“It’s… big….” Odell said as he stared up at the giant beast from on top of the chair seat. He already felt too unwell to stand, and the sight of the ferocious beast just made his condition worse.

“She’s a big one,” Captain Stone commented with a laugh. Of all the passengers on the boat, only two had laid eyes on the ferocious sea beast before.

The Japhinth made an enormous roar that echoed across the clear sky. The waves seemed to tremble at its fury and woke many in the cities that surrounded the scene. Sirens that resembled the sound of an air raid fired off in the coastal town of Aqui. Meanwhile, the citizens of Nun that could witness the sight began to cheer for the excellent show that was about to begin.

Rheba punched a fist into a flat palm.

“Let’s begin the plan!” she shouted as the beast watched them with beady eyes.

“I suppose that’s my cue!” Kako happily chirped as she stood up from her chair. She gently pushed her twintails from in front of her shoulders to behind before waving her hands. Purple energy glowed around her palms.

She waved them around a moment before thrusting them to Rheba. The Bentulousian warrior was suddenly enveloped in the purple hue.

“How should I–” Rheba began to speak, but Kako quickly interrupted.

“Keep your mouth shut, or you might bite your tongue!” she said in a haughty voice.

Before anything else could be said, Rheba was suddenly thrust into the air at the giant beast. Everyone else watched in awe as the giant warrior flew to the head of the even more enormous monster.

“Alright, you're next dear!” Kako said with a wink to Harlan. The green Zenotote began to shake her head vigorously. She had not quite agreed to the plan, but she had not been bold enough to outright turn it down.

Harlan’s refusal was not enough, and before long, she too was sent soaring through the sky at the beast.

Gwyn quickly made his way to the Ali-442 and opened the door.

“Odell– Actually, you’re not in the best shape… Hal, I need help!” He shouted. Hal shrugged and ran to help Gwyn with his segment of the plan. Fiona and Odell just watched.

Rheba had been thrust with enough force to feel like she was shot out of a cannon. Her brown fur, short as it was, furiously gave way in the wind and her orange braids and tail fluttered without care.

“Mini, points,” Rheba managed to say over the gust.

Currently 1583, I would expect it to be plenty here! The purple Needaimus fastened to her arm happily said. The numbers appeared in the corner of Rheba’s field of vision.

Rheba weighed her options in her mind. Her Needaimus awarded “points” for doing honorable or good things. Anything from holding a door open to giving a compliment to saving people from a burning fire could count, but the Needaimus type was a Surri built for combat. Victory over opponents, taking leadership when none were around, and fighting for glory awarded far more.

She could spend those points whenever she wanted to add more “weight” to her words, and the ability would make it happen. The cost of points depended on how much demand the words conveyed. Something that Rheba could do ordinarily would be 0 points, and the amount scaled up with how extraordinary the announced words would be.

“I will punch hard enough to bruise!” Rheba declared. She reached the beast and decked it in the chin at that moment. The Japhinth let out a cry as its whole head was turned upright. The soundwave from the punch echoed across the water, and the number only Rheba could see began to tick down for the points spent.

Rheba began to fall, and Harlan quickly caught her from behind. Unlike the Bentulousian warrior, she had remained tethered to Kako’s magic. The plan had been two-fold. Rheba would punch the beast, and Harlan would be used to reel her back in.

“I’m not fond of this arrangement,” Rheba said as a long ear on her head flicked.

“Nor am I,” The scaly scientist replied in disgust.

“Look out!” Fiona shouted from the boat.

The Japhinth had quickly recovered and was lunging and the duo in the air with its mouth open and ready to snap shut.

“Pull them back!” Odell shouted.

“Sorry dear, the spells not that convenient,” Kako replied in an ‘oops’ tone.

Fiona gritted her teeth and zapped next to the duo in the air as they began to fall toward the ocean. Simultaneously, the Japhinth’s large mouth was starting to surround them like a cave in.

Fiona grabbed the two and quickly locked onto the ship as the beast’s teeth snapped shut. There was a flash of light three times, each getting closer to the boat. They appeared in a final zap on the Sea Spirit an instant later. Fiona breathed heavily and fell over. Between recovering from the previous night’s alcohol and realizing just how close they were to getting eaten whole, she was spent.

“Fiona! You can teleport others! All this time, you made me walk!” Odell shouted from his chair.

“Not now, Odell!” Fiona shouted back weakly as she lay on the ground.

“Gwyn, are you ready!” Rheba shouted.

The Japhinth was looking at the boat with rage in its eyes. Its jaw ached, and though it could not comprehend how the one who punched was sitting on the ship rather than in its stomach, a roar echoed out from the beast. Its fury would not easily be sated. Unfortunately for the Japhinth, getting angry was part of Captain Stone’s plan.

The top of the Ali began to slide back, and a Gatling gun quickly was lifted to the top. The group had mounted the bandit's captured weapon into the Ali at Gwyn’s behest. However, they did not understand why he wanted it. The Nonpareil awkwardly rested his bad left arm onto the gun and firmly gripped the crank in his good right hand.

“Eat lead, Levy!” Gwyn shouted to the Japhinth as he began to turn the crank. Laser energy began to spew out of the end of the rotating gun. “Or lasers, I guess,” Gwyn said as the shots sailed past the beast. Hal popped up in the open roof and helped Gwyn rotate the weapon.

The beast was unprepared as the laser shots bombarded across its face. It seemed to reel back but powered through the pain as it prepared to dive onto the ship and sink it beneath the waves.

The Japhinth never got a chance to attack, however. As Gwyn moved the gun to shoot it, he targeted the left eye, which was quickly obliterated by the heavy weapon. The beast made a cry of pain and dove into the water.

Gwyn quieted the Gatling gun. Captain Stone made his way back to the helm.

“Don’t let up on the gun just yet, son; she’s got a bit more fight in her!” he shouted. A dark shadow could be seen getting larger and larger from underneath the boat.