((it's all good. no worries. You've been stupidly patient with me, so I figger you've earned a break XD))

Octavius wasn't so sure about Ceres' assumption that he was speaking in the same language as her, but he figured he would just be quiet, and see what happened. If she did die, well, he was no longer bound to their deal. If she didn't, well, he supposed they would all have to hop on the first caravel they saw and hope for the best. While the water did its thing, the captain had enough sense to double-check that the chamber of his fowling piece was loaded. And of course it was. He grinned, and did some quick grip-switching amongst his weaponry so that he had his shotgun in his right hand, and his revolver in the other. Then they all started running at the woman's prompting. Just about everyone the wave smacked into was knocked down and unconscious. If they were lucky enough to remain conscious, most of them weren't in any state to fight back. The toughest of the marines, however, were more than willing to try. The water rendered their weapons mostly useless, but they had no problem drawing their swords and charging the group, screaming bloody murder and threatening the same. 

The ragtag crew that the pirate lord had assembled were kind enough to respond by producing pistols of various designs and opening fire on the charging soldiers. Captain Cuttlam himself, however, had no such luck. After his run-in with Ceres in the alley, all of the powder in his firearms was wet, and thus ruined. He groaned, and then tucked his pistol away, racking the slide on his scattergun until it was empty. He loaded two rounds rapidly, and discharged them just as quickly. The first was a dud, probably also wet, but the second went off nicely, violently removing a good solid third from the top of a marine's head. He chuckled and stuffed three more rounds into his fowling piece, finding two more duds before slaying another rapidly approaching enemy with a well-placed slug to the throat. The pirate then growled angrily, though he was delighted to see that his crew, having continued their rush down to the waterfront, had managed managed to finish off the rest of the enemies who had taken it upon themselves to rush headlong into madness. All except one, of course.

There was always one man thrown further into madness than the others. In most cases, that man was Octavius Cuttlam. In this case, though, it was one of the marines, washed into an alley. Sometimes that madness resulted in great success. This time, it ended in tragedy for the afflicted. Having spotted Octavius before the wave struck, this one was determined to be the hero of the town, and the slayer of one of the greatest pirate captains in history. But Captain Cuttlam hadn't become a pirate lord by being slow, or unaware. Even as his assassin was leaping from the shadows, bayonet fixed, and sword in hand, he was moving, turning, shifting out of the way, and opening his mouth as wide as it would go. Thanks to the magic of the strange fruit he had eaten so long ago, his mouth opened ridiculously wide, When the opening was big enough, which didn't take long, the massive dog head that had earlier exploded from within his arm, now ripped from his throat, rushing out and crashing into the soldier. The head of the beast lunged straight for the poor bastard's throat, and before anyone else could do anything, the marine was dead, his spinal cord severed, along with all of the vital blood vessels in his neck.

Satisfied, the now blood-drenched canine retreated, disappearing before every watchful eye, and the captain barely reacted, beyond swearing quietly at Ceres for ruining his ammunition. Then it was onward to the docks, a swift journey constantly accompanied by a near silent tirade from Octavius, regretting his decisions more as time passed. He resolved to get his revenge on Ceres in some way. For now, he would have to honour their deal...