The first sensation I felt when I woke up was a raging headache stretching across every region of my head. The pain was sharp, sudden, and made me wish I had remained unconscious. Then my levels of discomfort were tripled when the nasty odor of vinegar invaded my nostrils and I tried to pinch my nose to ward it off. However, when I tried to move my arms I just now began to realize that I couldn’t move them and I could feel tight coarse rope keeping them tied above my head to a wide wooden pillar against my back.

My eye snapped open as I shockingly realized I was tied up and I was surprised by a second shocking realization when I found that I was tied up on a different ship with a crew of complete strangers who were… well… strange! Rough looking griffons, ponies, and zebras in shabby clothing were keeping themselves busy with tasks throughout a ship that most definitely was not The Extravagant. Griffons, who probably smelled as bad as they looked, would fly up and around the sails to check the rigging while an earth pony or two on the deck would pull on a rope with their teeth to till the sails. Another earth pony and a few zebras appeared to be doing maintenance on several ballistae that armed the port and starboard sides with wide crates beside them that held javelin sized bolts etched with strange runes on their tips. The crew members that were closest to me were also the source of the nasty vinegar smell I had woken up to earlier.

A zebra mare in front of me was scrubbing the deck with a brush in her hooves that was lathered with the sour substance and I couldn’t help but cough a little bit as the smell overwhelmed my nose again. My cough caught the zebra’s attention and she turned to me with wide eyes. Then a smile grew on her muzzle, and before I could ask what the hell was going on, she dropped her brush and spoke in a soft voice with an African accent.

“It would seem our prize has finally awoken, with a voice that tells me she is unbroken. I thank you strange sea-devil, you’ve given me an excuse to leave my laborious peril.” Before I could ask her to repeat herself she turned around after she finished her confusing rhyme and made her way towards the back of the ship.

“Hey, hey HEY! Where the hell am I? Why am I tied up? Who are you people?!” My questions were left unanswered as the zebra went through a door that led to the captain’s cabin. I turned to everyone else on the ship deck and repeated my questions but they all either laughed or ignored me. “Will someone please speak to me?”

“Sure we can talk little fishy. Me buttocks have something to say to ye.” A griffon said as he turned his back to me and ripped out a fart in my direction, causing his peers to laugh obnoxiously.

Not finding it to be amusing at all, I focused my attention on my bindings and evaluated my situation. Both my hands and feet were tied to the ship’s main mast behind me and the ropes were strong and tight enough to prevent me from twisting around. I felt drained and the headache was hell but I think I was strong enough to break myself free if given the chance. Then I noticed that my black tank top and blue jeans were soaking wet. I remembered I was… somewhere in the middle of the sea on board Thistle’s ship The Extravagant. We were under attack by a freak storm, Vigilant’s barrier had gone down, the rain was freezing, and I remembered I got hit by something on the head. But before I got hit on the head I remembered I was trying to do something. I was trying to tie a lifeline around Jack because… because…

Jack was dead.

I remembered Jack jumping into the air above me trying to block a bolt of lightning that was directed at me. I saw him fall to the ground in a smoking heap, twisting and turning as volts of electricity burned through his muscles. I remember screams, I don’t know if they were my own, and I tried to listen for Jack’s heartbeat. His heart was silent and I felt nothing but absolute panic as I did everything I could to help him. CPR, begging, more screaming, nothing I did would make my little brother move again.

I tied a lifeline around him so the winds of the storm wouldn’t blow him away but before I could tie a lifeline around myself something hit me on the head and I lost my grip on the ship deck. The hit on the head left me dazed and the harsh winds pushed me overboard and far out into the sea. I remembered the winds carrying me uncontrollably and chaotically for an eternity before I smacked into the sea with an impact that must have shaken me unconscious.

‘Then I woke up here.’ I thought as I shifted around a little in my bonds. ‘If Jack’s dead then… no, he can’t be dead! Maybe Falca stopped the storm and little Hyde got to Jack in time. What if I was wrong?! The storm was so loud and heartbeats are hard to listen to with just an open ear. Maybe his heart was working fine and I had panicked over nothing. Maybe I was wrong and Jack was just unconscious… right? HE CAN’T BE DEAD!’

I grunted and tried to hold back any tears. Just the thought of not knowing for sure made me want to scream!

‘I’ve got to get out of here. I need to find out to what happened to everyone and figure out what happened to Jack!’ I declared in my thoughts as I straightened up as much as I could in my bindings. I was getting ready to rip off the ropes when the zebra reemerged from the captain’s cabin along with what looked to be the captain himself.

I knew he was the captain by the way everyone on the deck stood at attention in his presence and by the clothes he wore. His red long jacket and black tricorn hat gave him a stately, almost military presence but the unkempt brown and gray feathers made him look unrefined. The griffon’s appearance was honestly a paradox to me. The captain was obviously old, like grandpa levels old, and each one of his feathers were molting and almost ready to fall off. Along with his weird milky right eye, the captain was about the ugliest griffon I had ever seen. In contradiction, his outfit was something you would expect from a posh naval officer.

The red long jacket he wore looked like it had been pressed and cleaned recently and was trimmed with fine golden threads that enhanced the red remarkably well. The tricorn hat was also top quality, with a deep black tint that was as dark as a raven’s feathers. Then there was the sword hidden underneath his coat. It was a cutlass with a golden hilt encrusted with dozens of small beautiful gems that shined brilliantly even as it hid underneath the shadow of his coat.

With all these fine possessions he wore, it gave me the impression like he was trying to disguise his appearance with the most beautiful things he could carry.

“Well, well, well… our prized fish has finally awoken. You did a good job in warning me first Dayo,” The griffin captain said to his zebra subordinate as she saluted to him. “You’re off cleaning duty for now.”

“I thank you, my captain. Your reward fills me with joyful passion.” The zebra now known as Dayo responded in rhyme.

“Quit it with the rhymes, you ain’t no shaman any more you hear me.”

“O-Of course captain… My apologies sir.” The zebra sputtered out before the captain waved her away impatiently with his wing. The zebra scuttled away as fast as she could before the captain turned back to his still open cabin door and beckoned for someone else to come out.

“My Queen, she’s woken up. Queen’s on deck you bloody rats!”

After the captain called into the cabin a new griffon appeared in front of the door. This new griffon was taller than any of the other quadrupeds on the deck and actually had to hunch down to pass through the door. She was virtually as tall as Falca if I had to consider a griffon size comparison. The way she walked onto the deck was fluid and dignified as every member of the crew, including the captain, bowed their heads and positioned their right foreleg across their chests in salute.

The queen’s feline-half presented a dark chestnut colored pelt and wings with an exceptionally long tail swinging behind her. Her face and most of her avian-half however, was generally concealed by a strange mask and a dark blue shawl. The mask’s wooden exterior was as blue as the ocean surrounding us and it was shaped into the visage of a stern-looking griffin. But those were the mask’s most normal features. Elongated fins stretched backward from the sides of the mask like my own fins which acted as my ears. The mask’s crest had strange twisting tentacles forming a circle around the queen’s head, practically giving the mask the appearance of a royal crown.

Both the mask and the shawl made it impossible to discern her appearance and feathers, but it all did its job in giving her a mysterious, slightly royal presence.

“Now this is quite an honor…” The Queen said behind her unmoving mask as she made her way to stand before me. Her voice surprised me with its soft, matronly tone. Almost every word sounded like it was laced with sweet honey for my ears.

It surprised me so much that I had to remind myself that she was my abductor as I squirmed uncomfortably in my bonds.

“When Vile told me that he had pulled one of the famous alien siblings from the sea, I simply had to see it for myself. Katy Krieger, or otherwise known as Undyne the Dread Fish of Equestria and, if the new rumors are to be believed, a prodigious combatant in the Hiallan’s Titan Arena.” The Queen continued.

‘Ok WOW. Was there some secret social media service going around that no one’s told me about yet? Cause now even strange queens out in the middle of the sea know who I am and what I’ve done! The Titan Arena happened just a few days ago.’

“I got three questions queenie,” I said as I straightened myself up as much as I could. I needed to find out what happened to everyone on The Extravagant and I wasn’t in the mood for niceties. “One, what happened to the people that were with me? Two, why am I tied up? Three, where the hell am I?!”

“HEEEY, don’t you be talking to the Queen that way you freak!” One of the crewmen bellowed in protest.

“Stow it, crewman. All of you keep yourselves quiet and don’t interrupt while the three of us speak.” The griffon captain with the red jacket squawked angrily.

“It’s alright Vile.” The Queen’s said in her honeyed voice, leading me to connect that the griffin captain in the red jacket was named Vile. “To answer your third question, Miss Krieger, you are on the Merry Marauder, flagship of Vile’s fleet. For your second, you are tied up because you are Vile’s prisoner. For your first… well, you weren’t found with anyone else Miss Krieger. Vile found you alone and unconscious in the middle of the sea.”

‘How far did that storm throw me from The Extravagant? It couldn’t have been too far, although my unconscious body could’ve been drifting in the sea for who knows how many hours or days!’ I thought with a shudder.

“Who were you with before Vile found you?” The Queen asked.

Considering my current situation, I didn’t think it wise to mention my friends to my abductors. Even if I had no idea where they were.

“Well if you don’t know, then I ‘respectively’ decline to answer that question. I don’t know who any of you people are and I have no reason to tell my abductors a single thing.” I said in a tone that I hoped sound rebellious. This got a reaction from Captain Vile as he flew up to my face waving his talons in front of my eyes.

“Lass you ain’t in any position to decline us anything. When we ask you a question you answer us, understand! If you don’t I swear I will gut you like a fish.”

“Oh how clever,” I said sarcastically. I wasn’t in the mood to take any of this, and my headache got worse when he got close enough to me to smell him. He smelled like an unholy mix between sweet fruit and harsh vinegar. “Gut me like a fish… because I’m a fish. Any more threats from the witty Captain Vile.”

Suddenly his left talons were around my throat and I saw him draw his cutlass as he poked the blade underneath my tank top. The tip of the blade was just above my belly button and I could feel it uncomfortably scraping underneath a few of my scales. One false move and I knew I would be spilling magic dust all over the ship deck.

“Oh, I got plenty more lass. You want to hear another one? I assure you that it’ll have you spilling your guts with laughter.” Captain Vile said as the blade was pressed harder against my abdomen, causing me to softly grunt.

“Oh come now Vile you shouldn’t let your prisoners get to you this much. It sets a bad example.” The Queen said coming to my rescue. Captain Vile sneered at her comment but adopted a smile on his beak and laughed lightly as he turned around to address the Queen.

“You’re right of course, my Queen. Forgive my outburst.” Vile said as he released my throat and sheathed his sword. He settled himself back onto the deck but continued to stand right next to me, ready to pounce on me again.

‘Are these two trying to do a good cop, bad cop routine or something?’ I thought as I cleared my throat.

“Now Miss Krieger, do you fully realize your situation right now?” The Queen asked.

“I’ve been taken captive by a couple of weirdos who all smell like ass.” After saying that Vile started to seethe by my side but stayed quiet while a few crewmen around the ship sniffed themselves out of concern.

“You’ve been taken captive by pirates who sail under the flag of the Pirate Queen… my flag.” She said unaffected by my answer.

‘Ahh crap. Pirates…’ I thought to myself. I remembered back in the Titan Arena when Jack and I were talking to Falca and Thistle about a Pirate Queen whom House Hialla was hunting. They said she was supposed to be really hard to defeat and that the only one who actually managed to slay her was King Grinnail himself. They also said that she reemerged years ago but were confident that the new Queen was just a good copycat. They seemed pretty confident about that fact too now that I think about it.

Nonetheless, this all sucked in the worst way possible because I actually like pirates! Pirates were cool and rebellious swashbucklers in most of the movies and stories I’ve seen and read. This whole experience was ruining that for me.

“And since Vile and his fleet fall under my command he has seen fit to offer you to me as a tribute. As my tribute, I am free to do anything I wish to you. So consider this…” the Pirate Queen continued. “If you are a good little captive and do everything I say, I’ll simply hold you hostage, have either House Hialla or your brother pay a ransom, and we can all go our separate ways.”

The mention of my brother caused me to twitch a little.

“But if you continue this attitude and act like a naughty little captive, I’ll treat you to all the hospitalities we pirates can offer. Oh, and trust me, pirate hospitality is not a pleasurable experience.”

As she left that statement to hang in the air I heard several cruel chuckles stemming from the rest of the pirate crew. One griffon pirate was looking at me like I was food and rubbed his belly, while a pony pirate drew a knife slowly across her neck with a sick grin. All of them promised me a bad time if I chose to follow the latter option.

“Ok, ok I get it.” I said tiredly earning a soft ‘hmm’ from the Pirate Queen. The queen then walked around me and looked me up and down as if to study me, but as she was doing that I started checking the ropes on my hands and ankles again while planning my escape.

If I could break my ropes and just jump into the ocean I easily outrun this ship and escape. I would have no idea where to go if I did escape but I’ll solve that problem when I get to it. In the meantime, the ropes on my wrist were too tight and too thick to slip out of and would require brute strength if I wanted to break free. Problem was, it was difficult to tell how fast I could break free of them, and if Vile or any of the pirates close to me noticed what I was doing they could draw their blades on me fast. I could keep the pirates distracted if I summoned a few magic spears but there was still a chance they could stop me.

However, I did notice that the ropes around my ankles were a little loose. Not loose enough for me to slip my boots out, but they weren’t tight enough to keep my feet from slipping out of my boots. I could feel my ankles sliding, almost freely, up and down the shafts of my boots as I tested them. This realization gave me a defensive option if I needed more time and if a pirate tried to stop me I could slip out of my boots and kick the pirate away.

Ditching my boots kinda ticked me off as they were my only footwear in this world where its denizens have either hooves, claws, or paws. But if I wanted to swim properly as I made my escape to the ocean I would need both my webbed hands and my webbed feet.

I was getting my magic ready to summon my spears before the Queen stopped studying me and spoke up again.

“Now I am still a little curious on why you were found so far out at sea. You’ve already said you were with others, but who were they and how did you end up separated from them?” Her voice was gentle as she asked her question. Each word sounded like it was genuinely filled with empathy and her voice honestly made me feel safe even though I was tied up and surrounded by dangerous pirates with sharp weapons.

‘Maybe… maybe I could tell her a little bit about what happened. She sounds reasonable, and her voice… dear god that voice… What was I thinking again? She sounds reasonable? That’s right! Maybe she could give me insight on that freakish storm that attacked us. It’s worth a shot.’

“Me and my brother were sailing with some of the royalty from House Hialla. We were… just out at sea enjoying ourselves when some freakish storm followed us all across the sea. The storm literally attacked us! We bunkered down in the ship hoping it would disperse after a while but it just kept going and going. Then… we…”

‘Should I really be talking about this? Why am I-‘

“Yes,” she asked urging me on with that gorgeous voice.

“We made a gamble and tried to disperse the storm ourselves but Falca was the only one capable of doing the job.”

As soon as I mentioned Falca the Queen tilted her head back as if surprised but it was hard to tell if she was actually surprised with her face covered by the mask.

“She tried to disperse an entire storm by herself?” The Queen asked in a controlled tone as I nodded in confirmation before I continued.

“I think my brother was trying to help her until he got…”

‘I-I don’t want to talk about what happened to Jack!’

“When you said royalty from House Hialla you meant griffons from the monarchy, not some minor nobles correct?”

There was that voice again. I nodded to answer, thankful that she didn’t push me to talk more about Jack.

“Can you please name the rest of the griffons you sailed with?”

“Besides Princess Falca the only other griffons there were Prince Hyde and Prince Thistle.”

The whole pirate crew murmured loudly at that. At my side Vile started to chuckle with an ugly smile on his beak, a happy glint presenting itself somehow in his milky right eye.

“Three of that butcher Grinnail’s brats are at sea, all on one ship? Did you all sail alone lass or did you have an escort with you?” Vile asked creepily.

“Be silent Vile.” The Pirate Queen ordered, earning a confused look from the pirate captain.

After hearing Vile’s creepy voice instead of the Queen’s I suddenly felt like I had snapped out of whatever spell I was being placed under. Something in the Pirate Queen’s voice was making me answer her questions and I didn’t want to stand around and wait for her to put me under the spell again.

It was time for me to make my move and get the hell out of here.

Blue magical circles spawned all across the ship deck to surprise the entire ship crew. They were surprised again when spears extended out those circles to strike at them, however, the tips of the spears were made blunt because I wasn’t trying to severely hurt anyone. The whole ship was thrown into chaos as several of the pirates were struck with the spears and they all started to scream wildly as their SOUL’S sprouted from their chests. To keep them confused I had some more spears apparate out of thin air and had them fly around wildly to keep them confused as I began to work on the rope around my wrists.

Fibers of the braided rope were beginning to snap apart as I simultaneously tried to break free and concentrate on summoning more magical spears. I was almost free until Vile broke his gaze from the chaos and looked at me for a split-second. He noticed that the rope keeping my hands above my head was being ripped apart and became enraged.

“YOU LITTLE RAT!”

He drew his cutlass again and was getting ready to swing but I was already trying to free my feet from my boots and the rope that bound them. Just as I slipped my feet free I bent my knees and pulled up on my still bound wrists to give myself leverage as I dropkicked the enraged pirate captain. Vile froze mid-swing when he saw my legs slip free and didn’t react fast enough before my kick hit him square in the beak and sent him flying. The kick even had enough force to send the bastard flying all across the deck and through the door of the captain’s cabin.

With a satisfied smirk, I returned to work on the rope around my wrists and pulled with every ounce of my strength. The rope finally gave up and split apart after a few more seconds and I immediately made a beeline for the portside rail of the ship. A few of the pirates who had just recovered from the chaos were trying to draw their weapons but they would be too slow to stop me. After 2 steps I had smacked away a dumbstruck pirate pony who looked like he was still trying to comprehend what was going on. 3 steps later I leaped over a couple griffin pirates who were trying to swat at their SOULS like they were weird flying bugs. 4 more steps I would be over the ship railing and home free.

Then the feline paw of a griffin came down from up above and hit me right between the eyes, intensifying my already unbearable headache.

I was dazed at first but luckily the adrenaline was already kicking in and I was fast enough to backpedal away when another paw was about to kick me in the face. The paws had come from the Pirate Queen who was now flying directly above me and blocked my current path to the sea. I heard a small laugh come from behind her mask as I immediately made my way to the other side of the ship only to find a wall of swords and bolts from crossbows pointed directly at me from some very pissed off pirates.

“Shit,” I cursed softly while trying to think up another plan. My first priority was just to get off this ship, but if I had to kick the ass of every pirate on this ship to do so then so be it.

‘My only real issue are the ones with the crossbows. Maybe if I can get a wall of spears behind me in time I can take another go at the portside railing and try to dodge past the Pirate Queen. How was she fast enough to get in front of me anyway? I didn’t even see her coming! Gahh it doesn’t matter, I need to-‘

“I didn’t say you could leave Miss Krieger.” The Pirate Queen proclaimed while flying above me, her almost abnormally long tail swinging behind her like a snake. Her forelegs were crossed in front of her chest and I noticed a bit of white dust staining the claws of her right hind paw. I checked where her paw had struck and felt some of my dust along with a few small loose scales in my hand.

“I ain’t looking for permission bitch!” I yelled up to her.

I summoned the wall of spears behind me to cover my back from the other pirates and tried to go for the portside railing again. The Pirate Queen flew down at me fast like a bullet and I was almost about to sidestep past her until she spun around in mid-air and roundhouse kicked me in the face at the exact same spot as last time. I backpedaled away again and hissed as I felt a few specks of my dust drop into my only working eye. Instead of attacking me while I was blindingly rubbing my eye to clear out the dust, the Pirate Queen only continued to fly above me imperiously while wagging a disapproving talon with a ‘tsk tsk’ sound coming from behind her mask.

‘Fucking great! A pirate that can do Kung-Fu!’ I seethed inside my head.

I heard a crashing sound coming from my side and glanced over to see a disheveled Captain Vile come crashing out of the door of his cabin. He was breathing heavily and when he looked at me I could see that he was practically foaming at the beak with rage.

“FUCKING SHOOT HER!” He shouted while pointing a talon at me. The rest of the pirate crew had just broken through my wall of spears and were beginning to take aim at me until the Pirate Queen gave out a shout of her own.

“Belay that order”

“SHOOT HER!” Vile ordered again. The pirate crew was confused on whose orders they should follow at the moment.

“If you kill the hostage we won’t get a single bit of that ransom money.” The Pirate Queen declared and it had an instant effect on the whole crew. Every pirate who had a crossbow pointed their weapons away from me and some even took the bolts out of their drawstrings.

“I SAID SHOOT-”

“VILE… either shut your beak or lose your head.” The Pirate Queen declared and Vile begrudgingly kept quiet while loudly digging his talons into the wooden deck of his ship.

“I must say it’s been a long time since I’ve had a little fun.” The Pirate Queen said as she slowly descended onto the deck in front of me. “You want your freedom, Miss Krieger? All you have to do is simply get past me. No one else will interfere in our duel. You have my word.”

“Yeah… right.” I said unconvinced, a little jumpy from the adrenaline and the fact that I could’ve been turned into a pin cushion just a few moments ago. “Trust that a pirate will keep their promises. That’s like the first thing you’re never supposed to do when dealing with pirates.”

“Smart lass. But in this case, you can trust me. I don’t I think need anyone else to put you in your place.”

“Pfft, lady… the last guy I fought was a minotaur practically 6 times taller than you and probably outweighed you 100 times too. I knocked him out cold into the ground with just my fists. What makes you think you can take me?” I said letting my ego show, faintly hoping it would intimidate her.

Although to be fair, during that fight I was filled with DETERMINATION from the belief and cheers of the arena crowd. Also, I wasn’t exactly sure how I could replicate what happened to me during that fight.

“I’m a little bit faster than some muscle-headed minotaur Miss Krieger. I think I’ll manage.” The Pirate Queen crouched down into a stance and extended her wings to their fullest extent as she said this. She was ready to spring into action again at any moment.

I myself got into an upright combat ready stance. I willed a blue spear into my hands and inhaled then exhaled slowly as I prepared myself. I just need to get past her. That’s all I need to do.

“Aside from her natural claws and talons, she doesn’t appear to have any visible weapons. She might have some sort of magical ability if I considered how she was able to get me to answer her questions with nothing but her voice. I’ll need to be mindful of that. Other than that, she’s definitely faster than me and knows a little martial arts. Hmmmmmm…

‘If I can find a way to distract her a little bit then it could give me the opening I need to get into the sea.’ As I was pondering my next move I looked down at the blue spear in my hands and tightened my grip. ‘Maybe I should just keep my distance first and let my spears do the fighting.’

I willed blue spears to spawn underneath and above the Pirate Queen to attack her and the Queen instantly disappeared only to appear again at the edges of my peripheral vision. I barely even saw her move her legs or her wings as she dodged my attack. I then willed over a couple dozen spears to surround me in the air before I flung them at the queen with a gesture. My spears came at her like a storm of arrows with each flying at a velocity and flight path different from the others. Instead of dodging to the side like last time the Pirate Queen actually moved towards the storm of spears and impressively dodged the spears by jumping into the air with a series of acrobatics. She twisted and contorted her body in mid-air to have every spear fly past her and when the last spear got close to clipping her right hind leg she had her left wing flap once underneath her to spin her whole body out of the way.

After passing the storm of spears she charged towards me and I got myself ready for her coming attack. The queen’s legs pounded the deck as she charged and just as she was about to enter stabbing distance I anticipated where her body would be in less than a second and thrusted out with my spear. Instead of her torso being on the receiving end of my spear, the Pirate Queen instead hopped over the tip and did a somersault before she stood along the length of my weapon with her paws and talons balancing themselves on either my hands or the spear shaft. Also, she was facing away from me as she did her balancing act.

So her butt was right in my face!

At that moment I didn’t know whether I should drop the spear or should try to shake her off. I was so surprised by what she did that I actually had to take a moment to understand what just happened. Then she surprised me again when her long tail curled around my head and the furry tip wagged up and down playfully to tickle my nose.

I sneezed and dropped the spear as I tried to back away from the offending tail. The Pirate Queen softly hovered to the ground after she lost her support from my weapon and she giggled as I furiously rubbed my nose in agitation.

“Come on Miss Krieger, show me a good time!” The Pirate Queen said gleefully as she got back into her stance. She was definitely enjoying this.

Now I was pissed. I didn’t even bother to summon more spears and just raised my fists as I hopped side to side in my charge towards her. Boxing worked out well for me last time so maybe it would work out for me again. Although this time I was fighting a quadruped that was smaller than me instead of a beefy minotaur that mirrored me as a fellow bipedal. After feinting with a left hook I threw a heavy overhanded punch towards the queen’s head but felt nothing but air as she simply hopped to the side. On my next attack, I threw a heavy overhanded punch again but threw my whole weight and bent my knees so I could get better reach over my smaller opponent.

My fist missed its target again and instead only hit wood as I punched through the boards and made a gaping hole in the middle of the top deck. I pulled my fist out of the hole and continued my assault on the Pirate Queen only to have her dodge my attacks almost effortlessly. Instead of trying to actually hit her I used my punches to steer her movements towards the stern of the ship and the wall of the captain’s cabin. I was trying to limit her movements by forcing her back to the wall and hoped it could give me an opening.

I soon had her herded against the wall and she now would be limited to either dodging left or right to escape my fists. My plan was to throw a low hook in either direction and force her to move in the opposite direction. When she makes her move to dodge my fist I will then intercept her with a spear that I was stealthily summoning behind my back. Once I finally hit her I will turn her SOUL green and force her to stand still. She won’t be able to run circles around me anymore and will have to stand her ground to fight me which I assumed would be game over for her.

With her space now limited, I allowed myself a grin as I knew she couldn’t have noticed the hidden spear floating behind my back. I made my move to throw a left hook with my fist while simultaneously willing the spear behind me to fly to my right side. I had her now!

Except, I would have had her if I hadn’t neglected the fact that she had wings. There was a third direction she could take and instead of dodging left or right the Pirate Queen flapped her wings and flew over my head as both my fist and spear pulverized the wall instead. Two new holes were now gaping into the captain’s cabin and I cursed silently to myself as I pulled my fist out and dusted my hand off with my other hand.

“STOP PUTTING HOLES IN MY SHIP!” Captain Vile shouted as I proceeded to not give a damn.

I turned to the Pirate Queen who was hovering in the middle of the ship deck shaking her head.

“All that impressive brute strength and power… but with no real skill to back it up.”

I couldn’t believe it. She managed to make me even more pissed off! ‘Fuck this,’ I thought inside my head as I summoned dozens upon dozens of spears above my head and threw them all at her at once like a wave. While she was distracted by the spears I didn’t wait to see if she had dodged them as I made a beeline for the portside railing again. Despite all the rage that was festering inside my gut I still knew I had more important things to do and had to escape.

Again I was almost 4 steps away from the railing until I felt a soft furry tail wrap around my throat and pulled me taut by the neck. Both the momentum from my run and the sudden appearance of the tail around my neck forced me to fall on my back with a loud smack and I made a hoarse choking sound as air evacuated from my lungs. I faintly realized after a moment that the tail was pulling me back towards the center of the ship and I tried to reach up and dig my fingers around it to rip it off but it was already gone. I massaged my throat as I got up on my knees trying to inhale air again and luckily I found that nothing in my most vital area was seriously hurt.

When I looked up at the tail’s owner, who was obviously the Pirate Queen, I hissed my frustration through my teeth as I saw her wagging a talon at me disapprovingly.

‘Okay bitch, try to dodge this.’ A yellow spear formed in my hand and I stood up to my full height to draw back and throw the spear like a javelin.

The Pirate Queen was already beginning to dodge the attack as the yellow spear flew past her but I grinned victoriously when the spear spun back towards her from behind. She tilted her head in confusion when she saw my smile and turned around at the last second to see the yellow spear strike her right on the beak of her mask. I still made my spears blunt at the tip because I still wasn’t trying to seriously harm her, but sharp or not, my spear struck her mask with a loud ‘THWACK’ and I saw a long crack creep under the mask’s right eyehole and across its beak. The mask was still intact and the Pirate Queen looked dazed than actually hurt, but I had finally succeeded in hitting her for the first time. Since I was able to hit her that meant her SOUL would have to come out and I could turn it green to make her stand still.

Her SOUL finally appeared out of her chest after a couple seconds and its color was a fine shade of purple. Purple represented that she was a person of perseverance, but that purple was replaced as I willed it to turn green. The Pirate Queen looked down at the heart-shaped SOUL and tilted her head in curiosity before she looked at me and tried to move her legs. Her legs refused to take another step and her wings couldn’t lift her off the ground no matter how many times she flapped her wings. Her face may have been hidden behind the mask but I knew her face must have been priceless to look at.

“I got you now queenie,” I said as I summoned another dozen spears to surround her ready to strike. This fight was over.

“Yep, you got me.” The Pirate Queen congratulated as she sat down to clap her talons. “Unfortunately for you, I’ve had you before this fight even started.”

Confused I was about to hail her with a flurry of spears until I heard the most beautiful sound in the world emanating from behind her broken mask.

My muscles tensed and I clenched my jaw tight as I felt the song dominate my world and attack every strand of my willpower. I clenched my jaw till it hurt but it didn’t help. I was paralyzed, like a stone statue, like a post which had been dug a couple meters into the ground. I couldn’t even wiggle a toe.

As the Pirate Queen sang her simple but beautifully enthralling song she swept her wings around in a broad gesture. My will over her SOUL had vanished and it had returned to its original purple color. The floorboards of the ship deck became blurred and took on a uniform dull grey appearance and color. The masts disappeared, the rest of the pirate crew disappeared, the sea disappeared, even the blue sky, dashed with dozens of clouds, vanished. The whole world was disappearing. All except her… the Pirate Queen and her mystifying song.

I wanted to fight. Some corner of my mind knew what was happening and told me to keep fighting, to keep determined. But the longer I heard her voice the more I pulled away from any thoughts of rebellion.

She walked up to me and grabbed my hair with both talons and softly forced me onto my knees so we were eye to eye with each other. Her left talons gently caressed my cheek while her right talons removed her broken mask. Her eyes and feathers were still hidden behind the shadow of her dark blue shawl but her beak pierced the veil of shadow. The beak that spawned her beautiful voice.

Eventually, I did let go and I stopped seeing the Pirate Queen’s beak and fell into a world of darkness. I thought of nothing, I only heard her voice and her voice alone. The rest of the world was only darkness. I was still on my knees.

“Yes, my Queen.” It was my own voice but it sounded disembodied.

“At your command, my Queen.”

“Thank you, my Queen.”

I felt myself lean towards her. The world was mute and the world was darkness. Her talons smelt of the sea. The sea… The sea… there was a flash. Darkness again.

Then my world exploded…in pleasure.