Chapter 8, Mysterious Meetings
The young kids all giggled, Seth, Weiss, Kaden, and Alistair all sat around a table, enjoying dinner while playing a game called Synex-5. The point of the game was to get your token piece to the top floor while having to solve puzzles along the way. Oftentimes, said puzzles incorporated math or with having to bargain or quiz another player, depending on the challenge. Nearly all of the kids enjoyed it, (despite being in last, Seth was a good sport; even though he couldn't resist making a few remarks whenever someone ahead of him blundered) and Kaden was near winning the game when they heard someone knock on the front door.
Weiss' father stepped up to it and looked through the peephole before opening it. "Hello? How can I help you?"
The young girl's curiosity spiked and she leaned over enough to look out the door, along with her friends.
Standing in the entrance, was a tall, dark-brown-furred lombax with white stripes. He wore fancy clothes from an era that looked foreign to Weiss. The stranger was adorned by a black, elegant jacket, black pants, and a neat, white shirt with silver trim. He held a black cane, his black-gloved hand covered the round handle and a tall, black, top hat sat atop his head, between his rather large (even by a lombax's standards) ears. His eyes were a shimmering, grey-blue color and he beheld a warm smile as her father opened the door.
"Good evening kind sir, I hope I am not intruding..."
"Not to be rude, but I'm not interested in buying anything," Her dad stated and started to close the door.
He was halted by the sharply-dressed stranger, "Pardon me, but I'm not here to sell you anything sir. I am merely here to inform of my carnival, which will open tomorrow night. Please, just a quick minute? I assure you that both you and your family will love it."
The visitor's garb, and soft-spoken manner, couldn't help but intrigue Weiss. She slid off of her chair and approached her adopted father, "What's a carnival?"
Smiling wide, in a very warm and friendly manner, the elegant stranger bowed, making Weiss giggle a bit.
"A carnival is a fun, enchanted place little one, mine is full of candy, rides, games, and a wide assortment of shows!" He melodramatically held up his cane, the glass handle shimmered in the evening light, casting a rainbow of colors on the walls.
Weiss' eyes dazzled and she was obviously entertained and enthralled. While not quite as interesting as seeing the lab, a carnival sounded like a lot of fun, especially with her new friends.
Kaden, Alistair, and Seth both approached the front door as well, all under the watchful eye of Weiss' father.
"How much is admission and where is it?" He asked, though obviously keeping his guard up, he wasn't being rude.
"Admission is just one bolt per person! Don't worry, my carnival was inspected by the Board of Safety and Entertainment my good sir." He gave an adult-style nod and smile to her father before turning back to the kits. "And to help ensure you all have fun, should you come..." He held up an empty hand and, with the flick of his wrist, four vouchers appeared in his grasp. He grabbed one with his other hand (leaning his cane against the wall first) and held it towards Kaden. "This handy ticket will get you five free tries at the Zapper Range! Get over a hundred points, win a prize! Get more, get more, and better prizes! If you can get more than two-hundred, you get the grand prize!"
Kaden smirked a bit at the challenge and took the ticket, "Bet I'll get it on the first try no sweat."
His response made the top-hat lombax chuckle before looking at Seth and offering him a ticket. "This voucher will grant you unlimited rides on our famous Demonator! Guaranteed to thrill and twisted and test your limits!"
"That sounds fun!" Seth eagerly grasped his ticket as the promoter turned to his brother.
"And for you," the presenter offered, "a free admission to the Mech Gladiatorial Brawl! Watch as professional Mech fighters face off and bolts and sparks go flying!"
Alistair quickly took his, almost before the carnival man finished, "Heck yes!"
"And lastly," He held the final ticket to Weiss, "this one gives you an all-day pass to our Close Encounter Wildlife Petting Zoo and Museum! See many native and off-world species that have been tamed and now offer a rare, up-close look."
She beamed and grabbed the ticket.
"Each of those also has a free food voucher with it, so you don't have to worry about buying food or drinks while there, and they all offer free entry to my magic show! Please! Stop by tomorrow and have fun!"
Weiss's father looked at her ticket and read the label aloud, "Mr. Esoter's Dynamic Carnival and Exhibitions!" It was written in playful, yet elegant type with gold lettering against a black and purple backdrop. He nodded as he thought about it, "You Mr. Esoter?"
"The one and only sir!" Mr. Esoter smiled enthusiastically as he gave another dramatic bow. "I do hope to see you all there!" I bid you all a good evening." He tipped his hat and turned away.
As Weiss' father shut and locked the door, she perked up, "So can we go tomorrow dad? Please?"
"I have to ask my parents, but it should be fine," Kaden added and Alistair and Seth nodded as well.
Her father thought about it for a second and looked at his wife. She shrugged before nodding, "Well, we don't have anything planned and I think it would be fun, sure, why not?"
The kits all squealed in delight and couldn't wait till the next day.
Little did they know the next day would be far more exciting than they could imagine.
The black-furred lombax boy whimpered in fear as he peered into the dark. During his time on the streets, he had heard stories of others being grabbed and vanishing, he had no clue what happened to them. Whenever he had heard about someone being grabbed, he always fearfully wondered what had become of them. To be on that end now, he couldn't stop his mind from bringing those thoughts up again.
Both of his friends groaned as they came-to and also began to realize the situation.
They were all gagged, and Clint had a muzzle, so they were unable to talk as well as not move due to their restraints.
Garth tried to calm himself down and listen for any noises outside of the transport they were in.
All he heard, was the transport touching down. He was momentarily blinded when the double-doors opened and three large thugs rushed in and grabbed each of them. Their muffled yells and whimpers and cries rang out as they were carried like luggage into a large and expensive-looking building.
Panic and a sickening feeling of despair pounded its way into Garth's stomach as he was carried down a blank hallway. The ones carrying him and his friends were silent and remorseless as they plodded down the way and stopped at a room. The one in front, the one carrying Clint, opened the door and dumped each of them on a bed and left without so much as a second glance.
Moments later, a lombax in fancy garb strolled in and smiled widely before clapping his hands together. "Well hello there my friends! You can call me Jude," His overly-cheerful demeanor didn't do much to comfort the scared three as he continued. "Look, I get it," He said as he sat on the bed next to Gaze, his light-blue, silver-striped fur shimmered lightly. "I know you all are scared, that's okay, but there's nothing to be afraid of right? I mean, we just took you off the streets and you'll be so much happier here. You behave, and do as you're told, and you'll never go hungry or need anything ever again... cause problems like say... should I take your gags off and you start screaming... and I'll have no choice but to be Mr. Mean... understand?" He said the last word with a coldness that lacked any of the faux-friendly demeanor he introduced himself with. He also gave each of the three an equally-intense and serious stare that reinforced what he said.
Each of the scared three nodded, even Clint.
The smile returned to Jude's face and he reached over and removed their gags and cuffs. Due to the previous threat, and having a good idea of what was going on, the three didn't say a word once the binds and gags were off. "You'll see," Jude continued, "You guys be extra good, and maybe I'll even be able to keep two, or maybe even all three of ya together. Just sit tight, don't make a fuss, and everything will go great. You'll meet my pals, see famous people, travel around, and much more! It'll be so much better than that crummy apartment in that hellhole." He gave one more big, disingenuous smile before getting up and leaving.
Upon the door closing, and locking with an audible click, Garth looked to Clint and Gaze. Being the youngest and newest around, he was easily the most scared and looked to them for guidance and to know what to do.
He didn't get what he was looking for, at first.
Clint was extremely dour, he had the best idea of what was going on. Not only did he share the intense fear his two other friends had, but a big shadow of guilt hung on his head. He was the leader, the one that ultimately made the call to join Kipper. He looked down for a moment before turning to Garth and his depressed expression morphed into one of determination.
"Don't worry yerself Garth, we got some good bunco, just play along with their little game until we can find a way outta this."
"Wh-who are these guys?"
"Slavers..." Gaze stated solemnly. "The worst kind, cartel traders..."
Tucker stood up and grabbed his pistol before looking around. He was dazed but had managed to catch a glimpse of Garth, Gaze, and Clint being carried away. He groaned as he approached Scrapper. The larger teen was still unconscious and Tucker saw the wound on Scrapper's leg. The coast clear, Tucker slid his pistol into the side of his pants and tore a strip off of his shirt. He tied it around Scrapper's leg, over the wound, "Good thing yer out kid..." he muttered lightly as he pulled the cloth tight to help stop the bleeding.
The bigger lombax teen jerked awake and yelled from a sharp pain in his leg. He instinctively threw a heavy hit, which Tucker ducked and grabbed both arms. "Hey! Take a breath kid! It's me!"
Scrapper blinked a bit and slowed his breathing, "Wh-what happened? Where's Clint and the others?" He groaned and looked at his leg, "That freaking hurts..."
Tucker backed up a bit and sighed, "Best I can tell, they were grabbed. I just see you and Liz... And I bet, I did the best I can for it, but you're going to need to have that wound looked at."
"We're getting them back," the teen stated firmly.
"Yes, and you're getting that fixed, you're not much good until we get that handled," Tucker said as he headed over to Liz. He quickly checked on her, feeling a pulse, he lightly slapped the side of her head.
She grunted and her eyes opened. She moved her head around to clear it and looked around. "Where are they?" She grabbed Tucker's hand and he helped her to her feet.
"Not sure, but we can't stay here, help me with Scrapper here. They'll be sending a hit and clean-up squad here soon." He responded as he slung one of Scrapper's arms on his shoulder.
Liz groaned and stepped up, "Where are we going? We need to get them back."
The three of them grunted as they helped Scrapper up and left the apartment.
"I know someone... they'll help us find them." He said as he pulled out a comm and sent a quick message to his contact.
"That was quick," Liz said as they hurried down the backstreets.
"He's a bax of few words, we need to get to a location, he'll meet us there."
They stopped for a second by a street vendor and Scrapper looked at him warily, "This some kind of plan Tucker?"
He shook his head, "No, just an old friend of mine who can help us and he's very cautious and busy. If I called or sent a long text, he wouldn't help."
"So, paranoid?" Liz remarked, "What's he do?"
"Pretty much anything," Tucker's comm vibrated and he looked at the screen. "Let's go, he's accepted to meet with us."
The lombax professor put his comm in the drawer, slid it shut and locked it before looking up at the class as they took their quiz. Luckily it was near the end of his class and the students should be wrapping up soon. He leaned back in his chair, so his plan started. He sighed quietly, a tinge of guilt hit him as he knew what the scared children were going through and he hated it. He wracked his mind tirelessly for years, trying to find any other way to do this necessary chore. Any way that wouldn't require such a cost, and he couldn't find it. He rubbed his face and looked up as the first student came up and submitted their quiz. He nodded, both to the student as they left, and to clear his mind.
A few minutes later and Professor Catenary left the University and headed towards the meeting place.
"We gotta be quick," Clint whispered, "We wait too long, they'll split us, gotta get out before they sell us."
Being nervous and trying to think of something, Garth began to recite the some of the drills that Tucker had taught them. He looked around as he sang the drills.
Catching on, Gaze looked at Clint and nodded, and he nodded back before joining in, shortly followed by Clint. As they recited the drills, they looked around the room, searching for any escape or surveillance devices.
The sound of the door opening made them all stop and they quickly huddled together.
A big lombax with black fur and white stripes walked in. He didn't speak and simply moved towards Garth and grabbed him by the arm.
The poor kid yelped and screamed to be released as he struggled and flailed as he was dragged across the room. He remembered how Clint had bit the attackers from before and he reached up and bit the thug on the hand. It happened so fast that neither Clint, nor Gaze reacted until Garth and the big guy were almost to the door.
"Little furball!" He growled and gave a restrained, yet still strong, back-fist into the kit's jaw.
Garth yelped and went limp for a second as the hit badly stunned him. His bite did achieve one thing, it bought enough time for Clint and Gaze to pounce on the thug.
"So where is this guy?" Liz asked Tucker as they sat outside an abandoned fueling station a few miles outside of the city. Liz sat on an empty fuel crate next to Scrapper. Tucker leaned against the wall and puffed on a smoke.
"He's a busy guy, if he's not here in twenty, we'll head out." He looked up, "Speak of the rug," He said as he tossed his light aside and stepped on it. The familiar sound of a lombax ship was heard and a smooth-black and silver craft touched down. It looked nice, though not overly-flashy or attention-grabbing.
Lifting the cockpit door, Catenary stepped out of the ship and approached them. He was dressed in nearly all-black attire: black pants, long black coat with the collar turned up to deal with the desert wind. His silver fur billowed in the wind as he approached, "How long have they been gone?"
"An hour at most," Tucker responded, "Typical grab team, put up a fight but they got three."
He looked at Liz and Scrapper, "Are you alright?"
Liz nodded, "I'm fine, but Scrapper here got hit in the leg."
"Nothing serious," He added, "Wasn't a strong bolt."
"Wasn't meant to be, but don't worry," Catenary smirked slightly, "I got this game set and I can see every move to be made. Still, everyone has to do their part..."
Scrapper's brow furrowed, "You think this is just a game? They have my best friends! An' we can't be playing games with them!"
The silver-furred lombax clicked his tongue a few times. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, settle down kid. I know you tend to be defensive after losing your dad in a mining accident but you lose your head and let your emotions take over... like people always do! and you'll wind up in chains and being shipped off to who-knows-where and doing the worst work you can never imagine for the absolute scum of this planet!" His tone of voice grew increasingly more intense until he was nearly shouting at the end. A look of focused anger crossed his face as he pulled down on his jacket and shirt; revealing a portion of his upper chest. On it, was a scar in the shape of a pentagon with a line running through it. The fur on it was darker and more rough than the rest. "I know, because I did that... You have no idea of what I've got going on out there in the big bad world. I'm a specialist, you see. So don't doubt or back talk me again kit, are we clear?"
Scrapper gulped nervously and nodded, Liz too looked more than a bit tense and stayed quiet.
The professor smiled and nodded, "That'a boy, now that, that is cleared up. Let's go, still have plenty of time."
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