It was over.
Sonny sat on the floor, trying to catch his breath.
Magnus could have attacked him at any time, and Sonny would have lost the duel, but the hot air injured him.
Sonny recalled the roar of pain he made, once his sword pierced the pipe.
He had to do it. He'd be a goner otherwise.
The icy stare from behind the mask, eyes that saw him as a traitor to the cause, to his reign, would haunt Sonny, but he had to push on.
Sonny, having been a pirate himself for a few years now, held his head low, to avoid getting on Magnus' radar.
But a change was necessary.
That led Sonny to start thinking about how they could change his mind.
If it was impossible to speak to him, they would need to replace him.
But who had the guts to stand up to him?
That debate had gone on for some time, before Sonny volunteered.
If he challenged Magnus, he would have to have a plan for his own reign as a Pirate.
He also needed a plan B, in case he lost.
He knew the consequences for the loser of the duel.
Exile, being all alone.
He had to win, for his own sake, as well as the Pirates.
And now, he had.
He could hear running footsteps, but the cloud of damp prevented him from giving pursuit.
As the new leader, he would not exile Magnus.
A low memory erasure would be sufficient for Magnus to stay.
The thought of exiling any pirate, no matter who they were, did not appeal to him.
With an erased memory, Magnus could start over fresh.
Sonny heard footsteps approaching.
Corso led a group of pirates, coming to help.
"Sonny! Are you ok? " Corso asked, as he crouched down beside him to check if he was injured.
Sonny gave a nod.
"Find Magnus! He might be injured." He said.
Stevens, one of the footballers, nodded, as a small group followed him.
Corso remained with Sonny, not entirely convinced he was okay.
"I'm fine, Corso." Sonny assured him with a smile.
Corso nodded hesitantly.
"If you're here, and Magnus fled, that means you're the new Leader." He said.
Sonny nodded, attempting to get up.
Corso reached out and pulled him to his feet.
The steam was clearing up, but it was still hard to see more than a few feet ahead.
Corso led him back into the ship, using his cybernetics to guide them through.
A crushing sound under Sonny's foot made them look down.
Sonny bent down to pick up what he stepped on.
It was a mask, the mask they all saw every day when meeting with Magnus Blade.
Sonny looked at Corso, puzzled.
Corso nodded.
"He took off his mask. That is a symbolic act around here. He gave you the win. You're the boss now. I feel sorry for you." He said, putting a hand to Sonny's shoulder.
Sonny nodded.
It was time to bring order to the chaos.
Magnus took the key to the office with him when he fled.
The Pirates tried to give chase, but Magnus was an excellent pilot, and had managed to escape them.
Corso wasn't too bothered.
Sonny would have enough things to deal with.
His rise to power would bring enemies as it was.
And Corso knew what Magnus wanted.
He wanted someone even more ruthless than himself to run the organization.
He found Sonny too soft, too compassionate.
Unless it dealt with Technoid.
The very mention of the company caused flames in his friend's eyes.
Still, they didn't know much about his background.
Sonny wasn't the talkative type, and Corso could only guess.
Still, he understood his friend's anger.
And he liked him.
Sonny was smart.
Loved to read.
He wonderd if that would change with his new position.
Sonny was getting ready to clean up the mess Magnus left.
Corso knew Sonny wasn't going to use the Captain's Cabin just yet.
Sonny had made a list of what he wanted changed, and until that was done, he would continue to live with Corso.
Corso looked at the locked door.
This was the place Magnus had all his more uncomfortable conversations with his men, scolding them or demanding far too much of them.
And Magnus kept that door locked when he wasn't there.
It wasn't his office anymore, it was Sonny's now.
But with the door locked, they either had to break it, or get a locksmith.
Sonny took one look at it.
"Just break it." He ordered.
The pirates got to work, opening the heavy door, and soon enough, Sonny set foot in Magnus' office.
Just a few days earlier, he had been in here, getting orders.
Now, he entered it as the new occupant.
It was tidy.
Magnus was organized that way, which would make his job much easier.
Sonny looked for the code of the safe.
It contained the most urgent matters to deal with.
Sonny looked at the other Pirates.
"We need to crack this open." He said.
Corso watched as some safe cracking experts managed to open it, so Sonny could reach in and get the content.
He looked at the items in his hands.
A ring, with the Pirates' seal, the Black Manta's codes, and some other relics and documents, meant for the organization's leader.
Corso had moved next to Sonny, looking over his shoulder.
Sonny sat down at the desk, grabbed a pen and started making notes.
Corso remained at his side, silent, and waiting for his orders.
When he was done, he looked at Corso.
"It's going to take us days, if not weeks to get through all this. I need some people to help me. Corso, I'm appointing you my right-hand man in this. Can you do that?" He asked.
Corso nodded.
"I accept, and I promise to do my best to keep you safe." He promised.
Sonny gave him a small smile, before he took a stack of papers and placed it on the desk.
"Thanks Corso, looks like we got plenty of work ahead of us." He said.
Corso grinned as he started to look through it all.
"Don't worry, I'll keep us right on track. "
It became clear to Sonny and Corso that Magnus' tactics were… questionable at best.
Sonny wasn't happy with the innocent people being targeted.
Technoid ships, fair enough.
Their insurance would cover everything, making their leader, Duke Maddox, only pay in irritation.
Same with their second in command, General Bleylock.
Sonny hadn't told anyone his history with Technoid.
It was easier that way.
The guilt was still eating away at him.
Soon enough, Sonny found the file with the codes to enter the leader's accounts.
Corso was busy with sorting everything by importance, so Sonny could get an overview.
Sonny logged in and quickly changed the passwords.
Only he and maybe Corso would know.
He used his new security clearance to check out Technoid's alarm systems they had the schematics for.
Then, Sonny looked at the list of Pirates missing in action.
They would have to be found.
Corso wasn't paying attention, too busy with his own work.
Sonny quickly typed in his wife's name.
Just to be sure.
He thought of her and their baby boy.
He would have been three years old now.
Three years Sonny had missed out on.
Sonny was so immersed in the list of names, he didn't see Corso look up, and look at the screen.
Corso didn't say anything.
It wasn't his place to pry.
He just had to be there for him.
Bennett was Sonny's second pick for captain, and his left hand.
Together, they made an exceptional trio.
Bennett was quite good at improvising quick escapes and was also quite a computer expert.
He stood before Sonny, along with Corso, being handed his first assignments.
Once Bennett was on his way, Sonny looked at Corso intensely.
Corso pushed his discomfort away, waiting for Sonny to tell him what to do.
"Corso, I got a special assignment for you. Search for this name. Don't tell anyone else" He asked, giving Corso a name.
Corso nodded.
"Who is she?" He asked softly.
Sonny turned away from him silently.
His hands opened and closed repeatedly as he gave the bracelet on his wrist a spin.
"She's my wife, and last time I saw her, she was about to deliver my baby son. If she's alive, I need to find her. If not, I want to know if General Bleylock had anything to do with her demise." Sonny said through gritted teeth.
Corso decided not to push things.
"Sure Sonny, you're the boss." He said.
Sonny nodded as Corso left the room.
He looked at his bracelet again.
"I'm still here, and I will find you."
This is the start of my new pirate story, and Paranoid girl is still helping me with the betaing.
This will focus on Sonnys early days as a pirate, the changes he had to make, after getting rid of Magnus Blade, how those changes affect his pirates, the family unit they will form and how they all will individually develop, plus, down the line, how the old conflicts from Technoid will be exposed one by one to Corso, and how Corso will see he is far from the only individual that has deep seated emotions tied to losses, and how this trauma, very different from each other will lead to him and Sonny sharing a deeper bond, a bond that can indeed end up with creating the best times two men can have, and also,all the angst of how to protect someone that comes to mean more to you than you thought possible.
I hope this new story will bring you all the emotions of these two men, definately my heroes in the series, and their unique story.