Hi, me again. So...I've been getting complaints that some of you don't like my shirt. And...I don't know how to take that. On one hand, you have no idea what my shirt looks like, and so your opinion is invalid. On the other hand, if you do know what my shirt looks like, I'm kind of freaked out because that means you're watching me right now. HOW MANY FINGERS AM I HOLDING UP?
On another note, the chapter name is a good song. Sounds like Vaudeville or something.
Window to the Past
Chapter 9: Tac Challenge
Adrian stared into the hole, uncertainty creeping into his head. "We still don't have a plan about this."
"Well, you need facts to form a plan. What do we know about what's down there?" Vi asked him simply.
"I don't know, I've never seen him!" Adrian answered tiredly.
Vi rolled her eyes. "Well, I know a couple of things. First off, he's fast. Second, he's dressed in black. Third, this is probably his hideout."
"Probably?"
"How do we know for sure?"
"By going in!" David cheered.
Vi brought her head back in surprise. "Did you switch?"
"I think so! What just happened?" David asked, looking Vi in the eye.
"We're going to get back your journal from Tac," Vi explained. "My name's Vi, by the way."
"We're getting the book back?" David frowned a bit. "Man..."
Vi peered at the seemingly new Kirby in front of her in curiosity. "Don't you want it back?"
"...Sort of," David said in an indecisive tone. "I mean, it's for camoonication, but Alice wrote 'Dear Diary' on the first page. I want one that doesn't say 'diary' because diaries are for girls."
"You almost seem...smaller than the other ones," Vi murmured in fascination. "That's so weird."
"Well, I think I'm the youngest one," David said simply. "But I'm good! I got out of two near-death egg spears!"
"Experiences," Vi corrected quietly.
David nodded. "Yeah, those. The others write in really big words, and I don't really know what some of them mean."
Vi walked over to the hole. "You think we're ready?"
"Yeah!" David cheered again. "Let's go!"
"Without a plan?"
"Pssh! Who needs a plan?"
Vi grimaced when she thought about how one of the others would have reacted to that statement. "I can see how this could become a problem..."
David, paying Vi no more mind, jumped down the hole and began sliding down the ladder. Touching the ground below, David turned around and gasped.
Piles of assorted objects and knickknacks were stacked high in the underground cavern. The mounds themselves were organized in what seemed like straight lines, but their contents' organization system seemed haphazard by comparison. Each pile contained a range of things, from weapons to empty engagement ring boxes to cassette tape recorders to full suits of armor.
David decided this place probably belonged to Tac.
"Don't say a word," he heard Vi's voice say beside him. "He might be here."
David nodded to show he agreed. He then proceeded to run wildly from pile to pile, digging through them to find his journal.
"David!" Vi yelled harshly. "Be quiet! Tac could be here!"
"Why are you being so loud then?" David retorted.
Vi's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth as her eyes drifted over David's head to the pile behind him.
"Sorry," she whispered through her stubs. David gave a curt nod, then turned around to continue perusing the pile behind him. Suddenly, he stopped as something hit him on the head.
"Ah! What gives?" he yelled indignantly, looking up.
Tac was there, perched atop the mountain of junk.
"Vi..." David asked quietly, a strange mixture of fear and rage in his tone. "What do I do?"
No response.
David, without thinking, turned back to face Vi. The last thing he saw was Vi rushing towards him before something hard hit him on the back of the head.
You were waiting for something. The ground was cold and rough, but you waited. Whatever you were waiting for was worth it.
It was getting dark. Were they going to come? Here they came.
You were wet. You couldn't breathe. Something happened. Something went wrong. Because you were wet. You couldn't breathe. You were drowning. Struggling to break the surface of the water, you shot your arms out to propel yourself forward. They crumpled in pain as they slammed against rocks. Helpless, you continued to be thrown back and forth in the water. Your lungs cried for air, air that you couldn't give them. Your eyes closed as the water filled your lungs.
Something was choking you.
Tristan's eyes shot open in shock.
What was that?! Where am I?
He looked down.
What am I?
As his heavy breathing slowed, his eyes began to get a grip on his surroundings. Which, in turn, got his breathing right back up again.
He was tied up in a dark cave. There were two short round figures arguing in front of him. One of them was tied up. He was surrounded by piles of junk. Tristan had no idea what this cave was illuminated with, but he knew his life was in danger here.
Scrunching up his eyes, Tristan began to think. Should he speak? Who were these people? Why was one of them tied up? Was he tied up for the same reason they were? Who is the one who tied him up? Was it that round thing that wasn't tied up?
His eyes shot open. None of that mattered. He was tied up. He had to get untied and get out. Who the other two were didn't matter. Twisting himself so he could see behind him, Tristan surveyed the tower of garbage behind him. His eyes locked onto something sharp sticking out of the pile. It glinted in the soft light, as if calling to him. He backed up and winced as he felt the sharp point against his back. Moving discreetly so the pair in front of him wouldn't notice his motion, he started moving back and forth on the blade, sawing the rope. Or, he hoped it was sawing the rope. He wasn't able to tell.
As Tristan performed this mindless task, his mind locked onto the two shadowy figures in front of him. They seemed to be having a one-sided conversation.
"...Led me go!" the voice yelled, her words slurred and rounded off, "or I'm gonna mack you ergret it! Gi vie me back my stuffuff! An whatevah you took from Dahvid, too! Whie d'you even nee-eed a jorunal an a cassat-ape recoder for?!"
snap
Tristan was alerted to the broken rope by two senses. He felt the rope's tight grip loosen around his body, and he heard a snap.
Turns out the other two people there heard it too.
"David! You're awake!" the girl exclaimed. "We need to get out of here!"
Tristan didn't move. What did she call him? David? Who was David? She mentioned a 'David' in her monologue...did she mean him?
She must have noticed the conflict on his face. "You...are David right now, aren't you? Or...Daphne? Alice? Toby? Adrian?"
"What...what are you talking about? Who are you?" Tristan whispered.
"Vi," she said. "Though...I thought I introduced myself to all of you...what's your name?"
Tristan shook his head. Something was off about this. She knew him. He didn't know her. That cat thing was gone.
He bolted.
Running frantically, Tristan held back the urge to cry as the fear he was feeling materialized as a blockage in his throat.
"Wait, I need help!" the girl yelled behind him.
Yeah, right. This was probably a trick. She was probably with that cat thing. Feeling a tingle on the back of his head, he jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding a club that otherwise would have knocked him out. Turning around to face his adversary, his eyes flitted from shadow to shadow, trying to find the cat thing.
Something moved. His eyes locked onto the displaced shadow. It was easy to see him now, and therefore easy to avoid him.
The cat jumped towards him with blinding speed. Thinking quickly, he pressed himself down on the ground. He watched in smug satisfaction as the cat soared above him before crashing into the pile behind him. Now Tristan was faced with a dilemma. Fight or flight? Should he try to take the cat down, or-
Tristan bolted.
Not much of a dilemma, if you ask me.
Taking the chance given to him, he zigzagged between the piles of junk, looking desperately for an exit.
"Hey!" the girl yelled. "Could you at least untie me before you find the exit!?"
Tristan ignored her. His eyes scanning the room, his search became more and more frantic as his efforts turned up fruitless. And this is where Tristan's eyes betrayed him. Used to the darkness, Tristan's vision was blinded anywhere he looked other than the dark shadows cast by the mountainous heaps of junk.
Tristan's breathing quickened further as he heard the telltale signs of the cat planning another assault. He began to feel lightheaded as the lack of oxygen started to get to him. Stumbling, Daphne fell to the ground, shocked.
"Wh...where am I? Vi? Are you here?"
No response. "Vi! Now's not the time for games!"
"Stop ignoring me! Get me out of these ropes or you'll never hear the end of it!"
Daphne spun around to find the sight of Vi glaring angrily at her, restricted by a coil of ropes surrounding her body.
"Vi! What are you doing tied up?"
"Which one are you?" Vi asked, ignoring Daphne's question.
"What kind of question is that?" Daphne retorted.
Vi nodded. "Daphne, then. Quick, untie me before - WATCH OUT!"
Daphne's eyes shot to where Vi was looking, and saw a dark figure rushing towards her. She began to scream, but got cut off as the cat pinned her to the ground. Petrified with fear, Daphne stared into Tac's slitted eyes, waiting for the inevitable hack-n'-slash she was in for.
"What are you doing?! Move!" Vi yelled.
But Daphne couldn't. She could only tremble in fear, scrunching her eyes shut. Something smashed into her side, and Daphne was launched into the air before suddenly being stopped by a rough surface. She rolled to the ground, letting herself go limp like a ragdoll.
"Daphne! No!" she heard Vi yell in anguish.
She felt bad about tricking Vi, but at least that meant her performance was believable. She kept her eyes open a sliver, and watched Tac approach her slowly, probably coming to finish her off. Raising his hand above Daphne, Tac prepared to strike.
Now or never...
Daphne bolted.
Tac made a strange strangled sound as Daphne ran past him, headed straight for Vi. She seized the top of the rope and yanked them down. Vi yelped a bit, but she was free.
"Thank you," Vi said, exasperated.
"I suppose you know about the other four, since you called me Daphne-"
"Five, I think, actually," Vi corrected.
"Sorry?"
Vi shook her head. "Formalities later. Let's take care of this...cat burglar."
"Really, Vi?"
"Why does nobody appreciate them?" Vi sighed.
Nonetheless, Vi jumped forward, ready to combat Tac. She looked back at Daphne. "Are you...going to help?"
Daphne shook her head quickly. "I'm no fighter."
Vi bit her lip but said nothing. Tac was staggering to his feet, boring holes into Vi with his drill-like stare. Vi stood her ground.
"I'll give you one last chance. Give back our stuff, and I'll-"
Tac leaped towards her with blinding speed. Prepared for something like this, Vi stepped to the side, forcing Tac to land behind her. It seemed Tac anticipated this move as well as he pushed off of the nearest mound of objects, and sprung again. Vi hadn't expected Tac to recover from a miss so quickly, and therefore could not act fast enough to avoid impact. Daphne winced as she heard Vi give a cry of pain. Tac hit his target.
Unable to get close, Daphne watched helplessly as Tac mercilessly pummeled Vi the way a butcher would tenderize a chunk of meat. Vi's outbursts began to quiet as her body started shutting down. Daphne knew she had to act. Looking around, she tried to think about what she could do. Nothing came to mind. She couldn't block out the constant, rhythmic thwack of Tac's fist plowing through Vi's defenses. Turning every which way for some sort of solution, Daphne finally settled on something she could see in a nearby mound.
Daphne picked up a spear.
Adrian threw it.
Vi gasped for air as Tac recoiled from the grazing cut Adrian had delivered to his back. Turning to face him, Tac registered the orange puffball as the new priority.
Adrian's eyes narrowed into slits as he and Tac stood off, waiting for the other to make a move. The only noise filling the dark underground cavern was Vi's weak breathing.
Tac jumped high into the air. The showdown had begun. Adrian, thinking quickly, ran forward and retrieved the spear he had thrown. Turning around, he scanned the mountain summits for the attacker.
But something was wrong. Everything was dark. Adrian couldn't see. Tac was using that to his advantage.
"You're no better than a common house cat," Adrian called into the darkness. "Hiding behind the curtains, or under tables, because it's too scared to fight. Hit once, and hide. I'm almost ashamed to fight you-"
An annoyed growl came from his left side. Smirking, he thrust the butt of his spear in that direction, catching Tac on the end of it. He whipped the spear towards the ground, bringing Tac down with it.
clunk.
Adrian frowned. He had expected a 'thud' or a 'thwack'. Somehow Tac had escaped. Which meant-
THWACK!
Adrian was sent reeling from the blow to the back of his head, the spear ringing melodically as it clattered across the stone floor. Dizzy from the impact, he staggered to his feet, only to be assaulted again. His ears ringing, Adrian was sent soaring through the air, flailing as he attempted to grab onto something to alter his trajectory. Unfortunately, his stubs proved to be too short to do much good. He tumbled head over heels on the cold cave floor, crashing into the base of another collection of assorted trash.
Resting his back on the ground, Adrian tried to focus his vision behind him, to avoid another ambush. He was still seeing double, and the fact that he was upside down didn't help.
"S-stupid...cat..." he growled.
Adrian's head rested on its side. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he tried to think of a way to get out of this.
What are these? he stared lazily at the assorted objects in front of him. A screwdriver...a broken microphone...a baseball...baseball.
Knowing he didn't have much time, Adrian rolled onto his stomach. He pushed himself up to a standing position, bracing himself on the pile behind him. Bending down carefully, he picked up the baseball.
And he waited.
He heard the clattering of objects rolling down like pebbles on a cliffside. Something was displacing them.
One shot...he thought. Adrian tried desperately to banish the second image his eyes were feeding his brain. His chance was coming, and he couldn't afford to foul up now.
Something landed in front of him. He couldn't see in the dark. But he heard ringing. What was that? He had heard that before.
...ringing melodically as it clattered across the floor...
...His ears ringing, Adrian was sent soaring through the air...
"It's the bag," he whispered. "It's Tac's bag."
Ring, ring, ring...
There.
Adrian threw the baseball with all the force of an angry, disoriented puffball hurling a small rounded object at the source of his rage.
Which happened to be a lot of force.
CRACK.
Adrian smiled. That's what he wanted to hear.
"Strike three," he said under his breath as he stumbled past Tac's unconscious body. "You're out."
"Th-that doesn't even...even work!" Vi's weak voice shouted between coughs. "You threw the...the ball once!"
"I thought it was good," Adrian shrugged, giving the battered blue puffball a superior smirk.
Vi glared at him, annoyed. "I don't think I like Adrian that much."
"You're mistaking me for someone who cares."
"It's not that hard; you all look alike."
"Shut up."
I read over the scene, nodding my head. "That was really well done, Chaos. Seriously, I don't know how you do it."
Chaos's smile widened. "Oh, it's nothing major, I just-"
"It's nothing major?" I said, not turning to look at him. "Oh, never mind, then."
Chaos made some sort of disbelieving exclamation. I stood up, crossing my arms.
"I'm teasing you!" I said, raising my arms. "Douglas Adams!"
"I..." Chaos pulled his cap over his eyes. "I can't believe I fell for that."
I sat back down at the laptop. "You write good combat. I'm jealous. I especially like the puns."
"Mmm," Chaos said with a disinterested tone. "I suppose that has no connection to the fact that you insisted I use puns during the fight?"
"I didn't insist. I implored."
"That's the same thing," Chaos said flatly.
I nodded my head. "Yeah, but 'implored' sounds better."
"I'm done arguing with you about this."
"So where do you think he put our stuff?"
Vi smirked, still panting a bit from the encounter with Tac. "Are you Toby?"
Toby's eyes widened and he stared at the ground.
"Yep. You're Toby. I'd say that they might still be in his sack," Vi said, pointing at Tac's body.
"Whoa!" Toby exclaimed, poring over the unconscious Tac, observing the blue bruise in the center of his face.
"Adrian threw a baseball. Knocked him out of the park."
"...What?"
"Seriously?! Everyone but me!"
Toby shrugged sheepishly, then turned to Tac's green bag. Opening the mouth, he began digging through it. He found his journal and pen near the top of it.
"Ah-HA!" he exclaimed happily. Sitting down, he immediately began to write.
Vi watched him for a few moments, then stepped forward and began to root through the bag herself. Then she gasped.
"Ohh...it's still here!" she sighed in relief as she hugged a cassette recorder. Suddenly, she froze. "He better not have-"
Quickly, she pivoted to face Toby, who looked up from the journal. "I'm going to play this for you and you are going to tell me exactly what it says. If that bugger recorded something over it, he's going to die a fiery death."
She pushed rewind, waited thirty seconds, then pushed play.
"Mmm...muhh...Fey!"
Toby stared at the tape curiously. The voice was high, like that of a baby. Vi nodded hurriedly at Toby to repeat the tape. He did so.
"It's fine...It's fine," she breathed, relaxing.
"What...what was that?"
Vi smiled sadly. "That was my little brother. I don't know how it got on tape, or how I got it, but that's the only time he's ever said my name."
Toby would have continued, but something bugged him. "That was your name?"
Vi nodded slowly, as if Toby was a child. "Yes, Toby. My name is Vi."
"But...that didn't say Vi," Toby pointed out. "It said Fey."
"That's what I said. Vi," she repeated, beginning to get tired.
"You're saying Vi, like the letter. The cassette's saying Fey, as in F-E-Y."
"Wait, I'm not saying 'Vi'?"
Toby smiled awkwardly. "You said 'Vi' again."
Fey made a face. "Shoot. Okay, I'm going to try this again. V...F...Fi."
"You said the 'F', but the 'ay' sound's not there."
"Agh!" Fey groaned. "Okay, again."
As Toby coached Fey on how to say her name, his mind began to wander. What had she told him earlier that day? That...only one of them was real? What did she mean?
"Fey," she said finally.
Casting his thoughts aside, Toby smiled widely and nodded. "That's it!"
"Yes!" Fey cheered.
"So..." Toby said awkwardly after a bit of silence. "What about your brother? You said he only ever said your name once."
Fey nodded. "Yeah. He only ever said it once."
"Did he..." Toby trailed off. "You know..."
"Die?" Fey guessed. "No. As far as I can tell, he's still alive. But I haven't seen him in a really long time. I kind of miss him."
Toby nodded in understanding. There was another silence, before Fey spoke up again.
"Hey, uh...back when I was still tied up..." Fey said uncomfortably. "I saw a personality of you I didn't recognize. You only know the five of you, right?"
"Yeah. Daphne, Adrian, David, Alice, and me."
"I think there might be a sixth one."
Toby's mouth dropped open. "Really? What makes you think that?"
"When I was tied up...you were running around, running from Tac. I was yelling at you to help me, but...you didn't even look at me. Like I was a stranger," Fey said slowly, enunciating every word. "It was...scary."
"Oh," Toby said quietly. He'd never really thought about the possibility of having a bad person in him. It was a scary thought.
"Just...keep a lookout," Fey said, standing up. "Alright, I'm off. I'll be seeing you, Toby!"
"Wait!" Toby called out. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to try to find my way back home. So this is goodbye, I guess."
Toby's heart felt like it was ripped out of his chest. She's leaving? Can't he go with her? Why can't he go with her?
Fey waved, smiling sadly. "You're an interesting person. I hope I get the chance to see you again."
And she began walking away.
Toby wanted to call out to her. He wanted to tell her to stop. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. For some reason, he couldn't find the words. And so he watched as Fey walked forwards, blending into the shadows.
"The exit's over this way," her voice called far ahead of him. "Don't get lost on your way out!"
Toby felt like crying. There she went. And he was alone again.
Ring, ring, ring.
He jumped, the sudden electronic tone startling him. He looked at the green bag beside him. A small light glowed through the fabric. Opening the mouth, and digging in, Adrian found a cell phone. He flipped it open, and by instinct pressed the green button.
"Are you okay?"
Adrain froze with the phone in his grip. It was his father.
"You seem a little down. You know you can talk to me, right? I'm always here for you. Well...not always, of course, but you can talk to me. Nothing? Alright. I'll be waiting if you change your mind."
click
Adrian's mind flooded with outlines of memories. Memories of talking, of sadness, of anger, of water.
Water?
Instantly Adrian's throat seized up; he couldn't breathe.
Water...
Adrian fell onto the stone floor of the cave, gasping for breath.
Water...water...
That part with Fey talking all slurred was based on the fact that (for me, anyways) you think less about what you're saying when you're angry. She's not drunk or anything.
Also, yes. I actually got a review (that I deleted for spam) that said he hated my story because he didn't like my shirt. So...I don't know. Maybe I should move to Kansas.