Chapter 4: Attack of the Swamp

Candace wakes up and sees bark in front of her face. She gets up and looks at the others, but doesn't see Phineas. "Phineas, where'd you go?"

She travels around, trying to find the boy, and finds him by the river. The teen walks toward him and asks, "Whatcha' doin'?"

"Trying to bait some breakfast." The boy wiggles a worm close to the surface, and a fish jumps out and tries to eat it. Phineas catches it with his made spear, and adds it to the pile of other fish. "There. That should be enough."

"I'll carry it up." Candace grabs the handle and the two walk back up the hill, and they see the others waking up. Baljeet gets up and yawns, then says, "Good morning, friends. What's for breakfast?"

"In the wilderness, fish." The teen said. She dumps it in the middle and start foraging for branches. Ferb starts skinning the fish, and the brains try to wake up Buford. Phineas sits on the ground and waits, thinking of what they'll do when they find the warrior. Candace walks back with an armful of sticks, then she starts rearranging them, then surrounds it with stones. The teen tries to start a fire with two flint stones, but with little success. The boy watches her for while, then says, "Here, let me try."

He takes the stones and starts scratching it together. He starts to get frustrated and Baljeet notices that one stone gets a faint red hue, and sparks fly off and starts a fire on the sticks. Smiling, Phineas says, "There, finally."

After cooking the fish, everyone eats their breakfast, Buford gobbles his down in five seconds, and Candace watches her brother play with her food after taking a couple of bites. "Phineas, are you feeling fine?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried about Isabella."

"Don't worry. I'm sure Doofus Khan's warriors wouldn't be that cruel to her." Candace lowers her voice and says, "I hope."

After finishing, the group continues walking through the woods and Buford asks, "So where are we going?"

"First, we have to cross the Thick Swamp of Thickness, then over or around the Deep Lake of Deepness, then finally we have to pass the Guarded Bridge of Guardedness and we'll see the Unclimbable Mountain of Unclimbableness." Baljeet said.

"Who names all these stuff?" Candace asked.

"That guy, the Redundant Scribe of Redundantness." The brains points to a man sitting behind a desk, writing on some paper. He looks up and waves at the group, and Candace waves uncertainly. "Okay, so how long until we get to the swamp?"

"We should reach it around noon."

Doofus Khan's men traverse through the woods and Isabella gets more nervous as she gets closer to the enemies land. She stumbles over some rock and lands on all four, and the soldier says, "Get up, clumsy." He grabs her wounded shoulder, and Isabella gasps as pain shoots down her arm, small tears running down her face. Malakai grabs the soldiers hand and makes him let go. "Leave her alone, you got it?"

"Fine, rookie. But sooner or later, I'll show her some punishment if she doesn't follow orders." The warrior walks away from the two, and Malakai asks, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, but he did get my shoulder."

"Okay, let's go." They follow the others through the forest, and Isabella tries to figure out how to escape the soldiers, but with no luck that doesn't end up her cripple. She hears rumbling from above, and the princess looks up to see dark gray clouds crawling across the sky, and Ainsof says, "Looks like a storm is coming."

"Are we going to stop and camp, sir?" Malakai asked.

"Yes, to get our strength back so we can storm through the storm."

"Are you kidding?"

"No, rookie. Now get your tents up."

Everyone does, and Isabella walks to the teen and asks, "Is the general crazy?"

"Apparently. Could you help me set this up?" Isabella nods, and the two raise the tent up before the storm hits. As the first drop hits Malakai, he says, "You can have my tent. I'll keep watch." Isabella starts to walk toward it, but a soldier stops her and says, "Sorry, but tents are for Doofus Khan's men."

Malakai says, "C'mon man, just let her sleep in it. What the harm if she does?"

He turns to the rookie and says, "This isn't my rule, this is Ainsof's rules. If you want to change them, why don't you go talk to him?"

Malakai doesn't move, and the soldier grins. "I thought so." He walks away, and the teen says, "I'm sorry, princess. If-"

"It's fine. I understand. I think Ainsof is trying to crush my spirit."

Malakai smiles, then says, "I think you have a spirit much brighter than Ainsof can even imagine."

"Thanks." Isabella smiles, and walks to a tree, then sits and hugs her legs together. Malakai watches her, then enters his tent as the storm hits the ground. Large raindrops zoom to the ground, pelting everything and stinging the watchers. Some drops fall from the leaves and hitting Isabella, drenching her. As her hair sticks on her face, She looks into the sky and thinks, Phineas, where are you?

Phineas walks up to the swamp and says, "Well, here we are. The Thick Swamp of Thickness."

"Why is it called that?" Candace picks up a stick and sticks it in the swamp. When she takes it out, swamp goo plops back in big globs, and she says, "That's why."

Baljeet looks around and says, "Looks like we can't go around, so we'll just have to go through."

"Is it deep?" asked Buford.

"Hey Ferb, got some string?" Phineas asked. Ferb takes a ball of yarn out and hands it to the boy. He takes a big rock, ties the string around, and throws it as far as he can. As the rock sinks, Phineas lets the string trail out of his hand and waits for it to hit bottom. After half the string is gone, it stops, and Phineas says, "Well we can't walk through it."

As Phineas brings the string back, Ferb looks around, trying to find some stuff to work with. He sees some wood and vines, and the inventor pulls the vines down and drags the wood. Phineas watches him, then figures out what he's doing. "I see where you're going." He starts helping his brother, and the others watch, Candace looking for a way through the swamp. The boys wrap the wood together with the vines, and when they're done, the boys present their invention. The three examine the creation, and Buford says, "I know. It's a boat."

"Yes. We'll use this oar we made to glide across the swamp and to the other side. Any questions?"

Candace says, "Yes. Is that even going to float?"

"Well, let's see." Phineas pushes the boat toward the swamp, and gives it a last push with his foot. The vessel floats on the swamp, bobbing, and the boy says, "Yep. It floats. Let's get going." Everyone gets on board, and Buford takes the oar and starts pushing muck, making the boat glide across the marsh. Soon, the forest vanishes and all that's left is swamp in all directions. The gang takes turn using the oar as the sky turns from light to dark. After a while, everyone is asleep except for Phineas, lazily rowing. He was about to close his eyes when he hears something. His eyes snap open, scanning the swampy sea. Not finding anything, Phineas rows faster, and he hears another noise. The boy freezes and looks around for a weapon. Something snaps, and Phineas hops to his feet and turns to the sound, and sees something moving in the swamp. His eyes widen and he whisper, "Guys, wake up. Wake up!"

Buford opens his eyes and gets up. "What is it, Phi-" the boy blocks his mouth and says, "Shh! I think there's in the swamp."

"What would make you say that?" Buford asked, and looks out and sees the swamp rising and falling. Buford gulps, then clutches Phineas. Choking, he says, "Buford, let go before I collapse."

The boat shakes, making everyone snap awake. Candace asks, "What was that?"

"I don't know." said Phineas. Baljeet jumps up, shaking all over, and says, "Uh, I may have forgotten something."

"And what would that be?" asked Buford. Suddenly, something huge shoots up from the swamp, showering everyone with filth. Phineas looks up and sees a huge red gator, staring down at them. It roars into the air, blowing fire and lighting the surroundings and hurting everyone's' ears. Still roaring, the gator falls back down and crashes into the marsh, sending huge ripples toward the small boat. Baljeet yells, "That is what I forgot to tell you!"

"Quick, get moving!" yells Candace. Buford grabs the oar and starts moving across the swamp, and Phineas turns back to see a huge ripple coming towards the boat. "That monster's coming back!" He grabs a branch in the swamp and points it at the waves. Ferb takes out his Kusari-fundo while the brains load his crossbow. The huge head shoots out of the water and Baljeet shoots at one eye. Blue fluid runs down its face and the gator shrieks and goes back in the swamp. The brains load another dart and was about to aim it when the boat shoots into the air and everyone flies out. They all grab a thick branch and hoist themselves up, but Candace sees Phineas splash into the swamp. "Phineas!"

She searches the marsh for her brother, and sees a branch hop a little. Phineas grabs the limb and lifts himself up, covered in muck. As he tries to wipe the mess off of him, the gator rises from the swamp and looks at the boy with blood-red eyes filled with furious hate. It opens its maw and falls onto the branch, Phineas vanishing. Eyes full of fear, Candace yell, "Phineas! Oh no, I can't believe it. How am I going to tell-" the monster shoots out, closer to her branch, and she sees her brother on the back of it. Baljeet watches him and yells, "Don't worry Phineas, I'll help you!" He jumps on the gator and was about to climb when he screams and falls back down. By instinct, Buford grabs his shirt and pulls him to safety. "What'd you do? Grab a spike or something?"

"No. His skin is like fire." He shows the fists his hands, which are burned. Buford looks back at Phineas and says, "How is he surviving that?"

The teen tries to see closer at the boy's hands and sees them glowing red. As he climbs, Phineas yells, "Ferb, throw me that knife!"

The boy pulls the knife out of its sheathe and throws it at his brother. Candace thought he will miss, but the monster turns, letting Phineas grab the knife and continues climbing up the back of the monster. As the gator spews fire out of its mouth, burning the foliage, the boy reaches the head and was about to cut through the skull when the gator snaps to one side, sending Phineas into his sister's direction. Candace grabs his brother's shirt and pulls him to safety. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, then how can you withstand its skin?"

"What do you mean?"

"Check out Baljeet's hands. They were burned by that creature's skin, and your hands are fine."

He looks at his hands, and finds them smooth, not even a scratch. The boy looks at Candace and asks, "Are you sure? His skin feels cool."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes. Now let's get rid of that monster before-" The Monster flies out of the water and was about to crash on the two, but Phineas grabs his sister's wrist and pulls her away, into the swamp. The gator smashes the branch to pieces and the sibling surface back up. Buford pulls them up and asks, "How are we going to destroy that monster?"

"I don't know, but-hey, where's Ferb?"

They all look around, but don't find the green-haired boy. Phineas starts to get worried, but turns and sees him rowing toward them. When he stops, the red-haired boy says, "everyone, on the boat, now."

When they do, Baljeet asks, "What are you going to do?"

Phineas breaks a branch and says, "I'm going to kill that monster." He jumps into the swamp before Candace could say anything, and swims toward the mass. "Phineas, are you crazy?" She turns to Ferb and says, "What are you doing? We need to go after him!"

"I think he can kill it." said Ferb. Candace looks at him with disbelief and turns back to Phineas.

The gator sees the boy swimming toward him, and it submerges and chases the boy. Phineas clutches the dagger and dives after the monster, too. The group watches intensely as bubbles float to the top. Candace was about to go after her brother when the creature flies through the air, Phineas holding on to the dagger, which is embedded into the gator's hide. It flails and snaps in all direction, but the boy slowly climbs back to the top of the monster's head. The gator shoots fire around, almost cooking the gang, and Phineas reaches his head. He raises the dagger, connected by the stick, and it suddenly burst into flames as the boy plunges it into the monster's skull. It shrieks so loud Candace feels like her ears are going to explode, and the creature falls back into the swamp, taking Phineas with it. They all watch for Phineas and Candace thinks of all the worst possible things that could've happened when he didn't surface. Suddenly, a hand grabs the edge of the boat, and Ferb and Buford help the redhead up. When they wiped the muck off, the teen hugs her brother tight, saying, "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Got it. Now please let go, I can't breathe."

After he gets his breath back, Phineas tells Ferb, "Now let's get out of here." Ferb grabs the oar and rows away from the battlefield, hitting land an hour later.

Isabella gasps, waking up from her nightmare. She rubs her eyes and looks around to see its still night. "Oh man, what a nightmare." She looks around and notices that everyone is packing. Confused, she gets up and sees Malakai walking toward her. "Oh good, you're awake."

"What's going on?" the princess asked.

"Ainsof wants us to continue our travel and get to Doofus Khan's land."

"Why?"

"I have no idea, but I'm just following him until I get my chance."

Isabella looks into the forest, and thought she saw movement in the shadow, but put it as her imagination. Ainsof yells to everyone to get moving, and they all start their journey again. Isabella stays in the back, along with the rookie, and thinks about her dream…

Isabella walks through the dark forest, looking for a way out. She moves a bush out of the way and sees a sparkling pond shining in the dark. She walks to it and stops at the edge. Getting to her knees, the princess was about to take a sip when a voice enters her head. "Hello, Isabella."

Isabella looks around, trying to find the source, and sees small ripples in the pond. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am, Isabella. Can you not guess?"

Unbelief falls down her back, and Isabella guesses, "Mother?"

"Yes, Isabella."

"What are you doing here?"

"I am here to tell you of your destiny."

"What do you mean?" Isabella asked. Suddenly, six orbs shoot out of the pond, and the princess sees a sphere of rock, dirt, a bubble of water, a swirl of wind, a block of ice, and a ball of fire. "These are the six elements of power: Ice, earth, stone, air, water, and fire. Very few have these powers, and even few have control over all the elements. When joined, they can unlock the power of the light ninja, who can defeat the Monster of Chaos."

"What are you talking about, mother? What Monster of Chaos?"

"Patience Isabella. Soon, all your questions shall be answered."

"But why have you come? To tell me of history?"

"No. I have come to tell you that you will play a special part in the defeat of Doofus Khan and the Monster of Chaos."

"But how? I don't have any powers to defeat the Monster of Chaos."

"Patience. You wake, and I must be off." The voice starts to fade, and Isabella says, "Wait, don't go. Please."

"Good-bye, Isabella. And I am so proud of you."

Isabella walks through the forest, thinking about her dream over and over again. What did my mother mean? And what did she mean about the Monster of Chaos?

"Princess, are you feeling fine?" Malakai asked.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure? You seem a little distant from us."

"I'm fine. But can I ask you a question?"

"What would it be?"

"Uh, what do you know about the Monster of Chaos?"

The teen pales, and says, "Not much except for it being the son of fear, at least, that's what the people say when they met him, those who are still alive."

The princess gulps, and says, "Okay. And what do you know of people with…elemental powers?"

"That I know more. They were the protectors of this land long ago. With their powers of Earth, water, ice, stone, air, and fire, they kept the peace for thousands of years. Until one turned to the dark side."

"Is there more to the powers?"

"Yes. Each one has a certain trait to them. Wind is the graceful one, water the unpredictable, stone the strength, earth the smart, though I have no idea how, ice the smooth one, and fire is the most powerful. Legend says that when they all combine, it can unleash the powerful warrior in the name of the Light Ninja."

Just what my mother said. "Is there such thing as the Light Ninja?"

"They say the Light Ninja fought against the Monster of Chaos, battling for hundreds of years. In the end, the ninja won the war, but at a price of sacrificing his life."

"Wow."

"Hey you stragglers, Get a move on!" yelled one of the warriors. Malakai and Isabella run to catch up, the princess thinking of the elements, and the weird wind, thinking if they're connected somehow.