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Oregano and the Secrets of Sycamore Isle! Part Four
By: peanutbutterlung (Whale)
At the Scene with Oregano and Daveed
"You want to help?!" Daveed blurted out upon hearing Oregano offer his assistance on finding Ameera.
Oregano smiled as he scratched the back of his head. "Well yeah you seem like a nice guy in need of some help, and besides my friend Bo Stockston is off doing his own thing out somewhere in the city so I'm looking for something to do myself." Oregano replied.
Oregano decided to add Bo's last name in his reply to show how he had such cool friends. He didn't even take into consideration that if the family present had in fact been reading up on the papers, declaring his association with Bo would have been icing on the cake to finding out just who he actually was.
Daveed's eyes bulged upon hearing Oregano drop Bo's name so nonchalantly in his sentence. The father of the family they were currently in the house of, Ibrilen began to cough and get choked up at the mention of the boxer, his wife as well as his son were also stunned and reacting to the surprising mention of Bo Stockston as well.
They might not be up to date with current news, but Bo Stockston has been a big name in the West Blue for many years so they were incredibly familiar with him.
After the news that Oregano was tight with Bo settled in the minds of Daveed and the others present, Daveed mumbled.
"If you are friends with Bo Stockston... 'The' Bo Stockston then I'm sure you could help me." Daveed's eyes were beginning to water up with tears. "If you really are serious about helping me that is."
It was uncertain if Daveed was simply desperate for hope, or his sickness was causing him to be a little delusional, thus making his reasoning skills waver, but he was assuming that Oregano had to be more than met the eye in this case since he was associated with Bo. This was despite him being a skinny young man with a broken leg, a silly smile and two animals clinging onto him
"Heck ya man! I'm definitely down –What can I do to help…? Oh and I still haven't gotten your name." Oregano replied.
"The name is Daveed, and what I would like to ask from you is to head out towards the northern part of town. That would be taking the road outside this house and making a right. It will lead all the way through." Daveed replied as he slowly looked out the front window in order to gain a sense of where he actually was since he couldn't quite remember where he had ended up when he passed out earlier.
"When you get out there, look for anybody suspicious wearing a black robe or and dark colored clothing. If you hear any mention of the name Ameera, that is my sister… please tell her that Daveed has sent you to stop her… If you hear any mention of the Shedyed that will be a clue you are close to her." Daveed added.
Upon the mentioning the Shedyed, the family in the house were startled and taken by complete surprise. It was now all the more evident why Daveed was trying so desperately to find his sister and they felt deeply sorry for him.
"Alright Daveed I'm on it partner!" Oregano replied with a smile and a thumbs up. "So just out the house, take a right and listen for Ameera and Shedyed. I think I got it – How about you Tompkins?" Oregano asked his feathery friends who responded with a chirp and folded his wings to represent a thumbs up the best he could.
Oregano smiled and hollered up at Tompkins. "Well great we should get going then!"
Oregano then looked down at his shoulder and noticed that Polen was still snoozing away. "We'll have to fill this goober in later when he wakes up." He added as he softly rubbed the koala's fuzzy head.
"Oregano… Listen I can't thank you enough for this..." Daveed began, but was forced to stop when began to cough hard.
"Just eat some of that soup my man – There is still plenty of it on the stove everybody. " Oregano replied as he began to hobble his way towards the door. The family members and Daveed waved bye to him as he exited the home, wobbling onward on his crutch, but still looking as cool as a cucumber, or at least he hoped did.
Oregano smiled back at the family when he was outside the door, waved and then proceeded to close the door behind him.
"Well then let's get going Tompkins!" He declared ready for the adventure at hand. "And Polen…" He added shortly after with a quiet whisper.
About an Hour Later On the Western Side of Ushmel with Bo and Satchamo
"Damn old man how much longer we got?" Bo agitatedly spoke out towards Satchamo Jones, who was leading him down yet another seemingly desolate sandy road. This new road from the looks of things was now leaving the city limits and entering the countryside of the island.
It was a change of scenery that Bo was actually fond of despite the time it took to get to it. The nice scene was only helped the matter so much however for it seemed like Satchamo had been leading him in a circle, it was as if they were making intricate and confusing laps around the city up until this point. The sandy desert like conditions in Ushmel were gradually beginning to fade as sprigs of grass and other plants began to act as a buffering zone to what seemed to be prairie land in the distance.
"Herrera… My dearest apologies Mr. Stockston… I knew we would have to make a few detours because… um well because of all the construction, but I had completely forgotten that the… the um other construction… was going to be going on at the same time… heheheeeerrn." Satchamo uneasily cleared his throat as he replied to Bo trying his best to hide his lies.
"Shit, you're lying out ya goddamn teeth fool." Bo quickly retorted as he stopped walking and began to stare angrily at Satchamo. "You're wasting my time you old shit! I'm damn well certain we could have made it onto this road earlier!"
Satchamo panicked upon hearing these words from Bo. He was about to lose out on anything interesting opportunities potentially happening with Bo around. His lies had simply been too easy to read.
Satchamo began to look around frantically for anything he could use as an excuse, or anything that could help Bo not leave him, when suddenly his eyes presented before him a golden opportunity. Walking up the path towards Bo and Satchamo were what appeared to be three fishermen. This road led to a small fishing port, so seeing fisherman walking from the port to Ushmel was normal even in under the poor conditions that the town was experiencing now, fish was a staple in the town's diet.
Bo was currently turning away from Satchamo in order to go off and look for Skrullton Labs on his own, it was remarkable he wasn't currently clobbering him for wasting his time, but it was the time he lost already that was causing him to leave without making such a scene. He couldn't afford to lose anymore even if knocking Satchamo out would only take him a mere matter of seconds.
Satchamo looked up and saw the boxer leaving him and quickly shouted. "Wait Mr. Stockston! Let these people prove to you that I'm telling the truth."
Bo let out a sigh and muttered a couple curses under his breath and slowly turned his head to look at the fisherman who had walked up to Satchamo.
The fisherman were young, it was to be expected since so much of the older population was being hit hard with sickness in the town. They were now stopped behind Satchamo who was holding out his arm to prevent them from passing without first answering his little question.
Satchamo slyly gave the boys a threatening look over, he was desperate that they answer him the way he planned or else Bo would be as good as gone. Luckily he had an ace up his sleeve that he hopped would do the trick.
"Herrnnnhen… Say boys could you be so kind as to confirm something for me and my friend here?" Satchamo asked as he swiftly turned his back to the fisherman and looked over towards Bo.
The boys weren't paying much attention to Satchamo currently though for their attention was all on the boxing idol in front of them.
"Bo… Stockston…?!" The boys muttered.
Bo crossed his arms as he waited for Satchamo to hurry up and ask his question, he was getting fed up over this whole ordeal.
"Herrnhe… Boys! Listen up, this path is the way to Skrullton Labs correct?!" Satchamo shouted with a voice that was filled with anger and contempt.
Satchamo's outburst caught the boy's attention, but what really caught their eyes was what they saw behind Satchamo's back. Satchamo currently had his arms folded behind him for the boys to see, and whatever he was showing them was causing their eyes to bug out.
Satchamo slowly turned his head back to the boys who were making terribly frightened faces. His thin lips began to curl as he smiled and spoke. "Correct?"
The boys all blurted out with uneasy voices. "Yes, yes it is!"
Upon saying this, the three ran right past Bo and Satchamo as fast as they could with their fishing rods gripped tightly as they scurried away.
Bo's scowl began to intensify as he continued to look over the grinning Satchamo before him. He was confused as to why the kids reacted the way they had, heck they hadn't even asked him for an autograph before they ran off. Something was up and Bo knew it.
"I've seen shady characters plenty of times throughout my time as a boxer, and I know how to spot em' you feel me?" Bo spoke as he clenched his fists tightly. "You're pulling some real shit here, what's your damn angle?"
"Hernnn…Looks like you caught me Mr. Stockston, and here I was thinking you were just a simplistic muscle-head… Well I'll be honest with ya, I have strong fondness, well I suppose one could call it an obsession with anything I find even remotely interesting." Satchamo spoke with a slithering tongue that he rolled delicately over his wood-chip looking teeth.
"So you're just a sick twisted old man is it?" Bo responded in disgust. "Well you ain't getting anymore entertainment from me ya bastard."
"Herrnnner… Well I think I have a way of getting a tad bit more out from you! You see… Slaying the famous Bo Stockston would certainly prove for some fantastic entertainment." Satchamo laughed.
"So you trying to die then?!" Bo roared at the cocky statement that this old man had just threatened him with. He was now running towards Satchamo with a strong jab rearing back behind him. He didn't care about wasting any extra time now. He had been insulted and for that he was about to lay a beat-down on this fool.
What Satchamo did next was unbelievable to Bo however, causing him to halt his progression and skid to a stop and stare before him. Satchamo had taken his arms out from behind his back, and what was now present on them was what looked to be hundreds of sharp wooden shards poking out from underneath his skin.
"What the hell is this?" Bo shouted.
But the Boxer didn't have much time to react, for it wasn't long after he spoke that a sudden blur followed by rush of wind flew past him. Turning his head past him he saw a massive wooden spear wobbling back and forth in the ground behind him. It was jagged and sharp and had pierced into the street a good distance back.
"Herher… First time seeing a devil fruit user Mr. Stockston? Going by that rather interesting expression of bewilderment on your face I would say yes!" Satchamo commented as the wooden shards and splinters in his arms continued to expand outwards in a throbbing manner.
"Devil fruit?!" Bo yelled.
'Shit I thought those things were just a myth.' He thought to himself.
It then hit him that if they in fact were real, then that could explain all the tricks Nightbright had been using on him earlier. 'Could he be a devil fruit user as well?' he wondered. He wasn't ready to believe anything yet however. Bo was a strong skeptic of most things, but unlike Nightbright's tricks, Satchamo's were clearly more visible. This fact was beginning to make a believer out of Bo the more he struggled with the thought in his mind.
"Devil fruit, or not… I'm still gonna whoop your damn ass!" Bo quickly thundered as he blitzed Satchamo with a powerful fierceness like that of a raging lion.
Back to Oregano, Tompkins and the Snoozing Polen on the Northern Side of Ushmel
"Oyeee Tompkins I feel like we have been walking along this street for the longest time!" Oregano cried as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Tompkins quickly followed suit as he wiped the sweat off himself as well with his wings in a dramatic fashion. He really wasn't sweating that bad, it wasn't like he was moving around since Oregano was his ride, but he was going with the flow and fitting in like usual.
Oregano had been hobbling along the streets of Ushmel heading north like Daveed had requested, but he hadn't seen anyone in black robes the whole time -And even the few people he actually did see out and about, when asked if they knew anything about the Shedyed they quickly backed away from him.
By now he had reached the outskirts of the city, and in the distance he could see a few large objects that looked a bit odd, they were shaded dark to his eyes from the angle he was looking at them from, but he figured they were just weird looking trees.
They had skinny trunks compared to their very full branches from the looks of it, and at the bottom of these trunks was what resembled gnarly roots. At the tops of each one of these trees there was also a long protruding branch that stuck up and arched over at the end resulting in a sharp point.
'Too weird to be a tree.' Oregano figured as he wondered about the shape, but eventually figured the trees might be for decoration or something and styled in some odd fashion.
Polen all the while was still sleeping away on Oregano's shoulder, which Oregano figured only a koala could do in the dry heat of this 'furnace-like' town currently under the mid-afternoon sun.
As Oregano continued to limp along it wasn't long before his broken leg started to throb. This pain made his face wince up when he set his foot on the ground. If anyone had been around to see him they might have guessed that he had just downed a bottle of vinegar since his face was so scrunched up.
"Ah jeez! This leg is giving me a fit Tompkins!" Oregano spoke out to his seagull as he began to fiddle around inside his windbreaker's pockets trying to rattle his pain medicine so that he could hear where it was located.
Tompkins was letting out big sighs and nodding his head sympathetically while this was going on. He was lifting up one of his own legs and showing Oregano that he felt his pain.
Oregano let out a big laugh at Tompkins display, which he couldn't see really all that well since the bird was always up on top of his head, but he knew Tompkins was a goof so he could only imagine what his feathery friend was up to up there doing.
Unfortunately, Oregano's laughter didn't last for long because with his continued searching for his pain pills he quickly realized that they were not with him! There was no rattle to be heard as Oregano began to flail about in his windbreaker desperately hoping to hear the sound of pills hitting against the shook his windbreaker for a good while and then desperately tried his backpack as well but no rattling could be heard in it either!
"Ayeeeee this is no good!" Oregano shouted as he began to pout.
Forgetting that Polen was still snoozing, Oregano quickly covered his mouth as to prevent the koala from becoming agitated and possibly giving him a 'death glare' or worse.
Luckily for him the koala was being a heavy sleeper and didn't react to the shout, or the viscous shaking of the windbreaker that he had done earlier and completely forgot about. Although Polen hadn't reacted to Oregano's display, out of the corner of Oregano's eye he noticed that something had. The trees that he saw in the distance began to move! Oregano figured his eyes were playing tricks on him but after rubbing them thoroughly and looking again he realized he had seen things correctly.
"Whoa we gotta check this out Tompkins!" Oregano exclaimed, switching from complaining about his lack of pain pills to now being his usual curious and adventurous self.
Tompkins nodded in agreement, and the two began to make their way to the weird trees before them. It didn't take them long however to begin to see just what the shadowy figures actually were.
The trunks of these trees were actually legs with monstrous talons at the end of them! The full branches that Oregano had once thought he had seen were actually a solid body – A solid, massive feathery body! The single branch sticking out at the top of each tree turned out to be a strong powerful neck, and at the end was a massive head with menacing eyes and a crushing beak. These trees were actually moa birds!
These moa birds stood at an intimidating 14 feet in height and were as strong and sturdy as could be. There seemed to be around 10 of the massive creatures present at this location around Oregano but more could be close by as far as Oregano could tell. It was obvious that this was in fact a genuine moa herd.
Oregano and Tompkins were both gazing up at these massive creatures who were certainly keeping keen eye's on them as well.
After much staring at the wondrous sight before them, Oregano finally whispered. "Hey Tompkins… You speak bird… Try and see if one of them will let me ride on it, my leg is killing me!"
Tompkins momentarily face faulted upon hearing such a request. He of course knew how to speak bird, but these were like no birds he had ever seen. To be completely frank, he was a little nervous. But he didn't want to disappoint his captain, so he passionately cleared his little birdy throat and took a deep breath.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirpity chirp, chirpy, chirp, chirp, chirp… Squawk!" Tompkins began to call out to the herd before them.
Oregano was grinning super big at this spectacle he had found himself in and watched as the massive birds before him began to turn their heads and attention towards them.
It appeared that the words Tompkins had said had been understood, as one of the moa slowly crept over towards Oregano, Tompkins and the snoozing Polen. It was a female from the looks of it and it seemed very interested in what was going on now that Tompkins had spoken.
When the moa had reached them, the bird slowly bent its neck down and looked Oregano right in the face. Continuing to make eye contact with Oregano the massive moa began to caw.
"Brakaw! Kaw, Kaw!" The moa responded to the earlier statement made by Tompkins, or at least that's what Oregano figured. He was hoping this bird didn't expect him to understand what she was saying so he just kept on grinning.
Tompkins was quick to reply with a fast series of more squawks and other bird noise gibberish after the moa had spoken.
All the while the other moa birds in the herd present were beginning to crowd around at the unusual spectacle surrounding them.
The moa at hand was still staring Oregano over, and after Tompkins had replied once more the massive bird peered down at Oregano's broken foot. The bird stared at the leg for a couple of seconds and suddenly a tear began to fall down its face!
The bird let out a sorrowful cry and immediately nuzzled Oregano with its strong and powerful neck.
"Awww shucks! What a sweet bird!" Oregano bellowed as he wrapped his arms around the moa bird's neck. Tompkins was wrapping his wings around the bird's neck as well. It was a lovely group hug… too bad that stinker Polen was asleep and was missing out on this wonderful moment, but Oregano figured he could surely hug the moa whenever he woke up.
They had all become fast friends already! Oregano wasn't sure what Tompkins had said to this moa, but he knew that this seagull of his had to be one smooth talker.
The moa before them quickly lowered itself down to the ground so that Oregano could hop on. Oregano balanced himself as he carefully folded his collapsible crutch and stuffed it into his backpack. Then with the utmost care, he slowly swept his broken leg over the birds back and with one final push with his good foot, he positioned himself on top of the moa's back.
"Alright were on ya!" Oregano hollered, the moa then pressed up with its bent legs and stood tall and proud.
The scene at hand was now Tompkins sitting atop Oregano's head, Polen sleeping on his shoulder and Oregano sitting on the back of an amazing moa! It looked as if he and Polen were ingredients in-between these two birds thus resembling a sandwich of sorts!
"This is amazing!" Oregano shouted with a smile as he patted the back of the moa he was riding on. "Hey moa bird, can I call you Nyree perhaps? I'd love to be able to associate you with a name!"
The moa happily cawed back in response and it was from that moment on that her name was Nyree.
Oregano and Tompkins were hooting and hollering as Nyree just trotted around. The rest of the moa heard went back to grassing in the field they were in, but Nyree was all about giving the boys an exciting time.
She would run and jump and they were all having the time of a lifetime. All this jumping around however was beginning to disturb the koala currently in dreamland on Oregano's shoulder. Polen let out a few huffs and puffs, unsure of what to make of all this unusual jostling he was experiencing. It was safe to say he had never been on the back of a moa before so this feeling was very foreign to him.
After a few more jumps and turns that were performed by Nyree, and the continued racket that Oregano and Tompkins were making, the koala finally decided to open up his beady little eyes.
Sheer terror hit the fuzzy marsupial upon doing so, as this surprising way to wake up caused him to jolt to attention. He quickly wriggled his way around to Oregano's chest and squeezed as tightly as he could. He was too confused to gnaw of wrestle with Oregano for the time being since he was so shocked.
"Oye oye! Poleeeeeen! Nice to see you awake!" Oregano spoke to his wiggly koala bear. He patted Nyree's neck and motioned that she halt for a moment to he could explain the situation to his fluffy little pal.
After Oregano explained everything to Polen that had happened since the event with Daveed, and all the way up until now, Oregano quickly realized that he should get back to the mission at hand and continue his search for Ameera and any sign of the Shedyed.
He was about to give Nyree the sign to walk into town so they could continue the search, but by now Polen had regained composure and wasn't about to let Oregano get away with giving him such a rude awakening.
The koala pounced on top of Oregano's head, much to both Tompkins and Oregano's surprise! The koala quickly began to wrestle with the seagull and proceeded to chew on Oregano's head.
"Yieeee! Oregano hollered as a dust cloud of a brawl began to take place on Nyree's back.
Nyree looked back at the group she was carrying around and a sweat drop slowly began to trickle down her face. The massive moa simply waited patiently for the skirmish to end - And not too long after it started, it ended in laughs all around.
Oregano, Polen and Tompkins were all panting and catching their breaths in-between laughing their heads off. They were just like siblings always getting into roughhousing games.
Nyree simply shook her head and began to laugh as well. The times were good, but Oregano eventually regained composure and pointed back towards Ushmel.
"Time to continue the search!" Oregano bellowed and Nyree began to run down the sandy street they were on and headed back into town.
About an Hour Later with Oregano and Crew in Ushmel
"Yikes, we aren't having a bit of luck!" Oregano muttered to his animal companions.
He was surely attracting attention from more townsfolk now that he was riding on the back of a giant moa, but with all the extra attention he brought to him, he would lose it all in an instant when he asked about the Shedyed.
"What crummy luck! We just need to find these Shedyed people that Daveed told us about… but we can't even seem to get any clues about them!" Oregano sighed.
Polen was currently propped up tall on Oregano's shoulder looking out for any people to possibly ask questions to. He was definitely fulfilling his crew position of look-out.
It wasn't long before the super cool marsupial had spotted two people heading their way in fact. Polen lowered his 'cool' shades to make sure he was seeing correctly and he began to signal to Oregano about the two people walking their way in the street.
"Good eye Polen!" Oregano said as he praised his koala. "Let's go talk to them!" Oregano called out to Nyree followed by a squawk from Tompkins in agreement.
As they neared the two strangers walking towards them, Oregano shouted out. "Hey can you help us? We are looking for a group called the Shedyed."
Unlike many other villagers, these two individuals did not run away upon hearing such a request. In fact they continued to walk up to where Oregano and the crew were now standing still at.
When the two strangers got close enough to see Oregano their eyes bulged as they both shouted. "Shit its 'Triple Six'!"
These two individuals were both adorned in what appeared to be lab coats. The one on the left was a man with a relatively young face. He had red hair that was parted in a dramatic fashion in the front of his head. He had freckles, light green eyes and noticeably large front teeth. He was small in stature reaching what Oregano guessed was about 5 feet 5 inches. Besides his lab coat the man wore simple khaki pants with brown dress shoes. And on his belt he carried a pistol in a case.
Beside him was a woman with dark brown hair and had a face that looked a little too old for her. She had blue eyes and an oddly stumpy neck. She stood at around 5 feet 8 inches and had an average build. Along with her lab coat she wore a long blue dress underneath it, and black flat-bottomed shoes. She carried a gray satchel on her shoulder as well.
"Michelle if 'Triple Six' gets involved with the Shedyed who knows what Skrullton could be in for!" The man spoke up in an uneasy tone.
"Like I don't know that already Venny, we'll just have to stop him here." Michelle spoke back to her partner.
Oregano, Polen, Tompkins and Nyree were all standing in front of these two who had been whispering amongst each other this whole time.
"Ummm excuse me? We are looking for the Shedyed could you help…?" Oregano began but was quickly interrupted by an unexpected gun shot that went whizzing past them. Nyree was amazingly agile and sidestepped out of the way just in time however!
"We are gonna kill you 'Triple Six' Oregano! Skrullton Labs can't afford to have you join forces with the Shedyed!" The man named Venny shouted as he held his pistol that was still smoking out towards Oregano.
His partner Michelle on the other hand had taken out what appeared to be a long metal chain out of her satchel. The chain seemed to have sharp hooks on either end. She was now twirling it about as she menacingly stared down at Oregano and his animal posse around him.
"What in the world was that for?! You know guns are pretty dangerous." Oregano exclaimed as he shrugged his shoulders way up high.
"Nyree let's get out of here girl!" Oregano called out to his moa friend. "These guys are crazy and I won't be having anything to do with them!"
Nyree nodded and began to bolt away and proceeded to turn down the nearest street corner.
Polen was shivering nervously and was even shaking Oregano due to how scared he was. Tompkins was busy imitating laughter the best a bird could do because that was all Oregano was doing as they escaped the two wackos back there.
"Who were those goofballs?!Some people am I right guys?" Oregano commented. His eyes were closed because he was laughing so hard but a sudden halt in Nyree's progress caused him to pop them back open.
They were now face to face with what one could describe as a 'wall' of chains hooked in tightly to buildings on either side of the street they were running on. The chains had been forced into the walls so hard that cracks were now forming where the chains stuck out from.
"Think you know your way around this city better than us? We weren't joking when we said we were going to kill you 'Triple Six'."
A familiar voice boomed. It belonged to Michelle and she was now swinging two long metal chains in each of her hands. Behind her yet another wall of chains could be seen blocking the road on that side of the street as well.
Michelle and Venny had the group cornered now! There was only about 30 feet separating Oregano and gang from these two new enemies now. It appeared like there was no choice but to fight.
"Well shoot… This is a pain!" Oregano exclaimed as he patted Nyree on the back. "Sorry to get you in the middle of this mess, I have what some might call… bad luck." He then added with a laugh.
Nyree shook her head fiercely in reply. She was showing no sign of fear or hesitation. She was ready to back up her new found friends.
"Nyree you are a true pal!" Oregano exclaimed as he then looked at the approaching adversaries.
"Well, let's see here." Oregano began but was cut off when Venny took yet another shot at him.
Nyree gracefully avoided the attempt and continued to stand strong awaiting a response from Oregano.
"As I was saying let's get rid of that gun first! Nyree you just keep doing your thing girl! Tompkins and Polen…" Oregano paused as he felt his koala shiver when he mentioned his name. "Hey don't you worry my fellas I think I got an idea!"
Oregano then looked at Venny dead on, he reached into the front of his pants where he kept his pistol and quickly pulled it out.
"Alright Nyree you won't have to dodge any more bullets in five, four, three, two, one!" Oregano exclaimed as he then fired his pistol at Venny's.
A sudden clang was followed shortly after which Oregano expected to be the pistol he had shot, but much to his surprise it had been due to one of Michelle's chains spinning in a rapid circle that deflected the bullet off-course.
"Well bummer!" Oregano cried out.
"Not gonna be that easy for you 'Triple Six' we are both security guards at Skrullton Labs. We aren't to be taken for granted." Michelle spoke out.
Venny was currently in a cold sweat. He hadn't realized that Oregano was simply shooting at his gun, he figured he was shooting to kill so he saw his life begin to flash before his eye's.
"Thaaaaanks for the saaaave Michelle." Venny mumbled.
"Just get a hold of yourself Venny…" Michelle replied, but stopped worrying about him when she looked back up towards Oregano still sitting tall on the moa whispering something to the seagull on his head. The sight truly hurt her head, it was hard to take what she was seeing as something serious, but due to Oregano's reputation she was left conflicted on how she should handle herself.
Meanwhile Oregano was unzipping his backpack and looking for something inside. He had Polen looking over the scene for him reluctantly to keep an eye out for enemy movement, Nyree was ready to react at the drop of a hat, and Tompkins was ready for Oregano to explain the plan he told him he was needed for.
"Aha here we go. Bout time I found this." Oregano replied as he pulled out a bag with a very strong smell. "It's my bag of ground up cayenne pepper! Just like aunt Cayenne, I always love to add a hint of this to my meals, so I've always got some handy! But that's beside the point." He added.
After a few more gun shots and some exceptional dodging on Nyree's part, Oregano had finished explaining the plan to his animal pals and they were ready to strike back!
"And go!" Oregano shouted. He was giving the signal to both Tompkins and Nyree to move into action.
Tompkins took off flying overhead, he had flown off Oregano's noggin and it was truly a sight very uncommon to see. The heat of the moment was realized by Tompkins though so he knew he had to help out in whatever way he could.
Nyree on the other hand was now running as fast as she could towards Michelle and Venny. Oregano had his pistol drawn and was firing once again at Venny's gun. He wasn't expecting them to hit since Michelle had swatted them down earlier, but he needed them to worry about something instead of giving Nyree, Polen and himself their full attention as they ran by them.
The bullets all fell to the ground and Venny's pistol was unscathed once again. However after becoming pressed up with their backs to the wall on one side of them, Oregano and crew now had more room behind them to work with and they took full advantage of this. Oregano motioned for Nyree to run a long ways back and give them some breathing room.
He tapped the moa on the neck when they were a good distance away from the two strangers and then proceeded to unsling his riffle from off his back.
He quickly took aim at the two security guards from Skrullton Labs who were now running towards him, they were obviously tired of fooling around, and were moving at a much faster pace than earlier.
The time was ready for Oregano to try out his plan. His sights were ready and his cross-hair was aimed.
"Drop Tompkins!" He shouted.
Tompkins the fast flying seagull upon hearing this command dropped the bag of cayenne pepper directly above where Venny and Michelle were running. It was as if they had been doing this play for years, because with a sudden perfect firing of Oregano's rifle, the bag burst open and a mist of irritating pepper flakes filled the air around the two guards below.
Michelle and Venny were now cursing Oregano's name, coughing, hacking and rubbing their itchy eyes viciously.
"Now for that pistol I've been trying to shoot!" Oregano laughed. He wasn't used to be denied his target so many times when shooting, so he was getting a kick out of this little shindig.
Then with a second firing of his rifle, Oregano pierced the pistol out of Venny's hand and it flew down to the sandy street behind him with a crash. Michelle couldn't do her whirling chain defense with pepper particles all up in her eyes, so it had been a free shot for 'Triple Six Oregano'.
About that time Tompkins landed back on top of Oregano's head and received much applause for his swift moves!
"Alright Nyree! While they are still scratching their eyes let's go for a…" Oregano was cut off fast.
As he was beginning to plan out their next plan of action, a roaring metal chain flew through the air and landed with a hard hit right to his chest, the chain withdrew rapidly back to Michelle who had slung it, and the force of the hit sent Oregano toppling over and off of Nyree's back.
"Oyeeeeee!" Oregano hollered as he fell towards the ground beneath him. In midair he managed to pull Polen onto his chest so he wouldn't end up landing directly on him and he'd be safe.
Tompkins flew up in the air before impact was made with the ground, and Oregano landed hard on his back with a thud.
The right half of his shirt was now ripped from the chain cutting into him, he was bleeding a considerable amount near his shoulder, and now his lower back was folding up like an accordion in pain due to the impact from the fall.
None of them had seen the chain heading towards them this time. They were all too lax and relying a little too heavily on the cayenne pepper and that wasn't good news.
Polen, Tompkins and Nyree alike were all clustered around Oregano who was sprawled out on the ground looking like a big mess.
"Don't worry guys… I'm okay." Oregano responded to his pals, but his usual cheerful easy-going voice was not heard in this phrase much to the animal's dismay. His voice had a sound of serious pain running through it.
Polen scurried up to Oregano and was about to embrace him tightly when he suddenly noticed something shiny lying on the ground beside where Oregano had fallen.
Oregano noticed his koala's switch in attention to the ground beside him and was now looking at something he was not expecting to see. It was the tranquilizer dart that the marine girl Slurry had fired on The Cherry Maria earlier that day. He had forgotten that Tompkins had scooped down and gotten it.
"So you put this in my windbreaker aye Tompkins?" Oregano spoke as he reached over slowly, still lying down on the ground pitifully and picked it up.
The dart had an obvious dent from where the bullet had collided with it, but from the looks of it, and as far as Oregano could tell, the dart still seemed to have liquid inside and the syringe was still intact.
"I think this could be worth a chance…" Oregano muttered with a faint smile.
Meanwhile Michelle and Venny were walking towards the scene before them in complete joy and amazement. They were shocked that they had defeated the mighty 'Triple Six' Oregano. They were going to be famous now!
They stopped a few feet away from Oregano who by now had rolled over and was resting on his stomach.
Tompkins was showing respect by not sitting on his captains head in his current state and was instead positioned standing on the ground beside his head.
Nyree on the other hand was giving the approaching duo a menacing stare. She was ready to rip the two apart, but Oregano didn't want to risk her getting hurt by those sneaky chains so he had told her to hold back unless completely necessary.
Venny and Michelle were now gazing at Oregano slumped down on the ground before them with his two birds on either side of him.
"So the hotshot rookie that terrorizes Oion can only amount to this much huh?" Venny harshly spoke towards Oregano.
"That cheap trick spared you some time but didn't do you any good in the end!" He continued until he saw Oregano crack a smile.
"Well it left you without a gun." Oregano responded, the smile on his face growing bigger by the second.
Venny was outraged by this display. Not only was Oregano smiling as he talked to back to him, he wasn't even smiling at him. He was smiling at Michelle for reasons he was about to find out.
Michelle his partner was beginning to wobble about, and her legs eventually buckled causing her to fall hard to the ground and land on her face.
"Michelle! What did you…?" Venny screamed. But his answers were reveled when behind where Michelle had fallen stood a koala in 'cool' shades and a baseball cap posing like the hero he was with the tranquilizer dart still in his paw.
Polen had scurried up the houses on the side of the street and secretly ambushed the two Skrullton guards from behind, and then proceeded to inject the dart into Michelle's unsuspecting leg.
"Why you little pest!" Venny shouted at Polen. He was rearing back about to kick the koala for what he had done to Michelle.
But Oregano, at the sight of the man threatening his pal instantly reacted. "Nyree and Tompkins he's all yours!" He shouted.
Then in a flash Nyree had blitzed the scene at hand and drove her mighty beak crashing hard into Venny's head. She had been waiting to strike this whole time, but contained herself since Oregano wished her to stay safe and calm.
The impact sent Venny flying through the air and while still in midair flight, Tompkins added the finishing touches, even though Venny was already clearly knocked out. Tompkins flew down from the sky like an arrow and drove his beak into Venny's head as well.
"Excellent!" Oregano sighed as he gave thumbs up all around to his pals.
Polen came scurrying over to Oregano and gave him the loving embrace he was going to give him earlier, Tompkins flew over after he un-wedged his beak from Venny's skull, and Nyree walked over to the fallen Oregano and comforted him by nuzzling him with the side of her head.
"You guys are some great teammates! I couldn't have done it without ya!" Oregano smiled. He could feel the love and was so relieved that this whole ordeal was over.
But hey this kind of thing was bound to happen with his adventurous plans so he decided he might as well get used to it.
It wasn't long however that an unfamiliar female voice called out from behind him that shocked Oregano and gang completely off guard. They hadn't heard any noise or movement beforehand until the voice called out. "Thanks for the help, if you don't mind I'll take Michelle and Venny off your hands."
Oregano and crew all whipped around to look behind them and see where the voice was coming from and who it belonged to. Much to their surprise it belonged to a woman in a black hood with a dark scarf over her face.
"A black hood! Oregano muttered, clearly still in pain but still excited about the sight before him. "You wouldn't happen to be part of the Shedyed would you!? I'm looking for someone named Ameera." Oregano added.
The woman stared back at Oregano in complete silence. Her dark hazel eyes were mesmerizingly deep and were gazing at the rag-doll of a man also known as Oregano on the ground beneath her.
**A/N: Hey everyone! I can honestly say that with all the characters I now have going on in my story, that writing just seems to be a lot more fun!
Like always I really hope you enjoy this chapter!
Please feel free to comment as well! I truly appreciate your reviews and opinions!
Sycamore Isle has a lot left in store! **