Reef-Sanity!
Story 1-3: "Destiny, Bailey, and Those Freaky Fridays"
"So, Hank," said Dory as she and Hank continued searching for Destiny and Bailey, "do you like being me?"
"Not especially," said Hank, "In fact, I can't stand it! I can hardly do anything I could do before as you!"
"Well, I like being you," said Dory, "With five extra arms, I can hold five times as many shells! I can camouflage! And I'm…uh…squishier."
"Glad you're enjoying it," Hank groaned.
They arrived back at the school assembly area. It was empty, with no sign of Destiny, Bailey, or anyone else there.
"You can't be serious," Hank moaned.
"Where else might they be?" Dory asked.
"They must have gone with Ray and Nemo's class when they left," said Hank.
"I guess they did…" said Dory, "wait, I think…I think they weren't supposed to be going with them yet because Bailey had to do something for the class! I just wish I could remember what it was."
"Well, that's not helping us get any closer to where they are!" said Hank, starting to get fairly annoyed.
"Just bear with me," said Dory, "I think they're…over there!" Dory pointed a tentacle straight in front of her.
Coincidentally, at that moment Destiny, Bailey, and Anchor and Chum did come up over a hill from that direction.
"Wow, I'm good."
Hank shot up to Destiny and Bailey as fast as Dory's tail fin would take him.
"All right!" he barked, "I need an explanation! Why am I Dory and why is Dory me? Was it that locket you had earlier?"
"Hank, calm down," said Destiny, "and yes, it was that locket. It switched Bailey and I, too."
"What?! Who have I been talking to?" Hank said.
"Destiny is me, and now I'm her," said Bailey, "these two sharks back here became each other, too."
"Really? You turned each other too?" said Dory, "Do you like being Bailey, Destiny?"
"Well, I'd probably enjoy it more if I hadn't almost just drowned a few minutes ago," she responded, "the echolocation is fun, but I think I like having gills better than I like having lungs."
"Can we stop talking and figure out how to get us all back to normal?" Hank interrupted.
"Well, first we need to find these sharks' leader," said Bailey, "he has the locket that did this to us all, and we need to get it back from him before anyone else switches bodies with someone and throws the reef into utter chaos!"
"Well, I haven't seen any other sharks today besides you, Destiny," said Dory.
"I'm over here, Dory," said Destiny-as-Bailey.
"Oh yeah," said Dory, "Wow, this is really confusing."
"Hence why we got to find this guy!" said Bailey, "Imagine never knowing who you were talking to!"
"Bailey, calm down," said Destiny, "hey, maybe I can find him with your echolocation, Bailey. That way we'll know where he is so we aren't just wandering aimlessly!"
Before Bailey could suggest anything else, Destiny put her flippers against her melon and began "ooohhh"ing.
"Destiny, we aren't that far from Marlin and Nemo's anemone," Hank pointed out, "why don't we just go there and-"
"Oh no, he's already there!" Destiny interrupted, "I can see Bruce swimming up to their anemone even as we speak!"
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get over there and stop him!" said Bailey.
With that, they all turned and quickly began swimming for where Marlin and Nemo lived.
Marlin was still weirded out by what happened with Hank and Dory about half-an-hour ago and was in the anemone about to take a nap to get his mind off of it when a shadow suddenly came over the anemone. Looking up, Marlin saw a great white shark above him.
"Um, hello, Bruce," said Marlin, somewhat nervously, "W-what brings you here?"
"Oh nothing, mate," said Bruce in his thick accent, "It's been a while since we've met ya and I wanted ta show ya some of the new ways we've been tryin' to get ourselves off of eatin' our fish friends and perhaps see how they feel when sharks like us chase them."
"Can't it wait?" said Marlin, "it's been kind of a long, confusing day."
"Oy, I have one of the new ways right here, Marlin," said Bruce. He held up the locket.
"Um, what is that?" Marlin asked. This locket was unlike anything he had ever seen on the reef.
"Me mates and I discovered it as we were leaving our meetin' today," said Bruce, "It's funny, when Anchor and Chum touched it at the same time, suddenly they were both sayin' they they had turned into each other."
"They what?" Marlin said. "Not again..."
"They switched bodies, mate, simple as that!" said Bruce, "Once I realized they really did switch bodies, so to speak, I had an epiphiny: With this locket here, me mates and any otha sharks we meet can trade places with one of our fish friends so we can see what it's like to be preyed on by hungry fish ten times our size."
"Umm, good for you," said Marlin, trying to think of an excuse to leave.
"So whaddya say, mate? Want to test this new exercise out?" said Bruce, holding the locket back up.
"No thanks," Marlin said, "even if that thing actually does do what you say it does, I'm not interested."
"Ya sure? You'll get to be me for the time bein'. Don't ya want ta see what it's like bein' a shark?" said Bruce.
"I'm fine with being a clownfish, thanks," said Marlin.
"C'mon, mate, this about sharks giving up their mindless eatin' habits," said Bruce, "Fish are friends, not food."
"Bruce, I sa-"
"Don't do it!"
Marlin and Bruce turned to see Destiny, Bailey, Hank, Dory, and Anchor and Chum quickly swimming up.
"You haven't switched yet, have you?" asked Destiny.
"No, mate," said Bruce, "Mahlin doesn't sound like he wants to, anyway."
"Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" Marlin asked.
"That locket's been switching everyone's bodies around!" said Bailey, "first it switched Destiny and I, then it switched Hank and Dory, and then it switched these two sharks here. If you had touched that locket, you would have become Bruce!"
"Even if that locket really does switch bodies, I was not planning on touching it!" said Marlin, "and how am I supposed to tell any of you apart now? How long do I have to keep calling Hank 'Dory' and Bailey 'Destiny'?"
"Just until tomorrow if we don't swap again, but that's just what we think," said Bailey.
"I don't see what the big deal is, mates," Bruce said, "what's wrong with havin' this locket around if ya eventually switch back?"
"They're scared that somethin' horribly wrong will happen and cause endless switchin' of bodies among everyone here," said Anchor, "somethin' about getting stuck as Dory's mum and forgettin' who we were originally."
"Well, I only planned to use this locket as part of a new exercise at our meetings like I told me mates, there," said Bruce, "what's wrong with that?"
"Well..."
"Oh, I got it!" said Chum, "What if, say, ya switch with a fish who decides that he wants to stay a shark and then eats ya so he'll never switch back? And then he does just what we want ta stop doing?"
"That's ridiculous, mate," said Bruce. However, after thinking over, he realized that they were probably right. Did he really want to run the risk of having the situation Chum described actually happening to he or his friends or something worse? He'd never forgive himself if his idea ultimately cost him one or more of his mates because some fish decided they didn't want to switch back.
"Ok, actually, ya probably are right," said Bruce, "maybe I need ta think this over more. So what do we do with this locket for now?"
"Get it far away from here would be what I suggest," said Bailey.
"Hey, maybe you guys could guard it!" Dory suggested, "I mean, you are the only ones who go to where you have your meetings! Wherever that is..."
"We do have that sunken speedboat near where we've been meeting now, Bruce," said Anchor, "it has all those secret compartments."
"Yes, that could work," said Bruce, "sorry about trying to get ya to switch bodies with me, Mahlin."
"A-apology accepted," said Marlin, still having no clue what was going on.
"Well, let's be gettin' back off to the trench, mates," said Bruce, "if nothing else happens we can hide this locket and plan for next week's meetin', and hopefully Anchor and Chum will be back ta normal soon. See ya bites later!"
"Bye!" said Dory cheerfully as Bruce, Anchor, and Chum swam off to the other side of the reef.
After a moment of silence, Marlin said: "I think I'm going to take a very long nap and wake up hoping that this was all just a weird nightmare. Could one of you pick up Nemo without telling him what happened?"
"Don't worry, Marlin," said Bailey, "Nemo knows that Destiny and I switched bodies. He was the one who found us after we did, in fact."
Suddenly, Bailey's eyes widened.
"Nemo! School! Oh no!" he cried, "We've been tangled up in the mess involving that locket so much that I haven't had time to figure out how I'm supposed to tell the class about belugas if I'm in Destiny's body! Or even how I'll make it interesting! They'll be back any time now! I'm doomed! What do I do!?"
"I think at this point I'm going to have to try and be you for this class, Bailey," said Destiny, "just tell me what to say real quick and I'll try to make it fun."
At that moment, Mr. Ray's familiar singing voice rang out in the distance. Looking up, everyone could see Mr. Ray and the class off in the distance en route back to the assembly area.
"We're out of time!" Bailey cried, "We have to think of something!"
"Okay, kids!" Mr. Ray said as he let the kids off his back upon rearriving at the assembly area, "now that we're back, we'll have Bailey tell us a little bit about himself...at least, once he gets here."
"Maybe he won't show up and we'll get to go home early," said Tad.
"Okay! Here I am!" Destiny said, swimming up and trying to get into character as Bailey as Bailey himself followed behind. The class (sans Nemo) groaned.
Nemo swam up to Bailey.
"Are you both still in each other's bodies?" Nemo whispered.
"Yes, but don't worry, Nemo," said Bailey, "I think we may be able to make this work."
"All right, Bailey," said Mr. Ray to Destiny, "I'll leave it to you."
"Thanks Mr. Ray," said Destiny, turning to the very bored-looking class.
Bailey swallowed nervously. Here went nothing.
The class stayed silent for a bit until Nemo broke the silence.
"So, Bailey," said Nemo, "Where do you come from?"
"An excellent question, Nemo!" said Destiny. She gulped nervously before saying what she said next: "See, beluga whales like me are actually visitors from a galaxy far, far, away, from a planet called...Aguleb!"
There was a moment of silence. Nemo was about to look at Bailey in concern until a kid said: "Get real! You're not from another planet!"
"Of course I-he isn't, Jimmy," said Bailey, swimming up to beside Destiny, "belugas come from far away, but not that far away. Most belugas live way up north in the Arctic Sea, where it's nice and cold."
"Well, aren't you hot down here then?" Pearl asked.
Destiny realized right then that she did feel noticably hotter in the water as Bailey, and at the same time, Bailey just noticed that he felt a lot more comfortable in Destiny's body than he did his own.
"Well...yeah, I do feel kind of hot," said Destiny. "Though that's because I, like other whales, have blubber that keeps us warm in cold places like the Arctic. Kinda makes me think I should slim down some since I'm here, huh?"
The kids chuckled. Bailey just barely caught himself before he could break character and scream "WHAT?!" at Destiny. Destiny looked over at him and, upon seeing the indignancy in his (actually her) eyes, grinned sheepishly.
Bailey couldn't help but grin back and chuckle, too.
Minutes passed, and soon Destiny and Bailey were finished talking and Mr. Ray had come back in front.
"Well, class, what did you think of Bailey and Destiny's little talk?" Mr. Ray asked the class.
The class was silent for a bit until Sheldon spoke up.
"Learning about him was more interesting than I thought it would be," Sheldon said.
The rest of the class shared similar opinions, some said they actually felt like they learned something.
"Oh thank goodness," Bailey thought, "I was scared that they'd all hate me after this!"
"Well, we're out of time for today, kids!" said Mr. Ray, "I hope you all have a great weekend! See you next Monday!"
Mr. Ray went off, singing all the way as the kids said good-bye. Afterwards, as they busied themselves to playing as they waited for their parents, Bailey and Destiny reflected on what had just happened.
"Thanks for helping me out there, Destiny," he said, "I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't agreed to help each other out right then."
"I know," said Destiny, "I was so sure one of us was going to break character and reveal what happened to us to them."
"I nearly did when you said I needed to slim down," Bailey said.
"I could tell," said Destiny, "sorry about that."
"It's fine," Bailey admitted, "I can't believe we even actually talked in front of the entire class like this, and actually pulled it off! I don't think anyone besides Nemo knew that we had actually swapped bodies."
"Yeah," said Destiny, "We do make a good team, huh? Even besides you being the world's best pair of glasses for me, and even now when we've swapped bodies."
"I guess we do," said Bailey, "Once again, I cannot thank you enough for helping me." He held his fin out for a high-five.
Destiny chuckled and returned it.
The instant their fins made contact, they both felt a sudden jolt.
"Ouch!" Destiny said, "What was that?"
"I don't kn-" Bailey started to say, but then he stopped. He saw that Destiny was right in front of himself. Bailey quickly examined himself.
"Destiny! I'm me again!" he cried.
"What?" Destiny said, examining herself as well. She saw her own blue and white spotted body and realized her vision was blurry again.
"Bailey! We're back to normal!" she said.
"We must have hit that certain condition the locket was talking about!" said Bailey, "apparently it was...figuring out how to work around being switched, I guess?"
Destiny shrugged. "I don't know. However we did it, at least now we don't have to wait until tomorrow to get switched back. I never thought I'd be glad to have poor vision again!"
"And now I can use my beautiful gift again!" Bailey said.
Nemo swam up. "Are you guys ok?" he asked.
"I'd say we are!" said Bailey, "we're in our own bodies again!"
"Really? That's great!" said Nemo, "how'd you do it? Did you meet the conditions that the locket mentioned?"
"Yeah," said Destiny, "we'll tell you as we take you home, Marlin asked us to. After we do that, we can tell Dory and Hank how we got back to normal."
"They switched, too?" Nemo said.
"It was an accident..." said Destiny.
They continued chattering as they headed back home.
"You know, it was kind of fun being you," Destiny admitted to Bailey as they headed off to find Dory and Hank after dropping Nemo off, "Your echolocation was fun to use, and it was nice to not have terrible eyesight for once. I mean, aside from almost drowning, anyway."
"Well, if there was anything I liked about being you, then it was not having to worry about going back to the surface for air every once in a while," Bailey said, "regardless, though, I hope that never happens again. I like being me."
"Yeah," Destiny agreed, "I hope the sharks can keep an eye on that locket so this doesn't happen again. Hopefully, things will go back to normal once everyone's back in their own bodies besides us."
If only Destiny knew how wrong she would be...
(THE END)
(So thus officially ends the first installment of this series. What do you think? Be sure to leave a review if you think there's something I could be doing better.)
(Artifact: Whacko's Amazing Body Swapping Locket: A result of a freak accident at a toy factory in a world where toy-making is serious business, the heart-shaped locket was intended to be a toy that recorded messages that played back in different ways depending on the button pressed. However, a prototype had both a damaged sound-chip and an incorrect wire inserted into it, so upon touching the heart shaped pendant itself, the user would be delivered a shock that, while light, was strong enough to switch the consciousness of two people if two people were touching it at the same time. It was code-named the "Amazing Body-Swapping Locket" and locked away until it was given to the guardians of the treasure world. It was kept their solely to keep it from falling into clumsy hands and causing chaos.)