Hello there fellow FanFictioners! It is I The Human Paradox here to bring you the 6th chapter of "Live or Die? Make Your Choice." Well, well, well! I kept my promise didn't I? Told you all I wouldn't let you guys down. :)
Now to reviewers!
Terminator- "HOLY FIZZ!"? Unique and accurate phrase of description. I look forward to your future reviewers!
Guest- Glad your pleased with the update, I am also! In regards to the characters, read this chapter and you will get your answer to one of them...
Anyway on with the show!
I don not own any Wreck-It Ralph characters, they all belong to Disney Animation. I also do not own any Saw characters, they belong to Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures.
The sun was high in the sky as the three vehicles sped across the sugary sweet landscape. At the front was the police cruiser with Detective Matthews at the wheel.
Still can't believe what we found down there. Sourpuss and the President aren't gonna like this. In the middle of the line, was Sour Bill in the Royal Kart. The Royal Advisor still couldn't believe he had his own kart.
Wonder what it is that Matthews and Strahm found down there? It'd better be good news, haven't had enough of that today. Bringing up the rear was the Wreck-It Mobile with Vanellope at the wheel. As much as she should be thinking about Wynnchel, Duncan and Beard Papa; she just couldn't. She could only think about Rancis.
Please be ok butterfingers. I've lost too much already…
The three reached the Kart Bakery, which had been sectioned off by Strahm with C.L.A.W. agents guarding the whole area. One of the agents lifted the police barrier tape that had been set up. Matthews led the karts behind him into the kart bakery's front. He stopped his car, turned off his engine and stepped out. Sour Bill and Vanellope also followed suit and hopped out of their karts.
"Well what did you want to show us Matthews?" Vanellope asked.
"It's in the bakery's basement. Strahm's waiting for us" the detective then walked away from the two. The politician glanced at her advisor, before trailing behind Matthews.
The three walked past C.L.A.W. agents inspecting the main room. Vanellope took note that there was a visible tear in the red curtain. Matthews led the two through the tear in the curtain. Behind the tear was a metal door that was wide open. Matthews stopped momentarily and pointed at the door.
"Notice those dents in the hinges?" he pointed at the door hinges.
"They've been snapped off" Sour Bill stated.
"Correct, by us."
"Why?"
"The door was locked by several padlocks"
"But why point this out, Matthews?" Vanellope asked.
"We don't have padlocks on doors in the bakery" Sour Bill explained with sudden realisation. Matthews nodded,
"Someone really didn't want anyone to get down there in time."
"In time for what?" Sour Bill asked.
"You're about to see for yourselves. Now I must warn you, it's not a pretty sight. I'm speaking to you mostly madam President." Vanellope suddenly grew anxious at what awaited her. But she gulped down her fear and readied herself for whatever was done there.
"I'll be fine, Matthews"
"Okay, follow me" he walked through the door and down the stairs, with Vanellope and Sour Bill cautiously following.
Adorabeezle ran like a lion chasing a gazelle in the African plains, as she sprinted towards where she heard the sounds of Snowanna's screams.
"Hang on Snow, I'm coming!" The girl panted as she ran, scared for her best friend's safety. As she ran, she was unwelcomingly greeted with screams of a terrified Sticky, followed swiftly by the yell of Torvald. Upon hearing this, Adorabeezle ran faster, if that was even possible. Eventually she reached where the screams originated from. She bend over, hands on knees trying to regain her breath as she stared at the maze of candy cane trees in front of her.
"Adorabeezle!" Gloyd shouted from behind, as he, Crumbelina, Nougetsia and the C.L.A.W. agent ran up to her. "Who screamed?"
"Snow, Sticky and Torvald" she panted, "I think they're in there" she said, pointing at the trees.
"Right um" Gloyd looked back at Crumbelina, "Any ideas Crumb?" Crumbelina sighed under her breath, always her.
"Ok, C.L.A.W.?" the giant looked at her with dead eyes, "Cut down those trees and see if anyone is in there." It only looked at the trees before stomping towards them. "Gloyd you better help him." The Halloween-themed racer nodded before walking with the agent. Crumbelina turned back to Adorabeezle who was being comforted by Nougetsia.
"Don't worry Dora, we'll find them" Nougetsia spoke softly to her sister. Crumbelina decided to make herself useful,
"Snowanna, Sticky, Torvald, Minty! Where are you guys?!"
The first thing that struck Vanellope about the basement was the gut-wrenching smell that engulfed the whole airspace in the room. She grimaced and held her nose tightly.
"What is it?" Sour Bill asked.
"The smell!" she exclaimed, "Can't you smell it?" Bill responded by pointing to his face. "Oh yeah, you don't have a nose."
"Well remembered" he sarcastically noted, "But what is it you smell?"
"Don't know but its rank! Matthews where is that stench coming from? I would've expected to be Ralph, but he's not here right now so…"
"It's coming from that" Matthews motioned towards a gate. There was some kind of machinery that started at their end and finished through a hole in the gate where shape lay. Vanellope approached the contraption, but was immediately repelled back by the odour, which was even stronger.
"Okay, you have to do something about that smell Matthews before I hurl!" Vanellope then took notice of the shape lying on the ground on the other side of the gate. "Is that…?"
"Duncan? Yeah that's him. He's dead." Matthews answered. Vanellope stumbled back in shock. Sour Bill was also in disbelief.
"He can't be dead, not dead dead! If you die in a game, you regenerate! Right, Bill?" she looked hopefully at her advisor, who was staring at Duncan. He ignored Vanellope and spoke to Matthews,
"What about Wynnchel and Beard Papa?"
"Wynnchel- dead. Beard Papa- unknown" Strahm answered as he entered the room through another door on the other side of the room.
"Wynnchel's dead as well?" Vanellope asked, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"I'm afraid so miss President." Vanellope fell on her backside and remained seated. Sour Bill looked at Strahm,
"Take me to Wynnchel, Strahm"
"Yes sir. Miss President, you coming with us?" The young girl shook her head and kept her eyes fixed on the ground. "Right, Matthews stay with her." Strahm ordered as he escorted Sour Bill to the other room.
"No problem" Matthews kneels down to Vanellope's level and wrapped his arm around her.
Sour Bill almost blended with the green-lighted room. He noticed the chair in the middle of the room, the television set in the corner and of course, Wynnchel's corpse lying to his left with the lower left section of his body missing and sown up and a massive hole in his stomach. Bended over the body was another Sugar Rush character, one who he hadn't seen in a while.
"Hoffman?" Forensic Hoffman looked up at Sour Bill.
"Ah, Bill good to see you."
"Yes it's been a while; I thought you were on holiday?"
"Was, Strahm contacted me and told me what had happened. I immediately came back." He explained.
"Again thank you Mark" Strahm spoke.
"Hey, I had to"
"What have you got Hoffman?" Sour Bill enquired.
"Well as you can see Wynnchel has lost his left leg and some of his hip in the process. They were extracted an hour or so before his death."
"Any idea where they are?" Sour Bill asked.
"Found 'em, bagged 'em."
"Where were they?"
"See that machine out there?"
"Yes…" he drawled.
"That's where." Sour Bill's eyes widen in shock.
"Also we found the weapon that did it. It was a meat cleaver, and it had Wynnchel's prints on it." Sour Bill stared at Strahm in a daze before looking at Hoffman.
"You're telling me that he hacked his own leg and hip off?"
"Tragically yes. They were in one of the two containers on the machine. In the other container were some of Duncan's body parts. We also have the weapon that did that and it had Duncan's prints on it."
"I don't believe this…"
"Oh, it gets worse sir" Strahm interjects, "Hoffman, tell him about Beard Papa"
"What about Beard Papa?"
"You see this hole in Wynnchel's stomach? Papa did that." Sour Bill looked horrified,
"No, he wouldn't have…"
"He would have if he had to extract a key." Hoffman said.
"What key?" Bill asked confused.
"Follow me" Sour Bill and Strahm complied and followed Hoffman to a desk that had the television set on it. On the table there was a bear trap.
"This is a bear trap" Hoffman, "Except it's been altered."
"How do you know?" Sour Bill asked.
"From this" Hoffman pressed play on the television set and the video of the Turbo doll came to life. The three men remained silent as the video played, as the doll explained the usage of the reverse bear trap, how Beard Papa had to extract the key from the stomach of his friend and how he only had sixty seconds to do.
"There is only one key to open the device. It's in the stomach of your dead colleague. Look around, Beard Papa; know that I'm not lying. Better hurry up. Live or die, make your choice".
As the screen turned to static, the three men remained silent until Sour Bill spoke.
"Who would do this?" he pondered out load voice breaking, "Why would they do this?"
"More importantly" Strahm spoke, "When are they gonna do it again?"
Snowanna felt like her chest had been constricted into a knot, she also felt like she was floating. Both of these were accurate. She was indeed floating. If you count being suspended above the ground by chains hooked into your ribcage as floating, that is. Snowanna lifted her weary head and blinked her eyes until her blurry vision returned to normal.
"Hello!" her voice croaked, "Is anyone there?!" She winced as she became more aware of the pain in her chest. She glanced down to the horrific image of the metal trap buried into her chest. She screamed in terror and thrashed in the air,
"Help! Help me! Someone please! Is anyone there?!" A buzzing was heard as the television on the table in front of her came to life, as the image of the Turbo doll turned its head to face Snowanna.
"Hello Snowanna. I want to play a game."
Snowanna began to cry and whimper as the doll stared at her with its cold dead yellow eyes. She also became aware that there was a jar of acid suspended on a shelf in front her at arm's length.
"You are well known in Sugar Rush to be the most gifted and graceful dancer in the game. Some even describe you as… an angel without her wings. Well, today Snowanna you have finally found your wings."
Snowanna by this point had her arms gripping at the chains trapping her in mid-air and desperately tugging at them.
"The device you are wearing is hooked into your ribcage, and by the time this tape is finished, you will have one minute to find the way out. At the end of that minute... you should know better than anyone what happens then."
She stops struggling and stares at the harness in her chest in realisation.
"There is a simple key that will unlock the harness, Kerry. It is right in front of you."
Snowanna looks at the jar of acid and notices, that there was in fact a key in at the bottom of the jar, already beginning to dissolve.
"All you have to do is reach in and take it. But do it quickly. The acid will dissolve the key in a matter of seconds... Make your choice."
Snowanna stared at the television, as it turned to static and the clock on the wall next to the TV commenced its countdown of 60 seconds. The ticking snapped her out of her trance and immediately returned to tugging at the chains and the padlock on the device embedded into her ribcage. She looked at the jar of acid, which had already begun to dissolve the literal key to her freedom. She looked at the harness in her chest, then at the jar, then the clock on the wall and back once again to the jar.
I can't do this, I can't. She looked back at the clock which had just reached 30 seconds. I have to do this!
She then braced herself and with a trembling hand dunked it into the liquid. The pain was indescribable. Snowanna screamed in agony, as the interior of the jar turned red from the blood her hand was leaking. She gritted her teeth against the intense pain and somehow managed to get a grip of the key. She pulled her hand from the jar of horror and desperately attempted to insert the key into the lock. After much fumbling she managed to release the padlock from the device. She glanced at the clock, 15 seconds left. Snowanna screamed and began to tug at the harness, but to no avail. It wouldn't open.
"Come on! I unlocked the damn thing!" she yelled to high heavens. She gave a final tug at the chains that suspended her, but still to no avail.
Snowanna broke down in sobs a final time as the clock gave its final tick and the harness burst open, ripping the poor racer's chest to shreds with a river of pixels escaping her body.
Snowanna's body remained hovering in the air with her arms tangled in the chains above her head. She truly now resembled an angel…
End of Chapter 6!
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