Peter Carrot-top

  Chapter 20

  The power of the key

  Sam put Peter in the center of the square, and told

  him to repeat after him, but first he had to put on the

  magical golden glove. When Peter pulled the glove out of

  the bag, it glittered in the sun; the codes of Baja glowed

  all over it. This time more rapidly than before. Peter put

  his hand in the glove and it fit perfectly. The glove

  sparkled with different sun ray colors; there were rays of

  blue, green, yellow and red, all in one. Then it went

  silent; nothing else came out of the glove.

  Sam Carrot-Top told his son to repeat these words. "I

  held my hands up to the sun, moon, and skies of Baja that

  were created for you and I. To protect this precious land,

  I call upon thee elders, come and awaken, hear our cries;

  you promised you would never leave or forsake us. Arise and

  come to you people, we ask of thee."

  Peter repeated the words just like his father had told

  him. At first, nothing happened; then the glove slid off of

  Peter's hand and burst into a big golden dust ball that

  flew all over Baja. The golden dust formed back into a

  glove, sliding right back onto Peter's hand, as if had

  never left. Then everyone could hear the ground shaking. It

  rumbled violently, overturning trees, stores and farm land.

  The citizens were instructed by Sam Carrot-Top to remain

  calm, and they did. From a far distance, Peter could hear

  the key calling him. He floated into the air as the glove

  took him to meet up with the key.

  "The key is coming!" shouted Peter to the crowd.

  Everyone waited in anticipation, and then Peter's hand

  uncontrollably stretched forward and reached into the air.

  From a distance, the people could see the glitter from the

  key in the air. The key had been collected from all parts

  of Baja, one piece from Mr. Stewart's neck, another from

  Oscar; who had passed on to another world, and the last

  piece came from under the elders' temple.

  A lady in the crowd shouted, "It's coming, it's

  coming," repeating over and over again in excitement.

  One person stood and watched in the crowd, and that

  was Mr. Stewart, who did not want any part of these

  festivities, for some reason. He didn't have a happy look

  on his face. After all, the elders did leave him in charge.

  But nevertheless, Mr. Stewart was not happy at all; he

  turned and walked away. Many of the people noticed and

  called him back.

  "Don't you want to see this?" said a bystander.

  Mr. Stewart said nothing, and just turned his back and

  left.

  Finally, the key was in the air, and it was reunited

  with the glove. For the first time, everyone got to see

  what the key looked like. When it merged with the glove, it

  gave off a big sonic burst that filled the air with silver

  dust. Everyone coughed and rubbed their eyes; dust was

  everywhere. Then, all at once, the dust cleared up as if it

  was sucked up into a tube.

  Peter fell to the floor with the key stuck to the

  glove like a magnet. He got up and showed the crowd the

  key. Everyone was in awe; the key was one of the prettiest

  Peter had ever seen. The jade was so hypnotic and

  attractive; the key was made up of a mixture of jade and

  silver with a hint of gold. There was no shape like this

  known anywhere. When Sam saw his son becoming too attached

  to the key, he quickly ran over to Peter and covered it up.

  "Peter, remember what I told you," said his father

  with a stern voice.

  Peter then realized that he was falling hard for the

  key, and apologized to his father.

  "We must carry you to wake the elders," said Peter's

  grandfather David.

  As soon as Peter and the crowd ran toward the elders'

  temple, they were stopped by Mr. Stewart and a group of

  skeleton kings.

  "I can't let you wake the elders," said Mr. Stewart.

  Everyone was surprised and pushed toward the temple.

  Mr. Stewart ordered the skeleton kings to attack. They were

  nothing more than bones; they were decorated with the Baja

  symbols and they were on Mr. Stewart's side. They all had

  armor and long swords as their weapons.

  "Why are you doing this, Mr. Stewart?" asked Peter.

  Mr. Stewart scolded the crowd and told them that he

  didn't want to see his brother die at the hands of the

  elders.

  "I knew you were evil," said Samantha, as she jumped

  in front of Mr. Stewart with her ninja powers and cut him

  across the face with her sword.

  Mr. Stewart ordered the skeleton kings to attack, and

  they did. They multiplied in numbers and attacked the

  people, but it wasn't as easy as Mr. Stewart thought. He

  was not going to get away. Sam Carrot-Top rushed his son

  over to the area where a small hole was in the ground. He

  ordered Peter to stay there and wait until he got back, but

  Peter wanted to help with the war. He had to get into the

  temple with the elders.

  Peter called upon his friend Ben to use his cape and

  take him to the temple. Ben cut loose from his parents, and

  ran to help Peter as his parents fought the skeleton kings.

  As Peter and Ben were about to take off, Mr. Stewart came

  on a black bat, just like the one his brother had, and

  chased Peter and Ben.

  When Jane saw that her son was being chased, she

  immediately called upon the trees of Baja to attack. Jane's

  fingers grew green and she dug them into the ground,

  causing the trees and vines to respond to her call.

  Meanwhile, as the trees grew, Peter and Ben were still

  being chased by Mr. Stewart. He had a big long wand that

  could change into anything. At first, it was a golden

  headed snake that hissed after Peter and Ben; then it was a

  swarm of stinging bees. Patric Stewart just laughed, and

  told Peter he was nothing more than a foolish child to

  think that he would save Baja.

  "Don't listen to him," said Ben.

  Ben and Peter took off and headed toward the temple of

  the elders. As Mr. Stewart followed, Jane's vines came to

  life and flew through the air, twirling and spinning,

  causing Mr. Stewart to tumble off of his bat-like creature.

  The vines then wrapped themselves around the bat creature

  and sucked it underground. Everyone could hear the bat

  squirm and scream as the vines crushed its body.

  Then Jane had her trees come alive and chase Mr.

  Stewart as he dropped out of the air and ran toward the

  elders' temple to find Peter and Ben. In the meantime, Jane

  was also using her powers to awaken the trees to come

  forward and help her fight. The trees and the vines pulled

  their roots out of the ground; their master was calling,

  the one who had saved them was in trouble, and needed their

  help. The trees, flowers, and shrubs sent signal codes all

  over the land to summon the other trees and flowers to come

  and join in the fight. And join they did! Trees came by
the

  thousands, they stomped their roots on the skeleton kings;

  the plants and trees were fighting side by side with the

  citizens of Baja.

  Millie and Clara teamed up and used their powers to

  help defeat the skeleton kings. Clara opened her mouth and

  her green saliva bug flies came pouring out, covering the

  eyes of the skeletons so they couldn't see. The people took

  advantage of this and fought harder.

  Then Millie disappeared and reappeared, causing the

  skeleton kings to lose focus as she ran through them

  unnoticed and tied Jane's vines around the feet of the

  skeletons. When they tried to run toward the crowd, they

  fell flat on their faces. Millie was so happy, she laughed

  as the skeletons fell one by one, tumbling and falling over

  each other. Once on the floor, the crowd swarmed over the

  skeletons and tried to capture them. But the skeletons were

  so strong, even though they were made out of bones; they

  pushed through the crowd like a knife through paper. They

  knocked the people to the floor as if they were nothing

  more than rag dolls.

  Jamyra made her hands freeze, and pointed them toward

  a group of skeleton, and they froze instantly; their bones

  shook, and soon they were nothing more than a block of ice.

  Jamyra did this over and over, until there was ice

  everywhere; even the citizens were cold.

  Since Robert was so skinny, he used his body to slip

  in and out of the skeleton kings, secretly moving their

  chest plates, leaving them open to attack. As some of them

  went to attack, their breastplates fell off, making it easy

  for the people to destroy them. Each chance the citizens

  got, they attacked and destroyed a skeleton king by ripping

  out their mechanical heart.

  Clara stood side by side with Samantha; they pulled

  out their swords and fought with the skeletons. Clara

  called upon her fire dragon, and out came a burst of heat.

  She directed the dragon toward the skeletons, and ordered

  the dragon to burn them to a crisp. It did so; the

  skeletons tried to run, but they were no match for Clara

  and her powerful dragon sword. The face of the fiery dragon

  followed the skeletons, throwing fire balls from its mouth,

  burning and charring them.

  Michael used his powerful wings to fly above and drop

  smoke bombs inside the crowd of skeletons. They let out a

  piercing cry and called for their master, but no one came.

  Mr. Stewart was too busy chasing Peter and his friend Ben.

  Steve then took off his shoes and let his toe jams out; his

  feet grew big and the odor did a good job. But it was also

  chocking the citizens. So Steve hurried and put back on his

  magical shoes, and flew to catch up with Peter and Ben.

  Meanwhile, Sam Salmon took in fresh air and made fart

  bombs. He blew them in the direction of the skeletons, and

  they got blown away. Then Sam would chew his slime gum and

  throw it on the ground, causing the skeletons to slip and

  fall. But the skeletons kept on being produced, and their

  numbers were getting larger and large. They had the ability

  to multiply ever time their existence was threatened.

  Zack then roared aloud, and as he did, the people

  covered their ears and moved out of the way. Zack's roar

  was so loud that it shattered the bones of the skeletons,

  and the bones went flying through the air; there were bones

  coming from every direction. That was the loudest roar Zack

  had ever done; store and house windows were blown out.

  Zack's roar commanded everyone's attention.

  Meanwhile, Sam and Jane were fighting side by side

  again, along with David and Dorothy. Dorothy was great at

  making potions; she made a few thousand for the war, and

  was about to use some for this unexpected turn of events.

  She mixed potions to turn a few pieces of old rags into

  ghosts; they were all equipped with bows and arrows and

  huge hammers. The rags had two holes for eyes, and that was

  as far as human features went. They floated on thin air,

  and Dorothy sent them after the skeletons. The rags went

  flying in groups, attacking the skeleton kings with their

  hammers, and bows and arrows.

  "You are all right for a grandma," said David lovingly

  to his wife.

  Dorothy just smiled and continued to whip up potions

  to help her people beat the evilness of the forest. The

  rags glided through the crowds of skeletons, hammering

  their heads to the floor; while other rags covered their

  faces and threw them into one big bag. Dorothy decided to

  take out her potion of burping balls. She gave the children

  each a burping ball, and as they burped uncontrollably,

  huge bubbles formed that engulfed the skeletons and took

  them up into the air, taking them far away. The skeletons

  could not get out of the bubbles, and they tried so very

  hard. The bubbles were made of a strong magical material.

  Dorothy made the children's day; they got a big kick

  out of burping out loud and not getting into any trouble

  for doing it. Soon the skeleton kings withered away like

  old leaves; many were caught and put in jail, while others

  went floating away or turned into nothing more than dust.

  As the people kept on fighting, Peter and Ben were

  still being chased by Mr. Stewart. He used his magical wand

  to produce a flying disc that came in behind Peter and Ben.

  Ben flew with Peter in his hands as Mr. Stewart came from

  underneath and pulled Peter by the legs causing him to lose

  one of his shoes. Peter tried to fight with Mr. Stewart,

  but it was not working; Mr. Stewart was much more powerful

  than Peter could ever be.

  Peter wiggled and fell out of Ben's hands onto Mr.

  Stewart's flying disc. He tried to push Peter off, and onto

  a bed of thorns. When Jane saw this from a distance, she

  again summoned her plants to protect her son. The plants

  ran through the elders' temple grounds like snakes,

  sniffing and searching for their master's child. Soon the

  trees formed a soft bed as they saw Mr. Stewart push Peter

  off of his disc, and toward the thorns, but they were no

  more, they had now become soft flowers. Mr. Stewart was not

  happy; he had to stop Peter and his friends from awakening

  the elders. The elders only had a few more days to be

  asleep, and if not awakened, they would sleep for another

  ten years, leaving Mr. Stewart in charge once more.

  The people refused to let this happen, and everyone

  fought with all their might. When Mr. Stewart saw that the

  skeleton kings were disappearing, he sent in stone armies

  that came in the form of hard sculpted stones. They were

  well-equipped with the finest weapons of destructions and

  were ready for war. Their eyes glowed and every time they

  ran or walked, their bodies made a weird rock sound, like

  two rocks rubbing against each other.

  Mr. Stewart hollered, "Beat them if you can!" and went

  after Peter.


  Sam Carrot-Top went after Mr. Stewart as he chased

  Peter. Sam Carrot-Top's hands grew orange and his strength

  became more powerful. He picked up a rock the size of two

  large homes, and threw it at Mr. Stewart, hitting his

  flying disc and causing it to malfunction. This gave Peter

  enough time to run across the courtyard. The elders' temple

  was so huge; the grounds were massive in size. Peter had no

  idea where he was going, but he knew that he had to run or

  Mr. Stewart would catch him. Sam Carrot-Top ran after Mr.

  Stewart causing him to look over his shoulders every now

  and then.

  "You touch one hair on my child's head, and I will see

  to it that you never see the light of day!" shouted Sam to

  Mr. Stewart.

  "You foolish old man," said Mr. Stewart.

  Off Mr. Stewart went behind Peter with full force,

  using his magic wand to make walls appear to block Peter

  from entering the temple. Peter didn't have to worry; his

  father was right behind him breaking down the walls.

  "Way to, Dad," said Peter.

  Sam Carrot-Top just smiled and rushed his son on,

  "Hurry, Peter, you must get into the maim hall of the

  temple. Place the key in the golden box that sits by the

  largest throne, and then move away."

  Off Peter went, as Mr. Stewart still tried to block

  him by making magical walls appear. Then Steve came flying

  in on his magical shoes and tried to grab Peter by the

  shoulders and fly him up to the center of the temple. But,

  it did not go as planned. Mr. Stewart grew eight arms like

  an octopus and snatched Steve out of the air and threw him

  aside. Steve flew through the air, screaming as he could

  not stop himself. Mr. Stewart threw Steve so hard that he

  crashed into a tree; luckily Jane had a tree catch him, or

  he could have ended up hurt. Steve thanked the tree for

  catching him and then slid down its bark.

  The people were so busy trying to fight the stone

  armies that they could not worry about what was happening

  to everyone else. The stone armies attacked the people,

  throwing thousands of rocks into the air, hurting most of

  them. The rocks that the stone army threw were so sharp and

  heavy, they hurt the citizens one by one. The stone army

  was much more powerful than they had expected; nothing

  seemed to be able to slow them down. The citizens hid in

  the secret tunnels that they had built underground in

  preparation for the war. Only a few of the citizens with

  powers were ordered to stay by David; who was the leader of

  their army.

  Meanwhile, Jane and the remaining others were forced

  to stay and defend Baja. Jane had her plants and trees come

  together to crush the stone army; she then made her fingers

  turn green and summoned a plant that had been hidden away

  for centuries. Jane was trusted to keep this plant a

  secret, because it was so dangerous. Jane called upon the

  piranha lion plant. It eats everything in sight, and when

  it was finished, Jane would have to kill it or it would eat

  everything in the land. This would cause extinction among

  the Bajaians and their land.

  As Jane called upon the piranha lion plant, she placed

  her hands in the dirt and said the secret spell. The

  piranha lion plant emerged; everyone could hear the growl

  coming from underneath the surface. The roads cracked and

  gave way; soon there was a large petal sticking out of one

  of the cracks. Soon the plant emerged its big head from the

  opening. Everyone got out of the way, except for Jane. This

  plant looked like a dandy lion, only with fangs all over

  it. From the petals to the roots, the fangs were sharp, and

  very dangerous. It dragged its body across the roadways,

  making a scraping sound as it crosses the road. As everyone

  ran from the plant, Jane ran to it, comforting it. The

  piranha lion plant was not happy about being awakened and

  roared.

  Jane told it, "I have dinner for you," as she pointed

  toward the stone armies.

  She let the giant plant sniff her fingers to let it

  know that she was the one who summoned it, and she was the

  one who would give it commands. Jane ordered the plant to

  attack and eat all it wanted. Before she could get the

  words out of her mouth, the plant took off, chewing on the

  stone army like a snack. Most of the stone army members

  ran, but they could not outrun this plant. Not only was it

  very hunger, but it was very fast, with sharp fangs and a

  very healthy appetite.

  Jane jumped on the back of the plant and watched as it

  ate each stone army member one by one, or sometimes two by

  two. She had to remain on the massive plant to kill it when

  it was finished doing its job. If she let it go, it would

  only cause destruction all over Baja, and she would be

  responsible for it. At the base of the plant's stem was a

  soft red area; that was where Jane would inject the poison

  to kill it. To do this she had to remain on the back of the

  plant. The plant was having the time of its life, all the

  food it could imagine was right in front of it.

  Meanwhile, Sam Carrot-Top was still trying to catch

  Mr. Stewart, who was trying to prevent Peter from entering

  the temple of the elders. Mr. Stewart threw fire balls at

  Sam, slowing him down a little. Soon Peter's friends joined

  Mr. Carrot-Top and went after Mr. Stewart. Jamyra tried to

  freeze his wand, but missed. Then Mr. Stewart threw a fire

  ball at her, knocking her out a bit. Clara jumped in front

  of Jamyra, who was down on the floor trying to compose

  herself, and sent her green saliva bugs at Mr. Stewart.

  They swarmed around him and were soon attacking him. Mr.

  Stewart rubbed his face to try and get the bugs off, but

  Clara's bugs liked to stick around.

  Michael caught up with Peter and continued lifting him

  to the top of the temple, where he could wake the elders.

  Michael used his wings and flew through the window of the

  temple with Peter in his hands. Once inside, they were in a

  place no child was every allowed, unless called by the

  elders. It was immaculate, there were golden statues of

  kings and queens, and treasure chests filled with gold

  coins and silver dollar notes. There was enough money to

  buy anything a child could every want.