On the other side of the tree, twelve more hooded figures climbed up and broke inside, their assault rifles at the ready. Their leader silently instructed them to break into groups of three, all of them having the intention of locating Queen Poppy and her friends. Queen Barb promised them easy pay if she or any others were brought them to her alive...but she never said unscathed.
Not far behind, Creek watched as the twelve figures went their separate ways before brainstorming a plan. It eventually formulated when he glanced up at the fluorescent tube lights illuminating the halls. They were dimmed enough to give off a haunted mansion vibe.
Cut the power...
. . .
Cut the lights...
. . .
Lead them away from the others...
Creek headed off to locate the main power source and hopefully shut off just the lights. When he reached the main control room, he was surprised to discover the systems that detailed the many functions related were...easy. Really easy. Ridiculously easy. He scanned all of the potential buttons he could have fun with:
Shields up...
Shields down...
Gates left...
Gates right...
Guns in...
Guns out...
Lights on...
Lights off...
Doing a double take on that last one, Creek pushed the little red button and the lights indeed turned off.
. . .
Not just in the spacious tree, but in the entire city.
Glancing outside, Creek saw the Latin Trolls begin to panic amongst themselves. Specifically, he saw a couple assauging the fears of their children by presumably singing a song in their native language. They calmed down somewhat when a select group led by Captain Gabriel started passing flashlights and lanterns along, but even he knew they had to save a select few torches like they were food rations. Glancing back towards the hallway, he then pulled out a pair of night vision goggles and took off running.
("In Cold Blood" by alt-J) [Baauer Remix]
Three Party Crashers glanced around in confusion before their leader went off.
"What...in the hell was that?!"
"The power got cut off, sir!"
"No shit! How did it...?!"
The leader spotted three hooded figures walking off.
"Hey! Hey, you three! Come here!"
The trio of hooded figures exchanged glances before they suddenly ran off.
"Hey! Stop!"
The three Party Crashers took off after them, but the chase was short-lived when they turned the corner, where the three other "Party Crashers" were waiting.
BLAM!
All three of them were immediately knocked out by the hooded trio, who unhooded themselves to reveal King Quincy, Queen Essence, and Prince D. Exchanging small nods, they seized the Party Crashers' weapons and ammunition before they took off again.
Hearing the commotion, three more Party Crashers aimed their rifles all around, covering up, down, and the sides. Suddenly, they were attacked on all sides complete with a series of haymakers and roundhouse kicks for good measure. The trio responsible unhooded themselves to reveal Hickory, Bliss Marina, and Trollzart with Coral Blush and Techno Beat Drop Button holding on for dear life.
"I must say, this amount of violence is not to be tolerated," Trollzart winced at the idea of having beat someone up.
"Yeah, hold that thought, Trollzart," Bliss took up one of the rifles and fired at a recovering Party Crasher, unintentionally landing a shot at her forehead. As she collapsed dead, Trollzart could only shoot the Techno Troll a disappointed glare. She herself could only mouth Sorry... before she turned back to Hickory.
"What's the plan, boss?"
"Find Poppy and the others..." Hickory pumped Delta Dawn's shotgun and fired it backwards, hitting an incoming Party Crasher squarely in his chest, "if they're here."
"So much blood..." Beat twitched his eyes before smirking devilishly, "I love it!"
Swimming off in a random direction to find his King, Hickory and Bliss exchanged weirded-out gazes before turning to Trollzart, who merely deadpanned,
"See?"
The three of them (four, if one counted the baby) then took off after Beat.
Three more Party Crashers aimed their rifles and opened fire at the shadows on the walls. When they paused to reloaded, they were attacked from behind and relived of their weapons, the leader being headbutted and subsequently kicked by the leading attacker's hind legs. The trio unhooded themselves to reveal Delta Dawn, Growly Pete, and Meadow Spriggs, with Clampers hiding in the former's hair and Pennywhistle hiding in the latter's hair.
"Miss Delta, aren't you going to grab some weapons?" Pennywhistle asked.
"Eh, I never liked these assault rifles," Delta grimaced as she picked one up and handed it to Meadow before pulling a lever-action rifle from her hair, minding Clampers, "They're loud and noisy."
"Aren't all guns loud and noisy?" Meadow checked the magazine and sights.
"Yes..." Delta shrugged, "but they lack that special kind of grace."
"Growly, growl," Growly Pete concurred as he pulled out a lever-action rifle of his own out of his hair.
Noticing a peculiar-looking shadow on the wall, Meadow huffed, "Suit yourself..."
BANG-BANG!
A few seconds, a Party Crasher fell face-first to the ground and created a puddle of blood. Meadow snatched another rifle and slung it over her shoulders before taking off.
"Curse Hickory for taking my shotgun..." Delta muttered under her breath as she and Growly Pete took off after her.
Using his night vision goggles, Creek opened fire on the recovering Party Crashers that King Quincy, Queen Essence, Prince D, Meadow Spriggs, Delta Dawn, Growly Pete, Bliss Marina, and Hickory knocked out earlier. Taking cover to reload once they wised up, he hurled improvised explosives at them to cause a state of disorientation before moving in to deliver the killshot. He continued to take heavy fire and resorted to taking their weapons once his own ran empty.
"Hey! What's going on out there?"
Creek turned toward the room he was near and shot a hole around the doorknob, kicking the door open when he finished. Inside, he find a group of doctors and nurses tending a group of familiar-looking K-Pop Trolls.
"Oh, hey, you! What's your name again?" Gomdori happily waved under the heavy influence of nitrous oxide.
"If you're looking for Queen Poppy," Wani winced as the doctor patched stitches on her arm, "She's not here, Creek."
"In this room or in this city?"
"The city? Yes. The room? No."
"She's in another," Ari confirmed.
Creek nodded in understanding, "Wait here..."
"Fat chance, Pop Troll," Wani shook her head as she got up from the hospital bed, much to the chagrin of the doctors and nurses operating on her.
"Miss, you need to stay seated. I need to complete patching these stitches."
"Then come with us," Baby Bun got up as well, followed by her friends. Creek and the medical practitioners frowned, but they didn't deter them.
As they made their way to Poppy's presumed location, they failed to notice another hooded figure head towards the control room and press the 'Shields Up' button before running after them.
BOOM-BOOM!
BANG-BANG!
SWASH-SWASH!
BUCKLE-BUCKLE!
Chenille, Lucas, Diogo, Adriana, and Camila continued firing their firearms at the now barricaded door while the Reggaeton Gang covered the walls. They would occasionally switch places with the main goal of keeping Queen Poppy and her group out of harm's way.
"How much longer?" Adriana reloaded her sidearm.
"The soldiers should be arriving any minute!" Diogo fired a shot at a random Party Crasher's juglar.
"Again, how much longer?" Camila deadpanned as she fired her shotgun at another, hitting them squarely in the chest.
BAM!
Everybody glanced up at the ceiling which was slowly but surely being broken apart...
BAM!
...to create a large enough hole...
BAM!
...for the Tribe Leaders and additional Trolls to fit through.
"What the hell just happened?" Camila tilted her head.
"Mayor Delta!"
"Poppy! Branch!"
"Queen Poppy!"
"Queen Essence! King Quincy! Prince D!"
"Queen Poppy!"
"Conductor Trollzart!"
"King Trollex!"
"Bliss!"
"Trollex!"
"Beat!"
"Poppy! Branch!"
"Hickory!"
"Hickory?"
"Poppy!"
"Meadow!"
"Satin? Chenille?"
"Meadow?"
"Meadow!"
"DJ? CJ?"
"Queen Poppy!"
"Pennywhistle!"
"Pennywhistle?"
"Trollzart!"
"Auntie Poppy!"
"Clampers!"
"Prince D?"
"Chenille!"
"Hickory?"
"Miss Delta!"
"WHOA!"
Everybody looked again to find a group of K-Pop Trolls, a lone Pop Troll, a lone Rock Troll, and a group of Latin Trolls falling through the hole! Some landed gracefully, others not so much.
"Tresillo?"
"Wani?"
"Marimba?"
"Tambora?"
"Queen Poppy?"
"Riff!"
"Oh, Kim!"
"Uh, who?"
"DUCK!"
Creek seized Marimba and Tambora's knives and hurled them into the chest of a massive Party Crasher who had broken through, not that it did much to deter him from trying to grab Queen Poppy. Knowing this, Creek grabbed Tresillo's machete and used it to slice off the hand, causing him to scream in pain and fury. Turning to Creek now to attack him, the Pop Troll easily dodged the strikes and climbed up to literally stab him in the back.
Poppy, Branch, Hickory, Prince D, and Riff all recognized this particular Party Crasher: he was the one who fired the missile that destroyed Vibe City. Out of instinct (and, in Prince D's case, pure anger), the five of them decided to charge him at once and, at the very least, give Creek a fighting chance to defeat him. In particular, Prince D, despite the protests of his parents, unleashed any and all rage he had bottled up inside.
Among the other fighting styles, Poppy and Branch worked together side-by-side to restrain his arms while Hickory bound his legs. The Party Crasher caught on and grabbed their hair, using it to swing them into the wall. Realizing this, Hickory worked to bind his arms instead while Riff leaped on his back to land a few good hits in there. Kim-Petit suddenly rushed to his aid without thinking, much to the horror of her friends. Grabbing two pieces of jagged wood from the demolished door, Kim stabbed the Party Crasher in the eyes. While this certainly did a number on him, this didn't stop him from locating Kim and throwing her into the wall much like Poppy and Branch before her.
This time, it was Riff who became full of rage and began to drive the jagged pieces of wood deeper into the Party Crasher, causing his screams to increase tenfold and him to claw at his eyes in a vain attempt to pull them out. Noticing Marimba and Tambora's knives still embedded in his chest, Riff pulled them out and started stabbing his head. This time, his arms flailed about and he could not pull Riff off in time for Poppy, Branch, and Kim-Petit to recover and kick him in the legs. Prince D slid over and finished the job for them. Hickory completed binding his arms and racked his shotgun just as Chenille rushed over and used her hair to trip the Party Crasher, sending him tumbling down to the ground. The conscious twin emptied her rifle into his chest as the Yodeler turned Country Troll emptied his shotgun in the same area. Creek continued opening fire into the Party Crasher's chest as Hickory and Chenille reloaded while Prince D threw down what was left of the door on his head.
Meanwhile, Delta Dawn, Growly Pete, and Meadow Spriggs helped Lucas, Diogo, Adriana, and Camila fend off any incoming Party Crasher armed and dangerous. As Delta fired a triple shot of .45-70 soft-point rounds, Camila pulled a pair of flashbang grenades from Adriana's hair and tossed Delta one, much to her confusion.
"Flashbang!" Camila explained, "Pull the pin and toss it!"
Watching Camila demonstrate as so, Delta did just that and watched the grenades detonate and take out a small group of Party Crashers. Her eyes widening in amazement and interest, Delta turned back to Camila.
"Do you have anymore?"
"Don't get greedy, madam," Camila smirked as she pulled a couple of more grenades and tossed another one to Delta, who eagerly caught it.
"You guys," Meadow fired her rifle and scored a couple of headshots, "We need to do something now."
Creek merely huffed and rose up before stomping on the head of the now dealt-with Party Crasher as a final insult, "I got it."
Taking up Hickory's shotgun, Chenille's rifle, his own rifle, Tresillo's machete, Marimba and Tambora's knives, and five stun grenades from Adriana's hair, Creek cracked his neck and knuckles before scoring a total of 15 headshots on an unfortunate group of Party Crashers in a split second. He then elicited a gruff yell of war and charging into battle, practically daring his enemies to attack him.
All the while, everybody watched on in shock and surprise.
"I...didn't know Creek was capable of doing...that," Branch clamped Poppy's hand tighter.
"Neither did I," Poppy merely mewed.
A/N: Yeah... I was watching Extraction and 6 Underground while writing this chapter, so...you're welcome, I guess?