Chapter 4

Mira thought she was going to die when something knocked her off the surfboard. Since she had not brought her goggles, the ocean was blurry and the salinity of the water stung her eyes. It was until she was gently nudged back onto the board, she caught a glimpse of what hit her:

Mr. Shark.

She lets out a small gasped, her heart was racing. What was he doing here? Despite watching him and his gang on the news, a part of her still felt wary of him. From her major and minor studies, she recalled how punching and kicking a shark was the only way to escape from an attack.

But Mr. Shark was no ordinary shark.

"Gah, I'm so sorry!" Mr. Shark flashed her a nervous grin, hiding himself inside the water except his head. "I guessed the shark part of me kinda...what am I saying! I'm sorry that I scared you by tipping you overboard."

Mira raised her hand, a sign she used to assure anyone that she was okay. Seeing him up close was something. The last time she had met him, both him and that piranha guy were with the gang as they were accompanying her sister. Dancing Fish was a restaurant she would never forget where each member of the Bad Guys were trying Malay-Indo dishes for the first time. Despite not saying a word, her gestures were enough to show them how to eat, while Rani does the talking.

Mr. Shark laughed nervously. "So uh...am I bothering you? I know some people want to focus on their swimming but..."

Mira placed a hand on his beefy shoulder. It felt like sandpaper, a texture that most sharks have. She lowered her gaze, feeling guilty for kicking him in the face. She felt a gentle hand over hers. "Hey, don't worry about it. If I were you, I'd kick whoever was trying to drag me down into the ocean. Also, I kiiiinda knocked you over because my shark instincts thought that you were a seal. Shadows and all!"

The young woman let out a short breath that was supposed to be a laugh. Ever since she came back home, she felt alone even among her family. Meeting up with Rani in secret with her father gave her a sense of relief. All of her friends have gone back to their own hometowns, making their meet-ups to be put on hold.

But with Mr. Shark, he would be the first friend she had made.

"Rani told me that you're studying fish in college, right?" the great white asked. Mira answered him with a nod. Not only was the course something that she was capable of, it gave her an excuse to be away from her family.

Don't get it wrong, she LOVED her family but sometimes her mother can be too much.

"Say, I don't wanna ruin the mood but I gotta go," Mr. Shark gesture to the shore. "My team's probably wondering where I am. But I was wondering..."

'Yes?' Mira thought to herself, levelling with the great white shark.

"Will you be here tomorrow? I mean, anytime is fine but maybe you could demonstrate your skills? Who knows, maybe you'll beat me."

If she wasn't so restraint, she could scream until a tsunami was formed. Instead, she shyly nodded, watching his face lit with up glee. His smile was something she would treasure from this meeting. What was fascinating was how much his dorsal fin was tingling. "Cool! So see ya around?"

Mira waved him goodbye, watching him swim to the shores. Most of the people were not afraid of him, much to her surprise. Then again, this city was special with the whole meteorite and criminals.

Feeling as though her face and body were burning, Mira began to dipped herself into the ocean to cool off.

...

Mr. Piranha couldn't help but mix his tomato juice with vodka, Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire. What happened at the karaoke bar was something he wouldn't forget. The sounds of cries, the raid that happened afterwards and what happened to those girls.

The whole ordeal made him angry. Does he care about a lot of people? Yes. Would he start fights with people over the slightest thing? Yes. Does he have a short temper? Yes. Has he done shit? Yes. Would he attempt murder? Absolutely not! It wouldn't even cross his mind to intentionally do that if it meant everyone would be afraid of him.

Everywhere he went, people would come up to him to ask for his autograph. Apparently, everyone loved his voice. He felt proud of that but after that incident at the karaoke bar, he might put singing on hold.

"Hey, Piranha!" Mr. Wolf called out from the sofa. "Do you wanna watch this show? I think it's your kind of show." The Piranha snapped his face back to his grinning self. It's bad that he was still disturbed but he doesn't want to ruin Mr. Wolf's excited mood.

"Sure, Chico. Is Shark back yet?"

Speak of the devil, he shall appear. Mr. Shark stepped out of their elevator, his clothes were stuck to his body. Mr. Piranha knew he went swimming after the heist. Nowadays, the gang would do their own thing before they rendezvous back to their hideout.

"What's up, everybody," Mr. Shark flashed a smile. He couldn't help but noticed a bounce in the great white shark's step. "Don't tell me that Snake has left while I was away?"

Mr. Wolf laughed, jerking his thumb to the door where it used to be Mr. Snake's room. Ever since his marriage to Rani, that room was transformed into an extra space for weapons in case they might need to be armed. Then again, a bed was left there if Mr. Snake needed to sleep after a long day.

"Heh, who saw that coming? I did I did!" Mr. Piranha raised his hand as he laughed. Just then, Mr. Snake slithered out of the room with Ms. Tarantula. Was it just his imagination or were the both of them shinier than usual?

"Did you two have a spa day?"

"Nah, more like a shed day," said Ms. Tarantula. "Been wanting Snake to help me since we're the only two in our gang that sheds. Maybe Wolfie but then again, he's got good ol' Diane~"

Mr. Piranha let out hysterical laughs when Mr. Wolf started blushing, his tail wagging rapidly. No matter how much they have changed from bad to good, they will still banter and tussle each other. Mr. Snake then flickered his forked tongue out.

"Shark, have you been seeing someone while we split up," he asked, pointing to the small bruise on the great white's snout. "Better not be those dolphins again..."

"Oh, not dolphins! Well...I..." Mr. Shark trailed off, his face flushed. This made Mr. Piranha curious, climbing onto his back. "Spit it out, amigo! Who did you see?"

"Rani's sister, Mira."

Don't worry, Mira will get a scene interacting with Mr. Piranha. Well, they'll do most of the talking since Mira's not much of a talker

By the way, some shark attacks were caused by sharks confusing surfers for seals just by their outlines at the water's surface. Humans have killed more sharks than they do to us