"All of those sticks are fucking sticks of Dynamite or some other shit! The… the S- Sizzling sound was coming from its fuse burning. And soon, It's gonna fucking Bl- BLOW UP! Fatso, put those fuses out NOW!"
Fatso hurriedly nodded, he looked around for a second and then gazed down.
He quickly took out a dagger from his belt buckle and tried to carefully cut off the fuse.
The burly man gritted his teeth, "No you dumb*ss, that shit will blow up before you manage to cut all of the fuse wires off!"
Fatso stopped his actions and looked up, drops of cold sweat running down his forehead.
Scrawny looked around and instantly intercepted, "The barrel! Go dip that thang into the barrel of rum! The liquid will defuse it!"
Fatso immediately complied and ran towards the barrel of alcohol.
Burly brandished his teeth in anger and shouted, "No! You dumbfucks! Alcohol will only be a fuel to the fire, and it's not just a fire but rather an ignited fuse. A fuse wouldn't even go out underwater!"
But Fatso was too locked in to listen to him, his words were invisible. So he took the matter into his own hands.
The burly many ran forward at astonishing speeds to catch up to the fat man. Fatso striked the barrel's lid open and dipped the whole plate inside the barrel.
He watched as the red liquor glistened with growing sparks under the surface.
The burly man caught up just in time and furiously struck the fat man's arm.
Fatso's hand got pulled back, taking the black plate with it. He grimaced with pain, and then his grip loosened; the sizzling plate of yummy dynamite flew back beyond the deck.
Fortunately, the plate served with explosives didn't catch on fire because of the alcohol. It just flew off, leaving a trail of rum sprinkles in the air, and then fell into the ocean.
Thud!
The three pirates stood still, looking in the direction the plate flew off in. Their breaths were heavy, and cold sweat ran down their faces. But even though the immediate danger was gone, they didn't relax.
"Dumb*ss, should've thrown it further away. That plate will now damage the ship… Well, not really, you'll need like at least 3 of those plates of explosives to even put up a hole in our bloody mother, but still don't do something stupid like trying to put out a fire with alcohol again."
Fatso nodded, he lingered for a bit then said "Should we wake up the captain?"
The burly man hesitated for a while, then looked to the side, towards the middle of the ship.
A staircase leading under the deck was right in the middle of the whole vessel. The end of that staircase was shrouded in pure darkness, even the moonlight couldn't penetrate its shade.
Within the darkness was a door. A giant door completely made out of stone, with harmonious silver accents and wicked engravings carved through its surface.
At the top of its frame were some words written in red ink.
"Do not open. Terror hates light."
…
The burly man gulped and sighed heavily. "No… Let's see if we can handle the situation on our own before waking up Captain from his slumber. There are still a few days left for him to properly awaken after destroying that damn marine fleet.
"Until then, let's make our mission clear. We have to locate the attacker who threw this dynamite disc towards us, capture him. Try not to kill him, we might get some information, and if not that, at least a new subject for our experiments.
"But before that, let's get the whole crew on duty. Fatso, go warn the ones on guard duty in the front about what's happening, and kick the sleepers awake."
The burly man walked towards a wooden pole behind the barrel and pulled a string attached to it. Instantly, various lamps ignited, brightening the whole ship. But the compartment at the centre, where the captain slumbered, remained dark and untouched by light.
The burly man was about to take out his binoculars and look in the direction from which the plate flew in, but just before he could, he was intercepted by the scrawny pirate.
"Wait!" Scrawny said.
"What?" The burly pirate asked with concern, as a premonition of horrifying outcomes settled in his soul.
Scrawny held his breath, his eyes wide open, not daring to blink. "Wh- why was there a thud?!"
The burly pirate and Fatso turned to look at Scrawny
The burly pirate furrowed his brows and asked, "What do you mean?"
Scrawny gulped and mumbled his words, "If-if the black dynamite plate fell onto the ocean… Wh-why did it not make a splashing sound, but rather it made a 'thud' sound like it had landed on a hard surface?"
The burly pirate frowned. He looked around and saw that they were surrounded by nothing but the hazy ocean in all directions. "You're right…" He turned to Fatso and screamed, "Quickly, check where the plate fell."
Fatso complied and turned to his side of the ship to look down onto the ocean surface.
He kept looking at the ocean for a few moments, with no words coming out of his mouth.
Getting impatient, Scrawny screamed, "What the hell are you seeing there, man?"
Fatso turned back to face his two companions with his fingers massaging the centre of his forehead. He said, "Does dipping your hand into rum get you drunk? I didn't think it did."
"What are you talking about, man?!"
Fatso frowned, "I might have gotten drunk, because while I looked down at the ocean beside our ship. The single black plate seemed like it was at two places at once, then four places at once, then eight places at once…
As he continued speaking, his companions grew pale.
The burly pirate's rough lips quivered, and he ran towards Scrawny. Grabbing his lantern he ran to the other side and went past fatso. He leaned on the railing of the ship and lowered his lantern to see the ocean surface directly beside the ship's keel more clearly.
As the slowly descending lantern illuminated the hazy ocean surface, his face paled while his heart skipped a beat.
Below, there was no ocean… Around the entire perimeter of this side of the ship, the ocean surface was covered with dozens of floating plates of black wood, each reverberating a distinct sizzling sound.
The burly man slowly straightened up, his entire body shivering with fear.
"Boss?" Scrawny asked while trembling himself.
The burly pirate slapped himself out of his shock and turned around.
He hurriedly ran to the other side of the ship. Crossing past Scrawny, he didn't give him a reply, which made Scrawny's face fall in despair even further.
In a few moments, he reached the other side.
While leaning on the railing with heavy breaths, he lowered his lantern to see the surface of the ocean on this side as well. As he did, his fears came true.
Black plates served with death floated all around the ship's perimeter, dozens, if not hundreds of them, obscuring the ocean surface below…
The burly pirate feebly walked backwards from the railing, his steps slow, his breath gone, and his eyes unblinking.
"Wh-what happened man?!" Scrawny asked.
The burly man didn't move, the horror on his face remaining undisputed.
He said to himself absentmindedly, "We are all dead."
"BOSS!" Scrawny shouted, jolting the man out of his reverie.
His eyes darted around in confusion, and his breath became heavier. He looked around for a moment, but then finally, his gaze stopped at the centre of the ship, where Captain Terror slumbered in absolute darkness.
The burly man looked down at his hand, carrying the lantern burning with a crimson flame.
He contemplated for a second, but then his eyes grew focused. He gritted his teeth, and his grip around the lantern's strap tightened.
He stepped forward and erupted with the complete strength within his entire body and spun his hand in an arc to throw the lantern as fast as possible.
The lantern swirled through the air as the burly man shouted in a desperate but strong tone, "Arise…"
The lantern landed on the humongous silvery stone door, its glass instantly shattering on impact.
The liquid within it flew out, latching onto the door. The flames rose from the lantern's fuel, waging war on the darkness and enveloping the whole door in light.
A few moments passed as the flames kept on burning undisturbed.
The lantern's sudden crash against the door and illumination of the entire ship at night woke up the whole crew.
They came running out and saw the three pirates at the rear shivering in cold fear. They looked into their eyes to see a single flame of hope reflected within them. Tracing their gaze, they locked their eyes onto the centre of the ship.
Then… The Door trembled.