Chapter 44: Decisions

Double D's alarm clock awoke him. He yawned and got up from his sleeping bag. It was pleasant to awaken in a nice warm house as opposed to inside a muggy old tent.

Frankly was in his usual spot, reading his books. The others were inside, watching TV, or eating breakfast.

"Good morning." Double D said.

"Glad to see you up. We still have about three hours before we board the train." Goombella said.

"That's an issue I wanted to discuss. How are we going to decide who will be going on the train?" Double D asked.

"Way ahead of you. We took a vote and decided that we would play a card game." Nazz said.

"That's a bit risky. Which game?" Double D asked.

"5 card stud." Kevin said. "With every turn we deal out the cards, we will eliminate the one with the worst hand. When we reach the last 7, they will the winners."

"Hmm… that may not be fair. Does everyone here know how to play?" Double D asked.

"Yeah. We taught them before you woke up." Nazz said.

"Are you sure you want to, though?" Double D asked.

"C'mon. Scared you'll lose?" Eddy asked.

Double D smiled. "Very well then. Game on."

They surrounded a table. Frankly watched the game start aside whilst the 14 participants proceeded in the game.

Eddy was the one dealing the cards. He passed five over to all 14 players.

Double D looked at his hand. 'What fortune so fast! Four aces! Incredible!'

A few others nearby took cards from their hands and placed them nearby.

"Ready?" Eddy asked.

"Hit me." Kevin said.

The others did the same. Eddy took their discarded cards and replaced them.

"Alright. Show." Eddy said, dropping his cards.

Frankly looked over at the other's cards.

"Whoa, four aces!" Koops shouted.

The rest all looked up in astonishment.

"Very good luck, but that's all it was." Kevin said and looked at the others' hands.

"Nice try, Flurrie." Eddy said.

Out of the group, Flurrie was the only one who had a junk hand.

"Oh well." she sighed, getting up from her seat.

"Okay, give me your cards." Eddy said.

The others gave him the cards, and started shuffling.

Kevin looked at Double D angrily.

Ding dong!

"I guess I should get it." Flurrie approached the door and opened it.

"Hello-um… hello?" There was no one on the other side.

"Who's there?" Frankly asked.

They watched Flurrie bend onto the ground for some reason, then get back up and turn to them. He had a puzzled look on her face.

"Would this item be familiar with any of you?" She asked.

In her hand, she held a small wooden board. But to the Peach Creek kids, it was quite familiar indeed.

"No way!" Eddy said.

"Isn't that that Plank?" Nazz asked.

Double D got up from his seat and walked over to the door. He looked outside the house.

"Jonny?" he called out. "Are you there?"

He walked back in and closed the door. "Odd. How did a wooden plank ring a doorbell by itself?"

"This place keeps getting weirder and weirder." Kevin said.

Double D took Plank in his hand and looked back at its crayon drawn face. "Peculiar."

"Can we get back to our game now?" Eddy asked.

"But Eddy-"

"Forfeiting?" Eddy asked.

"No, I'll continue." Double D said.

"Now, can we get our cards?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses!" Eddy handed everyone their cards.

"Right…" Double D said, examining his cards. "Oh, no good! I have an ace, but no pairs so far… I know it's a risk, but."

He turned his ace card right side up for Eddy to see and handed the remaining four cards to him. "Hit me."

Eddy gave him four new cards.

'Ah! I have paired two jacks!' Double D thought.

"Alright, reveal." Eddy said.

They dropped their cards down on the table.

"Ha, ha! You lose!" Kevin shouted, pointing at Eddy.

Nazz elbowed him. "Kevin."

"Right, sorry." Kevin rubbed his arm.

"Oh well." Eddy said. "I don't really want to be on a train with you anyways."

"It works for all of us, I guess." Kevin said.

Eddy, still the dealer, took back their cards. He handed them all out again.

'Oh, no!' Double D thought, seeing his hand was full of junk.

He placed three cards away. "Hit me."

He got three new cards.

'NO!' he thought. 'I'm going to lose!'

Bobbery saw the look of nervousness on Double D's face.

Bobbery smiled, placing all of his cards on the table. "I'm out."

"What? Are you sure?" Double D asked.

"Yep. My place is near the ocean." He spoke. "Besides, after that adventure, I'm not interested in another one so very quickly."

"Very well." Double D said thankfully.

"Alright, he loses the round, fork 'em over." Eddy said.

It was down to Nazz, Kevin, Rolf, Double D, Ed, Eduardo jr, Goombella, Vivian, Jimmy, Koops, and Mario. They each held their own cards.

'This trip won't be much fun without Eddy…' Goombella thought. 'What, am I thinking what I think I'm thinking? …I thought so. I'm going to loathe myself for this later, but…'

"I'm out too." she said, walking away from the table.

"…this game's gonna be lame if everyone keeps running away." Kevin sighed.

Eddy reshuffled the cards and threw them at the participants.

Double D looked at his own hand. 'Ah! Full house! A safe hand to work with!'

"Hit?" Eddy asked.

"No thank you." Double D said.

Eddy waited and gave the others their cards. "Drop 'em."

They put their cards on the table.

"Ed?" Kevin asked.

"Go fish!"

"Ed!" Eddy shouted.

"King me!" Ed said.

"ED!" They all shouted.

"Jalapeno!"

"PUT DOWN YOU'RE CARDS ALREADY!" Eddy shouted.

Ed dropped his cards, and everyone gasped at them.

"A royal flush." Kevin asked. "How in the name of-"

"Wait, so who lost?" Eddy asked.

Mario put his cards down on the table in defeat. "Ma-ma-mia." he sighed.

"Sorry, man." Nazz said.

"Right." Eddy dealt the cards again.

Kevin seemed particularly happy with his deck.

"I'll discard 2." Double D said.

"Me too." Eduardo Jr. said.

Eddy gave them their new cards.

"Go fish!" Ed asked.

"We're not playing go fish, Ed." Double D said.

Ed laughed. "Checkmate, king!"

He laughed and threw his cards into the air.

"Numbskull." Eddy said. "I'm counting that as a forfeit."

"Hm…" Double D sighed.

Everyone gave their cards back to Eddy.

"Alright, we're at the last round! I'm gonna laugh at whoever loses this match!" Eddy said.

"Just shuffle, man." Kevin said.

Eddy grew an aggravated look on his face.

Jimmy got his five first. He looked at them.

'Oh no!' Jimmy thought. 'A two, a four, a seven, an eight, and the ace of spades. What do I do?'

Jimmy looked at his hand carefully. "Oh, I hope I'm making the right choice."

Jimmy flipped over his ace of spades and gave Eddy his remaining four.

"Remember: the loser doesn't go." Eddy reminded them.

"Please, don't enforce anymore tension." Double D said.

He handed out the new cards to every.

When he came to Jimmy, Jimmy held out his hand. "May… I draw my next cards myself?"

"Uh, sure?" Eddy asked.

Jimmy took his cards.

"Alright, a lot's ridding on this draw." Jimmy was too nervous to look at his hand.

"Alright, dudes. Drop your cards." Eddy said.

"Two queens, two kings." Double D said.

"The ace of diamonds and clubs." Nazz said.

"Three jacks." Kevin said.

"Uh… three twos and two threes?" Eduardo Jr. said, placing his cards on the table.

"I have two fives and two sixes." Koops said.

"Rolf possesses two Kings!" Rolf said.

"Two fours and two sevens." Vivian said.

It was now up to luck. Jimmy placed his cards on the table.

Eddy was surprised to see his hand. The aces of spades and hearts belonged in his hand.

"ARGG!" Rolf groaned and slammed his head on the table.

"The winners are Double D, Vivian, Nazz, Kevin, Eduardo Jr., Koops, and Jimmy!" Frankly said.

The losers sighed.

"I suppose we have packing to do, then." Double D said.

A toad was walking down the streets of Western Rougeport. He was humming a song, just like any other townsfolk.

"Excuse me, fool. Move out of my path." A dark voice said.

The toad gasped. He looked to his feet and saw a white-gloved hand coming out of the ground, locked around his foot.

"AHHHHHH!" The toad shrieked and started shaking himself. He managed to break free from the hand and made a run for it.

The owner of the hand rose to ground level: Beldam.

She stood for a few seconds, then shouted in anger. She reached into the group and pulled out Doopliss.

"Hey, watch the threads!" He shouted.

"Do not take that tone with me." Beldam said in a threatening tone.

"Right, sorry." Dooplis apologized.

"Are you ready?" Beldam asked.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to follow them. But what about the new apprentice?" Doopliss asked.

"She is still training with Marilynn. They won't be ready in time to attack with you, so you shall do this mission alone. Think of it as your… test. Succeed and you will be exempt from the end of the world. Fail and you will get a first-row ticket."

Doopliss bowed. "I understand, master."

"You had better. Now, get to work."

"Yes." He quickly enveloped himself within purple dust and transformed into a common toad. He bowed once more, then walked into the crowds, blending right in.

Beldam smirked. "That fool thinks he will be alone, but I cannot risk a rookie to do a master's work." he said. She reached into her hat and revealed a necklace. It was made of golden beads. Hanging on the necklace was a circular red medallion.

"The Medallion of Life has served me well. I shall once again it's power."

"Alright, we are all packed!" Double D turned to the seven who weren't coming. "I'm sorry but was a fair game." he said.

"I'll be alright. As long as the sea is nearby, I'm always fine." Bobbery said.

"I'll miss you. You shall be gone for six days, quite a long time." Flurrie said.

"Eh, I'm cool. I mean, even if I won, I'd have to room with Kevin." Eddy shuddered. "Gives me a chance to catch up on scams."

Goombella, who was standing particularly close to Eddy, spoke next. "I'll be fine. Really, I'm kinda glad I'm staying."

"Buttered Toast with Gravy for everyone!" Ed smiled.

Rolf looked at Vivian. "Now, nothing stands between she-who-is-evil and the rest of the people."

Rolf still didn't trust her in the slightest. He said nothing to the group.

"Be sure to-a be careful." Mario said.

"Well, we won't be in total separation." Double D said. "Frankly has a computer, so we can stay in touch via e-mail."

"Okay, I guess that's cool." Eddy said.

"Excuse me, sirs and madams?" A new voice asked.

The looked to a man standing next door. He was wearing a purple robe with a hood covering his eyes.

"Who are you?" Jimmy asked.

"I am Merlon, fabled wizard of Rougeport. I sense you travelers possess Shine Sprites?"

"Oh yes! I had forgotten!" Double D said.

"Please come in. I may show you something of importance." The wizard offered.

The seven winners followed the man into his house. It was dark inside, with a table in the center with a crystal ball.

"Pretty." Jimmy said.

"May I see your shine sprites?" Merlon asked.

Double D handed Merlon the shine sprites he collected. "Ah… I have counted a total of… 15? Quite a collection. You may not know this, but using the power within these items, I can magically increase your power."

"Oh!" Double D said. "We could definitely use that!"

"I can use 15 to upgrade 5 of you. So which 5 of you 8 will it be?" Merlon asked.

"8?" Nazz asked.

"Yes, including your small friend there." Merlon said, pointing to the floor.

They all looked to see Plank, in an upright position.

"How did Plank get here? We left it with the others." Kevin asked.

"You surely jest. How can you increase the fighting ability of a plank?" Double D asked.

"Call me crazy, but my powers are currently detecting a life force within that wooden object." he said.

"Okay, crazy." Kevin said.

"Just to see where this leads, sure. You may 'upgrade' Plank's power." Double D said, laughing.

"Very well then…" Merlon said. "SHA-BIZZY!"

The others gave him raised eyebrows.

"SHA-ZOOMBIE!" Merlon shouted.

The crystal ball started glowing blue. For some weird reason, Plank was glowing as well.

"What the heck?" Kevin asked.

Merlon stopped the action. "It is done. Who is next?"

"I will go up." Nazz said.

After ten minutes, Merlon upgraded Plank, Nazz, Jimmy, Koops, and Eduardo Jr.

"That is all I can do. Go on, now." Merlon said.

The group proceeded out of the door.

"How weird was that guy?" Kevin asked when they were out of his earshot.

"Strange indeed." Double D said, holding Plank in his hands. He looked around. "Oh, we should be going to the train station now!"

They grabbed their luggage and started walking through the town with Nazz in the back.

"Hello, missy?" An elderly voice asked.

Nazz stopped, though the others didn't and kept walking without even noticing.

"Um, I gotta go right now." Nazz said.

The one who stopped Nazz was short, wearing a black robe concealing her face.

"Oh, would you be one of those wizards?" Nazz asked.

"Not truly." The elderly one said. "I am merely here to make a sale."

She removed the necklace she was wearing. It was made of golden beads, with a red medallion on the center.

"Oh, pretty!" Nazz said with an intrigued smile.

"Care to try it on, missy?" the elder asked. Nazz took the necklace from her hands and put it around her neck.

"I think it looks perfect on you… just perfect." the elder said.

"I'll take it." Nazz said. "How much is it?"

"Oh, the price? Well, if you want to discuss it, come on and step into my office." The elder offered.

"Uh… okay, where's that?" Nazz asked.

"Gotcha."

The elder suddenly grabbed Nazz.

Nazz had only enough time to widen her eyes before she was pulled into the shadows by the one under the cloak, who was laughing hysterically.

About ten seconds later, Nazz's head popped up from the ground. She eventually got to her feet.

But there was something different about her expression. It looked darker, more threatening. Her eye color had also changed, from her usual to a dark blue.

"She was a fool." When Nazz spoke, her voice sounded darker, colder and more sinister. "It is a pity this girl knew not that I was Beldam all along. She fell right into my trap…"

"As long as this one is wearing the medallion of life, I can hitch a ride within her. Drastic, but an efficient way to finally defeat those fools and give that traitor her punishment once and for all!" Beldam thought. He took the necklace and tucked it within her shirt, so that no one would see.

"Hey, Nazz!" Kevin shouted. "Put the petal to the metal, the train's gonna leave without us!"

Nazz's expression changed to a confused one as her eye color returned to normal.

"Wha- what just happened?" Nazz asked. "Kevin? …oh yeah! Coming!"

"All aboard!" the conductor of the train shouted.

Kevin held Nazz by her hand, pulling her on board the train. The conductor laughed and jumped aboard. The train shook and came to life. The train started slow at first, but started accelerating. It quickly proceeded away from the station, and farther away…