Chapter 38: Crystalli Invasion
Meanwhile, in Camp Greenlake, the warden was talking to someone in a pale pink robe, female by the way her robe clung to her body. "So, if that Sakuzy boy comes back, you want me to warn these Crystalli things?" She asked, trying to clear things up.
The Crystalli host nodded, then spoke in a quiet, but strong, voice. "Yes, but don't kill him. My superiors want him alive."
The host snapped her fingers and several crystals, which were probably the size of a wide-screen television, planted themselves around the warden's cabin and vanished in a flash of pink light. The warden started, then scratched her head of red hair and then shrugged at her visitor's sudden disappearance.
Back on God's Thumb, Squall had led the group around a corner and found their Gummi Ship, now fully repaired and readied the ship for takeoff. But before the engines could even start, Caveman suggested something. "Hey, before we go, how about we dig one more hole?"
Squall got out of the Gummi Ship and turned to face Caveman with both a cocked eyebrow and a slight grin. "Feelin' lucky?" asked the Aussie.
Caveman could only return the expression. "You know it." he answered.
The others were soon quick to join them with positive looks on their faces.
"I'm up to it." Ranger said.
Zero joined in with, "Me too."
Nobody looked himself over, then said, "Sure. Why not? Besides, there has to be ONE part of my body that isn't blistered."
"I'll set the Gummi Ship to beam us down at the Camp." Squall said, then he hopped into the Gummi, quickly followed by the others. The Aussie then kicked the ship into action and flew towards the Camp.
The Gummi quickly deposited them into the area where they dug holes. Caveman ran through the field of holes, then hopped into a hole with a rock just to its side.
"You sure it's THIS hole, Stanley?" asked Zero.
"Yep. But it'll take too long to do by hand unless Squall does his thing." Caveman replied.
Squall looked around, then said, "I'll go get the shovels! C'mon, Ryan!"
"Right behind ya!"
Squall and Solar darted off to the camp grounds and snuck through the place to where Mr. Sir kept the shovels. They saw Pendanski and Mr. Sir arguing about something. They didn't know what it was, but he did notice Mr. Sir threw his gun at Pendanski.
"Ow! Don't you throw nothin' at me, you Neanderthal!" Pendanski shouted.
When Squall spoke, he made sure that he was inaudible to anyone except Solar. Solar did the same. "Heheh...He's got a good measure of the bludger."
"Who cares? Let's just get the shovels!" Ryan said, just about ready to dart off if Squall wasn't holding him by the collar.
After a bit of calming down from Ryan, the two slunk around for a while and saw the supply cabin labeled 'Library'. They were about to leave when they saw the shadows of the Warden and the girl in the pink robe talking to each other. They quickly ducked out of sight as they walked past them.
"Don't ask why, but Sakuzy and his friends are alive and back!" The pink-robed girl informed, "If you don't use these Crystalli, you'll face dire consequences."
The warden smiled, then said, "Don't you worry, sister. I'll make ABSOLUTELY sure that I'll use 'em, hon."
As soon as the warden and pink-robe were out of sight and earshot, Squall stared after them. Judging by the way they were talking, they weren't exactly friends with their fellow inmate.
"Uh-oh, I smell trouble…We'd better make this fast." Squall whispered, urgently.
The two grabbed a couple shovels and ran out of the camp as quietly as they could. Within seconds, the pair finally got back to the rest. It was easy to see what progress they made with just their hands.
"Talk about fast diggins. Here!" Squall said, then tossed them shovels and jumped into the hole with them. With the sound of molding bones, Scott's hands turned into something like mole's forelimbs and then he started shoveling away.
Ranger eyed Squall, then thought to himself, So THAT was how he dug so good with just his hands.
Squall dug for a little bit, then turned to Ranger with a curious look in his eye. "By the by, Sakuzy, do you know anyone who's partial to pink robes?" he asked.
Ranger thought this over, then shrugged. "No. Why?"
Squall got very close to Sakuzy and began to whisper in his ear. "Ryan and I overheard someone in a pink robe talkin' to the warden." He told him, "She knew your name."
Ranger's eyes widened in slight surprise, but shrugged again. "I still don't know who it is, but she can't be good. As far as I know, anyone who wears that is an enemy." Ranger turned to the progress of the hole, which was pretty much going nowhere. "Anyway, I don't think the hole could get any deeper…"
"I think that we shouldn't make it deeper." Caveman pointed out, "We should make it wider."
The group changed plans and began to dig outward until Caveman's shovel hit something. There was then a clunking noise when Caveman stuck his shovel into a hunk of earth. He then tried it again and got the same result. He grabbed the thing and pulled it out—it was a treasure chest! He whooped as he pulled it out, and Zero did too.
Ranger's eyes widened in surprise as he said, "Whoa, didn't see THAT coming!"
Nobody, however, stared at the chest in total awe and shouted, "We're rich! RICH! I TELL YA!"
Suddenly, out of the hole left by the treasure chest, several Yellow Spotted Lizards jumped out and landed on them, though they didn't seem to bite them. They hissed, but usually did no more than that. Everyone else was scared stiff, because one bite from the lizards would kill them in minutes.
Nobody, however, wasn't scared of them at all. "Aw, they're beauties, aren't they? Come here, girl." He reached for a lizard, which hissed at him and bared its fangs at him. "None of that, sweetie." Nobody scolded, then he reached out and grabbed said lizard, which did nothing other than squirm around. "Now that's better. I think I'll call her…Fluffy."
Squall's eyes were wide with fright, especially with one of the lizards crawling just behind his neck. "Why would you name a reptile more deadly than a rattler THAT?!" the Aussie hissed.
Nobody simply "shrugged" as best he could, then answered, "Because I want to."
Suddenly, the sound of a cocking gun filled the air and Ranger immediately went as stiff as a board. "Do I dare look up?" He asked. In the end, Ranger did dare and saw several Crystalli Soldiers with their gun arms pointed right at them.
Squall looked up and backed away in fright, ignoring the lizards around him, which simply squirmed away at the sudden movement. "FLIPPIN' HECK! What are these things?!" He asked in surprise.
"Crystalli!" It was a bit confusing as to whether Ranger was simply saying his traditional line or if he was answering Squall's question.
The warden and the girl in the pink robes appeared at the hole's edge, peering down on them with every hint of satisfaction. "Hello, Sakuzy." the girl in pink asked, "How are you?"
Ranger paused and appeared to back away before regaining his posture and staring back up at her. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?" he asked.
"I'll answer your second question later, because you'll find out soon enough." the girl answered, "As for your first question, my name is Pearl."
Ranger stared. He had seen most of the hosts, but this one was a new face in the crowd. "A new Crystalli?!" he asked in surprise.
Everyone's attention suddenly went from the Crystalli to the warden, looking down at them with ill content. "Thought you'd break back into MY camp?!" asked the Warden, then looked over at Caveman, who was still keeping a good hold on the chest. "Thanks, Stanley, for findin' my treasure. My granddaddy owned the lake, then it dried up. He dug himself crazy looking for it. Made ME do it, too, even on Christmas."
Squall let out a VERY audible snort in disbelief. "Well, ain't that a tear jerkuh?" He asked, sarcastically.
"Too bad we're not so sympathetic!" Ryan pointed out.
Without another word, both Ranger and Nobody leapt out of the hole, scattering the lizards all over the place. The Crystalli Soldiers, seeing that their targets were escaping, opened fire. Crystal ammo pelted the desert landscape and narrowly missed everyone else. Sakuzy landed on the desert floor, then jammed his Eagle Feather Keyblade right into the "head" of the first Soldier and jerked it out, causing said Soldier to fall forward with a CRASH.
Joyex on the other hand, reached into his convict suit and took his chain whip with surprising speed. He had wrapped it around his midsection like a belt and used his suit to kind of hide it. The Nobody threw his whip out and used it to jerk a Crystalli Soldier right off its feet. As the soldier fired, Joyex jerked the chain around so that it ended up shooting down its fellow soldiers by mistake.
However, there were more soldiers than they thought they could handle. Ranger looked at Squall, who nodded.
"Scott!"
Squall leapt into the air and back on the ground before he got into a karate pose. "G'day!" He shouted. The Aussie rushed forward and proceeded to stick his boot through a Crystalli Soldier's head and shattered another one with a quick karate chop. He then clasped his hands together and forced Ranger into the air, sending him into a backflip in midair. Ranger then took his Keyblade and stuck it right through a soldier's head, and repeated the process for a second one.
There were still a few more Soldiers to deal with, but then Ranger got another idea. He turned to Solar, who gave the thumbs' up.
"Ryan!"
"Alright!" Solar shot from nowhere and began to pummel a soldier with multiple punches that were so fast that they were pretty much a blur to the naked eye. When Ryan was finished, he did a vaulting horse over Sakuzy's shoulders and landed on one's back. He then proceeded to stomp repeatedly on it, sending it to the ground with a huge crack in its back.
Ranger noticed that Caveman and Zero were trying to get away, but they only narrowly escaped getting shot. "Stanley! Hector! Stay in the hole and guard the treasure! We'll take care of these guys!"
Caveman turned, then heeded Ranger's words, taking Zero back into the hole they were digging in.
Just when all the Soldiers were down for the count, things got worse. More crystals fell from the skies and landed with a CRASH. The crystalline meteors shifted parts and had eventually changed into things that rolled like wheels. The crystalline wheels rolled around for a while, then stopped and unfurled to reveal creatures that stood horizontally like a beast on four spider-like legs and guns where hands should have been. Their scarlet eyes were on a pair of antenna-esque eyestalks with two in the middle that were longer than the others.
"Sakuzy! Rollers!" Nobody warned, alerting them to their presence.
The Crystalli Rollers open fired, not with the ammo the Soldiers used, but with blasts of pink energy. Sakuzy reflected the blasts back at them, batting them back with his Eagle Feather, but when the blasts hit, they only reverberated into the sky or into the ground.
"Well, this is useless! They've got shields that'll block projectiles AND Keyblades!" Nobody said, dodging and deflecting any blasts that came for him.
On seeing the two deflecting and dodging the Rollers' fire, Pearl had actually smiled. At last, Sakuzy can finally be a Crystalli. At last, we can be united…
Pearl's thought was short lived, because Sakuzy pointed his Keyblade at one of the Rollers.
"Stop!"
One of the Rollers froze in time and in place. The shield apparently only applied when time was still moving, because Ranger got out his Eagle Feather Keyblade and chopped it multiple times before removing the spell. When the spell lifted, the Crystalli Roller shattered like glass.
Ranger then turned to Pearl, who took a step back. She quickly regained her composure, then held out her hands. In a flash of pink light, a blade-ended, three-piece nunchuk materialized in her hands.
"Some wimp dependent on a Keyblade?" She asked, "I'm terrified."
Ranger jumped her and aimed the Keyblade to go through her chest. She simply maneuvered it out of the way with her nunchuk and tried to hack at him with her own blades. For someone abnormally timid, she certainly was a good fighter…
Back with the clash with Crystalli, Nobody was having a hard time dealing with a few Rollers. He glanced at the shields, then at a rock that Caveman had taken out of his hole. Nobody heaved the heavy stone up, and with a grunt, he chucked it at the Roller. The rock came into contact with the shield and the field of energy crackled as it held the rock back. Suddenly, there was an electrical explosion and the foul smell of smoke filled the air. It seemed that if the Rollers' shields came into contact with something heavy, it would continue to ramp up power until it eventually exploded.
"Scott!" Nobody called.
Squall nodded and, with a convulsion or two, caused his muscle mass to grow and brought his fists through a Crystalli. The fist exited out the creature's back and he repeated the process with several more. "And Bob's yer uncle, we seem to be winnin'!"
Nobody repeated the process of taking the Crystalli out by heaving a rock at each Roller and overloaded each one's generator. By the time he was finished, the air around them smelled strongly of smoke
"Ryan!" Nobody called.
For a while, Solar paused, then Nobody looked at him. The blonde kid shook his head in what could only be an apologetic manner. "Sorry, but I can't do that without sunlight."
Squall chuckled, then reached into the pack he brought with him. "Not to worry, mate. Never go on a butt whoopin' without a sun lamp for Ryan." He assured them.
Squall took his hand out of the pack to show them a sun lamp (a lamp that emits energy similar to sunlight) and strapped it to Ryan's shoulder. When he turned it on, the sun lamp's energy flowed through him and he felt completely recharged.
"Alright! I'm feeling PUMPED!!" Solar said, looking like he had gotten off an awesome thrill ride.
"Now where were we?" Nobody asked, "Ryan!"
"Time to party!" Solar charged up a ball of sunlight in his palm and shot it through five Crystalli. The burst of light was so concentrated that it burned right through their armor like someone burning something with a magnifying glass, only ten times more powerful.
Ranger took notice of the several Rollers around them, then got out the Dog Charm. He thought he might as well use it anyway. "Dodger!"
In a burst of light appeared a white dog with a brown mask of fur, a red bandana where a collar should be, and a pair of shades. The dog known as Dodger began to howl a tune of sorts, each of the louder ones creating a wave of sound. The shockwave seemed to wipe out all Crystalli that were too close, each one crumbling under the sonic attack.
"Catch ya later!" Dodger said, lowering his shades to raise an eyebrow at Ranger. The dog turned on his heel(s), then took off on a sprint, then vanished into his own world.
The only Crystalli left now was Pearl, who was fingering her nunchuk and facing Ranger. Though her hood was still up, Ranger could feel her gaze pierce his very soul. "Well, Pearl, it's just you and me now!"
"I know that." Pearl pointed out, "I'm not as simple as you think!"
"Really? How 'bout I show you why THIS Keyblade chose me?" Ranger asked. Ranger took Eagle Feather Keyblade in hand, then started to spin his Keyblade around in his hand like a helicopter blade. "WIND!"
The Keyblade actually concentrated a funnel of swirling air, which bombarded Pearl full in the front. The blast of wind blew Pearl off the ground and sent her flying through the air. She landed on her feet, her nunchuk still in hand, but the sheer force of the blast of air did blow off her hood. Ranger noticed that she had shoulder-length, platinum blonde hair and light gray eyes. Though Ranger hadn't seen this Crystalli before, she did seem familiar to him and he lowered his Keyblade to get a better look at her.
"Have we met?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Pearl didn't answer his question, rather she spat a crude answer at him. "Proves all YOU know. I think I've caused enough mayhem for you."
Before Ranger could get a better look at her, Pearl vanished in a flash of pink light and time seemed to slow down.
Nobody walked over and asked, in disbelief, "Why did you let her get away?!"
Ranger suddenly came back to the current universe, then looked at the ground and shook his head. "I...I don't know." He said, with some form of shock.
Squall had gotten out of his super-muscle state and had heaved Caveman, Zero, and the treasure chest out of the hole. Apparently, the Warden had hit the road to try and get out of the battle. "Anyway, mates, let's see what's in that there chest of Stanley's."
The whole group tried opening it, but couldn't get past the lock that held the chest shut. Squall cleared his throat and everyone took that as a hint to stand aside, then caused his fingernails to turn into a long, thin claw to pick the lock. The lock clicked open and then the Aussie pried the chest open. Caveman, Nobody, and Zero's eyes widened as they saw that the chest was filled gold, silver, various dollar bills and checks, and…
"A Pure Heart!"
It was true. Amidst the treasure was a bright-orange heart was in the chest and it slowly hovered into the air and nestled itself in Ranger's oustretched hand. Ranger pocketed the heart as Squall suddenly noticed that the sun was rising again.
"Man, that was one heck of a battle." Ranger pointed out, barely stifling a yawn, "We've been up for almost three days."
"I wonder if we're still allowed in the tent?" asked Squall.
Solar acted up almost immediately, "One way to find out!"
The group made their way back to the camp, but then Scott paused as they were about halfway to their tent. "One moment please..." Squall reached into one of the suit's pockets, then placed a present in a place where Pendanski would find it. "When Pendanski finds that, he's in for a surprise!"
When all six returned to D-Tent, their tent fellows were there to meet them with cheers, handshakes, and group hugs. When it all came down to leaving, the little bunch of ingrates cared about them after all.
"Where you been, man?" Magnet asked, hardly believing what they saw.
"We heard you croaked in the desert!" X-Ray added, equally surprised.
"NOW y'know why this band of misfits are me mates." Squall pointed out, clapping Ranger on the shoulder..
That night, Sakuzy and the others laid down for a rest. After all, in the short span of a few days, they had crossed a desert, climbed a mountain, and had a life-or-death struggle against poisonous lizards and Crystalli.
(For a change of pace, instead of Dearly Beloved, play Treasured Memories.)
Enter Flashback...
Sakuzy was in a classroom with Joey and Maya. Adrian was taking over intellectual teaching and Sakuzy soon fell asleep on his desk. He was then poked sharply in the ribs by Adrian, who looked VERY ticked off. As Sakuzy got back up, massaging his side, Adrian asked, "What are YOU doing?!"
Sakuzy winced as he touched the spot where Adrian had prodded him, then answered in what seemed to be a slightly joking manner. "Sleeping."
Joey stifled a laugh behind him, but Maya didn't seem very amused about the joke Sakuzy made. Adrian seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder, as though he didn't really want to look at her. Sakuzy straightened up, then decided to put it simple to Adrian. "Didn't get much sleep, you see?"
Adrian's expression looked like it could have been carved from stone, as was his fist. "No, I don't. You'd better pay attention or else!" He said, sternly.
"Or else what?" asked Sakuzy.
Now he got him, because Adrian obviously didn't have anything to throw back at him. Instead, he just growled and stormed off.
Joey turned in his seat, then raised a questioning hand to Maya. "Maya, I still can't see why you went out with that jerk in the first place." He pointed out.
Maya scoffed, then replied, "Heh. Don't let HIM hear you say that."
All three laughed out loud and Sakuzy barely ducked under a Dark Firaga, which came from Adrian's Keyblade. said wielder's Keyblade looked like Riku's, only more dark looking. Its keychain resembled a fiery orange eye and its blade looked like a black sword mixed with a silver bat wing.
Joey looked back at a disgruntled Adrian, who returned to the front of the class, then asked, "What's HIS problem?"
"Maybe he's just jealous." Sakuzy suggested.
Maya barely stifled a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I'd say that just about covers it."
End Flashback...
Sakuzy woke up the next morning and began packing in an instant. He had a universe to save after all.
Pearl
A new Crystalli whoe is someone like Emerald. She told the warden about what happened to the runaway inmates, but didn't want her to kill Sakuzy. Sakuzy says he never met her, but has a bit of deja vu with her anyway. She wields a dual-bladed, three-piece nunchuk, which is enough to match Sakuzy's Keyblade in an instant.
Dodger
A spunky street dog who appears whenever Sakuzy calls. He'll use super-powerful sound waves to crush any enemies that are in the immediate area. He first appeared in Oliver and Company 1988.
Crystalli Roller
A new kind of Crystalli that can curl into wheels and roll around for swifter transportation. They don't shoot Crystalli Shells, but blasts of energy and can create energy shields that can refract most energy attacks. They're one of the hardest Crystalli to destroy, for you have to take something heavy and make the shield overload.
That would be Scott's Bone Smasher and Bone Morph and Ryan's Hyper Fist and Solar Orb. There's also Dodger's Worry-Free.
I have settled on a voice for Scott: Eric Bana. He played the Hammerhead shark on Finding Nemo, so I settle for that.