Episode 10

*Talk Page*

The Mirror!

Using the waterjet engine, the Mirror takes Pezci and Scypho for a wild ride, finally flying into the air above the ocean. The two merfolk hang from the Mirror, which is floating above the ocean's surface, when Madam Louv leaps up to reclaim it, chomping down on the shaft and dragging everyone under. After wrestling with Scypho for it, the Mirror gets dropped when it denies the Madam violently, and a tentacle from the depths rises out of the darkness to try and claim it. During the fight for possession, it's revealed that Scypho used to work for the Madam, though neither was pleased with the arrangement. The Mirror decides to fight back, and it attacks the tentacle with flame.

## Cast of Characters

* Pezci
* Scypho
* The Mirror
* Madam Louv
* The Trench worm

## Synopsis

The waterjet engine the Mirror extruded continues to push Scypho and Pezci around, much to their mutual distress, with no control over the direction it travels as they hang on for dear life. They reach the surface of the ocean and the Mirror launches into the air, with them hanging down from the Mirror's shaft. Once clear of the water, the engine fails and quickly winds down with a soft whir. Now they're simply hanging there in midair, with no visible means of support. Pezci tells Scypho to make it go back, and he tries ordering it to take them back under. After a short pause, he quietly asks please. In response, the Mirror rotates face up on the shaft, and it begins showering the two with a gentle spray of water. Pezci is *not* happy with this, but Scypho looks on the bright side and declares it to be pleasant.

Surging out of the water like a porpoise, Madam Louv leaps up and arches over, seizing the shaft of the Mirror in her toothy jaws with a chomp, which naturally frightens Pezci. The Madam plummets back down into the water with the Mirror firmly clenched in her jaws. Pezci is knocked loose, but Scypho hangs on bravely, contesting the Madam's possession of the Mirror. She grabs him by the collar growling, trying to pry him off the Mirror. Holding him up at arm's length by the collar, she yells his name in warning to let go, while he offers to sell it to her for three billion dollars. With a disgusted look, she tears if from his grip and tosses him aside. Smiling triumphantly, she gazes at her reflection, primping her hair and gloating.

The Mirror, however, is not happy with her repossession of itself, and with a tremendous hiss, it attacks her, extruding a fang-toothed set of snapping jaws with a long worm-bodied tongue lined with barbs ending in a lure. With a look of dismay, Madam Louv holds the shaft out from her body, trying to keep the vicious jaws away from her face. Startled, she releases the Mirror, allowing it to fall away. It continues to chomp and hiss as it proceeds down into the depths of the trench. All three of them cry out "NO!!", but it's the Madam and Scypho who dive for the Mirror, while Pezci cries out "Depths!!!" and races for the trench wall. Reaching the wall, Pezci hides behind a rock and then peeks out to see what's happening. The whale and jellyfish race after the falling Mirror, with Scypho just slightly in the lead, and he's the one to catch it, chuckling at his victory. The Mirror, meanwhile, has withdrawn the monstrous jaws.

Swimming away with his prize, he doesn't see the green sucker-lined tentacle, already longer than his body, reaching up from out of the darkness of the depths below. The tentacle grabs hold of the Mirror's shaft just under the Mirror itself and tries to snatch it out of his grip. Scypho fights back, letting out a cry of startled aggravation. Growling as he tugs with all his might, he stretches the tentacle while it tries to pull the Mirror into the depths. The Madam finally catches up and adds her strength to retrieving the Mirror from whatever is trying to pull it down.

Even as they struggle to keep from losing the Mirror to the depths, Madam Louv takes the time to chastise Scypho. Glaring at him, she tells him he'll never amount to anything, and this "stunt" he's pulling is his ticket to the blacklist. Glaring right back, his response is to tell her he can sell this (the Mirror) on the blackfish market for triple the price its worth, saying he'll be twice as rich as her, and he'll never have to work that dead-end job again. Even as they fight to save the Mirror, the two of them continue to face off, yelling at each other. She says he was a lousy employee, and he'll always be destined for dead-end jobs, and he answers she'll always be a s\*tty boss.

The Mirror is displaying the universal slashed-circle symbol for "NO" on its glass, and it's glowing an ominous red. Suddenly, the Mirror spews a blazing torrent of flames, roasting the tentacle and eliciting an eerie ululation from the darkness far below, at the other end of the tentacle.