Twisted Wonderland: Camp Vargas - Exercise in Survival

Chapter 5-14: Been Here Before

Soon, Briar and the others arrive in the interior area of the Dwarf Mine.

"Here's where we found the pickaxe. Deuce and I didn't go past this point when we were doing the challenge," Jack says, and looks around, "It wouldn't make sense for him to go any further if he was just getting the pickaxe... But at this point, I'm pretty sure that's the only direction we haven't searched."

Ace soon gets an uneasy feeling, "Whoa, wait... Haven't we been here before? This is where we came looking for magestones, and then that freaky monster attacked us..."

Briar grows warily, "Unfortunately, it is."

"I really feel uneasy being here," Tanzanite says.

Soon, Leona finds something, "Hey, over here. Found something interesting."

"Is it a magestone?!" Ruggie asks, excited.

"Somethin' rarer. At least in these mines," Leona says.

The group soon walk over to see what Leona has found. They are surprised to see what is in the mine, a cauldron.

"What's this? ...A cauldron? What is a cauldron doing in the middle of a cave?!" Sebek questions.

Suddenly, they hear a voice, "That voice... Is that you, Sebek?"

"That voice..." Jasper says.

Briar kneels down, "Deuce, is that you in there?"

"Briar, is that you?" Deuce's voice speaks up.

Soon, the cauldron is removed to reveal Deuce hiding under there.

Deuce is surprised, "I knew it! It IS you! Whoa, and you brought a whole entourage! Even Grim and the others are here! What are you all doing here?"

"What kind of question is that?! We were trying to find YOU," Jack says.

"Ain't you lookin' swell! Why didn't you come back to camp?" Grim questions.

"Did you hide out in a cauldron for a whole day just to skip camp? Is that the punchline here? Lousy joke, if you ask me..." Ace says.

But Deuce shushes him, "Shhh! Quit making noise!"

"Huh?" Everyone reacts.

Briar can tell that judging by the expression, something must have happened.

Sebek angrily says, "HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME! I DEVOTED MY PERSONAL ENERGIES TO SEARCHING FOR YOU! NEVER PRESUME TO TALK DOWN TO ME, HUMAN!!!"

Deuce cries out, "Seriously, Sebek, keep it down! If you keep yelling..."

Then he notices something and grows very scared, "Oh no... It's coming!"

And soon they hear strange footsteps.

"Something's behind us!" Ruggie exclaims.

As the footsteps comes closer, they hear a voice, "It'ssss... Mmmm... Miiiine..."

Everyone turns around and to their shock, they see a large creature.

Ruggie exclaims, "What is that thing...?"

Grim cries out, "MYAAAAH!"

"It... it can't be..." Sereia says, scared.

"Not again!" Ace cries out.

What they see is a large creature that has a glass capsule head and is dressed like a miner. It's wearing a green outfit and hat, and it's holding a lantern and a pickaxe.

The monster screams, "Myyy...stooone..."

Jack observes the monster, "A lantern and pickaxe... Inky black stuff oozing from its head..." and soon realizes, "That's the monster Deuce told me about!"

"That's the monster alright!" Jasper says.

"But wait, it looks different from before. The one we first saw was red, this one is green," Sereia says.

"Yeah. Briar also healed the blot and disappeared," Ace says.

"We ain't got time to debate the details!" Grim panics.

"We didn't see it on our way in," Jack says.

"And we certainly didn't see this one when we first entered the mine or when Briar and the others came along," Tanzanite says.

"This one must have been hiding in one of the side tunnels the entire time," Briar says.

"Crud... It's blocking the way outta here. Looks like we'll have to fight our way out," Deuce says.

"Are you serious?!" Ace panics.

"What do we have? If we don't beat it, it will keep us trapped in the mines," Briar says.

"And it might attack the others if it escapes," Sereia says.

Leona steps forward, "Why are you actin' like you've just met your maker? I got a lotta pent-up frustration from havin' to listen to Vargas all day. And I just found the perfect punching bag."

"Samesies! Ahaha," Floyd laughs, "Sharksucker pulled one over on me, so I'm in the mood to cut loose and blow this inky hulk outta the water."

"Blow it out of the water?! You don't get how tough that thing is!" Ace says, shocked.

"Not for me. That thing's easy prey," Leona says.

"I'm spent just from summoning a cauldron. I can't use any more magic without a magestone!" Deuce says.

"Leona! Floyd! Don't do anything rash! The last time the others and I faced that monster, we barely got away from it!" Briar says, worried.

Leona scoffs, " Tch. Buncha herbivores. You got ME. Do I have to spell it out in crayon? Fine, if ya still think we can't handle this..." Then turns to Ruggie, "Hey, Ruggie."

"Yeah?" Ruggie questions.

"Put up your hands and jump in place," Leona says with a smile.

Everyone is confused.

Ruggie grows uneasy, "Uh, we've got a legit emergency and you want me to do jumping jacks?"

Then Leona sternly commands, "I said jump. Now."

After a moment, Ruggie groans, "...ARRRGH."

And does as Leona asked. As soon as Ruggie jumps, something falls out of his pocket.

"Hey, somethin' fell outta his pocket," Grim says and looks at the object, "What a sparkly stone..." But soon realizes, "Hey, wait a minute..."

"A MAGESTONE?!" Everyone exclaims.

Sebek viciously glares at Ruggie, "YOU UTTER KNAVE!!! Even in this moment of dire peril, you STILL kept a magestone from us?!"

"And it's way bigger than the one you used in the swamp..." Jack says.

Briar crosses her arms, "Honestly, Ruggie..."

Ruggie begins to complain, "Nooo... My shiny meal ticket! How could you do this to me, Leona?! You could've just kept your mouth shut!"

"You're one greedy dude. I'm actually kinda impressed," Floyd says, "You could give Azul a run for his money. But hey, now I can bring my A-game. This fight just got turned up to 11! Campin' on land RULES!"

Floyd then turns to Sereia, "Hey angel fish, do you still have more of those magestones?"

Sereia takes out her pouch and reveals the stone-like magestones she has, around 10 of them. A few are a little larger than others.

"This is all I have left," Sereia says.

"I think they're a good amount," Jack says.

"And it looks like we have to use what we got because of that monster," Ace says.

Soon, the miner monster says, "Stone... Stoooone..."

"Now I've got nothing to lose!" Ruggie says, "You're gonna pay for making me lose MY stone!" Soon the monster screams.

The monster screams, "MYYY STOOOONE!"

And begins to attack.

The other dodge and soon they begin to attack the monster as well with the limited magic they have from the stones. They hope to defeat the monster before it destroys them.