As Ivor stood by the ended scuffle, the huge Balto’s weight pressed against the cracked wood of the cabin. The ineffectual Captain scratched his orange hair, muttering, “Uh, he looks pretty beaten down to me, but if we give him to the Marines, we might be able to get Dara off. I mena, we’re still escaped convicts whichever way you slice it.” Looking to the back, where the ship was tied up, he tried to consider their options: Raining Sunny hadn’t expected them back apparently, given that this was a trap... As the Captain though, Dara simply stood, her black eyes locked onto the fishman, an unpleasant look on his face.

As Ivor pondered, Balto stirred, hacking out a glob of blood. Grimacing, he spat out a little more before making a low, whistling noise through his sharp teeth. Before Ivor could act, he felt a pair of arms on each of his hands, turning to find the members of the crew grabbing hold, fear on their faces. Dara and Margaret were snatched up by the innocents as well. The men on the boat were slaves, no different from the ones below except for their health. Their actions were not governed by logic, only emotion, the fear of going against their masters putting energy in their muscles. They managed to pull Margaret away from Balto, her sword coming free from his torso. The fishman slouched, before limping off, reaching into his aloha shirt and pulling out a sphere of some sort and a match. Striking the match, he lit the fuse, before chucking it into the air. It didn’t seem to go that high, but it detonated regardless, a flash of light illuminating the area for just a moment. Turning back to the other three, he leaned back against the railing of the ship, before groaning in with pain as he said, “You’re gonna have trouble in a moment now, you hear...” His sentence was punctuated, with another sputter of blood, and the large nosed basking shark fishman slipped from the railing, limply plummeting to the sea below with a splash. The once panicking slaves, stopped, loosening their grip on the trio, but not quite letting go, uncertain of their fates.

---

Elsewhere on the sea, a Marine ship sailed, its highly ranking officers aboard, following a mysterious tip off. Things were quiet on the brightening seas, until a clear flash in the distance was seen. The unusual disturbance meant the ship was changing direction, unknowingly making its way to a certain slave filled boat.