Hooks

Chapter 19: Return to Coral City

The swim back home was dreadful. I couldn't stop thinking about my friends. I thought about Gummy and even though his crying was really annoying, I also somehow missed it. I thought about how Gummy had whipped his tail and fought off all of those barracudas. I thought back to when I had met Kambara and how I thought that he was going to eat me. Even though a lot of his words made absolutely no sense I still somehow missed him dearly. He saved my life. He risked his own life for mine. I had made these amazing friends that I will never forget and now they are gone. I had defeated the hooks and Kambara defeated the robots. Coral City was almost safe...but not quite. I still hadn't seen the mayor since the lab incident and he could be anywhere.

I passed the Coral City sign and noticed that it had changed. Now it said "Welcome to Coral City. Never leave again! Ever!"
I wasn't sure if this was directed towards me or if at this point the mayor had control of all the fish. As I swam through my beloved town, I noticed that so much had changed since I had been there last. The water was murky and green. The fish swam slowly and most of them were frowning.  Most of the signs that warned fish about hooks had blown off the buildings and the city was littered with trash. Kids were no longer happy and playing. Most of them stayed indoors because the mayor and schools had scared them so much that they didn't even want to go outside anymore. I headed for my house and swam up to the front door. I went to turn the doorknob and then I stopped. I realized that I was at the wrong place. Yes, my family is important but by seeing them now, I would only worry them more and I could possibly put them in even more danger. I turned around and headed for the middle of Coral City.

There it was. I reached the large white picket fence. I pushed the gate open and it slowly swung open as it made the usual loud, creaking noise. I walked up to the front door and turned the doorknob of the mayor's house once again. I opened the door and the house was flooded with the night creatures of the sea. I swam through and past jellyfish, electric eels, lantern fish, and many more as I looked everywhere trying to find the mayor. That's when it hit me. The basement. I swam past all the creatures as I weaved my way to the where the basement door once was. It was no longer there because the mayor had broken it when trying to escape the creatures that had chased him. I swam down the stairs and to my surprise the lab was trashed as I remembered it. Glass shards, lab equipment, and debris still floated around through the water.

"Mayor!" I yelled.
"I know you're in here!"

Silence. I waited patiently for something to happen. Suddenly, the back wall of the laboratory broke open and something came crashing into the side of the house. Standing in front of me, I saw a giant robotic crab with long threatening claws and a height of at least 4 feet. I looked up at the robot crab's head and to my horror, there was a fish inside it that was operating the heavy, dangerous machine.

"Looking for someone Mark?" yelled the psychotic mayor as he let out a big, menacing laugh.