User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: Missing Linc (Chapter 16)

Chapter 16: Logic Chess: Polly Pain
“Signal! Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, this time Roberts gets the ball! Hike~!”

As ridiculous as Lucy’s plan is, I have to say it’s actually working. At least a little bit. I mean, yeah, we’re still getting our keisters handed to us, but I could see the confusion in the Hockers’ faces whenever we lined up. Hank and Hawk in particular started making more aggressive plays, trying to sack me every chance they got. If I were to guess, I think they’re mad that I’m not just rolling over for them like they wanted. Well, tough patooties. I’m not playing their game anymore.

At halftime, the score was 17 to 3 in the Hockers’ favor. I’m not really happy with that, but it could’ve been a lot worse. While the rest of the Roosters headed off to the locker room, Lucy took me aside.

“Where do you think you’re going, Loud?” the coach asked.

“Um, Lucy’s gotta take a leak,” I said hastily. “You said she was my responsibility, so…”

After a pause, the coach sighed. “Alright. But be quick about it.”

Phew~. Okay, one less thing to worry about. Time to go see why Polly wanted to see us.

Sure enough, Polly was waiting for us behind the bleachers. Right away, I knew something was up. Normally, Polly is a pretty tough cookie. She has to be, being the roller derby star she is. But looking at her now, she’s as white as a sheet and trembling all over. What’s gotten her so spooked? I approached her carefully.

“Hey, Pol,” I said.

Polly jumped and squeaked. “O-oh! It’s just you, Lynn,” she panted. “I-I mean, of course it’s you. I-I’m the one who told you to come here. Heh heh…”

I gave Polly a look. “Hey, are you okay?”

“F-fine! Absolutely fine!” Polly said. “Um, weird question, but you weren’t followed, were you?”

Hmm. That is a weird question. Why would she be worried about that? Lucy and I are the only ones who got her note. Just to be sure, I checked behind me. Huh. That’s strange. Lucy should be right—

“No one followed us. I made sure of it.”

Gah~! Jeez laweeze, try to be more sensitive Luce! Polly’s scared enough as it is! I don’t know why she’s scared, but even so! Predictably, Polly jumped in shock and let out a shriek. Afterwards, she covered her mouth with her hands and looked around nervously.

“O-oh breadballs, oh breadballs,” she whimpered. “S-someone must’ve heard that.”

We waited a few seconds, but all we heard was the crowd. No one was coming for us. I sighed and walked up to Polly.

“Look, I’m sorry about Lucy. You know how she is,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “But listen, Pol. We’re not gonna let anything bad happen to you. Now, what’s all this about?”

Polly looked away from me. “I-I can’t say.”

You can’t sa—? You’re the one who called us here! Nngh, keep a cool head, Lynn. This isn’t her fault. But I can’t help her if she won’t tell me what’s wrong, and I certainly don’t wanna beat the truth outta her. I think I’m gonna need to change tactics.

People often say that because I’m so focused on being athletic, I don’t have a lot going on in the brain department. First of all, that’s just rude. And second, I might not be as smart as Lisa, but I’m not a complete doofus. In fact, I’m the only person I know who has ever beaten Lisa at one of the smartest games out there: Chess. So maybe if I start thinking of this like a chess match with arguments as my pieces, I can get to the bottom of this.

I’ll start by trying to figure out why she’s acting so paranoid. This really isn’t like her, so whatever it is, it has to be something big. Alright, game on!

“While I was taking a breather, Lucy got pelted by this note,” I said, showing her the paper football. “You’re the one who wrote it, right?”

“Y-yeah, that’s my note,” said Polly. “I’m sorry, but it was the only way to get your attention.”

I guess I can’t fault her there. It wasn’t like she could just walk up to me and tell me in person while we’re in the middle of a game. Better see what she has to say next.

“You’re sure no one else saw that note, right?” said Polly.

“I promise. Lucy and I are the only ones who know about it,” I said. “Your secret’s safe with us, Pol.”

Polly sighed. “I really want to believe you, but I-I can’t take any chances.”

Whoa. I would never expect to hear that come out of the mouth of Polly Pain. I think she knows that, too. Should I press her on it? Might as well try.

“Polly, this isn’t like you,” I said. “You were never the Nervous Nelly type, yet here you are, shaking in your boots. Wouldn’t it be easier to just tell us what’s wrong?”

Polly’s breath hitched, and sweat poured from her brow. “I-I don’t know how you do it, Lynn. I-I wanna be brave like you, b-but I-I…”

What? Why is she getting more freaked out?! Dang it, did I push her too hard? Okay, think, Lynn. You need to say something to calm her down. But what?

…

Wait. She said she wanted to be brave like me, right? Well, that makes things easier. It’s not gonna do my pride any favors, but screw it. She needs to hear this. Okay, here goes nothing.

“Trust me, Polly. I’m just as scared at you are right now,” I said. “And I’ll be honest: if it wasn’t for Lucy pulling me together, I’d still be a mess. I’m not invincible, and neither are you. I let Lucy support me, so there’s no shame in letting us support you. You just have to be open with us, okay?”

Polly sniffled and shook her head. “Lynn, you have to understand. If they find out what I did, they’re not gonna be happy.”

They? Is someone after Polly? I’d better not interrupt.

“I’ve been spending the whole game worried that they tipped off the Hockers,” said Polly. “They still might’ve, now that I think about it. I-I can’t stand up to those guys, Lynn! They’re monsters!”

…

I mean, she’s not wrong. Those Hockers are pretty jacked, and there’s not much an eleven-year-old girl can do against them, no matter how tough she is. But now that I’m thinking about it, she nailed us with that paper football note while we were getting out of the locker room, didn’t she? I need to make sure we’re on the same page here.

“Polly, were you watching me and Lucy during that timeout?” I asked.

Polly nodded.

“So you know that we’re investigating something.”

Polly gulped. “Y-yes.”

I nodded. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I know what’s gotten you so on-edge. As it so happens, we found the Royal Woods Roosters’ signals inside Hockers’ locker room. But the coach said that they were under lock and key, and no one could’ve stolen them. But you know who did it, don’t you?”

Polly squeaked and jumped. “Shh~! N-not so loud! If the Hockers know I told you this, they’re gonna turn me into a human pretzel!”

Looks like I’m on the right track. I gave Polly a smirk.

“Let them try,” I said, pounding my fist into my palm. “I’m not letting anyone else I care about get hurt today.”

“Nor will I,” added Lucy.

Polly took a moment to collect herself. “O-okay. I’ll tell you everything I know. But remember, you didn’t hear this from me.”

“Fair enough,” I said. Alright, time to figure out who stole the signals. I know Polly said she’d cooperate, but I’m not sure she’s confident enough to just tell us outright. Well, if I have to play this guessing game to get to the truth, so be it.

“Let’s start with something basic,” I said. “When did you learn about this?”

“Yesterday while I was on my way home from roller derby practice,” said Polly. “I heard a couple of kids call out to me, so I went over to see what they wanted.”

That already sounds suspicious. “Did you know these kids?”

“Yeah. Well, kinda,” said Polly sheepishly. “I knew they were old friends of Rust Bucket.”

“Rust Bucket?”

“R-Rusty Spokes,” Polly clarified, blushing a little. “We met at the Sadie Hawkins dance.”

Oh, right~! That whole thing. Huh. Who’d’ve thunk it? Rusty Spokes, the try-hard Ladies’ Man, managed to get himself a girlfriend. I should ask Polly more about that later, but for now, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.

“So, these were old friends of Rusty’s. That’s why you went with them?” I said.

“Yeah,” said Polly. She hung her head. “It was dumb of me to do that, though. I don’t know how Rust Bucket was friends with such jerks.”

Hmm. That probably rules out any of Lincoln’s friends. But who could Polly be talking about? Better wait and see if she has to say more.

“They said they needed protection from someone,” Polly continued. “When I asked why, they told me it was none of my business.”

I scoffed. “Well, if they wanted your help, that was the wrong way to ask for it.”

“I know, right?” said Polly. “I tried to leave, but they chased me down.”

Chased her down? That doesn’t sound right. Polly usually skates home after roller derby practice. It would’ve been hard to keep up with her. Unless…

“I’m just taking a stab in the dark, but were they riding bikes?” I asked.

Polly blinked. “Y-yeah. How’d you know?”

“Because I think I might know those guys,” I said. “You might not know about this, but Lincoln once swiped my BMX bike to get in with this biker gang. One of those bikers happened to be Rusty Spokes.”

“That means the boys who accosted Polly must’ve been the other two bikers,” Lucy mused.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, Luce,” I said, turning back to Polly. “Well?”

Polly nodded. “Yeah, that was them. They called themselves Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire.”

Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.

“So after they chased you down, what happened?” I asked.

“It was really weird,” said Polly. “They kept saying they had these connections, and that I was crazy to refuse their offer. Something about getting into a movie.”

“You mean like sneaking into some R-rated flick?”

“No, I mean like actually being in a movie. Of course, I wasn’t buying it.”

I wouldn’t, either. It’s been a while since I rode with those guys, but I know for a fact that Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire shouldn’t have those kinds of a connections.

“What kind of movie was it?” I asked.

“An Ace Savvy movie, I think,” said Polly. “I’m not really into that stuff, but I heard some rumors about it at school.”  She then perked up. “Actually, now that I think about it, Lincoln’s name came up a lot.”

…

Hang on, time out. We found the Roosters’ signals inside an Ace Savvy comic. Not just any Ace Savvy comic, but a Full House Gang comic. It couldn’t be, could it?

“About this movie rumor,” I said. “It wouldn’t happen to be based off of the Full House Gang, would it?”

Polly stared at me. “That’s right, actually. Did Lincoln tell you?”

“Um, no, actually,” I said sheepishly. “See, that’s part of why I’m so bent outta shape. I’d rather not get into it right now.”

Polly knitted her brow. “Hmm. Rusty did mention he was worried about Lincoln last night.”

I’ve got a feeling that’s gonna be important later. Let’s get back to the main plot.

“So, what happened after the bribery didn’t work?” I asked.

Polly huffed. “They started to get really annoying. It’s like they couldn’t take a hint. Eventually, I got so fed up that I decked that Flat Tire jerk in the face. When he fell off his bike, I saw something fall out of his pocket.”

“And some mysterious force compelled you to pick it up?” asked Lucy.

Polly pouted. “I was gonna give it back to ‘em. It’s not like it was any of my business. But when I tried to pick it up, that Papa Wheelie punk tried to run me down with his bike! He rode so fast that something fell out of his pocket. And when I saw what it was, I knew that I had to do something.”

Hmm. Given all the information we got so far, I think I see where this is going.

“That thing you saw. It was our signals, wasn’t it?”

Polly swallowed. “Y-yeah. Listen, you didn’t hear this from me, okay?”

And that’s checkmate. Good game, Pol. Now it’s time to figure out what all this means.

“Relax. Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” I assured her. “But now we know for a fact that the ones who stole the signals are none other than Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire.”

“But why would they do such a thing?” asked Lucy.

“This note explains it,” said Polly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a letter. “I couldn’t get to the signals in time, but while Papa Wheelie was turning around, I swapped out this note for a bit of scrap paper in my pocket and just booked it. I told Rusty everything, and he said he’d talk to them.”

“And?”

Polly sighed. “He called me late last night. He said that I had to get this note to you, and that he’d deal with his former friends. He sounded really mad.”

I took the note from Polly and read it over.

''Want a part in the new Full House Gang movie? Get us the Royal Woods Roosters’ signals, and I’ll see what I can do. Here’s the key.''

…

Those rotten little punks. They sold out the Roosters for a bit part in a comic book movie?! I wish they were here so I could throttle ‘em right now!

“Lynn, you’re going to tear up the evidence.”

O-oh. Right. Man, I’m so glad Lucy’s here right now. I don’t think I’d be able to get myself under control without her.

“Th-thanks for doing this, Pol,” I said, pocketing the note. “Now we can expose those cheaters.”

“Perhaps. But it might not be enough,” Lucy mused. “Unless…”

I gave her a look. “Unless what?”

Lucy let out a meditative hum. “The spirits say there is a connection. To find out what that connection is, we must confront those who are truly guilty.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You mean Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire? But they aren’t here.”

“No. They aren’t,” said Lucy. “But Hank and Hawk are.”

…

Yeah, that’s right. They still have a lot to answer for, and I’m not just talking about the cheating. They also know about Lincoln going missing, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they used a Full House Gang comic to hide our signals. There’s only one thing to do now.

I checked the field. The halftime show was still going on. I sighed. This… is gonna be really stupid.

“Lynn.”

I shook my head. “Don’t hold me back, Luce. There’s no other w—”

I stopped short when Lucy tugged on my sleeve. I turned and saw her giving me a small smile. She nodded.

“Let’s deal out some justice, Strong Suit.”

I smiled back. “Game on, Eight of Spades.”

We walked up to the ref, who was busy watching the festivities. Lucy cleared her throat.

“Excuse me.”

Predictably, the ref jumped at her sudden appearance. In his shock, he accidentally dropped his whistle. I snatched it up before it hit the ground and blew into it with all my might.

“Hank and Hawk, I’m calling you out~!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs.

Several things happened at once. People murmured in the stands; the ref snatched the whistle from me trying to regain order; the coach marched out of the locker room and made a beeline towards me.

“What’s all this, Loud?!” he barked. “Are you trying to get us disqualified?!”

“We’re not the ones who need to be disqualified, coach,” I said darkly. I looked over to the Hockers’ locker room, waiting for Hank and Hawk to appear. “It’s time we expose those cheaters for what they really are…"

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