𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿

59.. pirates!! again...

All eyes turned to look at Nico, who was at the window, looking out at something in the distance.

"Guys, come see this," he said, his voice full of disbelief.

The rest of the group crowded around the window, trying to see what Nico was talking about. As they peered outside, their eyes widened in shock.

"Is that... an island full of pirates?" Minho asked, incredulous.

They all stared out at the sight before them. Sure enough, there was an island filled with ships and what appeared to be pirates roaming around.

"I can't believe it," Vince marveled. "Pirates, in this day and age?"

They all stared at Nico – he was a pirate.

"Nice one, Nico," Minho smirked, nudging Nico playfully. "You sure you didn't lead us straight to your old crew?"

"Hey, hey, relax," Nico held up his hands in mock surrender. "Trust me, those guys would probably try to kill me if they saw me out here. We pirates aren't exactly the friendliest of folk, y'know?"

"That's reassuring," Gally said dryly, rolling his eyes. "We've got monsters and pirates to deal with. What's next, zombies?"

The gang deadpanned. "We are dealing with zombies. Cranks, remember?" Nancy scoffed.

"Point taken," Gally said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Still, I'd rather deal with a few Cranks than a horde of bloodthirsty pirates."

"Why is no one turning our ship around?" Aris asked bluntly.

There was a moment of baffled silence as the group considered Aris's question. It was a valid one - why were they sailing straight towards an island full of potentially hostile pirates?

"Does anyone have control over the ship here?" Thomas asked, looking around.

Thèrèse looked around before nudging Hugo and make a run towards the door.

Hugo caught the silent signal from Thèrèse and followed her as they hurried through the door to the control room ahead.

As Hugo and Thèrèse barged into the control room, they were met with a scene of chaos. Alarms blared and lights flashed as the ship's instruments went haywire.

The pirates had seen the Gladers' ship and were quickly maneuvering their own ships to intercept. Some of the pirate ships launched grappling hooks, attempting to latch onto the Gladers' ship and pull it closer.

"Are we seriously dealing with pirates? Again?" Harriet throws her arms up.

"Looks like it," Vince said grimly, taking in the scene. "Hang on tight, this is gonna be a bumpy ride."

The Gladers' ship rocked violently as the pirate ships latched on with their hooks. The two ships were now connected, and the Gladers could see the pirates on the other ships preparing to board.

Thèrèse and Hugo stumbled as the ship rocked, but they managed to keep their footing. Hugo reached out to steady Thèrèse, his hand gently grasping her elbow.

The rest of the group braced themselves, holding onto whatever was closest to them for support. They all knew what was coming next – the pirates would be boarding their ship any moment now.

"Hey, I have an idea," Nico said to Bea. "Since I used to be a pirate, I know a thing or two about how they operate. I've got a plan to get us out of this, but I'm gonna need your help."

Bea raised an eyebrow. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, these pirates are gonna board us any minute now, and they're gonna be looking for a specific item that's on this ship," Nico explained. "Something valuable. Something shiny."