We're due for an action sequence. Particularly a ship battle.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Pirates of the Caribbean or Vivziepop.
Chapter 12: The Black Pearl vs. The Interceptor
(Charlie comes out from below deck and sees the crew working frantically. She goes to the top deck where Cherri Bomb is at the wheel and Angel Dust is shouting orders.)
Angel Dust: Hands aloft to loose ta'gallants! With this wind dead astern, she'll carry every sail we've got!
Charlie: What's happening?
Cherri Bomb: The Black Pearl. She's gaining on us!
(Charlie looks out from the side and sees the ominous ship in the distance behind them getting closer.)
Charlie: (worried) But this is the fastest ship in all of Hell!
Cherri Bomb: (sarcastically) You can tell them that, after they've caught us.
(Charlie gets an idea.)
Charlie: We're shallower on the draft, right?
Cherri Bomb: Aye.
Charlie: Well, then can't we lose them amongst those shoals?
(They look off to the side and see the indistinct shapes of sandbanks.)
Angel Dust: We don't have to outrun 'em long. Just long enough.
(Cherri turns the wheel and the ship heads towards the sandbanks.)
Cherri Bomb: Lighten the ship! Stem to stern!
Angel Dust: Anything we can afford to lose, see that it's lost!
(Down below on the Pearl, Vortex shoves Alastor in a cell and shuts the door. Alastor sees water on the floor.)
Alastor: Apparently there's a leak.
(Vortex ignores him and leaves. Alastor peaks out through a crack in the wall and sees a glimpse of the water outside. Some barrels and casks start to drift by. The crew of the Interceptor throw dozens of containers of cargo overboard to lighten the ship. Pentious looks in on them and shouts to his own crew.)
Pentious: Haul on the main brace! Make ready the guns! And run out the sweeps.
(Cannons appear on the side of the Pearl. Their Jolly Roger is hoisted to the top of the mast. Vaggie emerges from hold of the Interceptor and sees all the commotion. The crew dumping stuff overboard and the Black Pearl in pursuit. She looks closely at the pirate ship and sees oars appear from the sides next to the cannons. They push into the water and accelerate the ship allowing it to sail over the sandbanks. Niffty and Husk are about to toss a cannon overboard when Vaggie steps on it and keeps it in place.)
Vaggie: We're going to need that.
(Charlie, Angel and Cherri see the Pearl still catching up to them.)
Cherri Bomb: (disappointed) It was a good plan, up 'til now.
(Vaggie comes up to them.)
Vaggie: (determined) Angel! We have to make a stand. We must fight! Load the guns!
Cherri Bomb: With what?
Vaggie: Anything. Everything! Anything we have left.
(Angel faces the crew again.)
Angel Dust: Load the guns! Case shot and langrage! Nails and crushed glass! With a will! They wanna fuck us up, we fuck 'em right back!
(Charlie and Vaggie give each other a brief look of determination before joining the others in preparing for battle. They load the Interceptor's cannons with anything and everything. Cannonballs, silverware, glass, metal, and other miscellaneous stuff. Niffty piles stuff into a cannon really fast as Angel drinks from a flask next to her. She then takes his flask and puts it in much to his chagrin.)
Niffty: This is gonna leave one big mess to clean up!
(Pentious watches his prey as the distance between them gets shorter by the second. He pets his monkey as he anticipates his victory. Alastor keeps looking out the crack in his cell waiting to see something. Angel takes notice of the Pearl now even closer.)
Angel Dust: The Pearl's going to luff up on our port quarter! She'll rake us without ever presenting a target!
(Charlie gets another idea.)
Charlie: Lower the anchor on the right side. On the starboard side!
(Angel and Cherri look at her in dismay. Vaggie knows what she has in mind and agrees.)
Vaggie: It certainly has the element of surprise.
Cherri Bomb: (shocked) You're batshit crazy, lady! You both are!
Angel Dust: (smiles) Batshit crazy like Alastor! (calls out) Lower the Starboard anchor!
(The crew give him a look of shock as well.)
Crewmen give him the same look Elizabeth got.
Angel Dust: Do it, you shit sacks! Or it's you we'll load into the cannons!
(The crew scramble to get the anchor down. It hits the ocean floor and gets stuck on a reef. The Interceptor tilts and stops moving forward. Pentious notices and is taken aback. Everyone holds on the ship tilts back. The table down below falls over and the medallion slides off.)
Charlie: (to Cherri) Let go!
(Cherri releases the wheel and it spins really fast. The ship turns around very quickly and faces the Pearl. Pentious realizes what they're doing.)
Pentious: (stunned) They're clubhaulin'! Hard a port! Rack the starboard oars!
Vortex: Hard a port!
(The Pearl's crew turns the ship slightly to get out of the Interceptor's path. Alastor is tossed against the cell wall. He looks out the crack again and sees the Interceptor's hull come into view.)
Vaggie: Keep her steady!
(Both crews draw their weapons and man the cannons on the sides of their ships facing one another.)
Angel Dust: Get ready for action!
Pentious: Prepare to blow them to bit!
(Moxxie and Millie are stationed at one cannon and glare at the their opponents while letting out a battle cry. Niffty and Husk are also stationed at a canon and do the same right back at them. The ships are right next to each other and Pentious draws his sword.)
Vaggie: Now!
Pentious: Fire!
Charlie: Fire all!
(The two ships fire all guns at once. Both do damage to the other and cause the some of the other crew to be blown back and fall overboard. The Interceptor takes more damage than the Pearl though. Alastor jumps back from the cell wall as a shot blasts through creating a bigger hole.)
Alastor: (exasperated) Stop blowing holes in my ship!
(They continue up to bombard one another. A spoon is suddenly embedded in a post next to Moxxie. He looks at it startled. Then he turns to Millie who now has a fork sticking in her wooden eye. He pulls it out and the eye comes out too. The two stare out the cannon hole feeling weirded out as dozens of silverware and glass shards are embedded around the hole.)
(The crews continue to shoot at each other with cannons and handheld guns. Alastor finds Angel's flask floating in the water in his cell. He tries to drink from it but it's empty. Then he notices the lock to the cell door had blown off and he pushes it open and leaves. Charlie and Vaggie take cover behind the gunwale and shoot at the Pearl with Angel and Cherri.)
Angel Dust: (to Charlie) We could use a few more ideas, lass!
Charlie: (stumped) Your turn!
Angel Dust: We need us a devil's dowry!
Cherri Bomb: They want her, right?!
Vaggie: She's not what they're after!
(Charlie realizes what they really want. She looks down at her neck and finds nothing there.)
Charlie: (worried) The medallion!
(Vaggie makes a run for the hatch leading down below. She drops down and lands in water that's leaking in. She begins to frantically search for the medallion. Moxxie and Millie get load their canon with two cannonballs linked together by a chain. Pentious barks orders to his men.)
Pentious: Strike your colors, you blooming cockroaches! Hands, grapnels at the ready! Prepare to board!
(The pirates get hooks and ropes out. Moxxie and Millie fire the chain and it smashes the main mast of the Interceptor. The impact causes the hatch to close and Vaggie to be thrown down. Water begins to flood into the hold. The mast collapses down onto the Pearl's deck creating a thin walkway between the ships.)
Pentious: Pistols and cutlasses, men! Travis, Baxter, to the powder magazine! And the rest of you, bring me that medallion!
(His monkey jumps off his shoulder and runs across the fallen mast. The crew throw their grapples and swing over to the Interceptor. Angel and the others get their weapons out. The battle has now gotten up close and personal. Vaggie struggles to get out of the hold as the water rises fast. She gets under the closed hatch and calls out.)
Vaggie: (desperate) Hey! Hey! Help!
(Travis and Baxter get on board and descend down another hatch below to get to the ship's powder magazine in another part of the hold that isn't flooded as much. They take a barrel of gunpowder from a pile of them and pour it out making a trail leading away from the pile and laughing menacingly while they do it. Alastor gets on the deck of the Pearl and arrives in the midst of the battle. One pirate swings to the Interceptor, accidentally bounces off the shrouds and swings back to the Pearl. Alastor grabs his rope as he falls off.)
Alastor: Thanks very much!
(He swings over and hits a pirate attacking Angel as he lands and sends him overboard.)
Angel Dust: (surprised) Al!
(Alastor hands him the empty flask.)
Alastor: (disappointed) Bloody empty!
(He hurries off as Angel is still surprised. He regains his focus when another attacks him and he rejoins the fight. Down below, Vaggie still struggles to get attention from above when she hears a screech. She sees the monkey on a beam holding the medallion and screeching in mockery at her. She tries to reach for him but he leaps away and runs out a hole.)
(Meanwhile, Charlie engages in combat with some pirates and manages to hold her own in the fight until one catches her off guard and grabs her. He's about to strike when a hand grabs his arm and he sees Alastor glaring at him.)
Alastor: That's not very nice.
(Charlie hits the pirate with a musket and sends him overboard. Alastor grabs her and pulls her behind cover.)
Alastor: Where's the medallion?
Charlie: (enraged) Wretch!
(She tries to hit him but he grabs her wrist. He sees the bandage on her hand and realizes a certain someone's not with her.)
Alastor: (grins) Ah! Where is dear Vagatha?
(Charlie's eyes widen in horror and she turns around.)
Charlie: (panicking) Vaggie!