Amy

[Splat]

Alright, so I didn;t get an Alf bit in it. But I got in something better! What I hope some of you have been waiting for... So read it already!


Chapter 12


Splat

Once the cameras were off I made my way to the maintenance block in about 15 minutes. It was surrounded by greeters but no sligs. I guess the boss preferred to put guards that didn’t slig away for a smoke in the middle of a shift for the more sensitive areas.
Still, greeters are no walk in the park, but the lack of sligs made using shred power an option (if rather painful when it comes to bone hitting metal at over 70mph).
Once I’d got into the maintenance block it became more tedious. Sligs and vykkers were running around and I came pretty close to a painful death more than once before I found the security control room. It was filled with rows of WINDIES computers, controlling various sections of the building. At the far end a couple of vykkers were sitting side by side at 2 computers. Two or three sligs were sitting at various terminals around the room.
There was no way I could knock out any of them without letting the others no I was there. I ducked behind a desk where no one was working (or not working) nearby. Someone had left in a hurry and not turned it off. Which gave me an idea.
I sneaked up to the computer and ducked behind it. Then, quietly, I opened up the controls for the central alarm system. Five minutes of security protocols and popups asking me to donate a lung later, I had the security alarm knocked out.
I peered over my computer and made sure no one was looking in my direction. Then I took off and flew up into the ceiling and crossed the room, praying that none of the sligs would find a reason to look up.
Once I was above the two vykkers I spent a few seconds trying to decide which one was more important. Picking out the one with more metal fingers and expensive pens, I swooped down and crashed onto the other. He started screaming up until the point that I shredded him with a shred power that I’d prepared earlier (had to put it in somewhere).
A little factual lesson is that when you murder a vykker, sligs begin to pay attention. As several scrambled for their weapons I grabbed the surviving vykker and held him in front of me.
"Whadda we do Sir?" One of the slower sligs yelled at the vykker.
I called up another shred power. "Don’t give me a reason to kill this guy," I called to the room in general.
The vykker began to panic.
"Shall we try and shoot him sir?"
"Don’t be an idiot!" He was acting perfectly. "One shot at me and I’ll have you fed to the slogs!"
"You should be so lucky," I muttered into the vykker’s ear. Then to the room, "All of you, get over towards that corner," I motioned the corner opposite the door.
Most of the sligs began shuffling towards the corner I indicated, guns raised. Then at once 2 of them lunged away.
One leapt at the security alarm next to the door. Another dived forwards, hoping to get behind me. I yanked the vykker towards the latter and let go of him. I unleashed shred attack on the slig and grabbed his gun in one hand and the vykker in the other before he could move. The slig by the alarm began to laugh. "What are you gonna do now freak? In a minute reinforcements will be pouring in here and any other terrorists you brought with you will be killed!"
"Wouldn’t that be nice?" I answered and shot him awkwardly with the sligs gun. It fired a few shots and then shut down.
The vykker laughed. "Ha! That gun is top of the range! You can’t shoot us all, they’ll all shut down once the slig using them is dead!"
"Thanks for the tip mate." I muttered and ran over to the door and locked it. The vykker laughed again.
"You think that’ll keep the guards out? That lock won’t stop our troops!"
"Not if your troops aren’t coming." I answered.
"The alarm…"
"Oh, didn’t I say? I shut the alarms off. No one’s coming to save you."
And then, still tugging the vykker, I leapt at the crowd of confused sligs in the corner and released shred power on the lot of them.

Amy

"How long will it take you to realise that the sea will dry up before we let you escape?"
I didn’t answer. What was he expecting? I was too tired, and my body ached too much, to listen to this.
I was near laying. Two or three days before I was expected to lay a nest of children ready for them to become slaves of my captors, and the b@st@rd beside Martor knew it.
Gerent was one of my "minders". Two vykkers were given the job of being carted off to Odd-knows-where with me so they could make sure I was dropping out eggs at the right time and to… study me.
Covdi, my second minder, was probably preparing a nesting place as I stood in Martor’s office with pain soaking through my body as the ex-president himself lectured me about how pointless any attempt at escape was. I was determined not to give Gerent the pleasure of seeing me suffering. He and Covdi would laugh about it later when I was lying in a cell, wishing I was dead so I could stop betraying my children.
If I could stop laying I would have, but I am a queen. My body is designed to produce a nest of 8 to 20 eggs every 2 months. I could never stop it without badly injuring or killing myself.
Martor was shouting at me with all the breath in his lungs, despite my only being 2 feet away. He gave me a furious look, informed me that "we will not tolerate this kind of rebellion" and motioned the sligs around me to take me out of my office.
As soon as they were away from Martor they stopped leading me and began forcing me. Shoving guns in my back, the pain intensified with me being so sensitive from being so close to laying.
"What dya think you’re doing, Mud?" "You think this is a game?" "We’re all getting real sick of this." "Much more and we’ll have ya, whatever Martor says!"
They wouldn’t do anything to me, despite the threats. They were scared of Martor when he was angry, and Martor got angry very easily. He, himself, was scared of any trouble. From what I’d gathered he’d been caught up in a whole heap of it and if he screwed up this particular assignment he wouldn’t live long enough to get another job.
We arrived at my cell and the sligs unlocked the door and shoved me in. I hit the ground hard and yelled in agony. They laughed before locking the doors and leaving.
A while later Covdi appeared outside my cell and taunted me for a while. Of course I knew I was betraying my species…
He eventually got bored and left. Shortly afterwards I slept…



At last the queen makes an appearance! The second bit just kept getting longer till I ran out of room for any more. I don't think Splat's bit went as well as I hoped but at least it's something. Hope those of you who still read this liked it. This won't be Amy's last appearance.

[odd chick]

I liked the part featuring Splat, actually because it was loaded with action (With all the shred power.) And yay, Amy finally made an appearance in the story! I love this story, you have amazing writing talent, Splat. Keep it going because it's really getting interesting!

[Seargentbig]

Hah, I would hope that wasn't Amy's last appearance, what with her name being the title and all...

[Splat]

Not at all, I'm liking where that last one was going. good to see ya both, I'll send the next chapter when it's written. I've got no exams this week, which is an advantage. I keep meaning to write something, I just need to make myself.

Replies help too.

[odd chick]

Yeah, it's good to see you again, too, Splat. Well, we'll still be waiting for that next chapter. *remembers her own fanfic that she hasn't written in ages*

[Splat]

Viva la chapter! Sorry about the wait. I couldn't think of an ending so I had to stick the Martor bit in earlier than planned.


Chapter 13

Alf

"Hey, what dya think you’re doin Munch?" I asked angrily as that idiot of a gabbit blew up his snoozer.
"I need to take a leak! Sue me!"

"So what am I supposed to do if a slig turns up and you’ve run off somewhere?"

"Don’t mess with me Alf, when you gotta go you gotta go."

"For Odd’s sake man, can’t you hold it?"

"Hey Alf, I’ve been holding this one for half an hour! Unlike you mudokons, I don’t have an internal combustion engine in my gut!"

"Don’t get biological with me! Where are you gonna go?"

"Just to find a drain or a pot-plant or somethin! Then I’ll be right back."

"And what am I supposed to do if a slig turns up and you’ve run off?"

Munch was already half way round the corner. "Wake up Alf, we’ve been here for over an hour and we’ve only seen a vykker and those interns that didn’t even notice us-"

"And that greeter!"

"Ok, a vykker, 2 interns and a greeter that wouldn’t have even bothered is if you’d kept still-"

"Me keep still? You were the one that started throwing rocks at its head!"

"Whatever Alf, the point is we’ve been here ages and we haven’t seen anything remotely dangerous. What are the odds that when I’m gone for 5 minutes a sligs gonna appear?" Before I could protest he’d gone.

I sighed and kicked the head of the wrecked snoozer across the room. At which point a rather viscous looking big-bro-slig came round the corner and pointed his gun at me.

"Freeze Mud! What ya doin here? This is a NO MUD security zone."

I was gonna murder that gabbit.

"I, uh, my uh, supervisor, told me to come, get a, uh…"

"What the Hell happened here?" The slig gestured Munch’s snoozer.

"I dunno… sir… It was here when I got-"

"You still haven’t told me why you’re here Mud."

"My supervisor sent me to… to the… security office cus the, uh… the chant suppresser cut off in our work zone. And I, uh… got lost."

The steroid-enhanced slig gave me a murderous look. "Oh really?" I nodded. "Why don’t I believe you?"

"I dunno sir… maybe you’re just not a trusting guy?" I suggested.

He growled. "Don’t get smart with me Mud." He took a threatening step towards me. I stepped back. "Now I’m gonna give you to the count of three to tell me why you’re really here. One." He took another step forwards.

I stepped back and found myself pressed against the wall. "I already said, I was-"

"TWO!" The slig cut me off and made to step towards me again. Instead he suddenly jerked backwards a step. With a yelp he grabbed onto the wall as if to stop himself falling out of his pants.

"What the Hell is wrong with this thing now?" He growled, smacking his pants and taking another jerking step backwards. "Fine, if this thing wants to work in reverse, I’ll just walk backwards!"

The slig jerked his tail and suddenly he shot forwards like he had a rocket tied to his back and practically flew at me. I barely leapt out of the way and he ht the wall with a loud "CLONK" and bounced off, landing on his back, looking dazed.

I began to edge away until he suddenly roared angrily and pushed himself up. Or tried to. However, it appeared his pants were still refusing to comply because he moved halfway up and then flopped down again.

"WHAT IN ODD’S NAME IS WRONG WITH THIS THING?" He yelled and began hammering at his pants with his fists. "Get UP damn you!"

Finally getting the message, the big-bro’s pants leapt upright, yanking the slig with them, and began dancing the fandango across the room.

I’d already figured it out though. "Ok Munch, get on with it."

The slig was yelping and shouting. Suddenly his pants exploded and he went flying into the air and landed in a heap on the floor, his head buried under his heavily beefed-up body.

Munch stepped out of the shadows. "How was that?"

"Why couldn’t you just kill the thing and be done with it?" A loud moan emitted from the big-bro’s notable mass.

"Hey, that’s Abe’s job. I’m off to find me a snoozer."

"Munch." He looked back over his shoulder. "If we survive this quest I’m gonna kill you Munch."

Munch grinned and hopped off.

At which point I heard footsteps from the direction the big-bro had come from. I sighed and waited for the worst.

Splat stuck his head round the corner. "Hey Alf, Abe back yet? What happened to half-pint?"


President Martor

"WHAT! I WAS TOLD TWO WEEKS! NOT TWO SEGMENTS (100 days, industrial calendar)! I WON’T STAND FOR THIS! I WAS TOLD TWO WEEKS AND TWO WEEKS IS WHAT I’VE DONE! I WON’T TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS!"

"You will take what we tell you to take Martor. Maggie has reviewed your case and decided two weeks isn’t enough to assure you’ve reformed. She doesn’t want you in the Cartel Martor and until she does you’re guarding Amy."

"I will not spend another 87 days in this Hell-hole."

The smug little Cartel b@$t@rd in front of me grinned. "Oh, don’t worry about that. Rumor Kontrol just sent word a train depot in Mudos was successfully hijacked by terrorists two days ago. That particular train station was cross-continent. They could be coming closer as we speak. You and your whole operation is being moved. You better make sure our little queen and her minders are happy. You’re being watched closely Martor."

"Where are you moving me to?"

"Glucose." He threw a file on my desk. "I want your security force and research team over there in two days. You can leave the muds here."

"Most of them are dying anyway. The idiot who had this place before me wasn’t big on employee-relationships."

"We’ve got you a knew team. Let’s see if you can motivate them a little better. We’re moving you to a fleech farm. Maggie wants you to keep it running while you’re there. Don’t kill off the work force. Or we’ll have to take it out on you."

He grinned again and left. He was barely out the door when a breathless looking slig ran in.

"What is it this time?" I asked angrily. I couldn’t get a minute’s peace here. I hadn’t slept properly in days.

"Amy’s run off again sir." I bashed my head on the desk



Tadaa. I'm low on time right now so just reply.

[Seargentbig]

Heh, heh. It seems to me that Munch is very argument-prone...
I think it is spelt Rumor Kontrol, though.

[Splat]

Of course it's spelt Rumor Kontrol! How else would it be spelt? (Eheh...)

I think it's spelt argument prone.
heheh, cheers Searge. They all love him really.

[odd chick]

Great chapter as usual, Splat. I liked it when Munch messed around with the big bro's mechanical pants-that was a good laugh! So Amy's ran off, huh? Interesting...Well, I'll be waiting for the next chapter!

[Seargentbig]

It is spelt argument prone. Who on earth would spell it any other way?(Touche!)

[T-nex]

Yay! Finally had time to read all of them chapters ...Yer story's great, and i really like how you stay in character. ^^

Lol, and i know what's gonna Happen to Amy... but... i uh... won't tell ya, cos... It's a secret. yea it is.

[Splat]

Amy escapes a lot. That's what she does. She just never gets far.

I meant the bit with Alf and Munch to be shorter, like Munch's bit earlier. But I think it turned out well. i just gotta come up with a way to get Abe back to the group.

Great ta see you again T!

Very good searge. *claps*

[Munch's Master]

Hi, I'm quite new but I've read all of ya fics, andI must say they are very good. I look forward to the next chapter.

[Splat]

Great ta see ya, glad you like it!

I have my LAST EXAM tomorrow and then FREEDOM UNTIL SEPTEMBER MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I'm not insane...

Anyway, I know I usually shut down for Summer, but due to the early beggining of this one and my pathetic supply of updates since Easter, I'm gonna keep you posted for a while yet. And I shall try and get a celebratory chapter up before Monday.

[Munch's Master]

Coo, I can't wait for it. And I know you aren't insane, I feel exactly the same way about exams. Anyway i look forward to the next chapter.

[T-nex]

Wow... good luck with it O_O But I'm sure you'll do fine. What subject is it?

[Splat]

Graphic Products. It's a really hard exam (though not as hard as the one I had today, Drama), our teacher was really bad at exam preparation and I have to do well in it cus I didn't finish all my coursework (but very few people did, so you can't blame me. What, they can? Pants...)

[Munch's Master]

Good luck with it, I hope you pass. Is it on the computer, cause the name sounds like it.

[odd chick]

Yes, good luck with the exam, Splat. It sounds hard-I'd probably flunk it!

[Splat]

Tadaa! It's finally done! Sorry I kept you all waiting. My friend just came up with an idea for a non-oddworld fic and we've been working on that. I've been having some trouble writing anything else, couldn't get my mind to it.
Also my sister's home from university and she's been on a lot.
But here it is at last, the one you've all been waiting for...

Chapter 14

Abe
"Hey Abe, what happened to your face?" One of the mudokons behind me laughed nervously.
I ignored the question and asked him, "Where’s Munch?"

"Splat got back about 15 minutes ago. They’ve been arguing ever since. I couldn’t stand it so I told em to go up the passage a little in case any sligs are coming out. If anyone comes this way I’ll run in after em."

"You shouldn’t give Munch freedom like that Alf. It makes him think he can run off any time."

"I know, but they just wouldn’t shut up!"

I grinned. "Told you they were bad! You seen a Bird Portal round here?"

"Ask Munch, he’s been having a look around on his own."

I raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. "Don’t ask," And pointed down the tunnel behind him.

* * *

"Hey Abe, what happened to your face?" One of the idiots behind me laughed nervously. Splat cracked up and started rolling on the floor laughing.
"One of your ingrates smacked me Munch. Where’s your snoozer? And have you seen a Bird Portal round here?"

Munch was by now also struggling to avoid laughing. "Turn left as you come out of here. Next left. I had a pee through it earlier."

There was a stunned silence…

"Whaddid I do?"

"You peed through a Bird portal, Genius." One of my mudokons informed him.

Munch looked confused. Splat, who had by now stopped laughing, gave him a withering look. "You’re sick Munch. What sort of a sick idiot pees through a bird Portal?"

Sensing an argument beginning to bloom, I made a hasty retreat back up the passage.

* * *

"Hey Abe, what they arguing about now?"
"Munch’s… peeing habits."

"He told me he was going for a flowerpot."

"Try Bird Portal."

"…Sick… See ya in a minute."

Alf headed down the passage. A few seconds later there was a silence in their arguing… followed by all three of them laughing loudly. Munch’s voice floated up the passage. "Right in the middle of his face…"

One of the idiots behind me laughed nervously.

* * *

"No way Abe. You may be the saviour of the Mudokon Race but there’s no way that I’m jumping through that Portal after that gabbit has been using it as a toilet."
"Go through that Portal or it’ll be your face everyone’s laughing at."

"Just you try it!"

"Fine. Don’t go through the Portal. We’ll just leave you here with the sligs and the vykkers and they’ll probably experiment on you and turn you into some skin-eating psychopath and then the sligs’ll shoot you into the next life."

"You wouldn’t do that!"

"Don’t be so confident. I’m a very stressed guy right now."

"Whatever. You still wouldn’t leave me out here."

"Wanna bet?"

"Ok, 5 moolah."

"Done!"

I chanted and four mudokons clambered tenderly through the Portal, which closed and I stepped away.

"You still won’t leave me here."

"You keep telling yourself that."

* * *

"4…3…2…1…"
I looked around. There was no sign of the mudokon. I started again.

"Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…Si-"

"Ok, Abe, you win!" He charged round the corner and slapped five 1 moolah notes into my hand. "Just get me out of here!" He lowered his voice to a terrified whisper. "There are ratz in here. Ratz Abe!"

"There are ratz everywhere moron." I informed him as I led him back to the Portal.

He looked at me, terrified, and shuddered.

All three of them were laughing to themselves when I walked round the corner. As soon as they saw me Alf and Splat stopped. Munch pointed his finger at my face and laughed loudly before realising the rest of the room was silent. His laughter died away and he stopped pointing.

"Stop wasting time. We’ve only got 30 minutes and then we’re walking to Glucose." I walked past them as they began to pick themselves up, pausing on the way to kick Munch in the shin.

* * *

It must be said, Splat had certainly done his work. The passage that was normally a mess of electric walls, doors, mines, traps, so on and so forth, was now almost empty. Even the greeters were turned off and lay inanimate on the floor and slumped against the walls of the passage.
Munch shut up for once and Splat looked tense. He was hovering in the air, darting from one corner to the next, ready to release shred attack on any unfortunate slig that happened to be wondering around. But there were no sligs management seemed to think electric walls, greeters and laughing gas were enough to stop anyone breaking in.

"How long will it take em to realise I’m not effected by laughing gas?" I asked, trying to break the silence as we walked past a deactivated valve, the normally glowing warning sign dark and silent.

"Speak for yourself," Alf answered darkly.

Munch suddenly grinned. "Oh yeah, we all remember your experience with laughing gas Alf!" Some guy had brought a canister of laughing gas into Alf’s and released it as a joke. Alf had woken up next morning in the middle of a paramite web. Munch laughed but stopped quickly as it echoed around him and seemed to scream in the dark, silent tunnel.

Alf was walking beside me. "You ok Abe?"

"I’d kill for a brew."

Alf grinned and pulled a bottle of green liquid out of the side of his bag. "What were you doing walking out of the Alcoholics Anonymous hut that day?"

"You don’t wanna know."

"Yes I do."

"Shut up Alf."

He grinned and I moved to flip the cork out of the brew. "Hang on, I’ll save it. Might need the fart soon."

We walked along in silence for a while long till Splat looked round a corner and called to us, "This looks hopeful."

Round the corner the tunnel stretched on for a while but at the end it was lit up with bright artificial lights.

"Are you sure you shut the whole place down Splat, cause I don’t wanna be walking into a trap."

"There was nothing else on the computer."

Alf shrugged. "It might be your train platform. How long we got left?"

"About 10 minutes. It’s pretty tight security here."

"It’s a cross-continent train, they can afford to be."

Munch suddenly said in a mock-monster voice. "Walk into the light."

"Heh." Alf grinned. "I saw the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Until it turned out to be some bloke with a torch brining me more work to do," Splat put in helpfully.



And now i've gotta go have me lunch cause i'm goin out in 20 minutes. Reply!

[Munch's Master]

Rejoice! Rejoice! New chapter at last! Ive forgotten a lot like how Ae hurt his face but still a great chapter. I also liked the way you threw in that jjoke at the end that you have in your sig. Great work. Must...have...more!

[Splat]

I really need to get round to changing that. The mudokon that kept laughing nervously punched him in the face. Angry dude, you know how it goes, slap a mudokon or get em wet and fists will fly!

[Munch's Master]

Heh, yeah. which chapter was that in though, as my memory of anything before chapter 12 has gone.

[Splat]

Chapter 11. Abe's POV

"Hey, Abe, I just thought I’d tell ya, the security team are… out of action for a while. You don’t have to worry about the security cameras anymore. Not that you were in the first place, I might add. Hey Abe, what happened to your face?"
The mudokon who’d smacked me when I’d found him grinned apologetically.

[Munch's Master]

Ah right ta. Anyway, can't wait for the next chapter. Also you haven't forgotten about The Quest For The Orb have you?

[Seargentbig]

Congrats on getting all the Exams done, Splat.

[odd chick]

Great chapter, Splat. I just love how you do the character development in this story-it's phenominal!

Ive forgotten a lot like how Ae hurt his face but still a great chapter.

Yeah, I was wondering about that at first, too, until I read that extra part. And yes, congrats on completing your exams, Splat!

[Splat]

Aw, cheers guys, i loves all o' ya. tHe last exams were the worst but oh well. i hope to get a lot more writing done on this story from now on now that I've gotten past the hard bit.

Sorry to all of you who read the Quest for the Orb, that'll take a little longer, but I'll get there.

And Searge, looking at your new sig, i see your point. Mine's from a dictionary...

[Splat]

Finally done! Thanks to a recent bout of writers block I have not been able to write so much as a bank form.
However, today I have been relieved and another chapter-and-a-half of Amy has been created!
Sorry about the wait.

Chapter 15


Abe

"You got Miss Andrad, The Executors daughter?"

"Nope."

For future reference, the slig did, in fact have not only Miss Andrad, but also Mr Andrad, Master Andrad and the family pet.

He also had a potentially explosive fart hovering a foot above his head but that’s beside the point.

The three sligs sitting round the table playing Happy Families were the only ones on the train platform.

"Ok… Gruttel, you got… Mrs Imrinin, the Psychotic Killer’s Late Wife?"

Gruttel swore and handed over a grubby card with a cross drawn clearly in the corner in pencil. The slig manoeuvred the card so the cross was hidden behind Master Schloom, the Raw Flesh Eater’s son.

Nearby the door to the train’s luggage car stood open. A sign announcing "No Farts" was nailed to the wall beside it.

Gruttel tugged one of his tentacles nervously and asked, "Afrid, You got Mr Fronim, the One-Armed Bonesaw Cleaner?"

Whether or not Afrid did have Mr Fronim and whether he was going to tell Gruttel was never found out, as I took that moment to detonate the fart and send all three of them to sliggy-heaven.

A minute later, myself, Alf, Splat and Munch were gathered on the platform. Munch looked around and, noticing the No Farts sign, cursed loudly.

"What’s wrong now Munch?"

Munch pointed at the sign. "No Farts, Master Splat, the Scrab-cake’s son; life’s always so much easier when Abe has to do all the work."

Alf

"Just get in the bl00dy box Munch!"

"Not a chance! There is no way I’m trusting some stupid mud to nail me into a crate! I would rather choose life!"

"Then go home cause the only one who can get into that train is Alf. How would it look too see the last grown gabbit alive walking into a train? I think people would be a little suspicious!"

I pulled a bright yellow hard-hat low over my head. "Abe, this isn’t gonna work. I haven’t got the lip-stitches for a start. Plus I don’t know what to say if one of the sligs comes after me!"

"And my skin is blue, I’m covered in tattoos and my face is known in every factory between here and Odd-knows-where! Just… do what you would normally do and keep your face low."

"That doesn’t help much."

"See Abe, the plan’s not gonna work! So there’s no point locking me in this cra-"

Munch was cut off as Splat leaped on him and knocked him backwards so he tripped over and landed inside the crate. Then he grabbed the lid, slid it onto the crate and buckled it on before Munch had a chance to react. The crate began to shake and made a series of loud, angry noises, the general alignment of which can’t be repeated, though they were mainly aimed towards Splat and detailed a disturbing life followed by painful death.

"Was that really necessary Splat?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"No. But it made me feel better. You’ll be fine Alf, lets just get going, we’ve only got 6 minutes now."

Two minutes later I was dressed as a worker mudokon (the owner of the clothes having been liberated by Abe) and was wheeling three wooden crates on a trolley towards the door of the train. I paused and sighed. This was Abe’s line of work; I wasn’t used to it all.

"Here goes nothin." I muttered and marched determinedly towards the door where four sligs stood guard. I lowered my head and prayed they wouldn’t pay me to much attention.

As usual, my prayers were answered… With a resounding "no."

"Hey, mud, cutting it a little close aren’t ya?"

I kept my head down and continued walking. The slig flicked his cigarette away and smacked me in the back with his gun. I jerked forward, shoving the trolley, which bumped into the edge of the train door. One of the crates slid forward and bashed into another. A quiet squeak of surprise and pain issued from it. This time I begged that they wouldn’t notice.

"Answer me when I talk to you Mud!"

"They only just arrived here sir." I prayed it was the right answer, before praying didn’t work and immediately taking it back.

The slig seemed satisfied and slumped back against the wall. Knowing that it could have gone decidedly worse, I pushed the trolley through the door before noticing one of the sligs eyeing the crates suspiciously.

"Hey, mud, be back out here in two minutes or you’ll be regretting it till New Year.

Cursing silently I entered the train into the cargo hold.

The place was a mess of boxes that people had just dumped anywhere as they came in. All the light came from a bare light-bulb in the centre of the ceiling, meaning long dark shadows were cast by the crates stacked near the walls.

I hastily pushed the trolley to the back of the room, far from the door, and yanked open one of the crates. Munch looked up at me from inside, rubbing his head. "Whatcha go and bump me for idiot?"

"What did ya speak for Munch, now they want me to go and see ‘em after dropping these crates off." I pulled the lid off another crate and Abe climbed out.

"What happened there Alf, who hit me?"

I was already working the buckles on Splat’s crate. One of the sligs hit me and I crashed the trolley into a wall. Munch was smart enough to protest and one of them heard him. They want me to go back out there as soon as I’m done."

Splat heard the last sentence. "Well what’s the problem? I don’t see a No Farts sign in here."

"But there’s one by the door, Abe can’t just float one out and blow em up." I put in.

"Not quite what I had in mind."

"You got a plan Splat?" Abe asked.

Splat grinned.




Sorry for the abrupt ending, but the chapter was already long enough and by the time I'd finished it it was already over another page long so I had to cut it off there.
Still, reply now and I'll try my absolute hardest to get another chapter up within two weeks. Don't and well, I probably will anyway... but not willingly!

[odd chick]

Nice chapter, Splat. I don't mind the ending because to me, cliffies are always the type of endings that get the reader pumped up for the next part because we don't know what's going to happen!