Red was the light of the sun as it set over Oticat's castle, accented with rich yellows and blues. A dot appeared on the horizon, then another, then 7 more. They soon came into view of the Guards and Builders on the castle walls, revealing themselves as Balloons. As they touched down on the ground, the last of the day was slowly obscured by the mountains in the distance, and night fell.
Bowza leaped out of his Balloon. Ethereally, he sensed that something was wrong, but he didn't quite know exactly what. So he knitted his brow for added concentration, and looked around at the team climbing out of the Balloons. He counted them, then counted them again. Ah yes, that was it.
"The sky lacks its swiftest cloud.", he said to Agatha.
"And that means?", she said, with a hint of annoyance.
Bowza cleared his throat, and spoke with a much quieter, softer voice than normal. "Brandy's missing. She's not here."
"Her Balloon's probably just lagging behind.", said Agatha. "There's often one that's late."
She looked up and saw a Balloon coming down towards them. "See look, there she is now. It's all fine."
The rest of the group had heard their conversation, and so they all watched as the balloon landed. But to their surprise, a Miner walked out of it instead of their Bandit.
"Oh, yeah, uh, sorry guys, I'm really sorry for being late. You see, some gold fell out of my pocket and I just had to pick it up, you know?", he apologized in a thick Kiwi accent. Then he looked up, into the highly confused face of Oticat.
"Oh. You're not my- oh.", he then said. "You're not my king. Well then, I'm terribly sorry, I must have accidentally made just a little mistake there, heh. So I'll just be on my way. Sorry guys."
He started to climb back into his airborne craft, when Webert put a huge hand on his shoulder and turned him around. "Now hold on a minute there, little buddy. We might need your help with something."
"Oh yeah bro, happy to help.", said the Miner. "Really nice to help, what do you have for me?"
"Well, our Bandit is missing.", said Webert. "You wouldn't have happened to have seen her, now would you?"
The Miner just stared at him. "What does she look like?"
"Look like? Well, she's got white hair, and.. and dresses in green and blue, and... well, she's got green eyes...and...and..."
Webert put one hand to his chin. He was quite stumped- he hadn't had anything to eat for a while, and his lucidity was fading. The stress of the situation didn't help, either.
One of the Ratzo brothers cut in, raising his sword. "She's a Bandit! How do you not know what a Bandit looks like, you stupid Miner?"
The Miner turned to them, a deeply hurt look across his face. "Oh, I may not be the quickest Miner, but you don't really need to call me stupid, bro.", he said.
"Do you know where she is or not?", Agatha hissed at him, with uncharacteristic fury. Larry jabbed his sword into the air in an exaggerated motion, as if to back her up.
"Oh. Well, now that we're here talking,", said the Miner, "I don't actually think I do, technically speaking. So I should probably just be going, really."
The Miner turned around, then his head snapped up.
"Oh, no. Wait! Wait hold on. I saw a Bandit!", he remembered.
Agatha grabbed him by the shoulder, and looked deep into his eyes. She thought a little mind magic wouldn't be out of the question to help him talk, so she applied it generously.
"Where was she, Miner?", she asked. "Where did you see her?"
"Well, I saw her near the Jungle. She was walking with her team-"
He turned around to face them.
"Oh! You guys were her team! She's your Bandit, then?"
The looks given to him by everyone could kill, or at the very least seriously injure.
"Oh. Right, and then she got distracted and missed her Balloon, and then I had to leave. But on the way here, I was flying over the canyon, you know, and then- and then I just heard this awful scream, like really terrible."
Agatha and Bowza glanced at each other, and the Miner took a deep breath and continued.
"I don't know what it was, but it was probably something. I'm Mike by the way, could you please stop calling me Miner?"
"Okay, MIKE, where did she go next?", Agatha asked, the annoyance in her voice at the simple Miner audible.
"Oh, she got really mad and started walking through the canyons. She's probably still there!", said Mike. "Can I um, can I leave now?"
"Through the Canyons?", whispered Webert to himself. "But those are dangerous."
"Yeah, you can go now.", said Oticat. "Alright everyone, to the balloons!", he shouted confidently. "Operation rescue!"
But before everyone swung into action, Bowza raised his bow.
"Alas, it seems the final waves have left the shore.", he said with a sigh. "And our own possession is sadly unmeasurable."
"Right.", said a Guard. "The Balloons aren't running."
Oticat looked at him. "You understood that?"
The Guard shrugged. "Yeah. I was bored one day, and decided to learn what all his phrases mean. Sadie told me."
"Yes, it's true.", said Sadie. "The Balloons aren't running anymore."
They all collectively groaned.
"Well, what do we do now? We gotta get there somehow.", asked one of the Ratzo brothers.
Webert looked at Mike's Balloon, then pointed one finger into the air.
"Hey, Mike, my little bro, do you think we could-"
"Oh, sorry, but no.", Mike firmly replied. "It couldn't possibly hold all of us, be a real disaster if we tried. And I need it to get back home, besides.
Agatha thought for a few seconds, then looked into her staff. Its slightly haunted eyes stared emptily back at her, and an idea took hold in her mind.
"Mike, you can dig pretty fast, right?", she asked.
"In the arena, yeah. Why?", Mike replied.
"Well," Agatha said, "Do you think you could dig that fast outside of it too? Fast enough to get us to the arenas?"
Mike looked at his shovel, then back up at her. Could he?
"I uh, I don't really know. I've never thought of doing that before, actually, now that I think about it. Here, let me just-"
He stabbed his shovel into the ground, then began to dig, faster and faster until he was all the way underground. He popped his head up. "Looks like it works! So that's good, right?"
Bowza slung his bow across his chest and dropped his "mystical" act. This was serious.
"Okay, you all go.", said Bowza. "I'll go get Dan. I'll ask Chuck if I can borrow Trigger, too."
One by one, the team went into the hole, while Bowza ran inside of the castle. Oticat4 jumped in first- he fit easily. Randy was right behind him, also sliding in without a hitch. Because he was an Ice Spirit. Agatha and the Guards were next. They were a bit larger, but they could still go through. But after several failed attempts, it was discovered that the Ratzo Brothers and Webert were simply too large to fit through. "What do we do now?", Webert puzzled.
Mike smiled. "Well, actually, I think I might have a little something that can help us. Yeah, I actually stole it from a Spell Factory I visited on holiday. Don't think it's ready for release yet." He pulled a small yellow vial out of his pocket. "Behold, the shrinking spell!"
Inside his room, Dan morosely popped open another bottle of Dark Elixir. He leaned against the wall and took a deep swig, then sighed as he picked up a photograph from his dresser. He stared sadly at the golden, faded picture of him and Oticat4 on the destroyed red king's tower after the very first arena battle they had ever fought. Each holding their foe's trophies, as he cried into them. What had happened to those days? Back when he was strong. Back when he was tough, and respected. Back when he-
The door burst open without warning. Dan fell off of the side of the bed, fumbled with the picture, dropped it, looked up and saw Bowza.
"Oh. What do you want?", he mumbled.
"It's Brandy.", the Magic Archer replied, nearly out of breath.
"What about her? You want to tell me how great she did in the last battle? How she got a 3-crown by herself? How she's actually the chosen one or something, going to embark on a magical quest to stop an ancient evil and save the world?", he said, the influence of the Dark Elixir slurring his words.
"No. No, you want to tell me how she found a new friend to hang out with. Anything better than stupid old me, right?"
"She's missing.", Bowza said.
Dan stood up, suddenly stone-cold sober. "What?"
"She didn't come back home on the balloon. Nobody knows where she is, and she was last seen going into the canyons 3 hours ago by some random Miner. We're going to try and find her. You wanna come?"
Inside of his room, Chuck the Hog Rider was happily humming and combing out his mohawk, while working on a new poem of his. This one he had chosen to pen on the purest pine paper he could find, with red ink. It was about Hogs, of course, all his poetry was, and the Hog Riders that rode them. He poured himself another glass of tea, picked up his pen, and-
"Chuck!", Bowza yelled as he flung open the door. Chuck made a sound like an exploding bullfrog and leapt backwards.
"What? What is it?", he screamed, and tried to cover up his poetry.
"We need to borrow Trigger for a bit.", Dan said.
"Why? I need him. He was helping me work on my... my, uh...", Chuck trailed off. He didn't want to admit his Hog had been helping him write poetry. He wasn't even sure how to word such a thing.
"Brandy's missing.", said Bowza. "She didn't come home on the balloons, and a Miner said he thinks she might be in the canyons somewhere. We need Trigger to help sniff her out."
"Oh. Well, alright.", said Chuck. "Just bring him back in one piece, you hear?"
Trigger, already knowing what to do, shuffled over to Bowza and Dan. Chuck noticed something.
"Hey, Bowza?", he asked. "Why aren't you speaking all riddle-like like you usually do?"
Bowza just cast a look over his shoulder as he left that could have chopped lasers.
About an hour later, a slight clanging sound broke the silence of the canyons. It was followed by muffled shouts of good natured cursing, scaring away a flock of birds, until the ground burst open and a Miner popped through.
"Well, here you go bros. Hope you find your Bandit.", he said, exhausted from an hour straight of digging.
He was immediately trampled by everyone else all rushing out of the tunnel as quickly as they could.
"Bowza, go right and pick up a trail. Randy, make sure we're not being followed. Who knows what's out here.", Agatha said. "Dan, follow Trigger. And go left."
"Like wind.", Bowza said. Randy said nothing, because he was an Ice Spirit. Trigger took off, Dan in pursuit.
As the Hog clopped down the trail, Dan could barely keep up. Hogs were the single fastest troop there was, and Dan couldn't match the speed of even one that was walking. He looked down to breathe a little easier, and saw footprints - The familiar footprints of a Bandit.
"Trigger, stop!", he shouted. But Trigger continued, snorting excitedly, having picked up a scent.
"Yeah, and so I told him to go Freeze his head."
"Oh bro, you didn't!"
"I totally did, Rick. I totally did."
"But he was an Ice Wizard! His head's already frozen!"
"Yeah. Yeah, that's the joke."
This conversation was, of course, between Chad and Rick, still walking back home. The sun was far behind the horizon by now, and they were almost there. They just still had to get past the security checkpoint that marked the exit from the canyon.
"Hey, could you carry her for a bit?", asked Chad. "My arm's getting a little sore."
"Your arm's getting tired?", asked Rick in disbelief. "Just from carrying a Bandit?"
"Hey, even a Bandit gets heavy after you carry her over your shoulder, with one arm, in the same position for like 2 hours. You know that, bro."
"Yeah, you're right.", said Rick. "I'll carry her."
Chad swung the bag down from his shoulders. He intended to make a clean pass to Rick's waiting hands, but his arm had fallen asleep, and so he missed wildly and dumped the bag open on the ground, spilling Brandy out onto the ground. She opened one eye, and moaned.
"Hey! What was that, bro?", asked Rick.
"My arm fell asleep, Rick.", hissed Chad. "Just gas her, pick up the bag and go."
Rick took a small, white square of cloth out of his belt and pressed it against Brandy's face. She moaned again, with notable alarm. But Rick pressed harder, and her eye closed. With a smile, Rick picked her up and slid her back into the bag.
"Sweet dreams, Brandy.", he said. "Just hold on."
He grabbed the edge of the bag and slung it over his shoulder. It took several seconds for him to realize it wasn't quite as heavy as it should be. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, and saw Brandy crawling away on one arm.
Bowza quickly dropped to the ground and swept his hands across it. He noticed some footprints in the dirt.
"There's a trail of footprints here. They look like hers." He walked further. "But there's another set here- they look like..."
His eyes narrowed.
"Elite Barbarians.", he said, utter contempt in his voice.
He walked over along the path of the trail, maneuvering through the twists and spires of rock that Brandy had been just hours earlier, with Agatha right behind him.
"Hmm. They walked together.", he mused. "There seem to be no signs of a struggle, and the footsteps are calm. Agatha, what do you sense?"
Agatha touched two of her fingers to her forehead. "I don't sense anything very alarming. Some uneasiness, certainly, but nothing too bad yet."
Brandy, only barely conscious, pulled herself desperately along the canyon floor on her one good arm. She could feel the rocks and sand tearing at her bare skin, but she knew that a few scrapes and bruises would be vastly preferable to whatever horrible fate awaited her with them.
"Hey! I thought you gassed her!", yelled Chad.
"I did! I gave her the cloth!", said Rick, holding it up. Then he looked at it one more time, and his eyes slightly twitched.
"Oh.", he said. "Guess this wasn't the right cloth after all."
"Rick, what is that?", asked Chad slowly.
"This is my, uh…", said Rick. He looked down and whistled.
It took a moment for Chad to get what Rick was saying. But when he did, his face twisted up in disgust. "Dude, that's gross! Why'd you even bring that?"
"I brought it? I didn't bring it!"
"Whatever. Just grab her."
Rick took a few steps forward and grabbed Brandy around her waist. She turned her head upwards, and her face flashed white.
"Stop struggling, Brandy.", said Rick. "You already know this is going to happen, so don't fight it. Just let it happen."
He picked Brandy up from off the ground, and she screamed. And such was the sheer terror within her scream, that even the two Elite Barbarians were given a moment of pause. But their orders overcame their humanity, and Rick pressed the correct cloth to Brandy's mouth.
"Good, Brandy.", he said. "We're almost home."
Brandy had two options here. Either she breathed in and lost consciousness, or she held her breath until the same thing happened. But her decision was made for her as Rick pressed down on her chest, expelling the air from her lungs, and sending her into another deep sleep.
"Anything else yet, Bowza?", asked Agatha. She hovered a foot above the ground, stressed out as she was.
"I'll tell you when I see something.", the Magic Archer replied. "I'll just keep on following the footprints."
His glowing eyes scanned the rocky ground for any sign of the rapidly weakening trail. The footprints grew sparser and shallower on the rock, and- there. There, right in front of him, they became more active. Further apart. He heard Agatha moan from behind him, and turned around. The Witch clutched her head and swayed gently above the ground.
"I feel it.", she said. "Terror. Something happened. Something very, very bad."
"So, what did that map say, Chad?"
Chad looked at a torn segment of a map that he had found on the ground. "It said, I'm writing this letter to whoever finds it. My food and Elixir ran out days ago, and-"
"No, not that side.", said Rick. "The other side."
"Oh, right. Just testing you, bro. It says that we only have about 7 more to go before we exit the canyon."
"7? 7 what?"
"I dunno. It just says 7."
Chad looked up, and saw what appeared to be an old, faded security checkpoint. It lingered on the very edge of the canyon, manned by a bored looking Goblin bouncing a ball on a string. The Goblin, Grug, was, in fact, unspeakably bored. The only reason he was even here was because he had lost a bet. So when he saw the two coming towards him, he took several seconds before he remembered what he was supposed to do in this situation.
"Hey, lemme check you.", he said to Chad, trying to maintain an indifferent air. "Can't let you pass otherwise."
"Yeah, sure bro.", said Chad. "Check away."
Grug climbed over the counter and circled them. "Alright, alright, no obvious illegal substances on your person. Good. Let me just-"
Chad and Rick both raised their arms, and Grug performed a quick pat down. "And you got a bag, lemme see that."
Chad handed him the bag. Grug opened it, looked inside, handed it back, then saw what was in it. He took the bag again, and took a closer look.
Out of all the things he had been expecting the bag to hold, an unclothed, unconscious, very clearly beaten up Bandit had not been one of them. He looked up into Chad's face, towering over him. He was sure that there was something he was supposed to do in this situation, but for the life of him, Grug could not remember what.
"I, uh…", he stammered as Chad leered. "I… I…um..."
Then Grug stiffened, straightened himself up, and pulled himself up to his full height of 3' 1". "
I'm pretty sure you've violated some law, sir.", he said. "I'm not sure what, but once I figure it out, I will take the proper action."
"Oh, no you won't.", said Chad, and stabbed Grug in the gut.
Grug looked down at the sword almost as big as he was that jutted through his stomach, now swiftly turning to purple sludge. But he wasn't that worried- he would reform at the checkpoint in about 10 minutes. At least, he hoped.
As the Goblin dissolved into Elixir, Chad swung Brandy's cocoon back onto his shoulder and sheathed his sword. "That's the end of the canyons. We're almost there."
Bowza was about to say something to Agatha, when he saw the shattered remnants of a blue sword beneath her. They commanded his immediate attention.
"Agatha, could you just-", he said as he motioned for her to move aside, and she did. She looked down, and saw the broken metal as well.
"Mysterious,", he breathed as he picked up the handle. Hmm, its Spooky Iron, he thought. A pretty rare sight. Such a sword would have fetched a hefty price.
He set down the piece he was holding, and moved to inspect the others. But he stopped when he felt the tap of a Skeleton on his shoulder. Bowza looked up.
Agatha's face was pale, even more so than usual. She pointed. "Bowza, look.", she said, her voice thick with maternal worry. Bowza could feel the dread hanging in the air- part from Agatha, and part from the past.
He looked to where she indicated, and saw Brandy's club laying on the far side of the path, next to a roughened patch of scuffed-up sand. He leaped over, and brushed his hand over the markings. And as he analyzed the patterns, his heart began to race faster.
These markings- she was between them, then underneath one on the ground. Then in the air, then-. A cold wash of dread, like an avalanche of dead rain, sank through his soul. No, no, of course they didn't. It was just a struggle. That's all it was. I hope. I hope to Se'th-
But he chanced to looked upwards, and he saw something that confirmed his worst fears, lying not 10 feet away from him. He slowly leaned over and plucked the bundle off of the ground. Agatha saw, and floated over to him.
"Bowza, What did you find? What are those?", she said, her voice picking up speed.
Ashen-faced, Bowza lifted what he found. "Her clothes. These are her clothes."
For a second, there was silence. For another second, the only sound that could be heard was the slight twitching of Agatha's hand. But once the third second hit, the silence was rent by a broken cry of despair, and the sky lit up violet.
Trigger had stopped running. It wasn't that he had lost the scent, it was just that the scent trail had ended. It had stopped right in the middle of a patch of very stirred up sand, and a spilled pile of Gems. Not seeing anything else to do, he snorted and started to root around in a nearby bush, but stopped when Dan grabbed him by the collar.
"Okay, Trigger. Good- whew- good boy." Dan took a moment to catch his breath. "Let's see what you found."
He dropped to his knees, and inspected the ground. There were some footprints, and some marks, and some more marks, and oh my, there sure were just a whole lot of marks, weren't there? They all looked the same, too. Dan looked around some more, then realized something.
I can't track, he thought. I just never learned how.
So Dan stood up, brushed the dirt off his armor, and turned to Trigger. "Well,", he said, "that didn't accomplish anything. Now, let's go meet up with the others."
A huge flash of violet light filled the air above the canyon, sending Trigger into a panic and causing Dan to fall. They looked at each other, looked back at the light, then ran off towards it.
Once the light subsided, and the echoes of the scream had at last died away in the air, Agatha fell faint to the ground. A bolt of lightning illuminated the canyon clearing, and Dan appeared alongside Trigger.
"What happened?", he breathed. "What is it?"
Oticat and the Princesses appeared in the next flash, digging through their pockets. "Spell?", Oticat asked. "Anyone need a spell?"
Webert moved aside a huge boulder into the clearing, Randy riding on his shoulders. "Did we find her?", the ponderous Bowler asked. Randy said nothing, because he was an Ice Spirit.
The Ratzo Brothers broke through a narrow cliff with their Ram, which immediately reformed. They shouldered it, and said nothing.
Bowza turned to face them. His face was grim, and uncharacteristically serious. He was about to say something, but decided that simply holding up Brandy's clothes would be far more effective. And he was right.
"This is the work of Elite Barbarians.", he further explained. "Level 13, judging by the depth of their footprints. I don't quite recognize their clan symbol- its a purple gloved hand."
"Oh, it must be a premium clan symbol.", said Oticat. "Their leader must have shelled out a lot of Gems for it. Let me just consult my king booklet-"
He pulled out a small book from his coat and flipped through it. "Yes, yes, yes, just gotta- Ah! Here we are. It says that symbol belongs to a very powerful clan. TheEvilOverLords. Come to think of it, we fought one of their members just yesterday-"
He clapped his hands together in realization, and spun around. "And- and he said that we would be hearing from his clan mates about his! Oh! Shoot!"
Bowza traced the dirt aimlessly. "Overleveled Elite Barbarians. There is no greater evil in this world."
Dan stared emptily ahead, crushed. Brandy was gone, taken. His best friend, kidnapped just like that. And the last thing he had said to her?
Go away, Brandy. You'd never understand.
How quaint his troubles seemed now. How small next to whatever Brandy must be going through right now. She was so innocent. She had to be lost. She had to be terrified-
Dan felt Larry tap his leg. He looked down at the eager Skeleton, and was surprised to see that he was holding a note. It said "To Dan, the Knight" on the front.
"Where did you find this, Larry? What even is this?", he asked. Larry pointed to Brandy's torn clothes, and put his hands together to plead Dan to open it.
So Dan opened the letter, unfolded it, and scanned the words. In a crude, hand-written script, it read:
"Hey Dan, your girl was awesome. We really had a great time with her. She tried to put up a fight- at first. . You can have her back, as soon as we decide the ransom. But I really don't think she'll want to come back. Later, little dude."
It was signed with a single lock of Brandy's snow-white hair, and a single streak of blood.
Dan's eye twitched. Then the corner of his mouth, and then his mustache. He gripped the paper tighter in his hands, until the muscles bulged past his armor. A low roar began to build in his throat. He thought about holding it back, but realized there was no reason to. So he screamed in pure anger, into the sky.
"Woah Dan, what are you doing-", Elizabeth said, as Dan charged headlong into the direction of the footprints, sword waving wildly over his head.
"I'll kill them!", he screamed. "I swear, I will kill every single one of them!"
He ran so fast, even Randy had trouble catching up to him. But when he did, the trip tackle sent him sliding into the dirt.
"Randy, what are you doing?", he growled. "I have to kill them!"
But Webert put a hand on his shoulder. "Dan! What are you doing?"
Dan handed Webert the note. It only took a few seconds for Webert's face to turn a far more reddish purple than normal.
"You know what, Dan?", Webert rumbled. "I'm with you. Let's go crush them."
He held his boulder defiantly in the air, but Agatha held up a calming hand.
"Dan, Webert, if you think for one second that we're just going to let you attack an entire Clan Castle, you're insane."
Oticat, next to her, held up a communicator. He was already dialing.
"You're going to need some help.", he said.
Past the canyons, just beyond the burning desert that housed Bone Pit, a door on the walls of the Clan Castle of TheEvilOverLords creaked open. Chad and Rick slipped inside, still carrying Brandy's body bag. They shut the door behind them, and walked further into the room, closer to a tall, dark throne. The figure on it spoke into a telephone.
"How is Mr. Donnie coming along on the new wing of the Castle?", he asked, in an impeccable voice, then slightly recoiled.
"Oh, he's done? Well, give him my personal congratulations. I can see that was 500 Gems well spent. But I have to go- my other plan needs my attention.", he said a he set down the telephone, and slightly turned.
"Well? Did you do it?"
The two Elite Barbarians snapped to attention, and saluted him, dropping Brandy onto a nearby table. She groaned, but did not stir.
"Yes, Ryusei_Nakao69, sir! The deed is done!"
The king spun around in his chair and gave a low laugh. "Excellent, excellent. I would- wait a minute."
His brow knitted, with almost grandfatherly concern. "Chadwick? Richard? Where are Mr. George and the others?"
Chad shrugged. "Well, we were just in the area, you know, doing stuff, and we decided to check on them. They seemed incapable of getting the job done on their own, so we decided to step in."
"Well, where are they?", the King asked.
"Oh, they're fine.", Rick said. "They'll be back here soon."
Ryusei_Nakao69 sat back in his chair and massaged his forehead. "Did you at least tell them before you took control?", he asked.
"Um, no.", admitted Chad. "We had to keep the illusion up so the target would drop her guard."
Ryusei_Nakao69 sighed. "If it worked, then I guess it worked. Good job."
Then he resumed his former position- hands together in front of his grinning face.
"Because I would expect nothing less from my finest troops, from the finest king, from the finest clan. Kudos to both of you."
Chad clapped his hands. "Alright then! Let's talk ransom! What should we demand?"
Rick slammed his hands down onto the table. "I was thinking either 80000 Gold, or maybe 500 Gems, or maybe just a Legendary King's Chest- no! Wait! One of those fancy new Mega Lightning Chests! Those are cool, right?"
Ryusei_Nakao69 held up a hand to silence them.
"Please, gentlemen. I have no need of Gold, or Gems, or Chests. I have the black market for all of those.", he said.
"What?", grunted Chad.
"There will be no ransom."
The Elite Barbarians groaned, and gave him unbelieving looks. "What? That's lame! You mean we're just going to let her go?"
The red king smirked. "Oh no no no. Because do you know the real reason we took her? The real reason why this particular plan was weeks in the making?"
"What?", grunted Rick.
"For whatever reason, I still don't have a Bandit of my own. I just have the worst luck with chests, and both theSenate and LeChris are still unwilling to trade. And I would like one- my Bridge Spam deck really isn't complete."
"Sir, do you mean... are we gonna-", said Rick, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, Richard. I do. We're going to keep her."
And then, he laughed. It grew from a mere chuckle, to a hefty chortle, and finally, a show-stopping cackle. As the rafters groaned and creaked from the force of his unholy laughter, The ohohohoho echoed off of the rafters, and flew into the night.
It was a bright, sunny morning as ChupilickytwaCT opened his mailbox. He didn't get mail that often- he much more often sent it. He was the Leader of his clan, LosDementosCT, after all. But today, his daughter Annabelle had told him that there was something for him. So it was for that reason that he reached in his hand and extracted a bundle.
Most of it was normal fare- a private Trade Request, a hand-written letter from…from… from someone, that much was sure. The writing was almost totally illegible. There seemed to be a "Legendary" in there somewhere, but it was being eaten by the quadratic equation. Oh well. ChupilickytwaCT tossed the letter aside, and picked up the next one, a letter from Oticat.
"Why, its from Oticat.", he mused to himself. "Very nice young chap, wonder what he's up to now?"
He sliced open the letter with an arrow, unfolded the crisp paper, and began to read.
Esteemed Leader ChupilickytwaCT., it began.
I am writing to you in my hour of need. My Bandit, Brandy, has been kidnapped- and worse. I believe it to be the work of TheEvilOverLords.
"TheEvilOverLords?", ChupilickytwaCT whispered. "Those buggers."
I have managed to pinpoint the location of where she is being held to a Clan Castle near the East Shore, just beyond Bone Pit. I know I cannot take them on by myself. So please, illustrious leader, hear my plea. Notify the clan, tell everyone, get help. You know I don't ask for much. Please, help me. Help Brandy.
With respect,
Oticat
ChupilickytwaCT refolded the letter and put it back in its envelope. "Oh.", was the only thing he said for several minutes, as his thoughts whipped around in his head. "Oh my."
But then, eventually, he composed himself, and put the resealed letter into his back pocket.
"I hear you, Oticat. I hear you loud and clear."
He turned to a nearby Builder, tending the hedges. "John?", he commanded.
The Builder snapped to attention. "Yes, my lord?"
"Call a clan meeting, and go find my son Edward. We must prepare for battle."
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