faint smile, "Thank you, but I've got to get through the Labyrinth. And there are no turns, openings, or anything. It just goes on and on."

"Ooh," Snakeman says, "you ain't looking right at all. It'ss full of openingsss. It'ss just that you haven't ssseen them, that'ss all. There'ss an opening just across there. It'ss right in front of you."

Burnerman looks at the wall he just punched, seeing nothing but the same stone, mildew, and lichen. "No, there isn't."

Snakeman sniffles as he looks up at the giant, annoyed slightly at being the size of an inch worm. "Come in and have a nice cup of tea." He offers, smiling at the boy kindly.

"There isn't an opening." Burnerman insists, looking at the wall closely.

"Have you tried walking that way?" The snake says, nodding encourageingly. "You'll see. But first, why not have a nice cup of tea?"

"Where?" The reddish pink haired boy asks, looking at the wall still.

"I got a kettle on."

"That's just a wall," Burnerman mutters, ignoring the snakes hospitality towards him. "There's no way through."

"Ooh," The snake inches his way along the crack between the stone bricks, "this place, my dear. Things aren't always what they ssseem, you know, hot here. Not here, no. Sso Don't you take anything for granted."

Burnerman glares at the snake, the creature echoing the words of the short detestable Bubbleman he met earlier. The blue midgets voice repeating in his head 'Me? I wouldn't go neither way.' Neither way? Not left, nor right, but back ... or forward. The blue eyed boy closes his eyes as he takes a step forward, expecting to slam right into the stone surface of the wall.

As no impact greets him, he opens his eyes, smiing as he finds himself in another passage, the opening blending seamlessly with the other to appear invisable. He turns around and and sees the snake crawling through the wall to the other side of the passage.

"Thank you." Burnerman says greatfully to the snake, "That was incredibly helpful."

He starts to walk down the passage to his right, smiling as he takes a few steps.

"Don't go that way!" The snake shouts in warning, causing the boy to stop.

Burnerman blinks as he looks at Snakeman, "What did you say?"

"What I said," Snakeman hisses, "was don't go that way."

"Oh," The boy smiles, nodding at the small advisor he found. "Thanks."

The lichen on the wall seem to sigh in relief as it sees the blue eyed boy turn and go to the left.

"Whew." Snakeman rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "That wass close. If he'd gone that way, he'd have walkd straight into that dreadful castle."

* * * * * * * * * *

In the stone chambers of the Goblin King, Aquaman, still in his pink and white pajamas, howls with his mouth wide open. Water jets out from the spout on his head, falling into two bottomless water basins, the childs face scarlet from his endless crying. His small blue fists wave as he shouts is discontent, eyes shut tightly.

Shademan watches the boy with an amused smile, sitting on his throne covered with monstrous furs and horned. Goblins take no notice to the child, scuttling about their business and raising their own racket in the place. A carved crown fitted with rams horns hangs above the throne, signifying the importance of the one seated there, the crown serving a double purpose as a next for a large swallow or lark creature that seems to be happily perched in the nest with its red chest puffed out proudly. Wheither the avian took up residency on its own is unknown to any in service to the king, most like their master placing it there to amuse himself, which he needs, finding the goblins to be a bore.

The goblins short on wisdom or with, fight or squabble admists themselves over non-important things. Shademan remembers back to the ancient times, when many babies were offered to him, taking them in the hopes that one would prove to be worthy to train as a companion to his throne. A child whose young blood would serve to refresh his, the being in such high spirits that it would dispel the depression set on him by ageless time. The calls to take children growing rarer and less frequent, sinking the mighty King of the Goblins further into the depths of dejection. Avoiding mirrors and reflecting pools, he could feel the centuries tugging at him, making him feel old even if he is ageless.

He looks over at the crying Aquaman from his throne, smiling as he hopes that the child will grow to he an intelligent goblin. One that might make some jokes, or see things in the same point of view as Shademan. The child might be some help in ruling the ramshackle empire of his. At the very least, the boy might have some fresh ideas about mischief. The raven haired man yawns as he looks at the walls decorated with skulls and bats, his eyes shifting to look hopefully at the clock. The sword-shaped hands point out the time, half past three, only another nine and a half hours to wait and the child will be his.

Shademan stands from his throne, stretching his arms and pacing restlessly as another goblin comes dashing past him. He reaches down and picks the furry creature up by the scruff of the neck, the goblin looking at him with boggled eyes.

"You're a boggling goblin," Shademan states, forcing a laugh that sends the others in the room into an uproar of amusement.

The tall man walks around for a bit with a smile, an idea coming to him as he sees a goblin crying from stubbing his foot on one of the stone steps.

"You remind me of the babe." Shademan says to the creature.

"What babe?" The goblin blinks back at him.

"The babe with the power."

"What power?" One of the horned goblins asks, looking up to see what is going on.

"The power of voodoo." Shademan answer, moving his hands as if casting a spell.

"Who do?"

"You do." The raven haired king says, thumping his hand against the chest of one of the goblins and causing the small thing to fall over with a clanging sound on the stone floor.

"Do what?"

"Remind me of the babe."

Shademan smiles as he turns around, his voice warmed up to sing.

"I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry
What could I do?
My baby's love had gone
And left my baby blue
Nobody knew."

"What kind of magic spell to use?" The goblins join in,
"Slime and snails
Or puppy dog's tails
Thunder of lightning."

"Then baby said..." Shademan sings, turning towards Aquaman.

Aquaman looks at him oddly, "Goo goo gaa gaa..."

The goblin king picks up the child in his arms as he continues to sing,
"Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance"

"Put that baby spell on me." A goblin sing.

"Jump magic, Jump." Shademan sings, smiling as he tosses Aquaman into the air and catches him. "Jump magic, jump."

"Put that magic jump on me." The goblin sings again.

"Slap that baby, make him free!" Another cheerfully sings as he spins around before falling over.

Shademan smiles as he brings Aquaman close to him the child smiling along with him as he is held and spun, listening to the song as the tall king continues to sing.

"I saw my baby, trying hard as babe could try
What could I do?
My baby's fun had gone
And left my baby blue
Nobody knew"

The goblins break out in chorus once more as they bounce and dance around the chamber,
"What kind of magic spell to use?
Slime and snails
Or puppy's dog tails
Thunder or lightning"

"Then baby said..." Shademan smiles as he looks at the child in his arms, wiggling his fingers above him.

"Goo goo gaa gaa!" Aquaman cheers as he smiles and waves his hands at the fingers happily.

"Dance magic, dance." Shademan sings and chants, the goblins echoing his words, moving around the chamber with Aquaman. "Dance magic, dance.
Dance magic, dance.
Dance magic, dance.
Jump magic, jump!
Jump magic, jump!
Jump magic, jump!
Jump magic, jump!"

"Put that baby's spell on me."

The goblin king turns sharply towards one of his underlings, "You remind me of the babe."

"What babe?" The goblin replies smiling.

"The babe with the power."

"What power?"

"Power of voodoo" Shademan waves a hand magically, calling forth a crystal globe before making it vanish again.

"Who do?"

"You do."

"Do what?"

"Remind me of the babe." The dark haired man sings as he spins around and dips the child down before standing back up. "Dance magic, dance.
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic.
What kind of magic spell to use?"

"Slime or snails?" A horned goblin asks, watching a snail crawl past him

One of the smaller ones looks at a dog faced goblin wagging its tail, "Or puppy's dog tails?"

"Thunder of lightning"

"Something frightning." A goblin sings in bass.

"Dance magic, dance." Shademan sings, making Aquaman all the more happier.
"Dance magic, dance
Put that baby spell on me
Jump magic, jump
Jump magic, jump
Put that magicjump on me
Slap that baby make him free
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Jump magic, jump
Jump magic, jump
Put that magic jump on me
Slap that baby"

"Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Dance magic, dance
Slap that slap that baby make him free
Dance magic, dance..."

* * * * * * * * * *

Burnerman continues to walk around in the massive maze, happy that the tall walls have changed to stone with some hedges and better cared for plants. As he ventures further into the twists and turns he marks his path on some of the stones paving the ground with some clear strawberry lipgloss he forgot to remove from his jean pocket. Making arrows pointing in the direction that he was moving in so that he could find his way back if one proved to be a dead end. As he head off down a side passage, a small yellow helmeted creature pops up from under the marked paved stone, grumbling as it flips the paver over and vanishes under it once more. The blue eyed boy sighs as he reaches a dead end, turning around to back track over his marks only to stare at the paver stone in shock, looking further a head to see the others gone as well.

"Someone's been rubbing out my marks!" Burnerman shouts loudly, throwing the lip gloss down, "What a horrid place this is! It's not fair!"

"That's right," a voice states behind him. "It's not fair!"

Burnerman squeaks as he jumps, whipping around quickly to see who is behind him. He stands there in amazement as he sees the dead end transformed, now showing two large carved doors in the wall with a potted tree between them. Two guards stand before the doors, holding a massive sheild before them that covers their bodies. The red helmets on their head sport a horn stretching back, the one on the left with a white band and neatly kept white hair while the other has a purple band and wild untamed hair. He studies them for a moment before noticing another pair of heads peering out from behind the sheilds, upside down as if hanging on the other end of the shield. The one of the left a dark shade of blue with crimson eyes and purple on his helment, the other with kind green eyes and a blue and red marked helmet.

"And that's only half of it." The crimson eyed head states with a snearing smile that sends a shiver down Burnerman's spine.

"Half of what?" Burnerman asks, twisting his head and ducking down to look at the head.

"Half as twice as much," the dark one replies to his question.

"Twice as much of what?"

"Twice as much as half of it."

Burnerman growls as he points at the wall, "Look! This was a dead end a moment ago."

"No." The green eyed head says timidly, "That's the dead end behind you."

The blue eyed boy stands and looks behind him, seeing a solid wall where the path he just left was. "Oh... It's not fair. This place keeps changing. What am I suppose to do?"

"It all depends on who's doing the supposing," The evil red eyed head mocks.

"Not half." The green eyed one says, "Try one of the doors."

"One of them leads to the castle," the wicked head informs him cheerfully, "and the other one leads to certain death."

"Which is which?" Burnerman asks, swallowing hard at the term 'certain death'.

"We can't tell you," the head replies.

"Why not?"

"We don't know." The other says, looking up at the other pair above. "But they do."

"Then I'll ask them."

"Ah! No, you can't ask us. You can ask only one of us." The crimson visored one says with a smile as evil as the one on the lower left.

"It's in the rules." The dark visored one speaks, "And I think I should warn you that one of us always tells the truth, and one of us always lies. That's a rule, too."

The finely kept head turns as he finishes the statement to look to his right, "He always lies."

"Don't listen to him," The wild haired one says in a calm voice. "He's lying. I'm the one who tells the truth."

"That's a lie!"

"You see," the blue head says as he looks up at Burnerman from his upside down position on the lower right, "even if you ask one of them, you won't know if the answer you get is true or false."

"Now wait a minute," Burnerman says, holding up his hands to the guards. "I know this riddle. I've heard it before, but I've never figured it out."

The purple banded head mutters to himself, "He's lying."

"He's lying." The other red head retorts.

Burnerman scratches the back of his head in thought. "There's one question I can ask and it doesn't matter which one of them I ask it." He clicks his tongue, growing impatient at himself. "Oh, what could it be?"

"Come on, come on," The crimson eyed head snaps. "We can't stand around here all day!"

"What do you mean, we can't?" The green eyed one asks, looking at the evil twin. "That's our job. We're gatekeepers."

"Oh, yes. I forgot."

"I tell the truth," The well kept head says, standing up a bit straighter behind the shield.

"Ooh!" The other head says, looking sidelong at him. "What a lie!"

Burnerman bites his knuckle in thought, "First thing to do is find out which one's the liar ... but, no, there's no way of doing that. So ... the next thing to do is to find a question you can put to either one ... and get the same answer."

"Oh, that's a good one," the blue and purple helmeted head cackles. "One of us always tells the truth and the other one always lies, and you want to find a question we'll both give the same answer to? Oh, that'll be the day. That's a good one, that is. Oh."

"Now," The blue eyed boy says, "whom shall I ask?"

The two upper heads point at each other.

"Answer yes or no." Burnerman smirks as he looks at the eyes behind the crimson visor, Would he tell me that this door leads to the castle?" He asks, pointing at the door behind the guard he's talking to.

"Uh ... yes."

"Then the other door leads to the castle," Burnerman smiles in conclusion. "And this door leads to certain death."

"How do you know?" The wicked looking red and purple helmeted head asks slowly, aggrievation in his voice. "He could he telling you the truth."

"Then you wouldn't be," the boy smiles as he replies to the question. "So if you tell me he said yes, I know the answer was no." He smiles widely, pleased with himself.

The two upper heads look dejected, feeling as though they have been cheated out of a prize.

"But I could be telling the truth," The crimson visored one objects.

"Then he would he lying," Burnerman smiles, "So if you tell me that he said yes, the answer would still be no."

"Wait a minute," The guard frowns. "Is that right?"

"I don't know," replied the well kept guard. "I never really understood it either."

"It's right," Burnerman tells them. "I figured it out. I never could until now."

The boy moves past the guard and opens the door, stepping through to another passage before turning to face the four.

"You know, I may be getting smarter." Burnerman says, placing a hand on his hip and thumbing his nose. "Piece of cake."

The floor under him splits open, dropping down into a dark chasm. Burnerman screams as he falls seing the light above from the hole shrinking as he falls into darkness.
_________________

[Sol]

Ha ha...such an amusing chapter, this one is. I may need to see the movie sometime as well. I like the way you protrayed the two guards and the whole scenario; I always did like stuff like that.

Can't wait until the next chapter. =o
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Sol]

Ha ha...such an amusing chapter, this one is. I may need to see the movie sometime as well. I like the way you protrayed the two guards and the whole scenario; I always did like stuff like that.

Can't wait until the next chapter. =o
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Core]

Sorry for the long wait, but here is chapter 5! :D


Chapter Five
"Bad Memories"

"Help!" Burnerman screams as he falls, his voice echoing in the darkness, his arms reaching for something to grab onto to keep him from smashing into the unseen ground below him.

His body drifts as it falls, brushing against something against the wall, his hands clammering to grab hold of the objects to halt his fall. The protruding things keep pulling and seeming to grab at him as he falls, his cries for help continuing. The blue eyed boy finally catches hold of one of the things, his arm making a snapping sound and shooting pain through his body as he comes to a stop, hanging there in the dark. He looks around him, looking to see if he can get out of the mess, his eyes adjusting to the low light to make out what is around him. The walls of the hole covered in what look like hands, the thought disturbing Burnerman as he thinks about it more.

The reddish pink haired boy looks up to see that he was holding onto one of the things, letting go of it in shock to cause himself to start to fall once more, shouting for help. The hands along the wall move and grab hold of him, frightening him further with actually being alive.

"Somebody, help me!" Burnerman shouts a the top of his lungs.

"What do you mean?" A voice says to him, "We are helping."

The blue eyed boy looks ahead of him to see the hands forming a face with their fingers, "Wha -- what are you?"

"We're 'The Helping Handys'," another face in the handy's says. "Would you like for us to let you go?"

Burnerman looks down for a moment, the darkness seeming to continue below him with no end in sight. "Uh ... no."

"Which way would you like to go then?" A group of handys' ask close to his head, "Up or down?"

The long haired boy thinks for a moment, looking at his options of going up to the small pinpoint of light or down into the darkness below. The handys' around him prodding him for an answer, some of them letting the others to let him make the choice without being forced.

"Well..." Burnerman swallows hard, "Since I'm already pointed that way, I guess... down?"

"Uh oh!" One of the faces say, "He chose down."

"Down." One of the others seems to sing the word.

"Wait? Was that the wrong one?" The blue eyed teen asks, fear gripping him as well as the handys'.

"It's too late for that now." A face forms before breaking appart again into hands, the disembodied limbs starting to hand him down quickly, almost tossing from one to another.

Their speed increases steadily and Burnerman shouts to know what is going on, only hearing the hands chant ' Down. Down. Pass him down.' A handy reaches out and removes a grate from the bottom of the shaft as the others deposit the teen into it, covering it quickly to seal the shaft once more. Burnerman sits in a small puddle of water, looking up at the faint light, trying to get his bearings but glad to be free from the helping handys'.

* * * * * * * * * *

Shademan looks at the image of the boy's face, blank of expression in the darkness, the crystal orb in his hand showing him everthing.

"He's in the oubliette," The king of the Goblins states.

The goblins in the chamber start to laugh and dance around, a wicked glance from thier king silencing them.

"Wrong laugh?" One of the goblins ask, looking at him.

"He shouldn't have gotten as far as this." Shademan says, looking into the crystal at Burnerman's face. He shakes his head slowly, closing his pale gold and crimson eyes. "He should have given up by now."

"He'll never give up," one of the other goblins states, worried.

Shademan smirks, showing his fangs. "Won't he? He'll give up soon enough, when he has to start all over."

The pale green skinned leader looks into the crystal at the boy, no one has ever made it as far has he into his personal game board that is the Labyrinth. Burnerman, too old to be turned into a goblin, and too young to be kept by him. He examines the face of the teen, the teen too young to be kept by him . . . he has to be moved back to square one, to keep him from being a threat to Toby. He smiles as he knows what card to play to send the boy back to the start, spinning the crystal around to clear the vision of the teen and replace it with one of his servants.

"Bubbleman!" Shademan calls, the short creature jumping at the sound of his voice, "He's in the oubliette. Get him back to the outer walls."

Bubbleman cocks his head to the side with a grimace, "He's quite determined, your Magesty. It won't be easy --"

"Do it." Shademan snaps at him, flipping the crystal in the air where it vanishes like a soup bubble.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Burnerman sighs as he sits in the darkness, letting his eyes adjust to the low light some more, and wondering why he didn't ask the handys to take him up instead of down. As he sits there a sound in the darkness causes him to jump to his feet, looking around him to get a bead on where it is coming from.

"Who's there? Who's in here with me?" Burnerman calls out, his heart pounding with fear of what is in the inky darkness.

"Me, puku." A familiar voice replies, another sound iminates from it along with a flash of light as a match is struck to egnite a torch.

The teen sheilds his eyes from the light for a moment before making out Bubbleman's form, the small body sitting on a rough bench and holding a torch.

"Oh, I am glad to see you, Bubbleman." The reddish pink haired boy says, hugging the small man.

"Yes, well... well, nice to see you, too... puku." Bubbleman says, embarrassed at the situation.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Burnerman asks quickly, sitting on the bench beside him in the light.

Bubbleman shrugs and turns half away from the boy, "I know you were going to get into trouble when I saw you. Puku, So I -- I've come to give you a hand."

Burnerman shudders at the thought of the helping hands he got earlier, "You mean, your going to help me unriddle the Labyrinth?"

"Unriddle the Labyrinth?" Bubbleman answers, turning his head to look at the teen over his shoulder. "Don't you know where you are? Puku?"

The teen looks around them to see only stone walls, floor, and ceiling beyond the circle of light provided by the torch. The wooden bench the only luxury in the sparce space.

"This is an oubliette." The visored man says, "The Labyrinth's full of them, puku."

"Really?" Burnerman says, "Now, fancy that."

"Don't try to sound smart. Puku!" The man says, "You don't know what an oubliette is."

"Do you?"

"Yes, puku." Bubbleman says, smiling with pride. "It's a place you put people to forget about them."

Burnerman remembers his verbs from other languages, pleased at himself. "Of course. It comes from the French verb oublier, to forget. But you already know that."

The teen watches Bubbleman rubs his chin, everything starting to set in with his mind. Burnerman shaking with anger, the thought of the goblin king dropping him in here to be forgotten, to forget about him. The small man next to him gets up and takes the torch with him, moving to one of the walls across from him, close to where he had been sitting before Bubbleman's arrival. The strange little man holds the torch out to illuminate a skeleton leaning against the wall, its knees bent and head resting on the wall. The anger in him vanishes, replaced by fear once more as he sees what happens to those placed into the oubliette.

"You see?" Bubbleman says, squinting at him. "This Labyrinth is a dangerous place. No place for a little boy. Puku."

Burnerman glares at him. Who is he calling little?

The large lipped man nods at the skeleton. "That's how you'll end up if you keep going. In an oubliette, like him. Lots of bad memories in the Labyrinth, I can tell you. What you got to do, little boy, is get out of here. Puku Puku."

"But I must find my baby brother!" Burnerman snaps at him.

"Forget all that. Now it so happens," Bubbleman says, scratching his cheek with his finger and smiling. "I know a shortcut out of the whole Labyrinth from her."

"No." Burnerman says defiantly, "I'm not giving up now. I've come to far, I've done too well."

"You've been wonderful." The small man nods, "But this is only the edge of the Labyrinth. You've hardly started. From here on it, it gets worse."

The blue eyed boy looks at the man with a smirk, "Why are you so concerned about me?"

"What?" Bubbleman shouts, jumping back. "I am. That's all. Nice young boy ... terrible black oublietee ..."

"Listen," Burnerman interupts him, kneeling down to be almost eye level with the man. "You like jewelry, don't you?"

"Why?" The large lipped man asks slowly, folding his arms over his chest.

"You've got some very nice pieces." The teen points at the dangling chain of ornaments from the man's belt. Seeing a light blush on the face of the small being.

"Thank you." Bubbleman says, smiling a bit.

"If you help me through the Labyrinth ... I'll give you this." Burnerman says, pulling a plastic bracelet off of his wrist and holding it up in the light of the torch to show it to the man.

"Hm..." Bubbleman lips his lips as he looks at the bracelet in wonder.

"You like it, don't you?" Burnerman smiles, noticing the small man looking at the ring on his finger, something his mother had worn in ond of her performances.

"So-so," Bubbleman says. "Tell you what. You give me the bracelet and here's what I'll do. I'll show you the way out of the whole Labyrinth. How's that?"

The reddish pink haired teen narrows his eyes at him, "You were going to do that anyway."

"Yes," the man smiles in reply. "That's what would make it a particularly nice gesture on your part. Puku." He holds out his hand for the object.

"Oh, no!" Burnerman says, withdrawling the bracelet from the small man's fingers. "For this you must show me the way in. The whole way."

Bubbleman snorts and rubs his forefinger under his nose, "What makes you so certain I know my way through it?"

"Well..." The blue eyed boy smiles, "you got here, didn't you?"

"Puku?" Bubbleman's eyes widen as he pauses for a moment before shaking his head. "Yes, yes, but ... I told you, this is just the fringe of it all. You've gotten nowhere yet. Puku puku! Come on, where your common sense? You don't what to go farther than this. Really. You've done all you can, and more. Puku. You have proved you're a smart, brave boy, and you don't deserve what would become of you in here."

The man looks pointedly at the skeleton. "No, no, you deserve to be saved from that. I'll say that much for you. So -- how about it?"

Burnerman looks at him, trying to figure out what the small man's game is, whatever it may be he was playing it poorly. "I'll tell you what. If you won't take me all the way, just take me as far as you can and I'll try to do the rest myself."

"Tcha!" Bubbleman says in disgust, "Of all the headstrong numbskulls I've ever come across ..."

The blue eyed boy dangles the bracelet before the small man's eyes. "Fair deal. No strings. One bracelet. Hmm? How about it?"

"What is this anyway?" Bubbleman asks, his eyes following the bracelet as it sways before him.

"Plastic."

The small man's eyes shine as he rases his stumpy arm for the bracelet, having it placed ont ohis wrist, smiling with pride at having a new ornament to add to his collection. "I don't promise nothing, but -- I'll take you as far as I can. Them you're on your own. Right?"

Burnerman nods with affirmation, "Right."

"Plastic!" Bubbleman cheers as he moves towards the bench, smiling with pride at his new aquisition still.

The small man takes up the bench easily and sets it against the wall on one end, two doorknows showing on the underside of the wooden surface. Burnerman watches with awe as the bench clicks against the wall, forming a door where once there was only a stone surface. The stubby man grabs onto the know on the right and gives it a turn, opening the door only to have brooms and mops fall with a crash to the floor. Bubbleman smiles sheepishly as he kicks the things back into the closet, the boy trying to hold in a laugh as the small man closes the door.

"Can't be right all the time, can we? Puku?" Bubbleman mutters, this time taking hold of the other door knob and giving it a turn. "This is it, come on then."

Burnerman nods as he follows the short man through the door and into a dimly lit corridor with walls of groutesely carved rock.

"DON'T GO ON!" A voice booms behind them, making the blue eyed teen jump.

He looks around him, finding only Bubbleman with him, then realizing that he carved stone forms faces in the wall. He looks down the corridor and sees similar towering faces in the stone, the short man seeming to pay them no mind as he continues to walk through the corridor. The stone faces speaking to them as they pass, their voices deep.

"Go back while you still can!"

"This is not the way!"

"Take heed and go no farther!"

"Beware! Beware!"

"It will soon be too late!"

"Pah," Bubbleman cries waving his hand at the faces. "Don't listen to them. Puku, they're just phony-warnings. You get a lot of them in the Labyrinth. It means you're on the right track. Puku puku."

"Oh, no, you're not." One of the faces shaped like Anubis booms.

"Oh, shut up!" Bubbleman snaps back at it.

"Sorry, sorry." The face says sadly, its pointed ears drooping. "I'm only doing my job."

"Well, you don't need to do it to us." The stout man answers, leading the way down the passage once more.

Burnerman continues on with his guide, following the twists and turns, continuing to go forward. At least seeming to in his mind, if such a direction existed in this place of riddles.

"Oh, beware!" A stone face of a pharoah speaks, "For --"

"Don't bother." Bubbleman says, waving the face off.

"Oh, please," the stone face begs. "I haven't said it for such a long time. You've no idea what it's like, stuck here in this wall, and with --"

"All right." Bubbleman sighs, "But don't expect us to take any notice. Puku."

The face smiles, clearing its throat with the sound of gravel. "Oh, beware! Fore the path you take will lead you to certain destruction!" It pauses and smiles at them again, "Thanks."

A small crystal ball rolls past the pair as they continue on, the fragile object uneffected by the stones on the path, rounding a corner before Burnerman and Bubbleman can reach it. The orb bounces lightly to a blind beggar squatting along the path, the crystal landing into his upturned hat on the ground before his feet. Bubbleman groans as he looks at the hat, his mouth hanging agap as the blue eyed boy looks at him.

"So what have we here?" The begger asks, turning his pointed face towards them.

"Uh, nothing." Bubbleman stutters, "Puku..."

"Nothing? Nothing?!" The begger stands up, whipping off part of his face to reviel himself to the two as the Goblin King.

"Your Majesty!" The stout man says, bowing so far it looked as if he would topple over, "What ... what ... what a nice surprise."

"Hello, Bungleman." Shademan says, folding his arms over his chest.

"Bumbleman." Burnerman corrects.

Bubbleman grits his teeth, "Bubbleman."

"Bubbleman," Shademan says, in a kind voice, "can it be that you are helping this boy?"

"Helping?" The small man swallows hard, "In what sense? Uh ... Puku?"

"In the sense that you're taking him farther into the Labyrinth." Shademan says.

"Oh," Bubbleman replies, "In that sense."

"Yes."

"Oh, no, no, your Majesty." Bubbleman says, shaking his head and waving his arms before him. "I was leading him back to the beginning."

"What!" Burnerman exclaims, seeming to glow with flame.

Bubbleman forces himself to smile at the king, "I told him I was going to help him unriddle the Labyrinth -- a little trickery on my part ..." He gulps with fear as he looks up at the tall giant of a man. "But actually ..."

Shademan smiles pleasently at him, "And what's this plastic trinket around your wrist?"

"This? I ..." Bubbleman looks at the bracelet with wide eyes, as if never having seen or noticed the thing before. "Why... er, my goodness. Well, I never, were did this come from?"

"Bubbleman," Shademan speaks with a level tone. "If I thought you were betraying me, I would be forced to suspend you headfirst in the Bog of Eternal Stench."

"Oh no! Your Magesty!" Bubbleman cries, falling back onto his rear and waving his hands as if to ward off an attacker. "Not that! Not the Eternal Stench! PUKU!!"

"Oh, yes, Bubbleman." Shademan smiles, turning to the teen, "And you, Burnerman -- how are you enjoying the Labyrinth?"

"It's ..." The boy swallows hard, hesitant for a moment. "It's a piece of cake."

Shademan arches an eyebrown, as Bubbleman closes his eyes in dismay.

"Really?" Shademan says, sounding intrigued. "Then how about making it a more entertaining challenge?"

He looks next to him and in the air the face of the thirteen-hour close materializes out of thin air. Shademan moves his hands slightly and the hands on the clock move faster.

"That's not fair!" Burnerman shouts, stepping towards the goblin king.

"You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is."

Shademan takes the crystal ball from his hat, tossing it down into the tunnel behind the pair, the orb vanishing from sight. From the darkness a noise rises, distant by growing louder and closer, the sound of something spinning and crushing things along the path. Bubbleman looks at the boy with fear and panic as Burnerman slowly steps closer to the wall on instinct.

"The Labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it?" Shademan laughs, "Well, now we can see how you deal with this little slice."

The goblin kings laugh echo's as he vanishes from sight, leaving Burnerman and Bubbleman to stare into the darkness at the object coming closer. A large drill like form spinning dangerously, smashing anything in its path. The large drill form surrounded by smaller ones, resembling something meant to dig into the earth and not make its way down an already open path. Burnerman looks lower to see a row of scrubbing brushes, cleaning what is ground to bits by the machine.

"Oh no..." Bubbleman groans in fear, "Its Drillman, and the Cleaners!"

"What?" Burnerman asks, his mind blinded by fear at what the spinning bits can do to his body.

"Run!" Bubbleman shouts, his voice echoing on the walls as his short legs carry him forward as fast as he can.

Burnerman moves slowly at first, his legs heavy with fear, before breaking into a full run, wishing he had replied differently now more then ever.
_________________

[Core]

Sorry for the long wait, but here is chapter 5! :D


Chapter Five
"Bad Memories"

"Help!" Burnerman screams as he falls, his voice echoing in the darkness, his arms reaching for something to grab onto to keep him from smashing into the unseen ground below him.

His body drifts as it falls, brushing against something against the wall, his hands clammering to grab hold of the objects to halt his fall. The protruding things keep pulling and seeming to grab at him as he falls, his cries for help continuing. The blue eyed boy finally catches hold of one of the things, his arm making a snapping sound and shooting pain through his body as he comes to a stop, hanging there in the dark. He looks around him, looking to see if he can get out of the mess, his eyes adjusting to the low light to make out what is around him. The walls of the hole covered in what look like hands, the thought disturbing Burnerman as he thinks about it more.

The reddish pink haired boy looks up to see that he was holding onto one of the things, letting go of it in shock to cause himself to start to fall once more, shouting for help. The hands along the wall move and grab hold of him, frightening him further with actually being alive.

"Somebody, help me!" Burnerman shouts a the top of his lungs.

"What do you mean?" A voice says to him, "We are helping."

The blue eyed boy looks ahead of him to see the hands forming a face with their fingers, "Wha -- what are you?"

"We're 'The Helping Handys'," another face in the handy's says. "Would you like for us to let you go?"

Burnerman looks down for a moment, the darkness seeming to continue below him with no end in sight. "Uh ... no."

"Which way would you like to go then?" A group of handys' ask close to his head, "Up or down?"

The long haired boy thinks for a moment, looking at his options of going up to the small pinpoint of light or down into the darkness below. The handys' around him prodding him for an answer, some of them letting the others to let him make the choice without being forced.

"Well..." Burnerman swallows hard, "Since I'm already pointed that way, I guess... down?"

"Uh oh!" One of the faces say, "He chose down."

"Down." One of the others seems to sing the word.

"Wait? Was that the wrong one?" The blue eyed teen asks, fear gripping him as well as the handys'.

"It's too late for that now." A face forms before breaking appart again into hands, the disembodied limbs starting to hand him down quickly, almost tossing from one to another.

Their speed increases steadily and Burnerman shouts to know what is going on, only hearing the hands chant ' Down. Down. Pass him down.' A handy reaches out and removes a grate from the bottom of the shaft as the others deposit the teen into it, covering it quickly to seal the shaft once more. Burnerman sits in a small puddle of water, looking up at the faint light, trying to get his bearings but glad to be free from the helping handys'.

* * * * * * * * * *

Shademan looks at the image of the boy's face, blank of expression in the darkness, the crystal orb in his hand showing him everthing.

"He's in the oubliette," The king of the Goblins states.

The goblins in the chamber start to laugh and dance around, a wicked glance from thier king silencing them.

"Wrong laugh?" One of the goblins ask, looking at him.

"He shouldn't have gotten as far as this." Shademan says, looking into the crystal at Burnerman's face. He shakes his head slowly, closing his pale gold and crimson eyes. "He should have given up by now."

"He'll never give up," one of the other goblins states, worried.

Shademan smirks, showing his fangs. "Won't he? He'll give up soon enough, when he has to start all over."

The pale green skinned leader looks into the crystal at the boy, no one has ever made it as far has he into his personal game board that is the Labyrinth. Burnerman, too old to be turned into a goblin, and too young to be kept by him. He examines the face of the teen, the teen too young to be kept by him . . . he has to be moved back to square one, to keep him from being a threat to Toby. He smiles as he knows what card to play to send the boy back to the start, spinning the crystal around to clear the vision of the teen and replace it with one of his servants.

"Bubbleman!" Shademan calls, the short creature jumping at the sound of his voice, "He's in the oubliette. Get him back to the outer walls."

Bubbleman cocks his head to the side with a grimace, "He's quite determined, your Magesty. It won't be easy --"

"Do it." Shademan snaps at him, flipping the crystal in the air where it vanishes like a soup bubble.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Burnerman sighs as he sits in the darkness, letting his eyes adjust to the low light some more, and wondering why he didn't ask the handys to take him up instead of down. As he sits there a sound in the darkness causes him to jump to his feet, looking around him to get a bead on where it is coming from.

"Who's there? Who's in here with me?" Burnerman calls out, his heart pounding with fear of what is in the inky darkness.

"Me, puku." A familiar voice replies, another sound iminates from it along with a flash of light as a match is struck to egnite a torch.

The teen sheilds his eyes from the light for a moment before making out Bubbleman's form, the small body sitting on a rough bench and holding a torch.

"Oh, I am glad to see you, Bubbleman." The reddish pink haired boy says, hugging the small man.

"Yes, well... well, nice to see you, too... puku." Bubbleman says, embarrassed at the situation.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Burnerman asks quickly, sitting on the bench beside him in the light.

Bubbleman shrugs and turns half away from the boy, "I know you were going to get into trouble when I saw you. Puku, So I -- I've come to give you a hand."

Burnerman shudders at the thought of the helping hands he got earlier, "You mean, your going to help me unriddle the Labyrinth?"

"Unriddle the Labyrinth?" Bubbleman answers, turning his head to look at the teen over his shoulder. "Don't you know where you are? Puku?"

The teen looks around them to see only stone walls, floor, and ceiling beyond the circle of light provided by the torch. The wooden bench the only luxury in the sparce space.

"This is an oubliette." The visored man says, "The Labyrinth's full of them, puku."

"Really?" Burnerman says, "Now, fancy that."

"Don't try to sound smart. Puku!" The man says, "You don't know what an oubliette is."

"Do you?"

"Yes, puku." Bubbleman says, smiling with pride. "It's a place you put people to forget about them."

Burnerman remembers his verbs from other languages, pleased at himself. "Of course. It comes from the French verb oublier, to forget. But you already know that."

The teen watches Bubbleman rubs his chin, everything starting to set in with his mind. Burnerman shaking with anger, the thought of the goblin king dropping him in here to be forgotten, to forget about him. The small man next to him gets up and takes the torch with him, moving to one of the walls across from him, close to where he had been sitting before Bubbleman's arrival. The strange little man holds the torch out to illuminate a skeleton leaning against the wall, its knees bent and head resting on the wall. The anger in him vanishes, replaced by fear once more as he sees what happens to those placed into the oubliette.

"You see?" Bubbleman says, squinting at him. "This Labyrinth is a dangerous place. No place for a little boy. Puku."

Burnerman glares at him. Who is he calling little?

The large lipped man nods at the skeleton. "That's how you'll end up if you keep going. In an oubliette, like him. Lots of bad memories in the Labyrinth, I can tell you. What you got to do, little boy, is get out of here. Puku Puku."

"But I must find my baby brother!" Burnerman snaps at him.

"Forget all that. Now it so happens," Bubbleman says, scratching his cheek with his finger and smiling. "I know a shortcut out of the whole Labyrinth from her."

"No." Burnerman says defiantly, "I'm not giving up now. I've come to far, I've done too well."

"You've been wonderful." The small man nods, "But this is only the edge of the Labyrinth. You've hardly started. From here on it, it gets worse."

The blue eyed boy looks at the man with a smirk, "Why are you so concerned about me?"

"What?" Bubbleman shouts, jumping back. "I am. That's all. Nice young boy ... terrible black oublietee ..."

"Listen," Burnerman interupts him, kneeling down to be almost eye level with the man. "You like jewelry, don't you?"

"Why?" The large lipped man asks slowly, folding his arms over his chest.

"You've got some very nice pieces." The teen points at the dangling chain of ornaments from the man's belt. Seeing a light blush on the face of the small being.

"Thank you." Bubbleman says, smiling a bit.

"If you help me through the Labyrinth ... I'll give you this." Burnerman says, pulling a plastic bracelet off of his wrist and holding it up in the light of the torch to show it to the man.

"Hm..." Bubbleman lips his lips as he looks at the bracelet in wonder.

"You like it, don't you?" Burnerman smiles, noticing the small man looking at the ring on his finger, something his mother had worn in ond of her performances.

"So-so," Bubbleman says. "Tell you what. You give me the bracelet and here's what I'll do. I'll show you the way out of the whole Labyrinth. How's that?"

The reddish pink haired teen narrows his eyes at him, "You were going to do that anyway."

"Yes," the man smiles in reply. "That's what would make it a particularly nice gesture on your part. Puku." He holds out his hand for the object.

"Oh, no!" Burnerman says, withdrawling the bracelet from the small man's fingers. "For this you must show me the way in. The whole way."

Bubbleman snorts and rubs his forefinger under his nose, "What makes you so certain I know my way through it?"

"Well..." The blue eyed boy smiles, "you got here, didn't you?"

"Puku?" Bubbleman's eyes widen as he pauses for a moment before shaking his head. "Yes, yes, but ... I told you, this is just the fringe of it all. You've gotten nowhere yet. Puku puku! Come on, where your common sense? You don't what to go farther than this. Really. You've done all you can, and more. Puku. You have proved you're a smart, brave boy, and you don't deserve what would become of you in here."

The man looks pointedly at the skeleton. "No, no, you deserve to be saved from that. I'll say that much for you. So -- how about it?"

Burnerman looks at him, trying to figure out what the small man's game is, whatever it may be he was playing it poorly. "I'll tell you what. If you won't take me all the way, just take me as far as you can and I'll try to do the rest myself."

"Tcha!" Bubbleman says in disgust, "Of all the headstrong numbskulls I've ever come across ..."

The blue eyed boy dangles the bracelet before the small man's eyes. "Fair deal. No strings. One bracelet. Hmm? How about it?"

"What is this anyway?" Bubbleman asks, his eyes following the bracelet as it sways before him.

"Plastic."

The small man's eyes shine as he rases his stumpy arm for the bracelet, having it placed ont ohis wrist, smiling with pride at having a new ornament to add to his collection. "I don't promise nothing, but -- I'll take you as far as I can. Them you're on your own. Right?"

Burnerman nods with affirmation, "Right."

"Plastic!" Bubbleman cheers as he moves towards the bench, smiling with pride at his new aquisition still.

The small man takes up the bench easily and sets it against the wall on one end, two doorknows showing on the underside of the wooden surface. Burnerman watches with awe as the bench clicks against the wall, forming a door where once there was only a stone surface. The stubby man grabs onto the know on the right and gives it a turn, opening the door only to have brooms and mops fall with a crash to the floor. Bubbleman smiles sheepishly as he kicks the things back into the closet, the boy trying to hold in a laugh as the small man closes the door.

"Can't be right all the time, can we? Puku?" Bubbleman mutters, this time taking hold of the other door knob and giving it a turn. "This is it, come on then."

Burnerman nods as he follows the short man through the door and into a dimly lit corridor with walls of groutesely carved rock.

"DON'T GO ON!" A voice booms behind them, making the blue eyed teen jump.

He looks around him, finding only Bubbleman with him, then realizing that he carved stone forms faces in the wall. He looks down the corridor and sees similar towering faces in the stone, the short man seeming to pay them no mind as he continues to walk through the corridor. The stone faces speaking to them as they pass, their voices deep.

"Go back while you still can!"

"This is not the way!"

"Take heed and go no farther!"

"Beware! Beware!"

"It will soon be too late!"

"Pah," Bubbleman cries waving his hand at the faces. "Don't listen to them. Puku, they're just phony-warnings. You get a lot of them in the Labyrinth. It means you're on the right track. Puku puku."

"Oh, no, you're not." One of the faces shaped like Anubis booms.

"Oh, shut up!" Bubbleman snaps back at it.

"Sorry, sorry." The face says sadly, its pointed ears drooping. "I'm only doing my job."

"Well, you don't need to do it to us." The stout man answers, leading the way down the passage once more.

Burnerman continues on with his guide, following the twists and turns, continuing to go forward. At least seeming to in his mind, if such a direction existed in this place of riddles.

"Oh, beware!" A stone face of a pharoah speaks, "For --"

"Don't bother." Bubbleman says, waving the face off.

"Oh, please," the stone face begs. "I haven't said it for such a long time. You've no idea what it's like, stuck here in this wall, and with --"

"All right." Bubbleman sighs, "But don't expect us to take any notice. Puku."

The face smiles, clearing its throat with the sound of gravel. "Oh, beware! Fore the path you take will lead you to certain destruction!" It pauses and smiles at them again, "Thanks."

A small crystal ball rolls past the pair as they continue on, the fragile object uneffected by the stones on the path, rounding a corner before Burnerman and Bubbleman can reach it. The orb bounces lightly to a blind beggar squatting along the path, the crystal landing into his upturned hat on the ground before his feet. Bubbleman groans as he looks at the hat, his mouth hanging agap as the blue eyed boy looks at him.

"So what have we here?" The begger asks, turning his pointed face towards them.

"Uh, nothing." Bubbleman stutters, "Puku..."

"Nothing? Nothing?!" The begger stands up, whipping off part of his face to reviel himself to the two as the Goblin King.

"Your Majesty!" The stout man says, bowing so far it looked as if he would topple over, "What ... what ... what a nice surprise."

"Hello, Bungleman." Shademan says, folding his arms over his chest.

"Bumbleman." Burnerman corrects.

Bubbleman grits his teeth, "Bubbleman."

"Bubbleman," Shademan says, in a kind voice, "can it be that you are helping this boy?"

"Helping?" The small man swallows hard, "In what sense? Uh ... Puku?"

"In the sense that you're taking him farther into the Labyrinth." Shademan says.

"Oh," Bubbleman replies, "In that sense."

"Yes."

"Oh, no, no, your Majesty." Bubbleman says, shaking his head and waving his arms before him. "I was leading him back to the beginning."

"What!" Burnerman exclaims, seeming to glow with flame.

Bubbleman forces himself to smile at the king, "I told him I was going to help him unriddle the Labyrinth -- a little trickery on my part ..." He gulps with fear as he looks up at the tall giant of a man. "But actually ..."

Shademan smiles pleasently at him, "And what's this plastic trinket around your wrist?"

"This? I ..." Bubbleman looks at the bracelet with wide eyes, as if never having seen or noticed the thing before. "Why... er, my goodness. Well, I never, were did this come from?"

"Bubbleman," Shademan speaks with a level tone. "If I thought you were betraying me, I would be forced to suspend you headfirst in the Bog of Eternal Stench."

"Oh no! Your Magesty!" Bubbleman cries, falling back onto his rear and waving his hands as if to ward off an attacker. "Not that! Not the Eternal Stench! PUKU!!"

"Oh, yes, Bubbleman." Shademan smiles, turning to the teen, "And you, Burnerman -- how are you enjoying the Labyrinth?"

"It's ..." The boy swallows hard, hesitant for a moment. "It's a piece of cake."

Shademan arches an eyebrown, as Bubbleman closes his eyes in dismay.

"Really?" Shademan says, sounding intrigued. "Then how about making it a more entertaining challenge?"

He looks next to him and in the air the face of the thirteen-hour close materializes out of thin air. Shademan moves his hands slightly and the hands on the clock move faster.

"That's not fair!" Burnerman shouts, stepping towards the goblin king.

"You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is."

Shademan takes the crystal ball from his hat, tossing it down into the tunnel behind the pair, the orb vanishing from sight. From the darkness a noise rises, distant by growing louder and closer, the sound of something spinning and crushing things along the path. Bubbleman looks at the boy with fear and panic as Burnerman slowly steps closer to the wall on instinct.

"The Labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it?" Shademan laughs, "Well, now we can see how you deal with this little slice."

The goblin kings laugh echo's as he vanishes from sight, leaving Burnerman and Bubbleman to stare into the darkness at the object coming closer. A large drill like form spinning dangerously, smashing anything in its path. The large drill form surrounded by smaller ones, resembling something meant to dig into the earth and not make its way down an already open path. Burnerman looks lower to see a row of scrubbing brushes, cleaning what is ground to bits by the machine.

"Oh no..." Bubbleman groans in fear, "Its Drillman, and the Cleaners!"

"What?" Burnerman asks, his mind blinded by fear at what the spinning bits can do to his body.

"Run!" Bubbleman shouts, his voice echoing on the walls as his short legs carry him forward as fast as he can.

Burnerman moves slowly at first, his legs heavy with fear, before breaking into a full run, wishing he had replied differently now more then ever.
_________________

[Sol]

Ooh, very nice chapter, Core!

Burnerman is turning out to be quite clever, and quite a little trickster at that. Like the last chapter, it was amusing to read, and I liked seeing Burnerman's reaction to Bubbleman's supposed 'helping' him. Very nice.

Keep it up. The next chapter intrigues me. \o\~
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Sol]

Ooh, very nice chapter, Core!

Burnerman is turning out to be quite clever, and quite a little trickster at that. Like the last chapter, it was amusing to read, and I liked seeing Burnerman's reaction to Bubbleman's supposed 'helping' him. Very nice.

Keep it up. The next chapter intrigues me. \o\~
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.