CHAPTER 74: BY DEMONS BE DRIVEN, PART 5
Hillwood's Quigley Stadium was first constructed in 1911, opening the following year of 1912. It was the home of the Hillwood Black Sox from its opening day, all the way until 1999 in search of greener pastures following the retirement of its star player: Mickey Kaline. Hosting household names in baseball such as the aforementioned superstar player, Quigley Stadium has been home to many American heroes.
But, tonight, it holds a collection of well-known American villains.
A collection of 5 villains, going by the names of Nailbomb, Icebreaker, Decibel, Killer Crab, and Tommy Gunn, have been sent as a suicide squad on a mission from President Milius Arcudi, in a desperate bid to solve the Hellwood question in his political career. The villains, plunging into the heart of darkness itself, move into Quigley Stadium in search of the one responsible for the Fall of Hillwood:
Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, the Freak.
The 5 villains are not unfamiliar with men of superhuman abilities, not even with ones on a scale as the Freak's. In years past, they had comprised the rogue's gallery of a famous hero by the name of Silver Sentinel, until one day the shiny superman had given them an offer that they could not refuse; working under him as subordinates to plunder the small town of Royal Woods in a scam act.
Their goal had come under fire from a young boy by the name of Lincoln Loud, taking up the name of his favorite fictional superhero: Ace Savvy. With the aide of his family, the spade-spangled hero had put an end to their plan, sending all involved behind bars and/or in intense medical care.
All 5 remember the fear they felt for a man like Silver Sentinel, powerful enough to disembowel them in any manner he chooses...
...and they can only fear as to what the man they seek can do.
Nailbomb, the villain with the most firepower on his side, took point in the search, keeping his grenade launchers at the ready. Tommy Gunn and Icebreaker, both with long-range abilities in their attacks, kept to his sides. With Killer Crab in the middle, Decibel watched the group's back, ensuring that no ambush would find them and take them from behind.
Carefully making their way down the hallways of Quigley Stadium, they searched down room after room, trying to find any trace of the Freak or a sign that led to his current location. Despite searching for nearly half of an hour, none of the villains had made any progress to the task at hand. Instead, all were left with nothing but their name but a mostly abandoned building, no one within and no signs of life within.
"I think that guy fucked us. There's nothing here." Icebreaker said.
"We've only been searching for half an hour. Don't give up already." Decibel said.
"But what if the guy's not here? The island's got to be, like, huge. He could be anywhere here. Plus, he's like, the big cheese here. Wouldn't he probably make himself god somewhere and be surrounded by a bunch of worshipers instead of hiding out here?"
"Who knows what these kinds of guys do? You remember Silver Sentinel, he had some pretty weird habits of still feeding his hero complex while banking pretty hard off it." Nailbomb said.
"Well, I don't care where this guy is, and I don't care how long it takes to get him. I want my pardon, and I can't get it until we all get this asshole." Killer Crab said.
"I'm with K.C., he's gotta be here somewhere. Besides, even if that guy was a crumb, we're at least gettin' to stretch our legs a little out here. Better than rottin' in the big house." Tommy Gunn added.
Carrying on their search, the villains soon came to a room with a swimming pool, large enough for Olympic standards. Scanning their surroundings, the team made sure to watch for any unknown threats lurking inside, keeping lights set on the walls and the ground at their feet.
But what they find quickly enough in the room is both what the were most and least expecting. In this room, the team has found the Freak, sitting in solitude and seemingly in wait for them to arrive. This part is what they were most expecting, having already been given information that he was in the building.
What they did not expect was to see him sitting on the water in the middle of the pool, as if the liquid below him was a solid.
The Freak seemed to be stuck in a state of meditation, closing his eyes and focusing his energies, but this soon changed when the villains had set their eyes on him. Opening his eyes, the Freak slowly stood up from his resting place, standing on top of the water in a supernatural show of power.
Looking at his new guests, watching their horrified faces at his display, the Freak gave a smile and snicker.
"Hi there." The Freak said.
Though all in the group collectively panicked at the first words of the Freak, Tommy Gunn was the first and only to give a premature reaction to his presence. Stepping forward with his signature self-titled weapon, he squeezed its trigger tightly, firing straight at the Freak.
Taking out a pair of knives, the Freak, moving at speeds too fast for any of the villains to register, began deflecting away every bullet that came his way. Within seconds, the magazine of Tommy Gunn's weapon ran dry, prompting him to take the current magazine out and load another one.
Before loading his next magazine, however, he quickly noticed that the Freak had not been affected by a single bullet, and, seeing glowing, red, hot metal knives in his hands, Tommy Gunn understood why none of his bullets had any effect on the Freak. Dumbfounded by the apparent speed that he displayed, the mock mafioso could not help but shudder and shake in fear.
"That's... impossible." Tommy Gunn said.
"Coming from a bunch of second-rate assholes who worked for a bigger asshole who could fly and was bulletproof." The Freak said.
Not wasting his time with any monologues or speech, the Freak tapped into the emotions and minds of the villains, reading into the reasons behind their presence in his building and motives. Finding memories of President Arcudi and his pardons, with them instilled the emotion of hope, the Freak found his answer.
"So... looks like the outside world didn't forget about us after all. Your president wants to know how bad I really got so he can find a way to save his ass?" The Freak asked.
"Yeah. That's basically it. Now, that's a nice little trick you can do, but you're not going up someone like the Green Eye. You're dealing with 5 guys who held their ground against Silver Sentinel. The president sent us to take you out. You think you're gonna come out of this on top?" Nailbomb asked.
"Oh, but you're forgetting a few important facts there. One, I have the exact same powers as the Green Eye, and I can do a few things that he can't yet. His powers are limited by his own potential. He's not some wanna-be vigilante; he only seems like it because he holds himself back. Two... You'll note that I said the 'outside world', and not the 'real world'. That's because, as far as you're concerned, this is the real world. This is my world. This is hell on Earth."
[Soundtrack Cue: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Kooler Than Jesus]
Tommy Gunn returned to firing upon the Freak, with the rest of his team joining in with their own attacks. Icebreaker shot frosty ice blasts, Decibel fired soundwaves, and Nailbomb launched grenades, all making their aim straight towards the Freak. The intended target of the projectiles, careful to avoid the attacks, ducked and slipped into the water, swimming around beneath the surface.
Icebreaker, using the environment to his own advantage, took point and fired a continuous blast into the water, seeking to freeze the entire pool and trap the Freak inside. Below the water, the Freak realized the sudden plan that was unfolding for him, seeing the surface above him turn into a frozen solid.
Swimming to the bottom of the pool, the Freak quickly swam back up, pushing himself against the frozen barrier to break through. Utilizing his own power of flight, he bursted straight through the ice ceiling, shooting himself straight through the ice and out of the pool, landing on its edge.
The villains received a short shock from witnessing his quick adaptation of this obstacle, but they did not let it hold them back for long. Once again raising their arms and weapons to the Freak, they fired at him once again, sending all manners of energy blasts, explosives, and bullets his way.
Darting to the side at superhuman speeds, the Freak dodged the incoming attacks, moving to begin his own. Leaping up into the air and landing on a balcony above the heads of the villains, he reached into his trench coat, pulling out a selection of knives to send back at his enemies.
As the villains quickly noticed his new location, they adapted to the change of situation, firing back at him on his higher ground. Spinning on the guardrail of the balcony he was standing on, he threw the knives the way of the villains, strategically aiming them for those vulnerable enough to be affected by them.
The first of the villains to receive the attack was Tommy Gunn, unfortunate enough to have the least amount of protection compared to his colleagues. The Freak's knives strategically landed themselves in his arm, hand, and foot, leaving him to drop his gun and fall to the floor, screaming in pain.
One down, four to go.
Another array of the knives landed in the body of Icebreaker, with many piercing through his eye, chest, and shoulders. Not responding to the attack in any painful way, Icebreaker brushed the knives off his body, regenerating the portions of his body chipped away at; the attacks seeming to have no effect on him.
The last of the knives landed into Decibel's suit, hitting various circuits and other electrical panels that kept his weapons operational. Taking out the knives, Decibel tapped onto a PDA on his arm, trying to reprogram his suit and compensate for the damage done to it.
Seeing the weakest link of those still standing to be him, the Freak jumped onto his back, reaching for more electronics to damage.
"This looks important." The Freak said.
Taking his selection of a large panel on the back Decibel's head, the Freak grabbed hold of the piece and yanked it out, taking various wires and electrical sparks with it. Jumping off his back, the Freak once again took to higher ground, waiting to see how his strategy would influence the fight.
Deprived of the components that kept his auditory apparatus functional, Decibel's sense of hearing was soon lost again. The sweet sensation of hearing that he artificially regained was taken away; his ears filled with nothing but a blank emptiness while his eyes were fed the images of horrified teammates shouting at him.
Their faces he could recognize as displaying horror and urgency, but what their mouths were saying he could not understand, leaving him confused as to what he should do next. Soon in his eyes again was the Freak, standing before him with a smile and a playful wave.
Reacting to the image of his enemy appearing in front of him, Decibel fired a sound blast at him, only to have the target dash out of his way. Quickly scanning the room for another sighting of the Freak, Decibel soon found it, with the Freak himself giving another taunt to his enemy.
Firing another sound blast towards him, Decibel once again missed his shot, scanning around to locate him once again. His careless blasts were protested by his teammates over concerns for him accidentally hitting one of his own, but, without his sense of hearing, none of these pleas reached his head.
The Freak once again came to a stop, standing before Killer Crab. Killer Crab, not having any chance to display his own powers against the Freak yet, soon found a perfect opportunity presenting itself to him. Raising up his claws, he prepared to drive them back down, delivering a crushing blow to his enemy.
Decibel, once again, prepared his sonic weapon to fire a blast on the Freak, but made a terrible oversight before making his attack. Firing off his weapon again in a frenzy, Decibel's attack once again did not manage to hit the Freak, but instead hit Killer Crab, sending him flying back against a concrete wall.
Embedded in the concrete wall, the man of brute strength found no more strength in his carapace, leaving him to remain defeated.
Two down, three to go.
Icebreaker, taking the lead to try to encase the Freak in a freezing cryogenic blast, fired at him to put a stop to his attacks. The Freak, too fast for his attacks to land or remain accurate, dodged each blast with more shows of speed, but making his way up to the man of ice with each dodge.
Making his way up to Icebreaker, the Freak swung a sweeping kick to his legs, knocking them clean off his body and into the pool, and causing the rest of his body to fall to the ground. Keeping up his momentum, the Freak threw a kick to Icebreaker's head, knocking it clean off his shoulders and falling to the ground.
Picking up his torso and remainder of his body, the Freak threw it towards the ceiling, shattering it instantly. Icebreaker, left with nothing to his name but his head, remained sentient of the affair, and was not happy about his predicament any more than a similar experience with a pair of blonde sisters with their own hearts of ice.
"Shit. Not again." Icebreaker said.
Three down, two to go.
The Freak, keeping himself out of sight of his opponents, launched himself somewhere far out of sight of the group, leaving them struggling to find him once again. Huddling each other together, the remaining villains of Nailbomb and Decibel went back-to-back, keeping their surroundings in watch.
Slowly backing up from one another, they began progressing forwards in opposing directions, searching out for a sign of the Freak once again. The target in question, deciding to toy more with his last two enemies, landed on his feet in silence between the two. Making very slow and subtle movements, he waited for himself to be taken notice of.
Soon, Nailbomb and Decibel turned to catch eye of him, just as planned and desired. Jumping up into the air once again, the Freak narrowly dodged attacks from both villains, causing them both to fire at one another. Nailbomb, hit by a sound blast, fell down for the count. Decibel, hit by a high-explosive grenade, joined him in defeat, falling to the ground as well.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Landing back on the ground, the Freak smiled on his defeated enemies, chuckling at the ease of the task. Walking about the area, the Freak looked down on the various defeated enemies, snickering as they painfully lamented over their defeat. Having spent very little in the way of personal effort to remove the threat of villains, he could not help himself against commenting over their ineffectiveness.
"So, that's it, then? That's you all you got? A little playtime? All the president could send at me was just some kind of... suicide squad?" The Freak asked.
Nailbomb, taking advantage of the Freak's momentary monologue, raised one arm, showing himself to not be out of fight yet. Taking careful aim at his target, he wasted no time to fire off a high-explosive round, sending the projectile straight at the Freak before he could take notice of him.
Though the sound of the launched projectile itself gained the attention of the Freak, he was not granted enough reaction time to avoid the round. The high-explosive round made its impact against its target, rapidly expanding the air around him in a physical reaction that began blasting away most of his particles.
The majority of his body was sent flying against a wall, splattering against it in a gory mess of skin and organs falling off of an empty skeleton. For the price of a small gambit, the explosives expert extraordinaire Nailbomb had succeeded in what the president had sent them to do; a sight that none of the other villains could believe even when witnessing it themselves.
All slowly getting up from their resting places of defeat, the villains all surrounded the body of the Freak. Killer Crab, giving assistance to Icebreaker, threw his head into the pool, allowing him to reconstitute his body with the water and rebuild himself. Decibel, aiding the crippled Tommy Gunn, carried him over to gather with the others.
Watching over the inanimate body of the Freak, the villains all laughed over the supposed challenge that they faced over fighting him not moments ago.
"That was it, huh? Even with all that speed, he ain't so tough after all, huh?" Icebreaker asked.
"Guess so. Good thing, too. That was my last grenade." Nailbomb said.
"Little punk wasn't shit. I can't believe that he's the guy that offed the great 'Little' Nicky. That guy was the reason I picked my motif." Tommy Gunn said.
"I coulda had him if I'd gotten a chance to clobber him. But, hey, I'm not complaining about how things went down." Killer Crab said.
"I don't know what the hell you guys are saying, but I can tell you one thing. This has gotta be the easiest 'Get Out of Jail Free' card ever." Decibel said.
"You got that straight." Nailbomb said.
Celebrating their apparent victory, the villains all began high-fiving each other, cheering and hollering over their supposed defeat over the Freak. All the while the group celebrated, the Freak was not as inactive as they all had believed, had they taken a simple glance to the scene one more time.
Had they taken one more look to the mutilated body of the Freak, they would have taken notice that many of the organs falling out of place from his body began to slowly creep their way back up into their places again, suturing themselves together with muscle and tissue.
Had they taken one more look to the partially-rebuilt body of the Freak, they would have taken notice that the replaced and regenerated organs began covering themselves up with a growing epidermis coating over the whole of the body, growing in several spots across the whole before coming together to rejoin as a new skin.
Had they taken one more look to the fully-regenerated body of the Freak, they would have taken notice that the man they once thought was dead was not quite so, and had taken an extreme dislike to the treatment of being shot with a rocket-propelled grenade, and expressed that dislike with a pair of bloodshot eyes glowing a bright and hateful red.
But since they had not taken a look, it was upon the Freak to summon a look, with a short statement to gain their attention.
"That... hurt..." The Freak groaned.
Hearing the Freak's pained voice in the air again, the villains all collectively stopped their cheering, exchanging their expressions of joy with ones of terror. The exception to this was Decibel, still deaf and unable to hear the Freak's voice. Giving him a visible sign of the threat to look at, the villains turned him around to see the Freak, making Decibel quickly join the collective silence of fear.
Once again, the Freak expressed his discontent.
"That... FUCKING... HURT!" The Freak screamed.
Acting out of self-preservation, the villains raised their weapons once again, preparing themselves to fire on the Freak before he could make his next attack. Rather than continue any physical attack, however, the Freak opted for a mental attack instead, sending an order across the astral plane to the 5.
You will drop your weapons and get down on your knees. Right fucking now. The Freak said telepathically.
Too weak-minded to resist the mental command, the villains obeyed the order, all coming to their knees and bowing before the nude form of the Freak, as if paying their tribute to an immortal being. For all they knew, the description of this scenario was less of a metaphor and the only reality they knew.
"Pl-Please, don't kill us... We'll do anything..." Killer Crab blubbered.
"Yeah, boss... Anything you want... Just name it..." Tommy Gunn begged.
The initial idea that came to the mind of the Freak was to do exactly what the villains had pleaded for him not to do, but their pitiful begging had given him enough pause to reconsider. Remembering the initial reason in which they were sent to Hellwood, he thought of a more creative and productive way to address the issue now resting on his hands.
"You said that you were sent here to see what kind of threat that I pose to the rest of the world. Didn't you?" The Freak asked.
"Yes, y-yes. That's right." Icebreaker said.
"What are you gonna do with us?" Nailbomb asked.
Looking down on his captives with a smile, the Freak gave one last chuckle, letting the villains know his intentions for them.
"Well, the president wants to know how dangerous I am. I can tell him that myself. But why don't we have some fun with it? He wants a show, I'll give him a show." The Freak said.
In Hellwood, there is no centralized form of government or higher body of authority; only the gangs that band together to survive and the worlds they have created to survive. Fueled by necessity and driven to violence, there is a pure dichotomy that exists within each group that keeps the people of Hellwood from uniting as a one and singular people again:
'If you are not one of us, you are one of the other'.
This parallel drawn between man and woman, young and old, black and white, gay or straight, or any other distinction pits them against one another, continuously fighting one another for territory and goods in order to survive in a gangrenous world of little supplies and commodities and too many needs. The Green Eye has tried his hand at uniting many of them under his own gang with hard work and brute force...
...but he will soon find out how easy it is to unite them under a man of pure evil like the Freak.
All across the 4 corners of Hellwood, the Freak sent out a telepathic message to everyone in Hellwood, reaching into their minds and calling for unity under his own demented and warped manner. Among all the starving and desperate, all of Hellwood looked up to the sky, listening into this supposed otherworldly message that they were on the receiving end of.
Hello, suckers of Hellwood! It is I, the vile and pernicious Freak here. Now, for the past month, you've all been part of my little game of suffering and misery, all to prove a point to the Green Eye about the utter futility of his little one-man crusade against pain. Now, you've all been great sports and played great, but, unfortunately, the Green Eye himself just hasn't been a team player. The Freak said telepathically.
Continuing to listen in, loners and gangs alike all paid close attention to the telepathic message, heeding what the Freak was sharing with them. Before, none would care too deeply about what he had to tell them, save for a feeling of hate and discontempt for a man as odious as him.
But being in Hellwood for so long, none can find any place in their heart to turn away from what he says. Indulging in violence for as long as they have, struggling against one another merely to survive, any sign of a higher power or leader seemed preferential to their current situation, seeking out someone more powerful to follow.
As such, they continued to listen carefully.
The Green Eye's a man who subscribes to the whole Mr. Rogers message... or Jesus', I forget which. The bottom line is: He won't kill. He doesn't believe anyone's beyong redemption, and he can save any human being from whatever their ails might be. I made several of the absolute worst human beings I could scrap up and sent them against him to challenge that, but he didn't kill a single one. The Jolly Olly Man, Valiance killed him. Wolfenstein, he and the Star of David killed each other. Saint Lila, bitch killed herself. He's wussed out too many times. The Freak said telepathically.
Though many a people listened carefully to the Freak's message, there were still a handful who would not take in nor even hear out the message. The most exemplary form of such people were the members of the gang known as the Green Eyes, as well as many under their protection and watch.
Rejecting the Freak's message, the Green Eyes verbally protested against the Freak, calling him to leave them be.
"We reject your lies, Freak! We are loyal only to the Green Eye and his code! We will never follow you!" One Green Eye said.
If any of you have been keeping up with current programming recently, you know that he's trying something a little different: Sheer brute force. If you're not on his side, he'll beat you onto it, even until you're almost dead. And he's gotten himself a nice little fanclub who follow his example. Close, but no cigar. That's why I'm issuing this little challenge for him, but, as I thought of it, I wondered: Why should I have all the fun? Let's make a big celebration out of it. So, come on down to the old Quigley Stadium, and catch the event of a lifetime. The Freak said telepathically.
In one specific spot of Hellwood, there lies a large, well-built house by the name of Lloyd Manor, once home to the wealthy Lloyd family during the more sane days of Hillwood. Currently, it serves as the base of operations of what remains of the Hillwood Heroes. Those remnants comprise of the comatose Buckley Lloyd, Sid, and the temporary addition of Lars Rodriguez...
...but there remains another unofficial addition that holds more personal relevance to the Green Eye than the rest of those previously mentioned. Her name is Helga Pataki, once known to the Green Eye and Hillwood Heroes as the mysterious, leather-and-lace vigilante named Baise-Moi.
Her double identity as this masked avenger had been discovered only recently by the Green Eye, and it has torn a greater hole in an already massive rift in the middle of their relationship. Even more recently, she has revealed a secret mistake that she had kept with her since childhood, one that had led to the confused romance between Arnold Shortman and Saint Lila, and that rift has grown even greater.
Losing all hope in herself with the loss of hope in their relationship, Helga once again relegated herself to a self-imposed state of isolation, wishing to keep herself locked away and wither away until there is nothing left of her. Without the love of her soulmate, she feels no reason to go on, and she believes there is no more way to gain his love back again or any reason to try...
...but, like everyone else in Hellwood, she is a recipient of the Freak's message, and what it tells her will force her back into action.
Tonight, the Green Eye will kill... or the Green Eye will die. The Freak said telepathically.
Instantly processing the threat that was imposed with the sentence, Helga stood up from her resting place again, snapping back to reality with a shocked gasp.
Making his speech to the island city of Hellwood, the Freak had but only to wait for others to come and witness the event for themselves, leaving him with plenty of time to prepare for the show, starting with reclothing himself again. The collection of 5 villains, previously suffering damage from their fight with him, were still required of that plan, leaving him with the task of helping them to be ready for battle once again.
Having the potential to have knowledge as limitless as the universe itself, the Freak adapted well to the electronic systems of the suits of Nailbomb and Decibel, aiding them in repairing their suits and weapons, restoring the latter's hearing. Tommy Gunn, once wounded by knives embedded in his body, had been healed from the Freak's own powers temporarily shared; a power of good ironically used for an end goal of evil.
With his villains set for the game he had envisioned, the Freak still had one more affair to settle to prepare. Moving back to the last location of the Green Eye, he found the man without pain just as he left him, strapped into a chair with his eyes kept open with fish hooks.
Feigning a friendly approach to the Green Eye, the Freak stepped up to him with a smile and a wave, taunting him following his psychological torture.
"Hey Arnold, enjoy the film?" The Freak asked.
The Green Eye, sitting with eyeballs swollen and blood red, did not reply to the question; too far in pain and disturbed to give a reply.
"Yoo-hoo? Anybody home? You can spoil it for me, I don't mind." The Freak asked.
Taking the fish hooks out of the Green Eye's eyelids, the Freak showed a small degree of mercy, allowing his victim to blink his eyes again and finally heal from the pain he was enduring. Shutting his eyes tightly, the Green Eye's healing factor began repairing the damage that they received, making his eyes wet and healthy once again.
Opening his eyes up again, the Green Eye regained some degree of consciousness, greeted by the smiling face of the Freak.
"What? It wasn't that bad for a rental, was it?" The Freak asked.
Rather than play into the Freak's games any further, the Green Eye simply caught his breath once again, taking his time to heal.
"I don't know what you saw, Curly, but I don't care. Your game is not going to work on me. I won't kill you." Green Eye said.
"You don't understand. What I saw was preordained by god himself. It's my purpose for you to kill me. It's what needs to happen. So you can learn." The Freak said.
"Learn what?"
"The real way to deal with evil. That there is such a thing as someone who can't be redeemed, someone you can't save. To prove you wrong. That's my job."
"But why are you even doing this, Curly? Why do you want me to kill you?"
"Because I'm young, dumb, and all out of cum. Why the hell not? It's my purpose, man. It's what's still keeping me alive. That's why I decided to make a whole party out of it."
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I made a big announcement that this'll be the day that you finally break your rule, and people wanna see for themselves. Take a look."
Grabbing his chair, the Freak dragged the Green Eye towards the window of the room, giving him a display over the outside of the stadium. Well aware of the Freak's infamy, the Green Eye did not expect his announcement to make any significance to the populace of Hellwood, but, seeing the sheer amount of people arriving, he knew that his preconceived beliefs were dead wrong.
Gangs, killers, and maniacs galore flocked to Quigley Stadium in droves, coming in on motorcycles, dirt buggies, and all other means of high-octane war machines built for the road. People came in had obvious cliques and gangs that had their own motifs; some in leather and spikes, some in blue or red, some dressed as sports players, just to name some, but all came in a temporary truce for the singular purpose they were called for:
To witness the death of the Green Eye.
The sight was not an easy view to take in, nor was it easy to process the fact that this multitude of people all came for the promise of seeing his blood. For all the good he tried to do, and still seeing so many people against him, he could not help but feel as though the Freak was more correct than he previously thought.
Taking hold of the chair yet again, the Freak began moving the Green Eye down to the stadium, preparing for the primary event.
"Now... we gotta get you in your place. We wouldn't want to delay the show for our loving audience, would we?" The Freak asked.
Far from the major event in Hellwood, the location of Lloyd Manor had its own state of affairs, stemming from the greater issue of the Green Eye's state of peril and the need to rescue him. This is at the forefront of the mind of Helga Pataki, but it is not so much for the rest of those in Lloyd Manor.
Instead, still unable to settle the aftermath of a one-night stand, Lars and Sid still cannot put the event pertaining to their behinds behind them.
Continuing his streak of wearing vulgar t-shirts, Lars' selection of the day was a blank shirt with two lines of text. The top line, bearing bold and large text to be the most visible, read: 'REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER', with the bottom line in smaller text that read: 'So you know I'm a professional'.
"Can't we at least do it one more time? For old times' sake?" Sid asked.
"No, you little faggot! How many times do I have to say it?! I'm not fucking gay!" Lars said.
"What if you close your eyes and pretend I'm a girl?"
"There's no pretending there. I know girl ass when I feel it, and I'm not going anywhere near a guy ass."
"Well, you sure weren't put off from my ass, you know-"
Before the argument could continue any further, the ambiguously gay duo was interrupted by an incoming burst of energy from Helga, jumping into the scene with haste and no regard for their current discussion. Having the more pressing matter of the Green Eye's life on the line, there was no time in her head for such matters.
"You guys! Shut up! We need to save Arnold! He's in trouble!" Helga shouted.
"Aw, again with this shit? Didn't we just save his ass like, 3 days ago?" Lars asked.
"Actually, no, Helga did it herself." Sid said.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. So I'm gonna tell you the same thing I said then: Not interested. He's dead, and I'm not wasting my time on him."
"He's not dead! He's alive! He's- Well, the Freak's trying to get him killed, but he's alive! He can help us if we help him!" Helga said.
Annoyed with Helga's persistence on the matter, Lars groaned in frustration, knowing that there would be no true way to satiate her this time around except to help her on the task she needed him for. Giving into her pleas, Lars finally gave what passed as an agreement from him, but not without his own conditions.
"Okay, okay, I believe you. He can still fight if we can get him. But the 3 of us ain't gonna cut it. We need somebody with some heavy muscle and firepower against a whole fuckload of crazy assholes with guns, and we got nobody like that." Lars said.
"But we got Buckley! He could help us as Valiance!" Sid added.
"Yeah, who's, like, braindead, or something. That means he's not gonna be any help to us."
Gaining an idea to get Lars and Sid to join in the fight, Helga gained an idea from their suggestion, turning to the door of Buckley's room.
"Yes, he will." Helga said.
Marching into the next room, Helga moved straight to its sole and main occupant: Buckley Lloyd, once known as the white knight of Hillwood named Valiance. Following his complete mental breakdown and delve into insanity, brought back to reason with the help of the Green Eye, he has imposed himself to a state of mental self-exile, staying comatose and unmoving with no interest to keep fighting on.
Helga was not ready to accept his defeat as he did. Climbing onto his bed, she began shaking his still body, trying to wake him from his coma.
"C'mon, Buckley! Get up, you son of a bitch! I know you can hear me, and I know you heard the Freak, too! I know you know that Arnold's in trouble! Get up!" Helga shouted.
Her shakes to his body had no effect, leading her to shake him even more vigorously to wake him.
"Wake up! You want to just lay there and do nothing?! You just want to give up?! Do you see me doing that anymore?! No! I'm trying to do the right thing?! Why can't you?!" Helga shouted.
No longer bothering with shakes, Helga began slapping him, trying to wake him from his sleep more rudely.
"GET UP! I WON'T LET YOU LAY THERE WHILE ARNOLD DIES! GET UP AND FIGHT! MOVE! ON YOUR FEET, SOLDIER!" Helga shouted.
Continuing to slap the comatose Buckley, Helga's strikes began leaving red marks across his face, but still made no impact to his mind.
"GET UP, GODDAMN YOU! YOU BLAME YOURSELF FOR KILLING ALL THOSE PEOPLE?! FINE! IT IS YOUR FAULT! BUT IF YOU DO NOTHING, ARNOLD DIES! YOU'LL KILL ARNOLD IF YOU DO NOTHING! IF YOU STILL JUST SIT THERE, ARNOLD DIES!" Helga screamed.
Although not immediately noticeable, Helga's last words made their impact upon Buckley, giving him enough of a shock to his core to contemplate the consequences of his continual choice to carry on staying comatose. The shock slowly turned into a thought, realizing the eventual outcome of Arnold coming to an end, and, subsequently, the Green Eye.
He knew that was not acceptable.
Finally, as Helga began to throw down her last slap, she had found results to her continous persistence to awaken Buckley. Her final slap was cut short by a hand grabbing her forearm before making the hit, which she quickly realized was the hand of Buckley Lloyd himself.
Keeping his hold on Helga, Buckley leaned himself up towards her, confronting her pleas face-to-face.
"Let's... go." Buckley groaned.