The All-Star Academy Chapter Fourteen
Drake Busts The Snitch!
"Day four… I think…" Cole said, carving a tally mark with his amp.
It's really been a grueling twenty-nine hours of isolation for the three of them in the detention hall. Cole's eyes were bloodshot and apparently growing bags and Drake grew more of a visible 5'o clock shadow. Sackboy was normal, even smiling. He was only wagging his head and playing with a rubrics cube… at least he had something to do while being punished.
Cole looked back to where Drake was sitting, "I hate you, Nate."
"I love you too, Cole," Drake replied sarcastically.
Drake was appeared to be writing something on his desk. When Cole took a closer look, they were names of various students enrolled at the academy. Some names were circled while other names were crossed out.
"Whatcha got there?" Cole asked.
"Polygon-Man said something about someone telling on us; I'm trying to find out who done it. It's gotta be one of them…"
"Look Nate, even if you find whoever found us out it's pointless now."
"I know, but I just want to know who did it," Drake tugged at Cole's arm, "C'mon Cole. I know you want to at least get back at them."
Cole sighed, pulled up a chair, and sat across Drake, "Where did you get these anyways?"
"Sly gave them to me, but damn… for a hefty price…"
"Wait… you and Sly actually became friends?"
"Well… yes and no. Think of us as… frienemies."
Cole stayed silent and Sackboy came up to them and offered them the rubrics cube, considering he had completed it. They both declined, so Sackboy decided sat with them. He took Drake's finger, implying he was sorry.
"It's fine, Sackboy. You did what you thought was right." Cole said.
Sackboy smiled. And so for the next four to five hours, the three would pick who they thought would tell. After constant arguing and disagreements, they finally came up with a list.
"Ok," Drake said, "so here's who we got: Kratos, Radec, Heihachi, and Sly."
"I don't agree with the list. Some of them shouldn't be there, but you never know," Cole said.
"Now, how are we going to get out of here undetected?" Drake asked. He pondered aimlessly.
Sackboy looked around then pointed at the air vents.
"Sackboy," said Cole, "That's a terrible—"
"That's a great idea, Sackboy! Why didn't I think of that?" Drake interrupted.
"Yeah, but what if PM finds out that we're not there?" Cole asked.
Sackboy used his Popit and grabbed Cole. "Put me down, Sackboy!" Cole said, but Sackboy copied Cole and put the copy in the chair. The copy acted like Cole.
"Well, that answers that." Drake said, "I'm next!"
Sackboy copied Drake then himself. Now was the time to escape. Cole used his powers to open the vent. Drake went in first (this wasn't the first time he had to escape through a ventilation shaft), Sackboy went in second, and Cole trailed in last. It was damp and disgusting—dead cockroaches, dust bunnies, icky neon slime—they wanted to get out fast.
"Nate, where are we?" Cole asked.
Drake peeked through a vent, "One of the hallways. C'mon, keep moving."
Suddenly Drake bumped heads with Sly Cooper.
"Gahhh! Damnit, that hurts!" Drake exclaimed.
"You and me both, Pal," Sly grunted.
The heavy weight in the shafts couldn't hold all of them. Sly and Drake fell through the ceiling, with Cole and Sackboy following. There was an ugly hole in the celling, but luckily Sackboy was able to fix it.
"Why where you in the vents, Sly?" Drake asked.
"Same to you. In fact, shouldn't you be in detention?" Sly asked.
Drake didn't know how to answer that.
"Sly," Cole asked, "would you, by any chance, know who the snitch is?"
"Snitch? What snitch? I know no snitch," Sly said.
Sackboy came up to Sly and gave him about 20 gold coins. Sackboy knew Sly was susceptible to bribes.
"OK," Sly said, "I'll tell you. First off, it wasn't me and I'm being honest."
"And…?" Drake asked.
"What? My memory's gone black…"
Sackboy then gave Sly a bag of gold coins.
"Hmmm… wait… it's coming back to me… Ah! I think Radec had something to do with it. After all, he is a part of the Disciplinary Committee."
They got a lead now: Radec is the leader of the disciplinary Committee. The Disciplinary Committee was a branch of the Student Council and it was lowly respected but highly ranked club at the academy. Come to think of it Drake has never even heard of the Disciplinary Committee, before. Cole always referred to it as a myth to scare the students to do well, but Sackboy knew the Committee was real.
"You wouldn't be a part of the Disciplinary Committee, would you Sly?" Cole asked.
"What? No. Do you think I would join those guys?" Sly said.
"Good point," Cole murmured.
"Good luck finding the Snitch," Sly said as he vanished.
"I'm never gonna get used to that," Drake said.
"Hey! Who's that?!" A voice called.
It was Sir Daniel, alert as ever, scouting the hallways. He was supposed to guard the detention hall, but he was distracted by PaRappa's skateboarding and had to chase him down the entire floor and give him a long and boring lecture. He also confiscated PaRappa's skateboard, stating it was "dangerous." Now he was on the move, finding Drake and the others.
"Oh crap! He's coming this way!" Drake exclaimed.
"Quick! Into that classroom!" Cole replied.
Cole briskly pushed Drake and Sackboy into the empty classroom and closed the door. Sir Daniel appeared, only to be greeted by silence.
"Huh? But I could have sworn…?" He scratched his head in confusion. He knew he heard Drake and Co. talking, but he assumed it was his head playing tricks on him… again.
Sir Daniel sighed, "I need to get more sleep…"
Cole and Drake were under the door. Sackboy was about to "peep" until both Cole and Drake covered his mouth.
"The things I do for you guys…" Cole whispered.
Drake checked over the door, "We're in the clear, now."
They slowly opened the door and ran the other way. Now it was time to find Radec.
"Now," Drake said, "if I were a Helghan colonel, where would I go?" Drake asked himself.
"Maybe in one of the offices?" Cole asked.
"No, no," Drake denied, "Radec's way to cunning for that. He'd be hiding in some place elaborate…"
"A place where nobody would could disturb him," Cole continued.
While the two of them were in deep thinking, Sackboy was looking a menacing-looking door with the words "DO NOT DISTURB!" hanging on the doorknob. On the window was the initials "DC," hence above the door said "Disciplinary Committee." He was signaling Drake and Cole that he found it but the two were still pondering over the places it could be. Sackboy kept pulling on Drake and Cole's pants.
"Stop it, Sackboy!" Drake said, "We're trying to figure out where Radec could be."
Sackboy facepalmed himself, sighed then pulled out his Popit. He took out a big and flashy sign and placed it right next to the door.
"Oh, there it is," Cole said.
"I'd know we'd find it," Drake said, grinning.
Sackboy just put his head down and nodded.
"OK, let's knock," Drake asked.
"Yeah… you do that," Cole said. Cole and Sackboy were hiding behind a curtain, shaking.
"C'mon," Drake said, "don't tell me you're scared."
"You don't know Radec like we do, Nate," Cole answered.
Put the pieces together, Drake: Radec is one of the scariest students at school, he runs the Disciplinary Committee, and he's president of Student Council.
"Crap… your right," Drake replied.
"You see why we're hiding?" Cole said.
Drake took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the door and what would you know? It was Sir Daniel! Daniel freaked out by seeing Drake and Co.
"What is it, Daniel?" Radec called from behind.
There he was, Colonel Mael Radec, confronting PaRappa. He wasn't happy to see Drake and Co., but regardless he let them in. Sir Daniel questioned him but Radec's response was:
"You dare question my motives? I'll grind your bones to dust!"
Sir Daniel Immediately backed off. No wonder everybody denied the existence of the Disciplinary Committee.
Drake nervously laughed, "Uhhh… hi—"
"Come, sit and state your business," Radec said bluntly.
Drake signaled Cole and Sackboy to come in. They hesitated but they followed. Radec sat down and formed the triangle of evil with his fingers.
"'Sup?" PaRappa greeted.
"So," Radec asked calmly, "what brings you here? I'd heard you should be in detention."
"Well yeah… you see—" Drake said, but Radec seemed to be looking for something in his desk.
"Hmm… oh yes. Nathan Drake, Cole MacGrath, and Sackboy. Two months detention for… leaving campus grounds without permission," Radec continued, "I can understand you and Cole, Mr. Drake, but Sackboy?" He stared at Sackboy and nodded, "I expected better."
And like that, Sackboy was discouraged.
They knew Radec was smart and cruel, but they never thought he was this smart and cruel. Polygon-Man must have given Radec not only their known trouble-making record, but maybe he had ALL the records of known trouble in the academy.
"Now I know you're here to find out who found you out," Radec said.
"Uhh… can I leave now?" PaRappa asked. Radec pulled out his knife and drew it in PaRappa's nose, "shutting up…"
"But," Radec said, "I could be of assistance to you."
"Great!" but then Drake's enthusiasm disappeared, "Wait… you want something in return don't you?"
"You saw right through me, but if you don't want to do it, I can always tell the Headmaster—"
"No!" Cole interrupted, "no, no. What do you want, Radec."
Radec simply continued his triangle of evil. Something told them they weren't going to like this…
Preview!
Polygon-Man: On the next All-Star Acad—
Haruki-Kun: Sorry PM but I'll need to stop you there!
Polygon-Man: What now?
Haruki-Kun: Just gotta tell everyone reading this that we are coming to the end of the All-Star Academy.~Sighs~(▰˘︹˘▰)
All: WHAT!?
Haruki-Kun: Yes, it's true, but don't worry. I'll end somewhere around chapter 15-20. Wherever that is.(⌣_⌣")
Nate: The end of the All-Star Academy...
Cole: Good things can't last forever...
Sackboy: ~Cries~
Haruki-Kun: That and we won't be continuing Tall Tales. Sorry... But! I might start a new Playstation All-Stars story, named A Team of Rivals.(ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ
All: Ooooooo...
Kat: What's A Team of Rivals going to be about?
Haruki-Kun: Can't tell you, but it was an old project I dropped a long time ago for the All-Star Academy. I've always wanted to make my story mode, but it seems the archive got that covered... but still! Take some chances! You never know!ヾ( ^▽^ )ノ
Clank: Interesting...
Haruki-Kun: Ok, so the next chapter is going involve Drake and Co. still finding the snitch but all I can tell you is that Kratos is going to get tied up and slapped on the next chapter.(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)
Polygon-Man: Awww... I was going to say that.
Kratos: What?! MORTAL!
Haruki-Kun: Don't "Mortal!" me, Kratos! Next time on the All-Star Academy: Radec's Request... Gotcha!( ^O^ )
Kratos: I already do not like the next chapter!