Peter heard the unearthly cracking sound and immediately stopped chasing Smee with his robotic buffalo. One of the twins came running towards him.
"Peter! Peter! Come here! You've got to see this!"
He followed the twin towards the pirates' base and broke through the small crowd that had gathered there. What he saw made his muscles tense. A ragged crack in the ground revealed a crevice that was about eight meters deep. Wires, soil, and metals were all exposed, and some silver liquid was seeping into the opening. At the bottom of the crevice stood Nibs and Whibbler. After dusting himself off, Nibs easily flew out of the crack, but Whibbler, who was attempting to climb out, needed help.
Peter grabbed out his pouch of Pixie Dust. "Here Whibbler!" He called, throwing the metallic particles on the pirate. Whibbler rose unsteadily into the air, hovered a few meters next to a rock, and then crashed onto the ground.
"That was unnecessary!" He grumbled. "I was doing just fine. I would have made it out myself in a few minutes."
Just then, Tink flew erratically into the gathering.
"What happened? Is everyone okay? Where's Curly?"
"I'm right here," Curly replied, a strange look on his face.
"Oh." Tink froze for a moment, then began to zip around again. "Where's Slightly? Where are the twins? Where's Peter? Where's...?"
Tink's frantic behavior was interrupted by a sudden rumbling. The ground beneath them shook and the crevice snapped shut. Everyone was silent for a few seconds, and then one of the twins spoke up.
"No fair!" He exclaimed, "I thought we said no booby traps."
"We didn't engineer this!" Smee replied. "I don't even think any of us would know how!"
"Well, somebody must have rigged this," the twin shot back. "The ground doesn't just split open at random."
"And then close back up again," Whibbler added, looking pale.
Peter glanced up at the mechanical fairy flying above them. "Tink, could you run diagnostics and see if anything changed in the system in the last few minutes?"
"I'm on it."
They all looked expectantly at the fairy while the real Tink checked the system from central control.
"Here we go," she announced. "It looks like there was... oh..."
"What is it!" Demanded Hook.
"There was a shift in the Essentia."
Everyone exchanged confused looks, and Nibs pointed at Tink. "But the only person that has access to the Essentia is you."
"What are you suggesting, Nibs?"
"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm saying you did it."
"What? Why in the world would I sabotage Neverland?"
"To win the game!" Bill Jukes shouted.
"Or for attention," Smee offered.
"Or for fun!" A twin called out.
They all erupted into arguments and accusations, with Tink screaming back insults and creative curses. Peter stepped back and frowned. It seemed unlikely that Tink would do anything to deliberately hurt someone, especially since she had just confessed it was a matter of the Essentia, but she had been acting strange lately. While he was considering her motives, Slightly stepped up beside him.
"This is weird."
"Yep," Peter replied, watching the growing chaos. Smee had taken off his boot and was swatting at Tink with it while Curly was trying to protect the fairy with a zebra tree branch. Meanwhile, the twins were sneaking around and slipping vanishing lizards into the pirates' pants.
"By the way," Slightly said, "I wanted to tell you this morning, but it was so busy, I forgot. The new suit is finished."
Peter smiled. At least he had one thing to look forward to in the midst of all this confusion.
*****
She looked so peaceful he was almost afraid to wake her. The moonlight stole across her face, shining on the tease at the corner of her mouth. Her light brown hair was even messier than usual, and Peter thought he liked it that way. Every few minutes she would flutter her fingers and sigh.
Peter had flown through the Grey World to get to Wendy's house, which had taken a little adjusting, but once he got a feel for the structure and layout of the city he could maneuver around easily. It was the middle of the night, so not very many people were out, and he had flown by undetected, except for a man out walking his dog who had nearly fallen over at the sight of the flying boy.
Peter moved closer to Wendy and lightly brushed his finger against a freckle on her cheek. Her blue green eyes fluttered open.
"Hello, Wendy."
Her lips twitched into a small smile and then she closed her eyes again. Peter was leaning down to study her eyelashes when suddenly her eyes flew open. She gasped and backhanded Peter across the face, the force causing him to fall over backwards.
"Ouch," Peter groaned from the floor, "I think you broke my eyebrow."
"Who are... ? What the... ? Peter?" Wendy peered cautiously over the side of the bed and yelped when she saw him. "Peter! I'm so sorry! I didn't know... but what are you doing in my room in the middle of the night? You scared me! You're lucky my mother is working at the hospital tonight, otherwise she would have killed you!" Peter frowned in confusion. Wendy's mother really didn't sound like the killing type. "Oh dear," Wendy continued, reaching down and holding his face, "I'm sorry I slapped you. Is there a bruise? But really, what are you doing here? And how long were you standing there?"
Peter got to his feet and waited a few seconds to make sure she was done. "For a little while."
"Were you watching me sleep?"
Again, Peter hesitated, trying to figure out what she wanted him to say. Before he could decide on an answer, she rushed forward and embraced him.
"It's good to see you," she murmured, burying her head into his shoulder, "it's just a surprise."
Peter laughed. "Are you always this contrary when you wake up?"
"I don't know, I'm not usually awake at this hour," she retorted, a trace of teasing in her voice. "I'm not accustomed to uninvited guests sneaking into my room." Wendy ran her hands down his arms and laced her fingers through his. She pulled him close and Peter was just starting to get lightheaded when she suddenly pushed him away.
"Wait, how did you get in here?"
"The window."
"It was unlocked?"
"No. I opened it with this." Peter proudly held up his unlatching cork. "I invented it specifically for the Grey World."
"Wow. That's... illegal."
But Peter didn't dwell on the truth of her statement. He couldn't wait any longer to give her his gift.
"I brought you something," he announced, walking back to the window ledge where he had left the sack. He picked it up and handed it to Wendy.
"What is it?"
"Open it!"
She rifled through the bag, then looked up with wide eyes. "Is this... ?"
Peter was practically bouncing with excitement. "Yes! It's a flying suit!" He grabbed the suit out and held it in front of her. "Try it on!"
Wendy took the metallic outfit carefully in her hands and admired the material, her face bright with wonder. "Peter, this is incredible! I don't know how to thank you."
"Try it on!" He repeated. "You can try it out right now!"
"Right now?"
"Yes!"
Wendy pointed to the window. "Out there?"
"Of course!"
She looked horrified for a few moments, but then her fearful expression turned to exuberance.
"Okay, I'll put it on right now," she said, clutching the suit. Peter smiled broadly and sat down on the bed. Wendy gave him an odd look. "Um, would you mind, while I... you know..." Peter stared at her, not sure what she was trying to say. Finally, she shook her head in exasperation. "Oh, never mind, I'll just go in the other room."
Peter shrugged as she walked out of the room. He stretched out on her bed and studied the drawings she had taped to her wall. There were several sketches of tall buildings with elaborate archways, and one drawing of a bridge that looked similar to the one she had designed and executed in the Imagination Tower a few weeks ago.
"Alright, I'm ready."
Peter sat up and his breath caught in his throat. He had spent a lot of time imagining how much fun it would be to fly with Wendy, but he hadn't anticipated how stunning she would look in the body suit. He looked away and exhaled.
"What is it?" She asked, sitting down next to him to pull on her shoes.
"Nothing," he replied weakly, "I think I just sat up a little too quick." He stood and crossed the room to open the window. The night air refreshed his senses and renewed his craving for adventure. Wendy joined him by the window. He took her hand and stole another glance at her, which almost made him lose his balance. He took out his pouch of pixie dust and gave her a handful.
"We'll start low and move our way up." He pointed down at a row of cars parked on the street. "Aim for those cars first, and then try to maneuver to that stairwell."
"Okay, don't let go of my hand until I tell you," Wendy said, her voice a mix of anxiety and elation.
Peter grinned. "You might have to tell me a few times."
Wendy squeezed his hand playfully in return, and before he could even count off, she had jumped off the window ledge.