"Hey!!" Kaveman exclaimed, shocked at what he was seeing. Connor, fading into invisibility, grabbed her throat with a choking sound and fell over. Kaveman grabbed her limp body, alarmed.

"Connor?? Are you ok?? God dammit! It is poisoned!"

"Ehyuckk!!!" Connor complained, "It ought to be! It tastes like shit!"

Kaveman growled as he realized she was joking, as she sat up, laughing.

Kaveman scooped up some of the paste for himself and tasted it, grimacing at the bitterness. "Oh, man...." he said, scowling, "that's bad..." But he started fading too, and Connor, amazed, cracked up again at the bizarre sight. She was completely invisible now, and reaching out, she took hold of the orb to stick it back in her pack. As she touched it, it vanished from visibility, although she could still feel it in her hands.

"Whoa.." Kaveman said, "Do you still have it?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah," she said, "I'm holding it, but it vanished when I picked it up. I bet our weapons vanish when we hold them, too." She heard Kaveman scoot a little bit to where he had laid the BFG and it flew upward and vanished. Connor reached for the plasma gun on her right, and as she picked it up, it too became invisible.

"That looks so weird, you guys!" Cole called. He and CG had been watching this whole exchange in amazement from their vantage point.

"Kaveman?" Connor said, questioningly.

"Yes?" a spectral voice breathed in her ear, as two hands grabbed her shoulders, making her jump sky-high with a frightened yelp.

"Damn!" she exclaimed. Her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest! "Cut it out!!" Kaveman couldn't help cracking up, feeling somewhat redeemed.

Connor was still holding the orb. "Stick out your hand so I can find it." She groped around in front of where his voice had been, cracking up as she fended his hands off, which he kept jabbing at her teasingly, until he finally gave in and stayed still. She grabbed his invisible hand firmly and placed the orb in it. They both took another scoop and ingested it for insurance, both complaining bitterly about the taste, but still cracking up.

"Ok, I'll behave…" Kaveman said. "You ready to go on?"

"Yeah…" Connor answered. "Just don't lose me."

Connor groped about Kaveman's person, finding his backpack and putting the orb inside it. He reached out and, locating her hand, grasping it firmly. Then, opening the door to the courtyard, they both headed over to the yellow door.

Taking the yellow key out of his armor, Kaveman slid it into the key slot, triggering the locking mechanism. The door opened as Connor thumped on it. They unclasped hands and readied their weapons, stepping onto the elevator.

"You first." Kaveman said, and as they reached the bottom of the lift, Connor let loose on two zombies and an imp directly in front of them, dropping them quickly with the plasma gun.

Groping until he made contact with Connor, Kaveman found her hand and they took off to the right, dodging random fireballs from the two imp sentries in high niches on both sides.

Running right past a secret door which opened behind them, spilling out a group of enemies, Kaveman ran with Connor up to a windowed wall and stopped. Another group of enemies milled about, directly in front of them, not suspecting in the least that they were about to be terminated.

He turned around quickly and taking Connor by the invisible shoulders, he pushed her firmly back into the corner where she crouched down. Kaveman whipped around and pulled up the BFG, bracing his feet against the inevitable kick, firing quickly into a larger slime area in the middle of the room.

All the enemies in the entire room dropped in their tracks, never knowing what hit them. Amidst their dying groans, Connor stood up, trying to figure out if Kaveman was still nearby. She groaped around in front of her, but make no contact. ...where'd he go? she wondered.

She called out, uncertainly. "...Kaveman??" The room had gone silent. She thought she could hear quick footfalls across the way. She started trotting forward.

Kaveman had run to check around the far corner, wanting to make sure that everyone that had emerged from a second secret chamber on that side was also dead. Now that he was certain, he jogged back to where he had left Connor, and ran smack dab into an invisible shape, both of them going down.

"Oww!"

Kaveman grabbed for her as he started to fall, and they both fell down hard, tumbling over each other.

Untangling invisible arms, legs and weapons, Connor couldn't help laughing, and Kaveman let out an exhasperated sigh, then cracked up too.

"You ok?" she asked him, still laughing.

"Yeah..." he said, trying to find her leg as they still sat on the ground. Feeling it, he checked her knee by touch. "I heard something pop. Was that you knee??"

"Yeah..." she answered, "But I think it's ok. I know I got ya someplace with my elbow..."

Kaveman cracked up, "Yeah, but it's ok, I think I'll still be able to have kids…" They both laughed, just sitting for a moment and catching their breath.

"Hey!" Connor exclaimed, "I can see you!" Kaveman looked in front of him, carefully, Yes, now he could barely discern Connor, faintly starting to materialize.

It took less than ten seconds for them to become fully visible again. Kaveman got up and offered his hand to Connor, watching her as she got to her feet for any signs of residual injury from their collision.

"I'm fine!" she insisted. She walked over to the little nook containing the hidden radiation suit and hit the panel, making it open. Handing the suit to Kaveman, she continued opening hidden doors, stepping over a hidden chainsaw, until she was outside.

Another blue soul sphere lay on the ground in front of her, and she took off her pack and tucked the orb inside. Kaveman, having followed her, had stooped on the step just in front of the secret access door and was packing away the radiation suit. "Finally!" he said, relieved.

They went back inside, jogging to the left and stepping into a sentry's upper niche, which had lowered to the ground. Riding the lift to the top, Kaveman hit two consecutive walls, which slid upwards, revealing a secret area.

In the center of the room there was a large pentagram shaped teleporter. Neither one of them wanted to take a chance of getting sniped by going back out into the courtyard, so they stepped up onto the teleporter, expecting to be whisked back to the beginning of the level near CG and Cole...

Kaveman and Connor became aware, very suddenly, that they were standing on a very tall and narrow wall...

The instantaneous vertigo, caused by their total disorientation, plus being rather off balanced by their weapons and packs, caused both of them to stagger, pinwheeling for balance on the six-inch wide ledge.

"Oh man!" Kaveman exclaimed, nearly dropping the BFG, bending back and forth, trying to stay upright.

"What the hell?" Connor, standing on his right, grabbed his outstretched hand, holding on tight and struggling too, trying not to look down. "What are we doing here?" she said, fighting not to fall backward.

Hands locked tightly, they finally steadied themselves, but both Kaveman and Connor felt completely shaken up by this unexpected shock. They were overlooking the slime river with the retracting bridge to the yellow key room. The wall they were stuck on was really a window ledge with a probable drop of around fifteen feet to the slime below.

Kaveman managed a quick glance over his shoulder, and saw a small, walled courtyard behind them. He estimated that the distance to the ground was only about eleven, twelve, feet. But this was uncharted territory. In the real game, this area was unaccessable. If they were to drop down to the unknown courtyard, there was no guarantee that there would be any way out.

Connor was still holding on to his hand, still not looking down. "I don't like this..." she said, nervously. "I'd feel a hell of a lot better if we could sit or move or something. I don't dig heights."

Kaveman looked at her, concerned. "You're afraid of heights?" Connor nodded, frozen to the spot, still looking evenly ahead. Kaveman saw that the wall on his side was closer, maybe seven feet.

"Come on, just hold onto my hand and I'll get ya over to the wall. All ya gotta do is keep moving sideways, and don't look down. Can ya do that?"

"Y..yeah...I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Kaveman edged slowly to the left, Connor moving steadily with him. It seemed to take a long time, Kaveman coaxing Connor, but at last they made it.

Kaveman breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok," He said, "you're doing great. I'm gonna let go of your hand for a moment, just so I can sit down and get some leverage, and then I'm gonna help you sit too."

Connor glanced at him. "Ok." she said. She released his hand, tettering a little. Kaveman grabbed her arm and she steadied, nodding at him. He let go of her, slowly. She didn't move a muscle.

"This really sucks." she said, concentrating on keeping her balance.

Kaveman carefully turned toward Connor, gripping the wall now behind him, and slid down it to a crouch, the heavy BFG in his left arm causing him to wobble.

He managed to drop to one knee, then the other, still gripping the wall.

Now, sitting on his legs, he managed to get them out from under him, slowly, until he sat down with a small bump, straddling the ledge. Finally he was in a better position to help Connor, who had not moved during this whole procedure.

Placing the BFG in his lap, and keeping a grip on it, he took Connor's outstretched hand.

"You're doing just fine. Can you move a little bit closer to me?" She complied nervously, her legs were starting to shake now.

"Ok," he instructed, "now try turning toward me. You can do it. I'm not gonna let ya fall."

Connor, keeping her eyes fixed on Kaveman, did as he asked, her arm trembling as she gripped his hand tightly. Kaveman used all his strength to keep her steady as she wobbled a bit, then stood still.

"I think I'm gonna throw up.." Connor moaned.

Kaveman looked at her, apprehensively.

"Oh no you're not..." he said.

She slung the plasma gun over her shoulder, carefully, then she gripped his hand with both of hers.

"You wanna make a bet??"

"Shhhhh..." Kaveman replied, "Concentrate..."

Connor crouched down, slowly, worried that her muscles couldn't keep up this unbearable tension much longer. Finally, able to reach the ledge with her hands. She let go of Kaveman and gripped the wall, now sitting on her legs.

Kaveman held onto her shoulder as she slid her legs out on both sides of the wall, nearly losing her balance toward the ooze side. They both gasped, and Kaveman yanked hard on her shoulder to keep her upright. Connor, white knuckled, froze until she felt secure, then finally let out her breath...

"You still alive?" Kaveman asked, worried.

She looked pale as a ghost. "I..I am now," she said, hoarsely, "I thought my legs were gonna give out. This is way better..." She looked over to the courtyard. "Should we see if there's a way out of there?" indicating the walled area below.

"Hmm," Kaveman pondered. "I guess it's too risky to try to get to that secret door in the slime, even with the radiation suits."

Connor looked at him warily. "I'll tell you right now, Kaveman, there's NO WAY I'm jumping down there." Kaveman looked toward the courtyard.

"You think you can jump down there?" he said, indicating the walled inclosure. "I'll go first, I can catch you."

She looked down, then looked at him, hopefully. "I can do that, no problem."

Kaveman handed her the BFG and swung his leg over so that he dangled over the dirt floor. Letting go of the ledge, he dropped and landed, easily. Connor tossed the BFG down to him, and then the plasma gun.

She swung over the ledge and dropped too. Kaveman, waiting below, caught her around the waist. They looked around them, but there was nothing in the enclosure, and the walls were too high to allow them to see what was on the other side.

"Let's start looking for some kind of hidden doorway." Kaveman said.

Several minutes later, neither one of them had been able to find any secret passageways in the walls. Connor continued searching, randomly thumping the bricks, looking for anything they might have missed, but Kaveman was getting frustrated.

He started to cross to a spot on the wall where the color of some of the bricks was slightly

different, but as he was halfway there, the ground beneath him started to give way.

"Whoa!" he yelled, jumping back. He had unknowingly triggered a trapdoor.

He peered down into the opening as Connor hurried over to see what was going on. The trap opened onto the slime river, and as they both realized that there was enough headroom underneath to stand upright, they both got the same idea. "Come on," Kaveman said, "let's get those suits on."

Cole and CG were thoroughly frustrated. It had been at least a couple of hours since they'd last seen Kaveman and Connor.

"Where are they?!" Cole said, pacing back and forth on the landing, exasperated. CG was sitting on the ground with his back against the entrance door.

"Maybe they didn't make it." he said, ominously.

Cole stopped. "Wait!" he said. "I hear something." He crossed over to the edge of the landing, next to the overhang on the wall where the slime river flowed out.

CG, curious, got up and came over to Cole. They could both hear it now, it sounded like

something was moving through the ooze, out of sight.

They immediately ran to their packs and grabbed the two chainguns. Facing the approaching sounds, their hearts started thumping faster, both looking at the other, ready for some horrible monster to show it's face from under the overhang.

The noise suddenly stopped.

CG and Cole both had fingers on their triggers, loaded for bear and sweatin' bullets.

A voice came from beneath the overhang, catching their immediate attention and completely wiping away their anxiety.

"Dammit, Cole," the familiar voice called, warily, "if you shoot me again, I swear I'm gonna rip your fuckin' head off your body..."

CG lowered his weapon and started to laugh, heartily. Cole, looking at him disgustedly,

reluctantly lowered his chaingun, halfway tempted to use it on CG...

Connor and Kaveman emerged from under the overhang, slushing through the green river.

Kaveman motioned to Connor to climb up on the main bank, where she quickly wriggled out of her radiation suit. Kaveman, still standing in the ooze, took it from her and stepped out halfway, tossing the suit over to CG, who caught it deftly and pulled it on.

Kaveman climbed out on Connor's side and pulled his protective suit off, tossing it to CG who was now crossing to the other side of the river. CG caught it and tossed it back to Cole.

Kaveman held out a hand to help CG up onto the bank. Cole pulled on his suit and headed across too without further incident.

Now that they were finally all together on the opposite side of the sludge, Connor packed the two suits away in CG's pack and Kaveman told CG and Cole about everything they had encountered.

They all took a break to eat, and as they did so, CG and Cole, anxious to get in on the action, talked with Kaveman and Connor about how they all would proceed.

A little while later, with CG and Cole in front, the four companions snuck into the room where the yellow key had been and stepped over the oblong window into the computer room.

"Yuck!" CG said, disgustedly, "What happened here?" The gore was nauseating. Bits and pieces of what had once been a Pink Demon were scattered all over the floor, walls and ceiling in front of them.

"Gross!" Cole added, "What did you do, Kaveman, blow him up with the BFG?" He looked at Kaveman, stunned.

Kaveman just shrugged, looking at Connor. She nodded, agreeably.

"You guys are too much..." CG said, grinning merrily.

They stepped over what bits of meat they could and peeked into the rest of the room. Scattered enemies were strewn over the floor.

Cole opened the access to a hidden room on the right and collected more ammo, which Kaveman and Connor distributed between them, replenishing their store.

CG stood by a switch in a small alcove, which opened onto a long tunnel leading to the blue key.

"You two," he said, indicating Connor and Kaveman, "just stay here. Cole and I wanna take a turn at blowin' away some monster butt." Cole nodded in agreement.

"Go on then, have fun." Kaveman replied, "Just get back to us in one piece." He sat down heavily, laying down his weapons and leaning back against a computer panel. Connor laid her weapons down too, but she also pulled off her pack and used it for a pillow, laying down on the floor and closing her eyes, exhausted.

CG hit the switch, and the door which it opened rolled upward, revealing a dark, curving pathway. Menacing growls and an occasional roar could be heard, not too far off...

Kaveman, who had been nearly dozing, heard CG yell. Instantly awake, he grabbed the BFG and jumped to his feet, taking off into the tunnel. Connor had responded too, and she grabbed her shotgun and darted after him.

Skidding to a halt, Connor nearly collided with Kaveman, who had stopped just around the first bend. CG had grabbed his chaingun, ignoring his smouldering arm, and was mowing the imps down, staggering to his feet. Cole was starting to stir, badly burned over most of his exposed arms and face from the exploding bomb.

Connor raised shotgun to shoulder and advanced steadily, catching more imps as a steady stream still crawled over the bodies of the dead beasts as they continued to pile up. Kaveman realized that this wasn't right... there were too many imps... far more than in the real game...

The deafening noise of firepower and enemy roars, combined with the overpowering smell of carnage in the narrow tunnel was horrifying. Kaveman, staying low to allow Connor a clean shot, hurried over to Cole, grabbing him by the arms and dragging him back to relative safety.

"I'm almost out of ammo!!" CG yelled, feeling panicky, as the imps still endlessly poured into the hallway.

"Pull back!!" Kaveman yelled, still hauling Cole back down the tunnel. "Connor! CG!"

Connor reached out and grabbed CG's pack, yanking him around and they raced back to

Kaveman, as a fireball caught Connor's foot, making her tumble. Kaveman made a grab for her, but she quickly recovered, scrambling behind and past him for cover.

Kaveman stood up and raised and fired the BFG in one quick fluid motion, seeing imps go flying in the momentary illuminating flash. Kaveman thought he had his footing, but he slipped on a smear of fresh blood and fell flat on his back, involuntarily pulling the trigger as he fell. Although the weapon hadn't had enough time to fully recharge, it was still sufficiently loaded to take out a big chunk of the brickwork as the second blast hit the ceiling.

Kaveman had no time to scramble out of the way as the heavy blocks of brick and concrete

landing on him. An eerie silence fell over the hallway, as the dust of the collapse slowly settled.

Connor feeling searing pain in her right foot, tried desperately to see in the dusty gloom. CG grabbed her arm, pulling her backwards, toward a pile of debris barely visible just ahead of him. He had turned around just in time to see the masonry tumble down, pinning Kaveman. Cole was moaning somewhere behind them, the dust too thick to make him immediately visible.

Kaveman was unconcious, nearly buried by the downfall. CG and Connor started yanking the rubble off of him, coughing hard, choking as the fine dust flew, newly disturbed by their efforts. Freeing him, they pulled his still form from the pile and ignoring their own pain, dragged him back to the computer room, then both ran back into the hallway, locating Cole and helping him up and into the room.

CG and Connor rushed back to Kaveman, immediately dumping out their packs, pulling out medikits, water, and one of the soul spheres.

Connor slammed the orb against the floor, cracking it in two. CG was feeling for a pulse on Kaveman.

"He's not breathing, no pulse!! Dammit, Kaveman! You can't die on us! We're so close!!"

Cole crawled over, ignoring his own wounds. "Get his armor off! Start CPR!" he yelled at CG.

Connor jumped over and helped CG unbuckle the straps, then flinging the pack and armor off Kaveman, she immediately started artificial respiration as CG pumped on his chest...

30 seconds... no response.

"Damn!.. Damn!!.. Live, Dammit!!" CG was shouting, "Come on!!"

45 seconds....

50....

Suddenly, Kaveman jerked upright with a gasp, sitting up and nearly throwing Connor and CG to the side. Shocked beyond belief, CG, Cole and Connor stared at him completely dumbfounded.

Then, as he groaned in pain and collapsed back to the ground, clutching his chest, they immediately came to their senses, working together to remove his immediate clothing, spreading the sphere gel onto him generously, ignoring his yells as his internal injuries were magically repaired.

All three shaking badly, they gradually ceased their efforts as Kaveman started to become more lucid.

"Ok, ok!" he protested, waving away their hands, and trying to rise as the others urged him not to.

"I'm ok! Quit!"

He sat up anyway, realising in some horror that he was nearly naked.

CG started laughing, sitting back wearily, Cole lay collapsed in relief, now feeling his own injuries start to throb, but laughing nonetheless.

Connor just sat there, stunned, and when Kaveman looked at her, slightly embarrassed, she grabbed him around the neck and pulled him down, hugging him hard enough to make him crack up as he struggled slightly to breathe through her exuberant embrace.

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