"This is going to be much harder then I expected to be."
Max and Nikki were at the theater trying on some costumes. Not because theatre was their thing, but because it got Elizabeth off of their tracks. At first, Max had attempted to get the plan started, but he ran into some issues.
Elizabeth was quite observant, so much so that Max swore he could see her eyes everywhere. She also wasn't kidding about the whipping, as Max and Nikki had seen her whip Nurf for threatening another camper for interrupting his therapy session.
It was also impossible to even get to the other campers, as every time the two tried to get to the others, the bitch simply would herd them back to the theater.
The two grew frustrated with this, and decided on another plan.
"Hey Nikki, you know what's the other plan, right?"
"Wait, what was the other plan?"
"For the love of..., I told you ten minutes ago! I sneak into the counselors cabin to tell David and Gwen that there are damn idiots while you go and make some campers jealous," Max said as he was getting out of his mad scientist costume.
"But what about that other plan?"
"Can't do it; that girl will just catch us and haul us back here."
"Alright then," Nikki replied as she got out of her bear costume.
Max was stealthy for a boy his age, being able to travel through the camp unnoticed and making practically no noise except for the faint sound of his shoes. When he reached the activities field, he changed his course to the forest, avoiding the sight of the kids.
After Max had reached the back of the counselors cabin, he ditched the forest and went up to the window. He was too small to reach up to it, so he dragged a large rock and lifted himself onto it.
He pounded on the window, hoping that someone would hear him. Alas, David and Gwen were engrossed in a TV show, ignoring his fierce pounding. Having enough of this, Max shouted "Hey, assholes, it's me, Max!"
Hearing this, David opened the window for the Indian. The boy was enraged at the two for blindly letting an obvious cultist take control of the activities field and watching over the kids.
"You idiots! You absolute shit-eating twats! Do you have any idea you just put in charge of the camp?!"
David closed the window and put his finger over Max's mouth once more. "Quiet down, Max. Now, I know you're angry..."
"You let that stupid bitch watch over the campers so you can watch Bob Ross and Gwen can jack off to lizard erotica, I know."
Gwen, having heard that, rose out of her chair and stomped over to Max.
"You little shit. I do not jack off to lizard porn."
"So what were you doing reading that book at the lake? Getting a boner?"
"Shut your mouth before I-"
"What's you two yammering about?" That came from the Quartermaster, who was standing right behind David.
The three gave gasps of surprise and backed off, before Max eyed the old man angrily. "Where the hell did you come from?"
"I was listening to you two arguing bout lizard porn, that's what."
"Okay..."
Looking at Quartermaster, Max got an idea. This man seemed to have omnipotence over everything, so it was worth a shot to see if knew something about a certain cult.
"Hey Quartermaster, can I ask you a question?"
"Fine, what it about?"
"Do you know anything about Daniel and his cult? Do you know anyone who joined it?"
The man rubbed his beard and went down to sit down on David's chair, seeming to be thinking deep about this. After five minutes, he rose up, went over to the desk, grabbed a paper and went over to Gwen's laptop.
"Girl, I need your password to get into this high techno gadget you millennials use."
"Uhh...okay." Gwen entered her password and Quartermaster began typing one of the signatures from the paper he was holding into Google with Max, David, and Gwen looking at the screen. Within a few seconds he got an answer.
"Summer 'Goodwill' Baxter is an American businessman who was laid off of his job in the summer of 2013. Since then, he has mysteriously disappeared, with rumors surrounding him. It is theorized that he ran off to the 'Cult of Personality', a cult ran by the notorious Daniel Hemingway.
Quartermaster began typing the Cult of Personality into the search bar.
"The Cult of Personality is a cult run by the infamous Daniel Hemingway, a religious fanatic who is known for his beliefs and suicide-murders. The cult is centered around the almighty 'Zëmug and the galactic confederacy', who is believed to be a god who watches over Earth. His believers try to satisfy him with sacrifices. It is rumored that the cult is responsible for sending child cultists to a remote summer camp..."
Everyone was quiet for a minute, and then Max spoke up.
"I told you! They're from Daniel! You people are fucking idiots!"
"He IS right. You two are more stupid than that soldier I killed for his hand." With that, the old geezer went back to his store, muttering something about a contract.
David sighed and went back to his chair. The three were stumped on what to do. It was obvious that the new kids needed to be removed in some way, but how? Shipping them off to some place was out of the question, and killing them was going to be difficult without someone to help.
The Quartermaster came back in the room again, this time with a paper that looked like it was stored in the camp for at least two decades, with the entire thing being yellow and it looked very frail.
"Alright, I've been wanting to do this for a long time. Everyone come here and sign this." He held out a pen to whoever came first.
David, surprisingly, was the first one to sign the paper. After that, he asked the man what was this about.
"This here is a contract, something for you all to sign so I can eliminate the new kids."
"We don't need you to kill them, Quartermaster."
"Would you prefer them to live?" No response came after that. Gwen and Max came shortly after David and signed the contract.
Max was about to go to the window to get outside when the Quartermaster stopped him. "Boy, get everyone's signature so I don't traumatize them when the time comes."
The boy simply nodded and went back outside to find Nikki.
He couldn't find anyone. The entire activities field was deserted. Max couldn't find anyone, not even Neil and Nathan, were they spent most of the day yesterday and today. Until someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Are you ok? You've been in that position for five minutes without moving."
At first, Max was shocked, but it quickly died out and he calmed down. It was Elizabeth, who god knows how long she had men standing there. He looked at the girl with suspicion with mixed in anger.
"Where's everyone? What did you do with them you sick piece of crap? What's your name?"
"First of all, calm down. Second of all, they're down at the theater for a performance by Harrison and Harold. Third of all, my name's Elizabeth, although you can call me Eliza for short."
"Even Nikki?" This made Max afraid, even though he couldn't pinpoint the reason for it. The green haired teen seemed to be enjoying his fear.
"What's the matter? You're afraid that your cynical facade has been broken?"
"It's not a facade. It's an attitude. An actual facade would be your overly nice attitude."
"I AM nice. You just won't admit it, because you're an arrogant bastard who doesn't admit anything."
"Whatever. Are all of the campers down there? All of them?" Max wanted to be sure on this.
"All of them are down there. Even your friends. Why don't you go there and enjoy the show?"
"Please, there's no way-," Max said before he paused. He thought about this for a minute and grinned, already formulating a plan."Actually, that's not a bad idea. I'll be there in a flash."
Max was at the theater, looking for Nikki. He spotted her, who was at the back besides a box of tomatoes and beckoned her to come with him to the front bench.
He noticed that Nerris, Ered and their counterparts were missing and asked Nikki where were they. "They're performers! They're gonna do cool tricks and stuff!
At first, Max was surprised at the fact those two, of all people, would be in a magic show. He later brushed it off and went back on track. "Remember, act unimpressed with everything that comes from behind those curtains. Make sure to yawn sometimes too," Max whispered to Nikki. The tomboy nodded and she and Max put on a bored look.
Preston appeared from behind the curtains and shouted for everyone to be quiet down. When that didn't work, he pulled out a megaphone and yelled into it. At once the banter died down.
"Finally. Now everyone, enjoy the magic show, brought to you by Harrison and Harold!" Preston disappeared behind the curtains and the two magicians entered on stage. Their first act was them conjuring rings of fire and ice while a white tiger lept through the rings. The crowd roared with applause and cheering, except for Max and Nikki, who looked bored and unmoved by the act.
The second act was Harold conjuring balls of ice and juggling them while Harrison pulled out numerous coins from behind the othe magicians ear. Once again the crowd went wild, but the shouting died out when Max yelled that the act was boring.
Harrison looked at the Indian, slightly confused on how he wasn't fazed by the acts. "What's wrong Max? Did I freak your mind too hard for you to lose reality?"
Max scoffed and stood up on the bench. "Please, this is basic magic by your standards. Do something interesting."
Harrison was about to say something, but Harold pushed him aside and laughed at the boy. "Oh really? Do you want to see more intense stuff?"
Max took a look at him, for he hadn't got a clear image of him before. He had dark green eyes and his hair was dirty blonde. His tophat had a blue ribbon around it.
"As a matter of fact, yes I do. Show me your best." With that being said, Max sat down.
"So be it. Preston, close the curtains. We're going in for preparation for more extreme tricks." The performers once again disappeared behind the curtains and Preston was left standing there. He sighed and also went into the backstage, mumbling about an intermission.
Soon enough, Nerris and Nicole were on the front stage with Harold and Harrison being completely frozen in ice.
This act consisted of Nerris chipping ice away with an ice pick, slowly but steadily breaking off Harold's hands, with Nicole doing the same with Harrison. Soon enough the boys had no hands and yet they felt no pain.
The audience went complete ape-shit after that, screaming and even more cheering came from them. The whole place seemed like a riot scene.
Max and Nikki were still keeping up the act, although Nikki allowed herself a slight grin. This enraged Harold and ordered that he and Harrison be taken off the stage, have their hands reattached and the performance be shortened massively.
For the third time the front stage was empty and the red fabric was draped across the stage. After a shockingly short amount of time, the front stage was opened once again, this time with ice ramps with mattresses covering to top of them and with Ered on her skateboard. There was a small, literal confetti cannon that was painted in yellow and magenta pointing upwards, with Harold besides it, looking the other way.
Max tapped Nikki on the shoulder. "Nikki, do you have that tomato?"
The girl nodded and grinned and took out a slightly mashed up tomato. "Will this do?"
"It sure as hell will!" The boy grabbed the fruit, preparing himself to throw it at the cannon when the time would come.
Ered went down the ramp and was excited with herself. While the crowd was watching, Max threw the tomato at the cannon. The impact of it caused the cannon to tilt to the right, and that was when Preston, without paying attention to the machine, lit the fuse that was attached to it.
The cannon fired confetti right at Ered, blinding her and causing her to nearly fall out of the skateboard. She held on, but not before crashing to the ground.
The white clad boy, on the other hand, let out a yelp of terror.
The two mischievous shits laughed at the girl, while also keeping an eye on the stage. However, the rest of the audience and a very pissed Harold had different ideas for them.
"They ruined the magic show! GET THEM!" Harold was livid, and within a moment the kids had grabbed tomatoes and started pelting the two with them. The duo made a run for it, with a mob trailing behind them. At last, the two found refuge inside Max's tent, with the mob running right past them.
When the coast was clear, Max and Nikki emerged from the tent and went straight to the lake, hoping to wash themselves of the putrid stench of tomatoes and such. When they arrived, they found Ered and Harrison moping, with Nerris trying to cheer them up.
"So uncool of them to do that, I thought Nikki liked me..." Ered was distraught by her botched performance, although she was grateful that everyone was too busy staring at the kids to notice.
"At least I got some time in the spotlight! You practically have a harem!" Harrison wasn't taking any of the blonde's moping this time.
"Please, can both of you calm down? Max has always been an asshole, this isn't new for him," Nerris begged. She put her right arm around the older girls shoulders.
Ered smiled and embraced Nerris in a light hug. "Thank you. You're the best one here. I don't know what I'd do without you."
The darker girl put her other arm around Harrisons arm. "And you, no one noticed you messing up. Everyone cheered on for you."
"Aww, thank you too Nerris. You really are the best one here." The three were like this for ten seconds before the a horrible smell came.
"Ew, what the hell is that smell?" The three turned around and saw Max and Nikki behind them, nervously smiling.
"Hey guys, what's up? Are you ok," Max said with Nikki also smiling. The three weren't exactly happy with them and Ered stomped right over to Max and grabbed him by his hoodie.
"You. Do you know what have you done?"
"Okay, I'm sorry about the whole thing..."
"Of course you are. I will ruin you even if it takes me the rest of the summer."
"Why are you so angry about this? It was just a magic show."
"I was going to have a place in it. But no, you and Nikki decided to screw up the whole thing. And now, I will ruin you." With that, Ered turned around and hung Max over the water.
Fearing for his life, Max gave one last try to calm the girl down. "I can get your cool back. I can get all of your cool back. Just don't drop me."
At first, Ered seemed surprised, then she put Max down and crossed her arms. "You better get to it now."
Max nodded and the five went to the front of the mess hall. There they waited until they heard voices from the right.
"Alright, the trunk's opened already, right Elizabeth?"
"Yes, that's right Harold. I've already checked in to the counselors and gathered everything. We just need Naer and those knives."
"Nicole, would you be so kind as to get him and to make sure every door is locked? Especially the door to David and Gwen. Me and Harold will doublecheck the list."
"Got it!" Nicole went to the mess hall, only to bump into the group.
"Well, well, well, look who it is. Did you have fun ruining that magic show Maxwell?"
Max didn't respond and only looked up to the girl. Her skin tone was the same as Jen and she had blond hair as well.
"Nicole, to be honest, the magic show kinda sucked. It was short and it sucked ass and only Harrison and Harold did anything."
"Shut it. Now get out of my way before I beat you up." The five obliged and got out of the way.
"Listen up, we will hide in that bush until that car comes back, ok?"
"Why? What does this have to do with getting back my cool?" Ered wasn't sure on the idea.
"This WILL get your cool back. Just all of you, trust me on this."
The remaining kids looked at each other, and then nodded.
"And that's why these kids are batshit crazy cultists coming for us. The fucking end." Max was relieved to get his story out of the way, and everyone seemed to believe him, but not before Harrison had retorted that he would rather die than be in a bush any longer with him.
He was about say something else, but then the smell of smoke and gasoline got Max's attention. The group looked out of the bush to see Elizabeth, Harold and Nicole all carrying a large bag of something. The boy got out of the bush and went over to the trunk of the car.
What he saw was pure horror. A horribly bisected, mutilated body with many cuts and a huge gash across the chest. There were arms and legs, all cut off and were resting in a pool of blood, along with fur and snouts around them. And Max could see organs scattered around the body parts. He shouted for his friends to come see the mess.
As expected, the group didn't take it well. Nerris threw up behind them and Nikki and Ered started to gag while Harrison was trying to comfort Nerris.
"What could do this? Why would anyone do this?" This was the only thing Max said before remembering who was on this thing.
"This is proof that those cultists were the ones who did this. Now do you all see?"
The four looked at the Indian, and they nodded.
"Good. Now, they is something I need to show you. Something that is a part of stopping this bullshit once and for all."