Chapter 2
High Tide, Low Tide

Ben's alarm clock began its obnoxious honking as it was time for him to wake up. He grumbled while slamming his hand on the nightstand to press the "snooze" button.
He then dragged himself out of bed and to the kitchen for breakfast.
Quietly eating his omelette, Ben couldn't stop thinking about the bizarre stuff he saw yesterday. It all felt so much like a weird dream he couldn't believe it.
"Is something bothering you?" His mother asks, showing concern for her son.
"Mom, everything's cool," Ben replied, "there's just something to do at work later."

A couple of minutes passed, Ben was dressed, teeth brushed, and lunch packed up ready for work. He followed his dad and all it took was ten minute walk to the Green Donut to get started with work. As they entered, they saw Francis and Heidi with shocked looks on their faces.
"Oh, hello sir! How uh... Have you been?" Francis asks, trying to compose himself.
"I've been well Mr. Huffman," Mr. Mizuyama answered in his usually blunt way. "Thank you."
Then, business resumed like usual as Mr. Mizuyama went inside his office to do paperwork and check on the security camera footage.
Meanwhile with Ben, he was standing by the counter and staring at the ceiling as today's shift is certainly not as busy as yesterday.

Then, he saw someone so strange and yet so familiar, it was that fish woman and she brought company with her.
"Oh, it's you!" Ben exclaims, surprised to see her.
"We meet again I see," the fish woman remarked, smiling at Ben as she sits down with two of her companions, a blue octopus person and another fish person in an orange suit sitting with her while another companion, a pink crab was stuck at the door.
"Come on, stupid door!" The pink crab barked "lemme in!"
The fish woman sighed. "Kani, you can walk sideways."
Kani realized her mistake and moved sideways, going inside with ease.
Heidi was genuinely surprised to see them in person. She too, was convinced they weren't real but today seemed to have changed her mind.
The fish in orange then explained that they came to Wharf City out of fear that a (apparently) notorious crime group would cause further harm to the people of Wharf City and maybe even Cascadia as a whole.
It was a lot to take in more or less.

Then, Mr. Mizuyama came out of his office to go do something but the fish people have caught his attention. His eyes widened and he let out a confused "Oh" before walking into the kitchen. "Benjamin, I would like to have you come to my office," he said to Ben. "You're not in any trouble, I just need you to take a look at something."
Ben gulped as he went inside his father's office, worried and unsure of what he's exactly talking about.
He sat down as he watched his dad look through the security footage from yesterday and stopped at a clip from 2:30 PM, and Ben recognized what happened; it was that rabbit who stole a donut!
"What is that...?" Mr. Mizuyama commented under his breath, trying to figure on Earth he's looking at. "Ben, can you ask one of those weird people to come and take a look at this?"
Ben then got up and asked the fish woman, Maguro to look at something. She shrugged and followed him to his father's office where she was asked about the rabbit on the computer monitor. Maguro tensed up, like she also knew who that bunny burglar is.
"That's Mochi Mocchiato," she explained, "she's a part of the Legion of Low Tide, a crime group infamous for their kidnappings, scams, and petty thefts all across the galaxy. Once you face their wrath, abandon all hope."
Neither Ben nor Mr. Mizuyama knew what to do with this information but their thoughts were immediately interrupted by a loud bang from outside.

Maguro quickly ran out of the room, possibly to investigate the noise.
Mr. Mizuyama gave his son a look, the type of that meant, "Do you seriously want to take this risk?" However, Ben decided to run after her, and what he saw sent him chills down his spine, there was this large creature standing at the entryway. Like Maguro, it resembled a tuna but its teeth were sharper, was much more muscular, and wore armor of some kind.
The creature smashed its fist through the glass and then ripped the door off its hinges, making the pieces fall down onto the floor and sidewalk.
Then, the large creature moved out of the way, allowing their own group of companions to go inside, with yesterday's guest Mochi being one of them!
"Looks like those detective brats can't get enough of us!" A yellow eel cackles, "Still following us on our trail, huh?"
The rest of the group cackled, amused by the eel's remarks.
Maguro shook her head. "Just leave," Kani groaned as she didn't want to deal with them.
The blue octopus vanished in thin air and climbed up to the ceiling judging by the sounds that were made.
While the fish people traded their insults, Ben snuck into the closet near the restrooms and grabbed out a crowbar in a case where he would need to defend himself and/or the people dear to him. As he walked back to the main area with the crowbar in hand, Mochi managed to spot him.
"There he is!" she squeaked, "the man who ruined our plan!"
Ben tried to run away but the large fish man managed to shove him to the ground, holding his captive down. Ben couldn't move and he never felt so scared in his entire life as he looked at that huge beast's angry eyes and drooling mouth.
"Get away from him, Toro!" A voice yelled out. It was that blue octopus man dangling from the ceiling! Toro was in shock, allowing Ben to give him a crowbar to the knee.
The blue octopus continued to stare down at Toro, and eventually dropped a smoke bomb and fell back down to the floor.
Ben navigated around the ink-like smoke, hoping to find anyone. "Ben! Ben, where are you dude?!" Heidi started yelling from the distance, hoping she could get him to follow her voice.
Ben continued to explore and then heard Francis's voice, "Ben, are you still there? Lemme get my arm out and you can grab on it!"
Then, Ben accidentally bumped into the counter but luckily, he reunited with his coworkers, who were happy that he was unharmed. For nearly an hour, they hid in the under the prep table in total silence.
Time has passed, the smoke had faded away, though no one is sure if it's safe to leave.
Maguro floated into the kitchen and was looking at them. "You're all mostly safe now," she told them. "However, the Legion of Low Tide are still an active threat but we, the M.A.K.I Group will protect you no matter what."
She then gave Ben, Francis, and Heidi each a pager-like gadget in case of emergencies.
Mr. Mizuyama came in to check on his son and employees. He saw Maguro too.
"Hello everyone, are you well?"
"We're alright sir," Heidi responded, still unsure of what is going on. "The Sushi Pack have definitely saved our tails back there."
Although Maguro was confused about the "Sushi Pack" comment, she more or less tried to ignore it.
The Green Donut ended up closing early due to everything that happened.

On the walk back home, Mr. Mizuyama would occasionally freeze in his tracks every couple of steps with his face all scrunched up, trying to hold back tears.
Ben would ask him if he was okay but alas, his dad refused to answer the question even after being asked about it thrice.
Though, it didn't take long for Mr. Mizuyama to break down crying.
"I thought... I thought," Mr. Mizuyama could muster out of the blabbering, "I thought I was gonna lose you today!"
He still continued to cry while Ben hugged him.
"Dad, I know," Ben replied, empathizing with his dad. "I really thought I was a goner too. It was so scary."
"Ben."
"Yes, Dad?"
"You know your best friend, Samir? Please, go to the al-Khalidis if this Low Tide Legion ever tries to hurt you again."
Ben nodded, accepting his Dad's request.

Back home, Mr. Mizuyama went straight to bed while Ben sat down to watch some TV. He would sometimes switch to the news to see if Channel 5 covered anything about the Legion of Low Tide. They did but no one talked about the Green Donut. He sighed, turned off the TV, and went into his room. He grabbed his phone, texting Heidi to see if she's okay and gave Francis a voicemail for the same reason.
Although they were mostly fine, the event made Heidi think about quitting her job.
Ben didn't blame her one bit, those two days of their life were some of the most eventful and terrifying they ever experienced.
Now, all Ben can do is lay down on his bed and think.