Starr Park: A Brawl Stars Story

Double Deuce

Crow had been desperately trying to remember something before being mind-controlled all night. Who am I? What am I? Who mind-controlled me? Why was I mind-controlled? The only thing he could clearly recall was an old laboratory and two narrow medical beds in the middle of the empty room. He vividly remembered the smell of chemicals in that laboratory after all this time and wanted to vomit. It was something he'd certainly prefer to have forgotten. He could also recall the deep and calm voice of a doctor; he could still hear it in his head:

"You're safe now. Close your eyes. You'll feel a small injection and may feel sick afterwards, but don't worry, this is normal, we already told you."

In the bed next to him, there was another bird, who got injected too. It wasn't a crow, like him, though. Crow closed his eyes harder and tried to remember what it was. It had small wings and leather-like skin, but it was impossible for Crow to determine its species. He then turned over and slept again.

Shelly, Colt and Barley woke up early in that morning, since they wanted to hatch a plan to cross the river without getting caught by the pirates -or whatever was there- and go to the hotel. Barley laid a big map over one the tables and they gathered around it.
"We are here.", said Barley and pointed a tiny part of the map, "This is the desert." added and glanced at Colt, "Here's the river.", said and moved his index finger alongside a long blue line, "And that is the Snowtel." It was a huge part of the map, although the hotel covered only a small part of it; most of the space was empty.
"There must be another way to go to the Snowtel." Said Shelly and peered at the map to find one.
"The only other way that leads there goes past the Gem Mountain, but it would take us months to climb it." Said Barley.
"It looks like Snowtel was built there, only because it's too hard for someone to visit it." Observed Colt.
"So, when are we leaving?" Asked Shelly.
"Today." Replied Colt bravely.

When everyone else woke up, Barley explained to them what he had discussed with Colt and Shelly before and they were all ready to go.
"Aren't you coming?" Piper asked Barley.
"No, I can't come. Someone has to stay behind. I don't want to impose on you, I don't even know how to fight.", answered Barley frankly, "You can always find me here if you need help." He added and gave them the map.
"Thanks for everything." They thanked Barley and got out of the bar. Fortunately, Pam's car was big enough for all of them, so they got in it. Pam helped Nani enter the car, since her lens were still damaged, and she sat at the driver's seat.
"Fasten your seatbelts guys, safety first!" Exclaimed Pam and started the car. They spent the next hour in the car. Pam was constantly checking the map and after another hour they arrived at the river. They got out of the car and walked alongside the river to find the pirate ship Barley had told them about.
"They might be friendly!" Exclaimed Piper in an optimistic tone. She always had that can-do attitude and gave hope to the team.
"Watch out!", shouted Mortis suddenly as they were walking, "There are mines in the ground!" He kneeled to show them. There were three mini mines with the letter "x".
"They might not be so friendly..." Said Colt. They kept moving carefully, since there weren't more mines. Eventually, they found the pirate ship they were looking for. It was a huge old wooden ship that was anchored near shore. At the top it, it had a black flag with three faces the team couldn't recognise. They approached it quietly when a high-pitched and kind of funny and childish voice was heard from the deck of the ship:
"Who are you?"
"I'm Colt!", shouted the man, "These are my friends! We need your help!" Shouted even louder so that he could be heard, since the river was very noisy.
"I'm Darryl!", it was large robot with a dark blue pirate hat and a body that was actually made of a tar barrel, "Come to the deck!" He offered them his help. They thanked him and introduced themselves. "What can I do for you?" Asked Darryl willingly as they were getting inside the ship.
"We want to go to the other side of the river. We were wondering if you could help us get there with your ship." Replied Shelly.
"Oh I see!", said Darryl, "I wasn't going to turn around my ship, but I can do it for you!"
"Thank you, Darryl!" Said Crow delightfully. Darryl looked closely at him. He quickly moved backwards and transformed his hands into two shotguns.
"Who are you?!" Yelled Darryl angrily.
"Hey! What happened? Aren't we okay?" Asked Colt scared. They had all got frightened. Shelly and Pam held their weapons tighter. Darryl approached Crow menacingly and pushed him to the wall.
"These people took my captain away!", he shouted and pointed at the star in Crow's shirt, "These people kidnapped captain Penny!"
"Wait! We can explain everything!" Exclaimed Colt, but Darryl didn't want to hear any explanations. He got out of the room and locked them there.
"What will we do now?" Asked Piper terrified. She wasn't the only one who didn't know what to do. No-one replied. They were just sitting there, looking at each other. Pam was wandering in the room trying to find a way to escape and Colt was shouting just in case Darryl would came back. After a while, another robot appeared, unlocked the door and gave them some food. It was short, it had two large hands made of cannons and a head that was literally a bomb.
"We loved Penny a lot.", said the robot to them, "She created us.", he added, "Darryl needs some rest. He sent me to hear your 'explanations'." Upon hearing that, they started to explain everything that had happened: why Crow and Mortis were wearing such clothes and why and where they actually wanted to go. The robot seemed to have understood everything they had told him and left the room. After some minutes Darryl came back. He unlocked the door and told them to get out.
"Tick told me everything. I'll help you cross the river only if you help me find Penny." Said Darryl calmly, "Woe betide you if you lie; I swear I'll kill with my own hands!"
"Deal!" Said Colt and shook hands with Darryl to seal the deal.