Operation Guybrush
Lucy Kitching
Chapter 5: The Horror! The Horror!
As Guybrush begins to recover from the shock of everything that has
happened to him since he was kidnapped, Lechuck addresses Agley in a
stage
whisper. Agley, escort our prisoner to his chambers. In response to this
command, Agley grabs Guybrush under his arms and hoists him roughly to
his
feet. Guybrush sways forwards slightly, unsteady, a combined result of
being
horizontal for so long and from losing a significant amount of blood
from
the purposely inflicted wound on his left arm. As he staggers a little,
Agley grabs Guybrush by the collar with one strong hand and lifts him
right
off his feet, leaving him dangling slightly precariously in the air. By
shifting the position of his hand on Guybrushs shirt while still
maintaining a firm yet relatively gentle grasp on it, Agley forces a
confused and quite frankly terrified Guybrush to his eye level.
Guybrush
gazes, petrified, into Agleys huge, slate grey eyes that seem strangely
soulless yet hypnotic. If any emotion runs through his vast, empty eyes,
it is a slight gleam of pure malice and evil.
Guybrush frantically tries to
struggle free, squirming in Agleys powerful grip. Agleys hold doesnt
physically hurt him, although it is not exactly comfortable, but
Guybrush is suddenly stricken with fear, and instinctively feels the need to escape,
sensing things could get far worse. He attempts to trick his captor
into dropping him, suddenly shaking his body from side to side, thrashing
around madly in his grip, but this tactic doesnt work, as Guybrush simply does
not possess the strength to actually break free from his grasp. He then
eventually resorts to lashing out at Agley, kicking out with his bound
legs and punching viciously with his fists. (The flight or fight response
having automatically kicked in!) Agley sighs deeply, looking incredibly bored,
and, grabbing hold of Guybrushs shoulders, frogmarches him towards the
porcelain cage. Guybrush panics as he realises exactly where Agley is
going to deposit him, resisting Agleys hold fiercely, albeit pointlessly, as
he is dragged across the room and is (quite literally) thrown into the
cage.
He lands heavily on his knees, but springs up as soon as he recognises
what he has come into contact with, temporarily forgetting his bound ankles.
As he leaps up, he pitches forward violently, but catches himself just in
time to prevent himself colliding with the ghastly semi solid wall of
porcelain. He wraps both his arms around himself, trying desperately to avoid
touching the delicate sides of his prison. When he eventually feels relatively
calm, (the key word being relatively), he quickly tries to formulate an
escape plan. He racks his brains, considering precisely how to either destroy
or distract Lechuck and his henchmen. (Thus taking his mind off the Monkey
Island equivalent of room 101.)
As he contemplates exactly what to do,
Lechuck excitedly gathers his cronies around to discuss the tortures he
has planned for Guybrush. Lechuck himself becomes increasingly animated and
expectant as the group conspire, plotting various punishments for Guybrush
to endure. Guybrush has a sudden stroke of inspiration, and begins to
swiftly scour his pockets, occasionally getting distracted, and feeling
slightly disturbed due to his hearing the odd whispered threat and roar
of hollow, heartless laughter ring through the air. Eventually, his fingers
close blindly on the object he was searching for, and without a moments
hesitation he plucks the bottle out of his pocket, shakes it up
manically and unleashes the foaming, fizzing spray over Lechucks form. As the
liquid hits him, Lechuck gasps in shock, then, realising what the liquid
actually is, bursts into a fit of frenzied laughter. Guybrush lets out a
surprised Huh? and glances down at the bottle. Oh, no! he moans in a state of
horrified disbelief, DR Pepper!
Regaining a little of his composure, he reassures himself gently,
shrugging in a resigned tone Eh, whats the worst that could happen?
Aha- ha! Yell soon find out the worst that could happen Lechuck taunts gleefully,
as he beckons Largo, who wields the voodoo doll in one hand and a
horrific looking, rusty implement in the other. As Largo slowly advances upon
Guybrush, a fiendish grin plastered over his face, Guybrush gulps Uh-oh,
I really brought this punishment on myself
As Guybrush is being tormented by Lechuck and company, Elaine remains
under the Voodoo Ladys strict instruction. Now, says the Voodoo lady gently,
Ive promised to teach you the basics of what you need to know to rescue
your husband, and we will begin now. She pauses dramatically, allowing
Elaine a moment to prepare herself, but Elaine, an anxious expression on
her alert face, cries Please, dont patronise me, may we begin the lesson now?
The Voodoo lady sighs, a slightly stern look on her face, then Very well.
We will start with perhaps the most important element of the Art, and
this will certainly give you hope, Elaine as Elaine looks increasingly
agitated. It is essential to remember that the vast majority of situations and
spells encountered in Voodoo can be reversed. Elaines frown lifts for a moment,
and she even manages to smile a little. So there is hope then? she muses
wonderingly. Yes, but we must hurry. The reversal of spells and hexes
only works if there are no other options for rectifying the situation, and
unfortunately, once a hex has been used on a person, there is only a
limited time in which the reversal spell will act. Wait any longer than 48 hours,
and the original spell will normally be permanent. Now, the basics to
the
history of Voodoo, which you will need to study carefully, can be found
in
Wait just a minute! shrieks Elaine indignantly. I thought you were
going to teach me everything I need to know, I certainly didnt expect to
be
given a pile of books to read! The Voodoo Ladys face tenses, and her
expression becomes quite terrifyingly frosty, but she gazes at Elaine
calmly
for a moment, Elaine, the best way to get a basic grounding in the
subject
is to study literature from the history of Voodoo, and also to study the
spellbooks you might need. Here, this should be enough to teach you all
you
need to know
The Voodoo Lady approaches her cobwebbed bookshelf in the
corner of the room, and is obscured by shadow for a moment, emerging
with a
huge pile of books, so tall she is almost hidden from sight as she
staggers
under the sheer weight of them. Here, take these. She thrusts the tower
of
books at Elaine. If you need any help understanding any of the concepts,
Ill be willing to explain anything. She pauses and adds as an
afterthought
Except perhaps the history of Voodoo..
Elaine sighs slightly, rather irritated that she must be reduced to the
level of a school pupil, but settles down with the first book on the
pile,
coming to the quick conclusion that it would be better to just study the
required material as quickly as possible, rather than to complain and
prolong Guybrushs rescue. She succeeds in engrossing herself in the
colossal heap of books, but after hours of studying and managing to work
her
way through about half the pile, Elaine gradually becomes increasingly
exhausted from the effort of the extensive studying, and is suddenly
stricken with an unbearable fatigue, and knows she cannot work
productively
anymore without a break. She gently rests her head on her arms, closing
her
eyes and trying to force her body and mind to relax, having studied for
so
long, and being so concerned about Guybrush, she finds it incredibly
difficult to calm herself. Suddenly, all she can see ahead of her is
total
darkness. Relieved that she must finally be relaxed enough for sleep,
Elaine
eases naturally into a state of relaxation, shattered into shards as she
hears manic, satanic laughter echoing wildly around her, and realises,
with
a sinking, sickening lurch in the pit of her stomach, that this horrific
laughter is mingled with her husbands agonised yells. Trying desperately
to
seek Guybrush out by calling his name over and over, increasingly loudly
and
passionately, Elaine suddenly shields herself against a great wall of
flame
that bursts up from the very heart of the darkness, and, as the flames
gradually ebb away, Elaine spies something so dreadful to her that she
cannot see clearly after a few seconds, her vision blurred with tears of
anguish, crying out No NO It cant be as she spots Guybrush lying
perfectly still on the ground, completely inert and lifeless.
Elaine! ELAINE! Suddenly, Elaine is back in the Voodoo Ladys shop,
sweating and trembling all over as she is roused from her vision by the
now
very concerned Voodoo Lady. Elaine, starts the Voodoo Lady in her
rhythmic, gentle voice. Im sorry I have to tell you this, but She
pauses, quite uncomfortably, then murmurs I know what you just saw,
because
I saw it too. And Im afraid, it is something of a well, a premonition.
Elaine gasps, still recovering from the shock of her nightmarish vision,
so
not adequately prepared for such startling news. I I really was much
happier before y-you told me that.. Elaines voice shakes slightly. Im so
sorry, I can completely understand how terrifying and shocking such
visions
of the future can be, Elaine, but you must remember, you can prevent
such
occurrences. Listen, Elaine. Ive had many such visions, both of my own,
and
through other people, and over many years, Ive learnt that the best way
to
overcome these visions is ultimately to keep busy and to refuse to think
about them. Elaine takes a deep, calming breath. Ok, Ill do that. Thanks
for the help. Elaine settles back down with the books, but she cannot
concentrate properly. It is not so much the vision that keeps
distracting
her, but her deepest fears and anxieties, which all are led by pure
uncertainty, and the darkest worry that she will never see Guybrush
again.