Fang watched as Erika rose into the sky, a menacing flame trailing behind her, the very scent of danger wafting upon him as the scene played out before his eyes.

As shards of her blade suddenly crashed out of the forest behind him, each soaring after her before raining down upon the hellish vessels.

He watched in awe at the power.

He watched in reverence, at the symbol before himself.

Faced with six large battleships, manned by warped creatures and incomprehensible powers, yet fearlessly she rose to the occasion.

Fang watched, as she descended down on her enemies with unmatched presence.

"Capn!" Shouted out a familiar voice, as a large turtle-like humanoid approached him with a jog. "What'll we do? Shouldn we skedaddle!?"

"Bjorn," Fang turned to his quartermaster. "Get the Hag sea-ready." He said, as the sound of leaves and branches shuffling sounded out from behind him.

"Preparing to make a run for it?" Zen mused as he came to loom over the lizardman, whom turned to meet the mer's glare.

"Ye wanna save your little princess? Then ye will get on board as well." Fang replied, returning to his gathering crew. "Raiders, man the Hag! Get her sail-worthy!" He called out.

"Why, would I help scum like you?" Zen huffed, crossing his long arms.

"Cause, we be left with no choice but to keep one another afloat. World's going to shit, tell me big man, can ya swim yer people across the sea without me?" Fang asked, glancing back at the giant. "No, no you cannot. And like-wise, I ain't fighting that fleet on me lonesome."

Once again, Fang turned to his crew. "Ye heard me Bjorn!? Get this shit on!" He shouted.

"B-But capn, that be six ships! We be down to two!" Bjorn interjected.

Fang chuckled, "We'll only need one."

"One ship?" Zen then mused, before laughing. "You're mad."

"Worssse, boy." Fang hissed, "I'm bloody enraged." He growled, and his crew took a step back, glancing at one another before rushing off to their ship, stumbling over one another.

"Ye heard yer capn!" Bjorn stuttered out, "Slither the Hag!" the quartermaster called out, as the crew began dropping ropes off the ship and kicking over planks keeping it ashore, starting to then pull the vessel back into the water. "Heave!"

"Ho!" Fang called out, approaching the ship himself, when suddenly the water all around them began to coalesce.

"Very well, pirate. I will, for once, agree with you." Zen mused, tendrils of water falling out of his open palms and into the rising tide, as he willed the water to rise all around the shop and begin to push it forward.

Fang chuckled, "That's the spirit. Onboard ye bastardsss!" he hissed at his crew as he himself took hold of a rope and began climbing.

As Zen rose up to the deck without one, the water pushing him up like a geyser, he landed on both feet with ease. The wooden floorboards creaking beneath his landing.

Raising his gaze he watched the crew scatter to their positions as ropes were unleashed or pulled, the sails coming down and turning. His eyes finding their way across the controlled chaos, to Fang, who walked up the stairs to the top deck.

Going past Bjorn who stood barking out commands, Fang came upon the ship's wheel. An ornate piece of complicated craftsmanship, with five holes at the center.

There, is where Fang entered his claws on his right hand, taking hold of the wheel with his left.

"Ssslither The Hag!" He called out in a hiss, and his crew called out the same in scattered unison.

As Zen then heard the sound of mechanisms beginning to creak and turn beneath him.

As the giant wheel at the center of the ship, one-third of it visible from where he was, the mainmast built around it. It began to turn.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjM7z6ssJY

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With incredible speed and dexterity, the ship sailed forth, taking on the wind as Fang turned into it.

As the sound of thunder filled the sky, and a storm suddenly began to form all around them.

Lighting struck hard into the ocean and upon the enemy ships, the sky thundering out into a roar.

"Capn! It's a bloody flash storm! The fuck!?" Bjorn called out in surprise.

"That it be! Now back to yer placesss ye bastardsss!" Fang hissed.

Cackling like a madman, "Raise the sails!" Fang called out, having sailed at an angle towards the enemy fleet, the wind was now too unreliable.

His crew did as told, putting the sails away, Fang suddenly began turning the ship hard.

Then, taking his middle claw, he re-entered it into the wheel.

And the intensity of sound within the ship tripled, as did the turning speed of their paddle wheel.

As they now were moving dead-on towards the fleet, whose cannons turned to meet them.

"Hey, scalebrain, they're looking at us." Zen grumbled, seeing the enemy vessels taking aim.

"Let them watch!" Fang chuckled, "Do me a favor, would ye? With that water magic of yers."

Zen sighed, "Water Magic." he silently mouthed out.

"Can ye gimmie a wall of water, say about-" Fang then took out one of his flintlocks and took aim, manning the ship with one-hand as it turned awkwardly, his crew almost stumbling over themselves cause of that.

Moments later, Fang fired, hitting the violent waves several dozen feet ahead.

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"Fine." Zen mused, as he turned to the front of the ship, palms wide as he raised them forth.

And the water ahead raised too, forming a wall almost high enough to cover the Hag from sight.

"Now what?" Zen asked, as he held his stance.

"Now?" Fang cackled maniacally. "Now hold on to yer breaches!" He exclaimed, his crew having a double-take as they glanced between him, the wall of water, and their non-changing heading into it.

Once more, Fang entered his middle claw into the wheel, and the ship whined and creaked, as the heat surrounding it visibly began to rise.

"Capn, the Hag's overheatin!" Shouted out a short crewmate as they barged from below-deck.

"Well then let's get-er wet!" Fang called out, as he himself crouched down behind the wheel, the short crewmate then glanced around at the rest of the crew who had also taken cover.

"Ah sh-" He began to say, turning to see the wall of water crashing into them.

"Close that there hatch ye bastard!" Fang shouted, taking a shot with his flintlock just barely a foot away from the crewmate, who immediately dropped back under, closing the hatch behind himself.

Continuing to cackle, "Don't wanna wet it too much!" Fang mused, as the water overwhelmed the ship.

Zen standing at the front, it was nothing to him as they passed through the wall, but with the force that had just bashed into his barrier, he couldn't hold it any longer.

Dropping the wall, it all came down upon the Slithering Hag.

And out of it, came an explosion of steam.

An artificial fog exploded out of the ship, covering their sight entirely.

"Oi! Big man! Can ye pull this here fog with us?" Fang called out.

Zen groaned as he popped his neck, "Can do." he said, as the Mer took a fighting stance.

Hands flat and wide, Zen began making a circular motion with both, willing the steam to rotate around the ship itself.

A perpetual storm of overheated water, spiralling all around them.

"Ingenius capn!" Bjorn called out, "They can't see us!"

"But we can't see them either." Zen mused.

"Oh don't get yer fish in a bunch, I don't need to see em." Fang mused, pulling Bjorn over, he gave him the wheel. "Keep it steady man," He told the Tortle, before leaping off to the main deck. "Man the cannonsss!" Fang shouted out, and the crew began rushing to it.

Each gun port opened up, five cannons on either broadside.

Heaving a hand-cannon over his back with a leather strap.

Fang moved to stand on the port side, picking up a barrel of gunpowder into his left arm he then took hold of a hanging rope with his right.

Leaning off the ship's edge whilst standing on the railing, "Port cannons, on my command!" Fang announced.

"Raiders! Weapons at the ready! We be boardin port and starboard!" Fang told his men, a good three dozen pirates separating into two groups, ropes in hand as well.

A silent calm overcame them, filled only by the flowing of steam all around them.

Until, through the fog, several red glows began to light up before them.

Taking in a deep breath, "I won't be outdone." Fang mused.

Exhaling hard, he then chuckled with a hiss. "Who am I!?" He hoarsely called out to his crew.

"Fang. Fang. Fang!" They began to chant in a united whisper.

"Fang Raiders!" The Captain called out.

"Strike unseen." He hissed.

"Fang!" they chanted.

"Strike unheard."

"Fang!"

"Strike hard!"

"Fang!"

"Clear the fog!" Fang called out, and Zen did so, sending both palms wide, the fog exploded out revealing them to their surroundings.

The previous wall of steam, dissipated into the storm, as out of no-where a single ship appeared amidst the hellish fleet.

"Strike!" Fang ordered, sending a broadside to each side, hitting the starboard ship in the back with three cannons and landing every single shot on the port-side ship in its own port.

"Pillage!" Fang called out, pushing himself off the ship, he swung with the rope lower than the rest of his crew, letting go as he reached the side of the other ship and diving into the cannonball-hole his men had made.

Immediately he let the barrel roll forward, finding his mark.

"And whom, do I have the pleasure of not having invited aboard?" as an unknown voice asked from the shadows ahead.

Heaving the large hand-cannon off of his back, "The very frussstrated owner..." he mused lighting a match in his other hand.

He entered the lit match into the back, immediately taking aim at the barrel before letting out a shotgun-like barrage of heated projectiles.

"OF THREE.SSSUNK.FUCKING.SSSHIPSSS!" He bellowed out.

Followed by a flash of bright light, and an ear crushing explosion which sent each fiend barreling into the walls and Yoz smashing into Erika.

Loosening his grip on her in the meantime, allowing all of them to fall to the floor.

Neither the fiends, nor Erika, stood back up.

But Yoz, smashed his clawed arms onto the bloodied floor, pulling himself up as he cackled. "How rude."

The demon glanced up just in time, to hear the click of a flintlock.

Coming to face a very pissed off lizardman.

"Fuck you." Fang said, pulling the trigger just as Yoz's claws slashed it aside, the projectile just barely grazing past the demon's left shoulder and digging into the wall.

Fang quickly leapt back and out of reach, as the demon rose to come after him.

Dropping his gun, two more were taken out from under his coat, firing both as Yoz evaded first left then under.

One by one, Fang dropped, unsheathed, fired and dropped his weapons, flintlock after flintlock he barraged the demon who's insane speed kept up with even the projectiles'.

Flash of lighting gunpowder after flash, as gun after gun, Fang dropped them to the floor with a splash while the sound of footsteps echoed down from above them followed by the start of battle.

The closest they got, mere grazes over the being's slender skin.

As Yoz chuckled wickedly.

"How cruelly pointless a struggle." The demon mused with a smile, a wicked smirk that quickly faded away.

Slowly, Yoz glanced down at his feet, as they suddenly gave away.

His arms too, collapsing by his side.

Breathing heavily, Fang unsheathed his last flintlock. "Yeah, you ssshouldn't have ssstruggled, bassstard. Only made the toxin flood through your sssystem fasster." He said, approaching the demon, as it's gaze rose to meet his.

An empty gaze, no more smiling, a simple blank expression covered Yoz.

As Fang raised his flintlock to the demon's forehead.

A final flash, as pitch-black blood splattered out of the back of Yoz's head.

Execution style, the demon fell dead to the floor with a splash.

As Fang turned to Erika, barely conscious where she lay.

"Fang Sssshwei, Captain of the Ssslithering Hag." He said, taking his hat off and waving it aside as he bowed. "At your god damned sservice."

Erika breathed out weakly, "You...came..." she groaned, as suddenly pain filled her body, her eyes opening wide, flashing bright blue before fading to a shadowy black. "Don't stand in my way." She spoke out, a language Fang did not understand, a guttural and primal voice echoing out from Erika's lips.

Erika pushed herself to stand, an animalistic growl escaping her, as her cold gaze rose to meet Fang's raised singed brows.

But just as they had arrived, the shadows in her gaze dissipated, and Erika's eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Passing out entirely, she fell face-first into the damp floor with a wet thud.

Fang groaned, "Shite, ssseriousssly?"

As from the same door Yoz had entered, a swarm of demons began rushing out, armoured and armed the demonic pirates began surrounding Fang.

"Shite." He chuckled, stepping closer to her fallen form, the pirate began circling her as he watched them.

Hisses and growls came at him from each every direction, as he viciously hissed back.

"Come on!" He bellowed, claws bared and verdantly aglow. "Firssst to ssstep forth, firssst to fall over." He mused in a hiss.

A moment of chaotic silence came over them, as all it took was one wrong step.

One wrong move.

As one demon took that move.

Rushing forth in a hungering frenzy, a mere blink of its eyes to make it halfway to Fang, opening its eyes to find the lizardman's claws ready and bared to slice it apart.

As then the ceiling broke.

And crashing through it came a large, scaled form.

Unnaturally tall and bursting with muscle, Zen's form descended down on the poor demon, his feet crushing the creature down to the hard-ground.

Blood splattered, as Zen's feet went through the creature, one even descending further and breaking the hard-wood planks he now stood on.

Crashing his foot out, Zen raised his hands up, and all the moisture around them suddenly rushed to him, surrounding his body like armor.

"I, won't be outdone either." Zen mused, joining Fang in circling Erika's fallen form.

"Oh? Isss that a challenge big man?" Fang mused, twirling around to give Zen his back, as he faced the demons before them.

"Do not, misunderstand." Zen grumbled, "You, are worthless, to me."

"Oh, no misssundersstanding at all. Be it known, ye worthless to me assswell." Fang agreed with a chuckle.

"But, I cannot leave her life." Zen began to say, as he clenched his fists, the pressure around him suddenly increasing.

"Though, I ssshall not, leave her sssurvival." Fang hissed at the same time, as the scales across his body began to shudder, creating a nauseating sound within this small enclosed space.

"Just up to you." they then both said to one another.