Chapter 2
A New Companion
Demyx sighed and sat down, pondering his failure so far in finding a new partner to replace Mr. Fuzzledeedumpkins. Demyx had considered several species that had been labeled as friendly fish in his book, but so far, he had come across nothing but mean fish that had bitten him. Their unpleasant personalities reminded Demyx of Larxene during that certain time of the month when she was most irritable. He recalled one specific time that she had actually been able to send Xemnas to a corner whimpering in fear of the species they referred to as female. The memory lifted Demyx's spirits and gave him new hope that he would find the perfect pet. He scanned the large coral reef in front of him. Surely there was a fish out here in the huge sea that would be willing to be his friend, right?
He swam over to an auspicious hunk of coral and watched as a school of small fish frantically tried to get away. Demyx decided not to go after them, since he would then have to take more than one home with him, and he still technically hadn't been granted permission to keep one by Xemnas. He could only imagine the superior's expression if he found out about his plan, Knowing that whatever he got he would have to hide from number one who had eyes like a hawk, which would be difficult.
Demyx looked up at the sky through the clear surface of the water, and estimated that it was almost twilight. He knew that he should head back soon, but he desperately wanted a friend that he could call his own. A pet that would not leave him for Marluxia, or rather perish in his garden of death.
A sudden squeak came from behind Demyx and he turned around, wondering what was still within ten feet of him. He looked around, but found nothing, so he decided to head back to his gummi ship. He began thinking of an excuse for being away from the headquarters for so long, since he was positive that Axel would tease him about doing one dirty thing or another in the world where all the dancer nobodies were.
A flurry of bubbles made Demyx whip around, but again, nothing was visible. He decided that he would sit down and see if he could coax his follower out with a little music. He began to sing, and just as he had expected, a small fish reluctantly swam out of a seaweed clump. Demyx gazed in awe, for the second that he laid eyes on it, he knew that this was the fish meant for him. The fish was about three inches long, with a bright electric blue tail and fins. His stomach was a lime green, and his back was a hot pink with brilliant orange stripes. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his life (or unlife.)
The fish made an adorable squeaking noise, followed by a sound that seemed like the purr of a kitten. He cautiously approached it and crooned to it, " Joo are the most bootiful wittle fishie I've ever laid eyes on!" waggling his finger all the while. Suddenly, the fish swam forward and chomped down hard on his finger. Demyx, slightly taken aback, pulled the bloodsucking fish off his abused digit and flung it off into the open water. It then began swimming around in circles, smelling the blood it had drawn from his finger. That's when an unsuspecting fish swam by, much smaller than the first, and passed the bloodthirsty fish. With a quick snap of it's jaws, however the little fish was no more, and Demyx realized why it had bitten him.
"You were just hungry!" he said, convinced that this was the fish he would take home with him. He gleefully captured it in a jar and headed back to the gummi ship, periodically stopping to grab another fishy meal for his new pet.
On the way back to the headquarters, he decided a name for the fish, Mr. Bubbles. His full name would be Mr. Bobubbledeedumpkins, but he knew that would be too difficult, and so Mr. Bubbles it was. He had even made up a song for his new pet, but he hadn't been able to think of anything that rhymed with "Atlantica," so he hummed a few measures under his breath. He had just gotten to the chorus when he was distracted by a loud splish. Demyx took his eyes off the road for a minute, investigating the noise, but found nothing but Mr. Bubbles, a toothy grin wide across his face. He returned the smile and said in a cheery voice,
"Dance, Mr. Bubbles, dance!" These mere seconds in which he was not looking at the road, Demyx ran into a large asteroid with a loud THUMP!
Demyx was never the best gummi ship navigator, but he had never driven so badly before in his life. By the time he neared the headquarters, the ship was unrecognizable; the once brilliant blues, reds, and yellows had been scraped down to the bare metal frame. But Demyx just couldn't help looking away from the road, Mr. Bubbles was too cute and needed constant attention. However, he would need a good excuse for destroying this gummi ship, and he started to formulate a story.
He decided that he would tell Xemnas that he had run into a giant heartless ship that was much more powerful than any prior to his excursion, adding in that he was lucky that he was still alive after such a near-death experience. Xemnas probably wouldn't believe him, but there was nothing Demyx could do about it, and in time, number one would forgive him… after much bribing and many tubes of the very expensive hair gel. Demyx knew how hard Xemnas worked to keep his hair so perfect, because when he woke up in the morning, his hair was a terrible mess. Demyx snickered as he recalled one time in which Xemnas had run out of hair gel, and all the other members had locked themselves away in their rooms, stricken with fear of the monster that was roaming around the corridors, moaning. They later found out, a little too late, that this monster was the superior, and that he would not melt if you dumped a cold bucket of water on his head. That night at dinner everyone had been quite quiet; no one dared to speak to the fuming leader.
The thought of food made Demyx's stomach growl, and he realized that he hadn't had anything to eat since earlier that morning. He already knew that nothing edible was left at the headquarters, since Axel seemed to have burned every morsel of food in the castle, and Roxas always considered Sea salt ice cream the balanced part of every meal. Demyx considered bringing back some food from the supermarket, which would give him a reason to be late, so he decided to visit the most easily accessed supermarket, which was located in Traverse Town.
Demyx's original plan was just to get some food, but after seeing all the shops, he stayed a little longer than expected. However, he had not stayed to buy frivolities, he had gone to a small pet shop and bought a fish set, which included a large can of fish food, a tank with a small treasure chest bubbler, and a pump to help keep the tank sparkly clean. The man at the store had said, "Only 1000 munny!" but now that Demyx looked in his pocket, he realized with dread that 1000 munny was a lot more than the man had made it seem.
He sighed, walking out of the small shop, hands full and wallet empty. He was now sure that Xemnas was going to kill him, since there was probably nothing worse he could do than bring in a strange pet and announce that he had spent all his money on it. However, as soon as Demyx returned to the ship and looked at the smiling face of Mr. Bubbles, all his worries were gone.
The headquarters were quiet when Demyx returned, and he was able to slip into his room without waking anyone. He had been surprised when he had found that Roxas and Axel's gummi ship was still gone, meaning they had not come back from heartless hunting.
Demyx walked over to his bookcase and pushed dusty books off the shelves, clearing a spot for Mr. Bubbles's tank. Once he had enough room, he heaved the heavy container onto the shelves and proceeded with setting up the bubbler and pump. When that was done, he put gravel in and began to decorate the tank with pretty water plants that had been included in the fish deal. Demyx summoned a water clone, only to dismiss it, letting the water fall into Mr. Bubbles's new home. He stepped back and smiled at the newly made home, happy that it was working out well so far.
Demyx placed Mr. Bubbles into his new home, and watched as his pet swam around exploring all the parts of the tank. Mr. Bubbles seemed to like the new place and settled down soon afterwards. Demyx turned to the books sprawled across his floor and knew that he would need to clean them up. He picked up as many as he could and walked over to his bed, hoping there would be enough room to shove them under. He lifted up the sheets that draped over the side of the bed, only to find that there was no space. Demyx stuffed many toys under the bed in fear that another member would find them and tease him nonstop, which had happened one too many times when he had hidden them in his closet. Demyx stood up, letting the books drop on the floor again, turned to the door, and paled. For standing in the door was Axel, a wide, taunting smile slapped across his face.
"Well, lookie here. Seems you've found some sunken treasure on you dive down to Atlantica."
From there on out, Demyx knew he was in a lot of trouble.
