Author's Note: Wow, this week went by fast... And for college that is unusual in my opinion. Anyway, here is chapter 11! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!
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Out at sea, a line of oars led to the Interceptor that was anchored a good ways out with one guess as to how they got there. Trixie was then led on board by Timmy from the rowboat and immediately was surrounded by Carl, Sheen, and the rest of Jimmy's crew.
"Not more pirates," she breathed.
"Welcome aboard, Miss Trixie," greeted Carl.
"Mr. Krabs?" asked Trixie.
"What? No! How in the heck could you confuse him with me? Mr. Krabs and I are completely different; he loves money and I love llamas. I believe after he was part of then Lieutenant Tad's crew for six years he opened up a fast food restaurant in Tortuga. The last I heard of it, it was thriving like mad... SpongeBob, who is the head fry cook there and is also part of this crew, makes the best hamburgers I ever tasted. Besides, Mr. Krabs is of course a crab," replied Carl.
"So, then who are you?"
"I am Carl Wheezer. Sheen Estevez here and I are Captain Jimmy Neutron's first mates. We are entirely at your service," said Carl gesturing towards Sheen before bowing low. "Except for helping you use the restroom; that you'll have to do on your own".
"I think that I'll be able to manage, thank you," said Trixie smirking.
"Hey Timmy, where be Jimmy and Goddard?" asked Sheen.
"Jimmy? Jimmy Neutron? And Goddard?" questioned Trixie bewildered while looking at Timmy.
"They fell behind," replied Timmy as he helped Trixie below deck. Everyone couldn't believe their ears. Had their fearless leader and his robotic dog really fallen behind?
After a moment, Carl broke the silence. "Keep to the code," he said quickly, while not believing that this was happening.
"Weigh anchor!" shouted Libby. "Hoist the sails! Make quick!"
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Meanwhile back at the caverns, Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous approached Jimmy and Goddard.
"How the blazes did you two get off that island?" asked Calamitous.
Everyone turned their attention to Jimmy waiting for an answer.
"When you marooned Goddard and I on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate. I'm Captain Jimmy Neutron," replied Jimmy.
"Ah, well, we won't be making that mistake again," replied Calamitous. "Guys, you all remember Captain Jimmy Neutron and Goddard?"
"Aye," were the replies.
"Kill them," said Calamitous with a sneer as he and his daughter started to walk away.
Everyone cocked their pistols at Jimmy and Goddard.
"The girl's blood didn't work, did it?"
"Hold your fire!" shouted Calamitous before he and his daughter spun around to face the swirly-haired genius and his robotic canine. Everyone reluctantly lowered their weapons. "You know whose blood we need?"
"I know whose blood you need," replied Jimmy with a sneer.
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Meanwhile, far out at sea, the Interceptor was sailing back towards Port Toon. Below deck, Trixie was trying to bandage her hand with some cloth.
"What sort of a man trades another man's life for a ship?" asked Trixie as she wrapped the strip of cloth around her hand.
"Pirate," stated Timmy matter-of-factly. "Here. Let me," he said as he helped wind the cloth around Trixie's hand. His touch was warm and it sent electricity through her body. Trixie blushed slightly at his gesture. Timmy noticed her pink cheeks and smiled.
"Thank you," she said.
"No problem". Timmy paused for a moment before continuing. "You said you gave Calamitous my name as yours. Why?"
Trixie hesitated before answering. "I don't know," she said finally.
She then gasped as Timmy pulled the ends of the cloth too tight over her hand.
"I'm sorry," said Timmy. "Blacksmith's hands—I know they're rough".
"No. I-I-I mean yes, they are, but…" Trixie couldn't find the right words to finish.
Timmy gently tied the ends of the cloth together forming a nice snug knot.
"But don't stop," she said finally.
Timmy looked up into her eyes. Trixie followed suit and leaned in to kiss him just then as Timmy did the same while putting an arm around her neck.
"Trixie," whispered Timmy, but she drew back slowly. He then felt the chain of the necklace and she brought the gold medallion out from beneath her dress while Timmy stared at it in amazement.
"It's yours," said Trixie, as Timmy pulled it off of her neck to examine it closer. The chain broke as he brought it up to his face.
"I thought I'd lost it the day they rescued me…" said Timmy. "It was a gift from my father; he sent it to me".
Trixie looked down in worry.
"Why did you take it?" questioned Timmy.
"Because I was afraid that you were a pirate," she replied. "That would have been awful".
Suddenly, the realization hit Timmy like a ton of bricks. "It wasn't your blood they needed. It was my father's blood… My blood… The blood of a pirate," he finished, closing his hand over the medallion.
"Timmy, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me," said Trixie.
Timmy slammed his hand with the medallion onto the table. He couldn't believe what he was hearing himself say. Everything that Jimmy had told him was true… Trixie didn't know what to say next, so she got up and left the cabin leaving Timmy staring at the gold coin on the table, grinning back at him with its malicious smile.
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Calamitous had invited Jimmy and Goddard onto the Black Pearl and it was in his cabin where he and Beautiful Gorgeous had dinner with Trixie that they were discussing their terms.
"So you expect to leave us standing on some beach with nothing but two names and your word it's the one we need and watch you sail away in my ship?" asked Calamitous to Jimmy, while Beautiful Gorgeous stood off to the side filing her nails again while her monkey and Goddard fought over space on the table.
"No. I expect to leave you two standing on some beach with absolutely no names at all, watching me sail away on my ship, and then I'll shout the names back to you. Savvy?" replied Jimmy as he got up from his chair and began strolling around the cabin.
"But that still leaves us with the problem of my daughter and I standing on some beach with naught but two names and your word it's the one we need".
"Of the four of us present here..." said Jimmy as he picked up three apples from a bowl full of them and gently tossed them from one hand to the other. "...Goddard and I are the only one's who haven't committed mutiny; the monkey doesn't count". Beautiful Gorgeous' monkey crossed its arms over its chest at that moment and chattered an insult. Goddard barked at him to shut up. "Therefore…my word is the one we'll be trusting. Although…I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you two hadn't betrayed me and Goddard and left us to die, we would have an equal share in that curse, same as you," finished Jimmy, before biting into one of the apples. "Funny old world, isn't it?"
"Do you see us laughing?" asked Calamitous with a sneer.
"I guess you two are not the jokester types, are you then?"
"We have been undead for one hell of a long time. You would think that maybe we would have developed a sense of humor by now," responded Beautiful Gorgeous from the corner.
Calamitous snorted. Jimmy offered his bit-into apple to Calamitous just as Johnny carrying Plank walked in.
"Captain, we're coming up on the Interceptor".
Beautiful Gorgeous' monkey let out a screech and ran out the door towards the upper deck with Calamitous, Beautiful Gorgeous, Jimmy, and Goddard right behind him. As everyone was running up the stairs, Jimmy took the opportunity along the way to peek over the side of the Black Pearl at the Interceptor. He knew he had to do something and instantly came up with a brain blast. Just as Calamitous was looking at the Interceptor through a spyglass (up on a overturned crate, of course) Jimmy popped up in front of his line of vision.
"I'm having a thought here, Calamitous. What say we run up a flag of truce, Goddard and I scurry over to the Interceptor, and we negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that?"
Goddard wasn't so sure about that. That particular brain blast was by far one of Jimmy's worst in a while, and the mechanical dog was beginning to wonder whether or not his master had lost his touch.
"Now, you see, Jimmy, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl," sneered Calamitous. "People and animals are easy to search when they're dead. Lock him and Goddard in the brig".
Johnny and Plank then proceeded to lead Jimmy and Goddard to their cell in the hold, but not before Goddard gave them each and Calamitous a good shock of electricity to show his distaste. Just as they were led away, Calamitous sneered at the robot dog before seizing the apple from Jimmy that he had taken a bite out of earlier. The bald-headed genius looked at it for a moment in his hand before throwing it into the water in disgust.
"The least he could have done was brought up the uneaten ones!" he muttered under his breath.
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On board the Interceptor, the crewmembers were running around all over the place trying to find a way to out-sail the Black Pearl. Trixie emerged from the cargo hold while Carl and Sheen were running around shouting orders at everyone.
"Hands aloft to loose the gallants!" shouted Carl. "With this wind at her stern, she'll carry every sail we've got!"
Trixie ran up to him through the turmoil on board the ship.
"What's happening?" she asked.
"The Black Pearl, she's gaining on us," replied Libby from the wheel.
Trixie quickly ran to the side of the Interceptor and looked back at the approaching ship. An eerie fog surrounded the Black Pearl as it sailed closer and closer. If they didn't outrun her soon, they would all be goners.
"This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean!" exclaimed Trixie as she climbed the stairs to the bridge.
"You can tell them that after they've caught us".
"We're shallower on the draft, right?"
"Aye…"
"Well, then can't we lose them amongst those shoals?" asked Trixie as she pointed to a few sand banks in the distance.
Carl and Sheen looked to where she was pointing and both agreed that it was a good idea.
"We don't have to outrun them long, just long enough," said Sheen.
"Lighten the ship, stem to stern!" shouted Libby to everyone as she turned the wheel to the right.
"Anything we can afford to lose, see that it's lost!" shouted Carl.
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On board the Black Pearl, Johnny, along with Plank, led Jimmy and Goddard to their cell in the hold.
"You do know that is just a piece of wood, right?" said Jimmy indicating Plank.
Johnny grunted as he pushed Jimmy and Goddard inside the cell.
"He knows a lot more than everyone thinks he does; Plank sees things," the bald man replied as he shut the door and locked it.
Jimmy looked at Goddard uneasily for a moment while the robot dog merely shrugged. Water began to splash from an unknown hole somewhere just then.
"Apparently, there's a leak," noted Jimmy.
"Well, Plank doesn't have any growths at the moment so I don't think that he would be useful to plug up the holes however many there are. What's that Plank? C'mon, you know I wouldn't do a thing like that to you buddy, it was a joke".
"Maybe you and Calamitous should get together and start a comedy club. You two would really bring the house down," said Jimmy while smiling slyly.
"You think?" asked Johnny hopefully. "Because I was working on some really good knock-knock jokes and…" Just then, he realized what Jimmy had said wasn't a compliment. "Hey!"
Jimmy smirked at him with his arms crossed.
"C'mon Plank, we've got better things to do than baby-sit these two guys," said Johnny as he and Plank made their way above deck. "What's that Plank? Oh yeah, Jimmy was real ignorant, wasn't he?"
Jimmy looked back at Goddard who shrugged once more.
"Goddard, if I ever start acting like that please hit me over the head with a shovel".
"Bark bark!"
"So, now how can we get out of here? Goddard, options!"
Goddard then revealed his screen and typed some messages for Jimmy on it.
Apologize to Johnny for making fun of Plank so he can let us out
"Nah, he's on to us already. It would be pointless to try".
Let Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous get the medallion and keep the Black Pearl
"Goddard, whose side are you on?!"
Just sit here and formulate a brilliant plan of escape
"What, do I have to do everything around here?" Jimmy asked teasingly before Goddard gave him a playful shove. "Anyway, perform an analysis on the door to see what it's constructed of. It might prove useful for our escape."
Goddard did so and revealed to Jimmy that the door and the cell itself were made out of Vanadium, Osmium, and Chromium, the same metals used to construct the cell that he and Goddard were kept in back at the fort in Port Toon.
"Well, that stinks…"
Jimmy then turned his attention to a tiny hole in the side of the ship where he saw a barrel float past.
"I hope that wasn't a rum barrel…" he muttered.
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Back on the Interceptor, the crewmembers continued to throw barrels and other cargo overboard to lighten the load.
"Haul on the main brace! Make ready the guns!" shouted Beautiful Gorgeous from the bridge next to Calamitous. "And run out the sweeps," she said to Johnny and Plank as they appeared beside her.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker then pulled some levers which caused the cannon doors to open up and the massive guns housed behind them to slide out while Dunlap pulled a rope which raised the Jolly Roger.
On board the Interceptor, the crewmembers were still tossing cargo overboard in the hopes that it would lighten the load. Rocko, Heffer, and Filbert were handing each other cannonballs to toss as Timmy looked back at the Black Pearl. The massive ship then slid out sets of oars on either side of her and started gaining distance. Erwin was just unhooking the fasteners to one of the ship's cannons when Timmy put his foot onto it.
"We're gonna need that".
The two ships were now only one hundred feet apart and the Black Pearl was gaining distance every second. Behind the ship with its tattered black sails followed that eerie fog that seemed to carry with it the onslaught of death. The crewmembers onboard the Interceptor had to come up with a new plan and fast. As everyone looked back at the approaching ship in silence, Libby was the first to break it.
"Well it was a good plan…up till now".
"Carl!" shouted Timmy, running up to the be-speckled first mate. "We have to make a stand. We must fight! Load the guns!"
"With what?" asked Libby.
"Anything. Everything! Anything we have left".
Carl looked at Timmy for a painstaking moment before shouting out orders to everyone.
"Load the guns! Case shot and langrage! Nails and crushed glass!"
Timmy looked over at Trixie who smiled back adoringly. Everyone immediately started to load the cannons with whatever they could find: rum bottles, kitchen utensils, brass knick-knacks, the kitchen sink, anything and everything had to be loaded. Even Carl's drinking pouch was tossed into a cannon by Erwin.
"Hey! I wasn't done with that!"
"Sorry yo, but you said anything and everything had to be loaded".
"That wasn't me, that was Timmy!"
"Oh, right…well, I'm going by what he said then".
Carl groaned as Erwin continued to load up the cannon with more kitchen utensils. Meanwhile, on board the Black Pearl, Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous surveyed the scene before them with the monkey resting on her shoulder. They all knew that the medallion was on the Interceptor and they would stop at nothing to get it back, even if it meant killing everyone on board… Jimmy and Goddard looked out of the hole in the hull wall and saw the oars pushing against the water with all their might. They were getting closer by the second… Sheen saw what the Black Pearl was going to do and warned everyone on board.
"The Pearl's gonna luff up on our port quarter!" he shouted. "She'll rake us without ever presenting a target!"
"Lower the anchor on the right side," said Trixie suddenly. Everyone looked at her blankly. "On the starboard side!"
"It certainly has the element of surprise," noted Timmy.
"You're daft, lady! You both are!" shouted Libby.
"Daft like Jimmy! In a manner of speaking at least..." said Sheen. "Lower the starboard anchor!"
Everyone looked at Sheen like he was crazy, and to a certain extent, he was.
"Do it, you dogs, or it's you we'll load into the cannons!"
That got everyone's attention. Rocko, Heffer, and Filbert immediately ran over to the mechanism controlling the rope attached to the anchor and Heffer kicked the lever causing it to go crashing into the water. The rope unwound itself as the anchor sank to the bottom of the ocean and was dragged along the sand. On the Black Pearl, Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous knew that something was up, judging by how the Interceptor suddenly dropped its starboard anchor, but they didn't know exactly what yet. That particular anchor just happened to snag on a cluster of rocks with a clank and a firm grip causing the Interceptor to lean dangerously to the right from the sudden stop while everyone held onto something for dear life so that they wouldn't fall into the water. In the ship's hull where Timmy had helped Trixie with her hand, the table that they were at tipped over and the gold medallion on it fell onto the floor.
"Let go!" yelled Trixie to Libby, who still had control of the wheel. Libby complied and the ship swung around so that its starboard side was facing the Black Pearl.
Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous were quite surprised to see this maneuver.
"Crap…" muttered Beautiful Gorgeous. "Didn't see that coming..."
"They clubhauled!" shouted Calamitous. "Hard to port! Rack the starboard oars".
"Hard to port!" shouted out Johnny with Plank clutched firmly in his arms. "Boy, isn't this fun Plank? We've never been in a real naval battle before".
Danny, Tucker, and Sam followed Johnny's orders causing Jimmy and Goddard down in their cell to sway around from the sudden change in direction. The starboard oars were brought back inside the ship just as it pulled up alongside the Interceptor. Everyone on board readied their weapons for the oncoming battle while Jimmy and Goddard saw the large naval vessel block their view of the ocean. This was going to be one hell of a fight.
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Author's Note: And that is chapter 11! Stay tuned for chapter 12 when the battle between the Interceptor and the Black Pearl commences; it's going to be good. By the way, the scene with Trixie mistaking Carl for Mr. Krabs is an in-joke pertaining to the fact that Carl Wheezer and Eugene H. Crabs are both playing the character of Joshimee Gibbs in this story. ;)