Survivors of Alterna: Best for Last

Chapter 17: The Apex Predator

"That's me," Sal answered with both arms spread out.

He had a dreadful smile on his face, revealing a row of jagged, sharp yellow teeth.

"Y-you're not..." Akikta stuttered, flabbergasted by Sal's appearance. He wasn't human. No way he could be. He couldn't be a salmonid either. Compared to the others, he was far too... humanoid.

"Like you?" Sal finished for Akikta, lowering his arms. "Maybe not entirely. But I'd say I am. In the ways that matter, anyway."

And which fucking ways are those?! Akikta nearly blurted, unable to see how Sal was anywhere close to being like him.

For one, he was freakishly tall, checking out at seven feet and eight inches. His height, paired with his slightly muscular physique, made Akikta appear and feel that much smaller. Never mind the cephalopods, Sal was a giant compared to them.

His skin was covered in silver-colored fish scales; hints of bluish-green spots dotted all around his body. The only parts of Sal that weren't silver were his partially visible stomach and his lips, the former being a light shade of pink, while the latter was pitch black, making it seem like he was wearing lipstick.

Sal also had ears and a nose. While his nose resembled a human's, his ears were unlike Akikta's or the cephalopods'. They were fin-like, round, curved, and without holes.

Akikta didn't think anything could be odder than the inklings and octolings. They could at least pass for a human if you squinted. Even Captain Claw and the other sea creatures looked somewhat normal, as they were just anthropomorphic animals. But Sal? Sal was an anomaly.

He was neither an animal with human traits, nor something mimicking the likeness of humans. It was like some freak scientist took a human, a salmonid, and various other creatures, then rolled them up into one big entity. Sal looked unnatural.

Akikta jolted when Sal unexpectedly approached him. With each step he took, a soft thump followed. Akikta looked down to see the sound was caused by Sal's five webbed talons tapping against the hard floor.

When Sal stopped moving, Akikta looked back up to see he had stuck out a clawed hand for him to shake. His hands were also webbed.

It was creepy how Sal's smile never once faltered. "I hope my appearance doesn't disturb you."

As much as Akikta wanted to say it did, he held back any potentially offensive comments and reluctantly shook Sal's hand. "N-no. It doesn't." He lied, forever glad that his mask concealed his true emotions.

After their awkward handshake, Sal turned to the side, showing Akikta the long fishlike tail that protruded from his tailbone. The caudal fin at the tip was colored orange, same as the large dorsal fin he now saw sticking out on Sal's back.

His clothes did a poor job concealing both fins; Then again, what was his get-up anyway? It didn't match what the other salmonids wore at all.

He looked more like a biker with his unzipped black leathery jacket and pants. Said pants were torn near the bottom, so they didn't go past his knees. Black spiky collar bands were wrapped around his neck, wrists, and ankles, matching the biker aesthetic.

Akikta watched as Sal moved to Marie's jar, gently pressing a clawed finger on the glass. "I told you I'd get you one day, Ikayaki." He said with a low chuckle, dragging his finger down the glass to make an irritating ear-grating sound. "And this time, dear ol' Cuttlefish won't be saving you."

Marie didn't dare look at Sal. Instead, she sat away from him with hands covering her face and her eyes shut tight. Tears dribbled down her cheeks as she cried softly.