A Tale of Two Pizza's Ongoing Contest (WEEK 7)

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The story so far (in order):

Other Previous Entries:
@jesustiano/el-adviento-de-la-pizza
@jesustiano/la-bendita-pizza-esp-or
@jesustiano/otto-s-encounter-with-olives
@onewolfe/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-week-3-entry
@an-man/a-tale-of-two-pizza
@dadspardan/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-the-crust-thickens
@wrestlingdesires/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-the-second-pizza
https://ecency.com/hive-185582/@an-man/a-tale-of-two-pizza-0c91a51f4c9e5#@dibblers.dabs/re-an-man-2021831t11856751z
@onewolfe/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-contest-week-5-entry
@wrestlingdesires/a-tale-of-two-pizzas
@jesustiano/conociendo-al-francotirador-esp-or
@an-man/a-tale-of-two-pizza-4fb448ed34cc2

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Danny,
There is something we must discuss in person, Baron to Baron. I have received word that others are not as content as I with the trade deals made at the Feast of 10000 Pizza's. Move's are being made...

I believe we can find a mutually beneficial way to deal with the situation. More information when we meet.

signed
Dutch

Damn him! Danny thought to himself as he finished reading the brief note. He is supposed to be my ally and he never shares information freely. Otto stood waiting nearby, looking anywhere but at the note. He knew better than to attempt to read the Baron's correspondence without being invited to do so. Every time he has information he plays this silly game, we meet, and it turns out I already know what he knows. But I can't take that risk... I suppose I must meet with him

"Otto, go take this blasted note and write an appropriate response. Obviously I am going to have to meet with him and waste time... AGAIN. You would think that after his embarrassment last time he had "information" for us he would have learned that we usually know already and a note would suffice..." Otto took the note and smirked as he read it. He knew for a fact that very little happened in the Port Baron's domain that Danny didn't already know about- several times Danny had saved Dutch by passing him information about plots to replace him from within his own town. Dutch was not known to be a very good leader- but his knowledge of the lake and the communities surrounding it was unsurpassed- he was useful, and kept trade flowing around the lake and further afield- so Danny continued to tolerate his foolishness. Of course it helped that Dutch was so grateful to Danny for his assistance that he charged next to nothing on Danny's imports.

"Is there anything particular I should say in the reply? A place for the meeting? A time? I know you are very busy right now as the Pizza Deliveries have started."

"Yes, good point. The usual meeting place will suffice. Set the meeting for tomorrow evening, he will have to hurry to get there that fast and perhaps will finally learn that a note is so much less trouble." Danny replied, chuckling to himself at the thought of Dutch struggling to arrive on time. He turned to look once more out at the beautiful landscape surrounding his keep as the sun was setting. It glinted off the rows of solar panels that powered everything for his people, and lit up the neat rows of houses and farmland beyond. "Go on Otto, get that message sent quickly, we truly do not have much time! Have we heard anything from the Engineer yet?"

"Yes, Danny, I will send it within the hour, and no, the Engineer has not reported yet. You know her sir, she won't report until she has a plan ready for your approval." With that Otto left Danny to watch the sun set over his domain.

Little did Danny know, however that this time Dutch really did have worthwhile information to share. In the Lighthouse from which he ruled his lakeside town he, like Danny, stood watching the sun set over his domain. Dutch's thoughts were not on the peaceful view of the lake or considering what was best for his people. He was grappling with the fact that his weekly Pizza Deliveries from Danny were not arriving. Someone had intercepted them, someone within his own town. Danny apparently had no idea- he would surely have followed up by now if his deliveries had been delayed or stolen. That meant that they were being stolen from under Dutch's nose, by people that must be working for some unknown cause.

His servants only told him that the Pizza's had not arrived as scheduled. Someone was trying to make him believe Danny was failing to deliver the Pizza's as promised. It must be to drive apart our alliance, if Danny was unable to deliver or the thieves had stolen them he would have dealt with this swiftly and ruthlessly, and sent twice as much Pizza to make up for it, so he must not know. It must be another plot to undermine me. Danny will know how to handle it!

And so Dutch paced around his lighthouse, blind to the shimmering beauty of the sunset over the lake. He paced until darkness fell, deep into the night, and thanks to the thick glass of the lighthouse unable to hear the sounds of revelry and music drifting up from the docks below.

In the cargo hold of an ancient, rusted ship at the end of those same crumbling docks below the lighthouse, something was happening. Occasionally people would scurry across the dock and climb aboard the ruined rust bucket of a ship in the darkness. The ship had sat there since the fall, no captain trusted it to remain seaworthy for any real voyage. But it had not remained entirely abandoned. Deep in its hold something was happening. Someone passing by, perhaps a curious drunk listening furtively from the dock, paused just long enough to make out words above a thumping bassline that could be heard along the dock:

Welcome in PIZZA Bandits!
You made it through,
You're here,
Danny Rupert can't hear you
so leave the fear at the door
He's hoarding all the Pizza
Now I'll tell you NO MORE!

Grab a slice while you can or NO PIZZA FOR YOU!
Chef Charlie Specials first come first served!
Shout out Techno Tommy for setting this bad boy up!
The man's stealing fuel from the Baron for this so PIZZA Bandits you better get those feet moving!
Jumpin'
Stompin'

Here we go

Mozzarella Mike on the MIC tonight,
Bigging up Chef Charlie and his taste of delight
That's right bringin' you a taste of the past!
Stolen from the Baron's table so eat it up fast.
Mind blasting back to those days of wonder
before the wars and nukes tore the world asunder.
Ten thousand pizzas gave the rich a reminder
what our world was like never ate nothing finer
Crispy crust, tangy sauce,
Toppings Supreme!
If YOU want a taste put your hands up and SCREAM!

The rusted old ship appeared to be thrumming and vibrating with energy. The drunk backed away, bobbing his head to the bassline as he turned and stumbled on towards his home. Behind a stone piling, a shadow seemed to let out a sigh of relief and inched closer to the ship.

Pepperoni Pete takes your ears for a ride
Spinning up the decks like he's tossing up pies
Stretching out the dough for your soul to fly
To a Pizza Box mountain that reaches the sky
Sick of eating scraps Pete made up his mind
Stick up the delivery, robbin' 'em blind
the perfect crime, sublime,
a pizza baron mystery, nothin' to find
Jump to the beat before we run out time
Baron and his spies shutting down our supply
breaking up the party leave no crusts behind!

At that the shadow turned and hurried back towards the center of the port, moving silently, still listening for every word as it moved out of earshot.

Now its time party people
LETS EAT!

The shadow heard cheering and screams as the music seemed to stop. Silence descended upon the dock once more. The shadow lost itself in the darkness of an alleyway leading towards the edge of town. Moments later a horse bearing a dark rider galloped out of the port town as fast as possible.

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The rules for this week remain the same as previous weeks!

I'd like to continue building on the story of the Pizza Baron and his post apocalyptic world. Each week I'll pick a winner that becomes the next piece of the story and wins 20 $PIZZA and a 5 SBI sponsorship from me. I may award additional prizes if I feel multiple entries expand the story well.

Each week I'll write a post announcing the winner and then I will write another chunk of the story and open it up again for the next weeks competition. I'll compile the winning entry for each week. If we reach a conclusion of the epic tale of the Pizza Baron I'll divide another TBD amount of PIZZA among all the winning entries throughout the whole story and publish the finished story here on Hive with all the contributors as beneficiaries. If this goes well we might have the first open source blockchain novella on our hands! 😂

The first weeks contest established a secondary storyline that may be tied back into the main plot if you so wish!

Bear in mind this is an experiment as well as a competition so we will see how many entries I get and how well it goes!

Rules:

Entries must be more than 200 words but less than 1000.

Entries must use the hivepizza tag

Entries must comment on this post with the link to their entry

Entries must fit in the world/scenario that has developed from the previous weeks contest(s). You are free to develop characters, introduce new ones, invite aliens to the feast, I don't care as long it makes some kind of sense in the context! The Pizza Baron should remain relevant to the plot!
(I've named it a Tale of TWO Pizza's for a reason HINT HINT)