WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10th
"Wow, the cops in this town are pretty absent most of the time, huh?" Margaret asked, stepping over the yellow police line surrounding the pit. "Shouldn't they be stopping people from doing this very thing?"
Eileen followed closely behind, ducking under the same police line.
"You know this town doesn't make sense most of the time," Eileen said as the yellow tape nearly knocked off her glasses. "Neither does this idea. What are we doing here again, exactly?"
It was dark.
"We're gonna help Mordecai and Rigby, duh," Margaret said with a smirk. She traced the gaping crater with her flashlight and found the smoking entrance.
"About that," Eileen said with an uncertain groan. "I don't think this is a good idea, Margaret."
"What do you mean?" she asked, turning to her friend.
"Well, they seem to have it under control…" she replied, referring to Mordecai and his coworkers.
"Nonsense," Margaret replied. "We can't just know that they're gonna be okay. What's the hurt in going after them? You brought your backpack with food, extra flashlights and warm clothes, and there's a slim chance that they have all that. Plus, don't you, like, love Rigby or whatever?"
Eileen was quiet.
"C'mon, Eileen, this is your chance to win him over!" Margaret declared excitedly. "Don't you wanna be the princess saving the prince for once?"
"I am not a princess," Eileen chuckled.
"Well you know what I mean," Margaret said.
"I dunno, I just think it seems really desperate," Eileen digressed.
"Desper-" Margaret replied angrily before interrupting herself with a loud yelp and tumbling backwards.
"Margaret!" Eileen shouted, running after her rolling companion.
"Mordecai?"
"What's up, bud?"
"It's okay if you guys don't find me," Rigby said.
Mordecai stared off into the dark for a moment, rubbing his friend's tummy.
"I mean, it's fine. You're probably better off without me," the raccoon continued.
Mordecai squeezed his friend slightly and grabbed his hand.
"Don't say that dude, we'll find you," Mordecai said, propping his throat on his friend's shoulder.
"Nah," Rigby chuckled, embracing Mordecai's gullet with his own neck. "I'm good as gone."
"I don't want to lose you, man," Mordecai said, examining Rigby's thumb.
"I think you already did," Rigby said with a sniff.
"No, dude, we're gonna find you," Mordecai said, squeezing even tighter.
He awoke suddenly, face to face with Fives, whose eyes were wide open.
"Blah!" Mordecai shouted, releasing the warm spirit. The ghost spit the fire orb into the air and caught it in his hand.
"You make weird faces in your sleep, dude," the spirit said. He hovered to Skips and nudged him into consciousness.
"What, what, I'm awake," the yeti announced sitting up. His awakening also roused Benson who was propped comfortably against the yeti's back.
The gumball machine rubbed his head in confusion as his friends scrambled to get going.
"Jeez, what's the rush guys?" Benson asked, rubbing his leg. "What time is it even?"
"Beats me," Skips said. "I don't got a watch."
"No cell phones, either," Mordecai said, rubbing his back.
They stepped through an archway. It was black, much like the previous ones, and it extended into the endless black sky above them. They stared at the height in awe for a moment as they passed.
"Didn't I get you and Rigby cell phones a couple months ago?" Benson asked after a moment's silence.
Mordecai stood up straighter and sealed his lips. He didn't want to go into how him and Rigby had lost the phones in a bet against Muscleman and High Five Ghost. Him and the spirit exchanged a nervous glance. They took a couple more steps down the obsidian path ahead of them.
"Well?" Benson said.
"No pockets," Mordecai said with a guilty face. "It's probably on the dresser."
Benson looked at him suspiciously.
"It's 9 am," Fives said, interrupting the moment of discomfort.
"What?" Benson asked.
"9, that's the time, man," Fives said. He rocked back and fourth, imagining some song. He was accustomed to hovering, but he had grown to at least pretending to walk with the rest of them.
"How do you know?" Mordecai asked, just as curious as Benson.
"Internal clock, everyone's got one," Fives said.
"Yeah, but you sound pretty confident in yours," Skips said.
"Well I am," Fives said. "But, there is one thing. It's always two hours fast."
"So it's 7 then?" Mordecai asked.
"What? What do you mean?" asked Fives.
"You said it's two hours fast, wouldn't that mean it's 7?"
"Oh, yeah no it's 9… uh… did I factor it?… I think its 7 actually," Fives bumbled. "No it's gotta be 9."
"Well whatever, it doesn't matter. It's always frickin' midnight here anyways," Benson said.
They had a group sigh and kept going. They were not very well rested, and they barely noticed the twinkling purple crystals that were beginning to dot the path around them. That is, until Skips stubbed his toe on one of them, splitting his nail.
The yeti shrieked in pain, calling attention to the strange crystal that was imbedded in the cracked ground in front of him. He held his toe while the others tried to calm him down.
"Fuckin' thing," Skips said, hopping on one foot.
Benson gave him a few pats on the shoulder.
"Well that's different," the gumball man said referring to the crystal.
Fives held the flame near it and peered into its transparent shell. There were dark specs floating around within, as though it were hollow and filled with a liquid. It gave him an idea.
He put the magic ember in his mouth once more and tapped the crystal with his finger. It burst with a golden light and blinded everyone for a moment. When the light faded, there was no longer a crystal but a small, white toadstool.
The spirit's eyes opened with innocent wonder at the small mushroom.
Mordecai knelt down to inspect the thing. It had small green spots glowing on its edge. He tried poking it, and when he did it shuddered. Then, it jumped out of its crack in the ground, much to everyone's surprise. Small arms and legs popped out of its mallow-like body. It made a cry like a baby bird and skittered away into the darkness.
Fives shook with glee and ran to find other crystals to tap on. He hit a larger one and branches shot out in all directions when its purple shell burst. Then, the branches erupted with white pine leaves. The tree shook like an animal drying itself off.
The others watched with mild amusement, as the surrounding forest of crystals slowly became an actual forest.
"Wow, this place used to be something else, huh?" Mordecai said with his knuckle at his hip. "I wonder how they all got turned into crystals."
Fives tapped a medium sized crystal and it burst with light as the others did, revealing three of the small mushroom people stacked on each other. They hissed, disconnected from each other and dispersed into the surrounding darkness.
A red bird and her best friend fell for what felt like days, too scared to keep track of time.
They watched glowing red eyes pass by in the endless tunnel and screamed until they landed with a thud at the base of the cave.
Something soft caught them.
Pops awoke with a yawn and a decent pain in his lower back. He sighed as he awoke, not quite knowing how to start the day. He decided on going down the stairs first.
He peaked in the bathroom and saw that Don was drying his face with a towel.
Don shrieked when he saw the older man in the doorway and covered his crotch with the towel.
Pops held up his finger and tilted his head to the side. He decided against arguing and shut the door calmly.
The older man made his way down the next set of stairs and walked into the kitchen. He put on a pot of hot water to boil. A minute later, Don appeared in the kitchen, panting with embarrassment.
"Pops, I'm so sorry, I should have closed the door," the tall raccoon said, sitting down.
"Don, you are still, ahem, nude you know," Pops said. "I don't really understand the difference, my good sir."
Don gave him a blank stare and cocked his head.
"Well you're naked right now, friend," Pops said quizzically, pouring two cups of tea.
"I had just gotten out of the shower, it's a bit different," Don said, accepting one of the mugs.
"I don't think I'll ever fully understand either of you," Pops sighed, blowing on his hot cup and taking a heavy sit.
"Either of who?" Don asked.
"You or your brother," Pops said, taking a sip.
"Oh Rigby? Him and I are nothing alike," Don said with a laugh.
"Don't be so sure," Pops said after a clean gulp.
"All right, boss, indulge me," Don said with a smirk.
"Well, two things," Pops said, straightening his mustache. "You're both nudists…"
"I am not a nudist," Don said with indignation. "It's different!"
"And neither of you seem to like girls," Pops continued, coolly taking another sip of his tea.
Don froze and stared at the older man, holding his breath.
"He's not… I'm not…" Don said in a panic.
Pops chuckled and Don's breath began to quiver
"A young man like yourself, and in such great shape. Generally confident, warm, helpful, and yet no girlfriend?" Pops asked with sly grin.
Don stood up slowly and left the room, looking all around his feet, and Pops realized that it wasn't something the raccoon wanted anyone to know.
"Wait, Don, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were… keeping it a secret," Pops said, getting up.
"There is no secret!" Don shouted with anger in his throat. "I'm not g… I'm not a… I'm not THAT, okay?"
"Look, Don, I…"
"No, get the hell away from me, you… you…" Don half-shouted, then ran.
"Oh dear…"
"Eileen?" Margaret shouted in the dark.
They could hear something bubbling beneath them.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Eileen answered, struggling to broadcast her voice. She took her backpack off and looked inside for something. "Aw crap, one of the flashlights broke."
They tried to move, but they were stuck in something soft and sticky. Eileen drew a flashlight from her bag, which had landed close to her. When she turned it on, she saw the goo that had caught them.
It was black and glossy, with little particles floating around in it and it smelled awful.
"What the hell is this stuff?" Margaret asked, peeling her arm out of the blob.
High Five Ghost continued dancing around the cavern, tapping every crystal he found. With each one was a new surprise. From the smallest ones emerged little bugs. From some of the crystals came gears and other machine parts, all broken and rusted. Often enough, he discovered more of the small mushroom people, but each time they would shriek and run off into the darkness.
There were many large ones, too, and as he tapped them, more pine trees emerged out of the darkness. Some were filled with shiny, green moths that flew out and occupied their old homes.
When he had finally hit every last petrified tree, fungi and creature, he turned around and saw the beautiful and lush forest that he had managed to revive.
"It's amazing," Benson said, feeling one of the trees. "Woah."
"Woah what?" Skips asked, taking a step towards him.
"Feel this," Benson said, still mesmerized by what he touched.
"Woah," Skips said as he joined Benson in frisking the tree.
"Woah what?" Mordecai asked, taking a closer look at the tree.
"Feel this," Skips said with a smirk.
"It's… it's fur!" Mordecai shouted as he joined them in petting the tree. The white bristles of the plant-like creature shook with appreciation at the newfound attention from the group, and a low purring sound resonated from its trunk.
The three of them laughed at the strange moment of comfort in the cavern that had once been cold and barren.
A few moths settled down on the higher up branches, carrying bits of flowers and mushroom. A hole opened up and they tossed the pieces into the tree's body.
"Incredible," Benson said. "This place is amazing!"
"They feed the trees, huh?" Skips remarked, marveling in the alien environment.
Mordecai went to feel another branch, but it aimed straight up, dodging his hand.
"What the…?"
The rest of the branches shook slightly and followed suit, aiming straight up until the tree was in a pole shape. The moths wriggled their way between the bristles, hiding within the tree. Then, the trunk was sucked into the ground with a loud "thunk," startling all of them.
The surrounding trees caught wind and followed suit, throwing their arms up and diving into the cracked earth. Once again, the forest was just a barren cave.
"What the heck was that about?" Fives asked, looking around at the near-empty plain.
They heard a low hiss and a clacking rattle. They looked up for a source, and saw five glowing red circles.
"What is…" Mordecai began. He was interrupted by its descent and loud crash on the obsidian earth around them.
It was a massive hulking spider, whose jaw dripped a foul smelling liquid that made the ground under him sizzle and deteriorate. Its legs were long and sharp, and it had an extra set of four-fingered arms in front. It's cat-like nails clicked together in a menacing fashion.
The four friends were frozen with fear, but Skips was the first to try and get away. It skittered around in front of him and knocked him over with a head butt.
The spider stamped the ground and caused it to crack even more. Then it released a low growl from its throat and came at them in a full sprint.
They all ran from the creature with somewhat successful results. It tripped when it got close, but it's clicking and shrieking caused Mordecai's legs to shake and collapse when it did.
Benson and Skips stopped and turned to rescue Mordecai from the spider's seeping jaws. They each grabbed a hand and pulled as the mandibles found their way to his body. Fives shined the magic ember in the creature's red eyes, stumbling it while Mordecai escaped his death.
They kept running until they hit a wall. It toyed with them as they tried to back away, taking slow steps towards them and scraping the ground with its knuckles.
It approached Skips first, pinning him to the wall with its face. He pulled his feet back to avoid the splashing puddle of acid directly in front of him.
It hissed and brought its mandibles against the wall, creating an ivory collar around his neck. He drew his head back and closed his eyes, waiting for his neck to be severed.
"Don!" Pops called out in the park. "Don, I'm sorry! Please come back!"
There was no answer. The raccoon had successfully fled from Pops' accusations of homosexuality and was somewhere far away by now.
The large headed man clicked on his walky-talky and phoned Muscle Man, whom he hadn't seen in a few days.
"Muscle Man, come in Muscle Man!" he said into the receiving end of the electronic box.
"This is Green Dog, whaddaya need Poppa?" Muscleman responded. There was beastly giggling in the background.
"Don's gone missing, have you seen him?" Pops asked.
"Yeah, I seen him, the guy ran off into the woods somewhere. He was crying like crazy."
"Did you try and stop him?" Pops asked.
"No way, bro, that guy gives me the creeps," Muscleman said.
"Can you take me to where you last saw him?"
"Yeah sure, you at the house?"
"Yes."
"Alright, we'll be by in like thirty minutes, okay?"
"Thirty minutes? Where on earth are you?"
"Uhhhh… we're in the park."
"Thirty minutes away, but still in the park?" Pops asked, extremely skeptical of the green man's claims. "Are you two out for a joy ride? And you never even introduced me to your temp."
"Ten minutes," Muscleman gasped. "We'll be there in ten minutes, okay bro?"
"I expect you in five, or I'll have you terminated!" Pops shouted.
Pops heard Muscleman squeal with terror. He giggled at his own outburst after hanging up on his employee. "I sound just like Benson," he chuckled, looking down at his walky-talky.
"I think I'm almost out," Margaret remarked, pulling her arm out of the sludge. "Gah!" she yelled, falling back in. "This is disgusting!"
"I'm just trying to figure out what we're in," Eileen said, still examining the goop with her flashlight. "It seems organic… but what the heck could it be?"
"Would you stop screwing around?" Margaret shouted in a panic. "We need to get out of this stuff. Do you have anything in your bag that might help us?"
"I have a couple sandwiches… and some spare batteries… and some water." She grabbed one of the bottles of water from her pack and shot it at Margaret, who caught it and sipped at it greedily.
"Anything else?" Margaret asked, wiping her mouth and gasping. A bit of the water splashed onto the blob and it hissed and dissolved, freeing Margaret's arm from the viscosity. "Eileen! The water, it doesn't like water!"
Eileen poured out the contents of her water bottle over the goo and it fell apart, allowing her to slide out to the side and onto the obsidian ground. She reached for her pack as Margaret did the same.
They brushed the remaining gunk off of their clothing and out of their hair. Eileen turned and shown her light on the blob that had previously held them. She could make out something metal within.
"Is that… a golf cart?" Margaret asked, tilting her head to the side.
Sure enough, a golf cart was embedded in the clear goo, hovering a few feet off of the ground. The tires were dissolving and fizzing quickly, causing bubbles to rise to the surface with a popping sound. The paint was peeling away, and bits of the engine were beginning to show through the dissolving hood.
"It eats… metal?" Eileen asked no one in particular.
"Skips!" Mordecai and Benson screamed in unison as the pincers tightened on their friend's neck.
Skips felt the surface his neck wane under the pressure. His eyes felt a weight behind them and they pushed out a bit, meeting the gaze of the monster that held him. It did not have a face in the traditional sense, but he could tell it was smiling.
Mordecai ran to help, but the spider used one of its free limbs to knock him over, throwing him several feet. He landed with a thud and curled up into a ball, coughing and clutching his stomach where he had been struck.
Suddenly, a birdcall rang out and pierced the silent dread that surrounded them. A spear rained down from the sky, impaling the spider through its abdomen. The mandibles released Skips to the ground and he crawled away coughing, grateful and confused.
The spider whipped around, screeching with pain. Acidic mist shot out in all directions from its wound and melted the spear into a white paste. Benson dove to avoid the dangerous fluid.
Another spear came from some miraculous place, this time bursting through the creature's head and causing it to writhe for moment before dropping to the ground.
They all breathed heavily and huddled together, awaiting whatever terror had caused the destruction of their pursuer.
It skittered out and twirled about in celebration. It was an enormous centipede of about twenty-five feet in length, and perched on its head was a joyous looking toadstool.
The mushroom was soft ivory, and his head was a smooth and creamy coffee color that had darker spots mixed in. It had no visible eyes, but where its left one would have been was a dark brown spot.
The mushroom man tapped the centipede on the head, at which it bowed and let him off. He reached for his own head and tore off a chunk. Then, he allowed the centipede to eat it off of his hand. It purred gratefully and lay down next to the spider, examining its corpse like a curious feline.
They jumped back in their huddle as the walking mushroom approached them. It was much larger than the previous ones they had resurrected. They watched quizzically as the missing chunk in its head grew back.
"What… is it?" Mordecai asked as it arrived in front of them.
It tore off another piece of its head and handed it to Skips, who was still having difficulty breathing. It sat Indian style and waited.
"I think it wants you to eat it," Benson said, rubbing his head.
"I figured as much," Skips wheezed, holding his jugular so he could produce some sound.
"Well go on," Fives said, "Don't piss it off."
Skips gulped and placed the fungus to his lips, taking a pained bite, which became a pleasant one. "Huh, not bad," he smirked. He felt warmth in his throat that soothed his crushed muscles.
The mushroom turned back and petted his centipede on its head. Then, he grabbed one of the dead spiders limbs and pulled. It gave with a loud snap and a pop, spilling out more acid onto the ground around him. His pet monster watched him with a concerned eye, tilting its head with every movement. But, the acid slid off of his body without burning it. He tipped the wounded end to drain the blood out of it and returned to the four stranded friends.
He held the leg up in the air and made a few jabbing motions to show them it could be used as a spear. Then, he handed the makeshift weapon to Skips and hurried back to the spider to gather the rest of its limbs.
"Why is it helping us?" Mordecai asked. He watched the mushroom man pet the creature he rode in on. He seemed to whisper something into the creature's ear.
"Who knows," Benson said as the mushroom sprinted back to them with a bundle of severed spider limbs.
He passed one to Benson and one to Mordecai, but when he got to High Five Ghost (who wasn't paying very much attention at all) he stopped, dropped the spider legs and put his hand against the phantom.
Fives panicked a little bit, but Skips nodded at him and this gave him confidence.
The mushroom seemed fixated on the fire orb that Fives was storing in his belly. He stroked the phantom and held his ear against his body as though he were inspecting a pregnant stomach. Then, he got to his knees and bowed respectfully, offering up the last of the spider legs.
Fives grabbed it reluctantly, and when he did, the mushroom man clapped his hands three times and did a short dance around him. The ghost giggled at the queer sight.
After the strange little dance, all four of them were at ease around the mushroom creature.
He stopped and tore off more pieces of himself to feed the other three, who were admittedly quite hungry. They held the fungal bits with skeptical eyes, but Skips assured them that it was good, so they each took mouthfuls of the white flesh and enjoyed them. Even High Five Ghost, who didn't need to eat, ate every last bite of his portion.
The mushroom man watched them eat patiently, tilting his head in the direction of the missing pieces.
"Thank you," Bensons said, reaching out to shake the mushroom's hand. He jumped back, surprised at the gumball machine's offer, but then shrugged and accepted the hand into his mouth, which appeared out of nowhere where there had once been smooth white.
Benson pulled his hand back and shrieked at the wet violation while Skips laughed and patted him on the back. Meanwhile, the mushroom man tried to scrape the taste of Benson off of his tongue with both arms.
The mushroom man looked up and made a holler like a seagull and his centipede sprinted over to him immediately, rubbing its head against his arm. He hopped on its back once again and began massaging its thick whiskers. He made a vibrato chirp, and the centipede lunged underneath the four, tossing them onto its back.
They were somehow un-fearful when the centipede came at them. It had appeared frightening enough, but from its behavior, it seemed like a sweet (albeit curious) mount. They flew through the air and landed in a line, with Mordecai in front, Benson behind him and Skips at the rear. Fives pretended to soar through the air with them, though he was only trying to fit in.
When they were all settled on the back of the beast, the mushroom man yodeled and they took off at a great speed. Its dozens of legs skittered gently beneath them, making soft clickity-clacks against the black stone ground. As they sped up and found there way back into the pine forest, the trees parted ways to let them pass without causing injury to the foliage.
The centipede moved in serpentine struts, making the ride not only fast but hugely entertaining. The mushroom man continued petting its whiskers and whispering strange things into its head. They could feel it purring under them, and it made the ride slightly warmer.
They found themselves at a gap; two cliff faces with nothing in between them. The centipede skidded to a stop for fear of falling, and the mushroom man chuckled to himself in his alien tongue. He gripped his head and tore off a piece, chucking it across the chasm and signaling to the others to hold on tighter.
The centipede lunged fearlessly after the treat, clearing the gap with ease while Skips, Benson and Mordecai held on to each other. It landed with the grace of an 18 wheeler loosing its footing.
After the rough landing, it continued sprinting. As they picked up speed, the cavern became less and less barren and more of the trees appeared. Once again, they parted and dodged the centipede's energetic sprint, but in this area the trees were taller and more varied in color and species.
It was dark, but the speed seemed to make Fives' ember glow brighter, illuminating the frosty white trees. Mordecai stuck his arm out to the side as they crossed a grove of them. The soft bristles felt good against his arm, even at the speed they were going. It was as though he were teasing a cloud. Skips and Benson joined him.
It was truly the high point in their journey so far, and for a moment, with their bellies full and the wind in their hair, they actually believed that there was a chance that they would find Rigby. Perhaps they were being taken to him. They hadn't thought to ask.
The lush grove seemed to go on for an eternity, but they saw a large fire at the edge some ways off and approached it quickly.
When they burst out of the forest, the centipede stood up proudly, signaling to the other mushroom people that they had arrived.
Mordecai peered past the centipede's head and saw a campfire and a small village of people just like their pilot, and of all sizes and shapes. Some were tall and thin, many were short frumpy, but they all seemed to trot around aimlessly, even when they did burst into the scene.
Their captain jumped off of his mount and called the village's attention. Mordecai, Benson and Skips followed suit, sliding off of the beast's back to meet the other mushroom people.
They crowded around, examining the four aliens with their soft white hands. What would have been a moment of awkward discomfort was in many ways a welcome change from the bleakness and cold from earlier.
Mordecai looked around the village while more mushroom people felt his feathers.
The people lived inside what appeared to be larger mushrooms. The village had a low ceiling, presumably because it was within another cave. There seemed to be ambient moon-like auras lighting the environment beyond the cave's entrance, and he could see distant creatures hulking and crawling across the underground plane.
The mushroom people motioned them to come to their fire. They were burning the dried pine-like trees that they had seen so many of. The natural flame was a nice change from the magical one they had been graced with. It was warmer, and it smelled like real smoke.
Their fire pit was surrounded by several of the dark crystals from before. Fives instinctively tapped them, releasing more small mushroom people from within. The others seemed to rejoice quietly at the sight of this, and the shorter mushrooms ran and hugged what they assumed to be the parents.
There was something dreamlike about their movements. It was as though they were in no rush. They celebrated like a silent film slowed down, congratulating each other sluggishly while the four visitors watched, confused.
Benson felt a tap on his lower back and turned around. Their pilot, with his one dark spot where his left eye should have been, wanted them to follow him.
"What should we call him?" Mordecai asked.
"How 'bout spot?" Fives replied. "He's got that one spot you know, he's the only different looking one. Must be special."
"Okay, Spot," Mordecai said with a snicker.
They made a couple yards of distance between the fire and themselves, and then Spot got down on his knees and began drawing in the dirt with his spear.
He drew a rough sketch of a group of tall humanoids, much like the ones that had attacked them on arrival. One of them had its arms up in prayer, and Spot drew a large eye above him.
"Looks like the drawings on the walls," Skips said.
Spot drew a bolt of some sort coming from the tallest creatures hand. Then, he drew the bolt striking one of his people. He drew a crude crystal shell around the victim.
"That explains the crystals," Benson said.
He drew a laughable High Five Ghost with a glowing sun behind him and angel wings. He drew a bolt leading from Five's hand, shattering the crystal.
"Hey, that's me!" Fives announced.
Spot wiped away his drawing entirely and started a new one. This time, he drew a large, busy forest of pines, moths and other things. Then, he drew a tall creature on the left with bolts coming from his hands. He smashed the drawing of the forest with both hands in a display that was unnerving and uncharacteristically emotional. Spot panted and stared at the destroyed image of the forest.
He turned around and rubbed Fives again, who giggled at the feeling. Then, he pointed to his drawing, looking between it and the spirit.
Mordecai had an idea. He used his finger to make a V shape with a ball on the end. Then, he drew two circles with tiny pupils, some wavy hair and a few stripes.
The mushroom man looked at the sketch of Rigby for a moment, and then jumped a bit. He copied the drawing in the dirt, but made the face sad, and surrounded it with squiggly lines that made it look small by comparison.
"They've seen him!" Mordecai shouted.
The mushroom man shook his head. He drew a circle around his original drawing of Fives, and drew an arrow leading from the circle to the group of tall humanoids responsible for the destruction of their forest. He drew a large X across all of them. He got on his knees and put his hands together in plea towards the spirit, who didn't know quite what to think.
Mordecai circled his picture of Rigby twice, and the mushroom man stamped all over it.
"Hey!" Mordecai shouted.
Spot shook his head and drew another crystal with a baby mushroom person in it. Then, he drew a mouth devouring it. This drawing was the angriest in its execution.
"Those things eat their children," Skips said solemnly.
"I don't care!" Mordecai said. "We came down here to save Rigby…"
"And these guys might be able to help us," Benson interrupted, putting a calm hand on Mordecai's shoulder.
Spot drew a high up circle, and a simplistic version of the four of them coming down through it on a winged vehicle. He circled the vehicle and clapped a few times to himself.
"But they have their priorities," Skips said. "Maybe if we help them…"
"No!" Mordecai shouted. "We're running out of time and…"
"Mordecai, I don't think we have many options," Fives said with a sideways mouth.
"He's right," Benson said. "Mr. Mushroom guy?" Benson asked, lightly touching the toadstool with his hand.
It turned and looked up at him slowly.
"We will help you with this," Benson said, pointing at the Mushroom mans drawings. "After, you can help us with this," he continued, pointing at Mordecai's ruined drawing. "Yes?"
Spot nodded and danced around. Then, he ran back to his people and told them the news with his movements. They all jumped and cheered noiselessly, which was still somewhat unnerving.
They heard a crackle come from Skips' trousers.
"Is that the walky-talky?" Benson asked.
Skips plucked the plastic device from his front pocket and they all listened carefully.
Through the static, they distinctly heard Pops' voice calling out "Don."
"No way," Skips said.
"What?" Mordecai asked.
"Do you realize what this means?" Skips asked back.
"No," the blue jay replied.
Skips chuckled. "The park's up there," he said, pointing straight up.
They all gave a unified "whoa" at the realization.
"Don!" Pops shouted from the back seat of Muscleman's golf cart. "Don! Where are you?"
Muscleman drove the vehicle and his muse sat in the passenger seat. They were both wearing bathing suits and smelled rather salty.
"This is not good," Pops grimaced. "And you're sure he disappeared around here?"
"Yeah bro," the green man replied. "He ran through here and then into the woods, it was nuts."
The large woman in the passenger seat turned around and offered her hand to Pops. "I'm Starla by the way."
"I noticed," Pops said with distaste. Her name was sequined across the top piece of her swimsuit. "Erm, I mean nice to meet you."
"What did you say to him anyways?" Muscleman asked, shutting off the engine.
"Apparently, something he wasn't ready to hear," Pops replied, getting out of the vehicle. "Don!" he shouted into the woods. There was no answer.
"Where are we?" Margaret asked as they passed the first archway.
"I don't know, Margaret," Eileen replied, shining her flashlight around the walls. Her light hit the edge of the first cliff. "Whoa, watch out, there's a drop."
"I got ya," Margaret replied. "Give me the flashlight real quick?"
Eileen handed her friend the light.
Margaret took the light and walked carefully over to the edge of the cliff. She shined the light straight down and didn't find an ending to the pit.
"Jeez, quite a drop, huh?" she asked, still looking for a floor surface. She picked up a stray rock off the ground and dropped it in her flashlight's beam. It disappeared from vision, and several seconds later a quiet splash rang out from the pit. "Hm, water."
"Look at this," Eileen said, grabbing the flashlight. She pointed it at the archway they had come through, revealing the intricate designs it held. "Someone used to live down here."
"I think I see a path over there," Margaret said, redirecting Eileen's hand. "Let's go."
.
.
..
….
...
Splash
Rigby's eyes shot open at the sound. He could feel his body moving up and down with the breath of the creature that held him. Its huge voice greeted him.
"Poor, poor little Rigby…"
He couldn't answer. A weakness had taken him; a foreign weakness that he had never felt. A tentacle stroked his ears back gently and he shivered at the sensation.
"They won't hurt you..."
He creakily turned his neck toward the direction of the splashing sound. He could see an ivory orb reflecting off of the running stream. He could see large pillars that stood ominously on pedestals in the middle of the dark river. He watched for where the water led, and he saw a drop with some rapids. He squinted his eyes and spotted a dimly lit campfire some miles off. He thought for a moment that he recognized Mordecai's beaked silhouette against the low orange glow. His eyes shut once more.
notes:
Sorry about the massive delay on this chapter... finals and all of that. I've also been working out the ecosystem of this place for a while.
This chapter was heavily inspired by Jacaszek's new album, Glimmer. It's got some incredible ambient tunes and I suggest you do yourself a favor and purchase it. The song titled Dare-Gale comes to mind.
If you haven't found me on Tumblr, what are you waiting for? Look me up! There's fan art, you can ask me questions, all of that good stuff =) (I go by DatRegularBro there.)
As always, comments and reviews are welcome and help me get in the spirit of writing.
And to all of my readers, keep reading. I love all of you. Your support has really made my life heaps better.
So until next time =)