(Marx spiteful arc/j)
Marx's POV
Kinkajou had led their group through the city, to a tunnel branching into the cavern wall.
Another cave. Hooray.
Except this one was lit by orange lights hung around the top of every wall. There were carved pumpkins in every cell doorway, the shapes of bats and wasps stabbed out of the middle instead of faces.
Quite Halloween-y, for a prison.
Was it even October? Marx had no idea.
From the start of the tunnel, it looked like a maze, branching off into three directions about 40 feet down the tunnel.
There were no guards at the entrance, or for that matter, a door.
Marx was pretty sure just about anyone could walk in.
Instead, there were two Hive Guards outside each cell, which looked to just be small, square rooms with some sort of orange force field infront of each one.
If any of them saw the group peeking around the entrance, they didn't let on. They just stood eerily still.
"So we're trying to rescue Jevil from that place?" Marx asked. Kinkajou shrugged.
"If he's anywhere, he'll be in here." She nodded, then added, "Probably."
"So there's a chance he isn't?" Lancer asked. The jack of spades still had that ridiculous lollipop he'd gotten from one of their previous captors.
"Yeah, but, I'm sure he'll be here!" Kinkajou said positively. "And if he's not, we can search the city until we find him!"
"Weren't we supposed to be looking f-" Lancer started, cutting off as Kinkajou announced, "So, I have a plan to get in!"
"What are you going to do?" Licorice asked. "Walk right in? They'll catch you immediately. And there's no other entrances. Face it, this won't work. We should leave your friend and escape ourselves."
"Well someone's thinking negatively." Kinkajou observed. "But, to answer your question, that is exactly what I am going to do."
"Your death wish, not mine." Licorice shrugged. "I'm staying out here."
"You'll have to stay out here." Kinkajou said cheerfully.
As they spoke, Marx casually peeked down the hallway again.
If Jevil was down here, which of the three paths would he be down?
Or would he be in one of the cells in the 40ft hall?
How would they even get him out?
..He briefly wondered if it was possible to swallow a force field.
"Marx?" Kinkajou's voice asked. He turned to stare at her.
"I have an idea!" She announced. "And that means you're coming with me."
Sorbet made a worried "Oo0o.." sound.
"Me? Seriously? Yeah okay let's do it." He turned to march into the hall, only to be dragged back by Kinkajou's talons. "I didn't mean charging in there like an overconfident monkey." She said, sounding amused.
"Then what did you mean?" Marx demanded.
If they got caught they might get thrown in with Jevil, right? Was that her plan? That might work. Then they could break out together.
Kinkajou bent down, waving a talon towards the curve of her back, between her wings. "Firstly, get on."
"What?" Was all Marx said.
"Get on." She said again. "Then we can sneak in."
"I don't see how getting caught with me on your back would help." He huffed. "Can't I just walk myself?"
"We're not going to get caught." She said crossly. "Now get on! Three moons, why are some creatures so difficult."
Rolling his eyes, Marx not so smoothly clambered up her talon, into the curve between her wings.
If she hadn't brought her wings up and surrounded him immediately after, he probably would've fallen off.
"What's this even-" He started, shutting up as her scales started changing colour. The yellows and pinks she usually wore were fading to the colours of the space around them.
Marx discovered it was even weirder to sit on a dragon you can't see.
"You're small enough to fit on my back." Kinkajou explained cheerfully. "So if I cover you with my wings while camouflaging, no one will see you."
"Wow." Was his only response.
"You three stay here." Kinkajou said, assumingly to Lancer, Sorbet and Licorice, who were watching with expressions ranging from awe to hope to irritance.
"But-" Licorice tried to protest.
Kinkajou smacked him gently with her invisible tail. "No buts." She said sternly. "We'll be back soon. With your friend! This'll definitely work!"
With that, she turned and trotted silently into the tunnel. Marx saw Sorbet waving as they left.
In the tunnel, Marx was mostly sure a Hive Guard would spot him, but they didn't. They just stood silently outside the cells, staring blankly at nothing.
Inside each room, tinted orange by the force field, were the prisoners.
Some middle aged looking plumber with a mustache in one, looking deep in thought.
A pair of kids in striped shirts in another, who looked to be arguing. One was crying.
Before long, Kinkajou and Marx had reached a cell at the far end of the hall, right by where the tunnel split into three.
In it, a trio of little girls in different colours.
Marx watched as the one dressed in green headbutted the force field, got zapped by it, and fell backwards, falling still. The other two rushed to her side, looking panicked.
Marx heard Kinkajou mutter a quiet, "Three moons."
"Which way?" Marx whispered. He shot a glance at the closest Hive Guard. It didn't so much as look in their direction.
"Eeeny meeny miny-" Kinkajou muttered, before ducking into the tunnel on the left.
The cells in this tunnel had significantly less guards. One wall of the tunnel looked to be cold, stone brick, with no cells.
The cells they first passed had only one Guard each. The creatures inside looked weakened, like they'd been there a while. The Guards outside looked a lot less tough than the usual ones, as well. Slouching, thinner, generally looking as though they hadn't been taking care of themselves. Or hadn't been taken care of.
"Poor guards." Kinkajou said softly.
"Are you really feeling bad for the bad guys right now?" Marx hissed under his breath.
"They look like they're being forced to stay here, like they haven't left in a while." Marx felt the movement of her turning her head towards the last Guard they passed. The cells after that had no Guards.
"We can worry about the Guards wellbeing some other time." He said impatiently, keeping his voice low. "We're supposed to be rescuing Jevil."
"Or Spamton, if he's here." Kinkajou said quietly.
"Oh, yeah, him too." Marx had forgotten about him.
They looked into each cell in the hall.
This tunnel didn't lead to any others. Just a sad line of what looked to be dying prisoners and dying Guards alike.
..Jevil wasn't down here.
They reached the furthest cell. It had no Guard. The button to disable the force field was on the wall next to it, apparently the device was hidden where the Guards stood.
Inside, looking asleep, as peaceful as can be, was a pink blob, curled in the corner of the cell.
Marx stared for a moment.
It felt familiar.
..Was that Kirby?
He studied it the best he could. He thought it was.
He felt Kinkajou move to turn around, and kicked her wing.
"Hey!" She protested quietly.
"Open the last cell." He commanded.
"Why?" She asked, sounding completely befuddled.
"There's someone in there that might be able to help." He told her.
Or maybe mess things up for him again, but he left that unsaid.
She hesitated, before moving towards the last cell. He felt her head move from side to side as she checked to make sure they weren't being watched.
The force field melted almost immediately.
Marx, without caring if anyone saw, jumped from Kinkajou's back into the now open cell.
As he approached, the little pink blob jumped up immediately, turning and giving him way too pleased a look.
"Poyo!" Kirby said cheerfully.
The little pink menace jumped over as if they were going to hug him.
So naturally, Marx kicked him into the wall as hard as he could.
Kirby hit the wall with such an impact that the stone cracked around them.
The little pink blob jumped right up after a short moment, appearing unharmed.
"That's for throwing me into Nova." Marx told him. Kirby just laughed, like he totally hadn't ruined Marx's one wish that time, totally hadn't ruined all his plans.
Kirby was acting like they were old friends.
Was this some kind of joke? Or game?
He could play along until the stupid happy blob dropped the act.
"The kid threw you into what now?" Kinkajou asked, tilting her head and looking extremely puzzled.
"Not important." Marx turned and snapped. At the same time, Kirby unhelpfully said "Poyo!"
Kinkajou's now uncamouflaged scales were fading to a seafoam green.
"Let us back on." Marx commanded, still looking at the dragonet.
"Now we go find Jevil."
"The talking persimmon is giving orders." Kinkajou said teasingly. When Marx only scowled at her, she rolled her eyes and bent her neck down to let them climb on.
Marx jumped up, and Kirby quickly followed.
Kinkajou had noticeably more difficulty shifting her wings to hide them both, but after a moment of readjusting her wings, she found a rather uncomfortable for them position that kept the pair hidden.
"Be glad I rescued you." Marx quietly hissed under his breath to Kirby, as Kinkajou shifted her scales back to invisible and began sneaking down the way they came. "I'm making things better for you, even after you did the opposite for me."
"Poyo." Kirby said.
"I could have left you to rot!" Marx told him, grinning slightly. "I could've left you to shrivel out like a dried raisin in there, until your insides were as dry as desert sands! But I didn't, you know why?"
Kirby looked unphased by what Marx was saying. Simply curious.
Simply stupid.
"Because unlike you, I don't ruin peoples wishes." He gently kicked Kirby in the leg.
"So you rescued him because he messed things up for you?" Kinkajou asked quietly. He felt her turn her head to look at them.
"It is to prove a point." He snapped at her. "After all this, I'll just make everything worse for him anyway! Then I'LL be the one that WINS!" He laughed. Kirby gave him a look that was slightly concerned and slightly like he thought he sounded slightly insane.
"Shhh!" Kinkajou hissed at him, as one of the dehydrated looking Hive Guards looked their way.
He turned away from Kirby with a huff.
He watched as Kinkajou approached the entranceway of the tunnel they'd gone down. She looked like she was about to trot down the middle tunnel this time, when something seemed to catch her attention. She froze.
She was still for a long moment, long enough for Marx to snap, "What are you waiting for?" At her quietly.
"Heard someone." She hissed, before turning and bolting back up the left tunnel. Marx saw no point in this.
They'd just been here. What could possibly have spooked her into running back up the way they'd been?
Then he heard it, too.
Coming from somewhere behind the stone wall that covered one side of the tunnel, someone was screaming.
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