“Boi, I don’t know whether ta make ya a permanent resident in da cooler, or brickin’ force dem brick-headed Runners ta accept ya.” Ben shook his head slowly.
“For the record, I vote for the latter.” I raised a hand.
We were inside the courtroom, doling out justice to me. I still had no idea what I was doing here, and why I was on trial again. And who all the other people up on the benches were.
“Hey, don’t call us brick-heads, ya hombre!” LEGO stood up and shook his sombrero at Ben. “And we’ll doing da choosing, not ya!”
“Oh, clam up, boi.” Ben rolled his eyes.
“Don’t make me throw this thing, señor.” LEGO hefted his sombrero warningly.
Ben stared at him, bored. “C’mon Hulk, da yar worst.”
Hulk. That rang a bell! “Hulk?”
“Huh?” Ben and LEGO turned to me.
“What’s the Hulk?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
“No idea, it’s just a brickin’ expression, boi.” Ben said.
“Which ya probably made up.” LEGO grumbled.
“No, Hulk is a rage monster who looks like a spinach commercial.” I said matter-of-factly.
Ben literally fell off his chair, and cowered behind his desk. “He….he…the boi…the avvie….he remembers!”
A widespread gasp. It felt like the whole room had taken off their hats to me, and at the same time, built up a wall in between me and them just to make sure I wasn’t volatile.
“Something happened during that bit…guys…I do remember.” I announced triumphantly, just now remembering this.
“TOSS DA BOI IN DA COOLER!” Ben yelled.
“What?” I screamed, my voice coming out two octaves higher than normal. “What’d I do wrong?”
“Ya fraternized with da said enemy, and now ya remember!” Ben shook his head as I was dragged out of the room. “This whole place is fallin’ away to brickers.”
One of my favorite- No, my favorite line in the story so far has been said.
"Hulk is a rage monster who looks like a spinach commercial."
Also, "TOSS DA BOI IN DA COOLER!" is good too.
Also also, if your voice comes out two octaves higher than usual, it would probably crack horrendously and plummet back to earth.
I sat inside the Cooler again, wishing I had thought to put on a coat before my trial. I shivered once. What was I doing here? What was wrong with remembering? Did they not want to know their past? Their heritage? Why we were here? I didn’t really have the answers to any of their questions, but I had the beginnings of an answer, at least.
The door creaked open, and a user slipped in. It was Shamrock. And he was carrying what looked a bit like a baseball bat.
I pointed at it. “What’s that?”
“Bricker bonker.” He waved it. “Don’t try nothin’”
I just blinked. “What’s with all this special treatment? I didn’t evolve into a monster, did I?”
Shamrock shrugged. “Yet ta be seen, avvie.”
“Explain, or I might just try something.” I warned.
“Well, that’s what I’m in har for, so let’s get down ta it.” He settled down across me, on a hunk of ice. “I’m gonna tell ya a tale, Know-Rank.”
“Goodie.” I rolled my eyes. “Just what I need, a bedtime story.”
“Shut up, or I’ll leave ya in here clueless.” He continued on, without waiting for my assent. “It was a bright, sunny morn dat we found Skul on da doorstep. The gates had just opened, and LEGO and Grubbs had just been about ta dash out and go dah whatever it is Runners dah. Ben was with ‘em to see ‘em off, probably ta annoy ‘em more than anything else…wave a pink handkerchief and all dat rot. Skul was there, though, head cocked ta da side, sweat dripping off him. His eyes were oddly tinted, and he was stooped. Ben took a step towards him, prepared ta catch him, he was swaying and staggering.”
“And then he leapt at Ben. We tore him off, but not before he had scratched up Ben something awful. He just kept repeating different phrases, totally foreign ta us, and screaming. We kept him at bay all day, and then tossed him back into da Galleries at the end of da day, holding him outside the gates with poles. We didn’t know what else ta da with him.”
I shifted. “What’s all this got do with me?”
“He had gotten stung. So had ya. Ya both remembered stuff. Ya both were devilishly handsome. Go figure.”
That last bit threw me off, but I thought I was getting the drift. “So, you consider me a volatile bricker who’s frankly barely hanging onto his rocker?”
“That would be the reason for da bricker bonker, now wouldn’t it.” Shamrock slapped his hands on his knees. “Avvie, it’s cold in here!”
I raised an eyebrow. “I call it home. The AC works great, the heat less so.”
“AC?”
I just groaned. “So what do I gotta do to get out? Pass a sanity test?”
“I’ll bring it up with Ben, you’re seeming pretty lucid.” Shamrock stood up. “I’m sorry, avvie, but until we know for positive…this is best for all of us.”
“Get me a coat and I might forgive ya.” I dead-panned.
