The Return

[Ardghal]

He got wide-eyed at the cookie. "Thanks… " He bit into it. Holy goodness. "Not that i can remember, no. I was on pretty good terms with them all I think. The only thing I can figure out is that that island is some sort of gate between this world and the dull one." Elmah sighed, not knowing what to say.

[Nimue]

[Try new Immortal Cookies… Filled with holy goodness!]

Nimue levitated to a nearby tree and lounged lazily on a large branch with a relaxed, cat-like stare.

"Who knows what lies beyond this plane of being… much less some silly mortal," she said to Leena. "Talk of gates and other worlds -- Can't these mortals be content to try and figure out the world they exist in?"

With this, she conjured up a tiny sphere of magical energies and tossed it back and forth from hand to hand carelessly, only halfway listening to Leena and Elmah.

[Leena]

"You should not worry yourself so much little one. Things come and things goes. Many worlds are made then destoried by little things. So don't let the lettle things get to you"

She peered over at Nimue when suddenly..

ZOT

Nimue was struck by lightning and Leena just stood there looking innocent.

[Nimue]

"Hmph!"

Nimue curled up solitarily, preening herself and smoothing down her frazzled hair.

[Ardghal]

Elmah peered over at Nimue, who just got zotted, then back at Leena, wiping a smirk from his face. "Any idea why my magic didn't work until I got close to that fire?" Elmah noticed suddenly that his old Titan strength was returning, and he was beginning to feel normal. "and what was with that seamonster? …. well, what has been going on in this world lately?" This was a horribly mundane thing to ask an immortal, the equivalent of "What's up?," but he had asked it, so he waited for a response...

[Cataclysm]

Cataclysm then walked in with a brown paper sack containing some unidentified bottle of liquor. "Hey, you guys." he said. "I was just picking flowers in that field over there, " he pointed to a lake, "and I found a blue button." He then held up a small red ribbon. "Des this belong to anyone of you, or-" Cataclysm fell down into the mud, then, unconscious, making slurping noises when he breathed in his little mixture of air and water-logged dirt.

[finiti]

Suddenly, a bright spot appears next to the tree where Nimue sat, staring with one raised eyebrow at the obviously inebriated elf. The spot grew, until it was large enough for the muscular, swarthy looking elf known as Finiti to step through. "Err… sorry 'bout him. Had him locked up in the drunk tank, didn't know he could gate his way out. Musta found a weak spot in the anti-magic shield." Finiti then reaches down and pulls the brown bag from Cataclysm's hand and takes a whiff. His head snaps back as though he'd been kicked by a mule, and his eyes tear up. "Damn crazy kids these days," he mutters, stooping and lifting the heavy-set elf as though he were no more than a bag of feathers. Drag-carrying him back to the portal, he tips his hat at the group, bidding them, "G'day. I'll keep him under surveilance next time." Eying the muddy spot where Cataclysm had fallen, he queries, "Say, is that my button?"

[Cataclysm]

A voice echos from within the portal. It is the voice of the drunken elf, Cataclysm. "You biiiiiiiiiyatch. You just called me a minotaur. I have NO bodyhair."

"Oh," you hear Finiti say. "You're awake."

"Awake like a fox" the drunk replies.

"Yeah… were going back to the assylum. I'm chaining your sorry ass back to the ground."

"You know what? Maybe I would DRInk so much when I escape if you didn't always take my drink away. Did you ever think of that, grandma?"

"I'm not your grandma, for one.. and yes, I did think of that. And it didn't make sense.. so I stopped." You hear a rustling from inside the sparking, dark blue oval. "Son of a bitch!" And now, a shattering of glass.

"You made me waste my backup bottle on your head! Always keep a spare in your sock." Cataclysm then stumbles back out from within the portal and tips his hat to everyone before vomitting on his shoes.

[finiti]

"Bastard…" you hear someone mutter from within the portal, as it suddenly zips shut.

Cataclysm laughs heartily, believing he escaped the clutches of the assylum warden. He looks at the irritated-seeming group around him, grins, and asks, "So, whatcha'll got to drink around here?"

Suddenly, with a reverberating bang, a glowing-with-darkness hole opens below Cataclysm, swallowing his drunk, vomit-covered self instantly. As he plumits into the unknown depths, you hear a tinny, "I WANT My friggin bottlllleeeee......" Just before the pit reseals, you hear Finiti's unmistakable cackle echoing up from the abyss:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!