England reclined in his chair by his favorite café, a fancy teacup in one hand and a newspaper in the other. His piercing green eyes scanned the page in front of him languidly. The newspaper had been relatively bland lately. Why can't a chap get some decent news? Affairs in Iraq…blahblahblah…strikes in France… yadda yadda yadda…WAIT! What was this?

An image of a splendid pirate ship seemed to pop out from the page. He immediately recognized the ship. Back in the days when he'd been the scourge of the high seas, this had been his sailing vessel. He'd sold it to an auction company a few weeks ago for a large sum of money. Apparently they had restored it to tip-top shape. She's just as beautiful as she was when I first built her, the gentleman thought contentedly.

Under the picture, there was a huge speech bubble which said, "Real pirate ship! On auction at the harbor today!"

Britain considered attending the auction. He wanted to see his glorious ship in person one last time before it was sold. He downed the last of his tea and took a red double-decker bus to the harbor, where the auction was already in progress.

There she was, the sun glinting off the gold plaque on her starboard side. The Sea Maiden at her peak was really a sight to behold. Her deck had been polished and scrubbed thoroughly, so the ship positively gleamed- she looked like she'd been sent from heaven. Massive white sails dangled from her towering mast and flapped in the calm breeze like angel wings. The holes that had once riddled her body had been expertly repaired. The maiden figurehead on her hull seemed to glow.

But even more impressive than the magnificent ship was the crowd surrounding it. People had come from every nook and cranny of London to witness the immaculate wonder. It was a rainbow coalition of people- rich, poor, fat, skinny, elegant, ugly, and everything in between.

England weaved through the immense throng of people with not a few "pardon me"s and "excuse me"s. On the dock stood a single man. The auctioner. The crowd was frenzied, waving all the money they had in the air for the auctioner to see. People pushed and shoved each other to get closer to him- there were even a few fistfights that broke out. The auctioner looked a bit panicked. A red rope separated him and the crowd, but the mob could jump over the rope any second.

Save me, the maiden figurehead seemed to scream to her ex-master. Her unseeing eyes were wide and frightened.

Maybe it was the allure of the ship. Maybe it was because England longed for a deviation from his uneventful life. Or maybe it was a combination of both. But something caused Arthur to holler over the cacophony of the crowd. "Sir! I want to buy my ship back!" All at once, everything froze. The crowd parted in half to allow the blonde gentleman to walk through. There were some reproachful glances thrown his way, but otherwise the crowd was obedient. They understood what had happened. The original owner of the item being auctioned had first dibs on his own item at any auction, no matter how much any other bidder offered.

The auctioner wiped his forehead with relief. Britain produced a checkbook from his breast pocket and signed it for thirty million pounds, the exact same price he'd sold the vessel for. He handed the check to the auctioner, who smiled and quietly thanked him. "She'd all yours," said the man.

Arthur strode up the dock to a serenade of groans and mumbling from the crowd. "Oh, how I've missed you," he sighed, running a hand over the sleek ship's wooden frame.

Over the next few days, the gentleman hauled everything from his house onto the Sea Maiden. Passersby on the streets gave him weird looks. "He's completely mad!" They laughed and pointed every time they saw him tugging a full wagon of furniture and belongings to the harbor. With gritted teeth, Iggy ignored their jeering and continued with his work.

When his house was empty and his ship full, he sold the house. At this point, all his acquaintances thought him completely crazy. But Britain did not care. The old ship was his abode now.

What he needed now was a treasure to go after. Surely there could be reports on the web. He powered on his laptop and typed "Treasures" into the Google search bar. He scrolled down the page and clicked on every link he came across. Most of the information was fraudulent and unreliable, but there were several sites which mentioned a common treasure: the Gem of Power. According to the articles, the Gem could make its owner undefeatable, the absolute strongest. It could control the elements, offer invulnerability, give the user psychic powers, and even affect time and space, among many other functions.

This was exactly what England needed to start off on an adventure. Centuries of sitting on his haunches and drinking tea had made him restless.

He crossed the captain's quarters to a wardrobe in the corner. He rifled through his old clothes. Revolutionary War redcoat…Britannia Angel outfit…the pirate suit. He snatched it up eagerly, took the hanger off, and dressed in the familiar black pirate hat, rich red cloak with gold trim, and black boots. He admired himself in his full-length mirror.

Pirate Iggy was back.