Chapter 25: It's Too Easy

Sam

Sam was fighting for his life. It seemed as though the polar bear cyborgs had suddenly upped their difficulty level, like in a video game. The group was forced to stop at a four hallway crossroads. Sly, Murray, and Bentley worked as a perfect team and covered two hallways by themselves. Panda King and Carmelita were working surprisingly well together. They both used long-range weapons and each of them hit the enemies that the other missed. They covered a hallway by themselves. The Guru and Penelope were dominating the close range combat and covered the last hallway. Penelope was using the sword she had snagged earlier with astonishing skill and the Guru was doing some sort of weird magic that made the cyborgs metal rust and become dust.

Sam was all over the place and shot at every cyborg he could. He was at the center of the group and was the best protected out of all of them. He had no idea whether or not his parents purposely engineered it, but regardless, the safest place in the group wasn't that safe. Sam dodged and jumped out of the way of projectiles and fists. He even managed to steal a few wallets and some other valuables. It wasn't until later that he realized he was doing that.

Sam should have been terrified, but oddly enough he wasn't. He had reached a strange sense of calm and peace and it just felt right as he dodged and jumped and fought. It was the same sort of peace and right feeling that he got when he went to the abandoned house he had stocked with provisions that he and Cami had used as their first hiding place.

Sam was still plagued by the thought of why this was so easy. Sure, the cyborgs had kicked it into a new difficulty, but it was still so easy for Sam and his very strange family. The relentless flow of enemies slowed and stopped. An eerie calm fell over them.

"What happened? Why'd they stop?" Murray asked cracking his knuckles. "The Murray was just getting warmed up!"

"And why was that so easy?" Sam finally gave a voice to his worry.

"Easy?" Bentley panted. "You think that was easy?"

Sam looked up at him. "If they were truly trying to kill us, they would have already. They have a clear advantage. Why don't they just keep a relentless attack and wear us down? Why give us breathing time? If this Tijd was really utilizing all of his advantages, we would all be dead a while ago. Why is he playing this game with us?"

Everyone was silent at Sam's comment. They looked at each other grimly.

"You're thinking the right way, Sam." Penelope remarked. "We should really consider this, and where Cami is."

Cami

Cami had nearly tripped over rubble more times than she knew, but she still kept moving forward with her eyes blindfolded and the invisibility technique activated. After awhile, she peeked beneath the blindfold and then pulled it off. She had left the window hallway and was in a mess of other hallways.

"How freaking big is this place?" Cami murmured angrily. She saw unconscious guards slumped against the walls, at least, she thought they were unconscious. Some guards had their metal arms and legs rusted into red dust and others were just beat up and falling apart.

Cami followed the wreckage slowly with her invisibility technique activated. She eventually got sick of her slow progress and dropped the invisibility and ran. She gracefully dodged and leapt over guards. She did not fight any of them; she did not have her canes, nor did she think that she could beat them with just her fists.

Cami felt oddly calm and kind of at peace as she ran and dodged passed each and every guard. This rhythm of running and dodging, and stealing a few valuables, was strangely familiar and calming. She even kicked a few guards as she dodged by them. Then Cami turned down another hallway and she noticed the cyborgs had stopped pursuing her. She turned around and saw them standing in a straight line, looking at her. They turned around and walked away. Cami looked at them in shock.

Then she remembered Tijd telling her that this was all a test to determine her and Sam's abilities. Tijd was giving Cami and Sam some time for a breather before the next wave of enemies appeared and tried to kill her and Sam. Sam must be nearby.

Cami walked silently through the halls. The eerie quiet of no guards made it so that Cami felt compelled to walk just as silently along the empty halls. She strained her ears for the sounds of her brother and the rest of her family.

Cami listened hard and she thought heard mutterings that sounded like Sam. She tried to follow it, but she quickly lost the sound of his voice. Cami then thought she heard Penelope, but it turned out to be a dead end. Cami shut her eyes and tried to listen. Cami then mentally smacked herself. She pulled her blindfold down and listened.

It was easier to follow the sound when all the images were blocked. As a precaution, she activated the invisibility technique. Cami waited for one of her family to speak again.

Sam

"Where the heck would the central control room be?" Sly asked to no one in particular. The group had started moving once again through the halls.

"How big is this place?" Sam answered with a question.

"I don't know." Bentley said, swallowing. "Tijd seems to be toying with us. He doesn't strike me as the type to not expect an escape. I wouldn't be surprised if he was listening in on our conversation somehow."

"Great." Carmelita said sarcastically. "Really great."

"How're we going to get out, Bentley?" Murray asked. His big lumbering footsteps echoed through the halls.

Bentley sighed. "I don't know. We need to get Cami and the van, then we can escape, but-"

"But," Penelope cut in, "Tijd seems the type to not let us go that easily. If he went to this much trouble to get all of us, he'd probably do it again once we escape."

"Yeah, that." Bentley said swallowing.

"Oh." Carmelita said softly.

"And here I thought I could have a childhood where I wouldn't be hunted by immortal, sadistic, robotic penguins. Silly me for thinking that." Sam said savagely. "Oof."

"Ow!"

Sam was lying on the ground. He had hit something that wasn't there. It even made a noise.

Cami reappeared in front of him. She was rubbing her head and removing a blindfold. "Not the way I wanted to reunite, but I'll take it."

"Cam!" Sam got up and hugged her.

"Cami!" Sly and Carmelita hugged her as well.

"You did the Slytunkhamen Invisibility Technique!" Sly said. He sounded shocked and proud at the same time.

"I'm sorry to interrupt such a touching scene." Tijd's voice sounded over the intercom. "But the test is ready. Head for the arena."

"We do not take orders from you!" Panda King yelled at the intercom.

"Very well." Tijd said. He sounded vaguely bored. There was a clicking sound, like Tijd had flipped a switch.

Just then, a metal door came down right behind Guru. Guru jumped forward and it missed him. Luckily he had been at the back of the group, so they were all still together. Huge metal doors suddenly blocked the hallways branching off of the hallway the Cooper Gang was in. Tijd was blocking off every single route except the one he wanted the Cooper Gang to go down.

"Oh, great." Cami grumbled. "We're probably going to die. Correct?"

"Don't say that, Cam." Sly said, slowly stepping forward. "What are our options?"

"Well, we could go forward and follow it." Bentley said. "Or, we could stay here until we think of something better, however, I think Tijd has a plan in case we choose that."

"So, our only option is to play this game by his rules?" Carmelita had an arm around Sam's shoulders and the other around Cami's shoulders.

"Yeah." Penelope said.

"In that case, Cami, you'll need this." Sly handed Cami the dual canes he had taken from the armory.

"Thanks, Dad." Cami gripped the canes calmly and looked around the group. "Onward, I guess."

Sam rolled his eyes at Cami's choice of words. Cami punched him lightly on the shoulder.