2/5
A few nights have passed since the reunion, meanwhile Icky was all to himself in his Graveyard, lost in communion with spirits of the deceased. Icky watched with his entranced state from where he was seated, as he saw one image after another. The images portrayed tension and rough times to come, but immediately followed with peace and happiness on the horizon. Even as Icky pressed for further explanation, the spirits insisted on their prior givings.
These two prophecies couldn't possibly happen at the same time, and it confused Icky deeply as he had no way of knowing how it could piece together like this. Eventually, he let out a drawn sigh, choosing to disconnect from the trance, the holes in his gourd stopping it's apparent glow as he focused on his physical surroundings once more.
Perhaps they are tricking me, Icky thought to himself as he floated over to the Mansion's front doors, They have a habit of doing that more than anything. Just because I'm an Undead, too; Undeads don't mix well with the Deceased, nor the Mortal. Talk about rude! You'd think that the Deceased would be filled with wisdom and maturity! Alas...
Icky soon paused, sensing a Mortal presence. He didn't turn around immediately, however. As the presence grew in strength, so did the hearing and scent.
That is not anyone good I know... He thought to himself once again, his recollection becoming clear as he swiftly faced whoever was on the other side of his property. Gaining a justifiable expression of hostility, he bellowed out to the darkness, "SHOW YOURSELF, CARNIVAL DEVIANT." Soon after, a few more footsteps were heard as Bonker revealed himself. Unlike a few days ago, his movements were more balanced, even for a clown's definition.
"My goodness, settle down!" He initially spoke in reply, a smirk forming upon his face. "It shouldn't have been any surprise that I'm still here, Ickybod. It'll take a whole lot more than a bullet to the face to keep me down. Anyway, my visit isn't an evil one - this time." His pause before his last two words were intentional, his manic grin widening as he'd done so.
"I'm just here to warn you about something I noticed about... The others you're hanging around," Bonker soon continued, remaining where he stood, although it only proved to keep Icky tense. "How can I put this... You shouldn't trust any of them. In fact, don't trust anyone at all, least of all me; except for this, of course. Oh, and I suppose that hand friend of yours; he couldn't hurt anyone even if he wanted, so you can trust him with your life - er, I mean, unlife."
While Bonker seemed to emit a harmless giggle, Icky's hands were clenched into fists, growling deeply at the clown in rage. "Icky doesn't believe a word you say," He spoke, bitterly with a hushed tone.
"Well, it's really quite simple," Bonker shrugged a bit, his tone still as calm as ever, "Anyone can fake emotions and feelings, lulling others into a false sense of security and trust. This is called Acting; and some are very very VERY good at it! But to someone who knows a lot about it, I can see right through their lies. They don't actually care about you... Especially that candy freak." His last words were in a slight mutter, though he knew that Icky would take the bait.
In fact, Icky quickly floated over to the clown, hissing at him in fury. His voice was filled to the brim with spooky nuances as he gave a firm reply, "Don't you dare say such things about them. You are merely telling blasphemous lies!" Bonker only blinked from Icky's apparent theatrics, being amused by it and not threatened at all. He turned away, his grin ever wider than before. If it were possible for it to challenge Taffy's stretchiness, this would be it.
"Be that as it may," Bonker soon replied, reaching into his magical party hat and somehow pulling out a unicycle, "That's just what I've come to conclude after studying their behaviors. Especially your lanky, yellow bodyguard..." He paused to mount it, expertly and with no trouble whatsoever. "He may as well have beaten me up just to make do for what happened a good while before all this hodge podge. He probably didn't even care that you were part of the equation, nor would you be his real, actual goal in defeating me!" While he could tell that Icky was thinking of numerous ways to shut him up for good, he wasn't even the least bit fazed, in actuality letting out a clownish laugh, even though it was a far cry from a normal one.
"But fine," He continued, only to finish up with a final look at the angry poltergeist before him, "You're welcome to think for yourself and for how you feel they perceive you. I could be mistaken, who knows?" With another comical shrug, he waved to Icky as he soon wheeled off into the trees ahead. It was somehow still expertly, even though the terrain was anything but smooth. Meanwhile, Icky was still completely enraged over what he'd just heard, though he couldn't help but to actually consider what was said.
Eventually, Icky shook his jack-o-lantern head, deciding to disbelieve it. I'll just study them for myself, He thought boldly, I'll prove him wrong, about everyone and everything, especially Taffy. He cares the most, after all... Right?
Another night's dance, so shines the stars and Moon.
"Alright," The muscular snowman was announcing to the group of castaways/allies, "Before we can even begin striking the madman where it hurts, let's go over what we do know. Thank Jack Frost that The Blob came back from..." A short, confused pause ensued, before he looked over at the green blob-looking creature next to him. "Actually, why don't you explain it?"
"If I must," He sighed in response, before turning to the crowd, "I don't remember ever coming here; the last I recalled, we were falling, quite fast, from in our jet. From the looks of things, we managed to survive a devastating crash. The very next thing I remember is feeling volts of electricity current through me." He too, paused for a few moments to recollect more information. "Turns out, a local Voodooist was behind it all. For electrocution and calling me a 'clay thing' to 'experiment on', I beat him to a pulp, then ended up here through travel. It's unknown if the Voodooist has any connection to Dr. Kiln or his schemes."
"Hopefully, we'll know for sure without much more... Issues," The snowman nodded in approval, then turning to the others. "What else?" Through the whole discussion, Icky felt the time was right to introduce all of his knowledge, but just as he went to speak up... The thoughts plagued him again.
What would be the point if they won't take me home? He couldn't help but ponder in his mind, What if they don't even want me back...?
"Well, how about Kiln himself?" High suddenly spoke up over Icky's thoughts, "I could tell you every little thing I know about that jerk! I, uh... Used to be his right-hand man, after all..." His last sentence was a bit hesitant, but it soon faded away as the snowman nodded yet again in acknowledgement, same going for literally everyone else in the group.
"Any and all information you have will help us understand how to deal with him," Blob replied in a calm, yet earnest tone, "Please, feel free to share. We'll see to it that he mistreats you no more."
"Speaking of mistreatment," A statue lady who heavily resembled the Statue of Liberty piped in, seeming to have thought this through for a while. "I've taken it upon myself to study T-Hoppy's strange behavior; from my research, he hasn't actually changed - he may've been brainwashed to obey Dr. Kiln. If we defeat the madman, T-Hoppy may return to normal." While the rest of the group considered it, Blob chose to reply once again.
"If we may study a bit further," He said, carefully choosing his words, "We can judge that possibility more accurately. We'd also need to then consider how to deactivate, or reverse, the brainwashing technique." The statue lady nodded in agreement.
"We start at dawn," She replied, matter-of-factly.
"Well, that's great and all..." Taffy spoke up with a non-stretchy stretch to the star-filled sky, "But I gotta say: totally didn't see Bonker comin', workin' for that weirdo. But that ain't a problem anymore, 'cause I took good care of that guy. He won't be buggin' us, so we can scratch him out." Unlike the responses given to the others before, Taffy's words were met with the slightest bit of annoyance, although most tried to simply humor him. However, the snowman didn't budge.
"Yeah, but where do you think that got you?" He spoke in a retort. Taffy huffed, pointing to the one seated just next to him.
"I got us our good ol' pal back!" He responded, though his voice had raised a bit, "That was like, one of our long-term goals, man! Oh, and not to mention, one less bad guy to fight? And even better, a guy whose guts I hated?" Blob rose part of his unibrow, as if he hasn't heard about this before.
"Slow down for a second," His voice cut in, though not in a hostile way. He looked Taffy in the eyes as he continued afterward, "Taffy. You went out there in the jungles, defeated Bonker, and came back with Ickybod?" When Taffy nodded, Blob asked another question, "All by yourself?"
"Yup, that was all me!" Taffy laughed a bit in pride, as if hoping that at least Blob would get it. "See? I can do things, too!" Blob was moved only by the smallest amount, before he briefly looked over at the snowman next to him.
"You made a good decision," He mumbled, only for Taffy to suddenly glare.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
During all of this, Icky decided to excuse himself, and surprisingly, no one seemed to notice. They were too distracted by Taffy's outbursts to pay attention, it was thought. Little did Icky know, however, a few did notice his absence; Taffy felt the sudden lighter shift in weight nearby, but got caught up in a bickerfest, and High realized that Icky had simply left the group. While distracted, High got up and left as well, following after the poltergeist.
"Icky...?" High gently asked as he approached him, "Are you okay? I didn't make you feel weird or anything, right?" Icky noticed his approach long before, though shook his head from the words asked. He couldn't look at him, only staring at the Moon above at first.
"N... No," Icky soon found his words, his clawed hands pressing against his chest, where his undead heart would be. "You didn't do anything wrong, High. Icky is... Troubled, by something else."
"Yeah, you do seem that way..." High replied, his tone still soft, even relieved slightly, "Is it just... Telling the others what you know? Or something else... Else?" Icky didn't answer for a short while, but it was apparent he was ready to when he'd abruptly turned, facing the giant hand before him.
"Bonker is alive," Icky at first mumbled, his expression saddened and stressed, "And he's told Icky how he thinks about the others, that... That Icky shouldn't trust them. And-"
"Bonker's ALIVE?" High seemed to panic at first, before he was quickly shushed by Icky, in the form of being held. "Sorry, that was a bit..."
"Please, don't tell anyone," Icky pleaded quietly, his tone almost desperate, "Promise Icky that you won't tell anyone what we've said, or that Bonker is alive. Not yet..."
"O-Okay, I promise," High replied in defeat, while Icky finally pulled away from him slowly. "But, I say that you shouldn't let yourself believe anything that clown guy says. He's wrong; we all really do care about you, Icky! We wouldn't fool you like that, honest! I mean... They really want you to come back to Muddville and stuff, so they-..." High suddenly stopped mid-sentence, before letting out a few forced coughs, although he didn't have any need to. "Just trust me on this, okay?" While Icky was confused by High's strange actions, he soon neverminded them, looking away.
"Icky trusts you with a hundred percent certainty, he really does," He soon spoke, softening his tone over time, "It's the others Icky's getting doubtful of. Even... Even Taffy, and he is the closest Icky has." There was a long pause this time, while High gasped a bit in surprise. Just as he was about to spring to the defense, Icky decided to speak again.
"You wouldn't know it, because you just met him not too long ago," He started, his hands holding onto his arms in wariness, "But when Icky met him, Taffy was a completely different person. He was so shy and quiet, frightened easily by others and only freely talked to Icky. The idea of him fighting anyone was pure fantasy, as he'd rather flee the scene and hide, than to face the aggressor." Icky paused with a bittersweet sigh.
"But now, something's changed," He soon continued, his voice getting more quiet as he progressed. "And it can't have simply been a realization of flavor, his 'sourness'. Just because he is, doesn't mean he has to be..." Eventually, Icky shook his head again, approaching High, but only to nudge him away with a sad smile. "Nevermind it, High. Icky will try to see the truth, and he hopes that the truth is yours."
At first, High didn't want to budge, but respected Icky's wishes to be alone, so he started to crawl away. He spoke one last time, as he left. "Well, okay... If you say so. But, try not to worry, alright?"