They all opened their eyes at the same time, seeing a pool of slime right in front of them. Growls and menacing noises could be heard in the distance.

"This ain't Deathmatch." Cole said quietly.

"I'm going to clear out a path to the other radiation suit, and bring it back, then the rest of you can take turns crossing over. This pit's way too wide to jump." Kaveman whispered.

Connor and CG looked at him in disbelief.

"You'll never last!" Connor said, concerned. "There's way too many of them. Plus, you have to get the yellow key to get to the suit." Kaveman had taken the one radiation suit out of his pack, and was pulling it on.

"Connor's right." CG said, harshly, "You can't take that chance alone. It's suicide!" Kaveman stepped into the slime pit carefully. The ooze came up to his knees. Carrying the BFG and his pack, he headed across the toxic green river.

"Come on, Kaveman," Cole called quietly, anxious. "They're right, you need someone else to help you!"

Kaveman put his gear down on the other side, and headed back over to the others. Cole,

Connor and CG all continued to reprimand him in hushed tones on the folly of his decision.

"Give me the plasma gun, your pack, and your shotgun." Kaveman said, indicated to Connor, ignoring their warnings. She handed them to him, unhappily. He carried them over to the other side, laying them next to his gear. The others watched, tense.

Kaveman then came back and, reaching up to Connor, he pulled her down to his level, suddenly scooping her up and slinging her over his shoulder, carrying her across. Cole and CG were too shocked to react, and Connor was equally shocked, but wordlessly remained motionless and hoped like hell that he didn't stumble...

Having been safely deposited on the opposite side, Connor helped Kaveman out of the ooze pit, and out of the radioactive suit as Cole and CG grumbled their displeasure across the slime river.

"I'm surprised you were able to carry me." Connor whispered.

Kaveman smiled. "Naw, wasn't hard at all."

Leaving their gear on the ground, and preparing for what would appear on the other side of the partial wall next to them, Connor whispered tensely, "How many are there? I don't remember."

"It doesn't matter," Kaveman said, "I'm takin' 'em all out with this." He lifted the BFG to his shoulder.

"Don't move." he warned.

Connor nodded, wordlessly, and squared back against the wall as Kaveman stepped into the open, letting out one blast of the massive machine.

Impressively silent for a weapon of such deadly firepower, Kaveman nevertheless had to shut his eyes against the blinding green flash that flew like a shooting star from the barrel of the BFG. It had a kick like a mule, and the stock of the weapon punched Kaveman right in the chin, making him bite his tongue involuntarily.

He stumbled back with the blast, but managed to stay on his feet. Immediate silence followed.

"Shit!" Kaveman exclaimed, spitting on the ground. Bright red.

"That hurt!"

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. It came away bloody. CG and Cole, on the other side of the slime, waited anxiously.

Connor peeked around the corner of the partition and looked at Kaveman. He was still wiping blood from his injured tongue. Connor stepped out into the open area, seeing imps and zombies lying scattered all the way down the hallway to her right and up the stairs in front of her.

"How'd you get hurt?" she asked, coming up to him.

"Damn thing's stronger than I thought." Kaveman said. "It punched me in the chin." Connor looked at him, sympathetically.

"It's ok... I'll live." Kaveman said, spitting again. There was less blood this time.

Connor slung her shotgun over her shoulder and hefted the plasma gun in front of her. Heading down the right hallway, she approached the upcoming bend silently. She knew she had to lure out a zombie and a Pink Demon on a platform around the corner in order to step on a secret switch activating bridge access to the yellow key.

Stepping in front of the turn, Connor expected to see a couple of pissed-off enemies, but was surprised to find that the BFG had taken them out too. Looking over to the far-left, across the ooze, an imp lay dead on an upper shelf of the wall.

Connor gingerly stepped around the hulking mass of dead Pink Demon before her, and standing at the edge of the platform, she watched the concealed bridge on the other side of the huge slime river rise.

An imp showed his face on the landing across from her, accessed by the bridge, and Connor fired a blue fireball from the plasma gun at him. The shot went high, and the imp saw her and launched a red fireball her way, bellowing.

Connor ducked to avoid the projectile and it splattered on the wall of the hallway behind her.

"Damn thing!" Connor said, disgusted at the handling of the plasma shooter.

Still crouching, she quickly exchanged the plasma gun for her shotgun, when she heard a warning behind her.

"Stay down."

Complying, she looked over her shoulder in time to see Kaveman fire at the imp with another shotgun, dropping him. Still crouching, she lifted her weapon to her shoulder and caught the next enemy that showed his face across the way.

The zombie fell over the dead imp in the doorway and splashed into the toxic ooze below.

Kaveman was next to her now, and he picked up the discarded plasma gun.

Connor picked off another zombie that showed his face around the opposite doorway as a Pink Demon charged out in full view, bellowing at them.

Kaveman let fly a flurry of blue bombs but only two of the fireballs connected with the monster, the rest splattered the doorway and wall surrounding it. But it was sufficient to drop the ugly beast, and his bulk slid off the bridge, hitting the ooze with a broad splat that made Connor and Kaveman both duck to avoid getting splashed.

"Damn!" Kaveman exclaimed, looking disgusted at the plasma gun in his hands.

"That's what I said." Connor replied. "It's a lot harder to shoot than it looks..." Kaveman grimaced, nodding in agreement.

As the two headed back down the hall to pick up the rest of their gear in the entryway, Connor reached out and touched Kaveman on the arm. He stopped momentarily and looked at her.

"What's up?" he asked. She looked like she was wondering about something.

"Why'd ya want me along instead of CG? You two would have had an easier time of it, I'd think."

Kaveman glanced down the hall as if not wanting to be overheard. He looked at her seriously. "He doesn't know what to expect. You and I do. You don't question me, and I think CG would be arguing with me the whole way through. I don't need that right now. You know how many enemies we're gonna be facing getting that other suit, and...well, we work good as a team." he said.

Connor looked thoughtful.

"Plus," Kaveman added, cracking a grin, "I didn't really want to carry a guy over that slime..."

Connor smiled wryly, then they walked out to the entryway together and geared up, calling over a progress report to Cole and CG, who were sitting on the other side of the toxic river, waiting impatiently.

Kaveman and Connor headed up a short staircase in front of them, leading to a small second-story room that accessed the bridge to the yellow key room.

"Did you get that other shotgun from this secret nook?" Connor asked, pointing to a wall on her right, flanked by two barrels filled with slime.

"Yeah..." Kaveman said, bringing the BFG up to his shoulder.

He stuck the barrel of the massive weapon out a huge window to the left which overlooked a large lower-level courtyard outside. Better prepared this time, he warned Connor to cover her eyes, and pulled the trigger, sending a brilliant green blast out into the open.

The giant comet flew across a slime moat below them and crashed against one of two large

supporting pillars standing on the opposite edge of the ooze. All the visible enemies standing on the wide, ground-level walkway around the moat, dropped in unison. "Shit," Kaveman muttered, grinning wickedly, "I love this thing!"

Connor came over to the window, looking down at the carnage outside in awe. She nodded in agreement. "It's definitely You..."

Something moved behind one of the glass block partitions on the right side of the courtyard, Connor and Kaveman catching the movement at the same time. Apparently, there was at least one type of enemy that seemed immune to the BFG...

Two huge satyr-like creatures, appropriately called "Barons of Hell", stepped out from behind the column and started firing their own green fireballs straight at the window!

"Duck!" Kaveman yelled, jumping back, but Connor didn't need to be reminded, and they both plastered themselves against the biggest wall on the right, out of sight of the fast moving missiles. They could feel the wall shake as the deadly green bombs connected near the window, and a few flew through, detonating inside on the wall opposite them.

Shrapnel from the concrete blocks flew, pelting Kaveman and Connor, who both turned away to avoid the worst of it. Staying low, they hurridly crawled over to the window.

Connor handed the plasma gun to Kaveman, who turned and sat back tight under the sill, as another volley of fireballs flew cleanly overhead through the opening, exploding. They were both now covered with cuts from flying debris, and looking at each other, both read the other's mind.

In the next pause before further onslaught, Connor quickly peeked out and spotted the two Barons who had separated and now flanked opposite ends of the courtyard. She let out a gasp as they both launched missiles in unison, and Kaveman reached up and grabbed hold of her shirt, yanking Connor down just in time to avoid being terminated, shielding her as more concrete flew.

"One left, the other, far right." Connor said, her heart beating so fast she thought it would jump out of her body. Kaveman turned to the window and, crouching, located the Baron on the lower left, jamming down the trigger on the plasma gun. The weapon sent out a blue stream connecting squarely with the beast. The monster started roaring, his body jerking as fast waves of the blue bombs cut into him, blowing blood and bits of his flesh in all directions.

Connor, who had been watching the other Baron carefully, suddenly grabbed Kaveman around the middle, shouting "INCOMING!!!" as it sent another round straight at them. Kaveman instantaneously let off the trigger and allowed Connor to yank him to the floor, both rolling face down as the bombs hit right at the sill, blowing away a good part of the window frame.

Connor grabbed her shotgun, just within reach, wincing at the pain in her forearm which had been laid open by a flying brick. Kaveman rolled over on his back, hurridly pulling a cell pack out of his ammo belt. He popped out the used one on the plasma gun and jammed the fresh cell in place.

Kaveman felt slightly stunned. During the explosion, a chunk of concrete had flown right at him before he could turn away. Shaking his head to scatter drops of blood from a bad gash over his right eye, he hurridly wiped his face with his arm, trying to keep the blood from imparing his vision. Connor, on her knees, aimed out what was left of the window and kept pumping shotgun rounds into the injured Baron, finally dropping him as Kaveman turned his sights on the other one, mashing down on the trigger of the plasma gun as the beast prepared to launch more fireballs.

The monster kept coming for them, lurching straight through the toxic moat, forcing itself to move against the deadly onslaught above it as Connor quickly reloaded and turned on the creature, too.

The Baron, unable to fire under the double attack, finally crumpled with an unholy scream and fell over face first in the slime. A dark red stain started to spread out from the ripped up monster on the surface of the ooze.

For a moment there was no sound except heavy breathing, as Connor and Kaveman, not trusting to move, stayed frozen in place, waiting for just about anything to materialize. Then, they realized they could both hear Cole and CG yelling, wondering what the hell was going on.

Kaveman relaxed slowly, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. He took off his pack, fishing for something inside. Connor wearily limped down to where she could see the other two, yelling to them that everything was ok, as they demanded more of an explanation. Ignoring them, she limped slowly back over to Kaveman, and plopped down on the floor next to him as he tiredly handed her his water bottle.

"You look like shit." he said, as she gulped down the fluid, easing the burn in her throat. Putting the bottle down, she gave him a dirty look.

"You don't wanna see what you look like." she said.

Pulling off her pack, she extracted the jar containing the leftover soul sphere gel, and a small towel from one of the medikits. Kaveman had his hand pressed to the gash over his eye, but it was still bleeding badly. Connor took a dollop of the shimmering cure-all, and prying his hand away from the wound, spread it on evenly.

Kaveman winced as the substance worked it's magic, and the gash closed up and disappeared.

Connor poured some of the drinking water onto the towel and set to work wiping the blood from Kaveman's face, until he resembled himself again. Kaveman, meanwhile, took the gel and applied it to the tear in Connor's arm as she attended to him, watching spellbound as her wound disappeared too.

It was going to take a little while for them to patch themselves up...

Finally, having tended to the worst of their injuries, and having consoled CG and Cole, Kaveman and Connor proceeded over the bridge to get the yellow key. Reaching the opposite landing, Connor, shotgun leveled, proceeded into the hallway at a trot, Kaveman right behind her with the BFG fully charged.

There were two zombies at the end of the corridor, visible through an oblong window, and Connor paused, taking them both out before they realized what was going on.

She stepped aside and let Kaveman cut to the front as they both reached the window, climbing over. Kaveman, not hesitating, planted his feet firmly and fired the BFG into the room, Connor turning away to avoid the glare.

The blast completely exploded a Pink Demon, connecting point blank, and everyone else in the computer room dropped like stones.

Not waiting around, Connor and Kaveman jumped back over the window; Kaveman grabbing the yellow key card and tucking it into his armor. Trotting out to the bridge and back across, they crossed through the blasted room and down the short staircase.

There was a doorway to the outside courtyard just to the right of them. Connor and Kaveman paused outside the doorway and Kaveman pulled the invisibility orb out of Connor's backpack. In the game, if a player used this item, they were rendered invisible, but the effect was only temporary.

Having learned from the soul sphere, Kaveman, crouching down, thumped the orb sharply on the concrete floor. It split open into two halves, revealing a thick luminescent paste inside. Kaveman touched the pearlized cream, as Connor stooped down beside him. He scooped out a little and applied it to his arm.

Nothing happened...

"Huh??" Connor exclaimed, the surprise in her voice matching the look on Kaveman's face.

Cole called over to them from across the way, "Try tasting it!" he yelled. Connor and Kaveman gave each other a disgusted look.

"You're kiddin' me!" Kaveman called back, "What if it's poisonous??"

That's what I'm hoping…Cole said in the back of his mind. His expression gave away nothing…

"You won't know until you try it!" CG called out in return.

Looking resigned, Connor shrugged and reached over, scooping some of the invisibility cream out of the orb with a finger, and before Kaveman could say anything, she tasted it.

Immediately, Connor started to fade from sight...

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