บท 88: Terror of the Sea
Mash hid behind her hands, peeking through the gaps in her fingers with tinted cheeks.
"S-Senpai, maybe you should w-wear something else?"
As she had said countless times before, her senpai was a good person, special in his own way, but ultimately competent and a picture perfect representation of what it meant to be human but... again, as she had said countless times before, his 'quirks' could be... overbearing.
"Nonsense, Mash. If I'm going to be a pirate, I need to dress like one."
Nicholas peered out at the endless sea from their dingy little boat with a foot on the wooden rails and both hands at his waist, trying but utterly failing at grinning.
But his lofty aspirations weren't a problem, they were what drove humans to progress... It was how he chose to go about accomplishing his goals.
He'd discarded his shirt for a blue cloak he definitely hadn't stolen from Cu Chulainn, and was wearing grey trousers underneath it... which looked a bit... er, "Senpai, you're dressed too-..."
No shirt, laying his muscles bare, but also trousers which made him look like a-
"He looks like a homeless bum." Cu spoke her thoughts casually, cleaning his teeth with a toothpick, "Like his mommy kicked him out their home for bein' a naughty lil' shite, which he is."
Nicholas clicked his tongue and glanced at Cu, "Damn you, nonbelievers. I ain't taking that from a man proudly calling himself a dog. Go lick somebody's feet." He then turned to Mash with a curious gaze, "You think this is bad, Mash?"
Mash was... biassed.
When those violet eyes moved to look at her with all the innocent curiosity she'd come to expect from them, her thoughts faltered,
"I-It...It's alright."
In the end, she just relented with a sigh and slumped shoulders.
"Nice, I knew Cu was just being a shithead again."
"You're the shithead." Cu tossed a long branch at his Master, before shrugging, "There ya go, complete the set if you're really doin' it."
Grabbing the branch, Nicholas gave it a few swings before bringing it close to his face and studying it with narrowed eyes, "Is this the legendary stick I see so much?"
"Uhh... sure."
"Nice, thanks."
"...Mister Cu, stop trying to make Master look like an idiot." Mash deadpanned at the Caster, sitting crosslegged on the 'deck' of the boat.
"Hey, I'm just tryna help him out with what he wants."
Before the conversation could evolve into something so profound no man could bear it, Romani's voice cut through on the comms.
"I'm glad you've all gotten accustomed to your new surroundings. Now, listen to me very carefully." The good doctor spoke calmly but with a hint of urgency to his tone, "Nicholas, I trust you'll be able to handle yourself?"
Mash nodded for him, if his track record in the previous three singularities was anything to go by, the final member of A-Team could more than just 'handle' himself. Cu Chulainn just relaxed further, leaning against the sail with an eye closed.
"Yeah, sure. What's up?"
"The era you've arrived into is turbulent, filled to the brim with pirates... but that was in the briefing. Thanks to the deployment patterns, we've been able to discern quite a lot about the area." The doctor explained, "I hope you don't mind if we focus our support more on Ritsuka and Hinako."
Most of the staff and servants had gone from calling the 48th Master 'Gudako' to 'Ritsuka' after a very unfortunate incident involving a blender and Romani's hair.
Nicholas pursed his lips for a moment, "You say that like I've had anything other than Olga shouting in my ear since the start."
As if to prove his point, Olga Marie Animusphere shouted over the comms.
"I-I!" But stopped herself, realising her mistake before offering meekly, "...I was just worried."
Nicholas only shrugged, "But it's cool. Make sure the brat doesn't get herself hurt or something."
"Of course, thanks for your understanding."
Shrugging again, Nicholas disregarded them entirely from then on and took in a deep breath of the fresh sea air, "Why does the sea smell like shit?"
"...That's probably not the sea."
"Right, I forgot we have a mutt on board."
"Fuck you, I meant that." Cu flipped him off before gesturing to the side with his thumb, "I noticed it a while back but... they ain't attacking. And I reckon you should see what a real pirate's like before you go around callin' yourself one."
Turning to look, Mash came face to face with the biggest sea vessel she'd ever seen... not like she'd seen any real ones but still, she guessed it was far larger than any other pirate ship.
Made of dark wood and crimson sails that looked like they were dripping with blood, the 'pirate' ship cast an imposing image... especially compared to their dingy little boat which looked like an ant in comparison to the sheer size of the vessel.
Nicholas, however, hadn't turned to look at it yet and boldly declared again.
"I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!"
"I am the King of the Pirates!"
...
...
...
Nicholas looked up to spot a dark haired man staring down at him with equally confused eyes.
What was weirder was that both of them were standing in the same position, the only difference being that the other man was much, much larger in stature compared to Nicholas and unruly black hair littered white strands completed by an unkempt beard.
He wore a long black coat and had a claw attached to one of his hands, with jewelled rings on all fingers.
Said man pointed at Nicholas, "What the hell is with upstart rascals calling themselves whatever they want!? I'm the King of the Pirates! Aim all cannons!"
"Then I'll bash your shit in and take your title. Aim all cannons!" Nicholas copied his words.
Only,
"We don't got none! Oi kid, protect your Master!"
Ignoring the two servants, Nicholas drew his legendary stick and jumped off his boat, grabbing onto the enemy ship, "We're boarding them!"
"ARR! MATEYS! THEY'RE BOARDING US!" The man above him bellowed loudly, "Draw your weapons!"
"Why is he taking him so seriously?!" Cu shouted in shock and confusion, "Damn it!"
The Irish Caster moved his fingers through the air, manifesting massive balls of flame that collided into the ship's frame and shook it, drawing fire off his master all the while Mash just watched.
The distraction was enough to let Nicholas use the ship as a launching pad and jump up with a hand coiled around his stick which he proceeded to smash down on the head of the false King of the Pirates.
"...What?" The man stumbled back with confused eyes, a hand on his head before he grinned and lunged at Nicholas with a cutlass and a flintlock pistol, "Damn right! We're pirates! If we want something, we take it! Even from each other! Come at me, brat! See how you measure up to Blackbeard!"
Nicholas paused in his tracks.
"Wut?"
Cannons and gunfire drowned out his question.
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