The River Twygz had become a vision of hell on Sarasaland. Thousands of aliens and their time displaced counterparts floated dead on the water, eventually being carried to the wall of Rogueport by a steady current. The water was blotting by the countless gallons of spilled blood. The pirates worked at gathering weapons from the fallen and putting the few wounded out of their misery, shooting them with devolution guns until they were nothing but primordial ooze.
Syrup and the Wolfenboss pulled off their helmets. As they did, the Wolfenboss saw a raider swimming among the nearby dead and moved over casually to him. The Wolfenboss looked back toward Syrup and tossed his captain an apple. As Syrup bit into it, the Wolfenboss put the barrel of the devolution gun on the raider to steady him and then fired. The raider cried out and then died. The Wolfenboss pulled his gun up to his chest and moved over to Syrup.
"Cractus' men are itching for battle, captain," said the Wolfenboss. "They're begging for a crack at the raiders."
"Good!" said Syrup. "I've got something I think they can handle. Tell Cractus I want them eager, sober and ready for the next charge." Antenor swam right up to Syrup and the Wolfenboss, breathing hard as he climbed up to a sailboat.
"Captain Syrup!" he breathed hard.
"Antenor, catch your breath," she ordered. For a moment, Antenor put his hands on his thights and dropped his head. He breathed in deeply and swallowed.
"Raiders approach, my captain," he revealed. "A small contingent. Too small for an attack." He pointed a spear down the waterway and Syrup nodded.
"Wolfenboss, you're in charge," said Syrup.
"But, captain…," protested the Wolfenboss, but she gave him a smile that melted his heart.
"Relax, friend," she said. "If they assassinate me, all of Dinohattan goes to war." She then became stupid and her voice lowers. "Pray they're that stupid… pray we're that lucky." She then began to row across the landscape of the dead as the Wolfenboss sighed. It wasn't long before the Wolfenboss saw another injured raider and raised his gun.
There was a clearing between the city of Rogueport and the massive raider camps, which extended farr off of the River Twygz. Syrup slowed a stop as she approached and her expression was one of a subtle smile. There was a mix of amusement and disbelief at the display before her. For, wedged betwee the sea, jagged rock, beaches and Rogueport was a sight as impressive as it was absurd.
A hundred men beared on their backs a giant golden throne beset with sculpted lions, although given that such beasts did not exist in Sarasaland, most did not recognize them. Ancient script telling stories of Culex from thousands of years ago was carved upon the platform, had she not been studious in the past nine years, Syrup would not have recognized it. The throne rose twenty feet above the bent shoulders of the alien slaves that carried it. At its summit, surrounded by golden gazelles and very familiar looking women from alternate timelines, stood Wario. Nearly seven feet tall, a body of burly hay, violet overalls, a yellow shirt and cap, a menacing moustache and draped in adornments of gold. Wario was not his real name, Syrup knew and upon seeing his garments, she knew where the man got his name from. Mario was regarded as a hero across Sarasaland and this was just twisted emulation. Either to destroy Mario's image, or adopt it as his own.
"Let me guess," said Syrup. "You are Wario."
Wario moved down the richly carpeted steps of his throne platform to the waiting Syrup and as he neared her, she felt something that he held within his overalls. Six items of incredible power, the Gold Coins were the inspiration behind the magic that went into the Lockjaw Coins. How Syrup sensed it, she did not know. How she knew what they were, she did not know. Yet she knew, that was the power by which Wario pulled his near endless army from the stars and other timelines. It was a power that he'd nearly exhausted. It was a power that she felt connected to. Wario stepped down, using a slave as his final step.
"Come, Syrup," said Wario and Syrup instantly noted, his voice was as smooth as warm oil on well worn leather and as deep as rolling thunder, "let us reason together." Wario glided on powerful legs as Syrup stood alongside him, evenly though he towered over her. "It would be a regrettable waste… it would be nothing short of madness were you, brave captain, and your valiant pirates to perish all because of a simple misunderstanding."
"Don't lose sleep worrying over us," responded Syrup. "We're having the time of our lives."
"Brave words. Pirate words. I admire you," admitted Wario. "The strength and honour of your pirates, their fierce devotion. There is much you share with the Lockjaw Queen." So, Wario suspected Syrup and her captaincy over the Kitchen Island pirates as being nothing more than a clever patsy placed by the queen of the Koopahari. It was not one he believed to be without merit, Syrup's nervous shuffling did nothing to dissuade his suspicions. It was even a reasonable theory, after all, both Syrup and the Lockjaw Queen had been held back. Syrup by the Jamanos and the Lockjaw Queen by the elite of Dinohattan. Yet then Syrup turned to Wario and smiled defiantly, as if she knew something he did not. "Yours is a fascinating species, dinosaur. Even now you are defiant in the face of annihilation and in the presence of a God."
To what Syrup had learned of the the Gold Coins is that just as the Lockjaw coins were keys to free Kalypso, they were keys into the nexus of the timeline. As long as Wario held those coins, the nexus was locked and only he could use its power. So, why would he not call himself a God? His greed had certainly given him the power one held.
"There is a fundamental difference between us," said Syrup. "You would kill any of your men to win and I would die for any of mine." As the pirate captain and the 'God' stood together, silent snipers held their fingers on devolution guns, keeping an eye on the captain.
"You dinosaurs take pride in your logic, I suggest you employ it," said Wario. "Consider the beautiful land you so vigorously defend. Picture it reduced to ash at my whim." From Bowser to King K. Rool, Syrup knew that this threat had been repeated many times. She was unmoved. "Consider the fate of your women."
"Clearly you don't know our women," retorted Syrup. "I might as well have marched them up here judging by what I've seen. You have many slaves, Wario, but few warriors. It won't be long before they fear my spears more than your whips."
"It is not the lash they fear, it is my divine power," said Wario, hinting at but never openly speaking of the Gold Coins. "I am a generous God. I can make you rich beyond all desire." Wario leaned closer to Syrup and his voice became a hushed whisper. "I can make you Queen of the Koopahari. You will carry my battle standard into the heart of the Dark Land. The Kerog himself will kneel at your feet, if you but kneel at those of his finest."
Syrup found she had to take a few steps away from the towering Wario. "But the idea of kneeling," she paused, "it's… you see slaughtering all those men of yours has put a nasty cramp in my leg. So, kneeling will be hard for me."
"You sadden me, Syrup," said Wario, shaking his head. "For as I am reasonable, so am I vicous and as I am generous, so am I wrathful." Wario's body tensed under the weight of diplomatic words. "There will be no glory in your sacrifice. I will erase the memory of Kitchen Island from the hsitories. Every piece of piratical parchment shall be burned. Every Lockjaw historian and every scribe shall have their eyes put out and their tongues cut from their mouths." Wario was afire, his voice was raised in contempt for the pirate captain. "Why, uttering the very name of Kitchen Island or Syrup will be punishable by death. The world will never know you existed at all."
"The world will know freedom stood against a tyrant," said Syrup, her eyes cold. "That few stood against many, and before this battle was over, that even a God can bleed."