Abigail Layton came rushing out of her treehouse bedroom, drawn out by a horrifying sound. Her daughter Veronica was screaming. She stepped out of the room, still in her nightgown, and followed Veronica's horrific shrieking to the treehouse kitchen.
"Veronica, sweetie," she said, "what's the matter?"
"What is that?" Veronica asked nervously.
At first, Abigail didn't see it. "I don't see what you mean, dear."
"There," Veronica pointed to a small rodent that was now scurrying nervously around the kitchen floor, "is it a monster? Maybe I should kill it."
"No Veronica," Abigail instructed, "you don't need to kill anything. It's just a rat."
"What's a rat?" the young child asked curiously, though still somewhat frightened by it.
"Well," Abigail explained, "rats are rodents. They come into our homes looking for food."
"How come I've never seen one before?" Veronica wondered.
"Rats," her mother explained, "are not very commonplace in this area of the plateau. There were a few that came with us when we brought all of our supplies out here."
Veronica turned her attention from her mother back to the rat, "If we don't kill them," she asked, "then how do we get it to go away?"
"You are persistent with your questions aren't you?" Abigail admired Veronica for her genuine, childish, and innocent fascination with all that was around her, "I'll tell you what, how about we get your father to shoo the rat away, and you and I go visit the Zanga Village and get some breakfast? Tonight, I'll tell you a story all about rats."
"Okay," Veronica agreed.
That night, before tucking Veronica in, Abigail read her the story of the Pied Piper. "So, Willy, let me and you be wipers of scores out with all men -- especially pipers! And, whether they pipe us free from rats or from mice, if we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise!" With that, the story was finished and Abigail closed the book.
"So," Veronica asked her mother, who had just finished the end of the tale, "the Pied Piper used his pipe music to dance the rats away from Hamelin, but after doing such a nice thing, why did he steal their children?"
"Sometimes," Abigail told her, "in desperate times, people will say anything that they think will save them. The mayor negated on his promise to pay the piper for his service. The Pied Piper knew that was not right, so he stole the children. There is a saying, Veronica, fight fire with fire."
"But stealing the children wasn't right, was it?" Veronica asked.
"No," Abigail confirmed, "no that wasn't right. Still, the Pied Piper had to do something. In storybooks, people don't always have to do the right thing."
"He still needed to get paid for chasing away the rats, though…" Veronica ventured.
"Yes," Abigail said, "and that's why we fight fire with fire, but the Pied Piper didn't pick the best way to do that—his solution wasn't fair to the children."
"What's the better way?" Veronica asked.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Abigail said as she kissed Veronica's forehead and extinguished her lamp, "now go to sleep."
Floating on a cloud, hovering high above the plateau, Veronica had closed her eyes as she found herself reliving a childhood memory. The Piper was in front of her, though. She could tell by his breath on her face, the only warmth she felt in the frigid night air of the high-altitude perch.
I can escape this, Veronica thought, I just need to… fight fire with fire!
Veronica focused all her energy into one simple task. It took a few seconds, but she did it. She opened her eyes and stared straight into the Piper's. For the first time, she saw a sincere look of fear staring back at her. He must have seen the flames burning in her eyes. Moments later, the magical, purple cloud burst into flames and disintegrated. Veronica and the Piper began to fall, but somehow they both slowed when they approached the ground and landed softly. Veronica did not understand.
"Stay away from me," Veronica shouted across some distance in the clearing she had from the Piper. "Stop staring!" she commanded. The Piper only smiled. "Stop!"
Veronica decided that the Piper eying her was a violation in itself and charged. She leapt into the air, landing a drop kick right in the gut of his stomach. He lost his breath and collapsed onto the ground. Veronica straddled him, and, in a storm a fury, picked up a rock, intending to bash the Piper's skull. Instinct guiding the both of them, the Piper put up his hands to shield his face. Before she struck him with the rock, Veronica noticed something and stopped. On the palms of the Piper's hands were dozens of tiny holes, and with the darkness of the eclipsed sky, Veronica was able to determine that they were letting out a barely detectable stream of purple mist.
"What is that?" Veronica asked, but then she went on to answer her own question, "that's how you were controlling me, isn't it?" She got up and backed away.
"Get back," she said, the rock was still in her hand and she threatened to throw it at him.
"You have other concerns," the Piper told her, "turn around."
Veronica was in complete control of her faculties. She sensed the Piper meant business and slowly turned around. She saw Challenger, Malone, Roxton, and Marguerite, still frozen in mid-run, their mouth's sagging, as they had been breathing heavy when time was frozen. Except now she saw a slightly different picture than before. Blood was streaming from every orifice in their bodies. Blood poured out of each of their mouths, noses, eyes…
"They're dead," the Piper said coldly, with a certain amount of satisfaction in his voice as he stood up, "you're mine!"
"Noo!" Veronica shouted.
She approached him and began to strangle him. He was again afraid, and as he looked into her eyes he saw a strange sight. Her iris's each formed a triangle and her pupils stretched across the triangles to create a wavy line.
"It was you…" the Piper muttered, his voice constrained by the fierce grip of Veronica's cold fingers, "you did it. You dissolved my cloud. You have even more power than I thought… there's no limit to what you can do…"
Veronica stopped strangling him. She looked at him curiously, her eyes returning to normal. "What are you talking about?"
The Piper gulped, he was clearly nervous, but he tried to hide it. "You have nothing now. Surrender yourself to me."
"Never!" Veronica shouted. She was about to strike him when she realized something. She glanced skyward, but quickly returned her attention back to the Piper.
"There is a way out of this, isn't there?" Veronica remembered a trend, "a way for me to go back and finally do things right…"
She stepped back from the Piper and looked up at the eclipse.
"What are doing?" the Piper demanded, "stop this, at once."
Veronica did so for an instant. She looked over at the Piper. This time it was her turn to smile. He began to move toward her, but she knew he would be too late. She looked up at the eclipse in the sky, and within seconds everything around her vanished into complete blackness.
Veronica's eyes opened wide. She noticed it was dark all around her, nighttime. She was sweating and breathing heavily. She got that feeling, the one a person gets when they wake up from a nightmare. It only took her moments to realize that this was no dream. She was somehow able to disrupt the time loop. When she looked back into the eclipse, she willed herself a little extra time. She would not waste it.
A good place to get answers in the treehouse was Challenger's lab. Veronica threw on her clothes, went there, and began quietly looking around. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for, but suspected she'd know when she found it. Within minutes, she found what she needed. A vile of liquid labeled "Sleeping Potion." Veronica set out four beakers and proceeded to distribute the "Sleeping Potion" into them evenly.
Then, she quietly snuck into Malone's room, then Challengers, not forgetting Marguerite and Roxton. Each explorer got a dose of the "Sleeping Potion." Veronica knew that to defeat the Piper, she would need to keep her friends safe, and deal with him one on one. He was simply too powerful and it was going to be her battle regardless. Once she knew her friends were safely tucked away in the treehouse, Veronica armed herself and proceeded toward the Piper's cave. This time loop had gone on long enough, she had witnessed her friends suffer too much. One person, just one, was going to die today, and it would either be Veronica or the man claiming to be the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Veronica stood in front of the Piper's cave. She took a deep breath before entering.
I just have to be like Marguerite, Veronica told herself, …and I never thought I'd hear myself saying that.
She walked around the main little loop that essentially was the cavern and found herself right back at the entrance. The cave "looping" around in a circle seemed fitting. Still, Veronica was in no mood for games, she had to find the Piper. She decided to circle the cave once again, this time she would go clockwise as opposed to counterclockwise—she didn't know if it would make a difference, she just had to try something. This time, when she reached the back of the giant stalagmite, a doorway magically appeared. Veronica stepped through it quickly.
Once inside the small room, Veronica saw the Piper and something else—something she hadn't expected to see. The Piper was there, sitting in a little wooden chair that probably shouldn't have supported his weight cleaning his flute with a raggedy white cloth. In the room with him were dozens of children… the children of Hamelin. Veronica could not implement her plan here, not in front of all of these children. The Piper wrapped his flute in another, cleaner cloth and looked up at his visitor.
"I wasn't expecting you here…" the Piper ventured slowly.
Veronica simply smiled; a temptress's smile, and she motioned with her finger for the Piper to come with her as she slowly backed out of the room within the stalagmite. The Piper, without hesitation, rose and followed. As soon as they were both out, the doorway became solid rock once again.
Perfect, Veronica thought, she could now have her showdown.
"I was not expecting you to come stumbling here on your own," the Piper said, "what do you intend to do now?"
Veronica knew from the last time she lived this day that the Piper had a plan of his own. She seemed to catch him genuinely off guard, and he seemed to be playfully curious as to what she came here to do. For Veronica, this played perfectly into her plan. She simply smiled at him for a few moments, then she began to walk toward him slowly, yet aggressively. The Piper was excited, also nervous to some extent, almost as if he couldn't believe that Veronica was acting the way she was. Eventually, he bumped into the cave wall. Veronica kept coming. As she stopped, the Piper gulped. Veronica reached down and picked up the Piper's wrists. She pinned them up against the back of the wall, holding them there firmly. She knew he could not touch her. Then, before the Piper had a chance to perhaps realize that Veronica's actions were carefully calculated, she kissed him assertively. It was a long kiss and when it was over, the Piper was left gasping for air. Veronica herself was breathing heavy and she realized that this was the perfect opportunity to attack.
In a swift, lightning quick action, Veronica let go of the Piper's wrists and moved her hands to the back of her belt. She smiled wildly and as Veronica began to wiggle her hips, an uncharacteristic open-mouthed grin made its way to the Piper's face.
I knew it, Veronica thought, he thinks I'm undressing to give him a treat. Won't he be surprised!
The Piper started moving his hands toward her waist, something Veronica was counting on. Instead of whipping off her skirt, Veronica whipped out two of her knives. In one sweeping motion she brought her arms up and around herself and sliced the insides of the Piper's hands. This move ended with her hands meeting above her hand. Continuing the motion, she lunged the knives forward, the tip of each blade smacking the rock face on both sides of his head.
Realizing that he was being attacked, not pleasured, the Piper clenched his fists and brought them right under his chin. He took a deep breath and with one powerful, sweeping motion of his own, he extended his arms outward. The blow sent Veronica's knives flying in each direction. She jumped back and braced herself for a fistfight.
"Why did you do that?" the Piper asked. His voice was still calm and gentle.
Veronica smiled deviously this time. "The blood will clog your little love emitters," she explained as the Piper inspected his bloody palms, "you can't control me this time."
"This time?" the Piper was confused, "what do you mea…" His demeanor changed, and that disgusting, close-mouthed smirk stretched across his face once more, "Do you think that was the extent of my power?"
"Your music won't work on me," Veronica insisted, "besides, I saw you left your flute behind."
"Sometimes," the Piper started as he reached into his coat's inside pocket, "the old tools are still the best." From his coat the Piper pulled a pipe.
Before he began to play, Veronica realized something, "You really are him, aren't you? You are the Pied Piper of Hamelin."
"Yes," the Piper confirmed, "oh, things have changed over the years," as he patted his round stomach and ran his fingers through his bushy mustache, "but it's still me." He brought his pipe up to his lips.
"What do you want with me?" Veronica asked simply. The Piper put his pipe down for a moment.
"You are…" he searched for the perfect words, "magnificent! It was right of you to approach me as you did."
"Why?" Veronica needed to know, "what do you want?"
"You are special Veronica," the Piper said, "surely you know that…"
Veronica had heard him refer to this before, but she wasn't sure what he meant. The only thing special about Veronica was that she was born and raised on the plateau. She got the sense that the Piper was talking about something more than that, though. As if she had some sort of magical ability, as he did.
"Yes," she pretended to play along in the hope of getting more answers.
"Then imagine," the Piper speculated, "what our child could do? With my magic and music and your… divinity… the three of us could rule the universe."
"You talk as if I'm some god," Veronica said, "but I'm no god."
"Technically, I suppose not," the Piper agreed, energy and excitement starting to show up in his voice, "but knowing your future, you might as well be a god, you must know that."
"All I know," Veronica said, "is that if you do manage to get me pregnant, the only thing our child won't have is afternoon visits with dear old dad."
"You hate me," the Piper realized, though it did not seem to upset him, "but I could make you so happy."
"What," Veronica asked bitterly, "once your hands heal? I don't need that kind of love… it isn't real."
"My lust for you is real," the Piper uttered softly.
"No," Veronica corrected him, pity leaking into her voice for a moment, "your lust for power is real." Her pity soon turned to rage, "And that may just be what gets you killed!"
She pulled out another knife she had on her. The Piper held out a bloody hand and put his pipe to his lips. Within in moments, he was playing that short and repetitive tune, both hands fluttering with the sound of his music.
How pathetic, Veronica thought, he thinks his music can solve all his problems.
"Your music will never control me," Veronica said.
Not you, the Piper's voice somehow invaded her head. She fought to get it out, but he was right.
The doorway, more of a gateway really, to the room in the stalagmite had re-opened and the children from Hamelin started marching out. They came and formed a circle around the Piper, sanctioning him off from Veronica. The Piper placed his pipe back in his pocket, but magically those same notes kept repeating and the children's trance remained.
"Do you want me dead so badly that you would sacrifice these children?" the Piper asked Veronica, his voice still calm and smooth.
"You would let these children die," Veronica asked, upset at the notion, "for the mistakes their parents made?"
For the first time, the Piper's composure snapped. He showed anger with his raspy words, "I performed the most royal service for those people, and how do they repay me, with NOTHING!"
"Royal service?" Veronica spat sarcastically, "All you did was kill a bunch of rats."
The Piper began pulling the words from his own storybook. He was yelling, angrier than a hungry T-Rex, and his voice growing louder and louder as he viciously spewed his words of description that told of the crisis in Hamelin.
'"Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats, and bit the babies in the cradles, and ate the cheeses out of the vats, and licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles, split open the kegs of salted sprats, made nests inside men's Sunday hats, and even spoiled the women's chats, by drowning their speaking with shrieking and squeaking in fifty different sharps and flats."'
"And you killed them," Veronica said, "wow. You're no hero; you're no hero at all. The only rat here is you, trying to leave a sinking ship by using your gift to manipulate anyone to give you that one fulfilling moment."
The Piper took several deep breaths, and was able to partially regain his composure. "Say what you will," he taunted, "but you don't want these children harmed. You can't get to me."
"No," Veronica reiterated, "I hate the idea of you murdering these innocent children. But you already did, so that's really just another reason for me to want you dead."
"What do you mean?" The Piper asked, again he could not hide a nervous undertone in his words.
"You took the children in 1888, didn't you?" Veronica asked.
The Piper gulped, "Why, yes, that sounds about right."
"Yes," Veronica agreed, "and that's when someone wrote down an account of what happened and made it a storybook. Nobody knew it was true, but it was."
"What are you getting at?" The Piper asked firmly, hoping to call a bluff by Veronica. Perhaps the one thing he didn't know about the untamed beauty was that Veronica didn't bluff.
"You admit you took the children in 1888," Veronica reveled in the moment of calling the Piper's bluff, "they're still children. This isn't real, it's all some sort of illusion."
And just like that, the children vanished and the music stopped. Veronica tossed her knife up into the air and caught it once more.
The Piper looked up at her sadly, realizing his defeat. "You've compromised every one of my powers," he said.
Veronica shrugged, "Rats." She threw her knife and it smacked the Piper right in the neck. Blood trickled from the wound, and she watched her adversary wither to the ground and die.
As soon as the Piper took his last breath, the cave walls began to melt around Veronica. Within moments she left the cool air of the cave and felt the warm sunlight beating on her skin. Then she watched the moon as it jutted across the sky to eclipse the sun. She stared at the phenomenon contently. Seconds later, her consciousness washed away.
Veronica opened her eyes and yawned. She slowly sat up in her bed, and was happy to see how bright it was outside. She had slept in, which was not too common for her. She remembered everything. Her encounter with the Piper turned out to be a battle of the minds. What surprised Veronica is that she won; she willed herself past all the Piper's illusions and prevented his treachery. Before heading to the kitchen, she grabbed a book off the shelf in her room. In her room was every book either of her parents ever read to her.
Veronica stepped into the kitchen and saw Malone and Challenger sitting at the table. Malone was showing Challenger his drawings. They both looked up when they spotted Veronica.
"Veronica," Malone said excitedly, "I took your advice and made some abstract sketches to go along with my journals to add depth and all that stuff we were talking about. Wanna see?"
"Sure," she said, "but if you don't mind, I'd like to go for a swim first. I have some cobwebs in my head this morning that I want to clear out."
"That's fine," Malone said, "you do seem awfully tired."
Veronica smiled and headed toward the elevator. Before she got there, she remembered the book in her hand. She turned around.
"Oh, and Malone," she said, holding the book up, "do me a favor, this book, burn it." She slammed the book onto the table and happily skipped out of the treehouse.
"What book is that?" Challenger inquired.
Malone picked it up, turned it over, and read the title off the cover slowly, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."
The End
