"..." = Speech
<...> = Thought
---
Finding where those rotten pirates were taking the "Steam Engine" uncle Mimic had warned her about should be easy enough.
"All I have to do is follow where those weird monsters were taking the rest of their stolen loot and I should be able to find that doomsday weapon in no time!" Her confidence was not hampered by the graveness of her uncle when he gave her that task. If anything she only seemed to smile brighter the harsher things got.
Following those pirates proved to be (surprisingly enough) rather the painless endeavour; they were neither particularly stealthy about their thievery nor observant enough to notice her. Though maybe it was her bright red & gold apparel that helped her blend in with the fire?
Nodding along with her silent thoughts - ever the optimist.
Shantae - Risky Boots Remix
What was even more convenient was their destination. As it turned out, they really had planned this entire raid out quite well, delivering their gains towards the very same dock that her uncle owned. One just a hop skip and a belly dance away from his workshop-cum-house where he had been storing the engine.
There was also a very familiar ship parked up at that very same dock. It was not very hard to guess it was a pirate ship from this close up - though looking at its flag made her pout while grumbling. "That flag is really cheating; aren't pirates meant to have a really obvious black one!"
Rather than possessing the usual black flag with a white set of skull & bones… This ship possessed a soft lilac, almost white, base with a set of skull & bones being slightly darker. Up close it was quite obviously a pastel pirate flag however at - lets say - cannon firing range… Not so much.
In fact, it would be impossible to differentiate it from a regular white flag at a distance.
"The captain of this ship must be dastardly!" Huffing as Shantae quickly danced her way up the side of the ship - fairly easy task given the unhealthy amount of cannons sticking out the ship - when a voice rang out just as she arrived on deck. "Of course; nothing less from the pirate queen!"
Sitting atop the back of the ship with a bright smile of her own, clothing surprisingly similar to Shantae's own if with a distinct pirate flare, her body was far more "explosive" though. Her chest proudly adorned the depiction of a skull. Though its eyes were purple and its scalp had been replaced with the thing everyone's brains got filled with when they saw her.
"Heard of the carpet matching the drapes but not the bosom matching the flag…" A huge pair of lovely light blue-ish purple cleavage filled in for where the skull's brain was supposed to have been.
Meanwhile she had flowing purple pants of exactly the exact same type of pants as Shantae even down to where they poofed out more. But instead of a waistband like Shantae she instead had the jaw of the skull cradling her glorious tatas. As if that skull was doing something everyone who saw her wanted to; eating that pirates booty.
The major differences came from below her knees (a section of her appearance few ever saw) as a pair of rather heavy duty boots sat on her bouncing feet. Kicking her foot to a rhythm not too dissimilar to a certain half-genie's own hips.
Even the monsters she had "trained" to fight didn't give her nearly half the feeling.
Though all she beat were some snakes the Sultana's knights had managed to capture.
"If you are quite done admiring mommy's body; I'll have to ask why a short itty bitty tittied half-genie runt is coming aboard my ship with all the undeserved confidence of an afterglow." That snapped Shantae out of her observations and finally got her to look up at the pirate's face. She most certainly was not a bad sight.
Her purple hair was tied up under a bandada just like those of her more monstrous looking minions - as such the length and such was impossible to tell. What was obvious was the massive purple & red pirate hat with the iconic symbol of piracy plastered front and center. Also a pair of strangely similar golden ear rings.
Once more; just like Shantae's own.
More importantly than that… She recognised that face on account of being plastered on the biggest posters printed by the royal palace of Sequin Land.
"Tricky Boobs- I mean Risky Boots!" The most dangerous pirate in the seven seas as well as the figure in every teenage boy's dreams and maybe even those of a certain half-genie. "I'm here to beat up your weird little monster cronies, retake the steam engine and stop your wicked plan!"
That piratess just raised an amused brow while purposefully pushing her chest out even more while an awkward silence spread between the two. A silence Shantae broke when she finally seemed to parse what Tricky had said. "Also I'm eighteen and my boobs are plenty big!"
Pointing her finger angrily while an angry blush covered from her cheeks to her shoulders.
"Indeed, it is I, Tricky Boobs in the flesh!" Throwing her arms out while clearing having the best time of her life much to Shantae's growing distress and most definitely not . "It's truly cute that you think you can stop mommy however let's not be rude about my adorable little obedient boys by calling them monster cronies."
Giving a chuckle as it sounded like something was being rolled into place behind her, soon enough one of those little bastards came into sight, Risky placing her hand atop his head to push it around. "These cute little fellas are my attempt at creating immortal life - sure they can die but even then I can just bring them back after they pop - with all the same memories."
Patting it on the back. "How many times have you died?" In response it lifted its clawed fingers to make a three before it continued pulling something towards the edge.
"Three deaths and this one is still lively as a breeding stallion… So how'd you plan to beat my endless immortal army of Tinkerbats, rookie?" Looking down on Shantae in all meanings of the phrase; a look of smug contempt said her feelings about the encounter completely. She had no worries in the world.
It was just then that her "boys" finished what they were dragging - resulting in a mortar sitting right beside the legendary pirate. Lackadaisical tilting her head towards those "Now mommy doesn't have all day so how about you boys spank this naughty little girl raw for mommy?"
"C-Can I say I don't consent?" Looking at the cannon with a slightly more forced smile.
Though that was just met with another chuckle. "Oh poor little genie… I've never needed consent~."
Putting a hand on her hat just as-
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
-all hell broke loose.
That artillery erupted thrice as Shantae attempted to follow the projectiles with her head - turning her head to follow the path of the projectiles. Quickly finding that those three iron balls were following the first law of projectiles. What comes up… Must come down.
"Shoot shoot shoot!" Gunning it away from the ship's cabin as she accidentally reaffirmed the orders for the tinkerbats firing at her. Those gigantic iron balls soon came crashing down on the deck of the ship. That alone was nearly enough to send the poor half-genie over the bow of the ship.
Vibration alone actually caused her feet to leave the ground; her hands quickly waving around with wide eyes focused on the choppy waves below. "WAAAAAH!"
In a bit of quick thinking she kicked the front of the ship to change her direction towards the wooden dock rather than the harsh waters below. Throwing herself against the wood. Not being one to rest on her laurels, as well as not wanting to get shot, she quickly scrambled back up to her feet.
*BANG*
Just in time as the wood splintered after a bullet whizzed past her face.
Looking up to see that one of those tinkerbats had pulled the ship's cannon aside to reach out of the window with a clockwork rifle in its mitts. Growling as she ran back to the ship to whip her hair forward while leaping up. Her aim would have sent her perfectly through that window and skewered the bastard.
Sadly the world was not a perfect one as she instead found herself splatting into hardwood after that bat slammed the thing shut. Following that the two present on her left & right open, out popping two more, rifles poking out with their next action needing no introduction. With the grace of a toddler Shantae threw herself off to the boat and back to the dock by literally pushing herself off the wood she splatted against.
Of course the fabled pirate queen couldn't help stepping up onto the side railing to look down at the young half genie flailing around like a fool. Smirk on her face as she shouted down. "If you are strugglin' with the tinkerbats then just wait till I show you the batgals!"
"I-I could win if they came down here like real men!" Jumping up from the floor with her knuckles firmly pressed against her wide hips with a forced confidence letting her thrust her chest forward.
Although that confidence didn't exactly last long as Risky's grin grew wider. "The little girl doesn't seem impressed by the size of your rifles, boys, so how about you show her your explosive potential~!"
At that time all three of the cannon windows opened up with three rifles trained on Shantae.
Narrowing her eyes she decided to take more risks than her uncle likely would be comfortable with her taking. The only plus being that Sky wasn't around to lecture her over her own impulsive decisions.
Instead of running away to dodge the shots; she charged right towards the boat right at the one on the right before leaping up. Of course that tinkerbat pulled the door closed. Yet instead of slamming into it she grabbed the upper lip of the window then rested her foot on the flower only to whip her head towards the centre tinkerbat.
Its yellow eyes widened at the hair speared through its head causing it to explode into black smoke. Her first success in this fight against Risky gave her more confidence… Maybe a little too much as she leapt towards the one on the left only for a burning pain to suddenly erupt from her shoulder.
"Ahhh!" Balance being completely thrown off, on account of the bullet in her arm, with her amateur reaction being the clutch the gunshot wound. Doing nothing about the gravity of the situation; slamming hard against the wood of the dock with spittle flying from her mouth.
At that all three windows closed with a bang with the pirate queen just smirking as the ship began to pull away from the dock. "Well fortunately for you mommy has more important things to do. As fun as watching my boys pierce some rookie half-genie; let this be a lesson for what happens when you mess around."
"S-STOP!" Shantae wasn't willing to give up as she struggled to get out - one hand not moving while the other clutched her bleeding wound.
Running in a pitiful attempt to keep up.
Yet her valour was only rewarded with the pirates mocking laughter as she soon found herself out of dock to run across.
Only able to watch as that pirate ship sailed into the dark storm.
"D-Damn it…" Whether due to pain or frustration, both clearly present in her voice, she found herself collapsing to her knees before once more hitting her face on the floor. This time she didn't immediately get back up as her warm blood seeped through the wooden blanks only to get washed away in the dark waters below.
"D-Da… mn… i… t…" She wasn't even able to tell how long she stared into the storm before true darkness overtook her vision.
---
Waking up was a far more pleasant experience than Shantae was expecting.
Especially considering how she went to sleep.
Yet opening her eyes brought a world full of light rather than the dark stormy weather she had expected she would see. In fact her body was, although a bit stiff, overall refreshed. It did take a second for her eyes to adjust to the intensity however she instantly recognised where she was the moment she had.
The smell of chalk and oil was one that served as a constant reminder of her childhood; specifically the childhood spent at her uncle's house. Made sense since this place was where she spent her time before becoming the guardian genie. "Did anyone get the number of the boat that hit me…"
Mumbling under her breath along with throwing some more silent curses to that gorgeously annoying small time pirate who may or may not have gotten one or two lucky hits in.
Looking around showed why she wasn't feeling the effects of her valiant fight against the strongest people on that pirate ship. Upon the desk beside her childhood bed was a high-grade potion. "Yup that almost definitely is enough to have patch me up; 75 gems but worth every bit considering they heal any injury."
"Shantae… It is good to hear your humour is still very much alive but I'm afraid Risky Boots has gotten away with the steam engine despite your efforts. I am sorry that I have put you in such a difficult spot due to my own desires to make something so easily misused." Sure enough her uncle pushed open the door with a relief on his face that quickly morphed into guilt over the whole incident.
Shantae, though, merely shook her head without even taking a moment to consider his part to play in all of that as potentially being damning. "Uncle don't say nonsense like that; you are an inventor who did his job and no doubt invented something wonderful like usual. There was no way you could know that pesky pirate would pilfer your engine. But I do have one thing to ask… What is a steam engine?"
For a moment the old man just blinked before quickly nodding his head in realisation.
"Yes I didn't quite get time to tell you earlier, did I, well I suppose it is only fair you know what kind of device you are dealing with. The steam engine was based on an old technology that I managed to dig up with the help of my fellow relic hunters and only recently managed to finish a prototype of. Surprisingly the principle behind it is a fairly simple one; by boiling water to produce steam one can turn heat into movement then can be converted into power and for what she can use that power for…" Her uncle shook his head.
Clearly unable to even begin trying to figure out what insane plan that legendary pirate was about to embark upon. Though he wasn't quite done speaking. "Even if she is… One of them, it is impossible to downplay just how talented she is. I doubt there is an engineer with more talent than that one."
"So she really could be doing anything with the engine in her grasp…" Gritting her teeth while ruffling the sides of her hair in annoyance at being so far behind that wonderfully shaped woman.
Surprisingly her uncle shook his head with a long sigh. "She may be able to improve it with her talent yet I was unable to truly make anything too impressive. At most she may be able to empower that ship of hers but nothing bigger than that - mine could only run a vehicle big enough for me alone."
"Eitherway… I need to get stronger; I couldn't even get past her army of Tinkerbats let alone her supposed Batgals or Risky Boots herself. Sky did say it best. I don't need to sleep, eat, drink or get tired and yet can't even beat her in an arm wrestle…" Shantae finally admitted to both herself and the most important man in her life.
She simply wasn't strong enough to win as she was.
Hell that was in a fair fight and the chances of any fight with the infamous "pirate queen"being fair was greatly doubtful.
Her uncle actually seemed somewhat shocked then sheepish about her announcement as he nervously strummed his beard with a hand. "Well the Sultatana did provide some technique manuals for you but you were never really interested in any of that. I don't have any of the magic texts but for the physical stuff I could provide the documents if you are actually interested; even if this old man was interested it would be useless for anyone without genie blood."
Clenching her fist with determination as she looked at her uncle. "Please gimme!"