Chapter six: Rescue Mission
The trio of Fubar, Ruby and Bright soared through the night sky, carrying the six members of the rescue team on their backs. Fubar in the lead, the three animals were quickly advancing on the castle where Pablo had said Shabon was being kept.
However, unknown to any of the three animals or any of the six team members, a beige dog silently hung by Bright's tail, its little arms wrapped around it. Koroku looked down at the ground far, far below and forced himself not to gulp. He didn't want to alert the team or animals, as it would ruin his entire hope of helping out.
Finally, after what seemed like forever for Toppo, the castle came into view. Everyone quickly spotted three black-clad swordsmen standing outside the front door, so they decided to play it safe and land in the forest.
Fubar, Bright and Ruby silently landed on the ground, as soon as they did, the team of six hopped off just as quiet. As soon as they touched ground, Koroku let go of Bright's tail and silently ran aside so as not to be noticed.
Sgt. Joe looked at Fubar. "You three say here and be quiet." He instructed. "We don't need you three getting killed yourselves."
Fubar nodded and quietly screeched in agreement. Sgt. Joe turned to Percival and nodded.
"Okay." Percival whispered. "Now that we're here, anyone have any idea on how to get past those guards?"
Beecham smirked. "Leave that one to me." He whispered slyly.
The rest of the team followed Beecham to the edge of the forest, where they could see all three of the soldiers. Everyone quickly hid behind a tree or bush so they wouldn't be detected. Pablo had said himself that these guys were enhanced soldiers.
Beecham waved his hand at the soldiers, casting his Water Rune. Suddenly, a trio of icicles pierced through the ground and stabbed the three soldiers, making them disappear in an instant.
The team of six slowly tiptoed out of hiding, with Koroku silently following. As they got closer to the castle, they spotted several guards patrolling on the roof. Franz made quick work of them with his Lightning Rune.
The team quickly but quietly approached the front door to the castle. They weren't surprised to find it locked.
"Great!" Cecile whispered sarcastically. "NOW how are we supposed to get in?"
Toppo smirked. He silently walked over to Cecile and grabbed her spear.
"Hey!" Cecile hissed. "That's mine!"
Toppo didn't reply. He simply jammed the long point of the spear into the keyhole, which wasn't that big considering that the door wasn't either. Toppo lightly twisted the spear until he heard a click. The juggler removed the spear from the keyhole, handed it back to Cecile, and pulled open the door and silently as he could. He gestured for the rest of the team to go in as the rest stared at him oddly.
"Now why didn't I think of that?" Franz thought aloud. The team walked into the castle, and Toppo quietly shut the door behind him.
There were several guards in the main hallway, but an Earthquake from Toppo's right hand quickly dispatched them. Walking down the now-empty hallway, the team looked around. Paintings were hanging all over the walls, and statues of strange-looking creatures were placed all the way down the hall.
Soon, Percival's team arrived at a pair of staircases, one going up and one going down. Cecile looked from on staircase to the other.
"What do we do?" The young guard asked.
"We should split up." Franz suggested. "There should be at least on more floor above the one those stairs lead to, so we'll be able to cover more ground."
"Excellent suggestion, Franz." Percival said. "Very well. What should the teams be?"
"Toppo and I will go downstairs." Sgt. Joe said. Toppo nodded. If he were feeling more talkative, he would've suggested that himself.
"Okay. Cecile and I will keep going up and search the higher floors." Beecham added.
"Yeah. The higher floors might not be as big as the lower ones." Cecile said.
"Okay." Percival said as he turned to Franz. "You okay with searching the middle floor with me?" Franz nodded.
Percival smirked. He put his fist out into the middle of the circle of team members. "Remember our objective." He instructed. "Also remember that we must all try to make it out of this alive. If one of us falls into danger, the other must do everything in his or her power to save them." He paused for a few seconds to look around at his team. "Teamwork?"
Toppo quickly put his hand on top of Percival's. "...Teamwork." He said, cracking a smirk.
Cecile had to stretch her arm up, put she too put her hand on top of the duo's. "Teamwork!" She said brightly and confidently.
Beecham too smirked and also put his hand on top of the trio of hands. "Teamwork!"
Sgt. Joe confidently placed his wing on the pile of hands. "Teamwork!" He said boldly.
Franz quickly put his hand on top of the pile. "Teamwork!"
All six members of the team lifted their hands into the air, all of them forming a fist. "Teamwork!" They all said, quiet enough not to alert any nearby guards.
With that, the team split up, Toppo and Sgt. Joe running downstairs and everyone else running upstairs.
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The duo of Cecile and Beecham slowly walked through one of the upper floors, searching for any sort of clue to where in the castle Shabon could be. Even if they found a Council member, they could get him to talk.
Cecile was right about the upper floors being smaller than the lower floors. She and Beecham had searched three floors top to bottom in ten minutes, although they still didn't have any luck in their mission. They had come across many guards, but none stood up to Beecham's Water Rune or Cecile's Attack Rune. They couldn't understand how they could be enhanced soldiers.
Eventually, the duo arrived at another staircase. This one looked different than the other staircases, looking smaller and it spiraled upwards.
Beecham looked at Cecile. "Do you know where that might lead?" The old Karayan asked.
Cecile examined the staircase for a few seconds, then gave her reply. "A staircase like that would most likely lead to the roof." She stated. "I remember seeing staircases like that in other castles I've been to in the past."
"Then we're almost done." Beecham said. Cecile nodded sadly, knowing that they hadn't been successful in their search.
Beecham and Cecile slowly worked their way up the winding stairs, weapons ready for anything.
At the top of the long, winding staircase, a wooden door was against the wall. Beecham placed a hand on the doorknob and gave it a little twist, opening it. The mismatched duo walked through the doorway, onto the rooftop, just as Cecile predicted.
Alas, the rooftop was all clear. Beecham sighed. "We'd better get going to meet up with the others."
Once again, Cecile nodded sadly. They hadn't even come across a trace of Shabon or the council.
Suddenly, the duo of Beecham and Cecile heard a slight chuckling from behind. They turned around and saw an older man dressed in councilor garb walking into view from behind the door's stone structure. He wasn't Julian, but instead had lighter hair and didn't wear a hat.
Cecile's eyes sprang open. "You! You're Thomas' father!"
Thomas' father sneered. "EX-father." He reminded. He went back to his normal glare. "Anyway, we of the council knew you'd be coming as soon as we heard that griffon had saved our traitorous attendant." He started to back up towards the edge of the stone wall. "You of Budehuc Castle were responsible of removing several of us from office. I'll see to it that you pay."
Thomas' father placed two fingers into his mouth and gave a loud whistle. Beecham and Cecile were silent for a few seconds, but a low growl quickly pierced the silence.
The two 'good' fighters watched in shock as a huge, hulking figure leapt above the roof of the castle, over the head of Thomas' father, and landed several yards away from Beecham and Cecile.
Cecile gasped and put up her spear and shield. "A Twin Snake!"
Thomas' father smirked. "Our friend said the he created it for a reason. I never knew that this would be the reason he was talking about." He started walking towards the door before stopping and looking at the two fighters. "I'll leave you now, and come back in a little bit to see what's left."
Without another word, Thomas' father walked through the door, off the roof, leaving Beecham and Cecile to fight with the ferocious Twin Snake.
The Twin Snake let out a loud roar and lashed out its right head at Cecile. Beecham quickly pushed the young girl out of the way with one arm and ran the other way as the head plowed through part of the roof barrier.
Cecile quickly jumped to her feet and rushed towards the Twin Snake. She hopped on the nose of the middle head before it could lash out its tongue and rushed down the creature's back.
Beecham ran across to the right head, avoiding the middle head as it lashed out its tongue. The right head unfortunately saw him and lashed out at him. Luckily, Beecham saw this and held up his sword, blocking the attack. The sword locked with the head's teeth, causing a fierce battle for control. Beecham didn't want to show it, but he was starting to weaken due to the head's immense power.
Cecile, however, saw Beecham in trouble, so she quickly plunged her spear into the right head's long neck. The head let out a howl of pain as it released Beecham's weapon. The Karayan man quickly slashed his sword across the base of the same long neck Cecile had her spear plunged into.
Instead of focusing on Beecham, the right head, leaned back, grabbed Cecile by her armour and lifted her into the air. Cecile screamed in fear as she was carried off the back of the Twin Snake, leaving her spear stuck in the right head's neck. The right head lifted Cecile into the air as high as it could, them slammed her into the roof's stone floor as hard as it could. Cecile screamed in pain as she heard a loud snap coming from her shoulder. Tears of pain rolling down her face, Cecile watched as the right head bared its teeth and raised above her, preparing to finish her off.
However, the head had forgotten about Beecham. The old Karayan, seeing Cecile in peril, charged towards the neck of the right head, where Cecile's spear still remained wedged into. Beecham leapt into the air, spinning his sword around multiple times. Beecham buried his sword deeply into the neck, decapitating the right head completely. Cecile's spear fell to the surface with a dull 'clank'. The right head, neck and all, soared over the roof of the castle, and Beecham heard a loud 'thud' after a few seconds. A couple seconds more and Beecham heard Fubar screech angrily.
Beecham quickly used his Water Rune on Cecile, healing her and mending her shoulder. Cecile got to her feet, rushed over to her spear and picked it up. She looked over at Beecham and smirked. "Thanks, Beecham. I owe you."
"Actually, we're even." Beecham replied with a smile. "Now let's take out the rest of this monster." Cecile nodded and rushed over to the Twin Snake.
As Cecile leapt back onto the back of the Twin Snake, Beecham charged around the front to try and fight of the main head.
The main head tried to lash out its tongue several times, but the old Karayan proved that he was quicker than he looked, using his weapon of steel to block every attack.
The left head lashed around wildly at every attack Cecile threw at it, and threw in a few attacks of its own. Luckily, these attacks did next to no damage due to Cecile's extra-tough shield. Even luckier, Cecile was successful in almost every swing she did. She knew that the weak point was the bottom of the neck, so that was the main area she aimed for.
After thirty second of doing the same thing, Cecile was becoming quite frustrated at the left head for making the fight hard for her. She was wondering at how she could kill the head quick so she could run in to help Beecham.
Suddenly, an idea jumped into her head. She smirked slyly as she lowered her stance. Although the left head was curious at what she was up to, it decided to attack anyway. The head charged at Cecile, who quickly leapt out of the way. While the head was recovering, Cecile charged towards the neck and activated her Trojan Rune. Cecile spun around wildly, her spear outstretched. Every time she spun, Cecile's spear dug deeper into the neck. The left head lifted its head high into the air, let out a howl of pain, and collapsed to the floor of the roof, lifeless.
Satisfied with her work, Cecile leapt over the left neck and charged over to Beecham, whom was now on his back, but was still fighting off the Twin Snake's tongue.
Just as the Twin Snake was getting ready for another attack, Cecile charged in front of Beecham and put up her shield. The tongue struck the shield multiple times, and as it did, Cecile looked over her shoulder at Beecham. "Beecham! Your Water Rune!"
Beecham quickly understood what she was saying, so he activated his Water Rune.
Suddenly, just as the Twin Snake was about to lash out its tongue again, a huge icicle pierced through the surface of the roof, and pierced through the Twin Snake, killing it instantly.
Beecham quickly used his Water Rune again to heal any wounds he or Cecile had taken. The older Karayan stood up and looked down at Cecile. "Let's get the heck out of here." He said. "We've done all we can."
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As Beecham and Cecie fought with the Twin Snake, Toppo and Sgt. Joe walked down a long hallway of doors below the ground floor of the castle. On both sides of the hallway were countless doors, and both juggler and duck were staring into each one.
The duo of Shabon's protectors had been searching for well over ten minutes, but they still hadn't come across any sign of Shabon.
The end of the hallway was approaching, and Toppo, although reluctant to do so, was almost ready to end his search, as he and the sergeant had searched the whole basement.
Toppo approached a door with a window on it, and looked inside. His eyes sprang open at what he saw. Instead of seeing an empty room, he saw a very familiar seven year-old tied to a chair. She was silently crying, and the cloth in her mouth was becoming damp. Tears found their way to Toppo's face, knowing the girl.
"Shabon!" Toppo whispered, too shocked and happy to talk louder. He quickly turned to the other side of the hallway, where Sgt. Joe was searching. "Sergeant! Over here!"
The sergeant quickly complied to Toppo's wishes and looked inside. The duck's eyes sprang open just as wide as Toppo's.
"Shabon!" The sergeant said. He quickly jammed the pointed end of his weapon into the keyhole and twisted it. The door easily unlocked and opened. As soon as it was, both Toppo and Sgt. Joe rushed into the room.
Both men immediately rushed over to the small girl, who lifted her head to see who had come in. Once she saw he two protectors come in, she instantly perked up. As Sgt. Joe got to work on the ropes holding Shabon to the chair, Toppo yanked the cloth from her mouth.
Once her mouth was free, Shabon smiled hopefully as fresh tears came to her face. "T-Toppo? Sgt. J-Joe?" She asked. Toppo looked at Shabon with wet eyes, smiled and nodded.
After he and Sgt. Joe had freed Shabon completely, Toppo wrapped his arms around Shabon, swearing to himself that he wouldn't let anything like this happen to her again. Both musicians cried tears of happiness as they embraced each other.
"Toppo, I was so s-s-scared!" Shabon sobbed. "Thank you two SO much!"
Toppo looked down at Sgt. Joe with wet eyes, smiled, and mouthed 'thank you'. Sgt. Joe's eyes too became watery as he smiled and nodded.
As Toppo turned around to walk out of the room, Shabon started to repeatedly plant kisses on his left cheek. However, as soon as Sgt. Joe and Toppo, carrying Shabon, turned around completely, they found themselves staring into the face of a fat man with a mustache in council garb, in his left hand, he held a long sword, which he pointed at Toppo. Toppo and Sgt. Joe froze, but Shabon was too busy smothering Toppo's cheek with kisses.
Toppo let out a low growl as he turned around to face to sergeant. The juggler gently handed his young friend to the white duck. As soon as she was in his arms, Shabon started to smother Sgt. Joe's cheek with kisses in a similar fashion to what she did to Toppo.
Toppo turned back around to face Julian, his eyes narrowed with hatred. "...You're going down." He growled.
"Need I remind you who's carrying the sword?" Julian quizzed.
Toppo silently shouted at himself for remembering. Toppo watched as Julian pressed the sword against his neck.
However, just as Julian was about to deliver the final blow, a small figure leapt from the shadows of the hallway, howled, and sank its teeth down on Julian's left hand, making him take the sword from Toppo's neck.
Getting a better look at their rescuer, Toppo, Sgt. Joe and Shabon saw a beige dog gnawing wildly at Julian's hand. Julian was hopping around wildly, shouting and trying to shake the dog off.
"Koroku!" Toppo, Sgt. Joe and Shabon cried.
Toppo quickly charged his Earth Rune. "Koroku! Let go!" He instructed.
Koroku quickly let go of Julian's hand and rushed over to the 'good' fighters. As soon as the dog was out of the way, Toppo cast an Earthquake. The ground underneath Julian shook violently, and even cracked in some places. Julian was heavily attacked, and was instantly knocked unconscious.
"Come on!" Toppo said to Sgt. Joe and Koroku. All three fighters quickly rushed out of the room, Shabon in the sergeant's arms.
All three fighters rushed through the hallways as quick as they could, knowing that they didn't need to take their time now that they got what they came for. The soon came to the steps that led to the main hall that would lead to the front door. Everyone quickly raced up the stairs.
In the main hallway, Toppo spotted Percival, Franz, Beecham and Cecile running down the other set of steps to meet them.
"Guys! You found her!" Cecile said.
"It's great, but we need to get out of here." Percival said. "Beecham said that he and Cecile had a fight with a Twin Snake on the roof. A fight like that would alert all the guards in the castle!"
"Hey, what's Koroku doing with you?" Franz asked as he saw the beige dog by Toppo's feet.
"We don't know, but we'll tell you what we know later!" Sgt. Joe said.
All seven fighters tore down the hallway, luckily not coming across any guards. However, their luck ran out as soon as they saw the front door. Seven guards were standing in front of the door, blocking it.
"We're trapped!" Cecile shouted.
"Not today!" Franz shouted as he activated his Lightning Rune. A small ball of lightning formed in front of Franz, and it constantly got bigger. When it got big enough, the ball of lightning fired a huge beam of electricity at the front door. The beam plowed through the guards and blasted the door off its hinges, clearing the way for the good fighters to escape.
"Come on!" Percival shouted. Everyone else quickly agreed and rushed out the front door.
Outside, everyone rushed towards the three animals were told to remain. After passing the head and neck of the right head of the Twin Snake, the team charged into the bushes, where Fubar, Bright and Ruby were still waiting.
Everyone quickly mounted the same animals as before, although Koroku was all owed to actually sit on Bright rather than hold onto his tail, and Shabon sat on Ruby with Franz and Toppo.
For some strange reason, no guards came out of the castle to chase after the team. No one cared, though. They had Shabon and they just wanted to get back to Budehuc. All three animals lifted off the ground and took of in the blink of an eye.
Standing aside, watching the escape, Mike stood with Julian, whom had recently regained consciousness.
"So what do we do now?" Julian asked.
Mike smirked. "Put phase 2 into action."
To be continued...
Author's notes: Well, I don't know how many chapters there are left, but I know that I'm at LEAST halfway through. On a side note, now that DEL! is back, I can get to work on my Samus fic! Hey, it IS dedicated to her, after all. Please read and review!
The trio of Fubar, Ruby and Bright soared through the night sky, carrying the six members of the rescue team on their backs. Fubar in the lead, the three animals were quickly advancing on the castle where Pablo had said Shabon was being kept.
However, unknown to any of the three animals or any of the six team members, a beige dog silently hung by Bright's tail, its little arms wrapped around it. Koroku looked down at the ground far, far below and forced himself not to gulp. He didn't want to alert the team or animals, as it would ruin his entire hope of helping out.
Finally, after what seemed like forever for Toppo, the castle came into view. Everyone quickly spotted three black-clad swordsmen standing outside the front door, so they decided to play it safe and land in the forest.
Fubar, Bright and Ruby silently landed on the ground, as soon as they did, the team of six hopped off just as quiet. As soon as they touched ground, Koroku let go of Bright's tail and silently ran aside so as not to be noticed.
Sgt. Joe looked at Fubar. "You three say here and be quiet." He instructed. "We don't need you three getting killed yourselves."
Fubar nodded and quietly screeched in agreement. Sgt. Joe turned to Percival and nodded.
"Okay." Percival whispered. "Now that we're here, anyone have any idea on how to get past those guards?"
Beecham smirked. "Leave that one to me." He whispered slyly.
The rest of the team followed Beecham to the edge of the forest, where they could see all three of the soldiers. Everyone quickly hid behind a tree or bush so they wouldn't be detected. Pablo had said himself that these guys were enhanced soldiers.
Beecham waved his hand at the soldiers, casting his Water Rune. Suddenly, a trio of icicles pierced through the ground and stabbed the three soldiers, making them disappear in an instant.
The team of six slowly tiptoed out of hiding, with Koroku silently following. As they got closer to the castle, they spotted several guards patrolling on the roof. Franz made quick work of them with his Lightning Rune.
The team quickly but quietly approached the front door to the castle. They weren't surprised to find it locked.
"Great!" Cecile whispered sarcastically. "NOW how are we supposed to get in?"
Toppo smirked. He silently walked over to Cecile and grabbed her spear.
"Hey!" Cecile hissed. "That's mine!"
Toppo didn't reply. He simply jammed the long point of the spear into the keyhole, which wasn't that big considering that the door wasn't either. Toppo lightly twisted the spear until he heard a click. The juggler removed the spear from the keyhole, handed it back to Cecile, and pulled open the door and silently as he could. He gestured for the rest of the team to go in as the rest stared at him oddly.
"Now why didn't I think of that?" Franz thought aloud. The team walked into the castle, and Toppo quietly shut the door behind him.
There were several guards in the main hallway, but an Earthquake from Toppo's right hand quickly dispatched them. Walking down the now-empty hallway, the team looked around. Paintings were hanging all over the walls, and statues of strange-looking creatures were placed all the way down the hall.
Soon, Percival's team arrived at a pair of staircases, one going up and one going down. Cecile looked from on staircase to the other.
"What do we do?" The young guard asked.
"We should split up." Franz suggested. "There should be at least on more floor above the one those stairs lead to, so we'll be able to cover more ground."
"Excellent suggestion, Franz." Percival said. "Very well. What should the teams be?"
"Toppo and I will go downstairs." Sgt. Joe said. Toppo nodded. If he were feeling more talkative, he would've suggested that himself.
"Okay. Cecile and I will keep going up and search the higher floors." Beecham added.
"Yeah. The higher floors might not be as big as the lower ones." Cecile said.
"Okay." Percival said as he turned to Franz. "You okay with searching the middle floor with me?" Franz nodded.
Percival smirked. He put his fist out into the middle of the circle of team members. "Remember our objective." He instructed. "Also remember that we must all try to make it out of this alive. If one of us falls into danger, the other must do everything in his or her power to save them." He paused for a few seconds to look around at his team. "Teamwork?"
Toppo quickly put his hand on top of Percival's. "...Teamwork." He said, cracking a smirk.
Cecile had to stretch her arm up, put she too put her hand on top of the duo's. "Teamwork!" She said brightly and confidently.
Beecham too smirked and also put his hand on top of the trio of hands. "Teamwork!"
Sgt. Joe confidently placed his wing on the pile of hands. "Teamwork!" He said boldly.
Franz quickly put his hand on top of the pile. "Teamwork!"
All six members of the team lifted their hands into the air, all of them forming a fist. "Teamwork!" They all said, quiet enough not to alert any nearby guards.
With that, the team split up, Toppo and Sgt. Joe running downstairs and everyone else running upstairs.
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The duo of Cecile and Beecham slowly walked through one of the upper floors, searching for any sort of clue to where in the castle Shabon could be. Even if they found a Council member, they could get him to talk.
Cecile was right about the upper floors being smaller than the lower floors. She and Beecham had searched three floors top to bottom in ten minutes, although they still didn't have any luck in their mission. They had come across many guards, but none stood up to Beecham's Water Rune or Cecile's Attack Rune. They couldn't understand how they could be enhanced soldiers.
Eventually, the duo arrived at another staircase. This one looked different than the other staircases, looking smaller and it spiraled upwards.
Beecham looked at Cecile. "Do you know where that might lead?" The old Karayan asked.
Cecile examined the staircase for a few seconds, then gave her reply. "A staircase like that would most likely lead to the roof." She stated. "I remember seeing staircases like that in other castles I've been to in the past."
"Then we're almost done." Beecham said. Cecile nodded sadly, knowing that they hadn't been successful in their search.
Beecham and Cecile slowly worked their way up the winding stairs, weapons ready for anything.
At the top of the long, winding staircase, a wooden door was against the wall. Beecham placed a hand on the doorknob and gave it a little twist, opening it. The mismatched duo walked through the doorway, onto the rooftop, just as Cecile predicted.
Alas, the rooftop was all clear. Beecham sighed. "We'd better get going to meet up with the others."
Once again, Cecile nodded sadly. They hadn't even come across a trace of Shabon or the council.
Suddenly, the duo of Beecham and Cecile heard a slight chuckling from behind. They turned around and saw an older man dressed in councilor garb walking into view from behind the door's stone structure. He wasn't Julian, but instead had lighter hair and didn't wear a hat.
Cecile's eyes sprang open. "You! You're Thomas' father!"
Thomas' father sneered. "EX-father." He reminded. He went back to his normal glare. "Anyway, we of the council knew you'd be coming as soon as we heard that griffon had saved our traitorous attendant." He started to back up towards the edge of the stone wall. "You of Budehuc Castle were responsible of removing several of us from office. I'll see to it that you pay."
Thomas' father placed two fingers into his mouth and gave a loud whistle. Beecham and Cecile were silent for a few seconds, but a low growl quickly pierced the silence.
The two 'good' fighters watched in shock as a huge, hulking figure leapt above the roof of the castle, over the head of Thomas' father, and landed several yards away from Beecham and Cecile.
Cecile gasped and put up her spear and shield. "A Twin Snake!"
Thomas' father smirked. "Our friend said the he created it for a reason. I never knew that this would be the reason he was talking about." He started walking towards the door before stopping and looking at the two fighters. "I'll leave you now, and come back in a little bit to see what's left."
Without another word, Thomas' father walked through the door, off the roof, leaving Beecham and Cecile to fight with the ferocious Twin Snake.
The Twin Snake let out a loud roar and lashed out its right head at Cecile. Beecham quickly pushed the young girl out of the way with one arm and ran the other way as the head plowed through part of the roof barrier.
Cecile quickly jumped to her feet and rushed towards the Twin Snake. She hopped on the nose of the middle head before it could lash out its tongue and rushed down the creature's back.
Beecham ran across to the right head, avoiding the middle head as it lashed out its tongue. The right head unfortunately saw him and lashed out at him. Luckily, Beecham saw this and held up his sword, blocking the attack. The sword locked with the head's teeth, causing a fierce battle for control. Beecham didn't want to show it, but he was starting to weaken due to the head's immense power.
Cecile, however, saw Beecham in trouble, so she quickly plunged her spear into the right head's long neck. The head let out a howl of pain as it released Beecham's weapon. The Karayan man quickly slashed his sword across the base of the same long neck Cecile had her spear plunged into.
Instead of focusing on Beecham, the right head, leaned back, grabbed Cecile by her armour and lifted her into the air. Cecile screamed in fear as she was carried off the back of the Twin Snake, leaving her spear stuck in the right head's neck. The right head lifted Cecile into the air as high as it could, them slammed her into the roof's stone floor as hard as it could. Cecile screamed in pain as she heard a loud snap coming from her shoulder. Tears of pain rolling down her face, Cecile watched as the right head bared its teeth and raised above her, preparing to finish her off.
However, the head had forgotten about Beecham. The old Karayan, seeing Cecile in peril, charged towards the neck of the right head, where Cecile's spear still remained wedged into. Beecham leapt into the air, spinning his sword around multiple times. Beecham buried his sword deeply into the neck, decapitating the right head completely. Cecile's spear fell to the surface with a dull 'clank'. The right head, neck and all, soared over the roof of the castle, and Beecham heard a loud 'thud' after a few seconds. A couple seconds more and Beecham heard Fubar screech angrily.
Beecham quickly used his Water Rune on Cecile, healing her and mending her shoulder. Cecile got to her feet, rushed over to her spear and picked it up. She looked over at Beecham and smirked. "Thanks, Beecham. I owe you."
"Actually, we're even." Beecham replied with a smile. "Now let's take out the rest of this monster." Cecile nodded and rushed over to the Twin Snake.
As Cecile leapt back onto the back of the Twin Snake, Beecham charged around the front to try and fight of the main head.
The main head tried to lash out its tongue several times, but the old Karayan proved that he was quicker than he looked, using his weapon of steel to block every attack.
The left head lashed around wildly at every attack Cecile threw at it, and threw in a few attacks of its own. Luckily, these attacks did next to no damage due to Cecile's extra-tough shield. Even luckier, Cecile was successful in almost every swing she did. She knew that the weak point was the bottom of the neck, so that was the main area she aimed for.
After thirty second of doing the same thing, Cecile was becoming quite frustrated at the left head for making the fight hard for her. She was wondering at how she could kill the head quick so she could run in to help Beecham.
Suddenly, an idea jumped into her head. She smirked slyly as she lowered her stance. Although the left head was curious at what she was up to, it decided to attack anyway. The head charged at Cecile, who quickly leapt out of the way. While the head was recovering, Cecile charged towards the neck and activated her Trojan Rune. Cecile spun around wildly, her spear outstretched. Every time she spun, Cecile's spear dug deeper into the neck. The left head lifted its head high into the air, let out a howl of pain, and collapsed to the floor of the roof, lifeless.
Satisfied with her work, Cecile leapt over the left neck and charged over to Beecham, whom was now on his back, but was still fighting off the Twin Snake's tongue.
Just as the Twin Snake was getting ready for another attack, Cecile charged in front of Beecham and put up her shield. The tongue struck the shield multiple times, and as it did, Cecile looked over her shoulder at Beecham. "Beecham! Your Water Rune!"
Beecham quickly understood what she was saying, so he activated his Water Rune.
Suddenly, just as the Twin Snake was about to lash out its tongue again, a huge icicle pierced through the surface of the roof, and pierced through the Twin Snake, killing it instantly.
Beecham quickly used his Water Rune again to heal any wounds he or Cecile had taken. The older Karayan stood up and looked down at Cecile. "Let's get the heck out of here." He said. "We've done all we can."
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As Beecham and Cecie fought with the Twin Snake, Toppo and Sgt. Joe walked down a long hallway of doors below the ground floor of the castle. On both sides of the hallway were countless doors, and both juggler and duck were staring into each one.
The duo of Shabon's protectors had been searching for well over ten minutes, but they still hadn't come across any sign of Shabon.
The end of the hallway was approaching, and Toppo, although reluctant to do so, was almost ready to end his search, as he and the sergeant had searched the whole basement.
Toppo approached a door with a window on it, and looked inside. His eyes sprang open at what he saw. Instead of seeing an empty room, he saw a very familiar seven year-old tied to a chair. She was silently crying, and the cloth in her mouth was becoming damp. Tears found their way to Toppo's face, knowing the girl.
"Shabon!" Toppo whispered, too shocked and happy to talk louder. He quickly turned to the other side of the hallway, where Sgt. Joe was searching. "Sergeant! Over here!"
The sergeant quickly complied to Toppo's wishes and looked inside. The duck's eyes sprang open just as wide as Toppo's.
"Shabon!" The sergeant said. He quickly jammed the pointed end of his weapon into the keyhole and twisted it. The door easily unlocked and opened. As soon as it was, both Toppo and Sgt. Joe rushed into the room.
Both men immediately rushed over to the small girl, who lifted her head to see who had come in. Once she saw he two protectors come in, she instantly perked up. As Sgt. Joe got to work on the ropes holding Shabon to the chair, Toppo yanked the cloth from her mouth.
Once her mouth was free, Shabon smiled hopefully as fresh tears came to her face. "T-Toppo? Sgt. J-Joe?" She asked. Toppo looked at Shabon with wet eyes, smiled and nodded.
After he and Sgt. Joe had freed Shabon completely, Toppo wrapped his arms around Shabon, swearing to himself that he wouldn't let anything like this happen to her again. Both musicians cried tears of happiness as they embraced each other.
"Toppo, I was so s-s-scared!" Shabon sobbed. "Thank you two SO much!"
Toppo looked down at Sgt. Joe with wet eyes, smiled, and mouthed 'thank you'. Sgt. Joe's eyes too became watery as he smiled and nodded.
As Toppo turned around to walk out of the room, Shabon started to repeatedly plant kisses on his left cheek. However, as soon as Sgt. Joe and Toppo, carrying Shabon, turned around completely, they found themselves staring into the face of a fat man with a mustache in council garb, in his left hand, he held a long sword, which he pointed at Toppo. Toppo and Sgt. Joe froze, but Shabon was too busy smothering Toppo's cheek with kisses.
Toppo let out a low growl as he turned around to face to sergeant. The juggler gently handed his young friend to the white duck. As soon as she was in his arms, Shabon started to smother Sgt. Joe's cheek with kisses in a similar fashion to what she did to Toppo.
Toppo turned back around to face Julian, his eyes narrowed with hatred. "...You're going down." He growled.
"Need I remind you who's carrying the sword?" Julian quizzed.
Toppo silently shouted at himself for remembering. Toppo watched as Julian pressed the sword against his neck.
However, just as Julian was about to deliver the final blow, a small figure leapt from the shadows of the hallway, howled, and sank its teeth down on Julian's left hand, making him take the sword from Toppo's neck.
Getting a better look at their rescuer, Toppo, Sgt. Joe and Shabon saw a beige dog gnawing wildly at Julian's hand. Julian was hopping around wildly, shouting and trying to shake the dog off.
"Koroku!" Toppo, Sgt. Joe and Shabon cried.
Toppo quickly charged his Earth Rune. "Koroku! Let go!" He instructed.
Koroku quickly let go of Julian's hand and rushed over to the 'good' fighters. As soon as the dog was out of the way, Toppo cast an Earthquake. The ground underneath Julian shook violently, and even cracked in some places. Julian was heavily attacked, and was instantly knocked unconscious.
"Come on!" Toppo said to Sgt. Joe and Koroku. All three fighters quickly rushed out of the room, Shabon in the sergeant's arms.
All three fighters rushed through the hallways as quick as they could, knowing that they didn't need to take their time now that they got what they came for. The soon came to the steps that led to the main hall that would lead to the front door. Everyone quickly raced up the stairs.
In the main hallway, Toppo spotted Percival, Franz, Beecham and Cecile running down the other set of steps to meet them.
"Guys! You found her!" Cecile said.
"It's great, but we need to get out of here." Percival said. "Beecham said that he and Cecile had a fight with a Twin Snake on the roof. A fight like that would alert all the guards in the castle!"
"Hey, what's Koroku doing with you?" Franz asked as he saw the beige dog by Toppo's feet.
"We don't know, but we'll tell you what we know later!" Sgt. Joe said.
All seven fighters tore down the hallway, luckily not coming across any guards. However, their luck ran out as soon as they saw the front door. Seven guards were standing in front of the door, blocking it.
"We're trapped!" Cecile shouted.
"Not today!" Franz shouted as he activated his Lightning Rune. A small ball of lightning formed in front of Franz, and it constantly got bigger. When it got big enough, the ball of lightning fired a huge beam of electricity at the front door. The beam plowed through the guards and blasted the door off its hinges, clearing the way for the good fighters to escape.
"Come on!" Percival shouted. Everyone else quickly agreed and rushed out the front door.
Outside, everyone rushed towards the three animals were told to remain. After passing the head and neck of the right head of the Twin Snake, the team charged into the bushes, where Fubar, Bright and Ruby were still waiting.
Everyone quickly mounted the same animals as before, although Koroku was all owed to actually sit on Bright rather than hold onto his tail, and Shabon sat on Ruby with Franz and Toppo.
For some strange reason, no guards came out of the castle to chase after the team. No one cared, though. They had Shabon and they just wanted to get back to Budehuc. All three animals lifted off the ground and took of in the blink of an eye.
Standing aside, watching the escape, Mike stood with Julian, whom had recently regained consciousness.
"So what do we do now?" Julian asked.
Mike smirked. "Put phase 2 into action."
To be continued...
Author's notes: Well, I don't know how many chapters there are left, but I know that I'm at LEAST halfway through. On a side note, now that DEL! is back, I can get to work on my Samus fic! Hey, it IS dedicated to her, after all. Please read and review!