"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT??!!" Axel finally found his voice and it was highly expressive.
Compared to the titan that looked like a god from a forgotten religion, the thing they faced was a mere spec of dust. Even below that.
Another thunderous roar shook the sky and raised massive waves that could actually drown the ship.
Kale and Axel watched as waves the height of the Empire State building reached for their ship. Ming, on the other hand, remained calm and impassive.
Before the wave could reach them however, a blinding orange light filled everyone's vision like a second sun had appeared in the sky.
A scalding heat descended on the three of them as the orange light increased in intensity.
"What now?!" Axel cursed.
"Another beast?" Kale pondered.
A bright orange figure flew through the encroaching waves that were approaching the ship and evaporated them in an instant.
The figure continued with its flight to the tiger in the distance.
As the distance between them and the figure increased, the heat reduced and when there was enough distance, they were able to see its shape. Even the bright light was gone.
It appeared to be a large bird made up of only flames and energy. It was clearly something that wasn't meant to be in their world.
"Shit!!" Axel cursed his and their bad luck. At this rate, it would be a miracle if they made it off the ocean in one piece or at least alive.
The bird enclosed on the tiger with breakneck speeds.
Ming Lee got on her feet and continued to watch in silence. By this time, other people were entering the deck.
"The two of you are weak minded. Do you really think that the military would let anything happen to us?" She scoffed and headed back in, brushing shoulders with them.
"She definitely knows more than she's letting on." Kale whispered to Axel.
"That much is obvious." Axel couldn't remove his eyes from both creatures for fear of missing what could kill him.
The Phoenix, for a lack of better words, soon turned into a small orange dot as it got closer to the tiger.
The dot got smaller and smaller until it vanished.
"Huh. I could have sworn it was going for the tiger. Has it moved on or-?"
Kale was cut short by a wave of heat and steam crashing into the ship followed by the loud roar of an explosion.
The ship shook furiously but with less might than the tiger's roar.
A small sphere of light was visible in the distance where the tiger was.
Its collosal figure rose from the waters and hovered above it like a wraith.
Its heads looked at seemingly nothing with a mild annoyance but Kale and Axel knew that it was looking at the Phoenix.
The tiger's stripes lit up and the sky shook.
It swiped its claws at the dot and visible, skyscraper long claw marks flew to it.
The small sphere released what appeared to be a small dot. Yet when the claw marks hit the dot, the world convulsed on itself.
Kale and Axel stood frozen as the waters at the bottom of the ocean cleared themselves due to the generated force and that's when the heat set in.
The sea floor began to melt unendingly and with great speed.
The shockwaves hit the ship and sent it backwards a couple of kilometers before stopping.
Kale and Axel barely managed to grab onto proper handles and footholds. Those who weren't got flushed off board by some waves.
The fear of death stopped Axel's usually analytical mind from trying to process what was happening. Not that he could.
Another boom resounded and those lucky, perhaps even unfortunate, enough to survive saw the tiger falling back into the ocean covered in smoke.
The large vacuum in the water caused by the fight started to fill up immediately and pulled the ship with it.
Kale and Axel barely managed to maintain their standings as the ship was moved forcibly once more.
The ship slowed down until it came to a still.
"I can't believe we survived." A voice sighed in relief before breaking into tears.
This event had taught them that merely staying in the range of a battle could mean instant death.
"Are you sure???!!! LOOK!!!!" A girl screamed and pointed off into the direction of the fight.
A small orange dot was still in the air. It was far, yes but it was definitely getting larger. The Phoenix was heading for them.
A strong and pungent odour filled the deck. Numerous people had emptied their bowels in fear. Some even broke down into tears.
This time, Axel could think.
'No orders, no panic. Heck, they aren't even here.' His mind raced.
"Kale, let's leave this place now and head to our rooms."
"What? Why?"
"Trust me."
Kale and Axel started to head inside and this action didn't go unnoticed by someone there.
He started following them. After what they had done to his chances, he had always kept a close eye on them.
With the ongoing chaos and panic, he was sure that he could get away with killing them. This person was Eric.
"I admit that I'm not sure but it is absolutely strange that ALL the military officials on this ship aren't on the deck." Axel started his explanation.
"I mean, sure it's not their job to babysit us but not reacting at all is suspicious. They most likely-"
"Knew about the beats." Kale completed on Axel's behalf.
"And that's why Ming was so unbothered. She knew and that's why she even gave us a hint." Kale chuckled a bit as the weight of mortal danger got lifted off his shoulders.
"My guess is that this is the fourth, unknown test. To see how we do in high stress situations." Axel muttered, before trying to adjust his glasses only to realize that he had left it in their room.
"Let me get my glasses." Axel left.
Kale sighed and ran his hand through his hair, unaware of the person behind him.
Eric reached and grabbed Kale in a chokehold, having all intentions to kill.