The water shimmered with colors in the Sparkle Blue. Takiza, the master of Shar-kata, swam silently through the waters. Pretty recently, Takiza had noticed certain sharks missing from the Sparkle Blue. “Don’t worry,” Kaleth had said. “I’m sure that the First Assembly of Fathomir can come together and stop them,” he said. But Takiza knew something that Kaleth didn’t. He knew exactly which sharks had disappeared.

The first shark that had vanished was a tiger named Thrash. Takiza had first met Thrash when Thrash tried to eat a family of turtles. Thrash had met his end when Finnivus and the Black Wave invaded the North Atlantis.

The second was Streak, a blue shark. Takiza had never actually met Streak, but from what he heard, Streak ruthlessly attacked a small shiver called “Jetty Shiver” alongside Thrash. Like Thrash, she was devoured by Finnivus.

Another shark was Kilo, the bull shark that destroyed the Coral Shiver homewaters. Kilo had a scar like a clamshell on his eye. Like the other two, Kilo was killed after the Black Wave took over Riptide.

To his knowledge, only one shiver could stand a chance against the evilest fins and flippers of the Sparkle Blue. He could only hope he could get back to the Big Blue in time.

The little betta was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the giant frilled shark hovering in front of him. The frill wasn't looking at him. Takiza looked up and recognized him immediately. Hokuu. The worst of the worst. The one who almost destroyed the entire Big Blue because his kind wasn't respected enough. Takiza looked at where the giant frill was looking. There was a large great white, not the size of prehistores, but still large, talking to Hokuu. The great white was Goblin, the former leader of Riptide Shiver, renamed to Goblin Shiver. Hokuu generated Shar-kata energy and sent Goblin through a glowing blue portal. Hokuu then turned around. The moment he saw Takiza, an evil grin appeared on his face.

“Well, well, well, Taki,” Hokuu greeted, “Look who made it to the Sparkle Blue. After the fight you put up, I didn’t think you’d end up here so soon. Although, you were pretty injured.”

“Hokuu,” Takiza said with disdain, “You slimy piece of lumpfish dung. You call yourself a frilled shark, but you look like a snake had a child with their own poop.”

“Your ego’s the size of a whale but you’d be hard pressed to find a whale your size,” Hokuu retorted. Takiza grunted and attempted to swim past Hokuu, but the thirty foot long frilled shark blocked his path with his spiny tail.

“Let me through,” the betta commanded. Hokuu laughed, tail slicing through the water like a madman with a knife.

“What, you think you can stop the sharks I let out? You have no idea just how many escaped, do you?”

“Everyone,” Takiza said monotonically.

“Well, you won’t get by me without a fight!” Hokuu challenged.

“Do you have the memory of a goldfish?” Takiza insulted the giant frill.

“Well at least you no longer have a life force to draw upon! We’re on even ground here!” Hokuu charged, trying to swallow Takiza whole. The betta formed a shield around himself, causing Hokuu to ram into a wall of pure energy.

Takiza swam circles around the giant frilled shark, increasing in speed each time. A whirlpool formed, sucking water into it, growing in size. Hokuu fought the current. Even when his tail was caught, the thirty foot long frilled shark refused to give up. His stubbornness was more impressive than Goblin’s. Hokuu broke out of the whirlpool. As Hokuu was about to eat Takiza whole, a golden colored great white and an oceanic whitetip rammed the frilled shark from both sides.

“Go, Shiro!” shouted the Golden King Lochlan, “We can hold him off!”

Takiza nodded, and fluttered his tiny fins. He burst off, leaving only bubbles.

“I’ll kill you!” Hokuu shouted after Takiza. “I’ll kill Gray! I’ll kill everyone! There will be no one left, Nulo! I WILL-” before Hokuu could finish the sentence, Kendra shoved a giant wad of greenie into Hokuu’s mouth.

“Shut up,” Kendra said.

Takiza accelerated faster and faster, feeling the grasp of death loosening by the second. Determination filled his heart. As he was on his way, he saw his life flash before his eyes. His mother, when he met Hokuu, himself and Hokuu fighting alongside the united oceans against Silander, their first meeting with Fifth Shiver, the closing of the Underwaters, meeting Gray, defeating Goblin at the Tuna Run, the Battle of Riptide, Hokuu releasing the Underwaters, and his doubly fatal duel with Hokuu.

The betta reached a speed faster than any quickfin could hope to accomplish, and broke the barrier between life and death.

Takiza emerged in a lush cave filled with dwellers, coral, and greenie of all kinds. Some kind of structure hung from the cave ceiling, giving off light. A lower drove of an unidentified fish swam past. It was more beautiful than Riptide homewaters.

A yellow creature somewhat resembling a seahorse, but with two fins in the front as well as two on its back, and a tail with colors like no other swam behind Takiza. The betta felt the current shift slightly.

“Hi!” the creature said enthusiastically. The strange seahorse took a closer look at Takiza. “What kind of fish are you? It looks like you’re a peafowl but underwater. Also, could I get your name?”

The betta sighed. “My name is Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom. I am a master of Shar-kata. And I am a siamese fighting fish.” Takiza fluttered his frilly fins. “And I need to know where in the Big Blue I am.”

The creature seemed a little shocked. “No creature has called the oceans the Big Blue in a long time. The last time anyone did that was the Storm King’s invasion!” The creature swam behind Takiza again. “Your fins are so delicate! How do you keep them from ripping in the current?”

“At least I know where I am now,” he muttered.

“You do!?” the creature exclaimed excitedly. “You need to meet my mom!” The seapony dragged Takiza along. Takiza easily broke free with his five hundred years of experience.

“You talk as fast as a mako can swim yet you cannot go any faster than a pregnant sea cow. I will see myself to the queen, Princess Skystar.”

“You know who I am?” asked Skystar.

"It's better you don't ask questions. Otherwise it would just bring up plot holes." Takiza and Skystar soon entered the underwater palace. and swam to the throne room. Spires of rock grew upward to form pillars. Queen Novo sat atop the throne, reading a newspaper, which somehow wasn't soggy, even though it was underwater. The headline read "Where have the royalty gone?". The author was apparently named Golden Quill. The newspaper was called "Equestria Daily".

“Princess Skystar, haven’t I told you not to bring strangers into the throne?” Novo said, not even looking up from her news.

“Queen Novo,” Takiza greeted. “It is a pleasure to be here.” Queen Novo recognized the voice and dropped the newspaper, revealing a pencil (again, somehow not soggy or waterlogged) and the puzzle page.

“The pleasure is all mine, Takiza,” Queen Novo responded. “The legendary fighting fish who can defeat any enemy without laying a fin on them, he who can travel the entire ocean in the blink of an eye, and the one who killed Hokuu all by himself. You’ve got quite the reputation.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait wait wait,” Princess Skystar interrupted, “Mom, you know about him?”

“I suppose I can’t keep all these secrets forever, can I?”

“You can,” Takiza bluntly said. "I kept almost all my secrets for five hundred years."

"You know what? You're right! Thank you Takiza. I will keep this secret!"

The guard returned with a wahoo. “The quickfin, your majesty. Although I don’t know why you don’t just use dragon fire messages. It’s way faster. Instantaneous, even.”

“I'm not sending a message to Equestria. Anyway, you are dismissed.” The guard swam out of the room. On his way out, he bumped into a potted plant which literally everyone present swore wasn't there a second ago. The wahoo looked at Takiza, then Skystar, then back to Novo.

“Which of you three would like to send a message?” the wahoo enthusiastically asked. He would have been bouncing if not for his lack of legs.

“Me,” Takiza responded. “Code word, clamshell." Code words were reserved only for messages to royal shivers, or to Fathomir itself. "Some sharks have left the Sparkle Blue and are most likely planning some trouble for the Big Blue.”

“And who is this message for?” the wahoo inquired.

“The leader of the First Assembly of Fathomir, a dogfish named Barkley, and a megalodon named Gray. Tell them it’s from Seaquestria, specifically from Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Bom.” The wahoo nodded, and sped off to Fathomir.

"Now if you will excuse me, I will prepare for a journey to Coral Shiver.

Goblin's Story

Goblin swam through the Sparkle Blue. There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind. He would kill Rogue Shiver.

His line had already gone before him. Now it was his turn.

Hokuu floated in front of his exit. All he would need to do was convince the frill.

“Excuse me,” Goblin said, making himself known, “I am Goblin. I would like to go through the portal.

“Go on through,” Hokuu said emotionlessly. Hokuu moved to the side, allowing for Goblin to return to the realm of the living.

When Goblin entered the portal, his life flashed before his eyes. He saw when his mother died, his first fight with Razor, meeting Gray, fighting Rogue Shiver at the Tuna Run, and when he was killed by Velenka. He saw himself on the Seazarein’s throne. He saw Razor dead in his jaws. All his hopes and dreams were laid out for him to see.

When he finally was spit out, he almost didn’t recognize where he was. The only thing he even recognized was a giant crab skeleton. He was at Slaggernack’s. The normally lively place was a ghost town. Maybe some of the rocks were stonefish. You could never know in a place like Slaggernack’s. Slaggernack's was a dwelling place of several poisonous and venomous dwellers, as well as the headquarters of the Urchin King of the North Atlantis, who even Goblin feared. Fortunately, there were no urchins around, which meant the place was his.

He hoped something was still around here. There couldn't be no one. Maybe one of the caves had two creatures conversing. Maybe they were making a deal. Maybe shiver leaders were here at the very moment, discussing how to destroy another shiver. Admittedly, the last one was something he would do. Goblin swam towards the nearest cave. He heard two sharks talking to each other.

"I'm just saying, because Gafin migrated to the North Sific for the time being, it means we don't have anything to do," one of them said.

"I don't care!" the other one replied. "We're staying here! He will return!" Goblin bumped a rock, which activated the alert system.

Two sharks, a hammerhead and a mako, came out of the cave. “Some sharks have gone to destroy a shiver,” the hammerhead explained. “One of them called himself Kilo.” Just by his voice, Goblin could tell he was incompetent. No matter, he needed the numbers, since Kilo, Thrash, and Streak had gone off to who knows where.

“You’re hired,” Goblin told them. “Welcome to the line.”

“Yay! I’m finally part of a shive-” the hammerhead attempted to exclaim.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” the mako interrupted.

"I want you two to go to a certain place. Somewhere where I think my enemies would be. I want you to go west, to the sea where everything began."

Author's Note

I used Takiza's full name wherever possible to pad the word count without actually spending creativity points! Yay me!