CHAPTER 8
Meanwhile on the opposite end of the ship, Rottenbeard and Zigzag were still busy combatting the army of ghost pirates. They had fought their way up the stairs and down a hall, where the ghosts had managed to gain the upper hand and trap them in a corner.
"Shiver me timbers lad, there be too many ghosts." snarled Rottenbeard, as he defended himself from several more sword swipes.
Zigzag ducked, just barely avoiding a sneak attack.
"What're we gonna do cap'n?"
"Have ye got any rope laddie?" asked Rottenbeard, eyeing the window behind them.
"Aye cap'n, but what for?" Zigzag inquired, and removed a coil of thick rope from his belt.
Rottenbeard ignored the question, and instead tossed his crewman one of his large swords.
"Cover me matey, I'll get us outta this!" instructed Rottenbeard, as he grabbed the rope coil, and tore out the wooden window frame.
Rottenbeard's sword was almost twice the height of Zigzag, and he could barely hold the thing up, let alone shield attacks with it.
The ghosts began to advance on the helpless navigator, while Rottenbeard leaned out of the window in an attempt to lasso a railing on the upper deck.
Zigzag knew he had to do something, or the ghosts would knock his captain right out into the murky depths below. So with all of his might, he lifted the sword up off of the ground and began to spin in a circle. As he gained momentum, the sword lifted itself higher and higher, knocking several of the ghost's swords clear across the room, and forcing the rest the back off.
"Good show me hearty!" encouraged Rottenbeard from outside. "Keep disarmin' the blaggards, they be nothin' without their blades."
Zigzag grinned in pride, spinning even faster, until eventually the room became a giant blur around him. Soon he couldn't take it any longer, and collapsed to the ground in a heap, the ceiling still spinning above him.
Outside, Rottenbeard had finally roped the railing and pulled himself back into the room. The ghosts were now hovering over the incapacitated Zigzag, poised to strike at him with their weapons. Rottenbeard roared in anger and rushed at the ghosts, slashing his sword violently, driving them back.
"Get up, me boy!" Rottenbeard urged, pulling Zigzag to his feet, and dragging him over to the open window.
He hoisted the dizzy youth out of the window, as he fended off a flurry of ghosts. After several failed attempts, Zigzag caught hold of the dangling rope, and grasped it as hard as he could.
Rottenbeard was next, and grabbed the tail end of the rope. He pulled himself up under Zigzag, and the both of them began climbing as fast as they could. Pirate ghosts were now appearing through the side of the ship, swarming from every direction.
"Cap'n, I don't feel so good." groaned Zigzag from halfway up the rope as his surroundings continued to spin.
"Blimey laddie, don't be heavin' til we reach the top!" shouted Rottenbeard, swinging his sword at a passing ghost.
It didn't take the ghosts long to realize that attacking Rottenbeard was getting them nowhere, so they quickly set their sights on the rope he was climbing instead.
Zigzag watched as several ghosts rocketed up past him, to where the rope met the railing, and began hacking away at it with their swords.
"Uh cap'n.." stammered Zigzag urgently.
Between slashing his sword, and kicking at persistent ghosts, Rottenbeard managed to grumble a reply.
"What be it now?" he asked.
Zigzag pointed a finger, directing Rottenbeard's vision to what was happening above.
His eye grew wide as he became aware of their situation.
"Clever buggers." thought Rottenbeard, and realized that the rope wasn't going to hold out for much longer. Something had to be done, and it had to be done now.
He looked around for some way out of this mess, and the window directly across from them suddenly caught his eye.
Just then, the rope jolted as it struggled to stay together. The ghosts had cut almost all the way through.
"Swing Zigzag, as hard as ye can toward that window." ordered Rottenbeard, relishing in this excitement and having an extraordinary amount of fun. Zigzag on the other hand was terrified beyond belief, but managed to pull himself together and comply with his captain's request.
The two lurched sideways on the rope, but didn't have enough momentum to reach the window.
"One more time, laddie!" bellowed Rottenbeard, as they kicked off of the side of the ship, sending themselves rocketing backward.
The rope was now just barely holding together, and the ghosts extended their swords to apply the final blow. The thought of Rottenbeard and his lackey plummeting into the ocean below delighted them to no end.
As soon as the last piece of rope had been severed, Rottenbeard and Zigzag came hurtling forward, crashing straight through the wooden window and into the succeeding room. It wasn't the top deck, but it was definitely better than the ocean floor.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Bugger." grumbled Tricks. "How're we gonna start up the Quicksailer with all them ghosts guardin' it?"
Quicksail shrugged his shoulders and peered out from the stack of barrels that they were hiding behind. He watched as a group of gun toting ghosts patrolled the area around his greatest invention.
"Well we gotta do somethin'" complained Tricks. "Yer the brains around here, think Quicksail!"
Quicksail smiled modestly, and began to evaluate the situation. Tricks could practically see the gears turning in his head and was certain that he'd find the perfect solution.
"Tricks, do ya remember the exact moment that the ghosts first showed up?" Quicksail asked after a few minutes.
Tricks nodded. "Sure, the sky went dark, we were surrounded in fog, and then they appeared. Why?"
"If my suspicion's correct, these ghosts can't exist in bright light." explained Quicksail excitedly. "If we can get the Quicksailer to sail us out of this thick fog, they should simply disappear when we hit daylight!"
"Ye be forgetting one tiny thing, Quicksail." stated Tricks. "We can't get to the Quicksailer!"
"Oh, right." groaned a disappointed Quicksail, as he lowered his head.
When he raised it again, he was startled to find that Tricks was gone. Quicksail looked up in confusion, and discovered that she had begun climbing the stack of barrels.
"I've got an idea, don't worry." she assured him in a whisper.
Tricks pulled herself up several more barrels until she had reached the top of the pile. There she had a clear view of the whole room, and all of the ghosts surrounding the Quicksailer. She snickered as she reached into her bag of tricks and pulled out a handful of red and white pellets.
"I hope this works." she muttered, and crossed her fingers on her free hand. With the other, she quickly wound up and lobbed the pellets into the crowd of ghosts below.
The dark room suddenly exploded in a blinding white light as the pellets blew apart on the ground.
"Flash pellets!" exclaimed Quicksail, covering his eyes from the flashing lights. "Brilliant!"
Tricks tried to catch a glimpse of what was happening with the ghost pirates, but the light was too bright to see anything. She would have to wait, and hope Quicksail's theory held up.
When the flashing lights had finally died down, Quicksail looked out from behind the barrels and carefully surveyed the room. It was hard to see at first, but when his vision returned, he could hardly contain his excitement. The room was now empty, there were no ghosts in sight!
"Blimey Tricks, it worked!" proclaimed Quicksail. "They be gone!"
"Right!" laughed Tricks as she hopped down from atop the barrels. "Time to get this bloody thing goin' again!"
- - - - - - - - - -
One knelt there, beads of sweat trickling down his face, unable to look away from the shadow creature that stood before him. He could feel it reaching into the depths of his mind, searching his memories. It wanted to control him, fill him with rage and hatred, but One resisted. He had to protect Leena, no matter what.
"This is no ordinary ghost, One." Leena whispered, as she held onto him.
One stood up slowly and let go of her hand, his eyes still locked on the shadow creature.
"Get back, Leena." he instructed.
When she had backed up all the way to the far wall, One raised his hand and motioned for the shadow to come closer.
It grinned in delight and suddenly lunged at One without warning. Before he could react, it struck him in the chest, sending a surge of anger through his veins. One dropped to his knees, clenched his fist, and hammered it against the floor.
He took a deep breath to calm himself, and when the feeling had dissipated, he pulled himself to his feet. The shadow turned around and let out a bloodcurdling scream. It was laughing! One frowned, and prepared himself for another attack, but this time it's sights were set on Leena.
"One, do something!" she screamed, as the shadow crept menacingly around her.
One looked around the room in desperation as his crystal flashed and beeped frantically around his neck. The flashing light from the crystal suddenly reflected off of something in the corner. Of course! It was Rottenbeard's full length antique mirror, and it was just what One was looking for. He bounded across the room, flipping and leaping over everything in his path, and grasped the mirror with both hands. Leena covered her eyes as the shadow ascended into the air, let out another scream, and began spiraling towards her. Holding the mirror in front of him, One leapt from the ground, sprung off of Rottenbeard's bed, and intercepted the shadow just as it reached Leena. The shadow flew straight into the mirror, instantly becoming trapped within the glass. The mirror shook violently in One's hands, as the shadow tried to escape it's prison.
When he was confident that the shadow had been fully absorbed, One dropped the mirror, and stumbled back.
Leena climbed to her feet, and grabbed hold of One's muscular arm.
"What happened?" she asked softly.
"I.. think I trapped it in this mirror somehow." answered One, his stomach churning from the intense hatred still lingering in the air.
The mirror suddenly began rocking furiously on the wooden floor.
"One, look!" exclaimed Leena, pointing at the pair of glowing red eyes that had appeared in the glass. "We've got to get rid of it!"
One firmly grabbed hold of the mirror, and with a mighty heave, hurled it out of a window and into the sea.
Leena joined him at the window just in time to see it disappear beneath the waves, into the briny deep.
"Let's get out of here." muttered One, already on his way out of the room. He was clearly disturbed over the entire ordeal.
"Right behind you." replied Leena.