Chapter 14: A Melee of Monsters!
Pepper was in a dimly-lit hallway when she woke up. She still carried her Cinnamon Barrel Gun, but as far as she could tell, she was the only person there. Then suddenly, a pair of doors opened into a large gymnasium with red and white light illuminating the taffy and licorice-covered walls and the high fruit-rollup windows. Pepper realized she was lying down on the floor, and quickly got up as a figure appeared in the doorway. Judging by the slenderness, it was a tall woman with short red hair combed over the right side of her face wearing a burgundy red military uniform with white gloves.
"Welcome to the gym, Soldier!" the woman said sternly. "You have been brought here to be properly disciplined by me, Ginger Snaps, the leader of the four generals who protect King Licorice!"
"The lead general, huh?" Pepper said, reloading her Barrel Gun. "You sure climbed up the ranks fast, Mother."
This made Ginger Snaps flinch and walk backwards.
"I thought your memories were erased once you were in the human world," Ginger Snaps said cautiously.
"I did, but when I was awakened to my powers by Soldier Candy, I remembered everything, including you, who disowned me the minute I joined the Candy Brigade!" Pepper replied, following Ginger Snaps.
"I didn't want you to get hurt, Cinnamon, but you never listened to me!"
"That's because I was sick of you bossing me around all my life, and wanted to make decisions for myself!"
"But look where you ended up: living in a foreign world with no memories of your past for ten years with no way of coming back until now." Ginger Snaps stopped and folded her arms.
"So you kissed up to Lord Licorice and eventually became his general," Pepper put her finger on the gun's trigger. "The Princess is back, so your 'King' Licorice's reign is going to end real soon!"
"Are you sure about that? They're currently fighting as we speak."
Ginger's finger snapped, and not only did the door close behind Pepper, but a group of ten monsters emerged from hidden compartments underneath the taffy floors as well. Like the monsters in the forest, they were of different shapes and sizes, and made of different kinds of candy. While Pepper turned to face the oncoming monsters, Ginger Snaps took the hand of a monster made of gum, and it hurled her up onto a swinging bar where she could watch the fight from a distance. Pepper shot the monsters several times. The ones that were made of hard or soft candy either crumbled or dissolved but the elastic candy monsters didn't go down so easily. For those, Pepper had to use Cinnamon Fire Blast first in order to melt them, and then shot them with the Cinnamon Double Rounds twice. When she thought the fight was over, Ginger snapped her finger again, and more monsters appeared.
This went on two more times, and with each match, Pepper became more exhausted. Her Fire Blast was starting to grow dimmer, and the amount of bullets she loaded was getting lower. Meanwhile, Ginger Snaps became more confident and even laughed a few times, but there was something at the back of her mind that tried to make her feel guilty. But she suppressed it, and continued to summon more monsters. Feeling overwhelmed, Pepper attempted to leave the circle of monsters and run to another side of the gym, but there she was met by more monsters coming out of similar compartments.
"This whole gym has monsters under every floorboard, Cinnamon," Ginger Snaps said. "So if you were trying to escape, your efforts are worthless."
"I wasn't trying to escape, Mother," Pepper said, loading her Barrel Gun with the last two bullets. "I was trying to get a clear shot at you!"
She pointed the gun at Ginger Snaps and fired. Though Pepper did not fatally wound her, she did manage to graze both of Ginger Snaps' hands, which in turn tore the gloves she wore. As she fell from the swinging bar, none of the monsters came to her aid as she fell flat on her back on the hard taffy floor. When she tried to snap her fingers weakly, no more monsters appeared out of the compartments, and the monsters that were currently standing did not move. Instead, they charged at Ginger Snaps with rapid speed, and grabbed her arms and legs, which they attempted to tear from her body. Ginger Snaps cried out in pain, making Pepper realize that despite what she had done, she was still her true mother, and so she used her Cinnamon Fire Blast to distract the monsters as they charged at her. But after some quick maneuvering, Pepper managed to grab the weakened Ginger Snaps and ran towards the door that they had come through.
Realizing that it was still locked, Pepper used the last Cinnamon Fire Blast to melt the door handles, which were made of taffy, and kicked the door outwards into the dimly lit hallway. She knew that she would be blind here, but it was better than being torn apart by the monsters, which had recovered and were now heading towards them. After entering the hallway, Pepper put Ginger Snaps down, closed the doors on the monsters' faces, and sealed them with the melted taffy on the other side with her hands. While this was going on, Ginger Snaps managed to get up, and pulled a candy necklace out of her pocket. With weak hands, she quietly snuck up on Pepper, who was attempting to find some way to light up the hallway more, and placed the necklace around Pepper's neck. The crimson sparks shook Pepper violently, and then she fell to the floor unconscious.
"You're a worthy warrior of the Candy Brigade, Cinnamon," Ginger Snaps sighed, using her shoulder to pull a hidden switch, which illuminated the hallway they were in. "But a trusting fool such as you could not have foreseen that I am trained to fight in the dark as well as in the light."
End of Chapter 14
