I'm still not present…
Chapter the fourth: Trippin' Dell
BTW, I left out Tom Bobbadil cuz he sux.
"Ooh… my head…" Everything came into focus. Then Joe remembered. The fight, the gangsters, the sticker… the sticker! Joe felt his pockets. Yep, still there. Things began to go fuzzy again. Joe had a pounding headache. He floated on the edge of sleep and awakening.
"Joe, you're awake!" exclaimed Dan.
"Awa? Awak?"
"How's he's doing?" asked someone. Person… who was that? Rider… yeah, he was Rider. The skater.
"Not so great," said Dan. To Joe, he said, "We were just stopping for a quick break. We managed to escape the riders for now, but they're still on our tail. Joe? Are you awake?"
"Awak? I dunn. Who ar you?" Joe said.
"He's delirious," said Dan.
"Just as I suspected. The only thing I can do for him now is to look for some special leaves. They won't completely heal him, but they will help." He ran off.
"Let's see… that's oak, poison ivy… damn, is there any Okedun around here?"
"Okuden, eh? You mean this?" Rider turned around.
"Lauren?" Rider stared into the eyes of his girlfriend. They embraced with a hug.
"What do you need Okuden for?" asked the prep.
"Follow me, I'll tell you on the way," he said, dashing off.
People. Two people. That was… that was Rider. The other one… a prep. Who was the other one? She's hot. She's talking. Why is she rubbing my face with leaves? Ok, that hurts. Something happened. I got hurt. Gangsters. Sticker. Quest. Why is she picking me up? Ok, she's running off with me somewhere. But no, I need to go to… that place. Where's that place? To… sleep. Yes, sleep. Just sleep…
"Joe, can you hear me? Joe, show some sign you can hear me. Wake up! Ok, I need to apply these leaves to your wound. They will numb the pain, you will feel better." She turned to Rider. "Listen, the only place that can heal this bruise is Trippin' Dell. But all of you won't make it there in time." She slung Joe across her shoulder. "I will run to Trippin' Dell with Joe, you guard the others. Got it?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Ok. I must hurry. We don't have much time!" Lauren ran off into the woods with the nerd on her shoulder at full speed.
Ok. What'd I miss? Something about a chick. Ok, I'm riding on the chick. And we're going somewhere. Weren't there… other people? Yeah, I was with someone else. No, I wasn't. Where am I? Where am I going? Sleep is good…
"Come on, Joe, stay awake!" urged Lauren. There was another whoop in the background. "Damn, the gangsters are coming."
Who is she talking to? Whooping. Whooping is bad. I think. Sleep.
The gangsters were coming, that was obvious. Lauren's legs were a blur as she dashed through the woods as fast as she could, but she was no match for the bikes of the gangsters. An idea popped into Lauren's head. Setting Joe down, she took out her boom box and popped in the Nellyville CD. Turning it up to full blast, she held it high above her head. The music blared out across the entire playground.
Hot in!
So hot in herre!
So hot in!
Ah!
The suggestive lyrics reached the ears of not only the gangsters… but also the teachers.
I was like, good gracious,
Ass-aboudacious!
UNG!
Flirtatious, trying to show faces!
The gangsters came to a halt. "Haha, why the hell are you playing music?" Lauren tossed her hair and grinned.
"Hmm, I think you shall find out for yourself soon enough."
It's getting hot in herre,
So take off all your clothes!
"WHAT IS THIS?" screamed a daemonic voice. "MUSIC PLAYING? BIKES ON SCHOOL GROUND?" It was a teacher. An infuriated teacher.
"But—we didn't do it!" stammered a gangster. "It was her…" he pointed in the direction where Lauren and Joe once stood.
But they were nowhere to be seen.
"In School Retention, all of you!" screamed the teacher. Her eyes were glowing. The gangsters waited for the horn to pop out of her head and the wings to spurt from her back, and the tail to produce from her, ahem, butt.
***
Joe awoke and with a feeling of confusion, like "Okay, what the hell just happened?" For one, he wasn't dead. That was a good thing. He was somewhere where he had never been before. It was warm. There was light. He was lying on a bench. It was surprisingly comfortable.
"Welcome to Trippin' Dell," said a familiar voice. Joe sat up.
"Greg!" he ran up and embraced the Goth. Greg shifted uneasily.
"Good to see you too, Joe. And there's someone else here who wants to see you," he said.
"Bill!" Joe exclaimed. "I thought you were at that catholic school place." Bill snorted.
"I would never miss the Council of Michelle Rond."
"The wha and the wha?"
"You shall find out soon enough, Joe," said Greg.
"I see. But where are Dan and Jerry and Wikkin? Are they safe?"
"Fear not. They are here safely. Rider took good care of them," said Greg.
"Ok… but I still have so many questions. What is going on? What are we to do about the sticker? Who are those gangsters?"
"All in good time, my friend," said Greg. "All of your questions shall be answered tomorrow in the Council. But now, you need your rest. You can do as you wish until then. You should explore this magnificent Trippin' Dell. It is a great place. It would do you some good to explore and meet new people. And once you are here, you are completely safe, and no one can harm you. For once, you are with people you can trust. Talk and relax. I shall leave you in peace to do as you wish. Come on, Bill." And he and Joe's cousin walked out of the room, leaving Joe full of questions and impatience.
"The Council of Michelle Rond…" Joe said to himself reflectively. He then got up and started exploring.
Short chapter, I kno, lame. and, uh, I fixed chapter 2 and 3, sorry for the screwed upness.
Peace.
--link