Title: Comeback-the alternative universe ending
Chapter: 4
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: PG, Adventure
Spoiler: the episode Comeback
Archive: if you want to, just let me know where.
Feedback: craved and cherished
Why: because its a heck of alot of fun
Disclaimer: all hail IA, all hail the actors, never mine, no money no fowl, just having fun in the toy box.

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Egor was feeling nervous. He had finally tracked Manfred down that morning, after spending an uncomfortable night camped on the dressing room floor. He had watched the film crew set up for the mornings shoot, then Manfred had appeared, carrying the small cage containing the Little People. Egor had hung back , not wanting to draw undue attention to himself, atleast until he'd gauged Manfred's mood. Quigg had stopped for a brief word, his attitude also one of wait and see. Hearing Manfred laugh gave Egor the courage to approach his nemesis. Manfred had eyed the aging actor with a sanguine expression, but with a few well chosen phrases, Egor had Manfred eating out of his hand. Manfred had expressed regret about the previous days altercation, brushing it off as a misunderstanding. Egor played along and agreed with whatever Manfred wanted him to do, disclaiming all sympathy for the Earth people. Egor had seen the gorilla taken out of the warehouse, and breathed a sigh of relief that the Little People were safe for the time being from Baby. That relief was short-lived when he saw the glass aquarium and the lizard Quigg had brought in, releasing it into the sand. Egor tried to ascertain if the lizard was deadly, but Manfred refused to rise to his questions and sent Egor off to change into his costume, ready for the afternoon shoot. It was pure luck that he spotted Dan and a young boy watching from one of the tripods behind the sound man. As casually as possible, with everyone's eye on the glass tank, Egor made his way over to the tripod, keeping a wary eye on all the film crew. He heard Manfred congratulating the Little People, making him relieved that they had come through the latest test unscathed, then he reached the tripod. Without warning Dan that he was there, Egor reached down and scooped up the two figures, sliding them into his coat pocket, just as Manfred walked by, carrying the metal cage. Egor waited until the film crew had largely dispersed for a lunch break before making for his dressing room, the slight, wiggling bulge in his coat pocket the only evidence of tiny passengers.

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" Now you just rest and relax, it'll be a couple of hours before I need you again, Quigg'll get some food and drink for you...you were magnificent," gushed Manfred after depositing the small metal cage on the floor of the miniature bedroom set. Releasing the catch he watched as the small group of Little People straggled out. Valerie immediately went and sat on the bed, her head bent, arms wrapped around her middle.

" Now don't take on now Valerie, you were perfect, my dear. Now I must go and prepare for the afternoon," and he whisked off before Steve or Mark could voice a protest. Fitzhugh had staggered over to an overstuffed chair and collapsed on it, the furniture creaking in protest at the abuse. Steve and Mark went and sat on the bed, Steve laying down flat, an arm flung over his eyes. Mark, seeing Valerie all but done in, put an arm round her shoulders.

" Val, you need to rest, come on, take off those boots and lie down, we've got a couple of hours," he said, watching as her blank stare slowly focused on his face.

" What ? "

" You need to rest, we all do, we need to recover from what just happened," Mark tried to reason. Valerie just shrugged his arm off and stood up, her eyes blazing.

" Rest ! recover ! we were nearly killed...how do you expect me to ever rest again, I'll be having nightmares about that snake thing for years," Valerie cried, her voice rising with her anger, knuckles clenched at her side.

" Val, I'll get in touch with Dan, maybe he's got an idea to get us out," said Steve, levering himself upright.

" He may have contacted Egor, I'm sure I saw him hovering in the background," said Mark.

" What does it matter, we're stuck here...what will Manfred have us doing next ? high wire act ? walking over hot coals ? oh no, we've done that....remember, I nearly DIED " Valerie's voice had been rising, ending on a shriek. Fitzhugh jumped out of his light doze, the chair nearly toppling over as he lurched.

" What the.....dear girl, some of us are trying to rest.." he grumbled.

Valerie visibly deflated, coming back to sit on the bed next to Mark.

" I feel like we'll never get out of here," Valerie said quietly.

" We will...we just need to survive until Dan and Egor can help," said Steve, " I'm going to call Dan, see what's happening out there."

Steve walked over to where his red jacket was drying on the back of a chair and pulled the radio out of the pocket. He hadn't taken it with them as his new skirt was too thin to hide the bulge of the box. Seeing that Valerie had calmed down he made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. There was a thin roof over that area, providing a measure of privacy. Steve extended the aerial and pressed the button.

" Burton to Dan, come in Dan,"

Steve waited for a couple of seconds before repeating the call.

" Dan this is Steve, come in please,"

The radio crackled a couple of times then Dan's voice came through.

" Dan here, Steve, keep your voice down, its not entirely safe to talk right now," said Dan, his voice barely above a whisper.

" Are you okay ? what's happening ?"

" Egor just caught us, we're in his pocket right now, that's why its not a good time to talk, are you all okay ?"

" For now, Manfred is setting something up for this afternoon, but we have a couple of hours before then, we need to come up with a way to get us all out of here,"

" I'm with you, Barry and I will try to get something together before the next shoot, hang in there okay, we'll do the best we can,"

" I know you will Dan, call me if when you can,"

" Will do Steve, Dan out,"

Steve switched off the radio and collapsed the aerial, his expression thoughtful. Valerie had been quite right, if they didn't get away from Manfred, it was only a matter of time before one or all of them were killed or injured in one of the Giants mad stunts. They hope was pinned on Dan and Egor coming up with an escape plan. Steve just hoped it was soon, he didn't think Valerie would be able to take much more, for that matter he was close to cracking himself. Snakes had always been Steve's greatest fear, the mere thought of Giant snakes enough to make him break out in a nervous sweat. Only the fact of having the others depending on him stopped him freezing completely in the glass tank when the lizard had reared up out of the sand. Now, with his adrenaline wearing off he felt an overpowering urge to scrub himself clean, his eyes feeling gritty and his skin crawling. Taking a deep breath, Steve brushed the sand off his trousers and tucked the radio into his belt. Scraping back his sweat soaked hair he prepared to face the others.

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Egor had been stopped by Quigg as he tried to leave the film set, the assistant wanting Egor to speak to Manfred before leaving for lunch. Egor had plastered on a smile and waited for Manfred, the weight of the Little People in his pocket a constant reminder of his promise to help the captives. Manfred had clapped Egor on the shoulder, mightily pleased with the mornings filming.

" Egor, my friend, I think this enterprise just might be the saving of us all....a platform to relaunch your film career, a re-investment in my studio...ultimately we all get rich....isn't it wonderful," Manfred spread his arms expansively, a grin just as wide on his broad face.

" It won't be much of an enterprise if you kill off your actors, that stunt with the lizard was a gamble...what if it had eaten them ?" asked Egor. Manfred adopted a pained expression, shrugging his shoulders.

" I'm not likely to endanger my money makers, now am I...that lizard was harmless, just really scary looking, it only eats insects,"

" The Little People are the size of insects, Manfred, it was a risk,"

" Now, you're not complaining about my directing, are you Egor ?" said Manfred, an aggressive edge to his voice, the smile slipping slightly.

" No...no of course not, your the best director an actor can have, I'm just worried you might use up their potential before we finish this picture....that's all...my future rests on their tiny shoulders as well,"

" Don't worry so much, I promise not to use them all up...at least not until the films in the can," laughed Manfred, turning to speak to the film crew.

Egor turned away, sick to his stomach at Manfred's callous attitude towards the Little Peoples welfare. Finding himself outside the studio, Egor made his way down the lot to a small grassy area, now rank with weeds, that used to be a popular lunch spot in the studio's hay day. There was a warped picnic table under a shady tree, Egor made his way over to it, pausing to pull Dan and Barry out of his pocket and setting them on the table top before sitting down himself.

" We heard what Manfred said, Egor, we need to get them out of here," said Dan, looking up at the old man.

" I know Dan, I'll do whatever I can, but until we know what Manfred has planned for them, I don't know what to do," said Egor, looking down at his gnarled hands resting on the warped wood.

" Can we afford to wait that long, what about this lunch break, we could try and break them out while everyone is eating," suggested Dan, Barry nodding in agreement.

" I can try, if they don't post a guard or someone to watch over them,"

" Let's atleast check out who's around. If Manfred and Quigg are absent it could be the break we need," Dan argued. Egor nodded and reached to put the Little People back into his pocket.

" I'm sorry I don't have a better way to carry you around, I'll try not to jostle you too badly, hang on now," cautioned Egor, getting up and starting to walk back to the film studio.

As he got closer, Egor noticed two of the stagehands getting the gorilla's cage ready, pulling it towards the warehouse.

" Where are you boys taking Baby ?" he asked. One of the stagehands looked up, his expression belligerent.

" Who wants to know, pops ?"

" Why I am Egor Crull, the star of this picture, I asked a civil question, be kind enough to answer it young man,"

" Okay, keep your hair on, we're taking Baby to the next film set, Mr.Manfred wants her for the afternoon shoot,"

" Thank you....carry on," Egor waved the young man away, walking past them and carrying on, into the studio itself.

Once out of sight, Egor spoke to the Little People in his pocket.

" Did you hear that Dan, we need to try and get your friends out now, they're readying Baby for the afternoon...." he whispered, holding the pocket flap out to hear Dan's response.

" Let's move Egor, we need to do something now," Dan replied. Egor closed the flap and continued on into the gloomy interior, scanning for Manfred or Quigg. Seeing neither, Egor made his way over towards the set being used to house the captive Earthlings. He had just reached the table when one of the film crew called out to him, telling him Manfred wanted to see him in the office. Egor suppressed a sigh of frustration and changed direction, heading for Manfred's inner sanctum. Inside his pocket, Dan thumped the cloth walls in anger, thwarted again.

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Manfred was looking at a series of story boards spread over his desk when Egor knocked on the door. Manfred waved him in and pointed to the pictures strewn over the table top.

" I think I might just use this old storyboard from the last movie I planned to do with Baby. We couldn't do it before, because it involved too many special effects, but now we have the Little People, we can finally shoot it the way it was envisioned."

" Which scene would that be Mr.Manfred ?" Egor enquired politely.

Manfred glanced at him, then looked back down at the pieces of card.

" It's a scene where Baby seizes the heroine and carry's her off to a mountain lair, there the heroine has to be rescued by the hero, with a final battle between the rescuers and the Giant Ape...of course Valerie is perfect for the heroine and the rest can try to rescue her. We have that volcano set to give Baby something to climb on, all we need to do is walk her through the moves and the rest, as they say, will be history...movie making history that is," Manfred chuckled, rubbing his hands together gleefully, visualising the action already.

" Won't that be too dangerous for the young lady, she didn't exactly like the last encounter with Baby," remonstrated Egor, worried for Valerie's safety.

" Oh don't fuss, I'm sure Baby will be gentle with her. We can use that miniature jungle set, with the rope bridge. It'll be a perfect set up for the capture scene. Now Egor, I need you on hand to control Baby, she responds well to you. Keep her supplied with banana's or whatever she likes, I want her on her best behaviour, this could be the clincher," Manfred was beaming, Egor already forgotten as he perused the story boards again.

" Okay Mr.Manfred, whatever you say," said Egor, hurriedly backing out of the office, his mind whirling, trying to think of a way for the Little People to escape what Manfred had planned for them.

Dan, riding in Egor's pocket, could only exchange a look of horror with Barry as they listened to Manfred's plans for their friends.

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Valerie had finally succumbed to her bodies demands for rest. She was stretched out on the bed, Mark's jacket around her shoulders. Fitzhugh had nodded off in the chair, his ability to lose himself once more demonstrated to its fullest. Mark and Steve had changed out of their outlandish costumes back into their original clothes, feeling better able to cope without feeling like extra's from treasure island. They had discussed the situation to death, neither able to come up with a solution to their current imprisonment. Quigg had brought a tray of food and water for their lunch. Fitzhugh had woken briefly, just long enough to scoff some of the fresh bread and fruit supplied. Then he'd gone back to his snooze. Mark almost envied the mans ability to relax so completely, despite their fraught situation. Steve and Mark both agreed to let Val sleep, her hysterical outburst showing how close to breaking she really was. Mark had a quick meal of the food, coming to sit on the bed when he had finished, keeping watch over the sleeping girl. Valerie slept deeply for the first hour, but started to toss and turn, in the throws of a dream. Eventually the dream became too real and she awoke with a cry, sitting bolt upright in the bed, panting as if she'd been running, her eyes wide. Mark quickly caught her attention, letting her know she wasn't alone. Valerie's panic subsided quickly on seeing the familiar faces of Steve and Mark looking at her with concern.

" I'm fine....really, I...I just had a bad dream, I did warn you," she explained ruefully.

" We have some lunch here, if you feel up to it," Mark told her, handing her a drink of water. Valerie took the mug gratefully and drank deeply.

" Mmmm that was good...I think something to eat is a great idea," as if on cue, her stomach rumbled, " I guess running away from reptiles builds up an appetite."

Mark was pleased to hear her crack a joke, albeit a weak one. Valerie was a strong person, it was one of the things he admired about her.

" Well its not exactly gourmet, but it is fresh," he told her, indicating the platter on the dressing table. Valerie just shot him a grateful look and went over to help herself.

Half an hour later they were just discussing what they thought was on the agenda for the afternoon when Quigg peered over the edge of the set, putting the metal cage down and with the door open.

" Time to perform, get into the cage please,"

" What does Manfred have in store for us this time, Quigg ?" shouted Steve, going over to shake Fitzhugh awake.

" I'm not at liberty to discuss it with you, Mr.Manfred will explain when you get to the set," said Quigg, refusing to be drawn.

Valerie was hurriedly pulling on her boots, wishing she had changed like Steve and Mark, while trying to brush the creases out of the blue dress and push her loose hair into order. Fitzhugh was probably thinking along the same lines, but he just rearranged his shirt ruffles and stamped his feet back into his shoes.

Mark picked up his jacket off the bed and put it on, then went over to the cage and helped Valerie and Fitzhugh get settled inside. Steve was last, surreptitiously tucking the radio into his jacket. Quigg shut the cage door and lifted it carefully off the ground, swinging it around and carrying it across the sound stage to where Manfred and the camera-man waited.

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Egor had left Manfred's office and made his way over to the table where a coffee pot was keeping warm. Filling a cup he tried to think of some way to free the captive Little People. If he only had a way to make Baby unable to work, even just temporarily, it would give them a break, enough maybe to let Egor effect a rescue. Sipping his coffee, Egor suddenly remembered seeing a pill bottle on Manfred's desk. In fact, now Egor thought about it, he distinctly remember Manfred mentioning something about needing pills to calm his nerves. If he slipped some of those tranquillisers to the gorilla, it might be enough to render Baby unable to film that afternoon. Putting down his cup, Egor hurried off to find the bottle of pills and a piece of fruit.

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Quigg carried the metal cage over to another table top diorama, setting it down gently next to the outside wall, a small access door cut into the side. Leaving them still locked up, Quigg hurried away to inform Manfred that his 'actors' were ready. Scanning the area where they waited, Steve spotted a cord hanging off the edge of the table, a little further along in the other direction, another cord dangled tantalisingly close. Steve considered the odds of them reaching the cord and escaping. It would be close, but any attempt was better than waiting for Manfred to kill them with another elaborate film set. Steve quickly pointed out the cords to the others, getting complete support for his plan. As soon as the cage was opened, they would split up, Steve and Fitzhugh to the left, Mark and Valerie to the right. They hoped in the confusion that at least one or more would escape and be able to connect with Dan and Egor and help rescue those remaining. It was a desperate plan, but they were all keen to attempt it. The film crew were stationed on the other side of the table, so they would only have Manfred and possibly Quigg to avoid. It was the best chance they would have. They waited tensely, nerves stretched, for the return of Manfred or his assistant. Soon they heard the approach of a Giant and readied themselves.

Manfred rounded the end of the table, his usual cigar in hand, beaming broadly at his actors.

" So pleased you could join us, it's going to be a great shoot this afternoon, I promise no livestock this time, just some running and climbing. You should all be good at that," he smirked, taking a puff of his cigar and blowing the evil smelling smoke over his captives, making them cough. He picked up the cage and turned it so the opening faced the doorway cut into the set's back wall. There was a big enough gap for them to pass through, so they waited for Manfred to open the cage door. Pulling back the cage to reach the catch, Manfred released the spring and the door swung open. As quickly as they could the four captives shot out of the cage and took off, Steve and Fitzhugh cutting to the left, Mark and Valerie high tailing it to the right. Steve reached the power cord and slid over the edge as Manfred let out a shout, his look of surprise quite comical. Mark was helping Valerie over the edge first, then following quickly, while Manfred floundered in confusion. Fitzhugh was the first captured, being unable to get himself over the edge quickly enough. Manfred grasped him and poked him back into the metal cage, shutting the door behind him. Then Manfred picked up the cage and bent down, to better see the captives sliding down the cords. Valerie had reached the floor but hesitated, not sure which way to run, Manfred scooped her up and put her into his suit pocket, her scream muffled as she fell into the cavernous hole. Steve reached the floor and took off running, dodging under the table and behind a pile of cable, bunched on the floor. He looked up and saw Mark plucked off the other cord and stuff into the cage with Fitzhugh. Now Manfred tried to peer under the table, looking for Steve. Keeping his head down, Steve crawled towards the camera tripod, as now all the film crew were round Manfred's side of the table and looking for him there. Reaching the camera stand, Steve risked standing up, finding himself still un-noticed, he sprinted across an open area to another pile of cables. Hiding among them he watched as Manfred and the crew searched in vain for him, under the table. His heart and lungs pounding, he looked around for another hiding place and saw the Gorilla's cage, a dark hiding space clearly evident, underneath the trolley. Steve ran the short distance and dived underneath Baby's cage, pulling himself behind one of the wheels and looking out at the search continuing in his absence. Above him he could hear the Gorilla moving restlessly around in her cramp quarters. Steve hoped Baby hadn't seen him hide under her cage, if she set up enough of a racket they might think to look for him here. With that in mind he looked out the back of the space and tried to see anywhere else he could reach. Unfortunately it was all open ground, no cover at all. For the time being he was stuck where he was. He only hoped Manfred wouldn't take out his anger at losing Steve, on his remaining "little actors".

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