"Yo, Roy!" came a voice from across the room, towards the shelves of lab chemicals and flasks. Jared stood in a corner of the lab, near a glass cabinet that once read Caution. A pity the glass was shattered, and the cabinet's contents were spilled all over.

His blue-gray eyes strangely calm - though from real bravery or sheer irresponsibility one couldn't tell - Jared held up three flasks. "You take sulfur, charcoal, and this white stuff that looks like sugar." He held up a box of matches and flashed a diabolical grin. "Mommy always told me never to play with matches."

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"Jared, NO wait..." he called, stumbling towards him. "First we gotta make sure everyone's up in the attic, then you can blow... but wait, 'kay!?"

His distracted eyes took in the view of everything, including that monstrous being getting in, and the only person near enough for the explosion to hit... Bryce.

"Dude, get away from there!!" he yelled, throwing a bottle near Bryce's head to emphasize his order.

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<center>
"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

Hannah was still sitting on the floor, leaning to the wall. She stared into nearly completely darkness. Under her she could her voices and the noise of the alien coming into the house. "I never thought it could end like this", she whispered, more to herself than to any others. "But it will end. Yes...tonight everything will be over."

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Come to the Dark Side...we have Jim Moriarty

Bryce heard someone yell and her jumped jump and grabbed Lindsay and ran away as quickly as he could. He saw a small door about to close and he and Lindsay dove in. Keira, surprised, shut the door quickly behind them and locked it. She hugged her brother tearfully as Rachel stood beside her. All four of them where in deep trouble...they where inbetween the alien and the bomb.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Once Bryce and the others were up, Jared the pyromaniac dumped the chemicals onto the floor and vaulted up into the attic himself. He struck a match and held it up for the others to see.

"Happy New Years. Sit back, take cover, and enjoy the fireworks." With those rather controversial requests, he dropped the lit match and dove into a corner.

The explosion was colossal. The attic literally rocked from the force, sending up tiles and great waves of heat. The shock wave swept the lab, and the conflagration instantly flared.

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"Commandant," Subcommander Yrlphran said in the dialect of the Red Star - a garbled language that, when pronounced, sounded like an excess of phlegm. His tentacles lashed, a certain sign of agitation. He pointed one primary tentacle at the burning lab. "Incursion was a failure. We must intercept all routes of egress. I will send scouts to secure the perimeter."

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Rachel flinched back against the wall as the explosion went off. The door to the tornado shelter was strong, though, and didn't buckle under the heat.

Zrglst shook his head and sputtered out "Will do High Admiral....." And stood up in order to regain his senses.

"Jared, we need to get out... we need to get EVERYONE out of this place. They'll be back soon. Do you think," here he pointed towards a bolted door in the attic above them, "...do you think you could pick-lock that?"

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<center>
"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

Bryce let go of Keira and saw Rachel. "Are you three alright?" He asked the three girls.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

The heat waves wafting through the floor induced a sense of supreme urgency. Jared glanced up at the bolted door and helplessly shrugged. "Where does it lead to? Pipes?"

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Zrglst finally regained his balance and began beating down walls and clawing about for his victims.

Bryce heard loud, hard hits vibrate down the wall. "Oh no..." He muttered and looked around worriedly. "We're trapped."

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

"Yes, it leads to... the utility room, I did volunteer work their once... it's nicely sized... look, could you hurry, PLEASE?!" he said urgently, throwing Jared a pocket knife though he was sure he had his own. "Listen, I know you can do this, just try to hurry. I've got to go down and see about those four people in the supply closet." He cracked the door open, and dropped out, falling on the floor. The smell of chemical filled the air... any moment now the whole room would blow. And the closet had a whole beam from the roof leaning against it.

"Guys, can you hear me? Hang on... I'll get you oughta there..." he yelled, his voice slightly muffled by his shirt which he had pulled up around his mouth. He began looking for leverage, something to get this beam off. And quick.

----

Ariel stared at everyone in the VERY cramped attic with a droll expression. Then she looked at this Jared, the person their lives depended on right now...

"Hello death." she said sarcastically.

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<center>
"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

"I hope the others are alright." Keira said, shaking slightly, mentioning there friends in the attic. Bryce nodded and looked for a way out somewhere.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Hannah pressed herself against the attic, unable to move. She lost her balance and fell on the floor as the attic shook under the explosion. She remained lying on the floor on her side, facing the wall, trembling and breathing quick under her tears.

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Come to the Dark Side...we have Jim Moriarty

"I'm alright." Rachel said. She wasn't hurt, just shaken.