The Miss Love Duck careened along the surface of the ocean. The intense speed was tearing away at the integrity of the boards and causing the ship to sway from side to side. On the deck, Lance had one hand wrapped around the mainmast. And his other hand was holding onto Rika, who came out to give him a replacement orange smoothie. On the other side of the mast, Kuina wrapped her arm around it the same way. "Alvida!" Lance yelled as he pushed Rika close against him as the ship rocked back and forth.
"It's no use, Captain! I can't maneuver the ship out of the current!" We're at its mercy!" Alvida couldn't get the steering wheel to turn out of its position. Even with all her cultivated strength. The wooden wheel just jammed no matter which way she attempted to turn it.
Mary soon stumbled out of the lower deck. "What's going on? I just fell out of be-AH!" A violent tip to the left caused Mary to slam against the doorframe. She slammed her shoulder into the wooden frame. Causing it to crack. "Jeez, this ship is falling apart."
Taking in a deep breath, Lance looked out at the sea. Lance looked past the duck figurehead. He saw that the current was going to take a bend to the right up ahead. Under the pressure, he decided on the action he would take. "Kuina. Take Rika." Lance picked the little girl up by the back of her shirt's collar and tossed her at Kuina. Kuina caught Rika in her free arm and gave her a bear hug against her chest.
A bead of sweat rushed down Kuina's face as the panic of throwing the small child overcame her. "W-what are you going to do?" she asked.
Lance braced himself against the mast of the ship. He put his back to the mast and held it with both hands behind him. "We only have one chance at this. Otherwise we'll be carried off to who knows where!" Following his instinct, Lance bolted for the upper deck. The ship began to shake as they got close to the bend. This forced Lance to keep himself steady as another rocking fit occurred on the ship. Lance could feel his balance being threatened. So instead of risking it, he jumped into the air. He attempted to scale the upper deck in one jump. He was on track to get over it. However, at the exact wrong moment, a sharp dip to the left caused one of the pegs protruding from the upper deck to stab him in the stomach. "Gyahh!"
Lance's momentum halted and his body twisted with the ship's flow, causing him to fall.
[You have taken 10 damage.]
As he felt himself start to fall, Lance grabbed onto the floor of the upper deck with his arm. He put his foot onto the top of the doorway to the captain's quarters. He then climbed to the upper deck. He kicked out the railing so he wouldn't have to jump over it again.
"Captain? This wheel isn't moving. What do we do?"
"We move it!" Lance walked over to the wheel. Lance used one hand to grasp the bottom of the wheel, followed by another near the top. "Grab the other end. And when I say push. Steer to the left!" Lance took in a deep breath as Alvida got into position.
"Ready, Captain!" Alvida bent to the side as she grabbed two spokes on the top of the wheel.
"Okay…go!" Lance clenched his teeth and raised himself up. He engaged his back muscles to push himself up against the wheel. In combination with Alvida's pushing, the stuck wheel slowly began to creak as they pushed it out of its jammed position.
The sound of a wooden structure under pressure accompanied the slow creaks. This continued until the structure reached its breaking point, resulting in a loud crack from the wheel. The mechanism came loose. And Alvida's strength rotated the wheel a full hundred and eighty degrees. Alvida lifted Lance off the ground and flung him over the wheel, sending him crashing into the railing. The wheel then spun out of control to the left. This caused the boat to drift out in the same direction. Turning to move out of the current. Still being pushed by the water.
As the boat started to emerge from the current, everyone except Lance cheered. He just rubbed his head as he lay on the floor of the upper deck.
Just before the boat could leave the current, the water began to displace. A huge yellow sea monster with small black spots appeared as the placid blue ocean opened up in a matter of seconds. There was a large spined fin that ran up its back. Its head appeared out of the water first. The sight caused all the cheers from the boat to turn into screams. Its wide face had an orange eye with a full black pupil in the center of it. Its head was easily the size of three Miss Love Ducks side by side.
The monster brought itself out of the water as the ship catapulted directly toward it. The ship's speed allowed it to slide up the slippery body of the fish-like beast. Its momentum carried it forward and the sea beast arched its body above the water. As the ship tilted back at an angle, the crew all had to grab hold of something to not fly off the boat. Kuina stayed at the mast while holding Rika. Mary had to grab the doorframe. And Alvida held onto the wheel.
Lance, however, couldn't grab anything immediately. He began to slide down the deck. He hit his head on the railing at the back of the ship. "Ow!"
The eel's head plunged back into the water. The ship hit the arch of its back. Slipping off the fish, it flew into the air. The entire crew screamed as the Miss Love Duck soared off into the sky. It disappeared, leaving a twinkle in the night sky.