Battle At Sea

Noodle was surprised to find that the four of them actually did manage to fall back to sleep after the attack, and were still huddled comfortably in a heap in the car when the day finally dawned, cloudy and cool. She was also relieved to find that any residual tension between herself and any of the others had completely gone away, and all of them seemed to have returned to their usual selves as they went about their morning routine.

Now, breakfast had been eaten, the dishes put away, faces and hands washed, and the four of them were trying to stave off boredom with a game of "Go to the Dump," played with a pack of color-coded Sesame Street cards Noodle had salvaged from the Plastic Beach.

"Got any oranges?" Noodle asked Pelican. She needed just one more orange card to complete a set.

"Nope!" Pelican said cheerfully. "Go to the dump!"

Noodle sighed and picked a new card. Oscar the Grouch surrounded by various green garbage scowled at her from the new card and she sighed again. She didn't have any other green cards. This didn't help at all.

"Do you have any blue cards?" Seagull asked Sunmoonstars.

As Sunmoonstars forked over a card featuring Cookie Monster out at sea on a blue colored boat, Noodle gazed out at the horizon. The sky was slate gray and waves a bit choppy, but she didn't think it looked like rain. At least, not yet. There was a bit of a red tinge in the clouds from the rising sun, however, and she couldn't help but think of the old nautical saying. "Red sky in morning, sailor take warning…" she muttered to herself.

"Take warning for what?" asked Pelican. "And do you have any yellows?"

Noodle sighed and handed him a card showing a smiling Big Bird holding up a pitcher of lemonade and a banana. She couldn't help feeling a bit jealous of the Muppet. She would have killed for either of those things right now, instead of endless meals of dried fish and jellyfish juice. "Storms, I guess," she answered. "Let's hope one isn't coming. I don't really want to find out if Seagull was right about how durable this raft is."

"Nor do I, actually," Seagull said in boredom. "And go to the dump," he added, when Sunmoonstars pointed at him and made the sign for "red."

"Why do you have to worry about storms in the morning?" Pelican wanted to know.

"Uh….I'm not sure exactly. I guess that's when the weather comes through. And do you have any greens?"

"Go to the dump!" Pelican said smugly.

"Pelican, of course you have a green card." Seagull said in exasperation. "I had that card with the missing corner last hand, at it was green!"

"You shouldn't cheat by looking at other people's cards, Seagull," Pelican scolded him.

Seagull rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to reply, but Noodle cut him off. "Never mind," she said. "Let's just play. It's your turn."

As Seagull asked Sunmoonstars for another blue card and was sent to the dump, Noodle studied her own cards. Other than the orange cards, none of the other cards in her hand had a match. She really wasn't having much luck with this game.

"Got any green cards?" she heard Pelican ask Seagull.

Seagull sighed, handed one over, and then it was Sunmoonstars's turn. He pointed to Pelican and made the sign for "red."

"Go to the dump!" said Pelican gleefully.

Sunmoonstars reached for a new card, hesitated, and then, with an irritated hiss, quickly seized Pelican's cards from him and angrily threw them face-up on the deck, revealing TWO cards featuring Elmo riding a fire engine while eating an apple.

"Wow, I had a red card after all!" Pelican said in utter amazement. "Two red cards! Wow, Mr. Boogieman, how did you do that?"

"I honestly can't tell if he's cheating on purpose or is simply the worst card player who ever lived," Seagull said flatly. "In any event, this hand is ruined."

"Maybe we should make him sit out for the next game," Noodle said, sneaking another glance off into the distance, still checking for storm clouds. And then she froze, the card game forgotten entirely.

There was a ship on the horizon.

"Miss Noodle, will you shuffle the cards for us again?" she heard Pelican ask her.

She didn't answer him, and her silence must have prompted the others to look where she was looking, because they all suddenly went deathly silent. For a moment, anyway.

"We're saved!" Pelican shouted at the top of his lungs. "Look, Seagull, a boat! A boat! Miss Noodle found a boat!"

"I can see that," said Seagull, almost as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. He stared out at the ship for a moment more, then turned and looked at Noodle.

She shook her head and kept her eyes on the ship. "It's too far away to see what kind of ship it is," she told the others. "I don't know if it's someone who will help us or not."

"What do you mean, Miss Noodle?" Pelican wanted to know. "Why wouldn't they help us?"

"It depends on who they are," Noodle told him, still straining to make out the ship's silhouette. "It could be a cruise ship, or a merchant ship, in which case they'd probably help us. Or…"

"Or what?" Pelican asked. He was beginning to sound quite worried.

"Let's just say I've met a lot of unsavory characters out at sea over the last few weeks," Noodle replied. "And I've been left marooned not once, but TWICE by them."

"You think it's pirates then?" Seagull asked her.

"Pirates?" Pleican said in terror. "There are pirates out here?"

She shook her head, trying to ignore Pelican's prattling so she could answer Seagull. "I don't know what they are," she told him. It seems like we're pretty far out at sea for more ordinary types of ships to be just passing by….but then again, we've been sailing for a long time. I don't really know where we are. Maybe we're closer to land than I think. We'll just have to wait until they get a little closer."

"But what do we do if it IS pirates?" Pelican almost shouted.

"Pelican, be quiet!" Noodle snapped. "I'm trying to think and you're giving me a headache!"

"I can relate," she heard Seagull mutter.

"I think we should all get out of sight," Noodle told the others. "We'll get behind the car, and watch from there. That way, if it IS pirates, they might think that this is just some abandoned raft, and ignore it."

"They'll probably want to pillage it anyway," Seagull said, as the four of them ducked behind the car.

"Seagull!" Noodle said, as Pelican's terrified sniveling grew louder. "Stop scaring him!"

Sunmoonstars tapped her on the shoulder and then pointed frantically out at the boat.

Noodle looked back out at the ship and her heart sank. It had finally gotten close enough for her to be able to make out just what kind of ship it was…and it was the absolute last kind she wanted to see.

All faded wood and huge, billowing cloth sails, all tall slender masts and tangled rope rigging, the pirate ship glided toward them at a brisk pace. Noodle didn't even need to see the Jolly Roger flag flying from the tallest mast to recognize the ship for what it was. It was nearly identical to the ship that Russel had sunk back during the battle for Plastic Beach. The ship where she had fought Sunmoonstars, and where the cyborg had-

She paused. She The ship where she had fought Sunmoonstars. Fought him because he had been in charge of the pirates. And this ship looked almost exactly like that one. Could it be a member of the same fleet? Could…could these possibly be friends coming toward them?

"Sunmoonstars, are they YOUR pirates?" she asked him, hardly daring to hope.

The demon seemed almost startled by the question, and immediately shook his head vigorously.

Noodle's heart sank once more. Now she knew they were in trouble. Danger was heading right for them and they were trapped on a tiny boat with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.

"Perhaps they won't see us?" Seagull ventured half-heartedly, although the expression on his face told her he wasn't even going to try and convince himself of the reality of that possibility.

She shook her head, agreeing with his pessimism. "No, I think we're too big of a target to overlook. Besides, the ship's heading right at us. Even if they aren't coming towards us because they've seen us, their course is going to take them right into us. They'll see us."

"Oh no!" Pelican cried, and hid his head under his wing.

"What should we do, Noodle?" Seagull asked her.

Noodle forced herself out of the panic that was rapidly threatening to overtake her. She was still the leader of the little group, and she had to do her best to keep them safe. "We've got to find a better hiding place. Even if they board the raft and plunder it, if we stay hidden, they might assume there's no one on the raft and leave us alone. If they find us though, they'll probably kill us. We can't let that happen."

"But where are we going to hide?" Pelican whimpered. "This raft is so small, and they'll probably search it everywhere!"

"I…I don't know…" Noodle said, still trying not to panic. "Just stay calm, Pelican. Like you did last night. Remember how brave you were? Try to be brave like that again. I'll think of something, all right?"

"Better think fast," Seagull told her, watching the rapidly approaching ship.

She felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to see Sunmoonstars pointing at the side of the boat. She looked a question at him and he pointed to the side of the boat harder.

"Over the side?" she guessed. "You think we should go in the water?"

He nodded.

"That's too risky, Sunmoonstars," she told him. Once we get in the water the boat will keep going, and we'll never catch up to it again. We'll drown for sure. I'd rather take my chances with the pirates."

Sunmoonstars shook his head. He pointed at the water again, then at the deck of the boat. He traced a line with his finger along the deck and ended it by tapping on the part of the deck directly in front of him.

"The deck…something about the deck?" Noodle guessed, not understanding what he was trying to convey.

He shook his head, pointed to the side, dipped his finger down as if to mimic going into the water, and then traced a line along the deck of the boat once more.

"Under the deck?" Noodle guessed this time, and he immediately nodded vigorously.

Noodle paused, considering the idea. There was actually plenty of space down there between the pontoons and the deck, so they wouldn't have to worry about being forced under the water. And there was plenty for them to hang onto. Best of all, the pirates might never think to look there.

"That just might work!" she said. "Good thinking! There'll be room for all of us under there, and the pirates won't even know we're there. Come on!"

Noodle ran to the side of the boat. Doing her best to ignore how cold the choppy gray water looked, she swung her legs over the side and lowered herself into the water, making sure to keep a tight grip on the boat. She was relived to find that the water, although cool, wasn't uncomfortably so. Instead, her main source of worry now became holding on. Now that she was in the water, she could actually feel how fast the little raft was going, with its sails full of wind. The momentum of the boat actually pulled her almost horizontal in the water. She wasn't sure how she was going to hang on the entire time, let alone how she was going to get herself underneath the raft without losing her hold on the wet, slippery pontoons.

There was a splash beside her as Sunmoonstars joined her in the water. Noodle looked over at him and saw that he too, was suddenly fighting the current. Fortunately for him, he seemed to have an easier time hanging on, and when he saw that she was struggling, he reached over and wrapped one of his arms around her waist, pinning her to him in an unshakable grip. As scrawny as his arms were, he must have had incredible muscles. Using his free hand and his feet, he began dragging the two of them underneath the raft and soon they were situated between two pontoons.

The two birds soon joined them underneath the boat, paddling like mad in the swift current. The demon helped them out as well, allowing them to clamp their beaks down on his trailing cape, giving them something to hang onto as they were pulled through the water.

They clung there in silence for quite a while, waiting, and finally, the boat began to bob up and down violently as they must have been caught up in the larger ship's wake. Noodle caught her breath as Sunmoonstars bounced hard against the pontoon and almost lost his grip on the netting, but he thankfully managed to recover and clung to both her and the boat even more tightly. It was as if she had an iron bar around her waist, and she wasn't complaining. She just hoped he could hang on for the entire time they would have to stay down there.

The waves intensified even more and they began to hear shouts over the noise of the wind and waves. The voices sounded excited, and soon they could hear more of them joining in with the others. Then the space the four of them were hiding in darkened, as the shadow of the ship must have fallen over them.

A loud thunk above them announced that the first of the pirates had boarded the raft. Soon they could hear many footsteps above them as several pirates walked back and forth, exploring the raft. Footsteps, and voices…

"Any sign of the passengers?" one of the pirates asked.

"Nah, no sign at all," came the gruff voice of another pirate. "It's like they abandoned ship before we got here!"

"Probably best for 'em," laughed another pirate. "Drowning's probably an easier fate compared to what we'd do to 'em!"

"A shame, though," said the first pirate. "I could have used a night's entertainment. Do they have anything worth taking, at least?"

There were several clunking sounds from above, as one of the pirates must have rummaged around inside the trunk of the car. "Looks like they had plenty of food, as least! Dried meat, and some kind of….soup, maybe? It smells like chicken!"

"Well, at least we don't have to go back empty-handed," said the gruff-voiced pirate. "Food's food! Let's start hauling it aboard the ship. The captain'll probably give us first pick of the spoils, too!"

Noodle's heart sank as she heard the sound of the barrels and containers being unloaded from the car above them. Of course, she'd known this would happen, and she could see no way of avoiding it, but still…without supplies, they would only last a day or two on the open sea. Unless they were near land, they were only postponing their deaths by hiding down here. But what was the alternative? They were surely outnumbered, and they were unarmed besides. Fighting would be just as fatal as going without supplies. It would just be quicker.

"Where do you suppose they really went?" she heard one of the pirates grunt as he must have lifted something heavy.

"Don't know," said the first pirate. "The damn raft's as empty as the Mary Celeste. Maybe they died and their bodies washed over the side."

"They still have a lot of supplies for people who just keeled over dead," the gruff-voiced pirate said. There was another thunk as he set something down. "I wonder what they died of."

"Exposure…sickness…mutiny….weather…could have been washed overboard in a storm, maybe," said a pirate.

"Yeah, or maybe they jumped overboard when they couldn't stand it no more!" one of the pirates laughed. "Landlubbers got no patience for the open sea! Anyway, what does it matter? The important thing is that they don't need all this food anymore. Good thing we're not letting it go to waste. I'm sure they'd thank us!"

There was more laughter and then the sound of more containers being unloaded. Then Noodle heard the uneven footsteps of what she guessed was a peg-legged pirate as he walked around to the other side of the car, no doubt looking for more booty. A moment later, she heard him chuckle.

"Looks like they were in the middle of a card game!" he said to the others.

Noodle's breath caught in her throat. They'd forgotten to put away the cards before they went under the boat!

"Playin' poker, were they?" asked the gruff-voiced pirate.

"Nah, I don't know what they were playing!" said the other pirate. "What sort of game do you play with Muppet cards?"

For some strange reason, she felt Sunmoonstars jump slightly, as though startled, and then he turned his head and gave Pelican a long, speculative look, paused, tilted his head as if considering, gave Pelican another look, and then shook his head as if baffled by something.

Noodle didn't have any time to wonder what he meant by all of that, because she suddenly heard more footsteps overhead, as another pirate joined the other two by the remains of their card game.

"Funny…" said the new pirate, and she heard a sly, nasty edge to his voice, as though he were pondering something sinister. "If they died and washed overboard, how come their cards are still piled up neatly like this? Why are there four separate hands all laid out, right where the players would have been sitting? Why didn't the cards wash overboard along with the bodies, or at least blow around in the wind?"

"You're saying….it's recent?" the gruff-voiced pirate asked?

"It'd say quite recent, given the wind we've been having today," said the sly pirate. "I think…I think they're still here…"

"Still here?" the peg-legged pirate said in astonishment. "How can they still be here? We've searched this entire boat for supplies. If someone was here, we'd have found 'em!"

"I don't know, but I'll bet anything they are," the sly pirate replied. There were slow footsteps above them as he walked along the deck, pondering their whereabouts, most likely.

Noodle's heart began to race. They were going to find them hiding down here. It was obvious, even from the deck, that the boat floated on several pontoons, and that there would be hiding space between them. It was only a matter of time before the sly pirate made the connection. Then, suddenly, they would find pirates climbing down from above onto the pontoons, surrounding them, guns drawn on them from all directions…

Sunmoonstars began to awkwardly shift her from the front of him to his back, sliding down silently into the water and guiding her around behind him until she was hanging onto his shoulders.

"What do you have planned?" she whispered as quietly as possible, while still being loud enough to be heard over the sea and the wind and the pirates.

Still hanging onto the pontoon with one hand, he made a diving motion with his other, then a swimming motion, and then, finally, a jumping motion, followed by slapping his hand down softly on the pontoon.

"You want to jump onto the boat?" she guessed. An attack. That was likely what he meant. He wanted to dive down, then leap onto the deck and surprise the pirates.

He nodded.

She shook her head slightly, knowing that an attack would probably only send them out in a blaze of glory instead of as the pirates' evening "entertainment." They were surely far outnumbered. It wasn't like last night's battle against the Evangelist, where there had been only a single adversary, or even the battle against Sunmoonstars' pirates earlier, when she'd had the benefit of weapons and a much larger space to fight in and backup from a cyborg and a giant and a magical fishbowl monster. This was an unarmed, close quarter battle against far superior numbers. They didn't have a chance.

Still….what was the alternative? Wait to get captured? Wait until the pirates found them, and then start fighting, when they didn't even have the element of surprise on their hands? All of the options available to them were lousy, but this one was the only one that gave them a minuscule chance.

"All right," she whispered to the demon, suddenly fighting the urge to hug him goodbye. "I suppose it's better than just lying down and dying. Not by much, but…" She shook her head again and turned to the birds. "We're going to go out fighting. You two should probably stay under here, if you can. If you can't, then fly away and hope for the best. I doubt there's really anything you can do to help us, and if you go up there, the pirates will probably shoot you for the fun of it."

"But Miss Noodle!" Pelican protested, letting go of Sunmoonstars's cape so he could talk. Noodle was surprised to see that he didn't get caught up in the current, but instead stayed where he was. If she had to venture a guess, she would say it was perhaps because the pirates had tied up or even destroyed the sail, in order to keep the little raft in place while they pillaged it.

"Don't argue," Noodle whispered to him. "And keep your voice down. I want us to be able to surprise them.

"Noodle…" Seagull started to say, but she cut him off.

"We're going," she said, in a voice that forbade argument. "Whatever happens…try to stay alive. I…I think I could be satisfied knowing I at least managed to save you two." She swallowed hard, suddenly trying to get rid of a pesky lump in her throat. They had to go now, before she lost her composure. And her nerve. "Okay, Sunmoonstars, let's go."

She took a huge breath and wrapped her arms around the demon, clinging to him for dear life. No sooner had she done that than the world turned upside down and she was submerged in darkness as Sunmoonstars dove below the raft.

She kept her eyes closed as the water rushed past her face, as the monster pulled himself downward and forward, clearing the raft and then, abruptly, made a vertical U-turn in the water and headed for the surface.

Her surroundings began to lighten as they rushed upward and then they broke through the surface and were leaping upward, like a dolphin at a Sea World show, and she opened her eyes to find them high above the raft, falling fast toward the deck and the eight pirates who were standing on it. Eight pirates who were only now reacting to the two of them bursting from the water and falling toward them.

Sunmoonstars landed heavily on the peg-legged pirate, just as the pirate reached for his gun, and Noodle immediately leapt from the demon's back at the nearest pirate, a heavyset fellow with a long, scraggly gray beard. He just stood there, apparently still shocked by her sudden appearance, and she didn't give him a chance to recover. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and twisted. Hard.

Even as she heard a crack and felt the pirate go down, she was rushing toward the next one, a burly man whose arms were covered in tattoos. He had managed to get his gun drawn, but Noodle threw herself onto the deck just as the gun went off, the shot missing her by a mile. A second later, she connected with his legs and bowled him over in a heap. A well-placed blow crushed his trachea and she lunged for his gun as he dropped it to clutch uselessly at his throat. She heard footsteps running toward her and she whirled around and fired, hitting the pirate who had been running toward her, sword drawn, right in the chest.

She heard an angry shout off to her right and she turned to see a pirate with his gun aimed at her. Before she could react, another pirate flew through the air and collided with him, knocking both of them over the side.

She had a moment to nod her thanks at Sunmoonstars, who had thrown the pirate, before he whirled around and seized a pirate who had been just about to hit him over the head with a metal pole. The pole clattered to the deck as Sunmoonstars tore the pirate's throat out with a single swipe of his claws.

The demon tossed the now spurting corpse at another attacker, as Noodle turned around and fired twice at three more pirates behind her. One shot missed and the other blew off a pirate's arm. Then her gun made a click noise and she knew wit was empty. Thinking fast, she hurled it at the head of a pirate who was aiming at her, hitting him right in the face and knocking him off his feet. Then she threw herself down on the deck as the third pirate fired at her. She felt the bullet whiz by her just inches from her head.

A huge weight hit her from behind, flattening her against the deck and knocking the wind from her. She pushed against the deck with all her strength, trying to get enough force to flip whoever it was off her back so she could get up, but then two more pirates were at her side and were pinning her arms down as well.

"Got her!" came the sly-voiced pirate, who turned out to be the one sitting on top of her. "Quick, tie her up.

More laughing pirates surrounded her, trying her ankles together and her hands behind her back. The sly-voiced pirate, a one-eyed man in a torn blue sailor shirt, grinned at her as she was tied up, his eyes glittering with a twinkle that she was sure she didn't like. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sunmoonstars lying on the deck as well, trussed up the way she was with a beaming pirate standing over him, one foot on the demon's back, as if the pirate were a big game hunter posing over his latest kill. More pirates were gathered around him, expressing admiration at his prowess. Noodle began to wonder just how many pirates there were in all, since there were now many more on the raft than had been there when they had first come out of the water. She supposed they had boarded the raft during the battle to help out their crewmates.

A set of loud, heavy footsteps came toward her and she was pulled to her feet, two pirates holding her upright by her arms. She found herself face to face with a huge, burly man with a scraggly red beard and a black hat perched atop his head. He had to be the captain of the ship.

"Put up quite a fight, didn't you, little lady?" he said with a grin, reaching out to caress her cheek. "You and your ugly boyfriend over there cost me twelve crewmen. Now, normally, I'd be right livid with you for doing something like that," he went on, shaking a sausage-like finger in her face. "But given that you're a lady, I'm inclined to be merciful. So I'll make a deal with you. You can work off your debt tonight. And it's a debt you owe all of us, so you'll have to make amends with each man on board." His grin widened, showing a mouth full of crooked yellow teeth. "How does that sound, boys?" he said, raising his voice to address the rest of the pirates, who had gathered behind him.

Their response was raucous cheering and laughter.

The captain winked at her. "It sounds like they think it's a tough deal, but a fair one. So let's get you onboard, get you situated, and-"

He was interrupted by a furious hissing and snarling, and Noodle heard several shouts from her right. She turned her head to see that Sunmoonstars was flailing frantically against his captors, and four pirates were struggling to hold him down.

"Sounds like your boyfriend doesn't like the idea much," the captain said with a laugh. "Too bad for him he doesn't get to cast his vote in the matter. Though I can certainly sympathize with how protective he is. How does someone like that get his hands on someone like you, anyway? Were the pickings that slim where you come from?"

"Somehow I doubt you'll be a step up," she spat at him, blinking back angry tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Ah, so she does have a bit of fight left in her!" the captain said with delight. "Wonderful! I love a feisty girl, don't you boys?"

There was more laughter from the pirates and more snarling from Sunmoonstars. One of the pirates yelped in pain and brought his fist down on the side of the demon's head in response. Sunmoonstars grunted as his head smacked hard against the deck, but he continued to struggle.

"Captain, can we kill this creepy bastard?" one of the pirates holding the demon down asked. "We don't need him for anything, and he's a pain to babysit!"

"No!" Noodle cried, trying to pull away from the two pirates who were holding her, but, of course, her struggles were just as useless as Sunmoonstars's had been. "Don't hurt him!"

The captain shook his head. "You heard the lady. Ugly gets to keep his life…at least for a little while longer. After all, I've always been a practical man. I don't like to let resources go to waste. That includes live prisoners. We'll get an evening's entertainment out of him, at least. In fact, maybe it can be a double feature! He'll be the entertainment for early this evening, and the little miss will be for…after hours."

"All right, but can we at least have some more rope?" the same pirate asked. "He's torn the ropes around his wrists ragged! The fucker's awfully strong for something that looks that scrawny!"

The Captain nodded and then called out "Klaus!" Immediately, a short pirate with a dark mustache pushed through the crowd, a coil of rope looped around one arm.

"Hold him upright so I can get at his wrists easier," Klaus said, and the two pirates lifted Sunmoonstars to his feet.

Klaus jumped back with a yelp. "It's the Boogieman!"

The captain let out a booming laugh. "Boogieman? I know he's ugly and he has some strange taste in clothes, but I think calling him the 'Boogieman' is taking things a bit too far, Klaus!"

Klaus wasn't laughing though. In fact, he had turned as white as a sheet. "No Captain," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "He's the one those pilots told me about! You know, the survivors from the battle on that island west of here. I'd recognize their description of that thing anywhere. It's the monster they told me about. The one who took control of Long John Hookbeard's ship!"

"Took control?" another pirate asked, eyes wide with alarm. "How?"

"Some sort of black smoke!" Klaus replied. "You mark my words, that thing isn't of this world! He'll take control of us and he won't have to lift a finger to do it!" Klaus turned to the captain. "Get rid of him, Captain. Get rid of him before he takes all of our souls!"

"Enough with the dramatics, Klaus," the Captain said, but he had lost his jovial demeanor and the look in his eyes showed he was at least considering taking Klaus's claims seriously. "I remember the tale you told us." He was silent for a moment, giving Sunmoonstars a speculative look. "I suppose there's no sense in chancing it," he said finally, nodding to the sly-voiced pirate. "I may be a practical man, but I'm also a superstitious one. We'll have to forgo our evening entertainment. At least," he looked back at Noodle with a grin, "our early-evening entertainment, anyway." He nodded to the sly-voiced pirate again. "Kill the ugly thing."

"NO!" Noodle screamed, as the sly-voiced pirate drew his gun. "He can't do that anymore! Stop it! Please, please, stop!" She struggled uselessly once more, and the captain turned and cuffed her hard across the mouth. "No!" she shouted again, ignoring the blood now trickling down her chin. "Sunmoonstars!" she cried, as the sly pirate took aim at him.

He was suddenly drenched by a torrent of water from above. He shouted in surprise as the cold seawater soaked him, and his shot went wild.

Noodle looked up to see Pelican swoop past, high above them. Water still dripped from his open beak. "Don't you hurt my friends!" he shouted down at the pirates.

The sly pirate snarled and took aim at the flying pelican. Noodle cried out in dismay as he fired and a puff of gray feathers drifted downward. A second later she heard Pelican hit the water with a splash!

"Damn it, I just winged the oversized turkey!" the sly pirate growled, raising his gun and aiming out at the water.

There was a screech from his right and then Seagull flew at him at full speed. He crashed into the pirate's face and plunged his beak into his remaining eye.

The now blind pirate screamed in agony and dropped his gun to grope blindly for his attacker. Seagull, however, wasn't letting go. With a savage jerk of his head, he plucked the eye from its socket, just as the eyeless pirate's hands wrapped themselves around his neck.

Noodle opened her mouth to scream again, but yelped in surprise instead, when a huge wave suddenly hit the boat, knocking everyone off their feet.

She hit the deck hard, and so did both of her captors. The impact jarred their hands loose from her, and, although Noodle could hardly believe her luck, she knew instantly that she had better not waste it.

Twisting like a snake, she jerked around and, with her feet, snatched the sword from the belt of the pirate to the right of her. With another jerk, she flung the sword so that it was lying beside her, then drew her bound wrists against the blade. The rope was severed instantly, and she seized the sword in her now free hand and quickly cut the ropes binding her feet as well.

"Give me that!" snarled the sword's former owner, lunging for her.

She re-sheathed the sword in his chest before lunging to her feet and taking a swipe at the eyeless pirate, who was still trying to free his face from Seagull's grip. He released the bird with a scream and went down like a ton of bricks.

She heard a gun go off behind her and dodged to the right. The window of the car exploded in a spray of safety glass. Then another wave hit the boat, and she heard the pirates shouting in confusion.

A shadow suddenly fell over them all.

She looked up and saw a huge gun rising out of the water.

And for a moment, everyone, pirates and Noodle's crew alike, could only gape at the unexpected sight. But a moment was all that was needed.

The gun went off, deafening them all, and the side of the pirate ship exploded in a spray of wood chips.

"We're under attack!" a pirate screamed.

"It's the military!" shouted another.

"Let's get-" shouted Klaus, but he was drowned out by the gun as it fired again.

More sawdust rained down on them as the ship gained another hole. "Retreat!" shouted the captain, and pirates began piling back aboard the now damaged ship, climbing up the side or up ropes that had been strung between the ship and the raft, prisoners and loot now forgotten.

The gun manage to get off one more shot before the pirate ship set sail toward the west at full speed, smoke trailing from three unsightly holes.

Noodle expected the gun's owner to go after them, so she was surprised to see it stay where it was. Then the raft began to rise upward as whatever the gun was attached to began to surface…and Noodle wasn't surprised to find their little raft now perched atop the hull of a submarine.

"Miss Noodle, what happened?" Pelican shouted as he came waddling up to her. She was relieved to find that, although one of his wings was dragging at his side, it only appeared to be missing the tips of some flight feathers.

"I don't know," she told him, staring at the sub. "It looks like we've got more company!"

Sunmoonstars and Seagull were soon at her side as well, and she was glad to see that neither of them looked seriously either, although Sunmoonstars's wrists were bloody from struggling against his bonds. The four of them drew close together, staring at the sub and waiting to see what they were in for next.

The sub finished rising, and there was silence for a moment. Then, a series of clanks came from inside as someone must have climbed the ladder up to the hatch. Another, louder clunk marked the sound of the latching mechanism being turned, and then the door on top opened. Noodle tightened her grip on her sword.

And then it fell from her hand with a clatter as a familiar figure emerged from the submarine. A figure she had ached to see ever since this ordeal had begun. A figure that, in her darkest moments, she had feared she would never see again. A figure that she should have known would never ever stop searching for her.

"We gotta stop meeting like this, Baby Girl," said Russel with a grin.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Wow…it's hard to believe I've been working on this story for a year now. I think this is a good stopping point for now, because I'm putting this story on hiatus for a while. Just 'cause I'm tired of it and would like to concentrate on some of my other fanfics. I'll come back to it eventually though…I just need a little break for now.

Thanks again to all who have read and reviewed! It really has made me happy to know that people have enjoyed something I've put so much work into.