Shark Wars (10 page)

GOBLIN RIPPED AND TORE AT THE GREENIE
, shredding the strands between his razor-sharp teeth and imagining the dogfish as his victim. But Barkley wouldn't go straight to the Sparkle Blue. Oh, no. Goblin would make sure his last moments alive were painful. Then he would eat every last morsel of the ungrateful little flipper.

“I want to kill them all!” Goblin yelled loudly. Velenka's eyes seemed to grow larger, if that were even possible. She had big eyes for a shark. It was part of her beauty, he supposed. They were well away from anyone who could hear, near a roaring volcanic vent, which added a constant hiss and rumble to the water. If you weren't directly in front of the shark you were talking to, your words were lost in the noise.

“How would that look to Kilo?” she yelled back, although not with anger, but just to be heard over the noise. Velenka knew better. The fish he chewed and spit out did nothing to relieve his temper and neither did the greenie.

“I've wanted to deal with Mari and Striiker since they ran away! And the others were feeding in my territory!
My
territory!” Goblin began taking massive hunks out of a hard coral bed, destroying an entire section. He might lose a few teeth but it made him feel better. “They'll swim free when we leave for Tuna Run! And they deserve to swim the Sparkle Blue!” he yelled.

“What if I could keep them from escaping?” Velenka mused. “Put them somewhere to wait for your justice?”

Goblin stopped. “‘To wait for my justice.' I like the sound of that.” If anyone could, Velenka would find some underhanded way to stop them. This wasn't how he'd normally deal with a problem; it wasn't in his nature to slink around like a mako, the sneakiest of sharks. He confronted problems head-on, with a snap of his powerful jaws. But they couldn't do that right now. Not in his shiver's weakened state. Not with Razor waiting to attack.

“What about Gray?” he asked. “Why are you so interested in keeping him in the shiver? He's just a pup.”

“Exactly,” she answered.

The vague response infuriated Goblin, but he wasn't about to let on he was bothered. Velenka constantly spoke in riddles and double-talk, never getting directly to the point unless forced. “So?”

“Have you been to the prehistore vault lately?” she asked.

“Not since I was a pup myself. Get on with it.”

“You really should visit again,” Velenka continued. “There's a legend among the mako about a shark who will unite the shivers of the Big Blue.”

“Yeah, every sharkkind has a legend where they'll be the ones to end up on top,” Goblin said dismissively. “Bunch of wishy-washy mush.”

“That's mostly true,” she agreed, “but in this case,
you
can be that shark.”

He laughed, his anger momentarily subsiding. “That's crazy talk. After we get Razor's territory, maybe we'll conquer a few more. But the entire Big Blue? Impossible.”

“Not for a great leader such as yourself.” Velenka rubbed against him and whispered in his ear. “That is, a leader who has a megalodon in his Line and obeying his orders.”

He chuckled. “That would be nice, Velenka. Now find me one.”

“I already have,” she said smugly. “His name is Gray.”

Goblin was thinking of tail-slapping that smug smile off her face when he stopped cold. Velenka was right! The sameness of the teeth and the overall shape—how had he not noticed that? Goblin himself was huge for his kind, bigger than all but a few he'd ever met in the Big Blue. But the prehistore skeleton in the vault was gigantic! It could finish
him
in two bites, its mouth was that large. That's what Gray, the big reef shark
really
was—a megalodon! And the pup didn't even know it!

“With him in the Line, you'd be invincible,” the mako whispered in his ear.

With a megalodon in his shiver—maybe as his first—Goblin
would
be unbeatable.

Goblin saw Velenka smile and something struck him as little off. He would have to swim carefully into this particular greenie.

Very carefully.

GRAY LEFT SLAGGERNACKS AS THE SUN ROSE
and shined into the Big Blue. He hadn't meant to be out so late, but patrol was boring with no sign of anything anywhere, and Thrash convinced him to stay. He and the tiger ended up having a great time, but now Gray was exhausted, having gotten no sleep. He and Thrash had spent countless hours flank to flank in the last few weeks. He could tell at first that the tiger wasn't too fond of him, and the feeling was mutual. He had attacked Gray when they'd first met, after all. But keeping up a dislike for one another was a miserable way to spend time. So, grudgingly, they began to talk and Gray grew used to most of Thrash's quirks and now thought the shark was all right. The tiger was kind of a braggart, and there was always some commotion when he was around, but Gray wasn't perfect, either.

“Ocean Spray really brought it tonight, eh?” Thrash said as he nudged Gray. Ocean Spray was a musical group consisting of a baby whale singer, two bottlenose dolphins backing him up, and an entire dance troupe of singing sea horses. They were pretty impressive. “That whale pup would make good eating, huh?”

“Isn't there a treaty with the whales to not do that?” Gray asked. The idea of feeding on the sweet-faced, adorable calf horrified Gray.

“Right, the treaty. How could I forget? I love the treaty!” Thrash said loudly as a group of dolphins passed. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper. “But if you're on deep patrol and find a lost pup? Well, the Big Blue can be a dangerous place.”

Gray was okay with Thrash most of the time, but this was getting to be one of those times he wasn't. He yawned exaggeratedly. “I'm beat. Heading home now.”

“Come on,” Thrash prodded, “we aren't patrolling today. Let's get a bite.”

Gray was hungry. And he didn't like sleeping with an empty stomach, which rumbled just thinking about food, in fact. Since Barkley and the rest of Rogue left Goblin Shiver over a month ago, he had grown longer by another foot at least, as well as gained a good deal of weight. I'm going to be the fattest shark ever, Gray thought. As if on cue, his stomach grumbled so loud even Thrash could hear it.

They went to an area by the North edge of the homewaters. There was a carpet of high greenie nicknamed Hydenseek. You could always find a snack at Hydenseek if you nosed around a little. Today it didn't take long at all, and soon they were both satisfied.

“That was another good idea,” Gray told the tiger as he playfully bumped flanks with him. “You're just full of them today.”

Thrash swished a fin, signaling for quiet. “Look there,” he whispered. They watched as a turtle led her young toward the greenie field.

“Hey, turtles aren't dumb fish. We can't eat them!” Gray said.

Thrash stared at him and snorted. “Says who?”

“You know. Everyone,” Gray replied. “And we just ate, remember?”

“Things that talk get eaten all the time in the Big Blue, you know.” Thrash took a couple of lazy tail strokes in the reptiles' direction. “Let's scare them.”

Gray was uncomfortable. He liked turtles. The ones at the reef had always been polite and even nice to him. “I'm really tired, Thrash.”

“Do what you want,” said the tiger as he swam toward the turtles. “I'm going to have me some fun!”

Gray didn't want to leave Thrash alone with the turtles, although he didn't know what he'd do if the tiger wanted to do more than scare them. He reluctantly followed. The female turtle—the mother, as the hatchlings were undoubtedly hers—had no chance of escaping. She motioned for her young to head into the greenie. Gray could hear her voice pitch into a squeak, crying, “Swim and hide! Swim and hide, children!” But the hatchlings were so scared, they just crowded closer to their mother.

Thrash glided after her slowly, but still much faster than the turtle could manage, and said things like, “I'm in the mood for turtle pups!” and “Here comes a big, bad shaaark!” He lazily slid with the current so he was now facing the turtles and blocking them from the safety of the greenie. He gnashed his teeth together. “Just swim inside! You won't feel a thing!” Thrash laughed; a deep, mocking rumble.

The mother turtle panicked and began screaming, “Heeeelllp! Someone help me!” She was surprisingly loud for such a small dweller. This scared the hatchlings so much that they froze and echoed the mother, screaming the same thing, “Heeeelllp! Someone help me!” in their own tiny voices.

The tiger laughed at the turtle family's distress. He looked over at Gray. “You just going to hover there like a bump on a reef? Get in here and have some fun!”

“I, umm, you seem to have it, umm, covered.”

Thrash shook his head. “You're soft! I always knew you weren't as tough as you acted!”

“I am too! I am!” Gray protested.

The tiger laughed, this time at Gray. “Well, I don't see you doing anything to show it.”

“Please let us go!” shrieked the mother turtle as her scared hatchlings hovered behind her tail.

The wailing of the turtles, the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, the lack of sleep, and above it all, Thrash's laughing, pressed against Gray, somehow inside his head. He needed to make it stop.

“I'll show you who's tough!” Gray streaked forward.

He blazed past Thrash and scooped every turtle hatchling into his mouth. He would have gotten the mother too, but Thrash's bulk blocked him just enough.

“Now that's more like it!” yelled the tiger. “How's the shellback today?”

Gray slung himself down in the greenie. Using the sandy bottom he skidded to a halt, ejecting the hatchlings from his mouth. Luckily, they were so shocked at still being alive they stayed mute. “Shhh, be quiet or I'll eat you for real!” Gray hissed to the little turtles before turning to Thrash. “Yuck, they were awful! All shell, no meat. I'd find a fat fish if I was you.”

“Suppose you're right, but I can't let you be tougher than me, hatchling-eater!” Thrash laughed and then opened his mouth to bite the momma turtle in half with his jagged teeth. She screeched in fear, a cry somehow even higher pitched than before and so piteous it broke Gray's heart. He was about to say something when—

“Tiger, tiger, full of spite. Tiger, tiger, not so bright.”

Thrash whirled and shouted, “Who said that?” Gray also turned toward the voice but saw nothing. Apparently Thrash knew this insult and didn't like it one bit. “Come on out! I'll show you who's not bright!”

Now the voice came again. It spoke with an odd lilt like nothing Gray had heard before. “But I'm right before you, silly tiger!” And it was! There, in front of Thrash's snout, floated one of the oddest fish Gray had ever seen.

It ruffled its frilly fins and announced, “My name is Takiza and I do not suffer fools. So you, sir, would be wise to move along.”

GRAY'S MOUTH HUNG OPEN IN DISBELIEF.
Takiza was real?
Impossible! Gray didn't know what was going to happen next, but he wouldn't have missed this for all the tuna in the Big Blue! Takiza, if this was really Takiza—it couldn't be!—wasn't running from Thrash. Exactly the opposite! He was preening, right in front of the giant tiger shark! Takiza's huge, delicate fins were bright red and white, fluttering like greenie in the tide. How could this fish even swim with fins that looked so fragile—as if they could be ripped from its tiny body by a strong current? They were so frilly!

For some reason Gray remembered one of Miss Lamprey's lessons about the landshark world. There was an animal called a
peacock
that supposedly strutted around in ritual dances, showing off its bright, long feathers. This fish, whatever it was, was definitely the ocean version of that animal.

Thrash took one look and roared with laughter. “Did you hear this flipper? He thinks he's Takiza! Looks like a piece of greenie I got stuck between my teeth!” Gray chuckled at the comment. It was kind of funny.

“You have the manners of a blob fish, and you smell like algae on the seashore!” This caused Thrash to have another fit of laughter. Gray too, truth be told. And the funny, ruffled fish wasn't done. “You will leave this area now. Be on your way, and perhaps I won't give you the beating you so richly deserve!”

Gray was sure the female turtle and her hatchlings were safely hidden in the kelp and wouldn't be found. But there was absolutely nothing he could say to stop Thrash from sending this crazy fish to the Sparkle Blue. That jelly had already drifted away with the current.

“How is it that tigers are always such unthinking brutes?” Takiza asked. “If your elders would spend more time learning how to be vital dwellers of the Big Blue, instead of muscle-headed bullies, the seven seas would be much more harmonious.”

Thrash nodded, as if taking the fish's words seriously, moving closer and closer. “Wow, you're right. I should give that some thought. The next time I'm at a meeting with the elders, I'll be sure and bring that to their—” Quicker than a sea snake, the tiger lunged at Takiza and his teeth smashed together onto the fish. “Ha!” exclaimed Thrash proudly, “how do you like me now,
Takiza
?” The tiger began doing a little shimmy that made Gray chuckle. But then—

“Whether you are dumber or
slower
is a question to baffle the wisest in the Big Blue.” The frilly fish was now hovering over Thrash's head, but directly between his eyes where the tiger couldn't see him.

“Wazzit?! Where is he? Where?”

Gray couldn't help but snort in surprise. “Right over your head!” Thrash moved one way and then the other, but the odd fish moved
perfectly
with him! It was the most amazing display of swimming ever. “Still there,” Gray told the tiger.

“Are you yanking my tail?” asked Thrash.

“I'm not,” Gray told him. “He's right over your head.”

Thrash quickly barrel-rolled, trying to get a look. Still, without seeming to put forth any effort at all, the fish that called himself Takiza stayed between Thrash's eyes, just over his head! Gray's mouth opened in disbelief. It was impossible!

“He can't be still there!” yelled Thrash. “And if you're joking with me, pup—”

Gray could only shake his head and gesture with a fin as Takiza swam slightly away so that he came into Thrash's view, but upside down, so that he was eye to eye with the tiger. Or rather Tazika, being much smaller, stared into one of Thrash's much larger eyes.

“Is it your first day with those clumsy fins?” asked the fish calmly. “I've seen starfish missing legs swim better than you do.” Thrash's mouth opened in shock as Takiza continued, “And to have poor eyesight as well? It seems you have received none of Ramtail's gifts. Are you sure you're a tiger shark at all?”

Then the little fish caught Thrash by the tip of his tail with its frilly fins and somehow swung him in circles! And fast! It was unbelievable! All the tiger could do was let out a high-pitched scream as he was whipped through the water. The little fish then threw Thrash into the distance, several body lengths away. “A wise dweller knows when he's outclassed. I give you the chance to exhibit wisdom and leave this instant.”

Thrash got his fins underneath him. “I don't know what just happened, but you're going to be chowder! You hear me? Chowder!”

Gray was pretty sure that asking Thrash if he needed any help fighting the little fish would get him bitten, so he stayed quiet. The frilly sea peacock didn't, however. “Unfortunately I do,” he answered. “Your voice is like the baying of an injured sea cow and hurts my ears.”

Thrash was so angry he couldn't even respond in words. He trembled with rage and shouted an unintelligible “Gonnakillyerraggh!” before charging. The laughably small fish stayed where it was until the tiger opened his mouth to swallow him whole.

And then…
something
happened.

Gray wasn't really sure what, it happened so fast. He caught just the briefest flash of the colorful fish zipping forward and snapping a ruffled fin into Thrash's flank. The tiger grew quiet, still moving, but not swimming—his enraged features frozen.

Then, he started to sink!

Gray swam over to him, concerned. “Thrash! Thrash?” he yelled. “You okay?” But the tiger didn't answer.

“The oaf will be fine after a few moments,” said the little fish, now hovering in front of Gray's left eye. “I am a practitioner of the noble art of Shar-kata, a peaceful form of self-defense, which does not send anyone to the Sparkle Blue so lightly.” Gray struggled to keep Thrash from sinking, but it wasn't easy to remain underneath him.

“Who are you? Really?” Gray asked, amazed.

“Excellent! You have manners enough to ask for an introduction,” the fish told him. “I am a Siamese fighting fish, or betta.” His frilly fins caught the tide and expanded to their full length. “My given name is Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom.” The fish gave Gray a flowery nod. “You may call me Takiza for short.”

For a minute Gray didn't know what to do. He looked at Thrash, who stirred and mumbled, “Ma, is that you? Don't wanna go to class.” Gray let the tiger settle into the sand and greenie.

“You're actually Takiza? You're real?”

Takiza moved his fins in another flourish. “I am.”

“You know, I should eat you for doing this to my friend,” Gray told the betta.

“You may try. But is he really your friend?”

“What? Of course he's my friend,” Gray sputtered.

“He is an evil shark,” Takiza said matter-of-factly. “Perhaps you should find better friends. Now, may I ask a question of you?”

“I guess so.”

“Do you know yourself?” The little betta cocked his head and waited for an answer.

“I don't understand.”

“Inside you, I see a shark who swims with one fin in the light and the other in darkness. Peace or anger? Only you can decide the current you shall swim, so which will it be?”

Gray couldn't for the life of him figure out what the betta was talking about. “What does that even mean?”

“If you do not know the answer then that
is
the answer for now.” The betta shook his delicate fins and swam off. “Perhaps we shall speak again.” And with that Takiza disappeared into the Big Blue.

Thrash twitched, sending a cloud of sand blooming off the seabed. “Huh? What happened?” He swam up to Gray. “Where is that little piece of krill?”

“Umm, you scared him off,” Gray answered. He was pretty sure the tiger wouldn't want the exact truth. Thrash seemed dazed, as though he didn't remember everything.

“I sure showed him, didn't I?”

Gray nodded. “Yeah, that was…something, all right.”

After Thrash gathered his senses, the two of them swam back to the shiver homewaters. Gray was dead tired when he got to the resting area, but couldn't sleep a wink.

All he could think about was Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom.