Shattered Soul

Chapter 15- The Truth

I was getting tired, yet I was determined to keep up with my brother. Lenny had left behind the rest of his disguise, something I was thankful for. Pop was chasing after Oscar, and they were heading directly towards the Whale Wash. Sonia clung to my dorsal fin, doing her best not to let go. Lenny and I could not speak, since Sykes was there too, and he was the only one here that didn't have the Vision. He would think we went nuts.

"Hey, do you think Oscar will escape your father?" I heard Sonia speak

"Are you kidding me? Nothing can escape Pop!" I replied, panting heavily.

Pop and Oscar were way ahead of us; on the distance, I could see the whales swimming away from the wash in terror, I realized Oscar and Pop were already in the Wash. Lenny and I sped up, and got to the Wash in time to see Oscar dart towards the control both.

"Come on, Lino!" he shouted, "it's time to clean up your act!"

Pop charged after him, in anger.

"Pop, leave him alone!" Lenny raced towards Pop, but he was grabbed by a giant clamp mechanism. I recognized those clamps; they were for whales which accidentally got soap in the eye.

I stopped abruptly, and swam down to my brother.

"Len, are you alright?" I asked him

He couldn't answer my question, as a cloud of bubbles engulfed us both. Well, actually, they engulfed Lenny, since the bubbles didn't even touch me. I noticed Angie had been trapped in a soap bubble. When the bubbles cleared away, I looked up at Oscar. He blinked as soon as he saw my brother.

"Lenny? What are you doing in there?" he spoke in shock

"Sorry…" Lenny looked down, apologizing.

"Where's Lino?"

Pop rose up behind him, a grin on his face. It sent shivers down my spine; my father can be scary sometimes.

Oscar's eyes widened and he gulped in fear.

"He's right behind me, isn't he?"

"You're mine now," Pop growled

Oscar darted off, yelling.

"I'm SO going to get him when I come back from the dead," I muttered under my breath

"Come on, he's in hot water already!" Sonia replied

Pop snapped at Oscar and darted into the control boot, knocking it aside. Oscar turned around the corner; I noticed Lenny started to struggle even harder, trying in vain to get free. Then I saw Oscar dart back with a determined grin on his face, two brushes closing in. I realized he had a plan B in mind. Pop was chasing after him, this time on his tail. The brushed closed in, pinning my father where he was. He struggled violently, attempting to get free. Oscar tumbled forward and made it to the control booth; he started to pull levers frantically, brushes closed in everywhere on my father, almost completely immobilizing him. In one final attempt, Pop snarled fiercely and whipped his head up, at which Oscar pulled one more lever and two more brushes shot out, this time completely trapping Pop. There was no way he could escape now… I couldn't believe it. Pop had been defeated by a puny, little fish.

"OW!" I snapped in pain, and looked up at Sonia in annoyance, "what did I do now?"

"I'm a fish too, just for you to know," she replied, in annoyance

"Okay, sorry for offending you,"

"Hey, where's Angie?"

Both Sonia and I looked up, and saw Angie was still trapped in the bubble.

"Okay!" she exclaimed, annoyed, "someone needs to get me out of the bubble, okay?"

Oscar reached up and popped the bubble, Angie fell on his fins with a surprised yelp; they started at each other.

"Angie-" Oscar started, but was cut off when a lady news reporter stuck her microphone on his face, pushing Angie away from him.

"The Sharkslayer has done it again!" she spoke

"Hey!" Angie complained

"Wait!" Oscar yelled, "Wait!"

Angie was pushed back by the crowd that was starting to gather around.

"But wait! No!" Oscar called out for Angie, but was lifted up by the crowd. He was flattered by all the attention, but immediately got back to his senses, "whoa, hey, no, no! Angie!"

Angie had started to swim away angrily, thinking he preferred his fame than her.

"Angie!" Oscar kept calling, but she couldn't hear him.

"Oscar!" my brother yelled, "get me out of here quick! I need to get a head start so I can get as far away from here as possible!"

"Look what you did to him!" Pop growled at Oscar

"No!" Oscar added, "It's all a big misunderstanding!"

"He looks angry…" Sonia commented

For about the eighth time, I wished they could see me. I looked over at Oscar bitterly, I couldn't help but blame him for all that had happened; well, I could not blame him for the anchor that killed me, but I COULD blame him for everything else. Finally, he swam up and did what I expected the least…

"I'M NOT A REAL SHARKSLAYEEEER!" he yelled directly.

Everyone gasped in shock, and there was silence. Angie turned to see him as well, surprised. All eyes were on the fake Sharkslayer.

"… I lied," Oscar looked down, ashamed

Finally!

"What?" Pop didn't remove his eyes from him

"And I'm not a real financial advisor!" I looked over at where that shout came from, and I spotted a strange-looking crab. And I thought Luca was dimwitted…

"…okay…" Oscar then cleared his throat and looked at Pop, "it was an anchor that killed Frankie. I had nothing to do with it, and neither did Lenny,"

Pop turned to look at Lenny in confusion, "well, then if that was true, why did you run away?"

Lenny looked at him, close to tears.

"Because you always wanted me to be like Frankie," then he looked away, "I'll never be the shark you want me to be…"

"What is your problem?" Oscar spoke, "so your son likes kelp, so his best friend is a fish, so he likes to dress like a dolphin, so WHAT? Everyone loves him just the way he is,"

At this point, Oscar had swum down to Lenny and gave him a playful noogie on the head. Then he looked up at Pop

"… Why can't you?"

Pop stared sorrowfully into Lenny's eyes; he looked regretful and pained. I felt sadness emanating from him…

"Don't make the same mistake I did," Oscar finished, "I didn't know what I had… until I lost it,"

Lenny and Pop looked at each other. After some time, Lenny gave him a small smile, I had not seen it since Lenny was nine years old…

"Would you get me out of this…" Pop finally spoke, "so I can hug my kid and tell him I'm sorry?"

Lenny smiled, "Pop…"

Oscar smiled as well and pressed the release button. All the clamps let both my father and brother go; Pop smiled at my brother.

"Come here, you," he joked

Lenny swam closer to him and they hugged each other tightly.

"I love you, son," Pop spoke, "no matter what you eat or how you dress,"

I felt warmness in my chest; I was relieved that after all, Pop had understood that he couldn't force Lenny to be something he didn't like. I couldn't contain a small smile myself, but I was quite worried… how would Pop react after I went back to life? I looked over at Oscar and Angie, they were in the middle of a big kiss. When they broke away, the smiled at each other. Then Oscar swam up to Pop, looking nervous.

"So, Lino… Don…" he started, still not sure of how to say Pop's name, "we're cool, right? I mean, like, the reef is safe. We can all walk the streets without, you know, 'Aaahhh! Yeah, you know…"

"Yeah," Pop smiled, "we're cool,"

The crowd of fish around us cheered, and the lady reporter from before swam closer to Oscar.

"Oscar? Excuse me, Oscar? You've lost everything you lied so hard to achieve. Tell me, what's next for you?"

I felt tapping on my head, I looked up and saw Sonia was floating.

"Hey, the potion should be ready… let's go…" she said, solemnly

I nodded, understanding, and we swam towards the storage room. When we entered, I saw my body was still there, wrapped in bandages… I heard the door open, and turned to see Angie in the doorway.

"How did you come here without anyone noticing?" I inquired

"I told Oscar I had forgotten something here," Angie explained, "I'll get the bottle,"

She swam towards one of the shelves, and grabbed a small bottle with a purplish blue liquid.

"Hey, Franklin," Sonia spoke, "just for you to know, it tastes like whale pee,"

I sighed, and realized something that was bothering me, much to my surprise.

"Hey, Sonia," I spoke, "when I go back to life, I won't be able to see or hear you anymore, will I?"

For some reason, it bothered me. I think I had gotten used to hearing her out of the blue from all this time; it would be bored without her.

"You really think so?" Sonia blushed,

And what I would miss the most was Sonia reading my mind.

"Unfortunately, you're right. You won't be able to see me or hear me," she answered my question, sorrowfully.

"I shall enjoy the silence," I joked lightly

Angie swam towards my body, awaiting instructions from Sonia.

"Just pour it into his mouth, and it will do the trick," Sonia explained to Angie before turning to face me, "see you on the other side, Frankie,"

I felt tears forming in my eyes, but I didn't want my last moments with Sonia to be sad. As Angie was pouring the potion in my body's mouth, Sonia did what I never expected from a fish…

She kissed me.

I opened my eyes wide in shock, but before I could say something I felt something pulling me towards my body.

"Sonia! Wait a minute!" I cried out, but she had already disappeared. Everything around me became darkness…

And I opened my eyes…

XOXOXOXOXO

Well, this was the last chapter. But I'm thinking on writing a sequel called "Shattered Heart", which takes place a year after Shattered Soul. Well, see you later!