Second Spleunking Story!

The Delinquent, the Clown, and the Quack made their way towards the cave. The Chief had stayed behind to further preparations for the Dragons imminent arrival, alongside having an emergency meeting with the board to explain the situation. The Bookworm had also stayed behind both because of his still damaged throat and to parse through the remaining notes, damaged as they now were. The remaining three were wearing tightly fitted helmets to keep their minds safe from the butterflies, like the one they were bringing with them. Said monstrous butterfly occupied a metal and reinforced glass cage in the Delinquents hands. It appeared somewhat slow and tired, moving its wings rhythmically up and down.

“This is a bad idea, I think your friend gave us a really bad idea, you know we shouldn’t we doing this? I think that chief didn’t give us the right- he didn’t give us enough people, if anything the number of people we’re bringing with us makes a tasty snack.”

“Oh calm down dad, you KNOW bringing more people would risk waking the Dragon up. Our JOB is to get in there, confirm the Knights location, see what sort of condition he’s in, and get out.”

“I still don’t buy it, I think you shouldn’t, uhm, I think you're making a mistake in buying it. Isn’t it, I mean wasn’t the Knight put to sleep long before it, long before the Dragon was sealed I mean?”

“According to the notes~ conditions had to be set to heal the Knight, remember~?”

“Oh well that… I didn’t mention… I thought that… I… I hope you're right, are you really sure you're right? I mean I remember that but can we really be sure he’s going to be ok? Actually, are we even sure your friend was in the right? I don’t think he’s as smart as he thinks-”

With Chief no longer being there, the Delinquent now had nobody to hold him back.

“Oh could you quiet down you old man? I don’t see you suggesting anything better? I mean honestly what have you contributed?”

“I’m - I can’t believe you would - If it weren’t for me you’d - I saved you - I told you all - why are you -”

“Oh SHUT. UP. For one minute huh? Or at least talk like a normal person? I mean you never could very well… but at least you TRIED.”

Uh oh~ This really sounds like something I~

100%~

Definitely~

Positively~

Don’t wanna be around~

The Quack attempted to keep as much distance from this domestic squabble as possible, but due to this group's shared destination, there was only so far she could go.

“I mean… I mean I talk a bit, yes, I talk more than average maybe, I suppose I talk alot but you’re all too harsh! You all think I don’t, I mean you think I haven’t noticed, you think I’m a criminal right, I mean I was arresseted-”
“Oh my-”

The Delinquent had to keep himself from stringing together a chain of insults, instead choosing a more constructive response… or at least as constructive as he could be given the circumstances.

“For pete's sake maybe we wouldn’t be as harsh if you weren’t less harsh?! My buddy almost died and you just went and assumed he was fooled without asking some questions, whether you're right about this being a trap or not you should have checked things out yourself. In fact you basically just called him a moron for no reason! I appreciate some blunt honesty once in a while, especially when things are serious, but you just go around INSULTING people and then get angry if people ‘insult’ you back! Yeah you saved me, GREAT! THANK YOU! But that whole situation only happened because I needed to GET you after you PUNCHED a client’s parent at a BIRTHDAY PARTY.”

“He yelled at, he was a bad man who yelled at a kid! He was a terrible person! Absolutely terrible! And of course you're defending him- of course you're attacking me and taking his side, I mean, uhm, I mean you just do everything you can to go against me! You hate me, you really hate me so much, you’ve always been disappointed in me! You look at me with contempt!”

You know~ Weren’t they together earlier, when Bored Brain brought his pop to the office? Was that poor sap of an officer forced to listen to them argue as well~?

Fortunately for the No-Longer-Possessed Officer, the entire group was too busy rushing to the office to talk, much less argue. After talking to the Chief the first time, they had only a minute or two at most before the Chief called once more to inform them that something was wrong with the Quack and Bookworm. After which the aforementioned rush began.

“Oh for the love of- DO YOU KNOW WHY HE WAS YELLING?!”

“Thats… thats not… don’t assume the best of others just because they hate me! Enemy of your enemy, isn’t your friend, I mean just because they do something you like doesn’t mean their always right, they might just be using you, just like those old friends of yours, those kids who got you into prison, those kids who would have hurt your poor mother, your poor mother who died!”

“Is that what this is about?! You’re still mad about my sentence?! I didn’t even GO to prison because I was on the younger side, and why should I care about the opinion of a woman I NEVER met. Especially when her choice of husband is an alcoholic.”

“I… that’s so disrespectful, do you know that? Do you know how terrible that is? Do you know how-”

“Oh you expect me to believe you’re not currently DRUNK? Or at least tipsy?”

“I’m I’m I’m kicking it, it’s not that bad, you-”

“Hey guys~ We’re here!”

Desperate to escape the sheer drama of the situation, and cursing her lack of foresight in bringing two obviously aggrieved individuals to a remote region in an intense situation. The Quack gladly took the opportunity to change the subject by bringing up the new setting. To her relief it appeared to have the desired effect.

“Who are you? Identify yourself- Waaaaitaminute, are you the lady who filled the station with poison gas?”

Once they reached the cave entrance, they were met by two officers, both of whom were wearing tight fitting helmets. One seemed to be the especially talkative type, while the other was noticeably quiet.

“Mustard gas specifically~”

“Why would you do that…? How did you do that?! Actually… What are you doing here in the first place?”

“Well I read a book once about how easy it was~ And I wanted to test it for myself!”

A chill passed through all but the Quack, even the Silent Officer seemed perturbed. As this chill passed, one could not help but notice the Quack standing around nonchalantly. Not out of a sense of awkwardness, but simply because she somehow had nothing else to say.

“So…?”

“Yes?”

“That’s it? What about my other two questions?”

“Ah! Well the second question is boring, and the third should go without saying~”

The Silent Officer gave the Quack a suspicious side eye, clearly the answer to the second question was not quite obvious to her.

“We’re here to investigate the cave! Chief’s orders~”

“Uh-huh… Well we don’t get any sort of reception here, do you have any proof?”

This caused the Delinquent to perk up, the Chief had handed them some sort of documents before they left, but due to the rush didn’t explain why in a coherent manner.

I guess he knew these two were the paranoid sort.

The Delinquent took the paper from his bag and handed them to the Silent Officer. After a few minutes reading the Silent Officer pointed to the cave's mouth.

“Soooo, can we go in?”

The Silent Officer nodded once in ascent.

Not much for conversation…? Don’t pigs usually need to- I dunno -talk to the folks they’re arresting? Or at least tell people what they’re doing wrong? Maybe this lady is shy… or maybe she’s trying to look cool?

Keeping these rude comments to himself, the Delinquent made his way into the cave, closely followed by Clown, the Quack on the other hand stayed behind to speak quickly.

“Out of curiosity, has anything happened since you got here?”

The Silent Officer looked away awkwardly, prompting her friend to laugh a bit before speaking.

“Yep! One o’ them butterflies flew right on past us!”

“Oh~ Did you kill it?”

“Couldn’t… it flew right above our heads and into the woods too quickly for us to follow! Well my buddy here tried to chase ‘em, but you’ll be glad to know I stopped him in his tracks!”

“Hmm~ Are you sure that was a good plan?”

“Had to be! Even if he chased it, the chance of actually catching it was low low lowww, so I figured us splitting up would just make things worse! I mean if I understand right, those things can control folks? So if one of ‘em brings a body along to attack while my buddy here is out, I’d have a lower chance ‘o winning!”

“Can’t stand a fair fight~?”

The Loudmouthed Officer guffawed at this.

“Course not! Absolute victory or no victory at all, that’s my motto!”

“Fair enough~ But while I do agree with your decision overall, do try and kill the bugs as painfully as possible if you can~”

The Silent Officer jumped a bit, given her previously relaxed tone, the sheer malice in her words and eyes was concerning at the very least.

Yeesh, remind me not to get her angry.

Unfortunately, before either officer could voice any sort of concerns, the Quack had already left to catch up with her companions. In some vain hope she could stop another tiresome fight before it started.