Towering above them was a huge bank of mist on a small island. However, rising out of that mist was a titanic-a word which here means "extremely big"-tower, made out of stone. It towered up and up and up and up and up and up and way-a word which here means "five thousand two hundred and sixty 'and ups's'"-up and up and up. In layman's terms-the phrase, "in layman's terms," simply means in basic terms a normal person who is not an expert on the given subject-it was pretty high. It towered up into the clouds and the top then had a huge, barely visible, dish on it than one could only guess its function.
"Haha! Here we are! Haha! Now we will go in the Megatower! Haha! Challenge me and die! Haha!" The Baudelaires felt a bit timid going into such an enormous and awe-inspiring structure, but nevertheless walked in. There was a huge lobby inside, and a magnificent chandelier hung above them. Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Isadora, Mr. Widdershins, Fiona, Fernald and Kit all looked amazed at such a thing and wondered who could have made such a place. Olaf, however, took no notice and instantly hurried towards a large counter. There were rows and rows of shelves, each one labeled. Such things as 'passageway,' 'fire,' 'Baudelaire,' and more caught the Baudelaires eyes, but Olaf quickly found the file we was looking for. "Aha! Haha!" he laughed triumphantly, "Fortune is in the 4300's! Haha! And Count is in the 7700's!" He ran to an elevator and everyone did the same. There was a long, long row of buttons ranging from number 0 to number 10,000. It went by 100's. Also, there was one button with no number. Olaf pressed 4300 and they were going upwards. After two minutes they reached a hall with a sign saying "Area 4, Sector 300."
Olaf ran forwards and there, amassed before him, was a huge section of files. "Haha!" he laughed, "Every one of these is a fortune of some bratty undeserving orphan family! Haha! I have a plan to steal them all! Haha!" He ran to one that was incidentally labeled, "Quagmire." There was a small keypad with the numbers 0 through 9 on it. Olaf typed in a 40-digit sequence and then on the screen it read, "Master Override Accepted. Fortune Access Complete." Olaf laughed and then found a machine that transferred the fortune from the Quagmires to himself, in his bank that was run by cohorts-a word which here means "friends, so that the noble people of the world would not shut done his bank"-. Then he did this to every single fortune there. The Baudelaires watched helplessly as there own was given to Olaf. In about twenty minutes, every fortune there was Olaf's. "Haha! My net worth is now over a billion dollars! Haha! Wait a minute-I never got the Snicket fortune!" Kit looked surprised and then Olaf yelled, "The biggest on of all is not here, there must be a reason," he paused, then continued, "Haha! The Principal will know! Haha! As for you, you useless Snicket, prepare for doom! Haha!" Then he picked up Kit and walked to the window and threw her. She shattered the glass and screamed as she fell. She fell and fell and fell. The drop must have been at least 800 feet, the Baudelaires noticed. They could here a soft, faraway, thud as the second of the three Snicket siblings died at the hands of this awful person. "Haha! Another murder by me! Haha! I feel great! Haha! I love evil! Haha!" Once again everyone near Olaf was saddened immensely and began to cry. "Haha," he said, "Our work is not yet done! Of to the 7700's!"
Once again they climbed into the elevator and Olaf pressed the button leading them to the 7700's. The doors opened and Olaf ran. "Here's the O section. Obadiah…Okadeefa…Olaf! Haha!" He used his master code and opened the door. Papers detailing all of his treachery littered the floor. He said, "Now, I'm free! Haha!" He spread flammable chemicals all over them and then lit them on fire. He paused for a moment, then said, "Hmmm, actually there may be several more things against me in here. I have a plan! Haha!" He went to the elevator and everyone clambered-a word which here means "walked"-in. He pressed the button that had no number and everyone felt themselves going higher yet. They exited into a small room with only a ladder in it. Olaf climbed the ladder and everyone followed suit. They were on the roof of the building. They were inside a cloud and then Olaf found a hole. He poured both his cans of flammable chemicals down it, and very, very far-thousands of feet, in fact-below an extremely faint splash could be heard. Olaf then lit some matches and dropped them in. Everyone ran down the ladder and into the elevator. Olaf pressed, "0." They went down. As the passed the number 6200 they heard the matches hit the chemicals. As 5500 whizzed by an explosion could be herad. After 3100 was a distant memory flames could be heard roaring all around them. As soon as they hit "0" everyone ran to the entrance, but flames were already all around them. They ran out.
It seemed everyone was out. But then a screaming could be heard and it turned out when they all shut the door to keep the flames out they effectively and non on-purposely locked Isadora in. Klaus locked through the window and saw her body lying limp and he yelled. Everyone ran to the Sea Olaf. Violet got it running and then all the noble people-the seven of them-cried and cried at the loss of another friend and the final person ever to bear the name Quagmire.
Only Olaf was in good spirits. "Haha! All the Quagmires dead! Haha! Almost every fortune under my command! Haha! Every shred of evidence against me destroyed! Haha! Now I will find the Principal! Haha! Go back to the Briny Beach! Haha!" Violet got the submarine moving along.
As they were driving Klaus happened to glance at the sonar screen-as I am sure you know, the phrase "sonar screen" refers to something used in watercraft to detect other vessels using technology-and gasped. He pointed at it in terror and said, "uh-oh." Everyone on board turned there head to look at it. Violet turned off the ship so that the enemy's sonar could not track their noise. Klaus put away all his papers so they would not rustle. Phil and Sunny turned of the stove so no noise could be heard from it. The three Widdershins all stood perfectly still so as not to alert the enemy. Even Count Olaf did not move.
As I am sure you have guesses by now, it was the terrifying, but unfortunately familiar shape of the shape on the sonar that made everyone gasp. It was in the shape of a giant question mark. And it was closer than it ever had been before.