Izzy and Olly were at their suite at the Grand Oak Resort. Because of their tardiness, there hadn't been enough time to perform their new dance routine. Most of the guests were shut up in their rooms, so they couldn't perform for them. Of course, Olly just had to reply with...
"Hi Bored, I'm Olly!"
"Seriously, though, what do you want to do?"
"Maybe explore the abandoned wing some more?"
Like most of the other misfits, Izzy didn't exactly like anything to do with the fire that killed Kalagan's parents, but she didn't have anything else to do, so she agreed.
The twosome headed to the abandoned wing and dodged the skeleton trap to enter the Ring's secret hideout. They found several random things: a top hat (just a regular one, not Ridley's), door with a combination lock, an old book called The Warrior, The Merchant, The Poet, and The Architect, but nothing else. The expedition proving uneventful, the duo returned to their hotel room.
After dinner, Olly was randomly shuffling the cards while Izzy read a book. Suddenly, he said:
"Hey, Izzy?"
Izzy knew it was the setup phrase for all of their jokes, so she played along.
"Yes, Olly?"
"How many suits does a 52-card deck have?"
Izzy knew the answer, but she cooperated.
"I dunno. How many?"
"I don't know, either. Let's ask the cards!"
Izzy didn't know where this joke was going, so she waited for the punch line.
Olly gestured toward the coffee table, where he had laid out the cards. The decorations on the backs of the cards formed a numeral:
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"Four suits!" Olly said triumphantly.
"Hmmm," said Izzy, "Let's show it to the Misfits! They'll figure it out."
Two days after, Olly and Izzy found themselves walking the familiar trail into town, and Izzy found herself hearing the familiar words from Olly:
"Can we please stop to rest?"
Luckily, they were only two minutes late.
"Late again!" Ridley snapped. "You wouldn't recognize punctuality if it bit you on the knee!"
Olly and Izzy stared down at the floor in shame but looked up when they saw the word punctuality spelled out on their knees and realized that Ridley was only joking.
"Okay!" said Ridley, assuming authority as usual. "Announcements?"
The Goldens were quicker at raising their hands this time. They told the Misfits about the four. Then, for good measure, they recounted their daring exploration of the Ring's old headquarters.
"Any others?"
The silence was deafening.
Authors Note:
Sorry if this chapter was too short. I really want to get to the next chapter.
