I went up to one of my brothers, Highlight. He was one of the smarter fish, but still had betta instincts that made his thinking useless. He was a dark colored betta, and he for some reason looked like a female betta - probably because he was so timid, he let the others bite off his fins little by little.

    Anyway, when I went up to him, he started cowering under the shadows of the leaves. I tried to approach him slower, making me look less of a threat. It probably wouldn't have worked, anyway, as he started to suspiciously back off. Now, the reason that I chose him to talk about things of being the most aggressive is because I knew that he wouldn't blab his mouth off in public, as he's so shy. Plus, he's also a smart geek like me, but doesn't use it. 

    I flared my gills at him, then settled down. He gazed at me wearily. "So...how's it going?" I asked him, unsure of how to start a conversation with a weakling. 

    He waited a moment before he answered. "Fine...why?" He said in a voice that held suspicion.

    "Well, I was wondering..." What was I getting myself into? "Okay, let's just cut to the chase..."

    "Oh no, not that chase!" He exclaimed, hiding away. "I don't want to ever endure that kind of torture again!"

    "No, not that kind of chase!" I said. "The other meaning!" He stopped, turned around, and slowly came back.

    He was silent for a while. "Well...which chase is it? Cause I do not want to be bitten on the tail again - that already happened to me three times today!" He shuddered, and pointedly curled his tail inward, as if to protect it from passing, biting fish. "Okay, just tell me what you want to know, and I'll answer you - that is, if you're not here to bite me?" He  backed off a bit. 

    I made sure I looked the least threatening I could. "Well, have you ever wondered...if there was ever another way to change our code of honor?" I swam down towards the bottom of the tank, where the leaves provided us shelter from any eavesdropping fish.

    Highlight looked at me strangely. "Bro, what are you talking - or even thinking - about?"     

    "Well, have you ever thought of a different way to show our leadership? Instead of biting everyone? Couldn't we change it to a test of who's the smartest, and can confront Bettas the best way, instead of going through what those vicious fish go through? I tell you...for such cute fish, we are quite violent." I tried to explain it to him the best I could. 

    His eyes seemed to light up. I could already tell that he was open to the idea."Hhmmm...that would be indeed an interesting feat to see...but ARE YOU CRAZY?!" He started getting hysterical. "We can't do that! That would be violating our Betta Code of Honor! And out of all of the bettas to be saying this -" He flared his gills roughly. "- It is you! Why, can't you be satisfied with being titled as The Most Aggressive?" His expression showed a hint of envy. Hhmm...maybe he wasn't as open as I thought he was.

    "No, that is not entirely - exactly - what I want." Now, how was I going to break this to him? "Listen. It isn't as enjoyable being really aggressive as you think." He made a big eye roll at me. "How do you think I would feel, looking at all of your pained faces after I harass you? It just saddens me that this is how we deal with things. I know that we're much more smarter than this, Highlight, I just know that there has to be another way!"

    Highlight seemed thoughtful. "True, true. I would actually prefer that decision better than being bitten." He looked painfully at his tail. "But...we can't. Our ancestors created this rule, and established it into our instincts! True, we may like that idea better, but you never take that instinct out of us Bettas." He backed away into the shadows. "Trust me, you can't change that. You can't change the minds of the others. You can't make the gods obey your command.  Believe me, I've tried." He fully submerged himself into the shadows, out of my sight.

    I was nodding along, drifting, until what he said processed through me. "You - wait, what? What did you say about the gods?" But he was already gone. It was as if he had merged himself within the shadows, and just simply disappeared. Dang it! I'd have to ask him another day, or the other Bettas may try to gang up on me. Oh, well, I guess I'd have to try again later.

    I turned to go out into the open, when I swam right into a purple scaled Betta - a sister of mine named Vorum, I think. "What are you doing here?" I said, tensing. Oh, yeah...I forget to tell you - Vorum was one of the smartest bettas, who had a strong body, unlike her other siblings. She was ferocious, but like me, never really understood our Betta Code of Honor. "How much of it did you listen to?"

    Vorum smiled mischievously. "Well, so much that I know of what you're planning." She saw me tense, and backed off, showing that she was no threat. "Hey, I wasn't going to be one to ruin your little adventure. Did you really think I would?" She fanned her tail out. "So...how're you going to plan it?"

    My thoughts immediately blurred. "Um...yeah, about that..." Yeah. I pretty much didn't have a plan at all.

    Vorum saw an opportunity through this, and said, "Well, if you're going to have this little adventure, then why not I join in?" She said hopefully.     

    "Wait, what? No, you may not! This is just between me and Highlight, get it?"

    "Aww, you would leave me out? I suppose so, but..." She bunched up a bit. "What if everyone soon knew about it? And besides...you don't even have a plan. If you went on without me, you dumb brainiacs would end up doing something stupid, and end us all. Come on, you need some female thoughts on this!" She was so convincing. If she was human, she'd be one of those really good so called lawyers that humans have. 

    "You-you-" Dang, she was a smart one! I suppose I should've let her join in immediately, but I wanted to test her skills at this. "What help do you think you will be accustomed to be?" I wanted to know what her answer was.  

    She immediately made herself look bigger by flaring her gills and fins. "Why, you do not know? I have abilities that are beyond your imagination, and powers that you may not know about. I promise you - you will not regret having me as your ally." A very wise answer she gave me.

    She passed my pleasure test. "Alright, you're in!" She looked happy, and was about to swim off when I stopped her. "But please do not breath a word of this to other bettas - we do not need another...Conspirancy Alert." A Conspirancy Alert is when a Betta does something wrong, or at least if there a rumors of them, and then a gang of one of the strongest Bettas would try and kill that Betta. Yep. Some of our laws are pretty dark. That's why you may see some dead baby Bettas together.

    "I'm in, and I will not blab about this to other Bettas." And she was off. Hopefully, she will actually remember to do that. She had great memory, but sometimes things just slip away from her mind.

    I sighed. Now that was done, I was ready to go up and eat. I saw my person taking out the micro worms. Oh, yeah! Those worms are so tasty, warm, and slithery! They have great texture, and are my favorite treats!

    Just as I was about to ascend to the surface, and join my hungry buddies for a snack, a voice whispered, "Hey, come here! Uh...whatever your name is!" I turned around, and saw the bigger Betta, Halford, glaring at me. "You better do so now!" He also has a very violent nature. Halford was also one of the Bettas who rule by brute strength, but had almost no thinking skills. I wonder how intelligent he REALLY is...

    I groaned, looked longingly at the micro worms, and descended towards him. "What? What do you want?" I said in a rough tone. We were in the cover of the shadows, and Halford looked really agitated. "You know that I am VERY hungry right now, and this is costing us food!" When confronting Halford, I always have to look my best - and most threatening.

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah...whatever." He waved away my comment with a fin. "You know, I heard all about your little plan to stop all of this aggressiveness here, but guess what? I won't allow that to happen! I know that I will be one of the weaker, and ones who will not lead! You cannot let that happen." Well, at least HE thought about something.

    "You - you've heard everything?" I was worried. 

    "Yes. Everything." He came closer, threatening me - challenging me to defy him. 

    I challenged him, naturally. "And if I do...?"

    He hissed fiercely, and I reeled back - surprised and shocked at the same time. For a moment, he seemed to take on the look of a pike. "Well, if you don't ever talk about it again, I'll let this pass as another one of your stupid Betta thoughts." Ha! And he was calling THAT stupid. "But if you do, I will make sure that you and your other buddies will never see the light of day ever again."