The sand crunched underfoot as Brandy walked through the canyon, the only light shining from the stars overhead. She glanced at the map, grabbed from the faded and worn kiosk that She hadn't really been here had been next to the entrance. However, it was far from complete, and Brandy had left its edge around 30 minutes ago. As such, she now only found her way by the helpful signs left by previous travelers. Go this way, they said, pointing down a path, or Warning: GG up ahead, referring to a wild Goblin Gang.
"Stupid, fricking, pathetic Skeleton...", she muttered under her breath. "It's his fault I have to walk. I hope he gets fired."
She was, of course, referring to the Bomber that had stubbornly refused to grant her access to a Balloon. She thought all of his reasons were quite illogical. 5000 Gold, just for passage in a Balloon? He was probably just mad at something else, and wanted to take it out on her, or whoever walked by.
Brandy gripped herself and shivered as the cold night wind hit her skin. Was it always this cold at night? She hadn't really been out at night before, just a few minute-long Elixir runs to the outside fridge. But Agatha went outside every night. Brandy didn't know how she could stand it. She was a Dark Elixir troop- maybe that had something to do with it.
Brandy heard a slight sound above her, and looked up. She was expecting maybe a Skeleton ambush, or another traveler. Maybe even a rockslide. But what she got was very different indeed. A tiny green and yellow bird flew out of the air and alighted on her shoulder.
"Hey, little guy.", she said. "What are you doing?"
The bird looked at her, cocked his head, and began bobbing it madly up and down. "Gems.", he chirped.
Brandy was a little taken aback. "Did you just… talk?", she whispered.
"Gems.", said the bird. He chirped once more and flew away. Brandy ran to follow him, and saw a green glow coming from around the bend. Could it be? She dashed around the corner, and it was. It was a Gem Box! The bird had been right! Someone had just left 25 Gems sitting here in the canyon, and now it was just begging to be taken. Her eyes lit up at the sight of so much loot, and her fingers started to tingle, the same way they always did just before she was about to steal something.
"Oticat's gonna be so happy.", she said as she bent over to grab the Gem Box, then held it to her chest. "20 free Gems are always nice."
She was going to keep 5 for herself, to boost her own personal funds. Brandy had a good sized allowance- 200 Gold and 1 Gem per week- but now that she had started to collect figurines, she figured more was going to be needed. With the Gems in her grasp, Brandy started to whistle, and continued down the path with a slight spring in her grasp.
George the Barbarian poked the fading fire with a stick. It was a nice stick, he was glad he had found it before his brothers did.
"Hey, could you throw another stick on the fire?", he asked. "And get me another sausage."
Dave, one of his brothers, grumbled good-naturedly. "Sure, George. But the next one you want, you're getting it on your own."
George caught the sausage that Dave threw to him, put it on his stick, put the stick into the fire, and waved his hand offly. "Yeah, fine. Whatever. It's your turn, bro."
Another Barbarian, Phil, looked up from his cards and spoke up. "Right, just gotta think a little more. So, what are you up to on the Leg Press, George?"
"Well, I hit 1600 last night. New personal best. What about you?"
"I'm still stuck at 800. I just can't beat it, no matter how hard I try.", Phil sighed. "And of course everyone else is so much higher than me."
He selected a card from his hand and tossed it onto the pile face down onto Dave's 10 of Crowns. "Okay, Princess of Elixir. Go."
"Yeah, who holds the record right now?", asked Dave. "Is it John?"
"No, John's at 15000 exactly last time I checked. Right now, it's Nidvaleer. 36000 pounds.", said George.
Phil slapped his knee. "Frickin T'im! 36000 pounds? That's ridiculous!"
"Well, it makes sense.", said George, ever the voice of reason. "His legs have to be outrageously strong with all that jumping he does, right?"
"Hold on a minute.", said Joe, the fourth Barbarian. "I don't think that was really a Princess of Elixir, Phil. I'm calling it."
"You sure?", asked Phil. "Are you sure, Joe?"
"Yes.", said Joe. "Now flip it over."
Phil groaned, and flipped the card, to reveal an Eight of Elixir. His bluff hadn't worked. Joe threw his hands up into the air, and hollered with triumph. "Pick it up! Pick up the pile!"
A slap of feet on the rocky ground interrupted their game, and they all looked up to see Ed, the last brother, slide into their makeshift camp. He leaned on his knees, out of breath.
"She did it, guys. The Bandit took the bait.", he panted.
George stood up and grabbed his sword. "This game will have to wait. Onwards, Brothers! Fulfill the plan!"
"Why are doing the voice, George?", mumbled Joe. "There's not even anyone around here to impress. It's just us."
"I'm not doing the voice.", George said. "I just-"
"Oh come on, that's totally The Voice.", said Ed. "Let's go."
Even though stealing things came naturally to Brandy, stealing requires taking. And taking meant that someone was not going to be very happy. And she knew it. And so when a Barbarian came running down the dirt path, she fully expected it. And so she gave him a jaunty wave, and took off. Brandy could outrun him, no problem. Come to think of it, she could probably pretty easily beat him in a fight, too.
Phil stopped running. There was no way he could possibly catch up to Brandy, especially if she started Dashing. He took the communicator out of his belt and spoke into it.
"She's too fast for any one of us.", he whispered. "Plan Wa."
"What's Plan Wa, again?", came George's voice through the communicator, almost too staticy to make out. "Is that the one with the Goblins? Because I don't think we have-"
"No, that's Plan Mmu.", said Ed as he joined the conversation. "Plan Wa is where we all surround her from different angles. Two plans, you got that? Wa. Mmu."
Brandy increased her pace, leaning into the wind for additional speed. She risked a look back- and saw no Barbarian. Huh, she thought. I must have lost him. Nice.
So Brandy stopped her sprint, and slowed down to a walk. Mission successful.
But when another Barbarian rounded the corner in front of her, she wished she had kept on running.
"Hello, cutie pie.", said Dave as he drew his sword. "One of us is in deep trouble."
"Really?", she asked him. "Because the way I see it- you left this unguarded. So I'm taking your Gem Box. Toodle-oo!", she said, and ran to the left. But Brandy skidded to a stop, when Joe appeared in the alley in front of her. To the right she went, but the way was blocked by George. Brandy turned around, and saw Phil. Four directions, all blocked. And Brandy knew that there was still one more out there.
"Hey, look guys. Let's just talk this over, shall we?", she said, hoping the nervousness in her voice wasn't too obvious. She stepped back too far, and tripped. Brandy hit the ground, the Gems from the Box spilling next to her. "I'm sure this whole thing was just an innocent mistake. In fact, this probably isn't even your Gem Box. So why don't I just take it and leave? I'm sure we can all agree on that."
Listen, little girl.", Joe said. "You're coming with us."
"What are you talking about?", Brandy said.
"Hmph. You Bandits always talk so big.", he said. "Really, all Legendaries, but especially Bandits. Always dashing everywhere, always stealing, always being so prevalent at 4K. But you took the bait so readily. You just can't deny your instinct, can you? And now you're-"
His words were cut off by a ferocious war cry, and everyone there looked up. "What the-"
An Elite Barbarian fell out of the sky with sword swinging, having jumped from a ledge above. He landed on the Joe's head, knocking him out cold, then swung his sword in a menacing circle.
Another jumped out from the corner, and tackled Dave, grinding him into the ground. The three remaining Barbarians, severely lacking the firepower to deal with this new threat, turned and looked at each other. No words were needed- they turned and fled. One of the Elite Barbarians stuck out a hand to help Brandy to her feet.
"Hey," he said. "I'm Chad, and this here is my partner Rick."
"Yeah, and I'm Rick- dang it!", said Rick, as he realized exactly what Chad had said. "Chad, stop introducing me!"
Chad chuckled. "So, that was pretty close."
Brandy eyed them carefully- she had heard that Elite Barbarians were supposed to be self-centered jerks. But Chad gave just a good natured grin and threw his arms open wide.
"Good thing we found you when we did, eh? It's dangerous to be out here by yourself, you know." They took a big step forward, one on either side of her.
"Woah, hey, what are you doing?", asked Brandy nervously. She didn't like how they positioned.
"Oh, we're just walking you home.", said Chad. "Cause Bandits really put the glass in glass cannon, right Rick?", asked Chad, then he struck a ridiculous pose. "Good thing you have a pair of stud muffins like us to protect you."
Brandy forced a nervous chuckle.
"Now then, where do you live, uh... uh... hey, what's your name? I never caught it back there.", said Chad.
"Brenda.", said Brandy, using the name of another Bandit she knew. She didn't quite trust these guys, nice as they seemed. "My name's Brenda. And I live just over that way." She pointed in a random direction.
"Great!", exclaimed Chad. "Yeah, you can tell I'm Chad cause" - he pointed to his forehead- "I've got the scar. Good to meet you, Brenda." They started a brisk walk down the sandy canyon path.
"Yeah, sure.", Brandy chuckled nervously. "So, I guess you guys missed your Balloon too, huh?"
"Actually, no, we didn't.", said Rick. "We just waited for someone to come along, so we could help them. Our king understands- we do this all the time."
Brandy grimaced. "I see. How... chivalrous of you."
They continued walking. Several silent, awkward minutes passed. The pregnant pause produced several children, all of which were even more awkward than their progenitor.
"Hey, wanna know how I got this scar?", said Chad, in an attempt to relieve the monotony. "It's really a very interesting story. You see, I-"
"Oh great, not this again.", Rick scoffed. "The way he talks about his scar, you'd think it was some holy artifact."
"Listen man, I'm the one with the scar, and the one with the girl. So shut up.", said Chad.
"Oh, you had to bring your girlfriend up.", said Rick. "As if I'm supposed to be impressed by a Valk."
"Hey!", shouted Chad, and punched Rick on the shoulder. "So, as I was saying..."
It took Chad a full half hour to relieve the entire story of his scar, which he said had been gained while he single handedly fought off 16 Level 13 Pekkas at 1% health on the entry match for Electro Valley several months ago, while he himself was still a Level 1. Apparently, even the regenerative ability of the Arenas hadn't been enough to keep all of his wounds at bay, which is why he had gotten his scar. Brandy thought it was rather far fetched, and Rick kept on interrupting every time he thought Chad was full of it, which was approximately every 5 seconds. However, long and meandering as the story was, there still was a little bit more to go until the exit to her Castle.
Brandy hoped that something would happen in order to break the increasingly awkward walk. Maybe they would run into something on the road ahead. Maybe Oticat would appear in a Balloon and give her a ride back. Maybe something totally wild and crazy would happen that she couldn't even predict.
And then, something did happen.
"Yeah, but then there was this Mega Knight, and this Musketeer that kept on trying to-", Chad kept on rambling, and stopped. He tilted his head, put his ear to the sky, and pointed a finger to the air. "Shh, shh."
"What?", Rick whispered. He had stopped right behind Chad, and Brandy had stopped moving as well. "What is it?"
"I hear something.", said Chad. "Something very… suspicious."
Brandy thought that she, too, could hear something. It almost sounded like the rattle of metal, or the clink of Gold. No, it wasn't metallic enough for that. More like stone against stone, or… or…
"Bones.", said Chad. "I hear bones."
He straightened up. "There are Skeletons just ahead. Get ready for a fight."
"A fight?". Brandy stammered. "With Skeletons? But we're all single target troops!"
Chad chuckled, and leaned down next to Brandy. "Well, Brenda, we are in the Arenas. But I'll tell you a little something."
He drew his sword, and gave it a swift practice swing, the silver metal glistening in the soft moonlight. "Out here, there's not really any rules when it comes to combat. You can fight however you want. Target types, hitspeed- that doesn't really matter as much."
"Really?", asked Brandy, and her eyes widened. If what he said was true, then that meant she could fight in ways that she never even thought were possible. Imagine what I could do with my Dash…, she thought.
"Alright, quit your chattering!", barked Rick. "Those Skeletons will be upon us at moment!"
He drew his sword as well, and struck a glancing blow on each of his helmet horns. He growled, and leaned down in a combat position.
"You ever fought like this before?", he asked Brandy.
"Oh, uh, no.", Brandy admitted. "I've never really had to, I guess. Not really much experience, I'm afraid..."
For a brief moment, Chad and Rick's eyes met. They subtly nodded, a barely visible gesture. This was good.
Then they turned again, and faced the Skeletons that were now bearing down on them, in a horrifying horde of… two?
There were only two Skeletons now approaching them down the path, and they certainly weren't charging. In fact, they were walking rather slowly, and they looked almost scared. As scared as Skeletons could. Brandy's brow knitted in concern, and she knelt down.
"Um, are you guys lost?", she asked quietly. "Did something happen to you?"
The Skeletons could speak- they didn't come from a Witch. One looked down at the ground, and gave his response. "Yeah, we're kind of lost. See, we got separated from our Army back at the Arenas, and now we don't know where we are."
"Oh, that's horrible.", said Brandy sympathetically. "That happened to me, too. Only, you know, not from my Army. Just from my King. But these guys are helping me get home. Maybe they can help you too-"
Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of a blade rushing down right beside her. Brandy instinctively jerked herself to one side, and Chad's blade fell directly through the Skeleton on the right, cleaving it in half. The other panicked and tried to run, but was almost instantly destroyed by another stroke.
Brandy turned around in shock, and looked up into Chad's face. "What- what was that for? They were lost! I was trying to help them!"
"No.", Chad said. "No, they weren't. Typical drifter strategy. Try to lure you into a false sense of security, and then they strike. The old oh no help us we're lost trick usually gets most people."
He swung his sword again in the air. "Most. But not us."
Rick cupped his hands to his mouth. "Hey, any other Skeletons out there that wanna mess with us? Yeah, we'll take you on!"
For an Elite Barbarian like Rick, yelling usually worked. Yelling intimidated people. But this time, it might not have been the best idea.
Dozens of Skeletons suddenly appeared from the rocks, chittering their own bizarre language and clacking their swords together. Within seconds, there were at least 50 of them, all prepared to strike at Chad, Rick, and Brandy.
"Well, shoot.", said Chad. "Didn't think there would be this many."
He glanced at Brandy. "Hey, Brenda, Bandits usually have a lot of gear and stuff on them. Got anything that could help us against these Skeletons?"
Brandy searched her memory, and came up with nothing. But then she searched her pockets, and got what was definitely something. She withdrew the item from her pocket, and held it up in the air.
"Alright, this will do it!", she said, and broke the seal on the bottle. "One Earthquake Spell, coming right up!"
Brandy tossed the vial into the crowd of Skeletons, and it hit the ground with a mighty bang. The Skeletons stopped running, looked at Brandy, and realized what was about to happen. They tried to run, but the shockwaves of the Earthquake were too much, and the entire Skeleton Army turned to puddles of Elixir within seconds.
Chad gave an appreciative whistle. "Woo. Nice."
"Thank you.", said Brandy, and winked.
"So, uh, where did you get an Earthquake Spell from, anyway?", asked Rick.
"Stole it.", Brandy said. "I don't think my King cared all that much."
And with that, they continued their walk. But within a few seconds, Rick thought he would start the conversation this time.
"So, what's a pretty girl like you do in your spare time?", he asked.
Brandy felt her face unexpectedly flush. "Wha- what?", she stammered. Had she heard Rick right?
"I said, what does a pretty girl like you do in your spare time?", he asked again.
"Really?", asked Brandy. "You- you think I'm pretty?"
Rick looked at Chad, and exchanged glances. What are you doing?, Chad's glare seemed to say.
Just roll with it, man., replied Rick's eyes. I think I got a thing going here.
"Why sure I do.", he said out loud to Brandy. "I mean, you've got your nice green eyes, your cute little button nose, the way you move, your, um, petiteness..."
Brandy felt her chest flutter, her heart beat faster, and she struggled to form words. "Well, I- I, uh…"
"Aw, you don't have to say anything, cutie pie.", said Rick. "I understand. "
He extended one finger and delicately stroked Brandy's chin. Rick reached around with his other hand, put it on her back, and started to move down her back. She took a sharp breath.
"And tell you what, we're having a bit of a party at our Castle tonight, if you wanna come?", he said, and whispered into her ear. "I can get you to real special spot in the party, if you know what I mean…"
Brandy attempted to say something, anything, but the dizziness overloaded her brain, and stopped her tongue.
"Well alright then.", said Rick, and wrapped his hand around her. "I guess that means that-"
With a massive burst of effort, Brandy shook off the shock and pushed away his hand.
"No thanks.", she said. "I hardly even know you. What kind of signals do you think I'm putting off? And besides, I'm... taken."
"Aw, that's a shame.", said Rick. "By who?"
"Dan.", said Brandy, the first name that came to her head. This wasn't true, of course, they had always been only friends, but she just wanted to throw the Elite Barbarians off her trail.
"Dan, eh?", mused Chad. "What is he?"
"He's a Knight.", said Brandy. "Level, uh, 13." This, too, was a bluff.
Rick frowned, and said nothing else. Brandy wished that this, probably the single most awkward conversation in her life, would end soon.
She looked up- and saw at long last the turn in the canyons that would take her home.
"Well, alright guys, this is where I go my own way.", said Brandy, relieved. "Thanks for walking me home, but I gotta go now."
Chad and Rick looked at each other, then nodded. With the special telepathy only linked troops have, they knew it was time to put their plan into action. With one on either side of Brandy, they grabbed her arms, sharply turned and forced her down the opposite direction.
"Uh, guys? I don't live down that way. I live the other way.", Brandy said nervously.
"Oh yes.", said Chad. "We know."
Brandy's mouth went dry, and her breath died in her throat. For the first time on the walk, she truly realized that she was in the company of two very large, shirtless men. Men that could very easily overpower her, if they felt like it.
"What are you doing?", she said, louder. "Stop!"
"Brandy, you were very impressive in the Arena today. Very impressive indeed.", said Chad.
"What are saying? What are you doi-?", Brandy began, but was cut off as Rick's shoulder pushed her into Chad. And she realized with an icy chill that Chad hadn't said Brenda- he had said Brandy. They knew her name. They knew her name.
"Yes, very nice indeed, cutie pie. Your king must be very proud of you. I'd expect he wouldn't want to, well, lose you or anything."
Chad grabbed Brandy's arm. He yanked her closer to himself and leered into her face. "Yes, imagine if you were, oh, I don't know, kidnapped or something. That would be a real shame, now wouldn't it? For your king, I mean. Not necessarily for you..."
Brandy squirmed out of his grasp. "No! Let go of me!" She looked down- and noticed, for the first time, a rope and cloth hanging from Chad's belt.
Oh no. Oh no.
A shock of fear gripped Brandy's heart. Where they going to-
She looked down the canyon- they were already far away from anyone. Chad grabbed her by the shoulder, and spun her around. Any trace of his previous, cheery demeanor had vanished.
"You're coming with us, Brandy. Whether you like it or not."
A creeping chill ran up and down Brandy' arms. They were. This whole thing- the Gem Box, the Barbarians, the signs, the map, the Bomber- probably even the bird. It had been just a clever trap, and Brandy had failed to notice it. But they weren't going to take her. Not if she could help it.
"Do you understand, Brandy?", rumbled Chad.
"Yes.", said Brandy quietly, while slowly reaching for her pocket. "I do."
"Good.", Chad smiled. "See how easy it is when you coopera-"
He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Because in one lightning fast motion, Brandy grabbed a smoke bomb out of her pocket, flung it to the ground, and jumped away.
Chad coughed and stumbled trying to shield his eyes from the choking, acrid smoke. And as Rick did the same, Brandy turned around and took off running down the narrow alleyway of rock.
Chad waved his hand, trying to dispel the smoke cloud. "Where did she pull that from?", he growled. "Little brat probably stole it."
Rick drew his sword, ready for a chase. "Looks like this job's gonna be hard, bro. Not like the last one- that was easy. But you've been wanting a challenge, haven't you?"
Chad wiped his sweaty hand across his face, removing the last of the smoke. The rest had swiftly vanished in the cold wind. "Yeah.", he said, and smiled. "This'll be fun."
Brandy sprinted as fast as she possibly could down the canyon, knowing the Elite Barbarians could be upon her at any moment. Even if their speed had been nerfed from Very Fast to just Fast, same as her, they could still catch her if given the chance. Left, right, straight, diagonal, left- she took random twists and turns, not caring what direction she went- just as long as it was away. And then, she stopped. Because horribly, he rock wall rose in front of her path in a dead end.
"Okay,", Brandy thought to herself, "maybe this is all just a dream. Maybe I can close my eyes, and then open them, and I'll wake up."
She squeezed her eyes shut, counted to three, then opened them. The scene before her remained untouched. She started to panic, then remembered something- her emergency communicator, in her back pocket. She pulled it out and dialed the first saved number- the number for Emergency Services.
"Yes, Emergency Services, how may I help you?", asked the Goblin on the other end.
"I'm being kidnapped!", screamed Brandy. "I need help!"
"What?", said the Goblin, sounding shocked. "That's illegal. People can't do that."
Despite Brandy's shouts of protest, he hung up and resumed getting high. Brandy growled, cursing the vast inefficiency of the government, and instead dialed Oticat. He would be sure to help.
"Come on, come on, pick up…", she whispered, knowing the Elite Barbarians were mere seconds away. After a few seconds, her communicator dinged, and Brandy's hopes soared.
"Hello, this is Oticat.", came the voice on the other line.
"Oticat! I missed the Balloon, and now I'm getting-", she said as quickly as she could.
But her hopes were dashed as she listened closer, and heard "I am currently unavailable to answer your call right now, and will call you back as soon as I can."
"No!", Brandy howled, and held the communicator up in the air in an attempt to activate its emergency beacon ability. She saw the red light flaring to life-
And the small, handheld device was impaled by a thrown sword, stuck into the far wall, and shattered completely. Brandy gulped, and turned around. She saw two Elite Barbarians, each coming from a separate alleyway. She was trapped.
Chad put out his hand, and Brandy flinched.
"Now, you don't have to be like this, cutie pie. You can make this easier for all of us. Just come along with us, we can go back to the castle. Easy as that.", he coaxed.
"Why? Why do you want me?", Brandy asked, almost screaming. "What did I ever do?"
"That's for us to know, and you to find out.", said Chad. "If it is the will of Ryusei_Nakao69, then it must be done."
"Ryusei_Nakao69?", Brandy asked again. For some reason, the name sounded oddly familiar. "Is that your king?"
"Clever girl.", said Rick. "Too bad you're not clever enough to just cooperate."
He started to take a single step towards her, but Brandy held up a hand. "Now, hold on a minute. I've got a little something for you."
She reached her hand into her pocket. "A spell that I picked up a little while ago. Good luck getting through it. It's an Earthqua-"
And then, Brandy's blood ran cold. She remembered that she had used the Earthquake to take out the Skeleton Army. She didn't have her ace in the hole anymore.
But even so, she knew that she would have to at least try to fight back. Even if Elite Barbarians were her hardest counter, she had to do at least something. So Brandy gathered her strength, and smoke rose off of her. She yelled, and Dashed at Chad. The sand blew apart at her speed, but to her shock, upon impact, he just laughed. "We're level 13, cutie pie. You can't touch us."
As if to accentuate his point, he drew back his fist, grinned evilly, and punched Brandy in the gut.
She staggered back, the wind knocked out of her. The ringing in her ears drowned out all sound, and she instinctively grabbed her stomach, dropping her club. Brandy gave a ragged cough of pain, and blood spattered out of her throat and onto the canyon floor.
"You...bastards...", she groaned, and fell to the ground.
"Aw, can the little Bandit not take it? Is she too weak? Huh?", asked Rick, his face a mocking smile.
"It's so adorable how she tried to fight back. Its almost as if she thinks she can escape.", laughed Chad.
But Brandy, slowly, shakily, still managed to get back up. She raised a fist, and wiped the blood from her mouth.
"You think you can get away with this?", she quietly asked them. "You think that if you try and take me now, that I'll just sit there and let you? You think that… that…"
Brandy's eyes closed, and she lay motionless on the ground.
Chad watched her lay for a few seconds, then scoffed. "Well, I think she's unconsciousness. Rick, grab her."
Rick leaned closer to pluck Brandy's body off of the ground, and suddenly saw Brandy's eyes open. "Gotcha!", she said.
Quick as a Zap, Brandy front flipped into the air, right over Rick's head. He dumbfoundedly turned around and tried to grab her, but she was already out of his reach. She raised one hand, performed a rude gesture, bounced off his head, and leaped into the air, grabbing for the rock wall. Flying through the air, now far out of the reach of the Elite Barbarians, Brandy let out a shout, and grabbed onto the rock wall, securing a foothold. Now, it would be a simple matter to scramble over the rock wall, and away from her would be captors. Brandy reached- and a huge, meaty hand grabbed her foot and yanked her down, directly onto Chad's shoulder. He locked a massive arm onto her, pinning the Bandit.
"Well. It looks like we got you now.", he said.
Brandy squirmed to try and get free, but her captor was too strong.
"What- how did you- I was out of your reach!", Brandy said.
Chad just squeezed tighter, crushing the air out of her. Her voice of protest died in her throat. "Oh, just some elasticity potions our friends cooked up for us. Pretty cutting edge."
Rick strode over, and raised an eyebrow. He looked down her skirt. "Hey, Chad, I got an idea."
"Yeah? What?", replied Chad.
"Well, you know what the two best ways to counter a Bandit are?", he said slyly.
"What?", asked Chad again.
"Swarm her, and smash her.", finished Rick. "We can't swarm her - there are only two of us - so that leaves the other option."
Brandy's face paled, and er heart somehow beat even faster. A cold dread ran up her body. "What- what are you-", she started to say, but she already knew what they were planning. This had suddenly become far worse than any mere kidnapping.
"Oh, nothing that concerns you, cutie pie.", said Rick. "Just a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink, eh Chad?"
"Oh, I don't know, Rick. I don't think Valeyrie would be very happy if she found out."
"Valeyrie doesn't have to know. Now hold on to her a little bit tighter. We don't want her getting away."
Chad tightened his grip, and Rick grabbed a fistful of her tunic, preparing to rip it off.
In that moment, Brandy closed her eyes. She so very much wanted to be anywhere but here. More than anything, she so very much wanted to have made the Balloon back home. She so very much wanted to be bored on the bench in the Arena. She so very much wanted to wake up to a breakfast of Elixir and doughnuts, reading the newspaper. She so very much wanted to do the daily crossword with Agatha. She so very much wanted to get completely stuck on 17 across.
Rick yanked on her tunic once. The cloth did not rip, but it came close. But as the cloth slid against her skin, Brandy felt something odd in her back sash. And then she remembered- the sword. She still had the sword that she had stolen for Dan. With the right timing, she might just be able to kill one of the Elite Barbarians The thought gave her hope, and with strength she didn't know she had, she ripped one arm out of Chad's grasp.
"Woah hey-", Chad started, but Brandy did not waste any time. She slid the sword out of her back sash, and swung it directly at Chad's throat. The blade shattered, and fragments of the blue Spooky Iron flew in all directions.
"No.", Brandy said quietly. She watched the metal, and her hope, fall to the ground and hit the sand. "No!", she screamed, and Chad slapped her face.
"Oh ho, that was pretty close! You almost got me there, cutie pie!", he said with surprise. "Good thing Wizardbro cooked us up some..."
He and Rick both did a little dance. "Invulnerability potions! Yeah!"
Rick ripped her tunic again, then again. The seams, even as tough as they were, began to tear. With one more yank, it would come off. Brandy was completely out of tricks. It was time to bargain.
"Please, don't do this.", she stammered, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I have lots of stuff at home- what do you want? I can give you Gold, Gems- anything you want."
Chad just smiled. "Well, we want you."
Ten nightmarish minutes later, Brandy's unconscious body slumped to the ground. A soft groan escaped her lips, and Chad unwound the rope from his kilt as he put it back on.
"Well, that went pretty successfully, eh Rick?", he said. "Just hope George and the others aren't too mad about us uh... improvising the plan."
"Yeah, I'm sure they're fine.", Rick said, as he took the rope from his brother and tied Brandy's wrists and ankles with it. "They probably couldn't have handled her anyway. She was a feisty one. If it wasn't for those potions, I think she might have escaped."
"Nah, we would have gotten her anyway.", said Chad, as he slung Brandy into a bag so not as to damage her body along the way. "Because we're not like those other guys. We're elite."
"You got that right, bro.", said Rick. He slung Brandy over his shoulder as they bumped fists, and then they began their long walk towards the castle of their clan. They had gone a little past schedule, and Ryusei_Nakao69 did not like to be kept waiting.
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