Chapter 16 - The Hunt Begins (G&G)

The newly formed trio of GB, Asotzen, and Naturae charged around the hallways, pumping their fists and letting loose squeaky battle cries, until they found themselves back where they started.

“Uh, guys?” GB asked, slowing his mini yux companions to a stop. “Where exactly are we going?”

“We’re going to stop Boshi, of course!” Asotzen replied, an ignorant grin spread across his ignorant face.

“That’s our goal, yes. Do we even know where he went, though?”

“We just assumed you did,” Naturae said. “How could we possibly find him in this place?”

“Hmm…” GB looked about him, attempting to assess the situation. Up on the wall, near the ceiling, he spotted something that gave him an idea. “That’s it! Give me a boost, guys!”

Looking in the same direction and catching on to the plan, Asotzen floated underneath the blooper and raised him up a bit. The surveillance camera just out of GB’s reach, Naturae decided to lift the yux up for the extra required height. Unfortunately, totem stacks don’t work with three uncoordinated weaklings. Asotzen and Naturae tumbled to the ground, leaving GB hanging from the camera.

“Asotzen! Naturae! You’ve got to help me!” he cried.

“Stop being so dramatic. We can catch you!” Naturae said, connecting his arms with Asotzen’s to form a net of sorts.

“Yeah! Don’t you remember what we just talked about? If we put our heads together we can solve every problem that we’re faced with!” The yux added, giving GB a big smile. GB, who had let go, fell through their arms and crashed into the floor. The mini yuxes slipped underneath him and hoisted him up into the air once more.

“Oh my God, are you okay?!”  Naturae cried moving over to the blooper.

“Yeah, I think I’m okay,” GB replied, rubbing his face. “A few broken teeth and a black eye, but I’ll be-”

“No, not you!”  The boo snatched the tapes from the squid’s hand and held it above his head. “Oh, thank goodness! You’re safe and sound!”

“Great! Now that that’s settled,” Asotzen went on, ignoring the deranged look in GB’s remaining unbruised eye, “how are we going to play these back?”

“The monitor!” Naturae and Asotzen looked at GB, confused. “Inside the Pit is a massive monitor used to display statistics during battles. We can play these tapes there!”  The blooper guided his mini yuxes toward the arena doors, and the three stooges went in.

The boo and the yux sat down on the floor, and GB shoved the tape into the totally existent video player. After fast forwarding a bit, and seeing Parin and Lukki do many things that he could never unsee, he finally reached the part where he had entered the building with the criminal. Several minutes past, and they saw Boshi exit the minor league room where he had believed he had killed the blooper. To the trio’s shock, the dinosaur, without hesitation, ran into the Pit.

“What? Does that mean he’s in here with us right now?!” Asotzen cried, looking around frantically.

“No, that’s impossible. If he were still in here, Boshi would have killed us all by now. Plus, it’s not like there’s anywhere to hide in the arena, anyways.”  GB removed the tape, and instantly heard what he believed to be muffled screams. “Wait. Guys, do you hear that?”  The others got up, and all three of them tracked the sound to behind the monitor.

“I thought you already stopped the video,” Naturae whispered.

“I… I did.”

At that moment, doors from the other side of the room creaked open. The team dove down in a panic, all thinking the same thing. As the footsteps grew closer, they edged their way along the stage and rounded the corner. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps stopped, and was replaced by a loud whirring noise. Peeking his head around the corner, GB was surprised to see that a large door had slid open within the monitor. When the footsteps returned, GB removed himself from sight once more, and not a single one of them dared to say a word until they heard the doors open and close again.

“Hurry!” GB yelled, and the three broke into a sprint for the mysterious door that was somehow closing at a pace perfect for them to squeeze through just in time. Diving inside, they quickly found themselves enveloped in complete darkness.

“Oh no… Guys, do you realize what this is?” Asotzen said, eyes widening in terror. “This isn’t just some random storage room. In fact, this isn’t a room at all! We’ve tossed ourselves into some kind of vortex of endless misery and darkness, and now we’re never going to see the light of day again! We’re trapped in here for the rest of our-”

Naturae strengthened the light being emitted from his eye, revealing some of the area around them. “Nope, this is just a storage room.”

GB and Asotzen followed close behind the boo, who was creeping about with the little light he had guiding him. Suddenly, Naturae came to an abrupt halt. GB’s mini yuxes, who were greatly unnerved by the whole situation, went into a panic when they bumped into him. Shaking violently, they flung GB from atop them, causing him to fly off into a dark corner of the room.

The blooper groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. When he lifted his gaze, he was met with the sight of a lakitu whose wrists and ankles were bounded, and his mouth covered. It was Lukki.