Chapter 5: Imminent Danger

Ilona and Dixie were both at the table, Dixie was eating his cereal, and Ilona drawing. A knock at the door prompted Ilona to set down her sketch book and open the door. On the other side she finds Romney, leaning by the door and looking down.

"Romney? What the hel- what? What are you doing here?" Ilona's confusion is palpable

"I'm being hunted down by the bastards who tried to recruit Dixie, called the Shadow Company" Romney replied.

"THEN WHAT… Then what are you doing here? You're bringing the danger here you fool…" Ilona said, quite upset.

"That's the thing, you were already in danger before I got here…"

"How do you know that?" Ilona questioned, shocked

"Well…"

It appeared that shortly after Romney recovered from his wounds, he hunted down the guy who betrayed him, 696. He went straight to Caverna Mall. There we find 696, a milkshake in one and, and the other arm wrapped around a girl, they both seem happy, laughing as they talked, they're dating probably. He then stopped when he sees a familiar face. Romney. He got cold feet, and he told his girlfriend that "He'll be right back" and quickly ran away. He made the mistake of trying to hide in the restroom, in the stall. Suddenly his stall door was kicked open, Romney was on the other side, smiling maliciously.

"Taking a good shit, now are we?" Romney said before yanking 696 from the toilet seat and throwing him full force to a wall.

696 hits the floor, hard, and was picked up and pinned to the wall by his shirt.

"Why did you snitch on me… why? I want answers bitch-boy…"

"I- I needed to explain why my partner was dead… please… they would've killed me if I lied…"
"I killed three of your goddam friends earlier, and I'll do it again. Now tell me, are there going to be more of them?"
"No… no that- YES. THERES MORE OF THEM!" he yelled as Romney grabbed Ferno, Ferno lit himself like a match and burned into 696's leg. "There is a 20 Million Coin Bounty on your head, and all of Shadow Company is after you…"

"Are there any other persons of interest connected to my bounty?"

"Ye- yeah… The kid, ummm Dixie… and some chick named… Ilona"

That's all that Romney needed to hear. He let go of his shirt, and 696 became relieved. Then Romney put both of his hands on 696's shoulders, and looked at him with cold, dead, infuriated eyes. 696 knew what was going to come next. He began breathing heavily and was on the verge of tears.

"No. PLEASE I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND" 696 yelled.

Romney then grabbed him by the arm and neck and smashed his face on the sink. The horrible crunching sounds caused a flashback to when Romney was in the war, beating the ASLA soldier to death with the rock. He smashed 696's face on the sink 4-5 times. He let him go after the fifth strike. He didn't even look at 696's dead body. He just looks at himself in the mirror.

Cut back to the present day. Ilona is shocked at the brutality that Romney committed against 696. Romney didn't pay attention, instead, he pulls out a handheld blaster, and throws it to Ilona. Ilona catches it.

"Romney, I'm not a slug slinger… I'm an artist…" Ilona said

"You collect a shit ton of slugs; you should have one crawling around here" Romney said looking around.

"I do, but I only use them so I can draw them, and then I release them…" she grabs her sketch book. "Look!"

She opens it to show a drawing of a Frightgeist and a Flatulorhinkus.

"Cute…" Romney said, genuinely impressed by the drawing, but not showing it.

He hears something, strange, like something scraping on the floor. He looks behind a table, and he sees a bowl, overturned and moving on the floor. He grabs the bowl, revealing a Hop-Rock under it. The Hop-Rock looks up at Romney.

"Hey pal, sorry for startling you, my friend here is in kind of a pinch…"

The Hop-Rock thinks for a second, shrugs and hops into a Pod, accepting Romney, and, in essence, Ilona.

"Alright Ilona, let's go, be for the-"

Three explosions rock Ilona's residence. Dixie falls off his chair, and Ilona hits the deck. Romney thought face. Grabbed Dixie and picked up Ilona and they quickly left the house. Once they left the house, they look up to find the Roof collapsing, and Grenukes hopping away.

"My house…" Ilona said sadly…

"There's no time Ilona we need to go…" Romney said

Then 3 Rammstones velocimorphed, head towards the trio. Romney fired Ferno, and Joy Buzzer, both defeating all three Rammstones. Then a Hop-Rock flew towards them in ridiculous speed. Romney didn't have time to fire another slug, instead, he shoved Dixie and Ilona, and braced for impact. The shock force of the nearby Hop-Rock knocked him down a trench, a really deep one too. He landed on a soft mushroom, which broke his fall.

"Romney!" a concerned sounding Ilona says from above the trench.

"Ugh, I'm fine! Go run, I'll catch up to you I promise" he yells up to Ilona.

She nods, grabs Dixie's hand and books it. Leaving Romney alone.