"Right, that's it, there you go! Off you go."
"Thanks a lot, captain. I owe you one."
Amelia patted the man on the shoulder, and proceeded to help the others. Some of her men were still in the water, and it was her responsibility as the captain to retrieve them back into safety. The darkness the night provided was no help, so she had to use a torch to spot her crew in the darkness.
Delbert, on the other hand, as a 'doctor', had another responsibility to take care of. It was John Silver, who's missing an arm. He was lying on the main deck, spectated by some of Amelia's crew. They didn't know what to do. Never had Silver ever thought that this day would come where he'd lose another member of his body part. And there he was, still gushing blood from his arm, with only a piece of cloth to slow it down.
"Coming through, coming through!"
Delbert dug his way in the crowd, carrying Silver's mechanical arm. Silver looked up at the sight he'd been waiting for the past minutes.
"There we go lad, gimme that," he gestured Delbert to give the object to him.
"You sure this will work?" Delbert said hesitantly, placing the arm on Silver's shoulder.
Silver removed the piece of cloth on his armless shoulder, "I'm sure it will, doc... The maker said that-RAGHH!"
Almost like a living being, the arm reattached itself with its old host. The wirings connected with Silver's veins, as well as the artificial muscle tissues with Silver's genuine ones, and with its arm locked onto its host, blood had no way to flow out. It was not the smoothest process in the world, but it lasted for no more than a second.
"Are you okay?!" Delbert asked.
"Huft..." Silver looked at his arm, and moved his fingers. He tried to raise it, but its movement was sluggish. It was a feeling that he had only felt back when he first got this very arm. The feeling of a beginner.
"Heh, it'll take time for me to adapt, but for now," he shook the doctor's hand. "It's enough for a polite handshake," he smiled.
Delbert's eyes bulged in shock, "Oh my, that was... quick."
"He was the best in his field, doc. This," he raised his arm. "Was one of his creations. Luckily, we were pals."
"Right, oh-" Delbert turned to a sound of whirring solar engine. It was Sarah's crew, floating right next to the deck of the ship.
"They're here."
While slowly positioning the boat to be right next to the ship, the gals were arguing over something, which Amelia couldn't comprehend what it was. Everything was over, what was there to argue about?
"Ursey, who?" Jim asked.
"Ursula! She's the Sea Witch, probably the only living being in the sea who can fulfill Ariel's wish other than King Triton," Sebastian replied, who was on the bottom of the boat. So, Amelia couldn't figure out who was speaking as she approached the boat.
"Goddamit Ariel..." Jim cursed, before placing a small anchor on the ship as a connector between the boat and the ship. He stood up and helped the others to hop onboard the ship. Amelia curiously looked over to the boat.
"Who was... talking?"
Sebastian noticed the question, and hopped onto the boat's lips. "That'd be me! The name is Sebastian!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief instantly. "A TALKING CRAB? WHAT IS LIFE?!"
"A talking crab who can compose songs, should I add," Sebastian added. With the help from Ben, the crustacean placed himself on the deck of the ship. With a proud look, he stared at the feline figure.
"Oh my..." Amelia knelt down to get a closer look, and so did some of her crew. They looked at the crustacean in awe, and Sebastian immediately felt like a diva. Amelia stood back on her feet to take it all in, but then she realized an absence.
"Where's the girl?" Amelia asked to Jim, who was still turning off the boat's engine.
"That's our new problem at the moment," he said.
In the life underwater, Ursula was admiring her new possession, the daughter of King Triton herself, Ariel. She was chained on both of her hands, with the chains connected to a big heavy rock that was outside of her capability to budge.
In excitement, she shoved both of her hands while imagining the things that she could do with a royal blood. She imagined the wildest things, and the wildest among them was to take over the royal bloodline.
While Ursula was enjoying herself in another realm, Ariel was helplessly looking at the 'imprisonment' on her wrists. Her remaining attire was the pair of white bras that Sarah had given. The beautiful dress she wore was ripped off by the magic Ursula had cast, since a dress was not a part of a mermaid's identity.
Out of nowhere, the bow that Ariel used to have on her hair slowly sank in front of her. It landed right on her hands, almost like it knew to whom it belonged. It rose a small smile on her lips, but due to Ursula's magic, the bow disintegrated into pieces, as if a pair of invisible and reckless hands was ripping it off.
Her smile turned upside down.
In silence, she pondered of the life ahead of her. She was going to be kept as one of Ursula's prisoners. Only God knew if anyone would recognize her in the shape of a polyp. Everything could've been ended happily, but for this case, it didn't. She was so close to finishing the deal, but yet, so far.
Right when she was about to ask if Ursula was done with mumbling around her plans, two figures showed up from afar. Both Ursula and Ariel were aware of this, and Ariel was the only one who was happy to see who the figures were.
"Daddy! Flounder!"
"Ariel, what have you done?" Triton asked with a disappointed tone. "Ursula, what have you done?"
"Doing the usual business, promises," the Sea Witch smiled slyly.
"Release her at once!" Triton pointed his trident at the witch. Ursula felt threatened, so, she summoned the contract in front of her. It glowed brightly in yellow.
"Ah, ah, ah! Slow down, mister! A deal is a deal!"
"Nonsense!" Following his instinct as a father, the king shot a blast of yellow beam into Ursula's direction. With reflex, she shielded herself with the contract paper, and a blinding light blinded the scene for a second.
Once the light subsided, no mark was found on the contract paper. Ursula herself found this surprising, but she's buying it.
"HAHA! You're quite foolish for a king, Triton!" Ursula mocked. The contract paper, however, glowed so bright, it blinded the scene again. A thunderous sound was heard in the process, and it was followed with a loud grunt that belonged to King Triton.
After the light subsided, Triton was found bending his back in pain, still grunting in pain.
"DADDY!"
"Your majesty-" Flounder checked his king thoroughly, and later concluded that the contract paper had struck him with the power of the trident itself. Ursula came up with the same conclusion, and it only widened that sly smile of hers.
"Ohh, never knew that it was capable of doing that. Oops?" Ursula shrugged. "Now, please excuse us, King Triton."
"N-No, wait!" He looked up. "I'll... offer a deal."
"A deal?" Ursula turned around, "A deal, you said?"
"Yes," he straightened his back again. "A deal. Trade me for my daughter's freedom,"
The Sea Witch raised her brows. "Even if that means..."
"No, daddy! Don't do this!" Ariel yelled from the back, attempting to free herself desperately. But the rock wouldn't budge an inch.
"Yes," he gestured to his trident. "I could care-"
"Say no more, old man!" With a snap of a finger, another contract paper materialized in front of the king. It was followed with a fish bone imitating as a pen. The contract had details written on it, which Triton never bothered to read. The only thing that he cared was the space for his hand signature right at the bottom of the paper.
"SIGN IT, AND SHE WILL BE FREE!"
"NO, DAD, NO!"
King Triton took the fish bone, and signed the contract. The deal was settled! Magically, the chains on Ariel's hands dematerialized. For that, Triton was turned into a tiny polyp. Of course, the trident and the crown that Triton possessed were a part of his identity no more, considering he's a mere polyp. The crown landed right on top of Triton, circling him. Even his crown was larger than his own size.
With a sly giggle, Ursula picked up the crown and placed it on her head. A sudden flow of energy filled her veins, empowering her being even more. And that wasn't the end. When she grabbed the trident, it radiated red hot on the area where her skin contacted. It was an odd sensation, yet victorious. When she grabbed the trident firmly, the trident sent a shock wave across the water. She was complete. She was now the new ruler of the sea.
Ariel swam toward her father. As gently as possible, she picked him up.
"Daddy... why?"
He couldn't answer. His love toward his daughter had consumed his healthy mind, but it was for the best. Ariel knew there was a bigger problem at the moment, but she could care less. Her father had been turned into something else, something weaker. It was all for her own sake, and here she was, alive, not imprisoned by the Sea Witch, which pretty much equals death. Yet, the guilt was there. How could she ever redeem herself?
"You two mind if I redesign the royal bloodline?" Ursula asked the trio, and they turned to her, wondering what she could possibly mean. Triton was the first to realize what she meant, and he jumped and jumped on Ariel's hands to grab her attention.
She turned to him. "What is it, daddy?"
Before he could even attempt to answer her, a vortex of water separated the trio. It was Ursula's doing!
"I think it's time to declare who the new ruler is..."
"What do you mean she was taken away? And who's this 'Sea Witch'?" Delbert asked.
"Ursula's the name," Sebastian replied. He was circled by everyone on the deck as he was standing on a barrel. "She has Ariel now, and we've got to save her!"
"How are we even going to save her?" Amelia asked. "She's underwater, for Pete's sake-"
Unexpectedly, a giant thunderous torrent of water emerged from the water just beneath the ship. The torrential water acted as a support for the Sea Witch just on top of the water. Everyone onboard looked down from the ship, and gasped at the sight.
A woman, reasonably ugly, was expanding in size. Her large black tentacles emphasized her monstrosity, and her crown & trident emphasized her title. The growth stopped right when she was as tall as an average lighthouse. Not much moments later, the sky turned grim, grimmer than a normal night sky. Thundering clouds were filling the air, and so were harsh winds.
"There's Ariel!" Jim shouted while pointing down to a vortex that soon breached the surface of the water just in front of the monstrous woman, where Ariel was seen in the bottom of it. The vortex was so fast in speed, that it drained the water near her, making Ariel immobile with no water to swim in. Everyone else spotted the same sight.
"Sebastian," Amelia called, "is that really the girl? I remember that she had a pair of feet."
"Positive! We have to save her now!" Sebastian said, nodding down.
"EVERYONE! TAKE YOUR POSITION!" Amelia exclaimed, and the crew set off to their posts. Having enough action performed in the day, Sarah and Delbert followed Amelia to the captain's quarter along with Ben, Morph, and Sebastian. She hoped that having Amelia's presence near her would shelter her. While everyone was on their process in securing the sails, the lifelines, and other essentials, Ursula happened to look up. Of course, she spotted the giant ship just above her, and saw this as a possible threat. She lifted the trident, and slowly aimed it at the ship.
Luckily, one person onboard noticed the sight.
"AMELIA! SHE'S GOING TO SHOOT US!" Sarah shouted, who happened to look down at Ursula.
The feline nodded, "aye! Thank you for that Sarah!" With that, she applied some power on the thrusters with a swing of a lever, and banked the ship to the left. Shortly after, a loud ear-bleeding noise was heard, and a towering beam of electricity shot towards the sky. It hit the secondary boat that Jim had just 'parked' right beside the mothership, and destroyed it into pieces.
"Oh my goodness!" Sarah cursed under her breath.
Amelia glanced at the Hawkins. "Sarah, I suggest you to take yourselves and the others into the captain's room. It's safer inside."
"Right, r-right. Let's go Delbert, Ben," Sarah gestured him to follow her.
"Okay Sarah," they responded in unison and followed her into the captain's room while carrying both Morph and Sebastian.
To gain a clearer vision, Amelia descended the ship, and tilted the ship to the left so it'd move in a circle on the harsh air. Ursula was staring at the ship with a death glare, seemingly having no desire in having a disturbance. So, she aimed her trident again at the ship.
"Silver!" Amelia called the cyborg, who was securing life lines on the mast on the center of the ship with Jim. The cyborg looked up.
"What is it?!"
"Operate the laser ball cannon! Attack that horrendous woman!" Amelia commanded. Silver scoffed for a moment.
"Aye aye, captain. Make sure everything's secure, Jimbo," Silver said before leaving his post to take another one. Jim nodded and continued his work.
"Oh you're a beautiful one," Silver sat on the cannon's seat after checking the cannon's shape. Then, he aimed the cannon, and discovered that Ursula was attempting to shoot again. Silver reacted quickly by blasting a laser ball.
BOOM!
The ball was launched. However, its speed was slow enough to be anticipated by the Sea Witch. Ursula shot another electric beam, and the shot landed right on the laser ball, which blinded the scene for a second.
"Blasted ol' woman!" Silver cursed. He proceeded to shoot more rapidly, launching more laser balls as the ship moved in a circling maneuver around the giant Ursula. The amount of laser balls that headed toward Ursula was too much, that several managed to hurt her on her tentacles. However, it wasn't enough. They barely did a scratch.
"Amelia, we need more firepower!" Silver reported.
"Roger that!" Amelia grabbed the cone-shaped mic on the control center beside her. Through the loud speakers installed on every corner of the ship, she commanded, "Go to the cannons! Fire with everything we have to the hostile!"
Numerous 'aye's were spoken as response, and it didn't take long for Amelia's crew to reach the cannons. Shortly, more fires were shots. The firepower varied from lasers, cannon balls, to laser balls. The interference dug under Ursula's skin.
"Foolish humans!" Ursula cursed, and her curse echoed through the atmosphere. Everyone in the scene heard this, including the ones in the captain's room.
Ursula summoned a wall of water to shield herself, which was basically a waterfall, only reversed. It never acted as a proper shield, but it managed to slow down any projectile heading toward her.
While busy shielding herself, Ariel saw this as an opportunity. She slowly crawled on the rough rock towards the wall of the vortex. In the middle of her way, she spotted a yellow tint on the wall. It was Flounder! The fish was swimming in the opposite direction of the vortex with every bit of his energy, and in the process, also closing the gap between him and the mermaid to reach her by banking slightly to the right.
"Flounder!" She called. The fish noticed the call, and gestured Ariel to come closer. She crawled and crawled, until she spotted another tint of color in the wall of the vortex.
"Flounder, behind you!" Ariel called. It was Flotsam and Jetsam, racing towards the tropical fish. With their slender shape, they were cutting through the water more easily than Flounder, so they were gaining.
Flounder noticed the threat, and decided to use the environment as an advantage. He stopped swimming abruptly, and let the spinning water take himself to the eels. The eels were surprised, but they were slow on countering the fish as they were both slapped with Flounder's fin. The knock made the eels to be spun around on the vortex, but what Flounder never expected the eels to be thrown into the center of the vortex where Ariel was. Seeing this, Flounder gasped and rushed himself towards Ariel by swimming against the current again.
Flotsam and Jetsam never expected to reach the center of the vortex as well, but they would do anything to prevent the mermaid from escaping while their queen was busy with something else. They wiggled on the rugged surface, and once Flotsam reached the slow mermaid, he bit her right on the worst spot imaginable. Her wound.
"AHH!"
Ariel screamed on top of her lungs, which attracted Ursula's attention. Seeing her boys were doing work, she wanted a piece of the action too.
"Let me finish her, boys!" She exclaimed.
The pain she received was too much, so Ariel punched the eel on the face. However, Flotsam's teeth had already dug into Ariel's skin too deeply, when they let go of the wound, it only caused even more pain. To prevent Jetsam from causing anymore harm, Ariel slapped him with her tail. She was about to continue crawling, but once again, the agony halted her.
"Say goodbye, little one," Ursula said. Ariel looked up to see the trident was aimed at her. Electricity was charging the trident. Once it was ready, Ursula shot it. Simultaneously, multiple cannon balls hit the gigantic witch on the back, and it made the trident point at the eels instead! One thing she was unaware of was the fact that she unsummoned her barrier of water as she was aiming at Ariel. As the result, Ursula ended up taking the lives of her boys instead.
"NO! MY POOR BOYS!"Ursula yelled.
Ignoring the agony as much as she could, the mermaid 'jumped' into the whirlpool with her hands. The contact wasn't soft, but the rapid current allowed her to flee from Ursula with Flounder. Having lost visual of the mermaid, Ursula cursed under her breath. Before she could even think of a method to search for the mermaid, another round of plasma balls and cannon balls were shot at her back. This time, the impact made her bend.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" She turned around, and zapped a beam at the ship with the trident. The beam landed right on the ship's back hull, where the thrusters were. The landed shot disabled the ship's thrusters immediately, as Amelia discovered the matter when she attempted applying more power on the thrusters but received no feedback.
"EVERYBODY, BRACE!" Amelia exclaimed on top of her lungs so that everyone could hear her. For a few seconds, the ship was letting itself being pulled by gravity. Nearly all foot onboard had gone airborne in that brief moment. With a loud crash, the ship hit the water hard. Saltwater splashed and wetted nearly everyone onboard. Within just seconds, the boat had just retreated technology wise decades back where boats would float on water, not on air.
Having the ship disabled, Ursula used the chance. She charged the trident again, but this time, she dipped the tips in the water. As if the water was alive, it reacted as Ursula commanded mentally. The water below the ship suddenly turned torrential, and seconds later, two large waves were built on the ship's left and right sides. The waves were so tall, the dim lighting around the ship was dimmed even more. Everybody's last hope was their lifelines.
"Everybody... brace again," Amelia warned, but with a lower voice.
So, everyone did. Everyone held tight to their lifelines. But Ursula had something else under her sleeve. Since she was the ruler of the sea, she ruled everything in it, including the wildlife.
Out from the building waves, Great White sharks jumped out with their mouths wide open! They beached themselves on the deck and started slaughtering anything nearby.
"I'm hearing screaming out there, should we take a look?" Ben asked to Sarah, who was seated on the captain's bed.
"No, let's just wait. I just need... to collect myself," Sarah excused. She didn't want to go out there due to one reason; to avoid any more life-taking action. Although her son was the only life that mattered to her in the current situation, she'd never expected that she would have to end other lives in the process.
She'd seen blood, plenty of them. She'd witnessed agony, an abundance of agony. She'd witnessed a pair of eyes watching everything going dark. She'd witnessed a spill of guts on the floor. For a mere woman, she had seen too many.
Delbert was aware of the problem, though he never specifically mentioned that he was, but he knew that the woman needed some comfort. He was no psychologist, but the least thing he could was to be there for her.
Sebastian and Morph were on the captain's desk, merely watching the woman in confusion. But then, the screaming outside began to worry them that it distracted them.
"What's going on out there?" Sebastian asked.
His answer was soon answered. Amelia, Silver, Jim, and three other men barged into the room while caked in blood. Right when all of them got in, what made them rush into the room was revealed. A shark, wiggling its way using its belly towards the door of the room. Before it could enter the room, Jim slammed the door shut and locked it.
"WHY ARE THERE SHARKS ONBOARD?!" Sarah asked on a loud volume.
"Long story, Sea Bitch placed them here," Amelia walked to a drawer and grabbed a box of tissue out. She cleaned some areas on her body from bloods. The new guests did the same.
"And whose bloods are those?" Delbert asked.
His wife glanced at him, and sighed. "There might be some of my men's as well, unfortunately."
"Are you guys hurt?" Sebastian asked.
Jim shook his head. "No, fortunately. But, we're down on the number. We're the only ones remaining," he responded. His mother helped him clean down some dirty areas. "We never anticipated the element of surprise. The lifelines had just turned into deathlines. Our mobility was reduced, and there were sharks to run away from."
"I suppose we need to give her a taste of her own medicine," Silver suggested. "We're going to startle her to death."
The suggestion sparked an idea in Jim's head. "I think I have a plan," Jim spoke. Everyone turned to him, intrigued of what he had to say. But then, an impact made the ship wobble from left to right, and everyone lost their balance simultaneously. They were sure that the ship had just gone underwater for a second, but surfaced again afterwards. From the gap under the door, water flowed in. But it was never a threat, as it receded seconds later.
In suspicion, Amelia checked outside by opening the door. She scanned the environment that was lacking of the previous Great White's.
She shut the door and turned to the rest. "The sharks are gone. I'm guessing the waves on the ship's left and right that acted as their portal had just crashed onto the ship."
"Huh," Jim brushed his cheek with a hand. "This ship could take a punch."
The cyborg in the room cleared his throat. "Good news, then. Anyhow, shoot away, Hawkins," Silver said, patting the boy's shoulder.
"Right, but we're going to need everyone." He turned to his mom to ask for approval. She deeply sighed, and nodded.
"Fine."
"Right, here's the plan... Captain Amelia, the thrusters were only hit by a surge of electricity, correct?" Jim glanced at her. She nodded in approval.
"Correct..."
"So, there's still hope."
Out in the free water, Ariel and Flounder were fleeing for their dear lives. While swimming, she constantly looked back plenty of times, with a hope that she might find an idea of where Jim and the rest of his guys were. However, it was best for her to flee and warn the Atlantians about what just happened.
As they were about to swim over a hill of corals, the duo stopped at an odd sight. The water ahead of them suddenly turned into ice, as if they materialized out of nothing. Soon, the spreading ice formed into a large wall that spread from left to right with a slight curve, blocking the duo's path. The wall 'grew' vertically too, and stopped when it reached the bottom.
"Oh no!"
Ariel and Flounder swam as fast as they could towards the area of where the ice hadn't reached. But they were nowhere near fast enough. By the time they discovered that the ice was spreading too quickly, they slowly slowed down their pace in hopelessness.
"How come there's ice appearing out of nowhere?" Flounder asked.
Ariel palmed her fists. "It must be Ursula's doing." The mermaid looked up and swam upwards toward the surface, followed by her best friend. Once they surfaced, it shocked her to see the wall of ice circling the two. The wall's height was half of Ursula's height, who was patiently searching for the sign of Ariel in the middle of the round wall. It might seem short if the wall is compared to Ursula's height, but it was clearly too much for the mermaid to jump over.
"Where are you, Ariel?" Ursula asked in a ghostly voice.
Ariel gasped when she saw Ursula, and dived underwater. However, that tiny splash was enough for the Sea Witch to have an idea of where she was. Using her magic through the trident, Ursula made the water around the mermaid to send the mermaid upward. Soon, the mermaid was thrown into the air, as if she was sprung away by a trampoline. It took her some time to correct the landing, but she took too long. Ariel landed on her back hard, and it pained her severely.
"Ariel!"
She slowly sunk down. She was still conscious, but the pain prevented her from moving a muscle at this point. The only sense that she was using mainly was her hearing. Ariel heard the loud lightning above the surface, followed with a hollow laughter that belonged to Ursula. She also heard her best friend calling for her name three times. The third one sounded harder than before, which made her eyes peel open. But the only thing she spotted was a giant hand breaching the surface above her.
Ariel never reacted, as her way for escape was blocked by the fingers. She was brought up to the air, and she faced that ugly face of the new ruler of the sea.
"Not so good at hide and seek, are you, Ariel?" Ursula asked.
Ariel only tried to back off with her hands in fear. Ursula's large middle finger blocked her path, however.
"I'll try to make this quick and free of pain, don't worry."
Ursula slowly closed her fingers. She was going to crush Ariel!
"NO! WAIT-" Ariel yelled. She attempted to crawl her way out the crushing hand. Right when she was on the edge, Ursula's fingers reached her body. She felt an immense pressure on her back, which had already been injured by her landing previously. The pressure forced her to bury her face into Ursula's skin, so she was seeing nothing at this point. In the darkness, she was only sensing the immense pressure, until she heard something. A loud boom, followed with a couple of other same sounds.
Ursula's grasp loosened, and Ariel was freed! She fell into the water, and fortunately, contacting the water with her tail first. So, no extra suffering was added to the mermaid. Flounder spotted the mermaid's appearance, and quickly rushed to her to nurse her.
"YOU UTTER-OOF!"
Another round of shots was sent, and it cut Ursula's sentence off. The ship had just regained its engines, all with the help from Silver and Ben, the best engine surgeons onboard. They remained in the engine bay to keep a look on the engine. Amelia controlled the laser ball cannon, and her husband was manning the ball cannons in the weapon bay with the other Amelia's men. They lit as much fuses as possible as they ran from one cannon to another. Sarah and Morph were installing explosives on the base of the bowsprit of the ship. It was going to be used in the plan that was taking place.
As for Jim, he was manning the wheel.
"A round ice wall, huh? She must've been trying to trap Ariel," Jim said to himself. "I think I can use it."
"What are you thinking now, boy?" Sebastian asked, who was watching the scene from the control panel right next to Jim.
"Oh you'll see."
Jim reduced the altitude of the ship and neared the round ice wall that surrounded the Sea Witch. He closed the gap between the ship's right hull and the wall and used its slippery surface as a slide for the ship to circle the giant enemy seamlessly! They were now circling Ursula in a counter clockwise direction. This was never in Amelia's mind.
"JIM! QUIT PERFORMING SUDDEN UNPLANNED STUNTS, WILL YOU?!" Amelia shouted. She was only responded with a grin. Groaning, she decided to flow with the situation. She kept on shooting Ursula with laser balls, which she happened to find to be easier with their new movement now.
"MOM! I'M BUYING TIME HERE, AND THEY'RE EXPENSIVE!" Jim exclaimed. His mother noticed the warning.
"I know! We're working on here with carefulness!"
Sarah's task was a particularly hard one. She had to install two explosives on the base of the bowsprit. One on top, and below it, to make sure that the explosion's angles would be perfect for Jim's plan. She had installed the one for the top of the bowsprit, and the bottom one was the last one. Heading to the underside of the bowsprit meant doing a life-risking maneuver in order to reach it.
Sarah had Morph as her partner in the work. So, to work things out, she told the alien to transform into something useful. Morph thought of something, and transformed into a small anchor with a rope on the end.
Sarah snapped a finger. "Brilliant idea!"
She tied the rope around her waist as tight as possible in a certain knot. Afterwards, she put the anchor on the bowsprit itself. She was now ready, equipment wise. But mentally? Not really.
"Here goes nothing..."
With that, she jumped off and held onto Morph for her dear life. The shootings of the cannons sent vibration on the hull where Sarah was stepping on. The ice scraping against the ship's hull was a magnificent sight to look at, that she felt like she was in a car chase scene. But it was something more than that, something more epic.
She descended herself to the bottom base of the bowsprit, and placed the explosive on it with the sticky side. Her job was now done! All she needed to do was to climb back up. And she did it, seamlessly, only a couple hundred heartbeat faster.
"Jim, the explosives are set!" Sarah exclaimed, as Morph transformed back into its normal form.
"Roger that!" Jim grabbed the mic next to him. "Everyone, brace for impact," he announced.
He let go of the mic. "Mom! Get back to the cabin! Wait for my signal!"
"Okay!" With that, she rushed to the cabin with Morph. Amelia joined her once she made it into the cabin.
"Your son is very brave," Amelia complimented. "Shame that he left the academy so soon," she crossed her arms.
"I agree. Will you make an exception for him to resume his study, instead of starting over?" Sarah asked, and received a scoff as a response. The brunette took out the trigger of the explosives to examine it. It had a small antenna on it, and its safety on. She removed the safety.
"I'm surprised to see you knowing where the safety is." Amelia chuckled. They felt the ship slow down as it banked to the left. The engine roared loudly again as it accelerated after banking. The sound of the scraping ice ceased afterwards, which could only mean one thing. They were en route.
"Hmph, it's not the first time for me, Amelia," Sarah scoffed.
Jim applied more power onto the engine, and the ship was building a faster speed. Up ahead, was Ursula herself. While gritting his teeth, he aimed the bowsprit right at the Sea Witch's chest. Ursula was clearing her vision after receiving so many shots on her face, although not even one pierced through her skin.
She saw a glimpse of the ship, and it made her gasp deeply to see it heading right towards her.
To avoid it, Ursula moved slightly to the right. Jim didn't have time to correct the ship's direction, so it only hit the witch's left shoulder. But this time, the attack finally did spill some blood.
"ARGHH!"
The witch roared in pain, echoing the atmosphere thoroughly. Jim mentally celebrated, although that was not a part of his plan.
Up ahead, there was a wall of ice to avoid. His speed was too much to slow down from, so he decided to perform yet another stunt.
"Jim... ICE WALL UP AHEAD!" Sebastian warned.
"I know! Just, hold onto something!"
Hearing that he had to hold onto something, Sebastian hopped onto Jim's shoulder and gripped his shirt. Jim pulled the altitude lever down, and it increased the ship's altitude slowly. It would've achieved more altitude, had the ship gone in a slower speed. But its speed wasn't enabling him from climbing an altitude high enough to fly over the ice wall.
Jim pulled the lever until it hit the bottom, and the ship's nose was tilted up at the maximum angle. It was high enough to see only the grim sky up above.
They neared the wall, and everyone was startled by the loud sound of the ship's bottom hull scrapping against the icicles on top of the walls after it flew over the wall!
"YES!" Jim celebrated.
"Jim, what did we just hit?!" Silver asked through the speaker on the control panel from the engine bay.
The boy grabbed the mic. "Just a part of the stunt, hold onto something again! We're not done yet!"
"What does that boy have in mind, exactly?!" Delbert asked, who was helping the other men to stand back up in the weapon bay.
Jim never turned the ship's nose angle back to normal. Instead, he used it as an advantage. With the speed he'd already built, and the angle they were at, he let the ship climb higher. The nose of the ship was still heading upwards, so the ship started heading downward instead after it reached the point where the ship was upside down. The ship was performing a loop in midair!
Jim had done the same thing on a solar surfer, so he had no problem when he had nothing to stand on. For the others, holding onto something was never really enough when they had nothing for their feet to stand on top of when everything was upside down, even only for a brief moment.
The ship's speed was now adding, due to gravity. The ship's descent was aligned to hit Ursula this time by Jim.
In her vision, Ursula spotted the ship heading towards her from the sky in front of her. She had no idea how the ship was now in front of her when it was behind her moments ago. And she also had no idea of how to counter the ship. She even had no time to react.
"NO-GACK-"
The ship's bowsprit impaled the witch on the chest, it reached the heart, too. The impact sent Jim and Sebastian flying to the main deck. Some woods of the front hull of the ship were shattered due the immense amount of inertia force. However, what mattered at this point was the kill.
And they did it. The Sea Witch was slayed.
Ursula's pupils dilated. Her grasp on the trident was loose, and it minimized in size. The water started to consume her lifeless body, although her tentacles were still moving about. The bowsprit that impaled her heart was a connector between the ship and Ursula. So, her lifeless body was taking the ship into the water.
"Mom, now!" Jim yelled. Although she expected a signal from the speaker, Sarah triggered the explosives after collecting herself a bit.
BLAM!
The explosion separated the bowsprit from the ship, leaving it attached onto Ursula as she sank into the depth.
Flounder, who was nursing Ariel with anything he could, spotted the giant carcass of Ursula. She was exposing both blood and electrical smoke onto the water. Her body fell into a trench, only to be never seen again.
"Oh my god... They did it."
It was a spectacular look, for him. But Ariel peeling her eyes open was even more spectacular for Flounder. A smile instantly curled.
"Ariel?! Oh boy, you've missed something awesome."