I have a couple of announcements to make before I proceed to the next chapter:
1. There is only a few chapters left.
2. I probably won't be making a sequel because I'm going to start writing a story in another video game category.
That's all. ONWARD!
"Um... okay..." Natalie said, slightly suspicious of Bark, Bean, and Nack. There was a faint rustling of fabric as the black cat reached into her suit pockets. Bark could hear a set of keys clinking softly together. Natalie tossed them in Bark's direction. "Here you go. Whatever you're doing, leave me out of it!"
"Oh, no you don't." Nack said as Natalie stood up to leave. The black cat sighed and grumbled something inaudible.
Bark shrugged, "Sorry, Natalie, but you have to come with us."
"Yeah, what if there's danger? We'll need a distraction." Nack sneered.
Bark rolled his eyes, "What if we run into another locked door? We'll need you to unlock it for us."
"Fine..." Natalie grumbled.
"Good." Bark hooked the keys onto his finger. The polar bear stood up and peered around the corner. All he could see was darkness. It was almost a relief; Bark half expected to see Eliah sneering down at him, about to brain him with a shovel.
He ducked around the corner and motioned for the other four to follow him. Bark stumbled around the darkness, blindly groping around for the door. "Will you help me please?" The polar asked in a monotonous tone.
"In Cyberland we only drink... Diet Coke."
"Shut up, Elsie." Nack grumbled as he banged his head on a low hanging chandelier. "Ouch! Damnit!" He snapped as he rubbed the quickly growing bump on between his ears. The weasel took several paces back and smacked into Elsie.
"Ouch! Who bumped into me?" The confused cow asked.
"It's me!" Nack shouted.
"Who's me?" Elsie shouted, "Who are you! What do you want with me!"
"Damnit, Elsie!" Nack yelled.
"How do you know my name! Are you a ghost?" The ditsy bovine asked.
"Damn you Elsie! It's me, Nack!" The enraged weasel shrieked.
"Oh... who's Nack?"
Nack shrieked a wide vocabulary of curses as he lunged at the cow. What he did not know was that Elsie was standing against a wall. To be more specific, she was standing against the door.
Elsie heard Nack yelling and stepped to the side. There was a sickening thud as Nack flew past her and smashed into the doorknob. "I... found... the door..." The weasel mumbled.
"Hey, Bark!" Bean shouted, "Nack found the door!" Upon hearing the duck's shout, Bark slowly made his way over to the door. Natalie and Elsie crowded around him as he stuck the key in the lock.
"Ouch..." Nack groaned as Natalie stepped on his tail. The weasel heard a faint click as Bark unlocked the office door. The polar bear opened the door and held it open as Bean, Natalie, and Elsie quietly stepped inside the office.
"Wait... Elsie!" Nack called from the ground, "Will you help me up?" The purple weasel asked in a whiny voice.
"In Cyberland we only drink... Diet Coke!" Elsie recited as she slammed the door shut in Nack's face.
"Ah..." The weasel gasped as the door closed shut. "Damn..."
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Now inside the office, Natalie grabbed the flashlight from off the desk and clicked it on. The dim, watery light lit up the room that Bark and Bean had wanted to see for so long. ...And it was not much to look at. The desk was old and riddled with holes dug by various insects. A few dusty books were stacked on top, alongside a broken lamp. Besides that, the only other thing was a battered wire cage containing a sleeping flicky.
"Wow..." Bark sounded unimpressed as he scanned the room. "It's not as great as I thought it would be."
"It's kinda small..." Bean said, feeling a little claustrophobic as he squeezed in between Bark and Elsie. "I always thought it would be a little bigger..."
"So did I." Natalie admitted as she examined a dusty television that had been stashed in a corner. Empty soda cans and candy wrappers had been carelessly thrown onto the floor. On top of the television stand, Natalie could see black scuffs that had been left behind by Eliah's boots. It was kind of obvious what the purple coyote did in her spare time...
"Hey what's this?" Elsie asked, pointing into the darkness. Natalie shrugged.
"It looks like a safe." Bark observed as he walked over the wall where Elsie was standing. "Do you know the combination?" He asked Natalie.
"Nope," the black cat said, "Unless a key opens it, I can't help you."
"Wait a second Bark!" Bean yelled excitedly, "Six-one-one-one-five-two. It's a combination!"
"Wow," Natalie said in disbelief, "I think Bean might be... right... for once."
"Let's find out." Bark said flatly as he grabbed onto the lock and spun it. There was a faint click as the lock stopped and the safe door swung open. "Wow, he was right. Nack's going to have a cow. Wait... where is Nack?"
"I left him out there!" Elsie said, hitching her thumb back towards the door.
"Oh, okay. At least he won't cause any trouble from out there." Bark said, totally unconcerned. Why should he be? Nack would have left them out there in heartbeat.
"Well, what's in the safe?" Natalie asked, getting slightly impatient. Bark climbed inside. The polar bear had expected to find treasure, counterfeit money, or at least some fake documents, but instead...
"It's... empty!" He said, somewhat surprised.
"What! Lemme see." Natalie pulled Bark out of the safe and stuck her head inside. "Whoa..." She said after a moment.
"What?"
"It isn't empty... There's a trap door!" The black cat exclaimed as she climbed back out, blinking the dust from her eyes.
"Where's it lead?" Elsie asked.
"How am I supposed to know!" Natalie asked defensively.
"Didn't you open it?" Bark asked.
"...No."
Bark pushed her out of the way and climbed into the safe once more. "Where is it?" He asked.
"The back wall." Natalie sniffed.
Bark nodded, even though he knew Natalie could not see him. The polar bear found the handle and pulled. It did not budge. He pulled again. It did not move. "I think it's stuck." Bark said.
"Try pulling."
Bark sighed and shoved the door with all his might. It still did not move. "It's still not moving."
Natalie cleared her throat to issue orders. "Bean push Bark, Elsie push Bean, and I'll push Elsie." The three lined up, preparing to shove each other with all of her might. "On the count of three," Natalie said, "One, two, three!"
Bark shoved against the wall with all of his strength as he felt Bean pushing his backside. The door still did not appear to be moving. Suddenly, the door gave way. Bean, Elsie, and Natalie had been pushing with all of there strength, and the force carried over and knocked them into the safe and out the door into the darkness.
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