Here you go! Enjoy.
Yuffie: "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else at all."
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Chapter 60: Maelstrom
Nehrut shot through the waters of the Caribbean. He was propelling himself through the waters with his psychic powers, also holding a pocket of air around his head with those same abilities.
The second he sensed Jack and Sora being turned over to Jones, he knew he'd need to help. Beckett was a smart man; they'd need help to escape. He had told King Mickey (who was nearest him) what he would do, and leapt over the side into the water. He hadn't made a sound.
Now he streaked through the water like a torpedo, blade unsheathed in case any Great Black Heartless noticed him. Sharks had always kind of creeped him out. The Heartless versions would probably be a lot worse.
Half-way between the two fleets, one of the Heartless saw him. It shot at him (thankfully alone) and its jaws started snapping. Nehrut increased his speed, charging right at it. An instant before collision, his blade flashed upward.
The Heartless was cleaved vertically in two, and he shot right through it as it faded into Darkness.
He was almost to the Endeavour. He wasn't totally sure where they had brought Sora and Jack, so he tried Mens Quero briefly. It was easy to find Sora's mind; after a few weeks of travelling with the guy, his thoughts were easy to pick out, even among the thousands of minds on the EITC ships. And Jack's mind was unmistakable.
They were in the Dutchman's brig. He changed course.
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Back on the Pearl, people were in low spirits. Kairi watched as the mostly clear sky turned dark with thick, black storm clouds. The wind suddenly started to pick up. The sails weren't down, so the ship wasn't really affected. The crew felt it though. Donald's hat was blown easily off his head, and Cotton caught it on the other side of the ship.
Elizabeth stared out across the water. "It's not over."
"There's still a fight to be had." Will agreed.
"We have an armada against us." Gibbs argued. "And with the Dutchman there's no chance."
"Only a fool's chance." Elizabeth still remembered Will's words from earlier.
Kairi and Riku walked up to her. "Whatever you need to do," She said, "We're here to help."
"It's our fight now as much as yours." Riku added.
She nodded appreciatively to them. She turned away, and walked to the side of the ship. For one mad second Kairi thought she would jump over the side, but instead she said, "You will listen to me. Listen!"
She leapt onto the railing and balanced herself by holding onto one of the lines. "The Brethren will still be looking here to us! To the Black Pearl to lead. And what will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No. No they will see free men, and freedom! And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons! They will hear the ring of our swords and they will know what we can do! By the sweat of our brows, and the strength of our backs! And the courage of our hearts!"
"Gentlemen." It was a miracle that she hadn't shouted herself hoarse yet. "Hoist the colors."
The crew stood in silence for a moment, until finally, Will said, "Hoist the colors."
"Hoist the colors." Kairi repeated, a little louder.
"Hoist the colors!" Riku shouted.
"Hoist the colors!" Mickey.
"Hoist the colors!" Pintel.
"Aye!" Gibbs exclaimed. "The wind's on our side boys! That's all we need!"
Absolutely every pirate guarding Shipwreck Cove let out loud shouts of pride and courage that echoed across the water, chilling the bones of even the crew of the Dutchman. All along the line of ships, flags were hoisted into the air to the top of the masts. They flapped in the wind, proudly displaying their colors.
Elizabeth, Will, Barbossa, Riku, and Kairi stood proudly at the bridge of the Pearl. They looked fearlessly ahead at the armada, determined to bring it down.
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Cabin fever was already starting to get to Jack and Sora. They were pacing up and down their dank, smelly, humid cell, occasionally bumping into each other.
"Could you please stop that? You guys are starting to get to me!" Roxas said, sounding very annoyed. "I'm pacing up and down inside here now! Granted, there's plenty of room..."
How about instead of mocking my intelligence you think of a way to get us out of here?
"Okay, okay. Wait..."
What?
He could feel Roxas smiling. "Oh, you are good!"
Before Sora could ask what he meant, the transparent form of Roxas appeared in front of him, startling Jack. He had a wide grin on his face. "You'll be out in a few minutes. Watch this."
He ran through the bars, out of the cell, and into the hallway. He turned his head, and grinned. He shouted to some people who were out of Sora's field of vision. "Hello assorted meatheads! Anyone up for some exercise?" (1)
"Grab him!" Someone shouted.
Roxas ran past the cell, laughing his head off. After him ran three EITC soldiers, and a member of Jones's crew who looked like he was half blowfish. The soldiers were taking a few shots at the transparent teenager, but they passed right through him with no effect.
"That tickles! C'mon! Come and get me!"
The four 'meatheads' chased him deeper into the bowels of the ship, well away from Sora and Jack's cell.
"He's lost his mind hasn't he?"
"You would know, Jack."
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Nehrut floated slowly out of the water, hoping that Roxas would be able to distract the guards in the brig long enough for him to get in there. He floated as close to the side of the ship as he could, and so far, it seemed that nothing had noticed him.
The sky was growing ever darker, threatening rain. Lots of rain. The wind was picking up, there were more than a few missing hats floating around in the water. He was horribly reminded of Xaynew.
Cautiously, he peered his head over the side of the ship to get a look at the deck. People and fish-people were rushing back and forth across the deck. There were also a few Pirate Heartless carrying out menial tasks. On the bridge stood a sallow-faced man Nehrut recognized from his last visit to this world. It was Mercer, Beckett's personal assistant/assassin. From the way he was acting, it seemed that he was in charge here.
Apparently Beckett didn't trust Davy Jones well enough to keep him in command of the Dutchman.
Mercer was looking toward the Endeavour, where a man was using flags to send a message. He nodded in affirmation, and addressed the crew. "To arms! We give no quarter!"
"Not good." He whispered to himself.
The deck suddenly went alive with activity. The cannons were rolled out and loaded, the sails were unfurled. Liasa was standing not far from him looking down at the activity with a smile. Nehrut saw Davy Jones at the stem of the ship, looking up into the sky. He thought he could hear him whisper something into the sky. It sounded like, "Calypso."
Then the rain came down. During some storms, there is a slow start, where the rain comes slowly and softly at first. Then it builds up into a rushing torrent of water. This was not the case just before the Battle of the Maelstrom. The water came rushing down, pelting against the timbers and the sails.
When the rain struck against his face, Davy Jones let out a loud cry of anger, sadness, and heartache.
Nehrut took all of this in quickly. He focused on the minds of Sora and Jack, and was able to determine which door to take. He took a door near the stern of the ship, and walked in as fast as possible. No one noticed him.
He rushed down a flight of wooden stairs, and out into a hallway lit with just a few oil lanterns. At the other end he could see cages. He smiled to himself, and ran to the end, splashing through three inches of salt water. He found what he was looking for almost instantly.
Sora and Jack seemed surprised to see him. He sent them one of his usual lop-sided grins, and unsheathed his sword. "Remind me to thank Roxas for the diversion when this is all over." He said as he cut a large square out of the cage. The bars clattered to the ground, and they stepped right through. "Let's get going. The battle is on and the sea witch is angry with us."
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The Black Pearl began to sail alone toward the armada the instant the rain began. Terms of engagement were that two flagships would begin the battle, and fight alone before the rest of the ships became involved. So the Flying Dutchman sailed toward it soon after. That ship was accompanied by several dozen Heartless.
Kairi thought that the weather couldn't possibly get worse. She'd lived on Destiny Islands for years, and there had never been weather so horrible. She was partially named for the sea, it was a little unsettling to see her namesake so violent. It got worse.
In the expanse of sea between the two ships, the water began to churn, and swirl rapidly. White foam was spewed into the air. And soon, a massive maelstrom opened up, large enough to fit at least fifty capital ships, or two Unity's.
"Maelstrom!" Gibbs exclaimed.
Elizabeth and Kairi stood on the bridge, and gaped in awe at the giant whirlpool. Riku ran to the bow with Axel and Yuffie. Things weren't looking good.
Elizabeth and Will turned to Barbossa, who was still brooding over the failure of his plan. He was simply standing on the bridge looking at the churning waves. "Barbossa!" He turned around. "We need you at the helm!"
He looked at her for a moment, expressionless. Then his face split into a smile that was more than a bit unsettling. "Aye, that be true!"
He walked toward the helm, and shoved Cotton away from it roughly. He placed both hands firmly on it. "Brace up yards, ya pack of cursed deck-apes! Dying is a day worth livin' for!"
The Pearl picked up speed with his skilled hands. Kairi got a bit worried when he got so close to the whirlpool that the salty water was hitting her face.
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The Dutchman was alive with activity. The deck was soaked with rain water, and the EITC soldiers were struggling not to fall off the deck because of it. The Heartless and Jones's crew were having much more success.
Mercer cried out in distress when the ship began to be sucked down into the whirlpool. One of his four personal guards was trying with all his might to steer the ship away from it, to no avail.
Jones stomped up to the bridge, and shoved him away like Barbossa had Cotton (nearly knocking him off the ship). He grabbed the wheel and turned the ship in a much different direction. "Hard to port into the abyss!"
Mercer was shocked. He grabbed Jones's crusty shoulder. "Are you mad!?"
Jones looked him in the face, tentacles twitching. "HA! Ye afraid to get wet?" Mercer backed away, but not before casting a worried glance back toward the maelstrom. The Dutchman went partially into the abyss, using it to increase its speed toward the Pearl, on the other side.
"Bow cannons!" Liasa ordered, joining Jones on the bridge.
On the front of the ship, two panels opened up, and out slid two triple-barreled cannons.
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"She's on our stern and gaining!" Mickey shouted.
Barbossa nodded and shouted orders to his crew. "More speed!" He turned sharp to port, and plunged the ship into the maelstrom, riding it. Speed picked up and the ship streaked ahead of the Dutchman.
Unfortunately, the bow cannons began to open fire on the ship from behind. A few of them flew over the ship, and missed entirely. But then one of them struck the rear deck, sending splinters flying into the air, and nearly knocking the King off the ship. One of them shaved the port side of the central mast.
Another one nearly struck Riku head on. But he was able to call up his Guardian, which took the shot for him. It exploded against it's chest, barely hurting it at all. Another exploded at the bow of the ship, dislodging one of the crew and sending him flying into the maelstrom.
Axel ran up the deck. "Get us out of here old man! Or they're gonna overbear us!"
"Nay! Further in! We'll cut across to faster waters!"
Kairi and Elizabeth shouted as one, "Prepare to broadside!"
The Pearl dove deeper into the whirlpool, cutting over to the opposite side of it ahead of the Dutchman, evading its cannon fire as best it could.
"Batten down the guns and hatches!" Gibbs ordered.
"At the ready!" Will shouted.
All around, cannon balls were loaded into the iron weapons, and gun powder was added. Along the sides of the ship, the gun ports opened up, and the muzzles of the cannons were pushed out. The same thing was happening on the Dutchman.
The gun crews were ready to fire. "Hold it!" Riku said. "Wait until we're port-to-port!" And though he had no official command, nobody questioned him.
Thunder boomed and lightning crackled when Barbossa shouted, "FIRE!" Elizabeth, Will, Gibbs, Kairi, Riku, and Mickey repeated it for good measure. And on the cursed ship across from them, Davy Jones shouted the same command louder than any of them.
"FIRE!" (2)
The fuses were lit simultaneously. The cannons belched flames and iron. Cannon balls shot at incredible speeds at the opposite ship, blowing holes in the hulls, the equipment, and people. On both sides, men died. Pirates, soldiers, fish people alike. Some Heartless were also caught in the initial fire.
But it seemed to only truly begin when Barbosa exclaimed, "It be too late to want to change course now mateys!" Then he laughed crazily, pulling them farther into the maelstrom toward the Flying Dutchman.
To make things more interesting, the flying Heartless and Nobodies abruptly left the dark ship and flew toward the Pearl.
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Barbossa is extremely hard to understand sometimes, huh? The thick accent and frequent 'pirate words' and all that...
That wasn't at all relevant, was it?.
(1) Anybody who catches the video game reference gets a cookie!
(2) What is it about one line being shouted at the same time by several people that gets my blood going?
Please review.