CannibalCrab

Blinking and rubbing my eyes, I attempted to listen to the voice on the phone. "Okay, one more time? You're not making much sense there... Who am I talking to again?"

The voice on the other line sighed. "For the last time Cannibal, it's Crader Face! The hacker?" My mind went blank. "... Never mind then, just trust that people like KrakenKid trust me. I need you to get up to the situation room now. It's extremely important. We have a traitor among us."

Traitor. That's all it took to wake me up properly. "Who?" I demanded, getting out of bed. It had been a long time since we had a traitor to deal with, I should have known one would pop up sooner or later.

"If I knew, I would have had someone deal with it already. Now, get up here as fast as possible."

I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see that. "I'll get KrakenKid while I'm at it. He'll want to blow them away as soon as we find out!"

"I'm not sure that's the best idea..."

I blinked and furrowed my eyebrows. What was he talking about? KrakenKid was always the best at finding the traitors! Since he knew pretty much everyone, KrakenKid was our sniffer dog when it came to these sorts of things. He'd make a list of everyone he found suspicious and somehow, he'd always get the right person in the end. "Why not? You should know as well as I do he'll get it done the fastest!"

"I saw him earlier, he's not in the best place right now. I'm not sure he'll be able to deal with it right now."

"What do you mean "He won't be able to deal with it?" He's KrakenKid! He's juggled running a criminal empire and childcare at the same time and both turned out pretty good!"

Crater Face sighed in defeat. "If you think it's best, then go ahead, I won't stop you. But don't come crying to me when you realize I'm right. When he did both of those things before, he was in the right mind and like I said, he isn't right now."

I rolled my eyes. I knew KrakenKid best and if anyone was going to predict what he'd do, it'd be me. "Yeah whatever. I'll see you in a minute." I clicked the end call button and put my phone away quickly. "Hackers... Thinking they know everything." I grumbled under my breath. "I'm his general! Why does everyone seem to forget this?"

To my surprise, it didn't take any effort at all to find KrakenKid. As soon as I entered the Conch Command I heard him scream something and the next thing I know, he was heading straight towards me, but barely even noticed I was there, or anyone for that matter. I rushed up to him, but hesitated when I heard him mumbling something. That's never a good sign... Better be respectful or he'll shoot me. "What do you want!" He yelled, getting me off guard.

"Sir," I said carefully, trying not to send him over the edge. "It's extremely important!" His eyes narrowed but I held my ground. "I have a situation and I need-"

KrakenKid didn't wait for a response and shoved me away. "I'm already dealing with something right now! You deal with it!" He snapped and moved past me.

"Kraken! Kraken, please! We need your expertise in- and he's already gone." I sighed as he stormed off. I closed my eyes and rubbed them, trying to wrap my head around everything. As soon as I opened my eyes, the kraken was nowhere in sight. "Of all the days, it had to be today, didn't it?"

I decided to finally let it go and head up to the situation room. Hopefully even without KrakenKid, we could find out what's going on before it was too late.

Crater Face seemed more than a little pleased with himself about being right but still managed to tell me what was going on. After about ten minutes of him making "I told you so" comments, he held up a blue flash drive with a single word written on it.

"Atlantis?" I questioned, reaching towards it but he kept it out of my hands. "What's that? I've never seen it before."

"That's because it's new." The hacker explained. "It's a flash drive carrying top secret information, some stuff that even you and I don't know about, and it's all about the Tide Changers. Someone was sneaking out last night but when two of our Illithids questioned them, they ran off but dropped this. A drive like this wasn't authorised to be made, it shouldn't even exist. Not only that, but there was a note inside of it with instructions for an Atlantean Guard to get it to Cody as soon as possible. There's no doubt about it, we have a spy."

I fell silent but eventually, I had to say something. "Well, who else knows?"

"You, me, Darrel and two guards that won't be blabbing to anyone else, I made sure of that myself. We don't want much of anyone else to know anything either, just KrakenKid and his son will do." I nodded firmly and huffed. "Another thing." He spoke up as I began to turn around. I paused and nodded for him to go on. "All this information was only accessible using the password, meaning only trusted people could get into it. There's no way some random soldier got in by asking around, only someone we trust."

My eyes widened. "Someone we trust? This might be worse than I thought... I'll need help but KrakenKid's out which means... Oh no."

"You rang?" Called a voice from behind and I groaned. I didn't even have to turn around to know the exact smug smile on his face. "My boy Crater Face mentioned there was something interesting going on! What's up?"

"Blooper, this is serious!" I argued. "It's not some gossip that you just throw around for fun!"

Blooper laughed. "Please, anything can be fun if you try hard enough. What are we dealing with? Is Cody invading again? Did someone die?"

Part of me wanted to question how he could possibly make someone's death fun, but I decided against it. "We have a traitor, and apparently it's someone close."

Weirdly enough, Blooper's eyes lit up. He made a small gasp before a smile rapidly formed on his face. "Does this mean we get to play "Good cop, bad cop"? Dibs on bad cop!"

I huffed but agreed to it. He was right, though I was a little salty that I had to play good cop. "Come on, pretty much everyone we need to question is downstairs."

We first visited Harold. He was crossed off the list for suspects since he was never really briefed on our plans and simply just stayed in his lab all day inventing stuff. He had already created a taser that would force whoever it shocked into telling the complete truth, no matter what. We took it with us and established a interrogation room upstairs in the situation room.

Our first target was CrankyCrab, the one person we couldn't take with us to our new interrogation room because he was too busy to leave his post. I strolled right up to the counter and smiled. "Hey cousin! How goes it?"

CrankyCrab grinned. "Pretty well!" He chirped. "I'm a little busy right now so I can't talk much. What do you need?"

"You seem pretty chipper." Blooper commented, narrowing his eyes suspiciously before suddenly banging his fists on the table. "Why is that? Have your evil plans succeeded?"

The cook just laughed. "I wish I had evil plans, but I haven't gotten to fight in a long time. No, but I am happy about Samuel finally paying his tab! He's been owing me money for months. Anything else you need? Crab? Special chicken?"

I shook my head. "We're fine, thanks. Blooper?" I nudged him away, but he still did the "I'm watching you" gesture towards CrankyCrab as we left. "I doubt it's him." I told Blooper as we left. "I know my cousin, and he's not that type of person."

"Fine then." Blooper grumbled. "Who else?"

To our advantage, Gnash and Bruce were down in the armory, so we got to question them both. "Hey guys," I greeted. "Mind if I ask a couple questions?" I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. They both shrugged. "Great! Where were you two last night?"

"We were both training some of the troops." Gnash explained. "Some Illithids had to work on their aim, some turtle tanks needed to build up stronger hits and everyone else ended up sparring with each other."

Blooper butted in. "Really? BOTH of you were training them? How suspicious, you two never do that!"

Bruce and Gnash both blinked in confusion. "That's true." Gnash nodded. "But we have several people who can vouch for us. I had nothing to do and Bruce needed some extra helping hands since he had more than usual last night. Why, something wrong?"

I quickly shook my head and lead Blooper out of there. "No, no. We're fine, thank you." I said quickly and left. I leaned in and whispered to him as soon as we were out of sight. "Dude! What part of, "No one else can know" did you not get?"

Blooper huffed. "What? It's more effective this way!"

It wasn't long before I called in a couple more people up to the interrogation room.

RamRod was our last investigation, everyone else was clean. "RamRod, where were you last night and do you have any proof?" The goat simply took out his laptop and showed us his internet history. Sure enough, it showed him on it, but Blooper was skeptical.

"So, you're talking to spies in Atlantis?" He nodded. "Or, are you the spy FOR Atlantis?" He whipped out a gun and aimed it right at him. RamRod wasn't remotely fazed but I jumped. "ALL THE PIECES ARE COMING TOGETHER!"

I swiped the gun away in an instant and turned to RamRod, smiling nervously. "Sorry about that, you seem clean. You may leave." RamRod huffed and left, grumbling under his breath as he did. I glared at Blooper the second I broke eye contact with him. "I'm confiscating this until the end of our investigation."

"It's not my fault everyone's being suspicious! What are you doing? You're letting everyone go and we haven't even gotten to use our shocker yet!" Blooper protested, waving the taser around again.

I snatched that from out of his hands and shot a glare. "How do you keeping getting a hold of this? Are you pickpocketing me?" Blooper grinned mischievously but said nothing. "And I'm taking notes, thank you very much!" I replied and showed him my clipboard. "Every time someone mentions where they are or some kind of motive, I write it down but none of it adds up! I've known these people since you were born, Blooper! They wouldn't betray us!"

Blooper sighed. "You're being too soft, you gotta suspect everyone!" He and I locked gazes before he suggested anything else. "Fine, what do we got? Who's our number one suspect? We can zap them just to be sure."

I glanced at my board. "Well... I hate to say it but as of now, CrankyCrab is at the top but that's only because I cut our interview off short because the poor guy is busy, but he still has no reason to betray us! He gets plenty of money, still gets to fight, fair working hours and housing, and he has KrakenKid's favor, literary everything a Tide Changer could want! Plus, he hates Atlantis! That's the main thing with all of them, they all hate Atlantis, no doubt about it!"

Blooper paused. "So, what? We're looking for someone who doesn't hate Atlantis?"

I shook my head. "Everyone here hates Atlantis at least a little, but we're looking for someone who is willing to give up information to Atlantis because of selfish reasons, someone who's willing to move past that hate so they can benefit from it."

"What else?" Blooper asked. "I've seen plenty of cop shows to know that's not enough information to go on!"

I groaned and wracked my brain. "Come on, Cannibal, THINK! Someone who is willing to work with Atlantis! Someone who has something to gain from it! Someone close to us, someone we wouldn't suspect! Someone who can hide in plain sight! Someone..." My voice trailed off when I started to realize what I was describing sounded a lot like someone I knew.

Blooper began to catch on too. "Someone who's close to KrakenKid? Who'd be able to find out the password if she wanted?"

"And could easily slip away from the guards because she's been here several times and even got a house tour from KrakenKid himself, or should I say, "KK"?"

Blooper and I stood in silence. "You don't think-...?" Blooper asked uncertainly, but I nodded.

"We have to suspect everyone, and she does fit the profile." I narrowed my eyes and turned to the small kraken, whose eyes were burning with determination. "Let's pay Tanith a visit."

To our luck, we didn't even have to leave the Conch Command to find the hybrid. She was standing in the main entrance and staring our into the land, almost sad. Blooper and I quickly got on either side of her and I grabbed her arm. "Tanith, you're coming with us!" Blooper announced as I tugged at her arm, signalling to follow.

But she fought back, still staring outside and attempted to reach towards something. "Wait! I need to- He's not in a good state right now, I need to help him!" She protested but I kept pulling her back.

"Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to calm down and come with us for some questioning. This is very serious, ma'am." Blooper imitated, trying to do his best to act like a police officer. I sent him a look but let it go. Eventually, Tanith gave up and I let her up the stairs.

In the interrogation room, we all sat down. Tanith's tail flicked restlessly and her hands fidgeted. "Make it quick." She ordered. "I need to get back to him."

"It'll be quick if you cooperate." I answered back before pulling out my clipboard. "Now, where were you last night?"

She blinked. "Sleeping."

"Hmmm... Any witnesses?"

"I sure hope not." She joked, but Blooper and I exchanged a skeptical look. "Are you two okay? You seem a bit-"

"Enough about us!" I stopped her quickly before she could say anything else. "How close are you and the Cody Maverick?"

Tanith's eyes swept from Blooper to me, trying to get what we were playing at. "Pretty close, we bonded and stuff... What's this about?"

I didn't answer. "Ever been a spy before?" Blooper cut in, leaning in close.

"I mean yeah, once or twice but I haven't been one in years. It went really badly last time." She shuddered for a moment but shook it off. "Wait..." Her eyes narrowed on us. "Is this what this is all about? Do you think I'm a spy?"

Blooper slammed his hands on the table. "Cut the crap! We can very easily find out if you're lying or not with this!" He held up the taser again, much to my dismay. How did he get that again? "This taser makes you tell the truth and unless you want me to-"

"For the love of- I don't have time for this!" Tanith groaned and grabbed the taser out of Blooper's hands in a split second. I quickly jumped back and out of my chair while Blooper held his hands up and pointed at me.

"This was all his idea! Shoot him, not me! I'm just a baby!"

"Way to throw me under the bus!" I shouted back.

Tanith rolled her eyes at both of us and put the taser up to her chest and pulled the trigger. Her whole body tensed up and she immediately pulled away the second she could and slammed the taser on the table. Her whole body twitched against her will but she didn't pay attention. Her eyes locked on to Blooper, and then me. "I, Tanith, have not been a spy in many years and plan to never go back to it again. I have no intentions of spying on the Tide Changers from here and in the future, and have not in the past. I may be loyal to Atlantis, but I am also loyal to KK, and I won't let those things interfere with each other. I will never harm KK, emotionally or physically, and if I do, you have permission to take that little shotgun of yours, load it and empty it right into my heart so I will feel even worse pain than he does, capeesh?"

Blooper and I hung our mouths open and nodded hastily. "Good." She answered and straightened herself. "I'm going to see KK. Good luck with your investigation." She said, then left without another word.

I hit my head repeatedly on the table. "Well, it's not Tanith either..." I sighed as Blooper and I tried to figure out where to go from there. Blooper sat besides me and stared at the table, either deep in thought or starting to fall asleep.

"You thought it was Tanith?" Came a voice from behind. I whipped around to see Darrel coming back into the room, meaning his lunch break was done. He just chuckled and sat down. "No, she's too emotionally invested for it to be her. For a true and loyal spy to occur, they can't get that emotionally attached to whoever they're spying on or they'll never truly be loyal to them, even with the biggest of threats on their heads." He said something I didn't quite catch after that, then shook his head. "Anyways, we're looking for someone who knows Blooper's true birthdate, right? That is the password. It'd be kinda hard for Tanith to get that information discreetly."

Blooper perked up at the mention of his name. "Whoa, whoa, whoa... True birthdate? What are you talking about? Are you saying I wasn't born on the day we celebrate my birthday?"

I lifted my head and sucked in a breath. "Well... Yeah. The circumstances of your birth weren't- uh- convenient... It's a long story but we had a large number of spies and we didn't want Atlantis to know about you yet so we hid you while KrakenKid dealt with them. If Atlantis found out he was having a son then, they could have easily kidnapped you so your official birthday is a week earlier than what you think."

Blooper looked down to the ground, his eyes, mouth and mind all wide open. "My life is a lie..." He whispered as Darrel continued.

"That's true, meaning only a select few people know about it. It narrows it down, I suppose." Darrel said, then started typing away at his computer. "I have a list of everyone that knows if you'd like to hear it."

Why'd he make a list? I pushed the thought away but declined. I already knew who was on it. Blooper stared at the floor for a moment more but then suddenly shot his head up. "WAIT!" He screamed, then started to think about. "It fits... IT FITS! Darrel! What about Samuel? He's old, surely he knew about it!"

Darrel brought up the list on his computer and read down it. "... Yep, he's here."

"Then it's him." I determined. There wasn't a doubt in my mind, it all fit. "Let's go see what Samuel is up to."

Samuel was in the spot he always was in, the bar of CrankyCrab's restaurant. As soon as he saw us approaching with glares on our faces, he chuckled and stood up. "Well, I suppose you finally figured it out." The skeleton pirate stretched then relaxed. "I was beginning to think you'd never catch on."

"Atlantis offered you a lot of money, didn't they?" I growled. "Enough to pay off that enormous debt you owed to us, and then some?" I nodded at the drink in his hand. He just smirked and chugged it down and slammed it on the table. He wiped his mouth and grinned. I shook my head. "Disgusting... It's one thing to disobey orders, but betray us all together? Why?"

"Please, I knew I couldn't pay off my debt, even with a raise or giving a couple more raids to KrakenKid. Any longer and he'd have me blown away himself. Atlantis offered me the money and, well, I couldn't resist." His eyes glinted. "Could you?"

"YES!" I roared, taking out a cutlass. If I knew him at all, he wouldn't go down without a fight. Blooper already had his gun back, most likely stolen back from me unless he had an extra. "Because I actually have a heart! I'm not some disloyal piece of trash like you!"

"Cannibal!" Blooper hissed. "That's an insult to trash!"

Samuel rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Little ghost like swords formed behind him and pointed right at us. "Enough talk. You want to fight an undead pirate? Let's see how long you'll last."

"They might look fake, but those swords are just like the real thing!" I told the young kraken. "Be on guard and always check behind you." He nodded firmly back and both of us shifted into a fighting postion, getting low.

The old pirate chuckled and did the same. "Do you really th-" He was cut off and made a sudden choking sound, his glowing pupils grew larger in his sockets. I blinked and lowered my eyes until I noticed a sword going right through his chest, and a familiar figure standing behind him.

Samuel might have been a skeleton, but he had a "Heart" in the middle of his chest like the rest of us, filled with magic and kept him going, but now he crumbled to the ground and his pupils flickered before disappearing, his swords doing the same. CrankyCrab took the sword out of his chest and shook his head in disappointment.

"He always was my least favorite customer. Never paid his tab until now and always barked at me, now a lowlife traitor?" He clicked his tongue and started to go back to work.

Blooper began to loot his corpse as I grinned. "Thanks cousin!"

"Anytime." He waved back.

Turning back to Blooper, the kraken began to rummage through his stuff until he pulled out the wallet. "Ah yeah!" He grinned and found several diamond coins from within. "I'm rich!"

I laughed and had to bite my tongue to keep myself from bragging about my salary being a lot more than that. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two figures coming up the stairs, but they almost looked blended. I turned my attention to focus in on it to clear up what I was seeing.

Tanith was carrying KrakenKid in her arms. KrakenKid's eyes were closed and wasn't moving much other than breathing. When I gave her a look, she mouthed "He's sleeping." and strolled back up the stairs, still holding to him. I decided not to question that.

"Well, Blooper." I gave him a smile. "Looks like you have your Dad's sniffer dog genes." I joked and gave him a pat on the head. He glared.

"Touch me again and I'll rip your arm off."

"Yep, just like your father."

***********************************************

And, here is Traitor! Did anyone guess it or nah? Tell me!

I managed to get this out in time but as of tomorrow, I'm going on a big trip, so updates might be little to nothing on all my books because I'm not even going to be in the same country OR continent for like a week or so! I might be able to pop in and be like "YO WHATUP" in the comments but that's it.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Cannibal and Blooper do shenanigans! Be sure to comment and farewell!

--JustAnAltantisWriter