Chapter 3: The Betrayal of Hightower and the Black Van
In three days, Gerald managed to reach Hightower by hitchhiking on various vans. There, he was greeted by Merasmus the Black, who appeared out of thin air. Like his name, he wore nothing but a black robe with a matching scarf that covered the bottom half of his face, a dark wooden staff, and he wore a horned skull for a hat.
"Greetings, Gerald the Red," Merasmus said in a booming voice.
"Greetings to you, Merasmus the Black," Gerald replied, politely nodding.
"What brings you to my humble tower?"
"I have urgent business to discuss, and it concerns a certain bomb."
Merasmus raised one of his eyebrows. "You don't mean 'that' bomb, do you?"
"Yes, I do."
After a quick glance, Merasmus gestured Gerald to follow him into the main tower, and so Gerald did. Inside, they walked up a series of stairs until they came to a small room with a platform outside that overlooked the two large buildings that once served as the RED and BLU bases. There, Merasmus, who had been floating this whole time, touched the ground and stood a couple heads taller than Gerald.
"So, where did you find it?" Merasmus asked.
Gerald sighed, and said, "In the home of a Scout friend of mine from Harvest. He had taken it from Mumble, who had been holding onto the bomb for years, which he found in the same stream that Iomhar drowned in after being shot several times by Robot Sniper arrows."
"When you say Scout friend, are you referring to Bobbie Billows? The one who went with those thirteen Engineers on that foolish quest to Thunder Mountain?"
"You are correct, Merasmus, and the quest was not foolish. If it weren't for them, we'd be having a Giant Robot to deal with on top of the dozens of new Robots that have been spotted lately."
"Yes, I too have heard the rumors, but how did you let something as powerful as this bomb slip under your nose?"
"It was hidden inside an Invis Watch, which Bobbie found in a horde left by the Bird-Headed men I turned to stone. He must have put the bomb inside the watch so that I wouldn't find it."
"How very clever of him, for a Scout, that is. Do you, by chance, have the bomb with you?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Then who has it?"
"Why are you interested? Don't tell me you want to possess it for yourself?"
"No, not for myself, but for Gray Mann."
"But he's dead!"
"Not quite." Merasmus then conjured the Bombinomicon, flipped to a random page, and produced a floating eyeball with Gray Mann's face for a pupil. "You see, his spirit has become restless over the centuries, and we both know that ghosts with unfinished business cannot be laid to rest until they have fulfilled their purpose."
"And you would help him? I thought you believed in magic, not science!" Gerald shouted as he regarded the eyeball with disgust. "His presence will make people like you obsolete!"
"Yes, you are right, but if I help him, he might make an exception for me," Merasmus replied calmly as he closed the Bombinomicon while the eyeball vanished. "If you join me, Gerald, he might make an exception for you too."
"I would rather die than make a deal with that madman!" Gerald said firmly, and put his Freedom Staff into a defensive position.
His prediction came true when Merasmus sent a blast of energy right at him, forcing Gerald against the interior wall of the tower. In turn, Gerald sent a blast of energy from his staff, which sent Merasmus flying, but he managed to catch himself by floating once more. After a few more energy blasts were exchanged, Merasmus managed to disarm Gerald and force the Freedom Staff to come to him. Then using both staffs, Merasmus sent Gerald up to the top of the tower and left him there.
"If you will not tell me who has the bomb now, then I'll find him myself," Merasmus taunted, floating above Gerald. "The Monoculous sees everything!"
After a brief series of maniacal laughs, Merasmus teleported away, leaving Gerald stranded on the tower.
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In a dry cornfield a few miles from Harvest, Freddie and Steve had to slow down and quietly walk through in order to not get the attention of Pancake, a very old Scout who lived in a farm nearby, and he did not take kindly to trespassers. Despite his age, he could run just as fast as the younger Scouts, which made him feared by many. So when Freddie and Steve heard fast footsteps approaching, they immediately crouched down and stuck their feet out to trip Pancake so they could have enough time to make a run for it. But what they tripped were two pairs of feet that belonged to none other than Mickey and Patten.
"Oh, what's up?" Mickey asked, trying to hide the obvious sack of apples.
"What are you two doing all the way out here?" Patten followed.
"We should be asking the same to you," Steve said, kicking the sack out of Mickey's hands. "You were stealing from Pancake's orchard, weren't you?"
"Hey, we were starving, and his apples are way too good to go to waste!" Mickey said defensively.
Then all four of them were stunned when they heard corn plants being trampled. Figuring Pancake was really angry, they all hightailed out of the cornfield and wound up running alongside the eastern road that went all the way to 2Fort. After they had put a few more miles between them and Pancake, the four Scouts rested at the road's edge.
The silence was broken by the sound of Mickey's stomach growling. "Aw, I hate running on an empty stomach."
"Hey, look, there's some ripe berries over there!" Patten cried, and rushed over to a bush filled with ripe black raspberries.
"Well don't eat all of them, will you?" Steve said, taking a few handfuls himself.
While Mickey, Patten, and Steve helped themselves to the berries, Freddie soon realized where they were, and then he heard the sound of wheels against dirt, and saw a cloud of dust being kicked up by the dark silhouette of a van. He automatically knew what it was.
"Uh, guys, I think we should get off the road," Freddie said in a serious tone, getting the three Scout's attention.
"Why? Do you see a car coming?" asked Mickey.
"Yeah, but it isn't friendly," replied Freddie as hid behind the bare tree.
The other three followed his example, and soon a black van drove right past them. None of them dared to look at the windows or the passenger's side. But just when they thought it was gone, the black van halted a few feet down the road, and they heard a car-door being opened and closed. As the four moved around the tree in order to not be seen, they caught a glimpse of the man heading towards them. He looked like a Heavy, but he wore a black uniform and matching dark shades. Meanwhile, Freddie kept looking at the miniature bomb, which was hanging around his neck next to the dog tags with his mother and father's initials, and was almost tempted to touch the little blue light on top of the bomb's surface. But remembering Gerald's advice, Freddie did not do it. The dark-clad Heavy briefly glanced on either side of the tree, then down at the roots, until an ear-piercing whistle made him turn away and walk back to the van.
"The Heavy's gone, we can move now," Steve whispered as the black van drove away.
"What the hell was that crap?" Patten exclaimed.
"And your explanation had better be good," Mickey added.
So reluctantly, Freddie and Steve told Mickey and Patten about the One Bomb, and how they were planning to meet Gerald at the Upgrade Station in 2Fort where they would hopefully be relieved of the bomb. After the explanation, Mickey and Patten offered to come with them. Initially, Freddie and Steve refused out of fear for their safety, but they insisted that they could help them along the way.
End of Chapter 3