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Note: If you haven't been reading Hot Water and the posts announcing the rounds thereof, this will make no sense to you. Go read that first.

*Zakiyah and DNash sit at the Treehouse dining-room table, sipping coffee from their recovered mugs. An intermittent clacking sound can be heard in the background.*
D: *sighs happily* This is more like it. Coffee is always better when you drink it out of a favorite mug. And this is a damned fine cup of coffee.
Z: Mm-hmm. I’ll drink to that.
*The two women toast each other with their coffee mugs before drinking deeply. More clacking sounds are heard, and Zakiyah cocks her head to one side, listening.*
Z: Doesn’t sound like Ryalin is making much progress.
D: *snorts derisively* Would you if you were working on a manual typewriter? Much less one that Challenger apparently built from scratch from whatever he could scrounge on the Plateau?
Z: It would slow me down, yes. My typing speed drops quite a bit on the old manual keyboards, and I always seem to get two or more keys stuck.
D: It was quite evil of us to chain Ry to the typewriter until she finishes. *chortles and takes another sip of her coffee*
R (offscreen): Seriously guys, can’t we return home? I’ll get done much faster if I have access to a decent computer!
Z: Sorry Ry, but we know you too well. If we give you access to a computer, you’ll just go back to making fanvids instead of writing.
D: And while your videos are beautiful and amazing…
Z: And we love them dearly…
Z and D in unison: We want the rest of the story.
R: *wails* But this will take forever! And my fingers are already killing me!
Z: *sternly but with some sympathy* No. Finish first, then we travel. But if your fingers are still bothering you, I promise I’ll take you to the Doctor once you’re done.
R: hopefully Did you say the Doctor? Not ‘a’ doctor, but THE Doctor? My favorite Doctor?
D: We do still have a TARDIS. It isn’t his, so we can’t promise anything, but we might be able to arrange something.
*The offscreen clattering noises increase tenfold.*
Z: While we’re waiting for her to finish…
D: …which shouldn’t take long now…
Z: …we might as well issue our announcement.
D: More like issue the challenge, really. Oh, and if any of you haven’t finished reading Hot Water yet, you’ll want to look away now. Seriously. Go finish reading that first before you read another word in this post. You have been warned. We’ve even added spoiler tags, so if you get spoiled now, it’s your own doing.
Z: Roll the tape.


D: He’s getting cheeky.
Z: Can you blame him?
D: No. We’d better bring him some Plateau Blend when we return to civilization.
Z: Good idea. *frowns suddenly* Hey, what happens if we can’t agree on which entry we like best?
D: Then I guess we’ll have to award two prizes; one from me, and one from you.
Z: That’ll work. And if we get no entries at all?
D: That’d be a shame. We issue nice prize packages. Just ask around.
Z: True. Well, that’s all we have for now. We hope we hear from at least some of you very, very soon.
D: Good luck!
*Zakiyah and DNash go back to sipping their coffee while listening to the sounds of Ryalin typing in Challenger’s laboratory.*

You guys are EVIL! But I love you! Damnit....you've piqued Marguerite!Muse's interest....now we'll never get that OTHER fic finished. Or will we?

Santacrux looks up from the notes she is scribbling and swears under her breath. The accursed mice were sleeping again; didn't they understand the vital nature of this experiment - putting an end to world famine. And the endless chatter from the people in the room below was distracting as well. She had moved to the treehouse attic to avoid the constant interruptions. Was there no place where she could work in privacy?

And was that coffee she smelled? Her stomach growls alarmingly. She looks at the gummy remains of the food replacement gel she had consumed earlier. It was going gray in the beaker. Not very appetizing looking she admits. That could be a problem in marketing. She scans her recipe once more; there must be a solution - for the look and the taste.

Just as she settles to her work, the sound of a typewriting machine catches her attention.

sc: I wonder who could be using the Challenger Semi-electric? It's down in my lab - who would trespass in my sanctum sanctorum? If Ned were still here, he'd be my first suspect, but the others aren't likely to do so. And Finn can't even read. I say, perhaps I could use the novelty of the machine to interest her in writing....

Santacrux 's thoughts drifted in the direction of adult learning issues when she catches sight of a shadowy figure in the corner of the attic.

sc: Who's there? Show yourself.

The figure steps out into the light and Santacrux's jaw drops at the sight. It is she (or was that 'it is her'?) as she once was, young, ambitious, eager to take on the world. Long flowing hair, trim, taut body gliding effortlessly toward the centre of the room. Clearly her shoulder didn't ache incessantly. As she had told Ned once, 'older sure hurts more'.

sc: How can this be? You are the spitting image of myself as a young woman. What kind of evil deception is this? Are you a demon? an evil spirit trapped for ages in a cave? a visitor from another planet or past or future times?

Young sc: No, Santacrux, I am you, back when you had drive and ambition. There's a contest been announced, you know. There will be reward and recognition - prizes in fact. There is an announcer with those two women in the great room; didn't you hear them?

sc: Well there was quite an uproar down there... and coffee... I smelled coffee.

Young sc: Yes well, there is coffee too. A contest and here you sit. Get out there, woman. There's a mystery to be solved, a paranormal occurrence to be explained. Roxton's ring. Oh. I can't explain. You just have to see it for yourself.

Santacrux rises to her feet, shaky from her self-inflicted starvation. She is lightheaded; the room shimmers and shifts. She blinks her eyes, rubbing them with one hand as the other keeps firm hold on the table so she doesn't fall. When she reopens her eyes, young Santacrux is gone. She looks about wildly but she has disappeared. Santacrux staggers toward the stairs, muttering under her breath.

sc: Roxton's ring, eh? I wondered how that could happen. Science will explain it; it always does. But how to put it down on paper. I must concentrate. I'll interview the strangers and the announcer then I'll have a little more of my elixir. I'll need the strength to write.... Prizes.

She struggles down the ladder, her stomach growling furiously as the smell of coffee permeates the atmosphere of the treehouse. Two women drinking coffee. And somewhere in the distance, the typewriter was still clacking. Someone is getting a headstart on her!

*Zakiyah is sitting reading a book on the Treehouse balcony. A pair of odd noises catches her attention; one from the rafters, the other from Marguerite's bedroom. She listens for a few moments, and then hastily sets down her book.*
Z: Oh my! That sounds promising, but I sense that there is an urgent need for sustenance.
*She hurries into the Treehouse kitchen and returns with a steaming mug and a condensation-drenched can. She sets both on the table before retreating swiftly to the balcony.*

Z: Good thing rann was so generous with dispensing coffee and mugs; we have plenty. Hopefully the beverages will help sustain SunKrux and santacrux in their endeavors. Now to keep out of their way.... Darn. I hate waiting.
*Zakiyah sits back down, picks up her book again, and returns to reading.*

*SunKrux notices that someone has replaced her precious nectar (Diet Dr. Pepper) with her evil twinny's fav beverage. She marches up to where her twinny is chained to Ned's typewriter. Takes the can of Diet Dr. Pepper that is sitting next to her.
You can't have that. This one is yours.
*Ry looks up pleadingly Come on twinny, help me pick the lock on these.
*Sunny looks at her twinny...then back to where Zak & DNash are sitting...then back at her twinny.I can do that but if you don't finish, you don't get to see THE DR. And I know how much you want to see him, again. I mean after all I got up at the pre-butt crack of dawn with you so you could see him, live and in person. I know how much you love him so sorry, you're stuck. Besides, Marguerite!Muse is kicking me in the head to work on this challenge.
*Sunny leaves the can of Diet Coke for her twinny and wanders back to Marguerite's room to work on her entry...

*DNash looks up suddenly from the journal she's reading. (What? Ned will never know.) A feeling of unease has come over her. It's quiet. Almost too quiet. She rises from the chair in Ned's room and looks around. She tiptoes down the hallway and peeks into Marguerite's room. SunKrux is there, working on her story and sipping her Diet Dr. Pepper. Next she heads to the main room and looks out onto the balcony. There's Zakiyah, reading and sipping her coffee. All is as it should be here, so what roused her from her own reading?*

*A rustling noise catches her ear and she turns. There in the corner, at the base of a ladder DNash has never noticed before, stands the bedraggled figure of woman. Familiar, and yet not quite familiar enough for DNash to pin a name on her. She opens her mouth to ask who the woman is, where she came from, when suddenly a maniacal shriek splits the air.*

D: What the hell?! *She dashes towards the noise, the stranger momentarily forgotten.*
*DNash and Zakiyah nearly collide on the stairs. Both clutch their precious mugs of coffee. Not a drop is lost.*
Z: You heard it too?
D: Yeah. We better check it out.
*Insane laughter greets their ears as they reach the door to the lab. Ryalin is still seated, still chained to the typewriter, but she is no longer hunched over the machine. Instead she has ripped the page from its roller and is waving it wildly in the air. She turns as the others enter the room. Her eyes hold an eerie light, a hint of madness and genius glinting like diamonds in their rich depths.*
*They approach the captive cautiously.*
D: Uh, Ry? What's going on?
R: I'm done! *She laughs again, still waving the paper.* DONE! DONE! DONE!
D: Right on!
Z: Fantastic!
*Zakiyah reaches for the pages already stacked on the desk, but Ryalin grabs them up and clutches them to her.*
R: Oh no. You're not getting these until you unchain me.
Z: Anything you say. As long as I get to read it right now.
R: Yes, yes! Just get me out of these damn things. *She's almost bouncing in her chair.*
*Zakiyah fishes the key from her pocket and unlocks the chains. Ryalin shoves the pages at her and races for the door.*
D: Where are you going?
R: Are you kidding? I've been chained to that desk for hours drinking Diet Coke. I'm going to pee! And then you're taking me to see the Doctor! *She runs from the lab.*
*Zakiyah and DNash look at each other and shrug.*
D: We finally got the last round. I can hardly believe it.
Z: You know what this means, don't you? *There is suddenly a mischiveous smirk curling up one side of her mouth.*
D: *frowns* No. What?
Z: As soon as I've read this -- *She waves the pages at her.* -- you're going to have to beta read it all.
D: D'oh! *facepalm*

*Zakiyah sets down the last page of the typewritten manuscript with a happy sigh. She stands up, stretches, and admires the view from the Treehouse balcony. A rattle from the kitchen catches her attention, and she turns to see DNash emerge, carrying a big plateful of pumpkin scones.*
Z: Those smell delicious.
D: They *are* delicious. *She raises one eyebrow at the stack of pages* Have you finished?
Z: Yep. It's awesome. And it's all yours, right after we take that little trip we promised Ry.
*Ryalin pokes her head out of Roxton's room at the sound of her name.*
R: Is it time?
D: You know it. Let me just run down the checklist and make sure we haven't forgotten anything. Scones for SunKrux and santacrux, to nourish them as they write... *She sets down the platter on the dining table.*
Z: Check. Also plentiful supplies of coffee, diet Dr. Pepper, and other assorted beverages in case anyone else shows up. There's plenty of room here, after all. Sunkrux has Marguerite's room, and santacrux has her workspace in the rafters, but the rest of the rooms are up for grabs for any writers who need room to work on the challenge.
D: *rolls eyes* Thank you, Ms. Explication.
Z: *ironically* You're welcome.
D: So. Back to the list. Ry's manuscript...
Z: *carefully hands DNash the stack of pages* Check.
D: Then we just need the TARDIS, and we'll be off. We'll be back before the October 5, 2009 deadline. And we hope to find lots of entries!
R: Right! After all, you don't want these two ladies coming after you. *rubs wrists* They're ruthless. And if I can finish a story while chained to a typewriter, I'm sure the rest of you can write something with your nice computers.
*A wheezing, groaning sound fills the Treehouse as a battered grandfather clock appears in the living area.*
D: *stares at Z accusingly* You hooked up the recall circuitry?
Z: *smugly* I didn't have to. It was already working. I just re-routed it to respond to our trigger, and not you-know-who.
D: Oh. Well, that's probably all right then. Let's go.
Z: Happy writing, everyone! We'll see you again on the 5th of October, if not before.
D: Always assuming you can fly this thing right...
*Zakiyah, DNash, and Ryalin enter the grandfather clock, which promptly dematerializes.*

Ummmmm.......(looking around innocently)....I thought it took everybody 6 years to co-write a fanfiction. Doesn't it???

-Ry (who's off to meet The Doctor, as promised)

*SunKrux stretches and yawns before she neatly stacks her pages together*

Well that's finished. I should figure out if Zak & DNash left a safe place for our entries while they're off gallivanting around the universe with Ry so she can meet The Dr.

*SunKrux wonders out to the dining area, notices the scones left by DNash. She picks one up and nibbles on it while looking around for a box or something that Zak & DNash might have left for safe keeping of entries.*

Hmmm, nothing. Guess I'll just have to take it back to Marguerite's room with me and keep it there. Wouldn't want anyone else to see it before the contest.

*SunKrux takes her fic & scone (which is now mostly gone) back to Marguerite's room*

I feel a nap is in order now.

*SunKrux finishes off the scone and then lays down on the bed and promptly falls asleep, fic safely tucked under the pillow her head is resting on.*

*The barest glimmer of false dawn is visible on the horizon as Zakiyah and DNash creep stealthily over the Treehouse balcony and into the great room.*
Z: *whispering while shaking visibly* Oh my God. I cannot believe we just climbed up here.
D: *whispering and grinning madly* Oh come on. That was fun!
Z: You’re the climbing fiend. I’m the acrophobe, remember?
D: I told you, the trick is to remember not to look down. Besides which, climbing was the only way we could get up here without waking people up. The elevator makes too much noise, and the TARDIS is even worse.
Z: *grumbling* I don’t see why it’s such a big deal if we wake anyone…
D: The creative process is a delicate thing. Besides which, I’m sure the writers are all exhausted. Now let’s go see what we’ve got.
*The two women split up to search the Treehouse. DNash climbs into the rafters, where she discovers an exhausted santacrux slumped over a workbench, sound asleep. DNash stealthily extracts not one but two manuscripts from beneath the slumbering author and creeps back down into the great room.*
D: *quietly but with noticeable admiration* Wow! What a haul!
*Meanwhile, Zakiyah tiptoes into Marguerite’s room, where she finds SunKrux sleeping in bed, holding several of Marguerite’s scarves. Zakiyah carefully removes a manuscript from the bedside table, careful not to knock over any of the jewels and stones cluttering the surface. She starts to return to the great room, only to stop as she hears the creak of bed ropes in Roxton’s room. She turns aside to investigate, and sees a dark-haired woman curled up on the bed, sleeping the sleep of the just. Zakiyah silently dances in glee and snatches up the manuscript left by the gun-rack. She beats a hasty retreat back to the great room.*
D: Did you get SunKrux’s story?
Z: Yeah – and a surprise, too!
D: Oh?
Z: I found Pam in Roxton’s room. She wrote a challenge story, too!
D: Sweet! That makes four in total, because santacrux wrote *two* of them. Now we just have to get back to the TARDIS so I can post the stories here.
Z: *shudders violently* Oh no. That means climbing DOWN!
D: Suck it up, Z. And remember, you can read the stories once we get back.
Z: Oh, okay. Anything for a good story. And I’m sure these are all good.
D: After we read the stories, we’ll pick a winner. We’ll announce our winner here next Monday, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
Z: Oh for goodness’ sake. Not yet another cross-reference! Let’s just concentrate on getting back down on the ground safely, okay?
*DNash helps Zakiyah back over the balcony railing, and the two women climb silently down into the darkness.*

SC: Gone!

*santacrux raises her head from where it rests on the workbench. Her eyes scan the entire bench, appalled by the absence of her manuscripts. Nothing. Her neck cricks as she bends over to search the floor below the bench. Apart from an awful lot of crumbs, nothing there either. Her shoulders slump.

SC: Gone! And I had not one but two offerings. Mathematically that ought to have increased my chance of winning!

*Her mind drifts back to writing the little fics, watching the next episode only to discover that the happy couple who survived their submergence in Hot Water were already bickering in their scene together in Legacy. Nice challenge, guys - take Roxton's ring off Marguerite's finger!

SC: Perhaps it's for the best *she sighs.

SC: Or maybe it hadn't happened at all- none of it, not the grandfather clock, not the announcer, not even the scones. Just an hallucination from starving myself.

*But the scone crumbs were real and pensively she pops one in her mouth and nibbles.

Mmmmm, pumpkin.

*A ripple of light shimmies through the Treehouse as the planes of reality make a slight adjustment. Faintly, two women's voices can be heard in the distance.*
D: I *knew* we forgot something.
Z: Yeah. Good thing the TARDIS is no stranger to temporal shifts and alternate planes of reality.
*A plateful of fresh pumpkin bread appears on the dining table in the Treehouse, accompanied by a steaming hot pot of coffee, a chilled six-pack of diet Dr. Pepper, and a carafe of iced tea.*
D: There. That did it. Hopefully the supplies will sustain them until next Monday.
Z: Or at least take off the worst of the pangs. We can send in more supplies later, if the engines hold up.
D: Now we'd better get back to reading. We don't want to keep them in suspense!
*The voices fade out as the light vanishes.*

*SunKrux wakes up from her nap and wonders how in the world her fic got from under the pillow she was sleeping on to the bedside table*

Must have been those damn shifting plains of reality. Is that pumpkin bread I smell?

*Sun's stomach growls*

I hear you, I hear you.

*Sun makes her way to the dining table and grabs a couple of slices of the pumpkin bread and a Diet Dr. Pepper and then disappears in a shimmer of light. Her voice can be heard saying...*

What? I so don't want to be here when Marguerite gets back and finds out I was in her room. Although I'm more afraid for Pam...she's in Roxton's room and Marguerite will NOT like that.