Miss Glory lay against the top of the Javelin's bridge, her viney form sprawled over the metal edge so that she could listen to the crew's conversations. She had tagged along when she heard the three ships were going after 'Tin Man' Ortega, but they hadn't been up to snuff. Now, the Javelin had lost half of its crew, and the Sparrow was scuttled with no real hope of recovery. If her head was active, she would have shaken it, but instead, she just shook a few of her vines.

Only the Gilded One was still active and currently floated above the Javelin. The captain of the Javelin was speaking with Benbeck over the ship's comms, and Miss Glory was listening. The conversation was not in the captain's favor, and Miss Glory knew he was just asking to be stabbed in the back.

"We need assistance," the captain said. "We'll have to go and pull the crew that survived from the Swallow, and we can split them between our ships."

Which would mean the quarry would have time to get away. Miss Glory withered at the thought. Miss Malone would reward whoever brought Ortega and his crew in, especially after what happened a few days ago on Dry Turtle. The much-desired prince, who had escaped the clutches of Miss Malone due to a quick decision of King Lopold, had been captured but allowed to slip away.

That was why she had been happy to stow away on the ship to try at him. If the pirates couldn't take down the ship, there was every chance that she could. Her curse allowed her to do things not many other people could do. She was a plant woman whose true form was a motley assortment of vines around a bulbous core.

She writhed closer to the deck's entrance, shrinking her plant form slightly so that it would be less noticeable.

"Unfortunately, that just isn't in the cards," Benbeck's voice came over the speakers.

Thump.

"What are you talking about? We entered this agreement together! Are you thinking about hanging us out to dry?"

"Oh, I have much worse thoughts than that," Benbeck cackled over the speakers. "You've already proven precisely how useful you'd be if we actually caught Ortega. Seeing as I and my crew don't want to share the bounty more than we have to, it just makes good business sense to eliminate the competition."

Miss Glory coiled up on herself. She could already see where this conversation was going, and she needed to be ready for when the insanity broke loose.

"Apologies," Benbeck said. "It's just the cost of doing business. Fire a salvo, Athena, all tubes."

There it was. Benbeck showed his true colors at the darkest hour. Miss Glory was proud of him. He saw the right choice for a man who wanted to win. Cut the dead brush and give time for the garden to grow anew. There was no sense in keeping the dead weight with you if it could simply be cut away.

Or, in this case, blown away.

"Get off the deck!" the captain yelled, throwing down his speaker and turning to his crew. "Fire back if you can!"

His men, who had been working at retrieving the few survivors of the boarding team, all looked up before the few that could begin running for the side. In a way, Miss Glory pitied them. They wouldn't make it, even if they managed to get off the ship. All that came from jumping off was starvation while floating in the nightsea.

She, of course, wouldn't have that problem.

"Pop Spring."

Miss Glory transformed herself, coiling into a spring of vines with her curse. The pulse of life ripped through her vines as she pulled them into a tight spring. Tubes lit up around the Gilded One's hull, and Miss Glory shot off the deck simultaneously. She floated through space as a bulbous pod with tendrils trailing behind her. She landed against the Gilded One's bottom and stuck herself tight with sticky sap.

A single shot rang out from the Javelin before the missiles hit. Someone had managed to fire a shot using a cannon up at the ship. The Gilded One shook under the blast but held firm despite the attack. It had landed far from Miss Glory, so she had nothing to worry about. A small trail of smoke spilled out from the hole in the Javenlin's hull as the Gilded One's salvo shook the ship below.

Boom!

Explosions ripped through the ship behind her, but Miss Glory only bathed in the heat from the blasts. The men screamed as their lives were snuffed out below, and the Gilded One turned to the scuttled ship. Benbeck, like many who worked with the less savory members of the world, wouldn't leave the chance of witnesses, and Miss Glory could appreciate that. She would ensure he was properly rewarded when the job was done and Ortega was captured.

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She shuffled down the ship with her viney form, finding the best perch to wait out the trip to continue after Ortega and his crew.

A second salvo launched, and another bright island burned in the sky momentarily as Benbeck destroyed the damaged ship. When it was all over, the Gilded One turned in the direction that Ortega's ship had run to, floating through the now much more silent nightsea with only the hum of its engines giving sound to the silence.

Wherever Ortega had run to, it would not be long before the Gilded One caught up. Then Benbeck would have his shot at taking Ortega in. Miss Glory would pick up the slack and finish the job if he failed. The prince would be hers, and Miss Malone would give her the reward she deserved.

If Miss Glory still had her head, she would cackle the entire way. However, she was a plant and lacked the ability to do that. So, she merely wrapped herself around the hull of the Gilded One and settled in to wait.

***

Wen looked out over the forest in the direction Artur had pointed but saw nothing. She pulled out her rifle and looked down at its scope, but there was no sign of watching eyes in the forest. She would have thought he was lying, but the prince was so earnest in everything he did that she doubted it.

The prince had come out from below decks just moments before, fully clad in his blue tunic with chainmail over the top, his longsword in its sheath, and his shield strapped to his back. If it wasn't for his long white hair and slightly effeminate features, he might look like a warrior. He just looked like a cosplayer lost from his convention to Wen.

"Start dragging Sayed back up," Alex said as he motioned for Jean to come up as well.

He probably had the same idea Wen did. If Artur had seen something, it would be worth investigating, and having half your crew hanging off the side of the ship in an attack was the worst possible position to start in. Wen kept her rifle ready as she scanned the jungle around them.

"So, let's say you're right," Alex said as he walked onto the deck like he was strolling down a perfectly paved sidewalk. "How would you check it out while keeping the ship safe?"

Artur turned his head, tapping his finger on one chin and releasing the rope he had been using to help pull Sayed back up.

"Hey!" Sayed yelled as he fell back to his previous position.

"I'll get you." Alex sighed, pulling on the rope.

When Jean reached the top, he also helped, and soon the two of them had Sayed back on the deck. Sayed smiled as both men pulled him up. Artur still held his thinking pose. Erin just shook her head to the side, holding onto Mari's hand as she watched the entire event unfold.

Wen was getting used to her crew members' oddities. Ever since she first met Alex on Tombstone, she knew he was weird. That only proved true when they met again on Diamond Peak, and she decided to join him. Everything about the man and his gathered crew was over the top.

"Thank you, brothers," Sayed said with no hint of anger toward Artur. "I thought I was lost down there."

"No worries, Sayed," Alex said. "But that returns us to the original problem. How should we go about it?"

"I say the best strategy." Artur raised one finger. "Would be to split into groups of three."

"Three," Alex said, looking between everyone. "That would just be two groups, wouldn't it? We could cover a lot more ground if we split up more."

"What if you run into danger?" Artur said, throwing back his hand toward Erin and Wen. "We shouldn't leave our ladies alone in the hands of strangers."

"Most of us can take care of ourselves." Alex sighed.

While it was true that one of them had been kidnapped on Dry Turtle, and Wen's curse needed her weapons, Alex was right. Every one of them was a powerhouse of some sort. While they all had their weaknesses, they also had access to the power of a curse.

Erin had the power of growth and could use it to devastating effect with the plants she cultivated. Wen could freeze enemies solid with a single shot. Sayed had the power of heat that he channeled into two blades. She didn't know how to describe Jean's spirit power fully, but it was sufficiently creepy and powerful. Finally, Alex could control magnetic fields and conjure metal.

Even Artur had his sword and could conjure barriers based on what Alex had told her.

"So, we are splitting up to search the area for threats?" Jean asked. "Surely we won't bring Mari along into that dangerous situation."

"I'll watch the ship with Mari." Wen raised one hand. "I can support you all from the deck, so long as you stay within two hundred meters."

"Even in this brush?" Alex asked.

"You'll be on your own there." Wen shrugged. "But if you draw something out into the open, I can support."

"I guess that means I have to go out." Erin sighed, kneeling to face Mari. "Be good for Wen, and don't get in any danger while I'm out."

"I won't." Mari crossed her fingers behind her back, which was not android-like.

"Then I will assist Erin, as is my knightly duty," Artur drew his sword. "I take this job with the utmost solemnity!"

"Alright." Alex ignored Arutur and turned to Sayed and Jean. "We'll each take a direction out from the ship in a cone, head out about a hundred meters, and then come back if we don't find anything. Can everyone handle that?"

"Question, brother?" Sayed raised one hand.

"Go ahead."

"How far is two hundred meters?"

"I'd say about the length of two American football fields, but that isn't going to help." Alex sighed, rubbing his eyes and looking down at the ship. "About the length of four ships out."

"That I can understand." Sayed nodded.

"Alright, let's move out and keep an eye out for any problems along the way. If you get in a sticky situation, draw whatever's after you into the open, and Wen will back you up," Alex said, looking over each of them. "Any other questions?"

Everyone shook their heads. Alex nodded, and they parted ways, each taking a direction out in the jungle to scout. Wen glanced to check on Mari, who stood not far from her, glowing eyes watching Wen's every move. Wen nodded and brought up her rifle, using the scope to track each member as they walked off the small beach area and into the cover of the foliage.

She almost pitied whatever was watching them. If they thought they could take down this crew, they were about to be in for a rude awakening.