Author's note.
We're nearing the end of the Chapter 3 content. Then, you'll be getting chapter 4 content. Though, this section will end differently from the end of Chapter 3. So, leave a review, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Chapter 14
Team Tennyson then got the key to the Counsellor's office.
"All we need to do is get into the Counsellor's office, turned on the generator, plug it into the statue and get out," said Gwen. "This is not gonna be easy".
"It usually isn't" said Ben.
"Then let's get going" said Max. He then a pouch on his belt and pulled out some ear pieces and handed one to Ben, Gwen, Dogday, Kissy and Poppy before putting one in his ear.
"These will allow us to communicate with each other," said Max. "You got one of your's in, Dogday?"
"Yeah, I got mine in," said Dogday. "You, Gwen and Ben will head into the Counsellor's office, while me, Kissy and Poppy will head back up to see what we can find. Good luck, you three". Dogday, Poppy and Kissy then walked off. Ben, Gwen and Max them walked towards the Counsellor's building and opened the door.
"Come on" said Max. As they walked through the the halls of the Counsellor's building, they noticed the state it was in. Turned over or destroyed furniture, large holes in the walls and either dead or broken toys. However, they heard the faint sounds of paws hitting the floor.
"Catnap's here" said Max.
"Then we gotta be careful," said Gwen. "If Catnap's here, who knows what could be next?"
'Max, this is Dogday, do you read me?'.
"Yeah, I read you, Dogday," said Max. "What did you find?".
'I found something interesting. It looks like, a biology book on…..aliens!'.
"Aliens?" Asked Ben.
'Yeah. I also found some body charts. And they aren't human, or animal'.
"What would they want with aliens?" Asked Ben.
'I don't know. But it can't be good'.
"You use to work here, Grandpa," said Gwen. "Do you know why they'd want a book on aliens?".
"I, I don't know," said Max. "But, it can't be good".
'I'll call you when we find anything else'.
"How are Kissy and Poppy?" Asked Max.
'They're doing fine. No sign of any of the Prototype's servants'.
"I think Catnap is stalking us" said Max.
'Just be careful. Catnap is a master of stealth. Be on your guard. Dogday, out'.
"We need get the generator on, fast" said Gwen. Ben opened one of the doors and it lead into another part of the caves they were in before meeting Dogday.
"Okay, seriously, how many caves are there?" Asked Ben.
"Hundreds," said Max. "Now, you two stay here, I'll sort out the electrical stuff". Max used his Grab Pack to jump up and reconnect the circuits.
"Okay, that's done" said Max. As they walked back in, Max's eyes fell on a door that read 'Stella Greyber. Head of Playcare'.
"Stella" muttered Max.
"Maybe we can find something in here" said Ben. He then opened the door to reveal Stella's office.
"Spread out" said Max. The three of the spread across the office.
"Hey, check this out" said Gwen. She held up a file that she pulled out of a draw.
"What is it?" Asked Ben as he and Max gathered around Gwen.
Gwen opened the file to reveal a photo of a 7-yr-old boy with brown, curly hair.
"Theodore Grambell" said Max.
"You know him, Grandpa?" Asked Ben.
"He was one of the Orphans at Playcare," answered Max. "He was causing trouble a lot. He'd steal from the office. Not to mention he was a master a stealth. He then stole a Grab Pack and tried to escape but,….he got electrocuted".
"Did he, survive?" Asked Ben.
"He did," said Max. "But, he just, disappeared one day".
"Maybe he got adopted?" Suggested Gwen.
"I hope you're right" said Max. They continued to search, but there was nothing else. They then left and continued walking through the halls. They then came a crossed the room full of the red poppy gas.
"Gas Masks" said Max before he, Ben and Gwen put their masks on and walked in. They started to search for batteries and started to put batteries in. Then, a door opened up and they walked into another scaffolding area. After doing some more electrical stuff, they headed back into the Counsellor's building.
"Follow me" said Max. They then walked into the hallway.
"We should nearly be done" said Ben.
"Don't count on it". The three of them were then tackled by Catnap, knocking their gas masks off. Ben laid on the floor before he blacked out.
"Ben. Ben. Wake up, Ben". Ben opened his eyes and saw Dogday kneeling beside him.
"Dogday?," asked Ben. "What happened?".
"Catnap got the jump on you guys," said Ben. "When you guys didn't respond to our transmissions, I went back here".
"He must've knocked off our masks," said Ben, he then noticed that Max and Gwen weren't there. "Grandpa? Gwen?". They then heard a phone ring and saw the phone that was used to call Ollie.
"Hello?" Asked Ben picking it up. What came out, wasn't Ollie's voice.
"Leave Playcare! Or you won't live to see the sun!" The phone line then cut.
"Oh man" groaned Ben, sounding scared.
"Catnap must've taken them," said Dogday. "I'll plug the battery into the wall". After Dogday shoved the battery into the wall, the two of them ran out. However, the power was out again.
"Looks like Catnap's been busy" said Dogday. The phone then started to ring again. Ben picked it up and Ollie answered.
"Somethings gone wrong," said Ollie. "Grab the cord from the Counsellor's Office and plug it underneath the statue".
"Well, where is it?" Asked Ben.
"At the front of the Counsellor's Building," said Ollie. "Also, why didn't Max answer?".
"Catnap, took him and Gwen" said Ben.
"Oh no," said Ollie. "We gotta save them. Plug the cord in, we need reach 100%".
"On it" said Ben.
"Good luck" said Ollie. Dogday found the cord and they ran towards the statue. Dogday handed the cord to Ben and he plugged it in. They then plugged in the cord next to the left that Poppy came down.
"Great, we're at 100%," said Ollie. "I'm sending you a battery to plug into the Gas Production Zone".
"What about Max and Gwen?" Asked Ben.
"We need to plug that battery in," answered Ollie. "But, we also need to rescue your family."
"Hmm, I have an idea," said Dogday. "If anything, Catnap's holding them hostage close to the Gas Production Zone. Plus, he's want to protect it from us. So, we go there, we'll find Catnap. We find Catnap, we'll find Max and Gwen."
"That makes the most sense," said Ollie. "Okay, head over there. Good luck". Ollie then hung up and the battery appears. Dogday found a large duffle bag, placed the battery in it and flung it over his back.
"Let's go" said Dogday. The two of them then walked towards the entrance to the Gas Production Zone. However, they saw that the entrance had been barricade by steel plates and bolts.
"Ugh, come on" said Ben. He looked at the Omnitrix and saw that it was still red. Dogday placed his hands on the steel plate and he got shocked.
"And it's electrified" said Dogday.
"There has to be another way in" said Ben.
"There is," said Dogday. "But, it's a bit of a trek." Ben, clenched his fists.
"Then let's get walking" said Ben. He then felt something pick him. Dogday then placed Ben on his shoulders, Ben then held onto Dogday's ears.
"Let's go" said Dogday. With the battery in a duffle bag on his back and Ben on his shoulders, Dogday walked the cable car that Ben, Max and Gwen took into Playcare. By the station, was a crooked piece of metal. Dogday shuffled the piece of metal out of the way. There was a large amount of scaffolding, a similar amount to that that Ben saw in the cave systems that lead to the Playhouse.
"Before this place closed down," explained Dogday. "They were doing maintenance on the outside. There's an entrance to the Gas Production Zone." Dogday stepped out onto the Scaffolding. The wood and metal creaked under his weight of his metal legs.
"Hold on tight" said Dogday.
"Trust me, I'm not letting go" said Ben. As they made their way across the Scaffolding, Dogday stepped on something. It was a button, then, firecrackers exploded, causing part of the Scaffolding to collapse. Dogday managed to grab onto a metal rod.
"You okay, Ben?" Asked Dogday.
"Yeah, I'm fine," answered Ben. "You still have the battery, too?". However, the rod snapped. But, something grabbed onto Dogday's arm. It was a large, red, square hand with four, red, clawed fingers. This hand, was connected to a red spring. With a mighty heave, Dogday and Ben were pulled back onto the scaffolding.
"Glad you're okay" said a deep, voice. Ben and Dogday looked up to who it was. It was another giant toy. It's main body was that of a jack-in-the-box box coloured blue with a yellow star on the front. It's arms, legs and neck were long, red springs. His arms ended into square, red, fuzzy hands with four, clawed fingers and his legs ended in red, clawed feet. His neck was connected to a square, red, fuzzy head with beady eyes.
"Boxy-Boo" said Dogday. It was him. Only, he had something different. Covering his mouth was a steel guard.
"It's good to see you, Dogday" said Boxy-Boo.
"Same to you" said Dogday.
"Uh, care to introduce me?" Asked Ben.
"Oh, my bad," said Dogday. "Boxy-Boo, this is Ben Tennyson, Max's Grandson".
"I know of him, I did follow them for a bite ," said Boxy-Boo. "What are you doing out here?".
"We need to get to Gas Production Zone" answered Dogday.
"Catnap blocked the entrance from Playcare," added Ben. "And we need to get to it". Boxy-Boo frowned.
"You're going after Catnap?," asked Boxy-Boo. "I heard you tried that before, and judging from you mechanical legs, it didn't work".
"He's got my Grandpa and Cousin," said Ben. "I need to rescue them". Boxy-Boo, raised an eyebrow.
"How are you going to do that?" He asked. Ben held up his arm that had the Omnitrix on it.
"Alien technology," said Boxy-Boo. "How did you get that?".
"Long story," said Ben. "How do you know about alien tech?".
"I know the stuff that turned us into, well, this," said Boxy-Boo. "They kept me in this advanced looking cell as they tailored my taste buds to human flesh". Ben gulped. What the hell was going on?
"Why are you wearing that guard over your mouth?" Asked Dogday.
"Because I refuse to eat human flesh anymore, or that, other flesh," answered Boxy-Boo. "So, I put this over my mouth, hoping to minimise the food I ate. I mostly ate bats, rats and dead toys".
"What do you mean by, 'other flesh'?" Asked Ben.
"I can't stay here for long," said Boxy-Boo. "I've been watching you, for a while Ben. So, while I was scrounging for food, I found something that could help". He reached into his body and pulled out a forearm cover with a screen on it.
"A Pad Pal" said Dogday, taking it from Boxy-Boo and putting it on.
"And, how does that help?" Asked Ben.
"It has applications like a map and a hazard detector," said Boxy-Boo. "Now, I gotta go. Take care". Boxy-Boo then jumped onto the dome and started to climb it before disappearing.
"Well, let's keep going" said Dogday before he started to walk across the scaffolding.
