“Teslon, please state your reasons for declaring war.” The jellyfish king of the North Sific floated in front of both Barkley and Gray. Barkley was a tiny dogfish and one of the stealthiest sharks in the Big Blue. Gray was a megalodon and the former Seazarein. Even though Gray was a megalodon, Teslon was still significantly larger than him. Gray was still young, after all. He only had one more year to grow though. His friends Striiker the great white and Snork the sawfish hovered off to the side.

“Everyone else got a reward for helping in the battle against Grimkahn, and we the jellyfish got nothing,” Teslon explained. “If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have survived that battle!”

“Calm down,” Barkley said, trying to diffuse the situation. “Now, you did kind of save us in the battle, but it was really-”

“He’s right,” Gray interrupted. “If it weren’t for the jellyfish, Icingholme and Hideg Shivers, and Yappy’s giant sea dragon cousins, we definitely would have died. In that order.”

“See?” Teslon floated over to Gray. “Your fat friend agrees with me!”

“Hey!” Gray objected, “My mother always said I was just big cartilaged!”

“Your mother was too soft!” Teslon shouted back.

“Where have I heard that before?” wondered Barkley. Maybe it was one of their previous antagonists. Before any questions could be answered, a wahoo burst into the room.

“Sorry about the bubbles, I took a shortcut above the Panama Canal. And yes, I do mean above.” The wahoo swam a few circles around the cave and stopped in front of Gray and Barkley. “My name’s Dart and I got a message for you two, and I think it’s pretty important.” Code word, clamshell.” Judijoan the oarfish swam out from behind the greenie curtains covering openings in the walls.

“The shiver which that code word belongs to hasn’t been seen in nearly fifteen years,” Judijoan said. “How are they?” Teslon slowly floated towards the exist.

“Okay, well Queen Novo is perfectly fine, and so is her young daughter, Princess Skystar. The queen’s niece has left for the land, and the royal family of Aris is spending time between the Harmonizing Heights and Seaquestria again thanks to the defeat of the Storm King by Princess Twilight Amore Velvet Sparkle and Tempest Shadow. Wait, I’m getting distracted. Anyway it’s from a betta named Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom.”

Gray instantly shot forward. “Takiza’s alive?” he asked Dart. Striiker and Snork made their way to the conversation.

“Why yes he is,” Dart replied. “Takiza’s message is as follows: ‘Some sharks have left the Sparkle Blue and are most likely planning some trouble for the Big Blue’. His words, not mine. I would have outdone him with so much eloquence I could take over the Big Blue!.”

“Can you take a return message?” asked Gray.

“Sure!” Dart said enthusiastically. “What’s your message?” Gray quickly thought of what to say to his former teacher.

“Alright,” Gray started, “Shiro, I don’t know how you’re alive, or where in the Big Blue you are, but you know where to find me. I'll be in Coral Shiver. I’ll try to regather the mariners of Riptide United. We’ll face this new threat together.”

“And we’ll try to recruit the ones who didn't join us against Finnivus or Grimkahn,” Barkley added.

“Which would only be the urchin kings of the South Atlantis, North and South Sific, and Indi oceans, and a very small number of shivers.” said Striiker, uninvited. Gray thought of Gafin, the urchin king of the North Atlantis, whose second in command, Trank the stonefish, had sent support against Grimkahn and the Jurassic Horde.

“And we’ll bring the full might of the Bladefish,” Snork added.

“That’s all I have time for. It’s back to Seaquestria for me.” Dart burst off faster than any other fish save for maybe perhaps possibly Eugene Speedmeister could swim.

“Maybe you two don’t interrupt our conversations next time?” Barkley said to Striiker and Snork. Striiker shook his head. Snork nodded, and left. For only a moment, the remains of Gray's old rivalry with Striiker flared up again. But only for a moment.

Dart zoomed through the water, occasionally leaping out into the air. He didn’t care about landshark boats catching him, he was too fast for that. One had tried. What was his name? Michael? Never mind. The super speedy wahoo expertly navigated a greenie field without moving a single piece of greenie, something only a highly trained Ghostfin could do.

He circled around and headed back in the direction of Fathomir. Dart swam past Fathomir, and into a cave. A large scarred hammerhead greeted him inside.

“Hello and welcome to the Stingeroo Supper Club,” said the hammerhead, “My name is Ripper, and I’m only here because apparently most of Trank’s other employees are busy with what’s happening over at Slaggernacks’.”

“Well, I kinda need to talk to Trank,” Dart said.

“I’ll check if he’s available. Don't go anywhere.” Ripper swam into a cave with greenie covering the entrance.

A few moments later, Ripper came back out, followed by a stonefish.

“Whadda you want?” asked Trank.

“I need you to find a fish for me,” Dart told Trank. “He’s a pufferfish by the name of Quill.” Trank signaled to a purple lionfish. The lionfish whispered into the ear of a flying fish, and the flying fish left.

“If youse ain’t gonna order anything, you'd better leave,” Trank said to Dart. Dart nodded.

“I’ll take a herring if you have any.” A few fish scrambled to gather things for the fish. After a few moments, a tiger pufferfish brought out a red colored herring topped with an equally red sauce. Dart gobbled it up in a few bites. The flavor was mostly spicy, and the seasoning perfectly complemented the flavor of the actual fish. “I’ll pay you back later.” Dart quickly left.

Dart arrived in Queen Novo’s court. “What do you mean they’re just gone!?” she demanded. The queen of the hippogriffs appeared to be yelling at a pink and blue seapony. “Schools don’t disappear overnight, Silverstream! You’re going right back there, and no more excuses!”

“But-but I found Sandbar and he acted like he didn’t even know me!” Silverstream countered. “It’s like it’s a completely new world out there!”

“I’ll see for myself,” Queen Novo replied. Dart quickly left the chamber, not wanting anything to do with whatever drama had happened inside, and quickly found himself face to face with Takiza.

“I delivered your message,” he told the betta. “I think they’re ready for whoever will come out.”

“If Hokuu was working alone, he already would have left.” Takiza said. “There must be something more. Not just the weakest enemies Graynoldus Rex has faced.”

“Do you think it’s possible that-” Dart began.

“Do not even mention her,” Takiza interrupted.

“Well at least it’s only sharks.”

“We do not know that yet.”

“I seriously doubt that whoever’s masterminding this would completely ignore Grimkahn. I mean, Grimkahn's like the biggest baddest enemy the Big Blue's ever faced since Sil-”

"I SAID DON'T SAY HER NAME!"

"Oh yeah, and Gray told me that you can find him at Coral Shiver." Dart shoved those words into the conversation like an author trying to force a bit of vital information naturally into a conversation.

The giant crab shell stood alone in the formerly busy restaurant known as Slaggernack's, which was named after the crab. Suddenly, one of its claws twitched. Three stonefish popped up from the seafloor, then a dozen lionfish surrounded it. Two bull sharks hovered to each side, ready to charge. A dolphin slowly circled around the crab. The guards were there because this wasn’t the first time the deceased crab had moved.

The crab suddenly regained flesh. One of its claws struck out, instantly killing a bull. The lionfish and the stonefish swam up close to release their venom. The shell rendered the attacks useless, and in one swing, most fish in the area were dead. The dolphin sent out a series of clicks and whistles, a call for help.

The crab grabbed a lionfish with its claw and dragged it along the seabed. The lionfish violently smashed into a rock, which shattered both the rock and the lionfish’s bones. The three remaining lionfish swam out in panic.

The last stonefish settled on the seabed again. The bull shark rammed the crab from the top several times. The giant crab reached up with one claw and dragged the shark downward. The bull futilely thrashed around in the claw, slowly losing energy. The claw snapped shut, slicing the bull in half.

Five tiger sharks and two dolphins swam in through the entrance. The tigers took position above the crab, while the dolphins swam behind. The other dolphin joined his brethren. Whatever it takes, each of them thought.

The stonefish struck a joint in one of the crab’s legs. The crab raised its leg up, and easily crushed the stonefish. Another slash of its claws, and three tigers and one dolphin swam the Sparkle Blue.

One tiger shark signaled to the other to swim away. The other tiger led the two remaining dolphins out of the cave. The last tiger prepared to do whatever was necessary to save Slaggernacks and his friends. He gave a battle cry, and charged.

Author's Note

First time imma do a character profile

Dart is the fastest wahoo to ever wahoo. He has won every race he’s ever been in, including the one against Wisko, unofficial queen of the wahoo. Dart loves being a quickfin, and he will never quit, even when his life is threatened (no, this is not foreshadowing).

They're gonna be in the author's note of every chapter where a somewhat important original character is introduced, because for non-original characters, you could just google it.