ThhhhhoooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! The live flame ignited the thousands of cubic feet of methane gas that filled the chamber, but it wasn't instantaneous because there wasn't enough oxygen down this deep, instead it grew like a living creature, doubling, tripling its size until the whole chamber was engulfed.<br/><br/>Fish pulled his head under the water's surface and watched in awe as the whole chamber became a giant living fire cloud, and then almost as quickly as it had started, the cloud swallowed itself. The scene above the surface of the water grew dark in comparison, and as Fish's breath ran out he was forced to bob upward.<br/><br/>His face first felt the intense heat, like being woke up inside an oven , but he felt no flame and so he opened his eyes, and found the chamber dark, no fire ball or giant evil portal. He tried to draw breath but assumed that his filter was filled with water, and so he ripped the old mask off but it turned out that their simply wasn't any air left in the chamber, the fire ball had eaten it all and in doing so, burnt itself out and took the methane fume with it.<br/><br/>Fish's hand grabbed his throat as his body begged for air, his face was turning blue and he was sure he was about to pass out. But the hole in the cave's ceiling, up through the burning mansion's basement acted as a vent and although the air was smoke filled and acrid, it soon was enough to suck in to his begging lungs.<br/><br/>Fish's senses started to come back to him and he realized that Tori was no longer in his grasp. 'How long?' his mind raced, but he couldn't remember when last he felt her in his arms. "Tori?....Tori....oooh god Tori...no....no, no no! We made it come on....We fucking MADE IT!! DON'T DISAPPEAR NOW! Fish started to scream, his voice echoing in the giant subterranean chamber as he splashed around in the water of the lake.<br/><br/>What little light there was now, was coming from the hole in the ceiling of the cave and whatever burning debris that managed to land on the few small islands. Fish was panicking and splashing around when he saw something pop up a few feet away. He swam over and grabbed Tori's petite ankle and drawing her motionless body to him. "Nooooo....noooo baby....come on....come the fuck on..." Fish pleaded.<br/><br/>Fish swam as hard as his exhausted and beaten body would let him, he could have given Micheal Phelps a run for his money, as he covered the distance and dragged Tori up onto one of the small sandbars. He started CPR, first checking for breath, a pulse, and then providing the first three rescue breaths...nothing.<br/><br/>"Oooooh NOooooo  not when we are this close....come on!" Fish continued, He started chest compressions, making sure to hum the song 'staying alive' by the Bee Gees; this of course seemed ridiculous but was actually  a Red Cross approved technique to keep proper timing while applying the live saving maneuver.<br/><br/>"huh...huh...huh...HUH stayin' alive, stayin' alive!" Fish sang out, both crying and laughing at the same time.<br/><br/>Suddenly more of the foundation started to crumble, huge piece of rock rained down from above, splashing explosively as they landed all around them. "Come on dammit! What kind of God lets you get this close and then fucks you over in the end???" Fish cried out in rage as he knew that the whole place was going to collapse soon.<br/><br/>"...And when there was only one set of footprints,He was carrying you..." Fish heard the voice coming from behind him, and he jumped up scared out of his mind. Jacob was standing on the sandbar, and Fish  was staring at the ghost of his dead friend, immediately assuming that he must have died and not even noticed it...how else could he be seeing Jacob.<br/><br/>"Let me give it a try..." Jacob said, still not really showing any real emotion, he simply strode over to Tori's breathless body and knelt down beside her. Fish's hand shot out, not sure if Jacob was some fiend dressed in his dead friend's skin. Jacob paid no heed, he simply leaned down and kissed Tori's lips, his hand wearing one skull ring clasped her own ringed hand and the to pieces of jewelry seemed to glow for a second. Tori's eyes opened, and she gently kissed him back, but then her eyes shot open wide and she turned her head away from Jacob and threw up at least a quart of lake water.<br/><br/>Jakie.....Jakie is that really you?" Fish asked, the tone in his voice still one of disbelief, he was still too freaked out to actually approach him.<br/><br/>Jacob simply nodded his head and comforted Tori, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.<br/><br/>"I Knew ....I knew you were still alive...I knew it!" Tori said shivering.<br/><br/>"OK...OK lets go already, this whole place is coming down!" Fish said rushing up and hugging both Jacob and Tori.<br/><br/>"Wait....Wait....We have to close the Doorway....Jacen...What happened to Jacen?" Tori halted their progress.<br/><br/>"The cave-in must have destroyed them both...Look!" Fish pointed out the island where he'd last seen Jacen and the red robed demonic form of Ol' Man Crenshaw. It was covered in tons of stone and burning debris. "When the old bastard finally bought it, it must have closed the portal....I mean, Look,  no giant evil vortex...am I right?" Fish really didn't care at this point, he didn't want to die down here and any second the whole place could cave in.<br/><br/>"We've done all we can for now." Jacob said solemnly, He hugged Tori again and kissed her on the forehead.