literature

Ch. 20 Changes

Deviation Actions

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The sand shifted, as if it were making a portal. The Knights of the Hydrii looked at the sand, and then back at Zomus.

"Don't look at me." Zomus chuckled, and turned his back. Hazel was about to chase after him before Colton grabber her shoulder.

"Don't do it, we're going to need you." Colton said. Hazel tightened her grip on her sword and scowled at Zomus as he flew south. Max looked back at the sand and gasped as a figure started to climb out of the sand. Hazel took her eyes off of the fading speck that Zomus had become in the distance, and looked at the sand. The thing was slowly raising itself out of the sand, and the sand it touched almost seemed to melt.

Colton, you have to douse this guy, it's the only way we can defeat him." Max said. Colton nodded, and pointed the tip of his sword at the figure. The blade turned a deep blue before it shot out a beam of water at the figure. The water made contact; however, it instantly turned into steam.

"That didn't work..." Colton said, rubbing his head. The creature finally got itself above the sand before the portal closed, and looked at the warriors.

"You are foolish to cross Me." it said.

"El Diablo, you are a servant of Zomus, and you must be crushed!" Max yelled.

"And you are servant of stupid." El Diablo replied, his deep voice rumbling the ground. Max glared at the monster, and began to run up to it before Jessie caught him.

"Max, you don't always have to play hero, sooner or later, it's going to get you killed." Jessie said. Suddenly a lightning bolt struck the ground, creating a small patch of glass. Max turned around and saw Hazel, her sword pointed into the air. Suddenly another bolt struck the ground, this one causing thunder. Max covered his ears before looking at El Diablo. The monster hadn't moved an inch; it just stood there watching the warriors.

"I'm waiting." El Diablo said, crossing his arms. Suddenly he got struck by bolt of lightning. El Diablo took a step back, and stepped on the glass, and fell down. Max, who saw the whole thing, couldn't keep himself from laughing. Suddenly a stone pillar struck El Diablo's head, and collapsed over the devil.

"Hazel, Colton, I have an idea." Max said, as he watch El Diablo rub his head.

"What is it?" Hazel asked.

"Cotton, unleash a steam of water like you did before, however, I want Hazel to add some electricity into it." Max told them. Colton nodded, and focused his attention on El Diablo. His blade started to turn a deep blue again, however, deeper than the last shot. Max looked at Hazel and nodded, and her sword began to glow a faint yellow. Max looked back at Colton, who seemed to be struggling holding back the attack, when suddenly a large beam of water shot out of the tip of Colton's sword. Max looked back at Hazel and saw a blast of electricity hit the beam of water. Max then focused his attention on El Diablo, who had finally gotten up. The attack hit him, and before the water could be turned into steam like last time, the lightning struck him, and then the water. Finally the two combined elements hit the monster, and it knocked him down.

"Is that the best you can do?" El Diablo asked.

"No, there is more coming!" Max bluffed.

"Alright, then it's my turn." El Diablo said, and punched the ground.

Is that going to do anything? Max thought. A few seconds later a hand popped out of the sand in front of the heroes. The hand closed into a fist, and punched Max. Max grimaced as he flew a few feet back, and looked at El Diablo. The devil was laughing.

"Should have resigned when you had the chance!" El Diablo roared. Max picked up his sword, and took aim at El Diablo's head, and unleashed a large fireball at the monster. The moment the fire ball made contact, it bounced back at Max, moving faster than before. Max yelped and dived to the left as the fireball exploded. Max turned and looked at Jessie, who gave him a quick nod. She lifted up a two large stone objects. Max then unleashed a stream of fire onto both of them, almost melting the stone. Jessie then swung her sword in the direction of El Diablo, and the molten stone objects followed. They hit El Diablo at each shoulder; however, instead of harming the demon, the stones stuck to his shoulders, and became armor for him.

"Is this truly the best you can do?" El Diablo asked. He covered his eyes and let out a loud laugh. Max growled, and ran up to El Diablo again, this time Jessie was unable to stop him.

"Max!" Jessie yelled.

--

Shelby looked off the helm of her ship, squinting to see anything on the horizon.

"I like being on sea, but not doing this kind of job..." Shelby muttered to herself. She scanned the sea looking for something, anything, on the horizon. Once again, she saw nothing. Shelby turned around, and watched her crew working like ants. They always worked their tails off when she was on board. Shelby let out a laugh at the thought of what they do when she's nowhere to be seen. One of the pirates stopped and looked at her, but then started to work again.

"Hey you!" Shelby shouted, and the pirate who had glanced over at her stopped.

"Yes...?" the pirate asked.

"I saw you look at me." Shelby said, her hands adjusting her belt.

"It was mistake, I swear!" the pirate said. Shelby walked towards the pirate, the other pirates moving around to see what was going on.

"A mistake?" Shelby asked. The pirate whimpered. Shelby let out a smile, a devilish smile, as she slid her hand over to her revolver.

"Yes! It was a mistake!!" The pirate whimpered.

"Then what was I doing?" Shelby asked.

"You were laughing!" The pirate replied instantly. Silence filled the ship for a few seconds.

"If it was an accident, you wouldn't have known I was laughing." Shelby said, and drew out her revolver.

"Please! I'm sorry!!" The pirate begged and fell down. Shelby dropped her revolver back in its holster and laughed. The whole crew started to laugh as well.

"I was joking." Shelby said, and held out her hand. The pirate grabbed it, and Shelby helped up off the deck.

"I was joking too..." The pirate lied. Shelby laughed as she went into her captain's quarters. She took a look at her map, finding all the pirates are going to be hard. Shelby took her revolver out of its holster, and took the weapon apart. She looked into the barrel of the gun, and groaned when she saw that the barrel was starting to rust. She took out an iron brush and started to clean the barrel until it was clean again. It would never gleam silver like when her dad had given it to her. It's her oldest gun; however, it's also her most accurate. Shelby put the barrel down, and started to clean the butt of the gun. Once it had started to shine she added some wood finish to make it look better. She then started to clean the hammer, the most important part of her revolver. She sighed once her revolver was finished, and she put the weapon back together, and put the weapon back into its holster. She then unsheathed her saber, and placed it on her table. The blade gleamed in the candlelight of her cabin. She stood up and walked over to the hilt, and inspects it a little more, making sure there was no major damage that would affect its use in battle. She walked over to one of her drawers and picked up a roll of cloth, and walked back to her saber. Very carefully she took the old cloth off of where her hand would sit, and she replaced it with the new cloth. Shelby secured the cloth, and held the saber. The new cloth felt better in her hand, but that was the only difference she could tell. She sheathed her sword, and slowly took her Blunderbuss off her back and set it down on her table. This was the only weapon of hers that she bought, and she hasn't used it at all. It was indeed her strongest weapon, however she didn't trust it too much either. The weapon dealer had explained to her that the weapon has a wide range for the scatter of bullets, which could injure, or kill, allies in the blast range. The weapon was mainly used for intimidation than anything. Suddenly an explosion came from outside. Shelby quickly put her Blunderbuss back on her back, grabbed her captain's hat, and ran outside.

"Me can't have ye plunderin' the seas anymore!" a deep voice yelled.

You've got to be kidding me, Davey Jones as allied himself with Zomus? Shelby thought to herself.

--

Jessie watched in horror as Max had slid under the devil, and stabbed the things tail. The creature laughed, and turned around, and seemed to look at Max. El Diablo then summoned two, three pronged, tridents. He grabbed them, and laughed as he stabbed the ground. Jessie gasped as she realized her dream from the night before was a premonition of what they were going to be fighting. She turned and noticed Colton was gone as well. Jessie groaned as the two boys of the group decided to...

"Take the devil by the horns." Hazel said. Jessie turned around and looked at Hazel, thinking that that she had just read her mind.

"So what do we do?" Jessie asked, curious for Hazel's idea.

"I say we join them, can't let them have all the fun." Hazel said, and took after the two. Jessie groaned, but chased after Hazel.

"Now this is what I call fun!" El Diablo shouted as he stabbed a trident into the ground. Max rolled to the left, and gabbed one of the thorns sticking off of the trident. El Diablo lifted the trident, and saw that Max was hanging on it.

"How's it going?" Max asked before making a jump at El Diablo. The demon struck the trident into the ground again, a moment to late though. Max landed at the bottom of El Diablo's robe. Max crawled up the robe without being detected, and he finally got up to El Diablo's face. Max took a nice stab beneath one of his eyes.

"How dare you!" El Diablo shouted, and plucked Max off of his face. The devil brought Max out so he could see Max clearly.

"What are you going to do? Eat me?" Max asked, laughing.

"I thought about it." El Diablo replied. He then flung Max towards the ground.

"Agh!" Max yelled as he plummeted towards the sand bellow.

"It was nice knowing you Maxwell." El Diablo said. Colton dropped his sword, mid-attack, and swopped in to save Max. He barely caught the Jumal before he had crashed into the ground. Colton then turned his attention to his falling sword, and swopped down and caught it. Colton then set Max down on the sand, and gave him a glare.

"Max, you don't have wings, don't go flying again." Colton joked, and then flew off. Max grumbled something under his breath, and took a good look at El Diablo. The devil was gigantic, and quick. Max frowned, he was totally useless on the ground. He then got a sudden idea, and he smiled at it.

"Wind." Max muttered under his breath and transformed into a gust of wind for a moment. Then he changed back to his regular self, besides being a little bit grayer than usual. Max took a good running start before he took the skies. He flew around El Diablo, and dove into his hair. Max quickly changed back once he landed in the devils hair. He quickly made sure to swing from strand to strand before he got to the skin.

This guy is huge! My attacks won't do much damage... Max thought, and stabbed the back of El Diablo's neck. El Diablo punched the back of his head, missing Max, however, the impact made Max fall again. Max grabbed his sword, and closed his eyes. He continued to think wind to transform, but he couldn't, his mind wasn't as clear as it needed to be. Max hit the sand, and disappeared with a loud Thud . Colton looked in the direction of the sound, and horror streaked across his face.

"Max!" Colton yelled.

"Good-bye!" El Diablo shouted, and smacked Colton out of the sky. Colton yelped as he fell towards the sand, but he was able to use his wings to soften his landing. Hazel and Jessie hurried up to meet him.

"Are you okay?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, but I can't say the same for Max." Colton said, and looked where Max and hit the ground.

"I told him to stop playing hero..." Jessie said.

"I'm surprised you four lasted this long!" El Diablo said.

"We're surprised you've lasted this long!" a deep voice came from the sand. El Diablo turned, and saw the sand starting to move.

"I guess that didn't quite kill you." El Diablo hissed, and stomped the sand.

"Max!" Hazel screeched, and turned away.

"No... He can't be..." Colton said, tears starting to build up in his eyes.

"Hey, you!" the deep voice yelled. El Diablo turned to see where it was coming from.

"Yeah, you, with the face!" the deep voice taunted. El Diablo looked down and saw Max standing below him with his sword loosely sitting in his hand.

"I thought I killed you." El Diablo hissed.

"You thought wrong, Devil Face!" Max yelled, and jumped up with incredible speed, and distance.

"Since when could Max do that?" Hazel asked.

"That's not Max." Jessie said.

"What?!" both Colton and Hazel exclaimed at the same time.

"Look at the color of his hair; it's black, not blond." Jessie replied. El Diablo took both of his tridents and tried to pierce Max into the sand, but only to miss him entirely. Max appeared behind the devil, and unleashed a fury of attacks on his tail. El Diablo howled and thrashed his tail into the sand.

"Did that get him?" El Diablo said his tone getting more agitated.

"Nope!" Max yelled, and stabbed one of El Diablo's toes.

"Yeeeeouch!!" El Diablo shouted, and stopped the foot that had just been stabbed.

"You've got to be quicker than that!" Max yelled, and stabbed underneath the right knee cap. El Diablo's leg gave, and he fell to a knee.

"Who are you?" El Diablo asked.

"Just your friendly warrior." Max replied El Diablo threw a punch at Max, but Max was gone again. El Diablo looked under him, and saw Max making a star pattern in the sand.

"No!" El Diablo shouted.

"You don't want to go back home?" Max asked.

"The portal will be too small!!" El Diablo shouted.

"That means you won't be able to escape next time." Max retorted, and finished the star. The portal opened, and started to suck El Diablo into it.

"Please!" El Diablo begged, "I don't want to go back!" Max just stood there, sword in the sand, and watched the devil get sucked back into the Underworld. Max looked up and signaled for Jessie to come to him. Jessie picked up her sword, and walked over to Max.

"I want you to place a stone pillar over this star once he's gone." Max said over El Diablo's screaming.

"Okay!" Jessie replied. The devil tried to grab anything he could to pull himself out of the portal, but the sand that was around him was being sucked in as well. Max grinned as El Diablo finally got sucked into the Underworld, and Jessie placed the stone pillar over the star.

"Excellent." Max replied, and started to cast magic spells on the pillar.

"What are you doing?" Jessie asked.

"Making sure El Diablo will never exit again." Max replied. The pillar suddenly changed, and there were a lot of glyphs all over it.

"That is...?" Jessie started, but couldn't find the words to complete her sentence.

"Jumal, it's how we bound demons." Max said. Colton and Hazel had finally moved, and walked up to the other two warriors.

"Hello Colt." Max said.

"The names Colton." Colton said.

"I know, but you have yet to accept your other half." Max said, rubbing the back of his head.

"What do you mean?" Colton asked.

"I mean you have yet to fully become "Colton", right now you're more like Colt." Max said. Colton glared at Max for a while before giving it up.

"And who are you?" Hazel asked.

"I'm actually Kaiden; I'm just using Max's body." Kaiden said.

"What!?"

--

Shelby drew her revolver and fired three shots at the enemy pirates as they tried to raid her ship.

"Jones!" Shelby shouted. Davey Jones turned his head, and saw Shelby.

"As me said, me can't let ye sail free!" Davey Jones shouted, "Orders from Captain Kyaren!"

"But I'm working w-" Shelby tried to explain before her voice got cut off by the roar of canons. Shelby frowned, this was the first time she's ever met up with Davey Jones, and she wasn't sure which battle tactic to use. She could hear Davey Jones laughing over the roar of the canons, and she noticed more and more pirates invading her ship. Shelby cussed, and unsheathed her saber. She sprinted after the first one she saw; he had just landed on the ship and didn't have time to ready his weapon. The poor chap didn't even have a fighting chance. Shelby turned and saw a group of ten pirates battling four of her crew. Shelby didn't give it a second thought; she helped her crew take down the gang before she looked elsewhere. Nothing made Shelby mad like losing members of her crew. She took on one of the pirates that were attempting to attack one of her crewmates while he was distracted. Shelby thrust her sword through the pirates back. The pirate stopped mid-attack, and fell down. Shelby drew her revolver and shot a pirate that had noticed her presence. The shot flew true, and the bullet hit between the eyes of the enemy. The pirate collapsed, and the blood streamed out of the wound. Shelby drew her saber out of the pirate at her feet, and dropped the revolver into its holster, and took another pirate on. This pirate, however, saw the attack and blocked her attack. The pirate swung for Shelby's neck, however Shelby duck and thrust her sword at the pirates leg. The saber went through the muscle and didn't touch the bone at all. The pirate groaned in pain, and kicked Shelby. Shelby fell down, and looked up at the pirate. His eyes were gleaming as he walked closer to Shelby. Shelby crawled back, making an attempt to get away from the pirate. The pirate let out an insane laugh as he continued to get closer to Shelby. Shelby reached for her revolver, but noticed it wasn't in her holster anymore. Shelby gasped as the pirate took a swing at her left leg. Shelby rolled to the right and grabbed her Blunderbuss from her back. She pulled the trigger without thinking of any bad side effect. The pirate flew back, with multiple wounds in his chest, neck, arms, and legs. Shelby stood up, and placed her Blunderbuss back on her back. She looked around and was glad to see none of her crewmates were hit by the Blunderbuss. She walked over to where she was first kicked and picked up her revolver, and dropped it back into its holster. She then walked over to the pirate whose life was taken by the Blunderbuss and pulled out her saber.

Shelby looked back, and saw some more pirates running after her. Shelby cussed as she drew her revolver again. She pulled the trigger as fast as she could, killing the pirates in their tracks. Shelby turned, and saw Davey Jones about to board her ship.

"I'm not letting that scum board my ship..." Shelby said, as she raised her revolver.


--

Max opened his eyes; he was in an area he's seen before. Max tried to remember where he had seen this place, was it a dream? Max rubbed his head, and sat up.

"Max," a female voice said, her tone was very stern, "You should really listen to your friends." Max turned and saw his mom frowning at him.

"I'm sorry..." Max started. He looked down ashamed.

"But it was for the better your dad jumped in and saved the day." Alisha said.

"Really?" Max asked.

"Yeah, you're lucky to have him as a dad." Alisha said.

"But... How?" Max asked, remembering that his dad told him that he couldn't go back to Earth.

"He's using your body." Alisha replied.

"What?!" Max shouted.

"Yeah, it surprised him too." Alisha laughed. She moved to the left, and showed off a small window.

"Is that...?" Max asked as he walked up to it.

"How we keep an eye on you, yes." Alisha replied. Max looked out the window and saw his dad disappear behind El Diablo.

"How...!" Max said before his dad unleashed a fury attacks that were barely visible.

"Training, speaking of which..." Alisha started, and unsheathed her sword.

"What?" Max asked.

"Your father asked me to train you while he defeats El Diablo." Alisha replied.

"But-" Max tried to argue, but Alisha swung at his right leg. Max rolled to the left, and unsheathed Nova.

"Nice maneuver." Alisha said.

"I'll go easy on you Mom." Max said.

"Don't worry, I won't." Alisha said. Alisha ran towards Max, but suddenly disappeared. Max jumped to the left, and pivoted and saw his mom. Alisha had started her run again, and tried to lay a hit onto Max's right arm. Max focused his energy and created a rock barrier to protect him.

"Oh? You don't need to become the element now?" Alisha asked. Max looked at the barrier surprised that he just did that.

A new power... Or am I starting to become more powerful? Max thought to himself. Alisha went disappeared behind Max to hit his knee, but Max disappeared.

"What?" Alisha asked. Max appeared behind her and swung his sword at his mom. Alisha turned around and blocked the attack, and returned with a quick counter attack. Max saw the twitch in Alisha's arm, and rolled in the same direction of her attack. Alisha's attack missed, and Max attacked the open spot. Alisha noticed the move, and disappeared. Max noticed his mom wasn't in front of him anymore, and unleashed a ring of fire to keep any surprise attacks at bay. Alisha stopped, and looked at Max.

"You done?" Max asked.

"No, we need to stop using our powers." Alisha said.

"What?" Max shouted.

"Your dad will train you with the powers; I'm here just to train you in the art of swordplay." Alisha stated calmly.

"But I need my powers!" Max complained.

"That's why I need to train you, use the powers to help, not as your main weapon." Alisha said. Max nodded, and lifted his sword off the ground.

"Shall we?" Max asked. Alisha nodded, and swung her sword to her shoulder. Max stood stationary watching his mom's movements closely; she constantly shifted her weight from leg to leg.

It's going to be hard to predict her movements with her doing that. Max thought. Max noticed the muscle in Alisha's right leg tense up, he looked up and saw the muscles in her arm tense up as well. Max acknowledged the attack, and swung in the area that would be open once Alisha did attack. Alisha's eyes gleamed as she saw Max prepare his counter attack, and unleashed her own counter attack. The blow sent Max flying the opposite direction. Max hit the ground, and slid another three feet before coming to a stop. Max stood up, and rubbed his left shoulder, and looked at his mom.

I guess she wasn't lying when she told me she was the strongest fighter. Max thought.

--

"So what you mean to tell us is you can use Max's body at any time?" Jessie asked.

"I actually don't know, this is the first time I've done this." Kaiden said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But does that mean you could stay in Max's body and help us defeat Zomus?" Colton asked.

"I think I'm limited to a use of twenty-four hours, and then I can't use this power for twenty-four hours." Kaiden replied.

"And what about Max?" Hazel asked.

"Max is training with his mom at the moment." Kaiden replied, and looked up into the sky. Kaiden sighed, and looked out to the west, and saw the sun set. Kaiden smiled as he watched the glowing orb change for a moment into a deep red, before it finally set. Kaiden looked at the others, and smiled. He didn't say a word, but suddenly a fire, with all the wood for it, appeared in the middle of the circle they had made.

"How did you do that?" Colton asked.

"It's one of the Varan Protector's powers." Kaiden replied.

"What?" Hazel asked.

"They can cast their magic without needing to utter a word, they just need to will it hard enough to become reality, but it is a hard technique to teach." Kaiden said.

"So you mean other people can learn that?" Jessie asked, her eyes gleaming.

"It is possible; however, it's much easier for those who are born with the talent in their blood." Kaiden replied. Jessie nodded slowly, and looked into the fire. Kaiden stood up, and walked away from the fire.

"Uh... Mr. Kyaren?" Colton asked. Kaiden lifted a hand to tell him it was okay. A brief second, and then Kaiden collapsed. Hazel gasped, and ran up to him.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked.

"If you count being beaten up by your mom okay..." Max said. Hazel let out a sigh, and helped Max up. The two walked back to the fire, Max walking slower than usual.

"Why are you walking slowly, Max?" Colton asked.

"I told Hazel, but I got beaten up by my mom." Max replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Colton joked. Max lifted up his shirt to show off the cuts and bruises he had received from the fight he had with his mom.

"Ouch... I see why she said she was the strongest fighter!" Jessie joked. Max smiled, that's what he had thought too. Max slid his hand over to the hilt of Nova, and thought about how fast his mom was for her counter attacks. Max sighed as he thought about all of his failed counter attacks he tried.

"Can you imagine how Tasha would react if she saw you like this?" Colton asked. Both Jessie and Max roared with laughter, imagining the scene Tasha would create.

"Uh... Who is Tasha?" Hazel asked. The other three looked at Hazel, and roared with laughter again. Hazel scowled at the three, and muttered something under her breath. Suddenly the sand behind the other three exploded, causing sand to fall like rain.

"Tasha is Max's girlfriend." Jessie said once she caught her breath.

"She freaks out over every little injury of Max's." Colton said once he stopped laughing. Hearing that last statement, Max burst out laughing again, he couldn't talk, and all he could do was nod and clap his hands together. The other three seeing Max do that couldn't help themselves but laugh. Once everyone calmed down, the only sound that could be heard was the cackle of the fire.

"I'm not sure if I want to start school again." Hazel said at last, breaking the long silence.

"Why's that?" Max asked.

"I don't have any friends, no one to turn to for any trouble..." Hazel started, and she started to cry.

She must be thinking of Henry... Max thought. Hazel looked up, wiping her tears away.

"It's okay, I made new friends... You'll... Help me, right?" Hazel asked.

"Of course!" Max said without a second thought. Hazel smiled, and looked into the fire. Max got up and sat on his sleeping bag, and thought about his battle with his mom. Of course she was fast, she's the only so far Max had seen put fear in Zomus's eyes. If Max could find a way to defeat her, he'd be unstoppable...

No... Because of all the other monsters powers, that's why your dad is going to train you Max thought and rolled onto his side. Max closed his eyes, and began to sleep.

--

Kaiden flew through the air as he got hit with another one of Max's explosions.

"Good, your accuracy is great, however..." Kaiden said, as he mended his wounds.

"However?" Max asked.

"You keep using too much energy, these attacks are to help you in the sword fight, not win the battle." Kaiden said. Max crossed his arms and frowned.

"Dad, that's how I battle." Max said.

"I know, and that's how you'll end up dead in the end." Kaiden retorted. "Now try it again."

Max groaned as he lifted his hand again and started to cast another fire attack.

"This time, without using your hands." Kaiden said, eyes gleaming.

"You've got to be joking." Max hissed.

"Your mother told me that you summon a pillar to protect you without a second though, throw an explosion at me without using your hands." Kaiden said again. Max growled, but did as he was told. A few seconds past before the explosion happened. The attack threw Kaiden off of his feet, and back a few feet.

"Good!" Kaiden said, as he stood up.

"What? That attack was weak!" Max said.

"Ah, but in the middle of a battle, the attack is enough to give you the upper hand." Kaiden said.

"But I fight using those attacks, with them being weak, I'm sure to lose!" Max groaned.

"With the weaker attacks, you and your friends will be able to target the same enemy at once, making the battle less exhausting, listen to me Max." Kaiden said.

"So what you mean... My tactics were..." Max started.

"Yes, horrid." Kaiden said. Max frowned, he knew his dad had to be blunt, but this was getting out of hand.

"And what about Super Nova?" Max asked.

"Didn't you learn the hard way about that one, during the battle with Bounty Hunter?" Kaiden asked.

"He got lucky." Max hissed and crossed his arms.

"That attack is reserved for the direst situation, for your case, it wasn't dire." Kaiden said. Max frowned.

"It wasn't dire, it was life and death!" Max hissed.

"And afterwards you were in the same situation." Kaiden laughed. Max's eyes glowed a deep red for a moment.

"You can't use that move around me." Kaiden said.

"You want to bet?" Max asked. Max didn't wait for an answer, and unleashed Super Nova. Kaiden muttered something under his breath, and the attack stopped.

"See?" Kaiden said. Max looked at his dad dumbfounded.

"How did you?" Max started.

"A lesson for another time, son." Kaiden replied. "Now, we go over using the speed of your lightning as a battle enhancer."

"What?" Max asked.

"That's how I can move around so fast, my lightning element helps me." Kaiden said.

"Okay, can we talk about how you were able to jump so high?" Max asked.

"Wind." Kaiden laughed.

--

The rope snapped, just as Shelby had wanted. Davey Jones plummeted into the ocean below. Shelby turned, and saw that her navigator was under a massive attack. Shelby unsheathed her saber, and walked slowly over to the pirates. She shot one of them, before engaging another in combat. She attempted to attack his left hip, but the attack got blocked. Shelby grinned as she brought her revolver under her arm, and shot the pirates right hip. The pirate buckled, and fell to his knees, and from there Shelby placed her revolver on his forehead. Before she could pull the trigger, however, because her left calf had just been cut. Shelby brought the revolver from the first pirates head to behind her and shot the enemy.

Click

Shelby cussed as she dropped the revolver and brought her saber to stab the pirate's chest. The pain in her calf was starting to throb. Shelby groaned as she side stepped another attack. She reached for her other revolver, and fired a shot at the pirate that had cut her calf. The bullet veered a little to the left, but still struck the heart, killing the pirate. Shelby aimed her revolver at the other pirates head, but the bullet veered to the left to much and missed the pirate completely. A shot rang out, and Shelby looked behind her. A pirate had snuck up on her and was about to take her life. Shelby let out a sigh of relief, but another shot rang out. Shelby turned again, and saw her navigator holding a revolver, and shaking bad. The pirate that had fallen to his knees was now on the deck with his blood dripping out of an open wound. Shelby walked over to her dropped revolver and picked it up. She limped over to her navigator, and sat down next to him. She used her saber to cut a sleeve off of her shirt, and tied it around her calf. She moaned as she tightened the knot, and the pain filled her entire left leg.

"You alright Cap'n?" the navigator asked.

"Yeah, just a little hurt." Shelby said. She stood up, and walked a little bit, the pain was a little bit more bearable. She nodded, and cracked open her revolver, dumping its shells onto the deck. She reloaded the weapon and dropped it back into its holster.

"Be safe Cap." the navigator said. Shelby nodded, and looked onto the deck. It seemed as if the pirates were retreating.

Now it's time to take the battle to Davey Jones! Shelby thought.

"Alright Matey's!" Shelby yelled, and raised her saber into the air. "We take this fight to Davey Jones!"

The pirates roared, and started to drop the ropes to swing to the other ship. Shelby was the first to land onto Davey Jones' ship.

"Me sees ye're ain't a scared lil' guppie." Davey Jones said.

"Jones." Shelby hissed.

"Shelby." Davey Jones said back.

"Jones." Shelby growled.

"Shelby!" Davey Jones shouted.

"It's on!!" Shelby and Davey Jones shouted, and crossed sabers. Davey Jones swung in a skilled combo of left and right, with a speed that even the most skilled pirate would have a hard time blocking. Shelby blocked the first two attacks and then slid underneath Davey Jones, and cut his ankle as she slid by. Davey Jones stomped where Shelby's hand had been. Shelby did a back flip, and glared at Davey Jones. He slowly walked up to her, his saber swinging slowly by his side. Shelby acknowledged the movement, and drew her revolver and shot Jones' shoulder. Jones swung his saber with super human speed and blocked the bullet. He let out an evil laugh as he continued to walk closer to Shelby. Shelby watched the saber movement again. Davey Jones was prepping a counter attack; he was purposely leaving his left side open for an attack. Shelby lifted her revolver again and shot Davey Jones again. Davey Jones blocked the attack like he did before, but as soon as Shelby saw him bring up his saber to block the bullet; Shelby swung her saber as hard as she could at Davey Jones' right shoulder. Davey Jones cursed as he was stuck in a bad situation, and took the hit of the saber. Davey Jones' staggered back a few steps before he was able to get his footing back. Davey Jones laughed as he started to walk closer to Shelby.

"Ye're good, but not that good." Davey Jones laughed. His saber was held vertically in front of his body as he walked closer to Shelby. Shelby stood her ground, and watched Davey Jones movement very closely. He kept his weight on his right leg; however the muscles in his left arm were tensed as if he were anticipating an attack to the left.

You've got to fake him out, and deal a crushing blow to the right. Shelby thought. Davey Jones continued to walk closer, keeping his saber at the same position. Shelby nodded, and went to strike the left shoulder, and just as she had expected Davey Jones went to administer a counter attack, but Shelby was able turn her attack and lay a blow to his right shoulder. Once again Davey Jones lost his footing, but this time Shelby kept the pressure on him. Shelby landed a hit on Davey Jones' left shoulder, and finally crossed her saber with Davey Jones'. She twirled her wrist and Davey Jones' saber went flying out of his hand.

"Games over." Shelby said, as she sheathed her saber. She took her revolver out, cocked it, and placed it on Davey Jones' forehead.

"Ye think that's going to kill meself?" Davey Jones spat.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you wonder the seas with Max looking to destroy Zomus." Shelby said.

"Ye're working for Captain Kyaren?" Davey Jones asked. Shelby gasped as she remembered Davey Jones said that he was working under Max's orders. She moved the revolver away from Davey Jones' forehead and dropped it into its holster.

"Yeah." Shelby replied. Davey Jones' stood up, and brushed off his clothes.

"Ye're tough, Captain Kyaren should be glad to have you on his team." Davey Jones' said. Shelby smiled, and stuck her hand out.

"Thanks." Shelby said. Davey Jones nodded, and spat in his hand. The two shook hands, and Davey Jones' called off his attack.

--

Max panted and looked at his mom. He couldn't help but smile seeing that he wasn't the one with the cuts and bruises this time.

"You're doing extremely well!" Alisha praised.

"Thanks." Max said, blushing a little, but he didn't give up on his form. Alisha smiled.

"Good, you didn't let that phase you; you're still in combat mode." Alisha stated. She sheathed her sword and walked over to the window. Max carefully walked by the window. They both looked at what Kaiden was teaching the others, it didn't faze Max to much because he has to teach things differently for them. Alisha looked at Max, and noticed that he had a large gash on his forearm.

"Didn't your dad teach you that healing spell?" Alisha asked.

"Healing spell?" Max replied. Alisha sighed, and walked towards Max. She lifted her palm and placed it a few inches from his wound. She muttered something Max didn't catch, and the wound started to heal. Max groaned as it felt like someone had just placed hot coals in his wound. The next sensation he felt was the wound feeling itchy. Max tried to get his mom away so he could scratch his wound, but she kept a firm grip. Finally the sensations went away, and Max saw that the wound was gone.

"How did you do that?" Max exclaimed.

"An old Jumal word, Hieral." Alisha said. Max lifted up his one of the legs of his jeans, and found a large cut. He placed his palm over it and muttered Hieral. The same sensation happened, pain itching, then done. Max gasped, it was like what Hazel had done to him when he was still unconvinced she was the Varan Warrior.

"You ready to spar again?" Max asked, his eyes gleaming.

"Sure." Alisha replied, and unsheathed her sword. Max didn't take a moment to read his mom's movements this time; he went in blindly attacking her right hip. Alisha groaned. Before Max landed the attack, however, he brought his leg up and kicked his mom's right shoulder. Alisha flew through the air laughing. Before she landed, Max had ran over to her, and stabbed at her elbow. Alisha rolled backwards, and got to her feet, rubbing where Max had kicked her. Max's eyes were still gleaming. Alisha had run up to Max and threw an attack to his ribs. Max quickly blocked the attack and faked a counter attack to Alisha's knee, and Alisha quickly brought her sword to defend the attack. Max kicked the sword out of Alisha's hands and administered the true counter attack to her ribs. Alisha staggered back, and fell to a knee.

"Very well done." Alisha panted. Max picked up his mom's sword, and brought it back to her.

"But let me guess, there is still more for you to teach me?" Max asked.

"There will always be more to teach you." Alisha replied, and stood up.

"So what's next?" Max asked.

"I'm done training you for now." Alisha replied. Max nodded, and sheathed Nova. "I think your father is done training you for now, you must continue to pursue Zomus."

--

The deep yellow of the sand finally started to see a change of color. The Knights of the Varan had finally made their way across the desert, and they were starting to set foot in South America.

"Zomus has to be here somewhere." Max said as he looked around his surroundings. He couldn't anything that seemed too strange. The four continued to look around, not seeing a thing. Suddenly a loud sound erupted out of nowhere.

"What is that?" Hazel exclaimed. Max looked, and spotted a strange creature; it looked as if it were yelling.

"I bet we're close to Zomus's base." Max said, as he looked at the creature for a little bit longer.

"What makes you say that?" Jessie asked.

"Simple, those creatures must be sentries to warn of outsiders.' Max replied.

"Does that mean we've been spotted?" Colton asked.

"Not yet, I bet the sound is different." Max replied. He turned his head to the west and saw the sun starting to set. "Let's rest here and watch these creatures' movements."

--

The fire cackled as another Sentry let out a cry. Max wrote it down in the dirt, and nodded.

"Finally." Max said.

"What?" Jessie asked.

"It's simple; they have sixty sentries, which let off a sound every minute to let the base know everything is good." Max replied, and rubbed his notes away.

"So how do we invade?" Colton asked.

"That's not so simple, we can either sneak by the sentries, and risk our cover being blown, or we take out a sentry and have fifty nine minutes to get to our destination." Max replied. The other three nodded, and looked back at where the base should be.

"I think it's better to kill off one of them." Hazel said.

"Yeah, lessens the chances of our cover being blown." Colton agreed.

"Ah, but we don't know where this base is." Max said.

"So you're telling us we need to take another day off to learn these things daily movements?" Colton hissed.

"No, they don't have daily movements, only hourly movements, we take an hour off." Max replied, shaking his head.

"Rest up; we have a big day tomorrow." Jessie said, attempting to defuse the argument. Max nodded, and walked to his sleeping bag. He was taken over by sleep in a matter of minutes.

--

Shelby bit down on the cloth in her mouth as the doctor on her ship started to stich up her wound.

"I did tell you it would be better to go to an actual doctor" the doctor said. Shelby waved him off with her hand. A few minutes past, and the doctor finally stood up. Shelby took the cloth out of her mouth, and looked at the doctor.

"Better?" she asked.

"You'll be able battle again." the doctor replied. Shelby nodded, and reached into her pouch to pay him.

"Don't, I'm just glad to help." the doctor said, and turned his back. Shelby adjusted her belt, and left her cabin.

"Captain, we've got trouble!" one of the pirates shouted, and pointed to the helm of the ship. Shelby ran up, and looked off the ship to see a large whirlpool in the ocean.

"Is that..." Shelby started.

"The Kraken." her navigator finished. Shelby shuddered, and drew her saber.

"Captain, we can't fight it, we have to flee." one of her crewmates said.

"We can't flee, it has already seen us." Shelby murmured. One of the tentacles wrapped around the mast, and broke it off. Shelby cussed, and sprinted over to the tentacle, and stabbed it with her saber. The tentacle lifted up and smashed into the deck, causing the boards start to break.

"What are you doing? Help defend the ship!" Shelby shouted. Her crewmates decided to jump off the ship instead. Shelby cussed, and stabbed the tentacle again.

"I hope to see you alive, if we ever meet again." one of her pirates shouted and jumped off the deck. Shelby drew her revolved and shot two consecutive shots at it before attempting another stab. Her saber was stabbed in air, however, the tentacle took itself off of the ship, and fell back into the ocean. Shelby turned to see how many crew mates she had left with her, and cussed when she saw they all bailed on her. The Kraken's head came out of the water, and seemed to glare at Shelby for attacking its tentacle. Shelby took out her Blunderbuss and pulled the trigger. The bullets scattered and all of them hit the Kraken. It let out a howl, and slammed its head into the deck. Shelby rolled to the left and looked at the monster. Her ship was a goner that much she did know. She fired the Blunderbuss again with the same results as last time. Again, the Kraken slammed its head into the deck. The boards were broken now, and there was a small leak in the lower cabins. Shelby lifted her Blunderbuss once again, hoping to kill the Kraken with this final shot.

Click
Chapter 19 | Chapter 21

Alright, I told you you'd have an update by today! (and as far as I know, we're tied again) Lots of name changes, so you'll have to bear with me as you relearn the names of characters, it shouldn't be that hard. Started this on the first of July (early morning) and now it's all done, does that mean I get a :highfive:? I have a lot of people to thank, but I'm not going to go into details, so I'll just say this:

Thank you to the people at *Shadowtails1414's livestream who had to bear with my constantly posting my word count and music, but you guys are awesome, you helped me get this 7,763 word chapter up. And with that, I think I'll call it good, I'll post more in here tonight.

Oh, and...

ALL CHARACTER'S, NAMES, AND SUCH ARE (C) OF ME, IF I CATCH YOU USING THEM, I WILL SICK EL DIABLO ON YOU, AND I'M NOT EVEN JOKING. ALL CREDIT GOES TO ME.

Rant done

Oh, and the name of the chapter is subject to change, I couldn't come up with a good one, if you think you can, feel free to tell me, I'll consider it!
© 2012 - 2024 Maxwell-Kyaren
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JMToledo's avatar
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star: Vision
:star::star::star::star::star: Originality
:star::star::star::star::star-empty: Technique
:star::star::star::star::star-empty: Impact

Alright, let's do this!

' Colton, you have to douse this guy, it's the only way we can defeat him." Max said.': You need a ' " ' at the start.

'Davey Jones as allied himself with Zomus?': has allied.

'devil, and stabbed the things tail.': the thing's tail.

'The demon struck the trident into the ground again, a moment to late though.: a moment too late.

'"Yeah, you, with the face!" the deep voice taunted.': Now, while there isn't anything wrong here, I would say that if the voice taunted, it should be with a more specific term than just 'face' since the voice is trying to get the monster's attention.

'Shelby thrust her sword through the pirates back.': pirate's.

'"I don't have any friends, no one to turn to for any trouble..."': I do understand what you trying to say, but I feel like this line needs to be rewritten. Maybe if she said she didn't want any friends so that way people wouldn't have to die for her or something. I guess just take a look and see what you think.

All right, that was a nice chapter. Not too much going on other than the good guys trying their best to stay alive and fight another day. I really enjoyed the training scene since they made Max reflect on himself as a warrior. Though, I think this time, my favorite part of the story was the tale of Shelby and her struggles. It was bittersweet reading the fight between her and John's since the reader knows what happened last chapter, but at least they stopped the fight before one crew's ship was completely lost.

However, I felt horrible for Shelby when her crew started to leave her alone, even after she tried her best to save them during Jone's attack. While the crew seems to have the right idea, the action of leaving Shelby felt like such a betrayal.

And I have to say, nice cliff hanger. That last word really made it special.

Alright, nice chapter and I look forward to the next one. Now, I'm off to reply to your review. Later!

Oh, and I agree with the name of this chapter being 'Changes'. I think it works better for it in the end.