Author's Notes: A tad sooner then I had expected to add another chapter, but I am also glad that I got this one done in time. Nothing too grand or too boring, but I will leave it upon the reader to decide how well this one is. With that, please enjoy no. 27!
Chapter 27: Fire and Ice Clash
"…oh wait a second, you're that girl from before!" Mac said in realization.
"Mm!" Bloo shouted, trying to tug the tape off his mouth.
"Oh, you better brace yourself for this." Adelle said. She reached and grabbed the tape, and abruptly yanked it from his mouth.
Bloo's eye began to water. He took a deep breath, preparing to scream.
Mac and Adelle both covered his mouth as he let it out though, making the scream nothing more then a mumble.
"You have to be quiet if we are going to make it out of here." Mac sighed.
Bloo was left breathing heavily when they uncovered his mouth.
"So, what's the plan?" Mac asked.
"Plan?" Adelle asked back.
"You know, your clever police-grade plan that will help us escape these evil guys?" Mac asked.
The blue haired girl looked down. "…uh oh."
"You don't have a plan?" Mac asked. "How are we going to get out of this one?!"
"Well, it looks like Blooregaurd Q. Kazoo will have to save the day again." Bloo said, folding his arms confidently.
"Oh, and what's your plan?" Adelle asked.
"Just watch. It's genius!" Bloo said with a smirk.
The door to the X-naut meeting room burst open, revealing Adelle in her disguise. To her left was a familiar tall figure, wearing an overcoat and top hat.
"An intruder!" one of the soldiers shouted.
"Yes, it is I!" Bloo stated boldly in a fake voice. "I'm none other then Orlando Bloo, come to intrude!"
All of the soldiers pointed their guns at the tall figure.
"Cool it." Adelle shouted to the others. I have direct orders from Crump to make this man walk the plank."
The other soldiers slowly lowered their weapons and moved to the sides.
"Ha ha ha, in your faces, ladies!" Orlando taunted.
"Shut up, Bloo!" Mac whispered from beneath the trench coat.
Adelle led her "prisoner" further up the stairs, proceeding towards the decks above.
"We're almost there." Adelle whispered. She walked ahead of the other two, stopping at the top of the stairs, where the passageway met the exit.
"Ok, here's the deal." she said. She peeked her head outside, then quickly closed the door.
"The coast is clear, so we're going to have you two run. Run like crazy."
"…that's it?" Mac asked. "That's your elaborate plan?"
"Pretty much."
"Ha!" Bloo laughed. "I could have thought of something better then that?"
"We don't need anything better then that." Adelle said. "There's nobody around, so wouldn't it make anymore sense then to do it simply?"
"I guess so." Adelle sighed. "But before we do this, I'm just curious…"
"About what?" Bloo asked.
"Like, what has an 8 year old and an imaginary friend tagging along with a bunch of teenagers traveling by pirate ship is doing tied up and kidnapped on a monster-summoning team of monsters?"
"Confusing sentence structure aside…" Mac began, "…we're actually going to-"
"Don't bother." Bloo said. "We don't have to answer the question."
"But she just saved us, maybe she deserves to know too." Mac added.
Adelle rose her eyebrow. "Know what?"
"Know nothing." Bloo sighed.
"…he's right. There's no real easy way to explain just what's going on." Mac said.
"My dad's with the law enforcement." She retorted. "I've heard all sorts of unbelievable stories."
"…well, to sum it up, we're trying to find something." Mac said.
"Mac, why are you caving in?" Bloo asked.
"There's this thing we're trying to find, it's called a Crystal Star." Mac said. "And as far as we know, it's somewhere near here."
"…uh, ok." Adelle said.
"C'mon, we need to get out of here already!" Bloo shouted.
"Ok, ok, let's go!" Mac shouted.
He kicked the door open, and rushed outside-only to have an arm grab his wrist.
"Hey!"
He tried to punch with his free hand, but it was subdued by another guard before he could move. Bloo was subdued just as quickly, pinned against the deck.
"Ha ha ha!" Crump laughed. "Excellent work!"
His soldiers laughed amongst themselves.
"Johnson, Johnson, Johnson. Massively great job!"
Adelle laughed. "Well, I try, sir."
"Aha!" Bloo shouted. "Your first name -is- Johnson!"
Adelle sighed. "Oh right."
She suddenly grabbed the bottom of her face, removing her mask. Behind it was the face of an X-naut.
"You double-crosser!" Bloo shouted.
"So Johnson the X-naut was wearing a mask of his own face over a mask of Adelle's?" Mac asked.
"And you fell for it." Johnson said.
"Johnson, remind me to promote you to elite status." Crump said.
"Aye, sir!" Johnson saluted.
The wheels of the police car were still spinning in the air, however, the siren had become silenced. The car had taken a plunge off the road and towards a cliff. Luckily, a field of 100 hands sprouted from the ground to break their fall.
"…thanks, Robin." Eddy groaned.
"You're welcome." She said back, albeit a bit in pain, the result of catching a falling car and it's passengers.
"Hold on tight, everyone." She said. Her hands moved, carrying the car across the wooded land. It came to a gentle rest on the top of a hill.
The doors creaked open, and the dazed passengers walked out, one after another.
"Well, I think the car isn't going to help anymore." Double D said, looking at the damaged vehicle. "We will have to go on foot from here on out."
"Fine, but hurry!" Goombella shouted. "We don't know how much time we have left before he gets too far ahead!"
Thunder suddenly crashed in the distance. A few specks of rain began to fall from the skies above. The wind picked up, and an overcast slowly began to grow over the mountains and out towards the sea.
"Did anyone bring an umbrella?" Eddy asked.
More rain began to fall on them, slowly making them more and more soaked.
"Didn't think so." Eddy sighed.
"C'mon, let's go." Double D said.
The traveling team continued along the roadway, now drenched as the raining turned into an all out rainstorm. Puddles formed on the pavement, and the trees around the mountain began to sag by the weight of the water forming on their leaves."This is no use." Robin said. "We need a faster way of transportation, or the star and eye of wisdom are gone."
The fisherman looked behind the truck and laughed. He had lost his pursuers, apparently. He wasn't quite sure where the went, but anywhere was fine, as long as they were as good as gone.
"Suckers!" he shouted. "Now who 'be the fool?"
He turned back ahead, to look forward on the road. However, what stood ahead startled him: there was a teenage girl, standing perfectly still, perfectly relaxed, right in front of the truck.
"AHHHHH!" he shouted, unable to turn by the time he saw her.
The girl came into contact with the speeding truck. However, the was completely unfazed by the impact. Instead, the truck dented on the spot, as if it had struck a solid wall. Glass and metal flew everywhere, as the truck ripped apart. The fisherman was thrust from his chair, through the window. The girl simply rose her arms and caught him in the air, still unfazed from the blast.
She placed the battered man down on the road aside the totaled and enflamed truck.
"Watch where you drive, you idiot." the girl said to the fisherman. "You could have hurt me!"
The fisherman, however, was beyond words. "…what… how?"
She brushed her blonde hair aside. "Yes, feel free to be enchanted by my presence."
"Who… are-"
The girl laughed mischievously. "I'm Nazz. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"…what did yee do to me truck?!" the fisherman shouted suddenly.
"You hit my with it!" she shouted back. "You're just lucky that didn't hurt!"
"Why didn't it?" the fisherman asked, again beginning to sound worried.
Her face turned into a smirk, with her hair beginning to sag over her eyes because of the rain.
"I'm special, sir." the one who called herself Nazz said. "…and you're special too."
"I don't follow." the fisherman said.
"You possess some things that I would like." Nazz said.
He scrambled to his car. He reached into the truck, rushed to grab the star from the back, and held it in front of her.
"Here, Nazz." he said. "Please, just take it! Take the treasure and leave!"
"Well, that's one thing." She said, grabbing the crystal star from the man and placing it away. "Now I want the other."
"The other?" the fisherman said.
"It's an item that you stole from a boy wearing a black hat." she said.
"I didn't steal it, I bought it!" he shouted.
"I don't care." she replied back. "Give it to me."
He handed her the Eye of Wisdom without any moment's hesitation.
She laughed as she touched it. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"
Thunder crashed in the distance, echoing with her laughter.
"Miss Nazz?" the fisherman asked.
"Amazing!" she shouted. "In 1000 years of work, this is the fastest anyone has given me a relic!"
"…miss?" the fisherman asked.
"You're very useful, Mr. Fisherman." she said. "Would you like to help me?"
"…with what?" he asked.
"Why, with your help, I may very well be able to rise to ultimate power!" she said.
"You, a kid?" he asked "Ultimate power?"
"Of course!" she shouted. "So, sir? Would you like to work under my command?"
"Will I be unharmed?" he asked, sounding somewhat nervous.
"Of course, you will be safe… forever."
"Uh, sure." he said.
Nazz laughed again. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Excellent!"
His look of worry intensified as the rain began to pour down heavier and heavier.
Nazz reached into her collar and revealed the Medallion of Life. "I need you to swear an oath. One that says that you will help me."
"Yes, miss." he said.
She held out the medallion towards him. "Place your hand on it."
He nodded and obeyed, placing his right palm on the face of the medallion.
Without any warning, lighting suddenly crashed, striking the fisherman. Both he and the medallion briefly lit up, and in the next instant, he was gone.
Nazz laughed again, holding up the medallion into the air with one hand, and the Eye of Wisdom with the other. "Now it begins!"
From the hand that had the medallion, ice began to shoot towards the sky, and from the hand with the eye, fire erupted to the heavens. They traveled together, until they hit the heavy overcast above them.
Lighting crackled as they hit the clouds, and the entire area shook violently. The overcast continued to grow, until becoming a near black out. Rain poured even harder now, as areas began to flood. The ocean began to react violently, as waves crashed against the cliff-sides, tearing at the edges of the land. Winds began to rush forth at fasters speeds, forming small tornados near the base of the mountain.
"Come out, men!" Crump ordered to his crew, as they struggled against the ocean waves.
"It's a freak storm, sir!" Johnson shouted.
Mac groaned. He and Bloo were tied up to the mast again, now becoming more and more drenched every second.
"Couldn't you have at least put us in a cell indoors?" Bloo asked.
"Not now!" Crump shouted over the storm. "We were told to keep you two alive! If the ship sinks and you both get trapped below, we would be in big trouble!"
"Well, that's just nice!" Mac shouted back.
"What?!" Crump shouted over the storm.
"NICE!" Mac repeated himself.
The ship was rocking uneasily now, as the crackling sounds of the storm and crunching sounds of the earth screamed at them.
"SIR!" One of the soldiers shouted. "We have to abandon ship! She's already taking on water!"
"What?!" Crump asked. "I specifically designed the X-ecutioner! She's unsinkable!"
"You call tell that to yourself as you go down with the ship!" the soldier shouted.
"Watch your tone!" Crump commanded.
"Sorry, sir. It wasn't my place!" the soldier said.
"Now, I guess we have no choice but to escape." Crump shouted. "Prepare the helicopter for immediate departure!"
"Aye, sir!" one of his soldier said.
"You two!" another soldier shouted at Mac and Bloo. "You're coming with us if you want to live!"
A few unoccupied X-nauts approached the two captives. They began to untie their restraints, until the rope snapped and they broke free from the mast.
"Now!" Mac shouted.
Bloo jumped into the air and landed on a troopers upon landing, forcing him to the ground.
Mac complied with a punch, knocking another soldier to the ground.
"Do you two want to die?" Crump asked the two.
Bloo laughed and ran up to Crump's face. "Hah! Bring it on, Cramp!"
"It's CRUMP!" Lord Crump shouted, readying an attack of his own.
"Hey!" Double D shouted to his group. "What's this?"
He was pointing to a smoldering car wreckage further ahead on the road.
"It looks like the fisherman crashed." Nami said. "Serve him right."
The group was now exerting a lot more force as they ascended the mountain, as the elements and force of the storm were doing everything in it's power to force them back off the side.
The sudden and harsh rainstorm that erupted seconds ago had quickly put out the fire, though steam was still rising from the top of the car, and much of what remained of it was either torn apart or charred until unrecognizable.
"You suppose he hit something?" Double D asked.
"No." Robin said. "Look at the way it looks, vs. the environment. There isn't anything here to hit."
"So what?" Eddy asked. "You're sayin' it just exploded?"
"So it would appear." she replied.
"He's gone." Double D remarked, upon inspecting the truck. "The fisherman is nowhere to be found?"
"Ok, ladies and gents." Eddy announced to the group. "Earlier today, a truck carrying an ancient weapon and a 1000 year old crystal star spontaneously blew up. The fisherman somehow, completely unharmed, simply got up and walked away."
"That's really how it looks though." Usopp chimed in.
"I didn't ask your opinion, long nose!" Eddy exclaimed back.
"Calm down." Goombella spoke sternly to Eddy.
"Maybe someone caused this?" Sanji asked. "It's more then possible that this entire thing was staged."
"The fisherman?" Usopp asked. "That old psychopath staged a crash?"
"I've seen fire shoot out of my hands, a kraken destroy a village, the world end multiple times, and other things I can't even begin to explain." Double D said. "I will believe anything, anything, nowadays."
"We're wasting time!" Eddy shouted. "Whatever is going on, Beldam started it! Why don't we just go find her and kill her already?"
"You're thinking too rashly." The sock hat turned to face the shortest of the Eds. "Do you really think this entire thing can be solves as easily as killing her?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Eddy said stubbornly, folding his arms.
"Yeah, and how do you propose we possibly do that?"
"Let's keep climbing the mountain, duh!" Eddy said, attempting to walk further. "The star is up there and wherever it is, Beldam will be there to greet us. So we just get up there and end this already!"
"Eddy, we-"
"Go!" Eddy shouted. "Hurry, stop thinking already! Just do it!"
Double D went silent, as did the rest of the group. Lighting and thunder crashed above them.
"…fine." The sock hat said. "Let's go."
Eddy gave him a pat on the back. "See how easy it really is?"
With that, they resumed the climb the mountain again, against the force of the storm that grew stronger and stronger against them.
An hour passed beyond their conversation. They continued non-stop against the gale, rain, and lighting that so had opposed them.
"I think I see something!" Eddy finally shouted.
He pointed to the top of the mountain, where a few trees stood, in their own battle against the rain. Nearby, a few rock formations stood, oddly organized.
"This is it!" Double D shouted. "We reached the ruins!"
Indeed they had. The rock formations had actually appeared to be very old walls made of stone. Ahead of them, a few extra old, organized stones formed a staircase ahead, and an enclosed structure further ahead. Slanted pillars on either side of the path ahead marked the passage way into the doorway of the older Inca structure.
"This is definitely it!" Double D said, nodding multiple times.
"Wait, wait, wait." Goombella said. "We don't know if it's safe or not. Looking at the condition of the ruins, I would say that this can't be any younger then 500 years old. And this isn't an underground preserved structure, it looks almost dangerous."
"Well, this storm is certainly safer then." Usopp said.
"Good point." She replied. "Ok, ok. Everyone, hurry inside!"
They followed the command, and rushed down the passageway and through the entrance.
As soon as they walked in, they were almost instantly cold. The walls seemed to have been covered in ice, and the floor coated in snow. The ceiling was dripping wet because of the storm. As they ran, their footsteps echoed in the narrow corridors.
"This is unsettling." Double D said, looking at the walls.
In fact, the narrowness of the passage made his own voice sound distorted.
"Well, Beldam has obviously been here recently." Goombella said, looking at the frozen walls.
"I can't see up ahead, it's too dark." Eddy said. "Goombella, turn on your light."
She complied and her helmet light flashed on, peering into the darkness. As they could see, further inside the path was stairwell. A very steep and dangerous looking stairwell that led strait down. There also seemed to be more ice further below, as any of the rock that would have made the walls, ceiling, and floors was coated entirely in frost.
"Be careful, everyone." Goombella said. "It's very steep."
"Hah, yeah right." Eddy laughed, moving ahead of the others.
"Eddy, I wouldn't-"
Eddy, however, slipped on the ice. His back hit the peak of the staircase, and triggered his sliding decent down the stairs.
"Eddy!" Nami shouted at him.
His face hit the bottom of the stairs, breaking his fall. He tumbled forth and landed on his back again, sliding to a stop on the ice.
"Eddy, are you ok?" Double D asked.
"How do you feel?" Goombella called down at him.
"…cold. Very cold." he replied simply.
Goombella followed after him, safely descending the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she shivered.
"He's right!" She shouted. "It's very cold down here!"
The others followed afterwards, each complying to the chamber's coldness.
"It's got to be b-b-below freezing here." the sock hat remarked.
"We gotta be close then." Eddy said, getting up and brushing himself off.
They continued even further down the passage. There seemed to be some light at the ending of the passageway further ahead. It was a dim blue glow, but still more then enough to light up the area ahead.
As they reached the passage's end, they realized what it was. The room at the end of the passageway was a very large, circular room. It had perhaps as much room as a baseball diamond. However, there was a large, glowing pool in the middle of the room, and fountains on either side of the chamber, that spouted water from the walls and into the pool.
Aside from the pool itself, everything else was completely turned to ice. The walls had turned to a beautifully mysterious display of reflective frost. The floor, on the other hand, was hidden under a sheet of ice. The ceiling, oddly enough, seemed to be hidden in the darkness of the chamber. Though, snow could be seen falling down into the chamber. Aside from a few unsettling creaking sounds and the fountains, this room was uncomfortably silent.
"…amazing." Goombella said. "The structure, the design, the interior! This is a major-"
"Careful, don't pull a Double D!" Eddy interrupted.
Double D glanced at Eddy, to which he merely shrugged in response.
"There aren't any other doors." Robin remarked. "If there is anything hidden in this ruin, then it rests here."
The sock-hatted boy slowly got closer and closer to the pool that rest in the middle of the room.
"Maybe it's underwater?" he asked.
Robin suddenly extended her arm towards Double D. "Wait, don't!"
Double D stopped in his tracks. "Why not?"
From within a microsecond, a colossal kraken tentacle rose from the pool. It reached towards the boy, ready to grab him.
Luckily, the Kraken was too slow. A long chain of arms that sprouted from Robin's hand pulled Double D away before the Kraken could grab him. He fell backwards, and the tentacle soared inches over him.
"Nice catch, Robin!" Usopp shouted.
"Indeed, Miss Robin." another voice said. "Nice catch."
They all looked up, spotting Beldam. She was standing casually on top of the Kraken's tentacle, peering down on them.
"I knew it!" Eddy shouted.
"You did." Beldam said back. She took a step forward, and slid down the side of the Kraken. She slid down on the ice and spun like a skater, ending her land by gliding to a stop next to the group.
"I'll cut to the chase." Beldam said. "I have what you want."
She reached into her pocket, pulling out the Medallion of Life in one hand, and the Eye of Wisdom with the other.
"We don't want your stupid medallion." Eddy said.
"Don't you? This medallion allows me to posses your little Nazz. It's also allowed me to take possessions of several other people." she said.
"…what?" Eddy asked. "Geez, if I could ever make any sense out of this relic thing."
"I got it." Double D said, with his eyes widened. "She means that getting that medallion is the key towards saving everyone that was kidnapped at Foster's Home."
Eddy's fists quickly clenched, and he suddenly sprinted towards Beldam in a rage.
"Then you did take my brother, you witch!!" He shouted.
"Wait, Eddy!" Double D and Goombella both shouted simultaneously.
The Kraken's arm reacted and prepared to whip Eddy. He didn't realize this, intent on delivering his punch onto Beldam's face.
However, Eddy was suddenly drawn backwards. Another chain of arms from Robin's other hand grabbed him by the back of his collar, pulling him backwards. The Tentacle missed by a micro-inch.
"Please." Robin urged. "Be careful, this is no ordinary enemy."
"Keep your mitts off, lady!" Eddy slapped Robin's hand off his collar.
"EDDY!" Double D, Goombella, and Sanji all shouted in disgust.
He completely ignored it, rushing once again towards Beldam, readying a punch/
"Robin, do something!" Usopp shouted.
"I can't." she said calmly. "He has refused my help. I can do no more."
"Eddy!" Goombella shouted. "You idiot!" She rushed directly after him.
Double D shouted and attempted to grab her to stop her. "Goombella, don't!"
Beldam laughed and took a step back. As she did, the Kraken reacted again, raising it's exposed arm above them, readying it's attack.
"No!" Double D shouted, as he stood on the side with the 4 other Straw Hat Pirates.
Goombella looked up and saw the arm begin it's attack as it rushed to crush her and Eddy. She had no choice now, though. Her physical momentum refused her to do anything other then keep running towards Eddy.
Eddy hadn't event noticed, as his fist prepared it's strike.
"He still hasn't run away?" Beldam thought.
"EDDY!" Goombella called one last time, as the crushing arm fell upon them with a loud thud-
Author's Notes: And that about ends that one, for now. More on the way, as the boss battle of this arc commences, on the next chapter! Until then, please review, as always, and thank you for reading!