What is up everybody! captainhatterwolf13 here with another chapter, finally! Sorry it took so long, Time really got away from me...

JOHNHAMMOND1993: No singing yet, though I plan to have some toward the end of this one. Thanks!

On with the show!

Chapter 3: A Demon Gets Killed (Don't Steal the Captain's Rum)

You know what hurts?

Falling from the sky, then having one of your best friends fall on top of you.
"Miles!" I wheezed from underneath the body. "Get the hell off of me!"

After a moment, I managed to get the heavy Earth Master (Geez, I was going to have to get used to that title) off of me. I got up and stretched, examining the bodies around me, most of whom were groaning and trying to get up.

"Okay…" I sighed as I looked around, then offered my hand to Linsey. "You okay, Lins?"

"Yeah." Linsey grinned at me and accepted my hand.

A few minutes later, everyone had gotten up. Mulan had her sword out already, while everyone else fumbled with their own weapons.

After managing to get my spear off my back, I walked over to Mulan and muttered, "We are pathetic and I thank you for taking this job."

"The job's a complete surprise to me, too," muttered Mulan. "But it's a pleasure."

The fourteen of us managed to get prepared, then began to walk through Lalotai.

I stayed back with Quintin.

"So," I said, grinning, "how have you been? You never respond to my texts, so…"

"Just meh." Quintin tried spinning his chain and nearly hit himself in the eye. "Bored."

"I can think of some activities to cure boredom," I said, winking at the Time Master. So many new titles!

Quintin laughed. "Not while walking through Lalotai."

"Stop flirting, you idiots," Bree called.

"Sorry, Bree," I said with a mock bow. "I'll try not to get the blockhead to cheat on you."

Bree and Quintin promptly gave me the finger. I laughed and moved up to the middle of the pack, where Linsey was standing.

"So, Lins," I said, "how are you?"

Linsey sighed. "Better now that you're here." She grimaced. "Even with, you know…"

I flinched, remembering what she was talking about. My parents had forced me to break up with Linsey about a month beforehand. Little did she know, my emotions, which I had embodied in my own mind, had taken this opportunity to be a complete ho. And goddammit, the 'Disgust' that also embodied my ego and my sexual desires was not helping.

Hey, look! He would constantly call. Hot chick, two o' clock!

I shook myself out of the thoughts that I would feel rather uncomfortable sharing with Linsey, and sighed. "Yeah, well, apparently, I'm 'young and immature.' And evidently, people with depression and anxiety aren't the best choice for me because I'll end up 'resenting them.'"

"What?"

"Honestly, Tadyn, can't we… Never mind." I sighed. "They're worried that I'll end up resenting my significant other if they've got depression or anxiety or something. Say they'll wear me down with their problems." I glanced at her. "By the tone of Dad's voice, I'm pretty sure that's why Mom and Dad split up. Anyway, just crap like that. No biggie." I gave Linsey a confident grin. "Two years. That's all we have left. Hopefully my emotions don't destroy my affections for you by then."

"What?"

Thankfully, I was saved by an unfamiliar voice.

"Oi! Look at this! Wombats!"

"Jack, I don't think - Jack!"
A rock had fallen from the sky and hit Paige in the head. Mulan immediately readied her sword and stepped in front of us.

"Who's there?" she called, glaring around Lalotai nervously.

"Oh, now look what you've done, Jack." The second voice sounded rather annoyed. "That's Queen Mulan."

"It's a wombat!"

We looked up at a cliff to see three figures looking down at us - three easily recognizable figures. Or at least, to a Disney fan.

One of the three leapt down the short cliff and landed in front of us. He looked up and sighed. "Sorry about that."

The man had handsome brown eyes and long brown hair. He wore a mustache and a small beard, and had tanned skin. He wore a leather necklace with a gold coin on it, and a red shirt torn into a very low V neck. He wore a black coat and a brown belt, with a pair of brown pants and boots. On his belt were a sword and a pistol.

Next to me, I heard Tadyn gasp.

Oh, shit.

"Completely fine, monsieur," I said, stepping on Tadyn's foot to bring her back to reality. "Our dear Paige deserved it, anyhow."

"Hey!" called Paige.

The handsome pirate turned to Mulan and nodded respectfully. "Will Turner."

I grabbed Tadyn's shoulder and squeezed it to shut her up as Mulan bowed. "Queen Mulan. I've heard of you, Will Turner. Pirate, correct?"

"Yes, your majesty." Will looked suddenly nervous. "You're not going to arrest me, are you?"

"On the contrary, Mr. Turner." Mulan smiled. "King Mickey wants you to -"

"Capture the wombats!"

A loud bang echoed through Lalotai. Everyone, luckily, ducked. A man was standing at the bottom of the cliff, waving a pistol. A woman was behind him trying to stop him.

The man wore a brown leather tricorn hat (I had one at home) and a long brown leather coat. He wore a white shirt with cuffed sleeves and brown leather pants. He had a red bandana tied around his head, with long braids down his back. He was covered in leather belts and pieces of cloth, along with a lot of jewelry that was probably from people who didn't really want that taken.

The woman behind him was beautiful - not to say the two males weren't. But I'm mostly straight, so my eyes were drawn to her. She was a tall blonde with brown eyes, and looked about ready to kill the captain. She wore black and silver clothing - stuff that obviously allowed for free range of movement. Her hand was halfway to her sword before Will called to her.

"Elizabeth." Will sounded tired. "Don't kill Jack, please."

Elizabeth relaxed her hand, still glaring at the captain.

Will grabbed Captain Jack by the arm and dragged him to our little group of misfits. He grabbed Miles and shoved him in front of the captain. "Jack. What do you see?"

Captain Jack shrugged and took a swig of rum. "A very tall wombat."

"No…" Will buried his face in his hands. "Jack, no." He pointed at Miles. "That's a human child. So are the rest. Except for Mulan."

The pirate squinted at Miles a little closer. "Why, so it is!" He then whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "You should probably wash all that dirt off your face, mate. You look like a wombat."

Miles looked shocked, so I whacked him over the head. He made a peaceful response by punching me in the shoulder.

The captain waltzed over to Mulan. "So, lass, what can we do for you? Steal your gold and weapons and all other values? Kill you? Kidnap the children? Can't stay long, we're on a tight schedule…"

Mulan rolled her eyes. "King Mickey wants you three to chauffeur us across the Kingdom."

"I see." Captain Jack took another swig of rum. "And why exactly should I do that?"

"Well," said Mulan, "These are the Elementalists. They're going to save the Kingdom."

Will and Elizabeth suddenly made their postures a bit straighter. The captain just shrugged and asked, "And why exactly should I chauffer you across the Kingdom?"

Mulan rolled her eyes. "How much gold do you want?"

Captain Jack looked thoughtful. "Hm… How much is Mickey's castle worth?"

"About two million golden Aztec statues."

"About two million golden Aztec statues, then, with the castle thrown in, if you don't mind."

I heard Mulan curse under her breath. "Whatever. Mickey'll give you whatever you want if you do it."

"Oh, goodie, I get prizes from a mouse." Captain Jack seemed to scoff, but turned around. "Tell you what. We work together to get out of here. If I like you, I'll give you a ride."

"Sounds good, Captain!" I said, grinning like the madman I was.

Captain Jack looked at me and nodded approvingly. "You're getting the ride."

"Yes!" called Miles.

The captain stared at him. "I said I would give this one a ride. I didn't say anything about the rest of you."

"You better give us the ride," growled Tadyn, "or I will call the Avengers and have them deal with you! Marvel is owned by Disney, so I assume they're here."

Everyone stared.

"Disney? Marvel? Avengers?" Mulan looked bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

"First of all, Tadyn," I said, "Be nice to the captain. Second, be nice to the captain. Third -"

"We get the message," called Leandra, who had been looking frustrated since she found out she was not to be the Fire Master.

"Awesome." I turned back to the captain. "Well, this place isn't going to escape itself! Maximum effort!"

"That makes no sense," Rachel muttered to me.

I grinned at her. "Nothing that's here or that I say makes sense." I cracked my knuckles. "Now come along, darling," I said in my Edna Mode voice. "There is much to do and little time."

The seventeen of us began walking.

It felt like about fifteen minutes before something dangerous that wasn't Captain Jack's fault happened.

Timmy suddenly stopped.

"Hey, we got places to be," I said, going to punch him, but then I saw what he was looking at.

In the palm trees above us, there was a group of glowing, monkey-like demons. Their eyes were glowing purple, but they looked like a foil to the alibretas in Coco. Their heads were cocked in a curious, but threatening manner. I felt sure that the only reason we weren't dead yet was because they were surprised to see wombats, I mean, humans, in Lalotai.

Sure enough, one of the monkeys let out a screech, and all the monkeys began diving down at us.

I swung my spear wildly, and heard a satisfying thunk as one of the monkeys was whacked across the stomach.

The battle was brief, due to one idiotic monkey who stole something of the captain's.

"OI!" Captain Jack Sparrow raised his sword. "Where's my rum?"

A monkey looked at the bottle of amber liquid in its paw, then pried off the cork and started to drink.

Suddenly, there was one less demon monkey in the world.

Kicking aside the head of the monkey, Captain Sparrow picked up his rum, took a swig, then casually shot another monkey.

"And that," announced the captain, as the battle continued, "is what happens when you steal me rum."

Finally, only one monkey, which was running away, was left. Will and Elizabeth fired after it, but both missed. Bree clipped it on the shoulder.

And then an arrow sprouted from the thing's back.

The demon monkey fell forward, as all of us looked at Tadyn. She had her bow out and had obviously just fired an arrow.

She grinned at all of us. "And that's how a professional does it." She bowed. "You're welcome."

The captain grinned. "You and the other one I like are both getting the ride."

"I better." Tadyn glared at the pirate. "But as long as I'm getting the ride, can I room with Will?"

I whacked her over the head, and we continued walking.

"I found it!"

Everybody turned around. The captain was standing at the mouth of a cave, staring into its depths with excitement.

"What is it, Ja - Oh." Will sighed as he looked into the cave. "Yup, there it is, the entire reason you dragged us down here in the first place."

I made my way over and peered inside the cave, seeing a mound of gold objects - coins, lamps, jewelry, statues…

"There!" cried the captain, pointing. "The golden bottle of eternal rum!"

We all stood there for a moment, then Aislinn said, "So… We just came so you could get drunk?"

"Yup!" Captain Jack waltzed into the cave and grabbed the bottle from the pile.

"Jack, no!" shouted Will and Elizabeth together, running after the drunken captain.

I ran after the trio, sensing this was also our ticket out.

"Oi!" called an angry voice. "Get off of my property!"

The mountain of gold rumbled, and everyone - even the captain, though he still held the golden bottle - stepped back in fright.

A form emerged from the bottom of the pile of gold, revealing it to be just a shell. From the front poked a head - a huge head with purple skin, and barnacle-like warts on its chin, making it look rather like the creature had forgotten to shave that morning. A pair of eye stalks presented two huge, beady blue eyes. There also emerged eight limbs. The front two were thick as tree trunks, with behemoth-like claws, while the other six acted more as legs than arms - though one was half ripped off.

This creature was Tamatoa.

Suddenly aware that this was the first Disney Villain I had come across in my time here, I stumbled back, nearly walking into Rachel.

"Oh, geez!" I said. "Sorry."

Rachel chuckled. "It's fine." She stepped forward, scythe ready.

Something about the situation snapped my awareness into gear. Yeah, we had the combined powers of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley at our side. And freaking Mulan. But we were still kids - mainly kids who had just thought they were going to be hanging out with a few crazy people. And as I saw Rachel step forward in her jeans and Harry Potter T-shirt, and Tadyn with her own jeans and Infinity War T-shirt, earbuds in, I realized we were likely to die here. We weren't gods.

I stepped back, nearly backing out of the entire equation.

"Asher?"

I stopped. Leandra was looking at me, worried.

"Fear went into overdrive for a moment," I said with a false grin. I readied my spear. "I'm good now."

"Trying to steal something from me?" growled Tamatoa, baring a set of crooked, barnacle-encrusted teeth. "Then I suppose I'll just have to -"

"I like the necklaces near your neck!" called Paige.

I glanced over. Sure enough, near Tamatoa's neck were thirteen necklaces. Each had a fine gold chain, along with a crystal, each a different color - red, blue, brown, pink, white, black, purple, cyan, green, indigo, gray, yellow, and orange.

Tamatoa touched the necklaces with his claw and grinned. "Yeah, some merchant came down with 'em a while back. Said they were meant for the Elementalists." He gave us a toothy grin. "He tasted delicious."

"We're the Elementalists," called Paige. "Now hand 'em over."

Tamatoa glared down at the Air Master (Titles!). "I don't like your attitude, girly. I might just have to rip the flesh from your bones."

"My good man - crab - thing!" I called awkwardly, seeing as I was one of only, like, three there who would actually be saddened if the flesh was ripped from her bones. I stepped in front of Paige and made a sweeping bow.

"I apologize for the attitude of my friend, she gets ruder when she is struck by the fear and awe of seeing mighty creatures rise from the ground." I stepped on Paige's foot in order to shut her mouth, then grinned as I spread my arms. "But yes, we are, indeed, the Elementalists." I showed him my spear.

Tamatoa grinned. "Really? Well, the necklaces only work for the Elementalists." He took them from their hooks and held them in the air. "These necklaces will allow the Elementalists to telepathically communicate with one another, and visit each other's dreams." Tadyn started muttering something about copyrights.

"Well," I called, "King Mickey said we were the Elementalists."

Tamatoa shrugged. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that." He dropped the necklaces. "Try 'em on."

I picked up the purple necklace. And, yeah, stereotypes - I immediately knew this was mine.

I placed it over my head. I felt a bit of a buzz, then I tried calling out with my brain, Hello?

For a moment, there was silence, then I heard Timmy's voice. What's up?

Oh, yay, it works! Quintin said.

Everyone else managed to get into the group chat, and I gave the thumbs-up to the giant crab. "We good!"

"Good!" Tamatoa grinned. "Now I'm going to eat you."

There was silence for a moment.

"What?" asked Miles. "I don't wanna be eaten today! And you don't wanna eat me! I - uh - I'm skinny!"

"No," I muttered to him, "I'm skinny."

I turned to see Tamatoa's claw bearing down on us. Pushing Miles forward, I rolled aside, and the behemoth's claw struck hard dirt.

"Nope!" I looked at the creature's legs - huge and plated, with no available skin that I could see. "Nope! No! Not good! Nope!"

I heard guns going off, and bullets and arrows bouncing off of the thick armor of the crab. I had to deal with seven legs scurrying around as Tamatoa tried to eat people.

"Geyser!" I yelled. "Geyser!"

"What?" asked Elizabeth, looking at me incredulously.

Tadyn and I locked eyes, and she nodded.

"Follow us!" we called, and began running out of the cave.

Fourteen people began following us out of the cave, and we started running for our -

Fourteen?

I looked back, and saw that Maggie had been trapped in a small corner of the cave. Tamatoa was taking his time bearing down on her, grinning maliciously…

I started forward, but Linsey passed me, the white crystal on her necklace bouncing off her chest, her staff raised as she let out a war cry only a Gryffindor can give.

Her next move was to whack Tamaota in the leg.

Tamatoa froze and turned around, fixing Linsey with a did-you-really-think-that-would-do-anything expression.

Two Pack members made extremely smart decisions immediately. Maggie ran for her life, only pausing to give Tamatoa another good thwack with her shield, and Bree aimed and fired.

Tamatoa roared in pain, covering his right eye with his claw: I could see violet blood oozing from it.

"Run!" yelled Miles.

"Because that wasn't obvious, man?!" Quintin called, having already taken off.

The seventeen of us ran toward a giant rock, with Tadyn, myself, and Rachel, who also seemed to have known what we were talking about, in the lead.

"On the rock!" I yelled, having already climbed to the top and now helping Linsey up.

"Why-" began Will.

"Just do it!" I yelled.

Somehow, we all fit onto the rock, and now could do nothing but watch as Tamatoa stumbled toward us, his right eye bleeding like crazy.

Please, I begged to God, any moment now….

Tamatoa had almost reached us…

And suddenly, I was blasted into the air - and the water.

Okay, hitting water at who knows how many miles an hour hurts.

It felt like hours I was propelled through the ocean, not knowing whether anyone was around me. The odd purple and pink light of Lalotai disappeared, replaced by darkness so heavy, I swear it was crushing me harder than the ocean's pressure.

Oh yeah, I was drowning.

Trying not to breathe in the salt water that was surrounding me, I shut my eyes to prevent the stinging that was sure to blind me.

After what felt like days, I could finally start seeing some light through my eyelids. I forced them open and saw the actual sun approaching at top speed.

I burst through the surface of the ocean floor and gasped for breath before hitting the sandy beach hard. Extremely hard.

Gasping for breath, I heard other bodies hitting the ground around me like pellets of rain (a sound not often heard in California - rain, not bodies. The bodies are a common sound).

Deciding to try out the necklace again, I beamed a thought to the others: Is everyone okay?

"Do I look like I'm okay?!" shouted Miles.

"You're okay," I muttered, then turned around to see, in the distance, a beautiful ship, jet black and majestic. The Black Pearl.

"A beauty, isn't she?" asked the captain, getting up and spitting sand out of his mouth. "She's called the Black Pearl."

"She's wonderful, Cap'n." I grinned at him.

Once we had gotten ourselves situated, we all squeezed into a rowboat and began rowing toward the ship.

Linsey tapped me on the shoulder. I looked around at her.

"Hey, Asher…" she sighed. "We can talk more with these… Your parents won't be able to see it… I was just wondering if you wanted to…"

"Pick it up again?" I asked, grinning. "Of course."

Linsey smiled at me for a moment, then threw her arms around me.

I smiled and gave her a tight hug back.

It should've been perfect.

There was one problem, and it was a problem that I encountered as I looked over her shoulder at another, and my heart began yelling at itself.

I wasn't all in it.