After loading herself on non-alcoholic lemon cocktails, Chloe found herself heading towards Big Joe's room in the tavern. The Scoundrel Saloon seemed to not only serve as a hotel for wayward pirates, but was the home base of Big Joe Rogers and his formidable crew. Upon entering a door locked by a ship's wheel (the combination was a secret only the crew themselves knew) Chloe nearly staggered backwards and fainted. Not from the scurvy but from sheer amazement.

Big Joe Roger's room was bedecked with every lavish treasure a pirate could steal. Hundreds of gold and silver doubloons glittered in chests made of hand cut plywood, diamonds and elegant strings of black and white pearls shone brightly next to them. The skeletons of mammoth sea beasts hung from the ceiling, and bronze diver helmets and pirate admiral uniforms hung in towering wardrobes. But most notable, was a picture that hung by Big Joe Roger's bedside. It depicted Antonio, Buckeye, Gino Taur, Navi and Big Joe Rogers all grinning brightly as they stood aboard a mighty ship. Beneath it were the words: "My true treasure: the friends I made along the way."

Chloe had never seen something as heartwarming (and cheesy) at the same time. She gagged followed by a sigh. Big Joe was the best pirate she had ever known. And now she had big shoes to fill.

At the center was an ancient map of a the four great oceans. Chloe's eyes shined brightly. "Motherpuffer!" she exclaimed. "This is the most complete sea chart I've ever seen."

Navi put her hands on heer hips and winked. "Drawn by yours truly. Big Joe's crew has been everywhere!"

Chloe raised an eyebrow at one part that wasn't filled in. "What the sea shell is that?" she demanded.

Navi nodded. "That part...is ironically the only place we've never gone."

"Where, may I ask, good lady?" Ramone asked, nervously.

Navi's face darkened and she smirked. "The Buckingham Blue. The most dangerous place in the sea!"

"But..." Chloe gasped. "That's where we're going! That's the source of all our problems."

Antonio strolled up to Chloe. "I must say, tiny leetle chica. Even us fearsome banditos of the sea fear that place. For mutant mollusks seem to rise out of the sea from the depths of hell."

"The demollusks!" Monica shouted and began to shake her hair. "Aye yai yai."

Chloe gazed into the depths of the suave swordsman's dark brown eye. Antonio frowned, as his caressing voice did little to alleviate their worries. "Some of the worst diablos I've ever seen stalk that part of the ocean. Some with strawlike mouths that can suck your innards from the inside out."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Ummm... guys!" Laura the clowngirl said, twisting anxiously on her spot. "I might need to use the little girls room after hearing that."

"Aye lassie," Captain Abacab said. "Sadly. I already did."

Everyone slowly moved away from Captain Abacab uncomfortably.

"Well then, pirate queen," Navi said. "Perhaps you should stock yourselves up well...Fortunately, we have everything you need?"

"Cannonballs and gunpowder?" Chloe asked excitedly.

Navi nodded.

"Swords?" Monica asked dutifully.

Navi nodded.

"Fruit cocktails and delicious food?!" Ramone asked with a foppish smile.

"Uh yeah..." Navi responded.

"Beautiful ladies such as yourself?" Vinnie grinned cocking an eyebrow. Monica whacked him upside the head.

"Trampolines and lima beans?" Laura asked.

"Adult diapers?" Captain Abacab asked sounding a bit emasculated.

Everyone moved away from him again.

Gino Taur spread his hooves and grinned a big grin. "We have everything for you. You are our new pirate queen after all!"

Chloe put her hands behind her head and blushed. It was a rare feeling for her to feel embarrassed but she really was feeling her new title.

***

Once the Whaleboat was stocked up on supplies, Chloe and her crew rendezvoused with Big Joe's. The day was bright and sunny and a refreshing wind blew from the east. Chloe filled Big Joe's crew on her plan.

"Thank you for everything," she said with a winsome grin. "I'm happy you'll have our back when the big battle against Fienmond comes."

"Excellent," Antonio said with a boastful grin. "We not only have your back. It will be quite a trip, but everyone is coming to Buckingham Blue because that's no doubt where that diablo will show his ugly mug!"

"Really?!" Chloe exclaimed. "You're coming with us?"

"Exacta Mundo!" Antonio Sabreheart said. "That scum has personally killed our greatest leader and captain. I will follow you to the ends of the world so I can put my sabre through his heart!"

Chloe nodded and reached to shake his hand. "He killed my parents too!"

Antonio placed his hand on her small shoulder. "And luckily for us, we still have the defense weapon that can hold him back."

Antonio removed the magical glowing pearl from his back pocket. "The Mother of Pearl was always a forcefield to repel naval ships and anyone else without a hint of scurvy in their veins. Now we will use it to defend against Fienmond and his hordes of demollusks. This is truly what Topsy Scurvy psycho chick wanted!"

The pearl glowed brightly in Chloe's eyes. It put some of her worries at ease, until another surfaced. "But how will we defeat all these ships from other nations! Fienmond controls all the leaders now!"

"That I don't know, senora Chloe," Antonio said. "But as they say, we will cross that bridge when we come to it!"

Chloe turned to her crew. Much like Big Joe's they all wore smiles for her. "Let us cast off!" she cried. "And ask questions later."

"Oh but..." Navi squeaked. "One thing. In the direction we're gonna be sailing, there's a very dangerous island!"

"What island?" Chloe demanded. "We visit dangerous islands like Ramone visits haberdasheries or Vinnie visits those houses with a lot of weird women in them!"

"Or I visit the man in my head!" Laura sang.

"This one..." Navi shivered. "Lightning Islet. Anyone who sails between them is fried by the wrath of the goddess, Electra!"