Hello everybody! I'm back from Guam! That's right, I went to visit the historical monuments of fantastic, utterly amazing Guam...No, actually, I just went swimming. I ran away from the cold. But the fantastic part as all correct. You have to see the hue of the sea. Just...utterly amazing.
cybergurl: Yep. Definitely closer. But not too close, so don't prepare any goodbye parties or anything.
number 423601: New reader! Thank you very much, and please keep reading.
booksrule39: I'm glad you like my story even though you're an A/H fan. I enjoy a couple of A/H stories myself despite my being an anti-A/H shipper.
neutralgal: Yes, this will be A/OC, H/T. They will be on double dates- hehehe. I'm sorry if you puked; I don't think there will be much H/T anymore. I think...-ponders a moment- but definitely more A/D. If you won't be offended, I would like to admit a fact to you; good A/Hs I like, but bad, mushy ones make me puke as well.
Princess Arwen Evenstar 77: Yeah, my review history is down as well. I'm very confused- Grrr!
RaevanDawn: Hello, fellow H/T fan! Good H/Ts just make me wanna cry... And I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Chapter 19: Revolt
Goblin Shack, Lower Elements
Spiro's gang had one last destination before the historic pandimonium was to begin, and let me assure you, it was definitely not Disneyland. It was as far from Disneyland as far can be, and although there isn't a word existing to even remotely describe this place, the closest would be hell. Complete and utter hell.
Who knows how this place got its name; because it certainly did not resemble a shack that much. This area was once known to be a lush emerald-green forest before a pack of alchoholic goblins went out of control with their firepowers and devastated this national monument into a pile of barren soil. Now there were just a few contorted, burnt trees with most of their limbs fallen off, and goblins, and rotten soil and goblins and dead insects and goblins and nothingness, and of course, goblins.
The first thing that the trio noticed as they entered the forgotten forest was that it was so damn hot. Not as in moderate climate, mildly warm with T-shirts and shorts. As in sweltering, torrid, boiling hot. It was after they panted and adjusted to the intolerable heat that they noticed that this place was also abnormally dark. Darkness accompanied by a suspicious, almost stagnant silence.
"BOO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Spiro and Opal flinched at the noise that came out of nowhere all of a sudden. Actually, let's rephrase that; they did not flinch, Opal screamed and started punching the air, and Spiro jumped a few inches. The only one that posed himself, totally unaffected by this questionable noise was Keeth.
"Way to go, Kharine. You almost got me then."
"I know!" The female goblin blushed. "You were so scared, I know!"
Keeth rolled his eyes. He had no time or patience for this. "You were right, I was scared, Kharine. I haven't come to see you, though. Where is The Boss?"
"Oh," The goblin girl, whose name was Kharine's face dropped. "He's in the cave. You know the place. Center of the Shack."
"I sure do" Keeth replied laconically. "Thanks, Kharine."
The cave, which Kharine had mentioned as the Center of the Shack was barely a minute's worth walk away. It was very inconspicuous as it was covered in ivy thickets the size of a pixie's arm, expect much taller. Keeth brushed it away as if it was nothing and walked inside.
The Boss turned out to be a very boring person with an amazing longevity. He sure didn't beat the most aged dwarf who was approximately two thousand years old, but he was known to have lived at least one and a half millenium. Actually, no one was sure of his gender, they just assumed he was male because of his raspy voice. Then again, considering his age, female was highly possible. No one knew of his name either; nothing was 100 percent sure with The Boss.
"Keeth," The bony figure turned its gaze to the reprobate goblin and extended a dirty green, wrinkled hand. "You've come back."
"Yes, Boss," Keeth replied,but what he really thought was, It's really true that I should be the boss. "I've come back to...gather my fellow friends for them to play a significant part in my plan."
"Your plan," The Boss echoed, looking at Keeth with one eye.
"Yes," Keeth replied, his shoulders squared. "My plan."
The Boss stared into Keeth now with both of his eyes. The emotion interwoven under that hypnotic gaze was unreadable. Keeth honestly didn't know if The Boss wanted to hit him or praise him. All he could do was hold his breath.
"Shagon," the aged goblin whispered in a voice that sounded almost inhuman.
A fairly young goblin in much better shape stepped out of the shadows. He was brawny and tall (that is, tall in goblin standards was about 3'3), and considered fairly attractive among female goblins. His best feature were his intense yellow eyes which looked down at Keeth and The Boss, gazed up at Spiro, and down again to meet Opal's eyes. Then he diverted his gaze to The Boss. "Boss. What's a human doing here? And that pixie?"
"Keeth here says something about a plan," The Boss muttered. "Do you know anything about that?"
Shagon considered it a moment, licking his eyeballs in deep thought. It was a horrid habit common in the species but Keeth himself had gotten rid of it long ago. "Yes, I do. That fight in the LEP."
"It is not a fight," Keeth interrupted angrily. "The technical term is a rebellion, revolt, a revolution. Whatever you wish to call it."
"Same thing," Like most goblins, Shagon was not known for his high intelligence. "So what do we do about it? We take the whole lot? Or half, or..."he squinted his face as he tried to divide half by half again."A quarter." he finally finished his sentence, apparantly very smug with his mathematic skills.
"We can't do with a quarter, Shagon." Spiro broke his silence and decided to speak up. "We need the full group of goblins residing in Goblin Shack, and even that amount won't be enough. About seventy, according to Keeth's assumption."
"So," The Boss interrupted. "This is a rebel of the goblins."
"Yes, Boss," Keeth replied obsequiously.
"I think we've done this before."
"Yes, I reckon that it has happened once. It was easily stopped by the LEP," Keeth paused, then dared to point out, "I also believe none of the goblins here in the shack have participated."
There was a twinkle in The Boss's eye. A twinkle that one of the fairies/human who were now at his presence had ever seen. For the pixie and human, it was their first encounter, but Keeth and Shagon who had known The Boss their entire life were taken aback. What was this old hag thinking about? Was it perhaps the secret revenge he had been planning all his life? A sudden inspiration to be a part of Keeth's plan?
"Take them all," he said.
Police Plaza
Because of the dozen selected officers shielded and safe amidst the trees, an estimate of seventy-five goblins sneaking in through the front doors was considered impossible. Thus a sum of four fairies and one human were to go inside first and the rest would come afterwards, once the officers were inside the building once again. The group consisted of: Spiro, Opal, Keeth, Kharine, and Shagon. Who else could it be?
Two heads are better than one. That means five should be much better than a single, or two brains. But no matter how much they tried to think, they could find no logical answer but to go through the sewage pipe as they had done before. Perhaps it was because the heads of two certain goblins were equivalant to none, but anyhow they wound up in the sewage again. Thanks to their previous trips, the pipe was cleaner than it used to be, so Opal could easily fit with her flashy boots-miniskirt-tank top-denim jacket attire in perfect condition. Opal was no imbecile; she knew her clothes would be ruined at least a bit once she was out, but it was all part of the plan.
The three who had already made a few trips were so fed up and weary with this strange type of transportation that they didn't even complain. That is to say, the other two did.
"What's this? Ewww!" Kharine exclaimed. She seemed to have trouble constructing a full sentence after all this... manure.
"It's from everybody's loo," Shagon answered with a grunt. "Gross."
"Really?" Kharine asked as if she had just realized that she was crawling through someone else's digested food.
"Duh, Kharine. Where do you think all this comes from? I bet there's some of yours, too."
Kharine made a face. "No, there isn't!"
"Stop it, you two. We're almost there. Remember, head first, and keep your forked tongue inside your mouth if you don't want some of this material stuffed inside it. Got it?"
"Got it," they chimed together like a song duet.
Spiro was the first to be out in the isolated aisle. "Who's in guard?" Opal asked anxiously. "I really hope it's not a girl, because that will be ruining everything."
"It's... a fairy with wings. He's hovering, and his rank looks low. And yes, he is a male, so you're saved for the moment, Opal."
"Let me see who he is," Opal shoved Spiro in order to get a better view. "Oh, thank the gods. It's Private Chix Verbil. Coaxing Chix Verbil has got to be easier than a dwarf tunneling through soft soil."
"Well, then what are you waiting for? Just get this over with."
Of course, Opal did. She held her head high and walked attractively towards the nervous, hovering sprite. She was actually overly confident; her clothes were in good condition and her makeup was at least one centimeter thick, so she would never be recognized. Spiro was right. Let's get this over with.
Chix wasn't exactly eager to lose face by getting kicked out of the LEP, but as soon as he saw the stunning pixie walking like a supermodel with a coquettish smile on her face, his worries soon vanished. His face cracked into a smile.
"Hello, young lady. How may I help you?"
Opal grinned as she placed a delicate hand on the private's shoulder. "Oh, nothing. I was just looking around."
"Ah, so you are an aspirant for Recon!" Chix slipped an arm around Opal's thin waist. She squirmed, but decided against slapping him in the face. After all, and mentioning this would be inappropriate redundancy, this was part of the plan.
"Actually," Opal turned to meet Chix's eyes, and discovered that his looks were not quite charming in comparison to his flirtatious personality. "There is something you can do for me...But never mind. It would be far too difficult."
"Nothing would be too difficult for such a stunning woman as you. I will humbly be at your service." Chix grinned. Opal almost snorted at this statement, but stopped herself just in time. Instead she cleared her throat and continued while pointing at the blue translucent door. "This room. What's in it?"
"This room is full of the newest models of a LEP weapon. Top secret. My team has been doing incessant research for this baby." Chix winked.
"Oh, really,"" Opal pretended to be intrigued. "May I have a peek inside?"
"No, I don't think that would be possible," Chix grimaced as he thought of the consequences. "Julius would have my badge for sure. I'm terribly sorry, but is there anything else I can do?"
Opal crossed her arms and pouted, the substitute for her usual stomping feet and screaming. "No, I want to see what's in this room. Please?" Opal winked back.
The sprite's wings fluttered erratically, and he gulped. "I'm afraid I won't be able to do that. But allow me for a full tour of the Police Plaza-"
"No, thank you," Opal replied as cheerily as possible while linking her arms around Chix Verbil's waist and nestling against his chest.
Chix sweated in nervousness. He cleared his throat in order to sort out this problem. "Um-"
"Stand still," Opal's tapered fingers sneaked inside Chix's bum pocket, pulling out the electronic key.
The pixie drew back and held the key teasingly between her digits. "Thank you!" she said out of sheer bliss before punching Chix between the eyes. Unconsciousness was immediate.
"It's about time," Spiro muttered as he snatched the key from Opal's fingers. "We'd better get inside. We're running later than schedule."
Spiro inserted the key inside the slot, and the code was deciphered almost immediately. There was no motion in the filmy door for seconds. The six members of all species held their weapons consisting of fireballs, Neutrinos, and even those as primitive as bludgeons, prepared for whatever bulky guard was waiting inside as the azure covering disappeared, only to disclose the guard who was sound asleep.
As the rest relaxed with relief but soon perked up with glee, Spiro and Opal cracked their knuckles with a sinister smile. Yes, indeed, this was going to be much easier than they thought.
"They're here," One terse reply from Captain Kelp was all the rest needed to get ready. Trouble never repeated the same thing twice.
A series of clickety-clacks inaudible to human ears sounded throughout the distance as the elven policemen aimed their weapons at the seemingly empty darkness. They could keep that pose for at least an hour; it was the result of intensive training. There was no escape for trespassers. There they sat in various attack positions, waiting silently as ever.
The darkness was dull and boring as ever; despite their patience LEP officers could seldom endure boredom. But just then, barely noticeable, a faint red light began to emerge. Before anyone had time to react, there came another. And another. They began to multiple at a remarkable rate, until at last the crimson lights had transformed into quite an amount of radiant orange-red fireballs.
As the fireballs had gradually appeared, the goblins each took a step forward, slowly, one-by-one. Their yellow eyes with no eyelids flashed and were easily distinguishable against the black background. The very eyes held no mercy.
And so this was it. Goblin and elf, the cunning and intelligent, glaring fiercely at one another with deep rancor. The reticence was far more intimidating than screams of agony. This historical moment that was to be remembered in the near future by all kinds of sentient beings, the day of the debacle. There it was, impending like a glass of water filled to the brim, just waiting for the right moment to break its tension and spill over.
And then it all began.
Finally! The REVOLT! As I'm posting this, it seems as if the last 19 chapters were nothing, nothing at all but an overly long preparation for this very moment! HAHA! I'm so happy and touched that I've got this far...-sniffles-
