Chapter 6

The candles had been set by the bathroom sink. The shower was running with Moses standing under the water, washing himself thoroughly. Jay stood behind him with his back turned, covering his face. Moses paid no attention as he sang to himself.

"Do you believe in magic? And I hope you do...you'll always have a friend wearin' big red shoes...when you believe in magic."

Jay wanted to cry. Although Moses' singing was annoying, he hoped that the bandit would keep ignoring him.

"Jay."

Crap.

"It's your turn, Jay."

Jay's eyes widened. "M...my turn?"

"Finally, I get to fulfill my dream of washin' your fine hair!"

Jay gasped. Grabbing Jay by the shoulders, Moses pulled him underneath the shower head.

Squeezing some shampoo into his hand, Moses began to lather Jay's long black hair. Jay closed his eyes; for a stupid bandit, Moses' lathering was surprisingly gentle. Moses scrubbed Jay's head firmly, then gathered the hair in his hands, squeezing it all the way down to the end. Jay felt awash in pure bliss. Moses didn't even stop there. After carefully rinsing Jay's hair, Moses lathered a white bath pouf and began to gently apply the suds to Jay's body.

Jay gasped as he noticed an odd flicker in the candlelight. "Moses?"

"What's up, Jay?"

"There's someone else in here."

"No way! There ain't nobody in here but us!"

Suddenly, the shower curtain flew open, and a flashlight beamed directly at the pair. "Ah ha!" yelled a rasping voice.

"Gah!" Moses and Jay jumped with a start. Although the flashlight was shining at them, they could not see who was behind it.

"Why you!" Moses threw a hard punch to the intruder's face. The flashlight dropped to the floor, and the intruder hit the floor with a thud.

Jay and Moses stepped out of the shower. The candlelight was too dim to identify the intruder, so Jay picked up the flashlight and shined it down on him.

"Solon!?"

"What the!?" Moses gasped. "And he saw us naked!"

"He's unconscious. I didn't think he could be taken out that easily."

Moses scoffed. "He must've had a heart attack."

The pair paused briefly, wondering how Solon could have gotten in without being detected. The answer was obvious for Jay; Solon was a ninja. But for Moses, the answer was an enigma wrapped in a mystery. However, they both knew that there was a bigger issue at hand.

"Don't just stand there naked!" Jay ordered. "Put your clothes on! And stop staring at my..."

"Oh, fine, fine!"

Moses and Jay got dressed as fast as they could. Jay set the flashlight aside and reached down to pick up Solon...only to feel the stone floor.

"Impossible!" he gasped. "He's gone!"

"No way!" Moses exclaimed in shock. "What do we do?"

"He must still be in the house somewhere. Let's hurry and find him."

They slowly stepped out of the bathroom and into the living room. Now without the candlelight, the room was pitch black except for the flashlight beam shining through the room.

"Moses, give me the flashlight," Jay said.

Moses paused. "I ain't got no flashlight."

Jay turned to face him. If neither of them had the flashlight, then...then...

The flashlight, hovering between them, shined its light upward, revealing Solon's evil face. "Boo."

"Ahh!" Moses and Jay both leaped backwards.

"Ah hah hah hah!" Solon laughed boastfully. "I see my gas has worked perfectly!"

Jay gasped. "So it's true. I had a feeling that they were related."

"I just never thought I would catch you two in the shower," Solon continued. "The very sight was so disgusting, it made my stomach turn!"

"Well, it serves ya right for peekin'!" Moses said.

"Seriously," Jay said, annoyed.

"Enough talk!" Solon snapped. "It's time for me to finish off the bandit and then take the apprentice for my own. Make it last, won't you? I want to enjoy this moment."

Solon grinned in the beam before switching off the flashlight.

"Oh no, it's dark!" Moses cried. "I can't see anything!"

Solon laughed again. "Now, tremble in fear as you wander about aimlessly, waiting for your death!"

That line is seriously clichéd," Jay thought.

"I'm-I'm-I'm...I'm scared!" Moses whined.

"Moses, hold still and be quiet!"

Moses paused. "O-okay, I'll hold still..."

"Now be quiet."

"Okay...I'm bein' quiet..."

"Moses!"

"All right, already! Sheesh, can't you keep your mouth shut!?"

Moses and Jay finally managed to shut themselves up. They stood still and silent, trying to sense their surroundings. They could only hear Solon chuckling softly, the sound of which seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Can you hear me?" the voice taunted. "You fools have no idea where I am, do you?"

Moses broke out in cold sweat while Jay's heart began pumping rapidly.

"You see nothing, and you hear nothing," Solon continued. "Your minds have nothing to feed upon. It's a tiny meal indeed. Heh heh..."

Jay could hear the voice getting closer and closer...behind him...

"Picture this: the bandit will die, and the apprentice will be under my tender loving care once again..."

Jay's eyes widened. Just what is his definition of "tender loving care?"

"Isn't it exciting, Jay? Wouldn't you love for me to take good care of you again?"

Jay felt something poking his shoulder from behind. He spun around quickly, swinging his dagger, only to strike at air. Jay paused to sense Solon's presence again. He had moved away, somewhere to the left.

"Moses..." Solon cooed. "Think about it. Death isn't such a bad thing. In death, there is no pain, no suffering. You'll be completely free. The only uncertainty is how you will die. I can make it quick and painless, or I can finish you off nice and slow. Which will it be?"

Moses raised his spear. "Neither, punk! Ain't no way I'm gonna die yet!"

"Moses..." Jay said softly.

"Well, if you insist on living," Solon said, "I'll just have to finish you off nice and slow."

Jay's heart jumped. "No!"

Blindly, he ran across the room, sensing Solon's location. He tackled someone to the ground, hearing Solon groaning in pain.

"Ahh!" Moses screamed, waiting for something to stab him at any point of his body.

Jay straightened himself. "There's no need to be afraid, Moses. We still have our abilities, and we can still use them."

"Hey, you're right!" Moses agreed. "Yeah, we ain't afraid of you!"

"Use your animal instinct, Moses!"

"Right!"

"Fools!" Solon growled. "You cannot win!"

Jay made his way through the darkness over to the front door. "Moses!"

Somehow, Moses was able to sense Jay's intention. Next, he used his "animal instinct" to sense Solon's location.

"Ha, gotcha!" Moses hopped up, kicking Solon with both feet. Jay heard the master's footsteps stumbling towards him, and then opened the front door. Solon staggered outside into the rain, hitting the pavement and splashing into the puddles. Moses joined Jay at the doorway.

"And stay out!" he ordered before slamming the door.

"Whew!" Both Moses and Jay let out a sigh of relief.

"All right!" Moses rubbed his hands together. "Let's get back to where we were before we were rudely interrupted!"

"First, we need to make certain that Solon cannot reenter the house," Jay told him.

"Oh, right! How do we do that?"

"Well, first we..." Jay leaned in close to the bandit and began explaining his plan...