"How are we gonna get out of this one?" Carolyne dryly asked.
Both Jim and Carolyne were hanging in a net overboard. There was currently no sign of the monster, but the two had a feeling that would soon change.
"Did your brilliant plan have us ending up as live bait?" Carolyne continued.
"You're seriously going on? I just saved your ass, and you're getting mad at me!" Jim retorted.
"Sorry." Carolyne muttered. She was then quiet after that.
Jim really didn't have a plan. He saw Max was in charge of the net, so there was no way in begging to be lifted back to the deck.
Jim stopped breathing when he heard a deep rumble. He didn't know where it was coming from, but he knew it was near.
"Ya hear that, lad? She's comin' for ya." Max called from the deck.
Max was right- the monster was coming. Jim finally got a good look at it. It had a long serpent's body, with fins sticking out of its sides. It was an ugly green, and it seemed to almost look slimy. It looked even worse when it lifted its lips to bare its rotted teeth.
"What do we do now!" Carolyne cried.
Jim stared at the monster as it came closer. He stared into its yellow eyes, "I don't know."
He found the monster to be strangely compelling. Maybe it was because he accepted what would happen next. He just hoped the monster wouldn't hurt him too much.
"That's right, take the bait. Take it!" Max cheered on the monster from the deck above.
The monster went closer to its bait. It seemed curious, as if asking itself how Jim and Carolyne would taste. The monster was so close, Jim could reach out of the net to touch it, not that he wanted to.
He expected to be inside the monster's mouth at this point, but it didn't happen. Instead, he heard the most horrible sound. It was a very loud screech and it came from the monster. It now looked angry. It grabbed onto the net in its anger, and unfortunately, to Jim's leg.
The net easily tore, leaving a space for Jim to fall out of. He hung onto the net, hoping the monster would give up. Carolyne was holding onto him, but it wasn't helping too much. She looked upward to see Max still holding onto the net. He looked like he was enjoying himself, seeing his son being attacked by a monster.
Carolyne suddenly let go of Jim. She let out a giggle, then covered her mouth. She didn't know why she felt the need to laugh, especially when Jim was about to have his leg ripped off. Suddenly, something flew out of her pocket. It was Morph. He quickly observed his surrounding and came to Jim's aid.
Morph managed to squeeze through the monster's rotted and missing teeth. Jim didn't know what Morph did to the monster, but it released his leg. As the monster released Jim, Morph left the mouth.
"Thanks, buddy," Jim said. He glanced down at his leg, and instantly regretted it. His leg was bloody. He couldn't tell if anything was missing. It was all blood, ripped pants and ripped rope from his knee down. He felt nauseated at the sight and then, he felt very light-headed.
Jim fainted, letting go of the rope. Carolyne was quick to catch him. She was trying to keep herself in the net, as well as Jim, while trying not to fall through the hole. She looked up again at Max. He seemed to be enjoying the show.
"Aw, ye scared the monster away," Max said with false sadness in his voice. "I'll just leave a snack for him floatin' around."
Max let go of the net. Carolyne felt herself begin to plummet. She knew she would soon be drifting off in the middle of space. She hang onto Jim, but she didn't know why- he couldn't do anything.
The net suddenly stopped falling, giving an abrupt jerk. Carolyne tried not to fall through the net. She didn't know why the net stopped falling, but she heard yelling from the deck and Max's voice was the loudest.
The net began to rise and she was soon on the deck. She looked around to see the entire crew on deck, all with the same angered expression. Some had pistols out, others had scrap pieces of metal for weapons. Carolyne turned to see Max wasn't part of the crew.
"So this is it," Max's voice was calm. "Ye all want a mutiny? Well, I can surely tell ye, I ain't givin' up me ship that easily."
Max had two pistols on him, and he knew the majority of the crew didn't have any weapons. He was a ruthless captain, but he was skilled, and had fighting tricks up his sleeves. He wasn't going to give up his ship at any costs. He pointed a pistol at his son, who was still unconscious.
"I'm gonna count to three. I want all the pistols put away by three, or ye can watch me get rid of him," Max said. He looked up at the crew. Some obeyed, but others kept their pistols out, hoping he was only bluffing. "One. Two. Three."
Max wasn't bluffing, and he did pull the trigger on his own son.