Author's Note!
Wow, I've been feeling under the weather lately so I'm sorry this didn't come out as early as I wish it had. Also, I took a small break for the holidays and for finals, so I had a little bit of writing withdrawal and Writer's block. I'm still feeling sick but don't worry, I'll get through it! Anyway, this chapter is yet again another long one and at this rate, viewers are going to question my sanity (which I do to myself already). As you see, I may have tried to messily cover up my mistake of calling his Jason instead of Jasper in one sentence, but hey! There's a new headcanon now! Also, this chapter is much shorter than the others, because I felt the need to get it out quickly. I'm sorry if it seems a bit clunky. Anyway, I hope you enjoy all of my pain and suffering and Enjoy the freshest part in Escape The Night, The First Act!
Chapter 9: Guns, Poison, and Plain Insanity
Amidst all the chaos, there's strangely a twinge of comfort.
Ross ended up carrying Rice after it turned out all of the rats were set free. So, in a hurry, he picked her up in his arms and rushed her inside the warehouse along with everybody else inside the building. Even though they were trapped in a literal Hell, Ross was enjoying being a superhero. Not only is he rescuing a damsel, but it's from an evil super-villain as well! It was like the Lord had given him a sign and he was going to take it. Even though he had a pretty damn good chance that he or she was going to die amidst that hell.
So there he is, looking around the run down building. Out of all the happy and upbeat buildings with very wonky color schemes in the carnival, this building is the dirtiest and simplistic. Shaped like a barn, the small red warehouse had paint peeling like a face mask. Multiple termites were crawling up the endless wooden foundations on the only cracks of light were the holes that the creatures had so thankfully created for the group. Even if it had some point been a warehouse, it was clear that this building hadn't been used for an awfully long time. Heck, even if you squinted at it for long enough, you still couldn't tell that it had even been a warehouse, or anything else, in the first place.
"It's a miracle this place isn't falling at the seams." Christie inquired, dragging her finger across one of the support beams, ending up with a fingertip completely caked in dark-colored dust. "It looks as if its been here for decades."
"I think we're supposed not to focus on architecture and instead focus on the fact that we are in a murderous carnival completely surrounded by disease-ridden creatures and a murderous queen," Adam complained, pressing his long fingers against his pale forehead. By the looks of it, Ross could tell that he was clearly annoyed to the highest extent.
"Right," Helena clasped her sweaty palms together, finally stepping back into leader mode. Ross knew that it was time to move out of her way when he tied her hair once again into a neat ponytail. She started scanning around the room with the tip of her fingernail, finally pointing to a broken table in the corner. She turned back to Ross, smiling like a Madwoman. "Hey Ross, Do you think you can pick up the table and go grab the duct tape on top of the cupboard? Thanks." She then resumed collecting random things within the crowded warehouse (Which was more like an oversized storage closet), managing to hold them all within her arms.
"What for?" Shima asked. Normally, Ross knew her as the one not really to talk, but now she'd acquired this mystique to her that he couldn't help but respect.
Helena then proceeded to ignore Shima's question, yet answering it at the same time by slamming a book on the table. That spooked Rice off of the barrel of ale that Ross had kindly placed her on, which almost made Ross flinch to catch her in the fall that never occurred. She continued to scan the pages before slamming her finger down. "Just as I thought."
"What do you mean just as you thought?" Nova asked.
"The Rat Queen is a humanoid," She responded. "That means she's not fully animal. Which means, you can't just kill her like a normal animal," She continued to read the page, finally showing the group what she had been reading. "It says the Rat Queen never made an antidote, but her concoction made her animals invincible to every single weapon imaginable...except one."
"What was that?" Rice quivered. Ross took this as his chance and proceeded to wrap his hand around her as if he was attempting to shield her from whatever Helena was going to utter. It couldn't be that bad. Like, I must've made them able to be killed by rocks, or technology. Even though it was the 80's and there was a particular weapon that had become extremely popular...Oh no. There was no way in Hell that she was going to make them create that...right?
All of Ross's hopes were dashed on a rock, his mental defeat making a sickening crunch as Helena formed a deviously mischevious grin. "Guns."
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At first, Jason (Which everyone had mistakenly called him, even though his name was Jasper. Simple mistake) had a buttload of respect for Helena, even beginning to call her a super hot badass. But then that respect decided to transform itself into an indescribable form of fear. At first, he just dismissed it for hormones. Now, it's transformed into something that he can recognize. He can recognize that she is insane. Borderline fucking insane. There was clearly no doubt about it. And now, watching her preach about a bunch of college students making a weapon, he decided he would rather face the Rat Queen's wrath before having to spend another moment with the psychopathic softball player.
"You want us to create a GUN?!" Jason shrieked.
"Oh, Not just that!" Jason could hardly believe what Helena was saying. It almost made him want to pinch himself to try and make him wake up from this very clear nightmare. "We're going to create a gun and a poison that we'll disguise as an antidote!" She smiled. "I know I may or may not be scaring you, but I've got to assure you everything is-"
"I'm in." Adam shrugged. Jason whipped his head to Adam, rubbing his neck due to the whiplash that flew into his neck. He was shocked at how the stone cold Adam had suddenly agreed to something so insane. "My dad's hunted a lot before, and I think I'll be able to handle making something. It'll have to be makeshift though."
"You all sound legit insane." Shima sighed. "But I assume desperate times require desperate measures."
Jason heard the world slowly crumble around him like the Ruins of Rome. If his mindset of everything just being a crazy coincidence wasn't going to work anymore, then he would have to have a deep consultation with Alistair on his definition of a good time. He watched as everyone whom he somewhat enjoyed having around slowly fell into the insanity of the carnival. It was almost as if the entire world had stopped, giving him time to try and recognize the pain that they had decided to drag his supposed friends into.
"There are some broken guns in the left corner. Maybe you can craft a new one out of one of those?" Helena asked Adam. Adam shrugged as response and she muttered something to herself before snickering about spiders. She then turned to snap at Ross with a boss-like physique. "Ross, Where's the table I requested? Chop Chop!"
Everyone flew into a frenzy. With Elidia gone, Helena was taking charge, and Jason had to admit that it was actually really hot. Even though her boobs were clearly showing through that two-piece, that didn't make him fall to her wishes. So, he defiantly sat himself down on a nearby barrel of gunpowder and crossed his arms like a small child. "No."
Helena snapped her neck to Jason like an owl, her eyes burning with a wave of indescribable anger. "What?"
"I said no." He began to cross his arm and clench them even further, even turning his head away to avoid her gaze. Even though he had turned his head away from her, that doesn't mean his neck was safe from the lasers he was aiming at his neck. "You're not my mom. You're not even at the same social standing as I."
And with that, Helena kindly walked up to him and brushed his hair away. Strangely, Jason saw no problem with her available hand curling into a fist, as he was focusing on her approaching lips toward his face. Throughout all the years of his father teaching him that a Lady's looks were everything, he had finally scored himself a maiden who can defend him. So, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt as he leaned in to touch her lips...
He then got a sucker punch to the face.
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Jason really should've known better than to disrespect the queen that was Helena Veronica, and now she had to teach him a lesson. Some of them just never learn, and now she had to show them that she had the ruling authority as the goddess over all the degenerates in the room and that they were all peasants inside of her grande rule. Of course, she would never say this out loud because she was still a considerate human being, but they have to remember where they stand. And sometimes, it takes a little push-Or punch, to do it.
"Never speak to me like that again, Bitch." She hissed, shooting Jason a murderous glare.
Jason's eyes widened in surprise as he rubbed his cheek. Did he Really expect Helena to be as weak as some of the other females here? No, she was a proud feminist, and she acted like it. He stared at Helena, almost as if he was going to attack, but he just sat there, dumbfounded. It was almost as if Helena had given him his first butt whooping in his entire life.
So, everyone got to work. It as if for the first time during the whole night, they had actually united together. Ross, Nova, and Kenneth all helped piece the table back together so they could craft upon it. Adam & Austin started scrapping inside the building for metal parts to craft the gun. And like some sort of duo of mad scientists, Christie & Shima were already gathering old items to create a formidable poison. Of course, they could only scavenge things like baking soda and such, but anything would do. Rice & Crystal were using their jewelry to help make small detailed bullets, in which they could slip the poison inside a glass container, surrounded by golden and silver parts. Of course, they were making more than one, but it was fine.
Jason still sat on the barrel, while Adam sometimes grabbed a dusty old cup off of the nearby bookshelf to pump himself a glassful, in which a lot of the other people joined in as well. Of course, they were too busy being commanded by Helena while she constantly encouraged to others to even get the least bit drunk, but during this, they all shared stories and random encounters, when a feeling of love and togetherness filled up the room. You could even say that they were a big happy family amidst all of this torture.
Everything was working as fit as a fiddle. Everyone was ignoring the cloud of impending doom shadowing over them and instead decided to focus on the brighter things. Everyone began to use their talents to good use and continued to be all working towards the same collective goal. To get the hell out of there. Yes, everything was going great in Helena's mind and nothing could go wrong-
"Hey, Hells?" Austin asked. Back in college, they were called the 'Heaven and Hell Duo', which was a suitable name, considering all the times she and Maria got drunk in college. Austin would always be there to help her with a hangover.
"What is it?" She asked, turning away from Adam giving the two girls craftmanship tips on how to craft a bullet that not only will release poison but shatter on impact to make the Rat Queen bleed to death. She didn't expect any interruptions, and especially not from the soft-spoken Austin. So she turned over to him, smirking at the use of their timeless nickname.
"Just wanna say..." His face turned red. "You're a pretty great leader."
Of course, if Helena had heard this from just anyone, her ego would've welled up inside her and she would've made some pompous quip about how she's obviously superior. But, Austin just wasn't any normal person. Sure, he sometimes tripped over his words and found a way to make himself sound considerably ridiculous, but it was in a cute sort of way. Not a 'Be my boyfriend' cute, but an 'I'm happy I met them' cute. So, she just nodded and went back to her work, not considering the slight frown on Austin's face.
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It was a long, grueling 15 minutes, but by that time, everything was finished. With her petite hands, Rice carefully held the beautifully decorated bullet, while Christie carefully injected the blue glowing poison with a clouded syringe. Ross made sure that they had made more than one bullet, and when he dropped the 6 bullets into the gun and blasted one into the wall, he watched as it made a perfect ring, the wood burning with the poison. Of course, the reaction from their creation was mixed, most was a horrendous excitement.
"We did it!" Christie cheered, finally showing actual emotion to the group. "We actually did it!"
Adam was overly ecstatic. He was trying to keep his cool, but he was still struggling to stop himself from letting out a small smile. He could feel a sort of happiness welling up inside of him like an infection. It was as from creating a weapon, they had all bonded together. Yep, everything was great, everything was fine, and absolutely nothing could ever go wrong! Absolutely noth-
"FUCKING RUN." Alistair suddenly kicked the door down with his lanky legs, looking like he had just run straight out of the bowels of Hell. He was sweating like a pig, and Adam could clearly hear Maria's hysterical screaming in the background.
"Wh-Why?!' Rice asked, suddenly getting scared.
Alistair grabbed everyone and rushed them outside, leaving little bits of bruises on their arms. Well, he didn't get absolutely everyone outside. By the time the first 5 people got outside, everybody took out screaming and running. Thankfully, Adam was the first person out and had enough time to see that there was a giant walking statue of a woman wearing the largest dress he had ever seen. And she had gotten so close, she had gotten the strength to rip off the roof and throw it to the ground. Everyone took off running, while Adam got a final glimpse of a horrifying sight that loomed over the small warehouse.
He watched helplessly as his friends, Helena and Maria, were lifted into the air, and were dropped into the Giant woman's mouth, screaming their heads off as they fell at least 70 feet in the sky, clouded with a cloud of green colored smoke.
Author's Note!
Does the ending seem rushed? I think it's a bit rushed. I tried to get it out as soon as possible for you guys and I think I may have failed your expectations. I'm sorr but first I wasn't feeling well, then I had to study for finals, and then I had to take a break for the holidays, which is why I haven't updated in a while. I'll try not to take a break like that again, but I can't make any promises. I'll see you all soon!