Rebuilt (4): Ending at the Beginning

It was nearly midnight now as the six set out with Gary on their mysterious mission.  Corner after corner, alley after alley, side street after side street.  No one asked what G's plan was.  No one spoke at all.  

Eventually, the group entered a cluster of trees.  In they went, crunching twigs as the foliage began to surround them.  After about ten minutes, they came to a clearing.  G went to the center of it and drug his left foot in a circle.  Beneath him, in the snow, wood appeared.  As the six knelt to the ground and brushed the snow away from the shiny oak, a trap door was revealed.  Gary dug for one of his various keychains in his coat and unlocked the hatch, pulling it upwards and descending the ladder to go inside the room below.

Dot was the last of the six to enter the tunnel.  It was a dingy, metal series of hallways which took at least fifteen minutes to navigate.  Eventually, Gary - who was still leading the group - found the stairway he wanted and went up it, unlocking the door at the top with a different set of keys and slipping inside the next section without a sound.

Behind this second door, the six found themselves back in the EPF HQ - once again lit fully and magnificently - having used a false door to gain access.  More specifically, the group was back in the office space where Dot had had her run-in with Rookie earlier that night.

Gary broke the seemingly endless silence.  "We surely don't have much time.  There may not be guards in this particular room, but I'm certain they're lurking nearby."  He approached his desk and crouched under it, pulling a hidden lever and entering a passcode on the bottom of his work space.  There was a pop and a small cylinder dropped from its previous position under G's chair.  "Ahhh...the miracle of radio waves," Gary said as he picked up the object and handed it to Dot, instructing her to press the button found at the top.

The button having been pushed, the device expanded, with little vials - full of liquid and acting as legs - popping out from the center.  When finished, it looked like a tripod.

"Is this what I think it is?" Dot asked.

"Yes," Gary responsed, "this is the 2.0 version of the device you used to stop Rookie and that mind control food the first time.  However, this time, the solution in the vials is far stronger; I looked at the chemical breakdown of that Ruby used to brainwash Rookie and the guards and I am certain this will do the trick.  Also: this version is far more portable and I'm sure you'll find it far less cataclysmic; I don't believe that Lighthouse will go down with you again."

Jet Pack Guy spoke up.  "So, it's the exact same plan as the first time?  How inventive."

"The irony is not lost on myself," Gary responded.  "We should just be glad that our enemy has a strong affection for mind control."

A new voice came from behind G.  "What is this talk of a plan?" asked EPF director Tammy Taught, who had recently stepped into the position vacated by Aunt Arctic.  She stood in the doorway, looking confused.

"Director Taught!" Gary exclaimed.  "I was hoping to speak to you.  We could always use an extra hand in taking down these rebels."

Taught remained by the door.  "Oh, I hardly think that will be necessary," she said.  "After all, I do pledge certain allegiances to them."  She stepped into the room, revealing three rebel guards behind her.

Gary stared at her, but there was a vague feel of joy in his expression.  "Well, it is a pleasure to meet the leader of this renegade rebellion.  Am I correct in my hypothesis that you're the only one who didn't have to be brainwashed?  That file was awfully thick."

Taught blinked.  "Oh, Gary, always the intellect.  It's a wonder you never saw through this island's faulty system of government but instead decided to join it!" She tilted her head.  "Of course, so did I, but that was merely for a tactical advantage."

"But to answer your question, yes, I am the only one to truly feel this way.  I had to start stealing supplies from the EPF in order to get my plans into motion.  Years of hard work and here we are."  She waved her hands around her.  "There's just one last thing to check off the itinerary."  Taught motioned to the guards.  "Seize them.  Use the last bit of dust on them and then we can all forget about unique opinions."

The guards started to come towards them.  There was nothing the six could do.  And, then, they - and even Taught herself - were frozen, stuck in a pink substance that stopped them in their tracks.  

Dot looked to her right.  Gary held his broken gum dispenser - the one he had wanted to fix with his missing toolbox earlier.  "I had no idea that would work," he said frankly.

Gary composed himself.  "Yukon, close the door and hold it.  There will be more guards coming."  Yukon did as he was told while Gary opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a box of gum dispensers.

"The rest of you: break these now so we'll have a defense as we leave," Gary handed one to each of the remaining four and the room was soon filled with pounding as each of them hit the gum dispensers against the walls in order to mess up the springs inside and create a defense.

No sooner had Rockhopper gotten his dispenser ready than did the guards start running at the door.  After a nod from Gary, Yukon let them in and the other five members froze the dozen rebels who raced inside with gum before they could release a single arrow.

Gary started his orders again.  "Dot, give your dispenser to Yukon; you'll be in charge of the antidote device....you know how to use it.  The rest of us will guard you our way to the Beacon.  Let's move."

The six shuffled out of the room.  More rebels greeted them in the hallway and got gummed in return.  At one point, Rockhopper ran out of ammo and started using his sword to disorientate the brainwashed enemies so that the others could get a clear shot.

Dot and the others made it out of the building.  Rebels followed them, leaving their posts to capture the wanted citizens and share in the glory of the completed deed.  Dot climbed the steps of the Lighthouse once they got to the key building, the others staying at the bottom of the stairs to fend off the attacking rebels.  She was on her own now.

Well, maybe not completely alone.

Ontop of the dark Beacon, Rookie was waiting for Dot.  There were various theories occurring to Dot as to how he knew to be here at this moment, but the "why" wasn't important right now.  It was time to end this.

"I can't let you do that," said Rookie quietly.  "Not after what we've done.  The great things we've done!"

Dot responded quickly.  "Rookie, this isn't you.  And you'll know that soon."

Dot began to push in on a second button on the side of the device in order to release the antidote.

And then suddenly, Rookie raced forward, trying to pull the device from her hands and destroy it.  They struggled, playing a game of tug of war with the device.  Rookie squeezed harder on his end of the contraption, trying to gain an advantage, and shattered one of the vials in the process.  The glittery substance rained upon him and he fell backward, coughing.

Dot clung onto the machine, which was now malfunctioning.  Big puffs of multicolored smoke rose from it and expanded in all directions.  The device grew hot and Dot dropped it to the ground.

The smoke puttered to a stop.

The first sign was the end of gumball fire from below, which had been heard distantly throughout the entire struggle with Rookie.  That conflict was over.

And then Rookie stood up, wiping the crystals from his face.  He stared at Dot for a second, blinking rapidly.

He began to speak.  "Um...Dot....why can't I remember, like, anything in the last few hours?....days?...years!  What happened?  Wait, no, that's not important.  Where can I get pizza at this hour?"

Dot began to laugh.  Rookie - the real Rookie - was back.  The brainwashed rebels were themselves once again.  It was over.  It was finally over.

----

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity.  The clouds cleared for sunny days as penguins dug out from the giant snow storm that had been unleashed by the Caster.  Director Tammy Taught - who had remained frozen in gum for over five hours - was thrown in prison.  Alaska and Yukon returned to their jobs at the archaeological society.  Regulus Sir stumbled out of the forest and returned to his previous job.  Rockhopper went on his way to new adventures.  Gary, Dot, Rookie, and Jet Pack Guy got back to their old routine.

Everything was back to normal, as it should have been.

The End