Chapter Nine

Pugsy's Provocation

Later that night, the castle was quiet, the only ones making any movement were either the palace guards out on the wall and courtyards, or the Musketoon trio that patrolled the corridors.

Pugsy walked down his post in the Western corridor of the 3rd floor. Shaggy was guarding the 1st floor, while Flip guarded the 2nd (where Holly's room was- go figure). They had Scooby patrol outside as well- every Musketoon team needed a guard-dog, right?

The shorter teen kept his eyes open. After today, he wasn't going to let anyone get through him- and if someone so much as mentioned the word 'werewolf', he was going to punch them so hard in the face, their grand-kids would be cross-eyed. "You freak out ONE TIME, and even the cowards start making cracks about ya," he muttered. "We'll see who's joking around next time there's a mummy walking around, and they're the ones needing protection,"

His griping was interrupted when a swift shadow passed by a window.

Drawing his sword, he stepped up to the window, peeking out and seeing someone swing down from the roof-

*CRASH!*

...into the wall.

"Ah, great, a bunch of Daredevil fans are trying to break in," He climbed out the window, jumping down and grabbing a tapestry and swinging down on it heroically-

*Rrrriip!*

*Thud!*

...up until it ripped and he landed on his rear- on top of someone. "Sheesh, that always works in the movies," he commented.

"Tell me about it," grunted Scratch, whom he had landed on.

"Whoa!" Pugsy got up, aiming his sword at Scratch. "Ah, great, not YOU again. What are you doing here? Did that 200-foot fall give you brain-damage?"

"Ha! For your information, I don't HAVE a brain to damage!"

Pugsy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I've noticed. So what brings you to the neighborhood? In need of another butt-kicking?"

"Yeah, only it's YOUR butt we'll be kicking!" Jasper boasted, sneaking up behind Pugsy and kicking him in the rear.

"HEY!" Pugsy whirled around, swinging his sword at Jasper, who dodged.

Scratch konked him on the head, and the shorter teen turned to face him, allowing Jasper to shove him- Scratch had stuck his arm out, causing Pugsy's face to come into contact with it and stumble back, Jasper tripping him from behind. The two lackeys laughed and took off.

Pugsy growled then grabbed his sword, racing after them. "You pinheads are DEAD! You hear me?! DEAD!"

Scratch and Jasper ran along the wall... passing Horace, who was smashed against it. "C'mon, Horace! He snagged the lure!" Jasper told him, prying him off the wall and dragging him along.

"Oh, good... so the migraine was worth it..." Horace babbled, dazed as he stumbled after them.

They ran up the stone steps, going along the wall, Pugsy hot in pursuit. "I'll show 'em who they're messing with," he groused as he ran. "I'll do to them what I did to those jerks in Junior High! They won't see straight for weeks!"

The three henchmen ran along the wall. A few guards noticed them and came charging. "GROUNDER, NOW!" Scratch shouted.

Grounder, standing around a corner of a watch-tower on the wall, blew into his left drill... and had an inflatable Jessica Rabbit model pop out- don't ask how he does these things, because as far as we can tell, it makes no sense. But, logic was denied, as he stuck it out around the corner in front of the guards, who froze in their steps- hearts in their eyes and tongues hanging out. They followed the model around the corner...

"YEEEOOOOOW!" They all cried, obviously missing the giant hole Grounder had made. He then followed Jasper, Horace and Scratch as they ran by, Pugsy still on their tail.

The lackeys then swung down the wall via grappling hook, heading towards a bridge. Once they would cross the bridge, they would be off the castle property, thereby could get away as Pugsy couldn't leave his post.

The shorter teen slid down the rope after them, running as fast as he could towards the bridge. He got to the middle of it, looking around, seeing nothing but the roaring river below. "Where'd you go, you ignorpotomases?" he muttered, cautiously looking around.

The lackeys were hanging over the side of the bridge, grinning. Slowly, Jasper and Horace climbed over. Their feet made a 'thunk' sound, alerting Pugsy, who spun around and pointed his sword at them. "Stay where you are!" he warned, then arched an eyebrow. "Wait, where's the other two?"

Scratch had extended his feet over the under side of the bridge, coming up the other side and kicking Pugsy in the back of the head. Jasper and Horace grabbed him by the arms, making him drop the sword. He thrashed in their grips, swinging his left arm so that Horace collided with Jasper. But Scratch climbed up next with a sledgehammer, swinging it at him, but Pugsy dodged just in time, causing the chicken-like robot's arms to swing around himself, tying himself up, and Pugsy socked him in the jaw.

Horace and Jasper ganged up on him once again. "What makes you think you can beat us on your own, pipsqueak?!" Jasper taunted. "You're no Musketoon!" He dodged when Pugsy tried to punch him.

"Aye, you're nothing but a short-tempered shrimp!" Horace added, shoving him. Pugsy swung his fists again, but Horace jumped back.

"You couldn't beat us if we were already dead!" Scratch threw in, kicking Pugsy in the back, making him fall on his hands and knees.

Pugsy saw his sword in front of him and grabbed it, turning and aiming it at the three goons. "You'll be saying different when I cut you to ribbons!" he snarled.

Grounder rose above the edge, right behind him. "Oh yeah?" he scoffed, then hit Pugsy on the head with a hammer, causing a bump.

The four lackeys then forced him to his feet, shoving him into one another so that they could swing some punches. Pugsy, though dazed, tried to fight back, but Scratch took out a crow-bar and hit him in the temple, knocking him out cold.

Chuckling, they grabbed Pugsy and threw him over the bridge, watching as he hit the ice-cold water, sinking into the rushing current. "One down, two to go..." Jasper said, maliciously.

d~b

A/N: And the Pugsy fans are going to kill me. Next chapter... it gets worse.

Review now, please! (but, um, hold back on the flames, k?)