Chapter Fourteen: Battle for the... Pen?
Finn held his breath as he slowly pushed the door open. Peering around the edge of it, he noted that the hallway appeared to be empty. "Move out." Finn darted forward, even as the others scattered to their assigned stations. Moving down the hall, he pulled up the marked map that Willa had presented him earlier that night. A large red x marked where the pen was kept, as well as several black dots that marked where security cameras would be located. Green dots marked blind spots. Sticking to the path that she had outlined, he was able to avoid all the cameras and other security measures, minus the oddly missing patrols of course, that the museum had taken to prevent this very theft. Approaching the glass case that held the mock-up of Walt Disney's old office, he eyed the cluster of writing utensils resting inside of a pencil holder. Moving to the side, he spotted the maintenance entrance that Maybeck had rigged the other night during reconnaissance so that Finn could get in. Slipping through, he stepped onto the raised platform that the display was on... the back of his neck was prickling even as he raised his hand with the communicator upwards and spoke directly into it. "Guys... Didn't Willa, Maybeck, and Philby say that there were patrols in here?"
"Yeah." Charlene's voice responded back fairly quickly. However the silence from the others...
"Everyone report now." Finn narrowed his eye, even as he dropped to the ground, using the bulky desk to hide him from view of anyone passing by.
"I strongly recommend using that smoke bomb I gave you now Charlene. You've got two pirates headed to your position." Finn wondered if he should yell at Philby that wasn't what he meant, or leave it be.
"Hey Jess and I need extra help over here... and since when were there giant green army men?!" Willa yelped at the end of her sentence, the sound of a gun firing making Finn sweat a bit more than he liked to in this situation.
"I'm on my way to help now." Amanda's voice sliced through the comm, making Finn take a deep breath to try and calm himself down a little bit. That was when he realized that he still had a teammate unaccounted for.
"Maybeck? Report?" Finn felt his heart pound as silence met him. "Maybeck? Answer me!" Finn glanced up at the pencil holder. Going over the assigned stations everyone was at, he figured that Amanda was the one closest to him... only she left her post to help Jess and Willa... "I want everyone to report back at the portal that leads back to HQ NOW." Lurching to his feet, he snagged the black pen that matched the description that Willa gave him, before sprinting to the door. He had a missing teammate to find...
Maybeck swung his hammer fast and hard, somehow not flinching as he heard bones breaking at the impact as it slammed into the crazy Viking man. At least he presumed it was bones. Then again his attacker appeared more plastic than flesh... "Ow!" Maybeck stumbled backwards, wincing as he noted the new long thin cut that was sliced through his sleeve and into his skin. That was going to take some explaining to do to his aunt...
"Maybeck!" And there goes Finn calling him again... not that he could actually take the time to answer without any of the Vikings from nearly taking his head off.
"Give me a minute Finn then I'll answer... right now I'm busy!" Maybeck knocked the smaller Viking back, hopefully this time he'll stay down. The bigger Viking grunted as he lifted up the large war axe that he carried, swinging it down as if to cleave his head in half. Ducking and rolling out of the way, Maybeck swung his hammer once more, slamming it into the Viking's leg. Instead of the expected grunt Maybeck was expecting, a gasp of surprise followed by a loud thud reached his ears instead. Startled, he looked up in time to see Finn remove his sword from the now lifeless Viking body. On the bright side, Maybeck could definitely tell it was a statue and not a real person. "What...how!?"
Finn grunted as he sheathed his sword, glancing over at the smaller Viking. "You alright there?"
Maybeck shakily stood up, astonishment flashing through him. "I'm fine...now. Guess those things are just statues that Maleficent sent to destroy us then..." He really hoped Finn didn't realize how much he was shaking.
"I've got what we came for. Let's get out of here." Finn made no indication that he noticed that his sentry was shaking like a leaf.
Maybeck hauled himself to his feet, quickly bolting out of there, not even waiting for Finn to catch up.
"They followed us?!" Finn swung his sword in an arc, slicing through a broom... which of course made it merely double itself. "All in favor of agreeing that brooms are annoying, say aye." Sarcasm dripped down from his voice even as an arrow embedded itself into one of the brooms, right before it exploded.
Finn glanced over his shoulder at the lamppost that Charlene was casually balancing on as she shot arrow after arrow at the enemy. Three more arrows flew from her as she knocked an unsuspecting wraith down... "Leader! Behind you!" Maybeck bellowed suddenly, drawing Finn's attention back to the fight at hand.
Finn shoved his sword into the wraith that had been sneaking up on him, thus disintegrating it, even as he yanked out his stun blaster and blasted a nearby pirate. "Report!" Finn dodged another attack, slicing and blasting his way through the angry mob... all the while wondering it was that Maybeck had called him leader instead of Finn like usual.
"What's there to report? They should be backing away soon now that the sun is rising and the civilians are waking up." Jess rolled her eyes, slicing at a few enemies with the daggers that Willa had lent her.
"Wait... what!?" Finn snapped his eyes skyward to see that she was telling the truth... the sky was already lightening up from the rising sun. A quick scan also revealed that there was indeed a few early birds gawking at them, most of whom were holding phones up, clearly filming the battle.
"Got it!" Maleficent suddenly crowed as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere, holding the pen up for all to see.
Finn blinked rapidly, before sighing loudly. "Archer, Fairy, and Sorcerer." He didn't clarify what he meant by that, then again he didn't need to if the explosive arrow and potion meeting Maleficent, arrow in the front, potion in the back, at the same time was any indicators. Amanda took advantage of the distraction to yank the pen out of Maleficent's green hand.
Maleficent screeched angrily, before sweeping back the way they had come, what was left of her army scurrying after her. Finn ran a hand down his face, worry tugging at his mind. Would anyone recognize them? They're helmets didn't cover any of their faces that was for sure. "Leader! How you the Legendary Kingdom Keepers? Where have you been for the past thousand years? And why in the world were you fighting over a pen?" One of the more brave civilians started to approach the way too tired for this teen.
Finn stared blankly at him, exhaustion from literally staying up all night tugging at his eyes. "I don't have time for this. So what we're the Kingdom Keepers? How do you know that we haven't been protecting the people?" Turning to face his friends, Charlene swung herself down from the lamppost, nearly stumbling though Maybeck quickly caught her. "Get home and see if you can't get a little shut eye before the day truly begins. Meet up at the Animal Adoption Day Festival. ITEMS will do for pets."
"Isn't your ITEM a..." Philby broke off to stifle a yawn, before glancing over at a stern looking lady that was holding a cat, recognition flashing in his eyes, though none flashed in hers. "Yeah bed and rest sounds wonderful. See ya'll later!" He broke off at a run, disappearing down the street. It wasn't until he left that Finn realized that the lady holding a cat was standing in the doorway to the house that Philby always snuck into after their get togethers... meaning his house. Shaking his head, Finn bolted for it, looping through the backways to try and get to his house from the back. Looks like front doors are out of order for them this morning...
A/N: Done! Phew... okay I'm getting there... the ITEMS make it so that despite the fact they don't were masks, no one can actually recognize the teens. Unless they already know. Hint: Each other and Dill can tell who Leader is. Also, still no reviews. Come on guys, how else am I gonna know if this is good or not if you don't leave a review?
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SkyTalon