Scene Listing

||

Scene Schedule

||

Scene Schedule RSS

Owner	Pose
Arkae Zellar	PREVIOUSLY, ON THE HANGOVER: There was much drinking, and carousing, and eating of delicious things. The Concord Fun Club saw the universe get created, a shirtless man punch pickles into a deep frier, and failed to comment on the mysterious absence of a pinball machine. It was a fun time for all, including the talking cow that they might have eaten. The fun times are the last thing everyone can remember. At some point last night, long term memories stopped forming - the textbook definition of 'blackout drunk'. And now, everyone awakens... in a rickety wooden cart going down a mountain road. Fortunately, you have company. Maybe that kindly looking warrior at the front of the cart can explain what's going on. "Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."
Arkae Zellar	... Ha ha, no, April Fools. WHAT ACTUALLY IS HAPPENING: 1. Everyone's hung over. Like, really hung over. Even if you've done drinking binges on this scale before, this multiversal tavern crawl is mixing together a *lot* of strange mixers, additives, and garnishes that are having interactions with each other. There was a lot of weird stuff. 2. You don't know how you got here. That part of the sceneset wasn't lying - you just... can't remember. You were doing something fun, and now you're waking up here with the broodmother of all headaches (see point 1). 3. Where... is here, anyway? It's dark. It's damp - a salty, briny damp, mixed with more than a bit of foul-smelling mold. It's rocking back and forth... a ship? The hold of a sailing ship, at sea? Yeah, that seems to be it. You've been left very inconsiderately on the floor of this dark place, without so much as a pillow to rest your head. Just sorta... tossed in here along with the rest of the cargo.
Katt	Well, it *had* been a good night. Katt is sure of that part. There were drinks and food and... some other stuff, probably, if no bar fight. Probably no bar fight, anyway. She's a little vague on that part. And right now Katt is about half upside down. She's lying on her back; her legs and lower torso are on a crate, her upper body draped mostly down the side of the box (she's flexible) and her head dangles about an inch above the floor. She has been slowly slipping off the box for the past few minutes. Which means that when she wakes up, she not only has a headache, she is extremely lightheaded from being upside down for an unknown amount of time, and she doesn't so much rise as fall off the crate with a heavy thump, sprawling across the floor. "guh" She'll need a moment.
Arcadia	"Nyraaaa.." That's the only sound, more of a grousing groan really, that Arcadia makes at the moment. She doesn't get up, just moves enough rub her paw palms against her face and brow. Wow, is this what it feels like to be so badly hung over you can't tell your feet from the floor and feel like you could expunge the contents of your digestive subsystems at the smallest of disorientations? Arcadia didn't think she could -get- that drunk with her unusual biology. Apparently she was wrong. Or whatever drinks they were mixing were really bizarre. Likely, it's a mix of both. Overconfidence and overindulgence, drinking banes to the max.
Bowser	Bowser is on the floor. He joined in late on the bar crawl, but it is hard to miss him in his parachute pants, faded hypergreen tank top, and sunglasses. This is not part of the drunkeness, mind, he willingly wore those going in. The huge lizard sits up, bringing a hand to his forehead, "Fudge, I drank too much again. KAMMY! I DRANK TOO MUCH AGAIN, I NEED A HANGOVER CURE!" Beat. "KAMMY!" "Rassa frassa, where are you, you ancient hag." He cracks one crusty eyelid open, using his other hand to lift the sunglasses. "Did we overthrow an ice cream boat again?"
Katt	"If you yell like that again I'm gonna thump you," Katt says, though it is slightly indistinct because she is saying it directly into the floor. "Or at least thump whoever's close enough to reach."
Sumiko	Man, what a night.  Mikoto rolls over... Wait this isn't her bed.  This isn't her room.  The headache is familiar, it's not the first time she's gone to excess.  Rubbing her head she slowly rolls to a sitting position, moving to try and rest her back against a wall and try and take a moment to familiarize herself with the room.  This is hard when your body is screaming to go back to sleep, and your head is completely splitting.   "Maybe mixed too many alcohols," This is then combined with the yelling Bowser.  "Whoever is yelling, stop it." She says, miserable as she tries to focus.  She could use her soul gem to try and restore herself...but that was a waste of magic that she wasn't in danger enough to justify.  She'd rather deal with this than endanger herself and others by becoming a witch. Slowly standing up she falls back down to her rump.  Ok maybe just sitting here for a bit would be a better idea.  She hears Katt, "Who else is here?"
Arcadia	Arcadia vagely gestures an arm in the air at Mikoto's question. "Here." Pause. Softer groan. "Wherever here is," the sphinx adds in a mutter as she slowly fumbles her way off the floor.
Arkae Zellar	The boat sways beneath their feet. There does not appear to be ice cream. Oh, but maybe the man descending the staircase, holding an oil lantern in one hand and a coiled whip in the other, has some ice cream. "On yer feet- on yer feet, you lot! Report up to the main deck fer duty, if ya know what's good fer yer!" He cracks the whip in the air, for emphasis. Just the *sound* of it makes your ears hurt. "Captain Harrigan's waitin, and he ain't the sort who likes to get upset, and when Captain Harrigan gets upset Master Scourge gets upset, and when Master Scourge gets upset nobody has a good day, you rats hear?" He cracks the whip again. Ow. Descending on either side are six total other pirates, all of whom are unarmed but look like they mean business and are pretty eager to introduce you to said business. Said business is probably not ice cream. It is, in fact, pain.
Bowser	Bowser doesn't SAY sorry. But when he speaks again, he is notably quietly, "Haven't been on a bender like that in a wh-" WHIPCRACK, "SHOOT!" He curses, clapping both hands over where ears might be in his head. Slowly, the big turtle gets his feet underneath him. He takes off his inexpensive hypercolor sunglasses and puts them in the neck of his tank top. Bowser squints one eye, peering at the men coming down the stairs. At least an oil lantern light is muted. He points a clawed finger at one of the pirates, "YOU! Get me a drink of water."
Sumiko	Mikoto, who is still in pain and not wanting any of this early morning shit decides to stay exactly where she is.  The crack makes her wince, but she points at the pirate with the whip.   "You, wage slave, I need a drink of water, two fried eggs, and a side of rice.  Bring it to me and I'll consider tipping you even after the loud sound you just made," She says, annoyed but at least finally able to get some damn service. "Also, where the hell are we?"
Katt	Katt doesn't have the kind of cat ear that she can flatten against her head at the sound of the whip, but for a moment, she wishes she did. "Who're you calling a rat?" Well, that got Katt up. She does not vault to her feet with her usual alacrity, instead just shoving herself roughly to her knees and then rising from there, reaching around for - "Hey, where's my staff?" Katt looks around, tail lashing, for her catpaw-headed staff. She doesn't immediately see it, which puts her in an even worse mood than she already was. Her ears flick once in irritation as she focuses, bleary-eyed, on the man with the whip. "I want my staff back, then we can talk. That was a prize and nobody's going to steal it from me!" At least she still has her champion's belt... or whatever it is. (She'd know if she didn't; it holds her shirt down.)
Arcadia	That's okay, Arcadia totally has the flattening cat ears covered. There's a loud whipcrack. A bunch of jabber. Another somehow even louder whipcrack. The third cracking whip sound is from how hard Arcadia's tail snaps in irritation. "Keep the noise down, ya blowhard. And someone explain what the smeg is going on."
Arkae Zellar	"Oh, we got a couple of jokesters in the rat crew, do we," says the whip-wielding pirate. "Well, we all like a good joke, har har har." He cracks the whip, and the six minion pirates fan out around the room. "I got a good one for ya, rats! What do you call the land-lubber who thought he could stand up to Master Scourge?" "I'm sure yer all just dyin' to know the answer." "You've been press ganged, you drunken louts. Whatever lives ya had before now, ya can kiss farewell, because yer part of Captain Harrigan's crew now. Now kindly come upstairs, or we'll drag ya upstairs and make ya wish we didn't have to." He cracks his whip again. God damn it, that hurts. Seven pirates versus the four Concord elites in their current condition isn't unbearably terrible odds, even in your current condition. It's not terrible, but it's not great. ... This is assuming that you all work together as a well oiled machine, and go all in on resisting, of course. If even one of you isn't giving their all, it's an automatic loss. "Oh, and the first one of you rats up the ramp gets a double share of treasure from the next ship we take."
Bowser	Bowser glares at Scourge. He looms, slowly stretching himself up to his full height, knuckles cracking as his squeezes his fists. He presses one fist into his palm and cracks his knuckles with a sound of thunder. He looks down at Scourge, his eyes narrowing. Bowser doesn't need EQUIPMENT. Bowser is a force of nature all his own. He is a creature who has taken on kingdoms, laid low armies. He is a primal force of his world. "Treasure?! Heck yea!" He starts shoving aside pirates to get up the stairs.
Katt	"I'll make you a deal right back," Katt says, her face starting to redden. "The one of you that took my staff gives it back and I don't kick your butt right off whatever ship this is!" She winces at the sound of the whip, but it doesn't get her to back down; being challenged only makes Katt more stubborn, and she knows - *knows*, deep down - that she's a better fighter than any of these pirates. Of course, they outnumber her and she feels like crap, but she's never let actual planning get in her way before and she's not about to start now. Katt takes one step forward toward the closest pirate. She makes it look like a stumble, but that one is actually faked; what she actually does is grab for the man, swing, and attempt to slam him into one of the walls. "I'm Katt, champion gladiator of Coursair! If you want a piece of me, come and get it, because I'm better than any of you! And - HEY!" That last one was yelled at Bowser, not at any of the pirates. So much for backup. Not that Katt thinks she needs it. Right? ...right?
Sumiko	Mikoto starts rising up as she gets threatened.  Oh, they 'press-ganged' her huh?  She makes sure to brace herself.  Her hand moving to her ring to summon the soul gem.  She's sure that they could take them after all one good whap would be all the justifications he needs to transform.  Of course, that LAST WORD... "Treasure?" A beat.  She runs for the stairs, aiming to try and squeeze by the pirates and leap onto the stairs ahead of Bowser before he can lumber up the stairs and take her extra share.
Arcadia	Arcadia doesn't respond at first. Mostly because she's got to stop and do some mental juggling to recall what 'press-ganged' means. When she does get to it, it makes her hackles raise. And by then, most of the group is already storming topside because of 'treasure'. Except for Katt, who's all rip-roaring to pick a fight. Arcadia rubs her brow again, though it's not the hangover this time. Though also compared to some of the other weirdness she's been dealing with lately, this is pretty low-key. That said, she reachs over to give Katt's shoulder a tug. "Psst. It's probably better to play along and find out what that treasure is first." Pause. "And get back your staff." Arcadia at least realizes she needs a little longer to get back up to speed (ha ha ha) before she can kick a bunch of pirate asses and get off this tub.
Arkae Zellar	Most of the group makes it up the stairs under their own power, if still greatly hung over. It's not so much 'running' as it is 'stumbling', with the hangover (you may have also been drugged, it's hard to tell) and having just gotten up. Bowser makes it up the ramp first, followed by Mikoto, then Arcadia, and then... ... then Katt, who may or may not be unconscious, being dragged up the ramp by the minion pirates, two of whom have black eyes and look exceedingly pissed off. As it turns out... the Concord group may not be the only elites that the pirates have press-ganged. There's a handful of others that look out of place... a ninja, a man wearing a (by this point dirty) suit and carrying a briefcase, a wolfman, and an overweight guy in the most stereotypical fly fisher getup you can imagine. None of them look terribly happy either. Katt, awake or not, gets tied to the mast - upside down, because why not. Captain Harrigan (you can tell he's Captain because he has the best hat) appears at the navigation deck of the ship, addressing those below over the railing. "Alright, you lot!" "Welcome to the Wormwood. Thanks for, heh, volunteering. There's treasure on the horizon for those who can make the cut, and for those who can't - or that think that just because they're big deals in whatever worlds they're from they don't got to listen to my orders..." Master Scourge, beside him, cracks his whip. Damn it, that noise still hurts.
Sumiko	Were they drugged?  Possibly, but it's going to be a while before she could tell for certain.  Mikoto rubs her head as the whip is cracked again.  "Yes, very good, captain.  Your dick is the biggest one here, we get it," Mikoto says, with an annoyed grunt of pain, and also annoyed that she was beaten by an oversized turtle who's shell is spikey and attitude is awful.   "Look, if you wanted to make money and needed people, you really just needed to sign up with the Concord.  But hey, we can overlook this stuff.  You want to make money, I want to make money it works out." She rubs her head again.  "Though I wouldn't keep me here too long.  If I use too much magic, the problem you'll get is far bigger."
Arcadia	Well, she tried. Kat.. is most likely okay. She's going to get out of that... eventually. Right? Right. Maybe it'll help her sober up. Arcadia can't help but cringe as there's more whipcracking. That's still -so- annoying. If they do as he says for the time being and he stops doing that, good, fine. Like she said, play along for now. Even if it's just for a chance to grab everything for themselves later, right? She assumes that's what the rest of her fellow Concords are thinking. Or similar. "He does have the most striking hat on the ship," she half-murmurs at Mikoto's dick measuring comment.
Bowser	Bowser looks at that captain hat. PAST "KAMEK! KAMEK! MAKE THE PIRATE SHIP GO!" A four year old Bowser shrieks with delight as he rides a small boat across a lava moat, propelled by a magic blast, paper pirate hat perched on his head. "I am gonna be the best pirate captain when I grow up!" NOW Bowser has not heard anything anyone else has said.
Katt	Katt is indeed conscious when she gets dragged up by the pirates. You can tell because she's yelling, even though it hurts her ears to do it. "You pieces of crap! Once I get loose I'm going to kick all your butts! At once! Even if I have to light this ship on fire to do it!!" (She actually already tried her magic but couldn't focus enough to do it yet. That may be part of the reason why she was subdued quickly.) Katt flails when she's tied to the mast, and almost immediately starts twisting in an attempt to get out. She actually slips partway out after about ten seconds, dangling by one leg and forcing them to retie her a little tighter. She's still moving around against the mast, but with a good deal less vigor, because she can't move nearly as much as she could the first time she tried. Katt is actually quite agile, but she's never really learned how to get free from ropes short of snapping them, and she *really* doesn't think she can pull that one off right this instant.
Arkae Zellar	"Captain, we've got a ship spotted," says another pirate at the captain's shoulder. "Really? Already, there's not-" There's some muttering between them. "Alright then- you lot make yourselves busy for the next... hour, and then prepare for combat! Everyone who fights gets an equal share! Everyone who doesn't fight gets to meet Splashy! Har har har." The fly-fisher shifts, nervously. "Get to it!" calls the captain, and then disappears into the cabins. The pirate crew mills about, doing pirate crew things. The hangovers are slowly starting to wear off- though they're far from gone. "I do hope none of you rats are sea-brained enough to try helpin' yer miserable rat friend there," says Master Scourage to the Concord group, gesturing with his whip towards Katt. "All of you with your technological bits and your magic and your being giant turtles - Master Scourge has technology too. I've got a robot arm I've been just dying to use on some unrepentant rat." Note: Both of Master Scourge's arms appear to be biological and intact.
Arcadia	And Arcadia 'looks' biological outside her armor and the augmentations to her wings. So she's at least not going to take that comment too lightly. He could also mean he's got an arm he broke off a robot and uses it to beat people with. His statement would technically not be lying if that was true. The worst part is being told to -wait-. That's worse than being drunk and hungover. At least to her. If she wasn't still feeling off she'd whip up some wind to make the boat move faster. But she'd rather not loose control of said wind and topsize them over. Unless they have to for escaping later. Hopefully big chonky turtle can swim if need be.
Sumiko	"She was stupid enough to try and take you all on while inhibited like this, then that's on her.  Though I would cut her loose for the raid on the ship.  I mean unless you're scared that you can't handle one girl you already beat up once." Mikoto says, dismissively.  She moves off to pretend to look busy.   Which really amounts to looking really busy but actually doing nothing so she can recover. Still, surprising that she acts as she does despite not having a weapon and looking like a normal little girl.   Maybe she's just mouthy.  She does, however, pull out a cellphone to see if she can get multiversal signal out here.
Katt	Katt remains upside down. She at least shuts up after a few minutes, having run out of useful things to yell about. She did get out another, "Stop calling me a rat!" somewhere in there, though. Katt spends the time trying to free herself, because being held upside down for this long is dizzying and what else is she going to do? She pulls her arms in as far as she can, exhales, and tries to wiggle herself free - not completely out, because that will just get her retied again, but enough that she can jackknife and raise her head a little bit. "You know, if you wanted me to fight for you for treasure, you could have just *asked*."
Bowser	Bowser shakes his head, coming back into the present. He rubs at his chin, looking over at Katt. He rubs under what passes as a chin, getting a crafty look on his face. "That's one of my minions. When the boat comes, I'm going to need my best minions to fight for me." He waves a big clawed ham hand, "She's crazy! And not very smart. But she'll be useful." IN BECOMING THE GREATEST PIRATE CAPTAIN AND HAVING A REAL COOL PIRATE HAT AND A MOUND OF PIRATE TRASH. Bowser hasn't his DS on him if he needs to make a call, but he's busy right now.
Arkae Zellar	Yep, there's multiversal cell signal out here. "... Fine. You can have yer minion back once it gets time to fight," says Master Scourge. Time passes. A ship appears on the horizon. The ship everyone is standing on is undeniably a Ye Olde Fantasy Pirate Ship. It's made out of wood, it has a 8-pointed wheel that somoene is moving about to steer it, it has a sail, all the usual pirate ship things. The ship that it's rapidly approaching is not fantasy, nor pirate, nor small. It is in fact a full-sized modern cruise ship. "All hands, get ready to board and plunder!" Master Scourge, true to his word, finally cuts Katt down... and then proceeds to ignore the Concord group from that point forward in favor of terrorizing the fly fisher. "Splashy ready fer his 'performance?'" Scourge says, grabbing the fly fisher by the arm. "Yes, yes," says the fisherman nervously. "I do this, and you let Lady go unharmed, right?" "Let's just say if Splashy don't do his thing, then I ain't promisin' yer lady *won't* be unharmed... har har har..."
Bowser	Bowser nods once at Katt, flashing a brief grin. Then leaving her to possibly pass out from the blood rushing to her head. IN THAT HOUR. Bowser has been making use of his ability to punch and bully people into getting what he wants. NOW. Bowser appears at the edge of the railing, a bandana on his head, an eyepatch on his eye, though somewhat small and illfitting, and a blade in his teeth. He is still wearing parachute pants and a tanktop. Across his shoulder, he's got a boarding bridge, since he is the most likely to not give a single shit about getting hit with one of those weird sound guns they got on cruise ships.
Sumiko	Mikoto walks to the edge of the ship...hm!  That's a modern ship, and hilariously this ship was actually probably equipped to fight it, but not keep up with it should it decide to go full speed.  Do they know that?  Probably...probably.   Mikoto rubs her head again, stealing is one thing, but she wonders how murderous and other-ous these pirates are.  Still, she doesn't have the luxury of being able to do anything about it, as she is still sluggish from the stuff they ingested.  Maybe it was drugs, maybe it was that good ass root beer.   After a moment, there is a ~Magical Girl~ transformation sequence, ending in Mikoto in a very jade-ish outfit with a mask standing on the edge of the ship, with a jade longsword on her shoulder.
Katt	"Who're you calling not very smart??" Katt *isn't* very smart. Under normal circumstances she would be the first (or at least, like, the second or third) to admit that cleverness isn't her forte. But right now she's angry and she can't take it out on anyone because she is hanging from a mast. She never does pass out, at least. Stubbornness works for something! Eventually she gets cut down, though. Katt tumbles to the deck, light-headed and dizzy again; when she gets up, she's a little unsteady, which is probably best for her because it means she does not immediately tackle Master Scourge. Instead, she spends a moment squeezing her eyes closed, then open again. She staggers to a barrel of salt water (for scrubbing the decks; it's not usable for drinking) and then dunks her head in it. She looks a lot more awake and alert afterwards, though her hair is plastered down. "I'm gonna borrow this," she says, picking up a capstan lever (a pole about six or seven feet long - it's taller than Katt is) not currently in use. She swings it a couple times to get the feel of it; heavier than her normal staff, less flexible, noticably longer, but she can use it. She still has a grudge on whoever took her staff, but she doesn't have time to go looking for it right now. Probably some pirate took it as a reward, she thinks to herself, angry again.
Arcadia	An hour is long enough for Arcadia's head to clear up a bit more. Not entirely, but she should be able whip out the magitek without blowing up something she shouldn't now. It's also long enough for the sphinx to get very twitchy from having to wait that long. At least once they get a ship in sight she can lurk at the railing and be ready to leap into action. But she's waiting. Twitchy and impatient as she is, she knows she can't just bolt off and take the ship on her own. Well, maybe she could. But the pirates would probably see that as mutiny or something, so she'll stick to playing along.
Arkae Zellar	Bowser manages to bully the wolfman into being one his minions. Normally this would take multiple intimidate rolls and actual roleplay, but we're trying to fit an entire adventure path book into two scenes so we're fast forwarding past that. Mikoto's ~Magical Girl~ transformation draws a few turned heads - mostly from the actual pirates who are still getting used to the multiversal variety that's out there. The cruise ship draws nearer... some of the tourists on board can be seen looking at the ship through binoculars. Clearly they think the olde style fantasy pirate ship is a curiosity. "Yer up," says Scourge, giving the fisherman a shove. "Alright, alright... Splashy! I choose you!" He throws a red and white ball at the ship, which opens up to launch a goofy looking fish. "Use Tackle!" "Karp karp," says Splashy, slapping a fin against the side of the ship- - causing the hull to *cave in* from the force of the blow, and making the cruise ship shudder and halt as a result, the sudden stop in momentum causing the tourists on the top deck to fall over. Grappling ropes are launched from the cannons, connecting the two ships.
Sumiko	"Haha, that pokemon looks stupid," Mikoto takes a picture of the Magicarp, right before it smashes the side of the ship.  "Wow," She says, stunned.  The stupid-looking pokemon is actually dangerous.  It's still hilarious. Not needing a hook, she takes to the sky as a strange pack forms around her front and mid, allowing her to take flight.  Crossing the distance, she hits the deck of the other ship and speaks up.  "Alright, these are actually pirates, you're actually getting robbed.  I suggest you don't try and fight, and instead, give up your stuff, and then just let insurance repay you once you hit land." "So let's start by seeing those hands in the air," Mikoto says, "Or if you're on the ground just staying there flat on your stomach, hands spread out.  Nobody tries and reach into your pockets."
Arcadia	These pirates are pretty authentic. Arcadia is taking a few notes, both for proper historical documentation for later, and because there might be useful things for the airship kind of pirates later. Though they probably can't use fish to smash hulls, because airships. Maybe atmospheric jellyfish or something. Thoughts for later. Then it's time to fly, accompanying Mikoto over to the cruise ship. Though she's already trying to talk people into giving up right away, so the sphinx is mainly there to also look intimidating.
Katt	Katt has seen a lot of things in her life. She's fought a lot of monsters and a lot of gladiators, who have used all sorts of weapons from the reasonable to the exotic to the bizarre. "...Damn." She has never seen  a stupid-looking fish slap a hole in the side of a ship. Katt must be feeling at least a little better, because she hops up onto one of the grappling ropes and actually runs across it, balancing; she holds the capstan lever in the center, using it like a trapeze-walker's balancing pole. Which, really, she kind of is right now. She lands near Mikoto and Arcadia, resting the butt of the staff on the ground and letting it tower next to her. She's grinning, which is probably one of the more intimidating things she can do (besides hold a staff that size with one hand, which she is also doing right now). Apparently the adrenaline is doing her some good.
Bowser	Bowser has about the same response as Mikoto. "GWAHAHAHAHA! What a useless minio-" WHAM. His jaw hangs open as the ships come closer together. It takes a distinct cough from the wolfman for Bowser to remember to slam the bridge down and start barreling over to the cruise ship. "Alright! This is Pirate Lord Bowser! All you land-lubbers down! If one of you even THINKS of shivering my timbers, I'll punch you into last week!" To show that he means business, Bowser grabs a nearby deck chair and hits a nearby plastic palm tree into the sunset with it. "Now show me where your treasure is!"
Arkae Zellar	The trio of dangerous ladies land or climb onto the ship, and set about terrorizing the tourists. It all goes swimmingly and they collect a fair number of wallets and jewelry until: "HALT, EVILDOERS!" There's a trio of young adults in brightly colored uniforms. "We've been hired to protect this ship and these people from the likes of you! I'm Cyber Warrior Jacinthe!" says the one in blue armor. "Yeah, so step off the ship and nobody gets hurt - except for your pride, at being so soundly routed at the hands of the Cyber Warriors!" says the one in red armor. "Cyber Warrior Citrine!" "Friendship! Love! Teamwork! Listening to your Parents! These and many more are the sources of our power, as the Cyber Warriors!" announces the leader in yellow armor. "Cyber Warrior Hyacinthine!" "Together, we are..." "The Cyber Warriors!" They shoot laser guns at the concord trio. Meanwhile, Bowser doesn't have to deal with all of that bullshit and gets lead down to the ship's safe, which has actual treasure in it.
Bowser	Heck yea. Bowser calmly walks down the staircases and downwards to the safe. He grabs a whole lobster from the seafood buffet and crunches into it as they head down to the safe. He picks it up, "Alright, finders keepers!" One of the pirates near Bowser lifts up a finger, "Uh, actually, there's the pirate's code." A gleam comes in the darkness as Bowser brings his eye around slowly to the other man. "What?" "Yea!" Two other people with him recite in somewhat off rhythm, Every member of the crew gets an equal share of treasure. Anyone caught taking more than his fair share of loot, or refusing to report its discovery in a timely manner, shall be marooned. The captain receives extra shares of any treasure, as do shipwrights, carpenters, and officers to lesser degrees." "Lesser degrees." The King Koopa takes a moment to think about this. He does want to be THE BEST PIRATE CAPTAIN. He hoists the safe up to his shoulder, "That's right! I knew that! I was just TESTING YOU! Gwahahahaahaha!"
Sumiko	Mikoto is seriously wondering at her luck.  Bowser gets by the color-coded hero wannabe brigade, and she's stuck dealing with them.  On one side she has the hyperactive Sphinx, and on the other hand, she has the stupid cat.  Rubbing at her head, really too fucking hungover to deal with this, she frowns as the trio fires their beams.   The blade swings around herself, as it digs into the deck of the ship, and she thrusts the blade down into the ground.  Spikes shoot up all around her, causing the beams to flow around her like a boulder in a stream.  There is a moment of pause, and then the spikes shoot up in their own stream towards yellow, aiming to impale of they were not fast enough. "So you know what, I've had a terrible day so far.  Kidnapped against my will by Pirates, drugged (allegedly), and now having to fight some color-coded kids who think they're heroes of justice or some stupid shit.  So you know what?  Deal with it, I am Mikoto Shimizu, Magical Girl of Envy.  I will claim everything that I want, I will take everything that I want, and I will /HAVE/ everything that I want." She starts walking forward, with that green-eyed glow in her eyes, a shadow passing over her face and an off-kilter smile on it.  "So I needed to blow off some steam, and looks like I have a chew toy to do it with."
Arcadia	You know what all the posing and proclaiming is? It's a big warning, that's what. Even still a little addled in the brain Arcadia can see that coming a mile away (not that she's a mile away) and by the time the lasers start shooting the sphinx has already launched herself into the air and away from the shots. "You call those lasers?" She points her arms forward, sparking energies already generating between palms. "This is a laser... RAIDEN ARC!" She fires a beam of purple electricity at the Cyber Rangers, directed to chain between the three of them. The real fun comes if they try to move apart to break the chain. It's possible, but they're going to have to put some considerable space between themselves, because the lightning beam actually twists and arcs itself to try and keep the charge connecting them.
Katt	Katt remains grinning when the Cyber Warriors threaten her and the other Concord members. "Oh, you want to challenge? I'm feeling one whole heck of a lot better now, so how about instead I don't?" She moves at the last second, but she wasn't accounting for the speed that a laser blast goes, and it singes her tail as she darts forward. She shifts her grip on the staff, pivoting it up and around until she has a two-handed grip on it. Katt swings the staff like a distressingly large and heavy baseball bat, simply trying to bowl over the closest of the Cyber Warriors (she thinks it is Hyacinthine but she forgot which is which already). It's a powerful blow, but more than sheer damage, she's angled it to literally throw this one into one of the others (Citrine?) She follows this up by jabbing with the tip of the staff, over and over, using her extreme reach to advantage. Katt may be on the thick side, but there's one thing she knows a hell of a lot about, and it's fighting. "Take us to the treasure and we'll stop beating you up!" Katt pauses. "I'll stop beating you up," she corrects, because she's not sure about Mikoto at this point.
Arkae Zellar	"Um, guys, I think we're out of our league here," says Cyber Warrior Hyacinthine. "Nah, remember, Standing Up To Bullies And Then Telling a Teacher is one of our power sources," says Cyber Warrior Jacinthe. "We're fine!" "Yeah, but-" Cyber Warrior Hyacinthine starts to say, before she gets impaled. "No! Cyber Warrior Hyacinthine!" says Cyber Warrior Citrine. "I- ugh," she adds, as she gets whalloped by Katt. "We're still in this! Never Giving Up Ever is the source of our true power, and-" The chain lightning takes all of them out. Good job, Cyber Warriors. MEANWHILE ON THE PIRATE SHIP "I think the new recruits are a bit too powerful, don't you think, Master Scourge," says Captain Harrigan. "Yes," says Master Scourge. "We may need to take... preventative measures." "You mean betray them and kill them when they're least suspecting it." "Yes, that is what I mean." Oh no! What could that dramatically subtle cutscene, full of intrigue and implications, possibly mean for our heroes? BACK ON THE CRUISE SHIP People give up their valuables much more readily to the Concord Four after that. They can barely carry all that stuff. Right now the four are on the deck with a pile of wallets, jewelry, miscellaneous things, and the safe.
Sumiko	Mikoto takes extra time to rob the Cyber warriors completely.  Also, kick them while they're down.  Then once her spiteful side is satisfied, she goes back to robbing the rest of the people.  Trying to remain calm and orderly, especially now that her spite was satisfied. "Man, I really don't want to have to share this especially after all of the work we did.  Most of those guys didn't do jack," Mikoto complains, but shrugs.  Once the drug is mostly out of her system it'll be time to just bust loose from the ship itself.   But she can be patient, the front door approach was far too difficult, so she'll wait things out for a better opportunity to knock heads in.  Also, Bowser seems pretty great at attracting followers.  That'll be useful!
Bowser	Bowser gets up onto the deck with the safe. He still has the blade in his teeth. He tromps over the Cyber Warriors as he makes his way up. "Hey. What took you guys so long. I found the BOOTY!" He hoists the safe onto one shoulder and with the other, he grabs the cutlass from his teeth to wave it at the surrounding group. "AND JUST REMEMBER ALL OF YOU! You've been swashbuckled by the DREAD PIRATE BOWSER and his minions, Katt, Mikoto, and Arcadia. Tell everyone how TERRIFIED YOU WERE!" "No wait, we want them to go out on ships, right? Tell them you were terrified of us, but you want to them to still go on boats with all their most valuable things."
Arcadia	Arcadia lands over the fallen Rangers. "Oh good. Those knock offs were -so- annoying." She snatchs up as much of the loot as she can without doing something obviously tricky like dumping it in her Inventory of Holding that the pirates might mistake as something else. But now that she got to zap someone into submission she's more readily playing along with the whole pirate deal. She does have a bit of experience in doing so, after all. "I don't think it really matters as long as we get all there stuff," she off-hand comments to Bowser. Squints a little at being called a minion, but doesn't feel like making a big deal out of it at the moment. DREAD PIRATE BOWSER is maybe arguably better than Captain what's his face over there that keeps insulting and cracking whips at them.
Katt	Katt doesn't usually hit people when they're down unless she's particularly annoyed at them, and honestly she's mostly blowing off steam; she might hit Scourge while he is down, but as long as the Cyber Warriors of Justice and Listening To Your Parents stay down, she's content to let them. Especially now that they're getting, just, all the loot. Katt is currently trying to find if there's any more bicep bands she can add to the ones she already wears, but is being foiled because that's not a popular piece of jewelry to wear on a cruise ship. (Now, if she wanted rings...) "Man, paper money," she says, checking inside a wallet. "Who'd bring paper money on a boat? If it gets wet it'll just dissolve. Coins would be better here." Also, she points her staff at Bowser - for emphasis, not threatening. "I'm still not your minion, by the way! I'm my own minion! Wait, no, not like that - "
Arkae Zellar	The BOOTY is gathered and brought onto the pirate ship, which sails off from the stupid cruise ship. By now, the titular hangover is mostly dealt with. Your heads still hurt, but it's not going to impair your ability too bad. "So!" says Master Scourge, once everyone is back on board. "You lot seem to be taking to pirating very well!" "How'd you four like to bury some genuine treasure? Hell, we trust ya enough to let you handle the whole thing on your own, we're sure you won't try to run off with the chest!" He pats the chest next to him. He seems generally a lot friendlier than he was this morning. Certainly there's nothing strange about that. Probably you just impressed him, so he's treating you nicer.
Sumiko	Mikoto looks at the Pirate captain oddly.   "Why would you bury treasure?  That seems wasteful, you can't live a life of luxury if you don't have the treasure ON you," she says, thinking.  "Unless this is some pirate slang for actually doing something with it."
Katt	"No, pirates bury treasure," Katt says. "So... they can dig it up later? I assume there's a reason. Maybe so that other pirates don't find it - but if they're burying treasure too, what if they dig it up?" She never thought this through before.
Bowser	Bowser rolls his eyes at Mikoto, "You bury the treasure so no one can find it so you can pick it up later. Everyone knows that! It's a pirate thing." He looks at Scourge, shaking his head as if to say 'Land-Lubbers, sheesh.'
Arcadia	"Because if they bury the treasure they have more room in the holds for things that have more immeadiately useful value, like weapons and supplies for long voyages," Arcadia replies.
Bowser	Bowser points at Arcadia, "See, that's officer material." nine tent
Arkae Zellar	"You know what, sure, as soon as you get back we'll take some of the *other* treasure and let you do something with it. Buying things? We'll let you go buy stuff. We'll let you go buy a swimming pool so you can swim in it, if you want," says Master Scourge as the pirate ship pulls up to the first deserted island it can find. "Off you go! Shovels if you want them, but hell, I bet you lot can just blast a hole in the ground or something. Goodbye!"
Bowser	Boswer lets someone else pick up the chest, because there is delegation! "Damn right. I mean, we'll be right back, it's not going to take that long." He lifts up his finger, "We need to make a map! I'll take a picture with my phone and we can make a map later." He leaps off the boat. Hulk leap. He leaps from the deck to the beach with a mighty leap that rocks the boat slightly, and brings up a wash of sand when he lands with a WHUMP.
Katt	"I want a shovel," Katt says. "And I want my staff back! Not this, uh, whatever bit of a ship it is. Find the guy who took it from me and give it back, if you trust me! She doesn't say anything more until a) she gets it back and b) she isn't in Scourge's hearing anymore. "Jerk," she says. "I wonder why he wanted *us* to bury it? I figured he had guys for that."
Arkae Zellar	Katt does get her staff back, as well as anyone else who had gear confiscated. They trust you guys now, right? Scourge even said.
Sumiko	The rest of her partners are just...buying into this bury treasure thing.   Shrugging her shoulders, she just starts taking flight, "Not it on carrying the treasure." She says and flies off after Bowser to land on the island itself.   To Katt, she shrugs, "Well either he's afraid of us and trying to betray us, or this is very important to the culture of Pirates and they're looking to induct us and this is some stupid right of passage."
Arcadia	It's hard to tell if Arcadia is buying it or just playing along like she has been. Either way, she grabs the chest because she can just hover with it, easy lifting! And scoots off onto the island with the others.
Arkae Zellar	The group goes off to find a spot to bury the treasure chest. It's a nicely jungle-ish deserted island, with lots of good spots to bury treasure. There's also random encounters with... oh, I don't know, angry plant monsters. Nothing the group can't handle, but it's a bit time consuming. ... But when someone looks back towards shore, the ship is leaving, at speed, directly away from the island.
Bowser	Bowser finds a nice cabin on a bluff with a weird zombie in it hanging from the neck by a rope. He grabs the rope and hammer throws the zombie into the ocean. He then pulls out a bom-omb, grasping the key on the back. "This is pretty good. They like us so much already!" Bowser is in a pretty jolly mood. He is having a lot of fun here. He cranks the bom-omb and puts it on the ground, then steps away from it to the cliff. "Hey... is the boat getting further away?"
Arcadia	Jungle plants? Bugs? Jungle plant bug monsters? Doesn't really matter. Well other than Arcadia has her hands full carrying the chest. That kind of matters. Until you remember she's also got her magitek funnel bits, which she deploys to chase off anything that gets too close to her with flamethrowers. Multiple flamethrowers. "Do you think they're plotting to doublecross us yet?" She's just making casual conversation. "Or we doublecross them. Someone is going to do it to someone else eventually. That's why there's double crossed bones on pirate flags." Or they could just sail off. "What, really? That's boring. No stabbing of the backs first? What lame pirates."
Katt	Katt is very pleased to have her own staff back. She was good with the long pole from before, but she's more comfortable with this one - and she demonstrates it when the plant monsters show up, spinning it to build up momentum before practically smashing it into the ground. "Yeah, I really am feeling better now," she says, shaking her arm out. "Anyway, is that really the reason they have bones on the flags? I figured they just thought it looked scary - " She pauses. "Hey, the boat *is* getting further away! They're running away from us!!"
Sumiko	"Huh, so they were trying to double-cross us," Mikoto says annoyed.  "And here I thought they were smarter than that..." She shrugs. She gets on the phone.  "Unless anyone else has an airship they can call?  In other words, I am going to call a ride for us so we can catch up," a pause, "You know, so we can show them what happens when you cross the Concord."
Arkae Zellar	And then the treasure chest explodes. Because it had a bomb hidden in it. If Arcadia is still holding onto it, she probably has a very bad time.
Bowser	I mean, at the same time, the entire cabin explodes into a hole in the ground.
Sumiko	The bomb explodes in the chest.   Mikoto hits cover as that happens, looking up, after all, is said and done.  This is followed by a second explosion.  Mikoto starts making sounds with her mouth to try and start hearing again.  "Mawp, Mawp..?" She isn't even able to dial a number yet.
Arcadia	Arcadia could catch the ship! But not at this moment. As soon as they realize the pirates are trying to ditch them for being so much better pirates Arcadia gets suspicious, and rockets straight up in the air. A few moments and an explosion later the sphinx thuds back to the ground. But the most anyone else has to deal with is the really loud noise, maybe a bit of the shockwave from it. And likely the pirates thinking their booby trapped chest caught a bunch of boobies if they're still close enough to hear it. Arcadia holds up a hand from the vagely sphinx shaped impact in the island soil. "That wasn't nearly as bad as the hangover was!"
Katt	Explosions happen. Katt already had a headache. She goes flat reflexively at the one that erupts from the chest overhead, half-burying herself in the sand, and claps her hands over her ears. She raises her face out of the sand a moment later when she realizes she isn't exploded, just in time to see Arcadia crash down in front of her. Katt bounds back up and prods at the sphinx with the tip of her staff. "Huh. I figured it'd be worse!" She's talking too loud - that must have really hurt her ears.
Arcadia	Arcadia swats at the staff with one hand. "My armor's defense wards don't work against the hangover," she points out. They also didn't completely null the explosion because it was point-blank, but are why she's just really toasty and not in a dozen pieces of zoomcat.
Bowser	Bowser hears the first explosion. He nods quietly to himself. Then he hears the second explosion from above them. Arcadia comes hurtling to the ground and crashes through it. He lumbers over to peer into the hole. "They betrayed us." He is a little bit stunned. He reaches down to grab Arcadia by the hand and haul her bodily out of the hole. "They... betrayed us." Anger suddenly roils up in him and he clutches his other fist, "They betrayed us! That's against the pirate code! We did the work!" He pulls out a big grey clam shell device and flips it open. He gingerly picks up a stylus and pokes at the screen, pressing the 'Call Koopa Klown Kar' button on the screen. "You know what we have to do!!"
Arkae Zellar	What *do* they have to do? Find out tomorrow, when THE HANGOVER reaches its explosive conclusion! (Spoiler: they fight pirates)