Chapter 5: Bayou Brawling
-Golden Shores Hotel-
Will sighed as he and Trip continued to edit and workout the interviews they'd been filming for the past few weeks. Not really having much else to do since Remora had lost track of Sirena after her fight with the Apex Mako blew it into a nearby water hazard.
Needless to say, the man who had been keeping an eye on Sirena since day one, was worried about her.
'I hope she's okay…' He thought as he pieced together another scene.
This scene in question was an interview with another local–amatuer–shark hunter: Candyman Curtis.
"One good shark kill on camera and I'll be back on top!" The recording of the man in question exclaimed, and Will was still exasperated about it. Seriously, he sounded and acted like an attention seeking bastard.
When they finished up, Will decided it would be a good time to head out. Maybe he'll take his private boat and chill out on the water for a while.
"I'm heading out. I'll be back in about an hour." He told his friend as he walked toward the door.
"Alright." Trip nodded as he saved everything they had just finished.
As the man stepped out of their room, he made his way to the docks so he could take their boat to a nearby boat drive up Tiki bar for a drink or two... Or perhaps thirty seven.
(Later)
After having around three drinks (which he slowly downed to avoid getting drunk), Will found his way to his private boat and made his way out to the middle of Golden Shores. There was an oddly satisfying feel about that particular spot of the area, so he decided to drop anchor there.
However, as he stopped in the center of a fairly serene spot–his time alone was quickly and rudely interrupted as a pair of speed boats started circling around him–and the drivers were carrying AK-47s and Tomphson submachine guns.
"Well well well, look what we have here, boys! An idiot who thinks he can drive his boat wherever he wants!" One of them laughed, and judging by their clothes, they were from the Antolini Crime Family.
'Shit…!' Will cursed mentally.
"Wait a minute, Randall, I think I recognize this punk." One of the guys stated.
"Whaddy gettin' at now, Tyson?" the other questioned as the boats stopped at either side of Will's, boxing him in.
"Ain't this the guy from that Maneater show? The best selling 'marine biologist'?" Tyson stated, cluing in will to just who these guys were.
'Great, Randall and Tyson Bryant, Mama Maybelle and Don Ezio Bryant's only sons.' He groaned mentally.
"Oh, now I get it!" Randall blinked before he smirked. "Well, I think we should help ourselves to the money we know he's got." He added, causing Will to tense.
"And maybe teach this shark lover a lesson in not stopping what needs to be done." Tyson nodded as he and his brother held up their guns with their lackies and got ready to fire.
Unknown to them, Sirena was going for a night time swim when she spotted the situation her favorite human was in and felt a jolt of anger go through her mind. No one threatens her favorite human and gets away with it!
With the desire to protect her person in mind, she surged forward toward Tyson's speedboat and flipped it over, breaching the water and going over Will's boat as the man screamed. She crashed into Randall's boat on her way back down, leaving him in the water as well.
'Thanks, Sirena!' Will thought as he quickly reeled in his anchor and sped off, leaving the two men behind without a second thought.
"Wait, stop!" Tyson tried to call out desperately, only for his call to fall on deaf ears. He and Randall were ready to panic as the Maneater herself came in front of them, letting her right eye glare right in their souls, as if delivering a silent message to never target Will again.
Then she swam away, leaving the two mentally scarred men floating in the water.
"Well, I'm out of here." Will said as he drove away to his and Trip's hotel.
(Later)
"So Remora caught Sirena killing Curtis?" Will asked.
"After she destroyed a smuggling boat and snapped at a few of the coast guard." Trip nodded. "We can edit the footage later, for now though, we have a few more interviews to handle with Pete." He added.
"Well after that, I'll be getting a handgun commissioned. Two of Maybelle's sons tried to shake me down a while ago, so I feel the need to get the means to defend myself." The billionaire sighed.
"Right… Might wanna consider doing the same myself." Trip muttered as the two got ready to interview Pete.
(Later)
-Cajun Queen, The Gulf-
Meanwhile aboard the Cajun Queen, Pete leaned against a corner while he and the crew watched as Kyle fumbled with a few boxes.
"That's Kyle, my son. He's just here for the summer, studies 'marine biology'." The man said as the boy slipped and fell, dropping the boxes he had. "Ha Ha! Lookit dat! Ah got one hand, can still tie a hook. He got two, can barely tie his shoes!" The man laughed. "Hehehe, must get that from his mama." He chuckled.
'Well… I may detest his view on sharks, but there's no denying that he's still a father.' Will thought as he watched over the whole thing silently while Pete walked up to a picture of what appeared to be himself as a kid standing next to his father after they caught what looked like a Great White.
"Yeah used to have my daddy year 'round. We spent a lot o' time together." Pete nodded, looking at the picture. "But we wasn't close. He was a shark hunter, that's all he was." He continued. "If anyone's gonna catch the Mega, it'd be him." He added. "Thought it was a government experiment got itself loose! Boy, he wanted that shark–want it bad. Found it once… Didn't catch it, no." He sighed. Will frowned a bit, an idea of what happened coming to mind.
"What happened to your father?" The cameraman asked.
"Hm?" Pete hummed, not catching the question due to getting lost in thought.
"What happened?" The cameraman repeated.
"Look, I ain't got time to answer questions all day. Got work to do." He told the crew before he headed to the helm. This prompted the cameraman to shut his camera down for the time being.
"Pete." Will began, getting the angler's attention as he glanced back at the billionaire. "I still detest how you treat sharks… But I will give you this: You certainly know how to show that you're a good father." He told him.
"Hmph, Ah try to be less hard on Kyle. But Ah can't be soft on him either, don't want him gettin' taken advantage of–From man or beast." Pete shrugged as they continued on.
(Later)
-Cajun Queen, Crawfish Bay-
Later on the Cajun Queen a few hours later, family tensions with the LeBlancs were at an all time high.
"Kyle! Can't you catch no reel?" Pete called to his son as the younger of the two struggled to reel in a Yellow Fin that they were planning on using for food and bait.
"I'm trying! This one's like twenty feet!" Kyle grunted as he tried to reel in the fish.
"Fifteen." The older man corrected.
"Whatever…" The younger biologist grunted as he kept trying to reel in the Yellow Fin.
"Can't do it? I'll come out there and do it. The old man with one hand." Pete jested.
"Well maybe you shouldn't go around mutilating baby sharks…" The redhead muttered.
"What you say?" His father questioned.
"Nothin'!" Kyle called back, not wanting to make him irritated.
"Boy couldn't catch shit in a diaper, and he's tellin' me how to hunt a shark. You believe that?" Pete chuckled.
"You shouldn't be so hard on him." Will stated. "He's not like you, after all." He added.
"Hey, not everybody's meant to be a fisherman." The reeler shrugged. "Ah just, hope this whole university thing works out for him, yeah?" He added, his tone softer this time.
"When he graduates, I could take him as an intern." The marine biologist/author offered. "I could teach him a thing or two." He added.
"Now Ah think that'd make his day." Pete admitted with a chuckle.
(Later)
-Fawtick Bayou, Pete's Sanctuary-
"As night falls, Scaly Pete seems in an uncharacteristically quiet mood," Trip mused as the camera came into focus… And Sirena swam into the area of the swamp they were in, staying out of sight.
"This is a dangerous job, that's not something unknown to me." Pete stated. "You wanna see dangerous? Lookie that there." He continued, pointing to a drydocked boat with a tarp over it. "That's a PT-522. My daddy pulled that outta Guada Canal, Pacific Theatre." He added. "He was Navy, gunner's mate. It went in with sixteen men, returned with three… Man survives all that, just to die out here in the gulf." He sighed.
"What happened to him?" Kyle asked, tossing some leftover chum.
"Boy you don't like me sayin' dis. But my daddy, yo granddaddy, was killed by a Mega shark." Pete responded, getting a raised eyebrow from Will.
"How big was this Mega, exactly, if you recall?" He asked. "What kind of shark was it?" He continued.
"Hm… Ah think it was around… twenty seven meters or sixty feet, looked like a Bull Shark, if Ah'm rememberin' right." Pete hummed as he tried to recall the supposed Mega's appearance. "Either that, or it was a Great White. Memory's a bit fuzzy on it." He added.
"Any distinguishing marks?" The Author asked.
"Yeah. Same scars I gave the pup that took my hand. Only this one was a male, and its scars were on the left side." Pete told him, raising his hook as Kyle stepped in.
"I'm sorry, he's talking about a prehistoric fish that went extinct 2.6 million years ago." The young man said before glancing at Will and remembered what he'd told him before. "But any shark could grow to Mega size if given enough time and food." He added.
"That's what Ah be sayin' ya never know what might be out there." Pete nodded–right as the alarms went off in his sanctuary. "What the-?!" He exclaimed as they took the boat out into the Bayou.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, near the abandoned stunt show, Sirena was circling her newest opponent, Rosie the alligator. Her fins were now covered in what looked to be segmented purple scale armor, along with her overgrown needle-like teeth. She'd clearly improved her shadow armor set.
Rosie looked like just about any alligator, but she was missing her right foreleg and had a worn out red ribbon tied around her.
As the two predators squared off, the Bayou Brawler shot forward first in an attempt to bite Sirena, only for the mutant Bull Shark to dodge the attack.
However, as she dodged, a black cloud of toxins came with her, poisoning Rosie instantly. Darting away, Sirena then began to crackle with electricity as she switched to her bioelectric growths, showing she now had the teeth, fins, and tail of said set as well as a couple other special organs.
Teleporting forward, she bit down on her gator opponent, stunning her and causing the toxins in her to spread faster due to the electricity speeding up her heart rate. And for the finishing touch, she swapped over to her bone set and tore into Rosie with a barrel roll–and tearing her stomach open in one stroke.
Then she ate the gator from the inside out, finding gator meat rather tasty.
Satisfied with her meal, she swam away toward her Bayou grotto to get some rest.
"Now you see?" Pete questioned as the men watched the scene unfold. "These sharks–they evolvin'. Quickly, too." He added.
"But… It shouldn't be possible to evolve that fast." Kyle commented with a frown. "What in the world is goin' on with her?" He wondered. He studied marine biology, that was true, but he read nothing about rapid evolutions like the one he just witnessed.
"I'm just as clueless as you are on that one." Will replied with a frown of his own. He had seen Sirena eating what was in those nutrient caches, but he couldn't find any unopened ones to get a look at what exactly was in them. This had left him with no answers.
With that, Sirena swam away to her next target, seeking more power to add to her arsenal. Her aim was still focused on three things: Kill. Eat. Evolve.
Outside of that… She wondered when she would spend some time with Will again. She loved the pets she got from him before.
Dragon Emperor0: Like we all know, Prequels have to reach the conclusion that results in the status quo of the original story. And I'd say we're doing that rather well so far.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. I mean, we just showed why Will has his gun in Queen of Pirates, for one. I'd say we're good so far. Seriously, even as a shark, Sirena is still smitten with Will, which is going to lead into Queen of Pirates eventually.
Dragon Emperor0: Though her not remembering him will be difficult to reconcile, but I'm sure we'll think of something. Anyway, see you guys next time.
