Balancing Act - Part 2 Return Of An Old Foe by Big T. (f/m, qs) Chapter 2 When we last left our heroes, Travis and Shawna had been in pursuit of two very mysterious and shady characters ... who they followed to a cove near the shore, where they were lured into a deadly quicksand trap after a brief foot chase. Before the two men left them to meet their end, they mentioned their "Boss" would be happy to have Travis out of the way. This raised some seriously ominous thoughts for Travis. What were their plans? Who was their /Boss?/ Can Travis and Shawna get free of the quicksand and rejoin the others to foil whatever devious schemes that lay ahead? Let's find out shall we? * "We gotta get out of here Travis, and go let the others know what's up," remarks a worried Shawna, as she sinks slowly up to her shoulders. Travis calmly replies, "I know, Shawna, I'm working on it best I can." Shawna watches in fear as the sand slowly swallows her shoulders and creeps up to her neck, encircling it as she exclaims, "Please hurry!" Then, as Travis sinks in to his armpits, he feels something hard and solid under his feet as he stops sinking. He looks over at Shawna who is now chin deep and tilting her head back a little, her long blonde ponytail floating behind her head on the sand. "Shawna, I've stopped sinking! I think I'm standing on something solid!" Travis states. Shawna says, "Well I'm not ... Help me!" She reaches for him, wide eyed with fear as she fights to keep her mouth above the surface. Travis tells her, "Hang on girl!" as he grabs her wrist, and slowly begins to pull her up and towards him, adding, "I think I have an escape plan." "It's about time. So what's your plan?" Shawna asks. He answers, "I'll show you in a minute, right now, just keep working your way to me as I pull." Several long minutes later, Travis reaches both hands into the sand and grabs Shawna by the waist. Then, using his muscular arms, he begins pulling her slowly up out of the mire. Shawna remarks, "It's working Travis! Keep at it!" Twenty or so minutes later, Shawna's feet /slurp/ free of the quicksand, as Travis hoists her overhead into the /prone/ position, still holding onto her waist. "Now stand up on my shoulders," instructs Travis. She soon stands up, balanced on his shoulders. "Now, use your gymnastics, and as far as you can, I want you to somersault to solid ground." "I think a double front somersault will work for this," says Shawna. Using her extremely powerful legs, she leaps foward, high and far in the air performig two tucked flips, landing several long feet away on solid ground. Upon landing she turns to see Travis and asks, "Now what?" He answers, "Go get the Charger and drive it down here." He then throws her the car keys. She catches them and heads for the car. Soon, Travis hears the familiar rumble of the Charger's motor as headlights peer over the sand dune. A moment later it stops at a close but safe distance from the quicksand as Shawna gets out. Travis says, "Now, get the rope out of the trunk and tie one end to the front bumper. Then give me the other." Shawna agrees, commenting, "Gotcha!" Soon after pulling himself out Travis joins her on solid ground. "Thanks girl!" Travis says as they hug. Shawna replies, "You too, Travis." "Come on, let's get back to the others and figure things out," he adds as he coils up the rope. "Right, let's go." she agrees. They get in the Charger and it once again thunders alive as Travis steps on the gas. The powerful car spins around to head the other way as it throws a storm cloud of sand far out behind it as it speeds off up across the dunes. Soon, as Travis and Shawna return and enter the groups hotel suite, they find the others safe and sound watching some television. They stand up and face them as they come in. "Good, you guys are alright!" sighs Travis in relief. Shawna adds, "We were worried." "You were worried?" Kara chirps. Mandy asks, "What happened to you guys?" as she sees their muddy appearance. Shawna replies, "More quicksand, only this time it was a trap! Those two guys in the camaro lured us into it at the beach." "How did you escape this time?" Monica asks. Travis answers, "Never mind that. Have those two idiots been back?" Jodie then questions, "No, why?" He says, "They will be." Jodie then enquires, "What is this about Travis, exactly?" Travis simply states, "He's back." "Who ... Arcane?" asks Jodie. "Yes ... I know it for sure now." Travis says. "How?" asks Kara. "I just do," he answers. "By the way, some guy named /Alex/ called. Said he and his brother /Thomas/ would be here tonight at nine. Who are they?" asks Mandy. Travis smiles as he tells her, "Old friends of mine since junior high school. I called in some reinforcements after you girls went to bed last night. Alex is a computer, electronics and inventive genius. But is also a trained boxer. Thomas is a highly trained martial artist and seasoned car expert and driver, much like myself. They're bringing some supplies and cool gadgetry to help us handle our problem." They hear a knock at the door. Travis walks over, uses the peephole, and opens the door. Alex and Thomas enter the room shaking Travis's hand. Travis introduces them, "Girls, I want you to meet Alex and Thomas. Guys, that's Shawna, Mandy, Kara, Jodie and Monica." Alex and Thomas both chime in, "Hello ladies." Alex then asks, "Travis ... have you and she been mud wrestling?" Travis laughs and answers, "Not hardly, tell ya later." Soon, after both Travis and Shawna have showered and cleaned up, they emerge from seperate bathrooms to join the others. Then Travis goes over the gear Thomas and Alex brought with them. Travis picks up a device and says, "Ahhh, good, you brought the hand held grapnel launchers." "Grapnel launchers?" asks Kara. Travis replies, "Yes, this little hand held gadget contains a launching/retractor mechanism, 250 feet of a very thin, yet high tension, super strength titanium and nylon composite based line. A three pronged grapnel claw is welded to the end of the line. When launched, both claw and line travel at a velocity of 100 feet per second. Upon connecting with it's target the claws prongs each have a gripping pressure of 300 /p.s.i./. The line can support and retrieve up to 600 pounds safely, at a speed of 50 feet per second. Plus the lighter the weight the faster it retrieves." Mandy asks, "Show us how it works?" Travis stands an empty soda can up on the counter in the kitchen, then walks out and up the hall to the back bedroom. Still having the can in view, he aims the launcher at the can and fires. A split scond later the claw grabs the can, crushing it in it's grip. Travis then retracts the line as the girls watch the can zip through the air back to the launcher and stop. They comment as a group, "Wow!" Kara says, "That's cool!" "Yeah!" adds Monica. Travis smiles, then looks at Thomas and Alex and asks, "I take it you two drove your 1967 Mustang?" Thomas replies, "The Shelby Cobra G/T 500 Fastback? Yeah ... and I just finished putting a freshly built motor in it." "What size?" asks Travis. Thomas answers, "A 351 Cleveland. It's parked outside next to the Charger." Travis says, "Let's go take a look, and see what you've done." The girls then follow Thomas, Alex and Travis out to the parking lot.