Chapter 37: The Unexpected

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 It was the twentieth of February when both the Rebels and the Second Chance Circus were ready for action. The Detective Pirates had agreed to assist the rebels. Phileas and Jack had somehow ended up in the southeast jungle, struggling to find food to sustain themselves.

"We should be at the castle by now. What is going on?" stated Phileas, annoyed.

"This island is fairly easy to get lost in unless you know the jungle really well," guessed Jack.

Martin had prepared Fort Barronym's defences, and readied his circus members and the stone servants that were once the nobles of Barronym.

"I hope you win, my King," said Forebaggage.

"I take it you finished the magic lobotomy?" asked Oscar.

"You're all wonderful people," said Forebaggage.

Elsewhere, at the base of the Rebel Forces, Walter Warbird gathered the generals, the special operations officers, and the Detective Pirates, informing them all of the attack strategy. The strategy was divided into five steps.

Step one: Demafred and the soldiers would lead a frontal assault that would preoccupy the defence systems of Fort Barronym. Ideally, this would make step two possible.

Step two: Warbird and the generals would infiltrate the castle, and fight the main circus performers.

Step three: The Detective Pirates would meet up with Demafred around the back of the castle while the soldiers continued to fight against the fort's defences.

Step four: The generals would create a distraction to allow Demafred and the pirates access to the castle.

Step five: The Detective Pirates fight the Second Chance Circus and defeat them. After that, Walter Warbird would become the new King.

I don't know if this plan will work, thought Walter to himself. But this seems to be the best time for action.

The battle began with step one being successfully realised. Demafred and the soldiers fought the kingdom's guards on all fronts. From the throne room, Martin oversaw the whole thing and laughed hysterically.

"This is the best they can do? Pathetic. But I will give them a fair game," he said. "After all, what fun is it to squash a bug that is already injured?"

As the fighting continued, Warbird, Problems, Lane, Murphy, Goldsmith, and Halberd used the confusion to their advantage, slipping into the kingdom unnoticed. This worked for just long enough until they found themselves getting close to the castle proper. Martin had felt their presence and responded by sending the stone servants to the courtyard, where they would face off against the six rebel leaders.

"Well, did anyone here plan for the nobles to get turned into stone monsters?" asked Halberd.

"I think we might be in over our heads," said Walter.

As Warbird and his generals were struggling with this new development, Demafred had successfully snuck away from the battle at the kingdom's entrance, to meet with the Detective Pirates. They were awaiting some form of cue to rush through to the castle, when the nine of them were teleported straight into the throne room, presumably by Martin.

"Don't think I can't tell what you're trying to do here," said Martin. "I'm giving you this leg up, but don't think that means you can stop me. I already harnessed the asset's power."

"What is he talking about?" asked Milangelo.

"If you thought I was a powerful wizard before..." he began, as his hands began to produce a spherical orange light. "Just wait until you see how much stronger I am whilst channeling the power of the universe's strongest sorcerer!"

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