This chapter is a little short and for that I apologize! Although it IS still over 1000 words, which is more than a lot of OmO chapters… hm…
Also I didn't manage to finish it on time, and so I guess I've officially broken my one-a-day schedule by my own fault. By like three hours. Oh noes ;; Maybe I can get back on track.
Well um… action scene for you guys! The final battle will probably be very very soon!
…
Chapter eight: The chapter in which Fawful is confronting many Boos.
Fawful didn't stop for anything. Out of the corner of his eye he would glimpse what might have been Boos or maybe they were just clouds; he was moving too quickly to tell. He knew he had to stop and face these things eventually, but he certainly didn't want to do it here and he'd rather put it off as long as he could.
A bit of guilt twanged in his heart. He shouldn't be running away like this. Cackletta taught him better than this. He should stand and fight like a man.
He stopped and looked around. No Boos within sight. He adjusted his glasses and thought about his situation.
He probably shouldn't fight in such an open area; anything could sneak up on him from here. No, he'd be better finding someplace indoors and wait for King Boo to come. But where? His first choice would certainly be his bean shop, being that he'd have the home advantage there, but at the same time he didn't want to risk the ghosts alerting anyone to his presence in the sewers. Not to mention the havoc those Boos could wreak on his inventory. Perhaps…
"Perhaps I would have better off finding a house of haunting," he said to himself. "I could have hiding there and also perhaps be practice with the vacuuming."
He looked around and, not seeing a haunted house, flew toward some trees, hoping that the trees would become a dark forest and the forest would contain a haunted house. He searched and searched, but found nothing. The sun was beginning to set, and butterflies were rising in his stomach. He didn't want to be outside at night. Not while they were after him. He had to find someplace.
The moon had risen halfway by the time he finally found a run-down house. By now he was frantic and rushed inside, closing the door behind him as though it might actually do some good. Sighing in relief, he walked forward into the dark house, lighting his way with a flashlight that was mounted on the Poltergust's nozzle.
The floorboards creaked under his light footsteps as he wandered the house. For a while that was the only noise in the entire house. But as he started to settle down and relax, he became aware of another noise. He strained his ears to hear it.
Whispers.
He got back to his feet and looked around. Nothing. He circled around the room. Still nothing.
"Ghosts of stupidness!" he said, failing to mask the shakiness of his voice, "Have showing of yourselves!"
The room erupted into ghostly cackles. Fawful swallowed the lump in his throat and gripped the nozzle of the Poltergust, ready to attack. One by one, several Boos appeared all over the room. They all glared at him with a clear ill intent.
"We've been looking for you," one Boo said.
"People out there want you out of the way, kiddo," said another.
"You've certainly made a lot of powerful enemies," said a third.
"The King'll be over here quicker than you can say 'boo', once we let him know where you're at," said yet another.
Fawful frowned. "Well then," he said, "I will just be making sure you will not have ability to be letting him know."
Fawful shone the light right at the Boo directly in front of him and flicked the switch on the Poltergust, causing it to turn on and start sucking up the confident little apparition. The Boo, startled, struggled and tried to get away, but was sucked into the vacuum. Fawful promptly moved on to the next one, sucking it up just as easily.
The remaining Boos became aware of the danger and sought to strike back, swooping in at the young Bean. He squeaked and ducked, swiping at them with his free hand. It hurt when they hit him. He couldn't figure out how they could hit him when he couldn't hit them. After taking a few hits he rolled onto his back—or at least, he did as best as he could with the Poltergust strapped to his back and his jetpack strapped onto that—and started sucking away whatever Boos got too close. Eventually they were all gone, and he rolled onto his side, catching his breath and curling up, sore all over.
It wasn't long before he was aware of another ghostly cackle. This one was just a single ghost, but he couldn't see it anywhere.
"Where do you have hiding?" he called out.
The ghost didn't speak, nor did it reveal itself. It continued laughing.
Fawful took a deep breath.
"Cease your hiding of cowardice!" Fawful yelled, hoping to insult the ghost into appearing. "Only pathetic things of worthlessness hide behind invisibilities and laughing!"
The ghost did not appear, but stopped laughing. Instead, it spoke.
"Do you really think you can take on King Boo?"
"Yes," Fawful said, pretending he was confident.
The ghost laughed again. "Might as well give up now, child."
"I am not being a child," Fawful said, "And I will not have surrendering."
"You'll never win," it said in a taunting, almost sing-songy tone, "Never, never, never…"
"Make with the up-shut!" Fawful cried, "Have the showing of yourself, you ghost who is clearly being in fear of me!"
"Hah, afraid of you," the ghost laughed again, and appeared as a faint outline on the other side of the room. It flashed a fanged grin at the bean. "I'd like to see you try something."
Fawful growled and rushed at the ghost, who backed away from him at the same rate at which he ran. Fawful growled even louder, agitated, and yelled every insult he knew at the ghost. He turned the flashlight at the ghost but the ghost was just far enough away that the beam wasn't strong enough to stun him.
The ghost eventually phased through a wall and out of the house. Fawful gasped, terrified that the ghost would return with King Boo in tow, and made to jump out of the nearest window to chase after it. But before he could get himself out of the window the ghost faded away and disappeared into the night. Fawful stared out at where the ghost had been.
It wouldn't be long now.