THE POWER OF THE PIRATES

Milo stared down the heavily armored woman. The dark blue hair, the violet eyes…she definitely bore a resemblance to Lucianna. "W-who are you?"

She tossed her hair and shifted her weight to her left leg. The sun glinted in her eyes as she flashed him a toothy smile. "The name's Kristiel, cutie~ No wonder Des wants you to herself! There's just something about you that's…irresistible!"

He rolled his shoulders, trying to shrug off the creeping nausea in his throat. Milo's danger sense wasn't ringing alarm bells, but he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he sensed a powerful predator before him that was far too dangerous for him to handle. Though her presence weighed much less than Lucianna's, he definitely recognized the similarity in their aura. "Why do you look so much like Lucianna?"

Her lips curled, and she scoffed. "Oh, please! Don't compare me to Daddy's Little Girl!" She rolled her eyes and waggled a finger at Milo. "Honestly, they should've killed that spoiled brat a long time ago! Running off with the Power of the Pirates! If it'd been anyone else, they'd have been strung up and left for the sultures!"

(Power of the Pirates?)

He clutched his wrist, the diamond warm against his flesh. "I-I take it you two don't see eye-to-eye?"

"That's an understatement! Just because she was born to the King and Queen! Why did she have to be the one to inherit the Hands of God? Should've been me!"

She cut herself off, taking a deep breath and raking a hand back through her hair. That wicked grin returned to her face, and her eyes glowed purple. "But since you know my dear cousin, then you must be familiar with some of our abilities, yes?"

His eyes widened. He stumbled backward and turned to run away.

Her hand shot out, enveloped by a purple aura, and Milo froze in his tracks. Kristiel cackled. "Ha! Too slow, cutie!"

She continually tugged Milo towards her with her pumping hands, as if an invisible rope were pulling him closer and closer. Just like when he had first met Lucianna, his limbs wouldn't obey him, unable to even struggle against his telekinetic chains. When she had pulled him close enough, she made circles in the air with her right hand, causing Milo to spin and twirl in a never-ending nightmare of nausea and panic. She yanked her hand straight up, as if pulling the bow off a present, and Milo jerked to a stop, his face a pale green. Crossing her arms behind her back, she rocked back on her heels and laid another smile on him.

"Wow, you're even cuter up close! I might have to fight Des to keep you~"

She framed his face with her hands, her eyes radioactive as they bore into him. A sharp, floral perfume stabbed the back of his throat as she slowly absorbed the space between them.

"What an honor for you…I wore my special lip balm today~"

His stomach and lower back clenched, and a low gurgling echoed inside his gut. Kristiel's eyes narrowed, and she jumped back just in time to avoid Milo's vomit. He fell to the ground, free from her telekinetic power. She tucked her hands behind her back and frowned at him.

"Whoops! Guess I spun you a little too hard. Lucky I dodged, though. I would've been pissed if you puked on me."

She reached out her hand again and lifted him with her power. "Now to get you two back to Des…"

There was a flash of green and a crunch of armor. Kristiel soared through the air, flying in a high arc. Halfway to the ground, her body glowed with a pink aura, and she flipped her body, landing softly on her feet. She clutched at her side, wincing as she touched the crumpled armor.

Rivra stood tall, her lips curled back over her teeth as she roared at the armored pirate, cords bulging in her neck. Milo stared at Rivra unblinkingly, his heart skipping a beat.

Kristiel chuckled while rolling her left shoulder. "So, that's the strength of Rivra, the Scrapster Princess? Good thing I shielded myself with magic. You might've killed me, otherwise."

"Oh, I still plan on killing you."

Rivra reared back, bringing her right arm across her chest. Gusts of wind gathered around her hand and arm, kicking up plumes of dirt and dust at her feet. Kristiel's eyes narrowed, and she threw up her hands as Rivra slashed the air with a diagonal chop. A large blade of wind spiraled across the expanse, heading directly for Kristiel. The pirate lowered her head as a thin, eggshell-like barrier coalesced over her. With the howling of a tornado, the wind blade slammed into the barrier, ripping up chunks of the ground and reducing them to grit and sand. Her heavy boots sunk into the earth as she tried to stand her ground.

Wasting no time, Rivra scooped Milo into her arms and sprinted toward the cave. Milo yelped as he bounced against Rivra's sweat-slicked skin. "Shouldn't we head back to the temple?!"

"First, we got to lose them! Then we'll regroup with the others!"

As the surrounding wind died down, Kristiel gritted her teeth, glaring after Rivra with hatred burning in her eyes. Her lips curled back into a sneer. "You got dirt in my hair."

She pressed a button on her armor and spoke into a radio. "Deploy the bots! Capture them!"

Rivra and Milo heard a sound like popping fireworks and looked up to see three large, spider-shaped robots gliding down from the sky, their legs splaying out with a loud whirring sound. Rivra grimaced as she doubled down on her effort to high-tail it to the cave. They were only a few yards away now. Milo clutched at Rivra's arm, his eyes flicking between the encroaching bots and their only hope of escape.

As the bots closed the distance, Rivra wrapped both her arms around Milo, crushing him in between her cleavage. "Sorry!" she shouted. With the swiftness of someone a third her size, she cocked her right leg and performed a flawless roundhouse kick, slicing through the air with her heavy boot. A powerful whirlwind rotated out of the force from her kick and enveloped the two bots closest to them. The wind was relentless, spinning and tossing them around. They struggled like insects in a glue trap until they crashed into each other. A massive fireball exploded from their impact, bits and scraps of metal trailing to the ground. Milo cheered to himself, but quickly realized the third bot, despite seeing what had happened to its allies, continued to close in on them.

Rivra wheeled around and made for the cave mouth, which was large enough to fit her and, unfortunately, large enough for the spider bot, as well. Milo glanced over her shoulder and watched their pursuer land, its legs shaking as it let out a mechanical shriek. It charged after them, and Milo grasped tightly onto Rivra. "It's right behind us!"

Her feet pounded against stone as she sprinted further into the cave depths, while the robot clambered into the entrance. The mechanical whirring and clanking was like a death-knell, heralding their impending doom. The robot lifted its head and aimed its cannons down the tunnel at Rivra. An icy pit formed in Milo's gut, and he dug his hand into her shoulder. "Watch out!"

It unleashed a hail of bullets, most of which ricocheted off the walls and burrowed into the dirt floor. Rivra did her best to zig and zag, no doubt hoping to serpentine her way out of getting shot. The bot responded by tightening its firing range, its crazy pot shots becoming more and more precise. A bullet whizzed by Rivra's head, screaming in Milo's ears as it passed them and disappeared into the tunnel beyond. Rivra grunted, hissing through her teeth. "Just a little further!"

He clung to her, hoping and praying for something, anything, to push them faster so they could get away.

The spider robot ceased firing for a moment, perhaps trying to calculate a better firing angle.

Rivra burst past the end of the tunnel and dug her heels into the earth. She pulled Milo from her, dropping him off to the side, out of the line of fire. "Stand back!" She raised her fists and brought them down on the outside of the tunnel exit. The whole cave rumbled and shook, pebbles and dust falling in steady sheets from the ceiling. The spider robot froze, its red sensors scanning the surrounding tunnel.

"STRUCTURAL FAILURE IMMINENT. NEUTRALIZE TARGET."

It aimed both its cannons and released a wild flurry of shots.

The bullets mostly strayed to the left or the right, just missing Rivra. But as she continued to pound on the wall, a few bullets hit her head on, and she gritted her teeth, letting only a grunt escape her mouth. She gave the tunnel entrance one last strike.

The robot stopped to look around one last time before the tunnel collapsed on top of it, a cloud of dust and fire exploding from the impact. Rivra grabbed Milo and ducked out of the way as fiery debris belched out of the collapsed tunnel, the heat singeing Milo's face. His chest heaved, his heart pounded, and his ears rang. Rivra wrapped her body around him, squishing him against her sweaty chest and abs.

After a few more moments, silence filled the cavern, and it seemed like they were safe for the moment.

Milo tapped Rivra on the stomach.

"H-hey, Rivra, I think we're good. You can let go…"

But something warm and sticky coated his hand, squishing between his fingers. He pulled his hand back, and his fingers were slick with a dark green liquid that reeked of hot copper.

Rivra gulped, her voice shaky as she spoke. "Those bullets…must've been made from Coalwatch's anti-Scrapster metal…"

***

Des's guards were like toddlers against Lucianna. While she had never been one for hand-to-hand combat, having spent so many years with Rivra, she'd picked up a few things. And pouring a fraction of her power into her kicks and punches proved to be fairly simple. Much easier than trying to use her telekinetic or weapon-making abilities without Milo. It only took her minutes to reduce each guard to a pile of groaning and bruised bodies on the ground. The only body remaining standing was Des, who had been watching from the side, grinning her insidious smile that made Lucianna's skin crawl. (She probably gave Milo that smile when she tried to…I'll rip that smile right off her face!)

She turned from the downed guards and wheeled on Des. "Are you going to stop being a coward and come meet your fate?"

Des chuckled, waving her hand. "I was simply giving you a chance to warm up. After all, it wouldn't be fair if the amateur couldn't get their feet wet."

Lucianna scowled, cracking her knuckles. "Amateur? I'll show you an amateur!"

Albany and Krol, still pinned between the two guards, looked on with worry in their features. Albany gripped the base of her horn. "Captain, don't overdo it!"

"Don't worry, Albany! I'll finish this bitch off and go save Milo!"

Des licked her lips at the mention of his name. "Heh. Are you sure about that? Personally, I was looking forward to finishing what I started with my little toy…"

Lucianna lunged, rearing back to unleash a wild haymaker. "Milo is not your toy!"

She closed the distance quickly, but Des didn't even flinch, that terrible grin of hers never fleeing her lips. Instead, she inhaled deeply, and when Lucianna drew within striking distance, she spat a thick, purplish mist into the air.

Lucianna saw the move coming, but her own body's momentum carried her straight into the thick, cloying mist. The moment it coated her face and eyes, an intense, itching burn radiated all over her body. She screeched, clawing at her face with her metal hands.

Albany jumped forward. "Captain!"

The guard cracked her with the butt of her gun, and Albany fell to her knees, spit flying from her mouth. The guard stepped on her back, shoving her into the dirt. "Move again, and I'll put a bullet in your head!"

Des cocked her leg back and delivered a swift kick to Lucianna's ribs. Lucianna coughed and retched as she rolled onto the ground. The lizard woman laughed.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen! So the rumors were true! You're helpless! At least, without little Milo, anyway. Hmmm. What makes him so special? Maybe I'll ask him after I deflower him."

Lucianna struggled to her knees, spitting on the ground. "You touch Milo, and I'll rip off each of your fingers and feed them to you!"

Des aimed another kick, this time for Lucianna's head, but as she was about to follow through, her body froze. Her eyes bulged in her head. "W-what is this?"

With one eye swollen shut, Lucianna glared at Des with her one good, glowing eye. She lifted her right hand, her aura enveloping Des completely. "Whoever told you I'm helpless doesn't know what they're talking about. I'm still Lucianna the Pirate Queen. And this is the last time you mess with my crew!"