Giant Desert Crab

Tim and his friends were trapped in a terrifying experience of a gigantic turtle emerging from the depths of the sand, believing it to be deadly, and after it climbed, the atmosphere had gotten hotter and the air, which had been rather warm, began to decrease in temperature, trapping them all in an immobile attitude.

"I've never seen such a massive turtle stranded in a deserted region! It'll kill us, and I'm too young to die! I'm still on the lookout for my true love..."

"Oh, wait, no. Ayuka is right there, and I can always date Karisa if I want! Not to mention Nina! Don't worry, I'm finally free to slay this dreadful thing where it belongs!"

The others watched as Elliott began wriggling his bottom and flailing his arms above his head as his heart continued to pound loudly, with hearts visible inside his pupils.

"Oh, my sweethearts! Don't worry, I've been awaiting this setback since I was born! Now I won't have to worry about being killed by a human, but rather by a gigantic beast! Isn't that a miracle, Karisa?"

"I deserve a kiss, don't I, Karisa?"

Karisa's eyes grew hollow as she sweated from annoyance as she listened to Elliott's flirtation as if he was trying to win her over, and when she had had enough of his words, she slammed her fist against Elliott's face and pushed him to the floor, where Elliott received a bump on the head.

"Guys. What are our options for dealing with this turtle?"

"I'm not really sure. I suppose we'll have to fight it if we want to survive."

Karisa hurriedly switched her sight to Ellie, who stood calmly with crossed arms and a dull expression, her eyes nearly shaky as a vein on her forehead sprang.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not sure what kind of monsters you have in your world, but if you're going to fight that tyrant, you might as well do it yourself! In comparison to its gigantic physique, my weapon is just a pole or a twig!"

"I believe that leaves death as our only alternative."

"What's more, that's even worse! Why are you so terrifying when it comes to figuring out a solution?! Seriously, how did you live in that parallel reality?"

"Um, guys, I know that this turtle is a major issue, but we have another issue that we may need to investigate."

"What do you mean, Nina?"

"Well, Tim's gone."

Everyone's heads ended up pressed together, an exclamation point bursting out on top of them, and they yelled in the air from the shock, whereas the turtle glanced at them, bewildered.

"WHAT?!"

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-

-

Tim stood motionless in the middle of the desert, rubbing the top of his head and glancing around, puzzled, without seeing anyone.

"That's odd, to say the least. I merely backed up a little, like Codey said. So, where did everyone go?"

With the desert wind gently breezing across his entire body, a row of question marks began to bounce over the top of his head.

"Perhaps they dragged the turtle away from me in order to keep me and Ayuka safe?"

"Uhrm.... This is weird. They couldn't possibly have gone to eat without me! That's just poor manners. That's it; when I find them, I'm going to give them a good shouting."

"But first, I really need to get something to drink. I'm thirsty, and Karisa has the sole bottle of water we have."

He proceeded in the opposite route, further away from his friends, with Ayuka still in critical condition, until he came across a spike that appeared like a rock on which he could sit to rest, and he gazed at it curiously once he reached it.

"Huh? What exactly is this? A rock? Maybe if I pull it, it'll take me to a beautiful place with plenty of water to drink."

He looked at it cautiously for a moment, unsure whether to touch it or leave it alone, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he giggled as he poked the rock like a button.

*Poke. Poke. Poke.*

He said it two more times. Suddenly, a loud roar erupted, and the floor beneath the rock he had poked began to quiver.

"Uh, what's going on?"

The floor began to shake like an earthquake, with sand lifting up and then sliding off a big body of another creature, at which time his eyes slowly followed higher and abruptly appointed him a gigantic crab in front of him, gripping its claws as if attempting to kill him.

"Weren't crabs supposed to be smaller than people?"

The menacing stare on the gigantic crab's face happened to pause Tim in his tracks who quickly noticed the crab raising its massive arm and prepared to crush it.

"Oh. You're one of those creatures trying to kill me..."

"..."

"...."

"....."

"WAIT! HOLD ON?! I DIDN'T PREPARE FOR THIS?! SLOW DOWN, BUDDY! I'M JUST PASSING BY!"

Tim whirled around like a tornado, his arms clutching Ayuka's wrists, screaming as he rushed forward over the sand, sensing how the crab's gigantic claw smashed against the floor, causing the sand to sweep itself into the air, and because the crab missed him, it became enraged and rushed over the sand sideways with incredible speed, which surprised Tim.

As he leapt in surprise, his eyes burst out like bulbs, and he narrowly dodged another smack of the claw as he continued to accelerate through the sand.

"IT'S REALLY TRYING TO KILL ME! THIS IS NOT HOW I IMAGINED MY TIME IN DESERT TO GO!"

He turned around as he saw the crab bounce high in the air like a rabbit, which opened his eyes wider.

"You can jump?!"

Tim sprang forward as the crab descended like a bomb and the earth beneath him began to shake, almost knocking him off his feet and causing him to topple with Ayuka on his back. As he raced forward, the crab regained his speed, pursuing Tim, who had little chance of fighting back.

As they continued to run, Tim had no idea what was in store for him at the front. He saw how a steep slope was preparing to cross his path, and once he got there and hopped over it, he felt his feet lose contact with the firm ground, and the crab was close behind him. As Tim shouted and crab yelled, they both looked away, then to the floor and blinked again in surprise as they fell down the slope with their arms raised high in the air, their tongues exposed in the heat.

They rolled down the slope like bouncy balls and hit with one of the rocks at the bottom, launching them into the air and causing Codey and the others to see a bright spark gleaming in the air.

"Whoaaa!!!"

They plummeted from the sky, the crab crashing into a big boulder while Tim landed on top of its claw and jumped on top of its head before dropping to the ground and noticing a pool of water below him.

His eyes, widely opened as he remembered the curse, but instead of falling under the water, which turned out to be a mirage.

"Water!!!"

He was slapped against the sand, over which he hurriedly raised his head and spit out sand like water, quickly detecting the crab regaining his posture and swinging his claw.

Tim put both palms into the sand and pushed himself into the air, bouncing over the crab's claw and landing precisely, confusing the crab and convincing it to repeat the swing.

"You missed!" Tim, on the other hand, hopped over it once again and repeated it twice more, which ultimately enraged the crab, which began to flail its claw at breakneck speed, only for Tim to bounce between them.

"You missed again!

With Ayuka's body bouncing on the top of his back, Tim took advantage of the opportunity to spin around and race away from the crab, who pursued him once more.

They continued to run for a little longer when Tim became exhausted from all of the running in the heat and came to a halt, pointing his palm back and exhaling loudly.

"Wait. Hold on."

The crab came to a halt in his command and waited for Tim to take a break. Tim gave a thumbs up shortly after. It was an approval for the crab to continue, and the two of them returned to a long straight run, while Tim continued to scream, and Ayuka on his back happened to hear all of the ruckus, making her mouth and eyes shiver.

Her illness was growing, as were her wounds, which were gradually worsening as a result of all the running and jumping Tim had to do.

After hearing Ayuka's pained murmur, the crab shouted and abruptly stopped rushing, his body standing still. His clumsy, afraid, and worried expression was taken over by seriousness as his hair began to shadow his eyes and forehead, which perplexed the crab, who came to a halt when it noticed.

"You overgrown crab, don't you see? I'm carrying an injured girl on my back, and your pursuit and attempt to kill me is escalating her condition and shortening her life span."

The crab looked at him puzzled and listened to Tim, whose hair was waving and his hidden face grew into a smile.

"Guess what...? I can't keep up this, so let's get this over with..."

Tim slid Ayuka's body to the side of the rock and grabbed his scarf, which he fixed by wrapping it more tightly around his neck. He turned around after releasing Ayuka and clutched the top of his hood, which had been blown onto his head by the wind.

"Tomomi! I need your help!"

Tim's sword emerged on his back, through which a white vessel flew out and phased next to Tim's right side. Tomomi stared him in the eyes, both intrigued and perplexed, as she awaited her commands.

"I don't normally like ordering you around, but please do me a favor this time. Whatever happens, don't let my or this crab's attacks get too close to her? Sorry for the trouble, but this is urgent..."

Tomomi glided slowly approaching Ayuka, transforming her own body into a proper shape and following Tim's directions.

"I'm running out of time. I can't keep on running around in order to protect my friend."

"You got it?! You overgrown crab!"

Their journey continues...