Merpup Kingdom

By Notsoevilphanphiction, loosely based on an idea by Mattwurm99

This is a short story I came up with while trying to write my upcoming mini-novel, Turbot's Nightmare. Enjoy! (Turbot's Nightmare is coming soon!)

It was an average day in Adventure Bay. Everyone was happy, including Cap'n Turbot, who was enjoying a nice day on his ship, the Flounder.

"Ah, what a beautiful day!" he said, to no one in particular. He walked up the stairs to his steering wheel and decided to take the boat out to sea. The Cap'n whistled as he traveled.

Cap'n Turbot wasn't paying attention to the time. Three hours had passed and he was still moving farther out into the open ocean. He stopped the boat and looked back. "There's no sign of land anywhere! I'd better rush back home, quick!" he shouted.

"Which way is home?" he asked himself, worried. "I guess I should pull out my compass…" Suddenly he heard a loud creaking sound coming from the floorboards. "I think I have bigger problems than getting home…something's wrong with the Flounder!"

Cap'n Turbot scanned the ship, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. "That means something's happening underwater!"

The Cap'n put on his emergency scuba gear and dived into the water. Immediately, he saw a massive squid-like creature. "Wow, I've never seen such a cephalopod! Francois would love it if I took a picture…" Cap'n Turbot took out his underwater camera and was about to snap a photo when the squid's arm reached out and grabbed him.

"Aaahh!" he screamed as the creature moved him upwards into the air. "This is no squid - it's a kraken! I guess this is the end of old Cap'n Turbot…"

The Cap'n accidentally let go of his camera and it fell onto the kraken's large eye. It let go of Cap'n Turbot and he fell onto the Flounder's deck.

"Woohoo! I survived!" the Cap'n yelled with glee. "To Adventure Bay I go!" he shouted as he took out a compass.

After a while, he had arrived at the dock and left the ship. "Wait until I tell Ryder!" Cap'n Turbot said excitedly. He was walking to the Lookout when Wally the Walrus appeared.

"Oh, hey, Wally! How's it going, buddy?" asked the Cap'n. Wally barked angrily and left with a mad look on his face.

"What was that all about?" Cap'n Turbot asked himself, confused. "Maybe I should go see if anything's wrong with his walrus family…"

Cap'n Turbot found Wally's wife, Walinda, and her walrus pup child swimming. "How's everything been?" he asked them. They looked away from the sea captain and went underwater.

"I wonder what's gotten into them…" he told himself. He decided to cancel his plans to tell Ryder about his day and instead take the Diving Bell underwater to inspect the walruses' habitat.

When he got underwater, every fish avoided his vehicle. "They normally aren't so frightened." Cap'n Turbot noticed. He then spotted a shiny-looking object in the distance and chose to check it out.

As he approached the object, he realized that it was the top of an undersea castle. "Is this Atlantis?" he asked himself.

A merpup had overheard the Cap'n's question and responded, "No, this is the Merpup Kingdom."

"Wow! You can talk?" Cap'n Turbot asked the merpup. "I certainly can. Only some of us merpups can speak - I feel bad for the ones who can't," the sea dog explained.

After finishing his sentence, the merpup displayed a look of shock on his face. "Wait - you're the evildoer who hurt our king! Run!" screamed the merpup as he swam away.

"King? I didn't do anything to a king merpup!" the Cap'n tried to explain, but the merpup was long gone.

The merpup swam away, quickly. Cap'n Turbot was very confused. He steered the Diving Bell farther into the city until he spotted a paper sign.

"Wanted," the sign read. "Human who hurt King Kraken. Wears glasses and ugly yellow overalls."

Cap'n Turbot realized what he had done. "It was an accident! I dropped my camera on him…" he began. "And it was all because he picked me up and I was scared!"

Another merpup approached him and said, "I believe you. But all of Merpup Kingdom thinks you're an evil criminal, so you'll have to hide!"

The merpup escorted the Cap'n to an undersea house made of coral. "Go inside there and I'll tell you everything you need to know," instructed the merpup.

Cap'n Turbot put on his diving helmet and swam into the house. The merpup was waiting for him inside.

"My name is Mel the Merpup. I've been living in Merpup Kingdom all of my life…" he started.

"But what about the kraken?" Cap'n Turbot asked, impatiently. Mel sighed and started speaking again.

"The kraken is the king of the sea, not just Merpup Kingdom. If you mess with him, you mess with the sea!"

Cap'n Turbot was speechless. "But I love the sea! My name's Cap'n Turbot for a reason!"

The merpup analyzed the Cap'n's dilemma. "All you'll have to do to regain the sea's trust is make a speech at today's Town Hall meeting. Just explain what happened and hopefully, they'll understand."

Cap'n Turbot prepared his story to tell to the entire ocean. The meeting was starting soon and he had to get to the town hall without anyone noticing him from the wanted posters.

Cap'n Turbot put on his diving helmet and removed his glasses. "Now I look much different than my poster," he told himself. He then swam off to the meeting.

A large blue fish was at the podium, talking about taxes. "Boring…" muttered the Cap'n as he snuck up to where the fish was speaking.

"Attention Merpup Kingdom!" Cap'n Turbot began. "You may know me as the horrible person who hurt your king…but it was an accident! I dropped my camera and it hit the king's eye. I'm really sorry and hope you can forgive me."

The sea creatures watching him stared in shock. "Wow," one said. "How brave," said another.

Suddenly, a green dolphin shouted, "I don't care if it was an accident! He hurt our leader. Let's get him!" Fish from all around darted at the Cap'n.

Cap'n Turbot screamed and dashed away. He found his Diving Bell and steered it away at full speed. He screamed and screamed…

Then, Cap'n Turbot woke up, his heart beating fast and his head aching. "Oh…it was just a bad dream…" he told himself, looking around his room. Everything was dark and Francois was fast asleep in the opposite bed. Cap'n Turbot glanced at the clock, which read 4 AM. He decided to go back to sleep.

Outside, everything was quiet, except for a merpup under the water. "I wonder what happened to that Turbot guy…" he pondered.

The End