Death has received yet another update! I wasn't expecting the views and reviews so far, as I was worried how people would think of how I portrayed certain characters.
This might be the last chapter I will be posting for a while, as I have finals coming up next week and a wedding to go to that same weekend.
Enjoy!
A few days had passed since the Z Stacks' attempted prank, and it was peaceful in Bigg City. Yes, there were still plenty of jobs to do, but no one minded the workload. It felt as though everything had gone back to normal.
Ten Cents and Sunshine were sent out to go bring Lillie the fuel needed to keep her light going. The barge was not as heavy, which was a welcome relief for them (as opposed to pulling Hercules' oil barge). As they pressed on, they noticed Hercules heading towards Dender Rocks.
"Where's Herc going?" Ten Cents asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe he's on one of his missions." Sunshine calmly replied. "Someone must have gotten lost and called for help."
"Or he's paying Lillie a visit." Ten Cents replied, knowing how… close the two ships were. "C'mon!" With that they changed course and started following Hercules.
Their attempts to pursue the ocean tug were in vain, as a thick cloud of fog had rolled in. The switchers were forced to travel at slower speeds, knowing how hazardous the fog could be for ships like themselves.
Fortunately, they spotted Izzy Gomez anchored near the edge of the city. Maybe he could offer some assistance in figuring out where Hercules went. "Oy Izzy, have you seen Hercules?" Ten Cents asked, blowing his whistle to catch the tramper's attention.
Izzy was struggling to fall asleep when he heard a loud whistle. "Ay… Oh it's you two." He muttered, yawning loudly. "You looking for someone?" The two switchers nodded and told him what had happened with Hercules. "That guy never gives me a tow, but he's busy. Listen, he went over there, and the fog opened up for him." The tramper explained, recollecting what he had seen.
"The fog opened up for him?" Ten Cents asked, questioning the tramper's claims.
"Sí, sí." Izzy replied. "The fog opened like a door for him and then closed."
The two switchers thanked Izzy and decided to continue on their job of bringing the fuel to Lillie. However, the information Izzy gave them was weighing on their minds.
"Opening the fog as if it were a door?" Sunshine asked, still processing the information. "Is Izzy trying to play a trick on us?"
"Hercules must have been equipped with a new headlamp recently." Ten Cents suggested. The idea was out there, but with Hercules calmly going out into the fog, it was plausible. "Or that there's something about our friend that doesn't want to be known."
A few minutes later, Ten Cents and Sunshine spotted Lillie and steamed up to her. "Ah hello boys!" She smiled and greeted, but her expression changed when she noticed that the two switchers looked down. "Is something on your mind?"
They told her what happened, explaining how Hercules vanished in the fog. "Do you know if he told you where he was going by any chance?" Ten Cents asked.
"No, no. I saw him when he got back a few days ago, but not this evening." Lillie answered, shaking her head. "Whenever he heads out to sea, I always assume it's because of a contract that needs to be fulfilled. Or a distress call. He always gets serious about those."
Ten Cents and Sunshine thanked her, and headed back to port. The fog was thinner than what it was earlier, which made them wonder if a wind had come in and blown the worst of it away. Either way, they still had many questions about what Hercules was doing.
The next morning, Hercules returned to the Star Dock and anchored at one of the piers to rest. Questioning him then and there would have been pointless. And risky. Ten Cents and Sunshine decided that they would ask him in the afternoon, as he would probably wake up by then.
The switchers were on their way to do some work at the harbor when they spotted Top Hat with Frank and Eddie the car floats. Frank and Eddie were usually having fun teasing the railway tug, but this time, they were serious.
"Ah hey!" Frank said, spotting Ten Cents and Sunshine. "You won't believe what we saw last night. Do you want to know about it?"
"No… what happened?" Ten Cents asked. The fact the car floats were speaking like this made him very concerned.
"We saw the Grim Reaper!" Eddie exclaimed. "Toppy says that there isn't one because of the Z Stacks' prank. However, the guy we saw was bigger than Zorran. And meaner too!"
"Bigger than Zorran?" Sunshine was bewildered by Eddie's claims and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What did he look like? If you can remember what he looked like."
"We couldn't get a good view because of the fog." Frank replied in a quiet voice. "He was huge and looked like he was all black. He wasn't too pleased to see us, but he let out a small growl and went on his way. Amazingly, he did know where he was going despite it being very foggy."
"That is enough you two." Top Hat snapped before looking at the two switchers with a worried expression on his face. "I apologize if these two were causing you trouble. Apparently a ship got towed to Lucky's last night, but the Coast Guard found him dead by the time they arrived."
"Dead?!" Ten Cents and Sunshine exclaimed. They couldn't believe it! They thanked Top Hat and headed to the harbor, not wanting to be late.
Work was going smoothly, but the two switchers heard all sorts of rumors from the vessels that were anchored. Yes, some were still bringing up the Z Stacks' prank, but other conversations were more serious. All were worried, and some from northern and southern harbor cities told them similar stories. The stories about a large tugboat who blended in with the fog.
Once work was done, Ten Cents and Sunshine headed back to the Star Dock. Much to their relief, Hercules was now awake and was getting cleaned. It would be a good time to talk to him.
"Oy Herc, did you hear?" Ten Cents asked, puffing up to the ocean tug. "There were some ships that got scared after seeing and hearing what happened last night! A ship was found, but died by the time the Coast Guard arrived."
"Hu?" He calmly asked. "I had to locate and tow a ship to Lucky's Yard after he got damaged in a collision with a tramper. I was very saddened when I found him dead. I will admit, it was stressful, but it was not as bad as when I went to salvage and scrap Champion."
Ten Cents looked at Sunshine, but the other wasn't sure on what to say. "Needless to say, we were very worried for you. We heard about the grim reaper putting the guy out of his misery-"
However, he was silenced with a glare from Hercules. "The grim reaper is a mere fable and that is the end of that." He explained in a stern voice. "I have dealt with similar rumors up in Halifax, and they were not fun. The head of the Navy up there had to bring order back to the city."
The switchers wanted to ask more, but Hercules was in no mood for answering such questions. Knowing how unpredictable he got when he was stressed out, pushing the envelope further would be disastrous. They thanked him and set off for their next job.
"Hercules didn't even say anything about how the ship died!" Sunshine whispered. The two sailed past Lucky's Yard and saw the dead ship, and were alarmed to see that the ship only received collision damage. No other physical damage was present, and some workmen were seen scratching their heads. "I know he answers distress calls, but this is something out of the ordinary."
"He was heading to Dender Rocks as well." Ten Cents mused, remembering what Izzy had told them the previous night. "Looks like we have a mystery on our hands."
"A mystery?" The smaller switcher inquired.
"Yes. If there is such thing as a grim reaper, we've got to stop him before more ships die." The larger switcher said in a serious tone. "There's no time to lose!"