h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*the mecha-locusts do not like the noises*

3:16...3:15...3:14...3:12...3:11...

*The Krylma Leader watches through a remote camera, intrigued*

Goodness, that wall can take a lot of damage.

*the vendor clears her throat*

Er, that hot dog with saurkraut and fries will be 3 moxons, sir.

[Immediately after KL speaks, the rectangular chunk falls out of the stricken wall with a rather noisy crunch. Ray jumps out and reaches out to psychokinetically grasp the badge and bring it towards himself!]

*Sol looks up from her muttering in the corner and narrows her eyes at the sight of the badge whisking its way towards Ray.

Suddenly, Ray feels the prod, pinch and above all tickle of numerous invisible hands. Very energetic tickling, prodding and pinching. I'd drop the badge now...*

[Ray falls onto his face, sputtering expletives. So does the badge. Er ... well, without the expletives part.]

Clarity request: I just reviewed earlier posts and cannot find answers to the following questions.

Those two panels that descended when the riddle trap commenced, were behind and ahead in a tunnel, right?
Was the magma pit on the outside of the trap?
Is the pit ahead of or behind the trap?
Is Ray's window in the ahead or the behind panel?

What's the answer to the riddle?

*The Krylma Leader coughs and stares in amazement at the hole appearing in the wall*

KL-That's...that shouldn't have happened. Under that kind of stress, the wall should have lasted a month after showing its initial damage!

*Despite the damage to the wall, the timer continues counting down*

1:17...1:16...1:15...1:14...1:13...1:12...


The magma pit was outside the riddle box trap, and it happened a certain distance before anyone walking down the hallway would get to it. I believe Ray sliced a window (somehow) in the wall going towards the badge.

And why should I tell anyone the answer to a riddle? Especially with a big countdown timer still in action?

Your pronouns are unclear. "...it (the trap?) happened a certain distance before anyone walking down the hallway would get to it (the pit?)...."

The pit is before the trap.


[Ray gets unsteadily to his feet, and glares at Sol.] What, did you want me to get yours as well?

*Ray may, or may not, notice that there appears to be only one card there. With a place for a name to be written*

0:15...0:14...0:13...0:12...

[Ray absent-mindedly psychokinetically thwaps the button, and starts cheerfully walking down the remainder of the gauntlet.]

*Sol gives Ray a withering look, climbs out of the hole he made in the trap and hobbles determinedly towards the badge*

[Ray deliberately picks up his pace so that he's walking slightly faster than Sol towards the fallen badge.]

*Sol begins to totter faster*

You wouldn't want to cheat a poor old woman in her old age, would you son?

I could be your grandmother!

*the swarm of mecha-locusts rises from the pit and heads back out to the stadium, except for that part which had attempted to go farther down. They are now at work on a small area of the other panel, gradually gnawing a hole*

[Ray] And I'm evil. In fact, I'm not just evil, I'm also kind of a d

[He picks up his own pace.]


Hmm ... maybe I *shouldn't* make him a recurring character, I might start to enjoy this too much ...

*The floor of this part of the hall, softer and more rubbery than the tiled hall at the entrance, begins to move backwards now, as if part of some massive treadmill. Slowly at first, it begins to power along at a decent rate after not too long, pulling anyone and anything on it backwards. Meanwhile, the Krylma Leader watches the locusts and speaks to the vendor*

KL-Err...what is it that they're doing to the stadium? It's...it's going to be expensive to repair some of this...

4:22...4:21...4:20...4:19...4:18...4:17...

[Ray glances down, and psychokinetically flicks the badge onto the treadmill-part so that, as he walks along "in place," it is drawn towards him.]

*With a "rawrf" and a mechanical groan, the light at the entrance of the tunnel vanishes and is replaced with the snout of a curious mechadragon.*

*Those outside the Gauntlet might notice the dragon's belly glowing a bit, presumably full of well-chopped, now melting, Formerly-Whirling Dervish of Cresh.*

*Corrupt seems to have wandered off conveniently at some point.*