**Okay, I was really tired when I wrote this chapter and responded to reviewers, so if you didn't notice, my responses to my awesome reviewers are a little on the hyperactive and crazy side! But don't worry, I've still kept much of my sanity since I need it for my other fic. Don't be scared. :P**
Beyblader-grl: Ahhhhhhhh, FUNNY! ^_____^ Really funny, totally made me laugh! ^_~ Your reviews are always interesting! YAYZ, fire Tyson!!!!
Kai: Huh? It came from what? What? What??? Okay, I might just be a *little* clueless right now, but you can't blame me, I was up till midnight typing this chapter. So…?_? Come on…I'm tired! ^_~ Should Kai have gone up and punched the guys outta Brandon? Would that have been more Kai-like? I didn't want to make Kai look obvious that he likes Holly though. :P
Elemental Water Mistress: ME TOO!!! I want Kai to worry about me too!!! ^________^ JOHNNY too! And KANE!!! I think so too, Tala's cute when he's teasing. *_* You're a tomboy? Oh well, you can be a tomboy and still love them! Cuz I'm Forever Sarcastic and still love them!
~*~Prodigious girl*~*: I know what Kai would do, but what would Holly do? ^______^ I'll always write more and I'm always pretty happy and I won't smoke anything and so what, I used to watch Pokemon, sometimes still do. ^_^
bimbo-blonde: I always update in 5 days, at least I try to. I TRY!!! *yawnz* Yes, I'm tired! ^_^ Silly Tala, huh? ^_^
The Great Kuro Neko: EXACTLY!!! He likes the *boom*, you like the *boom*, I LOVE the *boom*. Yes, I'm losing sanity, can you tell? I like destruction and death, well, at least writing about it. *EXPLOSION!!!* AHHHHHHH!!
Mg4e: *Cuddles Ruby* Lucky…I want one… Glad you're back at my site! ^_~ Bunny…*sniffs* wants one…
Reicu: Omg, that's crazy. I'd get that person fired! *pats on the shoulder* Don't worry, things will turn your way, I don't like that show though, I think it's quite dumb. :P NOTHING – and I repeat, NOTHING, is talking too much! ^___^
Kai Hiwatari: Tala's clumsy and funny! ^_______^ He doesn't mean to screw up things tho, I dunno, I just thought it'd be funny! ^_~
Kerry: YAYZ, more reviews from ya! Yup, watery's good, that's the whole point of the Kingdom after all! I like Tara in your fic, she sounds really cool! My other fic's really solemn like, not that crazy! ^_^ Thanx again!
Just-some-girl1: Hmm…haven't seen you in a while! Ain't that freaky, I probably recognize the usernames of most of my past reviewers! ^_~ I AM CRAZY, yes, I am, *ahem* I'm reaching my snapping point…
whisper*2*imaginary: True, so true, *growls and pounces on Hilary, tearing her apart* No g-rev for her!!! I wish Kai would save ME, lol! *_* I wouldn't mind that, lol! Ah, HYPERNESS!!! ^_^
scarlet diamonds: It is pretty, if you like water. ^_~ Personally, I can't even swim, so I wouldn't be too happy in an underwater realm, I'd be a cross between how Max is feeling and how Tala *will* be feeling! Laterz!
~kai~: Would she flirt with Tala? ~_^ Cuz he flirts with her sometimes, in a teasing manner way. ^_~
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* ~ ¤ ~ Quøte ~ ¤ ~ *
"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
~ Sir Winston Churchill
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Chapter 29: Race to Sink the Ship
"A skull??" Cassandra and Kai said together.
"This isn't good," Kai said under his breath, "Cassandra, change course."
"But," Cassandra protested.
"Change course!" Kai told her, "It's too risky, steering head on into a pirates' ship! We can always get back on course once we've lost them."
Cassandra quickly gave the wheel a half turn and went east.
"We're being chased by pirates!" Willow cried, looking frightened, "What if they catch us? What if they make us walk the plank or something?"
"I ain't walking no plank," Carly said, sounding a bit offended.
"Maybe it's a friendly pirate ship," Kailee suggested timidly.
"Yeah right," Carly scoffed, "And I suppose the black flag with the skull is their welcome banner. I can see the ship now!!! Kai, we can't outrun it, it's too fast!!!!"
Kai groaned, unsure of what to do now.
"It's gaining," Hru called, "But I still can't see what's on board."
"The cannons," Tala said, smiling wickedly, "Let's fire the cannons."
"Not yet," Cassandra ordered, "It's too risky, we don't know who's on there for sure." She looked behind her and gulped, the other ship was too close for comfort and getting closer.
Holly peering down from her telescope and gasped, "There aren't any humans on board, there's skeletons!"
"SKELETONS????" Kailee shrieked, "You mean what we learned in Biology class?"
"The skeletons in Bio don't move, sis," Kai said, "Cassie step on it! Enrique, Willow, turned the sails!"
"Aye aye, Captain Kai," Enrique muttered. (A/N: ^_____^ Sound familiar?)
"They're gathering ammunition!" Holly called, sounding a bit panicky, "What do we do, we're vulnerable here in the middle of nowhere! Those walking piles of bones are all armed with guns and rifles!"
Johnny was more concerned about the huge cannons sticking out from each side of the ship, "Don't fire...don't fire..." Then he saw a faint wisp of smoke coming out from the nearest cannon. "CASSANDRA, TURN LEFT, TURN LEFT, NOW!!!!!!!"
Cassandra nearly jumped up in shock at Johnny's hollering voice, but she quickly whirled the wheel and the ship made a jerky movement to the left. Right after that, a blast came from the pirate ship and exploded about a feet away from them, sending big rippling waves towards them.
"That was close," Kai breathed, "Too close."
"They're loading more cannons!!!" Holly yelled down, "Lots more, they have tons of cannonballs!!"
"NOW can we fire our cannons??" Tala asked icily.
"Sure, go ahead," Cassandra said weakly, "Do whatever, just make sure they stay away from the ship!"
"Sis, take Max and get below deck NOW!" Kai ordered, "Stay down there until I say to come up!"
"All right, everyone listen up," Johnny shouted, "Carly, Tala, you two have long range weapons stay on deck and fire away. Holly, stay where you are and keep a lookout. Cassandra and Kai and Willow stay on deck as well, Hru, Enrique, come down with me and we'll fire the cannons."
"Can't I come down too?" Willow squeaked, looking fearfully at the approaching ship.
"No," Johnny said firmly, "You've gotta stay here and help, you've already conquered your Kingdom, you should be stronger now. Kai's strong against Water so he stays here and this is Cassandra's Kingdom so she has to steer. Let's get moving." He hurried down with Hru and Enrique.
"They're firing again!" Holly yelled as they were rained with blasts from cannons. Water rained down on them.
Cassandra gripped the wheel tight and tried not to let it spin out of control as the ship rocked and shook violently.
"They're too close!" Carly yelled, "Cassie, can't you make this ship move any faster????"
"I wish I could!" Cassandra hollered back, "This is as fast as it'll go."
"At the rate, we'll be flattened," Tala remarked, taking careful aim and firing lazer beams from his gun. He hit a few skeletons and they staggered. One skeleton jump on the ship's side and made fun of Tala by doing funny poses such as rolling its head off on purpose. It bounced its skull on his hand and then rolled it back on. Tala growled and sent a blast of Wind at the enemy ship, making the ship rock as well. The skeleton who was taunting Tala fell overboard. "Good riddance!" Tala snapped.
Kai fired thunderbolts from his hand and struck the pirate ship in various areas. He could hear chaos aboard the enemy ship. Then they were once again rained with cannonballs.
Cassandra did her best to try to avoid getting hit, but it was no easy task. One cannon smashed into the ship's stern and it crumbled into the ocean. "We're hit!" The ship rocked unsteadily, bobbing on the water like an apple.
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"We're hit," Johnny said, gritting his teeth, his amethyst eyes concentrated, "If they hit us too low and spring a leak, we're done for. Ready?"
Hru and Enrique nodded.
"Bombs away!" Hru yelled, striking a match and lighting the cannons. They all covered their ears as cannonballs blasted out. They were rewarded with yelps and screams from the pirate ship.
"Reload," Johnny told Enrique who quickly lugged more cannonballs into the cannons. He scanned the enemy ship, "We need to fire a critical shot. Hru, keep firing, I'm going to see if Cassandra can get us into position!" He disappeared on deck.
"Take this, you bastards!" Hru snapped, firing more cannons. She adjusting the cannons down and fired again.
Enrique sweatdropped, "Take it easy, you're going to use up all our cannonballs..."
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"We're got to get more ground between them and us," Kai said, looking annoyed and anxious.
"Their sails," Cassandra said, "Their sails are too big, they catch too much wind so they're faster."
Carly growled, "At the rate they're firing, it's crazy!"
"Cassandra's already doing an awesome job dodging all those cannons," Holly called down, she glanced back at the ship, "Oh on, the skeletons are all firing now!"
The skeletons on the pirates' ship hopped on the side of their ship and starting firing their guns at them.
"Get down!" Carly yelled, grabbing Tala's sleeve and yanking him down, nearly ripping his sleeve out.
"OW!" Tala yelped as bullets flew over them.
Kai and Cassandra both ducked and quickly got up again to navigate their ship. The skeletons kept firing like maniacs who'd never run out of ammo.
Carly peeked out to make sure it was safe to stand up again, not realizing that she was still shoving Tala down downwards and Tala was getting squished.
"CARLY!!!" Tala practically screamed, "Stop forcing my head down, it's not going to sink into my neck you know!"
"Ooops, sorry," Carly said, releasing Tala with a grin and making him topple down.
One skeleton began firing at Holly who ducked into the barrel and grimaced as bullets flew past her.
"Quit that!" Kai hollered, smashing a crash of thunder into the pirate ship, making them cease fire for about a minute. Then they returned and that same skeleton continued targeting Holly.
"What did I ever do to you????" Holly snapped, blasting out Light beams from her hands, "Take that!" The skeleton fell overboard and sank into the water.
Tala's lazer beams hit the skeletons squarely, but they just staggering and rebuilt their mangled bodies to rise again. "Argh," Tala growled, "It's the attack of the living dead."
"You watch way too many sci-fi movies," Carly remarked, "Keep trying."
While Cassandra was busy steering their ship away from the bombing cannons, a cannon hit the ship low. "No! The ship's leaking!" Cassandra cried, "No!!" She watched in panic as the hole in the ship was slowly engulfing water.
"Keep steering," Kai told her, "Ignore that, we can fix it later, we can't take another hit!"
Cassandra swerved the ship just in time to avoid another
dead cannon, "I'm sorry guys, I tried my best to -"
"We're not blaming you Cassie," Holly called down, "We know you're trying, not
one of us could've done better than you have."
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"We're hit," Hru said through gritted teeth, "I wonder how long this can hold. That's it. My next shot better be critical." She lowered her cannon and fired away, her cannon smashed into the front of the pirate ship and sprang a leak in their ship as well.
"Good aim!" Enrique said.
"Now we're even!" Hru said angrily, "But I've got to pull it to my advantage."
Johnny came back, "Cassandra's got her hands full and Kai said there's a hole in the ship. No one doing any damage to the skeletons on board that ship, they made be resistance to our normal powers. We've gotta sink that ship!"
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"We're leaking," Kailee cried, jumping up as water gathered on the wooden boards.
Max stood up groggily, "W-what? L-leaking?"
Kailee probed the corner on the lower deck, "Where's the leak? I heard us being hit, but I didn't see the leak." She hurried further down, "Oh my gosh!!!!!"
"What is it??" Max hurried over to her.
Kailee was staring at a hole in the side and water was sprouting through like a fountain. Max immediately covered the hole as best he could with his hands.
"Kailee, go find something to cover it up!!!" Max said, straining to keep the water out, "Hurry!"
Kailee rushed around the lower deck, "There isn't anything! It's empty!! Wait..." She kicked a slightly crooked floor board and then pulled it with all her might. The floor board popped up and she landed on her butt with a grimace. She pulled out the nails and hurried back the Max with the board and nails.
"Hold it for a sec," Max told her, "I'll fix the board on." He snapped the board in two halves and positioned one over the hole. Using a random rock, he smashed the nails firmly into place to hold the board. He positioned the other board on top of the first one in a cross pattern and nailed that one on.
"The leak stopped!!" Kailee said happily, "No more water's coming through! We did it!"
"Whew," Max said, "That was close, if we didn't fix the leak, it could've got bigger and flood the entire ship. I think I'm going to go lay down again..." He turned an unhealthy shade of blue and dropped down flat on his stomach.
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"I'm going to freeze the cannons," Carly yelled, "We're gotta make them cease fire, we're done for it we're hit again!" She blasted out Ice from her hands and froze the openings on the pirates' cannons with a thick ice wall. "That won't hold forever, we're gotta sink their ship!!!"
The pirate ship was rounding very close to theirs and it gave theirs a hard bump, throwing everyone off balance. The pirate ship came again and crashed into their ship again.
"Knock it off!!!" Cassandra complained furiously, trying to steer away.
Hru, Johnny and Enrique fired out more cannons at the pirate ship, blasting holes into their ship.
"The ship is sinking!" Holly called down, "But they're still coming and still firing. Take that!!" Holly blasted out quick, rapid light beams from her palm and knocked some skeletons overboard.
"Guess they want to take us with them, huh?" Tala asked.
"Not a chance," Carly said, "I don't wanna drown! Why didn't I think of this earlier??? I should've thought of it when Cassie said that the pirate ship was catching too much wind. Someone gave me a match!!!"
"Here!" Holly tossed one from her barrel down to Carly.
"Excellent," Carly struck the match and lit the tip of her arrow on fire and released her arrow at the pirate ship's large sails. The sails immediately caught fire and burned up rapidly, it wasn't long before the whole mast tumbled down. But the skeletons kept firing at them, trying to hit a critical spot.
"That's it!!!" Cassandra shrieked, jumping on the side of their ship, to the very edge, "Take this!!!" She surged up her power and glowed blue, a humongous wave lifted up from behind her and swallowed the pirate ship whole. When that wave settled, there were no traces of the skeletons, only bits of the wood from they ship remained, drifting meaninglessly on the surface.
"Wow Cassie!!!" Holly said, "That was awesome!" She slid down the mast, "You defeated them."
"Good riddance too!" Cassandra said, turning back to her wheel, "I'm glad that's over."
"It's not over yet," Johnny said, coming up with Enrique and Hru, "We're still leaking remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Kai said, "We've got to find the leak."
"I've already found it," Kailee piped up, coming out.
"Where? How much of the ship has sank?" Kai demanded.
"None," Kailee replied, "Max and I patched it up. We saw the leak and I pulled up a floor board and Max nailed it to cover the hole. See?" She led them down to see her work.
"That was quick thinking, sis," Kai said, breathing a sigh of relief, "Nice work."
"Good job Kailee," Holly said, "We would be up to our necks in water if it weren't for you."
Kailee beamed, "Thanks."
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"We've took a little detour," Cassandra said, "But I'm already back on course. We should reach the Water Sanctuary in half an hour."
"The skies are starting to look a bit gray," Holly pointed out nervously.
"She's right," Kai said, "I hope we're not heading into the eye of a storm."
"I hope I don't have to steer us through a storm," Cassandra said nervously.
"And I hope we're not attacked by anymore pirates!" Willow added, "I wonder how Ray's doing..."
"It's raining," Carly said in a flat voice, "And it's cold." Sure enough, it starting raining all of a sudden and the skies were dark and gloomy.
Johnny looked beyond the horizon, "We had better get to the sanctuary soon..."
Holly was peering nervously through her telescope, "We're heading straight for black clouds. I thought I saw a spark of thunder. There's something going on up ahead, it looks like a strong wind."
"Is it a typhoon???" Kai asked, "It's common for those to appear on sea."
"It looks like a typhoon..." Holly said, "But it's getting
bigger...a LOT bigger!!! Look!!!"
Kai and the others could see it now.
Lightning flashed in the background and thunder struck down
mercilessly. Rain continued to pound
down and wind blew in their ears. Up
ahead, a giant water twister was forming, sucking up sea water all around.
"It's a twister!!!!" Cassandra cried, "And we're heading right for it!!!!"
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It's just one thing after another for these guys, isn't it? First attacking skeletons, now water twisters! ^_^ Some fun, eh? Anyways, I've been mighty busy lately, I'm surprised I even got this done in time, keep up the reviews! I can't WAIT till Christmas vacation! Oh, and those who adore Kane, you're not alone! ^_________^ I'm totally obsessed with him right now! ^_~ Laterz and don't forget to review!