Hello everyone! Back here again with another chapter. This is the second part of the two-parter before we get to the finale! I don't have much else to say but enjoy!
It was well into the afternoon, Beta Team had finished eating their lunch and were preparing to hunt for the first time since killing the cougar yesterday. They were sharpening their spears, Nelson was testing out his club, and Sherri was making sure she had enough arrows for her bow. As soon as they were ready, they set off in search of animals.
A few minutes have passed since they left their new hideout. They couldn't find anything. "I don't think there are much animals le-" "SHH!" Wendell said before Lewis shushed him. "What?" Terri whispered. "I hear something," Lewis whispered back. Sherri quickly climbed up the closest tree to look from above. As soon as she reached a very high branch, she scanned the surrounding area in search of movement. "Do you see anything, Sherri?" Martin called from below. The purple-haired girl continued to look around in search of any movement or rustling. She couldn't find anything. She was about to open her mouth to report no findings until… she found rustling in a nearby bush, several boars! Sherri grabbed one of her arrows and aimed it at one of the boars. She looked down where the others were looking up at her in confusion. Sherri motioned her head towards the direction of her bow, silently telling the others to go that motioned direction.
Nelson motioned for the others to follow him, although slowly so he isn't accidentally struck by Sherri's arrow. Seeing that her team was heading towards the boars, Sherri fired her arrow at one of the boars. The arrow struck the boar right in the neck, killing it instantly. The other boars started freak out out. That was Nelson's cue. "CHARGE!!" Nelson shouted, the kids roared and they all ran towards the swines, their inner animals awakening once again.
The seven kids all cheered as they went back to their new hideout with their kills. They had successfully killed seven boars, one from each kid. There were much more boats than that but they all ran away, at least they knew there were still some boars left.When Beta Team arrived at the cave, Martin relit the campfire while the others brought in their kills. They soon realized that they were still full from lunch, so they didn't really have any needs for their current kills. "Ummm what should we do with them?" Wendell asked, referring to the killed boars. "Maybe…. We can use the fur to make new clothing!" Terri suggested. "Way ahead of you, sis!" Sherri said to her twin as she started cutting open the boar she killed with a sharp rock. "We can save the meat for later when we actually are hungry," Lewis suggested. The others nodded in agreement. And so, they went to work.
Not much time had passed since they began working on the fur cloaks when Nelson said, "I think we should convince Bart and Lisa to join us," "No, we shouldn't," Martin said suddenly. Everyone looked at him confused. "No? Whaddya mean by that?" Nelson asked. Martin looked at his group, darkness hidden in his eyes. "I mean that they will just throw us in the dirt like they've always have. They're not nice people. They say they are, but they're not," he said. Everyone still looked at him confused, unsure of what to think. "What are you talking about, Martin? They've seemed to accept us," Wendell said. "Have they?" Martin asked. Wendell raised a brow and asked "What? What do you mean?" Martin's face did not change. "Did they really accept us or were they just using us for their own benefit? Think about it. They act like the world revolves around them. They were never nice to other people, especially Bart!! Ralph! Wendell! Did Bart ever belittle you when you were in Alpha Squad!?" Ralph stared at Martin in fear, he didn't answer. However, Wendell did. "Well….. sometimes, yeah-" "See!?" Martin cut him off. "This proves my point!" Martin said.
He would go on to tell Beta Team several other instances about the Simpson siblings proving his point. The kids slowly believing him more and more to the point they were completely manipulated by Martin. What they unfortunately would never know was that some of the things Martin told them were complete lies. But they were too far gone to realize this, Martin was smarter then them, making him the master manipulator.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Martin's right," Nelson said. "Those two have been selfish pricks!" "Yeah!" The others shouted in agreement. "I say we kill them!" Terri said, the others cheered in agreement. "Let's do it now!" Lewis said. "NO!" Nelson shouted, causing the kids to become completely silent. "We shouldn't attack now in the middle of the day. We should attack when they least expect it. Like in the middle of the night," Nelson said. "He's right," Martin said. "We shouldn't attack when they will see us or expect it. We should attack when they can't see us and don't expect it!" The kids didn't want to wait until it was dark but they agreed anyway. "TONIGHT, WE'LL STRIKE!!" Nelson roared. Beta Team cheered.
Beta Team had continued to work on their new cloaks. One of them, however, couldn't. Ralph felt too distracted, he could not work on the cloak. So, he thought of an excuse to leave the cave. "I gotta tinkle!" he said suddenly as he got up and ran out of the cave. "Okay Ralph, you don't need to announce that," Terri grumbled. Beta Team paying no mind to him other than that.
In reality, Ralph didn't need to use the restroom…. Okay, he actually did.. but that wasn't the only reason he immediately left the cave after Martin's speech. He was going back to the other side of the island to warn Bart and Lisa about Beta Team's attack. Yes, really. Even after Martin manipulated the whole group against them. In actuality, Ralph didn't want to join Beta Team. He only did because he was afraid of what would happen to him. In fact, he was pretending to believe Martin's manipulation. He may have been an idiot, but he didn't buy what Martin said. Either way, Ralph was secretly still loyal to the Simpson siblings.
Why? Because they were nice to him when no one else was. Yeah, they belittled him and thought of him as just a stupid little boy. But they saw him as an actual friend, unlike how the other kids saw him. Bart was a good leader for Alpha Squad. He wasn't the nicest leader all the time. Wendell was right about Bart belittling them, it did actually happen sometimes but not all the time. Bart did treat them (especially Ralph) with respect most of the time. He remembered when Lisa was the only person in their class to give him a Valentines Day card. I Choo-Choo Choose You, it read. Yes, she broke his heart in front of an audience, but she felt remorse and gave him a card that read Let's Bee Friends. He never forgot that, he still had the card at home. Oh, how he missed home. Ralph couldn't do anything about that now. He had some warnings to tell.
It didn't take as long as Ralph thought to get near the other side of the island where their old campsite used to be. I hope their around, Ralph thought. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he was tackled to the ground.
Ralph opened his eyes a second later only to see two spears pointing right at his face. He was relieved to find out that it was Bart and Lisa holding the spears. Ralph was frightened but he put on a grin anyway, "I'm glad I found you!" He said, struggling a bit because Lisa's foot was on his chest. "What do you want, traitor?" Lisa snarled. Ralph's grin started to fade, "I'm here to warn you!" he said, a little saddened by what Lisa had just called him. "Warn us? About what?" Bart asked, his spear not moving from Ralph's face. The young boy's face became sad, "Oh, it's awful!" he started. "Martin convinned the others to turn against you!" "Do you mean convinced?" Lisa asked. "Yeah!" Ralph replied, "They're all against you now! They want to kill you! They're planning on attacking you tonight when you're sleeping!" he cried. Bart and Lisa stared at Ralph wide-eyed, looking at each other and back at him. Was he telling the truth? Did the other kids really turn against them just like they did all those days ago when they were first trapped on the island? Before Milhouse was murdered?
"Why should we believe you?" Bart asked, furrowing his brows. "Because I want to help you!!" Ralph replied. "Then why did you join Beta Team instead of staying with us?" Lisa pressed. "I- I was afraid of what would happen to me! They all looked like they wanted to kill me if I stayed with you! I'm sorry!!" Ralph cried, tears starting to form in his eyes. Bart and Lisa didn't know what to think. It did seem like Ralph would do something like that. But there was something they couldn't get out of their mind. "Why would you help us?" Lisa asked. "Because you were nice to me!" Ralph answered.
The hostile faces the two siblings had immediately vanished after hearing what Ralph said. "Wh-what?" Bart asked, unsure if he heard correctly. "You were both nice to me when no one else was!" Ralph replied. "Bart, you treated me and Wendell with niceness before Milhouse went to sleep forever! Lisa, you gave me a card that said Let's Bee Friends after that President play. I still have it at home!" he said. Bart and Lisa stared at him wide-eyed, they did recall those moments. They had no idea that those memories meant a lot to Ralph, the two siblings lowered their spears and got off of him. Ralph got up from the ground as Lisa asked, "You mean it?" Ralph nodded. "I wanted to repay you somehow," he said. The Simpson kids didn't know which was more surprising, the fact that Ralph wanted to help them, or the fact that he knew the word repay.
The siblings nodded at each other and made the decision. "Okay Ralph, we'll heed your warning," Lisa said. Both Bart and Ralph looked at Lisa in confusion. Apparently they both knew the word repay but not heed. Lisa rolled her eyes, "We'll take notice of your warning," she said. Well, at least they knew what that meant. Ralph grinned and nodded, but then, his face immediately turned into shock, "Oh no! I've been gone for a while! They might get suspicious! I need to go back now!" he squeaked, he turned around and ran off. "Ralph wait a second!" Bart called out. Ralph stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the siblings. Bart spoke, "We won't follow you, but we must know, where is Beta Team's new hideout?"
Ralph was able to run back to the hideout as quick as he could. Having thought of a cover story so his group wouldn't get suspicious of him. Ralph saw the hideout and the top of the cave. He ran up the top of it and purposefully fell off the edge of the cave's entrance. He let out a loud "Oof!" causing the other members of Beta Team to emerge from the cave. "Here it is!" Ralph exclaimed, trying to cover up his purposeful fall. "Ralph! Where have you been!? You've been gone for over half an hour!" Nelson questioned. Ralph raised his hands defensively and put on a worried face. "I-I'm sorry! I got lost and I was trying to find my way back!" he cried.
All of Beta Team stared at him suspiciously, Ralph was afraid they would see through his lie. To his relief, they believed the lie. "That sounds like Ralph alright," Sherri said, the others nodded in agreement. Ralph mentally sighed in relief. "Well, c'mon Ralph, we're preparing for the attack tonight!" Martin said. "Yes sir!" Ralph said innocently, grinning. It was a fake grin, but the kids luckily thought it was his normal smile. Ralph entered the cave along with the rest of Beta Team. Bart, Lisa, please be careful! He thought.
It was now late at night, Bart and Lisa were sitting on top of the treehouse, waiting for Beta Team to arrive. Their only source of light being the full moon. The two siblings were up there all night waiting for the sounds of distant running, but there were none… so far. Both of them were getting really tired. "Lisa…. I don't think they're … coming to attack us…" Bart yawned. "It doesn't explain… why Ralph would tell us about it.. and tell us where Beta Team's new hideout is." Lisa said. "Maybe… Ralph's being petty.." Bart said. "That's not how you use petty based on the context… and besides.. I don't think Ralph would do something like that.." Lisa replied. "……… fair enough," Bart said after a long pause. He yawned again, "Wake me up.. when you hear them," he said. "What are you…" Lisa started, but it was too late. Bart had fallen asleep. She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine," she whispered.
Five minutes have passed. Lisa's eyes were getting very heavy. Maybe a few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt, she thought. She allowed her eyes to finally close. Not even a minute later, the distant snap of a twig was heard. Lisa's eyes snapped open. She looked on in the distance and saw a light. A torch light! "Bart!" Lisa whispered as she slapped her brother's face to wake him up. "Muh… what?" Bart mumbled. Lisa covered her brother's mouth in case he spoke too loudly. "Shhh! They're here!" she whispered. Bart's tiredness vanished in a heartbeat. His eyes widened. He pushed Lisa's hand off of his mouth and looked in the distance. It was indeed Beta Team. They were now wearing cloaks made out of slaughtered boars. They were all carrying spears and clubs. Martin and Nelson were holding torches.
The siblings gulped in unison and crouched down so they wouldn't be seen. As Beta Team got closer and closer, the more difficult it became for the siblings to spot them without getting caught. Bart and Lisa heard them enter the treehouse, they both hoped the plan would work. All of a sudden, the sounds of kids roaring and howling, as well as the stabbing of flesh were heard, looks like the plan worked. Inside the treehouse, Bart and Lisa had placed two hairless dead boars as decoys. Since Beta Team was distracted, Bart and Lisa grabbed their spears and prepared to strike from above, however, they stopped when they heard Martin shout, "WAIT!" The howls and stabbings stopped as well. "This isn't them! They're decoys!" Martin said. Both of the siblings' hearts began to race, they were now to frightened to attack. "That means they're still out there! We should find them!" Martin continued, however, to his, and Bart and Lisa's, surprise, Beta Team didn't cheer in agreement.
"Martin, as much as I want to kill those two, we chose a bad time to attack them, we're all tired. Let's go find and attack them tomorrow," Wendell said. The others murmured in agreement. "He's right," Nelson said. There was only silence for whole minute until Martin answered. "Alright," he said. The Simpson kids mentally sighed in relief as Beta Team began to leave. Martin stopped in his tracks and looked at the treehouse and then at his torch, "But first…" all of a sudden, he threw the torch at the treehouse, causing it to catch on fire. Nelson saw this and grinned. "Good idea!" he said as he almost threw his own torch before he was intervened and told that they needed light to find their way back. And so, Beta Team walked back to their hideout, leaving their old one to burn in flames.
The two siblings started to panic as the flames was spreading rapidly. Beta Team being long gone by that point. "Oh crap! We're trapped!" Bart said. Lisa quickly tried to think of a solution to get off of the treehouse without getting burned. "Jump," she said suddenly. "What?" Bart asked. "I said JUMP!" Lisa shouted as she grabbed Bart's hand and they both leapt over the flames and landed onto the sandy floor below. The brother and sister both got up and saw that the treehouse that their group worked so hard on has been swallowed by fire. They looked on in horror. "Wh-what should we do now, Bart?" Lisa asked. Bart looked at his sister and then at the burning treehouse. The treehouse that was made by and destroyed by who he thought were his friends. Bart let out a deep breath "In the morning," he started, "We're going to confront them,"
Aaand that's the end of Chapter 8 and the two-parter. Since this chapter is over, we only have 2 chapters left until the story is over (the 10th chapter will be the last one). Stick around for the epic conclusion!