Henry looked down just as a grey hand reached up for him. From the floor, another torso had emerged, grabbing ahold of his leg before its face was even chiseled into shape. He hadn't bothered shifting away. Other bulges were rising up around both he and Ernie.
"How bold." Ernie snickered, disregarding the numbers
mounting around them. He angled his rifle at the torso that held onto Henry.
"Wait." Henry said, sharing a smirk with the torso. Then he regarded Ernie. "How about it? Up for another treasure hunt?"
Ernie raised his eyebrows.
"This so-called stronghold is fake." Henry said as another hand clasped upon his left forearm. "They're in limbo."
"You weren't kidding about pushing things ahead." Ernie snickered.
Another hand gripped Henry's other leg. Ernie watched all the torsos around them move toward Henry, bypassing him altogether. Still, he held his rifle aimed at the first torso that grabbed Henry, his finger on the trigger.
"We get bragging rights on this one." Henry said as a torso was climbing up his back.
Ernie saw the moment when the bottom of the torso ripped away from the floor. The extra material slumped back into a flat surface. The parts that went with the torso dangled like entrails.
"Give them what they should've gotten before." Henry said. His feet came off the floor. He started to totter backward, but another hand grabbed onto his jacket near the middle of his back. Meanwhile, the torso that climbed him was reaching around either side of his neck, gripping the front part of his jacket. The torso put its face right next to his, but Henry
ignored it.
"Joseph wasn't kidding about unbinding this thing." He said.
The torsos worked as a group, carrying him away from Ernie who remained in place, but had already relaxed his aim.
"What he didn't know," Henry called out, "was that everything is right here! We'll show him!"
"You didn't want me to hold onto your gun for you?" Ernie laughed.
"Naaah." Henry responded. The torsos brought him to the wall where more torsos were waiting. Before he arrived, they were already reaching out for him. Once he was within proximity, they took ahold, pulling him from the grasps of those handing him off.
"I'll just make another one!" he called and started to ascend. Torsos above moved downward just enough to grab him and pass him on to the next ones waiting higher.
Ernie shrugged, "Fine with me. I'll tell you what this Calarapan guy looks like. Whether he's all that scary or not."
"I feel sorry for the Asagi!" Henry laughed down at his friend, "They went in the wrong direction!"
"Aaah, they probably won't hold it against us." Ernie chuckled. "I'm the one who's gonna be envious!"
Torsos from above reached down, grabbing onto Henry. They started to pull him up, but one torso below didn't let go of his leg.
"Ha!" Henry barked when he was stretched taut, "You went last time!"
The torsos above tugged on his arms and his jacket. The one below tightened its grip on his leg.
"I know!" Ernie called back, "But it was still fun! The guy that owned that land couldn't get mad at us!"
"So we'll make another friend!" Henry cheered.
The torsos above were straining against the one below. Finally, one clasped either side of Henry's head and started to pull. Henry squinted at the stress on his neck.
"Not everyone is as cool as Joseph!" Ernie laughed. He was walking across the barren floor in Henry's direction. The torsos that had emerged from the floor were all bunched up along the wall underneath Henry and the torsos below him.
"Won't know until we find out!" Henry grunted.
One torso along his side that was trying to help those above changed its mind. Shifting outward, already having a grip on his right arm, it pulled away from the rest.
Henry couldn't turn his head, but he could still watch his right arm being stretched to its full length. Like the one who wouldn't let go of his leg, this torso's sudden change in direction caused those above to lean. Henry was taken to his right, but all the other torsos tightened their grips, holding him in place.
"You figure as many times as we've done this, someone would've caught on!" he laughed.
"They never see it coming do they?" Ernie called from below, shaking his head. He was standing almost right behind the torsos that had bunched together near the wall, but their focus was still on the man they captured above.