Twisted Wonderland 2

Instant Gratification

The boys walk towards the plaza. The street lights casting an eerie glow into the path and the nearby buildings.

"When I was studying our surroundings up in the Ferris Wheel, I saw a large number of puppets around the carousel." Ortho warns. "I suggest steering clear of that area on our way to the stage. I've got the park map scanned and stored in memory, so I can be our guide!"

Kalim smiles to him. "Couldn't have asked for a better one!"

Ace looks to the ground. "All this smooth sailing wouldn't have been possible without Cater's quick thinking, huh..."

"Yeah..." Kalim sniffs, using his sleeve to wipe away his tears. "Or without Y/N drawing away all those puppets..."

Ortho shuts his eyes, holding his arms. "We must put an end to this battle. We can't let Y/N's or Cater Diamond's sacrifice be in vain...!"

Ace clenches his fists, whirl on the two. "Knock off the eulogizing! Cater's a lot tougher than he looks. And Y/N's gonna be there with him. They're gonna be just fine. If you're gonna worry about anyone, worry about us." He waves a hand to what's left of the group. "Only five of us are left now. We're down two juniors as well. That puts a pretty big dent in our potential firepower. I'm just sayin', if any puppets showed up now-"

Vil freezes, holding out a hand to silence the boys. "Shh! Quiet."

The boys stand in silence and glance around, waiting for anything to jump out at them. Then they hear it, the sound of marching footsteps coming from somewhere nearby.

Vil narrows his eyes. "A puppet... There's only one, but it'll call for its friends if it sees us."

The boys duck behind a booth. They peer from behind the booth and see a puppet marching in the middle of the plaza.

Ortho's eyes widen. "You're right. And it's pacing back and forth along the same route... I think it might be functioning as a lookout."

"This is bad." Vil shakes his head. "If security's this tight, things are only going to get more difficult moving forward."

"So, what, we oughta go back the way we came?" Ace asks.

"That wouldn't be a good idea." Ortho says. "We managed to evade enemies on the way in, but we might run into them on the way out..."

"Is there any other way we could take?" Kalim brings a hand to his chin as he thinks out loud.

Floyd leans against the booth and folds his arms, not looking too concerned. "SOOO."

The puppet stops marching and whirls around. "WhO SaId THaT?"

The boys all turn to Floyd.

"Not so loud, Floyd!" Kalim exclaims. "Vil said to be quiet!"

"You're being just as loud!" Ace whisper shouts.

Vil glares at the twin. "What are you doing, Floyd? The puppet's going to spot us!"

Floyd only shrugs. "So what?"

"Is 'so what' all you have to say?" Vil scoffs. "We'll be in danger if they find us here!"

"Yeah! And we can't break the puppets." Kalim adds.

Floyd smirks. "Why can't we?"

Ace tilts his head in confusion. "Huh? I mean, because we'll get turned into puppets if we do."

"Again, so what? I literally don't care." Floyd stands, showing his full height. "Here's the thing, I'm way past over this. I might get turned into a puppet AFTER cutting loose, but that's not gonna stop me from busting 'em up first."