AN: Hello again!
This chapter is a lot more light-hearted than the last!
Enjoy!
-Crow
"What are we going to do?!" Neil cried. "Max is gone and we're stuck in the middle of the Warlock's Territory! We're dead! We're worse than dead; our souls are practically sacrificial chickens by now!"
"Get a grip, soldier!"
*SWAT!*
"Thanks." Neil mumbled, rubbing his cheek where Nikki smacked him.
"Don't mention it." Nikki replied happily, "Now, we've got to keep our heads! Max is at that castle which means we need to get there and FAST! C'mon people work with me; what've we got?"
"We have sticks." Space Kid volunteered, holding up said article.
"We have… us…?" Neil ventured.
"I LIKE THOSE ODDS!" Nikki exclaimed, paws on her hips.
"Ugh, Nikki, be realistic!" Neil retorted. "Do you really think we can get through to Max from inside the castle of the Warlock of the West? We'll be shredded to ribbons! Or worse… burned…"
The chimera lost her sense of humor and narrowed the gap between them fast to stare him dead in the eye.
"Neil, I'm gonna say this once and I'm not going to repeat myself! Max is in danger! Yeah, he's a whiny bastard! Yeah he can kinda be a douche! Yeah he sometimes feels like he doesn't care about anyone, but don't you remember? He was willing to go there and die; DIE, NEIL! He was willing to get tortured, killed, or worse by the Warlock for our wishes! The Wizard didn't even include his own wish in the deal. He would've gone there himself for us and I'm gonna do the same!"
Neil looked down in shame. Max was kind of a bastard, but he seemed to care even when he said he didn't.
"Fine."
"YAAAAY!" Space Kid shouted.
Nikki-beast smiled, "Now, let's go find us a Warlock."
They snuck along the ridge on the far side of the castle entrance. The doors were enormous monstrosities that practically screamed "NO SOLICITERS". They watched as a gaggle of small people marched in front of it.
They all wore bleached-white clothing with the same vacant stare. Even from here, their unified march song echoed through the valley, "We love you, Daniel. We love you, Daniel. We love you, Daniel."
"By Luna, that's creepy." Neil-crow shuddered.
"It must be his army of zombies." Nikki concluded, "I heard rumors, but never actually saw any of them."
"Well, it's not like any of us can get by them." Space Kid replied, crossing his white-material-suit-covered arms.
His white clothing.
And his white space suit.
…
"Neil?"
"Oh, yeah."
"What? What are you guys looking at me like that for?"
Space Kid toddled down the road to the castle. If he had pores, he'd be sweating enough to drown in his suit, but for now, all he could do was stop his dentures from chattering and his eyes from swiveling too much.
"Hello, comrade!"
"Wah!" Space Kid jumped. Behind him was a large boy with fiery red hair, pristine white, but slightly torn clothing, and a squat nose. He tried his best to imitate the vacant voice. "H-hello!"
"You are unfamiliar to me. Tell me, what is the secret password?" He asked pleasantly.
"P-pass, eh-hem, Password?"
"Yes. Lord Daniel's password. Please answer quickly or I will be forced to kill you." The boy smiled unflinchingly as he pulled out a sharp, dagger-like knife.
"Um, uh, um… We love you, Daniel?"
…
…
"Glad to see a new face!" The brainwashed boy replied, stowing away the knife. "I am Slave Designation #304-A. But I go by Nurf."
"O-Oh, I'm uh, call me Neil… I mean, Nate!" He stammered.
"Hello Neileyemeannate. Welcome." Nurf walked away blankly.
Space Kid huffed a lungless sigh and toddled his way towards an enormous bin of pure white clothes. He sifted through quickly and pulled out several. "Perfect!"
"This isn't going to work!" Neil cried, itching at the white sweater he wore over his usual scarecrow clothing. "I mean, you don't even wear-"
"Shh! Quiet! Here they come!" Nikki hushed in a loud whisper, pulling her white t-shirt further over her arms and shuffled in her white overalls. "Eh-hem. Greetings Comrades!
"Greetings." They returned, walking onwards.
"…I honestly can't believe that worked." Neil deadpanned.
"Well, believe it! We're getting in there and nothing is gonna stop us!"
"Will, like, whoever is shouting just shut uuuuup!" A voice whined from the other room.
They peered in and saw three winged-monkey girls soaking in a mud bath with facial masks and cucumbers over their eyes. Their hair done up in a white fluffy towel.
…
"One thing is gonna stop us." Nikki whispered maliciously.
"Did we really need to do that?" Space Kid asked.
"Yes." Nikki replied seriously.
*ding!*
"Times up, ladies!" Sasha chirped, as she stopped the egg timer at their side. "Now we wash, moisturize, and get ready for the shiatsu we ordered."
"Ugh! I cannot wait to get rid of these knots in my back. Seriously, flying is such a stresser." Erin groaned, lightly massaging her back.
"I heard stress gets you wrinkles earlier." Tabii whispered in horror.
They shuddered.
"Well, ladies," Sasha continued, "It's time to take off the exfoliation mask."
They removed the cucumbers-
"AIIIEEEEEE!"
Their fur was a garish, funky tie-die mix of blues, greens, pinks, and orange. Their facemask cream was mixed with something else, so after wiping it off, they were greeted with an allergic reaction of hives and boils. Worse yet, their hair… or rather, lack thereof.
"MY HAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRR!"
Neil shuddered.
"I feel a disturbance in the Universe. As though a great demon has been awoken." He muttered nervously.
"Yeah, probably nothing." Nikki replied casually. "Definitely nothing that may or may not bite us in the butt at a later point in the storyline."
"What?"
"Nevermind."
"Pssst! Guys! Over here!" They saw Space Kid waving them forward from his spot behind a pillar. They peered over to see it was an elevated balcony above what looked like a torture room/sacrificial altar.
They nearly whimpered at the sight of the Wicked Warlock Daniel, himself, humming as he polished the spikes of another device. A monkey guard, the one with the snake-eyes, hobbled forward (an ice pack still strapped to his groin).
"Lord Daniel, sir?"
"Yes, Pikeman?" The man turned, glaring at the underling.
"T-the preparations are complete."
"Excellent! We'll let him stew up there for a while longer, but believe me; he'll be wishing he'd accepted my proposal earlier." The Dark One walked out of the room, either not seeing or not caring that his minion shuddered violently before taking his own leave.
"Did you hear that?" Nikki exclaimed quietly. "Max is still alive!"
"But for how much longer?" Neil whispered nervously.
"Ooh! Ooh! I have an idea!" Space Kid hopped with his hand in the air.
He walked over to a nearby zombie-kid mopping the floors. The space-enthusiast ignored Neil and Nikki's panicked whispers of him to get back over to them and waddled right up to the servant.
"Excuse me, do you know where the prisoner is?"
"Of course; down that hall, to the right, keep going past a couple suits of armor, then take a left and he's in the room with the big, red doors. You can't miss it."
"Thank you! We love Daniel!"
Space Kid waved to the vacant-eyed boy as he resumed mopping before toddling over to a stunned Nikki and Neil.
"Hey, guys! I figured out where Max is!"
AN: Excited for tomorrow!
-Crow