ITT: We Are All Pirates' Revenge

"I'm the insecure one," he says incredulously, pushing past the shrubbery walking along with Duane as he buttons up his shirt. "You're the one voicing your anxieties. I was wanting to know if they had merit—" He starts hopping on each foot trying to get either of his spats on. "—or if you're merely impatient."

Edited by BlackMageAnolis on Jan 12th 2019 at 4:27:23 AM

"... Do you always talk like that?" Max responds to Klamptrap, looking to the others.

Anxious, Jane nods.

To Melvin, both Jane and Max widen their eyes... Or eye sockets in Max's case. Jane in fear and confusion, Max in anger and confusion.

"Kidnapped..." His shrill, silly voice vanishes, taking on a more menacing tone. "Do you know what I did to the last person who kidnapped a member of mine? We keelhauled him. Strapped him to the bottom of the ship, let the roughness of the sea take care of him. But we didn't let him drown, oh no... We made sure he could breathe so he could keep on suffering before the harsh salt in the water stripped him down into a lifeless, dead bloodied skeleton. So, why did you kidnap her?" He asks, getting closer and closer to Melvin.

(Ira inches a bit closer to Jane and Melvin and puts his scaly fists up, just in case. This guy is serious trouble...)

Edited by kablammin45 on Jan 12th 2019 at 4:42:52 AM

Now Melvin's eyes widen. Good thing Max can't see them.

"SH*T SH*T SH*T SH*T SH*T," he thinks, not even trying to smile this time. This really was just like talking to his old captain. And just like it was many times back in the day, Melvin's courage was crushed.

"Y-You see, I- She said I- I just did it to- Well, you know, she's- I can't- There's- She was- I just-"

Melvin continues babbling until his words are completely incoherent. As Max moves in, Melvin stumbles backwards until he's up against the wall.

Edited by DrNoPuma on Jan 12th 2019 at 4:51:14 AM

As he turns to face the skeleton, Kauri’s breathing becomes lighter. Hastier.

I think that the most secure thing a man can do is talk candidly about what worries him. I know very well that our crew can handle themselves, I just worry that Melvin, in his kindness, has prolonged their search, in waiting for us two. The last thing we ought to be is nuisances, you know?

Duane sees the ship in the distance, and quietly ponders, before voicing his thoughts. Zeke, does that ship look occupied to you?

(Noticing Melvin getting tongue-tied at this point, Ira cuts in and tries to help.)

Uh, see, it's a funny story. (He says.) She stowed away in a...barrel that we brought on board the ship. That's all. We were...we were well on our way before we found her!

Hearing commotion, Tom moves back over towards the rest of his crew, still idly holding the flintlock pistol in his hands. As he rounds the last set of shelves, he spots a skeleton that seems to be menacing Melvin. Pointing towards the skeleton with the defunct weapon, Tom clears his throat to speak.

"So, who are you?"

"..."

"..."

Jane and Max stare at Melvin expectantly. If she doesn't speak up, Max could kill him. And who knows what he'll do to her. She doesn't really like people, but she doesn't want to have someone's blood on her hands... This feeling doesn't quite go away when Ira chimes in.

"They're just joking! He didn't kidnap me, and there wasn't a single barrel involved!" Max raises where an eyebrow would be. "He didn't? Then how are you here and not on the ship?"

"..." Jane doesn't smile anymore. Not even a fake one. "I chose to join them. I left."

"I see..." ... Suddenly, his menacing voice vanishes as he turns to normal. "WAIT, WHAT?! Why?!" Jane herself raises an octave. "Cuz you were a jerk! That's why! I don't wanna be an errand girl, I wanna be a real pi- Max, there's a gun pointed at you." Rushed, Max turns his head 180, seeing the gun and quickly shooting his arms up. The one day he forgot to bring his ol shooty! "MAX FUNNYBONES, LEADER OF THE FUNNYBONES PIRATES!"

Edited by Beverly on Jan 12th 2019 at 5:32:59 AM

Melvin is surprised at how quickly his crew turned things around. He gets back up and stares at Max.

"What am I saying? How dare you barge in on my crew and threaten to keelhaul me? I ought to deliver the same punishment to you! But I have a better idea. You and any of your crew here can get your keisters back to the ship and get off this island. Now."

Edited by DrNoPuma on Jan 12th 2019 at 5:53:09 AM

Parada breathes in deeply and seems about to say something, but stops as she sees the situation being handled.

Kauri's breathing stops. Then starts again, slow and steady. (… What just happened??)

Max's head turns around. Anger painted all over his face. Damn, that guy's holding a gun to his head, and there's just way more people here than a preferred one-on-one.

"... Fine. I'll be back soon, with my whole crew! Then we'll see if you're so confident!" He charges out of the shop, funding and clacking his bones too and fro.

... Jane looks incredibly distraught, curling up and hiding her face.

(Ira shakes his head in disgust.)

Man, I don't like that guy... (He mumbles. He goes over to Jane.) Are you okay, Jane?

Melvin runs over to Jane and hugs her as tightly as possible, even picking her up off the ground.

After releasing her from his big fluffy arms, he says "Thank you for what you did. I tried to stand up to him, but... I'm so sorry you had to deal with someone like that."

"Thank you, too," he says to Ira, Tom, and the others with a smile.

Edited by DrNoPuma on Jan 12th 2019 at 10:01:11 AM

"Huh... I thought he'd have noticed the gun was broken right away, didn't even think it was a threat. Why was he angry?"

Tom shrugs as he falls in line with the others. At least nobody had gotten hurt in the end.

Nephenee desperately wanted to give Max a piece of her mind, but she had a feeling she'd only make things worse if she did.

Once he leaves, she approaches Jane.

"Hoy...", the mercenary said, "It'll be alright, we won't let him do anything to you or anyone in this crew."

"..." Parada quietly walks over, can't really think of anything comforting to say, and starts patting Jane on the head.

Once the skeleton is out of sight, the boy turned around to see Jane, distressed. He'd try to comfort her if most of the others weren’t doing so already.

Gabrielle still stands, feet firmly in place as her mind continues to reel.

Captain Max... the Funnybone Pirates... why the hell is this so familiar?

Klamptrap:   What kind of captain would be dumb enough to go on their own without backup? That's an amateur mistake. Hmm...   

The chest moves over the Jane and Melvin.

   Glad to see that you got away from a rapscallion like that. Say, from what you know of this guy just how experienced is he? Could use that knowledge against him in the future.   

Ezekiel harrumphs. "Of course it's not occupied, we de-occupied it, and then we all scurried off on our way."

...there's another ship. Another ship he knows. He's seen those sails before.

He looks down at the mud, and at the muddle of shoeprints heading into town. "You know, I'd rather not have pirates doing my job..." And certainly not when children are involved...without another word, he follows the path of the shoeprints towards what he remembers to be some kind of pawn shop...

Hey, Zeke, you uh... alright, I guess you’re leading the way for now.

"No, I'll be okay..." Jane steps up after the hug, smiling from everyone's comforting words. "I'll be okay, just need a bit.

"And... ya know, he's a friggin skeleton. From what I see, he's all talk. But he still has years of piracy under his belt." She shrugs. "I dunno. Just thinking, he had to become a skeleton somehow. Even if I don't know that how."

Kauri twiddles his thumbs for a bit before speaking. "W-Well… let's just hope he doesn't try to hurt us?"