Snails, despite what his name might lead others to believe, could move like lightning if provided with the proper motivation. His grandfather used to always say to him, “You never know how fast you can really run until you get scared out of your mind.” Snails wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’d definitely say that the fear that currently coursed through his slender body qualified as “being scared out of one’s mind.”
For the second time that night, he found himself running down the dark corridors of the factory. Although this time he wasn’t alone. Just behind him was Snips, and trailing not too far in the back was Dumbbell, who he figured probably wasn’t too thrilled about getting poked in the eyes earlier.
The two friends had been doing a remarkable job of staying ahead, but the potency of their fear induced adrenaline rush was beginning to thin out. Meanwhile, their pursuer wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Even after climbing stairway after stairway, and running down hallway after hallway, the big guy just wouldn’t give up.
Snails had almost cleared what felt like his thousandth hallway, wheezing and out of breath, when he heard Snips’s voice call out, “Snails, duck inside the next room on the left!”
As soon as Snails heard the command, he took notice of a single open door coming up from just ahead. Too tired to ask questions, Snails did as instructed. He slipped inside and shut the door right behind Snips with a quick slam.
Snails gave the room a quick scan, expecting to find an emergency exit or somewhere to hide. To his horror, there was no exit except for the way that they had just came in, and from what he could see, the room was mostly empty space except for a broken computer, a small desk, and a metal folding chair.
“Uh, Snips?” Snails called out in a rising panic. “Why are we here? Shouldn’t we be running away?”
“If we keep running he’ll catch us, and if we split up and get away, he might go back and hurt Sunset again, or worse. So instead, we’re going to fight back, right here.” Snips explained while hurrying towards the computer and fiddling with the various plugs that were keeping it locked in place.
“Fight him?! Did you see what he did to Sunset back in the gym?! We’re gonna die!” The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps could be heard from outside, signifying Dumbbell's inevitable approach.
“Alright, Snails,” Snips said while holding the unplugged monitor in both hands, “I need you to hold the door shut for as long as you can! And when I say duck, get down!”
“But … but … couldn’t we just push that desk in front of -”
“C’mon, hurry up!” Snips shouted.
Snails probably could have listed at least a dozen different reasons for why him being the one to block the door was a bad idea. Nevertheless, Snips sounded like he knew what he was doing, which was a first.
Snails leaned with his back pressed against the door, and hoped that maybe, by some miracle, Dumbbell hadn’t seen him or Snips take refuge inside. Those hopes were dashed by the sounds of the doorknob twisting back and forth and the door creaking open slightly, only to be forced shut again by Snails.
“Game over,” a voice said from the other side of the door. Snails looked over at Snips who was standing in the center of the room, the computer monitor clutched tightly in his right hand. Snails noticed that Snips had taken a stance similar to what someone would take when preparing to throw a baseball. Before he could ask what his friend was planning to do, the door flew open with enough force to knock Snails onto the floor.
Dumbbell hadn’t even taken a complete step into the room when, all of a sudden, something big whizzed through the air, followed by a loud crashing sound. Snips had thrown the monitor, with all of his might, at the entrance where he had anticipated Dumbbell would be.
It was a pretty well thought out plan, even if he had gotten the idea from watching Sunset during the ambush. The only problem was that while Sunset had managed to hit her target, Snips didn't even come close.
For Dumbbell, being greeted by the sight of a relatively large piece of equipment flying through the air had initially come as a surprise. After the shock had worn off, his eyes traveled from Snails who looked back up at him from down on the floor, to Snips whose expression was a mixture of fear, and utter disappointment. He then studied the failed projectile that had collided uselessly against a nearby wall. It didn’t take him very long to piece together what had just happened.
“Wait a minute,” Dumbbell said slowly. “How did you miss from that close up?”
Snips, too stunned to speak, stood perfectly still, completely frozen in place. Snails, who had just gotten back up, was asking himself the same question.
There was a brief moment of silence and then Dumbbell began smiling. “You know what? I’m not even gonna complain, because I would have been pissed had that actually hit me. And as a bonus, you two don’t have anywhere to run. Oh well, sucks to be you!” He lunged forward, intent on breaking Snails in half with one punch.
Snails, acting purely on instinct, ducked out of the way at the last second. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he then made a fist of his own and slammed it as hard as he could into a very sensitive region of the body for men, located just below Dumbbell’s waist.
Dumbbell’s eyes grew to the size of dinner-plates as he dropped to his knees, coughing while tears welled up in his eyes. “Oh, you’re gonna get it now, you little -”
“Snails, catch!” Snips shouted while tossing the metal folding chair across the room.
“What am I supposed to do with this?!” Snails asked after catching the chair mid-flight.
“What do you think you're supposed to do?! Hit him!”
A light-bulb finally went off in the back of his mind and he spun around towards Dumbbell, who had almost finished pulling himself back together. He didn't miss a beat. Snails swung with all of the strength that his arms could muster and brought the chair down, hard, against the back of Dumbbell’s skull.
Snails froze for a moment in equal parts fear and astonishment at what he had just done as he watched the bully fall to the ground. His first time getting into a fight, and it was against one of the toughest guys at CHS. Even more overwhelming was the fact that he, the school's biggest wimp, was actually winning. The trance was broken when Dumbbell began mumbling curses while attempting to once again rise back onto his feet. Snails refused to give him that chance.
Over and over again the chair came down, followed by a pained groan from the bully on the receiving end. Even after Dumbbell had gone quiet, Snails continued to slam the chair down. For over a minute and a half, the only noise that filled the air was the sound of metal colliding against flesh.
The silence didn’t come until after Snails had officially run out of steam. He dropped the chair and stood over Dumbbell, panting while hunched over. The only movement that he saw from Dumbbell was the rising and falling of his torso, signaling that he was still alive.
“Hey, Snips?” Snails called out between heavy gasps for air. “I think we can leave now.”
Snips was still a bit uncertain. “Are you sure that he’s down?” He watched as his friend gave a series of experimental pokes to Dumbbell’s side using his foot. The giant didn’t budge an inch.
“Yep, I got him,” Snails replied.
Deciding that it would be best to double check for himself, Snips crept towards the downed titan with extreme caution. After it became clear that Dumbbell wouldn’t be getting back up, Snips placed his hands on his sides and laughed. “Ha! That’ll teach ya to mess with us! Who’s the big tough guy now, muscle head?! Snips, one, brainless thug, zero!”
Snails watched for a few moments longer as his friend pranced around the room, and then he interrupted with a word of warning. “Snips? Shouldn't we leave before he wakes back up? I don’t think he’s going to be in a good mood later on …”
Snips paused in the middle of a victory dance, and took one final look at Dumbbell. He kicked the bully in the side and blew a raspberry. “Alright, I’m done. Let’s get going.” Snails nodded in agreement and turned towards the room’s exit. “No, wait, hold on for a second,” Snips called out again.
Snips was still standing over Dumbbell, his face scrunched up in deep thought. “He has his driver’s license, right, Snails?”
“Yep.”
“And we can’t just walk back home with Sunset when it’s freezing outside, right?”
Snails rubbed the bottom of his chin for a few seconds before answering. “I guess not.”
Snips then dropped to his knees and began digging his hands inside Dumbbell’s pockets.
“Um, what are you doing Snips?”
After doing some more feeling around Snips was finally able to find what he was looking for. A pair of keys dangled in his hands from a chain. “Snails," he said with a devious smile, "you don't think he'll mind if we borrow his car for a little bit, do you?”