Well, now that we've all caught up...

Chapter 68

The young glukkon led me up to a small command room with several computer terminals. The room overlooked the entire arena. I could see everything. I noticed, for the first time, the five mudokons in the area. Two were busy replacing the tattered remnants of dummies, while the remaining three were trying very hard to scrub the charred burn-marks off of the floor.
The glukkon, who had introduced himself as Cornell, was busy explaining things to me. Mostly about how he organized the sligs and told them what to do, and he had them practice shooting, and only the best shooters were allowed to take on flying harnesses, and only the best pilots were allowed to take the steroids the vykkers sold them. When he mentioned the Bigbros, I also noticed several of them marching around, showing off their Blitzpackerz to each other. I made a mental note of this: that would mean that there was equipment I could use if I needed to do my Bigbro morph.
But I mostly let him talk. He seemed to like the sound of his voice, because he talked constantly. And I was utterly, thoroughly, and completely bored by his ramblings.
It seemed that Cornell was paying more attention to himself than me, so I decided it would be safe to pop back to normal and unleash that Shrykull.
I quickly shifted to my mudokon form, already preparing to shed my glukkon uniform, lest it be shredded in my Shrykull state - when I realized … I was no longer wearing it.
My glukkon suit was simply gone.
I couldn’t help but let out a whimper … okay, I lied. It was more like a sob. A loud sob. A loud sob that sounded very much like a mudokon.
Cornell is quick to pull out of his self-important monologue, and he whirled upon me. Before he could call for help, I leapt up at him and laid a fist square in his face.
As I’m sure you have guessed, glukkons have terrible balance. I knew this firsthand. So when he tumbled backward, I wasn’t surprised. When he fell into the window, I wasn’t surprised.
But when the window shattered and he toppled through, I was stunned.
I knew - as would anyone in my position - that a loud crashing sound followed by a screaming glukkon falling from up high would soon attract the attention of everyone in the area. So, I unleashed my Shrykull power. Within two seconds I had transformed, scrab beak howling, paramite limbs flailing, and unearthly lightning striking down all sligs.
Several seconds passed, and soon the Shrykull left me, having vaporized the army of sligs that had been below.
I returned the way I had come, down a lift and back to the arena floor. The mudokons were all on the floor, heads covered, obviously terrified.
I looked up and around. No Zappy cams. The Shrykull had shredded those, too.
“All o’ ya!” I whistled merrily. The mudokons stood and greeted me enthusiastically enough.
I chanted and set them free. Unfortunately, the power of the Mudokon God didn’t infest me this time. Not enough rescues together.
But no matter. I had to ask someone why my glukkon outfit was gone.
{PATCH!} Of course Patch. My old standby. He always knew what to do.
As I had once before, I had a feeling that Patch was, in fact, deeply asleep, and dreaming of dancing mudokon girls. Through the nature of this relationship, I was allowed to feel some of the things Patch was feeling. In that moment I realized what sort of feelings I would have had for Druna, were I physically built for it. And yes, it’s terrible, to feel like this about a mudokon who already has a male … but then I reminded myself that these were just Patch’s feelings being projected into me. Nothing to get antsy about.
Right?
I tried to contact Patch again, and I felt him wake up.
{Whuzzat? Dante? What time is it?}
{I dunno,} I snapped. {Look out the damn window and check the sun.}
The sun was up, I knew it; I saw it rise before I had returned to the factory. But it was likely not nine in the morning yet.
Patch sensed my irritation. {What’s up, Dante?}
{My glukkon suit is gone!} I sent. If it had been verbal, it would have been a yell. And Patch knew it.
He seemed to think it over. {How often have you been using your glukkon form?}
{Almost constantly,} I said, {since I got here. Why?}
Patch hesitated. I could feel his reluctance like a weight. He obviously was trying to decide whether or not to say something.
In the end, however, he did. {I’m going to hazard a guess … and say that since you wore those glukkon clothes each time you were in that body, you may have integrated the suit into the morph. So if you were to try and transform again, I think the suit would just be there.}
I thought about it. It made no sense - how could an outfit become part of a transformation that involved just physical changes?
But then I realized, what about my loincloth? That always seemed to just disappear whenever I transformed. And when I pop back to my mudokon body? It’s there again. Perhaps the same thing was happening with the glukkon suit.
{Thanks, Patch. Sorry to wake you.}
He didn’t seem to fazed. {No big thing.}
I took a deep breath and contacted Druna. I knew instantly that she was awake, and that she was very, very upset about something.
{Druna? You okay?}
I couldn’t hear it, but I suddenly knew she had been sobbing. Such was the relationship our psychic bond forged. {I … I guess,} she said. A lie. And she probably knew that I knew she was lying.
But I would have to ask her about it another time. {Would you mind giving me a glukkon power again? Sorry to keep pestering you, but … it’s a very useful tool in here.}
She didn’t say anything - too upset to communicate just then, I felt - but she gave me the morph. {Thanks,} was all I could think to say. She wasn’t as easy to console as the depressed mudokons I had met were.
I came back to myself. Time to see if this would work.
I concentrated on my glukkon self, and hoped to all that was Odd that my clothes would reappear.

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Looking good Dave! Keep it up!

Hurrah! A triumph! Encore! Keep it up, tis well and truly great! Very Odd!

Yay!! new chapters, happy me!! ^_^

I really like these chapters. feels just like the games at some points :D

Nice chapter, I like the way you show all the characters' thoughts and feelings through the telepathy, and cool idea with the suit. I do think that it sometimes feels like the games, but it also feels like what I'd love an oddworld game to be. Keep going!

Great chapter, as usual, Dave. ;) I agree with MM, too-some people think that it's not good to do that kind of thing too often, but I personally don't mind it-it makes the characters more believeable. :) This story does capture the original charm and humor that is Oddworld. Keep it up! :D

Holy cow! It's been almost a week since I've updated.
I don't have time to write much just now, but later this evening I can have something for you.

Okay, here:

Chapter 69
As I converted to my glukkon form, I sighed in relief as I felt the glukkon clothes take shape around me.
But no time to celebrate this little miracle. I returned through the sub-zulag entrance and back to the zulag hub. I had to remind myself that I had no shrykull power ready, so I would have to form another plan.
Four more doors to check out in the zulag. Each marked with a letter: A, B, C, D.
So let’s start with A. A good a place as any. I approached the door and some sensor must’ve detected me, because it clanged open on its own when I got close.
And there I was. It was a fair sized room. Size of a smallish gymnasium, perhaps. The room could probably house forty sligs comfortably, considering they slept in sacks.
And speaking of sleeping, most of the sligs in here were asleep. Only one was awake and armed. As for mudokons, there were five, lined up against the wall. They looked to be on one of their two daily five minute breaks.
The armed slig looked up when I entered. “Hi, boss,” he said absently. No big deal, I guess, as he didn’t recognize me. But he started at the look of disgust I had adopted. Part of a plan. “Something wrong, boss?”
I growled. “Why are all these sligs asleep?” And, raising my voice, “Don’t they know what happens to sligs that get caught asleep on the job?”
This woke them up. There was a ruckus as the surprised sligs fell out of their sacks and began to crawl towards the pants machine.
I turned to the sligs who was awake. “Kill ‘em!”
The slig didn’t hesitate. He turned and raised his gun, and unleashed a long and brutal barrage on the defenseless sligs.
I watched his work with the air of someone watching a fascinating sport. When the job was done (the mess was considerable), I called to the slig again.
“Hey! Come here!”
The slig buzzed and hustled to my side.
“We’re going to explore the other Suites and see who is asleep.”
The slig shrugged. “Okay, boss.”
I led the slig back into the hub and into suite B. This room was identical to suite A, but no slig was awake.
I instructed the slig to clean up shop. He did … and we moved on to find the same situation in suite C.
So when we reached suite D, imagine my surprise at finding a loud party of armed sligs.
They all appeared to be gathered around in a group, maybe watching some sport. No time to ponder it.
“Hey! Stay here.”
The slig buzzed and hurried over to watch whatever was going on.
I returned to the main hub and moved through suites C and B, commanding the mudokons to come with me. I led the group into suite A. Now, with fifteen mudokons gathered in one place, I reverted to my mudokon body and began to chant.
Once the muds were free, I felt the now familiar surge of energy that meant I had obtained a shrykull morph.
Now, to take care of the last batch of sligs. I returned once more to the hub and was halfway across the hub to suite D when the door clanged open and some sligs came marching out. They were mid-chat, something about that unfamiliar glukkon, when they saw me.
I didn’t give them time to react. I leapt forward, feeling my face stretch forward and the extra limbs unfolding from me as I transformed into Shrykull.
The lightning cleared all the sligs within several seconds.
With the zulag free of sligs (not to mention the factory’s reserve of stock soldiers), I went into suite D and realized what the sligs had been watching.
Five brutal, beaten mudokons wielding clubs and knives lay bruised and battered on the floor, breathing heavily. I realized that the sligs, bored, had forced the mudokons to fight each other. Likely, the sligs meant for the muds to fight to the death, but they wouldn’t want bad quarma, I guess, so none of the muds fought very hard.
I moaned, feeling quite bad. Two of the muds had a reddish glow - definitely angry - but the others were giving off a definite blue vibe.
I hurried over. “All o ya!”
Some angry grunts interspersed with moans of pain.
“Aww … sorry.”
The mudokons seemed to realize that things would work out. Or something. In any case, they came around. A quiet chorus of okays greeted my ears.
I grinned and pressed my hands together, chanting yet again.
Marvelous. In a half hours time I had rescued a fifth of the workers here. So far, so good.
After a brief chat with Druna, I returned to the ball car that would take me, as a glukkon, back to Tastee Treets’ main hub.

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Yes, update! Dante's doing well, 50 down, 200 to go. Good chapter, ncie stuff with the suites and I still like the way you have the sligs gun each other down withotu a second thought. Good chapter, keep going!

Weeehaa :D That one was quite fun and stuff, but i felt kind of pity for the beaten mudokons or whatever :( :D:D:D::D:D:D: I'm hyper

Huzzah! A triumph! You definately have that Odd vibe. Tis good, keep it up.

Wow mann you are a good writer I really got into this. Sorry I havn't replied in awhile been busy with Skeeb and all but still you deserve the best Oddworld story teller of the year award if there is any hehe!

Anyway Look Sunday for Chapter3 on Skeeb. Hehe in a way your character Dante surprisingly would be a special treat for the bad guys of my story "the Keepers" if you know what I mean. I mean with him transforming into various inhabitants and all would indeed make him a prime target for the Keepers. But anyway yeah your story is the bomb.

Seriously, this story rocks! I've been reading it all for almost a week and now that I'm done, I can't wait for more. You really can make us feel the feelings of your characters. Even with a good touch of humor! MORE MORE MORE MORE!!!

Well, ask and you shall recieve.
In a day or so.
My internet is screwy, and I'm on a friend's machine. Needless to say, my story is on my machine, and not this one. So you'll see the next chapter in a day or two.
Promise.

Sorry about the screwy internet-I know too well how that is and it's so annoying! Anyway.......sorry about the late review, but that chapter was magnificent as always, Dave. ;) It is feeling more and more like Oddworld as I read-I can't say enough about it because it's that good. Keep it up. ;)

So here it is. 16 chapters left after this.
The end draweth nigh.

Chapter 70

From the main hub I traveled to Zulag 8. This was the Zulag where they kept all the food for the workers and stock animals.
The ball car I traveled in let me off in a small room with three hallways stretching off to the left, right, and straigt ahead. I moved off to the left hall.
A short walk down this corridor brought me to three doors, two on either side of the hall, and one at the far end.
These doors, I knew, would open up on sub zulags where the flits were kept. I had worked a brief stint here not too long ago. And not to mention, there was the undeniable scent of fresh (and not-so-fresh) meat in the air.
And … some other smell intermingled with the odor of the flits. There was something about it that my glukkon mind decided would make a decent meal, though not one of royal proportions. But my mudokon instincts found the stench unbearable.
In the safety of my glukkon disguise, I called for help. A slig came a-running.
“Hey!”
“Hi.”
“What’s that smell?”
The slig took a sniff, and appeared to consider. “Hmm … oh.” He nodded, placing the smell. “That’s the new mudokon test product. Boss Icarus tried it even after that Dante guy escaped.”
I had heard rumors about myself before, but now was my chance to hear what the glukkons thought. I asked the slig if he had heard anything about that Dante guy.
“What are you, new? After Vladimir pitched his idea, Icarus practically shit himself trying to test it out. The first mudokon they took away grew hostile, killed a few sligs, and slipped into the sewers. We sent a few guys down after him, but none of them came back. We assumed that Dante guy wasted them and got away.”
Well, well. They had to expect the worse, didn’t they? That was why that tribe of sligs had been camped out on my road through the wastelands, and that was why the two mudokon villages had been overtaken. Because they were searching for me.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, I take it Icarus went on ahead with the plan anyway?”
The slig nodded again. “Of course. One escaped mudokon won’t stop progress. Although if he were to show his face here, the whole facility would likely go on full alert. After that guy Abe got loose and what not, things are getting more and more dangerous for big facilities like this.”
I nodded in perfect understanding. I might not like the facts, but damned if I didn’t understand it.
I turned to the door on my left, suddenly formulated a plan, and spun back to the slig. I took a big, dramatic sniff, and wrenched my face into a study in disgust. “Well, call it what you will, but I think that the mudokon meat is spoiled. Go and find some others to assist you in disposing of it.”
The slig buzzed in consent, and radioed for some help. We stood around for about thirty seconds, and then about five sligs came marching up. They conversed briefly in their slig language, then walked into the left sub-zulag. I followed closely, pretending I was supervising the work.
As the sligs began to load crates - stenciled with the legend “Test Product” - onto a cart to be taken to the Recycler, slinked off and behind a high stack of crates. I switched back over to my mudokon form and contacted Nine, the mudokon who held my scrab morph.
A few seconds later I stood, majestic, in MY TERRITORY, which is more or less wherever I happened to be as a scrab. I would have to be fast in order to avoid being shot, but perhaps the howl of the Scrab would scare the sligs enough to give me a few extra vital seconds.
And I HOWLED. And I felt THE SHREDDING POWER course through me.
Sure enough, there was a confused uproar from the sligs. What was that and Where did it come from and You don’t suppose that was a scrab.
I charged, jaws snapping and legs pumping. I tore through the huddle of sligs in a few seconds. I think one might have tried to raise his gun, but I snapped his arms off in mid-movement.
In the end my scrab instincts overrode mine, and I let them … to a point. I/it danced atop the remains of the sligs, tearing the meat into a pulp that I/it could easily swallow. I/it ate of it, but soon stopped after accidentally trying to swallow a broken piece of the slig pants.
I soon took over and switched back to my mudokon body. I whistled a loud and piercing greeting to the mudokons in the area, who were busy scrubbing floors and stacking crates. As they came over, I picked up on of the slig guns, disgusting thing it was, and aimed a shot at the Zippy overhead. The kickback strained my forearm, and my hand throbbed, but the Zippy went down, allowing me to chant and free the mudokons.

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Yay, finally another chapter, only 16 to go... ooohhhh, it's going to be so long, bring some more fast! But seriously, this is maybe the most well written fan fiction I've read, from any forum. And yet another blood-flooded chapter to come, more sligs going down, more muds getting away.
Noticed somthing though, there are something like 8 food oriented zulags, and all the chapters looked quite the same lately, I mean, it's slig killing-mud freeing-slig killing-mud freeing... otherwise it's wonderful, almost better than Disneyland! And what happened to your doomed suspenful cliffhangers? Either way, can't wait to get to the prologue again.
Arrrh, I hate having only three posts, I'm actualy the only user I saw with no star... am I not even worth half a star? Oh and by the way, I'll be starting my own fanfic soon, that's actually why I made myself an account... Keep an eye open for Crump's Oddysey!

Yeah ... I did notice this myself. But you see, I'm only writing what comes to me. There was never any elaborate planning for anything that has happened in this story. You might say that if Oddworld was a real place, I would be retelling the tale of Dante the mudokon, not making it up and controlling his life.
There is a bit of a twist coming up in chapter 73. It surprised me a little when I was planning chapters. It likely won't change the action much, but it might give things a sense of urgency. If you can believe it, I don't like to interfere with things in Dante's world too much, and the phrase deus in machina doesn't apply to me.
There are sure to be more cliffhangery endings coming up.
I'm going to explain something to all y'all, and reveal a bit. I am not planning the events, but I am planning how the story is told. What I wanted to do was create a sense that Dante is doing great, and that he'll pull this off without a hitch ... leading up to the obvious change in luck, as evidenced by the prologue.
Well, be active and up your postcount. Don't spam. Easy. I think you get a star at, like, 50 posts. Hell, I'd probably have less than 100 if I never wrote this story.
Duly noted. I'll look for it.

Hmm, so thats how you do it (pulls out notebook and takes frantic notes).

MWAHAHAHAHA! NOW I SHALL FINALLY TAKE OVER THE WORLD! AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME NOW! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH(insert stupid and completely not funny fly-swallowing joke here)

Me likee ^_^ Write some more :D

My brain is hungry for more reading muahahahahaa

Nice job Dave! Keep it up!

(I like your new Avater and siggy, T-nex ^_^)

Booya!

Chapter 71

I dropped the gun - handy a tool as it might be, it was a strain on my arm to use it. And besides, I was better than any slig, and had better tools at my disposal.
There was no need to become a glukkon just yet. I slipped back into the hall and into the next storage room. I hid in the doorway, and noted that there was only one slig on duty. Hmm …
I silently backed out. I knew I could take down one slig in a hand-to-hand fight … but if more sligs were in the other room, there would be commotion, and his backup could simply shoot me from the doorway. Not how I want to go down. At least, not without everyone safe.
I tiptoed over to the next door, wondering how the creaking of my feet on the floor had become so unnaturally loud and how no one had heard it and come to investigate. The next sub zulag was identical, and had two sligs. I was smart then, not to charge the one from the other section.
But I had to take them down. And I could never take two armed sligs at once.
I could try and rally the muds in the room to back me up … but I didn’t want to risk one of the sligs being a good shot and taking out any unnecessary lives.
So I had to choose between scrab, paramite, and slog. It couldn’t be slog. They weren’t used for security in this facility - they were stock animals (they replaced paramites when they became impossible to find, and were made into admittedly good food products). A slog out here would be noticed, and either shot on sight or knocked out and taken back to the slog pits. And scrab? Too noisy. My last attack had probably roused their suspicions, and another one would confirm their fears. And of course one look at a scrab in this facility would prompt shooting. And I couldn’t always control my scrab instincts … I might not be able to charge up another Shred Power in time to defend myself against a slig with a gun.
So it would be paramite.
{Patch,} I began. Our connection now open, I felt a wave of anger, frustration, and jealousy overcome me. Patch was definitely up in arms about something.
{What?} He was more disgruntled than usual.
I could wait to get the power for a few minutes. {Patch? What’s up?}
A surge of anger, then controlled friendliness. But he held no hostility towards me, so that was fine. {Nothing’s up. Druna’s just been acting a little funny. I think she might be cheating on me.}
I was honestly bewildered. I didn’t know what to tell him … {Sorry, Patch. That really sucks. I wish I had time to help you out, but ….}
Patch did seem to cheer up. Something about saying sorry to a sad mudokon inevitably brought around good cheer. Whatever.
{Right, right,}, he was saying. {Need the paramite morph?}
I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me. {Yes. Please.}
He hooked me up and I thanked him. I chanted for a few seconds and fell into the paramite body.
I pounced into the room and was on the first of two sligs before the second even knew there was anything amiss. Instead of fulfilling my paramite urges and snacking on the slain slig, I turned to the second as my paramite senses told me he was raising his gun. He faltered! I lunged and dug my mouth fingers into his chest. Two sligs out of commission. Easy.
There wasn’t much commotion … but the sonar in my paramite mind already mapped out what seemed to be the entire zulag … and the slig from the other storage room was hurrying to this room.
I crouched in wait … and was not disappointed. The slig crashed in and stumbled, clearly not expecting to see a paramite waiting for him. Less likely, he didn’t suspect a leaping paramite to be the last thing he saw. I leapt and crunched his head in my maw. The taste was repulsive, and my paramite mind no longer wanted to eat any slig meat.
All over. I switched back to normal and noticed that all the mudokons in the room were crouched low, as if in terror … but not without an air of reverence. Of course - one of the once sacred paramites had just been in their presence.
“Hello.” A whistle. Damn Zippy cameras prohibited everything else. “Follow me.”
The mudokons looked up, then whistled in joy. They stood and gathered around me.
A short walk later (with a gun in hand to shoot down the Zippy), I had assembled ten mudokons in the sub zulag. After blasting the camera out of the air, I chanted and released these ten muds. And … Shrykull invested me. It was drug like … the simple feeling of raw power could intoxicate you. It was like a natural high.
But I had a job to do.
And now to do it. I marched into the hall again and back to the main hub. I moved into the next door, the slig rations room. I knew the layout of the room front and back - I had worked here for the three years before I was switched to zulag four. And I knew that no one would see me if I just walked in. I also knew that the sligs here were extremely lazy and, believe it or not, unarmed. They were often overweight, and their mechanical pants often had trouble carrying them quickly enough to enforce anything. I had even seen an old mudokon get into a fistfight once with the five sligs assigned here and make a run for it. Of course, the last anyone saw of him was him slipping out the door. Next day there was a mud none of us knew at his place.
Now, I stepped cautiously into the chamber. And, as I expected, the sligs were asleep, and the mudokons whistled quiet conversations to each other as they scrubbed floors.
I could easily have led the mudokons out to safety … but the temptation to use the Shrykull power was overwhelming. I suddenly needed to use it, began trembling because I was hesitating.
I pressed my palms together and instantly felt my body contort into the powerful shape of the mudokon god. I felt the now familiar throbs of lightning erupting from my body and seeking out targets, shredding through the lazy, despicable creatures.
Work complete, my body reverted back to normal … and I fell to my knees in a weak faint.
The other mudokons were up and around me in moments, whistling at me. Are you okay? and Is he all right? and Isn’t that Dante?
After a short while I regained my strength. Perhaps this power to become the shrykull was, indeed, a drug. Perhaps this is why, in the stories Orion had told me of Abe, he used it so rarely. Perhaps I was weakening.
No. Not now. I sill had a job to do. I needed to save my brothers and shut the factory down.
Then … then, with my purpose served … then it wouldn’t matter.
I chanted - the Zippy destroyed in the wake of the Shrykull’s wrath - and liberated five more mudokons.
Getting there.
Feeling better, I returned to the main hub of the zulag. One sub zulag to go.

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All is well and good! Trouble with the shykall though, have to look out for that one. Can't wait for more. Huzzah, hooray and the other standard stuff, i'm running out of things to say in my replies!

And I'm waiting for you (and Havoc) to reply in the Community. Nothing's happening there, and it was just getting interesting!

Nice sub-story with the shrykull :). Go Dante!

Aaahhh, three more gruesome murders and... a wasted shrykull power? Don't fail us Dante, you can do it!

Wheee, I come on to find two new chapters!!! The first was good and gruesome, I liked this line in particular
It made me chuckle.

Chapter 71 was very good, hmm, Druna cheating on Patch? Lemme guess, she fancies Dante!
*Sings* Druna and Dante sitting in a tree....While Patch tries to climb up it and get at Dante. *stops singing*
More nasty deaths, which is good, and I had a great mental image when reading of the overweight slgis, just try and piture a Slig with his stomach spilling over his pants top, getting pummelled by an old mudokon. Hillarious. And the Shrykull thing is interesting, is Dante addicted to it? And I wonder if the twist involves it, perhaps he has to rescue them ASAP so that he does't lose control with the shyrkull and zap everyone, or just plain out dies from the power. Great couple of chappies, waiting for more! Pity though that there's only 15 chapters left, this story is too good to end. Do a sequel! Or we could start on that joint fic.
Oh, and good news for any of those who are still hoping I will update my fic, chapter 10 is one it's way, possibly today, if not then tomorrrow. :D

PS: Freaking Fuzzle Force, I look forward to reading your fic.

Well, look who thinks he's all smart!

Anyhow, muy short chapter today. Pretty much a little more cleaning up and setting up for the final hour. Yes, there will be a Final Hour.

But not yet.

Cehptar 72

{Druna,} I sent. {Druna, I need to get that glukkon morph.}
Silence. And then I was hit by all of Druna’s emotion. And I realized why Patch thought she was cheating on him. She was constantly thinking about some other mudokon. A mudokon Patch knew. A mudokon Patch would likely hate forever if he found out.
Druna had fallen for me.
As flattered as I was, I couldn’t actually understand it. I was a simple drone, and couldn’t comprehend such emotions on my own.
Druna answered at last. {Hi, Dante,} she said, trying to maintain herself. She wasn’t completely gaga, but she was flustered all the same. {No problem.}
I wanted to confront her about it, but it simply wasn’t the time. I thanked her and moved on.
In the hub, I popped over to glukkon form and marched into ….
The last stop in the zulag. Glukkon rations. I’d never been here before, so it was a surprise to me to see a shopping center. And there wasn’t even a zippy camera.
And, now as a glukkon, every slig in the room dropped what they were doing and rushed me. I had just enough time to see the five mudokons around were acting as “cashiers,” checking off what food products were removed from storage and what new items were coming in, when the sligs swarmed me, each offering to pick up some snacks or smokes or drinks for me.
This would be easy enough. “Hey! All o’ yeh!”
Hi, hi, hi.
I began nodding at each slig, and ordering things. “You, get me some cigars. You, friet fries. You, slog chunks. You, meep munchies. Take them to zulag nine and leave ‘em in my room. Do it!”
Buzzes of assent. The sligs ran off to collect the items I had asked for, and soon they were all gone.
Pfft. No big thing. I switched over and called to the mudokons. They gathered and I chanted.
And that was the color and shape of it. Five more rescues.
As hesitant as I was to try Druna again, I had to. {Druna? A little more help?}
I think being bothered so much - and in such a way - would have driven anyone else off the deep end. But Druna seemed to get more and more addicted to me. {Sure, sure, okay, hon-eh, Dante.}
I overlooked it. She gave me the power and I morphed.
Back into the ball car and on the way to the main hub.
Halfway through the ball car trip, something happened.
When it happened, I panicked, and almost gave myself away. I almost ruined my plans.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...nte/button.jpg

...That doesn't sound good... CURES YOU DAVE FOR ENDING THE CHAPTER LIKE THAT!!!

Por Druna, bet she's wishing Patch grabbed someone else when Dante was in the desert! She's fallen for the hero.
Is Patch gonna go colourless again? That would be unfortunate.

*Munche on latest chapter* MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Now there's NO chapter left... Ehm good chapter by the way :D *burp*

Yes, T. It was a bite-sized chapter, I know.
And Splat, I don't know, honestly, about Patch going colorless. As I have said, I've fleshed out major details about Dante, but nothing else. Hell, I was surpsrised when I started writing about Druna falling for Dante some chapters back. But it seemed like the thing to do.
Anyhow, have another bite of Dante.

Chapter 73

In the ball car, I decided that it would be a good idea to go and shut down the detention center. I leaned forward and mashed the Zulag 10 button with my face, and the ball car chugged to life.
As I rode, I began to relax. Things were looking pretty good.
And, just as I was thinking it, the car suddenly stopped, knocking me off balance. The lights flickered and went out. After a few seconds, they came back on, much dimmer.
I look around, feeling the creeping edges of panic beginning to seep into my consciousness.
A screen popped on, and a glukkon began speaking. I soon recognized him as Vladimir.
“Attention all sligs, vykkers, and glukkons in the area. The main power supply has been cut in order to implement emergency plan 19. Auxiliary power has been activated.”
Emergency plan 19? I had no idea what it was, but if it involved using all of the complex’s main power, it was likely not good.
“Sligs that were sent to Zulag nine believe that there is a mudokon terrorist here that is sending away the mudokons. We tried to contact sligs in zulags one, five, seven, and eight, and received no response.”
Uh oh. They were on to me. Me specifically, because they didn’t say “That Abe guy.”
“Icarus has ordered all glukkons and remaining sligs to be in Zulag Nine in one hour’s time, for in sixty minutes, poison gas is going to be released into the facility to flush out the terrorist. The loss of mudokon labor now will be a small price to pay for the destruction of this terrorist.”
Now I was definitely panicking. An hour to free another hundred and seventy five slaves? Preposterous!
And to make matters worse, I was stuck in an immobile ball car.
A little digital display with bright red letters blinked on. 01:00, it read.
Shit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...nte/button.jpg

Countdown Activated! Run Dante! Or... at least get that car in motion again! It's getting exiting ;).

Oh... pantaloons... shame that chapter was so short, but the contents were definately worth it. What will Dante do now? Can he possibly save all the remaining mudokons within an hour when it took so long to save just 75? How could he shut off the timer without drawing the attention of every slig, vykker and glukkon in the building?

Ooh, I just had a nasty thought! I'm tempted to mention it here... Is it all just a feindish scheme devised by the industrialists to get Dante to reveal himself in his panic?

Either way, Run, Dante, Run!

Splat, you give Dante far too little credit. Remember, he's been in situations more straining than this.
I'm tempted to post another chapter ... but it can wait.
Mwa ha haa.

Wonderful, but incredibly short chapters. But now, toudoum, toudoum-toudoum(Jaws-style suspense music), haha! A countdown! Will Dante be able to save every single mudokon in Tastee Treets? Will we have to use the dreaded casualty counter? I don't know actually because I didn't manage to find the URL for the very last counter, (highest I can get is chapter 81-82) but I can't wait!!! And by the way, my fic is up, just follow my signature...


Edit: My mightyness has discovered the secret URL to the final mudokon counter, and I hence know the answer to the cursed question, muahahahaha.

Secret? There's a big green button at the end of each chapter.
I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. I guess.

Yeah, well, he's been through hot, cold, rain, sun, mental torture, treachery and death, but he's never had a one hour time limit before!

So stop reading this and get on with it! 175 simple-minded mudokons won't save themselves!!!

This will be the last chapter for a few days. I'll be out of town and away from my computer. Note: If anybody lives in or around Newark, Delaware and is planning on going to the football game at Glasgow High ... I'll be around. My marching band is playing there.

Anyhow, chapter time.

Chapter 74

00:57
Fifty seven minutes.
Time for a plan…. Something came to me, and I was desperate. Three minutes was longer than I wanted to stay in this car. So I bent forward again and pressed my face against the screen with the glukkon’s face repeating the message about meeting in zulag nine.
The screen went blank for a moment, and I was connected to a slig wearing a headset. He sat in a control room, presumably in Zulag Nine.
“Hey!”
“Hi.”
“I’m stuck in a ball car that got shut off for the announcement. I was on my way to Zulag Ten. Turn on my ball car! Do it!”
“Yessir! But I suggest being quick. Everyone needs to be here in less than an hour.”
Then he pressed a few buttons … and I heard an engine start up somewhere above me. The ball car was moving again.
Good.
00:55
This flashing sign greeted me as I stepped off of the ball car and into the detention center. This sight was quickly followed by a large group of sligs beating on a small group of mudokons. I saw mudokons stuffed into pens. I saw cages hanging from the high ceiling that no doubt held mudokons.
Infuriating.
I cleared my throat and shouted. “All o’ yeh!”
Every slig in the room turned to me. “HI!”
“Come ‘ere.”
The sligs came to me and gathered around, buzzing anxiously.
“You are all no doubt aware of the presence of a mudokon renegade in the complex. I want you all to split into groups and report to slig training, food prep, and food storage and try to flush him out. If we can find him, we won’t have to poison and kill the other workers, and we’ll save some moolah.”
A wild goose chase. There weren’t any mudokons left out there, and I was the “terrorist” they were after.
The sligs all agreed, naturally - they knew what happened when you argued with a glukkon in the presence of other sligs - and marched into the ball car.
I had done this because I had no time to try and shred them all as a scrab or paramite….
Anyhow, I turned back to normal and looked up for Zippy cams. But … it seemed that in the power outage, they had all been deactivated. More time saved for me.
I went and undid the bolts on the pens holding the mudokons. They were all very blue.
“Aww,” I whined, not wanting to tarry and doing so anyway. “Alloya!”
They all moaned greetings.
“Sorry … follow me?”
The muds brightened, though they retained a depressed manner. I noted with some despair that they were going gray around the edges.
No time to cheer them up. They’d find happiness in the new settlement.
I led them over to the group of angry, beaten mudokons on the floor. Couldn’t apologize to them, either. I just shouted to get their attention and began to chant.
Ten more rescues gave me another shrykull power …. I relished the feeling of power that rushed through me.
But no. I had to save this for when I absolutely positively needed it.
And it looked like I might not right away. There was a machine - it read “Getcha Bigbro Pants” - and I understood how I could do everything. At least, everything in the rest of this zulag.
I racked my brain to try and remember who held my Bigbro flash power… I had only used it once, in the desert, shortly after meeting …
Those ghosts.
{Clog?} I asked tentatively. I expected a hail of angry curses from him, and wasn’t disappointed.
When he was finished, I continued. {Clog, I need the Bigbro morph.}
He knew I wasn’t going to be affected by his cursing, so he gave in and powered me up.
I transformed and crawled over to the machine. I pressed the button with a beefy hand and felt a small shock course through me.
After a moment I realized that I was fully armored, pants, gun, and all. Closer inspection on the gun revealed that it was a Blitzpacker.
Okay. Now to clean up dodge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...nte/button.jpg

That's another ten... Get on with it Dante!

Well done Dave, this is very intense, very fast paced and exciting! Keep going (please?:fuzblink:)

Not again! I always miss the clifhangewrs. :banghead:
But, I get to give my thoughts on 3 chapters. They were short but good. And I don't just think I'm smart, I know I am, seeing as I was rugight about Druna. *Grins* Just joking Dave.
I like the idea of a supermarket in the factory, and the timer thing should make for some fast pced, exciting and tension-filled chapters. Keep it up mate!

Wow, it seems that I've missed quite a few chapters! :O Nice work, Dave. You've still got the Oddworld charm going on in this story and that's what makes it so good. I enjoyed reading those-the story just keeps getting more and more intense as it goes along. :)