Off to Mexico (7)

"Almost...ugh!...finished!" 6th said, setting down the throne. Her newfound strength was a boon, but even with that, 6th was getting a bit tired. She'd moved almost all of the furnature in the room into a good cover, but was covered with sweat from her exertion. She wiped her brow, and stretched.

"Ok, it think that does it." 6th said, looking back at the wall where her friends had disappeared earlier. Then up at the airshaft. No sign of any person or parrot. Artickat was getting a bit nervous, and 6th was worried as well. She walked over to where the guys had disappeared.

"Ok, Artic, I'm gonna take a look at this thing. There's got to be SOME way to get it to reverse." 6th eyed the wall, and the jeweled eye. "Come here and look at this, Artic." 6th said. Artic came over to join her. "Do you see how this jewel scraped one way on the wall?" 6th said, pointing. "Maybe if I turn it back the other way it'll reverse. That makes sense, right?" Artic nodded, and 6th took a deep breath, and put her hand on the jewel. "Ok, let's go..." she said, and twisted the jewel back the other way.

Sweetiepie flew up the shaft, following the mysterious rope. He found it tied off at the top of the shaft. By climbing up it the 'Scapers could climb all the way to the top of the pyramid. But there was no indication of who had tied it there or why.

"IT'S YOU! IT'S REALLY REALLY YOU!" came the voice of SweetiePie Parrot, emerging from the ventilation shaft above. He came to an almost crash landing in front of the Golden Jaguar, who looked at SweetiePie as one would an old friend. "I WASN'T NUTS! I...I mean...I didn't really think...y'know....I knew you had to....that is.." the bird stammered.

*I know.* the Jaguar returned calmly to SweetiePie. *It must have been hard for you to believe in me. To think that perhaps I only existed in your mind. What I asked of you, this was no easy task. To believe in or to accomplish. But you kept your promise to me. Even when you doubted yourself. When you all doubted yourselves.* the Jaguar gestured to the 'Scapers as a group. *I never doubted that you would find me. And find a way to secure my release. For this, you all have my eternal thanks and gratitude* the golden Jaguar leaped up onto a golden throne left, no doubt as an offering to some Aztec deity. The glow of the golden chair paled before the shimmering aura that seemed to emanate from the golden cat.

*We have hidden from their kind since the Dark Times. They....scattered my kind....We now roam the planes, and the space between them. We help those we can. Those whom the dark ones have brought their fetid evil to, as they once did my own kind.* She looked evenly at Spyral. *They will come. You know this don't you?*

The chambermaids looked at the gang, and then at the golden Jaguar. They screamed and fled. The Aztec guards took in the Jaguar, the barracade, and the rope going up the wall into the airshaft. Everything clicked in an instant for them. They lowered their spears and began advancing.

"Thor!" 6th yelled. Thor and Malachi had fallen asleep in the far corner of the room. At 6th's call, Thor leapt up and ran to her. 6th sprinkled some growth powder on his head as she said to the gang, "Get Spyral, and get out, all of you! Thor and I will hold them off." Thor shot up, and roared at the Aztec guards. He advanced, and the guards turned to flee, but more(many more) guards filled the doorway, and they began to advance on the gang again.

"Look, Rae, you can't stay! Spyral's going to have to be carried out,and I think you're the only one of us able to do that. Put Malachi in Spyral's wing, and the jaguar too, if she agrees." 6th said tossing Rae two of the shrinking and growth powders. "There isn't time to argue. I can't blow the door, and they'll swarm us before we all get up that rope. They won't kill me, they need us for sacrifices. So pull up that rope after you. Don't worry about me, I'll get out. What are you waiting for? GO!" 6th yelled and ran to help Thor.

The T-rex swept his tail around, knocking guards right and left. Their spears couldn't pierce his thick hide, and none of the guards seemed willing to kill 6th either. She had free reign to clobber them. She spun left and right, knocking down guards. The combined power of Thor's tail, and 6th's strength were enough to hold the guards off while the others climbed to safety. *I might be a klutz, but at least I can fight* she thought. She grabbed one Aztec by the arm, whirled, and flung him like a ragdoll into the guards poruing into the doorway. She glanced over her shoulder and saw her friends climbing the rope, Spyral holding onto Rae's neck. She sighed, and turned back to the guards.

"She will not escape her fate, at least." the High Priest said. He turned to the guards. "You men, take her to the cages. Get her lizard too. And you others, find the rest of the sacrifices. They must not escape!" The guards hurried to obey. They dragged 6th away, as one of the guards scooped Thor into a bag. He tried to fight them, but at a foot high, there was little he could do.

They decided to do without the Feast altogether because most of the sacrifices were lost! Arctickat was the last up the rope, but she was practically supporting Mouse, who hasn’t had to do this rope climb dren since grade school - and didn’t like it then!

As they reach the air shaft, Rae yells to clear off the rope. Once the group have all transferred to the sides of the air vent, KaraS cut the rope from where she was and thus prevented the soldiers from following them. Rae, carrying Spyral, was in the lead, but straining under the big angels’ weight. “Had to keep all that dren in your wing!” she mutters. KaraS, Mouse, and Arctickat were following, but climbing steadily.

As Mouse climbed up the side of the shaft, she saw that the same type of markings that were on the wall in the chamber. “Guys, look for another crystal!” She suggested. “No deal! What happens if we get transported somewhere else, and find another demon?” Kara exclaimed. “Well, we have to find a way in to that sacrificial chamber - we’re not leaving 6th and Thor!” Arctickat stated. Spyral lifted his head and mumbled incoherently.

“Hey, check this out! it’s a tunnel off this shaft. Let’s see where this takes us.” Rae said. She climbed up into the tunnel and slid Spyral to the ground. He seemed to be waking. Rae shook him gently as the rest of the group climbed into the tunnel. Spyral shook his head, and tried to get up, but the confines of the tunnel would only allow him to crawl. “Lets get to the end of this tunnel and maybe along the way we might see something that could direct us to where they’re holding 6th and Thor!” Mouse exclaimed. *Like a big sign saying “6th and Thor are here” and “You are here” would be nice* she thought.

"Someone needs to stay with Spyral." Rae sighs. "Okay. All of you stay here. I'm less likely to be noticed by myself. I have a little experience skulking about in the shadows, plus I can fight. This is a safe place," Rae begins pulling weapons out of her bag. "That you can hold until I get back."

"Or knees, as the case may be. Okay, if we're going to rescue 6th as a TEAM, we're going to need a plan. One that, I'm guessing, isn't going to involve a lot of stealth. So, what's the plan? You guys do have a plan, righT? It's not too late for me to go on alone, you know..."

Meanwhile, Mouse was examining the angel's injuries. There was a chunk bitten out of his wing and blood was dripping freely from the wound. His neck, while no longer crushed, was covered with bruises, scratches, cuts and some deep puncture wounds. Talking or swallowing anything was going to be painful for a while. And there was a large lump on the back of his head where the demon had cracked it against the stone floor. Mouse looked in his eyes to see if he had a concussion but didn't know what to look for. Spyral was concious but he didn't seem to know where he was or what was going on. He certainly couldn't walk by himself much less hide or fight.

They came to section of the wall with grates in it. Peeking through the grates they saw a grand feasting hall with a great feast in progress. There was a long table covered with elaborately prepared food. There were many guests, mostly priests by their dress. There were guards stationed every few feet along the wall.

At the head of the table were some familliar people. The Grand High Priest, dressed to the nines, sat in the place of honor. Next to him, tied to her chair, was Sixth. Sixth was dressed in some sort of ceremonial robe with flowers bound in her hair. She did not look happy. In fact, she looked furious. Every few minutes, a servant would offer her a bite of the elaborate food on her plate but she would close her mouth and refuse to eat it.

In a little golden cage, not unlike the one in which the jaguar had been imprisoned, stood Thor. The tiny T-rex lashed his tail and tried to bite anyone foolish enough to stick their hand close enough but, caged like a canary, there was nothing he could do for his mistress.

made their way back up the tunnel, Mouse remembered her training. "I can't believe I forgot....been out of touch too long..." she trailed off. She rummaged around in Spyral's wing and found the flashlight. She told Spyral to look at her and blinked for a minute. *Nice green eyes, for an angel* she thought, then cleard the thoughts from her head and quickly flashed the light in each eye. The pupils each contracted and then dilated in sync. "Good news, no concussion" she diagnosed. She checked out the angels' wounds and bound them well, using her medical knowledge from years in clinical labs and hospitals.

Then the jaguar stuck her head out again. *I gave him strength for his journey* the jaguar reiterated. "Well, not enough, apparently." Arctic replied. "He's still all bruised and bleeding." *He can heal his wounds if he would like - the strength I gave him is just a more direct way for his natural healing power to be used* she clarified.

Spyral heard the jaguar, and concentrated. A small light appeared in the vicinity of his stomach, and radiated brightly. The light very slowly grew in intensity and as it reached his bruised shoulder, wing, and head, it repaired the damage. Soon he was glowing brightly and the radiance was something to behold. Just as mysteriously as it grew, the radiance diminished. Spyral tried to flex his wing and move his head, and he gave the group a thumbs-up. He patted his wing and thanked the Jaguar.

Meanwhile, SweetiePie flew from the tunnel entrance to a place atop the great statue of Quetzcoatl that overlooked the entire village. From this point, he witnessed four Aztec guards escort Sixth from her place at the table, at spearpoint. The cage that held the tiny dinosaur was left dangling from a perch beside the main banquet table.

Sweetie watched as Sixth was marched into a large white tower inlaid with golden Aztec symbols. A few minutes passed and the four guards marched back out, taking up positions around the bottom of the tower. Sweetie flew a quick circuit around the tower, noting the lack of any other doors and windows in the tower, only small slits cut at regular intervals into the tower walls. He quickly returned to his previous roost atop the statue of Quetzacoatl.

*One door, and no windows. Only those slits, which must be to light the different levels in the tower. Wonder which level she's in?* the bird wondered. *Maybe I should go in and take a peek. See if I can find her. She may have an idea or two about how to get herself out of there.*

*Damn. To frellin dark to see anything.* He fluttered carefully into the darkness, careful to be wary of the floor that he could not see underneath him. Dropping just a few feet, Sweetie came to rest on the wooden floor of one of the towers levels. Complete darkness surrounded him, except for the small sliver of moonlight cutting in from the window slits.

"Oh, I have lots of plans...None of them will work tho. I could pick the lock on the door...heck, I could probably just break it, it's so flimsey. But I already tried shoving the door off it's hinges. Couldn't do it. I think the strength Apu gave me wore off. But there's no way to get the guards, even if I did get out. How many were down there? did you see?" 6th asked.

"Hmmmmm...I doubt I could get them all, without one of them raising an alarm. And if the gang stormed in here, some of them could really get hurt. Honestly I don't know what to do. I didn't figure on getting captured. And I think they're planning on either eating Thor, or keeping him as a pet. Whatever the plan, it has to include saving him too. And I can't even get myself out of this cage. You guys really should have left."

"well, I can see three options." 6th said counting them off on her fingers, "One, You guys get out of here. Two, someone figure a way to get Thor and me out without raising an alarm, which would be pretty tough. Three, see if Spyral or Rae has a cell phone on them. If they do, bring it to me. I can try calling in the big guns."

6th looked away for a second. "I...don't know, honestly...but I know they could cause a big enough distraction, so I could get out...and at the very least, I might be able to get some advice...I'm out of ideas otherwise, Sweetie." she sighed "but I'm glad we helped your jaguar friend. I must apologize Sweetie. I really was convinced you...uh...weren't a "good guy" there for a while."

"You ought to go back to Rae now, and tell her that other than what I told you, I have no idea what to do. The cell phone was my best idea, and I hesitate to do that. The guys would probably be pissed if they had to leave their Raven-haired goddess to come save my sorry butt."

6th is yelling at the Aztecs, who are dressing her for the sacrifice: "Enjoying yourselves? Get OUT of there! Ohhh, that tickles!" 6th is very ticklish, guys. Now you know. As an Aztec is putting the finishing touches on her costume, she shouts in her most imposing voice: "Do you think you could do that with my foot shoved up your @$$?"

Mouse whispers to Rae. “From what I remember of my history, the sacrifice is lead up the stairs to the Chak-mol which they are seated on, then the leader cuts open their chest, pulls the heart out, then throws the body down the steps. My plan is: Sweetie takes the shrinking powder and holds the bag in his talons. We wait until 6th is up there on the pyramid ledge, then he flies over the leader, drops the powder on HIM, and we watch the show.”

Mouse turns to Spyral, Kara, Arctic, and Sweetie. “We can all get out of the tunnel, climb up and out of the pyramid, and hide on the opposite side of the pyramid until before dawn. Then when Sweetie drops the powder, we can show up on top of the pyramid as the leader is shrinking. I personally think that the Aztecs will be so shocked by the sight of their leader shrinking away that they won’t want to anger 6th any more. She can shout something mystical when she sees Sweetie, so it will appear to them that she caused him to shrink and that should do it for them. In any case, we will be waiting above them to have the high ground, so to speak. Any fighting that has to be done will be to our advantage, as we could just push them off as they come up the pyramid.”

Spyral, who was in the lead, paused as he reach the top of the shaft and looked around carefully. The pre-dawn air was chilly and the wind was keen on top of the pyramid. Spyral took a deep breath. He had really thought he was going to die back down there in the stuffy interior of the pyramid, his soul claimed as a prize by a demon. Wouldn't THAT have been embarassing, not to mention painful. But here he was alive. The sun was going to rise soon, and he would be here to see it. The trick would be living long enough to see it set again and to make sure that all of his friends did too.

Quickly, Sweetiepie retrieved the key and used it to open the golden cage. The tiny dinosaur dropped to the ground. Sweetiepie relocked the cage and replaced the key on the throne, just to confuse the Aztecs. Then he flew to the floor to find the dinosaur. The problem was that while Thor was now very small, he was still too large for the small parrot to carry. Sweetiepie tried but he couldn't get the T-Rex off the ground.

Looking around to make sure no Aztec soldiers were in a close enough proximtiy to hear what he was about to do, Spyral drew out his conelike archangels sword. Jamming it toward the stone surface of the pyramid, the sword slid into the stone like a hot knife thru butter. Dragging the blade in an arch, the sword seemed to vaporize the very stone as it moved. Soon, the angel had carved a small trench in the outer stone wall of the pyramid.

"Spyral's right. 6th would never forgive us. Where in the pyramid is he? We can blow a wall. I still have some C4 left, Sweetie could plant it. We could use that as a diversion, too. The more chaos we can create, the better chance we have of getting out in one piece. What do you guys think?"

In a clearing out side the city, one of HIS employees waited. The bug he had planted outside of the airshaft when he installed the rope picked up the 'Scaper's conversation perfectly. How WERE they going to get out of there? he wondered. Well, the employee had a plan. HE would not be pleased if the 'Scapers came to any harm. So the employee was going to give them a little help. He walked across the clearing and started to warm up the engine of his helicopter...

The Golden Jaguar reached the end of the ventilation shaft. After checking to make sure the room was free of Aztec guards, she dropped silently to the floor of the chamber and padded softly to the doorway. Carefully winding her way thru the passages of the pyramid, she made her way to the main entrance of the pyramid.

She carefully peered out from the shadow of the doorway, mindful of not being seen by guard or passerby. She needn't havd worried though, for as dawn was breaking, the villagers had made their way from the village center to the base of the sacrificial mound to witness the sacrifice to Quetzacoatl.

*HHMMMM?!?* the Jaguar quickly spun in place, her ears pricking forward as her nose caught a new scent on the shallow wind coming from beyond the southern jungle. A deep tangy smell of something...dangerous. Something not native of this area, or time for that matter. Something....oily, dirty.... mechanistic....Dangerous!

The Jaguar quickly spun back to face the T-rex. *Yes! But now we must hurry back! Our friends are in danger! Something....something is coming!* She looked back towards the jungle as the scent seemed to grow stronger on the wind. *Something Bad!* Looking back to Thor, *We must hurry! We must reach them before the ceremony can begin!*

*Members of my species have the ability to pass between the panels of the dimensional walls. Moving from one point in the universe to another in little more than an instant. The strain will be great, for the two of us....but I think we can make it* the Jaguar said.

The Jaguar seemed to stiffen, her body beginning to take on a more metallic sheen, as if she was reverting to a solid metal state. The air in front of the two began to haze. Then swirl into a small pool that grew outward until it was about two feet thru the radius. The Jaguars body then softened a bit. She turned her head back a bit to Thor. *Hold on!* she said, then turned back and leapt into the swirling maelstrom, which closed immediately behind them.

"Not on your life!" she said standing up, and making a rather obscene gesture with her finger. The guards and priests all looked at each other and then smiing, made the same gesture back to 6th. They apparently thought she was trying to communicate something to them.

"Don't you guys understand ANYTHING?" 6th yelled at them. She backed up as the priests advanced on her, pulling her away from the wall. She slapped at their hands, and struggled a bit, but the priests did nothing but try to give her reassuring looks.

The priests led the way as 6th, surrounded by guards, was led out of the tower. They all walked out into the morning. The sun had not come up yet, but the brightening on the horizon announced it would soon be here. 6th squinted her eyes and looked around as she was marched towards the temple. It seemed that the entire town had assembled already, the crowd so thick that more guards had to come down off the base of the pyramid to clear a path for 6th and the priests. 6th did not see any sign of her friends, and she didn't know whether to be happy they escaped or terrified that she was about to die. So she decided to be how she usually was, cheerfully sarcastic.

"Oh, gee. Did all these people come out to see little old me get my heart cut out?" she announced loudly,smiling her best Cheshire Cat smile. "Why, what a sick bunch of puppies you are! Come see the chick get her heart cut out while she's still alive! Fun for the whole family! Bring your friends! Bring the kids! Perfect for that romantic date you've been planning! And couldn't you have given me something more spectacular to wear? I mean, geez, it's my last day here, and you've got me in this white 'thing'! I mean you can practically see right through it!"

They reached the bottom of the steps, and 6th looked up and up and up to the top, where she could barely make out the high priest waiting for her. 6th looked at one of the priests, and pointing upwards, she said, "Do you mean I have to CLIMB up those stairs? All of them? Hey, is that any way to treat a gift from the gods? Uh-uh, nope, no way. I'm not walking up that. You're going to carry me up, or I ain't going!" the priests looked at her, and one took her hand, pullling her towards the steps. 6th jerked her hand away. "NO! Look, let me show you..." she walked to one of the priests and looked him directly in the eye. He tried to look away, but 6th grabbed him by the chin and made him look at her. "You." she said pointing at him, and then the other priests. Then she mimed picking something up and carrying it. "carry." then she pointed to herself. "me. Got it?" the priests looked at each other and then one of them snapped his fingers. Several guards stepped up, and the priest spoke rapidly to them. They hurried off, and the priest smiled at 6th. No one made a move to touch her, and she assumed that the gurads had been sent off for a chair. Sure enough, they came trotting back with a big golden throne, attached to poles.

*By the time we get to the top, at least these guards will be worn out. Maybe I can still figure out a way to get out of this.* 6th thought, and smiled and waved at the crowd below her, shouting insults and cusswords in her friendliest voice. She knew they couldn't understand a word she was saying, and if she couldn't fight her way out, she wasn't about to go out nicely.

Mouse says. “The sequence will be: 1)Sweetie flies with the powder 2) the fireworks go off, and then Sweetie flies in and dumps the powder 3) we run around the top of the pyramid and get Sixth and 4) we throw the malotov cocktails to cover the sides of the pyramid with flaming liquid. Sound about right? Needless to say, we’re only going to get one chance to do this, so let’s make sure we’re all clear.”

At that moment, a distortion portal appeared in the air near the trench where the assembled group was hiding. Out of it stepped the Golden Jaguar with Thor perched on her back. She stepped out of the portal and right into the trench. Thor jumped off and shook his little scaly head. *That was most interesting* he though.

“Hey, you got him!” Arctic exclaimed. “Good work, Jaguar,” Rae commented, nodding her head. Kara and Spyral rushed over to calm the shaken T-Rex, but all he wanted to know was where his mistress was and what was being done to rescue her. Mouse filled him in on the plan.

“We didn’t talk about an escape route, or what we do once we have Sixth,” said Spyral. Mouse and Rae (the strategists) looked at each other. Each was about to say something when the Golden Jaguar’s thought entered all their heads. *I’ve detected something odd and different in the jungle not far from here.* Then Thor mentioned * I caught a glimpse of the thing, but I cannot describe it well - it looks like nothing I’ve ever seen. *

Rae got the details out of Sweetie, and then Mouse put the shrinking powder in a ziploc bag and showed Sweetie how to operate it. “Remember Sweetie, you have to be right on top of the leader when you open this. Try to get it all over him and any other soldiers near Sixth, but not her! We need her to be regular size to find her quickly!” Sweetie did a few practice runs and got it down pat. “You are sure you know the leader?” Mouse asked. “Don’t be stupid - of course! I saw him leading the group a few times - plus I’ll just look for the guy with the knife near Sixth!” Sweetie said in exasperation.

Rae filled in the group with the details about the chopper and they decided that after they had Sixth, they would return to this side of the pyramid, climb down, and run for the chopper, which in a clearing not far from the pyramid. Luckily, they would be running away from the soldiers and towards the chopper all at once. Arctic (the engineer) assured the group that she could get the chopper going, and Rae, Sixth, and Spyral knew how to fly a chopper, so it seemed like everything was set. The fuse length was set, the cocktails were prepared, and Sweetie was ready to go. Kara gave him a hug, and then the rest of the group followed. “We’re depending on you, Sweetie. Make us proud.” Mouse whispered into his ear. “No pressure!” he squawked.

The group heard a horn blow and peeked around the side of the pyramid. They saw Sixth being carried up almost vertically the pyramid. “That’s our Sixth!” Mouse exclaimed. They all chuckled for a minute at her language to the assembled mass, and then got serious.

and swung around to come in from the east. He wanted to seem to fly right out of the rising sun. He gained height and looked down to spy out the situation. The golden throne was just reaching the top of the pyramid. The soldiers set the throne down and one of them helped Sixth out of it. While that was going on, another of the soldiers crossed to the altar and laid down on it. He opened his tunic up to expose his chest. The Grand High Priest stood above him and waved the sacrificial knife, chanting loudly.

*Well THIS is an unexpected wrinkle.* Sweetiepie thought to himself. *Damn, this is going to throw our timing all off. We all expected Sixth to be sacrificed as soon as she reached the top of the pyramid. I hope the others see what's going on and hold up the fireworks.*

Four of the priests on top of the pyramid grabbed the unfortunate soldier and held him firmly down. Then, with the ease of long practice, the Grand High Priest brought down the knife in a powerful slash and gashed open the soldier's chest. The soldier screamed and twisted, a reflex action. But the priests held him down and the Grand High Priest pulled the edges of the wound apart, reached in and cut out the still beating heart. He held it up for the crowd at the bottom of the pyramid to see and they cheered wildly. Then, as the underpriests rolled the still kicking corpse down the steep sides of the pyramid, the Grand High Priest turned and presented the still beating heart to Sixth. The heart gave one last beat and spurted blood all over the shocked 'Scaper.

Poor Sixth stood there stunned. All her tough bravado drained away as the blood soaked into her clothing and the knowledge that this was about to happen to her ran through her veins like ice water. She felt numbed as a second soldier was moved into place. Again, the Grand High Priest went through his ritual chanting and gestures. Again, he cut open his victim with one practiced stroke and removed the beating heart with another. As he turned to offer her the second heart, Sixth felt all of her strength leave her. She felt dizzy and nauceous. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped to the floor like a puppet with it's strings cut.