10. CHAPTER
CHAPTER
TEN
Indy had only a few precious seconds to think, and at the forefront of his mind was the vicious determination that becoming a bloody splat at the end of this fall was not how he was going to die.
The ring!
He rubbed and kissed it desperately, then screamed, “Dill, please—”
“Grow!”
Green.
A wall of green with bright light piercing through the cracks.
Loud rustling, a series of snaps going off like fireworks.
Trees, Indy realized.
Instead of hitting hard ground, he was falling through the equally not soft embrace of tree branches and thick scratchy foliage.
It slowed his fall and eventually brought him to a stop, but his body throbbed with white-hot flashes of pain from the sudden halt and multiple collisions on the way down.
His left arm burned miserably at his wrist and elbow, and all the air had been knocked right out of his lungs, so he couldn’t even scream.
He tasted blood.
His chest seized up as he tried to gasp.
Trying to move his arm only resulted in a pain powerful enough to blur his vision and wreck his already fragile equilibrium. When he finally inhaled, every muscle revolted and tensed, creating an inescapable agony that he would give anything to fucking end—
No.
No.
Indy wasn’t fucking dying.
Not today, not here, not like this.
The leaves shifted, the branches retreating to create a gentle hammock that curled all around Indy and cradled him. The leaves squeezed gently, asking, “Grow?”
Dill!
“Yup,” Indy wheezed. “You sure did grow.”
“Yup. Grow.”
They were inside a giant prison cell, a rectangular space carved out of the orange rock all around them.
There were metal bars allowing a peek into a long hallway, but no door.
There was no clear exit except the way they came in—a narrow chute hundreds of feet tall.
The light coming in at the very top was nothing but a tiny speck, and Indy grimly realized he was likely not meant to have survived the drop.
Dill’s foliage embrace retreated so that Indy could get a better look at their surroundings.
The metal bars went from the floor to the ceiling and were embedded right into the stone.
He doubted he could break them. It was hard to see much else, as the only source of illumination came from some dim torches in the hallway.
Fabulous.
Oh, and they weren’t alone.
There was an all too familiar monster with long rabbit ears curled up on the floor in the corner, battered and bloodied. Indy would have thought he was dead if it wasn’t for his frantic sobs.
“Floppy?” Indy stared. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”
“Huh?” Floppy lifted his head and then immediately scowled. “Oh, it’s you. The thief.”
“Thief? Pffft, fuck you.”
“Deceiver! Plunderer! Foul, conniving rogue!”
“Always figured I’d be more of a bard, but—”
“Dead is what you are, you ridiculous little sycophantic fop!” Floppy dragged himself to his feet. “You stole the Artifact for your demonic masters and—”
“Fuck you twice and a third time dry! I didn’t steal shit!” Indy tried to get up, but then he realized he couldn’t move.
He was completely cocooned in a bundle of thick leaves and twisted vines.
Each one had a distinct pulse as they squeezed around him, and while the parts touching him were weirdly warm and very soft, the exterior bits were covered in twitching spikes.
If they hadn’t fallen from the chute, he would have had to be rolled in here like that blueberry girl in the Willy Wonka movie.
Great.
Hopefully there would be no juicing room involved.
“You’re despicable,” Floppy spat at Indy and sneered.
“Dill?” Indy cooed sweetly. “Loving this tree hugger thing we got going on, but can you let me go so I can go kick the rabbit’s ass?”
“Grow,” Dill rumbled through the leaves.
“That sounds like a no.”
“This is it?” Floppy looked over the leafy mass currently cocooning Indy. “The feared spirit of the Artifact?”
“He’s usually much scarier,” Indy insisted. “Just you wait.”
“Ha.” Floppy laughed dryly.
Indy wiggled but still couldn’t escape Dill’s ridiculous hug. The pain in his arm had lessened to a dull throb, and it was easier to breathe now at least. “So. What are you in for? Got dirt on your monster rebel uniform or something? Forgot to put sugar in Mitternacht’s coffee?”
“What?” Floppy scoffed.
“Why are you locked up? Pretty sure you were with the assholes who wanted to kill me and take the ring.”
Floppy stared at Indy in confusion and then he sighed. “Oh my God. You’re an idiot.”
“Excuse me?”
“Here I thought you were a devious mastermind, but you’re actually an idiot. Oh my God.” Floppy laughed bitterly. “You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”
“I do, but I thought it would be fun to ask.” Indy snarled. “Come on!”
“How did you get the Artifact?”
“It was fucking forced on me, okay?” Indy glared. “Some guy named Clancy—”
“Clancy? Clancy Carver?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t get all his vitals! It was just fucking Clancy! He literally shoved the ring on my finger, said a bunch of weird shit, and then vanished.”
Floppy narrowed his eyes. “What did he look like?”
“I dunno. Old. White. Meh? Maybe a strong five if he moisturized.”
Floppy was thoughtful for a long moment, his brow scrunched up.
One of his ears twitched, he nodded as if deciding something, and then he said, “We don’t call ourselves mostri ribelli.
We’re Saviors. Our mission is to stop the Mostros at any cost so that monsters can live freely without their rules and fees and all their little favors and twisted system of justice with their insane penalties.
We had the numbers. We had resources. We had a leader with a great plan. But…”
“But?”
“He died.” Floppy grimaced. “And that’s when everything fell apart.
Not right away, but that is the day the seeds of our downfall were sown.
No one could agree on a new leader, so everyone split off into different factions to rally around whoever they thought should take over.
We still managed to work together and stay focused on our mission, but…
one of them said we weren’t doing enough.
That it was time for action. And then they went too far. ”
“Define too far for me, Floppy.”
“That is not my name!”
Indy stared expectantly. “Well?”
“Debolicus! My name is Debolicus Rex.”
“Mm, no. That is way too badass. I’m going to call you Debbie.” Indy smiled sweetly. “So, what exactly happened, Debbie? They try to poison the water hole?”
“They killed other monsters.” Debbie hung his head.
“They created a plague to hurt weres and so many died… They’ve flooded the streets with dangerous drugs and even tried using cursed music to kill every monster in Somerstown!
They’re so desperate to stop the Mostros that they simply don’t care about collateral damage! Even our own kind!”
Indy had certainly heard the rumors, but he hadn’t expected to have them confirmed straight from the horse’s mouth—well, a bunny’s mouth to be precise.
“The Saviors are growing weak. So are the other factions. The few left anyway.” Debbie smiled sadly. “We can’t fight the Mostros and the Ides too. Not for much longer.”
“The Ides?”
“The Ides of Interitus.”
“Wait, like the Ides of March?”
“Why don’t you ask them?” Debbie scoffed. “I expect they’ll be along shortly to collect you.”
“Is that who brought me here? Someone from the Ides?”
“Yes. You got away last time thanks to Mr. Heiss and his little thugs, but not all of us were so lucky.” Debbie shrugged. “I’m the only one left.”
“Wait, so there were Saviors and Ides guys?”
Debbie rolled his eyes. “Mitternacht was there, wasn’t he? He’s with the Ides.”
Indy froze. “And Mr. Kalt?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, just when I thought he couldn’t get any shittier.” Indy ran his fingers through his hair, and a memory from his last meeting with Debbie popped into his head. “What about that Johnson guy? The one you said was gonna rise?”
“Johnson Marshall,” Debbie replied. “Son of Norbert Cobbledick.”
“The wizard?”
“Yes. He vanished searching—”
“His last name is Cobbledick?”
“Oh my God.” Debbie groaned. “He vanished searching for his father, but—”
“Wait, why don’t they have the same last name?”
“I don’t know!” Debbie screeched. “Can I please finish?”
“Fine.”
“So, yes, Johnson disappeared trying to find Norbert, but we believe he’s returned here to the Terrestrial plane. It’s why we wanted the Artifact from you. To make contact with him.”
Indy paused. “But why…?”
“To help us defeat the Mostros! And the Ides. Even if he’s only half as powerful as his father was, we could end this whole mess in a matter of days!
It could finally be over. It could all be over once and for all.
Not only is he a great wizard, but it is said he can unlock the full potential of the Artifacts! ”
“Yeah, well, sorry about that. Pretty attached to it. Literally.” Indy looked down at Dill’s foliage still hugging him. “And it’s kinda attached to me. Also literally.”
Debbie laughed, though his smile remained dreary. “I see that. It doesn’t matter much now. I suppose you two plan to make a cunning escape, hmm?”
“That was the idea. More or less. Definitely not planning on staying here to kiki with the Ides or anyone else.” Indy tested Dill’s grip and found it remained solid. “Not much for being a damsel in distress and sure as hell not counting on Mr. Heiss to come to the rescue.”
“Good luck.” Debbie curled into a ball on the floor with a short huff.
“What? Not gonna bust out with us?”
“Everyone I care about is dead,” Debbie said softly. “I’m tired. I…” He curled in tighter. “I told you what I know, and I don’t have anything else left to give.”
“Okay. You do you. Thanks for the info dump story time, I’ll leave you a great Google review, bye bye.” Indy wiggled. “Dill, are you done yet? Yes? No?”
“No,” Dill simply replied.
“Wait, you’re not going to try and convince me to come with you?” Debbie demanded. “Tell me that my life is worth living? Any of that?”