Chapter Text
Cameron poked his head around the corner, “Alright it’s clear.” With his head on swivel, he stepped out into the hallway with Marcy close behind. The castle was quiet with the only audible sound being the dull hum of the mighty engines that kept it aloft. Following Marcy’s route through the labyrinth that was the castle Cameron couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. Yet whenever he turned to search his surroundings, he was ever greeted with the same barren hallways. He bit his lip.
It's just the stress, if they knew where we were this hallway would be flooded with frobots.
Marcy broke into a run, “It’s just up here, come on!” She darted around a corner.
Having been lost in his own thoughts Cameron was too slow to grab her, “Marcy, wait!” As he rounded the corner, he saw the hallway was barred by a large metal wall. It was a dead end.
Marcy was standing before the wall, “aw come on, you’re not supposed to be here!”
Cameron approached the wall and ran his hand over it, noticing a seam in the surface, “I think this is some sort of blast door. Have you seen one of them before?”
Marcy shook her head, “No, I’ve walked down this hallway half a dozen times and there was never anything like this. Behind this door, it’s a straight shot to the basement.”
“Is there another way through?”
Marcy thought for a moment, “There’s a couple, but it’s a bit of a roundabout way to get there.”
Cameron shrugged, “Roundabout will have to do then.”
Marcy slumped against the side of the metal door, the fourth one they’d come across so far, “well that’s it, they’re all blocked.”
Cameron stepped forward and examined the door closely. It was two large pieces of metal pressed firmly against each other. It seemed one half extended from the ceiling while the other rose up from the floor. Across the door was a series of bolts, apparently to hold it together. He checked the nearby walls. As with the other four times they were barren. He stepped back scratching his beard. He paused, “Marcy, how’s your ancient Amphibian?”
Marcy looked up, “I don’t have one.”
“No, I mean the language, you went through the temples right you must know at least a little.” Cameron pointed to the bolts on the door, “it’s probably nothing but that pattern doesn’t look random.”
Gazing up at the door Marcy tapped her lip, “Well it doesn't look like any letter rune I know of.”
Cameron ran his finger across the bolts, trancing the shape, “a number then maybe… woah!” there was a click He froze as he heard a noise echo down the hallway: a hiss, and the screech of metal, “I think something just opened up.”
Backtracking the two found their progress blocked by a new door. Taking a corridor to their left they circled around and managed to navigate back to their original start point, standing in front of the first blast door. It was open. Behind it lay another blast door. Cameron let out a small grunt of annoyance.
Marcy snapped her fingers, “oh I get it, it’s a maze but the more you solve it the more paths get cut off.”
“I don’t know Marcy…”
She slapped the side of her head, “Aw shoot did I get it wrong? My brain must still be goo after the tank. Heh.”
Cameron shook his head, “no, you’re right I had the same thought. What worries me is that there is a solution. If you wanted to make a security system, why make it solvable? And if it must be solvable then why not just have a pin pad for a code? Why make up this convoluted puzzle?”
Marcy shrugged, “maybe the designer was just a little eccentric? I mean, we’re talking about the same people who made frog robots and called them frobots. Between that and the flying castle I don’t think practicality was at the forefront of their minds.”
“I hope you’re right, my paranoia tells me something is testing us, but I don’t think we have any other choice but to play along. Do you have something to write on?”
Marcy reached into her satchel and pulled out a notebook, “never go anywhere without it!”
Cameron accepted the note pad, flipping through it skimmed some of Marcy’s notes, “immaculate note taking as always.” Flipping to an empty page of the notebook he began sketching out the hallways, “Alright let’s solve this thing. First things first, we need to find out where all the doors that can pop out are.”
The maze was an intricate contraption designed to entrap those who attempted to solve it. It consisted of forty heavy blast doors. Each door was keyed to between one and four others, activating it would cause the others to toggle between open or shut. The goal was to arrange the maze into a configuration such that the eight blast doors that sealed the way to the exit would all be open and those inside had a route to it. Anyone attempting the maze ran the risk of getting stuck in a closed loop, unable to progress or escape, dooming them to a slow death from starvation and dehydration. The maze had been designed as a mathematical thought experiment by the Core as it toyed with escaping prisoners. In the two thousand years since its construction, only a handful of Amphibia’s best and brightest had ever managed to solve it, and even then, attempts could take up an entire day. Cameron and Marcy were opening the last gate in less than thirty minutes.
As they strode though the hallway Marcy skipped along, her troubles temporarily forgotten, “Oh man that was fun! It’s like one of those escape rooms, but this one was actually a little difficult.”
Cameron couldn’t help but smirk, Marcy’s enthusiasm was infectious, “well most escape rooms aren’t usually designed with the consideration that a super genius like you or me is attempting them. But if it’s a challenge you want; my buddy, Tyler, told me about this one escape room run by a bunch of STEM grad students. They make a new escape room every month for other university students looking for a challenge.”
Marcy’s eyes lit up, “really?”
Cameron chuckled, “Yeah, remind me to ask him about it when we get home.”
As they rounded the final corner Cameron and Marcy were greeted by a powerful breeze. Sure, enough before them was an open alcove that looked out into open air and over amphibia. Cameron gazed down; he wasn’t particularly afraid of heights but the sheer distance to the ground made his stomach twist slightly. They were easily a thousand feet in the air. A drop from this height, even into water, would be debilitating at best.
“Damnit, we’ve flown higher.” He turned to Marcy, “I don’t suppose you’ve got a parachute in that bag of yours?”
“Nope, got anything in that utility belt?”
Cameron shook his head, “Nothing big enough definitely.”
Marcy cocked an eyebrow, “what happened to your grappling hook?”
“Broke it on Yunan’s face.”
“You know, she’s not a bad person if you get to know her.”
Cameron was about to make a comment about Marcy track record as a judge of character recently, but he decided better of it, “maybe you could tell her that about me too.”
“Let’s see how long of a bet sheet rope we can make with the stuff in the infirmary.” As Cameron turned to retrace their steps, he felt something wrapped around his right leg. It was cold and metallic but moved like a living being. Before he could express his shock, Cameron was pulled upward into the air. Hearing Marcy cry out his name he raised his head to see if she was alright.
*Crack*
A sharp blow to the back of the head sent him tumbling into unconsciousness.
Marcy let out a small yelp as she saw Cameron’s body fall to the ground with an unceremonious thump. The long tube-like appendage retreated into the vent it had struck from, vanishing just as swiftly as it had appeared. She ran over and shook Cameron's limp form, “Cameron, wake up! Come on, please!”
“I’d let him sleep Marcy dear,” Marcy turned in horror as King Andrias stepped out of the stairwell behind her, “the poor boy looks exhausted.”
The cell was dark and fittingly dank. Cameron collapsed onto his cot was a groan, the small sharp stone he’d been trying to use as a makeshift screwdriver rolled onto the ground. The noise stirred his cellmate. Marcy looked up, rubbing sleep from her eyes, “did you break something?”
Cameron could hear the desperation and hope behind her soft tone, he rose into a sitting position and picked the rock back up, “No, but almost, I can feel one of the screws turning.”
Marcy’s eyes lit up, “that’s great, then it’s just three more and we can open the panel. After that it’ll be a cakewalk.”
Cameron chuckled, “of course it will be,” He looked down at the stone which had chipped its sharp end again, “get some sleep Marcy, it’s still dark out.” Cameron grimaced as he assessed the situation for the tenth time that day, the cell door was locked by some kind of electronic keypad. While he did not doubt that he and Marcy could sort out something with whatever wiring it had, he was far less certain about what would happen should they get to that point.
He had considered hijacking a frobot for its flight pack but there was no way to do that without raising the alarm, which would undoubtedly draw the attention of whatever entity had knocked him out last time.
Cameron lay back on his cot, they were too deep inside the castle for any kind of natural light to reach them, so he’d lost track of the number of days they’d been held here. If he had to guess it was about two but that wasn’t even counting the time he’d been unconscious. They'd taken his watch, in fact, he’d been stripped of all of his normal clothes and travelling gear. He and Marcy were now wearing these black body suits the frobots had given them, the Amphibia version of a prison jumper he supposed. What was curious about them however was that they had armour plating and what he could only describe as connection ports. The ports didn’t look sturdy enough to be for restraints but with no further information to work with he’d been left with no choice but to abandon his investigation of them.
He could tell Marcy was nearing her breaking point. After everything the poor girl had gone through it was a testament to her strength that she wasn’t a weeping mess right now. He had worked hard to keep the young girl’s spirits up, but deep-down Cameron couldn’t help but feel hopeless about the whole situation.
As he drifted off to sleep his mind wandered to Sasha and Anne, one could only guess at what was happening to them.
The sound of electronic beeping stirred Cameron from his slumber, someone was opening the cell. Rising to a crouched position he prepared to pounce. Through the small cell window, he caught the sight of armour and robes on the other side of the cell door. With a creak, the door swung open and revealed a face Cameron knew well. He pounced forward letting out a low snarl as he tackled General Yunan to the floor, delivering a swift uppercut that stunned the newt. Landing two more swift blows he turned to the general’s companion ready to satisfy his rage on whatever lackey Yunan had brought with her. Instead of a creature in military garb, he came face to face with Lady Olivia. Slightly taken aback Cameron paused, Yunan landed a kick on his jaw from her prone position and the two resumed their brawl, scratching and biting one another as they rolled on the ground.
Lady Olivia landed two swift blows with a closed fist on both fighters, though hardly enough to stun either it caused them to turn to her in anger or confusion, “stop this at once, we’re here to rescue you!”
Cameron was still gripping Yunan by the neck while the general had extended her arm blades and had a pair pressed firmly against Cameron’s chest he narrowed his eyes at Olivia, “And why should we trust you?” nodded down to Yunan, “Psycho here, vowed to kill me.”
Olivia crossed her arms, “Need I remind you I’m the reason you found the rejuvenation tank?” She rubbed the back of her head, “and despite your brutish tendencies I still misled the King, sending him and his frobots on a while goose chase to the other ends of the castle.” Seeing neither Cameron nor Yunan was budging she sighed, “I need you both to be adults and put aside this childish grudge match, at least until the current crisis is under control.”
Marcy walked out of the cell, “come on, we’re all on the same side here guys.”
Cameron and Yunan eyed each other, neither moving an inch. Cameron’s eyes narrowed, “this is a temporary truce, agreed?”
Yunan spat to the side, “of course it’s temporary, after we take the head of the king I will pay you back tenfold for that cheap shot you landed on me!”
As the two withdrew from each other, Marcy cheered silently, “Enemy mine trope!”
Cameron stood up, “Not that I don’t appreciate this, but it doesn’t seem that either of you can fly.”
Olivia nodded, “true, but I know how to change that. There’s a hangar bay where the frobot forces have been docking these smaller flying vessels two levels up from here. We’ll use one of them to make our escape.”
Cameron grinned, “and do you know how to fly one of those things?” seeing the blank faces that met his gaze he sighed, “oh well, how hard could it be. Let’s hope one of us can figure them out.”
As they walked down the cell block a thought suddenly struck Cameron, he turned to Olivia, “does this prison not have guards?”
“Why would it? We’re in a flying castle, no way in no way out as far as Andrias knows.”
Cameron grimaced, “that does not fill me with confidence, Andrias may be a smug prick, but I don’t we can accuse him of being an idiot-” As he spoke, they stepped though the archway out of the cells and were greeted by a fresh a lazy breeze. Cameron froze, they were outside the castle, not hundred of meters in the air either, they were in the fields of amphibia. Cameron whirled around, “wh-where? What… How?”
A voice called to him, “Cam? Is that you?”
Turning towards the sound Cameron laid eyes on his sister who strode out of fog that had descended around him, “Sash?!”
Sasha walked closer, “Why did you abandon me, Cam?”
Cameron stepped backward, “no… I… Marcy needed help I couldn’t leave her, I sent you with Grime back to Wartwood.”
Sasha’s face twisted, becoming a nightmarish horror, “you abandoned me when I needed you the most, just so you could play hero!”
Cameron fell back, he bumped into something, a small orange eye darted out of view, confused Cameron turned back to the Sasha-thing. Just then he heard Marcy call out, “it’s an illusion, smash the eyes!”
Cameron looked at the Sasha-thing, it opened its mouth wider than his own head, “you left me!”
Screwing his courage to the sticking place Cameron let out a bellow and charged the Sasha-thing, landing a punch directly in its gaping mouth. He was rewarded by the sound of shattering glass and sharp pain as some small pieces pieced his skin, the spectre vanished. As the illusionary world flickered, he saw Marcy and Yunan, similarly striking eyes as they appeared around them. He closed his eyes, listening for mechanical noises.
Behind.
Turning swiftly, he opened his eyes and kicked hard into a tree that stood behind him, another eye shattered. As the illusion dissipated it became easier and easier to find the eyes. Soon the four of them were standing in a domed metallic room filled with wiring and dozens of broken eye lenses.
Cameron wiped sweat from his brow and picked a small piece of glass out of his left hand wincing, “Well that explains the lack of guards. Let’s get moving before-” Too late he heard the distinctive footsteps approaching from behind. Andrias slammed Cameron against the wall, pinning him a meter above the ground with his left hand.
“Leaving so soon? But we have so much to discuss.”
Olivia gasped, “but how did you-”
Andrias examined the nails on his free hand, maintaining a cool attitude even as Cameron strained against his grasp. His voice dripped with scorn and superiority, “Simple, we’ve been watching you the whole time.”
Cameron snarled and tried to bite the massive hand pinning him, “Marcy, run!”
The king pressed Cameron more firmly into the wall and addressed the others, “Surrender or I’ll crush him!”
Cameron snorted, “He’s bluffing, he can barely keep me pinned here guys!” There was a creak, and all the wind was driven from his body, “oof- okay may not barely…”
Marcy held up her hands, “we surrender! Please don’t hurt him!”
Andrias chuckled, “I always knew you had a good head on your shoulders Marcy.” His face fell, “unfortunately this is where that comes back to bite you.” A massive robotic being descended from the ceiling behind Marcy, Olivia and Yunan. It was composed of a central orb with over a dozen thick tentacle appendages that it used to move itself around, on the central orb were many large neon orange eyes. It let out a piercing screech.
Marcy stared at the robot in confusion, “what the heck is that?”
A throne of dark metal woven to look like coral rose from the floor. Andrias gestured, towards the robot, “Behold! Our ultimate creation. A collection of Amphibia’s greatest minds, preserved for all eternity.”
Slowly and meticulously the robot reached out. It wrapped its pincers around Marcy’s arms, holding her in place. Olivia and Yunan turned to the King, concern and anger plain on their faces.
“What are you doing, Andrias?”
“Stop it, you maniac!”
Andrias continued as if he had not heard them, his eyes twinkling with glee and wonder, “studying the Mossman improved our medical technology. But it wasn’t until we met the Shadowfish that we truly learned to conquer death and thus, the Core was born.”
Macy wriggled against her bonds, “Let me go!”
Cameron’s mind raced, “is this some kind of vitality transfer device? Use me, I’m way stronger than her, you’d get a whole lot more mileage out of these muscles.” He strained against Andrias’ grip, losing it slightly but not enough to wriggle free.
Andrias shook his head, “I wish I could. I found Marcy’s company far more enjoyable than yours. But my lord craves a host. And it wanted the best, the smartest.” His eyes narrowed, “the only one who could beat me at flipwart.”
Cameron and Marcy locked eyes as they realized what was about to occur. Cameron began furiously fighting back against the King’s grip. Twisting, he lodged his foot against the giant amphibian’s thumb and with a wild burst of energy broke free. He rolled across the ground, sprang up and charged towards Marcy. She struggled harder against her restraints as she called out, “Cameron, look out!”
One of the core’s tentacles sped towards Cameron, its claws open and ready to grab him as it had done to Marcy. Diving to the side Cameron narrowly dodged, dropping into a roll again as two more tentacles snaked towards him. One latched onto his leg, causing him to stumble to the ground. Cameron kicked at the claw that held his foot to no avail. Andrias strode up to him. Looming over the boy like a mountain over a valley, “a valiant, if wasted, effort Waybright.” Three other claws snagged Cameron’s other limbs, holding him firm. The Core pulled Cameron up like a puppet on strings so that he faced Marcy and the throne.
Marcy was visibly panicking, “Please Andrias don’t do this!”
The king looked down at the floor, but he kept his smug grin, “Honestly, Marcy? I like you. Always have. I begged the core to consider an alternative host, but alas…” suddenly he fell silent, closing his eyes as if deep in thought. A slow smile crept across his face, “Are you sure my lord? You were quite set on Marcy.” A screech that stung everyone’s ears emanated from the Core. Andrias bowed, “Forgive me, my lord, I did not mean to cast doubt upon your will.”
With a violent yank, Cameron was pulled across the room by the tentacles.
Marcy stopped struggling, “wait, what? She turned her head to Andrias, “What are you doing to him?!”
“It seems there’s been a change of plans my dear.”
The tentacles fastened Cameron to the throne, he’d stopped struggling. As thick wires fastened themselves to the ports in his bodysuit Cameron glared at Andrias, “If I cooperate will you leave Marcy alone?”
The King snorted, “your compliance isn’t a factor.” He paused and for a moment Cameron though he saw Andrias’ features soften a little, “but… I am feeling generous. Very well, Marcy Wu will come to no harm if you cooperate.”
The tentacles released Marcy, dropping her to the floor. Scrambling up, she ran over to Cameron, there were tears in her eyes, “I-I don’t know what to do. How do I stop this?”
Cameron leaned forward, looking her dead in the eyes, “Hey, hey look at me! Look at me! You’re going to be alright, you got that? You’re a smart girl, if you set your mind to something there’s nothing you can’t do. You’ll find a way out of here. Find Anne and Sash, they need you and you need them.”
There was a hiss, and a black helmet with axolotl horns began to descend from the ceiling. Through her tears, Marcy saw true fear cross Cameron's face as he looked up. He looked back at her, swallowing hard and doing his best to hide his rising terror, “L-listen, if you see Sash, tell her... t-tell her that her big brother loves her.”
Yunan pulled Marcy back as the helmet fell over Cameron’s eyes. Cameron was still speaking, “W-whatever walks off this throne might look like me… b-but no matter what you can’t trust it, you have to remember it’s not meEEEEE.” His words turned into a scream as the helmet locked onto his face. Rune-like code lit up along the wires connecting Cameron to the Core, flowing into him. Then just as suddenly as it began Cameron and the Core fell silent. The large orange eyes dimmed, and the Core collapsed, shaking the ground as it landed with a loud shriek of scraping metal.
Marcy held her hands up to her mouth stifling a scream. Olivia and Yunan hung their heads, looking at the ground.
Andrias broke the eerie silence that had filled the room, “the time has finally come for the core to lead us to our destiny.” He strode up beside Cameron’s limp form, “but what destiny, you ask? Well, I suppose I should just let it speak for itself.” He gestured as a circus master might introduce a new act and backed away.
Marcy, Olivia, and Yunan turned their eyes to Cameron. He twitched, then rose to a sitting position. His movements were unnatural, puppet like, and sharp. Orange eyes blinked open on his helmet, identical in configuration to those that had gone out on the core just moments ago. The thing that had been Cameron twisted its face into a smile. When he spoke, his voice was echoed by a dozen others, “Why, hello there.”
Slowly it stood, tearing away the wires as it descended from the throne. It looked over at Marcy who had fallen to her knees, “Andrias, take her to her old quarters.” looking over at Olivia and Yunan its eyes narrowed, “and have these two fitting with mind-collars, it would be a shame to waste such effective servants.” Frobots marching into the room snagging both newts. Olivia cried out in terror and Yunan struggled furiously against her bonds.
The thing that had been Cameron curled the corner of its mouth, “We promised Marcy would come to no harm general, do not think that courtesy applies to your lady friend there.” Casually it gestured to Lady Olivia, “Should you resist, she will pay the price.” Yunan’s head fell and silently she was dragged off by her captor.
Andrias cleared his throat and walked up behind Marcy, “yes, I will see it done my lord.”
“Lord… such a small title, and wholly unbecoming of the majesty that is me.” The thing that had been Cameron looked down at its hands as it balled them, then looked up at Andrias, “Do you know what we are Andrias? No- what I am.”
Andrias paused, unsure of how to respond, “I- yes of course my lord, you are the Core. The greatest feat of engineering and biology the universe has ever know.”
“No, that was but one chapter in my existence. You have forgotten who I was before the Core.” It spread its hands out wide, “I was kings! I was conquerors! I bent entire worlds to my will and built an empire that, even in the ruins of the present, endures.”
Andrias bowed, “I have not forgotten my lord.”
“Then why do you call me lord?”
“My lord?”
The thing turned to Andrias, its eyes blazing and it’s voice laden with venom, “say lord one more time and I will make you regret the day you were born.”
Andrias dropped to one knee, “I meant no disrespect. How should I address you?”
The thing walked in front of Marcy, it knelt down and lifted her tear-drenched chin up so that she was staring into its ten orange eyes, “So, Cameron wants you, Sash, and Anne to be the little heroes of this fantasy story you set up.” Marcy felt sick. It used Cameron’s mannerisms, his speaking pattern, his cadence. It grinned, “but I can’t help but feel there’s a piece missing. As I trawl through Cameron’s memories, I find the best stories always have a strong antagonist. A true threat to the heroes, the dark king they must overthrow.” Letting go of Marcy’s chin it ruffled her hair with false affection, “but fear not, your story is saved, my dear Marcy. Your dark king has arrived.”
Andrias raised his head, “is that the title you choose? Dark king?”
Rising from his kneeling position in front of the petrified Marcy the Dark King stroked his beard, “Yes… but we can’t have two kings for one kingdom, can we?” his voice shifted, taking on the voice of Aldrich, “Remind me again son, what was your final mission as crown prince?”
Andrias bowed his head in shame, “To invade Earth father…”
“Yes… should you accomplish that task you may have your title back.” His voice shifted back to Cameron’s mixed with the background echoes of the core, “But until such a time there is only one King in this world. The Dark King!”