Chapter 2
It's time to shipwreck
Neptune has always been seen as a violent god, probably the most brutal of all. Those who wronged him knew they would pay dearly. But only one person really knew Neptune, and that was himself. The God of the Oceans gave himself such an image to have peace, not the world's peace, just his own.
One day, as Neptune rode the oceans on a wave, he came to an abrupt halt. He may have ruled such a vast domain, he was lonely, terribly lonely. He realized that what he wanted was not so desirable.
"The aquatic world... is so empty." Neptune murmured before lying down on the wave.
A domain larger than the skies and the underworld combined described as empty, many would cry heresy and yet... these were the words spoken by the god of this very place.
As he was laid back with his eyes closed, a cry reached Neptune's ear. The cry probably came from the other side of the ocean, yet the god heard it as if it were right next to him.
Neptune brandished his trident and headed towards the noise, riding a wave. After a few minutes, he arrived near a coastal village in the grip of a sea monster. Men, women and children were powerless against the onslaught of the tentacled monster.
With a violent thrust that split the ocean in two, Neptune lunged at the monster, piercing it from side to side. The huge creature collapsed backwards into the ocean with a violent crash before the inhabitants understood what had just happened.
One by one, the villagers realized that the threat was no more. Some of them gathered in the main square before Neptune interrupted the scene by rising out of the ocean to land in front of the inhabitants. The god had come to present himself as a savior, but he was not welcomed in that way.
"It's- It's Neptune!"
"He sent this monster to exterminate us, but now he wants to finish the job himself!"
The poor villagers began to scream and run away from the god, thinking his reputation for terror was true. Neptune, on the other hand, remained silent. He stayed in the square, which was now empty. He wondered why these humans weren't grateful for his kindness in saving them.
"Well."
That was the only word he spoke before walking silently towards the shore. He slowly entered the water until he was completely submerged and from that day on, Neptune never left the ocean kingdom.
This false legend was passed down from generation to generation by the village's inhabitants and their descendants, leaving a wrong impression of Neptune's last appearance to human eyes. Neptune was considered a greater tyrant from that day on, even though he only wanted peace and was ready to help in order to cure his loneliness.
In the arena, Queen Anne's Revenge was being cut to pieces from below by the violent spray of water. Rhymus, still perched at the top of the mast, clung to it to resume commentary on the fight.
"It's simply unbelievable! You see it just as I do, but you don't experience it in the same way. Neptune's powerful blast of water shakes the whole ship with unprecedented violence!" he exclaims vigorously, taking care not to fall.
Blackbeard staggers and falls to the deck, helpless in the face of this attack. Suddenly, the blast of water stopped and the Queen Anne's Revenge crashed several meters down onto the sandy island. The fall was violent, and when he got to his feet, the pirate began spitting blood.
"Not bad... you're starting to show what you're really capable of." Blackbeard murmured, wiping the blood from his lips with a flick of his sleeve.
With the help of his four arms, Rhymus stood up and climbed down the mast.
"Blackbeard is finally wounded! The fall was not without consequences for him and his ship!" he exclaimed before reaching the deck.
"He must have felt it pass." Benjamin Hornigold murmured.
"That's not what's going to get him." replied Anne Bonny.
Blackbeard rose to his feet, but Neptune leapt to strike a fatal blow. The pirate dodged with a roll.
"Now you're getting serious." Blackbeard smirked while looking at Neptune.
The god, who had barely spoken during the fight, began to reply.
"Consider it an honor, I've rarely used these techniques against a being. As a human, you're the first to see them and, above all, to suffer them."
"You sound kind of lonely, kid." the pirate replied compassionately.
"If you only knew..."
Neptune again brandished his trident with both hands, as at the start of the fight, but this time he attacked to kill. Each of his blows was delivered with the intention of killing Blackbeard, which made the pirate smile. He counters the blows with the help of his sword, not without difficulty, but he manages to.
"Neptune seems to be taking this fight seriously now, and wants to get it over with quickly!" said Rhymus, who was standing at the helm.
As Neptune continues his assault, he changes his style of attack to strike from above. Blackbeard counters at the last second, but is thrown back into the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Neptune peered into the hold through the hole into which Blackbeard had just been propelled. Blackbeard raises his gaze to look at the god who has the high ground on him.
"Come down and I'll show you around." Blackbeard smiles.
Neptune accepted the offer and stepped forward to fall into the hold. The two fighters face each other again.
"It's quite good, too bad I had to destroy part of it." says Neptune, looking inside the ship.
"I don't blame you. I might have done the same in your place." replied the pirate.
Selira looked perplexed.
"We don't see them anymore... what could be happening to them right now?"
"No matter, I just hope our dear bearded man shoves a cannon deep into Neptune's a- "
Phearl put her hands over her ears.
"SELIRA!"
"Calm down, both of you. As you know, a ship has a crew and Edward's crew would have followed him to his death." Druca says.
Blackbeard's ship began to glow blue.
"What the- " Rhymus didn't understand the situation like many others.
He began to scream as what seemed to be a blue pirate ghost appeared beside him.
"Hiiiiiii!" Phearl screamed at the sight of the ghost.
"Fuck yeah!" Selira expresses her excitement.
Other ghosts continued to appear on the deck of Queen Anne's Revenge, and one by one, they jumped into the hole leading to the hold.
"This is so cool, what is this?" Selira asks cheerfully.
"I'm glad you asked, Selira. What you see is a supernatural ability unique to Edward Teach called Dead Men Tales."
"So that's what you meant when you said his crew would have followed him to his death."
Druca smiles and chuckles.
After a while, the last ghost appeared, and shortly afterwards, Neptune burst out of the ship, surrounded by Blackbeard's former sailors.
No matter how hard the God of the Oceans struggles, his blows go right through the ghosts without doing anything to them. Nevertheless, they too seem unable to harm Neptune, but they can hinder him.
"I confess I don't know how to react to that. Technically, this isn't cheating, since these spirits don't seem to be able to hurt Neptune." Rhymus wonders.
Neptune soon found himself swamped by dozens of ghosts, but many more had appeared... Where are those who remain, and where is Blackbeard?
A loud noise begins to be heard. It comes from the ship. It sounds like a mixture of creaking wood and metal. With Neptune still struggling, cannons begin to appear through the gun ports on the ship's right side. But that wasn't enough: the rest of the cannons are being brought to the ship's deck by the ghosts so that they can all point in the god's direction.
"Prepare yourself Neptune!" Blackbeard's voice is heard as he emerges from the hold and walks towards the helm.
Rhymus shifted as the pirate took his place behind the ship's helm.
"For the first time in its existence, the sound of Queen Anne's Revenge's forty cannons will ring out!" he continues, grabbing the helm.
Neptune looked up, helpless.
"It's going to be a sight I never thought I'd see." Benjamin Hornigold thought.
"Ready guys? FIRE!" exclaims Blackbeard, pointing his sword at Neptune.
The remaining crew fired simultaneously, propelling dozens of cannonballs towards Neptune. They all hit the beach, where Neptune disappears behind a thick cloud of black smoke and sand.
"This... This is Strike of Queen Anne's Revenge." says Blackbeard as his crew reloads their cannons to fire again.
Another salvo of cannonballs was fired, but Neptune was nowhere to be seen.
"The noise is unbearable!" shouts Rhymus loudly to overcome the noise of the cannons. "It's a veritable deluge of fire that Neptune seems to have taken head-on!"
Indeed, the sound of the cannons didn't seem to stop and no one could see Neptune.
"Fucking hell, I love this guy! He sure won!" exclaims Selira.
"Is… Is it true, Druca?" Phearl asked.
The goddess stares intensely into the arena.
"I don't know, Phearl... Neptune is powerful, there's a chance he could have survived this."
And indeed, after a brief moment, the cloud of smoke was dissipated by a single stroke of Neptune's trident. The god had been hurt by the powerful attack but did not seem mortally wounded.
"He survived!" Rhymus howls in his horn as he leaps onto the sand.
And for the first time in centuries, Neptune smiled. But it wasn't just any smile, it was a smile aimed at his opponent, whom he looked into the eyes. But he keeps his sights set on winning the fight.
"Rogue Wave Storm." Neptune says with a slight smile.
Giant waves begin to form on the outskirts of the arena. Blackbeard saw them, but his ship was unable to move. He clung to the helm, bracing himself for impact. Rhymus understood the danger and quickly whistled so that a small pair of gleaming wings appeared to enable him to fly over the waves.
One by one, the waves smash through the wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge and crash onto the island, where Neptune remains standing, tons of water falling on him.
"Edward!" Anne shouts, worried.
Benjamin remained silent, covering his mouth. Both were worried about their friend.
The aft mast, the smallest, quickly collapsed and fell backwards. The one in front held out a little longer before falling on its side, landing on the island.
"It's a relentless assault! The ship won't last long!" Rhymus said, flying over the ever-growing waves.
And suddenly, the last wave appeared. It was over thirty meters tall, taller than the ship's last mast, the highest one. It submerged Queen Anne's Revenge, sweeping away the middle mast. As the storm subsides, the damage becomes apparent to spectators.
Little remained of the famous ship, completely destroyed by Neptune's various assaults since the start of the battle. As for the god, he hadn't moved, completely soaked but unshakeable. But the humans in the stands were holding their breath. Where is Blackbeard?
Their question was quickly answered. The pirate crawled away from the ship, arriving on the sand.
"He did it." Benjamin Hornigold smiles.
"Come on Edward, you can do it!" exclaims Anne Bonny.
The humans had regained their energy and were all cheering the pirate on.
"Can he win?" Phearl asks to Druca.
"He has already faced death, and even then, his mortal body resisted enormously before falling."
These words brought a slight smile to Phearl's face, as she gained confidence in the man who had previously frightened her.
Blackbeard struggled to his feet, slapping his chest to spit out the salt water he had swallowed. The pirate had lost his hat during the storm of waves. He then turns to see what's left of his ship. He sighs.
"Well, I know what I have to do." he said in a light voice before walking towards his ship.
Neptune followed him, walking slowly. The god entered the ship but did not see Blackbeard. He had reached the upper deck.
"What does Blackbeard intend to do? Is he on the run, or does he have a plan?" Rhymus speaks out.
Blackbeard jumps towards the island, abandoning his ship.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." whispers the pirate to his ship.
He sees Neptune, looking for him in the hold and just then, Blackbeard fires.
"Farewell My Dear…"
The single bullet fired by the Captain of Queen Anne's Revenge was perfectly aimed at the ship's powder keg reserve. Here's his latest technique.
In the West Indies, Edward Teach does his best to help his mentor Benjamin Hornigold rebuild his fleet. He was named captain; a promise Benjamin had made to him earlier.
"Go ahead, my friend, they're your men now." Hornigold patted his friend on the shoulder.
Edward smiled and stepped forward.
"Gentlemen, as you know, we have a magnificent ocean to explore. It's far more beautiful than anything you've ever seen, even your mothers, I can tell you." Edward said cheerfully, brandishing a mug of beer.
His new, first crew responded in kind, drinking in the glory of their newly promoted captain. It was party time, and Edward sat back and watched his men enjoying themselves. One of them went to see him.
"What's the plan, Captain?"
"We take what we can get, but without bloodshed and even less deaths." Edward replied. "And we need a bigger boat."
"And we're going to make ourselves respected by acting this way?"
Captain Teach drinks a shot.
"The image of fear is much scarier than violence. We'll be respected because our targets will be scared and surrender without a fight."
He led various ships in the months that followed, making the British pay for what they had done to the crew of Sam Bellamy, who died in a shipwreck.
Edward treated each of his men with great respect, and looked after them in all circumstances. Every sailor was very important to him.
But one day, lost in a storm and alone in his cabin, he metamorphosed. He left behind the identity of Edward Teach and adopted that of Blackbeard, a creature who seemed to be the devil himself. No one could have said whether it was a stroke of syphilis madness or genius, but that's how the most terrifying man in the Western world was born.
But all this soon came to an end. His crew had been infiltrated by an envoy of the Governor of Virginia, who had set a trap for him. He commissioned Robert Maynard to track down and kill Blackbeard.
Weakened by illness, it was during a November morning that Blackbeard saw Maynard's ship approaching him.
"It all ends today..." he said to himself, knowing he couldn't escape.
Blackbeard's ship fired towards Maynard's as it drew closer. Once the deluge of fire was over, the captain climbed aboard and saw bloodied bodies all over the deck. The battle was over, he thought. Maynard had hidden with a few men under the deck to prepare for a surprise attack once boarded.
When he saw Blackbeard, Maynard attacked him. He fired a first shot, which wounded Blackbeard in the shoulder, but the latter didn't flinch. The bearded man retaliated but missed. More of Maynard's men surrounded Captain Teach, who used his six flintlock pistols to kill one of them. For the first time in his life, he began to kill.
Blackbeard was hit many times by sword blows and gunfire, but it wasn't until the thirtieth sword blow that he fell to the ground, dead. Robert Maynard approached the battered body of history's most feared pirate and cut off his head before his body was thrown into the sea…
The battle was still raging in Heaven's Gate Colisseum. The bullet fired by Blackbeard hit a powder keg, creating a chain reaction that blew up the entire Queen Anne's Revenge, with Neptune still trapped inside. The pirate landed hard on the sand, seeing his ship go up in smoke.
"He did the unthinkable! He sacrificed his ship to strike a surely fatal blow to Neptune!" Rhymus shouted in disbelief.
Many cheered Blackbeard's performance, thinking he'd won, but a silhouette stood out through the black smoke. Neptune emerges, his body burned and wounded, but still alive. Gods and humans alike were surprised.
"You truly deserve your title of God of the Oceans." exclaimed Blackbeard, who didn't seem to mind Neptune's survival.
Phearl is panicking.
"But... how will he manage without his ship?" she turns to Druca.
The goddess didn't reply. Neptune begins to spin his trident, causing seven water orbs to appear. Blackbeard looked at him, seeming to accept what was about to happen.
"You were a formidable opponent. Thank you... for making me feel so good after an eternity, Blac- I mean Edward." says Neptune in a calm voice but with a genuine smile.
"You weren't so bad yourself, my friend."
These words had quite an effect on the god, who slowly stopped twirling his trident, the seven water orbs still floating behind him. Blackbeard nodded, giving Neptune the green light.
"Wrath of the Seven Seas." says Neptune in an almost saddened voice.
The orbs transformed into powerful jets of water that could have pierced anything. Blackbeard closes his eyes before being pierced by the seven jets, killing him instantly. It was only then that Neptune put on an emotionless face again, having killed the only man who had brought him a shred of happiness and even considered him a friend.
"The first fight has just ended and I declare the winner to be Neptune!" Rhymus shouts as he drops to the sand.
Neptune vs Blackbeard
Match Length: 9 minutes and 20 seconds
Deciding Move: Wrath of the Seven Seas
Victor: Neptune