As the crew slowly enters the cavern, several metal pipes start to adorn the walls of the narrow stone corridor, with steam occasionally gushing out of them. The smell of gunpowder now invades their noses, and a piece of very out-of-tune music invades their ears.
A couple more steps after, they find themselves inside a very spacious cove with even bigger pipes covering its walls from top to bottom. A small arrangement of houses can be seen on the back end of the cove around the rather precarious dock where a respectable pirate ship is anchored.
The vessel shares many similarities with the place it's in. Steel pipes adorn its sides, going all the way down to the keel; and up forming small steam chimneys. And of course, the same flag that Ragnar found in his village; is proudly hoisted atop of the mast.
The crew keeps on analyzing their surroundings, looking for any sign of people in here. The music they heard is now louder and even harder to pinpoint as it echoes through the cove.
As they keep on walking, the crew comes across a group of 20 to 30 people drinking, eating, and overall having a good time with not-so-good music. These must be the aforementioned Steam Pipe Pirates they've been looking for for so long.
Most of them look like regular pirates with rather fancy clothes. Some of them have raged top hats, and others have googles covering their eyes. Steampunk is the first word that comes to mind when looking at them.
While everyone is enjoying their presumed celebration, there's one man who doesn't look very happy.
-Where is that fucking bitch?! – He exclaims annoyed as he munches on a big piece of meat. He has spiky, blonde hair; and his clothing isn't dissimilar to what the rest of them are wearing. But his most striking feature is his right, mechanical arm; with gears that rotate rapidly when he moves it to drink from his mug as sparks come out of its joints.
Before the crew can come up with a plan of action, the spiky-hair man notices them and springs up from his chair.
-What are you lot doing here!? – He asks. The music stops (thankfully), and everyone turns around to look at William and crew – State your business!
Ragnar walks towards them. Fearing the worst, William and Duros try to stop him but to no avail.
-I'm looking for the captain of this crew! Bring him out immediately! – He demands, resting his ax on his shoulder.
The spiky-hair man seems rather annoyed by Ragnar's tone. He stands up from his seat and walks towards Ragnar as if wanting to start a fight.
William quickly, but subtly dashes towards his crewmate.
-The Captain is not here right now. – The man says; standing in front of Ragnar who towers over him. He appears to be slightly shorter than William – Are you here for work, or would I have to take care of you myself? – The gears on his arm start to rotate violently as large sparks come out of it.
Ragnar wants to split this guy in half so much! He tightens the grip on his ax's handle and clenches his other fist. Pearl and Duros almost jump in to try to hold him back. Not that they could've done much, anyway.
-So much for stealth, huh… – William says behind his breath before stepping in between the two – Hey! How're you doing? We just wanted to have a word with your captain. – William tries to control the situation. But considering how eager for a fight the two of them seem to be, he's already waiting for the worst.
-What, is Commander Volt not enough for you?! – He exclaims.
Alright. This Volt fellow seems to have a chip over his shoulder.
-Well… No. – William just gives up on reasoning and decides to try intimidation for a change – You better get him right now, or we'll force him to come out.
Volt is very insulted by this.
-OH YEAH?! You and what army?! – The rest of his crew already have their swords, guns, and… pipes? On hand ready for a fight.
Ragnar turns into a bear after Volt's provocation. Something that surprises some of the grunts and makes Volt raise an eyebrow. The rest of the group also come forward with their weapons and claws ready.
William looks around him. With this pretty badass crew by his side, his confidence just skyrockets.
-Well, we don't have a traditional army; but we got a bear… and a dragon.
-I don't care what you random pirates have! – Volt exclaims while assuming his fighting stance. His arm now crackling with electricity in front of him – BRING IT ON!!