Tanith squealed in excitement and ran to cliff edge. Peering over she stared at the eight-hundred foot drop to the bottom of the canyon. She thought about how if this went wrong she could end up skewered by the giant rocks sticking up from the bottom. This was going to be awesome!
She raced off and grabbed the thing of elastic she had used to shoot herself to the sun with the other day and hammered a stake through it and into the ground at the edge of the cliff. Then she tied the other end around her middle.
"There."
Tanith peered over the cliff again, getting her adrenaline pumping. And jumped.
"Woo-hoo!" She yelled as she free fell to the bottom. But right when she was about to hit the rocks the elastic tightened and she shot back into the air. She flew past the cliff edge then hovered in the air for a moment before once again plummeting.
She continued doing this, bouncing up and down like a yo-yo until all of the bounce was gone and she was hanging limply by her belly, only a couple feet above the sharp rocks. Night had fallen and she was slowly turning in the darkness. She couldn't get free from the elastic and was stuck.
"Hello?" She called. "Any one up there?"
Tanith heard a chattering noise in the shadows and froze. "What was that?"
Rustling came from some nearby bushes and she looked closer. "Who is it?"
No answer.
"Oh! It's one of those guessing games."
Rustling.
"Skulduggery?"
Silence.
"Remus Crux?"
"He's dead!" Yelled a voice from behind a shrub.
"Well you could be his ghost!"
"Well I am not."
"China?"
"Nope."
"Valkyrie?"
"Nope."
"Madame Mist?"
"Why are you only guessing girl names?"
"Because you're voice sounds like a girl. Davina Marr?"
"No, she's dead too and I'm a guy!"
"Ghastly?"
"No."
"Dusk?"
"Nope."
"Sanguine?"
"No."
"Ghastly?"
"You already said him."
"Well I really want it to be him."
"Well I'm not."
"Fletcher?"
"Nope."
"Okay," Tanith said. "I give up. Who are you?"
"I." A figure stepped out from the bushes. "Am the Zombie King."
Tanith strained to see over her shoulder.
"Scapegrace?"
"Yep."
"But, you're a woman." She gasped. "Are you transgender?"
The woman, Scapegrace, glared. "No I am not. This is my temporary body for now. But seeing as you need help, I decided to assert my authority."
"What authority is that exactly?"
"As the Zombie King."
"But you aren't a zombie anymore."
"I am still the Killer Supreme."
"But the only people you actually killed was to make your little zombie horde. And that was only with a bite."
"I thought you were stupider than this."
"Shut your face."
"Well," Scapegrace said. "That wasn't very nice. I guess I'll just leave you alone here." He-she turned away.
"Wait!"
Scapegrace paused.
Tanith sighed and went limp again.
"Okay, fine. Just please help me down from here."
He-she grinned. "Good."
"So, what do I do?"
"Take out that sword of yours and cut the elastic so that you fall to the ground safely."
Silence. "Um, I'm not wearing my sword. It dug into my back when I tied the elastic on and hurt so I put it down next to the stake that keeps the elastic secure."
"Oh."
Silence.
"So what should I do now?"
"That was my only solution."
Quiet.
The Next Morning…..
Valkyrie and Skulduggery drove up to the cliff and parked.
"Okay," Valkyrie said as she got out of the car. "Tanith said that she wanted to do something up here yesterday then left. That was the last I saw her."
"And you let her leave?" Skulduggery said incredulously.
"Well I can't tell her 'no'. I'm not her mother."
"You should have asked her what she was planning to do on a cliff."
"She did leave with that box of stuff she used to 'shoot herself to the sun…'
Silence.
"This isn't good."
"No it is not."
They ran over to the edge of the cliff and saw piece of elastic with a stake holding it in the ground. Tanith's sword was next to it.
The two exchanged glances.
"Help," called a voice from the bottom of the cliff.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie peered over. Tanith hung from the end of the string of elastic, only a few feet above the ground. A woman sat next to her on the ground.
"Help," Tanith called.
"Help," the woman said.
Tanith sighed. "It's useless. No one's going to come."
"Yeah. Too bad I forgot how I even got down here. Otherwise I would have left already."
"What were you even doing down here?"
"I was looking for that idiot, Thrasher. He went wandering last night and never came back so I figured he got lost or something."
"He's pretty stupid isn't he?"
"Yes he is."
"Hey!"
The two looked up.
"What are you doing down there?" Valkyrie called.
"I was bungee jumping then couldn't get down."
"Oh."
"Help me!" The woman yelled, waving her arms.
"Who are you?" Skulduggery asked.
"Scapegrace," Tanith answered.
Silence.
Skulduggery spoke. "You're transgender?"
"No!"
Valkyrie frowned. "Then why are you a woman?"
"This is my temporary body until I can find a new one."
"Can you help us now?" Tanith asked.
"Sure," Skulduggery said. He flew down, picked up Tanith and flew her back up to the top of the cliff.
"Thanks!" Tanith said cheerfully then went and jumped again.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie face-palmed.
"Uh, can someone help me?" Scapegrace called.
Skulduggery and Valkyrie looked at each other. "Nah."
Scapegrace sagged.
Suddenly the elastic snapped as Tanith was at her highest. She plummeted and there was an awful 'THUD!' when she landed.
Two Hours Later…..
"Tanith, what are we going to do with you?" Skulduggery asked, shaking his head as he looked at Tanith lying in the hospital bed.
Tanith looked at Skulduggery. "Get me more ice cream?"
