By: NightCat
Disclaimer: Anything recognizable
here is property of Best Brains Inc. I don’t make a cent off of this.
Joel felt numb. Completely and utterly numb. He couldn’t hear the Forresters
as they rambled on about their perfect plan for world domination; at best Joel
heard a faint hum. Even when they left the cell Joel couldn’t take his eyes
off the remains of the ‘bots. Crow’s bowling ball pin beak, Tom’s gumball machine
head, Cambot’s lens, Gypsy’s flashlight eye… his ‘bots, his children.
Mike too was in a state of shock, though he hid it under a blanket of pure rage.
“I can’t believe I was beginning to trust that…” Mike let loose an insult that
would have made Joel’s eyes bug out if he hadn’t had his mind on other, more
important things.
It was the longest hour of Joel’s life. Sitting there staring at the dismantled
‘bots while Mike ranted on and on, his anger gradually turning to despair. And
all they could do was wait and hope for a miracle.
***
“I could be in Hawaii right now,” Clayton muttered to himself as he worked at
the cell lock. “I could have just taken all the money I had saved over the years,
bought a plane ticket, and started again in a tropical paradise while sipping
margaritas. But nooooo, here I am trying to save a couple of doofuses in a dusty
old castle…”
He cursed as his hand slipped and whacked against the hard door. The Pearls
hadn’t trusted him enough to give him a key, so the former mad scientist had
to make due with what he had. Namely, a paperclip.
After a couple seconds of suckling the fresh bruise, he went back to work. Clayton
was starting to sweat, hoping desperately that the lock would pop open sooner
rather than later. He didn’t want this suicide mission (as he thought of it)
to be for nothing.
To his infinite relief, he soon heard the telltale click of the lock opening.
With a quick look around to make sure that he wasn’t being watched, Clayton
quickly slipped through the door.
***
“You!” Mike tried to launch himself at the traitor, but only managed to land
flat on his face.
“Oh shut up Nelson,” Clayton snapped as he knelt by Joel. “I’d rather not call
attention to us at the moment.”
Joel couldn’t even look at him. “Why should we trust a murderer?” His voice
was low and harsh.
Clayton rolled his eyes. “I didn’t murder your tin cans. They’re just fine.”
“Oh really?” Joel glared at him. “Then what do you call that?” He jerked his
head towards the scattered remains.
“I call that a damn good plan,” he said as he untied Joel. “I also call that
thirty bucks worth of dollar store crap and spray-paint.”
“So that’s all the ‘bots were to you, huh?” Mike almost yelled.
“Will you get it through your thick skull already, Nelson?” Clayton said. “Those
are NOT the ‘bots!”
“Then where are they?” Joel asked as he rubbed his now untied and sore feet.
“Somewhere safe,” Clayton simply said as he untied Mike. He gave Clayton an
untrusting eye as the scientist helped him onto his feet. “But right now we
have to worry about our own hinders.”
As Clayton went back to the door, Mike helped Joel up. “I don’t like this,”
Mike muttered quietly enough so that only Joel could hear him.
“Neither do I,” Joel said just as silently. “But just in case he’s telling the
truth…”
Mike nodded. “Yeah, I know. We’ll keep a close eye on him though.”
“Okay,” Clayton said, completely oblivious to their little conversation. “Coast
is clear. Follow me, stay quiet, and don’t dawdle.”
After another quick check to make sure that the hall was completely empty, Clayton
slipped back out the door. Mike and Joel followed at a safe distance.
“How did you know about this place anyway?” Mike asked Clayton quietly. “From
what I know our Pearl didn’t even know of this place until a couple years ago.”
“Our Pearl, Nelson?” Clayton asked, somewhat amused.
“Well, future Pearl,” Mike clarified.
“Thought so. As for how I know about Castle Forrester, let’s just say that Deep
13 wasn’t my first choice for a hideout.” He paused as he checked around another
door. Satisfied that there was no one else about, he went on. “My father also
knew about this place. He took me here once when I was a kid. At the time he
was going through a ‘remember your roots’ kick and wanted to educate me about
our family. I, being a kid of course, just found it really neat that we had
a castle. He never really trusted Mother for a variety of reasons, so he never
told her about it. So, when I was looking for a place to carry out the experiment
I remembered this place and seriously considered using it.”
“So why Deep 13?” Joel asked.
Clayton shrugged. “Easier access to equipment and power mostly. Plus Erhardt
was convinced that this place was haunted and practically refused to even go
through the front door. On his first trip here he wandered into the dungeons
and got his foot caught in a few discarded chains. He swore that it was a vengeful
spirit and didn’t believe me when I said that he was just being a klutz.”
Joel shushed him suddenly. The three stood still at the foot of a stone staircase
and listened hard. It didn’t take them long to hear the footsteps coming down
the stairs above them.
“This way,” Clayton mouthed and led them back down the hall a little ways and
through another door.
“I was hoping we didn’t have to take the long way,” Clayton muttered quietly.
The trio walked in silence through the stone halls, always listening for any
more footsteps or voices.
After a while they finally reached the door to the outside. Joel barely got
his feet out the door when he was bowled over by two very relieved ‘bots.
“Gypsy! Crow!” Joel almost laughed with giddy relief as he held his ‘bots, so
glad that they were safe. Mike was doing likewise with Tom and Cambot. “I’ve
never been so glad to see you guys!”
Behind him Clayton closed the door. “If you guys are done bonding, it’s about
time we get moving. Come on, and careful on the rocks.”
With Joel carrying Crow, the group started to make their way down the rather
steep and rocky hill.
“Ha, losers,” Tom gloated, floating easily above the slipping and sliding group.
“Legs, who needs ‘em. Right, Cambot?”
The camerabot gave a rather smug little beep as he floated beside Tom.
Any rebuttals were cut short by a sharp voice saying, “Not so fast!”
‘Oh no,’ Joel thought as he turned around with the rest of the group. Waiting
behind them were two very haughty looking Pearls, one of which was holding a
loaded tranquilizer gun.
“Now that wasn’t so nice, boys,” Said future Pearl, waving the gun at them.