The only character I own is Colette and Vincent.
All other characters and TUFF Puppy (c) Butch Hartman
There was an eerie almost dead silence throughout the whole yacht, save for a few surprised whispers. Matt and Pat were completely speechless at the discovery that had just been made. Victor Thaddeus Richard von Marzipan, the dapper german shepherd they had befriended, that they had such fun with the whole day...was none other than their little brother. Snaptrap swam to the side of the pool, climbed out and just stood there, staring dumbly at his siblings. Drops of water rolled off his soaking wet fur and clothes, creating a small puddle around his feet. All three of the rat siblings seemed to be at a lost for words. Many seconds had passed before Matt finally found his voice.
"You?" He asked in an incredulous whisper, "This whole time...Victor...was you?"
"No," Pat spoke in disbelief, "It-It can't be. There's no way..."
Snaptrap just stared down in reply. Matt began to walk slowly towards his brother with Pat following him.
"I knew it," he said hoarsely, "I knew it the moment I saw that picture in your room. I think, deep down I always suspected something. There was something familiar about Victor, the way he acted. There were times the thought crossed my mine, but I thought it was too impossible."
Snaptrap rubbed his arm awkwardly, not sure what to say. Then he jumped as Matt exploded in anger.
"YOU ROTTEN LITTLE WORM! I"LL WRING THAT NECK OF YOURS RIGHT OFF YOUR BODY!
Both Matt and Pat headed straight for Snaptrap with pure fury in their eyes. Snaptrap was considering jumping back into the pool, when Madame Catastrophe intervened.
"Enough!" She screeched. We have no time for your petty sibling rivalry! Guards! Seize them!"
In an instant a group of large bodied guards surrounded the trio, aiming their blasters at them. Matt, Pat, and Snaptrap knew better than to run. Dr. Rabies' walked up to them, chuckling wickedly.
"Well, well. This is amusing. The great Victor von Marzipan is nothing more than the pathetic Verminious Snaptrap. So glad you could join us." He addressed his guards. "Search everyone for weapons, cell phones, or any kind of communication device, then lock them in their rooms. Set sentries all over the yacht." He smiled at the guests. "Your rooms have already been searched and cleared, so don't try anything funny. And don't even bother using the phones. I had them all disconnected earlier."
So that's why my phone didn't work, Snaptrap thought.
Dr. Rabies and Madame Catastrophe laughed as the guests were escorted to their rooms. There was no resistance as the guests were still sick from the poison. Dr. Rabies watched with evil glee as he addressed Madame Catastrophe.
"Everything is going according to plan, my dear, even better than I expected. Nothing can possibly go wrong now!"
It was then that the yacht gave a sudden long straining creak and began to rock a bit. There were cries of horror and confusion as the lights suddenly shut off and everyone was left in the dark. They all listened as the yacht gave a final shudder as the engine shut down. Everything came to a complete standstill. Dr. Rabies looked around frantically. He became furious.
"What! No! No! No! This cannot be happening! Not now! We are so close!"
Snaptrap bit his lip as he suddenly remembered the Scrambler Device he had placed on the yacht engine. This was the exact time he had set it to go off. He had completely forgotten about it until now. But it was only suppose to make the engine shut down, not all the power in the yacht. What went wrong? Dr. Rabies grabbed a nearby guard and roared in his face.
"Get the guards who are mechanical experts and find out what's wrong! If that engine isn't running soon, I'll throw you in the ocean for the sharks to take! Go, now!"
With a salute, the guard hurried off to carry out his master's wishes. Madame Catastrophe took control of the guests.
"See these inferiors to their rooms!" She ordered the guards.
As she watched the guests being led away, she spotted Snaptrap and his siblings amongst them. She ordered them to halt.
"Wait, I want these three tied up and placed in (chuckle) Victor von Marzipan's room. We have plans for them."
She leaned closer to Snaptrap, her eyes filled with menace. "So, Snaptrap, you are the one responsible for my humiliation earlier. Rest assured, you will not get away with that. I'll plan something extra special for you later."
Snaptrap only gulped in reply as Madame Catastrophe nodded to the guards.
"Take them away!"
After being searched and stripped of all devices, Matt, Pat, and Snaptrap were taken to "Victor von Marzipan's" room, where they were made to sit on the floor as they were bound tightly together with rope. Dr. Rabies and Madame Catastrophe looked on in approval.
"Isn't this sweet? All three of the Snaptrap Siblings, together," Madame C said in a mock sweet tone, "What a touching reunion. I'm sure you will have much to talk about."
Dr. Rabies paced around the three siblings checking to see that they were bound securely. Matt glared at him. "Surely, you don't actually expect to get away with this?" He said. "The coast guard is bound to find out."
Dr. Rabies patted Matt's snout none too gently. "Oh, don't worry yourself about that, Matt," he said casually, "Like I've said, if we are discovered, you will be the one to take all the blame. This is your yacht after all. You see? I told you I was close to obtaining a grand vessel. And I was right. It did wipe that smug grin off your face."
Matt only narrowed his eyes at him in reply. Dr. Rabies smiled as he and Madame Catastrophe walked out of the room. "Oh, by the way," he added, "We have one more guest for you three."
The three siblings turned to see Colette being brought in, her hands and legs bound. Matt's eyes widened in sad surprise. The pretty skunk was set on the floor, near the desk. Dr. Rabies smirked at Matt. "I thought you'd like to spend some time with your 'girlfriend', Matt. It may be the last time you see each other. Goodbye for now. Enjoy your comfy room."
The door slammed shut as his laughter was left echoing in their ears. With the power still out, the captives were left in total darkness. Snaptrap was dumbfounded by how quickly everything had changed. One minute he was laughing and having fun with his siblings, and the next minute he was a captive on his brother's yacht. And now his identity had been revealed, not just to Matt and Pat, but to everyone on the entire boat. He thought back to what Matt and Pat said about him making them look bad. This definitely wasn't going to score him any favor points with them. So far, they hadn't said anything, probably still overwhelmed about what just happened combined with the shock of finding out that Victor von Marzipan was really him. That was fine with Snaptrap. He wasn't looking forward to dealing with them when they would come out of their shock. He gave a little sigh and struggled a bit with the ropes. No good, they were bound too tight.
After a length of silence, Colette spoke. "What do we do now?"
Matt sighed hopelessly. "I wish I knew. I can't believe I never saw this coming. We're at the complete mercy of those two scoundrels. I was a fool to invite them."
"You must not blame yourself," Colette said softly, "None of us knew what those two were up to. It is not your fault."
"She's right Matt," Pat agreed, "Those two jerks are the ones to blame," She gave Snaptrap a dirty look. "Along with one other traitor."
"Hey!" Snaptrap exclaimed indignantly, "I had nothin' to do with those two! I'm just as surprised as you are!"
"That's not what I meant!" Pat spat back, "We could've had a chance to fight back! But everyone was too sick to move a muscle! And why's that? Because of your stupid poison, that's why! You're not even suppose to be here! You should've just gone straight home and minded your own business!"
"Yeah, well I didn't!" Snaptrap answered back. "Sorry to burst your bubble Pat! That's what you get for not inviting your own brother!"
"Oh, don't start that, Verminious!" Matt cut in, angrily, "Pat and I have a right to invite whomever we please to our functions! And this is exactly why we didn't want you to come! All that happened today was your fault! The food at lunch! The pool! And now this!"
Snaptrap stayed silent in response. Matt sneered. "I'm right aren't I? You were responsible for all that trouble earlier, weren't you?"
Snaptrap hung his head knowing it'd be stupid to deny it. "Yeah, I did all those things...even Pat's makeup-OW!"
Pat gave Snaptrap's leg a hard kick with her sharp high-heeled shoes. "You jerk!" She cried, "I have blue legs and a gross face right now because of you! You ruined everything for us! I could kill you!"
"Okay! Okay! So all those things were my fault! I'm sorry, okay?!" Snaptrap cried.
"Sorry isn't good enough!" Pat shot back. "Sorry isn't gonna get us outta this mess! You always ruin everything! No wonder you're an embarrassment to the family!"
Snaptrap was hurt by the last remark. Suddenly, he felt defenseless. "I don't screw things up on purpose," he argued lamely, "I mean not on purpose all the time. I do my best. I try to make the family proud."
"Well, you're doing a miserable job," Matt grumbled, "Because I've yet to be proud of the fact that you are my brother."
Snaptrap's ears drooped at Matt's harsh statement. He tried to look indifferent about it while ignoring the sting in his heart. "Okay, maybe I did do all that stuff earlier," he admitted, "And maybe, in a way, this is my fault. But, if it means anything...I really did have fun with you guys today. And it looked like you were having a lot of fun with my Victor disguise."
"That's because we didn't know 'Victor' was really you," Matt pointed out, "If we did, we would've put you on the next boat to shore." He gave a humorless laugh. "'Von Marzipan', I should've known it was you the moment I heard that ridiculous last name. Besides, the only reason you became him was so you could get close to us and pull all those pranks!"
"No! Well...yeah, you got me there," Snaptrap agreed, "But I never planned for you and Pat to actually like Victor...and I never really planned to actually like being with you two. You guys acted all nice to me and stuff and you didn't make me feel dumb."
"Don't make Matt and I seem like the guilty ones ones here, Verm," Pat grumbled.
"Exactly," Matt agreed, "And trying to act sentimental with us isn't going to work. You know I consider that sort of thing undignifying."
"I wasn't!" Snaptrap stated, his frustration at a high point, "I swear-"
"You swear!" Matt shot back sarcastically, "Just like you swore you were being honest with us when you were Victor? Ha! Another one of your lies! I knew it! Near the end, I just knew that as Victor you were lying! All that nonsense you spouted in your room was a complete lie! All you've ever done since you boarded this boat was lie to us! And now, even now you still have the gall to do it! I've had enough of your filthy lies, Verminious!"
Snaptrap couldn't take it. The insults from his siblings plus the knowledge he had screwed up got to him. He shouted as loud as he could, his eyes radiating fury.
"DON'T YOU GIVE ME LESSONS ABOUT HONESTY YOU LYING, BACKSTABBING, BIG NOSED JERK!"
Matt and Pat were completely taken aback by the viciousness of Snaptrap's retort. They both shut their mouths in stunned silence. Even Colette looked frightened. Snaptrap continued his rant in sneering mockery:
"My yacht needs to be repaired! There's trouble with the engine! I had to cancel my party! I just wanna be left alone! Ha! You two thought could pull one over on 'Captain Pathetic', huh? Oh yes, I heard you guys talking all about it in the next room! Heard it right through the heating vent! Didn't think about that didja?! Who's the liar now guys?! Huh?! Who?! Well, I got back at you didn't I?! Ha! I fooled you! I fooled you both, you snotty snot-nosed snobs! Always picking on me and making me feel like crud! I got you back! Me! The 'loser' of the family! And now the three of us are tied up and held captive! You're no better than me now, Highbrows! How do you like your stupid little brother now, huh?! Yeah!"
Snaptrap started to laugh almost maniacally with a bit of shakiness to his voice as if he were trying not to cry. Matt and Pat stared in fright at their little brother, certain that he had finally lost what was left of his sanity. Then as quickly as he had become angry, he calmed down. Snaptrap slumped, breathing heavily after his tirade. Everyone just stared at him, afraid to say a word. Finally he spoke again, this time quietly and with a sad sort of hoarseness.
"I try. I try so hard."
Snaptrap suddenly became quiet, as if afraid to speak anymore. Matt and Pat just continued to stare silently at their brother, who was now just staring down at the floor. Snaptrap didn't care what they said. He was too upset at the moment to care about anything. His eye wandered back and forth across the floor and finally to under the bed, where something caught his eye. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out in the darkness what it was. Snaptrap stretched one leg out and managed snag the object with his foot. Pulling his foot back, he found Vincent attached to it. The skull grinned at Snaptrap with its ever vacant smile. Despite how he felt, Snaptrap managed to smile back.
"At least, I still have you, Vincent," he chuckled almost sadly.
Colette, who had remained silent during the whole argument, peered at the object Snaptrap was talking to.
"Is...is that a skull?" She asked, a bit shakily.
"What?" Matt replied. He looked in the direction Colette was and spotted the gruesome object. "You actually brought that thing with you?!" He exclaimed to Snaptrap.
"His name is Vincent." Snaptrap answered. "I thought it only appropriate to bring him with me for my revenge after you coldly gave him back."
"You don't give someone a skull for their birthday!" Matt retorted. "What sort of deranged mind gives one a skull for a gift?!"
"The kind of mind that was trying to get his brother a good gift!" Snaptrap answered back, still a bit hurt. "You always think everything I do is stupid!"
"That's because the things you do are stupid!" Matt snapped back.
"Will you both shut up?!" Pat shouted, "You're practically shouting in my ear!"
All three siblings became quiet after that, each one silently brooding. Snaptrap fumed inwardly, both angry with his siblings and himself. Just when things were going his way, this had to happen. It was bad enough that Matt and Pat found out he was Victor, now they blamed him for the takeover of the yacht. It wasn't fair.
Why can't something good happen to me for once? He thought bitterly.
"Excuse, me," Colette spoke, "Um, I know you three are having...issues right now, but shouldn't we be working on a way to get out of this mess?"
Matt sighed. "I don't see how we could, Colette. Even if we were to be free of these bonds, there's still the matter that the yacht is swarming with sentries. At least the power being out has bought us some time. I'm...I'm sorry you had to be a part of this."
Colette smiled sadly. "C'est la vie," she sighed, "We can at least try and...at least I am with you."
Matt gave a small smile.
It seemed like hours to the captives that they were in that dark room. Matt, Pat, and Colette conversed, trying to think of a way out of their predicament. Snaptrap tried to contribute, at first, but every time he spoke, his siblings would silence him and refuse to listen. Eventually, he gave up trying. Fine, let them ignore him and see how far they got. Everyone stopped when they heard the door creak open and two guards carrying flashlights walked in. One of them shined a light on Colette and spoke:
"Yeah, that's her."
The two guards came over to Colette and picked her up effortlessly. The lady skunk struggled, kicking out at them as they led her away.
"Where are you taking me? Put me down!"
"Quiet!" One guard snapped. "Dr. Rabies and Madame Catastrophe would like to have a friendly 'chat'with you." He gave an evil chuckle as he finished the sentence.
Matt struggled vainly while baring his teeth at the two guards. "Leave her alone! Let her go right now or I swear I'll-"
Thwack!
Pat and Snaptrap gasped as one of the guards struck Matt in the face. "Shut up, Pretty Boy!" The guard sneered. "This is none of your business!"
Colette looked on in horror as she was taken out of the room. Snaptrap craned his neck to get a look at his brother's face and grimaced. A large red mark was left on Matt's cheek where he had been struck.
"You okay, Matt?" He asked.
Matt turned from him. "I'm not speaking to you," he answered coldly.
"That makes the two of us," Pat muttered.
"You're speaking to me now, Einsteins," Snaptrap pointed out. Neither of his siblings replied. Snaptrap huffed in annoyance and turned back to Vincent. "Yeah, I know, Vince, they can be real grouches sometimes."
"Stop talking to that thing, you insane idiot!" Matt snapped, "That blasted skull! Here's what I think of you and your so called gift!"
Matt kicked out at Vincent as hard as he could, knocking the skull across the room. It crashed against the wall and rolled to a stop.
"Ow!"
Snaptrap and his siblings froze in fright. The cry they just heard came right from the skull. They all gasped as the macabre object suddenly began to move shakily towards them.
"What...the...heck?!" Pat squeaked.
"It's impossible!" Matt whispered hoarsely.
"It's a ghost!" Snaptrap cried out. "Matt has aroused Vincent's anger! He's come to haunt us! This is all your fault, Matt!"
The skull moved closer and closer to the siblings, who began to squirm back in fright. Low moaning noises started to emanate from it's grinning mouth. Snaptrap's eyes widened as the skull came closer.
"Vincent! Don't hurt me! It's me, Snaptrap! I'm you're friend remember?! Get Matt! He's the one that kicked you! And get Pat too while you're at it!"
Then the skull spoke. "Oooh, w-what happened? Who's there?"
Snaptrap blinked. The voice didn't sound like some disembodied specter from beyond. It sounded small...and feminine.
"Vincent?" Snaptrap responded, perplexed. "You're a girl?"
"Vincent?" The skull replied. "Who's Vincent?"
Matt, Pat, and Snaptrap drew back in amazement as the skull fell over and a small creature crawled out of it. Snaptrap squinted his eyes trying to make out its shape in the darkness. It looked like a small bird. "Who...who are you?" He asked in a frightened voice. The creature responded in an equally frightened and meek voice:
"I...I'm Zippy. I work for Bridbrain."
Matt, Pat, and Snaptrap stared dumbfounded at the small animal before them. Zippy stared back at them, equally confused until her eyes fell on Snaptrap.
"Snaptrap?" She asked, squinting, "Is that you?"
Suddenly, she shot into the air like a little rocket and zoomed on over to the three rats and perched on the bed to get a closer look at the trio. She smiled. "It is you! Boy, am I glad to see a familiar face. I was scared to death with all the stuff happening out there."
Snaptrap just looked at Zippy, confused. She hopped off the bed and onto his snout. "It's me, Zippy!" She exclaimed, "You know, Birdbrain's hummingbird assistant? Magenta body, green head with three feathers on top, purple eyes...ring a bell?"
Snaptrap smiled as he recognized her. "Oh, yeah, I remember you! I invited you and Birdbrain to my party when I was gonna unleash that Doomesday device on TUFF...until their darn inventor, what's-his-name? Felsmick, ruined everything. How've ya been, Zip?"
"Oh, I've been doing okay," she replied, "Just listening to Birdbrain gloat about his evil plots, helping plan mass chaos and destruction, going to my book club... nothing really exciting."
"Um, excuse me," Matt interrupted, "But, did you say you work for Birdbrain?"
"Yeah," Zippy answered, "He sometimes works with Snaptrap and the Chameleon. But he never lets me tag along when he does."
"Ah yes, I remember him briefly mentioning you," Matt remembered, "but he never mentioned that you were here too."
Zippy puffed up her feathers looking a bit flustered. "Well uh, that's because I'm kinda not suppose to be here," she admitted, "I sneaked in. I've been on the yacht since the beginning, but I'm so small that no one's noticed me. I've been hiding out in Snaptrap's room here."
Snaptrap's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You-you were in here the whole time?" He squeaked.
Zippy nodded. "Yeah. I flew by the windows outside to see what room I could hide in. I spotted you in this room and saw you change into that Marzipan guy. I was surprised but then I figured you must not have been invited either if you had to disguise yourself like that. I followed you back to this room and hid inside...er, Vincent. I could squeeze out under the door if I ever wanted to go on deck. I figured even if you did end up seeing me, you wouldn't rat me out because then I'd rat you out...if you'll pardon the expression."
"Huh," said Snaptrap, amused, "I'd be miffed if I wasn't so impressed. Wait! Then that means...you heard everything in here? Every little thing I said?"
Zippy shrugged. "Pretty much."
"If you knew about our brother than why didn't you say anything?" Pat asked.
"I didn't want to cause a commotion or draw attention to myself," Zippy said, "I wasn't invited either, you know. I thought Birdbrain would have a fit if he saw I stowed away on here."
"Um, before we continue," Matt interrupted, "I don't suppose you could try to cut through these ropes could you?"
"Oh, sure," Zippy obliged. She darted over to the rope strands between Matt and Snaptrap and inspected them closely. "They're kinda thick," she observed, "But I'll see what I can do."
"Please try," Pat pleaded, "At least try to loosen them up."
Zippy set to work pecking, biting, and tugging at the strands, while taking short intervals to rest. Matt, Pat, and Snaptrap stayed anxiously quiet, hoping with all their might that the tiny hummingbird could loosen the ropes and that no one would enter in at the moment. Finally, after what seemed likes ages, Matt began to move around, testing the bonds.
"I think that did it. If I could just get my arm out...yes!"
Pulling one arm out, Matt used his sharp claws to cut at the ropes while addressing Pat and Snaptrap. "See if you two can do likewise."
Pat and Snaptrap complied, trying to get one arm loose and eventually succeeding. All three set about to cutting through the ropes with their claws. They were soon out of their bonds and standing up, relieved to be able to move freely again.
"Ahhh, much better," Snaptrap sighed as he stretched. "So what do we do now? Ow! Ow! Hey! Ow!"
Pat grabbed Snaptrap by one of his ears and was yanking him towards the closet while being careful not to stumble in the dark room. She swung him around and against the closet door roughly, giving him a piercing stare.
"You are going to stay out of our way until we think of a way outta this!"
Though it was dark, Snaptrap could clearly make out his sister's furious expression. He could feel himself wilting under her glare. "But...but I can help," he said weakly.
"Yeah, right. How can you possibly help?" Pat laughed.
Snaptrap blinked as if deciding if he should tell, then he took a deep breath: "I know what made the yacht stall."
"What?!" Pat and Matt exclaimed. Snaptrap then explained about Birdbrain's Scrambler Device and how he had sneaked into the engine room and planted it on the engine.
Matt frowned and folded his arms. "Well, Verminious, that's another strike against you."
"I didn't mean for the whole boat to turn off!" Snaptrap argued, "Just the engine."
Zippy streaked over to him angrily. "You stole the Scrambler Device?! How could you?! Birdbrain blamed me for that!"
Matt silence her with a wave of his hand. "You seem to know about this device, would removing it make the power turn back on?"
Zippy shook her head. "Not as long as it's still sending out scrambling waves, but all you have to do is turn it off. The power must've been set awfully high to make the whole yacht shut down."
Matt and Pat shot Snaptrap an icy glare. He shrugged sheepishly. "I guess I should've read more of the instructions."
Matt rubbed his forehead in deep thought then spoke. "Well, although that is what's keeping Rabies and Catastrophe from carrying out their plan, we won't be able to radio for help with the power off. I'm afraid we have no choice but to turn off that device."
"Right," Snaptrap agreed, "So where do we start?"
For an answer, Pat pulled Snaptrap away from the closet and opened the door. She shoved him inside almost making him fall. Snaptrap braced himself against the wall and looked at his brother and sister, who stared at him coldly.
"You can start by staying in here and keeping quiet!" Pat hissed.
Matt pushed her aside and got right into Snaptrap's face, their black noses touching. He spoke darkly. "You are going to be locked in here until we say so. You've ruined my birthday, I'm not going to let you ruin our chances of escaping. Let me first warn you, pounding on the door will only bring the guards in. And one more thing, when...or if we get out of this, don't think for one moment that you'll be able to walk away scott free from what you've done. As far as I'm concerned Pat and I have no little brother."
With the cold hearted statement ringing in Snaptrap's ears, Matt closed the closet door. A faint click sounded as he locked it. Snaptrap just stood staring at the door, unable to believe what just happened. Then the door opened again slightly as Matt's head poked in. Snaptrap's ears perked up hopefully, thinking that his siblings had changed their minds. Matt tossed Vincent, the skull, into Snaptrap's arms.
"Here," he said in a deadpan voice, "Your 'friend' can keep you company."
Snaptrap listened to the door shut and lock again. He glanced around the closet. If the room was dark, the closet was like a black hole. Snaptrap leaned against the wall and slunk all the way down until he was sitting on the floor. He never felt so alone and unwanted. He should have just gone straight home that morning. If Matt and Pat hated him before, they loathed him more than ever now. He had no doubt that they now really did wish he had never been born. He glanced at Vincent who was staring at him with his ever present grin.
"Always...smiling...," Snaptrap whispered sadly.
As he turned the skull over in his hands, something fell out of it and onto Snaptrap's lap. Curiously, he picked it up and examined it. His breath froze...it was a wrist communicator! Snaptrap then remembered that as he was packing his suitcase, he had tossed the device in along with his other stuff. While being shuffled around inside the suitcase, it must have ended up lodged inside Vincent. Snaptrap's heart began to beat in excitement. This was it! This was his ticket out of here! If the frequency was strong enough, he could call his DOOM buddies to come and sneak him out of the yacht and back to DOOM HQ. Snaptrap smiled.
At least it looked like his luck was beginning to change.
Ouch...poor Snaptrap. Just when he was getting along with his siblings...
Zippyyyyyy! Didn't expect her to show up didja?;D
Things aren't going well for our rat trio...especially between Snaptrap and his sibs. Will Matt and Pat ever be able forgive their little brother?