Chapter 1: Xavier's Privateers
-Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Bayville, NE-
In a New England mansion outside of a town called Bayville, a middle aged man, bald and in a wheelchair was sitting in a study, when some sort of alarm alerted him to something.
"Two new mutants identified." A machine's voice reported.
"Hmmm…?" The man hummed as he turned to a screen that rose from the desk he was near.
"Names: Calvin "Calico" Bryant and Joshua Landbrecht. Current Residence: Kenway Academy of Excellence, Great Inagua, Caribbean." The computer buzzed.
"An Academy set in former pirate territory? Interesting." The man mused as he put in a command to assess the powers of the two boys.
"Powers. Calvin Bryant: Multiple-type Energy Absorption. Possible Classification: Omega Level." The computer buzzed. "Joshua Landbecht: Invisibility and sound manipulation. Possible Classification: Beta Level." It added.
"Now this is a duo I never thought I'd see in one spot." The man said to himself, knowing that he had to reach these two before his old friend-turned-enemy did.
"Note: Calvin Bryant relatives: Rodrigo Bryant, brother of Bartalameo Bryant of the Antolini family. Meredith Cormac, Daughter of Tyler Cormac, of the Cormac oil conglomerate." The computer continued. "Joshua Landbecht notable relatives: Johan and Katarina Sever, special agents of SHIELD." It added.
Now the crippled man was surprised that these two had such connections in significant places, one set of connections being less savory in comparison to the other.
"Hopefully this won't prove to be an issue…" The man sighed, rubbing his temples.
A moment or two after, two people entered the room. They were both teenagers, one a brunette boy who wore red shades and the second was a buxom redhead with green eyes.
"Hey prof, was that Cerebro just now?" The guy, Scott Summers, asked.
"Indeed it was, and two new mutants have been found in the Caribbean, Great Inagua Island." The Professor replied.
"The Caribbean?" The redhead, Jean, questioned.
"Yes, according to Cerebro they attend the Kenway Academy of Excellence, are you familiar with it?" The man asked.
"I've heard things about it, even hoped to go there myself." Scott admitted in reply. "But we all know how derailed my plans got." He added with a sigh.
"Well we'll be going to see them." The man told them. "So I suggest dressing for the occasion." He added.
"Right." The two nodded before leaving to get changed.
(Elsewhere)
The dull tone of a metal detector could be heard as a pair of boys were surveying a nearby beach, one using the machine and the other carrying a shovel.
"We found that galleon off this part of the coast, the rest of the treasure has got to be here somewhere." The boy with the shovel said.
The boy looked like he was around sixteen, had caucasian skin, black hair, brown eyes behind a pair of glasses and stood a 6'4" in height with a single scar on his right wrist. Attire wise, he was wearing a dark green shirt, a pair of dark blue shirts and a pair of sneakers. He also had a necklace with a silver doubloon and a similar silver ring that had a Tortuga North Star fashioned into it.
He was the one working the metal detector.
The second looked to be about the same size and was 5'5" with neatly trimmed brown hair, olive skin common among those with Greek or Italian descent, a medium build, and a pair of Heterochromic eyes, one a catlike yellow and one a Siamese blue like a calico cat. He seemed to have several surgical scars as well, notably from his neck to his back.
Attire wise, he wore a pair of square shaped hemingway glasses, a pair of gray Tommy Bahamas pants, brown moccasin boat shoes, and a short sleeve Hawaiian beach shirt. He also had a doubloon ring like the first boy and a North Star necklace around his neck.
He was the one holding the shovel.
"Unless that galleon's crew never got the chance to bury anything on the beach." The taller one of the two remarked as he kept scanning.
"Shit, you're right." The bespectacled teen hissed.
"Guess the doubloons we found were just luck." The taller teen sighed.
"Hey." His friend prompted. "I make my own luck, Josh." He added.
"Only you would say that, Calvin." Josh chuckled before the metal detector started going off. "No way… Cal, dig!" He exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Hot damn, finally!" The brunette exclaimed as he started digging.
After a few minutes of digging, the shorter teen hit something made of wood, causing him to perk up. Then he started digging around it to see if it was what both of them hoped it was.
Sure enough, it was a treasure chest.
"Whoo, we fucking found it!" Calvin exclaimed in glee.
"Make your own luck indeed." Joshua grinned as the two bent down to take a look at the locking mechanism of the chest.
"Hm, standard padlock. Pretty rusty, though." The shorter teen noted, taking a look at the padlock.
"We might be better off just smashing it if the inner workings are rusted over." Joshua noted.
"Gimme a second." The bespectacled teen said as he took his E-tool tactical shovel, and struck the lock in a certain weak point.
Surprisingly, even after all the time buried in sand and exposed to the elements, it still opened.
"Nice. Let's see if we got what we're hoping for." The tallest of the two hummed as he opened the chest. Sure enough, there were more silver doubloons, as well as gold ones, jewelry pieces and pure jewels. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have hit the jackpot." He smirked.
"Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum!" Calvin laughed as the two went in for a double high five. "We have officially gotten our careers as treasure hunters and archeologists off to a great start, Josh my man! A great start." He grinned.
"Damn straight!" Josh laughed, wrapping his arm around his friend's shoulder.
(Elsewhere)
"Are you certain they aren't here?" The same man from the mansion, Charles Xavier, asked as he and his students followed the commodore to the headmaster's office.
Said commodore was a young man of around 19 or 20 with curly red hair and blue eyes, who was dressed in a pair of slacks, sandals and a seersucker shirt.
"Yes. They're probably out and about somewhere along the beach or elsewhere on the island." He nodded. "Classes are out for the day so the students are allowed to go and occupy themselves." He added.
"What would they be doing?" Scott asked.
"Knowing those wannabe 'buccaneers'? Probably trying to dredge up whatever they can get from a Spanish galleon they found off the coast here." The redhead replied with an eye roll.
"There's an old Spanish galleon here?" Jean asked in surprise. Sure, it was her first time in the Caribbean, but she expected most shipwrecks to be much farther out at sea beyond the coast.
"It was a ship that was beached by our school's founder during his days as a pirate—but was presumed lost after a massive hurricane." The young man, Percy, replied.
"Hm, might be some worthwhile treasure, if they get lucky." Scott hummed.
"I take it they enjoy treasure hunting?" Xavier asked.
"Obsessed with it is more like it. They're both very much into pirate culture." Percy replied as they reached the headmaster's office.
Upon entering, they found a middle aged man sitting at an oak wood desk. He had brown hair done up in a ponytail, tanned skin and blue eyes. Attire wise, he was wearing a fine blue suit.
"Sir, there are a few people here to see you." Percy told the man as he led the trio into the office.
"Hm?" The obvious headmaster hummed as he looked at the doorway. "Oh, yes. Come in." He beckoned.
"Mr. Shay, I presume?" Xavier asked as he wheeled up to the man's desk.
"You must be Charles Xavier. I've heard about your school." Shay nodded in reply.
"Yes, and I've come to see a pair of your students." The man replied.
"And the pair in question would be…?" The headmaster trailed off.
"Calvin Bryant and Joshua Landbrecht." Xavier replied.
"Ah, my school's two buccaneers." Shay chuckled. "I admire their determination to find actual treasure, but last I checked, the island has long since been picked clean." He continued.
"I can understand that, but you never know when you're wrong." Charles nodded.
"Quite right. Come, I'll take you to their dorm." Shay said as he stood up and walked toward the door.
And right as they entered the hall, the very topic of conversation came walking into the school through the front door, carrying a chest together at either side with smiles on their faces.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me! We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot, drink up me 'earties, yo ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!" The two boys sang as they walked on in, clearly happy as a pair of larks.
"Well, you two seem to be in good spirits." Shay noted.
"That's because we found this." Calvin smiled as the two teens set the chest on the floor and opened it, revealing the treasure within.
"Whoa!" Scott gasped as he looked at the treasure. "I thought you said the island was swept clean?" He recalled as he looked at the headmaster.
"I did. It appears that I was mistaken." Shay nodded with a blink as he took a look at a doubloon. "Hm… Yep, this is authentic alright. You boys found actual Spanish treasure." He noted.
"Bet this is probably one of the last chests Du Casse had on that Galleon of his, eh Josh?" The brunette grinned.
"Yeah. I guess its location never got recorded or was lost." Joshua smirked before noticing Xavier, Scott and Jean. "Who are they?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"This is Charles Xavier and his associates. They've come to talk to you two." The headmaster replied.
"Hm? What about?" Calvin asked as he closed the lid to the chest.
"That's for Charles to reveal. I'll leave you lot alone so you can have my office to yourselves for now." Shay replied as he walked out. "Come along, Percy." He beckoned his other student, who followed his headmaster out of the room.
"Well you two." The wheelchair bound man nodded. "Why don't we continue this conversation somewhere a bit more private?" He offered.
"Alright, I guess. Let's see what made you three come out for little old us." Joshua shrugged as he and Calvin picked their find back up off the ground.
"Oh Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, Yo Ho Ho, and a bottle of rum!" Calvin hummed to the tune of as they made their way down the hall.
(Later)
"Allow me to start at the beginning." Xavier said as the boys led him and his students into their dorm, where the duo set their chest down.
Though as the man started talking, the bespectacled teen quickly dashed over to his desk and started tinkering with something.
"Don't mind him, he's been messing with those things for weeks." Joshua shrugged. "You were saying?" He asked.
"Yes. Well, we came here because… To put simply, we know about your powers." Xavier stated, causing Joshua to tense.
"Sure. And I'm the prime minister of Jamaica!" The tinkering brunette heckled from his work station.
In response to that, Jean used her powers to open the chest and claim a golden doubloon for herself with a smile, causing Joshua to blink.
"Uh, Cal? Not only are they not bluffing, I think they're like us." The taller of the two told his friend, getting him to focus his attention back on the three visitors.
"… That treasure's ours, hands off." The calico eyed boy warned as he flexed his hand idly—and energy from the electric wires in the walls started gathering in his palm.
"Relax. I was only proving a point." Jean said placatingly as she put the old coin back.
"Guess that explains why people call you Calico: You have the eyes and attitude of a cat." Scott chuckled.
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it." Joshua chuckled. "But yeah, Cal's the energy absorbing buccaneer etween us. You'd be surprised what kind of things he's gotten up to with that." He remarked.
"Two words, Landbecht: Piss all the way off!" The calico colored teen barked as he went back to tinkering.
"Sorry, I only piss one tenth of the way off today!" The black haired teen heckled in reply.
"That's it! C'mere!" The brunette snapped as he lunged at his roommate, only for him to smirk and turn invisible. When Calvin hit where he was, he only hit air and fell to the ground as Joshua became visible again right next to Scott, who jumped at his sudden appearance.
"What the–?! I didn't even hear you move!" He gasped.
"Slippery little…" The boy muttered as he got up, dusting himself off, before he put on what he was working on—that being a pair of bracers that had a mechanism on them.
"What is he working on?" Charles wondered with a raised eyebrow.
As if to answer his question, the brunette tested his gadgets, flicking his wrists and causing a pair of double edged blades to deploy.
"Yeah, these'll work." He nodded with a smirk, copying his tinkering a minute or two before tossing another pair to Joshua.
"Good, now we can defend ourselves and then some if we have to." Joshua remarked as he got them fastened.
"Should we be worried?" Jean whispered to Xavier, who simply waved for her to leave it for now.
"As I was saying, my school is one where gifted children like yourselves can learn to control and use your powers responsibly and correctly." Xavier explained, looking at Calvin. "And not for one's personal gain." He added pointedly.
"Last I checked, it's a free country." The boy retorted, though wasn't really looking for an argument.
"Well, I never really bothered using mine for myself since I didn't know what to go for in the first place." The invisibility user shrugged.
"Regardless, I would like to offer you a place at my institute should you wish to accept." The telepath explained. "Though I realize your families may take some convincing." He amended.
While he knew Calvin's parents would be an issue due to just who they were, Joshua's were a bit of an unknown due to the fact that the only family members he had explicit knowledge of were his aunt and uncle.
"If you need to talk to my parents, don't bother. They had a nasty fallout that ended with me landing in the custody of my aunt and uncle as a result." Joshua scoffed, causing Calvin to wince.
"Yeah, it was pretty loud… And violent." The calico colored teen commented, which clued Jean, Scott and Xavier that he had been there when it happened (or was close by when it went down). "I'd wait a while if you want more on that front." He advised.
"Very well, then." Xavier nodded.
"I can get you in touch with my family's lawyer, Anthony Milano, he usually handles the paperwork and can get you a meeting with my folks." The boy added as he started counting out and divvying up the treasure into pouches for easier storage. "Fifty fifty as per usual, Josh?" He called.
"Right-o." The taller teen nodded as he came to collect his half.
"Alright…" The teen nodded as he used their dorm landline—the school had these so students could call the office, commodore or relatives—and dialed a number. "Hello? Hey Miss Pazzi, listen, is Tony in his office right now?" He questioned.
"He is. Do you need me to patch you through?" A woman's voice asked.
"That'd be great, but let's keep this on the down low, okay? Last thing we all need is my parents finding out that I called ahead of time and jumping to conclusions… Again." Calvin nodded.
"Of course." Ms. Pazzi replied.
"I'll check and see if my aunt or uncle are available at the moment." Josha pitched in. "And dial up…" He hummed as he took the phone on his desk. "Hello?" He asked.
"Who is this, how did you get this number?" A voice questioned.
"Hey Miss Hill. Is my aunt and uncle there?" The boy questioned.
"Oh, hey Josh." The SHIELD woman responded upon hearing his voice. "Your uncle's out on a mission, but your aunt is available. Why?" She asked.
"Got a Charles Xavier here at the academy. He needs to talk to them." He replied.
"Charles Xavier is with you?" The woman questioned in slight surprise.
"You know him?" Josh asked.
"Yeah. One of his associates, specifically. SHIELD helped him out with a few things." Maria explained. "Please hold while I reroute the call to your aunt." She added before switching Joshua to a waiting cue.
(Later)
"Well, I just got word from Tony." Calvin said as he had the man on hold. "Does this institute have tuition, or is it free?" He questioned.
"My Aunt's wondering the same thing." Josh nodded, having his uncle's sister on hold.
"Tuition is pretty much free, so you two don't have to worry about that." Scott told them.
"But if your parents wish to donate money to the institute for whatever reason, we'd be happy to accept it." Jean amended.
"They say tuition isn't necessary, but donations are appreciated but are by no means required." The two boys replied to their respective parties.
"Thanks/Got it." The two respective women the boys were talking to acknowledged.
A minute later…
"My parents said they're okay with it." The calico teen said. "… And according to Tony they're willing to give the school a donation of your choosing to be used quote "at your discretion". Which typically means that it's one of my dad's 'scratch for a scratch' donations." He continued.
"That means he'll probably call in a favor at some point." Joshua whispered.
"Noted." Xavier nodded.
"Anyway, my aunt is okay with me heading to your institute. She'll send an update to my uncle and give a response on his behalf since he can't do it himself." The beta-level mutant said.
"Very well then." Xavier nodded. "Then I'll be looking forward to your tenure at my school, boys." He told the two.
"Same here." The two boys nodded with smiles on their faces.
(Timeskip)
It was about two or three weeks later and the duo of friends finally arrived at the Xavier institute, and as they reached the mansion that the school took place in. They had to admit, it was definitely decent.
Though they fully admitted that they preferred being in the tropics.
That said, it was definitely a nice place, what with Scott and Jean around. The only thing they weren't really looking forward to was normal high school. Joshua had wanted to head into the GED program, but he got overruled since he'd need to socialize in order to help make it easier for people to accept mutants when they're eventually revealed.
Calvin, meanwhile, was already pretty sure he'd be able to get himself a niche in the school, partly because he always had a way of playing people to his advantage, and because he and Joshua were already able to become well known and well liked at their old school, so this seemed no different.
Well known and well liked, but not quote unquote 'popular', that was their wheelhouse.
Onto what the two were doing in their respective rooms, though…
-Calvin's room-
The calico colored boy hummed as he organized his treasure in a firebox safe, separating the doubloons and the gems from one another.
"Let's see, all of these seem to be French and Spanish, with the smallest coins being from 200 dollars each while the larger ones are closer to 400 each. Then the smaller gold ones are around 500 each and the larger ones are a thousand each." The boy hummed as he finished counting. "Now I have fifty bags total with the silver taking up one half of them. There's 15 bags full of 100 small silver coins and 10 with fifty large ones. And the same with gold." He continued.
He then calculated this…
"That comes out to be: $300,000 in small silver coins. $200,000 in large silver coins. Along with $750,000 in small gold coins and $500,000 in large." He listed, checking things off in a leather notebook with his initials on it, his personal ledger. "All in all that's a total of: $1,750,000 in today's money in gold and silver." He hummed, closing his book. "I'll save the jewels and jewelry for tomorrow." He added.
Then there was a knock at his door.
Locking up his booty with his safe key, the boy sneakily stashed it under his bed and stowed the key away, before getting up and heading to the door. Opening it, he was greeted with Jean standing there.
"Oh, hey, Jean. Just checking up on me?" Calvin asked.
"Just to see if you finished unpacking." The young woman replied, handing him something. "This is your training outfit, we went ahead and did the modifications you asked for—but the professor wouldn't sign off on the cutlasses or four pistols." She added.
"I kinda expected that, really." The energy absorbing teen admitted. "Luckily though, I know a guy who can make the cutlasses for me." He shrugged.
"What about the pistols?" The redhead questioned.
"Don't worry, I know a guy who knows a guy that can get me those." The boy added.
"... I guess you have a lot of connections." The redhead mused.
"Indeed I do." Calvin chuckled.
(Elsewhere)
-Joshua's room-
Joshua hummed as he read a book, having finished unpacking already. He'd also sorted through his half of the treasure he and Calvin found and hid it away in a safe of his own. While he did his reading, he heard a knock at the door, prompting him to set his book down and answer it, finding Scott there.
"Oh, hey, Scott. What's up?" He asked.
"Got your costume ready, with the modifications you asked for." The shaded teen replied, handing him a bundle. "But the cutlass and dagger were a no go." He admitted.
"Eh, that's okay. I'll just get them commissioned some other way." Joshua shrugged, not too perturbed by this.
"He also had reservations about the multiple pistols, and the air rifle with that grenade launcher attachment you requested." Scott added. "Seriously, why would you and Calvin need all that weaponry on top of those dual wrist blades?" He asked.
"You never know when you might need to get creative in a fight." The taller teen replied. "Plus, the air rifle has its advantages with how it makes no real sound." He added.
"What, are you gonna have knockout darts for it or something?" The shaded teen asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, actually. That and rounds that'll hurt like hell but probably won't kill." Joshua nodded in reply. "Same for some knockout grenades and… other unorthodox explosives." He added.
"That being…?" Scott pressed.
"Sulfur and mustard bombs." The boy replied. "In small grenades like these it'll either irritate or incapacitate a person." He added.
"So it's a long range knockout gun? Okay, that would come in handy." Scott nodded.
"I'd also suggest regular grenades. For when things need to go boom." Joshua amended.
"... There are always gonna be times like that." Scott sighed, since he himself knew there was always gonna be an occasion like that.
"Precisely why I asked for them." The boy nodded smugly.
(Later)
It was night time now and both Calvin and Joshua were now getting changed into their respective costumes.
The two decided to go ahead and check out the local coast to see what they could find since they didn't have anything else to do, and figured that wearing their costumes would allow them to break them in.
They were mainly looking for any possible English privateered gold or silver, but they weren't expecting much right now. It was too early for expecting anything big.
"Ya know, I heard that the Flying Dutchman originally shipwrecked around here…" Calvin mused, idly fiddling with his doubloon ring.
"Are you planning on us finding it?" Joshua asked.
"Do I look suicidal?" The brunette questioned.
"Right, sorry." Joshua chuckled as he adjusted his costume a bit.
Said costume consisted of a sleeveless jacket with a hood, a black undershirt, tan colored pants, brown boots and several belts with empty holsters that awaited their designated weapons.
Calvin's, meanwhile, was a bit more elaborate than that of his friend.
It consisted of a white and blue robe-like outfit with a hood and a red sash around his waist, a brown leather tunic, matching leather full arm bracers and other added bits for his hidden blades, leather boots, a white hood and several empty holsters.
"All I'm saying is that we should keep an eye out, just in case." The bespectacled teen as he rowed them farther into the water.
"Yeah, I know. It would make a great find, though." Joshua conceded.
As they said this, however, a fog suddenly started to move it a seemingly snail's pace.
"What the…?" Calvin uttered as he glanced around along with Joshua, both seeing the fog slowly become more dense.
"That's weird. This wasn't in the forecast, last I checked." The taller teen commented as he slowly rowed the boat.
Then the fog got so dense they couldn't see much of anything beyond their boat or each other. This made them tense, and before they could consider anything, there was the sound of something big rising out of the water and splashing back down, splashing them as well.
"Gah! Damn it, I love whales, but I hate it when they do that!" Calvin exclaimed as he took out a rag and quickly dried his hair up as much as he could.
"Tell me about it! That's annoying!" Joshua huffed as he dried out his hair with his own rag.
Before they could say anything else, though, their boat hit something big… That just so happened to be made of wood.
"What the–MOTHERFUCKER!" Joshua started to say before he cursed in surprise when he turned and saw a colonial-era heavy cargo ship floating in their boat's path.
It was old, obviously, and worn out judging by the moss, algae, barnacles and wood decay all over it. There were some cannons poking out, but neither of the boys could hear any footsteps coming from the vessel. The sails were up right now, but even then, they were willing to think those were as worn out as the rest of the ship.
"Where the actual fuck did this come from?!" Calvin yelped in shock.
"I don't know, but I'm not hearing anything on the deck. Are you up for a little bit of exploring?" Joshua asked after calming his nerves.
The brunette simply started rummaging in their row boat, before taking a grappling hook and tossing it over the bow.
"Ladies first." He grinned.
"Ha ha ha." Joshua laughed sarcastically as he climbed up first. When he reached the top deck, he looked around and saw no one around. "All clear!" He called his friend.
This prompted Calvin to climb up behind him and join him on the top deck.
"… This place looks abandoned." The boy noted as they walked around the ship.
"Kinda weird that this thing appeared. What ship is this?" Joshua wondered as he started walking around.
"Not sure, but the captain's cabin is right there. Hopefully there's something in there that'll give us some info." Calvin pointed out as he joined his friend in front of a door.
"Stand back." Joshua told his friend as he squared up and kicked the door down with a well executed Spartan kick.
"Nice form." The calico-colored teen nodded as the two walked in and saw that the interior was slightly better than the outside of the vessel, though not by much since there was still moss and algae all over the place.
"Hm…" Joshua hummed as he walked up to the captain's desk and opened a drawer, finding a journal inside with a bookmark at the most recent entry. "… Signed Abraham Burghest, 9th captain of the Flying Dutchman." He read aloud.
"Wait, this is the Flying Dutchman?!" Calvin gasped in shock.
"Okay, I wasn't expecting this ship to literally come out of the ocean just for us!" Joshua admitted in surprise. "But why us, though?" He wondered.
"No idea…" The calico teen replied. "But since it's here for the taking, why don't we take possession of this vessel?" He questioned.
"With just the two of us? How would we even get the sails down?" The taller teen questioned. "I mean, unless the ship follows the intent of its captain, I don't see that working." He added.
"It probably does that when there isn't a current crew, and then only does so when a crew's available to help compensate if needed." His friend theorized.
"That could work…" Joshua hummed. "But out of the two of us, who's more fit to be the captain?" He wondered.
It was at that point a sword on the desk that neither of them noticed floated into the air, getting their attention. It was covered in algae, but that didn't seem to last long as all of that fell away, revealing that it had an ornate gold handle with some inscriptions on it while the blade was in a black sheath with a similar design as the handle.
Then the sword unsheathed itself via some kind of supernatural force, revealing the blade to a single edged sword that seemed to be just as ornate as its handle. It was actually a beautiful design.
Then it spun in the air for a few seconds before it stopped and floated handle first toward Joshua, who immediately understood what this meant.
"Wait… I'm the new captain?" He gasped with wide eyes.
"What are you waiting for, man? The ship is choosing you, don't be an idiot and deny it." Calvin prompted.
Looking at the sword, Joshua swallowed a lump in his throat and grasped it. Immediately, the teen felt a surge of power and the ship seemed to clean and repair itself to the point it looked like it was in its prime again with only slight aging.
"Well, then." Joshua nodded as he walked up the steps to the ship's helm, taking the wheel. "If I'm to be the captain, what're you going to be?" He asked his friend.
"I'll be a quartermaster. Nothing less." The bespectacled teen replied, arms folded.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, bud." Joshua chuckled with a smile. "Now why don't we get our boat up here before we cast off?" He pointed out.
As if in response to his words, some ropes reached over the side and pulled their boat onto the deck before a hatch opened, allowing the boat to be stored inside as the hatch closed again.
"... Well, looks like you're right about the ship following the will of its captain." Joshua blinked.
"Aye." The brunette nodded, walking over to a corner of the ship where two cutlasses, specifically a pair of Damascus cutlasses with a pair of clam shell knuckle bow hands. "So, Captain Landbrecht, what be your first orders?" His quartermaster questioned.
"I think that be obvious. Right now, let's get back home." Joshua smirked as he grabbed the wheel. "All sails!" He called.
In response, the Flying Dutchman let all of its sails lower and catch the wind, propelling the ship forward.
It truly was a supernatural vessel, and it had chosen its new captain.
"Save yourselves for Davy Jones and jagabats! It's a hard wind comin'!" Calvin added as the ship started moving forward as it started to rain hard.
"The man speaks true! Weigh anchor. Two at the half sails and half at the main! Let's outrun this hurricane!" Joshua ordered as he turned the wheel heading back to the Institute.
The ship did as her new captain ordered and halved both specified sections in response to his orders.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in the wind of the very hurricane that the Dutchman proceeded, a large vessel made of good old gunmetal Gray American steel sliced its way through the waves, like a knife.
It was actually an aircraft carrier, but if one stepped into its interior, they would find that it was vastly different.
"Big storm tonight, huh Maria?" A voice asked as one Maria Hill stood at the helm.
"It really is, Katerina." The woman responded as a ravenette in her twenties with silver eyes stood next to her. The only thing she was wearing was a standard SHIELD agent outfit that hugged her generous figure and outlined her curves.
"Sure hope my nephew isn't out there in all this." The woman sighed.
"You and me both, sis." A voice nodded as the two turned.
Walking up to them was a man in his twenties with vibrant green eyes and black hair with green streaks. He was wearing a slightly modified version of the standard SHIELD agent uniform that allowed him to carry a bit more ordinance than the standard agent. It also showed how much muscle he was packing.
On his back was a sleek looking auto rifle that looked way more advanced than anything else out there.
"Johan, hey!" Katarina smiled.
"I hope everything's okay with him." Maria nodded, right as a figure stepped out onto the deck.
"Agents." One Nick Fury nodded as he approached the bridge, right as someone called in.
"Sir, radar's picking up something off of starboard, five miles off and getting closer!" A radar operator reported.
"Pull up what footage you can get." The man said, walking away as he gestured for his agents to follow while Maria stayed behind.
As they stepped on deck, thunder rolled, lightning struck and waves crashed as the winds of the hurricane roared along—and the three could see something coming towards the Helicarrier.
"Is that… Is that an old sail ship?!" Katerina exclaimed over the howling wind as she squinted her eyes.
"Yeah it is! Do you guys think it might be the Flying Dutchman?!" Johan asked over the wind. Everyone knew the stories of the Flying Dutchman, and how it would be an omen of storms. Everything seemed to add up so far to him.
"I don't believe in legends, Agent Omni, only facts and things I can count on!" Fury called over the storm.
"Wait, look! It's pulling up beside us!" Katerina called, causing the two men to turn and see that the vessel was indeed pulling up next to them, most of the crew failing to see the sides revealing a total of thirty two triple barreled cannons.
Then…
BOOM!
The massive man o war ship unleashed a full on broadside attack.
"What the hell?!" Fury barked over the cannon fire and the wind.
Luckily, the armor of the carrier held up, and it suffered almost no damage. The cannon balls had bounced off and fallen into the ocean, leaving only a few sizable dents that wouldn't really be that big of a deal—but would take time to buff out.
(Elsewhere)
"What the hell was that?!" Calvin exclaimed.
"I don't know! I was just wondering how the cannons worked and then BOOM!" Joshua blurted.
"I hope for our sake that those guys on that aircraft carrier don't use manual targeting with those AA guns to shoot at us for that!" The calico colored teen snapped. "Come on! Let's get outta here!" He added.
"Right! Full sail! Full sail!" Joshua called as the ship did so and started sailing deeper into the storm.
(Later)
"Okay, I think we're clear." Joshua sighed as the ship arrived close to the Institute.
"Best weigh anchor, let the storm cover our tracks." His best friend and quartermaster told him.
"Right." The taller teen nodded as the ship reacted and pulled up all of its sails and dropped its anchors. "Oh man I need a breather after that embarrassing mistake." He groaned.
"But on the bright side, we have ourselves a ship." Calvin noted. "We're now officially Pirates." He added.
"Heh… Yeah. Now we have something nobody else in this age has." Joshua chuckled. "But where are we gonna find a crew?" He wondered.
"We'll have to bide our time with that one." Calvin commented.
"Yeah. I doubt anyone will take us seriously if I walk up to them and say 'Hey, wanna join my pirate crew? I'm the captain of the Flying Dutchman! It'll be fun!' Seriously, they'll think I'm nuts if I do that." The tall captain remarked.
"That is true." His friend nodded.
"We'll need some serious luck." Joshua nodded.
"I make my own luck, Joshie." The brunette nodded as he slid down their rope.
"That's gonna be your trademark line for the rest of your days, I swear." Joshua remarked as he followed him.
Let it be known that other pirates have had worse starts in their careers…
ThermalsniperN7: Okay, this is the first X-Men: Evolution story I've got under my name, so apologies if anything seems odd. But yeah, we have two characters based on ourselves (I won't confirm nor deny which parts of said characters are true) as mutants with a penchant for pirate culture. And no, this doesn't count as a self-insert story in our eyes.
Dragon Emperor0: As Red from OSP (Overly Sarcastic Productions) says, every author bases their characters at least a little bit off of themselves. Luke Skywalker is a pretty well known example of this. Luke Skywalker, L S, George Lucas. Mark Hamil even said that he often defaulted to what Lucas would do during acting, see what I mean?
ThermalsniperN7: Exactly our point. Anyway, yes we're making our characters Assassin's Creed themed in addition to the whole pirate aesthetic. We even decided to draw upon the lore of the real life Flying Dutchman and bring it into this story, wherein my character is the new captain of it.
Dragon Emperor0: And mine is the quartermaster, you guys are probably gonna love our idea of the Dutchman being the main ship as the crew, because while it's weak right now, just wait until it gets a full crew—that's when even the Helicarrier may start leaking a little lubricant in fear.
ThermalsniperN7: And yes, my character does share some relations with two recurring OCs of mine from a few other stories. What can I say? They're my staple for X-Men: Evolution stories.
Dragon Emperor0: Yep. And as the summary may have already stated, the pairings are Calvin x Rogue, Joshua x OC (different one), and several others involving characters from Dragon X by IceAge Mutant, a close friend of ours who has given us permission and the rights to use these characters as we see fit while staying true to the spirit of said characters.
ThermalsniperN7: Right, so shout out to her. Anyway, see you next time,