Following Davy's orders, the undead crew surged forward while he remained close to the bow. Unleashing a torrent of Repulsor Blasts on the crew, any damage I caused his men was quickly healed in seconds. Discovering they shared Davy's Immortality, locating his heart became even more difficult.
"Jarvis, is there any chance you could locate the sound of a beating heart or locate it via heat signature? Davy's heart should be in a container or something else, anywhere but his physical person.", I asked, leaping backward several feet to create more space.
With Jarvis scanning for the heart, I switch from the Mini-gun to a UV Laser and Blessed Silver bullets. Pulling a revolver out of my Item Box, I loaded six of the bullets into the revolver and began to fire on them. Using the UV Laser on my left arm to keep the bulk of them back, all my efforts to keep them back were in vain. Stowing the laser back in my armor and the pistol in my Item Box, I pulled out my blue lightsaber and engaged the crew in hand-to-hand combat.
"We are…sorry for…this…", the First King struggled to say, "We are…bound to the…ship and captain…"
"Free us…please!", an unknown adventurer pleaded, "I want to…join my wife and…daughter in the…afterlife."
"I am trying too!", I replied, cutting through them and their weapons like butter.
Slipping under one of my swings, a member of the First King's Party sucker punched me square in the jaw. Momentarily dazed, I reacted on instinct and threw a knee straight into his jaw with added momentum from the repulsor in my boot. Sending the man crashing into his allies, I stumbled backward as my head steadied itself.
"Jarvis, do you have anything for me?", I pressed my AI companion.
Unwilling to continue fighting on the defensive, I charged at the men while they were picking themselves back up. Throwing a flurry of well-placed punches into the man who hit me, when the others attempted to jump on my back I activated the back thrusters to scatter the men all over. Watching some of them fly over the railing, an unknown force forcefully yanked them back onboard.
'So they cannot leave the boat at all…interesting.', I thought, 'Does that apply to me till I kill Davy?'
Using the lightsaber to cut several of the crew down again, I glanced over at the captain who was satisfied staying at the bow. Sensing that there was something important on that end, like his heart, I decided to see if the crew could confirm my suspicion. Since they still retained some of their mental facilities, my hope was they could answer the question to save me the trouble.
"Listen carefully to me, I cannot kill Davy directly. To kill him, his heart needs to be destroyed. Is it somewhere toward the bow of the ship?", I inquired, seizing the First King's wrist as he attempted to slash me, "Tell me and I can free all of you from this nightmare!"
Unsure if it would work, as their souls were bound to the ship that Davy controlled, when none of the crew responded I assumed it was a lost cause. Just as I was about to continue buying Jarvis more time, the First King managed to give me the answer.
"The bow…it is in the…figurehead's chest!", the First King forced out.
"You bastard!!", Davy roared, pulling a flintlock out of his breast pocket, "I will tie you to the anchor and drop you to the bottom of the sea for the next thousand years!"
Pointing the pistol at us, I pushed the former King out of the way just as Davy fired. Vaporizing the bullet with the lightsaber, I used the Force to lift Davy off the deck and threw him toward the ship's stern. Aiming a missile at where the figurehead was, the missile was just about to fire when a powerful bolt of energy struck me in the back. Skidding across the deck, Jarvis began blaring an alarm in my ear.
"What the hell was that?!", I shouted, glancing toward the stern.
Spotting Davy hanging onto one of the Rat Lines, he had managed to grab one when I threw him over my shoulder. Noticing green lightning starting to form in his free hand, I realized he had hit me with an Eldritch Blast. Diving out of the way when he fired a second shot, I attempted to fly off the ship. Unsure if I could, given what had happened to the crewmembers, when I got over the railing without any problems I was relieved that the restriction did not apply to me.
"Man the cannons, shoot him out of the sky!", Davy commanded, firing another blast at me.
Leaping off the Rat Line, Davy quickly took up a position near the figurehead while his men raced to the cannons. Firing grapeshot at me, I was forced to give the ship a wider berth as my armor could not take a direct hit from them. Attempting to destroy the figurehead from afar with the repulsors in my hands, Davy jumped down and blocked the attack while hanging from the bowsprit. Unable to land a blow on the figurehead, I decided to switch tactics.
"Jarvis, charge the unibeam to maximum power. When I tell you to fire, do so immediately!", I told him.
Making a beeline for the ship, I flew barely above the water line to avoid being in the cannon's angle of fire. Reaching the vessel a few moments later, I flew up over the railing and unleashed a Force Blast on the men, sending the crew all over the deck. Pulling himself onto the bowsprit, Davy leaped toward me with his sword and Eldritch Blast ready to go. Jumping backward, I pointed a hand toward the crew.
"Mass Control Undead!!", I chanted, using the Necromantic Spell to usurp control from Davy, "Help me finish this bastard off!!"
"Do not listen to him!!", Davy commanded, no longer in command of them.
"KILL HIM!!!", the First King shouted, freed from his shackles, "FOR FREEDOM!!"
"FOR THE KING!!!", his party members shouted.
Charging forward full of determination, Davy's crew swarmed him immediately and attempted to pin him down. Shrugging their attempts off, as they were far from his level of strength, he threw them to the side and ran at me. Exchanging blows with him, his Spectral Sword did not melt or warp under my lightsaber. Surprised by this discovery, he attempted to overwhelm me with strength but that would not happen. Using the enhanced strength the Iron Man armor gave me and further bolstering it with the Force, I managed to deadlock him, frustrating him greatly.
"Yer a bigger pain in my arse than I anticipated!", he spat.
"Yeah, well you are far uglier than I anticipated!", I countered, mockingly, "What turned you into such a hideous monster?"
"Humanity did during the war over ten thousand years ago.", he remarked, "New Humans used the Dark Arts to gain the upper hand, and the Old Humans used Forbidden Arts to imbue souls into their machines. All the chaos they created mutated everything into the world you know today. History may have forgotten what happened back then, but I have not!"
"You speak as if you are the only one who knows that war, but I do as well. The magically endowed New Humans went to extraordinary lengths to force the scientific Old Humans off the planet. After a long, bloody war they managed to drive them into space where they have stayed ever since.", I said, "Believe it or not, my goal is to leave this world behind too and travel the stars. I want to experience the whole of creation in all its splendor and wonder."
Startled that I knew of the war, I could see the look of disbelief in his eyes. Seizing the chance to push him away, he slid back a few feet before stopping. Quickly regaining his composure, the two of us began exchanging a flurry of sword blows that caused the deck to splinter and crack around us.
Slowly moving our fight to the lineup with the figurehead, Davy did not realize what I was doing. Once we were in position, I called out to his crew to distract him.
"All of you, while he is focused on me, go for his heart!", I commanded.
Remembering that his crew was still under my control, he quickly broke off from our fight and turned to his men. Readying an Eldritch Blast for them, I used the opening to put him in a Full Nelson and locked it in.
"FIRE!!", I shouted at Jarvis.
Firing the Unibeam straight through his chest, the blast tore the front quarter of the ship to bits. Completely eviscerating the figurehead and the heart, I felt Davy's body immediately lose strength. Letting him go, he fell to his knees as he began to fall apart like sand.
"Well played boy.", he laughed, with resignation in tone, "Ye have freed me from this torment, now I can rest in peace."
Crumbling away, his corpse was quickly blown away by the wind leaving his equipment behind. Looking at the crew, their bodies began to crumble apart as well. Looking at each other with relief, they ran over and hugged me tightly.
"I do not know who you are, but you have my eternal gratitude for freeing us!", the Former King said, patting my back, "What is your name?"
"Leon Fou Bartfort, Third Son of Baron Balcus Fou Bartfort.", I replied, retracting my helmet.
Taken aback by my appearance, everyone could not believe a child had defeated Davy and them together. Patting me on the shoulders and back, they praised me for my combat prowess, strength, and courage to face all of them alone. Asking me questions about the outside world, as it had been a long time since they had seen the light, I wanted to tell them everything but we were out of time.
"Jarvis, start recording this please.", I ordered, "As much as I would like to tell you about everything that has transpired, I do not think you will last long enough to hear it. Before you disappear, is there anything you want your descendants to hear? My armor will record the message for you and I will deliver it along with your equipment."
"How generous of you.", one of the adventurers said, "While I do not think anyone I know is still alive, my youngest daughter might be. Please let her know that I love her and regret not being there for her growing up. We need money for her mother's procedure and this was the only way I could earn it in a short time."
Giving each man a chance to speak while their bodies slowly crumbled away, I made sure everything was saved before shaking their hands. Seeing them off one by one till just the First King's Party remained, they each handed me their Guild Cards with a smile. Giving me full ownership of everything the Guild held for them, they only requested that their equipment be returned to their family grave. Wanting some part of them to lay beside their wives and children, I swore to them that it would be done as they disappeared into the wind.
Stowing everything around me into my Item Box, I was about to start looking for Dungeon Chest when the ship started shaking violently. Hearing cracks forming in the sky overhead, I realized the dungeon was beginning to collapse all around me. Before I could do anything, a magic circle appeared under me and transported me elsewhere. Arriving in a blinding, bright area, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light.
"Jarvis, redeploy the helmet!", I shouted, already feeling a headache coming on.
Doing as I asked, Jarvis quickly lowered the light level in my helmet to alleviate my pain. Blinking a few times to shake away the afterimages, I began surveying the area I was sent. Finding myself on a tropical beach, the landscape around me was covered in thousands of shipwrecks.
"Uh…I think I ended up in Davy Jones' Locker…", I remarked, "Is this what the reward is for clearing the dungeon?"
"Take us there!", I said, realizing what that could mean for me.
Taking to the sky, the sheer scale of this place was unfathomable. Seeing ships from all different eras of our world, several Lost Item ships caught my eye. While most of them were way beyond saving, the technology they possessed would be more than sufficient to build additional Iron Man suits for me or make a few starships. Flying me several miles from where we arrived, a familiar ship appeared on the horizon.
"Jarvis…is that the Star Battleship Yamato?!", I gasped, looking at her mostly intact hull and armament.
"Alright then, punch it!", I shouted, full of excitement, "If it is still operational, this will be my very first starship!!"
Touching down on the bridge, the first thing I did was shut off the distress signal. Attempting to access the ship's computer, the system immediately rejected my attempts as I did not have credentials and my biological signature was not in its database. Undeterred by this, I used the Hacking Modules in my suit to brute force my way into the system. Once I was in, the first thing I did was give myself Super Admin permissions and access to the ship.
"That should do it.", I said, "Computer, give me a damage report."
"I…uh…sorry?", I replied, surprised to hear the ship talk back to me in a human manner, "Yamato, can you give me a damage report please?"
"Thank you Yamato…I could do without the attitude. Your port side is buried in the sand, I could not see the damage.", I sighed.
Seeing the logic in her thinking, I agreed that she was right.
"I am sorry, it is my first time on a starship and I did not think there was an AI onboard.", I apologized, "There are plenty of ships here in this place. If you can tell me what I need to get to repair you, I will happily do so…assuming you are willing to let me be your captain."
Taking a moment to think my request over, the AI agreed to my offer.
Transmitting a list of materials and parts to Jarvis, I began flying around collecting all the ships I could find to scavenge what Yamato needed.