Author's note: It just so happens that my birthday is the next day after this chapter was posted. JOY. Enough of personal details, here is a new chapter.
Warning: There will be violence.
Inferno
Streets of Bumblyburg
9:45 PM
Mr. Potato Face ran down the sidewalk, the prized Northern Jewel in his grasp. In retrospect, he should have brought along a sack bag in order to seize more gems, but the nose-sized gem excavated from a glacier would have to suffice for now. All around he could see the sudden flashes of blue and red fill the streets, and he could hear the screech of tires as the police car made a sharp turn. Mr. Potato Face allowed himself a brief glance from behind.
The gem thief could see the police car rapidly closing in on him.
Looking ahead, Mr. Potato Face spotted an upcoming alleyway to his right. Snickering, Mr. Potato Face jumped into the alleyway and started to run between the buildings, eager to reach the other street. Sadly, all of his hopes vanished when he felt something latch onto his back.
"Nooo!" Mr. Potato Face cried as he left the ground and shot straight up. Suddenly, the potato found himself dangling above the alleyway, the ground about two stories below him. Furiously, he turned to see his captor: Bumblyburg's veteran superhero.
"Not today, Mr. Potato Face." LarryBoy proclaimed as he snatched the Northern Jewel away from Mr. Potato Face before the thief could react. The stumpy potato tried to lunge at the Jewel, but he was stuck to LarryBoy's super suction ear.
Not entirely satisfied, LarryBoy went over to the edge of the building and spotted the police car parked right in front of the alley, as well as the two police officers. The officers spotted the superhero, the caught robber, and the Northern Jewel in safe custody.
"Have no fear, officers," LarryBoy shouted from above, "I will take Mr. Potato Face back to Bumblyburg Prison. Do make sure this returns to where it belongs." LarryBoy then attached the Northern Jewel to his other suction ear and lowered the priceless rock down. Once the two police officers received the gem and drove away, his suction ear retracted and he turned his attention to the apprehended criminal on his other suction ear.
"So what, you just gonna put me back in jail?" Mr. Potato Face jeered as LarryBoy carried him away from the edge of the rooftop.
"Not quite." LarryBoy answered as he spun, releasing Mr. Potato Face from his super suction ear in the process. The thief flew and landed face first on the rooftop with a thud. Slightly taken aback from being thrown, Mr. Potato Face slowly started to get back up. The idea of escaping from LarryBoy's apparent 'blunder' crossed his dizzy mind. However, the suction ear that instantly stuck onto his back again made him think otherwise.
"I want answers." LarryBoy affirmed as he hauled Mr. Potato Face off the ground and held him in the air. "Who attacked the Prison last night?"
"How should I know?" Mr. Potato Face groaned, trying to recover from being thrown around. LarryBoy narrowed his eyes at criminal's answer.
"Lem'me ask you again…" LarryBoy said perilously as he went over to the edge of the rooftop above the alleyway and held Mr. Potato Face over the edge, "who attacked the Prison last night?"
"Whadya gonna do? Drop me?" Mr. Potato Face chuckled. Rolling his eyes, LarryBoy loosened his suction ear, and Mr. Potato Face dropped slightly.
"Maybe." LarryBoy answered, and Mr. Potato Face's arrogance was gone.
"You're not serious…are you?" Mr. Potato Face asked nervously as he dangled two stories above the ground.
"That depends on your cooperation." LarryBoy replied, "Now…who attacked the Prison?"
When Mr. Potato Face didn't answer, LarryBoy loosened up the elastic line, causing Mr. Potato Face to lurch down about foot.
"I-I don't know who they were." Mr. Potato Face stuttered.
"Who's they?" LarryBoy questioned.
"Like I'm gonna tell you." Mr. Potato Face scoffed. LarryBoy loosened the line again, this time waiting half a second before stopping.
"Ah!" the criminal cried out as he came to an abrupt stop. In that half second, Mr. Potato Face had plummet 20 feet and still wasn't close to the ground.
"Alright, alright! I'll tell you!" Mr. Potato Face shouted.
"Who's they?" LarryBoy repeated as he talked to the suspended thief.
"A bunch of guys with paintball guns!" Mr. Potato Face answered as he dangled.
"How many?"
"A whole lot of them…like an army!"
"Alright then," LarryBoy said as he reeled up Mr. Potato Face by only a few feet, "who was leading them?"
"I…don't remember." Mr. Potato Face lied. LarryBoy started to sway Mr. Potato Face back and forth, as well as loosening up on his hold.
"Ok! I remember!" Mr. Potato Face confessed, "A huge fish with a spiky mask!"
This remark puzzled LarryBoy. A huge fish? The only other huge fish that he knew of was Mr. Taco Fish…the fish that wore a taco-looking suit and had a modified glass bowl on his head for breathing. Was there some sort of connection?
Then again, he was jumping to conclusions. Just because Mr. Taco Fish was his rival sponsor didn't give him the right to immediately accuse him.
He would look into it later though.
"Where did they run off to?" LarryBoy resumed.
"I don't know! I didn't go with them!" Mr. Potato Face bumbled. "All I know is that they are planning something big! Now please, don't leave me hanging here!"
Finding no other questions that he could think of, LarryBoy slowly started to reel him back up. As he did this, he opened his comlink.
BACK AT THE LARRYCAVE…
"LarryBoy to the LarryCave." LarryBoy's voice channeled through onto the LarryComputer.
"I hear you loud and clear, Master Larry." Alfred answered as he sat in his hover chair, monitoring the LarryComputer's screens.
"I've just apprehended Mr. Potato Face, and I'm taking him back to Bumblyburg Prison," LarryBoy reported, "you can cross him off the list."
"Hmm, indeed." Alfred replied as he moved his hover chair over to a screen and keyboard. He quickly typed in Mr. Potato Face, and a list appeared on the screen. With the correct commands and punched keys, the computer found Mr. Potato Face's name and highlighted it in red, checking him on the list.
"Alright, I checked him off." Alfred confirmed.
"Thanks; by the way, how's the scan coming along?" LarryBoy continued.
"Phosphate Knight is working on that. So far, he's having very little progress." Alfred accounted.
"Ok…LarryBoy out." LarryBoy said, and the channel turned off. Alfred shook his head as he went over the list of escapees. So far, LarryBoy only managed to capture seven out of the 600. However, Alfred would have to wait until tomorrow in the news to find out how many other criminals were caught by other superheroes.
"Where did they vanish to?" Alfred wondered to himself. Deciding to return his mind on something else, Alfred maneuvered his hover chair away from the LarryComputer and over towards the Analysis Room. The metal doors slid aside to let the asparagus and his hover chair through. When Alfred arrived, he saw Phosphate Knight on the other side of the glass, staring at the paint grenade that was being analyzed by a computer.
"Any luck with the paint grenade?" Alfred asked on the microphone, which projected his voice into the scanning room. Phosphate Knight silently turned around and exited the scanning room. He then approached Alfred on his hover chair to report his findings.
"It will take awhile for the computer to fully scan it," Phosphate Knight enlightened, "paint grenades immediately start to deteriorate after detonation."
"Ah yes." Alfred replied as he and Phosphate Knight left the scanning room and entered the main cavern of the LarryCave. Alfred's hover chair's quiet humming as it flew and Phosphate Knight's nearly silent steps echoed softly all over the LarryCave, accompanied by the sound of the natural water at the bottom of the cave and the beeps and the boops of the active LarryComputer.
Phosphate Knight went over to the conference table and pulled up the map of Bumblyburg while Alfred went over to observe the LarryComputer. The two of them said nothing as the time passed by. Finally, the several minutes of utter silence drove Alfred to try and start a conversation with Phosphate Knight.
"This sure is going to be a long night." Alfred groaned as he laid back in his chair. He was hoping that Phosphate Knight would at least add a complementary remark or voice his acknowledgement. He didn't. Alfred peered around his hover chair and found the Phosphate Knight still watching the active map of Bumblyburg, the lights and dots moving all around on the touch screen.
"If you don't mind me masking, Phosphate Knight, but why is it that you are so quiet?" Alfred asked, turning his hover chair around to face Phosphate Knight.
The stoic cucumber slowly looked up from the table screen and stared at Alfred.
"It's a personal choice." Phosphate Knight answered.
"Indeed, but I'm wondering what exactly made you choose it." Alfred rephrased his question.
"It's…a long story." Phosphate Knight simply put it and reverted his helmet's black eye slits back to the conference table screen.
"We got time." Alfred stated, very interested to know about the mysterious knight.
"What do yellow dots represent?" Phosphate Knight suddenly asked. Alfred gave half a smile at Phosphate Knight's question in order to dodge the question.
"They show the position of helicopters." Alfred replied nonchalantly.
"Why is there one heading straight to the LarryManor?" Phosphate Knight asked. Confused at his query, Alfred moved his hover chair over to the conference table screen to see what Phosphate Knight was referring to. His eyes immediately darted over to where the LarryManor/LarryCave was located and he too spotted the yellow dot moving closer to the LB symbol that represented the LarryManor/Cave.
(…,,,…,,,)
The dark figure of the helicopter flew towards the LarryManor. If it wasn't for the mandatory lighting on its exterior, the helicopter would have looked like a shadowy phantom in the cloudy night sky.
"We're nearing the manor now, boss." Hector Scallion reported as they flew closer. Just below them, he could see the road circle around the fountain with a statue and all of the shrubbery and highly decorated landscape. He shifted his look at the mansion itself. It was least to say that it was a lavish and elegant mansion, but the one odd feature really stuck out amongst its design. A bunch of satellite panels and arrays were installed on the rooftop, including one gigantic satellite dish sitting behind the household observatory.
"Boss, are you seeing this?" Hector asked on the coms.
"Yes, yes indeed," Fish Taco mumbled on the radio, "that's how he must stay informed all the time."
"If I recall correctly, Larry The Cucumber once said in an interview that he likes to watch a lot of TV." Hector mentioned as he motioned the pilot to steer the helicopter over the manor.
"Even this would be considered excessive," Fish Taco continued, "I wonder why we never noticed it…"
The helicopter now hovered directly over the mansion, above all of the satellite dishes, scanner arrays, power fuse boxes, and communication transmitters. There was a silence over the channel.
"Sir?" Hector asked.
"Execute." Fish Taco ordered. Hector and the pilot quickly flipped and pressed several buttons in response. On the stubby wings of the helicopter, a streamline of rockets clicked out. The pilot pressed a button on the steering controls, and a rocket was sent flying straight at a satellite dish.
The rocket impacted, and a bright yellow cloud filled with debris blossomed out and lit up the place, accompanied by a blast concussion. The blown up form of the satellite teetered over and crashed onto the rooftop.
Another rocket was fired, and it blew up several arrays with a deafening exploding noise. Other dishes and arrays were blown up or knocked over by the blasts and immense blasts of sound. The pilot then fired another rocket, and then another, and another, and another.
The helicopter maneuvered around the mansion as it continued to barrage the rooftop with rockets. Fume clouds erupted from every impact, and hot fiery wreckage from the advanced systems rained down on the Manor and surrounding landscape. Small fires had already started to pop up around the place from the debris that landed on the grass. The building itself started to glow in the aura of the flames.
A rocket struck the center support beams for the big satellite dish. With a sharp, earsplitting screech of twisting metal, the humongous satellite lost its support and balance, and tumbled off the roof, crushing half the observatory in the process. The ground shook violently as the dish crashed into the grass next to the fallen observatory telescope and chunks of the observatory itself.
Once the last rocket was fired and the echoes of the explosions died down, the helicopter pivoted and flew away, leaving the LarryManor surrounded with burning hunks of expensive equipment and minor wild fires. The roof itself, however, was a blazing inferno that lit up with sky with smoke and flames.
IN THE LARRYCAVE…
Once the LarryCave finally stopped shaking so violently, all the power fizzled out and left the room pitch black. There was a clunk as all of the hover chairs ceased to hover and hit the floor with an echoing clank.
"Aaahh!" Alfred cried as his seat fell on the floor and he tumbled out, "Power outage!"
After taking a moment to regain himself from his fear, Alfred quickly picked himself off of the ground and stood in complete darkness.
"Phosphate Knight?" Alfred called out, hoping that Phosphate Knight would answer.
A sudden engineered whirl reverberate all through the LarryCave, and very faint lights turned on, bringing light back in the darkness. Now able to see again, Phosphate Knight approached Alfred, who was standing next to his disabled hover chair.
"The auxiliary generator must have kicked in." Alfred sighed in relief, but immediately was worried on what just happen. Quickly, he ran over to the LarryComputer and pulled up the security camera feeds and statuses on the damage.
"Oh this is terrible!" Alfred exclaimed, "All power in the LarryManor is gone, the LarryCave is running on minimum power, and all communications are out!" After several attempts, he could not get in contact with LarryBoy or the police department. Aside from the back up power keeping the cave functioning at minimum levels, the LarryCave and LarryManor were officially cut off from the rest of the world.
Alfred eyes drifted over to the camera feeds, and he saw the horrible sight of the LarryManor's rooftop piled with metal remains and spewing red flames into the night sky.
"Well, at least the reinforced room held." Alfred confirmed grimly.
"Who was that?" Phosphate Knight asked, watching the helicopter leave in one of the camera feeds. The helicopter blended into the night sky too well to be able to recognize.
"I'm not quite sure…" Alfred grumbled in resentment, "but whoever they were, they knocked out the power and communication system; we can't contact anyone."
Alfred's eyes shifted over to the front lawn security camera. To his bewilderment, a huge mob was nearing the front of the house. It took Alfred a second to realize that the mob was made up of criminals, villains, and evil-doers.
"Oh my."
(…,,,…,,,)
OUTSIDE…
Fish Taco surveyed the damage inflicted on the manor. The area was littered with pockets of fire and debris, hot heat emanated from the place, the loud cackling of the flames, and the roof was on fire. Surprisingly, the roof hadn't collapsed from the wreckage or the rockets. Behind him awaited all the criminals and villains that had joined up with him, ready to storm the mansion.
Thanks to the convincing of his mercenaries, most of the crooks and villains were chanting his name.
"Fish fish, Taco! Taco! Fish fish, Taco! Taco!"
Taking a breath of the water in his rebreather, Fish Taco turned around to address the crowd behind him. He raised his fins into the air, and the crowd immediately fell silent.
"Once we get in, you have ten minutes to do whatever you want!" Fish Taco stated, using a feature on his metal rebreather to enhance the volume of his voice for all to hear, "After ten minutes, I will burn this place to the ground."
Most of them were eager to get into the manor to steal as many valuables as they could, but all of them were bent on revenge for finding LarryBoy in the manor that Fish Taco told them where he would be. If they couldn't find LarryBoy, then his butler, Alfred, would have to suffice.
Fish Taco faced the building and raised his fins into the air. On that signal, all of the criminals rushed forward towards the LarryManor.
Greta Von Gruesome snatched the fountain's statue and broke it in half with her robotic hands. Laughing maliciously, she flung the two broken pieces at the LarryManor. One piece made a huge dent in the siding of the mansion, while the other piece shattered through a window.
Determined to be the first ones to enter, three little penguin minions scrambled through the mass of the rushing villains and criminals and forced their way to the front. Seeing the door right in front of them, all three of them launched themselves at the locked door, flippers first.
The door came crashing down, and the three penguins landed in the atrium in triumphant kung-fu stances. Their impressive entrance was of little noticed to the rest who swarmed through the open entrance, stampeding over the three little penguins as they tried to jump aside.
"Eenie, Meenie, Michael!" Dr. Flurry called out as he pushed his way through the crowded doorframe, "Didn't I tell you zhat first iz ze worst?"
IN THE LARRYCAVE…
"Oh this can't be happening!" Alfred panicked as he watched the villains flood through the atrium and scatter throughout the mansion. The once clean and elegant household that Alfred kept tidy was being vandalized and torn apart in mere seconds! Seeing no other choice, Alfred pressed a button that was labeled 'Fail Safe'.
"Fail Safe initiated," the LarryComputer's automated voice announced, "lock down is complete."
Phosphate Knight glanced over at the passage door that led up to the manor above. A wall of metal slid down and locked with a clank. Phosphate Knight turned back to Alfred, who was pressing the keys on the keyboard in a flash.
"What's-"
"LarryComputer, start Phase Two of the Fail Safe." Alfred ordered as he stepped back from the super-computer.
"Voice authorization accepted," the LarryComputer announced and a progress bar displayed on the central screen, "Phase Two will be complete in eight minutes."
"Alfred?" Phosphate Knight questioned sharply. Alfred looked at Phosphate Knight with remorseful eyes.
"The Fail Safe is a last resort option that I installed in case of something like this ever happened," Alfred elaborated as quickly as he could, "because it is running on the auxiliary generator, it can only lock down the LarryCave and begin Phase Two."
"Which is?"
"To erase all data on the LarryComputer, destroy any stocked superhero utilities, and permanently shut down all systems in the LarryCave." Alfred sighed, his voice almost breaking, "We cannot allow them to gain access anything in the LarryCave."
The asparagus' gaze slowly went back to the security cameras, which showed that a number of the intruders were making their way to the second floor of the mansion, and breaking the stair rail in the process.
(…,,,…,,,)
Fish Taco stalked through the front doorway and entered the building. As he stood in the main hallway, he could hear all of the noises around him: the faint flickering of the flames, the sharp shattering of porcelain in the kitchen, the cracking sound of ice freezing over stuff, the smashing of furniture, the breaking of glass as objects were flung out the windows, and the malicious laughs and shouts as the manor was torn apart. He closed his eyes and savored the moment.
A wave of heat on his back caught his attention, and he turned around to see the source. A lumbering corn with a smelting mask over his face and flamethrower wandered around the hectic hallway. The heat seemed to naturally emanate from him.
"Combustion, hold on for a minute," Fish Taco ordered and lowered the corn's flamethrower, "wait until we are finished."
Combustion stared at Fish Taco, then at the artwork on the wall, and then back at Fish Taco.
"I'm only burning this place because this is LarryBoy's home," Combustion spoke, "otherwise, I would never burn such a magnificent architectural structure."
Fish Taco rolled his eyes as he turned away from the corn pyromaniac.
UPSTAIRS…
Magneta barged into the main bedroom with anticipation. To her disappointment, there was nobody here. Flicking her cape aside, she malevolently walked around the empty room. Only several of the other villains and thieves had ventured to the second floor, since the immense heat from the flames on the roof had risen the atmosphere to an unfavorable temperature; Iceberg and Dr. Flurry especially didn't go to the second floor. She continued to rummage around the room when there was the slamming open of the door.
"The master bedroom!" Magneta heard a voice exclaim from behind, followed by the sound of someone jumping onto the big bed behind her. She peered over her shoulder and found The Alchemist merrily jumping up and down on the bed. Doing his best to ignore him, she focused her attention on the closet filled with cloths. The purple plum pulled out one of the fancy suits out of the closet.
"Too plain." she critiqued and ripped the suit in half with her telekinetic powers.
Meanwhile, the Emperor and his two henchmen, Frank and Jessie, entered the room. Immediately, the two sweet potatoes started to ransack the bedroom, and Emperor went over to the side of the bed that the Alchemist was jumping on.
"Emperor! You gotta try this!" Alchemist said as he bounced up and down, his robotic arms flailing away. Emperor rolled his eyes at the Alchemist's immaturity, and his eyes caught sight of a button on the bed frame.
"Now what does this do?" Emperor asked rhetorically as he pressed the button. A mechanical whining noise and a clunk caught everyone's attention. Everyone stared at the master bed, and Alchemist finally stopped bouncing.
Before anyone could say anything, the bed tilted up, and flung the Alchemist off the bed.
"Eeee!" Alchemist cried as he hit the floor and the bed slowly cranked back to normal. The Emperor's eyes were eagerly amused.
"Frank! Jessie!" Emperor ordered as he jumped onto the bed, "Drops those things and get over here!" The two dropped the chair and bookshelf that they were about to throw out the window and went over to the bed that their boss was on.
"Help me get this bed outta here." Emperor ordered as he laid back on the bed. Complying, the two sweat potatoes lifted the bed frame on the opposite sides and proceeded to carry the bed out of the room, with the Emperor riding on it. Not even bothering to try and fit the bed through the door, the two smashed through the wall and door and carried the bed out.
"Careful you twits!" Emperor scolded as they made their way downstairs. The Alchemist pushed himself up with his mechanical arms and went over to the toppled chair next to the window.
"Stupid bed." Alchemist grumbled as he picked up the chair and through it at the window. The chair smashed through the window, and fell down to the ground along with the shards of glass. While the Alchemist stormed out of the bedroom, Magneta was finished tearing up all of the suits and went over to the dresser. On top of the dresser were five framed pictures. At first, Magneta ignored them as she went through the drawers of clothing, but she decided to examine the pictures closer after her eyes glanced at it a second time.
They were framed pictures of the League of Incredible Vegetables. Magneta's eyes narrowed on a particular photograph.
It was a framed photograph of her arch-nemesis: Vogue.
The thought of Vogue and her 'inner beauty' idea enraged Magneta. It was a well known fact to Magneta that true beauty was only attainable through looks, products, and envy from others. The fact that Vogue was also the one who had put her behind bars made Magneta lose control. Furiously, Magneta seized the pictures with her telekinesis and threw them at the wall, fracturing all five into pieces. In addition to her anger, she lifted up the dresser with her powers and flung it at the restroom. There was a crash, and the entire bathroom was a mess and littered with cloths everywhere.
"Temper, dear, temper." Bad Apple's voice evilly coaxed. Magenta contemptuously turned around and glared at Bad Apple, who was standing in the wide opening where the doorframe use to be.
"Shouldn't you be running away from a knight?" jibbed Magneta as she exited the room.
"Oh ha ha…very funny." Bad Apple mocked. The heavy steps on the stairway caught their attention, and the two turned to see who it was. Lumbering towards them was Fish Taco.
"I trust you two are getting along?" Fish Taco asked the two, his rebreather altering his voice. He towered over both of them, and his figure gave him a monstrous silhouette.
"Swell." Magneta answered flatly and went away to destroy more things. Bad Apple simply smiled and leapt away with her spider legs and web gun, leaving Fish Taco standing outside of the bedroom. Even though that he was a fish, and the extreme heat in the air made it very uncomfortable for him, Fish Taco did his best to ignore it. He entered the room and examined the damage that had been done. Fish Taco's eyes spotted the small broken pictures next to the pile of shredded fabrics of fancy suits. He walked over to them, lowered himself down on one knee, and examined the photographs of each member of the League of Incredible Vegetables. Carefully, his fin picked up the picture of LarryBoy.
"Oh how I have been so blind." Fish Taco muttered to himself as he inspected the picture.
"Sir?"
Fish Taco slowly glanced over at the opening and saw one of his mercenaries standing there. Crumpling the picture of LarryBoy in his fin, Fish Taco rose and went over to the carrot.
"You'll want to come down to the living room," the carrot spoke, "they found the LarryCave."
(…,,,…,,,)
IN THE LARRYCAVE…
Alfred's eyes flashed to the screen that displayed a group of potatoes trying to break down the section of the wall that led down to the LarryCave. His eyes darted back to the progress bar that was only halfway finished and a five minute countdown.
"Oh, what are we going to do?" wailed Alfred as he frantically watched the potatoes move aside for Greta Von Gruesome. She started to pound on the wall with her metal fists, causing faint metallic echoes in the LarryCave. Although she was only denting the sealed passageway, Alfred knew that it was only a matter of time before they busted in.
(…,,,…,,,)
"Open up!" Greta Von Gruesome shouted as she slammed her fists against the passageway; her arms were losing energy with every punch she threw. Despite her efforts, she was only putting dents in the sealed passage. Hearing that the rowdy crooks around here ceased talking, she turned around to see what had happen. She saw that Fish Taco had entered the living room, and was standing with his fins crossed over his scaly chest.
"I zhink ve have found zhe LarryCave." Greta Von Gruesome explained as she fixed her Valkyrie helmet and allowed her arms to regain energy, "Ve have tried to push da button, but it von't work."
Fish Taco stared at the sealed wall, and then over to a fallen pillar laying in the main hallway.
"Use that." Fish Taco instructed as he pointed at the pillar. Immediately, the crooks became rowdy again and rushed over to get the pillar.
(…,,,…,,,)
The Phosphate Knight watched the screen. The crooks grabbed a fallen pillar and brought it over to the sealed door. They charged, and rammed into the sealed wall, almost puncturing a hole. Alfred spotted the familiar image of the holographic grape amongst the criminals in the living room.
"No…not him!" Alfred exclaimed in panic.
"Who?"
"Glitch! That grape is a hologram!" Alfred pointed out, "He's a rogue A.I. that can hack almost anything! If he gets in, he could stop the Fail Safe and gain access to the LarryComputer's information!"
(…)
After several attempts to ram down the wall passage with the pillar, they only managed to put in a few huge dents and holes. Fish Taco and the rest of the assembled super villains stood back and watched. Suddenly, an idea came in mind.
"Who's good with explosives?"
"Ooo, I am!" Awful Alvin answered and made his way to the front.
"Really, amigo?" L-Ray wondered skeptically as Awful Alvin dashed over to the sealed passage. He glared over his shoulder at the jalapeño with his monocle eye.
"Yes really," Alvin replied as he set Lampy down and dug around in his pocket, "if I wasn't, why would I be carrying this?"
Alvin pulled out several sticks of dynamite out of his pocket, holding them up in success. All the criminals wooted and hollered while the super villains waited impatiently.
"Get on with it onion!" Curly the worm shouted from the ground.
"Yeah, hurry it up!" Glitch demanded, "I need to get in there so I can get all of LarryBoy's tech!"
"Who knew a worm and a microchip would be so impatient." Alvin insulted as he carefully placed the sticks of dynamite.
"I'm an Artificial Intelligence!" Glitch corrected austerely.
"Hmph, whatever." Alvin sneered as he lit a match. Quickly, he lit all of the fuses at once.
"Stand back everyone!" Alvin shouted and ran off with Lampy in tow. Taking his advice, everybody cleared the room. In seconds, a bright light flashed came from the sticks of dynamite. K-BOOOOOMMMM!
The entire household shook, and bits of the ceiling came raining down. The blast blew back everything that was left in the living room, and covered the room with ashes and smoke. When the smoke faded away, the passageway was open, and a flight of descending stairs was revealed.
"Victory dance, Lampy!" Alvin proclaimed and broke out in spontaneous dancing with his sidekick lamp.
With triumph shouts, the criminals and thieves all stormed down the stairs.
(…)
Alfred and Phosphate Knight could hear their shouts on the other side of the seal doorway that led into the LarryCave. Alfred jumped in panic as they started to beat against the only thing standing between them and the LarryCave. If they managed to get through the reinforced passageway, then they would have no trouble getting through the simple metal wall that stood between them and the LarryCave.
"You need to get out of here." Phosphate Knight suddenly declared and turned to Alfred.
"But what about the Fail Safe?" Alfred asked in panic, adrenaline spiking throughout his entire body. Phosphate Knight glanced at the LarryComputer, which showed three minutes remaining, and then over at the sealed door that was taking a beating.
"I'll stay." Phosphate Knight finally answered. Alfred was taken aback at his statement.
"Are you sure?" Alfred demanded.
"Do we have a choice?" Phosphate Knight shot back as the beating on the door got louder. Even though Alfred wanted to get out before the LarryCave was breached, he didn't want to leave his superhero friend behind.
(…,,,…,,,)
Fish Taco watched as the thieves and criminals poured into the passage. As much as he wanted to see the LarryCave, he was cautious at what awaited for him. That was specifically why he had held all the super villains back and let the crooks and henchmen head in first.
From the commotion and pounding coming from the end of the staircase, it seemed like they had hit another blockade.
(…)
"Are you sure you don't have any second thoughts about this?" Alfred asked as he looked back at Phosphate Knight, who was standing next to the LarryComputer. Alfred was on the vehicle platform, which now had no other vehicles except for the scooter that he was on. He had strapped on his helmet and was at the mouth of the cavernous tunnel that led to the surface away from the LarryManor, but was hesitant to leave Phosphate Knight behind.
"Yes," Phosphate Knight answered, raising his voice a little so Alfred could hear him, "now go!"
Sadden to his core, Alfred revved up his scooter again, and drove at full speed through the tunnel. A few tears managed to stream down on his face as he drove away. Alfred felt regret and sorrow pierce his heart as he drove further and further down the tunnel, leaving the LarryCave and Phosphate Knight farther and farther behind.
"God…why?" Alfred croaked as he continued to drive his scooter away.
(…,,,…,,,)
IN THE LARRYCAVE…
Standing alone in the LarryCave, Phosphate Knight inhaled the air of the damp cavern. It was just him…and them.
Exhaling, Phosphate Knight drew his giant sword and stared at the almost-breached door. Without a word, Phosphate Knight pushed a button on the handle of his sword, and the enormous blade lit up with a turquoise aura and hummed with solid potassium oomph. His eyes glanced at the LarryComputer, which showed only one minute left. Returning his attention on the intruders, the Phosphate Knight braced for the onslaught.
With a final push, the doorway collapsed inward, and Phosphate Knight charged forward. Before any of the front intruders could storm into the LarryCave, they were met with the flat blade of the potassium sword. Phosphate Knight continued to shove all the first crooks backwards, causing them to smash into the other criminals behind them and forcefully sending them up the staircase. Amidst all the shouts and curses that were directed at him, Phosphate Knight shoved the convicts back, causing most of them to topple over like dominos. The ones who didn't fall were scrambling over the vegetables and fruit that did, and the whole staircase was a mess. Still as silenced as ever, Phosphate Knight retreated back down to the LarryCave.
(…)
From the top of the stairway, one could tell there was trouble judging from all the shouting and cursing that was coming from the stairway. Fish Taco held back a smile beneath his rebreather, there was some resistance after all. Without waiting for a signal, the super villains had already started to move in, trying to pass through the clutter of struggling convicts.
(…)
A tomato charged with a crowbar raised. Phosphate Knight wedged his sword forward and knocked the crowbar aside. Acting faster than the tomato could act, Phosphate Knight closed the distance between him and the tomato, and rammed the crest of his helmet against the tomato's face. Right when the tomato fell aside, a pea lunged at him from behind the fallen tomato. Leaping back, Phosphate Knight did a 360 degree twist and clubbed the pea aside with his sword.
No sooner than he landed, he was attacked by a potato and a radish, both armed with knives. Right when the two swiped at him, Phosphate Knight jumped over them, landed, and tripped them both with a swipe of his sword. When he stood up again, he saw an incoming scallion rushing at him. Using the tip of the handle, Phosphate Knight thrashed the scallion in the face, effectively knocking him out.
"Fail Safe Ready." the LarryComputer stated. Phosphate Knight instantly rushed over to the mainframe. It was only then did he start to notice his heavy breathing and the curdling abdominal pains. Pushing the button, the Fail Safe activated, and the LarryCave shook violently as systems shut down and stored prototype super suits and equipment blew up. In mere seconds, the LarryComputer's database was purged of all information, and started to shut down permanently. For some reason, it felt like time had come to a halt as Phosphate Knight watched the LarryComputer turn off.
"Noooo!" a digital voice shouted. Phosphate Knight whirled around and saw a hovering grape coming at him. He braced his sword as the grape jump, but the grape then vanished into thin air. Suddenly, a robotic crab jumped up and attached onto his helmet, starting to claw at him with its metal pinchers.
"Why did you do that?!" a voice projected from the crab as Phosphate Knight struggled to pry the robot crab off his helmet. Out of the corner of his eye slits, Phosphate Knight could see more crooks and villains flooding into the LarryCave.
"Why! Why! Why! Wh-" was all that Glitch could wail before Phosphate Knight head-butted the crab on the keyboard of the LarryComputer, knocking off the crab and breaking one of pinchers. Snatching up his potassium sword, Phosphate Knight charged at the rest of the villains. The crooks all parted way as Greta Von Gruesome rushed forth to take on the cucumber knight. Phosphate Knight lashed out his sword at her, but Greta Von Gruesome caught the blade between her metal hands that were immune to the potassium energy of the sword.
"Iz zhat da best you got?" Greta sneered as she threw the sword, along with Phosphate Knight, tumbling backwards. After regaining his footing, Phosphate Knight charged at Greta Von Gruesome.
"Surprise compadre!" L-Ray shouted as he jumped out from behind Greta Von Gruesome and fired his ray gun. Phosphate Knight immediately evaded the laser, which scorched the spot he was previously in. L-Ray continued to fire lasers at a steady pace, and Phosphate Knight was constantly trying to avoid getting fried. As he dodged the lasers, he took notice on the criminals were spreading throughout the LarryCave, but there was no time to deal with them when he was fighting super villains. In fact, he was too busy concentrating on the two super villains that he didn't spot the other super villain that had snuck up from behind.
"Freeze!" Iceberg shouted as he unleashed his freezing powers on Phosphate Knight. The fighter against temptation only had time to whirl around before he was frozen in a solid block of ice.
"You're a silent sort, aren't you?" Iceberg taunted as he leaned on the block of ice that contained Phosphate Knight and his sword.
There was a cracking sound, and the ice suddenly burst, sending shards of frost everywhere and knocking Iceberg back; Phosphate Knight still had enough strength to break out of the ice. Glancing around at the three super villains, he homed in on one of them and charged with his sword. Just as he was about to attack Iceberg, he was surrounded by a purple glow and couldn't move no matter how hard he tried. Held tight by the telekinetic powers, Phosphate Knight was hurled against the cave wall by Magneta, creating a small crater in the wall upon impact. As he dropped to the floor, Magneta caught him in her telekinetic powers and repeatedly slammed him on the ground. Seeing that he had enough, Magneta hurled him at the wall again. Releasing her hold on Phosphate Knight, the armored cucumber toppled to the ground.
Now truly sensing how much pain his body was in, his vision started to fade in and out, his breath grew raspy, and the super villains' laughter reverberated throughout his hazy mind. Agonizingly, Phosphate Knight began to crawl towards his potassium sword that now lay motionless a foot away. Suddenly, a metal leg nudged the sword aside and withdrew inside a green trench coat. Phosphate Knight tilted his head up and his eyes laid sight on his archenemy.
"Hello darling." Bad Apple greeted sweetly before she whacked the side of Phosphate Knight's helmet with one of her robotic spider legs. Phosphate Knight hit the ground with a thud, and he lay motionless on the cold floor.
(…)
Once he entered the famous subterranean layer known as the LarryCave, Fish Taco's eyes were met with the grandeur of the superhero's headquarters. At the most to say, he was impressed. The LarryCave was both naturally formed and carved out, and it was modified with catwalks and platforms. He then realized that one of his mercenaries was standing right beside him, waiting for orders to be given.
"See if you can salvage anything." Fish Taco ordered, not even looking at the mercenary.
"Yes sir." the mercenary responded and went away. Seeing that a number of super villains had gathered near the vicinity of the LarryComputer, Fish Taco made his way over there.
"What should we do with him?" he heard L-Ray ask in general.
"I say we break his back!" Glitch demanded angrily. "An eye for an eye!"
"He broke one of your claws, Glitch." Magenta pointed out.
"Well there ain't any claws on this guy now is there?"
Fish Taco could now see that the super villains were circled around something lying on the floor.
"I think we should put this guy on ICE!" Iceberg suggested and charged up his freezing powers.
"And who might 'this guy' be?" Fish Taco asked aloud. The super villains turned and faced him, opening up for Fish Taco to see a knocked out cucumber bearing a pale white helmet and chest plate armor.
"Zhis iz da Phosphate Knight!" Greta Von Gruesome answered and pointed her index finger down at the unconscious cucumber.
"Ah yes, the fighter against temptation," Fish Taco remarked as he examined the cucumber and his potassium sword that rested beside him. He casted Bad Apple a look and muttered, "I wonder why they call him that."
Bad Apple glared at Fish Taco, ignoring the factor that the other villains around her were snickering. Ignoring the Bad Apple's glower, Fish Taco returned his attention to the matter at hand: they had almost run out of necessary time.
"Even though he isn't LarryBoy, he still is a superhero. Take him away." Fish Taco ordered as his eyes scanned around the LarryCave. Happily obliging, Greta Von Gruesome slung the cucumber knight over her shoulder piece, Magneta telekinetically picked up the potassium sword, and the two made their way back up to the LarryManor. Solemnly, Bad Apple followed behind the two. The rest of the super villains fanned out to explore the LarryCave.
"Were you able to hack into the LarryComputer?" Fish Taco questioned Glitch, who was scuttling across the keyboard with a broken pincher.
"No, that cucumber was able to activate a fail safe," growled Glitch, "I can already tell that this computer's information has already been erased."
"Can you get it back online?"
"Unfortunately…no, there must've been a system that overloaded the circuitry inside, because I can't even turn this thing on!" Glitch's hologram exclaimed, and his robotic crab projector waved its good pincher for emphasis, "Even a computer with a virus could work better than this!"
Showing an abrupt sign of rage, Fish Taco slammed his fins into the keyboard, breaking the keys and putting two holes into the keyboard. Glitch slowly backed away and stared at Fish Taco. In a second, Fish Taco withdrew his fins from the keyboard and shifted his sight on Glitch. Though it looked as if he was calm, Glitch could see the unrequited fury in Fish Taco's eyes.
"See if you can find anything else around here." Fish Taco muttered and walked away from the broken LarryComputer. His eyes then scanned the LarryCave for Awful Alvin; he would need his expertise very soon.
(….)
The mooks and criminals were busy scavenging around the LarryCave and only a few number of them remained above in the LarryManor, which was now ransacked and utterly stripped of its interior magnificence. Also, the rooftop was now starting to creak and snap from the pressing weight of burning debris on the rooftop. Thankfully, a few of the super villains started to notice what was happening on the second floor.
Out of nervous panic, Dr. Flurry started to fire his Fear-Dar at the emerging cracks on the ceiling above. The thieves and villains who were rummaging around on the second floor grabbed whatever they could and rushed back downstairs.
"Dr. Flurry, what are you doing?" asked a pea mercenary armed with a paintball gun.
"Zhe entire manor iz starting to collapse," Dr. Flurry reported as he carefully covered the ceiling in a layer of ice with his Fear-Dar, attempting to reinforce the cracking ceiling, "zhis von't hold for long, though."
Realizing the danger that they were in, the pea mercenary immediately opened his comlink.
"Fish Taco, the building's structure isn't gonna hold out much longer." the pea reported.
"Is there any way we can buy more time?" Fish Taco asked on the channel.
"Dr. Flurry is freezing the ceiling to add additional support, but that gives us a minute."
"Somebody find Iceberg and send him up to help." Fish Taco ordered his mercenaries.
"Yes sir." all the mercenaries answered in unison.
"And tell Combustion that he may begin torching the rooms."
Unbeknownst to them, the corn had already begun to set fire to the rooms with his flamethrower.
(…)
MEANWHILE AT BUMBLYBURG PRISON…
LarryBoy watched as the police officers led Mr. Potato Face away. Still concerned for Bumblyburg's safety, LarryBoy spun around and proceeded towards the exit through the main lobby. As he was heading out, he was greeted by the stationed police officers that had quickly recovered, in which he briskly returned their good wishes. Speaking of quick recovery, LarryBoy noticed how fast they were able to clean up the main lobby. If clean up was this fast, then they should have Bumblyburg Prison fixed up in no time.
Stepping out into the dry night air, LarryBoy tried to radio in Alfred at the LarryCave.
"LarryBoy to Alfred," LarryBoy chimed in, rounding a corner and going into a dark alleyway where he parked the LarryMobile, "you can scratch Mr. Potato Face off the list; I've just handed him over to the police."
It was only when he sat back down in the LarryMobile that LarryBoy realize the quietness on the other end of the communication channel. No sounds, no reports, and definatenly no Alfred. LarryBoy tried again, and still ended up with the same results.
"Strange…" LarryBoy muttered to himself as he started up the LarryMobile, its eco-friendly high-powered engine rumbling to life, "I better head back and see what's up."
The LarryMobile slowly sleeked out of the alleyway, carefully moved through the street, and took off speeding for home.
(…)
"Alvin, are you finished with those explosives?" Fish Taco demanded as he stood near the exit leading back up to the LarryManor. All the other villains and criminals had evacuated the ransacked LarryCave and LarryManor, leaving only Fish Taco, Awful Alvin and Lampy, and few of Fish Taco's mercenaries.
"Oh yes!" Alvin replied maliciously and pulled out the detonator, "I put enough explosives to bring this cave down and the mansion above." Without warning, Fish Taco snatched the detonator away from Alvin.
"I suggest you leave now." Fish Taco spoke, taking a few deep breaths in his water-filled rebreather. Alvin snatched Lampy and grudgingly went up the stairways and exited the LarryCave. Fish Taco returned his attention to the few of his mercenaries still in the LarryCave with him.
"Did you all find anything else?" Fish Taco asked them.
"We found a paint grenade that was being analyzed in the scanner room." a potato mercenary said and held up a paint grenade. Fish Taco motioned for him to bring the object to him, to which he did. Fish Taco took a moment to examine the used paint grenade. The intense heat coming from upstairs reminded him about the few minutes that they had to leave.
"Time to head out." Fish Taco ordered as he headed up the stairs. His mercenaries followed right behind him. As Fish Taco reached the top of the spiral staircase, he was greeted with the sight of everything throughout the manor was set ablaze and bellowed smoke into the atomosphere. Fish Taco stood still to savor the sight that surrounded him while his mercenaries headed out. Even though his scaly skin disagreed to the extreme heat and flames, his eyes enjoyed every aspect of it. In retrospect, it was fortunate that he only breathed water; otherwise, he would be having a hard time breathing in the suffocating smoke that quickly filled the place. Seeing into the next room, Fish Taco found Combustion spraying the dining room table and chairs with propane from his flamethrower. Within a second, the propane ignited and turned into flames that burned everything that it touched.
"Combustion!" Fish Taco shouted over the cracking of the flames and rumbling of the house structure. The corn with a smelting mask over his face turned and stared at Fish Taco.
"It's time to leave!" Fish Taco added. Nodding, Combustion ceased to set fire to everything he saw and followed Fish Taco out of the exit, minding not to step on any burning debris in his path. The two of them and the mercenaries hurried towards the entrance while avoiding the bits ice and fiery ceiling that started to rain down upon them.
Once they were outside in the less stuffy air, Combustion turned around and scorched the doorframe with his flamethrower. Fish Taco boarded a helicopter that was waiting next to the broken fountain and then motioned for Combustion for board. Combustion was hesitant at first, but the sound of the building starting to collapse drove him to take the invitation.
"Do not expect me to repeat this generosity." Fish Taco warned as the helicopter took off and started to fly away.
Not only was Combustion able to start the fires that he loved, but he also was able to fly in one of the helicopters while the other villains and criminals had to escape back to the sewers on their own. However, instead of expressing his gratitude, Combustion kept his thoughts and feelings to himself.
The crumbling LarryManor lit up the sky with its flames and smoke. As the helicopter flew away into the night, Fish Taco pulled out the detonator that he took from Alvin. Without any regards, Fish Taco pushed the button.
(…)
MEANWHILE…
"No…no…no!" LarryBoy shouted as he passed through the broken down gates and saw the LarryManor set ablaze.
The entire outline of the manor was engulfed in flames. Terror struck LarryBoy's heart as he realized that there was nothing that he could do. He was too late.
"Alfred! Come in!" LarryBoy tried to reach Alfred on the LarryCave channel. He was again met with silence.
'Maybe he's in the LarryCave!' LarryBoy thought frantically as he revved up the LarryMobile. Before he could zoom up the hillside, there was a muffled boom that was followed up a big tremor in the ground. LarryBoy watched in horror as the ground beneath the LarryManor collapsed, and the LarryManor crumbled into the newly formed fissure in the spot where the LarryCave so happened to be.
He didn't need to be a genius to figure out what had happen. Speechless and on the verge of tears, LarryBoy got out of the LarryMobile and stood staring at the fiery crater that had replaced the LarryManor. It felt as if something had ripped all of the joy out of him and left all the misery in LarryBoy.
His long-time home was gone, the LarryCave was gone, and Alfred was gone.
At first, LarryBoy refused to accept the idea that his life-long friend was gone; he even tried to shake it out of his head. The more he fought against the thought, however, the more slowly the thought became clear and apparent to him. Doing his best not to break down, LarryBoy fell to his knees and started to sniffle, his eyes burning from holding back the tears. He could feel the faint heat radiate from the fire up on the hillside.
Beep
"Master Larry! Can you hear me?" Alfred's voice spoke on the comlink. Feeling most of the hurt leave his heart, LarryBoy quickly answered.
"Alfred, is that really you?" LarryBoy sobbed, almost breaking down in tears.
"Yes indeed, Master Larry," Alfred replied, "I managed to get out safely."
"That's a relief." LarryBoy sighed as he wiped away the tears that managed to fall.
"The same can't be said for Phosphate Knight, though." Alfred mentioned. LarryBoy suddenly felt a ping of guilt for not even thinking of Phosphate Knight. He stared back at the fiery crater that was filled with rubble.
"Is he ok?" LarryBoy asked, but was afraid he already knew the answer.
"I'm not sure, he stayed behind to complete the Fail Safe." Alfred explained sadly.
With the hurt still on him, LarryBoy recovered from his emotional outburst and gathered his thoughts with deep breaths. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't just give up now.
"Alfred, where are you now?" LarryBoy asked, his voice heavy with cold dismay.
"I am currently on the road on my scooter."
"Alright, listen up then," LarryBoy instructed as he got back into the LarryMobile, "I think I know a place we can lay low..."
The LarryMobile turned around and drove off into the night, leaving behind the fiery inferno crater ruins of the LarryCave and LarryManor.
Author's note: I know Larry doesn't have knees, but that didn't stop him in the Silly Song 'Pizza Angel' now did it?
As I said before, I am using a variety of villains and OC villains.
I know the violence may not seem as much compared to many other pieces of works out there, but I'm trying not to go overboard with it.
File any compliments, critique, comments, and/or contempt over the chapter in the review area, and have a nice day.