Meanwhile…
Nora, Richtofen, Lee, Holger, and Biffy had finally reached the inside of Coral Grove, while still inside the crate they've been in for hours. They've had to deal with one thing and one thing only: Holger's nervous gas.
"Wow, and I thought being around Takeo's puke was bad." Richtofen said.
"Holger already said he was sorry!" Holger said.
"We know Holger, everyone reacts differently, but still…"
Nora was trying her best to not throw up.
"Everyone, shut up, shut up."
Richtofen peered through a crack in the crate, and saw Cassandra, with her daughter Kimmie.
"She looks like a sweet little specimen!" Richtofen thought.
He continued looking at Cassandra, who was now contacting one of the Wurst clones on a monitor.
"Status report."
"Ah, nice to have you back! The prisoners have been placed in P1, weapons have been placed in storage."
"Have they told you anything yet?"
"Well uh…no, well not anything important anyway. Our Japanese guest has been rather harsh though."
"Then intensify the interrogation! PUSH THEM HARDER! I want answers!"
"Nothing has changed with her! Jeez!" Nora said.
"I know right!" Biffy said.
"But you're totally into her daughter, remember?" Lee reminded.
"Ha ha, ironic and funny." Richtofen said.
"Do you remember this?" Biffy said lightly punching Lee's shoulder.
"Hm, I wonder where they are bringing us?" Richtofen asked.
"I don't know, you tell me!" Nora said.
They felt the crate being lifted off the ground, and transported away.
Meanwhile…
Back at A. Nigma, Cam and Brandy had overhead that at locker 1233, there was the cipher for the book. They dropped down, and there was the locker, but one problem.
"I don't know the combo!" Cam said.
"Do I have to do everything?"
Brandy started to strike the locker with her purse.
"Not so loud, or-"
That came a little late. A Wurst clone, guided by two hazmats, came down the hallway.
"Well, hello Mr. Martinez! We've been looking everywhere for you!"
The hazmats picked Cam up in the air.
"PUT HIM DOWN!" Brandy demanded.
Wurst was handed a pair of clampers.
"I LOVE THIS PART! This thing cuts through locks, like…CANDY!"
He cut the lock off of the locker, and there was the cipher.
"So, that's a cipher. Kinda lame." Brandy said.
Wurst turned to Cam.
"Anything else we may be looking for?" He asked.
"Uh…NOPE!" Cam said.
Wurst let a whistle, and turned Cam over to empty out his pockets. There was all sorts of trash, but then the second ancient key fell out.
"The second key? YOU HAD IT!"
"That's not important in any way!" Cam said.
He knew he couldn't really lie about it, they knew.
"Oh, but I told Lee I was the most responsible…" He said to himself.
Coral Grove…
"Alright, everything seems clear!" Richtofen said
"How do we know? Hm?" Nora questioned.
"Must you always be the center of attention? Did daddy not love you enough?" Richtofen mocked.
"Ok, Lee, this is why I can't approve of this, I-"
Richtofen cut her off, by pulling out his Walther P38, and pointed it at her.
"So my child, here is how things are going to work. I am trying to help all of you, but I can't do it if you judge me based on uniform. The thing I'm wearing is irrelevant, it just means I was around in that time period. So, we let it go. You're with me, or against me. Understood?"
"Sure Doctor fancy." Nora said.
"Good, that's what I like to here."
Richtofen put away his pistol.
"Now, how are we to break open this confined space without-"
Biffy was tired of Richtofen's rambling, so, he went ahead and made an exit.
"Or we can do that, sure. But, we need to be quiet."
Richtofen took out his knife.
"I gotcha, we crawl over there. Ready?" Nora said.
"Alright, let's do it already." Biffy said.
They all started to crawl towards the other side of the room, but Holger was running along, and bumped into a hazmat, who was designed like a butler.
"Damnit…" Richtofen cursed.
"Well, we're off to a rough start." Nora said, covering her face with her hand.
The robot started to talk with them.
"Gentlemen, my apologies. I tend to be clumsy, as it is a charming attribute for a robot. May I suggest you've taken a wrong turn."
He pointed it's hands to his right.
"The dining hall is, that way."
"Actually, we be looking for level to go to prison floor!" Holger said.
"HOLG!" Biffy and Lee said.
Richtofen put his right thumb and index finger on his nose, looked down, and shook his head.
"Then you'll want to try this service elevator. Ta, ta!"
The robot walked away, then Richtofen looked up.
"Well, that was easy." Richtofen said.
"Oh save it, you're the one who's going to get us busted!" Nora said.
"We seem to be doing alright so far!" Richtofen said.
"Nora…please?" Lee said.
"Ok, Lee, sorry."
They entered the elevator, and looked at the floor selection panel. There were three prison floor, but they had a lock symbol on them.
"Ooh, I think I can crack this!"
Richtofen had his hacking device the whole time, plus it could hack almost anything that's coded. He started to get to work on the panel, focusing mostly on P1.
"What the heck is th-"
"SHH! The doctor is concentrating! Shut up Nora!" Richtofen said.
Lee noticed a camera at the top of the elevator, and it just turned to them.
"Did that camera just-"
The elevator started moving quickly down, and it knocked down Richtofen.
"I WAS CONCENTRATING DAMNIT!" He screamed.
"It's a trap!" Nora screamed.
Lee then looked up, to the elevator shaft. He climbed on top of Holger, and went through. Lee then helped Holger and Biffy up, but Richtofen and Nora stayed inside. They all couldn't fit on top of the elevator all at once.
"NORA! NO! Holger no be wanting to lose you again!" Holger said.
"Don't worry Holg, we'll be fine!" Nora said.
Holger then closed the elevator hatch, and that left Nora with Richtofen.
"This is nit good, we'll have to prepare for whatever, army is waiting for us, downstairs."
Richtofen equipped his Wunderwaffe DG-2.
"As much as I may not like you, sorry, but I want to say what that thing can do." Nora said.
"I want to see you in action with your staff!" Richtofen replied.
Nora gave a slight smirk. She brought out her staff and extended it, while Richtofen flipped the switch for the Wunderwaffe. The elevator beeped, stating it had reached the floor destination, the door slowly opened.
"HEY! I know this room!" Nora said putting her staff away.
It was a fairly large room. There were windows that could have a view of the underwater environment. There was a vast collection of books, lined up on shelves on the walls. Other things around the room was, some scientific equipment, a monitor, and two unconscious people. Lynch and that council chick.
"Ah, Edward! Nora! Very good! But, you should have left Mannifestum in the elevator with you…"
There was Finnwich, sitting behind a desk.
"GRANDPA!" Nora cried happily.
She then ran over to Finnwich, with her arms open.
"What?" Richtofen questioned.
"Oh, I see you already met my grand-daughter!" Finnwich said.
"Ya, a little teleporting accident, and then she arrived no big deal." Richtofen explained.
"So Finnwich, how do you know Richtofen?" Nora asked.
"Yes, I knew him ever since his university years. He studies hard at Heidelberg, then got into some business..."
"115 was one of my greatest scientific achievements, but travelling to the 21st century? EVEN BIGGER!" Richtofen said.
"And-"
"HOLD ON MY DEAR! I just need to…"
Finnwich looked at his desk, which was a desktop and a keyboard. There was Lee, Biffy, and Holger, banging on an elevator door to P1, barely holding on.
"One second goes by, and everything goes to shit…" Richtofen said.
"NONSENSE!"
Finnwich started to type commands on the keyboard, and the door opened.
"OH MY GOD! Next time, I'm totally following them." Nora said.
"So, how are you Finnwich?" Richtofen asked.
"I'm fine, thank you Edward. Now, I need to get back to work, but before I do that, I must something's to both of you."
Finnwich brought out a book, and gave it to Nora. She flipped through it, there were plenty of blank pages.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I put everything in the back!" Finnwich said.
Eventually, she got to a page with a picture of a young German man with a mustache, the picture's caption said, Dr. Edward Richtofen.
"Is that you?" Nora asked.
Richtofen took a look.
"Wow, to think over twenty years have passed ever since then. But actually, for my case, it's been over 90 years ever since I looked that way!" Richtofen said.
Nora flipped the page, it was a picture of a man with a widened grey beard, the pictures caption read, Ludwig Maxis.
"Stupid Maxis, and his face, his stupid accent! But I digress!" Richtofen said.
"Maxis was one of Richtofen's superiors. Nora, there is a lot we do not understand." Finnwich explained.
The rest of the pages had pictures with the Group 935 symbol, and pictures of meteors.
"Ah yes, you want to know, what is 935? Well, 935 was an international research organization. Maxis revealed we were participating in weapon developments for the Nazi party. However, I just believed in science. That is all."
"I'm not really sure how to respond to that Doctor…" Nora said.
"Well, I need to get back to my work, if I may apologize. This room is going to be filled with the sound of piano." Finnwich said.
"Ooh, I like this piano by the way, Wunderbar! And, maybe I'll play with it later too!" Richtofen said.
"Well, this is an old assignment from Mr. Nigma himself, I'm going to take the time to finish. BUT, when the devilish overlord comes, you two need to be out of sight, got it?"
Nora and Richtofen gave a nod to Finnwich's statement.
"Good, now, where was I? Oh yes…"
Finnwich continued to press keys on the piano orchid, while analyzing some notes.
Meanwhile…
Things weren't looking good at A. Nigma High. Brandy, Cam, and the rest of the student body were being forced for work on re-building the pyramid, by clones and a couple of hazmats. Barrage was looking around for Dempsey, and his search's led him to the cafeteria, which he was finally noticing the treacherous scheme that the clones were executing.
"What is going on in here! Have you gone marble salad in the brain bowl? SCRATCH THAT! I want the answers! What I need you candy canes to do right now is, stand down with DIGNITY! Because enough is enough!"
Barrrage took out a remote to take control of the two hazmats in the room, only it wasn't working.
"HA! You're holding a useless piece of plastic! We had it disabled."
One of the Wurst clones took out his own remote, and used it to order the hazmats to freeze Barrage.
"That 'ought hold him! Everyone carry on! Cyborgs just can't understand the journey for immortality!" One of the clones said.
"OH! YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR OBLITERATION WARRANT." Barrage growled.
Coral Grove…
Lee, Biffy, and Holger have reached the prison, and were just finishing releasing Takeo and Jenny, by using a robot arm they got from one of the hazmats previously. Biffy almost got hurt, by an elevator, but he was saved in time, which is how they got the arm. The last prisoner was, Tina.
"Takeo is impressed!" Takeo complimented.
"Right…thanks." Biffy said.
They went over to Tina's cell and unlocked it. Lee went up to Tina and hugged her.
"Biffy?"
"YEAH! SAY MY NAME LAST!" Biffy said.
"We got to go, NO-"
A mechanical voice started to talk over them, saying it detected the prison breach. The emergency response was, the electric door was raised once again, plus a steel door.
Nora's POV
Grandpa was trying to tell me something, and that was Richtofen isn't all that bad. He's dressed for a dead organization, but if Finnwich trusts him, then I trust him, I think…
While Finnwich was trying to figure out how to put his little tune all together, I was practicing some moves with my staff. I think Richtofen was watching me, and he looked impressed. He was polishing that weapon of his, the Wonder…what, what? Wonder waffle, DG-2? No, he said it like, Wunderwaffe DG-2. I like the sound of Wonder waffle better. I've gotta see what kind of weapon, or whatever it is, I want to see what it does!
"QUICK, SHE'S HERE!"
I just sprung up, and Richtofen along with me. We hid behind the orchid. Cassandra, what do you want now? Plus, Finnwich was playing some music for her.
"I want answers Finnwich."
Typical...
"So, it is answers you seek?"
"Yes, and stop playing that inferno music! It's annoying!"
I like that music, you go grandpa!
"Well, then no answers!" Finnwich said.
Oh, he's bringing it!
"Why is that?"
"Because someone who doesn't like music, just can't be good."
I heard a squeaky thud, like she covered the piano keyboard with the openable tray.
"AND YOU ARE A TIRED OLD MAN WHO WILL TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
No one talks to Finnwich like that! I would jump in and just, go ballistic, but, we can't afford to be seen.
"Here's the everything part, you may want to write it down, DO IT!"
Cassandra went on with her questions. What he saw in the pyramid, what does Lee Ping and his family have to do with it, and why she was never informed The Serpent was his brother. THAT NAME AGAIN! I remember what he calls me, Little Fox. I swear, I'm so tempted to grab Richtofen's pistol, that's sitting in a visible holster right now, and just...JUST...never mind. I'm no murder, even though I did take on an army of robots, but, I guess I'll use the term, shutting down. The next questions she asked were of His Eminence, what he is. The last thing she asked was, where did 935 begin, and why is Element 115 so powerful. Then she threatened to take away Grandpa's piano away if she didn't have the answers by tomorrow. We finally came out from behind the piano, but noticed one of the butler robots was still there. I don't know why, but I grabbed Richtofen's pistol and just pulled the trigger. It just fell over.
"Have you ever shot a gun before?" Richtofen asked.
"To be honest, no." I responded.
"Richtofen, can you teach her to shoot?" Finnwich asked.
"Sure, but, I only have a pistol, and I'd rather train her with a rif-"
Finnwich went under his desk, he pulled out a gun, that looked like some kind of old rifle, with a scope, and threw it to me. I caught and it was surprisingly, heavier then I thought it would be, but it wasn't too heavy.
"Listen Nora, the time is coming, we all need to prepare for whatever lies ahead." Finnwich said.
"But-"
"Yes, I admire your hand-to-hand combat skills, but...these are dark times. Oh, and of course you'll need these!"
I don't know what he's preferring to, but, I guess Dad wouldn't mind, if he's here in this world that I'm in. He gave Richtofen little boxes, of which I assumed were the bullets.
"Ok, Richtofen teach me." I said.
He went on explaining the rifle. Let's see, it was called the Karabiner 98k, or for short, Kar98k. Made in 1935, and of course, I was holding a Nazi sniper rifle. Don't know how I feel about that, or how it can match modern day rifles, but I guess a gun's a gun? After the facts were over, Richtofen positioned my body in holding the rifle. He of course, had to adjust my stances, just like Sensei did teaching me Tai-Chi. He told me to hold it, then he got a long stool, and placed some old pieces of wood, which Finnwich gave him permission to use. He just told me to picture someone I'd really shoot right now. It's down to him, Serpent or...OH GOD NO! I don't want to remind myself of him, NOT HIM!
"You're on your own now."
I let out the loudest scream I've ever done, and looked into the scope, and fired a shot. I hit one of the pieces of wood, with precision. OW MY EARS! It was loud! But I recovered from it, but I'm still mad. I was going to shoot another bullet right away, but I forgot something.
"Give it a tug Nora!" Finnwich said.
Oh yeah, I forgot to pull the...part. I don't know what it is called. So I did it, and fired another bullet, but I missed and my heart started to race when it hit the glass.
"Don't worry, it's bullet proof my dear!"
Whew! Would've saved me the heart attack Grandpa! I was going to give it another go, but then Richtofen put one of his arms up, with his fist clutched.
"Now, try to shoot it as fast as you can!" Richtofen said.
Don't know how that was going to work, but Ok! I fired a shot, and hit the wood, I put another round in as quick as I could, and fired another shot, which I hit the wood.
"You're a natural Prowler!" Richtofen said.
I put my rifle at my side.
"Excellent! But we have so little time! And if Mannifestum won't come to me of his own free will, then I need someone to fetch him!"
He grabbed a pair of glasses, and replaced Lynch's glasses with another pair. He brought up his music notes, and his keyboard, then started playing a song.
"Oh, I know this song!" Richtofen said.
"So, what are you trying to do?" I ask.
"To reverse a simple spell my dear, reverse the trigger words!" Finnwich said.
With the tune he played, he pressed a button on the orchid, and it played backwards. Lynch was awake!
"Finnwich? Richtofen, and HEY! I thought you didn't exist!"
I don't exist! I DON'T EXIST?! I'm so tempted right now...I have a rifle, I have a staff...I'm not giving into the beast again. NEVER!
"Fetch Mannifestum! And bring me HIS..."
Finnwich pointed to Richtofen.
"Crew."
"YES SIR!"
He just took the elevator up, and went off. I know he's going to try something funny, I know it.
Is it a bad idea teaching Nora how to shoot? And, I actually pictured Takeo, teaching Nora how to shoot a rifle with an Arisaka, but, I guess Richtofen doing it first doesn't hurt? Don't worry, I'm having Takeo doing something with her. Plus, I got someone I want to bring in.
(Hint) "He must be stopped Mason!"
Please tell me you agree Crystal! If not, then I am honest to god, SORRY!