Welcome to Slavestown
Chapter Nine
"Day five – I think," Ripp talks, trying to keep himself from going crazy. "I can't feel my legs, and by now I am fairly certain that no one is coming to rescue me. I have accepted my fate as a test subject and look forward to a life filled with pain and misery – which, let's face it, wasn't really all that worse than the one I had before," Ripp says, crouching towards the floor, "I long for human interaction, so much so that I have actually enjoyed talking to Loki – but he doesn't come around anymore," he continues. All of a sudden, he stops and gazes down at the floor; tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry Isabella," he states. Ripp sighs, basking in the silence.
After a minute, his ears perk up, a strange thumping noise coming from the door. "Isabella?" Ripp asks, leaning forward to try to get a closer look. The thumping grows louder with each passing second, until finally, the door cracks in half, the remaining pieces flying to the floor in a dusty cloud.
"Thanks Gramma," someone speaks, "But we uh, could've just opened the door," they inform her.
Tank emerges from the dust cloud all decked out in full military attire, waving his hand in front of his face, "Man, they should really air out this place," Tank comments as he continues to fan the air. Ripp face lights up as soon as he sees him.
"Tank!" Ripp exclaims, "I've never been so happy to see you!"
Tank tilts his forehead ponderously, "Have you ever been happy to see me?"
Ripp shrugs, "Good point," he states, "Not to sound rude, but for your own safety, please tell me you're not alone," he pleads.
"Okay," Tank replies, "but in about five seconds, you're going to wish it was just me," he warns him, as his five other fighters emerge from the dust cloud. Ripp's face falls when he sees his dad.
"Oh no," Ripp says, shaking his head.
"Vastly inferior son! There you are!" General Buzz calls out, racing towards him, "I turn my back for one second and you have the nerve to tie yourself up and hide in this gigantic mansion!" his father rants, pointing at Ripp accusingly, "You know, you didn't have to do all this just because you were stuck being a Lit. major! Believe me, there will be plenty more opportunities to disappoint me in the future. This guy-" General Buzz gestures to Pollination Tech #9 who is standing behind him, "-He disappoints me every day of the week!" Ripp groans.
"Hey! What are you kids doing in here?" an alien guard states, racing into the room with dozens of similar-looking guards following behind.
Loki steps out of the shadows, his black boots stepping onto the floorboard. He points towards Tank and his troops. "Get them!" he commands.
Tank bolts in front him, standing tall. "I don't think so!" he says, charging towards him, "You better surrender now, Loki, or face the consequences!"
"Oh no, you're not going to sing, are you?" Loki groans. He turns to his troops, "Quick! Attack them before they start the chorus!" The alien guards nod and charge towards the troops. Tank backs towards the group, who looks scared out of their minds.
"Don't worry guys, we can take them!"
Five minutes later, Tank and his crew are tied up in chairs next to Ripp, with Loki and his guards laughing evilly in front of them. Tank turns to the group, "Okay, so maybe we couldn't take them," he speaks up, attempting to dodge all the glares that are being sent his way. "But at least now we'll know that for next time," he adds, giving a slight chuckle in the hopes of lightening the atmosphere.
"You think?" Crystal snarls sarcastically.
Next to Tank, Ripp sighs heavily. "Really? You brought five people?" he evaluates, "How many troops did you think he had?"
"I was hoping no more than eight," Tank tells him, dodging yet another group of glares from the residents. "So uh, what do you do here for fun?" he asks his brother.
Meanwhile: Back at the Safe House
"Alright, that's all of them!" Breanna exclaims, throwing down the receiver of the Resurrect-O-Nomitron. "Now we need to focus on motivating these people to join our cause. The townies already agreed to help us, especially after we offered them the new downtown area, but the others might be a little bit harder to convince," Breanna says, stopping when she spots Brent staring off into space. "Hey Brent, are you okay?" she asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Brent replies, still deep in thought, "There's just something that doesn't make sense to me."
"Well, let's hear it," Breanna states, taking a seat down next to him.
"The townies really seem to like Vidcund, and so do a lot of the premade residents," Brent begins, carefully going through the facts in his head.
Breanna nods, "Yes."
"So if that's the case, then how did he lose the election?" Brent wonders, throwing his hands up, "It just doesn't make any sense!"
"Of course it doesn't make any sense, that's because Loki cheated!" a voice calls out behind them. Brent and Breanna turn only to find a young female sim with curly brown hair and green eyes walking towards them. She is wearing the classic all-brown driver uniform. She waves to them. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear you guys talking – my name is Stacy by the way," the service sim greets, taking a seat down next to them.
"Seventy-five percent of our town's population is townies, or it was," Stacy tells Brent and Breanna, "All of us voted for Vidcund because he actually treated us like we were human. The next day though, all the ballots 'mysteriously' disappeared, then magically 'reappeared' a few days later. We found out Loki had been elected the same day," Stacy sighs, "The first thing he did was disband the council to give himself absolute power – and there went our two votes. The other members on the council tried to stop him – well, except Circe - but they didn't have any luck. Then people started disappearing, and then he got rid of me. I was his driver, so I knew it was only a matter of time," Stacy recalls, giving a somber nod.
"Wow, that's really sad," Brent speaks, feeling the intensity, "I'm so sorry that happened to you guys."
"Thanks," Stacy answers, she leans up a little, "But you're going to save us now, right?" she asks, "You saved the Curious brothers, and now you're going to save the city!" she states, a group of townies walking up behind them, causing Brent and Breanna to get a bit flustered.
"Well uh, I didn't personally save the Curious brothers, but we'll try our best to get the city back," Brent informs them, "We just have to stick together and then we'll take the city back by storm!" he announces, driving his fist forward in determination. All the townies cheer.
Brent leans down and whispers in Breanna's ear. "Is that motivational enough for you?" She nods, feeling a rather large smile spreading on her face.
Meanwhile: Back at the Beaker Estate
Vidcund is sneaking around the staircase leading up to the second floor, stopping in front of an end table, which has a small black leather book on it. He scans the area and picks up the book, gazing at its content. On the top of the first page is a heading that is entitled 'Trash I've Disposed Of.' Vidcund looks over the rest of the page, only to find a complied list of the first and last names of every townie in the neighborhood, as well as how Loki had killed them. Vidcund closes the book a bit, feeling sick to his stomach. "What a sicko," Vidcund says under his breath, "Well there goes any chance of me feeling bad."
Vidcund puts the book down and removes the fruit painting from the wall above the end table, opening the fuse box that is hidden underneath it. "You've done well so far, but let's see how you hold up without electricity," Vidcund mumbles, grabbing a few of the wires. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pair of scissors, cutting all the wires in half. Vidcund carefully tucks the loose ends out of view, closes the fuse box and heads up the stairs to the second floor.
"Just cut the electricity, now I'm heading upstairs to check out the rest of the estate," Vidcund speaks into his headset, pressing the button on the side of it.
"Okay, but be careful. Kea and I just came from there and Circe is pretty pissed," Isabella buzzes back on Kea's headset.
"Got it," Vidcund replies, taking his hand off the side of his headset. He steps into the hallway, noticing one of the master suites is open. Vidcund slowly steps to the side, peering into the room. He leans forward, finding Circe lying down on the floor groaning as she attempts to unshackle herself from the radiator.
She pulls her hand up, wincing as she breaks apart the side of her glasses, trying to use the jagged piece to unscrew the side of the handcuff. After a few minutes of senseless attempts to escape, she throws her arms out, visibly frustrated. Circe slaps her hand over her face and groans.
Feeling empathetic, Vidcund steps into the room and kneels next to her; Circe not moving a muscle. "Your stupid girlfriend did this to me," she states suddenly, hand still prominently over her face.
Vidcund lets out a heavy sigh, "She's not my girlfriend," he tells her, gently grabbing her shackled hand and reaching into his pocket. "-Again, she's just a friend. Why are you so freaked out anyway?" Vidcund questions, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a screwdriver, "You said you didn't want to be with me."
"So? I changed my mind," Circe states, rubbing her temples.
"See? That's the problem!" Vidcund exclaims, unscrewing the side of the handcuffs, "You keep changing your mind every few months, and I can't work with that!" Vidcund complains, stress apparent in his voice.
Circe sighs and slowly sits up, pushing her other hand against the radiator so that she can gaze at him face-to-face. "That never bothered you before," she comments.
"Yeah well, now it does," Vidcund replies, clearly irritated as he pops the side of the handcuff open, releasing Circe's wrist from its grasp. She gives a sigh of relief and proceeds to rub her wrist. "I've come to the point in my life where I want something stable," Vidcund confesses, "You know, something real. Is it too much to ask for me to want something like that?" Vidcund wonders, his eyes shining in anticipation.
Circe sighs, thinking this over for a bit, before looking back up at Vidcund, her face conflicted. "With me, yes," she states, her eyes to the floor.
Vidcund nods, his face almost unreadable as he sits in silence, allowing Circe's words to sink in. "Okay," he says finally, "then it's over," he states. Circe watches as he stands up and walks towards the exit, stopping when he gets to the doorway. "- And I mean it, we're over for good this time," he states firmly over his shoulder, "We are not getting back together."
Circe quickly gets up, unable to believe what she is hearing. "Vidcund," she speaks up, her hand over her chest, "Are you breaking up with me?" she asks weakly.
Vidcund swallows and nods, still in disbelief at what he is actually doing. "Yes," he marvels, giving another nod, "Oh my gosh," he mutters under his breath, a million different emotions racing through his mind as he exits out the door, leaving Circe alone.
She crouches down on the hard wood floor; her heart breaking. Suddenly Circe clenches her fists as the sadness that she is feeling morphs into pure hatred. "You're going to pay for that Vidcund Curious, if it's the last thing I do," she threatens, sniffing a bit as the tears slowly dissolve from her eyes, "You chose to get rid of me, so now I choose to make sure that you will never be happy again. On this day I, Circe Beaker, vow to make your life a living Hell."
Fifteen Minutes Later - At the Strangetown Crater
All of the cult members are gathered around the side of the Strangetown crater, waiting for the challenger to arrive. Pascal and Lazlo are standing on the opposing side of the crater, Pascal holding the keys to the red sports car that he will be driving as he converses with his other brother via headset. "You're what?!" Vidcund's voice rings out from the side of his head.
"You heard me," Pascal speaks up, cupping the earphone with his free hand, "I'm jumping over the Strangetown crater with a sports car! Pretty cool, huh?" he asks.
"Are you insane?!" Vidcund's voice buzzes back.
Pascal laughs. "You already know that I am, so what's the point of even asking that?" he tells him.
"Right, so why are you doing this again?" Vidcund asks.
"To gain the cult members' trust and utmost loyalty – duh!" Pascal responds, rolling his eyes at what he believes to be a rather obvious answer.
Vidcund pauses. "So now you're in a cult?" he states after a few moments.
"I've been in a cult for the last thirty-seven minutes, Vid. Geez, keep up!" Pascal replies, impatiently circling his hand in the air.
Vidcund sighs, "Well, in case you don't make it, I'll have someone pick up your body," he offers.
"Thanks, but the cult leader already made the arrangements," Pascal replies nonchalantly, "So, what up with you?" he asks.
"Oh nothing much," Vidcund responds, "I broke up with Circe a few minutes ago, and she took it rather well. I was surprised," he comments, glossing over it.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Pascal exclaims, clearly shocked. "Oh my gosh! Vid, I'm so proud of you!"
Lazlo nudges Pascal in the side, "Why are we so proud of Vid? Is it cause of the beard?" he wonders.
Pascal cups his hand over the receiver, "Yes, but he also just broke up with Circe," he tells Lazlo; he smiles. "Well, I'd love to talk longer, but I have a crater to jump. See you later, man! Curious out!" Pascal states, silencing his headset. Pascal steps over to the sports car and waves to the crowd. He jumps up, losing his glasses in the process, and lands on them, cracking them in half.
"-And of course, you just broke your glasses," Lazlo notes as Pascal picks up the broken pieces from the sand, "Of course!"
Pascal smiles and waves it off, "Relax Lazlo, I'm not that hopeless without them. I can see just fine!" Pascal reassures him, before turning to the crowd and screaming at the top of his lungs. "And now I – your future leader – will jump the treacherous Strangetown crater!" Pascal declares, giving another gigantic wave to the roaring crowd.
"Uh 'future leader'?" Lazlo butts in, "You're facing the wrong way," he states, crossing his arms matter-of-factly.
"Psh, I know that!" Pascal responds, turning the wrong way once more, "Now come and help me into this car!" he commands. Lazlo sighs and turns him in the proper direction.
Lazlo continues to move him forward, stopping Pascal at the driver's side of the car. "Pascal," he whispers, "Before you do this, may I remind you that we're scientists - and as such, we should know that this isn't physically possible!" he whisper-hisses.
"'This isn't physically possible!'" Pascal mocks his brother, sassily waving his hips. Pascal crosses his arms in front of his torso, "Who are you, Vidcund?"
Lazlo sighs and throws his arms out, undoubtedly having enough. "So you expect me to believe that you are fully capable of not only jumping this crater with a car, but jumping over it with minimal sight in ninety degree weather while wearing three layers of constricting clothing?!" Lazlo outbursts.
Pascal tisks and shakes his head softly. "Lazlo, Lazlo, Lazlo," he says, cheerfulness in his voice, "Honestly man, sometimes you just need to have a little fun."
"Well, at least I'll be able to have a little fun, because I'll still be alive after this!" Lazlo counters, crossing his arms with a glare. All of a sudden he loosens up, not wanting to be mad at his brother during what could be the last time he sees him. He sighs and places a loving hand on Pascal's shoulder. "Well, good luck," he wishes, stepping towards the crowd.
Pascal grabs him, holding his brother back by the shoulder. "Nuh-uh-uh! And where do you think you're going?" Pascal asks Lazlo, pulling him towards the car.
Lazlo turns around, clearly confused. "I'm going to watch what might possibly be your fiery death," he comments, pushing Pascal's hand off his shoulder.
Pascal laughs. "I don't think so," he tells him, "As any good lover would do, you must come with me, so we can face his treacherous obstacle together!"
"Uh, yeah, that's not happening," Lazlo says, crossing his arms once more.
"Are you sure?" Pascal wonders, "Cause if you die then you won't have to marry the cult leader-"
Lazlo sighs, shaking his head – mentally kicking himself at what he is about to agree to. "Alright, I'll do it," he promises, "But please, please, please never call me your lover again!"
"Deal," Pascal states; the pair shaking hands.
Pascal and Lazlo step into the red sports car and slam their respective doors, swiftly placing their seatbelts on as Pascal starts the car. He feels around for the glove compartment and opens it up, placing a pair of black-tinted sunglasses on his face. "Let's do this!" Pascal beams, giving Lazlo a nod before stepping on the gas. The car stays in place, sand flying up from its massive revolving tires.
"Uh, you need to put it in drive first," Lazlo tells him, "Right now it's still in park."
"I knew that!" Pascal answers, shifting the lever down, "I was just building up the suspense. Now let's roll!" he shouts, stepping hard on the accelerator. The car speeds forward, the wind knocking into their hair as they trudge up the hill.
"This day just gets better and better as I've just now come to realize that you still don't have a license!" Lazlo shouts, trying to make his voice heard over the wind.
"Hey," Pascal shouts back, "how come you never went out with Loki's sister? She was into all of that fortune teller crap like you are," Pascal wonders, doing his best to change the subject.
Lazlo squints his eyes, trying to keep the sand out, "Just because we have one similarity we're supposed to be together?" he states, "That's like saying that you should be with Nervous, just because you happen to be friends with him!"
"I guess that's true," Pascal yells as they approach the top of the crater, "That is overlooking a lot of his other qualities – like his minimal skill points, or his dreamy eyes-"
Lazlo turns, "What?"
"Nothing!" Pascal quickly shouts, pointing at the giant crater in front of them, "Here we go!" Pascal exclaims, stepping harder on the gas. Pascal and Lazlo scream as they jerk forward, Pascal pushing down the accelerator down as far as it can go. The sports car leaps off the edge of the crater, flying in mid-air as it leaps over the giant crater; landing perfectly on the other side, the brothers screaming the entire way.
"Pascal! Hit the brakes!" Lazlo commands, watching as his older brother struggles to do so; repeatedly hitting the brake pedal with his foot.
"I can't!" he shouts, throwing his head back, his hands still placed firmly on the wheel. "It's stuck!"
Lazlo's face turns to pure panic. "WHAT?!"
The car zooms forward as Pascal swerves the wheel from side to side attempting avoid all obstacles. "Look out for the house!" Lazlo shouts, gesturing ahead at their house on 2 Cover Up Road. Pascal swerves the wheel left, barely missing their mailbox. He circles around the house and races down the hill, heading back towards the group of cult members.
"Now do you understand why I tell you to avoid doing stupid things?" Lazlo yells at Pascal, "We're going to die!"
Pascal turns to Lazlo, not breaking a sweat. "Are we?" he calmly states, eyebrow raised as he turns the wheel to the left. The car jumping over the side of the crater once more before driving straight through a stream of wet quicksand. The vehicle slows down, stopping over the edge of a water fountain – the front wheels rubbing against its porcelain sides. The cult members cheer as the two brothers remain in the car – Lazlo's face filled with shock. He unbuckles his seatbelt and gazes up, holding his hands out as the cold water from the fountain gently rains on him. Lazlo laughs as he raises his hands up, overjoyed with this miraculous feeling. Suddenly, he turns to Pascal, who is grinning confidently at him, realizing that this was his plan all along. Pascal knowingly nods.
"Come on Lazlo, I'm the smartest guy in the city. I may be crazy, but I'm not an idiot," Pascal tells him. Hearing this, Lazlo throws his arms around him in a hug. Pascal tenses up a bit as a feeling of shock washes over him. "Okay, now I'm scared," he states, watching as the cult members walk over to them and gather around the motor vehicle.
"Congratulations Benji, you won fair and square," the cult leader speaks up, holding his hand out to shake. Pascal takes it and does so. "You are the new leader of this fine organization!"
"Really?" Pascal squeaks; the cult leader nods. Pascal jumps out of the red sports car and turns to the crowd, blowing them air-kisses with his open palms. "Thank you! Thank you! For our first order of business, I wish to revise our cult pledge," he tells them, "How about instead of killing the Curious brothers, we change our evil ways and vow to protect the city?" he exclaims, pointing his finger up towards the sky.
The cult members exchange glances with each other before the former cult leader steps forward, his stance filled with intrigue as a cricket chirps in the background. "And why would we do that, new leader?" he asks.
"Well, uh, because if you think about it, what better way to get revenge on the Curious brothers than to become friends with them?" Pascal asks the crowd, "I mean, anyone could just kill someone, but it takes a real sim to tolerate someone for the rest of their lives!"
"-Ain't that the truth," Lazlo mutters, leaning against the top of the sports car.
Pascal turns back to the crowd and extends his hands out, smiling under his cloak. "But before we do that, I have something really important that I need to tell you guys," Pascal stays, reaching up towards his cloak. "I'm not really Benji, and this guy over here isn't really my lover," he confesses, " – In fact, he never wants to be called that ever again," he says, giving a sigh as he gently moves his hood down. "The truth is, I'm not a cult member, I'm just an unemployed scientist. My name is Pascal and that's Lazlo-" he confesses, loosely gesturing his hand out at Lazlo; his brother waves nervously. "-And I have another brother named Vidcund, who a bunch of you probably already know. And the closest I've ever come to doing something evil is inventing this machine called the Resurrect-O-Nomitron, which I now realize is the furthest example I could've used to support my previous statement about doing evil things, so-" Pascal awkwardly turns towards the car.
"Wait a minute!" one of the cult members speaks, moving forward, catching the young scientist's attention. "You invented the Resurrect-O-Nomitron?"
Pascal nods, "Yeah, I invented a lot of things: the Resurrect-O-Nomitron, the Game Simulator, that bookshelf where you can learn every single skill super fast-"
"I love that bookshelf," one of the cult members tells the others, "I got it when I was promoted to principal last year. Two weeks later, I was appointed a Senior Professor at Sim State - it was incredible!" he raves. "You seriously invented that?" he asks.
"Yeah," Pascal tells him, "Fun fact, I actually invented most of it while I was on the toilet. We went to this mayoral banquet for my brother Vidcund a few years back and I got really sick from the food," he confesses, doing a hand wipe in front of his body, "That's the last time I eat fried clams with cinnamon apple sauce. Yuck!" he shivers, sticking his tongue out distastefully. "So, who wants a tour of where the action happened?" Pascal offers. A bunch of the cult members promptly lift their hands up, oohing at the offer. "Great! Now let's go!" Pascal exclaims, gesturing them towards the hill. They step forward and follow behind him as Lazlo nudges Pascal in the side.
"Please tell me you're not talking about the bathroom," he whispers to him.
Pascal laughs, "Oh Lazlo, my dear naïve little brother, you know that's the first stop on our tour!"
Lazlo groans. "Just try not to make this embarrassing for us," he pleads.
"Will do!" Pascal promises, racing forwards, "Hey! Who wants to see the spot where Vidcund wet his pants?" he asks. All of the cult members throws their hands up and cheer 'yes'; some of them even take out cameras. Lazlo face-palms, then slides his hand down his face, watching as all the cult members blindly follow them.
"-And that my dear Lazlo is what happens when you have level 10 Charisma skill," Pascal marvels, nudging his brother in the side, a smug smile shining on his face.
