Chapter 3

"Mmph..." Jay regained consciousness once again. As his senses returned, he found himself tied spread eagle to a bed again, but it was different from the bandits' lair. For one, this bed had a large canopy over it. Secondly, this bed had what looked like large teeth in between the bedposts.

That's when Jay realized his situation. They tied me to a Mimic Bed?!?

Cashel and Solon stepped up to the bed.

"Are you awake, Jay?" Solon asked, grinning.

Jay only stared at him for a response.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're in the Man-Eating Ruins now. There's no need to worry about this bed, as we've already killed it. But then again, perhaps I shouldn't have told you that."

Jay shot him a defiant look.

"Can you imagine? Any moment now, the mimic bed could spring to life and chomp, chomp, chomp! It would have been a marvelous sight."

Jay breathed heavily as he could feel his heart pounding out of his chest.

"Oh Jay, that look is priceless!" Solon taunted.

"Aw, the poor thing is scared out of his mind," Cashel cooed.

"All right, Cashel, I think my apprentice is fully warmed up now. Our next phase is to carve the turkey."

Jay gasped at this as he resumed struggling against his restraints. Solon climbed onto the bed, straddling him with his legs. He pulled out a dagger and paused, watching the boy's helpless figure and his desperate protests. It was all music to Solon's ears.

"Be still now, Jay..." Solon said as he brought the knife to Jay's chest. "You don't want me to accidentally cut you, do you?"

Jay kept still, as he did not want to be cut. Solon cut the collar of the dress, then slowly ripped it down the center with his hands, exposing Jay's ivory skin. Jay looked down at himself as Solon rested his palm firmly on the center of his chest. Jay dropped his head down again. That's when he decided that the only thing worse than being tied up and stripped by Moses was being tied up and stripped by Solon.

"Jay..." Solon said, "you're the only person I know who still has baby smooth skin at your age."

"Solon, I think he needs to be carved a little more," Cashel said.

"Ah yes, you're right," Solon agreed.

Solon cut off the left sleeve of the dress, while Cashel cut the right. Then Solon ripped open the skirt, revealing the long white satin slip underneath. Finally, Solon ripped the entire dress from under Jay's body and violently threw it aside.

"Mmph!!" Jay screamed as he thrust himself forward as much as he could, although the ropes still held him strong.

"Jay, shush now..." Solon rested his hand on Jay's forehead, gently pressing him back down. He then laid his sword down on Jay's chest, carefully sliding it down his bare skin. Jay tensed up at the cold caress of the blade.

Cashel took the slip between his fingers. "What should we do with this?"

"Mmph!" Jay tried lifting his head again, but Solon forcefully pressed him back down.

"We might as well leave it on," Solon replied. "It might be something to play with along with our little subject."

"Hmm..." Cashel paused in thought. "What should we do with him next?"

"Mmph!!" Jay screamed as he tugged on his restraints, trying to indicate what they should do. Although he knew that they wouldn't take his suggestion seriously.

"Hmm?" Solon looked down at the helpless apprentice. "Jay, are you trying to suggest that we should let you go? Please, don't make me laugh. We've only carved the turkey. We still have yet to savor the feast."

Solon pulled out a can of whipped cream and sprayed a vertical line down Jay's upper body. He then smeared the cream all over his body with his fingers. Once the cream was spread, Solon slowly licked it from his fingers.

"Mmm...tasty," he remarked.

Jay looked up at him apprehensively. What's he trying to do?

Solon leered evilly at his apprentice. "What a mess! Someone's going to have to clean you up."

"Mmph!!" Jay struggled against his restraints with a series of defiant screams.

Solon watched him struggle for a moment, then threw a swift backfist to his face. "Hold still! How am I supposed to lick you if you keep struggling!?"

Jay paused and looked up at him again. He's going to lick me?!

"Oh, how delightful," Cashel said acidly.

Solon slowly lowered himself over the captive apprentice and began locking the cream from his body.

"Mmph!" Jay cried out in disgust, praying that this was just a horrible nightmare. He prayed that he would wake up. Or if this truly was reality, he hoped that someone would rescue him soon.

As Solon continued to lick his body, Jay began tugging on the ropes and twisting his wrists. Slowly but surely, he could feel his wrists slipping through. However, he knew that he had to wait for just the right moment before completely freeing himself.

Solon finished licking the cream from Jay's body, then caressed it with his hand. "There, you're all clean. Don't you feel better, Jay? I know you do."

"Mmm..." Jay fell limp, groaning in disgust.

Solon straightened himself, then moved over to Cashel. "Come, Cashel. We should decide what to do with him next."

Cashel nodded. "Yes, sir."

The ninjas turned away from Jay to discuss their next course of action. Jay looked up at then for a moment, then resumed work on freeing himself. He managed to slip the rope up to his right thumb, where it seemed to be stuck.

Come on, not now! he thought

Finally, Jay pressed his wrist down on the mattress to hold the rope and successfully slipped his wrist out.

Ah, finally!

Solon and Cashel were still making plans, so they were still unaware. Jay reached over quietly, untying his left wrist. He then sat up and untied his ankles, and pulled the gag from his mouth.

So far, so good. Solon and Cashel still hadn't noticed.

Jay carefully rolled off the bed, placing his feet on the floor, then took a few silent steps towards the two captors. Should he sneak past them, or should he make a break for it as fast as he can?

Without warning, Cashel and Solon vanished in a puff of smoke.

Jay gasped. "What the...!?"

Just as suddenly, Cashel and Solon reappeared on either side of Jay, seizing him by the arms.

"Where do you think you're going?" Cashel asked.

"Did you really think you could escape from us?" Solon added. "It's time to get back on that bed."

They carefully turned around to face the mimic bed. Jay struggled briefly, but no success. He then flipped backwards, breaking free from their grasp. Not wasting any time, Jay turned and fled from the room.

"Why you little..." Cashel growled.

Solon raised his right arm and snapped his fingers, summoning his ninja clan. "Stop him!"

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Moses entered the Man-Eating Ruins, still following Giet's guidance.

"Did you find anything, boy?" he asked. "You sure this is the place?"

"Woof!" Giet responded.

Moses walked a little deeper into the ruins, while Giet continued sniffing at the ground. Suddenly, Giet perked his head up, barking excitedly.

"What is it, boy?" Moses asked. "Didja find him?"

"Woof, woof!" Giet began running forward.

"Hey Giet, wait up!" Moses cried as he chased the galf.

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Jay ran into the area with the many divided narrow paths. The ninjas leaped from one path to another in an attempt to corner him.

"Damn!" Jay exclaimed.

Moses and Giet ran into the room from the opposite side.

"Jay!" Moses exclaimed.

Jay looked past the ninjas, spotting the red-haired bandit across the room. "Moses!"

"I'm comin', Jay!" Moses charged into the room, but two ninjas jumped in front of him. "Move, ya idiots! Go, Giet! Rip 'em up!"

Giet quickly pounced on the ninjas, tackling them to the ground.

I have to reach Moses! Jay thought.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to take the clear paths across the room. Suddenly, a ninja jumped in front and behind him.

"Get out of my way!" Jay ordered.

"Yaaah!" The ninja swung his sword overhead, then at waist level. Jay dodged both attacks, but then the ninja threw a hard side kick into his stomach. Jay staggered backwards into the ninja behind him, who grabbed him by hooking his arms underneath Jay's shoulders.

"Hey! Unhand me!" Jay cried.

He lifted both legs, kicking the ninja in front of him, and then threw his elbow backwards, smashing the ninja behind him, breaking his grip.

Cashel and Solon stood at the end of the room watching the conflict.

"We must not let him escape!" Solon exclaimed.

Cashel held up a small dart. "Don't worry, he won't get away."

He aimed the dart carefully and threw it. The dart struck Jay's right thigh as he ran. Jay immediately felt the sting in his leg, followed by the sudden numbness. His leg then caved in, and Jay collapsed to the ground, and the clan of ninjas immediately jumped on top of him.

"M...Moses!" Jay cried, his voice strained.

Moses was on his way to help his "little brother," but a few more ninjas appeared and grabbed him. The bandit struggled his best, but he couldn't get any closer to Jay.

"Get off me!" Moses yelled. "Jay!!"

Finally, all the ninjas vanished simultaneously, leaving Moses, who fell face-first to the floor. Moses picked himself up, pounding the floor as Giet approached him.

"Damn it!" Moses cursed. "We almost had him!"

Giet responded with a whimper.

Moses straightened himself. "Come on, Giet! We ain't done yet! We won't stop until we save Jay! We'll follow him all over the Legacy! We'll follow him all over the mainland! Hell, we'll even follow him to outer space if we have to! We're going to save Jay! Ya got that!?"

"Woof!" Giet barked.

"Let's go!" Moses and Giet ran back down the path to leave the Man-Eating Ruins.