In retrospect, I probably should've used the Bread Monster for this chapter instead of the chapter that took place at Double Cross, but what's done is done. So I'm using a character that isn't in the actual games or the promo videos but is scary enough to fit Shelob. Hope you like it :)
Chapter 38: Painis' Tomb
A few miles from where Freddie abandoned Steve, he and Mumble had just passed a corner when they beheld a large tomb with several crates blocking the entrance.
"Is this the right way?" Freddie asked, looking at Mumble nervously.
Mumble nodded.
After a brief sigh, Freddie began to move one crate, but then it crumbled the minute he touched it. Then soon, all the other crates did the same till there was nothing but a pile of petrified wood. Next, Freddie descended the stairs down to the tomb. At the bottom, he found a large room with empty posts for torches and a coffin that was sealed shut. Freddie looked around the room for an exit, but upon finding none he was about to leave when he heard a strange sound. It was the click of a Shotgun being loaded, and seemed to be coming from the coffin.
Curious, Freddie went up to the coffin and waited. The noise came from it again, causing the coffin to shake a little. As it began to shake more, Freddie backed away slowly toward the stairs. Then he felt someone push him forward from behind, which caused Freddie to lose his balance and the Bolt Boy mask to fall off. He scrambled in the dark trying to find it, when a loud boom sent pieces of the coffin flying at him. Luckily, he ducked his head in time, and managed to grab ahold of the Bolt Boy mask. When he put them on, he beheld a terrifying sight.
The coffin was destroyed, and in its place lay a Soldier in Ubercharge mode. After a few jerky movements followed by the Shotgun clicks, the Soldier sat up, and turned his head towards Freddie. His eyes widened and a large smile grew on the Soldier's face as a menacing chuckle escaped his mouth. Then before Freddie could react, the Soldier moved quickly from the coffin to standing right in front of him.
"I am Painis Cupcake," The Soldier said in a twitchy tone. Then he pointed his finger at Freddie. "I will eat you."
"Uh, no," Freddie replied and quickly dashed up the stairs.
He tripped on the last step, just as a Shovel flew right where his head would've been. But as he got up, he felt something grab his foot and looked back to see the Soldier called Painis holding onto it from the floor. Freddie kicked his shoe into Painis' face, forcing Painis to let go, and ran into an adjacent hallway. He then came into a room with three possible passages, and then he heard the Shotgun click, and picked one. But to his surprise, it led to a dead end, and then just as he was about to head back, Painis was blocking his path. After a brief grin, Painis moved forward on the floor, which caused Freddie to leap into the air above Painis. Then as Painis rammed into the dead end wall, Freddie found himself back in the previous room where Mumble was standing.
"Mumble, you've got to help me," Freddie said breathlessly. "There's some freaky Soldier that's chasing me and I need to show me the way out."
In response, Mumble just shrugged, making a short sound.
"What do you mean you don't want to help me?"
The Shotgun click echoed through the hallway Freddie got out of.
Panicked, Freddie said, "Look, just get me out of here. I'll do anything!"
Mumble cocked his head and held out his hand, saying a few incoherent words.
"You want the Bomb in exchange for getting me out of here? No way! I'm not giving the Bomb to anyone, least of all you!"
Then just before Mumble could answer, Painis appeared once more. Freddie saw him and ran down another hallway with Painis not too far behind. He appeared in front of Freddie once more, forcing Freddie to dodge him. Painis retaliated by ramming Freddie into the wall on the side of the hallway. But then just as Painis opened up his jaw, Freddie kicked him between the legs, causing the red glow to vaporize. Painis now resembled an ordinary RED Soldier with a blood-stained uniform as he groveled on the Tunnel floor. This in turn allowed Freddie to get away, and soon he came to a Tunnel with a large hole above it showing a stormy sky.
Freddie was so glad to see the sky after having spent days in darkness that he didn't see Painis standing behind him. Painis then opened his jaw and was prepared to launch another Shovel from it when he was hit on the head by a Sun-on-a-Stick. It was Steve, and his heavy breathing caused Freddie to turn around.
"Steve," Freddie said, watching Painis turn his head and choke Steve.
"Run! I'll keep this guy distracted!" Steve said, and promptly beat Painis on the head several times with the Sun-on-a-Stick.
"I'm not leaving without you," Freddie said and pulled out his Three-Rune Blade.
But before Freddie could strike, Painis punched Steve away from him, and dodged Freddie's blade. Next, Painis grabbed Freddie's arm and was about to eat it when Steve came zooming in. He swung the Sun-on-a-Stick right into Painis' face which caused Painis to briefly flinch. Then he glared at Steve, opening his jaw to let a Shovel fly out of it, when Freddie took the Three-Rune Blade in his free-hand and shoved it right through Painis' mid-drift. The Shovel went flying out of Painis' mouth, but it missed Steve, and then Painis bit Freddie's neck. Freddie cried out in pain and hurried to pull the Three-Rune Blade out.
Steve, meanwhile, took the Sun-on-a-Stick and went for an underhanded swing at Painis, hitting him in the throat. Immediately, the Sun-on-a-Stick's spikes were impaled, causing Painis to choke and let go of Freddie. As Freddie's neck bled, Painis attempted to get the Sun-on-a-Stick out of his throat, allowing Steve to remove the Three-Rune Blade and impale it through Painis' forehead. In response, Painis stopped moving and gasped before he went limp.
After Steve waited a few seconds, he removed the Three-Rune Blade from Painis and went to attend Freddie. The bleeding wasn't stopping, and Freddie could barely stand. Then as Steve helped him lie down, he heard a faint humming and knew Robots were coming. In haste, he took the Invis Watch and the necklace with the Bomb on it from Freddie and hid behind a Pillar as two Robot Soldiers appeared through an opening down the Tunnel. They surveyed the scene before them, with Painis passed out and Freddie lying unconscious in a pool of blood.
"What the hell just happened here?" asked one Robot Soldier.
"I don't know, but we need to take Painis back to his tomb before he recovers," said the other. "And unless my sensors are mistaken, that short man is a Scout!"
"A Scout? Didn't Gray Mann say something about the necessity of finding a Scout?"
"Affirmative. You take Painis back to his tomb and I'll take the Scout to the Moving Fortress."
"Sir, yes, Sir!"
Then as one Robot Soldier picked up Painis' body and ran as fast as his mechanical legs could carry him, the other Robot took Freddie in its arms and walked out through the opening down the Tunnel's hallway. Steve turned on the Invis Watch and trailed the Robot Soldier all the way outside, where a platoon of Robot Soldiers stood. From there, the Robot Soldier led the other Robot Soldiers away from the Tunnel towards a Tank that was parked in the middle of a Courtyard. The bottom-half of the Tank opened up to reveal a hidden compartment which all the Robot Soldiers climbed into. In haste, Steve followed, and kept to the shadows as the Invis Watch wore out and the internal batteries recharged. Once the other Robot Soldier joined the rest, the Tank's door closed and the entire compartment was pitch-black except for the Robots' blue lights for eyes.
Several hours passed and just when Steve was sure he would get caught, the Tank stopped. Immediately, the Robots piled out, and Steve followed behind. He was amazed to find that they were parked right in front of the Moving Fortress, using a conveyor-belt ramp to get up. Once inside, the Robot Soldier carrying Freddie went through several passageways before coming to a single room where a Robot Medic awaited. Steve kept the Invis Watch on long enough to see the Robot Medic heal Freddie using a Medi Gun but then he had to duck into a closet when the battery ran out.
After Steve heard the Robot Medic's wheel-foot roll out, he emerged from the closet and walked over to Freddie. The wound on his neck had healed perfectly, but he was still unconscious. In desperation, Steve shook Freddie, which caused him to stir.
"Steve," Freddie said slowly. "Where…are we?"
"We're in the Moving Fortress," Steve answered. "You were bleeding all over the place after that crazy Soldier bit you on the neck, and then you passed out. I managed to subdue him pretty well, though I'm not sure if he's dead, when a couple of Robot Soldiers showed up and took you with them to here."
"But why would they heal me? Oh, yeah!" Freddie looked underneath his shirt, and upon not seeing the Bomb he started panicking. "The Bomb! Where the hell is it? Did they take it?"
"No, I took it." Steve pulled the necklace with the One Bomb on it out of his pant-pocket.
Freddie looked at Steve with a horror-stricken face, then before Steve could give it to him Freddie snatched the necklace out of Steve's hand and put it on. Next, he took the Three-Rune Blade and Invis Watch as well, before getting off the operation table. His knees were a little shaky, so Steve had to help him as they made their way out of the healing room and into one of the many crammed metal hallways within the Moving Fortress.
End of Chapter 38