Chapter 10 : Giggleblade (1)

As Nat entered the camp,"We're back," she announced their return. The Jester felt dizzy from the motion of riding Jarvis's stunning Armoured Dragon M. 677.

Festo and Nakisa were attempting to pull the Jester from his seat. "How in the hell you're able to jump so high, yet you can't handle a moving vehicle?" Nakisa exclaimed.

"I-I-I," stuttered the Jester, his head was spinning as he tried to speak.

The sight of Nat and the crew's return was met with cheers from the rest of the soldiers, as they now had plenty of provisions at their disposal. However, it was clear that Nat and the crew wouldn't be staying there for long.

"Where's Casey?" Nat asked Azim and Bark, her tone betraying concern. The two men's heads hung low in shame as they pointed towards the direction behind the camp.

Bark went to help Nakisa when he was called by the latter. And Nat went to check up on Casey.

As Nat stepped outside, she noticed Casey's ponytail disappear behind a nearby tree. Curious, she walked over and was taken aback by what she saw. Jerry and Casey were passionately making out, causing Nat to feel stunned and confused.

As soon as Nat called out her name, Casey abruptly pulled away from Jerry's grasp and darted towards her tent, leaving Jerry standing alone in the sudden stillness.

"Please don't mention anything about this, Nat," Jerry begged Nat.

"That's understandable, but why are you moving so freely?" Nat asked, her tone stern. "Weren't you supposed to be tied up?"

"I've decided to join you guys again, so I asked Casey and Azim if I could come along," Jerry explained.

"Let me guess," Nat began, "Azim was against it, but Casey's 'yes' made it the final decision," Nat concluded.

"And that's what happened," Jerry replied, his thoughts already drifting to Casey.

"But if you betray us," Nat began saying, her tone serious. However, Jerry quickly interrupted her, "I would never. I swear on my life that I won't ever tag along with Aiden again."

"Aiden is dead," Nat stated firmly. "Jarvis killed him."

"What?!" Jerry exclaimed in surprise, "How did you guys manage to pull that off?"

"We've got quite the team here, don't you think, Jerry?" Nat teased, alluding to the previous incident with the manatel ore deposit. "If you betray us again, I won't give you another chance," Nat warned, her tone serious.

"Okay, okay, I hear you," Jerry replied to Nat, trying to calm her down.

Both of them entered the camp, and Nat signaled for everyone to come to the table where a map was laid out.

Nat began explaining, "A few years ago, Highgarden used to be a thriving village, but that all changed after the incursion led by the current King right after the coup d'état."

"Highgarden has likely been transformed into a military facility, with multiple soldiers stationed there at the ready," Nat added.

Everyone at the camp gathered around the table, their eyes fixated on Nat as she began to speak, each of them listening intently.

Nat addressed the group gathered around the table, stating the obvious, "Capturing the Artifact of Strength would be a piece of cake with our current strength, but unfortunately, we lack the means to transport a large number of us." She couldn't help but feel frustrated by the truth of the matter.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did I hear you say that we don't have any means of transportation?" Jerry asked, eager to offer a solution.

"We currently lack the means of transportation," Nat confirmed in response to Jerry's interruption.

"My time to shine," Jerry muttered before speaking up. "Actually, we do have means of transportation. We have the latest Armoured Dragon M. 678 parked at the manatel ore deposit," Jerry said confidently, waiting for a response.

Jarvis's eyes widened with excitement upon hearing about the latest Armoured Dragon model. He slapped Jerry's back hard and exclaimed, "When did you become so useful, Jerry?"

"Looks like our good ol' Useless Jerry has become Useful Jerry," Nat said, sounding surprised.

After Jerry's revelation about the Armoured Dragon M. 678, everyone took turns slapping his back and chanting "From Useless Jerry to Useful Jerry."

The Jester also gave Jerry a hard slap on the back and joined in calling him "Useless to Useful Jerry."

After the repeated slaps and chants of 'Useless to Useful Jerry,' Jerry had to excuse himself to apply some ice on his sore back.

"How many ADM 678s do we have?" Jarvis inquired.

"Three ADM 678s?" Jarvis exclaimed, his eyes widening in excitement when Jerry raised three fingers. "That's more than enough for all of us!"

Jerry nodded, wincing in pain as he rubbed his sore back. "Yes, I've already instructed my men to bring them here. They should arrive within the next hour."

Nat looked impressed. "Well done, Jerry. Looks like you're not so useless after all."

The Jester chimed in, grinning mischievously. "I guess we should start calling you 'Useful Jerry' from now on, eh?"

Jerry let out a small chuckle, rubbing his aching back. "I'd prefer if you didn't, but I'll take it as a compliment."

As they waited for the ADM 678s to arrive, the group began discussing their plan of attack for Highgarden, feeling more confident now that they had a means of transportation.

"There's a possibility that we might face a War Commander who will be guarding the transportation of the Artifact of Strength," Jerry said, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "I'm not sure who it will be," Jerry added.

"Orion's out of commission, which leaves us with Giggleblade and the newly appointed War Commander," Nat added.

Jerry was in the middle of asking, "How did Orion...," but was swiftly cut off by Nat, who interjected, "It's a long story."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any information about the new War Commander," Jerry replied apologetically.

"That's a gamble", Nat said, "Giggleblade is bad news"

With a towering physique, War Commander Giggleblade the Stomper is renowned for his deadly fighting style, wielding his holy sword with remarkable agility and crushing the heads of his defeated foes with his signature stomp.

"Why is he called Giggleblade? That sounds like a funny name," The Jester inquired.

"He earned that name by giggling while crushing his opponent's head with his stomps," Nat explained to The Jester.

That took a dark turn suddenly.

Nat swiftly directed everyone to make preparations as soon as the ADM 678s arrived. They knew they couldn't waste any time, as the Artifact of Strength was a critical element of their plan to execute the prison break. Despite the many years of improvising the prison break plan to suit the changing circumstances, it seems that it can finally be executed.

Meanwhile, inside a torture chamber in Highgarden, Giggleblade reveled in his cruel and sadistic nature by taking pleasure, giggling and crushing the heads of innocent villagers who were turned into slaves after the incursion. Their only crime was calling Giggleblade by his real name, which he detested with every fiber of his being.

The impending clash over the artifact is imminent, and victory shall belong only to the strong.