Author's Notes: Admittedly, it's been a while since my last attempt to get a chapter up. And additionally, I know it's not too long, but I hope it adds for a few twists and turns in the plot. Some are somewhat extreme, obviously, but I hope you like it nonetheless. With that being said, please enjoy.

Chapter 25: The Kraken!

"…how annoying." moaned an clearly annoyed voice.

"What is it?" came the reply of an X-naut.

The possessed girl gave a scornful expression toward the horizon. "We have even more visitors."

Beldam was peering into the horizon, watching carefully at an oncoming sight. It seemed as though Snowhill was coming near them already.

"Do you want me to take him down?" asked the soldier.

"No, no…" Beldam said. "That would attack unneeded attention by the rest of the public."

"But if he sees us-"

"He won't see us." Beldam stated confidently.

"I see you…" Snowhill thought aloud as he peered at Beldam through his own binoculars. "…and darn, it looks like she spotted me too."

Snowhill began to approach them.

"HOLD IT!" Beldam called, holding her hands cupped in front of her mouth. "Stay out of our way!"

"By the authority of the Arizona Police Department, you are under arrest!" Snowhill shouted back.

"I told you he would see us." the soldier stated.

"Go out there and get him!" Beldam shouted.

"But you said not to-"

"Just do it. Get him out of the way, quickly and quietly!" Beldam nudged the soldier forth.
"I better get extra for this." the said, rushing towards Snowhill, holding a staff and preparing to strike.

Snowhill stopped and pointed one fist in front of him, standing still as a rock. The soldier didn't last for a few seconds before his face crashed into the sergeant's knuckles.

The stall man watched stiffly as his victim fell down on his face.

Beldam turned around. "Urgh, this is going to get us nowhere… hehehe… fine then, follow me if you dare."

With that, Nazz's (Beldam's) figure vanished into the air.

Snowhill sighed. "Of course."

The group was sitting at an outdoor stall about now. Double D held the newspaper in one hand, and a Spanish-to-English dictionary. He merely looked at the two written books, nodding as he continued to mentally translate.

"What's it say, what does it say?" Eddy thought aloud

"I'm working on it." Double D sighed.

Goombella and Robin were busy as well, exchanging their various archeology notes.

"Aha, I think I get it now." Double D said.

Eddy groaned. "Finally! What does it say!"

Double D squinted as he places his finger over the Spanish Text. "I'll do my best to read it:"

"Saturday, March 29th. A fisherman caught an unusual treasure of the western coast. Citizens, archeologists, and government officials all agree it's something incomparable to previous finds, though some officials believe it's the work of ancient Incas, the same ones responsible for building the famed and mysterious Incan ruins in the mountains. As of now, since the fisherman has claimed the treasure as his own, since he had fished it up, albeit by accident. He wants to publicity and demands that all of those who seek his treasure be warned that he will alert the authorities."

"…so a fisherman's got the crystal?"

"All we have to do is go get him then?" Eddy asked. "Not much of an adventure then, I guess."

"I don't know, but I really hope we don't end up in something too dangerous this time." Double D said.

Crump looked to his left just in time, spotting Beldam as she materialized beside him.

"Oh, there you are." Crump said. "How was your flight?"

"Save it for later." Beldam said. "You said you captured some prisoners?"

"Yes, yes, here they are." Crump said.

He stepped out of the way, revealing the boy and his imaginary friend, tried up to the mast of their ship.

"Well, well, well, boys." Beldam said, pacing around them. "Welcome aboard the X-ecutioner. My name is Beldam, and you are my hostages."

"Then you're the one who sicked that psychopath Masque at Fosters on us!" Bloo shouted.

"Indeed I am." Beldam said. "You're name is Bloo, I assume?"

"How'd you know?" Bloo asked.

"Because I know the two of you were Bloo and Mac, and well, I figure since you are actually blue and all-"

"Oh, a wise-guy, huh?" Bloo asked.

"Actually, it's wise girl. I never did like that generic name." Beldam smirked.

"Hmf." Bloo pouted.

Beldam continued to pace around the boys, approaching Mac. "…and my oh my… Mac, was it? You were the one who defeated Masque… with that hero's fire, no doubt. How… interesting. It's very unusual for someone who doesn't have the relics to use it just like that."

"Hey, I'm not ordinary!" Mach shouted, struggling with the ropes.

"Settle down, boy." Beldam said, placing her right hand's fingers on his chin. "No need to use unnecessary energy like that, is there?"

Mac stopped and looked down.

"But, to think that I assumed you to be one of this world's finest heroes… and here you turn out to be just a little 8 year old human… it's kind of funny." Beldam said, cackingly softly. "You look so puny."

"Looks aren't everything." Mac said.

"Apparently so." Beldam stated.

"You should know that you're not going to get away with this!" Mac shouted.

He suddenly felt her fingers become sharper. Upon looking down, he realized that Nazz's (Beldam's) hand turned to dark, purple, claws, skinny enough to make them look like bones.

"It would be wise, not to raise your voice like that to me, little boy." Beldam said.

Mac squinted and grunted as she removed her claw.

"…what-what are you?" he asked.

Beldam grabbed her right sleeve and rolled it up. Mac screamed as he saw it:

Her arm looked thin as a skeleton, purple and sinister. The bone structure seemed to be built in an inhuman way, and the air surrounding the arm seemed to appear darker and foggier, but only a little bit so.

Beldam held her claw towards the two frightened captives, making her claw into a fist.

"This," Beldam emphasized, "Is what that arrogant fool of a fire-wielder did to me. Vivian, and Double D… they irradiated my physical form, and thus, I am to keep my spirit within a host."

With a sudden flash, the boney purple arm returned to a normal, flesh and healthy arm, the one that rightfully belonged to Nazz.

"A… host?" Bloo asked. "So you're a guest of some kind…?

"You might say that… and if you thought that was horrifying… you should see what they have done with the rest of me…" Beldam said.

"Even before they did this to you, I'll bet you still looked like an old hag." Mac said boldly.

Beldam scowled. "Begging for trouble again?" Beldam asked. "You sound just like those other idiots who came after me before. But in reality, you are just a little human and imaginary blob."
"Hey!" they both shouted back, offended.

"You two are weaker then all the other heroes in your group. What in the world can you two do without their help?" Beldam asked.
"Oh, if you only knew, I'd-!"

Bloo was cut off by an X-naut, who places a piece of duct tape over his mouth.

"MM!!" Bloo moaned, trying to shout.

"Now that he's finally shut up, we can get back to business, eh?" Beldam asked.

"Don't you dare hurt Bloo!" Mac shouted.

"Then tell me." Beldam said. "We know that you two came here for a Crystal Star… but you two still haven't said anything about it's location."

"So that's why you want us?" Mac asked.

"No, not just that. You would both make great shields too." Beldam said.

"Well, you're wasting your time." Mac stated. "We have no idea where the crystal star is."

"…blast. That's it then…" Beldam said.

Mac's eyes widened. "It is? We're free?"
"No, no, you silly little imaginative boy." Beldam said. "I meant that it's the final straw."

Bloo and Mac looked towards one another.

"…wha-what do you mean?" Mac asked.

The possessed girl looked towards Lord Crump. "We have no other option. We have to summon him."

"Him?" Crump asked. "Double D?"

"No, you stooge!" Beldam spat. "The master!"

Crump gasped. "The master?!"

"The master?" Mac asked.

The X-naut crew members all looked towards one another, exchanging gasps and murmurs."

"…wait a second." Mac said. "Your master was defeated by the heroes 4 years ago, remember?"

"Oh, I don't mean the Shadow Queen." Beldam said.

"But she is your master." Mac said.

"…no, no." Beldam said with a smirk. "The Shadow Queen… was my queen. Even queens have masters, you know."

"…then you mean that there was someone behind the Shadow Queen?"

"Obviously." Beldam said. "…and that would be my master."
"…but…. How?" Mac asked.

"Well then, I have no choice but to demonstrate then, huh?" Beldam asked.

"No, no, no!" Mac shook his head nervously. "That's not necessary."

Beldam smiled, pointing out to the water and approaching the rails of the ship. "Master… it's time once again."

It was just about then that some waves met the hull of the ship, causing her to rock.

Mac gasped as the ship suddenly began to rock. "What's going on?"

Beldam looked below, spotting some bubbles rising to the surface from the water below. "He's here, gentlemen. Prepare to welcome her."

"…uh no." Crump said, sounding suddenly nervous.

BOOM!

The ship shook violently, causing her crew to shout in surprise.

"It's coming!" one of the crewmembers shouted. "Brace yourselves!"

Even Crump took a few steps backwards.

Mac and Bloo exchanged nervous expressions with one another.

With a sudden sound of rushing water, something large and towering shot above the top of the ship. It rose higher, and higher, and higher… until it's size was like a skyscraper in comparison to the X-ecutioner. Suction cups could be seen on it's structure, and it's slimy wet skin dripped seawater all over the ship.

Beldam bowed respectively to the odd creature. "Hello, Master."

Another equally long structure rose from the water, identical to the first one, causing the ship to tilt even more.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Mach shouted in horror.

A deep, loud, thunderous groan came from the direction of the odd creature.

"MMMMMMMMM!!!!" Bloo screamed.

"…it's a squid! Some kind of monstrous squid!" Mac shouted, assuming what he was looking at were tentacles.

"Close…" Beldam said, smirking. She looked back at the tentacles as another one rose from the depths, making three in total. They began to wave in the air. Another thunderous groan could be heard again from beneath the ocean.

"Master, you must be hungry. I'm pleased to announce that your dinner is ready to eat." Beldam said.

Mac and Bloo looked toward one another. "DINNER?!" They both looked back towards the tentacles.

"Dinner is served, master." Beldam got on her knees and bowed.

Bloo and Mac looked towards one another again, then back towards the tentacles as another thunderous groan sounded.

"Bloo?" Mac asked.

"Mmm?" Bloo asked.

"…are we dinner?"

"Mmmm."

"Thought so…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

But the tentacles reaches away from the ship, instead grabbing the side of the cliffs. The monster seemed to be approaching the mainland instead.

Chopper sat down on the deck of the Going Merry, with a clearly bored expression on his face.

Zoro, however, was resting on the side of the deck, having fallen fast asleep.

Chopper sighed in tedium. However, it was about then that he saw the sunlight vanish.

"…odd, it wasn't that cloudy today, was it?"

As he peered upward, he was greeted by the sight of something slimy and huge was apparent. Three snake-like figures were passing by overhead, all of them were covered with suction cups and sea-water. There was a thunderous groan as they reached directly overhead, barely missing the ship altogether.

Chopper stared back up with a horrified expression, too scared to shout or awaken Zoro.

The hero group continued down the dirt path of the village.

"So how far is it to this guy's house anyway?" Eddy asked.

"Only a little bit further." Nami said, looking at a chart of the map.

There was a boom sound. The entire area shook, forcing most of the group to fall backwards. The small earthquake stopped, causing all of them to gasp.

"…what the heck?" Double D asked.

The same sound came again, only it sounded more clear, deafening, and sinister.

Eddy and Goombella gave one another horrified expressions.

"…something's coming." Robin said, even sounding somewhat nervous herself.

The sun was suddenly blocked out. Three enormous tentacles rose from the western horizon, taller then sky scrapers, each of them soaked and covered in suction cups.

Usopp was the first one to scream in terror, followed shortly thereafter by everyone else in the group.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Eddy shouted.

"I think it's a squid! But even bigger then the one we saw before!" Nami shouted.

"…too big for a squid." Double D deduced. "I think it's a-"

"KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEN!" a villager screamed.

"Right, it's a Kraken!!" Double D shouted. "But even more enormous then in the myths!"

It's tentacles bended downwards towards the village. One by one, the three of them began to crush the houses and ground, filling the area with dust upon collision. The townspeople all shouted in terror, desperately attempting to flee the doomed village.

"Double D, do something!" Goombella shouted.

The sock-hated boy got up to his feet, as did Luffy.

"So cool!" Luffy shouted, starring at the enormous size.

"NOW ISN'T THE TIME FOR THAT!" Nami shouted angrily.

Double D thrust both arms out. "FIRE-"

But it was not fast enough-the tentacles of the almighty kraken smashed upon the ground again. The shockwave was so strong that the entire group instantly flew into the air, screaming as they flew.

A few of the townsfolk attempted to fight back, some of whom threw pitch-forks and swords at it from afar. All of the weapons simply bounced off the creature. All three of the tentacles rose up into the air again, towering over the village.

"Good lord, what's it up to now?" Double D shouted.

There was a brief moment of silence. Then, it began: the three tentacles all thrust downward onto the middle of the village at once. As they struck the ground, the sound of rocks shattering and earth crumbing echoed violently. Many of the villages and the heroes were thrown into the air again upon impact.

Double D looked towards the area once more, and to his horror saw that the land that was closer to the shore was broken off of the mainland, and began to tilt towards the sea.
"My… my word! It's taking the village!" Double D shouted in horror.

Screams from the villagers echoes in the air, as the Kraken let out another mighty groan. Many of whom managed to escape onto the safe half of the village.

"Is everyone going to be alright?" Robin asked.

The broken land mass suddenly began to tilt towards the sea, now a floating piece of rock that was quickly being swallowed by the Kraken, piece by piece.

One man rushed towards the sinking village, with a sword in hand.

Eddy looked toward the man in horror. "NO, RUN!"

The man didn't have enough time to attack the monster. Instead, one of the three tentacles seized the man and pulled him up into the air.

"Somebody do something!" Nami shouted.

Double D's arms were shaking in fear. "I can't!"

Luffy run ahead, preparing to strike. "You want to fight, eh?"

"Careful, Luffy!" Double D shouted.

"Gomu-"

But another tentacle swiped at Luffy, striking him right in the chest. He launched into the air violently, flying right overhead the group of heroes and towards the eastern sky.

"LUFFY!" Nami, Usopp, Robin and Sanji all shouted in horror.

It was too late for the captured villager, as the tentacles began to retreat back into the sea. As they did, the entire land mass containing one half of the village was pulled into the ocean with an enormous splash, causing into the ocean below.

Mac and Bloo stared, horrorstruck as they watched from the mast. As they watched, the spotted the captured villager, trapped in the flailing tentacles of the Kraken.

"Go, master!" Beldam shouted. "EAT!"

The villager shouted as the three tentacles drew back into the ocean, taking the doomed man along with them into the depths.

Thus, the entire area became eerily calm. Bloo and Mac were both panting for air as their hearts beat rapidly. The X-naut crew all looked towards one another in surprise. Lord Crump was clinging to a railing, clearly rattled.

Beldam laughed and turned back towards their captives, with an evil expression. "You see, children? This isn't a game anymore."

Mac and Bloo starred wide-eyed.

Beldam reached Mac and smirked evilly, right in his face. "I'll ask you again, young hero… where is the Crystal Star?"

Author's Notes: And that'll end it for this chapter. What's to come? Well, quite frankly, I'm not to sure myself, I'll need to think this next chapter over for a bit. I do hope you enjoyed it, and I'll try to get the next one in when I can!