03-07-2010, 12:13 AM
The taste set in, and within seconds, Juno had rushed from the dining hall to port side, chucking up what little of the sea-faring dinner he’d eaten. He would never think to turn down food under normal circumstances, but even as ravenous as his Saiyan hunger was, there were certain boundaries. He reached for a rag that hung over a nearby cannon and wiped the vomit off his lips with it; when the pirates had said, ‘and really bad eggs,’ they meant it. Those eggs had been utterly horrible.
He tossed the rag over the side of the ship carelessly (who’d want to clean a ship with a vomit-soaked cloth?) and turned, glancing at his crew members with a slightly seasick smile. They were a ragtag group of men, leaning on the rails of the ship and dancing drunkenly around the mast as the sun began to sink down towards the horizon. It wasn’t very efficient, and they weren’t getting all that much done. Juno had never really been a person to stress over the little things, but his tenure on the Black Oyster had been decisively lazier than he liked. He wanted to try and whip them into gear, but he wasn’t the captain, and besides, what could you expect from a horde of pirates?
…hold up. A horde of pirates?
His mind snapped back into focus. He moved to place a hand on his hip but instead found the hilt of a cutlass, which immediately drew his eyes downward. Not only was he sporting a pretty fearsome sword, but he also wore a black pirate officer’s coat, with the traditional white ruffled shirt underneath, though it was slightly stained, making it more tan than white. He had black pants on, as well, the bottom of the legs tucked into his boots.
Overall, he felt like the translation from regular Juno to pirate Juno had gone rather smoothly, however it had gone. He still felt like the same person, and his outfit was basically just the pirate version of his normal clothes. He reached up to his head, however, and instead of nothing, he felt a bandana tied around his head in what had become known in modern day as a ‘do-rag’ style. Obviously that wasn’t what these buccaneers called it, but that was what the modern-day pirate recognized it as. His eyes floated up and he could barely decipher that it was blood red in color.
He glanced around the ship, hearing some drunken pirates yell something about their ‘quarry’—which, for some reason, he recalled. They were chasing after a beast called the kraken, he knew, but he didn’t know how he knew it. He thought for a second, and then suddenly knew what was going on: it was all a part of the game.
His regular consciousness was returning, if ever so slowly, and he remembered where he was and what he was doing. Not two minutes prior to this thought, he knew he had been inside of a carnival, and as if like magic, he had been running to the port side of the ship, hacking up really bad eggs. He thought about, for a second, what had occurred just after he had run into Sage and Ander, and then thought about what the voice over the intercom had said—first, that he figured they could enter a ‘much better game,’ and then the kicker: that they weren’t actually here.
This was all a computer program. Juno knew that somewhere, he was locked in a room, being forced to play this madman’s game. Thankfully, though, he wasn’t like most madmen—he didn’t seem very business-like, not searching for something from his contestants. Rather, at the moment, it seemed as if the weirdo who’d put them all here just wanted some quality entertainment.
Despite the relative harmlessness of his request, Juno felt bitter. Maybe if he’d wanted to play a video game with someone, he should’ve asked nicely. However, he didn’t seem to follow any rules of etiquette—and most of the players, like Juno, weren’t exactly content with seeing the guy that kidnapped them with flying, red-eyed robots walk out of here alive. This was now not just some prison they were trapped in, but it was a reason to do some serious damage to this guy. No matter what, Juno had to play this game and get to the game master—because no matter what, he had to see him dead.
His thoughts on the game, however, were interrupted by the task at hand. “Incoming! Port side!” blared into his ears and he turned around to see a cannonball steadily approaching the ship, just near him. He dove off to the left, and the shot sailed past him, crashing into the boat’s hull and scraping the mast.
“What the hell was that?” Juno screamed, grasping a hold of the stair railing to pull himself up, he quickly retreated to the starboard side and stood behind the mask, peeking out at a little blot on the horizon, which was slowly growing larger and larger. It was a ship—and a very impressive one at that. Its hull cascaded forward beautifully, topped off at the end by a wooden figure of a mermaid. Juno sighed; nothing like beautiful women to inspire some pirates to fight an impossible battle, eh? He stood up on some crates to get a better look, and then saw the words ‘Maiden’s Dream’ painted nicely in an intricate script on the side. A scrawny pirate rushed to him.
“First mate Juno!” the man said, “What are we supposed to do? We’re almost to the Kraken, but we’re being attacked by the Queen’s navy!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m up to speed,” Juno answered wearily, and then realized they actually expected him to know what to do. Why don’t they ask the captain? he thought, annoyed, but eventually scrounged up a suitable answer: “Uh, take battle stations!” Without talking back, the pirates scattered across the ship, some climbing the netting and others manning the cannons. A bearded man called down to the lower decks to assume battle positions, and suddenly, a rather beautiful blue-skinned wench came running up to the upper deck.
Juno smirked—she wasn’t a normal pirate.
Several of the officers yelled orders, telling the crew to man the port cannons. Juno watched contentedly as the men began to assume their posts, and leapt off the crates, standing safely behind the mast where the blue-skinned woman couldn’t see him—yet. He stared at her briefly, watching her gaze in awe at the sight, and then moved toward her.
“You don’t look too much like a pirate,” he said, placing an arm on her shoulder, but she recoiled at turned to look at him. “You’re one of the players, aren’t you? You’re not really a pirate.” The lizard-girl blinked, but then the captain leaned over the rail of the ship’s helm and called for the men to fire. The resounding boom was accented by Juno and the blue girl’s bodies hitting the deck, glancing at one another with worried looks on their faces.
“We have to get off this ship!” the girl yelled, and then another cannon shot went off, muffling what the girl said about the ‘crazy humans.’
“I don’t think we have much of a choice! It’s fight or die,” Juno shouted over another cannon shot. “By the way, I’m Juno—”
“Alura—” she introduced herself in the heat of the battle, but Juno didn’t take the time to waste on formalities with her. They didn’t have time to be shaking hands. Alura knew that, as well, continuing, “And what do you mean we don’t have a choice?”
“I dunno if you’ve noticed, but we’re in the thrall of an evil mastermind,” Juno quipped sarcastically, “And this is one of his games. We’ve got to win.”
“Win? You mean take out that other ship?” Alura asked, bewildered, “How the hell are we supposed to do that?”
“Beats me,” Juno smiled, standing. “Avast, me hearties!” he yelled, jumping up on the crates and pulling his cutlass from his sheath. The ship got awkwardly silent for a few seconds as Alura and all of the other crew members glanced at him, confused. The blue reptilian stood and pulled Juno off the boxes.
“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” she told him, but the half-Saiyan scoffed.
“Someone’s got to make a move around here,” he retorted to her, smirking, “And it might as well be us, right?”
“Wrong,” Alura continued to protest.
“Listen,” the onyx-haired halfling said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m betting that there’s something about that ship that we need to exploit, and there’s only one way to find out what that is.” The fortuneteller’s eyes turned to the ship across the way—it was closer now, and the cannon fire back and forth would only become more devastating if something wasn’t done now. “Follow me if you want!” the half-Saiyan cackled. This probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but overall, he felt like it was going to be worth it, in the end. After all, this game didn’t seem too complicated—and he felt like as a pirate, it would be best to go with his gut.
“All hands on deck!” he ordered, “We’re boarding their frickin’ ship! Take no prisoners! Kill all of the overly feminine, powdered-white-wig-wearin’ Queen’s Navy!” The crew rallied at his call, and those who weren’t manning the cannons were quick to snap to his commands; several men grasped a hold of ropes and began to swing across the sea towards the Navy ship; however, a few tentacles quickly whipped out of the water, grabbing a few pirates and pulling them down into the deep. Looks like the Kraken wanted to get in on this fight.
“Craaaap,” Juno muttered, leaping up on the rail and grasping a hold of the rope and preparing to jump, despite his fears of the Kraken eating him alive. He glanced across the ocean between the two ships—a few of the scoundrels from his ship had made it across and were dueling quite handily with the pompous jerks on the other side. He gulped, and looked up to the sky. The formerly white clouds were now a shade of gray, fading into black as a storm came upon the epic ship battle. “Here you go, Juno,” he coached himself, “Follow your guy. Maybe you won’t die. You’ll never know till you try.
He leapt across, swinging his legs wildly to move faster. As he swung he heard a cry from the Navy ship—
“THEY’RE BOARDING! ANYBODY WHO EVEN LOOKS LIKE A DIRTY, BARNACLE-EATING, RUM-DRINKING PIRATE DIES ON SIGHT, IS THAT CLEAR, YOU DIRTY MONGRELS?!”
Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea after all.
He tossed the rag over the side of the ship carelessly (who’d want to clean a ship with a vomit-soaked cloth?) and turned, glancing at his crew members with a slightly seasick smile. They were a ragtag group of men, leaning on the rails of the ship and dancing drunkenly around the mast as the sun began to sink down towards the horizon. It wasn’t very efficient, and they weren’t getting all that much done. Juno had never really been a person to stress over the little things, but his tenure on the Black Oyster had been decisively lazier than he liked. He wanted to try and whip them into gear, but he wasn’t the captain, and besides, what could you expect from a horde of pirates?
…hold up. A horde of pirates?
His mind snapped back into focus. He moved to place a hand on his hip but instead found the hilt of a cutlass, which immediately drew his eyes downward. Not only was he sporting a pretty fearsome sword, but he also wore a black pirate officer’s coat, with the traditional white ruffled shirt underneath, though it was slightly stained, making it more tan than white. He had black pants on, as well, the bottom of the legs tucked into his boots.
Overall, he felt like the translation from regular Juno to pirate Juno had gone rather smoothly, however it had gone. He still felt like the same person, and his outfit was basically just the pirate version of his normal clothes. He reached up to his head, however, and instead of nothing, he felt a bandana tied around his head in what had become known in modern day as a ‘do-rag’ style. Obviously that wasn’t what these buccaneers called it, but that was what the modern-day pirate recognized it as. His eyes floated up and he could barely decipher that it was blood red in color.
He glanced around the ship, hearing some drunken pirates yell something about their ‘quarry’—which, for some reason, he recalled. They were chasing after a beast called the kraken, he knew, but he didn’t know how he knew it. He thought for a second, and then suddenly knew what was going on: it was all a part of the game.
His regular consciousness was returning, if ever so slowly, and he remembered where he was and what he was doing. Not two minutes prior to this thought, he knew he had been inside of a carnival, and as if like magic, he had been running to the port side of the ship, hacking up really bad eggs. He thought about, for a second, what had occurred just after he had run into Sage and Ander, and then thought about what the voice over the intercom had said—first, that he figured they could enter a ‘much better game,’ and then the kicker: that they weren’t actually here.
This was all a computer program. Juno knew that somewhere, he was locked in a room, being forced to play this madman’s game. Thankfully, though, he wasn’t like most madmen—he didn’t seem very business-like, not searching for something from his contestants. Rather, at the moment, it seemed as if the weirdo who’d put them all here just wanted some quality entertainment.
Despite the relative harmlessness of his request, Juno felt bitter. Maybe if he’d wanted to play a video game with someone, he should’ve asked nicely. However, he didn’t seem to follow any rules of etiquette—and most of the players, like Juno, weren’t exactly content with seeing the guy that kidnapped them with flying, red-eyed robots walk out of here alive. This was now not just some prison they were trapped in, but it was a reason to do some serious damage to this guy. No matter what, Juno had to play this game and get to the game master—because no matter what, he had to see him dead.
His thoughts on the game, however, were interrupted by the task at hand. “Incoming! Port side!” blared into his ears and he turned around to see a cannonball steadily approaching the ship, just near him. He dove off to the left, and the shot sailed past him, crashing into the boat’s hull and scraping the mast.
“What the hell was that?” Juno screamed, grasping a hold of the stair railing to pull himself up, he quickly retreated to the starboard side and stood behind the mask, peeking out at a little blot on the horizon, which was slowly growing larger and larger. It was a ship—and a very impressive one at that. Its hull cascaded forward beautifully, topped off at the end by a wooden figure of a mermaid. Juno sighed; nothing like beautiful women to inspire some pirates to fight an impossible battle, eh? He stood up on some crates to get a better look, and then saw the words ‘Maiden’s Dream’ painted nicely in an intricate script on the side. A scrawny pirate rushed to him.
“First mate Juno!” the man said, “What are we supposed to do? We’re almost to the Kraken, but we’re being attacked by the Queen’s navy!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m up to speed,” Juno answered wearily, and then realized they actually expected him to know what to do. Why don’t they ask the captain? he thought, annoyed, but eventually scrounged up a suitable answer: “Uh, take battle stations!” Without talking back, the pirates scattered across the ship, some climbing the netting and others manning the cannons. A bearded man called down to the lower decks to assume battle positions, and suddenly, a rather beautiful blue-skinned wench came running up to the upper deck.
Juno smirked—she wasn’t a normal pirate.
Several of the officers yelled orders, telling the crew to man the port cannons. Juno watched contentedly as the men began to assume their posts, and leapt off the crates, standing safely behind the mast where the blue-skinned woman couldn’t see him—yet. He stared at her briefly, watching her gaze in awe at the sight, and then moved toward her.
“You don’t look too much like a pirate,” he said, placing an arm on her shoulder, but she recoiled at turned to look at him. “You’re one of the players, aren’t you? You’re not really a pirate.” The lizard-girl blinked, but then the captain leaned over the rail of the ship’s helm and called for the men to fire. The resounding boom was accented by Juno and the blue girl’s bodies hitting the deck, glancing at one another with worried looks on their faces.
“We have to get off this ship!” the girl yelled, and then another cannon shot went off, muffling what the girl said about the ‘crazy humans.’
“I don’t think we have much of a choice! It’s fight or die,” Juno shouted over another cannon shot. “By the way, I’m Juno—”
“Alura—” she introduced herself in the heat of the battle, but Juno didn’t take the time to waste on formalities with her. They didn’t have time to be shaking hands. Alura knew that, as well, continuing, “And what do you mean we don’t have a choice?”
“I dunno if you’ve noticed, but we’re in the thrall of an evil mastermind,” Juno quipped sarcastically, “And this is one of his games. We’ve got to win.”
“Win? You mean take out that other ship?” Alura asked, bewildered, “How the hell are we supposed to do that?”
“Beats me,” Juno smiled, standing. “Avast, me hearties!” he yelled, jumping up on the crates and pulling his cutlass from his sheath. The ship got awkwardly silent for a few seconds as Alura and all of the other crew members glanced at him, confused. The blue reptilian stood and pulled Juno off the boxes.
“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” she told him, but the half-Saiyan scoffed.
“Someone’s got to make a move around here,” he retorted to her, smirking, “And it might as well be us, right?”
“Wrong,” Alura continued to protest.
“Listen,” the onyx-haired halfling said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m betting that there’s something about that ship that we need to exploit, and there’s only one way to find out what that is.” The fortuneteller’s eyes turned to the ship across the way—it was closer now, and the cannon fire back and forth would only become more devastating if something wasn’t done now. “Follow me if you want!” the half-Saiyan cackled. This probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but overall, he felt like it was going to be worth it, in the end. After all, this game didn’t seem too complicated—and he felt like as a pirate, it would be best to go with his gut.
“All hands on deck!” he ordered, “We’re boarding their frickin’ ship! Take no prisoners! Kill all of the overly feminine, powdered-white-wig-wearin’ Queen’s Navy!” The crew rallied at his call, and those who weren’t manning the cannons were quick to snap to his commands; several men grasped a hold of ropes and began to swing across the sea towards the Navy ship; however, a few tentacles quickly whipped out of the water, grabbing a few pirates and pulling them down into the deep. Looks like the Kraken wanted to get in on this fight.
“Craaaap,” Juno muttered, leaping up on the rail and grasping a hold of the rope and preparing to jump, despite his fears of the Kraken eating him alive. He glanced across the ocean between the two ships—a few of the scoundrels from his ship had made it across and were dueling quite handily with the pompous jerks on the other side. He gulped, and looked up to the sky. The formerly white clouds were now a shade of gray, fading into black as a storm came upon the epic ship battle. “Here you go, Juno,” he coached himself, “Follow your guy. Maybe you won’t die. You’ll never know till you try.
He leapt across, swinging his legs wildly to move faster. As he swung he heard a cry from the Navy ship—
“THEY’RE BOARDING! ANYBODY WHO EVEN LOOKS LIKE A DIRTY, BARNACLE-EATING, RUM-DRINKING PIRATE DIES ON SIGHT, IS THAT CLEAR, YOU DIRTY MONGRELS?!”
Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea after all.