Clash Of The Words: A Story Unfolds

Chapter 2

As the guests are spinning round and round and round, the clowns point at Nikita to be killed. Suddenly, Mortimer uses a motorcycle and drives in. He shoots each of the clowns, then takes off his helmet. The guests get released from the merry-go-round, and they head into the arcade. Ro takes the dice. "So it looks like we're in this together, huh?" Mortimer asked. "Sure looks like it, pretty boy," Calliope replied."So we've got a key, a journal, and also the dice that the clowns had. How do we put these things together to help us figure out what to do next?" Safiya explained. Joey opens the fridge. 

"Oh, guys, I found some celery!" Joey said, pulling out a stalk of celery. Inside the carnival master's journal, there is a map of the room that they're currently standing in. Behind a corkboard, there's a secret chest. Manny puts the dice in. Roi opens the fridge, and there is a secret passage. "Woah!" The guests say as they go in. there is a big lounge. "This is much better! I love this room! This room is so magical! It's so beautiful, so big!" Joey said. Mortimer closes the fridge behind them. 

"Okay, what in here looks like it could be helpful to us in any way, shape or form?" The group finds a map. "Every time an artifact gets cleansed, more of the map is revealed. Seems like we got to get cleansing some artifacts," Matt told.

Michael spots a Society Against Evil symbol. On the back, there's a full summary of what's going on. Samantha takes the map, flips it over to the back, and lays it on the table. "We were too late. Even with all of our society's knowledge...We didn't understand the Carnival Master's dark plan. To save Everlock, we froze it in time to give us a chance to stop him, but we were no match for his wrath. Realizing all was lost, I used the last of my life magic to encase him in an amber prison. But the spell has reached its end.

At sunrise, the carnival master will be released from his prison and will consume all life in Everlock. There are eight corrupted artifacts which the carnival master draws power from. If they can be gathered and cleansed of evil, the carnival master will be weakened and can be slain. However, the artifacts are protected, and whenever touched, their evil guardian appears. The final act to cleanse each artifact will require voting on two who must undertake a horrifying challenge that only one will survive. By sunrise, if the artifacts have not been cleansed and the Carnival Master slain, everyone in town, including you, will be destroyed."

"Well, this took a bad turn." "Joey, I thought you said we're saving a town! Now we have to save ourselves?! And why's Michael here?!" Colleen yelled. "Hey, no need to shout! I didn't know we had to defeat the Carnival Master! Also, Mike's my brother! He's been through this for the longest time!" Joey remarked. "Okay, Colleen, calm down-" "Fine..." "You guys have to die in order to cleanse an artifact. Hmm, where have I seen that before?" Michael thought. 

Teala finds a letter. "The jack needs a pleasant song so he's not so angry all the time. The clowns have one you can use, but they've taken it to their disco party where they're guarding it. Proper attire is behind the yellow couch. The spring on the jack has been corrupted with evil and must be replaced. The clowns have hidden it in their giant tent. You have to rip the stuffing out to find it."

Half of them go to the disco, and the other half goes to a creepy clown tent. At the disco, Joey, JC, Nikita, Samantha, Teala and Mortimer talk about what to do in the disco. "Okay, quick. Everyone put on red noses and gloves. If these clowns fall for it, they're idiots," Joey told. Colleen, Joey, JC, Nikita, Teala, and Samantha put on the red noses and gloves. "Hey, hey, hey, wait, real quick. Just in case you need to, uh, get something from somebody, this is a strong sedative. It'll knock somebody out in a couple minutes, all right?" Mortimer explained. They nodded. Nikita takes the sedative. 

The group goes into the disco. "Hey, just a couple of clowns. No big deal. We came here to party." "Oh, hey, girl! Fabulous! He's a cute clown." "Joey, seriously?" "Sorry, sorry!"  There's clowns everywhere, dancing, roller-skating. They're being cute. They're having a fun time. Samantha notices a clown that looks weirdly familiar. "It looks like they're guarding something important," Samantha told. "She has a briefcase." "Oh, my God, the jack-in-the-box song is probably in the briefcase."

Meanwhile, Safiya, Matt, Michael, Ro, and Roi are in the tent, looking for stuffed animals. When they found them, they rip apart the stuffed animals, one by one. Then, a clown with a bat walks in. The group hides. "I just want to bash your head in!" "I'm coming to find you! Mama's coming!" Then, the clown leaves. They find 4 coins and put them in. "We need to blow this up and make Zero Man fly," Ro said. They agreed. "I can't be a hero. I can't fly. Mayday, mayday, we're going down. Please call Zero-G Man, Zero-G Man." They call ZeroZero-G Man, and the chest opens. They immediately start blowing up the balloons. So, after all the drama with the balloons popping and the noises and the helium tank being so loud, they finally get enough balloons on Zero-G Man for him to fly. Zero-G-Man flies! "Oh, go get the screw, the screw, the screw!"

They go over to the clown. "Hey, can I have a sip?" Joey asked. "Sure." "Oh, thank you so much." Joey pops in the sedative and gives it back to the clown. "Where you guys from, huh?" A clown asked. "Uh, from Clownville." "Clown-o-Rama, actually. Have you ever heard of it? It's, like, downtown. Across the river, downtown." "Let's take it upon ourselves to take her out of the party and make sure she's "okay."The group nodded and took High Tower outside, where she passed out. "There's a code." "Watch the clowns dance from high to low." They go back in. The platforms that the clowns are dancing on have polka dots on them. There's four platforms, and there's a certain number of dots on these platforms that they would have to count.
Colleen gets up on a box and starts dancing. After they find the numbers, the group runs to the briefcase. Inside the briefcase is the song. They run to the arcade. 

At the lounge, they put all the pieces back together for the little jack-in-the box, and it's revealed... "The artifact requires one more piece to be replaced...To be fully restored. A new jack. Two must be selected by vote to undertake a deadly challenge to recover it. Choose wisely. One of you will not make it out alive. For this unique trial, the two selected must choose a partner to fight for them." "Why did Joey bring us here? Is he on our side? Or is he just trying to kill us?" "You guys came here knowing exactly what you guys were getting yourselves into," Michael told.

Everyone started arguing. "There's a difference between adventure and certain death!" Matthew remarked. "What do you know about this carnival master, Michael?" "I don't want to say it. It's spoilers!" "Well, you've been with Joey the longest, tell us what happened! They talk amongst themselves, trying to get a handle on who did the most for the team, who was a weak link, who wasn't jiving with the rest of the group.

"I don't think Teala is pulling her weight. I know she's trying really hard. I love her to death. She's such a sweetie. And she's a good friend of mine, but let's kill her." "I could've done a little bit more to help, but I don't think I did anything to slow our team down." "It is now time to vote. Grab the ticket with the face of the person you would like to enter into the challenge. I will shuffle and then draw two," Calliope explained. After they cast their votes, Calliope shuffled then draw the first two ."The hippie." "What? Who voted you?" "Who voted for..." "What? "The super spy."

The room was silent. "Please select a partner to fight for you, starting with the person who was chosen first." They choose their partners and head to the big tent. In the big tent, the clown smiles. "I'm so jazzed. You decided to show up!" The clown leader said. "The first person through the four challenges wins!" They take JC and Teala and tie them up onto the stage, into one of those wonder wheels where they throw knives.

The first station is a "guess which cup the ball is in" station. "Begin." Matthew and Samantha start, and they get past the first station. The next one was eating 5 hot dogs, without any water. Matthew gets the upper hand. The second-to-last competition is catapulting a rubber chicken into a basket. Samantha gets to the chicken station. Matthew gets to the last challenge and wins. "We have a winner! And better yet, a loser!" The leader clown announces. She kills Teala, and JC is set free. Matthew gets the new jack, and cleanses the artifact. 

The clowns disappear into dust. The group runs back to the lounge. "All right, so this is our first of eight artifacts." JC places the jack on the shelf. "I also found a note with the jack. It says..."  "Not everyone in town is telling the truth." "Well, what if it's one of us?" Everyone gasps.