Title: Comeback - the alternative reality ending
Chapter: 5
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: PG, Adventure
Archive: if you must, just let me know where
Feedback: always appreciated
Why: because I can, and because it provides alot of pleasure to others
Disclaimer: never mine, all IA's, no money no fowl..*cluck*

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From his hiding place under the gorilla travelling cage, Steve watched Manfred direct his film crew in their search all around the set. Manfred held the wire cage in one of his hands, his other arm waving around as the men scuttled about, trying to find their quarry. Mark and Fitzhugh were clinging to the mesh walls as Manfred swung around, peering under the table and directing the search. After a few minutes he called them all back and told them to proceed with the shoot as planned. Steve saw Egor come out of the door to the office and hoped to attract his attention. Before he could even try, he saw Egor approach Baby's cage, a ripe orange in his hand. Just as Egor held out his hand to give the fruit to the ape, Manfred bellowed for Egor to go over to him. Egor quickly tossed the orange into the cage and hurried off to where Manfred waited. Above him Steve heard the Gorilla shuffle around as she picked up the fruit and settled in to eat it. Across the floor Manfred was talking animatedly with Egor, explaining his part in the upcoming scene. Egor swept a couple of glances towards the Gorilla cage while they talked and Steve knew that Baby was going to be used. He only hoped Manfred wasn't going to take out his spite on the three remaining Little People. He saw Manfred shoo Egor away, then go over to the high walls of the set and place the metal cage inside. Steve didn't see Manfred remove Valerie from his coat pocket so he assumed he had some other plan for her. Once Egor was far enough away from Manfred, Steve got out his radio and called Dan.

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Mark and Fitzhugh were roughly ousted from the mesh cage when Manfred up-ended them. They fell onto a soft, leaf strewn floor, the basis for a jungle like setting, complete with scale fern trees, vines and creepers. Mark helped Fitzhugh to his feet and looked up at Manfred, towering over their heads.

" That wasn't a smart thing to do little man, your friend Steve may have escaped capture for now, but I'm sure we'll find him,"

" Let Valerie go," shouted Mark.

" All in good time, I don't need her for this scene, you two will do," said Manfred, lifting the cage out of the shot.

" What it we won't co-operate for you little 'scene' ?" said Mark, clenching him fists in impotent rage at their predicament.

" Then I'll just have to arrange another death scene for your young lady, only this time you won't have a chance of preventing it," replied Manfred, an evil smile plastered on his face.

" Let her go, you monster," shouted Fitzhugh in a fit of heroic outrage.

" That will only happen if you and your belligerent friend there, decide to do what I ask you....otherwise you won't be seeing Valerie in anything other than pieces," Manfred stated, turning to go.

" Woah, wait....we'll do what you say, Manfred," said Mark hurriedly.

" I thought you'd see things my way....fine, all you have to do is find your way through this jungle, cross a rope bridge and you'll reach where Valerie will be waiting for you, on the other side of the ravine," Manfred explained.

" Are there any beasts waiting to eat us here ?" asked Fitzhugh, scanning the dense foliage.

" Not a single one," Manfred replied, then he turned and disappeared from their sight, taking the cage with him. Mark kicked at a tree stump, venting his anger at their failed escape attempt.

" At least Steve got away," ventured Fitzhugh, clasping his hands and looking round the clearing.

" Yeah, but for how long...I only hope he can hook up with Dan, Barry and Egor. Maybe together they can effect a rescue,"

" What do we do now ?" Fitzhugh asked, regarding their surroundings with a worried frown.

" Whatever Manfred wants, while he holds Valerie as a hostage, what choice do we have ?" spat Mark, a muscle twitching in his jaw, " whatever he wants."

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Valerie heard Manfred talking to Mark and shouted, trying to let Mark and Fitzhugh know she was okay. Manfred's deep, woollen, jacket pocket effectively muffled her voice, leaving her hoarse and frustrated. She pushed at the material, trying to make more space but only succeeded in losing her footing and sliding down in an undignified heap when Manfred turned and moved off. The jerk and sway of his gait kept her clinging to the walls of his pocket to keep herself upright. After a short trip light suddenly flooded in and a hand reached in to grasp her, hauling her out. Valerie lay passively in Manfred's hand, just glad to be out of the smothering folds. The Giant lowered her to, what appeared to be, a jungle set, complete with a couple of thatch huts and totem poles.

" There you go my dear, it was very rash of you and your friends to try and escape, you could have been injured," Manfred cooed, soothingly. Valerie gave him a sideways look, wondering what he was leading up to.

" I wasn't keen to take part in another of your zoo experiments, Manfred," Valerie retorted, her hands on her hips in defiance. All the while she was looking round, expecting to see some clue as to Manfred's plans for her.

" But I would never hurt you, without you and the others, I don't have a picture, that lizard was quite harmless," Manfred explained. Valerie still eyed him with distrust.

" You've said that before, with that Gorilla. Can't you understand...they terrify us, how can you get you're kicks from that?" Valerie cried, trying to wring some vestige of sympathy from the impassive face looming over her.

" Why Valerie," said Manfred, a leer spreading over his face," that's exactly the reaction I want."

Before the girl had a chance to react, the Giant had pinched her arm between his thumb and first finger and started to pull her over towards the two poles. Valerie could now see that they were spaced to allow someone to be suspended between them. Manfred pulled her up the steps leading to the low platform and held her there while he deftly tied one wrist to a ring set into the wooden pole.

" What the hell is this ?" Valerie shouted, trying to wrest herself out of Manfred's hold.

" The necessary impetus to get your heroic companions to do what I want, of course," Manfred replied as he tied her other arm so that Valerie was stretched between the two rings with only her legs free to move. Manfred watched as Valerie struggled to free herself, his eyes gleaming as he watched her test the strength of her bonds. After a few moments she stopped pulling and flung her head back to glare up at her Giant tormentor.

" YOU'RE MAD" she screamed, her arms already starting to feel the strain of being held out at right angles to her body. Manfred only smirked and pulled out another cigar.

" That's okay, you scream and struggle all you want, soon enough, you'll have something to really scream about."

On that cryptic note, Manfred left Valerie and walked over to where she could see a cameraman and soundman waiting for Manfred's orders. She twisted and turned, trying to get her teeth to the cord but it was impossible, she was only exhausting herself. From where she hung, she could see quite a way around the jungle set. The plateau she was on appeared to be bordered on one side by a high cliff, on the other by a ravine. Considering it was a miniature set, it was highly detailed and Valerie could only guess what it's original purpose had been. She almost giggled, imagining a plasticine dinosaur battling it out with a rubber pterodactyl. Her hands were starting to go numb so she tried to flex her fingers to keep the circulation going but it only helped slightly, delaying the inevitable. Somewhere beyond the set were Dan and Steve, together with Egor and Barry. She only hoped they could come up with a way to get them all out of this nightmare, before Valerie found out what Manfred's parting comment meant.

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Egor had carried Dan and Barry back to the dressing room, to get ready for his next scene. Manfred wanted some shots of Egor and Baby together, before the Gorilla was positioned for the climatic final scene. Steve had contacted Dan and Egor was going to try and collect the Captain when he approached Baby's cage shortly. Steve had confirmed that Baby had eaten the orange, so Egor hoped the drugs would make the ape docile and co-operative.

Finishing up his preparations, Egor made his way back out to the set and started to walk over to the Gorilla's cage. Baby was sitting in the corner, snuffling quietly to herself. As nonchalantly as possible, Egor knelt down to 'tie his shoe-laces'. Steve was quickly scooped up and slipped into Egor's coat pocket, adding to the two bulge's already there. Baby reached out a hand through the bars and Egor gently patted the leathery fingers, feeling Baby curl her digits around his crabbed, bony hands. Egor smiled and spoke softly to her, wishing there was some way he could free them all from Manfred's control. Then one of the stage hands came over and Egor moved away from the cage and walked over to where Manfred was talking to his assistant.

" Ah Egor, just the man we wanted, all ready ?" asked Manfred, a wide smile plastered on his face.

" All ready Mr. Manfred. What do you want me to do ?"

" We'll shoot you taking Baby out of her cage and walking over to the set, we'll use a blue screen so the special effects can be added later. Just make a big thing of handling her chain and we'll shoot it from a couple of angles for stock footage, okay ?"

" Sure, whatever you say," Egor mumbled, turning back to return to the Gorilla cage.

" Oh and Egor, lose that old frock coat, you can work in your shirt sleeves. Here, give it to Quigg to hold, you can collect it later,"

Quigg walked over to where Egor stood, as if frozen. Unable to think of a suitable reply, Egor started to undo the buttons. His fingers were awkward and Quigg huffed with impatience as the old man carefully eased the jacket off his shoulders. Fearful for the coats occupants, Egor made to take the jacket back to the dressing room, but Quigg snatched it from his hands and took it over to the miniature set, leaving it hanging on a un-used light pole. Egor could only look longingly at the jacket and hope his passengers hadn't been knocked around too badly. Then Manfred was calling to him and Egor shuffled away to do his scene.

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" Okay, now you two make your way over to that trail and get to the ravine, I don't need dialogue from you, just action....places everyone," said Manfred, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention focused on the job in hand. Mark looked over and saw his frustration mirrored in Fitzhughs anxious face. Shrugging his shoulders, Mark picked up the hatchet Manfred had handed him and made towards the trail indicated. Fitzhugh, looking left and right, as if expecting some monstrous creature to leap out at him, kept close to Mark's back. Mark pushed his way through the thick growth, following a narrow track that wound back and forth, through the 'jungle'.

" Good, now up ahead is the ravine, you'll see the rope bridge when you get closer," Manfred explained, following their progress, peering over the high wall surrounding the set as the camera followed on a dolly-track. Mark pushed his way through a particularly dense patch of bush and found himself facing a deep rift in the floor of the set, obviously the ravine Manfred had mentioned. So far their effort had been minimal, with Fitzhugh hugging Mark's back as they traversed the jungle. Now they were faced with Manfred's next obstacle, the rope bridge. Walking to the edge of the precipice, Mark looked down, seeing only a stony gully with wickedly pointed rocks at the bottom. Across the expanse the narrow bridge hardly seemed more substantial than a spiders cobweb. On closer inspection, Mark found the set makers had adhered to their usual attention to detail and made a sturdy replica, down to the firmly attached cables and solid looking planks laid on the bridge itself. Mark stepped onto the bridge, only wide enough for one, and bounced slightly, testing the tension. The ropes gave, making the bridge sway and swing. Fitzhugh gulped audibly, sweat breaking out on his face as he contemplated crossing the fragile looking concourse.

" I can't cross that, it won't hold us," he hissed, grabbing Mark's arm in a panic. Mark shrugged off Fitzhugh's hand and started across the bridge, holding onto both sides to steady himself.

"We don't have a choice Fitzhugh, Manfred's watching our every move, and Valerie is somewhere on the other side,"

" I can't stand heights," moaned Fitzhugh, watching as the bridge dipped and swayed as Mark slowly placed one foot in front of the other. Turning his head, Mark looked back at Fitzhugh, dithering on the edge.

" Move Fitzhugh, you don't want to make me come back and get you,"

Looking at Marks set face, Fitzhugh decided to brave his fears and placed one foot on the swaying bridge. Mark continued on, the bridge now jiggling with the combined movements of the two men. At the halfway point, Mark spared a glance up to see what Manfred was doing. To his horror he saw Manfred leaning over with a sharp knife in his hand. The gleaming blade coming close to the ropes holding the bridge.

" WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ? " Mark shouted, clutching the ropes either side. Fitzhugh started to gibber in terror as Manfred started to saw at one of the ropes. Mark moved off again, picking up his pace, nearly running across the boards in an effort to reach the other side before Manfred completely cut their support. Fitzhugh tried to move but found his hands frozen in place, his legs shaking and useless.

" Move Fitzhugh, or you're going to be skewered on those rocks," Mark growled at him, panting as he tried to pull himself along faster. The bridge was now swaying violently, making the footing treacherous. Fitzhugh had finally unfrozen his legs and was making his way a quickly as possible after Mark. Suddenly the rope on one side started to fall away, Manfred having cut through the first cable. Fitzhugh grabbed the other side with both hands, screaming as the bridge lurched sickeningly. Mark had thrown himself onto the planks, winding his arm through the uprights in an effort to avoid being tipped off. He glanced back and saw Fitzhugh, white faced and terrified, gripping the rope. Behind him, Mark could see Manfred's knife now cutting through the other cord, severing their connection to that side of the ravine. Pulling himself up, Mark carefully started easing himself closer to the end of the bridge, leaving Fitzhugh to make his own way. Mark had almost reached the other side when the bridge disappeared from under his feet, the last support being finally cut. Quickly winding his hand around the rope uprights he rode the bridge as it swung down, coming up against the ravine wall with a bone jarring crash. Behind him, Mark could here Fitzhugh screaming in panic as the bridge became a ladder up the sheer side of the cliff. Looking down, Mark could see Fitzhugh clinging to the remains of the bridge, his eye's huge in his terror filled face.

" Fitzhugh, you have to climb up, its our only choice,"

" I can't, I can't....I'LL FALL!"

" It's just like a ladder, you can do this,"

" I can't....."

" You have to, take one plank at a time, like rungs on a ladder, come on, you can do this,"

Fitzhugh moaned loudly, his breath heaving in his chest. Mark, about ten feet above him, waited while the older man gathered his strength. Then Fitzhugh started up, testing the planks before putting his weight on them.

" That's it Fitz, keep coming up...you're doing fine," Mark encouraged, turning and starting his own ascent. Reaching the top, Mark hauled himself over the edge and turned to look down. Fitzhugh seemed to have found a well of courage from somewhere and was making good progress up the swaying ladder. Once he was close enough, Mark reached down a hand and helped him up the last couple of feet. Once they were both at the top they sprawled on their backs, chests heaving.

Above them was a smattering of applause as Manfred and the camera crew acknowledged their success. Mark, sweaty and dusty, shut his eyes, willing his racing pulse to slow down. They had survived another of Manfred's 'scenes'. He only hoped the next stage would bring them back together with Valerie. Fitzhugh wheezed noisily beside him, a constant moan sounding with each outward breath. Mark rolled over and got to one knee, surveying the man prostrate before him.

" You made it Fitz, we're alive,"

" I am ?"

" Yeah you are, get up, we need to find Valerie, before Manfred thinks of the next 'scene'".

"I can't go another step, you go on....I need to rest," Fitzhugh gasped.

Mark glanced up as a shadow fell over them.

" Wonderful stunt, well done both of you. It was spectacular footage,"

Biting down his anger, Mark addressed their tormentor.

" Fitzhugh can't go on, he needs to rest,"

" Oh that's okay, you go on Mark and find Valerie, she's just over the next ridge, Fitzhugh can join you when he's rested,"

Giving Manfred a hard stare, Mark made his way over to where Fitzhugh had managed to get himself into a sitting position. His face was still sweaty and pale, but his breathing was coming back to normal. Mark patted him on the shoulder.

" Fitzhugh, I need to go on and find Val, Manfred is going to let you rest. If you get a chance, make a break for it,"

" Make a break ? And go where precisely ?"

" I don't know, there may be another door. Either way, Manfred will be concentrating his attention on me, so you may get a chance. Take it if you do, find Steve and try and get us all out of here."

Giving Fitzhugh one more pat, Mark straightened up and started to walk away.

" Good luck Mark," Fitzhugh called. Mark lifted an arm in farewell and disappeared into the dense bush. Fitzhugh lay there, his legs feeling like rubber, his chest aching, wishing he was anywhere at all but where he was. " Good luck to us all," he whispered.

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