Wen lay frozen as the captain looked down his nose at both of them. His eyes narrowed as he looked over them with a tired gaze, noting their uniforms before focusing on Erin's face. Wen didn't know him, but Erin's face turned as pale as the moon, and her jaw dropped.

Tap.

"I know you," he said, jumping down from the railing and approaching Erin. "You're that girl from Diamond Peak. Where's Ortega?"

"You're mistaken, captain." Erin pushed herself up from behind before struggling to her feet. "We just witnessed a horrible accident, sir!"

Wen looked down at her revolver. She had used three shots already. That left half the rounds in one and a whole load of six rounds in the other—nine shots to get them both to safety or beat the old man. If he was a captain, she didn't like those odds.

Captains had two paths in the least to mark them for their rank. Lieutenants only had one. That didn't include any other ability that they might have or skill they might know. Beyond that, she wasn't sure, mainly because she kept under the radar as much as possible as a bounty hunter.

"Look," the old man said. "I appreciate that you know you're in trouble and are lying to get out of it, but I need to know where Ortega is. You're not fooling anyone, 'Thorn Queen.'"

Granted, it was a vain effort because of the ice on the ground and the vines still growing in the hall behind them. No matter how anyone looked at the situation, they wouldn't let either walk away without at least heavy questioning. The fact that a lieutenant had been thrown off the walkway would have been more than enough. Wen grimaced, getting up to one knee as she leveled her barrel at the captain's head.

"You don't want this, 'Cold Shot,'" the man didn't even look at her, keeping his eyes focused on Erin. "I may be an old man, but there's nothing either of you can do to beat me. Give up and pray they'll go easy on you both because you're women, and tell me where Ortega is. I didn't come down here to beat up two girls."

Wen's eyebrow twitched.

Click.

"We took down that lieutenant." She cocked back the hammer of her revolver.

"That's nothing to brag about," the man said. "He's fallen from higher places than this. I, on the other hand—"

Boom. Crack-tsh.

Wen pulled the trigger, and the man jerked his entire body back at just the right moment. The bullet slammed into the nearest stone wall, breaking it open and sending ice spreading across the rocky surface. He hadn't even looked her way.

"Thorn Spear!"

Fwip.

Erin thrust forward with one hand, a long black thorn shooting out for her arm at the retreating captain. He raised one hand in response, knocking the spear aside and sending it flying through the air and out over the docks.

"Step."

The captain disappeared, his body blurring in an impossibly fast movement before reappearing behind Erin. He spun with one fist, bringing it down toward Erin's head. Wen raised her revolver in response, lining up another shot, but it was too late.

Thud. Crack.

A solid punch slammed across Erin's jaw, the sound audible even from a distance. Wen couldn't help with that, though. She needed to focus on lining up her shot.

Boom.

For a second time, he adjusted his body, sidestepping her bullet without looking. Wen grimaced as the shot went wide and high, crashing too far away for her to hear the sound of ice as the bullet cracked. That was two more shots down. One more, and she would be down to one revolver.

They needed a different strategy, or they were going to lose. Wen already had a guess for the two paths that he had access to, and neither of them boded well for her and Erin. The first was the Path of Step, as evidenced by his use of the technique. The second was just a guess but explained why he had dodged her bullets twice. No one really dodged bullets unless they had access to a form of precognition—the Path of Will.

Thud.

Erin hit the ground hard a moment later, and Wen held up her second revolver. She aimed at the captain's feet, pulling the trigger a moment later and sending a bullet at the ground beneath him. It wasn't a perfect idea, but it was the best she had. She had used a similar strategy on a water-cursed woman who had been able to mold her body around Wen's attacks. If she couldn't hit him directly, she would try for indirect.

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Boom. Crack-tsh.

"Step."

Ice formed around his feet as Wen charged, her shoulder down. She was trying to slam into him and would have if he hadn't immediately jumped back. His form blurred as he stepped away from their fight, reappearing at the entrance to the hall a moment later with one hand holding onto his hat.

"A good try, but far too short of what you need," he said, shaking his head.

"Are you alright?" Wen ignored him, kneeling behind Erin and stuffing her mostly empty revolver in her pocket. Erin pushed herself up, her jaw hanging down as tears streamed down her face. Glowing green energy surrounded her face as her own curse flowed through her body.

Crack. Crunch.

Bone molded back together as her jaw corrected itself, and Wen held back a wince as she saw Erin's curse restore her face. The purple cheek pinkened as her jaw tightened and reattached itself to its hinge. The tears streaming down her face faded, and a weary look filled her eyes.

"I'll be fine," Erin whispered, forcing herself to her feet. "But I don't think we're going to win this."

"You're not," the captain said, shaking his head as he cracked his knuckles. "And I'd rather not keep punching you. Just tell me where Ortega is and come along quietly."

"I know this sucks," Wen said, standing up beside Erin. "Neither of us is ready for this fight, and he's the worst possible matchup for us."

She couldn't stop herself from being negative. However, the rest of the crew couldn't come and save them. Jean and Sayed were outside the base, and Alex had the only radio. They were on their own unless Alex came running back up the docks.

They had to rely on each other to get through it, or they would lose. As Alex would say—It was as simple as that.

"But we need to do it. I don't want to end up behind bars for the rest of my life."

"Hah." Erin shook her head, taking a deep breath afterward. "That I can understand. What do we do?"

"Oh, you're not giving up?" the captain asked, shaking his head and looking at the ceiling above. "Spare me the follies of youth. Scions above, I wish they'd take the easy way out."

"If I can hold him down, can you finish him off?" Erin asked, locking eyes with Wen.

"Do you think you can?" Wen asked, raising one eyebrow.

"There's something new I want to try," Erin said, holding out her arms and closing her eyes. "I haven't had the chance yet, so I don't know if it will work."

"Well." Wen held up her gun. "There's nothing left to lose."

Erin nodded, holding out her arms to either side as a green aura wrapped around her limbs in winding aetheric vines. The captain tilted his head as he watched but didn't interfere. In Wen's mind, he seemed loathe to fight them, though she didn't know why.

"Vine Golem!"

The vines solidified around her arms and legs, stretching out until her entire body was wrapped in green. They formed around her like tight muscles, making her taller as they cocooned her inside them. Wen stepped back to get out of the way as a green hulking body stretched out from Erin's petite form. Finally, a massive red flower exploded out of the top of the torso before closing down into a quad-jawed maw.

Rrt. Thump.

One massive vine fist crashed down next to Wen as Erin finished her transformation, shaking the walkway under the force of the strike. Wen reached out one arm to steady herself as the flower head looked down at her. Wen thought she saw it smile.

"Alright," Wen said, shaking her head as a smile crept across her face. "Let's try it."

Roar.

With a roar, Erin charged forward in her vine form, heading straight for the captain as it raised one mighty green fist. Wen had no idea what was about to happen, but maybe, just maybe, they had a chance.

***

Klaus held on as tightly to Erick's leg as he could, keeping his eyes closed as he focused on his curse. Nothing else mattered. He needed to keep Erick safe.

Klaus had seen the strange woman jump onto the ship as he had pushed into the hull and had no idea how Erick and Alex had missed her. On the entire ride over to the island, he had questioned how they hadn't noticed her but hadn't come up with any answers. He just knew that he needed to wait for her to leave before he followed after Erick and Alex.

He had spent what felt like hours waiting for the sound of her heels on the docks. Once he was sure she was gone, he had pushed through the hull and followed after her, keeping himself as hidden as he could.

He hadn't expected the bodies.

However, it wasn't until he reached the bottom floor and saw her confront Erick that he had become worried. Erick had come up from the stairs and into the room as the woman came down, and they had talked. Klaus couldn't understand everything they had said, but from the tone, it sounded like when a fight was about to start on the playground. At that point, he had pushed through the wall, finding a place to hide off to the side of the two arguing adults behind a counter.

That was when the flames had started. The woman had lit herself on fire on her arms and legs and charged at Erick. It had taken every drop of courage inside Klaus to keep from running away. He huddled in the corner, hoping that he wouldn't be caught up in the fight. He was just a child. What could he do against such a woman?

It was that thought that pulled him out of his fear.

"Let me help you," the strange woman from the other world whispered in his ear again. "Let me tell you how."

Klaus stood up, clenching his fist tight. The room had gone quiet, and the woman began to talk again. Klaus didn't hear it. All he saw was Erick lying on the ground as the woman threatened to kill him with her burning leg. His heart drummed in his head, and his vision blurred. He needed to act. He needed to do what the voice had told him.

He needed to keep Erick safe.

He ran forward without thinking. He jumped across the room as he focused on the power inside his heart. His body phased through the scattered furniture. He didn't stumble because there was nothing to stumble on. The world's obstacles were gone when he used his power, and he forced himself around Erick's leg as he willed Erick to have the same protection.

Thud. Boom.

Then, they were saved. A man in a dark black jacket stood over Klaus and Erick, holding a metal orb. Klaus took a moment to recognize the man as Alex, the man who had saved him back on Cragg Hollow. He looked different in Klaus's eyes at that moment. The man on Cragg Hollow had been kind, but now he was dark and scary. Shadows covered his face as he spoke to Erick. Klaus barely understood him at all.

"Now let me handle her while you and Klaus get out of here."

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