Washed turnabout: The Pollution spreads

Chapter 3

Washed turnabout:

The Pollution spreads

"Oh wow! These are so good. Feels so good in my mouth."

Yuka and Maigashi dine out at some restaurant for the remainder of the night. She helps herself to the cucumber kimchi while they exchanged words with one another as time passed.

"There's a couple of things you haven't told me. Where you're from and how long you plan to stick around?" Maigashi wondered.

She continues to eat as he watched on.

"Why does it matter? I'm on vacation. You're on vacation, so let's just enjoy this moment." She poked back.

"Fair enough. By the way, where are you staying? Name the hotel because I could use a good deal."

Yuka's eyes rolled to the side; silence was in the air.

"I'd rather not say…for now. We just met."

"I get it. You want to take it slow. No pressure at all. Just eat up and help yourself to some more."

He hands another plate to her to finish. Then, as it got late, the two were outside. By 1:00 am, they arrive in the front of the hotel Maigashi was staying.

"Well, this is my stop to check-in. When do you want to meet again?"

"How about next week? Maybe we can check out some of the exhibits nearby?" She mentioned.

Yuka begins to walk off as Maigashi opened the door. He quickly halts her.

"Wait! Where can I find you?"

She begins to giggle.

"Don't you worry….. I'll be the one finding you heh heh."

One week later…back at Steffbird's ship. Guzumo re-watches clips of his previous defeat on screen.

"This is not acceptable! So you told me Alistor was the weakest one on the team?"

Steffbird merely shrugs back as he takes a gander back at the Shorry Hills on screen. The state of the area was now marked with hazard signs.

"So the boy has a few tricks up his sleeve. Still no threat to us. You may have lost, but the damage caused by your gas has left a significant mark."

This uplifts his mood as an idea struck. Guzumo flipped the channel to focus on the shores by the Korola Beach.

"Captain! I have the best idea yet."

"Oh? Do tell."

Whales are seen sighted from the far edge of the ocean.

"The time has come to spread my pollution. With your whales and my waste, we can easily overwhelm the population with carcasses."

"Aye! It would be difficult to dispose of." The captain smugged. "Possible to pull, but we'll need a way to spread it without being detected."

The captain begins to ponder as Guzumo presents the solution.

"No problem! I got the monster that can hide under the ropes. Tank Tusk! Get over here!"

With one snap, a mechanical elephant decorated with Egyptian garments barges through the door.

"Hey! Hey! You rang boss?"

"We got a job for you. And it's really messy!"

Back at the Korola Castle, Alistor and Nephena make a daily patrol across the perimeter. He spots a cargo ship not far from the horizon as he dazes off.

"Here comes the ship making its usual delivery." Alistor sighed. "Nothing happened since last week, and now I'm getting bored."

"We can't let our guard down." Nephena pointed. "The enemy could strike at any moment. So stop daydreaming!"

Inside the cargo ship….the monster breaks out from a large crate. The elephant casually sneaks its way outside as it drags the oil drums slowly across the deck.

"I should have learned to play the drums."

The monster lines all the drums by the edge.

"All ready in position, boss!"

Steffbird and Guzumo are seen miles away on some private yacht. Captain Steffbird quickly gets into position.

"Prepare for a 90-degree strike. Fire!"

"Good, now dump it all!" Guzumo ordered.

The monster rips open the drums.

"Dumping away!"

Toxic waste pours into the open sea as the monster laughs off. The demon then detects a presence approaching, kicking the barrels off the edge.

"Time for disguise 101."

Two bumbling sailors approached the monster as it stood still like a statue. They both pondered at it for a brief moment.

"What's an elephant statue doing out here?"

A tag is seen fixed on the side of the monster's garment addressed to an exhibit.

"Must be for the exhibit back on Korola."

The two attempts to move the statue back inside, but it was too heavy.

"That ain't working!"

"What now?" Wondered the skinny sailor.

The monster stared at them as they stood clueless. The fat sailor merely gives off a shrug.

"We'll move it with the big lifts later. Come on! We need to move those microwave ovens and color T.Vs."

Meanwhile, back downtown, Maigashi gets suited up at some clothing store for his hot date. Nephena and Alistor barge into the store.

"We got an emergency! We need you fast!" She blabbered.

Maigashi gets dragged out. They make their way back to the beachside within moments.

"What's the situation anyway?"

They point him towards a large carcass washed up on the shoreline.

"Is that a dead whale? It smells horrible over here."

He begins covering his nose as Nephena explains.

"We need you to help us find a way to remove this somehow. Everyone at the castle is unsure what to do."

Maigashi immediately backs away, refusing to help.

"This was not in the job description. Besides, you don't really need me for this. I thought there was an attack or something."

He begins walking off in the other direction.

"Where do you need to be anyway?" Alistor asked.

"I got a hot date looking for me. Catch you later."

He rushes back to the city and arrives downtown in a matter of moments. Then, he feels a finger poke behind his back. He makes a turnaround and spots Yuka waving.

"Hey, let's get some Ice cream or something."

The two run off, picking up some ice cream by the stand. Maigashi purposely bumps her cone, getting some of the creams on her nose. She responds, bringing his entire face smothered as he wipes it off. They both shared a laugh.

"Let's grab lunch first and then check out that exhibit." She pointed.

Sometime later, they entered the museum, looking at various artifacts displayed across the vicinity. Maigashi's eyes quickly fixed onto the giant elephant statue on display, passing by a few large vases.

"What a strange-looking statue."

"Let's go someplace else now." Yuka tugged.

Her eye leered back at the monster disguised in the display. The two quickly leaves to another place.

"Now, what do you want to do?" Maigashi asked.

A fairground crossed their attention.

"Come on! Let's have some fun!" She jumped.

Yuka drags him into the fairground. They first approached some carnival games on the side. Next, the target shooting galley catches his attention. Yuka gazes at the stuffed prizes for grabs. Finally, a tiny kitten with a moon crest catches her eyes.

"I like that one up there." She pointed.

Maigashi drops some money for a shot at the targets. The man at the game corner loads the gun.

"You get three shots!

"All I need is one." He pestered.

With one clean shot, the target was hit; Yuka claimed her prize. She squished the stuffed kitten in her arms as the man takes a closer look at Maigashi.

"Hey? You look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Yeah…five years ago at that fairground." He smirked back.

Flashbacks from the Bon festival came to his mind. From the encounter with the monster Higabon to the confrontation with Admiral Bombshell.

Maigashi begins walking off with Yuka.

"Wait! You're that punk that almost put me out of business!" The man pointed.

"Don't worry! I'm only here on vacation." He waved back.

"Let's go on some rides!" Yuka said.

No danger of any significance occurred for the remainder of the day. Going on a roller coaster to a merry-go-round, they enjoyed the rest of their day. The two are last seen sitting by some bench. Yuka leans her head against his shoulders, and they watch the sunset.

"Man, that was probably one of the best times I had. I like spending time with you."

"You mean it." Yuka blushed.

She snuggles closer to him. The stuffed kitten clutched between her arms.

"Yeah… it's been years since I had a good time."

"Let's do this again…" She whispered.

A calm breeze passed by.

"Oh, why the hell not. Let's do this again."

And so the days passed. Dead whales wash ashore, leaving Nephena and the queen worried while Maigashi enjoys his time with Yuka. The toxic spread their way across the sands, destroying nearby plant life.

"That's the fifth one this week. I'm perturbed," Enra said.

Nephena and the queen continue to discuss options as Alistor is caught in between.

"If this keeps up, Korola will be a dump yard. We need to get to the bottom of this somehow."

Alistor looks into his pockets. He pulls out Tannen's old business card from his wallet.

"This sounds like a mystery to unfold."

He quickly makes a collect call.

"Come on, pick up. We need some advice."

"Hello……"

"Tannen, is that you! Glad to hear from you. We need some advice fast."

"Tell me about it."

Alistor quickly summarizes the situation he is caught in. Tannen took a moment to make a response.

"So you think you can aid us on this mystery?" He wondered.

"Alas, I could only wish the conditions were easier like it was back then. But I must decline your request. You are on your own at this point."

A look of disappointment was in his eyes.

"I see…."

"But I can offer this simple clue. To seek the source, keep watching for any repeating occurrences happening. Best of luck."

The phone quickly cuts off as Alistor's mood lifts back. He rushes out to the beach shores, dragging Nephena along. He stares off into the distant horizon.

"So you got your answer?" She wondered.

"To seek the source. Tannen said to keep watch for any repeating occurrences."

They took a few steps closer to the shoreline. As the sound of the waves drifts, Alistor closed his eyes. Thinking back to anything that seemed out of place.

The sound of a ship caught Nephena's attention.

"Oh! The next shipment is here. I can't wait to buy that new dress."

"The cargo ship!!! Of course! It now makes all sense." Alistor snapped.

A slight look of disbelief was in her eyes.

"This can't be? The enemy couldn't have infiltrated our supply route. We have top security!"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to investigate at least. Let's get Maigashi."

Within a matter of time…The party boards the cargo ship. Searching for anything out of place as the sailors guide them—rooms filled with nothing but boxes and crates.

"So why did you dragged me here again?" Maigashi asked.

The team finds nothing of significance within the room. The two sailors bumped into the elephant statue once more.

"That's the sixth one this week." Nodded the fat one.

Alistor and the others arrived outside to inspect the statue. Maigashi quickly recognizes the object.

"Hey, I've seen that thing back at the exhibit."

"It smells so bad here." She covered.

They quickly noticed some drips of waste by the feet of the object. Nephena decides to look over the ship as the monster took notice.

"Watch out!!!" Alistor shouted.

The statue immediately pushes her off the board while the rest got into battle position. The fat and skinny sailor quickly jumped off without hesitation.

"Abandon ship!"

"This job ain't worth it!"

An oil drum gets kicked towards Maigashi, knocking him back. Alistor pulls his Crown Blade out.

"So you're the fiend behind this."

"Hey! Hey! The name's Tank Tusk! Boss ordered me to take out anyone snooping."

The monster starts spraying gas from its tusk. The smoke quickly covers the deck, blinding Alistor.

"Damn it; I can't see!"

Nephena is seen climbing her way back on board. Alistor gets hit by an oil drum, struggling to gain an advantage.

"Hey! Hey! Can you stop my drums?"

Multiple oil drums get sent flying towards his way, forcing him on the defense. The monster quickly places an empty drum over his head, trapping him.

"No…I let the monster get too close."

Tank Tusk quickly flipped him to the floor. He places his foot on top of a drum as he gets ready to kick him overboard.

"Have a nice swim!!!"

A psychic force immediately dispels the gas, hitting Tank Tusk from behind. Nephena arrives back onboard, soaking wet.

"My dress is now ruined!!! You creep!"

She gives off an intimidating glare freezing the monster in place. Tank Tusk shifts his attention towards her as she rushed aggressively.

"Whoa! Hey now!"

Nephena forms a pair of energy cutters from her arms, slashing at the heavily armored monster. Tank Tusk struggles to keep up with her speed.

"Hey! Stay still. Ooh, you're a feisty one, aren't ya."

She continues her up-close assault as Alistor takes the time to free himself. Tank Tusk quickly falls back. He pulls out an oversized drum, stopping Nephena in place.

"I didn't really want to do this, but you give me no choice. This one's special!"

The unsanitary smell quickly forced her back. Hazard signs were marked all across the drum the monster held over its head.

"Eeeeewwwwwwww….. that's not what I think, is it?

"You can bet your trap you know what's coming!"

Tank Tusk prepares to toss it over as she cowers like a little girl.

"No! No! Nooooooo!!!"

Lightning quickly bursts out from the deck, shocking the monster in place. The large drum explodes over Tank Tusk, covering him in layers of sludge.

"What? But how?"

Maigashi emerged from the corners. He removed his dagger from the wooden floorboard.

"When you kicked her overboard, you allowed her to set a path for my attack." He pointed.

The monster takes notice of the puddles left on the deck floor.

"You ruined my new jacket as well. This one's only dry clean!"

Tank Tusk immediately stumbles back.

"This ain't looking good. I need to get out of here."

The monster begins to run off as the party gives chase.

"Hey, get back here!" Nephena yelled.

Tank Tusk pulls out an oversized phone and begins making a collect call. A large box gets summoned at the edge of the ship.

"Yeah! I need a galactic mail order. Express delivery pronto!!!"

Tank Tusk holds its address tag up as it enters the box. Then, the monster gets beamed away from the ship, forcing Nephena almost to fall off.

"How does that even work?" She whined.

"We need to get back to the exhibit as soon we can," Maigashi ordered.

Somewhere back downtown, an unknown limo arrives at the exhibit's front as Queen Enra awaited her guest. A sleazy man in a black suit steps right out of the vehicle, flocking with a blonde comb-over style covering a part of his face.

"I am the ambassador, Dynamo!"

"What business do you have with us?" Asked the queen.

Captain Steffbird immediately steps out from the vehicle behind. She steps back as her guards raised their weapons.

"Steffbird? What is the meaning of this ambassador?"

He casually walks up with a briefcase. Steffbird pulls out a business card and hands it over to her.

"Captain Steffbird! Licensed Law Attorney at your service."

Dynamo hands a document over to the queen. She briefly looks it over and is in complete shock.

"A lawsuit? This can't be happening?"

"Your kingdom has been flagged unfit to rule." The ambassador snickered. "With the case of pollutants washing across your shores. Your disciples have failed to address the situation with the dead whales. These areas have been rendered unsafe for tourists."

Steffbird pulls out a huge roll of paper filled with nothing but signatures.

"We have over 200 complaints filed against your island. Under section 8.10 of the Diskotette law, ninth edition." Steffbird read over.

"You are to relinquish your title within the hour."

The ambassador hands over the paper for her to sign. The pressure begins to build as she gripped the pen.

"This is hopeless…." Enra sighed. "There's no way we can remove those whales."

As the pen touched the paper, a box comes crashing inside. Tank Tusk emerged right out, cowering to his boss's side.

"We've been breached, boss!!!"

Steffbird and the ambassador step back as Nephena, and the party arrived in the nick of time. Enra immediately tears the document to shreds.

"Idiot! You blew our cover."

The ambassador removes his disguise as slime flows from his suit, revealing him to be Guzumo. Steffbird tosses his briefcase aside.

"Argh! We were so close!"

The party surrounds Steffbird and Guzumo as the monster cowers behind. Then, Queen Enra's men get ready to fight.

"What do we do now, boss?"

"It's time we showcase our military might!" Guzumo snapped. "Send out the Doovers!!!"

The captain throws out a rice pot as everyone drops their guard for a second. Then, the device opens up, summoning a platoon of enemy soldiers. "What the heck are those things" Alistor gasped.

Orange soldiers begin dancing across the opposing side, face covered by straw hats, armed with cheap pirate gear and bamboo swords. "Arghhh! They're in demand for this season. We got the privilege to be the first to test them out."

Erna's men hesitate at the sight of the Doovers ridiculous movements. "These guys look low budget." Maigashi pestered back. "Get them!" Guzumo ordered.

The Doovers begin charging right in as the monster jumps back in the open. The queen's men start to engage. Maigashi's blade was clasped between a couple of the soldier's bamboo sticks. "You go and handle the monster. I got these guys," He assured.

Alistor begins focusing on Tank Tusk. Nephena and Guzumo square off on the other side. "Hey! Hey! You back for more," The monster snickered. "It's payback time."

The monster attempts to spray its gas once more, but Alistor didn't hesitate to back down. With one slash, an aura forms across his blade, clearing the majority of the smoke. He charges through the smoke as Tank Tusk readies another drum. "I'll stuff ya in my drum."

The monster tosses the drum over, but he sliced his way through it. "Not this time!"

Tank Tusk desperately fires some lasers from his weapon, but Alistor continued the advance. "Crown Star Crasher!!"

A large star comes crashing at the monster, destroying his tusks. A beam of light pierced through the monster's body as sparks flew out.

"SORRY BOSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!"

Tank Tusk collapsed to the floor, exploding in place. Nephena and Guzumo continue to clash in another room. Finally, the battle escalates to the weapon's exhibit of the museum. "Meddle into my affairs, will ya."

Chunks of slime spread across the room as glass cases shatter one by one. Finally, Nephena gets some cuts from the glass. "Your pollution ends now."

She stands her ground, cutting through his slime with her psychic blades. "My pollution is just the beginning."

Nephena attempts to get close, but he hurls a plate of glass towards her way. She gets knocked back, falling to the floor. Surrounded by broken glass and slime, she grips her fist tight. "I can't let you win…. They're all counting on me." "You can't get close enough to hurt me! I got the field advantage. Why else did you think I lured you away."

Nephena continued to lie on the floor as Guzumo laughed.

She takes notice of the wall of needles behind him. Nephena makes one final stand, glaring intensely at him. "Persistent little brat? I'll just have to end this myself."

Guzumo grabs hold of all the sharp weapons in the room with his slime. Then, he leaps in the air, plunging towards her. Nephena intensely focused her thoughts as Guzumo got close to impact. "I can't let you win."

She opened her eyes, bracing for impact. A psychic barrier forms across her body, destroying the weapons as Guzumo bounced right off. "What!"

"Psychic Fire!"

Her barrier bursts into a wave of flames pushing Guzumo further back. He retaliates back with a wave of slime, but she presses him on.

Nephena unleashed the last of her energy, sending Guzumo flying into the needle wall. His slime slowly begins to dissipate as his body lies stuck between the needles. A great core is exposed as he glares back. "Darn you…" He muttered.

"Harmona!!"

Nephena slices his core in half as his slime collapses in place. Guzumo explodes within moments as Steffbird hears a sound. "Argh!"

The battle comes to a halt as Nephena came out victorious. Steffbird's blade clasped between a few of the queen's guards. "Argh….time to fall back for now."

Steffbird lowered his head for a brief moment. His cap covering his eye. He quickly broke free from the guards as the Doovers begin falling back. "We'll be back!"

Moments later, Nephena leaves to be treated for injuries with Enra and her men during sunset. The two follow them on the way outside.

"What a relief…. It's been one messy day." Maigashi mentioned.

"Yeah, I could use a nice shower," Alistor said.

Maigashi then gets surprised by Yuka jumping out in front of him. Alistor stumbles back for a brief second. "Hey, this is Yuka, by the way" "Nice to meet you."

She waves back to him with a calm smile. Maigashi starts to leave off with her once again. "Where are you guys going? It's getting late."

The two come to a halt, Alistor standing on the opposite end. Maigashi has his arms across her shoulders. "Sometimes, a man needs a little romance in his life."

He takes one last look back in the setting sun.