OK, this is the first half of the second part to this episode (if this is an episode). Now, this tackles the Candy of Youth idea, and now we finally get to know who are these mysterious people that I talk about at the end of the last two chapters, and plus the Candy of Youth.
So now, let's go.
Legal Stuff: I DO NOT own the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Flapjack is copyrighted by Mark "Thurop" van Orman. I do, however, own any original characters mention in this story.
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
The No Sugar Act & the Candy of Youth
*
Chapter Three: The Wanderers from Afar
The blue whale Bubbie kept on swimming for a good few hours, making Stormalong Harbor disappear into the horizon as she got farther away from the harbor town. There standing on her back is a cheering K'nuckles, jumping and shouting vulgar cheers about some random stuff. And the young Flapjack sticks his head out from the mouth of his mother's to climb out into the open.
"K'nuckles, you brain-dead buffoon! Did you have any idea what you were doing back there?!" shouted Bubbie.
"I know what I was doing, you dumb whale," the captain replied. "I was simply getting away from those damned constables and the ugly bitch."
Unknown to K'nuckles, he is standing right above Bubbie's blowhole and he is suck right inside of her mouth before being projected out from the whale's mouth and far into the ocean. K'nuckles arches before hitting the water, diving into the lukewarm water before emerging his head back up in the air. He turns to see that he is far away from where Bubbie is, and the only thing he could see is her tail flapping.
"Where do you think you're going?" he shouted.
"What does it look like? I'm leaving you out here to rot!" replied Bubbie very sharp. "You have gone and made the whole town of Stormalong to turn against you after that stunt you pulled. No, don't you even dare think of swimming back to me, begging for me to let you stay in my mouth while you lie around like the lazy bum that you are! No, you're officially are kicked out, you hear me?!"
The words that Bubbie just said echo loudly throughout the angered captain's head, giving him things to think about as he sulks there in the water. The blue whale turns back and continues to swim away from K'nuckles, leaving him there while she and Flapjack heads back to town. While swimming, Bubbie hears her child sobbing on her back and she comes to a stop to talk with her child.
"Flapjack, are you feeling all right?"
"Why do you have to be so mean to K'nuckles?" the boy asked.
"Well baby, I'm trying to protect you with everything I got," the motherly whale said, "but with K'nuckles in your life is only going to bring you down."
"But how can I be an adventurer if he can't teach me anything?"
"Baby, it's time for you to know that K'nuckles isn't what he's crack up to be," Bubbie said.
"He isn't?"
"Everything he has been telling you is a lie. That man is nothing more than a simple criminal with an ugly past, not much a glorious time as the 'greatest adventurer' that he says he is, and he's too stupid to even know how he got stuck with a whale and a boy."
"Captain K'nuckles isn't stupid," Flapjack protested.
"Flapjack, I know this hard for you to take in, but it's all true," said Bubbie.
"But Captain K'nuckles isn't stupid," the boy sobs.
"The man is a mental retard, all right? He's too stupid to even learn that not every problem is solved with drinking a bottle of maple syrup, a piece of candy and him passing out!"
At that point, Flapjack's tears grew larger and he begins to bawl. The boy is upset on the inside, now hearing that his hero is nothing but a low-class bum who thinks he is a captain, and he cries large puddles on his mother's back. Bubbie then takes her arms and she brought the crying boy down to her face, swinging him like a newborn infant to gently ease him to sleep. Slowly, Flapjack stops his crying and he braces Bubbie with one of his warm hugs.
"Now don't you worry baby, Bubbie's going to find a way out of this mess," the whale said.
***
Back at Stormalong, the four men of Doctor Barber, Peppermint Larry, Slippery Pete and Lolly Poopdeck are being marched into the town's courthouse where there are other people there to watch the men to be convicted of their actions. The constables push the men towards where the judges' stand is and at the post is none other than the Dock Hag herself.
"You have got to be..." said Larry.
"Order in the court!" barked the Dock Hag, slamming down the gavel. "This goes for the four of you."
The courtroom went into silences as the Dock Hag gets up on the judge's stand to begin the trial for the four men. As she sat down, so did the others except for the men on trial. The jury looks upon them with hateful eyes, as all of the members are made up of rich people. The defendants are some constables, with some being part of the incident with K'nuckles at Doctor Barber's shop and there are the two that personally met with the doctor before they got busted.
"All right, we all know why we are here," the Dock Hag said, breaking the silence. "We're here to put these men behind bars for breaking the No Sugar Act."
The room begins to fill with chatter, and the Dock Hag bangs the gavel to silence the people again. "These four have been working underground in an attempt to 'save' this town from who knows what!" the Dock Hag stated. "They keep saying this, but they have been breaking a law and they will be punished for it!"
"But madam Dock Hag, you don't understand," protested Doctor Barber. "The whole town is going to be infected with lackasugaritis, and if we don't do something soon then it will mark the end of Stormalong."
"I don't care! You four have been breaking the law," the Dock Hag stated, pointing the gavel down towards them. "Of all the people, you have to go and be part of the crowd, Julius."
"I am trying to help the people," the doctor proclaimed. "If Stormalong doesn't get any sugar, then the people will suffer from lackasugaritis!"
"But you're too stubborn to notice that these people are suffering!" Larry shouted. "If you were to open those god-damned eyes of yours, then you'll see what the people are going..."
"Enough!" roared the Dock Hag. "I have enough of your bickering!"
"Madam Dock Hag, if I would like to add," a defending constable said, "we overheard these men that they were harboring something called the Forbidden Piece."
The whole room lets out a loud gasp and the people in the room begin to chatter once again. The Dock Hag bashes away with the gavel, trying to get the room silent from the sudden outburst.
"All of you shut up!" the woman yelled, voice loud enough to be heard from the other side of town. The room falls silent and everyone got back into their seats. "Now, I deem thee that Doctor Barber, Mr. Larry, Slippery Pete and Lolly Poopdeck to be condemned to one prison cell for the rest of their natural lives!"
The room went into an uproar over the recent conviction for the four men. The constables grab hold of the convicted and they drag them out of the courtroom, as Larry and Doctor Barber struggle to get the word out.
"Madam Dock Hag, just listen to us!" Doctor Barber begged. "If you don't lift the band, the whole town is going to suffer from lackasugaritis!"
"I don't care," the Dock Hag replied, pounding the gavel. "I'll have these people suffer until this town is perfect once again."
"Stupid hag, you have any idea that people are going to attack you once lackasugaritis sets in?" Larry growled, trying to free himself from the constable's grip.
"I'm willing to take that risk," the Dock Hag responded, banging the gavel again.
"You have no idea what kind of trouble you're getting yourself into, you stupid bitch!" shouted Larry, before a constable sticks a giant cork into the foul-mouth former bartender.
***
"Well, there it is," Bubbie said, with Flapjack sitting on top of her. "Things haven't really changed, have they?"
"We have been gone for only a few minutes," the boy replied, "so things haven't really changed in so long."
"Yeah, I know that baby."
The blue whale swims up close to the edge to where both she and Flapjack could watch the constable drag four new convicts from the courthouse. The two of them watch as the men in uniform load the four into a horse-drawn buggy and then ordering the driver to get the cart moving. As Flapjack and Bubbie watch, they notice the figures of Larry and Doctor Barber loading into the buggy and they kept an eye on the buggy as it heads off to the prison.
"Peppermint Larry and Doctor Barber got arrested?" asked Flapjack.
"It appears so. I'm guessing that no one is safe with the No Sugar Act in effect," said Bubbie. "Well dear, I guess you have to adapt to living without sugar until they decide to lift the ban."
"But... what about me getting lack-of-sugar-itis?" asked the young boy.
"Lackasugaritis? Now who's been feeding you that nonsense?"
"Doctor Barber. He said that he's trying to prevent Stormalong from getting it. He also said that Captain K'nuckles haves it now."
"Well, that did explained him barging at those constables," the whale mumbled. "Now Flapjack, things are going to be different now. This time, I'm going to raise you to be the perfect adventurer that you dream of becoming, and we're not going to have anyone bothering..."
Bubbie has spoken her words too soon, as a series of constables are standing along the edge of Stormalong, harpoons in hand and ready to throw them at the whale. Bubbie stops her swimming as she notices the sharp edges of the harpoons staring at her, and she turns from her usual light blue to a very pale white, in fear of those points. The whale slowly backs away from the water town, before breaking into a full sprinting swim.
Someone shouted an order and the constables begin to throw the harpoons with all they have, sending the metal spear out into the whale to pierce the blubber of Bubbie the Whale. Sadly, their attempts fail, as Bubbie is swimming as fast as she could, with Flapjack grabbing on as his mother is getting him and her out of there in time.
"We missed them," one of the constables stated.
"That's good enough," the Dock Hag said, stepping through the men. "As long as we have them on the run, they'll never come back to Stormalong ever again as long as I'm in charge."
Ahead, Bubbie slows down her pace to allow herself to catch her breath, as Flapjack got himself back to normal and is now sitting on his mother.
"What were those damned fools thinking?!" shouted Bubbie. "They were trying to kill me!" Then she blushes bright red and she looks up on her head. "Sorry about that, Flapjack. I'm not used to saying stuff like that."
"That's all right Bubbie," Flapjack replied. "I'm used to it."
"Well I don't want you to be using that language at all," the whale said, sounding motherly. Then she turns her attention out into the ocean and she checks her surroundings. "Well, I guess we are now outcasts."
"Wait, we can't go back to Stormalong?"
"Not unless we could get something to prove ourselves innocent, so no, we can't," Bubbie said, reaching inside of herself for something. She then pulls out nothing in result. "Nothing. Well, I guess we are going to float out here until we find land."
"Hey, I think I see something," said Flapjack, pointing out to sea.
Bubbie focuses her eyes to notice something floating in the water, and she lets out a sigh after figuring out what it is. The floating object is K'nuckles, who haves his undershirt up to expose his stomach region, and he haves a miniature scale of sails sticking out of his belly button so that the wind could push him along. The captain is slowly being pushed to Bubbie, constantly mumbling curses about the whale in general, while steering himself with the sails.
"Damn whale. She thinks she's some hot shit," the captain mumbles. "I can't wait 'til I wrap my hands around her fat..."
K'nuckles bumps into Bubbie and he sinks down into the water before reemerging. He looks toward what hit him and he quickly backs away from the whale, as her temper begins to grow.
"So, you think I'm full of it and want to strangle me, huh?" Bubbie asked, forming fist. "Well, let Bubbie hear teach you something you won't forget."
"Bring it, woman!" K'nuckles barked, raising his hands out of the water to fight. "I can take you on, even if I'm in the water."
Then a dorsal fin swims by and starts to circle around K'nuckles, and the man jumps out of the water to cling onto Bubbie. Then the dorsal fin dives under the water and disappears from view.
Bubbie lets out a laugh. "Ha, you're afraid of some dolphin?" she asked.
"That was no dolphin," K'nuckles replied, all nervous. "That felt more like a shark."
"Please, there aren't any sharks out in these wa—"
Suddenly, a blue shark emerges from the water, jaw open real wide, and bears it teeth at the trio. Bubbie backs away in time as the shark hits the water and dives under to strike again. The dorsal fin emerges and the shark swims towards the group, as Bubbie takes K'nuckles and Flapjack away from the approaching shark. The blue shark speeds towards them very quickly and it jumps out of the water again to try for another bite.
During that attack, a harpoon is sent through the air and it pierces right through the shark, hooking on and snagging it back away from the trio. They turn to look to see who threw the harpoon, as the shark lands onto a raft with a blue liquid seeping out of its wound. Bubbie, Flapjack and K'nuckles notice two people on the raft and the boy and his captain jump off of the whale to get on the raft, next to the dying shark.
The two that are on the raft comprise of a very old, elderly man in a wheelchair and a boy that looks like the same age as Flapjack. The man haves the same look as K'nuckles, but his skin is very wrinkly and worn from the salt air and age, and his clothes are torn from all sorts of events. The boy looks almost identical to Flapjack, except his clothes are darker, his neck is wrapped around in a scarf that covers the lower half of his face, and he haves black hair instead of blonde.
"We got ourselves a candy shark," the elderly man said, voice very hoarse and dry.
"Yes grandfather, a very good catch," the boy said, getting down on one knee to remove the harpoon.
"Not much like the Candy of Youth, but it'll do."
"Uh, wait, who are you two?" asked Flapjack.
The Flapjack-looking boy looks up at the new guest. "Who are you?"
"We're someone that you don't want to mess with," K'nuckles said.
The elder lets out a snort and a laugh. "You sure don't look like the type, saying crazy lies like that."
"Oh, I'll show you, you pile of..." Then K'nuckles comes to his senses and he takes full notice of the man in front of him. "Flapjack, do you know who this man is?"
"No, I don't."
"Boy, this is the greatest adventurer of all time when I was a lad," the captain said. "This is the Captain Adventure, the greatest man to ever sail the seas!"
"Captain Adventure?" parroted Flapjack.
"Well, no one really knows his real name, so the adventurers named him Adventure for all of his adventures that he used to do," replied K'nuckles.
"I know his real name, but I'm not going to give it to low-lives like you," the boy replied.
"And why not?" asked Flapjack.
"Because I am his grandson. I am known as Nautilus, the next Captain Adventure."
K'nuckles lets out a raspberry. "What kind of name is Nautilus?"
"One that can kick your sorry ass in the sea," the boy replied, punching his fist into a palm.
"Ooh, you better watch out K'nuckles," Bubbie said, letting out a chuckle. "The boy's got a fighting spirit."
"Who asked you in the first place?" growled the captain.
The elderly Captain Adventure rolls his chair up to K'nuckles and he gives the younger captain a good look before rolling to his grandson. "By how you look, you seem to know about some of my students," the elder captain said.
"Who?"
"Why boy, how can you forget about the men you saw in the world," Captain Adventure said, grabbing a cane that is in the wheelchair. "There are hundreds of my students in the world, and you can't name a few?"
"Well, I know some," K'nuckles said, rubbing his head. "There's Ridiculous, my captain that taught me how to be a captain..."
"Those two were some of my best men," Adventure replied. "Why, they were the brightest in all of my men."
"I never though Captain Ridiculous was that old," K'nuckles said.
"Then you probably know about the Candy of Youth, correct?" Nautilus said. "He got a lick of it and gain some years off of his timeline."
Flapjack looks at the duo confusedly. "Excuse me, but what's the Candy of Youth?" the boy asked.
The elder lets out a horrified gasp. "You don't know about the Candy of Youth?" the man asked. "Boy, the Candy of Youth is one of the greatest legends in this world! And you have never heard of it at all?!"
"No, I never heard of it," replied Flapjack.
"Heh, you're still too young to understand all of the legends in this world," Nautilus said, with a smirk under his scarf.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Flapjack said, defending himself. "You look the same as me."
"Yeah, but I have more knowledge, thanks to my grandfather," the new boy replied boldly. "We would like to tell you about it, but we're too busy to tell you it."
"We are looking for the Candy of Youth right now," Captain Adventure said. "Is there any chance that you may have seen it?"
"No," replied Bubbie. "Isn't the Candy of Youth supposed to be legend?"
"Yes, but the thing is that the candy is real," Nautilus replied. "It's its story that makes it a legend."
"The Candy of Youth is one of Poseidon's greatest creations, next to Candied Island," Captain Adventure said. "Sadly, when we adventurers heard about it, Poseidon went all out to prevent the candy from getting into the wrong hands, so he placed a curse on it and sent it traveling the waters, sailing to different islands 'til someone finds it and eats it."
"It is said that whoever eats the Candy of Youth will be blessed for eternal youth for eighty years, allowing the eater of the candy to be young for so long," Nautilus added. "But, that is when the curse comes into play."
"Whoever eats the Candy of Youth is not able to go to the bathroom during the waiting period, and that they can't spit or vomit the candy out," Adventure said, continuing on. "If one does have the Candy of Youth out of their systems before the candy can be fully digested, then the candy becomes bitter and the person gets sick from eating it."
"The person will spit it out and try it again, and the taste gets bitterer each time it enters your mouth," said Nautilus. "It is unpleasant, but that's the price you pay for not having the candy in your body."
"That sounds eerily familiar..." K'nuckles said, with a wooden hand up on his chin.
"Captain, that sounds like the Forbidden Piece!" Flapjack blurted.
"So you have it!" Nautilus stated. "Hand the Candy of Youth over!"
"Wait! This is the Candy of Youth?" asked Flapjack, holding up the piece of candy.
"Yes, the very one," Captain Adventure said. "Where did you found that?"
"I found it floating in the water next to Stormalong Harbor," Bubbie answered.
"Ah yes, I remember Stormalong," the elder captain said, letting out a hoarse sigh. "Say, how's the town been all these years?"
"The town's in a fit about not having any sugar," Flapjack responded.
There is silence before Captain Adventure lets out a chilling laugh. "So Stormalong is suffering from my story? That's a real hoot!"
"Wait, so you were behind all of this?!" snapped K'nuckles.
"He is," Nautilus said, stepping forward.
"I'm going to murder you, you stupid son-of-a..."
"Captain please, he's just a harmless old man," Flapjack said, intervening in time before a fight breaks out.
"Harmless?!" shouted Adventure, using his cane to lift him out of his chair. "Boy, allow me to tell you that this bag of old bones haves enough energy to knock the Candy of Youth out of your hands."
"You seem to be more of a bag of shit, grandfather," Nautilus said.
"Watch your mouth boy," Adventure barked, snapping his cane on his grandson's head.
"Well, if you want the Candy of Youth so badly," K'nuckles said sharply, "you've to take it from my cold, dead body!"
The captain rips the piece of candy from Flapjack's hands and shoves the piece down his throat. Then Nautilus comes up and punches K'nuckles in the stomach, which cause the man to hag on the piece, before Adventure uses his cane to smack K'nuckles around. During the beating, K'nuckles spits the candy out far and away from the group.
"Now look what you did!" shouted Nautilus.
"What did I do? Look at what you did to me!" K'nuckles replied sharply.
"You just spitted out our only way to finding Candied Island!" Captain Adventure shouted.
Flapjack and K'nuckles are awestruck. "Hubba-what?!" they both shouted at once.
I forgot to mention this, but here's the difference between the candy rots and lackasugaritis:
Candy Rots is from eating too much candy and that drives a person wild until the person rots from the inside out from all that sugar.
Lackasugaritis is the opposite, where the user doesn't get enough candy and that makes them crave for sugar. It makes them go berserk, plus have other devastating side-effects.
Yeah, that was considered important for me to add, since this will tell the difference between the two. Plus, it's fun to come up with your own things for something that you like, but they forgot to add to the original. I'm still waiting for this to become an episode.
So now, I have finally introduced the two mysterious people that appeared at the end of the last two chapters. I didn't want to do anything special, just make more of a clone of Flapjack and K'nuckles in a way to portray them as their mirror selves, except K'nuckles is a wrinkly old man and Flapjack is the polar opposite.
Again, please review, thank you. I have one more chapter left, and this will bring this all to an end. Hopefully, it's a happy ending.