The Hunt

Chapter 12 Zip Out

"Okay, we have to hurry! Starn can't fight forever." Ami said.

We started walking down the hallway, bumping into each other as we went.

"Ow!" "Hey!" "Stop it!"

Finally, we came to a well lit room, with a large vault on the facing wall. There was a huge lock on the vault.

"So... does anyone know how to open this vault?" Danny asked.

"This is some sturdy vault..." I commented.

I started looking around for anyway of getting in, and at that moment, I was Nancy Drew. I tapped on the walls to check if they were hollow, I studied the walls and floors for a knob or something, and I had my two companions. Soon, everyone had joined me, and we searched for a long time. Nothing. There's nothing! But just then,

"I found a secret handle!" Fiona exclaimed.

We rushed over to her, filled with excitement. Together, Fiona and I pulled the handle, revealing a hidden door in the wall! We filed in and found that is was a tunnel! On the other side, was a big room, with expensive-looking walls, and stone floor. In the center of the room, was a quarts podium, the the map on top. The map! We finally got it!

"Okay, let's grab the map and go!" Ami ordered.

Thankfully, the map was framed, so Ami had no trouble picking it up, and running. We ran until we reached the door to the dining hall. There, we peeked out a tiny bit to see if Corple and Starn were there. Fortunately, they were not. Being very stealthy, we snuck around the corner into the hallway, so that we were standing... right in front of Corple and Starn. Starn was on the ground, with Corple holding him hard by his arm. He grimaced in pain.

"I knew he couldn't kill me." Corple boasted, "I also knew that he would never come alone to kill me. This had to be an undercover mission to distract me... to get my map!"

"It's not yours!" Fiona cried, "It belongs to the Beacons!"

"And just who are the Beacons?" Corple responded, "How do you know you are on the right side? Look who is stealing from someone right now!"

I just looked at him in anger and disgust.

"Of course we're on the right side," I shouted, "you tried to kill us!"

He looked a small bit surprised, but only a small bit.

"I spoke near your room on purpose!" he replied angrily.

What?

"I wanted you to hear!" he continued, "I wanted you to join our team, so I tried to scare you into it. I thought that would be a good way to ensure that you would join."

"That's not the way we like it!" I exclaimed.

I threw a hard kick at his face, and caught him off gaurd. He stumbled backwards, and let go of Starn.

"Run!" I yelled.

We all dashed through the hallways, and when we had gotten about halfway
to the exit, an alarm sounded, and many armed guards surrounded us. The fight broke out. We all started attacking the soldiers making a path. Then, just as we were winning, a huge machine blocked our way. I kicked him in the knee, then immediately regretted it. That machine was made of steel. Ouch. It swung it's massive arms at me, but I rolled out of the way. I saw Danny about to be stomped on, and with unnatural speed, I pulled him out of the way just in time. 

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just try not to be under that thing's foot again!"

Wow. Even in the face of danger, I was cracking jokes. That took courage. The machine's chest glowed, then immediately, a giant ball of flames shot out towards Ami! Before I could do anything, I saw her pull out a long strip of something, and deflected the fireball. Just then, Fiona shouted,

"Aim for the red jewel in its chest!"

I hadn't noticed that, but indeed there was a red jewel in its chest. But wait... that's not just any red jewel, that's--

"The Fire Gem!" I yelled, "Knock it out of that robot, but don't destroy it!"

That explains how it could shoot fire!

"Makenzie's right, don't destroy it, at all costs!" Starn exclaimed.

I knew I had to act. The machine was quite large, so I had no trouble jumping onto its torso without knocking us both over. I began to try and pry the gem from the slot in the robot, without success. Fiona and Danny suddenly came to join me, and together, we got it out. That must have been the machine's power source, because once it was gone, the machine shorted out and fell over.

"Good job," Ami started, "but we still have to get out of here."

"There's an exit over there." Fiona pointed to the left.

"Wait, does no one care that we just defeated a giant, fire-shooting, robot?!" Danny exclaimed.

All the soldiers were unconscious now, leaving a clear path for us. Once we were outside the Conquerors' lair, we headed straight back to the Beacons' base.

Today was a good day.