"What do you mean, 'sorry but no'!" Frankie, Don Lino's oldest son, yelled from where he stood behind his father. On their way to the liner where the Rogues were, the gang had run across Frankie and the shark had of course insisted on coming along to help his father out with this mission. Don Lino of course had no objections to allowing his son to come along and once again show just how fine a killer he had turned out to be; Frankie could more than handle himself.
Frankie started forward towards the rogue leader in a very agitated manner. Don Lino motioned to stop him though and then turned to the leader. His voice held calm, but there was force behind it. "In case you failed to notice" Don Lino said, "We're not in a negotiation. You're leaving! That's that! End of discussion!" he said, swimming closer to the leader of the rogues and narrowing his eyes, "In fact I've allowed you to stay far to long!".
The Rogue leader seemed unmoved by this little speech and gave Don Lino a smug grin, "and if we refuse to comply?" he questioned. Don Lino leaned back slightly and raised his flipper, somehow making a finger snapping noise come from it, "boys" he said. Most of the group behind Don Lino swam forward, it was obvious he held the advantage in terms of forces.
The leader simply remained where he was, the smile never leaving his face. "Oh, very nice" he commented, seeming to take careful stock of Don Lino and his gang, "Yes, very nice indeed, don't really think I'd have much of a chance in beating both you and your little group".
"So you'll leave?" Don Lino asked, crossing his flippers in an expectant manner. The Rogue leader seemed to think about this a moment, "No, I don't really think we could do that" he said casually. Most of Don Lino's gang seemed somewhat confused by this, he agreed that they were too much for him and yet wasn't going to leave!
"Look! You know we'll beat you to a bloody pulp!" Frankie exclaimed, "So why don't ya clear out before!". Don Lino silenced his son once more, "I don't think he'll really believe us without evidence" he said, also casually, as he turned to regard the rogue leader, "Boys, show him we mean business". Needing no further encouragement, the gang swam out, with Tino somewhat upfront to take the first hit at the rogue's leader.
The other rogues braced themselves to take on the sharks quickly coming their way and also protect their leader from taking most of the hits. Only one or two sharks remained near the backdoor. The rogue leader coolly watched for a few seconds as Don Lino's gang swam out and then with a swift, nonchalant motion signaled to the two sharks at the back door.
"Oh forgive me" the leader began as Don Lino's sharks were close to right up on him and the back door of the liner swung open, "I believe I forgot to mention our little insurance investment!".
"Let me go you bunch of bottom feeding scumbags!" Antonio's little voice rang out. Don Lino's gang came to a skidding halt as they noticed the pups. They all looked shocked and then their faces set hard in anger. They began to make to advance on the rogue's that had their kids contained, when the leader interrupted them again, "Now surely you boys know that it would take you far to long to cross this entire length of space before something tragic happened".
The other rogues tightened their grips to enforce their leader's point. Don Lino's gang was unsure what to do, yet the anger had yet to leave their faces. "Why, you lowlife little!" Tino began.
"Uh, uh, uh!" the rogue leader warned, "nasty insults are likely to cause me to give out some harsh orders". This warning combined with the side view Tino had of Michela tightly restrained by the rogue's killer whale companion was enough to cause him to paused unsurely. The other sharks of Don Lino's gang were having a similar conflict.
The rogue leader's smile spread in satisfaction as he saw the hesitancy in Don Lino's gang; even their great leader himself seemed to not know quite what to do, since even he knew what the consequences would be of just charging the leader. Even the don's brash, "kill first ask question's later" son, Frankie was still.
Don Lino kept his gaze firmly on the rogue leader, "What's your angle" he whispered firmly. The rogue leader's grin slowly grew, "Oh nothing major, only free reign to the entire reef area, we're a bit tired of the whole "searching for a home just to be chased away" ordeal. Shall we begin negotiations?".