|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- THE WATERALLIDGE EDGE--CUP 2--"SLIDE" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  The Waterallidge Edge  ||  -------> (Cup SRwe002, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = All three collapsed with fatigue and tried to catch their breath. "I can't believe..." Duncer-Haxun said, huffing heavily, "I can't believe... we made it..." "We got the girls to thank." Pearce said weakly. "Yeah," said Mahoney, "they had it in 'em. I just hope they're alright... what an effort..." They were silent for a long time while they continued to recover. "So where are we?" Duncer-Haxun said, finally. "Ah, who knows!" Pearce responded. "With the way we were mistreated out there... we could be just about anywhere." "I think we're in Tog's Villa." said Mahoney. "I think I caught a glimpse of the stadium back up there somewhere." "Tog's Villa... then... then maybe this house has a link to the underground system?" Pearce said. "No doubt." Mahoney said. "People this rich... their basement is sure to have a link. But we have to get down there first." All of a sudden, the gravity in the room, which had been okay, started to subside and then change. "Dammit!" Mahoney yelled. "Try and find a light switch, someone!" They felt around the walls, searching for a switch to no avail. Then the room became dimly-lit by the light of a flame--Prefer Joanie Hugging had flown out of Duncer-Haxun's pocket and lit herself. "Aw Joanie," Duncer-Haxun said, "come on, don't overexert yourself!" But the feeble light was enough for Mahoney to locate a light switch and snap it on. As he put the sunglasses back on, the gravity disruption subsided and was almost back to normal. Duncer-Haxun picked up Prefer Joanie Hugging, snapped her shut, and said "Thank you, but reserve your energy. Please." Then he put her back in his pocket. In the light, they could see that they were in a recreation room full of arcade video games, their screens all dark. The lower panel of one machine was ripped off. "What's this?" said Duncer-Haxun, kneeling down to examine the opening. "Hmm... it leads back into an opening in the wall..." "A slide to the underground!" Mahoney said. "A great fantasy of children... having a secret exit from their parents' domain... and rich brats usually get what they want!" Mahoney knelt down beside Duncer-Haxun and peered inside. "Let's go," he said, "while we still have gravity on our side--I don't cherish the thought of climbing UP a downward slide!" He crawled inside the opening, followed by Duncer-Haxun and Pearce. Behind the wall, the tunnel made on sharp right turn, then one sharp left, whereupon the slide was revealed, in the dim light of a nightlight. Without saying a word, Perspective Quartz Mahoney seated himself at the top of the slide and pulled himself forward, till he was sliding his way down. The other two did the same, speeding downward through the innards of the long-abandoned mansion... hoping reality would still be there when they hit bottom. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----