It was the fourteenth of August when the Psychic's Revenge landed on a new island. It was located in the Atlas Sea and known as Gamut Island. In the time that the pirates sailed the sea, they trained and grew stronger. James and Milangelo could now both reach a base nine-strength. Cameron had greatly improved his proficiency and techniques with the bow and arrow. Patricia had tapped into the abilities of her parasite and now knew a few of the universe's secrets. Karnilla added some new moves to her fighting style, as she became more proficient with her Viper Chain. Joneas became a more serious sorcerer, and made his first contact with Gaia. Brandon, Crock, Persimmon, and Jacket all became stronger as did the others.
Gamut Island was also known as "The Great Green", and its luscious jungles were said to lure in adventurers, who would never return. The Detective Pirates landed on the island having been informed of this by Patricia. Apparently, her Reveal parasite could reveal useful information when needed. They thanked her for the heads up, and James led a team of four into the jungle for an inspection. His team consisted of Cameron, Persimmon, Joneas, and himself. Karnilla, feeling brave, asked Milangelo if he could lead a second team to venture into a different part of the jungle. He agreed and this team would consist of Karnilla, Milangelo, Jacket, and Crock.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the jungle, inside a volcano concealed by trees, the shadow of a tall man laughed gleefully. The shadow appeared to smile.
"Whosoever arrives my island,
shall henceforth put on a smile and
evermore they dance and sing
their song narrating everything."
On the ship, Patricia and Brandon stayed to guard it, when the former felt something was off.
"Brandon, my Reveal powers alert me to some strange magic energy coming from the island. I think the others could be in some sort of trouble."
"My many years on this world and familiarity with magic give me a sense for it, and you are right. We should warn the others."
"Then who will guard the ship?"
"I don't know, but we should warn them."
Karnilla's group, led by Milangelo, were the first to notice the effects of the mysterious magic. The latter pointed to their left, but did so with his entire body, as if it were a dance move.
"Why are you moving with such vigour?" sang Karnilla. She realised that she had sung this line, and covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"Well, why do you sing with such rigour?" sang Jacket. "Why do I sing as well, do you figure?"
James' group was in a similar predicament, as James and Cameron began to sing about the fact that they were singing. Joneas interrupted with a verse of his own.
"From the mouth of but an apprentice,
I sing this counteractive sentence.
Beyond the utterance of these words,
No song or dance be apart of our curse."
To the surprise and relief of Joneas and those around him, the counter-curse worked. They no longer had to sing and dance. However, unbeknownst to them, the ancient shadow that had unleashed this curse had a built-in backup curse.
"Clever ones have rebuked the curse,
they now no longer sing in verse.
Though when it comes to important things,
There is no escape, they will dance and sing."
This new curse would not be immediately noticeable, and therefore not prompt the pirates into action. In fact, if they were to not discover it for twenty-four hours, it would be impossible to cast a counter-curse. This curse would likely force them to sing and dance whenever something noteworthy occurs. What exactly qualifies for this distinction, they could not know, but time would reveal. Their adventure in The Great Green was about to get... musical.
Of course, the curse was only the beginning. The Great Green attracts many people, each coming for their own reasons. The new Gentleman Recruit, Roman Beluchs, had come to the island on a reconnaissance mission. Admiral Whistler had also landed on the island, believing it to be the current location of the Detective Pirates. Still, there were even others, what one might call 'locals', two individuals who somehow managed to live on the island for years without awakening the shadow.
Deep in the jungle, a gorilla lay in a hammock. It awoke, sensing the bizarre magical energy.
"Ooh, someone woke up the juju. Something isn't right here. Best get to my treehouse."
In a lake elsewhere in the jungle, a mermaid laid on a rock, humming to herself. She too felt the magical energy and as she did, she sung out.
"Oh what fun, the shadow wake. Newer prey is time to make."
On the West Side of the island, Admiral Whistler disembarked, attempting to report to her superiors.
"I am now on Gamut Island, investigating the possibility of pirate activity." She paused, anticipating a response, but got nothing except static. She then pulled out an allpurposometer. "These things have come a long way since their invention. Now let's see what's causing the interference."
She pressed a few buttons, so that the device would run basic atmospheric tests. After a few minutes, it discovered the issue.
"Ah, so the island is cursed. Well, many curses can be quite benign, and if those pirates could come back from Limbo, I can't just leave them to their own devices."
She begrudgingly accepted that she could not contact anyone to report her status, but still moved forward into the jungle.
Somewhere in the Eastern part of the jungle, the Gentleman Recruit Roman Beluchs sat on a rock, playing the lute.
"My musical inclination tells me a curse is at play. I wonder what will happen today." He wondered for a moment if it would be worth moving from his rock. Nah, I just got comfortable, he thought.
Patricia and Brandon, knowing that they could not leave the ship, decided to look around for something to communicate with the others. They found a walkie-talkie and remembered that James always carried one around, but after the usage on Notably Small Island, felt it might be safer not to use it. She had a feeling that this time, however, it would be fine. The curse was interfering with the transmission of frequencies, so that no sound could leave or enter the island. She would be able to radio a warning to the others, without the fear that any outside force could tap into their frequency.
Patricia held down the talk button and talked into the device. "James, are you there?"
A minute later, James responded. "Yes, I take it you're calling about the curse? Because Joneas just did a counter curse."
"It's good that you know, but what about the other group?"
"Karnilla and hers have probably experienced the effects to a degree, but should no longer be affected. They'll probably figure that something was up. Why are you using the walkie-talkie anyway?"
"It's alright, frequencies cannot enter or leave the island. Also, I don't think the counter-curse was completely effective. There may be someone or something behind the curse. Be careful out there. Also, I sense that we're not alone on this island. I'm sensing five other presences on the island."
"Anything that we should be wary of?" asked James.
"Hm, there's a female from the government... and some weird people. Animal hybrids? Sorry, these powers are still very new to me. I wish I could be more specific."
"It's okay, guess we can just find out when we come across them. I like surprises in my adventure."
Patricia agreed and said that they will definitely be surprised by these other people. She ended the conversation with James, and Brandon told her to stop worrying. The two of them resumed their task of guarding the ship.
Karnilla, Milangelo, Jacket, and Crock were surprised when the singing and dancing they had been seemingly forced to do ended out of nowhere.
"That was a relief, I really can't sing," said Crock. "Lungs are too old. I'd need seven-strength just to hold a note."
"It can't be that bad, you haven't even turned seventy yet!" said Karnilla. "In any case, I didn't realise Milangelo had such a good singing voice."
"I didn't either. I haven't sung since my sister died."
"And you have a nice voice too, Karnilla," said Jacket. "I could tell that my voice needed a little work, however."
"Well, at least your moves were on point."
They all laughed and continued to critique and compliment each other, as if it were all just fun and games. A while later, Karnilla voiced a new concern.
"So what even was that? Do you reckon this island is cursed or something?"
"Oh, that's most definitely the case," said Crock. "I've heard of curses that were something like this. Oh, pun not intentional."
James' group continued to walk through the jungle and soon came across a large treehouse. Ropes, ladders, and swings decorated the tree along with wooden viewing stations and rooms, and there was no confusion as to how one might navigate this impressive structure.
The large room in the centre, presumably the main treehouse, seemed not to be open, until the pirates heard a door creak. They watched as the door opened and a large figure emerged from the shadow of the treehouse.
"Hello, strangers," said the figure. "Your presence here has awoken the curse. The best course of action is for you to leave the island immediately so that those of us who wish you no harm can live our lives in peace, without a ridiculous song and dance."
"And who might you be?" asked James.
"The name is Grudge," said the figure as he descended the tree to reach the group. When he arrived in front of them, it was a surprise to see that he was a gorilla.
"Yep, Grudge the Gorilla. If you're wondering why I can talk like a human, it's because I have the brain of one. I used to be Simon Frankenstein's personal pet project."
"Don't you mean Alexander Frankenstein?" asked Cameron.
"That was his son. The Frankensteins have a long history of being mad scientists. Alexander still believes he won't follow in his ancestors' footsteps, but the signs have been there from the beginning. He can't outrun destiny. Anyway, we're getting sidetracked. Do you wish to come in?"
It was lucky that none of the pirates were too shocked by a talking gorilla. If they were, it may have triggered the curse's new parameters, and forced them to sing about it. Grudge was not a gorilla who particularly liked music, then again, his brain had belonged to a man killed by a composer. The four pirates followed the gorilla up into the treehouse.
"There's a shadow of some evil dark age sorcerer living deep in the volcano. Think they called him Lyricus. Whenever a group of people arrive on the island, he enacts his curse, which forces people to dance and sing about everything," the gorilla explained. "If by chance, someone in the group casts a counter-curse, the sorcerer's backup curse kicks in. This one only triggers during 'major events', whatever the heck that's supposed to mean."
James' group were fascinated by the gorilla's explanation, his knowledge of the situation, his impressive home structure, and the fact that he could talk. All of this would pale in comparison to their surprise at his next action.
"This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back when it comes to your surprise, but there's something else you should know about me, before you stick around."
The gorilla held out his hand and concentrated, and the crew watched in awe as a banana grew from his hand and popped out. He caught it in his other hand and smiled.
"I bonded with the Musa parasite. I can control bananas and other closely related plants."
This was indeed, something that surprised them more than they could have anticipated. Grudge felt it in the air, and his heart got heavy. Here comes the song and dance, he thought.
"A gorilla that built a treehouse, a gorilla that walks and talks," sang James as he threw his hands up.
"A gorilla that makes bananas, this guy is quite a shock."
"You really don't have to sing about me," sang the gorilla in response. "I'm not that interesting. Your shock is misplaced, I assure you, there's really no need to sing."
"Well the curse is active now, and so it shall continue to be, until the moment passes, and we'll once again be free," sang Cameron, moving his arms as he sang.
Though Grudge feared the curse would continue, it seemed that the moment did pass immediately after Cameron sang, and all five of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know, I'm not a fan of this curse," said Joneas. "Every time it activates we end up saying things in a way that they rhyme, and I don't believe there's anyone who really talks like that. It's bizarre not being able to tell what you're going to say, or at least, how you're going to say it."
"Well, I just don't like music in general," said Grudge.