(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue.  This is a sequel to a previous story.  Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s.  While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years.  I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be.  Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin.  To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language.  Enjoy?)

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When the two beaten immortals wake up, the first thing they notice is that there is nothing solid under their feet.  They have been tied together, facing each other, and are hanging from a large hook in the window-covered ceiling.  The enormous room, that is forty feet below them, has several shining suits of medieval armor and ancient weapons.  Next to the captives is a long, sharp lance that a mounted knight, on a marble pedestal, is holding up.

“This isn’t going under one of my best weeks.  Do you think he found our weapons?” asks Adriana as she struggles against the thick, glowing ropes.

“He did.  They’re over by that red-armored knight and the war-horse armor.  I think he might want to use them or let us use them in a fight.  Would you stop struggling?  It’s totally useless.  These ropes are made of energy draining fibers,” replies Fate, who is looking for another way out.

“That does explain their pink glow.  I wonder if your present is still in the dinosaur exhibit.”

“Would you forget about the damn present!  We’re about to be painfully tortured and killed.  What is in that box that seems to be more important than your life?”

“I can’t tell you exactly what’s in it.  Don’t roll your eyes at me, Slane.  All I will say is that it is something special that I have to get rid of before I leave this planet.  Now, it isn’t a cursed object or a new kind of spy sensor.  But it is about time that I gave this. . . soul-soother to another weary warrior.  That weary warrior is you.  So, let’s kill Draveon first and then go open your present.”

“At least, we can agree on killing Draveon.  Any ideas on how to cut these ropes while we have the strength of a weakened mortal?”  Fate tries to pull a knife out of one of his boots, but it only lightly passes under his fingertips.  Adriana, meanwhile, is pressing her arms against her chest and trying to use her teeth to pull something out of her skin-tight shirt.  Instead, she accidentally bangs her forehead against Fate’s chin.

“Damn it, Fate!  Move out of my way!”

“I’d love to, but I can’t.  My dagger is just out of my reach.  Uh, why are you doing that?” Fate whispers as Adriana continues pressing her chest.  The disappearing sunlight suddenly bounces off a tiny bit of metal between her breasts.

“Doing what?”

“You’re pressing your arms against your chest.  Why?”

“Because I’m desperate and lonely.  What the hell do you think I’m doing, Mars guardian?  I put a small knife in my uniform top.  Of course, it slipped too far down for me to get at it with my own teeth.  The next time I keep a knife or dagger in here, I’m going to have to remember to wear a damn bra.”

“That’ll be a first.”

“Shut up, Eddie.  Now, whose knife is the easiest to get a hold of?  You can’t get your foot close to either of my hands, so you’re basically useless.  Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do.  Were you ever any good at bobbing for apples?  Or should I say knives.”

“No way!  I am not going to put my mouth anywhere on your body.  I don’t even know where in the universe you’ve been.”

“That makes two of us.  Look, I don’t like this any more than you do.  I mean, I severely don’t like this idea.  But we have no more options that I can think of.  You get the knife and use it to cut through the rope.  Then we simply plummet to the ground, get our weapons, and wait for Draveon to return.  So start using that mouth of yours for more than an insult spewing hole and get that knife,” orders Adriana.  Taking a deep breath, Fate tries to get the hilt of the knife between his teeth.  All he can accomplish is tapping the weapon’s smooth hilt with his tongue.  At one desperate point, the Mars guardian misses the knife and bites Adriana in the chest, but she barely seems to notice the twinge of pain.  In fact, she seems to enjoy it.

The sweat-covered knife is just in his mouth’s reach when Adriana suddenly starts moaning, “Yes.  Don’t stop.”

“Hey!  Do you mind not doing that!  It’s disturbing!” yells Fate when he jerks his face out of her cleavage.

“Sorry about that.  Force of habit.  Although, you do have a very nice technique.  Miracle is really lucky to have a guy like you.  But you really shouldn’t have stopped trying because you almost had it.  I promise that I will not do any more moaning and groaning.  At least, not out loud.  Just try again.”  Fate closes his eyes and works a lot faster this time.  In a few long, tortuous minutes, the blue-eyed guardian pulls out a small, golden knife.

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” laughs the blond villain as Fate starts to cut through the pink rope.  When he hears the joke, Fate shoots his head up to glare at her.  But the knife accidentally cuts into Adriana’s neck and it leaves a quickly healed wound.  She curses a blue streak at him and kicks the Mars guardian repeatedly in the shins.

“Cut it out!” Fate yells.  But once his mouth opens to yell, the golden knife falls all the way to the ground.

The immortals are silent until Adriana says, “What do we do now?  Without anything to cut through this rope, we might as well be a side of beef in a meat locker.  What are you staring at?”

“I think I know of a way down if we finally have some luck.  Since we aren’t fighting each other, our immortality should help us out of this mess.  Can you see that lance behind you?  Just twist your neck to the right and you’ll see it,” responds Fate, who is starting to swing them back and forth.  His eyes turn a bright yellow as his luck powers are slowly turned on.

“Yeah.  I’ve seen bigger and better in my time.  What’s so important about that obsolete, medieval weapon?  Oh no!”

“It’s sharp and can easily cut through the rope.  We can slide down it as soon as it frees us.  Although, the lance will probably go straight through our abdomens.  Either way we cut the rope.  Do you understand?”

“Go for it, partner.  I’ve been put through a lot worse on this trip than simply being impaled by a sharp object.”

They begin swinging back and forth at a faster pace and the lance eventually slices through the pinkish rope and both of the captives feel it pass through their tense bodies.  As they painfully slide down the weapon, it begins to shake and bend.  When they’re halfway down, the lance falls out of the silver knight’s hand and crashes to the hard floor.  The next ten minutes are spent getting the lance out of them and healing major injuries.

“Ouch and a half.  Is that your large intestine or mine?” Adriana inquires as she gets her staff and charges the soft, blue light to full strength.

“Must be yours.  I still have mine.  So, should we stay here or hide somewhere else?” answers Fate.  Adriana uses the Venus weapon to heal them, so the only sign of the injuries are the gaping holes in their uniforms.

“Damn it.  The uniform’s repairing fibers are damaged.  What do you mean stay or hide?  I can’t believe you have to actually ask that question.  Besides, I know the perfect ambush area.  Come on, lucky guardian.  This will all be over within a couple of long, painful hours.  And don’t expect it to be even close to easy.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”