The Heretics from Up Above [🄿🄾🄿🄿🅈 🄿🄻🄰🅈🅃🄸🄼🄴]

Chapter 9: Change of Heart

Right above my head was Bunzo. Charlotte's breath got caught in her throat from fear. "Game over. Up for a second try?"

Before I could respond, I was violently head-slammed to the ground by his cymbals, earning a nice bruise on the right side of my face. Maybe a goose egg on the back of my head from how hard he hit me. At least it wasn't what the player experienced in the game. "G-Game on... bastard..."

Charlotte had also been slammed into the ground, having a bruise on her left cheek. The game restarted, and Bunzo was brought back to the top of his area. The pattern also was reset, so we were kinda given a heads-up. "Here's the plan, Charlotte. I'll do the hard work, and you just have to repeat the pattern after the screen says it," I explained.

"Gotcha. And make sure to not mess up like last time. We don't wanna get another bruise. Or a goose egg. Or a cut from the sharp lining of his cymbals," Charlotte replied.

Yeah, if he used those sorta like circular blades to cut us, then we'd be in big trouble. But the pattern continued, and I pressed the buttons, hearing the approving sounds coming from the speakers. But now it was Level 5. "What the– more buttons?!" I exclaimed.

"Didn't you listen, kid? The game's gonna get more difficult! Open your damn ears!" Bunzo laughed.

All of a sudden, the screen began to say different words, and some even glitched out. All while that was happening, Bunzo was being lowered, a devious smirk on his face. "THIS IS HARDLY FAIR!!" Charlotte yelled.

But that's when I saw it. An emergency button. It took me a bit to press it because it was moving around, but when I did, the buttons bent back, shutting off. Bunzo was brought back up, stopping with the cymbals. The lights turned off. "Oh... That's no fun... For doing such a splendid job, Mommy has decided to give you part of the code for the train. Look up."

Charlotte jumped up to not only see Bunzo gone, but Mommy's elastic hand was holding a piece of paper. "Thanks, cheater!" Charlotte called.

Her call fell upon deaf ears. "Mommy was hoping the game could last a little longer. ... It's okay, though. Mommy knows other ways to play with you~"

With that, she left, leaving Charlotte and me in the dark room, panting from exhaustion. Our cheeks and heads throbbed in pain from the one attack the bunny lent, but to be fair, it was well worth it. Memory games are not my thing, and this was quite a fun test with deadly consequences. "Fair game, you two..."

I looked up to see Bunzo grinning at me. His thing lowered and he got off, standing in front of Charlotte and me. The cute thing was that he was holding a first aid kit. Since when did he get that? "Thanks. ... Wow– I thought you'd be at least 5'3," I said.

Charlotte giggled as Bunzo scoffed. He was at least 6'2. Not what we expected, but it was fine by me. "Okay– Well, about that whole dinner thing. I was gonna cook some pasta puttanesca for the other toys, but... I can save that recipe for later. Why don't we have some comfort food and treat those wounds?" he asked.

Both of us grinned and followed him into a secret room, which was a simple kitchen and living room with a small television. To the side was a door, which I assumed led to a bedroom. "Hey, guys. I could use some help with the food. Uh... You, the taller one. Can you start cutting the guanciale? And your... sister... uh– get the Pecorino Romano cheese from the fridge. I'm gonna start making the pasta dough," he said.

I had a name, you know. And so did Charlotte. We obliged and went to the fridge, finding both the guanciale and the cheese. While the pasta dough was quickly made and was now cooling in the fridge, Bunzo salted the water and let it boil. In a separate bowl, he whisked 2 eggs and Charlotte helped grate the Pecorino cheese into the bowl. "I'll whisk this together. You two wanna work on some other parts? I got the recipe on the island," he stated.