“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.”
— The Doctor, Season 7, Episode 4
"I didn't expect us to return here so soon," I said. "I wonder what sort of time crisis The Professor is asking us about this time."
"We won't find out standing here," muttered Grace."Let's go find him."
"Do you mind speaking English?" I muttered.
"Well, the race is nearly run its course," said The Professor, tipping his hat. "He's plotting in the furthest eddies of the Spiral. Let us retire to my Telegraph Box and I'll put you on his scent. It's in the Baobab Market. The B.O.X, that is." He chuckled.
The box was right smack in the middle of the path, blocking traffic. Grace had to apologize to the market-goers and promise that the box would be moved soon. We entered.
The B.O.X. had lost its charm by now, but Grace gasped loudly after hearing where the Maestro was.
"Oh, do you recognize the place, Miss Rainsmith?" asked The Professor. "The Maestro is stirring up pirate bands for his own nefarious schemes. Go to Skull Island and figure out his angle."
"You know that place?" I asked.
Grace nodded. "Do you not remember back when you met Mma Dawnblade? I had informed you that I had been sent by the Headmaster to help a pirate called Clever Agnes Thatcher with investigating a group called the Armada there. It was why I had to stop traveling with you."
"Oh wow, will we get to see your pirate friend?" I asked, clapping.
"No, it is likely we are going back to the past, before Agnes became a pirate," said Grace. "Beware."
We ended up in a seedy tavern. "The Kraken Skulls!" said Grace. "It is a bit fresher - I think we are several years in the past. Be careful, my sister, there are dangerous Cutthroats here."
Grace gasped as she directed me to a small smoky room with shark men. "Pisceans!" I whispered.
"No, Cutthroats," whispered Grace. "They are ruthless shark pirates. We must be careful." She entered the room and bowed. "Forgive us, Rra, we are looking for The Maestro."
"Uh... I think they're about to attack us," I groaned.
(They play the Skull Island boss battle music for the fights here, which isn't bad but it's dull. Chomper McGill is a Storm Boss with 7340 HP, and the Cutthroats are Ice and have 2940 HP.)
The shark captain surrendered and told everything, saying that Buster Crab and the Red Claw Gang had captured the scallywags.
"Not the Red Claw Gang!" gasped Grace. "Agnes told me about how they kidnapped a brave sailor who had thwarted their plans, she had to trade a golden hook for his release! They're wicked!"
"But we're wizards, and you can't stab a wizard before he kills you," I laughed. "Let's go see if the Professor can teleport us there."
"Why would the Maestro be after pirates?" I asked.
"We'll see," said the Professor. "I'll set the B.O.X. to send you to the Beach Cave hideout."
The Red Claws were red clawed - in short, they were brigand Crustaceans.
"Witchdoctor?" I asked.
Grace sighed. "Pirates don't use magic like us, the closest thing a pirate can be to a wizard is a Witchdoctor, who practices Hoodoo, a dark magic involving the undead."
"So a pagan Necromancer?" I said. "Oh wait, they're attacking."
(The Red Claw Thugs are Fire and have 3240 HP. Needless to say, Grace swamped them with Tempest.)
(And I am sorry for this bad shot - I can't close the Friend Menu during a dialogue. :( )
"I bet the Maestro will pay more if we bring these Wizards in! Get 'em, boys!"
The guy I guessed was Buster Crab cast an Efreet but it looked different. (There are three Treasure Carsd that give class variants of Efreet - this is Sirocco Efreet, the Balance version, which has the same -90% charm as Efreet but does a lot less damage, only 550 damage. It has a different animation. After the battle, Sierra got a TC of Storm Efreet, which does a lot more damage but has a weaker Weakness charm[only -60%].)
Leviathan and Medusa took out the big guy.
"Boil me and serve me with lemon butter!" cried the crab leader. "Ye've undone me!"
"Where are the pirates you captured?" I demanded.
"Yer too late!" he laughed. "I've already sent our prisoner to the Maestro with me boys on the Coconut Crawler. Ye'll never catch 'em in time!"
Little did they know that we had an ace up our sleeve. Or a B.O.X.
We landed on the ship. I clutched my stomach as I felt the vertigo of the rocking boat. "Urk."
"I know, I feel ill myself," said Grace, turning green. "We must rescue our targets and get out before we get seasick."
"That must be them," I said, running to the portly pirate at the end of the hold
"Please," said the monkey man. "There will be time for pleasantries later. We need to get off of this Crab infested ship before---"
(Yes, for some reason we get Boochbeard's face in this dialogue.)
"They never listen..." sighed Mr. Gandry.
Penny's sisters came and took the crab thugs out. (Just a mob fight with three Red Claw Thugs. You fought them before, you know their stats. The passive buffs Boochbeard and Mr. Gandry give are a +15% Critical boost and +15% Incoming Heal.)
"These two..." whispered Grace.
Grace paled. "No, not them!"
Boochbeard gasped. "The Armada!? Let's get above decks and find a way off this leaky tub, quick!"
"Oh, NOW we are in a hurry!" snorted Mr. Gandry.
He was with a dapper man wearing a mask over his face, but I heard gears whirring silently.
"That's Deacon, Spymaster of the Armada!" whispered Grace. "One of the elite Clockworks who serves under General Kane in Valencia. He is VERY dangerous, Agnes had a hard time defeating him in the mines in..."
"Shhh!" hissed Mr. Gandry
Deacon cocked his head. "Are you certain these two could ever cause us any trouble? I'm not sure if I have faith in your visions of the future."
The Maestro scoffed. "Trust me. If you don't deal with them today, they'll ignite a catastrophic chain of events that will undo everything you've built, and it all begins by them rescuing a young orphan who will go on to defeat the Armada. Better to be safe and stop them now, yes?"
The clockwork nodded. "I concur, let us be finished with..."
I suddenly retched as the ship hit a wave. I was not suited to sea life.
"What?" Deacon turned his head and spotted us.
Boochbeard laughed nervously. "Well, hello there! Don't mind us, we were just leavin'..."
The Maestro spotted us. "Curses! Not you again!" He hit a device and faded into thin air.
"Enough of this!" said Deacon, raising his cane. "Marines, slay them all!" He headed into the hold as more metal golems in similar fashion with polearms suddenly rose up from the deck.
"So... this is the Armada," I muttered. "And we have to fight them."
"We can win this," said Grace.
(The Armada Marines have 2840 HP and are Balance[they WILL spam Elemental and Spirit Shields] and they are led by Brutius Motius, a Storm Boss with 7340 HP. He packs Storm Efreet, so pack Cleanse Charms.)
The golems were tough to beat and Grace was bleeding from several wounds but Grace's Storm Lord decimated the Marines and Medusa and the Pigs finished off the leader.
We found a barnacle-encrusted life boat. "This boat is repulsive!" complained the monkey man.
"It'll do, Monkey, it'll do," said Boochbeard with a grin. He tipped his hat to me. "Thanks, Wizards. I don't know how we'd have gotten out of that pinch without ye."
"Glad to be of help, mates," I said. "You use the life boat, we have our own means of leaving before Deacon returns and finds all his troops dead."
The two boarded the boat. "What course, Captain?"
"Let's get as far away from these skies as possible," said Boochbeard. "And lay low until this whole business blows over."
"Oooo, good idea!" said Boochbeard with a belly laugh. "I suppose we should go find 'em! Let's away, Mr. Gandry." He nodded to us as the monkey undid the lashing and lowered the boat into the skylane. "Good luck in your travels, Wizards! Perhaps we'll cross paths again!"
"Wait!" said Grace. "I know about this orphan! Her name is Clever Agnes Thatcher and her parents will be killed by the Armada and she'll be raised in Marleybone! Deacon will capture her in the skyway of Skull Island soon!"
"Thanks for the tip-off, lass!" said Boochbeard as the boat splashed clouds. "We'll note that! Away!"
The monkey manned the oars and rowed off into the skylane. "Let's go, Grace," I said. "We'd better hop the B.O.X. before Deacon finds us and his men dead."
"Well, if the Maestro was after them, I believe they will do colorful things in the future, no?"
We nodded. "He's getting antsy."
As we left the B.O.X., I stopped Grace. "I'm not mad at you for leaving me back then. If you hadn't helped Agnes, you couldn't have helped Boochbeard and his pal find them later."
"It might have happened," said Grace. "Time corrects itself."
"You're my friend, and you're right," I said. "I'm upset at Christina going insane but we'll snap her out of it and work together like before. I promise you that."
Grace hugged me tightly. "Thank you, Mma. I am... honored to be your friend." She wiped her tears. "Let's go back to Avalon and intecept Mma Dawnblade before she gets herself hurt."
I nodded and we exited the B.O.X., but I will never forget the adventure we had in Skull Island. I will tell Christina all about it!
[To be continued...]
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