Sapien Loop 3 - Part 5: Endgame and Chapter 67: Calm Before the Storm
Part 5: Endgame
Chapter 67: Calm Before the Storm
At the West Camp, RJ, Walter and the Downs workers had prepared a final feast before the West Tribes’ guards and the followers departed for the Downs Region. Orcilla was deeply concerned about this. She knew she could not try to force them to stay, as it would put the Downs workers and technicians in danger. She approached the tent to have a conversation with Angelo with the hope there was something she could say to him that would cause him to break from the spell he appeared to be under.
‘Excuse me,’ called out Orcilla. ‘I would like to come in for a chat.’
Chamele popped her head out of the tent. ‘Hi Orcilla,’ she said. ‘I think you should know by now that I don’t like you very much and neither do my wonderful companions.’
‘I just want to talk,’ said Orcilla.
‘I understand not getting what you want can be very depressing,’ chuckled Chamele. ‘I’m deeply moved by your predicament. If you get a large pitcher of mixed fruit juice and a tray of assorted cakes, I’ll let you in.’
‘We can sort that out,’ said Phillip and RJ, who were standing behind Orcilla. Phillip was holding two pitchers of juice, and RJ was holding a large tray with cakes on it.
‘Come in then,’ said Chamele as she pulled the flap back for them to enter.
Razor, who had shapeshifted into Flint, was sitting on a bed. Next to him was Demadrian, who was excitedly rubbing his hands together at the sight of the cakes. Angelo and Volo were still kneeling next to Julio.
‘I want to discuss your plan to attack the Downs Region,’ said Orcilla as she watched RJ hand out cakes to Razor and Demadrian.
‘Not much to discuss,’ said Chamele. ‘We are heading for a certain victory. The Empire will be finished, and your friends will live happily ever after.’
‘It’ll be a storybook ending,’ said Julio as he sat up suddenly.
‘What the hell!’ gasped Orcilla as she took two steps backwards. ‘When did you wake up?’
‘I was never asleep,’ replied Homer as he shapeshifted from Julio to himself. ‘I was playing the part. I’m taking my acting to a new level.’
‘Where’s Julio, then?’ asked Orcilla angrily.
‘I don’t know,’ said Homer as he smiled gleefully. ‘I took over from someone else.’
‘The previous guy preferred puff pastries,’ said RJ, nodding.
‘You knew about this and never thought to mention something to any of us,’ said Orcilla angrily as she stood in front of RJ.
‘It’s what we call customer-baker confidentiality,’ said RJ as he looked up at Orcilla. ‘Some of our customers are very sensitive about their diets.’
Demadrian began to laugh.
‘Somehow you think this is funny,’ said Orcilla as she looked at Demadrian.
‘He’s been gone a long time,’ said Demadrian. ‘I think he swapped with a follower while you were busy testing dickwads' DNA.’
‘How dare you keep this from me?’ said Orcilla aggressively as she turned to look at Demadrian, who was sniffing an orange sponge cake.
‘You robbed me of my vengeance,’ said Demadrian as he bit into the cake. ‘I might kindly call us even.’
‘Stop overreacting,' said Chamele. ‘He left with Cecil’s enforcers. He’s now our inside guy. He’s disabling them from the inside. I spoke to him just two days ago. Hence, why we’re going to make our move now.’
Both Angelo and Volo released Homer’s hand so that they could eat the cakes given to them by RJ.
‘I have a very bad feeling about this,’ said Orcilla as she shook her head.
‘In that case, I strongly recommend you have this chocolate chip banana muffin,’ said RJ, nodding.
‘I’m sure he’s carrying out his role in a safe and discrete manner,’ said Demadrian in a reassuring tone. ‘This way, when we invade, we can keep casualties to a minimum.’
Chamele began to giggle.
‘Do you have a different opinion on the matter?’ said Orcilla as she looked at Chamele.
‘Not at all,’ giggled Chamele. ‘I was filling my head with happy thoughts.’
‘Trust me, you’ll thank me later,’ said RJ as he placed the muffin in Orcilla’s hand.
‘Thanks, I guess,’ replied Orcilla as she turned and left the tent. RJ and Phillip followed her out.
‘There’s still one small problem,’ said Chamele as she looked at Demadrian.
‘Are you referring to the High Zombie?’ chuckled Demadrian.
Angelo and Volo turned abruptly and stared angrily at Demadrian. Homer held his arms out in front of himself and began to make strange gargling sounds.
‘No, I’m talking about your little friend with the pointy hats,’ sighed Chamele. ‘Her tricks could threaten our efforts.’
‘Don’t worry about her,’ said Demadrian. ‘I can deal with her if necessary.’
‘I see,’ sighed Chamele as she picked up a glass of juice.
‘She’s already caught onto you,’ said Demadrian in a more aggressive tone. ‘You don’t have a chance of getting her. So get those sadistic thoughts out of your head and focus on the task at hand.’
Chamele glared at Demadrian as she slowly sipped the juice in the glass. Homer wanted to walk around pretending to be a zombie, but Razor forced him back into bed and insisted he continue playing the role of Julio.
A few hours had passed. The desserts for the final feast had been brought out. The West Tribe guards and followers were thoroughly enjoying the food prepared by the Downs workers. It was considerably better than what they were accustomed to when they were underground. Razor had joined the feast, and he was doing a convincing job of impersonating Flint.
Suddenly a loud horn blasted out from outside the camp.
‘The theatre team are here!’ shouted a technician.
The West Tribe guards cheered loudly.
Orcilla, Razor, Walter, and Revals walked through the north gate to welcome them. Shamia and Frank climbed out of the lead vehicle.
‘Shamia, Frank, this is an unexpected surprise,’ said Orcilla as she held out her arms.
‘My genius can no longer be constrained by the confines of the underground,’ said Frank as he dramatically dropped to his knees. ‘I return to the surface to unleash the power of the theatre on a world that shall no longer bathe in darkness. I give to you the tour of the preview of the greatest musical ever imagined.’
‘This is the greatest news ever,’ said Revals, clapping his hands excitedly.
‘He’s been rehearsing this little speech for an hour,’ chuckled Shamia as she helped Frank back to his feet.
‘We’ve plenty of pink cakes if that’s what you’re hinting at,’ said Walter.
‘You got here just in time,’ said Orcilla, smiling at both of them. ‘Your guards are advancing on the Downs Region tomorrow.’
‘Then you need to put those pink cakes on ice,’ said Frank as he began to sway dramatically. ‘We must put on a show tonight. Our brave warriors need to be infused with the magic of the theatre.’
‘I’ll get the technicians to set up a stage,’ said Revals. ‘We can be ready for you in half an hour.’
‘I love the attitude,’ said Frank as he patted Revals on the back. Frank turned to look at Shamia. ‘Wake up the stagehands,’ he said energetically. ‘Let them know their real dreams are just beginning.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said Shamia as she frantically clapped her hands. ‘He’s something special when he’s in this type of mood.’
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ chuckled Orcilla.
They entered the West Camp together. The guards and the technicians cheered in excitement when they caught sight of Shamia and Frank. Frank leapt onto one of the tables. He began to prance around energetically. Everyone began to clap to his moves.
Demadrian and Chamele had poked their heads out of the tent to watch Frank’s antics.
‘Do you see what I see?’ asked Chamele as she poked Demadrian.
‘I see someone bringing joy into everyone’s life,’ said Demadrian, nodding.
Chamele chuckled and pulled her head back into the tent. Homer rushed past Demadrian waving his arms in the air in excitement.
‘So much for staying in character,’ sighed Demadrian as he continued to watch.
As promised, a stage was erected within half an hour. All the seats had been turned to face the stage. Frank pranced around the stage excitedly waving his hands in the air.
‘Tonight is the historic opening night for the preview of the greatest musical ever imagined,’ bellowed out Frank as he continued to prance. ‘Best of all, it’s free of charge for all to see.’
Everyone cheered loudly and excitedly.
Frank skipped off the stage, and loud comical music began to blare. Half a dozen performers jumped onto the stage. They were wearing huge round, bloated costumes. They bumped into each other, causing them to fall over, and then they bounced back to their feet.
Leticia ran onto the stage. She was dressed like a giant flower with petals attached to her headdress, which partially covered her face. She started singing the song, ‘For the Love of the Sun’. Her voice was beautiful and powerful. All in attendance watched and listened in awe as she spun around on the stage with the performers prancing around her.
One-by-one, the performers, who were lined up in a row, dropped to the ground. Leticia leapt on the end performer. It appeared she was balancing on him as he rolled on the spot beneath her feet. While still singing beautifully, she bounced from performer to performer, who were all rolling on their sides.
Angelo poked his head out of the tent to watch the performance.
‘You need to stay in here,’ whispered Chamele. ‘You need to stay focused. Channel the power inside you. You’re strong, so strong.’
Angelo continued to watch. A slight smile appeared on his face while a tear rolled down his cheek.
Leticia backflipped off the end performer and then landed cleanly on her feet. The audience roared in excitement.
‘Yes, yes, yes!’ screamed Frank. ‘You’re a megastar.’
Leticia and the performers ran off the stage, and six other performers replaced them. They were dressed as a Linap, a bald Linap, a Sapien, a Sentray, a Sapiod, and a Sape. They pretended to fight each other as loud, aggressive music blared out. Then a performer dressed in rainbow attire pranced out, swinging his arms joyfully as he moved between the other characters on stage. He tried to stop them fighting each other. However, it seemed he was overwhelmed by their aggression. He spun around and then fell over.
Frank climbed on stage. He was now wearing his red outfit. He raised his arms up and down as he walked between the fighting characters. He reached out his hand to the performer in the rainbow attire. He grabbed Frank’s hand, and Frank pulled him to his feet. The character lifted Frank up. He twirled him above his head. Frank flipped in the air. On landing, his outfit began changing. It alternated between the colours of the rainbow as he danced with the performer in the rainbow attire.
The characters stopped fighting each other. They shrugged their shoulders and then decided to hold hands. Frank spun around in circles as his outfit more rapidly changed colour. The music changed from the aggressive tune to a more playful one. Leticia jumped back on stage. She leapt into Frank’s arms. The two danced together for a few seconds. Then she spun around several times and then began singing the song ‘We Can Be One’.
Her voice was again beautiful. Frank and the others danced around energetically to the tune and the words of the song. Frank saw Homer jumping up and down excitedly. He nodded to him to join them on stage. Homer did not hesitate. He jumped on stage and joined in with the dancing and singing.
Chamele was furious as she watched Angelo smiling as he continued to watch. She grabbed him hard from behind and dragged him back into the tent. ‘Kneel by the bed,’ she said angrily to him. ‘You must focus deeper.’
Volo stared angrily at Chamele.
‘I’m helping him,’ said Chamele as she looked at Volo. ‘Now kneel with him like a good little follower.’
All the performers were on the stage singing and dancing.
‘Come on, you two,’ shouted Frank as he pointed to Aganon Jr. and Aganon Sr. They looked at each and then they grabbed their banjos. They both jumped on stage together. They swung their banjos above their heads in joy.
The singing and dancing continued for an encore of the song. The audience joined with the singing and clapping. When they had finished, the audience roared in delight. This was followed by applause. Frank and the rest of the cast bowed. They were joined by the stagehands. They all bowed together.
The applause and cheering continued for several more minutes. Shamia was jumping up and down screaming in joy. The cast and crew climbed off the stage. Frank remained. He looked at the audience waving happily at him. ‘That was just a small sample of our musical,’ he said. ‘A few months from now, I’ll invite all of you to our opening night in the Downs Region theatre complex.’
The Downs workers cheered in excitement.
‘Now for a small price,’ chuckled Frank. ‘My megastars and future megastars are available for photographs and autographs. Just queue up to the left of the stage.’
Almost everyone raced to line up as some of the cast members returned to the stage with photographers.
Shamia walked over to Frank. ‘You’re truly amazing,’ she said as she grinned at him. ‘I think your musical may actually bring peace to Sapey.’
‘You’re finally getting it,’ chuckled Frank.
‘I think they might be more talented than the Sapiods,’ said RJ to Walter as he placed his hand on his shoulder.
‘It’s a close one, but you might actually be right,’ replied Walter as he looked at RJ.
‘Wow, you actually agreed with me on something,’ said RJ, sounding surprised.
‘Funny, isn’t it,’ said Walter. ‘I know I should make fun of you, but I’m just not feeling it.’
‘Oh, that is funny,’ replied RJ.
‘You’re a great baker,’ said Walter. ‘I’m truly honoured to bake with you. You’re my brother-in-cakes.’
RJ and Walter put their arms around each other and hugged.
On the other side of the camp, Hamlet had finally calmed down. She was snuggled up next to Rico and fluffy Lily. Scott was with them. He was so relieved that she could now settle down. The tense atmosphere that arrived with Angelo seemed almost gone.
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.
Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:
All individual chapters can be found on my 