(Some weeks pass after the move and I'm enjoying it so far. Sofia comes up to me.)
Me: Hey, Soph. What's up?
Sofia: I heard from Megumi that you came up with a Power Rangers story.
Me: Oh, she told you? My idea vault was rather empty until a fan of mine requested that.
Sofia: Think you can tell me what it's about?
Me: I don't usually spoil people about future stories, but I can trust you on this.
(I explain to Sofia about my story)
Pirate101: The Pirates of Lore
Chapter 9: A Debt Repaid
Hunter and his ever-growing crew are headed to Devilfish Hollow to stop a group of Thresher Sharks from plotting to assassinate Avery and plunge Skull Island into chaos.
"There it is: Devilfish Hollow. That dock's seen better days, but it should be safe to tie up there." Bonnie told them.
They dock near a spooky cavern. "I didn't like that cave then, now I like it even less. Let us hurry and be done!" Subodai commented.
"Guys, check out these shark tracks on the floor." Lindsey spotted some tracks leading to the cave opposite to where they fought the crabs.
"Aye, and they lead right into the cave." Bonnie confirmed.
"Let's follow them and stop those Threshers." Hunter said as they followed the tracks into the cave. Once inside, they spot a Thresher – Razortooth.
"Seger, you're back. I was worried you'd…" Razortooth spoke before turning around and seeing the pirates. "You're not Seger! Get them, boys, they've seen too much!" Razor and his allies attack the crew.
Barnabus clashed blades with a Thresher and Ryan and Bonnie provide cover fire. Lola dodges cannon fire from one of the cannoneers and counters with a swing of her axe. Kyle and Hunter battle Razor. Kyle blocks Razor's attack with his shield, giving Hunter the chance to attack. A sword attack from Kyle was the finishing blow for Razor.
"You may have beaten me, but not in time to stop the Master. He'll wipe out Skull Island and return the Skyway to us!" Razor smirked before a Prawn Mastermind scuttled to him.
"Razor! You dare leak our master plan to these sky-lubbers!? I'll have ye walk the keel for this, says me! Yar!"
"What the devil are you supposed to be?" Bonnie Anne asked.
"What am I? I am a Shark – a Thresher! What are ye, blind?"
A small laugh escapes Bonnie Anne's muzzle. "No, you're not!"
"Oh, yes I am! You see only what I want you to see. I, Darzoz, am the meanest Shark to ever weigh an anchor! Yar!" Darzoz said. His voice sounded like the plan was scripted.
"You can't trick us! Vadima's blessing – it worked! But our real enemy is a Shrimp?" Sarah asked.
"Shrimp? I'll have you know that I am a Prawn! Your vision does you credit, but it will be your end. Destroy them!" Darzoz commanded as he and his minions attack the crew.
Lindsey fired some projectiles at Darzoz, vying to prove her magic better. Hunter and Kyle fought the Thresher while Ryan and Mormo drove back the Lagoony. Lindsey's spells were the bane of Darzoz's power.
"Stop! You want information? Spare me and I will tell all." Darzoz pleaded for mercy.
"You wish to live? Tell us why you want Skull Island." Ryan interrogated.
Darzoz simply let out a clever chuckle. "You think you've won? This is just a minor setback in our Grand Plan. Skull Island will be ours. Ours!"
"But I thought you were giving it back to the Sharks." Bonnie Anne deduced.
"Bah! They were useful pawns, with their simple, malleable minds. Once their role in the Plan is finished, we shall deal with them." The Prawn told them.
Wing Chun pulled Darzoz to his eye level. "You will tell us your Plan. Now!"
"Gladly! You puny, shell-less beings cannot hope to overcome the genius of the Prawns!" Darzoz said. "Our pawns the Sharks have given us their mightiest Galleon and are even now converting into a powerful weapon: a massive fire ship!"
"Fire ship?!" Lola gasped.
"Exactly! They will sail it into the Skull Island Docks, destroying them utterly, and when all escape from the island is cut off, we shall make our move."
"That's not good! That ship will be loaded with blasting powder and naptha, the most flammable stuff in existence! It'll destroy the Dock and every ship in it!" Sarah said.
"Not if we blow it up first! Tie these up and let's go!" Bonnie said. They tie up Darzoz and Razor and fly their ship to the dock where the Fire Ship is. They see it about to depart. "The fire ship's about to set sail! Hurry – to that gangway!" They head to the gangway and board the ship, where they encounter the Grand Admiral Prawn.
"The interlopers! My brother warned me of your arrival. Get them, my minions! Get them all!" The Grand Admiral Prawn sent more Threshers and Lagoonies against the crew. Ryan and Bonnie shot down some Lagoonies before a Thresher attacked them with his cannon. Lindsey saved them with a deflection spell. Kyle and Lola struck down more Threshers and Hunter defeated the last one with his pistol. The battle damaged some of the explosives on board and the ship is close to exploding.
"I admit – your persistence is incredible! I surrender." The Grand Admiral Prawn conceded defeat. "You may have thwarted this component of the Plan, but we will adjust, that I assure you. The Master's superior intellect shall triumph! Soon, the master's armies will surge forth from our hidden Refuge. Any of you simple-minded fools who survive shall become our willing slaves."
Sarah pulled her rapier out and pointed at the prawn. "I wouldn't bet on it, Shrimp! Tell us where this refuge of yours is before this ship blows out from under us!"
"You want to go to the Refuge? Predictable and pathetic. By all means. Go – all you will find there is your doom! Our refuge lies atop the mountain overlooking your home port, in the hidden caldera at its peak. The Master's stronghold lies within. A hidden door on the upper slopes is the only entrance. You will need a key to enter. Feel free to use mine. I am glad to send you to your doom." The prawn hands Ryan a key with an image of a prawn on it.
"Thanks. Now to get rid of this ship for good." Ryan said.
"I have an idea. Let's get to the docks." Egg Shen came up with an idea and led the others off the ship and to a cannon. "That Swivel Gun will blow this ship sky high! Let's go fire it, quickly!"
"Allow me." Ryan armed the cannon, aimed it at the ship, and with one blast, the fire ship was destroyed.
"Victory! Target destroyed, Captains!" Subodai cheered.
"Now we must find this Refuge and end this plot at last. Come! We go!" Wing Chun said as they returned to Skull Island and climbed the mountain towering over the marketplace. It was a tough climb, but they reached the peak. Bonnie spots a hidden door.
"There's the door! Let's use the Shrimp's Key!" Bonnie used the key to open the door and the crew enters the hidden lair.
"How could this place be under our noses all this time? I've never seen anything like it!" Sarah said in total surprise.
"Now we see where the conspiracy began. That Temple is where it shall end. We must defeat the Master." Kan Po said. They approach the temple entrance before they're ambushed by Threshers. They manage to defeat them, but the door to the temple is blocked.
"They've blocked the way! If they trap us in this bowl, we're doomed!" Bonnie yelped. Subodai spotted a winch next to the door.
"That winch! It will lower the gate – we must reach it quickly!" Subodai reported.
"Leave it to me." Lindsey opted to turn the winch. She goes over to the winch and turns it. One of the gates blocking the entrance is lowered.
"The gate is down, but the entrance is still blocked." Chantal noted.
"There should be another winch on the other side. Let's go!" Bonnie Anne said as they head to the opposite winch, only to be intercepted by a Prawn named Crangor and two other minions.
"You shall never reach our master's chamber. Stop them, my hulking minions!" Crangor commanded as he and his minions attacked the crew. Ryan fired his rifle against a Thresher Cannoneer while Hunter and Ryan took on the sword-wielding Threshers and some Lagoonies. Lindsey and Grimtooth used some spells to support their allies and Kyle took on Crangor. A sword slice and a shield bash finished off the Prawn.
"That did it. The winch is right up there – we can make it!" Sarah reported. She attempts to turn the winch, but it won't move an inch.
"If we cannot turn it – destroy it!" Subodai sees a large stone above. "That stone – topple it; crush the winch and the gate falls!"
"Let me." Lola steps in to head up to the stone and push the stone.
"Just be careful not to crush us!" Bonnie Anne called out. Lola was able to push the stone and it falls onto the winch, destroying it completely. With the winch destroyed, the gate lowers and the entrance to the temple is revealed. "It worked! Let's go!" They make their way back, only to be stopped by another Prawn and his minions.
"Minions! Finish these intruders now!" The Prawn, Reptanor attacked the crew with his minions. Though they were powerful, Reptanor and his minions stood no chance against the crew. They were beaten quickly and with ease.
"I'm tired of these slimy devils – let's get their Master!" Sarah commented. They enter the temple and meet the Master.
"So, the accursed insects have come at last. You have ruined my scheme, but you will know this: we shall not be defeated." The Master said. "We Prawns ruled these skies before the coming of the Sharks, before the Scaly Ones! We are the Kraken's favored ones, blessed by the Storm Titan! For too long we have waited outside, driven out by the accursed Drakes, but no more! We shall have our vengeance!"
"The blazes you will! Let's get that Jumbo Shrimp!" Emmett glared.
"Isn't that an oxymoron?" Bonnie Anne asked.
"I say, what did you just call me?" Emmett responded.
"What the Ensign means to say is let's put an end to this plan once and for all!" Lola clarified, brandishing her axe.
"I think not! Minions, silence them – permanently!" The Master commands his minions to attack. A wave of Prawns and Lagoonies attacked them.
Kyle bashed a Lagoony with his metal shield and the gunners took down some Prawns. Lindsey conjured some spells to attack a few Prawns and Hunter finished off the last Lagoony with a shot from his pistol.
"Inconceivable! How can you thick-skulled cretins dare oppose the genius of the Prawns! I shall deal with you myself!" The Master glared as the pirates start battling the Master to put an end to the plan for good. The Master teleports behind some crystals.
"He is hiding behind the Crystals – break them!" Wing Chun suggests.
"You don't need to tell us twice." Lola said as she smashes some crystals with her axe. After smashing enough, they take on the Master while the others kept the minions busy. Lindsey fired some projectiles from her staff. Kyle blocks the Master's attack protecting Ryan, letting him finish the job with a shot from his rifle.
"No! It cannot be! You insignificant gnat-minded fools! This is not over! The Prawns will have their vengeance!" The Master declared as he lay defeated.
"Not, I think, today. Come on, let's go tell Mordekai the plot's been broken." Bonnie Anne suggested.
"I've got a good feeling about this, guys." Lindsey said.
"I'm with you on that, Lindsey." Grimtooth agreed. They return to Mordekai in Buccaneer's Den.
"You're back! Are the Sharks defeated?" Mordekai asked. Lola explained everything that occurred.
"The Sharks' plot is defeated? Well done! You lot are better fighters than you look. And the Threshers did not act alone? I knew it!"
"That's right, Mordekai. Apparently, the Prawns were the real masterminds." Ryan told them.
"Prawns… Strange, I have never heard of such creatures, even in legends. Whatever war drove them out, it must have been fought long ago."
"Yeah, but should they plan something like this again, we will be ready." Kyle said.
"Indeed. I will send trusted men to stand watch over this hidden lair of theirs. They will never catch us unaware again – thanks to all of you." Mordekai said. "I will tell Captain Avery of your bravery. He will be pleased. As for Jack, tell him he has made up for his mistake."
"We will, sir." Lola saluted as they left the training den and returned to Blood Shoals.
"That's one less threat Skull Island will be dealing with." Kyle smiled.
"Yep. But if the Prawns were that cunning, just think of how the Armada would fare against us right now. We'd be back to square one!" Hunter assumed.
"You may be right. I think we should get some training after this." Kyle agreed.
"Just what I was suggesting, Kyle." Hunter agreed. "Come on." They entered Traitor's Cave and told Jack about the Sharks and their now thwarted plan.
"Thank you, Pirates, for doing the right thing, even for me. We might have been enemies had we met in life, but now you've set me free." Jack smiled as he started to disappear.
"I guess this is where you depart, huh?" Lindsey asked.
"Aye. Farewell, Pirates. Go tell Lasko I shall find peace at last." With his final request, Jack disappeared into the afterlife. With all three of Lasko's friends at peace, Lasko is the last spirit of Ratbeard's old crew. They turn to him.
"I thank ye, all of ye. I got those poor lads mixed up in this business, and now I've done right by them. Time to deal with Ratbeard." Lasko said.
"But do you even know where Ratbeard may have gone?" Lola asked.
"No, but I know someone who might. He's the hidden mastermind behind every black market, criminal scheme, and dirty deed from here to MooShu. I want you to go to Jonah Town and find Captain Ahab. Tell him you want to talk to the Frogfather."
"The Frogfather, huh? I'm sure we can speak to him." Hunter agreed to the request and left Traitor's Cave.
"You know the Frogfather, Hunter?" Kyle asked.
"I never met him, but growing up in Scrimshaw, I've heard many rumors about the Frogfather." Hunter spoke. "I'd tell you what they are, but I wouldn't want to give him a bad name."
"That's understandable. The less we know about him, the better. Now let's get going." Lola agreed. The crew boarded their small ship and left for Jonah Town.
Sofia: Wow! That's amazing.
Me: Yeah. I've been wanting to come up with this kind of idea for months.
Sofia: You should come up with more ideas like that.
Me: Maybe I should. Hey, when I'm done with this one, we could head out and pick out a tree.
Sofia: Is it that time of year already? I better get the decorations.
Me: I'll call Knuckles and ask him to get a tree. But before I do that, I ask that you readers please review. Happy Holidays!
