Chapter: Sixteen: Trouble in Naples

Chapter Author: Beck2

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Less than thirty minutes after the explosion of his beloved ship, Orick ran the nose of his safety boat into the shallow water of the Naples dock. Jumping on to dry land, he did not pause for his crew. As far as he was concerned, they weren't even his crew. No ship, no need for a crew. Besides, he could leave the area much easier without having to worry about the stragglers.

He would have to move fast. Not five minutes away were Nemo's boats, with a few League members to hunt him down. But he had never been caught easily, and he wasn't about to start now.

He ducked away into the streets of Naples, weaving in and out of the crowds who stood dumbstruck at the spectacle of the ships that had happened mere minutes before.

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Nemo frowned as the crewmembers of the Aurelius were rounded up. They gave up with little fight. Without a leader to bark orders, the majority of them were listless and lost. The others that fought were shown no mercy for there involvement in this altercation.

Skinner had disappeared to go talk to the Naples officials. The last thing they wanted was to be delayed by hysterical politicians. Usually, Jekyll, Mina, or himself would speak with the officials, but he was hunting Orick, and he needed Miss Harker to find him.

And Jekyll would still be Hyde, and therefore unavailable for civil conversation.

"I smell him. He went that way." She gestured into the heart of Naples. Nemo gave a curt nod, then gave his first officer orders to keep a close eye over the prisoners. One hand gripping his saber, he immediately strode off after mina, trusting her vampire instincts to show the way.

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Bursting out of the water, Hyde shook the water from his beady eyes. It had taken him forever to get out of the water, partially because he allowed himself to have a little fun with some of the safety boats from the Aurelius. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings. There were several clumps of people, all of them staring at him. He gave them a fiendish grin and started towards them.

NO EDWARD! STOP!

Shut up Henry, I want to have some fun. He thought back with a leer.

People immediately began screaming and running every which way. He snorted. As if running would help them. It would just make it more fun for him.

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"We have the situation totally under control. You don't need to worry." Skinner told the slightly balding man in reassurance.

A loud roar split through the air. Skinner jumped. The balding man squeaked in terror.

"Bloody hell." He sighed. Only one creature in the world roared like that. So much for having the situation under control.

"What was that?" The man demanded.

Skinner glanced at him. "The cream topping to the worst week of my life."

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He grabbed the edge of the boat. It stayed steady as he hauled himself up into it. He blindly fished around in the water to lend a hand to the smaller person. As soon as he felt a hand grab his, he hauled the younger person into the boat with him. Then they both struggled with the soggy furred animal.

After the ship exploded, he barely managed to find his bearings after the waves had knocked him around. He would have drowned if he hadn't managed to get his sense of direction worked out by some miracle. The dog found him first, Gilly soon after. Then the boy had spotted a boat, which to all of them seemed like a divine gift.

"Any guesses why this boat is just sailing here without a care?" He heard Gilly grunt as they pulled the mutt into the boat.

"No. You see anything?"

"Not really. Nothing interesting. Except an almost sunk ship and the Nautilus sitting there like a dead duck."

"How bad is it?" Sawyer asked, a little nervous. His eyes still were blurry and unfocused. But they were getting steadily better.

"Some big holes, but it floats. Where are the oars on this thing…" He heard Gilly's tone suddenly change.

"Something wrong?"

"There sharks in these waters?"

"I dunno, why?"

"Uh…nothin'. Just satisfyin' a boy's curiosity."

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Gilly carefully let the oar slip back into the water. He had fished it out thinking it might be useful, but as it turned out, it looked like something large had used it for a toothpick. And then bit it in half.

He didn't think that mentioning this discovery would help their current situation. The last thing that really needed to be mentioned was man eating monsters. Finding a more intact oar, he started to row towards the Naples Dock. He could have gone to the Nautilus, it was closer, but what the American didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and he didn't have an overwhelming desire to go back to that ship anyway.

Clunky lay on the floor of the boat, soaking wet and totally miserable. He was feeling the same way. Shedding his coat, which would have made swimming much easier in the first place, he tossed it on the floor next to Clunky, who growled at it and stuck his nose up.

"Got an extra oar?" The American asked. Gilly shook his head, then remembered that he couldn't see that well.

"No."

"Where are we going?"

"Shore, it's closer." He lied through his teeth. "I don't really trust this boat. Figured we go to the place that's the closest."

"Alright. Tell me when you get tired, I'll take over."

"Mighty kind of you."

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A/N

I know, it's getting harder and harder for me to update on a regular basis. The fact is, I've been totally swamped with band competitions and the four week homework stretch, and it's been taking up all of my time. I'm sorry, but that's how it is. And to make things more difficult in the way of updating, I'm going on a trip, and I'll be gone for a grand total of four days, but it'll actually be longer, for all the things I have to prepare for and the fact that I'll probably be too tired when I come back to update. But I don't plan on dropping this story until it's finished, which will probably be in several chapters, so all of you that are hanging onto this story, I promise I'll pick it back up as soon as I have the time.  It may just be a bit of a long wait. Sorry about that!

Asteria: No problem, I was just wondering what had happened, but that's totally fine. If you pick it back up, don't forget to tell me, I'd like to read the new stuff you put in! I'm glad you liked the last chapter and like this one just as much!

Niani: Heh, thank you. And I hope you liked this chapter!

Silent Bob 546: Gilly with a good side? I suppose odder things have happened. Glad you liked the last chapter!

Clez: Hope this made everything all right for you, and I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one!

Yvonne Clark: Heh, that is funny! You don't know how it got to Nemo? Wow, you must be like me. Every time we get to see a history movie, I'm slowly falling asleep, until it says some key phrase and I wake up wondering why I'm thinking about Robin Hood during the Industrial Revolution. Heh, interesting accent. Hope you like the chapter!

Steffi-333: Sorry about that, I really do try to keep updates well in control, but it's just not working. Heh, another Skinner lover enters the fold. I hope you like this chapter!

Fritz Will Get You: I'm adding more all of the time, so I hope you like this installment!

Please leave your reviews and comments on the way out. Thank you very much!