Chappie 6
Jareth: Flu gone?
Celty: Yep.
(Stormy runs in)
Stormy: (panicked) We're all gonna die!
Jareth: Why's that?
Stormy: Cause the Mayan's said that the world would end on December 21, 2012 at 11:11! And it's 11:10!
Jareth: Really? Geez, if Ichijo forgot to tell us he was destroying the world today I'm gonna be mighty pissed. (Turns and looks at Celty) Just in case, got any last words.
Celty: (shrugs) Eh, if the world's ending anyway, I might as well do this now.
(She kisses Jareth on the cheek.)
Jareth: (lost for words, blushing) I, ah, gah, I…
Stormy: Five, Four, Three, Two, One! (Closes her eyes and puts her arms over her head.)
(They wait…..And wait…)
Stormy: (opens her eyes and looks around)…..WE'RE ALIVE!...Wait! What the hell!? Ichijo, get in here!
(Ichijo walks in)
Stormy: The hell happened? I thought the world was supposed to end!
Ichijo: Well, it got real cold and snowy for a couple minutes, so we were kinda right.¹ (Shrugs. Celty facepalms and Jareth laughs.)
Stormy: Well, to anybody who's still alive after that, I hope you enjoy the chappie! I own nothing!
Once we got back to the orphanage, Hattie let her rage at the girls being sent back be known. She dragged them kicking and yelling into her office and flung them against the desk, sending them sprawling on the ground.
"You three have just earned yourselves another week in the box of shame for what happened back there!" She roared as Margo stumbled to her feet.
"But Miss Hattie! We didn't do any-!"
The words of the eldest were cut off by a loud crack, her head snapping to the side from the slap.
"We'll you obviously did something to make him hate you, or you wouldn't be back here! Now go!" The woman growled, pointing towards the corner. The girls slowly trudged over and climbed into the three boxes that sat there. Hattie snatched a roll of duck tape from her desk and sealed them in. This is how they stayed for the rest of the day. The girls were in such a stunned state of despair, that they didn't even argue when Hattie didn't give them any food.
The temper that had been building inside me since we'd left finally broke free. Grabbing a pen from the cup on top of her filing cabinet, I spun around and threw hard enough to send it shooting past the woman and impale itself in her desk. She gave a squeak of terror and spun around to find nothing behind her. Had she been able to see me, it wouldn't have been pleasant. My green-gold eyes were sparkling with anger, an expression of pure rage on my face. It seemed as though she still felt the waves of distain flowing off of me, as she shivered and hustled out of the room.
Hattie finally let the girls out the next day in order to take them to their ballet recital. As the other girls rushed around trying to do last minute practices or fix their hair, I saw Agnes sneak out into the audience and tape something to one of the chairs, before scurrying backstage. Curious, I drifted closer and smiled sadly when I saw the sign read "Margo, Edith and Agnes's Dad" accompanied by a red heart in the corner. Parents began to enter the auditorium, slowly finding their seats as the girls took their places. Just as the lights switched off, my finely tuned senses caught a subtle vibration in the air. Flitting over to the room's one window, I saw small object in the distance flying up into the sky, letting off a large column of smoke.
'There he goes,' I thought sadly, then squinted when I noticed a tiny orange figure climbing up the side of the rocket.
'Is that Vector?'
I winced as he reached the glass cockpit and Gru sent ripples of blue electricity flowing over his body, blasting him off the machine.
'Hope he'll be ok.' I thought as I saw him plummet down through the clouds. My attention was draw away from him by the sound of the curtains opening and the piano music starting. A spotlight came on over the stage, illuminating eight girls dressed in white. I watched sadly as my trio soberly preformed their dance, every few seconds glancing up at the door, as though willing Gru to walk through it. He never did though. The recital ended with clapping and cheers from the audience. The girls forced smiles onto their faces, which didn't quite reach the defeated looks in their eyes. The girls slowly got dressed, the only ones remaining in the building by the time they were done.
"There must be some reason he didn't come." Edith said as they walked out of the baht room and back into the auditorium.
"Edith…" Margo replied quietly.
"Maybe his car broke down in traffic!"
"Edith."
"Or maybe he's stuck on the moon and he's working right now to try and get back to-!"
"Edith! Just stop it! He's not coming!" Margo finally snapped.
"Oh, he'll come. If he wants you back that is."
We whirled around to see Vector emerging from the shadows in the corner.
"Mr. Vector? What are you doing here?" Margo asked, clearly confused by his presence.
"Oh, Gru just borrowed something from me and I wanted it back," he replied nonchalantly, his hands hidden behind his back.
"What did he borrow?" Agnes asked, gazing up at him with big eyes.
"Oh just a little thing called…the moon!" He shouted, the girls gasping as he revealed the weapon he'd been hiding behind his back.
It was a long circular white gun sort of object. Hooked upside down into the top, like a magazine in a rifle, was a fishbowl containing a very bored looking parrotfish. Before I had time to react, he pointed it at the girls and pulled the trigger. A strange semi-transparent net shot out the end, entangling them as they tried to flee. I drew my sword and swung in a wide arch, my eyes going wide when, instead of slicing through the net, my blade passed right through both it and the girls.
"Boo-ya! My Parrotfish Mucus Net Launcher² works perfectly!" Vector yelled in excitement as the girls screamed, trying to get free. Upon hearing the horrendous material of which the thing containing them was made from, the girls screamed even louder.
"Mucus?! Damn, it's a byproduct of the freaking fish! No wonder I can't touch it!" I exclaimed, quickly sheathing my sword. My eyes locked onto the gun. It seemed to be made of plastic, which meant I could touch it. Finally having a plan, I took to the air. I gave a strong wing beat and dove at him in an attempt to snatch the object from his hands. Unfortunately, the girls struggling caused the gun to buck and twist, causing Vector to jerk forward in an attempt to keep a hold on it, just as I got to him. I missed the gun and went somersaulting through him, smashing into the wall behind him with my back. I felt the breath leave me and the edge of my vision was tinged with black. I slowly crumpled to the ground, largely unable to move.
"No…You can't do this…" I whispered, my voice coming out in a quite hiss as my vision began to go dark, stretching out my arm to try and reach the girls. They continued struggle and scream for help as Vector dragged them towards the door.
"No…"
My eyes slid closed and I fell into darkness.
Stormy: Sorry for such a short chappie, but my parents had me doing yard work. Well, since the world didn't end, I might as well get this broken branch off the oak.
(Jumps and hangs on the branch. It snaps off and smacks her in the head, knocking her out.³)
(Jareth walks in and sees her.)
Jareth: Oh boy, she's knocked herself out again. Celty is not gonna be happy. Guess I'll have to do the ender.
(Turns to camera)
Please review and feel free to ask any questions you might have. Reviews are love and anyone who reviews will get a cookie and a hug from a character of their choice. Flames will be used to heat the burning flame of rage Celty will have when she finds out this idiot hurt herself again. Now where'd I put the smelling salts?
1: This is from a list of the top ten reasons why the world didn't end.
2: I had to figure out something Celty couldn't cut through, which meant that it had to be organic. I'd read somewhere that a parrotfish makes a net of saliva around it's self to protect it's self while sleeping and, since it fit in with Vector's aquatic animal theme, I went with it.
3: This actually happened. One of the limbs on the oak tree in our front yard got broken in a storm and my dad asked me to jump on it and see if I could tear it the rest of the way loose earlier in the day I wrote this. I ended up being knocked out for 10 minutes.
The name of this chapter, by the way, is based of the name for a part of an Epic Play, like the Odyssey. It's basically the deepest, darkest, most serious part of the story.