Chapter Two

Frederic walked down the corridor, incredulous over Ashla's behavior. He didn't trust her, but she was his only guide out of here. Frederic spotted the goat lady hiding behind a pillar to his amusement. Just as he reached the end, Ashla emerged from the pillar.

"I'm so sorry; I thought to make sure you were safe. I hid behind the pillar just in case." She said.

"Frau Ashla, Ich has been independent longer zan du know. Ich can take care of michself." Frederic said.

"Moving on." Ashla said. She and Frederic walked into the next room. There were marked levers on the wall that controlled the spike bridges.

"Now I will allow you to solve this puzzle on your own. I marked out the levers you must pull." Ashla said. Frederic pulled the levers, allowing both to go through.

"Good job. I have to run errands. I'll be back. Stay put, young one, and here's a cell phone with my phone number if you ever need me." Ashla said. She gave the Swiss boy an old flip-phone and went away.

"Finally, Ich can concentrate on mich mission." Frederic said. He had no intention of staying put, so he pocketed the phone and moved on. The next rooms all had puzzles that were relatively easy to solve. After passing through several rooms, Frederic reached an area where the floor was clear.

"Interesting… Ich wonder vhat's down zere." He said. Frederic stepped forward on the floor. He didn't even take five steps when the floor cracked and shattered beneath him, causing the boy to fall in.

It was a three-meter drop, not very far at all. Frederic landed on a soft patch of yellow flowers. Besides the stairs to the main level, there was a conveniently place lever. Delighted, Frederic pulled the lever, which caused a click noise above. He climbed up the stairs and found the spikes blocking the path ahead were retracted. Frederic carefully walked out of the glass floor room and into a narrow corridor. There was a ghost blocking the way forward, looking up at the ceiling.

"Sometimes, I wonder what my purpose is. Why am I here? Why am I a ghost?" The ghost said. "No one can really answer me, because I have no one. Sure Metalmon might be my neighbor, but he isn't around much.

"What is your purpose?" The ghost asked Frederic.

"Right now, tu save mein girlfriend." Frederic said determinedly.

"The determination in your voice is admiring." The ghost said. "But after that?"

"Protecting die kinder und zeir rights around der world." Frederic said. "A lot of die adults in mein world are evil und we must counter it."

"A noble cause." The ghost concurred. "Oops. Are you trying to pass through? Sorry."

"Eet's fine, really…" Frederic began, but the ghost was not listening.

"I'll just move somewhere else to look above. Bye…" The ghost said as it disappeared. Frederic felt bad, but nonetheless continued onwards.

-o0o-

Fanny did not know how long she was in the white cell. It could have been hours or days, who knows. What she does know is that everything she tried to keep herself entertained has failed. Boredom was a kid's biggest enemy and Fanny was bored to tears.

'Ugh! This is torture!' Fanny thought despairingly. 'Aye'm going ter die!... Maybe aye can file me nails down to keep me busy."

Fanny took out a nail file she kept in her sleeve and began filing. As soon as she started filing, Fanny got a brilliant idea.

'What if aye can file these chains down? Then aye can escape!' She thought. Remaining very quiet, Fanny listened for incoming enemies. Nothing. So, she began to quickly rub the file against the metal. After 10 seconds, Fanny felt the cuff for damage. To her delight, the area where she rubbed the file didn't feel smooth anymore. So Fanny continued to file away. Eventually, the cuff on her right ankle was forced open, its strength given away to the file. Fanny, after listening for incoming guards and such, filed away the other cuff. Her anxiety mounted as fears of being caught ran through her mind. Finally, though, the remaining chain was filed away and Fanny was free. She put her nail file back in her sleeve and headed for the exit. Fanny slowly attempted to open the door. To her surprise, the door opened. She felt apprehensive, but bolted anyway. Fanny sprinted out of the cell and into the labyrinth of corridors, hoping to get as far away from Patton as possible.

After several minutes of running blindly, Fanny reached an area full of portals that look exactly like the one she was taken through. Fanny looked around and saw each portal had a sign on top. She was only able to catch Ultraman 2 and Super Tortellini Brothers before she heard approaching voices. Not taking any chances, Fanny leaped through a random portal and disappeared out of sight.

-o0o-

Frederic waded through the garbage pit, disgusted as where his quest led him. Unfortunately, he still hadn't found his umbrella amongst the rot and scrap. The Swiss operative moved quickly, wanting to get out of the festering stink hole and to avoid any unfriendly characters. He was delighted to find an exit and rushed for it. Before he made it through, a figure leaped from under the turbid water and blocked the way ahead. It looked like a practice dummy, except this one was floating and looked extremely angry.

"You!" The dummy yelled. "You! How dare you!"

"Mich? Vhat did I do?" Frederic said, scared beyond belief.

"You spooked my cousin! He was just minding his own business when you came up to him and started talking to him." The dummy yelled. Frederic remembered that dummy. Ashla, as part of his "preparation" for the Underworld, taught him to use words instead of fighting. She made him practice on a random dummy. Frederic didn't realize it was possessed.

"Ich am sorry." Frederic said. "Ich did not know."

"Too late! Now I'm going to freakin' destroy you!" The dummy screamed almost incomprehensibly. Frederic widened his eyes as the dummy went on the attack. He duck as the spirit charged head on. Being unarmed, Frederic prepared himself for hand-to-hand combat when a fireball hit the dummy, causing it to disappear. It was Ashla to the rescue.

"My child! Are you okay?" Ashla said worriedly. "I was looking everywhere for you."

"I'm gut, frau." Frederic said.

"It's not safe for you to be outside. Let's go to my home. Nothing will happen to you there." Ashla said. She took Frederic by the hand and led him away from the garage pit. After some walking the pair reached a small house. They entered, revealing a cozy inside with a living room to the left and a corridor with two doors to the right.

"Which kind of pie would you like? Butterscotch or pecan?" Ashla asked.

"Butterscotch, bitte." Frederic answered.

"I'll make butterscotch pecan pie instead." Ashla said. "Your room is the first door down the hall."

As Ashla went to the kitchen, Frederic went to the room. It was small and homely. Frederic was suddenly aware of his fatigue and tucked himself in the bed after putting his helmet on a bedpost. There, he fell asleep.

-o0o-

Fanny landed in a small quiet room. Disoriented, she stepped out and heard the faint roar of a crowd. Fanny listened carefully. It sounded like the chants fans say for sports teams. Fanny realized she was in a stadium of sorts. Just then, a man in a trench coat appeared in the room, holding a clipboard.

"Miss Fulbright, the ref requires your presence on the pitch." He said with a slight English-Irish accent.

"What's going on?" Fanny asked.

"It's the start of the 2020 UEFA European Championships. Ireland is about to start their first group stage match against Romania." The man said. "You are leading the Irish National Football Team in the tournament."

Fanny was caught by surprise. She was leading Ireland in the Euros? This was a dream come true.

"Well, let's go then! We got a match ter win!" Fanny said determinedly and marched out of the room. The roar of the crowd blasted Fanny in the face as she stepped outside. The stadium, which turned out to be the Allianz Arena, was filled to the brim with cheering fans. Fanny saw the national teams of Ireland and Romania stand next to the referees. Then, the announcer spoke over the loudspeaker in both German and English.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer boomed. "Welcome to the 2020 UEFA European Championship match between Ireland and Romania!"

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Now please stand for the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland!"

The Irish national anthem started to play, Fanny singing eagerly to it. After the anthem finished, the Romanians had their turn. After the conclusion of the anthem and handshakes, the players took their positions on their respective sides of the pitch.

"Aye expect nothing less than victory! Do yew hear me!?" Fanny shouted at the Irish players. They nodded and the head ref blew the whistle to start the match. The game was on!

TBC…