Grand Voyage- Log 46

Log 46: The Three Trials, Conclusion
Limey skidded backward slightly, dropping Knave back to the ground. Rubbing his face, the fishman looked up to see his attack, growling.

Gopher stood in front of Knave, allowing his formerly human-sized hand to ‘deflate’ as it were, returning to its original size. “Gao!” he cried angrily.

“Another one of them?” Limey asked, already preparing for combat, “should I crush this one like the rest?!”

“H-how the hell did you do that?!” Stormy asked, pulling Knave to safety while still staring at Gopher.

“Gao, gao gao!” the Shroomian replied.

“H-he says it’s called Spore Combat,” Knave gasped, barely conscious yet picking up on Gopher’s words, “c-can create spores a-and stuff...”

“I see,” Stormy remarked, “so it’s like high-level doping to him?”

“G-guess so...”

“Kajakakakakakakakakakakaka!” the Fishman laughed, “so you think you can take me on, little bug?! I’ll crush you were you stand, kill all of you-”

“Gao!” Gopher yelled, one of his legs swelling up. He took a massive leap into the air, then spun and kicked into the air, sending him flying towards Limey. He let his leg deflate, right as his arm grew to a better size. He brought the fist forward, smashing into the top of the Fishman’s head.

Limey’s knees buckled slightly, a small crater forming beneath him as he threw his hand up to catch his new opponent with a punch. Gopher quickly deflated his arm and flipped through the air, landing safely a few feet away, the fishman’s punch striking the air harmlessly.

“Stupid,” Limey gasped, quickly spitting into his hand. He lifted it up, allowing the spittle to drip slightly, but for some reason it remained in place, defying gravity ever so slightly, “You won’t be able to stop this!”

“Gao!” Gopher said, crouching down slightly, his ‘wings’ spinning rapidly, releasing what appeared as dust specks into the air, that quickly circled around his arms. Immediately both of them bulged, forming two human-sized fists.

“Gao’n!” Gopher cried, lunging forward, both hands whipping through the air, delivering dozens of punches per second. Limey grinned, then prepared to swing his hand forward. With any luck, the bullet would fly through them and kill the little bastard, and then-

Right as he made the throwing motion, intense pain surged through his arm, as the white flame energy sparked to life along it, delivering a vicious blow to his elbow, breaking his arm quickly. “Grrah!” he gasped, stopping his attack as he gripped his arm. ''What the hell?! When I punched that kid earlier, did he...?''

Over where he was lying, Knave let out a small chuckle as Stormy quickly redid his bandages. “Naga Naga no...” he whispered, “...Delayed Reaction.”

At that moment, Gopher’s fists collided, and in his weakened state Limey was no match, the fists pummeling him, snapping his nose, bruises forming over his body rapidly. All he could do was let out a small cough as he was hurled back, flying through yet another building, then landing on top of a rather large Venus Fly Trap, which quickly snapped down on him!

Quiet filled the air as Gopher let his arms deflate, collapsing onto a nearby piece of rubble, panting from the effort.

The battle was over.

“You guys okay?!” Sid yelled as he dashed back into the village, a KOed D’Artagnan on his back. He stopped as he saw Gopher panting, the wall of the hospital broken open, Knave asleep as Stormy wrapped the last of the bandages around his head, the Shroomian doctor watching anxiously.

“Ah,” the navigator said, collapsing onto the ground, “so everything worked out.”

“Gao gao...” the elder said as he stepped up to the ground, Knave turning his head slightly to see him as well.

“‘Yes it is,’” Sid translated.

“Gao..... gao gao Limey gao....”

“‘You... for defeating Limey, we....’”

The elder dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead against the ground, tearing up a tiny bit. “Gao!” he cried happily.

“‘..Owe you a great debt,’” Sid finished, smiling a bit, along with the other members of the crew.

“Ciaosususususu!” Knave laughed, “it’s not problem, Mushroom-pops!”

The other Shroomians began rapidly returning, cheering and dancing for joy. Merriment filled the air, and even the Marimos got involved a tiny bit. They were so happy that they even failed to notice a figure pulling himself out of the giant plant.

Limey staggered forward, his body covered with blood, his left side heavily gnawed and burnt by the Venus Fly Trap. He moved slowly, using all of his strength to reach the beach ahead.

The water.... he thought groggily, just got to reach the water...

As he finally reached the water’s edge, he collapsed, the tide quickly pulling him in, sending him drifting out into the sea. Dammit, he thought, watching as the smaller fish and other sea life moved around below him, I was so close too....

A hand tapped him on the shoulder, and the fishman rolled over quickly in the water. Holding out the hand was a truly titanic man, who wore a simple dark purple jumpsuit on most of his body, with the color open, exposing a white shirt underneath. He had long, flowing black hair, and his skin was pasty white. He also wore a large, death’s head-esque mask.

“Well, well, well,” Don Cazzuto said, “would you like some assistance then?”

~End of Log~

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