Chapter Eighteen: Friends and Enemies

"We've been in this stupid, cramped plane for days now. We don't even know where we're going!" Jessica complained.
The group of seven were all in the small plane, making it a very tight fit for all of them. Jessica was squeezed in the back seat, with Harry dozing next to her and Sarah resting uneasily on top of them both. Florence was relaxing on a wing as Jim was leaning over the edge of the other, looking into the crisp water below. Kevinda was stuck snugly next to Chazar who was busy piloting the craft.
"Stop your complaining you spoony marmoset!" Chazzy shouted at the young woman, a lit twig sticking out of the corner of his mouth. "That Rufus Gengai told me that they needed the Pygmy Whale so that they could get to some Temple of the Ancients or something."
"The Temple of the Ancients?" Harry inquired, perking up at its mentioning.
"Oh sure, now you tell us this," Jessica sighed. She groaned as she tried to move herself into a more comfortable position, but the goat on her lap made it difficult to do so.
"We're going to the forested temple? I know where that is!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "It's that way!" He pointed across the sea. "Wait, no... No, it's over there." He proceeded to point in the opposite direction. "Or, maybe it was back that way. Just give me a minute, I know this one. I have some friends who live out there."
"I think you should just keep going in this direction, Chazzy... There's something nearby..." Florence said softly.
"Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to be making these predictions! Chazzy, keep on going this way, there is something nearby," Kevinda restated authoritatively.
The pilot simply sighed and muttered something about smooting spoony marmosets under his breath. He kept the Pygmy Whale on the same course across the water.

The sun was high in the sky, and the plane was slowly approaching a stray rock in the middle of the ocean. What was truly strange, was that the top of the rock seemed to be shaped like a person.
"Now that's one strange lookin' marmoset of a rock up there," Chazzy said, squinting his eyes as he looked ahead.
"Hey, it's moving!" Harry exclaimed, as he pointed at the rock ahead. Indeed, it was starting to move.
"I told you it existed!" the rock exclaimed. "Welcome to Wutai, the land of the spoons! B-but... all of my spoons are gone now."
"It's Muffie!" Jim cried out. "So, Wutai does exist..."
"I sense someone nearby... Someone who you are all familiar with," Kevinda said, her hand hovering above her crystal orb.
"I'm not familiar with this spoony marmoset. What are you doing out in the middle of smootin' no where?" Chazzy questioned the girl as they arrived at the rock.
"They didn't believe me when I told them Wutai exists," Muffie explained, "so I came out here to show them. I also took their spoons, and I'm sorry for that. I don't have any spoons left." She looked downwards, sadly.
"What happened to them?" Florence inquired.
"This strange man with a fish jumped into my boat. He kicked me off and tossed all of my spoons into the sea. I wasn't able to save them all."
"So Olaf is still alive," Harry muttered. "We must double our efforts to stop Olaf at all costs!"
"Hey, Muffie," Jim began, "why don't you join us to help us stop Olaf? We can use all the help we can get."
The young lady on the rock looked at Jim. "Really? All right, I'll help you guys out! I'll get that ugly weirdo back for making me lose all of my spoons!" She jumped into the Pygmy Whale and sat on Chazzy's shoulders. "Let's go!" She exclaimed as she pointed out to the sea.
"You spoony smootin' little... Get your spoony marmoset off of my smootin' shoulders!" Chazar barked.

They continued their quest across the sea until the group finally made it to dry land again. There only seemed to be one problem: they weren't where they were supposed to be.
"Where are we?" Muffie asked, as she walked around the unfamiliar territory.
"I think I know about this place," Florence commented as she hopped off of the Pygmy Whale.
"Isn't this that place where all of those paleontologists went missing a long time ago?" Harry asked. Florence nodded in response.
"You know..." Kevinda began in a dark tone as she lifted the crystal orb. She was sitting in the shadows of an old pine and she caressed the orb as it began to glow. Everyone turned to look at her. "They say that something haunted the scientists that worked here. One fateful night, as they slept, monsters entered their camp. They were not ordinary monsters, though. These monsters walked on two legs and had long, thin claws that could rip through steel. One by one, the paleontologists were snatched up and dragged away to their deaths... Or so they say..."
"Woa," Harry responded with wide eyes, "that was an awesome ghost story! How about we stay the night here? It'll be great! We can roast some marshmallows and we can all tell cool ghost stories like that one."
The others were in agreement, so they decided to set up camp. Upon completion, Jim had an idea.
"Hey, who wants to go check out the old paleontologist dig site?" he inquired excitedly.
"I will!" Florence and Harry exclaimed in unison.
"You three make sure you don't get your spoony marmosets dragged off by some monster!" Chazzy called after then as they ran off into the woods.
It wasn't long at all before they came upon the old dig site. Old, brown tents were scattered around, all of them collapsed and filled with tears. There were bones scattered around, some of them human, and a partially dug up prehistoric beast was laying in the dirt nearby. Far off, at the back of the campsite, there was one large, black tent that remained standing.
Cautiously, the three approached and entered the tent. Inside, there were some tools sitting in disarray and a large laundry basket in the centre of the room. There was something inside the basket.
"What is that?" Harry asked loudly, as he stepped towards the laundry basket.
"Who th' hell're you?" a gruff, tired sounding voice exclaimed in an unfamiliar accent. "Whud'ja wake me up fer, enyways?!"
"Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Ya didn' mean'ta? What kinda sorry excuse is that? Ah ought'ta blast yer head offa yer shoulders!" The huddled lump within the basket, which was twitching angrily, suddenly burst out for all to see. The lump turned out to be a man, standing around six feet tall. He wore brown, leather cowboy boots, blue jeans, a dusty black shirt, a brown cowboy hat and, strangest of all, a long black and red cape that could completely cover him. He had long black hair and piercing red eyes, but everyone's attention was focused on the shotgun that was aimed at Harry. "Now, ah'll give ya to thuh count o' three to get offa mah land! One... two... four... uh... nine..."
"Woa, calm down!" Florence exclaimed, jumping between the shot gun and Harry.
"Now ya better git outta mah way, missy, er yer gonna get hurt," the agitated, gun wielder warned.
"I'm not moving. You aren't going to shoot me, or my friends, and if you think otherwise..." Florence held up a rubber chocobo threateningly. The man in the cowboy hat lowered the shotgun. "That's better. Now, why are you getting so angry?"
"When thuh paleyuntolerjists disappear'd them damn Gengai varmints start'd expairimuntin' up hyar. I wuz one of 'em expairimunts.. When they gave up they lef' meh behind. Ever since then, ah've been livin' in this hyar laundrah bax-et, livin' mah nightmare. I doen' like it when varmints come 'roun' hyar disturbin' meh sleep."
"It was an accident, we didn't know," Harry said defensively, a bit shaken up by the shotgun that had been aimed at his head.
"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we help each other out?" Jim suggested.
"Whud'ja mean, rascal?" The basket-dweller turned to Jim curiously.
"Well, it doesn't sound like you like Gengai that much, and neither do we. We're trying to stop them from destroying the planet. You can help us out! Plus, we're on a grand adventure to stop Olaf!"
"I dun' know who Olaf is, but ah'm wit' ya if it means I git mah venjunce on Gengai! Call meh Ziggy!"

The three, and their new companion Ziggy, returned to camp where everyone was introduced to him. After the party of nine conversed around a roaring fire, they decided to get some sleep.
Florence had been tossing and turning for some time now. Finally she sat up. "I'll do it," she said to herself adamantly. Quietly, without disturbing the others, she climbed out of her sleeping back and approached Jim. She looked down at the peaceful sleeping Jim whose mangled hair stuck around around his head like some horribly dented halo. "Jim... Jim... Wake up, Jim," she whispered softly, gently shaking him.
"Huh? Florence? What are you still doing up?" he asked groggily as he squinted at the green clad woman in the star light.
"I couldn't sleep. Come for a walk with me Jim."
Jim reluctantly complied and he accompanied Florence on a walk along the shore. The two walked for some time in the faint light without saying much. At last, Florence broke the silence between the two.
"You know Jim, I've always felt something special about you. Ever since I first met you, there has just been a certain something that has attracted me to you." Jim looked to the young lady, but remained silent, unsure of what to say. "I really want to get to know you, Jim. I want to know you better than all the others. When this is finally over, I want to be with you."
"Florence, I..." Jim began.
"Oh Jim, look!" Florence pointed out into the sky as streaks of light began to rain across the speckled blackness. It was a meteor shower. "Oh, it's so beautiful." She gazed out at the hundreds of tiny strings of light as they danced across the midnight sky. The two stood at the edge of the crisp sea water, looking out at nature's beauty.
"Florence," began Jim again, "I'd like to be with you, too." The two turned to each other and their eyes locked. They smiled at each other and their arms intertwined together. Their eyes closed and slowly their lips grew closer together.
"..."
"Shut up," came a gravely whisper.
Jim and Florence suddenly broke away from each other. "Who's there?" Florence questioned the darkness.
"Damn it, Parrot! You blew our cover!" The familiar spikey haired figure stepped out of the bushes. Rusty had an angry look on his face as he brushed some leaves from his black suit. Parrot followed behind, carrying the stereo which he swiftly turned on.
"You two can't do anything right," a very familiar voice said from farther away in the darkness. Though the voice was strangely familiar, there was something strange about it. "Just grab him and take him away before the others figure out where we are."
The two Clerks advanced on Jim. Rusty revealed a long, sleek club and held it ready to strike while Parrot put the stereo down and prepared to fight with his fists.
Jim's hand moved to the Bungle Sword and Florence quickly whipped out her rubber chocobos. Unfortunately, for the second time, the Clerks got the better of them. Parrot managed to send Florence crashing to the ground as Rusty got Jim in a headlock. The two in black suits wrestled Jim away into a small water craft and they escaped out to the sea.
"Jim!" Florence cried, as she scrambled to catch up with the craft, but was too late.
"Poor Florence. Don't worry, he won't be harmed." The voice was speaking again, and it was closer now.
"Who are you?" Florence demanded as hot tears began to force their way down her cheeks.
"Oh, you know me. At least, you thought you knew me." Kevinda stepped up to Florence. Though, her voice was now deeper, like that of a man's. Her make-up had not been applied either, making her appear even more masculine. Florence was shocked at what was now becoming more obvious to her. "I'm not really Madame Kevinda Devereux. My name is Kevin Devereux and I work for Gengai. Just remember this, Florence: if you ever tell anyone else about this, Jim will not survive. Things will go on as normally as they can, and no one will have to be hurt."
"Fine," Florence agreed angrily, wiping the tears from her face. "Just tell me... Why Jim?"
"He's the secret to unlocking the Temple of the Ancients. Now, let's get back to camp before someone else wakes up."
When the two returned to the camp, it was too late. The others were already awake.
"Whut in tarnation was goin' on over thar? All ah heard was some shoutin' and then ah find thuh three of ya disappear'd," Ziggy said as Florence and Kevinda approached. "Wait a minnit... Whar's Jim gone off t'?"
Kevinda made sure to stay in the shadows where no one would be able to see her without make-up. "Two men, in black suits! They took Jim! They said something about taking him to the Temple of the Ancients!" She looked at Florence, expecting her to support her.
"Y-yeah! The three of us couldn't sleep and when we were walking, the Clerks ambushed us and kidnapped Jim. We have to help him!" Florence exclaimed. She was trying to be convincing while using all her power not to tell them about Kevinda's treachery.
"Those spoony Gengai marmosets!" Chazzy shouted. "We'll show those lousy smooting rats! Looks like we're leaving for the forested temple early. Let's kick those Gengai smootmarms right in their spoony marmoset of a smoot!"
Muffie nodded. "We'll show them for stealing him away like some ordinary spoon!"
Sarah looked at the others, nervously. She let out a bleat of concern and shifted about anxiously.
"Don't worry Jim old buddy! Harry's gonna get ya!" came Harry's cry as he began running.
"Harry! The plane is this way!" Jessica called after him. "Oh Jim... I hope you're all right."