"The Flatmates" (Ally, Phoebe, and Cassie), belong to DepthDropper
"Hello everyone. I wanted to thank you for coming over. I hear Sonia told you what's going on, but just in case: I've been writing a published adventure at sea with pirates for our favorite gaming company. The feedback they gave me for this adventure was it might be a little too difficult. I toned it down, but everyone here in the house has already played it, and would know what to expect. That's where you can help us out. I need fresh faces to play it."
One of the three ladies at the table, the red head that went by Ally, was smiling. She was wearing a red tank top and white shorts, and going by the number of dice in front of her, she was here to play.
"Not a problem! Sonia said you needed some help, and this sounds like fun. I haven't had a chance to play in forever."
The other two looked a little less prepared. They each had the bare minimum in front of them. The one with long green hair and a denim jacket...Cassie?...looked annoyed to even exist. Jess saw her reach for something behind her back at least five time already when her friends teased her. Now that Jess was getting things started, she was looking at the table confused, as if something was missing.
"So what is this game? We're pretending to be pirates but there's no game board?"
The handwriting on the blond's character sheet...Phoebe, her name was Phoebe...matched the writing on Ally's. She was at least friendly, already chatting up a storm with Scarlett about her awesome cat-girl character. She wore a blue blouse and white skirt, with big red ribbons in her blond ponytail.
"My kitty just wants to catch some fish!"
Jess turned to Ally, feeling a little worried. "You have all played before, right?"
"I have. They haven't."
Cassie dismissed Ally's concern with a wave, as if she was a nuisance to be shooed away. "Alison said a child's game would be too hard for me to understand. She even promised me a little red dress if I played nice." She grinned and eyed Ally, as if she knew she was winning a bet.
Ally laughed, slightly embarrassed. Jess looked at Scarlett, the last woman at the table. She shrugged back.
"Okay!" Jessica started reading from her notes, while placing a vinyl map of a beach bordering a big blue sea on the table.
"The three of you have been chasing a thief across the world. You followed her to a small island nation, but you arrived too late. There are reports she's already stolen a local idol of great importance, and fled out to sea with a band of pirates. Without it, the island's spirits will curse its residents for generations. "
Cassie tilted her head, as if wondering why she should care. "So why don't they just get it back? Someone must have seen her take it if they know it was her."
"That's why they're hiring us." Ally idly moved some dice in her hands, waiting for Jess to continue.
Cassie scoffed at the response. "Can they even afford me? My rates are pretty high. Sword training isn't cheap you know."
Jess thought for a moment, wanting her players to feel motivated. "You have been promised riches. To help you out, several of the locals have offered to help run your ship while you're at sea." Jessica gestured to Scarlett, who waved at the group. "They have provided you with a guide, and-"
Cassie interrupted. "They're sending their strapping young lads?"
Jess nodded emphatically. "Yes! Several strong, handsome lads are on board with you."
Cassie held her chin thoughtfully while Jessica continued.
"You and the crew are ready to go, and you're about to board the ship. Now...what is everyone playing?"
"Oh!" Phoebe excitedly put a small white lucky cat figure on the table. She looked at Ally for reassurance as she recited her character's description. "I'm playing a Cat-girl Witch! I have a blue witch hat with room for her ears," she pulled her hands along the side of her head where the character's cat ears would stick out of the hat, "and a blue coat over a white blouse and skirt. And a cat-bell pendant! Oh! And I have a pet cat named Sparkles with snow white fur to help me hex things!" Ally nodded, and both smiled. Phoebe looked slightly relieved to be done with the speech.
Jessica nodded and took some notes while looking over the matching character sheet. "She sounds delightful! Thanks for helping her out Ally. And you...Cassie..."
Cassie put down an appropriately sized figurine that more resembled an anime character than an adventurer. "I'm a beautiful Kitsune Fox Girl, and a seducer of stray sailors, but I guess if they're nice to me I'll help them out."
Jessica looked over the sheet. "And you're a Rogue?"
Cassie flashed a sly grin. "My enemies will never see me coming."
"With a leather armor skirt?"
Cassie crossed her arms, offended by the question. "Adventuring is not an excuse look like a slob."
"Right...well you almost got this right." Jessica penciled in more than a few corrections to some of the stat calculation, notably those related to charisma.
"Honestly, for first timers that was pretty good. Ally?"
Ally placed a half dragon woman mini, wings and tail unfurled, next to the other toys on the table. It was clad in a breastplate, and it had an attachment in its mouth to show it spewing fire. It held a huge mallet in its hands.
"I made a Half-Dragon Bloodrager. I know it's first edition but your writer said it was okay."
Jessica raised a confused eyebrow and nodded slowly. She knew plenty about older editions, but she wasn't entirely certain what Ally meant.
"She's got a ton of good spells but mostly uses her barbarian totem to tap into her inner dragon strength, and in a dire situation she can even turn into a dragon. She has a 22 strength and 20 charisma to get good spell save DCs and..."
Jessica lost track of Ally's explanation while reviewing the sheet. It was probably the most overpowered character she had seen since gaming with the Dust Bunnies. Worse, there wasn't one thing against the rules in it.
Scarlett leaned over and whispered to Phoebe while Ally continued. "Is she always this scary?"
Phoebe whispered back. "She's actually pretty nice, but she's REALLY intense."
Jess looked at the three sheets in front of her, collecting her thoughts. *Okay. Two complete newbies, and my worst nightmare. Hopefully it balances out.*
Jess gave Scarlett a pat on the back before continuing. "Now that everyone knows each other, let me introduce your tour guide and Captain, Scarlett. She's more background for the adventure, but her swashbuckler can help out with lesser foes, and help command the ship. She's technically the captain, but the island hired her to take you where ever you need to go on your quest."
Cassie eyed Scarlett suspiciously. "Have you ever even been on a yacht before?"
Scarlett blinked, searching for a response, then cleared her throat to respond in character. "No, I be here to sail the biggest ships on the seven seas!"
Everyone except Cassie laughed at Scarlett's questionable pirate voice, before Jess got things started.
"Okay then! You're all about to get on the ship..."
The party and Scarlett stood on the beach with the salt water breeze blowing through their hair. They were looking at their ship, anchored a short distance to sea past the sand bars.
Scarlett turned to her crew and her new adventurers. "Alright you lot! Get yer stuff and get on board so we can shove off!"
Ally easily lifted her belongings and walked towards the rowboats. "Alright, girls, let's go!"
Phoebe scratched cat Sparkles behind the ears, and walked towards the water too. "Oooo cruise time!"
Ally laughed "It's not a cruise Phoebe! We're going to save this island from a curse."
Cassie stood on the beach. "Allison, you didn't say anything about walking through waves to get to the ship! Why didn't we use a dock in town?"
Everyone stopped to stare at her.
Captain Scarlett eventually spoke up. "Sorry Ma'am. I'm not sure how you lot landed here, but thar be no docks 'round here."
Cassie pouted. "I'm dressed to fight lesser swordsmen and have fun at port! I didn't want to deal with walking through water like some plebeian, I wanted to have-"
"CRAAAABS!" Phoebe shouted.
"Phoebe! Don't even think of implying I would have-"
Cassie was oblivious to the shadow growing around her.
*WHAM*
Behind Cassie stood a monstrous crab of enormous size. Its huge pincer slammed down on Cassie's head, pushing her forwards, and crushing her face down in the sand.
The crab lifted and snapped its claws threateningly, and let out a haunting screech.
Ally and Phoebe dropped their luggage in the sand and ran towards the creature, weapons drawn. "What happened Phoebe?"
"Cassie was complaining about doing work, now the crab's being mean to her!"
Cassie managed to lift up her paper thin head. She spat out a lot of sand. "Pffft pfffft! Don't just stand there, help restore me, before this crab-HEY PUT ME DOWN!"
The huge crab lifted flat Cassie up by her fox tail. It grabbed her shoulders with both pincers, and stretched her out. Her body strained to stay together while her face comically stretched across her full five foot wide shape. "HEEEEEEEEEEY! THAT STINGS!"
The crab grabbed both sides and folded her in half over and over again, smushing her face inside its new green sheet of paper. "Stop this at onMMMFM!"
Ally and Phoebe got to combat range while the crab clacked one of its claws. With a flurry of clicks, the beast cut Cassie, sending scraps of green flying across the beach.
Ally and Phoebe stopped about 30 feet away from the crab. It finished snipping, and grabbed Cassie with both claws. The creature pulled her apart, displaying Cassie as a collection of nine linked paper-doll cutouts of herself.
The middle Cassie looked pleadingly at her friends. "Stop standing there and help me!"
The crab started folding Cassie together and pulling her apart, making a crinkling noise, as if this was the best toy it ever had.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Alright." Ally finally had enough. "Cassie doesn't deserve that much punishment. Time to take care of the beach monster." Ally roared, and dragon wings and a tail popped out of her back. It looked like tiny flames were burning in her eyes, and a scary hint of rage entered her voice. "Phoebe, help Cassie get back to normal and see if you can work your witchcraft to help."
Phoebe idly pet her cat. "Okay!"
Ally jumped at the huge crab. It finally let go of Cassie and tried to swipe at Ally, but she flapped her dragon wings to float above the crustacean. Ally's muscles flared as she brought her hammer down.
*CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK*
Cracks instantly spread through the crab's shell. A moment later, it shattered, leaving the rest of the crab standing there in blue striped boxer shorts. The beast looked around nervously, realizing it was effectively naked.
Ally roared in the air above it. The crab lost interest in everything on the ground, and started sparring with its flying antagonist.
Phoebe gathered up all of Cassie, and worked on mashing her back together. Once she felt like she had enough Cassie, she slammed all the cutouts together, and pulled them apart into a three dimensional Cassie in the sand.
"Yay! You're okay!"
"Uuugh! The nerve of this thing!" Cassie stood up, brushed sand off her leather skirt, and took out her rapier. "Allison gave us a good opening. This thing's too big for my sword though. Phoebe, you're a witch, what magic things can you do?"
Phoebe thought for a moment, and consulted her cat. "You sure kitty? Okay."
"What does your cat know?"
The cat meowed as Phoebe put him gently down on the sand. Phoebe spun her metal staff, and started chanting. The cat's hair stood on end, and Phoebe's eyes turned as white its fur. "My magic wand is really shiny, make that crabby really tiny!"
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Is that really going to...work?"
The crab tried to parry one of Ally's smashes, but they completely missed each other. The crab was shrinking fast. Ally tried to spit some fire in its direction, but the shrinking crab was nimble, and dodged it all.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!"
Ally roared and smoke came out of her ears. The crab scurried away across the sand, until it ran into a tall black leather boot.
"I think I owe you one."
Cassie brought her boot down on top of the small, shell-less crab, turning it into a crabcake in the sand.
*SQUIIIISH*
"Alright! Good warmup, good teamwork. With no more threats, you and the crew are able to get on the ship without any more trouble.
"Alright!" Ally high fived Phoebe. "Good work Cassie!"
Cassie left her hanging. "Paper dolls? Really?"
Jessica sighed. "The crabs of this island are fond of origami. It's a strange game world. Either way, you got your revenge right?"
"Hmph! Well at least on the ship, I can give the men something to look at."
"O-kaaaay..." Ally slowly lowered her hand, and decided to move things along. "So, we're sailing now?"
Jess jumped at the chance to move along. "Yes! The sea breeze fills your ship's sails. You can all smell the fresh scent of saltwater as you lift anchor, and give chase to the thief's ship. Your ride is slow, but uneventful. What are you doing?
Ally scratched her chin. "Well, I can fly a little. I'll stay in the crow's nest to look out over the horizon! I have a great perception check and I'm sure they have a telescope up here. Plus I get the high ground if we get boarded."
Jessica took notes while drinking some water. "Okay. What's your perception modifier?"
"I dunno, 23?"
Jess managed to look away before spraying water. "Twenty three? Alright..."
Phoebe spoke up meekly. "Can I make the ship go faster? My kitty does magic right?"
Jess laughed. "Yes, you can magic up some wind gusts to help the ship go faster. That will definitely help you catch the thief faster, good thinking! In fact," Jess rolled a die, "the crew notices! A lot of them start talking to keep you company while you work your magic."
Phoebe squeed with glee!
Much to Cassie's chagrin. "Ugh! Will they chat with me?"
Jess rolled her eyes. "Probably not. It sounds like ever since getting on board, all you've done is complain about being at sea. Ally is helping with navigation, Phoebe is filling the sails. And you said...let me get this right..." Jess double checked her notes, "I can give the men something to look at."
Cassie flipped her hair and motioned to her trim physique. "Well I can, right?"
Jess furrowed her brow. "You can try, but most of these men just left home. Not all of them are single, and the ones that are were literally just in port. You need to do more to get one's attention this fast.
"Hrmmph! Well, what do they want?"
"You could try talking and listening to them." Jess rolled a die, figuring her newbie wouldn't know which skill to use. "There. You notice that most of the crew is trying to sing a silly song as they go. Every now and again you hear one complain about the lack of a musician, and that their last accordion player didn't last very long."
"Oh really?" Cassie's eyes drifted towards the lucky cat on the map...
Cassie paced back and forth on the deck, unable to get anyone's attention. Despite making sure her leather armor was extra tight, and showing off a little midriff, she couldn't quite get the reaction she desired.
"Hi Cassie!" Phoebe wandered over.
"Phoebe, I thought you were pushing our ship along faster?"
"I was, but I need a break. Channeling that much magic gets tiring, and Sparkles needed something to eat!" Phoebe's cat familiar had a fish in his mouth. Since they stopped walking around, he started chewing on it more aggressively.
"Well, I'm glad you're here. I needed a musical instrument."
"Oh, Cassie, I'm so sorry! I didn't think about spells to make music!"
Cassie laughed, and pointed to herself as she spoke. "Oh, it's okay. I know that spell."
Phoebe's face lit up. "You do?! That's amazing! I didn't know you had any magic!"
"Oh, I just have the one. Here, let me find my spellbook."
Phoebe got closer as Cassie dug around her bag for a "spellbook"...and pulled out a massive hammer.
"Uh Cassie? That's not a spellbook!"
"Create Accordion!" Cassie swung the hammer down on Phoebe.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
*SQUIIIIIIIIIIISH*
Phoebe's body scrunched down under the swing's weight. Her cute cat ears flattened against her head. The sides of her body pleated, collapsing to the deck with a satisfying if haunting sound. Phoebe's sizable assets widened as they squished down, wobbling out while she collapsed, before disappearing under her flat frazzled hair. She was a two foot wide one inch thick disk on the deck with a cat tail.
"Pleeeeh!"
Cassie grinned and peeled Phoebe off the deck by her tail. Phoebe's skirt flared out under her disk, exposing her cute butt to anyone looking down at the scene.
"Cassie! Put me down before anyone looks!"
"Now now Phoebe, we need to entertain the crew to keep morale up!"
Cassie at least ruffled Phoebe's flat skirt together to make a handle before putting a hand on each side of Phoebe, and pulling her apart into a small accordion.
"Hmmmm, now what were the boys singing?" Cassie started squishing and pulling Phoebe apart to the tune the crew was singing. As she got the hang of squeezing Phoebe, the crew started joining in. Before long, Phoebe was getting dizzy from being squished so much, but half the ship was crowded around Cassie. She caught more than a few of them staring at her low cut shirt.
"Another song!"
"Yeah play another"
*THUUUUUD*
Ally crashed to the deck in front of Cassie and the assembled crowd. She glared at Cassie, her eyes showing a hint of anger to anyone that knew her. "Yes Cassie! Where *did* you find that accordion anyway? It looks custom made."
"Uuuuuh..." Cassie stammered, knowing she couldn't take Allison in a fight. "I got it from an old friend, and-"
A loud bell saved Cassie from explaining herself. Captain Scarlett was pointing to the left side of the ship. "SERPENTS ON THE PORT BOW!"
Cassie and Phoebe looked to Jessica at the table. "Serpents?"
Ally knocked on the table in front of Cassie. "Hey, don't think you'll get saved by a random encounter every time, okay?"
Jessica laughed. She hadn't seen intra party bickering like this in a while. "Yes, Serpent folk." She held up an other book full of pictures of monsters, and pointed to one. "Who took knowledge skills?"
A few dice rolls later, Jessica continued. "Okay. We'll assume with the alarm sounding, one of you restores Phoebe so she can help with the fight. Once she's back on her feet, the Captain, a few sailors, and Phoebe all recognize these as evil Serpent folk. Legend holds they don't reproduce on their own, but anyone they bite slowly turns into another one."
While Phoebe and Cassie took time to process this, Ally immediately answered. "So don't get bit. Is there a cure if we do?"
"All that your allies can convey before the Serpents board the ship is yes, but the ingredients are rare."
Scarlett pounded the table. "Alright Maties! Are ye helping defend me ship?"
Jess rolled her eyes, and placed coins with pictures of snakes onto the map on the table.
A veritable hoard of serpent folk clamored onto the ship. Each reeked of rotten fish, and blinked strange eyelids. After climbing up with clawed hands, they all pulled tridents off their backs, leveled them at the nearest crew member, and started closing in.
Cassie held the head end of the Phoebe accordion, fully extended her arm to force the bottom half out fast, and popped Phoebe back into shape. "Eeeeew! These creatures smell horrible! Phoebe, can't you blow this smell away?"
Phoebe sat on the floor, her eyes swirling, dizzily humming the tune Cassie just played on her.
Smoke flared from Ally's nostrils as she looked around. "Alright, here's the plan. I squish everything on the left. You and the crew clean up the rest."
Cassie gave her a look. "Are you crazy Allison? I know you're tough, but that's a lot of-"
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!" Ally waved her hands, and doubled in height. Flexing her enhanced muscles, straining the wood of her enlarged mallet, she unfurled her wings and glided to the nearest pack of serpents. She was surrounded, but every swing of her hammer led to another puddle of serpentine goop staining the deck. A gout of flame from her mouth, and serpents collapsed into clouds of blue-green ash filling the air. One tried to sneak up behind her, and her tail flipped it into the air for her to spin and claw it into sliced fish.
Ally was a one woman wrecking crew.
Phoebe and Cassie were briefly awestruck, before the sounds of swords and tridents clanging around them brought them back to reality. Their crew was not as powerful as their dragon, and they needed help.
"Ugh! Fine, we can't lose handsome men to a stupid curse. Phoebe, make with the magic." Cassie drew her rapier and engaged.
Phoebe pulled out her metal staff, and thought for a moment. "My friends must not fight alone! Turn the meanies into stone!"
One of the serpents engaged with the crew suddenly stopped moving. Its skin looked shiny, like glazed clay. The sailors gave it one good strike, and it shattered to pieces on the deck.
"Thanks Miss Phoebe!" The sailor gave a nod of approval, a lingering look and smile, and moved on to help the others.
Phoebe jumped out of her chair at the table. "I got one!"
Ally gave Phoebe a high five. "Nice work Phoebe! I told you this would be fun!"
"And that sailor guy said thanks to me! I think I have a new friend!"
Everyone at the table laughed at Phoebe's innocent joy except Cassie. She harrumphed and grabbed her dice. "If you can get their attention by shattering one, let's see what I can do."
Cassie sneaked behind a serpent, opposite from one of her crewmates. She waited for the serpent to be thoroughly distracted before giving it a good kick. It lurched forwards, and Cassie used the opening to slash with her rapier. "Hah! You ugly things should have stayed in the sea!"
The Serpent fell apart, but its trident was stuck in a wall on the ship. The sailor stood still on the other side, just next to the trident.
"You're welcome!" Cassie said with a wink, trying to bounce and be as cute as possible.
"Uuuuhgh...good...job." The sailor said, before his head slid off his neck.
Cassie saw his neck was about even with a trident prong. "Uugh, why are the cute ones always slow." She picked up the sailor's head and shoved it into his hands, before charging to another encounter. "Learn to dodge next time."
Cassie charged towards another opponent. Her rapier clanged against its trident, when she heard Phoebe's voice. "Stormy seas and windy gale, make that serpent my new sail!"
A blast of wind came down on Cassie her opponent. Both Cassie and the serpent before her were squished to the floor by the air currents. Cassie tried to fight and stand up, but bits of her were torn off and crushed into goo, slowly pushed into the deck until both she and the serpent were nothing more than smears of color on the ship.
A sailor turned to Phoebe, and tipped his cap. "Wow! Thanks Phoebe!"
Phoebe giggled again. She helped reconstitute Cassie. "Sorry about that!"
Cassie scowled and shoved Phoebe aside. "Ugh! How am I supposed to impress anyone like this!"
She looked back at Allison's continuing rampage. She had a few tatters and holes in her wings, but no serious squishing. The deck around her was covered with serpent slime.
Cassie continued to the captain's end of the ship to go after whoever was left. Captain Scarlett herself was engaged with one. "Avast ye, back into the deep with ye!" She parried the trident, but could not land a solid hit on her opponent. Cassie was hurrying over but was stopped by another Serpent jumping into her path.
A scrawny sailor ran up next to Cassie. "Save the captain!"
"I'm working on it. Shouldn't you be hiding under the deck somewhere?"
*CLANG*
Cassie and her "ally" engaged with the Serpent, while Scarlett got winded. She was still barking orders as she fought. "Someone steer the ship away and-"
*POIIING*
Scarlett looked down. The Serpent's trident was lodged in her chest above her tight corset. There was a long *HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSS* sound as Scarlett deflated on the trident.
"YAAAAAAaaaarrrrr" her voice faded as she crumpled on the pole arm.
The serpent, seeing its own allies in trouble, spun its trident in place, using it as a mixer. Scarlett's deflated body caught on some of the prongs and scraped along the deck, getting pulled into herself at high speed until parts of her started merging together. Scarlett was vaguely aware she was losing any semblance of solidity, turning into a red and leather goop on a stick.
Satisfied the Captain wouldn't be a threat any time soon, the serpent flung her at Cassie.
*SPLOOOOSH*
Cassie's face was covered with dripping Scarlett, blinding her. "Ack! Get this pretend pirate off of me and-"
*CHOMP*
"YEOWCH!"
Cassie's sword arm fell to the deck as the serpent bit clean through her shoulder. Cassie finally wiped enough Scarlett out of her face to see the Serpent blowing a green bubble with the bits it chewed off.
"Miss Cassie!" The scrawny sailor gave the serpent a good slice across the waist with his cutlass, cutting it in half. Another sailor jumped in and kicked its top half overboard.
The crew looked around, seeing no more serpents on board. "HUZZAH!!!"
"We did it!" Ally, Phoebe, and Scarlett all high fived.
Scarlett reached across the table towards Cassie. "Good work out there!"
"My arm's on the ground and you're dripping off my face! How is that good?"
Phoebe nudged her. "Oh come on, looks like you have a few fans with you."
Cassie bit her lip, trying her best not to smile. Phoebe was right. "Oh fine."
"Yaaaay!"
"Alright Cassie," Jessica looked like she was reluctant to interrupt the celebration, "Remember we said these serpents spread a curse through their bite?"
Everyone at the table got a quiet.
"I need you to roll a save."
Cassie reached for the die, and tossed it across the table.
"Sweet, I knew I was number 1!"
Ally and Scarlett grumbled while she high fived Phoebe. Jessica cracked her knuckles.
"Here ya go miss!" The scrawny crew member that cut Cassie's serpent in half was now holding her chewed off arm, trying to help reattach it.
"Hey don't...uuugh fine." Cassie stood there, quite literally biting her tongue at the embarrassment of needing assistance. She felt her arm and shoulder meld back together together. Once she was whole, she rubbed the bite marks out of her shoulder to smooth things out. "What was your name again?"
"Fredrick."
Cassie walked back towards the back of the ship to take a mental break. "I'll be okay from here Fred." She left without thanking anyone.
As she walked, she felt a tingle across her body, but thought nothing of it. Only that she was really thirsty.
The crew went back about their business, grumbling about the unthankful brat, but Phoebe, Ally, and Scarlett watched Cassie walk away. Only they saw her legs and fox tail wobble, and *SHLURRRRP* shake into the lower half of one of the serpents they were just fighting.
"Oh no!" Phoebe said to her friends. "She has the curse!"
Ally sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, we probably should fix this. Captain, you said there was a cure?"
Scarlett nodded. "Aye. We have most of what we be needin', but you need the buds of a rare seaweed. We can keep an eye out for it, but I doubt we be seen' it soon."
Phoebe's cat eyes started tearing up. "Oh no!"
Ally looked to the skies...
"Jess, can I fly around and look for it?"
"Of course. You get a description from Scarlett and some of the crew, and take off." Jessica rolled some dice. "Can you roll another check for me?"
Ally rolled a die, and frowned at the small result. "Uuuuuh I don't suppose I get any rerolls?"
Jessica laughed. "With that beefy character? Hell no!" Jess looked at the 3 on top of the 20 sided die. "But I guess this is for Cassie. Let's me think about this...Phoebe, Cassie, what are you doing during all this."
"What else? Enjoying my night and not thinking about this curse. Don't I have a fox form or something? I'm looking for the first handsome man to finish eating."
Jess laughed and looked at Scarlett. "Oh boy, here we go."
Dice clattered in front of Cassie. Her high charisma, her high skill ranks in talking up the boys, and the 20 on the die, promised an interesting evening.
A beautiful fox head with Cassie's eyes and a green cloak peeked around a corner inside the ship's passages. Cassie wore her skirted leather armor, but her true form's natural fox features were on display. It turned out by shifting back and forth from fox to human, she could hide the serpent curse's effects.
Cassie waited for a nobody in particular. When a suitably handsome member of the crew walked by, she stepped into the hall. "Hello sailor. Want to celebrate?"
The sailor stopped in his tracks, staring at Cassie. He had to literally pick his jaw off the ground before responding. "What did I do for the Gods to send me this beauty!"
Cassie used a finger to beckon him to her room.
Phoebe arrived just in time to see them go inside and close the door. "Uh Ooooh. If I knock Phoebe will be mad for interrupting, but..."
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU?!"
"WAIT!"
*WHAM!!!*
The Phoebe felt her body collapse against the wall as sailor threw the door open, and ran away screaming. His face was pale, as if he saw a ghost.
"I can explain!" Cassie ran out after him, but the curse was taking its toll. She looked like a green version of one of the serpent folk from earlier, but with a fox tail and ears. "UGH! Why did I let Allison talk me into this journey!"
The door slowly shut, revealing a rectangular Phoebe against the wall. Her cat ears were two tiny triangles above her head. "Ooooow..."
"Phoebe! Stop lollygagging. Can you believe the nerve of that sailor?! Ignoring this beautiful..." Cassie looked at herself, only then realizing that she had transformed into a half serpent again. "UUUUURGH!!! Can't you magic up a fix for this?!"
"Found...Ally...over...water..." Phoebe squeaked before sliding down the wall, and folding up into a floppy heap.
"Why do I care about Allison flying away?!"
Phoebe's voice squeaked weakly from inside her folded body. "Ally went looking for the last ingredient we need to fix you. She's fighting something on the horizon."
"Next time Phoebe, start with that!" Cassie rolled up Phoebe and ran to the deck.
It was night. The full moon lit the skies, with stars dotting every inch of the dark tapestry above them. A few silver outlines hinted at some stray clouds passing. It was beautiful, but an ominous red glow haunted the view. A red dragon flew around roughly 500 feet away, clawing and breathing fire at some invisible foe.
Stranger still, a putrid but sweet smell, like rotting flowers, was in the air.
Cassie shook Phoebe back into three dimensions while squinting at the chaos before them. "What is Allison doing? There's nothing there!"
"AVAST! FIRE AT WILL ME HEARTIES!"
*BOOM!*
Cassie and Phoebe looked at Scarlett, running off balance between her cannons, searching for something. They couldn't quite tell what, but Scarlett was not acting like herself. Her face lit up when she saw her adventuring crew.
"You, witch! You'll do! Squids hate witches!"
"AAAEEEEE!!!"
Scarlett grabbed Phoebe, and squeezed her head and feet together. Phoebe's squishy body crunched in on itself like soft dough, her curves getting wider as she squished. Scarlett was laughing and grinning while smoothing Phoebe's edges, molding her into a small ball with cat ears and a tail.
Phoebe's eyes pleaded with her friend for help. "Cassie! Do something!"
She shrugged. "Sorry Phoebe, Captain's orders."
"Cassiiiiie!"
Cassie wasn't sure why Scarlett was going to fire Phoebe out of a cannon, but it wasn't her problem as long as they didn't have a cure.
"FIRE!"
*BOOM!*
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Cassie watched Phoebe fly through the air, tail trailing behind her, directly at Allison's dragon flank.
*SPLAT*
Phoebe exploded into cream and blue goop against Allison's hide. She roared, wings covered in Phoebe, and fell out of the air into the sea below.
They were still sailing towards Ally, giving Cassie a better view of where they fell. Ally's dragon form was shaking Phoebe off. She was getting tangled in something while smearing Phoebe all over...
"THAT'S THE SEAWEED WE NEED!"
"AVAST YE DAMN SERPENT! DON'T JUST STAND THAR WHEN THE KRACKEN BE ATTACKIN' ME SHIP! GET MOVING TO-"
*SHWPSHWPSHWP*
Scarlett froze, mid rant, next to Cassie with her rapier. "You stay here until you stop going crazy. What got into everyone today?!"
As soon as Cassie put her rapier back, Scarlett fell apart into tiny cubes of her colors.
"Ugh! Can't trust anyone to be useful on this boat. Fine, I'll get everything." Cassie jumped into the water without thinking twice. She didn't even notice the serpent instincts helping her swim faster, that she was breathing underwater without thinking about it, or that she willingly left the ship in the first place.
She did at least know she wanted the seaweed to make a cure, and she wanted it now. She started harvesting the flower buds.
Cassie surfaced after several minutes. She saw Phoebe swimming along the surface, carrying an unconscious humanoid Ally on her back. "Cassie! What are you doing out here?!"
"Phoebe! Make yourself useful, help me carry these!"
Jessica applauded her players. "Awesome! Somehow you manage to get the seaweed for the antidote back to the ship. You get back to the scrawny shipmate Fredrick piecing his new Captain Scarlett puzzle back together."
"Nice work Cassie."
Cassie actually laughed. "Says the dragon attacking the sky. What got into you anyway?"
"Hey, illusion or not, the sky deserved it! Besides, it brought you right to the seaweed. I knew you could play nice if you just tried!"
Cassie grinned. "So, what are your dress preferences Allison? Backless?"
"Wait, you actually want to collect on that?"
Jessica laughed. "Anyway, your new best friend cooks up the ingredients, and gives a potion to Cassie."
"Here you go miss! Thanks for everything you've done so far, this is the least we can do!"
Serpent Cassie briefly looked at the stinky bubbling liquid, questioning its safety. Then she felt her whole body wobble, and her fox tail started merging into her serpent tail.
She downed the potion in one big gulp.
"UUUUGH! What is this flavor?!"
"Sorry, the seaweed has an incredibly bitter taste. Better than being a serpent for a week."
The girls all looked at each other. "A week?"
"Aye! The curse only lasts a week or two, didn't you know that? This ought to fix you up by morning though."
"By morning?!" Cassie flailed her tiny serpent arms and fins around, tails circling behind her angrily. "I don't want to look like this thing...an-other...minu-...uuuugh...uuuuut..."
Cassie got caught on her words. Everyone looked on concerned as her body started rippling again, like she did with all of the serpent changes.
Fredrick reached under his workbench. "Don't worry, we have safety protocols for this. This is normal for her condition."
Ally and Phoebe looked curiously at each other, then back at Fredrick. Cassie was changing color completely to the lime green of her human hair, while still trying to work out the last word.
Fredrick took out a bucket and a mop. "Just don't lose track of the bucket overnight."
Cassie stared in horror at the mop, her green face and eyes trying to argue. "You!...Why?!" She tried to lurch forward, her solidity failing her. Cassie's serpentine body snaked and layered on top of itself on the deck like an oversized piece of toothpaste, spreading into a large green puddle as she collapsed. Her slimy fox tail splashed around as it dissolved, painting a bit of the deck green. Cassie's serpent fins were flailing, desperately trying to stay out of her growing puddle.
"Blaaaaaaaaaaaahhhrgblblblblbb!!!" Cassie grumbled in frustration as her head spread out across her puddle, completely liquefying on the deck.
*SPLASH*
"She'll be fine by morning." Fredrick started mopping her up.
Cassie shot out of her seat at the table. "I swear Jessica! If you use me as paint I'll-"
Ally pulled her back into her seat "Calm down Cassie! That story is two years old, get over it. If you're rude to our hosts, maybe they could use A Friendly Paint Job Two."
Jessica and Scarlett looked at each other confused. Phoebe just shrugged. "It's a long story."
"Right..." Jessica looked through her notes. "Well, the next day comes. Cassie, you pull yourself out of the green goop in your bucket and feel strangely refreshed for being slime all night."
"I...what?" Cassie paused.
Jess put her notes down for emphasis. "You're completely healed. Go back to seducing my NPCs."
Cassie sat down with a smile.
"Phoebe, you can prep new spells for today if you want."
"Ooo! I need something to help me swim after yesterday..." She huddled with Ally to make new selections.
Jessica gave everyone a minute to prep for a new day in the game. She leaned towards Scarlett to go over a few notes for the Captain as well, since technically she was role playing an NPC from the adventure.
Eventually, everyone was ready.
"You wake up, and the crew notifies everyone of another ship over the horizon. It matches the descriptions you were given of the thieves's ship before leaving town. What's your plan?"
Cassie looked at Phoebe.
Cassie and Phoebe stared at the ship in the distance. Ally was still getting her gear ready below deck.
Cassie put an arm around Phoebe's shoulders. "There's the pirate ship! Phoebe, you could be a hero!"
Phoebe's eyes opened wide, sparkling. She dismissed her cat, which vanished in a puff of white smoke. "Really?! What can I do?"
"All you need to do is sneak around their ship, and look for the idol! If you can get it without anyone noticing, we don't need to have a huge messy battle!"
"But how will I get way over there Cassie?"
Cassie squeezed Phoebe tighter. "Cannon."
"What? UUUURK!"
Cassie once again squeezed Phoebe into a ball. She took her time with the process, having fun with Phoebe's squishiness. Her eyes, chest, and the back of her skirt were all you could see around the edges. She stuffed Cassie into a cannon, judged the wind and distance, and fired.
*BOOM!*
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
"CASSIE! What are you doing?!" Allison was enraged behind Cassie.
Cassie followed the path of the cream and blue cannonball through the air to the other ship. It caught in the pirate flag of the other ship, and parachuted to the deck below.
"I just sent our advance scout! She's going to get the idol without us getting dirty."
"And how will she get back?! What if they capture her?!" Smoke was coming out of Allison's ears as the half dragon lifted her hammer.
Cassie shrugged. "She's a big girl, she'll figure it out."
"CASSIE!!!" Ally lifted her hammer. Cassie had seen this act one too many times, and stepped to Ally's side.
Just as planned.
*FWOOOOOOOOOSH*
When Ally's fire breath died out, Cassie was blackened to a crisp. She blinked twice before her fox tail fell to the ground to a pile of dust. She said "Ooowww...." before completely collapsing to a pile of black ash.
Ally nodded, satisfied. "Now to get Phoebe back." She jumped and flexed her wings to glide to Scarlett, and figure out the game plan.
"Captain! What's our plan?"
Scarlett seemed distant from the request, distracted by her own thoughts. "I haven't been thinking 'bout that yet."
"Should we send a small boarding party? I could fly over and surprise them!"
Scarlett shook her head, disinterested. "Aye, but they already be sailin' this way."
"Damn..." Ally got some water to make sure Cassie was in fighting shape. Once she mixed the ashes into a green paste, she dug a claw in and tugged Cassie's head out, attached to the puddle by a thick strand of green slime. "You better hope Phoebe's okay over there! Looks like we're up."
The ships sailed along side one another, a scant ten feet separating them. Crew from both sides banged weapons on the sides of their boats, trying to intimidate the other.
The captain of the pirate ship was a buxom dark skinned woman, with an impossible corset squeezing her chest to ridiculous proportions. She had messy electric blue hair under her conspicuously new Pirate hat, the rest of her outfit faded tattered by sunlight and age.
Captain Jess the Blue Haired screamed "AVAST! WHAT BUSINESS HAVE YE SCURVIES OUT HERE?! GIVE ME YER TREASURE OR GET OUT OF ME FACE!"
Ally pounded a clawed fist on the edge of their boat. "You give us back the idol first!"
"Ah, so ye be sent by that lovely island! If ye be wanting that, yee'll have to-...to....to..."
Mid sentence, a small white cat jumped and grabbed the hat off Jessica's head.
Cassie and Ally looked at each other.
"Allison, that was Phoebe's cat, right?"
"Yeah, but what happened?"
Jess looked nauseous since having the hat removed. She collected herself, and looked around as if seeing her ship for the first time. "Where? What is this? Why am I on a boat?"
Ally waved her hands around and focused on the hat the cat was carrying away. She was almost knocked back by the aura she felt.
"Why would a Pirate captain have a hat with a ridiculously strong Enchantment aura?"
"Captain" Jess pointed behind Ally. "You! The last thing I remember was walking through the woods, and seeing you!"
"That be enough thinkin' ladies." Ally felt a cutlass on her shoulder. Scarlett stood beside her, hefting a small gold statue in one hand. "I take the idol and return to me crew, you leave and forget you saw this place, and all's square between us, aye?"
Jessica stood surrounded on the other ship, now surrounded by her "crew" with their weapons drawn. She was rubbing her eyes, still trying to wake up.
Scarlett, keeping her sword on Ally's neck, hopped onto the ship's rail. "Well ladies, I wish I could say it's been a fun trip. I really thought me serpent friends would have done ya in, but ye be stronger than me thought. I'm afraid this be the end though! Fare well and...WHOA!"
"The evil captain's plan should fail, wind please blow her off the rail!"
A gust of wind made Scarlett lose her balance, and fall back onto the ship. With the sword removed from her throat, Ally immediately swung her hammer at the traitor.
*CLANG*
"Ye have to do better than that deary!"
"CHAAAAAAARGE!"
A plank swung over the rails, linking the ships, and pirates started crossing to the Flatmate's ship. The sailors were completely baffled by their turncoat captain, and not sure what to do next. Morale was low.
"What do we do?"
"The captain was a pirate?!"
"How will we get through this?!"
"How do the pirates look?"
Everyone paused to look at Cassie. "What?"
"How do they look? Are we talking dashing men that sail the seven seas? Or-"
Jess didn't let her finish. "Most look like they haven't seen a shore in years, no matter how buff they are. Their hair is shaggy, their clothes rotting from seawater. There are a few cute girls in the mix too, but their hair is in knots and-"
"Well I can't have them stealing the cute ones. I have a rapier for fencing, right?"
Ally laughed. "Cassie, you posed for one picture to answer fan mail. Can you even spell rapier?"
"Hrmph!" Cassie reached for the dice.
Cassie stepped up to the plank, seemingly unconcerned with the threat. "Who thinks they can ruin my cruise today?!"
Pirates of all shapes and sizes flooded over the plank. Each was met with a similar fate.
"Too short!" *SHWPSHWP*
"Ugh, that hair!" *SHWPSHWP*
"You're too cute, the boys are mine!" *SHWPSHWP*
"You...are those even natural curves? Lay off the pump!" *POP*POP*SHWPSHWP*
A pirate tripped as his leg fell into neat slices underneath him, and he scattered into a pile of cubes on hitting the deck. More than one was sliced in half vertically, hair scattering as their pieces struck the ground. Every time a cute or sexy female pirate approached, Cassie made sure to get a few extra slices in, especially if she could burst cheating proportions down to size. Cassie made short work of each pirate, and still took the time to stomp and twist her heel on a few stray bits, smearing them on the deck.
Within seconds, a veritable mountain of multicolor cubes and sliced pirates was surrounding Cassie. It didn't go unnoticed by the crew.
"Wow! Cassie's amazing!"
"I knew she would defend us!"
"Should she be judging everyone's appearance as she cuts them down? Seems pretty haughty..."
"Who cares! Look at her go!"
Meanwhile, Ally was engaged with Captain Scarlett.
"How could you?! This crew believed in you!"
"All a trick! Do ye know how poor that island is? Nobody believes in strange curses anyway! The idol be worth a fortune to me patron, and the island be needin' the cash. Once I take care of ye, I can be leavin' this backwater hell hole!"
The pair danced across the deck, hammer clashing against cutlass again and again. Scarlett might have been stronger than she looked, but she was careful to stay out of the massive hammer's swing.
"Who would have so much money to make you betray the island like this?"
"You be new here, but one day ye too shall learn to be fearin' the Duchess."
Scarlett's cutlass sliced through Ally's wrists, sending her hands and hammer clattering to the floor. She pointed her cutlass at Ally, backing her into the ship's rail. "And now, I'm afraid there only be room for one red headed adventurer on this boat. Adieu!"
Ally kept her distance, tensing her arm. "You're right. But you're forgetting something."
"What be that?"
Scales grew around Ally's head as it twisted into a more draconic shape. "My player has been getting splattered and transformed in these stories before you were even named Scarlett in story drafts!"
"What?!"
*CHOMP*
For just a second, Ally's head was a huge dragon's. In that moment, she opened her jaws, and with one chomp, scattered red Scarlett goop across the deck.
Back in her normal shape, Ally was chewing, with her cheeks comically full of Scarlett. "But you know...as long as the other red heads in these stories are this squishy, I guess we can share."
She blew a bubble with the Scarlett goop. Her face and hands were etched in the bubble, pressing against the sides. Ally kept blowing until *POP* Scarlett burst and scattered all over her face.
Ally licked her up with a dragon's forked tongue. "Alright then, what's next?"
"Too...uuuh...handsome" *SHWIP*
Cassie was starting to tire out. She was running out of reasons to slice up her opponents, and the chunks were getting bigger as her cuts got sloppier.
"ALRIGHT!"
The charging pirates stopped, as a large woman stepped onto the plank. She was seven feet tall, but carried a razor sharp cutlass that sparkled in the sun. The other pirates got out of the way to let her through, and she jumped to the deck in front of Cassie with a lout *SLAM!* Several pirate cubes squished and splattered under her feet as she landed.
Cassie breathed heavy with fatigue. She looked at her new opponent and took a fighting stance. "You're...impossible."
On the Pirate ship, now mostly devoid of any pirates, Phoebe finally had Jessica back to her senses. "And that's how you became the most feared pirate captain in the seven seas."
"Wow...that explains why I felt so weird about the looting. Okay...shouldn't we help your friends?" Jess pointed to the pirates still crowding the boarding plank, watching the fight between their champion and Cassie.
*SHWP* Cassie dodged the worst of it, but her fox tail fell to the deck.
"EEP!" Phoebe squeaked, "She won't like that....what should we do Jess?"
Jess pointed to the plank. "You said you have magic right? Can you make those pirates smaller?"
"Um, I think so? What are you thinking?"
Jess picked up a stray cannonball next to her. "You make them smaller, and I'll make this bigger."
"BWAHAHAH!" *SHWP*
The oversized pirate laughed as Cassie's free arm fell to the deck and joined the cube collection.
Phoebe looked a little panicked. "Okay, okay, uuuuh..." She summoned her cat, poofing it into existence on her shoulder. Her eyes turned white and her own tail shot up behind her, hair standing on end. "All the pirates are too tall, kitty make them really small!"
The pirates were so engrossed in the fight, they didn't notice themselves shrinking to the size of a tennis ball.
Jess clapped Phoebe on the back. "Nice! Now watch this."
She quietly stepped to the deck, and was surrounded by a blue aura matching her hair. The cannonball started growing. She put it on the plank, and gave it a good shove.
Meanwhile, Cassie stood exhausted. "You're...just..."
*SHWPSHWPSHWP*
The big pirate sliced and diced, finishing with a flourish that popped Cassie's head into her waiting hand. Dark lines ran through Cassie's body.
"You...can't..." she protested, watching pieces of her body fall apart one by one.
"You're skilled, but in the end, everyone falls flat before me." The pirate tossed Cassie's head on to the pile, and slammed her fist down on top.
*SQUIIIIIIIIIIIIISH*
Cassie's body splattered into a green and peach smear on the deck. The champion twisted her fist around, making the mess of Cassie goop wider, before pulling her fist back. Strands of green Cassie stretched and dripped off her fist before she shook her off.
"See that! Their fighter is nothing before..." She paused, hearing the sound of squelching bodies behind her.
*SQUISHSQUISHSQUISH*
The pirate champion turned to see the boulder sized cannonball rolling towards her, covered with miniature stickers of her friends. Each pirate was getting squished and stretched stretched further across the ball as it rolled over and over, right towards the big girl.
There was no time to dodge.
"...me."
*CHRRRRSSSSSHHH*
The champion scattered into ten cylindrical pins, each spinning and clattering around the deck.
"We did it!" Phoebe and Jessica hugged, victorious over the pirates.
Ally blew one more Scarlett bubble before spitting out the pile of red goo into the rest of the pirates. "Good work girls!"
"I'm not sure I've been bubble gum before..." Scarlett nervously adjusted her hair, blushing at the thought of getting chewed up.
Ally was cracking up. "Really?! The way you talk about Amber I thought for sure she would have."
"Well...maybe one day soon..."
Jessica laughed. "Okay there, stay solid a little longer. There's one more thing to take care of."
"Huh?"
Phoebe and Jess were crossing back to their ship along the boarding plank. The crew was collecting bits of defeated pirate into the back of the ship, when something rocked the boats. Jess hopped across, but Phoebe fell in.
"WHOOOOA!"
"Phoebe!"
"Wait, what caused that crash?"
"I'm okay!"
Phoebe's voice came from the surface. The girls looked down and saw her swimming around.
"Are you okay down there?"
"After yesterday I thought I should be ready for this!" Phoebe dove and swam around more, a fish tail splashing the water behind her. "Mermaids are cool!"
The crew shouted their approval.
"Cool!"
"Awesome! We have a mermaid!"
"Are catfolk mermaids still called mermaids?"
"That's ridiculous!"
"Cassie! Be nice."
Ally giggled. "That's cute Phoebe! Can you get out of there?"
"I think so, but there's some weird octopus here! It's pulling on the the anchor's chain."
Cassie shouted back. "Well get rid of it! Magic it or something!"
"Okay, I'll try! But it's pretty big!" Phoebe's blue and white mermaid tail splashed again as she dove under.
Cassie rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the crew's praise for Phoebe's temporary body. "Ugh. Why didn't she just fly out?"
Ally smiled. "Oh, let her have some fun. I thought it was-"
*WHAM*
Everyone ran to the edge of the ship to see what happened. A huge tentacle had slammed into the pirate ship. As it returned to the water, a messy painting of a beautiful catfolk mermaid was suddenly on the boat.
"Phoebe!!!"
"Ooooowww...." Phoebe's eyes were spinning. She looked thoroughly pulverized, her body already losing shape. Bits of her stretched as she dripped down, until she was nothing more than a floating white and blue smear in the water.
Ally lifted her hammer. "What the hell was that?!"
A telepathic voice echoed in their minds. "Did you really think the Duchess would trust something so important to a turncoat pirate?"
The water churned, and the pirate ship burst to splinters. A tremendous squid head came out of the water, tentacles as big as the ship's mast swinging everywhere. One of them came crashing down on Ally, Cassie, and Jess.
*SQUIIIIIIIISH*
All three were instantly smashed into four foot disks on the deck, staring dumbfounded at the creature filling the sky.
The crew scattered. Nobody was really equipped to fight such a beast. They could only yell,
"KRAAAAAACKEEEEEEEEEN!!!"
Ally's disk licked her lips. "THIS is what I'm talking about." She focused, and wobbled back up into three dimensions. She grabbed her friends and started shaking them back into shape. "Cassie, Jess, see if you can fish Phoebe out of the water while I keep it busy!"
The others looked at the white and blue mess that was Phoebe sliding off the Kracken's head. Jess thought fast, and grabbed a familiar nearby bucket, catching Phoebe before she fell back into the sea.
"Phoebe! Are you okay?"
The light blue goop in the bucket had dizzy eyes, and tiny white lucky cats spinning around her face instead of stars. She weakly muttered "Pretty kitties!!!" before her face mixed in with the rest of her sky blue puddle.
While they restored Phoebe, the rest of the crew watched Ally the Dragon. After her impressive display against the serpents, the crew had high expectations.
Ally again magically made herself bigger, and flew into a rage, breathing smoke and fire. "Alright you overgrown calamari! It's time to-HURK!!!"
As big and strong as Ally was, the Kracken was truly immense. A tentacle wrapped around her neck, making her head puff up another foot. "Meep!"
The beast grabbed Ally's legs with another tentacle, and started stretching. It waved Ally around like a jump rope, stretching her into a ten then twenty foot long thin rope of herself.
"WHAAAAA!"
The kracken played and whipped Ally around, her eyes looking nervously around the outside of her elongated body. The squid tore a sail, and broke some boards with its toy, laughing maniacally.
Ally tried to breath fire, but it came out as a tiny match light along the edge of the rope.
"Oh, so you think you're clever?"
The Kracken smushed the Ally rope together into a two foot Ally ball. It bounced Ally around, her face still stuck on the outside of the ball as her colors started to smear and blend together. She was getting squishier, each bounce took more and more energy from the kracken to get her to bounce at all. Eventually the jumble of Ally barely bounced at all, resting on the deck as squishy worn out stress ball.
"Ooooooooh...being a ball is fun but-"
*WHAM*
"Pleeeeeh"
The Kracken slammed two tentacles down on Ally, splattering her into a wide pink puddle of mush on the deck.
Jess was shaking the bucket, trying to encourage the witch that rescued her. "Come on Phoebe! We need you!"
Cassie reached a hand into the bucket. "Ugh, pull yourself together!" She felt around in the light blue goop, and pulled out Phoebe by her hair bow. She flopped around like a wet noodle, only half solid, but she was able to stand.
Phoebe was still seeing cats circling her head. "Whaaaaat...."
Cassie gave her a light bop on the head. "Come on Phoebe! We need you to magic something up here!"
Phoebe finally snapped to her senses. She looked at the beast attacking their ship, and the tentacles splashing around in red Ally goop on the other end of the ship, painting the deck and sails with her.
Phoebe for once looked serious. "Hey, that's mean!" Her eyes turned white as she focused on spell casting. "Uuuuh...Make that thing stop its tentacles, please wind go and...fill...its...venticles?"
Wind swirled around Phoebe to answer her call, and lashed out at the kracken attacking the boat. The Tentacles smearing Ally around the deck froze in place, held by some invisible force as the wind grabbed hold. They shook in place, and they heard the telepathic grunts of the overgrown squid.
"UUUUGH"
The two tentacles over the ship puffed up like large inflatable slides. They were still massive, but significantly less movable.
Cassie looked at the huge beast, still relatively powerless to help. Jessica tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, want to go after that thing?"
"I'm really not interested in getting flattened at sea by that thing."
Jess stood thoughtfully, trying to think of the proper motivation. "Alright Cassie, if you don't think you can handle it."
Cassie stomped and turned around. "Oh, I can eat Calamari, but there's only so much I can do with this butter knife."
Jessica again glowed blue, and this time focused on Cassie. Jess tapped her shoulder, transferring the glow, and Cassie grew 20 feet on the ship.
"WHOOOA! What?!"
*BOING*
"HEY!"
The Kracken did not miss its new large opponent. It immediately struck with one of its inflated tentacles, which bounced off Cassie like a school yard ball.
"Hah! Looks like we're eating sushi tonight!" Cassie swung at the two inflatable noodles before her.
*POP*POP*
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!"
"Hah! Phoebe, do that trick again! And you say I never cook dinner!"
Phoebe went after more tentacles, and Cassie kept disabling the beast. After six noodles burst above their boat, they saw their foe try to turn tail and swim away.
"Foolish mortals! This is not the end!"
It raised one of its last tentacles to give a parting shot, and Cassie grabbed it. "Oh no you don't! Nobody tries to squish me this long and gets away with it!"
"Cassie!" Jessica called from the boat. "Let it go! That spell's running out soon! It doesn't make you strong enough to actually lift it!"
Cassie grunted, too invested in her revenge. "We'll...see...about...that!" She gave one more tug.
*SPLASH!*
For a glorious moment, Cassie pulled the kracken out of the sea. The huge monster flew above the boat, and then gravity took over. She tried to catch it to properly prepare dinner with the monster, but it was much heavier than it looked.
Cassie got her arms on it, but couldn't support its weight. Her legs and elbows clicked like a broken jack as the weight forced her down towards the ship, until she could feel her body touching the boat.
"Oh...crud."
*SQUIIIIIIIIISH*
Cassie's body collapsed. A loud satisfying squish sound filled the night as her hips flattened against the deck and spread from rail to rail. Her failing arms spread into huge skin colored dots, and her eyes bulged out from under the Squid's crushing weight.
Fortunately the ship stayed in one piece. Cassie slowed its fall enough that it slid harmlessly back into the water, and disappeared, leaving Cassie as a huge, floppy cloth on the deck.
Phoebe jumped out of her seat. "We did it!"
"Nice work Cassie!" Ally clapped her on the back.
Cassie was still scowling. "Did you really have to flatten me as a parting shot? Seems rude."
Jess smiled. "Well, look on the bright side. The crew lost it's main sail in that battle, and you just happen to be a massive floppy cloth right now."
"WHAT?! I would NEVER-"
Jess kept talking. "The crew LOVES that you've offered to help out. Everyone looks up and salutes you on the voyage back to the island. Fredrick keeps food coming your way, and you get several offers from sailors to buy you drinks when you get there."
Cassie held the sides of her head with both hands. The twin demands of not being squished and gathering attention were warring within her. "I...What?!...I can't..."
Phoebe smiled. "Thaaaaank you Caaaaassie!"
Ally laughed. "Good job! You broke her Jess."
Scarlett walked to a bookshelf in the corner full of other board games. "Alright, as long as we're waiting, what board games have you played?"
"But they...I can't...They're cute but...Should I?..." Cassie was stuck arguing with herself while the ladies picked out more games and ordered more snacks for the night.