Marion's Hideaway

Chapter 6: A Stuffed Nightmare

I found myself falling through the sand and hitting the ground hard. "Gee, I guess that was the kiddie quick sand pool. Where am I?" I tried to squint through the harsh darkness, but to no avail. I heard movement around me and voices spoke in a hushed whisper. "Someone has entered our domain." I heard one say, "No one leaves alive." I pulled out my sword. "You wanna tussle, eh? No problem." That's when I felt a hard knock to the head.

"What the-" I slowly regained my vision. I had been tied to a stalactite pillar. "So I guess our little quicksand trap worked! Honestly, we haven't seen many people 'round these parts as of late. But let's just say that you're a pleasant surprise." A menacing voice stated. I tried to break loose of my bindings, but it was useless. "Show yourself, cowards!" I yelled, eager to bust out of my trappings and face my enemy. Torches lit one by one around the cave, removing the darkness, and unveiling my predators. I was left mouth agape, looking down an army of old, worn teddy bears. "You're teddy bears?" I said in utter astonishment. The meanest looking teddy walked up to me and looked me in the eye. "We're your worst nightmare." I tried to contain my laughter, but I must not of been doing a good job of hiding it; many a stuffed bear scratched their heads in embarrassment and the lead teddy started to look even meaner than before. "How dare you mock us! We rule this place! People see us and immediately piss themselves! You may think yer a real tough cracker, eh? Well, we'll fix that. C'mon teddies! Let's show her just who she's messing with!" The teddies agreed with their leader, and attempted to look as fearsome as a teddy bear could possibly look. "What are you gonna do? Hug me to death? You know, I might actually enjoy that, now that I think about it. It's been a while since I've felt some love and affection." I didn't even try to contain my hoots and howls this time around. "Enough! You've underestimated the wrong guy, girl! I think it's time for the torture devices." The angry teddy signaled to his army, and they began bringing out a number of metallic instruments; all looked very sharp, and not at all like a sweet and affectionate hug. "Which would you prefer? The Saw? Or perhaps the Kidney Grinder?" Both of which looked quite unpleasant, so I found myself at a stumbling block. That's when I heard something behind me. There was a loud crash at the opposite end of the room. "What was that? Teddies! Go search the premises!" I just barely saw someone through my peripheral vision. "Teddies. You've kidnapped my friend. I think I'll be taking her back, if you don't mind." He pulled a torch from a sconce on the wall. "Teddies, it would seem we've found our prisoner's boyfriend. Make sure you spare his guts! We're eating good tonight!" The lead teddy pulled out a sharp object from one of his torture machines. "Uh, Tuck? You really think you can take these guys?" Tuck glanced at me and said, "Not at all." I watched as spear-wielding teddies surrounded Tuck. I guess Tuck didn't think to forge a sword for himself, because all he wielded was a torch and an epic glare of which he used to stare down his opponent. A teddy lunged at Tuck with his spear, but Tuck simply grabbed the spear with his off-hand, and shoved his torch into the teddy's face. He took the spear and pointed it defensively at the opposing bears. "Nice move, Tuck! Honestly, I never thought a politician could ever move like that, what with their head being so far up their butt and all!" Tuck responded as he fended off his offenders. "Thanks! You're right, it is a tad strenuous!" He proceeded to stab a teddy in the throat, paper fluff flying out the wound. He pushed the teddy off the weapon with his foot, and then swung it at an adjacent teddy, decapitating him with ease. He actually looked pretty awesome there for a second. "You might've defeated my men, but you'll never get through me!" The angry teddy lunged at Tuck with his blade, but Tuck sidestepped away from his attack at just the right time. The angry teddy followed that attack with a violent overhead slash, of which Tuck blocked with the pole of his spear. The block took Angry Ted's balance and he fell to the floor. Tuck ran with all his might to his opponent. "Today, I remove your foulness from this land!" He let loose a terrifying battlecry and shoved his spear straight through Angry Ted's eye, stuffing flying everywhere. I stood there for a second in awe. "Wow, you did it." Tuck got up and brushed fluffing out of his carbon black hair. "Yeah, I guess I did. Here, let me get you out of those bindings." He walked over and cut through the ropes with his spear, and then dropped the weapon. "So, now that we've offed those guys, how do we get out of here?" I looked around and saw a pathway leading deeper into the catacombs. "Maybe these catacombs will lead us to the volcano." I stated. Tuck pulled out his map, humming as he traced it with his finger. "Perhaps. It might take a while but it seems to be our only choice." We grabbed a torch and began our trek through the deep dark.