There has to be an After for Us ~ (shadam / klance)

Chapter 17 - What fools these mortals be

"A Medusotaur, really Hunk? Really?" screamed Pidge as she ran through the maze of Hunk's creation.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't remember exactly what either of them looked like so my brain just kinda smushed them together!"

"Oh, was that your only option? To smush them together? You couldn't have maybe, not imagined them instead?"

"Hey, I don't see you pulling your weight with this imagining stuff!" snapped Hunk.

"Oh, yeah sorry I'm not manifesting things that could kill us! My bad!" retorted Pidge.

"Well, you could come up with some weapons," yelled Hunk.

"Or - just a thought - You could!"

"That's right," said Hunk.

Pidge nearly collapsed as an axe dropped into her hands. "Now we're talking," she yelled, slidding to a stop.

Hunk had given himself a spiked mace and he slid to a halt too.

"Before, I turn around and look at the thing," said Pidge. "Does it have the powers of Medusa?"

"Why? What are the Medusa's powers?" asked Hunk, intrigued.

"...Nevermind." Pidge spun and full on punted her axe at the Medusotaur. The axe went flying through the air and sliced off a good chunk of the snakes from its head. They screamed as they hit the ground. The Medusotaur roared. "Gruesome, but not an effective hit."

Hunk launched his mace at the beast and it hit the thing squarely in the face. The Medusotaur fell back onto its rear.

"Run while it's disoriented!" yelled Pidge.

They ran through the maze, taking random turns until the sound of its rampaging sounded far enough away then they stopped to catch their breath.

"Oh!" said Hunk, suddenly. "A Medusa does that turn to stone thing when you look it in the eye."

"For quiznak's sake, Hunk!" cried Pidge. "Now we can't look at the thing."

"Oh, shoot. My bad," said Hunk in his apologetic tone.

"Do you really think you can hide from your own creation?" asked Bored, popping into existence in front of them. They both jumped.

"I don't know," said Hunk. "Wait. That's up to me, right? Yes? I'm going to say a soft yes."

"What is this place?" growled Pidge. "Why are you toying with us?"

"Ugh, I'm not supposed to tell you," whined Bored, stretching out onto her back as she floated in front of them. "But secrets are so boring... Okay, fine, you've twisted my arm. I'm testing you."

"Yeah, obviously, but why?" asked Pidge.

"Because we're going to pick one of the paladins," said Bored.

"Pick one of us to what?"

"Well, that I really shouldn't say."

"Then you've literally told us nothing," snapped Pidge.

"It's a good thing," said Bored. "Like something you'd want to be worthy of and to be perfectly honest The Immortal Gay and the Living USB Stick are the front runners for it, but I fancy one of your two because I love an underdog... Plus you happened to stumble into my realm which has been so much fun."

"What about Lance and Keith?" asked Hunk. "You said you were picking one of the paladins."

"The idiots that tumbled down into the basement? They were never really in the running..."

"Basement?" repeated Hunk.

"Yeah, where we keep the memories," said Bored. "Don't you two know the path to the astral plane."

"No," said Pidge. "Which is why I keep asking you where we are!"

Bored sighed and held out a flat in front of her. "It goes Physical realm..." She stacked another hand on top... "Memory, Imagination and Dreams..." Bored raised both her hands up a level. "Then Astral Plane and The After" She stacked her hands up high again.

"So where are we?" asked Pidge, using the process of elimination. "Imagination or Dreams?"

"Oh well, that's not a simple question. See, there's a fine line between imagining and dreaming and really it comes down to who is in control. You or me. But I will give you a clue and say one of you is in Imagination and the other is in Dreams."

"So Hunk is in Imagination and I'm in Dreams," said Pidge, annoyed.

"Oh, so smart!"

"But we're right beside each other," said Hunk.

"Like I said, it's not a physical distance. Just a matter of control."

"I don't want to be in either," said Pidge. "I want to meet up with the others at the Astral Plane."

"Maybe we should save Keith and Lance from.... Where did you say?" asked Hunk. "The basement?"

"Memory," said Bored. "But I'd leave them down there if I were you. They have some things to work out. Also, if I were you, I'd leave them there since I wouldn't have a choice since I'm trapped here until Bored is done playing with me. Also, if I were you, I'd be ticks away from being crushed."

"What?" asked Hunk.

"Move!" yelled Pidge, pulling him away from the wall just as the Medusotaur crashed through it.

And they were running for their lives again as Pidge yelled, "Don't look it in the eye!"