Metal and Bone | A Rainbow Quest AU

Chapter 30 - Bolt

[Sabre's POV]

"What do we do?" I whisper to Orange.

"Uh... I don't know." He whispers back. "Maybe we should try to talk to him?"

"Maybe, he seems scared of Nightmare too. Maybe we could convince him to give us the Crystal if we tell him about-"

"I-I can hear you!" The assistant calls out. "This is your final warning, show yourself!"

Orange and I look at each other, and he shrugs. He climbs up the supports of the walkway and onto it, taking off his helmet once he's up. The assistant looks shocked.

"It's... you." He says quietly.

"Listen, we don't want any trouble." Orange says, holding his free hand up to show he doesn't have a weapon. "We just need the Crystal."

"I-I... I'm sorry, I can't give it to you." The assistant says, glancing behind him.

"We understand why, but have a good reason why we need to get the Crystal back, we swear." I add.

"I know, you need it so you can collect the rest of them and create the Hero." The assistant sighs. "I know of the prophecy."

"That's, uh... not why we need it." Orange says nervously. The assistant gives a confused look.

"Then... why do you?" He asks.

"Well, uh... the thing is..."

"That's not really the Crystal." I say. "It's a fake."

Orange shoots me a look as the assistant starts to look scared.

"W-What do you mean it's a fake?" He asks. "How could that possibly be a fake?"

"I, uh... I noticed that darkness' presence was hanging around the Crystal, so I put it somewhere with a friend and made a fake one just in case there was actually danger. Aaand turns out, there was." Orange explains. "It'll work just like the real thing as long as an Orange Steve uses it, but if Nightmare tries to..."

Orange trails off, avoiding eye contact with the increasingly worried Yellow Steve.

"What? It'll what if Nightmare tries to use it?" The assistant asks, sounding panicked.

"It'll, um... explode."

"WHAT?!"

"Please don't yell you'll attract the guards." I say quickly.

The assistant, still panicked, shuts his mouth and looks conflicted for a second. Then, he starts pacing back and forth and mumbling to himself.

"Great, just great, either I have to tell him that he was tricked and he'll probably take it out on me or he uses it and the room explodes. Perfect. Oh Origin, I'm gonna die."

"Actually, the explosion's apparently gonna be big enough to crater the whole kingdom." I blurt out.

"Sabre!" Orange scolds me while the assistant looks like he's stuck in a feedback loop. It's usually funny to watch that happen to AI, but not in this situation.

Orange walks up to the assistant and gets his attention, which makes him snap out of it and turn towards him.

"Look, I can probably switch it again with another fake before he comes back. Where'd Nightmare go?" Orange asks.

"You can't, he's gonna notice..." The assistant says. "He just went to the repairmen in the opposite wing of the castle, and then he's gonna go get a prisoner so he could-"