Ikarus: To The Skies

[S15] Episode 4: Planning for Death

"So we've got to look for this temple, right?" asked Garbajo, "Seems pretty easy as long as we don't get caught up in another sandstorm."

"We've got to look for those sand soldiers and the general that leads them first," replied Banzai, waving the piece of paper, "We've got to announce that we're aiding them or we'll get targeted."

Ally commented, "I'm sure we'll find them in no ti—"

Ally bumped into a person, falling to the ground due to a lack of balance. As he stumbled on the ground, he scratched his head and looked up to see a soldier staring down at him.

"What are you doing within these parameters?" asked the sand soldier.

"Oh.. uh.. I," mumbled Ally.

"We're here to aid the sand soldiers in finding out and taking down this murderous man," said Banzai as she showed the piece of paper given to them by Mordred, "If you can, please take us to your general!"

...

"Greetings, my name is Haddock Maisley," announced the tall armor plated man, reading the piece of paper, "I'm the lead general of all of these soldiers. I assume that you're the Arcs? Mordred has told me about you all and your willingness to aid in our battles."

"We plan to do our best," replied Garbajo, being the only one to actually match up to Haddocks's height, thus being their spokesperson.

"May I ask for the experiences you've all had in fighting, or at least the accomplishments you've done as Arcs?" asked Haddock for clarification.

"Well, before we even became Arcs," mentioned Ally, "Ikarus and I freed the Ville of Farms from thieves, and stopped the Loan Sharks in the Isle of Chickeletta back in our World of Sea. We also prevented as much casualties as we can in Restaurant Galore as well as participated in the Battle of Industry City without suffering any casualties.

We then helped find the thief in the Underwater Reality and figure out a string of murders in the Grand Marketplace. If you're looking for experience, then we've got it!"

"Very interesting," said Haddock as he began to walk with his soldiers, "Come with. You're all very valuable assets and I'd like to hear more details about your stories."

As the group of soldiers walked, Ally told the story of he and Ikarus, going back to when they had first met up to the split up that they had to go through in order to find Benkei faster.

"Very amusing!" announced Haddock, "Such a wonderful tale! I'm a man who loves little stories like that, especially ones that I've told to my children. Now, after we fight this murderous man, I wish you luck in defeating this Ryuji Benkei."

"Thank you for your support," smiled Banzai, "Now where are we heading? I've been meaning to ask but didn't want to interrupt your conversation and storytelling."

"We're heading to the Odd Temple, a place that was constructed by beings long ago. We've heard that some eyewitness have seen the murderous man enter and exit from this place, so we're assuming that he lives in there to rest up."

"What's your plan of action?" asked Garbajo.

"We plan to shout and yell for him to get out before beating him up with our multiple forces!" proudly announced Haddock.

"That's such a weak plan.." thought Banzai hazily, "Does this guy even have the brains of a general? The murderous man could easily kill them all if they're seen!"

Ally and Garbajo nodded, "What a nice plan!"

"You idiots!" yelled Banzai, "That's seriously the weakest plan you could ever think of! I swear, you guys can't live. We'll do this:

We'll infiltrate the base quietly, and then once we find the murderous man, we ambush him with our numbers before he can even see it coming!"

"Oh wow!" gasped Garbajo, Ally, and Haddock in awe, "What an even more intelligent plan!"

"That was the most logical plan anyone could think of!" yelled Banzai, "And your plan wasn't even intelligent in the first place!"

"Either way," smiled Haddock, "We've got 50 sand soldiers! We're definitely going to win a fight 54 to one!"

"50 soldiers?" asked Banzai, "Don't you have a much more grander army?"

"We used to have 5,000," mumbled Haddock as his head bowed in shame, "But they're all dead. Including my wife and children, and most of the sand village."

"Oh.." said Banzai, feeling bad, "I'm sorry for your loss.."

"It's alright," smiled Haddock as he brightened up once again, "We'll do our best to avenge them all!"

Soon, the sand soldiers, the general, and the trio were face to face with the Odd Temple, which looked like a more broken down version of the Sand Castle that Mordred lived in. They took their first steps into the Odd Temple, aware of the dangers that they were about to face.