Series of Unfortunate Events One-shots, What-ifs, and Drabbles

What if? Book the Sixth

Yo, it's NBQueen. Yeah, so this chapter pretty much had me stumped. See, 'Gunther' and Esme's scheme wasn't to get the Baudelaires under their control- they already had the three children. To the best of my knowledge, the scheme was to kidnap the Quagmires for their sapphires. And you know what? It kind of worked. So... IDK what to do here. This is the best thing that I could come up with- the Baudelaires are prepared the first time they go down the elevator shaft. What happens next... well, even I don't know how this will turn out.

The three Baudelaire children stared at the two elevator doors. "Violet," Klaus said. "None of the other floors have two elevators. I think this one must be ersatz."

"Erwha?" Sunny asked.

Violet also looked curiously at her brother. "Klaus, what does ersatz mean?"

"It's a German word," Klaus responded. "It means 'fake.' I read about it in Esme's library. German words were very in once."

"Enyi!" Sunny shrieked. Enyi meant something along the lines of, 'Our friends might be trapped down there!'

"Good thinking, Sunny!" said Violet, who was tying her hair up in a ribbon to help her think. "And Olaf might move them at any moment. We should find some sort of rope, and we should bring bolt cutters if we can find them."

"Violet, Esme said that tools are out," Klaus reminded his sister. "I don't think she'll have them lying around.'

"Klaus, you're right." Then, suddenly, Violet's eyes lit up. "I have an idea. Klaus, find as many long metal objects as possible." Klaus went to do as his sister asked. Violet turned to Sunny. "Sunny, can you find some rope-like things that we can tie together?" Sunny nodded her head. "Alright, I'll find some heat sources. See you all soon."

An hour later, Violet had made welding torches. "For light," she explained. "And to melt things if we need to. If the Quagmires are being held in a net, Sunny can chew through it. And Klaus, you've finished tying those neckties together?" Klaus nodded his assent.

An hour after that, they were staring a cage that held their two best friends, Isadora and Duncan Quagmire.

"Violet, Klaus, Sunny!" Isadora said. "You found us!"

"Yes, and we're going to get you two out of there," said Violet. "Klaus, Sunny, you two have your torches, right? Let's melt this."

"Isadora, Duncan,  don't get close! It's hot," Klaus warned.

Soon after, there was a hole in the bars of the cage large enough for the two remaining triplets to crawl out of. The two disheveled children made their way quickly out of the cage and to the Baudelaires.

"Violet, Klaus, Sunny," said Duncan, "Olaf had us trapped in there. He was going to put us into one of the lots of the auction and whisk us away."

"He said he was working with a woman named Esme," Isadora said. "Do you three know her? I'd imagine she's dangerous."

"Esme?" Klaus asked. "Esme Squalor?"

Isadora looked at Duncan. "I don't know. He just said, 'Esme lives in the building this elevator shaft goes to, so don't even think about trying to escape.' He didn't say a thing about her last name."

Klaus's jaw dropped, as did his sisters'.

"Varrier!" Sunny shrieked. 

"My sister means," Violet said, "That Esme is our latest guardian. So she is in cahoots with Olaf."

"So where do we go from here?" Duncan asked.

"We run," Isadora answered.

"Oh, will you?" The five children turned and gasped. It was the bald man with the long nose. "So the three bratty orphans came to save the sapphire twins."

"We're triplets! Just because our brother died, doesn't mean we're not triplets!" Isadora said scornfully.

"Oh? Well, be careful, little girl, or you'll end up being an only child," threatened the villain. "Boss sent me down here to collect our two little gems, but he'll be even happier if I bring him the orphans as well."

So again, this kind of wrote itself. I just sat down at my computer and started typing things, and then the story took hold. If you don't like it, I can try to fix it.