Well, this has been a while coming, hasn't it?
A while before Mat and I began Totally Spies the Movie: Rift Apart, I mentioned I was going to do a prequel oneshot for it, much like I did with Track Thunder for Beyond the Looking Glass HD Remix.
So... Rift Apart has been finished for months. What happened?
Answer: Sword Art Online: Twin Memory happened.
Recently, I doubled and tripled down my focus to finally get that story done after almost two years, and that effort pushed some other things to the side, like this oneshot.
But hey, we're back with it! This oneshot's actually gonna be backstory for Pirate Nick and Patty that I didn't go into detail about in the movie, to show some of the things that happened before they began their search for the Maris Stella.
Also, one last thing: a later scene might get a bit... intense. You'll probably know it when you see it, but just be careful if you're sensitive, 'kay?
I won't bore you with author's notes any longer, so here's the feature presentation! Sit back, relax, and enjoy A Story on the High Seas!
7:43 A.M. – The Moonflow Tides
Year 2112 (Nine Years Before Rift Apart)
So, initially, I was like any ol' pirate out there on these waters.
Nick glanced at the readouts of his pirate ship, the Fiertia, as it sailed through the waves of this world's massive ocean, the Moonflow Tides.
About one hundred years ago, an eco-terrorist named Edison, some nutjob who wanted to purport some kind of solar energy system, tried to show off what it was capable of...
...in the worst possible place. The polar ice caps.
Making sure that no other pirate ships were nearby, Nick set the controls of the Fiertia to auto-pilot so he could head down into the lower decks and continue working on his top-secret project.
He activated his solar power system in Antarctica, but a catastrophic malfunction caused the system to output far too much power and vaporize all of the polar ice caps, causing a massive, almost biblical flood that caused our planet irreparable damage, wiping out most of its population.
Nick worked into the night, trying to perfect his dimensional teleportation system in hopes of finding all kinds of different worlds. As someone who'd been born into the post-Great Flood times, he'd often wondered what life was like before everything had changed.
Most of the world was underwater now, and the almost one million people who did survive the flood were forced to carve out a new life on the waters.
Satisfied with his work for tonight, Nick retreated to his personal quarters to turn in for the night. He wasn't going to test the portal generator until he was absolutely sure it was working properly enough for an actual test.
In the wake of the Great Flood, an old concept that we never thought would resurface, well, resurfaced. Pirates. Swashbucklers who comb the seas searching for treasure, 'booty', and even submerged relics of the old world.
But just as Nick was about to close his eyes and surrender to the sweet grip of slumber, he heard something.
I've been a pirate since I turned eighteen (so, for about four months now), with the (kinda reluctant) approval of my parents. I've always been curious about what the world before the Great Flood was like, considering most of the historical records of those days were lost in the destruction.
It sounded like a monster's growling... crossed with a girl's laughter.
Now appropriately on edge, Nick ran out of his bedroom and to the upper deck of the Fiertia so he could see just what the heck was happening.
I had no idea that today was going to be the turning point of my life as a pirate.
When Nick was finally able to get a good look at the disturbance, he saw a very strange sight, that of a flying bird monster flapping through the salty sea air and holding a girl about his age in its mouth. The girl didn't seem too scared about it, though. If anything, she looked like she was having fun.
Regardless, Nick wasn't about to let this bird thing chow down on an innocent civilian, so he unsheathed his pirate pistol and aimed for the bird, letting off a shot that struck true and rattled the monster enough to release the girl. Nick then used his grappling hook to snatch her up by the coat and drag her onto the Fiertia. The bird monster simply scoffed, shook off the initial shot, and flew away.
"You okay?" Nick asked the girl. She was about his age, with light skin, blue eyes, and blond hair braided into two ponytails tied with purple ribbons. Her pirate outfit consisted of a blue and yellow-lined pirate hat, a matching coat, and light brown boots, along with a pair of binoculars hanging from a strap around her neck. "That thing didn't hurt you, did it?"
"Mister bird wasn't hurting me!" the girl proclaimed. "We were just playing!"
"Uh-huh, sure," Nick quipped.
"But, allow me to introduce myself, then," the girl laughed. "The name's Patty Fleur!"
Nick gasped in surprise when he heard the name, as that was a name most pirates on the open seas had heard of. Patty Fleur was supposed to be the granddaughter of Aifread, the greatest pirate ever to sail the nine seas of this new world. Fierce and ruthless, but also commanding strong morals and a sense of honor that was rare among pirates these days, many pirates sailing this flooded world aspired to be like Aifread, alongside the many pirates that wanted his head for the vast swathes of treasure he had accumulated.
"Wait, wait, what the heck is the granddaughter of Aifread doing all the way out here in the Moonflow Tides?" Nick wondered. "Last I heard of him, he was all the way out in the Hollow Current..."
"Well, grandpa was showing me some cool treasure he'd liberated from a bunch of scoundrels recently," Patty answered. "Next thing, I know, mister birdy comes in to say hello and takes me away from there. Birds seem to have a weird thing for me."
"We should probably get you back to him before he gets the wrong idea about me," Nick proclaimed. "Aifread may be a noble pirate, but I don't think I'd want to get on his bad side."
"Yeah, grandpa's scary when he actually gets mad," Patty laughed as Nick moved to the main deck so he could steer the Fiertia towards Aifread's last known location.
Yeah, I met the granddaughter of the world's greatest pirate by some random chance. I'm used to weird stuff by this point in my life, to be fair.
"Hi, grandpa!" Patty exclaimed as the Fiertia docked parallel to Aifread's own ship, the Van Eltia. "Sorry I got dragged away by mister bird."
"I found your granddaughter out in the Moonflow Tides, so I decided to escort her back to your ship, sir," Nick stated, unsure how to react to being in the presence of the greatest pirate on the seas. "I hope that's all right..."
"Honestly, you don't have to be so formal around me," Aifread laughed. "You did a good thing by bringing Patty back to me safe and sound."
"It was no trouble at all, Aifread," Nick stated.
"Hey, maybe we'll see each other again someday!" Patty giggled. "You're definitely someone who seems like he'd be fun to hang around with."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Nick laughed as he returned to the Fiertia.
And, what do you know, Patty was right. I would keep running into her every now and then, sometimes in the weirdest ways. She wasn't kidding when she said birds have a strange thing for her.
"Avast, ye rotten scallywags!" Patty proclaimed as she and Aifread charged towards the pirates they were after. "You really think you can just pilfer my grandpa's treasure without even asking?!"
Suddenly, Patty had to jump back as Nick came charging through the gaggle of pirates, bowling them all over in the process.
"Oh, Nick, you're here, too?" Patty wondered.
"Well, well, fancy running into you here, Patty," Nick quipped. "But yeah, these guys snatched something from me, too, and I'm not leaving until I take it back."
"So... you wanna mess 'em up together?" Patty offered, drawing her scimitar.
"Oh, you freakin' know it," Nick proclaimed, unsheathing his own blade.
The pirates in question now looked suitably fearful, knowing that they were facing down three highly skilled pirates.
"Yeah, you're all in deep trouble now!" Patty exclaimed as she, Nick, and Aifread all bum-rushed the other pirates.
Every now and then, Aifread would let Patty stay a night with me, considering how attached she'd gotten to me in just under a year. To my utter shock, she actually wanted to help me with my research on dimensional gateways.
"Say, Nick?" Patty asked once they'd finished their research for the night. "What kind of other worlds do you think are out there?"
"Considering that we're talking about other dimensions, then I'm sure there's all kinds of worlds we could explore once we've perfected this," Nick responded.
"You've always said that you wanted to see a world before the Great Flood, huh?" Patty wondered.
"Yeah," Nick answered. "There's still so many mysteries that we haven't uncovered yet, especially considering that many of the only survivors of the Great Flood have passed away of old age by now. It's been a hundred years, after all. We're slowly losing our link to the old world..."
Patty scooted a little closer to Nick and smiled at him.
"Well, just know that grandpa and I are with ya every step of the way," Patty quipped. "After all, us pirates gotta stick together, right?"
"Rule twenty of the pirates' code," Nick stated. "When you team up with a pirate, always stick together."
With that, both Nick and Patty fell asleep, both dreaming about different worlds.
In no time at all, another year had passed, making it two years to the day when I first met Patty. And, I won't lie... I was in love with her. I was easily charmed by her youthful energy, despite the fact that she was the same age as me, she was just fun to be around, and she shared my dream of seeing other worlds. So, naturally, at this point, I wanted to ask her something.
"So, what's on the docket today, Nick?" Patty asked as she jumped onto the deck of the Fiertia, waving to Aifread as the Van Eltia sailed away.
"Well, I believe I found some more relics of the old world to the southwest of the Moonflow," Nick answered. "My radar's picking up some very unusual signals down there, so I'm curious as to what exactly is giving off that signal..."
"An adventure into the unknown, huh?" Patty proclaimed. "Sounds like a lot of fun! Shall we set sail?"
Nick mentally prepared himself for what he was about to say next.
"Actually, Patty... there's something I want to ask you before we set off," Nick responded. "And, well..."
"Whoa, whoa, you're getting red in the face," Patty stated. "Slow down, 'kay?"
"...how long have we known each other, Patty?" Nick asked.
"About two years on the dot, I think," Patty answered. "I really can't believe it's been that long, huh?"
"Yeah, it's been two long years of fun adventures and many other things," Nick stated before stuttering a bit. "...ah, crapbaskets, I knew I was gonna fumble on my words!"
"What was there to fumble over?" Patty wondered...
...only to gasp in utter surprise when she finally made the connection as to what Nick wanted to ask her.
Deciding to finally banish this stuttering fool that was suddenly controlling him, Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a treasure that he'd found on one of his recent underwater excavations.
It was a diamond ring, perfectly shiny and radiant even after god only knows how long underwater.
And Patty actually let a few tears fall when she saw the ring.
"I'm not good with words sometimes, Patty, you know that," Nick admitted. "Most of the time, I prefer to let my actions do the talking. But this time, I need to use my words so I can ask you a very important question. Patty Fleur, granddaughter of the legendary pirate Aifread, and love of my life... will you marry me?"
It took Patty a couple seconds to respond due to being so stunned by Nick's question, but she quickly recovered and flung herself into Nick's arms, a wide and happy smile highlighting her expression.
"So... is that a yes?" Nick asked, still hopeful.
"Of course it's a yes, Nick!" Patty exclaimed.
Nick reached out to slide the ring onto Patty's right index finger, then Patty decided to screw all sorts of patience and jump forward to kiss her new husband-to-be.
I actually did it... I proposed to her! I managed to do it without making a fool of myself. That's a shock, to be sure.
Two years passed since we got married, and together, we'd finally perfected my dimensional traveling technology. Apparently, the dimensional gateways were called "Quantum Rifts", according to some old records Patty and I had dug up in some underwater ruins.
...however, just as we were about to take my new Rift Generator out for its first test drive, tragedy struck both of us...
"So, Nick, this is finally the big day, huh?" Patty giggled as Nick gave the Rift Generator another once-over, making sure everything was working properly before they activated it. "We're gonna explore other worlds!"
"It's gonna be awesome to see what kinds of different places are out there in the multiverse," Nick admitted. "I can hardly wait. Just let me give this one last system a check, and..."
Nick's rambling was interrupted by the sound of a massive explosion from far off, so much so that the shockwaves from that far away actually caught up to and slightly rocked the Fiertia.
"Holy crapbaskets, what just went boom?!" Patty gasped.
Nick glanced out of the nearby window and could just barely see a pirate ship in the distance, clearly on fire and having taken serious damage.
Before Nick could wonder who had been attacked, his heart nearly stopped when he caught a glimpse of that ship's flag.
It was the flag of the Van Eltia. Aifread's ship.
Patty was already dashing like mad to the upper decks the instant she made the realization, and Nick wasn't far behind her, his fingers flying across the buttons of the Fiertia's main console so they could sail towards the Van Eltia.
He could only hope they weren't too late.
Sadly, their efforts were in vain.
When the Fiertia reached the Van Eltia, Aifread's ship was in utter shambles with no sign of whatever or whoever had assaulted the ship.
Nick and Patty quickly disembarked and began searching the Van Eltia for any sign of survivors, their dread growing when all they found were various dead bodies among the wreckage.
And there, in the lower cabin, was Aifread, hanging on to his life for as long as he could, which was getting harder and harder considering the vicious stab wound in his chest.
"G-Grandpa!" Patty exclaimed as she rushed over to Aifread while Nick viciously raked his gaze around in hopes of finding whoever was responsible for this and tearing them limb from limb.
"P-Patty, darling..." Aifread groaned, his life rapidly slipping away. "I am... so glad you're safe..."
"Come on, grandpa! Stay with me, please!" Patty wailed, trying to think of anything she could do to save her grandfather, even if her mind was telling her it was hopeless.
"You must... you must find... the Maris Stella..." Aifread gasped. "I hid it... with most of my treasure... I know you can... find the... three keys... they will guide your way..."
And, despite Patty's hysterics, the legendary pirate Aifread had spoken his last, his body going limp in Patty's arms.
As Patty started crying for her grandfather, Nick suddenly realized something.
The Maris Stella, supposedly, was Aifread's greatest treasure, the most valuable relic of the old world he'd ever found.
Was that the reason that pirates had attacked the Van Eltia, because they wanted to find the Maris Stella as well?
All Nick could do was hug his wife from behind, not knowing that their day was about to get even worse than it already was.
"NICK KELLY! WE KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!"
Nick jumped to his feet when he heard this, hoping those voices didn't belong to who he thought they did.
With Patty right behind him, despite her grief, they raced back to the upper decks, only to see another pirate ship sailing just across from the Fiertia, one with a very ominous-looking black pirate flag hanging from its mast.
And two pirates on that ship were holding two very familiar people hostage.
"Is... is that your parents, Nick?!" Patty gasped.
Sure enough, Nick's mother and father were being restrained by members of the Black Hope, their scimitars pointed dangerously close to their throats.
"What do you want with my mom and dad, you assholes?!" Nick shouted. "Haven't you Black Hope nutcases hounded us enough?!"
The Black Hope Pirates, as you can probably tell, are some of the nastiest pirates you'll ever see in this new world. They're like a lot of the more 'classic' definitions of pirates from the old world, scallywags and monsters who just loot and pillage whatever they want with no regard for consequences or others' lives.
Knowing what I do now, I really wished I hadn't hesitated in pulling that trigger...
"You made a mockery of us in that last expedition, you know," one of the Black Hope Pirates laughed. "And now we intend to pay you back in full, with interest."
"You're the ones who tried to make a mockery of us!" Patty shot back. "You knew that taking that gemstone from its support pillar was going to make the tower collapse, and we even kept trying to warn you, but did you listen to us?! Hell no!"
"We lost two of our best men in that tower," the Black Hope leader proclaimed. "So we figured, an eye for an eye."
"Leave my parents alone," Nick growled, aiming his pistol towards the pirates holding his parents. "They have nothing to do with your sick little vendetta!"
"Then, just put down the guns, and I'll let them go," the Black Hope leader stated. "Slowly now."
Not wanting this situation to escalate any further, Nick complied, slowly placing his pistol on the floor of the Fiertia. Patty did the same thing, just to be safe.
"All right, I put the gun down," Nick stated. "Now let them go."
The Black Hope leader looked to his comrades and flashed a nasty smirk.
"Well, if you insist," the Black Hope leader cackled...
...taking one of the scimitars from each of his top two subordinates and lashing out with each of them, slashing the throats of his hostages before following up by stabbing them both through the chest and kicking them off the Black Hope, sending them falling into the ocean beneath them.
Nick could only stare in shock and grief.
"Hey, we said we'd let them go," the Black Hope leader cackled evilly. "We never said you'd get them back."
While the other members of the Black Hope were laughing their keesters off, Patty was charging towards the control console on the upper deck of the Fiertia, activating a few commands to unfurl a powerful-looking laser cannon from underneath the Fiertia's stern.
The Black Hope pirates who were laughing over murdering Nick's parents quickly stopped laughing when they saw the cannon charging up...
...especially when they realized who it was aimed at.
"Smile, you sons of bitches!" Patty shouted as she dramatically slammed her fist onto the fire button, causing the Fiertia to unleash a massive, golden-yellow laser beam from the cannon that effortlessly carved a gigantic hole in the Black Hope's ship, practically slicing the entire ship in half and causing it to explode violently.
Despite everything, Nick quickly snapped out of his reverie and tried to dive off of the Fiertia and into the ocean, only to be stopped in the nick of time by Patty.
"Nick, they're gone!" Patty proclaimed. "There's nothing we can do for them!"
"Patty, they're all the family I have left!" Nick shot back. "If there's even the smallest thing I can do to save them..."
"...Nick, you know there isn't," Patty sighed. She'd seen more than her share of such vicious executions during her time with Aifread, and she knew for a fact that a slashed throat was, in Nick's own words, an "instant game over".
When the reality finally sunk in for Nick, he collapsed to his knees and started crying, with Patty reaching out to comfort him as best she could.
Despite that decisive strike against the Black Hope, that victory felt extremely hollow to both of us. We'd both lost the only real family we had left (Patty never really talked about her mom or dad, so I figured it was a personal thing), and...
I'm going to be extremely honest with all of you, I may well have lost my freakin' mind if it wasn't for Patty. She was always there for me no matter what, even though she'd suffered just as much as I have. I'm really glad I fell for her, honestly.
"Nick, are you sure you want to come with me?" Patty asked as she and Nick stood on the deck of the Fiertia. "You know I'm going to be gone for a long time. I'm not gonna stop until I find the Maris Stella."
"Patty, we've been married for how long now?" Nick teased. "And, as your husband, I'd feel awful if I couldn't support you in whatever you set your mind to. So, that really settles it. I'm coming with you no matter what, and we're going to find the Maris Stella together."
Despite her doubts, Patty couldn't help but smile, allowing a few tears to fall. "...I really did luck out falling for such a sweetheart like you, didn't I?" Patty giggled.
"If anything, I'm the lucky one," Nick stated. "Now come on, let's start searching for those keys."
"Aye, aye, matey!" Patty proclaimed as Nick moved to the Fiertia's control console so they could set sail and begin their search for the Maris Stella.
We spent the next five years of our marriage combing the waters of the new world for any hints as to the location of Aifread's greatest treasure, alongside occasionally using our Rift Generator to explore different dimensions.
A year ago, we finally came across the answer to a question we'd been wondering about ever since Aifread's murder. After all, we hadn't seen anyone in the cabin where we found his body, and the M.O. didn't match the type of executions the Black Hope usually performed.
"Well, that place was pretty trippy, huh?" Patty giggled as the Fiertia came out of the Quantum Rift and back into the calm waters of the Moonflow Tides. "I never would have thought I'd see a dimension ruled by oversized birds."
"That's nothing compared to the world of misshapen pyramids," Nick responded. "I nearly went ballistic when I saw that one flag..."
Patty studied Nick's expression carefully, especially at the mention of "that one flag". Even now, four years later, even the mere mention of the Black Hope pirates or their flag would set Nick off, as despite Patty blowing the Black Hope ship to kingdom come that day, their leader had somehow escaped unscathed. Nick had vowed to chase the leader and bring him to justice no matter what it took.
"Hey, we'll find that scurvy sea dog, no matter how far we have to sail," Patty proclaimed. "Even if we have to chase him into the depths of the Hollow Current itself, we'll bring him down."
"Thanks, Patty," Nick replied, leaning over to kiss his wife.
However, their kiss only lasted a couple seconds when a booming explosion from far off caught their attention.
"What the hell?!" Nick exclaimed.
"Did the Black Hope attack another ship?!" Patty gasped, using her binoculars to scope out the site of the attack. Indeed, yet another pirate ship had been blown into pieces and was sinking into the depths of the ocean...
...but Patty didn't see any other pirate ships in the vicinity, just the one that had been attacked.
However, she did see someone, gliding through the air as if they were weightless.
And they were approaching the Fiertia rather swiftly.
Patty jumped backwards as the thing swiped at them so that she and Nick could unsheathe their weapons. Patty had actually given Nick her old pistol, as she now wielded Aifread's pistol in honor of her grandfather.
"All right, whoever's out there, show yourself!" Nick shouted.
To Nick's surprise, the offender actually complied, slowly floating down from the sky to land on the deck of the Fiertia. It appeared to be a large, skeletal creature with bone armor and a large, skeletal face on its chest, and its right side was covered by a dark red cape. Clutched in its left hand was a long steel sword with anchor blades on the end of it.
Nick had seen many strange creatures in the other dimensions that he and Patty had explored, but this one really took the cake for the strangest yet.
Patty, however, was staring in absolute shock at the anchor-sword in the monster's hands. An anchor-sword that had once belonged to Aifread.
Patty's shock quickly turned to anger as she drew her scimitar and prepared to attack the monster, but in response, the Cursed Wanderer simply chuckled in an eerie way before flying into the air and disappearing through, of all things, a Quantum Rift.
"What was that thing?" Nick wondered.
"I'm more concerned with the sword it was holding," Patty proclaimed. "That was Aifread's anchor sword, one of his most beloved weapons. He didn't have it when we found him, and none of those Black Hope scallywags had it when we looted their ship last year, so..."
The realization quickly set in for Nick, and he clenched his fist tightly. "So... whatever that thing is, it's responsible for killing Aifread," Nick responded. "Well, then, let's add that to our list."
"But did you see where it went?" Patty asked. "That thing flew off into a Quantum Rift, one that we didn't create!"
"I always figured that there was most likely someone else out there in the multiverse who could open Quantum Rifts," Nick answered. "But we'll follow that thing no matter how many dimensions we have to chase it through. That thing's gonna pay for taking Aifread away from you."
Patty just nodded as she spun the Fiertia's steering wheel to open up a Quantum Rift in front of the ship, allowing them to pilot the ship into what she liked to call the "Dimensional Map", an in-between realm of sorts that could link different Quantum Rifts to each other, allowing for easier travel between different dimensions.
And ever since, we've been traveling to many different alternate worlds, both to see what wonders they hold, and to find and put down the Cursed Wanderer so we can avenge Aifread. That takes us back to the present time, during one of many nights where I just can't sleep because of overthinking things...
3:41 A.M. – The Moonflow Tides
Year 2121
"Hey. Can't sleep?"
Nick knew that voice very well. After all...
He decided to turn around and greet his visitor just as she walked up and pulled him into a loving embrace. She always knew just what to do to cheer him up, of course.
"You know the drill by now, Patty," Nick stated to Patty. "It's just a 'me' thing."
"Well, it's a 'me' thing, too, so don't feel like you have to hide it from me, 'kay?" Patty replied. "Besides, I know you're a horrible liar."
"Aw, ya got me," Nick teased. "It's just... I ask myself these questions a lot, ever since I came with you on this journey of ours."
"Five years and counting," Patty answered. "We're gonna find the Maris Stella no matter what it takes."
"You know pretty well that I don't have much of a life to go back to," Nick proclaimed. "Which is probably why it was so easy to make the decision to join you on your travels."
"Sometimes you wonder what could have been," Patty stated. "I'm like that a lot, too. Considering who my grandfather was and what he did, I always feel that pressure to live up to his legacy and make him proud."
"It feels like we both have concerns that are very similar to each other's," Nick replied.
"That just means we're two peas in a pod, right?" Patty laughed.
"Nothing but the truth there," Nick chuckled as he and Patty leaned in to kiss each other.
When he was with Patty... he knew he'd made the correct choice.
"Okay, now that you know I'm awake this late, what about you?" Nick asked. "You're not normally a night owl, even out here."
Patty adjusted her pirate hat before glancing out towards the wide open seas that compromised the Moonflow Tides.
"I just... feel the winds of change, I guess," Patty answered. "Like, something big is about to happen, and we're gonna get sucked into a massive adventure."
"Probably nothing like our last adventure," Nick laughed.
"Hey, that scallywag fell on my knife!" Patty sputtered. "He really did!"
"Well, he tried to shank you when you looted that stronghold, so I guess he had it coming," Nick quipped.
As Patty laughed, Nick looked out at the Moonflow Tides, especially radiant for this late at night. It turned out that Patty had woken up for the same reason he had.
He felt the winds of change as well.
Totally Spies: A Story on the High Seas
~The End~
And that's a wrap! I honestly didn't expect this to get as beefy as it did for a simple oneshot, but hey, I felt like talking about a lot of stuff.
Like I said above, this oneshot was originally going to just be a small adventure that Patty and Pirate Nick were up to before getting dragged into the events of Rift Apart, but now that I've come back to it, I felt like expanding it into full-on backstory.
And now I may have an idea for a possible future episode of The New Adventures... I'll run that by Mat next time I talk to him and see what he thinks.
All that aside, that's all I've got for author's notes, so until next time, have a fantastic day, don't listen to the screeching morons, and I'll see you next mission!
Stay gold,
The Blue Time Ranger