Chapter 4
Alex was talking with Sly and Carmelita when he turned and saw a gigantic praying mantis with bright red eyes and long, gleaming fangs. "That's Col. Mantis, obviously" Alex said. Col. Mantis was headed for Sly, Carmelita, and Alex. When he reached them, he rasped "Are you concocting a plan of escape with the prisoners, coward?". "Nope. Just having a friendly chat" he answered. "You had better be, slime!" the Col. half shouted. With that, he stormed away. "Looking at that guys teeth gave me shivers" Carmelita said. "What is he, a vampire?". "Wow. Your first guess" Alex said. "He is, to be precise, a vampire lord, who didn't need to be forced to join. Unsurprisingly, he joined of his own free will. But it's getting late, so I'm gonna hit the sack". They watched as he stretched and walked off to his room. The couple shrugged and continued their reading. After they got tired, they went to their cell, which now had beds.
Just outside of the security systems, the boat stopped. The four friends were conversing with Bentley about the plan via video link. "A certain weasel on the island wants to help you. His name is Lt. Alex, and I've told him to meet you on shore, then you bring him back to the boat" Bentley said. "He can help you formulate a plan. Once done, he'll relay it back to Sly and Carmelita". "So all we do for now is wait?" Jack asked. "Exactly. Call me up when he gets here" Bentley said, and the screen went black.
Meanwhile, the weasel in question was having a nightmare. In a jungle you couldn't find on any map, he was being chased by a monstrous creature with piercing yellow eyes (Sound familiar?). It was gaining on him, and suddenly, he tripped and fell on a tree root. He looked up, and it was standing above him. It raised its gleaming claws, and then swiftly brought them down. There was a scream and a splash of red. Alex bolted upright from his bed, panting and sweaty. It was the next morning. After he had gotten over the dream, he got dressed and went down to the library, surprised to see that Sly and Carmelita were waiting for him. "Ready for the answer, Alex?" Sly asked. "Yes" Alex replied. "You can come on one condition" Carmelita said. "Tell us why and how you got here". "That's it? I'll be happy to fill you in. Neyla was searching the world for recruits, and my island was one of her stops. She saw some of the sparring matches, and decided to pick the best of them as recruits. I was currently undefeated, so she said that if I didn't join her, she would slaughter every one of us" Alex said. "Wow, you've been through a lot" Sly said. "Between her and Col. Mantis, you don't know the half of it" he answered. "Speaking of which, here she comes" Carmelita whispered. Alex turned around, stood up, and saluted. "At ease, Lieutenant. How are you doing this morning?" Neyla asked. "I'm doing fine. How about you, Commander?". "Same. Could you come with me? There's a meeting going on now". "Alright" Alex answered. With that, the two walked out.
A few hours later, the meeting was over, and Alex had picked up his favorite book and gone outside to read in a tree. Jack had noticed it, and told everyone else. Lena was now flying towards him on one of Zippy's jetpacks. She landed on the beach, took off the jetpack, and scrambled up the tree. "Are you Miss Lena Cooper?" Alex asked when she got up. "Um, yes" Lena answered, surprised that he knew her name. "Bentley said to bring you back to the boat, so I brought an extra jetpack" Lena said, and pointed to the two devices on the ground. "Alright, lets go" Alex said, grinning. The two climbed down and took off for the boat.