Sorry for the wait for an update, guys!
So long story short, on top of everyone being in a pandemic, and having to deal with Karens at work, I went through the near-apocalyptic Texas power and water outages caused by the snowstorm that hit the south a few weeks ago. In the midst of almost freezing to death and eating beans for a week, I contemplated my life choices, and yet have no regrets writing this series. God needs to try harder if he wants me to stop writing this.
Chapter 10: Airship Madness
Clonk-tap-clonk-tap!
With every series of footsteps, my heartbeat would meet that pace twice as fast. The echo from the structure's metal emphasized the sound of these creatures' impending arrival; this only created more dread within me as I sat there, stunned.
"Da—"
I tried saying Dave's name, but soon into the attempt all that came out was a terrified, silent airy "ahhhh" from the back of my throat. It didn't help that Dave and the henchmen looked just as disturbed as I was.
I mean, come on—ALIENS? Really!? Out of all the insane stuff I've been through, now this? It's like the shit hitting the fan metaphor, only once the turds hit the fan and flails debris back at you, it turns into some kind of green goop instead, radiating with toxins or something dumb and farfetched like that.
Then, it happened. Whatever was descending upon us finally revealed their darkened forms from just within the two ports. A series of small bright lights lit up: weapons of some kind.
"By the authority of North Wind, I am," –the voice sighed— "placing you, David the octopus, and your assistant, under arrest! Do not try to resist us, you have nowhere to go!"
I was still so incredibly petrified that I almost missed the familiar voice speaking to us. Realization came to me after some moments passed, since it was taking my ability to transition from petrified fear of the unknown into worry of something more palatable, albeit still not good. Underwhelming, but still wretched.
"North Wind!?" Dave gasped from the front of the plane.
From the darkened entryways, animals of North Wind revealed themselves. Familiar agents like Eva the owl and Short Fuse the seal were there. There were also a few others that I did not recognize. Among them was the wolf, Classified.
Aiming their weapons at us, I instinctively raised my hands in the air. I was too focused on my self-preservation that I didn't dare look back again at Dave or the henchmen behind me.
"What do you say, David?" Classified started, his eyes glancing at me for a moment before they shot back to Dave down the aisle. "Will you surrender or do we need to make this harder than it needs to be?"
An awkward, demeaning quiet seemed to engulf the stationed jet. Through the small cracks in between the jet's crumpled metal, and the ports North Wind arrived in, I could hear the wind howling beyond us, making sharp whistles through the shards. I almost considered myself lucky that North Wind at least had the compassion to stop the jet like this instead of shooting us down, else we would have been sucked out and thrown out of the plane a long time ago.
Dave grumbled. "Ugh, like I have much of a choice. I surrender."
"No way," I muttered.
North Wind acted upon Dave's words and moved forward, surrounding me, and then arresting Dave behind me.
"No way!" I yelled that time.
"Yes, way," Classified mocked me. "We've been waiting for him to make a slipup like this. It was only a matter of time before David traveled via air, so we were ready when he did so."
"Yeah, caught ya!" the little seal said, giggling. The owl nudged him softly.
"So you were the aliens?" I asked. "All this time?"
"Aliens?" Classified responded, confused. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"Well, on the news… people were reporting sightings of an alien spacecraft that disappeared into thin air." I felt kinda stupid trying to explain it, but it came out anyway.
"We had a few hiccups in our cloaking device," Classified replied casually, although I could sort of tell he was trying to cover his ass. "Working with a new power source and all isn't easy, as sophisticated as North Wind is handling such matters."
"What new power source?" Dave scoffed. "You're telling me you got your hands on new tech? Since when?"
"Since you destroyed our base, David," Classified said nonchalantly. "And since we confiscated some of your devices on our last encounter. What did that business human call it? The Quantum Refractor Units?"
"You stole my tech!?" Dave spewed.
"Stole your tech?" Classified responded, again, in that subtle, asshole type way he liked to do when he had the best of us. "If I'm not mistaken, you stole that QCU first. Any matter, criminals such as yourself have no need for that. The law possessed your things, so it's ours now to do as we see fit."
"Can we please put them in those new cells now? I'm aching to try all the locks and security programs!" Short Fuse cooed, a hint of malevolence overcoming his expression.
"Yes, in due time, Short Fuse," Classified responded. "Agents, escort our two prisoners to the ship. Don't let these two get any bright ideas."
Two prisoners? I thought. I didn't want to make it look obvious, so I didn't look behind me, but I knew that meant that Penny and Kenny were currently evading North Wind's view. Even as I began to hear some shuffling of the other agents scouting up and down the aisle, I knew that things didn't seem as dim as they looked. If anything, those two would help us get out of this, I just had to be patient and cool about it, as difficult for me as that was.
Dave and I were then escorted out of the jet and into the right port, making our way down a short hall, and then up a steep flight of stairs. After that, a door was opened, and we beheld the inside of North Wind's new ship.
The entry room was large: to the left was a bunch of sealed doors marked "EMERGENCY EVACUATION" on the wall. Across the way was a long, clear glass wall, a few more North Wind agents walking two and fro in what looked like an engine room behind it. Monitors flashed with information, showing graph charts that were changed and built upon every few seconds. To the right was a giant garage-like opening, holding within and as far back as I could see an array of complex items and computers, like weapons, suited armor, metal crates, and whatnot.
This was a transport vessel. After all, why would North Wind carry so many things around with them if they didn't already have a base? Fun fact, they didn't! As far as I knew, at least. They had that rusty old base they moved into a while back, but knowing these guys, they wanted to be surrounded by the latest technology. I kept wondering what they were up to.
As I thought to myself and took in my surroundings, my eyes caught a glimpse of something interesting among the many complex devices, and crates. Stationed in a clear holding unit was an original vile of Dave's Medusa Serum.
"Is that my serum!?" Dave screeched. He must've noticed it along with me.
"What if it is?" Classified answered, continuing his usual pompous tone. "More like, what if it was? Again, no longer your concern, David."
Classified brushing him off like that made Dave grumble again.
We were escorted to a door at the upper left corner of the room, which took us down another hall, this one larger and broader than the one we had arrived through. On either side of this hall were two doors, beyond them windows revealing more of the inside of the ship's engines around and below us.
Before I could even try to comprehend all that was going on in terms of the utter complexity of this place, we arrived at our cell: a small, cramped room, blank and white.
"Oh, I'm not going in there," I said bluntly, my mind immediately jumping to all the bad movies I've seen where blank, white rooms with no windows certainly did not mean anything good. It didn't help that Short Fuse had literally stated beforehand he couldn't wait to test some weird horrors that were going on, so I was not having this.
To my dismay, but not to my surprise, Dave and I were pushed into the room anyway. I heard the doors shut behind us with a whoosh and another clank. I then heard the sound of electricity or power of some kind switch on, probably the security sensors that Short Fuse had talked about.
"Don't even try attempting to escape!" Short Fuse said through the door. "You strike those walls, or try to push down that door, and you'll get a shocking surprise! Ha, get it, shocking? Because it has electricity sensors!"
"I think they get it, Short Fuse," I heard Eva respond.
Without another word, we were left to ourselves. Well, kinda, at least. Up on and embedded into the walls were the eyes of cameras, seemingly blending into the white around us. Looking around, I knew for sure this cell was also made specifically to be octopus proof. No cracks, windows or crevices meant no sneaking away.
But I knew we weren't alone in a good way, too.
"So, what's the plan?" I whispered, looking over at Dave, who was smirking to himself. At first I thought he was doing this because, again, the henchmen were still out there planning our escape, but boy this didn't quite entail the whole thing.
"North Wind… pathetic."
Oh shit, here we go again.
"They think they can steal my tech? Steal my Medusa Serum?!" He was getting a little more unhinged as he spoke. I knew facing North Wind again wouldn't particularly bring back fond feelings, but jeez.
"Dave, calm down, we'll get out of here and take care of everything," I spoke up, trying to be the calm one now.
"We'll take care of everything all right," Dave said through his teeth. "I'll get my serum back. I have to get it back! It's mine!"
As I watched him grow angry, for the first time since this weekend started, I was out of myself, and trying to dive back into Dave's head. First, I tried to adjust my thinking, aligning to what he must've been feeling. North Wind taking all of Dave's stuff, and keeping it was just protocol, and having it even in this transport ship was just another means to preserve evidence to wherever they were shipping everything to.
However, if it would've been left at that, then maybe I wouldn't have cared so much. Instead, they were using Dave's tech. Well, technically it was Mr. Issa's tech, but Dave got it working with Tetradaught way back when, so in a way it was kinda sort of his.
"I agree, we gotta get your Medusa Serum back," I said, agreeing with him wholeheartedly. "And maybe, while we're at it, steal this ship." I continued to keep my voice down, just in case. I knew we were being watched, but I wasn't sure if we were being listened to, either.
"I already have a plan of what to do with this ship," Dave murmured, becoming more coherent as he spoke. "Penny and Kenny are working on things as we speak, otherwise I wouldn't have surrendered so easily. We just have to be patient."
"Backup?" I asked.
"Precisely." Dave grinned again, but it was that uncomfortable, sinister grin. It was so weird. He could be the most pleasant guy—err octopus—ever when he smiled, but he could also be the most jarring too, depending on his mood.
"Okay, in other news, where do you think North Wind is going?" I asked next, continuing to keep my voice low. "They have more than just your confiscated stuff on this ship. They have lots of their stuff, too."
"They're moving, obviously," Dave replied.
I shrugged, snorting sarcastically. "Well, obviously," I said. "But why here, why now?"
"My henchmen have been monitoring North Wind for some time. After you rescued me this summer, we were able to track their movements. Lots of coming and going, but we weren't sure where, and how. That old base of theirs was bound to be a temporary fix." His eyes narrowed. "And the wolf likes his luxuries, so of course he'd be the one running the transports to encourage things to move along in North Wind's stead."
"Okay, so they have a new base somewhere? We could escape, and track this ship. See where they go."
"I told you already, I have a plan for what to do with this ship." His tentacles balled up; he even shook slightly.
Oh, jeez, this isn't a good sign, I thought. But I couldn't let that ruin my focus. All I needed to do was act when the time called for me to do so, and do what I could do to help him.
Only time would tell.
. . . . . . .
We had been flying for a few hours. I was starting to worry that the henchmen had been caught or something, but no matter what, Dave seemed extremely persistent that they were going to fall through, and that "North Wind would get theirs." His behavior reminded me of when he lost it after they had attacked me in front of Octo Corp, blew up my robot, and sent me to the hospital. I felt an aching pang in my chest from the memory, how it almost tore us apart for good…
The difference between now and then was I knew better. I knew Dave. He got a little obsessive and emitted hardcore mad scientist vibes, but that was just… well, Dave. And it was only Dave in bad situations, such as the one we were currently experiencing, being surrounded by our enemies and all.
If teamwork meant helping each other, that's what I would be to Dave. I was going to trust his plan, and do what I could to help.
And for now, that meant waiting patiently for what was to happen next…
I had managed to pass the time by staring at the dead skin around my nails, and tracing the lines across the walls with my eyes. After that grew boring, I started thinking about first meeting these guys, and Dave having set me up to get kidnapped by them to find their base. My mind randomly remembering that incident made me recoil slightly, but again, we were way past that. Back then I wouldn't have trusted Dave with my life, but I did now.
Still, even then after being with him in the quiet, I would shift my eyes back over to his expression. His eyes didn't scan the walls or see details like me. They seemed to be looking inwardly, as in within himself again; pondering, planning, waiting.
The silence was only broken when he finally muttered, "It'll be any time now."
"What kind of signal are we waiting for?" I asked.
"You'll know when it happens," Dave replied, his voice still deep.
Wow, Dave, how vague of you to say. I resumed waiting patiently, but this time with chill bumps crossing my arms and back. Like, what the hell was this signal exactly? Still didn't answer my question. Was this like… a siren? A flash of light? A bomb?!
Literally right as my mind raced through these scenarios, the doors whooshed open. Standing there was some random cheetah dude I had never seen before, wearing sunglasses, and wearing a North Wind uniform.
"Hmm, good work, you two," Dave commented after a moment of observing our visitor.
I blinked a few times, attempting to discern who was standing in front of me, when Penny and Kenny came from hiding from under the cheetah's clothes, and assumed their attention on us after propping him against the wall in front of us.
Penny gurgled, glee overcoming her domineer as she must've started to explain what had happened to Dave.
"Oh, so the sunglasses were Kenny's idea, huh?" Dave commented. "Nice work. Couldn't even tell he wasn't even conscious."
"Being let out by an octopus controlled zombie cheetah is exactly what I thought would rescue us," I said sarcastically.
"He's not a zombie, though, dearest, he's just knocked out."
"I know." I huffed. "It's almost like you've never heard of Resident Evil or something."
"Anyway, we best get going before the signal goes off," Dave said, growing slightly more chipper as he 'dusted' his tentacles of the situation and started heading forward to the doorway.
"You mean that wasn't the signal?" I asked. "Also wait, we'll be caught if we go out there—"
I felt like me even bothering to speak was a waste of breath, because as Dave and his henchmen began slithering out of the exit to the white room, the real signal happened.
BOOM!
The entirety of the ship shook violently, followed by a series of aftershocks that felt to engulf the other side of the ship. Red lights began to flicker on and off throughout the room, and beyond in the hallway.
"You're blowing them up again!?" I gasped. "Jesus, Dave no wonder they want to freaking put you away if you keep doing this shit!"
"Dearest, get yourself together!" Dave responded, smiling giddily this time. "They blew up my stuff, too, you know! What comes around, goes around!" He looked down at Penny and Kenny for a moment before getting to business. "Anyway, best we head back toward that emergency exit, don't you think? My henchmen army awaits!"
I did my best to follow after Dave, Penny, and Kenny down the hallway. We eventually made our way back out of that large main docking room we had arrived in. Instead of being greeted by poised, intimidating North Wind agents, it was now chaos. The agents behind the large glass in the engine room were frantically rushing back and forth, attempting to work the computers, but to no avail.
"First, let's grab that serum," Dave said, "then we'll hop into one of those emergency exit pods, and attach to our reinforcement vessel."
"You seriously think it's going to be that easy, David!?"
I clenched my teeth when I heard Classified yell at us from across the room. This ship was probably pretty big, but it wasn't big enough to where he couldn't see us. I had no idea why Dave was acting so cool about all of this, blowing up his enemies again and all, and walking away from the fire as if he had nothing to do with it, but here we were. Complete idiocy. It's like we were living off cartoon logic or something.
"Get out of my way, filth! It would be wise for the both of us if you just let me be. We are on a ticking time bomb after all. Any minute now my henchmen will shoot this ship with another series of missiles."
"LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO BE ON THIS SHIP THAT LONG!" I yelled finally through the chaos.
"Kailey, I'm trying to play the evil card here," Dave said to me. "Would you mind not freaking out for a minute? I thought you knew my way of work!"
Dave poised himself before returning his attention to Classified, before he threw one of his tentacles around his neck like a scarf before proceeding with his 'evil dialogue'.
"You obviously don't have a lot of backup right now, as all your agents are too busy attempting to contain the damage my henchmen have left on your ship," Dave said. "Save yourselves while you can! Let me take back what is mine, and I'll be on my way. It's not like you don't already know where I live. Live to fight another day!"
"Yes, my agents are preoccupied, but I am here, standing in your way!" Classified scoffed. "What are you going to do about it? I'd sooner go down with this ship than let you get away again!"
My eyes anxiously shifted between Classified and Dave. Dave was quiet for a moment as he just stood there, contemplating his adversary. He smacked his lips as his eyes scanned the ceiling.
This was like some sort of sick waiting game. It was one thing sitting in a cell, but waiting on him to freaking get his ass moving so we could get out a ship that was in the sky, about to blow up, was NOT on my to-do list.
I made the decision to walk forward towards the garage area, my eyes focusing on the Medusa Serum.
"Where are you going!?" Classified fussed. "You stay where you are!"
"Shut your hoe ass mouth! I'm sick and tired of hearing y'all speak!" I spewed.
Hatred and bitchiness seemed like it was my one and only emotion, but really it was just doneness. Like, being done. Completely opted out now. If Dave was going to go all evil mastermind, and Classified was going to play some kind of foolish hero, I might as well be sitting in torture purgatory or something.
"I will not be spoken to that way!" Classified yelled again. "Nor will I watch you idly walk up to that garage. Everything in there, including the Medusa Serum, is North Wind custody now! You might be a human, but I will use force if I need to protect the integrity of North Wind!"
"Fuck around and find out," I challenged. I kept walking.
Internally I was screaming at myself. Kailey, you can't fight a wolf! I thought. Might as well just sign your death certificate while you're at it! On top of it all I knew we were literally in the sky on a burning airship, so it was honestly, and truly like the odds were against me.
But what else was I gonna do? Wait for Dave, an unmovable object, spew nonsense at Classified, and unstoppable force? Sometimes a girl's gotta start and finish the job, I guess.
I paced myself, walking over to the garage, while attempting to ignore the red flashing lights, and sirens, and yelling, and crackles of fire from somewhere around the metal walls. I kept wanting to freak out and maybe turn back around, but my prior irritation at these guys literally not getting this done drove me forward. If Dave wanted this stupid serum, then by God I was going to get it for him. The sooner I got it the sooner we could leave. I couldn't wait to get back to Octo Corp, take a nice warm shower, and pass out on my couch.
By the time I knew it, I had reached the holding area, the Medusa Serum's green hue shining a glow onto the metal immediately around itself. Even as I reached forward to grab it, my hands would become enveloped with the jade color.
"Don't you dare!" Classified fussed.
I ignored him, and plucked the vial from its holding place. I felt a wave of relief eclipse my prior worries as I held onto it, my eyes settling upon the glass that contained the serum, reflecting my eyes and face into it like some sort of signal that things were about to change…
I briefly found myself smiling, only momentary victory overcoming me when I felt Classified's large paw grab hold of my right shoulder. The feeling of a literal predator's claws terrified me for a moment, but I knew I couldn't let him take the vial. Besides, I had Penny, Kenny, and Dave here with me. I just had to focus on the fact I had allies, as dense as they could be, to know I'd be able to get out of this mess.
Penny and Kenny had jumped into action, just as I expected. When Classified had put his grimy claws on me, they had dashed across the room, holding him down with all their might for me to sprint off. I took the moment to move as quickly as I could, although I heard a series of groans and a struggle unfolding behind me, before I literally watched as the both of them were thrown over my head back across the room and next to Dave ahead.
I was only halfway across the large port room when I heard Classified running back towards me.
"Oh, shit on a stick!" I gasped.
I diverted to my left, towards the wall closest to the port, missing Classified by a hair, but he continued to peruse me. Everything was so chaotic that I didn't know what was going on with Dave or the other two. For all I knew the throw must've thrown them off and disoriented them. Them taking the hit like that for me was more than I could have asked for, but yet it wasn't enough to get out of this situation.
"Kailey! The escape pod! We need to get into this escape pod, now! Grab hold of me!" I heard Dave call my name and try to direct me, but I was too preoccupied to look at him.
Classified had attempted to jump me again, causing me to scramble as far away as I could to try to not get sliced to death. I don't think he'd kill me, but being maimed was a pretty close first by how he was attacking me. Through all the chaos, and yelling, and red, what Dave had been warning about finally happened. It was inevitable, with all this stalling, and nonsense, and me literally trying to fight a WOLF.
Actually, I wasn't even fighting him, I was just trying not to die.
BOOM!
This time it was much louder. I couldn't even comprehend much else, so even though I saw that the wall immediately next to us blew open, revealing the big blue sky outside, I couldn't register it. It was like I grew limp, even as I lost grip of the Medusa Serum, and watched it get sucked up by the open air, and into the ship's engine.
First the sky was blue, then a fiery red, and then a bright green.
And then, it was nothing.