I hope you like this 'un, ForeverYoung. I've been going nuts writing this. BTW, I may not update as much as I wish. I have a science fair project due the second week of December and my experiment keeps on wanting to go south...
Well, anyhoo, enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Prologue
15 years ago…
Don Lino looked out towards where his two pups were playing and exploring next to the sunken ocean liner that was their home. Seeing that everything seemed safe out, he could trust that his sons could play safely. He turned to swim back inside. "I've got a meeting, boys. You watch out for your brother, Frankie." he called out to his oldest. "Don't you two go far from home, and I mean it."
"We're won't, Pop." Frankie called back tersely. "We're fine!" He looked up and saw his little brother, Lenny, starting to curiously swim out a ways, having not heard Lino. Frankie hurried up and grabbed his tail. "That counts you in too, you know."
"Hey!" Lenny looked back.
Lino swam back into the liner and into his office. His right-hand guy, Luca, was sitting on the nearby couch.
"Hey, boss," Luca said, "those two from the Northside are here to see ya."
"Send 'em in." Lino said, taking a seat behind his desk.
Luca swam out of the room. After a minute, two great whites slowly swam into the room. One was a sturdy-looking male, and the other was a smaller but lovely female.
The male nodded to Lino in respect and spoke. "Hello, Don Lino, sir. Thank you for letting us come in."
"What can I do for ya?" Lino asked.
"My name is Benjamin." the male said. He motioned towards the female. "This is my wife Karen. We came because we would like to find a place to live here on the Southside."
Lino looked at him. "You are aware of the feud between the two regions…"
Karen nodded. "Yes, we understand that your people and our people have had a history of strong rivalry. But you see, sir…we have nowhere else to go. We have two children, and everywhere we have gone, one thing or another doesn't work out."
"We've found a place not incredibly far from here in a wrecked house boat." Benjamin said. "And we hope we can settle down there."
Three mob members watched the meeting from the next room where the rest of the mob sharks were swimming around and talking. One was a killer whale, one was a leopard shark, and the other was a hammerhead.
"I don't trust those two…" the hammerhead muttered. "…They're from the other side of the Wastelands."
"I'll bet ya anything they're sent spies." said the killer whale. "They're only gonna run off after a month or so and blab to their leader."
"What are you two griping about?" the tiger shark snapped. "If I know the boss, there's no way he's gonna let those two stay here. So quit whining! He's got it all under his fin; you just watch."
"Wish I had your optimism…" the hammerhead grumbled.
Meanwhile, Lenny and Frankie swam back inside the liner. Lenny was holding his nose as if he had hit it. "You are such an idiot…" Frankie mumbled under his breath.
"The cruise boat came out of nowhere!" Lenny retorted.
"I told ya to watch where you're goin', but you were too preoccupied with that speck in the water that ya hit your stupid nose on the house!"
The two pups swam into the office. "I think I'd know all of that, thanks." Lenny griped. "It was my nose!"
"Boys," Lino looked over and held up a fin, signaling them to be quiet.
Benjamin smiled. "Don Lino, sir…this is perfect. Our two pups are just the age as your sons. They'd make great playmates for each other, wouldn't you think?"
With a small glare, Lino shook his head. "I'll let your family stay on the Southside, Benjamin, but on one condition. I'll request that you don't concern yourselves with my sons in any way."
Benjamin nodded. "Sorry, sir." he said. "And thank you very much." Benjamin and Karen bowed their heads, then they turned and swam out together.
"Who were they, Pop?" Lenny asked.
"Don't mind them." Lino said simply. "They're gonna be living over in this area."
"What?" Frankie asked skeptically. "But they're from the Northside! They're our enemies, aren't they?"
Lino began to swim out towards the main room. "They're a family just like us that need a place to settle in. Just as long as they mind their own business."
As Benjamin and Karen were swimming through the main room to head out, they passed by the trio that had been talking about them earlier. They made eye contact for a minute, and then Benjamin and Karen swam out.
The two great whites swam right outside the liner, where their two shark pups waited for them. Their oldest was their son Ben, who was named after his father. Their youngest was their daughter, Melody, who was rather shy and didn't say a lot. She had one physical feature that separated her from all the other shark pups - a set of grey marks right above her eyes.
"So what happened, Dad?" little Ben asked, swimming up to Benjamin.
"Well," Benjamin said. "Don Lino was kind enough to let us settle down in that old house boat, but…he seems a little suspicious."
"Benjamin," Karen said, "you know that his family and ours are decedents of sharks that warred against each other… I-I think he has a right to be suspicious." She glanced back. "And I have to admit…I'm not exactly at home around here myself."
Finally, Melody spoke up. "What about all the other pups? Won't there be some new ones to play with?"
Benjamin and Karen looked at each other. "Well…" Benjamin started. "…Melody, honey…I-I don't think there will be new playmates for you around here…"
Karen approached her daughter. "But don't worry. You have your brother to play with!"
"But…" Melody started, but then she stopped. Sure, she enjoyed playing with her brother, but he was her…well…brother. She didn't have any friends of her own to play with.
Benjamin shrugged. "But why the long faces? At least the Don's letting us stay, and at least we're all here together, right?"
"That's right," Karen smiled. "C'mon, let's go to the house." She took little Ben by the fin.
Melody took her dad's fin and they followed Ben and Karen off towards the house boat.
Back inside the liner, Lino swam out into the room where the rest of the sharks were. The trio that had been eavesdropping on the meeting saw him come in. "Hey, boss!" the leopard shark called. The three of them swam up to him. "Bet you shoved those little spies out so hard they don't know what hit 'im, huh?"
Lino stared at him. "What's it to ya?"
The leopard shark shrugged. "Oh, c'mon, boss. I've known ya long enough to know you'd never let those spies settle around here."
"Not long enough, apparently."
"…Huh?"
"I let 'em stay."
"…Huh?"
"Why'd ya do that??" the killer whale asked in disbelief.
Lino loosened his shoulders. "Look, I know they're our forefathers' enemies, but they're just a two parents that want to raise their kids and have a healthy and happy family."
"They're spies!" the leopard shark exclaimed. "Anybody can see through that 'common' act!"
"Don't be ridiculous; they just want a place to stay." He glanced back at Lenny and Frankie, who were over hanging out with some of the other boy pups. "I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't able to raise my sons the best I could." Lino looked back at the trio. "They stay, they live… Good night."
The trio stared after them as he swam off.
"I can't believe it!" the hammerhead exclaimed. "How could he let those little guppies live here?? Why don't he listen??"
"Yeah, that ain't the boss I know…" the killer whale said.
"All right…" The leopard shark punched one fin into the other. "It's time we took this into our own fins…"
"What are we gonna do?" the hammerhead asked.
"We's gonna pay those outsiders a lit'l visit. If Don Lino's not gonna keep get spies out, we are!!"
The killer whale looked at him for a second. "…Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting? Cause if you're suggesting what I suggest you're suggesting, then you's suggesting the right thing!" He paused. "…I suggest."
"Just c'mon!" The leopard shark snapped. The trio swam out of the liner and towards the house boat…
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