Chapter 33: Ember, Right Ahead!
The first day came and went without any more trouble. The second morning proved pleasant. In fact, things seemed very good come the evening before their arrival was scheduled.
"Hm…" Bobbery still remained at the wheel. "The sunset is spectacular this evening."
"Ah! Nature is blessing Flavio luck! I can tell we have good times coming!" he said.
Another sailor arrived.
"Yes?" Flavio asked.
"Sir, dinner is being served below deck now." he said.
"Splendid…" Flavio said. "Bobbery, we can anchor the ship if shall care to join us?"
"No, thank you. I want to keep a steady course." he said.
"Ah yes…" Flavio said. "You are a dedicated sailor. Remind me to give you a good pay when you're done."
He simply walked away but Bobbery barely paid him any mind.
"Nazz?"
Kevin was at her bedroom door. The door opened and Nazz walked out but that wasn't what ad Kevin stunned.
"Dressed up tonight?" He asked, staring with a shell-shocked look.
She was in a black dress that extended to her feet.
"I want to look good on formal occasions." she said.
He looked at himself: his usual green shirt, black shorts, red hat. "Uh… me too. Let's go."
He led Nazz over to the dining room. The room was packed tonight. All of the sailors, except for the ones directly responsible for piloting the ship where down, enjoying the feast.
"Where ya want to sit?" Kevin asked.
"Over there!" She pointed to a seat next to Double D.
"Oh, not with the dorks." Kevin groaned.
"Lighten up." Nazz scolded..
They sat down at the table.
Rolf didn't go down for dinner. He remained in his cabin. Unlike the others, his was quite a few decks underneath the boat. He wanted to recollect on the past events.
"Should have known all along Double-D-Edd-boy possessed the eye. Vivian is manipulating us all." He fell down onto his bed. "None of her fake apologies can hide the truth."
Dinner progressed below decks as the sunset turned to night. Bobbery remained at the wheel the whole time.
"So, why aren't we down eating, I'm hungry." one of the sailors asked his companion.
There was a Toad and a bomb-omb atop the crow's nest.
"We have to keep an eye out." The Bomb-omb sailor said.
"Why do we both have to stay up here?" The Toad asked.
"It's caption's orders."
"Oh, please."
"What, disrespecting the caption?"
"It's not right! I'm hungry!"
"I'm just following orders!"
"That's your problem, too obedient."
"Shut up!"
"What's your problem?"
"Look out!"
"Yeah, that's our job!"
"No, I mean look out there!" The Bomb-omb gestured out in front of the ship.
"What the devil?" the toad sailor asked. He lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes.
The sight that caught him was something blue, something enormous, something glowing in front of the ship.
"Oh man!" He reached for a button on the side of the mast.
A siren rang a few times.
Bobbery looked towards the crow's nest. "What could they be doing?"
Everyone in the dining room looked up.
"What was that?" Kevin asked.
"Probably nothing." Eddy sighed.
"I'm going to check." Flavio sat up and left his table.
"Go!" the Bomb-omb sailor shouted to his companion.
The toad sailor started climbing down a rope ladder.
"What 's wrong?" Bobbery asked the toad who ran over to him.
"There's something out ahead!" The sailor said.
He gave Bobbery his binoculars. He looked through them and gasped.
"Ember, right ahead!"
"Course of action?" The toad sailor asked.
"HARD TO PORT!" Bobbery shouted.
The toad sailor frantically took the wheel and started turning it as hard as he could.
"Go, turn!" Bobbery shouted and ran up to the bow to see the menace that was appearing before the ship. "What in the world are they doing?"
There was a click sound.
"Helm's hard over!" The toad sailor shouted.
"Keep it there!" Bobbery shouted.
"What is going on up here?" Flavio asked.
"We're going hard to port! We need to avoid those embers!" Bobbery shouted, motioning to the embers.
The ship started to react to the wheel, as it slowly turned to port.
"The ship's sturdy, she can take it, even if we hit." Flavio said.
"We can't risk it!" Bobbery shouted.
The crown of embers before them started moving, back into the path of the ship.
"What the- Is it hard over to port?" Flavio asked.
"Yes, sir." The toad sailor at the wheel responded.
"They're trying to hit us!" Bobbery shouted.
"What can we do?" Flavio asked.
"Try to starboard round them!" Bobbery shouted.
The toad sailor frantically started turning the wheel.
"This is horrible!" Flavio said.
Bobbery sighed when he realized the truth.
"We're not going to make it!" Flavio said.
"Brace yourselves!" Bobbery shouted.
A few seconds later, the SS Flavion struck against the crowds of embers. The force was so strong, it shook the boat violently. Bobbery, the toad sailor, and Flavio where all thrown onto the deck. The Bomb-omb sailor atop the crow's nest was almost thrown off.
"So, what time is it?" Eddy asked.
"Quarter to-" They were all interrupted suddenly. The ship jerked violently, throwing everyone to the floor. Tables overturned and food was sent flying.
"What's happening!" Eddy asked.
"We're hitting something!" Double D shouted.
"What in the name of Nana?" Rolf asked when he felt the violent shaking.
There was a scrapping sound. The next event flashed before his eyes: the wall started ripping apart. The shaking turned even more violent. Where the wall used to be, water was jetting into his cabin. The force shook him off his bed and onto the floor.
"Ah! Ah!" He shouted as his cabin started to flood rapidly.
He got to his feet and ran out of his room. He had to run quickly down the hallway and up the stairs, before the rapid waters could take him.
"WHOA!" Eddy shouted. He looked out the dining room windows and saw some blue, floating orbs passing by the window.
"What's going on?" Vivian asked.
"I don't know!" Double D asked. "Come on, we have to go find out-"
The walls ripped apart; water began rushing into the dining room. Everyone near the walls where quickly swept off their feet by the on-coming water.
"Every man for himself!" Eddy cried out.
The groups rapidly began rushing out of the quickly flooding room. The hallways were worse. Rapid streams of water gushed through, pushing some down and others caught in the rapids. Screams started coming from everywhere.
"We've hit!" The toad sailor at the wheel shouted.
"What now?" Flavio asked.
"Get everyone up here… I think we have to abandon ship."
"Nonsense. We can keep this thing going, we might make it back before we sink!" Flavio shouted.
"The winds are dying down; we can't go anywhere. Get everyone up here!" Bobbery shouted.
The toad sailor ran towards the stairs and Bobbery took the wheel back.
Groups began rushing from the stairs onto the deck.
"What's going on?" Double D asked.
"We've struck something." The toad sailor said.
The Bomb-omb lookout came down.
"What was that all about?" He asked.
"Quickly, stop the ship. Rise all of the sails, then prepare to sound the ship."
"There's no time!" Double D said. "The dinning room's already below water."
Flavio shouted in anger. "We have to abandon ship."
"Quickly, uncover the lifeboats!" Double D shouted.
"Lifeboats?" Flavio asked.
The group groaned and Eddy ran up to Flavio.
"Don't tell me you forget to put lifeboats on this!" He grabbed Flavio's coat and shook it.
"What about my sailboat?" Double D said.
"It can only hold so many!" the toad sailor said.
"We have to get off!" Double D said.
"Fine, uncover it and get as many aboard that thing as possible." The toad sailor shouted. The group rushed over to the sailboat, which was still covered.
"I'm going below deck!" Bobbery shouted.
"What? Are 'ya insane man?" Flavio asked.
"I have to look for other passengers!" He said, running below decks.
The sailors above the decks managed to rip the cover off of the sailboat.
"Are 'ya kidding me!" Pa-patch shouted. "That thing can only hold 10 people!"
"We have no choice!" Double D shouted.
"Who's going?" One of the sailors asked.
"Here, take him!" Double D helped Eduardo Jr. onto the boat.
Other random sailors got on the boat.
"Women and Children first! Be courteous!" Pa-patch shouted. Though unknown to him, Kevin had already climbed in the boat. He quickly grabbed Nazz and pulled her in the sailboat.
The sail and mast on the boat was currently unrigged, so it was merely a row-boat by now.
"Hurry up!" Double D shouted.
He tried to help Vivian on it but she stopped him. "What about you?"
"I can swim!" He said. "You have a cast, you can't! You have to get on!"
Any protests she said where ignored from him. He looked towards the bow. Water was already flooding over the rail.
"Where? Is anyone here!" Bobbery asked. As he ran, he saw Rolf running past.
"Quickly, get on to deck! Abandon ship!" Bobbery shouted to him.
Rolf ran right past Bobbery and up a flight of stairs. Bobbery began to look through he hallway.
He immediately saw why Rolf didn't even talk. Water started flowing into the corridor.
That wouldn't stop him from searching for passengers.
"Hurry!" Pa-path shouted when water was washing over the deck.
"AH! AHHHH!" A sailor shouted. He was desperate to escape and jumped on the sailboat.
By now, the embers that hit the ship were forming a circle around it, as if to wait for them to sink, then attack the defenseless crew directly. It was also about that time that the water met that very deck. People were being swept off their feet and onto the decks. They had no time to launch the boat, the water picked it right of the deck side.
It reacted to the water and started floating away.
"Wait, what about the others?" Nazz asked as the boat started to drift away.
"Forget them!" Kevin shouted. "We have to get farther away from the ship, or it'll take us down with it!"
"Kevin, that's horrible!" Nazz shouted.
"What are we supposed to do?!" Kevin asked back.
People started swimming towards the sailboat.
"Help!" A sailor shouted, one who had swum up to the side of the sailboat.
As he tried to climb aboard, the whole boat began to tip over.
"Get back!" Kevin shouted angrily at the sailor, pushing his hands off the rims of the boat and forcing him overboard.
"Cool it!" Nazz shouted at him.
There was an explosion from the half-sunken ship. Those still on boarded shouted in fear. The ship jerked and started tipping.
"She's gonna capsize!" A sailor aboard the sailboat shouted.
The SS Flavion created a wave from the explosion, crashing over a few passengers swimming in the water, and ahead for the sailboat.
"AHH!" Nazz shouted and ducked.
The wave hit the sailboat violently. It started tipping over. Kevin managed to keep up with the tilt, by hanging on to the centerboard. Others in the sailboat where not as lucky.
A couple of sailors fell over the side. The boat finally leveled back out, half flooded. Only a few people remained in the sailboat now.
"Hold the tiller!" One of the remaining passengers ordered. "The rest, bail her out!"
Kevin held the tiller, trying to keep the boat steady. He was thankful Nazz managed to stay on the boat. He noticed Vivian had apparently fallen off, though he didn't care.
Double D remained on the SS Flavion with a few other passengers. The ship started leaning over to the port side. "This ship's going to tip over." he looked over the side. Half of the people swam in the water, and the sailboat, or the one lifeboat, seemed to have difficulty just staying afloat.
"They have to get leave the path, or else when she capsizes, it will crush them all!"
"HEY!" Eddy coughed.
He was swimming frantically in the ocean. He finally managed to make it to the sailboat.
"Eddy!" Nazz shouted when she spotted him swimming alongside the boat. She held out a hand for him to climb on.
He reached for the hand.
"Are you out of you're mind!" Kevin shouted to Nazz as she started pulled Eddy aboard the sailboat. "Leave the dork be, it's every man for himself!"
He forced Nazz and Eddy let go. Eddy fell back into the waters, to be swallowed. Some strange current prevented him from swimming back. He felt himself being tossed and turned with the waves.
Finally, he felt himself being thrown somewhere. He landed on dry ground. He gasped for air and opened his eyes.
Apparently, he had been sucked through a window into a sinking room in the ship.
"If I live, Kevin's gonna die!" Eddy shouted in anger.
"BACK!" Kevin shouted, throwing more passengers who were trying to get on the sailboat.
"STOP IT, KEVIN!" Nazz shouted at him angrily, shoving him away. "THAT NOT. COOL!"
He growled and stopped, sitting down.
More passengers started climbing on. And with each progressing added person onto the boat, the lower in the water it got.
The toad-lookout sailor managed to come up for air. His only goal now was to make it alive. Nothing else mattered.
Snap!
The sound was like a distorted guitar string snapping.
SNAP!
The next one sounded even closer. A wire slammed into the water like a whip.
SNAP!
Another wire landed inches next to him.
The following sound was like a creaking sound. Something was falling nearby. Something was ripping away from the ship. Though he didn't care at all what it was. All that mattered to him was survival.
Screams aroused nearby. He looked up and saw the ship's middle mast broken from its position and falling right towards him.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!" The toad sailor panicked and froze.
The sailor vanished a second later when the mast landed on top of his head. There was a wave produced by the mast when it slammed into the water.
The wave collapsed over everyone in the water. Though its shock was more devastating on the sailboat. It carried a force so strong that it capsized the boat, throwing everyone on it into the waters.
"There's no way out!" Eddy shouted.
He remained trapped within the room inside the doomed ship. The door remained locked. More windows started breaking apart, flooding the room entirely.
The shockwave of the fallen mast was too much for Double D to handle. It threw him off the sinking vessel and into the water with a strong, hard force. He was too unprepared to handle it. He blacked out while being swallowed by the unforgiving seas…
