The only thing Robin could see were the rippling flames, and very quickly after that, a void of whiteness.

The fire itself was painful, but the Shell of the Blue Entomage absorbed most of it, the chitin seemingly unaffected by the heat. Robin’s head, though, had no cover, and he was discovering another unfortunate side effect of the Aspect of the Dragonfly: the increased perception it afforded him made him more vulnerable to ultra-bright lights, such as that generated by four fireballs exploding simultaneously in his face.

Robin dismissed the Aspect of the Dragonfly, hoping it would help lessen his blindness, but it did not work, and he quickly reactivated it.

As his senses unfolded once more, a soft, quick whoosh was his only warning before something impacted him in the stomach, driving the air from his lungs and throwing him backwards. He hit the deck hard, rolling slightly, and immediately pressing himself to the side.

“Holy shit, they’re fast as hell!” A loud clang rang out beside him, with a tiny afterwards.

“The magic knife I got from the toad boss broke on the deck, Jacen!”

Robin smiled to himself, leaping to his feet. Ascendant-level apparent is not just for show. It had been the same voice calling out, and Robin’s vision was returning. Even though only a few seconds had passed, he felt like he had been blind for an eternity. He dodged the blurry figure that was lunging at him, holding what had to be the now-broken knife, leaping backwards a full four meters.

The shadowy figure gaped at him, stopping in place, and Robin took the opportunity to draw the ΔU-Revenant from the holster. He cocked the hammer with his other hand as he brought it up to aim at the assailant, and as the figure regained its composure and raced towards him, Robin pulled the trigger.

A blue flash streaked across the small distance between them, and the man flew backwards as a small explosion ripped out from the impact point on his chest. He hit the deck of the ship limply, rolling for half a meter before coming to a stop, his limbs tangled and bent. He was still breathing, but Robin was fairly sure he was out of the fight.

May was currently fighting what looked like a running battle against what looked like a standard ninja, wearing the black gi and everything. Robin had to admit to himself that he was a little jealous, watching her spin and leap through the sails and rigging of the dragon ship. The mage was shooting fireballs at her, the apple-sized projectiles spinning around him lazily before flinging themselves upwards with the flicks of his fingers. They were slow, and May seemed to be having no trouble dodging them, but Robin was worried about the sails.

In the brief moment he watched, though, the fireballs seemed to be having little effect on the sails, the flames moving over the rippling cloth like they were made of stone.

It was very clear that the mage did not like that at all, and he immediately reacted, switching his projectiles to little blue balls, and then little yellow balls when the ice his second attempt formed simply slid off the sails and shattered on the deck. The yellow orb actually managed to get near May, catching her off guard after the previous indirect attacks, and Robin saw her wince in preparation of the impact, knowing that she could not avoid it.

“OW!”

Robin blinked, staring, his apprehension gone. The yellow ball had burnt a little hole in her sleeve, and it looked like it had reddened her skin, but… She seemed fine, otherwise. The yellow orbs circling the mage winked out for a moment as he saw the effect, but then they sprang back in greater numbers, swirling around the trenchcoat-wearing mage like angry fireflies.

May, too, seemed surprised, but not enough that the sneak attack the ninja was attempting would actually land. She flipped over the ninja lazily as he sprang at her from behind, snapping her sword downwards and dipping it neatly into the black-clad person’s back as he zipped under her.

The ninja fell out of the air, hitting the deck with a wet thump, and Robin took the opportunity to snap out a single shot, hitting the form in the back of the leg as it began to rise. It hit the deck again from a kneeling position, screaming in a masculine voice.

Robin was impressed that they still had the fortitude to continue moving after taking what he assumed was a cut to the ribs and a MANA bullet to the back of the thigh, but not enough to stop firing. He cocked the hammer back and aimed at the mage, who looked at him with wide eyes and opened his mouth to shout.

He only got as far as “Disintigration Bla-” before Opal suddenly snatched him from where he stood on the railing, yanking him bodily up to where she was clinging to the top of the main cabin.

Robin was actually stunned, this time, as his familiar was now the size of a refrigerator, holding a man in front of her and…

Robin turned away. It was already too late when the head was gone.

They tried to kill us with no warning or offer of surrender, not that we could have taken it, so I do not feel too bad about this, he decided. She has to eat, and maybe eating a mage will give her some kind of bonus.

The ninja was still laying on the deck, but Robin noticed he was doing something with his hands. He frowned, looking closer, readying the revolver just in case. It kind of looked...like…

Robin yanked the handgun upwards, but it was too late. The wounded ninja-pirate disappeared in a flash of grey smoke. Robin, once again, was impressed. The ninja had actually turned into smoke, and just… flown away.

May landed beside him with a light pat on the wooden deck, a look of slight concern on her face.

“I saw you take those fireballs, kid. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I think I am fine.”

Robin hesitated for a moment before speaking, trying to gather his words carefully.

“Was it just me, or did they seem… kind of ... weak?”

May burst out laughing, shaking her head. “I don’t know about that. They seemed pretty well-practiced in their teamwork. I think they are… were just not used to dealing with opponents who can actually defend themselves. And did you see that one broke his knife on our tough new ship!?”

Robin nodded along with her excitement, his mind whirling.

“If he left like that, they probably have a base nearby. Should we go after that, or keep going?”

“We could also go to that cult-dungeon-quest place you have”, May added.

Robin glanced back up at Opal and immediately wished he had not; she was almost through with the former mage’s corpse, leaving only his stomach-area. Right before he glanced away, she casually threw the remainder over her shoulder into the ocean, immediately cleaning her claws without looking back as it fell.

Robin looked back at May, feeling the fish he had been eating stir in his stomach.