Kochi's - the Axolotl's - Magic

Kochi had always wanted to do magic, but he couldn't... not until the day he nearly died.

Kochi, who was a baby pink axolotl who lived underwater, was scrounging for food one day and was about to pop a nice, plump worm into his mouth and savor it, when he heard a sinister sound. A whirring, clanging, and terrible metallic noise.

As if a giant engine was humming nearby.

He felt a vibration in his stomach too.

Kochi looked up.

Nothing appeared wrong. Everything seemed fine. A baby hammerhead shark was gliding through the water, twenty feet above him. Other creatures of the sea were also swimming, crawling, or hiding around.

That didn't make sense, Kochi thought.

Hammerhead sharks didn't make humming, metallic, engine-like noises.

The sound grew more urgent and accelerated. Kochi looked up again and was just in time to see one of the strangest thing he had ever witnessed. There was a splash and the hammerhead shark suddenly disappeared! Vanished! Out of the water! Gone!

Kochi continued to stare, unable to believe his eyes.

"Hello?" Kochi yelled. "Mr. Hammerhead? I can't see you anymore. Have you - by any chance - learned to fly?"

Minutes later, the hammerhead shark appeared again, landing with a resounding splash in the water, except now the hammerhead shark was no longer gracefully gliding, but wildly thrashing, with spurts of blood pooling out from its top and sides.

Then the hammerhead shark began to... fall.

“NO!” Kochi shouted. “DON'T FALL ON ME! WATCH OUT! I'M UNDERNEATH YOU... YARGH!"

The hammerhead shark landed on the sandy floor with a huge thud.

And Kochi could not get out of the shark's way.

TO BE CONTINUED.