Ch. 52 - The Great Pretender teaches Maui how to play with his stick!

"We gotta go now and leave here!" Maui shouted at Leo from afar.

"How?" It was Moana who responded beside him.

"Trust me." Maui confidently smirked and twirled his magical hook around his hand before his entire body shines a bright light.

*Fwooosh!*

Much to Moana and Maui's shock, instead of turning into a large eagle so Maui could carry Moana and Leo out, instead only his head turned into an eagle, or an eagle head.

"What?"

"What?" Both Moan and Maui uttered in shock.

X

"H-How is this possible? This couldn't be..." Maui muttered to himself while looking down on a nearby pond of dirty water and saw his eagle head.

"Pfft..." Unlike Maui who is in a dilemma, Moana was chuckling and having a good laugh out of the situation.

"This is not funny! If I can't turn into an eagle, then we're trapped here!" Just in time as Maui was panicking, Leo arrived, approaching them with unhurried steps.

"What's up?" He asked. Thankfully, the Panther Habit is resistant to fluids such as blood, water and mud.

"What's up? What is up is that we're stuck in this place! Unless I master the weapon again. It must be because I haven't used it for a thousand years." Maui calmly explains, unless he masters the hook, they wouldn't be able to leave, not to mention he still has to take revenge against Leo.

"Seriously, you guys are taking it as if it's a huge problem." Leo confidently smirked, making Moana cross her arms.

"Oh really? Well smart guy, impress us and get us out of here and maybe if we do, I'll give you a small reward." This time, it was Moana's turn to smile confidently at Leo.

"Don't go back on your words then." Leo chuckled and winked at her before walking forward.

'Why do I feel like a third wheel here?' Maui's mouth twitched and can only sigh before following Leo, it's not like he has any say right now, considering he can't control his magical hook anymore.

***

After a few minutes of continuous walking in which Leo 'accidentally' killed more monsters on the way, they finally arrived at a large coral that is pointed towards the sky.

"Any minute now." Moana teased.

"Relax, no need to be in a hurry." Leo replied and pointed at the large coral.

"We'll leave this way." Leo said before sitting on the edge of the large coral's hole.

"....Knew it." Moana rolled hee eyes and was about to leave when suddenly, Leo was splashed up into the sky when a stream of water pushed him from the large coral's hole.

*Fwooosh!*

Moana and Maui were left with their jaws dropped by seeing this scene.

"I've been in this realm for as long as I can remember and this is the first time I see this thing." Maui remarked before walking towards the coral and sat where Leo sat before.

"Wait." Not wanting to be left alone especially in such place, Moana hurriedly approached Maui and they both soon met the same fate as Leo earlier.

***

On the deck of Black Pearl, Leo was leaning on the railing while humming to himself.

"Ahhhhh!"

*Thud!* x2

And right in front of him, Maui and Moana landed with their asses sticking up in the sky.

"Hello there, I take it you liked the ride." Leo grinned and said, which made Moana angrily swipe her wet hair back from obstructing her vision before standing up with a huff.

"Fine. You win. Now let's get out of here and restore the heart of Te Fiti." With that being said, Moan was about to walk away however, Leo's words stopped her.

"Not yet."

"...What do you mean by that?" Moana turned around and stared directly at Leo's eyes.

"I said not yet. You're quite amnesiac for a young girl." Leo smirked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I remember earning a 'small' reward if I helped her get out of that shithole." Leo's smile grew further and this time, it was his turn to stare at Moana's eyes who tried to look away.

"I'm outta here." Seeing the interaction, Maui showed no hesitation in walking away and leaving the deck.

"....Seriously, you're still on about that?" Moana embarrassingly tucked her hair behind her ears as Leo answered.

"I apologize in advance but I'm the type of person who likes to make sure I cash in all the favours people owe me."

".....Ugh, f-fine." Moana stuttered as she sauntered towards Leo and much to the former's shock, Moana planted a kiss on Leo's cheek.

*Chu!

Before Leo could react, Moana had already left the scene as if she was a criminal escaping a crime scene.

"....Was I just been kissed by someone 10 years younger than me? Is the FBI up on my ass?" Leo silently muttered to himself, quickly looking around to see if the FBI had magically arrived at his doorstep.

Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case, giving Leo a sigh of relief.

'Note to self, avoid her for the rest of the journey. If this continues, I'm afraid of what's about to happen next.' With that being said, Leo commandeered the Black Pearl as he grabbed the steering wheel.

***

'I just kissed him on the cheek! I've never kissed someone aside from my parents!' In her small room, Moana was squealing while kicking her feet on the soft mattress.

'....I didn't expect my day to go this way.' Finally putting herself into a halt, Moana breathed heavily as her mind wandered back to the kiss with Leo.

'His skin is so soft. Like a baby's skin.' Moana whispered under her breath as she touched her lips.

'I wonder when I can kiss him again?' Moana pondered.

***

Meanwhile, the main character of Leo's thoughts were checking his system interface.

[Status

Name: Leonard Skinwalker

Current Templates:

- Template 1: Black Panther [80.789%]

- Template 2: [Locked]

- Reputation Points: 61,670

- Gacha

- Quest

- Multiverse

- Skills

- Inventory]

Seeing his template percentage, Leo smiled. With 80% of the template plus the Panther Habit that he just received earlier, Leo is now confident in facing stronger enemies.

Even in this world, perhaps he would be able to contend with Te Ka without getting himself killed. Sure he might not win but he won't lose either and to Leo, that's already more than enough.

'All that's left now is Moana and Maui teaching each other, the first is about sailing and the other is controlling his Magical Hook. Then they'll face Te Ka and face the ultimate defeat before parting ways. If possible, I'd like to avoid that.' While Leo was pensive, his sharp senses picked up a weird sound along with a flash of bright light in the other end of the Black Pearl.

'What's that?' Approaching the weird light, Leo finally got a good look at Maui who had a shark head and a human body.

"Stupid Magical Hook!" Gritting his teeth in anger, Maui got covered in the same flash of light and was back to his human form, on his hand is the magical hook.

"Why? Why can't I do it anymore!" Clutching the handle, Maui glared at the magical hook.

"Don't give me that look, I'm trying my best!" Noticing his small figure on his chest tattoo moving and waving his arms, Maui responded to him.

"What do you mean there's someone watching m-." Before Maui could finish his sentence, his peripheral vision caught sight of Leo's figure behind a wooden corner.

"....Leo?"

"....Do you think wearing a shirt will help your little self from seeing the outside world?" Seeing that he got caught, Leo stepped out and remarked, gesturing towards Maui's 'mini-Maui' tattoo.

"I....don't know I haven't tried it yet." For some reason, Maui felt like answering Leo's question and so he does.

"You should try, it might help." Leo continued and saw that the 'Mini-Maui' is now crossing his arms and tapping his foot sole on the ground while seemingly staring at Leo.

"That aside. I was just curious about the sudden flashes of light and the noise so I came out here. Didn't expect to see you playing with your stick." Leo changed the subject while trying to hold his laugh after finishing is last sentence.

"....I'm not playing with it and it's called Magical Hook not stick." With a dull and monotonous face, Maui corrected Leo.

"My bad. Anyways, maybe someone could help."

"Someone?" Leo's words seemed to piqued Maui's interest courtesy of his eyes widening and his neck extending upward.

"Yup."

"Who?"

"Moana."

"...This is not the time for jokes." Leo's answer then poured cold water on Maui's hopeful face.

"I'm not kidding. She might not look like it but she's a great speaker and knows her ways in words or else how do you think she managed to drag me out here in the sea to join her. She might be a child in your eyes but to me she's a great girl. And she will be a great woman someday." Leo then finished his words with a smile. What he said is actually the truth. Throughout the journey in this world with Moana always being on his side, Leo came to understand and know Moana better.

Sure there are times she's annoying but at the same time, it is also what Leo likes about her.

"....I'll give it a try then, it doesn't hurt if it doesn't work anyway." Maui sighed in defeat and finally gave in, though his tone contains a hint of giving up.

While Leo and Maui were having their conversation, behind one of the doors near the back of the Black Pearl, Moana was leaning in with her mighty chicken HeiHei in her arms.

|-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_|

[Power-cough! Stones! Cough!]

.

.

.

[Next Chapter: Ch. 53 - The Great Pretender and Te Ka]

You can visit my p@treon to read 15 advance chapters and if you want to support me. (www.p@treon.com/SlimeSage) don't forget to change @ to a.