Book 2: The Pirate's Curse

Chapter 10: Frostbite Island

Last time, our heroes have recently conquered Mud Bog Island's Den of Evil by defeating its guardian; Dagron. They've also rescued Bronya Zaychik, the last of the missing St Freya students, and obtained Risky's boots and the map of the final Forbidden Isle. With Kiana, Mei, Himeko and Miriam rejoining the team while Theresa, Bronya and Miriam stayed behind at the Zi-O Liner, our heroes set sail towards the final island; Frostbite Island. Will they survive the cold climate island and rescue Nikola Tesla after hearing the distress signal back at the Zi-O Liner?

Frostbite Island

After the long voyage, our heroes finally arrived Frostbite Island, the final Forbidden Isle. The entire island is an arctic wasteland with a large floating town just above it. The ship landed at the docks and lowered its anchor, allowing the group to disembark the ship.

"This is it, everyone. Frostbite Island, the end of the line." Risky informed the group as they stared at the arctic island.

"Oh my gosh... it's freezing..." Shantae commented while trying to stay warm with her winter gear. "It's a good thing I'm wearing my winter gear."

"Where did you get that anyway?" Risky asked.

"She got it made by a tailor back at Scuttle Town. He was at the Item Shop." Starlight answered, while hiding the truth of where Shantae really got the winter gear from.

"I see." Risky replied. "Anyway, we'll find the fifth and final Den of Evil here. If we can destroy the source of the Pirate Master's power one last time, he's finished."

"We will find it, and we will not fail." Himeko declared.

"You'd better not fail here, or all of our efforts will go to waste." Risky warned the group. "Now, who's staying with me to guard the ship?" In response, Kallen, Sakura and Fu Hua raised their hands to volunteer for guard duty. "Alright, you three will stay with me then. The rest of you will do your island exploration."

"Leave it to us, Risky!" Kiana responded with her fist on her palm.

"Remember to find Tesla as well while you're searching for the Den of Evil." Fu Hua reminded the exploration team.

"We'll bring her back safely, Fu Hua." Mei assured.

"Alright ladies, Ret-2-Go?!" Himeko asked the group, who responded with a determined nod. "Good, then let's move out!" She declared as she ran towards the arctic island with the others following behind her, leaving behind Risky, Fu Hua, Kallen and Sakura to watch over the ship.

"Risky Boots, are you really sure that the Pirate Master will be finished when they defeat this island's Den of Evil guardian." Sakura questioned.

"It will, since all of his power will be completely cut off and all of his creatures and servants will be neutralized." Risky assured.

"I hope so." Kallen replied. "But... I can't help but feel like something bad is about to happen once we're done with this island."

"I think you're thinking too much. Now come on, let's head back to the ship to prepare for guard duty for you three." Risky responded before heading back to the ship.

"Kallen, you might be right about one thing: Something bad will happen after this. We'd better be prepared for it when the time comes..." Fu Hua thought as they went after Risky to return to the ship.

As the group trek deeper into the arctic island complete with slippery ice floors, they encountered some frost wolves and another Cacklebat. The wolves are quickly taken down by Kiana's gunfire, Mei and Himeko's sword strikes, Regina's spear strikes and energy blasts, and Miriam's flail strikes along with some fire balls. As for the Cacklebat, it was quickly disposed off by Cure Starlight's energy sword strikes, and Shantae's gunfire and sword strikes. Once the Cacklebat was dealt with, another cloud of Dark Magic was imprisoned thanks to Shantae's magic lamp. After that, they moved on to the next area, until they arrived at the area where Einstein blew a large hole using a large cannon back at Scuttle Town.

"Huh, so this is the hole that Einstein shot at." Regina commented as the group stared at the hole. And when they got closer to it, they immediately sense the same dark aura from the other Den's of Evil.

"That aura... this must be the final Den of Evil!" Shantae realized.

"Well, that was quick. I thought it would take a long time to find it." Kiana remarked at how fast they've found the den compared to the other islands.

"Though when did Einstein shot this hole?" Mei questioned.

"A few hours ago while you, Kiana, Himeko and Miriam were busy doing the examinations. Einstein was testing out the cannon for a bit." Starlight explained.

"Ah, so that's how." Miriam replied. "But what do we do now? Should we go inside the Den of Evil first? Or should we find Tesla on that floating town?"

"Any ideas, Himeko?" Kiana asked.

"I think I'll leave the decision to Starlight, this time." Himeko answered as the group turned to Starlight for their next course of action.

Starlight placed her hand on her chin and pondered on what to do next, until eventually she made a decision. "We'll have to split up then. One team will deal with the Den of Evil, while the other team will explore that floating town and find Tesla." She declared.

"Okay, so who's going to the Den of Evil first?" Himeko asked.

"That would be me, Shantae, Regina and Miriam." Starlight answered.

"Then that means me, Kiana and Himeko will look for Tesla on that floating town." Mei added.

"Then it's decided." Starlight declared. "Oh, and while you're searching for Tesla, remember to hunt down any remaining Cacklebats along the way."

"Does this mean that I'll have to give the magic lamp to the other team?" Shantae asked Starlight, who confirmed with a nod. "In that case, I'm giving the lamp to you, Kiana."

"Wait, me?" Kiana responded. "Shouldn't you give it to Himeko instead?"

"I would, but you were with us for most of our adventures, ever since we rescued you back at Saliva Island." Shantae answered. "You were a big help to the team, so that's why I'm trusting you with the lamp."

"Shantae..." Kiana responded.

"Heh, she's got you there, Kiana." Himeko said to Kiana with an amusing smile. "Shantae's right though. You've really improved a lot. Besides, you did well in your fight against the corrupted Squid Baron back at Tan Line Island."

"She really did improve, especially when she saved me from that large spider back at Spiderweb Island." Mei added.

"C-come on, you girls... You're making me blush..." Kiana blushed while scratching the back of her head, as the group laughed at her embarrassment.

"So, what will it be, Kiana?" Regina asked.

"...Alright, Shantae. I'll take care of the lamp for you and imprison the remaining Dark Magic from the Cacklebats." Kiana declared with a determined nod.

"Thank you, Kiana. I know you and your friends will get the job done." Shantae smiled back as she gave the lamp to Kiana, who placed the lamp into her pocket.

"Right then, we'll go into the den now. Kiana, Mei, Himeko, best of luck!" Starlight said to the other group before she, Shantae, Regina and Miriam jumped into the Den of Evil.

"Good luck in there!" Mei shouted to the other team, wishing them luck.

"Alright, you two. Time to pay a visit to the floating town and look for Tesla." Himeko declared.

"Roger!" Kiana and Mei responded as they quickly left the area and ran towards the direction of the floating town.

As the team trek even deeper into the arctic island, they encountered more frost wolves, bats and moving tome stones. They quickly disposed of the monsters until they ran into another Cacklebat. Himeko easily disposed of the Cacklebat with several heavy sword strikes, ending with an overhead slash, after which Kiana used the lamp to imprison yet another cloud of Dark Magic from the defeated Cacklebat.

They continued to trek through the arctic island until they saw some hanging chains from a distance. "Chains? In a place like this?" Mei questioned as they got close to the chains.

"I think I know why." Himeko answered as she pointed her finger upwards, making the group look up and saw the floating town right above them.

"So that's the floating town..." Kiana commented before looking at the chains again. "Looks like we'll have to use the chains to start climbing."

"Just remember not to look down or fall off." Mei warned them.

"Right then, time to start climbing." Himeko declared as she rubbed her hands a bit, grabbed one of the chains and began to climb up, with the others following behind.

While the group were climbing up the chains, they avoided some spike balls by jumping from chain to chain and landing on some metal platforms. Eventually they arrived at the entrance and climbed inside.

Propeller Town

Once inside, they jumped onto the platform and looked around the area with awe at the large town. "I'd never thought we'd run into a floating town in a world like this." Kiana commented.

"Makes me wonder who'd built this flying beauty." Himeko added with her hand on her hip.

"Hmm..." Mei then noticed a sign next to her and began to read it. "'Welcome to Propeller Town. Property of Techno Baron.' So he's the one who made this town." She said.

"I see. I wonder what Techno Baron looks like? I'm a little curious on how he was able to build this town." Himeko commented.

"We'll think about that later, but right now we need to look for Tesla." Kiana stated.

"Then it's time to do a little exploring." Mei declared as they head deeper into the town to explore and find Tesla.

As the group traverse through the town, they encountered a few skull mechs patrolling the area. "Mechs, huh? Been a while since we fought one of those back in our world." Kiana commented.

"And it looks like they're patrolling the area for intruders." Mei added.

"Guess we'll have to break some metal before moving on!" Himeko declared as everyone brought out their weapons and rushed towards the mechs to attack.

Kiana dodged one of the mech's attacks with cartwheels before she countered with a few gunshots, several spinning kicks and finishing up with a power kick that materialized a large neko paw from the void portal, sending the mech falling out of the platform.

Mei dodged a few attacks from another mech with her speed, before countering with a spinning aerial, performed another spinning aerial slash, and finishing it off with a slash wave, sending the mech falling off the platform.

Himeko blocked and parried the attacks of another mech, before countering with several heavy sword strikes, finishing it off with a ground shockwave that sent the mech falling off the platform.

"That takes care of them, now let's move on!" Himeko declared as they holstered their weapons and quickly moved onto the next area by jumping and climbing several chains.

There, they encountered another obstacle. Hanging chains each held by a propeller, and several spike traps at a distance. "Guess we'll have to climb onto them if we're going to move on." Kiana said as they each grabbed a hanging chain. They held them tight as the hanging chain lifted off the ground and moved to the next area on the other side, while dodging the spike traps. Once they reached the other side, they quickly got off the chains and moved on.

After dealing with more platforming and chain obstacles and more skull mechs, they reached an area with a strong windy updraft. "A windy updraft. I think I saw this before while we're exploring Cackle Tower back on Spiderweb Island." Kiana recalled seeing this obstacle before. "We'll have to wear a large cloth and make it like a parachute so that the updrafts can send us flying up."

"So that's how you managed to scale the tower to reach me." Mei realized.

"Yup!" Kiana confirmed with a nod. "Though we had to use Starlight's magic cape to help us fly up the tower."

"I see. Good thing we have an alternative." Himeko responded as she brought out a large cape from her pocket and began to wear it. "Gotta give credit to Einstein for making these capes made out of magic carpets. As expected of a genius scientist."

"Yeah. It's like a storybook tale coming true." Mei agreed as she and Kiana took out their capes from their pockets and began to wear them.

"Well, time to start flying, girls!" Kiana declared with her fist on her palm before she flew upwards, with Mei and Himeko flying right behind her.

After a long journey through the floating town filled with more obstacles, as well as more enemy mechs and mummies, the latter made Kiana cringe after seeing those mummies before back at Spiderweb Island, they finally arrived at the engine area of the town where they noticed two people having a conversation.

One of them was a girl with red hair with twintails held up by red ribbons, and had red eyes and wearing glasses. She's wearing a white shirt with a black skirt, along with a red metal gauntlet on her left arm. Lastly, she's wearing long white socks with peach colored shoes.

The other one was a boy with short navy blue hair with a yellow head band, and had black eyes and also wearing glasses. A white bandage is wrapped around his right upper arm. He wears a white tank top underneath a short blue vest and has dark blue shorts and dark blue shoes. He also wears tan gloves with metal rings around the cuffs.

"Excuse me! Which one of you is Nikola Tesla?" Himeko asked the two.

"Ah, finally! Someone who knows my name!" The girl stepped forward, confirming her name to be Tesla. But then blinked for a moment when she saw the three. "Wait. Himeko, Kiana and Mei? What are you three doing here and how did you get here?"

"We're here to rescue you, obviously!" Kiana answered.

"We saw your video message earlier and tracked you here." Mei added.

"So you're Einsteins partner, right?" Himeko asked Tesla, who gasped in shock at hearing a familiar name.

"You know Einstein?! Where is she now?" Tesla asked back.

"She's back at the Zi-O Liner located at Scuttle Town." Kiana answered.

"Scuttle Town? Isn't that where I live?" The boy questioned.

"Nobody asked you, Bolo." Tesla responded to the boy, now named Bolo. "Sorry, I was busy examining on how he fixed the targeting module for a cannon." She spoke to the group.

"Would that cannon be the same one back at Scuttle Town?" Mei recalled.

"Yep, that's the one." Bolo confirmed.

"Funny. Einstein was also fixing a targeting module for that cannon too." Himeko recalled, making Tesla's eyes widen in shock.

"Seriously?!" Tesla exclaimed before showing the group the targeting module. "Then what's the point of fixing this one here?!"

"How did you get that one?" Kiana pointed at said module.

"I got that from Techno Baron. I was the one who was fixing that module." Bolo raised his hand.

"Unfortunately, he did it wrongly." Tesla added. "The problem lies on the main circuit panel. It's installed backwards. And upside down. And inside out."

Tesla's comment on the module problem made Himeko, Kiana and Mei sweatdrop. How the heck did he manage do to all of that on a circuit panel?!

"Uhh... kid? I don't think you're cut out to be a mechanic." Himeko pointed out to Bolo.

"Um... at least you tried?" Mei tried to say something positive to him.

"I think you're better off being a fighter instead." Kiana stated to him. "You do have the muscles to pull it off."

"Hmm... maybe you're right." Bolo agreed after thinking about Kiana's comment, and also threw away his glasses. "I'm better off being true to myself and not act like someone else."

"That's the spirit, Bolo." Kiana grinned at Bolo's determination.

"Way to give him some good advice, Kiana." Himeko praised.

"Well he does look more of a fighter than a scientist." Kiana commented.

"Everyone? We're not alone here." Mei interrupted the group with a frown and prepared her weapon after sensing a dark presence nearby.

"Is it an enemy?" Bolo responded as he brought out his spiked flail, and earning a nod from Mei.

"Tesla, get behind me and Kiana." Himeko ordered, prompting Tesla to move while also putting away the targeting module into her pocket.

Everyone was cautiously looking around the area for the enemy, until said enemy swooped up above them and revealed itself to be another Cacklebat. "There's another Cacklebat here!" Kiana exclaimed as she was about to take out her guns, but Himeko raised her hand instead to stop Kiana.

"Better leave this one to Mei and Bolo." Himeko answered as they watched the two fighters battle against the Cacklebat.

The Cacklebat began to dive bomb towards the two fighters, they immediately jumped out of the away as the Cacklebat missed its targets and swooped up again. "Bolo, let me grab one end of the flail while you keep holding onto the handle. I have an idea." Mei adviced him.

"Alright, I'll follow your lead." Bolo nodded back before Mei grabbed the end of the flail right next to the spike ball as they watched the Cacklebat prepare another dive bomb.

"Now!" Mei yelled as she and Bolo jumped to opposite sides and pulled both ends of the flail, making the Cacklebat chomp onto the flail instead. After that, they threw the flail around the Cacklebat until it was entangled, making it unable to move. Then Mei finished it off with a powerful katana stab from above, immediately taking out the Cacklebat as it exploded and turned back into a Tinkerbat while a cloud of Dark Magic hovered above them. In response, Kiana took out the lamp and began to suck up all of the Dark Magic before putting away the lamp once the job is done.

"Good going, Bolo! Kiana's right, you really are born as a fighter." Mei praised him as they holstered back their weapons.

"Wow, nobody praised me like that before." Bolo was surprised by the praise Mei gave him while scratching his head. "I usually mess up at times when I'm protecting the town."

"Still, I can't help but admire your determination to protect others despite your mistakes." Himeko remarked to him.

"Thanks, uh... Himeko, right?" Bolo said.

"Yup, that's me."

"Well, now that our job is done, we can finally get out of here." Kiana declared.

"About time!" Tesla exclaimed with relief.

"Though what are you gonna do with that targeting module if Einstein is fixing the cannon instead?" Bolo asked.

"Simple. I'm keeping it for a future project." Tesla answered.

"Okay then. It's all yours." Bolo agreed to let her keep the module.

"Thank you for your generous donation." Tesla smirked back.

"Anyway, could you girls take me back to my boat? I'll row my way back to Scuttle Town on my own." Bolo requested.

"So that explains how you got on this island. Sure, no problem." Mei accepted his request.

"Wait, how are we going to get out of this floating town?" Tesla questioned.

"The easy and fast way, of course!" Kiana grinned as she quickly ran towards the end of the platform and jumped off, surprising Tesla and Bolo.

"Wait. We're actually going to jump off Propeller Town?!" Bolo exclaimed.

"Yup! You first, Tesla!" Himeko confirmed and grinned as she grabbed Tesla in a bridal carry, ran towards the edge of the platform and jumped off, while hearing Tesla screaming with fear.

"Uhh..." Bolo struggled to answer after witnessing what Kiana and Himeko did.

"Don't worry. We're wearing capes made out of magic carpets, so we should be able to fly our way down safely." Mei assured before grabbing Bolo's hand, ran towards the edge of the platform and jumped off as the group flew out of Propeller Town safely and head for the direction of Bolo's boat.

Meanwhile at the same time the two groups split up...

Abandoned Factory

"So this what the final Den of Evil looks like. An abandoned factory." Cure Starlight commented after the group landed onto the ground safely and looked around the area. The den has plenty of old machinery that's unusable and frozen from the cold.

"Wow. I wonder who'd bulit this factory a long time ago?" Shantae asked.

"Who knows. But I am curious on what was built here." Miriam answered.

"Einstein would love to explore a factory like this... when it's not being occupied by the Pirate Master and his minions." Regina added.

"Maybe someday. But right now we got a job to do." Starlight answered.

"Find the map of this den, another piece of Risky's equipment, and lastly the Boss Room." Shantae summarized their usual objectives.

"This is the last Den of Evil, so we better not fail here." Miriam warned the group with caution.

"Alright, let's go!" Regina declared as the group ran deeper into the den to first locate the map.

Along the way, they traversed through more moving platforms, bottomless pits and even avoided some pincers and water dragons hidden in some waterfalls. They've also taken down some small blue crabs. Eventually they found another key for a locked door located at the previous area and also found the map of the Den of Evil. They opened the locked door with the key and moved onto the next area. There, they encountered small mechs that shoot out crawling spark balls, skull mechs, mechs that cause a large explosion radius when defeated, and some light blue slime monsters. The enemies are quickly disposed of by Shantae's gunfire and sword strikes, Miriam's flail strikes, and Starlight and Regina's energy blasts.

Eventually in the next area, they encountered an obstacle with spike traps and chains being hanged by propellers. "Well this is an interesting obstacle." Miriam remarked.

"Just try not to fall off or get hit by the spikes." Starlight warned them.

"Alright, everyone grab a chain and hold on tight!" Shantae advised the group as they grab onto each chain, before they were lifted off the ground and moved to the next area on the other side, while dodging the spike traps. Once they reached the other side, they quickly got off the chains and moved on.

In the next area, they eliminated more enemies consisting of more crabs and the mummies Starlight and Shantae encountered back at Spiderweb Island, which made them cringe at what those mummies are about to do to them. And then in another area, they encountered a new obstacle consisting of moving conveyor belts and ice blocks. They managed to traverse the area while also dealing with more lobster monsters, until they reached a room with an upper path and another chest. And when Shantae opened the chest, she found the final piece of Risky's equipment; a large cannon that's almost human sized. "So this is Risky's cannon, huh?" Starlight commented as the group saw the cannon.

"What would a cannon do in a situation like this?" Regina questioned.

"If I recall, cannons are known to have a strong recoil after being fired." Miriam pointed out.

"A strong recoil, huh?" Shantae muttered, until she had an idea. She jumped high, pointed the cannon below and fired several times, shooting her upwards and out of the upper path... while unintentionally shooting the others as they dodged the cannon fire.

"Hey! Watch where you're shooting that thing!" Starlight scolded Shantae, who was shooting herself out of the area.

"Sorry! I thought it would be a good idea!" Shantae exclaimed.

"At least it's useful for aerial bombardments." Regina pointed out the positves, despite being accidentally shot at.

"I think that technique might be useful for our fight against the guardian of this den." Miriam also pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're both right." Starlight agreed. "Now that you mention it, the equipment Shantae had obtained so far has been very useful in our adventures of each Den of Evil, including fighting the guardians."

"Though eventually, she's gonna have to return the pirate equipment back to Risky once this adventure is over." Regina stated, earning a nod from Starlight.

"Well the equipment does belong to Risky in the first place, so it would be wise of her to return them." Miriam added.

"Yep. Now come on, let's not keep Shantae waiting and go after her." Starlight declared as they flew out of the upper path to go after Shantae, with Miriam gaining the ability to fly thanks to her upgraded battle outfit made by Einstein using magic carpet material.

With Shantae's newly acquired cannon, the group was able to traverse through more of the abandoned factory while passing though more dangerous obstacles, opening more locked doors after finding more keys, and dealing with more monsters. Thankfully there were no more trap rooms, so no more monster ambush. After a long while, they finally arrived at the entrance of the Boss Room.

"Finally... we made it to the Boss Room." Starlight informed the group as they stared at the entrance.

"Once the guardian of this den is taken down, the Pirate Master's finished." Shantae stated.

"There's no point of turning back now, not after what we've been through." Miriam added.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Regina asked with a determined smile. "Everyone Ret-2-Go?"

"Yeah!" They responded.

"Then here we go!" Shantae declared as they entered the Boss Room to deal with the guardian of the Abandoned Factory.

Abandoned Factory, Boss Room

When the group arrived inside the Boss Room, they looked around the area to search for the guardian. "Keep your guard up, everyone. The guardian should be arriving to attack us soon." Starlight warned the group with caution.

"Wait... did you girls hear something?" Shantae asked as they heard some machine sounds fast approaching.

But when Miriam turned around, she gasped and found out the source of the noise. And it was about to charge onto the group. She quickly turned to the group and yelled, "Everyone move!" In response, they quickly jumped out of the way and barely missed the charge attack caused by an unknown enemy. When they turned to the one who attack them, they saw a large blue metal maggot machine with tank threads, red lights for eyes, yellow spikes on its body, and three large red buttons on the top of its body. This is the guardian of the Abandoned Factory; the Steel Maggot.

"So the guardian of this Den of Evil is a large metal maggot. Should've expected a large machine to guard an abandoned factory." Regina commented as they brought out their weapons.

"I've never seen a machine like this before. And it looks strong too." Miriam remarked.

"Everyone, we need to find a weak spot to this machine. Brute force won't do any good due to that armour of his." Starlight advised the group.

"Understood!" Shantae nodded back, with the others also nodding before they turned their attention to the hostile machine. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Got it!" They responded as they began their battle stances while the Steel Maggot revved up its engines to begin the fight.

Steel Maggot

(Patent Pending)

(Play BGM: Boss Theme from Shantae and the Pirate's Curse)

As the fight begins, the Steel Maggot began to charge towards the group. They quickly jumped high and evaded the attack, with Shantae using the cannon for an extra jump boost while the cannonballs struck the three buttons on top of the machine, making the button colors change from red to green. In response, the machine's weak spot opened up from its tail as the group landed behind the machine.

"Everyone, the weak spot has revealed itself!" Starlight informed the group. "Strike it now!"

In response, the weak spot was quickly struck by Shantae's gunfire, Miriam's fireballs, and Regina and Starlight's energy blasts. The machine took heavy damage until it closed off the weak spot and drove off to recover.

"Tch, it drove off before we can continue our assault." Regina muttered in annoyance.

"Though how did its weak spot revealed itself?" Miriam asked.

"Hmm... I think when I used my cannon, the cannonballs struck the red buttons, turning them to green." Shantae answered, until she gasped in realization. "So that's how I was able to reveal its weak spot!"

"Nicely done, Shantae!" Starlight praised her with a thumbs up, before they noticed the Steel Maggot charging towards the group again. "Alright everyone, aim for the three buttons so that the weak spot will open up again!" She advised the group.

In response, they quickly jumped above the charging machine and struck the buttons with their ranged attacks. But unfortunately, the buttons are still red and the machine retaliated by firing several projectiles towards the group. They quickly dodged the attacks and landed safely while the Steel Maggot drove off to prepare charging again.

"I don't understand! Shouldn't the buttons change to green when we hit them?!" Regina questioned why the tactic didn't work like before.

"Maybe we did something wrong?" Miriam guessed.

"I think hitting the three buttons all at once might not be a good idea." Starlight said.

"Hmm..." Shantae took a moment to ponder on how to stop the Steel Maggot. "I think we'll have to hit one button at a time. If it's the correct one, it will turn green so that we can hit the next button until all three are turned green."

"Oh... I get what you're saying now! It's like a combination to a lock!" Regina realized what Shantae is thinking with a finger snap.

"If we can hit the buttons in the correct order, the weak spot will reveal itself again!" Miriam also realized.

"And that's when we hit that open weak spot with everything we got!" Starlight finished. "Alright team, we know what we have to do to beat this guardian!"

"Here it comes again!" Shantae warned the group as the Steel Maggot began to charge towards them again. They quickly jumped over the charging machine while Miriam unleashed her fireballs one button at a time in order; 3, 1, 2. When they land behind the machine, the weak spot revealed itself again, allowing the group to attack it once more. They quickly struck the weak spot with their ranged attacks, causing heavy damage to the Steel Maggot before it closed off the weak spot and drove off again to recover.

"Good going, everyone! I think the guardian is almost defeated! One more assault should finish it off!" Starlight informed the group.

"Then let's hit the buttons in the same order as before!" Regina declared.

"Wait! What if the guardian can change the button order instead?" Shantae questioned.

"It can do that?" Regina responded back.

"Hey, it could happen!"

"Hmm... then we'd better try another button combination, just to be safe." Miriam stated.

"Alright, then we'll go with another button combo!" Starlight agreed with Miriam before the group noticed the Steel Maggot charge towards them again.

They quickly jumped over the charging machine while Starlight fired her energy blasts one button at a time in another order; 2, 1, 3. When they land behind the machine again, the weak spot revealed itself once more. "Now! Finish it off with everything we've got!" Starlight yelled to the group as they attack the weak spot with Regina's charged up spear throw, Miriam's large fireball and Shantae's gunfire. As for Cure Starlight, she materialized two energy swords, fused them together into a bow, rotated her PreBrace a few times, and pulled the bow string while aiming towards the weak spot. "Pretty Cure! Starlight Final Arrow!" She shouted before launching a powerful red and yellow energy arrow as it and all of the other attacks struck the weak spot upon impact. The Steel Maggot began to fall apart after taking critical damage until it exploded. And when the explosion ended, the guardian was no more. "Checkmate." Starlight finished with a grin and a finger snap as the group holstered their weapons, ending the battle.

(BGM End)

"And that should be the last Den of Evil!" Shantae stated with her hands on her hips.

"Now that all of the Pirate Master's guardians are defeated, he will be completely powerless." Regina added.

"But... why do I get the feeling that it's not over yet?" Miriam pondered with her hand on her chin.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked Miriam. "I mean we did defeat all of the guardians and even imprisoned most of the Dark Magic from those Cacklebats, including the ones on this island. What's left to do at this point?"

"Finding the Distortion on this world, of course." Starlight answered. "And we still haven't found it yet."

"Oh right... that." Regina responded.

"Huh?" Shantae suddenly noticed a Tinkerbat lurking around the area. "A Tinkerbat?" She said, gaining attention of the group before noticing the Tinkerbat. "Hello? Can we talk for a moment?" She called out to the Tinkerbat, who then chose to run away instead while leaving behind a map on the floor.

"What was it doing here, anyway?" Regina asked.

"I'm not sure, but it did leave a map while running away." Miriam replied as Starlight walked towards the map, picked it up and began to read it.

"Lonely Grave? What kind of island is that?" Starlight remarked to the group after reading the map.

"There's a sixth Forbidden Isle?!" Regina exclaimed. "I thought there's only five!"

"Perhaps there's more than meets the eye about these isles than we thought." Miriam remaked.

"Maybe we should ask Risky. She might have an answer about this map." Shantae suggested.

"Worth a shot." Starlight agreed as she placed the map into her pocket before turning to the others. "Alright, let's take that shortcut the Tinkerbat used to get out of this factory."

"Hopefully the others have already rescued Tesla by now and returned back to the ship." Miriam added as the group head towards the shortcut until they were out of the abandoned factory and quickly returned back to the ship.

And after a few minutes later, they arrived back at the docks where everyone is waiting, including the other team with Tesla in tow. "Good to see you all back in one piece." Himeko greeted the arrivals.

"And I see that you've found my cannon as well." Risky added while noticing said cannon on Shantae's back.

"Yup! And the guardian of the Den of Evil has been eliminated." Shantae replied back.

"That should be all of your equipment, right?" Miriam asked Risky, who confirmed with a nod.

"As for us, we managed to rescue Tesla and dealt with two more Cacklebats." Kiana informed while gesturing her hand to Tesla beside Mei and took out the magic lamp from her pocket. "Though I can't remember this lamp being a bit heavy."

"That's because all of you imprisoned most of the Dark Magic in that lamp, so I think it's safe to say that you've imprisoned all of them." Risky answered.

"Ah, so that explains it." Kiana understood before turning to Shantae. "Well, here's the lamp back."

"Thanks, Kiana." Shantae smiled back as she took the lamp back from Kiana and placed it back into her pocket.

"So what happens now, Risky?" Sakura asked. "We've conquered all of the Dens of Evil from the five islands."

"We've got the Pirate Master on the ropes." Risky answered as the group listened. "Defeating those five guardians neutralized all of his monsters and servants. It's finally time to deliver the final blow. The Genies sealed his bones in a tomb. The location is known to no one. If we could somehow find it..."

"So we have to find a map of that unknown location..." Kallen said as everyone began to ponder on where to find the map of the tomb.

"The map of a tomb, huh...?" Starlight pondered, until she realized what Risky meant and took out the map of the Lonely Grave from her pocket and showed it to Risky. "Does this map count? A Tinkerbat dropped it while we're exploring this island's Den of Evil."

"Let me see that." Risky took the map from Starlight and began reading it. "Incredible! This is really it! The secret location of the Pirate Master's grave!"

Everyone gasped in shock at what Risky revealed after reading the map of the Lonely Grave. "So that island is where the Pirate Master's tomb is located?!" Mei exclaimed, earning a confirmed nod from Risky.

"Everyone, on board the ship now! We're going to have a look on that island!" Risky commanded the group before everyone quickly boarded the ship, raised its anchor, left the docks and set sail towards the secret location of the Pirate Master's grave; Lonely Grave.

Lonely Grave

After a long voyage, everyone finally arrived at the Lonely Grave. The small island is nothing but a place filled with several dead skeleton pirates and a single skull grave on top of a small rocky hill with stairs and a pirate flag next to the grave.

As the ship began to land at the docks and lowered its anchor, everyone disembarked the ship while hearing Risky gloating at her victory over the Pirate Master. Though her gloating annoyed and creeped out some people.

"Ohohohoho!"

"Uh, Risky? Could you cut down on the gloating for a bit? You're creeping out everyone, myself included." Shantae requested.

"Ugh, she sounds like me whenever I finish a new invention and made it work." Tesla remarked.

"Risky, if you want to gloat, do it AFTER we defeated the Pirate Master properly." Fu Hua sighed.

"Did I really used to laugh like that before? Thank goodness I've gotten out of that phase." Regina also sighed.

"Those Guardian Genies sure did a number on him!" Risky said while looking at the lone grave on top of the hill. "The middle of no place... perfectly hidden from prying eyes. There's even some sort of magnetic anomaly that boggles the compass."

"A magnetic anomaly?! No wonder my compass is acting crazy earlier!" Telsa exclaimed as she looked at her compass acting crazy before putting it away.

"Hmm... an interesting way to keep out intruders from entering this island." Sakura remarked.

"Indeed." Kallen agreed. "It's almost too perfect."

"...Almost." Risky responded before sighing. "...Well, he probably knows we're here. I'm going to have a few words with the good captain. After that, we rig the place with explosives and blow it sky high!"

"Wait, are you sure it's safe since he can hear us?" Kiana questioned.

"There's nothing to fear. Not any more." Risky replied, earning a sigh of relief from the group. "...However." She turned to Shantae. "Should anything go wrong..."

"And if I remember this story correctly, it WILL go wrong..." Starlight thought in a serious tone, knowing how the story will play out due to her video game knowledge back in her world.

"The magic lamp filled with all of the Pirate Master's Dark Magic. If anything goes wrong later on, you must destroy it. Got that?" Risky requested to Shantae.

"Huh?" Shantae responded. "But Risky, didn't you say-"

"That's an order!"

"But..." Shantae struggled to answer, until Starlight placed her hand on Shantae's shoulder, gaining her attention. Starlight gave her an understanding nod since she knows what Risky is planning should things go wrong. Shantae sighed in response before nodding back and turned to Risky. "Alright... I got it."

"Good." Risky nodded back before turning to the others. "Now then, I'll need some people to help me prepare the powder kegs for the Pirate Master's final farewell."

"Himeko, Kallen, Sakura, Tesla, you four will help Risky out with the preparations." Starlight ordered, earning a nod from the four.

"You don't mind if we take a quick look at that grave while we're waiting for you." Kiana asked Risky.

"Do as you wish, but don't wander off too much." Risky replied before turning to the four chosen to assist. "Now then, ready to get to work?"

"Give us a moment to talk to Starlight about something first, then we'll go and help you prepare." Sakura answered.

"...Fine, but don't keep me waiting for too long." Risky replied back before heading back to the ship to prepare the powder kegs.

"Starlight, can we talk to you for a moment?" Kallen asked.

Starlight turned to Shantae and the others and said, "You and the others go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later."

"Alright. We'll be waiting for you on that grave." Shantae replied as she and her group head for the rocky hill while Starlight walked towards Kallen and her group.

"You knew something is about to go wrong on this island, right?" Starlight guessed.

"My instincts are not wrong on this. Something will go wrong soon." Sakura answered.

"So what do you think we should do?" Himeko asked.

"Once Risky left to see the Pirate Master's grave, rig the island with explosives immediately." Starlight answered. "And once we board the ship and escape the island, a few cannon fire on those powder kegs will blow up this island to kingdom come."

"Hold on. Shouldn't we wait for Risky to talk to the Pirate Master first?" Tesla questioned.

"Sorry, but I'm not taking any chances on this." Starlight replied. "Something will go wrong soon so we'll have to plan ahead. Try not to get detected by Risky while you're planting the powder kegs."

"...Alright. We'll follow your plan." Kallen agreed with a nod. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Same to you and the others as well. Good luck." Starlight nodded back as she went to rejoin with Shantae and her group, while Kallen and her group head back to the ship to assist Risky on the preparations.

A few minutes later, Starlight arrived at the lone grave with Shantae and her group waiting. "Sorry I'm late." Starlight informed the group as she walked towards the grave. "So, this is the Pirate Master's grave, huh?"

"Yes it is. Silent as a tomb." Miriam nodded as the group stared at the grave.

"Do you really think destroying this island will permanently end the Pirate Master?" Mei questioned.

"Well we did conquer all of the five Dens of Evil and collected all of the Dark Magic from the Cacklebats." Shantae answered. "But... even I don't know what will happen next."

But then, something started to vibrate on Starlight's pocket. "Starlight, I think your Zikan Phone is responding." Fu Hua said after noticing said phone blinking on Starlight's pocket.

"Huh?" Starlight responded as she took out her Zikan Phone and began to look at what's going on. And what she saw, made her eyes widen in shock. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..."

"What's wrong?" Miriam asked, with the others gaining attention.

"The Zikan Phone finally detected the source of the Distortion. And..." Starlight moved her phone onto the grave. "...it's located on this grave!"

"What?!" They exclaimed in shock after hearing the reveal before looking back at the grave.

"Of all the times for the Distortion to finally reveal itself, why did it have to be here on this grave?!" Starlight complained.

"Okay. I'm getting the feeling that something will definitely go wrong soon!" Kiana stated.

"And I agree with you!" Regina agreed with Kiana.

"What should we do?" Mei asked with worry.

"Listen, I need you all to calm down first. We'll see how this'll play out first." Starlight requested while putting away her phone.

"But... what will happen next?" Shantae questioned.

"We'll have to trust Starlight for now. We've made it this far, so we'll have to trust her and see what happens first." Fu Hua stated.

The others took a moment to look at each other before turning to Fu Hua and Starlight. "Alright, we'll see what will happen first." Shantae answered.

Fu Hua nodded back before turning to Starlight, who also responded with a nod, until they saw Risky arriving and approaching the grave as the group moved aside. "So, the preparations are all set?" Starlight asked Risky.

Risky nodded back before turning to the grave. "The Pirate Master's grave, silent as a tomb." She spoke. "Without Dark Magic to draw from, he's vanished into the eternal abyss. Heh, too bad, really." She turned to the group. "After all, what good is a victory if you can't rub your enemy's face in it!"

"..." Everyone was silent after hearing what Risky said, until they felt the entire island shaking. "Wh-what's going on?!" Shantae exclaimed.

"VOOOOO..."

"And what the heck is that sound?!" Kiana added after everyone heard the sound.

"Ah! Everyone, the grave!" Miriam shouted as the group noticed something out of the grave after it broke into pieces. A large dark purple soul with bones with ghostly hands and a face with menacing red eyes. It began to float towards the group while they stood their ground. That soul, is none other than the Pirate Master, Risky Boot's former mentor.

"HOHOHOHOHO!"

"Is that... the Pirate Master?!" Regina exclaimed. "But I thought we've stopped his power from flowing!"

"We did, but it looks like he was able to absorb enough Dark Magic for his revival!" Miriam replied.

"So you've managed to return after all!" Risky said to her former captain.

"He... he's not human!" Shantae exclaimed.

"He's nothing but a soul of pure malice..." Fu Hua frowned.

"RISKY BOOTS! How dare you betray me!" The Pirate Master growled in anger.

"You're nothing but a shade. I'm through taking orders from you." Risky retorted back with her arms crossed.

"You watched and did nothing as I fell in battle! You stole my ship and crew! And now you destroy my agents and disrupt my flow of Dark Magic!"

"Actually, we did that..." Shantae pointed out to the Pirate Master.

"And personally, your equipment, your ship and your crew are better off with Risky anyway!" Starlight added.

"SILENCE!" The Pirate Master retorted before turning to Risky. "You will suffer for this!"

"There's no reason to get all worked up, Captain." Risky replied before pointing her thumb at Shantae. "See this girl? She's the offspring of the one who imprisoned you. The Genies are the real enemy. Take her, and we'll call it even."

"Now's not the right time for jokes, Risky!" Shantae retorted.

"Is that so? But that can wait, you're the one I want! I will make you pay for your disloyalty!" The Pirate Master yelled at Risky in anger.

"I've had it with your blasted orders! Your time has passed! Go back to the grave where you belong!" Risky retorted.

"FOOL! You belong to me!" He yelled before grabbing Risky with his ghostly hand and moved her close to his face.

"Risky!" The group yelled as they watched her being captured by her former captain.

"What's this?!" The Pirate Master then noticed the outfit Risky is wearing and felt enraged. "You dare to wear my face like some kind of trophy?! Give me that!"

"Wait, Risky's outfit has the Pirate Master's face on it?! That's kinda gross..." Regina commented.

"First, I will take the Palace! And then, when my strength has returned, you will witness the end of your world!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it, Pirate Master!" Kiana retorted back as the group prepared their weapons.

"Oh? So you all dare to defy me, eh?" The Pirate Master responded to the group. "I could use some entertainment! But not here. Meet me at the Palace! We'll settle our score there! I'll be waiting! HOHOHOHOHO!" He finished before teleporting away to Sequin Land Palace with Risky in tow.

"Risky!" Shantae yelled.

"Shantae, we need to head for Sequin Land Palace immediately! There's no point staying here!" Fu Hua ordered.

"Right!" Shantae nodded back.

"Hold on! I need to see if the Distortion is still here!" Starlight informed the group as she quickly took out her Zikan Phone to detect the Distortion on the now broken grave. Unfortunately... "What the... it's gone?!"

"What?!" The group exclaimed in shock.

"The Distortion! It just... disappeared! It was here a moment ago before the Pirate Master showed up!" Starlight said.

"So you're saying that the Distortion disappeared after the Pirate Master showed up?!" Mei guessed, before a sudden realization made her gasp in shock at where the Distortion is located. "Wait... Oh no...!"

"What's wrong, Mei?!" Kiana asked.

"The source of the Distortion... I think the Pirate Master now has it!" Mei answered, making the group gasp in shock.

"Seriously?!" Regina exclaimed.

"So the Pirate Master now has the Distortion, and is now planning to regain all of his strength at the Palace! If those powers are combined, he'll be unstoppable!" Miriam summarized.

"Not if we extract that Distortion out of him with this!" Starlight answered as she took out a Distortion Ridewatch.

"The Distortion Ridewatch! Of course!" Kiana realized the item they needed to extract the Distortion after an explanation from Starlight. "If we can use that, he'll lose most of his strength!"

"That's the plan, Kiana!" Starlight confirmed.

"Alright, we know what we have to do! Now let's head back to the ship and sail back to Scuttle Town on the double!" Shantae declared while Starlight put away the Ridewatch.

"Roger!" They responded, except for Mei who quickly prepared her katana after sensing something amiss.

"Um... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... we're about to meet with some uninvited guests..." Mei cautioned the group.

"Huh?" The group responded, until they saw several things waking up. It was the dead skeleton pirates, now waking up with their swords ready and began to growl and the group while slowly approaching them as they surround them.

"Skeleton pirates?! I don't recall them moving earlier!" Regina exclaimed.

"I think the Pirate Master's revival somehow revived the skeletons as well!" Miriam stated.

"Tch! We don't have time for this!" Fu Hua frowned at the skeletons.

Everyone prepared their weapons and their combat stances as the skeletons surrounding them slowly approached the group. "Okay, this definitely wasn't supposed to happen! Then again, the Butterfly Effect can be a real bitch to deal with! If we don't get back to Scuttle Town soon, the Pirate Master will truly be unstoppable!" Starlight thought in a serious tone.

Unknown to the heroes however, they're being watched by someone flying above the island with the arms crossed. It was a girl with short black hair with a dark purple and dark red streak along with a dark purple ribbon on the back of her hair, a dark purple right eye and a yellow left eye, dark red earrings and dark red lipstick. She's wearing a black and gold vest with dark purple pleats at the bottom, a dark red lapel, and large black bat wings on her back. On her chest is a black ribbon with dark red stripes and a gold skull brooch on the middle. She also wears a dark red skirt along with a pair of dark purple arm warmers that extends to her elbows with dark red fingerless gloves, and thigh-high black boots with dark purple ribbons on each side. And, she has a dark version of the PreBrace on her left wrist.

"It would be nice to watch those meddling heroes suffer for a moment, but I have other things to attend to." She spoke. "I was planning to get that damn Distortion Fragment first, but that accursed Pirate Master got to it first, and I don't want to get hit by his curse either, making me a slave to him. My loyalty is with the Neo Time Jackers! Not him!" She sighed before taking something out of her pocket; a Dark Ridewatch. "Well at least I got a small piece of his Dark Magic after dealing with one stray Cacklebat from under his undead nose. I'm sure Zwei will make good use of this." She puts away the Ridewatch before looking at the heroes once more. "Someday, I, Dark Cure Chaos, will be the one to destroy every single Pretty Cure in existence! And when that day comes... prepare for a rude awakening." The now named Dark Cure Chaos finished her warning as she turns around and flew away, disappearing into a Time Veil she created.

And so our heroes are now under a difficult situation. The Pirate Master has been revived after collecting enough Dark Magic from the Forbidden Isles, taken Risky Boots hostage and is now on his way towards Sequin Land Palace to regain the rest of his strength, plus he also has the Distortion Fragment without even knowing. And what's worse, a horde of skeleton pirates surrounded our heroes and delaying their escape. Will our heroes be able to escape the Lonely Grave in time to return to Scuttle Town and stop the Pirate Master before he can regain all of his strength at the Palace? And what is Dark Cure Chaos planning to do with that piece of Dark Magic? Until then... only time will tell...

Chapter 10: Frostbite Island

END

Author's Note: Didn't expect me to end this chapter on a cliffhanger, eh? Also, I had to combine both the Frostbite Island and the Den of Evil explorations together because, well the island is not that much to offer in my opinion. At least they managed to rescue Nikola Tesla. Anyway, we're almost at the final battle. After that, it's finally time to combine the two teams together on the next Book. Till then, stay safe!