Chapter 10 Strings Will Be Pulled Part 1
How long has it been since this story was updated again? I don't remember. I am so sorry, I was caught up with a lot of stuff...okay, that's a lie, I was just lazy. But now chapter ten of this story is here so save your rotten tomatoes for later. Anyways, Mario belongs to Nintendo and yada yada. Enjoy!
As Shy and company followed the toy into his home, they saw that the inside was full of mechanical marvels. Blueprints of vehicle designs were scattered across the wall and bits of nuts and bolts and wires littered the floor. Numerous cone shaped lamps dangled from the ceiling and the smell of burnt plastic filled the air. There were also machines of all shapes, sizes and colors that cramped up the building. It was all like an amusement park for mechanics. As the group was walking through, a spark of electricity snapped from one of the machines, which startled the agents. Eventually, they found themselves at a small area with a white colored table with two green foldable chairs on each side.
"Take a seat," the toy commanded. "I'll tell you everything."
The group did what they were told and sat in their chairs provided by the toy.
"Let's start with introductions," he said. "My name is Kuranaka, but I would appreciate it if you called me Kura. I'm the town mechanic." (Author's note: Kuranaka is a name I took from parts of "fire in the dark" in japanese)
Kura sighed with slight discomfort.
"You all probably think this island is all cutesy and filled with sunshine and lollipops, right?" Kura asked. "You know, because it's made up of crafts and toys and paper and filled with vivid colors."
"Well, that's what I would have thought…" Shy responded meekly.
"And you would have been correct," Kura nodded. "If you were here ten years ago."
"What happened here?" Lemmy asked with concern. "Was it some kind of curse?"
Kura shook his head.
"No, something much worse."
Phil started rambling, "Was it some kind of disease or a valuable island treasure getting destroyed or a huge famine caused by locusts or someone's sweet old grandma went sour and started going crazy with chainsaws and machine guns and mutant cats or may-"
The chatty fly guy went silent once he saw Shy glaring at him with disapproval.
"An explorer named Zean Wunder came to this island claiming to be a merchant," Kura continued. "Being the kind citizens we are, we let him stay for a while, giving him good food, providing him a place to stay and giving some of the island's resources."
Kura paused for a moment, leaving an awkward atmosphere behind.
"We thought the was our friend, but it turned out that the actually a vile man, only being nice to us to get closer to the leader of this island."
"Why would this 'Zean' person want to get close to the leader?" Shy asked.
"Zean heard about this island's great power and the wanted that for himself," Kura said. "If that power was in good hands, it could bring joy and wonders to the island."
"What happens if that power is in bad hands?" Alice asked.
"That power can bring despair, hatred and evil to not only this island, but anywhere in the world."
"But why would this island contain such a dangerous power?" Shy questioned.
Kura just shook his head. "Hell if I know, but I do know that Zean does not deserve to be in control."
"How did Zean get into power so easily?" Lemmy asked. "I doubt your leader would have just given it to him."
"And he wouldn't," Kura continued. "Our leader is considerate, generous, intelligent and kind and thought Zean as a great friend, but always put his people first."
"But what exactly happened that made Zean the leader?" Shy asked.
"Our leader's kindness became his downfall, putting full trust into Zean," Kura sighed sadly. "Eventually Zean got too close for comfort and overthrew our old leader by imprisoning him in stone."
"This Zean sounds like a total jerk!" Alice exclaimed. "I mean pretending to befriend someone just to get something you want is the worst kind of evil if you ask me!"
"Trust me, if I were able to do something about this, I would, but Zane's power is too great any anyone who tried to rebel against him were turned into mindless puppets to serve him," Kura said, looking away. "Including a very close friend of mine…"
"Well his reign of terror is coming to an end because the agents of G.A.A.M.E. are here to save the day!" Alice exclaimed, standing up boastfully. "This island shall suffer no more!"
"...What was that about?" Lemmy asked.
"Sorry, I just wanted to be dramatic." Alice apologized sheepishly.
"Alice is right though," Shy said standing up as well. "Zean has definitely outstayed his welcome here and it's time that this island is free from his tyranny."
"...Are you sure you people can do this?" Kura asked, not fully trusting the group. "The base is in the volcano and the security is very tight and dangerous."
Shy hesitated to answer, but was still determined enough to give an answer.
"We came here to rescue a fellow agent, but it seems like this will have to be a double-rescue mission and we're not backing down from this."
"...I see...then I suppose there's no stopping you." Kura said giving in.
Getting into a fighting pose, Alice exclaimed, "Alright then, let's go kick some tyrant butt!"
"You know, I've never understood why people want to kick butts as butts are smelly and unsanitary and I don't think you want your foot to smell like butt." Phil pondered outloud.
Ignoring Phil, Kura stood up from his chair.
"However, you can't get into Zean's base by simply walking," Kura informed. "It's on a very high place on the volcano and I doubt that propeller guy can stand five minutes without getting caught."
"So so you have anything that can help us?" Lemmy asked.
"I do, it was that contraption I was working on when you guys arrived," Kura nodded. "It's a very special kind of vehicle called an Air Ride Machine, which are meant to fly in the air with little trouble."
"What else does it do?" Shy asked.
"It is controlled by just tilting your body when you first step on it and it's much easier to do than it sounds," Kura answered, starting to get into a certain "zone". "The one I am making is to resemble a Formula Star, an Air Ride Machine with terrible stats."
"Then why are you building such a thing if it's so terrible?" Alice asked confused.
"That's the thing, it's SUPPOSED to look like that," Kura said with a slight gleam on his visors. "But underneath it's shell, it can go at incredible speeds and is able to cloak itself and the rider."
"That sounds amazing!" Shy exclaimed, impressed that Kura could make such a vehicle.
"It is," Kura nodded pridefully, but turned away after. "I was going to use it to escape this horrible place."
"Well now we can use it to infiltrate Zean's lair." Lemmy proclaimed
"Well, you could, but you can't," Kura sighed. "Not yet, at least."
"Why not?" Phil asked.
"The machine is not stable and is missing a few parts as well as being difficult to steer," Kura answered. "It took me about five months to get this far."
"But it's almost done, right?" Shy asked, a bit worried.
"If I could take another look at it, maybe I-"
Suddenly, the group heard a loud mechanical roar outside the building.
"What was that?" Alice asked startled.
"It sounded like an engine." Lemmy answered looking around.
Kura knew exactly what was happening.
"MY MACHINE!" the toy shouted furiously. The then shoved some of the agents from his path. "OUTTA MY WAY!"
Outside of Kura's home, Shannon and Breeze managed to get the machine to turn on. Of course, they didn't expect it to be a flying machine, despite it not having wheels.
"Woah! This thing's kind of wobbly, isn't it?" Shannon asked Breeze.
"Why do you want me on this thing?" Breeze asked back. "I'm a Fly Girl, and as the name implies, I can just fly to the base, right?"
"We don't know where the base is!"
"Then why are we on this thing?!"
"Because this thing might have a navigator...also I can't fly like you can!"
As the machine started to move higher from the ground, Kura slammed open the door to find the two girls preparing to fly away.
"Who the hell are you two and where do you think you're going with my Air Ride Machine?!" Kura yelled, demanding an answer.
"Uh, sir, we can explain," Shannon spoke up nervously as the vehicle was going further from the ground. "It's really important and if you don't mind if we borrow this for a se-"
"No you can't 'borrow it for a sec!'" Kura shouted angrily. "That thing took me months to build and I'm not going to let a couple of teenagers ruin it!"
Breeze appeared from behind Shannon saying, "Excuse me but we happen to be in our twenties and that not how you talk to a la-"
"I don't care if you were my own grandchild!" Kura shouted again, clearly getting more angry by the second. "You do NOT touch someone else's property, especially if that property is mine, now GET OFF!"
The two girls looked at Kura for a sec, then at each other.
"Cheese it!" Breeze yelled.
Shannon then stomped on the machine with her foot and the machine flew off at maximum speed towards the volcano.
"...I hate my life." Kura said monotonically.
The rest of the group walked out to where Kura was standing, looking at the flying vehicle speeding towards the volcano.
"Is that…?" Lemmy started.
"It WAS my Air Ride Machine," Kura groaned. "But now it's going to be nothing but scrap metal thank to those two stupid girls!"
"Hold on, what did these girls look like?" Shy asked, probably knowing the answer.
Kura turned to Shy suspiciously.
"They looked a lot like you and your flying friend, except they were pink and green," Kura answered. "Why, do you know them?"
"Those two girls were Shannon and Breeze, fellow agents from our organization and two friends of ours." Shy answered.
"Really? If I knew that they were with you guys I wouldn't have yelled at them!" Kura exclaimed surprised.
"Well, they're technically not supposed to be with us as this wasn't their assigned mission," Lemmy said confused. "They're both supposed to be back at headquarters."
"Then why are they here then?" Kura asked.
"They probably wanted to feel like heroes and snuck onto the submarine without us noticing," Shy guessed out loud. "But if the story you said is true, Shannon and Breeze are in huge trouble!"
"Well you won't be able to save them right now," Kura said. "They just took off with your fastest route to Zean's base."
"Well then we'll just have find another route."
"But how?" Alice asked. "I don't see any other way we can get in the base without Zean noticing us."
"Then we'll just have to pave our own way." Shy proclaimed.
"You mean...you'll break into the base?!" Kura exclaimed. "That's crazy!"
"I agree with Kura on this, Shy," Lemmy spoke up. "The security will likely be incredibly high and as soon as Shannon and Breeze arrive, Zean will definitely be expecting us."
Shy looked up at the volcano, hoping that the could see a weak spot on the seemingly impassable mountain.
"And even if you were to somehow get in, Zean's power is far too great!" Kura reminded.
"Also, does Zean have any henchmen that come down to the village?" Shy asked.
"Zean sends a tax collector every Saturday if that counts."
"That's today!" Phil exclaimed.
"If we could plant a bug on the tax collector, we could find some clues on infiltrating the base and find any possible secrets." Shy pondered to the group.
"It could work, but wherever that tax collector goes will be completely random," Kura said rubbing his chin. "However, I can probably make a small camera bug that can fly around."
"Though a small camera flying around the base will be more than suspicious, so it will have to be disguised." Shy said.
"Maybe it can look like a housefly." Alice suggested.
"I can probably make one and be able to control it." Kura nodded. "I can use it to fly into small areas without Zean noticing."
"And with that fly, we might find Zean's weakness and find where he's keeping the others!" Lemmy exclaimed.
"Alright, we're getting somewhere," Shy smiled. "If we keep making ideas like this, we'll be able to save Ryan, Breeze and Shannon as well as freeing this island from Zean's grasp."
Shy looked at his group and they all nodded at him with determination.
"Okay guys, let's get to work!"
Meanwhile, Shannon and Breeze crash landed at an entrance at the base. The Air Ride Machine had smoke coming out of it.
"We're here! Now it's time to kick this evildoer's butt!" Shannon exclaimed excitedly. "If we beat this guy, Nix will definitely give us a promotion!"
"Yeah, one that DOESN'T involve scrubbing toilets!" Breeze agreed with her friend. "But what if we get caught?"
"Don't worry Breeze, I've trained all my career for this moment, so I know all the tricks in the book!" Shannon assured.
As soon as Shannon took one step forward, a loud alarm sang out and green lasers suddenly appeared under Shannon's foot. Just like that, silver robots with red eyes wearing blue police caps and black ties flew towards the two girls with gold laser guns pointed at them.
"YOU TWO ARE ON UNAUTHORIZED PROPERTY." one of the robots said. "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR TRESPASSING AND POSSIBLE OVERTHROW OF ZEAN WUNDER."
As the robots stepped towards the girls, Breeze gave Shannon an annoyed look.
"All the tricks, huh?"
The robots grabbed the girls by their arms and flew off into the top of the volcano as they both started screaming.
Cliffhanger! I know I shouldn't, but I REALLY need this story to be updated and I felt that a cliffhanger like this would be a perfect place to stop. The chapter was originally going to be much longer, but as I said, this story NEEDED a new chapter, so I decided to put Shy's mission into parts. I'm hoping for the mission to only be two parts, but nothing's guaranteed. So...read and review. Now to work on my other stories that I need to update.