After digging for some time, Victor eventually managed to get him and his seven companions free from their cell. They were all greatly relieved to have escaped after being trapped for several hours. The first thing Victor, Anita, Jeremy, Tamara, Milou, Patrice, Behati, and Clearence all did after escaping was try to resume their undercover work like they hadn't been captured. They knew they had to act quickly and cautiously if they wanted to find their bosses and get them out of this dangerous competition.
"Alright, guys, now what?" Victor asked. "Where do we go from here?"
"We're going to have to spread out and gather as much information as possible," Tamara replied. "We're also going to have to blend into the crowd to avoid suspicion."
The group nodded in agreement, understanding the urgency of their situation. They split up, each duo taking a different direction to maximize their chances of uncovering useful information. Victor and Anita headed towards the control center, hoping to find any clues about the organizers' plans or the whereabouts of their boss. Soon, they made their way inside the room. Anita made sure to look over everything and try to figure out which of the control panels was for which purpose. Meanwhile, Victor discreetly searched through cabinets, hoping to find any hidden files or documents that could provide valuable information. As he rummaged through the drawers, his heart raced with anticipation. He knew that time was of the essence, and every second counted.
Just as he was about to give up, his eyes caught sight of a small locked box tucked away in the corner of one of the cabinets. Excitement surged through him as he picked the lock with expert precision. With a soft click, the box opened, revealing a stack of files neatly organized inside.
Victor quickly scanned through the documents, his eyes widening at the shocking revelations they contained.
"Anita!" Victor called out to his wife. "Look what I just found!"
Anita quickly walked over to see what Victor had just discovered. Her eyes widened as she scanned through the documents, realizing the magnitude of the information they had stumbled upon. The files contained detailed plans outlining the true intentions of the competition, as well as the identities of the masterminds behind it.
"Victor, this is huge," Anita whispered, trying to contain her excitement. "We have to find the others and bring this evidence back to U.Z.Z. as soon as possible."
Victor nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely. But what about the controls? Don't we have to take care of them first?"
Anita paused to think for a moment before responding. She knew that sabotaging the controls would be crucial in ensuring the safety of not only themselves but also the other competitors who were caught in this dangerous game.
"You're right, Victor," she finally replied. "We can't leave the control center without taking care of things here. Let's see if we can find any information on how to shut down the competition and put an end to this madness."
"Good idea," Victor replied. "There has to be something here that can help us."
As they continued to search through the files and control panels, Victor couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. He knew that time was running out, and if they didn't act fast, their boss could be in grave danger. Eventually, they managed to stumble upon something unexpected: a boggart causing mischief as its kind was wont to do.
"Huh, what are the odds?" Anita murmured to herself. "Guess these must be the same kind of boggarts that were being used as suicide bombers..."
Anita proceeded to pick up the boggart from above and plop it right down onto one of the control panels.
"Alright, little one," Victor ordered the goblin-like creature. "Do your thing."
The boggart proceeded to tear the control panel to shreds, causing it to malfunction and send electrical sparks flying everywhere. A few seconds later, a fire broke out, and it scared the mischievous faerie enough to zoom halfway across the room in a bid to get away from the flames. A few seconds after that, an alarm started going off above them.
"Crap!" Anita yelled. "What the boggart did must have set off the alarm. The guards could come charging in any minute."
"Oh no!" Victor exclaimed. "What do we do?"
"We have to get out of here and find the others. We can't risk getting caught now that we have this information."
Victor nodded in agreement. "Gotcha."
With that, the husband-wife duo proceeded to grab the files they had found before quickly bolting for the door. As soon as they'd left the room, though, they were quickly followed by mooks who were hot on their tail. But Victor and Anita were not about to give up now. They had come too far, risked too much, and found out the truth behind this sinister competition. With a newfound sense of determination, they sprinted through the corridors with all their might while dodging obstacles along the way. The mooks chased after them relentlessly but couldn't keep up with their speed or agility.
"Alright, we can do this!" Anita yelled out. "We can make it!"
"I certainly hope so," Victor replied. "The sooner we find our friends, the better!"
Just as Victor had said that, however, Anita felt something being shot into her spine and collapsed. The files she was holding flew all over the place and scattered onto the ground as she fell.
"Oh shit!" Victor exclaimed as he ran over to where Anita lay. "Are you okay?"
"I... I don't know..." Anita replied. "I... I can't feel my legs..."
It was at that moment that Victor noticed the laser-shot wound in his wife's back and then blood pooling underneath her.
"Anita, stay with me," Victor said urgently. "We have to get you out of here."
He quickly scooped her up in his arms and began running again, this time even faster than before. The mooks were still hot on their trail but they couldn't keep up with the speed at which Victor was moving now. As he ran through the corridors, dodging obstacles left and right while carrying Anita in his arms, a thought occurred to him: what if they didn't make it out alive? What would happen then? He shook off those thoughts as best he could and focused on getting himself and Anita to safety. After several minutes of sprinting without stopping for breath or rest (and narrowly avoiding being caught by guards), they finally made it back outside where Jeremy was waiting anxiously for them.
"What happened?" Jeremy asked frantically when he saw Victor holding Anita in his arms.
"She got shot," Victor replied grimly as he laid down his wife gently onto the ground beside him.
"How bad is it?"
"I don't know, but she told me she can't feel her legs."
Jeremy's eyes widened. "She what? Oh God, we gotta get her out of here like yesterday!"
"Exactly. We need to get her back to U.Z.Z. headquarters and fast." Victor looked around at the rest of their team, who had all gathered around them by now. "And we can't leave without those files either. They contain crucial information about this competition that could bring it down once and for all."
The group nodded in agreement as they quickly collected the scattered documents from where they lay on the ground.
"Now let's move out!" Victor shouted, taking charge of the situation with a sense of urgency in his voice that left no room for argument or hesitation.
The group sprang into action immediately, moving swiftly but cautiously through Lemuria while doing everything possible to avoid detection along the way.
Meanwhile, the remaining 15 participants had already begun to play Marbles. They'd already gotten into seven teams, with Pineapple Chunks' team being the only one with three members. It would seem that this was merely a regular old game of Marbles, only all of the marbles were special ones, which were capable of knocking out all opposing marbles in one go.
"Alright, Rock Justice, it's a fairly simple game," Scheherazade signed. "All you have to do is hit the ball, got it?"
"Sure, Scheherazade," Rock Justice signed back. "I know how it works."
"Good, because Pineapple Chunks and I are going to kick your ass. I'm... sorry it had to come down to this."
"Me too, but even if I don't remember you or Pineapple Chunks tomorrow, I'll still keep you close to my heart."
Scheherazade took a deep breath. She had to remind herself that the odds were stacked against Rock Justice no matter what she and Pineapple Chunks did. Still, if there was any chance that she and Pineapple Chunks would move on to the next round, then she had to take it.
They looked at each other, with a sense of determination in their eyes, and they started playing. Scheherazade made the first move by flicking the marble she had designated as her "shooter marble" at one of Rock Justice's marbles in the center and knocking it out of the circle. She got to keep the marble she'd knocked out of the circle and then got another turn. She went on to knock more marbles out of the circle and then take them for herself until she eventually missed, by which point Rock Justice was now down to just five marbles.
"Alright, Rock Justice," Pineapple Chunks told him. "Now it's your turn."
Rock Justice flicked his shooter marble at one of Scheherazade's marbles in the center and knocked it out of the circle. He got to keep the marble he'd knocked out of the circle and then got another turn. This went on until there were barely any of Scheherazade's marbles left.
Scheherazade was starting to get a little nervous, so she whipped her head to look at Pineapple Chunks. "Pineapple Chunks, what do we do?"
"I've got an idea," Pineapple Chunks signed back at her. "I think I know how we can win this thing."
Pineapple Chunks proceeded to send Rock Justice on a snipe hunt while he and Scheherazade proceeded to nab all of Rock Justice's marbles. Meanwhile, all the other teams were competing against each other, some in ways that weren't exactly rule-abiding. When the round was over, Rock Justice rushed over to his circle, only to find that his teammates had betrayed him. The mooks proceeded to grab Rock Justice by his arms and drag him out of the room.
"Do you think it was fair of us to do that to him?" Pineapple Chunks asked Scheherazade.
"Probably not," Scheherazade replied. "But we had to get to the next round somehow."
Pineapple Chunks hung his head. "You're right. Besides, we've only got two rounds left."
Scheherazade nodded. "Indeed."