Lost Little Sea Boys (A LUCA FanFiction and Crossover)

Ch. 48: Guido VS Ercole

After 12 hours of walking and floating in a bubble, Akiko and her group finally arrived in Austria from Slovenia. Both were near Switzerland and Italy, but after the group crossed Austria, they would head straight into Italy, and find Portorosso from there. Akiko saw a huge bridge up ahead their path as she looked at her map moments later. She saw that the bridge was the right way to go. She then noticed a flat, straight pavement that followed the bridge. Akiko grew excited as her hair turned yellow, indicating happiness. "Guys! We're located in Austria right now. When we cross that bridge, we'll most likely have gone a long way! And then we'll go to Italy from here and we'll get you guys back to Portorosso! We're almost there!" She exclaimed. Bella jumped into the air along with Luca, Alberto, and Toby, and hugged them all after they landed on the ground the third time. Luca and Alberto whooped and hollered as Luca took Alberto's hand and ran to the huge bridge. The rest of the group laughed as they followed close behind. As Luca and Alberto were a good distance from the others, they continued running. "Luca! Alberto! Wait up!" Akiko laughed as she, along with the others, ran to catch up with the Sea Boys. Moments later, a helicopter swarmed the group as Ercole and the four Assassins, Echo Ocean, Oz Dawnless, Xavier Gaimbert, and Fleet Mildstrike, emerged from the Helicopter after it landed. "SEA MONSTERS! THERE THEY ARE!" Ercole boomed as Echo and Oz hesitated to move forward with their harpoons, and Xavier and Fleet followed Ercole with regret. Bella saw Echo and Oz, who both had uneasy expressions on their faces. "You were right, Kiko!" She yelled. Akiko panicked. "Go back!" She instructed, but as they were about to do so, five more Assassins were already blocking their path. "Luca! Alberto! Run! Get to Portorosso! Now! Before it's too late!" Akiko said as Luca and Alberto were uneasy. Ercole didn't hesitate to move forward, ready to attack. "Echo! Oz! Fleet! Xavier! Ready your pistole tranquillanti! Veloce!" He yelled as Fleet and Xavier readied their guns hesitantly. Echo and Oz hesitated also, but knew that they had no choice. Luca didn't step down; he grew determined to protect his friends, so he jumped and ran on a wire that helped connect the bridge. Akiko was concerned and scared. "Luca?! LUCA!" She yelled as she reached her hand out. As soon as Luca got to a high pillar on the bridge, he started praying as he started radiating a different form of Positive Energy. The Positive Energy he was radiating was called Prayer Positive Energy. As Luca talked to God, his prayer was answered, causing a windstorm that was strong enough to push Ercole and the Assassins away. Echo and Oz were shocked. "That's... amazing!" Oz exclaimed. Ercole was furious. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SHOOT HIM DOWN!" He yelled. Xavier and Fleet readied their tranquilizer guns. Echo stopped them. "WAIT! Hold your fire!" He yelled as he looked up at Luca, who was still praying. He had a flashback of when he was 14, a woman prayed for his physical, mental and emotional healing, because he grew up in a toxic, emotionally abusive household. The woman radiated the same kind of Positive Energy and glowed lilac, which was her favorite color. In the flashback, Echo was given a cross charm, resembling Jesus. The young Echo gaped in amazement and thankfulness. Back in reality, Ercole yelled repeatedly, trying to get Echo's attention. "ECHO!" Ercole hollered, finally getting the Assassin's attention. "Take the shot!" Ercole yelled again. Akiko and her group stepped back, cowering. Echo looked at the group then back at Luca, who was still praying. The Assassin was shocked. "He's... defending them." Echo said. "ECHO! ECHO!" Ercole yelled, furious. Echo reached into one of his pockets and took out the cross charm. He looked at it with determination in his eyes before putting it away and turning to face Ercole. "Ercole! You're wrong! The girl is right! The Sea Boys deserve to live and be protected! And the best way to protect the Sea Boys... is to let them go!" Echo said. Ercole was enraged with Echo's sudden change of heart. Oz stepped up and nodded in agreement. "We must let them go!" He yelled as he threw his tranquilizer gun to the ground. Echo was amazed. "Men! Stow your weapons! Do it! Now!" Oz yelled again. Ercole was furious. He silently ordered one of the Assassins to tranquilize Echo as the Assassin did so. Echo groaned in pain as the tranquilizer dart hit his arm. Xavier and Fleet were concerned. Oz was shocked. "Echo." He said. Xavier and Fleet took Echo into the Helicopter for him to rest. Ercole smirked as he ordered another Assassin to shoot Luca, who was praying the same prayer again and again, with a tranquilizer dart. "Lord, protect us all from any harm that comes our way-!" Luca was cut off by the tranquilizer dart hitting his right arm. He exclaimed the word 'way' as he was started by the sudden pricking feeling in his arm. Waves of exhaustion rushed over Luca as he was shot with three more darts. Luca lost his balance and tried to hold onto the pillar as he almost fell off. Akiko and the group was shocked! "LUCA!" Akiko and Alberto yelled simultaneously. Their voices echoed as the space was very huge. Moments later, Luca fell off the pillar as Akiko and her group ran to where he was going to land. Luca, who was now unconscious, landed hard on the bridge as the group ran to him. "No!" Akiko yelled as she held him tightly. Alberto was on the verge of tears. Not even two seconds later, the Assassins got a hold of Akiko and the others and took Luca and Alberto away from them. Luca and Alberto were thrown inside a huge, cylinder-shaped, metal cage as they both fell hard. Due to Alberto gently tapping Luca's face, Luca woke up, and was confused. "Wait, wait, what's happening?! Where's our friends?!" He asked as he took Alberto's hands. Alberto was worried about what would happen. "NO! NO!" He yelled as he slammed his fists on the metal in hopes of breaking free. Outside of the container, Ercole smiled evilly. "I'll make sure the Monsters are out." He said as an Assassin gave Ercole a prod stick, to electrocute the Sea Boys. Ercole walked up to the metal cage menacingly, with the prod stick in hand, and readied it to jab the Sea Boys through one of the spaces in between the bars. "You're never going to escape again." Ercole said as he got ready to jolt the Sea Boys with the prod stick. "No! Stop!" Akiko panicked as her hair turned white, indicating fear. Guido saw the situation as he worked up the courage to fight back. As the Assassin that had his arms struggled to keep him still, Guido elbowed the Assassin in the face as he ran as fast as he humanly could to stop Ercole. Guido got a hold of the prod stick as Ercole was still holding it. "STOP IT!" Guido yelled as he managed to push Ercole, by the prod stick, to the left of the bridge. Akiko and the others were shocked. "GUIDO!" Akiko yelled as she tried to help, but was held firmly by one of the Assassins.
"GUIDO!" Ciccio hollered after Akiko. Guido refused to let Ercole prevail. He had failed to Ercole many times before, and Guido swore to himself that he wouldn't fail this time. Ercole was furious. He managed to push Guido to the right of the bridge as he turned both Guido and himself around so that Guido was to the left of the bridge as Ercole was to the right. Guido used all his strength to fight Ercole, but it wasn't enough. Ercole pushed Guido to the left of the bridge and as soon as they reached the edge, Ercole threw Guido off of the bridge as Guido plummeted down into the bottomless, foggy pit. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Guido yelled as he descended from the bridge. Alberto, from inside the container, was devastated. He slammed his fists on the metal bars. Ercole was satisfied with what was done and walked back to the Assassin. "Well, that's one down." He said as he gave the prod stick back to the Assassin. Akiko and her group were just as destroyed. "NO! GUIDO!" Akiko yelled as she, along with the others, were taken away and put in a huge, metal, square-shaped cage so that they couldn't escape.