Chapter 4 "Bad Luck (Really)" Foaly's Lab, LEP HQ, Downtown Haven
I'm sick of all this time travelling. Bring me back.
"All right, whatever you say…" Foaly started.
"No," Holly cut in, "I need him to do one more thing…"
6 Months ago, chute E7, Haven"Why do I have to do this for you?" Sool grumbled.
"Because."
"So what do I do?"
"Just watch closely. The eye-cam does the rest. Oh, and stay hidden in the cam-foil."
There was a goblin in the middle of the access tunnel, tightly bound by a set of octo-bonds. Root poked him and he collapsed."It's him. He's been mesmerized." Root said.
"I recommend we leave, immediately."
"No. Now that we're here, we might as well take Scalene back with us."
As Root touched the goblin, the goblin hissed, "Do not touch me, elf."
"Whatever it is, we won't like it. We should go commander, right now."
"That voice came from the chest."
"Maybe he had surgery. Let's get out of here."
The goblin spoke, "Ah, Julius, I'd knew you'd come. Commander Root's famous ego would not allow him to stay out of the action. An obvious trap, and you walked straight into it. Have you figured it out yet, Captain Short?" At first, the voice was General Scalene's, but now, it slowly changed into the voice of the pixie criminal, Opal Koboi's, as Holly recognised. The voice was coming from a smokescreen strapped onto Scalene's chest, and Opal's face appeared on it. Holly tried to warn Foaly of Opal, but the equipment didn't work because Opal apparently planned ahead.
"The odds are against us here Captain. Let's move out."
Opal seemed to find it funny. "Move out? How very tactical of you, Commander. You really need to expand your vocabulary. Whatever next? Duck and cover?"
"Opal Koboi, what do you want?"
"You know what I want. The question is, how am I going to get it? What form of revenge would the most satisfying? Naturally, you will both end up dead, but that's not enough. I want you to suffer as I did. Discredited and despised. One of you at least; the other will have to be sacrificed. I don't really care which."
The commander and captain decided to leave, but taking Scalene with them. They headed towards him.
"Have we come up with a little plan? Something ingenious, I hope. Something I haven't thought of?"
Holly fired at the smokescreen, but nothing happened.
As Root reached for Scalene, the octo-bond suddenly strapped itself to Root's chest, releasing Scalene.
"Commander Root, it looks like you're the sacrifice," Opal said maliciously.
Root swore. The octo-bonds were squeezing him, breaking his bones while the magic is trying to heal him at the same time. Holly tried to help him, but there was a proximity trigger, and the only thing she could do was watch.
"There must be a way out of this, Commander. I just need to think. I need a minute to sort things out."
Opal mocked, "Let me help you sort things out. Your LEP comrades are currently trying to laser their way in here. Of course, they will never make it in time. But you can bet that my old school chum, Foaly, is glued to his video screen. What does he see? He sees his good friend Holly Short apparently holding a gun on her commander. Now why does she want to do that?"
"Foaly will figure it out. He beat you before."
"Maybe he would figure it out at that. If he had time. But unfortunately for you, your time's almost up. She activated a bomb on the octo-bonds. Sixty seconds. The countdown started.
"One minute to live, Commander. How do you feel about that?"
"Shut it down, Koboi. Or I'll swear I'll…"
"You will what? Exactly. Die beside your commander?" Opal sneered.
"Go now," Root ordered, "Holly. I'm ordering you to leave."
"With respect, commander. No. This isn't over yet."
"Forty-eight," Opal sang happily, "Seven-seven."
"Holly! Go!"
"I'd listen if I were you. There are other lives at stake. Root is already dead; why not save someone who can be saved?"
"Who can I save? Who's in danger?"
"Oh, no one important. Just a couple of Mud Men."
That will be the Mud Boy and the Mud Mountain, Sool thought.
"What have you done?" Holly shouted.
"I'm afraid I may have put your human friends in danger. At this very moment, they are stealing a package from the International Bank of Munich. A little package I prepared for them. If Master Artemis is as clever as he is supposed to be, he won't open the package until he is at the Kronski Hotel and can check for booby traps. Then a bio-bomb will be activated, and bye-bye obnoxious humans. You can stay here and explain all this; I'm sure it won't take more than a few hours to sort out with Internal Affairs. Or you can try to rescue your friends."
"I will hunt you down, Koboi. For you, there won't be a safe inch on this planet."
"Such venom. What if I gave you a way out? One chance to win."
"It's a trap," the Commander gasped, "Don't be fooled again."
"Thirty," Opal started counting again, "Twenty-nine."
"Okay. Okay, Koboi. Tell me quickly. How do I save the commander?"
"On the device. There's a sweet spot. One-inch diameter. The red dot below the screen. If you hit the red spot outside the trigger area, then you overload the circuit. If you miss, even by a hair, you set off the exploding gel. It's a sporting chance; more than you gave me, Holly Short."
"You're lying, why would you give me a chance?"
"Don't take the shot, just get out of range. Go and save Artemis. That's the last order I'll ever give you, Captain. Don't you dare ignore it."
Yeah, Sool thought, save yourself first. That's what I would do.
"I don't have any choice, Julius."
"Don't call me Julius. You always call me that just before you disobey me. Save Artemis, Holly. Save him."
"I'll save Artemis next," said Holly. She took aim, then shot.
Hmmm, I'll think I'll get closer for a better look.
"I hit it, I hit the spot," Holly yelled at Opal on the smokescreen.
Opal replied, "I don't know. I thought you were a fraction low. Hard luck. I mean that sincerely."
What! Sool thought indignantly. There was no sweet spot. It was just a trick! How could Opal do such a mean thing!
"No!" screamed Holly.
The countdown sped faster than ever.
Poor Holly, thought Sool, and people still didn't believe her.
"Be well." That was the last thing the commander ever said.
There was a large explosion. The blast consumed everything within a ten-meter radius, incinerating not only Julius Root and Scalene, but consuming Sool along with it.
Author's Note:
I hope this makes up for Chapter 3, which was bad. But don't blame me, my sense of humor was diminished by the amount of homework my teacher gave me. 10 assignments, 16 days! This is not the end of the fanfic yet!