Chapter 20: One More Hole

When day broke on God's Thumb, the team was meandering around. It was nice to be somewhere cool and where water was readily available after spending TOO LONG out in the dry, hot desert.

"Mmmm this is living..." Lucy sighed peacefully as she reclined back and bit into an onion

"Best place I've been to..." Sakuzy nodded.

"You've been to FOUR places so far," Joyex stated.

"Yeah, four," Sakuzy said. The fifth place he had been to...would probably be better to keep on the down-low. "Point still stands, though."

"Hey, Joyex? How many more Gummis do we need?" Becca said

"Lemme see," Joyex murmured as he did a quick inventory. "I think...we need just one more."

"Oh, hey, one, that's not too bad," Yozora said with relief, looking up from his lounging position. "Just, uh... the only problem is, with the trajectory of that crash landing, that one piece iiiiiis...?"

"The rockets. Can't get very far without those," Joyex said.

"Yeah...means we gotta go back," Sakuzy said.

"Then how about we dig one more hole?" Stanley asked.

"There's all the crud going back on at the camp...why not?" Sakuzy grinned.

"Seems like a risky move," Croccer murmured before standing up and beaming at the group. "But if that's what ya wanna do, mates, we're with ya to the end!"

"YEAH!" ADHD grinned, pumping his fists.

Becca smiled looking at Zero, "You willing to go back?"

Zero nodded before awkwardly asking, "Stanley...?"

"Yeah?" Stanley asked.

"I...know you didn't steal those shoes," Zero said, sheepishly looking away. "I did. A few months ago, I saw 'em and...I wanted 'em. Didn't know they were Sweet Feet's...but when I heard people comin' for 'em, I...threw 'em away."

"They...hit me on the head," Stanley said, rubbing the spot. He then laughed. "Guess it's destiny."

"Yeah, destiny," Croccer grinned. "Like a stream. Always shiftin', changin', an' branchin' out. Touches all o' us in some way or another. 'Least, that's what one o' me mates says."

"Yeah...it does," Sakuzy nodded. "Whatever caused us to meet...think it might've been destiny?"

"Who knows?" Joyex shrugged.

"Destiny's a mysterious thing," Becca said

Lucy was about to bite into an onion but paused. "Stanley? Call me crazy but...speaking of destiny? What if yours is back at camp?"

"That whole building character thing sounded bogus," Yozora remarked.

"Agreed. I mean...it just seems weird," Becca said

"That's what we're doing," Stanley said, taking up a shovel.

"Then, let's go," Sakuzy said. "We got some digging to do!"

POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH

It was nightfall by the time they returned to the camp. They kept low and ran as silently as possible, trying to keep a low profile. They had some things to find...and Stanley knew where to dig. Not far from where Stanley found the tube of lipstick.

"So how deep are we talking?" Becca said

"Five feet," Stanley said.

"Can do THAT in our sleep," Sakuzy said.

"I can tell...I wandered into anime, just roll with it," Stanley said.

"There's the spirit, Caveman," Croccer grinned.

Yozora had been... surprisingly quiet the entire journey back. As if the moment they'd been conversing about destiny and purpose, he'd just drifted away from the conversation. But now? Now he was back to digging with surprising vigor.

"See, Yoze is starting already," Joyex said.

Becca smiled and began to dig . Lucy shot her eyes around quickly, just in case they were spotted. Not seeing anyone, she grabbed her shovel and dug in, "Hurry! Last thing we need is The Warden or Pandansky on us!"

At that point, there was a whirring sound. Three large, pink orbs began rolling towards them. They then unwound, showing spiderlike legs and arms that pointed right at them, which looked...unsettlingly like the Hawks, Beasts, and Dancers in KuzKingdom.

"Take cover!" Sakuzy shouted as he jumped into a hole just as the new Crystalli opened-fire on them.

Joyex jumped up, spinning his whip to deflect the blasts. ADHD sped away while Croccer rolled into a hole as well, spines growing from his back, making him look like a hedgehog.

Yozora's eyes widened as, in response, he spun his shovel around with a loud "WHOA!"

Bolts were deflected and batted aside by the metal face, before he gripped it in both hands and took up a stance.

"Y'know, I'm really starting to like this thing," he commented.

Becca summoned her Keyblade as the Rollers sped around, encircling the holes while pointing their guns down, preparing to shoot. Until Sakuzy jumped out, slashing with his Keyblade. Becca ran around the group, slashing at some other Rollers at the same time.

"These guys are tough!" Lucy grunted as she swung at a Roller, who ducked perfectly and slammed right into Lucy's midsection, bowling her off her feet!

Becca looked at Lucy and held up her Keyblade, "Heal!"

One of the spidery creatures folded itself back up into a ball, rolling its way towards Yozora. He turned and noticed, swiftly leaping into the air... and landing on top of the pink globe.

Next anyone knew, Yozora was flailing his arms and running on the spot, keeping himself from falling off, "WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA! HOW DO YOU STEER THESE THINGS?!"

"These dang, stinking bowling balls!" Joyex shouted as he caught one with his whip, only to get pulled along for the ride. He yelled as it sent him crashing into Yozora.

Croccer burst out of the hole, covered in bony spikes and slashed at them with a loud "G'DAY!"

ADHD ran around, sending bursts of light at them, but they seemed to just glance off their armor.

And then Sakuzy realized something. The Rollers he was fighting were advancing, but seemed to have a different goal. While the others were being surrounded and distracted, HE was being herded away. He tried to make a break for it to run back to the others, but one Roller slammed into him, knocking him back.

"WHOA-!" Yozora was knocked off of his by Joyex's body slamming into him, tumbling along the dust and dirt, jamming his shovel into the ground to try and halt his flight. "Mommy, can you tell me the story about the bunny rabbit...?"

"For the seventh time, NO. Drink your whiskey and go to sleep," Joyex replied, equally as dazed.

Becca casted another heal on the two dazed boys, who immediately shook their heads and regained their composure.

"Wait, what's whiskey...?" Yozora murmured, as the headache faded away.

"Focus people," Becca called.

"Gotta say, mates," Croccer said as he began to edge back to the group, ADHD next to him. "Ya know some real... interestin' blokes."

"You have no idea" Becca said

"And I think things are gonna get worse before they get better here," Joyex muttered. "Wait...where's Koozie?"

"That's the LEAST of your problems," said a voice. A short, feminine figure appeared, face hidden by her own hood and cloak. She resembled Emerald, Amber, and Sapphire, only the cloak she wore was a striking shade of pink.

"Uh oh... watch out, guys!" Yozora called out, "Too much pink power is dangerous!"

Becca got ready to go at it. Considering what Amber put them through in KuzKingdom, she was already wary of this newcomer.

"My name is Pearl," she said, taking out a three-segmented staff with heavy blades at either end. "And I'm supposed to keep you from interfering."

Lucy glared and fixed her sword. "Out of the way! Or we'll make you move!"

"Because threats always work so well..." Yozora murmured under his breath, before he smiled at Pearl. "And why might that be, Rock-n-Roll? What's so special to the Candy Crew involving our boy that you gotta keep us out of it? Oh, don't tell me, is it his birthday? Did he forget to tell us it's his birthday? To be fair, we all kinda forgot everything, so he wouldn't have even known..."

"After what you did, you JOKE about it?" Pearl asked, gripping her weapon tight. Her voice seemed more strained, but then stopped as she took a step back with a calming breath. "Leave it to the Rollers and Parasites."

"Whoa, hey, what exactly did I do? 'Cuz everything I've done so far was in self-defense after your buddies snatched me," Yozora said. He summoned back the machuatil, and gave it a spin. "But alright, so we're doing this."

"Look, we don't want to fight. Just let us through and no one gets hurt," Becca negotiated.

"If you're keeping us away from Koozie, then sorry, we'll just walk right THROUGH you," Joyex said, snapping his whip chain.

"Yeah, there's six o' us while you're by yer lonesome there, sheila," Croccer said, readying his bony wrist spikes while ADHD took a few martial arts poses while doing Bruce Lee-esque "HUAH" noises.

"I'm not the one you should be worrying about," Pearl said, pointing her staff up. "It's THEM."

The air was suddenly filled with a loud buzzing. The group looked up at the night sky...seeing it was filled with glittering, red things zooming in a swarm.

"What's that?" ADHD asked.

"Trouble, that's what," Joyex growled.

Then, the group was swarmed by thousands of tiny, winged, red, insect-like creatures. On closer inspection, they seemed to be made of blood red crystals, akin to the Soldiers, Hawks, Beasts, and Rollers they encountered earlier.

"AHH! What are these things?!" Lucy shrieked as she swatted at the bugs.

"My partner's drones. They're Parasites," Pearl replied.

"That's a disturbing name," Becca said.

"These things come in more varieties than jelly babies!" Yozora exclaimed incredulously.

"Thinkin' you're right there, mate," Croccer said.

"Oh yeah?" ADHD said, sending out blasts of light into the swarm, resulting in several explosions. "Who's laughing NOW?!"

Before the smoke could clear, one Parasite flew out and hit ADHD. The younger boy yelled as he swatted at it, but it flew away a bit...and then glowed a bit. Then it seemed to get bigger.

"They absorb energy," Pearl said. "And that makes them stronger."

"And there's a whole SWARM," Joyex growled just as one poked him, darting away and growing moments before the Nobody could retaliate.

"They may be red, but lookin' like we got a real blue 'ere, mates," Croccer growled.

"Then we SMASH 'em!" Yozora spun around on the spot, swinging his machatil, and shovel, into the face of a Parasite as it swooped onto him. "ABSORB A FACEFUL O' THIS!"

Though it was knocked aside, another one poked Yozora from behind while he boasted. It flew away, growing a bit bigger.

"Ya smash ONE, ya got about five others comin' in," Croccer growled, stabbing and trying to jump away. Only for his words to prove prophetic, growing slightly. He began panting as he tried getting space. "And...guessin' this...is what she meant...only a few hits, already gettin' winded."

"Nothing's invincible, some things just make ya work for it," Joyex said, lashing his whip into one of the grown ones. "And the bigger they get, it just means bigger targets!"

Becca smashed two with her keyblade before shouting, "Freeze!"

A blast of ice crystals bombarded the swarm, but they didn't seem to do much. The Parasites just kept coming and coming, absorbing more from the group. As they got tired, the Crystalli kept getting bigger.

"G...Gotta find a way to hit them all at once..." Yozora grimaced, clutching his arm as he dropped the shovel.

"Hey... Joy... you got that... 'Gather' thing, right? Please tell me you got enough 'blue bubble orb things' to make it work..."

"Worth a shot..." Joyex said, thrusting up his hand. "GATHER!"

An orb of dark energy formed above them, drawing the Parasites away and upward.

"Seems to be working!" ADHD said, flinging balls of solar energy at them.

Becca went at some slashing some. Joyex lashed out his whip. Croccer shot spikes from his fingertips. Lucy slammed her sword into them.

"THERE we go!" Yozora cheered, as he leapt up to follow on with a smashing blow on the gathered horde.

The group panted, thoroughly exhausted. Croccer held out his fist to ADHD, who bumped it. Victory seemed to be assured, but Pearl betrayed no emotion. Just stood there, keeping her three-segment staff at the ready.

"What? Shocked that your little bug buddies got smashed?" Becca asked with a smug laugh.

Pearl's response was a candid, "I think you missed one."

"One what?" Croccer asked.

But then they all heard a small buzzing sound. A more sizable Parasite had, in fact, survived. And it flew right at ADHD, grabbing him in its mandibles. Before anyone could react, he started glowing with a golden light as the creature absorbed his energy and then tossed him aside. The boy hit the ground with a FLUMP and remained motionless, still breathing but down for the count.

"Ryan...NO!" Croccer shouted, bony spikes bursting from his arms as he lunged at the Parasite.

WHAM!

The growing Crystalli's arm slamming into the Australian inmate and sending him flying into the nearest hole. The Parasite had become truly massive, looking more like a tank than a bug as its wings folded in. As it adjusted itself to its new size, it began to get the attention of others.

"What's going on? What is this?" asked the annoyed voice of Mr. Sir as he shouted, "OH GOD!"

"What's THAT thing?!" Pendanski yelled.

"What are you doing with those things?" The Warden hissed at Pearl.

"Trying to apprehend those people. What's it look like?" Pearl asked.

"We agreed that I'd fork 'em over to you, not that you'd set a giant bug loose in my camp," the Warden snapped.

"You DID know about these things," Lucy growled. "Why I oughta..."

Becca suddenly yelled as she clutched her head. Another flashback was being shown to her. Maybe the world itself was trying to tell her something...

Kissin' Kate Barlow was sitting out in the desert, lying at the side of the boat that bore the name "Mary Lou". Her life stretched out behind her and all the rage she'd let out had evaporated. Just like the water of the lake.

"It's so hot, Sam...but I feel so cold," she whimpered. At that point, she saw a phantom of her old love kneel in front of her.

"I can fix that," Sam smiled, filling her heart with joy...

"YOU GOT FIVE SECONDS TO TELL ME WHERE YOU BURIED THE LOOT!" snapped a ragged man, carrying a rifle and a woman next to him. Charles Walker, dubbed "Trout" because he smelled like rotting fish.

Kate looked at the spot where she had seen Sam for a moment before pulling a revolver on him, "I been waitin' for ya, Trout...I ain't gonna kill you."

She then spun the revolver and tossed it at the feet of the woman at Trout's side, who hurriedly picked it up and pointed it at its former owner. Trout just yelled, "WHERE'S THE LOOT?!"

"There ain't no loot," Kate shrugged.

"Don't gimme that," Trout snarled, "Ya robbed every bank from here to Houston!"

"We saw ya comin' back with a shovel, Miss Katherine," the woman barked, saying 'Miss Katherine' with sneering sarcasm.

"Linda Miller, is that you?" Kate asked, recognizing one of her fourth grade students.

"I've been Linda WALKER these last thirteen years," Linda answered.

"You were such a good student, must've married 'im for 'is money," Kate smirked.

"Well, it's all gone NOW! All dried up with the lake! Hasn't rained here the day they killed Sam!" Linda shot back. "Now, better tell 'im what he wants! He's a desperate man!"

"Go on, kill me," Kate shrugged. "The lake goes on for MILES."

"I ain't gonna kill you," Trout snarled with a vicious smile on his face, "But by the time I'm finished with you? You goin' wish you WAS dead!"

Kate just chuckled, "I've been wishin' I was dead for a LONG time...you, your children, and your children's children? You're gonna dig for the next hundred years and you will NEVER find it."

She then reached under the boat and grabbed something. Slowly, she pulled out a yellow-spotted lizard. She placed it next to her exposed arm with just three words...

"Start diggin', Trout."

With that, the lizard sank its teeth into Kate's arm. She just laughed as the two walked off, knowing she just inflicted her revenge on the man who took everything from her. Slow, painful, but she relished every second of this sweet release...

"That's why...that's why it hasn't rained here," Becca said. "They shot Sam...because Kate Barlow didn't like HER grandfather!"

"Sharp, ain't ya? Not as sharp as you thought, sneakin' into my camp? Could have ya arrested and carted off for trespassin'," the Warden scoffed. "Grandpappy drove himself nuts out here, tryin' to dig up the treasure. Made me dig every day, even on Christmas."

Becca let out a loud "HA!" at that as she stood up tall, "That's on your grandfather, then. Letting his greed and pride control everything he did? And for what? This whole world's crying out for justice. And that's why we're here. I get it now!"

"Right pretty speech there, too bad ya won't be gettin' anywhere," the Warden said.

The Parasite let out a screech as it lumbered towards them. Lucy and Becca ran at it and held their weapons at the ready. Joyex swung his whip around before glaring at the monstrosity before them. Yozora readied his macuahuitl and shovel, ready for a fight.

What none of them were prepared for was the Parasite firing off a blast of crimson light, knocking Yozora off his feet, sending Becca crashing into Joyex, and knocking Lucy down a hole. She saw Stanley and Zero huddled down there, covering their heads and clutching a trunk.

"Wh-what's going on up there?" Stanley asked.

"Oh...what you'd expect," Lucy said. The two just nodded, but Zero handed Lucy something milky white. Lucy immediately knew what it was...

"Okay...wasn't expecting that," Yozora said, hefting himself up.

"Guess when they absorb enough, they can just shoot it back out," Joyex growled. He then looked at the Warden, who was castigating Pearl for that again, the pink Crystalli hurriedly apologizing for this. But while they were distracted, he could make a break for it. "Hold on, Koozie, I'm coming!"

With that, he took off down the way Sakuzy had been herded.

"No, STOP!" Pearl shouted, but it was too late. He was out of sight.

"Come on, we got a friend to save!" Becca exclaimed, rushing forward, but with the surprise lost, Pearl snapped her fingers.

A pair of Rollers slammed into Becca, knocking her back. Yozora rushed up to block the next bombardment, but they had the two pinned against an entire field of holes and the massive Parasite. Lucy struggled out of the hole and readied her sword.

"So...what're our odds?" Lucy asked.

"I...think we've had better ones," Yozora remarked.

Hitchhiker Entries:

Roller:

Another subset of Crystalli Drones. These ones are fairly self-explanatory: they roll around to deliver devastating attacks. Some Crystalli generals aren't terribly creative.

Parasite:

A subset of Crystalli Drones. These ones fly around, sucking energy out of anything they attack. This leaves their enemies weaker and makes them bigger. Especially dangerous in swarms. Bring as much Raid as you can.