The Mistaken and the Forgiven
Tony walked into the large area that the other had been calling the dining room. His footsteps echoed through the large dome shaped room, the walls of smooth rock keeping it cool despite the planet's harsh sun. Red Guy, Duck, Meat Man, Bread Boy, and the Universe where sitting around the large round table in the center. Fridge was sitting against one of the walls, and Yellow Guy was watching his dad play solitaire on a small table to the side.
It had turned out that they had been staying in a modified cave. It had several rooms with drywall, but many of them used the natural stone of the cave. Very few of the rooms had windows, the one Tony had been in being one of them. Duck had explained that the natural stone kept them hidden from Shrignold and his cult's attempts at reaching them with a Utollmi.
Tony had awoken very refreshed from his sleep, and had managed to stand up and walk with ease. When Red Guy was satisfied that he had made a full recovery, he had decided to call a meeting together to figure out how they were going to rescue Sketchbook, as well as the others.
Meat Man and Duck were already arguing when Tony had entered.
"Look, I just think that we should go in, metaphorical guns blazing." explained Meat Man.
"No!" Duck yelled back. "We need to be stealthy about this. You heard Yellow Guy, that place in a technological maze! How would you even find them?"
"I would know where they were." Meat Man replied, his voice deep. "I would feel it in my soul!" He jabbed at Duck with his fork.
"Back off!"
"Okay," Tony interrupted loudly. "Since I hope we'll come up with better plans than that, let's just call Meat's plan, plan C, alright?"
Everyone around the table nodded. Tony walked over and took a seat. Red Guy followed and took one as well.
"Okay," Red Guy started. "We know that Shrignold has taken several hundred people hostage, including our friends. We also know that he currently has Colin guarding what is likely the powerhouse of the city. Those are our facts"
Everyone nodded again.
"We suspect that he has left Sketchbook to guard Malcolm. We also suspect that those of his population that are hypnotized are likely at his beck and call."
Everyone nodded a third time.
"We suspect that Malcolm is likely in charge of those who are hypnotized. If we can concentrate our force on him, we will likely be able to save everyone." He looked around. "How do we do that?"
"Well I say…" started Meat Man, but Tony raised his hand to silence him.
"I think you've said enough." Meat man crossed his arms and huffed.
"You should go in stealthily." explained Duck. "Sneak over to the building with Malcolm in it and destroy him first!"
"How would we get the door open?" Tony asked.
"Bring the strongest of us with you and lift it from the outside!" Meat Man chimed in.
"This seems impractical…" Tony muttered.
"You have a better idea?"
"I suppose not." Tony sighed. "If only Sketchbook were here, she'd come up with something more creative." he muttered under his breath. Roy's bandaged hands moved a little faster.
"Okay, so I'll go." said Red Guy. "I may not look it, but I've done some stealthy missions in the past. Well, one stealthy mission."
"I'll go too!" exclaimed Meat Man. Duck raised an eyebrow. "I'll have you know that I am a proud defective teacher, and one of my defects is my freakish strength, so there!"
"Okay, so what are we going to do about Sketchbook?" Red Guy asked. The room went silent, all eyes fell on Tony.
"I'm her best friend, I'm sure I can get through to her!" Tony declared.
"You think so?" Duck asked tentatively. "I'm no expert on brainwashing, but I don't know if being near the item that brainwashes for such a long time is a good thing."
"What do you mean, such a long time?" Tony asked. Duck looked surprised, then sad.
"I thought you would have known, I'm sorry."
"What are you talking about?!" Tony yelled, his anger and concern growing. He stood up, pounding his fists on the table.
"Tony, you were out for three days." said Red Guy.
Something in Tony's head cracked like breaking ice. The sound of ticking flooded his mind as his ability to tell time returned. It seemed that more than just his body had been frozen. How had he not noticed it was missing? How had he gone for so long unable to tell the time? Seconds, minutes, hours, then days filled his head. Yes, three days, it had been three days since they had left Himeros.
Outside Tony's head, the others watched nervously as Tony sank back into his chair. His face was devoid of expression, his clock hands spinning rapidly, as if trying to make up for the three lost days. Finally, the clock hands settled back to their 4:40 position.
Off to the side, Roy's hands moved faster, his bandages making quiet crinkling noises.
"Three days," Tony muttered. "She could be gone by now, exorcised from her own mind. I should have never let her come along, never let her face down Colin, never should have left her behind…"
A loud crash echoed through the room as Roy flipped the small table over. Cards fluttered to the ground as Roy hurried out the entrance to the cave.
"What?" Tony looked up as the last of the cards settled on the ground.
"Roy feels responsible for leaving Sketchbook behind." explained Duck sadly. "He knows it would have been to dangerous to bring her, but he feels like he dragged you all into this mess in the first place."
Tony frowned. Then stood up and followed Roy out the door.
Tony sat next to Roy on the orange grassy hill. He stared out over the glimmering pink water of the nearby lake, and watched as Roy skipped a white stone across the lake's surface.
"I'm sorry." Tony said, finally causing Roy to look at him. Roy gave him a look of confusion.
"Before we left to rescue you, Red Guy asked me to look out for your son. In all the confusion, I feel I neglected to look out for him. Can you forgive me?"
Roy turned to look over the water, squinting thoughtfully against the blinding shimmer, before looking back at Tony. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he stretched an arm over to pat Tony on the shoulder.
"I suppose, when things get a crazy as they did, you look back wishing you could have done something more. But in reality, there was simply nothing you could have done, and you did the best you could." Tony nodded at Roy. A look of understanding crossed Roy's face.
When they got back inside, Yellow Guy was watching Universe inspect a small wooden train. The engine and the cab were painted blue, while the chimney, bell and wheels were painted red. At the very front, the pilot was painted yellow.
"The enchantment has worn off, I'm afraid." he smiled at Yellow Guy. "Why don't you keep it?"
"R-really?" Yellow Guy's face lit up. "Thank you!"
Tony smiled as he watched Yellow Guy run to Roy to show him the train. He walked over to Universe. "You wouldn't happen to have any more of those, would you?"
Universe shook his head. "No sorry, that was the last of an old collection of enchanted toys. I picked them up back when I was traveling through space once, and I've used them sparingly, but you'd be surprised how many calamities happen out here."
Universe's face brightened. "Anyway, are you ready to go?"
"I think-" Tony paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Roy standing behind him.
Roy handed him a pencil, and Tony took it, confused. Roy mimed drawing over his mouth.
Tony nodded in understanding.
Tony and Red Guy, and a pair of bolt cutters, sat cramped inside a box. They had decided to wait until dark to execute their plan, but until then they had gotten as close to the building as possible. They had decided to hide until night fell, but there had only been two boxes, and neither of them wanted to stay with Meat Man. The Universe was once again waiting back at the hill.
Tony ran his thumb over the sharp point of the pencil he had brought, then quickly attempted to erase the streak of graphite from his glove.
"So," said Tony, deciding that now was probably the best time to clear up his confusion. "I really have to ask. You have no reason to be helping me or the others, now that Roy is back safely. We've caused you and the others nothing but trouble, so, why are you helping us? Is it really just because we need help?"
Red Guy sighed. "To be honest, things have really changed."
"How so?" asked Tony, now curious.
"Back when Sketchbook first showed up, I wanted nothing more than for her to leave. Yet, several days after her lesson, I found the poor thing crying in one of the cupboards. It had turned out that her lesson had not gone according to plan, and she had also been traumatized by what had happened. She was happy when we accepted her into our family, but she was even more overjoyed when you showed up. I didn't like you after what you had done to Yellow Guy and Duck, but I was happy to see she had a friend. As more and more of you showed up, somehow, despite your unusual and nasty lessons, you grew close to each other, and we grew close to you too. I mean, for Pete's sake, we started playing truth or dare with you maniacs."
Tony laughed, memories of Red Guy in a tutu playing in his head.
Red Guy laughed a little too. "But in all seriousness, we've all grown so close. You may not have made the best first impression, but you're family now, whether you like it or not."
Red Guy peeked through a hole in the crate. "It's gotten dark." he said. "Let's go save the rest of our family."
The fence guarding the building had stood no chance against the bolt cutters. Meat Man grunted as he attempted to lift the heavy door. Reluctantly, it began to raise up, grinding in protest.
"Okay," said Red Guy, as Meat Man let go of the door. It stayed in place. "You go first Tony, we'll be right behind you."
Tony nodded, then slipped under the door. The room was pitch black, and Tony squinted, trying to find Sketchbook in the darkness.
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded behind him, and the only sliver of light vanished.