"Hello. Hello. Hello. Monsieur. Welcome to the wonderland. We are so glad to have you all. Please allow this humble bard to sing a song in your praise and make this stay as comfortable as possible."
The moment the voice sounded, everyone snapped their heads to look at the person, only to be utterly shocked.
"What? Why are you all looking at me like that? Have you forgotten me already? I am your friendly neighborhood lizard buddy, Gary."
Liam immediately took another teleportation token and crushed it. But it was not working. He took out yet another one and tried it, only to end up failing again.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Come on now. Don't waste money . Teleportation tokens are not going to work here. What are you guys? Space travel noobs? "There are many places in the myriad realms that teleportation tokens don't work and you bet your ass that this wonderland is one of them." "The barriers here are too strong, designed to keep everything inside... and everything outside, well, outside. You're stuck here with me, Gary, your guide and protector in this fantastical domain."
Gary's scales shimmered in the light as he gave them a toothy grin, his tail flicking back and forth with an air of nonchalance.
Liam did not like where this was going. There was also something else that bothered him. He did not know why but he felt as if he was isolated all of a sudden. His dao seeds that typically absorbed ambient energy from the surroundings were acting a little weird. They were slowing down to almost a crawl. At this rate, if he used his dao seeds in an attack then he would have to wait for weeks perhaps or even months to replenish that amount of energy. What the hell was going on now? How did they even get teleported here?
Liam's mind raced to figure out some sort of clue as to what was going on. The others also looked at him with slightly panicked expressions. One second they were all going home and the next second this lizard was standing in front of them.
"Oh come on. Why do all the newcomers act in the same manner? Look around you? Tra la la." Gary whistled and twirled. "This is paradise, brothers. Green green grass, tall trees, fresh air, clean water and wholesome beasts for satiating your taste buds."
"Take it all in. My dear friends, you can stop worrying now. You can stop all the unnecessary negative emotions that corrupt our souls." "Rest assured. You are all taken care of for the rest of your lives! You can live freely and happily. There is nothing and no one who will be able to get to you here and hurt you. You are all in God's territory now!"
Interrupting the lizard's speech or song, whatever it was, a big stone landed squarely on the back of his head.
"Owww! That hurt! Friend, you know the cardinal rules of paradise. You are not supposed to hurt anyone!" PAK!
Two more stones or rather rocks came flying towards the lizard, followed by an angry voice. "Get the hell out, you annoying pest. Otherwise, I just might kill you today." Unexpectedly, the lizard's face slightly faltered. "Lord Romba. Please forgive me. I am sorry to disturb you but I have newcomers here and I need ten more minutes to finish the orientation."
Immediately, a loud disgruntled snort sounded. "You? Finishing in just 10 more minutes? I doubt it. Get the hell out of here before I kill everyone."
Sigh. Gary let out a breath, shaking his head. "Sorry, my friends. You have a troublesome neighbor so it's best we move a little before continuing. Follow me. So where was I?"
"Paradise… tra. la. la. Dum di dum dum" Cutting the lizard short another loud snorting sound echoed. "You are still here?"
"My lord, it's not even been a second. Give me some time at least!" Gary was visibly sweating.
"Then shut your trap."
To everyone's surprise, the lizard begrudgingly stopped singing. "Let's first walk away from here and then talk." He managed to squeeze out an ugly smile.
Rey, Madan and Lan Deming looked at Liam who signaled them to remain calm. It was clear that they weren't in an actual paradise and they had gotten themselves into some weird shit. The question was how deep were they in?
"Where are my other companions? Did you do something to them?" Liam probed. "Oh? Them?" Gary unexpectedly answered even though Liam had never expected a straight answer. "Unfortunately when I tagged you four they were not there with you and hence I was not able to bring them to paradise. Forget them, my friend. Their loss. Your gain!" The lizard gave a big beaming smile which made Liam's hands itch. Despite knowing that they were in some sort of problem, he couldn't help but want to punch the living daylights out of this person.
"So how long will we get to stay here?" Liam controlled his urges and asked.
"As long as you wish my friend." Gary answered.
"Oh does that mean we can leave when we want?" Rey immediately asked.
"Of course." Gary answered and then added with a wink. "That is if you have the power to."
The lizard laughed lightly and explained. "See, my friend. It is not our aim to constrain you this way but people often tend to stray away from the good things in life. When everything is handed over to you on a silver platter what more do you-"
A shockwave assaulted the lizard, making the guy fly for some distance before slamming his sorry figure into the ground. "Get the fuck out of my territory, you annoying pest!" The same voice echoed and the next second, the lizard smiled bitterly and crushed a token.
"I think your neighbor is in a bad mood today, my friends. Let's talk later. After all, we have an eternity to spend together." With these words, the lizard disappeared from the spot.