by thedoctor, Danny, Grimm and Blackwulf
The Stormloader came to a stop, and the members of MBL Consulting scrambled out of the hovercraft. It was too dangerous to come too close to the distressed boat. Dirk Bell walked across the surface of the craft, the wind ferociously blowing his hair. He had left his fedora back at the complex. Wouldn't do him much good out here; it would just get blown out into the Caribbean.
"Is good weather for football, no?" Blackwulf yelled over the sound of chaos.
"Hurry up!" Danny Hearn yelled at the group. "We've got to get these people to safety!"
Dirk let loose a quick smile. It seemed as though Danny was positioning himself as a leader amongst this group. It was about damn time someone got some balls and went for it, he thought.
He reached back into the hovercraft and began to pull out bundles of rope that they had brought for any rescue that might occur. He tossed one to Blackwulf. That guy was big enough to act as a weight on one end. Grimm felt one hit his back and turned to stare at Dirk.
"Don't give me that look of death shit," Dirk yelled back to him. "Pick it up and get goin'." Dirk put his arm and head through one of them and carried it on his shoulder as he passed out the last few ropes.
Phil Smith stood in the rain. This was an intimidating moment. He really had no idea if he was cut out for this sort of thing. He had the power to do it, yes; but did he have the control over that power? Doubt began to creep into his stomach. He wondered if he was trying to do too much too soon. This was it. It was do or die. A mistake here could cost a life. Was he really prepared for that? Danny's words kept rolling through his mind. It was time Phil made a choice.
"How strong are you, Blackwulf?" Dirk asked as everyone tried to keep their balance on the deck, the wave forcefully pushing the craft.
"I am having much muscles, comrade. Why?"
Dirk nodded at the boat. "I need a lift." A fiendish grin crossed Blackwulf's face to acknowledge comprehension of Dirk's statement. The purple giant tied his rope around his waste, and Dirk tied the other end to his.
Blackwulf grabbed Dirk, took a few steps toward the bow of the craft, and tossed the gunslinger into the air. Halfway across, Dirk guessed how hard he had been thrown and how fast he was going. This might have been a bad idea, but it was too late to go back now.
He tumbled onto the deck. The impact was hard, but not as hard as it could have been if Dirk didn't know how to take a fall. His chest hurt him. He felt with his hands. Nothing was broken. He looked at the boat's so-called crew. They were a middle-aged couple in Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirts. Tourists. They just don't know when to come in out of a storm. He untied the rope from around his waste and to the hull of the ship. Now, maybe they could tow the ship into harbor, or at least get the people onto the hovercraft.
"It's going to be a long day."
Danny stood on the hovercraft, looking out the hatch that Dirk had just jumped out of. He stared down at the ship they were rescuing, scanning it up and down. Movement at the rear of the boat caught his eye. "Ah, crap..."
A small child was holding on the railing, being splashed by rough waves and torn at by the wind. He wasn't going to be able to hold on long.
"Someone back me up!" Danny said, and jumped out of the hatch yelling, "WINGS!" as he did so.
Hal complied. Large bird's wings sprouted out of his back, and he propelled himself downward toward the boat.
The storm, however, had other ideas. A sudden gust of wind threw Danny out of balance, and he reached out to grab hold of something. He opened his eyes and realized he had a grip on the rope that stretched between the boat and the hovercraft.
"DANNY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Dirk yelled from the deck of the boat as he ushered the tourists inside to be towed to shore.
"A KID!" Danny yelled, pointing.
"Ah, shit..." Dirk said. Danny couldn't hear him, of course, what with the distance involved and the noise of the storm. But he got the idea.
Now, the thing about water was, it could be powerful when it wanted to be. This was one of the times when it chose to employ that capacity. A wave rocked the boat, not enough to capsize it, but enough to give a hell of a shake on the rope that Danny was holding onto.
Danny closed his eyes as he was thrown off the rope and headed downward. He heard a thump. He felt a thump. So he opened his eyes. He'd fallen onto the deck of the boat.
"Okay, the execution could have used work, but the end goal was the same. You can reverse the wings now."
Danny stood up and noticed Dirk was yelling at him, "GET THE KID! I'LL GET THESE GUYS BELOW DECKS!" Danny nodded at Dirk and ran toward the child.
"Jamie! I thought he was still inside!" Danny heard one of the passengers say as he ran past.
A boat was not the sturdiest place to be running across at the best of times, and especially so in the middle of a storm. Danny was quickly realizing this. A couple of times he stumbled and steadied himself against the railing. But he made it, just in time to see the child go sailing over the rail into the sea, thanks to the force of a huge wave.
"GILLS AND A MONKEY TAIL!" Danny yelled, and dived over the edge into the water.
Back on the hovercraft, Grimm stood, watching. "Can you get us any closer to the boat?!" Grimm asked Chance.
"Probably... but we'd have to stop towing. The rope would be too slack."
"It'll only take a second. Take us down!"
Chance dropped the hovercraft a little. Grimm took a deep breath and jumped out. He landed with a thud on the boat, then watched as Chance rose into the air, pulling the rope tight.
Grimm ran to the back of the boat, suffering less problems with his sea legs than Danny had. He reached the railing where Danny dived over, and was almost amused to find a monkey tail gripping onto the rail. The tail trailed off to beneath the surface, where a small child was being held just above the water level by two hands protruding from beneath. Grimm grabbed onto the tail and yanked on it as hard as he could.
Grimm pulled Danny and the kid out of the water and back onto the boat. "You okay?" he asked as Danny's gills began to fade away.
"Y-yeah, I didn't realize this thing would be quite so strong."
"It's only gonna get worse from here. Get below, see if you can find a radio, and tell Chance to bring us into the harbor."
Grimm felt as if he were being watched. He turned and looked behind him. Nothing. Odd, he thought. The boat continued to rock as the hovercraft began gently towing it inland, fighting against the howling winds and crashing waves.
"Greem, are you ready?" Blackwulf's voice boomed even in the raging winds. Grimm just nodded. "Put the rope on Danny and the small one. I'll hoist them up first."
Grimm put the rope around Jamie and signaled for him to be hoisted. With one mighty tug, the boy was flung into the air, only to be caught gracefully by a gentle invisible hand and pulled on board the hovercraft. Phil Smith was visibly concentrating on maintaining control.
"Comrade Phil, is good idea. Just don't get distracted and miss. It could be being very bad," Blackwulf said as he dropped the rope.
"Greem, the rest of the crew is being next, all of them at once. I am not thinking the boat..." Just then, a giant wave smashed against the hull with a thunderous force. "...is going to make it." The boat teetered and sent a shock wave that would have thrown almost anyone over.
"TALONS!" Danny yelled as he buried his long claws into the small wooden frame. Grimm reached for the railing, only to find it had come loose in his grip.