Chapter 8: Dungeons and Gingers Part 2
The three soon entered the hallways, and were met with a hail of tennis balls.
"TAKE COVER!" Dane yelled.
The heroes took shelter behind the rows of lockers as tennis balls pounded against the entrance. Dane peeked out from behind his hiding spot and saw a tennis ball pitching machine stationed at a turn in the hallway.
"Damn! How are we supposed to get past that?"
Dane looked at the pitching machine,it appeared to be modified, and had a black box attached to it that blinked red. Dane picked up a tennis ball that had fallen near him and threw it out into the machines radius, another hail of balls answered it.
"Okay, so they modified a pitching ball machine with a tracking sensor, that...is actually pretty impressive, for kids anyway. If it can track us then there's no way passed it, Kenny's arrows aren't gonna do shit and I don't have the strength to throw him back up to get more firework arrows. What to do? Maybe..." Dane thought.
"(Yo, mister leader, you gonna stay there looking clueless all day or are you actually going to do something?)" Kenny asked.
"I think I have an idea, hold on." Dane grabbed three of the fallen tennis balls and threw them out in front of the pitching machine at different heights. The one he threw the lowest was hit by a barrage, while the other two highest ones bounced against the lockers unharmed. Dane took out his sword.
"I was right, the machine can only target one thing at a time. So while I draw its attention, you two advance and shut it off." He explained.
"But Dane! You'll get pummeled!" Butters cried.
Dane brushed it off. "I'll be fine, I'll use my sword to block it."
Kenny crossed his arms. "(If you can do that why not just move towards it while blocking?)"
"Have you ever been hit by a ball shot from one of those things?" Dane asked.
Kenny looked puzzled. "(Uh, a few times, why?)"
"Well, it hurts like hell right? That's because of all the momentum that thing puts into pitching them, now imagine a steady stream of those things fly at you. That creates a lot of push back and thus, once I begin blocking, I won't be able to move. Because even though I may be really strong for a kid, that isn't saying much. So you guys'll have to switch it off." Dane explained, then before either of them knew it he jumped out and put his sword in front of him, the pitching machine then began shooting at him, the tennis balls ricochet off of it and out in a sunburst-like pattern. The other two heroes gasped. Dane looked in their direction and yelled in a strained voice: "GO!"
The two wasted no time and ran out to the left of the pitching machine, but before they could get there a sickening crack filled the air and the two looked to see Dane's sword broken and him being pelted by tennis balls, he screamed as he was assaulted by the overwhelming force.
Back in the detention room, the kids heard a new sound, a bloodcurdling scream of pain. Needless to say they were quite scared, one of them even pissed himself.
"Holy shit! What the hell is going on out there?" Craig asked.
"I'd say one of your friends triggered my pitching machine trap. Ha! Serves those little weasels right!" Mackey said.
"Dude, that guy sounded pretty hurt, you don't you're overdoing it a LITTLE bit?" Craig asked.
Mackey for an instant seemed doubtful, but shook his head. "No, my informant told me this was the right way to do things, besides, I'm sure that kid is fine."
Dane in fact was NOT fine. He fell to the ground in a heap, coughing up a bit of blood.
"DANE!" Butters exclaimed, turning around, not seeing the pitching machine was now targeting him and Kenny. The princess grabbed Butters and began running toward the machine, desperate to turn it off before either got hit. Sadly, the machine started firing before they could get to it, and it fired. Butters, seeing the danger now, reversed his and Kenny's positions so that he was in front. He too was pelted by an avalanche of balls. Kenny, thinking quickly, jumped into the air before it stopped and aimed his bow at the machine's on/off switch. it hit home and turned the machine off.
Kenny landed and saw to his two comrades. Butters was heavily injured, he had a broken nose and many lumps on his body, and it appeared several of his teeth were broken. He then moved over and saw Dane was worse, he had hit the wall once the bullet-like balls hit him, his helmet was cracked and seemed to only absorb a small amount of the damage, same with his armor, turning him over the princess saw he too had a broken nose and many lumps on him, his face seemed to have slammed into the face guard of his helmet. Kenny got them next to each other and checked their pulses, they were both alive, but just barely. Kenny's concentration was broken by a shrill laugh.
"HA! Serves you troublemakers right! Now, Bronze Battalion, take down our barriers and secure our prisoners!" The source of the voice was a ginger that wore spiked armor and had a scale as a weapon, he was standing triumphantly behind the bars of the chair barrier, smirking. Kenny moved toward the pitching machine calmly.
"(Ya know, It's not a good idea to walk into your own trap.)" He stated, undoing the brakes on the pitching machine's wheels.
The leader looked puzzled. "What are you talking about? We didn't do that!"
Kenny swerved the pitcher around just as the barrier came down. "(Oh yes..)."
He then switched the machine on.
"(...you did.)"
The pitcher then began plowing the gingers with balls, they all screamed as they were reduced to bruised and battered heaps, their armor doing little to save them. The leader only lasted seconds more than his colleagues, and fell right into the crotch of one of his fallen brothers-in-arms face first. Kenny then switched off the pitcher. He approached the leader, who groaned into his subordinates loins. Wordlessly, he kicked the leader in the crotch and headed for the door to the cafeteria, currently serving as the detention room. He saw that the door was barred by a chain fitted with bronze, silver, and gold locks.
"(FUCK!)" He yelled, kicking the door. Mackey's face then appeared.
"Ha! Ya can't get in here without the keys Kenny! Ya might as well turn back now! M'kay!" He taunted.
"(MACKEY WHEN I GET IN THERE I AM GONNA LOAD YOUR RECTUM WITH DIRTY, BROKEN, GLASS!)" Kenny yelled, startling the counselor.
"Well good luck cause you'll never find the bronze key in my lieutenant's pocket-SHIT!" Mackey cursed.
Kenny went over to the leader of Bronze Battalion and looked through his pockets, finding the bronze key, he fitted it into the bronze lock and fixed Mackey with a hateful gaze.
"Dirty. Broken. Glass."
Kenny then walked over to his downed friends, leaving a sweaty Mackey behind.