Hmm, so it would seem this thread is pretty much dead. Hopefully, an update will be good enough to bring life back to it. Thusly, I present you with the end to Chapter Ten. Finally. I am SO not writing chapters this long, ever again!
First of all, there was darkness and gurgly sounds all around her; then as the world materialized, it dawned upon Kylie that she was in a place she’d rather not be.
The hay she laid upon was stuck in her hair, nostrils, and mouth, much to her discomfort. She sat up and began to brush the prickly monstrosities from their grip upon her features.
“Hey, glad to see you’re awake,” said a familiar voice.
Kylie’s head turned sharply, her eyes darting just to find Shiva sitting in the corner. It appeared as if the two of them were cast into this circus wagon until further notice.
Shiva stood up and walked over to Kylie, extending her hand to help up her friend. They were about the same height, Kylie figured, although Shiva likely weighed less (Those wings had to lift her up somehow). Her blonde hair was a total mess, and she was covered in dirt and bruises, suggesting that prisoner care here was predictably shoddy.
“Where are we? What’s going on?” Kylie asked.
Shiva grunted as she combed a finger through her filthy hair in a failed attempt to tidy it up. “We’re in a circus wagon, in a tent, in Griever’s circus,” she answered to the best of her abilities. “Griever kidnapped me to force my boyfriend Leo into handing you over to him.”
Kylie sighed. She remembered how she unfairly accused the two of them into conspiring against her. Even though she never said it out loud, Kylie felt that it was important to apologize for even having the thought cross her mind.
“Listen,” she began, “I’m not sure how to word this, but…” her voice grew silent and she trailed off. Shiva tilted her head, confused. Kylie turned again and finished, saying, “I’m sorry for doubting you earlier.”
“Doubting…?” Shiva asked.
“I never said it to you out loud, but I began to think that you and Leo were both working with Griever.” Kylie looked at Shiva, whose sky-blue eyes probed her. “So, sorry,” Kylie added quickly, bowing low before Shiva.
After an awkward pause, Shiva burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re a funny one!” she giggled. “It was just a big misunderstanding, Kylie!” The fairy placed a reassuring hand on her Tanuki friend’s shoulder. “It’s all right now.”
Kylie stood up and chuckled nervously, slightly embarrassed by her conduct.
“So, uh, how do we go about getting out of here?” Kylie asked.
Shiva looked around their wagon-cell, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. “Hmmm,” she mused. Besides the hay, there wasn’t anything of use in the wagon.
“I mean,” Kylie suggested, “can’t you just use your magic and zap us out of here?”
Shiva put her hands on her hips and looked at Kylie as if she had said something dumb. She pointed toward an odd device in the middle of the room outside their prison. It looked like it was a box at first glance, but upon further investigation, Kylie spotted several flashing lights and circuitry running along it.
Kylie paused for a few seconds, then figured it out. “Is that something that blocks your magic or something?”
At this point, it seemed that Shiva wasn’t really offended by Kylie’s ignorance; rather, she was upset with that device. “Yes,” she huffed. “It’s called the Blocker. It’s a machine designed by scientists who disdain magic just because their studies can’t explain it.”
Kylie felt a rant coming on, so she tried to change the subject. “Maybe I can figure something!” she chimed, clasping her hands together. Shiva turned to Kylie. “Can you?” she asked.
Kylie thought for a bit, then remembered: the Tanuki Stone ability! She could jump, then turn into stone and break the floor beneath them, creating a hole. But… what if it was an innate magical ability, therefore, the Blocker could cancel it?
She groaned and sat down, folding her arms, wishing for an idea to come. The hay was an especially uncomfortable chair, which only added to the frustration of her current predicament.
Shiva folded her arms, not out of an “I told you so” attitude, but deep in thought. There had to be a way to deactivate the Blocker, but what…
* * * * * *
Meanwhile, there was another unfortunate victim of the prison blues elsewhere. Sitting in a cell in the New Jackson Detention Center until further notice did not only bore Dan: it bored him to death.
At least, that’s how he felt at the moment, lying face-up on his prison bed. He had been arrested as a suspect of the murder of a young mother, which was a small relief to him. Now that he was being held by the police, however, he knew it’d only be a matter of time before they would question him as to John’s whereabouts.
Not that he’d tell them anything, of course, but that John would likely try to go back to the motel made Dan worry. He just hoped that John could hold his own until he was able to help.
“Hey,” came a quiet voice from the corner of the cell.
Dan sat up immediately, not knowing that there was another person here. He scoped the corner where the voice had come from, but the corner was surprisingly dark—although, since it was it was evening time, Dan guessed it was to be expected.
After straining his eyes, Dan could make out a silhouette. It got up and moved toward him, its movements unusual. Walking into Dan’s view was an odd young man: his long hair was dyed dark green, and tied into a ponytail. Dark shadows trailed beneath his wide, inspecting eyes. His arms were long enough to trail a small length past his knees, and his overall movements made him seem like a primate.
After looking into Dan’s eyes, the stranger made a small, wry smile. “My name’s Lorris,” he began. “I’m a partial owner of the Pickles and Meat deli?”
“Never heard of it,” Dan said, shaking his head.
Lorris’ voice was actually calm and quiet, perhaps displaying a calculating personality. “Well, I suppose we aren’t all that popular,” Lorris said as he sat down on the cold cell floor. He crossed his long arms over his knees and began to gently rock on his heels. “Did they arrest you for suspicion of murder?”
Dan nodded.
Lorris’ smile disappeared. He began to draw circles on the ground with his finger. “Is that so?” he asked with a sensitive feeling of regret. “How troublesome.”
Dan didn’t really know what to make of this guy, other than that he was weird. He supposed he might try to converse with him, and see if he knew anything useful.
“What were you put in here for?” Dan asked, picking his ear with his pinky finger.
Lorris blinked a few times, his long frown growing longer. “Suspicion of murder,” he answered. “There was a young mother who lived in my apartment building, located just above the P&M. She was murdered with a knife, or possibly knives.”
Dan sat back on his bed. “So, they think you did it?”
Lorris’ wide eyes looked at the floor, ashamed. “Her name was Heather Mason, a tenant of mine. She and I never got along, even though her husband was nice enough to give me a second chance.”
“Second chance? What did you do?”
The strange boy’s eyes returned to Dan. He stopped drawing circles on the ground and folded his arms around his legs. “Nothing,” he said flatly. “Heather was quick to judge others, and my…” He stood up, revealing his strange hunched-over posture and all of his unusually long arms. “…My freakish appearance didn’t help any.”
Dan nodded after a moment of silence. “So they think you did I it because they believed you didn’t like her because she disliked you?”
Lorris took one of his long arms and placed it behind his head, cracking his neck. He sat back down in the usual “arms holding legs” fashion. “I never hated her for it. As a matter of fact, I kind of expected it.”
He looked back up at Dan. “But that’s the idea. I’ve been blamed for something I did not do.” He looked Dan in the eye. “I’m willing to bet that you’re innocent, too.”
Dan snorted. “You’re a rather trusting guy.”
Lorris slid his finger across his nose as an attempt to scratch it. “As a matter of fact, no. I’m not trusting of anyone except for my father. I’m just saying that I have a hunch that you’re as wrongfully accused as I am.”
Dan paused. This kid… for some reason, he kind of reminded Dan of a certain Tanuki friend of his. Dan shifted his large body, stretching from the constant cramping. He shook his head to get his dark hair out of his face.
“Okay, you win,” Dan said. “Who do you think did it? Besides us, there’s that motel owner.”
“He didn’t do it, either,” Lorris interrupted. He blinked few times, then continued. “Even after he tried to have an affair with Heather, they both still harbored much respect for each other—which is rather hard for anyone to do.”
A questionable look crossed Dan’s face. “How do you know all this?”
Lorris shifted about and yawned before answering. “Her husband, George, is a friend of both me and my father. He told us.” He scratched his nose once more. “Anyway, that’s beside the point,” Lorris continued. “I have a hunch that whoever murdered Heather and possibly her baby is whoever’s been behind a string of murders that’s been going on since early last year.” He leaned in, his eyes looking up at Dan. “The one the local media has dubbed ‘The Knife Man.’”
Dan rolled his eyes. The Knife Man…How unbelievably trite. “So, uh, that means that this Knife Man murders all his victims by… ‘slashing’ them?”
Lorris breathed in annoyance at Dan’s scoff. “Please take this seriously,” he warned. “The Knife Man indeed uses knives to slash his victims, but he also removes certain body parts of each of his victims.” Lorris fidgeted as he chillingly added, “His precision is like a surgeon’s.”
“Certain body parts? Like he’s collecting them?” Dan asked. That was unbelievable. What kind of monster WAS this guy?
Lorris nodded. “The police can’t identify him. Detective Gamer and Gumshoe both think that you might be the Knife Man.”
Dan just leaned back and stretched his arms in an aloof manner. “I’ve been accused of worse,” he chuckled. Lorris looked back at Dan with those wide, piercing eyes of his. “However, I’m sure that you’re not him. For one, your train ticket from Marin City means that you’ve been here less than a day. The murder took place at midday yesterday, when you and your friend both arrived in the evening.”
How did he know that? Dan thought for a second: it was a good possibility that this Lorris was a bounty hunter of some sort. After all, both he and John were fugitives now, and he didn’t expect a moment’s breath from these trackers. Of course, he could just be acting paranoid, but Lorris’ information was unnervingly precise.
Dan stood up slowly. “Lorris… That’s your name, right?”
Lorris nodded. “Yes.”
With the speed and strength of the king of the jungle, Dan picked up Lorris by his shoulders and slammed him up against the wall, pinning him there.
“Talk!” Dan demanded. “You know too much! Who’s giving you information?!”
Lorris’ inquisitive expression had changed into a threatening sneer. “You oaf!” he growled. “Detective Gamer is a friend of both myself and my father. He’d trust me with his life, if such an occasion occurred.”
“Bullshit!” Dan barked, slamming Lorris again and increasing his grip. “How do you know so much about me?!”
Lorris spat in Dan’s eye and sunk his knee into Dan’s crotch, knocking him backward. The monkey-like young man swung his left arm in a chop and connected with Dan’s face, knocking him aside.
As Dan hit the floor, Lorris jumped and landed his knees on his shoulders, preventing him from moving. “LISTEN!” Lorris roared in a threatening voice, “I’m telling the truth.”
Lorris’ voice calmed down as Dan relaxed. “We’ve both been accused of doing something we did not do, by none other than the Knife Man. Detective Gamer, against most police regulations, let me in on the scoop. I’m the only one who trusts you enough to let you know.” He got off of Dan, shambling like an ape to one side.
Dan sat up, still feeling the aching pain in his balls. “So why do you want to help me?”
Lorris breathed. “All right, I suppose you’ve the right to know.” He sat down again, drawing circles on the ground. He cleared his throat as he began. “I know about your friend, the Tanuki.”
Dan gulped. “So you ARE a bounty hunter?”
Lorris shook his head. “Of course not; let me finish. I also know that his very life is in danger. I want to help you protect him.”
NEXT CHAPTER: Things are getting dicey in the town of Highwind. Pirate battles, mafia deals, and giant robots? What's Gray and his friends (And unlikely allies) to do?
Enjoy.
