Luke wondered why he was following his brother down some pipe in the middle of a block down the street from his house. He had so many other things he wanted to do. Trust Elliot to wreck someone else's plans with his own.

He hit the bottom of the pipe and looked around. He didn't like the fact that the sun seemed to be shining in the sky overhead. It didn't look right, but it was better than searching for his brother in the dark.

Where had Elliot gone?

Luke paused. Something moved in the grass. He looked around. He didn't see anything dangerous. He decided to step carefully away from the vegetation around him and keep silent until he saw his brother.

He planned to punch his brother when he found him. That was the least the pain in the neck deserved.

He looked up. The opening of the pipe was high above him. He wasn't going to be able to jump up there. He stepped one step forward. He couldn't lift Elliot that high either from what he could see.

They would need to find another way out of wherever they were.

He hoped there was another way out of wherever they were.

Luke stepped forward again. More slithering accompanied his move. What was in the grass with him?

Another question that came to mind was did he want to find out?

He took another step forward. He concentrated on his hand. Lightning coalesced into a ball in his grip. All he had to do was throw it before he was seriously injured and knocked out of the fight.

He noted an island surrounded by water ahead. A pipe stuck out of the center of it. Had Elliot gone there next? Why hadn't he waited?

Luke looked around again. Vines were everywhere. They moved on their own as he looked at them.

Maybe he should move faster so he didn't find out what was at the center of the greenery.

He ran for the moat. He heard the vegetation shrug to life around him. He flung the lightning behind him to give him time to jump. He jumped across the five foot wide moat and ran into the pipe before he could stop.

Luke climbed on the lip of the pipe as the vines around him tried to grab hold. He threw a few more lightning balls before he yanked himself free and dropped to relative safety.

He landed at the end of a long slide and rolled across a grass lawn. He spit grass and dirt out of his mouth as he got to his feet. He looked at the flat plain and didn't see his brother anywhere.

Why did he always have to chase Elliot down?

Why couldn't his brother stay out of trouble?

Luke checked the grass. He didn't see any impressions against the green. He wondered if it was tougher than grass at home.

He couldn't go home without finding his brother. He didn't want to think where an exit could be. He rubbed his face.

Luke turned around in a circle. He thought he saw a cabin among some trees in the distance. Maybe there was someone there he could ask directions.

He thought that Elliot would go to the cabin too. It was a feature in a flat sea of green.

Luke kept an eye on his surroundings. He didn't need more plants coming to life. He thought he saw eyes on the trees. He paused. Were they blinking at him?

He didn't like that at all. Was he going to have to set some of those things on fire?

He walked up to the door. He knocked on the wood with one hand. He didn't want to get caught breaking in to someone's place.

“Who's there?,” said Elliot.

“Me, you idiot,” said Luke. “What are you doing in someone else's house?”

“Nothing,” said Elliot. He opened the door. “There's no one home.”

“That's not the point,” said Luke. “This is someone's house. They probably don't want you messing with their stuff.”

“They got a message to go to the castle,” said Elliot. “Everything should be all right.”

“Really?,” said Luke. “So you're reading people's mail too?”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I just looked around a little,” said Elliot. “It's not a big deal.”

“Do you remember the hissy fit you threw when Mom went through your bag and found your comic books?,” said Luke. “It's the same thing.”

“I don't think so,” said Elliot.

“It's exactly the same,” said Luke. “And since we don't know the rules, it can be twice the trouble.”

“We're in the middle of the woods,” said Elliot. “How much trouble could it be?”

“We're in the middle of the woods,” said Luke. “It's more trouble than what it's worth to have to bail you out if you are in trouble with the local law for being stupid. Close this place up and let's see if we can find this castle. Maybe someone can tell us how to get home from here.”

“Seriously?,” whined Elliot.

“If we're gone for too long, Mom will call around looking for us,” said Luke. “We have to get home before that happens.”

“We still have a couple of hours,” said Elliot. He showed Luke his watch.

“It's broken,” said Luke.

“No, it isn't,” said Elliot. He looked at the face. “The second hand isn't moving.”

“Did you have to throw a fire ball when you finished dropping down the pipe?,” said Luke.

“There was a big plant there,” said Elliot. He shook his arm. The watch hands refused to move. “I messed up my watch.”

“So we don't know how long we got before Mom gets worried and starts looking for us,” said Luke. “Close this place up and let's go.”

Elliot pulled the door shut. He didn't see any locks on the knob. He nodded that he had done the best he could.

“Which way do you think this castle is?,” asked Luke.

“I don't have a clue,” said Elliot. “Hold on.”

The younger boy closed his eyes and bent his knees. He straightened his legs and flew up like a rocket. He flipped over and landed on the shingled roof. He took a moment to catch his balance so he didn't fall off. He shaded his eyes and looked around. He smiled when he saw something that gleamed in the distance.

“There's something that looks like a tower in that direction,” he pointed at the gleaming. “We can walk there, but it's in the distance.”

“Let's go,” said Luke. He took a bearing on his brother's finger. “The sooner we get home, the less Mom has to know.”

“Who knew this underworld was at the end of that pipe on the street?,” said Elliot. He dropped down from the cabin's roof.

“The guy who put it there to get back and forth,” said Luke.

“Maybe there's an invasion of the city we have to stop with our awesomeness,” said Elliot.

“Maybe you're causing trouble again instead of minding your own business,” said Luke.

“You don't think something is going on?,” said Elliot.

“I think this place was getting along without us,” said Luke. “We shouldn't be messing around with things we don't know anything about. And we have a time limit to explore before we get in trouble. You shouldn't have just dropped down that pipe, Elliot.”

“I wanted to see what was at the other end,” said Elliot.

Luke waved his hands as he walked along the path.

“I was hoping for ninja turtles,” said Elliot.

“Really?,” said Luke. “Really?”

“We'll get home in time to keep out of trouble,” said Elliot.

“We shouldn't even be here, Elliot,” said Luke. “Do you understand what I am saying? How many times do I have to bail you out before you get it through your head I'm not going to be around forever? I wanted to be home catching up on my homework, and checking out what Jeff was making. The last thing I want to do is walk some place where the trees watch you.”

“That's neat,” said Elliot. He waved at some of the trees on the edge of the path.

“No, it is not,” said Luke. “These trees watching us aren't going to stop Mom from grounding us.”

“Jeff will cover for us,” said Elliot.

“No, he won't, and neither will his parents,” said Luke. “Jeff's parents hate us.”

“Why wouldn't he cover for us?,” asked Elliot.

“Because you blew up one of his experiments he was going to present to the school science project,” said Luke.

“That was great,” said Elliot.

“For you,” said Luke. “It cost Jeff and his family real money. You screwed them up really bad.”

“I didn't mean to,” said Elliot.

“Jeff doesn't want you around, and neither do his folks,” said Luke. “It's just luck they haven't said anything to Mom about it. And here you are doing the same old thing.”

“I can fix it,” said Elliot.

“How?,” asked Luke. “Are you going to fire ball the money out of thin air?”

“There has to be something I can do to make things right,” said Elliot.

“The only thing you can do is not run off and cause problems,” said Luke. “Once we're out of here, we'll think of some way to pay Jeff back.”

“Maybe there is some kind of treasure down here we can use to pay Jeff,” said Elliot.

“Stop,” said Luke. “What did I just say?”

“Don't cause problems,” said Elliot.

“Looking for treasure is causing problems,” said Luke. “Stick with me and don't do anything stupid. We'll get home and make sure Mom doesn't find out what happened. Then we'll come back and see if there is a buried treasure we can use to fix things. But first, we have to find out how to get home from here. That means we have to find this castle and ask directions.”

“Okay,” said Elliot.

“Can you do that?,” asked Luke.

“I can do it,” said Elliot.

“If we have to take some kind of monster on, I'll throw the lightning,” said Luke. “Then you throw your fire.”

“I can do that,” said Elliot.

“The people down here might look a little strange, so don't set them on fire until we're sure we're fighting them,” said Luke.

“I'm not a baby,” said Elliot.

“All right,” said Luke. “I'm going to have to climb one of these trees to take another sighting. We're going to go to this castle and see what's up. Don't steal anything when we get there.”

“I'm not a baby,” repeated Elliot.

“Maybe if we solve their problems, they'll give us a reward,” said Luke.

“All right,” said Elliot. “I can handle it.”

“Promise?,” said Luke.

“Yes,” said Elliot. “I promise.”

“All right,” said Luke.

Luke ran at the nearest tree. He thought it looked alarmed at his approach. He scaled the limbs in a series of jumps. He peeked out of the highest leaves at the very top of the tree. He nodded.

“There's a road ahead!,” said Luke. He pointed. “We have to turn left and follow the signs.”

“Got it!,” Elliot called back.

Luke worked his way down the tree a lot slower than he had climbed it. He patted the bark before he walked back to the path. He gestured for his brother to follow him to the intersection.

“The tower is part of a castle,” said Luke. “That seems to be where the owner of the cabin went. There was a volcano to the right.”

“You're kidding me,” said Elliot.

“No,” said Luke. “The road goes in two directions. One direction is to the left toward the castle and a lot more trees and stuff. The right goes to a volcano and what looked like a lava field.”

“Should we look at this volcano?,” said Elliot. “There might be bad guys there.”

“That doesn't have anything to do with us,” said Luke. “Stay close. Don't touch anything.”

“I can do that,” said Elliot.

“Good, because we might have to fight our way out of the castle if you do something dumb again,” said Luke.

“I can handle it,” said Elliot.

Luke led the way to the road. He looked both way before he turned left. He walked away from the volcano dominating the other horizon.

“That's a volcano,” said Elliot. “I thought you were pulling my leg.”

“And we are walking away from it,” said Luke. “Look for soldiers. If there is trouble, we should see some on the road to the castle.”

“What do you think is going on?,” said Elliot.

“Something we're not going to get involved with so we can go home without getting in trouble,” said Luke.