Welcome to the 2nd chapter. Let's throw a wrench into this for a bit, shall we?

CHAPTER 2 – A Truly Evil Plan Foiled

We all woke up, but for some reason the alarm wasn't plugged in. The clock said it was 8:30. "Hey, who unplugged the alarm?" I whispered to the group, in case Emily was still sleeping. They all whispered back to me that it wasn't them. I poked my head below to Emily's bunk and saw her brown fur wrapped up in the blanket.

I would have asked her if she could think of how it got unplugged, but I didn't want to disturb her sleeping. We all quietly filed up for our training and as usual, did well. "I wonder how our child will do at this," I said speaking of Emily and myself. "Both of you did well when we taught you, so it should do great as well," Marlene said to me.

I still wasn't getting any sign that Emily was awake, so I then resumed the conversation. "I sure hope so. After all, those enemies are still out there. It's been nearly a year since the last revenge from Blowhole," I said. Anna, Sam, and I all shivered with that memory. *

"Thank goodness that can't happen again. I'm still never flying in a plane," Sam said. "Me either. Only in the suits," Anna said. "That Blowhole, from what you showed us, was absolutely insane. Thank goodness ours faded when you fixed the timeline," Marlene said.

I still wasn't detecting if Emily was awake. The zoo was closed for today for some maintenance on the bell. We would have fixed it ourselves, but since Alice had called Gus, we knew to just let him get the job done. **

"I'm really glad for that. And the fact that he's still Mind Jacked. We did check recently and he still was doing his Flippy act at Seaville," I said. We all smiled, knowing there wouldn't be any trouble as long as he stayed that way.

But then something else started to nag at me, and it was another instinct. But it wasn't one of knowing Emily was up. "You look deep in thought and stressed. Are you alright Matthew?" Private asked me. "I'm not sure. Something's nagging at me, though. I just can't figure out what," I said.

(P to Emily) I woke up, feeling cold. Figuring the blanket probably had fallen off; I tried reaching down to the floor to get it back on. But then I realized I wasn't in my bunk. I also realized I was stuck to a wall and it wasn't at home! Even with devoting nearly all my energy to the baby, I tried with all my might to break free.

But I didn't and soon nearly ran out of any extra energy. I took a minute to recuperate. I got some energy back, but not all of it. I tried to figure out where I was, but the only light seemed to be coming from above and was shining on me. It was bright, so I squinted and turned my head.

I then tried to see anything in front of me, but couldn't. I sighed, wondering where I was and how I ended up in this predicament. I expected to be summoned up to the platform any second, but after a few minutes, nothing happened. I sighed again, wondering if Matthew's sixth sense had stopped working in the night.

"Come on Emily. Just think this through," I thought to myself. Looking down at my belly, it was slightly bigger than the day before. That made me feel better, knowing nothing had happened to the baby. "Let's see. I haven't been summoned to the platform on top. I'm stuck to this weird wall. I also have no idea how I ended up here. Where could I be?" I wondered to myself.

Suddenly, lots of lights turned on and I closed my eyes so they wouldn't blind me. "Ah, you're finally awake," a voice said. It had an evil-sounding tone, but I didn't recognize it. The lights dimmed and I could see again. I opened my eyes, but immediately shut them. I now knew whom the voice belonged to. It was a dolphin.

Thinking back to my training, I knew it was Blowhole. I absolutely did not want to be here! I had been Otternapped in the middle of the night! "I guess you haven't been trained," Blowhole said to me. I opened my eyes and stared angrily at him. "Yeah, keep on thinking that all you want," I retorted to him.

"You really think I've been out of it for that long?" Blowhole asked me. I gulped nervously, thinking he had been spying on us for a while. "How long exactly?" I asked him, making sure to get all the information out of him that I could. "As of today, it's been two months," he said proudly.

"What do you want with me?" I asked him, angrily. "My, you women and your mood swings," he said, not very surprised. I gulped nervously again. "Oh, crud. Does he know?" I thought to myself. "What do you want with me?" I asked, trying to keep up my angered voice.

"With you? Nothing. I want what you have. I could use a new recruit," he said evilly. That frightened me. He wanted the baby! My belly started shaking, with the baby probably reacting to my thoughts and being afraid. "You'll never have my baby!" I shouted at him, extremely angered.

"We shall see. And, actually, you could be a good recruit, too. I'll just have to brainwash you first," Blowhole said to me. "No! I don't want to get brainwashed or lose the baby to him!" I thought to myself, panicked. Blowhole turned away from me and some lobsters brought in some equipment, but I couldn't tell what it was. I did see a video camera though, like the ones we had used.

I quickly tried to come up with a plan. I knew if I said anything to Matthew when Blowhole told everyone at home his absolutely evil plan, that Blowhole would learn his secret. I just hoped that Blowhole didn't know. My belly was still shaking, with the baby probably still afraid.

I was afraid as well. I had no idea where I was. I knew I could be found by the GPS chip I had, but didn't know what security Blowhole would have for me. I then thought of a plan to tell Matthew to call me back, as long as I was still in our home world. That was my one chance.

(P to myself) "What do you think it is?" Skipper asked me. "I don't know. It's… something. I sense…" I said, before deeply concentrating. "Fear. I sense fear," I answered after a minute. I concentrated deeply again, desperate for more information. I knew it was an instinct, but I wasn't afraid of anything at the moment. But the other instinct of Emily being awake hit me while I was concentrating.

I immediately dropped below and removed Emily's blanket from her bunk. She wasn't there! It was a fake Emily! Everyone dropped below and saw Emily was missing. Just as I was about to bring up the GPS Locator, the TV turned on. "Missed me anyone?" Blowhole said to us.

"Not in the slightest," I said, angered. I knew he had Emily as soon as he came on the screen. I didn't call her back, though, first wanting to see if she and the baby were all right. "What did you do with my sister?" Marlene asked Blowhole, also angered. Her claws popped out of her paws, but she didn't go feral.

Blowhole moved over and we saw Emily stuck to a wall. She looked panicked. And her belly was shaking, as if the baby were afraid. "She's right here," Blowhole said. Emily suddenly released her claws and tried with all her might to at least scratch Blowhole, but he was inches out of range.

"Why did you kidnap her?" I asked Blowhole angrily. "You really think I'd give you that information? I've learned to stop telling you that. Nothing you do will make me reveal that information," Blowhole said with an evil laugh.

Emily looked even more panicked. She started mouthing, "Call me back." Before she could even finish that, I called her back and made a huge brick fall on Blowhole's head, knocking him out. I also killed the connection. Suddenly I was knocked down by Emily herself. She cried into me, happy that she was safe again, but also because she probably had learned something about Blowhole's plan for her.

"Shh. You and the baby are safe now. It's alright, I'm here," I said, trying to comfort her. She looked up at me in tears, so afraid of what nearly had happened. Everyone continued to try and help her calm down for the next half hour before she finally stopped.

"Thank you for that. I really needed that after what we nearly went through," Emily said, speaking of herself and the baby. She was still clinging onto me, not wanting to let go. Thankfully she wasn't using her claws, so it didn't hurt. "I'm just glad you're safe," I said to her, so happy she and the baby were safe.

"I found out Blowhole's plan before he started to gloat that he got me," she said sadly. I continued to comfort her. We both felt kicks every few minutes, meaning the baby was probably happy that it and their mother were safe again. "What did he have planned?" I asked her, while still comforting her. I didn't want to see her cry again.

"He was going to brainwash me as a recruit of his! But that's not the worst part," Emily said, before sobbing into me again. We spent another 15 minutes comforting her again. She then took a few deep breaths, trying to relax after her ordeal.

"He… he wanted… the… the… baby," Emily said sadly, sobbing again. We were all shocked that Blowhole would do such a thing. He wanted a new recruit, but not just any. He literally wanted to brainwash our child and Emily against us. Emily might be able to break free, but if Blowhole had started brainwashing the baby right after they were born, there was nearly no hope there.

We all comforted Emily again. "Shh. It's alright honey. He won't ever get his hands on the baby as long as we're around," I said to her. She stopped sobbing again after a few short minutes and looked into my eyes again. She was still terrified. I looked right back at her, showing her in my eyes that I would protect our child before and after it was born.

To try and finally stop her sobbing, I kissed her full on. She gladly accepted that, kissing me right back. After we pulled apart, though, she still clung onto me for dear life. But her eyes were happy again, knowing she and the baby would be safe. "I love you honey. Nothing will ever change that," I said to her, giving her another kiss.

"I love you too. I'm so glad we were still here for you to call me back," she said to me. "Me, too. But we would have used your chip in case you weren't here," I said to her. "I'm so glad I got that," Emily said. She still didn't want to let go, knowing if she stayed close to me that she wouldn't be taken away again.

"Me too honey. I'm just glad it didn't come to that," I said to her. "Me, too. The baby was afraid of him. Somehow it was maybe reacting to my thoughts," Emily said. "I saw your belly shaking. I also thought the same thing," I said to her. Suddenly we felt two kicks again.

"Yes, my little baby. We're safe now with Daddy," Emily said to her belly. As if in response, we felt more kicks. Emily looked at me, so happy that I had saved her and our child. "If the baby is reacting to everything, that hopefully means we have a really smart kid coming," I said to Emily. She finally laughed.

"Hopefully you're right. Don't you, my baby?" she asked her belly. Once again, more kicks ensued. "Yep, smart baby on the way," I said to her after the kicks stopped. "Well, it does have smart parents," Emily said. I kissed her once again, knowing it was true.

That's where I'll end this chapter. Wow, that's a truly sinister plan. Thank goodness we could stop it. Please rate and review the chapter. I've got just two notes today.

* Referencing Book 4 here.

** Referencing how much Gus wanted to fix the Penguin's habitat in "Work Order".