We sat in the darkness of Twitch's lair quietly. Twitch laid on my lap filled with trepidation. The ground above us rumbled on and on as the search began. After Twitch's massacre around here, why wouldn't they come down here again. As I looked up, I felt the rodent's body shivering. His head jerking left and right. He hugged his crossbow tightly, like it was the only thing that could keep him alive. I scratched his ear in an attempt to comfort the distressed rat.
"Hey. Calm down. They'll leave soon enough," I said gently. "They'll have to get tired of this place someday."
"But.. Goopy One.. What if they find out? I.. I have to kill them first! Exterminate them before they exterminate me!"
"No you don't. Let's just wait. They don't know that this lair exist. They won't find us. I'm sure of it."
"If Twitch is correct, didn't your creators promised that everything was going to be fine? Nothing bad will happen?" Twitch asked. "And look what happened!"
I fell silent. I didn't know what to say to that. I never knew what to say when my parents were brought up. Maybe they would be okay if I was there. Not fooling around in Zaun's pipes all the time. As I thought, the floor rumbled again. I felt a huge tug from my arm.
"Let the sewer king go Goopy One!" Twitch shouted. "You're words.. They're nothing! They won't make sure of anything! Twitch himself needs to finish this! He must! Twitch needs to skewer them! Must kill them before they kill us! Yes.. Yes! Let me go!"
"Twitch.. Please think through this pal. If you show yourself again, they'll know that you live around here. Which means more people. And I'm sure those people are ready for you."
"But if I don't go, they'll find us out.. then they'll kill us.. They'll do those things to us that you've said they do. Experiment.. Dissect... Twitch doesn't want to be dissected!"
"And you won't be! Please! Don't leave!" ZAC's grip on Twitch tightened. "I'm sorry. But I already lost my parents! I'm not losing you!" ZAC shouted angrily. Twitch went quiet, tensing up again. His limbs stiff; his head turned to me, unsure of what to say. "Sorry..I just.. prefer not to lose anyone else. I had enough loss today anyways.."
The ground rumbled again. This time, very loudly. The pipes behind my back began to shake violently. Books began to fall from their creaky bookshelves. The sound of shattered glass echoed through the chamber. Twitch grew restless. "Let me go! They're getting in! I know it!"
"Hey.. Maybe.. Maybe it's just another pipe!" ZAC said, trying to calm him down. "Besides.. We have some pipes we can get into. We can just escape through those!"
"But my kingdom! My turf! My home!"
"But we need the sewer king alive! We can do with a broken kingdom! I'll be with you! I can get protect you! Just don't leave!"
"But Twitch must protect it! The sewer king must protect his kingdom and belongings! It's the only home we have left!" Suddenly, a large creaking noise came from the entrance. The boulder that blocked the pipe. It was removed. I gestured to the pipe behind me.
"C'mon buddy! We can leave through here! We can find another home. I know we can find another home. There's many homes in Zaun! Zaun's a big place. We can find one!"
"NO!" Twitch broke through ZAC's grasp. His crossbow came out, ready to be fired. It grew faintly in the dark. "This is the only home I have! Nowhere is safe for Twitch and his Goopy One! Nowhere! They'll just keep invading and taking.."
"I see something!" Someone shouted in the background. "maybe it's there!"
"Grrr.. No one invades Twitch's lair! No one exterminates him!" The rat slowly went invisible before ZAC could even grab him. He was gone. That wasn't good. That wasn't good. ZAC stood up and ran towards their direction. A loud cackling was heard from the distance. ZAC ran faster and faster. The cackling grew louder and louder. Suddenly, the sounds stop. I finally reached the entrance and saw Twitch lying unconscious on the floor as some gas-masked men looked over. The arrows merely stick to the surface of their bulletproof vests. There was one men down, but that wasn't enough to zone people away from the infamous plague rat.
I quickly grabbed the floor below me and stretched my arms quickly. I aimed for the group about to grab Twitch's body. No one was taking him away. "Sorry about this," ZAC said. His feet let go of the ground, The bodies slammed on to his skin. They clanked on the rusty metal railing of the floor.
"Hello? Hello!?" a walkie talkie shouted. There was more of them. I grabbed Twitch's body, some of Twitch's journals and ran to the backdoor pipe, leaving the invaded lair. Leaving what seemed to be the only safe refuge available.