Once Upon A Time

Chapter 7

"Uh....does this seem strange to you?" Sean muttered as the group headed up to the top tower of the castle. Shawn turned his head to see him from the corner of his eye.

"It's Bischoff's people...what'd you think it'd be like?" He asked as they slouched against the wall, avoiding the guard that walked past, never even noticing them. They continued up the stairs until they came to the small cell at the top, guarded by none other than Nash, Duke of Diesel, a small town to the east of Turnerville. The group stopped short, grabbing Kane and bringing him back.

"What do we do?" Helmsley hissed, near panic in his voice. Sean laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles.

"I believe I can handle this one," he muttered as he walked up to the guard, who grinned broadly upon seeing him.

"Kid! Hey, I haven't seen you around here in ages! Where ya been?" Sean shrugged.

"Oh, just here and there, Kev. How are you?"

"Just great, bud. Great. What about you?"

"Fine, thanks."

"So what brings you back here?" Sean groaned.

"I didn't get much attention over in the port, so I came back this way. Bischoff'll pay me no matter what I do...maybe I should hang around here more often," he said thoughtfully, nearly to himself. Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, man, you should! How you think I've stayed here this long?" They both laughed, then Sean peaked into the door's tiny window and saw Stephanie staring morosely at the wall. He gestured towards the room.

"Hey, Kev...ya think maybe you could, you know, let the girl out?" Kevin's brow creased.

"Why would you care?" Sean shrugged again.

"I dunno, she's just...well, she's just a kid." Kevin laughed now.

"So are you!" Sean kept his temper in check and took a deep breath.

"Maybe so, but she doesn't deserve that. Besides...last time I was here, you said you wouldn't mind going over to the port...this could be your chance..." Sean motioned for the others behind him to come out of their hiding place. Kevin watched them curiously and then nodded.

"Yeah, you're right, kiddo...alright," he said, taking the keys from his belt. "I'll let her out, but you have to swear to me that you're not gonna, you know, ditch me on the way there." Sean nodded, smiling as he held his hand out.

"Sure thing, man."

"Now uncle Kevin is in this story?" Jesse asked thoughtfully. Sean smiled softly; no matter how many times he tried to explain it was JUST characters, they never would believe him. Sighing to himself, he passed off the same explanation again and went on.

Kevin reached over and unlocked the door, motioning for Stephanie to come out. Picking up the folds of her skirt, she haughtily pranced out, trampling Kevin's feet in the process. He cursed under his breath and then started to leave when Stephanie stopped them all.

"Wait! What...what's going on here?" Shawn gave her a quick reasoning of the matters and then started to tell everyone to leave when she stopped him again. "I'm not leaving without her," she said, pointing to the cell next to her. "She's been nice to me ever since those jerks brought me here...she said she's here 'cause she didn't want to be sir Madness's servant." Kevin looked to the next cell and shrugged.

"I dunno who she's talking about. Who is it?" Stephanie let out a sigh.

"Maid Madusa."

"Ahhh," Kevin muttered as he unlocked the next door. Madusa quickly sauntered out, coming to join the foray in the hallway, wearing a hand-crafted suit that allowed her to move easily; of course, it also showed enough skin to make Kevin grin. He waggled his eyebrows and made an attempt to grab her behind as the group moved to the stairs; she promptly turned and delivered the same spinning heel kick that Sean had used on Knight Michaels.

"Don't mess with me," she hissed, pulling her hair out of her face and turning to leave with the others. They once again easily bypassed the guards at front, then Kevin saddled behind Sean, Madusa choosing to ride with Helmsley, linking her arms around his waist and resting her head wearily against his shoulder, and he grinned the entire way to the gates at front. They didn't see Knight Lane perched on the top of the gate.