The Sketch Survivors: The Secret of Lint Corp

The Spire Burns

Suddenly, Soal saw Moth somewhere in the room behind him, but he couldn't really track him as the boy ran into the other room to evade Lint Corp, from that distance through the fog not really being able to tell whether it was even Soal.

"Hey!" Soal whispered as loudly and as quietly as he could, if that was even possible, "Moth! Come back here!"

More dialogue brought Soal's attention back to the outside. Soal could point out all of the famous ones- Strallatropharh, Flynnlecke, Gulley, Cheshire, Megan Simmers, and Y.L. Revaw (the vice president of the company).

"Perfect," Simmers, with her short strands of hair, purred, "We've rounded up the Brigade. Now we're going to study their brains on trust, as you all know, and exterminate the gene that makes them suspicious of us. Then they will never rebel when we use them."

Use them? Soal was disquieted, what for?

Soal could see his fellow Brigade members and Renyrocrattus being taken away in handcuffs, being led onto the Gauntlete nearby. The handcuffs gave a shock if one tried to move their hands, so even Emma couldn't escape.

As Soal was distracted by his surrendering friends, he was caught by surprise when Gordon Gulley himself, wearing some kind of leather battle uniform, marched over to Soal and knocked off his helmet into the moat, hoisting up the Un-Character by his hair. The pain rattled through his body, until Gulley dropped him back on the bridge. A small group of other insignificant corporate workers gathered around them.

"Samuel Lawrence! What a disgrace," he knelt down to reach Soal's height. He was still laying on his back, his sturdy armor now somewhat useless. Soal gulped. "First you broke the challenges, then you ran away from us, and we still selected you for the First Brigade. We've already sent another two Brigades, and they have behaved much better than you. You sneaked in another Un-Character and unfurled our greatest regret."

"Renyrocrattus."

"You mean Sydney Edison. We have her in a different rocket now. She's off for more studying.

"Anyway, you listened to the villagers, didn't even think twice about our tracking devices, and walked into the Rooted Spire unattended. This is what I call someone who follows their own rules!"

"That's mine!" Soal leaped into action before Gulley took away his defenses. "It's all mine. I never trusted you. You never trusted me. A match made in heaven. I'll get my revenge, I'll disband Lint Corp, I'll do it even if it's at the cost of my own life!"

Soal grabbed his sword from Gulley's arms, and slashed at him. The workers carried him away towards the others once he fell to the ground, his jaw bleeding.

"You're going to fall to the same fate," Gulley struggled to say, blood flowing from his lower lip, "Even if we made up this Articulus, there's nowhere to run now."

Soal, brandishing his sword, realized Gulley was speaking of something more. He stepped backwards. His jaw fell. He couldn't think of anything else.

Some of the cone rockets fired missiles from pipes on their surface, and they came blasting towards the bottom of the Rooted Spire. The Bridge cracked, and Soal wobbled to balance. The Gauntlete fired missiles also into the Spire, and flames rose from their targets. On the wood, it quickly spread. The fire went higher, mainly around the entrance, but inflicting the same kinds of holes as the one "Articulus" had been looking through. As they burnt the leaves into ashes, the flares lit up the night sky.

Minutes passed. Soal was mesmerized. Many of the Lint Corp workers had now evacuated to their vehicles, and some of the cone rockets were shaking, as though launching. The lights in the village far away were also growing. "It burns... it burns..." Soal could hear the villagers chanting from afar. The fire was spreading to the bridge, and parts of the entrance.

Now Soal was faced with a decision. Would he fall into the hands of Lint Corp? Or would he burn in the Rooted Spire?

I'd rather die, he thought. He wrung his fists, and yelled into the night: "Traitors!" Then he rushed away into the darkness.

                                                                                  -End of Book One-