This second chapter focuses more on the non-human characters, whom I found rather challenging to write about. Many thanks to the reviewers for their kind (public and private) words of support.
Reunion & Resolution
Chapter 2: A shark's ponderings
The bright mid-day sun enveloped the shores of Antarctica. Mutio sat alone, breathing slowly as the winds from the sea blew against her slender frame. While her body was at peace, her mind was not.
Hayami...Once again your face...your scent and the feel of your touch invades my mind, just as they had for the past year. The passing of time has done nothing to erase these memories of you. Yes...you saved my life, and I repaid your act of kindness. The strange feelings should have ended there. But they didn't. Till now I keep finding myself thinking about you, wondering if you are happy...if you are safe. I want to see you again...I need to see you again. But why? and what after that? I do not know...
Mutio started to sing.
Verg too, was at the beach that day, walking aimlessly. He observed Mutio from a distance, alone and staring towards the open seas, lost in her thoughts. Those thoughts.
"Such a miserable little thing you are. Still letting yourself ache for a pathetic human, who probably doesn't even remember you anymore."
Verg still harbored much contempt towards the gill-less creatures. Especially the one that killed Papa, despite the tree nymph saying that death was what their Papa expected and wanted. Papa's killer promised to convey his message to the other humans - to co-exist peacefully with them, and stay away from the poles. To their credit, they have kept to their promises so far.
He remembered the day Papa died like it was yesterday...
...
Jung Zorndyke, creator of the Chimera race, was dead. Shot between his eyes.
Within the wreckage of the Ghost Ship, the surviving crew members were now joined by their land dwelling siblings. After concluding the burial ritual for their beloved creator, many were too distraught to return to the place where Zorndyke used to live. Mutio knelt next to Verg, still attempting to console the grieving child.
One of Verg's loyal navigators suddenly delivered interesting news. "Verg! Lord Marcello's ship approaches! He is attempting to seize the nuclear weapons on the human vessel, and use them on the pole shift device. It seems that Blue 6 has returned to stop him."
Marcello was one of Zorndyke's earliest creations - the result of an infusion of human cells with that of an angler-fish. But unlike other hybrids, Marcello's bloated physique was more fish than humanoid. Psychologically, he was the embodiment of Machiavellian evil, perfectly willing to sacrifice the lives of his fellow hybrids to further his personal goal - to destroy all humans and usurp Zorndyke's position of leadership. Indeed, Marcello fitted the stereotype of the 'evil Zorndyke sea-monster' that humans were taught to loathe to a tee. His massive size, huge maw and blood red skin further helped to enhance that image. (Author's Note: Not an original character; Marcello is from the BS6 playstation game)
His insidious voice resonated through the Ghost Ship's communication systems. "Watch, young Verg! At last, our moment has come. In their pitiful celebrations the foolish humans have left their nuclear weapons completely unguarded, ripe for the taking!"
Marcello's sickening laughter soon followed. "Hahahaha, and with Papa gone, there is nothing to stop me now. Zorndyke is weak old fool! He says he created us to destroy humans, but have you ever wondered why he never ordered us to exterminate them entirely, when its so easy? Because he is one of them. He doesn't have the heart to!"
"Live in peace with the humans? Ha! Today marks the day of mankind's extinction, and the rise of a new dominant species - the Chimera! Order your remaining troops to defend my ship Verg, while I acquire the human weapons for the final judgement! Do it now. I command it!"
The colony of hybrids could hear the sounds of the approaching Grampuses now. Mutio somehow sensed (correctly) that one of them contained the special human, the one called Hayami. Though she was still mourning over her Papa's death, Mutio couldn't help but feel concerned about Hayami again. She stroked the wound on Verg's shoulder and leaned towards him. "Brother Verg...please do something...for Papa!" she pleaded softly. Verg sneered at the hybrid. "You lie. Your eyes betray you Mutio!" Verg said. "It is the human weakling you are worried for. Even now..." Mutio looked down dejectedly. Verg had always been good at seeing these things.
Verg knew the tiny human machines were useless to stop the Marcello's Pyramid, as long as it remained mobile. He couldn't care less if they and that cursed Blue 6 were all destroyed. But Mutio was right about one thing: Papa was dead, but his legacy, his final wishes, were not! That power-crazed tyrant Marcello is about to restart the war, against Papa's final mandate. He couldn't let that happen, but how?
"The cannons!" Verg suddenly realized.
He pushed Mutio away and struggled to his feet, the injuries he sustained from the earlier battle were still taking their toll. He staggered across the bridge, barely managing to reach the console before collapsing onto the cold metal floor, his uninjured hand hanging onto one of the console levers. Several hybrids immediately ran forward to cradle him back on his feet, and it brought him a strange feeling of closeness and strength. Something he hasn't felt for a very long time.
The battered main guns of the Ghost Ship creaked in agony as they slowly turned to face Marcello's flagship.
"Verg?! What do you think you're doing, boy?"
Verg curled his fingers and hissed. "Marcello...you have been a disgrace to our kind. In his life, you've used Papa name to achieve your own selfish desires, and never obeyed his wishes. Yet despite everything you did, Papa always forgave you."
His voice now seething with rage, the shark hybrid bellowed in defiance. "And now...now...not only do you rejoice at Papa's death, you dare to desecrate his last wish...for us to live peacefully with the humans. I will not allow it! Not anymore!"
Marcello snarled. "Verg..you insolent little boy, I'll..."
"Marcello! IN THE NAME OF PAPA, DIE!" Verg slammed his massive fist on the button. The cannons of the ghost ship roared to life one final time, and then shattered to dust forever.
...
Yamada's voice was a mixture of excitement and disbelief. "Captain you won't believe this but...weapons ignition detected from the Ghost Ship. The Pyramid's been crippled. Its vulnerable now!"
"What?!" Iga gasped. To think just hours ago, he came close to annihilating the Ghost Ship and its crew. He couldn't help but wonder if this was some twisted form of Karma for sparing their lives. But there was hardly time to ponder, only a small window of opportunity to seize. "Grampus team, engage and destroy the Pyramid! And get us into firing range!"
...
The battle was swift, the outcome inevitable. For Marcello, he knew that his time had come. The bloated hybrid screamed his final breath before being consumed by a wave of fire.
"Hayami! Please wait..." Mutio raced towards the Grampuses, crying out in her language for Hayami to notice her. But the humans were already trying to flee from the imminent explosion that was about to happen. A brilliant flash of light suddenly engulfed the area, followed by a blast that disoriented the female hybrid.
The shockwave from the exploding vessel rippled through the ocean surface and slammed into the Ghost Ship - it was too much for its foundations to bear. With a sickening groan they started snapping like falling trees, causing the battleship to tremor violently and begin its doomed slide into the trench.
Its inhabitants were thrown into a state of confusion and panic. Verg swung a metal pipe at his fellow hybrids, who attempted to help him to escape; screaming at them to keep away and leave him be. They were flabbergasted at their leader's stubbornness. Verg couldn't swim away on his own - his injuries were too severe. Without help, he was doomed to go down with the ship. Now more worried about saving their own lives, the hybrids and Mutios began a mad scramble to safety. All around them, the towering structure was beginning to collapse.
But Verg no longer cared. With the death of Zorndyke and now the imminent destruction of his people's final place of refuge in the deep sea, life was no longer worth living. He was ready to die, with the grief of his deceased creator as the final entry in his mind.
Verg sat quietly on the floor of the crumbling bridge, weeping bitterly as he cried out softly. "Pa..pa..."
A soothing, peaceful voice from the direction of the sky suddenly broke his thoughts and jolted him back to reality.
"Live. Live for us, brother Verg...you will never be alone."
Verg directed his tear-filled eyes upwards and gasped. It was Mutio. She had returned with her sisters to rescue him, at the cost of forsaking the chance to reunite with the human she cared for. Mutio smiled as she reached out her delicate hands to the shark-man, who was now overwhelmed with remorse. "After all the suffering I've given you..."
"Forgive me..." Closing his eyes, Verg reached his hand out in return. Mutio and her sisters managed to carry him off to safety, only moments before the Ghost Ship slid off the cliff and plummeted into the abyssal trench forever.
...
The sounds of some playing hybrids splashing about in the water awakened Verg from his flashback. His knees felt sore. He had been standing there for quite some time.
Verg looked at Mutio again. Nothing was stopping her from leaving them. Certainly not himself. While still seen as a leader of sorts, Verg never did and never could wield such power, as it was not the way of their people. But she remained, at first because of her grief towards Zorndyke's death, and then out of respect and care for her fellow kind, whom were learning to survive without their Papa, and whom still disliked humans. But as the months passed, coupled with the absence of contact with humans, the sorrow and anger began to gradually fade.
Once reviled, Mutio's undying yearning for 'that Hayami human' slowly started to gain increasing acceptance and sympathy from her kind. Starting from one particular catgirl...
"Give her your blessings, brother Verg. She cares for the human" Amonyushuu would regularly tell him. The young, favored daughter of Zorndyke was becoming brighter and bolder with each passing day. And as always, Verg would swiftly dismiss the suggestion. But for some reason, it was becoming increasingly harder as time passed.
A sedentary life without combat has mellowed the shark-man's aggressive instincts slightly; strengthened his long-neglected ability to think. Indeed, Zorndyke's children were never engineered to be mere simple-minded obedient creatures. Though inexperienced and beastly-looking, a hybrid could be just as intelligent as any human, able to think, to factualize.
And much to Verg's dismay, there was no escaping the facts: The human did save Mutio's life. That cursed Submarine did spare their lives after devastating their Ghost Ship. Mankind has been leaving them alone as promised. More importantly, Mutio came back to save him from his attempted suicide, when everyone else had already abandoned him. Those blasted humans! Verg thought. They corrupted Mutio to think this way, about mercy..and...forgiveness towards those that hurt you before. Verg couldn't reconcile with the irony in that he ended up being saved by Mutio because of the same human values he despised.
Today was the day he finally did.
Mutio easily noticed the big lumbering hybrid approach her. He stopped next to her and looked down with his characteristic toothy grin.
"Yes...it is him I am thinking of again." Mutio admitted sadly, as she prepared to dive back into the ocean to spare herself from the inevitable ridicule. What she heard next froze her in place.
"Go to him, Mutio." Verg said, as he stood over the female hybrid.
"Verg...?!"
"Papa would have liked it this way. Go!"
Mutio's lips quivered, her eyes now filled with tears of joy. She reached out and gently pressed her cheek against Verg's. "...Thank you, dear brother."
For the past year she has lead a peaceful but ultimately incomplete existence, and that was finally going to change. With the blessings of her people but more importantly Verg, Mutio felt renewed, energized. She was now determined to find Hayami, and find resolution to the feelings that have haunted her for too long. But first...she would seek out a particular hybrid. One who apparently knew Hayami, and the ways of human life...
End Ch.2
Much of the events described in Verg's flashback was from the cutscenes of the BS6: Antarctica Playstation game. The game did a very good job of (canonically) fleshing out and extending on the story featured in the OVA, explaining lots of loose ends and ambiguous parts. Characters like Gilford and the Blue 6 crew are also given more screentime. Dialogue is in Japanese though, but nothing a Japanese-speaking buddy can't handle :P In case you haven't got the hint yet, if you're a hardcore fan of BS6, GET THIS GAME! Amazon.co.jp is your friend:P
Someone had also been kind enough to upload the videoclip of Marcello's death and the Ghost-Ship's farewell plunge on Youtube. Search using the keyword "Pyramid destroyed". The same user also uploaded other clips from the BS6 game and its worth a look if my narrative version wasn't satisfactory :P Unfortunately he didn't include the cutscene of Verg firing the cannons at Marcello, which was really the best scene. You'll have to play the game to watch it.