John's heart felt heavy as he watched The Damned approach Sinbad's ship. Sinbad and John were standing on the deck while the rest of the crew waited on shore. As The Damned got closer, John saw Hercules at the helm with Meg right beside him. The rest of the crew stood ready on the deck with their swords. John had no doubt that The Damned crew would prevail due to their kill-or-be-killed training from Kida when she was their captain. He wasn't worried about his friends. He was worried about Jim. Even though Sinbad killed Marina, John honestly didn't think Sinbad had it in him to kill Jim. Still, John's heart beat faster when he saw Jim and dread filled his stomach.

As soon as The Damned reached shore, the crew jumped off the ship and stormed towards Sinbad's crew. John and Sinbad watched the battle from the deck.

"Don't do this," John pleaded. His hands were tied to one of the masts and he also had a loose rope around his neck that tightened when he tried to pull free. He wanted so badly to break free and run to Jim. "My crew will kill yours. I'm sure you've heard all about our battles with other ships. You know they don't leave survivors."

Sinbad smirked. "You can call this off any time."

Sinbad walked to the top of the ramp and looked down at the small battle. He let out a loud, sharp whistle and everyone turned to look up at him. As soon as Meg saw him, she charged towards him. One man grabbed her, but she barely stopped when she stabbed him in the stomach and kept walking. Two more men grabbed her.

"Everybody, relax!" Sinbad called out. "I wish no harm to your crew, Hercules. I just want the boy."

All eyes turned to Jim. Jim glared at him and bravely walked up onto the ship. As soon as he saw John, he started running towards him. But Sinbad grabbed him and pulled him back. In an instant Sinbad had his sword unsheathed and pointed at Jim.

"You're standing in my way, boy," Sinbad snarled.

Jim attacked Sinbad with all the strength he had in him, but Sinbad was much stronger. Sinbad beat his sword against Jim's, causing Jim to stumble back. The crew of The Damned tried to get on the ship to help Jim, but Sinbad's crew fought them off. John struggled against the ropes, but the more he pulled at them, the tighter the rope around his neck got. Sinbad hit Jim in the face with the handle of his sword. Jim fell and his sword slipped from his hands. Sinbad kicked it away. He then beat Jim until he was barely strong enough to sit up right. Jim weakly reached for his sword and spit blood out of his mouth.

Sinbad laughed crouched down in front of Jim. "It's no use, boy. I'm going kill you and then John will be mine."

Sinbad pressed the blade of his sword against Jim's throat. With one hard thrust he could easily decapitate Jim. John's heart stopped beating for a moment.

"Sinbad, don't!" John cried.

Sinbad glanced over his shoulder, but didn't move his sword. "Why not?"

"I choose you, Sinbad. I want you, not the boy." The desperate words felt like fire on John's tongue.

Sinbad slowly stood up and walked towards John. "Prove it."

John glanced over at Jim's bloody face. Jim looked back at him with wide, hurt eyes. John tore his eyes away from Jim, took a deep breath and kissed Sinbad.

X X X

Ariel watched helplessly from behind The Damned as Eric fought the other pirates. She desperately wanted to help him, not being able to bear if something happened to him; but what could she do?

Ariel sank lower in the water to avoid being seen by anyone. Suddenly, something wrapped around her wrist and pulled her down. As whatever had Ariel swam further down, she tried to get her bearings. When she was finally able to recompose herself, she saw that Ursula was the one who grabbed her. Ariel fought to free herself from Ursula's tentacle.

"Don't bother fighting me, princess; you're no match for my strength."

"What do you want?" Ariel demanded.

"You are a potential interference in my plan and I have to get rid of you."

Ariel's eyes grew wide in fear. "What plan? Are you going to kill me?"

"Heaven's, no." Ursula laughed. "I may need you later on. I just need to make sure you won't be able to stop me."

"I don't understand."

"I need your Daddy's trident and I can't have you ruining things," Ursula said in belittling voice, as if she was talking to a child.

"No!" Ariel cried. She didn't know what Ursula needed the trident for, but the trident had the power to control the sea and everything in it and she knew she couldn't let that kind of power end up in Ursula's hands.

Ursula's heavily lipsticked lips curled into a snarl and she grasped the seashell hanging around her neck. She started chanting something while Ariel tried to get free. When Ursula stopped chanting the seashell started glowing and green smokey hands slithered out from it. They stretched towards Ariel. Ursula wrapped another tentacle around Ariel's wrist to keep her from getting away. The smokey hands forced their way down Ariel's throat and removed a ball of light. Ariel's throat suddenly felt raw and burned. The hands brought the ball of light back to Ursula's necklace and disappeared inside.

Ursula cackled and shot lightning out of her fingers towards Ariel. It wrapped around Ariel's fin. It felt like Ariel's skin was being peeled and burned off. When the lightning finally went away and the pain subsided, Ariel realized two things: she now had legs and she couldn't breathe.

Ursula let Ariel go. She didn't know what to do except that she needed air. At first she struggled to swim, but she managed to get herself to the surface. She flung her head back as she broke through the surface and took in a gulp of air. When she collapsed forward she noticed she was on the shore of the island.

"Ariel?"

Ariel's body felt exhausted. She wearily looked up to see Eric rushing towards her. He knelt down beside her brushed her hair out of her face.

"Ariel, what happened to you?" Eric asked, quietly.

Ariel tried to respond but, to her horror, she realized she had no voice.