CHAPTER FOUR
GRUNTILDA

Seconds stretched into minutes, minutes stretched into hours, and hours stretched into days – the three longest days the shark had known yet. Now that he had something to worry about, he felt suffocated by the weight of his own powerlessness and the tight walls that held him. It didn't matter how much he wanted answers from Klungo or to know that Gloop was okay, all he could do was await their return and hope for the best.

This was easier said than done, as his mind instead came up with every possible way the small, blue fish could have met an untimely end. Clanker couldn't help it. What if something happened to the only other person who'd ever shown him kindness? He'd never know about it and there'd be no way for him to find out, either. For someone who'd spent his entire life trapped in one room, his imagination turned out to be something frightful enough to lose sleep over.

Finally, on his fourth day of solitude, a familiar voice called out to the shark:

"Aha, found you!" it said. "Took me long enough, I couldn't remember the pipes in reverse."

"Gloop!" Clanker pulled his mouth into a smile, thrilled to see the fish still in one piece. "Hi!"

"How's it going? Sorry I didn't come back right away, I got whooped pretty good for admitting I poked around the lair." The fish rubbed his face, which was slightly bruised. "Everyone was watching me really closely after that. This was the first chance I got to sneak away."

"Are they okay? Is Gloop okay?"

"Yeah, we're all fine," Gloop sighed. "But…they didn't believe me."

"Oh." The shark was visibly disappointed. "How come?"

"Well," Gloop shifted awkwardly, "before you hear this from anyone else, I maybe…might be known to exaggerate things here and there. Makes for good stories, you know? But I don't think they doubted me just because of that. A-at least, I hope not! It's just that…the Cove is such a beautiful place. It's hard to imagine anything bad happening there."

"Maybe Gloop can describe it? Never left the Cavern before."

"Really? You need to get out more," the fish smiled. He took a moment to work out a more serious answer, unsure of how to describe the outside world to someone who'd never seen it before. "Compared to this place…it's really bright and the water's much cleaner. No walls anywhere, just wide open space with blue sky all around. I think you'd like that," Gloop winked. "Obviously, I keep to the reef, but the island itself is pretty striking. It's got this massive stone archway and at the very top is –"

"A lighthouse," the shark murmured.

"Hey, that's right! How'd you know that, Mister Shut-In?"

"Oh…uh," the shark looked away. "Just thought of…something. Sorry, Clanker has strange dreams."

Gloop cocked his head to the side. "Like what? Dreams about the ocean?" He felt a twinge of pity as he said that. If he was being kept in this dark, dingy place, he'd dream about the ocean too.

"Sometimes. Not always. Hard to explain…"

"Maybe the dreams are things you've forgotten," Gloop suggested. "Memories from your past."

Clanker shook his head. "Can't be…because Clanker never dreams about being like this," he said, gesturing to his metal body. "Too many dreams on land."

"On land? Now that is strange."

"Told you," the shark smiled.

"What do you look like in your dreams, then?"

"Not sure, never seen myself…been asking Klungo, but no answers yet."

"Klungo…oh, I see. He built you, didn't he? I'm amazed someone like that could even make someone like you. Isn't he one of the witch's top lackeys? …I guess I don't know anything about him."

"Not know much about Klungo either, but Clanker trusts him. Family."

"And I thought my folks were strange," Gloop smiled. "Is he nice to you, at least? Why wouldn't he put you outside…couldn't you grind garbage there?"

"Klungo is nice to Clanker, but witch wants shark here. So…" He shrugged with a frown.

"Well, I guess I can't blame him. I wouldn't wanna cross her, either. From what everyone says, she is pretty scary…"

As soon as Gloop said that, he was reminded that, despite Clanker's hospitality, he was still a very unwelcome guest in Gruntilda's lair. That thought made him sink low beneath the surface, in an attempt to look less conspicuous. Someone like her could enter the Cavern at any time, through either one of its two doors: there was one on the right wall above the shark's snout, and another to the shark's left, just behind his head. Both doors were connected to raised walkways and ladders that reached down to the Cavern's main level.

Gloop considered them carefully and guessed that they had to be very creaky. If he was lucky, that noise would give him enough time to dive out of sight.

…He felt kind of silly, actually. The Cavern was in a remote place, deep underground. The only sounds to be heard were the dripping of water, the occasional clank from the shark, and the sound of his breathing. Someone barging in seemed very unlikely, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Hey, Clanker?" he said, rising back to the surface. "This place seems kinda lonely…do you get a lot of visitors?"

"No, not really. Just Klungo and Gloop."

"Oh."

The sad look on Gloop's face prompted the shark to add, "Clanker not alone, though, Snippets live here too. But…uh…never speak to Clanker. Not very friendly."

"Is that so? Well…join the club. The Snippets back home keep to themselves, too. They're a crabby bunch." Gloop rolled his eyes, then perked up. "Oh, but here's an idea: what if I came by and saw you more often? That'd fix the Cavern's loneliness problem, wouldn't it?"

The shark lifted his eyes. "Really? Gloop would do that for Clanker?" He tried and failed to contain his excitement. "Won't Gloop get in more trouble?"

"Yeah, I will. But I've already got a reputation for it. Besides, I wanna hear more about your crazy dreams – and I need fresh ears for all the stories I have. They're wasted on the guys back home, you wouldn't believe how boring they are."

"If Gloop wants to, then…Clanker would be very happy."

"Of course I want to," the fish giggled. "It's the least I could do after you tipped me off. Actually…I hope you don't mind me staying a while today. I'm not ready to get beat up again just yet." The shark gave him a look of concern, but Gloop shrugged it off, saying, "Don't worry, I've had worse. There was this one time where I…" His round face suddenly lit up. "Here, let me tell you about it, it's a good one."

Under Clanker's gaze, Gloop became like a force of nature. He never kept still the entire time he spoke (it was crucial for him to act everything out) and as Clanker watched him dart back and forth, the shark found himself wishing harder than ever that he could swim around, too…but there was no use dwelling on that. Instead, he focused on how easy it was for him to picture things he'd never seen or heard of before; he only had to ask a few questions throughout the entire story.

Gloop's tale was a harrowing one, full of excitement and danger that Clanker lost himself in. He now knew what the fish had meant when he'd said that exaggeration made for good stories, because the shark was willing to bet that most of this one never actually happened.

…But Clanker liked to imagine it did.

"To this day, I haven't explored that whole temple," Gloop stretched, wrapping things up, "but I'm convinced that the legend is true. Those booby-traps have to be guarding something, and that something is Atlantian treasure, I just know it!" He laughed. "Sorry, I got kinda carried away. It's gotta be pretty late, huh?"

"Nine o' clock," the shark smiled. "Gloop's story was great, took Clanker far away."

Gloop beamed. "Did it really? Mission accomplished. Finally, somebody appreciates my talents," he nodded to himself. "Uh hey, are you sure about the time? How can you tell in here?"

"Internal clock," Clanker said, pointing to his head.

"No way! I kinda…forgot you were a robot. What else have you got? Wait, wait, wait, don't tell me…x-ray vision? A supercomputer? Laser cannons!?"

"N-nothing like that!" Clanker laughed.

"You're holding out on me!"

"Well…"

After Clanker managed to convince Gloop that his only other "power" was to make his eyes glow, the fish took off for the night, deeply impressed. His friends and family must have given up on trying to contain him because he returned to the Cavern almost every day after that. The shark didn't feel like he had much to offer his new friend, but in exchange for Gloop's stories, he shared his most interesting dreams with the fish.

The person he was in his sleep must have traveled the world because there were always so many different places to talk about…

Clanker was jolted awake by the sound of a door opening and closing. The shark was surprised at himself, he'd been waiting for Gloop to arrive and must have dozed off.

"Time for repairs? Missed seeing Klungo, been a long time," he yawned. "Clanker wanted to ask about…" He froze, surprised to see that his normally stone-faced creator looked nervous today. "Is Klungo okay?"

"Doing fine," the man said dismissively, motioning for Clanker to help him onto his head. There, he pulled out a large screwdriver to adjust the shark's gills. "Go on, asssk Klungo questionsss."

"Well…" Clanker ran through his usual queries, to which Klungo gave his usual non-answers – but the shark wasn't about to let that cryptic behaviour slide today. He'd been alive for two months and still knew next to nothing, so he tried again, this time from a different angle of attack:

"Clanker is restless, want to be outside," he complained overdramatically, stretching his fins. "Want to see the ocean and swim around with…" He caught himself before he mentioned Gloop's name. "W-with other fish. When will Clanker see it, Klungo?"

If Klungo was suspicious about the shark's stammering, it didn't show. He kept his head bent over his work.

"Perhapsss very soon. Mistresss will see Clanker later today," he grimaced.

"Really?" the shark was ecstatic. "Witch will take Clanker outside?"

"Shark isss getting ahead of himself, mussst speak to mistresss first."

Clanker barely heard the tremble in his maker's voice. His mind started to race, compiling a list of all the things he'd see and do once he was free of the Cavern. He'd feel the warm sun on his skin, hear the wind whistle through his rivets…he might even be able to visit Gloop for once – wouldn't he be surprised?

"Clanker. Clanker."

Klungo's stern voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"Machine mussst listen to Klungo, this isss very important."

"S-sorry," the shark grinned before he took on a more respectful expression. "Clanker is listening."

"Good, because thisss isss what Clanker mussst do: witch will come here, she will ssspeak, and Clanker will agree with everything she saysss. If shark causes trouble, shark isss on his own. Klungo can't protect Clanker…does Clanker understand?"

"Yes," the shark nodded, cracking another smile. He couldn't help it. Those instructions sounded so easy – and then he'd be outside! His heart swelled with excitement.

"Very good." Klungo breathed a sigh of relief, though his face was still creased with worry. In a rare display of emotion, the scientist leaned forward and patted the machine on the snout. "Clanker behaved well, not much longer to go…Klungo isss proud of shark."

The machine looked away, self-conscious but thrilled to have his creator's approval. "…Thanks."

Clanker next saw his creator a few hours later, trailing Gruntilda as she entered the Cavern. Together they made quite the pair, as Klungo's mutant complexion matched her naturally-green skin. That, along with her black dress and pointy hat, made her the spitting image of a stereotypical witch. She even carried a broomstick with her, and was carrying herself like she owned the place (the shark had to remind himself that she technically did). Her shoes clacked to a stop right in front of Clanker, in the middle of the walkway. Having claimed this spot for herself, Klungo was relegated to stand in her shadow, but that was just fine by him. From where he was, behind her back, he could give the shark small visual cues. He did so just then, motioning for the machine to be quiet and listen.

"I'm over here!" Gruntilda snapped, her fingers strangling the railing before her.

Clanker's gaze shifted to bear the full brunt of her glare. She had a gaunt, mean-looking face that the shark didn't like on first glance – after all, this was the person who'd put Klungo through so much abuse – but he forced himself to keep eye contact.

It was a lot harder than he'd thought it would be.

Despite her size, the witch had a very large presence and delighted in looming over the shark as she spoke in her peculiar rhyming way, first introducing herself and then asking him many pointed questions:

Did he like it here in the Cavern? Did he enjoy working for her? Wasn't he lucky?

Lying didn't come easily to Clanker, but he followed Klungo's instructions, answering with one mechanical "yes" after another.

After she'd finished her interrogation, Gruntilda leaned back, satisfied by the machine's obedience, but put off by his politeness.

"Klungo…you did what I asked and built a frightful machine, but can't you make it a lot more mean?"

"Yesss, mistresss. Will fix Clanker later," Klungo replied. "But shark isss ready now, will do what witch saysss. Right?"

"Right," echoed Clanker, feeling slightly insulted that his mind needed fixing.

"All right, shark," Gruntilda leered down at him. "Here's what I loathe: everything to do with Treasure Trove Cove. I want you to grind it up for me. Then on top, I'll build my factory."

The witch said it so easily, so matter-of-factly that Clanker wondered if he hadn't misheard her. He recalled Gloop's fear of the "crazy things" Gruntilda would do to take over the Cove, but he refused to believe this was part of her plan. He had to have misheard her…he had to have misunderstood.

This couldn't be the price to pay for his freedom.

"D-don't people live there?" he asked.

"So that's your problem!" she cackled. "Hungry, are you? Go ahead and eat them all, too!"

The gleeful look on her face made Clanker's skin crawl. He was suddenly very aware of the sharp teeth in his mouth, teeth that could (and would, if the witch had her way) grind garbage and people alike. No one would be able to stop him, not if they were like Gloop. He was just too big for that.

Helplessly, he looked back and forth between the witch and his maker. Klungo could tell that he was about to start panicking and gave him a cautionary look, but Clanker was already too far gone. It became hard for him to breathe. Gruntilda couldn't be telling him to do this, why was she telling him to do this? It was a terrible question with such an obvious answer, it made Clanker squirm: he'd been practically built for the job, why wouldn't she use him? He felt ashamed, disgusted, and terrified all at once. Up to this point, he hadn't cared much about his monstrous appearance, but now? Now he wanted to jump out of his skin.

Failing this, he recoiled in horror, backing away until he hit the far wall. "N…N-no!"

There was a long silence in the Cavern.

"No?" Gruntilda's bony fingers balled up into fists. She slammed them on top of the railing. "Is that what you said? Tell me again! I'll give you to the count of ten."

"C-can't grind people. Never," Clanker shuddered. "Anything but that." His mouth contorted itself into a pained expression. He looked to Klungo for support, but his creator said nothing.

"Never?" Gruntilda shrieked, acting as if that one word wasn't something she wanted to hear on the best of days, from people she almost respected.

"Would rather die," the shark said.

Klungo's stony façade came crashing down. He looked like he'd been dealt a mortal blow, making a pang of guilt run through the shark. Clanker wanted to comfort him, to take back his words and say he didn't mean them, but that would've been a terrible lie. The shark thought of Gloop and his stories, his friends and family…if he carried out Grunty's demands and put them to his fangs, he'd never be able to live with himself.

Gruntilda glared at Klungo, who'd quickly regained his composure. "Your metal shark may get that wish, he's being a very ungrateful fish." Her attention turned back to Clanker and her voice took on a dangerous tone. "While it's true that Grunty is generous and kind, giving you a job with no garbage to grind, I also haven't any pity for a minion who thinks he can refuse me."

"Clanker not need Grunty's pity," the shark scoffed, a rebellious smile creaking its way up the sides of his face. Whatever she was about to do to him, he may as well deserve it. "Witch can keep it, already given Clanker enough garbage."

Klungo took one last look at the machine he was sure would be blown to bits.

"Why, you – stupid – !" Words failed Gruntilda as her anger boiled over. Terrible spells crackled and sparked in her hands.

Klungo couldn't watch. He covered his eyes.

Gruntilda left the Cavern soon after with a miserable-looking Klungo in tow. She felt remarkably good about herself, having wiped that grin off the shark's face with the best thrashing she could muster. The chain had been a nice touch too, an idea that had come to her halfway through her pummeling. That would no doubt fix his attitude problem. Didn't he know how good he had it? He should be grateful that he had a place in her lair, that she'd let Klungo keep him, that he was even alive at all. When she returned in a month or two, he'd be begging her to let him do her bidding. But she couldn't wait that long to go ahead with her plans. It was a good thing she'd arranged for the backup minions she was contacting now. Everything was in place.

Treasure Trove Cove was a gem, a tropical paradise that the witch had connected to her lair with the intention of claiming it for herself. It had a beauty that (she would never admit) far surpassed hers, and soon, like so many other natural wonders, she'd have the pleasure of wiping it off the map. She didn't just enjoy this destructive pastime, however; she had also monetized it. Her quagmire factory, theme park, and shipyard had all been pristine sites in the past and now they were making her rich – and that made her even more desirable, in her mind.

Not content to stroke her ego alone, Gruntilda went to her cauldron to confirm that she was, in fact, the most beautiful creature on the Isle o' Hags…