Here's my first future multi-parter, comin' at you folks. This was based off a suggestion from a reader (embarrassingly enough, it's one whose name I can't currently recall, and whose specific reviews/PMs I can't find - if you think this is yours, please let me know so I can I'll pass on credit accordingly!). We'll see how it goes, and as usual I hope you all enjoy!
When the Zen Sushi Bar had opened its doors at the start of the summer it quickly becoming popular with locals and passing tourists alike. Almost all who passed through its doors immediately fell in love with a tasty menu sourced almost entirely with ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. The restaurant prided itself on serving only fresh and local food, and those who wanted something a littler fresh were in for a particular treat, as long as they were willing to pay for it. They could choose their meal personally from the large tank that faced out of the massive front window into Main Street like a small aquarium exhibit. Any fish that looked appetizing enough to a patron with the cash to afford it would be quickly gutted, sliced, and hand rolled into bite-sized delicacies all in the same time it took to get a burger at Greasy's Diner.
As far as most people were concerned, the restaurant added quite a bit of a classy boost to the sleepy town of Gravity Falls. But not everyone was wowed, however. There was at least one strong critic of the restaurant's devotion for fresh food. However, that was mainly because he currently found himself on the wrong side of the menu.
"...I'll take….." A well-to-do gentleman perused the tank's current selection. He lingered on one particularly odd-looking fish for a good twenty seconds. The "fish" in turn gazed right back in utter horror. Finally though the man quickly decided that he'd be far better off with a smaller choice. "I'll take that salmon there."
"Excellent choice!" With speedy efficiency a waiter scooped in a massive net and fished out the meal-to-be. When the two left, the tank's largest occupant let out a bubbling sigh of relief.
"Close. Too close." He murmured under his breath. Now that he was safe at least until the next wealthy restaurateur came around, he started anxiously stroking his finely groomed as he wracked his brain.
This was certainly a fine mess, to put it criminally lightly. Mermando silently cursed both the fisherman's nets that had snagged him off the shore and his own carelessness. He wasn't a mere happy-go-lucky youth. He should have known so much better than to let his guard down near the Oregonian shore. That was a mistake worthy only of a mindless salmon, not a prince of the sea. Unfortunately, no amount of regret was going to help him now. He had already been caught, shipped away on an ice-packed truck and now here he was, on the verge of being served rolled up with rice alongside a side of wasabi and ginger.
"Which one would you like?" Another waiter appeared, this time with an eager-eyed family. That meant a whole pack of empty stomachs.
All seventeen of his hearts immediately began pounding a mile a minute as panic surged through him body. The half-man, half-fish instinctively looked for cover. However, although the tank was big enough to be a small aquarium exhibit, it held nothing save unlucky denizens from the sea and rivers. There was simply nowhere to hide, and no one in there stuck out more than he.
"How about that big tuna there?" Marveled the wife, and the fish-man's terror doubled on the spot.
"I dunno." Her husband thankfully begged to differ. "I don't like the looks of those fins. See how long they are? It….it looks a little sickly."
"Oh all right. We'll take that small tuna there and that salmon." She conceded. The net dipped in twice, and the population of the tank quickly shrank by two. Once again he had cheated death. For now.
His tail fretfully flicked as he pondered. Lucky for him, so far everyone who had laid eyes on him had all mistaken him for nothing more than a large ugly fish. Frankly he didn't understand how that had been possible, but now really wasn't the time to question the average intelligence of the locals. At least his people were all safe. Well, excluding present company.
He of course wasn't planning on being anyone's expensive lunch. But what could he do? Leaping from the tank and trying to flop his way to freedom was out of the question. If the restaurant staff didn't catch the loose "fish", then he probably wouldn't be able to flop halfway down the block before suffocating. He could speak up and protest, but who knows what kind of attention that would draw to the mer-people. Perhaps he could-
"Hi Misteh Mewmaid!" A friendly chirp cut through his thoughts, followed by another.
"Hiiiii!"
He pressed his face against the glass and peered outside. Shock struck him several times in a row. The two toddlers standing on the sidewalk had clearly been able to recognize him for what he was. Not only that, but he wasn't spooking them in the slightest. The little ones intently gazed upon him like nothing could be more normal.
Most striking of all however were their faces. He needed only to glimpse once at those deep brown eyes, rosy cheeks and toothy smiles for the past to suddenly come roaring to him with the strength of a tidal wave. Suddenly he was neck-deep in memories of community swimming pools, daring early morning golf cart chases and brace-filled grins. For a moment he was absolutely overwhelmed.
"Hi Misteh Mewmaid!" Gladys Pines waved a tiny hand and eagerly repeated herself.
"Do you live here?" Her brother asked.
"You….wait, you know what I am?" He spoke up from the other side of the thick glass.
"Yeah! You a mewmaid!" The little girl squeaked matter-of-factly. Finn meanwhile started bouncing about with excitement over their discovery.
"Wenny! Aunt Wennyyyyyyyyy!" He called. "Aunt Wenny, lookit!"
"...And so then we….huh?" It was only then that Wendy Pines noticed that her niece and nephew had strayed away from her side while she conversed with an old friend. Thankfully she was only one store down the sidewalk from the little ones. Quickly she excused herself from her conversation.
"Gotta go. We'll catch up later, okay?" The former Gravity Falls resident rapped the top of Thompson's car.
"Give me a call!" He just barely avoided clipping a parked van as he pulled off. Wendy bounded over to the tots, and they squealed with laughter as she effortlessly swept them up into ropey arms and twirled them around.
"Hey, what's your deal?" She asked mock sternly. "You guys want ice cream or not?"
"YEAH!" They chorused excitedly.
"Probably not as much as me!" The aunt joked as she set them back down. "Just remember, you gotta stick with me when you're-"
"Wenny, look! Look at the mewmaid!" Gladys jabbed a finger at the enormous fish tank. "See? See it?"
"It's Mer-man, actually." Mermando felt the need to correct. Wendy finally noticed the half man half fish right in front of her, and it took every ounce of self-control to keep from swearing at the top of her lungs in surprise. Even then, her reaction wasn't what he expected at all. The redhead only needed a couple seconds to recover.
"Whoa. So...you're not supposed to be here, are you?" She took one look at the restaurant sign and guessed correctly.
"Yes, you're quite right. Uh, you're taking my existence surprisingly well." He remarked.
"Dude, to be honest you're pretty far from the weirdest thing I've ever seen." The young woman confessed. "Like, compared to everything else it's not even close."
"Ah. Interesting. And definitely a story for later." He hurriedly changed subjects. Time was of the essence. "If you would, could you help me? Those children, there! Those ones! Their faces! Their faces are like-"
"Excuse me?" The lanky aunt protectively herded the two-year-olds behind her. The last paranormal creature she had heard taking like that had been blabbing excitedly about its next meal.
"No, no! Wait!" He sputtered. "Forgive me, please! It's a little hard to contain myself, for you see….their resemblance! It's incredible! Even after all these years, I would recognize it anywhere!"
"What are you talking about?" The redhead kept a wary eye on him.
"You must tell me! Do you know a young woman by the name of Mabel?"
Gladys's star-shaped deely boppers wiggled about as she lit up with recognition. "That's Mommy's name!"
"You know Mommy?" Finn demanded. A surge of hope sent a dolphin squeak bubbling out of the captured merman.
"Yes! Yes, I am! I once knew-" The net flashed by him and he was immediately stricken in the cold clutches of terror. Fortunately it only scooped up an unsuspecting trout whose time had finally come. As he trembled with shock, the restaurant staff on the other side of the tank shot him curious looks.
"Weird. I've never seen a bass act up like that before." One waiter remarked.
"I thought it was a catfish." Her co-worker opined as they headed to the kitchen.
"Y'know, I think you're right. It does have some crazy big whiskers…."
It had been fourth time that day that Mermando's entire life had flashed before his eyes, at the very least. Badly shaken by yet another close call, he clutched his chest and let himself sink limply to the bottom of the tank.
"Hey! Hey, Misteh Mewmaid? Misteh Mewmaid!" Gladys tried to grab his attention. The child was so full of questions that she felt fit to burst "Scuse me? Scuse meee! Misteh Mewmaid?"
"He's notta mewmaid, hesa merman!" Her brother tugged her sweater and corrected her. "See? He gotta beard like Unca Dipper."
"Misteh Mewman?" She changed her tune without missing a beat. "Misteh Mewman! Misteh Mewmaaaaan! How do you know Mommy?"
"What's your name?" Finn demanded curiously.
"Wheah did youh fend go?"
"Hey, Mister Merman!" The little boy shouted. "Can you help Unca Dipper grow a bigger beard?"
"Yeah!" His twin cheered excitedly. " Can you? Please?"
"Pleeeeeease?"
While the children energetically interrogated him, Wendy meanwhile wasn't even close to understanding out what was going on. But she was one hundred percent positive that she needed to make a couple calls, and fast. In no time she had phoned the Mystery Shack.
"Hey there….yeah, kids are fine, I'm fine, we're cool. Listen, can you put Mabel on the phone? Actually, get her and put speakerphone...we got something of a situation here…."