Drip, drip, drip… The soft melody of dripping, leaking water echoed through the dark and chilly halls of a ship's prisons. The wooden boards creaked with every flight the ship took; they reeked of drenched wood and swamp water. Everything around was so, so, dark, and only lit by the faint beams of moonlight that drifted in from the holes in the ship itself. Footsteps patted here and there, yet not a single soul could be seen underneath the cover of shadows. Several, however, could definitely be heard, for the sound of groaning stirred from a single cell with rusted bars, and faint beams of moonlight trickled in to unveil its unlucky residents.

"Ugh, what happened?" Spyro groaned as he sat up and rubbed his waking eyes, oblivious to the scratches that covered his body. "How'd we end up in here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, lil' buddy," Gill Grunt mumbled as he popped water out of his earholes. "My head's a blur!"

"And my core processor's completely jammed!" Bouncer moaned as he tried to sit up, winced and ducked underneath as the ceiling started to cave from his height. "I can't remember anything" — Bouncer paused as his eyes glowed brighter and softer in time — "well, save for something about a ship…"

Ninjini pursed her lips as she finally opened her eyes. She turned her attention to Bouncer as she leaned herself against his arm, trying to push herself up, but the sight of a sparkling amulet on Bouncer's chest stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait, what's with this amulet?" Ninjini asked as she gingerly lifted up the amulet with her fingertips and turned it around. "I know for a fact that you weren't wearing this before." Ninjini's brow raised as her eyes fell to her own chest, where a similar amulet rested on her top and sparkled with just as intense a light. "And neither was I!" Ninjini turned back to the others, who all had similar amulets pinned to them. "Or any of you!"

A few eyes raised as everyone turned down to the amulets, but a soft cough from aside turned their attention towards the bars!

"Don't get yourselves in a fuss, they're just protective amulets," remarked an aged, worn voice from someone adjacent to them. It came from someone hidden in the shadows of the dark prison corridors so that only their glinting white eyes were seen. "Can't have the prisoners getting drained of all their life force before the cap'n gets to them!"

"Wait, cap'n? Like a pirate captain?"

"No, no, Ma, I don't wanna go to school," Flynn sputtered as he stumbled off of Crusher's lap and shook himself awake, gasped and leaped back as he found himself in the cell. "Wait a second, this isn't my mom's place, and it isn't the Dread-Yacht, either!"

All eyes glittered. The silent realization struck everyone as they lowered their heads, and they glazed around in some attempt of making out whatever they could of their surroundings.

"That's right! We got ambushed by those pirates!" Stealth Elf remarked as she and Cali slid down Ninjini's arm and craned their heads around. "By the looks of it, they won."

"Forget about the pirates!" Cali cried as she crossed her arms. "We need to find the Dread-Yacht and get out of here!" Cali winced and peered out towards the endless night sky from a small hole in the woods. "Wherever here is, anyways."

"Just leave it to me!" Trigger Happy cried as he balled forward and whipped out his pistols. With his finger hot on the triggers, Trigger Happy released and fired out golden coins, their paths set towards the bars. "I'll bust us out and we can get the Dread-Yacht in a" — Trigger Happy grunted as the coins bounced off the bars and slammed him right in the face — "jiffy!"

Bouncer knelt down and grunted as Trigger Happy rolled backwards and right into Hot Head's leg. "Regular old weapons might not get us out, but I know what can!" Bouncer cried as his wheel spun and screeched. "ALL SYSTEMS GO!"

Bouncer grunted as he slammed right into the mechanical bars that blocked them off, but rather than breaking free, the bars sent a massive electrical shock right through his systems! Sparks flew off his robotic body as he spun backwards, teeth chattering and mouth sputtering and all. As the sparks finally ceased, a burnt and tired Bouncer groaned as he landed in Ninjini's arms. Ninjini frowned and leaned him against the wall. She ran glowing hands over his injuries and whisked them away, but the sight of those white eyes glaring her down brought her to a stop.

"There's no hope, you know," remarked that aged, worn voice once more as the eyes closed and shook. "There's no way you're getting out of here!"

"How can you be so sure about that?" Ninjini asked. Her own blank, white eyes narrowed while a small pout crossed her face.

Spyro frowned, snapped his claws and crafted a ball of light. With a simple bounce on his end, the ball of light slipped between the cell's bars and illuminated the creaky, run-down wooden halls. With the light unveiled, it revealed that across from them was another prisoner!

The prisoner was a thin, feline creature, probably a mabu from looks but it was hard to tell. They were run so ragged that their tan fur clung to their body, and patches of their moon white hair fell and scattered across the floor. Their clothes were stained and torn to where they looked more like bags or blankets with the way they draped over the prisoner's skinny frame. Their blue eyes were dull and worn, and made a perfect companion to the dull, despondent frown on their face.

"There's no going back for you once you've reached the ghost pirates' hideaway." The prisoner sighed and scratched their head as even more of their silver hair fell out. "Your ships get stowed away in the ship graveyard, and as for you yourselves…"

The prisoner shuddered and clutched their thin, shaky body. Spyro just pursed his jaw and clasped his paws.

"What happens to the prisoners?" was all Spyro asked as he furrowed his brows.

"If the cap'n likes you enough, she'll make you part of her crew, whether you like it or not," the prisoner explained. "And if she doesn't, well" — the prisoner gulped and broke into a shuddering fit as their dull eyes shrank — "I can't even bear the thought!"

"We're not joining any pirate crew!" Trigger Happy insisted as he bounced up and down. He paused for a moment, and chuckled as he rubbed his chin. "Even though I would look good in the hat" — Trigger Happy shook his body and crossed his arms, a firm pout on his face — "but that's not the point! We're busting out of this place and getting our ship back!"

"That's what the last person who had that call said before, too." The prisoner shuddered and buried themself in their coat. "And the guy before him, and the one before him, and the one before that one too!" The prisoner scoffed and turned around. "What do you think you have that they don't?"

"Well for one, we're Skylanders! We're not your ordinary dudes!"

The prisoner turned back to Trigger Happy and blinked, and burst into guffaws so loud that they rolled on their wet, chilly stone floor! Their laughter devolved into a coughing fit as they pushed themself up, and a smirk crossed their face. "Skylanders, you? Don't make me laugh!" the prisoner cried. "What would Skylanders be doing in a place like this?"

"Well, you see," Spyro winced, "we kind of got a little" — Spyro shot a glare back to Flynn, and so did everyone else who shared a cell with Flynn at the moment — "off course."

"But, more importantly, we've gotta get our ship back!" Gill Grunt remarked as he walked up between Trigger Happy and Spyro. "We're gonna bust out of here no matter what!"

"Well, good luck with that is all I have to say!" The prisoner scoffed as they crossed their arms. "This pirate crew here is one of the meanest, the toughest in the Outlands, and anyone who opposes them gets sent to" — the prisoner shuddered again — "the rapids." The prisoner gulped and turned away from Spyro and Gill Grunt's prying eyes. "The rapids, they're some of the awfullest places there! The currents are high, there's guards at every angle, and their torture chambers… I can't even bear the thought! Some say you can even hear the prisoners' screams in the distance."

The prisoner sighed and turned around. "I wonder if that mermaid girl who they tossed down there is alright. Rita, I think her name was?"

Spyro and Trigger Happy both craned their heads, but Gill Grunt gasped and dropped his jaw.

"Wait, correct me if I'm wrong," Gill Grunt asked as he lowered his hands, "but did you just say that there was a mermaid named Rita here before, and she got taken to those rapids?"

The prisoner turned around and slowly, hesitantly nodded, but gasped and scrambled backwards as Gill Grunt latched onto the cell's bars!

"Just where are these rapids?" Gill Grunt demanded! He snarled as he squeezed the bars harder, but another electric jolt surged through him! He reeled back, gasping for air as he crashed back on the floor!

Spyro gasped and immediately went to Gill Grunt's side, but Gill Grunt just pushed himself up. His teeth gritted while the static crackled and popped from his wet scales, and he could barely keep his eyes open, but he still forced himself to stand and glare down the prisoner.

"What's got you in such a fuss, son?" the prisoner asked. "This Rita girl—"

"She's my girlfriend!" Gill Grunt spat, his voice hoarse from pain but still with fighting spirit. "If, if she's here, I, I, I have to find her!"

Another jolt of lightning surged through Gill Grunt's body, and he cried out once more as he collapsed to the floor! The lightning's surge dimmed enough that Spyro and Trigger Happy could prop him up enough for Spyro to heal him. Spyro cast a healing paw and dismissed the static from Gill Grunt's body, but Gill Grunt just snarled and wrangled in Spyro's grasp. He itched to escape as he struggled away, so unlike the cool and collected gillman he usually was. No, a fire lit in his eyes, and he was rared to go!

In spite of his eagerness, the prisoner didn't seem encouraged. Instead, they seemed more somber as they dove deeper into their baggy clothes and turned away.

"The rapids' gates are on the upper decks," the prisoner warned as they popped their collar, "but be warned, it's heavily guarded, and from what I hear, locked off by an Elemental Gate as well."

Gill Grunt's eyes fluttered, and his temper ceded as he clasped his hands. The prisoner shied away from Gill Grunt's view, but Gill Grunt just nodded.

"Thank you."

"And what about this ship graveyard?" Flynn asked as he pushed past Gill Grunt and Spyro. "We kind of need to get our ship back, too!"

"That's just ahead of the docks," the prisoner explained. "If you can get past the guards, then go—"

"ALRIGHT, TIME'S UP!"

A deep, booming voice rattled the floorboards and shattered the few windows around. Ahead of the halls, white light poured in as someone slammed the door open! In from the open doors came several ghastly pirates clad in tattered coats and hole-filled hats. They were all headed by one pirate dressed in some amalgamate of a mage's getup and pirate clothing, a look only accented by his long, bushy beard and a twinkle of silver that shone from his neck.

The prisoner let out a sharp gasp, curled up in their tattered clothes, and shuddered as the pirates strolled from cell to cell, block to block, with their blank, glowing eyes alert and ready.

"Please don't be me, please don't be me," the prisoner whimpered as the pirates strolled closer to the cells.

Beside them, everyone tensed as their eyes fell on the oncoming pirates. Ninjini dove into her bottle in a flash of purple smog! Bouncer gasped and clasped the bottle just before it could hit the ground, lifted it up and frowned.

"Timah, what's wrong?" Bouncer whispered as he held the bottle close.

"I've got a plan," Ninjini whispered while her bottle shook in tandem, "just trust me!"

The pirates came to a stop at the space between the Skylanders' prison and the prisoner's own. Their eyes glowed a bit brighter as they fixed on the shuddering prisoner. The prisoner gasped as they peered up for a sole second and dove back into their clothing, but they completely froze as their cells doors opened!

"Haul 'em in, boys!" the pirate heading the team cried. "The cap'n needs some new blood!"

The prisoner gasped again, and their already-quite-pale face turned sheet white as the pirates strolled out like zombies and grabbed onto them! The prisoner screamed and squirmed as the pirates latched onto them and pulled them out, but they were unable to escape despite their protests. The pirates' grip held tight in spite of the blank looks they held as they presented the prisoner to their head!

"No, no, no!" the prisoner screamed at the top of their hoarse, terrified voice. "No, please, let me go! I'll do anything, just let me go! I don't want to go like this!"

The pirate head frowned, yanked out his cutlass and twirled it around. "Well, there is one thing ye can do," he said as he leaned forward and grinned.

The terrified prisoner rapidly nodded, the sweat trailing fast down their gawking face.

"DIE!" The pirate grinned as he cast his cutlass to the ceiling. "Take 'em away!"

"NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The prisoner's screams echoed down the halls as the pirates dragged them further and further down the halls, and the head pirate himself turned over to the Skylanders' cells! Flynn gasped and trembled, yet forced a smile as eyes fell on him, but everyone else just snarled as they glared down the pirate head. The pirate head hardly seemed concerned, for he just smirked.

"My, my, ye all seem quite lively! I'm sure me cap'n will be pleased with…" The pirate trailed off as his eyes fell on Ninjini's bottle, and they immediately sparkled. "That bottle!" The pirate gasped, shook his head and hastily slammed the cell open. "The cap'n will wanna see it immediately!"

The pirate bolted forward and latched onto the bottle, but as he pulled on it, Bouncer just snarled and pulled it back. The two of them shot nasty glares at each other while Ninjini's bottle became the rope in their game of tug-o-war, and neither party was willing to forfeit!

"I'm not giving this up!" Bouncer cried.

"Then I'll just make ye!" the pirate cried as he drew his cutlass and stabbed it right into Bouncer's side!

His eyes sparkled, and all of a sudden, Bouncer's circuits completely fried! Lightning glowed from his shiny, metallic body while sparks popped off and showered around, and his grip slipped as the pirate yanked away Ninjini's bottle. Bouncer groaned and fell to the floor, his body singed and popping off lightning still, but the pirate just grinned and swung around.

"The cap'n will be very pleased to see this!" the pirate chuckled as they ran down the halls.

The cell's bars shot back up immediately, and the pirate's cackles were the next sound to echo through the halls as the pirate disappeared. The darkness seeped in once more as the door slammed shut. Within the cell itself, Bouncer only groaned as Crusher and Hot Head helped him up. Bouncer winced and slid down while the others dodged the sparks that rained down from his chattering teeth…

And the sound of crashing came from across the way! Though it seemed far-away, it was hardly muffled. It joined with a cacophony of screaming, smashing, whooshing, and summoning weapons—just what could it have been? All eyes turned to the bars as the sound finally dulled, and the door slammed open as purple smoke flew into the halls!

Ninjini chuckled as she flew over, held up a keyring to the others and jangled it around!

"That's my lady!" Bouncer chuckled as he made a fingergun towards Ninjini and winked.

Ninjini chuckled and finger-gunned right back, then with a simple click, the cell bars opened and everyone bolted back out! The purple smoke Ninjini left behind acted as their cover, so they huddled together and grunted.

"Alright, here's the plan," Ninjini whispered as she cast a glance towards the open door. "Flynn, Cali, Hot Head, Crusher, Bouncer and I will head to that ship graveyard and try to find our ship." Ninjini turned her glance back to Spyro and Gill Grunt. "The rest of you, go to those rapids and see if you can find this Rita person. We'll meet up once the Dread-Yacht is retrieved."

Ninjini broke out from the huddle, and with a snap of her fingers, everyone around her glowed with a bright purple lights! Their wounds sealed up as if they never existed, and their scuffed clothes patched themselves up all shiny and new. Grins came from all around and they stretched and flexed, and Ninjini herself couldn't help but smile as well.

"Good luck, everyone!" Ninjini cried as she dashed off with the rest of her team hot on her heels!

Spyro and Gill Grunt turned to each other and nodded. Spyro, Gill Grunt, Stealth Elf, and Trigger Happy dashed right after Ninjini’s team, the creaky, damp and cold atmosphere of the prison no longer a damper on their mood.

"Don't worry, Rita," Gill Grunt whispered as his team dashed out the door under the smoke's cover, "I'm coming!"

§

Ninjini winced and ducked underneath the shield of a particularly large building on the ship as she, Hot Head, Crusher, Bouncer, Flynn, and Cali crept across the upper deck. The smoke was a decent enough cover, enough that it kept the pirates from noticing their grand escape, but now, they ran into a bigger problem, pun not intended.

"We're too big!" Hot Head cried as he flailed his arms in the air. A snarling Crusher shushed him, and he frowned as he lowered his hands. "I mean" — Hot Head cleared his throat and lowered his voice to a whisper — "we're too big!"

"Hate to say it, Hot Head, but I think you're right," Crusher whispered back as he ducked behind a post that he was a few sizes too large for.

Crusher winced as the sound of pirates screeching like monkeys sounded behind him. He collapsed into a pile of rubble, and rolled behind a collection of barrels beside a particularly large building on the ship itself! Pebbles popped from his forehead as the pirates' shrieks continued, but then the shrieks devolved to mumbles and they walked off, much to Crusher's relief! He breathed a sigh as the patter of footsteps sounded in the distance, reformed and crouched down behind the building's shade.

"We stick out like sore thumbs here, man!" Bouncer scoffed as he wheeled over and sat beside Crusher. "If we're gonna find our ship and get outta here, we're gonna have to find a better way to do this!" Bouncer clenched his teeth as he shot a glance towards the open decks. "Because it seems like this ship wasn't made with beings our sizes in mind!"

Bouncer craned his head back, and a shrill screech turned it back around! He gasped as a ghastly monkey in pirate getup screeched and pointed towards him, but its eyes started to glow and it completely froze! Bouncer gasped, and bright red lasers burst out from his eyes as he zapped the pirate! It screeched and howled as the lasers surged through its body, but soon the very tired pirate collapsed on the ground as smoke flew from its body.

Bouncer just sighed and wiped oil from his face. "Close one."

"You all make a good point," Cali remarked as she leaned against one of the barrels and tugged on her gloves. "With your size, it won't be long before we're spotted. We'll have to find another way of doing this, but what?"

The six of them all frowned and hummed as they knelt down, but finally, Flynn grinned and lifted a hand.

"Actually, I've got an idea!" Flynn remarked. He fixed his cap with a grin and puffed his chest out—which would have probably looked cooler if he wasn't in pajamas still. Flynn grinned, wandered over to Cali, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Cali and I will scout ahead and find the Dread-Yacht while the rest of you keep these pirates occupied! Then, we'll bring the Dread-Yacht back in and lay the BOOM on them!"

Cali blinked, frowned and tapped her chin. "Actually, that doesn't sound that bad an idea!"

"I agree!" Ninjini said with a nod before she turned to Bouncer, Crusher and Hot Head. As they all nodded in agreement with her, she turned back to Flynn and Cali. "Just wait for our signal, alright?"

Flynn grinned and saluted Ninjini. "Righty-o, genie lady! We'll just wait right here!"

Ninjini nodded. Bouncer, Crusher and Hot Head followed her around the corner with an urge of her hand, and they all turned invisible with a snap of her fingers! Their bodies eschewed from view, they poked around the corner and frowned as their eyes fell on the crew. The crew just shuffled and groaned as they trudged upon in the deck in a harmonious monotony, almost like zombies. They mindlessly mopped the same clean spot on the deck over and over, opened and closed the same barrel, stared at the skies…

"Keep working, you buffoons!" cried a deep, booming voice as an elven pirate with glowing eyes stormed over and waved a cutlass in the air. "This place needs to be ship-shape before you go on your next raid!"

The other pirates all screamed and jumped in the air, frantic grunts heard all around, and they scrambled off to clean!

The elf pirate just scoffed and turned away while the other pirates mopped and dusted and organized. "It's so hard to find good help nowadays," the elf pirate grunted, but the light in its eyes faded and it fell slack! It grunted as it shuffled away.

Ninjini frowned behind the elf pirate. "Not the brightest stars in the sky, are they?" Ninjini remarked as she clutched the side of the building. "Luckily, I've got just the thing to deal with them!"

"Throwing a rock?" Crusher asked.

"Making a weird noise?" Bouncer suggested.

"Blowing the entire ship up?" Hot Head guessed.

Crusher and Bouncer both shot surprised glances down at Hot Head, and Hot Head in turn only shrugged.

"Hey, it was worth a guess!"

"You're close, but not quite," Ninjini chuckled as she turned back to the other three. "Do any of you want to take a crack at doing illusions, by perchance?"

"Illusions, like illusion magic?" Bouncer asked before he shook his head. "There's no way I could pull something like that off! I can't even do a card trick!"

"Me neither," Crusher remarked as he swung his hammer over his shoulder, "fancy magic just isn't my thing."

"I only know how to set things on fire," Hot Head remarked with a shrug.

Ninjini tsked and wagged her finger. A sparkle shone in her eyes as she lowered her hands, and she chuckled as she placed them behind her back.

"Ah, don't be silly! You don't need magic to trick the eyes!" Ninjini remarked as she flew off. "In fact, I'll show you! Hot Head, come follow me!"

Hot Head shrugged as he turned back to Bouncer and Crusher. The two of them shrugged back in return, but nonetheless, Hot Head trailed after Ninjini as she hid behind a pyramid stack of barrels. The two of them knelt down and peered to the side, where a couple of ghost pirates sat down and spoke among each other in grunts, squeaks, and other odd noises. With the invisibility spell, Hot Head and Ninjini were completely unnoticed to the pirates! They had the perfect chance!

"Hot Head, can you send some smoke out?" Ninjini asked.

Hot Head frowned and jiggled his hands. "I'll try."

With one last jiggle and a few pounds, thick gray smoke burst out in puffs from the hearts of Hot Head's palms. It intermingled with the mist that surrounded the area, but, its harsh and fiery scent wasn't quick to relent. The scent trailed through the deck while the smoky mist coated the area in a fine cloudy smog, one where barely anything could be made out from down below!

The pirates that littered the deck all screamed and ran in circles as the smoke took over. The pirates that once talked among each other? They took one whiff of the smoke, grunted, and screamed as they bolted off! Though their grunts were most unintelligible, vague cries of "Fire" and "Help" could be made out between the screams and shouts!

Ninjini chuckled, yanked her bottle off her back and shook it up like it was full of soda! She popped the cap off, and a trio of sparkling pink bottle rockets soared across the skies like comets in the night. Ninjini corked her bottle back up as they disappeared, and her eyes narrowed as she cast them across the fog. The vague figures of Flynn and Cali could be made out between thick, rumbling clouds of smoke as they dashed across the deck!

"So far, so good!" Ninjini cried as she slung her bottle back onto her back and turned behind. "Crusher, stomp your feet as hard as you can, and hit everything around with your hammer!"

"Like this?" Crusher asked. He pounded his feet, sent rumbles and quakes through the floorboards, and slammed his hammer into a metal building as he dented it in!

The pirates all screamed as the thunderous noise of giant footsteps and creaking metal rang across the battlefield, but they could barely make out a thing with the whole deck covered in smoke. All they did was scream as more footsteps sounded, barrels smashed into nothingness, and structures dented and caved right before their eyes with no pressure at all! They screamed in tandem as the barrel pyramid toppled over and smashed right before their eyes. Its groggy liquid fell over the floor in a massive puddle as the pirates scream, but then, they all completely froze while their eyes glowed!

"WHAT IN THE ANCIENTS' NAME IS GOING ON HERE?" cried that booming voice from before!

The pirates drew their weapons and snarled, and an aura of intimidation they lacked prior started to flare. Ninjini just chuckled, teleported behind the pirates and wiggled her fingers. Down below, the swords, knives, and blunderbusses they held all flew out of their hands. and right over the deck. The pirates screeched as one as their weapons fell out of reach, and thanks to a nice little POP from Ninjini's bottle, all the pirates screamed and whatever kept hold of them broke! Now mindless zombies once more, the pirates screamed and fled off in a panic; their forms gathered together so tightly that they'd have practically merged together if they came any closer!

The smoke flew off and cleared behind them as they ran. What it left behind was none other than Bouncer, Ninjini, Hot Head and Crusher, who were completely visible and smug! Well, most of them were. Bouncer just frowned and narrowed his eyes as the last of the pirates stumbled over their own feet and sat back up.

"Something wrong, dear?" Ninjini remarked as she turned to Bouncer.

"Yeah, actually," Bouncer whispered as he pointed towards the pirates right as they finally got back on their feet and ran off. "Those pirates, they're all wearing bottles just like yours!"

Ninjini raised a brow, and turned a more attentive gaze towards the pirates as well. Bouncer did have a point. Strapped to their backs were bottles much like Ninjini's in shape, their only difference being that they were a translucent white, and hey glowed with ghastly energy.

"But how?" Ninjini gasped. She frowned, pulled her own bottle off of her back and looked it over. "This bottle was specially-made for me by the one who trapped me in it all those years ago" — Ninjini ran her hands over the bottle's smooth surface and clutched its base tight — "but surely, that person would be dead and in the afterlife by now!" Ninjini slung the bottle onto her back once more, snarled and summoned a wishblade. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" screeched someone in the distance!

Ninjini gasped. She cast another invisibility spell as she turned to Bouncer, and dashed across the deck! The air turned eerier and mistier the further she went, and the strange feelings that surrounded it only grew more intense—not helped by how barren that part of the deck was. There were no decorations, no barrels and crates, or structures, and definitely no pirates! Why was it so clean?

Another shriek pierced the air, and Ninjini slid behind a rare crate pile and peered over—for she got her answer! There, several ghostly pirates kept trembling prisoners wrapped in rags. One of those prisoners, a shuddering ice ogre, got prodded forward by two pirates' cutlasses. The ice ogre's teeth chattered, but it still glared down the elven pirate before it in spite of this.

"I, I'm telling you! You're making a big mistake!" the cyclops cried as it stomped its feet. "Once the Great Evil Ice Lord finds out about what you did to me and my crew—"

"SILENCE!" cried the elven pirate!

Their whole body glowed as their cries echoed out. Not just their eyes, but a strange red and purple glow pulsed from their body, an aura of strength like nothing else! The sight of it was nothing short of unnerving to Ninjini, who backed off a bit and gasped.

"That power," Ninjini whispered. "It's far too strong to be natural!"

The ice ogre screamed and struggled as the other pirates tied it up. The elven pirate closed its eyes, and chanted an eerie, arcane chant as its hands flung to the skies. A bright red orb of light formed between the palms, and the light orb leaped out as it seeped right into the struggling ice ogre!

The ice ogre screamed as harsh red light beamed out from its eye and mouth, all while it struggled and shuddered as red lightning crackled around its dulling body. The light faded and it slipped out of its chains, its body now silent and still. Its eye closed shut as its skin turned a dull, chilly gray, and its body shriveled and wrinkled up like a corpse! Above it, the red light it expelled from its body swirled and spiraled as it formed into a screaming ice ogre face!

However, the elf paid no mind. With a snap of its fingers, the screaming head whisked off into the distance, never to be seen again!

Ninjini gasped, but hastily covered her mouth as her eyes fell on the cold, lifeless ice ogre. She’d seen plenty of deaths in her time as an Elder Elemental, but such a gruesome display of magic, and such a ruthless ritual chilled her to the bone… Using the gift of magic for something so cruel just shook her to the bone! More worrisome was that essence she’d felt; on top of its strength, its energy signature seemed awfully familiar too, a ghost of someone she couldn't quite name.

The elf pirate smirked and wiped off its hands. A ghostly greeble handed off another one of those bottles towards the elf pirate, one akin to the bottles strapped on every crewmate's back. The elf pirate smirked as it uncorked the bottle, and stepped back as the bright spark within leaped out! The spark jolted left and right as if it looked for something, and the elf pirate merely pointed towards the dead ice ogre.

The spark leaped right into the ice ogre's mouth, and the ice ogre’s hands started to twitch. Its eye turned blank and bright with white light as it let out a shrill, ear-bleeding screech! It rolled back and forth as it screamed and clawed at its face, as if it fought an invisible enemy. A burst of rainbow light shot from its face as its once-gray body turned a ghastly green and translucent. Its fits and fuss came to a stop as it sat up, and that same eerie glow of power that surrounded the elf pirate now surrounded the ice ogre as it grinned.

"Welcome to the crew, mate!" the two cried in tandem, in the same voice as they shook hands.

In that moment, the voice's filter dropped and it took on a different tone, a cold, sultry voice that Ninjini knew all too well!

She gasped, snarled and leaped out from the crates she hid behind. The pirates all fell and cracked against the floor as she drew her wishblades, and her invisibility spell dropped in that very moment! Her grip was tight, and her face hot with rage as she turned her blades on the pirates. The pirates drew their weapons and screamed while their prisoners fled, their glows fading away instantaneously.

"SOLAVITA!" Ninjini cried, her voice cracked and ripe with rage. "EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT YOU ARE DOING THIS INSTANT!"