//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Jace needs Help 
// Story: Feud Fight (#5) 
// by LightningStar626 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 7: Jace needs Help.

~After many minutes of driving, the boys came to the campsite. Jace laid back on his seat and sat quite still. He looked out the window and got a terrible shock as soon as he realised they had arrived. He leaned over to the cupboard Fluttershy was confined in and put his lips right to the door.~

"Fluttershy!" He whispered. "Are you awake? We've reached our destination. Wake up!"

~Fluttershy was awake now, very much awake. She creeked the cupboard door open and looked up at Jace, still trembling.~

"A-are we? Oh…"

Jace slipped down beside her. "Don't be frightened. I'll look after you. As long as the boys don't know you're here, you'll be alright."

"But what about you? What is going to happen?" whispered Fluttershy, glad that the rattling of the van drowned her voice.

"I'll be fine too. I know they won't harm me. They're-"

~The engine suddenly jolted and the whole vehicle came to a stop. Fluttershy slid quickly down to the floor in fear, holding back a whimper too.~

"Ok, we're stopping. Keep down, Fluttershy, don't make a sound!" Jace ordered.

Luda turned the engine off and peered out of the open window. "Alright. Parked up nicely." He said proudly. "Now, let's get out."

~Topas unbuckled his seatbelt and crawled to the back to get Jace. Jace yelped and quickly shut the cupboard door completely to hide Fluttershy. She sat up quietly and cautiously. She could not see or hear anything of the three boys. The darkness had swallowed her completely. It didn't take long for her claustrophobia to kick in and for her to breathe heavily.~

"Come on, Jacey!" Topas encouraged. "Let's go meet the boys!"

~Topas pulled Jace out of the van and dragged him by the hand to where the boys were gathered. Luda followed them from behind after he locked the van doors. Believing that the coast was clear, Fluttershy immediately rushed out of the cupboard finally. Her heavy breathing increased and she flopped down on the car seats for a minute.~

"Deep breaths, deep breaths…" She said to herself. "Oh dear, I wish Lightning Star, or Rainbow Dash, or anybody else was with me. I should feel much better then. No...I can't always rely on them. I have to do something by myself! I have to help Jace! It's the least I can do."

~Fluttershy took one more inhale and exhale before putting on a brave, stern face. She stomped over to the door and pulled the handle, only to realise it wouldn't move. The doors were locked. She looked around to see if there was another way out, until she felt a breeze come from above. The window of the roof was wide open. Fluttershy's stern face disappeared and she began to feel the fear returning inside her. She tilted her head down before making the wildest decision she would ever make. She climbed onto the seats, then jumped to the roof window. Her hands clawed onto the edge and she pulled herself up and out. She crawled onto the roof, but was stuck again.~

"Um...now what?" She whimpered.

~The shy girl looked down from the van to the ground, only to scream, shut her eyes and turn her head away from the edge. She opened one eye again, and this time looked to her right. She opened the second eye and gasped to see a small tree, close to the van. She could reach out to the tree and climb down it to the floor. She nodded to herself and did just that. Once her feet hit the ground, she sighed in relief.~

"That was utterly terrifying and I never want to do that again!" Fluttershy breathed.

"Hey. Did you hear something?"

~Stato comes around from behind another nearby caravan, Rogar then does soon after and begins to follow. Fluttershy exclaimed in surprise and hops quietly into bush as the two boys walked by.~

"I saw something yellow and pink. And Frad gets stingy when he sees the colour pink. Did you see it too, Rogar?"

"Tamias…" Rogar muttered, staring off in the light of the trees.

Stato sighed. "Okay. You're too stupid to talk to. Forget it. Let's just go."

~Not paying attention anymore, Stato shut his eyes in shame and headed off somewhere, dragging Rogar with him. That gave Fluttershy the opportunity to come out from the bush and go somewhere else. While she was skulking around, Jace, Topas and Luda were approaching a neat little gathering of tents all laid out in the shape of a circle. Chip and Rohas peek out from inside one of the tents and were thunderstruck when they saw who they think they saw.~

"Hey, Rohas. Isn't that old Jace over there?" asked Chip.

"It sure looks like it. Let's go say hi." He replied with a smile.

~As the boys exited their tents, Topas smiled at Jace. He released his hand before bending down at Jace's feet. Jace was confused on what Topas was doing, until he suddenly felt something clip on his ankle again. He looked down and saw a weird, blinking bracelet around his right foot. He lifted his leg up to get a better look before attempting to shake it off.~

"Topas, what is this and why do I have to wear it?" Jace asked shyly.

"It's a lockdown bracelet. It's so you don't run away again. If you exit the campsite, it will trigger an alarm and alert us so we can come and find you."

Jace, for once, glared at his 'friend'. "Why are you treating me like I'm a pet?"

"Because You kind of are." Topas ruffled Jace's hair. "You're my little buddy, and I don't want to lose you again. You understand, right?"

"Yes, of course I do Topas, but-"

"Then what are ya complaining about?" Topas shrugged while putting on a smile. "It's for the best, alright. Now, why don't you go and catch up with your other old friends? Luda and I gotta head on over to the council to...talk."

~Topas ruffled his hair one more time before walking to the council building with Luda. Jace watched them leave and frowned. He shoved his hands in his pockets too and grumbled. He has never grumbled before, in fact, he is hardly ever mad. He looked down at a small stone and almost kicked it in frustration but went against it at the last second. Chip came up behind the angry boy nervously and called out to him.~

"Hey, um, Jace."

"Hm?" Jace turned around. "Oh, hey Chip. Rohas."

Rohas smiled. "Mr. Donar. Why, we never thought we'd see your face again." He said in a light mood.

"Um, yeah. Same here." Jace turned back around and stared off.

Chip raised a brow. "...Is something wrong?" He asked, noticing the sudden change.

"No? Sorry, I need to breathe in the fresh air."

"Oh. Okay." Rohas nodded while exchanging a weird look at Chip.

~Jace looked beyond the trees and suddenly noticed Fluttershy peeking at him from behind one. He motioned her to lay low by waving his hand down. She whirled back behind it as he motioned her to just as Stato and Rogar came up to him, Chip and Rohas.~

"Hey! Jace!" Stato greeted.

"Stato! Rogar!" Jace waved back. "Nice to...see you!"

~Stato lifted his arm up high and Jace went to high five it, but Rogar stepped in and high fived Stato instead. Jace giggled before all the boys stepped closer and gathered around to pat Jace on the head and or shoulder. Frad and Rube watched from a distance on a rock.~

Rube lifted his eyes up. "Hey Frad, Jace is-"

~Frad jumped down from the rock and straighten his hair and bowtie before approaching the group, ignoring Rube talking.~

"Here." He sighed.

"I missed you guys." Jace smiled softly.

"We missed you too!" Stato smirked. He dismantles from the pile. "But why did you leave?"

"Well, because-"

"Boys." Frad crosses his arms firmly. "Back. Away. Don't crowd him. This boy has just been through the unspeakable."

"The Unspeakable?" Jace questioned.

"Oh boy. Here we go." Stato frowned.

Frad pulled a sad face. "Poor Jace. Poor, poor Jace. Who knows what horrors you've seen…" He said dramatically.

"Horrors? Wh-What horrors?"

"Shhh...It's okay...We'll get through it together." Frad said, putting his arm around Jace.

"It wasn't that bad."

"Oh no, it's not bad. It's worse. I feel your pain. Because I have too been through it."

"Really?" Rogar slurped.

"Right. We gotta make sure Jace is okay. And make sure he's still the same old Jace we knew and loved." Chip sighed sadly.

Jace was conflicted. "But, I am the same…"

"We can only hope." Frad interrupted. "We will have to see how much damage those...Insidious teenage girls have done to him!"

"'Insidious?' No, these 'Insidious' girls are my friends." Jace shrugged and smiled.

~All the boys went silent. Then, at the same time, they all gasped dramatically. Frad's eyes, face, and personality all changed at the same time and he turned hysterical and mental.~

"FRIENDS?!"

Frad began pacing with outrage. "YOUR FRIENDS?! YOUR FRIENDS?! It's worse than I could've imagined! YOUR FRIENDS?! It is worse than I could have imagined! He's gone...Soft!"

"SOFT?!" The boys gasped again.

"What does that mean?" Rube asked.

"What should we do?" Chip gasped.

"Yeah, Frad, you heard the lad, what should we do?" Rohas asked.

"Can he be cured?" Stato inquired.

Frad nodded. "Oh yes. But, It won't be pretty. Prepare...The tent!"

"THE TENT?!" The boys gasped once more.

"Not the tent!" Rude shuddered.

"Oh yes, The tent."

~Frad smirked at Jace and showed his pure white teeth. Fluttershy noticed the smile from her hiding spot easily and didn't like the look of it. She began to fear for Jace's safety and knew she had to think of something. Meanwhile, up above, Lightning, Stitch and Spike were watching everything from the highest tree in the area. They narrowed their eyes at the targets before exchanging each other looks and flying away from the campsite to find the girls.~