Shark’d - Part 2/2

By MadMaxine and FlitterPuff

Decision made, I turned and went to the surface to swim back, then stopped. I don’t need to surface. Despite everything, I felt a smile spread across my face.

I wonder how fast I can swim?

I kicked my tail, the side-to-side motion already feeling unnervingly natural. Arms to my sides, I shot forward, following the pinprick of the lighthouse I could see above the water. There was no way to tell how fast I was really going, though it didn’t feel particularly fast. Even still, the lighthouse got closer at a rate that I wouldn’t have expected, and it wasn’t long before the ocean floor began its rise to meet the surface. I approached hesitantly, fearful of what the answer to my land question would ultimately be.

In a strange way, this dash toward shore was sorta the opposite to what I’d done earlier in the night—only now I was nervous about stepping a toe out of the water rather than in. I glanced down at my lower half. Or a fin out of water, I supposed.

I rose up, surfacing once more. Through the water in front of me, I could see distant lights of houses over reed-covered dunes. No barrel fire, though I had to hope I was close enough to the right beach. As I moved forward, my skin eventually hit sand, sliding up against it as my arms pressed downward to hold me up.

I don’t want to get stuck!

My eyes closed, and a primal sort of feeling hit me: I needed to be up and out. From behind, a wave swelled and pushed me forward. The sudden water took me all the way to the edge of the tide-wet shore, and I flopped out onto the sand like a sad, beached fish as the wave retreated.

I can’t breathe!

Coughing, I sucked in air through my mouth, feeling my gills close. Bitter salt hit my tongue as I retched up two lungfuls of water. Wet hair, longer than my hair had been before and startlingly white, tumbled down over my shoulders, tips landing in the sand.

I pushed up with my arms, hoping for anything even as my fear started to grow. Fuck, was I gonna die, like, again? As I watched, and as my second eyelid pulled back, I saw the gray-white of my skin and the web between my fingers fade away to a pale, pale tan.

Oh thank god.

My lower body compressed with an odd heat, and I looked back hesitantly. In place of a shark-like mermaid lower body, I now had legs.

Gorgeous, toned, hairless legs.

Wait.

I looked down. I still had breasts, now capped with a pink nipple each. My cheeks reddened, as I stared. Was it alright to look? The thought felt silly yet also not. It was as though they were mine but not at the same time, as confusing as that was.

Are they allowed to be mine?

I shook my head, purposefully staring away down the beach. There was a bigger concern at the moment.

I was fucking naked. In the middle of the night.

On the fucking beach.

I groaned, slapping a sand-covered hand against my cheek. Wet sand clung to my skin, not that it mattered. The sand was already everywhere.

I glanced down both directions of the beach, trying to decide where to go. If I could just find the fire, maybe I could find the others or something to cover myself with. I’d hate to use clothes discarded on the beach, but I would, if I could even find something.

And a cigarette; a cigarette would be nice too.

Something about the image of a shark having a smoke made me snort. I stood to my feet, legs feeling a bit wobbly beneath me. Even after such a short period of time with a tail, legs already felt odd to have again. I took a step forward, as though to test them, before picking a random direction—that I really, really hoped was the right way—and started to walk.

It was cold out of the water, even on a warm night like tonight.

While still deciding what the fuck I should do next, I heard a faint voice. I paused and listened, straining against the wind.

“-tor. Victor!” the voice shouted, far off down the beach.

Jamey! Oh thank fucking god.

I picked up the pace, my walk becoming a steady jog. It seemed my guess had been right, or perhaps I’d just been lucky. Either way, I was relieved when I finally saw a dark figure with a flashlight walking down the beach a ways ahead.

At least until I remembered I was naked, and a girl?

This was so fucking weird.

I swallowed, wishing that I had some nice fresh water to clear all the salt down my throat. It was time to just bite the bullet.

As we got closer, the flashlight finally seemed to find me. Jamie shouted, rushing my way, only to slow as he got a bit closer. I couldn’t really see him, not with a bright fucking light blinding my eyes, but I could guess what he was thinking.

I didn’t look anything like I had before. He probably thought he’d stumbled on some random naked girl out on the beach. Oh, right. Belatedly, I covered my chest with one arm; then my crotch with another. There’s nothing down there. The absence had felt less noticeable without legs.

“Umm,” I heard him mutter, clearly taken aback.

“Jamey,” I croaked out, my throat still suffering from the salty water.

“The fuck?” I heard him mumble, probably not intending for me to hear. Then more loudly, “Right, okay.”

“It’s me, Victor.” I stated what felt like the most cliche line in existence. “Uh, well… Maybe not ‘Victor’ anymore. Vic?“

“Vikz?” Jamey said with a slight slur, having misheard me..

Damn, is he still drunk?

Yeah, okay. That made sense.

Vikz, though. I… I kinda liked it.

“Sure, Vikz. Look, the Vertex Event made me into a… shark person,” I said, having no idea what to really call it. “And a girl, but only in water I guess.” I glanced down. “For the shark part, I mean. The girl part seems to have stuck around…”

I felt like this was going terribly. But how the fuck else was I supposed to do this?

“Wait… that was you that grabbed April?”

“The girl from Bay Tech? She’s okay, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Dan?”

“He’ll live. Damn, it is you, isn’t it? Fuck.” Jamie eyed me for a moment. “You want something to wear?” he asked, tugging at his shirt.

Relief washed over me. Clothes! “Oh thank fuck. Yes!”

I was honestly lucky he’d thought to put a shirt on at all. Jamie pulled it up over his head, tossing the bundled fabric the few feet between us. I caught it and hastily twisted the damp garment around, knowing full well that with my hands no longer covering things, he could see like everything. Finally, I managed to get it right-side up and slipped into it. Had I given him an eyeful? I knew Jamie liked guys, but I admittedly had no idea if he felt the same for girls.

Not that I was one.

Jamey shrugged. “I mean, it’s your shirt.”

I glanced down and then stared at him. “Why were you wearing my shirt?”

“Mine got wet. Not like yours seems to fit you all that well anymore anyways.”

I looked down. Sure enough, the once-loose shirt was a lot tighter in the chest area. I pulled down at the bottom seam. Was I taller? The once-long shirt barely covered my crotch. I’d read plenty of stories like this—like all non-Jamey guys surely did. The protagonist always got smaller. Clothes were supposed to be looser.

“Plus, I err, thought it’d be funny when we found you.”

I looked up, giving him a glare.

He gave me a shrug back. “I mean, all things considered, it is still a bit funny, you gotta admit.”

Jamie always had a shit sense of humor. I crossed my arms, feeling weird at how they pressed up against my chest. “Let’s just go.”

“Should we, umm, go meet back up with the others?”

I took a moment to think about it. While it seemed like the right thing to do—make sure they were okay and all—I… really didn’t want to deal with anything else tonight.

“Can we… can we just go home?” I asked in a surprisingly small voice.

“Yeah, sure man. Or wait, do I call you ‘man’ still? Should it be ‘girl?’”

I gave him a flat look. “I really don’t care right now.”

Jamey nodded and pulled out his phone, surprising me by pulling mine out too. He tossed it my way, and I surprised myself even more by actually catching it without fumbling.

While I checked the time, he started texting, muttering his words out loud. “Hey. Found Vic. Uh he’s fine, but shaken up. We’re gonna call it a night. Was fun I guess. Keep the beer.” He hit send and sighed. Something told me Dan and April were gonna be pissed, but that was something to deal with later. “Okay, done. Call us a ride?”

Fuck, right. A ride. “Sure, but we’d better make sure this shirt stays down long enough to look like I maybe have a bathing suit under here.” I started up the app.

“Didn’t you have underwear on?” Jamey asked.

I waved at the ocean. “Not exactly gonna be able to find it now—if it’s even in one piece.” I turned my phone’s screen off. “Fifteen minutes away.”

“Cool.” Jamey turned toward the dunes. “Think there’s a path near here?”

I looked around and spotted one almost immediately. “There.”

“Damn, I didn’t see that at all.”

I shrugged. “I’m not drunk.” Was that the only reason?

He protested, and we made our way off the beach to what was definitely the most awkward ride home of my life. Wet, sandy ass on leather, I sat beside Jamie as he tried to make dumb small talk. Sorry, driver. Though I wasn’t that sorry. I was certain that the guy kept staring back at me through the mirror. Could he tell I was ass naked on his seat? I really fucking hoped not, but a gut feeling told me he knew. Which meant he’d probably caught a glimpse. It took everything I had not to groan in mortification.

As we finally reached the university apartments, and I scrambled out, tugging my shirt down as best I could, I was certain that I could feel his eyes boring into my back. Or more likely, my ass. Needless to say, I rushed into the building as quickly as possible, smashing the elevator button and praying it wouldn’t take three years to get here.

It didn’t take three years. But the three minutes it did take were agonizing. We were lucky it was still the middle of the night.

I glanced down at my phone and saw the time was now 4:37AM. Or close enough to the middle of the night. Jamey was looking for me for that long?

When we got into the apartment, Jamey flicked on the lights and I bolted immediately toward the bathroom, only to be stopped.

My glorious roomie stepped in front of me, blocking my path. His eyes met mine.

“So, I know it's been a rough night and all,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, “but I think we should, like, maybe talk about this shit?”

I stood still for a moment before releasing a sigh. “Yeah, okay. But can I shower first?”

My hands gestured down, and Jamey’s eyes followed. Then he looked back up, very clearly confused.

“I’m covered in fucking sand, Jamey,” I said dryly—you know, ‘cause of the sand.

“Yeah, alright. I guess that’s fine too,” he mumbled. “Just, uh—I’ll be waiting on the couch?”

“Sure.”

I moved around him, beelining for the bathroom. As the door shut behind me, I realized the grand obstacle that stood in front of me.

The shower required me getting naked. Again.

And washing my body.

As a girl.

“Fuck.” I didn’t think this through.

My eyes trailed down, taking in the sight of the shirt, still tight around my chest, all the way down to my bare legs and feet. Despite how large my new boobs appeared, they did not completely hide the sight of the rest of my body, as some online stories liked to claim. Though perhaps I was overestimating their size. Small droplets of water fell from my shirt, landing on the cold linoleum below.

Alright, Vic or Vikz, you can do this. You’ve seen plenty of naked girls.

But how many have you felt up? a devious part of my mind asked.

My hands moved up to smack my cheeks, as though it could somehow give me courage.

It would be fine, right? Girls shower every day. Even lesbians, I guess. And gay guys, too, although Jamey was probably a bad example, by his own admission.

And they were also very used to their bodies, having grown up with them and everything.

I groaned, and smacked my head against the wall to my right. Why did I have to become a girl of all things? Being half shark was one thing—this, on the other hand, involved feelings and shit.

Right, right. I had this. I could do this. Maybe if I just kept my eyes closed it wouldn’t be so bad?

No, that was a stupid idea. Who the fuck showers with their eyes closed?

A knock rapped against the door, and I jumped.

“What?” I asked, very much annoyed.

“You want me to leave some clothes out here, or…” Jamey trailed off.

I considered it for a moment. “Yeah, that’s fine… and thanks.”

“Sure thing,” Jamey replied nonchalantly, though he sounded a lot more tired than earlier.

Well, now was as good a time as ever. I gulped and took a step forward, one hand gripped tightly around the shirt—my last line of defense against the inevitable.

Then, gritting my teeth, I tore the wet top off and over my head, wincing as I heard an actual tear. I really kinda liked that shirt, too. Just how strong am I?

Stumbling forward, my eyes glanced briefly into the mirror: a very hot woman with sharp features stared back. She—I— was tall, buff, and completely naked. My cheeks reddened as I turned the other direction, whipping my long white hair across my face.

Nope, not dealing with that right now.

Mind made up, I took the definitely-not-dealing-with-it option of stepping into the tub. With a heavy breath, I turned the knob to the shower head, hoping a bit of freezing cold water might help.

As the shower head shook and began pelting me with freezing-cold water, I squealed, making the girliest sound I was sure I’d ever made.

Then something inside of me shifted. My eyes widened as my legs seemed to flow together and disappear below me, replaced by a much larger, yet significantly less stable shark tail.

With a yelp, I fell to the side, sliding down the shower wall with a loud thump against the lip of the tub.

I was lucky that me hitting the tub sounded much worse than it felt. Struggling for a few seconds, I managed to push my torso up along the rim.

“You alright?!” Jamey shouted through the door after several heavy knocks.

“I’m fine,” I said back, just loud enough that I hoped he could hear.

“Well, umm. If you need help, just, err, let me know?”

“What are you being so awkward about? You don’t even like girls!”

“Whatever, dude. That doesn’t make it any less weird, okay?”

I sighed, almost wanting to actually call him in to help. Yet what help would he actually be? This tail had to weigh more than him…

“Just go watch something. I’ll be fine. There’s just a small, umm,” I looked down across my tail, realizing that small really wasn’t the best way to describe it. How did my legs even turn into something that much larger? “A small hiccup. I’m dealing with it.”

I could almost hear Jamey’s shrug. “Alright, if you say so.”

Another sigh slipped out. So what did this mean for me? Being splashed with water made me go shark-mode? Though that didn’t entirely make sense. I’d been wet the whole way home, never having fully dried after getting out of the water. But at the same time, it obviously wasn’t just being submerged in water that caused it either. Was there some arbitrary line somewhere in the middle?

Was I gonna have to run indoors anytime it rained?

Damn, that seemed like a total pain in the ass.

My eyes closed, and I slid back into the tub, twisting awkwardly onto my back as half my tail flopped out the side and onto the cold bathroom floor. Underneath me, my dorsal fin twinged in pain as it bent to one side. While I took in the ridiculous scene of a big shark girl trying to fit into a bathtub, the water pouring down against me finally started to warm. Laying down, the fatigue and tiredness hit me like a truck.

I really didn’t want to deal with all this right now. Truthfully, I wished I could just forget the sand and the shark thing and just sleep.

But things didn’t work that way. I had to be responsible. Wash all this stupid sand off of me. And of course, I had to figure out how this whole shark thing worked.

I forced my eyes back open.

It wasn’t like I could just magically flush all the sand away with a wave of my hands. I took a deep breath, swirling my hands as though for emphasis while trying to just push all my problems off of me.

Unexpectedly, I felt something stirring inside me and a bucket-load of sandy water practically leapt off of me. For the briefest of moments, I felt almost dry, and then the water splattered against the wall of the shower, most of it splashing back down on me.

I spluttered and shook my head. What?

Staring at my webbed hand, I remembered the wave that carried me onto the beach. Had I caused that, too? Do… do I have powers now? Part of me had known it was highly likely, given how big my transformation was, yet I’d still struggled to actually believe it.

My tailfin’s tip twitched, which was an odd sensation. Again, I felt for the water on me, but this time I just tried to lift it. Sure enough, I felt the wetness on me slide across my skin and rise up into a sphere of sandy water that rested between my breasts. I lifted higher, and the water went with it.

I’m clean—or clean enough—but I’m also mostly blocking the drain. If I let the water drop, my backside would get covered again.

Can I remove the sand?

I felt again, and this time I felt things in the water. I moved the sphere of water over the bathroom trash and tried to push the sand out. After a moment, grains of sand and small bits of wood and shell came splattering out of the bottom of the sphere.

Mostly, the mess missed the bin.

Fuck it, good enough.

I brought the sphere of water back and slid it down under me and toward the drain, letting it go. Now, only warm shower water rained down on me. Sitting at the end of the tub, I realized I could almost touch the shower head with the tip of my tail. I had to be ten feet long. Please don’t have this happen every time I get wet. Please.

After some struggling, I got the water turned off. To my relief, I felt that same warm, flowing sensation and soon I had legs again. During the transformation, I looked away. Right now I really didn’t want to know what that looked like.

Shit, I’ll think about this later. And about getting my powers registered. And a new ID… if I’m gonna stay like this.

I found myself in front of the mirror. The girl on the other side was practically glowing, with a big, dumb smile cutting across her face. With some effort, I tried to turn it into a frown, only to fail.

Maybe I’ll stay like this just for a bit.

A long bit.

Quietly, I snuck out of the shower and threw on the clothes Jamey left for me. When I walked into the living room, I found him sitting on the couch. The TV was on, but he was looking out the window. I grabbed a soda from the counter and plopped down next to him, cracking it open.

The can crumpled within my grip. Shit, right. Powers. Even if it’s not my actual power, I’m gonna be stronger than before.

“Hmm,” I hmm’ed. In lieu of saying anything, I took a long drink and tried to focus on the show.

“So like, fish girl, huh?” Jamie said, turning to look over at me.

“More shark than fish,” I admitted. “But yeah, that seems to be the gist of it.”

He nodded, as though this was all totally normal. Which for Jamey, maybe it almost was.

“Are you gonna try to get changed back?”

“I’m not always a shark,” I said, pointing out the obvious. “And it’s really not too bad.”

“No, I mean the girl thing.” Jamey waved his hand.

“Oh,” I mumbled, staring at him for a long awkward moment, and then down at my half-empty, half-crushed can of soda. “Umm, I, uh… I don’t know?”

Jamie nodded, giving me a faux-wise and smug look. “We’re going clothes shopping in the morning, then. I know just the place.” He flashed me a smile.

I frowned. “I said I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, I heard ya,” he replied with a gentle slap on my back. “Don’t worry, I got you dude. Er, sis? Dudette?”

“What? No! You are not calling me ‘Dudette,’” I insisted, tempted to throw my can at him.

He shrugged. “We’ll workshop it.”

“And I said that I wasn’t sure!”

“Sure, Vikz. Sure.” Jamey rolled his eyes. “Look, I need something to call you! What are you expecting me to do? Call you bro all the time?”

I opened my mouth to give a firm yes, only to think about it and close my mouth again. I didn’t really like being called bro, if I was honest. And while I looked like this, it made sense to use more feminine pronouns and stuff, didn’t it?

“...’Sis’ then,” I mumbled.

“Cool!” Jamey gave me a thumbs up. “So, new clothes and then registering your power tomorrow, Sis?”

“Don’t you have classes?” I shot back, finishing my soda in one long drag.

“I was gonna skip anyway.”

I giggled. Actually giggled. I ended it with a cough. “Uh, yeah probably. I’m betting D-rank.”

“Can’t you shapeshift?”

“Well yeah, but—”

“That’s at least ‘C’, Vikz.”

Vikz. The name was really growing on me. And if I’m C-rank, that’s the level of that Jolt jerk! Maybe I’ll get a chance to show him up.

I smiled. “Well, shit. Think I can keep on being a loser?”

“I fuckin’ hope not! I don’t want to room with a loser!”

Room. “But wait, if you’re a guy and I’m a girl…”

Jamey jabbed a finger into my forehead. “We live in a co-ed apartment, dumbass. You signed the lease too.”

“Oh, right.” My cheeks burned. “Uh, thanks.”

“S’what roommates are for, Sis. Oh, and speakin’ of that, I ate your leftover pizza before we left. But I can give you a fiver for lunch tomorrow, so don’t whine like a girl about it,” my roommate quipped.

“Jamey!”