Zara and Derrin helped Red drag the unconscious pirate back over to the cage. Red felt incredibly exhausted. If he sat down, he was worried he'd simply fall asleep. However, he knew there wasn't time.
Besides, there was always the chance that Pirate King didn't actually do what Red anticipated.
Red heard the echo of footsteps behind him and turned to see Vizim's silhouette overlooking the chamber. He had stopped dead up there, gaping at the scene below. Red waved him down before turning back to the pirate.
"So what exactly are you intending to do?" Zara asked.
"Do you still have those mist-draining cuffs?"
She nodded and tossed them over. With a click, Red locked them onto the pirate's wrists. Everything had been prepared. Now, they just had to hope that Silas had delayed the Pirate King just long enough before fleeing.
"You're hoping that the Pirate King will swap with this man and appear wearing the mist-draining cuffs already?" Derrin asked.
Red nodded. Or at least he tried to. He was just too damn tired.
"Despite everything that we know about the Pirate King, there is one thing that is strikingly obvious. He has some sort of superiority complex. There is no way in hell he would walk down here if he could just teleport, even if it was a potentially bad situation. I mean, the guy teleported straight into the fort without batting an eye."
Vizim's voice echoed through the chamber, "How did you…"
There was bafflement and awe at those words. They didn't have time to respond, though. All of them were focused on the pirate. If the Pirate King was to do what Red thought he would, then at any moment, the pirate would warp away, replaced by the Pirate King.
Red knew that mist-draining cuffs would not be enough to instantly take down someone as powerful as Zara or the Pirate King. They worked for hours, not minutes, when someone had such a hefty supply of mist. However, Red was hoping for their effect to already begin acting.
If the man's mist began moving in the opposite direction he wanted, it would certainly mess with his ability to teleport. That was his only hope. At the end of the day, capturing the man alive would be nearly impossible. However, they still might be able to kill him before he fled.
Vizim's footsteps echoed towards them, but no one looked in his direction. They couldn't afford to risk missing it.
Red dug his nails into his palms in an attempt to remain focused. His entire brain was trying to shut off. The time bubble and then overwhelming boost had worn him out. All he wanted was sleep, but he knew he couldn't have it. He just needed to remain focused for a little longer.
"Are you sure this will work?" Zara asked.
She already knew the answer. They all did. This was a gamble. If the Pirate King didn't come, then they had just wasted crucial time. If he did come, there was always the chance he was coming full-powered while they were extremely weak.
Still, they had to try.
"We just need to be patient," He tried to sound reassuring.
Time seemed to move unbelievably slowly. Every moment that passed, he felt closer to passing out, and every moment drew them closer to despair. Every moment could be the end of a crucial second.
A long time passed. Long enough for his addled brain to have long lost track of time. The pirate in the cage flashed. His body blinked away.
Everyone froze.
Zara's blade hummed in her hand while Derrin's own sat across his lap. Red's grip tightened on his shockblasters. Iris hovered behind them, her eye glowing a ferocious purple. Vizim, for his credit, did not panic in the face of the teleportation as he had to the gearborn.
The Pirate King appeared in the cage. No one moved for a moment. It took another moment for the man to fully register reality. When he did, his wrists settled neatly in the mist-draining cuffs.
No one spoke as the Pirate King blinked slowly, trying to figure out what he was seeing. His gaze slowly crept across them one by one before falling on the carnage behind them.
For the first time, shock fell across the pirate's face. Red couldn't help but grin.
"Must be a strange flip to what you're used to."
"What is this? How did you?" He struggled to his feet before banging his head on the barred roof.
"Some king you are," Red grumbled. "And here I thought you had some semblance of royalty in your veins. You should know that since you're behind bars, we are the ones that get to ask the questions."
"You!" He snarled and took a stumbling step forward.
Red finally noticed the mass of injuries that littered the man's face and coat. He looked as if he had been through a grinder. For someone of his power level to look like that…
"So, my little present worked after all. You must have had quite the shock when Silas dropped the cavern on your head."
The Pirate King's face turned into a rictus. "And yet here I stand, while he lies in ashes."
Red blinked slowly. "What?"
Before he could continue, Zara stepped forward. "You had an awful lot to say about doing what it takes to survive. You were so cowardly that you thought we couldn't beat the robots. Look around you, traitor. You're in a cage, and your allies are shattered on the floor."
Red was reeling. Silas was dead. How was that possible? The man had sworn to only blow the bomb after he escaped. Surely he hadn't done it with his men still inside. So then what? Had it gone off prematurely?
"You have no idea what will happen to you when I get out of here," The Pirate King staggered forward.
Zara scoffed, "You should worry about saving yourself first."
She slowly raised her blade.
Red turned to her, "What are you doing? Don't we need to question him?"
There was zero emotion as Zara leveled her blade at the man's throat. "I'm certain whatever information he has to offer can be pulled from his men when he is gone. He is too much of a hazard to be left alive. A coward, no doubt. But cowards can be just as dangerous depending on what they fear, and this man does not fear Valencia."
"So, he must die!"
The Pirate King stumbled backward, his eyes wide. "I'm going to kill all of you."
His eyes hardened and flew from Red to Vizim and from Zara to Derrin.
Zara didn't respond. Instead, the blade flashed through the bars of the cage. Her cut cleaved the air as the man teleported sideways slightly. The cuffs remained.
She swung again and caught the man on the hip. He let out a curse and slammed into the cage bars, rattling the structure.
"Any information you like to give up would be appreciated." Derrin raised his own blade.
Zara glanced at him and nodded slightly. The Pirate King spat out a mouthful of blood and stumbled to his knees. He shook his head slightly before looking up at them with a look of triumph.
"Too late!"
Zara's blade flashed at the same moment the pirate started to fade. A shriek echoed through the chamber as the man once again teleported away. All that remained of the Pirate King was a hand that dropped bloodily to the floor.
Where he had once been, now stood a bald, short man. He held a pink bathrobe tightly wrapped around his midsection, and his head still glinted from shampoo. The man flinched backward slightly and tightened the bathrobe around him.
The man's eyes widened slightly, and he let out a squawk, "What in the tarnation?"
Red just gaped at the stranger. He had certainly not been on the island with them.
"How did you get here?" Derrin asked.
The man blinked slightly. "Well, I guess Leon must have called in his favor and swapped with…"
Everyone turned away from the newcomer as the sounds of thundering footsteps echoed into the cavern.
"Oh, what now!" Zara cursed.
"Don't worry," Red smiled half-heartedly," We've got this covered as well."