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"Dammit, Cap'n, this is suicide!" Jake burst out, moving to block the large gator boy from diving into the sea. "You said you saw it heading away from us, right? So it won't be coming back! You can leave it to the mermaids to--"

"It's messing up my coral," Tock said darkly, shrugging off his ratty looking shirt and tossing it aside. "That crap it's leaving behind it could be killing my fish, too. You think I can just sit here while that's happening?"

"Then why did you come inland when you saw it?" Jake asked.

"Because it was too dark to do anything about it then," Tock said. "It's nice and bright out now. I'm going to see if that black s**t can be cleaned up, and if he does come back..." His eyes narrowed. "He's going to regret it."

"Yeah, after you give him a stomach ache, you mean," Jake muttered.

The two turned, looking at her blankly for a long moment before Jake started to laugh. "You're right, you'd be great safety. You'd be a lot easier to eat than the Cap'n would be, any day."

Tock sighed. "It's too dangerous," he said as he slipped off his pants and stood there in his loincloth. His tail flicked behind him once. "You stay here, Sparry." Then he dove into the water, not giving her a chance to respond.

"He's such an idiot," Jake muttered before diving in right behind him.

They didn't notice she was there as they headed for the coral to inspect the sludge that had been left behind. Tock broke off a piece of it, holding it and the black, nasty stuff coating it up so it reflected in the light. He didn't look very happy about it.

Tock finally glanced over, noticing that Sparry had followed them. He motioned for them all to go to the surface, still holding the piece of coral in his hand.

Tock and Jake surfaced and Tock pulled the coral into the light. "What is it?" Jake asked.

"I don't know," Tock said, touching it. It left a gleaming coat on his finger. "I don't like it, either." He sniffed it, then touched his tongue to it. "Blaaagh," he said, turning his head and spitting out the taste. "C'mon, we're going to need a bigger net."

"Yeah," Tock said. "I'm going to get that nasty b*****d out of my water." He climbed up the rope ladder that hung over the side of the ship and started digging through the rope they had. "It's got to be big and hard to break," he told them. "If we can catch him we can haul him onto the shore."

"You didn't see the thing, did you?" Tock asked. "I don't care as long as we get something ready fast. If it comes back I want to be ready for it."

Jake nodded and got to work, not surprised by Tock's sharpness. Tock had always been obsessed with water. That his water was being ruined would make him irritable was only to be expected.

"I'm going to go look for it," Tock said. "Get that net ready fast."

"If he's killed I'm going to be so pissed," Jake muttered, finally going to work on the net.

Deep in the water Tock was heading in the opposite direction of the monster. He moved faster under water than he did on land, his long tail propelling him until the water around him took on a dark, nasty tinge. He pulled to a stop, floating slightly as he watched the monster heading towards him.

It was far bigger than he had expected. Mentally cursing he turned and headed back for the boat. They had less time than he had expected.

It seemed like forever before he was back, climbing up the ladder and onto the deck. "He's at the stream outlet," he said, heading for the rope to help with the net. "At the speed he's going we've got a few hours at most. And he's bigger than I thought he'd be, so double check your knots."

"Aye aye, Cap'n," Jake said.