A month had passed since the shocking discovery of Charlie’s true motives. Our heroes, after recovering from the initial trauma of being deceived, had decided that they needed to separate for a while. Remco had gone back home to train with his daughter, Lucie, and to change her diaper when it was needed. Vera went home for a couple of days to catch up with her family before heading up into the mountains to train. Cleo went into the forest to learn the ways of nature from a pack of wolves. As for Derek, he went home to write more stories and play video games – he did take breaks to listen to A State of Trance and Global DJ Broadcast, however. During this time, Randy, and R-33 had stayed back at headquarters to track down Charlie and his evil minions. Throughout the month, the two had not had much luck. However, today was their lucky day.
“Randy!” R-33 called out as he looked at his computer screen. “I found him!”
“Are you sure?” Randy asked as he rushed over to R-33.
“I’m sure of it,” R-33 replied. “The time has come for us to end this once and for all. Contact the others immediately!”
“I’m on it,” Randy called out as he dashed back to his computer.
Randy sat down in his chair and logged into a beeper program he had created some time before. He typed in the names of those who needed to be contacted, and sent a beeping noise to all of their beepers.
Remco heard the beeper go off right in the middle of putting Lucie down for her nap. The beeper emitted a very loud noise that woke Lucie up from her not-too-deep slumber. She jumped out of her crib and jumped Remco, who she blamed for the whole incident. Remco grabbed a hold of Lucie and explained to her that it wasn’t his fault, but that he had to leave immediately. Remco placed Lucie back into her crib and tucked her in once more before turning off the beeper and running out of the door.
Vera, who had met a monk warrior on her way up a mountain, was on a quest to complete her training. She had learned just about everything from the master warrior, but was sent on a quest to reach the highest peak to learn the most important lesson in her training. As the top of the peak came into her view, the beeper she was carrying in her pocket went off. Vera grabbed the beeper and turned it off before turning back; knowing that whatever awaited her at the apex of the mountain would have to wait.
Cleo, however, had just finished her training with the wolves. She had become one with nature and felt its power surging through her body. Her wolf mentors had gone off to get food, leaving her alone deep in the forest. She heard her beeper go off, which startled the wolves’ ears from a far distance. Cleo knew that the wolves hated loud noises, so she began to run back to civilization while trying, and failing, to find the button that turned the beeper off. The entire way through the forest, she was chased by her former wolf companions who now wanted to make her pay for disturbing them. Cleo saw the end of the tree line up ahead, but looked back to see how much distance she had put between herself and the wolves. To her surprise, the wolves were quickly catching up – apparently wolves are a bit faster than humans. She thought to herself quickly and decided to jump out of the forest. Cleo lunged herself forward, leaving the forest slightly behind her. The wolves stopped dead in their tracks, fearing the world outside of their forest, and they made their way back into the depths of the trees.
Derek, on the other hand, was woken up by the beeper. He had become accustomed to sleeping in late since he began his “training” a month ago. He groggily grabbed the beeper, grumbling and grunting from the good night of sleep that he had gotten. He turned the beeper off and then turned to his alarm clock, and set it to go off fifteen minutes later. Derek grabbed his large mass of blankets, pulled them over himself once more, and fell back asleep.
Within an hour, Remco, Vera, and Cleo all met up outside of headquarters.
“Something doesn’t seem quite right,” Remco said. “It’s like something is missing here.”
“Perhaps that’s because Derek isn’t here!” Vera pointed out to him.
Remco looked around and could not find Derek. “Wow, you’re right!”
“Unbelievable!” Cleo said as she placed her left palm onto her face. “This is our great leader.”
“Watch it, Cleo,” Remco replied. “In case you don’t remember, I was the one who discovered that Charlie was evil!”
“That was me!” Vera said as she stepped on Remco’s right foot.
“Ouch!” yelped Remco.
“You deserved that!” Vera giggled.
“You really did,” Cleo laughed.
“Okay, now that we’ve had our fun, let’s get inside,” said Remco.
“But Derek still isn’t here,” Cleo pointed out.
“Well we’ll just have to fill him in later, then!” Remco replied as he walked inside.
Vera and Cleo followed Remco inside. They made their way to the computer room and found Randy and R-33.
“Ah, you’ve finally made it!” R-33 called out as he made his way toward the three.
“Wait, where is Derek?” Randy asked from his computer screen.
“We don’t know,” Remco replied. “Are you sure you sent him the beeper notice?”
“I sent it to everybody,” Randy answered. “He should have heard it – the beeping is rather loud.”
“You can say that again,” Cleo mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing...”
“So what’s going on?” Vera interrupted. “Is it what I think it is?”
“Yes,” R-33 replied. “We’ve finally discovered Charlie’s whereabouts.”
“Alright,” Remco shouted out. “Time to show that little slime ball he can’t mess with us!”
“It’s not going to be that easy,” said Randy as he brought up a map on the large computer screen in the middle of the room. “He’s hiding in an area we’ve never heard of.”
“Is he where I think he is?” R-33 asked as a red dot appeared around
“I just said that nobody has heard of it!” Randy replied. “He’s gone to
“I’ve been there, Randy!” R-33 replied.
“Are you serious?” asked Randy. “It’s such a remote area of the world; I thought nobody had ever heard of it!”
“Are you mad?” replied R-33. “I just went there for my birthday earlier this year! It’s one of the most well-known places in the area!”
“Well, I guess you learn something new everyday,” said Randy.
“Can we please get back to the task at hand?” Vera asked.
“Yes, of course!” R-33 said.
“Well, I was going to say that neither of us knows exactly where in the area he’s hiding,” Randy added. “So you’re going to have to search the entire area.”
“Wait a second,” Remco interrupted. “Aren’t there supposed to be others here?”
“Yeah, didn’t you hire Magical Trance to work here as well?” Cleo added.
“We did,” R-33 answered. “But they’re touring again.
“Have they even been around since the first story?” Remco asked.
“Not much,” replied Randy.
“Remco, do you realize that you just gave away the information that we’re aware that this entire world isn’t real?” Vera added.
“Wait, what?” Remco stuttered.
“Yeah, that’s not cool Remco!” Cleo added. “You shouldn’t do things like that!”
“But I didn’t do anything!” Remco managed to say.
“Yes you did,” said Derek as he walked into the room.
“Derek, where have you been?” Remco asked.
“Don’t change the subject,” Derek replied. “We’re still on the topic about how you could ruin the author’s story.”
“See? Derek just said that this is all a story!”
“Yes, but that was after you spilled the beans.”
“Derek’s right, Remco,” laughed Vera.
“Let’s just get back to finding Charlie!” whined Remco.
“Tardy Pants is right,” said Cleo. “So, are we going to be getting any cool spy gear this time?”
“No,” answered R-33.
“But why can’t we have some cool spy gear, R-33? Charlie and his henchmen are most likely going to have some awesome gadgets and whatnot!”
“While that is most likely true,” interrupted Randy. “We simply don’t have the budget for gadgets you can use on missions. We use about 98% of the budget on our awesome equipment!”
“And did Randy forget to mention that our computer gadgets are awesome?” R-33 enthusiastically added. “Because I believe he forgot to mention that fact.”
“No, he mentioned it,” Derek groaned.
“Well did he mention just how awesome everything here is?”
“No, you did that quite well yourself.”
“Are you pandering, Derek?”
“No, I’m not pandering. I’m just really upset with you for spending that much of the budget on computer equipment.”
“Keep the pandering up, and you’ll be getting a big promotion soon, Derek!”
“I’m not pandering!”
“Anyway,” Remco interrupted. “Can you at least manage to get us some transportation?”
“That can be arranged,” Randy answered.
“Actually Randy, I’ve already arranged it for them,” R-33 stated.
“You did what?” Randy asked, obviously a bit ticked off. “You know I’m the transportation guy!”
“Since when have you been the transportation guy?”
“Since I called dibs on being transportation guy just a moment ago!”
“Well I arranged it before then, so calm down.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!”
“I’m your boss, so I guess I can tell you what to do!”
“Since when have you been my boss, R-33?”
“Since I called dibs on being your boss just a moment ago! Sound familiar?”
“Touché.”
“Anyway, before this gets any more disturbing,” R-33 said as he turned to our heroes, extending a note card toward them. “Here are the directions to your prearranged transportation.”
Remco accepted the card with his right hand and held it at his side. “Thank you,” he replied. “Let’s go, everyone!”
And with that, Remco, Vera, Cleo, and the tardy Derek left for their mysterious destination. The four walked down the road for several minutes, passing a small amount of people along the way, before taking a left turn at a four-way intersection. After the left turn, they walked down the road for several more minutes before coming across yet another four-way intersection. They took another left turn, and walked down the new road for several more minutes. They then found themselves at a third four-way intersection, and they took a third left turn, and then continued their trek toward their mysterious means of transportation. After a few minutes more, our heroes found themselves at yet another four-ay intersection.
“Please don’t tell me we’re taking another right,” Cleo groaned.
“Of course we’re not!” exclaimed Derek. “That would just put us back where we started!”
“It probably would,” replied Vera. “What does R-33’s note card say, Remco?”
“It says…” Remco paused for a moment, building up the suspense of the moment. “…to turn left!”
Derek fell to the ground due to the level of failure that came with Remco’s words. “We’re right back where we started! Why are we back there!?”
“I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation, Derek,” Vera calmly answered him.
“Yeah,” added Cleo. “They wouldn’t screw around with us at a time like this!”
“They’re right, Derek,” Remco exclaimed. “Get up off the ground and let’s hurry up!”
Remco and the girls sprinted off down the road upon taking the left turn. Derek got up off the ground and gave chase to them. After a few moments, Derek had caught up to the others, and they all stopped dead in front of headquarters, where R-33 was standing outside holding yet another note card.
“Here are your next set of directions,” R-33 said as he handing the card to Remco.
“What’s the big idea?” asked Derek. “Why didn’t you just give us that card to begin with? Why did we have to go around in a big circle?”
“Square,” R-33 corrected Derek. “You went in a big square. You took four left turns at four four-way intersections – it’s not a round shape when you think about it.”
“Whatever!” Derek yelled out, clearly flustered by R-33’s actions. “Let’s just get going, Remco!”
“I wish you the best of luck on the mission, everybody!” R-33 said to our heroes.
And with that, the four made their way back down the road once more. They walked a few moments down the road for the second time and made their way to the first four-way intersection. Remco motioned for everybody to make a right turn, and they all turned right. They followed the road for a few minutes before coming to a second four-way intersection. Again, they made a right turn and continued on their way, where they soon found themselves at a third four-way intersection. They took a right turn once more. But before they continued any further, Derek stopped the group.
“We’re doing the exact same thing as last time!” he screamed into the daylight. “He’s messing with us all over again! It’s exactly the same as last time!”
“You’re wrong, Derek,” Remco replied. “All we did last time was take left turns.”
“And all we’re doing this time around is taking right turns,” Vera interjected. “I’m going to have to agree with Derek, regardless of how much he needs to calm down.”
“Sorry,” sighed Derek. “I’ll try to stay calm.”
“Thank you,” Cleo added. “It’s about time.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” mumbled Derek.
“Hey, we still don’t know what the next direction will be!” Remco pointed out.
“I bet I know what it’s going to be,” retorted Derek.
“Let’s just continue on. I’m sure R-33 doesn’t have anything planned this time around.” Remco suggested, reassuringly.
“You’re always right,” said Derek, sarcastically. “Bring us to our transportation, oh great leader!’
Remco rolled his eyes and the girls giggled softly before the four of them made their way down the road. It took a few moments, but, like Derek had figured, they came across the same fourth four-way intersection they had come across the last time, only on the opposite side. And, as Derek had also predicted to himself during their conversation earlier, they took a fourth right turn, meeting R-33 back outside of headquarters. Remco was getting rather irritated by now, as were Vera and Cleo.
“What the heck is your problem, R-33?” Remco asked in a powerful, intimidating voice. “You’re leading us in circles!”
“Squares,” R-33 corrected Remco. “You traveled in a big square. You took four right turns at four four-way intersections, so…”
“Would you shut up?” Remco asked in a threatening tone. “I don’t care what shape you’re making us walk in, I want to know why you’re doing it!”
“I mean, you’ve been making ninety-degree turns every single time,” R-33 continued, completely ignoring Remco’s enraged comments and questions. “Not to mention that you traveled the same distance on each road. When the sides are all equivalent in length and all the angles are also equivalent, then you clearly have a square and not a circle…”
“Shut up!” commanded Remco. “Just shut up!”
“I mean, it’s all simple geometry. Circles simply do not have ninety-degree angles. Not even a triangle has all ninety-degree angles, though it can have one ninety-degree angle. The only logical choices are a square and a rectangle, and it cannot possibly be a rectangle because it does not have two different equivalent parallel sides of different measurements. And sure, some people say that squares and rectangles are exactly the same thing, but they aren’t. Sometimes I just want to grab those people and shove them into a classroom so they can learn about this stuff. I don’t really know why it bothers me this much, it just does…”
“Give us the real directions or we will go in there and break your computers!” Remco screamed out, unintentionally attracting the attention of a group of middle-aged businesspeople dressed in fine-cut Italian suits and business-casual dresses that they most likely got from finecutitaliansuitsandbusinesscasualdresses.com. (Disclaimer: NOT a real website!)
“Okay,” R-33 said while gesturing with his hands for Remco to calm down before holding out a third note card. “Here are the directions. Just don’t hurt my computers.”
“Thank you,” Remco said to R-33 in a much calmer tone as he took the card. “Let’s go, everyone!”
“Hey Remco,” Cleo interjected. “Perhaps you should look at the directions before we go this time?”
“That’s a great idea!” Vera praised Cleo.
“Why didn’t any of us think of that before?” Derek rhetorically asked aloud.
“You’re a genius, Cleo!” Remco called out as he went to hug her.
Cleo became entangled in a giant Remco hug. “Okay, that’s enough, buddy!”
“Sorry,” Remco apologized as he let go of Cleo. “I got a little excited there.” He looked at the note card that he had taken and read through carefully. “Hey, it says to go straight at the first four-way intersection, and then leads us right back here! What kind of games are you trying to play with us?”
“I was simply waiting for you to read through my directions,” R-33 honestly replied. “If you can’t even bother to find out if the directions you’re given are good or not, how do you expect to save electronic music from being destroyed?”
“Well I thought I would be able to trust you,” Remco replied while the others nodded in agreement.
“Just like you trusted Charlie?”
The four heroes lowered their heads and looked at the ground in complete silence, remembering the pain they had felt when they realized that Charlie had betrayed them.
“Trust is a very fragile concept, everyone,” R-33 began to lecture. “Anybody can betray your trust in a split second. You need to be prepared for anything, and I do mean anything! I’m not telling you to become paranoid about whether your teammates will betray you as Charlie did. I can see the pain that he has caused in all of you, and that shows where your loyalties lie. I’m confident that the four of you can trust one another, and I believe that you believe that as well. And that, my friends, is your greatest weapon – a weapon that Charlie cannot match. This is why you shall be victorious. Now go and save our electronic dance music!” He handed the real directions to Remco and headed back inside.
“That was a beautiful speech,” Derek said, breaking the silence that had enveloped them.
“Yes, it was!” Cleo added. “I feel so motivated!”
“That’s always been his forte,” said Vera. “He may have learned to use those computers well, but he used to be a motivational speaker before he joined up here.”
“Yep, good old R-33,” Remco added. “We may not know his true name, but he’s the one person you can always turn to.”
“Wait, you don’t know his real name?” Derek asked Vera and Remco. “I thought the both of you have been working with him for a long time.”
“We have,” Vera answered. “But he’s always addressed himself as R-33.”
“Sometimes I wonder if that really is his birth name,” Remco added.
“That’s ridiculous!” replied Cleo. “Who in their right mind would name their child that?”
“Don’t call his name ridiculous, Cleo,” Derek interrupted. “I would give my child a much stranger name.”
“Just out of curiosity,” said Remco. “But what would you name your child?”
“Well first off,” Derek began. “I would have to change my last name to make this work.”
“Okay,” replied Vera. “So what would the child’s name be?”
“If it was a boy, I would name him Slobodan The Game von Hooverstreudeldingermeyersonburgenplotzenheimer.” Derek proudly answered.
“And do I dare ask what you would name your child if it was a girl?” Vera hesitantly asked.
“I don’t honestly know,” Derek answered truthfully. “I’d probably name her Nadia.”
“You wouldn’t change your last name if you ended up with a girl?” Cleo asked.
“Of course not,” Derek quickly replied. “Why would I give her a weird name?”
“Why would you give your son a weird name?” Remco asked.
“Because I’ve only found a male name that would work with that last name so far,” Derek answered in a defensive tone.
“How did you even come up with that insane last name?” Vera asked Derek.
“Well, it’s a really long story,” said Derek.
“Well let’s here it!” exclaimed Cleo.
“Okay, it all started back in high school. I had to…”
“What are you people waiting for?” R-33 yelled at them from inside the building. “Get going or I’ll find four other heroes to do the job for you! I hear some characters from Harry Potter are looking for work!”
And with that, Remco lead the team while, at long last following the correct directions without hearing Derek’s lame story. And by Derek’s lame story, I mean the story that the character was about to tell within this story, not the entire piece itself. Wait, did I just hint that the author is aware that he is indeed writing this whole mess? Neglect everything in this paragraph except for the first sentence, which was the only sentence that had anything to offer to the storyline.
They walked through town for a while until they came across the pier that played host to the villains in the past two Trance Podium stories. But instead of entering the warehouse like they had in the past, they walked up toward the water itself. There they found four boats to take them to
“Alright, we get our own boats!” cheered Derek.
“But why not just get one boat for all of us to board?” Cleo asked.
“It would be too obvious,” answered Vera. “We would be seen much too easily.”
“That’s right,” agreed Remco. “Now let’s get into the boats!”
And with that, our heroes got into their boats. Cleo went for the boat on the far right, while Vera went for the one right next to Cleo’s. Derek started to go for a random boat, but Remco shoved him out of the way and took the boat, which was next to Vera’s boat. Derek shrugged the rude gesture off and took the remaining boat on the far left. But as they entered, it was Derek who first voiced a shocking discovery.
“They’re pedal boats!” Derek called out to the others.
“No they aren’t!” Remco called out back. “They’re ducky boats!”
“No, they’re Banana Boats!” Cleo called out back to the both of them.
“They aren’t Banana Boats, Cleo!” Vera called out to Cleo. “That would violate international copyright laws! Both Derek and Remco are correct.”
“Alright,” Derek cheered. “I’m actually right about something!”
“Don’t let it go to your head, Derek!” yelled Vera.
“Too late,” Derek laughed.
“So we’re going to have to pedal all the way to
“That’s right,” answered Vera. “Let’s get going!”
“Hey!” Remco yelled. “I’m the leader here!”
“Sometimes I wonder,” Derek mumbled.
“What was that?” Remco asked Derek.
“Um,” Derek stuttered. “I didn’t say anything at all, Remco!”
“Alright,” Remco called out to everyone. “Let’s get going!”
“I just said that!” said Vera, under her breath.
And with that, the four began to pedal their boats across the water. The fronts of the boats consisted of a large duck’s head and bill with a window the middle to allow the operator to see what’s ahead of them, while the back had large tail feathers, and the side doors were shaped like wings. The boat allowed for no view of what was happening behind it, and after a few hours of pedaling, Derek realized this. So he maneuvered his boat behind Remco’s as Remco took a couple of minutes to relax. Derek climbed on top of his own boat and then tactfully and gracefully propelled himself onto Remco’s boat. Remco felt the boat shake, but didn’t think twice about it after telling himself that it was the current of the water that shook the boat. Remco then began to pedal behind Cleo and Vera, who had both slightly passed him while he was resting, but found that it was much harder to pedal than before he had stopped. He began to ponder as to why this was – he thought: the current must be going against me, there could be a strong gust of wind pushing against the boat, I could have just gotten out of the rhythm I had before because of my break. Not once did he even consider that Derek had stowed away on top of his ducky boat. They continued for a couple of hours longer before Remco decided to check up on the others.
“How is everyone doing?” He asked. “Cleo?”
“I’m tired, but I’m fine,” Cleo replied.
“How are you holding out, Vera?” Remco asked.
“About the same as Cleo,” replied Vera.
“And what about you, Derek?” Remco asked.
Derek raised his head to the blue, partially cloudy sky and shouted, “Eagle!”
“That was a rather lively response,” laughed Remco. “Are you keeping up with me alright?”
“More than you can imagine!” Derek cried out in hysteric laughter.
Another hour or so passed before the three boats finally arrived on the shore of land. Then, all of a sudden, a cell phone rang inside of Vera’s right pants pocket. She pulled out the mysterious phone and flipped it open. She then pushed a button with a green phone three different times, followed by ten more buttons that nobody else could determine what they were, and then the green phone button five more times before finally bringing it up to her ear.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey, Vera,” R-33 responded. “I see you found the phone I slipped in your pocket before you all left.”
“Well I obviously did,” Vera chuckled. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have answered your call!”
“Right,” R-33 hesitantly snickered. “Anyway, I’m calling because I saw you have all just landed on the
“Hold on, let me put you on speaker phone,” said Vera, who proceeded to push seventeen buttons all over the cell phone before hitting a strange-looking button at the very bottom of the phone that had the picture of squiggly lines. “Okay, I’ve put you on speaker phone. Please repeat what you just said so everyone else can hear you.”
“I’m calling because I saw you have all just landed on the
“How would you know that?” asked Derek.
“With our state-of-the-art spy satellite technology from
“And where in the budget did this satellite technology come in?” Remco interrogated R-33.
“Well, I mean…” R-33 stammered. “We obtained it with…secondary means of attaining it.”
“So you stole it?” Cleo asked with a shocked tone.
“Of course not,” R-33 defensively responded. “We just, um…borrowed them!”
“Whatever,” said Remco. “Where do we go now?”
“I’ve already arranged some transportation for you,” R-33 answered. “Well, I’ll let you go for now. I’ll call you when you near Charlie’s hideout. Oh, before I go, I have something you should know, Remco.”
“What is it?” Remco asked.
“Ooh! Are you going to tell him that you’re his father, like from Star Wars?” Derek interrupted.
“Of course not, you blubbering idiot!” R-33 snapped back with a rather irritated tone in his voice. “Remco, it’s about the trip over there. Do you remember how pedaling your boat became much more difficult after you stopped for your short break?”
“Yes,” Remco replied. “What about it?”
“Uh-oh,” Derek said softly as he slowly started to tiptoe away from Remco.
“The reason it became so difficult after that was because Derek jumped on top of your duck and stayed on top of it for the remainder of the way there.” R-33 explained.
“Are you serious?” Remco asked in very slight disbelief.
“If you don’t believe me, just look at the shore. How many boats do you see there?” R-33 asked.
Remco turned around to look at the boats and counted them off. “Three,” he answered. “Okay, thanks for all the info, R-33. We’ll get Charlie as soon as that transportation of yours gets here. Good-bye!”
“Wait,” R-33 shouted. “There’s something you really need to…”
“I’m sorry,” Remco interjected with a heavy dose of sarcasm in his voice. “We’re losing you! I hope we don’t end up disconnecting…” Remco closed the phone and handed it back to Vera before looking at Derek. “Get back here, you little twerp!”
Derek sprinted down the beach as fast as he could, but found that it was much harder running in sand than on solid ground or paved surfaces, so he tried to get off the sandy beach. However, Remco was right behind him, and unfortunately for Derek, had spent a lot of time on the beach dancing and moving around, which gave him a great advantage. Remco tackled Derek down to the ground just a few steps from solid ground and pinned him to where he couldn’t move whatsoever.
“You made me suffer through all of those hours pedaling while you just sat back and enjoyed yourself!” Remco growled as Derek squirmed about in his confines, trying to escape. “You made me work hard!”
“So you finally worked hard for once?” Derek asked.
“At least I know what it’s like!” Remco snapped back, causing Cleo to laugh.
“What’s so funny, Cleo?” Derek asked.
“It’s funny because it’s true!” Cleo burst out in uncontrollable laughter.
“Okay, I have two things to say, Remco,” Derek stated calmly. “First off, you’re right. You know more about hard work than I do. And second, um…Lucie is taking her first steps right behind you!”
“Is she really?” Remco asked with a great level of excitement in his voice. He let go of Derek and turned his entire body around. Derek took advantage of this brief moment of freedom to start running away. Remco turned back around, only to see Derek escaping. “Hey, Lucie wasn’t walking! She wasn’t even there!” He gave chase to Derek once more.
“That was pathetic,” Vera grumbled as she placed her face into her left palm.
Derek got onto solid ground and began to run even faster than before down the road. Remco on the other hand, who spent most of his time on the beaches, found that he wasn’t as used to running on the road and could not keep up with Derek. Derek looked back at Remco and stuck his tongue out to taunt him. At this moment, a taxi had stopped near everyone and had honked its horn. This caught the attention of everyone except Derek, who proceeded to run into the front of the taxi and rocketed along the top of it, falling to the ground right behind it.
“That was graceful,” Vera roared out in laughter.
“He’s been doing things like this for years,” Cleo added, her face reddened from hilarity.
“Well I think that counts as my revenge,” Remco laughed hysterically. “And I think Derek just found our ride.”
Derek got up from the ground and followed the others inside the taxicab. Derek got into the front seat while the others took the backseats – Cleo on the left, Vera on the right, and Remco in-between the two in the middle seat. They looked at Derek as he told the driver where to go, and noticed that there wasn’t a single scratch or bruise from his accident on his body. The cab drove down the road dealing with surprisingly little traffic.
“Thanks for paying for us, Derek!” Cleo called out as she and the others scurried out of the taxi.
“Great,” Derek sighed as he turned to the driver. “Did R-33 pay you?”
“Who’s R-33?” asked the driver.
“He’s the one who arranged for you to drive us here.” Derek responded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the driver stated.
“What? But…but this makes no sense!” Derek began to babble.
“That will be $142.00,” said the driver.
“Come again?”
“Your cab fare is $142.00,” the driver repeated.
“Are you insane?” Derek yelled. “I’m not paying that kind of money for a cab ride!”
“Then I’m going to have to bring you over to the police station,” the driver stated with a serious expression on his face.
“Okay, just let me stand up so I can get my wallet out from my pants’ pocket,” Derek replied.
Derek opened the door and stood up. He moved his right hand into his right pocket, but then suddenly turned around and began to rush away toward the park.
“Hey!” the driver yelled as he saw Derek running away from the owed payment. He got out of the cab and began to chase Derek.
Derek ran past the others and then yelled back to them, “Move it! We’re in trouble!”
Vera, Remco, and Cleo looked back and saw the enraged taxicab driver coming toward them. They immediately followed Derek in a mad panic and soon caught up to him. The four, now in a close group once more, ran toward a strange, rundown building. The building’s structure was made of rotten wood, but had a swinging door that looked brand new. They looked back and saw that the cab driver was quickly gaining on them, so they burst through the door all at once. As they ran through the door, they immediately fell down into a giant hole where the floor was supposed to be. The cab driver stopped at the door and looked down at the giant hole. Wide-eyed, he slowly backed away from the building and made his way back to his cab, knowing he would never get his payment from this stop.
Vera, Remco, Cleo, and Derek gradually picked up speed as they continued their descent down the dark abyss of the hole. They fell and fell for several minutes before they hit a slight angle on one of the side walls. They all slid down the sloped wall, only to notice that it was made of steel. The slide, however, caused the four to gain even more momentum and they gained speed even more quickly than before. After a couple of minutes of sliding down the smooth steel surface, it changed to a rougher surface that caused them all to slow down. The new, rough surface felt a lot like sandpaper. Then, after a couple more minutes of slowing down, they fell off of the slide and landed onto a stone-tile floor.
Cleo was the first to rise up to her feet, followed by Vera, then Remco, and then finally Derek. They brushed themselves off and looked at one another.
“Is everyone alright?” Vera asked.
“I’m alright,” Remco replied.
“Same here,” said Cleo.
“Ugh,” Derek groaned.
“Are you alright, Derek?” asked Vera.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Derek replied.
“Oh, you’re fine!” Remco called out.
“I’m going to have to agree with Remco,” added Cleo.
Derek then ran to a small, closed off corner and bent over while holding his hands against his stomach. He then released the contents of his stomach to where nobody could see, and then wiped his mouth clean with his shirt. He walked back to where the others were standing and staring at him. Derek then grabbed the bottom of his shirt and began to lift it up.
“Don’t take your clothes off, Derek!” Cleo shrieked out. “Nobody wants to see that!”
“Relax,” Derek said as he pulled off his shirt, only to reveal that he was wearing another shirt underneath. “I’m not going to take off any articles of clothing unless I have a second layer underneath.”
“That’s a relief,” Cleo chuckled awkwardly.
“Okay, let’s get going,” said Remco. “Derek, was there a passageway where you just were?”
“No,” Derek replied. “Just that corner I went to. And I don’t think any of you want to go near there.”
“Indeed we don’t,” added Vera. “So if that way is a dead end, then we need to go the opposite direction to get out of here!”
“Or we just need to climb back up,” Cleo interjected.
“And how do you propose we do that?” Derek asked. “It’s not like anyone besides me packed plungers.” Everyone then looked at Derek with a puzzled look. “Oh, come on! You never know when you’ll need to climb up smooth surfaces…or when a toilet will need to be unclogged!”
“Disturbing facts aside,” Remco interrupted. “Vera is right; we need to go down that passageway to get out of here.”
“Lead on, Remco,” said Vera.
“Why do I have to do it?” Remco asked.
“Because you’re always gloating about how you’re our leader,” answered Derek.
“Alright, follow me,” Remco groaned as he began to walk down the passageway. “And Derek, shut up!”
“Oh yeah, like I never saw that one coming,” Derek mumbled quietly to himself.
The group walked down the passageway, feeling the walls to make sure they didn’t run into anything in the darkness. But regardless of how careful they were in their trek forward, they could not avoid walking into one another, with the exception of Remco, who was still in front of everyone else. Cleo was behind Remco, followed by Vera who was followed by Derek. They moved along the walls in the shroud of mystery and darkness for several minutes before they saw a small amount of illumination ahead. The four ran toward the light and fount torches lining the walls.
“Finally, we have some light to follow!” Cleo called out in excitement.
“Didn’t someone once say to not go toward the light?” Derek asked rhetorically.
“Let’s go on,” Remco told everyone.
And with that, everyone made their way down the hallway once more. A few minutes passed before they stopped in front of a large, steel door. Derek walked in front of the others and put his hand onto the handle of the door, and as he was about to open it, Cleo jumped him and brought him to the ground.
“Are you crazy?” Cleo asked Derek.
“Am I crazy?” Derek repeated Cleo. “Are you crazy? You just jumped me!”
“Of course I did,” said Cleo. “You don’t know what’s behind that door!”
“I would guess that there’s a room behind it,” Derek sarcastically replied.
“Shut up, Derek,” Cleo groaned.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Derek asked, softly laughing.
“Stop fighting,” Vera told the two. “Derek, you’re right; there’s probably a room behind this door. But you can’t just walk in there blindly. Have you forgotten who is hiding out in this park?”
“Of course not,” Derek replied. “I remember who we’re after!”
“Who, then?” asked Vera.
“Um…uh…” Derek stammered. “Okay, I forget.”
“Why is he on the team?” Remco asked.
“Because I’m the plucky comic relief guy?” replied Derek with a question.
“Because he was with me in the first installment of this trilogy?” added Cleo.
“Stop being so mean to Derek, everyone,” Vera snapped. “This isn’t helping anything! We need to work together if we want to take down Charlie!”
“Vera is right,” admitted Cleo.
“By the way, Derek,” added Vera. “Charlie is who we’re going after.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Derek chuckled awkwardly.
Derek and Cleo both got up off the ground and onto their feet. Derek moved his hand to the handle once more, but this time looked to the others for approval. They nodded for him to continue on, so Derek pulled the door open.
As the door opened, a giant room was revealed. Inside the room was a large collection of high-tech machinery and, in the center of the room, was a giant red button that read “Push Here”. Derek walked into the room, and then the others followed suit. They noticed a doorway on the right wall, where Charlie walked through into the room.
“I’ve been expecting you,” said Charlie. “It’s been a while, Vera.”
“Don’t speak to me, traitor!” yelled Vera.
“Ouch, that hurts a little,” Charlie replied in an overly-sarcastic voice. “I see the four of you have finally found my secret base.”
“No duh!” replied Derek. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t find out where it was!”
“I never liked you,” Charlie said in an irritated tone. “So just shut up.”
“Why is everyone saying that to me?” Derek asked in a loud voice.
“Are you still trying to go through with your crazy plan to destroy our music?” asked Remco.
“Of course I am,” answered Charlie. “I’m going to be rich once I pull this off!”
“You’ll never win,” said Cleo, heroically. “We’ll stop you before you ever do that!”
“That is where you’re wrong,” Charlie interjected. “My henchmen will make sure that I’m successful! Get out here, everyone!”
After Charlie beckoned for his henchmen to show themselves, four men rushed out from the doorway where Charlie had entered the room. The first to enter was Dwil, followed by Xander, Marin, and then Bruno. Dwil and Marin stood to Charlie’s left, while Xander and Bruno stood to his right. Charlie then moved to the center of the room and stood at the giant red button, and the others followed him.
“You see this giant button? All I need to do is press this button and my machinery setup here will send a special electromagnetic pulse that will render every bit of equipment used in the creation of electronic music useless!” Charlie laughed maniacally. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me!”
Charlie pressed the red button, which started up the machines that were set up around the room. Electricity flowed through circuits up to a large rod-shaped machine. The machine sparked violently, but did nothing more. Charlie’s evil laughter exploded into an uncontrollable uproar. His minions began to laugh along with him, though their laughter sounded much more fake than Charlie’s.
“Did he really do it?” Cleo asked in fear.
“He actually went through with it,” Derek stated in complete shock.
“Our music,” Remco stated in a somber voice. “It’s all gone.”
“You’ll never get away with this, Charlie!” yelled Vera. “I’ll make you pay for this!”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Charlie said, still laughing maniacally. “Marin, release the trap!”
Marin pulled a remote control out from his pocket and placed it into his left hand. He pressed the button in the middle of the remote, which caused a giant cage to fall from above the heroes. They were all trapped and had no way to escape.
“Great work, Marin!” Charlie stated. “I’ll reward you greatly for your great work. All of you will be rewarded greatly for your loyalty and dedication!”
The henchmen began to cheer loudly in excitement. Meanwhile, the now caged heroes sat in the cage. Only Derek, however, was standing and pulling desperately against the cage’s bars, but his efforts were futile. Charlie then walked up to the cage and began to taunt his new prisoners.
“It’s a shame, really,” said Charlie. “I expected you to put up a bit more of a fight.”
“Shut up!” Vera yelled to him. “You disgust me!”
“You disgust all of us!” Cleo added.
“We all trusted you!” said Remco.
“And all you did was use us so you could make money!” finished Derek.
“You just don’t get it, do you?” Charlie asked them. “You need money to get what you want. I’m not after just money; I’m looking at world domination! And with this machine, I’ll get all the money I need to do just that!”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Derek groaned.
“It’s just the way the world works, Derek,” Charlie replied. “Get used to it.”
“No, I’m really going to be sick again!” Derek called out. He ran over to Charlie and released the contents of his stomach all over Charlie’s shoes.
“You’re sick!” Charlie shouted out.
“That’s what I just said,” Derek groaned as he laid down on the ground, holding his stomach.
“Master, help us!” Xander called out to Charlie.
“We need your assistance now!” Dwil yelled.
Charlie turned around to see a mysterious figure taking down his henchmen with very little difficulty. The figure soon took down Bruno and Marin with a single blow. Charlie stood, dumbfounded at the sight of his most elite warriors being taken down without being able to put up a fight.
“Who…who are you?” Charlie asked, fear consuming his voice and body.
“I’m your worst nightmare,” the mystery fighter replied.
“Hey, so long as you’re not an amateur stockbroker, you’re no nightmare of mine.” Charlie scoffed.
“Did I happen to mention that I was fired on my first day as a stockbroker?”
“How did you lose your job?”
“I gave an important client some stupid financial advice.”
“No! That’s my worst nightmare!” Charlie cried out.
“Enough talking,” the mysterious figure said. “It’s time for me to end this once and for all.”
The mystery fighter pulled out a long length of rope. Charlie moved his hands swiftly into his pockets to grab his secret weapons. But before he was able to pull his hands out of his pants, the mysterious being tied him up tightly and left him completely immobile.
“How did this happen?” Charlie cried out in confusion and frustration.
The mystery person moved over to the cage, grabbed a hold of one of the lower bars with both hands, and lifted upward. After straining for a couple of minutes, the cage moved, allowing an escape for everyone inside. Vera was the first to roll out from underneath the cage, followed by Cleo, than Derek, and then finally, Remco. They all stood up, brushed themselves off, and then hugged the mystery man.
“There’s no need to thank me,” the mysterious figure said to everyone.
“What’s your name?” asked Derek.
“You can just call me
“I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that isn’t your real name?” asked Remco.
“What gave it away, Einstein?”
“Hey,” Derek interrupted. “If anyone is going to be insulted here, it’s going to be me!”
“That’s for sure!” laughed Cleo.
“Well,
“There’s only one way,” he replied. “Turn around and look at the giant blue button on the opposing wall.”
The entire group turns around to look at the designated area. There, they sighted a giant blue button on the wall that said “The Button You Must Push to Reverse the Damage that Charlie’s Giant Red Button Caused”.
“How did we not see that before?” asked Derek.
Vera waked up to the button and pushed it. All of a sudden, the rod-shaped structure ceased sparking. Cleo cut all of the electrical cords, and Remco kicked all the machines until they were all dented. Derek, on the other hand, had begun to take a nap.
“Is he always like that?”
“Not really,” answered Vera. “I think he’s getting a stomach virus or something, though. He’s been getting sick to his stomach quite a bit today.”
“We should let him sleep, then,” Cleo interjected.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” added Remco.
“So what’s going to happen to all of them?” Vera asked, pointing to Charlie and his henchmen.
“The police is outside, ready to take them to prison,”
After they had saved the world, our heroes parted ways once more. Vera ended up graduating from her university at the top of her class and got a job as a translator. Remco got promoted to Charlie’s old position, and spent more time with Lucie both at home and at work. Cleo became a self-made billionaire with her own line of wire cutters. R-33 and Randy decided to stay where they were, in front of their computers; the two did learn how to get along better, however. Charlie and his henchmen were put on trial and were found guilty on charges of attempted world domination. They were all sentenced to life sentences in prison without any chance of an early release – their location is confidential.