Antidote Bear: Chapter 4 - Descent (460 hits)
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Submitted by CaptainThorns (View user info) at 2005-05-27 13:18:00 EDT
Prologue: http://www.ubersite.com/m/61656
Chapter 1 - The Awakening: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62341
Chapter 2 - Embarkment: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62566
Chapter 3 - Revelation: http://www.ubersite.com/m/63721
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Jeanneee flew effortlessly toward the shining mansion key in the sky, with Napoleon grasping her neck tightly and praying under his breath that he wouldn't fall off. Holly and Jessica tailed behind on top of Edmund and Simeon, following them at a safe distance.
"What the hell do you mean, 'flip the limerick?'" Napoleon shouted over the howl of the wind.
"You'll see," Jeanneee replied as they approached their target destination. As the dragons began to circle the key in a wide elliptical pattern, it crackled and emanated miniature lightning bolts. "This is as far as we can go, lest we doom ourselves to eternal death from the enchantment on the key and ourselves," Jeanneee stated. "Our fate lies upon your shoulders from this point onward." After placing the teenagers safely on the rooftop, she whispered, "Godspeed, Antidote Bear," and flew away with Edmund and Simeon in retreat towards their hidden alcove on the northeastern side of the island.
"Great. Now what?" Holly asked.
"I guess we go get the key, and find the door to use it on," said Napoleon. "Let's go." He began to climb the spire of the mansion, and the girls quickly followed after him. Just as they began to draw near to the bell tower at the top of the spire, a deep voice boomed from the tower, which seemed to envelop the air around them. "HALT!" The teenagers froze in place. There was no visible indication of anyone - or anything - near them besides the key. The source of the voice was a complete mystery, but then, so was the enchantment placed upon the key and the people-turned-dragons.
"If you wish to have the key that you be near, you must solve this riddle," the voice continued. "Answer correctly, and the key is yours. Fail, and you shall die." Holly nervously bit her nails and fidgeted with her hands in response to the challenge. Jessica looked at Napoleon and quivered, "Um, are you sure you want to do this? Maybe we should go back. I'll make it worth your while, if you know what I mean."
"I know what you mean," Napoleon replied, "and I may take you up on an offer for some head later, but I know better than to stick my dick in a box that every member of the football team has had unlimited access to for the past year. It's not worth it. This quest, however, is worth something." Jessica scowled and reached out to slap him, but drew back her hand in surprise as Napoleon boldly replied to the voice, "We accept the challenge!"
"Very well then," it replied, and continued:
"The resident spirits are glad,
for they tendered the thoughts that I had,
cruelly unsexed me down,
and filled me toe to crown..."
The deep voice trailed off, waiting for an answer.
"What the FUCK does that mean?!" Holly whispered to the group. "Beats me," Jessica replied, turning to look at Napoleon, and placed her hands on her hips. "Got any bright ideas, genius in France?" Napoleon's blank expression indicated that either he had no clue, or else his brain was furiously working to solve the riddle. She hoped it was the latter. After a couple of minutes passed by, Napoleon sprang up in excitement and loudly proclaimed, "Damned I am as a maiden, mad!"
"You are correct, young one," the voice replied. "Very impressive. The key is yours." And with that, the key slowly drifted down from atop the spire to Napoleon's extended right hand, and the voice disappeared. The girls gazed at him in astonishment. "How did you KNOW that?" they asked in unison.
"Obviously, you haven't been paying attention in literature class," he replied. "The riddle was a paraphrase in limerick form of a famous quote from MacBeth: 'Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruely.' I knew that the last line of the limerick was the answer that the voice was waiting for, but it had to rhyme with the end of the first two lines phonetically. That was the tricky part. I knew there only had to be one correct answer, and it couldn't just be any off-the-cuff rhyme that I made. Then I remembered the clue from Simeon - 'flip the limerick.' That clue was referring to a line that was omitted from the Scottish play transcription of MacBeth by Shakespeare - 'Damned I am as a maiden, mad!' - which not only phonetically rhymed with the rest of the limerick, but is also a palindrome! That's what Simeon meant by 'flip' the limerick - the end of it had to be spelled the same forward and backwards, so it was the only possible correct answer."
"Damned you are as a nerd, is more accurate," Jessica stated. "Only you would know obscure omitted lines from Shakespeare. Now let's hurry up and find Trewyn so we can destroy him and go home."
"Sounds good to me," Holly agreed. "But how do we get down from the roof? The dragons left us!"
Napoleon slipped the key into the right pocket of his jeans and surveyed the area. "Well, there's no lattices or ladders by the roof. I guess there's only one option."
"What's that?" Holly asked.
"Go down the belltower," he replied as he hoisted himself into the narrow space and began climbing down the rickety wooden ladder fastened to the bricks, the sound of chirping crickets and a low moaning wind increasing as he descended further into the dark void below him.
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Submitted by MandaPanda (user info) at 2005-07-14 12:55:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-06-15 15:32:35 EDT (#)
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Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2005-06-15 11:58:55 EDT (#)
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Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2005-05-31 08:30:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
what?
i see a zero, but no minus two.
calios, try posting another day...when you're SOBER.
Submitted by Calios (user info) at 2005-05-29 06:55:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hey Thorns i'm waaaaaaay to drunk to read this
but fuck it have a +2 because of the Thorns THX
vid. you gave me a neg 2 on my last post you fucker.
yawn? fuck you. it was my writing you bitch.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2005-05-28 22:29:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Gee, I really expected more hits/reviews on this, being that it was posted early Friday afternoon. Thanks for the +2's ladies. :)
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-05-27 16:28:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Do not fear me, for I am a benevolent fire-breathing dragon.
This is a kickass series. Bravo.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-05-27 15:32:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
MADE OF AWESOME