Seas of Magma

Terrorising Seaworld

It didn't take long before an inquisitive child showed, hands pressed up against the glass as he squealed in excitement, watching the water Pokémon swim by. Maxie watched from the other side, waiting for his chance. When the boy's attention was elsewhere, the merman swam up quickly to the glass, pressing his hands against it and pulling a scary face, making growling noises and baring his teeth. The boy looked back and shrieked, running back towards his mother and crying. Maxie laughed and swam back to where Archie was waiting nearby, chuckling.

"That felt so good!" Maxie looked back, noticing that several other patrons were in a slight panic, but as he watched, he could see an adult and around twenty-five or so children closely following. A school trip, perhaps? He flashed a grin at the sailor. "I'm going to do it again." Before Archie had a chance to say anything, the merman had already swum back to his hiding place, waiting for the chidren to come closer. Eventually two girls wandered up to the tank, calling their friends over to watch a shoal of Luvdisc swim by. Once the shoal passed, Maxiie repeated his previous actions, swimming up and pulling a scary face. The girls screeched and the other children scrambled back, almost tripping over each other.

Maxie and Archie couldn't help but laugh at the ensuing chaos as children and adults alike scrambled around, trying not to fall over each other, but it seemed that they were failing horribly. The staff were wondering what was going on but when looking into the tanks, they couldn't see anything. The merman had found a secluded alcove to hide in until everything had settled down.

It took about half an hour for things to return to a somewhat normal state. Maxie swam up to the part where Archie was waiting and grinned. "Surely I can get a bigger scare than that."

"Heh, ya probably could." The sailor was somewhat apprehensive but he did like to see Maxie happy. Although he was concerned that the Seaworld staff may be getting suspicious, he was enjoying the shake-up as much as Maxie was. "Go fer it, 'ey? Third time's a charm, right?" Nodding in response, the merman went back to his hiding place and waited for someone to come by.

It was then that an old woman came up to the tank and watched as a Relicanth swam past, seemingly fascinated. Her husband wasn't too far behind.  Then Maxie swam out, scaring the old woman, who seemed to fall faint as he did so. There was a chuckle from Maxie and Archie before they stopped, noticing that the woman had dropped like a rock. Her husband was checking her pulse, but there was a gasping sob from him. He glared at the tank.

Maxie had swum back to where Archie was, shaking his head. "I think this has gone wrong... I think I've just literally frightened someone to death." The sailor gritted his teeth just as an alarm went off. "We have to get out of here."

"I gotta get the tank filled up. I'll do that then come right back fer ya." Archie then ran outside and grabbed buckets of water, trying to fill up the tank quickly.

Meanwhile, the Seaworld staff were busy evacuating the scene as an ambulance pulled up outside, paramedics rushing inside to check on the old woman who had seemingly fainted, but there were no signs of life. Maxie had indeed literally frightened her to death. The merman suddenly felt rather guilty. He'd only intended for a bit of fun, not to kill an innocent person, and despite his normally devious and twisted nature, this did get to him. He tried to stay out of sight while waiting for Archie.

The sailor had finished filling the tank after half an hour and was about to head inside to tell Maxie that he would be ready to go, but he stopped when he heard an announcement over the speakers.

"Dangerous creature spotted in the tanks. Assemble the harpoon teams." Harpoon teams? This was bad news. Archie had to get to Maxie before they did!