_Title:_ Love on the High Seas #3: "Question of the Gods"
_Authors:_ Pirates Sparrow and Turner
_E-mail:_ OrliDepp@...
_Rating:_ NC-17
_Feedback:_ Yes, please!! Seriously, we, like all other fan fic writers,
thrive on feedback. We also tend to only stick to the places where we know
we are being read and enjoyed from the reviews we receive. However, flames
absolutely will not be tolerated.
_Archive:_ Absolutely *ONLY* if you request permission and receive our
granting to do so. It'll probably be a yes, but it depends on the archive
and the person running it.
_Warnings:_ Abuse, Death, Lemon, Nudity, Rape, Sex, Torture, Violence
_Fandoms/Characters/Pairings:_ (Ace Ventura) Ace; (Angel/BtVS) A/C,
Fresley, Faith, Lorne, Dawn, Connor, Spike, Darla/Dru, Lilah,
Willow/Kennedy, Doyle, Groo; (Charmed) C/Pi, Prue, Phoebe, Paige, Kit, Sam
Wilder; (Dawson's Creek) Dawson; (Disney) Jack Sparrow/Will Turner,
Hook/Smee, Sebastian; (Elvira) Elvira, Gonk; (Excalibur) Kurtty, Rachel;
(Generation X) Sean/Emma; (Happy Days) Fonzie; (Harry Potter) Albus
Dumbledore, Snape; (Labyrinth) Jareth and company; (Marvel) Elektra;
(Peter Pan) Hook/Smee; (The Pirate Movie) Frederic; (PotC) Jack/Will,
Elizabeth, Anamaria; (ReBoot) Matrix/AndrAla, Ray/Mouse, Bob, Phong,
Frisket; (Sabrina) Salem; (Shrek) Donkey; (Smallville) Clex; (Sons of
Thunder) Trent, Carlos; (Starsky & Hutch) Starsky/Hutch; (SU2) Carl; (10K)
Wolf; (Touched By An Angel) Andrew; (X-Men) RoLo, Morph, Sean/Emma,
Kurtty, Professor X, Rachel, Callisto, Joseph/Rogue, Bishop, Beast,
Gambit; (Xena) Aphrodite/Ares, Xena/Gabby, Joxer, Autolycus, Discord,
Callisto, Strife; and (Zoolander) Derek/Hansel. Sooner or later, there's a
pairing for every character, but if they're not listed here, the pairing
will be with either a character from a different fandom or an original
character or the pairing has not yet happened.
_Summary:_ Many questions abound in the aftermath of Love on the High Seas
#2: Isle of New Beginnings. Questions such as . . . What could bring
together the greatest enemies of Angel, Spike, Faith, Jack Sparrow, Xena,
and Elvira's family? What could the Pirates have done to anger the Goddess
Discord so greatly that She joined forces with these enemies and led the
two ships to the Pirates' island? Why were Jack Sparrow, Xena, Lex Luthor,
Delvira, James Hook, Sean Cassidy, and Elvira all left behind while their
loved ones and crew mates were taken away? How will they be able to rescue
their people when their ships have been destroyed? If they can find a
ship, will they even be able to reach them in time, and can they trust the
Gods Aphrodite and Ares and/or the Wizards, Albus Dumbledore and Charles
Xavier? Huge multi-crossover with such fandoms as Ace Ventura, Angel,
BtVS, Charmed, Dawson's Creek, Disney, Excalibur, Generation X, Happy
Days, Harry Potter, Labyrinth, Peter Pan, The Pirate Movie, Pirates of the
Caribbean, ReBoot, Sabrina, Shrek, Smallville, Sons of Thunder, Special
Unit 2, Starsky & Hutch, 10th Kingdom, Touched By An Angel, X-Men, Xena,
Zoolander, and more!
_Disclaimer:_ All established characters; all TV show, comic, and movie
titles; and the Black Pearl are © & TM their respective owners and are
used without permission. Crystal "Snowflake" Frost, Katrina "Firestar"
Lewis, Celina "Pantheria" Lewis, Tom Ballard, Meesy, Brendan Richards; and
all other original characters are © & TM Pirates Sparrow and Turner, are
used with their permission, and may not be used without permission. The
Sea Witch and everything else are also © & TM the authors. No copyright
infringement is intended, and no monetary profit is made from these tales.

_Chapter Eleven_
Rogue could not keep her hands off of Joseph, but she hated doing
anything in the sleeping quarters with her husband as she felt all
eyes were drifting toward them and they had no privacy. Usually,
they snuck off together after dinner for some quality time
together and had just done that after the action had calmed down.

Joseph was so completely lost in Rogue that he did not notice the
rain, the wind whistling through his long, white hair, or even
Kyna calling the crew together. In that moment, he knew nothing
except the delicious taste of his beloved's lips and the way both
her tongue and hands made him melt inside. He stumbled back into
the darkness, subconsciously seeking a place to hide their private
moment in when he stepped upon something that crunched softly and
heard a yelp.

Rogue broke the kiss and looked downward, trying to see in the
dark what manner of being was down there. She couldn't make out
who it was and did not recognize the voice.

"Show yourself." When the command did not work, Joseph curled his
fingers into a fist and used his magnetism to flare a blue light.
He showed the light into the darkness, and his eyes met the face
of a stranger.

"Who are ya, shugah?" Rogue asked as she did not recognize the
cowering man.

"I need to see Xena," his voice quivered, "or Jack Sparrow! I'm
only supposed to talk to them!"

"How'd you get here?" Rogue asked. "Fly?" She scoffed at the idea
of a mere man flying. This man did not seem to be anything
special. "Come out o' there. We'll take ya to the Captain."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyna was growing impatient and was seconds away from telling
Matrix to have Frisket sniff out Joseph and Rogue when she heard
footsteps. She turned toward the sound and was rewarded with the
sight of her two missing crew members. Her almond eyes narrowed in
on the stranger, however, and she walked to meet them. "Who is
this?"

"Evidently a stowaway," Joseph answered her. "He says he will not
speak to any one other than Jack Sparrow or Xena."

Kyna turned back and yelled out. "JACK! XENA!"

Jack walked over. "Yes?" He saw that Xena approached from another
direction.

She did not say anything but just stood and watched the stranger.
She knew she'd never seen him before. "I'm Xena," she told him.
"Who are you?"

Sam looked at the beautiful woman standing before him decked out
in warrior clothes. He had never met Xena face to face, but he had
heard tales of her exploits many years ago. "A friend of yours
sent me -- Aphrodite?" He smiled at her.

"Aphrodite sent you?" Jack asked. "Who are you?"

"I am Sam Wilder, a has-been," he told them.

A sparkling of pretty, bright lights and pink rose petals preceded
the appearance of the Goddess just mentioned. Aphrodite looked at
Sam. "Not any more," She told him and waved a hand at him.

Sam felt as though he was shocked by lightning. His body
stiffened, and then he felt filled with renewed power. He breathed
deeply and then, looking at Aphrodite, he thanked Her.

"If you truly wish to thank Me, Sam, you will not let Me down,"
Aphrodite gently reminded him. Her attention then turned to Xena
and Jack. "He is the Halliwells' White Lighter."

Jack had fallen to his knees at the first sight of Aphrodite as
had almost everybody else on deck. Xena looked at Aphrodite.
"Thank You for helping us. Can You take us to them, or will He not
allow that?" she questioned hopefully.

"A means of arriving there will be soon in coming," Aphrodite
replied with a reassuring smile. She had checked on Ares and
Strife both before returning to Sam and had been pleased with what
She had discovered. Her eyes turned to Jack. "Stand, Jack. I have
something to give you."

"It *was* You then before!" Jack exclaimed. "I thought it was, but
I wasn't sure. We have found favor with You, Oh Blessed
Aphrodite?" Jack rose slowly to his feet, his eyes still gazing at
Her feet and not Her beautiful face. He dared not look at Her
directly.

"Jack, you have had My favor for a very long time. I have only
waited for you to acknowledge Me in turn. Did I not, after all,
find a way to set things right between you and your beloved Will?"

"Oh, yes, and I will be eternally thankful to You for that as long
as I live! Now all I ask is for You to help me save him and my
family? I will do anything You ask of me."

"I will do all that I can, Jack, though I fear that I am part of
the reason why they were taken. I worked hard on both your
coupling and the other recent ones that have taken place within
your crew. They were meant as a present for Xena and Gabrielle,"
She smiled sadly at her old friend, Xena, who had never lost the
dear spot she held in the Goddess' heart, "but My happiness over
the results made another Goddess jealous. She is the one who led
the others to your people, but I am the one who will help you
recover them."

"As I said, Sam Wilder is the Halliwells' White Lighter. I know
you do not know what that means as many of the rest of you also do
not. The Halliwells are part of Jack's family, and they are
Witches." Each mind was shown a picture of not only the four women
but also of Ororo. "A White Lighter is akin to the fables of
Guardian Angels. In fact, White Lighters are the Guardian Angels
of Witches and, as such, they are capable of healing." She looked
at Sam. "Beginning this day, however, Samuel, you will not only be
healing Witches. If they are a member of Jack's, Xena's, Kyna's,
or Kat's crew and are injured, you will heal them, regardless of
their species, religion, or anything else. Do you understand Me?"

Sam nodded his head. "I understand. I am amazed at Your powers! I
thank You for Your gift!"

"Then use it well, Samuel, this night. Jack," Aphrodite returned
Her attention to the Pirate Captain. "A long time ago, you were
able to do something that few people are. These swords," two
finely crafted swords appeared in Her out-stretched hands, "will
help you recapture that ability."

Jack gazed at the two swords and thought they were more beautiful
than any other he'd ever seen. "It's been a long time since I did
that," he told Aphrodite. "I am very rusty. These swords will help
me to do that again? Are they mine for just a small time?" He held
his hands out to Her and waited for Her to place them within.

Aphrodite's hands brushed upon the Pirate's as She passed the
swords to Jack. "They are yours for the keeping, My Sparrow, but
you must only use them when you most need them." Her voice sounded
within his mind, {{{As long as you have faith in Me, these swords
will meet whatever mark you attempt.}}}

He accepted them gratefully, and he felt the warmth of their power
in his hands. "Thank You, Oh Blessed Aphrodite!" he whispered to
Her. "If You ever want me to do something, You have but to ask it
of me, and I will do it."

"Xena?" Aphrodite called as She turned to look upon her old
friend. "I believe you will have need of these, My friend." Her
now-empty hands moved in circles in the air, and when they stilled
again, one hand held Xena's sword and the other her chakram.

"Thank you, Ditey!" Xena declared and, taking both in her hands,
returned first the chakram to its rightful place on her hip and
then the sword to her scabbard before reaching out and hugging
Ditey.

Aphrodite smiled as She returned Xena's hug. "There is a great
deal more that must be made known here before you go into battle,"
She spoke aloud to the group after reluctantly parting from Xena.
Her eyes peered at the vast amount of Pirates and Piratesses.
"Where is Sean Cassidy?" She asked though She already knew.

Sean had been at the back of the group but now stepped boldly
forward. He had read many books on the Gods and Goddesses of old,
and Aphrodite had always been one of his favorites even though he
quit worshipping Her at the time that his Em was taken. He gazed
at Her now in disbelief, because although he had worshipped Her,
he had never thought he'd get to see Her face to face.

Aphrodite closed the remaining distance between them and touched a
gentle hand to the cheek of the man who had once worshipped Her.
"I know these past centuries have been filled with naught but
heartache and misery for you, Sean. My hands were tied, but they
have been have been unbound for this one night -- this night that
will set many wrongs right. Your Emma *is* aboard that ship, but
she believes you to be dead. She saw the same images that you saw
only what happened to her in your sight happened to you in hers.
You also must know that she is under a spell that will prevent her
from seeing you, but if you follow your heart, you can not go
wrong."

Sean fell to his knees and lowered his face to the deck. "I am
sorry fer e'er doubtin' Ye, fer nae believin' Ye e'er cared in the
first place! Thank Ye fer tellin' me! Can Ye tell me how tae break
the spell on me Em?" He stayed in the lowered position, not daring
to look at Her face.

"She needs to believe that you are there, that you are alive, and
once she does, the spell will shatter."

"How do I convince her?" Sean asked.

"When the time comes, there will be some one there. In fact . . .
" Aphrodite smiled. "There already is. She is in the hold of the
Saucy Wench as is one of your dear friends, Kurt Wagner. Have him
relay to her what he is seeing, and tell him something that only
the two of you -- Emma and yourself -- could know."

"Thank Ye, Aphrodite! Please forgive me fer e'er doubtin' Ye!"

"You are forgiven, My son. I know why you turned against Me, but
now you know that even a Goddess' hands can be tied. I have waited
a long time for these wrongs to be righted, but finally We are on
the verge which reminds Me . . . " She turned partially so that
She could look upon Jack again. "Jack?"

"Yes?" his voice quavered.

"I ask one thing of you, My child, not for Me but for friends who
we both hold dear. There are two men who have recently come into
your life -- two who you do not know if you should trust or not
--, but I tell you now they are to be trusted."

"I will trust them, Aphrodite. Thank You for everything!"

She smiled. "Thank you, Jack. Without you, this would not have
been possible. For this one night, I will walk among you all, and
you can not keep your faces to the deck the entire time so now I
ask you -- each and every one of you -- to rise."

Once all were standing, they turned to look at Aphrodite,
wondering what She would show to them and finding Her beauty
completely overwhelming.

Aphrodite turned next to Kyna. "Captain Chan, will you please call
upon your crew? Introduce them to the rest, and then, Captain
O'Hara, I will ask you to do the same."

Kyna and Kat nodded. Kyna wanted to thank Aphrodite for helping
her, all those centuries ago, to finally believe in love and in
William but knew that this was neither the place nor the time. "As
you all already know, I am the Captain of Destiny's Ghost. My name
is Kyna Chan. My First Mate is Spike," her fingers entwined with
William's.

"My name is William," Spike said as he turned to look at the
others. "It's past time you guys knew that."

Kyna smiled at William, very happily surprised that he had finally
deigned for the rest of the crew to know his real name and not
just his nickname. William smiled back at Kyna and held to her
hand. "Thank You, Aphrodite," William spoke to the Goddess, and
when Aphrodite turned to look at him, he whispered to Her, "for
Kyna."

Aphrodite smiled and already knew the next words to come out of
Kyna's mouth, thanking Her for William and for giving her the
courage to finally open up her heart and let him in, even before
they came out. "You are both most welcome." She nodded to Kyna and
gently spoke a command, "Continue."

Kyna nodded. "Our Boatswain is Trina Malloy." She indicated a
tall, blue-eyed, blonde woman dressed in black who stood beside a
man who looked very much like her, a Mexican, and another blonde
man. "Our doctors are Phong and Beast," she motioned to each in
turn. "Our Sorceress, Willow Rosenberg," she gestured to the
redheaded Willow who had calmed Elvira's wolf. "Our Gunner, Enzo
Matrix, and our Weapon Checker, AndrAla." She indicated a
green-skinned man who stood with a blue-haired woman in his arms.

"Our Carpenter, Andrew Dye." She gestured to one of the two blonde
men standing beside Trina. "Our Powder Monkey, Mouse," she
indicated a purple-skinned woman with orange hair. "Our musicians,
Ray Tracer and Doyle." She indicated the Aussie who wore the
strangest glasses any of them had ever before seen and the Irish
man with the visions. "Our Cook, Remy LeBeau." Kyna quickly
continued before the French man could open his mouth.

"And the rest of our crew: Trent Malloy, Carlos Sandoval," she
indicated the other blonde man and the Mexican standing beside
Trina. "Kennedy," she motioned to the brunette woman who hovered
next to Willow. "Joseph and Rogue," she gestured to the
white-haired man whose arms were once more wrapped around his
beloved wife. "Bob," she motioned to the blue-skinned man who
stood next to Matrix, AndrAla, Phong, and Frisket. She continued
on until she at last came to the latest additions of the crew.
"Raziel and Groo." Her free hand gestured to each in turn.

Kat stepped forward but neither could nor wanted to escape Ace's
arms. She looked first at Aphrodite, and her words were simple as
she believed the Goddess already knew what was in her heart and
mind. "Thank ye."

Aphrodite nodded in understanding and smiled at the couple. It had
taken Her a long time to find some one who could love a person as
insane as Ace and just as long a time to find some one who could
love one with a temper as fiery as Kat's. The two fit each other
perfectly, however.

Kat turned her attention to the gathered group. "Me name's Kat
O'Hara, an' I'm the . . . " She coughed through the word she
wanted to add -- reluctant. "Captain o' the Frolickin' Monkey. Me
First Mate's Ace Ventura." She prayed he would not talk with his
butt.

Ace was sure not to drop his pants this time. He grinned at the
others and didn't let go of Kat. Not only was she the Captain of
his ship that he had been lucky enough to steal, but she was the
Captain of his heart. "Thank you, Aphrodite, for everything, and
could you please help me . . . " He thought to Her, {{{ . . . keep
my pants on when I'm supposed to?}}}

Aphrodite could not help Herself; She burst out into a fit of
giggles. Finally managing to swallow Her laughter, She nodded to
Ace but still could not keep a straight face.

Kat's eyes glanced swiftly between Aphrodite and Ace. Just what in
the Hell had her monkey boy asked the Goddess of Love? {Please,
Gods, din't let him have said somethin' embarrassin'!}

"He didn't," Aphrodite assured Kat, "not about you any way." She
smiled slyly.

Kat nodded and let it go though she was still full of curiosity
and would corner Ace on it later. For now, however, the Irish
woman turned her attention back to the rest of the group. "As most
o' ye already knae, most o' our crew's animals, but we di ha'e
some humans aboard. They are our Boatswain Hansel . . . " She
pointed out the blonde man and was about to move on when he spoke.

"Please tell me! Is he . . . still there? How bad have they hurt
him? *Please* tell me, Aphrodite!" The Goddess could not help but
to hear the tears in his voice and heart.

Aphrodite turned to look at Hansel with a sad but compassionate
expression. "They have not . . . hurt him as badly as some of the
others, Hansel. He lives, and he misses you terribly. You two have
got to have a talk, though. He's not going to make the first
move," She told Hansel, shaking Her head once. "You're going to
have to move on him, but he loves you. He just doesn't think you
could ever feel the same."

Jack smiled to himself as he heard those words. It had not been
too long ago that the same could have been said about Will and
himself. He'd almost lost Will, and he determined to help Hansel
get Derek.

"I'll talk to him," Hansel told Her. "I love him more than
anything else in the world! He has to know that! Thank You for
telling me, but I want to ask You for help when I do tell him."

"I will be there," Aphrodite vowed, "if not in person where you
can see Me then in spirit, but I will be there, Hansel."

He smiled at her and then hugged the thought of what he was going
to tell Derek to himself. He wasn't about to let him get away from
him again!

Aphrodite smiled, clearly pleased. "Captain O'Hara?"

Kat nodded. "There's also our Gunner Bishop," Kat gestured with a
hand to the tall, black man whose orange cat even now rode his
shoulder, "an' our Cook, Fonzie." She smiled and pointed at one of
her oldest friends.

Fonzie smiled at Aphrodite. He couldn't bring himself to say a
single word so awed was he by Her beauty!

"Okay, now that that has been settled," Aphrodite announced,
clasping Her hands together, "it is time for the rest of you to
see exactly who you are going after. Some of you will recognize
some of those who you do not realize have been taken. We will
begin with them. There are four sisters who have recently come
into Jack's family. Their names are Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige
Halliwell."

Hank shuffled rapidly through the pictures he'd held onto
throughout everything that had happened that evening, and suddenly
the picture floated out of the stack. It rose into the air, and
Hank pushed his spectacles back up on his nose as he peered at it
in awed shock. "You really did do quite a terrific job on these,
Hank." Hank's mouth fell open at the Goddess' praise.

The sketch rose into the air and grew larger so that every one
there could see it. It could be seen from both sides of the paper,
and the black and white suddenly turned to very descriptive and
bright colors. It was as if the gathered Pirates were looking upon
the Halliwells themselves!

"There is another of their family . . . "

"There should be three more!" LeBeau was quick to jump to his
booted feet. "Three women! 'Ro, Patty, an' Penny!" He gazed at the
Goddess.

Aphrodite's gaze met the French man's red eyes. "Once upon a time,
there would have been. Patricia and Penelope passed away."

The news hit LeBeau hard. He had to sit down. His mouth did not
open again even as Ororo's picture came to life beside the
Halliwells'. What had happened to his beautiful cheres?! Upon
seeing Ororo's picture, he gasped. He could not believe that the
Weather Witch was alive and that his beautiful, willing cheres had
died!

Sam sat down hard. He knew that Penny and Patty were dead, but the
knowledge still hurt.

"I will not tell each of you where to go, but Sam, I want you and
LeBeau to go together first to Paige. Do not argue with me, Remy,"
She warned him as the French man prepared to open his mouth. "You
will be needed to fight Paige's captor, and Sam will be required
if she is to live."

The two males mentioned glared angrily at each other, both knowing
the past and neither liking the other.

"Remy, there's something else you need to know. A woman from your
past has Paige and Autolycus." Autolycus' picture joined the
others.

"Who?" Remy demanded to know.

"Belladonna," Aphrodite answered.

"I'll send Belladonna to Hades with great pleasure!" Remy declared.

"There is another who is involved in this who many of you know but
do not realize has been taken." The three pictures returned to
Hank while Dawn Summers' image rose into the air.

Spike growled. "How *dare* they take my little bit! I'll make the
bitches suffer greatly before I kill them! Who has her? Darla?
Dru?"

Willow gasped in shock at the sight of Dawn's face. "Oh, my little
one!" she whispered. "What have they done to you?!" She was glad
to have Kennedy's arms sneak around her.

"Thus far, Dawn has been one of the lucky ones. She and Winifred
Burkle . . . " Fred's picture joined Dawn's. " . . . have been
spoken for by one who does not wish to harm them, but they, along
with everybody else, will be in danger when the attack begins."

"What shall we do with their captor?" Spike asked Aphrodite.

"Her name is Kalena. She is . . . trapped on the ship. She does
not wish to be there . . . "

"Why doesn't she simply leave?" he interrupted Her.

"She is a mortal, William, and she knows to leave the ship will
bring her death. There has only ever been one who has managed to
escape the Saucy Wench alive, and . . . " Aphrodite chose Her next
words with extreme care. "She is currently paying for that."

Jack knew instantly that She was speaking of Faith. He felt Lex
stand to move beside him, and he reached out and touched the boy
on the arm. Lex stood quietly beside Jack. "Faith?" he whispered.

It was Aphrodite Herself who answered him. "Yes."

"What about the rest of my family? Do they live?" Lex asked.

"Clark Kent, Julian, and Sarah . . . " The two pictures replaced
Dawn's and Fred's in the air. " . . . all live. Julian and Sarah
have not yet been harmed, but I can not say the same for Clark."
Her eyes gravely met Lex's. "This is going to sound strange to
you, Lex, but it is of the absolute utmost importance that you get
the green rock away from Clark as soon as you reach him."

"Green rock? What is it, and what have they done to Clark?"

"The rock is a piece of kryptonite. Clark's captor wears it as a
necklace. She has not yet realized, however, that it is what is
responsible for making him so weak. If it lingers too near him for
too long . . . " Her words trailed ominously off.

Lex didn't have to hear the words 'he will die' to know that was
what She was implying. "And what of his captor? Is she torturing
him, or just . . . unknowingly torturing him?"

"She is . . . " Aphrodite sighed. "In a way, both."

"Then the bitch will die!" Lex declared. "What of the girl --
Jasmine? She was taking care of Sarah and Julian."

"She and Simon . . . " Their pictures replaced those of Clark and
the kids. " . . . are still doing their best to do so, but she is
at a . . . a great loss."

"Jasmine's always at a great loss," Lex told her. "The poor girl
does not have a complete mind!"

"She has one," Aphrodite told him, "but it is . . . inaccessible
to her at this time."

Jack and Lex exchanged glances. This was one thing they really
thought Aphrodite was confused about, but it was good to know that
the kids, Jasmine, and Simon were not hurt yet. Lex sat down
beside Jack and continued to pay attention to the others being
revealed.

"James," Aphrodite called out, "I know you fear your family is
dead." Smee's, Connor's, and Frederic's images rose to take the
places of Jasmine's and Simon's. "They are not."

"Oh thank Goddess!" James cried out. "How bad have they been
hurt?" He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw that Xena was
gripping his shoulder.

"Smee and Frederic are, as of yet, largely untouched but in grave
danger. William?"

"Yes, Ma'am?" William asked, wondering what he could do and why
She was calling him.

"I know you plan to go after Angel." Angel's picture joined the
others'. "When you do, please help Connor, as well. You will know
why later, but that is Angel's tale to tell."

Spike wondered what the Hell She was implying but did not dare ask
Her. He watched as another picture joined Angel and Connor. It was
a girl. "Who?" William asked.

"Zora," Jack supplied. "She's . . . Connor's woman. She's a
Werecat of sorts and must be handled carefully."

"You will find these three held by the same one, William. The same
one who . . . you wish to get your hands upon."

"Who? Dru? Where's Darla? I want that bitch too!"

"You will find her busy with this one." Crystal's picture rose
into the air.

{Oh my Gods!} Jack thought. {What are they doing to Crystal?} Did
he even want to know, and why wasn't her crystal protecting her?

"Thank you, Jack, for reminding Me of that. Helvira will be even
harder to kill than usual tonight for she wears Crystal's
crystal."

"How'd the bitch get it?! Crystal never takes that off except to
heal some one!"

"Judson took it," Aphrodite told him, "and gave it to Helvira."

"But . . . won't that bring You-Know-Who?" Jack asked.

"No, it will not for the same reason that Kyna and Willow were
both unable to find the ships this evening. They are
telepathically blocked, but Judson does know about You-Know-Who
and does intend Crystal for him."

Jack's hands clenched and unclenched. How could he get to every
one he wanted to get to to rescue? He was only one man, but he
knew that the swords would give him special powers that he was not
willing to share with the others. He'd just let them be surprised
and shocked at the new Jack Sparrow!

"You must remember, Jack, that you are not alone tonight. This can
only be accomplished through team work, and every one must pull
their weight."

She continued to raise each picture in the air, telling the
gathered group about each, until she came to the last picture.
Then they found an image in their minds of a beautiful woman with
long, dark hair and dark eyes and skin. "She is another held
captive by these people. Her name is Theodora Todd."

"I knew she was not one of mine," Jack told Her, "but we will not
leave her aboard those ships. Who's on which ship?" he asked Her.

"There are a few more first, Jack," Aphrodite told him gently,
"and I want you to try not to leave a single one of these behind."
Images of Rachel, Roxanne, Derek, and Emma also filled their
minds. "Roxanne is the only one not held captive by the means you
think, but she is just as trapped as the rest. She is, however,
doing her best to help the Lewises."

"We will not leave any of your people aboard the ships, but we
will kill all that we are able and we will burn the ships
thereafter!" Jack declared.

"There are two others of theirs who I wish you to try to refrain
from killing for they are good and do not wish your people harm."
She showed them mental images of Kalena . . . "She is the one who
has Winifred and Dawn." . . . and Elektra. "For those of you who
know Kitty Pryde," Her eyes turned to Sean most of all, "you will
find that this woman is *very important* to her."

"Those three -- Roxanne, Kalena, and Elektra -- are no more evil
than Faith and Emma. They are simply trapped in a position they
can only escape through death, but this night, they will fight
alongside you."

"Now listen carefully for the next that I have to tell you will
determine for some of you where you want to go. The following are
held captive on the Saucy Wench: Gabrielle, Angel, Connor, Kurt
Wagner, Zora Sheridan, Emma Frost, Lorne, Blue, Lockheed, Cindy,
Elvira, Theodora Todd, Meesy, Crystal Frost, Cordelia Chase, Kitty
Pryde, Winifred Burkle, Dawn Summers, Ororo Munroe, Piper
Halliwell, Faith, Celina Lewis, Katrina Lewis, Morph, Elizabeth
Swann, and Rachel Summers. On the Harlot, there are the following:
Will Turner, Donkey, Salem Saberhagen, Samuel Smee, Frederic,
Jasmine, Simon, Julian, Sarah, Brendan Richards, Wolf, Jareth,
Wolverine, Prue Halliwell, Carl, Tom Ballard, Vang, Clark Kent,
Dawson Leery, Cole Turner, Chong Chan, Sir Didymus, Trely, Paige
Halliwell, Autolycus, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Phoebe Halliwell, and
Derek Starsky."

Aphrodite shivered suddenly as something entered Wesley. "Jack,
Xena," She nearly barked, "make certain that Wesley is cleaned
out!"

{Cleaned out?} Jack wondered. What had they put into him?

"You do not really wish to know, Captain Sparrow," Aphrodite told
him.

Xena merely nodded. She had been there before with Gabrielle.
She'd have to take Jack aside and explain to him what Aphrodite
was telling them in a way so that the others could not hear and be
shocked.

"One more thing," Aphrodite spoke, "Willow, step forward."

Willow stepped forward and looked up into the beautiful Goddess'
face. "With your permission, My dear child, I would like to give
you two spells -- one for teleportation and one for healing. I
would also appreciate it greatly if you would go with Jack into
what he will find when he goes after his beloved."

"Thank you so much, Oh Blessed Goddess! I will go with him, and I
will not fail him nor You!"

Aphrodite smiled. "I know you will not, My child." She touched one
hand to each side of Willow's head, and the two spells entered
Willow's mind. "They will always be there. You merely have but to
think of them, and they will come."

Jack thought back over everything he had just heard, and he was
worried as to Will's condition as Aphrodite had now made Willow
even more powerful than she had already been and instructed her to
go with him. He closed his eyes and prayed that he would be in
time.

Ace slipped over and sat down by Jack. He had been trying to piece
together which one of the people was Jack's beloved, but when Will
Turner's picture had been shown, Jack had not been able to keep
the tears from running down his face. Ace, putting two and two
together, had realized that Jack's love was Will Turner, a man. He
reached out and clasped Jack's arm. "We will be there with you, my
friend, and we will get your Will back."

Jack realized that when Will's picture had been shown, he had
given himself away by the tears and that neither Ace nor his
people nor Kyna's held Jack's love being a man against him. They
were still all willing to stand by him!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strife had been walking forever and had lost count of how many
times He had picked Himself up out of snow drifts only to continue
walking and fall into yet another one. He had not found a single
living being and wondered why Unc had sent Him here for the
thousandth time. He had been about to call out again when
something blue flashed past His face. It hovered in mid-air and
then flew back in front of Him. The blue person hovered face to
face with Him, and Strife wondered just what the Hades He was
looking at.

Jack cocked his head at he stared at the Being before him in
puzzlement. "What the heck are you doing here?" he asked at last.
"Aren't You a God?"

Strife grinned at Him. "Guess you're what I was sent here to find?
What are you?"

Jack folded his arms in front of him. "Asked You first. Are you or
are you not a God?"

"I am a God, but Ares sent Me here to get you."

"Why would Ares send You here to get me?"

"It all involves the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, and Unc not
getting enough."

"Look I really don't care if the War God can get His piece or not!
I have a country to freeze!"

"You have people to rescue, or are you not the cousin of Crystal
Frost?" Where did that name come from, Strife wondered, and just
who the Hades was Crystal Frost? He would never have thought that
Ares had just slapped that information into Him.

"Crys?" Jack grabbed the God by His shirt collar. "What's wrong
with Crys?!"

"She and almost all of Jack Sparrow's crew have been taken
prisoner and are being tortured even as we speak."

Jack thought quickly. "Where's Jack?"

"You?" Strife asked.

Jack Frost shook his head. "Jack Sparrow," he clarified.

"He's at sea on Destiny's Ghost."

"Take me there!"

"With pleasure! Can't wait to get out of this Zeus-forsaken snow!"
He blinked out, carrying Jack with Him.


_Chapter Twelve_
Piper cried out in pain as the Sorceress again tapped the helmet,
sending pain echoing through her skull, but her cry was drowned
out by her iron gag and another scream from Ororo. She didn't know
what was happening to her godmother, but Ororo had started
screaming some time after the Sorceress had released her from the
spell. Her yells had began coherent, but now they seemed to
Piper's ears to be the raving screams of a lunatic. Never would
Piper have imagined that Ororo's mind had gone back to the time
she had been a three year-old child, trapped and buried under
rubble with the bodies of her parents and their neighbors, nor
could Piper have known that Ororo had been frantically clawing at
the trap door until her fingers were beginning to dwindle to
naught but bloody stubs.

All Piper knew now was that she, the man she loved, her family,
and all their friends had been cast into a Hell the likes of which
she could never have imagined. She did not know what was happening
to Cole or any of her sisters. She did not even know if they were
still alive. Her hope had been drained away as the Sorceress had
slowly tortured her and the screams and howls she heard coming
from seemingly all directions had preyed upon her ears. Now, she
could no longer help just wanting it to be over.

The Sorceress turned the screw again, and Piper screamed once more
as her skull felt that it would explode. This time, the pain
surged into her eyes. Blood rushed into her vision, and her eyes
ached more fiercely than anything she'd ever before felt -- even
more so than when the raptors had clawed her eyes. At least then,
her blood loss had quickly rendered her unconscious, but now she
remained awake as her eyes popped out of her head and splattered
down her shattered jaw and neck.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabrielle could not seem to stop her tears even after Callisto
moved away from removing her last fingers. The blonde stood before
her, peering down at her and having a good laugh. Gabrielle didn't
know how long the laughter lasted nor did she take any notice of
when Callisto finally moved away to begin heating her next torture
weapon. She did, however, see what the bitch carried when she
returned to her vision.

Callisto toted the instrument by the bar that joined it together,
but it was the long, ghastly claws that caught Gabrielle's
attention. She stared at the things, wondering in terror where
they would go and what they would do to her. She was given her
answer when Callisto stopped beside her and caressed her right
breast. "I bet Xena's had fun playing with these," the blonde
sneered as she rubbed Gabrielle's nipple between her thumb and
forefinger. "Oh well. That's just one more little item you won't
have to entice her with."

Gabrielle's green eyes shot wide as the claws neared her breasts,
but then, suddenly, the dinner bell rang. Callisto pouted and
sighed. "Guess it'll have to wait." She raked the claws against
Gabrielle's breast, drawing blood, then dropped the instrument
onto her bare stomach and left.

Gabrielle sighed in relief that something had, at least, bought
her some time. "Xena, where are you?!" she whimpered in the
silence of the cabin.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donkey had watched and warred with himself the entire time that
Anamaria had been using the Spanish crusher to remove Will's
testicles. Now she dropped the instrument and pulled a knife from
her belt. He watched, and his eyes grew even wider as she held
Will's limp member in one hand and began cutting off small pieces.
She started at the tip, and he knew she would not stop until she
was done. He had to do something! Regardless of what happened to
himself, he *had* to do something!

Anamaria had been intently cutting off small pieces of Will's
sword, only about an inch at a time, when spit slammed across the
side of her face. She dropped her knife, whirled, and, even while
clawing at the spit with her fingernails, yelled at Donkey. "YOU
STUPID JACKASS! I *TOLD* YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU!"

"FINE! KILL ME THEN," Donkey spat bravely at her, "BUT I CAN'T
JUST STAND HERE AND WATCH YOU KILL MY BOY!"

"You're going to," she informed him. "I'm not going to kill you.
Not yet, any way." Leaving her knife and the crusher where they
had landed, she moved back to her table and picked up an iron gag.
It was usually used for humans, but she saw no reason why it
wouldn't work in the irritating, talking Donkey's case.

Donkey waited until Anamaria came close enough, then struck out
with his hooves. She managed to escape the front ones by jumping
back, but the hind ones caught her instead. They threw her so that
she landed face first on the floor. Anamaria growled as she shoved
herself back up, and her chocolate eyes blazed at Donkey.

"That's it!" she seethed. She turned and rolled quickly and,
before the animal could react, pulled her pistol and shot him four
times -- one for each leg she had not yet injured and the last for
the sword. Donkey screamed as each bullet hit its mark, but Will
was too far gone to notice.

"*Now*," she told him, "you give me any trouble, I'll shoot your
boy."

"You wanna torture him."

"I do," Anamaria admitted, "but I've already done a lot and what I
*really* want to do is to take Jack's little lover away from him.
Shooting him in the heart'll do the trick just as fine. Now hold
still." Donkey was in too much pain to fight her this time, and
after Anamaria had secured the gag, she returned to Will -- and
his sword which she continued slicing off like a butcher cutting
off links of sausage.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Darla and Drusilla had began working on getting rises out of
Angel and Connor instead of just hurting them, Crystal had ushered
Cordelia into Lorne's arms and had began to pace the cell. She did
not know how long her brother or his son could hold on nor did she
have any idea how much more of watching her lover being slowly
destroyed Cordelia could handle without revealing her love for
Angel. Her ice blue eyes moved to her babies where they huddled
together in one sweating, panting heap. They were all creatures of
cold climates, and she knew they could not withstand the heat for
long without her protection -- a protection she was unable to give
them as long as the collar blocked her powers.

To her surprise, Crystal came to realize that there was another
pacing the cell -- a purple dragon that belonged to Kitty Pryde
and was clearly hopping mad. She looked from the dragon back to
the Vampiresses and chewed on her bottom lip a moment while she
thought. When Darla and Dru slipped wooden rings out of their
pockets, forced them onto their prisoners' swords, and those
swords stood suddenly erect, Crystal knew she had no other choice.
She had to try something, *anything*, and she began to coo quietly
to the dragon.

Lockheed cocked his head as he listened. When she was done
explaining her idea, he hopped up and down excitedly. The bonds on
his wings kept him from being able to fly, so Crys, ignoring her
arm cuff's teeth biting even deeper into her arm, reached down to
him, picked him up, and put him on her shoulder. She moved over to
the bars and turned to look at Lorne. "Back up," she mouthed to
him.

His red horns drew down, and he frowned in confusion. What was she
going to do?

"Trust me," she mouthed to him, her desperate eyes pleading with
him, "please. For Angel."

He nodded and gently led Cordelia back. When they were safely out
of the way, Crys turned back around just as the Vampiresses were
hiking up their skirts. "HEY, BITCHES!" she yelled. "YEAH, YOU,
YOU UGLY WHORES!" Darla dismissed her and slipped her mouth over
Angel's steed, which brought an even louder sob from Cordy, but
Dru turned to look at the woman who had suddenly grown an acid
tongue.

"My, my," the Vampiress crooned, "another pretty, little blonde
with such a foul tongue, but this one's even prettier than the
last." She walked away from Connor and Zora to take a few steps
closer to the cell. She cocked her head to one side as she studied
Crys. "Her skin makes me think of snow. Do you remember snow,
Mommy?" she asked Darla. "I remember snow. I remember taking a
little girl in the snow and how her blood ran onto the ground and
mixed with the snow . . . "

"Why don't you come try to repeat the act, bitch?" Crystal
challenged, her ice blue eyes narrowed and flickering dangerously.

Drusilla drew closer to the cage. "I might . . . "

"Might?" Crys repeated sarcastically. "What? You don't have the
balls for it? Oh, what the heck am I talking about? Of course, you
don't. That's why you and the rest of your cowardly lot had to put
the collars on us to stop our powers, attack us when we didn't
even see you, and throw us in these cells like caged animals. You
don't have the guts for a *real* fight, because you know your
little ass would be staked in a heartbeat." She'd never used such
language before in all her life, but she knew she had to draw the
Vampiress closer and it was working.

"That's what you think, *dear*," Dru snarled. "In a *real* fight,
I'd slit your throat in an instant!" Her sharp fingernails reached
toward the bars.

Drusilla had just stepped close enough, and Crystal's hand shot
through the bars. Blood poured from her cuff as she grabbed the
Vampiress by the neck and slammed her against the bars. "*Crys!*"
Lorne cried. He dropped Cordelia without a further thought to the
Princess, but Kurt, who had been returned to the cell after Dru
had snacked on him, caught her before she could fall. Lorne had
started to run for Crys but froze as fire spewed from Lockheed's
mouth, engulfing the Vampiress' face.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vang roared as Clawdeen hit him again. He had seen Catra remove
poor Tom's toenails, eyes, and nose, and he knew he was bleeding
even more profusely than his old friend. He just didn't know how
long they could hold out -- or how much longer before they passed
into unconscious from blood loss.

Clawdeen struck his face and roared, demanding his attention. His
bleary eyes refocused on the pink lioness who had grown to be
twice his size. She roared again, and he roared in response --
refusing yet again to roll over and stick it out so that she could
take him.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drusilla fell back, screaming and beating at the flames with her
hands in a mad fit. Darla's teeth nipped Angel's sword as her
mouth left him; she then raced for a bucket of water that she'd
kept nearby in case some of the hot things they were playing with
got out of hand and doused her lover. "*_YOU!_*" Darla screamed,
throwing the bucket against the bars where Crystal stood. "*HOW
_DARE_ YOU! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU LITTLE BITCH!*"

"Will I?" Crystal asked, feigning surprise. "I'm not yours, just
like the little doctor said earlier. I belong to Judson now. Do
you *really* want to tick off the man who gave you the holy water
and probably has some left just in case one of you went over the
deep end?"

Darla seethed, and Lockheed could swear he saw real smoke
literally rising off of her. "We're going to get him and he'll
handle you if he doesn't let us do so, but you'll get yours!"

Crystal smiled as Darla, holding her crying partner close to her,
swept out of the holding area. Her plan had been a success, but as
soon as they were gone, her smile disappeared. She started to
collapse against the bars, but Lorne was there to catch her.

He picked up her hand and looked at the blood that was now oozing
without stopping from behind her arm cuff. His red eyes next moved
to the hand that had clutched Drusilla's throat, and he ached even
more as his gaze was met with her completely-burned hand. "Crys .
. . Why?" Why had she let this happen to herself?

"Lorne, please," Crystal pleaded, seeing the tears welling in his
eyes, "don't cry. I had to."

"But why?" he asked again.

"To buy them some time," she explained.

Angel shook his head where he hung against the wall. He couldn't
help being glad for the reprieve and had ached for one, but he
hadn't wanted it to come at the cost of his sister's well-being!
"Crys, you shouldn't have."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first and only time in his life, Autolycus was in the
middle of sex -- and hating every minute of it. The blonde bitch
rode him like a horse, her legs locked around him where he hung on
the wall. Her fingernails had left scratches all over his body,
and she had taken and taken while never giving. He had bit her
tongue once, but to his dismay, he'd discovered that she'd liked
it! Therefore, he'd hung like a limp dishrag ever since, letting
her have her way with him while praying to whatever God might care
to listen that it would be over soon.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Helvira had slowly worked her way up Jareth, crushing his feet,
legs, and knees. She knew he'd never be able to walk again and
must be in the most pain he'd ever felt, yet he still refused to
succumb to her and she could feel the sun beginning to set. "I'm
not going to waste all my time on you," she informed him. "The
sun's going to set soon, and when it does, Brendan'll be
untouchable so I'm going back to him but I'll return to you
shortly." She patted his cheek reassuringly, then drew her black
fingernails down his cheek, drawing blood.

She walked back to Brendan. She removed the necklace from around
his neck, placing it back on hers. She then withdrew a wooden ring
that was tied onto the sash of her dress and slid it onto
Brendan's steed. It brought the limp sword to life, and Prue
screamed as the bitch climbed onto her man. Even as Helvira sank
onto Brendan with a pleased sigh and ignored the screams and curse
words that were flung at her, her hands reached out to Wolf and
Wolverine who hung next to her chosen steed and began to caress
their swords. "You're next, boys," she promised them. Then, after
she was done with them for now, she'd go back to the irritating
King who simply refused to cave.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wesley had never been in such a terrible fix in his entire life!
Not only had the pretty woman taking him against his will turned
out to be a Demon, but she had continued changing while screwing
him! The thing that rode him now made him shudder, cringe, and try
to pull away once again as spikes exploded out of her red forehead
and horns snarled backwards protruded from the back of her skull.

"You're not going anywhere, lover," she growled at him from a
deep, unearthly voice. Her strong hands ripped the iron gag from
his mouth. She tossed it to the floor and slammed her mouth
against his. Her forked tongue dove even deeper, sliding against
his trembling tongue much as her body was against his steed.
Wesley tried to scream, but her mouth silenced him as easily as
the iron gag had.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crystal looked from Lorne to Angel and back to Lorne. She heard
soft footsteps against the wood and looked down to find her babies
looking up at her with tears in their eyes. She shook her head
slowly, her long, blonde hair shimmering down her back and began
to lift her voice in song.


"*When you first met me,
I didn't believe in hardly anything.
All I had left was survival,
Survival for my babies and I,
But then I met you.
I met you, and for the first time,
The first time in a *very* long time,
I had hope and a family.

I guess that's why now,
When our world is falling apart,
When there seems to be no hope,
I know there is.

They're not dead.
Don't think that for a second.
It'd take something much larger
To kill those we've left behind,
And they'll find a way.

They'll find a way to come for us,
And they will.
But until then . . .
We have to be strong.

We have to hold on
If we're going to break away
And live to see the sun another day.

We must do what we must
To help each other survive,
Stay strong, stay alive.

If we just stay strong and
Do what we have to to survive,
We'll hang on.
We'll make it, and we'll be here
When they get here to save the day.*"

Her lyrics confused Lorne even more, and he answered her in song.


"*I know they're not dead.
I know they'll come for us,
But I still don't get it.
You say we have to hold on,
We have to do what we can to survive,
But then why risk your life like that?*"

Crystal was about to answer Lorne when a new voice spoke up in
song, and startled eyes turned to look at none other than the
Princess. Her voice was shaky, but her words were true.


"*Don't be angry with her.
I understand.
We all know what those two . . . monsters want.
Who knows what they'll do after they get it?
She did what she could
To buy them some time,
To buy *us* some time,
So that we can hold on.*"

Crystal nodded, and the two women sang together.


"*If we just stay strong and
Do what we have to to survive,
We'll hang on.
We'll make it, and we'll be here
When they get here to save the day.*"
Cordelia sang on.


"*I remember when I was a little child,
I used to dream.
I had such big dreams,
But they were all killed.
Then*"

Her teary, hazel eyes turned to Angel.


"*I met you,
And you brought them all alive again.
I know you probably think
I don't think that highly of Captain Sparrow,
But I do and I know he'll come for us.

We just have to hold on,
Give him a chance to reach us,
And he'll save us . . . *"

Her words faded as a door opened and angry footsteps plowed down
into the shadowy depths of the hold . . .



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This just *isn't* working!" Enchantra cried in protest as she
pulled herself back up off of Cole. She put her hands on her
slender hips and stomped her foot in protest. Her lips poked out
so far that Dawson couldn't help thinking that some one could take
a long walk off of them as easily as they could a short pier.

Cole glared up at the blonde bitch who had been kissing and
licking him all over his body and sucking upon his steed in her
desperate attempts to get him up. His member had almost betrayed
him a few times, but all it took was remembering Piper, wondering
what horrors were befalling his beloved, and the knowledge that he
would surely lose her love if he were to cave in to the whore to
make it dwindle right back down.

"Tell me about it!" Catra agreed. "I swear I've never met an idiot
more determined to stick to his stupid wedding oaths!"

"Vows," Tom told her with a grin. "They're wedding vows." Though
he hurt like Hell and could no longer see or smell, he was glad
and proud that his steed had not betrayed him.

"Whatever!" Catra snapped back at him.

"I don't know what you girls' problems are," Silver Fox commented
from where she rode her Chinese stallion.

"You're not having any trouble?" Rubella asked, surprised that one
of them was getting hers whereas the rest of them had not gotten
absolutely anywhere.

Silver Fox grinned. "China man China good!" Her lips met Chong's
again.

Rubella humphed. "I say it's time we break out the cock rings!"

The men looked at each other as best they could. Each puzzled
expression wore the same worried thought: What the heck was a cock
ring?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roxanne had fled from the galley shortly after arriving. She had
raced past Darla and Drusilla and was glad that she would not be
around for whatever those bitches were heading to fuss about, but
she was running at such a speed that she did not even notice the
burn marks on Drusilla's pale face. She did not cease running
until she reached her cabin, unlocked her door, slammed it shut,
and quickly locked it again.

Katrina looked up when the slamming of the door startled her. She
had been almost asleep due to exhaustion with her arms around
Celina. Morph was nestled into Celina's other side.

Roxanne's brown eyes turned toward her prisoners. Panic seemed to
touch the edges of her dark orbs, but her much calmer face only
showed determination. Her words spilled quickly from her lips.
"Elektra will be returning soon, and you'll want to hide these,"
she told the black catwoman as she tossed a package wrapped in
cloth and a key to her.

Katrina deftly caught the package and the key and then looked
questioningly at Roxanne. "What is this for, and what is it?"

"The key," Roxanne hurriedly replied as she began stripping, "is a
skeleton key. It will open your collars, but you want to wait
until your friends arrive for the same reasons we discussed
earlier. The other is food."

"Thank you," Katrina told her. "What is about to happen to you?"
She gently nudged both Morph and Celina, trying to wake them.

Morph had, for a change, been in a light sleep. His brown eyes
fluttered open, and he found himself looking at a woman who was
practically throwing her clothes off and to the floor over his
sister-in-law's shoulder. "What the heck?"

As soon as she was naked, Roxanne moved to her wall. Her
quick-thinking mind was still trying to make sure she had told
them everything she could when something else occurred to her.
"You can find pistols in the drawers of my desk," she told them
even as she began locking herself into chains that were on the
wall, "and . . . " She groaned against the pain that was beginning
to race through her body. "beware of . . . of the Priest. He can
take . . . any . . . form . . . "

"What are you," Katrina asked her, realizing that the woman was
about to morph into something, "and why do you care so much about
us?" She was thankful that the woman did care about them and was
trying to help them. She would do what she could to help her, as
well.

"I'm tired of . . . of seeing good people hurt . . . for . . . for
no reason . . . When you free . . . When you free your people,
please . . . there is one toward the back . . . caught in . . .
caught in f-fevers . . . If you could . . . could take her with .
. . with you . . . " Her words broke off into a scream of pain as
the change began.

Katrina had been about to ask if they could take her, as well,
when the change had began. Her eyes grew wide as, for the first
time, she realized, as the spotted fur began to appear on the
woman's body, that this woman, too, was a cat. {That explains so
much!} Katrina thought and watched helplessly as the woman
continued changing.

Morph also watched the changes take over the woman they now knew
to be a Werejaguar. Knowing that there was nothing he could do to
help, his brown eyes turned toward Katrina. "What did she tell
you?" he asked.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Helvira was in the throes of her ride, sliding herself up and down
Brendan's forced steed while her hands vigorously rubbed
Wolverine's and Wolf's when shocks suddenly ripped through
Brendan's and Wolf's bodies. They howled even as Helvira screamed
and was knocked backwards off of Brendan. Her black eyes glared up
at the Werewolves. She'd been so lost in enjoying her men that
she'd forgotten about the full moon, and it had just finished
rising into the night sky. "You'll pay for that, you bastard!" she
hissed as she jumped to her feet.

Brendan stared at her incredulously. He was about to ask her just
what he would pay for when he was not responsible for the collar
that had shocked them when her fingernails stuck into the flesh
above his ribs. Fire shot through him, and he howled. Helvira
managed to snatch her hands away just as another shock ran through
his body. "Well, it looks like it's back to you," she told Jareth
as she began walking toward the end of her line.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"*There!*" Darla seethed angrily, pointing Crystal out. "There's
the little bitch who used the damn dragon to burn Dru!"

Judson's eyes calmly met Crystal's, who returned his gaze and
tried to quiet her frantically beating heart. "Who speaks for the
dragon?"

Though she knew Lockheed was Kitty's pet, Crys held her chin high.
"I do," she spoke firmly.

"And who was singing?"

"I was."

Lorne knew that Darla and Dru knew he'd had nothing to do with the
attack and thus he was unable to share her burden on that, but he
would not let her shoulder the punishment for singing alone. "And
I," he added.

"Lorne!" Crys protested, her ice blue eyes cutting back at him.

"We do what we have to, sweetheart," he reminded her.

"And I."

The voice came from behind Lorne and Crystal and set Angel to
struggling again. "Cordy, *no*!!" Whereas Crystal and Lorne might
stand a chance, no matter how slim, of surviving whatever
punishment they had planned, he knew his beloved Princess would
not.

"I would have thought better of you, Princess," Judson told her.
He then turned to the Captain who stood beside him. "I need two
spiked punishment collars, *if* the green Demon's captor does not
object?"

"Not at all," Lilah assured him.

"Kalena, fetch the collars," Callisto called out. Kalena nodded
and walked off to do her Captain's bidding.

"And . . . ?" Callisto prompted, looking back at Judson.

"Two volunteers to take Miss Frost," he smiled devilishly at
Crystal, "to the wheel."

Lorne gasped and shivered for his love. He did *not* like the
sound of that!

Crystal forced herself to remain calm. She gently lowered Lockheed
and sat him beside Blue. She then stood, waiting and still trying
to slow her heartbeat and hide her fear.

"Darla, Elektra, help him," the Captain commanded.

"With pleasure," Darla snarled. Elektra opened the cell's door,
and Darla snatched Crys away from Lorne's arms which had just
encircled her again in hopes of somehow miraculously protecting
his beloved. He watched with tears in his eyes as they led her
away. Elvira howled, Cindy roared, and Blue screeched. Cordelia
moved quietly up beside Lorne and placed a compassionate hand on
his shoulder even as she fought against her own tears.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rubella's plan on the cock rings had worked well for Catra and
Enchantra, but just as they were getting set to mount their
prisoners, Rubella cried out. "It's not working!"

The other three women looked up at her, each wearing the same
puzzled expression. "*What!?!*"

"It's not working!" Rubella repeated. "I've never seen anything
like this, but it's not working!"

Enchantra, being the closest, was the first to move to
investigate. Her fingers slid along Clark's sword as she checked
that the ring was secure, and her mouth opened in surprise. "She's
right!"

"What?" Silver Fox asked.

"There's no way it can't be working!" Catra exclaimed.

"But it isn't!" Rubella exclaimed.

"Come look for yourselves!" Enchantra urged.

What happened next was a scene straight out of Clark's teenage
nightmares as four lovely women converged upon him. Each checked
the ring the first had shoved down onto his steed, and each found
that it was secure. "Maybe you're doing something wrong," Silver
Fox suggested.

"Like what?" Rubella demanded.

"I don't know," the Indian admitted.

"Let's see if we can figure it out," Enchantra said.

They began to kiss, lick, and suckle Clark, and their mouths did
not leave a single area untouched.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It did not take Kalena long to return to Callisto's side for she
knew any slowness would bring her loyalty into question. She
handed the heavy collars, which weighed over eleven pounds each,
to her and stepped back. "Train your pistol on the blue Demon in
Priest's clothes, Lilah," Callisto commanded her First Mate.
Jocelyn held the door open for Callisto as she entered the cell,
and Lilah kept her pistol pointed on Kurt as commanded.

"Not that I should need to tell you," Callisto told the prisoners,
"but any one moves any way other than the way I want you to, and
his head gets blown straight off."

Angel fought even harder against his chains as Callisto approached
Lorne and Cordelia with the collars. He could tell they were very
heavy, but that was not the source behind the fear that clutched
at his heart. The fear came from the spikes that he could see
gleaming hungrily on both the outside and inside of the collars.

Cordy and Lorne had to force themselves to stand as statues,
knowing that the slightest wrong movement would mean Kurt's death,
as Callisto fastened the collars around their necks. "This will
teach you," she informed them, "to try to lift your spirits by
such silly tactics. Oh, and just so you know, your friends won't
be coming. You're ours to do with what we -- "

"They'll come," Lorne told her, his red eyes staring her down.
"They'll come, and they'll rescue us."

Callisto backhanded Lorne so hard that blood broke from his lips.
"Don't you *dare* backtalk me, Demon!"

Cordelia gasped, and her hands reached out to check the damage
made to her friend even as Callisto turned her back on them and
walked out. She did not pause as Jocelyn shut the door behind her
but merely continued on her way back to her prisoner.

The other Piratesses left quickly, as well, and Angel found
himself facing Drusilla. "Looks like it's just me and you now,
Daddy," Dru told him, a name that made Cordy's eyes shoot wide in
shock, as she retrieved the iron bar from the brazier and swung it
low . . . "I don't like being burned, Daddy," Dru crooned. "I
don't think you like it either." Angel could not stop the scream
that split from his mouth as the bar touched his sword.

Neither took notice of the shocks that were ripping through Zora's
body, but Connor did. "Stop," he pleaded with her in a frantic
whisper. "Stop trying to use your powers!"

"I'm . . . " Another shock cut off her words. "I'm not!" she
gasped. "It's the -- " Her words broke into a scream as yet
another shock exploded through her.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It still isn't working," Rubella complained a while after she had
been joined in her efforts on her prisoner by Catra, Enchantra,
and Silver Fox.

Catra's green eyes lifted up from Clark's thighs, and for the
first time, she noticed the necklace around Rubella's neck.
"What's that?"

"It's a necklace I traded for a few ports back," Rubella told her.
"It's a rare stone called kryptonite."

"Why is it glowing?" Silver Fox questioned.

"I don't know." Rubella shrugged, her brow creasing in confusion.
She'd been too busy with her prisoner to notice it before, but now
that she did, it was starting to worry her.

"Has it ever done that before?" Enchantra asked.

"Glowed?" The blonde nodded, and the black woman shook her head.
"No."

"Maybe it's affecting him some how," the First Mate, Enchantra,
suggested.

"How can we tell?" Jade queried.

"Try holding it closer to him," Enchantra instructed Rubella. "See
how he reacts."

Rubella held the glowing, green rock closer to her prisoner. Clark
pulled away from the thing that was somehow making him feel so
weak, but she simply brought it closer still. His skin drew tight
against his bones, and his veins throbbed. The women gasped at the
sight. Rubella drew the rock against Clark's chest, and he
screamed in agony.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're either stupid or brave *and* stupid," Elektra commented as
Crystal allowed herself to be drug toward the wheel without
fighting.

Crys had never seen such an instrument in all her life, but she
had known that stopping Darla and Dru from raping Angel and Connor
would come with punishment and was determined to keep her head
high as she'd paid the price she'd asked for. After all, if she
had a second chance, she'd still do it and anything else she could
think of to help delay the evitable from reaching her family.

Judson watched as Darla and Elektra strategically arranged the
wooden timbers underneath Crystal's body. They staked her to the
wheel, and the three of them converged upon her at once, smashing
her limbs with the iron edges of the wheel until every bone was
sufficiently broken.

Crystal had been fighting to keep from screaming the entire time,
and blood trickled from her tongue where she'd been biting herself
to keep silent. As they continued breaking her bones, however, she
found that she could no longer remain silent. Her scream brought a
smile to Judson's lips -- and made him recall who was waiting for
him in his cabin. "Tell you what, Darla. She used the dragon to
burn your lover, so why don't you do whatever you want with her?
Just *don't* kill her, but do anything else."

Darla's eyes met his, and Elektra shuddered inwardly at the evil
smile the two shared. Darla set back to breaking Crystal's limbs
as Judson walked away and Elektra slipped off, still shivering
inside. When Darla had finished breaking Crys' bones, she began to
braid them into the wheel's spokes.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We were lucky," Rachel observed, her own words shocking her, as
she and Elizabeth stood alone in the galley.

"*Lucky?!*" Elizabeth gasped out in disbelief.

Ray nodded. "Whatever happened down in the hold distracted them.
They forgot to whip us."

It was then that Harriet appeared, flanked by two other women. She
held a whip in her hand, and Rachel sighed. "Damn."

"What?" Elizabeth asked. Her eyes followed the redhead's gaze, and
her mouth fell open and her face paled. "But -- But -- But I
thought th-they liked the food!"

Rachel shook her head. "They never like anything."

"Hold them still one at a time," Harriet commanded. "They think
they can call that food! Please! I was cooking better when I was
barely out of diapers!"

Rachel knew the fat, old woman's words were a lie, but she dared
not call her on them. She stepped before Elizabeth, volunteering
to be first so that she might delay the new girl's punishment a
little.

Harriet shook her head, knowing exactly what Ray was trying to do.
"The blonde first," she commanded.

Before Elizabeth even knew what had happened, she had been
snatched. The whip cracked over her head. She tensed and scrunched
her eyes tightly shut. She screamed and Rachel winced as the whip
hit her back again and again.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith could not stop trembling after seeing her own mother making
love to her and Snow, the one friend she'd ever had before signing
up to the Black Pearl, demanding why she had killed and ate him.
She did not know what Judson would do to her next, but she knew he
knew how to push her buttons and that she'd best expect anything.
Still, she wondered, having thrown her mother and Snow at her,
what else did he have left? She shuddered; she didn't really want
to know.

Of all the things Faith could have expected, none was what entered
the room next. Her mouth fell open, and she stared at the blonde
man before her in complete shock. His blue eyes returned her
stare, but his eyes and face were completely devoid of any
emotion. Tears sprang to Faith's eyes. "D-D-Dawson?"

"Faith."

His response was cold, and she stared at him in even more
surprise. "D-D-Dawson, w-w-wh-what's g-going on?" Chills swept
through her prone body, and her heart felt dead in her chest as he
moved further into the room and she saw what he gripped in his
hand. It was a whip with a wooden handle carved with indentations
to grant its user a better grip and three chains of seven links
each. "Dawson, what the Hell -- ?!" The words came out in a
panicked rush and froze in her mouth as she saw Lilah enter the
room behind him and lock the door again.

Lilah smiled coldly at her. "Judson sends his regards. He had to
get a bath after what you did to him." She shook her head. "Stupid
man bothering to try to be clean."

"D-Dawson?" His name escaped her mouth in a weak whisper. All the
color had drained from her face.

"I'm sorry, Faith," he told her, his voice sounding strange and
flat. "I have to do this."

"W-Why?!" she cried, tears running down her face. "I-I thought you
loved me?!"

"So did I," he replied with a shrug, "but I realized I loved
living more, and it was either do what they wanted or die." He
grinned. "What kind of an idiot chooses death?"

Lilah smiled at the boy's words and moved toward the table. She
hit a button underneath, and Faith found herself released from her
chains, thrown upwards at such a point that her body flipped,
landed on her stomach, and rechained before she could even move a
muscle! "D-D-D-Dawson, please, don't! I . . . " How could she tell
the man who now held a whip above her naked back that she loved
him? How *could* she love him?!

Tears began racing down Faith's face even before Dawson laid the
whip against her back. She screamed as he whipped her, no longer
caring how she appeared, and her screams grew as the whip lashed
into old, tender spots in her back -- spots that Judson had first
torn open many years ago. Her tears increased in speed and number,
and this time, they did not stop.


_Chapter Thirteen_
Traveling faster than the speed of light, Strife arrived aboard
Destiny's Ghost. He fell to the deck in a tumble with the blue boy
He'd just brought. He still wondered why Unc had sent Him after a
blue boy. He didn't recognize the kid for who he was.

Though he had tumbled with Strife, Jack Frost was back in the air
in a split second. He completely dismissed the buffoon of a God
he'd had to travel with while looking around for Jack Sparrow. He
didn't see the Pirate Captain anywhere, but his eyes did fall upon
the most lovely woman he'd ever seen. He knew She could be no mere
mortal.

Strife shook His head and blinked back to His Uncle's throne room.
Grinning from ear to ear, He brushed His hands together. Ares
turned a wary eye upon Him, surprised that Strife had already
taken care of the problem. "You're back already?" He asked in
disbelief.

"Yes, Unc. Wasn't any problem once I found the blue boy!"

"What did You do with him," Ares asked, "and what do you mean it
wasn't any problem? I know You're not good at battle."

Strife looked at Him in confusion. "I took him straight to
Destiny's Ghost, and then I came here to You to let You know that
I did what You commanded."

"You *_WHAT_*?!" Ares roared. "You didn't stay for the battle?!"

"Huh . . . No?" Strife answered Him in a very low voice. "I
thought all I had to do was get the blue boy!"

Within two steps, Ares had Him by the ear and pulled Him up from
the floor where He was groveling. "There is about to be one Hell
of a battle, and if You're ever going to become My
second-in-command, You need to learn how to conduct a battle! You
were supposed to deliver the blue boy and then conduct the battle!
After all, it was You and Discord who screwed everything up! I am
taking You back in person to make sure that You do get there! You
better not mess this up! Aphrodite's people had best win or else I
might just decide to have boiled God for dinner!"

Strife shook in His boots. "Sorry, Unc! I thought that's what you
wanted -- for Me to deliver the blue boy! Who is he any way?"

Without bothering to answer, Ares ported.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the answer came from the blue boy's mouth himself.
"Jack Frost."

"I know who You are, and You don't have to bow down to Me. At
least, not right now," Aphrodite grinned and wrinkled Her nose.

Jack was about to answer the Golden Goddess when two other Gods
suddenly appeared in Their midst.

Ares threw Strife to the deck at Aphrodite's feet. "Sorry, Sis!"
He tried to smile at Her. He could tell that She was still piping
hot angry as it rolled off of Her in waves. "I should have known
Strife was going to screw everything up! That's why I brought Him
Myself!" His voice trailed off as His eyes looked straight into
Aphrodite's. He wanted Her so badly He could taste it.

Though His look made Her blood boil, She refused to give into Her
lust for there were far too many greater matters at hand. "Just
what do You expect Strife to do?" She questioned Him. "He brought
Jack all right, but do You honestly think," She continued, placing
one hand on Her hip, "He could even win a fight against a fly?"

"Probably not even with a wet papersack," Ares grinned at Her.
"That's why I'm staying to make sure this is done right. He's
gotta learn sometime. If Discord returns before He's ready, She's
liable to take Him out like that." He clicked His fingers
together. "What better teacher than Me?" He asked Her.

"Depends on who's teaching who what," She replied. She ran her
tongue over Her lips and grinned enticingly, wanting Her brother
to know just what He couldn't lay His hands on. She was surprised
He was staying but wasn't about to admit so out loud.

"Just how did You manage to pull the wool over dear old Dad's
eyes, or does He know what You're doing?" His eyes could not help
but to steal up and down Her body again, taking in Her black
leather and wanting to rub up against Her body. When She licked
Her tongue out and ran it over Her lips, it was almost more than
He could handle!

Aphrodite flipped Her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and let
its golden cascades shimmer down Her barely-clad back. "Daddy,"
She answered with a knowing smile, "decided to look the other
way."

"Lucky You! I wish He'd look the other way just once with Me! I
might could get a really good war going! You did something. Come
on now. Tell Me what You did." He could feel His palms sweating
and wanted to feel Her tongue licking Him instead of Her own lips.

Aphrodite slowly sashayed toward Ares, but She talked in a
seductive voice the entire time that She was closing the distance
between Them. "You know I'm His favorite, brother *darling*. It
really didn't take that much convincing." She ran a hand over His
chest. "But this had better stay just between Us. We don't need
the Others finding out." Her hand lifted to run along His beard.
"Understand?"

He pulled back away from Her and looked at Strife. "Do You
understand, Strife? That means You're supposed to keep Your big
mouth shut!"

"Yes, Unc," He said calmly and quietly. "Do you really think
Discord could kick My butt?" One could tell from the look on His
face that He had really been giving the matter some thought.

"A fly could whip Your butt, Strife. One word out of those lips
will be Your last."

"I promise, Unc! I won't say nothing!" His voice squeaked. Then
His eyes quickly averted from Ares and looked at the blue boy.
"*You're* Jack Frost?"

Ares sighed before catching Aphrodite's hand and bringing it to
His lips. He kissed it before releasing it. "I'm sorry, Sis, for
all this mess. What do You want Me to do about it? Are My hands
tied, or can I kick some honest-to-Zeus booty?" He would not speak
the other word in front of Her.

His kiss sent shivers racing down Her spine. Zeus, how She wanted
Him! But She had to play the game right if Her people were going
to win this one. Her right hand gestured to the outfit She wore.
"As You can tell, I'm going in, and I see no reason why You can't,
as well. We just have to be careful not to overstep that silly
rule of Daddy's, *but* since He's looking the other way, I guess
You could have some . . . " She winked as She spoke the next word.
" . . . *fore*-fun."

He grinned mischievously, looking for all the world like an
innocent boy. "Sounds like fun. I can't wait." He gave Her a look,
letting Her know that She was what He couldn't wait for. "Where
are the others?" He asked. "Don't we need to get a battle plan
going?"

Aphrodite was about to rub Her body against Ares' and answer both
his questions and comments when a familiar voice met Her ears.

Xena had been coming back to let Ditey know that every one was now
armed and ready, but there was too much activity surrounding her
friend and she could not believe her eyes when she saw Ares. It
seemed that Aphrodite was holding Her own with Him, but His
appearance could only mean one thing -- trouble! She snuck up
behind Him and pointed her sword straight at His back. "What are
You doing here?" she demanded.

"Me?" Ares asked and turned around slowly to face her. "Why, I'm
part of the rescue party." He grinned at her. "And you can't do
anything about it, because She just granted Me permission!"

"*Ditey!*" Xena moaned. "He's not going to be anything but trouble!"

She heard another voice pipe up and turned to see Strife waving at
her. "I'm here too!" He said.

"Double trouble," Xena corrected herself.

"Xena, They're on our side," Aphrodite informed Her friend.
"Strife won't step out of line if He doesn't want Ares to eat Him,
and Ares won't do anything but help you and your friends as long
as He wants what He can only get by helping. Trust Me," she added
with a wrinkle of her nose, "He definitely wants it."

Xena didn't touch that one with a ten-foot pole, but she did look
at the unusual attire that Aphrodite was wearing. "Great-looking
outfit," she complemented Aphrodite, "except for one thing.
Where's Your sword?"

"Xena," Aphrodite replied as if the answer was obvious, "you know
I can't fight, but I can't not go with you either. I'll be there
to help free the others, but the fighting's up to the rest of
You." She laid a hand on Ares' bicep, letting Him know that She
fully included him in that.

"I'll help you fight," Ares told Xena with a smug grin, "and you
know where both of My swords are."

"Yes, and You'd better keep the other one covered!"

"That's for later tonight." He grinned at her.

"I don't want it!" Xena told Him.

"Didn't say it was you. I gave up on you a long time ago when you
and Gabrielle decided you didn't want anybody else. I could have
made both of you happy, but Aphrodite didn't decide it that way."

"You darn right I didn't decide it that way!" She had no intention
of Ares planting it anywhere else and had been working on Him for
a long time. After all, though married, Her husband was lame in
more than one way.

"Ladies," Ares nodded, "You can count on Me and *Strife*." He
stressed Strife's name. "You won't see Us, but We'll be there."

Xena eyed Him warily even as she heard the others beginning to
head in their direction.

Jack's pointy ears also perked to attention when he heard the
others approaching. They were talking about a battle plan and
something that an unfamiliar male could not believe his woman was
actually going to let him do, but he paid no attention to that as
he flitted straight to Captain Jack Sparrow. "Jack," Jack called,
"what in the world's going on?! Who's got Crys, and why, and why
are there so many Gods involved?!"

Jack looked at some one he'd thought he'd never see again and then
reached out and touched his shoulder. He shivered inwardly from
the coldness and withdrew his hand before saying, "Our people have
been taken, Jack, and we are going to get them back, but we can't
find them. We need you and your crystal to find Crys. I pray to
the Gods that we'll be in time. Our main God is a Goddess, and
that's the Female in black. That's Aphrodite. The other one, I'm
not sure who He is." He looked questioningly at Aphrodite.

"He's a friend," Aphrodite told them. Remembering Strife, She
added, "They both are, and They're going to help."

Jack could tell that Aphrodite didn't want to rat on Her fellow
Gods. He figured it might get Them into trouble with the Head God,
so instead of asking Her Their names, he turned back to Jack. "Do
you think you can locate Crys? If you can, we can get to them.
Gods are not allowed to help too much," he told Jack, "else They
get into trouble with the Head God." He had been very surprised to
see Aphrodite in black leather as he figured She was not a
fighter.

"Probably kinda like me pissing off the North Wind," Jack commented.

"Probably worse," Jack told him.

Jack Frost nodded, closed his eyes, and wrapped his hand around
the crystal that he, like his cousin, never took off. It only took
him a moment to track the crystal, but when he did, what he found
sent shivers racing through his icy body. "That's . . . not . . .
my . . . "

"No," Aphrodite gently told him, "that's not Crystal who you
sense, Jack. It's . . . another being."

"Whoever she is, she's a bloody evil -- "

Aphrodite nodded. "Her name is Helvira."

Jack's eyes flew open even as he exclaimed, "Crap!" He saw
Aphrodite nod in understanding agreement, but his attention moved
back to Jack Sparrow. "I can sense their location, but without
Crys at the other end of the crystal, I can't actually get the
area."

"We can do it from that," Delvira spoke up. "We just need a
telepath."

"Where's Willow?" Kyna asked, her almond eyes glancing around in
search of the redhead.

"You needed me, Captain?" Willow asked from her place behind the
group. She and Kennedy had just managed to get back with the group
and was wondering what was going on.

"Willow," Kyna stepped to the side and gestured the redhead
forward, "you already know Delvira." She motioned to the Vampiress
who Willow had first met years before. "This is Jack Frost. I need
you to use your telepathy to help them connect their minds. Jack
can give us the location through thought, but he does not know the
actual area."

Willow nodded. She had met Delvira many years before and was glad
to be able to do something to help her, because the last time
they'd met, Delvira had helped her. "Let's sit down, and let me
hold one of each of your hands." She took a place on the deck in a
lotus position.

Jack and Delvira sat in similar positions, but Jack hovered about
an inch off of the deck. Each reached out a hand and took
Willow's.

Willow began to hum even as she concentrated on what Jack Frost
was sending her. She shivered as she picked up the evilness that
surrounded what Jack was feeding her. She passed it straight on to
Delvira, hoping to push it off from her system because she could
not believe how much powerful evil was coming off of it and did
not want it to effect the way she acted later in the battle.

When the transmission was complete, Delvira's black eyes reopened.
Her skin seemed to have turned to an even paler shade, and she
looked at the others around them with worried eyes before finally
turning her gaze on Aphrodite. "You know my sister is Helvira."

Willow's eyes flashed open and looked at Delvira. "*That* evil
thing is *your sister*?!"

Delvira nodded solemnly. "She looks exactly like Elvira and myself
and can pass for either of us as easily as we can pass for one
another."

Aphrodite stepped closer to the group, Her hand leaving Ares'
bicep as She swept forward. "You are concerned that she will trick
the others?" At Delvira's nod, Aphrodite replied, "All you need is
a password. You will also need it against Judson," She reminded
the gathered group, "for he can take any form." She closed Her
eyes, and Her mind reached out to the people and animals aboard
both Destiny's Ghost and the Frolicking Monkey. {{{Remember this
word,}}} she thought to them, her words sounding in their minds in
their own native tongues, {{{and ask for it any time you come in
contact with one who appears to be your own but may not be.
Remember this word and hold it close to your hearts: }}} A
mischievous grin flicked over Her face. {{{Rutabaga.}}}

Ares almost burst out laughing. He'd heard that word before, and
it had had nothing to do with food! He covered His mouth to keep
from laughing. "What do they do if some one asks or even tries to
probe their minds for the word?" He looked at Aphrodite, wondering
how She managed to keep such a straight face.

Aphrodite was glad for Ares' question as it made Her think. She
kept Her eyes closed as She again reached to their minds, placing
a spell of protection on each. {{{No one will be able to probe
Your minds. If the person should ask, tell them that you will say
it together on three, but when the third comes, hold your tongue
and let them speak first. Should they not say the correct word,
you will know they are not one of you, and at that point, you need
do your best to . . . do what must be done.}}}

"Can we find the direction now?" Xena asked, peering anxiously at
the threesome, after Aphrodite's eyes opened.

Delvira nodded solemnly. "Yes." Her eyes lifted to Aphrodite and
the two who stood not too far behind Her. She could sense that
They were also Gods. "May the Gods have mercy on our souls and
those we go after." She spoke those words even as she stood. "Do
we have a flier?" she asked the Captains.

"That would be me, shugah." Rogue came forward. "What do ya want
me ta do?"

Delvira's black eyes turned to meet the woman's green eyes. "Fly
me to the front of the Frolicking Monkey."

"No problem. Are we ready ta go now?"

"Yes."

Rogue scooped her up and flew to the front of the Frolicking
Monkey. Spike headed for the wheel of Destiny's Ghost and looked
skyward. He could see the two and was eager to get started, but
just as his hands went to grip the wheel, all Hell broke loose on
the Frolicking Monkey. Spike's eyes went straight to Ace. What had
he unleashed upon them now?!

Jack looked at Kat. "That can't be Clyde!"

"It's nae," Kat called back an answer to him for she had already
broken into a run. She recognized the voices who were crying for
help and roaring with anger, but the others she did not. Grabbing
a rope, she swung and returned to running even before her booted
feet hit the deck.

Ace swung over, following in hot pursuit with Kat. What had
attacked their family?! He had been surprised that she had agreed
earlier to let him be the first line of contact! Now what in Gods'
names had attacked his family?! He ran so fast that he passed Kat.

Jack had found a harness for his twin swords and was no longer
holding them; instead, they were crossed on his back. He grabbed a
rope and sailed over. His booted feet carried him quickly behind
Ace and Kat. Somewhere on that ship, he knew there was a little
monkey in trouble, and as much as he didn't usually like the
little pests, he had come to like and respect Clyde. He had been
surprised at the attackers. The orange bobbing things he had seen
earlier and knew belonged to Delvira and Jareth were surrounding
Kat and Ace! He knew he didn't have any control over them and
looked skyward immediately.

Ace's mouth was open, and he was talking desperately to his
family, trying to quiet them as the strange, orange, bobbing
things continued to circle and talk things that Ace couldn't
figure what they had to do with the time and place that was going
on. "What are you things doing aboard our ship, and what do you
want?" he called out to them even as Clyde climbed on top of his
head and wrapped his body around Ace's forehead.

The one-eyed cat who'd quickly climbed to Kat's shoulder when Ace
and she had arrived upon the scene mewed, and the redhead's
emerald eyes flashed. "What in the Hell di ye mean they wanted tae
-- ?!"

The creatures that circled them broke off her words, however, as
they answered Ace. "Aw, come on, man! We just wanna party!"

"Yeah! Take off your head, so we can play with it!"

Kat's eyes blazed. "Nae one's takin' off any o' our heads!" The
head of the Fiery who had spoken erupted into a blazing fireball.

Jack returned his attention to the small gathering just in time to
see one of the heads exploding. "There's no need to kill all of
them," he told Kat. "They don't really mean harm. They're just a
little crazy. Their heads come off, so they think everybody's do.
They belong to Delvira."

"Then she'd better get her Vamp ass down here if'n she wants the
bloody things!" She pointed a finger at one who was advancing on a
crocodile and ignored the yelp she heard behind her. "Ye take one
step closer tae him, an' ye'll gi up like yer brother did!"

James was having a hard time standing still. He had followed Jack,
eager to have a chance to fight, only to see a crocodile in the
circle of animals. If it took one look at him, it would eat him!
He was about to freak out completely when he felt a hand on his
shoulder and turned to see Xena. "That one won't eat you, James.
He's actually friendly."

James looked at her with fright in his eyes. "Another one just
like him ate my hand! Pan fed it to him!"

"Well, Pan's not here, and you can take my word. That one won't
hurt ya." She had already sheathed her sword and now looked at the
orange things hovering around the group and looking like a bunch
of balloons about to explode. "Your Mistress is up there," Xena
pointed where they could all plainly see Delvira opening a portal
and Rogue still carrying her. "We are about to go to battle.
There's no time for partying."

"What's the battle jive, man?" one of the Fieries asked.

"The battle jive is that we're going to kick some Pirate ass."

"But you're Pirates!"

"Yeah! That mean we get to kick your ass?"

"If you do, Delvira's not going to be very happy. Do any of the
rest of you want your heads burned up?"

"Ye din't have tae wait fer her, either," Kat warned them in a low
growl. Flames danced from each of her fingernails.

"Huh . . . "

"Hum . . . "

"Uh . . . "

"No?"

"Get your butts over to the other ship right now!" Xena commanded
them. "She left me in charge of all you ugly things! She doesn't
even know you're down here, and I wouldn't want to interrupt her
right now if I were you!"

"Why not?"

"Yeah, and where's the King?"

"The King is in terrible peril. We are going to rescue him and a
lot of other good Pirates."

"Your homies?" one asked.

"We kinda noticed you been a few short."

"Lot actually."

"Yeah," yet another agreed. "Like, where's your piece?"

Jack broke out laughing. Despite the peril and the sadness, these
idiots were never going to change! "We're going to have a party on
the other ships when we get there," Jack told them. "That's where
our pieces are, and you'd better hang on to your pieces 'cause
you're going to need them!"

"But we can't hang on to them all!" one cried out in protest. He
had managed to roll his body into a jumbled ball of arms, legs,
and other parts as he'd tried clamping all his parts together.

"*Gods, what idiots!*" Jack proclaimed. "Get over to the other
ship before we go through the portal!"

"Portal?"

"What's that?"

"That something to eat?"

"Or drink?"

"Or dance to?"

"Or maybe play?"

"Don't matter what it is!" Xena told them. "*Move it!*" She pulled
her sword. "_*Now!*_ Or I'll just let Kat loose *and* call
Delvira."

The Fieries yelped at that warning and, at last, took off like
scalded dogs for Destiny's Ghost.

"Didn't even know they were aboard," Xena told Kat. "I'm sorry for
any problems that they've caused."

Kat relaxed as best she could, withdrawing the fire and raising a
hand up to scratch the black patch over Captain's empty eye
socket. "Jest make sure they din't get back o'er here, 'cause if'n
they try tae take our babies' heads again, I'll take theirs."

Xena's eyes flashed over the group of animals. She was not
surprised at the amount of them as she knew Kat and Ace had many
that they had saved, but she was surprised at the assortment. They
had everything living together despite the fact that most of them
were natural predators to each other. In fact, even a lion
sheltered a cowering lamb, and the crocodile's tail protected a
tiny kitten.

"They mean well," Xena told Kat, "but they don't have all their
marbles." She pushed James off of her as he was still clinging
desperately to her and his eyes had not left the croc. "We'll go
back over too. Looks like we're fixing to get to kicking ass real
quick like."

"Make sure yer pants are lose, luv," Kat told Ace even as she
headed for the wheel.

"I'm staying aboard here," Jack told Xena. "I think Lex is coming
with Elvira. We're the first line, so if you would, tell Willow to
come on over." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he
saw the redhead swinging over. Jack was surprised to see that
others that he had not suspected were coming. Delvira was supposed
to be aboard, but he had not thought that Matrix and AndrAla were
coming over yet they seemed to be sticking to Elvira.

{Damn!} he thought. {I still haven't had a chance to work with
Elvira! Maybe she should stay on the other ship?} He headed for
Elvira to try to reason with her and get her to go back to
Destiny's Ghost and then noticed that she was wearing starfish in
her hair just as AndrAla was always wearing. "Elvira? We haven't
had a chance to . . . train you for the fight. Maybe you should
stay on Destiny's Ghost as a second line of defense?"

AndrAla placed a gentle hand on Elvira's shoulder. She knew Jack
meant well and didn't want Elvira to blast into him. She figured
the woman probably had a temper a lot like her twin's. "That's
already been taken care of, Jack."

"It has?" he questioned her. "How's that?"

Matrix nodded even as he handed Elvira a belt with a gun already
in its holster. "It's set on silence," he told her. "Just remember
the dials."

"I will," Elvira assured him as she tightened the belt around her
slender waist and began buckling it. "I know you meant well, Jack,
but you were busy and had too much on your mind."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you, Elvira, but I think you had an
even better teacher than I would have been with the pistol. I'm
not very good with guns."

She nodded and tried to smile. "Tell you what. You can help me
with the sword later."

"I promise you I will. As soon as we get past the crisis that
we're in now." He smiled at her. "It's a good day, and I'm glad
that you can defend yourself. I don't plan to die on it, and I
don't want any of my friends and family to die on it."

Matrix's green face lifted in a rare smile. "We've been in worse
scraps than this one, Jack." His good eye caught Bishop running
toward them, and the two muscular men exchanged a nod. "I've got
to get to the cannons." He headed off even as Bishop swung to
Destiny's Ghost.

"It's time." The solemn voice came from behind Jack even as
Delvira's gaze took in her twin's new attire.

Jack raised a sword skyward. "May the Gods be with us on this day,
and may we regain our family and friends healthy and whole again!
May we kill every one of our enemies!" He lowered the sword and
replaced it into its sheathe even as he felt the Frolicking Monkey
surge forward through the portal and heard the two twins telling
each other they loved one another.


_Chapter Fourteen_
Ace watched eagerly as the Frolicking Monkey slipped quietly
through the water and came to rest beside the Saucy Wench. He
jumped nimbly to the railing, turned his rear to the bitches he
could see already on deck, dropped his pants, and began to talk
with his butt. "Hello, bitches! Care for a bit of partying? It's
time to P-A-R-T-Y! Why?"

As the ship had began to slide into place, Hansel had appeared
beside Kat. She'd quickly given him the wheel and ran to her
place. She listened as Ace gave his line, and then she jumped up
to the right side of her man. "'Cause yer the ugliest bitches tae
e'er sail the seven seas!" Flames shot from her clenched fists.

"And you have our people!" Delvira concluded as she appeared on
Ace's left side, fireballs also shooting from her pale fists.

Ace turned around, pistol holding in his hand, even as he pulled
his pants up. He looked for a target. He saw several bitches
running straight for them, took careful aim, and shot one right
through the forehead. "Got one!" he grinned and blew his pistol's
smoke away before aiming for another one.

"FREEZE," a voice thundered out, "OR I'LL SHOOT THIS ONE!" The
rescuers' eyes turned to see a redhead with her pistol pointed
directly at the heart of a prisoner they recognized to be Fred
Burkle.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the commotion caused by Ace, Kat, and Delvira had began,
Willow reached out, touched Jack, and teleported the both of them
into Anamaria's cabin. Jack and Willow stared at the scene before
them. Never had either seen so much blood. Their eyes did not even
take in the crumpled donkey against the wall but instead stared at
Will who they could see just beyond Anamaria, who still had her
back turned toward them. His member was completely gone, and his
testicles lay on an end corner of the bed like two deflated sacks.
Blood spilled from beneath him and ran down the sides of the bed.
A cruel instrument was in his mouth, and his jaw hung at a strange
angle as Anamaria extended the Pear even further into his mouth.

Anger hotter than any Jack had ever felt before flooded through
his veins. With an animalistic cry, he reached for both of his
swords. "ANAMARIA, YOU WHORE BITCH, LET GO OF HIM AND FACE ME! Get
to Will. Do what you can for him, Willow, and take care of
Donkey." Jack had now seen Donkey laying in the floor and was
afraid that he was dead. Blood was flowing out from his legs and
underneath his body.

At the sound of Jack's voice, Anamaria turned to face him. "Why,
Jack, honey, I thought you'd never come!"

"DEFEND YOURSELF, BITCH!" he bellowed even as he reached up and,
with one stroke of his right sword, cut one of her arms straight
off. Her high-pitched squeal only agitated him more. He didn't
want to let himself go as he had once before. After all, Will,
Willow, and Donkey were in there and he had not been able to stop
himself the last time, but now a screen of red was flashing before
his eyes. Though he fought against it, it took him completely
over, and he began to slash at Anamaria with his swords, each one
making contact and cutting another part of the bitch off.

At first, she had tried to defend herself, but now she was not
able to, and the man that his family might have been surprised to
see in the midst of battle was more a Demon than a man at this
point. He cut her into fine, tiny pieces so small that Wesley
couldn't have found one even with a magnifying glass.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as the ships had sailed through the portal and had began
to line up against the enemy ships, Aphrodite stopped trying to
figure out where Ares had gone, closed Her eyes, and again reached
out with Her mind. She could feel the pain that each of the
prisoners were in, and it tore Her heart to the point that She had
to stifle the cry that arose in Her throat. She touched each mind
that remained conscious enough to think. {{{We are here,}}} she
assured them. {{{We have come for you.}}}

{{{Just hold on and remember this word: rutabaga. Hold to that and
remember it even if it is the last thing you can remember. If one
of your people asks you for it, hold your tongue and wait, but if
you should meet one instead, ask them for the password. If they
give you the wrong password on the count of three, you will know
that it is not them. Defend yourself the best you can, and
remember that We are coming.}}}

She then reached out to the rescuers' minds. {{{Most of the
prisoners know the password now, but there are some who are too
far gone to acknowledge Me. If you should meet Gabrielle, Faith,
Angel, Emma, Ororo, Piper, Zora, Will, Donkey, Vang, Paige,
Brendan, Wolf, Jareth, Clark, Wesley, or Crystal, know that they
are greatly injured or lost, too far to even be able to walk on
their own.}}}

Her eyes reopened as She blinked, taking Herself to Roxanne's cabin.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam looked at LeBeau. He was trying to locate Paige, sensing her,
and when he finally found her, he grabbed LeBeau and orbed into
Belladonna's cabin. Once there, he released LeBeau and surveyed
the scene. He did not know what the bitch had done to his beloved
daughter, but he could feel that she was fading fast. He moved
forward to her even as LeBeau moved on Belladonna.

Paige was covered in sweat and orange and red spots. When he
reached out to touch her, she was so hot it was as though he
touched a red-hot fire. He closed his eyes and began to
concentrate on trying to heal his beloved daughter even as his
foot slipped in something and he looked down to see the blood all
over the floor. He immediately closed his eyes and began working
on Paige again.

Gambit had crept up behind Belladonna, who was too busy using
every inch of her body to sexually attack a mustached man chained
to the wall. His low voice was solemn as he spoke her name.
"Belladonna."

The voice of her ex-husband surprised and excited Belladonna so
much that she jumped off of her prisoner's steed and whirled to
face him. "Remy!" She smiled. "What a delight! What brought you
here -- ?"

"What you been doin', chere?"

"Huh . . . I . . . Hum . . . Well, I was just havin' a little fun!"

"Fun? Dat what you call what you did to Paige?"

"Oh, that! I just saved mon life by usin' -- "

But Remy was shaking his head sadly. "You know what, Bell? I don'
really care." He withdrew a packet of cards from a pocket on his
trench coat.

"Remy, what -- ?" Belladonna started to back up and slide across
the wall in hopes of somehow making a break for it.

Remy waited until she was far enough from the mustached man that
his life would no longer be in danger. Then his cold voice
informed her of a fact that had finally happened. "Sorry, chere.
Mon give a damn's busted." He flicked three cards at her in an
expert toss. One exploded into her breasts, but the other two
dropped lower into her groin. Gambit then turned his back on her
final scream and hurried to help the man.

Autolycus was speechless. He'd never seen anything like cards
exploding before! "Thank ya! Thank ya! Thank ya, mister!" he kept
repeating over and over again. "Is the girl gonna be all right?"

Remy's red eyes looked at Paige and Sam even as he draped one of
the mustached man's arms over his shoulders. "I hope so, mon ami.
I hope so."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith had cried out every time that Dawson's whip had met her
back, and she cried again even when it paused in mid-air above her
bloody back. "Damn it!" the boy exclaimed.

"What?" Lilah asked the same question that Faith would have
wondered had she been more coherent.

"Hit the other button," Dawson commanded. At Lilah's questioning
look, he nodded toward the door, indicating that they had trouble.
Lilah, comprehending his indication, hit the second button, and
they walked out even as Faith found herself flipping through the
air again. This time, however, the table flipped, as well, and
when she landed, countless spikes tore into her backside. Her
agonizing scream split the cabin's now-still air but could not be
heard outside.

Faith knew that her life was over and that she would never know
what had happened to the others or why Dawson had betrayed her.
She knew that there was no hope left for her and that she was
dying. What she did not realize, however, was that the spikes fed
her blood into tubes that ran into bottles attached to every inch
of the table. She also did not know that below the table lay an
inverted pentagram intricately drawn into the wood of the deck.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn stared in shock at the pistol pointed straight at Fred's
heart. She had believed that Jack and the others would somehow
come to rescue them, but she had never stopped to think that they
might be so easily defeated. Her thoughts were broken off,
however, when she saw their redheaded captive pulling her own
pistol.

Kalena reached out with both hands. With one, she pointed her gun
directly at her crew mate. The other tossed a key to Dawn that the
girl's trembling hands quickly caught. The redhead did not pay
attention to the brunette's confused glance but whispered quickly
to her. "Skeleton key. Use it to your best." Without a further
word of warning, she pulled the trigger.

Jocelyn barely had a chance to register the gunshot that came from
her target's direction, but her finger managed to pull the trigger
of her own gun even as Kalena's bullet blazed into her back.
Kalena shoved Fred out of the way with a yell, and the bullet hit
her own heart instead.

Fred was in total shock. She thought she was dead. She had fallen
when Kalena had pushed her, and now she raised up and looked at
the two Piratesses laying unmoving on the floor. Kalena had just
saved her life! She couldn't be dead! Fred crawled over to her and
touched her, but her eyes didn't open. She reached for her
heartbeat but didn't get one. "She's dead." Fred looked up at
Dawn. "Why'd she save us?"

Dawn shrugged. She didn't really know how to answer Fred. "I guess
she was one of the good Pirates, after all." She had not moved
toward the two even as the battle had erupted all around them for
she had been busy unlocking her bonds. Now she dropped them to the
floor and knelt beside Fred.

Fred trembled as Dawn began to unlock her bonds. "We gotta get out
o' here!" she said in a small voice.

"The others are here. We'll be okay now, Fred. I don't know where
Jack is, but Delvira was next to that man who talked with his
butt. He looked kind of familiar, but I didn't get a really good
shot at him. I think I know the redhead, too."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bishop had the Harlot in his sights, but he had not yet fired and
had also noticed that they had not. They seemed to still have the
element of surprise, and that was something he knew better than to
freely give up. As they watched the other ship, his dark eyes
caught sight of a struggle near the cannons. A Piratess had her
knife pressed against the throat of a brunette girl, but the girl
was shaking her head. The cat on Bishop's shoulder mewed, and
Bishop mused in agreeing thought even as he got to his feet.

He had long ago learned to read lips, and his well-trained eyes
were able to make out the dark-haired Callisto's words to the
girl. "If you won't shoot them, I'll go shoot your sister!"

"You won't have a chance to!" Phoebe threw back at her. "They'll
stop you!"

"Nobody's going to stop me from doing what I want to do,
landlubber!" Callisto snapped even as she sheathed her knife and
knocked the girl to the deck.

The punch granted Bishop the chance he'd been waiting for. He
pulled out his gun and, in the blink of an eye, had sent a bullet
soaring home in the bitch's chest. He then swung over for Phoebe.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Derek's heart had soared when he had realized that rescue was at
last at hand, but it had been the shouting of a voice he believed
to be his dear Hansel that had set him into motion. He had been
fighting the bitches off of himself with the mop, but the current
Piratess' sword was slicing through the mop's handle like the wood
it was.

Her onslaught caused Derek to stumble backwards, but he grinned
impishly when his leg brushed against something. While continuing
to use the mop's handle to block her advances, he reached even
further back with his foot and knocked the bucket. Water raced
over the deck. The Piratess struggled to keep her footing, but
when she fell, Derek used the handle to hit her across the head.
The combination of the hit and the fall knocked her out.

He leaned down to pick up her sword, but his arm cuff bit into him
even sharper. He could feel his own blood oozing down his arm, and
the hand of his free arm changed direction. Instead of picking up
her sword, he began to search her body in hopes of finding a key.
He found a ring of keys and began trying them to no avail.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katrina looked up in surprise as a beautiful woman dressed in
black appeared in the cabin with them. She recognized Her
immediately but couldn't believe that She was no longer in pink.

Elektra jumped to her feet from where she had been sitting next to
the table where her daughter lay and pointed her gun at the
stranger the very moment She appeared, but the blonde faced her
with a calm smile. "Put your gun away, Elektra Natchios. I am
Aphrodite, and these people," She gestured to where Katrina,
Celina, and Morph were still huddled together, "are your
daughter's friends."

Questions raced through Elektra's mind, but it was a protest that
left her lips. "I just can't -- "

It was then that screams broke out, and Kitty jumped to a sitting
position, her eyes rounded with shock. "Rachel?!"

"Yes, Katheryne," Aphrodite answered the brunette. "That is your
friend. She is in the galley." Her eyes returned to Elektra. "This
is your one chance, Elektra, to do right by your daughter. The
battle outside are her friends coming for her. Whose side are you
on?"

Katrina was using this time that their attention was drawn away
from her to unlock her collar. When she finished hers, she turned
to Morph and handed him the key to undo Celina. Morph's shaking
hands quickly worked on his wife's collar even as he prayed that
Roxanne's chains would hold the roaring Werejaguar and that
Aphrodite was not making a terrible mistake by talking with
Elektra.

Morph's prayers were soon answered, however, as Elektra got to her
feet and began unlocking Kitty's collar. Her eyes turned toward
the other prisoners, and she saw Morph undoing his wife's. She
looked at them in puzzlement. "If you already had a key, why did
you wait so long?"

"The time wasn't right," Katrina told her, not revealing from
whence the key had come, "but it is now. Our family needs us, and
we are going to them."

Elektra nodded. "Family should always come first." She dropped the
last of Kitty's bonds to the floor.

"Katrina," Aphrodite spoke, "Tom needs you. Celina, if you would,
I would appreciate it if you would help Xena in Callisto's cabin."

Celina nodded. She would have preferred to be with her family but
would go wherever the Goddess sent her.

"Katrina, I'm going with you," Morph spoke.

Katrina slipped out the door, heading for the other ship where she
knew somewhere aboard its dark confines lay her beloved Tom. She
only prayed that it was not too late to save him. Morph kept
directly behind Katrina even as Celina rushed in an opposite
direction and Elektra and Kitty headed together for the galley.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Willow had finally managed to figure out how the instrument
sticking in Will's mouth worked and carefully close it and
withdraw it from the man's mouth. She'd been about to start work
on the actual healing process when an instinct told her to look at
Jack.

Jack stood still, sniffing the air like a blind man, yet his
instincts told him there was some one else in the room with him.
He had tried desperately to shake the redness out of his eyes, but
he couldn't stop wanting to attack something. He could feel
somebody breathing in the room, and he swiped his sword straight
toward them.

Willow had watched Jack as he'd became aware of her and quickly
uttered a spell, taking the sword from his hand and flinging it
against the opposite wall though never touching it. "Jack, listen
to me." Her voice was calm, but her words were firm. "I've been
where you are before, but you killed her. Anamaria is dead. I'm
here. That donkey's here, and so is the man you love. Will Turner
is right here, Jack."

Jack shook his head several more times, and finally his vision
began to clear. With a cry of anguish, he raced to Will's head.
"What can I do, Willow?" he begged her to give him even one thing
to do to help.

Willow sighed in relief. "Welcome back, Jack. Undo his bonds while
I heal him." She placed her hands on the dying man's chest, closed
her eyes, and began to recite the spell that came to her as easily
as did her own name.

Jack slowly moved around Will's body, untying him. If the bitch
who had done this to him was not already dead, Jack could kill her
a thousand times over, and yet he knew that it would not ease the
pain in his heart. He had come so close to losing Will yet again,
and he didn't know what to do to protect him. If Will didn't make
it, Jack didn't want to live. As he finished untying the last
bond, he sat on the floor and began to pray.

Willow's eyes cracked open to see if the spell was working, though
her words never slowed. She felt squeamish as she watched the
man's member and testicles reattaching themselves, but still she
continued the spell.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aphrodite was in the process of making Her way steadily toward the
hold when She felt Jack's prayer well in Her heart and mind. She
closed Her eyes and saw him and the others in Anamaria's cabin.
She did not probe to find out what had happened to Anamaria for
She did not want to know the undoubtedly gruesome details.
{{{Jack,}}} She thought back to him, {{{Will will live, but Willow
will need your help. When his front is whole again, turn him
around, but . . . brace yourself.}}}

{{{I will, Oh Blessed Aphrodite,}}} Jack answered Her, {{{and
thank You for everything.}}} He got shakily to his feet, not
wanting to look at Will in the condition he was in. He waited for
Willow to finish.

Aphrodite kept Her attention on them as She, too, watched Willow
finish the healing process on the front of Will's body, but when
Jack had to turn him over, the pain that shot through Her little
Sparrow filled Her own heart. She cried out even as Her eyes
reopened and a blade sliced toward Her.

"Oh no, you don't!" Ares said as He rematerialized. "You don't
hurt *My* woman!" Two hands sneaked around the Piratess' throat
and choked the life out of her with a single squeeze. The dagger
clattered to the floor, and He blinked back out.

Aphrodite had barely recovered in enough time to see Ares come to
Her rescue, but His heroic deed had not gone unnoticed by the
Golden Goddess. In the midst of the chaos, She smiled and couldn't
even help giggling a little. She certainly had Him wrapped around
Her little finger -- at last!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike, Kyna, and their small group had been charging forward
through the throng of the enemy ever since Sean had set them onto
the deck. Their swords and guns had both been blazing at full
speed when Kyna suddenly came to a stop. "Oh Gods!" Her whispered
words of shock brought the others to look up, and Jack cried out
at the sight of his cousin hanging like a limp, bloody pretzel
with her limbs entwined in the spokes of a wheel.

Spike had seen such in the past but it never failed to turn his
gut, and now, for it to have been done to one of their own, it
really tore him up. "Can you do anything to help her, Kyna?" he
whispered. "We'll fight these bitches off of you and give you the
chance."

Kyna thought quickly. She could sense Darla's handiwork all over
the wheel and knew that there was no telling what was happening to
Angel and the others down in the hold even now. She shook her head
slowly. "William, Sean, go on for the hold. We'll deal with this."
She knew she need not ask Jack to stay. "Groo, will you cover us?"

Groo's blue eyes stole toward the hatch of the hold, and they knew
what he was thinking. Sean clasped Groo's bicep. "Din't worry, me
friend. I'll make sure that the Princess gets out o' there alive."

Groo nodded and lifted his sword again just in time to slice the
head off of another evil Piratess. "Go then, my friends." He
prayed that they would not be too late for his beloved Princess,
Sean's Em, and the rest or too late to save the blonde on the
wheel.

Spike continued on his way to the hold with one backward look at
Kyna. If he didn't make it back, he wanted her to be the last
vision he'd see. He stepped into the hold and waited for his eyes
to adjust to the even deeper darkness.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fonzie and Hansel had been spending a lot of time standing back to
back and fighting off the Piratesses. Their frantic eyes had swept
the crowd and the other people they saw on the deck, hoping to
spot Derek, but they had not been able to find him -- not until
angry shouts alerted them to a fight going on at another part of
the deck. Water had come rushing down, surrounding their feet and
rushing over the side of the ship. Their eyes followed the trail
of the water and came to rest on Derek, who was frantically trying
to unlock himself. They ran to their friend's side, quickly
killing any bitch who dared to approach.

Fonzie remained on guard while Hansel knelt down beside Derek,
taking the keys and trying each one on the lock. None of them
seemed to be working. "Fonz, they're not working!" Hansel told
him.

"Come and watch," Fonzie replied. "I'll get it open."

When Hansel tried to hand him the keys, Fonz refused to take them.
"Don't need them but keep them. We might need them for something
else." Fonz knelt down beside Derek. "Good to see you, my friend.
Now hold still." He reached into his pocket and took out a little,
sharp object that resembled a needle and popped it into the lock.

After a couple of jiggles, he was rewarded with the sound of the
lock popping open. Just as he was about to announce that the lock
was open, he heard Hansel slice off another head. "Where's all the
blood coming from?" he asked, looking at Derek's arm.

Derek had forced himself to be quiet out of fear that he might
admit something where Hansel could hear him that he knew would
cause him to lose him forever more. "The . . . The cuff," he
answered Fonzie. "It's laced with metal teeth to . . . to keep us
in line."

Fonz shook his head. "Damn! I don't have anything to use for a
bandage! Hold on a minute." He crawled over to where Hansel had
just lopped a bitch's head off and snatched her shirt off. Buttons
popped off, and he brought it back and made a bandage out of it.
"Can you walk?"

Hansel was tired of looking out. He wanted to get his hands on
Derek desperately! He now listened to see if Derek could walk. If
not, he'd carry him out of this Hellhole!

Derek nodded. "Thank you, Fonzie." His eyes turned toward Hansel
where his secret love had his back turned toward him. "Hansel . .
. " What could he say? I love you? I need you more than I need to
breathe? No, any of what he really wanted to say would simply make
Hansel run in the opposite direction. With a dejected sigh, he
spoke instead, "Thank you."

Hansel immediately turned around to look at Derek. Fonzie got up
and traded places with him. He thought they needed a minute to be
alone, and if the two boys didn't kiss, he was going to push them
on each other! He was tired of being caught up between their
angst.

Hansel reached down to Derek and, with a grin on his face, hauled
his friend up. He didn't know what to say, but he did know what to
do. The minute he had Derek on his feet, he pulled him toward him
and kissed him. Now let Derek raise Hell at him! The relief of his
being safe was just more than poor Hansel could handle!

Derek could scarcely believe it when Hansel's lips touched down
upon his and the sweet nectar he'd dreamed of for so long finally
poured into his mouth like golden honey. He returned the kiss in
full, drinking hungrily of his beloved's mouth. His good arm went
around Hansel even as his bad arm nestled into the safety of the
blonde's side.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joxer had seen Bishop kill the bitch who had Phoebe and then head
over to the ship. He just had to get to Phoebe! He scrambled madly
toward the rope, and when he'd finally gotten one, he attempted to
swing. His first attempt took him nowhere but back to the ship
that he was already on. {Damn!} he thought. {They all make it look
so easy, and I can't do it! I've got to get to my Phoebe!}

He tried one more big push-off, swinging out away from the ship
only to run straight dab into something that knocked him back onto
the ship. He fell to the deck with what felt like a mountain on
top of him. He couldn't say anything as the breath had been
knocked out of him. He looked up and opened his mouth but nothing
came out.

Bishop shook himself even as he got to his booted feet. "Damn,
man! I was bringing her right back!"

"Oh, Joxxy!" Phoebe cried as she flew into his arms and began
raining kisses over his face.

"Cat?" Bishop called. "Cat?" He was answered by a strangled mew
from underneath Joxer. The big, black man reached down, pulled
Phoebe off of Joxer, sat her to the side, pulled Joxer up, and
tossed him onto Phoebe. His dark eyes seemed to transfer to the
tears of a little boy, however, as he found his cat who now looked
more like a squashed pancake than anything else!

"What the Hell? Oh, poor cat!" Joxer quickly changed his words.
He, too, was worried about the cat. "Is he okay?"

Bishop knelt beside his little bundle of fur and reached out to
the orange tabby with caring hands that belied his size and
strength. "Cat? Cat? Cat, speak to me!"

The orange cat rolled over onto his back and peered up at Bishop
through slanted, green eyes. "Mrw?" Much like his owner, however,
he then quickly shook off his attack and jumped onto Bishop's
shoulder.

"Cat, you're all right!" Bishop's grin seemed bigger than the
ocean as he stroked the cat, and he purred in return.

Joxer looked up at Bishop. "Thanks, man, and I'm sure glad your
cat's all right!" He reached out an arm and pulled Phoebe to him.

"So am I, little man. I'd hate to have to kill you." He grabbed a
rope and swung back to the Harlot.

Phoebe had been about to get on to Bishop for his dare, but he was
gone before she could say anything. "Oh, Joxxy!" she cried again.
"You're all right!" Her lips found his once more.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Willow had finished healing Will and Jack had turned him back
around several minutes ago, but still the boy had not opened his
eyes. Both faces peered down into his in concern, but Willow
finally sighed as she hung her head. "I'm sorry, Jack. Aphrodite
said I could heal him, but . . . " She shook her head. "It doesn't
seem to have worked."

"Sometimes it takes a little time, Willow, for him to wake up.
This is the second time my poor darling has been through this kind
of thing. I almost lost him twice, and it took him a little while
to wake up the last time when Crys healed him. He's breathing
okay." Jack's hands had slowly felt every inch of Will. "His
heart's beating good."

Willow was about to answer Jack when she heard a low moan. Her
green eyes quickly turned back to Will's face even as his eyes
slowly fluttered open. "J-Jack . . . " his hoarse voice croaked.

"Will! You're alive!" Jack reached forward and hugged him. "Thank
the Goddess we made it in time!" He found himself drowning in
Will's eyes.

Willow was gazing at the pair in relief when she heard a low groan
from behind them. The redhead turned back to find the donkey
looking at her through eyes that were barely even cracked open.
"Me . . . now . . . please?"

"Donkey's alive!" Jack breathed thankfully even as Willow headed
over to heal him.

"Jack," Will asked, his weak voice barely a whisper, as he
caressed his lover's face, "what . . . what happened? I . . . I
knew you .

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