A New Lust Dawns For Spike

Dragged into the darkest depths, the captured prey believed they were doomed for certain. Instead the Dazzlings, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon found themselves in the lower decks of the ghost ship, deposited by the rubbery tentacles that phased through the rotted hull without harm. Sea lice skittered over the soggy wood as they tried to make sense of their surroundings.

“I thought they were going to pull us straight to the bottom of the ocean,” cried Tiara.

“Maybe we did hit bottom,” noted Silver who adjusted her glasses as she started to cautiously explore.

“Don't stray too far,” warned Adagio. “We have no idea what we're up against!”

“Gross,” whined Sonata as she almost stomped down on a bug, then thought better of it as her feet were bare like the rest of her. A swarm skittered over the floor, visible in the shadows thanks to a few lanterns that adorned the walls.

“Seems to imply someone lives here,” said Aria who tapped a lantern. “That, or this 'ghost ship' is somehow corporeal?”

“We've run into weirder stuff,” said Adagio. “But why were we taken? Other than the fact that we're clearly the most beautiful women...” She smiled wryly despite their circumstances and took a moment to admire her reflection in a puddle as she posed.

Aria rolled her eyes, her arms crossed and a slender hip thrust out. “True, but we have bigger concerns!”

“Guess we don't have much choice but to explore,” said Sonata who skipped ahead.

“Careful or you'll get splinters! Possibly somewhere unmentionable if you trip,” warned Aria who raced up beside her.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shrugged before they fell into step beside the sirens. “We'll let them take the front line,” whispered Tiara. “Just in case we run into something nasty. Besides, they're monsters, they're used to stuff like this.”

“I suppose I'll watch our backs,” murmured Silver who repeatedly looked over her shoulder at the deep shadows.

They wandered the labyrinth of corridors, eventually came upon a set of stairs, and climbed them...only to end up in an exact replica of the same room they ascended from. No matter how many times they attempted to cross between floors, the results were the same.

Tiara stamped a foot in frustration, used to getting her own way. “What the hell is this?!”

“Magic,” said Adagio with a curled lip. “I can sense it all around us. Someone or something wants us trapped here...”

Sonata clasped her cheeks. “Why? Don't tell me this is that tentacled freak's larder, and it plans to eat us! Not sure if that's worse than what I had in mind! I don't want to be eaten and crapped out or stuffed full of baby squids by some ugly ass-”

“Shut up,” cried Aria who elbowed her ribs. “We've survived pirates, we'll make it out of this for sure!”

“Wait,” harshly whispered Adagio. “I can see a silhouette up ahead...” Creaks sounded under their soft footballs as they strolled forward. The figure appeared feminine by the shape, their back turned to them.

“H-hello,” said Sonata as they closed in.

As the mysterious woman turned, a lamp swung under a breeze and briefly illuminated her. Her orange blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail, her expression grim. Her well-sculpted form was hidden beneath a simple but brightly colored dress. Her eyes trailed over the lot of them. “I'm the one who trapped you here,” she confessed. “I, too, was a member of the Coven.”

“Yeah, so what?” Tiara glared at her. “What's that got to do with all of us?”

“Everything, at least in the case of these sirens. My name was Luster Dawn, and I was a passenger on one of the ships they attacked! The entire crew was drowned or eaten! Do you have any idea how many they've killed? Not that you two are much better! I can smell the stink of sin on you! Sure, you might not have bloodied your hands directly, but you'd killed, too!”

“Now wait a minute,” began Tiara. “What, you expect us to believe you're some sort of vengeful phantom?”

“Something like that. I was a powerful witch in life,” warned Luster who shimmered as she called on her supernatural powers, amplified ever since she'd been cursed to haunt the ocean floor and left to smolder in righteous indignation.

At her command the ship's hull rattled, a series of low, eerie wails resounded with an echo, and decrepit apparitions started to arise all over.

Screams and panic arose from the group surrounded on all sides. Some of their victims were visible, hundreds of them, ships downed by the sirens to feed or for sport, tribesmen lost in a war over the island or sacrificed to their controlled guardian.

“N-no,” cried Tiara, her stomach twisted as she stared into horrid, pallid faces that faded to skulls. Worms crawled through the sockets while the creatures wailed, floated about, clawed at their prisoners, ice cold to the touch.

“Get away you creepy zombies,” yelled Sonata who swiped at the air like she could bat them away.

“What we need is an exorcist,” said Silver who tried to protect Tiara, her arms spread wide. She shivered under the chill the ghosts radiated, closed her eyes and worried she'd void her bladder, as she and Tiara started to openly weep.

Adagio snarled as her teeth turned to fangs and her fingernails into claws, legs shifting back to a tail as she threw her weight at the summoner, determined to rip her apart and hopefully end this madness. She slammed into Luster in a wild tackle, thudded into the floor and rolled about, Adagio hissing as she clawed at her, strips torn from her dress as she tried to rip her open.

Unable to escape the siren's monstrous grip, Luster abandoned her garments as she wiggled out of them and slipped away, naked and covered by a few red marks down her flesh that hadn't quite broken her skin. “You'll pay,” she warned.

“Don't let her escape,” demanded Adagio but before Aria could chase her the summoner faded into the wall.

Fortunately over time the captives learned the apparitions were practically harmless, barely able to do more than haunt them as they were easily brushed aside.

Still the five of them attempted another escape, hopeful the loop could be broken...

*****

The maelstrom opened up with a roar, the surge so violent all other sounds were drowned out. A dark ocean was swarmed by thick gray clouds that crackled with lightning as thunder cracked around the pirate crew.

Spike and the fliers had planned to launch a desperate assault on the ghost ship and the tentacled monster, only to realize they could be sucked in.

“Damn it,” he cried and furiously beat his wings. “Any closer and we'll be swallowed whole!”

Calaeno worked her ship's engines overtime to resist the suction. There were sputters and smoke, the air filled by a burnt stench. “We're fighting a losing battle! Unless we can get this bird back in the air, we're doomed for sure!”

Beatrix pursed her lips. “But what can we do? Maybe the answer lies in that ghost ship?” Despite the risks the drake landed on the deck with her straddled on his scaly back, the fliers close at hand and armed to support them. “There!” She pointed ahead.

The witch cast a spell to strip away the shroud that hid the summoner of this madness. A nude woman materialized into view, soaked in seawater and strands of seaweed that stuck to her supple skin. Her ponytail had come loose and whirled in the breeze, and as her concentration was broken, the storm rapidly started to die down but refused to abate completely.

“You! You're...wait. You look similar to Trixie Lulamoon, but...” The sea witch shook her head.

Beatrix slid down to approach her. “Yes, she's my mom, sort of, but that doesn't matter! My name's Beatrix Belladonna, and we want our friends back! You're a member of the Coven, aren't you? I'm friends with them, so why not return them to us?”

“That may be true, but I've never heard of you, and have no way to confirm what you say is true. More importantly, are you aware of their crimes? The sirens are responsible for hundreds of deaths, my own included. The pair of spoiled women with them aren't much better. Leave now, or else Luster Dawn assures you everyone here will share in their fate!”

“So much for reason,” muttered Beatrix under her breath.

From where the whirlpool once stood arose a kraken. The monstrosity towered over the area and left waves in its wake. Its horrific maw opened, so large it could easily swallow up the pirate ship many times over.

But the pirate captain refused to abandon her crew, and likewise Spike readied himself to attack, as he'd sworn to protect his mates with his life.

The pallid abomination dripped and thrashed. One swat of a tentacle was all it would clearly take to smash the sea bound airship to pieces. “This is suicide,” warned Beatrix. “We don't have any choice but to run! Maybe if we ask the Dragon Lord-”

“No! I can't hide behind him,” cried Spike. “Besides, it will be far too late by the time we return!”

“Okay, I understand. But what's the plan? The second that monster decides to attack...” Beatrix let herself trail off.

“Eh...I don't really know,” he admitted. It was clear brute force alone wouldn't do.

And while maybe the creature would be stopped if they captured the summoner, he doubted the powerful sea witch could be seized so easily.

“Well you'd better come up with something fast,” she reminded, as the kraken started to swim their way. Its milky white eyes appeared to be blind, its senses disturbed by the dim storm around it, as it sought vibrations in the air to snatch its prey. It howled as Luster Dawn glowed. “That proves it. Just like with the guardian, that monster's under her control!”

“So we rush in and snatch her,” called back Rainbow Dash over the wind.

But no sooner did she speak when Luster Dawn floated into the air and started to drift away. She stared them down as if she dared them to begin their attack, to give her a reason that would justify her wholesale slaughter of the interlopers.

“Let's distract her,” yelled Lightning Dust. “Keep her attention divided and you can swoop in, Spike!”

“Don't get yourselves killed,” warned Beatrix who clung to the drake's back as a flurry of activity broke out at once. She worked a spell while gunshots were fired, fliers swarmed in, and the kraken stirred to assault them. It made a beeline for the pirate ship, as Calaeno barely spun the wheel in time to avoid a stray tentacle and desperately tried to take it skyward.

Cannonballs launched from its sides and slammed into the beast. It screeched in pain and thundered towards them, bruises left on its surface where the balls had struck.

“No time to evade,” cried Calaeno. “Abandon ship you sea dogs~!”

More cannonballs slammed into the kraken from behind. It roared, the creature's attention split as the ghost ship turned on it, Diamond Tiara at the helm with Silver Spoon at her side. The sirens swam at the sides and helped rescue the overboard pirates.

“Ha! Take that you nasty monster,” yelled Tiara who punched the air. “The equipment's old, but somehow it still works!”

More cannonballs rained on the abomination from both directions. Its summoner was forced to defend herself from all sides as the fliers attacked her with flintlocks, muskets, and cutlasses from all sides, her focus broken.

“Damn you,” hollered Luster Dawn as she lost control over the beast, and it sank underwater, deciding that the snacks around it weren't worth the trouble.

She watched the black mass vanish into the ocean depths. Diamond Tiara called, “Looks like the tables have turned! Yeah, I know we're not blameless, but it's not like we can change the past! You expect us to roll over and die?”

“Don't get ahead of yourselves,” warned Luster who withdrew from her attackers. “You think that's all I'm capable of?” She dove underwater with a splash, and the sirens went after her, as the sky remained dark but the storm died almost completely.

A calmness settled over the area. Spike and most of the fliers landed, drenched pirates sputtered on the decks, and they waited to see what would happen. The pirate captain checked on her crew and ordered the medics to supply aid.

Adagio and her sisters emerged with a splash. “No sign of her.”

Sonata shrugged and said hopefully, “Maybe she drowned?”

“Doubtful,” replied Aria who brooded on the situation. “At least we can finally leave this place!”

A transparent violet horn made of magic temporarily materialized on Beatrix's forehead, who strained to work her craft to the limits, her eyes closed and her hands open as they swept over the seas. “No. It's faint, but I sense her magical signature...”

She tried to pinpoint it, only to realize her attempt to scan it was interfered with Luster Dawn, who was infinitely more powerful.

“We don't need to deal with her,” said Lightning who spit into the water. “Let's just get out of here, okay?”

“Wait,” said Beatrix whose eyes widened.

From the abyss a dark mass started to arise. Those closest instantly readied themselves for battle, certain that the abomination they had driven away had decided to return.

But instead from a momentous splash rose a familiar figure...Luster Dawn herself, albeit this time the sea witch arose as a titan, a quiver of bared flesh soaked in droplets when she revealed herself.

“Holy...” Beatrix took a step backwards and tripped as she tumbled onto her butt.

Spike stared up at the nude titan. “Those are some big titties,” she murmured without thinking and shook his head, certain her breasts, thighs, and ass could easily crush him without effort. Again his mind drifted momentarily as his hormones stirred, gaze locked on erect nipples that dwarfed him, and a snatch that could swallow him whole. She was larger than the Dragon Lord!

Her hand swiped out faster than he could dodged and gripped the drake, who she raised to study. “I admire your loyalty,” she admitted. “But it's misplaced. It appears you're drawn to the immoral, that you seek to change them.”

“What can I say? I have a type,” he admitted with a nervous chuckle.

Desperately the young drake wracked his brain for some way out of this situation, ready to sacrifice himself if necessary.

"Unfortunately," said Luster. "You must pay for their sins." She started to squeeze down.