1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

okay, now i'm scared. i've become so bored

this week, i decided to start a new story… unfortunately, it's a

sequel to one i wrote back in june, when i first started posting in

here. well, okay, maybe it's not unfortunate, it depends on how you

see it, but forget that…

this is the sequel to swamp tour around the

pond, which you should know already unless to closed your eyes and

clicked a random link.

i've sort of wanted to do another stap for a

long time… but i held off, 'cause i didn't know what to make it

about. but then, i randomly combined a few different ideas, and ended

up with a sequel-in-progress. unlike the original, this will be

longer and divided into chapters. also unlike the first one, this

story goes beyond just the pond… that rhymed…and if you're

wondering what's up with the title, it's a play on 'deus ex

machina', and it'll start to make sense later on in the story.

this one takes place in my hometown, not too

far from where i live now on the mountain. people there are extremely

polite, and apparently like to talk to me when i'm on the li

ary's

computer… anywho, there's a pond next to the li

ary, and just

beyond that is the old nursing home, which is right next to what is

now the nursing home (getting confused yet?). welcome to our setting.

well, prepare yourselves, because like

everything else i write, this is crazy. plus it was devised out of

extreme boredom.

-------------------

swamp tour

around the pond 2: frog in the machine

by burning

idges

it was a beautiful day

in the town 20 minutes away from the mountain. the traffic was

medium, the blue ribbon (that's a restaurant) was packed as usual,

and over at the vegetable stand, some people were having a tomato

fight. but none of that really matters.

in the swampy part of

the nearby lake, ten slime-covered tourists that had been scared

nearly senseless, were slowly and unsteadily walking away from an

algae-caked blue truck that had been driven by our three heroes.

"uh… thanks for

going on the um

ella biohazard countermeasure service's nature

tour… come back again? … if you're not mentally scarred…"

carlos trailed off, watching them until they got to the road, and

then turning to mikhail. "maybe we should quit doing these things…"

"if nicholai enjoys

these things as much as i think he does, forget about it. we'll be

doing this forever…"

they both shuddered at

the thought, just in time for nicholai to come out of nowhere.

"i just found out

there's a pond not far from here, right next to a li

ary!" he

said happily.

"… and?" mikhail

asked.

"get the tourists

back in the truck, because that's where we're going next," he

replied with a smile as he went back over and got in the driver's

side.

his two companions

exchanged uneasy looks and jogged after the tourists that were now

hiking down the road. when they caught up, the ten people didn't

make an effort to stop.

"sorry to bother you,

but the tour's not quite over yet," carlos said, and one of the

tourists, a man in what seemed to have once been expensive leather

now soaked through with swamp scum, gave him a dirty look.

"leave us alone."

"well, fine then. be

that way," mikhail said, and all of a sudden the truck came

careening out of the swamp and did a 360 before coming to a

screeching halt in the middle of the road.

nicholai got out, still

smiling, and greeted the tourists cheerfully. "hi again! are you

all ready to see some more nature?"

the tourists

collectively shook their heads, some muttering about how much they

never wanted to see the trio again, and others just muttering a lot

of expletives.

"i'll take that as

a 'no'," he said, apparently not bothered by it since he still

seemed overly happy, "except if you don't change your minds…"

he pulled out a shotgun

and pointed it at carlos' head.

"i'll blow his head

off."

the tourists all

gasped, and carlos just gave nicholai a funny look.

"why me?"

"because you're too

nice."

"how can you be too

nice?" mikhail piped up.

"okay, okay. i'll

shoot something else… how about that tree?"

he randomly shot a

tree, and to everyone's surprise a black bear fell out of it,

landing head-first on the ground.

"i don't like the

looks of this…" carlos said as the bear got up.

it looked at them, and

then growled loudly.

"so what? it's just

a bear. here, i'll shoot it - "

"would you just quit

with shooting stuff all the time?" mikhail said, and nicholai shook

his head.

"never."

"um… maybe we

should leave…" carlos said loudly, and they looked over to see

the bear coming closer, bearing its teeth and drooling a monsoon all

over the road.

"okay, everyone in

the truck," nicholai said enthusiastically, and the tourists were

in back of the truck in record time.

"get going!" carlos

shouted at nicholai who was now starting the truck.

"hm… should i put

on the rap station or lite fm?" he asked himself, turning the key

in the ignition slowly.

"can't it wait?

that bear's going to kill someone," mikhail said, getting in the

passenger side.

"this is a really

important decision. it can't just wait."

in the back of the

truck, carlos was making sure everyone was in the truck.

"are we missing

anyone? no? great," he said, going to close the door, when the bear

popped up and roared in his face, covering him in saliva.

"nicholai!"

"rock 'n roll it

is!" nicholai said gleefully, hitting the gas without warning.

carlos went head first

into the bear, knocking it backwards as they began to speed down the

highway, and he just barely managed to sit back up.

"ouch… that bear's

head was as hard as a rock…"

the blue truck drove

along at 70mph, narrowly missing trees and other cars, occasionally

hitting a traffic sign or two. they knew they were close when rolling

green hills started to pass them faster than they could even make