Chapter 46- frantic escapes
Rei, Akari, Malachite and the others including Chloroplast at the front of the crowd continued staring at Dolores and her cronies as they glared back at them with looks mixed with anger and mockery. Then Dolores' wrath-saturated azure eyes travelled to a pair of Red Pandas glaring back at her with rage. Then the tone of her voice changed to match her TRUE emotions.
"Rei and Akari," she snarled, "You two have REALLY crossed the line AND the point of NO return, you have. You two an' your comrades do NOT know what sort of DANGER you have put the beautiful and fantastic Pleasure Dome in."
"This place isn't beautiful and NEITHER is it fantastic, it's a place of CARNAL INDULGENCE an' a prison, Dolores," snapped Rei angrily before throwing a point at the Spider creature, "YOU an' your comrades are WORKERS for the WHITE WITCH intending on continuing her DEVILISH LEGACY via one way of running a VANITY FAIR-LIKE PLACE an' KIDNAPPING INNOCENT YOUNG TALKING BEASTS AND MAGICAL CREATURES TO USE AS SLAVES AND FOOD ABOARD THIS PLACE..."
"AND have visitors indulge in a WIDE variety of CARNAL desires such as gluttony and immorality of EVERY SORT," added Akari.
"YES," put in Chloroplast, all stun at the sight of the deceptively pretty Spider-like creature dissolved and replaced by boldness, "AND THE CONSEQUENCES for the so-called visitors to this cursed place which WE have seen for OURSELVES had been HORRIFIC!"
"The Pleasure Dome is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE to Her Majesty and her accomplice, Dimitrescu Dokuringu," snapped Dolores angrily. Her comrades got their weapons ready and waited for her command. However, Laminin had her pet Spitfire Bird Scoville ready for action as well in case Dolores gave the Lanky-Limbed Teddies their command.
"Who is Dimitrescu Dokuringu!?" demanded Chloroplast. Dolores opened her mouth to explosively answer this question when suddenly, someone shouted, "Madame!"
Dolores pulled her attention from Rei, Akari and company to three Colour Beasts, an Orange Crocodile-like one, a Cyan Dinosaur-like Creature without arms and with a wide toothy mouth and a Pink tailless Cat-like one with two long head appendages ending in sharp stingers. The Orange Croc had been the one to alert Dolores.
"The Pleasure Dome is UNDER ATTACK!" said the Pink Twin-Stinger Cat. Dolores was about to respond when suddenly, the corridor suddenly and violently rocked and began to vibrate as though it was on an area of land experiencing an earthquake. Cries and screams erupted from the escaped prisoners and some of them huddled together while Chloroplast huddled some of them and also Malachite, Seishan, Lymphocyte and Elsa in her front legs. Rei and Akari also huddled together as did Laminin, Scoville, Kosmochlor, Sisu, Hypersthene, Emori and Roux the Oran Pandek. Dolores and her minions looked around in both horror and wonder and everyone struggled to keep their balance as the room continued to rock and shake, some crockery and other objects rattling with the vibrations and some objects such as boxes and drawers falling over. The rocking and shaking travelled throughout the entire submar-ship and everyone on board, both the workers and the visitors, were startled. However, this rocking and shaking was a good thing, at least fort Rei, Akari and company. Underwater, an ocean battleship was firing a white laser-like beam of light at the belly of the wicked submar-ship and causing the shaking. This laser incised a straight wound in the vessel's outer shell and as soon as the incision was made, a group of water Creatures left the battleship either in smaller submarines or in the water themselves if they were underwater-breathing Creatures like Ichthyo-Centaurs and swam for the incision. The Pleasure Dome was under attack from above as well. At the surface, flying creatures attempted to close in on the mouth and head of the Dome and engaged the workers up there in battle. This battleship was the rescue vessel sent by one of the Underwater Kingdoms to rescue Chloroplast and company aboard the wicked Pleasure Dome and its pilot was a Merman captain. The rescue squad deployed were various amphibious creatures such as Sea-Fish People (in the Aquatic Form), Merfolk, Ichthyo-Centaurs including Cubozoa and he was going to lead the squad through the corridors of the Dome; several Cecaelia (which were half-Humanoid, half-Octopus People with eight tentacles forming their lower bodies), and a Draxolotl (large draconic Sea Dragons whose body shape was like a certain type of black dragon from another world minus their front legs, and the appendages on the sides of their heads were actual gills, allowing underwater breath. They were colourful and had large wings which they used to swim through the water as well as glide when they launch themselves out of the sea. Their hind limbs were also wings and they had long tails ending in a pair of fins. They vaguely resembled the sea slugs in our world) and they entered into the Dome through the incision made by the battleship. Some took submersibles into the incision. The Sea rescue group had communication with the Sky rescue group above the water and the Merman captain had severely warned the Sky rescue members to NOT enter the Pleasure Dome's entrance but to engage the workers in battle up there as a distraction while they rescued the prisoners beneath the sea so that would mean an underwater rescue as well as attack any assistant ferrymen with more victims and save those victims before they are taken into the Pleasure Dome's entrance.
As soon as the shuddering had stopped, the confused prisoners looked around but Rei and Akari had already deduced the reason for the tremors. However, so have Dolores and her cronies but their reaction was NOT at all good. Dolores then immediately turned to the Pink Twin-Stinger Cat, the Cyan Dinosaur and the Orange Crocodile and barked, "GATHER SOME MORE WORKERS AND GO DOWN TO THE DEPTHS OF THE PLEASURE DOME AND INTERCEPT ANY INTRUDER THAT MAY HAVE ENTERED THE VESSEL THROUGH SOME HOLE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN MADE!"
The three Colour Beasts nodded and with that, they darted away to carry out the tasks while Dolores and her Lanky-Limbed Teddies resumed their confrontation with Rei, Akari and company.
"You lot are SO dead this time, you low-down Narnian worms," the Spider-like creature snarled before her wrath-saturated azure eyes travelled to the two Red Pandas, "Especially YOU TWO RED RATS!"
As she spoke, at the back of the crowd, Roux the Oran Pandek had managed to sneak to here and began to lead those prisoners away to give them a head start against the maniacal Spider creature. Rei, Akari, Chloroplast, Sisu, Kosmochlor, Emori, Hypersthene, Malachite, Seishan, Elsa, Lymphocyte, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville kept Dolores and her cronies occupied. The still-sleeping and nightmare-locked Yardang and Lapis were also carried to the back of the crowd to be taken during the distraction. Dolores continued, "As I've said, the Pleasure Dome is one of the most SIGNIFICANT legacies of Her Majesty in the unlikely event of her death and without a good supply of slaves and guests, it will struggle to run and continue its projects. We just hope Dimitrescu who is thankfully alive and well back on the mainland and didn't go to that Winter Revolution war will continue to carry out HER part in dealin' with some Kings and Queens that have taken over Her Majesty's throne while we keep things goin' here at her command."
"WHO IS DIMITRESCU!?" Chloroplast demanded once again.
"She is a Kitsune-Mochi who was her Majesty's secret major accomplice and her backup in the event our Queen was EVER overpowered and overthrown," replied Dolores.
"You mean the White Witch?" growled Malachite angrily. Chloroplast continued to ponder over this 'Dimitrescu' person Dolores mentioned and described. Dolores shot the young mint green and darker green striped Nekomata an ENRAGED glare, making her, Seishan and Elsa and Lymphocyte flinch at the freezing azure gaze that was as cold and chilling as her Mistress' glare. More of her assistants gathered around her, many of them armed with red sleeping potion gas bottles.
"Our Queen was NOT called 'White Witch', striped Cat," Dolores snarled, her hair beginning to spike out from its tidy arrangement into the curly buns, "SHE IS OUR QUEEN, THE TRUE GODDESS OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ALL OF NARNIA!"
Those words made realisation about the Pleasure Dome crash on the group.
"Well, there it is STRAIGHT from the Spider's mouth," retorted Chloroplast, "This place IS the work of the White Witch's hands."
"Rei and Akari were RIGHT all along," added Malachite.
"And you know, Dolores," Rei spoke, his dark brown eyes locked with the azure fires of Dolores', "you posed as a nice, friendly, motherly creature when we first met you after we were brought here before we discovered the TRUE colours and nature of this place," his voice then increased in temperature with the flames of anger, "but when we found that YOU are on the Witch's side and worked for this wicked Kitsune-Mochi Dimitrescu, we sought to escape this place and seek help."
As the male Red Panda said this, Chloroplast saw the number of minions surrounding Dolores increase more.
"And I think we've seen and heard ENOUGH about this place, its link to the White Witch and her Kitsune-Manic or whatever species her accomplice was," the green Longma said, "It is time we got moving..."
"This place is your refuge," said Dolores before her wrath flared and her voice rose to a snarl, "And if you EVER move a SINGLE inch..."
"Forget it, Tarantula Hag," snapped Chloroplast, "This place is CURSED and is nothing MORE than a place of carnal indulgence as well as a prison and a holding pen for young Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures to be used as tools, slaves and food like dumb animals. Places like THESE GRIEVE Aslan the Great Lion as they go against his righteous law on SO MANY levels..."
A FLASH of pure OUTRAGE flared within Dolores and she finally lost her temper.
"I DETEST THAT OVERSIZED PUSSYCAT WITH THE MESSY HAIR," she snarled, "I HATE WHO HE IS... HIS LAWS... in fact I'M ONE OF HIS GREATEST ENEMIES!" as she snarled these words, her appearance underwent a hideous transformation. Her hair lost its tidy appearance and became spiky and unkempt, her eyes changed from their pretty azure colour to a demonic red and her pupils shrunk to tiny dots characteristic of a deranged, psychotic creature and her fingers took on the appearance of gnarled talons. Her mouth also became filled with spiky teeth similar to a Squeezer or the Cartoon Shadow Cat and soon, the Spider-like Creature was now a deranged, demonic and psychotic Beast, the TRUE creature she was. EVERY last trace of her cutesy doll-like facade had broken away to reveal the EXTREMELY ugly beast within. Chloroplast's mouth dropped open at the transformation and Rei, Akari, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville, Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Lymphocyte, Sisu, Kosmochlor, Emori and Hypersthene shuddered violently as the Beastly creature spoke, her voice now sounding like a rabid animal's snarl no different from that of the Cartoon Shadow Cat.
"But enough on the subject about that Puddy Tat (bleep)," Dolores snarled, her demonic red eyes fixed like a predator ready to pursue its prey, "It is time for you lot to be captured and DEALT WITH!"
As she said this, her minions got ready to chase after Chloroplast and company to smother them with the red sleeping potion gas. Suddenly, Laminin sent her Spitfire Bird Scoville at them and he flew like a yellow and red comet and once again deployed his chemical weapon. Some of the cronies of Dolores ducked to avoid the chemical spray but several didn't move in time and got an eyeful of the hot liquid. As agonised screams erupted from the cronies hit in the face by Scoville's attack, the Spitire Bird returning to his owner, Chloroplast seized a vial of blinding smoke from a nearby shelf (having spotted it out of the corner of her eye while confronting Dolores) in her mouth and immediately threw it down to the floor. An explosive PUFF sounded and an equally explosive billow of purple-black smoke rose from where the vial broke and began to flood the room. The deranged DAolores and her cronies who had managed to avoid Laminin's Spitfire Bird's attack released ANGRY wails and snarls as the blinding smoke smothered their vision. Unlike the sleeping potion gas, blinding smoke had NO effect on its targets as its only purpose was to blind and not induce any psychological effects. While Dolores and her cronies struggled to find their scrambled bearings in the cloud, Chloroplast commanded Rei and the others with her Bat's wings to start running, which they did. She did not want to give a vocal command for her voice could alert Dolores of her location and direction in relation to her so she used a visual command instead. The other prisoners had already escaped and thankfully, they had managed to get a good head start before Dolores turned into her TRUE deranged from. Laminin seized her pet Spitfire Bird Scoville and fled, her feathered wings flapping and lifting her into the air. Behind Chloroplast and company, a RABID scream from Dolores exploded. It took a few minutes for Chloroplast and company to flee the evil Spider Hag but soon, Dolores regained her bearings and began to give chase with her cronies following. A deadly game of spider-versus-its-prey had now begun.
The chase rushed through the bowels of the Pleasure Dome and Chloroplast and company descended into the lower and lower depths of the evil vessel of indulgence, Dolores and her cronies in HOT pursuit. Chloroplast and the others were EXTREMELY frightened and were desperate, DESPERATE to be out of this place and their bodies were flooded with adrenaline, especially from the demonic snarls and laughs of Dolores echoing through the corridor behind them as she relentlessly pursued them with her cronies. Furthermore, what was present in these bowel areas of the Dome added to the FRIGHT and NIGHTMARE of the group. Chloroplast had been UTTERLY scared several times in her life. The very ghostly face of the White Witch had terrified her as a Longma Foal during the Age of Winter and she had also received plenty of fright from four of Jadis' most loyal and dangerous servants: Krampus the Father Christmas imposter, the Man with the Upside Down Face, the Cartoon Shadow Cat and the Snow Siren Yuki-onna whom Chloroplast and her herd had encountered once before during a blizzard. The White Witch's Massacre Event (deceptively called the 'Fighting League' by her) had also severely traumatised Chloroplast, especially since Chloroplast herself had almost been selected to be thrown like a dumb beast into that our-world's-Coliseum-like area and bloodbath and Chloroplast sometimes had nightmares of that time and event even now. Some of the species who served the White Witch, such as the Siren-Head, Xenojaws, Slender-Man, Neko-Cabbits and the hideous Manananggal had also been nightmare fuel for poor Chloroplast and her most recent fright of frights was witnessing some of the Pleasure Dome 'guests' transform into dumb pigs and donkeys during her journey to the prison with Rei and the others to rescue the prisoners. But this was on an ENTIRELY new level and Chloroplast was UTTERLY desperate in getting Rei and the others off this wicked vessel and away from the evil Dolores and her cronies. Once this was over, the Longma will NEVER, EVER forget her HARROWING experiences aboard this vessel including what she had seen and heard and will no doubt tell her descendants and other Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures of this horror story provided that they were old enough. As for Malachite and company, it was likely that they will suffer nightmares for the foreseeable future as well.
Chloroplast, Rei, Akari, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville, Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Lymphocyte, Sisu, Kosmochlor, Emori and Hypersthene continued their frantic escape from the deranged Dolores through more corridors, descending deeper into the Pleasure Dome's bowels. However, they were running into hope... and rescue. Ahead of Chloroplast's group, the rest of the prisoners including Roux soon met Cubozoa and company, the rescue squad consisting of some Sea-Fish Men in their Human-like Land form, two male Cecaelia and some adult Ichthyo-Centaurs. They had entered into the flooded parts of the Pleasure Dome through the incision made by the battleship's laser ray but some of the group had remained behind with some in their submersibles. Some of the free-swimming rescuers like the Merfolk had remained behind in the water to wait for the scouts as it was too painful to change into their legged Land form and then back and so hung back to wait for the scouts to return with the rescued prisoners. The group had breathing devices such as Breath Bubbles and breathing masks to allow the non-Aquatic creatures to breathe during their travel underwater and to the battleship and as the scouts left into the Pleasure Dome, the hang-back group got these devices and the submersibles prepared. As soon as the group of prisoners had found Cubozoa and company, they were immediately escorted by some of the scouts to the flooded parts of the Pleasure Dome where the rest of the rescuers were waiting. When the air-breathers were alarmed, the lead Cecaelia Man told them that Breath Bubbles and masks will be provided to some of them while the others while travel in submersibles. After all, it was too dangerous to try and escape the Pleasure Dome via the upward route and the entrance. There were far too many workers aboard it armed with dangerous weapons including the sleeping gas and if the scouts tried to go that way, they would be overpowered and caught. Then as many of the rescuers took the prisoners in the direction of the flooded depths of the Pleasure Dome with Cubozoa accompanying them, several of the group members continued upward, the Cacaelia Man carrying a tracker to help locate the last few missing members. The group was armed with weapons such as harpoons and stingray sting spears in case they ran into any worker aboard the Pleasure Dome on the way.
Chloroplast and company continued charging through the corridors of the wicked vessel. As they ran along like frightened deer escaping a hunter, they passed by entrances to rooms used for purposes Rei and Akari ABSOLUTELY refused to explain as it was too disturbing. Some of the rooms, however, had pictures and statues of the White Witch and this Dimitrescu figure which reminded Malachite and company of the framed picture back in Dolores' room during their scouting for rescue. This added to the undisputed fact that the Pleasure Dome originated form the White Witch's hands and that the workers aboard it including Dolores were some of her servants. Pushing that aside, Malachite and company continued on, the maniacal cackles of the deranged Dolores echoing menacingly behind them as the deranged Spider Hag and some of her cronies continued their relentless pursuit of them. They descended down some stairs into the lower levels of the Pleasure Dome and soon, puddles of water began to be seen.
"We're approaching the flooded areas of the Dome," cried Rei to the others, Elsa stumbling and being caught by Arezu nearby.
"How are we gonna escape via this route!?" asked Chloroplast frightfully. Rei and Akari didn't answer this question but they knew that underwater rescue had arrived and they will have a solution. Frustrated, Chloroplast continued.
The group continued their frantic run for their lives and for the exit where hopefully, a rescue group was waiting. Arezu shot a glance back at the chasers and saw Dolores and company running like maniacs after them, the former with demonic, psychotic eyes fuelled by the thrill of the chase. Her toothy mouth uttered demonic cackles that echoed throughout the rooms and corridors and chilled the group to the bone. Then suddenly, a large net of sticky thread flew from Dolores' group at Chloroplasts'. Sisu and Kosmochlor dodged this shot and when they saw the net stick to the wall, they realised it was something obvious.
"SHE'S FIRING SPIDERWEB NETS AT US!" cried the former, the blue Kiriness. Indeed Dolores was and within moments, she seized another net wrapped in a ball and tossed it at the group, that net spreading wide in a spiderweb, its arms ready to seize its target and wrap in a deadly embrace. However, the group dodged it by splitting into two to make it miss before regrouping once the net stuck to the floor. Another web flew from Dolores and this time, it caught someone. Arezu released a scream as the sticky net entangled her back legs and tail, rendering her unable to hop further and sending her into a stumble. Immediately, Malachite, Sisu and Kosmochlor came in. Malachite quickly seized the netted Arezu and placed her on Kosmochlor's back. As they did this, a Cyan Dinosaur charged at them, its wide toothy mouth open agape like a shark ready to take a bite of its targets. However, Sisu lashed at the Colour Beast and struck it in the mouth with her front hooves. The Cyan Dinosaur was knocked back and its teeth shattered. Then Malachite, Sisu and Kosmochlor, the latter with the bound Arezu on his back, tore after the others and narrowly escaped getting netted by another of Dolores' spiderwebs. As the groups continued, more and more puddles of water appeared in a higher density with more of them being larger.
Chloroplast and company continued until they exploded into partially flooded hallway-like room, their legs and feet kicking up splashes from the shallow 'pool'. More corridors met the large lobby-like area and threw the group into a brief spin of confusion.
"Which way should we go next, Rei and Akari?" demanded Chloroplast. The two Red Pandas began to try and figure that out, their frantic gazes darting from one corridor entrance to the next but then suddenly, some colourful creatures appeared and stood in the way to those corridors, trapping the group. As the group's heart sank, a demonic, Witch-like cackle exploded behind them and the group turned to face the deranged Dolores, her blood-red eyes piercing them like a triumphant predator. Flanking her were several Lanky Limbed Teddies and Colour Beasts armed with weapons including red sleeping gas potion bottles ready to attack on command. Chloroplast immediately commanded Rei, Akari, Arezu, Laminin and Scoville, Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Lymphocyte, Sisu, Kosmochlor, Emori and Hypersthene to get behind her while she confronted the Spider Hag. She spread her colourful Bat's wings out wide in a protective pose and glared fiercely at Dolores as the deranged Spider Hag began to slowly advance towards her in an intimidating manner. Lymphocyte nocked an arrow to his crossbow and aimed it at Dolores while some of the others including Emori, Hypersthene, Elsa and Seishan, fright boiling within them at the sight of the deranged Dolores, cowered behind Chloroplast's wings. Around the group, the cronies that had managed to block off the entrances to the other corridors also began to close in on the group, their weapons poised to strike. Then Dolores spoke.
"You're TRAPPED NOW, you lot," she cackled in a triumphant, rabid voice, her hands clutching another ball of a spiderweb net, "Once this is over, we will be continuin' Her Majesty's legacy, seek out MORE targets and keep the Pleasure Dome runnin'."
The group huddled together into a tighter ball, their frightened gazes on the Spider Hag's cronies as they continued to close in on them. Lymphocyte darted his arrow-armed crossbow from one crony to the next, threatening them but to the young Terror Bird's dismay, the cronies were completely unfazed. Chloroplast then began to threaten Dolores.
"You take one step closer, Tarantula Hag an' I'll LASH AT YA AND BITE YA FACE IN!" snarled the Longma in a voice that was as deadly as a protective Dog mother's snarl, "I MEAN IT!"
"Ah, threats from useless creatures who refuse to kneel before the Snow Queen and the Goddess of the Highlands," muttered Dolores sarcastically, her hands open in an 'I don't know' gesture, "They sure are scary," she then resumed her advancement, "But enough of your defiance an' STRAIGHT to the spider-an'-fly chase. YOU lot are goin' down and will be used as food an' slaves..." she then got her spiderweb net prepared in her hands and continued to approach Chloroplast and company with her cronies. As she and her group did this, Malachite spotted a partially submerged square object, a picture frame and felt an idea bulb go off in her head. She focused her gaze on it and began to try and use telekinesis on it to try and fling it at either Dolores or one of her cronies. However, the only result she got were blinks and brief flashes of neon blue in her eyes and aura around the frame. She tried to focus harder and though she managed to maintain the mental grasp on the frame, it only lasted a few seconds before the neon aura and glow in her eyes dissipated and the frame sank back into the water.
"What's the point of trying to use your telekinesis if you've not practiced it enough!?" demanded Akari irritably.
"I'm JUST too young!" Malachite retorted.
"Hey, stop talking," said one of the yellow Lanky-Limbed Teddies that had blocked off one of the corridor entrances.
"Yes, get prepared for capture," said a Colour Beast, a Yellow Bird. Both these creatures clutched spears in their hands aimed at the group. Suddenly, Chloroplast's voice rang out and from there, all floodwaters broke loose.
"Listen, Tarantula Hag, you dare lay a SINGLE finger OR any of your sticky web threads on ANY of these kids," the Longma growled before raising it to an all-out roar, "Then I... will... not... hesitate to... TAKE ACTION!" then with one thrust of her legs and flap of her wings, she lunged at Dolores and charged into her. Dolores immediately seized the Longma and within seconds, a FIERCE wrestling match between the two ensued. The cronies then lunged forward at the rest of the group and they, too, entered into battle.
Laminin sent her Spitfire Bird Scoville at some of the cronies and had him spray his chemical weapon at their faces, blinding some of them and sending them into a screaming pain-crazed writhe of agony, their paws and hands clutching their faces and water splashing up as they squirmed. Seishan and Elsa then went round and knocked some of them out with some stone spheres they had managed to find and seize to incapacitate them. More Colour Beasts surged in but came face to face with a blizzard of arrows fired from Lymphocyte and he seized his arrows from his quiver, nocked them into his crossbow and immediately fired it at his enemies in quick succession. A Red Bug-Eye was pierced in the neck and knocked down while two Orange Crocs were pierced in the chest. One of them had a quiver of arrows and as soon as Lymphocyte had used up his current supply, he darted over to the fallen Orange Croc, seized his arrows and began to use them. One Purple Walking Spheres (which had ball-shaped bodies with arms and legs emanating from their sides and under them similar to a Sunling but with arms and without the antennae) jumped onto Lymphocyte's back and wrapped its long arms around its neck to throttle him. Lymphocyte immediately took action before the Purple Walking Sphere could strangle him; he bucked like a horse and flung the Sphere Beast over his head and into the water. Then Lymphocyte utilised the Axe-Beak technique on the top of the Sphere's head to ensure an instant death. Holding it under the shallow water and drowning it would take too much time. This done, Lymphocyte seized his new quiver of arrows and moved on to the next target. Nearby, Kosmochlor enraged more cronies in battle while Sisu took the bound Arezu to safety to free her spiderweb net bound legs and tail. Emori, Hypersthene, Rei and Akari also fought bravely against more cronies with the latter two Red Pandas engaging a Pink Twin-Stinger Cat and an orange Lanky-Limbed teddy in a swordfight, the two Pandas having managed to cadge the swords from two of the cronies. Despite their age, the fraternal Panda twins were skilled swordfighters, having been trained by an expert Curupira swordsman before they were captured and brought to here. Clashes of metal blades exploded into the air from the four battlers and as the Pink Twin-Stinger Cat tried raised its two head stings and tried to drive them into Rei's face, the male Red Panda dodged and ran the Colour Beast through the back with his sword, inflicting the deathblow. Then he went to help his sister as the orange Teddy managed to knock her down into the water in a splash. He jumped over his downed sister and blocked the Teddy's attempt to bring its sword fatally down on her and began to engage it in a vicious duel as well. Nearby, Malachite looked around and eventually spotted a lump of concrete-like material from a hole in the wall. Seizing an idea once again, she began to try and focus on it to telekinetically move it but as before, the telekinetic aura around the block and glow in her eyes flashed and the block only rocked a few inches. Frustrated, Malachite tried again and the same result. Suddenly, Seishan's voice screamed, "Malachite, look OUT! BEHIND YOU!"
Malachite whirled round and to her horror, she saw a Colour Beast, a MASSIVE Blue Doll several times her size, tower over her and raise a large block above its head and glare menacingly and murderously at the neon green and darker green tiger-striped Nekomata, ready to bring the rock down onto Malachite to kill her. However, Malachite's survival instinct kicked in and she, without thinking, flashed her eyes neon blue as she glared at the Blue Doll. Then a neon aura surrounded the Blue Doll and to its IMMENSE surprise, it was levitated a few inches off the submerged floor. However, fatigue soon set in and the neon blue glow in Malachite's eyes blinked out. At the same time, the aura enclosing the Blue Doll also vanished and it was released from Malachite's mental grasp. The Blue Doll stumbled forward into the water in a mighty splash and sent Malachite stumbling back. The rock it held came free from its paws and crashed down exactly onto the back of its neck in a massive THUD. Malachite, though her head felt like a strained muscle, looked on in stun and saw that the Blue Colour Beast was lying face down in the water with the rock on the back of its head. Nearby, Seishan and Elsa managed to kill their foe, a Green Slender Humanoid with a spear but when they saw Malachite stand in front of the slain giant Blue Doll, astonishment tore through them.
"Did you just see what Malachite had done, sis!?" Seishan cried out. Malachite looked tiredly at her cousins and went away to rest. The powerful burst of telekinesis caused by the burst of adrenaline when confronted by the giant Blue Doll with the rock had exhausted her. Immediately, Seishan and Elsa continued their battle with another Colour Beast, another Purple Walking Sphere as it fought Kosmochlor.
Dolores and Chloroplast continued their savage fight, the former locked in the Longma's front legs and the latter locked in the Spider Hag's arms in a wrestling match. The pair bit each other mercilessly. Eventually, Chloroplast managed to bring Dolores down into the water and as soon as the Spider Hag was on her front, the Longma reared up in a massive roar and crashed onto her opponent in a body slam attack. A mighty splash and a howl of agony from Dolores exploded into the air but Dolores soon got up and confronted her enemy once again. Chloroplast tackled into Dolores but the Spider Hag held her ground. Nearby, Lymphocyte and Laminin managed to take down more Colour Beasts and Lanky Limbed Teddies with their weapons and Scoville returned to his owner. The pair turned to the brawling Chloroplast and Dolores just in time to see the latter clamp her jaws onto former's right wing HARD. Longa cries of EXTREME pain erupted into the air as her wing was bitten and broken by the Spider Hag's powerful jaws.
"MISS CHLOROPLAST!" cried Laminin and Lymphocyte together. Arezu, her feet and tail freed also came in and she released a scream at the brutal sight as Dolores released Chloroplast's injured wing. Then Dolores knocked Chloroplast into the wall and took her down. Once she was down, the Spider Hag closed in for the kill.
"NOW I'VE GOT YA, YOU LOWLY BAT-WINGED HJORSE-DRAGON!" she cackled in a demonic voice that was a carbon copy of the Cartoon Shadow Cat's voice either from it or its mouthpiece via its mind-controlling possessive puppetry, and with that, she bared her fangs and aimed them for Chloroplast's neck. Immediately, Laminin commanded Scoville to attack the Spider Hag, which he did. The Spitfire Bird shot forward like a yellow and red comet and sprayed a jet of steaming hot chemicals at her face. However Dolores had seen him coming and had immediately ducked but some of the chemicals splashed onto her side. That was enough to cause the Spider Hag a BURNING pain and she grasped that area and howled in agony. Seizing the opportunity to escape, Chloroplast scurried, her injured right wing hanging limply down her side. Then Lymphocyte fired some arrows at Dolores but they only stuck in the Spider Hag's shell-like skin. Not only did Dolores LOOK like a spider and shoot webs like a spider. Her body was an exoskeleton like a spider as well. Unfazed by the arrows sticking into her like pins in a pincushion, Dolores rose to her feet and began to advance towards Lymphocyte, her demonic face piercing the Terror Bird like the Cartoon Shadow Cat. Lymphocyte, knowing full well how outmatched he was compared to the Spider Hag, turned tail and fled, not wanting to risk injury or worse, his life in engaging her in battle for he was too small due to his age. Only an adult Terror Bird could deal with foes like Dolores.
As the Spider Hag began to pursue her new target, Lymphocyte, Scoville swerved round and tried another shot at her face. However, Dolores saw him coming once again and did something that would shatter Laminin's heart. Laminin looked over Chloroplast's injured wing when she heard distressed bird squawks and the sounds of something being consumed. Immediately, the Skvader turned and to her UTMOST distress indicated by a scream, she saw Dolores, her face turned away, eat something, a cloud of yellow and red feathers flying from her mouth. Then after swallowing whatever had tried to attack her, Dolores turned and glared murderously at the Skvader, more colourful feathers festooning her mouth and teeth like the rotten decorations during a festival of the White Witch that was regularly celebrated during the Age of Winter. Scoville's name exploded from Laminin's mouth and the Skvader broke down in tears, her front paws burying her face. Chloroplast went to comfort her but then she saw Dolores ready to continue. Immediately, the injured Longma barked at the Skvader to leave as the Spider Hag jumped up and fired a lined of sticky thread from her rear at them. Chloroplast ducked and some of the cronies ended up caught in the web and pinned to the wall. Laminin, EXPLOSIVE OUTRAGE at what Dolores had done to her beloved Spitfire Bird pet, flapped into the air with her feathered wings and rocketed at Dolores.
"LAMININ, NO!" cried Rei as he subdued a Yellow Bird. However, Laminin refused to listen and as soon as she was near the Spider Hag's face, she raised a paw, flared its claws and raked them over Dolores' face, a scream of PURE vengeance gushing out f her mouth. However, the Spider Hag, despite receiving a set of claw gashes spanning the width of her face diagonally, seized Laminin by the wing. The Skvader tried to flap and thrash to free her wing but Dolores ABSOLUTELY refused to let go but before she could injure the Bird-Rabbit, a bigger comet, a neon and green one this time, rushed in, twirled round and struck the Spider Hag in the face, making her release Laminin and she flapped to safety. Chloroplast and some of the others looked on in astonishment as the attacker, Malachite who hovered in the air by spinning the branches of her forked tail, then flashed her eyes neon blue at something and with one swing of her head, she telekinetically 'pulled' another object, a round shield-like piece (surrounded in a neon blue aura), at Dolores and struck her in the head with it. After Dolores was struck and sent into a wobbly dazed walk, Malachite grew tired and dropped to the flooded floor. Her paws flew to her head as she grasped it in fatigue. Amazement swept through the observers.
"She has DEFINITELY inherited Grandpa Kushanku's tail-spinning flight ability," said Seishan in awe.
"Yes but her use of her telekinesis is causing her fatigue and making her vulnerable to attack," said Chloroplast seriously, "We need to seize her before any of these monsters attack her."
No sooner had these words escaped her mouth when suddenly, another weapon flew into the room, slashed through the air and right into Dolores' back to the startle of the cronies and Chloroplast's group. Malachite looked up wearily and saw Dolores release screams of agony and grasp her back. To her further surprise, it was a spear but it wasn't a land spear. This spear was made from materials that came from the SEA. Then before Chloroplast and company could guess who had thrown the stingray sting spear, a Man with eight tentacles appeared in the doorway to one of the corridors, lifted some type of tube to his lips and began to fire some type of darts at the cronies. Cries of terror exploded from the Colour Beasts and Lanky Limbed Teddies as they scarped to escape the barrage of sea darts fired from the newcomer, a male Cecaelia. Chloroplast and company huddled together to avoid getting trampled but then a Human-like Creature, his feet and legs transformed into their aquatic form due to the water, came in. Clutched in his hand was a harpoon gun.
"Are you guys Chloroplast and the last remaining prisoners of the group Cubozoa described to us?" he asked.
"We are," said Rei.
"Thank goodness you've managed to find us," said Akari. Relief also swept through Malachite, Seishan, Elsa, Kosmochlor, Sisu, Emori, Hypersthene, Lymphocyte, Arezu, Laminin and Chloroplast. Around them, more members of the rescue squad, two more Sea-Fish People and an adult Ichthyo-Centaur appeared and drove away the rest of the cronies with their weapons. One Yellowe Bird was shot with a harpoon by the male Cecaelia when it tried to attack him and that bird Colour monster landed into the water in a splash, dead. Then at the command of the Sea-Fish Man, Chloroplast and company scarpered and began to follow the rescue group down the corridor which was flooded with more water. Dolores released a scream at the remaining cronies and, in a last-ditch effort to capture Chloroplast and the others; they released a MASSIVE tsunami of red sleeping gas potion into the flooded corridor. That gas began to pursue the group like a deadly pyroclastic cloud from a volcano. The lead Sea-Fish Man flashed a look behind him and to his UTMOST alarm; he saw the red gas tsunami. Aware of the dangers of this sleeping gas, he barked at the group to move faster. Some of the group members climbed onto the backs of the Ichthyo-Centaurs or allowed them to be carried by the Sea-Fish People and two Cecaelia Men to allow for faster movement and within moments, the escape from the tsunami of red sleeping gas began.
The group travelled through more flooded rooms and corridors with the gas in pursuit, its travel properties obvious. If any of them let up for even a few moments, they would be smothered by the gas and plunged into a frightful world of vivid nightmares like Lapis and Yardang the Cheetah had been. The group continued their frantic escape from the red gas until they came to the truly flooded corridors. On the way, one of the Ichthyo-Centaurs pulled out some Breath Bubbles and breathing masks and handed them to Chloroplast's group.
"Get these on, QUICK and DO SO WITHOUT ANY QUESTIONS!" he commanded. Chloroplast and company did so and within moments, some of the group members' mouths clutched the breathing masks, which resembled circular objects with two L-shaped tubes emanating from their sides, and the others' heads were surrounded by special transparent air bubbles which, unlike regular bubbles, did not burst and so provided an air pocket for air breathers to breathe underwater. This done, the group continued in the direction of where the last remaining waiting Merfolk were, passing through more flooded rooms and several times, they had to swim through some submerged areas. All the submersibles had departed and had returned to the rescue battleship with the prisoners, as well as most of the free-swimming rescuers who transported some of the air-breathers wearing breathing masks and Breath Bubbles and also all the Aquatic Creatures like Dolphins. Only a small group of Merfolk remained to await the return of Chloroplast and company's rescuers and the moment they appeared, they got ready to help transport the members unable to swim at all or fast enough. The Ichthyo-Centaur barked at the Merfolk to get moving QUICKLY and as soon as the group dove into the water, the Merfolk seized some of Chloroplast's group and began their hasty swim through the completely-submerged corridor and to the incision. The Sea-Fish People members became their Aquatic Forms fully the moment they became completely submerged. The tsunami of red sleeping gas followed them and also dove into the water. The gas flowed through the water like blood but soon, its energy began to run out as it could only travel so far, even in water. The gas stopped pursuing its victims and as though it had given up, it slowed down and eventually began to dissolve.
The last of the rescue group, with Chloroplast and company safely in their clutches, continued to swim through the flooded levels of the Pleasure Dome until finally, they came to the gash in the vessel. They swam through that and exited the Dome and continued in the direction of the battleship where they were collected in a special transition chamber which flooded or de-flooded depending on whether the occupants inside went in or out. This done, the Merman captain called to the flying rescue team that their mission was complete. The flyers then stopped their fight with the workers at the entrance to the Pleasure Dome and departed, any rescued victims from the ferryman in their clutches while the Sea rescue group also left. A while after this; the Pleasure Dome re-submerged its head and continued its shady journey around the Eastern Sea. Dolores herself may have been wounded but she will heal quickly and will have to find other ways of kidnapping victims of this evil vessel but this massive threat had been deflected... for now.