Chapter 27: Enemies on All Fronts
MORRIE
THE CLUE to the next location vanished as the white smoke dispersed. Aiden was too careless to not secure that piece of paper. But this was no time for finger-pointing.
Appearing and disappearing amidst the puff of smoke, Andre ran away while waving our second clue. If only this wasn't a special activity, I would have used my influence as a consultant to the House Council and order him to return that thing to us.
I might also be careless to not expect the other teams to ambush us. Each team was given a unique clue so the thought of ours being stolen did not cross my mind. I only realized it when the cannister was rolling to our direction.
"HOY! IBALIK MO 'YAN SA AMIN!" Aiden wasted no time and chased after the escaping Moriartian. He ran as fast as he could to catch up with him.
"Let's go," Wilhelmina urged as she also ran after the thief as well. Easier said than done. Unlike her, I did not have much energy to spare. Running is exhausting.
I had no choice but to follow them. Andre is way more athletic than I am and he runs faster than I do. Running for a hundred of meters wouldn't be a problem to him.
"IBALIK MO 'YAN!" Aiden's loud voice echoed, disturbing the spirits resting deep within the woods. He was only one or two meters away from the thief. I wish he could end this chase sooner. My legs were about to give up and I almost ran out of breath.
"Bleh! Bleh!" Andre teased as he sped up. If my aim was only spot on, I would have thrown an object at him to stop him from running.
"HOY! KAPAG HINDI KA—ARGH!"
The Adlerian tripped on something and fell face first on the moist ground. Mud stains were all over his pants while his face twisted in agony.
When Wilhelmina and I caught up with him, I panted heavily and waited to catch my breath. If she were here, Harriet wouldn't let this chance pass without insulting me. "How clumsy. Did a pebble trip you or something?"
"Not pebble." The Watsonian was closely observing something on the spot where Aiden tripped. She pulled a thread-like object stretched a few meters above the ground and showed it to us. "Yarn. Same color with the ground."
"A trap?" Aside from that smoke bomb, the other team had something up in their sleeves. They came prepared for us. But how?
"Ano pang ginagawa n'yo? Bakit hindi n'yo siya habulin?" Aiden groaned. He was able to stand, but he looked like he sprained his right ankle.
"We won't catch up to them anyway." I gazed at the path where Andre ran off. His footsteps were no longer echoing in the area.
"Pero paano na ang challenge na 'to?" Aiden asked. "Basta-basta na lang ba tayong susuko? Gusto n'yo bang pagpapaluin tayo ng stick ni Harriet?"
"We can't be too reckless now," I answered, shaking my head. He was wrong to think that we would give up so easily. "Surrender" is not in my vocabulary. "They probably prepared more traps in the route that Andre took. If we chase after him, Wilhelmina or I might be their next victim."
"Tread lightly," the Watsonian reminded us.
"And we can't play right into their hands," I added. We couldn't underestimate the other teams. They also had a particular set of skills that they could use to outmatch us. They sent only one man to attack us, but that person managed to outmaneuver us.
"Teka, bakit nila ninakaw ang clue natin?" Aiden stretched his leg and rotated his foot. His eyes twitched. "Ang akala ko ba may kanya-kanya tayong location na pupuntahan at iba-iba ang nakaabang na clue sa bawat team?"
My eyes narrowed into slits as I touched my chin. "That's the same question I have in mind. There's a disturbing thought that I do not wish to entertain. What if Andre took our clue so we can no longer proceed in this challenge?"
"Sabotage...?" Wilhelmina glanced at me, her eyeglasses shining.
I nodded. "There's no reason why they would do this sort of thing. Someone with cunning in Team Quattro must have proposed that strategy. They see us as a legitimate threat so they want us out of the game this early. They have become more competitive than before."
As always, Andre was nothing but a mere foot soldier who likes following orders. One of his other three teammates must be the brains behind this attack. The question was who?
"Ano na ang gagawin natin ngayon?" Aiden frowned. "Kung wala tayong hawak na clue, hindi natin malalaman kung saan tayo susunod na pupunta."
"We have to retrieve that clue but we need to be aware of the traps." My eyes cast a sideward glance at the yarn used to trip the Adlerian. "I doubt that's the last thing that will surprise us."
"Kung gano'n, kailangan na nating simulang magla—
CLANK!
Our heads turned to the right when we heard the sound of a can hitting the solid ground. Another cannister rolled to our direction. A green puff of smoke oozed from it. This time, it was no longer tear gas. It was something that smelled so bad it would make us throw up.
We quickly covered our noses and ran ahead. My eyes roamed around to see who threw that cannister. Andre should already be meters away from us by now. There's someone else around the area.
"To the east!" I yelled at my teammates. We diverted from the path that my fellow Moriartian took. Traps might be waiting for us ahead that route so I deemed it best to avoid it.
As we turned right, I looked back to check if someone was chasing us. I saw no human figure, but something else caught my attention. A green bush was quietly trailing behind us.
"Aiden, who's the Adlerian member of Team Quattro?" I asked. Only those under the green chameleon banner would be capable of disguising themselves as something else.
"Sa pagkakatanda ko, si Matthew. Bakit?"
"He's following us while disguised as a bush," I lowered my voice. "Don't look back."
This forest became the playground of these camouflage masters. They could pretend as a tree trunk or a shrub. If we would not look closer, our eyes might deceive us.
"Ano, talaga bang nagdedeklara ng digmaan ang Quattro na 'yan sa atin?" Aiden said irritably, limping his way forward. "Pasalamat sila dahil wala si Harriet kundi baka nayari na ang mga 'ya—WHOOPS!"
A rope-like object got caught on his foot and pulled him upwards. Wilhelmina and I were surprised to see him hanging upside down on a tree branch. Another trap again?
"TULONG! TULONG!" Aiden pleaded as he tried to free himself from the rope. But his hands couldn't reach the knot on his ankle.
What's going on here? I thought the alternative route would be safe. Did they set up traps in every path or did they anticipate that we would go this way? Whoever strategized their battle plan was one heck of a person.
I tried to look for any way to free Aiden from the trap. The technique that Wilhelmina and I employed to gather some vines earlier wouldn't work because our teammate was dangling too high. The other choice was to climb the nearest tree, but the lack of any safety precautions imposed danger.
So how were we supposed to save him?
Without saying a word, Wilhelmina began picking up fallen twigs on the ground. She checked if they were the right size, then discarded them in case they weren't. She walked past a few more trees before she found an arch-shaped tree branch.
My eyebrows knitted. They said that Watsonians are resourceful, and this might prove if that comment about them is true. "What are you planning to do?"
"Attempting to free him." She cut about half a meter long yarn and tied it to both ends of the branch. Her handicraft was revealed to be an improvised bow.
"Are you sure you can free him?" Knowing her, it would be foolish to ask that question.
Wilhelmina crashed the defective compass on the ground before looking to my direction. She did not appear to be offended by my remarks. "Trust me."
She picked the biggest shard of glass and tied it to a straight twig. The finished product looked like an arrow. I wonder if she could make it fly like a regular arrow.
The Watsonian loaded the improvised arrow into the bow and slowly pulled the yarn bowstring. She aimed it at one part of the rope.
"Teka, teka! Baka ako ang matamaan mo diyan!" Aiden protested. Fear was etched his face as his eyes stared horrifyingly at the piercing shard. "Baka dumaplis 'yan sa akin!"
"Stay calm," Wilhelmina said. At this rate, we couldn't do anything but to trust her. Remember when she shot the Russian roulette killer in the abandoned warehouse? Her aim was perfect, thus there was no need for us to be worried about her missing the shot.
She squinted an eye as she carefully aimed at her target. Time seemed to have frozen as we waited for her hand to let go of the string.
"Catch him," she ordered me.
"What?"
When the arrow flew upward, its head hit the target, severing the rope and freeing Aiden from it. Like what the Watsonian ordered, I tried to catch our teammate. I did, but he was too heavy that when he landed on me, my legs gave up. Our butts fell first on the ground.
"Ouch!" he groaned.
"Forgive me." I dusted off my pants and helped him stand. I couldn't help but feel pity for him. This was the second time he became a victim of the other team's traps.
I turned around to check if the person disguised as a bush was still there. He was already out of sight. Was he preparing for another attack?
"Alam ba nila kung saan tayo dadaan kaya nakapag-set-up na sila ng traps dito?" Aiden wondered, his eyes gazing at the path ahead of us. "Masyado yatang coincidence kung nataon ang lahat ng kamalasan sa atin. Kanino pa tayo napagti-trip-an, ah!"
"They don't have enough time to navigate the forest," I replied, shaking my head. "I doubt that they can quickly set up these traps."
"Unless they have a map," Wilhelmina finished.
That's right. It would be easier for them to plan the whole thing if they knew the layout of the forest. But if that's true, how did they get hold of a map? Was it one of the items available on the table earlier?
"For now, we must go back to where we started and plan our retaliation," I told my teammates. "If what Wilhelmina said is true, then this forest has become their territory. They might be setting up traps as we speak."
The Watsonian showed us the ball of yarn. "We can trace our steps."
"Mabuti't wala tayong nakaengkwentrong minotaur dito," Aiden jested. He limped his way to the other side of the path. His injury might become a nuisance later.
We were about to start our journey back to where we came from, but then we heard some rustling in the shrubs. Wilhelmina picked up a twig and loaded it into her bow, prepared to shoot at the moving figures in front of us.
"Relax! Relax! We come in peace."
A young man wearing yellow vest emerged from the shadows. Wilhelmina recognized that person as she lowered her bow. Two more figures stood beside him: a familiar female face from my own House and a man wearing the blue Holmesian uniform.
"Team Crux," I mumbled. My eyes roamed around, searching for their fourth member. She's an Adlerian like my injured teammate and that boy disguising as a bush.
"Huwag kayong mag-alala. Hindi kagaya ng kabilang team, hindi kami naparito upang ambushin kayo," the male Watsonian said, advancing.
We closely watched their movements, wary that they might attack us any moment.
As I recall, his name is Sean, one of the top cryptographers of House Watson. And based on how he presented himself, he's probably the leader of their own team.
My eyes rolled from left to right, observing if there's any weird movement nearby. "One of your members is missing. Is she disguised as a tree trunk or shrub somewhere, waiting for the opportunity to attack?"
"Inutusan namin siyang sundan ang Team Quattro," Sean answered. "I take it that they also stole your clue?"
Also?
"Teka, pati kayo, nabiktima nila?" Aiden asked.
The male Watsonian nodded. "Huli na nang na-realize ko kung ano ang pinaplano nila. Hindi ko alam kung paano nila nalaman ang lokasyon namin. They just appeared in a puff of smoke and ran away with that piece of paper."
"We tried to chase them, but they have already prepared traps for us," the Holmesian named Locke added, shrugging his shoulders. "We were caught off guard."
Sean crossed his arms across the chest, raising his forefinger. "There's only one person in this island who could pull this off. Someone who can anticipate the movements of every chess piece on the board."
"Joanna," Wilhelmina blurted out which made her fellow Housemate nod.
"Isa siya sa magagaling na analyst sa aming House," Sean went on. "Hindi na ako magugulat kung malaman kong siya ang may pakana nito."
"E ano ang kailangan n'yo sa amin?" Aiden asked impatiently. "Gusto n'yo bang damayan namin kayo sa pagluluksa dahil nanakawan ang mga team natin?"
"Meron akong proposal," Sean put his hands behind his back and walked around us. "In the meantime, let's set aside the competition and form a truce."
"Truce?" My eyes squinted at him.
"Oo. Pansamantalang alyansa para mabawi natin ang mga ninakaw sa atin ng Quattro," the male Watsonian explained. "Meron kaming paraan upang ma-track ang kabilang team. Pero dahil si Joanna ang utak sa likod nito, baka hindi sapat ang manpower namin laban sa kanilang traps."
"Sa katunayan nga, mas pabor sa inyo ang proposal namin," my fellow Moriartian Jacquelyn butt in. "Ano bang meron kayo para mabawi ang clue na ninakaw sa inyo? Isang bola ng yarn? Kung makikipag-cooperate kayo sa amin, hindi na kayo mahihirapang i-track sila."
"Our teammate Faye is secretly following them," Sean added. He sounded too confident that his teammate's efforts would pay off. "She left some traces that will lead us to where the Quattro are right now.
"Can I have a moment with my team first?" I excused my teammates and walked to a spot where they couldn't hear us.
"Medyo duda ako sa pino-propose nila," Aiden was first to air his opinion. "Alam nilang mahirap tayong talunin kaya siguro nakikipag-alyansa ang mga 'yan."
If Harriet were here, we would be almost invincible. Our team was like a chair with three legs out of four. We could stand on our own, but because of one missing part, we might fall.
"How well do you know Sean?" I deemed it best to ask someone who knows that person.
"Wise," Wilhelmina answered. Aiden and I were expecting her to explain why she said so, but she did not.
There's no need for any elaboration. We could assume that this Sean was a clever man who would try to turn the tides to their team's favor.
"Gagamitin niya lang tayo!" Aiden protested. "Gusto mo bang magpagamit sa kanya? Kung nandito si Harriet, sinupalpal na niya ng malutong na 'hindi' ang lalaking 'yon!"
That's exactly what I have been thinking. He's planning to use the three of us to get back to Team Quattro. And once they get what he wants, they would turn on us.
Aiden's right. Harriet would say no.
But I am not Harriet.
"We will accept their offer of truce," I said firmly, which surprised the Adlerian and received no reaction from the Watsonian.
"Pero bakit?"
"If they will use us, then we might as well use them," I explained, shooting a sideward glance at Sean who's also talking with his teammates. "From afar, this alliance looks mutually beneficial. But in reality, this is a matter of who will benefit the most. Them or us?"
"I trust your decision," Wilhelmina gave her consent. How about you, Adlerian? Are you with me or against me?
"Sige, magtitiwala rin ako sa desisyon mo, Morrie." Aiden raised both hands in surrender. There's a hint of hesitation in his voice. "Sana nga lang ay hindi tayo ang maagrabiyado rito."
We returned to where Team Crux is waiting. Based on the look on their faces, they were optimistic that we would accept their offer.
I stretched out my right hand to Sean. "Deal."
He shook my hands and smiled from ear to ear. "Let's bring down Team Quattro."
You got the wrong idea, Sean. I'm going to bring Team Quattro down... and your team as well.
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