Chapter 37: Technology Battle
"Location: Amity Park, The World Of Nickelodeon, November 22nd 2109"
The heroes starred up at Arsenal Tech with both a mixture of fear and amazement on their faces. The huge mobile fortress stomped it's way towards the heroes in the direction of Amity Park.
"How do we stop this thing?" Zarina asked.
Danny pulled out his portal key and called his parents.
"What is it, Danny?" Maddie asked.
"We have a serious problem. Technus took over the factory. You remember that one time when he took over our house and turned it into a mobile base and went on a rampage?" Danny asked.
"I do." Maddie replied.
"Well, this is much worse. Technus created a computer virus that allows him to take over more machines and took over the factory. I need you to make an antivirus to use against him." Danny said.
"Alright, we'll whip up an antivirus. You just be careful." Maddie said.
"I will. Love you, mom." Danny said.
"Love you too." Maddie said.
Danny hung up his portal key and turned to his teammates.
"Here's the plan. My parents are making an antivirus to use against Technus. I need one of you to go back to the castle and get it once their done. Once we have the antivirus, we'll smash our way into the factory, find the main computer, plug in the antivirus, and shut Technus down." Danny said.
"I'll go. My wings are the fastest thing here, and you'll need Swizzle more then me." Zarina said.
"Good luck." Vanellope said.
Zarina took out her portal key, opened a portal to Richmond, and flew through it as fast as she could go. Once she was gone, Vanellope, Candlehead, Swizzle, Snowanna, and Danny turned towards the massive mobile base. They watched as it started producing possessed Invisibility Suits, Ecto-Skeletons, and tanks. Off in the distance, a large group of Guys in White agents headed towards the factory with tanks, planes, and helicopters.
"Looks like a war's fixing to take place." Candlehead said.
The heroes watched as a bunch of the possessed machines charged towards the Guys in White. A huge battle began between the two armies.
"Okay, the plan is to keep big tall and ugly distracted by any means. We're going to attack the legs and anything else that looks vulnerable." Vanellope said.
"Sounds good." Swizzle said.
"Let's show this oversized tin can not to mess with my home." Danny said.
The five heroes charged at the factory, dodging and flying past all of the lasers and missiles that it fired at them. Danny and Swizzle went up to one leg, and Danny started freezing a part of it. When it was frozen, Swizzle slammed his fist into it and smashed it to bits. A screen with a skull on it glared at the two heroes.
"You think you can stop the mighty Technus?" the skull asked as several turrets aimed their weapons at Swizzle and Danny.
"Your not the only one who can shout." Swizzle replied.
He unleashed a Sugar Wail. The sound wave shattered the screen and caused the turrets to either explode or go haywire. The turrets that went haywire started to blast other turrets or the factory itself. Chunks of the factory fell off.
"You like the redecorating I'm doing?" Swizzle asked.
"Don't get cocky! I will crush you!" another screen skull replied angrily.
"You have to catch us first." Swizzle said.
He and Danny flew off to attack another segment of the factory. On another side of the factory, Vanellope, Candlehead, and Snowanna were using teamwork. Candlehead would fly by the legs and blast a hole in them with fire, while Vanellope and Snowanna ran behind her and fired blasts of pixels and sound blasts into the holes, destroying a huge segment of the legs. Arsenal Tech shot it's other legs out to keep itself balanced. Vanellope, Candlehead, and Snowanna made their way to the top of the factory, where they meet up with Swizzle and Danny.
"Let's do some damage up here." Swizzle said.
The others nodded, and they and Swizzle flew around and started attacking the screens and turrets on top of the roof.
Meanwhile, Dan, Pete, and their army returned to Jubilee's castle in the Ghost Zone with Nell, Igor, and the other prisoners and supplies that they had taken from Enchancia. Fumiko and Mindy were waiting for them when the army stepped off of their ships, which doubled as airships. Dan opened his arms wide, wanting to see their reactions, but made no move to hug them.
"Fumiko! How glad I am to see you." Dan said.
He gave Mindy a nod. She grunted back and crossed her arms.
"Dan, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Fumiko asked coldly.
The tone caught Dan off guard and he had to quickly reorient himself. Something had changed, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Instead, he laughed it off, refusing to show any weakness.
"Just coming back after a successful mission. I need to relax and restock on supplies before heading back to Enchancia with the forces that Jubilee let me use." Dan replied. He then put a hand on his belly and asked "I'm starving. My army is too. Shouldn't you prepare a feast for your honorable comrades?".
He bit back a smirk at the look of disgust on Mindy's face.
"Of course." Mindy replied.
He yawned and stretched before gesturing to his outfit and dirt stained skin.
"And our rooms? I haven't had time to work on mine with how I've been helping Jubilee, and I'd like to freshen up a bit. I'm covered in blood and sweat." Dan asked.
"I'll have someone run a bath for you." Mindy replied wryly.
He watched her leave.
"You have my thanks." Dan called out.
He then turned his attention back to Fumiko and waited.
"Do you need help?" Fumiko finally asked.
Dan grinned.
"Why, no, but thank you for asking." Dan replied.
Fumiko nodded stiffly.
"I'll have someone escort you to your room." Fumiko said.
Dan didn't bother to reply back. Instead, he walked back to his ship and opened the flap to his tent (which he had set up on the ship before leaving Enchancia). Nell was standing up and letting Aspen dress her, while Grimm was in the corner. As soon as Nell saw Dan, she backed away, only to be held in place by Aspen. Dan looked up her up and down. Her dress from before had been mended, her hair had been brushed, and her skin was starting to get a healthier glow. All in all, she looked like a princess.
"Pull her hood up." Dan ordered after a pause.
Aspen did as she was told and then looked back up at him.
"Should I lead her out?" Aspen asked.
Dan shook his head and grabbed a hold of Nell's delicate elbow.
"No, I'll be taking her with me. Why don't you help your friend there?" Dan asked.
He nodded towards Grimm, who was struggling to his feet. It was sort of a funny sight. He chuckled.
"Someone should make him a cane or something. Come along, my flame-haired princess." Dan ordered.
He ignored her struggles and led her down the plank to greet a very annoyed Wolfman. Dan broke out in a fit of laughter.
"They sent you? That's hilarious." Dan asked.
The Wolfman just growled and turned, stomping his way to the castle. Dan wiped a tear and followed.
"You didn't answer my question." Dan said as they passed through the various hallways of the castle.
"And it's none of your business." the Wolfman said.
He opened a door and stepped inside. The room that they were in was brightly lit and smelled of spices, but Dan didn't care. He narrowed his eyes. He would not let someone speak to him that way. He was about to coldly remind the wolf about what he or Jubilee could do to him when Nell winced. Dan looked to see that he was gripping her too tightly. He loosened his hold and turned back to address the Wolfman, who was looking at them with a confused look.
"Who's that?" the Wolfman asked.
"My prisoner." Dan replied without hesitation. He then ordered "Anyway, now that you've been introduced, I really want to be left alone so I can prepare for the feast. Also, bring this amulet to Jubilee.".
Dan took off the amulet and gave it to the Wolfman. The wolf nodded and then left the room. Once he was gone, Dan closed the door. Taking a deep breath, he turned and looked at the Enchancian princess. She had made her way to the furthest corner of the room and had somehow managed to get a hold of one of the decorative swords without him noticing and was holding it out in front of her, looking like she knew how to use it. Her wand had gotten taken from her, so she decided to use the next best thing. That only excited his blood and he grinned before floating towards her with his hands full of green energy.
"Now, now, there's no need for this. But if you insist, you'll get your wish." Dan said as he advanced towards her.
He fired an ectoblast at her, but she blocked with the sword. He had been right, she had muscle hidden away beneath her delicate looks. She then lunged towards Dan, but he disappeared before reappearing a few feet away from her.
"Oh-ho-ho-ha." Dan said as they danced around each other.
This was better than he'd ever imagined. Against all odds, she was holding her own against him, and he wasn't even putting up any effort. But it was getting late and he hadn't been lying when he had said that he was starving. So with just a touch of disappointment, he released a small and weak Ghostly Wail directed towards Nell. The force of the attack flung the red haired girl into the air before hitting a wall. Dan walked over to Nell, held her up by the neck, and waited for her to tire herself out. Despite being much better then before, she was still weak from her illness and her wound hadn't healed completely. It took ten minutes for her to slump in the air, chest heaving. Dan felt extremely satisfied. Without shame, he lowered his arm until it lingered around her waist. Nell tensed and then cried out in pain as he put pressure on her injury. He laughed again. She was flushed and helpless. He pulled back and slapped her across the face, but he was smiling as he did it. The slap had been hard enough to leave her dazed, and she became malleable in his arms.
"Your a fighter, but your nothing that I can't handle." Dan said.
At just that moment, someone came knocking at his door.
"What?" Dan asked in annoyance.
"The hot tub is ready, Master." Fright Knight replied from the other side of the door.
Dan gave Nell a look (which she avoided) and then sighed in exasperation.
"Alright, I'll be right there." Dan said.
He dropped her onto the ground and then indulged in petting her hair and running his hand along her neck. She didn't struggle, and just remained perfectly still. It was only that he stepped away from her that she moved. He watched her curl into herself, her back facing him.
"I'll be back, my flame-haired princess." Dan said.
He then opened the door to glare at Fright Knight. He had been smart to move a couple of steps back from the door because Dan would have 'accidentally' shot an ectoblast at him.
"Get me Aspen. I need her to guard this door." Dan ordered.
"Of course. Do you want me to show you..." Fright Knight started to ask.
"I know where it is. Just go do what I said." Dan replied angrily.
Fright Knight nodded and Dan shut the door behind him, catching one last glimpse of Nell before he made his way to a hot tub that the castle had. The room was steamy and warm, and he instantly felt his muscles relax. He snapped his fingers, and his clothes were replaced by black and white swimming trunks before stepping towards the hot tub and sinking in with a loud 'ah'.
Deep with the factory, Technus glared at a computer screen that showed the heroes attacking the roof.
"So they think they can just fly around and wreck my base? I'll let my minions deal with them." Technus thought.
He pushed a button on the computer. On the factory roof, a hole opened up and several possessed Invisibility Suits and Ecto-Skeletons flew out to attack the heroes. Swizzle and Danny charged forward, blasting the possessed machines as Vanellope, Candlehead, and Snowanna attacked the possessed machines from the roof, but for every one they cut down, more took their place. Soon, Swizzle and Danny were back-to-back, surrounded by the machines.
"There's too many of them!" Swizzle said.
"Don't worry, I have an idea. Can you do the Sugar Wail now?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, but I sometimes get exhausted after using it." Swizzle replied.
"It will have to do. Lock your arms together with mine and get ready to unleash the Sugar Wail." Danny instructed.
"Okay." Swizzle said.
"Whatever your planing, it will fail miserably against my might!" Technus's voice said from all of the possessed machines.
Swizzle and Danny locked arms together, and they started spinning and unleashing their respected wails. A look of total shock appeared on all of the possessed machines as they were smashed to pieces by the powerful attack. The attack flew across the roof, destroying the screens and turrets. After a few minutes, the two stopped spinning and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.
"That... was awesome!" Swizzle said wearily.
"Yeah. Whew, that took... a lot out of me." Danny said.
"I'll admit, that attack took me by surprise, but it's exhausted your energy. Now I will destroy you!" Technus's voice shouted.
A damaged Ecto-Skeleton with a hole on the top of it's domed head sprung out of a pile of destroyed machines and headed towards the down heroes.
"Hey, tin head! You forgot about me!" a voice shouted.
Candlehead flew in from above and threw a fireball at the Ecto-Skeleton. The fireball flew right through the hole on the Ecto-Skeletons head and went inside the machine. A look of panic appeared on the possessed machine's face just before it exploded into pieces.
"Hole in one!" Candlehead exclaimed as Vanellope and Snowanna showed up.
"Great save." Danny said.
"Your were awesome." Swizzle said.
"Fools! It will only take me a matter of minutes to repair the damage to this base and send out a fresh batch of minions to destroy you!" Technus's voice shouted.
Before anyone could say anything, there was a loud roaring sound. The heroes looked up to see a fleet of white jets armed with missiles heading towards the base.
"Looks like there's fixing to be some fireworks. We better get off of this thing." Vanellope said.
Candlehead grabbed her, and Swizzle grabbed Snowanna, and they and Danny took off from the roof just as the jets fired their missiles. The missiles slammed into the factory with a tremendous explosion, blasting holes into it, and knocking it to the ground and on it's side. Inside, Technus nearly fell over. He glared at the screen, the veins bulging in his head as he gritted his teeth. He then took a deep breath and let out a chuckle that turned into a mad burst of insane laughter.
"They think they've won, the poor fools. They may have damaged this version of my base, but I have a little trick up my sleeve. It's time for an upgrade!" Technus said.
He pushed another button. The machines of the assembly line quickly whipped up more minions that were sent outside the factory. On the outside, the heroes watched as swarms of machines flew out and gathered on the right and left side of the factory in a weird formation.
"Get ready for the next level!" Technus's voice shouted.
Everybody watched as all the machines started to fuse together to form two massive arms that attached themselves to the factory. The arms help push the factory off the ground as some other machines appeared and started fixing the damage. A bunch of screens on the roof merged together to form one massive screen that displayed a giant green and red skull.
"BEHOLD ARSENAL TECH TITAN VERSION 3!" Technus's voice boomed.
"Things just got a whole lot worse." Swizzle said as he and the other heroes stared at the mechanical titan before them.
The massive machine raised one of it's arms and aimed it at the white jets that were flying by. The arm released a massive bast of green energy that blasted all of the jets out of the sky. Luckily, the pilots had seen the attack coming and ejected from their jets before the blast hit the planes.
"I hope Zarina comes back with that antivirus soon." Candlehead said as they watched the factory start making it's way forward.
"Location: Berk, the Dreamworks Realm of the Dream World, November 22nd 2109"
Dagur, Future Dagur, Frostbite Candlehead, and Validar answered Morgan (M)'s request for an audience, after they had finished killing off a group of citizens that had planned an uprising. Bowing his blue haired head, Morgan (M) entered, flanked by a retinue of Berserker soldiers.
"Well? Do you have him?" Future Dagur asked.
"Yes. Alive and well, as you asked." Morgan (M) replied.
He gestured for the Berserker soldiers to bring their captive forth. Bound at the wrists and ankles, stripped of his helmet and weapons that he had, his dark brown sweat soaked hair sticking to his cheek, Gustav was set onto the floor in a kneeling position. Refusing humiliation, he looked Dagur, Future Dagur, Frostbite Candlehead, and Validar in the eye.
"I'll never betray them." Gustav said hoarsely.
"Oh, you won't have to. Your friends will be dead soon." Frostbite Candlehead said. She then turned to Morgan (M) and asked dryly "Did you leave him ungagged for a reason?".
"I was afraid that he might choke, Candlehead. You four said to take no chances with his life." Morgan (M) replied.
"Fine. A job well done, Morgan. You may leave." Validar said.
He, Dagur, Future Dagur, and Frostbite Candlehead saw hesitation in Morgan (M)'s eyes before he bowed and left.
"What? Is praise not enough? Is he expecting a reward? Has everything that we've done for him not matter?" Dagur wondered in annoyance.
Servants were fickle like that. He had already culled several of the Berserker soldiers whose loyalty was doubtful. Meanwhile, Morgan (M) had been perfect in his loyalty and uniquely useful in his talents. Dagur, Future Dagur, Frostbite Candlehead, and Validar would rather keep him around if they could, especially since he was related to Validar. But Morgan (M) didn't have his memories, and he was also good and an heir to Naga. Therefore, his loyalties were a... sensitive matter.
Dagur, Future Dagur, Frostbite Candlehead, and Validar then looked down at their prisoner. Gustav gazed back. His defiant look was beginning to annoy them. Frostbite Candlehead slowly walked up to him as he kept his measured gaze, and then, without warning, she kicked him in the shoulder and sent him toppling over to one side. His head made a satisfying sound against the stone floor and he let out a pained gasp.
"Oh, did that hurt?" Frostbite Candlehead asked in false surprise.
For a moment, Gustav's eyes went vague, but in moments he collected himself enough to struggle against his binds, to no effect.
"Do you know why your here?" Frostbite Candlehead asked.
Gustav ceased his struggling, but he gave no response and simply watched her warily. No matter, it was rhetorical.
"It's because you humans are pathetic creatures." Frostbite Candlehead replied. She sighed and crossed her hands behind her back, where they would not embarrass her, and said "But no matter. What you lack in longevity, you make up for in numbers. I learned that long ago. But now, all will be to my and my allies advantage.".
Gustav had gone still. Dagur, Future Dagur, Frostbite Candlehead, and Validar looked at his face and saw determination lingering, but also growing fear as it began to make it's way into his eyes. And he looked like he was trying not to cry. Much better.
"I see you require no more explanation. Good." Frostbite Candlehead said.
"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 5th 2151"
Both Juliet and Birdo looked at the soil-coated figure that grabbed Moon.
"Help me!" Moon screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Oh no! That... soil-thing creature got Moon!" Juliet said.
"What is that creature, anyway?" Birdo asked.
"I have no idea." Juliet replied.
"I don't suppose you've seen a glimpse of it somewhere in the different galaxies?" Birdo asked.
"Nope, only now." Juliet replied.
Moon cleared his throat.
"Look, if you two are going to talk and talk like that, then I'll sure as heck be dinner by now!" Moon said.
Juliet nodded and turned to face Birdo.
"Birdo, we need to find a way to save Moon." Juliet said.
Birdo nodded.
"Well, for starters, we need to be able to make that thing let go of Moon." Birdo said.
Juliet looked at the thrashing prince for a fraction of a second and then nodded in agreement.
"I second the motion." Juliet said.
The pink Luma studied the being, all while looking for a way to make it let go of it's hostage. The creature's entire frame seemed to be entirely coated in soil, and it was huge. She didn't have to look from head to toe to determine it's size because it's arm alone was fifty feet long.
"Where's the rest of its body? The way I see it, Moon's being grabbed by a giant arm and..." Birdo started to ask.
An eye mysteriously appeared on the ground by the spot that Birdo was standing, causing the pink dinosaur to stop her sentence cold and jerk away. Juliet stared after her pink friend and blanched.
"Where did the eye come from?" Juliet asked.
"I don't know." Birdo replied.
The eye immediately closed just before Juliet could float closer to fully examine it, causing her and Birdo to look at each other in confusion.
"What was that all about?" Birdo asked.
"I... I'm not... really sure." Juliet replied.
"Can I say something?" Moon asked.
Juliet and Birdo looked up to see the boy looking down at them with his eyes wide with both shock and realization.
"What is it, bro?" Juliet asked.
"I don't know about you, Juliet, but from up here, I have a feeling that we're not dealing with a giant arm." Moon replied.
"What are you saying?" Juliet asked.
"I'm saying that when I saw that eye open near Birdo, I'm starting to wonder... could it be possible that this whole area is the bad guy? I mean, when you put it together, it makes sense. 'Among the forest mass and it's trees you must be, to engage so the next destination you will see'. Don't you get it, guys? I think that riddle meant that in order for us to figure out where we'll be heading to next, we need to fight among the forest mass." Moon replied.
"Which happens to be this area of the forest itself. The one that we need to fight is right here! And we're stepping on him! He's beneath our feet!" Juliet said in realization.
"I don't know if I should feel happy that you two figured out something or weird that a bad guy is beneath our feet." Birdo said.
"Trust me on this one, Birdo. After everything Moon and I go through, everything is weird." Juliet said.
Suddenly, the eye that had opened and closed earlier opened again, with the iris focused on Juliet. The pink Luma gulped. After a beat of a second, another massive arm appeared, the soil-coated and tree-lined fingers of the hand closing in on the green dinosaur.
"Look out, Juliet!" Birdo warned with a shout.
"Huh?" Juliet asked.
She turned around just in time to see the hands move toward her, ready to capture her. However, she managed to narrowly move out of the way just before the fingers could ensnare around her.
"That was close." Juliet said.
"Uh, Juliet?" Birdo asked.
"Yeah?" Juliet asked.
"I have a feeling that this guy has more then one pair of eyes." Birdo replied in a shaky voice.
She and Juliet looked at the multitude of "rocks" that opened to reveal that they were actually eyes.
"Oh, no." Juliet whispered.
The same arm that had grabbed Juliet earlier tried to take a swipe on Birdo as well. Luckily, with just about the same luck, the pink dinosaur managed to take a narrow dodge on it's assault just before it could have her. Juliet studied each of the eyes that looked around (some of them were closed) and noticed something on an individual eye. It popped out of it's socket, sprouted wings, and flew close to the pink Luma. Juliet tensed and, as soon as it was just inches near, pounced on it and knocked it to the ground. She then picked it up and shot it at the arm that held Moon captive. The arm swayed at the blow and then loosened it's grip on the boy.
"Moon, can you be able to move now?" Juliet asked.
Moon squirmed a bit and nodded.
"Pretty much, yeah." Moon replied.
He punched at the fingers of the hand that had him, allowing the hand to let him go. He started falling, but he managed to hover in the air and then float to the ground. He, Juliet, and Birdo looked up at the giant arm that twitched and then recovered from the blow afterwards.
"We have to stop that guy. Not only might we be able to get a clue to rescue the others, we just might also be able to save Yoshi's Island." Juliet said.
"Location: Richmond, Virginia, November 22nd 2109"
At the castle, Adorabeezle, Future Taffyta-A, Jimmy, Jack, and Maddie had just finished making the antivirus when Zarina showed up.
"Your just in time. We just finished up the antivirus." Adorabeezle said.
She handed Zarina a flash drive.
"Thanks." Zarina said.
She took the flash drive, generated a portal that led back to Amity Park, and took off through it.
"Location: Amity Park, The World Of Nickelodeon, November 22nd 2109"
Nell couldn't move. Her body, especially her hands, were shaking too much. She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. She wanted to run, but there wasn't a way out. Her lips felt swollen and her cheek was numb. She was positive that there was a bruise forming.
Steadying her breathing, she forced herself to move. Sitting on the bed, her eyes quickly blinked the tears away so she could scan the room before one of the barbarians came in. The swords had been taken out of the room, so she couldn't use them. Wiping her nose, she stood and walked over to a group of chests that were in a corner of the room. She rummaged around, but after finding nothing, she quickly moved to a group of desks and cabinets.
"God, please, let there be something I can use!" Nell thought.
Eventually, she found a small needle. It was light in her hands, but she felt much more at ease with something to defend herself with. Her head jerked at the sound of voices outside of her door and she scrambled over to the bed. She shoved the needle behind the desk and then threw herself facedown across the bed, her hair obscuring her face. Just at that moment, the door to the room opened and there was a sigh.
"Poor girl." a voice muttered.
Aspen. Nell waited to see what the female ghost would do, but she didn't come close to her. Instead, she floated around the room, inspecting it. Nell slowly turned around, watching her. In the far corner, next to the door, she found a dagger and Nell cursed at her luck. The ghost noticed her eyeing the weapon and offered her a smile.
"I know how much you want this, but trust me, it's for your own good." Aspen said.
She put it away in her pouch. Nell bit her tongue and instead glared at the woman. She wasn't in any mood to be around company. She just wanted to be left alone to her thoughts. But Aspen would have none of that. She started mumbling under her breath, light enough that Nell couldn't make out what she was saying. But as she advanced towards her, she guessed that it had something to do with the fresh pair of clothes that she had been hiding in the crook of her arm.
The feast.
She pursed her lips. When would this horrible day end? Apparently not after she took a bath. Aspen had to drag her out of the room and then had to force strip her when they were there. Nell wanted to scream, but she didn't. She needed to remain calm. Her adopted mother always said to think with a level head and not let fear or frustration take a hold of her mind. So she took deep breaths. When she felt Aspen trying to scrub her, she shoved her hands away and stepped away from her. She could at least clean herself. The ghost woman understood and gave her some privacy. Nell looked at the black metal tub and slowly dipped her foot in. It was warm and smelled good. Despite herself, she relaxed and gratefully sank in, dropping her head back and letting it get wet. She then thought about Enchancia, and she scrunched up her face and stared forlornly at the ceiling as she soaked in the tub. She wondered how her adopted parents were doing. She had heard from Aspen and a few other ghosts that they had managed to take Enchancia. Was her father alright? Her mother? Surely they had survived. Her father was the strongest person she knew and her mother was invincible. Besides, her people would have protected them. They would have put up such a good fight. She wondered about Sofia, Amber, James, Violet, and her other friends. She hoped that her adopted siblings and maid hadn't gotten lost, and that her friends were alright.
Her eyes burned and she gently reached to rub them. She heard Aspen shift and Nell immediately tried to distract from her small breakdown. She picked up one of the cloths and dipped it in the water. It came out soaping wet and she gently ran it across her arms and shoulders. Dirt and grime pealed away. Again and again, she would rub at her skin until she was pink and raw. The only reason that she stopped was because the water turned cold. Aspen immediately noticed and appeared beside the tub. With no effort, she lifted her out and patted her dry. Nell didn't even have time to protest before she was dressed and ready. She looked down at her outfit and swallowed hard. It was yellow and of Enchancian design. They must have stolen it. Like everything else.
She was escorted back to the room. Each step became more painful the closer that she got to the room, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of it. For a moment, she froze and seriously contemplated running, but Aspen's heavy hand reminded her that she had no place to go.
"Be brave." Nell thought.
She opened the door and stepped into the room. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the empty room.
"Lucky girl." Aspen muttered.
Nell then felt herself be pushed towards a chair. Not sure what to expect, she was completely caught off guard when a comb was shoved into her hands.
"I'm sure you can figure that one out, girl." Aspen said.
Nell pursed her lips. This was one of the things that she couldn't get used to. All of the ghosts seemed to assume that she was stupid. She started running the comb through her wet curls. It was always easier to brush her hair when it was wet, and the process soothed her. She took her time, wishing that Miranda was there. Usually, she would complain if her adopted mother tried helping her with her hair, but now, that's all she wanted.
"Alright, time's up. I have to get you to the feast, or else Dan or Jubilee will be angry," Aspen said.
She took the brush away and hauled Nell to her feet. Nell wanted to yell out "Stop treating me like a doll!", but she held her tongue. Instead, she brushed Aspen aside and headed for the door. She waited patiently. Aspen just raised an eyebrow at her.
"Hmm, you have fierceness in you. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Come now, girl." Aspen ordered.
She took the human girl's wrist and led her down the hall. The only thing that made the march bearable for Nell was the thought that she might see Igor. Seeing a familiar face would sooth her heart. However, she couldn't bare to think about what might come after the feast.
Back at the battle, things were not looking good. Several Guys in White tanks, planes, and helicopters blasted away at Arsenal Tech, but the giant machine just kept moving forward, swatting and blasting all the vehicles away as if they were mere insects. Even the attacks from Vanellope, Candlehead, Swizzle, Snowanna, and Danny had very little effect on the giant machine. Technus had apparently upgraded the armor on the factory.
"Man, this is hopeless!" Snowanna said.
"The only way to stop this thing is to go inside and attack Technus, but we need the antivirus to destroy the Takeover Virus, because even if we defeat Technus, the factory will still go on a rampage." Danny said.
Just then, Zarina flew up to them.
"Special delivery! One antivirus coming right up!" Zarina said.
She handed Vanellope the antivirus.
"Thanks. Now it's time to take the fight to Technus." Vanellope said.
She led the group to the top of the factory. She grabbed Snowanna's hand and glitched through the roof, while Swizzle grabbed Candlehead's hand and Danny grabbed Zarina's hand, and the both of them went intangible and followed Vanellope and Snowanna.
"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 5th 2151"
"How are we going to beat up this whole forest mass? Seriously, we need a game plan." Moon asked, all while dodging and punching eyeballs that kept coming and going.
Juliet smashed into another approaching eyeball.
"I think I've got a few things figured out about what we're facing. This guy obviously sees everywhere, since he's got lot's of eyes scattered all over the place. Another one is that whenever an eyeball pops out of it's socket, a new eye appears in it's place, as if it was regenerating." Juliet replied.
"Let's add the fact that if we stay still for too long, all of the eyes will close in on us and the giant arm will take a swipe." Birdo said.
Moon groaned and shot a blast of blue magic from his wand.
"Oh, just great. So we've got fifty foot tall arms up to swipe us if we keep still, and multiple eyes that fly near us like annoying Parakoopas." Moon said.
"We can't just keep moving forever and beating up eyes that will always come back... but if we don't get moving, it won't take long until the eyes center on us and the arms grab us." Juliet said.
"But I happened to notice something while I was up there fifty feet above. All of the eyes within the area seem to be forming a shape." Moon said.
"And what shape was that?" Birdo asked.
"It sort of looked like... a key." Moon replied.
"That doesn't make sense. There are eyes everywhere. I doubt that it can form the shape of a key..." Birdo started to say.
"Hold on, I didn't say that it made sense. Before I noticed the pattern, I saw that there were eyes that weren't moving at all. They seemed to be holding themselves steady. And so I separated the eyes that were moving and chasing you two and the eyes that were still and... I saw a key pattern. Maybe the best way to defeat this guy is to strike the eyes that form the key shape. I'm just saying. Who knows, maybe those steady eyes don't grow back." Moon explained.
"And your saying that the eyes that shape a key will help us defeat the monster?" Juliet asked.
"It's not impossible." Moon replied.
Birdo shook her head.
"How can we try to hit the eyes? Shall we stay here and study the eyes? We'll get grabbed." Birdo asked.
"Birdo's right. And it's pretty much hard to identify the eyes if we're down here. If we were up..." Juliet started to reply.
"Let's get ourselves captured, then." Moon said.
"Have you lost your mind, Moon?" Juliet asked.
"You said thatwe have no chance being just here, so it's best if we get ourselves grabbed and get up there." Moon replied.
Juliet stared blankly at Moon.
"That... is totally nuts of you, Moon. But it's probably nuts enough for it to work." Juliet said.
"Good. Now let's make those eyes come at us, but we need to make sure that the fingers don't get us. We have to hold onto the hand and not the other way around." Moon said.
"Got it, Moon." Juliet said.
They all waited for the eyes to center on them and hopefully for the arm to grab them. After a while, the trio was surrounded by stares. Eventually, the same ground shaking followed, tailed with the fingers rising from the ground.
"On my signal." Moon whispered.
Juliet and Birdo tensed and prepared to jump.
"One." Birdo whispered.
"Two." Juliet whispered.
The massive hand moved closer towards the three.
"THREE!" Moon shouted.
The three of them jumped simultaneously and held onto the soil-coated hand. The hand shook back and forth at first, likely trying to shake them off, and then rose back up.
"You see it now?" Moon asked over the wailing wind.
"I see it!" Juliet and Birdo replied at the same time. Juliet then said "It's exactly like a key!".
"Yeah, but we've got some company!" Birdo said.
She pointed at the eyes below that were outside of the key pattern, and the ones that were popping out of their sockets and flying directly towards them.
"Uh, oh. This isn't good." Moon said.
"Prepare yourselves!" Juliet shouted.
"I'll take care of that." Birdo said.
She shot fire at it from her snout.
"Take this!" Moon shouted.
He shot a blast of magic at an approaching eye.
"And some more of this!" Birdo shouted, burning another eye.
"Hey, I got an idea." Juliet said.
"Yeah? And what's that?" Moon asked.
"I'm thinking that maybe we should use these flying eyes to hit at the key-eyes from above. It's practically impossible to hit the key-eyes down there if we're up here." Juliet replied.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Moon said.
He realized the little flaw in his plan. He hadn't realized until now that Juliet was right. Although they could see the pattern eyes from above, there was no way to hit them when they were all down below.
"I can suck the approaching eyes in and blow them back out." Birdo said.
"And I can keep knocking eyes away until I hit the target." Juliet added.
"And I can use my magic to throw the flying eyes back to the ground." Moon suggested.
"Great! Now we all know what we're going to do." Juliet said.
As the eyes kept coming and going, Moon, Juliet, and Birdo continued hitting at them, all at the same time while launching missile attacks at the key-pattern eyes (and all while being careful not to lose their balance and fall off the giant hand). They sucked in and blew them (in Birdo's part), punched and knocked them away (in Juliet's part), and even blasted them away with magic or luckily grabbed them mid-flight, tore off the wings (positively brutal) and threw them down to plummet to their doom (in Moon's part). The fight-slash-strike was difficult, but it was quickly rewarding. After a while, the trio discovered that twenty five of the twenty eight key-pattern eyes were taken down and "destroyed". And, as Moon had suspected, they were not capable of regenerating. The trio exchanged grins.
"This is it." Birdo said with glee.
"Only three more to go." Juliet said excitedly.
"Let's not waste any more time." Moon said.
Using her snout, Birdo sucked in one more approaching fly-eye and, with all of her might, blew it down so intense that the twenty sixth key-eye broke off with a shattering noise that could even be heard from up there.
"Three." Birdo said, counting down.
"My turn." Juliet said.
She looked above at another approaching fly-eye and knocked it down hard, eventually leading the twenty seventh key-eye to shatter and break with an equally loud noise.
"Two." Juliet said as she continued the countdown.
"Okay, it's up to me." Moon said, eager that his hunch had been right and that the battle was almost over.
He grabbed an incoming eye mid-flight, tore off it's wings so it wouldn't escape when he threw it, and then prepared to deliver the final move that would end the Yoshi Island monstrosity. The blonde haired boy sucked in a deep breath.
"Here we..." Moon started to say.
Before he could even move his arm to throw the eye, millions of fly-eyes were unleashed, causing a mass outbreak like a swarm of wild birds that were trying to escape from the sound of a hunter's gun. Within seconds, the view was completely obscured, and neither Juliet or Birdo could even see their own hands in front of their faces. But where was Moon?
"Help!" Moon screamed as soon as the fly-eyes had flown upward and oddly exploded to bits.
"Moon." Juliet said in horror as she saw her adopted brother hanging by the thumb of the creature on one hand, his other hand keeping a firm grip on the wingless fly-eye. She then started to say "Hand on, Moon, I'll...".
However, she stopped cold when another million fly-eyes flew up on a second swarm to explode.
"I'll save you!" a voice cried.
Moon frowned because that certainly wasn't Juliet that had said that. He strained to see among the mass of eyes, and eventually, he saw a pink hand emerge. A familiar pink snout emerged as well, and it didn't take long for everything to make sense.
"Birdo?" Moon asked.
"Yes, Moon, it's me. Hold onto my hand." Birdo replied.
Moon reached out and held firm to Birdo's hand, and the pink dinosaur pulled him up. Behind him, the second fly-eye swarm was gone.
"Thanks." Moon said.
He then glared at the remaining key-pattern eye, which was a dot in the middle of the key's head.
"Well, here goes nothing!" Moon said.
He took out his wand and shot a blast as hard as he could at the twenty-eighth key-pattern eye down in the middle of the key pattern, which produced the loudest sound one could ever hear, louder then the ones that Juliet and Birdo had destroyed... and simply because it was the last one.
"One." Moon whispered, finishing the countdown with a heavy panting.
Barely a second after the word came out of Moon's mouth, the soil-coated hand that the trio was standing on began to shake, as if it was going through some kind of earthquake, and then crumbled to pieces like loose soil.
"Oh, no." Moon whispered.
"Uh, oh." Juliet whispered.
"This isn't good." Birdo whispered.
The three of them shouted at the top of their lungs as they plummeted down from fifty feet above. Birdo closed her eyes, anticipating a waking nightmare, Juliet squeezed her eyes shut, and Moon covered his face with both hands. However, a second of pure wheezing adrenaline rush went up, backed up by the sound of the wailing wind, and was then followed by the ruffling of the bushes.
"Oof. Is everyone okay?" Juliet asked, fumbling her hands through the leaves of the bush.
"I am." Birdo replied, struggling out of the bush.
"So am I." Moon added.
Birdo looked around.
"Is it really done? It's really, really over, isn't it?" Birdo asked quietly.
Moon looked around for any sign that the creature might still be there, and then grinned.
"Yes, it's really over, guys." Moon replied.
"Location: Skyworld, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, November 16th 2175"
Viridi had long since lost track of the days. Had she been here a week? A month? A lifetime? She had no idea. Every day was the same, anyway: woken up at a random time and taken to a lab, where various Underworld soldiers did things to her. Strapped her to examination tables, and poked and prodded her with different instruments. Sometimes, they used a machine to torture her, leaving her screaming. Other times, they'd cut her, leaving a million little lines of red on her body. Once in a while, they made her fight various creatures just for the heck of it.
She remembered when she had gotten captured. After saying goodbye to Danielle and leaving for the past, she had found herself in Bowser's castle. She had then found him in his throne room and gotten into a fight with him, but the Koopa King was too powerful and managed to beat her before sending her to the Underworld in 2175. She was fed regularly, as far as she could tell. But the room beside her, with it's little window, stayed silent and empty. And no more Underworld soldiers came to run tests on her, put her in machines, or make her fight. She screamed at them through the slot in the door and begged them to let her go, or tried using her powers or teleporting through the walls in order to escape, but nothing worked. She cried, and yelled, and punched the wall until her hands bled. After a while, she stopped eating the food that they brought her, except in rare ravenous spurts. The rest of the time, she sat in a corner, huddled into a ball, still and silent. The only thing that she remembered was that she had went on some sort of mission, but had failed.
She flinched as the door opened, and the brighter light assaulted her wide hazel eyes. A dark blue skinned man walked over and took her hand, saying things to her in a gentle voice, but she didn't understand the words. Then he pulled her to her feet and led her out of the room, down a hallway, and into a much bigger room. There was a table there, and the space was filled with the scent of a wide array of food laid out. From the man's gesture, apparently, it was all for her. She ate without a word or a sense of dignity, shoving whatever smelled best into her mouth. They let her stay there for a while, until she'd eaten her fill. Then they took her somewhere else, a more familiar room. She frowned, trying to remember. This was the place where... where... where she was supposed to fight. She didn't like this room. She started to back away, hoping that they would let her go back to the room with food, or the small white one that they had taken her from. However, before she could take more then a step, a figure was pushed into the room on the other side. She gasped involuntarily. It was familiar too: thin, short, with a mess of blonde hair and a red and pink dress.
"Danielle!" Viridi croaked out, her voice quiet from lack of use.
She remembered who she was, and a spark of hope rose in her chest. Her daughter had found her, and now that they were in the same room... maybe they could overpower Hades and the Underworld soldiers and escape. The girl looked up at her mother's exclamation, but she was expressionless and her eyes had no emotion, and she took a few awkward steps forward. Viridi found it odd as to what she was doing, but still, it was Danielle, alive and in the same room. If she was here, everything could be okay.
But then Hades said something, and the girl lifted her head to stare directly at Viridi for the first time. There was no hint of recognition in her expression whatsoever.
"D-Danielle?" Viridi asked.
Danielle lunged towards her, hands glowing green. Viridi gasped and rolled out of the way as Danielle smashed onto the spot that the other girl had just been standing. Viridi planted her hand on the ground, creating a massive spike of rock to knock her daughter into the air. As she fell to the ground, Viridi tossed a green energy ball at her. Danielle got up and pounced on Viridi, knocking her to the ground.
"Danielle, what's wrong with you? Snap out of it!" Viridi shouted.
The flower on Viridi's dress bloomed, releasing a cloud of gas that caused Danielle to stagger around a bit. Viridi then telekinetically lifted a boulder and slammed it onto Danielle, knocking her unconscious. She then scowled and turned to Hades.
"What did you do to her?" Viridi asked angrily.
"The Chaos Kin did a favor for me and separated her soul from her body. What you just fought was a mindless slave like what happened to Pit when he was separated from his body." Hades replied.
He then snapped his fingers, and before Viridi could react, the Chaos Kin formed behind her. She was impaled through the back before she could even comprehend what had just happened. Viridi let out a pained gasp and reached for her back, but she couldn't remove the sickle-like object. She trembled and slackened when the monster hit a sensitive nerve. Unable to move, the goddess waited in fear until the insect found her soul. A burning pain went through her whole body as the monster's acid cloaked her soul. It made her vision blurry with purple stains and her head throb. It didn't took long before the Goddess of Nature gave up and closed her eyes. The Chaos Kin knew he had won.
"Finally, that stupid brat of a goddess is down. Now I have to wait until the venom starts acting and I have access to my new destructive toy. And to be honest, I never thought I was going to manage this." the Chaos Kin thought.
Hades grinned after seeing what had happened, while Danielle's body just stared blankly at them.
"Excellent work. Do whatever you wish to her once she wakes up." Hades ordered.
With that, he left the room.
"Location: The Mushroom World, the Nintendo Realm of the Dream World, January 5th 2151"
Moon and Juliet were still exulted, as was Birdo, who was still acting all cheery from their victory. But it didn't last long because something glimmered from the corner of Moon's eye from the exact spot that the twenty eighth key-pattern eye had been.
"What is that?" Moon asked, focusing his gaze on the glimmer that he had caught.
He stood up and went to the spot where the last key-eye had been, and he discovered where the glimmer had come from. It came from a gold band that held up a piece of rolled parchment.
"It's... a parchment of some sort." Moon said.
Juliet and Birdo got up from the bush that they were lying down on and approached Moon, who removed the gold band and unrolled the parchment.
"What does it say?" Birdo asked.
"Is it another clue?" Juliet asked.
Moon looked at Juliet.
"Sort of." Moon replied. The boy studied what was written in the parchment and then got a look of confusion, and he said "It's even more confusing then the last one.".
He showed the parchment to Juliet and Birdo.
"I hate math. The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me. Fluff and white to replace the green and each tree. The eighth World minus the one that is not blue. Prepare to lift off to your next destination and stay real, this is where imagination keeps the deal." Juliet read out loud.
Birdo cocked her head to the side.
"It doesn't make sense." Birdo said.
"That's what I said about the last riddle. But I am surprised that it's as if the riddle knows who's reading this." Moon said.
"For instance, how did the riddle know that it was the three of us?" Juliet asked.
"And that I'm not blue?" Birdo asked.
"Maybe the parchment has hidden eyes." Moon said.
"Anyway, this is more like a Math problem to me." Juliet said.
"Well, we need to solve this. If we don't, I don't think we'll ever get anywhere." Birdo said.
"How do we solve a riddle with Math? It would've been fun with real numbers, but it lacks digits. It's full of this minus that instead of the traditional one-plus-one thing." Moon asked.
"Well, we could at least start with the first one. Hmm... 'the key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me...'." Juliet replied.
"What does that mean?" Moon asked.
"The 'key' in the riddle. I don't suppose it refers to the twenty eight key-pattern eyes we destroyed?" Juliet asked.
"Hmm, probably so. That's the only thing that ever happened to us the entire time that can match the heck of a key in the riddle." Moon replied.
"So the 'key' is the twenty eight key-eyes. So that would sum up as twenty eight divided by all three of us?" Juliet asked.
"If I recall, I lost count of how many eyes we destroyed. How many did each of us go after?" Moon asked.
"Maybe that's not exactly what it means. The riddle didn't exactly ask how many eyes did each of us destroy." Juliet replied.
Birdo cleared her throat.
"Does it have any equivalence to 'the eighth World minus the one who is not blue'?" Birdo asked.
"One question at a time, Birdo. Just that one part already didn't make sense at all." Moon replied as he wiped sweat off his forehead.
Birdo shrugged.
"Maybe you could know about it. Mario and Luigi traveled from World One to World Eight before." Birdo suggested.
"Super Mario Bros. doesn't make it enough to fit in a riddle." Moon said. He then frowned and asked "Or... does it? The key refers to the twenty eight eyes that formed it, since there isn't any other explanation for the whole thing... divided by all three of us right here. Then there's the whole 'the eighth World minus the one who is not blue'. What does that all fit into?".
Juliet and Birdo kept their eyes on the boy, all while being careful not to interrupt his thoughts.
"Aha!" Moon exclaimed.
Both Juliet and Birdo jumped at his sudden outburst.
"Can't you see? Maybe 'the key divided by another one plus all three of you' can easily translate to 'twenty eight divided by three of us'!" Moon said.
"Twenty eight divided by three? That won't give us a pretty good answer." Juliet said.
"But wait, there's more. It did say another one plus all three of us, right?" Moon asked.
"Yeah." Juliet replied.
"Think about it, Juliet. It won't make sense if it's 'all three of us', but if you add one, it becomes four, and if you were to make it 'twenty-eight divided by four', it'll result to seven!" Moon explained.
"But what does that number have to do with all this?" Juliet asked.
"Oh, this is where it'll all make sense, sis. 'The eighth World minus the one who is not blue'." Moon replied.
"Did the riddle mean 'World Seven'?" Juliet asked.
"Pretty much. And it did say 'fluff and white to replace the green'. And World Seven is just loaded with clouds!" Moon replied.
Juliet nodded.
"So we're off to World Seven, then?" Juliet asked.
"Exactly!" Moon replied.
"Location: Alternate Arendelle, The Bitterverse, July 2nd 2067"
Alternate Jeffery and Alternate Sven finally made it to the forest. Alternate Jeffery dismounted Alternate Sven and gave him a carrot.
"I'm going to get a feel for the area. Stay here until I whistle for you, okay?" Alternate Jeffery asked.
Alternate Sven nodded and happily ate his carrot. He stopped and smelled Alternate Jeffery for a moment. The blonde haired man huffed at him and almost gave the reindeer a questioning look.
"No, Sven, I'm fine. Trust me." Alternate Jeffery said.
He pet him a bit before walking away. Alternate Jeffery gave his bow string a little tug to make sure that it was still good. The bow snapped back and hit his chest. It stung a little bit. He chuckled at that. He always found it easy to find peace in the forest. It was part of Shem's teachings. That was one thing that Alternate Jeffery always appreciated, and it was especially helpful at the current moment. The other man had always said that animals could smell sadness, which made them run away. Alternate Jeffery almost believed that, since Alternate Sven was so good at it.
He walked around for a few minutes before finding some animal tracks. They weren't wolf tracks, or even deer ones. He examined them for a moment and saw that they seemed like horse tracks. He stood up and looked around. The tracks led up into the mountains. He had a questioning look on his face. He was tempted to follow them until he heard something. He slowly took his bow off, grabbed an arrow, and turned around to see a lone deer that was eating some grass. He was surprised that it hadn't noticed him. He slowly loaded his bow and aimed it at the deer. He took a deep breath and then shot the arrow, which hit the deer, killing it instantly. Alternate Jeffery breathed out, lowered his bow, and walked up to the dead animal and knelt down beside it. He placed his hand on it's side and closed his eyes. He waited a few moments before opening his eyes and pulling out the arrow. He whistled for Alternate Sven, who came a few seconds later. He picked up the corpse and placed it in the back of the sled.
"Alright, I'll need a few more. But there are these tracks. Want to go see whose they are?" Alternate Jeffery asked.
Alternate Sven nodded. Alternate Jeffery smiled and found the tracks once more.
"Come on, Sven!" Alternate Jeffery ordered.
Alternate Sven followed the blonde haired man as he followed the tracks. They led up to the snow and beyond. Alternate Jeffery stared up for a moment and then sighed. Going into the mountains may not be the best idea, and who knows what these people were doing up there. Alternate Sven suddenly knocked his head to grab his attention.
"Hey, what was tha..." Alternate Jeffery started to ask, rubbing his head.
He turned around to face Alternate Sven and saw something behind him. The eyes and growls of wolves were evident. Alternate Jeffery slowly walked over to Alternate Sven and untied the sled from him.
"Sven, get ready to run." Alternate Jeffery ordered.
Alternate Sven huffed in understanding. Alternate Jeffery got on his back and tapped his back. Alternate Sven started running, and the wolves gave chase. Thankfully, some of the wolves went for the dead deer, but a significant amount chased after Alternate Jeffery and Alternate Sven. Alternate Jeffery looked back and widened his eyes in worry.
"Don't stop moving, Sven! Go into the tundra!" Alternate Jeffery ordered.
He grabbed an arrow and loaded up his bow. He took aim and shot at a wolf, but he missed. He continued to shoot arrows at the wolves to try and keep them away. They were getting closer, trying to take bites at Alternate Sven. Alternate Jeffery saw that and tried to think of something. By that time, Alternate Sven had went deep into the winter storm. That made shooting arrows very unreliable. Suddenly, the wolves stopped giving chase and started whining. Alternate Sven rushed far away from them.
"Sven, we've lost them. You can stop."Alternate Jeffery said.
Alternate Sven stopped and breathed heavily. Alternate Jeffery dismounted him and rubbed his head.
"You did good, buddy. You really saved me back there." Alternate Jeffery said.
Alternate Sven smiled and licked him. Alternate Jeffery smiled and then noticed something else in the storm. He passed by Alternate Sven and looked around for whatever he saw. Alternate Sven took a few steps away from him just to move a little. Alternate Jeffery didn't see anything at eye level, but he did notice something lower then him. He moved his head down to see a small creature. It looked like a tiny snowman without a nose. It opened it's stick arms and smiled at him.
"Hi! I'm Olaf, and I like warm hearts!" the creature introduced.
"Oh, that's... wait, warm what?" Alternate Jeffery asked.
Alternate Olaf suddenly changed. His eyes went pure black, his mouth filled with deadly teeth, and his little stick arms became fatally sharp. Alternate Jeffery recoiled a bit at the change. The small snowman jumped at him, attempting to grab him. Alternate Jeffery frantically moved out of the way, but not fast enough to dodge the snowman's claws. They left a gash in his stomach, and he felt the pain and threw his hand on the wound. The blood dripped past his hand and onto the snow.
"Arrhhh!" Alternate Jeffery screamed.
Alternate Sven quickly turned around and saw that he was hurt. He howls and rushed towards Alternate Jeffery in an attempt to help him. Alternate Olaf turned around and opened his claws for Alternate Sven. Alternate Jeffery ignored his wound, pulled out one of his arrows, and threw it at Alternate Olaf, but it did nothing. The snowman turned around and came at Alternate Jeffery again.
"Whoa, no!" Alternate Jeffery yelled.
He executed a hammer fist at the snowman's head. The head flew off of the snowman and rolled across the ground. The body of the snowman ran over to it and placed the head back on. Alternate Sven got beside Alternate Jeffery and growled at the thing. Alternate Olaf turned to Alternate Jeffery and rushed at him. The man backed up and tried to think of something to do. Alternate Sven tried to attack Alternate Olaf, but the snowman attacked him and slashed a giant cut on his side. Alternate Sven howled in pain.
"Sven! Sven, go! Tell Halvard and Eva about this!" Alternate Jeffery ordered.
Alternate Sven turned to him with a sad look. Alternate Jeffery ripped off his sleeve and wrapped it around Alternate Sven's wound. It wasn't much, but Alternate Sven would be able to reach Alternate Arendelle.
"Sven, you need to get back. Go! I'll be there soon!" Alternate Jeffery ordered.
Alternate Sven stared at him for a moment before running away. Alternate Jeffery turned towards Alternate Olaf and tired to think of what to do. He kept backing away from the snowman as he came towards him. As Alternate Jeffery backed up, he slipped a little bit. He looked back to see the cliff, and he got an idea. Alternate Olaf jumped at him once more, but Alternate Jeffery jumped to the side, causing the snowman to jump off the edge. The man heard the snowman scream all the way to the bottom. Alternate Jeffery breathed heavily at the encounter. He couldn't believe what he just saw. He looked down at his stomach and the wound that he had.
"I have to... I have to find some way to bandage this up." Alternate Jeffery thought.
He kept one arm on the wound and started walking. But before he could get anywhere, he heard the sound of wolves. He saw them appear from the blizzard, and he sighed and pulled out one of his arrows. He knew that he couldn't take the wolves, especially in his current state. One jumped at Alternate Jeffery and tried to claw his face, but he dodged the wolf and stumbled onto his knees. Another one jumped at him, but he pushed the arrow into it's neck and tossed it aside. That didn't kill it, however.
"Darn it... I'm... I can't... I..." Alternate Jeffery stuttered.
Alternate Jeffery then fell to the ground, unconscious. The wolves surrounded his body and got ready to feast. However, the area suddenly became clear of all snow and Alternate Elsbeth stood not too far away from Alternate Jeffery. The wolves saw her and ran away. Once they were gone, Alternate Elsbeth walked up to Alternate Jeffery and flipped him onto his back. She looked at him and remembered Alternate Mathúin.
"You look a lot like him. A son, maybe? Handsome too." Alternate Elsbeth said. She then giggled and said "Oh, you were the same man standing with Eva earlier yesterday. Oh, how the stars align.". She then knelt down, looked at his wound, and said "It seems you've fought off Olaf. That's quite a feat.".
The blonde haired woman put her hands on the wound and froze it over. She then waved her hand, causing snow to appear for a few seconds. The snow eventually cleared and she and Alternate Jeffery were gone.