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"JEDEDIAH!-"
Octavius's screams echoed through the halls of the museum, paired with excited shouts from Jedediah. Octavius had foolishly told Jedediah to "drive as fast as he could"- he sincerely meant it as a joke-..boy, did he underestimate the blonde cowboy now at the wheel. Jedediah proceeded to make multiple sharp, reckless turns, almost tripping Attila in the process.
"Jedediah what are you doing?!" Octavius shouted over the screeching of the tires.
"Goin' fast! Like ya told me to, partner!" Jedediah shouted back, swerving to avoid more full-sized exhibits.
"Jed? Octavius? What are you two doing?!"
The sudden voice caused Jedediah to accidentally flip the car and go flying into Ahk's foot. Ahk let out a surprised- and slightly pained- noise and fell backwards, kicking the car right into Larry's hands.
"Guys, what in the world are you doing?!" Larry exclaimed, the confused and somewhat annoyed look on his face saying everything. "You two just tripped Attila, scared the hell out of me, and knocked Ahk over because you crashed into his foot!"
The two faltered for a moment, before Jedediah piped up through the silence.
"Don't blame me, Gigantor! Octopus over here told me to 'drive as fast as I could'!"
"I meant it as a joke, you buffoon!" Octavius retorted, pointing an accusatory finger at the miniature next to him.
"Sure you did, Toga Boy!" Jedediah spat in response.
Octavius feigned disgust, then retorted with "Listen here Blondie-"
"GUYS!"
Both froze at Larry's yell. He looked more than pissed now.
"Listen, I don't care who started it, but if you two keep driving around so recklessly; I'm going to give the car to Dexter as a toy again, got it?" Larry sighed, obviously tired of having to constantly corral the two miniatures. "And apologize to Ahk." Larry motioned to the slightly dazed young pharaoh leaning against the main desk.
"Sorry about your foot Ahk." both muttered, a bit embarrassed about their antics once again.
Ahk shook his head a few times, before letting out a light-hearted chuckle. "I will manage, don't worry. Please be more careful, though. We do not want the other exhibits getting injured because you two are being careless."
"Yes Ahk." both replied, looking at their feet as to avoid eye contact.
A sudden commotion caught the group's attention. The neanderthals had somehow gotten a hold of one of the spears from the Egyptology department and were carelessly tossing it to each other. Larry immediately put the car back down, then rushed over to the cave men; trying to grab the spear from their grasps; but they all took off before Larry could even get near them.
"Hey! Put that down! It's dangerous!" Larry yelled in a panic, taking off after them with Ahk and the rc car on his heels. The group ended up splitting up, each taking a different route to try and find the neanderthals.
Jedediah and Octavius were speeding down the hall, before Teddy noticed them and beckoned Texas to catch up with them.
"Where are you boys going in such a hurry?" Teddy questioned once he had caught up to the car.
"Those darn cave men got one of Ahk's spears and were tossin' it around like it was nothin'!" Jedediah yelled loud enough for Teddy to hear.
"Yeah!" Octavius chimed in. "Larry is scared that they will cause damage, so we are trying to catch them!"
"In that case, you have my assistance!" Teddy exclaimed, a proud smile crossing his face.
The three screeched to a halt when they spotted the cave men tossing the spear dangerously close to the ceiling. Jedediah revved the engines and quickly caught up to them.
"Stop it! You're gonna dis-man-tle the ceilin'!" Jedediah yelled.
"You heard the cowboy! Halt I say!" Octavius cried, his tone authoritative. "I said halt you-"
Octavius was cut off by the spear crashing through the ceiling, followed by a few stray trickles of.. water?
"What in tarnation?-"
A chorus of yells and screams erupted as water viciously poured onto the floor, submerging the car with both miniatures inside. Texas reared back in fear, throwing Teddy from his back right into the harshly swirling water, before bolting away from the scene. Neighboring exhibits went into a panic, people and animals nonsensically running every which way.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Larry!"
The said nightguard spun around to face the woman called him: Sacagawea.
"Oh! Sacagawea! Have you seen the neanderthals? They stole one of Ahk's spears and we're trying to track them down." Larry quickly explained; but his worry deepened from the panic on Sacagawea's face.
"There is no time for that Larry." Sacagawea hurriedly warned. "Somehow a water pipe broke and is flooding the museum."
"Oh shit."
Before either could utter another word, water began lazily pooling around their feet. It quickly rose, engulfing their ankles.
"M- Maybe we should run." Larry stuttered, swallowing forcefully to try and calm himself a little.
Sacagawea nodded in response, then both took off running. Their heavy footsteps sloshed and echoed through the flooded halls, before they reached the second floor.
"We have to make sure that everybody is okay." Sacagawea said as she turned to face Larry, who was still catching his breath. After catching his breath fully, Larry turned to Sacagawea, a determined expression crossing his face.
"On it."
Approximately an hour later, the exhibits were all safely sheltered on the second floor. While Larry wished that no injuries had occurred; it seemed that misfortune happened to him and the exhibits constantly.
Ahk had narrowly escaped being crushed by a spooked Texas, thankfully only coming out of the ordeal with a few bruised ribs and a banaged head. His crown lay beside him, discarded to keep his head injury from worsening. Attila sat on the floor, uninjured, his only focus ringing out his soaking clothes. The neanderthals sat in a pile, sulking and seemingly guilty about their reckless actions. A very wet Dexter clung to Larry's shoulder's, expertly avoiding the bandages covering Larry's left arm and shoulder. The poor nightguard had had a similar run-in with Texas; being thrown against a wall to avoid the panicked horse. Sacagawea was sitting down next to Teddy; who had a bandage similar to Ahk's wrapped around his head. The former president had also suffered a twisted ankle. A shaking Octavius sat in Teddy's palm, refusing to make eye contact with anybody. The Roman had escaped- but not without now being adorned with many tiny band-aids and a black eye.
"Alright, all the miniatures are safe. I just gotta call McPhee so he can schedule a time to fix the flooding." Larry paused all of a sudden, all attention flying to him.
"Wait."
Larry turned to Octavius, who cowered a little from the steady gaze.
"Octavius, where's Jed?"
Octavius didn't answer, horror crossing his face. Everybody's faces soon matched, panic once again flying through the room.
"Octavius, what happened?" Larry asked, scooping the tiny general into his hands. "Where's Jed?"
"I- I do not know! I thought he was right behind me, my leige!" Octavius sputtered.
"He's probably still trapped in that car.." Teddy spoke through clenched teeth. He suddenly tried to sit up, faltering because of his bad ankle. "I will go find him."
"No!"
Sacagawea immediately pushed Teddy back into his seat, glaring daggers down at him. "You are not going anywhere with that ankle of yours."
Teddy cowered, pulling his hat over his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
Octavius shakily rose to his feet, brushing off his cape. "I will go, Larry. It is my fault that he is still down there."
"Octavius, that's really dangerous!-" Larry tried to reason; but Octavius had already dropped to the floor and was racing towards the staircase.
"We do not know if he is out of the danger of the water! He could be dead dammit!" Octavius cried, tears stinging his eyes, but the Roman didn't pause once. He slid down the lower banister, then ran close to the walls that were less submerged than the others.
It was so quiet. Too quiet. Jedediah could swear he could hear his own heartbeat. He felt extremely dizzy, paired with the fact every wet breath stung his lungs. He had no idea how he had escaped the still vicious water with what he guessed was a broken leg and a sprained wrist. Warm liquid dripped down his face, but the miniature could barely tell with how badly his head was pounding.
Was anyone coming to help? Were they punishing him for being reckless by leaving him in peril?
The thoughts evoked a sinking feeling in his stomach, and tears pricked the edges of his cloudy blue eyes. He blinked them away, occuping himself with watching the car being swirled around and berated by waves.
"-ediah! Jedediah! Where are you, my friend?!"
Octavius?
"Oct?" Jedediah shouted, his voice hoarse but loud enough for the tiny general to hear.
"Jedediah, where are you?" came the shout in response.
"Over here, partner!" Jedediah waved his good arm wildly as he caught eye of Octavius.
Octavius quickly made it over to the ledge where Jedediah was sitting. Jedediah leaned over, albeit very painfully, and helped hoist Octavius up next to him.
"Jedediah! I was so worried!-" Octavius paused as he noticed how horrible his cowboy companion looked.
"Dear Jupiter, you- you are bleeding!" Octavius cried, kneeling in front of Jedediah and placing a hand over the concerningly large gash on his forehead. "May I.. May I check for other injuries, Jedediah?"
"Yeah." was the tired-sounding reply. Jedediah allowed Octavius to run his hands up and down his badly trembling body; Octavius noting how Jedediah flinched when he felt up and down his right leg and wrist. Jedediah let out a pained wheeze when Octavius made his way to the cowboy's ribs, biting back more pained noises.
"I am so sorry, Jedediah, I never meant for this to happen!"
With that Jedediah pitched forward and collapsed onto Octavius. The Roman panicked, wrapping his arms around Jedediah and gently pushing his soaked bangs out of his eyes.
"It wasn't yer fault, Octopus." Jedediah whispered, struggling to keep his eyes open against the pull of unconsciousness.
Normally Octavius would've spat back an insult about the nickname, but he didn't care at all now. At least Jedediah was still acting like himself.
"Stay still, okay?" Octavius gently ordered. He watched Jedediah weakly nod, then resumed speaking. "I will call for help."
Octavius resorted to yelling at the top of his lungs for Larry to come get them, as he was too scared to even move Jedediah.
He didn't have to yell for long, thankfully, as wet footsteps quickly came up behind him.
"You found him!" came the excited and relieved cry from Larry.
"Yes.. but he's hurt." Octavius bit his lip to keep himself from crying.
"Alright.. Don't worry, Octavius." Larry said gently, scooping the two into his hands. "We'll get him all patched up, I promise."
"Will he be alright, my liege?" Octavius questioned, his voice quiet with worry. His eyes were glued to the very bandaged Jedediah; again refusing to make eye contact with Larry.
"Yeah, he'll be okay. But he'll be out of commission for.. a while." Larry admitted, a tired but relieved expression on his face.
With a sigh, the nightguard slumped onto a couch next to Ahk, falling asleep almost immediately from how exhausted he felt. Attila followed suit, his snoring filling the halls. Everybody seemed to agree with the somewhat quiet idea of sleep. Teddy reclined in his chair, pulling his hat over his eyes. He slinged a gentle arm around Sacagwea, who in turn, contentedly closed her eyes. Ahk gently pat Larry on the head, as to say a silent goodnight to him. The pharaoh suppressed a yawn, before resting his head on the armrest of the couch and promptly falling asleep.
Octavius gently pulled Jedediah closer to him, placing Jedediah's still damp Stetson next to him. Octavius ran his fingers over the bandages wrapped around half of Jedediah's forehead, praying to Jupiter that the wounds would all heal completely.
"Goodnight, Jedediah."
With a gentle kiss to the cowboy's forehead, Octavius finally resented to the grip of sleep.