I know it's taken little while longer than usual for me to update, but
homework...y'know. And this IS a pretty long chapter. Unfortunately, this is
also the second to last chapter- only one more to go after this one! And
thanks for any reviews, much appreciated!
Chapter 17- Exploding Emotions And Explosives
"Long time, no see, as they say." The grip loosened as Cy folded his arms. It was as though Randall had forgotten to breathe in shock, and he swallowed a rising lump, not believing how unlucky he was to have someone catch him and for that someone to be his 'long lost' brother. Although Randall had obviously seen Cy talking to Xenon earlier, the shock then being quite dramatic and making a very big impact, speaking to him face to face would be a much more terrifying experience, and one that he absolutely wished he would never have to experience again. He was deeply scared of Cy, and the two brothers both knew this. Unfortunately, Cy wasn't planning on only talking- he had other, much more fun things on his agenda...
"The second time you've seen me in one day, and yet you still look as though you've seen someone die. Well," Cy continued, sounding disturbingly casual, "if there IS an afterlife and I can grab my camera to take photos of what I'm about to do, I'm sure that can be arranged. We'll make a date, huh? How about...now?" While Cy had been talking, Randall had been standing stock-still, trying with all his might to take everything in. But the second that he got an inkling that his seemingly demented brother was going to do something, the gears in his brain creaked to a start, and all of his emotions started to come into play.
Fear had a key role at this point, but there was another feeling, one that Randall was all too familiar with, that was gradually building up, becoming more powerful and ferocious every second. It was anger.
Though Randall couldn't prove that Cy had anything to do with all of the bad luck he had been having recently, he was the perfect person to blame, and also most suitable to get information out of- Randall needed to know what was happening here with all of these boxes and workers, and he had a feeling that there were other things connected to these strange events- and even though he hadn't seen his brother in donkey's years, he still felt as though he knew his traits and idealisms, his whole personality inside and out.
Randall was wrong, though. He didn't have any idea just how unpredictable or relentless Cy could be. But he was just about to find out.
Randall stood his ground bravely, looking deep into his reflection on his brother's sunglasses, willing him to take them off. Cy was predictable in this way, raising an armoured hand and sweeping the sunglasses off with style, staring at Randall bleakly with bright yellow eyes. They were like two nearly full moons on the background of black scales, and they didn't move off Randall once.
He took a deep breath but, like a rabbit in a car's headlights, was too scared to move, instead trying to keep Cy busy by igniting a sharp conversation.
"What's happening? What are you doing here? I thought I'd never see such a coward like you again for the rest of my life." This was a bad mistake. Cy sneered, taking a step forward, Randall's initial reaction being to take a step back until the cold, rusty bars of the cages came up behind him. Jay was watching fearfully, resisting the urge to pretend to be a cheerleader on Randall's side.
"I'm not a coward," said Cy lightly, as though it was water off a duck's back. "I just know to stop while I'm ahead." Randall could see that he was winding Cy up, the full moons turning into slits so thin that Randall wondered how Cy could see. Randall sniggered a little foolishly, if not nervously.
"Ahead?" He raised his eyebrows. "You think that havin' both your siblings hate you and failing to do what your boss told ya to do is being 'ahead'? I can't imagine what ya think of yourself when you really ARE ahead; you probably expect everyone to bow down to you when you enter a room-"
"You're just describing what YOU think of YOURSELF," Cy retaliated. "But believe me, you sayin' this stuff to wind me up really ain't gonna help your self-esteem when I'M finished." Cy smirked malignantly at the slightly frightened look Randall gave when these words were uttered. He looked down at his claws, flexing his fingers and making sure that his brother could see every single one of his sharpened weapons, then looked back up again.
"Don't worry, O brother of mine. All...will be...revealed..." Cy grinned, the evil inside of him reaching a climax, and leapt on top of Randall.
It was all a blur- one second they were on the ground, Cy attempting to slash at Randall's royal purple scales, almost laughing with glee as he had the upper hand; the next, Randall had punched Cy roughly in the right eye, making him bounce backwards onto the floor behind to have the lizard- monster dive on top of him. It was an immense struggle for the two of them, and even more so for the workers near by who were trying to watch the fight whilst their superiors gave them an ultimatum- get on with the job or else. No-one dared to stop the two though, purely because of Cy's fierce reputation.
He grabbed Randall by the fronds, yanking him up off the floor while he yelped in pain, and smashed him against the wall. Randall slid down to the ground, a crumpled heap of scales, panting and sweating, scared out of his wits. Cy had always been the better fighter, but this time Randall had something up his sleeve; something that he would have to wait for the exact moment to reveal- or NOT to reveal, so to speak.
Cy looked down at him, an incredibly satisfied expression on his face, not being able to defy the urge of boasting about his undeserved victory.
"What a shame, little bro. You were doin' pretty well there, but I was goin' easy on ya. Now's when the REAL fun begins, and I'm just about to reveal things that will haunt you for the rest of your pathetic, worthless life." He kneeled down to the ground, looking face to face with Randall who had closed his eyes and turned his bleeding head away stiffly. "You've been through so much since coming to Crynferse, haven't you? All those people poking fun at you, then the one girl you love, or should I correct myself- LOVED- betraying you for the sake of a prank." Randall opened his eyes dizzily. "Yes, I was there," Cy carried on, acting as though he cared about his brother. "I thought you had spotted me for a second, after you and Zephyr...but you were too busy...The point is, she didn't push ya in that lake coz of her friends. No, no that was only part of it." Cy pointed a finger to his own chest slowly, smiling with absolute pleasure and relishing the moment. "It was because of yours truly. Because she loves me." Randall shook his head, attempting to stand but giving up, falling back on the floor.
"Liar...I saw what happened back there..."
"Oh, you did, did you?" Cy didn't seem to be put off by Randall's previous comment at all. "She was just angry at me for threatening her brother earlier on. It doesn't mean that she didn't love me when she kissed you." Cy leaned in closer and whispered, "She still pushed you in. It was my idea for her to get friendly with you. Remember, at the beginning of the term, she was all cold and unwelcome to you? Then she suddenly changed?"
"Because...she began to know...who I am..."
"Oh no, not because she liked who you are. Because I told her to. I said to her 'keep my brother occupied'. And y'know why? So you wouldn't find out about any of this." He directed his thumb to behind them where the Sports Hall was still a scene of commotion and the fire alarm was still blaring in the background. "But, even with her as a distraction, you STILL managed to interfere. I had to convince Allin, a.k.a. 'Mr Stefani', to have a word with you. But even that didn't put you off." Randall sat up, getting more and more annoyed, yet his anger was dampened by Cy's cruel words.
"So...why did she still push me in the lake...if she was meant to be a distraction...? You worried that we...we were gettin' too...close?" Cy, quick as a flash of lightening, grabbed Randall's neck.
"You've not experienced much love in your life, Randall," he growled, "so how would you know about what was going on between the two of you?" Eventually he let go, his brother gagging as air rushed into his lungs. "She pushed you into the lake because she was spending too much time with you rather than in here. Look, it wasn't MY idea for Zephyr to push ya in." Randall looked away from Cy. "Though it was fun to watch. I'm proud of her for having such...initiative. I wasn't suspicious of anything- Zephyr would NEVER go for low down scum such as you- but we needed as many hands as possible to get ready for the big night."
"But...why did you say to Xenon...that you'd kill her?"
"Oh, that was just a bit of fake blackmail. I had to make him get a move on somehow." Cy sighed, looking thoughtful. "I don't know how you manage it."
"Manage....manage what?"
"Manage to interfere with EVERYTHING in my life. You've just done it again, and you probably will do-"
"I...didn't do it on pur-"
"You're always there, every second of every minute of every day and I loathe you for it." Cyrus was growling under his breath. "I – REALLY – loathe – you..." He lifted back a hand, using each of his claws as individual knives, ready to strike when his brother disappeared. It took a lot of effort for Randall to do this- he was in immense pain- but it was definitely worth it. He slinked out of Cy's way, trying so, SO hard not to touch him...
His tail brushed by one of Cy's legs.
Reacting in a split second, Cy slammed his claws down, one of them piercing the very tip of Randall's tail, pinning it to the ground and making him shift to several colours of the rainbow. Cy had Randall just where he wanted him.
He rose his own spiked tail, eyes gleaming madly.
One swipe should do it...In a second, the one person that had ruined his life would be dead...
Randall shut his eyes tightly, tears trickling slowly down his blood- stained cheeks. It would all be over soon, and the main reason he was upset was because he was actually looking forward to it.
No more pain or suffering, no more betrayal, no more hurt...just freedom. To be free of his life, of the terrors, of EVERYTHING he had been put through...this was his dream. But it wouldn't come true just yet.
He waited. And waited. There was a quick scuffling sound, a sharp clank, and the pain in his throbbing tail gradually ebbed away to just a small reminder. Randall warily opened his eyes and looked up, and what he saw really did shock him.
Looking down at him with a face that was obviously trying very hard not to look concerned was Zephyr, and a few metres behind her lay Cyrus, an unconscious pile of scales, a scream canister next to his limp body. Randall widened his eyelids a little more and attempted to talk.
"Zephyr? Wha...?" She held out a hand.
"Now's not the time to ask questions." Randall shakily got to his feet, still looking over at Cy cautiously, when he felt his body leave the ground. Zephyr was now looking UP at him, rather than down, but her expression was one of expectancy. The lizard-monster struggled incredibly, trying to get out of the Worker's strong grip, but was exhausted after the recent fight and gave up quickly. He suddenly felt very weak, but Randall refused to let his chance of escape drift away.
"Let...me...go!" The Worker ignored his protests and carried him past Carmen and Jay's cages, round several others, all of which had different monsters held within, and plopped him into the only spare cage at the end of the row. Randall landed heavily against the hard concrete base, and laid down, his head aching along with nearly all of his muscles. After a few minutes though, he sat up, looking about himself bleary-eyed. He glanced over at the cage next to him, seeing that this one, along with several others and his own, hadn't been bound up yet, and made a note of this. Everyone was still rushing around though, unlike before, the Sports Hall was almost empty, nearly free of all those dratted boxes. The cages were among the last things left inside, and since everyone seemed to be seriously behind schedule, Randall figured that they probably wouldn't have the time and patience to bind his cage up.
He peered over at the cage next to him once more, but this time was in shock at the realisation of who was in it. The bully that had defended Zephyr's 'friends' was there, crouched in the shadows. Another thing that startled Randall slightly was when he then smiled weakly at the lizard- monster and crawled to the left as far as his prison would allow him.
"I never really caught your name before." Randall opened his mouth a little, his eyes widening, then shook his head.
"What are you doing here?" he whispered. Before answering, Striker gazed up at the Workers, making sure that they weren't too near to be able to catch snippets of their conversation. Randall also did this, noticing Cy being picked up, and saw Zephyr going through the large, wide-open doorway on the wall adjacent to them. She, like many others, was carrying a box, and before going outside she turned around, seeming to check that everything was in order. Randall caught her glimpsing over at him, but within a second, she was gone, the resentful look that she had cast in that direction sticking in Randall's mind. He suddenly snapped back to reality as Striker began to talk.
"I know what's going on. They caught me spying so they put me in this cage. You?" Randall shrugged as best he could without causing himself too much pain.
"Maybe it's coz I'm Cy's brother."
"Cy, as in Cyrus Boggs? You do seem to look very alike." Randall didn't want to talk about this, so he immediately switched the subject.
"You said that you knew what was going on here." Striker nodded, shifting his sitting position and glancing around the Sports Hall before continuing.
"Yes."
"So you know what's in those boxes?" He nodded again at Randall's hopeful voice.
"Scream canisters- modified ones. And they're filled with this chemical solution. I don't know what it consists of, but whatever it is, it's designed to make a bang." Randall rose an eyebrow.
"Explosives?" He said this in a reasonably loud voice, but caught himself as a few nearby Workers turned their heads in their direction. "What for?" Striker held up his hands.
"That's the one thing I DON'T know. But I do know that they're being loaded on a ship in the harbour, and we're going with them."
"I guess by plane would've been..."
"Too obvious." Putting a hand on his chin, Randall narrowed his eyes at Striker.
"You seem very...eager to tell me all of this." Striker chuckled unexpectedly.
"Oh, the whole bully thing was a cover. I've known all about this for months and have waited to sabotage it as soon as I found out what was going on. I left University a few years ago- I'm really too old for it now." Randall was suddenly confused.
"So how did you get permission to spy on all this in Crynferse?"
"Mr Stefani gave it to me."
"But..." Randall's eyes swayed over in the direction of a little monster who was barking out orders to the few remaining Workers. Striker understood.
"The only reason he let me in was because he then knew about what I was planning to do, and since he was part of it all in the first place, and obviously didn't want me blabbing about this to anyone else, he would be able to just get rid of me easily."
"And what's Zephyr's part in all this?"
"As far as I know, she's just helping out her father, as is Xenon. There might be more to it, but I don't know."
"And these Workers are...?"
"I don't know that, either. The main reason for me to come here was to figure it all out and get some hard, pure evidence of everything that has been going on, but they took away my camera so I'm no closer to achieving either." Randall folded his arms, still not content.
"You don't seem too concerned about this." This time, Striker looked around even more determinedly; whatever he was about to say was obviously VERY important. He leant in to the point where his face was practically squashed against the bars of his cage and, seeing how careful Striker was being, Randall also leant in, concentrating. But all he heard was the jangle of keys. Then, soon after, the almost silent tone of Striker's voice met his ears.
"There had been a worker following your friend, Carmen- she seemed quite frightened by him. I went after him and found that he had a set of keys and I, well, took them from him. Some of them are for the cages, and others...who knows?" He put the keys behind his back and hid them in his dense fur.
"What about those leather straps? I want my friends to be freed too, y'know." As an answer, Striker raised a hand, revealing four long, sharpened claws.
"And if these don't work, we'll probably find something on the ship." He snapped backwards, shuffling to the other side of his cage as a Worker headed their way. Randall pretended to be checking his scratches and gashes, and as the Worker came closer, he looked up innocently and, acting as though he had only just realised the Worker's presence, let out a long, throaty growl.
"How much they payin' ya to do this? Huh?" The Worker, who had two prominent teeth like a rabbit's and a tail to match, stuck his nose up at the question.
"I'm not supposed to talk to the hostages," he replied snobbishly. Turning around, he signalled to a few fellow workmates to go over to him, and they hefted each cage up in pairs, Jay needing four of them to get his weighed down compartment off the wooden floor. Randall kept an eye on Striker's cage to make sure that they were kept together for the escape attempt, but was soon distracted.
They were taken through the giant doors and down a particularly steep, sandy hill which had hardy plants dotted across its side, then across a wooden walkway that led to the Harbour. Randall could see where all the Workers had gone now, but although they had been given alternate tasks to do, they still seemed to be scuttling around here and there. "Whatever they're planning, they must be friggin' late," Randall thought to himself. And, even though he didn't know it, he was correct, though the manner in which he had said it was a clear understatement.
He turned around and looked behind, seeing Crynferse University, his home for the past month, shrinking, the flashing lights of the fire alarm lighting up the gardens quite spectacularly. Randall couldn't see it, but at that point there was another scene of mass panic, and this was taking place in the gardens as mentioned. All of the professors had no idea what was happening and why, save one.
As the Harbour neared, the moon's reflection shimmering on the water's surface, breaking every now and then as Fapens came up for a breath of the balmy air, Randall was struck in awe, not by the sight surrounding him, but by the object, the very LARGE object, in front of him.
It was a massive ship, long and ornately carved. It was a construction of beauty- the sails billowing fiercely half-undone, looking like dusters that housewives would shake out of their windows; the little portholes along the side spread evenly, each with a gleaming stainless silver rim; the sea lapping against the expertly shaped wood, like a dog licking a human's hand. But they had almost reached this magnificent mode of transport when Randall realised something that was quite important; that although the carvings were embellished and decorated in practically every way possible, they had noticeably not been completed. Half the ship was incredible, truly something to be proud of, and looked as though whoever owned it cared about it more than anything else.
Yet the other half was bare, incomplete, without soul.
Before he knew it, Randall's cage was being taken along the final walkway that led to the ship, aptly named Heartless, and as he peered upwards, dumbfounded, he felt a chill crawl slowly down his spine at the sight of an intricate figurine that hung onto the side of the ship. Whilst they past it, Randall's eyes were stuck to this monster as it revealed what almost seemed to him to be a secret that it had tried to hide from him; the other side of this beautiful girl's dress, leg, face, hair, was all incomplete. She had one eye, therefore, and because of the permanent scowl etched across her face, it was as though the carver had known what trials and tribulations she would have, and had created a sad yet terrifying expression to go hand in hand with her misfortune.
The moon's brightness disappeared as the cages were carried into the shadows created by the enormous ship, and, within a moment, the darkness had deepened even more. The cages had been taken inside the ship, down a small passageway and into what seemed to be some kind of a cellar.
A solitary light bulb hung from the ceiling, rocking with the ship's momentum, and the Workers, with a relieved grunt, placed each cage along a wall. The cages themselves took up nearly the whole room, as it was quite a confined space, except for a little gap in the middle, and the Workers had a bit of a struggle getting out themselves. But, eventually, they managed it and the last one shut the door behind himself. Randall strained his ears, and was thankful to know that he hadn't locked it. The second they were gone, he sat up.
"Overconfident idiots," he muttered. Striker nodded.
"I can agree with you there!"
"The guys out there looked pretty busy, don'tcha think?" Randall continued.
"Yes."
"I'm presuming they'll be a little while before they're packed up and ready to go. Now's our chance." Everyone else was silent, and a thought struck Randall. "Jay, ya there? Carmen?"
"Y-yes?" A shaky feminine voice called out somewhere to the left.
"Jay?" Randall said once more.
"Erm," Striker faltered, not wanting to tell Randall the bad news. "As far as I know, and don't take my word for it-"
"They've taken him somewhere else, haven't they?" Striker sighed.
"Yes, unfortunately. Something to do with him taking up too much space. I can see what they mean...this is a pretty cramped up space they've stuffed us into..."
"We're still gonna get him," Randall said defiantly. "I'm not loosin' another friend," he added in a whisper. "You got those keys?" Striker fumbled for a second, then brought them out into the faint light. Squinting, he crawled forward and began to try each rusty piece of metal in turn, shaking his head at every wrong one.
"I'm sure there'll be another use for these keys...there's so many of them..." he mumbled to himself. Randall watched, breath caught in his throat. "...ah!" The cage door creaked open, and Striker clambered out, stretching exaggeratingly. "Boy, that feels good..." Randall coughed.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your enjoyment but, believe it or not, some of us are still stuck in these damned cages."
"Oh, heh heh. Sorry." Striker flustered a little, (Randall blinked a few times- he wasn't used to this new and improved Striker) and eventually freed the entrapped lizard-monster. He also stretched, sending a ripple of motion down his body, and looked around.
"I don't know about you, but I'd feel guilty leavin' everyone else here," he whispered.
"I wouldn't," Stiker answered back loudly. "Except for your friend Carmen, of course. And...err...what's his name again?"
"Oh, Jay. And what do you mean?" Striker waved his arms about confidently, sneering at the rest of the hostages. "The rest of them are just Workers who made a mistake."
"Ah." Randall turned, and went over to Carmen's cage. It was a bit of a struggle cutting the leather straps, but once the last one had flopped to the ground, Striker felt a spurt of contentment.
Suddenly, making Randall jump and switch colours momentarily, the doorknob behind them turned with a screech. The door opened and a lone Worker was to be seen, obviously checking up on the hostages. But, not only was he doing this, he was also bringing in a new one into their midst. Being dragged across the ground was a half-conscious Zephyr.
The shock of this alone made Randall weirdly furious, and his brain was rendered inactive- everything he did from then on was pure instinct. He slithered over to the Worker, his intentions clear. The Worker wasn't very well prepared- Striker guessed that he wasn't expecting any of the prisoners to be out of their cages- and that made the job all the more easier for Randall.
It took the Worker about a second and a half to hit the ground. The lizard- monster that had knocked him out with such strength was about to do more damage, but a hand held his fist back.
"No, Randall. Cease. You have the knowledge and experience to know that now is the time to stop," Carmen said dramatically, enjoying the scene nearly as much as Randall. He was panting, his eyes like two green flames flickering, but, soon enough, the fire died down. Regretting his stupidity, Randall rushed over to Zephyr. He swept a hand across her forehead, and to his relief, she smiled at the warm, soft touch. But, when she opened her eyes and her hero came into focus, Zephyr jerked out of his way and leapt to her feet as quick as she could. She was trying her best to make a disgusted look dance across her face, but, for the first time in her life, she couldn't act anymore.
Randall looked at her longingly, then turned away as the hurt began to gather once more. She had betrayed him, and that was that.
It didn't stop him wishing, though.
"Zeph...you okay?" he asked attentively.
"Yes. I'm fine," she snapped back, shoving him aside and looking around the room. Once the fact that the rest of the hostages were just Workers was confirmed, Zephyr nodded to herself and strode out the room. Randall, Carmen and Striker following after her.
"We need to get J-"Randall began, being interrupted. Zephyr walked and talked.
"I know. That's where I'm headed, okay? If we hurry, we should be fine." They rushed down narrow corridors, damp and with a musty smell about them, and eventually reached a bolted metal door. Zephyr turned the handle and pushed, but to no avail- the door, unlike the other, was firmly locked.
"I have, er, some keys," Striker piped up, dangling them in the air.
"If you would excuse me," Randall said importantly, snatching them from his hands and stepping forward to unlock the door. Zephyr seemed unimpressed.
It took a little while to free Jay, as it had done with Carmen, though there noticeably weren't any annoying binds to undo, but just as Jay had crawled out the cage and was ready to make a quick escape, the door, which Striker had shut behind himself so as not to make any of the Workers suspicious, creaked open. And, lo and behold, standing in the doorway, was a Worker. His face was at first screwed up in outrage, then in shock. What was Miss Stefani doing helping a prisoner escape?
This was a little too confusing for the Worker to handle immediately, so he stared at her. Zephyr realised that this Worker obviously hadn't been informed that she too was a temporary hostage, so she decided to handle the situation herself. And, knowing these Workers, it wouldn't be too hard to sort out.
"They're with me." The Worker looked a little dazed, as though he had been struck on the head with something heavy and hard.
"But-"he managed to blurt out before Zephyr interrupted him.
"They are innocent, so I'm freeing them. And if you even think about stopping us..." She waited for a second, thinking of a reasonable threat. "Then I'll have my father deal with you. If you wait, I could reserve this cage for you- it's pretty spacious-"
"Oh, no no, no no no, no need," the Worker stammered, putting his tentacles behind his back. "I'lljustbeleavingnow." And with that, he scuttled out the room, forgetting to shut the door behind himself.
"And I thought Jay was dumb," Randall said, mainly to himself.
"Yeah..." Jay chuckled. Then he stopped. "Hey!" Randall gave him a half- smile, and then the group that seemed to be growing larger at every interval walked back into the damp corridors, slipping on the corrugated metal floor, Jay bashing his head on the low-hung lamps.
They came to the end of the corridor without too much trouble- this part of the ship was all packed up and ready according to the Workers- and, in the end, reached a fork. Now was the time for a bit of decision-making.
"Okay," Randall began, breaking the silence. "Striker, you know how to stop all of this?"
"Yes."
"Right." Randall thought about things for a second.
"Okay," he repeated once more, trying to get a grip on what he was about to do. "Me, Striker and Zephyr will go where they're keeping all the scream canisters, which is where?"
"The middle level, near the front of the ship. I know the way," Zephyr answered helpfully.
"Carmen and Jay, you will get out of here."
"But why can't we get a piece of the action?" Jay moaned.
"Because you don't need to. Look, Striker needs to be down there for obvious reasons, I'm gonna help out and Zephyr's gonna warn her brother and anyone else she thinks that doesn't deserve to take the rap for this. I'm not gonna let the guys down there play a game of pass the buck, especially when some of 'em don't deserve it." Zephyr nodded slightly, looking down at the ground. Randall addressed her directly. "But you're gonna leave Cy." She didn't nod, instead asking a question.
"What are you planning to do?" Striker tapped the side of his nose.
"Wait and see." Zephyr looked a little worried, but instead of comforting her, Randall put more pressure on the confused monster.
"After this, at some point, you're gonna tell me why this is happening, what the hell this ship is for, and the scream canisters- everything." She stared up at him, suddenly afraid of the person that she had tried to convince herself she didn't love. But, although Randall was glaring at her through eyes that screamed with hatred, there was still something there, like a fire that hadn't been completely put out. She could feel the flame rising in her heart once more. "But not now," Randall continued, tearing his eyes away. "Later."
The group of five then split up, Carmen and Jay returning the way that they had been carried in, and Randall, Zephyr and Striker going up a swirling set of metal stairs to an upper level. The second they had got there, they had to hide immediately because of the dozens of Workers. This was where all the action was.
The room was large, but also very metallic though the exterior of the ship had said otherwise, giving the impression of an ancient pirate ship. Every footstep of each being there was magnified tenfold, translated into a sharp clanging. And, as Zephyr had said earlier, all of the scream canisters were there, all in their boxes, neatly stacked.
The threesome had leapt through a door to their left once they had climbed the stairs, trying to hide. Shutting the door, the tiny room that they were in was bathed in utmost darkness. Randall turned around, and as he did so, something clattered to the ground, making him jump. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, and picked up what he had knocked over. Feeling it with shaking fingers, Randall figured out that whatever this was, it was long, smooth, and had something kind of spongy and floppy at one end.
Suddenly, a light flickered on, quite like the one in the room where the majority of the cages had been kept- a bare bulb- and Randall got to see what the object was that he had found. Zephyr stood by the light switch, not finding what Striker thought to be mildly humorous, funny. It was a mop. Unfortunately, before they had entered this tiny little space, the threesome hadn't read the sign on the door, which clearly stated 'CLEANER'S CLOSET'. And, all around them was pretty much everything you would expect to find in a Cleaner's closet.
Randall dropped the mop and thought. Then he realised something that, in the rush of trying to escape, he hadn't thought of.
"Zephyr, you were brought to the cages by a Worker," he said, working it all out as he spoke. "You're a prisoner, aren't you?" Zephyr snorted.
"No, of course I'm not. The only reason the Worker was dragging me along the ground and was about to put me in a cage was because I told him to."
"I don't appreciate the sarcasm."
"Why not? You're sarcastic enough yourself." Randall gritted his teeth.
"Because now's not the time," he growled, fists clenched. Then, taking a deep breath he asked, "But why? I thought you were part of this 'plan' rubbish."
"Well, I..." Zephyr paused for a second, trying to think of a way to explain as best she could. "I had done something wrong- hit a Worker. My father wasn't too pleased, so he was gonna put me in a cage. Just for the journey, mind. He said he didn't need anything to go wrong." Randall narrowed his eyes.
"So whose side are you on then? Ours, or theirs?"
"Yours," Zephyr whispered. "I don't agree with what they're doing, even if my father's in charge of it all."
"And what are they doing?" Randall managed to ask before Striker butted in.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we've really got to get on with it- I think I felt the ship move." Striker had been right- the bulb swung more violently than usual, the buckets on the shelves toppled over and anything in the closet that didn't have any support crashed to the floor. Once everything had settled down once more, Randall carried on.
"What IS this great idea of yours?" he questioned Striker, sounding as though he didn't trust him.
"Basically," Striker grinned- finally is was HIS turn. "those scream canisters are filled with explosive chemicals. There's two different chemicals in each canister and they're kept separate by some kind of mechanism which you can turn by hand if you want the chemicals to be mixed. If they end up making a concoction, they then explode. Am I right?" he asked, double-checking with Zephyr.
"Yeah."
"Go on," Randall urged Striker- they were getting increasingly short of time,
"We set them all off. It takes about twenty-two minutes for the chemicals to react, so we should have enough time to get ourselves and anyone else off the ship."
"Ummm...exactly how dangerous ARE these explosives when set off?" Striker looked at Zephyr to answer Randall's question.
"Oh," she mumbled, caught by surprise. "Well, they make more of a bang than anything else really, but if you're too close...all of them here could easily sink this ship, to put it in perspective."
"Oh...but what about..." Randall stopped, trying not to sound too concerned.
"What about the Workers?" Zephyr said, guessing the thoughts that were running through Randall's mind.
"Yes. And your father."
"They're all evil, every one of them, even...even my father. If you knew what was going on here, you would feel the same as I do- that they deserve to die." Randall scoured Zephyr's face for a clue as to whether she was lying or not, but her tone of voice said it all.
"Then it's settled," the lizard-monster confirmed. "We've got a p-" Everything came to a jerky stop, it seemed, and anything that had been strewn on the floor previously rolled around as Zephyr, Striker and Randall all nearly fell over at the sudden cease of movement.
"I think we've stopped," Zephyr said, whispering, though she didn't really know why. Randall gulped a lump that was rising in his throat, wanting to sound confident.
"Then now's the time. We can do this and get off the ship before it goes too far from shore. You've got to get everyone you want to save now, before we set the explosives off."
"I know what I'm doing." Zephyr smiled half-heartedly; there was something on her mind other than what was going on here, and the only other person who knew what it was was Randall.
"Do what you must," he said, clearing his head, "but whatever it is, do it quick as heck."
"I'll be back in five minutes," Zephyr confirmed. Then, making sure her face held a neutral expression, she inched the door open and, checking that the coast was clear, crept out, trying not to be too noticeable. Randall watched her leave, then readied himself.
"I can do this by myself." Striker looked silently stunned.
"How?" Randall flickered invisible as an answer, the only part of his body visible being two astoundingly green eyes.
"Like this." Striker tried to act as though this wasn't very weird at all- in fact, this kind of thing happened every day.
"O-okay, you, err, you do that..."
"Wish me luck."
----------------------
Zephyr's plan was simple yet sweet. She strode around the Workers with absolute poise, pretending to be doing something or other that was routine. She knew for a fact that the only person that knew of her being caged for the journey was her father, (other than the Worker she had hit, of course) as they had been in his office at the time, the Worker guarding the door. He had said something out of turn, and her reaction was simply instinct, but was quite unlike herself- she was known to keep her cool in most situations. But there had been something that made her frustrated and annoyed those past few days, and her usually non-existent temper was being tested.
Zephyr weaved in and out of the busy Workers, looking around for her brother. She finally spotted him helping a few other Workers with a particularly large package, his small figure struggling with the immense load. Strutting up to her brother, Zephyr tapped him on the shoulder. Caught by surprise, he dropped his side of the package, making the other Workers groan in annoyance.
"S-sorry..." Xenon muttered, turning to Zephyr. "What happened?"
"Huh?" Zephyr's brow furrowed in bewilderment.
"Father told me that you were to be kept in a cage for the whole trip. What did you do?" Zephyr sighed.
"You know father- he overreacts." Zephyr caught herself drifting and, realising how little time they had left, got on with it. "I know you won't understand this Xen, but you've got to trust me. We've got to get off this ship now." She was right- her brother didn't understand, so it was therefore reasonable for him to ask questions.
"But why?"
"Let's just say that father's plan is about to be foiled. If you know anyone that you are certain didn't want to have anything to do with the plan, then tell them and we'll all leave together. I'm about to get Mr Henry, so I'll meet you-"
"No, you won't." A voice came from behind Zephyr, but before she could sweep round to have a look at who it was, a clawed hand gripped her arm and twisted it behind her back. The look on Xenon's face alone was enough for Zephyr to identify who this monster was, and the way he dragged her into the shadows after threatening Xenon that he would kill her if he came any closer showed just how angry he was.
----------------------
The handle was bright yellow and easily identified, but turning it was another matter. Randall growled in exasperation at the scream canister in his lap, which several Workers saw to be floating in mid-air, and turned it on its side, reading the instructions that had been usefully printed on every one of them. The chemicals sloshed around inside, and Randall couldn't help but feel at little insecure at the fact that what he held in his hands, if misused, could kill him and anyone else within feet of him in seconds.
"Grip handle firmly with key hand. Lift plastic flap up. Turn clockwise 360. Push down into original position. Run like heck."
Randall read these instructions over several times, (not finding the final one particularly amusing) and tried again. This time, as he pushed the handle down that was attached on the side of the scream canister, a little bleep could be heard and a minute red light just above the handle flickered on, signifying that finally Randall had mastered the art of setting explosives off. He had worked out that he needed to start off around ten scream canisters for the explosion to be powerful enough.
The Workers that had seen this canister drifting around in the air had ignored this phenomenon, instead shaking their heads and muttering to themselves "gotta lay off the espresso" or "I hope those divorce papers are gonna come through soon." But their ignorance would eventually cost most of them their lives. Randall was really getting into his stride, and activating the canisters was getting easier with every one.
"And...ten!" he said to himself. He peered up at the wonky clock that hung on a metallic wall, wanting to kick himself for taking four minutes just to set the explosives off.
"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
The most ear-shattering, piercing scream rung out, and then stopped violently and forcefully. Randall recognised the voice to some extent, but couldn't put a name to it. But then it was obvious- it was female, and the only female around was-
"Zephyr!" He got up, breathing heavily, and looked around, turning to where he thought the scream had come from. Pushing aside some Workers and causing a few fights between them as an invisible force went around causing havoc, Randall searched the crowd frantically.
"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" he scolded himself. "Why did you leave Zephyr by herself when you knew that Cy was around, you IDIOT!?" He carried on forward until he came to a bare wall. He looked down it, catching sight of a door a little way down. It was quite well hidden, the same tone as the walls, and a bit of a tough one to open, but Randall managed.
The room was square and plain, all surfaces covered by the same pattered steel, even the ceiling. There were little spotlights on each wall, all emitting the same cold, white light that was reflected on basically everything else. Except for Zephyr, that is.
Her body lay on the floor in a crumpled heap, a growing pool of blood surrounding it. Cyrus was looking down at her, a lengthy gash that ran the length of his forehead dripping with blood, as was his foremost frond that had been sliced clean in half. His eyes turned up at Randall's presence, focusing on his brother. Randall was only scared for Zephyr at this point, and somehow knew that he would never be afraid of Cy again. Even Cy's bright yellow eyes, the dagger in his hand, his terrible motive, didn't make Randall afraid anymore. His brother's power over him was over.
Nothing was needed to be said between the two brothers. This was it. The final showdown. And, for once, Randall had an advantage- he wasn't fighting for hate. He was fighting for love.
Randall leapt over Zephyr's limp body, aiming straight for Cy's neck. They both collapsed to the floor, but Cy hadn't forgotten about the weapon he boasted. The dagger sunk deep into Randall's left arm, but the lizard- monster barely flinched. He yanked his arm out of the way, taking the dagger which slid out of Cy's grip with it. Then, within a second, he turned invisible. There was a silence that was rarely heard on this metallic floor. Cy crept to his feet warily, his claws clacking, his eyes darting from left to right. Randall had another advantage here- his soft, padded fingers and toes made barely a scuffle against the floor, so there was not a single giveaway to his location. He had the element of surprise.
But he had made a mistake. The dagger clattered to the ground, and Cy took the opportunity. He jumped- and missed. Now was Randall's chance- Cy was sprawled on the ground, and the dagger was centimetres away from him. Randall grasped it determinedly, drew his arm back, and, appearing just a few seconds before, plunged it deep into Cy's flesh.
Randall had been very merciful, and had stabbed Cy only in a leg, knocking him out with a sharp punch afterwards. Then, staggering over to Zephyr, he fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Z-zephyr?" The body stirred, and this was enough of a confirmation for Randall. He picked her up, cradling her small body in his arms, her legs and long tail dangling. Blood was dripping from several deep cuts, one of them catching her neck. Time really was of the essence now- Randall had fought with Cy for a good ten minutes, so they only had about seven minutes to get off the ship. Whoever Zephyr wanted to save had to be left behind, but Randall was adamant about saving Xenon. He truly didn't deserve such a cruel fate, so if he could catch his attention and just tell him to get out of there, maybe lead the way...It'd be a hard job finding him, though. But Randall was ready to try.
"Stuff this," Randall thought to himself, feeling particularly rebellious, not bothering with turning invisible. He slammed the door open with a pair of lower hands and walked briskly through the throng of Workers, his energy ebbing away with every step. Mr Stefani was to be seen standing on a sort of platform, addressing all the Workers who had stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at him attentively.
"Who gave the order to stop the ship?!" he demanded, glaring openly at every Worker there. "WHO?!" He then gasped as he saw Randall, reasonably near by, pushing his way through the stock-still Workers. Some of them fell over at Randall's force, and Mr Stefani had had it with the interferences. He didn't care that Randall was carrying his daughter, nor that his daughter was practically bleeding to death. All he cared about was stopping the interruptions, and getting what he had worked so hard for in order. He was about to shout out a deranged "STOP THEM!" but, funnily enough, someone stopped him.
"It was me," Jay said proudly before giving Mr Stefani a hearty shove, sending him flying into the mass of Workers. Then, chuckling to himself with Carmen by his side, Jay jogged over to where Randall was heading, Xenon by their side. Xenon had realised to trust Zephyr, Jay, Carmen, and especially Randall, and as soon as he had seen them, he had followed them over to the exit of this mad scene. Randall rapped on the Cleaner's closet door with a lower hand, and the second Striker appeared in the doorway, shouted a single word, then ran after Xenon, clutching Zephyr securely, tight to his chest.
"GO!"
They ran and they ran, down corridors, up stairs, past dozens of unnamed doors. Not a single word was uttered between them, but as they passed a cheap plastic clock that hung on a wall by a door, Striker shouted out a pressing "FOUR MINUTES!" before dashing up some more stairs. Xenon was leading the way, just because of his knowledge of the interior of the Heartless, and as they passed one or two stray Workers who was about to greet him with forced cheerfulness, he knocked them over with pure loathing, acting violent for the first time in a long while.
A door came into sight. Light leaked through the gap between the floor and the door; a shining, whitish light, the dust particles illuminated by it dancing in its warmth. Xenon blasted the door open with a sudden spurt of strength, and all six monsters were covered with the rays of the rising sun. They jogged along the walkway, fatigue creeping up on them, but all bumped into each other as the leader, Xenon, stopped in his tracks. There was a large Worker in front of him, and he didn't look as though he was going to move any time soon.
"Turn around!" Xenon ordered the others, but as they did so, the person at the rear, Carmen, choked out an astounded "No!" as yet another Worker blocked their way. The walkway was dangerously thin- only wide enough for single file- so there was no getting around them. They were caught.
Randall, who was in the middle of the group, still carrying an unconscious Zephyr, leaned over the rail as an idea came to him. The shore wasn't too far away- a swim-able distance...
"We've got to jump," he murmured. And, before anyone could ask what he had said, he jumped.
The water was chilling, refreshing and incredibly salty, and Randall knew he had made a mistake the second it had greeted him. "Zephyr..." was the last word he said before he went under the surface.
It was mainly the shock that had numbed Randall, and as he struggled to keep a hold of Zephyr, his vision blurred, his body stiffened, and his hand, which was intertwined with Zephyr's own pale, white one, slipped out of her soft grip.
Chapter 17- Exploding Emotions And Explosives
"Long time, no see, as they say." The grip loosened as Cy folded his arms. It was as though Randall had forgotten to breathe in shock, and he swallowed a rising lump, not believing how unlucky he was to have someone catch him and for that someone to be his 'long lost' brother. Although Randall had obviously seen Cy talking to Xenon earlier, the shock then being quite dramatic and making a very big impact, speaking to him face to face would be a much more terrifying experience, and one that he absolutely wished he would never have to experience again. He was deeply scared of Cy, and the two brothers both knew this. Unfortunately, Cy wasn't planning on only talking- he had other, much more fun things on his agenda...
"The second time you've seen me in one day, and yet you still look as though you've seen someone die. Well," Cy continued, sounding disturbingly casual, "if there IS an afterlife and I can grab my camera to take photos of what I'm about to do, I'm sure that can be arranged. We'll make a date, huh? How about...now?" While Cy had been talking, Randall had been standing stock-still, trying with all his might to take everything in. But the second that he got an inkling that his seemingly demented brother was going to do something, the gears in his brain creaked to a start, and all of his emotions started to come into play.
Fear had a key role at this point, but there was another feeling, one that Randall was all too familiar with, that was gradually building up, becoming more powerful and ferocious every second. It was anger.
Though Randall couldn't prove that Cy had anything to do with all of the bad luck he had been having recently, he was the perfect person to blame, and also most suitable to get information out of- Randall needed to know what was happening here with all of these boxes and workers, and he had a feeling that there were other things connected to these strange events- and even though he hadn't seen his brother in donkey's years, he still felt as though he knew his traits and idealisms, his whole personality inside and out.
Randall was wrong, though. He didn't have any idea just how unpredictable or relentless Cy could be. But he was just about to find out.
Randall stood his ground bravely, looking deep into his reflection on his brother's sunglasses, willing him to take them off. Cy was predictable in this way, raising an armoured hand and sweeping the sunglasses off with style, staring at Randall bleakly with bright yellow eyes. They were like two nearly full moons on the background of black scales, and they didn't move off Randall once.
He took a deep breath but, like a rabbit in a car's headlights, was too scared to move, instead trying to keep Cy busy by igniting a sharp conversation.
"What's happening? What are you doing here? I thought I'd never see such a coward like you again for the rest of my life." This was a bad mistake. Cy sneered, taking a step forward, Randall's initial reaction being to take a step back until the cold, rusty bars of the cages came up behind him. Jay was watching fearfully, resisting the urge to pretend to be a cheerleader on Randall's side.
"I'm not a coward," said Cy lightly, as though it was water off a duck's back. "I just know to stop while I'm ahead." Randall could see that he was winding Cy up, the full moons turning into slits so thin that Randall wondered how Cy could see. Randall sniggered a little foolishly, if not nervously.
"Ahead?" He raised his eyebrows. "You think that havin' both your siblings hate you and failing to do what your boss told ya to do is being 'ahead'? I can't imagine what ya think of yourself when you really ARE ahead; you probably expect everyone to bow down to you when you enter a room-"
"You're just describing what YOU think of YOURSELF," Cy retaliated. "But believe me, you sayin' this stuff to wind me up really ain't gonna help your self-esteem when I'M finished." Cy smirked malignantly at the slightly frightened look Randall gave when these words were uttered. He looked down at his claws, flexing his fingers and making sure that his brother could see every single one of his sharpened weapons, then looked back up again.
"Don't worry, O brother of mine. All...will be...revealed..." Cy grinned, the evil inside of him reaching a climax, and leapt on top of Randall.
It was all a blur- one second they were on the ground, Cy attempting to slash at Randall's royal purple scales, almost laughing with glee as he had the upper hand; the next, Randall had punched Cy roughly in the right eye, making him bounce backwards onto the floor behind to have the lizard- monster dive on top of him. It was an immense struggle for the two of them, and even more so for the workers near by who were trying to watch the fight whilst their superiors gave them an ultimatum- get on with the job or else. No-one dared to stop the two though, purely because of Cy's fierce reputation.
He grabbed Randall by the fronds, yanking him up off the floor while he yelped in pain, and smashed him against the wall. Randall slid down to the ground, a crumpled heap of scales, panting and sweating, scared out of his wits. Cy had always been the better fighter, but this time Randall had something up his sleeve; something that he would have to wait for the exact moment to reveal- or NOT to reveal, so to speak.
Cy looked down at him, an incredibly satisfied expression on his face, not being able to defy the urge of boasting about his undeserved victory.
"What a shame, little bro. You were doin' pretty well there, but I was goin' easy on ya. Now's when the REAL fun begins, and I'm just about to reveal things that will haunt you for the rest of your pathetic, worthless life." He kneeled down to the ground, looking face to face with Randall who had closed his eyes and turned his bleeding head away stiffly. "You've been through so much since coming to Crynferse, haven't you? All those people poking fun at you, then the one girl you love, or should I correct myself- LOVED- betraying you for the sake of a prank." Randall opened his eyes dizzily. "Yes, I was there," Cy carried on, acting as though he cared about his brother. "I thought you had spotted me for a second, after you and Zephyr...but you were too busy...The point is, she didn't push ya in that lake coz of her friends. No, no that was only part of it." Cy pointed a finger to his own chest slowly, smiling with absolute pleasure and relishing the moment. "It was because of yours truly. Because she loves me." Randall shook his head, attempting to stand but giving up, falling back on the floor.
"Liar...I saw what happened back there..."
"Oh, you did, did you?" Cy didn't seem to be put off by Randall's previous comment at all. "She was just angry at me for threatening her brother earlier on. It doesn't mean that she didn't love me when she kissed you." Cy leaned in closer and whispered, "She still pushed you in. It was my idea for her to get friendly with you. Remember, at the beginning of the term, she was all cold and unwelcome to you? Then she suddenly changed?"
"Because...she began to know...who I am..."
"Oh no, not because she liked who you are. Because I told her to. I said to her 'keep my brother occupied'. And y'know why? So you wouldn't find out about any of this." He directed his thumb to behind them where the Sports Hall was still a scene of commotion and the fire alarm was still blaring in the background. "But, even with her as a distraction, you STILL managed to interfere. I had to convince Allin, a.k.a. 'Mr Stefani', to have a word with you. But even that didn't put you off." Randall sat up, getting more and more annoyed, yet his anger was dampened by Cy's cruel words.
"So...why did she still push me in the lake...if she was meant to be a distraction...? You worried that we...we were gettin' too...close?" Cy, quick as a flash of lightening, grabbed Randall's neck.
"You've not experienced much love in your life, Randall," he growled, "so how would you know about what was going on between the two of you?" Eventually he let go, his brother gagging as air rushed into his lungs. "She pushed you into the lake because she was spending too much time with you rather than in here. Look, it wasn't MY idea for Zephyr to push ya in." Randall looked away from Cy. "Though it was fun to watch. I'm proud of her for having such...initiative. I wasn't suspicious of anything- Zephyr would NEVER go for low down scum such as you- but we needed as many hands as possible to get ready for the big night."
"But...why did you say to Xenon...that you'd kill her?"
"Oh, that was just a bit of fake blackmail. I had to make him get a move on somehow." Cy sighed, looking thoughtful. "I don't know how you manage it."
"Manage....manage what?"
"Manage to interfere with EVERYTHING in my life. You've just done it again, and you probably will do-"
"I...didn't do it on pur-"
"You're always there, every second of every minute of every day and I loathe you for it." Cyrus was growling under his breath. "I – REALLY – loathe – you..." He lifted back a hand, using each of his claws as individual knives, ready to strike when his brother disappeared. It took a lot of effort for Randall to do this- he was in immense pain- but it was definitely worth it. He slinked out of Cy's way, trying so, SO hard not to touch him...
His tail brushed by one of Cy's legs.
Reacting in a split second, Cy slammed his claws down, one of them piercing the very tip of Randall's tail, pinning it to the ground and making him shift to several colours of the rainbow. Cy had Randall just where he wanted him.
He rose his own spiked tail, eyes gleaming madly.
One swipe should do it...In a second, the one person that had ruined his life would be dead...
Randall shut his eyes tightly, tears trickling slowly down his blood- stained cheeks. It would all be over soon, and the main reason he was upset was because he was actually looking forward to it.
No more pain or suffering, no more betrayal, no more hurt...just freedom. To be free of his life, of the terrors, of EVERYTHING he had been put through...this was his dream. But it wouldn't come true just yet.
He waited. And waited. There was a quick scuffling sound, a sharp clank, and the pain in his throbbing tail gradually ebbed away to just a small reminder. Randall warily opened his eyes and looked up, and what he saw really did shock him.
Looking down at him with a face that was obviously trying very hard not to look concerned was Zephyr, and a few metres behind her lay Cyrus, an unconscious pile of scales, a scream canister next to his limp body. Randall widened his eyelids a little more and attempted to talk.
"Zephyr? Wha...?" She held out a hand.
"Now's not the time to ask questions." Randall shakily got to his feet, still looking over at Cy cautiously, when he felt his body leave the ground. Zephyr was now looking UP at him, rather than down, but her expression was one of expectancy. The lizard-monster struggled incredibly, trying to get out of the Worker's strong grip, but was exhausted after the recent fight and gave up quickly. He suddenly felt very weak, but Randall refused to let his chance of escape drift away.
"Let...me...go!" The Worker ignored his protests and carried him past Carmen and Jay's cages, round several others, all of which had different monsters held within, and plopped him into the only spare cage at the end of the row. Randall landed heavily against the hard concrete base, and laid down, his head aching along with nearly all of his muscles. After a few minutes though, he sat up, looking about himself bleary-eyed. He glanced over at the cage next to him, seeing that this one, along with several others and his own, hadn't been bound up yet, and made a note of this. Everyone was still rushing around though, unlike before, the Sports Hall was almost empty, nearly free of all those dratted boxes. The cages were among the last things left inside, and since everyone seemed to be seriously behind schedule, Randall figured that they probably wouldn't have the time and patience to bind his cage up.
He peered over at the cage next to him once more, but this time was in shock at the realisation of who was in it. The bully that had defended Zephyr's 'friends' was there, crouched in the shadows. Another thing that startled Randall slightly was when he then smiled weakly at the lizard- monster and crawled to the left as far as his prison would allow him.
"I never really caught your name before." Randall opened his mouth a little, his eyes widening, then shook his head.
"What are you doing here?" he whispered. Before answering, Striker gazed up at the Workers, making sure that they weren't too near to be able to catch snippets of their conversation. Randall also did this, noticing Cy being picked up, and saw Zephyr going through the large, wide-open doorway on the wall adjacent to them. She, like many others, was carrying a box, and before going outside she turned around, seeming to check that everything was in order. Randall caught her glimpsing over at him, but within a second, she was gone, the resentful look that she had cast in that direction sticking in Randall's mind. He suddenly snapped back to reality as Striker began to talk.
"I know what's going on. They caught me spying so they put me in this cage. You?" Randall shrugged as best he could without causing himself too much pain.
"Maybe it's coz I'm Cy's brother."
"Cy, as in Cyrus Boggs? You do seem to look very alike." Randall didn't want to talk about this, so he immediately switched the subject.
"You said that you knew what was going on here." Striker nodded, shifting his sitting position and glancing around the Sports Hall before continuing.
"Yes."
"So you know what's in those boxes?" He nodded again at Randall's hopeful voice.
"Scream canisters- modified ones. And they're filled with this chemical solution. I don't know what it consists of, but whatever it is, it's designed to make a bang." Randall rose an eyebrow.
"Explosives?" He said this in a reasonably loud voice, but caught himself as a few nearby Workers turned their heads in their direction. "What for?" Striker held up his hands.
"That's the one thing I DON'T know. But I do know that they're being loaded on a ship in the harbour, and we're going with them."
"I guess by plane would've been..."
"Too obvious." Putting a hand on his chin, Randall narrowed his eyes at Striker.
"You seem very...eager to tell me all of this." Striker chuckled unexpectedly.
"Oh, the whole bully thing was a cover. I've known all about this for months and have waited to sabotage it as soon as I found out what was going on. I left University a few years ago- I'm really too old for it now." Randall was suddenly confused.
"So how did you get permission to spy on all this in Crynferse?"
"Mr Stefani gave it to me."
"But..." Randall's eyes swayed over in the direction of a little monster who was barking out orders to the few remaining Workers. Striker understood.
"The only reason he let me in was because he then knew about what I was planning to do, and since he was part of it all in the first place, and obviously didn't want me blabbing about this to anyone else, he would be able to just get rid of me easily."
"And what's Zephyr's part in all this?"
"As far as I know, she's just helping out her father, as is Xenon. There might be more to it, but I don't know."
"And these Workers are...?"
"I don't know that, either. The main reason for me to come here was to figure it all out and get some hard, pure evidence of everything that has been going on, but they took away my camera so I'm no closer to achieving either." Randall folded his arms, still not content.
"You don't seem too concerned about this." This time, Striker looked around even more determinedly; whatever he was about to say was obviously VERY important. He leant in to the point where his face was practically squashed against the bars of his cage and, seeing how careful Striker was being, Randall also leant in, concentrating. But all he heard was the jangle of keys. Then, soon after, the almost silent tone of Striker's voice met his ears.
"There had been a worker following your friend, Carmen- she seemed quite frightened by him. I went after him and found that he had a set of keys and I, well, took them from him. Some of them are for the cages, and others...who knows?" He put the keys behind his back and hid them in his dense fur.
"What about those leather straps? I want my friends to be freed too, y'know." As an answer, Striker raised a hand, revealing four long, sharpened claws.
"And if these don't work, we'll probably find something on the ship." He snapped backwards, shuffling to the other side of his cage as a Worker headed their way. Randall pretended to be checking his scratches and gashes, and as the Worker came closer, he looked up innocently and, acting as though he had only just realised the Worker's presence, let out a long, throaty growl.
"How much they payin' ya to do this? Huh?" The Worker, who had two prominent teeth like a rabbit's and a tail to match, stuck his nose up at the question.
"I'm not supposed to talk to the hostages," he replied snobbishly. Turning around, he signalled to a few fellow workmates to go over to him, and they hefted each cage up in pairs, Jay needing four of them to get his weighed down compartment off the wooden floor. Randall kept an eye on Striker's cage to make sure that they were kept together for the escape attempt, but was soon distracted.
They were taken through the giant doors and down a particularly steep, sandy hill which had hardy plants dotted across its side, then across a wooden walkway that led to the Harbour. Randall could see where all the Workers had gone now, but although they had been given alternate tasks to do, they still seemed to be scuttling around here and there. "Whatever they're planning, they must be friggin' late," Randall thought to himself. And, even though he didn't know it, he was correct, though the manner in which he had said it was a clear understatement.
He turned around and looked behind, seeing Crynferse University, his home for the past month, shrinking, the flashing lights of the fire alarm lighting up the gardens quite spectacularly. Randall couldn't see it, but at that point there was another scene of mass panic, and this was taking place in the gardens as mentioned. All of the professors had no idea what was happening and why, save one.
As the Harbour neared, the moon's reflection shimmering on the water's surface, breaking every now and then as Fapens came up for a breath of the balmy air, Randall was struck in awe, not by the sight surrounding him, but by the object, the very LARGE object, in front of him.
It was a massive ship, long and ornately carved. It was a construction of beauty- the sails billowing fiercely half-undone, looking like dusters that housewives would shake out of their windows; the little portholes along the side spread evenly, each with a gleaming stainless silver rim; the sea lapping against the expertly shaped wood, like a dog licking a human's hand. But they had almost reached this magnificent mode of transport when Randall realised something that was quite important; that although the carvings were embellished and decorated in practically every way possible, they had noticeably not been completed. Half the ship was incredible, truly something to be proud of, and looked as though whoever owned it cared about it more than anything else.
Yet the other half was bare, incomplete, without soul.
Before he knew it, Randall's cage was being taken along the final walkway that led to the ship, aptly named Heartless, and as he peered upwards, dumbfounded, he felt a chill crawl slowly down his spine at the sight of an intricate figurine that hung onto the side of the ship. Whilst they past it, Randall's eyes were stuck to this monster as it revealed what almost seemed to him to be a secret that it had tried to hide from him; the other side of this beautiful girl's dress, leg, face, hair, was all incomplete. She had one eye, therefore, and because of the permanent scowl etched across her face, it was as though the carver had known what trials and tribulations she would have, and had created a sad yet terrifying expression to go hand in hand with her misfortune.
The moon's brightness disappeared as the cages were carried into the shadows created by the enormous ship, and, within a moment, the darkness had deepened even more. The cages had been taken inside the ship, down a small passageway and into what seemed to be some kind of a cellar.
A solitary light bulb hung from the ceiling, rocking with the ship's momentum, and the Workers, with a relieved grunt, placed each cage along a wall. The cages themselves took up nearly the whole room, as it was quite a confined space, except for a little gap in the middle, and the Workers had a bit of a struggle getting out themselves. But, eventually, they managed it and the last one shut the door behind himself. Randall strained his ears, and was thankful to know that he hadn't locked it. The second they were gone, he sat up.
"Overconfident idiots," he muttered. Striker nodded.
"I can agree with you there!"
"The guys out there looked pretty busy, don'tcha think?" Randall continued.
"Yes."
"I'm presuming they'll be a little while before they're packed up and ready to go. Now's our chance." Everyone else was silent, and a thought struck Randall. "Jay, ya there? Carmen?"
"Y-yes?" A shaky feminine voice called out somewhere to the left.
"Jay?" Randall said once more.
"Erm," Striker faltered, not wanting to tell Randall the bad news. "As far as I know, and don't take my word for it-"
"They've taken him somewhere else, haven't they?" Striker sighed.
"Yes, unfortunately. Something to do with him taking up too much space. I can see what they mean...this is a pretty cramped up space they've stuffed us into..."
"We're still gonna get him," Randall said defiantly. "I'm not loosin' another friend," he added in a whisper. "You got those keys?" Striker fumbled for a second, then brought them out into the faint light. Squinting, he crawled forward and began to try each rusty piece of metal in turn, shaking his head at every wrong one.
"I'm sure there'll be another use for these keys...there's so many of them..." he mumbled to himself. Randall watched, breath caught in his throat. "...ah!" The cage door creaked open, and Striker clambered out, stretching exaggeratingly. "Boy, that feels good..." Randall coughed.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your enjoyment but, believe it or not, some of us are still stuck in these damned cages."
"Oh, heh heh. Sorry." Striker flustered a little, (Randall blinked a few times- he wasn't used to this new and improved Striker) and eventually freed the entrapped lizard-monster. He also stretched, sending a ripple of motion down his body, and looked around.
"I don't know about you, but I'd feel guilty leavin' everyone else here," he whispered.
"I wouldn't," Stiker answered back loudly. "Except for your friend Carmen, of course. And...err...what's his name again?"
"Oh, Jay. And what do you mean?" Striker waved his arms about confidently, sneering at the rest of the hostages. "The rest of them are just Workers who made a mistake."
"Ah." Randall turned, and went over to Carmen's cage. It was a bit of a struggle cutting the leather straps, but once the last one had flopped to the ground, Striker felt a spurt of contentment.
Suddenly, making Randall jump and switch colours momentarily, the doorknob behind them turned with a screech. The door opened and a lone Worker was to be seen, obviously checking up on the hostages. But, not only was he doing this, he was also bringing in a new one into their midst. Being dragged across the ground was a half-conscious Zephyr.
The shock of this alone made Randall weirdly furious, and his brain was rendered inactive- everything he did from then on was pure instinct. He slithered over to the Worker, his intentions clear. The Worker wasn't very well prepared- Striker guessed that he wasn't expecting any of the prisoners to be out of their cages- and that made the job all the more easier for Randall.
It took the Worker about a second and a half to hit the ground. The lizard- monster that had knocked him out with such strength was about to do more damage, but a hand held his fist back.
"No, Randall. Cease. You have the knowledge and experience to know that now is the time to stop," Carmen said dramatically, enjoying the scene nearly as much as Randall. He was panting, his eyes like two green flames flickering, but, soon enough, the fire died down. Regretting his stupidity, Randall rushed over to Zephyr. He swept a hand across her forehead, and to his relief, she smiled at the warm, soft touch. But, when she opened her eyes and her hero came into focus, Zephyr jerked out of his way and leapt to her feet as quick as she could. She was trying her best to make a disgusted look dance across her face, but, for the first time in her life, she couldn't act anymore.
Randall looked at her longingly, then turned away as the hurt began to gather once more. She had betrayed him, and that was that.
It didn't stop him wishing, though.
"Zeph...you okay?" he asked attentively.
"Yes. I'm fine," she snapped back, shoving him aside and looking around the room. Once the fact that the rest of the hostages were just Workers was confirmed, Zephyr nodded to herself and strode out the room. Randall, Carmen and Striker following after her.
"We need to get J-"Randall began, being interrupted. Zephyr walked and talked.
"I know. That's where I'm headed, okay? If we hurry, we should be fine." They rushed down narrow corridors, damp and with a musty smell about them, and eventually reached a bolted metal door. Zephyr turned the handle and pushed, but to no avail- the door, unlike the other, was firmly locked.
"I have, er, some keys," Striker piped up, dangling them in the air.
"If you would excuse me," Randall said importantly, snatching them from his hands and stepping forward to unlock the door. Zephyr seemed unimpressed.
It took a little while to free Jay, as it had done with Carmen, though there noticeably weren't any annoying binds to undo, but just as Jay had crawled out the cage and was ready to make a quick escape, the door, which Striker had shut behind himself so as not to make any of the Workers suspicious, creaked open. And, lo and behold, standing in the doorway, was a Worker. His face was at first screwed up in outrage, then in shock. What was Miss Stefani doing helping a prisoner escape?
This was a little too confusing for the Worker to handle immediately, so he stared at her. Zephyr realised that this Worker obviously hadn't been informed that she too was a temporary hostage, so she decided to handle the situation herself. And, knowing these Workers, it wouldn't be too hard to sort out.
"They're with me." The Worker looked a little dazed, as though he had been struck on the head with something heavy and hard.
"But-"he managed to blurt out before Zephyr interrupted him.
"They are innocent, so I'm freeing them. And if you even think about stopping us..." She waited for a second, thinking of a reasonable threat. "Then I'll have my father deal with you. If you wait, I could reserve this cage for you- it's pretty spacious-"
"Oh, no no, no no no, no need," the Worker stammered, putting his tentacles behind his back. "I'lljustbeleavingnow." And with that, he scuttled out the room, forgetting to shut the door behind himself.
"And I thought Jay was dumb," Randall said, mainly to himself.
"Yeah..." Jay chuckled. Then he stopped. "Hey!" Randall gave him a half- smile, and then the group that seemed to be growing larger at every interval walked back into the damp corridors, slipping on the corrugated metal floor, Jay bashing his head on the low-hung lamps.
They came to the end of the corridor without too much trouble- this part of the ship was all packed up and ready according to the Workers- and, in the end, reached a fork. Now was the time for a bit of decision-making.
"Okay," Randall began, breaking the silence. "Striker, you know how to stop all of this?"
"Yes."
"Right." Randall thought about things for a second.
"Okay," he repeated once more, trying to get a grip on what he was about to do. "Me, Striker and Zephyr will go where they're keeping all the scream canisters, which is where?"
"The middle level, near the front of the ship. I know the way," Zephyr answered helpfully.
"Carmen and Jay, you will get out of here."
"But why can't we get a piece of the action?" Jay moaned.
"Because you don't need to. Look, Striker needs to be down there for obvious reasons, I'm gonna help out and Zephyr's gonna warn her brother and anyone else she thinks that doesn't deserve to take the rap for this. I'm not gonna let the guys down there play a game of pass the buck, especially when some of 'em don't deserve it." Zephyr nodded slightly, looking down at the ground. Randall addressed her directly. "But you're gonna leave Cy." She didn't nod, instead asking a question.
"What are you planning to do?" Striker tapped the side of his nose.
"Wait and see." Zephyr looked a little worried, but instead of comforting her, Randall put more pressure on the confused monster.
"After this, at some point, you're gonna tell me why this is happening, what the hell this ship is for, and the scream canisters- everything." She stared up at him, suddenly afraid of the person that she had tried to convince herself she didn't love. But, although Randall was glaring at her through eyes that screamed with hatred, there was still something there, like a fire that hadn't been completely put out. She could feel the flame rising in her heart once more. "But not now," Randall continued, tearing his eyes away. "Later."
The group of five then split up, Carmen and Jay returning the way that they had been carried in, and Randall, Zephyr and Striker going up a swirling set of metal stairs to an upper level. The second they had got there, they had to hide immediately because of the dozens of Workers. This was where all the action was.
The room was large, but also very metallic though the exterior of the ship had said otherwise, giving the impression of an ancient pirate ship. Every footstep of each being there was magnified tenfold, translated into a sharp clanging. And, as Zephyr had said earlier, all of the scream canisters were there, all in their boxes, neatly stacked.
The threesome had leapt through a door to their left once they had climbed the stairs, trying to hide. Shutting the door, the tiny room that they were in was bathed in utmost darkness. Randall turned around, and as he did so, something clattered to the ground, making him jump. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, and picked up what he had knocked over. Feeling it with shaking fingers, Randall figured out that whatever this was, it was long, smooth, and had something kind of spongy and floppy at one end.
Suddenly, a light flickered on, quite like the one in the room where the majority of the cages had been kept- a bare bulb- and Randall got to see what the object was that he had found. Zephyr stood by the light switch, not finding what Striker thought to be mildly humorous, funny. It was a mop. Unfortunately, before they had entered this tiny little space, the threesome hadn't read the sign on the door, which clearly stated 'CLEANER'S CLOSET'. And, all around them was pretty much everything you would expect to find in a Cleaner's closet.
Randall dropped the mop and thought. Then he realised something that, in the rush of trying to escape, he hadn't thought of.
"Zephyr, you were brought to the cages by a Worker," he said, working it all out as he spoke. "You're a prisoner, aren't you?" Zephyr snorted.
"No, of course I'm not. The only reason the Worker was dragging me along the ground and was about to put me in a cage was because I told him to."
"I don't appreciate the sarcasm."
"Why not? You're sarcastic enough yourself." Randall gritted his teeth.
"Because now's not the time," he growled, fists clenched. Then, taking a deep breath he asked, "But why? I thought you were part of this 'plan' rubbish."
"Well, I..." Zephyr paused for a second, trying to think of a way to explain as best she could. "I had done something wrong- hit a Worker. My father wasn't too pleased, so he was gonna put me in a cage. Just for the journey, mind. He said he didn't need anything to go wrong." Randall narrowed his eyes.
"So whose side are you on then? Ours, or theirs?"
"Yours," Zephyr whispered. "I don't agree with what they're doing, even if my father's in charge of it all."
"And what are they doing?" Randall managed to ask before Striker butted in.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we've really got to get on with it- I think I felt the ship move." Striker had been right- the bulb swung more violently than usual, the buckets on the shelves toppled over and anything in the closet that didn't have any support crashed to the floor. Once everything had settled down once more, Randall carried on.
"What IS this great idea of yours?" he questioned Striker, sounding as though he didn't trust him.
"Basically," Striker grinned- finally is was HIS turn. "those scream canisters are filled with explosive chemicals. There's two different chemicals in each canister and they're kept separate by some kind of mechanism which you can turn by hand if you want the chemicals to be mixed. If they end up making a concoction, they then explode. Am I right?" he asked, double-checking with Zephyr.
"Yeah."
"Go on," Randall urged Striker- they were getting increasingly short of time,
"We set them all off. It takes about twenty-two minutes for the chemicals to react, so we should have enough time to get ourselves and anyone else off the ship."
"Ummm...exactly how dangerous ARE these explosives when set off?" Striker looked at Zephyr to answer Randall's question.
"Oh," she mumbled, caught by surprise. "Well, they make more of a bang than anything else really, but if you're too close...all of them here could easily sink this ship, to put it in perspective."
"Oh...but what about..." Randall stopped, trying not to sound too concerned.
"What about the Workers?" Zephyr said, guessing the thoughts that were running through Randall's mind.
"Yes. And your father."
"They're all evil, every one of them, even...even my father. If you knew what was going on here, you would feel the same as I do- that they deserve to die." Randall scoured Zephyr's face for a clue as to whether she was lying or not, but her tone of voice said it all.
"Then it's settled," the lizard-monster confirmed. "We've got a p-" Everything came to a jerky stop, it seemed, and anything that had been strewn on the floor previously rolled around as Zephyr, Striker and Randall all nearly fell over at the sudden cease of movement.
"I think we've stopped," Zephyr said, whispering, though she didn't really know why. Randall gulped a lump that was rising in his throat, wanting to sound confident.
"Then now's the time. We can do this and get off the ship before it goes too far from shore. You've got to get everyone you want to save now, before we set the explosives off."
"I know what I'm doing." Zephyr smiled half-heartedly; there was something on her mind other than what was going on here, and the only other person who knew what it was was Randall.
"Do what you must," he said, clearing his head, "but whatever it is, do it quick as heck."
"I'll be back in five minutes," Zephyr confirmed. Then, making sure her face held a neutral expression, she inched the door open and, checking that the coast was clear, crept out, trying not to be too noticeable. Randall watched her leave, then readied himself.
"I can do this by myself." Striker looked silently stunned.
"How?" Randall flickered invisible as an answer, the only part of his body visible being two astoundingly green eyes.
"Like this." Striker tried to act as though this wasn't very weird at all- in fact, this kind of thing happened every day.
"O-okay, you, err, you do that..."
"Wish me luck."
----------------------
Zephyr's plan was simple yet sweet. She strode around the Workers with absolute poise, pretending to be doing something or other that was routine. She knew for a fact that the only person that knew of her being caged for the journey was her father, (other than the Worker she had hit, of course) as they had been in his office at the time, the Worker guarding the door. He had said something out of turn, and her reaction was simply instinct, but was quite unlike herself- she was known to keep her cool in most situations. But there had been something that made her frustrated and annoyed those past few days, and her usually non-existent temper was being tested.
Zephyr weaved in and out of the busy Workers, looking around for her brother. She finally spotted him helping a few other Workers with a particularly large package, his small figure struggling with the immense load. Strutting up to her brother, Zephyr tapped him on the shoulder. Caught by surprise, he dropped his side of the package, making the other Workers groan in annoyance.
"S-sorry..." Xenon muttered, turning to Zephyr. "What happened?"
"Huh?" Zephyr's brow furrowed in bewilderment.
"Father told me that you were to be kept in a cage for the whole trip. What did you do?" Zephyr sighed.
"You know father- he overreacts." Zephyr caught herself drifting and, realising how little time they had left, got on with it. "I know you won't understand this Xen, but you've got to trust me. We've got to get off this ship now." She was right- her brother didn't understand, so it was therefore reasonable for him to ask questions.
"But why?"
"Let's just say that father's plan is about to be foiled. If you know anyone that you are certain didn't want to have anything to do with the plan, then tell them and we'll all leave together. I'm about to get Mr Henry, so I'll meet you-"
"No, you won't." A voice came from behind Zephyr, but before she could sweep round to have a look at who it was, a clawed hand gripped her arm and twisted it behind her back. The look on Xenon's face alone was enough for Zephyr to identify who this monster was, and the way he dragged her into the shadows after threatening Xenon that he would kill her if he came any closer showed just how angry he was.
----------------------
The handle was bright yellow and easily identified, but turning it was another matter. Randall growled in exasperation at the scream canister in his lap, which several Workers saw to be floating in mid-air, and turned it on its side, reading the instructions that had been usefully printed on every one of them. The chemicals sloshed around inside, and Randall couldn't help but feel at little insecure at the fact that what he held in his hands, if misused, could kill him and anyone else within feet of him in seconds.
"Grip handle firmly with key hand. Lift plastic flap up. Turn clockwise 360. Push down into original position. Run like heck."
Randall read these instructions over several times, (not finding the final one particularly amusing) and tried again. This time, as he pushed the handle down that was attached on the side of the scream canister, a little bleep could be heard and a minute red light just above the handle flickered on, signifying that finally Randall had mastered the art of setting explosives off. He had worked out that he needed to start off around ten scream canisters for the explosion to be powerful enough.
The Workers that had seen this canister drifting around in the air had ignored this phenomenon, instead shaking their heads and muttering to themselves "gotta lay off the espresso" or "I hope those divorce papers are gonna come through soon." But their ignorance would eventually cost most of them their lives. Randall was really getting into his stride, and activating the canisters was getting easier with every one.
"And...ten!" he said to himself. He peered up at the wonky clock that hung on a metallic wall, wanting to kick himself for taking four minutes just to set the explosives off.
"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
The most ear-shattering, piercing scream rung out, and then stopped violently and forcefully. Randall recognised the voice to some extent, but couldn't put a name to it. But then it was obvious- it was female, and the only female around was-
"Zephyr!" He got up, breathing heavily, and looked around, turning to where he thought the scream had come from. Pushing aside some Workers and causing a few fights between them as an invisible force went around causing havoc, Randall searched the crowd frantically.
"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" he scolded himself. "Why did you leave Zephyr by herself when you knew that Cy was around, you IDIOT!?" He carried on forward until he came to a bare wall. He looked down it, catching sight of a door a little way down. It was quite well hidden, the same tone as the walls, and a bit of a tough one to open, but Randall managed.
The room was square and plain, all surfaces covered by the same pattered steel, even the ceiling. There were little spotlights on each wall, all emitting the same cold, white light that was reflected on basically everything else. Except for Zephyr, that is.
Her body lay on the floor in a crumpled heap, a growing pool of blood surrounding it. Cyrus was looking down at her, a lengthy gash that ran the length of his forehead dripping with blood, as was his foremost frond that had been sliced clean in half. His eyes turned up at Randall's presence, focusing on his brother. Randall was only scared for Zephyr at this point, and somehow knew that he would never be afraid of Cy again. Even Cy's bright yellow eyes, the dagger in his hand, his terrible motive, didn't make Randall afraid anymore. His brother's power over him was over.
Nothing was needed to be said between the two brothers. This was it. The final showdown. And, for once, Randall had an advantage- he wasn't fighting for hate. He was fighting for love.
Randall leapt over Zephyr's limp body, aiming straight for Cy's neck. They both collapsed to the floor, but Cy hadn't forgotten about the weapon he boasted. The dagger sunk deep into Randall's left arm, but the lizard- monster barely flinched. He yanked his arm out of the way, taking the dagger which slid out of Cy's grip with it. Then, within a second, he turned invisible. There was a silence that was rarely heard on this metallic floor. Cy crept to his feet warily, his claws clacking, his eyes darting from left to right. Randall had another advantage here- his soft, padded fingers and toes made barely a scuffle against the floor, so there was not a single giveaway to his location. He had the element of surprise.
But he had made a mistake. The dagger clattered to the ground, and Cy took the opportunity. He jumped- and missed. Now was Randall's chance- Cy was sprawled on the ground, and the dagger was centimetres away from him. Randall grasped it determinedly, drew his arm back, and, appearing just a few seconds before, plunged it deep into Cy's flesh.
Randall had been very merciful, and had stabbed Cy only in a leg, knocking him out with a sharp punch afterwards. Then, staggering over to Zephyr, he fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Z-zephyr?" The body stirred, and this was enough of a confirmation for Randall. He picked her up, cradling her small body in his arms, her legs and long tail dangling. Blood was dripping from several deep cuts, one of them catching her neck. Time really was of the essence now- Randall had fought with Cy for a good ten minutes, so they only had about seven minutes to get off the ship. Whoever Zephyr wanted to save had to be left behind, but Randall was adamant about saving Xenon. He truly didn't deserve such a cruel fate, so if he could catch his attention and just tell him to get out of there, maybe lead the way...It'd be a hard job finding him, though. But Randall was ready to try.
"Stuff this," Randall thought to himself, feeling particularly rebellious, not bothering with turning invisible. He slammed the door open with a pair of lower hands and walked briskly through the throng of Workers, his energy ebbing away with every step. Mr Stefani was to be seen standing on a sort of platform, addressing all the Workers who had stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at him attentively.
"Who gave the order to stop the ship?!" he demanded, glaring openly at every Worker there. "WHO?!" He then gasped as he saw Randall, reasonably near by, pushing his way through the stock-still Workers. Some of them fell over at Randall's force, and Mr Stefani had had it with the interferences. He didn't care that Randall was carrying his daughter, nor that his daughter was practically bleeding to death. All he cared about was stopping the interruptions, and getting what he had worked so hard for in order. He was about to shout out a deranged "STOP THEM!" but, funnily enough, someone stopped him.
"It was me," Jay said proudly before giving Mr Stefani a hearty shove, sending him flying into the mass of Workers. Then, chuckling to himself with Carmen by his side, Jay jogged over to where Randall was heading, Xenon by their side. Xenon had realised to trust Zephyr, Jay, Carmen, and especially Randall, and as soon as he had seen them, he had followed them over to the exit of this mad scene. Randall rapped on the Cleaner's closet door with a lower hand, and the second Striker appeared in the doorway, shouted a single word, then ran after Xenon, clutching Zephyr securely, tight to his chest.
"GO!"
They ran and they ran, down corridors, up stairs, past dozens of unnamed doors. Not a single word was uttered between them, but as they passed a cheap plastic clock that hung on a wall by a door, Striker shouted out a pressing "FOUR MINUTES!" before dashing up some more stairs. Xenon was leading the way, just because of his knowledge of the interior of the Heartless, and as they passed one or two stray Workers who was about to greet him with forced cheerfulness, he knocked them over with pure loathing, acting violent for the first time in a long while.
A door came into sight. Light leaked through the gap between the floor and the door; a shining, whitish light, the dust particles illuminated by it dancing in its warmth. Xenon blasted the door open with a sudden spurt of strength, and all six monsters were covered with the rays of the rising sun. They jogged along the walkway, fatigue creeping up on them, but all bumped into each other as the leader, Xenon, stopped in his tracks. There was a large Worker in front of him, and he didn't look as though he was going to move any time soon.
"Turn around!" Xenon ordered the others, but as they did so, the person at the rear, Carmen, choked out an astounded "No!" as yet another Worker blocked their way. The walkway was dangerously thin- only wide enough for single file- so there was no getting around them. They were caught.
Randall, who was in the middle of the group, still carrying an unconscious Zephyr, leaned over the rail as an idea came to him. The shore wasn't too far away- a swim-able distance...
"We've got to jump," he murmured. And, before anyone could ask what he had said, he jumped.
The water was chilling, refreshing and incredibly salty, and Randall knew he had made a mistake the second it had greeted him. "Zephyr..." was the last word he said before he went under the surface.
It was mainly the shock that had numbed Randall, and as he struggled to keep a hold of Zephyr, his vision blurred, his body stiffened, and his hand, which was intertwined with Zephyr's own pale, white one, slipped out of her soft grip.