The deep sea trembles.
Cold currents twist violently as El-Mond
recoils, his massive shark body gliding
backward in pure instinct.
"What… are you!? What do you want!?"
His voice echoes through the abyss
but the thing before him offers no reply.
Then
A surge of blue energy explodes outward.
It seeps into his flesh.
Through bone.
Through blood.
Through instinct.
His entire body ignites with a glowing
azure pulse.
El-Mond's eyes widen.
What was that!?
His thoughts barely form before
something changes.
The ocean speaks to him.
Vibrations sharp, distant cut through the silence.
Fighting.
Three hundred meters away.
El-Mond freezes.
I can hear… that far!?
A slow, stunned breath escapes him.
"Incredible… such keen hearing."
His body reacts before his mind does.
With a single powerful thrust,
he rockets forward
Then halts instantly, water exploding
outward from the sudden stop.
His heart pounds.
"It's not just my hearing…"
He looks down at himself.
Muscle tighter.
Movement cleaner.
Power coiled like a loaded spear.
He swims again.
This time
The ocean blurs.
Sound itself struggles to keep up.
El-Mond's eyes sharpen, vision cutting
through darkness like a blade.
A quarter mile ahead becomes clear.
"This is incredible!"
A low laugh escapes him, equal parts awe and hunger.
"All this… from killing just one shark?"
A dangerous smile curves across his thoughts.
"How strong will I become if I kill more?"
The sound of battle grows violent.
El-Mond slows as he nears, stopping just
outside the chaos.
He watches.
Two Great White Sharks clash against a
towering shadow
An Orca.
Blood clouds the water as the Orca roars.
"You bastards! You think you can fight me just because there are two of you?"
"Don't make me laugh."
With monstrous speed, the Orca vanishes
Reappearing beside one shark.
A thunderous tail slam sends it spiraling away as the Orca's jaws snap down, biting deep into the other.
But
The catapulted shark recovers.
Too fast.
It rams into the Orca, sending the massive predator crashing backward.
The shark speaks.
"Indeed… we would normally be no match for you, Rick."
"But we are not the same as before."
The Orca's confident expression fractures.
Worry flickers.
The bitten shark's wounds knit together
at an unnatural speed.
Both sharks charge.
The Orca swings its tail
but one shark clamps its jaws down mid-motion, biting deep into the Orca's tail.
The second shark darts sideways, spins, and rockets the Orca into a jagged undersea rock.
Stone shatters.
The shark follows up, jaws wide, aiming to tear
but the Orca counters.
It lunges forward and bites into the shark's pectoral fin, slamming it brutally into the rock.
The second shark rushes.
The Orca twists, doves and with its
injured tail, rockets the attacker into its
companion in the rock, which collapses
to the seabed with them.
Rubble explodes outward.
Both sharks emerge.
But
One does not heal.
The shark with the damaged pectoral fin
bleeds freely.
The Orca grins.
Slow.
Predatory.
"What's this…?"
Its voice drops to a whisper.
"Not healing?"
From the darkness, unseen
El-Mond watches.
His eyes narrow.
"…What?.
Not healing…?"
The blue energy within him pulses faintly.
The ocean holds its breath.
To Be Continued…