As the sun slowly filtered through the window and landed on her bruised face, Brandy awoke in a bed that wasn't hers. This, in itself, was strange, waking up in a bed. She hardly ever used hers- she preferred to sleep on The Log. She only slept in a bed when she was truly exhausted, or sick. Something must have happened last night.
As if to prove that, Brandy couldn't quite a strange feeling out of her head. It was a feeling that something was terribly, horribly wrong, but she could not for the life of her remember what it was. And her immensely sore body didn't help either.
She yawned, sat up, stretched, and opened her eyes. A Red Villager stared back at her, and Brandy fell back on the bed.
Wait a minute. Red villagers? That didn't make any sense. Brandy sat back up again, and the Red Villager cleared her throat.
"Good, you're awake.", she said. "Are you alright, dear?"
"Who are you?", Brandy said, confused. "Where am I? What's going on?"
And then, horribly, it all came flooding back into Brandy's mind. How she had missed the Balloon, how the Barbarians had cornered her in the canyon, how the Elite Barbarians had pretended to rescue her, and then, and then- she nearly threw up. They had done that to her?
Brandy tried to push the memory out of her mind, but its presence was too strong. She could hardly believe it. She had been stolen. Taken, just like that.
But this wasn't the time to reflect on such matters. Brandy needed to get out of here, now. She instinctively reached for her club, but it wasn't there. Of course it wasn't, they would have taken that away from her first thing. She twisted up and sat on the side of the bed, and noticed that she was in the uniform of a red Bandit. Disgusting.
The Villager leaned down, her face etched with concern.
"I expect you would feel quite sore after what happened to you last night.", she said. "We've given you a salve that should help."
"You…", Brandy growled, and clenched her fist.
Seeing her aggressive stance, the Villagers ceased their chatter and began moving fearfully away. But quick as a flash, Brandy Dashed out of the bed, grabbed one by the throat, and slammed her against the wall.
"How would you like to answer a few questions for me?", she asked the Villager.
The Villager stuttered a few incoherent syllables, and Brandy slightly loosened her grip.
"I'm sorry, we're only supposed to keep an eye on you. Not tell you anything.", she replied.
Brandy and gripped tighter. "Look, I'm usually a pretty nice Bandit. But if you don't get me out of here right now, I'm going to have to change all that."
"But if I did, I'd be punished for sure."
"Punished? What do you mean?"
The Villager only looked down, and Brandy saw a huge scar on her lower leg.
"Well, um…"
Brandy's grip loosened again. Her aggressive strategy suddenly didn't seem viable anymore. But she had to get out of here.
"How'd you like to be dead?"
"We can't die here. It's our own territory."
Darn. The villager was right. Brandy thought for a second, then turned back to face her.
"Okay, how'd you like to wish you were dead?"
The Villager stared forward at her, her expression almost blank. But the subtle movements of her eyes communicated to her sisters to arm the door trap.
"Alright, the way out is through that door over there.", she finally said, and pointed to the far wall.
"And that's it?", Brandy asked. "No tricks, or traps, or false walls?"
"No."
"Great. Thanks for your cooperation.", Brandy said, and let the Villager down. Brandy ran over to the wall, opened the door, and was greeted with the sight of glowing blue metal. Instinctively, she crossed her arms in defense, but it was too late. A massive jolt of electricity flowed from the wall and into her.
Brandy screamed in pain as her already damaged body was hit with the force of a Lightning, and fell to the ground. The Villager leaned over her prone position.
"I'm sorry. I really am. But I'm not allowed to help you." She cupped her hands to her mouth. "Help! The prisoner tried to escape!"
Within seconds, the sounds of tramping boots came from a nearby hallway, and a band of Royal Recruits flooded into the room. Brandy raised one arm in protest, but they surrounded her, picked her up, and shoved her in a straightjacket within seconds.
"About time you woke up.", said one Recruit. "We were just coming down to take you upstairs anyway."
"Hope you like that room.", said another. "Get used to it."
"What are you talking about?", said Brandy suspiciously.
"That's for us to know, and you to find out.", grunted a third Recruit. "Now come with us."
They all marched upstairs, Brandy in tow, as her heels began to spark blue.
Upstairs, the monthly Clan Meeting and Party of TheEvilOverLords was about to begin. It was different from their weekly Clan Meetings, in that they had a party afterwards- hence the name. All the members of the Clan were in attendance, their prize troops with them. Normally, the Clan Meetings were about stuff such as donations, clan wars, and the like. But today, this time, Ryusei_Nakao69 had a very special prize to show off.
As he stood with his arms behind his back, in the middle of backstage, he chuckled softly and turned to his right.
"Would you be pleased with this, Kurizas?", he asked his son-Prince.
"What do you mean, father?", Kurizas asked, looking up from polishing his lance.
"If you were me, would you be pleased with this work? The plan that has come together?"
"Well, if I were you, I guess I would be, yes."
Ryusei_Nakao69 stood up, and ran his fingers down his face, tracing the outline of the black scars that adorned his cheekbones.
"Good, good. That's very good, Kurizas."
After a few seconds of simmering silence, a Goblin in a stagehand uniform popped out from behind a curtain and smartly saluted.
"Sir? We're ready for you now."
The King known as theSenate popped his knuckles, and flipped open a dark grey notebook. He adjusted his crown, selected a pencil from behind his ear, and began to write. Being one of the Co-Leaders of the clan, and also the one best with words, he was the one in charge of writing everyone's speeches. But he had already completed that several hours earlier, and thus was writing a much more personal letter.
Dearest Sophia, it began.
From the first time I laid eyes on you, I knew that there could never be an Archer Queen as lovely as you. Indeed, even-
"Whatcha writing?", came a voice from behind him. theSenate turned around, and saw a Bandit looking over his chair and at the paper.
"It's nothing, Bailey.", he said, and hurriedly hid the notebook. "Go back to your business."
Bailey smirked, and slid back down off of the top of the chair. Oh, I'll get that notebook, she promised herself. One way or another.
The curtain at the front of the stage parted, and Ryusei_Nakao69 walked out from the middle, much to the cheers of the crowd. He folded his hands, walked up to the podium, and cleared his throat.
"Everyone, thank you for coming. The Emperor of the Arena has returned!"
The audience cheered again. Ryusei_Nakao69 had actually recently been arrested on charges of ID sharing, but the charges against him had been dropped due to the mysterious disappearance of all witnesses and opponents.
"Let us begin with our first order of business.", he said, and shuffled his notes, which had been given to him only seconds earlier by his daughter Stacy.
"It seems that Mr. Mickeyfuns has not met the required number of donations this week, and has thus been kicked. Now, the loss of a member is usually a rather tragic occurrence, but Mickeyfuns was only in Pekka's Playhouse. Not too much of a loss. But that does bring me me to the next item on our list, raising the required number of trophies in order to join. I've noticed that we have had an unusual number of riff-raff joining our clan lately."
While he spoke, Brandy's escort had already entered backstage. A Royal Recruit poked her in the back with a spear, just enough to hurt.
C'mon, c'mon..., she thought. Just a little more. I just need a little more.
"Alright, here's what you're gonna do.", he said, his voice muffled by his bucket. "We're all gonna walk onstage, he's gonna say his thing, you stand there and look pretty, we go off stage, you go back to your room and wait. You got that?"
Brandy chose to say nothing. Instead, she slightly nodded.
"I said, you got that?", said the Royal Recruit again, a touch of annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever.", she finally said. "I just couldn't hear you over the sound of stupidity in the room."
"Fine, whatever. Just follow us.", he said with a sigh. He didn't get paid enough for this, he thought. If he even managed to get paid at all, which was rare. He jabbed Brandy in the back again, and they all moved forward.
Back out on the stage, Ryusei_Nakao69 was finishing up his opening remarks, and starting to move on to the meat of the meeting.
"And of course, everyone, don't miss your War Attacks. There's not really a reason to, I shouldn't have to remind anybody, and yet some of you still choose to miss them." He pointed into the crowd. "I'm Looking at you, T. Wiseau."
Several members of the crowd turned to look at the black-haired King he was pointing to. "Hey, I did nawt mees it.", he said in his bizarre, unique accent. He was also just a very bizarre king. "I did nawt."
He looked around. "Oh hi Mark.", he said to someone who wasn't there.
"And finally,", said Ryusei_Nakao69, trying to move on, "We have a very special treat for you all tonight. Sirs MaNoFwAr and Odurawaz. Your tips have been much appreciated, and it was only with your help that this operation was successful. And of course, I have to thank my very own Elite Barbarians, Chadwick and Richard, for their invaluable help."
They both stood up from the back of the room, and many clapped, although some cheered. A group of Archers and a Princess shrieked, and a Valkyrie hollered.
"They have managed to capture me a Bandit! Bring her out, everyone."
He turned and caught the eye of a Goblin stagehand, who flipped a hand signal to another. The other Goblin pulled on his line, and the curtain opened, revealing several squadrons of Guards, a line of Royal Recruits, and Brandy, her eyes closed and trying to keep her breathing slow.
Inexplicably, a Bowler yelled "Hey, my Rider!" from the audience. Someone would have gotten on him about it, if it were not for the R-Word pass tattoo that was clearly displayed across his chest. Perhaps that's why he did it- in order to show off.
In the far corner of the room, a newspaper high up on the table twitched slightly, and a pair of mystical eyes looked straight through it, right at Brandy. The strange man reading then took a sip of his tea, and resumed looking at the Comics section.
"Better keep a close eye on her, your Highness.", said one of the Guards. "She's a fiery one. Almost killed Helen."
"Helen?", asked the King, one eyebrow raised.
"A Villager.", explained the Guard.
"Oh, don't worry.", Ryusei_Nakao69 replied. "She may be stubborn, but we'll fix that tomorrow."
Brandy felt her forehead knit. "What…?", she said to herself.
"Oh, has he not told you?", a Goblin whispered from behind her.
"Told me what?", she asked frantically. "What is he going to do to me?"
"Oh, he's going to hypnotize you to be his troop.", said the Goblin with a shrug. "Just like everyone else we kidnap."
It took a few seconds for the Goblin's words to sink in, but once they did, Brandy felt her heart jump. Blackness creeped in the corners of her vision, and despite her best efforts to stay calm, she felt herself starting to hyperventilate.
He couldn't do this. Hypnotism was just a thing that Witches did at parties with volunteers. And on Hogs. He couldn't actually do it to her. Could he?
Her thoughts were broken by the sound of Ryusei_Nakao69 pounding a gavel on the podium. "Meeting dismissed! Everyone, the accommodations for tonight are as follows. theSenate, take the far north tower. LeChris, deep south laboratory. VADER, you drew the short straw, so the Elixir shed out back. HurtJohn…"
The rooming announcements continued for a while- around 15 minutes in fact. There were a lot of Kings, and a lot of Troops. But eventually, they were finished, and the room was almost empty. The only ones left on the stage were Brandy, a handful of Royal Recruits, and Ryusei_Nakao69. And a couple of stagehands, but they were practically invisible, and didn't count.
Ryusei_Nakao69 turned to Brandy, a diabolical leer crossing his face. "Now, Miss Brandy, I would normally command these Recruits to take you to your room. But I'm going to give you a little offer, a luxury really. If you'd like, why don't you sleep upstairs? With me?"
Brandy choked a little bit. "No.", she said. "That's- that's disgusting."
"Disgusting?", Ryusie_Nakao69 said, faking his hurt. "I don't think you have any idea of the situation here. You see, you don't really have a choice here. I got you. You're mine."
"Well, I'm getting something better.", Brandy quietly retorted. A tiny spark of bravery grew somewhere within her.
"Oh?", said the King. "And what is that?"
"Out.", she said. "I'm getting the frick out."
"Wait, what-", he started to say, but it was already too late for him to respond. Brandy at last put her plan into motion, and unleashed all of the Dash energy she had been building up for almost 10 minutes. With a sound like a sonic boom, she blasted off across the stage, blowing the king off his feet and crashing through the huge double doors.
"Someone! Stop her!", he roared, readjusting himself as quickly as possible. He started to run after her, but was stopped by a tap on the shoulder. He turned around, into the face of a shadow.
Inside the hallway, Brandy still dashed at incredible speed. She jumped over a Gold Chest lying in the middle of the floor, and saw passing Ram Rider and a Mini Pekka both ran towards her, from opposite directions. The Ram Rider gave a fierce warcry and threw her bola, but Brandy, still Dashing, ducked and slid on her knees. The bola passed harmlessly over her and hit the Mini Pekka, which skidded into the wall and fell.
Brandy straightened up again, and saw the door to outside at the end of the hall. Hope surged through her, and she pressed the side of her straitjacket to the wall. The immense friction generated slowly but surely burned through the thick, course material, and the jacket popped off. Brandy shook herself and continued running. Almost there...
"She's getting away!", shouted LeChris, arms full of Gold. "Do whatever you have to to stop her!"
A Dart Goblin jumped in front of her with his arms open, and was instantly bowled over by Brandy. His blowgun snapped, and his body splashed into a puddle of Elixir. He reformed a second later, but not without a massive headache. And the tinges of blue fire all over him didn't help either.
"Mr. Door!", yelled VADER, another Co-Leader. "Stop her!"
Brandy was now but mere seconds away from the exit door. She noticed that her Dash had begun to flicker and fade, but she was still going strong. With a yell of sheer effort, Brandy leaped, one hand outwards, for the door. She hung there for a moment, seeming to be suspended in the air. Hope soared on her fingertips, her eyes lit up blue- and at the very last second, Brandy violently collided with the the outstretched arm of a Golem.
If Brandy had not still had her Dash invulnerability, the impact surely would have killed her. Instead, it only stopped her cold, knocked the wind out of her, and sent her sprawling backwards onto the floor.
Brandy lay there for a few seconds, trying to get her body to respond. The immense pain was felt across her entire torso, like a pulsing… pulsing…
She couldn't think of any figures of speech. It just hurt too much. Brandy strained, and finally got control of her muscles again. She tried to get to her feet, but the huge, rocky hand of Mr. Door, the Golem, grabbed hold of her, locking her arms to her sides and lifted her into the air. Veronica, Ryusei_Nakao69's daughter-Princess, walked out from behind him with a smug grin.
"Mr. Door has a grip strong enough to restrain a Pekka. You can't escape him.", she said. Mr. Door gave her a rocky smile, looking for approval, and Veronica patted him on the head.
"We'll - rrgh - see about that!", grunted Brandy, and pushed. All of the muscles in her arm strained as hard as they could against the iron grip of the Golem, sweat dripping down her brow. But after a few seconds, she hadn't even caused the Golem to budge, and Brandy realized that Veronica was right - it was like trying to push against a mountain. So Brandy then chose to conserve her energy, and quit struggling.
"Oh, you're done?", Veronica asked mockingly, and applied another layer of lipstick. "I was starting to get bored."
She took a metallic ring out of her pocket, knelt, and snapped it onto Brandy's leg. It made a soft, slightly satisfying click as it took hold, and then lit up red. Brandy could feel a strange sensation move across her skin as it hummed.
"There.", said Veronica as she stood back up. "That should prevent any more incidents."
"What is that?", asked Brandy. "What did you do to me?"
Veronica took a long drag on what appeared to be a cigar, even though there was nothing in it, and smiled sickly-sweet at Brandy.
"It's an anti-ability collar.", said Veronica. "It's my father's own invention. You see, what it does is that it blocks the natural Elixir flow of troops from accessing their hearts, causing a buildup of mortality, and heavily increasing the amount of normalcy."
Brandy was silent, as she tried to figure this out.
"Oh, that's right.", said Veronica, using the exaggerated voice of a young child. "You don't know anything about science, do you? Cause you're just a simple little Bandit. So I'll put it in terms you can understand. It stops you from dashing."
"You can't do that.", said Brandy, hiding her shock. "That's impossible."
"Is it?", came the voice of Ryusei_Nakao69, who had come up from behind his daughter. "Is it really? Go on ahead, try it. Be my guest."
Brandy tried to Dash. She tried to use her latent, built-in abilities as a Bandit, skills she had had for entire life. But instead of a light blue film running across her skin, flowing into the collar, and vanishing, nothing happened. She stared at the King in shock. And when Mr. Door at last opened his hand and dropped her onto the floor, she didn't even try to run away.
Ryusei_Nakao69 tapped her forehead.
"Do you see now, Brandy?", he whispered. "This is what I do. This is my specialty. For I may battle in the Arena, just like any other king. But I do not deal in Trophies, or Gold. No, I deal in a far more precious commodity."
Brandy stared up at him, and he cracked a cruel smile as his eyes lit crimson. "I deal in souls.
Brandy felt a primordial instinct of pure fear take root somewhere inside of her. She had always heard stories of people like this. Kings who stole Troops, or Troops that went around murdering others. And Bowza had told her there was a special word for people like that.
Demons.
Ryusei_Nakao69 gestured to a dour-faced, bearded Bowler standing at a nearby hallway door. "You there! Bowler!"
The Bowler snapped to attention. "Yes, my liege?"
Ryusei_Nakao69 shoved Brandy towards him with a cruel sneer. "Take her away."
"Yes, my liege.", the Bowler replied. He leaned over, grabbed Brandy with one massive hand, and turned her around.
"Come with me, Bandit.", said the Bowler. Oddly enough, his tone of voice seemed gentle, almost kind. But Brandy did not notice. She only stared at the ground, and numbly nodded. The Bowler put one hand on her back, and walked her into the hallway.
"Oh, Bowler?", came the voice of Ryusei_Nakao69 from behind, and the Bowler looked around.
"I would normally have you take her to her room. But for this one…"
He fixed Brandy with a look that was a strange mix between contempt and lust.
"Take her to Dungeon C instead. The one with the Arena 8-12 troops."
The Bowler saluted without a word. "Understood. Will there be anything else, sire?"
The King waved his hand. "No, that's it… um… what's your name, again?", he asked.
"Jobe, sire.", said the Bowler, and bowed.
"Ah yes, Jobe.", said the King. "So that's all for now, then."
And so the Bowler slightly shoved Brandy, and the continued their path, now towards the dungeons.
The walls of the lower levels of the castle dripped with bright green mold, and entirely unknown species of insects scrambled from the light of the torch that the Bowler carried. Once they were out of earshot of the King, or anyone else, the Bowler looked to his left, nodded, then the same to his right. And then, to Brandy's growing curiosity, he set the torch on the wall, knelt, and grabbed his beard.
"Brandy, are you okay?", he said in a different voice.
Brandy looked up for the first time since they had began their walk, and saw a very familiar face, now free of the beard.
She gasped. "Webert?"
Her friend smiled, and slightly posed. "Yes! I am!"
Brandy's lip quivered, and she jumped forward in a hug. "I knew someone would come! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"
Webert gently patted her back, and put his finger to his lips. "Okay, I know you're excited. I'm excited to see you too, I've been looking for a while. But keep the noise down."
"Okay, okay, I will.", whispered Brandy. Then she thought for a second. "You said you've been looking for me for a while- how long?"
"Hmm?"
"How long, exactly have you been looking for me?"
"Oh, about two days."
Brandy thought about this for a second. "TWO DAYS?", she finally shrieked, then quieted back down to a whisper. "But I just woke up not even an hour ago. You mean to tell me I've been unconscious for two days?"
Her skin crawled. "What did they do to me?", she whispered to herself. "And… and…"
Brandy looked up into Webert's face.
"How did you get here?", she asked.
"Yeah,", Webert replied, "this isn't technically me. I'm speaking through a Clone."
"Oh.", she said. "But, how did your Clone get in here?"
"I just walked on in. This place actually has one of the best bowling alleys in the world- all Bowlers are allowed."
"Huh.", Brandy said. "But, you're Blue. Wouldn't they recognize that?"
"No. Clones are neutral-aligned outside of the arenas.", he explained. "I just read as Red to them."
"Well, I guess that makes sense.", Brandy said. "So, what we do now, then?"
Webert pointed one finger in the air, opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. His eye twitched as he thought of something to say, couldn't, and put his finger back down.
"I… don't know, actually. Bowza and Agatha just told me to get in and find you. Not what to do after that."
"Are they here too?"
"No. Just me."
Brandy felt a little let down. "Oh. Just… you are gonna get me out of here, right?"
Webert smiled. "Of course. Just remember, don't arouse any suspicion. Nobody can know what just happened.
Brandy nodded. "Right."
Ryusei_Nakao69 stopped where he was walking. His mechanically enhanced hearing had just picked up something very strange. Normally, he heard many things that would be considered odd throughout his castle- electric explosions, genetic experiments, screams of pain and torture- but to him, it was all just daily routine. But this time, he had heard an odd conversation. He had only picked up the tail end of it, but…
Nobody can know what just happened. That is what he had heard. His mind acted fast, cross-referencing the sound bite with everything currently happening. There was the party upstairs, the party outside, the Dragon dissection in the laboratory, the prisoner block, the-
He stopped. Of course. It was the voice of a Bowler. He pulled up his sleeves and went for Dungeon C as fast as he could.
"Well, what if we organize a breakout?", asked Brandy. "There are probably lots of prisoners here, and we might be able to do it."
Webert shook his head. "No, no. Too risky. Every red troop here can respawn, and we couldn't. Any direct attack would be suicide."
"Oh.", said Brandy. "Well, what if we-"
Webert suddenly looked up. "Someone's coming. Quick, act like we weren't doing anything."
He hurriedly pulled on his beard, without checking to see if it was quite right. Brandy put her arms behind her back and sat down on a nearby bench, with her head hung. Within seconds, Ryusei_Nakao69 came striding around the corner, a suspicious look on his face.
"Jobe, what's going on?"
"I just sat down, sir. You see, she tried to escape, and I had to really work to restrain her.", he said with a pump of his arm. "Quite a fast one, this Bandit."
But Ryusei_Nakao69 wasn't listening. He focused all of his attention on Webert's face. Something wasn't right. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he was going to find out. Going to- oh. Yes, that was it.
"Jobe.", he said. "Your beard's not on straight."
A cold shock of fear raced through Brandy on the bench, and she stiffened. Webert, too, was taken aback a bit.
"Uh,", he said. "Uh, well, you see, I…"
Brandy started to panic. Webert had never been a good lier. He was pretty bad at it, to be totally honest. And if he couldn't think his way out of this one, then the King was going to find out everything, and Webert's clone would be destroyed, and then, and then-
And then to everyone's surprise, probably even including himself, Webert's eyes quivered, then his lips. He dropped his ball to the ground, fell to his knees, and began to sob.
"I'm sorry, your majesty,", he said in between gasps, "but... but…"
"What?", snarled Ryusei_Nakao69. "What is it, Jobe?"
"I just can't grow a beard!"
Ryusei_Nakao69's face twisted into confusion. "You can't grow a beard."
"No. I can't. No matter how hard I try, I just can't! I don't know why!"
"But, you've always had a beard, haven't you? Even when I just saw you around the castle."
"I know, I have- and it's all just been a lie! As long as I can remember, I've always just worn a fake beard."
"But… why?", asked the king.
"All the cool bowlers have one- I just had to have one, you know?", Webert sobbed.
Ryusei_Nakao69, his composure a bit unsettled, chose to just pat Webert on the back a few times.
"Well, you know, just keep in there, Mr. Jobe. I won't tell anyone.", he said. "I suppose everything is alright, and you can take the prisoner to her cell now."
"Oh, right.", said Webert, and stood back up. He dried his eyes, straightened his beard, and grabbed Brandy. "Come on then, Bandit."
So as Ryusei_Nakao69 left to take care of other business, Webert and Brandy continued their march towards the Dungeon.
It was a while later when Ryusei_Nakao69 at last sat down in his chair, cracked open a can of soda, turned on some TV Royale, and smiled. The day had gone all according to plan, and there was nothing that could happen that could possibly ruin it. Nothing at all.
He flicked the remote a few times, and the channel changed to one of a Barbarian in a forest clearing. The title flashed across the screen a few times- Wheel! Of! Death!
The Barbarian looked around frantically. "What's going on?", he said. "Where am I?"
"You're on Wheel of Death!", shouted an unseen Wizard. "Smile- you're on camera!
"Wha- I'm being filmed?", shouted the Barbarian. "What kind of sadistic retard watches this crap?"
"Oh, I love this show.", murmured Ryusei_Nakao69 to himself. He took a long swig of his drink, and heard a knock at the door.
"Come in, come in.", he said, and the door opened.
"Daddy?", came the voice of a Princess. "Did you get me a new toy?"
Brandy coughed, and shifted on the hard stone floor. It had been about an hour since Webert had put her in the cell- gently, of course, and with a promise that help was on the way. He had also removed her handcuffs, but they had decided together that taking off her anti-dash collar would arouse too much suspicion. So for now, Brandy was just waiting for something to happen. Anything.
"Psst! Hey!", came a voice. Brandy turned her head over her shoulder, and saw two Rascal Girls, tied with their backs to each other, in the cell right behind her.
"Are you untied?", one whispered.
"Yes.", said Brandy. "I guess I am."
"Good!", the other whispered loudly. "You can help get us out of here. I'm Bubble, by the way, and this is Gum."
"Hi.", said Gum.
"How do I get you out?", Brandy asked. "There's still a cell wall between us."
"The keys are on the far wall.", said Bubble. "You can just dash between the bars and grab them, right?"
Brandy sighed heavily. "Well actually, I can't. This collar on my neck stops me from dashing. And I can't take it off."
"Oh.", said Gum. "Darn."
"Where's your brother though?", asked Brandy. "Isn't he supposed to always be with you?"
"No, Tim's being held in another cell.", said Gum. "We got to stick together though, thank Dr'ew."
"Yeah.", added her twin. "We're scheduled to be hypnotized though."
"Shoot.", said Brandy. "So am I. Tomorrow evening."
"Oh, I wish we had that long.", said Gum. "They're coming to get us at 10:30. Say, what time is it?"
Brandy strained, and saw a clock on the wall out of the corner of her vision. "It's 10:28.", she said, and felt the Rascal Girls' eyes widen.
"Crap!", said Bubble. "We only have a few minutes! We gotta-"
There was a crack of stone, and the wall on the other side of their cell bulged slightly outward. Then another, and the wall burst, revealing a heaving Rascal Boy.
"Tim!", shouted Gum ecstatically. "You came!"
Tim straightened himself up, flung his wooden sword onto his back, and started towards the Girls.
"I thought they got you already!", said Bubble. "How did you manage to escape?"
Tim said nothing, and simply grabbed his sisters by the rope that held them together, lifting them into the air.
"Heh, Tim, aren't you gonna untie us?", said Gum, a note of nervousness in her voice. "Please?", added her sister.
Tim just looked up, and huffed his hair aside. And for a single moment, Brandy, Bubble, and Gum could see his eyes. They were blood red.
Bubble and Gum's faces both drained. "Tim! No!", Bubble screamed in horror, but her hypnotized brother had already began to walk towards the exit he had created.
Both of them screamed, as the realization of what had happened, what was happening, and what would soon happen fully set in. "Timmm!"
And then they were gone, leaving a mortified Brandy alone, having been totally unable to do anything at all.
Ryusei_Nakao69 turned down the volume on the TV, and turned to his third daughter. She was noticeably smaller than either Veronica or Stacy, as she was younger. "I'm sorry, but not this time, Chloe. I have a very special purpose for this one."
"But Daaaaaddy, I want her!", whined Chloe, with hands clasped. "Please?"
"Do remember those Archers I got you the other day? Weren't they enough for you?"
"They were…", Chloe huffed, "But then they got boring. I'm bored, Daddy, I want a Bandit!"
Ryusei_Nako69 stiffened in his chair. "Chloe, I'm afraid not. Usually I would let you have her, but my contractor wants her. So no."
"Please, Daddy? Just for one night?", Chloe begged. "Please please please please please please ple-"
The King put his hands over his ears. "Oh, fine. I suppose you can have her for one night. Let's go get her."
He stood up out of his chair, and Chloe clapped her hands together and jumped with delight. "Thank you, Daddy! You're the best!"
She hugged him ferociously, and they both headed on down to dungeon 3.
Brandy aimlessly dug at the stone of her floor with her fingernails. Silence reigned in the dungeon, as her only cellmate that she could see was an Ice Golem. And of course he didn't say anything, because he was an Ice Golem. Instead, he just kept on staring ahead, into the Aether, with his constant facial expression that meant everything and nothing. Brandy looked ahead at the poster on the wall, a tourism poster meant to attract people from other continents. It depicted a pile of troops - including a Ram Rider, some Rascals, and a Royal Ghost - all reaching for a floating Red Crown. As Brandy stared at it closer, she could see a Bandit among the pile. Staring, waiting for her chance to strike.
But within time, the poster lost its appeal, and Brandy just closed her eyes. And when she did, she could only see a faint afterimage of Dan. It occurred to her just how much she missed him then. His smile, his personality, everything about him. And what had their last conversation ended on?
Go away, Brandy. You'd never understand.
But Brandy wished that that was her biggest problem right now. How she wished so desperately that Dan's nerf was what she had to deal with, instead of being kidnapped and lying in a dungeon, with who knows what fate about to befall her. She remembered the awful screams of the Rascal Girls, as their brother was the one to take them away.
A jingle of keys broke her thoughts, and she looked up. Ryusei_Nakao69 was there, right at the entrance to her cell, with a bouncing young Princess in tow. Brandy realized with a start that if he was there, then that must mean that her time had come. And if her time had come, then that meant that he was her to hypnotize her.
Well, she wouldn't go down without a fight. Brandy leapt to her feet, and assumed a fighting pose. But she slightly relaxed when she heard their conversation.
"Remember Chloe, you only get her for one night.", said Ryusei_Nako69. "And then you have to turn her over to me."
"Yes Daddy, I know.", said Chloe. "Now just let me have her!"
Ryusei_Nakao69 finally finished fumbling with the lock and threw open the cell door. He greeted Brandy with a wide, menacing smile.
"Miss Brandy, I hope you're feeling alright.", he said. "There's been a slight change of plans."
Brandy chose to say nothing. Instead, she only slightly tensed her muscles, and prepared herself to Dash. Nobody was around. If she could get one good strike on the King's head, it might be enough to kill him.
"You see, my daughter Chloe here has taking quite a liking to you. And as such, you're to be her toy for the next 24 hours. There will be no resistance."
"Wait, is she your daughter?", Brandy asked.
"Yes, she is.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "That's literally what i just said- were you even paying attention?"
"Well,", Brandy said, feeling that the Dash energy had at last built up inside her, "She's not going to be your daughter for long. Because her dad's about to be dead."
The King recoiled, and Brandy let out her characteristic Dash yell. She lunged forward- and stopped. She felt a chilling realization settle onto her, and saw a faint blue tinge run down from her body and into the collar that she only now remembered was there.
Ryusei_Nako69 laughed. "Oh, it appears you've forgotten, Brandy. As long as you're under my power, you cannot Dash. And in case you've forgotten that too…"
He leaned forward, hands behind his back. "You will always be under my power from now on, until your free will ends. Which I guess will be in about 17 hours from now. Might as well enjoy it while you can."
Chloe bounced out from behind him, and grabbed Brandy by the wrists.
"Alright, come with me.", Chloe ordered her.
As much as she despised the idea of being a Princess's "toy", Brandy didn't see any other choice. So she sighed, and started to walk. But then,
An idea began to take hold inside of Brandy's mind as the enthusiastic Princess pulled her towards the stairs. If she was left with Ryusei_Nakao69's daughter unattended, she could be in a real bargaining position. She couldn't kill him, but maybe-
Her thoughts were interrupted by Ryusei_Nakao69 grabbing her hood, and pulling her back. His breath was hot on her neck, and felt slightly dark and mechanical for some reason.
"If you even think about harming my daughter, well... let me put it this way. You're either a toy for a Princess or a toy for the Barbarians. You get that?"
"Yes, I understand.", Brandy said quietly.
"You understand what?"
"I understand, your... your...", Brandy tried to say, but could not bring herself to finish the phrase. She squeezed her eyes shut, and her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Go on. Say it.", said Ryusei_Nakao69 with evil pleasure.
"I understand…", Brandy gritted her teeth, and forced herself to say it. "Your Majesty."
"Good, Miss Brandy, good. You're finally coming around. Now go upstairs." Ryusei_Nakao69 took a different staircase, to a deeper room. He had some explaining to do, to his contractor. Brandy saw him leave out of the corner of her eye as Chloe took her upstairs. She also noticed the Ice Golem was gone, for whatever unknowable reason.
The door to the basement opened, and Chloe bounced out, Brandy in tow. Veronica, chatting with a Dark Prince and a Valkyrie, noticed her and came over.
"Hey, so that's where she ended up.", said Veronica. "Nice. Seems fitting."
"You wanna come play with me, Veronica?", asked Chloe. "I have some Archers up in my room too."
"Oh, not right now, Chloe.", said Veronica. "Me, Valerie, and Edvard were all going to do something. Maybe later, kay?"
"Okay, that's fine.", said Chloe. "I guess you just don't want to play with your little sister, that's all."
Chloe had expected some sort of sympathetic response from Veronica. Maybe a "Hey, cheer up" or a "Oh, don't worry". But what she got was a cruel glare, and a "Listen, Chloe. I'm busy right now. Go away."
"O- okay, Veronica.", said Chloe sadly, then remembered Brandy was still there. "Okay Brandy, let's go!"
But Brandy wasn't listening. She had just been staring at Veronica. Her smug grin. The way she carried herself. And Brandy's thoughts twisted furious. How dare she do this. How dare anyone treat her like this, like she was just some object to be thrown around.
An insane mix of courage and anger took root in Brandy, and her eyes lit up a faint purple. With a ferocious yell, she jumped forward, Dash or no Dash, and swung one fist directly at Veronica's face.
It took not even half a second for Veronica's eyes to widen, and for her to start to fall backwards. And it would have taken only a second for Brandy's fist to satisfyingly crash into Veronica's face, had it not taken exactly half a second for Edvard's black gloved hand to reach out from behind the Princess and catch Brandy's fist.
"Listen, you little skank.", he spat from behind his helmet. "Nobody hurts Veronica, except maybe me. And not even then."
Veronica put a hand on his side and kissed him on the cheek.
"Come on, Edvard.", she said. "Let's go."
And they did, down the hallway towards the Laboratory. But Valerie still stood there, watching Chloe and Brandy head upstairs, slowly twirling around her axe. She had a feeling that her and Brandy would meet again, somehow. She didn't know when, but she knew it would happen.
As Chloe finally led Brandy through the Gem-encrusted doors of her room, the door locked automatically behind them. Chloe spun around, and sighed happily and deeply.
"Chloe, you're back!", came the voice of an Archer from somewhere inside. "We were wondering where you had gone."
Brandy saw a circle of Archers, all seated around a table. They weren't wearing the regular tunic of Archers, though- no, their clothes were far more fancy, and also very chaotic, a product of Chloe's bizarre fashion sense. Their eyes glowed a faint red, and there seemed to be various papers scattered between them.
"Who's that, Chloe?", asked another. "She looks fun."
"She's a Bandit.", said Chloe with pride. "Her name's Brandy, and we got her last night. Daddy didn't want to give her up, but I got her anyway, cause I'm his favorite. And she hasn't even been hypnotized yet, either!"
"Ooh, a new one.", said one of the Archers. This prompted a ring of excited whispers among them- "We haven't had a new one in ages", "I wonder what she's like", "Who took her", etc.
"Well, bring her over!", said an Archer. "Let's get her comfortable."
Chloe turned to Brandy. "Alright Brandy, let's go."
But Brandy did not move. She just stood there, right in front of the door, staring at Chloe, and staring at the Archers. How casual they were, in the face of such atrocity. How almost surreal it was that Chloe, clearly such an innocent soul, saw nothing wrong with using Troops as mere toys and playthings. A quiet, deep resolve filled Brandy, and she stood slightly taller.
"No.", she said. "I'm not moving."
"You're… not?", asked Chloe slowly, almost as if she didn't believe it.
"No, I'm not, you little brat.", growled Brandy. "You cannot make me. I don't care what you do, I don't care what you say, you or your kind will not control me anymore."
Had Brandy been paying more attention to the events of the last few hours, she might have noticed that every time she tried to fight back, she was almost immediately beaten. But she hadn't been, and so she didn't know. But that pattern was not about to change.
Chloe sighed, and snapped her fingers. "Tim!"
Brandy barely had time to remember that name as oddly familiar, when the huge hand of a Rascal Boy grabbed her waist. And then she remembered where she had heard the name before.
Tim took a few huge steps, and soon reached the Archer table. He dropped her down in a chair, and held her down. And then, to Brandy's horror, she saw Bubble and Gum emerge from behind him. They each held a metal band.
"Oh, hey Brandy.", said Bubble. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon."
"You two?", Brandy said with shock, and the two Rascal Girls each clamped a metal bracelet down on Brandy's wrists, pinning her to the chair. "What happened to you?"
"Easy.", said Gum, and blew a bubble. "Ryusei_Nakao69 was so gracious as to show us the light."
"He didn't show you the light, he hypnotized you! He stole your free will!"
Bubble waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, that's ridiculous. He even told us that someone would try and tell us that."
Brandy could see that there was no good way out of this situation. Come to think of it, there wasn't even a bad way out, either. In fact, there just was no way out, period. There was clearly no point in talking, she couldn't fight, and now, she couldn't even run. So Brandy reluctantly lowered her head and sighed.
"Fine. You win.", she said quietly, and felt her heart sink. "Do what you want with me."
She heard herself speak, but couldn't quite believe it. Was she really saying this? Her?
The Archers got up from the table and surrounded Brandy. One flipped back her hood and ran her fingers through Brandy's hair.
"Ooh, let me do your hair!"
"You know, I bet we could do something real nice with this hood of yours."
"I have some new makeup I wanna test out-"
"You're not doing anything with those gloves, are you?"
"Hey, do you think you could give me some makeup advice?"
The sound reached Brandy's ears, but fell and stuttered there. She purposefully blocked them out, allowing herself only to hear the sound of the blood rushing in her head.
"Leave us.", said Chloe, to the surprise of all the Archers."I want some private time with her."
The Archers were now silent as they filed out of the room, one by one.
"Alright, take off her handcuffs", commanded Chloe to the Rascals. "She can't do what I tell her to if she can't move."
The Rascals removed her restraints, then left as well. And in that instant, Brandy formed a plan. She knew that she had only one shot at this. The way Veronica had treated Chloe earlier gave Brandy a hint that not everything was perfect for the young Princess. There might be a way to reason with her.
Work Here
"Listen, Chloe... why are you doing this? Why is your father doing this?", Brandy blurted out before Chloe could start anything.
Chloe put her finger to her chin.
"Hmmm, well, I do it because it's the only thing I have for entertainment. I'm not old enough to be a field Princess or even a tower Princess yet. And my dad does it because, well... it's fun for him, I guess."
"For fun? He kidnaps people, tortures them, and then brainwashes them for fun?"
"Well, it's the end result that he wants. Once he hypnotizes someone, they like it more here than they ever did at their old castle. Here, I'll show you."
She turned, cupped her hands around her mouth, and hollored.
"Tabitha? Could you come out here again? I need you again."
One of the Archers that had been in the room before walked back into the room, and sat down in the same chair that she had been in just a minute earlier. "Anything I can help you with, Chloe?"
"Oh, I'm just trying to convince Brandy that it's better here.", explained the Princess.
Tabitha nodded. "Right.", she said. She walked over to Brandy and extended her hand. "But from what she was like earlier, I'm not sure you're going to have much success."
Brandy almost said something. She almost, almost grabbed the Archer by the throat, with intent to kill. But something held her back- some sort of odd, almost peaceful reassurance that if she just held herself back, everything would be alright.
Tabitha, her eyes slightly misted over, continued. "But really, life here, under Ryusei_Nakao69 is so much fun! You don't have to think for yourself, or worry about the future- you just do what everyone else tells you to, and you're good! I can't even remember my life before I was brought here. And just the other day, I..."
But Brandy had abandoned thought. And all that crossed her mind was the uncertainty of tomorrow, and the potential unthinkable horror of the day after that. If her clanmates didn't show up in time... she pushed the thought away. It was too horrible to even think about.
"Yeah, she looks like she's in babysitter mode tonight. You're lucky."
"Wait, what?", Brandy asked. "I wasn't listening."
Tabitha grinned. "I was just saying that Chloe typically has three modes. Sometimes she wants a toy, sometimes she wants a servant, and sometimes she just wants someone to take care of her. And it looks like she just wants the third mode for tonight. Lucky."
She stood up. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Have fun."
Tabitha left the room, and Brandy snorted. "Yeah, as if."
Chloe took a big bite of a chocolate muffin she had placed by her bedside and clapped her hands.
"Alright Brandy- actually, can I call you Bailey? I'm going to call you Bailey.", the Princess said.
"Why?"
"She's a Bandit I know. She reads me stories sometimes- hey! Can you read me a story?"
"No. I'm not going to read you a story, kid. And no, you can't call me Bailey.", said Brandy.
Chloe frowned, and reached for a telephone by her bedside. "Hey, Daddy? The Bandit's not cooperati-"
Brandy experienced a momentary surge of panic, and threw out her hands. "Ah! Woah, woah, fine, I'll do it. Just don't call your dad. What... what story do you want?"
Chloe hopped out of her bed and opened a large chest. She sifted through it for a few seconds, then took out a book titled "The Three Mini Pekkas". "I want you to read me this one."
"Okay, Chloe. I will.", said Brandy with a sigh, and took the book from her. "But before I do, I just want to tell you something. Real talk. What you're doing here, what your dad is doing here- it's wrong. It's sick, and twisted, and wrong."
Chloe looked up at her, confusion reflected in her innocent eyes. "Wrong? What do you mean?"
Brandy thought. "Well, have you ever gotten into trouble with your dad before?"
Chloe leaned back, and tapped her chin. "Well, there was that time a big huge mural all over the walls of his Clan Room. You should have seen him. He was furious!"
"Well,", said Brandy, "Take how bad that was, and multiply it by a thousand. And that's not even close to how bad the things are that go on here."
Chloe was still confused. "I still don't get it. What does he do that's wrong?"
Brandy closed her eyes. She didn't want to have to do this, but she saw no other choice if she was to get Chloe to listen. So she leaned in, whispered in Chloe's ear, and told her everything. The way she was kidnapped, the way she was violated, the way she was tortured, the way she was held and treated like an object- all of it. Once she was done, and expression of pure shock crossed Chloe's face.
"Oh. So... this is bad? And... Daddy's bad?"
"Right.", Brandy said with an affirmative nod.
Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Hold on a minute. Why should I trust you?"
Brandy took a deep breath. "Because right here, right now, I have absolutely nothing to gain from tricking you, and every reason to tell you the truth."
"What does that mean?", asked Chloe.
Brandy realized she would need more physical evidence to convince Chloe. So she rolled up the ends of her skirt and showed the Princess the part of her leg where Chad had carved his name into Brandy's skin.
Chloe's mouth formed a perfect "O" of surprise. It took a few seconds for her to come to terms with this, then all traces of it abruptly vanished from her face.
"Now read me the story.", she pouted.
Brandy thought it had worked. But whether it actually had, or it had merely been lost on the complicated mind of youth, still was unknown. So Brandy opened up the book, and began to read. "Once upon a time, there were three Mini Pekkas. They all lived together in..."
In a different part of the castle, there was silence in a darkened room. Silence, except for a sigh. The sigh came from a Musketeer, sitting by her bedside. She had not had a good day. At least Chloe had been nice to her- everyone else had tormented her almost relentlessly. And she guessed that Bowler, Jobe, had been pretty nice too. But everyone else was cruel beyond belief. She was still pretty new- her king had just got her from a Silver Chest a few days ago. He had already unlocked Musketeer, of course, but there could always be a few extra troops. She thought that people were supposed to be nice to new troops, show them around, but that seemed to not be the case for her. Instead, she was harassed constantly. Everyone seemed to always take time out of their day to attack her, in one way or another. And she knew why- her hands. She looked at them- even now, they shook. No one wanted a Musketeer that couldn't aim. She wiped the tear that had fallen down her cheek, and climbed into her bed.
"Going to bed so soon?", came the voice of another Musketeer at the door. She stood leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, illuminated by the light of the hallway. Another stood behind her, face twisted in a cruel grin.
"But you'll miss the party.", said the second. "Wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?"
"Does it matter if she misses the party?", asked a third mockingly. "She's used to it- she already misses everything else."
"Guys, please, leave me alone.", begged the lone Musketeer, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
The lead Musketeer grabbed her face and dragged her out of bed. "Oh, be a good sport. It's time for your taxes."
The second in command dug through the drawers of their victim, finding all the Gold and Gems that had been hidden away. "Looks like she's got 500 Gold and 15- no, 16- Gems still. She's been stingy on us."
The third grabbed the bullied Musketeer's cape, wrapped it around her face, tied it together, and shoved her back onto the bed. They all walked out of the room, laughing.
"See you later, loser!", the leader said, and made an L on her forehead just before she vanished from sight. And in her bed, the lone Musketeer fell onto her side, tried not to cry, and cried a lot.
"...and so, with the Bowler's help, the three Mini Pekkas defeated the big bad maxed out Dark Prince, and they all lived happily ever after.", said Brandy, and she snapped the book shut. As she moved her arm in doing so, Chloe, who had been leaning up against it, fell onto her, slid for a few seconds, and collapsed onto her bed.
Brandy blinked, and put the book on the shelf without taking her eyes off of Chloe. Was she asleep? Brandy waved her hand over the Princess's face. No reaction. She chuckled softly to herself, and heaved a sigh of relief. The ordeal was over- for now, at least.
Ah well. And then, to her own surprise, Brandy smiled a bit. But had it been an ordeal? a rouge thought thought as it crept suddenly into her mind. After all, the thought continued, what bad things even happened?
Brandy snapped back to attention. She realized her face had been twisted into a bizarre smile, so she turned to a scowl. What bad things had even happened? She had been kidnapped, for one thing. And that was agreed upon in most circles to be bad.
Very well then., the foreign influence said. See you later, Brandy. I'll be waiting.
For a very brief second, Brandy could see the crazed face of a man right in her mind's eye. His skin, his armor, the air surrounding him- all pitch black. His hair was wild, and blew in all directions. His eyes seemed to be staring past hers, past her physical self, past even her soul, and far into something deeper.
I'll be waiting.
And then, he was gone. Brandy took a moment to try and wipe her memory clean of what she had just seen, with some success. As she did so, she noticed for the first time how truly exhausted she was. And hungry- she hadn't had anything to eat for days. She had spent most of that time unconscious, true, but still she felt famished. There was no food in the room that she could see, however, so Brandy decided to just solve one of her problems. But looking around, she saw no place to sleep. All one of the beds were taken, and it's not like she was going to sleep with Chloe. And of course there weren't any Logs in this room- all Princesses were heavily allergic to them. So, without any other options, Brandy just curled up on the floor and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, far away, just beyond Builder's Workshop, at the Clan Castle of LosDementosCT, Oticat and the rest of the clan were almost ready with their preparations. They were far more eager to help him then he had initially thought they would ever be. But pretty much the entire clan was eager to get back at TheEvilOverLords for cheating in war, and Oticat was generally agreed upon to be a nice member of the clan. Plus, the clan was very tight knit.
So far, they had managed to gather massive hordes of Minions, a whole army of Skeletons, sewing circles of Witches, parties of Wizards, teams of Bowlers, immense flocks of Bats, tons of Battle Ram teams, Rascal gangs, ridiculous amounts of Barbarians, passels of Hog Riders, various forms of Dragons, a battery of Sparkies, and tons more- even a few Lava Hounds. Their leaders for the upcoming assault were Edward, a Prince, his brother Antonio, a Dark Prince, and Yaga, a Night Witch. All of them were not only Level 13, but also Maxed Star Leveled, and trained in the fine arts of out-of-Arena combat. In the middle of the proceedings, ChupilickytwAT wrestled with a Dark Mirror.
Oticat noticed his struggle, and came over to him.
"What are you doing?", asked Oticat.
"I'm trying to get Orfox on the phone.", said ChupilickytwAT. "His help will be sorely needed."
"Who's Orfox?"
"A Barbarian King I met a while back. He still owes me a favor."
"But what's a Barbarian Ki-"
"It's a huge, almost mutant Barbarian from the Clash continent. Now be quiet Oticat, I'm trying to talk."
He had managed to invoke just the right symbols in order to get the Dark Mirror's distance communication skill working, and the fuzzy figure of Orfox came into view.
"What? What is it?", grumbled the Barbarian King in a thick Gaelic accent. "Who in Clash is calling me this late at night?"
He scratched his head, adjusted his one end of the Dark Mirror, and peered closer. "Oh. ChupilickytwAT, me boy. 'Tis you."
"Good to see you, Orfox. The time has come, old friend. I need your help.", said ChupilickytwAT.
"Ah. What do you need me for, lad?"
"There's a Clan that we're attacking. One of our own has been kidnapped, and we're getting her back."
The Barbarian King's immense eyebrows perked up at the mention of an attack. "Oh, an attack! That's wonderful, my boy!", boomed Orfox. "Their Gold and Elixir shall be ours!"
ChupilickytwAT politely coughed."Oh, it- it doesn't actually work like that over here.", he said. "Elixir is a temporary resource over here- you can't steal it. Although I guess you could steal some of their Gold, if we have time. And their Gems."
Orfox's eyes lit up, and he slammed his mighty hand onto the table. "Gems? I can steal their Gems? Ay, that is a mighty offer indeed! I'll do it, Chupilicky! Ye can count on Orfox!"
Orfox waved his hand, and the image faded to black as the call ended. ChupilickytwAT sat back.
"Well. That's nice. Always good to have him on our side.", he said to no one in particular.
As Dan sat by his campfire, he couldn't shake the feeling that despite all their preparation, that despite their vast numbers and determination, that it still wasn't enough. As he took shallow sips of his elixir, Agatha silently walked up behind him.
"Are you worried, Dan?", she asked, concerned. "You seem to be."
Dan was so deep in thought she didn't even surprise him.
"Of course I'm worried. From what Zane's and Jethro's research says, this is one of the strongest clans in the world we're going against. Legendary League, with 48000 Clan Trophies. Can we really stand up to them?"
"You're listening to those two? Zane is the craziest Electro Wizard I've ever met, and Jethro's brain is a little frozen from all the ice he slings. We're gonna do great. Besides, we've got a secret weapon on our side."
Dan glanced up. "Remind me what it is, again? Cause I sure don't remember."
"Operation Tremors."
"Oh, right." A hint of a smile showed on his face. "That."
He glanced over his shoulder, and saw a bottle of Dark Elixir on the stone next to Agatha. Dan knew that he really wasn't supposed to have any, but what was the harm? He slowly and stealthily reached for it, hoping that she wouldn't notice. But inches away from grabbing it, Agatha slapped his hand away.
"You know you're not supposed to have any of that, Dan. Come on."
As if to articulate her point, Larry sneezed and jabbed his leg.
"Aw, man." Dan sighed as the sparks from the campfire rose into the air.