The whole premise behind this chapter has been on my mind for a few months, and I played around with various ideas of what was going to happen. NefariousScalin and I were spitballing ideas after I decided to go and kill off one of the major characters in TUGS, and she even wrote a very terrifying death scene. She has graciously allowed me permission to use the death scene in the story.
The chapter is a bit on the graphic side, so major caution if you're not into that sort of thing. Enjoy!
It was now April, and Bluenose's disappearance was now nothing more than a mere memory. Hercules was the only one who knew what really happened, and intended to keep it that way. If the truth was indeed revealed, the entire Star Fleet could have been put in mortal danger. Hercules would have been arrested and destroyed for his actions, but his fleetmates would likely suffer the same fate as him. This was why he was so secretive about the whole incident, as he knew one misstep would spell disaster.
One late afternoon, Hercules had just returned from assisting the Duchess out to sea. All he needed now was a refuel and a quick brush up before going out into the night to answer distress calls. And collecting the souls of the deceased. He could feel Hades bubble with excitement, as he knew the being found ocean tugging and anything to do with long distance contracts boring. He was dozing off when he heard Ten Cents blow his hooter and steam right up next to him.
"Hey Herc." Ten Cents greeted, looking up at Hercules with a small grin. "You look like you're getting ready for a party or something! Is there anything big going on tonight?"
"No not really. Just getting myself nice and clean before, you know." Hercules replied in a quiet voice, gesturing to Hades in the water. "Is something wrong Ten Cents? You still might have some qualms about me being a host of sorts to Hades and every unpleasant thing that comes with it."
"About that, Sun and I spotted someone talking to Timberwolf and giving her money recently!" The switcher replied. "I couldn't get a good view of who was doing it of course, as they were near some shady buildings and all that. I think the Navy might be-"
"Oh I've known about the Navy coming after me since January." Hercules sighed, his voice now getting quieter to where it was simply a hushed whisper. "Bluenose was actually sent Up River to detain me for questioning, even sabotaging Big Mac to lure me in. However, when I asked him who was telling the Navy about me, he wouldn't cooperate. So I had no option but let Hades take control of my body and kill Bluenose."
"Really? You and Bluenose always hated each other." Ten Cents was startled by what Hercules had done. Yet, he was half expecting the ocean tug to do such a thing. "Did he ever tell you who was giving tips to the Navy?" He asked.
"No." Hercules replied coldly. He watched as Sunshine was sailing in, but he squinted to notice that the smaller switcher was panicking. "Sunshine what's wrong?" He asked, showing surprise in his voice.
"Zorran, he's coming here with Timberwolf!" Sunshine said, eyes wide with shock. "Hercules, you need to get out of here for your own good!"
"Zorran and Timberwolf?!" Ten Cents gasped. "Herc wouldn't have enough time to get out of here without getting caught!"
It was too late to argue, as Zorran steamed in with Timberwolf right next to him. Zorran had a face of satisfaction and overconfidence, looking at Hercules with a smirk across his face. "He's the Grim Reaper Madam! You wouldn't expect it from-"
"Are you even sure Hercules is the Grim Reaper?" Timberwolf asked, her face stoic. "He doesn't look like it to me, but you said that he was very protective over something. And when we sent Bluenose to detain him, he vanished. Pity he did, otherwise we would have gotten a lot of information on him."
Something inside Hercules snapped, and he was ready to attack with full force. However, he remained still, as lashing out like this would reveal himself as Hades to the world. He looked on at the two switchers, realizing the situation would worsen very quickly if he did make his move.
Ten Cents and Sunshine were incredibly nervous, but they bravely pushed themselves in between Hercules and Zorran. "You won't sail past us! Besides," Ten Cents said, turning to give one last wink to Hercules before saying, "I am the Grim Reaper!"
Everyone gasped! Sunshine and Hercules looked at Ten Cents as if he was crazy, and were now quietly pleading for him to take back what he said. Timberwolf looked at the switcher and asked in a shaky voice, "Really? What is your proof switcher?"
"When I was quarantined, I quickly recovered due to my immunity to illness." Ten Cents answered. "However, the Geir got even more sick during my stay. I was also out near the Columbus when he too passed on. And the yacht. And the other cargo ship."
Zorran was about to shout lies when Timberwolf silenced him. "It seems you brought me to the right suspect. Come along switcher, we need you for questioning at once." She said, ignoring the desperate pleas from Sunshine. Ten Cents steamed forward and left with Timberwolf, leaving the other tugs behind.
Once Ten Cents and Timberwolf disappeared from his line of sight, Hercules motioned for Sunshine to leave. After all, it would be for his own good. Once Sunshine hurried off back to the Star Dock with tears in his eyes, Zorran and Hercules remained. To say that the ocean tug was infuriated was an understatement, and he asked in a harsh voice, "Were you the one telling the Navy that I was Hades? And under the cover of anonymity too?"
"No you're just making stuff up!" Zorran lied, sweating nervously. However, Hercules was not the easiest tug to convince. Especially when he was furious. With that much power in a boat's body, it was a miracle that someone like Zorran managed to survive thus far. Finally he caved in. "Alright, I was going to turn you in! It's just that you were creeping me out! Besides, we would have gotten a unique edge over you lousy-"
"I've heard enough of your little excuses Zorran." Hercules hissed, looking right into Zorran's eyes. "You were trying to gain advantage of this whole situation after all. And to get the Navy involved just so that you can get away with your games? Pathetic." As he spoke, the air grew terribly cold, making the Z Stack shudder in fear. In the water below, Hades manifested himself, now growling and had a face that showed that death was imminent.
The Z Stack let out a shriek and scurried away from the ocean tug, slinking past him before making a left. It took all of his willpower to not look behind him, or else he would never get away with his scheme. Zorran exerted all of his power in his engine, making sure he could get away as fast as he could.
Hercules was not surprised that this, and a wicked idea came into his head. Knowing that the tugs at Zero and Marine were poorly maintained, he could exploit this. He looked up at Pluto (who was perched on his deck) and said in a quiet voice, "Find him, and make him break." Once the raven flew off, the ocean tug turned around and went after Zorran, the urge to put an end to the other tug's misdeeds driving him on.
Meanwhile, Zorran's path led him to a quay near the port which had fallen into disrepair, and he had difficulty properly navigating without bumping into rotten timber. Hopefully, Hercules would have given up and headed home. However, that fantasy would never become reality. A raven perched on one of the timbers, and the Z Stack tried to scare it away by blowing his hooter. "Get off you lousy bird, there's a rampaging-"
"AAACK!" The raven called, refusing to fly away. Zorran felt the air grow cold again, but shrugged it off as something normal. However, in the corner of his eye, he spotted fog. Hercules must have followed him here! He hurried to a different part of the quay in a panic, not wanting to get caught. A few more crows now perched on some pieces of rusting equipment, all glaring at Zorran. It was as though they were taunting him, telling him that his time was running out.
The harbor tug did not care at this point, even if his engine was protesting the pressure put on it. He needed to get as far away from Hercules as possible, and the birds were not helping. In desperation, he started smacking birds away with his tow ropes. Most of the birds were able to fly off, but some were struck and fell into the water. Enthused, he continued his actions to try and get the birds to leave. Some of the birds decided to pay back, assaulting him with pecks and scratches.
Zorran hissed and tried to fight back, but he spotted something that looked like Hades out in the distance. Perhaps the birds were used to torture him, with Hades coming in to finish him. He hurried out of the quay in a panic, hoping he would lose the ocean tug. Besides, he figured, Hercules couldn't navigate those areas properly due to his massive size. He would then have a chance to get away with reporting him! However, there was one small problem. As Zorran headed towards a part of town that had been fallen into disrepair, he spotted a raven flying above him. He immediately recognized it as the one he spotted in the quay, and he panicked. Was Hercules somehow using these birds to keep tabs on him? Now was not the time to answer this question, as there was an ocean tug who was looking to kill him.
Meanwhile, Hercules sailed on at a surprisingly slow pace. It was as if he was going leisurely as opposed to putting his engine under intense pressure. He could easily catch Zorran that way, but it would be no fun. Besides, the birds were doing a good job at putting Zorran on edge (despite the casualties). He soon spotted some of the birds flying above a certain area of the city, and he chuckled before changing direction. There was no way of letting Zorran escape his clutches now.
Zorran was now lost in one of Bigg City's abandoned docks. Each time he tried to hide, some crows started to circle above him, forcing him out into the open. To make matters worse, his engine sounded like it was about to give out. He was sailing past a rotting shed when the idea came to him. Perhaps he could fit inside the shed! The ocean tug wouldn't find him now.
"Zorran you genius you!" Zorran said to himself, slipping inside the shed. After a while, he cautiously stuck his head out, and sighed a breath of relief. The sun had set, meaning that the birds left for home. He was about to exit when he noticed a ghastly white figure out in the distance. Zorran paled at the sight, and immediately retreated back to the safe confines of the shed. Perhaps it might be good to stay inside the shed for a little while longer.
Hercules was now in the dock, the fog covering his movements. It concealed the thrums of his engine, making him like a ghost. Although his birds were useless at night, there were other ways to coerce Zorran out into the open. Out in the distance, he spotted a shed and felt Zorran's presence. "Gotten lost Zorran?" Hercules asked, his voice calmer than what it was earlier. And tempting too. "Come on out old boy, no need to be shy with me."
Zorran heard those words and refused to come out, but his eyes widened when he noticed the area start to become increasingly foggy. "Buzz off won't ya!" He spat, using his lines to grab rusted equipment in an effort to prevent the ocean tug from entering. "Let me catch my breath first!"
"Not yet Zorran. I'm just getting started." Hercules chuckled, his shadow contorting into Hades. He let out a few puffs of smoke, humming softly as he did so. Immediately they turned into ghosts, and Hercules went silent. It was as if he was giving the ghosts orders to at least flush Zorran out of his hiding spot.
Zorran held his breath, trying to not make a peep. He looked nervously out of the entrance, seeing a bright light. Then- "AAAAAGGGH!" A ghost appeared behind him, letting out a screech. Zorran jumped forward, bumping into some of the equipment he had so carelessly thrown. "What was- By Neptune." He gasped, standing still. There, a cloud of thick fog was slowly rolling in. And it was heading right for the shed. In a panic, Zorran hurried out. If it was Hercules that was behind that fog, he would most certainly be doomed.
Zorran spotted a path that even he had a hard time properly sailing through, and an idea came into his head. He immediately turned right, exerting so much pressure his engine would have given out if he delayed it. He hoped and prayed Hercules was not trailing behind him, as these canals were small and cramped. As Zorran sailed through, he soon realized where he was in, and looked around frantically for a way out. The night sky, with its many stars, offered no help. He made a left, a right, and so on, but each turn was making precious time slip away.
Tow ropes shot through the darkness of Bigg City's maze of backwater canals as Zorran used every ounce of strength he could pull from his crippled engine to drag himself along. He had been running for what felt like hours now, and he had burned nearly all of his coal in the process. Behind him the fog was rolling in; impenetrable, oppressive, and deadly. From this distance the harbor tug couldn't make out the telltale thrum of his pursuer's engine, but he had no doubt that Hercules lurked just behind the fog. This knowledge alone was more than enough to spur him to continue dragging himself along, one quay at a time, in a last ditch effort to save himself. For the first time in his life, Zorran was panicking. He knew Hercules could outpace his agonizing slow crawl, but if he could just get far enough out of these derelict canals, then he could call for help.
Suddenly he felt a sharp tug on one of his aft bollards and knew the game was up. All forward motion ceased, and Zorran glanced back to see a single line stretching from his stern to the silhouette of his worst nightmare behind him. In a last ditch effort to save himself, he shot the strongest blast of steam he could manage up to his hooter, and was rewarded with a moment of near blinding agony and a sound like a gunshot. Moments later, a fine rain of rust punctuated by larger chunks of corroded steel rained down on his deck. Somehow in mere moments, his pristine whistle had been eaten to scrap and blasted apart the moment he tried using it.
Behind him, the dark ocean tug exuded a chuckle. He wasn't about to let his prey get away now. Not after having stalked him since the sun slid under the horizon hours ago. No, he was going to enjoy this. It was time to turn Zorran's years of cruelty back on him. Time to give him a taste of his own poison.
Meanwhile, Zorran's strength had finally failed. He had used the last of his steam to try and call for help, and he couldn't muster the strength to try and throw off Hercules' line. Around him the fog was reaching out, smothering its surroundings with its muffling quiet. In moments he could barely see past his own bow, but the pressure at his stern didn't ease. Suddenly, without warning, Hercules rammed his port side with nearly enough force to crack his hull! His starboard side, meanwhile, crashed through the quay he had been dragging himself along, shattering the old pilings and dumping splintered wood and old dockside refuse onto his deck. Zorran was lucky that the tide was in, otherwise the damaged quay would likely have decapitated him in the impact.
The force of Hercules' attack knocked the wind out of Zorran, leaving him gasping for breath. Gritting his teeth, the damaged tug prepared for a second impact, but the hit never came. Instead, he was greeted by a much worse sight. In the place of the regal ocean tug was his maroon counterpart. Hades grinned at him through serrated teeth, and his eyes burned a sinister red.
Zorran could only stare on in fear, but movement out of the corner of his eye pulled his attention to his bow. The paint on his hull and deck was moving, and giving off a nearly imperceptible crackling noise. At first Zorran thought he was hallucinating from the pain in his sides, but then a large chunk of white paint sloughed off to reveal rusted steel beneath. Immediately the exposed area began to hurt with a blazing pain as the raw steel was exposed to the fog-laden air. His bow wasn't the only afflicted part however, as other patches began fragmenting and tumbling into the calm harbor waters. These random patches weren't random however, and Zorran quickly realized that they were the exact same patches where he continually had to be treated from his aftereffects of his brush with microbonic plague. Somehow Hades was taking these old scars and reactivating the disease at an accelerated rate. Even worse was the fact that he could feel new patches bursting through his paint, both internally and externally. The painful sores soon overwhelmed him, but as he tried to cry out, his throat seized up from the sores and all that exuded from his lips was a strained whimper.
The rusting patches spread like wildfire and quickly corroded the once healthy tug. His blown engine was quickly overcome, and rusted pipes and fittings began breaking loose and falling apart. The air around Zorran was filled with dust, choking him with the oxidized remains of his very being. Each breath became more and more of a struggle to obtain, and soon his vision was edged with black. Zorran's world had narrowed down to a little more than pain, his fight for breath, and Hades' eyes watching him with pleasure.
Suddenly with a crack, Zorran's smokestack lifted aft before collapsing into a heap of cracked steel and crumbling rust. The impact crushed his lifeboats and sent his flagpole crashing seaward. The pennet flag itself caught itself on the quay and ripped of its ties to dangle just above the water.
Now Zorran's vision was fading. His breath had subsided to nothing, and his mind was fully enveloped in a mixture of pain and Hades' malice. Vaguely he was aware of a loud implosion as his rust-weakened hull had finally failed where Hercules had hit it before. The gaping hole greedily sucked at the seawater, while the harbor began dragging the dying tug down into the depths. Slowly his stern sank into the cold waters, while his bow began to lift, while around him the fog lifted and dispersed. The moonless sky's stars began to once again illuminate the night. Their light glittered off Zorran's blank eyes, as though the last moments of his life were spent begging for their help before the unforgiving depths swallowed him. All that remained on the surface was his tattered flag fluttering in the gentle breeze, and his hat which floated free and bobbed beside Hercules' hull.
Hercules gently scooped up the hat with one of his tow ropes, eyes looking at it with pleasure. It was incredibly satisfying, especially after so many years, to finally have Zorran gone for good. It was cruel to have Hades use his powers on the harbor tug, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He could keep the hat as a trophy, but it was simply too risky. He quietly placed it on the quay shooting out his smoke and shredding it to pieces.
Meanwhile, Zorran's soul slowly emerged from the water, looking on skyward. However, he shrieked when he was grabbed by the smoke. "Please, don't send me to Hell!"
"Oh I have so many uses for a rat like you. Come and make yourself comfy." Hercules said, his voice changing to Hades. "Lucky for you, you're in good company! And you'll get more work than what that rum guzzling madman of a captain gave you."
Zorran's soul struggled to break free from the confines of the smoke, but he was quickly dragged into Hercules' smokestack and into his very being. Once Zorran was gone, Hercules laughed rather loudly before heading back to the Star Dock.
Author comment:
I wasn't really sure on what to do with Zorran, and originally had him live in the end. However, I still was uneasy about the idea and how it would work out, and so I suggested to NefariousScalin that Zorran would possibly get killed by Hercules/Hades. Since this was an au story and not a canon story, I went forth with killing off Zorran.