9 – Clavis
I'm back. Well, Friday was disappointing, no party whatsoever. Looks like everyone was just too tired. Oh well, here's the next chapter.
Skipper stood in front of the metal door waiting to continue, ˝Anytime now,˝ he said with his flippers crossed and while tapping his webbed foot.
˝Eager to kill again I see *chuckle*. Very well then, behind this door, another test is taking place. The contestants are two, Fred the squirrel and Archie the raccoon. Archie's selfishness will force him into murdering Fred. You can stop him or just sit back and watch. But know this, Fred is key to your own advancement.˝
Skipper waited for further instructions, but there were none. He heard a click and looked in its direction. The door was slightly open now, so he pulled it back a little more and entered. He didn't hear the gate close, but assumed it did, as he came into a relatively large room, 'About 8 by 6 meters, randomly placed barrels and tools?' Skipper analyzed. He waddled up to a hammer lying on the floor and picked it up.
˝No, not tools… weapons,˝ he muttered. He heard a groan coming from somewhere. The bird jumped onto his belly and began searching for its source. He raced around the barrels and soon spotted Fred the squirrel holding his head.
˝That's strange, I don't remember falling asleep here.˝ Skipper wanted to slap his forehead, but with his willpower, he managed to restrain himself.
'Fred is key to my advancement,' he repeated in his head. *Click* he heard in the distance, the sound was then followed by a cough. ˝Hello, is anybody there?˝ Fred asked. ˝Fred! Buddy, pal, where are you?˝
'Oh no, not that guy again,' thought Skipper while still remaining in his hiding spot. 'That good for nothing raccoon, you give a guy a second chance and he repays you by returning to his old habits'. He listened to the footsteps getting closer and closer and he remained in his hiding spot. Archie soon came from behind some barrels and found Fred.
Skipper shot glares at him, there was something in the raccoon's eyes that he just didn't trust, the guy seemed off, and hearing his horrible cough only confirmed the penguin's assumptions. The look he saw, was desperation. The bird decided to get a better position. He moved like a ninja, not making one sound, and soon found a hiding spot behind the raccoon.
Skipper thought that his cover had been blown when Archie turned around and began walking in his direction. He grabbed his beak to not let out a sound and waited for the archer to leave again. He heard the sound of metal scratching concrete, followed by the raccoon's talk about something, but Skipper didn't listen, until, ˝Fred! Look behind you! It's that thing!˝
Concerned for the idiot's health, he peeked from behind the barrel, to see a clueless squirrel, looking at a wall, and a raccoon, who was slowly raising a machete. ˝No time to lose,˝ he muttered to himself and quickly looked around. Just a couple of inches away was a pickaxe, which he grabbed and then raced over to Archie.
The machete was already high up in the air, ˝Yes Fred… it's just what I needed.˝ Skipper raised his own weapon, 'I hit his arms from the side and he drops the weapon,' thought the captain and was about to execute his plan. 'Wait… what if… what if he tries again… I need Fred alive,' in the last second, he changed his target, 'Not the arms… no, the head, a deathblow, quick and painless'.
Skipper brought down the sharp end of the mining tool. He felt the point enter the raccoon's skull with almost no resistance. It stopped, once it reached the hilt, and the lead penguin let it slide out of his flippers as Archie dropped dead.
Fred turned around and Skipper saw his lips move, but he just couldn't make out the words. 'He saw me,' he thought, 'I have a witness… should I dispose of him as well?' His look fell to the ground, where the dead Archie laid. In his paws was still the machete, almost like in a trance, Skipper was bending over to grab it.
ˇHello? Are you alright?˝ the bird stopped and looked up, realizing what he was thinking about.
˝Oh… uh… yeah, I'm fine,˝ he replied and then began looking around.
˝I hope whatever Archie had isn't contagious, I sure wouldn't want a pickaxe to appear in my head.˝
That was stupidity beyond belief, but thankfully Skipper didn't listen, he was focused on moving on, 'Ok, that's the door I came from, that one's open, so I guess it's where Archie came through, so my choice is…' he stopped looking at the third door, ˝Whatever's behind curtain number 3. Come-on Fred, let's leave this place.˝
He motioned for the squirrel to follow him and jumped onto his belly. He made a few turns between the barrels and got to his destination. But as he reached for the door handle, he couldn't help but wonder, 'What exactly did this guy mean when he said Fred is key to my advancement.'
He grabbed the handle and pulled lightly, but the door wouldn't budge. ˝What the deuce?˝ he asked and brought up his other flipper, he pulled as hard as he could, but it was all for none. His look dropped, just beneath the handle, and he saw something different about this door, ˝A keyhole?˝
He was suddenly struck by some light from his left. Skipper shielded his eyes and turned in the light's direction. There was a heavily lit device of the wall with a picture in front of it, or more accurately, an x-ray photo. He pulled it down and examined it. There were two things that stood out; a short white line (I assume that plastic doesn't show on an x-ray) and something that Skipper easily recognized as, ˝The key,˝ he muttered.
˝What key?˝ asked the ever clueless rodent.
He gained the penguin's attention and Skipper spotted the wound's on Fred's abdomen. ˝You aren't the key, you're just holding it.˝
˝Huh?˝
Skipper looked around and spotted another white box with a red cross on it, much like the one back with Frankie, in the corner. He grabbed and opened it; inside was a surgical scalpel and some bandages. He reached inside and slowly pulled out the knife. Fred saw him doing so and stepped closer.
˝That's shinny, can I have it?˝
Is this really another situation he was forced in, could he have avoided it by not intervening with Archie's test? Is Fred really going to die because of his poor choices? ˝No,˝ he muttered.
˝Aww, but why not?˝ something snapped inside Skipper's head, he clenched his beak and flipper. He swung his flipper and delivered a powerful punch to the rodent's temple. It shook his brain, causing an instant knock out. Fred fell to the ground unconscious and Skipper kneeled down to him.
˝Stay strong Fred, you can survive this,˝ the penguin hesitantly lowered the scalpel to the barely healed wound. He swallowed hard, before carefully pulling the blade across it. The scab gave way and a crimson trail was left by the sharp surgical steel.
I hope you liked it, review!