Hi, everyone. Thanks for all the reviews so far throughout the first 13 chapters! I really appreciate it! Thanks guys! And I thank the rest of the followers too. The important thing is that people are reading this fic. Also, tell your friends and fellow writers/readers about this one if they're interested.
Again, I give each and every last one of you my thanks for sticking with me!
Without further ado, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Arcade Armageddon
Chapter 14
"That must be it." Tamora guessed.
Gretel had led the sergeant through a vast, not to mention dangerous part of the woods, where they had to deal with loose branches, pitfalls, and woodland creatures which were a far cry from the Cy-Bugs in Hero's Duty. Unlike the viruses, however, Calhoun had managed to get past the obstacles of the forested area. Now she and Gretel were staring at a tiny, normal-looking cottage shrouded in vines and sitting under shady tree branches. It made Calhoun wonder how one could live in a place like that.
The woman and tween approached the house, peering through one of the front windows to see what appeared to be a den; which was completely empty, along with the rest of the house.
"Looks like she's not home." Gretel shrugged, then noticed Calhoun going around to the back of the house, searching for a way in. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I need to get in." Tamora tried a back window, but it wouldn't budge.
"By breaking in?"
"Do you have a better idea, kid?" Then Tamora went back around and tried the front door, which (not surprisingly) didn't open a crack either.
"This is a bad idea, you know?" Anxiety crept into Gretel's chest. "I know Red's not herself right now, but she's still my friend and I don't wanna lose her trust. I mean, what if she comes back and finds us here?"
"She won't, as long as we get in and out quickly. Now, how am I going to get in?" The Hero's Duty's lead wondered, then glanced up to see a brick chimney. She smirked, knowing she just found her way in.
Gretel noticed it too, and winced. "Really? You can't be serious. Plus, we'll get dirty."
"If you don't want to do this, runt, you can go home. Unless you want to help your friend."
"I do. I just didn't think we'd be getting filthy to do it." The tween motioned to the chimney, dreading how unsanitary it would be. But if it was to help Red, then it was a chance she had to take. Gretel followed Tamora up one of the trees near the cottage, hanging out on the branch nearest its roof. She jumped across, nearly falling off but pulled herself up to follow Tamora down the chimney.
The inside of Red's cottage was a little larger than it appeared outside, with the den taking over most of its foyer. A small kitchenette sat in the corner of the den, not far from where Calhoun and Gretel landed.
They stepped out of the fireplace, searching the house's interior until they came across a small alcove in the back of the den.
"We can check Red's room." Gretel started for the alcove, stepping through the curtains. When she noticed the sergeant was not moving an inch, she reminded, "You know this was your plan."
"Don't rush me, runt." Calhoun started after her, annoyed. She reminds me of those cavities.
The bedroom may have been the smallest part, with only a bed and a desk. A thin closet laid next to the desk.
"It's always cramped in here, I know," Gretel said as she and Tamora took in the room's barren surroundings, "But she's pretty neat about it."
"Let's see what your little friend's hiding." The sergeant began her search, opening drawers in the small desk for any sign of evidence that could expose Red's true nature. She dug through both of them, only coming up with cosmetics, accessories, and jewelry. She then checked underneath the desk, but still came out with nothing save for boots. "Nothing," she grumbled, then regarded Gretel, who was checking the bed. "Did you find anything?"
"Nope," the tween replied, shaking her head from the collected dust as she crawled out from under the bed and rising to her feet. "I still don't understand, though. Why would Red be hiding something? It's not like her, and she doesn't seem to have anything to hide."
Calhoun, on the other hand, was growing annoyed, knowing there had to be something in this house that would give Red away. What if Felix was right, after all? That Red was just a crazed girl with a crush on the Good Guy but didn't know he was married. Maybe she didn't have anything to do with the hacker. However, Gretel and Wolf's explanations about Red's sudden change in personality were still hanging in the air; the mystery behind that waiting to be solved.
"Maybe she's hiding something somewhere else in here," Tamora guessed.
"Hey, it's worth a shot." Gretel shrugged, but as she started to leave, she felt something creak beneath the rug she was standing on. "Okay, something's loose down there." The tween glanced down at the rug, tapping it lightly.
"One way to find out." Calhoun lifted the small floor covering to reveal what appeared to be a trapdoor.
"Looks like she's not off the hook yet." The Hero's Duty's lead opened it, smirking in success when she saw several manila folders, with files all pertaining to Fix-It Felix, Jr. as well as the Good Guy himself. What were they all doing in Fairytale Speedway, let alone in a racer's home? And why did Red have them? As far as she knew, only Surge had access to the information regarding every character in Game Central Station. So how was Red able to smuggle them out?
"What are all these folders?" Gretel inquired, scooping them up and nearly dropping a few sheets. She looked through random photos and information. "And who's Fix-It Felix, Jr.? He's not part of this game, is he?"
"Give me those." Tamora snatched the jumbled files out of the girl's arms. She scanned through each of them, knowing for sure they were the exact files.
The sergeant didn't know all the details yet, but she knew one thing: Red already knew everything she'd been doing so far had been for show. Red at least had a part in everything that was going on, that much Tamora knew. But by learning about Felix? Why him, who was merely one person of around a thousand Game Central Station residents? There was plenty of time to figure that out after she alerted Surge about the stolen files, which in turn could prove that Red was a potential threat. Or there was at least a man behind the curtain who was using her.
Hearing a moan, she snapped out of her musings.
"What the heck was that?" the tween wondered, also startled. Her eyes fell on the closet, which seemed to be rattling from inside. Gretel opened it, nearly jumping when she found herself face-to-face with a large, muscular man tied up and gagged. She looked away, embarrassed upon learning he was completely naked. She had no idea who he was or where he came from.
But Calhoun did.
"Maroney! What are you...?"
The soldier moved the gag as best as he could with his tongue. "I was exploring this game until that Red Riding-whatever chick invited me to her place. She offered me some bread she baked earlier this week, and the next thing I knew, I was in here."
"So, she drugged you..." Tamora then took a quick look at her soldier's situation. "And apparently stole your armor." That fact alone forever proved all claims about Red's presence in Hero's Duty. Where and how else could she have gotten her hands on armor?
"I don't know what she's trying to do as me, but I'm sure it ain't good. And we need to get outta here before she comes back!" Then Maroney noticed Gretel still looking away. "Who's the kid?"
"A friend of your little jailer," Calhoun replied dryly, then noticed the girl's attention toward the horizontal window, where the slightest hint of a red hood was visible.
"We need to go!" Gretel urged, pointing at the window. "Red's back. But I'm not going up that chimney!" The young racer folded her arms in defiance, not wanting to deal with the filthy entrance they'd made.
"So, you want to get caught and lose your friend? Or get killed?"
"Hey, I'd rather die and regenerate than...hey, let me go!"
"Sorry, kid. It's for your own good." Calhoun hoisted Gretel on her shoulder, despite the latter's complaints and wails. "Besides, you might even be able to help us save this arcade from becoming a memory."
"What about me, Sarge?" Maroney tried to squirm out of his bonds, falling out of the closet, "You can't leave me to die here!"
The Hero's Duty's lead paused, placing Gretel squarely on the floor and kneeling down to untie the soldier.
"I could, but I need all of you ladies. And dying by a brat's hand isn't what one calls dying with honor." When the last of the ropes were loose, Calhoun pulled the soldier up, trying her best to face forward. She could tell just from this situation that things were going to get ugly if she didn't catch the hacker. Especially when she had an idea of who he or she could be. She knew that whoever it could be, they weren't at it alone. Regardless, Tamora had to put a stop to this before it came to a head.
...
"This is the third game this week," said Surge, examining Felix's code, specifically the red patch, which now seemed to be spreading all over the Good Guy's blue ones. Including his hammer.
"And we still don't know who's-a behind it." Luigi floated up to the arcade guardian, getting a look at the odd patch, then at Felix who seemed unable to control himself let alone his glitching. The Good Guy had been behind Ralph one second, then somewhere else the next until he ended up right behind the player-two plumber and Surge. Just watching Felix was enough to make Luigi worry as he always considered the Good Guy a second brother in addition to the more famous Mario. And Luigi didn't even want to imagine seeing him in Felix's position.
"Ralph and I think it's more than o-on-ne," Felix sputtered the last word through a glitch.
"Felix! You need to control yourself!" Ralph scolded, shaking his friend frantically. The wrecker was growing more and more worried for the handyman, almost to the point of frightened.
"Stop it! You've been treating me like this all day, Ralph! I'm not that glitch!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone shot Felix an exasperated look, knowing the Good Guy would never refer to Vanellope as "that glitch." Then they noticed the crimson glare in his eyes again, which startled Surge and Luigi, and once more raised concern in Ralph.
The wrecker knew this was unlike Felix and feared it was only going to get worse if left unchecked. He had to find out who was behind all of this: Fashion Trendy and Frogger's mysterious deletion, the handyman's behavior, etc. Who knew what game the hacker may hit next? And where was Calhoun, who had left the two men behind to more than likely investigate further? Hopefully, she came up with some leads.
"I've never seen this before," said Luigi, slowly moving back at the sight of the angered Felix. Then he regarded Ralph. "Vanellope wasn't-a like a-this when she was glitch-a, was she?"
"Not at all. Just bullied a lot," replied Ralph. "But this...this...is new. I know Felix's problem is way different from what Vanellope had to go through for fifteen years."
"Maybe if we a-try to pull out this a-nasty add-on..." Luigi floated up to Felix's code, reaching out for the red patch.
"WAIT!"
It was too late. As soon as the player-two Nintendo Good Guy touched the patch, he had the same shocking discovery Ralph had received earlier. Surge and the wrecker pulled Luigi away, feeling the remains of the jolt in the process.
"What-a...was-a...that?" Luigi wondered, brushing himself off from the electric charge.
"It's as if it's not allowing us to touch it or get near it," Surge guessed. "And I agree with Luigi. I have yet to see anything such as this before."
"And it only gets better," Ralph said sarcastically. "Felix is the only one who can touch it without ending up like us."
"And I sort of like it, too," the Good Guy said, hovering up to his code and touching the red patch, and, like last time, didn't receive a shock. Instead, he again felt that increase of strength from the mysterious add-on, filling him with power he didn't know was possible. Felix had no idea where it came from or who installed it. All he knew was that he couldn't get enough of it.
The others, however, were growing uneasy by this. Especially Ralph, who, after a few seconds, tried to pry Felix from the patch.
"Let go of me, Ralph!" The Good Guy struggled against the Bad Guy's strength but knowing it was a losing battle considering the strength disadvantage. "I need more!"
"Felix, what you need is to focus!" Ralph managed to pull his partner free, then turning him so they were face-to-face. "It's me, Ralph!"
"R-Ralph..." The Good Guy stared up at his friend, back to his senses and recovering from the rush that had been shooting through his head. He glanced up at the menacing add-on threatening to take over his code, then at his gloved hands, trembling. "What's happening to me?"
"We don't know for sure at this point," Surge replied, "judging from what I've seen so far. But one thing is certain: it is not the least bit positive. Also, we can say that it's the hacker striking again. And I know this isn't the last place he'll hit. We're still on the lookout for him."
"And still-a nobody knows-a who that-a is," added Luigi. "Which is-a why Surge has-a everyone putting their games-a on high alert, guarding their-a code rooms-a like you wouldn't believe it. Bowser and Don-a Pianta's guarding ours."
"And I encourage you to do the same, especially in case the suspect..."
"Or suspects," Felix interrupted, putting emphasis on the s.
"Right. In case the suspects come back here. Apparently this is growing into a more serious matter with Fix-It Felix's code tampering."
"Which means it might have something to do with Felix," Ralph guessed.
"But why?" Felix asked, red binary coursing through him.
"That, we have yet to find out," said Surge. "But we will. And you might not be the only victim, sir."
...
"I'm telling you, that kid's trouble," Maroney claimed as he, Calhoun, and Gretel stepped off the carriage-like train from Fairytale Speedway to Game Central Station. The second they set foot into the main hub, the soldier was met with catcalls, crude jokes, and immature giggles from the residents. Even some of the female characters were blushing and looking away from the nude man walking through the area.
"Look at the size of that..." a Lakitu whispered to his Spiny friends, his face red.
"Dude, don't be disgusting!" one of the spiked Mario Bros. baddies hissed, but then took a double take at Maroney. "I don't care if he's buff, and...well..."
"Remind me to visit Hero's Duty later," Rouge from Sonic the Hedgehog smirked with interest. She was walking past the trio, her blue eyes staring hungrily at Maroney, whose face was burning red with embarrassment.
"Back off!" Calhoun waved the dangerously close bat away, moving in front of her soldier to cover him. "Go stare at someone else!"
"Fine, then," Rouge huffed, "And here I thought you had a husband. Can't wait 'til Fix-It sees this."
When the bat flew off, Maroney glanced down at his commanding officer. There were still laughs and pointed jokes flying around them.
"I can't go around like this," he whimpered.
"We know that, big guy," Gretel agreed. "The sooner we can find something to cover you up..."
"The sooner we can get back to what's important," Tamora added, knowing she saw all that she needed to prove to Felix that Red had a motive. Especially when the sergeant had seen the Good Guy's files in the teen's floorboards, and one of her soldiers nude in the closet. While Calhoun still didn't know how Red had acquired or was planning to use the information on Felix; she knew enough to know that the girl was not to be trusted. He had to believe her this time.
"I thought Red was my friend," Gretel said, head hung down. "Why would she do something like this? I mean, it still doesn't make sense."
"Don't worry, we'll find more info on this real soon, kid," the woman assured the tween, then she noticed four men coming out of Fix-It Felix, Jr. "And there they are right now."
Ralph, Felix, Surge, and Luigi were exiting the 80s game, apparently discussing something regarding it.
"Fix-It! Wreck-It!"
"Calhoun!" Ralph and the others approached the sergeant, Gretel, and Maroney, all wanting to know where she'd been. He then froze, face red at the sight of the naked Maroney. He was trying to keep from bursting into laughter. Felix and Luigi were in the same boat, sizing the man.
"Oh my lands..." The Good Guy held his nose in an attempt to contain his laughs.
"Mamma mia!" Luigi covered his eyes, knowing the last time he'd seen this happen was when he'd accidentally walked in on Dr. Eggman getting dressed one day in Sonic the Hedgehog, having fainted from the horror of that scene, which had been in his nightmares for three weeks.
Surge, however, didn't know how to make of Maroney's situation.
"You do realize this isn't tolerated, sir," he informed as he took in the embarrassed soldier, adjusting his glasses.
"You think I wanted to end up like this?" Maroney shouted.
"Okay, enough!" Tamora stood her ground in front of him, Gretel right next to her.
The wrecker's gaze then fell on the young racer. "And who's the kid?"
"I'm Gretel," she replied.
When Tamora's gaze fell on Felix, however, she noticed the hard look back in his eyes. She stiffened a little, but quickly maintained her hard-as-nails exterior.
"Where've you been?" the Good Guy asked, his voice low.
"And what could those files be?" Surge noticed the manila folders in the sergeant's arms. He adjusted his glasses for a better look. "And where did you get those?"
"I found them in Red's room in her game." Tamora held out the files for the men to see. They were all taken aback upon noticing they were files regarding Felix.
"That's absurd. What were they doing in there?"
"And that's not all we found." Calhoun motioned to the nude Maroney, looking away at the same time. "Red kidnapped one of my soldiers and passed into Hero's Duty as him...during arcade hours. Kohut and I saw her on the cameras."
"Why haven't I noticed it?" Surge asked.
"But-a Fairytale Speedway's only a-been plugged-a in for a week," added Luigi. "She probably a-doesn't know what going a-Turbo is."
"Going Turbo?" Gretel repeated, glancing between the adults for an explanation.
"You'll a-find out-a later," the green-clad plumber assured the kid.
"But she stole these." Calhoun shoved Felix's files into Surge's arms.
"But...how...?" The arcade guardian was beside himself, surprisingly confused at how a character from a new game knew where the stash of character files were.
"Hold on!" Felix interjected. "Red wouldn't steal these. Like Luigi said, she doesn't know her way around."
"Well, she does," Tamora countered.
"And knew exactly how to get past Surge into another game during hours too, it seems," added Ralph, "Which is something I did once."
"I don't think we've forgotten about that, Wreck-It. Anyway, I think you need to investigate it and then you'll realize I'm right. Check the fingerprints and/or cameras, and see if they're truly the little brat's."
"Okay...I'll...see to it." Surge nodded, vanishing in a bolt of lightening.
"And you..." Calhoun regarded Luigi. "You need to go warn your brother and friends in your game and make sure they haven't gotten hit."
"Yes, a-ma'am." The green plumber gulped and started off for Super Mario Bros.
"You too, Maroney," she ordered her soldier. "Warn the other pussy-willows and make sure everything's secure." Then Calhoun noticed his "situation." "And get some spare clothes on while you're at it!"
"Yes, ma'am." The soldier saluted, then headed off as fast as he could for Hero's Duty, trying his best to ignore the continued giggles and wisecracks fired at him from other characters.
When they were both gone, Tamora was met by a piercing glare from Felix.
"You really are jealous," the Good Guy said accusingly, red binary flashing through his body. "You really think I'm going to..."
"Now you know I'm not thinking that at all, Short Stack! I know you wouldn't leave me for that kid or let her get the best of you. I trust you, but I'm trying to save you and this arcade! And I know Red is not all candy and rainbows. She's a threat!"
"Just stop it, okay?" Felix snapped, at the end of rope with his wife's accusations.
"Stop what? What are you guys arguing about here? And hey, Gretel."
Everyone turned to see Red coming out of her game, skipping up to Felix's side.
"Oh...Red." The handyman calmed down, regarding the teen. "Nothing. Just a little..." He shot a dirty look at his wife. "...disagreement."
"Reeeeally." Red drew out the word. Her lips twisted into a slight smirk, and her brown eyes bore into Tamora's blue ones with interest. However, they appeared a little different from usual, almost possessing a yellow or gold hue to them. They were almost sinister, as Calhoun looked more closely. Gretel noticed this too, and shifted to the older woman's side a little.
"Yeah, really," replied Ralph, shrugging. The wrecker had seen the married couple have their disputes on a few occasions...well, more than a few, which work themselves out through time. But this incident, for some reason, was going into a whole new level.
At the same time, though, the Bad Guy didn't know which one to believe, not that it was his place to intervene. Of course, he was always looking for Felix, especially since the Turbo incident. While he believed that Felix wasn't doing anything past normal with Red and knew that the Good Guy would never fall for another girl behind Tamora's back, Ralph was also worried for his friend/nemesis and was leaning more toward Calhoun's suspicions about the fast Red. Especially when he noticed the change in the young girl's eyes just like the sergeant had, which made the stolen files hit home a little.
Ralph knew there was something off about Red and worth watching over.
Only Felix didn't seem to notice.
"So, you're going to the ball on Monday?" Red asked Felix, in that cute, perky voice that seemed to almost make any guy melt around her like butter. She grabbed the Good Guy's arm again, giving him the honeyglows.
"Yeah," the handyman said, nervously. "With my wife." He nodded over to Tamora, who smirked with satisfaction, but then it fell when she heard "Hopefully" soon after.
What was that supposed to mean? she wondered.
"I see." The fairytale figure darted that wicked smile out at Calhoun, who was trying to contain her anger. Looks like I have a chance, "soldier."
"What have you been up to?" Felix asked.
"Just...things."
"What kind?" Tamora interjected, gritting her teeth and resisting the urge to snatch her up and teach her a lesson.
"Yeah, what?" Gretel was equally curious.
"Just stuff to do with our game. Even you wouldn't understand it, Gretel." Red regarded the tween, who folded her arms in annoyance at that last part. She hated it when she said she didn't understand. The teen changed the subject. "Hey, you know Litwak's going on vacation starting Sunday?"
"No, we haven't heard anything about that," Ralph scratched his head.
"Yeah, that's news to us," Felix agreed.
"Heard it from some guys at The Legend of Zelda." Red paced around, knowing she was successful in changing the subject. "I'm guessing that's why those princesses from Mario Bros. want to have the ball early. Hey, that gives us three weeks off afterwards, so why not? You guys probably haven't heard about his vacation because you live too far on the other side. Anyway, I gotta go. Didn't mean to butt in on your little disagreement." That was when the teen glanced at Felix, smiling with that chirpy optimism. "Good luck settling it, Felix." Then her gaze fell on Tamora, and her smirk returned. Not. Finally, she regarded Gretel. "And see ya later too, Gret. We'll do something soon, I promise."
"Not," the tween sighed when her friend was out of earshot. "And she's going to stand me up again."
"She's...a nosy one, isn't she?" Ralph said.
"Too nosy," Calhoun growled.
"She's just a friend," Felix countered, trying to make it clear.
"A friend who could be..."
"She's not trying to trick me, Tamora!" The Good Guy cut her off. "She's a sweet person and not a threat!"
"Open your eyes, Short Stack! You've only known her for three days."
"Let's stop talking about this, please." The handyman broke into pixels again in anger. "Red is innocent. She didn't steal those files or break into Hero's Duty. If she did, someone was probably using her."
"That's what I'm thinking, too," Gretel interjected. "I don't know, maybe someone is using her. And she has to ignore me and stuff so she can work for this guy, or he'll kill her. Whoever he is."
"Could be, kid," Ralph guessed. "But we can't assume anything yet. Not until we find out more."
"Fix-It! Fix-It!"
The four turned to notice a young man and two girls hurrying up to them, one of the girls panting. They recognized them as Vyse, Aika, and Fina from Skies of Arcadia. Nobody took their panicked expressions as good signs, assuming that something happened in the air raid game.
"Vyse?" Felix cocked his head to the side in confusion. "What's going on? Did your game get hit too?"
"No, nothing like that," the airman replied, smiling halfheartedly. "I mean, I hope not while we're out here."
"Our planes are wrecked from the last round," Aika put in. "And for some reason, they won't fix themselves like they're supposed to."
"We checked the code room, too," added Fina. "Nothing unusual."
"You don't mind having a look at them, Fix-It, do you?" Vyse asked, a hopeful note to his voice.
"Sure, I don't mind." Felix shrugged, realizing this was a good opportunity to see if his hammer would start registering again. He regarded Ralph, Gretel, and Tamora. "I'll be off, guys."
When the Good Guy headed off with the Arcadia trio, Calhoun shook her head, not believing her husband still didn't believe her about Red. Even after she and Gretel had found a few pieces of evidence against her.
"That girl definitely has her arm around my husband," the sergeant growled, not believing what was happening between herself and Felix. And that she was being made the enemy.
"I believe you," said Ralph finally. "At least I do a little. Something's wrong with Red's eyes. They weren't the same as yesterday."
"I know, Wreck-It. And how she keeps hanging on to him? She's definitely bad news, but there's no talking to Fix-It."
"I believe you, too," Gretel said. "That was definitely not Red. She'd never throw herself at a guy like that. And about Fix-It, he'll believe you."
"Yeah," Ralph agreed. "He loves you. We'll expose Red. We just have to find out more about her."
"And we got two days before the ball, too," added Calhoun. "That should be plenty of time to bust her and any other hackers involved."
"Right now, though, I need to turn in for the night," Ralph yawned. He didn't realize how tired he was. "I'll talk to Felix later tonight and at least try to convince him a little."
"And take the kid back to her game." The sergeant nodded to Gretel.
"Why me?" The wrecker complained.
"Because you're better at kids than me, considering how much time you spend in Sugar Rush."
Ralph sighed, taking Gretel's hand and starting toward the fairytale racing game.
Tamora, on the other hand, couldn't stop worrying about what Red was planning, and with Felix at that. She had to keep investigating, and it continued now.
...
Felix followed Vyse and the girls into the always-battered airship zone of Skies of Arcadia. Even though it was along the same lines as Hero's Duty with its war-based atmosphere, the dogfights that occurred in the former was still a far cry from the perils of the Cy-Bugs in his wife's game.
When the Good Guy hopped off the propeller-equipped trolley into the game, he noticed two biplanes lying on nearby hills, smoke billowing from Vyse's blue one. Totaled from the last round, he guessed. But what confused Felix was the fact that they didn't fix themselves afterwards.
"Why haven't they fixed themselves after game over?" he asked, examining the two planes.
"Exactly, and yet nothing unusual happened in this game," Vyse insisted, jerking a finger at his wrecked machine. "Unless we missed something."
"Maybe if you can fix them, their codes can go back to normal?" Aika inquired.
"I guess," Felix sighed.
"What do you mean 'you guess?'" The female pirate placed her hands on her hips in surprise. "You should be able to fix anything. Aren't you supposed to be Fix-It Felix, Jr.?"
Easy for you to say, Felix thought, remembering today's mishaps where the windows hadn't mended themselves. And when he touched his code, the red patch hadn't vanished. The Good Guy glanced back at the totaled planes, then at Vyse, Aika, and Fina, knowing it was worth a try. He pulled out his hammer, but then froze when he noticed something strange, which was minor before but was now a major issue.
It was almost white.