Chapter 54 of Tessa and The Stranger in the Plane

Posted by Goodsport from adsl-216-102-199-185.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net on December 27, 1999 at 12:34:07:

: Chapter 54 [Ever So Closer] (written by Goodsport)

: As the men from both ends of the hallway in the museum discovered, Aragorn was nowhere to be found.
: "Spasiba, Pyotr!" Nobody thanked the pistolman on the other side of the hallway, "However, we do have another favor to ask of you."
: "I'm not sure if Grigoriev would approve," Pyotr replied in surprisingly-good English, as they all walked back to Joe's body, "he would have to pull a lot of strings to do it." A man each from both Grigoriev's Mafia goons and the Order of the Ringwraiths searched Joe's cold, dead body. The Mafia man found a wallet with a little money in it, while the agent of the Order slipped the ring off of Joe's left hand and handed it to Krede. He gazed at it for a second before he heard the approach of the Chosen behind him. Krede turned around and knelt on one knee, head bowed. The Chosen approached Krede garbed in flowing robes, patterned with a kaleidoscope of dark colors.
: "Chosen, is this the ring we seek?" Krede's voice trembled.
: The robed figure took the ring out of Krede's hands and looked at it in the moonlight streaming in through the museum's high windows. He closed his eyes while clutching the ring in the palm of his fist. A minute later, pure joy was apparent on the Chosen's face.
: "Yes!!!" the Chosen turned toward Nobody, "This is indeed Faramir's ring!"
: "Excellent!" Nobody exclaimed, turning to the man on his right, "Where did you say the rupture was located?"
: "On Mount Annapurna, in NepalÖ in the Himalayan Mountains," replied Muppet, "don't worry, I received the info from a very reliable, yet unwitting, source! We'd better hurry, though, since I think they're already on their way there!"
: "And Deirdre?" asked Krede.
: "Once she gets in," smiled Nobody, "her 'vapor-trail' will lead us in!"
: Nobody pointed to Pyotr. "I must speak to Grigoriev immediately!" Pyotr took out his cell phone, dialed a number and began speaking into it. "Zdrastvuyte, eta Petya. Mne nada pagavareet s Grivorievom. Seychas!!! Da, spasiba!" Pyotr lifted his index finger, indicating to Nobody to wait a moment. "Da, eta Petya. Nobadee skazal chto yemoo nada s taboy srazoo pagavareet!" Pyotr then handed the phone to Nobody.
: "Grigoriev, old friend! I need you to pull some favors with the captain of the SUVOROVÖ yes, the Russian aircraft carrier in the Bay of BengalÖ"
: Mack turned to Pyotr, whispering, "You guys can even manipulate the military?!?"
: "Not all of it, of course," Pyotr quietly responded, "it depends on which officers owe us favors. Don't forget, even the officers in the Russian military haven't been paid for months. When their families are starving, their pride usually goes out theÖ how you say?Ö"
: "Window?" Mack answered.
: "Da," nodded Pyotr, "exactly!"
: The sound of police sirens in the distance could be heard just as Nobody finished his phone conversation, handing the cell phone back to Pyotr.
: "Let's get out of here!" Pyotr suggested, "We'll get you all to our private airfield. You can get out of the country much more quickly that way!"

: - - -

: The President barely noticed Air Force One landing at the Moffet Field naval airbase in Mountain View. He was so wound up that even the sun setting on the Northern California landscape past Highway 101 out the plane's window couldn't break his attention. He continued talking on his red phone.
: "Listen, Boris Nikolaevich," the President conversed with his Russian counterpart, attempting to hide his naturally thick Arkansas accent, "ah was just informed that three of your planes were launched toward Nepal. Ah thought we agreed to let Phoenix handle it first!"
: "Bill, I don't understand what is going on!" answered the Russian president, with his thick Russian-accented English coming out of the red phone's receiver, "We didn't order the launch!"
: "Then at least order them back!" insisted the President.
: The Russian president hesitated for a moment. "They aren't responding to us at all, Bill!" he finally informed the American president, somewhat ashamed, "and we have no other units nearby there to stop them."

: - - -

: "So, according to the data," Goodsport asked Lauren Jones, "all three keys need to be activated when we're close to the rupture?"
: "That is correct," replied Lauren.
: "But how do weÖ"
: The helicopter suddenly shook. The pulsating light outside indicated why.
: "There it is!" the elderly Dr. Jones pointed to the bursting light stuck in mid-air right above the mountain peak in the distance, "I think that's the rupture!"
: Short Round looked out the window over Dr. Jones. "Dude, that's phat!"
: Indiana turned to Short Round. "What? How can it be fat?"
: "No," Shorty shook his head, "I didn't say fatÖ I said phat!"
: All the passengers in the compartment were thoroughly confused at Short Round. In the uneasy silence, Goodsport asked, "But how do we use it to get to Valinor?"
: Lauren lifted her notes. "I'm not sure yet!"
: The rings on the Vanguards' and Tessa's fingers suddenly began to glow, as did the spearhead in Short Round's hands. Goodsport quickly took out the Tolkein Book from out of his backpack. As he had suspected, it was glowing as well.
: Oh no, they're all glowing at once! thought a panicked Goodsport, That can only mean that all three keys have been activatedÖ but we only have one of the keys!!!
: Lauren turned to Goodsport. "Open the book!"
: Heaving open the heavy book, Goodsport found that the hollowed-out square where the spearhead had hid was glowing brighter than the rest of the book. "Shorty, hand me the spearhead"
: Taking the spearhead, Goodsport placed it into the hollowed-out square. The shape of the square magically wrapped itself around the spearhead. The light of the book turned from white to blue, matching the light from the rupture. Full pages appeared in place of the hollowed-out pages. Goodsport read the first line of the passage on that page aloud.
: "Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the skyÖ"
: A stream of blue light shot from the rupture and enveloped the helicopter. Goodsport continued reading aloud.
: "Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stoneÖ"
: The blue stream began pulling the Chinook toward the rupture.
: "Cool!" Indy noticed, "Just like being pulled by a tractor beam in Star Trek!"
: Quint's jaw dropped. "The readings are erratic! The rupture will close in about sixty seconds!"
: The Chinook shook again. The load roar of engines buzzed past outside.
: "Sir," IndyAntilles yelled to Micah through the noise, "we have MiG's!"
: Ben turned around, adding, "MiG-31 'Foxhounds', to be exact. Russia's latest and greatest!"
: "What?!?" Michaelson gasped, as he and Micah glanced at the three Russian fighter jets out of the window, "We're nowhere near Russian airspace!"

: The clacking alarm from the cockpit sent chills down everyone's spines.
: "INCOMING!" screamed IndyAntilles. The helicopter jerked sharply to the left as the missile just barely skimmed the windows on the helicopter's right side. The blue light continued pulling the helicopter toward the rupture.
: The Chinook shook as its own missles launched. One hit a MiG in its rear engines.
: "Yes!!" excaimed Ben (friend of Indy) from the co-pilot's seat.

: - - -

: The gournd began shaking again. This time, the shaking was not stopping.
: "Mr. President!" the Secretary of Defense held on tightly to his seat, handing the President the incoming reports, "The rupture is pulsating more strongly. Mount Annapurna is beginning to rip apart!"
: The President nodded, clutching his seat tightly in the increased shaking. The Secretary of Defense continued, "Sir, we have no time. We have to implement 'Rupture-Strike' !"
: The President was terror-stricken. "No!!! That's too drastic!"
: "Sir, it doesn't seem any of us has much choice!"
: The President pondered for a moment, then nodded again. "Okay, ah'll order it. And get this damn plane off the ground already!"

: - - -

: "Damn!!!" Ben (friend of Indy) shrieked, "The instruments are shorted out!"
: "Probably from that damn blue light!" answered IndyAntilles, "That means that we can't fire any more weapons?!?"
: Ben shut his eyes. "Yup!"
: The two remaining MiG's circled around for the kill.

: - - -

: "Nine for Mortal Men doomed to dieÖ"
: "Forty-five seconds!" screamed Quint.
: The explosion outside startled everyone aboard the Chinook, as it did the one remaining MiG. Two more jets zoomed by, but this time the passengers cheered.

: Michaelson turned around, smiling from ear to ear. "Those ones are ours, people! F-15C 'Eagles'. "
: "One for the Dark Lord on his dark throneÖ"
: "Thirty seconds!" Quint continued his countdown.
: The helicopter shook again at the explosion of one of the F-15C's.
: Indiana Jerico glanced out the window on his side. "It's one-on-one now!"
: "In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lieÖ"
: "Twenty seconds!"
: The helicopter got closer to the rupture as the rest of the ground below them began splitting open from the unstopping earthquake.
: Both the MiG and the F-15C were dogfighting furiously.
: "One Ring to rule them allÖ"
: "Fifteen seconds!"
: The F-15C suddenly flew away from the area. A second later, the MiG did the same toward the opposite direction.
: "What's going on?" Short Round asked.
: The group saw something in the distance flying in hard and fast right toward them.
: "One Ring to find themÖ"
: Micah and Michaelson gasped. "ICBM!"
: Micki turned to Meg. "What does that mean?"
: Meg's voice quivered. "It's a nuke!"
: "One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind themÖ"
: "Ten seconds!"
: The helicopter now floated within the rupture, the blue light flooding the interior of the Chinook.
: Quint started hyperventilating. "Dammit Goodsport, hurry up and finish the passage! Five seconds left!"
: The ICBM closed in.
: "Don't distract him!" screamed Short Round at the computer specialist.
: "In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
: The burst of blue light from the rupture hit the helicopter at about the same time as the explosion of the ICBM did.

: - - -

: "More caviar, Madame?"
: Deirdre shook her head to the stewardess. "No thank you."
: Sipping her champagne, Deirdre leaned back in her window-seat, taking in the first-class section of the plane in all its glory. The view of the Himalayan Mountains in the distance was breathtaking.
: Placing the champagne glass down on the tray in front of her, she pulled out her notes and began comparing them to each other. "Just an hour or two more, and I'll be in the airport."
: The screams from behind her jolted her concentration. She turned back in her seat to see the passengers behind her shield their eyes, as if blinded.
: "Don't worry," the malicious voice told Deirdre in her head, "you will surviveÖ for now!"
: "Huh?!?" Deirdre thought, the voice continuing its sadistic laughter.
: The light streaming through the window confirmed to her where the source of the blinding came from.
: She quickly peered out the window, only to turn away quickly. In that one split second, the atomic blast that hit the plane was blinding and unmistakable.

: - - -

: Deirdre awoke what looked like a cave. The air was damp and musty.
: She attempted to lift herself up, only to notice the tip of the sword touching her throat. Lifting her eyes, she was aghast at whom she saw.
: "Miss me?" The Man with the Hat asked, holding Aragorn's sword on her unwaveringly, "Looks like the shoe's on the other foot now. Eh, Ms. Campbell?"
: Deirdre's voice quivered. "Man with the Hat, baby. The shooting wasÖ aÖ aÖ"
: "Save it!" shushed The Man, "Let's get out of here. We'll deal with each other later." He lifted the sword and helped her up.
: Deirdre smiled. You're going to regret not having killed me know, Manny! I'll see to that! "Thank you very much. But why do we have to get out of here?"
: The sudden ground-shaking answered her question, even though it lasted for only five seconds. "It's been happening more frequently in the last few hours," The Man with the Hat told her, "let's get out of this cave."
: They stepped out onto the grassy plain, only to gasp at the army of creatures rushing toward their direction from the horizon.
: "What the hell are those?!?" The Man screamed.
: Straining her eyes, Deirdre barely made out what the humanoid creatures looked like.
: "Orcs," she finally answered.
: The Man shot a glance at her. "Orcs?"
: "Yeah," Deirdre continued, "I read about them in 'The Lord of the Rings' books. Those creatures up there look a lot like the way the Orcs were described in the books!"
: Without another word, both of them dashed in the opposite direction, looking for any form of safety whatsoever.

: - - -

: "Ow," Michaelson winced, standing up in the clearing just outside a forest. "Is everyone all right?"
: The whole group stood up, wondering where they were. The sky above them was overcast.
: Micah stood among the group. "Gather your gear. We'll set up camp in a safer location, then we'll try to figure out where the heck we are!"
: The sudden earthquake shook everyone off their feet. "Dude, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Short Round joked.
: "Where's our gear? Our weapons? The helicopter?" Indiana Jerico asked, glancing around in vain for his gear and weapons, and the helicopter. Everyone else found themselves without their gear and weapons as well.
: Quint snorted in disgust. "Even my laptop is gone!"
: Only Goodsport had his backpack, filled only with the Tolkein Book and the spearhead. After some inspection, he discovered that part of the book was once again hollowed-out.
: The rustling of bushes at the edge of the forest caught everyone off-guard, and they all assumed defensive stances. To their surprise, though, they heard singing from that direction.
: Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!
: Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
: Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight,
: Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
: There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,
: Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water.
: Old Tom Bambadil water-lilies bringing
: Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?
: Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o,
: Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yello berry-o!
: Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!
: Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
: Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing.
: Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?
: The whole group stood as if enchanted. There was another burst of song, and then there came into view a man. He continued singing, stomping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band on his hat. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard. His eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies.
: "My God!" Lauren Jones turned to her father. "It's Tom Bambadil, exactly as he was described in the Tolkien texts!"
: "I'll take your word for it," her elderly father answered with a smile, "my specialty was archeology, not literatureÖ remember?"
: Tom Bambadil joyfully skipped toward the group.
: "Aragorn, you have returned. As have Goodsport, Meg, Quint and the Successor!" he exclaimed lyrically. "But who are the others?"
: As the other Phoenix members shot a shocked look at Quint, a frustrated Micah stepped toward Tom Bambadil. "With all due respect sir, could you please help us find a safer location?"
: "Whoa! Whoa! Steady there!" cried out Tom, holding up one hand, and Micah stopped short as if he had been struck stiff. "Now, my unfamiliar fellows, where be you a-going to, puffing like a bellows? What's the matter here then? Tell me what's your trouble! Tom's in a hurry now. Don't you crush my lilies!"
: Suddenly, two figures darted from out of the forest right behind Tom Bambadil. Their eyes were wide with terror; their panting heavy after panicked running.
: Tom Bambadil turned to the two. "I asked not to crush my lilies!!!"
: "GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!!!" the Lambert brothers screamed to the group between breaths. The two brothers dashed past the group and down the hilly plain.
: As everyone else glanced at the retreating Lambert brothers, Indy glanced instead into the forest from where they had emerged. "GUYSÖ RUN!!!"
: The others finally saw the rivers of substanceless darkness swiftly approaching them, swallowing up the trees in its way into a dark, oblivious nothingness.
: The entire group (including Tom Bambadil) dashed down the hilly plain. A few moments later they saw the horizon ahead of them on fire. A winged dragon flapped its powerfully enormous wings as it began to fly in the group's direction.
: The group glanced dejectedly at the sight ahead of them. "What is that?" Tessa finally asked.
: Goodsport, Short Round, Meg, Quint, Lauren, and Tom Bambadil all turned their heads to her as one. They answered as one as well.
: "Smaug!"

: ------

Follow Ups:

Oops... the first line of Chapter 54 should read, "As the men from both ends of the hallway in the museum discovered, neither The Man with the Hat nor Aragorn's Sword were anywhere to be found." Sorry about the confusion! :( (nm) Goodsport 14:59:58 12/27/99 (0)

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: : Chapter 54 [Ever So Closer] (written by Goodsport)

: : As the men from both ends of the hallway in the museum discovered, Aragorn was nowhere to be found.
: : "Spasiba, Pyotr!" Nobody thanked the pistolman on the other side of the hallway, "However, we do have another favor to ask of you."
: : "I'm not sure if Grigoriev would approve," Pyotr replied in surprisingly-good English, as they all walked back to Joe's body, "he would have to pull a lot of strings to do it." A man each from both Grigoriev's Mafia goons and the Order of the Ringwraiths searched Joe's cold, dead body. The Mafia man found a wallet with a little money in it, while the agent of the Order slipped the ring off of Joe's left hand and handed it to Krede. He gazed at it for a second before he heard the approach of the Chosen behind him. Krede turned around and knelt on one knee, head bowed. The Chosen approached Krede garbed in flowing robes, patterned with a kaleidoscope of dark colors.
: : "Chosen, is this the ring we seek?" Krede's voice trembled.
: : The robed figure took the ring out of Krede's hands and looked at it in the moonlight streaming in through the museum's high windows. He closed his eyes while clutching the ring in the palm of his fist. A minute later, pure joy was apparent on the Chosen's face.
: : "Yes!!!" the Chosen turned toward Nobody, "This is indeed Faramir's ring!"
: : "Excellent!" Nobody exclaimed, turning to the man on his right, "Where did you say the rupture was located?"
: : "On Mount Annapurna, in NepalÖ in the Himalayan Mountains," replied Muppet, "don't worry, I received the info from a very reliable, yet unwitting, source! We'd better hurry, though, since I think they're already on their way there!"
: : "And Deirdre?" asked Krede.
: : "Once she gets in," smiled Nobody, "her 'vapor-trail' will lead us in!"
: : Nobody pointed to Pyotr. "I must speak to Grigoriev immediately!" Pyotr took out his cell phone, dialed a number and began speaking into it. "Zdrastvuyte, eta Petya. Mne nada pagavareet s Grivorievom. Seychas!!! Da, spasiba!" Pyotr lifted his index finger, indicating to Nobody to wait a moment. "Da, eta Petya. Nobadee skazal chto yemoo nada s taboy srazoo pagavareet!" Pyotr then handed the phone to Nobody.
: : "Grigoriev, old friend! I need you to pull some favors with the captain of the SUVOROVÖ yes, the Russian aircraft carrier in the Bay of BengalÖ"
: : Mack turned to Pyotr, whispering, "You guys can even manipulate the military?!?"
: : "Not all of it, of course," Pyotr quietly responded, "it depends on which officers owe us favors. Don't forget, even the officers in the Russian military haven't been paid for months. When their families are starving, their pride usually goes out theÖ how you say?Ö"
: : "Window?" Mack answered.
: : "Da," nodded Pyotr, "exactly!"
: : The sound of police sirens in the distance could be heard just as Nobody finished his phone conversation, handing the cell phone back to Pyotr.
: : "Let's get out of here!" Pyotr suggested, "We'll get you all to our private airfield. You can get out of the country much more quickly that way!"

: : - - -

: 
: <IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/4871/airforceone.jpg">

: : The President barely noticed Air Force One landing at the Moffet Field naval airbase in Mountain View.  He was so wound up that even the sun setting on the Northern California landscape past Highway 101 out the plane's window couldn't break his attention.  He continued talking on his red phone.
: : "Listen, Boris Nikolaevich," the President conversed with his Russian counterpart, attempting to hide his naturally thick Arkansas accent, "ah was just informed that three of your planes were launched toward Nepal.  Ah thought we agreed to let Phoenix handle it first!"
: : "Bill, I don't understand what is going on!" answered the Russian president, with his thick Russian-accented English coming out of the red phone's receiver, "We didn't order the launch!"
: : "Then at least order them back!" insisted the President.
: : The Russian president hesitated for a moment.  "They aren't responding to us at all, Bill!" he finally informed the American president, somewhat ashamed, "and we have no other units nearby there to stop them."

: : - - -

: : "So, according to the data," Goodsport asked Lauren Jones, "all three keys need to be activated when we're close to the rupture?"
: : "That is correct," replied Lauren.
: : "But how do weÖ"
: : The helicopter suddenly shook. The pulsating light outside indicated why.
: : "There it is!" the elderly Dr. Jones pointed to the bursting light stuck in mid-air right above the mountain peak in the distance, "I think that's the rupture!"
: : Short Round looked out the window over Dr. Jones. "Dude, that's phat!"
: : Indiana turned to Short Round. "What? How can it be fat?"
: : "No," Shorty shook his head, "I didn't say fatÖ I said phat!"
: : All the passengers in the compartment were thoroughly confused at Short Round. In the uneasy silence, Goodsport asked, "But how do we use it to get to Valinor?"
: : Lauren lifted her notes. "I'm not sure yet!"
: : The rings on the Vanguards' and Tessa's fingers suddenly began to glow, as did the spearhead in Short Round's hands. Goodsport quickly took out the Tolkein Book from out of his backpack. As he had suspected, it was glowing as well.
: : Oh no, they're all glowing at once! thought a panicked Goodsport, That can only mean that all three keys have been activatedÖ but we only have one of the keys!!!
: : Lauren turned to Goodsport. "Open the book!"
: : Heaving open the heavy book, Goodsport found that the hollowed-out square where the spearhead had hid was glowing brighter than the rest of the book. "Shorty, hand me the spearhead"
: : Taking the spearhead, Goodsport placed it into the hollowed-out square. The shape of the square magically wrapped itself around the spearhead. The light of the book turned from white to blue, matching the light from the rupture. Full pages appeared in place of the hollowed-out pages. Goodsport read the first line of the passage on that page aloud.
: : "Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the skyÖ"
: : A stream of blue light shot from the rupture and enveloped the helicopter. Goodsport continued reading aloud.
: : "Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stoneÖ"
: : The blue stream began pulling the Chinook toward the rupture.
: : "Cool!" Indy noticed, "Just like being pulled by a tractor beam in Star Trek!"
: : Quint's jaw dropped. "The readings are erratic! The rupture will close in about sixty seconds!"
: : The Chinook shook again. The load roar of engines buzzed past outside.
: : "Sir," IndyAntilles yelled to Micah through the noise, "we have MiG's!"
: : Ben turned around, adding, "MiG-31 'Foxhounds', to be exact. Russia's latest and greatest!"
: : "What?!?" Michaelson gasped, as he and Micah glanced at the three Russian fighter jets out of the window, "We're nowhere near Russian airspace!"

: <IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/4871/mig.jpg">

: : The clacking alarm from the cockpit sent chills down everyone's spines.
: : "INCOMING!" screamed IndyAntilles.  The helicopter jerked sharply to the left as the missile just barely skimmed the windows on the helicopter's right side.  The blue light continued pulling the helicopter toward the rupture.
: : The Chinook shook as its own missles launched.  One hit a MiG in its rear engines.
: : "Yes!!" excaimed Ben (friend of Indy) from the co-pilot's seat.

: : - - -

: : The gournd began shaking again.  This time, the shaking was not stopping.
: : "Mr. President!" the Secretary of Defense held on tightly to his seat, handing the President the incoming reports, "The rupture is pulsating more strongly.  Mount Annapurna is beginning to rip apart!"
: : The President nodded, clutching his seat tightly in the increased shaking.  The Secretary of Defense continued, "Sir, we have no time.  We have to implement 'Rupture-Strike' !"
: : The President was terror-stricken.  "No!!!  That's too drastic!"
: : "Sir, it doesn't seem any of us has much choice!"
: : The President pondered for a moment, then nodded again.  "Okay, ah'll order it.  And get this damn plane off the ground already!"

: : - - -

: : "Damn!!!" Ben (friend of Indy) shrieked, "The instruments are shorted out!"
: : "Probably from that damn blue light!" answered IndyAntilles, "That means that we can't fire any more weapons?!?"
: : Ben shut his eyes.  "Yup!"
: : The two remaining MiG's circled around for the kill.

: : - - -

: : "Nine for Mortal Men doomed to dieÖ"
: : "Forty-five seconds!" screamed Quint.
: : The explosion outside startled everyone aboard the Chinook, as it did the one remaining MiG. Two more jets zoomed by, but this time the passengers cheered.

: <IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/4871/jets.jpg">

: : Michaelson turned around, smiling from ear to ear. "Those ones are ours, people! F-15C 'Eagles'. "
: : "One for the Dark Lord on his dark throneÖ"
: : "Thirty seconds!" Quint continued his countdown.
: : The helicopter shook again at the explosion of one of the F-15C's.
: : Indiana Jerico glanced out the window on his side. "It's one-on-one now!"
: : "In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lieÖ"
: : "Twenty seconds!"
: : The helicopter got closer to the rupture as the rest of the ground below them began splitting open from the unstopping earthquake.
: : Both the MiG and the F-15C were dogfighting furiously.
: : "One Ring to rule them allÖ"
: : "Fifteen seconds!"
: : The F-15C suddenly flew away from the area. A second later, the MiG did the same toward the opposite direction.
: : "What's going on?" Short Round asked.
: : The group saw something in the distance flying in hard and fast right toward them.
: : "One Ring to find themÖ"
: : Micah and Michaelson gasped. "ICBM!"
: : Micki turned to Meg. "What does that mean?"
: : Meg's voice quivered. "It's a nuke!"
: : "One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind themÖ"
: : "Ten seconds!"
: : The helicopter now floated within the rupture, the blue light flooding the interior of the Chinook.
: : Quint started hyperventilating. "Dammit Goodsport, hurry up and finish the passage! Five seconds left!"
: : The ICBM closed in.
: : "Don't distract him!" screamed Short Round at the computer specialist.
: : "In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
: : The burst of blue light from the rupture hit the helicopter at about the same time as the explosion of the ICBM did.

: : - - -

: : "More caviar, Madame?"
: : Deirdre shook her head to the stewardess.  "No thank you."
: : Sipping her champagne, Deirdre leaned back in her window-seat, taking in the first-class section of the plane in all its glory.  The view of the Himalayan Mountains in the distance was breathtaking.
: : Placing the champagne glass down on the tray in front of her, she pulled out her notes and began comparing them to each other.  "Just an hour or two more, and I'll be in the airport."
: : The screams from behind her jolted her concentration.  She turned back in her seat to see the passengers behind her shield their eyes, as if blinded.
: :  "Don't worry," the malicious voice told Deirdre in her head, "you will surviveÖ for now!"
: : "Huh?!?" Deirdre thought, the voice continuing its sadistic laughter.
: : The light streaming through the window confirmed to her where the source of the blinding came from.
: : She quickly peered out the window, only to turn away quickly.  In that one split second, the atomic blast that hit the plane was blinding and unmistakable.

: : - - -

: : Deirdre awoke what looked like a cave. The air was damp and musty.
: : She attempted to lift herself up, only to notice the tip of the sword touching her throat. Lifting her eyes, she was aghast at whom she saw.
: : "Miss me?" The Man with the Hat asked, holding Aragorn's sword on her unwaveringly, "Looks like the shoe's on the other foot now. Eh, Ms. Campbell?"
: : Deirdre's voice quivered. "Man with the Hat, baby. The shooting wasÖ aÖ aÖ"
: : "Save it!" shushed The Man, "Let's get out of here. We'll deal with each other later." He lifted the sword and helped her up.
: : Deirdre smiled. You're going to regret not having killed me know, Manny! I'll see to that! "Thank you very much. But why do we have to get out of here?"
: : The sudden ground-shaking answered her question, even though it lasted for only five seconds. "It's been happening more frequently in the last few hours," The Man with the Hat told her, "let's get out of this cave."
: : They stepped out onto the grassy plain, only to gasp at the army of creatures rushing toward their direction from the horizon.
: : "What the hell are those?!?" The Man screamed.
: : Straining her eyes, Deirdre barely made out what the humanoid creatures looked like.
: : "Orcs," she finally answered.
: : The Man shot a glance at her. "Orcs?"
: : "Yeah," Deirdre continued, "I read about them in 'The Lord of the Rings' books. Those creatures up there look a lot like the way the Orcs were described in the books!"
: : Without another word, both of them dashed in the opposite direction, looking for any form of safety whatsoever.

: : - - -

: : "Ow," Michaelson winced, standing up in the clearing just outside a forest. "Is everyone all right?"
: : The whole group stood up, wondering where they were. The sky above them was overcast.
: : Micah stood among the group. "Gather your gear. We'll set up camp in a safer location, then we'll try to figure out where the heck we are!"
: : The sudden earthquake shook everyone off their feet. "Dude, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Short Round joked.
: : "Where's our gear? Our weapons? The helicopter?" Indiana Jerico asked, glancing around in vain for his gear and weapons, and the helicopter. Everyone else found themselves without their gear and weapons as well.
: : Quint snorted in disgust. "Even my laptop is gone!"
: : Only Goodsport had his backpack, filled only with the Tolkein Book and the spearhead. After some inspection, he discovered that part of the book was once again hollowed-out.
: : The rustling of bushes at the edge of the forest caught everyone off-guard, and they all assumed defensive stances. To their surprise, though, they heard singing from that direction.
: : Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!
: : Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
: : Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight,
: : Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
: : There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,
: : Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water.
: : Old Tom Bambadil water-lilies bringing
: : Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?
: : Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o,
: : Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yello berry-o!
: : Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!
: : Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
: : Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing.
: : Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?
: : The whole group stood as if enchanted. There was another burst of song, and then there came into view a man. He continued singing, stomping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band on his hat. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard. His eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies.
: : "My God!" Lauren Jones turned to her father. "It's Tom Bambadil, exactly as he was described in the Tolkien texts!"
: : "I'll take your word for it," her elderly father answered with a smile, "my specialty was archeology, not literatureÖ remember?"
: : Tom Bambadil joyfully skipped toward the group.
: : "Aragorn, you have returned. As have Goodsport, Meg, Quint and the Successor!" he exclaimed lyrically. "But who are the others?"
: : As the other Phoenix members shot a shocked look at Quint, a frustrated Micah stepped toward Tom Bambadil. "With all due respect sir, could you please help us find a safer location?"
: : "Whoa! Whoa! Steady there!" cried out Tom, holding up one hand, and Micah stopped short as if he had been struck stiff. "Now, my unfamiliar fellows, where be you a-going to, puffing like a bellows? What's the matter here then? Tell me what's your trouble! Tom's in a hurry now. Don't you crush my lilies!"
: : Suddenly, two figures darted from out of the forest right behind Tom Bambadil. Their eyes were wide with terror; their panting heavy after panicked running.
: : Tom Bambadil turned to the two. "I asked not to crush my lilies!!!"
: : "GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!!!" the Lambert brothers screamed to the group between breaths. The two brothers dashed past the group and down the hilly plain.
: : As everyone else glanced at the retreating Lambert brothers, Indy glanced instead into the forest from where they had emerged. "GUYSÖ RUN!!!"
: : The others finally saw the rivers of substanceless darkness swiftly approaching them, swallowing up the trees in its way into a dark, oblivious nothingness.
: : The entire group (including Tom Bambadil) dashed down the hilly plain. A few moments later they saw the horizon ahead of them on fire. A winged dragon flapped its powerfully enormous wings as it began to fly in the group's direction.
: : The group glanced dejectedly at the sight ahead of them. "What is that?" Tessa finally asked.
: : Goodsport, Short Round, Meg, Quint, Lauren, and Tom Bambadil all turned their heads to her as one. They answered as one as well.
: : "Smaug!"

: : ------

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