by Paul Vayro
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Team Tranquil were lazing around, misinterpreting everything that moved as potentially being the signal. When it arrived it couldn't have been clearer.
"Excuse me. Are you Team Tranquil?" Spanish Counterpart used its new voice and polite manner to speak to the remaining heroes. "If you are then this is the signal you've been waiting for. It's time for you to go and join the others. Head into the forest at the same point they did and follow the beaten path to its natural conclusion. They will be waiting. And don't forget your sticks. Thank you."
"Did anyone else just see that branch move in a suggestive manner?" Jam didn't wait for confirmation. "I may have read it wrong, I'm new to reading branch signals, but I'm sure it suggested we should follow the beaten path through the forest and to the others."
"Did it also remind us not to forget our sticks?" The Magwanvu attempted mockery.
"You did see it. For a moment there I thought I was going crazy." Jam picked up his stick and got ready for the forest. The Magwanvu could only shake its heads. You can't mock the unaware.
The short jaunt through the forest was followed by the minimal excursion over the mound and to the tree Hugo and Dollop had disappeared under. Mild greetings were exchanged as the team became one once more.
The hole Dollop had reached into had been found. Any attempts at generating the speed required to move the foliage had been thwarted. The mechanism was just too heavy. Sitting and staring at the tree had become the plan, a plan that gave Spiritwind an idea.
"If we put a stick into the hole we could use the leverage of a few people pushing at once."
"That is an option." Brick wanted to be involved. He thought feverishly to try and push the plan further.
"And if The Magwanvu did the pushing it would be in perfect synchronicity, keeping the momentum consistent." Spiritwind couldn't stop being brilliant. "Would you be prepared to try that?" He turned to the triple man in question.
"Of course." No argument followed as The Magwanvu stood, walked to the hole, jammed their stick in, and proceeded to run. Everybody stood at the edge of their sprinting circle. After numerous laps The Magwanvu pulled their stick free and stumbled towards the group. The collective scooped them up, moved towards the trunk and waited. The sudden noise and deluge of foliage suggested something had happened. Its hasty disappearance allowed debate over exactly what.
"Were we just attacked by a tree?" Brick checked all his body parts.
"I think eaten may be more apt." Spiritwind checked his snacks.
"We're definitely inside something." Dandara checked her surroundings.
"You look nice with a twig in your ear." Bettina checked out Spiritwind.
"I need a drink." And Jam checked his hip flask.
Bobby helped The Magwanvu to its collective feet. Everyone else scanned the area they were in, for clues.
"Is this what the inside of a tree looks like? It's very roomy." Brick went for the obvious.
"I get the feeling we're underground." Dandara applied thought and sense to the obvious.
They were stood in a long corridor, the kind usually kept in hospitals as a way of getting around. Further along it could be seen to branch off in three directions. Behind them, and to the right and left, stood walls, leaving forward as the only option.
"Typical bad guy architecture: forcing the invading heroes to split up, just as I expected. Me and Bettina will take the left corridor, Team Titanium go for the middle, and Team Tranquil go right." Dandara was relishing the leadership role she'd procured.
"Isn't now the time to call for back up? So they can arrive just in time in case this all goes wrong. To be fair I never really expected to end up this involved in the actual saving of the universe." Brick raised his concerns.
"How much more back up do you need?" Dandara gestured towards the group. She desperately wanted the glory.
Brick turned to survey Dandara's idea of heroic success: Spiritwind was mopping up a kebab spillage from his t-shirt, Jam was giggling at his hand moving back and forth in front of his face, Bobby sang to himself while testing the smoothness of the floor with his cheek, and The Magwanvu repeatedly hit the person nearest to it on the back of the head.
"Maybe just a little bit." Brick had to answer honestly.
"I don't think you're grasping the opportunity we have here. We could save the universe, the whole thing. That means the rest of your life off if you want. You'll be busy appearing on chat shows, maybe even ours, invited to all the free parties, lots of attention from the opposite sex." Dandara tried to raise one eyebrow while nodding. It was an unfortunate time to discover she had no recognisable eyebrow control. "If you want to call back up and hand all those rewards over to some other hero then fine, you can even use my cufflink to make the call."
"I understand. There's no need to keep pulling faces at me." Brick had no other interpretation for Dandara's face wrestling. "To be fair the life off part was enough. Ladies attention is obviously a nice bonus but some of us don't need heroics for that kind of power." Brick winked at Dandara. She was busy trying to make her eyebrow move upwards alone. "I guess we'll get going down our tunnel then. Come on Spiritwind." Brick ushered Spiritwind along. The rest of the group followed.
"I've only lost that bit of tomato I'd been saving. I'm a bit distressed about it if I'm honest." Spiritwind had other concerns.
The teams split at their respective corridors, heading into the darkness and towards destiny. Certainty was nowhere to be seen as the final confrontation loomed, although certainty was renowned for his lack of punctuality and could have just been running late.
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