Needle and Thread

We

I didn't get any suggestions this time around, so I decided to do something new! It's going to be a word-by-word thing, so try and guess which  fandom I'm referencing!

[@2D3D4D]

Benjamin sighed. He missed his Xbox. He missed not sleeping on a pallet of hay in the galley of a pirate ship with three other dirty, smelly men.

He gazed at the ceiling, then wished he hadn't as he watched a fat spider crawl lazily towards the pantry. Benny glanced at his bunkmates, making sure that everyone around him was asleep. He rose silently, tiptoeing past the other crew members and onto the deck.

It was cold out there at night, but Benjamin didn't mind. It made him feel more alert. He gazed out over the ocean waters, scanning for Nereida's ship. It wasn't there.

Benny sighed. He knew that he shouldn't expect her to be close-- after all, that's not what a good pirate captain did. But some small sight of the ship would have made him feel a lot better.

"Bennster!"

"A--" Benny's jump of surprise was muffled by a hand over his mouth. "Nereida?" He asked, turning around.

"How'd you figure?" Nereida replied, grinning. She had a long cloak over her usual outfit. "Anyways, what's up?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I knew you'd get all mopey without the ship--"

"--I beg your pardon--"

"--hey, I'm speaking. Anyways, I knew you'd get all mopey, so I'm gonna come over here and cheer you up and on every so often!"

"But... how?"

"I'm just going to climb up the ladder."

"How can I not see the ship?"

"We doused the lights. We're sailing a couple hundred meters behind you."

"How QUAINT!" Boomed the captain.

"Great," Benny sighed.

"Not so great," Nereida corrected.

"The girlie's ri--ouch!" The captain was stopped mid-sentence by a swift kick from Nereida.

"Don't call me girlie, you half-metal bilge licking swine!" She growled.

"Don't kick me!" He whined. "I was in the middle of threatening you! Ugh. Boys! We've got a live one!"

There was a lot of groaning and swearing from below deck as the crew awakened.

"Can we just leave?" Benny asked.

"No, I want a home base," Nereida replied.

"So that's what you're after," the captain said. "Well. You can't have it."

"Pfft. Benny, hold still. I don't want to hurt you on accident." She took off the cloak, and Benny rolled his eyes as Nereida revealed the seven pistols she'd brought with her. Along with two swords. And a grenade.

"Overdoing it much?" He called.

"Nah," She replied. "That doesn't happen. Anyways, the pistols are just for show. All their powder's wet! Ha!" She drew her swords. "Anyways. Anybody wanna fight?"

The now-assembled crew grinned, revealing a wide variety of metal teeth. Nereida grinned.

"Well, come on then! Don't be shy. I don't bite-- just maim and severely injure."

 Watching Nereida fight was like watching a waterfall beat down on rocks-- unrelenting, beautiful, and never, ever stopping. Few of the guards even made one step towards Benny. Nereida always seemed to go after them just before Benny drew his sword.  Even the captain seemed entranced by her. When Nereida was done, her sword was an inch from the captain's throat, and she was smiling triumphantly.

He grinned back, and with one of his metal arms, grabbed the sword and threw it into the ocean. Before Nereida could react, he had caught up her wrists in the other hand an held her above the ground.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, didja, girlie?" He asked, baring his teeth.

"Go shove it up your--"

"Don't say things like that," Benny cut in automatically. He turned to the captain. "Put her down. Please."

"You don't have what it takes to take me on, kid," he growled.

"You don't have what it takes to get laid," Nereida hissed.

"Let's keep it PG, Nereida."

"Listen to your boy over there," the captain added. "Not that he'll be around long."

[$^$]

Winter had not been prepared for this.

Yeah, he'd expected a monster, but not anything with heads on its feet that groaned whenever it moved. He hadn't expected the wailing banshee scarf, the weird random patches of fur and scales and pockmarked skin, or the eyeless face, its mouth open in a permanent silent scream.

"What?" The four heads hissed simultaneously (then groaned as the monster shifted its weight). "Were you expecting anything... beautiful?" The planet boss spat it out, almost as though it were some sort of horrible curse word.

Winter looked carefully up at the monster. "What's your real name?" He asked.

"Huh."

"I want to know your name," Winter said. "I'm Winter. Hi. I'm going to try to kill you."

The creature's four mouths hissed, and the banshee wailed.

"I am..." it thought for a moment. "I am not going to tell you my name until my dying breath. Yessss. You may call me Moriarty."

"Oh. Great." Winter's brain was churning, along with his stomach. So this monster obviously thought that even if it did get beat, it could take Winter down with him. He would also die if he died this time, since Hadi had messed up his whole immortality gig. So, what were his assets?

He had a bunch of weapons. He had some sort of powers from the snake tattoo that he had no idea what to use. He was smaller, and probably faster.

Moriarty was stronger. He had a greater reach. He had four heads which could probably formlate a dozen plans and calculate their probablility at once. He was also confidnt that he would win, which meant that he knew how to get past all of Winter's plans and defenses.

"Would you like to pull out?" Moriarty asked calmly.

"No," Winter replied automatically, his brain still moving at light speed. "I'm not an idiot. You'd still kill me." The banshee wailed, almost as if confirming it.

"Very well," Moriarty replied, and in a flash, was behind Winter, brandishing a ridiculously long, double-edged, curved sword.

So much for being faster.