"Where are you going?" Max asked.
"Monster hunting." I replied.
"Ooh! I'm coming!" Nikki exclaimed, jumping out of her seat.
"Ugh... I'll go find Neil." Max sighed.
"I'm going to guess that Mount Sleepy Peak Peak is that giant mountain." I stated sarcastically.
"Yep!" Nikki said, jumping to my side.
"That doesn't look safe to go up if the... what did you call it again? is up there."
"The bull man is up there, I saw him!"
"From here?"
"No!"
We stood in an awkward silence until Max arrived.
"Alright, this is Neil. He's probably going to correct you on everything you say. Just a warning." Max said.
"Actually, I'll only correct a few thi-"
"There you go, I proved my point."
"Alright then. Let's go monster hunting!" I shouted.
"Actually uh, cryptic hun-"
"Shut up Neil."
We trekked through the forest towards the mountain, fighting off snakes and squirrels along the way, and we made it to the base of the mountain.
"Neil, I bet you fifty bucks that the Wood Scouts are already up there looking for it." Max said.
"For the fate of the camp?" Neil asked.
"Yep."
"I'll pass. The chances are too high."
I was scanning the mountain while this conversation continued, and then Nikki said "Hey! I see him right there!" She pointed up to the top of the mountain, where the figure of a large man stood.
"Holy shit she actually found it." Max said, "I'm not sure whether to be impressed or insulted."
"Impressed, I'd say." I commented. "Alright, let's split up to see if we can ambush that beast!"
"I'm with Neil!" Said Nikki, "We're going the hard way up!"
"Whelp. Guess I'm with you." Max grumbled. "Let's just find it and leave."
We hiked up the mountain, twisting our ankles on rocks and very oddly placed vines. Near the peak of the mountain was a forested area with a cliff opening. "Okay Max, if we lose each other while hiking, meet up here."
"Yeah whatever."
We marched to the top of the peak with bruised ankles and sore feet. At the top sat the Minotaur, in flesh and bone. It's face was scratched and torn, with rough brown stared us down, then roared and chased us back down the mountain.
I ran for as long as I could, before turning around and realizing the Minotaur and Max were gone. I raced back up towards the peak.
I found Max at the cliff in the forested area, being backed towards the cliff by the Minotaur.
Max was backed towards the edge by the beast of a creature, nearly falling off. It snorted at him in a way that seemed like a mock to him. He started laughing. That made the creature even more upset. He stopped laughing. Just then, a giant black blade was plunged through the beast's midsection. "Duck!" Came the voice from behind the Minotaur. He lay on the edge of the cliff, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. A thick black engulfed the air above him as it sliced through the trees and cut the beast clean in half. The bottom half dissolved, but the top half lay, grunting. Max got up and walked towards it.
I looked at the Minotaur, and saw the fear in it's eyes. I decided to break the monster. "Hey buddy. When you go down to the underworld," I kicked his head. Max did the same. "Tell your friends Lady Chaos sent you." I decided to see how show-offy I could get with this, so instead of stabbing him again, I snapped my fingers and he dissolved into dust.
"Throw the dust off the cliff." I commanded.
"Uh... okay? Why?" Max said, scooping it towards the edge of the cliff.
"I placed a bucket down there." I said. "And don't tell anyone about what just happened. I will destroy your very being."
"Who really are you?" Max asked, as we began to continue down the mountain.
What I was going to say was a joke about being a super hero, but that wasn't what came out of my mouth.
For some reason, most likely Chaos leaking her mind into mine, I said "Lady Chaos. Creator of the universe and all things inherently good."
"Wait so you are literally god? A god named PEARL?"
"That's one way to put it, yeah."
"Can I tell Nikki and Ne-"
"If you can manage to convince me somehow." I cut him off.
"But you can do anything? Anything at all?" Max asked.
"Yep." I responded.
"Do something." Max challenged.
I tripped him. I continued down the mountain, laughing.
"You're pretty short and weird for a god." He grumbled.
"Celestial." I corrected.
"Jesus Christ you're a cultist." He responded.
I spun around, and started eying him down.
"I shouldn't have said that? Are you going to kill me now?" Max asked.
I started rolling on the floor laughing.
"Yeah, definitely a cultist."
"Well for one, you blew my cover. Now you are going to be in the biggest danger of your life. And secondly, watch your step." I stated.
Max tripped on a root. I clapped my hands together, and continued down the path.
"Is that Nikki and Neil?" Max asked.
I looked to where he was pointing. The small blue haired Nikki was reaching up and climbing onto the path. Neil was struggling behind.
"Guys! Over here!" Max shouted. "We killed the bull guy!"
"Awww, without us?" Nikki whined.
"He was about to kill me!" Max remarked.
"Alright, how did you kill it?" Neil said, rolling onto the path.
"Well we found him at the top of the mountain, and then he screamed at us and chased us straight back down. Pearl kept running down the mountain, but it followed me into trees and right up to a cliff. He kept inching closer to me and it felt like he was mocking me. And then Pearl came and-" I clamped my hand over Max's mouth. Which I had to reach high above my head to do.
"I kicked the bull man in the leg and pushed him off the cliff, and he turned into dust at the bottom." I finished. Max then bit into my palm. "Ow!" I shouted, rubbing it. "I'm tiny, you expected me to be fine?"
"Well yeah kind of." He shrugged.
"And then we started coming back down and Pearl was cryin-" I kicked him in the leg. "It was a joke!"
"You two get along well." Neil commented.
"Yeah!" Nikki said.
"That was sarcasm, Nikki." Max stated.
"It was?" She asked, tilting her head.
"Yep."
We walked back down the trail on the mountain, stumbling and tripping on the tree roots occasionally. Under attack by squirrels and snakes, we ran out of the woods faster than we had walked in, huffing and puffing from the trip up and down the mountain. We had left in the morning, and now it was early noon.
"The kids are back David." Gwen said, walking over to the amphitheater.
"Oh great it's Theater camp right now." Max rolled his eyes.
"Max, Neil, Nikki, Paula-"
"Pearl."
"I'm sorry, yes. Pearl! You're back just in time to start "Adventure Camp"! We're looking for the legendary bull man who stalks these woo-" David was interrupted by Max.
"We just pushed him off a cliff." Max stated.
"Saywhatnow?" David stuttered.
"We. Just. Pushed. The. Bull Man. Off. A. Cliff." Max replied slowly.
"That's a great joke, Max! Now, who's ready to go look for the bull ma-"
"We actually did... throw him off a cliff." I told David.
He drooped towards the floor, and started walking towards the Amphitheater.
"Awwww Gwen! We can't go look for the bull man anymore!" David yelled.
"We were just going on a hike!" Gwen shouted back.
"What an idiot." Max mumbled, walking towards the tents.
"Hey Max?" I yelled after him.
"What?"
"Why'd you put oatmeal on my face?"