Author note: I own nothing!
*Aquatic*
-Marlene
After turning back Marlene had asked Skipper to keep her secret. Even from his team.
"I don't Marlene. They're my team. I can't keep this away from them. They have a right as protectors of this zoo to know about this, since it involves the zoo residence."
"Come on Skipper please? I wasn't planning telling anyone about this until I was a full-fledged Aquatic, but now...Please Skipper, you know what Kowalski would so if he found out." Marlene said.
A mental image of Kowalski proding Marlene with bioscaners and wires pretruding from her body, helped Skipper agree to keep her secret. "Fine, you better Mr. Right pronto Marlene!"
Marlene chuckled., "Its not like I can go to the nearest Boy Toy store and pick some stranger out. I might be a while, Skip"
"Well...best of luck to you then." If Marlene hadn't known any better she would've sworn that Skipper looked...jealous.
After he left she sighed. Marlene felt sick with herself, she was a liar. She never told Skipper the msot important part of what had happened. Why she had struck lightning around Bada and Bing, why she put Joey under her sleep spell. She left out the Mirage.
Demons, that prayed on the life force of surface dwellars. That could go easily undetected by technoligy and magic. If she hadn't put Joey in a dormant state he would have been dead a week ago, as would have Bada and Bing. They stole one's soul, leaving an unexplainable death behind. Many unsolved murders were the results if the Mirage.
It had been the reason she was even there in the Carribean at that time. Someone had spotted Mirage in that area, it had been an Zeta Class and had been able to take over a dead sharks body, killing Skipper's comrades. Luckily she had been there or else Skipper would've... She shivvered. No sense in dwelling on what could have happened. Focus on the now.
Marlene looked up at the sunny sky and sighed. This would be dificult but it had to be done. She walked over to Joey's hoping to calm him down.
When she arrived at his pen, however, he wasn't there. "Where'd he go?" she recieved an answer when she heard voices over at the Zoovineer shop. Running over there she figured that Joey's sudden waking had triggered a meeting about herself. She needed to get these rumors undercontroll. They were ostralizing her. Everyone was getting suspisious of her.
"Hold up... are you saying that Marlene made you sleep all week? That seems kind of far fetched to me." Marlene recognised Maurice's voice.
"That's what Joey's been saying, mate!"
"I believe him."
"Me too. Something strange is happening with that otter."
"Phil and I concure. After seeing what we've seen, there's no telling what she could do."
"She's a mermaid. Fishy-tail! Fishy-tail!"
Marlene's paws clenched and unclenched. she fought back tears. Monster! That's all you are! A sneaky mer-temptress! Why? Why me? Why me? Whyyy meeee!
Boom!
Thunder! Marlene looked up and saw that the sky, which had been cloudless just moments ago, was completly cover in dark clouds.
"What the... ?" Then her mind remebered what her mentor had said was the rarest power her people could get... empathy. Aquatic with this ability could pour their feelings into the environment around them, and they could feel te emotions of other creature... and see their memories as well. It was a one-in-a-million chance to have that ability. One-in-a-million.
All right Marlene... calm down... 1... 2... 3...4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10...breathe...
"That was weird," Burt said sticking his head out, not seeing Marlene.
"Hmmmm?" Marlene looked up the dark clouds were gone, but it was no longer that pretty a day.
Looks like I need practice...
"Huh? Who said that? Oh, sorry Marlene... didn't see you there!" He was speaking loudly for some reason... wait he was alerting the others! Marlene heard herself growl.
"Tell the guys that if they have something to say about me, they should say it to my face!" Marlene yelled so that the others could hear her. Breathing in again, so the wheather didn't go all wack again, she walked into the zoovineer shop. All eyes were on her.
"Look, I know that some... unexplainable things have been happening lately... and I've been on edge, so I can see why you might think that I had something to do with what's been happening. But!" She turned on her heals to face them, her eyes have a dangerous gleam in them... a ticked off one as well. Even the ones who didn't believe that Marlene was a mermaid felt a shiver go up and down their spines. "I an hoonestly say that i mean no harm, what so ever." She smiled a Cheshire Cat smile and walked about them. Encircling them. Then she walked out winking at them as she left.
After leaving she sighed, Well that did nothing to help my case!
Storming away Marlene felt eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. Quickly she turned, nothing! Calm down girl, Skip's paranoia is just getting to you!
Walking back to her habitat Marlene started to calm down. Until a gust of wind blew against her from the West. That was sea air blowing at her! That would be comin at her from the East not West. Swiflty moving to the West Marlene saw a dark green glow around the Zoovineer Shop!
Mirage! And a lot of them!
It takes roughly one-hundred to even take a light color...this dark green had to mean well over a thousand.
"Out of the way Marlene!" Skipper barked from behind her. His team slide to the sight ahead, Marlene looked along horrified.
"Skipper wait! Don't go in there!" Marlene shouted behind them. Only a full fledged Aquatic could take on that many Mirages. An angel of the sea, as an Fledgeing pastor once told her.
"Marlene stay back, this has Blowhole writen all over it!" Marlene remebered the psychopathic dolphin... no way could he do this!
"Skipper it's not him!" Marlene had tear streamong down her face now. She felt the agony everyone inside was feeling now. If she didn't get an Aquatic to get them out, they would die! They're bodies turning into Mirages.
She shuddered when she remembered the first time she saw a body being turned. It wasn't a pretty sight.
"Really Marlene you saw him and what he is capable of. This is one-hundred percent Blowhole!" Kowalski said. oth Rico and Private nodded in agreement and waited for Skipper to do the same.
But he didn't. He studied Marlene and found that look in her eyes. It was the same look she had when she was about to change in front of him. "
I'm listening Marlene." Skipper said with military confidence. His comrades looked at him like he had grown a second head.
She sighed, "I'm sorry that I kept this part from you... I didn't want to overwhelm you Skip. What's in there are being known to my kind as Mirages. They are demonic creatures that can suck the soul from a being. The bodies of those who die at their hands turn into Mirages. It takes thousands for them to become visble like that. You can't fight them! Only an Aquatic can defeat them!" Marlene was in tears now.
"Well then couldn't you fight them off?" Skipper asked not noticing the questioning looks he was getting from his team.
"I can only keep them at bay, only a full fledged Aquatic can vanquish them. I won't ever be able to keep this many at bay."
Skipper stood there stumped. At the moment a dozen lives at stake and the only thing that could help, he had no idea of contacting. Time was ticking away.
R&R! If you have an idea PM me please! I'll give credit where credit is deserved! I really need ideas!
