Chapter 87 - Von Rocket

"What the hell, Lei." Von complained while coughing and booting up his flight amidst the smoke.

"Shh, be quiet," Lei whispered while grabbing his feet again like a string on a balloon.

"Get off!" Von whispered to him while kicking his feet that Lei was holding sternly.

"You boys are so cute, I want to pinch your cheeks!" The old lady laughed menacingly while still walking towards the dead-end of this secluded hallway in the castle, dragging Von and Lei along with her using the ends of the invisible cage that was designed to follow her every movement and keep her in the center of it all.

And even though none of them could see anything thanks to the smoke grenade that Lei used to conceal where they were, the Crone knows where she's supposed to go and it was in this fake wall that she and her sisters designed as part of the intensive plan that they prepared months ago to kidnap these two in exchange for more power and influence for their kind.

"Mekeni mekeni, dug dug doremi." The old woman suddenly said, kind of like a password to a door which was, in this case, a concealed door in a wall on this very secluded area of the castle, a hallway to a dead-end which was originally designed to be an emergency exit for humans, but since superhumans didn't need them it was covered with a wall and became a forgettable dead-end for everyone else in this castle.

When the old Crone heard the sound of the door opening, she made sure to check if the little boys were still with him inside the cage by tuning down the smokescreen using a small vacuum that she and her sisters prepared in advance in case this kind of scenario actually happens, and it did happen..

Since Lei was a very famous ninja in this area serving for the Prince, it was not really that hard for them to gather information and scheme ways on how to counter his skills and gadgets.

Although Lei was not part of the original mission, which was to kidnap the prince of Yvandir in exchange for freedom and more power for their kind, the Crone sisters thought it would be better for them to take Lei as well. Even as a bonus for them since they were forbidden by their boss to eat Von.

Thankfully, their plan was flawless.

All they had to do was impersonate the most trusted people in this palace and use very advanced technology from the wealthiest country that neither the Princess nor the Queen would expect for them to use thanks to their ignorance of what their kind could actually do aside from eating children from the danger zones.

"Who are you and why are you doing this to us?" Lei said while pulling Von back with him to the end of the invisible square cage where the division of smoke from the air outside the invisible cage could be seen clearly.

"Hihihihi, you don't need to know all those silly little things. All you have to do is come with us and you'll be safe." The old lady's high-pitched and scary voice echoed across the small space while still trying to reduce the smoke between them.

When the Crone saw Von and Lei's face, she immediately had the urge to step towards them, but the more she stepped forward the more space Von and Lei had to move away from her.

"Right. Silly me." She laughed and stopped walking after realizing what was happening and why she couldn't reach the boys at all even though they were just two feet away from her.

Just as the old lady and the invisible cage stopped moving, Lei noticed the smoke thinning out, but it was not entirely because of the old lady's small vacuum that seemed to need more time to work, it was a leak from the cage's feet connected to the floor!

"I think I know how we can get out of here," Lei said to Von, finally being able to make his brain work.

But Von, on the other hand, was just sticking to him the whole time like a monkey on a tree.

"Get me out of here," he said quietly while trying to tame his heart that was beating so loudly.

Out of all the things that Von feared, it was being enclosed in a small room with no space to fly that terrified him the most. Aside from feeling like he had no air to breathe, not being able to fly anywhere was the greatest disadvantage that Von couldn't afford to have in a fight, especially since flight was just his greatest skill.

"Okay," Lei said and pushed Von's arms away from his neck slightly to keep his hands and blades in position against the scary-looking old woman inside the cage with them.

"Firstly, I need you to tumble her down. I think there's no floor in this cage and if we manage to get the angle right, we might be able to escape from here completely," he said while tying his sticky ropes to Von's waist.

"Oh dears, you're planning to escape? After all the effort that I did to kidnap you? I don't think that's a right way of treating your old lady-"

"We don't care about you lady so shut up!" Von said while launching himself to her with eyes closed.

Since they could barely see from across the smoke, Lei guessed that the old granny must be in the very center of this rectangle, based on the distance that the fake Sir Fred was making while they were walking earlier so they wouldn't bump on the invisible walls around them.

"Gahhhh!!!" Von shouted even more, head first towards the lady that was caught of guard by their sudden and reckless move making them both stumble on the floor as Lei was busy tying the sticky rope to his waist.

And as expected, the cage really didn't have a floor. The moment the old lady fell on her back, the wall behind Lei seemed to disappear.

"Ow!" "Go!" The old lady and Von both cried, signaling the start of Lei's run while holding the sticky rope with him that was also attached to Von as leverage for him to be pulled by Lei while he was still a bit dizzy from the sudden impact.

"Get them!!!" the Crone suddenly shouted to her sisters who were just waiting around near them for some action.