Note: this is an alternate direction the story could have taken... but was cut for being a little too grim. It is not cannon. The real story continues from where Chapter 16: Tinkertoy leaves off...

Day 9 part 3

I push my jet to the limit in my rage.

“Great Ensuikage?” [Snail lead]

“Sir...” [Snail lead]

“SIR!” [Snail lead]

“You're freezing the region!” [Snail lead]

What? I glance behind me to observe a row of icicles like a miniature mountain range that follows my trail. Above the surface is freezing solid. The sea floor is coated in frost. It is a winter wonderland...

I jet off again, suppressing the rage.

The sea floor drops, we are going deeper.

The pressure increase doesn't cause me any issues; I barely notice. My species is adapted specifically for deep water. The lack of bones makes it easier, in fact.

“We are near.” [Snail lead]

I stop and leave them at an obvious outcropping of rock I'll remember.

“We cannot just sit here!” [Snail lead]

“Yes, Ensuikage-sama!” [All cone-shells]

When did they start respecting me...?

I sweep closer, watching. If Yumi is considered a queen, then there will be a royal guard or even an army... at least a few mind controlled creatures...

As I swim closer, observing the luxurious galleon I can see figures. I count over seven sirens and many more creatures.

“We have a spy...~” A blonde siren says with her fingers, appearing suddenly at my side. She looks very young... “Kill it...~”

I evade to the right as my sixth sense goes crazy. A sharp point pierces the sand where I had floated. A massive fish, over a ton in weight shakes a powerful body and raises a tall fin.

A sailfish! Shit! One of the fastest predators alive and this one is at least a giant variant!

“Hey, stupid...~! You missed completely~.” [Blonde loli siren]

“So he did. I pity you, fish...” [Squid]

Permafrost Spear activated~

Permafrost Spear activated~

With a spear in each arm I stab with all my muscle, tearing through the head of the beast and it's chest. I cannot allow a beast like that free roam of the battlefield, it must hit like a freight train!

The eyes just show rabid hatred. That seems familiar...

I charge her.

Jet Charge activated~

She tries to twist away afraid, but my legs capture her. She squirms but it isn't enough.

I hurl her into the sand and cage her there. She just seems stunned. I want to kill her, but the face is too innocent...

I'm surprised how easy it was to take down a siren. So frail. Is mind bending all they can do?!

The others have noticed the thrashing of the dying giant fish.

A shark charges, smaller than me but bulky.

Like a matador I lead him into my legs, luring him in with a seemingly easy target before grabbing him around the gills. Suddenly stopped and confused by the pressure it twists. I loop my arms around the pectoral fins and bring his tail up to meet his head, tearing the shark's cartilage and spinal cord in the process. I let it drop.

A siren with brown hair points at me and a school of barracuda attack.

I respond with my cold aura at full burst, enhanced with cryokinesis.

The fish stop in surprise and try to retreat but the orders of the siren are absolute. I slow them with a reverse current, pushing against them using hydrokinesis. The water is starting to freeze around me now. I send permafrost icicles at the swarm and cut their numbers by half. The stricken, freezing fish erupt in spikes, killing their brothers.

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I am jolted by a flash and writhe. An electrical attack... electric... eel? No, they're fresh water...

Reflection Field activated~

Buffered I search and spot the living taser. An electric ray. I send a spike of ice up from the ground and only wound it, but that is all I need... thin spikes of permafrost penetrate and spread, destroying it from within.

I strike at the brown haired siren next, ice connecting her to the ground and slowly making the grasp her doom as it encases her entirely.

The ocean is starting to change at the sudden drop in temperatures. My power is becoming more efficient and it is starting to dawn on the attackers they're not in danger just from my direct attacks.

Tropical species are really feeling the cold.

A new siren appears to lead the rabble now. Short red hair and big breasts this time... she looks at the corpse of her sister and starts to use her song at me.

Ahhh...!

It hurts, I can feel it now that I know it is there tearing at me, trying to dominate me and crush my will. To kill the kernel that makes me a person.

I shove the intrusion aside like an annoyance with a burst of rage.

Grim Resolve activated~

Permafrost Evicerate activated~

There is only silence. The enemies just stay there, still.

It failed?

Blades of permafrost pierce them from the inside out, tearing them to ragged chunks, all of them. They died in only a moment!

I did that?! That was... terrible... that is what I am capable of?

I see.

I see clearly now.

This kind of power... this is why they want me.

I jet toward the undefended boat. I don't use doors. I don't knock or play nice.

I create a massive human arm of permafrost and rip the side off of the ship.

Inside are three enemy sirens, a humanoid crab and Yumi.

The crab seems to be a servant.

The hand of ice grasps it and holds it still.

“Damn you! You killed Samara and the others!” [Blonde Beauty siren]

“Stop him, the changes aren't permanent yet!” [Hag siren]

“Mr Squid? Is that you? They said you would be safe. That you would not know...” [Yumi]

“I understand. Then please at least do as I asked you once... if you have to... kill them quickly.” [Yumi]

“Get away from her you monster!” [Long black-haired siren]

The Yamato Nadeshko looking one is trying to reach where Yumi is kept, in a cage of steel.

Can't have that...

A wall of permafrost blocks off the deck.

She nods.

I seal her in a hollow block of permafrost, I baffle the wall with layers of normal ice, air and water so their songs cannot reach the other side, sound proofing the cage.

“Is that what you think, feet for brains?” [Blonde Beauty siren]

She simply whistled.

Sixth sense is going off the charts...

I hear an echoing whistle...

At that moment I saw the creature I had realized long ago as my nemesis.

“SQUIIIIDDD!” The massive sperm whale cried with joy.

Chomp.

Chew, chew.

Swallow.

“Mr Squid!?” [Yumi]

What we learned this episode:

Those controlled can be conditioned to stay that way permanently...

The ninja snails are feeling left out...

“Call me Jonah...” the squid said.

What squid wished he had learned:

Don't raise flags you can't handle in romance and death.

Haste makes waste.

What was cut:

Death of a loli, by a hug.