2.26

After what felt like another lifetime had passed, the team had finally come across an area that slowly grew in brightness the further it went.

“Quickly now, we must keep going. The more time we waste, the more likely Doctor Flink will succeed in his evil plan.” Puddles looked at each member of the group and nodded.

“And what is his evil plan?” Hunter asked.

“I don’t know. But last time he tried switching the brains of humans and animals. And the time before that he trained monkeys to rob banks. The ti-”

“We get it, the dude’s bad. Let’s kick his butt,” Gauzelle cut in.

“So what’s the plan?” Silas asked.

“We charge in and destroy everything,” said Gauzelle.

“No, we can’t do that. We need to assess the situation and act accordingly,” argued Puddles.

“We don’t really need to know what his big plan is, we just gotta stop it.” Gauzelle was itching to go and the others could feel it.

“We need to know so we can stop it from happening again,” Puddles tried to stare Gauzelle down.

“Which we can ask him once we’ve beaten him and tied him to a chair. Its simple, why do we need to complicate this?”

“Gauzelle does have a point,” said Hunter. “What difference does it make if we know now or not. We just gotta stop him and it’s all good.”

“I agree,” said Jimena.

“Yeah, I’m all for it,” agreed Silas.

“Well I don’t,” objected Puddles.

“I agree with them,” said Welt. Puddles shot a look to her companion. “Look, we stop him, it’ll be easier with the extra help. Then we get the answers after we’ve dealt with him. Let’s not give him a chance to run away again.” Welt hung his head in shame at the end.

“Okay, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“What could possibly go wrong?” Gauzelle asked. The group waited a moment, but nothing happened.

“Let’s go,” said Hunter. The group ran toward the light.

The intensity of the bright light grew as the team stumbled through the end of the tunnel into a huge chamber.

The chamber was the size of a sport stadium. Moss stains lined the walls all the way up to the ceiling. There were contraptions and gizmos scattered throughout the vast room. Some at tables, some on the floor and some hanging from the ceiling.

A grand computer sat in the middle of the room. Multiple screens of different sizes dotted the machine as it rose to the top of the chamber. So many things were being shown at once that none of the team could figure out what was being shown.

Tanks filled with a green liquid lined one side of the room. Some were filled with oversized animals and others were filled with humans.

“What do you reckon those are for?” Silas asked.

“Doctor Flink’s latest nefarious scheme no doubt,” said Puddles.

At the computer, clacking away at various buttons, stood a strange mechanical figure. Its arms and legs were skinny. Two poles attached in the middle with a small ball joint. The body was a clunky looking cylinder and there was no head.

“We’ve come to stop you Doctor Flink,” called Puddles. She ran out into the middle of the room, ahead of the rest of the group.

“What took you so long, Puddles?” The voice was high-pitched, similar to that of Puddles, but with a maniacal tone entwined through it.

“We’re seriously in an underground evil lair right now,” said Silas as the rest of the group walked into the room. “We might finally have our very own arch villain to contend with.”

“Ah, and you’ve brought some friends with you just time. Other than your strange little friend I mean.”

“What’s his problem with you?” Gauzelle asked.

“Says I’m not natural,” said Welt.

“We are Justice Punch, and we’re here to stop you,” Gauzelle called out.

“That’s actually a pretty cool name,” said Hunter.

“You like it? I’ve been holding onto it for a special moment. What do you think Jimena?”

“Good enough.”

“Silas?” Gauzelle asked.

“I think it’s awesome.”

“Enough chitchat. I’m sorry but none of you are going to succeed in stopping me. It is I who will stop you.” The robot body slowly turned around.

In the middle of the torso was a plastic window, and inside that was a hollow body and a hamster hooked up to a small rig, allowing him to operate the robot.

“Aww come on. A hamster?” said Silas.

“Hardly arch villain material,” Gauzelle commented. Gauzelle started to laugh, much to the ire of Doctor Flink.

“What’s so funny, med kit?” Doctor Flink asked.

“Med kit? Coz I’m bandages, get it?” Gauzelle laughed harder.

“Stop it.”

“No.”

“Stop it now.” The robot took a few steps toward the group.

“Why should I. I just got insulted by a talking hamster who thinks he’s a mad scientist.”

“Because if you don’t stop now, you’ll suffer slow and painful deaths.” The robot got closer still.

“Come on, lets take him out. Who cares about his big evil plan? What a joke.” Gauzelle and the others now approached the robot.

They were in line with Puddles when they realised Doctor Flink was holding a remote. He pressed a button and a loud scraping; metallic noise rattled the room as a large door opened.

“Welcome to your deaths,” Doctor Flink descended into a bout of maniacal laughter.

“Jimena, Gauzelle. Now,” Hunter barked. Jimena let loose a rapid barrage of her slime balls at the robot. Gauzelle wrapped herself around the legs.

Doctor Flink fell to the ground, his laughter stopped mid-breath. Puddles leapt onto the torso and stared Doctor Flink right in the eyes, her laser pointed straight at him.

“Call off the attack,” said Puddles.

“Its too late, I’ve already pushed the big red button. There’s no going back now.”

An ear-piercing shriek shook the room as the monster Doctor Flink had unleashed entered the room.