I continue to apologize for the lack of updates; life is killing my free time right now. Again, I'm not abandoning it. It's just slow going.
They are running. Again. They are ducking out of sight. Again. And they are fighting two sets of enemies. Again.
It's all really very tedious.
Buzz leads them to a dingy looking part of the ship, one that is full of warning signs and unstable corridors. He opens a tiny door and motions them inside. Jessie, eyes narrowed, goes first, despite Woody's attempts to be chauvinistic. When they are all crammed inside, Buzz included, a light is switched on. Buzz's glowing suit had done nothing to help Jessie register her surroundings.
But then the light is switched on.
Jessie punches Buzz as hard as she can muster. It actually dents his spacesuit.
"You imbecile! A supply closet?"
Buzz rolls his eyes. He points, as best as he can. "There's an escape hatch on the floor. It's a way out."
Jessie stops. "Oh."
Woody snickers and squats over the hatch. He has to maneuver around Bo's skirt, but not before sneaking a peak.
"Wow, a saber? And I see at least fifteen hand grenades—"
Bo kicks his shoulder with a pointed shoe. Woody grimaces.
"How long has it been?"
"About 30 minutes, my Lord."
"Have they done any damage?" The menacing voice sounds scornful.
"Unfortunately, my Emperor, not quite as much as we had hoped, but there is still time and—"
"Silence, blathering fool! Dolly, my spellcaster, what have you tell me?"
Dolly looks slightly troubled, but shuts her ebony eyes, concentrating unduly. Her violet hair gives her a rather pallid look.
"There will be a fight." She says, sounding determined. "But those monkeys won't do anything useful against the armor of that ship, which is odd, considering how weak all of their materials are compared to ours...okay, yes. The aliens will use lasers against us, and brute force. The monkeys will do damage against the actual people. Peter and I will stay back with you, Emperor Zurg. But that is all I can know."
"Yes…the minions will now pull out. Get the invaders outside, and deal with them there. We will win this."
The ground is spongier than any of them remember, mostly because all four of them had been living on a ship with pristine, stark-white, and very hard floors. Jessie revels in the feel of the earth beneath her. This was where she belonged. Her home, her life, everything she valued was down here. Her cousin, her chances for freedom, her horse—
Jessie stops.
Her horse.
Bullseye.
Where was Bullseye?
Jessie spins and grabs Woody by the shoulders.
"Woody! Where's Bullseye?"
Woody's eyes widen for a moment. "God, Jess, I don't even know! Damn it. We left too fast, I didn't even tie him up—"
Jessie whips around to Buzz. "Has the battle started yet?"
"No, they know to wait until I am there. Unless the Commander chooses to carry forward early, which is entirely possible, given the circumstances."
Jessie turns and takes in the surrounding area. The only thing to even suggest something hostile happened is the numerous shallow dents covering the outside of the towering spaceship. There are no monkey-like creatures in sight. It is still as dark and silent as ever. Jessie's eyes narrow in suspicion.
"This isn't right. Buzz—something's wrong. More than usual."
"I know," He murmurs quietly, striding forward. "The enemy has withdrawn. All that can mean is they plan to battle us fairly soon."
"The fog's lifted," Woody notes.
Bo sets her jaw. "So what are we going to do?"
Jessie suddenly grins. "Break every rule in the books."
"Yeah, because we don't do that constantly," Bo mutters, annoyed.
Jessie takes over for the most part—Buzz trusts her and she knows what she's doing, far more then he does. She positively marches forward and into the ghost town. Buzz can't understand how she can simply walk up to it, but darkness has been her world for the last twenty years. He thinks she must be used to it, but given the expression on her face, he finds it unlikely that that is the case.
"We have to find Bullseye," She says quietly to her three companions, "He's our fastest transportation and he's very, very smart. I can't believe I completely forgot about him. I'm just hoping he's still around."
"If he has any sense in him, he won't be," Woody puts in, "But that curse is on him, too. He'll be in darkness wherever he goes, poor guy. And people might think it's us."
"Doesn't matter if they do, though," Jessie remarks, "We're still here and they're too scared to come after us."
"Yeah, but they might get a little riled."
"True."
"What's wrong with that?" Buzz can't help himself. Jessie faces him.
"Sometimes the men of the surrounding towns get a little sick of us. They have hunting parties."
"Hunting parties?"
"They hunt us," Woody explains, "It's on a rare occasion and they never come close to catching us, but still…It'd be better if this whole situation didn't have additional complications. Or weapons."
Jessie nods, looking distant. She utters a strange, piercing call into the blackness. It echoes, but no response is heard.
"So he isn't here, then," Jessie sighs, "Smart horse."
Bo cuts in. "We ought go where it's safe. If he's not here, we shouldn't linger."
Jessie raises her eyes to Buzz's. His heart speeds up, against his will.
"What should we do, Buzz?" She asks him quietly.
He thinks hard for several moments.
"The ship." He says decidedly, "It's best we go back there. Safety in numbers, even though those numbers may want to kill you."
Jessie shrugs. "Nothing new. It's good enough for me. Bo, since we're here, so you need any more supplies?"
Bo shakes her head. "I'm fully stocked. There's no more room in here, anyway." She pats her full skirt.
Jessie nods. "Okay. Let's go."
The four of them run, ducking, as quietly and silently as they are able. It would've taken two minutes for them to reach the ship.
They don't make it.