Chapter Text
Meena was furiously writing something on a map of the Newtopian Sewers. It had been two days since the burning of Ridgeton, and the team did everything they could to work with King Andrias to make sure that those who survived the fire got temporary housing and aid in every way possible. Even with this however, there was still that one feeling that bothered Meena. One that followed her like a shadow and kept her from being calm and sleeping peacefully to the point where she started to develop eyebags.
After finishing up whatever she was writing, Meena decided to take a walk around the castle to take her mind off things.
'Has the hallway always been this long?' thought Meena as she walked aimlessly around the massive hallways of the castle. They were almost like a maze with how many of them there were. Eventually though, she did manage to reach the castle library.
"Maybe reading will help me distract myself" said Meena as she pulled the first book she saw from a bookshelf. The book was titled The Eighth Child, by an author who called himself "The Druid". Meena read the book, all the while making comments about it.
"Sigh…Of course the protagonist's a chosen one, because that's totally not an overdone trope" she said in sarcasm and a bit of frustration while flipping through the pages.
Later, she said "A throuple with him at the center? Really? This just screams wish-fulfilment." she said later in a bit of disgust.
After getting a bit farther into the book, she came to the section where the protagonist's backstory is revealed. "His parents died in a fire? How original…" but then, screams immediately started to echo through her head. Screams that sounded exactly like the ones she heard at Ridgeton.
Meena closed the book and tried to cover her ears in an attempt to try and drown out the noise, but unsurprisingly, it failed.
"No…Stop!" yelled Meena as if that would somehow quieten down the screams, but that too did nothing. Then, she started to pace around the library in hopes, but the screams still rang through her mind as loud as ever. Finally, a voice saying "Meena? Why are you yelling? What're you doing here this early?" came from across the room. This also stopped the screaming noises in Meena's head.
The voice belonged to Dhiran. Ever since his house burned down, Meena practically begged King Andrias to allow him to stay at the castle.
"Don't you hear the screams too?" asked Meena.
"Screams? What screams? It's quiet enough to hear a pin drop here" replied Dhiran.
"But I thought I heard…"
Walking a bit closer to her, he said "You can't stop thinking about the incident either. I get it."
Meena nodded and said "Don't worry though. I'm gonna make sure I bring those cultists down. I actually made a whole plan and everything to discuss with the team tomorrow."
"I'm sure you will," said Dhiran, before pointing to Meena's eyebags and saying "But being sleep-deprived won't do you any favors." Then, looking down at the book Meena was reading, he said "So If I were you, I'd stop reading terrible books and try to go get some sleep."
Before Meena could try to, however, the morning arrived, so true to her word, Meena ate breakfast and was the first person to arrive at the Night Guard headquarters. When the rest of the team arrived shortly after, Meena immediately got to business.
"Good morning everyone," said Meena.
"Good morning" they all replied before Javi noticed Meena's eyebags and said "Whoa Meena, did you get any sleep last night?"
"Nope. Instead, I spent it coming up with this" said Meena, pulling out the map and spreading it out on the table.
The team studied the map as Meena said "Based on what Sage told me, the cult meets somewhere in the sewers."
"But the sewers are huge. Where should we start looking?" asked Javi.
"I was just getting to that," replied Meena. "How many people do you think are a part of the cult?"
"Even if they're all skilled magic users, it's gonna be hard to hide a big cult for as long as they did. Judging by how they can carry out arsons while still staying hidden and covert most of the time, I'd say anywhere in-between fifty to one-hundred." said Marcy.
"Yep" replied Meena. "So wherever the cultists meet, it could be reasonably assumed that it's a large enough space to fit all of them, plus, carry out whatever rituals they do."
The team listened as Meena continued explaining "From this, we can rule out most places in the sewers because they're either not big enough to fit all the cultists or they're unsuitable to carry out things like ritual sacrifice.
Meena then finally said "This leaves us with these ten locations," pointing to ten spots on the map that she'd circled with a red pen.
"So which of these is the one we're looking for?"
"That's what we have to go into the sewers to figure out. As Sage said, the Order doesn't have a fixed meeting point, so we have to investigate every one of them" replied Meena.
The team thought over this plan before Femur said "Well, it makes sense, and it's the only plan we've came up with, so I say we go for it." Javi and Kettle agreed with him.
"Perfect. Let's go tell Headmaster Albert" said Marcy.
The team then went to Headmaster Albert's office and told them their plan, to which he replied "Well, I do believe that you're onto something, so I'll have disinfectant, galoshes, lanterns, some rope, as well as some extra-powerful masks ready by tonight."
"Excellent" said Marcy, but before the team left, Headmaster Albert also said to Meena "Oh don't leave just yet. I have something to discuss with you here."
A little nervous, Meena asked him "Is it about the incident in Ridgeton?"
The Headmaster nodded and said "Not just that. From what I've heard, you basically abandoned the rest of the team to try and complete the mission by yourself. Is that true?"
"Technically, I didn't abandon them."
The Headmaster sighed and said "Here at the Night Guard, we believe that teamwork alone leads to success. If you can't work with a team, then you're not going to last long here. Moreover, your little stunt has caused the destruction of an entire town as well as countless lives."
Meena listened as The Headmaster continued "Normally, this would be considered enough reason to expel someone from the Night Guard, but because King Andrias begged me not to, and because I have full confidence that you and your team can bring down the cult, I'm only letting you off with a warning this time.
Leaning in a bit closer to Meena, he said "But do something like this again and I will kick you out, even if Newt herself tells me otherwise."
Gulping a bit, Meena just quietly said "Okay sir."
Walking over to the meeting room, Meena thought 'It's all because of The Core. If it didn't tell me to go off on my own, none of this would've happened. '
Without missing a beat, the Core suddenly said "WHY BLAME US FOR YOUR OWN SHORTCOMINGS?"
"Shortcomings? You're the one who told me to go alone."
"BUT YOU WERE STILL THE ONE WHO MADE THE DECISION AT THE END. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO GAVE THE BERRY TO THAT NEWT."
"But I didn't know that he'd try to burn down the entire town."
"THAT STILL DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACTS."
"But-"
"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO RUINED THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF AMPHIBIANS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY TO DENY IT."
That night, the team arrived at the headquarters, where Headmaster Albert gave them all the things he'd promised to in the morning, but before the team left, he said "Also, watch out for The Sewer Beast."
"What's "The Sewer Beast?" " asked Meena.
"It's a four legged creature that's said to dwell in the sewers of Newtopia." said Javi with a bit of fear in his voice. "It feasts on the skin of newts and makes growling noises as it moves about."
"Right…And how come no one's captured it?" asked Meena.
"It's far too elusive. Moreover, it causes anyone who gets close to it to get horrifying hallucinations" said Javi, with even more fear in his voice.
"C'mon Javi, being scared of a little urban legend?" mocked Kettle.
"It's not a myth!" yelled Javi. "I was friends with someone who happened to encounter the creature. They're still in therapy from that."
"Are you talking about Big Larry? That guy's a proven liar." responded Kettle.
The two of them started to bicker yet again before Femur, once again in annoyance, was forced to break the two apart.
After Javi's warning, the team then walked over to the nearest sewer grate and after opening it, they stepped into the sewers. The sewers were the most confusing sewers that anyone had ever seen. If they didn't have the map with them, the team would've gotten lost multiple times over. If it wasn't for the extra-powerful masks, the rancid smell would have overwhelmed them. The lanterns they'd been given could just barely pierce through darkness in the sewers. The sound of water flowing somewhere made the entire place echo with an ominous sound.
"I'm gonna take a really long shower after this is done," said Meena.
The team tried to avoid the murky water as much as they could, while following the map to the nearest place that Meena had circled.
After a while of walking, Marcy looked at the map and said "Okay, so according to the map, it should be right…here" but where there should've been a cult ready to sacrifice someone, there was an empty tunnel.
"There's nothing here," said Femur.
"That means we've still got nine more locations to check. Let's just cross this one out and keep going" said Meena
"Are you sure that you're even correct when it comes to these being the places where the Order meets? For all we know, they could've used magic to make all of the members fit in smaller spaces" said Javi.
"Of course I am, I triple-checked my whole plan. There's no way it could've gone wrong." She then paused and said "Although you make a valid point." Immediately after, she frantically studied the map over again while saying "Unless maybe I missed something, Did I account for any magic spells? Maybe they decided to change locations. Maybe Sage just lied to me. Ah, how could I have fallen for that? Why am I such an idiot?."
While she did that, the rest of the team investigated the area, before Kettle found the all too familiar Olman incantation on the wall, after which she said "No. You were right, look."
Meena started at the incantation on the wall and a bit triumphantly said "Ha. I was right. I was right!"
"Don't yell" said Javi a bit anxiously "We don't want to attract The Sewer Beast."
"Ah yes. Some creature that we're not sure even exists is just dying to eat whoever " said Kettle sarcastically. Just as she said this though, the noise of something growling came from the ceiling.
"See? What did I tell you?" said Javi.
"Not The Sewer Beast" said Femur, moving his lantern closer to the ceiling "Just some batsquitos."
"Oh. Oh" said Javi, first in relief, then in shock.
"Batsquitos as in the creatures that can suck all the blood in your body in under a minute?" asked Meena.
"Yep. They can attack at any moment, so be ready." said Marcy, not taking her eyes off those freaks of nature.
The batsquitos swooped down in order to try and bite the team, but the team was already expecting this, so they quickly made work of those creatures and continued on their path to the next place that was circled on the map. Finding nothing besides an abandoned altar table and that incantation on a nearby wall there, they were about to continue to the next one when Femur heard the noise of a creature moving from somewhere nearby.
"More batsquitos?" said Kettle.
"No. It doesn't sound like one." said Femur. He moved his lantern in the direction of the source of the noise but found nothing there.
"Huh? There was clearly something here. I just heard it."
"That's a sign of The Sewer Beast. It can create illusions." said Javi.
"Of course it can, what's next? It can teleport as well? In fact, while you're at it, why not just give it freaking hypnosis powers as well?" said Kettle under her breath, rolling her eyes.
"Probably just some other creature. Maybe a leech?" said Marcy.
"There's leeches down here too?" said Meena.
It turned out that Marcy was right, as a small leech immediately appeared out of a hole in the wall and tried to jump toward Femur. Femur was caught off guard at first, but he managed to act fast and kill the leech with his sword before it could suck out his blood.
"That was a bit too close," he remarked.
The team continued on, visiting location after location and crossing it off the map when it turned out to be devoid of any cult members. After doing so for about 3 more locations, they heard the sound of what sounded like a large creature growling again.
"More batsquitos?" asked Meena.
"No, batsquito growls are always a lot higher pitched than this." replied Marcy.
"What about a leech?" asked Kettle.
"Leeches don't growl," said Femur.
Then, the sound of claws dragging across the floor started to echo throughout the sewers, and the growling noises got louder and louder. The team tried to use their lanterns to catch a glimpse of whatever was making that noise, but like last time, they found nothing.
"The creature's out of the lantern's range, hold on, I'll brew a light potion. It'll make everything in this entire room visible" said Marcy, before pulling out a beaker and various plants out of her bag and starting to mix them together.
While she did so, Javi and Kettle were arguing for the 100th time.
"Javi, please stop. You're acting like a child."
"There's only one possible explanation for those claw noises."
"Then again, it might just be a lizard or an alligator."
Meena and Femur tried to get the two of them to stop, but they still kept on arguing.
"Lizards and alligators don't growl like that, so what else could it be?"
"Whatever it is, I'm sure that there is a perfectly logical and rational explanation."
"And that logical explanation is that it's The Sewer Beast."
"Javi. Open your eyes, there is no such thing as a Sewer Beast. It's all just an urban legend made up by bored guys to scare kids. "
Suddenly, Marcy said "Alright done." and smashed the beaker of potion onto the ground. Immediately after, the sewers were illuminated in a bright yellow light, causing everything from a few small snakes in the water to a medium sized four-legged creature with nails that looked like claws to become visible. The creature surprisingly also wore a black mask that hid its face and gray colored clothes that had become damp due to the sewer water.
Looking at that strange new creature, Kettle said "Huh…Is that The Sewer Beast?"
Triumphantly, Javi said "Ha! I knew it. I knew it existed! And you were trying to make me think I was insane."
The creature screamed and tried to crawl away, but just as the team was about to capture it, the creature pulled out a pouch filled with some kind of orange colored powder and started to throw the powder into the air and into the eyes of everyone besides Femur and Marcy, who managed to look away at the last second.
Trying to rub the power out of her eyes, Meena said "Powder, really? What's that supposed to do?", but she would get her answer when she began to immediately feel disoriented and dizzy. Her mind started to feel fuzzy, and she was starting to see the corpses of newts of various ages all over the sewer floor. The screams started to echo throughout the sewers, they sounded loud enough to make her think that she was still in Ridgeton.
Then, however, the corpses started to get up and open their eyes, revealing orange colored pupils that glowed white. The corpses also had horrifying appearances, as they had partially or entirely burnt skin and clothes. Then, the corpses then started to walk over to Meena in the way zombies in those terrible scary movies Anne likes to watch walked, their arms outstretched and everything.
"No, stay back!" she called out, but that didn't do anything. She tried to slash at the corpses with her vel, but it just passed through their bodies as though they were ghosts. Undeterred, the corpses just walked over to Meena, all the while screaming or chanting "Murderer."
Just when it seemed like the corpses would overpower her, she felt the sensation of some kind of liquid being poured into her eyes. A few seconds later, the corpses disappeared and her mind started to feel sharp again. Back to her senses, Meena saw that Femur was pouring some kind of potion into her eyes, while Marcy tended to Javi and Femur. In the corner, The Sewer Beast was subdued and tied up with the rope Headmaster Albert gave them. Near the beast, was a smashed bottle of purple colored potion.
"Wh-w-what happened?" asked Meena.
"Kazhi powder. Causes hyper-realistic hallucinations to anyone who gets it in their eyes. Luckily, Marcy and I were able to brew an antidote" replied Femur.
Looking over to the unconscious creature, Meena said "How were you able to capture it?"
"I happened to have a spare sleep potion on me, so I just smashed a bottle on the ground and the fumes knocked it out" said Marcy.
Just as Javi and Kettle came back to their senses as well, the creature woke up and started to say in a raspy voice "What are you doing to Hamby?"
The team was caught by surprise and screamed for a second before Javi said "Wait, The Sewer Beast can talk?"
"Beast? Hamby's no beast."
"What about all the stories then? That you feast on the skin of newts?"
Hamby actually looked a bit offended and said "Lies. All lies. Hamby only lives off bugs." To prove his point, he grabbed a small, six-legged insect that was crawling on the wall and ate it, while saying "People spread false rumors about Hamby. Hamby is no monster."
Gagging a bit at the sight, Kettle said "Well, guess we've solved the mystery of The Sewer Beast."
Javi nodded and said "I guess you were right. Hard to believe I was ever scared of this thing."
"Well…you were right about a creature existing in the sewers."
Javi and Kettle started to laugh about the whole discovery, but stopped when Meena said to Hamby "Are you a member of The Order of The Olm?"
Looking even more offended, Hamby said "Hamby would never hurt anyone, or burn down libraries. Knowledge is the root and foundation of all civilizations. Hamby is no library-burning psycho, Hamby is just a thief."
"Where'd you get that powder then?"
"Hamby stole it from a member of that horrid cult."
"I take it you've seen them a lot?" said Femur.
"Yes. I see them gather in large rooms and do their rituals. Sometimes, I even hear them have conversations. Like the one just three days ago."
"Did you hear what they were talking about?"
"Something about where the next meeting place will be."
Practically jumping with joy at this revelation, Meena showed him the map and said "Tell us then. Where are they all meeting this time?"
"Hamby will…But for a price."
Sighing, Meena said "What do you need?"
"What Hamby wants the most of all…is…a friend."
"A friend? Are you sure you don't want anything else?"
"Nope. Give Hamby a friend and I'll tell you everything."
"Wonderful, just wonderful. And that too, just when we cracked the case." said Meena sarcastically. Turning to the group, she said "How on Amphibia are we supposed to find him a friend right now here in the freaking sewers?"
The group thought for a minute before Marcy's face lit up with an idea. "I've got it" she said before reaching into her bag and pulling out a Tama-Buddy of all things while saying "I'll just give him my Tama-Buddy. I almost forgot I still had this thing."
"Are you sure he'll accept it though?" asked Meena.
"Eh, worth a try" said Marcy before going up to Hamby and saying "This is a Tama-Buddy"
"What is a…Tama…Buddy?" asked Hamby.
"It's like a virtual friend you can look after. You can take care of it and spend time with it…And it'll stay loyal to you and never leave your side, no matter what" said Marcy. Meena could've sworn she saw Marcy side-eye her when saying that last part.
Hamby stared at the Tama-Buddy in curiosity. At last, to Meena and the rest of the team's relief, he smiled and said "This will do."
Asking Meena to show him the map again, he pointed to the 9th place Meena had circled and said "This is the one."
"How do we know that we can trust you though?" asked Meena.
"Hamby hates The Order just as much as you do. They tried to kill Hamby once."
"They what? Why?" asked Femur.
"Caught Hamby spying on them they did, so they tried to sacrifice Hamby. Luckily, Hamby managed to escape. They've been looking for Hamby ever since, but Hamby always manages to hide."
"Oh. Makes sense." said Femur. After they let Hamby crawl away into another part of the sewer, the group once again started on their journey to where Hamby said the Order gathered this time.
'Just you wait Sage. I'm gonna take every last one of you guys and avenge Dhiran and everyone else you hurt. I promise.' thought Meena.