Benbeck stepped out onto the Gilded One's small rear deck, immediately starting down the ladder and onto the wet beach below. His crew was there waiting for him, but he had something he needed to check over first. The other ship had managed to ding the Gilded One during the cleanup, and he wanted to see for himself how bad the damage was.

Several large holes gaped open in the metal hull. Tears brimmed in his eyes. The metal was cold, even with the gloves between them. The holes were jagged, and the perfect golden sheen of the Gilded One was ruined.

That worthless captain had managed to damage his ship. Benbeck hung his head, almost forgetting that his crew was waiting on the beach behind him.

"Boss." Jeff approached Benbeck, but Benbeck didn't want to turn around. "We're all gathered like you asked."

"Give me a moment to mourn for her," Benbeck said. "She'll never be the same after this!"

Jeff sighed behind him but left him alone, and Benbeck ran his hand over the hull. The Gilded One was a recent purchase that put him in massive debt. Catching Ortega was on the path to repaying that debt and making the Gilded One his own. He didn't want to face his lender empty-handed.

But now, because of the complications, his ship had holes in its hull. It was almost too much to bear.

"It's alright, baby," Benbeck whispered as he ran his hand over the hull again. "We'll catch Ortega tonight and repair you as soon as possible. You'll look better than new when I'm done with you."

He waited with a dramatic pause, and then he turned to face his crew. They stood arrayed before him in all their glory on the beach, his hand-picked group that he trusted to see out his plans to overturn the world. Athena stood furthest to the left, his eyes and ears thanks to her curse, dressed in her black jumpsuit with a long green and brown cloak behind it. She had a quiver of arrows tied to her waist and her bow ready in one hand as she gazed off into the night. Jeff stood flexing next to her, his bared chest muscles pulsing as he breathed deeply of the night air. Siegfried had his massive broadsword planted in the ground next to Armstrong, his plate armor glimmering in the moonlight as his long blonde hair fluttered behind him in the wind. Manfred was the last in line; his greasy hair was pulled back in a tight knot with his large chef's knives sheathed at his waist underneath his tarnished white apron.

Then there were the other two, his minions, who he never bothered to remember the names of. And, of course, there was the strange creature kneeling in the sand.

"And who is this?" Benbeck sauntered forward, drawing a comb from his suit's pocket and using it to style back his hair.

"We found him looking at us from the trees," Jeff said, kicking the creature. "He tried to get away, but Athena made sure he stopped in his tracks."

"I would have taken more than it's leg," Siegfried growled. "But her arrow was faster."

"We don't need every person cut in half, Seigfried." Athena sighed.

"Besides, that would ruin the potential meat," Manfred said, clicking his tongue as he adjusted his circle bifocals. "You have to cut it up in a certain way to keep the meat clean."

Benbeck squinted down at the creature's leg, noticing a bit of dark brown mud in the sand where it had bled on the beach. Athena had managed a clean shot to its knee. It wouldn't be running away anytime soon, whether it was man or beast. He smiled as he bent down to see it better in the moonlight.

"What are you, creature?" Benbeck asked. "You have the shape of a man but the fur and ears of a beast. I've traveled far and wide in the Fringes and never seen anything like you."

"Hrah!" The creature lashed out with long, curving nails, and Benbeck threw his head back to dodge it.

It was lightning quick, but Benbeck had enough experience talking to caught and broken captives. He knew that there was a chance the creature would take a shot at his face the moment he was close enough. That was why he never let his guard down.

Crack.

"None of that!" Jeff kicked down again, clocking the creature behind its shoulders. "You got to respect the boss!"

"Thank you." Benbeck stood back up and turned away from the creature. "You know, you're lucky beast. There are people all across the nightsea that would pay a pretty penny for you. If there are more like you, slavers will come from all over to take your kind, dead or alive, to sell to the highest bidder."

Not that Benbek would. He might have been a money-grubbing murderer, but he wasn't a slaver. Even he had standards, and that stopped at trading in people's freedom. Death was preferable to slavery when it came to his captives.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Our people will not submit to your kind, outsider," the creature said.

"Oh, it speaks," Benbeck said, faking surprise.

"An animal that speaks is an animal all the same." Siegfried's lip curled as he lifted his blade. "Let me take its head so we can move beyond this waste of time. For the first time in so long, we have real opponents to face."

Siegfried was after a fight, as was his way. He was an expensive asset to keep on the ship, but his skill with the sword made him worth every penny. Siegfreid had no hope as an independent bounty hunter; he had no sense for money, but under Benbeck's guidance, he was like a scalpel.

"I wonder what it tastes like." Manfred leaned forward, his hands on his knives as he tilted his head. "I think it'll be more stringy than fatty. Would it even be worth cooking?"

Manfred had a different problem. He went by many names, but the most prominent one was 'the Cannibal.' Benbeck had stopped eating meat ever since Manfred became the ship's cook, which was probably why he was losing so much weight.

"Do you even hear yourself sometimes?" Athena sighed, looking toward the trees. "We're here for a mission, not to satiate your weird meat fetish."

Benbeck looked up at the Gilded One and sighed. They were getting off track, but that was always a problem with his crew. They were strong, but they worked with him because of the pay. Well, except for Jeff. Jeff 'Strong Arm' Armstrong would do just about anything he asked.

"Kill him."

Snap.

When Benbeck turned around again, he saw the creature falling to the ground, its head twisted at an impossible angle, as Armstrong stood over it with both arms outstretched. The deed was done, and they could get on with their mission. Every minute wasted was one where Ortega might get away.

"Finally." Siegfried sighed, resting his massive sword on his shoulder. "Now we can get started."

"So, how are we going to dice up this work?" Manfred asked, a smile crossing his face as he met eyes with Benbeck.

"If there are people here, there should be a village or town nearby," Benbeck said, looking down at the strange creature.

"I see a fire in the distance and through the trees," Athena said, squinting her eyes at the tree line. "That might be a good place to start."

Athena was the perfect scout; her eyes could see things far beyond what a normal human could. Benbeck didn't just keep her around for her looks. No, she was almost as valuable as Jeff. Where Jeff brought his loyalty, Athena brought a keen eye and mind.

"The island itself wasn't that large from the sky," Benbeck said, combing his hair again. "We go there and scope things out, maybe get some information if Ortega and his crew aren't there already. Then we play it by ear until we wrap this whole thing up."

"What about us, boss?" Benbeck's two henchmen asked, looking at each other.

Benbeck turned on them, remembering they were there for the second time that night. He struggled to remember their names but came up blank, so he settled for calling them 'the fat one' and 'the skinny one.' It would do until they died or quit his crew, whichever came first.

"You two will stay behind and look after the ship." Benbeck smiled, pocketing his comb and pointing back to the ship. "While you're doing that, see if you can seal up the holes and give it a good polish."

They both looked at him, their mouths agape, but Benbeck didn't care. He walked past them, heading toward the jungle as the rest of the crew followed. He would find Ortega before the night was over and bring him and his crew in. That money was practically already in his pockets.

He would pay his debts, get the Gilded One in his hands debt-free, and finally be able to journey to the New World to make all his dreams come true. It was a small dream, but it was his own.

***

Miss Glory coiled around the hull, keeping to the shadows as Benbeck and his crew left. Her tendrils only released once they were behind the treeline and out of sight. After Athena had managed to spot a faraway fire through the night, Miss Glory knew not to reveal herself or move too early.

Benbeck had left two crew members behind, and they were currently arguing over who should enter the ship to get repair equipment.

"You're just trying to be lazy," the skinny one said, pushing the fat one on the shoulder.

"You used the last repair kit. You know where they're at," the fat one said, rubbing at his shoulder.

They started pushing and fighting each other, and Miss Glory decided that they were sufficiently distracted. She needed to get started, and every moment wasted was a moment that she couldn't see what was happening in the forest. She released her hold on the ship's hull and let herself fall to the sand below.

Plop.

"Pop Form."

Miss Glory dropped onto the sand and reformed her entire body. Her green mass writhed up in intertwining vines as she poured power into her gate. First, her legs writhed up from her plant form, twining into solid green stumps. Then she formed out her chest and abdomen, imbuing herself with a white moss over her body that formed her version of clothing. Her arms grew out from her shoulders, ending in long green fingertips, and finally, her head popped out of her torso, forming a rosebud with a black stamen at the center. Pink eyes blinked as she took in the world again through her humanoid form.

"Ah, it's been too long," Miss Glory whispered out of a formless mouth, causing the two men to turn on her and see her for the first time.

"What in the abyss is that?" The skinny one jumped, grabbing hold of the fat one.

"Pop Entangle!"

Whip.

Miss Glory lashed out with her vines. They slammed into the two men, instantly binding them together in a looping coil. Miss Glory would have smiled if she had a mouth.

"Mmph!" the fat one tried to speak, but Miss Glory's vines were already doing their work, growing over the two men and wrapping them tighter and tighter with every passing second.

"I need you two boys to be quiet for a while," Miss Glory said as she pulled them closer, wrapped them up, and laid them on the sand. "I've got work to do."

Miss Glory left the two men behind, starting toward the jungle and after Benbeck's crew. Her plan was simple. She would let Benbeck and his crew handle Ortega, and when they had taken Ortega's crew down, she would swoop in and take control. She would have to do none of the work but would reap all the benefits when she turned over the prince and Ortega to Miss Malone.