old farts think about me. I don’t need to go in the water to prove that.”
“Headline!” Glebeck said suddenly, startling the boys. “Death Toucher Aura Afraid of Water!”
“Headline!” Rumbaugh said, joining in. “Humans Can’t Swim!”
“Yes they can!” Ash said. “This is bull! Come on Aura, let’s do what we came here to do and shut these guys up!”
“I really don’t want to,” Aura said.
“We’ll do it,” said Ash.
“Excellent!” Glebeck said with glee. Behind him Rumbaugh and Bliley cackled like deranged children.
A short while later everyone walked to the pier in East Hell. Glebeck, Machmann, Bliley, and Rumbaugh all had their own assistants holding umbrellas for them. Ash and Aura were not even given a newspaper to cover their heads with. They got drenched as soon as they set foot outside. That, combined with the dreadful thought of how they’d be dealing with the sting squids made for one unpleasant trek through Hell.
The group arrived at the long pier leading out into a turbulent dark sea. The boys were thankful as they finally got out of the rain by entering a small shack halfway up the pier. They walked down some stairs and found themselves under the pier, almost at the water level. Rows of smaller docks and wooden boats lined the water’s edge. Glebeck explained to the dockworker on duty that the two boys were here to dive, and the dockworker began preparing equipment for them.
“Ash, it’s been fun…” Aura said. “Actually, today has been pretty horrible, but that’s not the point. The point is that I’m running away from this one.”
“Are you really that scared of the water?” asked Ash.
“Yes! Do humans do a lot of swimming?”
“Yeah. Don’t devils?”
“No!”
“It’s easy. Just get in the water and move your arms and legs around. As your friend, I can’t allow you to disappoint yourself and run away.”
“I am quite alright with disappointing myself, I’ve been doing it for years,” Aura said.
“Quit squawking and put on these dive suits!” Rumbaugh said, glaring at them.
The diving suits in question were nothing fancy. Not like the scuba-suits Ash had seen on Earth, anyway. They were basically tight rubber suits that were supposed to protect them from the freezing cold water somewhat. Aura immediately pointed out that the suits lacked wing-holes on the backs, but everyone laughed and told him to deal with it. He grumbled about not being able to use his death touching hand either.
It only took a minute to put on the stretchy suits. The boys followed the group to the end of the pier, a long way from the shoreline. The water looked deep, dark, and heart-stoppingly terrifying. Ash felt sorry for Aura not being able to swim as he gazed into the abyss. Glebeck handed the boy a single small knife.
“Here, you might want this,” he said. “Sting Squids have been seen under this pier before, so I’m confident you should encounter at least one. We just need enough ink to fill these buckets,” Glebeck said, motioning to a few small buckets the dockworker brought with. “Over here is the central air supply,” he said pointing to a pipe that was built into the framework of the pier. It bent around and pointed downward so that nothing could be poured inside of it.
“I’ll plug your breathing tubes into the central air supply and just like that you can stay down there as long as it takes to capture our Squid,” Glebeck said as he jammed a hose into another opening in the pipe work. “When you got one, just tug on the hose three times and we’ll pull you up.”
Ash put on the clunky diving helmet they handed him. It was just a thin, metal helmet with a glass eyepiece in front to see out of and a hole in the back where the air hose connected. A more primitive setup than the humans used on Earth, but effective nonetheless.
Next, the boys were given clear plastic globes the size of basketballs. They were shown how to twist off the cap and
“Headline!” Glebeck said suddenly, startling the boys. “Death Toucher Aura Afraid of Water!”
“Headline!” Rumbaugh said, joining in. “Humans Can’t Swim!”
“Yes they can!” Ash said. “This is bull! Come on Aura, let’s do what we came here to do and shut these guys up!”
“I really don’t want to,” Aura said.
“We’ll do it,” said Ash.
“Excellent!” Glebeck said with glee. Behind him Rumbaugh and Bliley cackled like deranged children.
A short while later everyone walked to the pier in East Hell. Glebeck, Machmann, Bliley, and Rumbaugh all had their own assistants holding umbrellas for them. Ash and Aura were not even given a newspaper to cover their heads with. They got drenched as soon as they set foot outside. That, combined with the dreadful thought of how they’d be dealing with the sting squids made for one unpleasant trek through Hell.
The group arrived at the long pier leading out into a turbulent dark sea. The boys were thankful as they finally got out of the rain by entering a small shack halfway up the pier. They walked down some stairs and found themselves under the pier, almost at the water level. Rows of smaller docks and wooden boats lined the water’s edge. Glebeck explained to the dockworker on duty that the two boys were here to dive, and the dockworker began preparing equipment for them.
“Ash, it’s been fun…” Aura said. “Actually, today has been pretty horrible, but that’s not the point. The point is that I’m running away from this one.”
“Are you really that scared of the water?” asked Ash.
“Yes! Do humans do a lot of swimming?”
“Yeah. Don’t devils?”
“No!”
“It’s easy. Just get in the water and move your arms and legs around. As your friend, I can’t allow you to disappoint yourself and run away.”
“I am quite alright with disappointing myself, I’ve been doing it for years,” Aura said.
“Quit squawking and put on these dive suits!” Rumbaugh said, glaring at them.
The diving suits in question were nothing fancy. Not like the scuba-suits Ash had seen on Earth, anyway. They were basically tight rubber suits that were supposed to protect them from the freezing cold water somewhat. Aura immediately pointed out that the suits lacked wing-holes on the backs, but everyone laughed and told him to deal with it. He grumbled about not being able to use his death touching hand either.
It only took a minute to put on the stretchy suits. The boys followed the group to the end of the pier, a long way from the shoreline. The water looked deep, dark, and heart-stoppingly terrifying. Ash felt sorry for Aura not being able to swim as he gazed into the abyss. Glebeck handed the boy a single small knife.
“Here, you might want this,” he said. “Sting Squids have been seen under this pier before, so I’m confident you should encounter at least one. We just need enough ink to fill these buckets,” Glebeck said, motioning to a few small buckets the dockworker brought with. “Over here is the central air supply,” he said pointing to a pipe that was built into the framework of the pier. It bent around and pointed downward so that nothing could be poured inside of it.
“I’ll plug your breathing tubes into the central air supply and just like that you can stay down there as long as it takes to capture our Squid,” Glebeck said as he jammed a hose into another opening in the pipe work. “When you got one, just tug on the hose three times and we’ll pull you up.”
Ash put on the clunky diving helmet they handed him. It was just a thin, metal helmet with a glass eyepiece in front to see out of and a hole in the back where the air hose connected. A more primitive setup than the humans used on Earth, but effective nonetheless.
Next, the boys were given clear plastic globes the size of basketballs. They were shown how to twist off the cap and
Similar Books
