Seraphim:
Okay, we're back, and let's go on to what happens next…
~X~X~X~
"J-Joey! What are you doing?!" I whispered/yelled. Joey jumped through another window and landed on her feet, wiping her arms off, before turning to me, "C'mon rainbow hair! Hurry it up! We ain't got all night!" she said impatiently. Since the candy guards were about to barge into the previous room, we both jumped out the window, climbed down the tree next to it, and through another open window.
I hung by the top of the window, before swinging my legs forward, jumping into the room, and landing in a kneeling position silently.
Joey seemed to give me an impressed nod, "Not bad, rainbow—" "Please stop calling me that." I sighed.
Joey continued to walk towards the door, "Well, what do ya want me to call ya?" she asked, not looking back at me.
"I don't know…something other than 'rainbow hair'?" I said flatly. The fox snickered, "Okay then, I'll call ya Red." Followed her to the door, "Why 'Red'?" I asked as I slowly turned the knob.
"Cuz the tip of your hair's red. And it's also easier to say, and red seems to be more your color." She said.
Huh…never thought about that…
I opened the door just a crack, and Joey stuck her head out the door, twitching her ears and sniffing the air for a moment, before nodding her head in satisfaction.
"Kay, we're good. C'mon." she scampered out the door, and I trotted after her.
It was strange, just about two hours ago, I felt like my whole body was going to fall about, but now I'm completely fine. But I felt much stronger, and more alert.
I stopped as I heard footsteps running from the other end of the hall. "Joey, stop!" I whispered, the fox looked back at me, a little confused at first, but before she asked anything, I snatched her up in my arms; looking around frantically for somewhere to hide, when my eyes landed on a door. I ran over to it, turned the knob, and jumped in, shutting the door quickly but quietly behind me.
Once we were behind the door, I found that we ended up in a broom closet. Joey squirmed in my arms, as she pulled her arms out, "Whaddaya think you're doin'—?!" "Shh!" I covered her mouth, my eyes on the door, as I heard the footsteps pass by, and fading into nothing.
Joey and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in, in the first place. I put my hand on the knob and opened the door just a crack, to see what was going on.
The hallway was empty; all was quiet as no one was in sight. I opened the door a little more, setting Joey down, tugging on my hospital gown nervously and stepped out of the closet silently.
"Jeez…that was close…" I sighed with relief. I tip-toed fully out of the closet and began to walk normally down the hall, "Kay, Red; next time, don't be goin' off and scarin' me like that, okay?" Joey sighed. "Sorry, it was last minute…" I said apologetically.
I was walking normally until my foot caught on my hair which was dragging on the ground and stumbled forward, making that weird squealing noise again. "What?" Joey asked.
"I cursed under my breath and stood up, looking back at my ridiculously long hair.
"Jeez…I wanted my long, but not this long…!" I grumbled. I gathered my rainbow Rapunzle hair in my arms and stared at it in frustration, Joey could see the problem with my long hair, "Yeah, this ain't gonna work…" she said, scratching her face thoughtfully.
She seemed to think for a moment, then she shrugged, reaching back behind her neck and undoing her bandana. She handed me the tattered green fabric, "Here, tie your hair back with this." She said. I nodded thankfully at her, and took the fabric, and started to braid my hair.
"Aw, really? You gotta do that now?" Joey asked, seeming irritated, "Yes, it makes my hair shorter." I said, after about five minutes, I tied it off and my hair was now several inches above my ankles.
I dropped my braid and Joey motioned me to follow her, "Alright, Rapunzle, we're goin'."
We walked in silence for a moment until I noticed there was an area on her neck that didn't have any fur growing properly. I strained to see what it was until I realized it was a scar. That gave me a very unsettling feeling in my stomach. I began to fidget my fingers nervously.
"So…Joey…" I started, "When you said you didn't want to be 'Gum-butt's guinea pig' anymore…what did you mean by that?" I whispered.
She stopped and was quiet for a minute. But then she shrugged, continuing to walk.
"You see this tag?" she showed me her right arm with her tag, but didn't look back at me. "It's called the Transformation System Project. Also known as T.S.P., Gummy's been working on a shape shifting experiment for years. And I ended up being his 'latest success.' He's been trying to duplicate the powers of this one cat that can shape shift into almost anything. I've been locked up in here with a lab rat named Science for over three years. And it was unbelievably boring."She said flatly.
I bit my lip, processing what she said, "Okay…but…who's 'Gummy' though…?" I asked; piecing together the info she was giving me.
"That ain't his real name, I just call 'im that. He's Prince Gumball; ruler of the Candy Kingdom, and he's literally a total genius."
"Uh…was he the one who gave you that scar…?" I asked, immediately feeling guilty after asking such a personal question.
"No, it was just me being reckless one day. That's why I wasn't allowed to leave here; he didn't want me 'getting hurt'." She said smiling and swishing her bangs to the side. "Yeah, he may be a genius, but he's still a 'Gum-for-brains.'" She laughed. I smiled, feeling a little reassured, Joey suddenly sniffed the air. "We're getting close to the exit, but the guards are getting' closer." She motioned me to follow, "C'mon, let's go."
We continued to run through several hallways on our tip-toes, going around multiple corners, and hiding behind several walls from the candy guards…which were giant chocolate dipped bananas.
Gosh, if this really is a dream, and I wake up; I'll need some serious help.
We went through the last hallway but Joey stopped by a door that was wide open. She stopped me by putting a paw up, and peering around the doorframe into the room, where I could her several voices.
I pressed my back against the wall and peered around the doorframe also to see what was happening.
The roomed seemed to be some sort of surveillance room, with several black and white TV screens switching to different parts of the candy castle. But the guards weren't watching them; instead they were distracted with something else. They seemed to be play rock paper scissors;
"Okay, okay, okay, watch this… you ready?" said one to his partner. "Yeah, just go."
"Okay…One…two…three!" they both pulled rock. "Okay, again." They tied again with paper.
"Again…" tied with scissors. "Again…" tied with rock. They did this several times.
Both of them pulling rock.
"Dude! Stop pulling rock!"
"I'm not! You are!"
"Okay! I'm going to pull paper!"
"Sure you are…"
"Ready? One, Two, Three…!"
They both pulled rock again, and they yelled in frustration, on banging his head on the control pad the other flailing around in anger.
I gave an un-amused look, "Are they really this dumb?"
Joey nodded, "Dumb as a sack of potatoes…" she said, we snuck past the room, down a flight of stairs, "This is crazy…" I mutter quietly to myself. Joey sniffed the air.
"We're almost there. Just a few more—"
"Look! It's the fox and the human!" we both froze for a moment and whipped out heads around to see banana guards coming after us down the stairs.
"Ah cripes!" Joey and I said in unison as we both broke out into a sprint, Joey going on all fours as she tried to keep up with me.
"Jeebus jeebus jeebus jeebus jeebus crud crud crud!" I yelled as we ran down the stairs through several hallways and doors.
I swear to Glob I've gone insane by now.
Everything was made of candy, even the people.
Every one of them was trying to find and catch me.
And I'm running for my life with a talking science experiment talking fox, from oversized chocolate dipped banana people with candy spears.
But hopefully this would be all over.
My senses might have been enhanced, as well as my strength, but if this continued, I didn't know if I was going to last much longer. I could already feel fatigued from all the running; I never liked to run anyway…
We suddenly took a sharp turn, skittering/sliding to a stop, and opened a random door, running in and slamming it behind us. We made it to what looked like the kitchen, with several stoves, sinks, and a rack full of utensils over a giant cutting board.
There was an oversized stack of bags of flour across the room that could hide both me and Joey. I grabbed Joey's arm and jumped behind the pile, hugging her close as I curled up in a ball, panting heavily.
She squirmed out of my grip to get some air and gasped, flopping over my knees.
"Jeez, that was close—" we heard the door bang open, and gripped Joey again, close to my chest. My heart was pounding against my ribcage, I gathered my braid and threw it over my lap, so it wouldn't be seen and give us away.
"Aww…c'mon…" I groaned in annoyance. "You said it sister…" Joey mumbled.
"Gaaaahh….why do they keep running away?" a guard's voice complained. "I dunno…maybe they were hungry?" "Why would that explain anything?" "It explains why they ran into the kitchen…" "No it doesn't. Now let's just get this over with so we can eat! We missed lunch because of these two…"
"Joey they're on to us!" I whispered. "I know that! We just need to improvise at this point! From now on; stealth is key!"
I heard footsteps stop right in front of the large file of flour sacks. I tensed, and my eyes darted around frantically.
Okay okay okay…improvise improvise improvise improvise improvise…
My eyes trailed over my surroundings until my eyes landed on a large skillet in the corner, which was just a foot away. But it was in the guards' line of sight.
I loosened my grip on the small fox as I slowly began to reach for it with my good hand, creeping towards it, Joey looked at me curiously, "What're ya doin'?!" she whispered incredulously. "Shh! Hold on a minute!" I whispered back.
My finger tips were only inches away, I didn't even dare try to breathe, "They're gonna see ya!" Joey hissed, "Hold on…!" I snapped.
I touched the handle and wrapped my fingers around it. "Got it…!"
"They're you are…"
BAAANG!
THUDD!
I gripped the frying pan tightly with my left hand as the guard fell to the floor, moaning in pain. I panted heavily out of adrenaline, glaring at the others, who had horrified looks on their yellow faces.
I cocked my head to the side in an almost crazed, bird-like fashion.
"Next…?"
They were about to advance towards me, but I held up the frying pan with my left hand threateningly. I'm not ambidextrous, I'm right handed, but for now, I'm left handed.
"Come any closer, you're all gonna be in a coma!" I snapped. But unfortunately for them…
They didn't listen.
"Get 'er!"
I shrugged, panting slightly, "Don't blame me for losing brain cells!" I said.
"Red, duck!" I heard Joey's voice, I turned around confused.
"What?"
The little fox jumped over the flour pile, landing on her feet and growled. But she suddenly began to grow in size.
She got bigger and bigger until she became the size of horse, becoming more animal/wolf- like in appearance. Her fur/bangs covered half of her face, but couldn't hide the wild animal in them.
My eyes widened.
"J-Joey, what happened to you…?" I stuttered in shock from her appearance.
"Like I said; I didn't wanna be that Gum-wad's guinea pig any more. And this is the result of being one." She said.
Well, I shouldn't be too surprised; I've already seen a lot of crazy stuff. So might as well bear with it.
I turned back to the petrified guards and cracked my neck, "Let's do this…" I smirked.
~X~X~X~
112 knocked out guards later (yes, I counted) Joey and I had found the exit. I grinned with excitement and anxiousness as we were near our freedom…
But that feeling was short lived when the way out was blocked off by more bananas.
"Yaah!" I brought down my frying pan down on another guard's head, knocking him out instantly. I panted, slouching over. I didn't know what was going on, why I was here, or what they wanted from me; but I wasn't giving in to them…
One by one, over 100 banana guards were knocked out, with a giant fox and a girl with a frying pan.
I hopped over Joey's back and knocked another one out.
"How many of these guys are there?!" I yelled over my shoulder, "I dunno! I don't spend time counting 'em!" Joey snapped back, her Boston accent as thick as ever, as she picked up a guard and tossed them across the room.
"We've knocked out over 100 of these dudes and they just keep coming!" I said more to myself than Joey as I shoved off another guard.
"Ugh! I'm tired of this! C'mon!" I felt her grab the scruff of my gown and lifted me off the ground, running off. "Whoa! Joey! What the stuff are you doing?!" I squealed as my feet dangled off the ground and gripping my frying pan.
"Shavin' er wrife!" she said through her teeth that were clamped down on my shirt collar.
She tossed my over her shoulder, onto her back and I held onto her bandana as she galloped off towards the Banana barricaded doors, "What are you doing?!" I cried.
"If we can't fight our way through, then we're just gonna have to force it!" she charged towards the blocked doors at full speed.
"Almost there…!" I grinned.
SHA-THUMP!
"Aack!"
Joey tripped and fell onto her side, sliding across the floor, as I toppled off her back. I rolled a few times and landed on my hands and knees, still gripping the frying pan, shaking my head from the impact and dizziness.
I looked up at the giant fox that was sprawled on the ground.
"Joey!" I scrambled back to my feet, and ran towards my motionless friend.
I knelt down next to her, dropping the pan, and trying to shake her awake, "Joey! C'mon! We're almost there! Get up—!" I looked over at her flank and noticed some sort of dart protruding from her tan fur. I quickly reached over, yanking it out, and looked it over to see what it was.
"...Tranquilizer darts—?!"
"Miss. Drop the frying pan now and no harm will come to you, or the fox." Said, who I believed was the captain of the guards, since he appeared to be more 'in uniform.'
I stood up shakily, picking up the frying pan. My left hand was starting to bleed from gripping the metal handle so tightly. The guards surrounded us, their spears aimed at me.
I stared at the ground, my breathing still heavy.
I was exhausted. My hand was bleeding from open blisters, my right shin was dripping blood and running down my leg from one of the guards' spears grazing me earlier, my face was sweaty, and my hair was disheveled and coming out of its braid.
I was out numbered. My companion was down. And I was on my last legs at this point.
I couldn't go on with this. But I didn't know what else to do.
These people wanted to keep me here, and I didn't want to end up like Joey; a guinea pig they wanted to experiment on.
I didn't want that. And that wasn't going to happen.
I clenched my jaw and scowled at them all, my grip tightening on the cooking tool.
"I think I'll pass and give you a concussion instead!" I snapped, I raised my make-shift weapon.
"Attack!"
They came at me all at once. I didn't even have time to react. Something sharp grazed over my shoulder. It all came so fast, that I couldn't process it.
I dropped the pan, gripping my now bleeding shoulder, yelping out in pain, and falling to my knees.
"She's down!" I felt my wrists being grabbed, but I quickly yanked it away, throwing a guard across the room. but I just couldn't fight them off anymore…
I knit my eyebrows, and squeezed my eyes shut, hugging my arms as the soldiers began to fall upon me.
Everything was dark again. I didn't want it to end here. I didn't want to go back to that dark place. It was nothing but an endless Hell for me, but worse. Instead of physical pain, I had endured having my sanity at the brink of shattering.
I didn't want to go back to that place.
I was never going back.
"NO!" I screamed.
"STOP! THAT IS ENOUGH!" everything stopped. Movement, sound, voices, and time.
My whole body was shaking, and it felt like my blood ran cold.
My adrenaline rush subsided, and I opened my eyes.
The estranged candy people had backed away from me significantly, clearing a path for a figure coming towards me.
I was tired, and my vision was blurred.
After a moment a gained control of my breathing, but my heart continued to pound against my chest.
A pink figure knelt in front of me. I looked up and my vision cleared.
It was a young man, who was pink from head to toe. Literally. His face was a bubblegum pink, along with the rest of him; his hair, clothes, skin; all of it a glossy pink.
He was wearing a pink and purple stereotypical prince's outfit covered with a white lab coat, and a small golden crown with a small blue jewel in the center.
My eyes widened, and I sucked in my breath. He was made of gum.
He must be…Prince…
He held a hand out to me, and I flinched away, "S-stay away from me…" "It's okay…" he said soothingly. I held my bleeding shoulder with a shaky hand.
I looked over his shoulder and saw a girl, who looked to be my age, standing just a few feet away. She was wearing a blue bunny hat with her blond bangs sticking out, light blue sweater, dark blue skirt, thigh-high socks, black Mary-Jane shoes, and a green backpack, and at her feet was a ginger and white spotted cat that was standing on its hind legs like Joey did.
"What…the flip is…?" The color drained from my face, and I started to feel dizzy.
"Um…is she gonna be alright…" the cat asked in a woman's voice.
This was crazy…
Candy people…rainbow hair…talking animals…
I didn't…
"O-oh my…my Glob…" my eyes rolled back into my head, and I fell forward.
Thud!
"Oh my goodness!"
Darkness again.
~X~X~X~
That was long. Very long. Ugh, just remembering this hurts. *rubs shoulder* I think I still have a few scars from that day… whelp…Change of plans, I'll be narrating for quite a while…Joey and the others will be telling the story soon…
Peace out! Until next chapter!
~Seraphim