WONDER ( Twisted Forbidden Tales ) Book Three

Dirty Tricks Part One

HANK

We were all falling, damn that mad bandit! I was this close to catching the mastermind. Now here are the three of us falling floating, in whatever the heck this place was. The Elder Portal was as old as time. I had no clue where we would land. The colors here were a mixture of the rainbow, swirling and twirling in brilliant light around us.

However, my goal was to get the mastermind who was right before me and end this once and for all. Fate didn’t seem to agree with me at that moment. Currently, I was upside down, the mastermind too, and as for the cheeky mad bandit, was falling gracefully right side up. On instinct, I started waving my arms and flailing my legs like a swimmer. If this was anything like it was in Happy Town, maybe my pulse gadget would work here.

I looked over at the mastermind who began mimicking my movements. How do we get the right side up? Suddenly, a gust of high wind came rushing straight through at us. Pushing me into the mastermind. Stuck inside, the gust of wind gave us both faster mobility in our limbs compared to the snail's pace we were currently going at. Instantly, we begin fighting, me trying to unmask him and him on the defensive.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the mad bandit below us shaking his head. What was that supposed to mean? This whole situation was their fault anyway. In my small pause, the mastermind hits the button on the pulse gadget attached to my arm. A loud pop sound echoes inside the portal and free fall begins. Rapidly at a breakneck speed, there is no more support. The mastermind sends me a hefty kick and I detach myself from him, now headed toward the mad bandit in a head-on impact collision.

There was no time to get pissed off. We weren’t the only things within this weird portal as other things began falling and headed toward us. From books, tables, and chairs. To doors, windows, and trees. The place would wiggle one's mind, but I had to ensure a safe landing wherever we would end up. Even though I wanted to dispose of the mastermind for all he had done, I didn’t want him to have an easy way out either without paying the price for his actions.

“Idiots!” the mad bandit's distorted voice rang out in the middle of our falling.

Who was the i***t? I didn’t press the button. The mastermind looked to be panicking, but I couldn't care less. It served him right. Trying to keep my cool, I started looking around me to find something to use to break or slow down the fall. Unfortunately, my pulse gadget was meant to bring back gravity and not the reverse.

A parachute shot out into the space below us. It was the mad bandit again. Where did they even get one of those? It seemed this Bandit was more resourceful than I first thought. It appeared to me that the bandit had been calm the whole time since we had fallen through the portal. Did they know where we were going? I didn't forget the bone I had to pick with them later. I wanted to know why the mad bandit had been targeting me and Happy Town. We should not be enemies, but the constant pranks and mayhem caused by the bandits have put a major damper on many things concerning the town.

Soon, a new opening to the portal came into view, but I couldn’t find or grasp anything to use to break my fall. As the mad bandit lands smoothly. Completely covered by the ridiculous cape and mask, the bandit gives me a salute and heads off with a skip. That little … I thought before I could react. The mastermind and I are dropped out of the portal and catapulted like a cannonball at the exit. The masterminds scream and squeal, making me smirk in humor. What a wimp.

Our bodies are flying in the air again in the opposite direction of where the mad bandit took off. Jumbo spotted red and white mushrooms breaking our fall, saving our bacon from what could have been a deadly turnout. Relaxing my body, waiting for the bouncing to stop. I caught the mastermind not too far away from me. He eyed me as well, both of us on guard to take action.

The second, the bouncing stopped, I slid down the mushroom head fast, headed straight toward him. Luck was on my side as he had got caught up by his cloak. I grabbed his hood ready to strike, but I should have known he had a dirty trick. A white powder filtered through the air and I dodged. Landing a fierce kick to the mastermind to send him flying.

The white substance he threw did not touch me, but unfortunately, I inhaled some of it on the downfall. A slow burning sensation encased my throat causing me to cough. What the hell was this stuff? A dorky laugh rang out from the mastermind as he stood up clutching his stomach.

“Stop right there!” I wheezed out. My vision blurred a little bit as I stumbled. Then it cleared back up as I glared at him.

“No one can do, I’ve got things to do and people to see. Tootles!” he said. Waving his hand more like wiggling his fingers at me as he took off running through the miles of jumbo mushrooms before us. Who in the hell says toodles nowadays? I was upset that he was escaping.

This place was weird as fudge compared to what I thought was weird in my world. A sharp pain in my stomach halted my footsteps and henceforth stopped my plan to go after him. A weird tingle flowed through me. Something was wrong. I had no time to figure out what it was before I passed out. My last thought before darkness claimed me was how much I hated the mastermind and that cheeky Mad bandit.