Part 18

Jay McIntyre rode the Time Rifts to Lith's Web page with this story.

     
     They inched along the floor of the room, which was made of rickety 
wood.  The Maxx's weight was too much, and the floor cracked open 
beneath him, revealing a gaping hole.  He began to fall.  Joel and Ace 
each grabbed an arm, and the Doctor hooked his umbrella under Maxx's 
buck teeth, hauling him up.

     "Just a weak floor, is that it?"  Asked Joel.

     For an answer, the Doctor pointed downwards.  Joel looked, and saw 
that beneath the floor was a great gap, and far, far below there were 
steel spikes pointed upwards.  Joel gulped.

     "How we gonna get purple boy across?"  Asked Ace, but before the 
Doctor could answer, Maxx was hopping gingerly from foot to foot, across 
the wood.  The others treaded cautiously behind him.

     Gone and Toymaker looked down from their high place.

     "They're still close together, and will probably meet soon," Gone 
remarked.

     "We should wait for them at the Center, then," Toymaker replied. 
They headed toward the very heart of the Labyrinth, where the survivors, 
if any, would eventually end up.

     Torgo got up, finally awake from the being knocked over by the 
Orcs.  Rubbing his head, he stumbled down the passage.

     Mike ran pell-mell for the sideline as the players charged him.  He 
had timed his run so that most of the football players crashed into 
eachother at mid-field, but a few checked their run and pursued him.  
More fit than he was, they were sure to overtake him.  He was heading 
for a player exit from the field, but his way was blocked by three Orcs.

     The Doctor's party reached the other side of the wooden room, and 
re-entered the Labyrinth.  The Doctor was fiddling with his divining rod 
again.

     "What good's that, Professor?"  Ace asked.

     "I'm using it to find the most direct route to the core of this 
maze," he said.  "That's where the enemy will be waiting for us."

     "Plot convenience--" Joel began, but Ace grabbed his nose and 
squeezed hard.

     The Doctor led them forward, through another archway.  At first, 
they thought they were still in the Labyrinth; for it was still 
mazelike, the only difference being the glowing blue walls.  Then Ace 
and Joel gasped together as they realized it was a Pac Man video game 
maze...