Chapter 1 - Help Wanted

Disclaimer: We do not own Labyrinth nor any of the characters of Labyrinth. They are the property of Jim Henson and any others involved with the movie. However, new characters and places within the Underground and evolution of the Goblin King are ours. The same goes for other character, places, things etc, from other shows, movies or books. We do not own them so do not sue.

The content of our fanfiction is written with a mature audience in mind. The language is pretty mild.

Comments are welcome, enjoy!!

O O O



Chapter One: Help Wanted





"This day couldn't be any more boring!!" Eighteen year old Stephanie sighed aloud. She was in her room, lying on the carpeted floor, her legs on her bed, a strange yet comfortable position. "The Devil You Know" by Econoline Crush, was blaring out of her headphones.

It was a Friday, the afternoon had just started. It was grey and cold outside. The wind howled, snow flew across her curtainless window. It was during Christmas vacation, all the visitors and the commotion of the holidays were over. Her mother and Gilles, who was like her step-father, were both at work and Jennifer, her sister, was downstairs in the living room watching television; so she was practically home alone.

Stephanie sighed again as the song ended and her cd player, programmed to random, chose the fifth song: "Home".

"If I wasn't here, I wouldn't mind..." she sang softly along with the lead singer. She then got up, stopped her cd player, took off her headphones and walked over to her closet where a shelf held her large collection of cds. She chose one of her Bon Jovi cds, turned around and stopped dead in her tracks.

There, a perfect iridescent crystal hovered at her eye level.

Stephanie's eyes widened, she didn't move or blink.

Her and Chantal's adventure through Jareth's Labyrinth had been several months ago. Memories of the journey flooded her mind again as it did after their return when she was reprimanded several times in class to pay attention. She was amazed on how easily distracted she was to anything connected to the Labyrinth.

The dog next door barked at a passing car, breaking Stephanie's thoughts. The cd case fell to the floor.

She blinked.

The crystal had vanished.

Stephanie looked around her and hurried to the window, she looked out of it, expecting a white barn owl to be perched in the only tree next door or flying away.

Nothing, no owl, no Goblin King.

"Another hallucination. You're expecting way too much Steph," Stephanie frowned as she straightened her long dark greenish-black waistcoat over her black short sleeved shirt. "I have to..." she started to say as she passed her fingers through her dark shoulder length hair, the front was cut in layers. "get my mind off the Labyrinth," she headed towards the door, but as she reached out for the doorknob, she got a chill.

Stephanie's eyes widened when a familiar shadow had loomed over her and the door.

She gasped, turned around and backed up against the door.

"Jareth!!" she whispered.

The Goblin King stood in the attire of his familiar black knee-high boots, black pants, a strange poet shirt beneath a short dark blue waistcoat, a hint of the sleeves showed at the ledges of his usual black trench like coat. His left arm was leaning against the door, just above her head. His face was just inches from hers.

Seeing Stephanie's reaction, he couldn't resist.

"Did you miss me, Stephanie?" Jareth asked as he tilted his head with wild hair to one side, his sharp vampiric like canines showing, especially at the mention of her name.

"Why-why are you here??" Stephanie demanded, keeping her voice down, low as possible for Jennifer not to hear.

He walked to the centre of the small semi-clean room and bent down to pick up the fallen cd case. He turned it over to look at the cover, his back to her.

"Well??" Stephanie said.

Finally he turned around, a sigh escaped from him.

"I have...a situation," the Goblin King said.

"What kind of situation??" Stephanie asked intrigued as she moved away from the door and towards him. He placed the cd case on her white dresser.

"The Underground," he paused not revealing anymore. He tried to keep calm.

"Ah bloody hell!" Jareth muttered under his breath. Stephanie waited patiently. "I need your help,"

"Help??" she repeated, her eyebrows raised.

"Yes," he said wincing at the word. He sighed again and glanced at the few objects that cluttered the dresser, picking an object up to closer inspect it. He placed it back in its original spot. He then regarded her in silence for a few moments. Stephanie was in thoughts, toying with her pendant that was around her neck: a silver barn owl in mid-flight, holding a crystal in its claws. It was the pendant from her adventure to the Underground. She looked up and caught Jareth regarding her with his intense eyes, she quickly stopped and hid her hands behind her back.

"I'll help you," Stephanie said. "Whatever the situation is." The Goblin King stared at her with his greenish blue eyes, trying to figure out if her answer was sincere.

"Jareth, do you want my help or not??" Stephanie said sternly.

Jareth blinked. "Sorry," he said making a crystal appear in his right hand; it had rolled down the length of his arm, he turned his hand over in a fluent movement and caught it. He glanced into the depths of the crystal, he frowned.

"I'll explain everything once we're in the Underground."

"Wait!!" Stephanie said as she turned around to her closet. She grabbed her black running shoes, quickly put them on and tightened the laces. They passed her ankles, almost like a boot.

"All right, I'm ready." she said as she stood up after grabbing a pack of gum out of her schoolbag and placing it in one of her back pockets. "Don't forget, I have to be back, way before supper." Jareth nodded as he held out his hand. Stephanie looked at his hand, then at him.

"Well?" he asked, his smile returning slowly.

"Chantal is going too, right??"

Jareth took a deep breath. "Yes," he said through clenched teeth.

Stephanie put her hand in his and they disappeared in a bright light that shone against her pendant.

Stephanie blinked as a soft breeze blew some strands of hair around her face, her lips were parted, almost in a smile.

She was back in the Underground.


O O O O O O O O O



Chantal untwisted the cap of the fish food container as she watched her always hungry fish, swim excitedly near the surface.

"You guys are always hungry," she mumbled at them as she reached into the container, pulled out some food and placed it into the aquarium. The twenty year old girl watched as her fish ravened at the food. Chantal giggled as her platies and guppies fought over the food.

"You sure have some pretty fish there," a voice behind her said.

Chantal gasped and turned around quickly nearly knocking over the container of fish food.

There, behind her sitting on her, for once, made bed, was the Goblin King from the Underground. It had been several months since her and Stephanie's adventure to the Labyrinth.

"You?" she said with a groan.

"Yes me!" He replied with a grin.

"Did you miss tormenting me that much?" She asked half angrily. "What are you doing here?"

"What a nice greeting," he said sarcastically as he looked around Chantal's half messy room.

"Well, what do you expect? You startled me," she said staring at him.

"I'm sorry. Old habit," the Goblin King apologized as he leaned back on the bed. Chantal raised an eyebrow, she couldn't believe that The Goblin King had just apologized to her.

"You never answered my question," she told him accepting the apology. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a bit of a dilemma and I would like your assistance in trying to solve it," he told her.

"Oooo! Cryptic of what?" She teased. She looked at Jareth's face, his expression revealed exactly what he was thinking; that he couldn't believe he was asking her for help. This ‘dilemma' he was having must be more serious that he was letting on. It was a good thing she had watched the Labyrinth movie with Stephanie after they had gotten back from their adventure. For now she felt more prepared at what to expect in the Underground.

Chantal sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll help. But just what is this ‘dilemma'?"

"Just a small problem in the Underground," he told her, still not revealing anything to her.

"What about Stephanie?" Chantal asked, for she sure wasn't going to go to the Underground alone with Jareth.

"She is already there waiting for us," he told her as he stood up.

"Oh? Okay, I guess if Steph has already agreed to go, I will too," Chantal told the Goblin King.

"Good!" he said as he prepared to depart.

"Hold up!" Chantal interrupted. "I can't just leave like that. I know I'm home alone and all, but I want to get a few things first." Chantal picked up her blue small backpack and emptied out most of its contents onto her bed. She then went to her desk and found her two flashlights and extra batteries and placed them inside her pack.

"I'll be right back!" She told the Goblin King as she dashed downstairs before he could say anything.

Five minutes later she returned carrying two water bottles, a pocket knife and a small bag of cookies. She placed all of the items into her pack and zipped it up. She then turned to go back downstairs.

"What else are you getting?" Jareth asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nothing! I have to turn off MSN and YM, then let my dog, Jaycie, in the house. I just let her out before you showed up, and it's cold out there," she replied as she ran back downstairs.

Not too much later, she returned upstairs with a black, part lab, dog following behind her. The dog was whining, she knew that Chantal was going somewhere and wanted to go too. When Jaycie saw Jareth she approached the Goblin King and jumped up on him, wanting to see his face. Jareth just stood there looking down at the black dog.

"She seems to like you," Chantal commented. Chantal grabbed Jaycie's collar and pushed her out of her room. "Enough Jayce! Go downstairs! GO!"

Jaycie obeyed and went downstairs, still whining a bit.

"Are you ready yet?" Jareth asked almost impatiently.

"Just about," Chantal replied as she crawled over her bed to the window and opened it. "I just need one more thing."

"Serek!" Chantal yelled out of the window.

"Squeeeeeee!" A high pitched sound came from the large pine tree in the back yard. A small purple creature jumped from the tree and glided over to the window. Once at the window, he scurried inside and climbed Chantal and settled in his perch on Chantal's shoulder and wrapped his tail around her neck.

"Do you know how hard it is to hide this guy?" Chantal asked, without expecting to get a reply. Chantal grabbed her pack and slid off her bed. "I'm ready to go now!"

"Finally!" Jareth groaned.

"Hey! I'm not that slow!" she said as she poked him in the side of the arm. Jareth winced as they vanished in a flash of light.

O O O O O O O O O


As Jareth was waiting patiently as he could on Chantal, Stephanie by this time had stopped staring at the Labyrinth. Without hesitation she walked down the hill. The sky was still fairly dark, dawn was approaching.

"Is it always dawn whenever someone gets here or is it just coincidence??" she wondered aloud as she reached the outer wall of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth she had noticed was larger and more complex from the last time she came to the Underground. She saw no entrances. She reached out to touch the wall, to find hidden openings, when a strange feeling went up her spine.

"Woah!! What was that??" Something was wrong, she withdrew her hand and backed away from the wall. Stephanie wrapped her arms around herself, waiting for Jareth to return with Chantal.

"I wonder what this situation is and I wonder why Jareth needs our help," Stephanie asked aloud as she walked along the outer wall of the Labyrinth.

Time passed, she had ventured a bit down the main wall, looking for an entrance and keeping an eye for Jareth's return.

"And why is it taking so long??" she said turning around. "And who am I talking to?? Great!! I'm talking to myself again!!"

"Obviously," someone giggled behind Stephanie. She turned around with a grin.

"Chan!!" The two girls hugged each other, then Serek who felt left out, let out a big: "Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Bob!!" Stephanie giggled as Serek glided over to her, she gave him a big hug.

"I never thought I would see this place again," Chantal said as she gripped her backpack. "But this time I came prepared."

Jareth let out a mumble.

Chantal turned around and stuck out her tongue at him.

"So that's why it was taking so long," Stephanie said smiling.

Chantal nodded at her friend. "Yeah, and that guy wanted me to just get up and go," she said looking over at Jareth.

Stephanie just shook her head and said with a smile. "The nerve of some people."

Chantal laughed.

Stephanie then became serious as she turned to Jareth. "Well, here we are. Now what is this situation Jareth??"

Chantal crossed her arms and looked at the Goblin King.

Jareth placed his hands behind his back and started to pace.

"Well?" Chantal asked impatiently.

"I can't get to the castle," he grumbled.

"What? What is that supposed to mean? You can't get to the castle?" Chantal asked confused.

"I cannot get to the castle," the Goblin King repeated.

"What happened?" Chantal asked.

"I'm not sure," he grumbled. "I left the castle for a walk and upon my return there was some magical force around it that prevented me to enter."

"How can we help you??" Stephanie said shaking her head.

"Help me get into the castle and figure out what is preventing me from getting in there," he told Stephanie, his voice calm.

"But how are we any good to you?" Chantal asked, giving the Goblin King a sideways look.

"You two did a great job of overcoming the Labyrinth's magic the last time, that I thought you two would be a good choice to help me with my dilemma," he explained still looking at Stephanie.

"All right," Stephanie said. "Who do you think it could be??"

"That is if it is a person," Chantal put in.

"Couldn't be the goblins. I'm sorry to say that their brain power is not so high to conduct a plan and I doubt they would defy me," Jareth said as he looked into the distance. The large castle didn't look any different.

"Well," Stephanie said turning around to stare at the castle. "Do we have a certain time limit or something??"

"We have thirteen hours since the throne was taken over to get it back. If I don't, I'll get overthrown."

"Since the throne was taken over? How much time has that been?" Chantal asked getting worried.

"Not sure exactly, no more than an hour."

"That still enough time to get there," Stephanie replied. "No use wasting time. So let's get moving!!" she said grabbing Chantal's arm.

"Wooooooaaaahhhhhhh!" Chantal exclaimed as she got partly dragged by Stephanie.

Jareth sighed and followed.

"Where are we going Steph?" Chantal asked her friend.

"I promised Jareth that I would help him get into the castle and I intend to keep my word," Stephanie told her friend.

"Alright! I guess we will figure out what to do when we get there," Chantal replied and Serek squeaked.

"Right," Stephanie said. "We'll start by figuring how to get into the Labyrinth."

The two girls walked down the outer wall, the Goblin King following behind. The great wall of the Labyrinth towered over them as they looked for an entrance.

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