The Mysterious Being
Disclaimer: Same as before…I don't own Pirates of the Carribean at all, but Alan Breck is my creation.
Sometime later: Airtight and Lifeline were in the science lab, dissecting one of the creatures Ted had killed earlier that evening. As they cut the y shaped incision around the torso, they noticed something curious. Lifeline spoke into a microphone as they dissected.
"Subject: Unknown humanoid life form, about four and a half feet tall. Cause of death, four 9 millimeter bullets to the torso and head. Killed by massive cerebral trauma brought about by said bullets. Of note, subject appears to lack a heart…"
"How does it live then?" Airtight asked.
"That's one of a thousand things I want to answer tonight." Lifeline asked, "My million dollar question is where the hell these things come from?"
"Yeah. Considering Hawk's going to want information as soon as possible."
The two men continued their dissecting and analysis well into the night.
Ted squeezed the trigger on the CAR-15, a carbine version of the M16 with a collapsible stock, with a telescopic sight attached to it. The silencer at the end of the weapon made it sound barely louder than a BB gun going off. The bullet punched a hole right through the center of the target.
Behind him with a pair of binoculars was Low Light, "Hit." He said.
"Cease fire." Came the command followed by a whistle blow.
"What's going on?" Ted asked.
"Roadblock's called a meeting." Shipwreck said, "Come on."
The three men drove back to Misfit Manor.
"Those creatures that Ted killed didn't trip any alarms." Roadblock said, "And security didn't detect anything."
"What are we doing about it?" Shipwreck asked.
"We're running extra security patrols." Blind Master replied.
"And what exactly were those things I killed last night?" Ted replied.
"According to Airtight they're some kind of weird humanoid without hearts." Roadblock replied.
"Are they mutants?" Althea asked. She and the older Misfits were sitting in on this meeting.
"Airtight doesn't think so." Roadblock added, "But for some reason, they're great at infiltrating our defenses."
"Do you think some kind of weird COBRA creation perhaps?" Lance asked.
"We don't know yet. But we're trying to find out what we can." Emily replied.
"Well how are our patrols being set up?" Ted asked.
"We'll assign the older Misfits and adults to them." Shipwreck replied, "Two adults and two Misfits will form the patrols, together with a few reinforcements."
"Low Light, you and Ted are going on the first patrol with Avalanche and Blob." Roadblock ordered, "Blind Master, Cover Girl, Althea and Toad will relieve you at 0200."
"In addition, we have others on outpost duty." Shipwreck added, "Pietro, you and Wanda are on outpost duty with Leatherneck and Wetsuit…Wait a second, who wrote this?"
"I did." Emily replied, "You told me to write this plan…"
"You put those four in an outpost for at least five hours?" Blind Master replied.
"I'm sure those four will be able to put whatever differences they have aside for a greater good." Emily replied, "It will be good for them."
"I don't think you understand. Putting those two together, along with Pietro and Wanda is just asking for trouble." Blind Master began.
"Or at least an explosion or two…" Althea added.
"I'm certain those two will put aside whatever differences they have…" Emily replied.
"…Or they'll kill each other." Lance quipped.
Firefly watched quietly from the bushes as he saw that the Pit was on some kind of heightened state of alert. He saw Low Light and some new recruit in the olive green uniform of the Israeli Border Police creeping around the area. Both men had their telescope sighted rifles at the ready.
Discipline will carry you through… Firefly thought to himself, Patience is the way. Patience pays off…It will help the others.
He barely heard the silenced shots coming from the Israeli soldier's silenced CAR-15 as they killed three more of the Heartless. Now is not the time…
He waited quietly in the bushes. They were fools, all of them. They were little more than mindless beasts, exposing themselves to gunfire. He heard Low Light's PSG-1 crack twice, and knew that the lethal marksman had scored two kills…
"Not too bright are they?" Ted replied. In two hours of hunting they had bagged five of the mysterious creatures in the surrounding woods.
"Somehow, Ted, I get the feeling these guys aren't really the brains behind the operation." Low Light replied, his rifle cracking twice, killing two Heartless.
"These certainly aren't synthoids." Ted began, "What the hell are they then?"
"I don't know." Low Light replied, as they continued their patrol.
The Black Pearl knifed through the waters that filled the void between the dimensions. Various crew members were rushing about; making sure things were in order. Jack Sparrow stood on the poop deck, behind the helmsman and looked at the mysterious compass in his right hand. The arrow, since his world had been destroyed, would always point him in a particular direction. In the first case, it took him to a nearly deserted world, ravaged by the same beasts that had destroyed his home. It was there that he uncovered fragments of a document known as Ansem's Report and of a way to stop these 'Heartless'. It had also led him to the man standing to his left.
The man to his left was a mysterious man; his black hair was short and somewhat tousled. His complexion was that of a pale Scot. But it was his eyes that were most mysterious. They were as gray as the calf-length trench coat that he wore over a white shirt, brown trousers and black boots. They were intense and could bore into the soul. They bore the look of a man who had lost to the Heartless.
"Where does it lead us now, Jack?" Alan asked.
"I don't know, yet, Alan." Jack said, "Perhaps to the wielder of the Keyblade…"
Alan closed his eyes, his hand resting on the basket hilt of the Highlander's sword. With that blade he had spilt the blood of many a Heartless, but their tide was too great to repulse and many a son of Scotland was killed or worse, enslaved, at the Battle of Culloden.
"Aye, I pledged my sword and my life to defend the wielder until such time at he be ready." Alan replied.
"Let us hope it will not come to that." Will Turner replied, much of the youthful glint in his eyes seemed to be lost. He had grown more careworn over the last two years.
"When is Elizabeth due?" Alan asked.
"Any day now." Will replied, referring to his pregnant wife below decks, "Will we make land soon?"
"Aye, but will that be entirely safe?" Alan replied.
"It is better than her giving birth aboard ship." Will replied.
"Where are we going?" Will asked.
Alan pointed with his right hand to the horizon where dark clouds seemed to be forming around a world. "The compass points us there."
"Mary Mother of God! It pains me to think how many worlds were overrun by the Heartless." Gibbs remarked.
Alan simply stared ahead at the gathering storm.
"Sniping is like a game of chess." Low Light said to Ted as the two men stared at each other across the kitchen table over a chess board, "Whenever you shoot, you reveal yourself."
As he spoke, Ted's black knight took out Low Light's pawn only to be knocked out by a bishop he hadn't seen. The two men had just been relieved of roving patrol by Sci Fi and Tunnel Rat. The alert status was still high, so all available personnel were to be ready to go. Emily, Cover Girl, Shipwreck and Roadblock were currently resting on the nearby couches in various states of sleep.
"I'd keep an eye on that queen, before she counts in with the others." Low Light replied, indicating six other pieces ranging from knights thru pawns he had taken.
"Oh she's just lying in wait." Ted replied. The coffee pot was still brewing as they spoke.
"Your move, Ted." Low Light said, moving his rook to cut off Ted's queen.
Blind Master called from upstairs, "Low Light, I need you and Ted to get up on the roof. We'll need a sniper over watch position."
Ted and Low Light grabbed their rifles, body armor, rucksacks, and combat webbing harnesses and ran upstairs.
They put a pair of insulated mats behind a hiding place on the roof. Low Light aimed the spotting scope towards the area where they had been patrolling. "Ted, cover the north-east corner."
"Got it." Ted replied, getting into position and putting his binoculars on a bipod stand.
"Will, please be careful…" Elizabeth said as she saw him buckle on his sword and take up a musket and a pistol.
"As always, my love." Will Turner replied, kissing her lightly. He put his hand on her stomach and could feel the kicking of the baby.
"Will, we had best be along." Jack said, his face poking through. A shore party of Will, Alan, Jack, and Gibbs was set to move ashore in a row boat, "Check the long boat before we get her ashore."
As they walked back on deck, Anamaria (AN: the female pirate from POTC) stopped Jack. "The Black Pearl is yours love." Jack said, his voice sounding a good deal more careworn than that of the free spirited buccaneer he had been before the Heartless invasion.
"I'll return her to you in the same shape." Anamaria replied, and with a wry smile, "In better shape than you left mine…"
"That was a slightly different situation darling…" Jack replied, with a slightly sheepish expression on his face, remembering that particular incident.
"Either way. Come back safe, love."
Jack kissed her tenderly and said, "Always."
Mr. Cotton, the mute sailor with the parrot on his right shoulder, was helping Alan and Will make final preparations on the row boat. Anamaria came to the bowline and Cotton to the stern line and they lowered the boat to the water after Jack and the rest of the shore party climbed onto her.
Will was at the oars, Jack was at the stern, Alan and Gibbs were on the bow. As soon as they got further up the river, Alan and Gibbs would wade ashore and find a place to hide the boat. Alan heard a silent voice in his head. One single word: Here.
Their boat came ashore at the riverbank and both Alan and Gibbs waded ashore in thigh deep water. Seeing no Heartless, they motioned the boat to the bank and the four man team hid the boat under some branches and in a stand of brush.
They heard the sound of movement coming from over the hill. Alan motioned for them to hide and over the hill they saw two men in strange outfits, one carrying a telescope sighted rifle of some kind.
"I swear I saw something." Tunnel Rat whispered to Sci-Fi, as he pointed at the river bank.
"It must've been an animal or something." Sci-Fi replied, hefting his telescope sighted CAR-15.
The two men moved off into the night.
"That was close." Alan said.
"Aye." Jack replied.
"Such a strange world," Will began, spitting angrily, thinking of the many people lost to the Heartless, "Do you think the inhabitants know of the plague yet?"
They walked further down the bank and Alan indicated a trail of fluid that smelt familiar. They followed the trail, and Gibbs moved the brush aside. "I think it be a safe bet, lad." He replied, indicating a dying Heartless.
It was then that they heard a pistol discharge. A Soldier Heartless fell dead to the ground at Alan's feet and the Scotsman had already drawn his sword. Almost instantly a large force of creatures descended on the band of heroes.
Alan slashed a Shadow Heartless across the midsection with his sword, but a Pirate Heartless was ready to run him through. Will stepped in, swinging his cutlass and the two fought with their swords. Gibbs was fighting with his pistols and dagger at close range against several Soldier Heartless.
"Gibbs!" Jack shouted and impaled one of the Soldiers up to the hilt of his cutlass.
At the sound of the gunshots, Low Light aimed the spotting scope and saw two dozen Heartless attacking four men dressed in 17th Century garb. He shouted, "Ted, get over here."
The Canadian rushed with his rifle to Low Light's side of the roof and Low Light said, "There's four people being attacked down there."
Instantly Ted was on the radio calling downstairs to summon Emily, Cover Girl, Shipwreck and Roadblock. As he did so, Low Light took aim on one of the creatures with the PSG-1. It was like the creatures on Airtight's dissection table but it was a bit taller, wore a metal knight's helmet, and had blue armor with a seal of a crossed out heart on it. He centered the crosshairs on its head and squeezed the trigger, splitting the creature's skull with his bullet.
Through his binoculars, Ted could see Tunnel Rat and Sci-Fi heading towards the creature. He picked up his own rifle and centered his crosshairs on a closer creature, one bearing a sword and about to kill the young fellow with a mustache. He squeezed the trigger.
In the midst of the fight, Will Turner heard the sound of a body striking the ground. He spun round to see a Pirate Heartless fall, black blood gushing in lazy spurts from its body. They were receiving help from marksmen some distance away.
Jack Sparrow fought at a half sword's length against three Pirates. A small, shallow, but painful cut seeped blood onto his torn shirt. One of his attackers fell dead, a bullet through the skull and almost immediately the other two were flattened by a weapon the like of which he'd never seen before. He saw the strange soldier in the neon green outfit and the other was a large, muscular and bald black man with a bullet spitting, bizarre gun with a box underneath it.
Gibbs had a Soldier Heartless on top of him and he wrestled in the mud with it. A bearded man bearing two strange looking pistols rushed to his side, put the pistol to the creature's temple and said two words: "Dodge this."
Shipwreck fired one of his Desert Eagles and the heavy .50 Action Express bullet almost totally obliterated the Soldier Heartless' head. "I didn't know these damn things came in so many kinds."
A Pirate Heartless swung a sword at Shipwreck, slashing towards his head. Roadblock promptly flattened him with his M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and the sword only gave Shipwreck a rather nasty cut on the forearm. He spun, aiming his Desert Eagle.
"Shipwreck, get that thing outta my face, unless you want your bearded head brained with a mace!" Roadblock shouted.
"Sorry Roadblock…WATCH OUT!" Shipwreck shouted and fired both his Desert Eagles simultaneously at a Soldier Heartless that jumped on a tree, ready to drop kick Roadblock's head. The force of the gunshots sent the creature flying into the side of the Humvee.
Cover Girl was blasting away at the other Heartless with the M240G medium machinegun on top of the vehicle. Within minutes the Heartless were killed off, leaving the Joes facing the four mysterious characters.
"OK, my million dollar question." Shipwreck said, "Who are you guys?"
"Will Turner. This is Mr. Gibbs," Will turned to the balding gent Shipwreck had just saved and introduced the others by turn.
"Alan Breck." Will continued, indicating the man with the gray trench coat, his sword bloodied with the black blood of the Heartless.
"Jack Sparrow." Will pointed at the eccentric looking gent with the pirate getup. In fact all four of them looked like pirates from the Carribean.
"Captain Jack Sparrow." The pirate corrected.
"Shipwreck Delgado."
"I see you must be the captain of this merry band." Jack commented, wryly.
"Awk! Him a captain? God forbid! God forbid!" Polly remarked, flapping his wings.
"Aw shut up bird!" Shipwreck shouted as he holstered his pistols.
"I see we've got a lot to discuss." Roadblock said, "But let's go off to the house for that, not to raise a fuss."
"I see you've run afoul of the Heartless." Alan began.
"So that's what these things are?" Sci-Fi asked.
"Aye. They destroyed my world and they seek the destruction of yours as well." Alan replied.
"How can we stop them?" Roadblock asked.
"According to what we've found," Jack interjected, "We need a weapon known as the Keyblade."
"It is on your world." Alan replied, "That we are sure of."
"We'd best get to the house and discuss this." Sci-Fi replied, "But how do you guys know all this?"
"That, my friends, is a long story." Jack said.
From the bushes, Firefly watched the affair unfold. Stealth and shadow was his allies and nothing more in darkness…
TBC (Next: Our heroes discover who and what exactly plagues them.)