I'd be interested to know if you guys are all happy with the direction that the story has taken. I had never really wanted to write just a happy story but similarly I'd not planned on writing something so dark either. Hope you like the chapter and I'm hoping that the next won't be too far away.
He looked up from the dash in front of him. He'd been resting his eyes while the geo-cruiser was on auto-pilot. He looked down and saw that he was still several hours from Africa, but nonetheless he took the control stick in his hands and the auto-pilot disengaged immediately. He banked gently to the right to direct himself back to Hope Island. Kwame had felt guilty about leaving his friends alone since he'd boarded and something now ushered him back to the island. He sighed and input the correct co-ordinates and sighed a deep breath of relief before readjusting his position in the seat and shutting his eyes again for some more sleep.
He opened his eyes painfully, the light causing him to close them straight away. He lifted his head up and could see red through his eye-lids, letting him know that a blight light was shining directly into his face. Blinded, he tried to pull his arms up in front of him to get some sort of bearings but soon realised that they were cuffed. He strained against the manacles and heard the rattle of chains behind him, making him try to move his feet as well before realising that they too were chained.
He opened his mouth and could feel the dryness, suggesting that he hadn't had any water in days. He licked his lips and felt the cracks along them, trying to rehydrate them but only managing to irritate himself and make the pain more noticeable. The last thing he could remember happening was throwing Ma-Ti from the log and he hoped that he was okay, but judging from the situation that Wheeler was in, he didn't have much hope for that. Wheeler held his eyes low and tried to slowly allow the light in so that he could adjust. It took him several minutes, but eventually he opened his eyes enough to see some of his surroundings. The light was so incredibly bright that it prevented him from looking in its direction and seeing anything behind it but the brightness also illuminated the entire room very well and he could see that he was in some kind of interrogation room like the ones in the movies. He could see his reflection in the mirrors that spanned the room very clearly and saw that blood stained his clothes and trails of it were all over his skin. His hair was an utter mess and he was restrained into a device that was attached to the ceiling, suspending him in mid-air. His clothes were torn and he saw a large and exposed gash along his lower leg that had been stitched up but poorly. It looked infected but that may have just been because of the dirtiness of his predicament rather than the condition of the wound. He also wondered where his other shoe was.
He closed his eyes as a drop of sweat started to bead down his forehead, training through the middle of his eyebrows. He wished that he could just reach up and remove the damn thing but it held itself there and the irritation alone was enough to drive anyone crazy. He suddenly notice the smell and feeling of his surroundings. It was very warm, not exactly hot but very humid, probably due to the incandescent light in front of him radiating constantly. He could smell smoke fumes, it was faint but noticeable and the smell of chemicals and sewerage littered the air as well. He wondered where he was and what had happened to him. How had he got here from Hope Island? Surely his friends wouldn't have let him leave so easily, and why weren't they here with him? He clenched his fists together and shock ran through him. He could no longer feel his Planeteer ring between his fingers! The sound of the door opening loudly to his right caused his body to seize up and he closed his eyes tightly, body going limp and he dared not move a muscle.
The door squeaked as it closed before slamming loudly. There was a palpable tension in the room, so thick that it seemed as though any movement he made would overwhelm his entire body. Wheeler could hear footsteps across the room and then heard a switch and instantly saw and felt the light before him switching off. There was still light in the room as there was not complete darkness through his eye-lids but he was sure that it would only be some fluorescent ceiling lights. His stomach clenched as the individual began to speak.
"Well, well, well..." the man hissed as he stood before his captive, "I've waited a long time for this kind of retribution."
Wheeler could tell instantly who had now captured him, Verminous Skumm, answering one question but the many more questions it now raised gave him grave concern. Surely if he'd captured him, Linka must also be in danger! Wheeler made no movement and pretended as if he was still unconscious.
"Nothing to say?" Verminous teased, "come now, I saw from behind the mirror that you were awake. Why are you playing games with me? You're not in any sort of position to be playing any games, Wheeler." He had emphasised his name. There was now no point in pretending not to be awake, doing so would only earn him greater wrath. Wheeler opened his eyes and saw Verminous smiling back at him. He had aged quite a lot in the last year or two with many skin deformities dotting his face and his hair was beginning to thin and/or fall out. The skin on his face seemed to hang down a little more, showing that he hadn't been taking good care of himself and his clothes were more ragged than Wheeler had remembered them being.
"Skumm," Wheeler only said one word, but it was enough to make Verminous angry. His demeanour changed from that of a calculating but calm mastermind into an unsteady and volatile lunatic. Skumm stepped forward and balled a hand into a fist before plunging it directly into Wheeler's solar plexus, making him lose all his breath and gasp out in pain. It took Wheeler at least a minute to regain himself and as soon as he did he felt Verminous hit him once again, this time lower in his abdomen. The urge to vomit overwhelmed him and Wheeler could feel himself dry reaching and coughing up nothing but air. Clearly he hadn't eaten anything in a long time because if he had then that's what would've been coming out of his mouth.
"What.." Wheeler had wanted to ask so many questions, like where he was and why he was captured, but he couldn't feel the strength to create any sort of legible sentence.
"Save it," Verminous quickly interrupted, "no doubt you are wondering why you are here and what is the purpose in you being here. The only reason you're still alive is to lure the other Planeteers here to their deaths as well. I suppose there is no harm in telling you what I plan on doing, there's nothing you can do now to escape your inevitable fate after all. I've been searching for your so-called "Hope Island" for years. I finally managed to snag your Geo-cruiser with a tracking device a few months ago and that led me to your tranquil and disgustingly clean paradise. I had wanted to capture Kwame rather than you, as he seems to be the smartest out of all of you, but you will suffice for the purpose that you hold. The Planeteers will come for you just as much as they'd have come for Kwame. Without you and your ring though, Captain Planet will not be any part of this and those pesky little brats will be powerless against the weapons that I've created for them, especially that little Russian vixen. I can't wait to get my hands on that exquisite body. The things that I'd do to..."
Wheeler began struggling against his bonds, "if you hurt her, or touch her, or even THINK about doing anything to her, I will kill you! Do you hear me?!"
Verminous turned to face him, waited a moment and giggled out loud. "Got yourself a girlfriend have you? That will make the time I spend with her so much more.. enthralling. I will enjoy destroying her. I may even have you watch me while I do. But I digress. Once I have killed all of you Planet brats, nothing will stop me from using Rat Rot to turn everyone into mutants. I will rule the entire Earth, and nobody can do anything to stop me!" Verminous giggled again and put his hand on Wheeler's head, teasingly petting him before forcefully grabbing him by the hair and punching him in his guts twice and then pulling his whole arm back and hitting him square in the temple, knocking Wheeler unconscious instantly. He swivelled on his foot and flicked the light switch back on before exiting the room and proceeded to the adjacent chamber. He could not keep the spirit of the planet waiting, could he?
Ma-Ti slowly opened his eyes. He stretched his legs out as his eyes adjusted to the light. He looked over to the other side of the room and saw Gi lying down on the bed, sleeping gracefully. He quickly stood and started panicking as Linka was nowhere to be seen. He ran to the bathroom door and opened it, quickly realising that she was not inside her hut. He walked outside and held his ring to his temple. "Heart!" he exclaimed and sensed for Linka's presence, quickly detecting her several metres away in Wheeler's hut. He ran over to his door and shouldered into it, forcing it open dramatically.
"Linka!" He yelled before realising that she wasn't in any danger, at least from anything but her own despair. He looked down at the bed and saw Linka clinging on to one of Wheeler's pillows so tightly that you'd think that it was a life-raft. She was crying uncontrollably and seemed not to notice Ma-Ti's presence. Ma-Ti stepped towards the bed and knelt down beside her.
He didn't say anything, not only because he didn't know what to say but because he knew nothing would make her feel any better. He reached his hand out but before he touched her, he felt her pull away from him. He withdrew his hand and threw his body backwards to sit on the ground. They didn't move for what seemed like hours.
"I... can still smell him... in this room," she sobbed, speaking so quietly that Ma-Ti almost couldn't hear her, "he's really gone, isn't he?"
Linka looked up from the pillow and her eyes pierced straight into Ma-Ti's soul. He just hung his head down, not wanting to answer it. If he didn't answer, then it felt like it wasn't real and he didn't think that he could handle the reality, after all he was only still here because Wheeler had sacrificed himself so that he could be. He looked up and saw that Linka had curled into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest and began wailing in agony. He pulled himself up and reached out to comfort her, this time she let him do so and as soon as she could feel his hand on her shoulder she pulled her body into his embrace. She cried into his neck and she squeezed him so tight that he had some difficulty breathing. He gently rubbed her back and let her do whatever she needed to do.
"Linka..." Ma-Ti began, pulling himself away from her body, "Gaia came to us straight after you passed out last night. She went looking for Wheeler and seemed to think that he could still be alive."
Linka's eyes opened wide and she jumped back, "where is she?!"
"That's the thing, she still hasn't returned and I tried to contact her several times last night and she never responded," a worried look crossed Ma-Ti's face, "I fear something sinister has happened. I don't know if Wheeler is still alive or not, but Gaia is missing now too and we have to do something to find them both, even if..." He paused, swallowed and continued, "even if the news is dire."
Linka nodded but at the same time tears started streaming down her cheeks. "We have to search wherever you last saw him. Hopefully we can pick up on a trail and take it from there." She was a strong person, Ma-Ti knew, but he didn't realise that she was as strong as he could now see. Her boyfriend and Gaia were both missing, potentially dead, and she could still keep her sanity and reason. Ma-Ti knew that she would be devastated if she did end up finding Wheeler to be dead, but he knew that she wouldn't rest until she knew for sure. He knew that she also wouldn't give up on finding Gaia either. She was like a mother to them all, as much a member of the Planeteers' family as each was to the other.
Ma-Ti stood up and held his hand out for Linka to grab a hold of. She softly placed her hand in his and he lifted her up off the bed gently. He knew that he should say something to her to give her some hope or reassurance but he couldn't find the right words so he said nothing at all. She nodded to him and released from his touch and began walking back towards her own hut. Ma-Ti turned and followed her silently, his head held low and his spirits drained. He had wanted to have hope but all he felt was despair. All he could think was how mangled Wheeler's corpse would be when they found it floating in the sea in a few days time.