//------------------------------// // 4-gotten: Obstacles // Story: The Sparkle in his Eye // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// The cannon successfully launched them to a series of wooden platforms and Swingshot targets that could plainly be seen to lead straight to the lighthouse. As they approached, however, a massive red creature could be seen moving about on the surface of the water around the island the lighthouse was built on. "That's the King Sepiad, isn't it?" Twilight asked nervously. "Most likely," Nefarious confirmed. "I suppose it was too much to hope that we wouldn't have to deal with every creature dumped here on our way through." "Then again, leaving a non-native predator of that size here could be disastrous for the ecosystem once Twilight fixes the planet," Qwark pointed out logically. "You say that as though that's a given," Alister commented dryly. "It is!" Qwark confirmed. "She fixes broken planets all the time! Her first adventure ended with her fixing over a dozen broken planets with a single overcharged spell!" "Really?" Nefarious asked, surprised. "Yup!" Twilight confirmed. "Channeled through a planet destroying laser!" She paused. "Well, a single spell combination..." Her words were interrupted as the massive King Sepiad - whose eyes were as big as the adventurers' entire bodies - ripped a large portion of the wooden bridge to the lighthouse off its moorings before looming over them like a disturbing cross between a squid, a lobster, and an octopus. "So...do we have enough firepower to deal with that?" Alister asked worriedly. "Cause...it's pretty damn big..." At that moment, the Fongoid who'd been guarding his boat at the docks zoomed over, his boat flying in the air over them. "Any of you guys need a lift?" he called out as the King Sepiad roared. "Yes!" the whole group yelled out as they latched onto the boat with their Swingshots, trailing after it on the water as he gunned his engine to keep ahead of the King Sepiad, who immediately pursued them. "Hang on!" the boat pilot called out as he sped away as fast as his boat would go. "Yahoo!" Qwark shouted out as he posed on the water, enjoying the water-skiing. The Fongoid took them around the water as best he could, trying to keep away from the King Sepiad, which was soon quite close and right on their heels. "Any ideas how to deal with this guy?" Alister called out. "Maybe the Shock Towers?" the driver suggested. "We used to use them to keep the Sepiads away...before everyone moved. But they need to be activated manually!" "We'll take care of it!" Twilight shouted out. As the Fongoid steered the boat near the small floating tower, the group broke off, sliding across the water to the tower to activate the controls. As the King Sepiad reached it, the tower let off a large blast of electricity straight into the King Sepiad, forcing it to withdraw into the water as it regathered its senses, letting the group latch back onto the back of the boat. Unfortunately, the one blast wasn't enough to fully discourage the King Sepiad, and it wasn't long before it was in pursuit once more. "This is taking too long!" Nefarious shouted out angrily. "Twilight, any chance you could fly ahead to the next Shock Tower and supercharge it before we get there so we can turn this into King Calamari?" "Should have done that before we started skiing!" Twilight called back over the sound of the waves. "My wake's left my wings waterlogged! I'm going to need to dry out before I can fly again!" "Then we'll just have to hit it enough times to make it stop!" Qwark proclaimed confidently. "Shouldn't take more than...three more shots, right?" "What makes you say that?" Alister screamed out. "Because no enemy we've ever faced has had more than four stages!" he called back. This proclamation was met with rolled eyes from Alister, a facepalm from Nefarious, and a giggle from Twilight. They continued to seek out the Shock Towers, more obstacles popping out of the water as they went. Mines, jump ramps, Tortomoths, electrified fences...each run tested the group's skill on the water, and pushed them harder as they made their way to the next Shock Tower. Much to Nefarious' frustrations, only two more Shock Towers were required to finish it off, or so it appeared. This let their driver steer them safely back onto the broken bridge on the other side of the gap the King Sepiad had created. As they made their way up to the Lighthouse, however, the King Sepiad erupted out of the water, gripping the bridge with its two massive tendrils as it loomed dizzily over them. It then grabbed the Fongoids boat and shook him over his open mouth, but Twilight was able to teleport both civilian and boat to a safe distance at the last moment. "Let's run!" she screamed out, leading the group straight up the side of the Lighthouse thanks to the magnetic surface. The King Sepiad climbed up after them on the other side of the tower, smashing parts of the walkway blindly to try and crush them, but Nefarious made certain to stop the group in safe spots before anyone could be crushed, claiming his sonar let him sense where it was about to strike. Twilight pointedly did not question this. Once at the top of the Lighthouse, the group found themselves protected by a dome, which the King Sepiad kept trying to break through. "Okay...now what?" Twilight asked worriedly. "We need to stop it from attacking long enough to counterattack..." "Maybe we could use the Lighthouse?" Qwark suggested. "Sort of...mesmerize it?" "It's as good an idea as any!" Alister called out as he backed away from the tentacle that had reached under the dome to attack. "Nefarious! Do you have the schematics?" At that moment, a tube at the side of the platform opened up and released a Slorg, and a circle in the center of the platform opened up, revealing the Lighthouse's power center. "I'd suggest knocking the electrified creature into the electrical processing unit, but that's just me," Nefarious offered snidely. The idea worked as far as it went, and once three Slorgs had been knocked into the pit, a Versa-Crank unfolded from the side of the tower. Qwark quickly raced over with Alister to turn it, igniting the Lighthouse and leaving the King Sepiad stunned. A Swingshot target hung out of the side of its mouth as more Slorgs were released onto the top of the tower. "I've got an idea!" Twilight shouted out, rushing forward. Locking onto the target, she pulled the King Sepiad's mouth open. "I've got it!" Nefarious called back, using his weapons to knock the Slorgs into the wide open mouth. After three Slorgs electrifying it from within, it regained control of itself, and the whole sequence repeated itself. The King Sepiad tried to stop them by covering the Versa-Crank, but Qwark punched the tendril aside before turning it with Alister. Three more fed Slorgs left it choking and unconscious enough for them to finish it off with a few blasts of their Devastators. "That was...rough," Twilight murmured as she tried and failed to shake her wings dry. "Well, we should be almost done," Alister offered as they took an elevator down to the wooden platform on the other side of the Lighthouse the King Sepiad's body had fallen onto. "Look!" Qwark called out as they made their way around the corpse. "There's the rail station!" "Then let's go," Nefarious declared, scooping Twilight up so she didn't have to walk with her wet wings.