Chapter 12: Nuggets, Pants and a Sea King

A huge ship bearing the Nostrade Family's crest was sailing as fast as it could towards the 104th Marine Branch. Inside a luxuriously decorated room in the ship, a young man was pacing back and forth. Nostrade Gru was half furious and half scared. He was angry because that lowly Marine had dared pull a fast one on him. He was scared because his father had made it clear to him, on multiple occasions, that this was a very important task.

Originally, the plan had been to get rid of the Buzzer Pirates, who had long outlived their usefulness, using either the Marines or the Sorbet City Guards – depending on who found them first. However, the months of planning had all gone down the drain thanks to one cripple. Gru had been looking forward to ripping that boy to shreds once the negotiations with Sorbet were taken care of.

"Hebinu, you idiot! We could have easily gotten both the treasure box and that girl if only you had waited a few days. But now… ARGH!" He muttered as he angrily pulled on his hair. "Father will kill me if that bastard runs away with whatever is inside that stupid box. How did he get a key anyway?"

He stormed out of his cabin as his anger reached a new height. "NAVIGATOR! How long till we arrive?!"

"Lord Gru, sir! It will only take three more hours sir!" The navigator said with a salute as he jumped down from the crow's nest.

Gru got up to his face. "I want us to get there in one. Make it happen!" He then hurriedly ran back to his room, hearing his snail ring.

*Katcha*

"Hey boy. How are things going on your end?" A voice came from the other end.

Gru immediately recognized the voice. Suddenly, his palms were sweaty, his knees weak, and his arms heavy. "F-f-father …" His voice was barely a whisper as he tried not to lose himself in his fear.

Cancel was munching away on some chicken nuggets as he sat on his chair that was floating on the crow's nest. He was looking at the scene his helmet was showing him. Eric was standing beside him, looking through a pair of binoculars.

"You're looking the opposite way", Cancel said as he swallowed. He would have corrected Eric earlier if it wasn't for Larry giving him a stare from the deck. The man was adamant about not letting him speak with food in his mouth.

"Oh right!" Eric said as he turned around. "Isn't this the wrong way though? I could see land when I was facing the other way. I can't see anything now."

"What am I going to do with this idiot?" Cancel facepalmed. When they boarded the ship, Eric had jumped up to the crow's nest shouting about wanting to be the navigator. They had initially let him be, thinking the boy at least knew what he was doing. His lack of skills with directions was made painfully apparent when he shouted "ENEMY SHIP!" just a minute after they set sail. His binoculars were facing down, towards the deck.

"Just leave him be. He looks like he's having fun." Augustus said as he walked out of the toilet. The general sported an exhausted look.

"Well well well, look who's come out of the poo pit. Who would have thought that the great General Augustus couldn't handle a bit of spice?" Cancel chuckled.

Augustus was about to reply when he suddenly held his hands on his stomach, and rushed back in. Cancel thought back to what had happed fifteen minutes ago and broke out into a full blown laughter.

A few minutes after the ship had set sail, Cancel had brought out his stash of chicken nuggets from his floating sofa. Augustus apparently had a very bad habit of taking food off of other people's plates. When the general took a fistful of nuggets from Cancel's bowl and stuffed his face with them, everyone was expecting Cancel, the rightful owner of the nuggets, and Larry, the tyrant of the kitchen, to berate him for his lack of table manners. However, the two men had just shared a glance.

The rest of the ships occupants needed all of three seconds to have their unasked questions answered when Augustus squealed like a female dog. Everyone turned towards him. The general, in all his snotty, tearful glory, rushed towards the ice chamber and started wolfing down chunks of frozen water.

Cancel and Larry had then high-fived, and revealed to the rest Larry's newly restocked spice rack. The cook had apparently participated in a grand cooking battle in his latest voyage through the Blues, earning a kilo of the prized Quadrimom Spider, the hottest pepper in the world. Cancel, being a lover of all things spicy, had promised to make Larry some kitchen gadgets in exchange for some spicy chicken nuggets – humanity's greatest invention.

Cancel was about to tease Augustus some more when Erik shouted again. "I see something!"

"You're probably looking the wro-"

"IS THAT A SEA KING?!" Bruno screamed.

A huge bulge developed on the sea to the ship's right as water gave way to the titanic form of the sea monster. The resulting waves caused the ship to shake, the people on board feeling as if the world was splitting apart right under their feet.

Metal skewers emerged from under Cancel's sofa as they latched on to the ship. Cancel looked around. Larry was fine. He had had his fair share of encounters with sea kings. Soph and Shirley were hugging the mast as they screamed. Augustus was still inside the toilet. Poor guy. Eric was … "Where's Eric?!" Cancel shouted. Nobody heard him in the noise of the sea.

Cancel hurriedly spread out his telepathy, sensing for human minds. He ignored the signals he was getting from the rest as he zeroed in on Eric. Found him!

Eric seemed to have been sent flying away when the waves first rocked the ship. The excitable kid was probably too shocked by the sight he saw through his binoculars to brace for impact. Cancel grabbed him with his telekinesis and threw him inside one of the cabins. He had no time to be gentle.

"General, we could use some help here!" He shouted as he pulled the door of the toilet out of its hinges with his mind. "PANTS!" He screamed as he turned the other way. Augustus was about to rush out, butt naked.

Cancel and Bruno finally got a good look at the sea king as the water finished dripping down. It was massive, looking down at their tiny little ship with eyes as big as Cancel's torso. It was brown in color, with green spots scattered here and there. It was at least five meters thick, with about thirty meters of its total length currently out of the water. Bruno fished out a pen and a piece of paper from who knows where and began scribbling down like his life depended on it.

"Come on, write yours", he shouted as he finished, giving Cancel the pen and another piece of paper. Shouting was the only way to converse through the noise.

"Write what?" Cancel screamed back.

"Your will!"

"Oh right!" Cancel was about to begin writing when he saw the sea king dive headfirst towards their ship. He turned down to look at Soph and Shirley. "It was fun while it lasted guys! I'll see you in the other si-"

*SWOOSH*

Cancel turned around, his eyes widening in joy when he saw a fully clothed Augustus rush past them, meeting the sea king in the air.

General Augustus put his hands forward, his wrists touching each other as his palms faced outwards. It looked like he was about to throw out a Kamehame*copyright*.

"Wine Swirl"

He moved his hands in a circle, the palms exchanging positions. The ship's occupants watched in shock and awe as the huge sea king spun around in the air as a tornado formed between it and Augustus. It was then flung to the side as Augustus swiped his hands to his right. The creature made a loud splash as it landed hundreds of meters away, rendered unconscious by all the spinning. The waves reached the ship in a few seconds, once again shaking it like it was an amusement park ride.

Augustus' stomach protested with a loud *GRRRRROOOOOWWWWLLL* as he rushed back inside the toilet, leaving behind the gobsmacked men and women.