Long Live L'Manberg

Chapter 53: Terms and Conditions May Apply

Returning to the topic at hand, Schlatt ran his thumb through the thick stack of papers, his face contorting response. "You expect me to read all of this shit?"

Letting out an annoyed groan, Quackity began to repeatedly tap his foot along the floor, impatience getting the better of him. "Just sign it and get it over with, man. It's that easy, no reason to complain." Quackity felt his throat tighten as he began to rethink his words. Appearing too eager could jeopardize everything. Schlatt may be careless, but he was certainly no idiot.

Raising a brow, Schlatt shot an icy glare at Quackity as he flipped to the first page of the contract. "You're being oddly persistent."

Unbeknownst to Schlatt, Tommy had tailed Quackity shortly after he had left Pogtopia, soon to be followed by Wilbur. Hidden behind the stage, he practically held his breath at every moment of silence. It was difficult to hear anything, but he knew the moment Quackity came running off that stage was his signal to attack.

Their conversation came to a brief halt as Schlatt thumbed through each of the papers, seemingly getting bored around the first few pages. Quackity was about to let out a subdued sigh of relief before he noticed Schlatt became eerily rigid, his eyes narrowing at one specific section in the contract. "Quackity," he asked dauntingly, "what the fuck is this?"

Quackity felt his hands go clammy with sweat, his throat clenching as he imagined all the ways Schlatt would end his life the moment he found out about their little coup d'état. "What's wrong..?" he asked with a quavering voice. Examining his reaction, Schlatt frowned to himself as he continued to finger through the paperwork.

"You have a spelling error," he grumbled. "Page five."

"Oh," Quackity sighed, a chuckle of relief slipping out from his careless lips. "You know, the sooner you sign it, the sooner you can kick me out for good!" Quackity kid, his sore attempt at a joke earning another period of excruciating silence out of the both of them. To his surprise, Schlatt slipped the contract under his arm, an uncanny smile creeping across his face. "You know," he exhaled with a slight laugh. "I found the strangest thing the other day on my morning walk."

Slightly astray, Quackity's brows snapped together as he tried to piece together what exactly this had to do with his resignation. He knew he couldn't push it, so for once, he decided to play Schlatt's game. "When the hell did you start taking morning walks?" Cutting to the chase sooner than usual, Schlatt took a threatening step toward Quackity. Despite the frigid windchill, the room seemed oddly colder than it was before.

"Alex, I found explosives rigged underneath the podium."

Shit.

Quackity's eyes widened, fear completely paralyzing him as he stood in complete shock. He felt that sickening feeling stab at his gut as he realized he was cornered. There was no proper way to explain this without revealing his alliance with Pogtopia, the only logical option being to take the fall or play coy. White as a ghost, Quackity's heart pounded in his throat as he fought to muster up a response that could be his saving grace.

"I...I have no idea what you're talking about," he gulped, his eyes darting around to locate Tommy. This time around it was easier to confront Schlatt since he was wholeheartedly telling the truth- he didn't plant those explosives. The difficult part would be explaining who did.

"Oh, really?!" Schlatt thundered, not buying Quackity's lack of involvement in such a targeted scheme. "Cause I think it's really funny that I find explosives rigged all across Manberg right after our little breakup!" Quackity took a step backward, totally thrown off by Schlatt's incredulous accusation. "Woah, breakup?!" he repeated in shock.