Prologue

In this business, we walk on a tightrope. We dance with the devils of this city. Every moment can be our last. Danger is so close that you can taste it - and it tastes like Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery canned pineapples.

As the new kid and I walk that tightrope and dance with that tiny little devil with a shark's tail, we can feel the walls closing in on us. Just a single slip of the tongue could spell our doom. Just a single mistake could send us to the morgue - or to the local grocery store chopped up into tiny pieces and canned like corned beef.

But now that we're here, in the den of the Queenpin Gura herself…

…

Ame paused. She could feel the eyes of the men and women wearing shrimp masks watching her with curiosity and confusion. They were probably thinking that Ame was some sort of lunatic who talked to herself - and they wouldn't be completely incorrect.

But this was the first time that Ame had to whisper her monologues and choose her words. Kiara watched her from the side with great concern, but the Phoenix couldn't speak. She was the immigrant 'Erika' who didn't know English after all.

Monologuing was something that Ame had gotten used to doing in the safety of her office in City PD. It was something that she thought all the hard-boiled detectives did, so she mastered that art. She never bothered anyone - as far as she knew - and Ina never brought it up. But now that she knew that her private thoughts weren't so private, she felt naked and trapped.

"Something wrong, new kids?" Gura turned their way.

"W-we're fine." Ame apologized, "It's just a little hot and cramped in here, chief."

"It's a fruit cannery, doofus! We got a lot of machines to can all the things." Gura spoke honestly, wagging her shark's tail behind her, "If you're gonna work for me, you gotta get used to it."

"Of course…" Ame responded, albeit without her usual vigor.

"That said, what do you kids think?" Gura gestured to the machines around her, "This cannery brought canned fruits to the front line during the War. Today, we can all sorts of fruits for the City." She raised up her fingers and started speaking proudly, "You see, fruits are the shrimp of the land! You can eat em', preserve em', throw em' in your cereal, top em' on cakes, dip em' in chocolate, smother em' in honey, serve em' with ice cream! There's fruit salad, fruit cake, fruit punch, fruit pies - you name it!"

Gura paused and rubbed her chin, "T-that's about it."

"That's a lot of fruit recipes." Ame commented dryly.

Gura put her hands on her hips and reminded, "We take our tagline very seriously, Amelon!" She turned to the shrimp-masked men and women and cried out, "What's our tagline again, my shrimpies!?"

All of the Shrimps stood in attention and answered in unison, "WELCOME TO LEMON SHARK, WHERE YOUR FRUITIEST DREAMS COME TRUE!"

Damn, they know that tagline by heart, huh?

"You new kids are gonna have to memorize that tagline too." Gura smirked smugly, "Give it a try!"

The gloomy Ame cringed. The thought of saying something so bright and sunny made her feel like her dignity died a second time. She heaved a sigh and complied.

"Welcome to Lemon Shark… where your fruitiest dreams come true."

"Passing grade, stinky." Gura commented. She then turned to Kiara, "What about you, Miss Erika? I know you don't speak English - but wanna give it a try?"

Kiara paused. She thought about the tagline and processed it through her head. Then, her pink eyes brightened up like light bulbs as she declared in German, "WILLKOMMEN IM ZITRONENHAI. WERDEN IHRE FRUCHTIGSTEN TRÄUME WAHR!"

Gura grinned and wagged her tail. "I have no idea what you just said - but I like it! That's the kind of enthusiasm we need in this business!"

Kiara clapped her hands and laughed, very nearly clucking like a chicken. Her clucking made Gura's smirk grow even wider. The Phoenix quickly winked at Ame. She smiled back in approval.

Seems the new kid has a few tricks up her sleeves. Pretty good.

When Gura had her fill she went up on her tippy toes and placed her hands on Ame's and Kiara's shoulders, "I want the two of you to look at this operation. It's going pretty smoothly. A lot of my boys and gals work hard to keep the cannery running, and I've already got a lot of muscle." She then brought Ame and Kiara closer and whispered, "But I need a few more brain cells that I can trust. I don't have a lot of braincells. You dig?"

I don't think that's something to be proud of…

Ame kept her thoughts to herself.

Gura let go of the two and turned to the entourage of Shrimps.

"I'm taking the new kids with me to the office." Gura declared, "Everyone else, scram and get back to work!"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" The Shrimps saluted their Queenpin and dispersed.

Gura, on the other hand, led the two disguised detectives to the second floor catwalk of the cannery. From there, they could see the entirety of the cannery, its many machines and its labyrinth of conveyor belts. Gura talked about each and every one of the machines as they passed them by.

While Gura spoke, it was easy for the uninitiated to think that Lemon Shark was indeed just a regular fruit cannery - the biggest cannery in the world, but a fruit cannery nonetheless.

However, as Gura gave her tour from the catwalk, Ame and Kiara noticed the Shrimps gang members patrolling the area. Every single one of them carried menacing fire axes with them.

What are these maniacs? Volunteer firefighters?

Either way, those axes reminded the detectives that they were still in the underbelly of a dangerous criminal organization. One that was on the brink of war with their Southern rivals.

Before long, the catwalk ended at the doors of Gura's office. Two ax-armed Shrimps opened the door for them and ushered the disguised detectives in the room. With just a quick glance, Ame could tell that the Shrimp bodyguards were women.

The lady Shrimps closed the door behind them and Gura sat down on a handsome swivel chair behind a sturdy-looking desk. Gura set her feet on the desk and gave the Shrimps their orders.

"Pat em' down for weapons, ladies." Gura barked, "You don't mind, do you, new kids? The last thing we want are some wise guys from the Deadbeats or snitches from City PD roaming about here."

Ame's and Kiara's heart skipped a beat, but they consented to the search with sheepish nods. They let the Shrimps pat them down, but neither of them had anything compromising.

"We ain't got nothing." Ame insisted.

"Heh, didn't think so." Gura hummed with amusement.

"Are we done, then?" Ame asked with a hint of impatience, wiggling free of her inspector's thorough hands.

"Not yet." Gura grinned mischievously. She pointed down to Ame's and Kiara's shoes and demanded, "Your feet. Show em' to me!"

And so, the two detectives discovered the first secret of the Queenpin of the Shrimps.

Gawr Gura was obsessed with feet!

Left without a choice, Ame and Kiara took off their shoes.

…

Queenpins

Socks To Be You!

…

To Be Continued