Oddworld : Al's Oddysee

by TheManFromMudos

Ok, so have you ever played a game that was so enjoyable you wished you were really in it? If you ever played any of the games in the Oddworld series, you probably didn't. And neither did Al. Unfortunately for him, it was tough Scrab Cakes when he woke up in the land of Odd itself, Oddworld. Now, he must fight for his life to preserve all that is odd, and of course, himself...

27. Chapter 27 - Glukkon for Punishment

Chapter 27 – Glukkon for Punishment

*NOTE – Hello, everybody! Here we are again, with some more Al, and some more Dave. Enjoy this new, completely fresh chapter of 'Oddworld: Al's Oddysee'. THANK YOU!*

P.S: I definitely did NOT get the chapter title from a certain achievement available on 'Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty'. Seriously. Check it if you don't believe me!

The crowd remained silent as the gun-wielding Sligs crossed the lab towards where Dave and I sat in fear, yet just a few seconds earlier, we had been laughing. The pair of security guards stopped when they reached us and one glanced down at the floor where we sat. His face was stern, well, as stern as a Slig's face can be. He spoke in the same electronic voice as any Slig would, with no expression whatsoever. It amazed me to think, though, that whenever I spoke to Dave, that was what he heard. No expression, no tone. Anyway, the Slig spoke:

"Name?" The security guard asked.

"Dave," Dave replied. With almost no hesitation, the other security guard struck him across the face with great force.

"You speak when you're spoken to, Mudokon!" The Slig shouted. The other guard repeated: "Name?"

"Uh… Alan Grike." I replied. "Security Commander Alan Grike, actually." I said smugly. But the security guard was far from impressed.

"Well, then," He said, astonished. "Who'd have thought it, huh? A Security Commander being given a stern talking to by a lower ranking Slig. But I guess that's life, ain't it… Sir?" He and the other Slig chuckled. "So, Security Commander…" The guard continued, "Who's your Mudokon friend?"

"Well, I believe he already told you that." I said. "His name is Dave. Are you deaf? Your friend seems a bit slap-happy as well. Is he all right?" The guard sneered and looked at his partner in disgust at the comment I just made.

"May I remind you, Grike, that me and my 'friend' are both carrying loaded firearms?" He said. I must admit, that did make me pipe down somewhat.

A moment of silence passed then. After that, the Slig nodded to his partner and they both produced a pair of handcuffs. They reached out to Dave and I and placed the cuffs around our wrists. Neither one of us now dared to put up a fight. As they placed the handcuffs on us, one of them announced our arrestment.

"Security Commander Alan Grike and Dave… the Mudokon… I am placing you under arrest for the murder of three Glukkon Executive Officers. You will be taken to jail for overnight holding and will stand in court tomorrow for the judge to determine your sentence. If you're guilty, that is…" Unbelievable. Arrested? On Oddworld? This seemed like the kind of place where the police would shoot on sight… Like in the USA! But they were seriously going to make us stand up in court?

"Wait a minute…" I protested. "Tomorrow? But what if we want to get a lawyer to defend our case?" The guards laughed raucously at this.
"Hahaha, ya hear that?" Said one guard. "The Slig wants a lawyer!" He chuckled, then leaned in to my face. "Sligs don't get lawyers. You couldn't afford a Chronicler with your life's wages. And even if you could, you'd lose the case anyway. At least two hundred Vykkers and Interns just watched you lead two Glukkons into a meat grinder!" Now that he mentioned it, the chances of Dave and I actually winning the case were pretty slim. But there was no time now for another word. The Slig guards now dragged me and my Mudokon accomplice away to jail, where we would be spending the night. Dave and I would probably be in separate cells, so I shot him one last reassuring glance before we were split up. He glanced back, but fear covered his face. I knew then that we had made a big mistake.

The following morning was dull and dreary, and not just because I looked up at the sky through a grated window barely a foot wide. Rain poured down onto the banks of the Mongo River, thunder boomed in the clouds above, and winds that would be record-breaking on Earth were commonplace in the storm. The jail we had been taken to the previous night was nestled into a valley close to the river, and was a huge industrial eyesore in the middle of an otherwise untarnished landscape.

I had been awake for about an hour by the time the jail warden came to escort me to the courtroom. I wondered how Dave was right now. We had been separated rather abruptly the night before, without a chance to say so much as goodbye. And today, we might meet for the final time. Who knew what the outcome of the court case would be? Prison? Slavery? Death? There was no way of knowing for sure, but as we walked down the corridors of the jail, I began to fear the worst in my head. Soon, we were at the doors to the court. The Slig jail warden flung the double doors wide open, and we entered the courtroom to see a long, thin hall. A collection of twelve Vykkers and Glukkons stood in the juror's box (Naturally, Sligs and Interns weren't allowed on the jury). A Glukkon magistrate took up the most grand seat in the hall, and before him were two desks. At one, I saw Dave, a sight which brought me great relief. At the other, I saw a creature I did not recognise from any other place on Oddworld. Perhaps that was because I could only see his rear, though.

The jailer took me to the desk at which Dave stood, and I embraced him in a hug. "It's going to be fine, Dave," I assured him. I looked over at the other desk to discover that it was actually occupied by a Chronicler. An odd figure indeed, the Chronicler was tall and very thin, with some facial tentacles. He had four arms and each ended in a three-clawed hand. He had two legs, ordinarily enough, and wore a suit that was somewhere between that of an attorney's and a magician's.

After the audience had filed into the court, the Glukkon judge slammed his gavel (holding it between his teeth.) He layed it beside him and spoke.

"Ladies and gentle-Glukks of the jury," The judge began. "We are here today to resolve the matter of Security Commander Alan Grike and Mudokon 276-442-B:Dave. I will leave it to Mr. Jecklor to explain the details.

"Thank you, your honour." The Chronicler responded. He then turned to face the jury. "Ladies and gentle-Glukks of the jury," He said, "You are here today because this Slig and this Mudokon here before you today were known, on the date of the 42nd of Julember, 217763, to kill three Junior Executive Glukkons on board Vykkers Labs 13." The jury murmured and stirred at this statement. Jecklor continued: "To prove that this happened, I would like to call forth witnesses to verify the fact that two of the victims were killed in a grinding machine in one of the largest laboratories on the ship." The jury again murmered. And with that, Mr. Jecklor the Chronicler began to call forth his witnesses, eight in total. All of them were Vykkers, of course, as Interns couldn't speak, so would not be able to provide any information.

A short while later, Jecklor had finished calling his witnesses, and all had given the same story: that Dave and I had led Blanser and one of his Glukkon counterparts to their 'death by slicer'. After he had finished up with the final witness, Jecklor stepped from behind his desk to the centre of the court.

"Members of the court, I have now given all of the evidence I have in my possession. I submit to you, the jury, that this Slig and this Mudokon are murderers, and have the blood of innocent Glukkon Executives on their hands. In my expert opinion, they deserve to be punished severely for their crimes against Oddmanity. Thank you, your honour." Then, Jecklor turned and returned to his desk.

"Thank you, Mr. Jecklor." The judge responded. "Now then, Security Commander Grike. You will have your opportunity to defend yourself before the jury reach a verdict. Do you have anything to say?"

I stood and said quite plainly to the judge: "No, your honour." Then, I glanced over at Dave, and saw the look on his face. "But I believe that Dave does." The Glukkon magistrate looked disgusted by such a premise. But he did allow Dave to be upstanding in court, albeit reluctantly. The Mudokon shakily stood up, but once he did, the shy and calm Dave I had always known disappeared.

"Yes, your honour." He said through gritted teeth. "I did kill the Glukkons in question." I was stunned. Why would he admit to it so easily? "Do you want to know why, your honour?" Dave continued. "Because they deserved it." The jury was shocked. "That's right. THEY DESERVED IT!" He yelled. "For centuries, you Glukkons and Vykkers have treated Mudokon kind as the scourge of Oddworld. We were once at peace, living together in harmony. WE COULD HAVE STAYED THAT WAY!"

"Dave, calm down…" I pleaded. But it was futile. He had snapped.

"No, Alan! You don't understand! You don't know what they do to us, how they treat us. We are the outcasts of society, and THEY HATE US!" The judge repeatedly slammed his gavel, but Dave was far from over.

"You wanna know something else?" He shouted. "I'd do it again. That's right. I'd kill every single one of you in this courtroom if I had to! I'd do it even if I didn't have to! I want to MAKE YOU PAY! Make you pay for what you've done to my people for as long as anyone can remember!" The judge had had enough now. He swung his head back, gavel between his teeth, and smashed the miniature hammer onto his podium. Dave abruptly stopped talking. He looked around at the rest of the court, and turned pale. "Oh my Odd," he said. Then he fainted.

"Ok Grike, we've heard enough, thank you very much." The Glukkon judge said. "The jury will now give their verdict. Jury?" He looked over at where the twelve Glukkons and Vykkers stood. One Vykker rose and said: "Thank you, your honour. We, the jury, find the defendant, Alan Grike, guilty of three counts of murder, and Mudokon 276-442-B:Dave clinically insane." The Vykker then sat down. All that was left now was for the magistrate to sentence Dave and I to our punishment.

"Thank you, members of the jury." The magistrate replied. "I must say that I agree quite strongly with your verdict. Now, then. Security Commander Alan Grike, you are hereby charged with the murders of Junior Executives Clyde Farlow, Phillip Daxby, and Mattholomew Blanser." I sniggered at Blanser's first name, perhaps a little too loudly. "I sentence you to ten years imprisonment, with no eligibility of parole." This stopped my chuckling, and it only got worse from there. "Mudokon 276-442-B:Dave, I sentence you to be shot at dawn. You will die a mentally crippled slave to Oddmanity." I tried to hold back my dismay. Tears began to fill my eyes, but I fought them back. Dave had just risen to his feet, but fainted again when he heard this. It was probably for the best, though, because what the judge said next was possibly the cruelest thing I had ever heard said by anyone, human or Glukkon.

He turned to me and said: "You, Grike… You will shoot him."