C H A P T E R T W E L V E

-TEAM SOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL-

Dallas's POV

"So..." Chris started, as we made our way to "Murder in James's Mansion". "How exactly do we take these dudes down?"

I shrugged, and let out a deep breath. "A distraction couldn't hurt."

He nodded, and looked around for awhile. "Uh, what kind?"

I sighed. "Let's ask the others for one," while attempting to reach for the walkie-talkie shoved deeply in my pocket.

"Wait," he said, blocking my hand with his.

Wow, bold move, kid.

"They have their own problems to deal with. We need to figure this out ourselves. We've gotten furthest with our plan anyway."

I hate to admit it, but the kid's got a point.

"Good point," I nodded, retreating my hand. Chris flashed me a bright, proud smile. Jeez, how is this kid always so happy? I mean, we could die any second now!

"So, any ideas?" I asked, quickly erasing the smile on Chris's face.

"Nope. You?" He replied, his eyes full of hope.
Ugh, this kids hope and joy is blinding.
He's really the complete opposite of me.

"Hmm" I mumbled during my thinking process.

[Hello everybody! Thanks for waiting, we'll be starting right now!]

Chris and I snapped our heads towards each other, the same panicked look in our eyes.

Without thinking, I tackled one of the guys in front of the escape room door, covering his mouth so he couldn't scream.
But boy, did he try.

I pushed him and myself into the room, relying on Chris to get the other guy before he comes after me. I heard him scream on the other side of the door.

Crap.

The guy I attacked was fairly tiny, and surprisingly easy to pin down.

Though, he was kinda round.

The dude I left for Chris on the other hand, was almost as tall as me, and maybe even more muscular than Will.
Well, we're dead.

Chris's POV

Seriously? I have to take on the taller guy?

Uh, well, here goes nothing.

I ran towards the other guy, before he could head into the room where Dallas was.

"Hey, which way is the bathroom?" I asked him.

"huh? Look kid, I've got someon-" he started, but was cut off by me uppercutting him in the jaw, sending him back into the wall. He grabbed my arm causing me to spin to the left, the same move I taught Abi. His hand twisted right off. Not wasting any time, I punched him in the temple hard enough to knock him out.

Thank you Mortal Combat, and thank you dance.

Picking his arm up, I hauled him near the escape room entrance.

Jeez, this guy's heavy!

"Dallas! I've got him!" I said, signaling for him to open the door.

Which he did.

I dragged him in, and plopped him down next to the guy Dallas had pinned down.

I hit him in the temple too, knocking him unconscious as well.
I'm so proud of myself. Hehe.

I turned around, to find Dallas with his mouth hanging open.

"What?" I asked, adjusting the angle of my baseball hat.

I always wear one.

"You- you knocked them out? You knocked them out!" Dallas exclaimed, clearly surprised.

"Uh, yeah?" I said, not understand why he was so bamboozled.

"I mean, I just didn't expect it. Your so, uh, nice and stuff." Dallas shrugged.

I smiled, "Never underestimate the strength of a dancer!"

Dallas chuckled.

His expression suddenly changed, and he gulped. "So, how are we gonna...uh...get into their clothes?"

Oh golly.

-TEAM HEART AND BRAIN-

Drew's POV

Ok, now I've seen it all.

"Wait, did Chris just take that huge dude out!?!" Will exclaimed.

"Yup," Abi responded, completely unshaken. "He's really sweet and kind, but that doesn't mean he can't kick butt," she chuckled.

"Wait, you knew he could do that?!" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Well yeah," she shrugged. "We've known him for so long. Since we were babies."

"Really? You're from Virginia?" Liam asked.

"Zora was born in Israel on a vacation, but Aaron and I were- I mean, I was born in Virginia. My dad's from there and my mom is from Israel. Chris is a few months older than me but he met me when I was born, his dad and my dad have been friends since forever."

"Wow" Liam replied. "So you moved here and Chris followed after awhile huh? That's cool."

Abi nodded, smiling. Her smile suddenly turned into a frown, though she tried to hide it. She honestly did pretty well.

Tch, I can see straight through her.

"You know, I just realized how little we know about each other," I noted.

"Yeah," Abi nodded in agreement. "After this, we should get to know each other better. I mean, seems like we're gonna be spending a lot of time together anyway. On that note, we should go. Kinda have a mission."

"Ughhhh, fine. See you guys later." I groaned, earning a look from Will.

"See ya," Will waved with a wink, causing Abi to roll her eyes, though she couldn't help but smile.

I looked to the side, away from Will. Tch. Dåraktig.

Agh, why am I mad? The dimwit didn't even do anything yet!

Sighing, I decided it would be best if we had a plan. I opened my mouth to speak, but Will beat me to it.

"So, what does your brain say to do?" Will said.

I glared at him, and shrugged. "I don't know, what does your heart say to do?" I shot back.

"It said to ask you what to do" he said matter of factly.

"Let's just walk to the room," I groaned, shoving my hands into my pockets.

He smirked, soaking in what seemed to him like a victory.

Ugh.

Why the heck did Abi put us together?

Will's POV

HAHA I WON YESSSS!

Ahem, anyway, back to the mission.

"Anyway, what should the actual plan be?" Drew questioned.

I shrugged, turning to face him "Like I said, let's just go in there and see what happens."

Drew facepalmed, groaning. "What's gonna happen is we're gonna DIE!" He argued.

"No we won't. This can't be that hard."

"Your so stupid! Did you not hear Dallas's warning at all?!" He exclaimed, talking with his hands.

"I did, and I respect his words, but the more time we waste on a plan, the more people the Onix Clan scratches."

He's gotta admit I'm right about that.

"Okay, but still-" He started, only to get cut off by me.

"Look, it's just as hard for them to tell who we are. Just like we don't know who's part of the Onix Clan, they don't know we're part of the Wild Souls." I explained.

Wow, when did I get so smart?

"Ugh, whatever. If you die, I'm not going down with you." He scoffed.

Hah, what am I gonna do with brainy over here?

We finally stood at the entrance of the escape room.

"Everyone, please take out the slip of paper that was handed to you earlier." A middle aged man standing my the entrance to the valley said.

"Hey," a voice whispered, tapping me on the shoulder.

Abi.

"Hey," I turned around, smiling. I nodded to Liam, getting an awkward wave back.

"What does your slip of paper say?" Abi asked.

I stuck my hand in my pocket to grab it, but felt nothing but my phone. Growing more and more frantic, I felt around more aggressively.

Drew sighed, and shoved his own hand in his pocket. "Here," he said, handing me both our slips of paper. "I knew you'd lose it."

I rolled my eyes, and snatched the paper from him.

Abi took it out of my hands, and exchanged mine for hers.

"What was that for?" Drew asked, as I grabbed our slips back.

"Liam figures out that the slips assign us to certain rooms. Those are the ones assigned to the valley. We're taking the inferno." Abi explained.

"Aww come on! The inferno sounds so much cooler" I whined, earning an eye roll from Drew.

Ugh, I can't stand him.

"And that's why we took it," Abi laughed. "Well, good luck!"

"Don't die," Liam added, before they disappeared into the crowd around us.

"Good luck," Drew and I synonymously replied.

"Everyone, please check your tickets and enter the room you were assigned to. Yep, that's right! For this event we pick your rooms for you!" The man continued, and waited, expecting laughter.

Wow, this guy really thinks he's funny.

Everybody did as he said, and soon there were three lines outside each room.

I looked to my right, to see Chris and Dallas in their new outfits. Not gonna lie, it worked.

Further in that direction, Abi and Liam stood at the very front of The Inferno. They glanced in our direction, as well as Dallas and Chris.

We shared a quick nod, before Liam and Abi turned away, Chris started greeting people, and Dallas disappeared behind the doors.

"Ooookay everybody! Your timer starts now."

-TEAM PINK AND PURPLE-

Liam's POV

"So, any ideas yet?" Abi asked for about the millionth time tonight.

"No, not yet." I answered, sighing at the sound of the repeated question.

"Y'know, maybe we should just do what Will and Drew are doing," she suggested. "Just make sure nobody touches each other."

"Well, that would be a good second resort. An actual plan would work out better, trust me Dallas and I would know." I replied.

Abi creased the eyebrow, and ran a hand through her hair.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll get this done and over with," I reassured her, arming a smile in return.

"Thanks," she nodded, and we got our tickets checked and walked into the escape room.

More and more people trickled into the room, until the doors slammed shut behind them.

A short sequence of chimes sounded, marking the start of the timer.

Abi and I looked up at the countdown clock.

One hour.
One hour to stop the Onix Clan.

Everyone stood in silence for awhile, until Abi started watering to the corner of the room, discreetly motioning for me to take the other side.

I made my way over, keeping an eye on everybody here.

Our movement encouraged everyone else,
As they took different sides of the room.

"Hey, if anyone finds a clue, let us know, okay? This'll go by faster if we work together." Abi called out from behind a pillar.

A series of sures, okays, and nods answered, as I shot a confused look at her.

"What? Might as well play the game, escape rooms are dope." She mouthed to me.

I chuckled, shaking my head. Classic Abi, the multitasker. She can't just do something one at a time.
Nope, she's too good for that.

Abi's POV

"H-ey guys, I found a note under this block of pumice! " A lanky man slowly called out.

Everyone made their way towards him. While I was walking, Liam jogged over and nodded in the direction I came from.

There was a guy and a girl behind us, while everyone else was in front. A few steps ahead of him was a short, blonde girl. He scanned the area, making sure nobody was looking. Liam and I turned away just in time.

"Go with them for the clue" I whispered, motioning towards the crowd. "I'll take him."

He looked at the ground for a few seconds. I silently urged him, as the man got closer and closer to the petite woman.
"Okay, be careful," He finally agreed.

I nodded, and let the dark shadows of the room consume me. I quickly made my way alone the edges of the room, hugging the walls.

Right as his arm was about to make contact, I blocked it with my forearm.

I glared at the guy before confronting him. "Hey, what are you doing? Don't touch people randomly like that."
The blonde girl turned around, with a questionable look on her face.

"Was he trying to touch me?" She asked, coldness in her voice directed towards the Onix Clan member.

"Yup, but don't worry, I got you." I replied, high-fiving her.

The guy snorted and walked away, with angry but defeated expression at play.

Hopefully he doesn't know who I am.

"Thanks," the blonde woman, with a smile at play.

"No problem. Just stay away from him, and look out for others okay?"

She nodded, waltzing over to the newly found clue.

I followed as well, close behind her.

"How'd it go?" Liam asked, as I made a stop behind him.

"It went fine, I'm pretty sure he doesn't know who I am yet. Catch anyone here?"

"Yup, the dude at seven thirty." He replied.

I turned my head in the direction he implied, to find a ginger boy in a sleeveless shirt next to the guy I got.

Wow, he didn't even try to cover his mark.

The evil mark.

"Pfft the two losers are together," I said, causing Liam to look as well.

"You caught that guy?" He asked, eyes fixed on the pair.

"Yup," I nodded, glancing at the two.
The redhead Liam stopped was about Drew's height, and fairly skinny. He had freckles scattered along his face.
He looked like the gender-bent version of Robin.

The dude I caught had mocha skin, and thick curly hair. His ears were slightly painted and he wore a gold chain around his neck.

"Huh, well that was surprisingly easy." I shrugged, letting out a small laugh of relieve.

Liam nodded, shooting me a sweet smile. "Now we just have to keep an eye on them."

I nodded back, my eyes fixed on our target.

"Lets just hope the others are doing okay."

-TEAM SOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL-

Dallas's POV

This place is packed.

Seriously, among all these people, two Onix Clan members could easily blend in and stay that way.

After defeating the two guards, (who by the way SUCK at their jobs), Chris and I found spare uniforms in a small closet compartment right beside the escape room. We hid the knocked out men in there, and...uh...well, let's just say we took opposite sides of the room.

Chris was stationed at his designated spot, getting whoever came in and grabbing their coats for them. He neatly handed them to me, which I hung on a coat rack on the inside. If anything suspicious happens, he's ready with his walkie-talkie to warm me, and then he stalls while I take the Onix Clan members out.

This'll work out. Well, it better.

I stared at the wall, tapping my foot to the random beat inside my head. Not too long later, I found myself with my eyes closed, almost meditating to the beat. My head was nodding along, aaaaand I probably looked crazy. I snapped out of the random trance when Chris shook the first coat at me.

I took it, and gently placed it on the rack.

"Good evening sir," I greeted the man who walked in. He seemed to be in his forties, too old be be an Onix Clan member.

He nodded and smiled as he entered the room.

I sighed, and went back to my position against the wall.

Though, I couldn't stay there for long. As soon as the first man walked in, a much younger woman followed.
Chris handed me her jacket as well, which ended up on the coat rack with the others.

She's a woman, so she can't be an Onix clan member.

Ughhhhhh.

This might take awhile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a couple more guests, Chris finally reported something.

-bzzzt. "Hey Dallas, the next guy refused to take his jacket off. I'll stall, confront him." bzzzt.-

Finally!
Rubbing my hands together in preparation, I straightened the hat from the guard costume.

As if right on cue, the kid walked in. He was wearing a maroon sweatshirt with a school logo on it.

Red Wood high, the rival of our school, Forest Valley high.

This'll be fun.

He nodded a greeting to me and started opening the door to the main escape room, obviously anxious to get in.

Ha, not today buddy.

"Hey kid" I said, tapping his shoulder.

He visibly froze, and let out a discreet sigh.

"Yeah?" He responded, his back still towards me.

I can fix that.

I tugged on his sweatshirt hard enough to where he stumbled back, now facing me.

To my surprise, he was just an inch shorter than me.

He had hair similar to liam's, though the part was different. His ears had a certain Knick in the side, and he had what seemed to be a permanently anxious expression.

I held out my hand, and did my best to seem intimidating, which wasn't too hard me being...well me.

"Sweatshirt," I ordered.

"N-no," the boy stuttered.

"Why?" I asked, taking a step closer to the boy. "You're not part of a secret organization, are you?"

His eyes widened in shock at my knowledge of the Onix Clan, as he attempted to take a step away from me.

- Bzzzt. hurry up, I can't hold this guy off much longer. By the way he won't take his coat off either. Bzzzt- Chris warned via walkie-talkie.

The guy I was dealing withs eyes wandered towards the sound of "nice boy's" voice.
I quickly shoved the device away, returning my focus to this dude.

"Answer the question kid."

"Y-you're a Wild Soul, a-aren't-" He started, but was suddenly interrupted by a quick punch to the temple.

Boom. He's out.

Him knowing about the wild souls was all the information I needed.

I pulled out the walkie-talkie, and pressed the button to speak.

"Send in the next one."

-TEAM HEART AND BRAIN-

Will's POV

Drew and I walked around the escapes room, watching everyone and staying as far away from each other as possible.

I yawned, pulling out my phone to check the time.

12:15 am.

Ugh, I hope Sky's alright.

"Dude, what are you doing?" I asked a nearby teenage male, who was walking along the wall of the escape room, his hand tightly clasped with a teenage girl's.

He turned to me, eyebrow raised. "Checking the wall for clues?" He said, but it sounded more like a question.

"No, with her," I specified, pointed at the brunette.

"She's my girlfriend! Why would you even as- waaait," He paused, turning to the lovely lady, "You're not cheating on me are you?"

She gasped, placing a hand on her chest, clearly hurt by his accusation.  "Of course not! I love you!" She replied.

Both of them turned to me, glaring.

Crap.

"Uhhh sorry I though she was my friend, you guys look alike," I laughed, quickly walking away.

Jeez, I'm an idiot. A hot idiot, but an idiot.

That's what mom would say. Besides the hot part of course, THAT doesn't even need to be said.

I smirked at my own compliments, lazily scanning the area.

My eyes landed on Drew, who motioned for me to come closer.

I reluctantly obliged, dogging people to make my way over there.

"You see that guy over there?" He said as soon as I was by his side, wasting no time to get down to businesses.

Pfft, workaholic.

I craned my head to the side, gazing in that direction. "Uhhhh the blonde kid?"

Yup. He nodded, walking towards the kid. He motioned for me to follow, which I did.

Hold up, why am I listening to him?

I stopped abruptly, causing a confused Drew to stop as well.

"You know how to walk, right?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Ugh, course I do," I waved away the stupid question. "But my question: who made you leader?"

"I'm the only one with a lead idiot. Follow." He rolled his eyes, and once again I was two steps behind him.

I sighed. This is so stupid.

We stopped right behind the guy, in complete silence.

"Hey kid, what's up?" I said, earning a glare from Drew.

"Tsk, what's wrong this you?" He turned to me clearly annoyed.

"Chill bro I'm just saying hi" I laughed, my hands up defensively.

He rolled his eyes at me, and moved to the left, until Drew entered his view. His eyes widened, and he froze in place.

"Y-you're Drew Koceap, right?" He stuttered, staring at my teammate in awe.

"Uh, yeah that's me," Drew smiled.

Ugh, they're so fake.

"Uh hello? I'm sti-"

"Shut up" He groaned, turning all his focus back to drew.

"Hey, listen up you asshole," I sneered, finally gaining his attention.

But before I could continue, Drew was knocked out.

Hard.

"Ugh, THATS IT!" I shouted, landing a punch on the blonde kids jaw.

She staggered back, before hitting me on the shoulder.

Pft, this kid punches like a... well, kid.

"Ha, that's all you got?" I shouted, attracting the attention of everyone around us.

Of course I didn't realize, being in the middle of a fight and all.

He then kicked me in the knee, causing me to lose all stability for that one mere second.

I grabbed his ankle so he wouldn't get away, wincing at the searing pain in my leg joint.

Meanwhile, blondie's friend's identity was still a mystery.

"Come on! We need to go!" The other guy yelled, his identity still masked.

Finding my strength, I pushed myself off the ground and punched the mystery dude in the nose, hard.

...Hard enough to break it.

He yelped in agony, stumbling back just to fall on his butt.
A series of gasped left the room, as well as looks of sympathy for the boy.

The blonde kid? Ha, well his face was white with fear.

And he was right to be scared.

I stared at him, my anger growing inside me, waiting to burst out.

Like a seedling slowly creeping out of the soil, just much more violently.

And then, it broke through.

I grunted hard, landing a kick on the boys back.

Well, it should've hit. He grabbed my foot in an attempt to twist it, but I retracted it back so it was up against my chest, and smashed his shoulder.

"Agh!" He groaned, but I didn't wait. I landed hits over and over on him, making sure every little inch, no, millimeter on him felt pure pain.

I finally stopped to catch my breath, and looked at the mess I caused. Blondie was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and covered in bruises.

My lips quavered are the person, the monster I had become.

I'm a monster.
I'm terrible, all twisted.
Blinded by my anger.

Just. Like. Dad.

"Crap." I muttered, my face getting hotter by the second.

No. I can't cry. Crying is weak. I'm not weak. I'm-

A monster.

a single tear left my face, as dreadful memories filled and replayed in my mind.

I ran away from the scene, just be caught by two security people.

"Kid, you're in huge trouble."

Abi's POV

Liam and I strutted out of the escape room, successful.

We even got pictures of the two guys we told off, and I'm now friends with the girl who was gonna be scratched. We exchanged numbers and everything.

Liam recognized the guys as Mark: the read-head, and Roy: the one I took on. Liam has been a Wild Soul since last year, so he's had much more experience than the rest of us. Dallas too.

"So that went well," Liam smiled, making me smile too.

"Yup," I agreed, stretching my arms. "Where's everyone else?"

We looked around together, confirming that we were the first ones out.

Liam shrugged, "Probably still trying not to die."

I laughed, earning a grin from boy. "So, you excited for the fall concert?"

He nodded, the grin softening into a gentle smile. "You?"

"I'm really excited. I mean, I get to lead my whole section!"

"By lead you mean play the same note over and over again. You violists got it tough,"

He laughed.

Ughhh, not again. The dreaded viola jokes!

You see, viola is pretty much the laughing stock of the orchestra. Most people hate it and there're tons of jokes about them.

For example: What's the difference between a trampoline and a viola?

...You take your shoes off before jumping on a trampoline.

And that's not even the worst of them.

Honestly, it pisses me off.

"Honestly, it sucks! Having all this talent just to play a series of open D's." I shook my head. "I mean, would it kill someone to give the violas a decent part?"

"Well" Liam started. "Not a lot of people play viola anyway. It's just like a tiny cello. But let's be real, only violinists get the fun parts."

"Ha, your right about that" I huffed.

"Guys, we gotta go," a deep voice announced.

Liam and I looked over our shoulders, to find the one and only brown bear.

In a weird costume.

"What's- ohhhh the guards!" I quickly realized, as sunshine came into view as well.

Dallas nodded, continuing off of his statement. "Will got into a pretty rough fight, and he got into trouble. Luckily they called Chris and I in and we saved his butt."

Wow okay then, I guess we're not wasting any time. Right down to business.

We stood in silence, until I finally spoke up. "Wow."

"Wait, what about Drew?" Liam asked.

"He got knocked out. Will was a little bruised, but it was nothing compared to what he did to the Onix Clan dudes." Dallas sighed.

"...Well what did he do?" I questioned, thinking it was obvious Dallas should've continued.

"Oh, one of the guys ended up with a broken nose, and the other one was bleeding and bruised all over. Broke a rib I think. Or maybe fractured?" Chris explained, debating on the physical status of the boy.

"Daaang he did all that? Wonder why." I replied, slightly shocked. That's a lot of damage for just Will against the two Onix dudes.

"Where are they now?" Liam pondered out loud.

"Drew, hospital. Onix dudes, hospital. Will, home." Dallas said, mentally checking off each person.

"Wow, I hope Drew is okay," Liam whispered.

"Actually, it's Will I'm more concerned about." I proclaimed, surprising the rest of the gang.

"Why Will? He barely got hurt." Chris pointed out.

"Physically, yes, but mentally, no. I once knew a guy just like Will, and I know exactly how people like him think. He's probably really unstable right now."

"Who are you talking about?" Chris asked.

Ah, here we go.

The question I was dreading, but expecting.

I sighed, running a rand through my hair. I tucked part of it behind my ear before looking them straight in the eyes.

"Cameron. My ex boyfriend."

A/N

Hey guys! Thanks for reading :)

I'm extremely sorry for being almost a whole week late to update this book.

See, I've been really busy with school. I had a terrible case of writers block which didn't help whatsoever, and my other book needed to be updated as well (check it out if your a Ninjago fan ;) )

Also, this is the longest chapter yet! 4,667 words counting this authors note.

Anyway, I'm really sorry.

Here are some character profiles!

See ya next week!

-Tigersx1 💜