Chapter Four
"How do you know my name??" Cierra asked.
"That is of no importance right now, miss. If our leader wishes to see you, then we must take you with us, whether you like it or not," the strange man said.
"Umm...okay," Cierra said in a confused, yet worried tone.
As Cierra followed the strange man, all Fayt could do was lay on the table and watch Cierra slowly vanish into the nothingness surrounding him. He was worried about Cierra. He was afraid he might never see her again. He didn't want to be left alone in his cold, dark prison.
"And by the way, human," the strange man said, "You may call me Phil."
Meanwhile, the clock had struck 8:00 PM, and Cliff, Kokoro, and Mirage were still on the highway leading back to Pot Junction. They noticed the remains of Fayt's car have been picked up as they were driving along the unusually vacant highway. Both Cliff and Kokoro were still in a melancholy state of mind.
"So where exactly are these tacos comin' from Mirage?" Cliff asked.
"I was thinking about this new place over on Razorblade Drive that just opened up if that's okay. What's it called again? Hmmm...Oh yeah! Rancher Joe's Taco Farm!" Mirage said.
"Sorry Mirage, but I gotta pass. I've been there before. Man you should see how they're made first. Trust me, they're not even edible!" Kokoro said. "Geez, Fayt and Cierra are being awful quiet. Hey guys, you okay back there?"
There was no response from either of them, so Kokoro turned around to face the back seat. Neither Fayt nor Cierra were in the car at the moment.
"Umm...Cliff? Fayt and Cierra aren't in the car," Kokoro said.
The car abruptly came to a stop.
"They're not here? What are you talking about?" Cliff asked.
"They're not here! Check the back if you don't believe me!" Kokoro said.
Cliff and Mirage looked all over for them, but neither were to be found.
"Damn! Think we might've left them behind at the hospital?" Cliff said.
"I don't know, but I'll tell you one thing: something seriously ain't right," Mirage said.
"And your point is..." Kokoro wondered aloud.
"Don't you think they would've said something when we found the exit?" Mirage pointed out.
"You know what, you may be right," Kokoro said.
At that very moment, Cliff's phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered. "Hmph, no one's there," he said as he hung up. Two minutes later, his phone rang again. "Hello?" he answered again. "Damn! No one's there!"
"Okay, this is just creepy. Your phone rang twice, and both times no one was there?" Kokoro said.
"Yeah, I have no clue what the hell's going on!" Cliff said with a hint of anger in his voice. His phone rang a third time. "HELLO?!?" he screamed. "WHAT THE HELL?!?" Cliff screamed as he slammed his phone on the dashboard.
"No one's there?" Mirage wondered aloud.
"How did you know? Something's screwed up here, and I'm gonna find out what it is!" Cliff screamed. His phone rang yet again. "What the hell do you want??" Cliff shouted.
There was silence across the line for a few moments. Cliff made a move to hang up, but a creepy man's voice began speaking.
"This is the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and we..." the voice began to say but was cut off by another strange man.
"Phil, get it right for God's sake! We're the Anonymous Brigade, remember??"
"Right, sorry Master Biwig!" Phil said. "Anyway, we are the Anonymous Parade, and we got your friends locked up..."
"DAMN IT PHIL! JUST LET ME DO THE TALKING!!!" the man named Biwig shouted.
"Sorry Master!" Phil said.
"Damn fool..." Biwig said as he took control of the phone. He cleared his throat and began talking again.
"This is the Anonymous Brigade. We have your puny friends in custody. If you ever want to see them the same way again, you are to hand over the Kelsey's bar and Grill franchise, as well as all the recipes for all the food by midnight. If you refuse, we will use the poor humans' inner power to take over each planet in the Milky Way, one by one. Then we will brutally murder them when we no longer need them. And for your information, these are the people we have hostage. We have with us: Fayt Leingod, and Cierra Dragonheart. Hand over Kelsey's Bar and Grill to us, and no one gets hurt," Biwig announced.
It seemed that Phil had taken control of the microphones within the ship when he got kicked off the phone, because his hand slipped suddenly, allowing Cierra to talk on the phone for a short time.
"Don't do it Cliff! They're trying..." Cierra gasped before Biwig cut her off.
"Silence, human! You'll pay for that later!" Biwig said. "Now remember fools, hand it all over by midnight."
Biwig hung up. There was an awkward silence within Cliff's car after the ominous phone call.
"Woah..." Mirage began.
"Well, didn't you hear that man? They kidnapped Fayt and Cierra!" Kokoro screamed. "What are we gonna do? Where are they? Oh God..." Kokoro panicked.
"Calm down Kokoro, we'll find them," Cliff said.
"But how? We have no clue where the hell they are!" Kokoro said.
"Kokoro, stop. Anyway, the name Biwig sounds familiar. I had no clue his apprentice was that stupid though," Cliff said.
"Biwig...isn't he the leader of the Vendeeni?" Mirage asked.
"You're right Mirage, he is!" Cliff exclaimed.
"So they're obviously being held on or around Vendeen," Kokoro said.
"Yeah. I also know that they only have one ship that can communicate with others by phone. That would be the PyroStarr II," Mirage chimed in.
"Only one ship that can talk on the phone? That's lame," Kokoro said.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Cliff said. "Well, we're off to Vendeen!"
"Just one problem," Mirage said.
"What's that?" Cliff asked.
"This car can't fly. We gotta fly to Vendeen if we wanna get there by midnight," Mirage said.
"Yeah, that could pose a problem," Cliff said.
"You guys need a hand?" a familiar voice spoke.
"Nel? What are you doing here?" Kokoro asked.
"I just got out of work, and I couldn't help but see you all stuck on the highway," Nel said.
"Well, we're not exactly what you call 'stuck' to say the least," Kokoro replied.
"Oh really? So what's up?" Nel asked.
Cliff, Kokoro, and Mirage told Nel the whole story of what happened from when they left Fayt's room up until the phone call from the Vendeeni.
"So that's what happened. The poor boy just got out of the hospital too. You should've called me. The same thing happened to a different group of people four hundred years ago. They all ended up dying," Nel said.
"How do you know that?" Cliff asked.
"I read it in a book once. So you're sayin you need a flying car to reach Vendeen?" Nel asked.
"Yeah, that's the gist of it," Cliff said.
"I can help you there. This, my friends, is the Gai-Mobile. It can fly and is equipped with cannons, radar, and GPS. The only downfall? It's a tight fit, there's no stereo system, and the engine runs like it hasn't been used in years," Nel explained.
"It's still better than nothing. Come on guys, let's go!" Kokoro said.
"Wait a sec. What should I do with my car?" Cliff asked.
"Park it in a secure place in the woods. There's no time to drive to your house, park your car, and then go to Vendeen from there. By then, something may have happened to Fayt and Cierra," Nel said.
"Okay," Cliff said.
Cliff then turned his car invisible and parked it deep in the woods next to an oddly-shaped tree. He then caught up with Kokoro and Mirage, who were boarding the Gai-Mobile.
"Alright, let's go!" Mirage said.
"Nel started up the engine. It took as long, if not longer to start than the engine in Kokoro's old car, but it eventually started up. Now, it's official. Nel, Cliff, Kokoro, and Mirage were on their way to Vendeen.