~Chapter 8~
"Bits and Pieces"

Ahead of us, a maze stretched out, very similar to the stone one at the beginning, but made of a dark marble that gleamed in the fading afternoon light in the Labyrinth. On the walls, were painted murals, unquestionably Froudian, though how Jareth had come by them, I had no idea. We had only a four short hours left to get to the castle, and we felt no closer than we had been before, though the Riddler assured us we were.

"So," I told the Riddler, as we walked through the stone maze that lay beyond the Firey Forest. "Angel got the riddle. It was the talking tree. Now tell us how you got here."

"It’s very simple," he said. "I was tired of that bat in tights and his pathetic sidekick, so I took my leave of Gotham City and went in search of a more...challenging residence. I happened to be surfing the Internet and stumbled upon your archive. I read a few of your stories, and decided that this was the place to be."

"And you chose the Labyrinth. Wise decision," said Rebecca.

"It would seem. The riddles have proved disappointingly average and the Goblin King a poor adversary for an intellect such as mine."

"I can imagine," snickered Seona.

"However, I have been unable to leave. I had hoped that a man with such exquisite taste in tights would be more agreeable, but this Jareth has insisted that I become a permanent fixture in his Labyrinth, and unfortunately, my vast intelligence has little use against magic."

"That’s terrible," said Jessie, full of sympathy. "Well, now you can help us get out, and once we do, you’ll be with us!"

"And such delightful company," he said, smiling charmingly at her.

"Hey, check this out!" cried Cerridwenn. She was looking at a mural on the wall, and motioning us over. "That’s amazing!"

In brilliant colors was a scene we all knew. It was of our first moments in the Labyrinth, when we had stood overlooking the maze. I recognized all of the Listians standing there now, and saw my own blue sun hat amidst the crowd. We all stared at the painting in surprise and growing unease.

"There’s another one," said Katrina, pointing to one further down. It was of myself, with Katrina on my shoulders, as we had tried to look for a way into the Labyrinth, Irish Creme standing nearby and giving orders. I noticed we looked as ridiculous as I had thought we did.

We saw more, each one displaying another part of our adventure. Fay answering the riddle at the gate, the Listians talking to the worm, Jessie about to take her fateful step out onto the letter J, Starz holding her lit match in the oubliette, dozens more. There was even one of myself as the monster fish had rushed at me, Cerridwenn’s hand reaching for my hair to pull me out of harm’s way. I felt a little squeamish...I’d had no idea it had been that close.

The paintings led into a long, wide space in the maze, three walls with a mural on each. On the left was our meeting with the Riddler, on the far wall was him showing us the way out of the Firey Forest, and on the right was a painting of the Listians discovering the murals.

"That’s impossible!" cried Dreamin’.

"Too weird," muttered Mortelle.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang behind us, and we whirled to see that the opening back into the maze had closed. It slammed so hard that pieces of it came off, and the mural that had been painted on it lay on the floor in fragments. Then a grinding sound came from above, and we looked up to see a long slab of marble sealing us in.

I screamed, the shock of finding myself about to confront my worst fear simply too much for me. I couldn’t be in an enclosed space for any amount of time. Having to use a phone booth is my worst nightmare.

Heddy grabbed me. "What are you doing that for?!" she demanded. "Jeez! Nothing’s happened yet!"

I started hyperventilating as the slab above us closed, and we were in the dark. "We’re trapped," I breathed. "We’re stuck in here. There’s not enough air!"

Starz lit another of her matches, but we didn’t need it. The Riddler’s jacket came brightly alight with glowing question marks. It illuminated not only us, but the fact that we were not alone.

"Alexa, I’m surprised at you," said Jareth. "Caving so soon."

"Jareth! You have to let me out of here, right now!"

"What’s the magic word?" he asked me solicitously.

"Please?" I asked hopefully.

He tilted his head to one side curiously. "Where did you learn that rubbish?"

The ranting stream of curses that spilled out of me at that moment were quite unforgettable, but in the interest of the well-being of younger members of the list, I have chosen to leave them out here. Finally, Cerridwenn managed to get her hand over my mouth.

"She’s a little...stressed...heh..."

"Indeed," said Jareth, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Well, I’ll have her know that while most of that is a matter of opinion, my parents were married, and my mother was no such thing."

Cerridwenn’s hand had loosened a little and I took the opportunity. "That’s not what I heard--" but I was stifled again quickly.

"This is really uncalled for, my dear, and considering that you have only a little time left, I wouldn’t be wasting breath on such unlady-like discourse."

"What do you mean?" said Maedeline.

"I mean that you’ve got a puzzle on your hands." He waved a hand, and long spikes protruded from the walls on the left and right.

The Riddler touched one gingerly, and drew his hand back. "Normally, I might make a pun about how sharp those things are, but I wouldn’t want to push Alexa over the edge." He turned to Jareth. "This has ceased to amusing. These spikes are dangerous."

"I know. I was hoping you’d have the good sense to stay out of my little game with the Listians, but since you’ve chosen to get involved, I thought I’d up the stakes, in keeping with your superior intellect." Jareth allowed himself a small laugh, and then he vanished. The laugh kept echoing in the room for a few seconds afterwards.

"It’ll be a piece of cake," hissed the Riddler under his breath.

That was when the walls started to close in.

"He’s making List-kabobs," cried Caitlin, her eyes wide and face perfectly frozen with horror.

"Can’t we jam them with something?" shouted Irish Creme

"We don’t have anything!" Fay called back.

We started to huddle together in the middle of the room, watching in dumb fascination and terror as the spikes drew ever closer. The Riddler managed to get his cane slammed down into the crack between one of the moving walls and it held, but it would give soon. We were doomed.

"Look!" Angel said suddenly, picking up a piece of the marble that had fallen off the wall. It was flat, with rounded knobs on three sides and a flat edge. "It’s a puzzle piece!"

"Here’s another," said April, but as she did, the Riddler’s cane broke.

Angel stared hard at the wall, then at her piece, then at the wall. "Here." She put the piece up and pushed it against the wall. A light traced around the round edges and the piece stuck. And the walls slowed down.

We cheered, and soon Angel was leading us, one piece following another onto the wall. Each time Angel got another placed, the walls slowed. But didn’t stop.

"It’s the last one!" cried Serena, waving one up. The spikes were almost touching us.

"There!" Angel told her, pointing, and Serena placed the piece right.

A light shone out from all the cracks in the puzzle, and then the picture was whole. In the glow of the Riddler’s jacket, we could see it was a mural of Angel, putting the first piece in the puzzle.

The spikes stopped pressing in, and the puzzle wall swung open, letting us back out into the maze and the wonderful afternoon light that had never looked so good. I admit, I was the first one out, laughing deliriously and dancing around on the marble.

"For Angel’s a jolly good fellow, for Angel’s a jolly good fellow," I sang gleefully.

Soon, the rest of the list was singing with me, and Angel was blushing, her hazel green eyes demurely downcast.

"Hey!" called Shannon. "Over here!"

We went to see what she was looking at. It was a wide, arched opening out of the maze, and beyond that...the gates to the Goblin City.

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