"That was the last time Gantanic ever saw daylight. And the first and last time it ever saw two women go at it," Mila said. Apollo was a bit uneasy hearing about the two women and their actions.
"I don't get it, if the captain kept ordering more speed, how did the Nazi submarine catch up to them enough to launch their torpedoes?" Ema asked, once again snacking on her Snackoos.
"That's a good question but, aren't you the one who does all the scientific research on how things happened?" Mila asked, stabbing Ema in the heart with her words.
"…um… well…"
Apollo laughed. "Wow, she really got you there, didn't she?"
"Hey, you're in charge, shouldn't you know more about it?"
"Gggnn… " Apollo fell back, his twin horns drooping.
"So, when did the drawing come around?" Trucy asked innocently.
"Well… that evening after we met at the bow, I took Larry back to my suite to show him the Magatama that Phoenix had given me."
…
"Whoa, it's like, glowing! What is it?"
"It's the Magatama that once belonged to a great, spirit medium named Ami," Miles explained as Larry continued to examine it. "It was supposedly lost to the ages but now it's in my possession."
Larry held it up to the light, wondering what made it glow while not at all acknowledging a word that Miles said about its history.
"Larry, I want you to draw me wearing this."
The poor man nodded. "Uh huh."
Miles grinned at the words he was about to say. "Wearing only this."
Larry shot him a look like he was going to throw up. Miles laughed.
"Just kidding. I'll also wear a little something."
…
The artist had rearranged the furniture in the sitting room so that the couch was in the middle of the room and a chair and small table were in front of it for him to work at. The dainty man walked in wearing a thin robe and stood before him.
"Here," he said as he tossed Larry a dollar. "Just because we're best friends doesn't mean I should get special treatment. Besides, I always get what I want, no matter the cost."
He stepped away from Larry, and without turning away, he dropped his robe to the floor, revealing his only clothing to be the Magatama and a cravat covering his 'dainty parts.' Larry was shocked at how a dainty man can have such gorgeous abs without so much as lifting a tea cup all the time.
"Um… uh, come to bed… no, the couch!"
Miles lay on the couch, one leg dangling off the arm of the couch and the other lying on the bottom cushions.
"Now, bring your hand up to your head, okay, good. Now put your other hand to your stomach and put it like it's stroking your abs."
He did as he was told. "Good. Now, look right at me, and hold that pose."
As he began to draw, Miles' heart was beating rapidly, like a wild stallion trying to break free from a stable. At one point he noticed his friend was blushing.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
"No! I'm fine! Really!" Larry answered quickly as he finished off the cravat.
…
"Never had I felt so alive… well, up until that point," Mila said with a sigh. Everyone in the room watched her intently, completely absorbed in her story.
"Let me guess, you want to know if something exciting happened after?" she smiled. Smiles were flashing all across the room.
…
Manfred found Phoenix in the smoking room, having a smoke with some gentlemen. He pulled him away to give his report.
"None of the stewards have seen him," he reported.
"This is ridiculous! It's a ship! Where could he have possibly gone?"
"Sir, I'll keep looking if you like—"
"Well you'd better damn find him, von Karma!"
…
Back in the suite, Miles had put his clothes back on and his cravat on the correct part of his body. The drawing was tucked away in the safe along with the Magatama in its case. Larry had just finished putting the furniture back in its place when they heard someone coming through the door.
"Wait, my drawings!" Larry whispered loudly as Miles grabbed his hand and led him through a different exit. Manfred had walked through the first door when he heard another door shut. The two were nonchalantly walking down the hall when they heard Manfred come out the same door they had just left. They turned to look back at the pale man and bolted down the hall, followed closely by Manfred.
"GO! GO! GO!" Larry urged the man in the elevator to hurry up and take them to the lower floors. They had barely slipped away from the scary man as they jumped out of the elevator and down some stairs. Larry was stumbling around everywhere while Miles was laughing uncontrollably. They finally ran into a room that led to the boiler room.
"Man, this guy can't be that old, he chases like a cop!" Larry gasped as he looked through the small window in the door.
"Well, he used to be one before he became a private body guard," Miles said between giggles. Just then Manfred charged down the stairs and caught a glimpse of Larry's silly face.
"RUN!" the two men cried together as they burst through the only door and locked it behind them. They slid down a ladder that led to the boiler room, where the head worker of the men shoveling coal chewed them out.
"You can't be down here! It's too dangerous!" Terry Fawles shouted over the noises around them. The boilers towered over them, and men shoveling coal were working diligently, stopping only to watch them run by.
"Keep up the good work, guys!" Larry called as they raced down the long room. At the end was another door that led to a large storage room, where the larger items of passengers were packed away. One of the items happened to be a brand new car.
"Hey, let's hop in there!" Larry said to Miles. As they neared the car, they noticed the windows were all fogged up.
"Whoa, what have we here?"
Larry crept up near the car and pressed his ear on the door while Miles hid behind some crates. He heard a voice come from inside the car.
"Ooh… higher… no wait, lower… ah…"
"Come on now, I can't wait any longer!"
Hearing enough, he crept back to Miles.
"Let's get out of here," he whispered. "I don't think I want the angry one to find us here listening in on them!"
"Then where do we go now?" Miles whispered back as Larry dragged him away from the car. As they left, a loud moan came from inside the car.
"Sorry Adrian, but looks like your fifteen dollars belong to me now," Franziska said haughtily. "Too bad the five of hearts isn't higher than the ten of spades!"
Adrian gritted her teeth as she watched her money get stuffed into the other woman's pocket. "That's not fair! I've never played poker before! How do I know you're not cheating with the 'higher or lower' portion?!"
"Now, now, there's no point in getting angry. Look, all your anger has done is turn you into a sore loser and fog up all the windows! Who knows what people think we were doing in here?"
Franziska reached up to the window and streaked her fingers across it, leaving a clear mark.
"Really, Adrian. It's only fifteen dollars. That's nothing compared to what you were paid to design this ship."
"Sorry, but I can't help but—"
Suddenly the door to the car snapped open and two security officers shined their flashlights in the women's faces.
"Gotcha!" Jake Marshall shouted as his brother, Neil, held the door open. Franziska was frustrated by the sudden interruption and brandished her whip at them.
CRACK!
"Foolish fools only act foolishly when they have no other foolish job to foolishly perform!" she yelled as she whipped the two men. Adrian climbed out the opposite door and made a run for it when Franziska was done punishing the brothers.
…
Phoenix was in the suite with some security officers, checking to make sure nothing had been stolen. He checked the safe where he found the new drawing of Miles and a note.
"I've grown up to be a fine woman. This picture is the last trace of man in me," the note read. Phoenix was about to tear the picture in half when he had a better idea.
