Little Dipper

Pick a stair, pick a door, which one has Kryptos?

To Stan's immense relief, though he didn't say so, the next two doors they picked were clear of nightmares and they stepped out into a large room that had two sets of doors with stairs leading up to them. Keyhole walked to the center of the room, between the two stairs.

"Behind one of these doors is the children. Behind the other is Kryptos." Keyhole explained calmly. "I won't tell you which is which, but once you go through Kryptos' door you can not open it from inside. Good luck."

"If we get Kryptos, we'll kick his ass for you." Stan promised Bill.

"Why can't we all go in and get the kids?" Ford asked.

"Because if we get it wrong, we'll all be stuck with Kryptos. Someone has to go to the kids once Kryptos' door is figured out." Bill explained.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The doors will not open until you open them at the same time." Keyhole said, fidgeting with the keyhole choker he wore.

"Damn it." Ford clenched his fists.

"Come on...Gideon needs us to hurry up." Bill walked over to the door on the left.

"...Alright." Stan and Ford went to the one on the right. "Are you sure you don't want one of us with you? You know...just in case?" Stan asked.

"If I do get Kryptos...try to hurry in with the kids. Not sure how I'll do against him on my own after all this." Bill gave a nervous smile and then looked at the door, gripping the doorknob. "On three. One..."

"Two..." Ford and Stan said, Ford gripping their doorknob.

"Three." Keyhole said, as both doors opened. Then he smirked a bit as the doors closed with a bang behind them. "Of course, there was never any question who would face Kryptos."

–

Bill looked behind him as the door slammed shut on its own and right away went to try opening it again. When it tried turning the handle, it wouldn't budge an inch. "...Shit." He hissed. Looks like he got the Kryptos door. Great...

He turned and waked down the long, candle-lit hallway, apprehension increasing the closer he got to the end. He wanted to run, he wanted to hide, he wanted to stay by the door until they came for him, but what if Kryptos already knew he was there and came after him? He'd rather be in a wider space than this hallway if he had to face his...what WAS Kryptos, to him?

At one time he was a friend, then he was...an old friend, then a minor annoyance, and over time their relationship got worse. Kryptos had been shown increasingly more signs of being completely unhinged and so he planned to kick him out of the group, but...damn, who had he told that to? If only Bill remembered, then he might know who had told Kryptos about his plan.

He reached the end of the hallway, but he still couldn't see into the room fully. There was an arched doorway at the very end, and all he could see was...a fireplace? There was a nice armchair facing it, and a rug. He cautiously poked his head out and looked around, seeing what else was there. There was a door at the very end across from the hallway, what looked like a dining table with food prepared on it, and a...bed. Ohhh, he did not like this. Not at all. He backed into the hallway again, hiding in the shadows once again.

Maybe he could just hide in here until Stan and Ford caught up with the kids.

"You know, you were always really rude for a Triangle. But this hiding in the shadows thing really takes the cake on rudeness." He heard Kryptos say from the turned-away chair.

...Fuck.

–

"The door's opening again." Stan frowned, trying the doorknob. "...Great."

"We better hurry." Ford said, heading down the long hallway.

"Yeah." Stan hurried after him. "Hopefully there's no more....surprises."

They stepped out of the hallway into a cavern with lava, spikes, and monsters blocking their way to the kids in a cage up on a high ledge.

"...You have GOT to be kidding me! What the hell is this?!" Stan gestured to the room in disbelief. "Keith!"

"Yes?" Keyhole stepped out of the wall.

"What is this nonsense?!" Stan asked.

"It's your obstacle course to your goal. What, did you expect them to be lying on a curtained bed in the middle of the room with only a couple guards to keep you from getting to them?" Keyhole raised an eyebrow. "Please. I'm nice but not THAT nice."

"So...we really have to go through this." Ford sighed, taking out his gun again. "...So be it. Come on, Stan."

"Good luck~!" Keyhole waved cheerfully as they headed down the path.