Chapter 29: Steven the Brave
Early the next morning after Freddie and Steve were taken to Lakeside and imprisoned there against their will, they were both woken up by the Soldiers that stood outside their rooms and dragged into a dimly-lit room with a lily pond at the center. There, Franklin was waiting for them, and he had Mumble as well, restrained by two Soldiers. Then once Freddie and Steve were close enough, Franklin picked up a lantern and took off Mumble's gas mask. While Freddie and Steve gazed at Mumble, Franklin spoke up.
"This freak of nature told me a very interesting story last night." Franklin paused, but when Freddie and Steve didn't respond, he continued. "He told me that one of you is carrying something very special, something…'precious' as he put it."
In response, Freddie unintentionally put a hand over the Bomb, which was hidden under his T-shirt. Unfortunately, Franklin noticed and walked over to Freddie after putting the mask back on Mumble's head. Steve tried to intervene, but he was held back by the Soldier that escorted him, and watched as Franklin surveyed Freddie's hand.
"What are you hiding underneath your shirt, son?" Franklin asked, and tried to grab the golden chain around Freddie's neck.
But Freddie swatted Franklin's hand away and backed into one of the walls. "Get away from me! You're no different than your brother!"
Franklin made a sour grin. "What do you mean I'm no different than my brother?"
"He tried to take this thing from me, and even tried to kill me for it!" Freddie said, gripping the outside of the Bomb without removing it from under his T-shirt. "Your brother had this crazy notion that he could use it as a weapon against Gray Mann, even though the Bomb was given to me!"
As soon as Freddie realized what he said, his eyes widened and he let go of the Bomb. The little light on the side was flashing, so he quickly turned it off. But then he suddenly felt heavy, and collapsed onto the floor without warning. Steve bit the Soldier that was holding him back, and rushed over to help Freddie, who was now panting and struggling to get up.
"Freddie, what's wrong?" Steve asked urgently.
"Gray Mann…" Freddie muttered. "…he made me press the light on the Bomb. Fortunately, I noticed and turned it off, and then he left."
"For the love of God, will someone please tell me what's going on?" Franklin shouted.
"We're trying to get to the Moving Fortress. That's why we were out in the desert," Steve answered, trying to help Freddie up. "We're going there to destroy this bomb Freddie carries on him, before Gray Mann's spirit can use it to annihilate all of us, and it's been nothing but a burden to him. What he said about your brother is true: he did try to take the Bomb from Freddie, and even went so far as to shooting at him. Don't be like your brother, and let us go. If you keep us around any longer, Gray Mann's Robots are going to show up sooner or later to try to take the Bomb like they have been trying to do since we started this journey from Harvest!"
Before Franklin could answer, a series of gun-shots drew him to one of the open doors across the pond. He told the Soldiers to guard the three prisoners, and stepped outside. The shots were coming from near the lake, which was shrouded in a heavy mist. Once he got up onto a wooden platform suspended above a clutter of wooden crates, he saw several of his men being beaten to death by Robot Scouts that were emerging from metallic barges that had made their way across the lake, and more of them were coming in. Meanwhile, his men retreated into nearby structures, and fired their Shotguns from there.
"Man up, ladies!" Franklin shouted above the gun-shots and dying screams. "Don't cower behind concrete walls! Fight them head-on, and send them straight to Hell!"
Then just after he spoke, Robot Soldiers emerged from the barges, and fired their Rocket-Launchers at Franklin. Luckily, he managed to jump from the platform before it exploded in a giant fireball as the crates were filled with explosives that had been dormant for hundreds of years. He landed on the sandy ground and quickly made his way back to the room with the pond inside. Once there, he ordered the four Soldiers that were present to head for Bigrock and take the two Scouts and Mumble with them.
"What about you, sir?" one of Soldiers asked.
"I will stay here and invigorate the rest of the Soldiers," Franklin answered. "Lakeside must not fall to the enemy!"
After a brief salute, the four Soldiers left the building despite Steve and Mumble's protests. They headed away from the battle by heading northward towards the looming cliffs blocked by a chain-link fence. There, they were confronted by the Android Soldier that Freddie and Steve saw at Badwater Basin, and it immediately rocket-jumped from the top of the cliff onto the ground in front of them. But before the four Soldiers could fire their Shotguns, the Android Soldier fired its Rocket-Launcher, sending the men flying into the air. Fortunately, Steve managed to drag Freddie away while the four Soldiers weren't looking and into a tunnel in the rock with Mumble following behind. Meanwhile, the four Soldiers were mercilessly killed by the Android Soldier, and then it started walking slowly past the unfinished stone-wall that obscured the tunnel. As Steve moved deeper into the tunnel, he suddenly realized that Freddie wasn't with him. He looked behind him, and saw Freddie heading for the tunnel's opening.
With Steve following behind him, Freddie walked out of the tunnel and onto the wall, which was only three-feet high. The Android Soldier then noticed Freddie, and moved slowly toward him. In turn, Freddie removed the Bomb from underneath his T-shirt and just as he was about to remove the Bomb from the chain, Steve pulled Freddie down from the wall with enough force to cause them to fall onto the stony floor. Freddie then managed to get out of Steve's grasp and point his Three-Rune Blade at him. The Android Soldier, in turn, was attacked by a group of Soldiers that came charging out of a nearby structure firing multiple rounds with their Shotguns, so it ignored Freddie and Steve for the time being.
"What the hell is your problem?" Steve cried out. "It's me, Steve!"
At first, Freddie didn't respond, then he suddenly lowered the Three-Rune Blade and forcefully hit the back of his head against the low stone-wall.
"I can't do this anymore, Steve," Freddie muttered. "If it hadn't been for you, the Bomb would've been in the Android's hands by now."
"But it didn't, and that's what's most important," Steve said, getting up.
"What's the point of going on? Things seem to get worse the farther we go."
"If we're to make it out of this alive, we need believe that things will turn out better in the end!"
"Do you really think so?"
As Steve was about to reply, Franklin suddenly showed up and stabbed the bullet-riddled Android Soldier through the head with a Half-Zatoichi sword. Sparks flew and then the Android Soldier used the last of its strength to jump into the air with its Rocket-Launcher where it disappeared over a cluster of stone structures to the east. While the remaining Soldiers went to pursue the weakened Android, Franklin saw Freddie and Steve and walked over to them.
"If you know what's good for you, you will run!" Franklin said, and pointed to the tunnel behind Freddie and Steve. "That tunnel leads to the RED base, and from there, you will find a hidden path that will take you out of Lakeside."
"But why are you helping us when you didn't want to before? And how did you know we were here?" Steve asked.
"I saw the Android rocket-jump in the direction of Bigrock and decided to persue it, and I would be escorting you three myself right now, but…" Franklin hesitated, and then he said, "…I do not like to be compared with my late brother."
"Thanks," Freddie said, and Steve helped him up. Then the two of them ran into the tunnel while Mumble followed.
Once they were out of Lakeside, the two Scouts and Mumble were back to wandering through endless sand-dunes, only now they could see the Moving Fortress in the distance. While Mumble wandered off ahead of them like he always did, Steve tried to get a conversation going, but to no avail. Freddie didn't seem to respond to anything Steve said, but he wasn't in a trance like before.
"I wonder if the Harvest Scouts will tell stories of us when we get back," Steve wondered out loud. "Maybe it'll go something like 'Hey, pa, can I hear the story of Freddie and the Bomb again?', and then I'll say, 'Sure, son, that's one of my favorite stories. Freddie had to deal with many hardships, but he managed to save the world from evil'."
In response, Freddie chuckled. "But then the kid will ask, 'What about Steven the Brave? He's my favorite character! Because if it weren't for him, Freddie would not have gotten as far as he did'."
"You know I'm being serious, right?"
"Yeah, and so am I."
At first, Steve didn't say anything and then he muttered, "'Steven the Brave'…I kind of like the sound of that."
End of Chapter 29