Author's Note: My work was halted for a while, thanks to a PC failure. But now my computer is repaired, and I am back. Whee!
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Chapter 3
A week later, Poppo rushed into Jay's room, looking both excited and scared. "Jay, wake up!"
Jay sprang up in his bed. "Poppo? What's the commotion about?"
"I have some good news, and then I have some bad news. Which do you want first?"
Jay thought about it for a moment. Well, if I hear the good news first, the bad news may not sound so bad. On the other hand, if I hear the bad news first, the good news would make up for it...
Without waiting for an answer, Poppo continued. "We got some more information about the activity on the bridge. Commander Vaclav has taken over the bridge again."
Jay jumped to his feet. "Vaclav? Are you certain?"
"And it gets worse," Poppo said. "Solon has joined forces with him."
"What? What about your project?"
Poppo smiled. "That's the good news. I've finished my project."
"Oh, great. Well, I'll get the others."
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Shirley sat in her room, while Moses and Giet stood nearby.
"You feelin' okay, hon?" Moses asked.
Shirley sighed as she patted Giet's head. "I can't stop thinking."
"I know exactly what you mean," Moses said.
"On one hand, I'm flattered that Will thinks my apple painting could actually win. On the other hand, I completely disagree with the concept of winning, especially when I think of poor Hattie and how stressed out she is. My protest painting might be seen by a lot of people, but if I go against Will, he'll probably ground me for life. But...it's my decision to make, not his. Plus, a part of me really wants to win."
"Yeah, competition is tough, ain't it? But I just can't get enough."
Shirley looked over at Giet. "Well, Giet, what do you think?"
Giet responded by panting for a few seconds, then whimpered.
"Hah. Giet says he wants a doggie treat followed by a nice nap," Moses told her.
Then there was a knock on the door, and they heard Senel's voice. "Shirley?"
Moses walked over and opened the door. "What's up, Senel?"
Senel raised an eye. "Moses? What are you doing in there?"
Moses grinned. "Oh, nothin'. Just chattin'."
"Anyway, everyone is meeting downstairs. Jay has something important to talk to us about."
"All right. Let's go."
Shirley stood up from the bed, and the three walked down the stairs, where the other party members were waiting.
"All right, Jay; we're all here," Senel said.
Jay nodded. "Very well. Last week, the Oresoren informed me that there was some unusual activity on the bridge. I didn't say anything because there wasn't enough detail to determine whether any action should be taken. However, I just got an update this morning."
There was a moment of silence as the group anxiously awaited the news.
"It turns out that the one who infiltrated the bridge is none other than Vaclav Bolud and two of the Terrors, Melanie and Cashel. Worse still, it appears that Solon has teamed up with them, replacing Stingle as the Vicious of the Terrors."
"What? Vaclav?" Senel shouted. "That's impossible!"
"Yes, I was shocked to hear it myself," Jay said.
"Ooh, that just bursts my bubble!" Norma said. "First So-So keeps stalking us, and now Vaclav is back?"
"There's only one thing to do!" Moses called. "We gotta get to the bridge and take that guy out!"
"Not so fast, stupid bandit," Jay said.
"Hey!"
"Poppo has been working on something that could potentially help us in the upcoming battles. We need to head to the Oresoren village and test them out."The others glanced at each other and nodded.
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Jay led the group to the Oresoren village, and they headed to Poppo's workshop.
"Whoa..." they muttered.
Poppo had eight vehicles lined up against the wall. They looked like simple motor scooters that hovered a few inches from the ground, with a pair of handlebars, a footboard between the wheels, and rocket jets in the back.
"Welcome, everyone," Poppo said. "I'm glad you could all come to try out my new Poppo Scooters."
"Poppo Scooters, huh?" Senel asked. "They certainly look...simple."
"These scooters will allow us to travel faster on the fields and in ruins," Jay said. "Because of the freedom of movement that they have, they can be even more useful that ducts in certain situations."
Moses squatted up and down. "All right! Time to take these babies for a test ride!"
He rushed over and stepped onto the footboard. "Uh...how do you make it go?"
"Twist the handlebars towards you," Poppo said.
"All right!" Moses twisted the handlebars as instructed. The rockets fired up as the scooter suddenly took off. The party quickly dove to the side as the scooter flew by, promptly crashing into the wall. Moses tipped backwards, hitting the floor on his back.
"As you can see, the Poppo Scooters are extremely durable," Poppo said.
"For that matter, how do you make it stop?" Norma asked.
"Just squeeze the lever right above the handlebars," Poppo said.
"Oh, now he tells us..." Moses grumbled.
"Ooh, let me try!" Norma took another scooter and stepped on the footboard. She then revved it up and took off. Once again, the party dove out of the way as the scooter flew past them. Norma squeezed the brakes as she twisted the scooter to its side. Like Moses, she too crashed into the wall and fell to the floor.
"Hmm..." The rest of the group pondered for a moment.
"Well, I'm glad it ain't just me," Moses remarked.
"We may need to practice riding these things before we try to go after Vaclav with them," Senel said.
"Indeed," Will agreed.
"Do these scooters have weapons, or are they just for transporation purposes?" Chloe asked.
"Oh, they're just for transportation," Poppo said. "I built them tough because I remember what happened with the Poppo Mk. II and III."
"I...see."
"All right," Will said. "Let's take these scooters out into the field."
The group nodded. They moved the scooters outside to the lake. They looked across the water at the crags on the other side.
"Poppo, can these scooters run on the water, too?" Senel asked.
"The Poppo Scooters can run on any terrain, from the tallest mountain to the deepest valley," Poppo said.
"I'd like to avoid the water whenever possible," Chloe said.
"Passing through the crags should give us some good maneuver practice," Will said. "Is everyone ready to head out?"
The group nodded as they stepped onto their scooters.
"Good luck to you all!" Poppo called.
"All right, here we go," Senel said.
Everyone revved up their scooters and darted forward, crossing over what used to be a lake. It was quite a thrill to feel the wind in their faces as they rode across the surface.
"Yahoo!" Moses yelled. "Check me out!"
"This actually feels kind of nice," Shirley said.
As they got closer to the crags, Senel looked ahead, noticing that the hill was getting steeper. "Uh-oh!"
The others gasped as they realized the same thing. They squeezed the brakes, but it was too late as the scooters hit the ground, hurling everyone forward. They all crashed on the ground, skidding a few feet. They all picked themselves up, groaning in pain.
"Controlling these scooters is more difficult that I anticipated," Jay said.
"Yeah, I wonder if they were actually built for the Oresoren?" Norma asked.
"They look too big for the Oresoren to ride," Chloe said.
"No, Poppo built them specifically for us," Jay told them. "We just need to get used to riding them."
Everyone picked up their scooters and got on again. They took off again, riding down the rocky surfaces of the crags.
"Jay, watch out for that wall right there!" Moses called as they made a left turn.
"I know, I know!" Jay responded. "I'm not blind, you idiot!"
"Guys, pull over!" Senel called.
Everyone squeezed on their brakes, but they didn't seem to slow down at all. Right then, they knew that crashing into the wall was inevitable. Jay jumped off the scooter, crashing to the ground as his scooter crashed into the wall. The others all crashed into the wall on their scooters, then collapsed to the ground.
"Well, we got the riding down," Senel said. "It's the stopping that needs work.
"We're going to hurt ourselves if we keep this up," Chloe said. "I'm bruised everywhere."
"These scooters are more durable than we are," Moses said. "I'm bruised everywhere...twice!"
Everyone picked up their scooters and limped over to the end of the crags, which overlooked a large valley where the lake used to be. Now that the bridge has surface, the lake had disappeared.
"All right," Will said. "Let's cross over to Port-on-Rage, and then we'll call it a day."
The group nodded and got onto the scooters once again.
"Will, we need to stop Vaclav before he even starts," Jay said. "Especially if Solon is with them, we can't afford to let them make the first move."
"Jay, I understand your point, but we really shouldn't try to fight after all this crashing."
"I'm with Will on this one," Moses said. "I ain't feelin' so good."
"This crashing has depleted our strength," Chloe said.
Jay sighed. "All right. We'll take care of it later."