HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

Team Work Makes the...Dream Work?

    As Marine and I both charged at the monster, our swords drawn, the behemoth roared again, before raising its armored hands above its head. However, right as it readied to strike us down, I aimed my reloaded flintlock right at its head and blasted, breaking a lot of the coral armor off as it recoiled from the hit. Both of us seized the moment, and I ran straight up to the leg of the crab as Marine ran up to the other side of the monster, brandishing her sword with a scream of anger. However, and to my absolute amazement, as the crab-man-monster-thing struck at her, she jumped straight over his claw, landed on the top part of it, and she scampered, almost like a monkey, all the way up his arm and shoulder, using the coral armor to her advantage. Once she was all the way at the top, I dodged out of the way of the crab monster, and as I got around to its exposed backside, I plunged my sword straight into the back of the thing's knee.    It bellowed in pain as it buckled under the injury, and I saw that up on the very top of the monster, there was Marine, holding onto is neck armor, and she stabbed her sword straight into his skull, breaking the armor with that strike.
    "YESSSS!!!" I cheered as the monster dropped against the mast.
    Marine immediately slid off the top of the monster, but right before she could say anything, a spray of water washed over the deck, and the tentacles were back, climbing their ways over the deck as the crew still dealt with the Krakenites, and Marine grabbed my arm, pointing at the cannons on the deck.
    "We gotta cover them while they hold off these disgusting things." She said. "Man the guns and take care of some of the tentacles!!"
    "You got it!" I said, running over to the loaded cannons.
    I ducked under the swinging swords of the crew as they fought the Krakenites, and thankfully, I made it over to the row of cannons with my head intact, and I grabbed one of the biggest cannons, being a 32-pounder, and I aimed it at the base of one of the tentacles that was extending its way up to the mast.
    "GOODBYE!!!"  I yelled.
    And I pulled the flintlock of the cannon, and in an explosion of sparks and smoke, the cannon fired the ball right at the tentacle, and it blasted an entire section of the tentacle to pieces, shattering the muscles that held the thing together. It wriggled in the air, but it came down on the deck with a heavy strike. And, with a horrific smashing sound, the tentacle smashed an entire section of the deck railing, along with the cannons that it housed. As the tentacle swiped its way over the now destroyed railing, I waited until it was nearly on top of me, and I swung my sword, cutting the sharp blade right across its fleshy, slimy surface, leaking blood and more of that gaseous ink all over me. Thankfully, however, as I piled the damage on the tentacle, it finally got the message, and it retreated, right as two more of them splashed out of the water, advancing towards the ship.
    "Oh come on!!" I said.
    I ran to more of the loaded guns, but this time, as I huffed and puffed, trying to get my breath back, I blind-fired the cannons, just running by and pulling the strings to fire the guns. There were rings and booms as sparks, fire and smoke burst out of he cannons, and thankfully, both of the tentacles were hit successfully, and boy, the damage was rough. They leaked blood and gore everywhere, with bits of flesh and skin hanging off of the wounds, and they retreated back into the water, earning another roar from the Kraken beneath us. Thankfully, with that strike, the tentacles retreated once again, and all of us were able to fight off the few remaining Krakenites, until there was calm, only broken up by our labored breathing and the sounds of the waves beneath us.
    "Is-is it gone?" Chloe asked, holding her blood red dagger at the ready.
    "It can't be." I said. "I think Gura sent that thing after us."
    Marine strode straight up to me, and she stood back to back with me, both of us holding ur guns and swords at the ready.
    "How do you know?" She whispered as we all stood at the ready.
    "Well, it would make sense, right?" I said. "I destroyed the city, so they send this thing after us to kill me, right?"
    "So, what, do we throw you overboard?" She said with a pained giggle.
    I stopped and lowered my sword, pulling my back away from Marine.
    "Actually, aye, thats not too bad of an idea." I said.
    "Micheal, I was joking."
    "Aye, I know." I said. "But trust me, I'm not. I think this can work. If we get a lifeboat, fill it with explosive barrels, and lure the Kraken away, I can jump away and blow it up to kill the damn thing."
    She looked away, probably scared, so I reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a light squeeze.
    "Just trust me, I think this can work." I said.
    She grabbed and wrapped me into a hug, and she put her lips right next to my ear, dropping her voice to a whisper.
    "Be careful, please." She said.    
    "Of course."
    I pulled away from the hug, and right as I did, I noticed that the water all around the ship turned jet black, almost like it was swallowing all of the light and color in a near half mile radius all around the ship.
    "We gotta hurry!!" I yelled. "Marine, Storyteller, help me get one of the lifeboats off the ship!"
    "Aye, but what do we do?" Jansen asked, loading his pistol.
    "Defend the ship in case this doesn't work." I said. "And if it does, then defend me, okay?"
    "Aye!!" He said, "RUN OUT THE GUNS AND LOAD THE FIREARMS!!!"
    "AYE SIR!!"
    The crew snapped back into motion, and while they ran around in a frenzy, I noticed that Amelia was running between the crew, wrapping bandages and sticking them with various syringes and potions to help them through their injuries. There was another deep roar from below the ship, and Marine, the Storyteller, and I grabbed one of the lifeboats on deck, throwing off the covers and untying the ropes, trying to get the boat off of the ship as fast as possible, while Noel and Chloe ran to get powder kegs. All three of us hoisted the rowboat, and I felt my muscles nearly burn against my bones as we lifted the near-impossibly heavy boat off of the deck and to the railing.
    "Lift with your knees!" Marine said to the Storyteller, straining to get it up and onto the railing.
    "I'm lifting with EVERYTHING!!" He said. "Just get this thing on the railing!"
    Finally, and with one large lift, the rowboat was lifted right over the railing, and it fell down into the water. It landed with a large splash, and thankfully, it stayed upright in the pitch black water. I looked up with a sigh of relief, but, to my absolute horror, when I looked up, I saw that there was a ship on the horizon, still very very far away. However, this ship was gigantic, with two decks of guns and three large masts with dark green sails.
    "Marine, there's a ship out there!" I said, pointing out at the horizon as the water began to bubble around the sides of the ship.
    She looked out over the railing, and when she held her spyglass up to her eye, she began cursing under her breath.
    "FUCK!!!!" She hissed. "FUCK FUCK FUCCCCK!!"
    She shoved her spyglass in my hands, and she turned to Jansen as he ran out one of the larger cannons. I extended the spyglass out as Marine kept cursing, and I noticed that there were already crew in the rigging of the ship's mast, and the gun ports on the side of the ship began to open up.
    "Jansen!!!" She yelled. "Its a Dominion's Man O' War!"
    He, along with the rest of the crew for that matter, looked out over the railing, and once he saw it, his shoulders slumped back, almost as if he was already defeated.
    "We gotta get rid of this Kraken before the Dominion's ship arrives!" Marine said as Noel came up, holding two rather medium sized barrels of gunpowder over her shoulders. "You sure this'll work?"
    "Aye, I'm sure!" I lied, feigning my confidence.
    And with that, I dropped down into the rowboat.