Animus, Book 3: Lucille, Chapter 1: Sliding
Animus, Book 3: Lucille, Chapter 1: Sliding
The entire group together again, a melee of gigantic proportions was beginning. Mike and the others quickly joined the group who had already engaged Belch, but the monekys were close behind.
Although Anthadd had managed to paralyze the monkeys, the sheer number of them caused the attack to be effective for only a short time. Everyone used whatever weapons they had and did their best to help or at least protect themselves. Even a few zombies joined the fray.
Cyan and Anthadd battled near each other - watching each other's back occassionally as they becme more and more synchronised again. Siris wasn't too far from them and he was fitting into their attacks too. Anna fried a zombie then moved on to another target, her ghosts doing their best to assist her in battle.
Skulryk did all right for himself, too, removing a couple of the monkeys from the battle. SimonBob and and Dan took down several zombies with their fire arms as Sulami did his own damage with his magic and tricks. Ness and Paula were doing fairly well, too.
Despite having little trouble dealing with the individual enemies, there were just too many of them. Belch was an almost unstoppable force, as well. Even the large Manly Fish was not having much luck.
"This isn't going too well!" shouted Anthadd.
"These monkeys and zombies are one thing, but Belch is something different entirely!" yelled Cyan in response.
"We need to do something about Belch soon!" added Siris.
"I'm busy enough with these other things," came Anna's analyzation of the situation.
"We're a bit busy too," agreed Ness.
"Then let's do it ourselves!" exclaimed Siris.
"And how?" asked Anthadd.
"That Adekae stuff is really powerful, right?"
"Yes," agreed Cyan, "but can three people use it?"
"I don't know," answered Anthadd, "but we can try."
Everyone continued fighting and Anthadd, Cyan and Siris became synchronised. "Holy Water!" they shouted as one.
Cyan ran up to Belch and took two powerful swipes with his sword - forming a cross - as Anthadd used Breaker and Siris used a water ability of his own. The attack staggered Belch, and they watched to see if it was indded enough to finish him off...
Splash! The giant tidal wave of sparkling water hit the giant blob square in the eye. He howled in anger, as the holy water began to drip down his body.
"Hey, look at that!" Chartreuse said. "He's going tiny!"
Indeed, the incredible master belch was now shrinking at a rapid rate. He gurgled and shrieked, but his moans did nothing. In a matter of seconds, he had become his normal size.
He let out a single belch, and stared ahead. "Must hold on..."
Anna giggled as she formed a small fireball. She pitched it at Belch with amazing accuracy. "Nice try, sucker!"
The fireball connected, and belch screamed. He doubled over, and he slowly formed into slimy goo. The puddle receded into the murky swamp waters, and his only remains were a hiss of steam.
Anna cackled triumphantly. "Woo! What a rush!"
Anthadd scratched his head. "I still don't understand...what was controlling Belch?"
"Oh, come on." Anna said. "Can’t we just believe he acted of his own free will?"
Anthadd and Cyan blinked. "No."
She sighed, and threw her cloak up over her head. "Well, I got what I came for; revenge on Belch. I suppose it's time we part..."
Cyan gaped at her. "What? You can't duck out now!"
She rolled her eyes. "And why not? My ghosts and I have our dignity back, with a sludge free hut. What more could I want?"
"If we don't find out what caused this," Cyan said, "More creatures could come and attack your hut! You wouldn't want that, would you?"
Anna grimaced, and made a dangerous gesture toward Cyan's throat. "I outta rip your stuffing out..." Suddenly, she dropped her hand. "But no matter. I suppose I can stay a little longer...I don't have much else to do."
Cyan smirked with satisfaction, then turned to Anthadd. "When you say something caused Belch to do this...do you mean something could be controlling the Animus itself?"
"Quite possibly," he said, nodding. "I want to know why though...and from where?"
Cyan chose a small log to sit down on, and he rested for a moment. "We should really discuss our plans from here, don't you think?"
Anthadd agreed, and the entire group sat down in a small ring. Before the discussion began, however, Anna took a small piece of paper from her cloak. She licked the edge of one of her pens, and wrote something down.
Anna's Haiku
Like the moon over
The day, my genius and brawn
Are lost on these fools.
Satisfied, she earnestly joined the meeting.
"Well, well... looks like my Manly Fish is hungry." Lucille giggled to herself as she stepped over Pokey's unconscious body.
"Manly Fish, time to use your Animus against something else..." she said with a small evil smirk.
SimonBob knocked one of the monkey out and shouted, "Mike! What's going on?!"
"No idea!" Mike yelled back.
Suddenly, the rabid monkeys collasped to the ground, exhausted. The group stood there in disbelief, had they really fought them that bad? Poo sniffed his nose and then his eyes opened wide.
"Well, at least the smell's gone." Poo chuckled.
The other breath in as well and agreed that it had fade away.
"What's going on? The monkeys fell to the ground, and the smell's gone." Luna said, as she rubbed her arm uneasily, "This is getting too freaky for me."
"No idea... what the hey?" Dan shouted out, as a large Manly Fish, poking out of the trees, caught his sight.
Dan immedaitly pointed in the direction of the Manly Fish. Skulryk looked and said, "Wow. That's enough food to last Poo for a week."
Poo laughed sarcastically, "Har har... that won't last me for a week."
"You're right... three days at the least." Luna giggled to herself.
Poo glared at Luna and said, "At least I'm not anexoric like you...."
Luna jumped up and yelled, "Who said I was anorexic?!"
Poo and Luna bickered as Mike tried to figure this out.
"Should we go over there?" Mike asked SimonBob.
"Don't know. It might be a trap... or a tourist trap, whatever comes first." SimonBob stated.
"Skulryk, what do you make of this? Don't you think this is... abnormal?" Mike asked.
"Uh... don't ask me. This is way out of my league."
"Dan, can you use your Game Genie to show us spoilers of what will happen?" Mike asked.
"Hey! This is an IF, not a game!" Dan shouted out loud.
"Pardon? IF?" Mike asked, with a puzzled look.
"What? IF? What the hey are you talking about?" Dan remarked.
Mike shook his head and said, "Never mind."
Lucille rubbed her hands together, pensive.
"What shall I do to make those people's life more miserable than it already is?"
She looked at the Manly Fish, heading towards the deep ocean.
"Those college science courses... I knew they'd pay off. Eventually," she added as an oversight.
She thought for a second.
"No!" she exasperatedly muttered. "I've forgotten!"
She tried remembering...
She focused on her college science teacher, Doctor Andonuts.
"What was it he said about the relation between Manly Fish and Kraken? That they evolved from a similar creature?" she mused.
Lucille snapped her fingers!
"Of course! That's it!"
She fell into a chair.
"Manly Fish!" she cried through time. "Become a Kraken!"
"Have we decided on a course of action?" Anna demanded.
"We're discussing," Siris replied curtly.
"We know that these things don't happen naturally," Mika noted, "so logically there's an outside force working against us."
"Wait," Paula hissed, her eyes twinkling slighlty. "There has to be at least two. The Manly Fish obviously couldn't have been brought back by the same one who brought Belch back."
"Right," Anthadd picked up. "And I'm betting the pyramid collapsing was similarly related."
"How bright that one is," Lucille noted. "It was a stroke of genius, trying to kill them that way. But how could they have survived?"
She glared at Pokey.
"Did he guess it was me then, and interfere to keep them alive?" she mused.
"Perhaps any odd occurences were a result of these meddlers," Cyan proposed.
"But there's so many!" Ness protested.
"This is s'confus'n," Rusty complained.
"Can't these meddlers NOT meddle?" Paula added.
"Foolish woman," Lucille muttered. She looked at the Manly Kraken, halfway through the transformation.
Hurry up, you stupid fish, she added for good measure.
"Hey, is that a fish or a snake?"
SimonBob's comment brought the group out of its bickering. Everyone turned to look at the Manly Fish, which was now turning into a green-tailed monstrosity. It gained several feet of height in a matter of seconds... or was it length?
Skulryk caught on first. "It's turning into a Kraken!"
Mike decided to take charge. "Okay, Skul, you go left; Luna, go right; I'll sort of stand my ground... Simon!"
SimonBob Matrix-jumped over Kraken's head, and shouted "Chew on this!" He threw a bag of cookies into the Kraken's gaping maw.
"NOOOO!" shouted Poo. "Those were Macamademias!"
The Kraken chewed, swallowed, and then emitted a pale green light. Everyone felt the effects of PSI on them drift away.
"Hey, Kraken-dude," asked SimonBob, "What's up with the evolution bit?"
"You're expecting just to talk to it?" asked Dan, incredulous.
<Of course he is,> said the Kraken in a deep telepathic voice. <Now that my evolution has been forced, my mind is strong enough to ignore the commands of the Animus.>
"Someone forced you to evolve?"
<Yes. I am not sure whom, but whomever it was, they also forced my angry feelings upon people when I was a Manly Fish. Animus is a powerful tool, when it is controlled.>
"So who's controlling it?"
<As I said, I am unsure. However, I do promise to gain vengeance on them, as soon as I find them. I'll accompany you, but there's just one thing...>
"He wants more food," moaned Poo. He lunged towards SimonBob. "Where'd you get those cookies, anyway?!"
<No, no, no. Not the cookies.> The Kraken licked its lips. <A tourist once dropped a BLT, though, and...>
"A BLT-loving Kraken?" SimonBob slapped his forehead. "Someone get me some Romano, and I'll start killing wild pigs..."
Soon the group was sitting around a fire, discussing the events that had happened and those that were about to come. "So...we want to stop this anonymous?" Poo asked.
"Animus," corrected Mike. "And at the center of this Animus would be Belch."
"You mean Barf?" Poo asked again.
"No, Belch," Luna said.
"Well, what's our next move?" Skulryk asked, casually.
"I say we roast marshmallows," Poo suggested.
"Poo, will you quit making remarks?" commanded SimonBob with a frown.
"Ok..." Poo trailed off. "I wonder what the pyramids have to do with this..." All around the fire, the group exchanged looks with each other as they tried to figure out their next move. Meanwhile, Poo had ripped open a bag of marshmallows and was roasting them. "Mmm...delicious!" Poo exclaimed as he ate a charred marshmallow.
"Poo, that's not how you roast them!" Luna cried as she took the bag away.
"Like you would know anything about roasting marshmallows, Luna," Skulryk said. SimonBob and Dan exchanged looks, trying to avoid the fight that was about to occur.
"Guys, guys," Mike interrupted. "Let's be civil about this."
"Guys, let's be civil about this," mocked Luna. "Shut up, Mike!"
"You're both idiots!" Poo yelled as he dumped the marshmallows over Luna and Mike's heads.
"Poo, I'm sick and tired of you!" Mike said as he grabbed Poo by the shirt collar. Without any of knowing it, the Animus that was drifting around had spread to even the closest of friends...
Dan joined the fray as well. Before he could do anything, though, Skulryk intervened by tripping him. When it appeared as if a brawl were about to take place, Sulami appeared.
"GUYS," he shrieked, "look what you're doing!" He whipped his head around, looking on in amazement. "I can't believe you!!! Quit fighti-" Before he could finish, SimonBob had bum rushed him.
The group brawled, at least until the Kraken interrupted by emitting a pale green light. Apparently, it had an affect upon them to cause them to stop fighting.
Luna began to apologize profusely. "I'm incredibly sorry! I didn't even mean to act like that!!"
"It's okay. I'm sorry for acting the way that I did too. I wouldn't REALLY want to kill you, Poo..." Well... He quickly shook that thought out of his head.
The Kraken spoke up. "It appears as if somebody has a hold of your actions from afar as well..."
"Do you think that... maybe whoever had control over your actions has control over us?" Mike offered.
The Kraken appeared to shrug, even though it didn't have shoulders. Poo pulled a BLT from his pocket.
"POO! You've been holding out on us!!!" SimonBob lunged after the sandwich, successfully stealing it. Poo started to cry.
"First you feed it the cookies, and now the BLT?!?!?!?!" He sobbed.
SimonBob blinked. "Yeah." He tossed the sandwich over to the Kraken. The Kraken gulped it down.
<Ahh, thank you. That was the crispiest bacon and the freshest tomato that I've ever tasted. Now, I shall do whatever it is that you want me to do.>
Skulryk's ears perked up. "Say... do you think you can take us over the Scaraba? We should go check out the pyramids."
Mike shrugged, then nodded. "May as well... I don't see what it is that we can do around here..."
The others agreed as well, some more readily than others. Poo had reservations.
"I won't have to give you anymore food, right?"
<Perhaps...> the Kraken responded.
"Well... alright."
They all climbed on. Dan went first, then Skulryk, then Poo, followed by SimonBob. Luna climbed on, then Mike.
"Well... let's go, I suppose." Mike pointed to the north, rather dramatically. "Heh heh... I always wanted to do that."
The Kraken started moving for Scaraba. Sulami flew after them a safe distance away.
Skulryk looked with shining eyes northward. The fifth pyramid! I know it's out there.... and when I find it, I'll discover the secret of this dagger! Maybe unlocking its true power can help us quell the Animus!
Everyone was busy thinking to themselves about the insanity of the situation and how they could defeat the Animus. Meanwhile, SulamiTea was considering something else.
The others. I sensed all of them some distance away. We seem to have left them.... but I can still use my magic to call them. Let's see, who's the most receptive? He thought of each person in the group. Of course, probably Paula. After all, she was the telepathic wonder in the game.
SulamiTea said something in an old, old language to himself. Mike noticed, but figured that SulamiTea was just taking care of something. SulamiTea whispered to himself. "Now, let's talk to our friends! Telepathy!" Sulami felt the range of his mind expand, and focused on Paula's consciousness.
Paula! It's me, SulamiTea, he spoke over space. We were in Deep Darkness, too, but now the Manly Fish turned into a Manly Kraken, and he's letting us ride him north to check the pyramids. Skulryk says we might find something important. What did your group find?
SulamiTea? was the surprised reply. I didn't know you joined the others! Well, we were discussing who's controlling the Animus. We think it's more than one person. Oh, also, we defeated Belch. We're deciding what to do now, but I'll tell the others where you're all going.
SulamiTea smiled to himself. Thank you, Paula. I hope we'll see you all later.
Right! We'll meet again, I'm sure. Good to see you've calmed down. Well, bye for now! The connection was cut.
Ness, Tracy, Rusty, Anthadd, and Cyan had been waiting for Paula to respond after her meditative behavior. "Everyone, it's the others! We just missed them, but they're headed north to look for pyramids! They said they were hoping to find something helpful."
"Aw, we missed them? Great," sighed Siris. "Oh well. What do we do now then?"
"I haven't the faintest idea where to look," admitted Anthadd. "If you were controlling hatred, where would you be?"
Ness nodded his head, musing to himself. "We need to try to feel the source of the Animus.... as far as I can figure. Whaddiwe do? Can someone try to sense it?"
SulamiTea called out to the others. "People, I just talked to Paula!"
Dan blinked. "How? We haven't even seen them, and we're moving across the ocean now."
Sulami shook his head. "Telepathy. I used magic to mentally communicate. But they beat Master Belch, and are considering what to do next."
SimonBob was suddenly struck by a thought. "Wait a minute! My gem!" he groaned. "The Rallets gem, if I had known that Belch was beaten, I'd..." SimonBob slumped over. "Ah, darn it. He probably didn't have it with him, anyway. I wonder if I'll ever find that thing?"
"I'm sure you'll find it eventually," said Luna consolingly.
Skulryk also received an idea. "Oh yeah, SulamiTea, are you going to explain how you know us? I'm still curious."
SulamiTea sighed. "Well, for now I think we should concentrate on our search... but I'll tell you this much. A friend described most of you to me, although the people he saw weren't the same yous..... um, I mean..." Everyone stared at him, baffled. "Oh, I'll finish explaining later."
A nod came from Mike. "Yeah, that should tide us over for now. Let's get to this pyramid of yours first of all, Skulryk."
"Hey!" Anna shouted. "They left us behind!"
"Mm," Siris acknowledged. "Indeed they did... and they're pretty far out there now."
"Well," Cyan said. "We need to go with them."
"No kidding," Ness muttered. "But not all of us can fly, remember?"
"I can transform into Anthdragn," Anthadd noted, "and carry a few people."
"You can't carry too many people though, Anthadd," Siris pointed out. "Can you?"
"Probably two," Anthadd replied, "Any more than that might slow us down."
"Okay then, here's what I'm thinking," Siris said. "I can fly, as can Cyan. Anna, can you?"
Anna nodded, and created a floating broom of fire, which she hopped onto.
"Alright," Siris continued. "I'm thinking Anthadd could transform to Anthdragn and carry Rusty and Tracy on his back. Would that be okay, Anthadd?"
Anthadd nodded. "Certainly."
"That leaves Ness and Paula," Siris said, "Who could probably Teleport, but for the sake of safety, I think they should stay with us."
"Like Ness said, though," Paula noted. "We can't fly."
"No problem," Siris grinned. He walked over to Ness and placed his palm on Ness's back. Siris's hand glowed light blue, and magical energy flowed into Ness. "It's a temporary flight spell," Siris explained. "It should let you fly the distance between here and Scaraba."
Ness tested this, and lifted himself into the air. "Neat," he said.
Siris then did the same to Paula. As he placed a palm to her back, he blushed and trembled nervously. He always had trouble casting touch-range spells on girls; it was a nervous feeling he couldn't shake. He laughed nervously as he cast the spell, and shortly afterwards, Paula rose into the air, ready to fly.
Siris backed away, and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Okay, are we ready?" Anthadd asked as he transformed. "Then let'ssshh be going!"
Rusty and Tracy climbed onto Anthdragn's back, and the group began to fly northward over the sea.
Hovering dozen's of feet above the seas, the group pressed onward. Anthadd flicked his tongue slightly, noticing the increasingly dreary weather.
"It seemsss...stormy...does it not, Cccyan?"
Cyan nodded, and sniffed the air slightly. A raindrop hit him on the cheek. "A thunderstorm would not be too out of place right now."
As he said this, he heard a small hiss that was unlike Anthdragn's speech. He turned his head, and wiped a tiny drop from his eye to see what was going on.
Tiny puffs of steam were coming off of Anna's head. As the rain hit her, it dissolved into wisps of steam, and after the rain picked up slightly she was almost covered in a fine mist. Suddenly, Anna looked up. "What are you all looking at?" She said, and then looked up into the sky. "Oh...that...heh. Haven't you ever seen a fire get hit by rain before?"
Cyan rolled his eyes at her, and ignored her. "Anthadd, i think we had better land. This storm could really pick up soon."
*BOOM*
A crash of lightning and a blast of thunder caused Anthadd to readily agree. He saw the shore of Scaraba out of the corner of his eye, and turned into the shore. The others followed him, careful to dodge the striking bolts.
Once they had landed on shore, the rain began to become heavier. However, Anthadd suggested that they could at least walk as far as the pyramid remains. "At least it's not hot out..."
Ness was about to agree, but he saw something more interesting.
"Chartreuse...what are you doing?"
The group turned to see Chartreuse slipping on a pair of black sunglasses. "I have to be prepared for these long desert walks!"
Anna rolled her eyes, but the group pressed on. Each drop of rain felt like a lead bullet on their cheeks. Suddenly, Saffron reached out his tail and tripped Chartreuse, sending him flying into a rock.
Chartreuse looked up, his glasses broken and his left eye swollen.
"Yo, Anna!"
Anna glared at him. "What?"
"I broke my shades!"
"Serves ya right..." she muttered.
The group kept walking, until Scarlet tapped Anna on the shoulder.
"Yo, Anna!"
"What?"
"My makeup's running!"
Anna sighed, and smacked her hand to her head. "Then change brands!"
Scarlet scowled, and faded into rank.
Anna had finally grown accustomed to the silence, when two voices yelled at her in unison.
"Yo, Anna!"
She wheeled on them. "WHAT?"
"My head hurts!" Saffron whined.
"You're way out of shape!" Then she turned to Indigo.
"And just what do you want?"
Indigo quailed under Anna's sharp eye. "I’m.... hungry!"
Anna clenched her fists together, and grimaced. "Chew on your TONGUE!"
Indigo squeaked, and then Saffron dragged her back into line. "Come on, we've almost reached the pyramids."
As another bolt of lighting flashed in the blackening sky, Anthadd barely made out the edge of the pyramids. He noticed some other figures, moving faintly. "Looks like the others made it there before us.... Or is that them?"
Lucille smiled from the control tower of her NEW operation. "This is perfect! Soon, they will reach the remains of the pyramid...and my greatest and final challenge will await them!"
She cackled loudly, and walked out the door. In the hallway, she failed to do a check around. A piece of burnt Magic cake lay in the middle of the floor. She slipped on it, and fell.
"Oh...my back."
"So," said Luna. "Just what are you planning in Scaraba?"
Skulryk didn't respond right away. Instead, he pulled out an ancient map.
"This is a map of southern Scaraba." Skulryk said. He hit Poo's hand away as he reached out to grab it. "Be careful! It's extremely old. Thousands of years."
Poo whined a bit about his hand, but Luna cut him off. "Be quiet Poo! Go on, Skul."
"Alright..." Skulryk pointed to the map. "As you can see, there are four pyramids out here." He pointed to one. "This one is called Kabraou. It was the first known Scaraban pyramid built. It's been looted by theives long ago, and there isn't anything left in it." He pointed to another one. "This is Sacra. It was the one that was mysteriously opened during the war against Giygas. It's also the one that recently collapsed for unknown reasons." He sighed, then pointed to a third pyramid. "This is Hassano. It has been searched and excavated long ago, and there isn't anything more there. It was the one where my parents worked on an expadition." He then pointed to a fourth pyramid. "This one is unnamed. It's the one that was recently discovered, and the one where all the recent shipments came from. It's where this knife came from, but according to sources I've recently heard, it was not found inside the pyramid. Workers say it appeared inside the King's tomb, and they didn't know how, because they had searched it from top to bottom, and it was sitting right in the middle on a pedestal."
"Alright..." Poo said. "That's four pyramids. Now where's your mysterious 'fifth' pyramid?"
"Well, you can't see anything here, but look at this..." Skulryk took some sand out of a sack, and sprinkled it over the map. "This sand was broken down from the ancient stones which form the pyramids." Skulryk looked at his watch and held the map under the sun. "Watch closely; this can only be seen at high noon."
The sand which stuck on the map began to sparkle and shine, and for a brief instant, it glowed in the rain, shimmering. The sand seemed to form a fifth pyramid, far south of the other four. However, all of a sudden it disappeared.
"Whoa!!!" Poo exclaimed. "That's amazing!"
"Is... is that the fifth pyramid?" Luna said. "With this map, how come noone has found out about it?"
"Well, I wasn't too sure about that until I saw this knife. Workers have gone there before, and almost dug the entire place up. They haven't found a thing. Now the holes are filled with sand, and after an almost year-long expedition they figured the map was a fluke and my parents, who were in posession of it, gave it to me. Now that I have this knife, I think this is the key to revealing the pyramid."
"Wow..." Mike said. "That's amazing... I just hope we don't just waste our time."
Mika was a bit confused on just exactly what had happened here. She frowned for a moment and then set off on her own through the swampy marshland. Along the way, she hit something hard. In pain, she held her toes and watched the spot, where she hurt herself, rise to her level. Startled, she jumped back and watched the water poured off the mysterious figure to revealed a Manly Fish. Once he appeared, Mika jumped back and whipped out her spear. The Manly Fish held his hand up and said, "Wait! I came in peace!"
Great, I'm stuck in a poorly made B-movie. Mika giggled quietly.
Smarting up, she sticked the spear into the ground and demanded to know what its intents were. The Manly Fish said, "I only wanted to help."
Mika was a little bit uneasy, since she just encountered this creature seconds ago. Was he something to be trusted?
"I'll show you Beetles." said the Manly Fish.
"Beetles?" Mika asked.
"Yes, Beetles." The Manly Fish smiled and pulled out a tape recorder and played Yellow Submarine.
Mika caught on and said, "Oh, you mean 'The Beatles!'"
The Manly Fish nodded and took her out of the Deep Darkness and past the Monkey Hotel, to a beach. The Manly Fish dived into the water, and after a few minutes later, A yellow submarine popped out of the water. Mika, however, stared in disbelief.
She closed her mouth and said, "Thanks... but why are you helping me?"
"The Animus in me was gone. I had to help your friends, but they left. So, I decided to help you instead. Oh! I almost forgot, here. This might be helpful." The Manly Fish said as he passed a book to Mika.
Then an announcer's voice boomed out of nowhere, startling the two.
Mika got the Mysterious Diary!
The voice disappeared. The Manly Fish stated that Master Belch had one, but he knew that they wouldn't accept it; since the book was a tad bit... disgusting to touch. Mika nodded and said, "Thanks for your help."
The Manly Fish stamped his spear and said, "No problem. Good luck, and I hope you'll find your friends."