The Ultimate Rescue

Chapter XXII

LUKE

Music: Theme of the Octopus Fortress from Parodius Da! Arcade

"Alright, everybody! Rise and shine! Today's the big day!" Sam's WAY too cheery voice announces to wake us up. He's also obnoxiously ringing a bell. Don't ask me where he got it.

"Ugh, I don't wanna get up," I moan, rolling over in my sleeping bag. Other people don't have quite the same attitude as me, and I can hear scuffling as people are getting out of their sleeping bags, stretching out, and standing up. Not only am I just not a morning person, but I'm really not ready for the upcoming battles ahead of us. I've tried stressing to Sam and Avery many times about just how dangerous Mrs. Smith's energy is, and they think we'll be able to figure it out as we go along. And they STILL won't let me use the Rock of Doom (unless I activate the powers with my mind, but that limits the abilities I can use).

I hear footsteps coming from behind me, then I feel the presence of another person bending over behind me. "Hey, Luke," Avery's voice says. "I'm only gonna say this once: WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

"JESUS CHRIST, I'M AWAKE!" I shout, zipping up from laying down to sitting up. I look at Avery's scowling face, annoyed, and ask, "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes, Luke, it was," she replies, leaving her arms crossed. She gets up and walks away from me, and I have to yawn and stretch out for five whole seconds before I even have the energy to stand. We had spent the night in the hovercraft (using its "Plane Mode"), parked a few miles away from Mackenzie's holding place. We always keep sleeping bags for each of us in here in case we need to spend the night inside the hovercraft if we can't find anywhere else to sleep, and last night, that happened to be the case.

"So, what's the plan?" Shanna asks. Everybody has gathered around Sam and Avery for instructions on how we're going to go about this.

"We scoped out the place last night, and Mrs. Smith simply has Mackenzie held in a small house out in the plains," Sam tells us. "So, unless Mrs. Smith has some tricks up her sleeve, it shouldn't be hard to get inside and find Mackenzie."

"We also checked for her location using the human GPS, and she's back in Missouri right now," Avery adds. "So now is a better time than ever for us to go in for her."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Heath asks. "Let's go kick some ass!"

"Easy there, Heath," Skylar laughs.

So Sam switches the hovercraft out of Plane Mode, and we begin the walk towards the house, with the hovercraft flying alongside us. It takes us four minutes to reach it on foot. It's a simple grey, one-story house that's just smack-dab in the middle of a bunch of grass with no road connecting to it. I'd actually consider this to be a smart location for keeping a hostage.

"It feels weird to be doing this without Mia," Shanna mutters during the walk.

"We'll be fine," Sean reassures her.

When we get to the house, Sam and Heath stand on each side of the door with their guns out. Sam gives him a nod after a few seconds of waiting, and Heath pivots around and kicks the door open. The two rush inside with guns drawn, and the rest of us trail behind. The room we walk into is entirely empty. No furniture, nothing. Just a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, metal doors blocking off the entrances to any other room, and a large, empty space.

"What vibes are you getting from here, Elle?" Sam asks Elle.

She shakes her head and answers with, "Not great ones."

Time to see how the world is going to prove her right this time.

SEAN

Music: Zub Rush from Gradius Gaiden