Chapter 18 The Candy
The evil emperor dropped to his knees and began vomiting blood. Qiao watched him at first puzzled, but then she realized what was going on.
"The candy. I forgot all about it." She thought to herself. Her tears dried and a smile was put on her face, "It worked. I did it!"
High Roller glanced up and saw Qiao's beaming face, "Qiao…" he hacked and coughed, "What did you do to me?"
She stood over him, "I asked the Komodo Dragon King to lace the candy I fed you with poison. You'll die without the antidote." She pulled out her special pouch from her top and showed him a blue candy, "Now, I have a deal for you." He glared at her, but coughed more blood, "I'll let you live, if you release my sisters, my friends, and me."
"Fine! Now, give me the antidote!" High Roller reached out his hand to take the blue candy.
Qiao pulled it away, "I'm not done." High Roller hacked up more blood, "You will also never EVER pursue me ever again. You will never chase after me, or try to capture me. You will never see me as a frail princess ever again."
"What?" High Roller coughed, "Never! Zebras, get that candy!" he coughed some more.
The Zebra Brothers slowly walked up to her to grab the candy from her, but she placed it near her mouth as if she was about to eat it.
"If you try to cheat your way out of this, High Roller, I'll eat this candy and watch you die." She snarled, opening her mouth to eat the antidote.
"No!" High Roller was desperate.
The trickster stood quiet for a short second and agreed to never hunt her ever again. He ordered the freedom of First Squad and the other princesses. Qiao refused to give him the antidote until everyone was safe at Big Green.
Mighty Ray, Mystique Sonia, and Jumpy took Qiao's sisters back to Big Green to get a head start. Lin Chung decided to stay behind so that he could escort Qiao out along with him.
"There! There! Now, give me the antidote!" High Roller almost begged.
The last princess looked at the blue candy and then chucked it behind her, away from High Roller. High Roller gasped and ordered Bear Stomp and the zebras to find it before the poison killed him. As he was distracted, Lin Chung scooped up Qiao and escaped the East Citadel with her.
Once they found the blue candy, High Roller quickly devoured it, and the poison began wearing off, "Damn her. She's become too smart." He coughed up his last bits of blood before wiping his mouth, "But, I still need her." He tugged his face, "What am I going to do now?" He began muttering to himself.
"Why do you need her so badly, Master High Roller?" Sparky Black asked.
"She's like any other human girl." Sparky White added.
The emperor became angry, "She ISN'T like any other human girl. She is a princess! She had beauty, strength, and now she has intelligence. She has every single trait I want for my heir. I need her to make a son so that my name will live on!" The zebras still did not understand why it had to specifically be Princess Qiao, "Qiao has royal blood. A common woman cannot give me the heir I want. Not even Qiao's other sisters can give me the son I deserve. They just don't have the traits that Qiao has. It has to be her."
"But what will you do? You made a promise that you won't pursue her anymore." One of the brothers asked.
The jester calmed down, "I don't know. If I could destroy Big Green as soon as possible and imprison all members of Big Green, then I will have her and the deal won't matter anymore," he lightened up, "I won't be pursuing her; I'll be taking over Big Green." He laughed, "It's perfect! Now I just need to find a new stronger army. Something that Big Green has never seen before."
One of the Zebras came up with an idea, "Big Green never saw other humans in your army."
High Roller thought about it, "You're right. Even though I hate other humans, it is because of them that Big Green is currently winning. If I can find some humans to join my ranks then maybe…" he trailed off in thought, "It's a major risk, but I'm willing to take it."
The arena reverted back into the castle. High Roller raced back to his throne with a quill and long, scroll-like paper in his hand. He sat on his throne and began writing on the scroll.
The zebras were curious, "Master High Roller, what are you writing?"
"A plan." He answered, and finished writing his plan. He rolled up the scroll and handed it to the zebras, "It's a backup plan, in case I fail to conceive an heir with Qiao. I need you two to keep it safe and create a band of followers both animal and human just in case I'm dethroned."
"Humans?" Sparky Black said with disgust.
"But why? Humans are our enemies." Sparky White was confused.
He scowled at their ignorance, "You won't be able to read my plan, that's why you need humans in your new army to read it. Also, humans have a special ability that no animal has."
"What's that?" the two asked.
"Building technology." He answered, "With humans on my side, I will have powerful weapons at my disposal. That's why we need some humans to join our ranks no matter how weak and pathetic they are." He then added, "However, you are not allowed to read it until you have an army large enough to destroy Big Green." He eased back into his throne, "And by that time, it will be the right moment for the plan." He sulked in his throne, "Now leave me. I have some more thinking to do."
The brothers obeyed and quarreled with each other on where they should hide the scroll until they create an army. The emperor then stared out the window, lovesick.