It was a giggly group that emerged from the underground tunnel into the starlit night.

“Oh, that is the most fun I've had in years!” Unique enthused.  

“I always knew my voice could shatter glass,” Rachel bragged, “but I never dreamed I could use it to knock out trolls and goblins.” 

Kurt rolled his eyes at her.  “Don't try to take all the credit.  You couldn't have done it without a few fishnet-clad dancers.”

“Speaking of which,” Zach said, “do I dare to ask why the four of you are dressed — or, should I say, mostly undressed — like that?”

Chris and Darren filled him in on their adventures in the fairy tale world.  

“So, let me get this gayly clear…”

(Noticing Darren's puzzled look at their friend's unusual turn of phrase, Chris whispered to him, “Well, you can't expect Zach to get anything straight, now, can you?”)

“…in order to rescue Ryan — who happens to be the Fairy Godfather — and free the Land of Stories from this curse that makes people fall asleep forever if they kiss, we have to build a Wand of Wonderment that will make us invincible?  And the only item left to complete the wand is the Enchantress's most prized possession?”

“Yep — that's it in a nutshell,” Darren agreed.

“Cool.  So what is the Enchantress's most prized possession?”

“Well, we don't exactly know,” Chris admitted.

“But I'm sure we'll figure it out,” Darren said confidently.

“Well, until you do, at least I'm not being held captive in an underground dungeon, forced to choreograph dances for trolls and goblins, anymore,” Zach said.  “So that's a win.”

Unique, who was the only one of them who had remained conscious when the flying ship went down, had been guiding the group from her perch atop Kurt's and Blaine's shoulders.  “Look!” she called out.  “There's the ship.”

As they approached the wreckage, it was obvious to everyone that the ship would never fly again.  The fabric of the balloon was in tatters, and the hull had been smashed to kindling.

“Oh my,” Rachel cried.  “What a complete disaster we have!  So many of my beautiful things were on that ship!”

Froggy wrapped a comforting arm around her.  “Don't worry.  The trunks you packed were very sturdy.  We should be able to salvage most of your belongings.”

“Blaine and I can easily fashion a tent from this fabric,” Kurt said.

“And there's plenty of wood here, already chopped up, to make a bonfire,” Darren added enthusiastically.

“Oooh, I'll play campfire songs!” Unique offered.

Soon the entire group was gathered around a roaring fire, singing one song after another.  Apparently, Unique knew all of the music from the first three seasons of Glee — as did the rest of the company — so they had plenty of tunes to choose from.  Even little Roary joined in, howling along in his baby-wolf treble.

About an hour into the festivities, Chris excused himself to go and answer nature's call.  He returned with an odd look on his face, and leaned over to whisper in Darren's ear, “Follow me without anybody noticing.  I need to see you alone.”

Chris melted back into the shadows, and a minute later Darren slipped away after him, grinning widely.

As soon as they were out of sight and earshot of the others, Darren pulled Chris to a stop.  “So, did you finally break down and decide that having our first time be in another dimension will make it special enough, even if we can't kiss?” he asked teasingly.

Chris raised one eyebrow.  “Um, no.  When I came out here to pee, I think I saw a ghost.  I didn't want everyone else freaking out, so I thought the two of us should check it out alone.”

“I'll have you know, though, that we're not actually alone if there are ghosts around.  So you've cock-teased me a little bit with the promise of ‘alone time' and instead given me the sequel to Ghostbusters.”

Chris chuckled.  “But you love Ghostbusters.”

“I know, I know.  Thank you very much.  I appreciate that.  So, where is this ghost?”

“When I saw her, she was moving in the direction of those boulders.”

Chris and Darren made their way over to the large cluster of rocks.  Squeezing through a gap between a couple of the boulders, they found themselves in a ring of stones, open to the night sky.  In the center of the circle, glimmering faintly in the starlight, were two ghostly figures.

Darren grabbed Chris's arm.  “That's the ghost I saw before!” he hissed.  “NeNe Leakes, or Roz Washington.”

“And the other one looks like Terri Schuester,” Chris whispered back.

They cautiously approached the women.  

“Well, it took you boys long enough to get here,” the ghost that looked like Roz Washington snapped.  “I've got some important information for you two, and this is one of the only places on this plane where I can speak.”

“Important information?”

“That's what I said, isn't it?  You boys are trying to stop the Enchantress, right?  Well, I've met her, and that bitch is cray-cray.  She kept referring to herself in the third person as Original Recipe Sue, and she tried calling me Black Sue.  I ain't no Black Sue.  I'm Black Beauty.  I may have been married to a Beast, but I've never seen a creature as hideous as that Enchantress.  Plus, she's older than dirt.  She was born long before I was, and I've been dead for a hundred years.  So what's she doing still alive?  Something ain't right, if you ask me.”

“Do you know what she considers to be her most prized possession?” Chris asked hopefully.

“Oh, yeah.  She kept going on and on about how all of her power stems from the pants of her tracksuit.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Darren said.  “In every incarnation, that woman is obsessed with her tracksuit.” 

“That's not all she's obsessed with,” Roz warned them.  “Hag Terri, here, was just telling me what that witch is really up to.”

The other ghost glided forward.  “The Enchantress wants absolute power over both our world and yours.  And I'm ashamed to admit that I told her how to get it.  She flattered me, called me her little Honey Badger, and tricked me into telling her the secret.”

“Oh no!” Chris cried.  “What is it that she's planning to do?”

“In order to conquer this world and gain access to the otherworld,” Hag Terri explained, “the Enchantress needs to subjugate the rulers of every kingdom here, plus the co-creators.”

“Co-creators?” Darren repeated.

“The Fairy Godfather and Chris.  She's already taken out the Fairy Godfather.  So it's up to Chris to keep her from reaching your world.”

“But how is she planning to subjugate us all?” Chris asked.

“With the curse, of course.  If you and all of the rulers give in to the temptation to kiss your loved ones, you'll fall into an unbreakable sleep, just like the Fairy Godfather did.  Then the Enchantress will have absolute power over this world, and the ability to travel to your world.  Once she's crossed over to your world, where magic no longer exists, there will be nothing capable of stopping her.”

“We can't let that happen!” Darren cried.

“We won't,” Chris reassured him.  “Now that we know what the Enchantress's most prized possession is, we can complete the Wand of Wonderment, which will make us invincible.”

“We'd better go tell the others.”

“Yeah,” Chris agreed.  

Thanking the ghosts, Chris and Darren slipped out through the gap in the boulders and began walking back toward the campsite.

“Now that we know how much is at stake, maybe we'd better stay away from each other, to avoid temptation,” Chris suggested.  “Just until we defeat the Enchantress.”

“No!” Darren shouted.  Then he began to sing:

There aint no reason you and me should be alone

Tonight, yeah, baby! Tonight, yeah, baby!

And I got a reason that youre who should take me home tonight, tonight

I need a man that thinks its right when its so wrong

Tonight, yeah, baby! Tonight, yeah, baby!

Right on the limits where we know we both belong tonight

Its hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous

Im gonna run right to, to the edge with you

Where we can both fall far in love

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment of truth

Out on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment with you

Im on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment with you

Im on the edge with you.

Another shot before we kiss the other side

Tonight, yeah, baby! Tonight, yeah, baby!

Im on the edge of something final we call life tonight

Alright! Alright!

Put on your shades, cause Ill be dancing in the flames

Tonight, yeah, baby! Tonight, yeah, baby!

It isnt hell if everybody knows my name tonight

Alright! Alright!

Its hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous

Im gonna run right to, to the edge with you

Where we can both fall far in love

Chris joined in on the next chorus:

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment of truth

Out on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment with you

Im on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment with you

Im on the edge with you.

Im on the edge with you

Im on the edge with you

You, you, you...

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment of truth

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment with you

Im on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,

Im on the edge of glory, and Im hanging on a moment with you

Im on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you, with you…

“I know Lady Gaga's got her own story about the meaning of those lyrics,” Darren said, “but to me ‘the edge of glory' always sounds like that moment right before you come.  Like, it's the perfect orgasm delay song.”

Chris let out a bark of laughter.

Darren continued, “Don't get me wrong — I like a good build-up as much as the next guy — but I am gonna be so fucking glad when we finally break this curse!”