EFCI chapter 23

Author's note
Hey folks, JusSonic here. Listen, JusSonic Reader. I can continue making these chapters if I want to. Just read the chapters slowly, I can work on these babies each day if I want to. Okay, onward to the next frigging act!

Chapter 23: Stranded Again

Act III: Escape from Cartoon Island

Loud groans as he wakes up with a fist full of sand. The hero groans and got up while saying, "Ugh, hey, where...where am I?"

"You mean, for that matter." Danny said with a sigh. Loud spot those who were went him when they got captured by Dark Alex II and Mr. Boss with him. The last thing the loud pirate remembers is being knocked out along with the others.

"We must be on some sort of deserted island." Uther said as he and everyone got back up to investigate their surroundings. Strange, for some reason, this place looks familiar to most of the group.

Mowgli sniff bit while saying, "Wow, this island smells kinda familiar. Ugh, the only island that smells that bad was..."

Loud's eyes widen in horror and shock as he recognize the island now. The pirate exclaims, "OH NO! THOSE TWO MAD GREEDY ASSHOLES! THEY LEFT US MAROONED ON..."

"Cartoon Island," Most of the group exclaim, coming to the same conclusion as Loud himself, much to their worry. Dark Alex II and T-Rex must've decided on this island since the gang (most of them) got stranded here before and may not escape this time!

"So this is Cartoon Island eh?" Jesse asks in amazement. "It is mysterious and legendary as in the stories that I heard."

"What will we do now? We're trapped here, Fifi is in trouble and Mr. Boss and Dark Alex II has got his hold on the Fatal Insult." Fievel points out in worry. "We got to do something.

"Aw hell, not me, I give up." Loud said sadly as he walks away from the group, much to their shock.

"What? No, Loud! Don't give up! Loud!" Most of his friends exclaim in shock. How could Loud give up after coming all this way, even if not by choice?

"Guys, let's face it. Those bastards won this time. I will never overcome these incessant obstacles. I mean...it's like my whole life is a never-ending series of...puzzles or something. I may as well just crawl into a hole and wait for my life to end."

"Loud, don't give up." June said in concern. "You can't just throw in the towel because of one minor mishap. What would your wife think?"

Before Loud could say anything, the hero spots a familiar Pokemon coming over from out of nowhere, looking worried and concern. The hero sighs while responding, "Oh hey there, Justy."

"Aipom! Aipom Aipom! Aipom," Justy screech to Loud in concern and worry as if trying to encourage Loud not to give up and find a way to save the day before it's too late.

"Forget trying to cheer me up or anything. Nothing's working. Just...give up. Hell, I know I am."

"Loud Kiddington," Ryan exclaim to Loud sternly, making the hero yelp as he turns to the samurai. "Look, I have served under you for a long time now and even I can't believe what I'm hearing or seeing. You will not give up. You've never done so in the past..."

"Except for a bit when we came here to Cartoon Island the first time and he almost gave up that time," Melody points out.

"Right, except that. But even so, you would figure out a way to overcome the greatest of obstacles. So what if those monsters have got the Fatal Insult? So what if Dark Alex II the governor of Toonatopia Island and is hunting for your wife? You never left obstacles like that stop you before! The Loud Kiddington I know would figure out a way to overcome them and do what's right."

"Right. Come on, do it for us, if not, the kids." Harry said to Loud as he motions to the kids AKA Mowgli and Melody looking worried nearby.

"Loud, please." The kids plead to Loud. Justy jumps up and down in agreement, making Loud smiles.

"Aww, what the hell? I will do it for the kids," Loud said with courage once more. Everyone smile and cheer for him. Now that's the pirate that they knew. "All right, first order of business: get off this stupid yet familiar home like, island."

"Right!" jjb88 exclaim in agreement.

"Second order of business: stop Mr. Boss and Dark Alex II from using the Fatal Insult on Fifi and a lot of people!"

"Right, good, you're doing good, kid!" Tiger cheers happily as the others cheer in agreement.

"Third order of business: buy some new shoes!" Loud exclaim proudly. Of course, that kinda kill the moment that the hero is building as the others notice that their friend is missing some shoes. One of Dark Alex II's minions must've stolen them.

"Aipom, Aipom! Aipom," Justy exclaim happily as he run around the beach like mad. The heroes look confused as they realize one important detail.

"How did he get here anyway?" Kari asks the others while glancing at Justy the Aipom, making them shrugs a bit. Some things are best left unanswered, one could guess.

Loud and his friends begin their exploration of the island. There has to be another way off of Cartoon Island. Most of them have escaped before after all. Sweetie glances at a poor starfish that died on its way here. Hope the good guys don't share his frigging fate!

"So how did you all escape this island before?" Jesse asks the group curiously.

"Well, when we came here the first time, we used Pepe Le Pew's hidden ship." Ryan explains.

"The second time when we were dealing with the carnival of Kingdom Hearts, our ship came back to us." Mowgli add. "Of course, we don't have the latter..."

"But we could find Pepe's ship!" Uther exclaim in realization and excitement. "Now if only we could find the skunk if he's still here and alive..."

"Check this out a bunch of bananas." Patamon said as he glances up at a bunch of bananas hanging from a tree nearby. "Guess it's the only pair that these ravenous monkeys, Mankeys, whatever had not got their non-opposable thumbs on yet."

"Hmmm, look at this." Draco said as he notices a note hanging on a tree nearby. "'Ever-growing monkey population: come on, stop over-populating the island already. There are only so many bananas.' Signed P.L.P."

"Must be Pepe Le Pew's writing," Loud said with a nod. "Hell, the skunk is the only one on this island with those initials as far as I know."

"I don't know, Loud. There's something familiar about those initials as well." Hermione said thoughtfully. "They're the initials of Fifi's missing grandfather."

"True, but he couldn't be here. The guy is dead by now. No offense to him of course."

Loud grabs the note and pockets it. The only thing he got on his person now is both the said note and the body parts from a certain shop back on Kumquat Island. That asshole Dark Alex II has shaken him whole. The gang then head off into the jungle.

A while later, the heroes has came up to a campsite with a shack with a hammock under it nearby a fire pit. jjb88 picks up a coconut nearby before reading a damn note pinned to a wall of the shack, "'To all Dark Alex II-fearing citizens of Cartoon Island, you are all invited to play bingo at the church every Tuesday on midnight. Non-members are welcomed.' Signed, Father William Stryker, CoDAII, Orthodox.' Huh. Would that be Tuesday morning or night?"

"Church? What is a church doing on this island?" Danny asks puzzled.

"I don't like the sounds of it." June said in concern. For some reason, the initials and the whole church thing sounds like freaky.

Loud takes the note as he and his pals turn around. They soon gasp upon seeing a friend that they themselves (well, most of them) haven't seen in a long time: a certain black and white skunk who is standing around in confusion.

"Pepe," Loud said to Pepe, startling the skunk in the progress.

"Where," Pepe ask confused as he look around as if looking for someone that Loud spoke of.

"Here! You're Pepe Le Pew , the hermit of Cartoon Island!"

"What, moi? Who are vous?"

The heroes look surprised and concerned. Pepe doesn't seem to recognize them for some reason. Odd. Ryan asks worried, "Don't you remember us? I'm Prince Ryan, these two kids are Mowgli and Melody."

"And I'm Loud Kiddington, Mighty Pirate!" Loud exclaim proudly. "The others are people you have yet to meet."

"Loud Kiddington, eh? Ho ho ho," Pepe exclaim with a laugh of amusement. "And moi thought my name was stupid."

"Wait a minute...is your memory slipping?" Hermione ask the skunk in concern.

"It is? Can't remember a damn thing, little girl."

"Everyone, I think I know what happened. Pepe Le Pew has lost his memories, even of his meetings with Loud, Ryan, Mowgli and Melody before."

"No wonder he looks so confused and memory loss. Time we help him." T.K. said before turning to Pepe. "Pepe, what do you remember?"

"Well, swaggering around, mostly. Then some weird loud boy named 'Brat in ton, arrives with he and his friends telling moi that my name is 'Pepe Le Pew'. Heh." Pepe said with a shrug.

"Well, it's nice to see that whatever screwed up your memory hasn't mess up your sense of humor...at all," Loud remark to Pepe dryly. Even if memory less, the skunk still got one weird ass sense of humor. "Pepe, at least think hard. Hell, do you remember anything else?"

"Moi remembers being asked a bunch of noisy questions, kid."

"Can you tell us what the earliest thing that you remember?" Jesse suggest to Pepe in concern. Maybe the skunk may recall something right after his damn memory loss. Perhaps it could help a bit.

"Err, is this some sort of regression therapy?" Pepe ask the heroes in worry.

"Well, no, I do not think so."

"Good. Moi doesn't wish to wake up thinking he has been kidnapped and violated by aliens or something."

"Please, try to remember as far back as possible." Draco suggest to Pepe in concern.

"Let's see...uh...eh...ummm..." Pepe mumble as he tries to think hard as to what the earliest thing that he himself can remember. Then the skunk cringes as if something has hit him. "Ow!"

"What?" Loud ask Pepe hopefully. Did the skunk remember something?

"Moi remembers something! I woke up next to my hammock with a bump on moi's noggin!"

"When was that?"

"Oh, a couple of hours ago," Pepe explain with a shrug, much to the heroes' surprise.

"What? A couple of hours," Iago ask in annoyance. "You can't remember anything more before that?"

"Uh, guess not. Is that a bad thing? Moi can't remember."

"I see. Your memory can't reach back more than a couple of hours, right?" Loud ask Pepe curiously.

"Que, I mean non, not since moi woke up next to my hammock." Pepe said with a sigh.

"Well, we will pluck the murky depths of your damn memories later."

"Whatever. Ho ho ho ho!"

"So, how are things on Cartoon Island lately?" Sweetie asks Pepe with a smile.

"Wait, this is an island?" Pepe ask the dog confused. The skunk's memory must be worst. He doesn't even recall what an island is at all! Pepe gasps upon seeing Sweetie while exclaiming, "Gah! A talking dog!"

"Pepe, we need some help," Loud said to Pepe. Hopefully the skunk can be useful even when his memory is not all there at all.

"Eh, get this guy. Moi is the one with no memory and he wants my help. Ho ho ho ho!"

"Listen, remember when you parked your ship? The one you used to help us off this island to begin with. We really REALLY need to get back to Toonatopia Island." Melody said to Pepe, hoping that the mention of his ship could spring some memories.

Of course, Melody just confused Pepe, making him ask, "Moi has a ship? I thought I was a hermit."

"Yes, but..." Mowgli begins to say dumbstruck. How will he explain Pepe having a ship to the skunk?

"Does moi has a cell phone too?"

"But..."

"Eh, a hermit with a ship. Give moi a break!" Pepe exclaim with a scoff. Well, looks like the skunk has no memories of the ship whatsoever. That is pointless.

"So in other words, you really don't have a clue as to where your ship is at?" Fievel ask Pepe in concern.

"Non. Of course I'm not putting much stock in this mythical 'ship' of yours, folks."

Loud sighs a bit, but he ask the next question, "You probably don't know how to counteract the dangerous as hell Fatal Insult, do you?"

"Uh, what's that?" Pepe ask Loud confused.

"A big evil voodoo thingamajig." jjb88 explains dryly to the clueless Pepe.

"Voodoo? What's that? Heh."

"Ugh, you know what? This isn't frigging helping at all!" Iago exclaim in annoyance. All they did was mess the skunk up further. "Come on, let's talk about something else!"

"How about making it more recent, loud boy and company? Ho ho ho ho," Pepe suggest with a bit of a chuckle.

"Well, later, Pepe," Loud said as he ends the conversion with the skunk.

"Who?"

The heroes walk away from Pepe before stopping a bit. Danny frowns while saying, "Pepe is going to be of no use to us until we get his memories back. Want one of us to hit him?"

"No! According to one class Harry and I took at Hogswarts, the best way to restore someone's memories is to hit them with the same object that made him or her lose it in the first place." Hermione explains.

"Hmmm. jjb88, hand me the coconut." Jesse suggest to jjb88. The shape shifter gave the woman the coconuts before she turns to Pepe, "Pepe?"

"Where," Pepe ask confused. Without warning, the Native American throw the coconut at Pepe's head hard, causing him to yelp in pain. "Ow!" As Jesse pick the item back up, the skunk shake his head before snapping, "What are vous trying to do..." Pepe gasps in realization, "Sacre beau! I'm Pepe Le Pew!"

"Pepe, you got your memory back!" Loud exclaim to Pepe with a grin.

"Well, some of it. I still don't remember vous and the others."

"Actually you haven't met the rest of us yet. Still, this is going to be harder than we thought." Gatomon said with a sigh. At least Pepe remembers his own name and maybe some of his memories now. "So how is your memory?"

"Heck if moi knows," Pepe remark with a shrug. "Ask me something."

"So what do you remember?" Loud ask the skunk curiously.

"Let's see...moi remembers building this campground while keeping those foolish monkeys and their pals from stealing my bananas. Then some Indian hit me on the head with a coconut."

"Actually Pepe, Jesse is a Native American from a tribe, but they get mistakes like that all the time." Ryan explains to the half-memory Pepe. "So do you remember anything else?"

"Yeah, moi remembers being annoyed by some loud pirate and his pals," Pepe remark to Ryan in annoyance.

"Okay, stupid question. Let's ask this one. What's the earliest thing that you remember?" Kari ask the skunk curiously. Maybe there's something else that hit him before that may have made Pepe forget Loud, Ryan, Mowgli and Melody.

"Hmm. Let moi think...que! Moi remembers waking up in the middle of a clearing next to a milk bottle."

"Wait, a milk bottle?" June ask Pepe puzzled. Now why does the words 'milk bottle' sound so damn familiar?

"Que! Probably had something to do with the explosions happening at the amusement park." Pepe explains.

"Wait, explosions?" Danny asks surprised. The explosions at the amusement must be Dark Alex II and T-Rex destroying the Kingdom Hearts Carnival, one of the milk bottles from a midway game must've been blown from the explosion, landing right on Pepe's head!

"Que, que. Some sort of demon/zombie/ghost squirrel pirate and a huge lizard blew up the place pretty damn good before sailing off on their ghost ship. Those explosions activated the island's dormant volcano."

"So when did all this happen?" Loud ask Pepe curiously.

"A few months ago," Pepe answer with a nod.

"Ah, so you can only remember the last few months, eh?"

"Que. Moi cannot remember a thing before waking up next to that milk bottle."

Well, the gang now knows what to do next: find the milk bottle that hit Pepe before and hit the skunk with it again. The heroes decide to deal with the skunk's memories later. They got other questions to deal with.

"So how are things on Cartoon Island?" Harry asks Pepe curiously.

"Things? What things?" Pepe ask Harry puzzled and confused as frigging usual.

"Where are all the monkeys and their pals?"

"Oh, them? Those little pests spend most of their time on the other side of the lava field. Dirty little bastards!"

"What have you been doing with yourself?" Fievel ask Pepe curiously.

"Eh, wouldn't you like to know, monsieur mouse?" Pepe ask Fievel in amusement.

"Yes, that would be nice." Tiger said with a slow nod.

"Oh. You see, when that volcano blew up, it ripped open the island's southern canyon. And guess what moi has found down there?"

"Toys," The kids ask hopefully and eagerly.

"That's crazy and impossible, kids." Uther remarks with a shake of his head before turning back to the skunk. "A creamy, nougat center?"

"Geez, and he said that the toys theory is crazy," Draco remark with a shrug. "Uh, is it the REAL secret of Cartoon Island?"

"Non, non! Gold! Buckets of the stuff," Pepe explain to the heroes in excitement. "Moi has been mining since that time! I even have my banana picker dipped in gold!"

"All right! Now we're talking, pal!" Iago exclaim with a greedy smirk on his face.

"Wait, why does a hermit need gold for anyway?" Loud ask Pepe, ignoring Iago's greedy nature.

"Insurance, loud mouth! The high-flying life of a hermit is fine and dandy for now, but moi wants to retire someday." Pepe explain with a smile.

"Wait, you're a hermit. Aren't you practically retired now?" Jesse asks Pepe skeptically.

"Moi is? Huh. No wonder I barely did much work on this island. For a moment, moi thought he has gone lazy."

"So how's the mining going?" Mowgli ask Pepe curiously.

"Moi had to stop." Pepe answer with a frown on his face.

"Why?"

"I keep hitting a big metal wall!"

"Wait, there's a big metal wall under Cartoon Island?" Loud ask Pepe in amazement. Looks like Cartoon Island has more secrets than your usual Fort Knox.

"Yeah, who know?" Pepe ask with a sad sigh.

"About that impenetrable barrier underneath Cartoon Island..."

"Non. Don't remind moi, kid. All that gold and moi cannot get it! Le sigh."

"Let's not talk about Cartoon Island." Ryan said with a shrug as he changes the subject for now.

"Okie dokie." Pepe said with a shrug. May as well see what else these damn people can waste his time with.

"We need some help," Loud said to Pepe in concern. At least the skunk could be better useful with part of his memory back, right?

"Moi could tell that just by looking at all of vous. Ho ho ho."

"Do you have the slightest idea where you parked your ship at?" Kari asks Pepe hopefully.

"Nope," Pepe answer much to the group's dismay. Looks like the skunk is still clueless about his so-called ship.

"You haven't stumbled any way to defeat Dark Alex II and Mr. Boss, do you?" T.K. ask Pepe, knowing that the skunk probably won't have any much help in that mentioned frigging area.

"Who are they?"

"Yeah, I was afraid of that. On second thought, I don't think we are of any help to us in this damn state."

"Folks, if vous want moi's help, at least give me questions that moi can answer." Pepe suggest to the group, making a useful tip so to speak.

"Well, later Pepe," Loud said with a nod as he and his pals end their new conversion with Pepe.

"Que. See ya, strangers."

The heroes then took their leave of Pepe's campground. They still got to explore the rest of the newly formed Cartoon Island...and hopefully find the milk bottle and use it to get the skunk's remaining memory back.

Author's note
Well, Pepe got part of his memory back but he still doesn't remember Loud, Ryan, Mowgli and/or Melody.

Mowgli: (frowns) That kinda sucks.

Melody: Yeah!

Me: In the next chapter, Loud and his friends does a puzzle involving rocks then stumble upon the milk bottle in question only for a monkey to toss it out of reach. They also enter the Church of Dark Alex II run by the ghost priest William Stryker. Read, review and suggest.