To say that Stella agreed to come along was the understatement of the century. Fly knew he'd won when her face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. She gabbed nonstop about when they were going to find Sasha, and the things the two would do together once they reunited.
Well, Fly figured the toothpaste was out of the tube now. He had to hold his end of the bargain.
They were almost there: beyond the abrupt, ruined end of the road they saw Fly's fishing spot and the cliff behind it that housed MacKrill's lab. The girl was pedaling on her tricycle, which towed a red wagon behind it. Fly was proudly responsible for the makeshift trailer hitch, something he made who-knew-how-long ago by tying thick knots with a rope. Stella had used it to give her stuffed animals "rides" down the street. Now she was doing the same for her big brother.
If only for a second, Fly stuck his head out from above the bowl's water, reveling in the breezy summer air. The fish smiled with contentment. After a week of being stuck indoors, it felt great!
Soon Stella found a spot to park her tricycle, and the two children made their way to the sandy shore, the girl toddling with the fish bowl in both hands. The air was filled with the ambient sounds of waves crashing, seagulls crying, and the gusts of wind brushing against all surfaces. A warm feeling engulfed Fly as he basked in the atmosphere of his favorite place in the world, overjoyed that he got to visit it one more time.
But he wasn't here for the beach. There was a task at hand beneath the waves, a certain friend to track down. Thinking about what he was going to do, Fly realized maybe he'd gone in with a half baked plan. When doing things as hard-headed as this, it was not a tendency to think it through.
"Okay, Stella," the boy said, making unwavering eye contact with his sister. He wore a serious look. "I need you to listen to me, and do exactly as I say. You paying attention?"
Stella nodded vigorously.
"Good. You remember where the Professor's lab is, right?"
"Right over there," the girl said, pointing a stubby finger at the cliff.
Fly bobbled his head approvingly. "Now, after you put me in the ocean, I want you to go over to the lab and stay there." He said the last part in the same stern way their parents would use on her to emphasize that they meant what they said, no exceptions. "I will be gone a few hours. Come look for me when it gets dark. Bring the professor with you. Understand?"
"Okay!" said Stella.
Fly narrowed his eyes at her. "You did hear what I just said, right?" He had to make sure his sister was safe. "What did I say?"
"Go to the professor," she recited. "Come back here when it gets dark."
"Good. And bring the professor with you," he reminded her.
She giggled. "I can't wait to see Sasha again!"
"Me neither." Her brother gave a faint smile. Chances were slim, but he was going to try. He put on his game face. "Okay, Stella! Put me in the water now."
With the bowl still in her grasp, Stella edged toward the water. The waves reached for her pink shoes, soaking her feet up past her ankles. She overturned the glass bowl, and like a waterfall Fly dove in nose first, creating a small bloop in the water.
It was both strange and familiar when the salt water engulfed him once again. He looked up at Stella and waved at her with a fin. Stella waved back. Fly then gestured at her to get going and she obeyed, heading toward the rock. Thankfully the tide was low, so she would have no problem getting to the professor. Assured that Stella would be all right, Fly turned toward the ocean's depths, and swam with much determination.
The expansive world of the open sea still left the boy in awe, from the sun lighting each floating particle to the schools of fish that passed by like clouds. The colors of the flora popped against the deep blue, with sea greens, coral pinks, bright reds and oranges. Dark jagged rocks jutted from the sandy bottom, on which many shellfish and crustaceans sat upon.
So vast and wondrous, Fly remembered why he enjoyed being a fish in the beginning, along with the ability to swim and breathe underwater. He nodded off the tiny bubbles that tickled his face. This beat being in a tank, that was for sure!
Now…what was he doing again?
Once he got his mind focused on the task at hand, the ocean's very large scope seemed daunting now. Where would he even begin looking? There were so many possible places.
He started calling out, "Sasha!" He questioned if the seahorse could even understand him. It seemed like there were times where she could, even though she herself couldn't speak. If anything, Sasha might be able to recognize the sound of Fly's voice.
He swam to a patch of seaweed. "Sasha?" Then he darted over to a rock. "Sasha!" To his delighted surprise, his eyes caught a group of seahorses overhead. A hopeful smile lifting his cheeks, Fly hurried over to them.
"Sasha, are you there?" His call drew startled looks from the creatures, and they all dispersed, scattering chaotically around.
"Wait!" Fly managed to catch a glimpse at as many seahorses as he could before they disappeared from sight. Unfortunately, none of them looked like his sister's friend.
He drew in a weary breath. Okay, maybe he'd gotten a little too in over his head. He'd secretly hoped Sasha would just be sitting there waiting for him with open fins. Who am I kidding, this is impossible, he thought.
Like he'd said, he really didn't think this whole thing through. But in the end he'd promised Stella, and he intended to keep his word.
An unspecified length of time passed, and Fly still had no luck. The sun was directly above, meaning that he wasn't out for as long as it had felt like. Fly kept calling Sasha's name. He even had run-ins with some intelligent fish, asking them if they'd seen a little green seahorse with a buck tooth.
"Move it, guppy!" a larger fish grumbled, shoving Fly aside. The boy rubbed the spot where he was hit, and glared in that fish's direction. Okay…he took that as a "no".
It seemed the farther he went in the same direction, the more anthropomorphized the marine creatures became, and they were more densely populated. These were animals of all kinds: fish, mollusks, crustaceans, turtles, whales, sharks, squids, jellyfish…anything you could name that was found under the ocean. Fly even passed a glance at two scallops swimming by, their shells open revealing their many eyes, conversing between each other in perfect human speech.
And now Fly could see why. Up ahead, towering menacingly over the crowds of fish was a ship. The gargantuan steel structure lay in ruin, but still held up quite well. Creatures continuously swam in and out of each of its openings like the bustle of a city. Fly knew full well what this was and was beginning to feel nervous. While the ocean itself didn't bother Fly, certain memories had their place there. The boy now questioned why he would even bring himself to a place that nearly had him killed, the backdrop of all his nightmares. Maybe it'd be smart to turn back…
Hey, you!" a shout ripped from behind Fly, causing his heart to jump. A crab approached him, eyes fixed squarely on the Californian Fly fish. "State your name and business, new guy!"
Fly flinched at the sight of the crab's claws, which were pointing toward him almost threateningly. The boy recalled the pain in his side of a since-healed wound.
"I, uh…" Fly was usually armed with a ready response, but for some reason he struggled to get a word out.
"Come on! Haven't got all day!" the crab spat.
"I'm, uh, Californian Fly Fish," said Fly. Everyone here didn't have a proper name. When in Rome, right? "And I'm here…looking for someone."
The crab narrowed his eyes as though speculating every detail on Fly's face. "Who?"
"A…friend," Fly said. "She's a seahorse. Green, has a fin that looks like a mohawk, and a buck tooth. Happen to see her?"
The crab looked annoyed. "I don't have time for nonsense like that! Why are you really here, fishy?"
Fly backed away slightly. "That's it. That's the plain truth."
"What's going on here?" Another crab marched from a few feet away. He was slightly larger than the one speaking to Fly, and had a tougher, meaner appearance thanks to cracks on his shell.
"I'm inspecting a new fish," the smaller crab said. "He's acting very suspicious."
Now the larger crab soldier came forward, the other stepping aside to make room. He scrutinized Fly from the tip of his pointy nose to the tail fin, up to his tuft of blonde hair and his brown ball cap resting on top.
"Hey, wait a minute…" the crab said in a low voice. His eyes popped wide open. "I know who you are!"
"You do?" Fly's heart skipped a beat. "I mean–there must be some mistake."
"There's no mistake!" The large crab declared. "I remember you. You and those friends of yours–what were they? That jellyfish and starfish! You were the ones causing trouble for Lord Joe!"
Fly was surprised that these dumb crabs had such sharp memories. He'd have to put them to the test. He cleared his throat and straightened his back, facing those crabs. They might have been strong enough to severely maim Fly, but he had to remind himself that he had at least one advantage over them: they were more gullible than a baby born yesterday.
Words filled his head, a newfound confidence was overtaking his previous apprehension. You've done this before, you can do it again, easy.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "Because there are hundreds, maybe thousands of fish in this great big sea that look like the one you describe. I, for one, couldn't possibly be that fish. I don't even know a jellyfish or a starfish! Or let alone, would I come anywhere near our lord Joe. That's just disrespectful! What kind of fish do you think I am anyway? I'm a good upstanding citizen of his empire, and I'm insulted that you think that I'm…" He scrunched his face for added effect, "...that awful excuse for a fish!"
The crabs looked at one another as the orange fish spoke, their faces as blank as perhaps their own brains.
Fly continued his spiel. "If you ask me, those guys are probably still on the run. I wouldn't waste time on normal people like myself. You need to bring those criminals to justice!" He pounded a curled fin into the other like a fist to a palm.
The smaller crab gasped. "You're right! What're we standin' here for?" He started to scuttle quickly away before the large crab grabbed him with a claw.
"Not so fast," the larger crab said, eyes still on Fly. "You're not going anywhere, except with us."
Fly was flabbergasted. "But, uh, you don't really think–?"
"I dunno," the large crab shrugged. "But we're takin' you anyway."
The small crab came from behind and apprehended Fly, and the fish wriggled to get out of the claws' grip. His heart was racing, his breathing picking up. Flashbacks raced through his mind. Not again…not again!
Passerby sea creatures stopped to observe the commotion. Fly squirmed and let out desperate grunts, but his efforts proved to be futile.
He really didn't think this through!
"Hey! You can't do this!" he shouted. "What about my rights?"
"You don't got any rights," the large crab sneered. "Except the right to shuddup!" He swung his claw like a hammer against Fly's underbelly, a burst of bubbles erupting from the fish's mouth. Fly doubled over, and would have clenched his stomach with his fins were they not being held together behind his back.
The crabs marched on with Fly in tow. The closer they got, the taller the ship appeared, and it was now looming directly over them. Fly was still immobilized from that punch in the gut. Every creature they passed by threw a curious or sympathetic gaze his way. Fly gave each one of them a pleading look, yet none of them answered and kept swimming on.
The room they entered was a familiar one. A giant stadium where thousands of fish had gathered to listen to their leader. To worship him. To receive the gift of intelligence from him. The absolute grandeur of this hall emphasized a sense of importance to this small pilot fish, one that even Fly and his cousin and sister could feel at the time. Though now the stage was empty, and fish were using this room as a means to get to another place, none of them even stopping to look.
They entered through a small doorway and down a corridor. It was always one hall turning into another from this point on, Fly felt like he was in a maze. The dimly-lit lights, provided by bioluminescent jellyfish floating on the ceiling, shone on other crab soldiers, some of which were holding prisoners of their own. The prisoners were expressionless, as though yielding to the fact that they were captured and could do nothing about it. Fly wasn't about to give up just yet. He needed time to come up with a plan.
Soon they came upon a bigger room that was lined on both sides with cages. They held the same diversity of aquatic lifeforms that swam in and out of the ship. The prisoners looked on curiously at their latest prison mate, exchanging whispers among each other, some snickering.
Finally they reached a cage near the end of the line, one not nearly as full as the others. It was a great, crate-shaped holding, the bars close enough that even the smallest minnow couldn't squeeze past.
The large crab reached for his side but did a double take when he felt there was nothing there. He turned to the smaller crab. "Hey! What'd ya do with my keys, private?"
"Who're ya calling private, scum!" the smaller crab responded. "I'm your superior, don't ya know!"
"No, I'm your superior! Now gimme the keys!"
"I don't have the keys!"
"Keep it down, will ya?" Another crab guard approached Fly's captors. "I gotta key right here." It was an old rusted thing, much like the cages themselves.
The large crab snatched the key from the guard's claw, giving him the stink eye before jamming it into the lock. The smaller crab shoved Fly through the cage door and slammed it shut, the large crab locking it up again.
"You'll stay here till we figure out what to do with ya!" said the small crab. The soldiers then crawled away not looking back.
Fly held his stomach. It still hurt. At least there wasn't blood, for that Fly was thankful. He felt his back bump into something, or someone. He abruptly turned to be face to face with a snarling pair of toothy jaws and intimidating eyes.
"Touch me again, and you'll be my next meal," the creature, what looked like an eel covered in spots, growled. Fly backed away.
"Ah, let him be, Leopard Eel," a gentle grandfatherly voice spoke out.
The leopard eel bared her teeth in the direction of the voice. Fly saw a hunched over sea turtle, his face folded in wrinkles, who held a cane-like stick between his front flippers. The boy even noticed light shining off a pair of specs sitting on the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, don't take it personally. She's that way with everyone," a new voice joined in. A golden colored manta ray with jovial eyes and a flat pointed nose that bore a cheeky grin swam over beside Fly. "Nice to see a fresh face today. What's your name, kid?"
"Uh…Fly," the boy said.
"Fly, as in Flying Fish?" the ray asked.
"No, just Fly."
Another fish, a silvery-brown one with a thin forked tail said with a shaky voice, "W-welcome to the m-m-menu, Fly." The fish's eyes were wide with panic. "Any day now, w-w-one of us will be n-next."
"Come on now, don't scare the kid on his first day," the ray said, slapping a pectoral fin on the forktail snapper's back.
"We've been here this long," said the sea turtle with a sigh. "It's unlikely they'll take us out now."
Fly examined the entirety of his surroundings. The leopard eel had curled herself up to signal that she didn't want to be bothered. The manta ray was trying to talk the forktail snapper out of a meltdown, and the sea turtle was leaning his back against one wall of the cage, his eyes closed serenely. Fly's ears picked up another voice and it was coming from the back corner. It was soft and very feminine, and speaking in a nurturing manner.
Fly swam towards it, careful not to run into the eel again, and stopped short to keep a comfortable distance. What he saw was a light blue angelfish with her tail facing Fly, speaking with another cell mate that he couldn't quite make out from the dim lighting.
"It's all right, little seahorse. The crabs have gone away. You don't need to be frightened anymore," the angelfish was saying.
Fly heard a whimper. A little squeak he knew he'd heard before.
The angelfish moved slightly out of the way, so Fly was able to get a better look. He squinted his eyes, and then they popped wide open. No way! It couldn't be! His entire countenance lifted sky high as soon as he recognized the green body, the curly tail, and the buck-toothed snout.
"Sasha?" Fly gasped, a huge smile crawling up his cheeks.
Both the angelfish and Sasha turned to look at Fly. At first the seahorse looked nervous, then confused. She didn't forget about me, did she? Fly wondered. It had been a week since she'd last seen him, and he couldn't be sure what her long-term memory was like.
Fly's concerns were settled not a moment too soon. Sasha let out a high pitched squeal, and clapped her fins together before springing herself at the orange, cap-wearing fish. Fly felt himself shoot backward to the opposite wall, his face being bombarded with aggressive nuzzles from Sasha's nose.
"Sasha!" He was saying in between laughter. "Sasha, what are you–Aah, cut it out! Hey! I missed you too!"
Sasha pulled away, looking Fly in the eyes, an overjoyed smile on her face. She dove into him again, wrapping her fins around her long lost friend. Fly returned the gesture very warmly. "How've you been, Sasha?" he asked. He remembered where he was, then added, rolling his eyes, "Right. Dumb question. How did you end up here anyway?"
Fly and Sasha released their embrace, the seahorse darting her eyes around, even peeking behind him. She tilted her head questioningly.
Fly chuckled. "Are you looking for Stella?"
Sasha's face beamed hopefully.
The boy could only sigh. If Stella were here, she would be over the moon. "Well, she's not with me right now. She really misses you, though." Despite his words, Sasha still kept searching for her starfish companion as though she would appear at any second.
The angelfish, whom Fly forgot was there for a moment, inquired in her soft spoken voice, "So, you two know each other?"
Sasha rocked her head up and down. Fly responded with, "Yeah, we're good friends."
The angelfish smiled. "Oh, I'm so glad! This is the first time I've seen her happy since she was put in here."
"Th-that makes one of us," the forktail snapper said. He glanced at the manta ray, then added, "Or two."
The manta ray shrugged. "It's not so bad once you get used to it. I mean, as long as we're together. We're all friends here, right?"
Nobody in the cage responded, except for the leopard eel who gave a small snort, and the forktail snapper muttering, "S-speak for yourself."
"Is there a reason they're caging everyone up like this?" Fly asked, gazing toward the adjacent cages, and noticing how packed in tight the animals were.
The turtle was the first to answer. "You must not be from around here, young friend, otherwise you would have noticed the absence of our great wise leader, Lord Joe."
"Yeah, no one's seen him for days. He just mysteriously vanished just like that. Poof!" said the ray, pantomiming with his fins. "There've been talks that he was kidnapped, so all the crabs are going around sending fish right and left to the executioner till someone'll admit to doing it."
At the word "executioner", the forktail snapper let out a wail of despair.
"I just don't understand why anyone would do such a horrible thing," the angelfish said sadly. "After everything Joe has done for us, someone wanted to kidnap him?" She shook her head. "It isn't right."
"I think whoever it was wanted more of that special potion," input the manta ray. "I don't see any other reason. It's not like anybody has anything against Joe personally."
Fly held back a snort. He found himself half-amused and half-repulsed at how they were speaking of the pilot fish. The megalomaniacal psychotic murderer tyrant, and other choice words Fly wanted to apply to him. These fish had to be brainwashed, buying into every lie he ever told! The truth of what really happened to their beloved leader sat at the tip of his tongue, but he quelled the words right away. What good would that do him? It would only make Joe look more like the victim and turn the prisoners against Fly.
"But you guys didn't do anything," Fly said instead.
The sea turtle shook his head seriously. "I know for certain I didn't. But who knows? They may have already apprehended the culprit, and they are among us as we speak."
The ray smirked. "All bets are on Leopard Eel," he whispered to Fly with a wink. He got a rumbled growl in response, though the eel didn't move from her spot.
The cell mates continued their conversation, but Fly tuned out. After passing a glance at Sasha, he grabbed two of the cage bars with his fins and stuck his nose between them. Now that he accomplished what he returned to the ocean for, it was time to go home. He had lost track of the time, and worried that it may have gotten dark already. What if Stella was there waiting for him? What if she had been waiting for a long time already? And how long before Mom and Dad noticed that their children were missing and started to freak out?
"We need to get out of here," he muttered under his breath.
He scoped out the entire room. There were crab guards patrolling the place, up and down in the same straight lines. Fly counted about eight of them; that made about one guard per two cages. Maybe it was their large sizes that made up for the smaller numbers. But Fly also considered the number of prisoners in this very room. If they all broke out of their cages at the same time, they could overtake the guards easily.
That was another problem. Even if there was a breakout, would these fish even riot? Fly got the impression that they had already submitted to their fates and were willfully obedient to the iron-clad authority of Joe's army. With the cage doors swung wide open, they'd stay in their prisons.
Either they were too loyal or too scared. Or possibly too dumb to realize that they were being punished without any evidence whatsoever. He had to figure that part out, how to get them motivated.
He felt a nudge on his side. Sasha let out a concerned squeak, giving Fly a look that seemed to ask, "Are you okay?"
Fly smiled at her with assurance. "Don't worry, Sasha. We'll be outta here soon. I just need a plan, and your guys's help to pull it off."