Home is A Place with Mushrooms

Also, for some reason, a ton of those mushrooms can talk

Disgusting. All of this place, disgusting. These walls, these people, this very air is disgusting. If I ever find him, I'll tear him apart. No more mercy for that ingrate. His insolence, his games, have gone on for far too long. To think that, somehow, he convinced my beautiful Princess to ever play along with his fantasies, when, with me, she can be a Queen. And to think that he and I used to be friends. I was foolish to ever trust that maniac, and now, I'm paying the price. That worthless man will pay if ever I break free from this prison…

"Come on, M. You've been up for three nights. It's time to give up. That signal was a fluke." L looked at his older (but shorter) brother, concern in his eyes, fear in his voice.

"No, we have to keep looking." The bags under M's eyes were dark. "We have to finish this. This whole thing has gone on for too long."

"M, when are you going to quit? We've been searching for months. Who knows what could have happened in that time? If he's not dead, he's got to be close. P, she misses you. And you're forgetting that I have a wife I want to go back home to, too. I didn't ever want this, M. I wanted to raise a family."

"You want to leave? The door's right there. I don't need you. This has always been my mission, my job. There's plenty of fuel in your car to get you to the port." M's eyes didn't leave the screen once as he spoke, scrutinizing every piece of data for something, anything, that might lead him to his quarry.

"M, come on. You're better than this. It's petty."

"Petty?! You're going to say that our life's work for the last 35 years has been petty?! Leave. Just. Leave."

"M, that's not how I meant —"

"It's not what you meant, L, it's what you said. Just, go. Besides, I think… I've… got him."

"What?! No, you have to be kidding me."

"Read it and weep, L." M spun his chair around to look at his gangly brother, and slid over so L could get closer to the screen, a smug grin on M's face.

"Holy shit, M. We found him. We found him!" L nearly leaped for joy, but as he looked at the readings on the screen, he stopped. "Oh God. They have him? M, we… can't… We can't leave him with those sadistic motherfuckers. We have to get him out."

"After all he's done?! L, what's wrong with you? First, you want to bail on me, then you want to undo all of our work?" M's exhaustion was not enough to overcome his fury, as he stared in confused frustration at his brother.

"No, M, look. He's paid enough." L moved back away from the screen so that M could resume his place at the console.

"They… they did… They did that to him? And he survived? I always knew he was tough, but Christ." M's rage was quickly overrun by his shock, and his pity.

"Keep reading."

As M followed the instruction, the full horror of what had plagued their quarry was slowly revealed to him. "Fuck. We have to get him out of there, L."

"He's made it this long. Get some rest, and I'll get Y and all our equipment ready. Tomorrow morning, we'll make a plan and see what we can do to bust him out."

"Yeah, yeah, ok." M slowly stood up from the console for the first time in nearly ten hours, and slowly stumbled to bed for a few hours of uneasy rest as his brother began to make preparations. The next day, thirty years of conflict would finally be resolved…

B could tell when an escape attempt, what his captors called a "Containment Breach," was underway. The thick doors and walls did not completely mute the sound of klaxons (and occasionally, screams) to B's fine-tuned ears, nor did the corrosive solution he was usually suspended in. And the sound of a containment breach was a good sound, because it meant a possible route of escape for himself. On more than one occasion, he'd broken their flimsy walls and had killed many of them, releasing (or killing; it made no difference to him) his fellow prisoners in the process. What excited B most was the feeling of vibrations that shook his deep dungeon, because that indicated the use of explosives. Explosives meant desperation, and desperation on his captors' part meant opportunity.

Of course, he had had better luck attempting escape when his captors were (foolishly) trying to kill him. Just as before he'd been contained, B did best when at death's door. Something about this place had made him more able to adapt than ever, despite being at a far greater disadvantage here than he'd ever been in in his battles against that traitorous lout. So let them drain the acid away, let them try to kill him. He would just make them pay, as he continued to prepare himself for the day he would finally get his revenge on M.

Little did B know that M would be his liberator…

"You ready, L?" M was patting himself down, making sure he was properly equipped, marking off a mental checklist of everything he could possibly need for this. Y panted restlessly beneath him.

"Yeah, bro. I'm ready. I just… never thought I'd see the day we'd have to help B." L stood at the controls of the Gate, making final adjustments and waiting for the signal from M.

"Me neither, man. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?"

"Right. Well, Gate's ready, man. You have your map?"

"Yeah. Y, you ready?" The reptilian mount was uncharacteristically quiet as M rubbed his head reassuringly. The barely-sapient beast only nodded. "Hit it, L. We've got a King to rescue."

L pressed a few buttons on the control panel and stepped onto the gate. A moment later there was a flash and…

B could hear klaxons, and screaming. It had been a long time since he had, so he eagerly anticipated whatever opportunity was waiting for him. As the breach got underway, he began formulating plans, on what, exactly, he would do as the door was breached (as it inevitably would be; B was sure of it on this day). Soon, he could also hear the sprinkling of the on-site fire suppression systems. Fire meant chaos, and chaos meant distraction, which in turn meant even more opportunity. Soon, the sound of explosions ever-so-slightly vibrated the room around him. He grinned, knowing that today would be, if not his day, then good practice for when his day would finally come.

He was somewhat surprised when the acid began to drain out of his cell. That was something that had never happened during a breach before. Was this a trap, another attempt to exterminate him? B shook himself off, trying to prepare himself for whatever waited beyond his door. Whatever it might be, he was ready. He would gladly destroy whatever these disgusting apes had in store for him.

Slowly, the door opened, and B moved to a corner, ready to either fight or flee as necessary. But he'd never anticipated that, standing on the other side of the door would be his sworn enemy…