Dantega:Volume 4 Chapter 1
Chapter 32: Pursuit on the Water
(PART 1)
"Wow take a look at this place!" Strauphius says loudly while wearing a childlike face.
All of them have their eyes widened and glued to the scenery, it is the color of the emerald blue ocean as far as the eye can see. Little islands tatter the area like lily pads in a large pond and looking closely they see signs of human life. They have found themselves in a bustling as a port town.
They had just exited the first Gate of Purgatory and entered a large port-city much to the akin of a carribean paradise’ people are running all about and numerous boats of every size are being unloaded and restocked. The sound of pelicans and waves crashing correlate with the smell of seafood that reaches their noses.
"This is a huge difference from just a few minutes ago." said Napoleon as his eyes scour the crystal clear waters surrounding the hundreds of docks harboring large wooden ships.
Strauphius runs onto one of the docks and jumps in the air when he shouts, "Look at the size of this boat!!! It's Huge!"
Daey walks alongside him and marvels at it as well; large ships are common back on Earth, but she’s never seen a ship look like this before.
She wonders just how in the world they are able to keep track of all of the ropes used to set sail intertwining with each other like a spider web.
Trojia giggles a little and turns around to see the area in which they had just come, to her surprise she finds that there is no sign of the massive and beautifully designed Purgatory Gate that they had just passed through. Instead there is nothing, it is like they had just walked through the bushes of the tropical hill that rests there.
She grabs onto Ubica's sleeve and asks, "Um, where's the Gate?"
Ubica raises an eyebrow and is genuinely confused when he answers, "I have no clue."
"Each Gate leads to a random place on the next level, I've heard stories where people who were able to pass through one of the Gates ended up stranded on a desolate island, alone on top of a mountain range, or like us, in the middle of a city." added Messor.
Ubica scratches his head and says, "Well it looks like we lucked out then"
Daey happened to overhear what Messor said and responded, "So that means that Niera and the others could be on the opposite side of this level..."
She looks disappointed as she stares down to the ground.
"I thought that we were going to catch up to them."
Sensing her disappointment, he puts her hand on her shoulder and says, "We'll see them soon."
Paying no mind to the atmosphere, Tsubiri butts in, "I don’t know about you guys, but the smell of the food is driving me mad! Let's eat!"
Without even asking the others, she grabs Ubica's hand and yanks him away from the group.
Ubica has shown himself to be completely helpless to Tsubiri's demands so all he can do is mutter "Waaah!?" as he gets dragged into town.
Messor's jaw clenches up as she tries to force a smile onto her face. "Shall we follow them?"
Napoleon turns to her and replies, "First thing's first, you seem to know a good amount about this place... I would like to know how we go about finding the second Gate."
"I couldn't tell you where it will be if that is what you are hoping for, the Gate's from here on out don't have a set location, they can change at any random time of the year."
Napoleon frowns at this disposition, "How troublesome, we were lucky to find Aria and Strauphius, even more so because they happened to have a map. If it's true that the Gate's location changes throughout time then we really need to make finding this one quickly our top priority."
Messor shrugs her shoulders, "I agree with that, I guess we'll just need to get lucky again."
Tsubiri takes a deep breath through her nose to smell the aroma of food and exhales loudly in pleasure.
"I think the delicious smell is coming from this place!"
The building that they are outside of is somewhat rundown due to the constant barrage of salt filled air coming from the sea, but that's not a good enough excuse to explain why this building is in such bad shape, the others around this port city look just fine in comparison.
Ubica stares at the sign above the door that reads 'SCALLYWAG'S' discouragingly, he then shifts his gaze just a few buildings down and sees a great looking restaurant where soothing gentle music is being played for the patrons sitting on the outside patio.
"Hey Tsubiri, that place looks way better."
Tsubiri doesn't even look to where he is pointing when she replies, "No way, we're going here."
"Ugh."
Still holding his hand she drags him into the sling door that is reminiscent of an old western entrance to a saloon; as soon as they enter, the loud noises of rowdy drunken blowhards laughing and loud ear torturing music is heard.
Ubica glares at all of them dejectedly and they all stare back at him like, 'Who the hell is this guy?'
The occupants of this place are all chiseled and big men, some have beards down to their belly buttons and some have scars on their face. In the corner of the room there even sits a burly looking man with a peg leg.
Tsubiri pays no mind to these threatening looking men and drags him straight to the bar table, they sit down on the stools and she looks over to her side to see a massive and scary looking black man wearing an eye-patch munching on some fish and chips.
She looks at his meal and he becomes very annoyed by the sudden appearance of the girl.
Ubica turns blue with fright but stays silent so he doesn't make a scene.
But he doesn't need to worry about that, because Tsubiri makes one big enough for the both of them when she yells to the bartender, "This is what I've been smelling! I would like two orders of what this guy has and two beers!"
The bartender is cleaning a glass with a rag and he glares at her.
Agitated by this, she snaps her fingers and sharply says, "Make it snappy."
The bartender sighs, he puts his glass down and bends over to grab some wooden mugs, he then flips the nozzle of a large wooden keg and fills the mugs with some ridiculously dark beer.
"Here, your food's comin' soon."
She smiles and cutely says her thanks to him, he clicks his tongue and gets back to cleaning the glass.
Ubica didn't like how that entire interaction between them went and is extremely uncomfortable.
"Do we really need to eat here? We're sticking out pretty bad thanks to your big mouth."
"Shut up, you should know that nobody can get in the way of this hungry girl. Once my mind is set on what food I want I'll get it to my belly no matter what."
Ubica releases a sigh of resignation and says, "You really are a piece of work."
"Heeee heee heee, I am meee~."
Ubica grabs his mug of beer, he looks at it like it is something out of a horror film and asks, "You don't actually expect me to drink this stuff do you?"
Tsubiri grabs her mug and chugs a good portion of it, she lets out an obnoxious exhale after her drink and replies, "Of course I do, I'm paying for it."
"That's not the point, this looks like motor oil and I'm sure it tastes like it too."
"Oh stop being a baby and just drink it, you'll never know how it tastes until you try."
He again sighs and puts the mug to his mouth, he shuts his eyes and thinks to himself, (Bottom's up!)
He downs as much as he can until he starts to feel like he is choking on something thick. He slams the mug down and starts coughing, he isn't used to drinking anymore and to start off the day with a beer that tastes like carbonated coffee doesn't help his cause.
"Hahahhaaha what a bitch."
"Hey! I'm not a bitch!"
"Hehehe well you drink like one."
"No I don't! I just hate dark beer!"
"What kind of man can't drink dark beer?"
She nudges at the massive black guy next to her and asks, "Right?"
The black man slowly turns his head to Ubica and sternly says, "Bitch."
"Wha!? Why are you agreeing with her!?"
The black man faintly smiles and lifts his own mug, he easily chugs the entire cup and signals the bartender for more.
He didn't say a word, but his actions hit Ubica like an arrow in the chest.
“Fine then! I’ll show you both what I’m capable of. I’ll have you know that back in the day I could outdrink anyone!"
He then takes his mug, pours the dark beer into his mouth and begins drinking.
The black man and Tsubiri stare at him with the look of someone betting on a horse race while they wait to see if he can finish it.
Ubica is so determined to plug it down that he tries to ignore the bloated feeling forming in his stomach.
But it seems that he can't avoid it any longer, the foam of the beer that's causing him to be bloated comes rushing up through his throat and it all comes right back out into the cup.
He coughs wildly and his eyes spin as the foam comes firing out of his mouth and nose like a volcano eruption and sprays in many different directions.
This is a sign of someone that really can't hold down his liquor, and to put it in the words of Tsubiri's standards, a bitch.
Tsubiri and the black man lean away from the mess he's making and laugh loudly, the black man's laugh is so loud that it makes the entirety of the rowdy bar stop and watch in surprise.
"Hahahahahah holy crap Ubica that was so pathetic!" Tsubiri says while slapping her knee.
Ubica glares at her while throwing up foam and attempts to say shut up but it comes out sounding gurgled, and that only added fuel to the fire.
The black man stands up with a big smile on his face and says, "I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard."
He turns to all of the men in the bar and raises his mug and says loudly,
"Everyone, give these two a round of cheers for making me laugh."
Every last man in the bar stands up and smiles, they hold their mugs up and say "CHEERS!!" and then immediately start drinking in their rowdy nature once more.
The black man holds his huge hand out and says, "My name is Henri Ceasar. Also known as Captain Black Ceasar."
Tsubiri smiles and shakes his hand. "Tsubiri, I have a last name but I don't know it."
"Interesting enough."
The captain holds his hand out again and this time Ubica shakes it.
"My name is Ubica... uh, I don't have a last name either."
Caesar smiles and says, "If you'd like I can make one for you, it can be about your drinking skills."
"Then please don't!"
Caesar’s demeanor, which started out cold and intimidating has switched to jolliness.
"Buahahaha you two are quite the characters, where did you guys come from?"
Ubica doesn't know how to answer that, he can't just tell him who they are and where they came from because it could sound like they are crazy. He stalls for a moment trying to find something to say when Tsubiri blurts out,
"We just came from the first level of Purgatory!"
As soon as she said that, the loud music came to a screeching halt and all the men once again became dead silent.
Caesar looks at her in shock and asks, "Come again..?"
Ubica has a bad feeling and stands to his feet; Tsubiri instantly feels awkward when she senses the glares of all the men but she still finds the courage to repeat herself.
"W-We just came from the first level of Purgatory."
Captain Black Caesar takes a step back and looks at her square in the eye. "Are you telling the truth?"
"I don't have a reason to lie."
"Then answer me this, do you know of Earth?"
Ubica takes a step in front of Tsubiri and answers his question for her. "That's where we're from."
Caesar smiles and says, "That's where we're all from... and that is where we are going."
"So you are aware... do you have an idea of where the Gate is?"
Ernest laughs smugly and pulls a rolled up piece of paper out of his coat pocket, he unrolls it and it looks like a map.
"No pirate doesn't know where he is going."
Ubica looks at the map with eyes widened in disbelief, he looks around the room and back and asks, "Who are you guys?"
All the men in the room stand up and smile proudly.
Captain Black Caesar puts his hands on his side and declares, "We are all pirates who know of the real world and sail on a ship called 'The Black Dandelion'."
Ubica and Tsubiri look at each other in amazement that there are this many people all in one group who know of Earth; this is when it hits them, these men have a map to the second Gate.
Ubica's hand slowly reaches to the hilt of his sword as he contemplates attacking them and stealing the map, he has no intentions to kill any of them, but he knows that if he flips his sword over he can at least incapacitate them.
This seems ruthless and mean but importance lies primarily in getting the rest back home so they can stop the war and save the world.
Caesar doesn't notice Ubica's subtle switch to attack mode and asks him, "Since you two were able to pass the first Gate, that means you were able to defeat a Gatekeeper... you guys have strange abilities right?"
Tsubiri answers this question simply and follows it with one of her own, "Yes... do you?"
Caesar’s demeanor turns a little guilt stricken when he replies, "Sadly enough, I'm the only one... This has been our demise every time we set sail for the Gate, there are dozens of other ships that attempt to pass the Gate, and it has become a large competition between the underground pirate crews so we all battle to get there first. Our problem is that all the other crews have those strange powers whilst our crew is filled with ordinary men."
"Why can't they learn? I thought that it comes natural once they become 'aware'." asked Tsubiri.
"Well that happened for me, but the others haven't been able to attain them so we are desperately trying to find someone who can teach us."
Ubica and Tsubiri again stare at each other and their faces light up.
Tsubiri smiles and remembers how she got the powers she now has, with a body language full of confidence she states, "Well it looks like you found them!"
Caesar takes a deep breath and quickly asks, "Really!?"
Answering the glares of he and the rest of the men she says,, "Yes really, I can go get her right now!"
The men all cheer loudly in happiness and drink merrily, but that happy atmosphere is cut short by Ubica's serious voice.
"That gift can be arranged... for a price."
The captain and the men glare at him in a way that makes Tsubiri so awkward it makes her cringe slightly.
"What is it that you want, boy?"
Ubica smiles and blows air out of his nose at his question, being called boy is something new to him.
Ignoring that, he shoots Caesar a steely glare and answers, "In return for teaching you guys, you have to let me and my comrades on your ship to accompany you on your journey to the Gate."
This request is actually something he doesn't expect them to go for; in his mind, since they are pirates they would rather kidnap them and force Ubica and the rest to give them the ability.
Caesar glares at the faces of all his men, they look like they have no doubts in their minds so the answer becomes obvious.
He holds his hand out and says, " Deal."
It seems that they want to avoid any unnecessary conflict with people who have enough power to pass the first Gate. So this couldn’t have been a more fortuitous happenstance for them.
The two shake hands and sign an invisible contract, and with that simple action another adventure awaits them.
"Wow I can't believe that just happened." said Tsubiri while eating her meal out of a to go box.
Ubica nudges her shoulder and says, "Don't talk with your mouth full, it's gross."
"Oh shut up."
"But I agree, things have all the sudden turned out great for us."
"So long as Messor has the ability to help them, we’ll be out on to the next level in no time."
Walking towards the two and weaving their way through the bustling city is Messor and the rest.
"Speak of the devil." said Tsubiri.
Prompting Ubica to flinch at how close that statement actually compares to her.
"So there you are, you shouldn't run off without telling us where you are going Ubica." said Messor in subtle anger.
"Me? How is this my fault!?"
Messor smiles at him and he can feel her anger when she says, "You know exactly why."
Ubica is at a loss for words and he knows from past experience to just agree with her.
He drops his head down and says, "Sorry..."
Not wanting to engage in any more pleasantries, Tsubiri gets straight to the point.
"Hey Messor, we have a favor to ask."
Messor tilts her head questioningly.
"We have found a way to the second Gate."
All of them jolt in shock at her declaration, but Messor seems wary when she asks, "Where do I come in?"
This is when Ubica steps in front of Tsubiri and states, "There is a group of pirates we just met who are 'aware'. And they have a map to the Gate and a ship to get there, the problem is that they don't hold any of the abilities that go along with it. So I made them an offer..."
Messor chuckles and says, "You want me to give them powers in exchange for a free ride to the Gate."
"That's right... will you do it?"
Napoleon chimes in to encourage Messor. "Here’s that luck you were talking about earlier."
Messor shows no change in expression when she answers, "That would be the case... If I was obliged to agree to such a thing."
The group all take a collective gasp.
"You're saying no?" Ubica inquires.
She walks to Ubica and puts her finger on his chest.
"Come with me."
Ubica turns his gaze to the rest of the group who are awaiting her answer anxiously, he knows that the reason behind her words can't be said around the others so he figures that only he can convince her otherwise.
"Okay..."
After the two leave the group, they walk in silence as Ubica wonders what is going on in her head.
They reach a small portion of a sandy beach that is slightly excluded from the rest of the town. There is a little bench resting in the sand that is used for a viewpoint and the two take a seat and sit in silence for a few moments until Messor speaks.
"I bet you are wondering why I haven’t readily agreed to your plan?"
"I had thought you wanted to get back to Earth? This should be a no brainer."
Messor chuckles and responds, "That's where you are mistaken, I don't get why you think that I want to go back to Earth."
"Huh?"
"Think about it Ubica, I have no goals or aspirations on Earth, as far as I'm concerned I have all of eternity to spend here if I damn well please."
"There is a war going on right now, we have to get back in enough time to stop it."
Messor crosses her legs on the bench and says, "That's got nothing to do with me."
"Then why did you even come along in the first place?"
Messor’s eyebrow twitches and she sends him a knife-like side glance.
"Why do you think?"
Ubica looks bewildered, he doesn’t understand why she is acting this way.
Messor looks at him with eyes that are steadily becoming more and more frustrated. "I told you that we have enemies that need to be defeated in order for us to live on. What good does going back to Earth do for us against them?”
Ubica stands to his feet as if to give his words more impact. "It’s not just about us!"
Messor is taken aback by this and stares at him in surprise.
“These are our friends, and we have a duty to do the right thing and get them home!”
"Friends?"
Her surprised face sinks into a frown, it seems that her temper has risen with each word he has said so far and what just came out of his mouth put her over the edge.
She stands to her feet and shouts, "Fuck being friends! I'm not here to be their friend, I’m here to help you!”
“That’s what this is!”
“No it’s not!” Messor shouts with her fists clenched. “This is actually just you treating me like an expendable resource for someone else’s benefit. Helping you? Don’t insult me.”
As if realizing he had not taken her feelings into consideration, he takes uncertain steps away from her and loosens the tension in his body.
“You’re right, I’m sorry… I’ve made an unfair assumption.”
“As much as Dantega binds us together, what we are now is keeping our desires apart. In the past I would have unquestioningly followed whatever it was you desired, but now, I have desires of my own.”
“I understand…”
He feels very guilty.
He has always taken her support for granted, as the False Prophet he had only ever lived an existence where her help was expected. He’s ashamed that even now after all this time he has found himself unconsciously presumptive of her.
Messor sits back down on the bench and stares at the sea, she turns her head away and purses her lips. It takes a few moments to gather herself before letting shoulders relax.
“My greatest desire is to help you, it’s to keep you safe from our enemies by keeping you strong. It’s to remain by your side like I’ve always been. But if I help you and the humans return to Earth, I don’t feel like my desires will be fulfilled.”
“Messor…”
"Say I help your friends get out of here… What will you do once back on Earth?"
"...?"
"Do you intend to live happily ever after with one of them? Do you intend to play the role of vigilante and police the world through the shadows? Or do you intend to disappear again and leave everyone behind? Just like you did with me."
Ubica thinks about her questions and comes to a sudden realization.
"I haven't even thought that far yet."
Messor is completely disappointed in his answer, she expected something far more specific and is frustrated at how indecisive he has become.
"But I have a desire of my own that is driving me forward towards that unpredictable future…” Ubica started, “That is my desire to do good. And right now my only way of doing that is to get them home.”
“And what of me? What do you expect of me when all of this is over?”
“What I expect of you…” he looks her in the eye when he says, “I expect you to do whatever it is that you want, Messor.”
“Well I just told you what I want, the real question is, will you still accept it?”
“Like I said, I owe you for all that lost time. If following me down this new path makes you happy, then I won’t stop you.”
"Then I’ll join you on that path… I’ll help your humans. My one and only condition is that you let me remain by your side until you come to realize that you can’t live without me."
Ubica holds out his hand for a shake and says, "Then we're back to being partners once again?"
Messor smiles happily and slaps his hand away, she puts her face into his chest and hugs him tightly.
"Hmph, don't be stupid. We've never stopped being partners."
"You're right... thank you."
Under the shining sun and bright blue sky of the next day, the entire group are sailing the deep blue sea on a massive black wood ship along with about fifty pirates. The pirates are working hard to set the sails by pulling and maneuvering tons of rope. On the large white sails is the emblem of a black flower, a dandelion to be exact, one that fits the name of the ship led by the Captain whose nickname is Black Caesar.
The Captain's name needs no questioning as to why it is so, the answer lies in his appearance.
He stands at least 6 and a half feet tall and his body stature is large with muscle; but what fits the most is his dark skin color, his pirate name has been Black Caesar for as long as he's been pirating.
He is standing at the helm of the large ship with a happy smile on his face because he knows that new abilities will be bestowed upon his crew members, this is thanks to the happenstance of meeting an odd couple at their most frequented bar in their home port city.
One of oddballs from that group is standing next to him with an excited look on her face.
"Woaaah!! This is the first time I've ever been on a boat before! This is awesome!" Tsubiri shouts.
Caesar laughs loudly and says, "It sure looks like you have gotten your sea legs quickly, I can't say as much for your friends though."
Looking down on the deck they can see Strauphius, who was once so amazed at the size of certain ships at port now blowing chunks over the side of the ship.
Napoleon is fast asleep leaning up against a crate with his arms folded.
Daey is struggling to stand up due to the constant swaying of the ship.
Trojia is grabbing onto a pole and asking if the ship was going to sink or not to anyone who will listen.
Messor is more toward the front of the ship by her lonesome and looking very miserable being on the water for some reason.
Ubica on the other hand has a big smile on his face and is helping out others with manual labor and enjoying every second of it. Caesar watches Ubica work and says, "Your boyfriend is doing just fine though."
This causes Tsubiri's face to turn bright red.
"B-Boyfriend huh? Uwahh hearing that is more embarrassing than I thought it’d be."
"Yeah, Ubica is his name right? I can see it in him, he truly is someone special. The entire crew like him already and he seems to enjoy helping others."
He slaps her on the back and laughs.
"You'd better hang on to that guy."
Tsubiri puckers up awkwardly and back at the happy face of Ubica.
(Hang on to him huh?) she thinks to herself.
And then the image of him and Messor holding each other pops into her mind. She never got a proper explanation for that night and couldn't help but wonder what is continuing to go on between them two.
With these thoughts flowing through her head she starts to feel uneasy when she softly says,
"I'll do my best."
Now with the sun set and the stars shining, there are very few people on the deck of the ship. Many of them are in the barracks sleeping and some are still lazily working inside.
A pirate on guard duty sits high above in the crow's nest but is passed out due to the long day.
But there is one person who doesn't ever seem to sleep who is sitting on the very tip of the bow and enjoying the cool ocean breeze flowing through his silver hair.
Zoning out on the numerous sensations he feels, he doesn't notice the presence of Tsubiri behind him, she walks up the stairs that lead to the bow and taps him on the shoulder.
This surprises Ubica and he jolts, causing him to almost topple over the side of the boat.
"Ooowaaah!?"
Tsubiri grabs him to hold him up, and he also keeps himself from falling by wedging his legs on the rail, but that doesn't keep him from awkwardly hanging over the side.
“How is it possible that someone as strong as you can spook so easily??” Tsubiri said while keeping her firm grip on his arm.
“Anyone would be spooked by a sudden sneak attack from a ninja! I couldn't even hear you coming!”
“You think of me as an assassin now??”
She lifts him up and due to his body weight he flings over the rail and plows into her, causing them both to fall hard on the wooden floorboards.
"Owww!" Tsubiri groans as she rubs the back of her head.
She opens her eyes and notices that she is in the shadow of something that the three moons are shining over.
It is Ubica, he is casting over her, holding himself up with his arms.
But he is not moving, he is just staring at her with his bright green eyes. He has a straight face and this causes her to become nervous.
"Umm..."
Ubica hangs his head down and his hair cascades over his eyes, a smile surfaces on his face and he begins to laugh.
"And here I thought I was the clumsy one of the group."
He slides off of her and lies on his back to look up at the stars.
Tsubiri can sense that this is about to turn into one of their playful arguments, normally she wouldn’t mind that since she enjoys their banter, but this time is different.
The words that Caesar spoke to her earlier have been ringing in her head all day and the reason why she even came out this late to talk to him was to get something off her chest.
She suddenly jumps on top of him and his body immediately tenses up in surprise.
"H-Hey what are you doing?"
Tsubiri gently puts her finger on his lips and says, "Shut up."
He can tell she is serious so he doesn't mutter a word.
She takes advantage of his silence and begins to speak.
"You know... since I've met you, I've almost died twice."
Ubica guiltily averts his gaze.
"I know what you are thinking, but that's not where I'm going with this.” Tsubiri says, forcing him to look back up to her. “What I'm trying to tell you is that in what I thought were my last moments... I was only thinking about you... No one else, it was only you."
“Eh?”
"You are the most important person in the world to me, Ubica."
A strange feeling in Ubica's chest begins to rise that warms his body up and makes him feel as light as a feather, it’s as though he has a beating heart that’s pounding so hard he thinks it’s making an audible noise outside his body.
It’s a unique sensation that he is certain he has never felt before now, and it makes him speechless.
His silent reaction to her declaration in turn makes Tsubiri feel insecure.
“Y’know, that was a very hard thing for me to say.” Tsubiri smiles awkwardly, her face getting more red by the second. “So a word or two in reply would do wonders for my poor little heart that’s really having a rough go of it right now.”
Ubica stays silent for a moment and then lifts his hand, he presses it against her face and softly caresses her cheek.
As forward as she’s trying to be, his sudden touch feels like someone had pressed a warm cloth to her face after night in a snowstorm. She can feel herself melting in against his hand.
"I think my heart might be feeling the same way..."
This is the closest thing to him admitting that he accepts her feelings without actually saying it, and Tsubiri's heart skips a beat.
She holds his hand that is on her face and moves her head closer to his.
With their noses touching she shuts her eyes and readies to do something that she has been longing to do for a while now, and Ubica is not about to deny her advance.
The two slowly inch closer to each other until the warmth of their breath beat across their faces.
But sadly, before they can reach the desired point of contact they are interrupted.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
An explosion rips into the water just a few feet away from the ship and sends it rocking violently, water splashes extremely high and sprays all over both of them.
They both jolt to their feet and quickly try to find the source of the blast.
They look to the area from which the explosion came, and out in the dark ocean the moonlight shines over the white sails of a different ship with an emblem of a sword on it.
The ship is proudly displaying a black flag.
It's a pirate ship.
The man in the crow's nest wakes up and through his binoculars he sees men on the other ship's deck preparing to fire another cannon.
With all the energy in his half asleep body he shouts,
"IT'S AN AMBUSH!!!"
As soon as he says this, dozens of pirates begin to run from the inside of the ship and on to the deck to prepare for battle; Caesar follows calmly out of the Captain's room and starts ordering people around.
Napoleon rushes off his hammock and out in the open with a demeanor ready for battle with the rest of the group following closely behind.
As if the attack from the enemy isn't even happening Tsubiri shouts, "You've got to be kidding me! We were just about to get to the good part!"
Ubica gently moves her away from him and pulls out his sword, he jumps off the steps and starts walking on the deck.
Through the commotion of all the crew members rushing about, he turns to her and smiles,
"Rain check?"
A blue light twirls around Tsubiri's body, she is revving up her electricity, ready to defend the boat along with Ubica and the others.
Whatever danger she had felt upon the sudden attack is quickly replaced by excitement at his proposition.
With a reciprocated smile, she looks to him and says,
"Deal."
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