``Hey. Hey, are you awake buddy?''
Blink
Blink
Blink
Slowly the eyelids opened and closed as the alligator began to wake up. His eyes creakily opened as his hand rushed to his throbbing skull. ``Oooooohhhh fuck.'' He rubbed his temple as his eyes began to adjust to his surroundings. Aching pains throbbed in his mind, as the visions of a grizzly bear before him started to come to life.
``Oh phew. I was afraid you were dead.'' Said the fuzzy visioned brown bear. ``No one's been unconscious for that long before.''
``Owww. My aching head.'' The alligator blinked some more. ``Why does my head hurt so much?''
``Happens to everyone who gets here friend.'' Said the bear.
After the gator rubbed his eyes, the view of the bear became much clearer. The ursine had a somewhat muscular build with a tall frame. His fur was dark brown, and he wore some blue scrubs like a doctor. Over his ankles and toes were disposable paw coverings. ``And don't worry.'' The bear said. ``That aching in your head should go away after a bit.''
The gator rubbed his head again and looked around him. ``Where... Where am I?''
The bear shrugged. ``Not sure.''
``Not sure?!'' The alligator said with a wince and he rubbed his back. ``How can you not be sure?''
The bear leaned over and got at eye level with the gator. ``Do me a favor, and look at where you're at for a moment.''
Now that the gator could see around him, he got a glance of his surrounding area. He looked past the tall bear and aimed upward, to see if he could recognize the stars in the sky or if he was in a building. But as he glanced, all he could see was a pitch black void, without any sign of a constellation, or even the remnants of a ceiling.
The gator scratched his head. ``Uh, I uh. I don't remember how I got here.'' He went to rub his back, and suddenly stopped. He looked down at his body, only to see he was wearing nothing but some swim trunks. And underneath his scaly body was a long surfboard. ``Huh?!''
The alligator quickly stood up and the bear took a step back. His claws got firmly planted on the ground. The sudden heat that touched his webbed feet made him feel as if he was on a dry beach during a summer solstice at high noon. But the texture was flat and hard like plastic. He quickly looked back to where he sat.
The surfboard was laying down on the shining bright ground. It looked like there was a bright warm heating fixture and lighting coming from beneath the translucent cloud white flooring. The heated white floor met with a boring opaque white egg shell colored wall. It rose above his head, until it got to an incredibly flat textured surface with the visuals of a mirror. The mirror rose higher and higher, getting darker with the shadows as it entered the void above.
The gator quickly turned to his left, and saw the same white wall and reflection. The distance must have been at least the length of a large yacht. He glanced to his right, and saw the exact same wall and mirror, though this one was closer, and looked to be about as far as a school bus. The wall opposite him was around the length of an airplane. And then, he finally glanced behind him.
All around the gator were white walls and never ending sky scraper mirrors that went further than he could see. Nowhere did he see any signs of buildings or other furniture of any kind. Just white walls and mirrors going to nothing.
``Where... Where am I?!'' The alligator said as he went and stood back on his surfboard, feeling its cooling texture against his warm toes.
``Like I said before. I don't know.'' The bear said with a shrug.
``Well, there has to be some way of knowing!''
The bear just softly smiled with a hint of worry in his expression. ``Tell me, how did you get here?''
``How did I get here?'' Asked the gator, and the bear nodded. ``Well I uh. I...'' He rubbed his head. ``How, how did I get here?''
``We've all be wondering the same thing.''
``We?'' Asked the gator. The bear gestured around the white box, and the gator for the first time noticed other anthros were in the area lounging and slowly walking around.
In the middle of the white flooring lay a protogen. She was wearing what looked like a blue cop uniform. There was something blue on her paw, but he couldn't tell what.
Opposites of where the gator was, sat a giraffe. He had on a clear green visor and was playing cards on the ground. There was a card playing mat that he sat on.
Against the wall further down was a stoat sitting in a fetal position and resting atop a blue patched up bindle. He was wearing raggedy clothes and looked like he hadn't showered in weeks.
And finally there was a small yet fit fox wearing a turban with a whistle around its neck. Its hands were moving around a crystal ball on the floor that reflected the floor's lights into its strained eyes. It sat amongst garments that came from its baggy clothes.
``How... How long have you been here?'' Asked the gator in a quiet voice.
``I've been here for about a couple weeks now.''
``Weeks?!'' The gator exclaimed.
``Yep. But I haven't even been here the longest.'' The bear lifted his hand and pointed over to where the stoat was sitting. ``That fellow over there has been here for, well he says it's been months. And no one else says they remember him getting here.''
``How... How did I get here?''
``We're never sure.''
``WHAT?! HOW?!'' The gator exclaimed. ``Surely you must have seen how I got here right?! How can you know nothing of this place?!''
``Tell me, what's your name?''
``My... My name?''
``Yeah.''
``What a dumb question. My name is... Uh.'' The gator blinked and furrowed his eyebrows. ``My... My name is.'' His breathing began to quicken. ``Why... Why can't I REMEMBER MY NAME?!?!''
``Hey hey hey. Calm down there fella.'' The bear leaned down and rested his hand on the gator's shoulders. ``It's fine. None of us know who we are.''
``HOW?!'' The alligator looked into the saddened eyes of the bear as a tear ran down his scales. After a moment of silence, and some more tears, the gator spoke up in a wavering voice. ``You... You don't know again, do you?''
``I'm afraid not. But, there are typically clues on our bodies.''
The gator wiped away a tear. ``What do you mean?''
The bear reached into his scrubs pocket and pulled out a business card. ``My only guess is that my name is Honey. Honey Bear.'' He gave the card to the gator, who gently grabbed the card-stock from the bear?s fuzzy fingers. ``Though I don't think my real name is Honey. Kind of a childish name to give a bear. Like as if my parents just wanted to fit the stereotype.''
The gator looked at the card.
Doctor Honey Bear MD
PhD in cuddles
Tele: 555-555-5555
The gator looked up at Honey with one raised eyebrow. ``Really?'' He handed back the card.
Honey shrugged and stuffed his card in his scrubs pocket. ``It's the only thing I have that has any resemblance to my identity. Same with the others.''
The gator looked around. ``They have business cards too?''
``No. But there's always at least something on us that gives us a name.''
The gator's eyes lit up, and he quickly searched his swim trunks pockets, only to be disappointed. ``I... I don't have anything.''
``What about your surfboard?''
The gator quickly sat up to look at his board. Inscribed around the top was the name `Chompers McSurf'. ``There's no way my name is Chompers.''
``Seems on par with the others.''
``What... What are the other's names?''
``The giraffe's name on his visor says Pete Pockerneck. So we just call him Pete. The fox is Fuauxsight Foxy. And though no one is sure how to pronounce the first name properly, we still call him Fauxsight since he doesn't want to be called Foxy. The protogen is uh, well it seems like a computer's name. So we've changed it to Binky. But the badge name says Lawgorhithm. And the old geezer down there.'' Honey pointed to the lounging stout. ``He's Bindle. Yup. The one laying on top of a bindle. The outside of the bindle says Bindle Buddy. Seems more like a description for his bindle, but he's said his name is Bindle. So we leave it at that. Would you like to meet them?''
``Uh, no. No. Not right now at least. I... I think I need a moment.''
``Take all the time you need.'' Said Honey with a nod. ``Literally.'' He backed away slowly and then walked away to the protogen that was nearby. ``Oh and uh, if you do meet them, be wary with Bindle. He's a rude little guy, but I think he has a soft spot somewhere deep inside him.''
Chompers sat back down on top of his surfboard, looking around at his new mysterious surroundings. `How did I get here?' He thought. `I have to have, SOME kind of memory. Why was I brought here? And, why can't I remember my name? Who... Who am I?' He lifted his hands up to his muzzle, and stared at them shaking uncontrollably. `I... I need to get out of here!'
He quickly stood up from his surfboard and turned around to face the wall. Both palms were placed on the flat surface, feeling the warmth of the glaring light below. ``There's got to be some secret here somewhere.'' He whispered to himself softly.
The scaly hands gently glided along the smooth plastic wall. No ridges or bumps could be felt. He squatted down and stood up on his toes repeatedly, feeling nothing but the texture similar to that of a laminated sheet of paper.
Chompers stood off to the right of his surfboard, feeling the heated floor against his scaly claws, but even the new area was the same as before.
Though the wall felt just as flat, he continued to search. And search. And search. The longer he went, the more the soles of his claws started to feel hot against the brightly lit floor, as if he were standing on a stovetop that was constantly increasing in heat.
``There has to be something!'' His clammy fingers balled up into a fist. ``Something!''
BANG
The gator's fist slammed into the wall. ``Anything!''
BANG
``This can't be it!!''
BANG
He winced as his fist slammed into the wall for a third time. Shaking, he pulled his hand back, unable to control his twitching fingers. His chest was heaving with heated breath. Tears began to leave his eyes and fell down to the ground. As they hit the surface, the droplet fizzled.
``There, there has to be a way out...'' Chompers sniffled and slowly walked back to his surfboard, grimacing at the pain in his feet.
He gently stepped back on his surfboard, the feeling of relief washed over his claws of the cooled surfboard. He slumped down against the wall, and curled his feet towards himself, to see blisters were forming on his webbed feet. More tears dripped down his face, and he gently wiped them away as he placed his leg back down. ``Where am I?'' He looked down and curled his scaly tail towards himself to form a fetal position. ``Who am I?''
``You're not the first one to try and escape.'' Said a calm voice. Chompers lifted his head up and wiped away the tears to see the giraffe from earlier. ``We've all tried at least once before. Always failed.''
``You-You've checked everything?'' Chompers sniffled.
``Well, not literally everything. But we've walked along the walls and floors trying to feel for something different. But.'' Pete sighed and sat down at the other end of the surfboard. ``After a while you just.'' He shrugged. ``Just give up.''
``But there has to be something! I got here somehow. You got here somehow. We don't just magically appear here!''
``Sure seems that way.''
``Is... Is there another way?''
``We... We've talked about it.''
``What... What's been your conclusion?''
``Nothing concrete. Just theories. Wanna play some cards while we talk? Your board is big enough.''
``Uh. S-Sure.''
The giraffe pulled out some cards from his vest pocket. ``My name is Pete by the way. What about you?'' He then shuffled the cards.
``Yeah. Honey told me. Uh, my name is Chompers. According to my surfboard that is.'' Pete nodded, and began to shuffle. ``What are we playing?''
``The only one I know.'' Pete gave five cards to Chompers and five to himself. ``Five Card Draw.''
Chompers looked down at his cards and pulled them up to his face. He had the Ace of Spades, Ace of Clubs, Eight of Spades, Eight of Clubs, and a Three of Diamonds. He placed down the three and drew a new card, a Seven of Clubs. ``So, what can you tell me about this place that Honey hasn't already shared?''
``What has he told ya?'' Pete said as he discarded three cards and drew some more. His face looked disappointed with his new hand.
Chompers lowered his head with a sigh. ``Nothing helpful. Basically just pointed out who people are and how it's pointless to escape.''
``Well, he's not wrong.''
``But he has to be. There's no way there isn't a way out of here! Like, do any of you remember what happened before you-''
``What's in your hand?''
``Huh, oh uh...'' Chompers showed what he held.
``Damn. Your two pair beats my single pair.'' He then began to gather up the cards.
``Uh, anyway, do you remember what happened before you went to sleep? I'm guessing I came here when you were all asleep since Honey doesn't remember me getting here.''
Pete chuckled. ``Sleep?'' He stuck out his tongue as he began to focus hard on shuffling.
``Uh, yeah. Sleep. You know, the thing you do when you get tired?''
``Chompers, I have some bad news for you.'' Pete said as Chompers cocked his head. The giraffe finished his shuffle and looked at the gator. ``We don't get to sleep.''
``WHAT?!''
``You think you can sleep with these conditions?''
Chompers looked around, and the heat from the floor suddenly felt hotter. ``Uh, well...''
``Not only do we not sleep. But there's no food. Water. Nothing.''
``HOW?!''
``Tell me, do you feel hungry at all?''
Chompers furrowed his brow. ``I... I mean, that's, kind of hard to tell when-''
``You've been sleeping for a bit. And you were searching for a while. Tell me, how hungry do you feel?''
``I... I...'' Chompers brought his hand to his stomach, looked down, and rubbed it. There was no aching pain, not even a tiny stomach grumble.
``You haven't eaten in who knows how long. And you've been spending a lot of time pounding at that wall. And all this heat, I'm sure, made you exert a lot of energy.''
``Uh, clearly I must have eaten been before I was-''
``Pick up your cards.''
``Huh, oh...'' Chompers grabbed his new hand, but didn't pay attention to what was in it. ``I must have been fed something before I was put in here. Right?''
``Nope.'' Chompers discarded two cards and drew two more. ``You're not even thirsty are you?'' Chompers smacked his lips slightly. ``It's odd isn't it? That all this heat, and your body isn't even feeling the necessity for water. Yeah it sounds pretty good right now. But you won't get it.''
``How...'' But there was no response from Pete. ``HOW?!''
Pete shrugged. ``It's your turn.''
``NO!'' Chompers threw his cards down on the surfboard. ``HOW CAN YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT BASIC NEEDS LIKE FOOD OR WATER?!?!''
Pete sighed. ``You're not very fun to play cards with.''
Chompers just looked at Pete with a mouth ajar, and began to fumble over his words. ``I... I don't get you! How are you so calm?!''
Pete just sat there, staring at the cards in his hand, ignoring Chompers. After some heavy breaths, the gator looked down at his tossed hand, and back at the giraffe. It looked as if a tear was almost leaving his eye.
With a purse of his lips and a big sigh, Chompers lazily picked up his cards and held them in his hand. ``I... I have a high card. Ten to be precise.''
``Three of a kind.'' Pete showed his hand and gathered up the cards, daintily grabbing the ones from Chomper's hands last. He turned his eyes to the cards as he shuffled. ``We don't know by the way.''
``... Don't... Don't know what?''
``How we survive.'' The giraffe looked up and met the gator's eyes. ``We just... Do.''
Chompers sighed and relaxed his face. ``So, if you can't sleep, how does no one know when I got here?''
The giraffe looked up to the void in the sky, and the gator followed suit. ``You see the darkness up there?''
``Yeah...''
``It's not always like that.''
``What, what do you mean?''
Pete lowered his head and looked back down and dealt the cards. ``The only time I seem to lose consciousness is when the void goes away, and is replaced by a blinding light, as bright as the sun.''
``You lose consciousness?''
``Mhm.'' Pete picked up his hands and Chompers slowly picked up his. ``When that occurs, one of three things happens.'' The gator raised an eyebrow. ``Either one of us is gone, someone new is here, or absolutely no one is missing, but we wake up in different areas.''
``Wait... Someone can... Disappear?''
``Yup. I'll keep my hand the way it is.''
``And, this all happens when you go unconscious?''
``Yup. Just kind of.'' Pete shrugged. ``Happens. The lights come on, and then we wake up with hurt bodies and the feeling as if we have sunburns.''
Chompers looked down at his hand, and he had a pair. He discarded three cards and drew three more to get the same result. ``How many have gone?''
``Since I've been here? Three. Bindle says he's seen seven. I have a flush by the way.''
``Pair.'' Pete grabbed the cards and began to shuffle. ``So, we know people can enter, and people leave.''
``...Yeah...'' There was a pause, giving silence to only the sounds of the cards being mixed.
``Do you have any thoughts on where we are?''
Pete stopped shuffling the cards, and placed them in his pocket. ``We've all thought about it. Mine personally is I think we're prisoners. Someone is keeping us here. Torturing us with the unknown.'' Pete placed down three cards and looked disappointed. ``Others say we signed up for an experiment and are being tested. Bindle thinks it's aliens, but that seems stupid to me. What's your theory?''
``Mine?''
``Yup. I'm sure you've got something in that noggin of yours. I'm curious as to what it is.''
``Well. The burning floor. The endless void in the sky. The lack of people here. And outright lack of knowledge as to how we got here... I think we're in some kind of hell.''
The giraffe raised an eyebrow. ``Really?''
``Makes sense to me. This whole place is awful and sure feels hotter than a sauna in here.''
``You'll eventually get used to it. Though the floor still hurts if you are on it for too long.'' Pete rubbed his neck. ``Especially if you lay on the floor for a long time.''
Chompers sighed. ``I don't want to get used to it.''
``We don't have much of a choice.''
``There's always a choice!'' Chompers looked around. ``And even though this place feels like hell, there has to be a way out.''
``Take a look around us man. There's nothing here. Just a painful floor and an empty sky above us.''
``Well, I don't really care.'' Chompers slowly got up and stood on top of his surfboard. ``There has to be something here. And I don't care if I burn my hands or feet, I'm going to figure it out.''
``Can I stay on your board? The cards don't feel as hot on here and my hooves could use a break.''
``No.'' Said Chompers. ``I'm going to use it to search.''
Chompers grabbed his board once Pete was off of it, and began to do his search like before. To help stop his webbed feet from getting burned, he placed the board adjacent to the wall. Slowly he began to feel around every feasible spot on the walls. Seconds of searching quickly became minutes, which soon became hours. The gator's body was becoming covered in sweat as he moved inches along the walls, trying to feel for anything that was different from the constant smooth surface.
Others stopped by, watched what he did and learned his name, but not much more than that. They left him to his work, while they went and sulked, played cards, or got their fortunes told.
After searching deliberately every inch he could reach for hours on end, Chompers had made it around two of the corners of his hellish prison. As he made it midway down, he wiped his brow and looked down towards the upcoming corner. His eyes narrowed, as he looked side to side at the height of the walls around him. ``Wait a second.'' He looked back at the wall and held his thumb up to the wall he came from, before grabbing his surfboard and running towards the upcoming wall.
As Chompers approached, a section of the wall seemed to get higher and closer than the other part. ``Wait a minute!'' He got up to the wall and could now easily discern that this wall was sticking out from where the mirror was. ``HEY!'' He turned around to the others in the white walled encampment, and they turned to look at him. ``HEY! LOOK AT THIS!''
All the creatures, excluding Bindle, walked up to Chompers who was a sweltering mess. ``What is it Chompers?'' Honey asked.
``This wall here! It, it sticks out!'' Chompers exclaimed.
``Yeah, it always has.'' Said Binky who's digital face was giving off a blank 8-bit stare. ``The wall is just weird that way.''
``But WHY is it this way?'' Chompers said as he placed his palm on the wall. ``Why does it not match that of the mirror above?!''
``Poor design?'' Said Pete with a shrug.
``This can't be poor design.'' Chompers said as he looked back at the wall. ``This place was clearly made with evil intentions in mind. The high walls, the eternal reflecting mirrors, there's GOT to be a reason why this is sticking out so far.''
``What do you want us to do about it?'' Said Binky. Her digital face scowled.
``Well, we need to figure out what's on top of this?!'' Chompers said while looking back at the crew.
``What'a on top?!'' Bindle said with a laugh from afar. ``That thing is at least five times your height you idiot. Ain't no way you can figure out what's up there.''
``We can if we... If we...'' Chompers looked up the wall, and he let out a slight gasp. ``If we climb on one another!''
``What?'' Asked Honey with a tilt of his head.
``Look.'' Chompers said. ``I can be the base. I just need some people to stand on top of me!''
Binky rolled her eyes and Honey sighed. Pete just stared blankly and Fauxsight looked down into his crystal ball. All the meanwhile, Bindle was laughing. ``Chompers.'' Said Honey. ``Even if we all stacked on each other?s shoulders, there's no way we'd reach the top.''
``Well... What if Pete stood last?!'' Chompers said pointing to the giraffe. ``His head is tall enough! I'm sure if he was the last to stand up, then he could see what's above the wall!'' Some of the faces of the others looked frazzled, while Honey just looked disappointed. ``Come on Honey. Pete. What have we got to lose!?''
``Our dignity?'' Said Bindle.
Honey sighed. ``Fine. I'll help.''
``Really?'' Bindle asked with a raised eyebrow.
``He's not wrong.'' Honey said. ``We haven't tried looking above the wall here. Maybe there's something there. Plus, if we don't try this, then it's just us lounging around here in pain yet again.''
``Fine. I'm in.'' Said Binky.
``So am I.'' Said Pete.
``I guess I'll help as well.'' Fauxsight said.
Honey looked down at the stoat who didn't say a word. ``Bindle?''
``You all are just wasting your time.'' Bindle said with a scoff. He got off his bindle and began to walk away.
``Whatever.'' Chompers said. ``We should be able to reach the top with just us.''
``Alright. Let's do it.'' Honey said.
-
Chompers stood at the bottom of the anthro tower holding up Honey. Sweat was dripping down his well scaly body as he held up the heavy bear, and everyone else that was on top of him.
Honey was holding up Binky, who was holding up Fauxsight, and climbing up the furry tower was Pete.
``Freaking. Hurry!'' Bellowed Binky. ``You all are heavy!''
``Oh hush!'' Honey said in a stern tone as he shook. ``You're not even at the bottom where Chompers is!''
``Don't. Remind. Me.'' Chompers said through seething teeth. His legs were shaky, and he started to see black specs in his vision.
``Sorry.'' Pete said as he stepped on Fauxsight's laced hands. ``I'm almost there!'' Fauxsight struggled to lift Pete upward to his shoulders, but soon the giraffe managed to get his hooves on top. ``Okay. Just keep me steady n-``
``Just Hurry!'' Everyone yelled.
Pete's eyes went wide. ``Geez! Okay!'' He steadied his legs and stretched his neck as best he could.
``What do you see?!'' Honey cried out.
``Oh my gosh!'' Exclaimed Pete. ``Guys! It's a-``
The gator's legs began to shake some more, and as the black specks began to swarm his vision, there was a bright flash above him, as if the world's entire supply of floodlights had been turned on and focused on the room.
Chompers started to feel his legs give way as the odd sound of what was like that of music from a pachinko machine began to play. As the first couple notes hit his ears, his legs finally gave way as everything went black.
-
Chompers slowly began to wake up with a searing pain on his right side. He winced and yipped as he rolled onto his left, feeling his body slam into the wall and land on top of the surfboard. He blinked repeatedly as his eyes came to, and saw the wall he's come to know so well.
His left hand went to his right arm and began to rub it. The scales were burning at the slightest touch, and it almost felt as if he was being grilled at a barbecue. He sucked in air through his teeth as turned his head to the side.
The others were coming too as well. Honey was already helping up Binky and Fauxsight got to his paws. Bindle was resting on top of his bundle where he was before, but with his back turned to the crew. The only one he didn't see was Pete.
``Wh-What happened?'' Chompers asked.
``The lights came on ya bloke.'' Said Bindle. ``The tower fell. Real genius idea you had there.''
``Feels got some nasty burns.'' Honey said. ``But you look like you got it the worst Chompers.''
``Not to mention you all falling on me.'' Binky said as her 8-bit head scowled at Fauxsight.
``Hey. Where's Pete?'' Chompers asked. But no one responded. ``Where... Where's Pete?!''
``He's not here on the floor Chompers.'' Honey said in a somber tone.
The gator slowly inhaled and huffed. ``So what are we going to do about it?''
``Do?!'' Laughed Bindle. ``We aren't going to do anything.'' He slouched and relaxed on his bindle. ``Just going to stay here and wait for the next moment to go unconscious.''
Chompers scowled at the stout, and then looked at the others. They just stayed silent and avoided eye contact with him. ``So that's it huh? Pete sees something that makes him gasp about this hell hole, and we're just going to sit here and do NOTHING?!''
``Chompers.'' Said Honey softly. ``Even if we wanted to, we can't. Pete barely reached the top of that wall. And that was just his head. I don't know how we would do it again without him.''
``Fine.'' Chompers stood up and stood onto the hot floor. ``If you won?t help, then I'll find a way out myself.'' He bent over to pickup his board and moved around to the other side of the wall away from the others.
``Wait.'' Said Binky. ``Chom-`` She felt a hand on her shoulders and looked to see Honey placed it there.
``Let him be for now.'' Honey said. ``I think he needs some time alone.''
Chompers got to the side of the wall away from everyone else and stared up at the tall vertical barrier. He placed his surfboard down and stepped on it. He quickly squatted down, and jumped up as high as he could. He took one of the claws on his hand and tried to scratch the wall. A small and hardly noticeable scratch was made in the plastic like textured surface. He landed back on his feet, and looked at his marking with heavy breath. ``Not even half my own height...''
``Did you really think you could jump five times your height?'' Asked Binky who stood around the edge.
Chompers ignored her, and looked back at the wall. He stepped off the surfboard and kicked it further down to where it was at the corner, and walked over there.
``Sorry.'' Binky said. ``By the way.''
``For what?'' Chompers said without turning around.
``For not standing up with you against Bindle's harsh statement...''
``Whatever.''
Binky watched as Chompers got into the corner as he began to analyze the wall.
After looking at it for a little bit, he backed up away from the wall and ran towards the corner. With a leap he planted his left claw into the wall, and went to push off. But as he moved his left leg to land on the other wall with his right, his left leg lost grip and his body slammed into the wall in front of him.
Chompers' body plummeted to the heated floor, landing on his right side. He grimaced and brought his left hand to his right arm, and slowly writhed on the floor. He looked up to see Binky was by his side, offering her hand to him. He exhaled slowly as he grabbed it as she assisted in getting him to his feet.
``Thanks.'' Chompers said softly.
``Why'd you try that by the way?'' Binky asked as she looked up at the top of the wall. ``Even with proper parkour equipment, you can't reach the top using just the corner.''
``Something is better than nothing.''
``Not if you already know what the outcome will be.''
Chompers huffed. ``Did you mainly just come over here to ridicule me?''
``No, I... I want to get out too. And was hoping I could help.''
-
The two worked together to try and formulate how they could scale the wall. Binky knew parkour wouldn't work, and unless someone new joined who was also a giraffe, they couldn't reach the top either by stacking again. Even IF Bindle chose to help, which they figured was a lost cause.
``We don't have anything that we can stab into the wall do we?'' Chompers asked. They were sitting down on his surfboard, looking up at the towering wall.
``Best I have is these plastic handcuffs.'' Binky said as she twirled them around her finger. ``Still don't know why I was given these pointless things.''
``What about Bindle? Does he have anything in his sac?''
``Probably not. But even if he did, I doubt he'd give them to us.''
``So, what options do we have to climb up there then?''
``Honestly, I don't know if we can climb.''
``Gee. Thanks...''
``Climb. I said. With climb being the key word.''
``What other ways are there?!''
``Digging.'' Said Binky with Chompers raising an eyebrow. ``Look, I?m just saying stuff. I know we don't have tools to dig underneath.'' She held up her hand and looked at her dull claws. ``Trust me...'' She sighed and put her hand down. ``But maybe if we just spitball we can get an idea.''
``Can't hurt to try I guess.''
``Flying. Jumping with strong enough legs. Parachuting. Launching. Fired from a canon.''
``Wait. What did you just say?!''
``Fired from a canon. Like the clowns do.''
``No before that.''
``Hi. My name is Binky, what's yours?''
``No! In that idea run on.''
``Flying?''
``NO! It was something with parachuting.''
``Launching?''
``That's it! What if we just launched someone up there! Like with our hands or something. Who's the lightest person here?''
``Probably Fauxsight.''
``Not Bindle?''
``With how bone headed he is, he's probably denser than the rest of us.''
Chompers, for the first time in a bit, actually smirked. ``And he probably wouldn't like to be thrown.''
``Probably not.''
Chompers looked up at the wall towering over him. ``Think we can throw him that high?''
Binky tossed her handcuffs to Chompers. ``How high can you throw big guy?''
The gator caught it, and stood up. He clutched the plastic in his hand and threw it as hard as he could into the air. As soon as the cuffs left his grasp, he grunted as pain shot through his right arm.
``What happened?!''
``Burnt scales.'' The sound of rinky dink cheap plastic hit the floor. ``How high did that get?''
``I didn't watch.''
``Let me try with my other arm.'' Chompers walked over and grabbed the cuffs with his left hand. ``Though, probably won't be as good.'' He looked up above him, aimed for the mirror, and chucked it as hard as he could.
The hand cuffs made it about three fourths of the way up the wall before smacking into it, and came falling down.
``Not high enough.'' Chompers said.
``Though, it has been the closest so far without Pete.''
``Think Honey could throw any better?''
``It's possible. Let me go get him.'' Binky stood up and left the surfboard.
Chompers went and grabbed the handcuffs, and came back to the board. He sat there for a moment looking at the wall when Binky and Honey returned.
``So what's going on now?'' Honey asked.
``How high can you throw this?'' Chompers asked as he tossed the handcuffs to Honey.
The bear barely caught the plastic, nearly fumbling with it in his hands, and looked at Binky. ``Why?''
``We think it might be possible to throw someone up to the wall.'' Bunny replied.
``You, do know it's much harder to throw living flesh than it is to throw a toy right?'' Honey said with a raised eyebrow.
``Can you please just try?'' Chompers asked. ``Please.''
``Sure. Sure, I can try.'' Honey tightly grabbed the handcuffs and threw them straight into the air with all his might. The plastic flew high and smacked into the mirror above the wall. Chompers and Binky's faces lit up with joy as the plastic came falling down.
``You can do it!'' Chompers said with a new chipper tune. ``You can toss Fauxsight!''
``Hold on.'' Honey said. ``Now like I mentioned before, I can throw that toy, but a fox is a whole different story! There's no way I can throw him that high.''
``Well, what if you were higher?!'' Chompers asked.
``You mean make a tower again?'' Honey replied.
``Yeah!'' Chompers stood up. ``If you can get some height, I'm sure you can get him up there!''
``Throwing from that angle might be difficult.'' Binky said.
``What do you mean?'' Chompers asked.
``Well, it's easier to let someone stay there perfectly and you climb up them while they support you.'' Binky said. ``But I'm just thinking that if Honey was on my shoulders, and threw Fauxsight, then he would need to have some insane stability otherwise we might just topple over mid throw, and that could ruin the toss. And I don't know about you, but a fall from that height would hurt.'' She rubbed her leg. ``It hurt just from when I woke up from before.''
``So, we just need to be careful for throwing him then. That's the only concern, right?'' Chompers asked.
Binky and Honey looked at each other, and then back at Chompers. ``Do you think you can even manage being the base of the tower again?'' Binky asked. ``Cuz I know I can't.
Chompers rubbed his scaly burned shoulders. ``If it means we can get out of here, I'll be able to take on the pain.''
Honey nodded softly. ``Then let's go ask Fauxsight, and see if he's willing to do it.''
-
``I don't know guys.'' Said Fauxsight as he walked with the others to where they were before. ``My crystal ball isn't really giving me good vibes about this.''
``You know that thing doesn't work. Right?'' Binky said.
``It kind of does.'' Fauxsight said. ``I didn't have good feelings about earlier either, but this one feels more dangerous in my gut.''
``Well, maybe ignore the crystal ball and your gut, and go with your life coach aspect.'' Chompers said. ``Be more encouraging than depressing.''
``Feeling a bit difficult to be anything but pessimistic after Pete disappeared.'' Fauxsight said with a dip of his head to the ground.
Chompers got against the wall, and got his footing. ``Look, everything will be fine. I saw Honey's throw. He's going to be able to get you up there. I promise.''
Fauxsight looked up at the bear. ``Do you promise Honey?''
Honey smiled and patted his arm muscles. ``I got you Fox.'' He then ruffled Fauxsight's fur. ``I promise.''
``Alright. Then let's do it.'' Fauxsight said.
``Wherever a deity is, please watch over me now.'' Binky said as she began to climb on Chompers' shoulders. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. ``I'm ready Honey.''
Honey slowly stepped onto Chompers who winced once all of the bear's weight was on him, but he held strong, though his leg did start to twitch again.
Binky felt as if the wind was being knocked out of her as the bear climbed up her shoulders.
As Honey got his footing on top of Binky's shoulders, he steadied himself against the wall. ``Alright Fauxsight. Come on up.''
Fauxsight sighed and began to gingerly climb up the furry tower. He made it to Honey, and the bear cupped his hands for the fox to stand in.
The furry fox planted his fuzzy paws in the bear's hands. ``Ready Fauxsight?'' Honey asked, and the fox nodded. ``One. Two. THREE!''
With all his might, Honey threw his hands up as hard as he could. The fox flew upwards, while Binky's legs gave out from the sudden change in force. As the protgoen's body fell, so did the bear's and the tower collapsed.
Chompers felt the weight of the two above him feel as light as air for a split second, before the two came crashing down on top of him. The gator's body slammed into the heated floor as his legs and arms got pinned.
For a split second, Chompers thought he heard Fauxsight yip. Followed by a screeching whistle. However, after only a second, the whistle faded into nothingness.
Diabolical laughter quickly overtook the high pitched fainting whistle from the side. Chompers turned to see who was laughing at the situation, to see Bindle sitting on top of his rucksack as he chuckled away at the fallen crew. His eyebrows furrowed and he pushed against the floor with all his strength. Though the scales did hurt, he got Honey and Binky to roll off to the side of him.
Chompers ignored the cackling of the stout and looked around him. His heart skipped a beat as he didn't see Fauxsight anywhere. A wide grin grew on his face as he looked up to the top of the wall. ``FAUXSIGHT!'' He yelled. ``FAUXSIGHT! WHAT DO YOU SEE!''
Chompers laid there for a moment, but there was no reply. ``Fauxsight!'' He yelled again. But still there was nothing but the laughter of the stoat. He continued to look up the wall, only to feel his smile slowly fade away.
His eyes turned from the wall down to his fallen team. Binky was rubbing her legs and back, while Honey was rubbing his head.
Chompers' breathing was quickening. Getter faster with every breath. He looked back up the wall, and cried out in desperation. ``FAUXSIGHT!!''
``He's over here!'' Chuckled the stoat from the side. ``His body fleeeeeew right over the wall.''
Chompers eyes went wide. ``WHAT?!'' He jumped to his feet and rushed around the edge. As he turned his eyes darted to the floor, only to see nothing was there.
``Made ya look!'' Bindle laughed some more.
Chompers' breathing was approaching that of hyperventilation. He clenched his fist, and walked back around the corner to the others.
Honey watched Chompers walk past him. ``Ignore the stoat.'' He said softly. ``Where is Fauxsight? I don't see him?'' But the gator didn't respond. ``Chompers?''
Chompers walked by and grabbed his surfboard from the ground, and walked back towards the stoat.
``Hey!'' Honey yelled. ``Chompers! What are you doing?!''
The gator stomped against the searing floor with his blistered feet. The stoat was still laughing as the large gator walked towards him. ``Oh man! You should have seen the look on your face!'' Bindle laughed some more. ``You actually thought he fell over here!''
As Chompers got to the maniacally laughing stoat, he raised his surfboard in the air above the small mammal, and the laughter stopped.
For the first time, Chompers saw fear in the stoat?s eyes.
The gator swung the surfboard back behind him in an arcing motion. The stoat hopped off from his bindle, but the gator stomped on his tail.
``Fuck!'' Bindle yelled as the heat of the floor and Chompers foot was felt along his body. He turned to see the raging gator begin to arc his arms forward.
``Chompers don't!!'' Yelled Honey.
As soon as Chompers went to swing the surfboard down, the lights from above came on. The blaring sounds of the pachinko machine came back. His legs gave way instantly and he collapsed on the floor below.
-
`FUCKING OWWWWWW!' He screamed internally. He tried to move any part of his body, but nothing was working.
Chompers woke up to the feeling of insurmountable pain flowing through his torso and legs. His eyes were wide, but he couldn't move them at all.
All he could see before him was a fluffy stoat on the floor holding onto a bindle, and a long metallic appendage that had dug its way deep into his chest. From his peripheral vision, it didn't look like any blood was spewing from his body yet, even though he felt impaled.
After the metallic claw had crunched itself inside his torso and leg once more, he felt himself being lifted into the sky. He could barely see the protogen cop and bear doctor laying on the floor with near painted-on lifeless expressions.
He rose higher and higher, and got over the wall's edge and could finally see the mirror.
Opposite him in his reflection, he could see an alligator holding on firmly to a surfboard. But he couldn't feel his fingers clenching around it, only that his body felt like it was being dragged down by the plastic object.
Once Chompers was raised at least thrice the wall's height, the metallic object stopped moving. A jerking motion was felt as the prongs dug deeper, and he was moved closer to the mirror. The device began to rotate him, and he could see above the wall he had been working to get past.
The wall that had been wracking Chompers mind, wasn't a wall to a room, but a barrier to a bottomless hole.
The void that once was above in the repeating mirror sky, was now below him.
The device dragged Chompers over to the bottomless pit.
`FUCK! What is that?! What is happening?!?!'
As Chompers was brought over the hole, the device brought him face to face with his reflection, and he could finally see himself.
The scales along his body, were long fluffy bits of wool and fabric. A patch of white velcro could be seen in his palm holding onto the surfboard.
After a moment?s pause of looking at himself in the mirror, the metallic appendage in his body pulled out. The one in his chest was still slightly lodged and tugged on his body sending him into a twirl.
Chompers got a good look at the device that had impaled him, to see a three pronged claw attached to a box and springs was what moved him along the sky.
The gator plummeted quickly down into the pitch black void, leaving the only companions he could recall in his memory behind.
Only a quick moment went by before his body slammed into the ground. His expressionless face stayed still as his vision could see Fauxsight laying on the ground holding onto his plastic see through ball. And over in the corner, lied a lime green visor, with no owner in sight.
Before Chompers could even attempt to move, the sound of a large underground bunker door opening was heard. Light was shone into the dark pit, only to turn back into darkness as a colossal sized hand grabbed at his body.
-
``I won!'' Yelled a young cow. ``Mom I won!'' Ebony pulled out two toys in her hand.
``That's awesome sweety!'' Said Sprinkles. ``Who did you get?''
``It's Chompers McSurf from the series Riptide Reptiles!''
``Oh that's great! Oh, and who's the other?''
Ebony shrugged. ``I don't know. I think I've seen him from some anime. But he was with Chompers at the prize pit.''
``I'm glad you won. Are you ready to go?''
``Yeah mom.'' The child stuffed the toys in her arms and grabbed her mother's hand with the other as the two left the claw machine.
As they walked away, the upper lights where the claw resided turned off, leaving only the bottom lights on.
