Author's Note--Sorry for the long hiatus, but my college studies needed attention and finals were coming up so I didn't get the chance to post anything for a while. But now that finals are done and I'm on my two-and-a-half month summer break, updates will be coming very frequently. There isn't much left though, and I can't wait to start on the sequel, so I'm going to try to get this completed very soon. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope that you enjoy it!
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Later on the Dauntless, after Veronica had given Trixie a much deserved hug upon her boarding the ship with Trixie reciprocating the gesture, the raven-haired young woman argued with her father about going back to Isla De Muerta to rescue Timmy.
"But we've got to save him!" she pleaded.
"No. You're safe now. We will return to Port Toon immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates!" countered Governor Robert.
"Yeah Trixie. We were so worried about you, and I was praying the most that you were alright. We can't just go searching for him when we could also risk our own lives in the process," said Veronica.
"Then we condemn him to death!" shouted Trixie.
"The boy's fate is regrettable, but, then, so was his decision to engage in piracy," said her father.
"To rescue me! To prevent anything from happening to me!"
"If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion--" interrupted Jimmy as he walked over to Commodore Tad from the side of the ship where Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy were guarding him and Goddard. "The Pearl was listing near the scuppers after the battle. It's very unlikely she'll be able to make good time. Think about it. The Black Pearl. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up, right?" he finished giving Commodore Tad a nudge on the shoulder.
"By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Neutron, not only myself," replied the blond-haired young man.
As he turned to leave, Trixie spoke up in a last ditch effort to get them to go after Timmy.
"Commodore, I beg you, please do this. For me. As a wedding gift."
That last part got everyone's attention especially Tad who turned around to look at her.
"Trixie, are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?" asked her father hopefully.
Trixie hesitated slightly before answering her father. "I am."
"A wedding! I love weddings!" shouted Jimmy suddenly, as Goddard smacked his forehead in exasperation. "Drinks all around!"
Commodore Tad stared back at Jimmy in annoyance while Trixie let out a groan. The swirly-haired genius saw his expression and his face fell slightly.
"I know. 'Clap him in irons,' right?" he asked while holding out his hands for the supposedly waiting irons. Instead, Commodore Tad slowly descended the stairs leading up to the bridge toward Jimmy with a rather calm expression.
"Mr. Neutron…you and your robotic dog will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with a bearing to Isla De Muerta." Trixie was surprised at this display of kindness from him and smiled slightly knowing that Timmy was on his way to being rescued. "You two will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase 'silent as the grave'. Do I make myself clear?" he finished.
"Inescapably clear," replied Jimmy before Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy led him and Goddard to the helm to get started on their voyage.
Governor Robert, however, was not all that pleased with Commodore Tad's decision and he made his thoughts known.
"Commodore, I must question the wisdom of this," he began.
"With all due respect Governor, Mr. Turner is a subject of the British Toon Crown and therefore under my protection," replied Tad.
Governor Robert stared back at him for a moment before nodding contently. "Rightly so." He then looked over at Trixie standing off to the side in her dirty nightdress next to Veronica. "Take care of her," he added before walking up to the bridge.
Commodore Tad then turned toward Trixie before holding out his arm to her.
"Trixie?" he inquired.
She took it and started walking with him. Before she went very far, she waved back to Veronica behind her who returned the gesture.
"I guess I'll see you soon, then," Trixie said.
"Likewise," replied Veronica.
"I'm concerned that your answer was…perhaps…less than sincere," Tad continued as he and Trixie made their way over to the ship's railing. Trixie hesitated before answering.
"I would not give my word lightly," she replied.
"Yes, I understand. But is it so wrong that I should want to give in unconditionally?"
Trixie smiled slightly. "It is not a condition, it is a request. Your answer would not change mine. You are a fine man Tad."
Tad smiled back at her brightly while she did the same. "Well…very well. Excellent."
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Back on the Black Pearl, Mervis and Dunglap kept an eye on Carl, Sheen, and the rest of Jimmy's crew as well as Timmy in their respective cells as they swabbed the floor with dirty mops and oily water.
"Shiver me timbers!" shouted SpongeBob suddenly, causing everyone to look at him. He merely shrugged his shoulders sheepishly while saying, "It was...uh...a spur of the moment sort of thing."
Iago smacked his forehead. "Tell me why I'm supposed to assist SpongeBob again?"
"I thought it was because if you didn't, Sheen and Carl would beat the living daylights out of you for destroying all of their rum bottles," pointed out Wilt who was sitting on the floor because if he stood up he would have banged his head on the ceiling.
"Yeah, don't remind me."
"Plus, didn't Jimmy say that there would be a chance for you to get your hands on some valuable treasure?"
"Yeah, he did… Well, if this works out in the end I could fly out of here a very rich bird," said Iago as he rubbed his feathered hands together.
"You missed a spot," said Carl as he pointed to the floor where Dunglap was cleaning.
The blue weasel retaliated against the remark by smacking the mop he was holding against the cell wall while Mervis chuckled from the corner. Timmy was anxiously pacing around his cell before asking Dunglap the one question that was being tossed about in his mind.
"You knew Tim Turner?" he asked, stopping in front of the blue weasel.
Dunglap stopped his mopping for a moment and looked up at Timmy. "Ol' Bootstrap Tim. We knew him. His favorite activity was pencil-pushing and he was a little inept at times, but yeah, we knew him. Never sat well with Bootstrap though, what we did to Jimmy Neutron and Goddard. The mutiny and all. He said it wasn't right with the code. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you, as it were. He said we deserved to be cursed…and remain cursed. That way we wouldn't have to buy costumes when Halloween came around, we'd just go as ourselves."
Timmy had to smile at that. "Sounds just like Dad," he thought.
"Stupid blighter," mumbled Mervis from the corner.
"Good man," spoke up Carl from his cell.
"Well, as you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with the captain," continued Dunglap.
Mervis then made his way over to Timmy's cell chuckling to himself. "That didn't sit too well with the captain at all. Tell him what Calamitous did."
"I'm telling the story here!"
"Well, what are you wasting time for then? Tell him."
"I'm getting to that darn it… Now where was I…? Oh yeah, so…what the captain did, he strapped a cannon to Bootstrap's bootstraps."
"Bootstrap's bootstraps," chuckled Mervis. "Hey, that would be a great name for our clothing line!"
"What are you talking about? That doesn't even make any sense!"
"Well, it doesn't have to make sense for it to attract attention. And once the curse is removed, we'll be reaping in huge piles of money!"
Dunglap then slapped Mervis upside his head, which was a feat in itself considering he was half the height of his cohort. "Sometimes, I don't know why I put up with you… Anyway, the last we saw of Ol' Tim Turner, he was sinking to the crushing, black oblivion of Davy Jones' Locker." He then paused for a moment. " 'Course it was only after that we learned we needed his blood to lift the curse."
"That's what you call ironic," said Mervis.
They both started chuckling until they heard footsteps behind them. Calamitous, Beautiful Gorgeous, Johnny, and Plank were at the bottom of the stairs.
"Bring him," said Calamitous, indicating Timmy, before tossing the cell keys to Mervis who almost dropped them.
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At the mouth of the caves and some one hundred yards from the Black Pearl, Commodore Tad's crew consisting of Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy, a few other soldiers, and Jimmy and Goddard were waiting in their rowboats.
"I don't care for the situation," said Commodore Tad as he inspected the seemingly abandoned Black Pearl through his spyglass. "Any attempt to storm the caves could turn to an ambush."
"Not if you're the one doing the ambushing," said Jimmy as he put his hand on Tad's left shoulder. "Goddard and I go in, we convince Calamitous to send his men out with their little boats. You and your mates return to the Dauntless and blast the bejesus out of them with your little cannons, eh? What do you have to lose?"
Goddard thought that it was a rather good plan. "Jimmy hasn't lost his touch yet," he silently thought.
"Nothing I'd lament being rid of," replied Tad to Jimmy's question as he slid the genius' hand off his shoulder with his rifle barrel.
"You have to admit, that's not a bad plan," said Eddy to Double-D.
"Oh please, I could come up with a much better one than his."
"Oh yeah? Well, let's hear it then."
"Well, I could...uh…one might be able to...uh…given the right circumstances…"
"Ah ha, I was right!" shouted Eddy triumphantly. "His plan is good."
"I didn't say that it was bad Eddy. I just thought that it might have been flawed a little."
"Oh yeah, how so?"
"Well, he didn't factor in that the pirates could be watching our every move right now from behind one of those boulders and that our cover would be blown," said Double-D as he motioned to the large jagged rocks jutting up towards the sky all around the entrance to the caves.
"Hey, I'm sitting right here, you know," said Jimmy as he turned around to face the two.
"Hi Fudgehead!" shouted Ed to Jimmy while waving his arms about.
"Don't call me that. Call me Captain Jimmy Neutron."
"Okey dokey smokey!"
Jimmy just shook his head as he turned back around to the front of the rowboat.
"Now, to be quite honest with you," he started addressing Commodore Tad again after a short pause, "There's still a slight risk to those aboard the Dauntless, which includes the future Mrs. Commodore and her friend Veronica."
Tad looked up in concern and thought about what Jimmy had just said. Soon after they returned to the Dauntless, Ed and Eddy forced a struggling Trixie and Veronica to Governor Robert's quarters.
"Sorry, but it's for your own safety," said Lieutenant Chad as Eddy pushed along Trixie with Ed pushing along Veronica right behind him.
"Hey, let me go!" said Veronica.
"Uh, no way Jóse!" replied Ed. "I have strict orders from Commodore Tad to lock you and Miss Trixie in her father's quarters while he clips his toenails."
"What?"
"Coward! The Commodore ordered—I have to tell him!" Trixie shouted. She was now wearing a clean purple turtleneck sweater with a white skirt and boots. "The pirates! They're cursed, they can't be killed!"
"Don't worry, Miss. He's already been informed of that. A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him the whole story," chuckled Chad before closing and locking the doors to the cabin on the two young women after they were shoved inside by Ed and Eddy.
"And it wasn't easy for me to get up here and tell him that either!" shouted Ariel from The Little Mermaid before diving back into the ocean.
"This is Jimmy Neutron's doing!" Trixie shouted at Chad through the glass. She then let out an annoyed groan before walking over to where Veronica was seated in one of the many plush chairs in the room.
"Is it really true?" asked Veronica in a slightly shaky voice.
"What?" asked Trixie.
"That the pirates are cursed and cannot be killed?"
Trixie hesitated before answering her. "Yes, it's true. And it was very frightening to say the least. You wouldn't believe what I've been through during the last couple of days."
"I'm here to listen if you want to tell me all about it."
Trixie looked at Veronica for a moment before enveloping her in a hug that was reciprocated immensely before she started to sob. Veronica held her friend for a while letting her cry on her shoulder before handing her a handkerchief to dry her eyes.
"Thanks," said Trixie as she dabbed at her tears.
"It's okay. You're safe now, and if any of those pirates comes near us I'll kick their ass."
Trixie chuckled a little.
"Whenever you're ready."
"Alright," said Trixie after a moment.
And so Trixie started to tell Veronica all that had happened from the moment she got kidnapped to when she was rescued from the island. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Goddard rowed into the caves in a single boat bent on surprising the hell out of Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous as well as the rest of the undead crew. In the caverns, as Calamitous walked into the main chamber tossing an apple up into the air with Beautiful Gorgeous right behind him, Dunglap was explaining the plan of their actions to Timmy as they walked.
"No reason to fret. Just of prick of the finger; a few drops of blood," he explained.
However, Danny was not one to forget incidents too quickly. "No mistakes this time. He's only half Turner. We spill it all!"
"Guess there is reason to fret," muttered Dunglap as he smiled at Mervis who smiled back.
The main chamber with the golden chest that still had all of its precious treasures around it was just like they had left it earlier, although the large cavern did smell a little different.
"Calamitous, did you really need to eat that three-bean burrito for lunch today?" asked Beautiful Gorgeous as she waved a hand in front of her nose.
"Well, you didn't bother to pack anything else!" shot back the bald-headed pirate captain.
"Hey, my nails have to be very taken care of."
"Oh, for Pete's sake, you're a pirate!"
"And your point is…?"
At this, Calamitous let out an annoyed groan. "Daughters…" he muttered.
"I heard that!"
"Oh, go blow it out your nose!"
"What did you just say?!"
Calamitous' face fell. "Uh oh…"
After the crew and Timmy had watched Beautiful Gorgeous beat the snot out of her father, they all gathered in a large group chanting for the curse to be lifted. As Timmy was held down over the chest by Danny, Sam, and Tucker (hey, he's stronger than you think), Calamitous stood next to them with a bandaged eye egging everyone on with their chanting. Suddenly, in the mist of all the excitement, Jimmy with Goddard in helicopter mode made their way to the front of the crowd pushing past everyone.
"Beg your pardon, beg your pardon," said Jimmy as he made his way through the crowd while Calamitous was leading the group with Beautiful Gorgeous standing off to the side.
"Begun by blood…" he started.
"Excuse me," continued Jimmy.
"By blood un--" continued Calamitous, but stopped in mid-sentence as the chanting died down and he saw Jimmy and Goddard standing before him.
"Jimmy!" Timmy called, looking up at the swirly-haired genius.
"It's not possible," half-whispered Calamitous while his daughter watched dumbfounded.
"Not probable," corrected Jimmy, as he and Goddard continued to make their way towards the chest.
"Where's Trixie?" asked Timmy.
"She's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Tad, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So, we're all men of our word, really. Except for Trixie who is, in fact, a woman."
"Shut up!" shouted Beautiful Gorgeous just then. "You're next."
"How in the world did you manage to get off that island a second time?" asked Calamitous. "Did Goddard pull you and the girl back to land with his propeller tail and water skis? We all saw it so don't try to deny it."
"Which part?"
"You know what I mean!"
"Oh. Well, we were actually on that island for just a night singing, dancing, and drinking rum to our hearts content. You would have liked it, but instead you were sailing around in my ship doing whatever it is that you do. Fortunately, after we got off that island it just so happened that I had access to some spare parts to build Goddard a new main power source, so that's why he was able to hover in here. It looks like you taking away that power source earlier was all for not."
Calamitous just snorted. As Johnny with Plank came up behind Jimmy and put a hand on his shoulder, Danny, Sam, and Tucker forced Timmy down lower and the bald-headed pirate captain got ready to slice Timmy's throat with his sword.
"You don't want to be doing that, mate," warned Jimmy.
"No, I really think I do," Calamitous sneered.
Jimmy just shrugged. "Your funeral then…"
Calamitous then let out an annoyed sigh. "Why don't I want to be doing it?"
"Well, because…" started Jimmy before smacking Johnny's hand off of his shoulder. "Because the HMS Dauntless, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore, waiting for you."
Everyone in the crowd began muttering to themselves that they would be hanged very soon for their acts. (They're not going to give up that easily though!). However, what Jimmy said was true as rowboats filled with soldiers were waiting for the right moment just outside of the cave entrance. Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy were in one of the boats and Eddy was still confused as to what was going on.
"What are we doing here again?" he asked Double-D.
Before Double-D could answer however, Ed cut in unexpectantly.
"The pirates come out, unprepared and unawares. We catch them in a crossfire, and send them down to see old Davy Jones."
Double-D and Eddy looked at Ed dumbfounded until the black-hatted soldier broke the silence.
"That was remarkable Ed! I knew you were paying attention, I just didn't think you were going to repeat it back to us like that though."
"I know why we're here, guys. I meant, why aren't we doing what Mr. Neutron said we should do with the cannons and all?" asked Eddy once his initial shock had worn off.
"Because it was Mr. Neutron who said it," muttered Commodore Tad, looking back at the trio.
"But he's a genius!" shouted Double-D. "I would surely think that he knows what he's doing. After all, he built that robot dog of his, didn't he?"
"Looks like he's even smarter than you, huh Double-D!" laughed Eddy.
"Hey!"
"So you think he wasn't telling the truth then?" asked Ed.
Double-D and Eddy looked at Ed curiously. Did Jimmy really fool them again?
Meanwhile, Jimmy was trying to negotiate with Calamitous in the main chamber of the caves on top of the mound next to the gold chest with Goddard at his side.
"Just hear me out, mate," said Jimmy. "You order everyone to row to the Dauntless and then they do what they do best." Everyone murmured in appreciation. "Robert's your uncle, not Governor Robert your other Uncle Robert, and Fannie's your aunt. Well, you know what I mean; it's just an expression. Anyway, there you are with two ships; the makings of your very own fleet. 'Course, you'll take the grandest as your flagship, and who's to argue? But what of the Pearl? Name me captain. I'll sail under your colors and give you 10 percent of me plunder. And you get to introduce yourself as Commodore Calamitous. Savvy?"
"I suppose in exchange, you want me not to kill the whelp," said Calamitous, indicating Timmy.
"No, no, no. Not at all. By all means, kill the whelp, but just not yet. Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment," said Jimmy as he looked right at Timmy. Timmy knew that he had something up his sleeve, but he just couldn't figure out what. "For instance…" continued Jimmy as he leaned down to pick up a few coins from the chest. "…after you've killed Commodore Tad's men. Every…last…one." As he said 'every…last…one', Jimmy plunked the coins back into the chest one after another, except for two of them that he secretly hid in the sleeve of his jacket. Timmy noticed what he did and figured out his plan. All he needed to do now was play along.
"You've been planning this from the beginning. Ever since you learned my name," he shouted.
"Yeah," stated Jimmy simply while Goddard nodded his head next to him in affirmation.
"I want 50 percent of your plunder," said Calamitous, cutting in.
"That means you give me half, right?" asked Beautiful Gorgeous.
"Ha! Fat chance!"
"You want another black eye?" she asked threateningly while shaking her fist in his face.
Calamitous gulped nervously. "Oh…uh…well sure, half is fine…"
"That's better."
"15 percent," said Jimmy.
"40 percent," said Beautiful Gorgeous, cutting in.
"25 percent. I'll buy you two really big hats to go along with your new status."
Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous smiled back at Jimmy evilly.
"We have an accord," said Calamitous shaking his hand.
"All hands to the boats!" shouted Jimmy suddenly as soon as he released his grip from Calamitous'. The short bald-headed genius looked back at him crossly. Jimmy realized his error and quickly tried to make amends. "Apologies. You give the orders."
"Gladly," said Calamitous. "Everyone, take a walk. Notice I said 'everyone' this time instead of 'gents' so I don't get an a-hem from you", he said as he turned to Sam who was behind him. The Goth pirate huffed slightly at that remark before taking her leave with the rest of the crew.
Jimmy was slightly worried by this plan of action. "Not to the boats?" he asked.
Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous merely smiled back deviously at Jimmy and Goddard.
"I hadn't counted on that," Jimmy whispered to Goddard who whined back.
As Mervis and Dunglap were following the group out, Johnny and Plank stopped them with one of their umbrellas.
"Where do you think you guys are going?" Johnny asked them.
"Uh, outside with the rest of the crew?" replied Mervis.
"Nope. I got plans for you two and it's going to involve putting on the dresses that you so deeply adore," said Johnny mockingly.
"Alright! We get to try them on to see if they fit!" shouted Mervis while jumping up and down excitedly. Dunglap looked over at his friend angrily before smacking him upside his head. "Ow! What did I do?!"
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Author's Note--Not bad, huh? I bet you chuckled a little at some point in this chapter and as I mentioned earlier, I did have a lot of fun writing this. There is probably going to be two more chapters left in this story and they will be coming soon. Keep reviewing!