Where the Quest Takes Us 2
Chapter 3: Kill it, and They Will Come
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"Okay, you giant wolf! You're about to taste some ISAAC!" yelled our spiky-haired hero.
"Yes, that's what I'm worried about." remarked Dr. Pepper, still pinned beneath the wolf's bulk.
"What? Oh! Well, I didn't mean it like that..." Isaac said.
"AUGH! Just kill the supid wolf, you bumbling moron!" Pepper screamed, as the wolf gave a low growl.
"Fine." said Isaac raising his sword and charging. "EEEE!" he squealed, and brought his sword down on the back of the wolf's neck. The large animal slumped over almost instantly.
"See? That wasn't so hard!" encouraged Pepper.
"AAAHHHHH!" came a scream from further down the trail.
"Who's there?" demanded Isaac. A few seconds later, a small girl came running up to them.
"YOU KILLED MY DOG!" she screamed, tears flowing from her eyes.
"Dog? What the hell kind of dog was THAT?" Isaac shouted.
"Watch your language." said Pepper, turning to the little girl, who was kneeling beside her dog, crying. "Your dog attacked me." he explained.
"Attacked you! He would never do that!" she screamed.
"Well, it's true." Pepper said. "And we're deeply sorry."
"That sounded sarcastic." remarked Isaac.
"You aren't helping." said the doctor.
"Oh, sorry." Isaac said sarcastically.
"YOU ARE EVIL MEN!" shouted the little girl.
"Well, to be fair, my accomplice here isn't much of a man..." Pepper said.
"What!" Isaac barked. "I'm more manly than some NERD like you could ever hope to be! I SCOFF AT YOUR MANLYNESS!"
"JUST BRING MY DOG BACK!" cried the girl.
"Quiet, girl. The adults are talking." Isaac hushed her.
"YOU MEANIE!" she said, kicking him square in the shin.
"OW!" he yelped. "You little bit-"
"Watch your language." Pepper said. "Now, as for bringing back your dog... Isaac! You're a Venus Adept, no? You should just use your Revive ability!"
"Uh, see... The thing about that is... Well, Revive is an ability that I get from the Djinn, and I kinda gave all of my Djinn to Garet, so..." Isaac mumbled.
"Why would you give your Djinn to someone?" asked Pepper.
"Well, I didn't so much give them to Garet so much as I lost them... Like, in a game of poker." explained Isaac.
"You gambled away ALL OF YOUR DJINN?" Pepper hollered.
"It wasn't a gamble! I had TWO FREAKIN' ACES! TWO! Is there any better hand?" Isaac defended.
"Two... Oh man! By the gods, how did a fool such as yourself ever make it into WUSSCASE?" Dr. Pepper wondered aloud.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." Isaac said. "But obviously I'm dangerously underqualified for this, and should go back home now. Bye!" said Isaac, turning to leave, but Pepper grabbed him by the shoulder.
"You aren't going anywhere. You were assigned to this mission, and you're gonna do it, underqualified or not!"
"I WANT MY DOG BACK!" screamed the young girl.
"Fine. All I need is a few Djinn, and you'll get your damn dog back. So, seen any Djinn?" Issac asked her.
"I'm telling my dad!" she sobbed, and ran off in the direction she came from.
"Oh, crap." cursed Isaac. "I'll bet her dad's like, some big, redneck lumberjack guy! He's probably got a big axe, and he'll be like, 20 feet tall, and he'll come over here and say: "Hey! You two fools killed my daughter's dog! Now I'm gonna axe you good!" and then he'll axe us good! I DON'T WANNA GET AXED!" Isaac rambled.
"Oh, calm down. All we have to do is explain what happened. I'm sure he'll be reasonable." Pepper said cooly. So he and Isaac sat down against a nearby rock. Fifteen minutes later, the little girl reappeared, followed by a 7 foot tall man, who was, in fact, carrying a large axe. But it was no lumberman's axe; he was carrying a full-sized, double-edged battleaxe, which looked to be stained with blood. The man was clad in only a pair of large boots, and black pants, so that his massive, bulging muscles were being shown off.
"Aww, crap! Who would've guessed her dad was a fuggin' demigod?" said Isaac.
"You the two bastards that killed my daughter's dog?" the man asked.
"Well, it's not really that simple." started Dr. Pepper. "You see, we really had no-"
"Yes or no. Did you kill the dog?" he asked again.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then you die." he said, adopting a fierce battle stance.
"Man, they must've really loved that dog, huh?" asked Isaac, turning his head towards Pepper.
"Well, Isaac. You must've killed enemies tougher than this man during your many travels, right?" Pepper asked, swallowing hard.
"I suppose, but back then I had between 3 and 7 other people helping me. Right now all I've got is an old man, and an unfortunate lack of Djinn." Isaac said. "So there's only one thing to do."
"And what would that be?" asked Pepper.
"Well, if you distract him somehow, I'll plant my sword in his spine! Sound good?"
"And why do you think he'd go for the defenceless old man before he goes for the young saviour of the world, who happens to be holding a large sword?" Pepper asked.
"Just chuck a rock at 'im, or something. I unno." Isaac shrugged. "But I'd say, it's go time!" he added, dodging the first of the axe-wielders blows.
"We're done for..." said Pepper solemnly, looking for a rock to throw, as Isaac danced around the various axe swings. After a quick scan of the area, he noticed that, sitting atop a nearby cliff, was a rather large boulder. "Hmm... If I could just nudge that boulder a couple of feet..." he thought, and started trying to find a way up the cliff face.
"You will taste my axe, knave!" shouted the axeman. "For I am Harthir Wormcrusher, mightiest warrior in all Weyard!"
"Wow. That's one helluva name." Isaac said, gracefully dodging yet another swing. "Maybe I'll name my firstborn son that, in honour of your death!"
"Worm!" shouted Harthir, swinging at Isaac's legs with a low cut.
"Where are you, old man! I NEED SOME HELP!" Isaac bellowed, but there was no answer. For another thirty seconds, Isaac dodged the great axe, waiting for an oppourtunity to strike. Then, he heard a call.
"Isaac! Move!" came Pepper's voice. Isaac looked to where the voice had come from. There was Pepper, standing atop a tall cliff, and below him, a large boulder, rolling right at them. Isaac tried to keep Harthir distracted until the boulder rolled over him, but his efforts were in vain. Harthir noticed the boulder, leaped out of the way, and let out a loud laugh as it rolled over Isaac.
"Crap." said Dr. Pepper.
---
"Wow. That was possibly the fastest ferry ride I've ever been on between Apojii and wherever-we-are!" Ivan remarked.
"WUSSCASE owns the two fastest vessels in the world!" Qui said proudly. "Well, not counting that flying ship you guys had. Whatever happened to that, anyway? We could use it."
"I unno. Maybe pirates stole it." Ivan suggested.
"I thought only Adepts could use it." Qui said.
"Okay, Adept pirates." Ivan said. "Now, where can I get some food? I haven't eaten all morning!"
"Well, we've got about a four hour hike to the WUSSCASE headquarters." said Qui.
"Four hours! That's ridiculous! Why don't they have some kind of transport service?"
"HQ's gotta remain as secret as possible. That's why we harbour our ships so far away." Qui explained. "We're actually working on an underground tunnel between here and HQ, but it's not gonna be done for a few years."
"Hey, where'd Piers go?" Ivan asked suddenly.
"Good question." said Qui, taking a look around. "Why'd we bring him, again?"
"Because he's a pathetic loser, and would've committed suicide if I'd left him on Apojii alone." Ivan said darkly.
"I heard that! Meanie!" came Piers' voice from some random enclosed area.
"Where are you?" Qui yelled back at him.
"Uh, it's kind of embarassing, but I've locked myself inside the ship's storage compartment!" Piers called back.
"But there's no lock on that door!"
"That's why it's embarassing..." he said, as Ivan fell to the ground in a fit of laughter.
"Oh brother..." Qui said, and went back to the ship to unlock the door. When she had done so, and led Piers back to where Ivan was waiting, they noticed someone walking towards them.
"Who's there?" Ivan called. There was no answer, but the person kept walking towards them. When he was close enough for everyone to see his face, Qui smiled.
"That's WUSSCASE's new director!" she said happily. "I don't know why he's come out here to see us, though..."
"Indeed I am." said the person. He appeared to be only a few years older than Ivan, and had black hair. He wore a dark blue tunic, and a black cape. "I'd tell you my name, but it doesn't matter, since you will be referring to me as 'Director' from now on. Understood?" he said coldly as he scanned the trio.
"Can I ask why you came out here to greet us, Director?" asked Qui.
"Because it would have been a waste of your time to hike all the way back to base. I'm sending you out on your mission right now. Only, I've changed your objectives." the Director answered her.
"Um, how did you change them?" Qui quizzed him.
"Well, your first objective is to find Agent Pepper and the agent who he was assigned to contact. My recent intel says they were waylaid somewhere between Loho and Tolbi. In this area, near the mountains, there is a small village. I want you to go there, and see what you can learn. By sending you to Tolbi, I am not only rescuing two of my agents, I am saving precious time by not having to wait for those two to make it all the way here, then sending them right back to Tolbi."
"Understood." said Qui.
"Once you find Agents Pepper and Isaac, Agent Qui will fill you all in on your actual assignment. Is that clear, Agent Ivan?"
"Sure." Ivan answered casually.
"One more thing. I should like to know who your friend is, and why he is here." the Director told Ivan.
"Well, his name's Piers, and he's supposed to be a sailor, but I think he's forgotten all about that since we moved to the Apojii Islands. Now he's just kind of a wussie." Ivan explained.
"I'm not going to just sit here and be called a wussie." Piers said crossly. "I have SOME dignity, you know."
"Sure ya do." Ivan said, dismissing Piers with a wave of his hand. "It's alright if he tags along with us, right? I mean, he's pretty good in a combat situation. Makes a nice human shield... I mean, ally!"
"Well, normally I'd say no, but I suppose more help on your assignment would be a good thing." the Director paused and thought for a moment. "He seems honourable enough. I shall make him a temporary WUSSCASE agent."
"Hot stuff!" cheered Piers.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you..." Ivan turned to Piers. "If you're gonna travel with us, you're gonna have to turn down the gay, alright?"
"What? I'm not-"
"Let's get going." said Qui, grabbing them both by their pant legs and walking toward their ship.
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Mr. Jupiter: Well, that chapter was longer than usual... Maybe I'll make them all this long. Anyway, I updated quicker this time. Hooray! Remember, I always need viewer feedback! Please review!