-On a villain's ship, The Queen Anne's Vengance-

The man named Bucket was picked up by his hook and thrown overboard. He wailed and shrieked right up till he splashed into the water. Mulch watched with wide eyes, but stood absolutely still. The Captain's outbursts of destruction, cruelty, and insanity happened everyday, but throwing Mulch's best friend overboard was new. The before mentioned insanely cruel captain, Alvin the Treacherous stretched contentedly, " Well, that was an entertaining workout. Now, somebody clean up this mess."

Sailors slowly unfroze or uncurled from their cowering positions and began to pick up the scattered pieces and equipment that their captain had destroyed for fun. Mulch, on the other hand, immediately grabbed a rope and dived overboard to rescue Bucket. For a few minutes, the rope was pulled taught, without movement. Sailors began to watch the rope with worry, counting the seconds, looking for signs of their shipmates, and fingering more rope. The captain finally noticed the crew's worry and decided to milk it. Alvin the Treacherous swaggered toward the rope and smiled congenially. "They been at it long enough. Surely drowned by now. What say I cut the rope?"

"No!" came from several different directions.

Alvin smiled wider, revealing ugly prosthetic teeth of stone and wood. "You trying to tell your captain what to do now?" he asked, resting his sword's blade on the rope. The crew froze. The dead silence was chilling, only broken by the slapping of ocean waves and small footsteps. Excellinor the 2nd approached her father with a large tanker and a stiff enormous smile. "Ale, Father?"

"Thank you, Darling." Alvin said reaching for it.

Excellinor the 2nd gave her father an imperious glare through her mane of crimson hair, as she demanded, "No, YOU come HERE." She punctuated this by pulling a white handkerchief from her breast pocket and waving it at him as if she was drying his mouth.

Alvin rolled his eyes but sheaved his sword his sword and walked back to his daughter. Just as Alvin began to chug his ale, Bucket was grasping the deck's railing with Mulch gasping below. Crewmembers ran to haul their mates onboard as Alvin and his daughter watched from the shade. A nightmarish shriek erupted from below.

"AALVIIIIIN!"

The daughter pretended that she did not hear it continued to watch the crew, ship, and sky as if everything displeased her. Alvin growled and stomped down to tend to Excelinor the 1st, his mother.

All sailors return to their duties except for Mulch and Bucket, who are sprawled on the deck, still catching their breath. Bucket's face was the only one turned skyward and so was the only one to see a Nightfury and a small boy zoom overhead. Mulch's face is turned toward where Excellinor still stands and he spies her. Without lifting up any other part of his body, he accusingly waves his hook in her direction, "They tell me you saved us. Distracting your old man with drink when he was about to cut the lifeline. What you do that for? You want something? Or was it just luck?"

Excellinor the 2nd did not respond, glaring at the world as if she hadn't heard.

Bucket sat up and smiled at the girl, simple mindedly. "Thank you, miss."

The teenager's haughty exterior evaporated. Tired eyed, Excellinor allowed a strained nod and a hopeless smile before retreating into the ship's dark lower levels.

Mulch watched her go before looking to Bucket, muttering, "Don't trust her, Bucket. Of an already screwed up family, she'll be the worst. I can feel it. Always changing expressions at the drop of a hat. That one's the most two faced of them all."

"Nuh-uh," Bucket smiled at the sky and put his hands behind his neck, "I like her."

Mulch rolled his eyes, "You like everyone! You're too trusting!"

Bucket stood up carefully, extending a hand to Mulch, "Not nooowwww."

Mulch accepted the hand and hopped up. He began to check his friend for injuries, "Not this time, you mean? So you admit you're wrong most of the time!"

Bucket stomped his foot, "I. Like. Her."

"You're so stubborn, you make the Vikings look gentle," Mulch guided his charge by his shoulders toward the main mast. Mulch took a towel from the mast's base and began to dry Bucket's hair. He tried to reason with Bucket, "Listen, you can't like her. You don't know her! And you can't trust who you don't know!"

"Ilikeher! Ilikeher!" Bucket drooled a little as he said this

"You Don't Know Her." Mulch insisted as he dabbed the drool off his friend's face.

Bucket crossed his arms, unwilling to drop it. "Yeah, I do. She makes sense."

Mulch chuckled. "HOW? She's mean and bossy to Daddy's girl to a moody zombie the next! How can anyone make sense of that? Whatsmore, how does She make sense to You and not me? I'm not the one who knocked my head, whilst wrestling a dragon."

Bucket blew out his cheeks, "You're not that smart, Mulch. You're just smarter than me."

Mulch cackled, "And that's not saying much."

"No, it's not." Bucket conceded before kicking his best friend in the shin. Mulch ended up toppling to the floor, holding his shin and laughing. Both were causing Mulch enough pain to bring tears to his eyes, which gave Bucket time to think his argument through. By the time Mulch calmed down Bucket felt prepared.

"We work for horrible people."

"No argument there."

"Well we may have to work for them… but She has to be Related to them."

Mulch made seven different faces of shock before smiling and holding his hands up in defeat. Bucket punched the air, childishly, and started for his position on the Starboard side. Mulch still sat on the deck floor against the foremast and yelled after him, "You may be right… but that doesn't mean you won!"

"Yeah, it does."

"No it doesn't! I just…I just don't understand women!" Bucket let loose a string of contagious guffaws. Mulch shrugged, "You were always to understand all that complex female stuff…"

Bucket reached his post, picked up a burnt and battered bucket and placed it on his head like a crown. He turned back toward his friend and struck a pose, "That's cause I am a Genius!"

Snorting good-naturedly. "A Comedic Genius, Maybe."