Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Eww!” Hanna flew up into the air to avoid the rapidly growing levels of peanut butter. The wall had melted enough from the top that she was able to fly over it, however, the door on the other side was still closed. She went to the door and smacked it a few times, but it did not open. The levels of peanut butter continued to rise. Frowning, Hanna looked up at the ceiling. Drawing her sword, she whacked one of the dispensers, slicing it off the ceiling. With moments to spare, Hanna shoved her way through the open panel the dispenser was once attached to. She ended up climbing up into the next floor up through the hole. Once safe, Hanna looked back down at the room full of once-yummy peanut butter. “Whew, that was close...” 

“I’ll say,” EDJ’s voice chimed in from a drone just over her shoulder. 

“EEK!” Hanna jumped and swung her sword at the drone, which the drone avoided. 

“That would have been a lame way to go,” EDJ’s voice continued. “I don’t know that I could bear to watch you be defeated so pitifully… again… by such a mediocre trap. It’s bad enough having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Could you imagine being smothered to death by it? That would have been so disappointing!” The drone hummed and chirped as it flew around in the air, watching her. Hanna frowned at it. “What, would you rather have drowned?” EDJ asked after seeing her expression on the screen. 

“No way,” Hanna answered, sheathing her sword again as she stood up. “Then I wouldn’t be able to challenge, not to mention defeat, you.” She shot the drone a look. 

“Rather optimistic,” EDJ retorted, drone hovering up and down as it watched her. “You haven’t been much of a challenge thus far, but you do give me good ideas on how to improve my traps.” The drone flew closer to her face. “You’re very amusing.” 

Hanna swatted at the drone as she looked around, finding the small machine rather annoying. “Where am I?” she asked. 

“Bwahahahaha! This room is one of the deadliest tra-... wait…” The little drone turned in a circle, sounds of clicking and zooming as it panned. “Hmm...” EDJ pulled up the model of his castle again and zoomed in. “Ah, never mind, that was the next room. This one’s… empty…” EDJ answered. “Lucky you.” 

“I don’t believe you,” Hanna said instantly, raising an eyebrow at the drone. “Sounds like another trick to make me drop my guard.” She glanced over the room again. It does appear empty though, Hanna thought. Several doors on the other side of the room caught her attention.

“I wish it were, dear,” EDJ answered, drone turning back to Hanna. “At least that would make me feel a little bit better about you constantly breaking out of my traps.”

“Build better traps,” Hanna quipped apathetically as she started to make her way to the doors.

EDJ rolled his eyes as he answered. “Sorry for not expecting you to wall glitch your way through my castle. I didn’t anticipate out-of-the-box thinking from you.” He snickered a little as he watched the screens of the empty room. Each door had a picture on the wall next to it. Clownfish, dolphins, stingray, sharks. Hanna pushed open the door closest to her without bothering with the pictures. She was just grateful for an exit. “Hold on, you’re not going in there, are you?” EDJ’s voice stopped Hanna as she was halfway through the open door. She turned around to look at the drone with narrow eyes. 

“Maybe… what of it?” Hanna asked. 

The drone zoomed in on the picture of sharks on the wall before following Hanna through the door and flying ahead of her. “Oh, nothing,” the robot chirped. “Proceed.” Hanna frowned at the drone as she stepped into the room. “You know, you could stand to be a little nicer to me,” EDJ said as the drone turned to watch her again. “It’s not like I haven’t been helping you along this whole time.”

“Helping is a bit of a stretch,” Hanna muttered, glancing at the drone before taking in the new environment. The room was dark, but had a deep blue hue to it and smelled of saltwater. “If you’re hoping to gain sympathy points for using a cute drone to communicate instead of talking to me face to face, it won’t work,” Hanna continued as she walked up to a glass wall.

The drone clicked and whirled as it followed beside her. “That’s the first time anyone’s referred to a piece of functional machinery as cute,” EDJ’s voice echoed in the room. “But I’ll keep it in mind for future builds.” 

Hanna pressed her face to the glass, trying to see what was on the other side. Dark shapes drifted in and out of view. Light from below shimmered off a swarm of silvery objects swirling together in the distance. Hanna squinted and pressed her face closer. Out of nowhere, a brownish-gray mass appeared in front of Hanna as a large shark slammed against the glass. Hanna gasped and jumped back in surprise. Thankfully, the glass held up without sign of impact. Hanna watched the shark swim away, following the side of the glass. Are you bloodthirsty or just dumb? Hanna thought, narrowing her eyes at the oblivious shark. Two more sharks swam in and out of view, dark copper stripes across their backs. Shark-infested waters. Why am I even surprised at this point? 

EDJ’s chuckle reverberated through the room from the flying robot. “Hahaha, afraid of the fishies, are we?” 

Hanna shot the drone a glare as she turned and went back to the door, intending to pick a more friendly option. The door, of course, was locked and would not let her through. Gotta hand it to him for keeping the place’s security updated. Hanna let out a frustrated sigh and turned back to the glass wall. Looking up, Hanna could see that the wall did not quite reach the ceiling, but it looked pretty close. A ladder in the furthest corner of the room caught Hanna’s attention. She walked along the length of the glass, watching various swarms of aquatic life drift by, in addition to the massive sharks. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Hanna asked apathetically. 

“Of course!” The drone chirped as EDJ answered. “Welcome to my aquarium! Well, the employee access portion of it, anyway.” EDJ smiled diabolically. “Now you’re part of the exhibit. I always enjoy adding to my collection.” 

Hanna frowned again. “You’re so weird. Who keeps an aquarium in their castle on Everest?!” She paused in step, realizing she asked the obvious.

“I do,” EDJ quipped. 

“Yes, I can see that.” Hanna rubbed her face in her hands before continuing to make her way to the ladder. Once Hanna reached the ladder, she could see it led up to the open top of the enclosement. “Why do you keep so many pets anyway?” Hanna asked, placing a hand on the railing in front of her. 

“I prefer their company.” 

Hanna stopped and turned to look at the drone. Whether it was the words or the tone, Hanna wasn’t sure, but something in his response reminded her of Lui. Hanna shook her head and focused on the ladder in front of her. The sooner I can escape these traps, the sooner I can make EDJ pay for what he did to Lui. I’m gonna stop him. I have to. “This is for you, Lui…” Hanna softly whispered. She took a breath and started to climb.