Author's Note: Hey guys, how's everyone's summer going? Band practices are coming up for me (woop woop!) along with many other things, so I made it a goal to finish this chapter before the craziness starts. I apologize if these last couple chapters have been, well, lackluster, but now we're finally going to get this plot moving! Yay! And guess what? More new characters! Yay! I promise there won't be any more. Actually, I can't promise that. On with the story!
Ch. 5
The small band of misfits now continued to trudge along northward as the landscape and climate turned from mild to bitterly cold winter. In the deepening snow, they shivered and cursed themselves for not dressing warmer.
"Hey, is that it?" Tyler squinted, putting a hand over his eyes. It was hard to make out with the swirling snow, but it was in fact the northern castle they had been searching for. Excited and relieved for finally reaching their destination (and frankly, needing some warmth at this point), they shuffled through the snow towards the castle.
Ryan stopped in his tracks, sniffing the air. "Do you guys smell something?"
"I don't have a nose." Bashur shrugged. "But even if I did, it'd be frozen by now."
Tyler nodded. "It's like...steak...or porkchops. And it's close too, but where would it be coming from?"
Ryan walked up to the snow-covered walls of the castle and brushed off some snow, revealing the castle to be made of various meats.
"Oh groooossss!" Bashur cringed. "That's disgusting!"
A castle made of meat? Ryan wondered. This was where Seto told us to go? Oh boy, if this is the place, there's no telling who this 'Hero of the Lance' guy will be like.
They found what appeared to be the front gate, and knocked loudly, trying not to gag from the texture of the door.
"Helloooo?" Tyler hollered. "We're here to see th-" He was cut off when the ground suddenly collapsed from beneath them, and they all fell into blackness.
"Oooooo..." Adam slowly gained consciousness, looking around at where he was. Huh? Where in the...? Solid stone bricks surrounded him on three sides, with only a bed and toilet as furniture. The last side was made of iron bars and locked iron door, and he could see through it to other cells across from him. Am I in...jail?! There was a barred window behind him that revealed the outside, and upon looking out, he saw that this building was in the middle of the ocean, and rough waves crashed onto the island's jagged rocks. Disheartened, Adam left the window, and tried to remember what he had been doing before he ended up here. I don't have any tools on me...must have been confiscated. Panic came over him as he felt a weight missing from his neck. My amulet!
"Pssst...Adam...over here..."
A hushed voice came from another window. He sighed a breath of relief as he recognized his best friend Ty in the cell next to his, looking through the bars. "Ty! You're here too? Where the heck are we?"
"I have no idea. What happened to you when you disappeared?"
"Ditto. I don't remember anything. Is there anyone else here?"
"Yeah, I saw Jerome, Ian, and Mitch in the other cells. I don't know where Jason or Quentin is though."
"Aw man, I don't like this." Adam groaned, anxiety obvious on his face. He worried not only for his friends, but the unknown fate that soon awaited them.
"Me too. But hey, we've been worse off before. We can get out of this easy." Ty assured, looking confident.
Adam smiled, grateful for Ty's relentless hope. "Well, I'm sure I'll come up with an escape plan first." He challenged.
"You're on." Ty laughed, nudging him through the bars. See, that's the Adam I know.
Their conversation was cut off when Derp Ssundee teleported into the center of the jail. He was dressed in a warden's outfit, and carried a baton in his left hand. "I want to play a game."
"Ow...what the heck..." Ryan dug his way out of the fallen snow, seeing the hole from where they had fallen far above them. "You guys okay?" Tyler nodded, and Steven and the two mobs gave a thumbs up. "Where's Bash?"
Bashur poked his head out of the snow. "Wow, what a ride! Let's do it again!"
Without warning, the hole suddenly sealed up, and they were left in darkness.
A voice spoke out into the blackness. "Who goes there? Amigo, or...um...or foe?"
Ryan couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, but he replied, "We're just travellers. We were sent by Setosorcerer to see a man called The Hero of the Lance. We need your help."
"Oh." The lights flipped on, and they saw before them a redheaded man in shredded and torn clothes, as if he had gotten into a fight with a bear. "I was hoping for a foe so I could test out my machine gun. Oh well, follow me."
Seeing no other choice, they got up and entered the castle, where they found the interior also to be made of meat. Even the furniture. He reclined at the head of the dining table, eating bacon off of a plate. "So, what's your names?" After telling him, he nodded. "Never heard of any of you. No matter. Call me Lancey."
"Okay Lancey, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" Tyler wondered, noting his tattered appearance.
Lancey leaned forward, and spoke to them in a whisper. "So there I was, mining in the Deep Dark Dimension, minding my own business. Right when my back was turned, BAM! I was attacked! Now, Ssundee will probably think different when I tell him, but I think it was a-"
"Wait, did you say Ssundee?" Ryan interrupted. "You know Ian?"
"Of course I do! Me and Ian are homies. On Friday me and him are going to head down to Lapisipolis and shoot the breeze."
Does he not realize what's been going on? "Uh, Lancey, have you talked with Ian recently?" Tyler asked.
"No, but we made plans last week. Hopefully we'll be able to raid some helpless villagers while we're there."
"Lancey, something's happened. Ian, and the rest of Team Crafted, have been kidnapped." Ryan explained.
"What? No way. He may be scatterbrained, melodramatic, and a complete clutz, but Ssundee don't get captured. Just watch, I'll call him right now." He pulled out his phone and dialed Ian's number, and waited as the tone continued to ring until the answering machine came on. His confident expression faded, and he hung up. "But...he always answers his phone..."
"We were told that you would have an idea as to where they are being held." Ryan said expectantly.
Lancey was distraught. "How would I know? Ian's gone to who knows where with who knows what after him, and we've still got a Blair Witch problem to deal with, and-" He stopped. "Wait. The prison." He darted over to a cabinet and rummaged through various maps. "Me and Ian built this prison back in the day, and we used to keep all of our hijacked prisoners in there. Aha! Here it is." Lancey showed them an old blueprint with the dimensions for a large building. It specified a wide area for two stories of cells, twisting hallways that led into a library, kitchen, mess hall, and boxing arena, and finally, a luxurious warden's office. "We haven't been back in ages, so there's no telling who might've taken it over by now."
"This must be it. This was what Seto was talking about. Well, where is it? Just tell us where and we'll be on our way." Ryan insisted.
"That's the thing; we built the prison in the middle of the ocean so that no prisoner would even think about escaping. You can't just swim out there and ring the bell. It's hundreds of miles out at sea. And it appears that you guys do not have a boat."
"We have an enderman." Tyler suggested, pointing back at Burt.
"No, wouldn't work. They can teleport pretty far, but not ocean-crossing far." Burt stood with his arms folded, feeling insulted. "But lucky for you, I don't have a boat either." Lancey got up and motioned for them to come. Confused, they rose and followed him outside. There was a dock positioned on the shore of a bay that fed into the ocean, and parked at this dock was a decent sized wooden ship.
"Lancey, you said you didn't own a boat." Ryan corrected.
"Ah, my young padawan, this is no mere boat. Me and Ian built this back in our hijacking days, and used it to transport our POWs." He brought them aboard, and showed them the holding cells and bombing bays. When Ryan gave a weird look towards the heavy artillery, Lancey explained, "We had a run-in with some purple freaks of nature a while back. Luckily they didn't reach the castle. Now, are we ready to shove off?"
Ryan still did not understand. "We don't have time to sail across the ocean. We need to get there now!"
"And we will, just hold your hippos." Lancey made his way to the helm of the ship and flipped a lever, causing the vessel to shake wildly.
"Lancey, what did you-" Ryan was cut off as the ship rose out of the water and began to soar into the sky.
"Yeehaawww! Take that Archimedes!" Lancey cheered. "I haven't done this in ages!" He steered the ship above the clouds, and looked behind him to see their faces.
"A boat. A flying boat. How in the world…?" Ryan gasped, trying to find the words.
"Don't question it, just go with it." Lancey turned to him and asked, "So, where to Batman?"
"To the prison, on the double." Ryan looked out at open ocean, wondering what could be happening to the team now.
At the wave of Derp's hand, all of the cell doors flew open. "Everybody line up. And don't even think about escaping, because I'm watching you." As the five of them made a line, they got to see Ian finally, who seemed and felt as nervous as the rest of them.
"Ssundee, who the heck is this guy? He looks just like you! Except for the eyes anyway." Mitch whispered to him.
Ian gulped. "He's my clone."
Jerome sighed. "Well that's a relief. I was worried he was an alien trying to take over the world that took on your form to blend in with society." The others stared blankly at him. "What?"
"Okay quiet!" Derp hushed. "We're going to play Red Light Green Light. Whoever wins will get a surprise."
I kind of don't want to see this surprise. Adam thought.
Mitch raised his hand. "Uh, what if the bacca is colorblind?" The comment was ignored as Derp flashed to the other side of the room and called out the first color.
"Green light!" They started running in his direction, but just as they were about halfway, he said, "Red light!" They skidded to a halt, though Mitch lost his balance and stepped forward. Derp began laughing uncontrollably. "Hahahaha! Funny hair is out! Funny hair is out!" He walked over and slapped Mitch with his baton, sending him flying back to the start.
"Hey! No one hits Benja but me!" Jerome growled.
"Oooooh, you moved too!" Derp laughed, beating him as well. The others decided it would be best not to move, and they continued the game. It seemed like Adam and Ty were tied to win, though when Ty sneezed when they were stopped, it was Adam that made it to the end unscathed. "Yay! That was fun. Now the Budder King gets his prize!" Derp summoned a table with a fancy covered platter and swapped his warden hat for a baker's hat. Eagerly, he lifted the cover to reveal a grotesque-looking cake that appeared to have spider eyes instead of cherries. "Okay, eat your cake! The icing isn't really icing, but I'll just leave it on a knead to know basis." Derp offered it to him with a small giggle, feeling very proud of his creation.
Adam though, was disgusted, and made no move towards the table. "I'd rather not."
Derp was confused, and somewhat offended. "Why? Do you know what I had to do to make this cake? Do you know what I had to do?"
"I don't want to know!" Adam said, backing away. He was starting to get creeped out by this.
Derp stared at him, his feelings hurt, and suddenly leapt at Adam. "I hate you Sky! I hate you!" He began beating him in a fury. The others tried to intervene, but there was no stopping him.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt..." Derp turned and saw the blue-eyed girl standing in the doorway. He let go of Adam and brushed himself off, embarrassed. The girl cleared her throat and continued. "The squids would like to have a word with you about the next phase in our operation." Derp sighed, putting down his baton and flashing away. She then picked it up and addressed them sternly. "You are to return to your cells immediately, and await further instruction."
"We won't listen to you." Ty laughed. "You're just a girl."
"Um, Ty, I wouldn't go there if I were you." Mitch warned.
The girl suddenly stormed over, her arm morphed into a tentacle, and she slapped him firmly across the face. Ty fell over in obviously more pain than what was given.
"All of you: into your cells!" They immediately obeyed without question, dragging Ty along with them into the nearest cell. Pleased, the girl then left, coming back moments later with a beaten and injured Jason. She threw him in along with them, locked it, and left.
"Woah dude, are you okay?" Mitch gasped, looking him over. Jason's helmet was cracked and damaged, along with his jetpack, not to mention how bruised Jason must have felt on the inside.
"I'll...be fine." He said, declining their help and getting to a sitting position.
"What did they do to you?" Adam asked.
Jason took off his helmet and sighed. "They...interrogated me. The squids did. Apparently they thought I knew the most about the team and asked me over and over about the weirdest questions. They roughed me up a lot, but I didn't talk. Then..." Jason paused, as if he was experiencing the event over again.
"What? What happened?" Adam insisted.
"Quentin..." Jason gulped. "They must have done something to him, because he did not seem right. He was the strongest I'd ever seen him. He came in and he attacked me. He forced me to talk." Jason choked up, tears forming in his eyes. "I...told them the location of the budder vault." That vault was the spot where any and all budder that was not being used immediately was stored, to keep safe from squid hands...er, tentacles. They had the vault hidden in a place where the squids would never think to look. And now, they knew. "I'm sorry I betrayed you all." Jason wept.
Ian spoke up. "It's okay dude, you didn't throw us under the bus. I'm sure all of us would've cracked when facing the wrath of an angry Mudkip." There were small giggles among them, and they all agreed likewise.
Jason composed himself. "Thanks guys. You're the best."
Adam didn't blame him for what he did, but his action did create a problem. Now that the squids knew where the budder was at, they would use it against them. The thought of that made him shiver. Speaking of squids...
"Hey Ty, are you feeling okay? After that squid girl hit you?" Adam asked.
Ty stretched and casually answered, "Haha, yeah, better now. She was strong for a girl, but that wasn't what made it hurt so bad. It was...well, remember back in the war when the squid king knocked me into the water?" Ty brushed back his hair to show them his other eye, where a dark blue scar ran from his forehead to his cheek. "The girl's tentacle thing must have agitated my scar, so it really stung when she touched me."
"Dang Ty, I never knew..." Adam muttered.
"Eh, it's fine. It didn't seem like a big deal, so I never brought it up."
Talking about these unfortunate topics really lowered the team's spirits, and as they sat in the dark listening to the pounding ocean waves outside, their position seemed bleak.
"Aw, c'mon guys, cheer up!"
Adam glanced around. "Who said that?"
"Oh great, is it my conscience again?" Jerome groaned. "I told you, I promise to lay off the cookies!"
"Haha, I'm not your conscience." A small boy then appeared outside their cell. He wore a white shirt and red checkered jacket with jeans. He had bushy brown hair and bright eyes that shined behind large square glasses. He held a potato in his hand that he had obviously been nibbling on.
"Where'd you come from?" Mitch asked.
"A cell down the hall. Don't worry; I checked the other rooms. It's just you guys in this prison."
"Okay, well what's your name kid?"
The boy looked down at his feet, thinking. "Well...Auntie Janet said not to give your personal information to strangers, especially the government. But you guys are Team Crafted! I guess I'll make an exception this time. My name is Tyler, and I'm your biggest fan!"
"Well, nice to meet you Tyler, I suppose." Jason greeted. "You wouldn't happen to know how to bust us out of here, would you?"
"Oh, definitely!" He set down his potato and pulled a paper clip from his pocket, and began to pick the lock. "Auntie Janet taught me how, just in case I got kidnapped by the government." In a few moments, the door swung open.
"Thanks kid, we owe you one." Adam thanked, petting Tyler's head as they exited the cell. The kid looked at them in awe, not believing what he had just done.
"Okay, we somehow need to find Quentin, and get to the exit." Ty explained.
"I'll go find the Mudkip." Jason volunteered. "I remember seeing him go into a room after he beat me up."
"I'd better come with you then." Adam said. "No offense, but in your condition, you'd be squid chow in seconds." Jason smiled and rolled his eyes.
"I'll go with you guys too. I know this prison like the back of my hand." Ian added with a wink.
The kid spoke up, swallowing a mouthful of potato. "I can help you navigate the halls. They added a couple traps and security cameras."
"Alright, just don't slow us down." Adam nodded. "Ty, Mitch, Jerome; find the exit, and we'll meet up somewhere along the way." The team then split, and the search began.
So, uh, yeah...that happened. Sorry to cut it off so suddenly; I kinda lost track of how long it was getting. I kind of based this off of Cops and Robbers, if you didn't catch the millions of hints. By the way, the girl's name is Whitney, and she'll be more important in the chapters to come.
But until then, keep those reviews coming! They really do help keep the creative juices flowing, whether it be inspiration for the next chapter, or motivation for getting me off my lazy butt to continue typing. Let me know what you liked, what I should include, etc. A writer is only as good as his editor! Alright, see you later!