Dashed Expectations

Pirates. Scourges of the sea who terrorized the open waters for hundreds of years. Though many would try to put a stop to piracy, whether through war or diplomacy, there would always be at least one scoundrel that would continue on. For centuries pirates were a constant threat that any who dared to set sail had to worry about.

There were many groups and various factions among the ranks of pirates, each with their own ideology. Some were set in their ways by some sense of honor, even going to far as to give away much of their wealth to those who had none. Some were less than honorable, raping and killing without so much as a thought. There was one single unifying trait all pirates seemed to share: a sense of pride in their own increasing bounty. A pirate with a high bounty garnered some strange sense of respect or envy from the other pirates. A captain, on the other hand, would never find themselves without ready and able hands. It was even possible, some thought, that a pirate whom all feared or respected could unify the various groups.

But that was, for good or ill, proven to be wrong. Eleven years ago, Captain Caitlin Kil De'Moore made herself known with the destruction of one of the largest U.S.F (United Seas Federation) warships. From there she'd go on to steal or destroy any who were unfortunate to find themselves near her and her ship, The Prancing Devil. For seven long years she crushed all beneath her, bringing her bounty to the fifth highest in all of recorded history, and the highest among pirates. Yet rather than follow her, the other pirate groups simply vanished without a trace. The competition, it seemed, was too much for them to handle.

Four years ago, things changed.
It began on a day that, for The Good Captain, was like any other...

---

Four years ago, Captain Kil De'Moore entered The Crusty Spittoon looking for new crew members. It was there that the succubus Alicia (the least gruff being to ever set foot in the establishment), the cyborg Cevell (a foul-mouthed woman from another realm), the sorceress Miharu (one of the greatest users of the ancient arts and one of the most wanted 'criminals' to ever live), and a psychotic schitzo who vanished suddenly (so who cares), all signed contracts to sail under the leadership of De'Moore. Their meeting was interrupted by Admiral Hanson of the U.S.F, much to the annoyance of the captain. From there the group traveled into the island's main city, Uptown, where a bank was robbed by the new recruits, supplies were gathered by First-Mate Sota, and a(nother) church was blown up by Kil De'Moore. Many believe it was this explosion that soon led to the destruction of the entire island, but there are none who can prove it. The local blacksmith, King of the Dragons and second-cousin to Caitlin, Cas, was recruited by Miharu.
Before the group left, a minor run-in with Captain Vanessa Augustine of The Conviction occurred between Miharu and the captain in question. Something about streamers and party supplies. Long story short, Miharu made a deal with the previous Devil, Caitlin's mother, and is revealed to still have a chance at being resurrected. Oh, and dead idiot schizo man and Cevell totally stole a crate of socks from Augustine's top guy(?)(IMPORTANT)! Also there were a couple of merchant brothers who were down on their luck but some nice guy gave them his cruddy boat and now they're adventuring and Miharu threatened them or something.

Captain Kil De'Moore now sailed north by north-west to the island of Phallacia. She was on a quest to find The Faucet of Late Adolescence, a mythical trinket that would make those who drank from it younger (Or in some cases, older). Three keys were required to enter the ancient hall it was housed in, one of which Caitlin acquired from the church in Uptown. Signs pointed to the oddly shaped island hosting the second key.

Greeted by a some odd farmer and his cows, the scouting party went about in search of the key and supplies for Cas and Miharu. Widstor the (Widstiest) necromancer danced his way into the group's lives, revealing he and his incredible dance moves were all that was keeping Cevell alive. Caitlin is given the map leading to the second key from a drunkard in a nearby tavern, and on her way out bumps into John for the first time.

Next, the good Captain murders some swindling merchant as she tracks down a thief. Said thief was a beast child with no name, trying to survive on her own. Through some blundering Caitlin gets the kid kicked out of town, but brings her along with her, offering her a place among the crew. The crew bumps into a group of tribespeople in the island's jungle who worship the God of Fabric Softener before they dig up a treasure-filled chest containing their key. To celebrate, they head to the most remote place in town: a downtrodden tavern. There, they meet Jesse, an effeminate young man working as a barmaid for his father. Jesse later joins the crew, stowing away on the ship until he was later found by Cas.

Before they leave, Caitlin intercepts a letter from the sheriff's office. Also, another old friend of Cevell's approaches the group. A tall, pink haired woman named Miyana who has her own set of followers. She wishes for Cevell to join her to help advance civilization (or something to that effect), but The Good Captain has none of that as she brings up Cevell's contract with her.

Unable to decipher the map that was included with the second key, the crew sets sail to meet an old acquaintance of Caitlin's. During the trip there, Cevell and Alicia get a history lesson about the world and about Caitlin's role as the Devil. They also bump into The Jurisdiction, a U.S.F ship captained by Admiral Hanson. The pirates easily sink the ship, and the fate of the admiral is unknown. Miharu translates a map with an important location for Caitlin, which comes into play later don't worry about it now shhh. Also Alicia got DOUBLE POISONING, but not really.

The crew arrives on the volcanic island of Taurus, where they bump into James, the other merchant brother. Cevell gets a bottle with a red rock (details shmetails), Jesse gets something for his seasickness, and Alicia orders a potion. Miharu heads to the volcano on her own, giving away her special backpack to the beast kid, and after trying to give John some alchemy tips (he's a stuck up butt though), gives him a vial containing angel tears. As Caitlin finally gets the help she needed for the key-map (feeding Sota along the way), Miharu heads into the volcano and confronts Pride. Pride is one of the ancient Spirits that were created by the gods of old, and has taken residence in Violet, daughter of one of the old gods and an...acquaintance to Caitlin (Violet knew/hated her father). Despite her best efforts, Miharu falls, and Pride gives chase after the pirate crew. They manage to escape thanks to the beast girl. Also, the volcano erupts but pishaw. Oh, and Cevell and Alicia unleash a wind demon guy who is blind and becomes Alicia's (second) best pal. His name is Gale. Yay for them. There's probably more, but at this point I'm cranky and hate you all. How's THAT for a recap?

At sea, the pirates once again bump into the merchant crew, trading with them once more. Alicia gets her potion, the beast girl sells a book to John from Miharu's bag (along with some paralyzing liquid), Sota gets ADULT READING MATERIAL, etc etc etc.

I can't. I just can't do this whole RP. It's too much. I'm sorry guys but I am going to die doing this.

The crew arrives on Seline. It's a big trade city place. Some forest too. Pirates stay a few days. Caitlin and the kid go and meet Caitlin's uncle Steg in the forest. Caitlin gets some info she'll need on getting the third and final key from the castle, and the kid sees a TV. Oh, and pictures of an adult who looks like her. ANYWAYSHOWETC, we meet Jesse's aunt, Ms. Ican'tbebotheredtollookanymore. Shipmaker, that one. I think? Also has a bit of a double soul thing going on, but that is a thing we don't know. She winds up selling them a cannon made for firing people for circus acts (Sota said so totally she hates it). We meet the Admirals for the Trader's Guild since their HQ is here. They're stereotypes! John and James get accepted into the guild thanks to Augustine.

Cas blunders meeting with a friend and gets collared. Caitlin purchases her before some sleazy guy can, but will need to get her key from a church ship in the harbor.

This is the best part because we meet ISSAC, THE MAN WHO HAS THE MOST POORLY SPELLED NAME EVER. Eyesack. He's a PERFECT guard, PERFECT at everything, and also the THIRD best character (#1 Caitlin, #2 Ken-Cow). He somewhat unwittingly joins the crew.
Caitlin boards the Church ship to find Cas' soul-key. There she finds The Detective, an interesting character who I won't go over right now, because seriously, screw you guys. The Detective has already "taken care of" everyone on the ship, getting Caitlin the key she needs. He heads to the cathedral to rescue some beast children he had been taking care of, and Caitlin follows in secret. When it seems as though The Detective has succeeded, yet another threat makes itself known: The Inspector, one of the most powerful men in The Church. He kills The Detective and most of the children by the time Caitlin finally cuts in, saving only the lava-spawnling Kimmy. She likes books. Romance novels. Not for kids. The homeless beast kid is there too because /magic/ and Caitlin rescues her as well. For reasons unknown The Inspector lets Caitlin and the kids go despite having them surrounded and out-manned.

Oh gosh is there more? Uhhhh man I don't even remember most of this stuff. Like, there's some WoW guys or something? Are they trolls too? Jeeze, man.

So Caitlin takes Cevell and Alicia with her to the Royal Ball. Cevell is there just because, and Alicia is there to charm the king or whoever the heck. Or does Cevell just crash the party? Man I don't know anymore. So Caitlin meets The Inspector's lady, Faith, and they dance and it's probably hot or something. Then she dances with The Inspector himself and the three of them sit down and have some drinks. The Inspector speaks a bit about himself and his beliefs, and also mentions the history of his hat. So naturally Caitlin makes him bet his hat his father gave him. The Inspector plans on overtaking Caitlin and her ship out at sea with his army, and is so confident he bets his hat that he'll win.

So Alicia gets the key and everyone goes back to their ships. The Inspector convinces John to be like a spy or something for him and hooks him up with his own personal slave because...uhh...it was mandatory or something. Man I don't...Oh, and John has his body guard by this time. Yeah. Her name is Lina. John is her first charge. Poor girl. She's very by the book I THINK??? ANYWAYS, John picks Hope as his slave. She's a tiger-wolf beast hybrid, super adorable and good at like everything ever. That strict Church training though.

Was that all? Like, there was stuff with Widstor and him getting zombies there or something, right? Who knows anymore. There's a pirate party and like...John and Lina sneak on the ship. OH YEAH THAT WAS IT. So The Inspector is like "Hey Caitlin is cool with you I need you to disable her ship" and John is like "money please yes yes?" and The Inspector is like "take this and more!" More being Hope. So Lina and John sneak aboard and knock out everyone by poisoning the pirate's brew but Cas and Sota are still up and catch them. Then Caitlin comes back all cranky because she wanted to get laid at the party but didn't so she settles for John.

So they leave Seline heading for the Faucet's secret island. The Inspector and his army show up not even halfway into the trip. All hope seems lost as the pirates are outgunned. Not Hope but hope as in the metaphorical thing (is that the right term for it) and not the person Hope. Merfolk show up and kick some major butt but there's still too many BUT THEN (caps!!!) the beast kid uses her innate magical powers to teleport to Pride and steal the sun back.

...Oh yeah the sun was gone. Totally just now remembered that. I'm not sure how that worked. Was it just night all the time or what? Yeah that's why Miharu went to fight Pride. Pride was using her crazy powers to get the sun back and lock it in a locket. So the beast kid gets the help from the merprince and they get the locket back and then appear back on the pirate ship. BLAMMO! The kid brings the sun back. It's actually a big moment in the story and really cool and I'm just trivializing it because I'm so tired of this week long summary I'm writing.

The sheer force of the sun returning sets the enemy ships ablaze and convinces the enemy to surrender just from the awe of the moment. The Merqueen shows up on The Prancing Devil, and the name ceremony for the kid starts. Caitlin chooses the name Sun Raiser because of her incredible feat, and so she can call her Sunny for short. The merprince is charged as Sunny's bodyguard, and Sunny names him Brave Heart. I think that's it. Everyone calls him Heart. Kids naming kids. Caitlin goes and speaks with The Inspector who is stuck on a sandbar and Sunny rubs her victory in his face while Caitlin gets the hat.

Next time on Dragonball MNZ/TMF/F6/DE, RIGHT NOW!

At last the group is at the island housing The Faucet. Everyone is their for their own selfish reasons, although Caitlin's intentions are never revealed. Perhaps she truly was bored and just looking for a fun pirate activity? The island houses many ancient structures and Cas has some connection to it, which is obvious when you read it but let's leave it as a mystery in the recap. OOHHH SPOOKY SCARY MYSTERY! Caitlin ponders on some of the details during the journey (unlike me), such as the condition of the maps and treasure, and who exactly hired her. Only once inside does she realize she has been duped. A letter inside reveals that Mia, The Goddess of Creation - the same one that everyone in The Church worships - was simply toying with the pirate captain. The Faucet has been gone for a few months now, laying somewhere at the bottom of the sea. All of her troubles getting here were just for the goddess' twisted entertainment.

The crew leaves in a hurry because Pride shows up again. Can't fight her yet so running! The group makes it to the island Miharu's map lead to (REMEMBER I SAID IT'D BE IMPORTANT I TOLD YOU!): a floating island in the sky, conveniently nearby. The group travels to it, and inside, they find Shim, an ancient goddess(? I forget so sue me). Her temple lay in ruins, and her time almost up. And John and James and Lina and Hope are here but not poor Ken-Cow. Or maybe not Hope too??? So there's a little scuffle but who cares am I right? Everyone gets gifts but I forget a lot of them. Like Cevell gets something to use against Caitlin because she wants to be the queen of Hell for whatever reason (It's just the hip thing to be???), and that is literally the only one I remember so screw you guys I'd look it up if I wasn't INSAYIN right now! Caitlin gets a crystal containing her Father and smashes it open with his guitar. Enter Gene Kilmer, the newish God of Energy, used to be major villian, and currently the guy most likely to kill Mia. Gene also bring along his pal Eris, the most powerful psychic in the world and who was pretty much Mia's personal slave to torture. Once back on Caitlin's ship, Gene uses his spooky god-magic-power to revive his wife Sarah, the true ruler of Hell.

Oh yeah and Gale is dead. That happened a while ago actually but I forget how when etc. There was a tower? Oh yeah there was that demon hunter guy, Anime The Anime Guy. Momotaro? Sword for an arm or something. Demon hunter. Hunted demons. Turns out Alicia was a human who was cursed into a succubus. Something like that. I'm the best recapper you can't fault me.

So The Old Man, the oldest of the old gods (God Numero Uno) and Chaos, the spirit of...chaos, also show up on the pirate ship. So that's cool. Oh yeah no that's not how it happened. So on the floating island, they were there with Shim, along with Rose, Steg's half-sister and masterest of master alchemist, Pam, some virus vampire-ish speedy girl, and Euri, consumer of everything and Sota's horrible unwanted child.

Yeah so that's important because along with those guys, Euri drops off Mecha, Mia's brother and another God of Creation. Or used to be god? Whatever. So while he's rebooting (he's a robot), Gene and Pride do battle. Gene easily dispatches of Pride and removes her spirit from Violet's body, sending her back to The Heart (where the gods reside). Naturally Mecha awakens just in time to see Gene standing over Violet's beaten up body. That's his daughter so he is angry.

They have what one could sum up as a "really angry staring contest" before getting back to their own business. Uhhh... My memory gets fuzzy right here because I can't remember where the day skip happens after Mecha shows up. Just know that Caitlin is frustrated with herself, knowing that The Inspector is always one step ahead of her and every possible escape seems to just end with their capture. Eris advises them to take the Eddius Gap, and treacherous ocean path that might save them.

Augustine shows up and duels Caitlin. They seem fairly matched and are both underhanded. In the end, Augustine simply wants her crate of socks back (OH BAM BACK FROM THE START OF THE STORY TYING IT ALL TOGETHER). Caitlin happily trades it over for some crates of oranges. This recap has truly failed in representing Caitlin's undying love for oranges. Augustine leaves, woop-de-do. Raid boss down gang.

Man things are just not going well right now. Morale is low (JUST LIKE MINE WOOO) and the robot is EXTRA cranky. Oh man there he goes taking his daughter and Gene's daughter. What is he doing OH DANG HE FUSED THEIR SOULS AND THEN ohhh he made a baby. Congrats it's a cute baby girl. Caitlin names her Reitashi, or Rei for short.

...MEANWHILE, AT THE HALL OF JUSTICE:
John bought an island. Woop. It had spooky spider people on it. Bartering and helping happened. Oh and there's a broken down tavern on it. They're fixing it up. And there's a spooky ghost named...Ghosty. Best name, best name. Tenouttaten. Tenouttaten. The Inspector shows up again and offers John another deal. Something about potions and I think letting people stay on the island. I thought I remembered but no. DON'T YOU LOVE THIS RECAP, GANG? Also John banged Hope during a scent ceremony and then Lina scolded Hope and Hope went full repentance mode and her collar kind of soul-stopped her. The Inspector fixed it though and then Hope and Lina banged so it's all good.

Is that really canon?????????????

Sarah shows up on that island as well to mess with John and see if he's worthy of her daughter but he's banging that hot hybrid booty so...

The Old Man reveals to Gene the spirit he has within him, who speaks directly to Gene. Gene has a hard time trusting anyone, let alone somebody who would be able to take control of him. They don't strike the deal the spirit wants, but they go halfsies so that the spirit can continue to help Gene since the Old Man doesn't have much time left.

Okay, so Caitlin, Sarah, Steg and Gene all head to the old Mayor's Office buried beneath the sea. They need to get to the portal machine that's still functioning down there so they can actually get into Hell and get things going with that. Lots of cool high tech stuff and - hey who is this chi-OH GOSH OH NO! A woman with white hair and powerful magic - a woman Gene once saw in a vision - is there waiting for them. Who knows how long she had been there, or why she was there. The group barely makes it out before she almost brings down the place.

Group gets to Hell, Steg kills monster Amber, gets Hell going again... Look from here everything is already summed up in the last set of summary posts. They're on the last couple of pages of the RP. Go read that. I can't go on. I'm done. Go read this stuff that I wrote before I took up this maddening task. I'm sorry that I'm forgetting a lot of stuff but this is still a lot of stuff so it's not all bad, right? Right???

_________________

Landis 7th, 1209 DC

In the Eastern Sea lay the island of Kassei-Ka. 3,200 nautical miles from the center-most islands of the world, Kassei-Ka is the eighth largest island in the region. Once home to simple villages and rich farmland, the island grew to be a sort of tourist attraction for those hailing from western and southern seas. Over the past two hundred years, the island went through a metamorphosis: the small homes and vast farms expanding into large hotels and attractions. Much of the year the isle is warm, and its calm waves and mild climate make the beach a popular destination year-round. The ancient temples, particularly The House of the Red Devil, are still popular among guests for not only their historic value but also the legends regarding the sights themselves. Shops and traders on the island cater to the tastes of tourists, and those seeking a more authentic eastern experience would do better to visit another island. In the harsh winter months the island grows eerily silent, and the grey skeletons of the local trees, normally adorned with dazzling pink blossoms, give the island a dead feeling. A stark contrast indeed.

The northern tip of the island is surprisingly quiet on this late-summer morning. The least popular of the beaches, Sazabi Beach's bright sands still bustle with life on most days. Yet only the waves rolling up along the coast and the humming of a lone woman can be heard. "Away I go, my wicked soul, to save and kill, reap what I sow." A distant ship can be made out sailing towards the island with great haste. Its flag bears a horned skull with two clashing swords beneath. Pirates. The woman seems to pay it no heed as she lounges on her long fold-out chair, soaking up the sun's rays in her red bikini. Behind dark sunglasses her green eyes are closed, and her long red hair is tied in a neat ponytail, careful to keep stray hair off her exposed skin as she basks beneath the warm sun. The ship continues its approach, its bow aimed straight at the woman.

"Away I go, my wicked soul, out to the sea, do all I know."

The mighty ship plows onto the wet sand easily, stopping just short of the woman. The woman, in turn, frowns as she felt the heat of the sun lessen from the shadow cast by the vessel. As she opens her eyes her frown flips into a wicked and wild grin as she raises herself from her seat, tossing her sunglasses carelessly into the sand. A long wooden walkway is lowered from the ship's port side and a single soul descends down it: a short woman with spiky green and black hair. Her coat is long for her size with many pockets along its surface, and her odd brightly colored gloves are out of place with the rest of her attire. The strap for the large satchel to her left side rests flung over her right shoulder as she clings to it dearly with one hand. She turns her dark red eye to the woman on the beach, scratching at the eyepatch emblazoned with the flag's insignia over her right eye. She gives a toothy smile to the woman, hurrying with her short legs down the rail and into the two-inch high water on the beach.

"Glad you've been receiving my letters after all, Taos." The woman on the beach smirks as she approaches the pirate. "It's a guessing game when you never respond."

"Well it isn't as if you stay in one place, Catherine," Taos replies as Catherine stoops over her, the two embracing in a quick half-hug.

"True enough!" admitted Catherine with a laugh, placing her hands firmly on her hips. The two stare at one another, looking the other over before Catherine speaks up once again. "Ugh, it feels like it's been years!" she exclaims, picking up the short woman in a hug.

"That's because it has been," Taos states matter-of-factly, her face shoved betwixt the taller woman's breasts. After a moment Catherine drops her old friend, the same unnerving grin on her face that Taos has become all too used to seeing. The short woman goes to adjust glasses she no longer wears, rushing her hand back down to her side as she instead wrinkles her nose. "You aren't going like that, are you?" she asks. "For that matter, where are the kids?"

Catherine raises a hand up just above her shoulder and makes a little swirl with her finger. A dark void opens, its maw pitch black, and from it emerges a small ball of tuff and fluff with equally adorable bat wings. In what could only be assumed to be its mouth is a note, and with a nod from Catherine the creature flies inland. "They're just finishing their packing. It won't take them long to get here so long as they don't goof off for a change." The two women's eyes linger on the voidling a moment longer before they face one another again. Taos is the first to speak.

"Kassei-Ka?" she asks, to which Catherine gives a small nod. "I thought you swore off the place?"

"I want to show the kids as much of the world as I can while they're still young, and Violet never truly got to experience the place. I thought it would be good for everyone."

"Everyone?" The question seems to resonate something deep within Catherine, whose eyes close while she carefully thinks of her response.

"This place isn't the same as it once was. A lot of time has passed. I think what really helped, was Mom and Dad coming back. It just...made it easier to return." As Catherine opens her eyes again she gives Taos a teasing glare, pushing against her head with her open hand. "Did you see to those changes I asked for?"

The pair turn their gaze now to the ship waiting for them as Taos crosses her arms. "Only because it's a new ship. The old Devil was too much of a chore for me personally after you had Miharu modify it. But with a new ship? Easy. Upgraded all the personal spaces and made arrangements for all your little VIPs - Violet, Sunny, Rei, ecetera. Those last two are on the same floor as my quarters, while the rest of the crew are below deck. A special room for your parents and their...assistant is near the bow, far, FAR from the others. Your room is a near replica of what was on the last ship. You were quite fortunate the squid was able to get everything to me safely. Strange how the rest of the ship didn't fare as well."

"As for the weapons," the green-haired woman continues as she takes a few steps back towards the vessel, "everything has been upgraded to the latest from SoTech. No finer or stronger canons in all the seas. As always, I have made my own little additions, but..." The two fall silent as Catherine advances another step, her eyes looking over the hull of the ship. "Just needs a name. Any ideas?"

Catherine's lip quivers for a moment as if to speak, but she bites down softly on her lower lip as she continues to think of something. The sound of the rolling waves against the coast seem to count the passing seconds before Catherine finally speaks. "Let's face it; we could sit here all day and still not come up with anything better than The Prancing Devil. It may not be the same ship in body, but its spirit lives on within every plank."

"You're the captain," shrugs Taos as she looks up at Catherine. "Shall we board? I'm sure they won't get lost just because we're on the boat rather than next to it."

---

As the ship is moved back into the water and its gangplank withdrawn by the crew, Catherine approaches those who have just boarded: Violet, their daughter Rei, her adopted daughter Sun Raiser, the Mer-Prince Heart, and the lava spawnling Kimmy. Naturally, Catherine has yet to get back into her proper attire as she extends a hand towards the group. "Welcome aboard, me hearties." The cheese is already being cut too thick. "I make no guarantees about this voyage being easier than the last. I hope you all manage to enjoy yourselves." She smiles as she points a finger at Violet, wagging it inches from her face. "Especially you, matey."

"Catherine?"

"Yes, Taos?" As she turns Catherine sees the small woman extend an arm to one side, indicating to the stairwell that led to the wheel as well as her quarters.

"There was something I did not previously mention. Our crew is not yet complete, I'm afraid." Scrunching her nose, Taos adds, "I left the few that need more coercing just for you."

"Righto, then. Sunny!" Catherine looks back at the young girl, smiling as she holds her hand out. "Time to finally give back that thing I asked you to hold onto." With a sigh of frustration the teen searches through her bag, producing Catherine's hat. Quickly the woman snatches it, hurrying to join Taos ascend the stairway. "It feels good to begin another journey, doesn't it, Sota?"

"If you say so, Captain Caitlin."

With a grin on her face, Caitlin places her captain's hat firmly on her head. Her swimsuit seems to catch flame and burn away as an entire ensemble wraps itself around her from nothing. A dark coat, black leather boots, a horned skull stitched into each shoulder, gold trimming around the edges of her outfit. All she needed now was her rapier and her (one of many) outfits would be complete. As she crosses her arms she surveys the horizon expanding seemingly infinitely before them. "Alright..."

For seven years, Caitlin Kil De'Moore and her pirate gang brought terror to the high seas. Other pirate clans decided to bide their time and wait until Caitlin met her fitting end with the gallows. For years they waited, and for years she persisted. Four years ago, The Church Inspector finally brought an end to the good captain. Many didn't care for the details; only that Captain Caitlin was no longer roaming the sea. In her absence, other groups of pirates have once again taken to the sea. But with the one who muscled them out of business returning to her life of crime, what will they choose to do?

Four years ago, you had a fateful encounter with the pirate captain. Whether it was as one of her crew, or as an acquaintance, fate has seen fit to bring you and her back together. The wheel of fate is turning...

"IT'S PIRATE TIME!"

_________________

Landis 9th, 1209 DC

Long ago there was a great war that ravished many lands. Isle to isle, region to region, the war was fought. Those swept up in the conflict feared for the loss of the books and tomes found on their respective islands. They took to the sea, searching for an island where their knowledge would remain safe. Word spread of an island far to the north of Lunaptum, the center-most island of the world, that seemed unused by the dragons of the region. A great library was built to house the treasure trove of mental wealth with the intent to retrieve all of its contents when the war came to a close. When the war ended though, a very different situation arose: those sent to retrieve the articles failed to return. Follow-up parties found the original group to have stayed on the island, driven by a deep hunger to fill their minds with the vast knowledge before them.

Regardless of who was sent to bring back what was safely kept on the island, none of it was ever returned to its original home. When sailors would return to port they would speak of the library and the knowledge being spread by those who refused to leave. As word spread, those with a thirst for knowledge would make a great pilgrimage to the island as well. In short time the island became a hub for the great scholars and thinkers of the world, and ideas were shared from every end of the world. The island would become known as Kenefalos, sometimes referred to as The Brain of the World.

But like all great things, greed would see it end. To help pay for supplies, those who had set up home on the island would demand a toll from those who wished to visit. One thing led to another: a greater toll, a large school, a larger school, teachers... Today, Kenefalos is home to Epistime, the largest college in the known world. For a fee, one could learn just about anything that didn't require firsthand experience. When the college was first founded, some would joking call the place The Metal Island - though to poke fun at how inhuman the place had become, or to somehow point out the large enrollment fee one would need to pay cannot be said. Once used mockingly, The Metal Island stuck and is now used harmlessly by current generations, despite Kenefalos being quicker to say.

"Or that's how the story goes, at least," Sota concluded, lifting her head off the railing on the side of The Prancing Devil. Caitlin stretched her arms out wide as she made a loud, exaggerated yawn.

"Well thanks for the history lesson, Shorty," said the Captain as sarcastically as possible, her face turning more serious as she placed a hand on the railing. Their ship had just dropped anchor in the eastern port of Kenefalos, and in the distance several large white marble and marble-dusted limestone buildings caught the eyes of the pirates on board. It was primarily youths who roamed the brightly paved streets with some of the middle aged and elderly mixed in. One would note that the number of those from non-human races was low, but the fact that there was any was no doubt a good sign of progress. "So, shall you be rummaging through the island on your own in a mad, greed driven lust for random factoids or...?"

With a scowl Sota turned her head to Caitlin, a hint of either annoyance or anger in her eye. "These people would call me a heathen or think their whole life a lie just for explaining what a nucleus is. I'll pass."

"Very well," shrugged Caitlin as she stood upright. "So, she's a teacher here, eh? I thought this was a place people went to for knowledge, not a headache." Sota merely shrugged in response. "What about Red?"

"No clue," Sota admitted. "I thought they'd be together, but some of the information I gathered suggests they may have parted ways recently. Did you know she became an author?"
Caitlin smiled as she turned away. "Why do you think I want to find her?"

The Captain motioned to her daughters (daughter and sort of a daughter?) as she herself stepped towards the gangplank, placing her hand back on her hip. "Right. Not exactly the most exciting start for an adventure, but it's a start, that's for certain. No starting trouble, no horns, Rei; and no running off. We get what we came for and we get the hell out of here. OH-!" She turned abruptly, nodding her head at the now adult-lookng Kimmy. "Grab yourself a nice book with the coins I gave you. No flirting. Be back before us."

"Are we clear, kids?"

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"Yeah fine whatever mom." Sunny stretched her arms as she walked down the plank, touching down on the dock for the first time in what felt like months. While it had only been 4 years since we last saw the majority of these characters, some of them had aged considerably. Sunny, now 16 years old, had somewhat of a growth spurt over the departure, helping her break 5 feet, if only just. Due to all the manual labor and training she did, Sunny was lean and muscular. Much to her chagrin, her bust had remained small, but that helped her with her flexibility. Her skin was a few shades darker and her hair a lighter brown, a result of staying out in the sun for most of her forced vacation. And of course, her skin still had white runes all over, an indication of her powers as a Light user.

Behind her, Kimmy adjusted her shirt as she walked down the gangplank, getting used to having to wear concealing clothing. Kimmy had completely changed, a direct contrast to Sunny. She towered over Kimmy, at an amazing 6'4". In true lava spawn fashion, her bust was enormous, though essentially a cooling rack for her internal body temperature it could burn your fingers if you didn't know better. Her frame looked delicate, her curves were intense and her looks could outclass even some succubi. "We should spend our time here getting more books on architecture. I've almost solved that puzzle from the last rune on your body, but I need a bit more information."

"Yeah, there's supposed to be a huge library here or something." Sunny sniffed, looking out towards the sea. She wasn't too happy at the moment, and her unease had to do with the other person traveling a bit ahead of them.

Rei. Due to Violet's gene's, Rei had hit 18 years old within a year. Speech, walking, full power control, she had learned it incredibly fast. Purple hair with natural red highlights, Rei was a mysterious girl who rarely ever spoke to anyone other than Violet. What everyone knew about her so far was that she was powerful, and dangerous. Sunny looked back at Rei to see her glancing over her shoulder back at the girl. She glared, balling her hand into a fist.

"Sunny, no." Kimmy put a hand on Sunny's shoulder as Rei turned her head back and continued walking towards the harbor. Everyone remembered the horrible fight those two girls got into, spurred on by their parents. It had gotten out of control, fast, and both girls nearly killed each other trying to please their guardians. Sunny hated Rei, a fiery passion to defeat her rival opening up a floodgate of unwanted resentment.

"Whatever. She's not worth it anyway." Sunny looked back at the ship, spying Heart staring down at the three girls. She turned back to Kimmy, and pulled her along, continuing on her way towards the harbor. "Let's go have fun, okay?" Kimmy nodded, and followed her friend.

Heart watched the girls wander away from the ship, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He had also grown taller, at a 6'2". He was impressively built, a fair swimmer's physique with a body scarred from all his training. An indentation from the fatal gunshot wound to his chest was still fairly obvious, though it had healed well. Another thing Caitlin knew quite well at this point was that Heart and Sunny hated each other now. Heart still respected his duty to protect the girl, but they openly argued constantly, and Sunny completely ignored him whenever she could get the chance.

It's too bad Caitlin couldn't figure out why.

Violet stood behind Caitlin, clearing her throat. On Caitlin's behest, she had donned a 'pirate-y' outfit, though it seemed Caitlin could do much better than some odd colored shirt and some torn slacks. "So...ugh. 'Captain'. What's the first order of business?" Violet had not been too happy to learn that Caitlin was now in control of the situation. She had already picked out their island and built the house. Very unhappy to be out on the sea again.

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CRASH

The brick wall shattered as if it were made of sand before the might of the machine, its metal fist clenching as it pulled back in an almost fist-pump like motion. The glowing red eyes that made up this mechanical monstrosity's head stared emotionless at the rubble that used to be a wall before it had something to say about--

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwnnn..."

The head of the robot popped up, falling backwards on its hinge as it opened to reveal the head of a rather scrawny-looking girl wearing glasses, looking a bit irritated as she spoke: "I set it to match all your specifications and then some, this thing could probably level this whole building if I made it, how are you not impressed?"

Not 20 feet away from this girl in her robo-suit sat the one, the only, Cevell, still wearing that enormous coat from all those years ago. Now, however, it was closed entirely around her, save for her legs which were propped up on the desk in front of her as she leaned back in her chair. Her legs, too, however, were covered, though, albeit in what looked to be some form-fitting metal. All that aside, though, more than anything, she looked bored.

"Yeah, yeah, wiring up a bunch of metal to move really hard is the easy part. Your movements are rigid and predictable, though: making something look organic, and more important, smooth, that takes real talent. Plus, you're still wearing glasses under that thing? If you're going to put on a helmet, you might as well have some correcting lenses built into the thing for you. I mean, you got all the technical aspects of what I asked for down, sure, but it has no style. C+." she explained, letting out a small sigh of disappointment.

The girl in her robo-suit let out a small huff before retaliating, "Style? I thought this was an engineering class, not a fashion show--"

"C-."

The girl grit her teeth. "You're really going to lower my grade just because--"

"D. You want to shoot for an F? You really want to be that person, that managed to make a fully-functional machine, and still failed? I can make it happen, if you want." Cevell went on, letting out a half-hearted chuckle as she leaned back some more in her chair, not even looking at the student at this point.

The girl merely grumbled, the head of her suit coming back over her head as its red eyes lit back up before it turned and walked away with a loud clank, clank, clank...

"Good, that's one down. Hopefully you all weren't so lazy as to just do the bare minimum in following the directions and actually strived to be, you know, impressive. NEXT!" Cevell went on, stretching an arm over to the desk with a bit of difficulty with how far back she was leaning as she pulled a clipboard over to her face. "Let's see, next issss... Ah, this aughta be good. JAMES! Come and show us how a big, strong man makes a machine." she went on, slightly giggling under her breath.

"Oh, great...Yes, Miss Toffel."

Slowly from the back of the class, a rather sleek metal behemoth began to walk towards the front of the class. A small hiss was heard as steam pooled back in its wake from its enormous shoulderpads.

"Relax, relax...this will work out fine...you got this..."

Inside the chunk of tin, a voice began to speak. "I built the robot to all specifications of the-whoa." A small misstep and he almost tumbled to the ground, but thankfully the suit was able to hold himself up. "-of the...schematics that we went over on page 513. I modified its use of steam from the backend towards the shoulderpads in order to increase maximum efficiency." He moved his hands to the side. "Though it is a small unit, it is built for aerial speed and economy." The open palms began to exert a large amount of steam. "Naturally, a process for propulsion is only in the staging works." He brought the hands up through a very, very slow process, then punched the hands together. "This is Steamvalve Mark VI, and only the beginning o-"

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeak...

Egad...a single bolt had fallen off of the center panel! Another, and another, and soon the entire panel fell off to reveal the form of a young man, falling to the ground with a thud.

Thankfully, the robot stood tall once its master fell and did not crush the poor man. Right after the fall, the man stood back up. Wearing a workcoat, shirt and overalls, with a bit of dirt over his face save for the goggles, stood James the Engineer. He pulled off the goggles and coughed. "I, uh...o-only the beginning of the process to create a fully-functional...S-Steam machine!"

This didn't look very cool.

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As Caitlin turned around she grinned at Violet with half opened eyes, putting a hand to her chin as she cupped her elbow with the other. "First order of business," she said playfully as she came closer to the other, crankier woman, "is to soak all this in." The next few moments ticked slowly by for Violet as Caitlin eyed her up and down, clearly enjoying her predicament. "Mmmm." Seeming satisfied Caitlin indicated for Violet to follow her as she walked down the gangplank, stopping just at its edge before looking back up at The Prancing Devil. "Sota! Any hints?"
The first-mate's head could be seen between the railing of the ship as she bent down, her arm going in between the wooden poles as she pointed at a building a short distance away. "Engineering."
"Aye. Keep 'er warm for me."
"Aye aye!"

The two adults trailed a short distance behind the group of kids now. "Hold hands, ladies," Caitlin called out to the girls with a laugh, turning her head slightly towards Violet afterwards. "First REAL order of business is finding one of my old crew members. A cyborg with an odd fetish for sleeves. Dark skin. Loud and painfully obnoxious. Likely to find us before we find her." As they passed by a student Caitlin plucked some papers they had their nose to right from their hands, paying no heed to their cries. "Let's see. Library, library... Ah. KIMMY!" As the girl turned Caitlin pointed to a building in the center of the campus, with large white marble pillars about its front and the word 'Library' carved into the top of it. "LIBRARY!" She was helping.
"Miss I need my-"
"Workshop Three? Not just a usual ro-"
"MISS!"

Caitlin turned around to the young man and stared at him quietly, wide eyed as she slowly lifted up the boy's papers and slowly tore them in half. As she let go of them they got caught in the wind, blowing away as the man chased after them. "He has an hour till his next class. Sure he'll be fine." She gave Violet a nudge as she started heading towards a smaller building with a newer appearance than the others. "Engineering 237 with Ms. Toffel is currently in session. Let's take a peek."

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Cevell slowly put her feet to the floor, leaning forward on her desk as she took a good, inquisitive look at James and his machine. "Uh... huh, right. Steam-powered certainly wouldn't be my first choice, but for what it is, it certainly seems efficient. Also kept very stable despite your fumbling around, just need to better secure the cover plate, the base machinery's clearly well in-place, not bad at all, especially for just being a side thing as you work on that other thing you've told me about, yes, I'll give you a B+. I'll make it an A if you take your shirt off."

MEANWHILE, in the hallways leading up to this room......................

As Caitlin and company were trudging their way towards Cevell's classroom, they'd be stopped by a familiar pink-haired titan of a woman (standing at 7'), wearing the plain black robes that her followers would be seen in.

"Well, if it isn't the Devil herself." Miyana mused as she made sure to stand well in front of Caitlin, "I was under the impression that Ms. Toffel's service to you had ended. As you might imagine, she's made quite the job for herself here, teaching many a young mind in the ways of weaponized technology. What causes you to seek her now, Ms. Kil De'Moore?"

Caitlin's eyebrow gave an errant twitch as she stared up at the woman. The Good Captain measured in at a respectable 5' 10", but she had grown tired of having to stare up at so many unusually tall people. It was just too far out of character for her. But the real problem here was this pink haired zealot (She assumed she was, anyways) demanding answers from her. Without hesitation Caitlin strolled up to Miyana, pointing a finger up to her chin (She had to stretch her arm quite a ways, making for a funny sight). "Hey!" she growled, glaring up at her. "...Who are you again?"


Really?

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Miyana gave a slight frown as she stared down at the Caitlin and her finger. "I suppose it's fair you don't remember me, considering we only directly interacted once, four years ago. As for who I am, that's quite simple: I am Cevell's caretaker, as it were, keeping her in line and making sure her vast technological knowledge gets put to good use. As for my name, I am Ms. Weiss, but you may call me Miyana." With that, Miyana held out a hand in hopes to shake Caitlin's. "Now, I'll ask again: why do you seek out Ms. Toffel after all these years?"

"The...the B+ is fine, Miss Toffel." He said with a frustrated tone.

James stood up and wiped some soot away, then looked over at the machine. "Let me just...hnnn..." He moved the robot slowly back to his seat. Expertly dragged. "T-thank you." He immediately sat down, hoping no one was watching him.

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Rei reached the library first, making sure to wait with the door open just long enough to slam it into Sunny as she reached for it. Sunny stumbled backwards into Kimmy, and both girls nearly fell over, Kimmy waving her arms in the air just to keep her balance. "That !#%$!" Sunny lunged for the door, ripping it open to swipe at Rei, but the girl had already vanished into the stacks. "I hate that !#%$."

"Yes yes, shh calm down." Kimmy rubbed Sunny's shoulders as she pushed the girl further into the building, smiling as she eyed all the old books on display. The library was impressive. Nothing like Cas' private library, but it was probably the most substantial public access collection of information available. She clapped her hands together, and walked over to a filing cabinet, rummaging through a bunch of tiny cards until she found the proper one. "Ah. I do love this dewey decimal system that the dragons use. So useful. The book we're looking for is behind Stack 452."

Sunny scratched her head, frowning. "That's a high number. We better get going if we want to find that thing before the ship leaves."

-

Violet snorted from behind Caitlin, looking up at the tall !#%$ in their way. "Alright, look. Cai...'Captain. Urgh. I respect that you have grudges to hold and people to whatever. Me? I'm a busy person. Just shove this !#%$ out of the way and let's get this over with. I need to get back to the ship and show Rei how to properly counter useless katana wielders." Caitlin could hear the smirk forming on Violet's face. Caitlin also knew that Violet would only take so much taunting from the two of them before ripping one of them through a wall.

She's seen it happen before. It was impressive.

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"Hmph." Caitlin eased back as Miyana outstretched her hand in a friendly manner. "Have some semblance of patience, Violet." As Caitlin lifted her hand once more a small flame ignited in front of her hand, disappearing by the time the two women finally shook. Rather than the warm flesh of Caitlin's palm, Miyana would feel a piece of parchment crumpling in between them.

"As you can see, assuming of course you possess some basic reading comprehension, Cevell and I still have a contract." The scroll unfolded itself for the pink haired behemoth, revealing writing that seemed burned into an aged yellow page. "This is just a copy, of course. But our deal is still very much real. So long as I continue to pirate, Cevell is part of my crew. Unless of course I dismiss her otherwise, but fat chance that'll happen." The contract in Miyana's hand caught fire and burned itself out of existence, the flame having no affect on the woman. "Now, I won't hear another word about you and your technological cult or weapon worshipers or what have you. I have come to collect my crew and be on my way." With a nod towards Violet Caitlin shouldered her way past Miyana and continued down the empty hallway. To their right further down was a metallic door with a sign on the wall:

'Engineering 237
Ms. Toffel'

Without waiting for further objections from Miyana Caitlin pounded her fist against the metal door. If Cevell didn't answer immediately, Violet would probably push it violently open. Hopefully that didn't happen.

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"Yeeeah, alright, fine, B+." Cevell said, writing something down on that clipboard before shouting out, "NEX--"

bang bang bang

As Cevell was interrupted by a knock at the door, she turned towards it, a very, very peeved look on her face. Quickly and forcefully getting up, she made her way towards the door, going to open the door with her right arm as she flung her left arm up, swinging the large coat sleeve back to reveal her old shotgun arm, poised to fire at whoever was on the other side as she screamed, "DAMMIT, JIMMY! THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU SHOW UP THIS LAT--oh, it's you." Cevell quickly calmed down as she opened the door and didn't find quite who she expected, although her expression was still less than pleasant. Her shotgun arm was still very much poised, as well.

"So just what do you want? Your plans and promise completely flub on two levels for me, then you disappear for four years, and you have the gall to just show up, huh?" Cevell went on, her expression rapidly turning towards one of disdain as she stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry, "There had better be a damned good reason for this."

It was Caitlin's turn to look upset as she pressed forward, completely ignoring the cybernetic implant that Cevell dare point at her. "When you sign up for a life for piracy, you should never expect things to go as planned," she argued, poking Cevell roughly in the chest. As she placed a hand firmly on her hip she raised the other, the same contract she had just shown Miyana materializing in it from a burst of flame. "You and I have an arrangement, Ms. Toffel. Living or otherwise, you are bound to this contract, so I can damn well show up whenever I please." She stopped for a moment, her face relaxing a tad as a tiny grin crossed her face. "Besides," continued The Good Captain, the contract vanishing in a blaze as she lowered her hand, "you and I both know how you are. Namely that, given a choice, you'd much prefer a criminal life on the high seas, touting that arm of yours around without so much as a care in the world. Only limitation being of course what I say you can't wave it at. Doesn't that sound like a better time than teaching these kids how to make...err..."

Her words came to a stop as she finally took a moment to look around the room, spying all the student's mechanical creations. "Power suits?" Caitlin's eyes wandered from one student to the next before landing on a familiar, dirt covered face. "Oh. James, was it?" Oh dear. "How's the family?"

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