"Don't stick!" "Don't stick!" "Uh, what's cooking, Marguerite?" "Don't mind the smoke, it's perfectly normal." "Where there's smoke there's fire." "Eggs, bacon, toast." "Just the way you like it." "Well done." "Looks delicious." "Good heavens!" "What's all the smoke about." "Breakfast." "Oh yes, of course." "Marguerite, this looks fantastic." "With Malone off to proving himself and..." "Veronica still missing, I'm doing all the cooking around here!" "But go ahead boys, and enjoy." "I'm finished for the day." "I have some reactions I need to monitor down in the lab." "So I'll take mine with me." "And then what?" "Well, you may not be much of a cook, but the effort is certainly appreciated." "What kind of backhanded compliment is that?" "I'm sorry, Marguerite, You're a wonderful cook." "And well, hell, even the great chefs of Europe burn a... piece of toast once in a while, don't they?" "That's a little better." "I'll tell you what." "I'll cook tonight, and you can criticise, hmmm?" "You know I never complain about your cooking." "Oh!" "That's true enough." "But you never eat it either." "Baked pterodactyl, poached raptor." "What a feast we'll have." "Sounds disgusting already!" "Oh, I wouldn't eat it either!" "The man who tamed Marguerite Krux." "Worthy of a medal I would imagine." "Damn some people never learn." "Roxy, boy, you've done it again!" "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "You've cheated me for the last time, John Roxton." "At the dawn of the last century" "A band of explorers searched for a prehistoric world" "Driven by ambition" "Secret desires" "A thirst for adventure" "And seeking the ultimate story" "They are befriended by an untamed beauty" "Stranded in a strange and savage land" "Each day is a desperate search for a way out... of the Lost World" "No!" "you can't take me." "I'm still alive." "That's the problem." "What the...?" "What kind of a trick is this?" "I am death and this is my domain." "Oh I see," "But I don't believe I belong here." "And if this has anything to do with those warriors," " well, I beat them fair and square." " You did indeed." "But you won't beat me again." " We'll see about that." " You cannot leave!" "Dammit, you're stronger than you look!" " There's no escape." " Am I dead?" " Is that what you're trying to tell me?" " Not yet." "But you will be when the game is done." "Game?" "Look look, I'm not playing any game with you!" "Oh I think you will." "You see it is not just your life that hangs in the balance, it's the lives of your friends as well." "You can damn well leave my friends out of this!" "You and your friends have brought scores of victims to my doorstep." "We kill only in self defence, or to protect others." "Mm, justified or not, they all arrive the same way dead." "Except me." "Quite so." "But I will have you in the end." "In the meantime, you will accept my challenge, or your friends will be struck down where they stand." "No, please, you can't. they've ...they've done no wrong." "Oh, I can." "And I will." "What a terrible stain that will be on a pure and noble soul." "John?" "What, is Roxton back already?" "No, apparently not." "I must have been dreaming." "I hope it was a pleasant one." "Not really." "He was cooking." "I dreamt he burned down the treehouse." "Oh, Marguerite, breakfast wasn't entirely inedible." "Now I remember my dear wife's cooking." "That was a disaster." " I don't believe it!" " Oh yes!" " I thought she was trying to poison me!" " No, look!" "Great galloping ghosts!" "How can that be?" "My balloon!" "My wondrous balloon!" " She's made it back!" " Can you see Veronica?" "There's someone there it must be her!" "Come on!" "I knew you'd find a way." "Look at it!" "It's almost completely intact!" "Where's Veronica?" "Veronica?" "There she is!" "Veronica!" "Are you all right?" "I thought this day would never come." "I'm home!" "I'm really home!" "Oh indeed you are!" "Welcome back!" "I thought about you every day." "The treehouse just hasn't been the same without you." "I can't wait to see it." "Where are the boys?" " Well, uh." " Roxton's gone hunting." "Let's hope he brings back something worthy of this occasion." "And Malone?" "Where is he?" "Writing in his journal as usual?" "He uh you know..." "What is it?" "What's happened to him?" "He's fine." "But he's left us." "He's gone on a journey of sorts." " Alone?" " Well, that's the way he wanted it." "He had some things he needed to work out for himself." "But don't worry, he will be back." "Well, when?" "He didn't say, but he did leave a letter before he left." "You mean a great deal to him, Veronica." "I think he's going to miss you most of all." "I never realized how important he was to me, until he wasn't there to cheer me up every day." "Well, let's secure the balloon and then we can... come back and sort it all out when Roxton's with us." "Time devours everything, so said the Roman poet." "And one by one your friends will come to me." "Perhaps in their own time." "But not by my hand." "Then by your negligence," "If you do not play the game, you will forfeit every one of them." "Are they not worth fighting for?" "I would lay down my life for each of them." "Good!" "We'll start with the scientist." " Challenger?" " Umm a troublesome sort." "Always doing and undoing things." "He's saved a few too many lives for my liking." "If I'm here because I have killed so be it." "But Challenger has nothing to do with my being here." "Didn't you say you'd follow him to hell and back?" "Isn't he the reason you went to the South American plateau in the first place?" " Yes." " Then surely... he's responsible for you being stranded there." "It's not his fault." "What has this man ever done for you to deserve such undying loyalty?" "He stands by me through thick and thin!" "He listens without judgement, defends and inspires me." "And all that I have ever given him, he has given back." "Every bond has a breaking point." "Eventually he will disappoint or abandon you." "Never!" "Not, George Challenger." "Such passion!" "Such resolve!" "This too will fade to dust when you are mine." "Why do you involve my friends if I'm the one you want?" "Though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil." "Do you like my garden?" "It's pretty much what I'd expect from you." "This crystal represents the soul of your friend." "And this labyrinth the many twists and turns... the blind passageways of life." "Find the crystal and bring it back to me before the time expires, and the scientist will live." "Fail and he'll be mine." "How far away do you think he got?" "Oh, three or four hundred miles maybe..." "It's hard to say." "The wind kept changing direction." "That must have been frightening, lost and all alone." "Oh, not alone." "I had my parents' journal and a lot of time to read it." "Saw no sign of them I gather," "No." "I kept hoping I would." "But their journal renewed my faith that they are alive out there somewhere." "Oh we will find them, or they'll find you." "Challenger, look!" "Roxton's rifle!" "And that's not all." "Why would he drop his weapons?" "Roxton!" "Where is he?" "Kay-ko head-hunters!" "They've been shot!" "Obviously by Roxton," "There must have been others of them and they've taken him away." "No." "There were only four of them." "Well if the head-hunters didn't take him, what happened to him?" "Careful, Lord Roxton." "There's fires everywhere." "Didn't you just run down that path before?" "Damn you!" "In the name of science, I would try a little harder." "Round and round the mulberry bush." "You're running around in circles!" "You're getting nowhere." "You go to hell!" "Ohh, Losing your temper." "That's not going to help." "Gotcha!" "Congratulations, that wasn't too difficult now, was it?" "Oh but you're running out of sand!" "Oh, another wrong turn." "This wasn't there before!" "Oh yes." "Yes, it was." "You're just a little confused." "Oh, you made it back, not many people do." "Here." "Oh!" "Unfortunately your time is up." "The scientist is mine." "Then where is he?" "Roxton!" "Round one goes to me it seems." " What have you done to him?" " See it yourself." "Roxton!" "Challenger!" "I'll get you out of that, George!" "I promise you!" "He can't hear you." "He can only see your situation as you see his." "I swear, you'll pay for this!" "There's no cause for alarm just yet." "Your friend isn't dead he's merely waiting at my door." " What are you talking about?" " Mmm, the game's just begun." " Perhaps you'll win him back." " How?" "Tell me how, dammit!" "There are others who are dear to you." "At least two I can think of." "Marguerite!" "And the one who swings from tree to tree." "Veronica?" " Veronica found her way back?" " Not two hours ago." "How excited she was, how happy to be home." "How sad for you that you'll have to lose her all over again." "I won't play this game any longer!" "Then you'll forfeit the scientist." "Is that what you want?" "Veronica's life is not mine to bargain with!" "Not even to regain your dearest friend?" "Why you?" "!" "Who the hell do you think you are!" "You're not God!" "You're a disease, a wretch plague!" "The scourge of all existence!" "I am eternal sleep... the end of suffering." "I am peace and tranquility." "Is my gentle touch not soothing?" "Come, Lord Roxton!" "are you not a gambling man?" "You've danced with me so many times and walked away." "Shall we not try another?" "Challenger!" "Challenger!" " Where is he?" " I don't know." "He's got to be around here somewhere." "Challenger!" "First Roxton, now Challenger!" "What's going on?" "One minute he's here, the next minute he's gone." "Must be something about this place..." "Like what?" "I've walked this path a hundred times, and so have you." "Then you tell me what's going on!" "If we think about it logically." "Logically!" "Since when does logic have anything... to do with what happens around here?" "Well, they left their guns behind, It must mean something." "What it means is wherever they are, they have no weapons!" "You're not helping, Marguerite!" "Now think." "Dammit, Challenger!" "You're the one who's supposed... to be able to explain the unexplainable!" "Some homecoming this has turned out to be." "Veronica." "Born in the jungle, where she will die." "Shall I take her now?" " No." " Come play with me." "Double or nothing." "If you win this round, I'll spare her AND the man of science." "What twisted game is going to be this time?" "Oh, don't be angry." "Tell me why you value this simple creature so." "She took us in when we were lost... brought us together as family and she is innocent." "Family?" "What strength is there in that?" "Can it put an end to war and strife or hold back the hands of time?" "I can cut through its bonds as easily as putty... pluck a newborn from its parents... separate man and woman at the moment of their greatest happiness." "There is no security in family." "Not from death." "But security in life." "A shoulder to lean on." "A safe harbour from the dangers of the world." "A place where love grows and happiness abides." "Are these things really important to you?" "I thought you were a man of action, a lone wolf!" "A hunter to do my bidding a man I can depend upon." "I am not your servant... and never will be." "Come into my arms enjoy the bliss I can offer." "You have nothing I want." "Except the lives of your friends." "I'll set the clock for another round." "What game would be appropriate for a child of nature hmm." "An egg perhaps?" "A raptor egg?" "Bring one to me here unbroken... and I will spare the child and release the man of science." "Here we go again!" "We have to keep looking!" "Where, Veronica?" "They vanished into thin air!" "Are you giving up?" " Would they give up on you?" " Don't lecture me!" "It's not my fault they disappeared." "Is that what you said when I was gone?" "That was different." "You didn't just evaporate." "You didn't answer my question, did you even care that I was gone?" "Or did you just figure I was dead and rearrange the furniture." "Go away!" "You know I used to look up to you, admire you." "But I really don't know why when all you care about is you." "Where are you?" "This is impossible!" "Well, where am I going to find a raptor egg around here!" "Giving up so easily?" "Nothing could live here!" "Not so, if you listen carefully, you'll hear their anguished cries." "They're as displeased as you to be trapped her in my... glorious domain." "Hurry!" "Time waits for no man or beast." "Veronica, wait!" "This isn't the time for fighting." "For all we know Challenger and Roxton could be off... enjoying themselves somewhere." " Oh, is that what you think?" " No." "But we should stick together." "Why?" "Because you can't stand to be alone?" "No." "Because there's only the two of us now." "We don't know where they are... or even if they are ever coming back." "They WILL!" "They'd better, Or I'll kill them both." "Look I am sorry for what you thought I said back there." "And I didn't rearrange the furniture." "Everything is exactly the way you left it." "I know." " We WILL find them!" " Yes." "And we won't stop looking until we do." "Come on!" "It must be around here somewhere." "Oh!" "yes!" "Beautiful." "Faster!" "Oh!" "How unfortunate." "We'll go back to the tree house and start from there." "Good idea." "Oh, you have got to be kidding!" "Get away from us!" " What do you want?" " You." " Veronica!" " NO!" "Veronica, not you too!" "Roxton, help us!" "No!" "No!" "No please!" "You stop this now!" "Just let them go!" "As you wish." "Shall we continue with our sport?" "Do I have a choice?" "!" "Oh, such a petulance!" "Most unbecoming in a man like you." "Your friends will be released if you win the next round." "If not I'll add one more to my collection." " Not Marguerite!" " Who else?" "Hello?" "Anybody here?" "Please?" "Okay." "Settle down, stay calm." "Show up here and I'll give you a damn fine welcome." "What's what am I doing?" "I can't fight death." "But I will!" "With every breath I have!" "Maybe it wasn't death." "Just some freak with an oversize hoe!" "Oh!" "Roxton." "Challenger!" "Veronica!" "Can you hear me?" "Talk to me!" "Tell me you can hear me?" " What is this?" " A brief respite." "Intermission you might call it before we continue with our games." "Won't you join me?" "No, thanks." "Ooh!" "That's better!" "What woman could resist a well-dressed man... and what man could resist a woman who desires him." "You're not a woman." "You're a demon, masquerading in a woman's dress!" "Oh!" "Is that what you think?" "Come closer, and I'll show you how wrong you are." "This is as close to Death as I want to be." "And even if that day were to arrive," "I can only hope I'd be somewhere else." "Good to see your sense of humour has been restored." "Come let me feed you grapes and nibble on your ear." "Not in this lifetime." "Don't tell me you're still concerned about Marguerite." "She's the only woman I care about." "Oh, poor you," "Hopelessly entangled with such cheap London baggage." "I'll carry that baggage any place and any time." "If only she were here to listen to such professions of love!" "You can leave her right where she is." "Well, that all depends on you, must I beg for your touch?" "plead for your embrace?" "You can grovel at my feet if you think it will do any good." "A hard man!" "A pillar of cold steel." "Um, that's better." "Kiss me!" "I'll never tell." "Will you?" "What are you looking at..." "Lord John Roxton!" "Always grinning like a Cheshire cat." "And you, Veronica." "Some protection you turned out to be." "The eternal optimist too innocent for your own damn good!" "What's that?" "Don't start with another one of your grand designs, Challenger." "The world is a much bigger place than you think!" "Are you getting all this down, Ned?" "Another story for all your adoring fans?" "I heard that." "Don't think that just because you saved my life once or twice... that we are anything more than what we are." "Roxton, where are you?" "Why did you all abandon me?" "Pheasant?" "I'm not hungry." "Gamy if not carefully prepared." "The breast is the most tender, wouldn't you agree?" "You know, you're wasting your time and mine." "Still concerned with your friends?" "As long as you hold them in the palm of your hand, they're all I care about." "And if they were to die of natural causes, what would you do then?" "I'd continue on with my life," "What choice would I have?" " Oh, I can think of one." " That's not a choice." "That's the coward's way out." "Even if you lost your beloved Marguerite?" "Why, I'd go on living, just to keep the memory of her alive." "Oh, such romance, I can hardly bear it." "Spears of asparagus are best when lightly steamed." "Would you care to try one?" "You know, you take such great delight in pain and suffering, don't you?" "I am the end of pain and suffering." "Crisp." "Delicious." "My personal favourite." "Well personally, I think death is overrated." "So said a great English poet once." "One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more." "Death thou shalt die." "And where is that poet now!" "Dead and buried in the ground!" "Poetry and lofty thoughts do not change reality." "All who live will come to me willingly or otherwise." "Come now, Lord Roxton." "You haven't touched a thing!" "Not even me." "Will you not at least try one of these fine dishes?" "Oh, it's not the food that ruins the appetite... it's the company." "What man could turn away from oysters bathed in their on liquor." "It is, after all, the food of lovers." "Yes which I hasten to add you and I will never be." "Oh, but we will!" "Even you will feel the kiss of death... perhaps sooner than you think." "Well, when that day comes, I'm sure... it will be like ashes in my mouth." "Such simple pleasures you deny yourself." "Such high standards you set before you." "Do you think any of your friends would do the same for you." " I know they would." " You're wrong!" "They would forsake you in a second to save themselves... especially Marguerite." "You are a liar I don't believe you!" "You're a liar and a cheat and a lousy one at that." "Now if I'm the one you want, you take me now, but let my friends go free!" "Oh, it's you I want, but you have to... give yourself willingly, without reserve." "Never." "John?" "Still not here." "Still alone." "Oh, maybe you're back in London... walking in Trafalgar Square... surrounded by all I love." "I hope so." "I hope all of you are." "Well, where are you, Death?" "What are you waiting for?" "Aren't I good enough for you?" "I'm not waiting anymore." "My life goes on." "Catch me if you can." "And I will not go gently." "This woman you love more than life itself." "What can I do to break the bond?" "Nothing." "Would you trade her life for the lives of your friends?" "The scientist and the child of nature?" "Umm, difficult choice, isn't it?" "What about the other way around?" "Their lives for hers?" "What do you want me to say?" "What answer are you looking for?" "I'm trying to understand what makes you tick." " And do you?" " I think so." "You love life but have no fear of death." "You love a woman and you would lay down your life to save her." "You believe that men are capable of great things." "And you believe that good will triumph over evil." "Pretty much sums it up." "And if I let you go, you and your friends, you would forge ahead and never look back, you carry on as if nothing had happened." "I would certainly try to." "And you would have learned nothing!" "Nothing that I don't know already." "Then let me make it simple for you." "Before the time runs out, show me where the oysters are." "Oysters?" "What the hell are you talking about?" "The game we've been playing all along." "Choose the right dish and you and your friends are free to go." "Fail in your powers of observation... and Marguerite will join the others." "Grains of sands slip through the hourglass... like the breath of a dying man." "Choose now or Marguerite is mine." "That one." "Are you sure that's not the pheasant?" "Last chance to change your mind and choose another." "I stick with the one I choose." "Oh, I thought you would." "Let's see... are these the oysters?" "Oh, again I win and again you lose." "It's so long since I've been here." "Too long." "It's funny how this place has grown on me." "Well, if I must live alone, then I will." "And each day will make me stronger." "Your time of death has finally come, Marguerite." "Oh no it hasn't, take off your cloak." "Are you not afraid of me?" "I want to see who or what you really are." "I am Death, the gatherer of souls." "A collector!" "Not a killer!" "Why have you taken my friends before their time?" " It was their time." " No it wasn't!" "You jumped the gun!" "You cheated them!" "No!" "HE cheated me." "He should have been mine a long time ago." "But he was too smart for you." "Too cunning." "So you just took him anyway." "He cannot escape his fate." "Then wait a while longer, make do with someone else!" "Are you offering yourself to save him?" "Could I?" "Pick up your gun and prove to me that... his life his more important than your own." "If I do, what guarantee do I have that you will spare him." "No guarantee at all," "I didn't come here to make a deal with you." "Get away from me!" "I'm ALIVE!" " Marguerite!" " Where are we?" "No, please, not Marguerite!" "Marguerite!" "Don't..." "Don't let it end like this!" "Get up, Lord Roxton." "What more do you want from me?" "Didn't you say you'd carry on without your friends?" "If they were to die from natural causes but not like this." "One by one you failed them." "The man you swore to protect, the innocent child of nature, and the woman you wouldn't betray for me." "You've taken everything, and left me with nothing?" "What happened to your pride and your will to live?" " You took that as well." " Oh." "Poor broken man." "How easy it was for me to reduce you to this!" "Your fine words and noble pretences... stripped of these you are like any other man." "Spirit gone, no fire in your eyes." "You are nothing more than clay." "You win." "All right?" "So take me... but spare my friends please." "I beg you." "No, not yet." "Death is cruel and heartless... inevitable for every living thing." "Yet I feel compelled to offer you another chance... to win back your friends and save yourself as well." "Another game I cannot win?" "Oh, but you can... if your aim is true." "Will you accept the challenge?" "Yes." " I will." " Good." "That's better." "All right, so now what?" "what do I do now?" "Ask not for whom the bell tolls..." "It tolls for thee." "Or so said some English poet of whom you are so fond." "Welcome to your final test." "Come here." "Who is this man?" "A murderer condemned to death, taken from... the gallows to serve my purpose." "What the hell is your purpose?" "A duel." "Choose your weapons." "This time your game seems far too easy." "You don't trust me?" "I have no reason to." "They're identical, one bullet each." "Back to back." "On my signal, you will walk ten paces, you will turn, and you will fire." "Then let's get on with it." "Good luck, Lord Roxton." "Even though I desire you above all the others," "I would not be disappointed if you won this round." "I'll try not to let you down." "One..." " two..." " My dear friends" " three, four, five, six, seven..." " Please forgive me should I fail." "eight, nine, ten." "Roxton, no!" "Marguerite!" " Kill her!" " Never!" "Kill her or the others will perish!" "No!" "No!" "Kill her or kill yourself." "Don't, Roxton." "Silence!" "No please!" "The game is over, kill yourself or the others will die." "You give me your word that you'll release them." "Give me your life and I'll give you my word." "It's a trick!" "She can't win unless you let her!" "Rejoice in the tranquility of death!" "No!" "Don't!" "What are you waiting for?" "End their... suffering as well as your own!" "Damn you!" "I despise you with every dying breath!" "I'll embrace you on the other side." "Do it." "Now." "Pull the trigger." "Yes!" " No." " Yes!" " No!" " YES!" "I'll live out my days in agony and despair, but I will forever deny you this final victory!" "Oh, your days are over." "Your time has come." "Time has no meaning to me anymore!" "No!" "No!" "What have you done!" "What have you done." "Know this, John Roxton, your day will come, and I WILL claim you." "What happened?" " Roxton?" " Marguerite!" "Are you really here?" "Yes and so are you!" "Challenger, I thought I'd lost you!" "Oh, no chance of that!" "Veronica?" "Thank heavens you made it back!" "Life was just too boring without you." " Can we go home now?" " Yeah!" "Let's do it." "Death was a beautiful woman." "In fact, or in your mind?" "That's a good question." "She looked real enough." "We all saw her." "Yes." "But the force that produced it... surely was merely an illusion intended to seduce you." " No chance of that." " None?" "One beautiful woman is more than enough for me." "Well you must have been tempted just a little." " It was quite a dance." " Oh, yes, I'm sure it was." "Which brings up a very good question." "If you had a choice, what would you do on your last day?" "Well, I'd spend it here with all of you." " And with my parents, of course." " And Malone, too." " We can't forget Malone." " He's probably back in London by now." "Oh, I doubt it, he wouldn't leave without Veronica." " Do you really think so?" " Oh, I'm certain of it." "In fact, I'm sure he's thinking about you this minute." " Well, Roxton, it looks delicious." " Thank you." "All this talk about death has made me very hungry, indeed." "what was her cooking like, by the way?" "Oh, she taught me a recipe or two, but... nothing compared to yours." "Two, four, six, eight!" "Try the grapes." "I plucked them myself." "*"