Chapter Two:

Fishing at Sea with Sharks and Giant Tails

November 1st, 20XX, 3:26 P.M. Mushroom Bay, outside Fuji City

Water rippled in a mix of blue and white as the fishing boat rolled through the ocean, its engine blades whirring. Seagulls flew high above, chirping in a unified chorus, and a warm breeze swept across the sea and the boat. On the back deck of the vessel, a Koopa sat in his lawn chair, gently grasping the handle of his fishing rod with the line in the water.

The Koopa's name was Dante and he was one of the handful of peaceful Koopas who didn't work for Bowser's army. He often went out fishing and was happy to do it any time, especially on a gorgeous day like this.

From the deck of the ship, he could see the outline of Fuji City, one of the only Japanese-inspired metropolis areas in the Mushroom Kingdom itself. It may not have been majestic as Tokyo or remarkable as Mushroom City, but the place was an amazing sight; the architects of the city had captured the look of the Japanese cities that inspired it quite well.

"Ah, what a great day to go fishing." Dante said, breaking his long silence, he'd been cruising around for half-an-hour and had started fishing only a few minutes ago.

Dante hoped he would be able to reel in a fish that looked good enough to eat for dinner tonight, the optimistic Koopa had brought along a slab of meat as fishing bait, which had to be just enough to do the trick. The fish were biting today, some people said it was a fish-biting frenzy, and the Koopa was going to take advantage of that.

However, a few feet below, a small pod of fish swam by and wove their way around the line dangling in front of them. They were in a big hurry and didn't have time to get curious, not when the ocean's biggest predators were out to eat all the fish in their vicinity.

The pod swam as fast as they could, heading for the rocks to hide, deep within the nearest coral reef. Very soon, one of the many predators of the ocean made its appearance; a great white shark. Fish everywhere feared these types of sharks, the great whites were ferocious with sharp teeth, capable of biting into anything in their line of sight.

'No fish gets away from me.' The shark thought confidently.

Despite possessing low intelligence, sea animals could have thoughts like humans did, even though their capacity to express emotion was limited. The shark's only expression was a ferocious one. It swam in the direction its fishy prey had gone in, nostrils moving wildly, and that was when it set sight on the meat hanging from the hook of the fishing line nearby.

And the shark was interested enough to forget the fish for now. The sharp-toothed sea predator swam towards the line and opened its sharp maw, it swam closer and closer towards the very, very tasty meat with all eyes set upon its target.

On the boat above, Dante felt the rod jerk in his hand and his eyes widened with excitement, he'd just gotten a bite! However, just before he could spin the handle, the fishing rod was ripped out of the Koopa's hands and fell into the sea. A second later, water splashed the deck of the boat as a great white shark leaped out of the water in Dante's direction.

Dante ducked in the nick of time, watching as the shark dove back into the sea. He was completely baffled and frustrated, in the case of his frustration, he'd spent so much money getting that fishing rod. Then again, he did have plenty of other fishing rods just in case.

The shark and the loss of his fishing rod were the least of the Koopa's concerns. Dozens of feet below, just near the ocean floor, a shadow swept across the side of a rocky cliff in the canyon of the sea bed and fish scurried away with one spotting a large dark-gray bulk with large fins as it passed. The ocean floor rumbled as something hit a mountain, causing a chunk of rock to fall away.

Nearby, a red-colored Cheep-Cheep was waving its fin to a pair of Bloopers, then it was on its way. The Cheep-Cheep felt happy and free, without having to fret about being in Bowser's employ like some of its kind were.

Just then, the Cheep-Cheep heard a growl and looked up, seeing a hideous creature with bumpy skin and bright orange eyes swimming in its direction. The creature opened its mouth lined with sharp teeth and a roar shook the surrounding ocean. The Cheep-Cheep whimpered and tried to move out of the way, only to be knocked off course when the massive creature swam by.

The beast looked up, slowing down its swimming speed, setting its sights on the boat that sat on the water. Its engines weren't even moving, a sign that the boat had powered down, and the gargantuan didn't care if anyone wasn't on board. It swam closer, letting out another growl, and its tail moved around in various directions.

Up above, Dante was getting ready to call it quits with fishing, then he felt a rumble and saw the floorboards of his boat shuddering. He raised an eyebrow, perplexed by what was even happening here.

Just as he was about to head to the steering booth to drive the fishing boat back towards shore, he felt a massive jolt and heard a large splash. In a millisecond, the boat was capsized and Dante was knocked off his feet, thrown into the air. He saw the torrent of water and nearly believed that a massive bomb had detonated under the ocean, but then he saw it with his own eyes.

A massive tail with jagged spikes and bumpy skin arched up over the ocean, its tip swaying above the great blue as it extended to the sky above while water dripped down its scales.

'What the heck is going on here...?' Dante thought, bewildered beyond belief.

The tail sank back into the ocean, but not before a pair of dorsal plates made a brief appearance, then they sank back underwater. However, Dante was barely able to catch all of that as he went soaring across the sky with his fishing boat, heading for parts unknown. And the only hope that Dante had on his mind was that he landed safely, no matter the height he was at.