Who's ready for a new chapter?
Readers: (jump up) Me! Me! Me! Me!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fangface or any other cartoons in this fic. I only own myself, Ricky, my OC, and that is it. Seriously. Tell the lawyers to go home!
The first thing WG did when she saw Marlow's dead body was laugh hysterically, falling on the floor and holding her abdomen, keeping her legs crossed to hold her bladder, tears squeezing out her eyes as she burst into guffaws. Everyone else looked at her, quizzically, thinking either the authoress had a morbid sense of humor or had finally lost it completely.
Suddenly, several hidden doors opened and the rest of the gang stepped in. At the sight of each other, they were ready to run up and hug the breath out of one another, but their heartfelt reunion was put on hold after hearing WG's laughter. "What's up with her?" Kasandra asked.
"Good grief, what happened to Marlow?" Fangs gasped, backing away from Marlow's shredded body.
"Killed him." Cinder replied, shrugging.
This time, Kite burst out laughing, along with Kitefang. "About time someone did that to him! (grr)" Kitefang chuckled.
"Um… guys? I understand how happy you are that Marlow is dead, but that's not exactly a reason to laugh." FF2 said, then looked at WG. "Kind to think of it… how come YOUR laughing, WG?"
"Because the moron put us through heck. Plus, back in 'Family Traits' he tried to make a move on me!" WG replied, bitterly glowering at Marlow's body.
"WHAT?" …It was Silver (the werewolf) speaking through FF2 this time. "(grr) Son of a- I'll show him!" Out of his own control, FF2 reached into his pocket and looked at a picture of the moon, transforming into his werewolf half…
After his transformation, everyone else gasped. "(grr) Whoa, Silver! When did you get a makeover? Huh? Huh?" Fangface asked.
"What are you talking about?" Silver the werewolf asked.
"You may want to take a- hold it, you don't go crazy when you see your reflection, do you?" Brielle said, taking out a mirror but cautiously holding it back.
"(grr) No."
"Alright. See for yourself,"
He looked in the mirror, gasping. He suddenly had black hair, wore a red hoodie, blue jeans, and large white gloves on his hands! Save for his left hand, which had the gauntlet on it. "What happened to me?"
"It appears Max is waking," Edwin replied, rubbing his chin. "Since you both are part of FF2, it became difficult to decide who he should transform into at pure will."
"It should have been me. I was out, first!" A familiar voice came out of Silver the werewolf's mouth.
"(grr) No you weren't! I was!" The werewolf growled in response, then gasped and covered his mouth. "Did… that come out of me?"
"Okay, I'm getting freaked out," Jim said, bluntly. "What exactly is with all the changes, and hidden rooms, and everything."
WG turned sharply, her eyes widening. "Oh. My. Gosh. …JIM!" she exclaimed, running over and shaking his hand. "Oh my gosh! I'm a HUGE fan of yours! I mean, I'm not a fan-girl, but you're still the coolest Disney guy I've ever seen, since you're not a prince, and you're a rebel, and you're hot (though I'm not into hotness much), and you are just plain AWESOME!"
"Um… thanks. Can I have my arm back?"
"Can I have my arm back?" Morph repeated, looking at WG curiously. Suddenly, a familiar face caught his eye, and he shot across the room, squealing. "PUUUUUUUGGSSYYYYY!"
The pink protoplasm splatted against Puggsy's face, pulling back then covering him in licks. "Heh heh, hey Morph. Long time no see," Puggsy chuckled, holding up his finger for Morph to perch on.
"LONG time!" Morph then transformed into a mini-Puggsy.
Silver/Max and WG and Stalker all looked at Ricky and Pocca. "How come YOU guys can't do that?" Stalker asked their pets.
"So, Marlow's finally dead," Brielle said, sneering at Marlow's body. "Shame that Cinder beat me to it."
"What makes you think you could kill him, dearest?" Cinder asked, scoffing. "Marlow is a highly-trained hunter."
"Yeah… but I was trained by a hunter as well, one far more skilled than Marlow."
This time, Silver/Max scoffed. "What makes you think Vincent was better than Marlow?" Max's voice asked. He shook his head, and Silver spoke. "Would you NOT do that?"
"Because, Marlow needed several other guys to back him up in his hunts, while Vincent hunted alone. Since Marlow didn't have anyone else to back him up, his mind grew clouded with fear. Vincent knows how to make it on his own, and would have found a way to get out alive, even if he lost the fight."
"How do you know all this?" Kite asked, arching an eyebrow.
Brielle stood up and faced Kite. "Because… I saw Vincent fight Marlow, one on one, no one else around… and he won." she looked back at Marlow, seeing how his blank, lifeless eyes seemed to be frozen in shock. "Vincent always told me that I had to learn to fend for myself if I were to take on the world someday. He once left me out in the woods blindfolded and told me that I had to stay out there all night, and if I were to remove the blindfold or go back to the house, it would prove that I was weak."
"Apparently, Marlow removed his blindfold," Silver the cyborg scoffed. "When Cinder lunged at him, I swear I saw deh panic in his eyes, despite how fierce he fought wit' dat shadowy blade of his,"
Everyone looked at Marlow's key-blade, seeing the shadow-outline of it. "A Shadow-Blade," Edwin gasped in awe. "I haven't seen one of these except in books,"
Silver/Max reached for the Shadow-Blade, but was interrupted by a voice inside his head: Don't touch it… there's a more powerful weapon for you to find.
"Well… this isn't SO bad," Eric said, shrugging. "Marlow's dead, and we're all reunited. I think our luck is beginning to change!"
"For the worst!" Dark-Al's voice shouted over the intercom, and suddenly the floor gave out and our heroes fell into the shadows, though Marlow's body was caught by a pair of hands that reached through a secret passage in the wall and pulled him through.
*BAM!*
The door flew open as Darkarai stormed into the room, furious. "What the hell's going on, Dark-Al?" she bellowed. "Those psychos we hired were supposed to KILL those meddlers! And I thought Marlow was supposed to drag that cyborg and his wife back here to lead those 'heroes' off! And what's up with all the extra cartoons wandering around the hallways?"
"Hey, don't blame me, missy!" Dark-Al snapped at the 10-year-old-looking sorceress. "I gave out the orders, but no one cooperated! Freddy and Jason got into a bloody fight, Calvin and Stewie kept arguing over which weapons one of them should get, Chucky and Tiffany are having marital issues, and the damned exit is rusted shut so no one could get out! And don't ask me about the extra toons because I don't know, either!"
Darkarai growled and rubbed her temples. "Insignificant fools… Whatever! Just tell them to use the back-entrance and get the job done, and if they don't obey I'll change them all into Blackhearts! And where the hell is Nether-Girl?"
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm right here!" Nether-Girl scoffed, walking in the room carrying a new outfit and color-changing eye-contacts.
"Where have you been?"
"Just grabbing a few items to pull off a nefarious task… Where's the other villains?"
"Somewhere in the fortress not heeding orders." Dark-Al muttered.
Nether-Girl rolled her eyes, then grabbed a little transmitter-radio and spoke into it, her voice coming over the lair's intercom. "Listen up! The sap who DOESN'T obey his orders and go after those meddlers will be forced to join Lindsey Lohan in rehab! …Yes, Tiffany, even you."
Suddenly there was a stampede of footsteps and all the villains were running down the hallway, frantic. They headed toward the exit, knocking the rusted doors down in their haste, and hurried to get to their tasks.
Dark-Al and Darkarai looked at Nether-Girl, awed. "Works every time." she then turned toward the monitors, switching the screens over to a different scenery.
*Thud!*
WG hit the floor, then stood on her hands and knees. "Huh. Well, that wasn't so ba-" she began to say, until…
*Thud!*
*Crash!*
*Bam!*
*Bonk!*
"Oof! Ow! Ooh! Ack! Oh! Ow! Oomph!"
…the others fell and landed on her.
Ricky, Pocca, Cinder and Silver landed off to the side while the rest of the gang landed on each other in a pile. "Ow…" Gin said, bluntly.
"Why is it that every time we fall through a trap door, we end up piled on top of each other?" Fangs scoffed.
"It's a common cliché, now get off of me!" Puggsy snapped, being on the 'bottom'. Everyone got off of him.
"Say… where's WG?" Tracker asked, noticing the authoress was missing.
"Mmf! Mmph!" Came a muffle, and WG's arms shot out from underneath Puggsy's stomach.
"Whoops," Puggsy said, standing up and helping WG up. "Sorry, WG… I could have swornify you were somewhere in the middle,"
"No problem, Pugs… all of you guys didn't break my back TOO much," WG arched her back backward until there was a *crack*, then she sighed and straightened back out. "Ah… that's better."
"So… where are we, now?" Fangpuss asked, looking around.
"Welcome to Level Three!" A man said, stepping out from around the corner. He had five o'clock shadow, black hair, wore a blue button-up short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts and classy sneakers.
"Chris MacLean? From the Total Drama series?" Kasandra questioned, arching an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"I was hired as a messenger by Nether-Girl. She noticed my talent for cruelty and paid me to set up a few 'challenges' for you guys."
"What KIND of challenges?" Tracker asked, suspiciously.
"Simple ones… if you'd be able to survive in a slasher-film. This first challenge is survival: each of you must split up in groups of two and explore this underground realm of darkness. Your goal is to face off with any creeps you run into and try to keep from getting killed. Winner gets to move on to the next level, while the loser… Well, lets just say this ISN'T the kind of 'reality segment' in which you'd want to get eliminated." A secret door then opened and Chris walked through it. "Well, I'll be watching you all in the safety area. Good luck- you'll need it."
"Wait! Take me with you!" Fangs cried, running after Chris, but the door already shut.
Everyone looked at each other. "Well… who goes with who?" Fangpuss asked.
"Maybe each of us should go with our spouse," Kasandra said, linking arms with Fangs.
"But some of us aren't even married!" Eric pointed out. "Who am I supposed to go with?"
"Plus, Kite and I are split from our werewolf-halves, so who would THEY do with?" Fangs added. Suddenly, he felt a trepidation, and he re-fused with Fangface, while Kite re-fused with Kitefang and Eric re-fused with Fangpuss.
"Well, the 'diffusion' spell has worn off, so that won't be much of a problem," Edwin said.
"Alright, everyone can go with their spouse, then." Tracker said. "Edwin, since our lovers aren't in this fic right now, you and I can pair up with either WG or Sil… er, Max… or… well, you know who I mean."
"I think WG should go with the Silver-Max-Mashup." Eric said, thumbing at the authoress and her co-author, jokingly. "They ARE a couple, you know."
"Well, in that case, Eric, you can go with Hardy, since both of you are still single." WG retorted.
Eric and Hardy both looked at each other, stunned. "Oh, C'MON! Everyone else gets to go with a girl, but I get stuck with a kid? (grr) No fair!" Hardy scoffed.
"And what about me?" Jim asked. "Silver and Cinder are going to be together."
Stalker grinned. "You can go with me!" she said excitedly.
"Er, how about this: Eric can go with Jim, and Hardy can go with Stalker." Silver/Max suggested.
"Sounds good!" Jim said quickly.
"Suh-weet!" Eric exclaimed, and he and Jim took off.
Stalker's grin died as she looked at Hardy, and they both sneered at each other. "Suddenly, hanging out with a kid doesn't sound so bad, (snarl)" Hardy muttered.
Everyone split up with their spouse/girlfriend/just friend, preparing to face the evil that lurked in the shadows… and personally, it wasn't too much comfort, especially since there wasn't any light in the path WG and Silver/Max were taking. The farther they got away from their friends, the quieter it got, and the silence was unsettling to both their nerves.
Especially WG. Walking in silence caused her to think dreaded thoughts… the most dreaded one being memories of her sister. When she tried to focus on reality, she regretted it, having reminded herself that she was walking in the darkness. "How did I get mixed up in all of this?" she asked herself, sighing.
Silver/Max shrugged. "I don't know… I think it all started with that 'Body Switch' story," Silver replied.
"Note to self: be careful of what to write in the future," She gasped, hearing something hit the ground, and she grabbed her friend's arm. "What was that?"
Silver/Max looked over, seeing a rock on the ground, and looked up, seeing a few rats. "Nothing to worry about. Just a few rats."
"Great. First it's the dark, now it's rats. What's next?"
Silver/Max then grabbed her hand… only this time, rather than it being a glove it was his paw. She looked over, squinting in the darkness, noticing that the Max-features had disappeared. "Don't worry, WG. (grr) You don't have anything to worry about with ME around."
"And vice-versa. …Just as long as we don't get separated and end up like Vincent: having to fend for ourselves."
Silver gripped her hand. "Believe me, Where-Girl. There is NO WAY I'm going to leave you in the dark. (grr) Won't leave you."
WG smiled, but sighed. "Weird. A guy once said the same thing to me a long time ago… of course, he was just playing around and yanking my chain."
"Well, I'm not that guy. I won't leave you, (grr) And to prove it, I'm giving you this," He held her wrist, making her fingers point towards him, and he slipped a ring on her middle finger.
WG looked at the ring, her eyes widening in surprise. "But… this is your mom's class ring! It's the most sentimental thing you have!"
"Well, I'm sentimental towards you. (grr)" he then gasped and covered his mouth. "Er, in a friendship sort of way!"
WG smirked. "Right…" she then took off her bracelet: it was a bead-bracelet with rectangular beads with different pictures of Christ and his disciples on it. "Well, as long as we're swapping sentimental items, here." She slipped the bracelet around his wrist.
"(grr) Where'd you get this?"
"I bought it at a Riverless Festival in Kansas. It's not too sentimental, but it still means a lot to me."
"Gee… Thanks!" The two of them smiled, and continued walking down the dark hallway.
"Silver?"
"Yeah, WG?"
"You can let go of my hand, now."
"Oh, shit! I forgot something!" Nether-Girl gasped.
"What is it?" Dark-Al asked.
"I forgot to tell the other villains to let Jim live!"
"Oh, PLEASE don't tell me you have a crush on him!"
"No… but a billion other girls do, and if anything happens to him in this story we're going to have a massive fan-girl 'search-and-kill' dilemma, and WE'LL be the ones who'll get our throats slit!"
"But… they wouldn't even know where to find us. Plus, don't you think they'd be after the ones who kill Jim, rather than us?"
Nether-Girl paused. "Ah. You got a point," she looked back at the monitors, arching an eyebrow at an image of Silver/Max. "Whoa! What's up with the were-nut?"
"Max has awakened," Finneas said, walking in the room, grinning. "It seems the X-Wand will be forged sooner than I expected."
"What are you talking about?"
"The X-Wand, an ancient weapon that was forged, who's power can only come both purity and darkness, light and dark. Lex was the soul-owner to use it, but he had too much darkness in his heart and tried to fuse with Max to control it, but during their battle both of them disappeared and Max's heart remained. I claimed the X-Wand, trying to figure out what had gone wrong, and that's when I figured it all out…"
"Figured WHAT out?" Dark-Al asked.
Finneas smirked. "Lex had given up his heart, hiding it in another's soul so that he could fight Heartless without the fear of becoming one. I wasn't sure where he hid it until now…"
"Where?" Nether-Girl asked.
"You'll see. Just be patient."
"But I don't WANT to be patient! You keep bringing up this 'accomplice' of yours, and now this X-Wand business, and now you're talking about the Dark Nobody of Max hiding his heart somewhere- I'm getting sick of having to figure it all out! And what IS the X-Wand, anyway?"
"It is a key… A key to fuse the Toon World with Reality, causing both to rupture and crumble," Darkarai answered, staring at the monitors. "Once that happens, I shall create a NEW world of my own… a world where there is no such thing as heroes, peace, or faith. Lex shall be the prince of it, and the rest of you shall be the generals."
"And let me guess: YOU'RE going to be the queen?" Dark-Al asked, scoffing.
Darkarai turned and glared at him, her eyes glowing bright white. "Do not question me, boy. If it wasn't for me, the X-Wand would not even exist,"
"What do you mean?" Nether-Girl asked, but Darkarai only walked out of the room. "Typical. I want to know something, but I don't get an answer! …Ah, screw it! I'm going back to the monitors!"
A/N: What secrets are Finneas and Darkarai hiding? Will our heroes be able to handle the challenges? And what kind of plan does Nether-Girl have in mind? Find out next time on Total. Drama-
*TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY*
*static*
(Ahem) Sorry about that. I meant find out in the chapter after the next one!
Please review. No flames or Jim gets hurt! AUGH! *ducks cannon* (Rackin-frackin fan-girls…)