Author's Notes: Yeah, I'm back! I like it here…
In a chappie-like-thing I deleted, I held a poll asking if you'd like for me to mess with the character's minds… I meant the character's lives, but… people said yes, so I'll be messing with the character's lives again! It was supposed to end after this chappie, but… that wouldn't be any fun, would it?
And now, for my shout outs!
MononokeShojo- Wow, car accident… hope you're all right… well, glad to see that you're back! Yes, Oscar shall meet Lenny… and you shall find out what happens soon enough… or will you? And I shall mess with their lives… Mwahahahahaha! Merry (almost) Christmas! Here's your cookie! (Hands her a cookie)
Z Star The Hidden Dragon- Yeah, that would be boring. Yes, I am planning something big. Merry (almost) Christmas! Here's your cookie! (Hands her a cookie)
Shining Spirit Dragon- Yay! New reviewer! I'll try to include Luca a little more. I think I will try to mess with his mind. It'll give me a bit of a challenge. Merry (almost) Christmas! Here's your cookie! (Hand him/her a cookie)
The Crouching Tiger Shark- Okay, I'll look after Reuben… but I'll still be messing with his life… evilness… Merry (almost) Christmas! Here's your cookie! (Hand her a cookie)
Due to new rules, this is my last time putting shout-outs in chappies. I don't want my story to get deleted. So, from now on, I'll be using the reply button.
Because this chappie is dark, I must say something.
Warning: Not for people who do not like the mentioning of blood. If you are offended by violence and blood, please leave now, or skip to a happier part of the story.
And another thing: I cannot believe that I wrote the fluffy part of this chappie.
And another thing: This chappie is twenty-seven pages long in 'word, so... get a snack or something...
Now that that has been said… I only need to say ONE more thing…
On wit da story!
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Wow… this is a nice hotel!"
"Don't touch that!"
CRASH!
Ronnie watched in amusement as C.J. was practically ruining everything in sight. He had just shattered a glass figurine on a shelf, and Rhea was not happy. The hotel owners wouldn't be happy either.
"C.J.!" Rhea shouted angrily. "I told you not to touch that!"
"Well… I couldn't hear you." C.J. said quickly.
"Who cares if you didn't hear me?" Rhea said. "You should have enough sense not to touch an object made of glass, especially if it's not yours!"
Ronnie swam in from the kitchen holding a drink in her hand and a personal-sized bag of popcorn. If she was going to watch them fight, she was going to watch them fight with refreshments.
"Well sorry!" C.J. said in an annoyed tone. "Besides, how was I supposed to know it was fragile?"
Rhea stared at C.J. and shook her head. "Oh my God."
"What?" C.J. asked.
"That was… the stupidest… question… I have ever heard." Rhea said in a calm tone. Her tone then changed from calm to… not-so-calm. "The thing was made of glass. Glass is fragile. That's why it breaks! Besides, I told you that it was fragile in the first place!"
"No you didn't!" C.J. said. "You told me not to touch it!"
Rhea crossed her finds and smirked.
'Busted.' Ronnie thought as she munched on her popcorn.
"I thought you said you didn't hear me say that." Rhea said in an 'I caught you' tone.
C.J. realized what he had said. "Oh, well, um… did I say that?"
"Yes." Rhea said, the smirk never leaving her face.
"Well, uh… I didn't mean it like that. I meant it as in… I couldn't hear you because… there were people singing outside the door!" C.J. said quickly.
"Really? What were they singing?" Rhea asked.
""Uhh… uhh…" C.J. said, looking for an excuse. Finally, he found the excuse. "They were singing Christmas carols!"
"It's nowhere near Christmas." Rhea said. "Why were they singing Christmas carols?"
"Well, because, they, uh, I DON'T KNOW!" C.J. shouted.
"Thought so." Rhea said, still smirking.
"Uh, excuse me?" Ronnie said while eating her popcorn, "But I'm sleepy, and the pillows on the beds are already fluffed up…"
"Oh, we get the point." C.J. said. "We'll go now."
"Yeah, we'll go now." Rhea said. "See ya tomorrow, if you're gonna be here tomorrow."
"I probably will be." Ronnie said. "You've gotta show me around though. I'm not staying here all day tomorrow."
"I'll give you a wake-up call." Rhea said. "There's some stuff I gotta show you. So… bye!"
"Bye!"
Ronnie swam into the bedroom and floated down to the bed. 'Ya know, despite the run-in with hit sharks and the city's bad reputation, this is kind of a nice place. As long as I don't look for trouble, or if trouble doesn't find me, I'll be all right.'
Ronnie was right. Trouble wouldn't be coming for her… it would be coming for someone else.
Scene Change
A dark figure grabbed a red bag full of darts. The figure began to throw the darts at a picture on the wall. Several times, it missed the picture.
"Grrrr… stupid darts…" The figure growled. Again, it began to throw the darts at the picture, and missed again. The figure dug into the bag, but it was empty. It swam over to the wall and picked up the darts. Suddenly, the figure heard the door creak open.
"Who is it?" The figure asked.
"It's me." A voice said.
"Ah, Ace. It's you." A lamp turned on, revealing the two creatures to be Ace and Lamont. "What do you want?"
"I heard about the um… 'incident' involving your daughter and her date." Ace said.
"And your point is?" Lamont said.
"Well, I thought that I should go out after him." Ace said. "You know, I'd be doing you a favor by capturing the guy, and I thought that you'd like the favor."
Lamont smiled a sickly-sweet smile. "That's very generous of you, Ace. In fact, I think you've earned yourself a reward."
Ace smirked. "Well, what kind of reward is it?"
Lamont's smile disappeared as he said, "This." Lamont had thrown Ace into the wall, making his office rumble.
Shaken, Ace tried to get up, but only fell back down to the floor. He was hurt badly from the throw. He looked up sullenly as he saw Lamont's shadow pass over him.
"W-what was that for?" Ace asked in a raspy voice.
Smirking evilly, Lamont picked Ace up by the gills and held him against the wall, watching the swordfish's air supply get cut short. His grin grew wider as he watched Ace squirm.
"Stop wriggling." Lamont ordered.
Ace resisted the urge to squirm, but his face continued to turn blue.
"You know, nobody likes a suck-up." Lamont said, tightening his grip on Ace's throat. "I especially don't like suck-ups. And that's all you've ever been to me over the years; a suck-up." Lamont loosened the grip on his neck gradually, until he dropped him on the floor.
Ace dropped to the ground and immediately began to gasp for breath, color returning to his face.
"But… boss…" Ace wheezed, stopping between words to get his breath, "I'm… not… a suck-up…"
"Not a suck-up?" Lamont chuckled and threw another dart at the picture and growled when he missed it by only a few inches. "Of course you are. Why would you think you weren't?"
"You… never told me…"
"Of course I never told you." Lamont said. "That was the only way I could get you to do things. Why else did I say that you were my best right-hand man? Did you think it was because I actually cared about you?"
Ace looked up in shock. For years, he had thought that he was Lamont's best right-hand man. But now, the cold reality had blown up in his face. It was all an act.
"I… thought…" Ace began, but didn't have the strength to say anything.
"Yeah, you thought." Lamont said. "Well, you know what? You thought wrong. You should leave the thinking to me from now on."
Ace opened his mouth to say something, but the look on Lamont's face told him to close his mouth. He looked down sadly and didn't say a word.
"Get out of my sight." When Ace didn't move, Lamont barked, "NOW!"
Ace didn't need to be told twice. Gathering the energy left in his body, he dashed out the room, nearly closing the door on his bruised tail.
Lamont chuckled and picked up the remaining darts. "You've been avoiding me for too long, Lenny. I'll find you, and this time, you won't get out alive." Lamont threw a dart at the picture of Lenny… and this time, it was a direct hit.
Scene Change
A few hours later, Ace had been able to breathe normally again. His back and tail were badly hurt from when Lamont had thrown him against the wall, and his head also still hurt from the impact. He didn't know how to take care of his wounds, and he couldn't get anyone else to tend to them. It wasn't because the other hit squad members didn't know how to wrap themselves up; many of the hit sharks had been in the business for a long time and knew how to patch themselves up like professionals. It was because of all the times he had mistreated them in the past.
When Ace had become Lamont's personal henchman, he had started to act high and lofty. He began bossing people around as if he were in charge himself, and was sometimes called 'mini-Lamont' behind his back. He had also beaten them up a numerous amount of times; a few of the Anglerfish could tell you about what they did to the lure on their head. Many of the hit sharks still had bruises. Of course, Tex had taken part in the beatings too, but he didn't hurt them as much as Ace did. He was thought of as 'a lesser threat' or 'not a threat at all', and on top of that, he was friends with some of the hit sharks. Ace knew that nobody had forgotten about all the things he had done to them, and they probably never will.
"I can't believe this." Ace said angrily. "I serve him for all these years, and what do I get? I get thrown into the wall! All I was trying to do was help him and he acts like I had killed his daughter!"
"You killed his daughter?"
Ace turned towards the shocked voice. Tex was sitting on an armchair in the parlor.
"Tex?" Ace questioned. "What're you doing here? And how'd you know what I was talking about?"
"You were ranting out loud; it's kind of hard not to hear." Tex said casually. "And did you really kill Carlotta?"
"No." Ace grumbled. "I wish I did though."
"Shhh!" Tex hissed. "Don't say that! If Lamont hears you, he'll have your gills…"
"He already did!" Ace shouted. "Did you notice the fact that my voice doesn't sound right?"
"Well…" Tex said, "You did sound kind of different…"
"That's because I had the air squeezed out of my gills!" Ace shouted. "The guy put a freakin' chokehold on me! Look at my neck!"
Tex scanned Ace's neck. It had a white ring around it, and it also looked like somebody had squeezed him there. "Ouch." Tex commented.
"Yeah, ouch." Ace said angrily. "You idiot, that was more than 'ouch.' He also decided to throw me like I was his little rag doll! I'm still sore!"
Tex then noticed the red, black, and blue marks on Ace's back and tail. He also could've sworn that Ace's head was dented.
'Wow.' Tex thought. 'It's a surprise he didn't suffer from brain damage!'
"And you know what happened after that?" Ace said. "It turns out that I was never his best right-hand man. He just told me that to do his dirty work for him." Tex noticed the hint of sadness in Ace's voice as he said the last sentence.
"Oh, well… why didn't you patch yourself up?" Tex pointed out. "There's some ointment in the medicine cabinet…"
"You think I would've had the strength to swim to the medicine cabinet? I WAS THROWN AGAINST A WALL, TEX!" Ace shouted in an angry and annoyed tone.
"You could've gotten one of the other guys to help you out." Tex suggested. "They're really good at helping, and…"
"One of the other guys?" Ace said. "You think they'd really help me out after what I've done to them?"
"Well…" Tex said in a less eager tone, "Maybe they've forgotten…"
"Forgotten?" Ace snorted. "It's hard to forget when somebody abuses you. You remember what happened to Jason?"
"Oh yeah…" Tex said sadly. "I'll never forget him."
"Exactly." Ace said.
"Well…" Tex said in a tiny voice, "You could've asked Carlotta."
"Carlotta?" Ace said. "Oh, please. She's as much as a spoiled brat as you are stupid."
Tex's eyes went down. "It's not my fault I'm stupid."
"Oh really?" Ace said mocking voice. "And whose fault is it? I don't exactly see you trying to get smarter. So, whose fault is it? Your mother's? I was always taught that kids inherited some of their parent's genes."
Tex looked up immediately, and his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Leave my mother out of this."
"Ha! So I was right. It is your mother's fault." Ace said, circling the seething swordfish. "Now, tell me, Ace. Where is she now? Come on… you can tell me… it's all right if she's in a loony bin…"
What Tex did next caught Ace by surprise. He had almost made a repeat performance of what Lamont did. Instead of throwing him into the wall, he threw him to the wall, but there was one thing that was the same to Ace: it hurt.
"Dude!" Ace said, struggling to get up. "What was that all about…?"
Tex responded by grabbing his sides and slamming him against the wall. "NEVER TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER THAT WAY! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER!"
He dropped Ace to the floor, and faced away from him. Meanwhile, Ace was trying not to show fear. He had never seen Tex angry before; he didn't even know he could get angry!
"You wanna know where she is?" Tex said in a quiet voice. "She's dead."
Ace looked down in shame. Now he knew why Tex was so angry. Then, Ace did something he normally wouldn't do. He began to act sympathetic. "Whoa, Tex… I'm sorry…"
"You're not sorry. You never are." Tex snarled. "I bet you won't even be sorry when I tell you that the same person who killed my mom was the person that you were trying to get favors from."
Ace's eyes widened. It couldn't be… "Lamont." He whispered.
"Yeah, that's right; Lamont killed my mom." Tex said bitterly. "He's the reason why I'm stupid, and the reason why I'll never see my father again. He's the whole reason why I'm here."
"What…?" Ace said in confusion.
Tex sighed and took a deep breath before beginning his story. "Before you came here about a years after I did, I used to be Lamont's right hand man. It wasn't because I wanted to, though; it was because he was blackmailing me. If I didn't work for him, he'd kill my dad."
"That still doesn't explain why…" Ace began, but he was cut off.
"I had refused him once when he had told me that I'd be working for him." Tex said. "I kept telling him that I wouldn't get caught up in that whole crazy hit man business. When he told me the death threat, I didn't care. I said that I'd rather die than kill. I kept running away, and as you can see, I was brought back every time. Finally, Lamont had a mission for me to do. I had to… kill this little girl; she wasn't even four years old yet. He signed me up with a sharkess from another hit boss; I forgot her name." Tears began to form in Tex's eyes, but he continued. "When I said that I wouldn't take the job, he just smirked and said, 'Well, if I can't persuade you to do it, then maybe somebody else can.' That's when two of his boys carried my mom into the room."
With every sentence Tex said, Ace felt guiltier and guiltier. He had been talking about his mom for years. Now he knew why he was sp touchy when 'yo momma' jokes flew around, and why he had beaten up anybody who talked about his mom.
"So, that's when I obeyed and did the job. As soon as I got to the little girl, however, I lost face. She was just a little girl!" Tex continued. "The sharkess couldn't do it either, so… we both decided to lie and tell our bosses that we had killed the little girl. When I had got back from the mission and I told Lamont the story… he knew I was lying. He had sent someone to follow me and make sure that I did the job right. That's when he said, 'you really underestimate me, don't you, Tex?' And then… the two guys began to eat my mom, and… he made me watch…" That's when Tex burst into tears.
"Wow… I'm sorry… I didn't know…" Ace said in a tiny voice.
"Of course you didn't know!" Tex snapped. "You didn't even want to know! You were too busy trying to get promoted, or too busy bossing other creatures around, or too busy making fun of me to care! You only looked out for yourself, and anytime someone needed help, you just swam by them like they were invisible. Let's face it Ace, all you ever cared about was yourself."
Ace looked taken aback for a moment. Then he said, "I don't only care about myself…"
"Yes you do, and don't try to deny it." Tex said. "When that shark guy wasn't able to kill that Scotty character, you didn't even think about the fact that maybe it was because he wasn't a killer. You didn't think about the fact that maybe that Scotty guy had a family. All you thought about was making Lamont happy so he could give you a reward."
Ace didn't reply. Everything Tex had said was true. 'Maybe I was underestimating him for a long time.'
"You also need to get your priorities straight." Tex added.
"I've got my priorities straight!" Ace protested.
"Oh really?" Tex said. "Well answer this. After Lamont threw you into the wall, did you think about how you needed to get some ointment or how you served Lamont over the years and yet he still threw you against the wall?"
Ace didn't answer. He only narrowed his eyes. "I don't have to answer you."
"What did Lamont choke you for, huh?" Tex asked. "What did you say that ticked him off like that?"
"I offered 'take care of' Lenny for him." Ace mumbled.
"Really? Even though you knew he was the one who wanted to get him this time?" Tex pressed. "But that couldn't have been the only reason. What else did you do?"
"He said that I deserved a reward, and I said 'what kind of reward is it'?" Ace replied.
"Oh." Tex said. "That's the reason. He knew that you weren't offering to take care of Lenny just to help him out; he knew that you were saying that to get a reward. You're nothing but a suck-up, Ace."
"You think he didn't tell me that?" Ace said with a small grin.
Tex shook his head. "Come with me."
"Why?" Ace asked. "I'm not going anywhere!"
"If we don't go tonight, we're going tomorrow night." Tex said.
Ace thought for a moment. "I'm sleepy."
"Fine." Tex sighed. "We're going tomorrow night. Meet me here at eight' o'clock." He began to swim off to his apartment.
"Wait!" Ace shouted after him. "Where're we going?"
"You'll find out when we get there tomorrow." Tex said coldly. He swam out the door.
Ace shook his head as he watched Tex swim out the door. 'Knowing him, he'll probably take me out to an open field. Maybe we'll hunt some fish or somethin'.'
Ace was wrong. Tex wouldn't be taking him out to an open field to hunt. Where he was going, there was going to be hunting, but Ace wouldn't be the hunter; he would be the hunted.
Scene Change
It was lunchtime in the 'Love Boat.' All the mafia members went down to the dining hall to get their serving of scallops and biscuits. They even had a new item on the menu: bacon! As we all know, bacon comes from pigs, and pigs aren't found underwater. The only reason they had this treat was because a boat carrying livestock had sunk. Everybody had arrived early to test the new food out and talk about its flavor amongst friends; everybody except for Luca, who had to eat where the aquarium was because he had to watch Reuben.
"Stupid boys." Luca grumbled, picking up a slice of bacon. "They almost took all the bacon…"
"What's that you're eating?" Reuben asked innocently.
Luca glared at Reuben before answering, "I'm eating bacon."
Reuben gasped. "Isn't that meat?"
"Yes, it is." Luca replied.
"How could you eat that poor fish?" Reuben said. "I might've known that guy!"
"Uh, Reuben," Angie said, "bacon comes from pigs."
"Oh yeah, that's right." Reuben said. "But still, I could've known that guy! I've got pen pals."
"Really?" Luca said nonchalantly. "Good for you."
"You know… you've got a really bad attitude." Reuben said.
"The only reason I've got this attitude is because you're annoying." Luca replied.
"Yeah, that's true." Reuben said with a smirk. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He smirked evilly and began to whisper in a spooky voice. "Luca… Luca…"
"Will ya stop callin' my name?" Luca said in an annoyed tone.
"That's not me!" Reuben said.
"Yeah, right." Luca snorted.
"Luca…"
"I'm about to send you into a world of hurt." Luca said.
"But that's not me!" Reuben said.
"Oh yeah? Well who is it?" Luca said. "My conscious?"
Reuben shrugged. "Could be."
Luca went back to eating his meal. Suddenly, a voice rang through his head.
"Luca… it's me… it's your conscious."
"What?" Luca said.
"I'm your conscious Luca. I'm your conscious…"
"You have an annoying voice, ya know that?" Luca said.
"Well, yes, but that's just to get my words stuck in your head… anyway… Luca... I have something to tell you…"
"What do you have to tell me?" Luca asked.
"Luca… you… are a big head."
"WHAT?" Luca turned to the aquarium and glared at the laughing Reuben. "You!" He shouted, pointing at him. "Stay out of my mind!"
"I couldn't help it!" Reuben said between laughs. "It was just too funny!"
"Reuben!" Angie whispered. "Stop bothering him! In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of vulnerable right now."
"Vulnerable?" Reuben questioned. "What makes you say that?"
Angie pointed to the horde of hungry piranhas behind her.
"Oh yeah." Reuben muttered. "I forgot about those guys…"
Luca had been listening in on their conversation and had gotten an idea. 'Hey, if those piranhas are watching them, then they must be thinking twice of trying to escape…' "I'm gonna take a nap." Luca announced.
"Great." Reuben said sarcastically. "Anything else you wanna tell us?"
Luca thought for a second before smirking. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, there is." He picked up the tiny bowl of tartar sauce he had with him, and swam towards the aquarium.
"Heh heh…" Reuben chuckled nervously. "Uh… what're you gonna do with that?"
"Relax, Reuben." Luca said. "It's not you I'm after." He picked up Angie. "It's your girlfriend."
"What… hey!" Reuben said angrily. "Put her down!"
"Hmm… put her down." Luca said. "Nope, I don't think I will. Maybe I'll eat her…" He moved Angie towards his mouth…
"No!" Reuben shouted.
"So the annoying guy does have a weakness." Luca said. He smeared Angie in the tartar sauce and placed her back in the aquarium. This seemed to make the piranhas excited. "Now, I'm going to take a nap. Try to escape and your friend over here shall be eaten by the hungry piranhas."
"You know what you are?" Rueben said angrily. "You're a…" A whale followed by a school of fish passed by the open window, blocking out what Reuben was saying.
"Sorry, but I couldn't hear you." Luca said. "Now good night!" And with that, Luca dozed off.
"It's not even night yet." Reuben grumbled.
"Great!" Angie said angrily. "Thanks a lot Reuben! Now I'm covered in tartar sauce!"
"It's not that bad!" Reuben said, trying to cheer Angie up. "I mean, look on the bright side! At least you'll be able to wash the smell off when you get back home."
"Don't you mean 'if' I get back home?" Angie said.
Reuben sighed. "You know, suddenly, taking a nap doesn't sound like a bad idea." Reuben lied down on the pebbled floor and fell asleep.
Angie looked around, shrugged, and decided to go to sleep to.
Scene Change
Oscar dashed through what seemed like the millionth alleyway. It turns out that the gun fish wasn't knocked out as long as he would've liked. As long as he was there, he made Oscar's trip out the city impossible, and the fact that he was hot on Oscar's trail didn't help matters. Oscar knew he needed a place to hide, and he needed one now.
'Where would be the last place he would look for me?' Oscar thought, still swimming through the alleyway. 'Home? Naw, that's too obvious. Whale Wash? Nope… if I went there, he might decide to take a hostage! Where can I go?' The perfect place finally popped into his head. 'I must be crazy.' Oscar thought. 'There's no way I'll survive a second in there!'
A gunshot snapped Oscar from his thoughts.
"I've got you now, Oscar!"
'But there's no other place to go.' With that thought, Oscar swam off in the direction of a place we know all too well: The Love Boat.
Scene Change
Oscar stared at the cruise ship from a safe distance.
"There it is." Oscar said. He glanced at his watch to check the time. "And it's lunch hour. Just my luck."
Oscar swam around the ship, looking for a way in. He couldn't go through the front door for obvious reasons, and there was no chimney; after all, it was a ship. He could try swimming into one of the tiny cracks in the side, but he didn't know what was in those cracks; it could've been a hungry eel, or even worse, a guard piranha. Plus, there was also the fact that some of those cracks didn't lead anywhere. He could get lost in one of those tiny tunnels. Finally, Oscar found a way in the ship; an open window.
He swam towards the window and started to look in to make sure that nobody was in there, but stopped himself.
'Duh! I don't have to look in! It's lunchtime! They're all in the dining room!' He swam in the room and took a look around. 'Cool… I'm in Lino's office. He's got a nice place.'
Oscar poked his head out the window. There was no sign of the gun fish. 'Great! Now all I have to do is…'
Snore.
Oscar flinched and stood still. Who knew what that noise was? It could've been an angry shark growling… or it could be Oscar's stomach growling. Most likely, it was the first option.
'Well… here goes…' Oscar turned around, awaiting bad things, but there was nothing behind him. 'Huh?' Oscar looked for the source of the noise, and had to keep himself from laughing when he found out where it came from. It had come from a snoring Luca, with drool sliding down the corners of his mouth.
"And I was worked up over that." Oscar chuckled, shaking his head.
Snore.
This time, Oscar knew what the noise was, but it wasn't coming from Luca. It was coming from the direction of the aquarium, where there were sleeping piranhas. It seemed like everybody in that room was taking a nap; including Reuben and Angie, the only fish Oscar noticed. He swam up to the aquarium and knocked on the glass.
"Ang! Rube!" Oscar banged harder on the glass. "Wake up!"
Reuben stirred slightly, but still slept. Angie, on the other hand, heard the noise. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she turned towards the noise; and towards Oscar.
"Oscar!" Angie shouted.
"Shhh!" Oscar whispered. "Keep it down! I don't want anybody to find out that I'm here!"
"Sorry." Angie said. "But what are you doing here?"
"Well… I was trying to hide from the gun fish…" Oscar began.
"Gun fish!" Angie exclaimed. "What's he chasing you for?"
"He's trying to make sure I don't get to Lenny so I won't be able to ask him for help so I can help get you and Reuben out of here." Oscar said casually.
"What?" Angie said confusedly.
Oscar sighed. "Okay, here's the story."
And so, Oscar began telling her why he was trying to find Lenny, how he was able to find out where the address on the back of the letter is, and how the gun fish was chasing him down.
"Hmm, interesting story." Angie said. "But, one more question: how'd you get the letter? It was in my apartment."
"Well, you see… your back door was open, so all I had to do was go in and get the letter." Oscar said.
"Oh, well that's cool… wait." Angie took time to let Oscar's words sink in. "You went in my house?"
"You left your back door open." Oscar said. "You really should look into that you know."
"At least you got the info you needed." Angie said. "I suppose you've got everything figured out. You did read the whole letter, right?" She added, knowing how Oscar would sometimes skip over things.
"No. I only read enough to get the address and names of his friends." Oscar said. "It's not like there was anything else I needed to know… right?"
Angie sighed. "You should've read the whole letter."
"Why?" Oscar said, fearing what Angie might say.
"Because…" Angie said, "As we all know, Lenny's probably still mad at you, and… he's not exactly a vegetarian anymore."
"And that would mean…?" Oscar questioned.
"He wouldn't be so hesitant to eat you anymore." Angie said.
"Oh." Was all that Oscar could say. "But hey! I can make it all up as I go along! I can probably have a plan by the time I get to where Lenny is!"
"For your sake, I hope so." Angie said.
"Well… I guess I better be going now…" Oscar said, not really wanting to leave.
"Yeah." Angie said.
There was a long silence as Oscar looked out the window, checking for any signs of the gun fish. He was going to swim out when he sighed and turned around.
"Look, Ang… there's something I've gotta tell you before I go." Oscar said.
I'm not a perfect person
there's many things I wish I didn't do
"What's that?" Angie asked.
"I'm sorry. "Oscar said. Noticing the look on Angie's face, he continued. "Now I know I've said it a million times already, and you're probably thinking 'he doesn't mean it', but I do."
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
"And if I don't say this now, I'll probably never get the chance to say it again, or I might forget." Oscar said. "I doubt the forgetting part, but who knows? I've forgot a lot of important things. So, before I go… I gotta say something."
And so I have to say before I go
that I just want you to know
"I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you in the past couple of months. If I hadn't lied about that whole shark slayer incident, most of the stuff that's happened never would've happened in the first place." Oscar said. "Because of me, one of my friends can't go home, another one almost died of blood loss, and one suffered from the most painful thing of all; a broken heart. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize this."
Angie was speechless. She didn't know Oscar could get that serious.
I found a reason for me
to change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you
Once Angie had found her voice, she said, "Hey, it wasn't your fault that Reuben was shot; it was Lola's."
"Yeah, but she shot him because she was mad at me." Oscar replied. "And you can't deny that I broke your heart. Everyone knew that you had a "secret" crush on me; I didn't even know until it was too late. At first, I didn't know why you were so mad at me; well, I did know, I just didn't want to admit it. So basically, I put you through a lot of stuff that I should've dealt with myself."
I'm sorry that I hurt you
it's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That's why I need you to hear
"Ang, what I'm trying to say is, I've found a reason why I should fix everything up. Actually, there are a whole list of reasons, but there's one that tops them all." Oscar said.
"What reason would that be?" Angie asked.
"You." Oscar said with a slight smile.
I've found a reason for me
to change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you…
(The Reason by Hoobastank)
"Wow, Oscar…" Angie said, at a loss for words. "That was… sincere. I didn't know you could get like that."
"Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me." Oscar said with a smile. "But, now I've gotta go. Hopefully, I'll see you in about a week." Oscar swam towards the window and turned around again. "Oh, and Ang? I always did kind of like you." With those words, Oscar swam out the window, leaving a surprised Angie behind.
Scene Change
Hours later in Weed City, the sun was going down. Shadows appeared on rocks, and the city grew darker. There weren't many lights in the city; only the light of the hotel's neon sign, the lightened windows of the hospital, Lamont's ship, and of course, the Tipsy Tug Tavern. Not a moment later, shades of purple and black blocked out any evidence that the sun was shining, and a few stars dotted the sky.
Most of the hit squad members were all done with their jobs, and were swimming towards the Tavern, a place they pretty much went to every day. C.J., Rhea, and Ronnie were just about to swim in, when C.J. suddenly stopped them.
"Hold up you guys." C.J. said. "We forgot something."
"What?" Rhea asked.
"We forgot one of the most important things of all about this tavern." C.J. said. "Ronnie over here doesn't have a bandanna."
"So?" Rhea asked.
"Remember the last time somebody went in without a bandanna?" C.J. said with his fins crossed.
Rhea thought for a moment before saying, "… Let's get her a bandanna."
"Why do I need a bandanna?" Ronnie asked.
"This tavern is strictly for the use of hit squad members and the creatures that work here." Rhea said. "If you don't have on a bandanna, you better work here or be well known without it, 'cause creatures get beat up if they aren't known here."
"Oh." Ronnie said. "So… where's the bandanna?"
"Uh… I kind of forgot it somewhere." C.J. said sheepishly.
"Figures." Rhea mumbled.
"But hey, we'll think of something… eventually." C.J. said.
Ronnie thought for a moment before saying, "C.J., you're well known without the bandanna, right?"
"Right." C.J. said.
"In that case, can't you just let me borrow yours?" Ronnie questioned.
"No." C.J. said. "It wouldn't be the appropriate color."
"Huh?" Ronnie said in a confused tone.
"You see…" C.J. began, but was cut off by Rhea.
"Hey, you guys! I've got something!" Rhea pulled a blue cloth from behind her.
"… That's not a bandanna." Ronnie said.
"No, but it can be a substitute for one." Rhea pointed out. She threw the bandanna to Ronnie, who put it on. "Now, let's go inside!"
The moment they swam through the door, Ronnie was getting weird stares from everyone. The talking quickly quieted down.
As they swam to their seats, Ronnie whispered, "Why are they looking at me like that?"
"You're new here." Rhea whispered back. "New people always get stared at. It's nothing personal. They just wanna remember your face in case they ever have to beat you up."
"Well that sure makes me feel better." Ronnie said sarcastically.
A moment later, they were seated, and talking resumed in the tavern as if Ronnie wasn't there at all.
"So, C.J," Ronnie said, "Why wouldn't you let me wear your white bandanna?"
Scene Change
Tex paced, looking at the clock. Ace should've been there by now. 'If he decides not to show up, I swear I'll…' Tex ended the thought with a low growl. However, he wouldn't have to carry out the threat, because Ace had arrived.
"Hey." Ace said casually.
"You're late." Tex growled. He was still in a bad mood from yesterday, in case you haven't noticed.
"Only by thirty minutes…" Ace began.
"That's still late." Tex said crossly.
Ace shrugged. "So, what're we gonna hunt?"
"We're not hunting." Tex said.
"What?" Ace said in a confused tone.
"I said we're not hunting." Tex replied. "What, did you think I was taking you to an open field?"
Ace bit his lip to keep him from answering.
"We're going to the tavern." Tex said.
Ace's heart dropped in his stomach. "The 'tipsy tug tavern'?"
"Naw, the 'happy fun-time tavern'." Tex said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "What do you think?"
"But… I can't go there!" Ace protested.
"Yes you can." Tex said, not really listening to Ace. "All you have to do is swim."
"I don't mean it like that!" Ace said (not adding the word 'ya dummy' for fear of being thrown against the wall again), "You know I can't go in there! As soon as I set a fin in there, I'll be up for grabs!"
"Exactly why I'm taking you there." Tex said with a smirk.
"… You're still mad at me, aren't you?" Ace said.
"Yup." Tex said.
Ace glared at his friend. Then, he thought of something. 'Hold up… I'm a free swordfish! I don't have to go!' "I don't have to go!" He said suddenly.
"I thought you'd say that." Tex said. "That's why I came up with these two options, since you don't want to go."
"Oh?" Ace asked. "And what are those options?"
"One, you could go to the tavern." Tex said. "Two, you decide not to go, I have to beat you up, and I drag you to the tavern." He smirked at the shocked look on Ace's face and added, "Take your pick."
One Ace's shock had died down, he narrowed his eyes. "I hate you so much right now."
"So… will that be choice one or two?" Tex said, his smirk growing wider.
Ace sighed. "We'll be going in disguise, right?"
"What do you think?" Tex said.
"Let's just go and get this over with."
And so, Tex and Ace set off for the tavern.
Scene Change
"Each color stands for something." C.J. was explaining after Ronnie had asked him why she couldn't use his bandanna. "Blue, the color you have one, means that you're a rookie. Rookies with blue bandannas get the easiest jobs; that means that they deliver "messages" to harmless creatures, and transport goods. After blue comes yellow. Yellow means that you work during day hours, and get slightly harder jobs; they still deliver messages and transport goods, but the goods are illegal and there are police officials involved, and the creatures they deliver the messages to are more likely to fight back. If your progress improves, you move up to a green bandanna. Once you get a green bandanna, you never get easy jobs again, unless you have to escort a blue bandanna to his job. Green bandannas work during the night and day and they usually have to carry out more intense death threats to dangerous creatures. They also watch over negotiations, protecting the ones negotiating in case something happens. Other times, they're the ones doing the negotiating."
"What's the white bandanna stand for?" Ronnie asked, looking at C.J. because his bandanna was that color.
"Creatures with white bandannas, like me, don't carry out death threats. They take care of the creatures themselves. However, even though they have to 'take care' of people, they only do that to people between the ages of twenty-one to fifty-five." C.J. said, not really sounding proud about his job. "They rarely work during the daytime; they work around sunset or until eleven' o 'clock. Like all the other bandanna ranks below them, white bandannas work around cities close to Weed City; such as Reef City or Coral City." That was where C.J. stopped.
"So… the white bandanna is the highest rank?" Ronnie asked.
C.J. opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he only looked down at the table. A few seconds later, he said, "Excuse me, I've gotta go somewhere…" and he swam to another table.
"Did I say something?" Ronnie asked Rhea.
"Ronnie, the white bandanna isn't the highest rank." Rhea said.
"Then what is the highest rank?" Ronnie asked.
Rhea sighed. "You may not know this, but most of the squad members here aren't happy about what they have to do. Almost everyone you see here was forced to do this work."
"Almost everyone?" Ronnie asked.
Rhea growled. "There are a choice few."
Ronnie glanced around the tavern, wondering who the choice few were.
"I see that you're looking around the tavern." Rhea said. "What colored bandannas did you see?"
"Hmm… green, blue, yellow, white; all the colors C.J. mentioned." Ronnie replied.
"You'll find out why there aren't any other colors." Rhea said. "The highest ranks are red and black."
Ronnie didn't know why, but she felt a shiver run up her spine after Rhea said that.
"Red," Rhea continued, "stands for blood. I won't go into detail about their jobs because they're so horrible, and I also think the color description describes itself. Black, well, it doesn't stand for anything. However, only the darkest hearted, ruthless, and cold-blooded killers wear that colored bandanna; they're even more vicious than the ones wearing the red bandannas. Unlike the ones wearing the white bandannas, who have an age limit, the red and black bandannas don't have age limits. They… they'll take out anybody, even little kids and old people."
Ronnie resisted the urge to gasp, cry, or say anything at all for that matter.
"What's worse are the hours they work." Rhea said angrily. "They don't want to get caught, so they work from twelve to four in the morning. If they do get caught, they take out the police officials too, or anyone else who tries to get in their way. That's why C.J. didn't want to talk about that. Lamont was considering moving him up to that rank. Only a few creatures have that rank…"
"And there goes one of them right now." C.J. growled. He had returned to where Ronnie and Rhea sat after a small fight had broken out at the table he was sitting at.
All eyes turned to the doors as they swung shut. Ace and Tex swam through the tavern, looking for seats that weren't already taken. Unfortunately, the only seats available were all the way on the other side of the tavern. That meant that Ace had to swim past all those angry hit squad members.
"Hey!" An anglerfish shouted. "There's the guy that messed up my lure! My light hasn't glowed since!"
"And there's the guy who kept calling me 'Free Willy!'" A killer whale added.
"And there's the guy who stole my girlfriend, broke her heart, and took the money for me mum's operation!" A Mako shouted.
"He did?" Everybody said.
"No, but I'm not gonna float around while he plans on doing it!" The Mako said. He began to throw balled up napkins at ace. At first, Ace didn't notice it; but after that, everyone in the tavern was throwing napkin balls at him, and that hurts. (They took care not to hit Tex; they were all his friends.) Even after Ace and Tex had sat down, the napkin balls were still flying. (Even Ronnie was throwing napkin balls at him; if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?)
"Will you guys cut it out?" Ace finally shouted.
"Cut it out?" An electric eel shouted across the room. "You put us through all sorts of hell, and when we throw napkin balls; napkin balls I say, you want us to cut it out?" The electric eel threw another napkin ball at Ace. (Rhea had a WHOLE back room full of napkins; the hit squad wouldn't be running out of ammo anytime soon.)
"And all this time, you had us thinking you were a tough guy." A shark said, throwing another napkin ball at Ace. "Not so much of a tough guy now, are ya?"
"Aww c'mon you guys." Tex said. "He had a bad night yesterday?"
This caused the whole tavern to fill with voices.
"A bad night?" A moray eel said. "One bad night? Please! We have bad nights every day of our lives since we've came here, mostly because of Ace!"
"Why's the little guppy mourning over one bad night?" A killer whale said.
"I think Ace can answer that." Tex said. "Ace, why don't you tell everybody what happened?"
Ace gave Tex a death glare, and Tex only gave him the 'choice one choice two' look. Ace sighed and mumbled something incoherent.
"Say it nice and loud so everybody can hear you." Tex said. "And stand up too. It projects your voice."
Ace grumbled something and stood up. "Lamont threw me against a wall and said that he didn't really care about the fact that I was his right hand swordfish."
Silence hung in the air. Mouth were wide open. Long story short, everyone was shocked.
"What did you say?" A shark said.
"I said that Lamont was just using me to get his jobs done." Ace said.
The long silence came again. A few seconds later, the room erupted with laughter. Many of the hit squad fell on the floor with laughter, or had tears flowing out of her eyes. Even Rhea and C.J. were laughing. Ronnie was the only one who wasn't laughing, as she didn't find anything funny in the matter.
"What's so funny?" Ace said angrily.
"We didn't know you could be that oblivious!" A barracuda said.
"Of course he was just using you! Everybody knew that!" A lantern fish said.
"We thought that you knew that too!" An orca added. "We thought that the only reason you stuck around was because the pay was good!"
"And now we know the truth. That is so sad." A swordfish said, taking off his hat. "Please, people, let us have a moment of silence." There was a few seconds of silence before the swordfish said again, "And now let us laugh at this fool."
The tavern shook with laughter again. Tex was trying to hide his laughter behind a fin. Key word here is 'trying.' Ace noticed this, which only made his face turn redder and his temper boil hotter. Through all the laughing, Ace was somehow able to think clearly, and an idea popped in his mind. A calm, serene look appeared on his face, but an evil smirk betrayed that look.
"That's why I've got news on Lenny."
The whole room grew silent again. All eyes turned to Ace; especially Ronnie.
"Lenny?" An orca said. "You mean the guy that ran off from his date with Carlotta?"
"Yup." Ace said with his evil smirk.
"Aww man," A swordfish chuckled, "I wish I could've been there to see the angry look on Carlotta's face. That would've been priceless."
"Especially since I heard that his girlfriend came back, and boy, was she mad." A shark added. "I heard she knocked her nose clean off!"
Ronnie couldn't help but smile. 'Actually, I only broke her nose, but hey, if they wanna think that, let them.' Rhea and C.J. stared at Ronnie with surprised expressions. They knew she had punched Carlotta, but they didn't know she had broken her nose!
'You go girl.' C.J. thought.
"It's a good thing Carlotta can't fight." A barracuda said. "Otherwise, the fight would've been longer, and I bet Lenny's friend would've won."
'Damn right I would've won.' Ronnie thought, still smiling. She wasn't going to say that out loud though; it would draw attention to herself and she didn't want to sound conceited.
"I heard that Lenny was shot and able to give Lamont's boys the slip by hiding in the shadows." A shark said. "They say you can swim right by him and not even know he's there."
At that comment, C.J., Rhea, and Ronnie all rolled their eyes. They were all thinking, 'Now how stupid is that?'
But the other hit squad members only said "Cool."
"Oh really?" Ace said. "Well, did you hear about how he's about to get killed and I offered to help?"
Right away, Ace knew he had said the wrong thing. Ronnie growled, "You have five seconds… to get out of here… before I 'offer' to help you get out."
Ace looked around and saw that the looks on the other hit squads' face said the same thing; some faces even said an even scarier threat. Ace looked at Tex; Tex's face was the only face without a threat. His expression said, 'you brought this on yourself bro.'
"You know… I was only joking…" Ace began.
"Five." Ronnie said.
"I didn't really mean it…" Ace said.
"Four." Ronnie growled.
"You don't have to count…" Ace said, beginning to get scared.
"Three." Ronnie counted.
"Dude, I'd get outta here before she kicks your butt." A shark said. "Or better yet, before we do something to ya."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Ace said.
The shark looked at Ronnie and said, "May I?"
Ronnie shrugged. "Be my guest."
"Two." The shark said.
"Oh, so now you're counting?" Ace said. "Who else is gonna count?"
Every hit squad member smirked and said, "One." After saying one, they all got up and swam towards Ace.
"Heh…" Ace chuckled nervously. "I guess I should be going now…"
"Oh, it's too late for that." A barracuda said. "That sharkess over there warned you."
Ace looked around as the mob of hit creatures closed in on him. "Hey, uh… what're you guys gonna do?"
"Nothing we'll regret, that's for sure." A killer whale said.
In less than a second, everyone began beating up Ace. Tex shook his head as he watched his friend (if you can call him a friend) get pounded by the hit squad. He then looked at Ronnie, and a thought flashed through his mind. 'She looks familiar…'
Rhea, Ronnie, and C.J. were watching too. After a few seconds, Ronnie said,
"Hey, do you guys know where the drinks and popcorn are?"
If she was going to watch Ace get beaten up, she was going to watch him get beaten up with refreshments.
Scene Change
Ace and Tex had just gotten back from the tavern. Tex was sipping on a drink he had taken with him, and Ace was trying to find some way to distract himself from the pain. He had received many "presents" that night, courtesy of the hit squad members. One of the many "gifts" he had received was a black eye, and the rest were only bruises and a bloody nose. Ace was, putting it lightly, mad; and what Tex said didn't make him feel any better.
"You should've kept your mouth shut." Tex said.
"You think I don't know that?" Ace snapped. "I was taught that a few minutes ago! Look at what they did to me! Man, will I be feeling sore on the morning."
"You know… there is a way for you to get the favor of everybody…" Tex hinted in a sing-song voice.
"Oh, shut up!" Ace said.
"Aww, come on Ace." Tex said with an annoying smile. "You know you want to…"
"No." Ace said.
Tex shrugged. "Fine. But you know, in addition to getting the squad's favor, you can also get revenge on Lamont…"
Ace thought about what Tex said for a moment. "Keep talkin'."
"So, you're in?" Tex asked.
"I'm only 'in' if you tell me what you want me to do first." Ace said.
"Well, here's what you gotta do…" Tex began.
And so, a plan was made…
Scene Change
Lenny woke up, looking around. The lamp was on, and stars were out outside.
'Well that's weird. I could've sworn I woke up around seven in the morning…' A confused Lenny thought. 'And after that, one of those nurses came in my room…'
Realization hit Lenny as he found out what had happened.
'They put me to sleep with one of those shots!' Lenny thought. 'They better not have stolen my kidney…'
Just then, the doctor swam in the room.
"So, how're you feeling?" She asked.
"You put me to sleep with one of those shots." Lenny said.
"Well, sorry about that, but it's in the job description." The doctor said. "Once again, how're you feeling?"
"Hmm… pretty good I guess." Lenny said.
"Well then, you can go home." The doctor said.
"What?" Lenny said in confusion. "But… I was shot!"
"Yes, but the shot wasn't a direct hit." The doctor said.
"So… I didn't have to go to the hospital?" Lenny asked.
"It doesn't matter if the bullet only grazes you." The doctor said. "There's a chance that you can get an infection, and that's exactly what you had. After we took care of that problem, there was nothing else to do. So, you're pretty much okay."
"So… I can go home now?" Lenny said happily.
"That's what I said." The doctor said with a smile.
"That's great! I guess I'll be going now." Lenny got out of bed and swam towards the door when he remembered something. "Hey… are you sure you're not charging me? 'Cause I can pay ya know…"
"Like I said, don't worry about it." The doctor said. "It's the least I could do after you helped my brother out."
"I helped your brother out?" Lenny said.
The doctor smiled and pulled a picture from behind her. "I'm sure you can remember this guy." She said as she handed the picture to Lenny.
Lenny studied the picture. "Hey… this is Mr. Scott!"
"Yup." The doctor said with a smile. "I heard about the way you gave them a tip to move away some place. That was nice."
"Yeah well…" Lenny said, "It's what I do."
"I see." The doctor said. "Do you need a phone?"
Lenny thought about it for a moment before saying, "Yes. I've gotta call somebody…"
"Well, you can use my cell phone. Just be sure to give it back when you're done." The doctor said. She handed him the cell phone and swam out the door.
Once the doctor had left the room, Lenny dialed a number. A few seconds later, somebody on the other line picked up.
"Hello… oh, hi Ronnie. Yeah, I'm all right…" Lenny said. "Listen… do you know when the next whale shark leaves for Coral City? Uh-huh… so one leaves at ten and the other leaves at eleven-thirty? Great… do you think we could make the one at ten? That's right, I got out the hospital! It turns out that the wound wasn't as serious as everyone thought. You wanna say good-bye to everyone? C.J. and Rhea should be at the tavern cleaning everything up… okay, so I'll meet you there, alright? Bye." Lenny hung up and looked at the phone. 'Hey… this is a nice phone…'
"Ahem."
Lenny looked up. The doctor was floating at the doorway.
"Can I have my phone now that you're done?" The doctor asked.
"Oh, uh… sure." Lenny said, handing the phone to the doctor. "I'll just be going now." And so, Lenny swam out the door, heading for the tavern.
Scene Change
Ronnie swam into the tavern and looked around. She had never seen it so empty before. Of course, she had just seen it an hour ago, but still…
There was no sign of Rhea or C.J., only a drunk eel slouching in his seat.
"Okay buddy, you have to go." Rhea said as she swam over to the eel.
"I don't think I can." The eel said. "My stomach hurts."
"Well, I guess that teaches you not to drink whole bottles of vodka while I'm not looking, doesn't it?" Rhea said. "Now, go home."
The eel grumbled something and swam out the doors. Just then, C.J. came and swam beside Rhea, shaking his head.
"I hope the poor guy doesn't get a job tomorrow." He said. "He'll be cursed with a hangover the size of Asia."
"It's not the first time." Rhea said. "I think he'll be used to it."
"You think he'll be used to it?" C.J. asked. "How many times has this happened?"
"Hmm… if I estimate correctly, it should be around twenty times." Rhea said. C.J. stared at her in disbelief. "It's true." She added.
"Yeah right…" C.J. said, but noticed they weren't alone. "Hey, look! It's Ronnie!"
Ronnie waved. "It's about time you guys noticed me."
"What're you doing here?" Rhea said. "I thought you went back to that hotel."
Ronnie put on a dramatic act and said, "I've come to say good bye."
There was a long silence before C.J. said, "Good bye?"
"Yes," Ronnie said dramatically. "Good bye."
C.J. stared at Ronnie before saying, "Ronnie… c'mere. Sit down next to me."
Ronnie gave C.J. a weird look before sitting down.
"Now, listen." C.J. said. "I know that some things in your life may not be going well, but… that doesn't mean you should jump off a bridge."
"Jump off a bridge!" Ronnie shouted, jumping up. "What made you think I was gonna do that?"
"Well, you did say you were coming to say 'good-bye.'" C.J. said. "And last night, I saw this movie where they had this guy who jumped off a bridge."
"C.J, that was a movie." Rhea said. "It also had flying vampires and polite businessmen."
"Yeah, well," C.J. said, "It was real to me."
Ronnie rolled her eyes. "I came to say bye because…"
Just then, Lenny swam in the door.
"Hey Lenny." C.J. said casually. "I just saved Ronnie from jumping off a bridge."
"What!" Lenny said.
"I was saying bye to Rhea and C.J." Ronnie said. "I was just about to explain that we were going back home when you swam in."
"You're going back home?" Rhea said.
"Yeah." Lenny said. "We'll miss you guys and everything, but we've gotta get back…"
"No, it's not that I'm talking about! We can always get your number and call!" Rhea said. "Lenny, you can't go! Once you're a part of the hit squad, you can never go home!"
"She's right ya know." C.J. said. "You remember what Lamont said to you on your first day here? You remember what happened no too long ago? Those things have to have stuck in your mind by now."
"Yeah, well, another thing's stuck in my mind too." Lenny said. "The fact that I've gotta go home."
"But Lenny," C.J. said, "nobody's ever ran away from here and lived! Lamont's boys chased them down before they could even think about running away!"
"Well then," Lenny said, "I guess I'll be the first to get away, huh?"
C.J. stared at Lenny before saying, "You… are a brave shark my friend."
"Thank you." Lenny said with a smile.
"But then again, you're also crazy." C.J. added.
Lenny thought for a moment before saying, "Most brave sharks were called crazy. I'm guess I'm one of those sharks."
"So, when're you leaving?" Rhea asked.
"We should be going at ten." Ronnie said. "That's when the whale shark should be coming."
C.J. looked at the clock on the wall. "It's nine-forty. Where's the whale shark supposed to be?"
"The schedule said he'd be somewhere in the front outskirts of the city." Ronnie said.
"Hmm… that's a five to ten minute swim. You guys better hurry." Rhea said.
"All right, we'll see you guys again one day." Lenny said. "Trust me; familiar faces have a habit of popping up when I least expect it."
"Bye then." C.J. said. "We'll miss you guys."
"So will we." Lenny said.
"You'll keep in touch, right?" Rhea said. "'Cause if I don't get any letters or phone calls from you guys, I'll personally track you down myself."
Ronnie laughed. "We'll try our best."
And so, after a few more farewells, Ronnie and Lenny set off for the front outskirts. They were making great time, when suddenly, Lenny remembered something.
'The present! I left it at the apartment!' "Ronnie, hold up! I forgot something!" Lenny said quickly.
"But we're almost there…" Ronnie began.
"It'll only take me a few seconds!" Lenny said. "I promise."
Ronnie stared at Lenny. "Is it important?"
"You have no idea." Lenny said.
"Well, go get it then!" Ronnie said with a smile.
Lenny nodded and swam off in the direction of the apartment he and C.J. stayed at. Unfortunately, trouble was lurking behind every corner…
Scene Change
Lenny swam in his room and picked up the present. He was surprised to see that it was still in mint condition. It was as if he had just brought it a few minutes ago.
'Perfect.' Lenny thought with a smile as he swam outside. He was halfway to the outskirts. All he had to do was swim through a rather large alley when…
"Leaving so soon?"
Lenny turned around to see Lamont floating in front of him, holding a gun.
"Lamont." Lenny growled.
"I thought you might be leaving." Lamont said. "Too bad you won't be getting out alive…"
Lamont struck Lenny with the side of his gun, sending him reeling. He was just about to shoot him when he noticed something glimmer in the sand.
"What's this?" Lamont said, swimming over to the object.
"Don't touch that!" Lenny said, struggling to get up.
"You shut-up." Lamont said, pointing his gun threateningly at Lenny. He picked up the object; it was Ronnie's birthday present. "A present. How nice." He studied it carefully. "It's in mint condition too; perfectly wrapped and everything. You must've been planning on giving this to someone special. It would be really messed up if someone was to open this…" Lamont put a fin on top of the wrapping, as if he was going to open it.
"No!" Lenny shouted, getting up. "It's not yours!"
"And whose is it?" Lamont said. "Like I care if it doesn't belong to me. And why do yo care so much about it? By the way you're protecting it, it must belong to someone special." Lamont saw Lenny's face turn from angry to shocked, and he knew he was right. "So it does belong to someone special. Who is it, Lenny? I'm guessing… it's that sharkess waiting by the outskirts. Am I right?"
"You shut-up." Lenny said angrily.
"So I am right." Lamont said with a taunting smile. Seeing Lenny angry only made him want to continue. "How important is she to you, exactly? You have to be more than friends… lovers, perhaps?" He began circling Lenny. "She's pretty too. It would be a shame if anything was to happen to her…"
"You better not touch her."
Lamont was shocked, probably for the first time in his life. If it was possible, he could've seen the venom dripping from Lenny's voice, and the anger radiating from him. However, he had a reputation to uphold, and didn't show any trace of shock.
"So she is important." Lamont said, still circling Lenny. "Now tell me, is she as important to you as Rhea and C.J. are? I've heard that you guys are friends."
Lamont was expecting Lenny to say, "What're you going to do to them" or "please, leave them alone," but all he got was,
"I swear to God, if you don't stop circling me…"
"Oh? So you've made a threat? What're you gonna do if I don't stop circling you huh?" Lamont said. Once again, he hit Lenny with his gun. "Nothing, that's what."
Suddenly, Lenny snatched the gun from Lamont's fin. His grip wasn't tight, however, so it skidded across the sand. He tried to get up and retrieve it, but was stopped by a switchblade to his throat.
"All out of ideas now, aren't we?" Lamont said evilly. "You know… this is really pitiful. I expected more of a fight out of you."
"I wouldn't be calling anyone pitiful if I were you." Lenny said, breathing heavily. "You define the word pitiful."
"Shut-up!" Lamont said, punching him. When he had done that, the present had dropped a few feet away from where Lenny was.
Lenny tried to reach the present, but didn't have the strength.
"And don't worry," Lamont said with a cruel smile, "I'll take good care of the present… and the girl."
It was at this moment that something inside Lenny had snapped. That last strand of whatever was keeping him from getting truly angry had broken. It was too much; first, his friend had gotten him kicked out of his home, then that Markie guy had started to stir up trouble, then he thought Ronnie had died, then he had almost died of hunger after he had killed Markie and was looking for another place to go, but that's not even the worst part because Markie was his best friend's cousin! And when somebody had finally taken him somewhere, it turned out that he was in the worst city of all, and the creature who had "saved" him was a spoiled hit squad boss's daughter and he had to either work for the guy or die, then he was forced to go out on a date with the girl, who had shot him, and just when things were starting to get better, he ends up on the ground with a knife at his throat! All that anger and other bad feelings felt like they had to be vented out on someone; and Lamont just happened to be that someone.
Growling, Lenny snatched the blade away from Lamont, surprising him. He slowly swam towards the trembling hit squad boss, making him back up into the alley wall.
"Not so tough without your blade, are you?" Lenny said in the coldest voice imaginable.
"P-please, get away from me!" Lamont said in a deathly terrified voice.
"Getting scared are we?" Lenny said, rotating the blade in his fin.
"W-wha-what are you g-gonna do with that?" Lamont stuttered, trying to keep himself from shaking in terror.
Lenny smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile though; it was a smile that made you want to run for your life. "Why Lamont, what do you think I'm going to do with this?" He said in a sweet voice. Anybody would know that there was a threat behind that sweet tone.
"You know… we could work this out!" Lamont said quickly, trying to talk his way out of the mess he had created. "I could give you anything you wanted, o-or give you some clams… ARGH!"
Lenny had slashed him with the knife, cutting him off. "Oh shut up! You actually think you can bribe me?" He stared at the whimpering Lamont on the floor, shaking his head. A mocking grin spread over his face. "You know… this is really pathetic. I expected more of a fight out of you." That quote made Lamont look up. "Of course," Lenny added, placing the blade on Lamont's shoulder and making him flinch, "we can't always get what we want. I mean, after all, you wanted me dead, and here I am, still floating here."
"Yeah, that kind of is funny…" Lamont began, but once again, he was cut by the blade.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Lenny shouted. "Jeez, and you wonder why you're in this mess!"
Lamont had thrown sand at Lenny, aiming for his eye, but unfortunately for him, he had missed, which only made Lenny angrier.
"Oh, so you decide to throw sand at me?" Lenny said angrily. "Well you wanna know what I do to creatures who throw sand at me?" He ripped a chunk out of Lamont's dorsal fin. "That's what I do."
Gasping with pain, Lamont managed to say, "Is that the best you can do?" In a few seconds, he would find out that he should've kept his mouth shut; the last thing he would ever find out.
Just then, Lenny had ripped off the whole dorsal fin, and blood had splattered against the wall. All his pent up fury was unleashed on the now ripped up hit squad boss. Chunks of flesh flew everywhere as Lenny tore into Lamont as if he was a fish at a feeding frenzy. Lamont didn't even have time to scream. In less than a few seconds later, blood filled the once clear water and colored the once white sand.
"No, that's the best I can do." Lenny growled.
Lamont was dead. There was no evidence to prove that Lenny had killed him; he was torn apart and ripped to shreds. There was no trace of the boss, except for a few shreds of remaining skin and the tip of his (shredded) dorsal fin. Lamont wasn't just dead; he was gone.
Scene Change
Ronnie waited for Lenny at the outskirts. The whale shark had come five minutes ago, and left three seconds ago. He had a tight schedule, and had to pick up other on-time fish.
"Where the heck is he?" Ronnie grumbled.
"He might be in trouble."
Ronnie turned around to see Ace. Tex wasn't with him this time.
"Hey, aren't you that guy who everybody beat up?" Ronnie said with a smile.
"Yeah, could you forget about that for a second?" Ace said. "Look, Lamont's gonna try to kill Lenny, so I suggest you try to find him."
Ronnie looked surprised for a second, but then said, "How do I know I can trust you? After all, you volunteered to help kill him."
Ace sighed. "I don't expect you to trust me, but when somebody gives you information like this, the least you can do is listen."
'Hmm… he's got a point.' "All right, but if I find out that you're lying, I'll do ten times the damage of what any hit shark could do to you."
Ace grimaced. "Fair enough."
"So, do you know where I can find him?" Ronnie said.
"Uh… no." Ace said. "But he should be around here…"
"Oh well. Thanks anyway!" Ronnie said as she swam towards the city.
Before Ronnie was too far away, Ace shouted, "Hey! Was it true that you punched Carlotta in the nose?"
Ronnie turned around and shouted, "You bet I did!"
Ace chuckled and swam towards Lamont's ship. Hopefully, Carlotta was there, because he was looking forward to bothering her with that question…
Scene Change
Lenny took the bandanna from around his neck and wiped his mouth. In a quick second, his bandanna changed from blue to dark red. He was about to put it back on when he remembered what was on it. He threw the bandanna on the ground, and covered it with sand. A part of him wanted to keep the bandanna and wash it later, and the other part knew that the bandanna contained evidence and didn't want anyone to find out what had happened. He was still angry, but not angry enough to want to squeeze the life out of someone. Suddenly, he realized something.
'I'll be late for the whale shark!' Lenny began to swim off in a hurry, but he noticed something. His fins were red. Picking up sand, he rubbed the blood off them, and ignored the stinging he felt. He looked at his fins and saw that there was a diagonal shaped cut on them. It had to have been made by teeth; Lamont must've bitten him somehow. Lenny didn't even notice until now.
'Stupid Lamont…that's what he gets…' Lenny thought, but his thoughts changed in a heartbeat.
Lenny's anger changed to shock in a heartbeat. He suddenly realized what he had done, and tried his best not to gag at the metallic smell.
'Aww man… I did all of that… things can't possibly get any worse…'
"Hey Lenny, what took you so long? The whale shark already came and, oh my god…"
Lenny turned around to see a shocked Ronnie. 'Okay… so things can get worse…'
TBC…
Aww, Oscar apologized to Angie… and Ace was thrown against a wall? Tex could get angry? Ronnie caught Lenny in the killing? Hmm… I wonder what she'll say now… only one way to find out, and that's to stick around for the next chappie!
And yes, I know that male anglerfish don't have lures, but I wanted that to fit in the story, so… yeah.
And voices have been added to characters, as well as changed. Ricky's voice has been changed for the millionth time, but it's staying like that… I hope.
R&R pleez!