Adventures by the Coast:

Chapter Four: Bursting Into Battle

In the cave, however, there was a sudden commotion caused by the abrupt darkness.

"Okay, what happened?"

"I dunno!"

"What are we going to do now?"

The last question proved the hardest to answer. They couldn't see anyone around, or any of their surroundings. Marine, who had still been walking until the lantern dropped, suddenly ran into a cave wall. "Croiky! Who steered me this way?"

She hit the ground in surprise, looking around in the darkness with nothing to see. "Mateys! Mateys, where are ya?"

"I'm not quite sure, Captain Marine," Cream replied. She stood with Cheese exactly where she had stopped- not daring to move from it.

"I think I'm near where you are…somewhere," Charmy's voice said. But the echoes of the cave made it impossible to know if he was right or not.

"A'right! Everyone, stay where you are, I'll-I'll think of somethin'," Marine called. For the first time her voice was nearing actual concern. Nothing seemed to be going the way she planned.

"How did the lantern break in the first place?" Charmy asked. He settled to sit criss-cross on the cavern floor, feeling he deserved the break anyway.

"Uh…I- well, I may have had a part in it," Marine stuttered.

"Did you drop it on accident?"

"Ay, I-I did."

A guilty silence settled between the two, until it was broken by a sudden forgiveness- driven mostly by the unwillingness to fight again. "Eh. It's okay. You didn't mean to."

"I-I shoulda been more careful."

"Maybe, but anyone could have made the mistake. Just be more careful next time, okay?" Cream joined in.

"I will…I just hope I don't forfeit my captainship in the end."

"I think you'll be alright."

There was another silence, followed by," Sooo, what do we do?"

"Hold on, matey. I think I see-" before she could finish, an aqua-colored light came into appearance in their view.

"What is that?" Cream asked. Cheese squeaked in uncertainty.

"It's a light…but it's moving around," Marine muttered. "Ey! Is anyone there?"

When no reply came, she took it as a sign of good fortune.

"Let's try 'an get to it. Maybe we can use it as a light to get to the treasure."

"I'm not sure," Cream whispered. "If it's moving like that, it might be dangerous."

"That's why I'll handle it for ya, mate." With that, Marine ventured toward the light and with a cautious hand she grasped it. "Lookey! I got it!" Yet as she tried to bring it down to her level, she realized she wasn't the only one holding it.

"Well, what are ye doin' in here, little raccoon lass? These caves be no place for ye."

Marine's eyes went wide with horror. "C-cap'n Whiskers…I-I thought you were long gone."

"Ye can't get rid of me so easily. Ye, on the other hand…" He snatched the aqua light from her reach. "'Sides I have an emerald whereas ye have nothin'."

Marine threw a scowl at him, somehow hoping it would drive him off. "Not nothin'. I have my crew, and I have myself."

By this time, her 'crew' was standing at her side, Charmy staring into what he could see of the pirate's eyes, and Cream prepared with her chao.

"So, a powerful gem versus some three little kids in a dark cave. Sounds like a comedy if I ever heard one," Whiskers taunted. "Save yeselves the trouble and be gone."

"We can't just let you take the emerald! Why would we back off now?" Charmy exclaimed.

"For yer good, that's why."

"My training can't be for nothing!"

"Yeah!" Marine piped up.

Whiskers pushed his way through their blockade and sprinted for the entrance- knowing what they did not.

"Wait! You scaredy-cat! You can't just escape!" Marine went running after him, followed by her crew.

"I already did."

Though it took awhile to reach the entrance, Whiskers finally made it before them. Marine, Cream, and Charmy followed him as he rounded his way to the outer backside of the cave. What they did not expect was to find Whisker's crew already there, and not only that but their cannons set in the rocks. Whisker stood beside his crew and laughed at the shock that had overtaken his adversaries.

"You were prepared, weren't you?" Marine gasped.

"A good pirate must always have his backup," Whiskers teased, petting his whiskers as custom.

"But we have backup," Charmy added.

Marine leaned over to him and whispered," We do?"

He nodded. "Of course. It's called improvisation."

Without warning, he stung one of Whisker's crew members that was nearest to him. Marine took this as a clue that they were all bursting into battle, and that was what she did. She summoned her water powers and dished it on all the cannons she could, hoping it would rust them. Cream flew overhead and began bombing them with Cheese, causing much confusion throughout the crew.

Whisker growled. "We be playin' this game too!" He drew his sword, a signal to all of the others to do the same. They couldn't reach their enemies overhead, but they went straight for the captain- who had no chance of aerial escape.

Marine ran backwards from them, doing her best to blast them with her powers. Charmy and Cream tried to deter them away from their captain, Charmy swinging in after them, and Cream Chao-bombing their heads. This knocked a few of them out, but the remaining few were quick.

Whiskers slashed ever closer to the raccoon, the chances of hitting the target dangerously close.

"If I'd had my pirate sword with me, I wouldn't be running backward like this!" Marine exclaimed.

"Oh I'm sure you wouldn't," Whiskers replied sarcastically.

Charmy took a moment in the air to fly closer to Cream and murmur. "What should we do?"

Cream didn't reply for a moment, her ears flapping rampantly, and her chao flying just as hard. "I-I'm not sure. But we can't panic."

"I know, I know. I'm not panicking. It's just we-"

Suddenly they heard a scream, and they looked in horror, thinking for certain their captain had been lost. Instead they found that Marine was bringing up a larger amount of water energy in a last attempt to lose the pirates. The bright, pulsing blue of the energy lit up the entire area for a moment, before fizzling out as she threw it at the pirates.

In that burst, they were suddenly knocked out. Marine fell back onto the sand, panting. Cream and Charmy landed by her side, exhausted at that point as well.

"Well, they're out for now," Cream said, extending her hand to Marine.

"G-good." Marine took her hand and stood. "I tell ya, not because I can't handle it or anythin', but just for next time…someone else can take a turn being Captain."

Cream laughed. "Well next time let's not go somewhere so…closed-in and dangerous."

"How was I supposed to know it would be that dangerous?" Marine laughed.

"Well…"

Before Cream could answer, Charmy had pried the Chaos Emerald from Whisker's pocket, and he held it up for them to see. "Hey, at least we got an emerald out of it."

"Croiky! Wait till they all see that…" Marine exclaimed.

"He didn't even try to use it. He's dumber than I thought," Charmy replied.

"Maybe he was using it, or he was going to-" Cream suggested.

"But he never got to, and he won't ever get to," Marine said, crossing her arms.

"Yes, but we better get out of here before they get up," Cream advised.

"True," the others responded.

They began to walk off together, but they didn't get far until Marine gasped abruptly and stood in her tracks.

"But what about the treasure at the end of the cave? Now we'll never know! Now we've got to go back and-"

Charmy raised the emerald towards her. "We've got all we need, Captain. Don't push it."

Cream nodded. "We'll have to save it for another day."

Marine shrugged and gave in, continuing to walk with them. "I suppose so."

But really they were both hoping that she would forget to ever go back.