Rico's Oddysee

[Mac the Janitor]

Hello. This is a background story for Rico the mudarcher who is currently participating in the Oddlympics. Enjoy.


Rico woke up with a start. He felt the sweat beads drizzling down his pale green forehead. That noise, he thought. They're back.

He fastened on his loincloth and creeped slowly out of the hut in to the black night, with the dimmest of light dancing on the large trees from the small campfires.

There were shadows moving across the huts. Rico grabbed his father's spoocebow and sneaked towards the intruders. He couldn't quite make out the shadows, but it was like nothing he had ever seen before.

He loaded the spoocebow as quietly as he could, trying not to alarm the strange unknown creatures. His knees were shaking. Calm down, Rico thought. Be strong, like papa.

He gathered up all of his strength and jumped gallantly around the corner, aiming right for the creature. But what he saw shocked him so much, he was unable to shoot.

As the horrifying image slowly faded away from his eyes, Rico felt his body go limp.

------------------------

"Is he alright?"

"Rico, honey, baby, can you hear me?"

"Everyone, please back away! The boy is injured!"

"Oh no, Rico's going to die!"

Rico slowly opened his eyes. He saw a blurred image of the tribal chief and shaman, Cibo.

"Please, everyone...the child is awakening!"

"He's alive!" Odd bless this wonderful miracle!"

Rico looked around. He was on a thin piece of cloth, lying on the ground. A number of his fellow natives were huddled around him, each face with a different emotion.

"I-It was green..." he muttered. "Black stick...made big noise..."

Cibo made a motion to everyone, and they became silent.

"What else can you tell us, child?" asked Cibo.

"It was...a paramite...kinda thing..." Rico felt lightheaded and dizzy. What had the creature done to him?

"Did anyone...else see it?" Rico mumbled.

"I do not believe so," answered Cibo. "After you screamed, the creature ran away and a young tribal boy found you lying here."

"Can I meet him?"

"Ah, yes, let me retrieve him..." Cibo walked off to a small hut. Moments later, he came out with a boy about Rico's age and height, but slightly thinner.

"Um, hi, Rikki," said the boy.

"Actually, it's Rico..."

"Oops, heh...sorry."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Joey."

"Thanks for saving me, Joey."

"You're welcome."

"Do you like playing mudarcher?"

"Sorta, but I've always wanted to be a Tomahawker when I'm a big kid."

"Wanna go play with me?"

"Yeah!"

Rico and Joey walked away, chatting incessantly.

---------------------

So, did you like it? Was it the worst thing you've ever read? Please reply with questions or comments.

Oh yeah, and here's a picture I altered to make it look like Rico as a kid:

[sO fReAkIn oDd]

That was pretty interesting, do some more.

[Mac the Janitor]

Glad you like it!

---------------------

Cibo whistled the signal, and all of the adults from the tribe gathered in the meditation grounds for a meeting.

"I believe most of you know why I have called you here," Cibo stated. "A young boy from our tribe saw what he believes was an entirely new creature lurking outside his hut. Are his parents here?"

A mudarcher stood up. "Yes, Rico is my son," he said.

"Later today I am going to call him into my hut," started Cibo, "and I will temporarily posess him to see into his mind and view the horrifying creature somewhere locked away in his memory."

"Are you mad?!" The father lunged at Cibo, but several natives held him back. "That's my son!"

"No pain or harm will be involved," Cibo said calmly. "This is a very necessary precaution."

The father stared into Cibo's eyes angrily.

"But if you do not approve of this, it shall not be done," said Cibo, "I do not want to cause any disruption any members of my tribe."

Cibo stared back at the father. He could see that the angry mudarcher was considering it.

"Fine," sighed the father, "you may do as you please."

Cibo smiled warmly. "You have made the right choice, my fellow mudokon."

---------------------------

"Bang bang!" Rico pointed his father's unloaded spoocebow at Joey and imaginarily shot him. Joey ran up to Rico and pretended to hit him with his uncle's spooce club.

"Aaargh!" yelled Rico as he instantly fell to the ground, pretending to be dead. An instant later, he popped up. "You win, Joey," he said. "Aw man, it's time for the lesson."

Joey got a devilish look in his eye. "Last one there's a smelly slurg!" He raced off to Cibo's hut. Rico quickly stood up and scampered after his friend.

As they both raced into the classroom breathing tiredly, they noticed that Cibo was gone. Rico sat next to Perm.

"Hey Perm," he asked, "where is Cibo?"

Perm shrugged. "I dunno. Clank told me he's at a meeting with the adults, but you shouldn't trust him."

"Weird. Do you know what the meeting was about?"

"Not really, but when I walked past the meditation grounds I heard your dad yelling at Cibo."

"That's strange. My dad never gets angry."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Musta been something pretty bad..."

Just then, Cibo walked in the hut.

"Hello, children. I have some bad news for you all. Due to certain circumstances, I will not be teaching you today."

All of the children's faces lit up and they raced out of the hut happily, talking about what they would all do with the free time.

"I'm gonna go hunt some slurgs!"

"Oh yeah, well I'm going to ride my papa's elum!"

"Ha! I get to go see the Almighty Raisin today!"

When they all left, only Rico was still in the dimly lit hut.

"That's odd...why would he skip lessons?" He fiddled with his head leaves thoughtfully. "Oh...no..."

Perm and Joey stumbled clumsily back into the hut. "Hey Rico, didn't you hear?" heaved Joey. "No lessons today!"

"Yeah, and do you know why?" Rico said nervously.

Perm scratched his head. "Cuz...he's...nice...?"

"No, can't you see?" Rico stood up. "It has something to do with the creature I saw last night!"

"Yeesh, it's that bad?" said Joey.

"It looks like it."

Perm smiled sneakily. "Hey fellas, whaddaya say we go...eh...get a little info?"

Joey nearly jumped out of his loincloth. "You mean eavesdrop on the adults?"

"You got it."

Rico jumped inbetween the two. "Don't you know that's forbidden in this tribe?" he muttered to Perm.

"Of course, Rico," stated Perm casually, "and that's why they won't catch us."

-----------------------

[sO fReAkIn oDd]

This story is pickin up some momentum, keep it goin.

[Stripe]

Can't wait for more!! I feel these young scamps will make their parent (s) (?) proud!

[sO fReAkIn oDd]

Mac do some more of the story or I will be forced to resort to extreme measures.

*SFO opens jacket to reveal many sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest*

I'm sorry that it had to come to this.

*Pulls out detonator*

[Mac the Janitor]

Aargh! Alright, we don't want no trouble here...

--------------

Joey's head appeared from the doorway.

"It's all clear."

The three young muds quietly scampered into the dimly lit cave. They stopped now and then to check if there were any adults behind them, as each one of them randomly heard sounds.

Rico snuck past a large, primitive wall painting. It looked as if it was painted long, long ago. He stopped for a moment to gaze at the mysterious petroglyph.

There were five mudokon figures. Three of them were peacefully meditating, while the other two were hugging each other cheerfully. On the other side of the wall, there were three figures grouped together. Rico couldn't quite figure out what they were supposed to be, but their heads tapered at the top and the arms and legs were horribly disproportionate. Their facial expressions looked as if they were scheming, and the three were huddled together.

"Hey Joey, Perm," Rico whispered, "come here." Perm and Joey looked at Rico curiously and walked over to him.

"Do you know what these creatures in the painting are?"

"Nah, never seen 'em."

"I don't know, but they're like nothing I've ever seen." Both Joey and Perm walked off.

Rico stared at the artwork for one more second, and then continued on with his friends.

Perm raced back around the corner, Joey closely following.

"C'mon, Rico, I -- I mean we -- found the Adult Meeting Room! C'mon, c'mon!"

Rico's face lightened up and he followed Joey and Perm around the corner. He gasped at what he saw.

A massive, wooden door with many detailed carvings and drawings was right in front of him. There were four wall-mounted torches barely lighting the dark cave.

"Hey Rico?" Joey nervously nudged Rico. "Do you really think we should be doing this?"

Rico fiddled with his fingers. "I know, I do feel kind of guilty about it, too..."

Perm grabbed the two boys by the shoulders, stopping Rico in mid-sentence. "Oh, come on!" he said arrogantly. "Don't both of you want to become great mudokon warriors when you grow up?! You gotta be brave, willing to take chances, gallant!"

Rico looked at Joey, then at Perm. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if they never found out..."

"That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! What about you, shrimpy?" Perm poked Joey.

"If, Rico's doing it and you're doing it, I might as well too..."

"Kay then, let's start eavesdroppin'! It sounds like they're starting!"

All three found a small crack or hole in the large wooden door and peered through it.

A large amount of adult mudokons, about 47 Rico guessed, were all sitting in rows. Cibo was sitting in front of them all, waiting for complete silence. Eventually the mudokons quieted down, each seeing Cibo's patience running out.

"I see that almost everyone has attended today," he started. "Well, the highlight of this discussion will be on the new creature spotted lurking around this village. I have--" Cibo was instantly interrupted by a surly looking Tomahawker.

"Have yeh seen the creature yerself yet?" He asked Cibo.

"No, I have not." Cibo paused and took a breath. "I plan to recieve the memory by possessing the only mudokon in this tribe who has seen it so far." There were several gasps from the others.

An older looking frail native stood up. "You mean that cute little four year old?"

Cibo nodded. "Yes, Rico is his name."

Rico nearly fainted. Cibo was going to possess him? Didn't he know how much pain was involved with possession? That's crazy!

"That's crazy!" the old native protested.

Cibo raised his hand and most quieted down. "Now, I would prefer that nobody would tell young Rico about this. I plan to do it without him knowing."

The surly Tomahawker stood up again, this time with a few followers. "Ain't there any other options, Cibo? This is flippin' absurd!"

Cibo shook his head. "Sadly, there are no other options. The Almighty Raisin's assistants have told me that the Raisin is not availible to talk right now, so I cannot recieve any information on this new being from him at this time."

"This is an outrage! Possessing a child?!"

There were many murmurs through the room.

Rico sat down. He was going to be possessed. There is nothing he can do about it.

He glanced at Joey. He was turning quite pale and trembling. Rico glanced to see what Joey was looking at and froze.

The door was slowly opening.

The Adults were going to find them.

[sO fReAkIn oDd]

*SFO pulls off dynamite.*

I like the story!!!

I guess I can release all the hostages now that you wrote some more

[Mac the Janitor]

Thanks, I was getting worried about those guys...

Also, I just added a few more sentences to the end of that last chapter. Make sure you go back and read 'em.

[Mac the Janitor]

Okay, sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I haven't been able to do much for a while. But tomorrow I'll have an uber-long chapter, so stay tuned!

-------------------

The massive door continued to slowly open. Rico knew he was doomed; the adults would surely find him. But something inside of him told him there's still hope. It was some kind of indescribable mysterious force that possessed him to keep striving.

Filled with newfound confidence, Rico quickly stood up and started to run away. He looked back. Joey was closely following him, but Perm was nowhere in sight. Rico impatiently sighed and scurried back to find his fellow mudokon.

The door was now halfway open. Rico could see dozens of pairs of mudokon legs waiting on the other side of the door. Perm was calmly chanting something with his eyes closed.

"What are you doing, Perm?!" Rico whispered desparately to Perm. Perm continued to chant as hif he was unaware of the circumstances. "Come on, you moron! They're going to find us!"

The door was almost fully open now. He glanced back at Joey. He was curled up in a ball, whimpering. Rico gulped, closed his eyes, and waited. He could feel his knees shaking below him. Sweat beads sluggishly inched down his pale, nervous face.

The door locked in place.

The adults came out.

Rico gulped nervously.

They walked right past Rico as if he weren't there.

He just stood there. How could this be? Surely the adults would have noticed him by now; they were walking right past him! Children were forbidden from this cave!

Rico looked for Perm and Joey. Both were nowhere to be seen. He could have sworn they were right behind him a second ago.

He felt two hands grab him by the shoulders and drag him away.

I knew it was too good to be true, Rico thought. They've found me now. I'll probably be banned from the tribe. He imagined living alone in the wilderness, striving to find at least one measly scrap of food.

A tear slid down his cheek.

Looks like this is the end, he thought.

[sO fReAkIn oDd]

I can't wait for your uber-long chapter. This is good stuff, and you are doing one for each oddlympian.

Wow.

[Mac the Janitor]

Well, yes, I hope I can fit in time to do one for each Oddlympian.

But some might be skipped if they are mostly covered in another Oddlympian's backstory, like Joey in this one.

[Mac the Janitor]

As Rico was dragged out of the cave sobbing, he wiped his tears against his large hand. But his hand wasn't there. He looked at his feet. They were gone, too.

So this is what it's like to die, Rico thought. I guess my soul is being dragged to the heavens now.

But how did I die? He pondered. I didn't hit my head, I don't think I was being chased by a killer Scrab...

But none of this matters. I'm dead. And I never grew up to live my dream as a Mudarcher warrior, defending my tribe.

He felt another tear slide down his cheek.

Rico noticed the cave was geting lighter and lighter, the wall paintings were clearly visible now. He looked back, and saw that he was reaching the exit back into his humble village. As he turned back, he froze. Wasn't someone still dragging him? He looked back again. There was nobody behind him, and definitely no hands on his shoulders dragging him to heaven.

Ah, they must be Odd's angels sent down to retrieve me. Of course they were invisible.

Goodbye, cruel Oddworld. I'm going to a better place.

But just then, the angels stopped dragging him. "Thanks," Rico mumbled, "My butt's kinda sore after all of that dragging."

Suddenly, he felt a stong tingling sensation. Everythink he was was slowly vanishing into the white abyss. Rico thrust his chest upwards in agony, moaning as he felt his entire body go limp.

Ah, yes, I must be completing my journey to the heavens now, leaving Oddworld, he thought. Rico took one last look at his primitive, peaceful, wonderful village, and then closed his eyes.

-----------------------

"Hey, Rico, wake up! Come on, buddy, I know you can make it..."

Rico slowly awakened. He looked around, dumbfounded.

"Th...this isn't heaven..." he stuttered. Joey was crouched over him, and Perm was pacing back and forth in the corner muttering to himself. Rico was in the exact place he was when he completed his journey. "Where's heaven?" He asked.

Joey giggled. "What are you talking about, pal?"

Rico gazed up momentarily, remembering what had just happened. "Well...I died...didn't I?"

Perm casually strutted over. "Nah, you just fainted."

Rico noticed that his entire body was visible again. "So how come I couldn't see myself?"

Joey pointed to Perm. "Perm over there saved our behinds. He used an invisibility chant to turn the three of us invisible."

"Oh, so that's why you were chanting!"

Perm strutted over again. "Yeah, if it wasn't for me, you two would probably banned from the tribe right now. You owe me."

Rico rubbed his chin, thinking. "Thta's also why the adutls didn't notice us, right?" he asked.

"Yep. I dragged you two out here, and the invisibility wore off," Perm stated. "That's why you fainted. The invisibility treatment is pretty painful stuff..."

Rico grinned. "Wow, th--" he froze momentarily. "But aren't only adults permitted to use that chant?" he asked Perm.

"Meh," Perm said nonchalantly. "I have my sources."

Rico looked at Joey. Joey just shrugged.

Perm looked up at the beautifully flourescent afternoon sky. "Well guys, looks like the fun stups here," he stated, "It's almost sundown."

Joey patted the two on the back. "See you tomorrow, guys. My dad's probably waiting for me."

Rico looked into the distance. Sure enough, Joey's tomahawker father was standing outside his hut, thumping his foot on the ground impatiently.

Rico sighed and sat down. "See ya, guys. I think I'm gonna stay here a bit longer."

Perm was already walking back to the village. Joey glanced at Perm, and then gave Rico an odd look. "Erm...okay, bye," he said curiously, and then trotted off to his hut.

Rico gazed down at his homely village. The adults were lighting the torches, as they did every sundown. He oculd see light pouring out of every hut doorway, and could hear the faint chanting and humming from the meditation hut. There was laughter, singing and friendly conversations echoing throughout the village.

This is my home, my family, he thought.

But why must Cibo insist on possessing me? Why did I even have to see that stupid creature on that fateful night? Couldn't Cibo get the information some other way?

Rico sighed as he contemplated the week's events. He'd heard stories about possession. It was painful enough when they first possessed you, but the depossession involves--

No, he would not say it. Not everyone died after being possessed, there were myths about a few brave souls that went through the depossession process and survived...

No, they weren't myths, he thought. They were true. Yes, true...

Yeah, I'm a brave soul, aren't I? I mean, I fell off that elum when I was 3 and didn't cry...

NO. I have to stop telling myself lies. He remembered what Pent, one of his old mentors, had said:

"False confidence is an unwanted force."

False confidence will bring lies, hatred, and pain. He did not want that.

I must think up a plan, he thought.

There's no way I'm going to let Cibo possess me.

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EDIT: Okay, so it wasn't uber-long, but it's longer than the last one...

[sO fReAkIn oDd]

keep it coming, i still have dynamite.

[Stripe]

Good job! Can't wait to find out what the creature is!

(What? You think I'm gonna let SFO have all the fun?)

*G*

[Mac the Janitor]

-------------------------------

The warm early morning sunshine flooded through the thiny gaps between the wood in Rico's hut. He felt the warm rays tngle against his small, cold body. A content smile appeared on his face as he felt instant warmth flood through his body. Rico wanted to just lay there all day, soaking up the sunshine. But he knew he couldn't. He had to carry out the plan before the adults woke up.

Rico grabbed a small brown sack made of Meep wool and quietly packed up two weeks' worth of food. He then tiptoed over to his father's bed. His dad was silently snoozing in what looked like a very deep sleep. Rico carefully stepped over him and looked at the spoocebow. You can do it Rico, he thought. Just grab it and hope for the best...

Rico cautiously rached for the spoocebow. If they catch me, he thought, I'm surely banned for good. I have to be very cautious. If I made one little noise, father would--

"SNORT!"

Rico jumped, startled at his father's noise...

His hand hit a pottery bowl high up on a discreet shelf...

The bowl slowly fell down, as if it were in slow motion...

He heard the bone-chilling sound of pottery smashing against wood, pieces shattering all over the hut floor...

His father stirred. Rico could not tell if he was awake. Trembling and whimpering, he grabbed the spoocebow off of the ground...

"RICO! Put that down!"

Rico felt his body turn to ice. He whimpered. He could feel his heart pounding against his small, frail ribs. A cold sweat bead dripped down his pale, nervous forehead.

He had awakened his father. His father saw him taking the spoocebow and food. Theft was punished in this tribe. It was considered a disgrace to the mudokon race.

It's now or never, he repeated to himself.

"Rico, I said put that down!"

Rico glanced at his father one last time. Stand up for yourself, he said to himself. it's now or never, it's now or never, it's now or...

"See ya, dad!"

Rico scampered out of the hut triumphantly, chest raised in the air. He could hear his father's yelling from the hut. He had just broken two tribal rules, yet he felt wonderful. He raced into the forest, food sack over his shoulder. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

He looked in his hand.

He forgot the spoocebow.

"Dang it," he muttered to himself. "I don't know how we'll make it without the bow."

But that was not important now. He had just Stolen and Left Without Permission, two violations in the ancient scripts. He could never go back now.

As he continued running, he saw his two best friends leaning casually against a large redwood in the distance. Sitting next to the two were two sacks identical to Rico's.

"Yo, Rico, why'd you call us here so early?" asked Perm. "We goin' hunting?"

"Yeah, and why do we need all of this food?" Joey chimed in. He pointed curiously at the two sacks he and Perm brought.

Rico took a deep breath. "We're going to run away."

Joey jumped at Rico's comment. "Run away?" he asked. "To where, Rico?"

Rico fiddled his thumbs. "We're going to the Paramonia and Scrabania proving grounds to become mudokon warriors."

Perm nodded. "Hey, I guess I'm in. I guess I could become a shaman."

Joey stared at Perm for a second, appaled by his comment. "Of course I'll come, Rico. I've always wanted to become a Tomahawker!"

Rico put his arms around the two. "And of course, you know, I'll become a mudarcher if all goes well."

Perm grabbed his wool sack. "So, let's get goin', guys!"

The three mudokon buddies trotted off into the depths of the forest.

----------------------

[Kesiah]

ahhh.... Rico's a naughty kid!! But I guess you can't blame him, finding out that someone's going to possess you isn't that pleasent.....
Wait a miute, I'm here with two lunatics, both of whom have explosives?!
Get me outta here!!!!!!!!

[Splat]

Thats another really great story Mac. Right more, would ya! What happens? Do they get away? Do they get caught and dragged back? Do they meet the mystery monster? Right more!

[Flamer the red]

Splats right, its a good story, but I wanna know what happens next!

Keep it up!

[Mac the Janitor]

Right now I am working on a big American Heritage project for English and finals are coming up soon, so no new chapter soon. But expect one next weekend or Holiday Break.

[Splat]

Wel, next weekend went ages ago so you now have four days till the holidays over.

[Mac the Janitor]

Read my post in LO.