At last, the Black Tide stopped rocking, floating still in the water. One by one, the chipmunks that remained began clamoring out of the holes created by their arrival. Tentacles began to retract, one by one until they were all gone and the bowels of the Tide were quiet. Penk and Greene’s retreat calmed the ship while Mica and Percy worked tirelessly to plug the holes in the hull and keep the boat from sinking all together.

Nameless shuffled through the rubble, repairing what they could, righting tables and chairs, scooping up the battered and bludgeoned corpses of the chipmunks and shoving them into garbage disposals.

Outside, the Black Tide rode the waves gently. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

When it reappeared, the sun was shining.