Each passing moment meant the inevitable happens when the least expect and with this period, the inevitable might have been even sped up for Mark and his companions of this trip as they were about to crash into this gigantic metallic sphere. Mark knew better than anyone that Milana must be saved and Aria as well, but Theodore knew nothing about this and rather, he was obsessed with saving himself. Theodore wasn't your ordinary person that worshipped his idol. He always had his doubt about most things in life and when it came to his idol, Mark, he also doubted his competence. He didn't show any signs of it out for Mark to pick up on, but he sure had it at the back of his mind that even Mark makes mistakes and so he chose not to listen to everything he said, only when threatened to, which seemed to be the case at this moment in time. Not only was he threatened to do an almost impossible task, but the lives of all Wall Workers laid on the tip of his palms as Mark was ready to dish out divine retribution without fail to whoever he deems fit and in this case, it was The Wall Workers. Theodore pulled all the trick from the box to come up with an idea of how to stop this speeding cab but all his ideas were quickly countered as soon as he could think them up. A very Savage approached would be to jump off the cab unto the cables , but the cables were the reason the cabs were moving in one direction. You see, the cab wasn't moving at all. It was the cables. the cables brought the stationary cab to and fro. So he could jump into one of the cables available to him out of the entirety of cables connected to the sphere, however this move was reckless and although he might survive, there's no saying what comes next might be repercussive as Mark would hunt him down should he manage to escape this crash as well. "It's Mark. He won't be able to due easily. Damn. I'm screwed! is this the end for me? is this how my journey ends?" These thoughts exceeded Theodores' mind as he only thought of one thing; Run. He was ready to jump off and hold unto one of the cables available, however on turning back, he could see Mark staring at him with intensity unlike what he's ever seen. he was certain about it. Should he jump he's dead for sure.m however, should he not the same applies. His mind went rampant with thoughts unforeseen by even him as the mere emotion that is fear drove his intellect to the limit and beyond as his mind surpassed his thinking capability. Soon enough, he had figured it out. He knew what must be done and how to do it.
"Mark!" Theodore exclaimed.
"Yes? what is it?" A sitting Mark replied.
"I think I might have figured it out."
"You mean the brakes. I never once doubted your intellectual capacity!" Mark said his eyes filled with joy. This happiness was short-lived as Theodore broke the news.
"Well, not the brakes. There's no way I can find the brakes in this infinite number of buttons."
"I see." Mark said, as his face reverted to original. Cold and pale.
"What is it then? What do you have figured out?"
"Well, I think there should be a way out of this mess we are in right now but I need your help with something. Really important. I'm sorry but you'd have to save us once again."
"State your plan." Mark said.
"Well," Theodore continued. "I am not sure this will work but I figured it's the only way that seems possible right now. All we need is perfect timing."
"Go on."
"Do you recall your strange encounter with that creature that left you in such a bad shape?"
"Yes, I do. What about it?" Mark asked
"Well, it seems this creature might come in handy right now. Well, not the creature per se rather its' body. It remains atop this roof yes?"
Theodore asked, as he pointed his long fingers to the ceiling of the cab from the drivers' seat.
"I'm not sure. I highly doubt there was A body up there. I mean, I couldn't see anything. I was literally having a spar with the dark. I highly doubt the body of the dark would remain atop the roof."
"Well," Theodore said "There's no better way. than to go to the roof and find out no?"
On saying this, Marks' face changed to a state that was annoyed by this request but he knew it was compulsory and so he opened the cab door and climbed to the roof. While he was climbing up, he could feel the injury ache from so much pain. The pain was there but he couldn't do anything about it. he had to reach the ceiling, quick. He climbed up there and to his surprise on getting there, he could make out what he saw. It wasn't visible, but he knew this time something laid on the roof. Almost as if it wore some sort of camouflage. He touched this dead body and began to feel its' every part. from its' humanoid muscles all the way to its' head neck. He noticed its' head wasn't present. "Yes, I cut it clean off then." Mark thought, as he kept feeling its' body. It felt like Scales on a tilapia, but it wasn't wet or cold. It was different. After close examination, Mark peeked his head down in an attempt to reach the drivers' seat. As he exclaimed "It's still here!". The unknowing Theodore who sat on the drivers' seat screamed out in fear. "Oh My!" Mark, still leaning towards the window of the drivers' seat, let out a maniacal laughter, as he said "Well, you do need a good scare every now and then." Mark murmured to himself.
"I'm getting too old for this you know." Theodore said, as he placed his hands on his chest in an attempt to regulate his heartbeat.
"It's there yes?"
"Yes, it's exactly what I said!" Mark said still screaming. The noise coming from the fast traveling cab made sound fluctuate before reaching the ears of Theodore, making it sound strange.
"I can't hear you! Say something audible!" Theodore screamed.
"I said! The body remains on the roof! it's still there!" Mark said with an even louder tone this time however, Theodore still couldn't make out the sounds his ears picked up at the moment. It was at this moment Mark realized their entire dialogue all along was from recuperation of old Theodore. Who would blame him? No one could understand what Mark was implying with all the noise coming in together with Marks' voice. luckily for Mark, he was hearing the speech Theodore gave. He was hearing it however the same couldn't be said for Theodore. On noticing this, Mark used his hands, banged the window so hard the first time, nothing happened. The second time, he banged even harder. This time, the entire cab shook from the impact.
"Stop! Mark Stop!" Theodore said, with concern of the cab falling off. He was worried that with the strength Mark is applying on the cab, they may be taken down by being thrown off rather than clashing into the sphere.
On the third bang, Mark broke the thick glass window and crawled into the drivers' seat where Theodore sat who eventually shifted for the incoming Mark. On entering the drivers' seat, Mark let go of his arms and safely landed on the seat. It was too big that it made Mark look like a baby. It was, after all, the seat designed only for giants.
"What were you saying?" Theodore asked as if he hadn't been shaken by what Mark had just did. He knew one thing though. If you were close friends with Mark, never let him know you had just been vulnerable. He would taunt you with it for however long he can until there's nothing left to make of it. Theodore knew this and therefore stood his ground. But this time, he noticed Mark was no longer interested in making him feel bad about his weakness rather, he seemed to focused on the agenda at hand, and that was not dying no matter what.
"Well, I said the body remains atop the cab. It's visible now though."
"Wow. So my prediction was correct. There really was something up there. You see, this creature has been such a nuisance for the longest of times. It has been terrorizing the people of Myrrh for quite some time. No one knew what it looks like, until now. Thank The Valiant that its' dead body remains there. We will need it for an extremely important objective." Theodore said.
"Well, what is it?" Mark said inquisitively.
"Well I'm planning on doing something of some sort. It's never been done but as of now, I can't find the brakes" Theodore said, as he looked at all the buttons all covered in different colors with none of them saying anything as brakes.
"so I'm planning on using its' body as some sort of meat shield if I may."
"I see. Would this plan of yours work though?"
Mark asked.
"It should. It has to. I mean, if it doesn't, I have no idea what else we might try. Jumping off this cab isn't an option as we are suspended on air hanging around in the dark. We can't survive the fall. at least a ninety feet drop. Says a lot don't you think?" Theodore asked Mark, rhetorically.
"It sure does. let me hear all about this meat shield plan of yours. And it better work though." Mark ordered.
"You go to the roof," Theodore said, as he used his hands to illustrate pointing towards the roof of the cab. "You pick up Mr. dead weight up there, you wait till my signal and you throw him into the front of the cab. On my signal. If I may, how large is he?"
"Well, his entire body length took up the entire space on the roof. Yup, he's that huge." Mark said.
"Well, he should work just fine then as a specimen. Hopefully, you throw him as soon as I say so. There's no guarantee that this is going to work though. This is all I could think of." Theodore said, feeling so dumb
"Oh, don't worry, Theodore. You have done your part. Thank you for coming up with such a brilliant plan. it's left to me to execute this to perfection." Mark assured as he left the cab through the same opening he made on the window. Mark and Theodore had always shared a bond. it shifted from two close friends to servant and master, to brothers and also towards Idol and worshipper, even entering the zone of foes. They understood how each other worked better than anybody else and although it could never be said that this relationship of theirs is all bed of roses, it certainly wasn't also a rose of thorns either.
Theodore decided to switch to a better position instead of letting himself get squashed by the speeding cab should Mark not pull off his task on time. He followed the same path in which he came, opened the door and entered the passengers' section. He looked and saw Milana fast asleep. Aria on the other hand was awake and quiet. The look on her face was horrible. Her initially pale face became even paler after her nap. Her dark colored fingers had extended all the way to her elbows. It was obvious the Halo curse had eaten deep into her.
"Hey, Theodore." She said as she saw him come into the passenger section of the cab. Theodore looked at her but the look on his face changed from happy to hear her voice to sad because of what his eyes were feeding him at the moment.
"Aria, are you okay?"
"Yes. I am. I mean, I can talk now, can't I? How long was I out?" Aria asked.
"Well, thirty minutes give or take."
"I see. What about Milana?"
"She's, basically still the same. Nothing much happened when you were asleep."
"Nothing much you say?" She questioned.
"I heard you guys talking about the cab crashing into something. Are we going to be okay?" Aria asked, worried this time.
"Yes, we should be. not to worry little one. we'll get through this. Hopefully." He said as he sat down on the plank, tensed up and waiting.