Thunder clapped and lightning flashed. Cyril did not want to admit he was nervous, but he was nervous. Oh boy, was he nervous! He was the only one left.
"Just calm down, Cyril," he said to himself. "Get a hold of yourself. There's a logical explanation for this. And it wouldn't surprise me if those Raccoons were behind it all. Even if he says they aren't. Once I find the lot of them, I'll make caps out of them!"
Cyril wandered around the hallways. He suddenly heard hysterical laughter from inside the walls. He jumped, and started shaking for a moment, then he cleared his throat.
"Nothing to worry about," he said. "It's just the imagination playing tricks. That's all."
Cyril continued to move forward, strangely enough, towards the hysterical laughter. He figured if he could find it, he could find out what in the world was going on around here. Cyril finally reached a dead end in the hallway and groaned.
"Well, now what?" he asked himself, leaning against the wall. A brick pushed inward, and a door opened in the wall. Inside, there was a flight of stairs.
"Hmm," Cyril said, thoughtfully. "Looks like Forest was right about there being secret tunnels in here."
Suddenly, the hysterical laughter grew louder. Cyril took a deep breath, chewed his cigar nervously, and began to descend the staircase. The laughter grew louder and louder, until he reached a large door. It reminded him of his dungeon in the Sneer mansion. Cyril grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open.
"What in blazes!" he shouted the minute he opened the door.
Bert strapped down to the floor, with a feather duster tied to a pendulum swinging back and forth over his feet. That was the laughter Cyril had heard upstairs. It was the ol' Chinese Tickle Torture. The others were in the room as well. Bentley, Schafer, Forest, and Evelyn were locked inside of a cell. Ralph and Cedric were tied onto a rack. Broo and Snag were chained to the wall by their collars. Sophia and Lisa were also chained to the wall, but by their wrists. Melissa was locked inside of an iron maiden (obviously, with the spikes removed), and the Pigs were locked in the stocks.
"Pop!" Cedric shouted, once he saw his father. "Boy, am I glad to see you!"
"So are we for once," Bert said. Cyril walked over to him, grabbed the pendulum, and yanked the duster off of it. Bert's laughing was driving him crazy.
"Get us out of here, boss!" Floyd shouted.
"Yeah I'm getting a stiff neck!" Lloyd said.
"I don't know," Cyril said, pretending to think it over. "I think it would be very beneficial to leave you three in there for awhile. That way, you won't be costing me money!"
"Po-op!" Cedric shouted.
"I'm only kidding, Cedric," Cyril said, as he walked over to Ralph and Cedric. He began to untie them from the rack. "But I can't let them out, anyway, or the others. I don't have the keys."
"But I do," a voice said, before Cyril got very far freeing Cedric. Cyril turned around, and saw the ghost of Count Verner Von Varkenstein standing there, holding a ring of keys in his hand.
"It's the ghost!" the Pigs shouted in unison.
"So you're Count Verner Von Varkenstein," Cyril said, glaring at this ghost. "I'll have you know I'm not afraid of you! Now give me those keys!"
"If you want them, come and get them," Von Varkenstein said, and he dangled the keys in front of Cyril.
"All right," Cyril said. He took his cigar out of his mouth, threw it on the floor, and stomped it out with his foot. Then he turned to the others.
"If any of you are the squeamish type, then I suggest you don't look," he warned. "This won't be pretty."
Cyril charged, and he tackled the ghost. Von Varkenstein was a little surprised, and thrown off guard. The keys flew from his hand. Cyril jumped up and ran for them, but Von Varkenstein grabbed him by the leg, and Cyril came crashing down to the ground.
"Why you . . . ." Cyril said. He grabbed Von Varkenstein's nose, and yanked it as hard as he could.
"You know, Mr. Sneer fights pretty well for an old guy," Bentley commented.
Cyril pulled Von Varkenstein's nose forward a bit, and then let go Von Varkenstein stumbled right into the wall. Cyril took that chance, and reached for the keys. Von Varkenstein jumped Cyril, and sat there on top of him.
"Aaahhhhh!" Cyril screamed. "Oooh! Ooh my spine! Ooooohhhh the pain! The pain! Somebody call me a chiropractor!"
"Okay, you're a chiropractor," Boyd said.
"Now's not the time for joking around," Melissa said. "Cyril, are you all right?"
"Oooooh, my aching sacroiliac!" Cyril moaned again. "Oooooh! I think it's been broken!"
Von Varkenstein immediately shot to his feet. He was a little surprised at this. He hadn't meant to break Cyril's back. Cyril continued to moan and howl in pain. Von Varkenstein kneeled down to see if he was all right. Cyril then suddenly gave Von Varkenstein a left hook, and stood up.
"Hah!" he shouted. "You fell for the ol' aching back trick!"
"Way to go, Pop!" Cedric shouted.
"Yay, Gampa!" Forest shouted, clapping his hands. "I thought you were really hurted."
"Nothing to it, Forest my boy," Cyril said. But the minute no one was looking, Cyril pressed his hand against his back, leaned forward, and groaned.
"Oooohhhh," he mumbled. "Better get those Pigs to get me an appointment with a chiropractor when this is over."
Cyril then walked over to Von Varkenstein, who was just laying there, and put one foot on his stomach, then pressed.
"Ooohhh," Von Varkenstein moaned. "All right. All right. I know when I'm beaten. You, sir, are the winner. I surrendor."
"This is exactly how I made my first million," Cyril said. "Now, hand over the keys!"
"If you please, good sir," Von Varkenstein said, standing up. "There are several different keys here. And it will take far too long to figure out which key unlocks what. I, however, know exactly which key is which. Allow me to assist you, sir."
"Well, all right," Cyril said. "But only because I don't have all night to sift through keys!"
"We shall start with the cell."
Cyril and Von Varkenstein walked towards the cell. Von Varkenstein took a key from the ring, stuck it into the lock, turned it, and opened the cell door. Then he shoved Cyril into the cell, slammed the door shut, and locked it once more.
"You fool!" he shouted. "Did you honestly think I would help you after trespassing on my property?!"
"This isn't your property anymore, buster!" Cyril shouted. "It's mine! I bought it!"
"Keep quiet, or I shall tie a sailor knot in your nose, and a square knot of your ears!" Von Varkenstein shouted. "You are all my prisoners!"
"What are you going to do with us?" Sophia asked, nervously.
"No need to fret, my little pretty," Von Varkenstein said. "I wouldn't dream of harming any of you. You will all remain in my dungeon forever!"
And with that, Von Varkenstein cackled madly, and left the dungeon, slamming the door behind him. There looked like there was no way out of this one.
"We've got to find a way out of here," Ralph said. "But how?"
"We need to get the keys from Count Von Varkenstein," Cedric replied. "I think that's the only way out of this mess."
"How do you expect to get the keys, Cedric?!" Cyril shouted. "We're all stuck down here, and he's up there with them!"
"Maybe Evelyn could squeeze through the door," Forest said. "She's little enough."
"Forest, that's a terrible idea!" Cyril shouted. "She wouldn't know what to do once she got out of here! She's just a baby!"
"Well, it works on TV," Forest said, pouting.
"Cedric, how much television do you and Sofa Girl allow him to watch per day?" Cyril asked.
"I don't think now's a good time to discuss it, Pop," Cedric replied.
"Well, why not? We've got eternity down here!"
The others groaned. Finally, Broo couldn't take it any longer. He began growling, and pushing against his collar with his hind legs.
"Hey, look at Broo!" Bentley shouted. "He's trying to get out!"
"Atta boy, Broo!" Bert encouraged. "Come on, boy, you can do it!"
Broo struggled and squirmed until finally, he managed to get out of the collar that was chaining him to the wall. Everyone else (except Cyril) cheered.
"Way to go, Broo!" Melissa shouted.
"Listen carefully, little guy," Schafer said, as Broo came over to the cell. "We're all depending on you, now. I want you to go and get the keys from Count Von Varkenstein so we can get out of here."
Broo barked and ran for the door. He jumped up to the window, and squeezed out through the bars on it, then he ran up the stairs.
"Our fate rests in the hands of a puppy," Cyril said. "Does anyone else think we're doomed?"
