CHAPTER 41: SHOOT THE MESSENGER, PART 2
Friendship is based on a simple principle: Give and take. The human race has evolved itself into a social being co-dependent on one another; their survival instincts conjoining with one another to form bonds that prolong one another's life. It is as core to human necessity as food and water, and it is what has kept the species alive as long as advanced as it is now.
However, this simple evolutionary step is not the ultimate end-all-be-all for humanity. Just as easily as friendship can be built up, it can be brought back down again, and there is a point where it is irreversibly broken and can never be repaired. Rarely does such an event come to pass, but, when it does, it is unforgettable for either party.
Now, the friendship between Arnold Shortman and Gerald Johannsen hangs in the balance; the fate of their seemingly unbreakable bond reaching its breaking point. Despite knowing each other since either of the two could remember, the recent few days have caused a series of events and decisions that have made things harder for the two to keep this bond.
The first test was for Arnold to keep Gerald within Hillwood despite his desires to leave and start a new life with Phoebe, in order to stop the Freak.. This mere postponement of his plans soon evolved into a life-changing one, resulting in Phoebe being shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down, never to live a life of superherodom or even a normal life again.
To add insult to permanent injury, the perpetrator was not brought to justice, but, instead, moved out of the city and given a decent living. The reasons why such a decision was made was clear and almost agreeable, knowing of the shooter's tragic past and having no more desire for ill intentions upon him, but it was not a comfortable truth, either.
Now, there lies one last test on their friendship; one that could perhaps be the final straw that would break this once-hearty and headstrong camel's back. The young girl known as Hannah Williams was eaten alive by an unknown enemy (known to us as the Jolly Olly Man, but known not to him as of yet), and there is reason to believe that she could have been his niece.
The one man who can answer that question for sure is Arnold himself, and, if he were to hold back such information, consequences of his omission of truth could prove to be the end of their long-lasting friendship for sure. Whether this fate comes to pass has yet to be seen, however, as Gerald still approaches onto the base of the Hillwood Heroes again.
For now, inconspicuous to the approaching Gerald and his question he carries with him, the Green Eye and Valiance converse upon recent events, trying to decode the Freak's plans and deduce where he might be hiding. The pieces to this particular puzzle are all misshapen and obscured from one another, but this does not stop them from trying to put them together.
"I don't get it. This isn't anything like Curly or what he did before." Green Eye said.
"He didn't have your powers before. The Spirit Master formula, is it something that alters your thought patterns or brain?" Valiance asked.
"Not exactly. It's supposed to make you realize what your purpose is as a human being, and help you realize your full potential to fill that out. It doesn't make you a different person so much as it brings out your most important qualities."
"And exactly what does it count as 'important qualities' and what isn't?"
"It depends on who receives it. In my case, my most important qualities regarded helping others in need, and that's what helped me become the Green Eye."
"And what about Rhonda? She had all your powers, so it seemed."
"Rhonda was also dead when you used it on her, and it only brought back her body, not her soul. She was just running of bare basic instincts, and it only gave her some similar physical enhancements. In Curly's case, he always liked to cause chaos wherever he could, so it's only made him all the more focused on hurting people. His focus on me gave him a lot of my abilities, as well as his new power on altering someone's perception of reality. I have no idea what else he could be capable of."
"Obviously, he's capable of killing at least two people so far, even if we don't know why yet. Most I could find out is that some ice cream truck ran by earlier, part of the Jolly Olly chain."
Though the mere mention of an ice cream truck should have been trivial to the Green Eye at best, the name of 'Jolly Olly' began to ring a sense of familiarity in his head.
"Wait a minute, you said 'Jolly Olly'?" Green Eye asked.
"Yeah, that sound important?" Valiance asked.
"Kind of. I remember back when I was a kid, there was this ice cream truck driver named Willie. I was assigned to work with him on career day at school, and he was just... really crazy. He blamed kids for almost every problem he had, and made all these weird reasonings in his head why."
"And your point is?"
"He was already on the edge back then. If he's still been working that same job all that time, I can't imagine where he is now. And if Curly got to him, with that power of his that alters peoples' sense of reality... I can't imagine what he's made him into, but, seeing that poor girl, I don't think we have to."
"So, your whole theory is that an ice cream man that hated his job, assuming he didn't quit sometime in the near-decade since you last saw him, decided to align himself with the Freak, all because the same company of ice cream truck happened to run through that neighborhood at that time? Kind of a stretch, don't you think?"
"Unless you have a better guess, that's all we've got at the moment. That, and the fact that he also took Wolfgang and killed Edmund. After all, the only thing different about the scene is that the ice cream truck ran through around when Hannah Williams was killed; that's got to be a clue."
"Fine. What do you suggest we do, then?"
"First step is that we investigate the main station where those trucks go. Whether or not it was Willie, there's definitely some connection present. We need to find out what it is."
"Fair enough. What about Wolfgang? Where does he fit into all this?"
"I don't know. Assuming Curly didn't kill him, I'm not sure what he's planning with him. Last time, Curly just wanted to take me on, and put the whole city against me to do it."
"Looking for allies, maybe? Trying to level the playing field against us?"
"Maybe... but I don't get why he would take Wolfgang, given how he has only one arm and no legs. Can't see how he would be useful for whatever he could be planning."
"Assuming he's even going to collect more 'allies' for whatever he's planning, it leaves the question, who else could he be rounding up? And what kind of crazy people could he get his hands on in this city?"
"That's a scary thought, and not one I'd like to think about. Regardless, it might be a good idea to check out the Jolly Olly station and find out what we can, and see if-"
Before the Green Eye could finish his sentence, Gerald entered the room in a quick manner; his footsteps stomping with a sense of both speed and anger. His eyes reflected much of the latter emotion, staring directly at the Green Eye with the intent for violence deep in his mind.
Before the Green Eye could voice any kind of inquiry towards Gerald at all, he soon found his best friend throwing him against the wall, gripping him by his shirt collar. Taking just a brief glimpse into his mind, he could already tell what he was looking for, and knew that the answer was not something he would want to hear.
"Don't bother asking me what I want. With that mind-reading power of yours, you should already know by now." Gerald said.
"Hannah. You wanna know if she was your niece?" Green Eye asked.
"That's right. I know how your mind-reading crap works: You can feel what someone else feels, just like they feel it, and you can know why they feel that way. By that logic, I'm guessing you had enough time to look in Chloe's head and be able to tell who the dad was. Was it Jaime-O?"
"Gerald, you don't want to-"
Gerald took the Green Eye and slammed him against the wall again, discontent with any attempts to sway him from the truth.
"Answer the damn question. Was Hannah my niece?" Gerald asked.
Knowing that Gerald would not be content until he knew the truth, the Green Eye gave an uncomfortable sigh of defeat, preparing himself for what would soon follow. Ready for all consequence that would come from the answer, the Green Eye simply closed his eyes so he would not have to see the look of pain on his friend's face.
"I didn't tell you because I knew it would just make everything harder for you." Green Eye said.
Having more than enough of an answer from his friend's reply, Gerald turned nearly red at the face from the response his supposed best friend had given him.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Gerald shouted.
Throwing a fist to the Green Eye's face, Gerald immediately followed it up with another; continuing to punch him in the face as many times as he could. The Green Eye did nothing to fight back against his best friend, instead simply taking his punishment in silence and shame. Valiance did nothing to break up the affair, but instead watched the event unfold before him.
Soon, following a number of punches that he deemed to be enough, Gerald held the Green Eye back up against the wall, watching his welts and wounds heal almost instantly. Wanting more answers out of him, Gerald questioned the Green Eye once again on his motives.
"So, you knew and you didn't tell me, huh? What, was this some little ploy to keep me to stay and help you fight? I would've helped you anyway, man. All you had to do was ask." Gerald said.
"I didn't not tell you because of that, Gerald. I knew what that kind of information would do to you, and I didn't want it to hurt you." Green Eye said.
"What do you mean, 'hurt me'?"
"You've been through enough already, and I've already pushed you through things you shouldn't have to do. I didn't want to tell you that because I knew you couldn't take much more of this. Like you said, I can feel what you feel. You're already under a lot of stress, and I didn't want to put you through any more."
"It's not your damn place to deem what I need and don't need to know! That was my niece that was killed, man. I have a right to know that!"
"You had a good chance that you already knew that, but you didn't tell your own brother, the girl's father. Don't you think he has a right to know?"
Gerald's rampage of anger was suddenly put to a pause by this simple question; simple, but far from easy to answer. For a moment, he was given a sense of his own hypocrisy, and left to question his own sense of ethics, giving him a moment of self-reflection that made him question his own ethics.
Unable to come up with a sufficient reply, Gerald simply let go of the Green Eye and stepped away, still thinking over his answer.
"Not so easy a question to answer, is it?" Green Eye asked.
"Fine. You didn't wanna tell me because you know I'd have a hard time living it down. We can agree to disagree with the approach, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Bottom line is: The Freak had something to do with killing her. What's our lead on him?" Gerald asked.
"Well, Valiance and I just came up with a decent theory. I think-"
Before the Green Eye could share his plans with Gerald, the Hillwood Heroes' base gained a minor alarm, signalling that trouble laid afoot. Instantly, focus was drawn away from the current discussion and brought to the main computer, leading the 3 to find out the reason behind the alarm.
"What's going on, man?" Gerald asked.
"Proximity alert. Someone who's not supposed to be here is. Pulling up the CCTV (closed-circuit television) feed now." Valiance said.
Viewing the security camera footage of the aforementioned intruder, the camera feed showed a look at the front door of Lloyd Manor, giving the trio a sight of the intruder at last. Upon seeing who exactly was literally showing up at their doorstep, they all joined together in both an expression of fear and annoyance.
"Oh, no. Not this idiot." Valiance said.
Looking at the security footage of the front door of Lloyd Manor, the 3 watched Lars Rodriguez, still trying to make the name of 'El Cucuy' stick, talking to the security camera and flicking it in an obnoxious manner. On his chest was a T-shirt sporting a caricature of Colonel Sanders licking his lips with a pair of feminine legs over his shoulders, with text that read: 'PUSSY LICKIN' GOOD'.
"Hello? Hillwood Heroes? 'Little' Nicky told me I could find you guys here. Don't know if you remember me, but I'm the guy you fought a few days ago before the National Guard showed up. The big dude in the knight costume stabbed me in the chest, ruined another of my favorite shirts? If you don't remember that, I also was part of that big Ocean Shores Incident about a year back, shot up a Good Burger and killed a lot of people. But, uh, don't let that discourage you from letting me in or anything, I'm here on, like, a peace mission or something. He told me to give you guys a message." El Cucuy said.
"Well, now what do we do? The dude knows where we are now. He was probably sent he to just kill us." Gerald asked.
"No, he wasn't. If 'Little' Nicky wanted to kill us, he'd send all his men around us with guns blazing, assuming he'd even want to kill us at all. Even if that was his plan, there's no way in hell he'd think this idiot could pull it off alone. Above all, 'Little' Nicky's a man of honor, or he at least considers himself to be one. This has to be genuine." Valiance said.
"And what if you're wrong, man?"
"Then we just kill him."
"No, we don't! Valiance, how many times to I have to-" Green Eye began to say.
"I already killed him once, but he's back. Trust me, he's not that easy to kill. Do me a favor and bring him in. Let's hear him out."
The Green Eye gave an annoyed grunt at Valiance's request, not satisfied with how their conversation ended.
"Fine." Green Eye said.
Stepping out of the base, the Green Eye snuck outside to retrieve El Cucuy, taking preparations to ensure he would not find his way back into the base later.
At the front door of the towering Lloyd Manor, El Cucuy continued to wait outside the home, impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for a response to come. Still receiving no reply for nearly 2 whole minutes, he grew frustrated with his treatment, taking to the security camera and voicing his purpose for visiting again, this time in a far more annoyed manner.
"Hey, assholes, you gonna let me in or not?! I didn't come all this way to have you dicks leave me out her to play with my dick! Don't get me wrong, I do love playing with it after paying good money for it, but I got two smokin' hot hookers waiting for me back home, and they're probably eating each other out while thinking about how much they want my new big black dingus filling up their tight white twats. Now, would you be so kind as to open the damn door so I can deliver the message and I can finally get laid during this shitty vaca-" El Cucuy began to say.
Before El Cucuy could finish his request, he felt a piece of cloth tied over his eyes, with a pair of arms hold him in a lock, leading him to fight back against the sudden hold. However, this initial struggle quickly died down with the presence of a voice in his head, leading him to calm down.
You will not fight back. You will remain calm. I'll take you to the Hillwood Heroes' base, but you will do nothing to fight back. The voice said.
Feeling compelled to listen to and obey the voice, El Cucuy went limp in the stranger's hold, leaving him to be pulled off to his intended destination.
"Okay. Okay, dude. Cool it, just don't hurt me, okay? If you gotta hurt me, just don't mess up my shirt. This is my third-favorite one." El Cucuy said.
Upon making it inside the Hillwood Heroes' base, El Cucuy's blindfold was removed from his face, finally giving him a view of the inside. Taking in the sights of the entirety of the base; the various vehicles and weapons collected about, and the large supercomputer at the center of the base, his senses were treated to a visual spectacle that left him extremely impressed.
Turning his attention back to his front, standing before him were the Green Eye, Valiance, and G-Funk, all listening carefully for his message. The first words were coming from El Cucuy's mouth were not anywhere near related to the task he was assigned with, but instead a waste of verbal movements that commented on the base itself.
"Damn. Hell of a cool Batcave. MTV Cribs would have a field day here." El Cucuy said.
"'MTV Cribs'? Dude, you know half that crap was fake, right?" G-Funk asked.
"Pfft, I know. I just wanted to check out some views of the female celebs they had on. I taped the episode with Kim Kardashian right when they zoomed in on her ass, made a great addition to the ol' spank bank during my teen years. And let's not forget Aeon Flux, that bitch had some nice titties that made you wanna stand up and beg for buttermilk, the Japanese can draw some damn pretty women."
"Uh, the dude who made Aeon Flux was Korean, dumbass."
"Eh, Asians are Asians. They've got some pussies tighter than pharmaceutical bottles, and they taste just like ambrosia-"
Annoyed with his perverted rants over his sexual tastes, Valiance shot El Cucuy in the head, sending him falling to the ground in an instant. Enraged at his careless murder of their guest, the Green Eye immediately knocked the handgun out of Valiance's hand, shouting at him for his action.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Didn't you hear a word that I said before?!" Green Eye shouted.
"Wait for it." Valiance said.
"...What?"
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1."
Right as Valiance concluded his countdown, El Cucuy stood up from the ground, groaning in pain as he held his hand over the bullet wound in his head, causing the Green Eye and G-Funk to look upon the sight of the rising dead man with complete shock. Reaching into the wound, El Cucuy pulled out the bullet, showing a piece of metal underneath to reveal how he survived this usually lethal attack.
"Ugh... YOU ASSHOLE! DO YOU HAVE ANY UNGODLY FUCKING IDEA HOW MUCH THAT HURTS?!" El Cucuy shouted.
Angrily flicking the bullet at Valiance, El Cucuy quickly had G-Funk inquire into his survival, questioning the presence of the metal in his head.
"Uh... Is there some kind of... metal plate in your head?" G-Funk asked.
"Yeah, mix of titanium and coltan. I remember that punk-ass Ace Sucky blowing my face off, and I wanted to make sure that shit wouldn't happen again. I was in a goddamn coma for-" El Cucuy began to say.
Ending the following distracting rant that would soon follow, Valiance held up another gun to El Cucuy, cocking it back to silence him in an instant.
"That first shot was to make you stop wasting my time. Unless you're looking for another one, I suggest you tell me what you came her for." Valiance said.
"Fine. Basically, the way 'Little' Nicky sees it, you guys all got a common enemy now." El Cucuy said.
"Curly." Green Eye said.
"Right. Listen, I couldn't honestly care less what that asshole does to any of you or him. I wanted out of this shit 2 days ago when Prince Valiant here stabbed me through the damn chest. But so long as I'm stuck here, I wanna see this end quick, and so does he. 'Little' Nicky wants to team up and catch your boy."
The 3 Hillwood Heroes stood beside one another in murmurs, all thinking over the proposal. Superseding all agreement and disagreement with the proposal, there laid a skepticism of the trustworthiness of 'Little' Nicky, leading them to question the validity of the offer overall.
"How can we trust you or him on this? How do we know this won't end in a double-cross?" Valiance asked.
"Trust him on this? Nigga, the only reason he sent me here is because he thought I was gonna die. He thought you were just gonna kill me if you weren't for it." El Cucuy said.
"In his defense, that was my first thought."
"Yeah, and you shot me in the goddamn head. But I'ma let bygones be bygones. Bottom line, he wants the Freak, and so do you. He wants to work together to stop him. You in or are you out?"
Turning back to one another again, the 3 Hillwood Heroes conversed with one another on this offer, debating on whether or not they should accept.
"I say we do it. 'Little' Nicky's certainly the lesser of two evils, and the Freak's the bigger threat on our hands. Working together would make this a whole lot easier if we stopped fighting each other and fought a common enemy instead." Valiance said.
"No way in hell. I don't believe in 'lesser evils'. Evil is evil, and I don't wanna work with a crazy killer gangster who thinks he owns Hillwood. Soon as he's done with the Freak, it's on to us next. Eyeman, you're with me on this one, right?" G-Funk asked.
The Green Eye searched extensively in his heart and soul to find the correct answer for this question, knowing that there was no such easy way to resolve this manner. Trapped between his what would soon no longer be his best friend and one man slowly becoming one of his worst enemies, this decision was a true testament to the saying: 'Between a rock and a hard place'.
If he were to accept the offer, it would surely spell a death sentence for the friendship between him and Gerald for good, and mean his departure from the Hillwood Heroes. However, this combined effort could potentially prove to give enough focus and manpower to locate the Freak, saving countless lives.
If he were to refuse the offer, perhaps his friendship with Gerald could be saved, albeit repaired only after a long period of time, but it would surely spell the deaths of many more citizens of Hillwood to come. With such a body count already on the rise, especially among children, how could one claim to be a superhero when he is not willing to sacrifice his own wants for the needs of others?
Nonetheless, there still laid the issue of trust with 'Little' Nicky, leaving the decision unable to be made so easy, and there remained only one logical solution.
"I don't know. It doesn't feel right making this decision without the rest of the team here. We should probably call them in to pull it to a vote." Green Eye said.
"Fine by me. Hopefully everyone else listens to reason." G-Funk said.
"That makes two of us." Valiance said.
"We'll see about that."
Turning back to El Cucuy, the 3 gave their answer for the proposal, explaining their need for more time.
"We'll have to call in everyone to a vote. We can't make a decision on their behalf." Green Eye said.
"What?! Seriously, man? I got two hookers still waiting for me, you expect me to keep waiting even longer?" El Cucuy asked.
Valiance once again aimed his gun to El Cucuy's face, making him change his tone in an instant.
"...Then again, patience is a virtue." El Cucuy said.
Meanwhile, somewhere within the outskirts of Hillwood, the Freak and his newfound allies continued on their leader's direction, waiting to see what intended destination they may be led to. With many violent and unbalanced minds put together in one closed setting of an ice cream truck, tensions began to run high within the group, with everyone finding different outlets for their frustrations.
Wolfgang, taking the new name of 'Wolfenstein', continued on his exercise routine, doing push-ups with his one remaining arm.
Lila Sawyer, taking the name of 'Saint Lila', put herself in meditation and prayer, shutting the world around her off to be between herself and her god.
Willie, taking the name of the Jolly Olly Man, felt his newly discovered taste for human flesh begin to settle in again. Feeling his stomach growl for more human veal to sate its intense rumbling, his mouth began to salivate for another taste of the flesh of children to come to it.
He feels the hunger bite at his mind.
"Ugh, boss, I'm starting to get hungry again." Jolly Olly Man said.
"Perfect. I was hoping you'd start to build up an appetite again." The Freak said.
"Why's that?"
"For what I'm planning, this little ice cream truck just isn't going to cut it. I need a bigger ride than this."
"And what exactly are you planning?"
"You'll see soon enough. Now shut up and keep driving up this way."
"Fine, but you mind telling me exactly where I'm going?"
"You'll see it when we get to it. I just hope that the bus routes haven't changed since I finished school."
Following a brief stint of driving, the ice cream truck finally arrived outside P.S. 118, the same school where the majority of this ragtag group of supervillains had their first meetings and origins. Upon seeing the school once again, the group all looked at it with a blend of nostalgia and anger, remembering both the bad and good they had at this learning institution.
"Heh, ol' P.S. 118... more like 'P.O.S. 118'. I got detentions out the ass as a kid, but at least I had some fun." Wolfenstein said.
"I remember it here, too. I was... much more innocent then. How the lord has guided me down my path." Saint Lila said.
"Yeah, I remember this shithole from driving down it enough times. Why are we here, again?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
The Freak turned the latter's attention towards the final bus of schoolchildren being loaded up to send the young students home, finally giving him an understanding of why they had arrived here. Watching the many children being loaded into the bus, he begun to salivate at the lips and widen his eyes.
He feels the hunger bite at his mind.
"That's why I was hoping you'd be hungry. I need that bus, and it's be a waste to just kill the kids. So, here's my little gift to you. All you can eat." The Freak said.
Hearing the magic words come to his ears, the Jolly Olly Man gave a smile as he licked his lips in anticipation.
"This is too good to be true." Jolly Olly Man said.
Stepping out of the ice cream truck, the Freak and the Jolly Olly Man headed up to the bus as it loaded the last of its students, with the former looking to clear it for his own purposes and the latter more than willing to do so. In the Freak's hand was a large boom box, loaded with an audio cassette specifically picked out for this occasion.
As the two headed to the bus, Saint Lila took a look to the front of the building, beginning to chuckle at the name of 'P.S. 118'.
"What's so funny?" Wolfenstein asked.
"Everytime I would come here, the name 'P.S. 118' would remind me of Psalm 118. It's also one of my favorite verses. Would you like to hear it?" Saint Lila asked.
"Sure."
[Soundtrack Cue: Barry Louis Polisar - I Eat Kids]
Pressing the 'PLAY' button on his boom box, the Freak began playing the aforementioned song, letting the sounds of a lighthearted kid's song with silly lyrics fill the air. The lyrics, while originally written for humor, would no longer be taken for mere jokes following this event.
"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever." Lila quoted.
Marching up to the bus driver, the Freak put his hand over his mouth and drove a knife through his jaw into his brain, leaving him to die silently and unnoticed by the children within the bus. Disposing of the bus driver, the two supervillains walked aboard the bus, with the Jolly Olly Man taking the lead and stepping right in front of the children.
"I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me." Lila quoted.
Though the children were initially off-put by the sudden appearance of an ice cream man entering the bus, the Jolly Olly Man quickly followed up his appearance with a cheerful smile and act. Giddy for the large meal that was placed before him, he decided to take his time to play with his food before eating it.
"Do you kids like ice cream?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
The children did not immediately answer; all still confused by his sudden appearance, leading the Jolly Olly Man to repeat his question.
"Hey. I asked you a question. Do you kids like ice cream?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
"Yeah!" The children answered.
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." Lila quoted.
"What about fudge bars? Do you kids like fudge bars?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
"Yeah!" The children answered.
"All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them." Lila quoted.
"Yeah? And ice cream sandwiches?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
"Yeah!" The children shouted.
"Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly." Lila quoted.
"Yeah? And popsicles?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
"Yeah!" The children shouted.
"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter." Lila quoted.
"Wow! So you kids must really love ice cream, huh?! You guys really hungry for ice cream?!" Jolly Olly Man asked.
"YEAH!" The children shouted.
"I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Lila quoted.
Finally done with his charade, the Jolly Olly Man drove his fist into a window of the bus, cracking the glass with his bare fist.
"WELL, YOU DON'T GET ANY!" Jolly Olly Man shouted.
Shocked at his sudden and furious reaction, the children all immediately quieted down, staying back in their seats as not to provoke this strange man.
"Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee." Lila quoted.
"I... HATE... ICE CREAM!" Jolly Olly Man shouted.
Lunging himself towards the children, the Jolly Olly Man grabbed hold of the first child he could reach, biting into his neck and tearing out a chunk of flesh from it. Screaming in agony at the vicious assault he was being put under, the young boy cried out for help under his gurgling death rattle, in hopes that his mother would come to his rescue, but no such help arrived.
As the rest of the schoolchildren watched their classmate die violently and horribly, they all immediately rushed to the back of the bus, trying to bust through the back door to escape. Unfortunately, the door would not open, leaving them trapped between a locked door and a hungry pedovore staring upon his prey.
Smiling with blood across his lips and chunks of meat and tissue in his teeth, the Jolly Olly Man prepared to further indulge himself in his own personal buffet.
Watching his comrade tear through and eat young bodies so violently and viciously, the Freak smiled upon the sight, feeling like a proud father helping his son achieve his first hunt. The deaths of the children and their dying screams were like music to his ears, playing a symphony of suffering just for him.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Inside the Jolly Olly truck, Wolfenstein watched the violence through the windows of the school bus unfold; just barely able to watch the chaos unfolding in the view of the small windows. Watching the bloody hands of the children crawl along the windows, trying desperately to escape, they only accomplished smearing blood across the windows, leaving the carnage even less visible.
All that was left for Wolfenstein to view now was to see the bus rock back and forth, and listen to the screams coming out from within, as well as Saint Lila's quotation.
"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. It always made me feel strong and worthy. Did you like it?" Lila asked.
"Beautiful." Wolfenstein said.
His attention towards Saint Lila's recital was only half-hearted, instead focusing on the violence continuing within the bus.
The carnage seemed to go on for an eternity, but eventually came to a stop within something like half an hour, signaled by a lack of screams coming out from the bus and the bus itself no longer shaking. The bus doors soon opened up, with the Freak and the Jolly Olly Man stepping out.
After having a large meal sat out before him, the Jolly Olly Man grew swollen at the gut; his stomach expanding to take in the large intake of food it had received. The feeling of filling his gut with the cursed children that haunted his life for too long was a fulfilling experience like no other; leading him to give a genuine happy smile with a belch following.
"Damn, that hit the spot." Jolly Olly Man said.
"I had a feeling it would. Now, you 3 just find somewhere to lay low for a while. I'll come find you again once I get what I need." The Freak said.
"How?"
"Trust me, I just can, like how the Green Eye can find people. Don't worry; so long as you're with me, he won't find you."
"If you say so. What are you going to do?"
"Oh, you'll see soon enough. Just relax in the meantime, and keep your eye on the news. It should show soon enough."
Stepping back inside the bus, the Freak took to the driver's seat, beginning to drive off to his new intended destination while the Jolly Olly Man returned to his own vehicle. As the Jolly Olly Man relayed their orders to the rest of the group, both vehicles drove off to their respective destinations: The Jolly Olly Man and company to a safe location, while the Freak headed off to...
"Membrane Labs, here I come." The Freak said.
While en route to his destination, the Freak took notice of the several bodies of mostly-eaten children piled in the back of the bus. The thought of disposing them before his departure had crossed his mind, but the smell of their decay beginning to take place had made him think otherwise.
"Mmm, dead people. Beats that new car smell any day of the week." The Freak said.