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| The Return of the Gov'na part three |
Sora looked around her, but could see nothing. No doors, no openings, nothing. She had to duck because of the cobwebs hanging from the low ceiling. There was a space that didn't have any cobwebs. She walked over and stood up straight, only to hit her head on something. It was a handle of some sort. Without thinking, Sora grabbed it and pulled down. A ladder fell down and she jumped out of the way, getting cobwebs in her hair. But that didn't matter now. Sora quickly climbed up the ladder and found herself in a small, circular room. "Sora!" Kat sat in the corner (if that's possible), wearing only her now torn-up jeans, and a dirty beater tank. "Kat!" Sora ran over to her and gave her a hug. "What happened to your clothes?" "They took them. They took everything out of my pockets, and my backpack, too, I suppose. Everything's gone." "Well, we have to get out of here." Sora helped Kat up. "Are you gonna be all right?" "Yeah, sure. I just hope it's warm outside." They climbed down the ladder and made their way down the stairs. Kat sopped in the middle of the staircase. "Do you know what this means? The Tongue Ring's gone. Our quest has failed." Sora rolled her eyes. "Here, if you really want it back, have it." She rummaged in her pocket and held it out to Kat. "You took it? Why did you do that?" "Uh, to protect it, duh." Kat snatched it away from her and popped it in her mouth. Then she sighed, took it out, and put it in her pocket. "Probably not too safe to do that here," she said. Sora thought for a minute. "You know, it's going to be harder to carry that now. Maybe we could take turns?" "How hard can it be to carry? It's this big!" Kat held her forefinger and thumb an inch apart. "You're ridiculous, Sora." "Yeah, I guess." Sora looked at the steps. "But I can at least help you out of here. We need to find some clothes to blend in." She pulled Kat down the rest of the stairs and found two small Plastic Surgery Victims to take clothes from. "Disgusting," Kat said. "I just wonder how we can actually make ourselves look like Plastic Surgery Victims," Sora mused. "Can I cut your face?" "Hell no! I'd like to keep it the way it is, thank you very much." Tai, Matt, TK, and the Cowboys started off north on the highway that would take them into Idaho. Sometime after lunch, they crossed the border into the Potato State. They drove in the wind and snow for a couple more hours until they stopped in Salmon, at the museum. "Tell me again why we're here," TK whispered to Matt as they walked into the dark museum. "To find some old geezers to fight in the war." "But where are the old geezers?" Tai took out his Superglued Knife and walked up to a glass case with a black globe inside it. He smashed the glass and thrust the Superglued Knife into the globe. A light from the ceiling shone on the globe. "Wasn't there a movie like this?" whispered Matt. Shapes appeared in the dark corners of the room. "Why are you here?" called out Tai. "Because you called us, dimmy," an eerie voice said. "Good good. Right. You will come with me to Utah. When all the servants of Card Sharp are gone, I will free you from your life." "All of them? Do you know how many servants He has?" "Yes. All of them. C'mon, you can do it. Team! Work!" A figure stepped into the light. He was a really really old geezer, wrinkled beyond imagination, two white puffs of hair over his ears, and two smaller ones over his eyes. "I guess we have no choice." He stood up straight and beckoned to the other potato farmers. They stepped into the light and surrounded the little group. Matt was still wondering how a bunch of old guys could help them, but there was something about the way the potato farmers stared at the group that made Matt shrink back a little. They left the museum with a thousand Potato Farmers following behind them. River and his friends dropped Kari off at her hotel, and she decided to study for a while. Joe came back at midnight, waking Kari from her sleep. "Enjoying your duties?" "I haven't really done anything but smoke some weed." "Wonderful. The Lieutenant Governor wants to see you." Kari yawned. "Now?" "Yes." He grabbed her and rushed her out to the Ferrari. They went back to the City Hall, where they had met Izzy's Father beforehand. Joe pulled up a chair, leaving Kari to stand in the middle of the room, almost falling asleep on her feet. Joe and Izzy's Father talked about Wyoming and Davis for a little while. About a half hour later, Izzy's Father told Kari to go to the basement of the cop shop for her uniform. She left and started walking down the sidewalk. "He fugging thinks he's in charge," she muttered to herslef. "Making me wander around at one in the morning to do something I could've done yesterday. Mumble grumble gurgle explicit." A lady cop met her at the station and brought her to the basement to find some clothes that fit her. Which there were none. Eventually, the lady cop took the biggest shirt and threw it in the washer in hot water. When it came out of the dryer (at 3 in the morning), it fit comfortable enough. Kari was allowed to wear her jeans. She got a badge and a holster for her 9 mm. "Do I get handcuffs too?" she asked the lady cop. "Sure." She found a pair and Kari put them in a pocket on her "cop belt," as she so liked to call it. Kari went upstairs to find something to eat, even though she was more tired than hungry. So she drank cup after disgusting cup of black coffee, which she detested. Lily came in at five to take over the reception desk and show Kari how to use it. Once Kari got to know the basics, Lily went on a coffee break. Bear came in to work and noticed Kari yawning. "Tired?" he asked. "Just a little," she replied, rubbing her eyes. "I was woken up to stand and listen to Joe and Izzy's Father for an hour, then was commanded to come here, which took forever. There is no decent food around here, and I still don't know what I'm doing." Bear opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by evil giggling and motors. Kari covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Bear looked at the ceiling, dumbstruck. Then they both ran to the window. Cessnas were flying around in the air. "Reapers!" Kari cried. "They're looking for me! Just fucking go away!" She covered her ears again and doubled over against the wall. Bear went to the reception desk and punched in a number. A couple seconds later, he hung up on whoever he was talking to. "Izzy's Brother has come back! Follow me." He took Kari upstairs to look at the screens again. The big one showed one of the entrances to the city. Three Black Hondas were coming down the road, but the Cessnas flew dangerously low and close to them, trying to scratch the Black Hondas with the Sickles. "Drive faster!" Kari screamed at the screen. Bear ran off to help, leaving Kari alone. She saw something red appear on the screen. Shots came out of it, aimed at the Reapers. It was Joe and his 45. He hit a couple of the Cessnas, and they flew away. Kari ran outside, grabbed a police car, pushed a couple buttons before she found the sirens, then sped through the city to the gate. Citizens and police alike had also come to see what was going on. Apparantly, they had won. For now. Joe was driving back inside the city with the Hondas behind him, dented and scratched. Kari got out and made her way to the front of the crowd, cleverly using her badge. She watched the Hondas drive through. The first one had the passenger window halfway rolled down. Kari gasped when she saw his face. It looked exactly like Izzy's. The cars drove dowtown, and Kari followed them in the "borrowed" police car. As Izzy's Brother was walking up the steps, she called out to him: "Hey ... Izzy's Brother!" He turned around and gave her a disdainful look. "You're from Maine, aren't you?" he asked. Joe came over and grabbed Kari's arm. "We have to speak with the Lieutenant Governor." They all went inside to the room. Mimi and the people from Wyoming had decided to go back to Laramie, to see if the city had got back from Muddy Gap all right. And they had. Yolei saw them park at the City Hall and went out to greet them. "It's so nice to see you come back!" she cried. Davis got off his crotchrocket. "Is everything back to normal here?" "Yeah, sure." They all went inside, upstairs, where there was a lounge room complete with kitchenette. Mimi sat on one of the barstools by the counter and kept quiet while Davis and Cody told Yolei what had happened since she left. They talked about Tai, and the Cowboys, and Dead Man's Lane. Dead Man's Lane, thought Mimi. What is it all about? It seems like everyone has gone to their deaths, leaving me all by myself ... Davis broke her trance by yelling her name. "You can sit by us," he told her. Mimi got up and sat in one of the armchairs with the rest of the group. The sun was already high in the sky. They ate lunch, and Mimi dared to ask Davis about Dead Man's Lane. "What exactly is so deadly about it?" "Well," said Davis, "we don't know. No one who went in has ever come out. They say Potato Farmers lurk deep in Idaho." "And that's a threat?" "Well ... yeah." They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the receptionist from downstairs. "Someone's here to see you, Davis," she said. "Well, let him in." Davis got up and finished off his soda. The door opened wider and a young man came in the room. For a second, Mimi thought she was seeing Izzy, but then realized that it was just one of the men from Utah. The visitor cleared his throat. "Hello, governor. My name is Cade and I bring you this message." He handed a piece of paper to Davis. Davis looked at it quizzically, then unfolded it. It had one word on it: HELP! Cade continued. "Utah needs help in war. Wyoming has helped us before, and, well ... we're hoping you'll come again." "But I just got home from war!" Davis whined. Cody kicked him. "Uh ... I mean, sure we'll come. We just got back from war, so we're prepared." He folded the paper up again and handed it back to Cade. "We'll come in a couple days." "What?! Salt Lake City could be a pile of rocks by then." "I said a couple days." He ushered Cade out and then turned to Mimi. "You can go now; I have a room for you in the hotel, but be ready if I call for you." "Yeah OK." Mimi got up and left City Hall. She walked down the street to the hotel, where a room had been reserved for her. She went to bed that night extremely angery. "Oh, they won't leave me here, they won't," she said to herself. "I'm gonna fight." |