Chapter 15

IF THE GAME WAS GREAT, THE CAMARADERIE after Tuna Roll was

even better. Everyone gathered in a series of coral formations and caves

called Slaggernacks a short swim off the East side of the homewaters,

which was named after a giant crab who had lived years ago. His massive

exoskeleton stood there on display as if guarding the place. Everyone who

entered slapped a fin on Slaggernack's giant claw for luck before moving

between jagged outcroppings of coral that were covered with glowing

anemones and dwellers of all types. Even though the place was dark—with

just a sliver moon above—and mostly enclosed by rock and greenie, lumos

provided a great deal of their own light to brighten the place. There was

also a small vent that blew warm water upward toward everyone's belly.

Velenka said it was prehistore water from the Dark Blue that was warmed

by volcanoes far below the ocean floor. It felt very pleasant.

Thrash explained that Slaggernacks was a free zone, meaning anyone

could come, even competing shivers like Razor's, and there was absolutely

no fighting allowed. "You mean if Goblin and Razor came in here at the

same time, they wouldn't attack each other?" Gray asked.

"Nope. They wouldn't," the big tiger shark said before gulping down

another seasoned halibut. Apparently you could get fish with mosses,

planketon, krill, and other seasonings—a landshark word—made by the

crab chefs here at Slaggernacks. That was one of the reasons the place was a

gathering spot. Gray nearly threw up when he tried a piece. It was horrible!

Whatever the shellheads put on the fish made him feel like something

exploded inside his mouth. The flavor was everywhere—and strong! Thrash

called it an acquired taste. Maybe it was, if by "acquired" he meant

disgusting. The tiger motioned with a fin toward the urchins lying inside of

Slaggernack's skeletal remains. "Those urchins are part of Gafin's crew. He

owns the place.

"Gafin?"

Thrash shook his head. "I keep forgetting you're from the booniegreenie." The tiger chuckled. "Gafin is the king of the urchins. He does

business with lionfish, stonefish, scorpion fish, and any other poisonous

dweller you've heard about. And a bunch you haven't."

"King of the urchins? Are you yanking my tail, Thrash?"

"No, I'm totally serious," the Tiger told him. "His territory actually

covers most of the North Atlantis, including both Goblin and Razor shiver

homewaters."

"Oh, so that's why Goblin and Razor can't fight here," Gray said,

realizing this.

Thrash nodded. "Exactly. No one wants to be on Gafin's bad side. You

can kill one urchin or stonefish. But sometime, somewhere, you will get

stung." The tiger took a dainty bite from a seasoned fish and caught Gray

chuckling. "You're supposed to savor the flavor, not just gulp it down like

—oh, forget it. Fine dining is wasted on you."

Gray pointed a fin at the urchins clinging in and around Slaggernack's

skeleton. "So, which one is Gafin?"

"I don't know. Go stick your snout in there if you wanna find out."

Thrash called over a few spiny shrimp to drop the last small bit of his meal

in his mouth and ordered another dish—haddock this time. Apparently the

tiger would have to catch many fish, four to one, to pay for this meal. It was

quite a deal for Gafin, king of the urchins. Before the spiny shrimp swam

their way up to his mouth, Thrash told Gray, "By the way that's a joke.

Don't stick your nose in Gafin's business. Ever."

Barkley, Snork, Shell, and Churn returned with fish for the wahoo. The

losing team's three lowest point scorers and the low roller on the winning

team were charged with getting the fish. It was called wahoo work. Gray

had heard this term from sharkkind in Goblin Shiver but never knew what it

meant until now. Wahoo work was any menial, embarrassing job. Ha!

The wahoo divided up the meal and took positions of honor above the

sharks. They then proceeded to critique the two teams' performances in the

Tuna Roll from best to worst. This they called rolling abuse. Not all of it

was abuse.

"Still the baddest fin in Atlantis! Wa-hoo!" was how Wisko led off

Goblin's rave review to the fin-slapping applause of the rest of the wahoo.

Ripper, Velenka, and Streak were also praised. Thrash got angry at his so-so

grading and needed calming by Goblin, who reminded him it was just a

game. Churn received some razzing but took it in stride. The whitetip still

scored more points than any of the Rogue team members besides Gray.

Wisko gave Gray a tail slap to the flank to begin his heckling. "Wide

load here had the best showing by a rookie I've ever seen in my life! Wahoo!"

Gray wasn't sure he liked the "wide load" comment but knew it was

said in a spirit of friendship, though Barkley was laughing a little more than

necessary.

Another wahoo commented, "You've got yourself a keeper there,

Goblin!"

Striiker and Mari were made fun of, but their performances were pretty

good. Shell ate a wahoo during the roll, so even though he got an earful, he

didn't mind.

"This sawfish bit me and still couldn't slow me down!" said another

wahoo. "Laaaame!" He proudly showed a small divot taken out of his tail.

Snork chuckled, a little embarrassed.

Gray was sure there were more comments to come about Snork, but

Barkley interrupted. "Why don't you quit picking on him and shut up?" said

the dogfish. Bad move. Everyone's attention turned completely to him.

"Look who suddenly got his big fins!" said Wisko. "Dog breath, the

world's worst Tuna Roller!"

The rest of the wahoo joined in. "Bark for us, dog breath! That's what

doggies do! Bark! Bark!" Soon the entire pack of fish were barking—they

were making some kind of noise anyhow; Gray wasn't sure if it was

actually how a landshark dog sounded or not.

"You're not even a real shark, doggie fish!" yelled another. And those

were some of the nicer comments. It got worse when Thrash joined in.

"Maybe we should make him wear one of those, what is it—a collar—

around his neck like those landshark things!" added the tiger very

unhelpfully. "Wisko and the others can trade off on taking him for a swim!"

Goblin and his Line laughed right along with the wahoo. The rest of

Rogue struggled not to laugh, except for Mari. She was genuinely upset at

the treatment Barkley was receiving and glared at anyone from Rogue who

was laughing.

Gray felt ashamed for his friend, but a chuckle escaped his teeth before

he could stop it. It was an accident, but Barkley saw. The look in his eyes

told Gray that he had totally betrayed him with that snicker. "You're a krillfaced whale!" the dogfish yelled, close to tears.

"Hey, you didn't mind laughing it up when they called me 'wide load'!"

Gray was getting annoyed now. Barkley was always running his mouth

about things he could do well at, like school, and making fun of others who

weren't good at it. "You can fin it out but you sure can't take it, huh?"

Barkley rushed him. For a moment Gray thought he might take a chunk

out of his side, but the dogfish whooshed out of Slaggernack's to the

derisive hoots of Goblin Shiver. Led by Wisko, the wahoo sang a mocking

song about dogfish. Gray later learned that they had a song about

everything.

"You all suck algae!" Barkley yelled on his way out as the wahoo began

barking a chorus in their song. Wow. Gray wanted to go after Barkley and

make things better. He really did. To his mind, though, the dogfish was

being thin-skinned again. How could anyone be angry here? This place was

so cool!

But Gray decided to follow him, anyway. After all, Barkley was his

friend. Gray was about to leave when Goblin came over with Velenka.

"Don't worry about your friend," the pretty mako told Gray. "Streak will

teach him a couple of moves, and he'll catch a wahoo next time."

"Ripper used to be terrible, but now, watch out," Goblin said.

Gray considered. "I really should check up on him."

"Give him time to cool off," the great white told him. "You're just

going to make it worse, and besides it'd be rude to leave so soon. Wisko

named you rookie of the year!"

"Barkley will be fine," Velenka reassured him, her eyes hypnotizing

him with their sheer blackness.

"Okay," agreed Gray. "You're right."

"Or he's not tough enough," Goblin mused. "And that's not your

problem."

Gray disagreed and shook his snout side-to-side. "I'll help him toughen

up."

Suddenly a peculiar wailing interrupted their conversation, and for a

moment everyone stopped. "Oh, the entertainment's starting!" Velenka

exclaimed.

An old gray whale and a few dolphins hovered on the edge of the cove.

They were singing a strange yet uplifting song. "There's usually music after

a Roll," Velenka explained. "We provide them with the entertainment of

watching the game, and they do this for us in return."

Amazing! This day kept getting better and better. Gray knew he should

go see if Barkley was all right. And he would. In another hour or so. It

would be rude to leave while the whales and dolphins were singing. He

couldn't just take off. After all, he was rookie of the year!

Gray was so absorbed he didn't notice Mari motion to Striiker, Shell,

and Snork. The former members of Rogue Shiver quietly slipped away, one by one.