yeah, it's about time.
CHAPTER 20 – The Escapee
The limbless figure swam through the marshes with determination. He was fearful; he seemed to radiate a sense of terror and not even the piranhas were brave enough to get close to him. Even so, he shot a ball of energy at one every now and then; not as a precaution, but just for fun.
The first part of his goal was now achieved; he had escaped. While the guardian was injured, it was no longer able to keep warping him back into the depths of the cave. But now he needed to find some dry land. The he could get to work on his major goal: kill Rayman.
Rayman threw the skull shaped flask into the water. Immediately after gulping down the elixir, he could already feel himself becoming truly awake and full of energy, as though he could stay awake for days.
“Ssso, Rayman, I guesss you’ll be leaving now?”
“Yeah. Sorry Sssam, but there are important things to attend to.”
“Goodbye Rayman.” Sssam said glumly, before sinking back into the marshes.
“Bye Sssam! I’ll be back, don’t worry!”
“Not for a while though!” Said a small voice behind Rayman, which caused him to jump in fright. “ We have things to do!”
Rayman turned around to see that the teensie who had spoken to him was already creating a portal for him to go through. “So, back to the council then.” He said.
“Uh, not exactly.” The teensie replied. “Uh, Ly will explain”.
“Wha-” Before Rayman could question, he heard a familiar voice in his head.
“We think we know where another orb is!” Ly said excitedly. “The portal leads to picture city. Renk will be waiting there. But hurry, we heard the pirates may be planning an attack there. They definitely know about the orbs somehow. Anyway, good luck Rayman!”
Without hesitation, Rayman jumped into the portal, thanking the teensie as he went through.
The messenger nervously marched into Razorbeard’s cabin on the Bladed Avenger.
“Uh, sir? The scout force just got back from that continent we didn’t explore last time.”
“And?” Razorbeard said frustratedly, and almost threateningly.
“We can’t launch the attack.”
“What?!” Razorbeard cried angrily, banging his fists on his armrests. “Why not?!”
“The entire population is made up of…of…of….”
“Spit it out you worthless grub!”
“It’s like an entire population of Raymans! Every single one of them…limbless, big nosed, the lot!”
Razorbeard jumped out of his chair and quickly limped over to the messenger. Despite being half its size and completely unarmed, Razorbeard was somehow still very frightening to it.
“Did it occur to you that Rayman is probably unique?”
“Uh-“
“And that maybe he has powers that the rest of them don’t?”
“but-“
“And that in all likelihood, they are just like any other civilian on this planet, weak and useless?! Go forward with the attack! They may look like Rayman, but they aren’t! Rayman won’t be there to stop us! And besides, we need that orb! Now get your pathetic self out of here before I send you to join your predecessor!”
“Yes sir!”
Rayman found himself spinning around, surrounded by swirling colors and patterns. Long ago, this sensation made him feel a little ill, but by now he was used to it, and actually enjoyed it a little. Then, reality started to materialize around him. As far as he could see, pencil towers reached point-up for the skies, and the ground was formed of giant erasers placed in a grid-like pattern providing the floor of picture city, the land of images.
Just near the portal was Renk carrying his goo-gun. “How’s things? Ready for action? The city’s up on defense ready for a pirate attack. Primary weapon: Space Mama’s singing.” Renk chuckled at his own joke. Rayman didn’t find it quite as funny, having actually heard her singing.
“So where’s the orb?”
“It’s in Space Mama’s crater. I don’t know why she’s keeping it, but I don’t think she’ll give it up easily. But I do know why the pirates want it; it’s the orb of technology. Who knows how they could use it?”
“Whoa. So, when’s this siege?”
End of Chapter
Question 18: What did Razorbeard mean by the messenger’s “predecessor”?
