Day 9 part 6

Its getting dark... night is here again.

“HEY! WAKE UP!” [Squid]

“Hmm? I'm awake...” [Whale] “Um... why am I still alive? I remember the shark... is it gone?”

“LOOK OUT HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!” I yell, moving a big piggy head there using cryokinesis on the thin layer of ice around it.

“Waaah! Please don't eat me!” [Bawling Whale]

“Uh... is he...?” [Whale]

“He went to the big sty in the sky...” [Squid] “After I drowned, stabbed, speared and cut him in half. Who the heck did he used to be, Rasputin?”

“So... is the truce on or off now? I for one have had far too much excitement... and I need to breathe in a few minutes...” [Whale]

“It depends... Do you still need to kill me?” [Squid]

“No... I guess not.” [Whale]

“Then consider it a temporary peace. We can discuss it if we meet again...” [Squid] “Still hungry?”

“Famished.” [Whale]

“You can have Sharky's tail, I'm not big enough to eat the front end alone, never mind the whole thing.” [Squid]

“Thanks!” [Cheerful Whale]

“So... do you remember why you were trying to kill me?” [Squid]

“Uh... I was hungry?” [Whale]

“Why were you so hungry?” [Squid]

“Um... for some reason these weird fish ordered me about... and I let them...” [Whale]

“You were being controlled by Sirens. I had just beaten them up and taken the one nice Siren back... when they called you.” [Squid] “It must have been awful... they very nearly got me too.”

“I won't say I wouldn't have tried to eat you even if I were myself... but I am sorry about it. I can at least mention it to my pod and extended family. I think they'll at least be nicer about eating you. Also I for one will never eat squid again.” [Whale]

“So... how do you feel about revenge?” [Squid]

“I'm not averse to the idea.” [Whale]

Yumi was to my surprise surrounded by several sirens, some armed with crude weapons, others ordering about slaves. They were keeping their distance, mostly because the water between them was filled with comatose and dead fish and sirens. Several dozen.

They were singing at her too.

Spermy swam down, to float overhead.

“You're back you stupid brute?! Took you long enough! Get us out of here!” [Black-haired Siren trapped in cage]

A pulse of concentrated, precision sonar shattered my prison.

“Now I want you to...” [Hateful Black-haired Siren]

“No.” [Whale]

“What was that? I'm ordering you to...” [Surprised Black-haired Siren]

“I refuse.” [Whale]

“Wha...” [Shocked Black-haired Siren]

“Furthermore, I have taken severe offense at your reprehensible behavior...” [Whale]

I emerge from hiding behind her bulk.

“What my polite, well mannered friend here means to say is: shut your noise hole Bitch, I'm about to pound you into hamburger.” [Squid]

“Quite.” [Whale]

“By that she means: yes. For the ignorant assholes listening in... yes, I'm talking to the rest of you Sirens, you just became collateral damage.” [Squid]

“Hey!” [Yumi]

“Yumi excluded of course.” [Squid]

“Okay then!” [Yumi]

“If you wish to surrender, please move into the danger zone! I mean... the area around Yumi where my trusty little friends will keep you safe and still, for as long as you do not try to flee. They may use their full arsenal if they wish to stop those who flee or attack.” [Squid]

“Be forewarned: I am not in a patient mood and will not be offering kindnesses...” [Whale]

“She said: No mercy bitches!” [Squid]

“Also may I preface this by saying... I'm going to crush and kill you for the rest of my life. Which will certainly be longer than your own.” [Furious Whale]

“That, ladies, speaks for itself...” [Squid] “Questions? Rebuttals? Petty taunts, like for example: how you're all about to become whale chow?”

“...” [Sirens]

“By the way, Francis. How many of them made jokes about the name of your species that you only now realize...?” [Squid]

“Far too many to live.” [Berserker Whale]

“For those of you about to receive... may you get mercy in the next world, because you'll get none in this one...” [Squid]

Well we got a good catch. They surrendered. Completely. All except the Black-haired bitch. Francis was mostly bluffing... except for that one particular siren... the one that caught her and twisted her mind... the one she very carefully swallowed.

“Leaving her in there like Gepetto?” [Squid]

“No, no. I have three stomachs. She entered the first... the one that crushes, I'll make sure she survives that. After that comes digestion...” [Whale]

“I'm suddenly hearing my worst nightmares... please stop.” [Squid]

“Whatever else I can say about the shark, he had exquisite taste. Siren tastes delightful.” [Whale]

“Aren't you ladies glad you surrendered?” I mock. “Francis seems to like free-range siren.”

Ahh. The look of terror in their eyes... delightful.

“Anyhow we have two choices concerning your future... We either hold an execution or we carefully mind control and enslave you to our will...” [Squid]

The Sirens are sobbing and hugging each other...

“I'm joking... about the enslavement.” [Squid] “You'll be changed only to lose your extremely annoying cruelty and aggression. You may do as you like then. Be thankful to Yumi, because I am volunteering her for this... also if I were some of you, I'd be worried what else she might do in revenge while fixing your attitudes...”

Yumi is smirking at that. She may not be cruel but she still has some issues to discuss with the torturer siren, for example...

“Hey Ninjas! How are you holding up?” [Squid]

“Well, Ensuikage-sama! We're almost out of paralyzing darts but our regular venom is back to normal.” [Snail lead]

“How do you feel about staying near Yumi for a while?” [Squid]

“We are in the debt of gracious Yumi-dono. Please allow us to discontinue our assigned tasks to fully serve her needs for the foreseeable future.” [Snail lead]

“What did you do, Yumi?” [Squid]

“Nothing, nothing. Just a little wager...” [Yumi]

“What did you win?” [Squid]

“Their shells...” [Yumi]

“This isn't looney tunes. They can't drop 'em and become slugs... outside of evolution, I suppose. You have a mortgage on their lives. You practically own them body and soul.” [Squid]

“Our service is the sole thing that holds our souls. Do not consider us ignorant of our duties. A bargain, a wager and an oath are all the same.” [Snail lead]

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“See, look at what you did to these poor, simple molluscs. Taking advantage of their gullibility and seriousness...” [Squid]

“I bet on their game of hide and seek. They even tried to rig it with these little fake snails that pop like bubbles...” [Yumi]

“...” [Squid] “Uh... I see... well then... carry on.”

“I think I'll hang around to keep these sirens in line until we can get them incarcerated.” [Whale]

“Okay, have the snails lead Yumi back to my home, I'll have a proper cage set up there. As for the shark, I'll pick it up and leave your share out-side protected by my ice. Take it when you want to.” [Squid]

“What will you do after that?” [Whale]

“Sleep. I don't heal as fast as you, so I need to recover. Besides I haven't had a decent bit of rest in days, the sirens saw to that...” [Squid]

“See you soon. Get well!” [Whale]

“As for you... keep out of reach of mind control next time, alright? I had a devil of a time trying to stop you.” [Squid]

“... and thanks...” She added softly. Did a whale just blush?!

I am out of here before I become part of the weirdest sexual perversion this ocean has ever seen... we already have a siren willingly covered in snails, isn't that enough...?

Hey stop it! You're actually watching me leave and waving as I disappear into the horizon?! Even your ideas of romance are fancy and out of date... what is this Casablanca? I may be a Squid with no name, I am not the main character out of 'A Fistful of Dollars'.

Arriving back at my home turf I greet the chained Yumi look-alike Siren. I can see the differences are much more pronounced. The eyes are the wrong shade, the hair is slightly curly, the nose is sharper and she has crow's feet.

As I construct a large cell, with bars, a door and a lock that can only be closed, not opened I talk at her.

“You know, you are lucky. The other was a traitor, you at least have integrity... in your malice and lies. A contradiction in terms, I know, but I respect that. You have a duty.” [Squid]

“...” [Siren mind-bender]

“That is why I'm letting you live. Your new duty is a simple one; once you are changed into a 'harmless' siren by Yumi you will have to change how you sirens do things. The Black-headed bitch is currently stewing in her whale's gut. Yumi could care less about leadership. Your strength of character is needed.” [Squid]

“She was my sister.” [Fake Yumi]

“The other fake? I suspected as much afterward.” [Squid]

“I would have killed her for telling you...” [Fake Yumi]

“I know, you're just too loyal to an ideal that is corrupt. That is partly why I killed her, because you would have done so anyway if I left you alone together. I also did so because I sincerely hate both of you, with every fiber of my mantle. This is my only warning. If you speak to me, look at me, even so much as try to talk to me ever again I will pull you to pieces. I will reduce you to silt on the water. Did you think that tearing people's minds apart was a game? I'm only doing it because it is in my eyes worse than death.” I hissed. “I'm just not as ruthless about it as a siren. You'll still be you... it just won't be an angry, petty you. Which may be a worse punishment, in the days after as you come to terms with knowing you would have killed your own sister like vermin.”

I finished. Not bad. Like a canary cage, if the birds could swim.

I leave the silent siren where she is, to be freed and transferred by the whale to the cage. I place the shark tail inside a bubble of permafrost near the cage and siren.

I meet the one-eyed masked snail leading a small army at the cave mouth as I brought home my share of the titan.

“Where is your retinue, Ensuikage?” [One-eyed Masked snail]

“They have been transferred to protect Yumi, the siren I call friend. They are heading toward the chained siren near the giant ice cage I just made for the captive sirens. Please have a relief force waiting with a supply of paralysis darts enough for thirty or so. They will be imprisoned there. Inform those on guard duty to watch them carefully for voice jutsu and kill if they use it against any of us. Yumi however is a special case; she will be allowed as she is to rehabilitate the sirens with her voice jutsu. Also as a reward for your faithful service I will leave the remains of this titan for you snails as food, as soon as I have my trophy.” [Squid]

“Yes, Ensuikage-sama!” [Impressed One-eyed Masked snail]

Now he's doing it too...

“Oh and the whale with them is an ally, treat her with formal courtesy and give her my regards and thanks.” [Squid]

“Sir!” [All cone-shells]

I don't need much... reaching into the open chest cavity of Sharky I wrap my right arm around his heart and rip it free. It is still over fifteen pounds of meat... I devour it ravenously. I also take some dorsal fin for nibbling on later...

I return to my den, adding sound-proofed buffered layers of ice, permafrost, water and air to block any further mental attacks from rogue sirens.

A dozen messages flash before my eyes but I'm too tired to care.

Sharky, rest in pieces.

I pity poor ghost Barry, if he ever meets ghost Sharky.

What we learned this episode:

If Squid hates you... run!

Yumi is now running a prison work/release program...

How could that go wrong...

Squid just performed a Legendary Feat!

Evolution inbound...

What we missed...

The twins groping each other to compare breast sizes...

(yes, I am doing this just to torment you... this is for all the fans who are distressed about missing the Purely Gratuitous Bathing Scene! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will never win! The only way you could possibly read these events is by writing it yourself! None of you can stop me! Next time Squid will miss: Buying Skimpy Bathing-suit, Brief Yuri Moment Between Sisters and Walking Into Room While Girls Are Changing... HAHAHAHA!!!! I shall trample on your generic dreams, one by one!)

We also missed:

The little girl Squid saved, selling the buried weapons and becoming the richest person in the village.

Francis and Yumi bonding over Squid: the early days...

Black-haired Bitch melting in stomach acid.

“I'm mellltttiiiinnnnggg, oh what a world!”

I'm kidding about the ero... it was only meant as a tease. By which I mean next chapter possible ero... but most definitely not generic... p.s. GT still sucks.