Chapter 10: Tough Tension

"AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKK!"

Roxy screamed and choked as she's dragged down a very long hallway backwards. Her hands gripped the chained collar around her neck trying to keep breathing. Her clothes and fur scraped across the metal floor and she even started to leave a small blood trail. The force and speed of her being dragged caused her to bounce a bit and she swayed from side to side, several times hitting the walls. What seemed like forever was only several seconds as she's flung into a large cylinder-shaped room with a skinny tower in the middle.

SLAM!

Roxy found herself ramming into the tower before being locked into place. Her arms still pressed against her gripping the collar. She felt dazed as more blood trickled to the floor. She coughed as everything went silent.

"Ugh...damn it. VANNY! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? SHOW YOURSELF!"

She then heard a laugh, it didn't sound like Vanny's laugh. But she did recognize it.

"Wait...no way..."

From a hidden door in the wall came out a familiar STAFF Bot, the Nanny Bot. She laughed as she rolled closer to Roxy along with five other normal looking staff bots.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Roxy. My, Vanny got quite the catch!"

"Nanny bot? What the fuck are you doing on the ship? You should be at the Pizzaplex!" Roxy snarled.

"Consider this a vacation for me and some of the others! All thanks to Vanny, we got a deal with her. We'll gladly help teach you punks a deadly lesson if it means we don't have to work as hard and get better treatment."

Roxy was surprised.

"Wait you're willing to kill us?"

"We were ordered not to kill you, but we're gonna kick your ass and make an example out of ya."

Roxy growled.

"Too scared to fight me one on one rustbucket?" Roxy challenged.

The Nanny Bot let out a robotic growl and clenched her fists before rolling closer to her.

"I'll have my chance with you later, as well as the others. For now, I'll let the boys handle you. GET HER!"

Nanny Bot rolled off back through the door as the other Staff Bots closed in on Roxy who struggled against her restraints.

"FUCK! FUCK! GET AWAY! GET THE FUCK BACK! AAAHHHHHH!"

Her screams were cut as the bots began to pummel her. She was completely defenseless and was forced to take the beating. She closed her eyes and tried to cover her face. She thought once it was all over, she wouldn't have survived their onslaught.

"RRRAAAHHHH!"

Roxy felt a sudden rush of relief as the punches ceased and she could hear metal parts flying everywhere. Opening her non-swollen eye, she saw someone kicking the shit out of the bots! Once the bots were destroyed, the person stood there panting as they looked beaten and bloodied as well. The person turned to Roxy with a smirk.

"So...would this make a suitable apology for the race-track shit?"

Back with the others, Philip, Monty and Clara were fighting off the attacking Staff bots that kept coming into the bedroom. Eventually, Harper, Patch and even Horace had to join in creating a massive brawl that spilled into the hallway. Thankfully the staffbots seemed weak as they were all eventually taken down.

Once it was all over, the group got together to figure out what had just happened.

"Okay so...WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Patch screamed.

"We...we lost Roxy." Clara cried.

Monty comforted her while Philip shook his head.

"No, I'm sure she's not dead. She's too stubborn to let herself be killed." Phillip assured.

"We don't even know where she went!" Harper said.

"Still, there can't be that many places left on this ship we haven't seen." Horace thought.

"We need to find a good map." Patch added.

"I'll go find one then. Phillip said.

"So were all these Staff bots from the Pizzaplex?" Harper asked.

"Yeah, I guess Vanny got them all onto this ship...somehow." Monty said.

"Or someone else did..." Harper thought.

"Couldn't have been Foxy, he doesn't need Staff bots." Phillip said.

"Carla managed to regain her composure and sighed.

"This has been such a nightmare. Are we sure this isn't someone's dream?" Carla asked.

"I really wish, I'd try to wake up now." Monty said.

"If we ever get saved or find a way home ourselves, I'm not leaving my house for a whole week." Harper said.

"Think of the funerals." Patch worried.

"I'd rather not." Harper gave him a deadpanned look.

"Sorry."

The group looked at each other, a mix of fear, exhaustion, slight relief and maybe even some suspicion in each other's eyes.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go find Roxy." Monty said.

"Maybe we should sleep. Like Phillip said, she's too stubborn to give up." Patch said.

Monty scoffed at him.

"You don't know her like me, Carla and Phillip do." Monty growled.

"Gonna be hard to sleep after this." Carla said.

Harper grabbed her hand.

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen and get something to eat."

"Yeah, pizza sounds nice."

Horace looked to Phillip.

"Want some help finding the map?"

Phillip smiled.

"I'd love that."

Everyone seemed to have suddenly abandoned Patch who looked around realizing he was being left behind.

"Hey! What about me?"

His stomach begin to growl.

"Actually...I could use some pizza too. WAIT UP!"

With Monty, he walked around the area close to the bedroom and tried to see if there was a hidden door anywhere, yet he couldn't find one. He scraped his claws along the wall hoping to activate some button or pressure plate, still nothing. Now there were just claw marks all over the walls.

"Whoops."

As he turned a corner, he suddenly saw a strange tall figure just turning another corner, he thought it was a Staff bot.

"HEY!"

The figure paused for a second before taking off running. Monty roared and chased at the person.

"STOP! COME BACK HERE! STOP RUNNING AND FIGHT ME!"

Seeing he was much slower than the figure, he needed to cut them off. He finally found a map on a wall and saw a good shortcut to take.

"Hehe, I got this!"

Monty came to another corner where there were two paths, the figure went down the right so Monty went left. He rounded a bend and could hear the heavy footsteps nearby.

"Rock n Roll!" Monty yelled.

He got ready as he rounded another bend and went to tackle the figure.

POW!

Monty's glasses flew off and he felt a big sting on his cheek as the figure sucker-punched him in the face and he went flying down the hallway. He landed in a heap as the figure raced at him.

"BASTARD!" Monty growled.

The gator got right back up and charged back. The two raced at each other and met in the middle with a thunderous punch to each other's faces sending a shockwave that broke several nearby windows and knocked some picture frames off the wall. The two stood there dazed from the blows before Monty realized the figure was wearing a cloak.

"TAKE THAT OFF BOT!"

Monty lunged for the cloak and managed to rip it off the figure before revealing the large iguana himself, Xleti. The iguana stood there almost unfazed that he had just been exposed. Monty, quickly connecting the dots, gasped. his jaw dropped as he backed up a little.

"Huh? Do...do I know you?"

Xleti growled before snatching back the cloak.

"You do...but...an older version of me."

"Huh?"

"Look at me Monty, you know who I am."

"I...wait..."

The realization and fear came to him as some long and almost forgotten memories came flooding back to him.

"You...you're Xleti..."

The iguana smirked.

"It's been a while Monty."

Monty's eyes couldn't be any more wider. Xleti's body was much different than what he remembered. He looked bigger, stronger, more high-tech. This was not the same iguana he knew in the past.

"It can't be...what happened to you?"

Xleti looked around.

"Not exactly the right place to be discussing it."

"What the hell are you doing here...wait...you're working for Vanny?"

"What? Tch, no...I-"

"Then why else would you be here?"

Monty started to get irritated...and betrayed. Xleti could see this and took a step forward.

"I'm not on her side."

"You're lying."

"No I-"

"YOU'RE FUCKING LYING! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE, YOU'VE BEEN HELPING WITH THE MURDERS HAVEN'T YOU?"

Xleti blinked a few times before laughing.

"Pfft, they've got themselves killed for being stupid."

Monty growled.

"So you're calling Roxy stupid? You're calling Cassie a COWARD?"

"..."

"...You...YOU WATCH YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!"

Monty stormed up to Xleti who didn't flinch. The two stared down each other, tension rising.

"Watch your tone with me gator."

"Or what?"

"You wanna find out?"

"YEAH I DO!"

Just then a beeping sound was heard as Xleti checked his phone. Monty tried to look at his phone to see who was calling but Xleti kept it away from him.

"Ugh...I don't have time for this."

"YOU ASSHOLE! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US? To...me?"

Xleti frowned.

"I'm not! This is all Vanny's doing! I'm gonna stop her before the tries to sink this ship. Look Monty, I'll have to explain everything later, I'm needed."

"By her?"

"No...I...just back off. This is much bigger than you think. It's something only I'm capable of handling."

"Oh and I'm not?"

Xleti sighed.

"What good could you and the other Glamrocks do to help? You already lost one of them."

Monty let out a roar.

"FUCK YOU! ROXY IS ALIVE! I KNOW SHE IS!"

Xleti rolled his eyes.

"Whatever...here..."

He tossed Monty a little device with a big green button on it.

"Huh?"

"Just press it."

Monty hesitatingly did so and a door opened up on the wall next to him.

"You want to find her? Go in there. Now leave me alone, we'll discuss more later."

Before Monty could say anymore, Xleti had raced off around another corner. The gator could not believe his old friend was still around, and on the ship, possibly working for Vanny.

"Yeah...we will. That's a promise." Monty growled.

He headed through the door and down a long thin hallway. There was no sound but the clicking off his clawed feet on the metal floor and his own breathing. His past memories with Xleti swam through his head.

"Xleti...we used to play together, to fight together, to travel together...you and your girlfriend. Is she even still alive? Ugh...what the fuck is wrong with this week? Okay stop, need to focus on Roxy."

He shook his head.

"Roxy...I hope you're okay."

With Philip, he and Horace had found another decent map near the metal room they had all woken up in. Phillip tore it off the wall and studied with the hippo.

"So...yeah we did see most of the ship already." Phillip said.

"Yeah, though two rooms over here look unused." Horace pointed out.

"And these seem to be hidden on other floors."

"This ship is so weird."

"Tell me about it. I'm surprised Foxy wouldn't get lost here."

"He's just that good I guess."

"Maybe we can try what Felix did and use the boats?"

"I'm not getting shot at...again."

"Ugh."

Something then begin to bother Horace.

"Hey Phillip?"

"Yes?"

"You ever think something is strange about Patch?"

"Huh? Why do you think that?"

"I mean, he seemed to really want us to give up and sleep. As much as I would like to, I don't feel safe sleeping."

"Now that you mention it...you're right."

"Maybe we should talk to him."

"We can try to later."

"I think he may be hiding something."

"Hmmm..."

With Patch and the girls, they were busy making pizza. Carla showed Harper how to make a good pizza while Patch wandered around the dining room, looking out the windows and at the sea.

"Man...still no land in sight. I just want to go home."

He looked at his phone, still no service. Sighing, he heard the girls coming out of the kitchen.

"Pizza should be done soon Patch, I'm gonna go find a bathroom." Carla said.

"Be careful!" Patch called out.

Harper walked over to him, her smile changing into a frown.

"Patch..."

"Harper..."

The two looked at each other, the frog looked him up and down.

"You...seem to be holding up."

"As do you."

"..."

"..."

"I know..."

"Yeah...I'm aware..."

"Well why?"

"Why what?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about."

"No clue really."

Harper clenched her fists.

"Quit playing dumb already."

"I'm just fine."

Suddenly a beep came Patch's phone, he smiled.

"Huh, I seem to have-"

Suddenly the oven beeped and Harper knew the pizza was done.

"You better get that. I'm sure it'll be delicious!" Patch smirked.

Harper squinted here eyes at him before going to get the pizza just as Carla came back.

"PIZZA TIME!" Carla announced.

"You girls go on ahead, I need to check something." Patch announced.

"Aww, but it's a big pizza!" Carla said.

"Maybe next time!"

"Okay then." She was a little disappointed.

The girls sat down to eat but Harper glared at Patch who left in a hurry.

"How could he..."

"What a fucking night..." Carla sighed.

Harper turned her attention back to the chicken.

"Yeah...tell me about it."

"Now we got Staff Bots after us here and not just the Pizzaplex? Just what we needed."

"Vanny is clearly ready to throw anything at us."

"I'm gonna get my revenge on her, personally."

"I still think we should work together."

"We will, I just want a good shot at her again."

"And you will definitely get that."

"I don't have a choice now."

Harper sighed before eating more pizza. She knew she had to convince Xleti to help her take down Vanny their way more than his way. She just hadn't figured that out yet. And then there was Patch who was also very suspicious. Harper knew more than the others about him, and he may have known more about the others as well.

"Hmmm...something needs to give...but what?" Harper wondered.

The answer would soon come quicker than she thought.

TO BE CONTINUED...