Chapter 1
Part 8: Naivete or Heroism?
Clancy woke up with a terrible headache. Well, he didnât necessarily wake up per se. He just woke up and kept his eyes closed. He was lying on something very hard and cold. He thought he could feel condensation rising from the surface, which made him think he was lying on ice. There was a machine running somewhere. It sounded like some sort of engine, and it made the ground shake. The whole room was very, very cold. It made him shiver.
He heard a door creak open and then slam shut.
âHello Clancy.â
Clancy could recognize the voice. It was probably Vinny.
âAre you awake?â
He lifted his arm to show a sign of life, emitting a terrible armpit-y stink.
âGood. You can put your arm back down now.â Was it just his imagination, or did Vinny sound slightly strained about it?
There was a slight pause.
âAre you ready to get up?â
Clancy grunted.
âGood.â
The machine in the background stopped.
âPrepare yourself.â
Clancy sat up and looked around rapidly. His ankles were chained to hinges in the ground. They were in a very small cave, with old, dim lights illuminating the place. Clancy couldnât see where the machine was.
âIâll give you a minute to prepare.â
Clancy looked for the voice and found it. Vinny was in a dark corner behind some stalagmites. Clancy could only make out a shadow.
âWhatâs going on!? Prepare myself for what!?â
There was a loud bang. From down the cave corridor, Clancy saw a large shadow.
âWhat is that!?â
âPatience.â
The shadow got closer and closer, larger and larger.
âLook, you need to tell me what that is now!â
âFine, fine.â
Vinny looked like he made a gesture. When he did so, the shadow stopped moving.
âListen, boy. We need your help. You and your little wulf.â
âHelp!? For what!?â
âWill you shut up already!?â
Clancy sat down slowly and stared at the floor. He could hear Vinny breathing heavily.
âCan I continue?â
âYes.â
âThank you.â A sigh. âLook, we need your help. We are others. We know of you. You are the most legendary other out there.â
âWhy?â
âCome now. We saw what you did to Gandalf.â
âHow did you know about that?â
âWe know everything.â Vinny paused.
âWe were hoping you could conjure those powers to help us. We do need to look out for one another, right? One... an... other, after all.â
âWhat does the machine do?â
âDo you know about ArmorCity?â
âYes. My love is there. I need to save her.â
âOh? Is that so? Well, you just tell me her name and weâll bring her here for your comfort. After all, I didnât know you were such a ladies man, and it would be terrible to have you lose her.â
âWait, what? Lose her!?â
âYou see, my dear boy, we are going to use that machine to destroy ArmorCity.â
âWhy!?â
Vinny growled a little.
âFor so many years those pompous and pretentious fools have treated us like garbage! I am tired of being called an other! I am not an other! I am a leader!â
Vinny calmed down for a few seconds.
âWhen you arrived, did you see my henchmen?â
âNo, but I heard them.â
âExactly. Those men have families to take care of, yet we receive sub-par supplies. Why, we get nothing more than their garbage!â
âWhy do you demand more for something you get free?â
Vinny scoffed. âHeh, you donât understand. A simple loner like you doesnât know how the world works.â
Clancy returned with a snide comment. âI can guarantee peace is better than destruction.â
âNo, no, no! NO ITâS NOT!â
Vinny stomped his foot a few times. He sounded like a child.
âPeace is a horrible thing! Peace is what got us out here in the first place! There is no need for peace! No desire for it!â
Vinny spent the next few seconds breathing. Clancy closed his eyes.
âI do not have time for your insignificant beliefs. You are nothing more than a simple loner with a coincidental gift. You do not matter. Your sole purpose is to power the machine.â
Clancy sighed.
âGuards, grab him.â
From behind Clancy was lifted and blindfolded. He felt a gag being crammed into his mouth. He tried to fight but he couldnât. A few seconds later, he felt a needle go into his side. Paralyzation. Each guard had their arms wrapped around his armpits, much to their disgust. His feet dragged along the ground him. As he was being dragged, he could hear Vinny muttering behind him.
âFret for your figure and fret for your latte and fret for your lawsuit and fret for your hairpiece and fret for your Prozac and fret for your pilot and fret for your contract and fret for your car.â
His senses were becoming dulled. He could barely feel, hear, or smell. After roughly ten minutes, he felt himself being shoved into something big, most likely through a suspended doorway. He lay there for a few minutes until he heard a voice.
âHow goes it?â
With the mouthguard in place, he couldnât reply.
âGarglfrblgr.â
âLet me give you a hand with that.â
Almost like magic, the mouthguard was gone. The blindfold remained on his head.
âCan you remove this dumb thing on my eyes too?â
âNo.â
âWhy not?â
âIâm not going to. Deal with it.â
âUm, alright.â
âWhatâs your name?â
âClancy.â
âMy nameâs Frank.â
âOh, hi Frank.â
There was a pause.
âYou donât know who I am, do you?â
âYouâre... Frank.â
âIâm not just Frank. Iâm the Freakenstein!â
âOh. Thatâs nice.â
âYouâre kidding, right?â
âNo. Why?â
âMost Newmanists go into fits when they finally meet me. Granted, itâs been a while since I was away from this danged place.â
âNewmanists?â
âYou mean you arenât a Newmanist?â
âA what?â
âAre you a McNeelist?â
âEr, nope. I donât think so, anyway.â
Another pause.
âMan, I thought people like you were extinct!â
âCanadians arenât extinct, are they?â
âNo, I mean atheists!â
âAthe-whats?â
âYou know, the legendary Kasics, the knowledgeable Mages, the followed HahiHas.â
âI donât know what any of those are.â
âOh, jeez, you donât get out much, do you?â
âThese past few days were the only days Iâve really been âoutâ.â
âWell, Iâm Frank. I guess Iâm a big deal to Newmanists, even though Newmanism is ridiculous. Science not only disproves it, but I was around long enough to be worshipped and I can guarantee that their story is way off.â
âWhat story?â
âThe Way of Moderation. Newmanism is based off it.â
âWait, then why do they call it Newmanism if itâs based off some story called that?â
âBeats me. Religion has never made sense to me.â
âUh-huh.â
There was another pause.
âHave you seen a little man with fur running around on all fours?â
âI see everything.â
âWell, have you seen this specific thing?â
âA âlittle man with fur running around on all foursâ is not very specific.â
âOkay, well, have you seen one around here?â
âIf youâre talking about Gamer, yes.â
âWhere!?â
âIâm not telling.â
âWhy not!? This is very important!â
âIâm not telling because I donât want to. Besides, I enjoy the company.â
âIf I give you some more company, will you tell me?â
âTry it and see.â
âUgh, fine.â
A pause.
âSo howâd you get here?â
âHow indeed. I donât remember.â
âHow long have you been here?â
âUm, dunno.â
âWhat exactly is it that you do here?â
âYou know when that Penguin leader guy told you he knew everything?â
âUh, yeah.â
âYeah. They make me tell them stuff.â
âOh?â
âYeah. Thing is, I used to get lots of questions. But they somehow took that ability and replicated it into some ball. Theyâve been using the ball up until about a few days ago.â
âReally?â
âYep. I am enjoying the questions again.â
âWhy do you do it?â
Frank sighed. âI donât know. Sometimes itâs fun to have the company. Frankly, I hope they eventually let me go.â
âIf you know everything, canât you just escape?â
âI said I could see everything.â
âSo you donât know how to break out?â
âNo, no. I do know how. Iâd need to have the strength of all the moderators combined to get out. They have this place secured tight.â
âOh. Shame.â
Clancy didn't know what a 'moderator' was. He was a too intimidated to ask.
"Yeah..."
Clancy was starting to get his sense of smell back. Frankâs breath smelled of fish.
âDo you think weâre ever going to be released?â
âMaybe. Thereâs an army on their way here to save us.â
âWow, howâd you know?â
âLike I said,â
Clancy cut in. â-you can see everything!â
âYep.â
âWhen are they coming?â
âOh, jeez, I donât know. Thereâs some dude in a plane on his way here.â
âWow, hopefully heâs the scout or something.â
âYeah, hopefully.â
Clancy was rather enjoying himself, despite the loss of ability to move in half his body and the horrid headache, not to mention his entrapment and eventual forced destruction of an entire city. He was focusing on his newfound friends: Frank and Gamer. They were very nice.
