Chapter 12-At Kaller's Command
"All right men. I have come to a conclusion." Kaller announced.
"And what, pray tell, might that be, Captain?" a pirate asked.
"We still do not know where the next part of the treasure is."
Some of the sharks groaned. Many complaints were shouted at the Captain.
"Calm down now, ah. I 'ave, however, discovered on our radar some peculiar activity in Spire Volcano. Someone is near there, though no one in their right mind would be. We will investigate. Perhaps whoever is there can 'elp us."
"But…why would they want to help us?" Ankhlos asked.
"Well, we'll 'ave ta keep a low profile, tha's all. Now, men! Chart a course for Spire Volcano!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" saluted one of the sharks, and proceeded to get the ship ready for disembarkation.
Slowly, one by one, the fearsome ship slunk away from the icy shore of Proarctica. It pushed off, sailing towards the south. Soon, Proarctica had disappeared below the horizon. Kaller's greedy gaze was directed in the opposite direction, waiting to get his hands on the precious treasure. He would have power and riches, everything he'd always dream of, and he'd be one step closer when that big, beautiful mountain peeked its head out to him. Consumed by his thoughts, Kaller didn't even notice when the ship began to sway and rock a slight bit more than usual. One of his men screaming was the only thing that woke him up.
"Eh? What is it n-?" he was cut off by what he saw. A giant white tentacle had attached itself to his ship! He peered over the edge to see that it snaked around, off the deck, into the cloudy water below, preventing his ship from moving.
"I'll take care of this." he said gruffly, lighting a torch. With one brief strike he hit and burned the tentacle. To his surprise, it did not move. He only heard a muffled roar of pain. All was silent on the ship, no one quite knowing what would happen next.
Suddenly, nine more tentacles rose up out of the water in all directions. Five of them managed to grab some of Captain Kaller's men, dragging them down to their watery deaths. The others began to thrash about, crushing Kaller's ship, and further preventing it from moving.
"We've got to get out of here! Le's go! We 'ave to move!" Kaller ordered, trying to keep his calm during the chaos on the ship. The sound of the planks being torn off one by one was deafening. Captain Kaller was trying to yell and order over it, when at last the monstrous beast showed itself. It was nothing more than a giant head with a black ring around its glaring eyes. A giant Blooper.
"Ye've made a mistake showing yourself!" yelled Kaller, and struck at the Blooper's head with his still-lit torch. The Blooper cried out in pain, but didn't release its hold on Kaller's ship. The shark captain was about to strike again when one of his men stopped him.
"Captain, we've managed to get the turbo motor attached. It's at full power. What are your orders?"
A malevolent smile grew on Captain Kaller's mouth. "Fry this big fish." He said. The minion nodded in understanding and started up the motor. A high pitched whine was heard as it fully powered up. Immediately, a bright yellow flame emitted from the rear of the machine, and the ship tore straight through the Blooper, leaving a huge smoldering hole clean through it. Captain Kaller laughed hysterically as his ship continued to tear through the sea, still on course to Spire Volcano.
Some time afterward, Kaller had stopped the motor and was surveying the damage to his ship. He seemed to mourn the loss of every plank, every nail. Oddly enough, the loss of nine of his crew members did not bother him at all.
"Do you know why" he asked plainly, "I chose this ship for our quest?" Simple shrugs from his remaining minions told him the answer. "The loss of the others does not concern me. You all knew the dangers and so did I. But this ship is a different story. It was used by my father, on 'is very first voyage to the seas. 'E loved it. 'E taught me to love the seas, too. But the true reason," he paused for emphasis. "was that 'e built this ship 'imself."
Murmurs of admiration from his crew erupted. "My father gave this ship to me, and in doing so 'e gave me a part of 'is soul. 'E spent months sailing on it, and 'e always maintained it well. Now, look at it. This ship, is all but unusable now." A pool of water growing on deck reemphasized this. "When we get to Spire Volcano, we shall repair it. With such limited supplies, I don't know how, but we will not abandon it!" The Captain's voice grew, and with it, so did the spirits of the crew. "This ship will carry us to the ultimate treasure!" Cheers erupted from the drained crew. They were confident in their captain and themselves. The Captain took a few minutes to bask in the glory of what he had done. He felt great, quite over the despair of the damage, despite its severity.
As if to drive the point home, a few minutes later, the ship's hull smashed into some rocks off the shore of the volcano.