The bright light flashed once again, and before they knew it, they fell with a splash into cold water.

“Uwaaah,” Mimi cried, when she looked around her. “We’re right smack in the middle of the ocean!”

“Look, Mimi,” Ken pointed as he spoke. “There’s some flotsam over there!” He swam over to it and held onto the piece of driftwood. “Maybe we can use it to make a flotation device.”

Mimi followed suit and held onto the floating driftwood. “It’s just a single plank,” she observed. “It won’t hold us for long.”

“But look!” Ken exclaimed. “There’s another one over there!” Ken started kicking his little legs in an attempt to reach the wooden plank in the distance. “Kick with me, Mimi!”

“Okay,” Mimi said with a smirk and a tone that felt like she must’ve been thinking “you asked for it.” She kicked her feet hard and fast, propelling the two of them forward like a jetboat.

“Whoa!” Ken exclaimed, as he hadn’t expected Mimi’s kicking to give them such a boost. They got to the other plank easily. “Let’s see now…” Ken thought about their next plan of action.

The bright sun was beating down, and Mimi had to hold her hand over her squinting eyes as a visor to see into the distance. “There’s something over there,” she noted, as she tried to make it out. “It looks like a rope.”

“Perfect,” Ken exclaimed.

“This debris must be from the war,” Rei said, her voice coming out from the speakers on Ken and Mimi’s Maka-Nets.

“Yeah, it looks like a ship was destroyed,” Ken observed.

“According to my Maka-Net,” Rei said, “the key fragment should be north-east from your location.”

“This way, right?” Ken pointed in a direction that he perceived to be north-east based on the placement of the sun.

“That’s correct,” Rei confirmed.

The two swam on their planks for a bit. After some time, a beach ball appeared in their path.

“It’s perfect!” Ken exclaimed.

“It’s just a ball,” Mimi said, in confusion. “What are we supposed to do with that?”

“It still has air in it,” Ken said, while putting his weight on it to ensure that it was nice and full, “so it’ll hold us up much better than just the planks!” He put a plank on top of the ball. “Can you help me out?”

“What do I do?” Mimi asked, unsure of his plan.

“Hold these two planks side-by-side on top of the ball,” Ken instructed, “while I tie them together.”

“Got it.”

Thus, with Mimi’s help, Ken tied the planks onto the ball, making something like a table over the water. The two leaned on their new and improved flotation device.

“But now it’s lopsided,” Mimi observed, as the plank teetered like a see-saw when she put her weight onto it. “Put your back into it more!”

“Like this?” Ken asked, after allowing his upper body to fully relax on top of the plank.

“There you go!” Mimi replied, enthusiastically. “Let’s get rollin’!”

The two continued kicking their feet steadily, feeling much safer on their new invention. However, little did they know that lurking under the water was a sea-snake, eyeing them up for his next meal.

“Hey Rei,” Mimi addressed their leader without moving her hands off of the plank. Her Maka-Net was in her bag attached to her belt. “Is it okay for our Maka-Nets to be submerged like this?”

“Oh, yes,” Rei replied, smiling back in the park on earth. “They’re powered by magic, so they’re very resilient against water!”

“That’s good to hear,” Mimi replied. “How much farther till we reach our destination?

“Let’s see,” Rei looked at the screen of her Maka-Net. “Going by the coordinates and your current pace… About two hours.”

“Two hours?!” Mimi yelled.

“It’s okay, Mimi!” Ken said with an amount of gusto that was uncharacteristic of him. “With your strong legs and my flotation device, we can do it!” He had a bright, determined smile on his face, and he let one of his hands off of the plank to raise it into a fist to cheer her on.

Mimi rested an elbow on the plank, which was teetering up like a seesaw once more, thanks to Ken letting some of his weight off of it. She leaned her cheek into her palm and sighed. “I should’ve packed lunch.” Her face grew irritated as she felt something rub against her leg. “Ew, Ken, stop touching my leg.”

“Huh?” Ken was confused. “I’m not…” Before Ken could finish his sentence, water splashed as Mimi was grabbed and pulled under water. “Mimi!!”

Mimi barely managed to hold her breath in time. She felt herself getting pulled down, aware that something had wrapped around her leg. She nervously looked down and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a humongous sea creature that looked something like a frilled lizard with the long, limbless body of a snake.