David stopped every so often, unfolded his piece of paper, and feverishly scribbled down something, occasionally going back to erase or cross out a word or phrase. He refolded the paper, put it in his pocket and kept walking, stopping cold as screams intermittently echoed across the Labryinth. Regathering his nerve, he kept walking...

Elsewhere, the situation seemed grimmer, as Aladdin collected more remains of his fallen counterparts. He wrapped his shimmery, polka-dotted cape around his thin frame, as he leaned against a wall in near exhaustion. Aladdin ran a hand through his long red hair, which now included a few gold strands and two blond ringlets around his face.

"Get up!" Jareth shouted in his head. "We are almost there."

"Shut up," Zero spoke from within, "He's exhausted!"

Jareth: "How dare you...!"

Ricochet: "Shut up!"

Liza and Veronica: "The three of you shut up!"

Nana: "Girls!"

Aladdin screamed: "EVERYONE IN THERE SHUT UP!!!" The voices in his head fell silent. Aladdin Sane felt like he was living up to his name. "I need to think quietly for a moment."

Liza: "...Aladdin?"

Aladdin sighed, exasperated: "What?"

Liza: "At least we're all together again, right?"

Aladdin said nothing as he heard yet another scream.
*****************************************
David stopped yet again to scribble against a wall. He jumped yet again at another howl.
*****************************************
"Murderess!!" Detective Adler drew his gun upon Ramona, as she stood over the bodies of Algeria, Leon and Grace.

"You fool! I found them like this!!" Ramona snarled at the Detective, and drew her own knive. To her surprise, it had bright red blood on it.

Ramona: "Eh? What in Bowie's mind..."

Nathan: "I knew it! This looks like your suicide-murder rituals!" The bodies all had superficial cuts on their faces, like tribal tatoos. They were lying in a perfect circle. "You're still workin' for the Duke!!

Ramona: "You stupid fat little fuck! The Duke is more powerful than ever! He's gathering the energies of all the Bowies so that he will rule his mind unopposed. He will become the Ultimate Ego, and he will compose the greatest masterpiece the Body and the world will ever know! He shall be our new Messiah!"

Nathan: "Like Ziggy? Wait a minute...that magician said Ziggy was split into a bunch o' pieces, and we're sorta like those pieces." The detective/inspector chuckled, "Holy shit. He's trying to become..."

Nathan didn't have time to complete his thought, as a arm from behind snapped his neck and teeth sank into his neck.

The Thin White Duke, his lips bright red with blood, stared at the woman intensely.

"I believe you are a free woman now, Ramona my sweet. I have eliminated these albatrosses around your neck," the Duke slithered towards her.

"A pity," Ramona said, "They were fun for a while--but don't 'my sweet' me, you bastard!" She gave the Duke a hearty shove at the shoulders, "You dumped me with these heathens on Lexington Avenue!"

The Duke: "I knew you'd lead them here..."

Ramona: "...like lambs to the slaughter."

The Duke: "Mere food for higher life forms like us, my dark descendant." He circled around her closely. "I had to let them believe I've abandoned you so they would let you into their circle--take pity on you, even trust you. How gullible Ziggy's children are. You've performed your task beautifully, my sweet."

"And the hospital?" Ramona asked.

The Duke grazed her neck with his cold, spindly fingers, "A minor distraction I did not plan on, but worked well anyway in my plan."

"The others are still lost in the maze, looking for the wife and brat. They are only working to postpone the inevitable," Ramona said.

"Now my sweet," the Duke wrapped his arms around Ramona, "are you ready to create the ultimate masterpiece?"

"Yesss," Ramona hissed, "With you by my side, we shall rule them all."

"I didn't say you'd be by my side," the Duke ripped into Ramona's throat and lay her writhing body underneath him. The high-pitched gurgling cries echoed through the halls as the Duke drank her essence. In the last spasms of pain and ectasy, Ramona pulled at the Duke's hair, then released her grip, lying Christ-like in her circle of Outsiders.

To be continued...

Don't understand me, just love me