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~~((National Yo-Yo Day - page 16 of 20))~~
Hector stared down the open stairwell and saw only pitch darkness waiting for him. It wasn't so surprising that the electricity wasn't working anymore, considering the state the rest of the airport was in, but that rationalization didn't make that big black hole in the floor look any less menacing.

'You sure you want to go down there?' said Pauline.

Scary though it might've looked, the Scarf was telling him that it was just an empty room. No movement other than the air itself. Only a bunch of large boxes and maybe some debris. He didn't sense any other way out, either, but he was sure that he'd seen the others heading down there.

"Do you sense the monster's aura down there?" he asked.

'No. I don't sense anything.'

Hector sighed. There was no helping it. 'Hey, Garovel, is Voreese with you?'

'Not at the moment,' came the reaper's echoing response, 'but I can go get her. Why? What do you need from her?'

'Well, I don't mean to alarm you, but... I need to know if Roman is still alive.'

'Ah.'

'And also, where he is. We've gotten separated.'

'...Hector. I have a lot of questions.'

'I figured. Can you ask Voreese about Roman first, though?'

'Alright. One second. Just need to... eh... hmm.'

Hector waited, but the silence went on a little too long. 'Garovel?'

'Uh... I swear, I sensed her somewhere around here like thirty minutes ago...'

Hector's eyes widened. 'Please don't tell me she's missing.'

'No, of course not. I'm just. Having trouble locating her. I'm sure she's... aha... oh shit. Yeah, okay, I think she's missing. Or she's playing a killer game of hide-and-seek, right now. How unfortunate would that be, huh? Talk about bad timing.'

'Garovel, that's not helping.'

'Okay, so how fucked up is your situation, right now?'