Chapter 36

A Score to Settle

"So evweryone has the plan dowvn?" Dualscar asks.

"Yeah. Cro and I wwill take you to port in the wwest where you'll depart for your ship and then you wwill followw behind us towwards the ambush point. Vvris wwill be Captaining the decoy ship and wwill distract Mindfang so wwe can board her ship and start takin' out her creww," Eridan replies.

The older man sighs some. "Vwris are ye sure ye wvant to be on the ship that might explode? I wvould be at peace of mind if ye wvere wvith me."

Vriska didn't respond to him for she was distracted by something on her phone. He groans a bit touching her shoulder to get her attention before looking at what she could possibly be so indulged in. She was on a website titled 'Jokes for Wrigglers', which made him extremely confused. She darts him a glance before pocketing her phone into one of her giant coat pockets.

"Yeah. It works out better. Trust me. I must make a stop in the east anyways so we will meet once we get to the channel. It will be fine," she responded.

"Are ye sure? By the time wve get there it will be night. I don't wvant ye gettin' fatigued or anythin'. Yer gonna be by yerself for a wvhile. Wvhat if somethin' goes wvrong or those robots act up?" He says with a huff.

"Equius assured me that it will be fine. He's double checking the ship and bots right now," she retorts before kissing him. "You'll see me soon. Don't worry. Is your ship aware of what's happening?"

He smiles warmly grabbing her hand. "Aye. They are already wvaitin' for me. They wvere a bit shocked to hear from me the other day, but they are ready. I just wvant evwerythin' to be okay. I just wvant ye to havwe support if ye need it out there."

"Wwe need to get goin' before wwe wwaste anymore time," Eridan groans walking over to them. "It's gonna be alright. Vvris can handle herself. Remember she wwasn't the one wwho died, Dual… So if anyone needs to be sure they havve support, it's you."

"Ye may be Captaining yer owvn ship today, but ye are still the little one. Ye got to respect me. I am in charge," he scoffed.

"Vvris is actually in charge and last I remember she and I are the same age so I am not exactly the little one. Wwe can't fuck this up because ye wanna baby evveryone and be the big man. This is Vvris' plan. Trust Vvris. Trust us. Wwe are all doin' this together so wwe can't wwaste time wworryin'," he sneered.

Dualscar growled about to respond before Vriska stopped him. "He's right you know? You are always too focused on everyone else's wellbeing except your own. You can't be worrying out there. You need to act like the big bad Orphaner and don't stress. I'll be fine and Eridan and Cronus will have some of your crew with them in case a hiccup with their ship happens. Everyone will be okay." She squeezes his hand. "I know you are scared… I'm honestly terrified and the only reason Eridan is being short with you is because I know he is too. We are all scared, Dualscar…. But we need to swallow that fear. I know you don't want to lose anyone ever again… Neither do I… So let's push those thoughts away. We have this if we all have faith in each other."

Dualscar opens his mouth to speak before closing it and nodding. He brushes her hair from her forehead and kisses it briefly before letting her hand go. Eridan pats his ancestor's back looking up with a weak yet reassuring smile.

"Nowv tell me boy… Wvhat the hell are ye wvearin'?"

"Shut up," he scoffed.

Everyone was dressed in what they had dubbed as their battle attire, minus Cronus who dubbed it as his "If I die at least I vwill look cool" attire. Eridan was dressed in an outfit similar to one Dualscar had worn back when he was a fresh Orphaner. A purple military style coat with gold trim lining the edges, a dark long-sleeved shirt underneath and black pants accompanied with leather steel toed boots. He could tell Dualscar it was the outfit he use to FLARP and black rom pail Vriska in, but he decided to just keep that detail between him and the girl. Vriska was in coat somewhat to his except hers was blue with a bit more of a pirate flair to it. Along with the coat she had a black tank top underneath, blue jeans, and her red rocket boots. Cronus didn't really switch it up too much other than wearing a black greaser style leather jacket with is regular clothes. Dualscar was in his usual Orphaner gear, but that was always what he wore to battle. All of them were brandishing their weapons of choice, the Ampora's with generational versions of their crosshairs and Vriska with 'Pay 8ack 8itch'.

"I'll see you guys soon. I need to go meet Equius at the ship. We got this," Vriska states.

"Yeah Vwris… See ye soon," Dualscar responds.

Just before they parted ways, they were stopped by a tall long horned troll walking up to them. Dualscar snarls his lip and grabs Ahab's crosshairs letting the other troll know he wasn't there to play games. The Summoner walked forward raising his hands up to show the group he meant no harm.

"Wvhat the hell do ye wvant?" Dualscar growled pointing the crosshairs right at him.

"Babe. Knock it off. He kinda helped fake my death… Remember?" Vriska huffed grabbing the barrel and pointing it down towards the sand. "But yeah… What do you want?"

"I know your plan… I just wanted to g1ve you a heads up that she has slaves on her sh1p. I don't know 1f you want to factor that 1nto your plan, but I would l1ke 1f you could help them," he sighs some. "Also, I summoned re1nforcements to help you… So, whatever happens… Good luck."

Vriska groans a bit upon the news of the slaves being held captive on the ship. That would make things a bit tricky for she did not want to kill innocent beings, who could be enduring the same torture she went through. Another step would need to be added to the plan in order to assure their safety, but from the glance Dualscar gave her she knew it wouldn't be anything that the two of them could not handle. They had chosen to board the wicked ship regardless to assure that Mindfang would be seen dying, and Vriska felt that just bombarding the ship would be too generous of an execution. The path she wanted to walk would be one of bloodshed.

"That's good to know, but why are you helping us. You do know we are going to kill your matesprit, right?" she asks.

"That 1sn't my matespr1t… I don't even know who that woman 1s anymore… M1ndfang has become someone I don't even recogn1ze. I loved a strong w1lled rebell1ous woman… Not… Whatever th1s sp1teful th1ng she has become. I know you are go1ng to k1ll her, and that hurts, but my matespr1t has been dead for awh1le now… That woman needs to be stopped, even 1f 1t leaves me 1n a conflicted pos1t1on. I don't want to be around to see 1t happen, but I am look1ng the other way to whatever does happens. I genu1nely w1sh you the best. Whatever happens… Happens for a reason." he sighs.

The man turns his back to them looking over his shoulder for a brief moment before flying off. Vriska turns back towards the boys and shoves her hands in her coat pockets, her mind beginning to wander. Whatever happens, happens for a reason. That stuck with her wondering if the odds were actually in their favor or not.

"Time to go. See you guys tonight," Vriska states resting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

With that being said, the group departed, only hoping that this plan will finally bring everything to an end. Eridan and Cronus traveled with Dualscar for a bit before they parted ways at the port of destination. Dualscar was greeted by his ship and crew that was more than happy to see their beloved Captain again. Eridan and Cronus boarded a smaller ship of the Orphaner's fleet run by only dozen or so of the men. The boys were the first to sail towards the ambush point, only with Dualscar's trailing about fifteen minutes behind him.

Nonetheless, Dualscar was more than happy to be back on his ship and amongst his praising crew. While the time he spent in limbo seemed much shorter compared to the living world, once he was finally back it felt like it had all caught up with him at once. All the emotions overwhelmed him at once, and he missed his ship greatly. He hadn't been this long off his ship ever since he got recruited as the Orphaner, and the very vessel had almost become like another appendage to him that he would hate to be without. For now, he could sail again, letting his mind go for the time being as they made their way to their destination.

The man leaned against the railing on the helm, letting the sea breeze rush through his hair. One of his higher regarded crew members approached him to offer him a pipe of tobacco. He takes it with nothing more than a thankful nod in return before he began to puff on it. The crew member leans against the railing with a small grin on his face before turning towards the sea.

"You ever gonna explain how yer ass came back from the dead or are we supposed to piece that together ourselves?" the man teased.

"Did ye really think a measly little bullet from a crappy pistol shot by a mediocre excuse for pirate wvhore could kill the great and amazing Dualscar?" he laughs a bit cockily.

"No, but yer ass was gone for half a sweep and we saw yer corpse sink into the sea, so you know we had to assume the worst given protocol and continue the task at hand," he huffed. "We didn't want to… but orders are orders and there is no disobeying those without major consequences."

"Did the empress evwen care?" he sighs. "Or am I just another replaceable cog in her machine?" he growled his melancholy turning to irritation.

Could he in fact be replaceable? He thought to himself. Despite being an icon amongst Alternia, was it possible for the empress to just get another pawn to take his place once he became old, broken, and worn out. He didn't ever take into account that he could actually be replaced, but with his new appreciation for his own mortality it was something that seemed to slip into his mind more and more. Vriska even had replaced him with Cronus, sure it may have been because of the resemblance, but regardless she did. If he hadn't of comeback could Dualscar just of faded from memory all together? He lets out an annoyed smoke-filled sigh through his nose before turning to face his crewmember.

"Wvell… Did she?" he scoffs.

"… Yeah… I mean you are her lapdo-… Her right-hand man… She gave us a week to let us take in everything that happened before making us get back to the ole grind," the man responded.

"That doesn't answver me question," he hissed. "Did she… Or did she not… care that I had died?... She could havwe givwen ye a wveek off to get newv crewv… I do see knewv faces amongst me ship…"

"Well… We lost a few good men to Fang…" he mourns before smirking a bit. "There's a statue in yer honor at the palace garden if that answers yer question. After all we couldn't give you the burial you deserved given that we were unable to retrieve a body so a memorial was just as good," he replied with a small laugh underlining his words.

"Statue in my honor, huh?" Dualscar says with a pleased exhale through his nostrils. "Is it as dashin' as me and made of gold?" he boasts.

"Eh. Stone," the man states.

"YE CAN'T JUST HONOR THE MIGHTY DUALSCAR IN STONE!" he sneers. "Wvas it handsome though?"

"Uh….."

"Come on lad! Speak up! Wvas it handsome?!" he yells.

"Nothing compares to the looks of the original… No competition at all, Captain," the crew member stammers.

"Hmph. Damn right about that," Dualscar laughs.

Another crewmember, who had been listening in on the conversation, looks at his fellow worker and just gives him a thumbs up at his kickass save. If the Orphaner went on another one of his vanity tirades, especially about a statue, the crew would have been mentally exhausted for the rest of the day. No one had the heart nor balls to tell him the statue was frankly awful and would put Dualscar in a full-on grub-like and destructive fit if he ever saw it.

His mind drifted back to his dance with life and death, and how the battle approaching tangled itself in the middle of that. He could very well die, again, tonight, so could Vriska, or his descendants. They could very well be sailing into an extermination of them all if things did not play out perfectly. What would history have to say about them if fate dealt a cruel hand like that at them? Would they be seen as brave souls, who sacrificed everything to take out one of the most ruthless terrors in Alternia? Or would they be blacklisted as fools who dived head first into their own tormented folly?

"Do you think if vwe die vwe vwill get our ovwn 'Troll Dateline' episode? It vwould probably take about 5 svweeps after the fact for anyone to actually care about that story," Cronus asks.

"No one is dyin' Cro. Noww I swwear I wwill punch you in the throat if you ask another question about endin' up on some invvestigativve discovvery bullshit televvision showw. Wwe aren't gonna die… I let it wwon't happen. It can't," Eridan shouts at him.

"You must say though… It's a pretty interestin' story, but perhaps it is one too far fetched for some to actually beliewve," the dancestor chuckles.

"Far fetched? Wwhat exactly do you evven mean by that?"

"Forbidden lovwers caught in a ciwvil vwar wvithin the Serket bloodline. A young girl betrayed by her ovwn ancestor only to hawve her run into the arms of the wvery family she hates. Is that truly realistic? Is that a story people vwould actually be interested to hear?"

"Cro. You drank sea wwater didn't you?" Eridan says with a scoff. "Theoretically, if our tale wwere to be wwrapped up in some book or shit, wwho wwould wwant to wwrite it? Wwho cares that much about some stupid squabble wwhen there are bigger things to be concerned about such as the increase in cannibalism, ocean pollution, threats of stricter rules in regards to govvernment regulated reproduction?"

"Maybe the people vwho vwould read our tale are the wvery ones vwho don't vwant to focus on the 'bigger things to be concerned about'," Cronus sighs. "A distraction is still a distraction, it does not need to be a good one."

"Is that wwhat these questions are? A wway to distract you from the fear of possibly dyin' tonight?" the younger one huffed.

"No. It's to distract you from that."

"Pfft… I havve no fear… Evven if that's the case… Howw wwould talkin' about possibly dyin' and havving a documentary made about said death distract me from the fear of dyin'?"

"A distraction is a distraction. It does not need to be a good one."

"Stop drinkin' the salt wwater, Cro."

"WHERE IS IT?" a wicked woman yells from the depths from her vile ship.

Mindfang had torn her quarters to shreds in attempts to look for her all seeing cue ball, but with no luck she couldn't find it anywhere. She was shaking in her boots with rage, not only because her favorite possession had disappeared, but because the Summoner had broken off their red romance shortly before he had visited Vriska and the Amporas that morning. Things felt like they were getting worse to her and little did she know of the true hell fire that would be cast down upon her shortly. A crew member of hers entered her quarters. He was a younger male, even younger than Vriska, who hadn't experienced the aging and maiming effects the true evil of this crew would cause, but he also wasn't exactly an innocent troll himself. He was a degenerate she had picked up, who thought he was 'tough shit' for all the lowlife crimes he had committed. That was before he met his match against a crew of truly depraved psychopathic monsters, which had shaped him into the ship's whipping boy. His entrance to the room was greeted with the cold steel of a knife being thrusted into his shoulder.

"Aye, didn't I tell ye squirming little maggots to not distur8 me in my ca8in especially without fuckin' knocking!" the beldam hissed through a sick angry grin as she twisted the blade.

"Y-yes C-captain," the man whimpered.

"Then why the FUCK are ye here?" she snarls before yanking the blade out blood splattering on her cheek.

With a low growl she sways over to her desk stabbing the bloody blade into her desk before slumping herself down in the tattered leather chair. Slouching over she presses her nose to the desk inhaling a thin line of powder causing her brain to throb some. Blood began to drip from her face onto the maps on the desk below causing her to snort a bit from the irritation. She cocks her head over to the side to glare at the crewmember clutching his shoulder, who was still standing in her doorway.

"Well?! What the fuck is so important that ye haven't left me quarters yet?" she growls pulling the knife from the desk and pointing it at him.

"T-the crew and I have just grown worried about you, Cap," the boy responds in a meek tone.

Mindfang begins to cackle wiping the blood from her nose with the sleeve of her top, "Awwwwwwww worried?! Worried 8out little ole me?! How sweet!~"
"You've just seemed so stre-"

He stops speaking once he sees her get up and walk towards him with a slight inebriated swagger, tucking the knife into her belt. Shivers crawl down his spine as she presses a cold metallic finger to his lips. Mindfang smirks a bit as she began to let out a low soft shush.

"Such a young little 8oy," she hums pulling him deeper into the web of her room.

Mindfang grabs the boy by the shoulders before throwing him onto her pailing platform. The woman perched herself on top of the youth, giggling slightly under her breath as she began to tease him. He just laid there shocked and paralyzed as if, he had been injected with venom.

Running a claw down his cheek she purrs, "So young. So naïve."

He chuckles a bit, "Um yeah… I guess."

She scowls a bit as he spoke, her claw digging into his cheek hard enough to draw blood. "Ugh. Had to ruin it with your words," she scoffs in disgust.

He winces some. "W-what do you mean?"

"Stop talking!" she growls.

Mindfang pulls the knife from her belt and in a quick motion she uses it to slit the boy's throat. He tried to scream but could only make gurgling sounds as he choked on his own blood. She sneers at his noises he made and used a pillow to cover his face to silence him. He struggled beneath her, briefly, before he fell limp, blood pooling, and staining the sheets. She tosses the pillow aside to stare down at the pale and recently deceased face of her former crewmate.

"All ye had to do was shut the fuck up, ye failure of a gutter warmer," she huffed.

The sun soon began to sink into the horizon, and the two full moons rose up high into the sky. Vriska leans against the bow of her decoy ship, groaning upon seeing the silhouette of her ancestor's ship in the distance. She flicks the cigarette she had been smoking out into the water and makes her way to the helm of the ship, manning the wheel. This was it, she thought to herself pondering how the next few hours would go down. Everything she had done had led to this risk it all moment.

"Damn it. I don't see the boys nearby… I guess I will have to stand my own for a bit… They can't be too far off, can they?" she sighs. "Hey! So, do you think we will win?" she says with a cocky demeanor to a robot standing next to her.

It let out a few beeps before relaying an answer in a monotone unfeeling voice. "YOU CAN *BEEP* DO IT VRISKA."

"Damn right I can. What about you?" she laughs speaking to another robot.

"YOU CAN *BEEP* DO IT VRISKA," it responded with the same message as the other did.

"Uhhh right… What about you guys?" she asks another group of robots nearby.

In unison they responded with none other than, "YOU CAN *BEEP* DO IT VRISKA."

"Really Equius… That's all they are programed to say in a conversation? For fucks sake," she grumbled to herself. "I knew I should have brought Eridan with me. At least we can argue who could be the next game master for D&D night. Definitely me. I am a kick ass game master. His bitch ass got us all killed by god damn fairies. Fucking dumbass."

"YOU CAN *BEEP* DO IT VRISKA."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP," she yells before slumping against the wheel. "Ugh we're going to die."

"Captain! Captain!" a scurvy troll burst into Mindfang's quarters. "We got a-"

The crew member pauses upon seeing the woman laying on her pailing pad entangled with a bloody corpse. She was laying with the dead boy, her head on its shoulder as she drank from a bottle of rum. Her eyes roll in her skull towards the man in her doorway, with an unamused and moderately annoyed expression.

"I swear it is like ye codpieces are trying to piss me off. WHAT?! What could it possi8ly 8e that ye had to come in and interrupt me private time?" she groans sitting up.

"We are passin' through that breedin' ground and-"

"Pft. So what?" she huffs sitting up. "Is that what all the little rockin' 8e from? What? Ye 8oys gettin' sick? 8unch of little girls."

"No that's not it. The lusii are antsy, but nothin' we can't handle. We got an Orphaner ship approachin'."

Mindfang's eyes perked up and she stood up giddy, "Oooooooo~ Somethin' excitin' finally."

As she walked towards the door a violent thrash of the ship caused her to slam down to the floor shattering her bottle of rum. Luckily for the other crew member he was able to brace himself in the door frame and he did his best to bite his lip in order to prevent him from laughing at the sight of his captain ever so ungracefully faceplanting. She yanks her head up snarling at him, warning him that if he let out the smallest sound of laughter he would end up like the poor bloke on the bed.

"I THOUGHT… ye said the lusii were nothin' we couldn't handle," she hissed.

"Well we ain't gonna sink or nothin'… as far as I know, but the all coitus gets the seas stirrin' and I guess we be runnin' into the extra-large beasties," he hums.

Mindfang sneered standing up and make her way out on the bow of the ship, wind whipping her long locks into her face. She sputters some hair out of her mouth before narrowing her eyes at the ship growing near. Instead of just immediately setting the canons off to destroy it she had them standby waiting for the ship to the get closer. She plotted that depending on how the crew seemed to size up, her crew could over run it and loot it for all it is worth before sinking it into the abyss. Her jaw became ajar at the sight of who was on the helm.

"Hey, Mindfang!" Vriska laughs waving over at her.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE YE ALIVE?" the mad woman screams.

"Dumb luck and a cosmic force causing my refusal to die?" the girl shrugs nonchalantly.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YE?"

"Um… well I was raised by a monster spider who warped my small innocent brain into a narcissistic little bitch. That could be it or could it be that my psychotic sociopath of an ancestor, that I loved, abused me so much I became a suicidal wreck with an alcohol dependency. Maybe it could also be that my ancestor also decided to murder some of my best friends and kill my matesprit in cold blood just because she is a petty little bitch mad that I took some violet bulge off her nook's menu. Could be that or maybe… Just maybe all that has made me a little fucking crazy and I am at the point where I am ready to FUCKING LOSE MY SHIT," she laughs.

"Let's agree on ye 8eing crazy," she cackles. "I don't have time for a cocky crazy 8rat."

Mindfang turns her back on the girl's ship and starts to walk over towards the men manning the canons. "Ye know I think it's time to put a rowdy little girl to 8ed. Time to go out with a 8ang sweetie." A twisted fang smirk appears across her face. "FIRE!"

One by one the canons go off blasting Vriska's ship apart piece by piece causing debris and robot limbs to fly in the air. The onslaught started at the bow inching its way towards the stern with each passing second. Vriska took a deep inhale running over to the railing furthest from Mindfang's ship before dashing towards the evil ship. She exhales leaping over the railing just before the floor under her began to explode. With a quick jerk her boots' internal engine went off causing her to be propelled through the air. In spite of a bit of a skid, she stuck the landing on the enemy ship causing her to snigger at the woman before her.

"Aw come on. Don't say you didn't miss me."

"Can't say I particularly did," Mindfang snarls at her.

The woman snaps her fingers causing three of her men to rush at the girl from behind, but before they could even reach her, they were bludgeoned by an enormous spiked club. Mindfang takes a step back looking at the large, and rather soaked, Grand Highblood that stood beside the girl. He grunted flipping his dripping wet mane out of his face. The crew stood in shock too freaked out to make any movements in the presence of the beast of a troll.

"NEXT TIME GIVE ME MORE OF A MOTHERFUCKING HEADS UP BEFORE I HAVE TO JUMP FUCKING OVERBOARD," he growls at Vriska.

"I told you to sneak on board when I was distracting them… You took that as doing a damn cannonball into the ocean… I say you did pretty good at being undetected for a double my size primordial behemoth," she chuckles.

"Almost got a mast up my ass from that canon fire," he growls.

"Ye… ye 8rought the Grand fuckin' High8lood," Mindfang stammers.

"Hi. Fangy. You missed your last appointment for YOUR FUCKING EXECUTION. Decided to make an in-home visit," he chuckles.

"Sorry was I not allowed to bring a plus one to the party," Vriska pseudo whimpers. "Then I guess you will be very unhappy with the other guests I invited," she teases gesturing out at the sea.

Mindfang snarls over at the site of the ship, containing the Ampora boys, sailing towards her. "Who the fuck…"

"Save that rage for when our guest of honor gets here," Vriska giggles with a wink unsheathing her blade. "Now…" She moves into a battle stance. "Let's dance, BITCH."