Franky was stoked. He was at the top of his game. Leader of his local food chain. Unstoppable.

Life had been good, and he was ready for the next step. Master of his domain, and all that entailed.

There was just one last thing he wanted to try before he could really feel like he'd done it all. All of the greats before him were rumored to have tried it at some point. None of this had been confirmed, but Franky wanted to be the best, so he needed to try it.

Some had compared it to chicken. But since he had never had the pleasure of eating that strange land animal, he wouldn't know.

Some likened it to a cross between seal blubber, squid, and just a touch of seaweed. All of which sounded like a tantalising bite of sushi to Franky.

But when it came down to what it had tasted like, Franky would only come to remember the awkwardness of it all.

It was a Thursday. A more boring day there never was. Exciting things didn't happen on Thursdays. And this day had started like any other.

Eat, swim. Eat, swim. Repeat. Same old Thursday kind of thing. Until he smelled it.

Franky shifted his large conical snout towards the scent. It smelled interesting. Perhaps this was what he had been waiting for. His chance to try it at last.

Off like a torpedo, Franky sped through the shifting currents. Around things that held little to no interest he swam, til he had it in his line of sight. The smell was quite strong at such a close range.

There wiggling about, were two pale appendages dangling off the side of one of those floating islands. A slight sprinkling of fur covered the appendages. Even the useless micro-appendages at the end of the skinny pale things had a bit of fur on them.

This was what he had been waiting for? What all the big bad kings of the ocean had talked so much about?

There wasn't much there. And if this lower portion was any indication, the rest of it's body wasn't much better. Where was all the delicious blubber like that of a seal? Or the meaty goodness of a mouthful of tuna? These things looked like they were just bone!

The thought of crunching on bones, with its snap snap sound, without the benefit of rich yummy fat to wash it down, didn't sit well in Franky's gullet.

Determined to at least try the meat sticks, Franky surged forward. Large jaws widened, then closed around one of the dangling appendages. Teeth sunk into pathetically thin skin, and ripped off a section. Bone and all.

A cloud of red surrounded Franky. Loud noises could be heard from the world above the waves.

Franky swallowed the chunk. It's slight weight filled a portion of his stomach. He sniffed around, the red scent of blood everywhere. The floating island had started to speed away.

Just as well.

Franky swam off disappointed. This was it? The greatest thing that a big and bad like him could do, to prove to the others that he deserved to be at the top? It was ridiculous. There was no fight. It didn't taste that great. At least with seals there was honor to be had if you took one down.

A strange feeling began as Franky made his way closer to what he sensed was a whale of a find.

Odd twinges started in his gullet. Franky shrugged it off as a coincidence, and continued towards the wonderful aroma of whale blubber.

Franky could see three larger bodies happily munching on the carcass. His stomach grumbled. Must still be hungry from that measly meal.

The large forms turned their snouts towards Franky. The largest of the three started to snicker.

"Smell that fellas? He did it. Now to flip back, and watch the show."

The other two laughed around chunks of blubber.

Franky wanted to ask what he meant, he really did. But at that moment his body arched. Pain and a full bloating sensation spread out from the apex of his stomach. The once tantalising smell of whale blubber, caused his stomach to turn. In a fit of nausea, he gagged and spat out the chunk of appendage he had swallowed earlier. He watched as it floated up and away.

This is the day, the Thursday to be more precise, that Franky learned of a great secret. A secret that the older more mature ones knew. A right of passage, if you will, to those kings of the deep. A strange truth about those creatures that ruled the upper world.

Franky learned he was intolerant. Intolerant to humans.

What madness was this? He was a great big and bad of the deep. Big and bads weren't supposed to be intolerant to things. Especially meat sticks with no blubber.

Franky was shocked and angered that he had been lied to all of his life. What else were the Older Ones not telling them?

Franky wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

In a quest to understand what had happened, Franky sought out help from the best healers he could find. The dolphins laughed with their high-pitched squeals, and swam away. Old King crabs just stared at him, their beady eyes bent in sympathy.

Franky didn't want to be mocked or to be pitied. He had so many questions, and no one seemed willing to give him any answers. But desperate times called for different and strange options.

Franky left the warm waters. He swam until his fins ached and twitched. And then he swam some more. Barely stopping for a quick bite here and there. Even with his thick skin, Franky shivered a bit as he came to a stop outside the entrance of an ice cave. This had to be the place. It reeked of desperation and scattered fish bones.

Rumors told of an ancient creature, so old and well...ancient, that it possessed the greatest knowledge of the deep. Which accounted for it's slightly redundant name, 'Great Wisdom of the Deep'.

Franky didn't know what he expected to see when he went into the underwater cave. Perhaps a respectable Greenland Shark. Or a wise giant squid. He never imagined the most ancient keeper of knowledge to be an enormous old sea turtle that looked like it had seen better days. One flipper missing, and topped with a muck covered quahog clam stuck to it's shell.

The large pale turtle shifted from it's resting place at the base of the cave. A thick layer of algae fell off it's head as it turned towards Franky. Cloudy, unseeing eyes opened. A deep mysterious voice echoed off the cave walls, seemingly from no where and everywhere, as the turtle had yet to open it's mouth.

"One warning before you speak. For answers are what you seek. Freely my knowledge I will share. But remember to take care. For what I say cannot be returned. This burden forever one you have earned."

"Ehh...okay. Fine, yes I accept. Please Great Wisdom of the Deep, I need to know. Tell me the great secret you keep."

"First, tell me who are you?"

"Franky?"

"No. Who are you?"

"A shark?"

"No. Who...are...you? Who do you think you are? Your place in this world?"

Franky puffed up, and snapped his jaws a few times. "I'm Franky. A Great Big and Bad of the deep. Hunter and a king of the ocean. Feared by all!"

"Wrong-O."

"Huh?" Franky deflated. His eyes widened as the turtle turned it's large backside towards him and tilted down. The slim-covered quahog clam on it's back opened to look at Franky. The unmistakable voice of the Great Wisdom of the Deep came from the clam. It's mysterious quality very much lacking at this point.

"Listen kid. You seem like a nice guy, so I'm gonna level with you. You 'Kings of the Deep' come up in here every so often. Asking questions. Stirring up trouble. They've got you Young Ones all confused and distracted. The Old Ones don't want y'all to know the truth. The big truth. Like mucho grande truth. You knuckleheads ain't Kings of anything. Those hairless surface creatures, with their floating islands call the shots around here. Now if I were you I'd probably forget about this whole thing. Make some pups, fight a seal. Don't stir the seaweed, if you know what I mean. You wouldn't want to end up in some humans stomach, would ya?"

Franky floated, jaws wide in shock. With a snap he shook his head. "What?! That's a thing? Those meat sticks can eat us?"

This was by far the worst Thursday of Franky's life.