Chapter 101 - Let's Finish This (Step One)

"Can they see us from the outside?" Lei asked Von while devising a lot of ways to escape this prison.

"I don't think so." Von said while trying to see something beyond the bright electric bars of their cell, "If we can't see them from the inside, maybe they can't see us from the outside too." 

"Good point," Lei said and focused his attention on the ground beneath them.

"Are we in an actual cave or are we underground in the city? Because from what you said, I don't think we've gone far enough to reach the mountains and the borders of this island." Von said while looking at the big bulks of rocks surrounding them.

"I think we're underground in the city and I think they've just built this cave recently," Lei said and grabbed a small shovel from his tool belt that the Crones did not even bother taking off of him since their bars were made of electricity anyway and they thought his tools wouldn't be able to break it from the inside.

"They built this cave? Really? Those old women built this place just recently?" Von said in astonishment.

"Who knows? But I think I may have found a way for us to get out of here if only you would cooperate…" Lei said and gave him another one of his little shovels and started digging the soft dirt in front of him that was covered with straws as if those Crones thought they were horses that feed on straws.

"We're going to…?" Von said in both amazement and unwillingness of Lei's idea.

"Yes, come on, start digging," Lei said while exerting his maximum power to dig more efficiently which led him to dig at least one human sized-hole in just five minutes per his turn.

"Ughhh, I hate this." Von complained while doing fifty percent of what Lei could do during those minutes, "But you don't have a choice, Von."

"They really can't see us from out there, huh?" Lei said while grabbing all their things from the floor. "Come on, we need to work fast or they might catch us."

"Okay, but aren't we going to cover this hole?" Von asked while pointing at the hole above him.

"We won't have light if we do that…" Lei said which made Von think.

"Give me that," Von said while grabbing a piece of cloth from Lei's hands and wrapped it around the head of a hammer from Lei's tool belt. "I'll go and get us some light." He said and flew back to their holding cell.

When Von arrived back at their holding cell, he immediately moved closer to the electric bars to try and get his makeshift torch lit up from the electricity's current, but the moment he moved closer to it, he immediately heard something that made him even more paranoid and pressured.

"The representatives would be coming in ten minutes so make sure they'll be out here by then."

"Okay, roger that," a Crone said to her sister after receiving the disturbing message for Von.

"We need to cover our tracks and move quickly, they're coming in ten minutes," Von whispered to Lei aggressively while trying hard to transfer the land they were digging in front of them back to the hole where they came from.

"That light wouldn't last long," Lei said while thinking of a better solution for their light situation other than Von's temporary torch.

"That doesn't matter! We might only have inferior night vision compared to others but that's still night vision! Help me cover up this hole first!" Von said which Lei followed right away.

***

"What are we going to do to them now? Are we going inside this tunnel to look for the boys or are we just going to wait here for the next step?" Petunia asked impatiently while Fily was still inside her Mind Palace, looking for a way to isolate the destruction of the Lightsum from the island's anti-gravity system.

"We're going to make a trap here. Since this exit is just one of their three and I will be telling Venedette and Sir Grand to cover the other two exits, I really think we should make a system here that would destroy this passageway on cue after I isolate it.

"Which means?"

"Which means you should go and start getting your magic to work, I don't know about you but your techniques and new chemical reactions are on point!" Fily said with a big smile as if trying to cheer Petunia up.

"Okay, how many people do you think I need to trap so we could destroy them along with the Lightsum?"

"Maybe a hundred or so…"

"A hundred?!-" Petunia exclaimed but was suddenly interrupted when a message from Venedette flashed on their Stat-hut screens.

[Venedette: Comms up.] she simply said which ignited Fily and Petunia's drive to work harder and more seriously.

[Fily: Here's the map of the tunnels.] Fily said and sent her an image of the drawing that she managed to create in her mind using the footage from these guys and Crone walking around the whole tunnel system.

[Venedette: Okay, good gob. I'll send some more people to these locations.] Venedette said and was immediately followed by another message of hers, saying;

[Venedette: But please hurry up, the sun is almost setting and I need you guys here to complete the Painting.]

[Fily: Roger that.] Fily said and remembered the codename they decided to use in the final step of their operation Paint the picture a.k.a. Painting.

"How are we going to finish all of these in time?" Petunia said while worrying about the deteriorating amount of potion supply she had left inside her Gummy stash.

"We can do it, just believe in yourself," Fily said optimistically while kicking the four sleeping goons out of her way.

"I hear footsteps." Petunia suddenly whispered not long after Fily started working on her isolation task.

"Of course," Fily said and exhaled in distress after remembering her wicked brother's influence, "Let's finish this, once and for all."