Serender: The Accidental Super Villain

Chapter 7

    Serender held Zsu so long she thought she would fall asleep.  

"Serender we are at the edge of the migration point. You should head back before your dad gets worried." Zsu said to Serender.

"You're right. I can't wait to hang out with you again. " Serender gave Zsu's cap one more hug then swam back west. She knew if she was late her Dad would be late eating lunch. Serender streaked through the water. She enjoyed watching the colors her tail exuded. Dark waters let her see her true beauty. 

There were so many caverns, hills upon mountains,that made up the floor of the ocean. Serender wanted to explore them all but the dangers of the deep were very real. There were cracks that sometimes occurred after sea quakes that created pockets of searing heat. Bursting one was a death sentence. While the landscape was immense it was also a maze that had many dead ends. Getting lost was a death sentence. And one of her biggest fears was being challenged by an apex predator. Most apex predators saw her as a fight instead of an easy catch, so they usually left her alone. Others were willing to take the chance. They didn't know the voltage a young eel could expense. Some think the bright strip on her tail was just a decoy to keep predators away.

Tick!Tick!Click!

The familiar sound snapped Serender out of her thoughts. She turned around and was met by a large angler fish. She had seen this angler-fish many times on her trips with Zsu. She called her Auntie May. Since most fish did not have names, she took it on herself to name them. Her bottom teeth jutted out at a horrible angle. She could tell she was old. Her light made a weird ticking noise when it lit up.  Her skin was sagging and her husband was probably dead.

    "Can I help you with your bulb?"

Aunty May moved her light left to right. Serender took that to mean she was okay. One thing that always bothered her was Aunty May's husband. He had become no more than a lump in Aunty's flesh. She understood all fish were different and mated differently but she didn't like the parasitic relationship that they had.

She sighed to herself, "None of my business."

Serender continued to swim and Aunty May continued to follow her. She had never followed her before.  Serender didn't know her language or if she communicated at all. She wasn't scared of her though. There was a part of her that almost felt invincible while she was in the depths of the ocean.

    Even though she was only a toddler, she had researched and read many ways to kill almost all creatures including fish. Serender picked up the pace. Aunty May soon trailed off.  Serender looked back and then thought, "What was up with that?" 

    In the blink of an eye, she was face to face with a large octopus. Its tentacles seemed 10 times longer than she was. It stared at Serender, like she wasn't the prey it was expecting. "So you were waiting for Aunty May?" Serender said. 

The octopus' head swayed back and forth in the water. She could tell it was terrified. This octopus had a plan that did not include interacting with an eel. Its tentacles flailed around in the water. Serender maneuvered around them and attempted to swim quickly to the dock. While weaving in and out,  a tentacle landed on her face. 

    Her face was one place she had never released electricity. The octopus was going to rip part of face off if she didn't do anything. Fear engulfed her as the other tentacles started to surround her body, then she thought "This is perfect.  I am going to die in the grips of a large toilet plunger."

Serender held her eyes closed tight and imagined lightening flowing from her body end to end. She gripped the tentacle that was stuck to her face. She could hear the sparks flying from her tail. She just needed them to come through  her hands. Before she could focus harder, she had a realization. "If electricity flows through the human side of me, I could fry my heart and brain. What am I thinking!" Serender  wrapped her tail around the tentacle as she dispersed a current of 400 volts from her body.

    As the suction cup released from her face, the pungent smell of the animal's ink filled the area. Serenders face pulsated and shifted as it tried to go back to its original form. The pain was more than her body could take. She soon lost consciousness and floated to the depth of the ocean.

A sharp sense of terror stabbed at Xander and Aiosha. Xander stood up on the dock and called out to Serender. Before he could take his shirt off, Aiosha was jumping head first into the water. Her connection to Serender would lead her directly to her child. 

    The deeper Aiosha swam the more fearful she became. Unlike Serender, she was prey. Going that deep was like begging to be eaten. If she revive Serender she would feel less anxious. It took Aiosha nearly 45 minutes to get to the large hill she had landed on. Aiosha was relieved she didn't have to swim any deeper.

She grabbed Serender's body and headed to the surface. She could feel her neck and face was swollen. She couldn't tell why though. When she broke through the surface of the water, she screamed out for Xander. Aiosha was so panicked she was having a hard time breathing. Serender was wheezing loudly. Xander jumped into the water and helped her to the dock. 

 Xander kept a large first aid kit with him on the dock. He was ready to help his daughter in any way possible. After noticing the black ink on both Aiosha and Serender, Xander started to shake violently. He mouthed the word "No" over and over again. Then he yelled, "Think Xander!" This was one thing he was not prepared for. 

"We need the oxygen tanks!" Xander said then gathered Serender up in his arms. The electricity from her body sent small sensations through his body as they ran to the house. But it didn't matter. He needed to save his baby. When they entered the house he laid Serender on the table and ran to the hallway closet. They had kept several oxygen tanks so that Xander could take short underwater trips with them.

He pulled out his acupuncture kit and decided to wing it. He knew 2 things, she was having trouble breathing and there was octopus poison in her face. He placed the mask on her face and Aiosha turned it on, then he carefully placed the pins in her face to stop the poison from spreading. 

    Xander felt like a surgeon that never finished school. He worked to extract the poison quickly and diligently. He knew how not to kill his daughter but he did not know how to not scar her face. For what felt like hours, but was only 30 minutes, Xander and Aiosha held their breaths. They could visibly see the swelling going down as the venom seeped out of her face and neck. Her breathing was getting better but she had not gained consciousness. Xander then placed leeches on affected areas. 

    While the leeches  did their part, Aiosha and Xander looked through medical books to find additional assistance. Unfortunately, they found that there was no antidote for octopus venom. All they could do now was wait. Aiosha changed out the leeches and cleaned her with saline while Xander, crushed up amoxicillin pills. 

    They sat next to the table in complete silence. Periodically checking her breathing, rubbing her hair, kissing her forehead. 2 hours later, Serender shifted back into her human form. She was still unconscious but she was free of swelling. Her face was bruised and her heart rate was becoming stronger.

    Xander carried Serender to her room and laid her in her bed. He hooked her up to a makeshift IV bag. The two held hands and watched her until they dozed off. 

"Dad? Mom?" Serender whispered. Xander jumped up, startling Aiosha awake. "Honey!"

The moment she heard his voice, she started to cry loudly. "It hurts daddy! It hurts!" Aiosha grabbed her chest. She felt like she was going to die. They had already given her the strongest pain medicine they had. Xander stumbled backwards. He felt faint. He could see past his tears. He couldn't help her. 

    On the island they had limited resources and human medicine wasn't strong enough for sirens. All they could do was hold her hands and comfort her. After Serender fell back asleep and things started to calm down. Xander grabbed his chest. The pain he felt was different from the heartache from hearing his daughter in pain, this was intense. The tips of his fingers were numb and his left eyelid continuously jumped. 

He shook Aiosha who was sleeping next to him and said, "I think I'm having a heart attack?" Aiosha gasped as she thought about the many times she heard Serender's tail buzzing while he carried her. She had to have shocked him over 50 times. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, it was catching up to him.

    Without taking another breath, Aiosha jumped up and ran for the aspirin. If she could get him the aspirin before his heart stopped, he could survive. After grabbing the aspirin, Aiosha found herself hyperventilating. Her daughter wasn't out of the woods yet and now she could lose her husband. She struggled to pull herself together and ran back into the room. 

    Xander was now laying on the floor clutching his chest. She put 2 aspirins in his mouth and forced the word, "Chew!" out of her mouth. Tears started to flow while she watched her husband struggling with  something as basic as chewing. After he swallowed the pills, she quickly said, "Tell me what to do....I don't know how to save you. I'm not as smart as you are!" She took deep breaths and tried to focus but this pain was tearing her heart apart.

Xander's breath was labored but he had to guide his wife or he wouldn't make it.  He held his wife's wrist and said, "Calm down honey...Hurry and get the defibrillator. It needs to charge up. While it is charging, you will need to continuously apply chest compression. Remember…... that from the CPR book?"

Aiosha quickly nodded her head. Xander started to wheeze. The sound caused her to shake in anticipation. "Okay good. Once it's charged, follow the procedures we studied. You can do this. Go."

Aiosha sprinted to their bedroom. They kept the defibrillator under Xander's side of the bed.  She grabbed the case and ran back to the room. She could see her husband struggling to stay conscious. She mouthed the phrase, "Don't panic." Over and over again. She followed the instructions given by her husband to the letter. She listened for the beep from the machine as his body started to go limb and his eyes closed. "No Xander please!"

    The moment the machine beeped, Serender woke up. She screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound reverberated through Aiosha's soul.  She couldn't help her right now. She needed to save her husband.  She ignored her daughter's cries while prepping and placing the sticky shock pads on his chest.

    This time she couldn't stop the tears. The dam had broken. She pressed the shock button and sat back. Serender called for her then Xander, repeatedly. Her hands shook as he still didn't move. She kissed his forehead and continued to beg for him to wake up. She moved back again and pressed the button. Nothing. Serender’s wailing became louder, she knew her baby was in agonizing pain. They literally completed surgery on her face without administering any type of medication.

    Aiosha hugged herself and rocked back and forth,"Please wake up...Please..." She pressed her head to his chest and listened for the smallest glimpse of hope but none came.