A/N: Series: The Deep.
Synopsis: When Ant gets trapped on an underwater exploration, it'll be up to Jeffrey and his new dolphin friends to help him find a way out.
Notes: To be perfectly honest, I'd be more surprised if you were familiar with this show than I would be if everyone just went, "What is The Deep?" It's a pretty underrated show, I believe. That's probably due to forced tension and not very impressive villains (give poor Alpheus a break. As much as he tries, I don't think he really has an evil bone in his body.) But, I love the character interactions! Ant and Fontaine's sibling banter -cough-arguing-cough-, Finn's awkwardness about his "evil" family, and Will, Kaiko, and Hammerhead just being such proud parents. It's so much fun to watch!
"Now that I think about it, this was a bad idea."
Hands out in front of him and one leg stuck uncomfortably in rocks, Ant was really starting to regret his solo expedition so early in the morning.
If he was lucky, his parents would wonder where he had gone and check the ship. If he was really lucky, they might notice that one of the Knights was missing and track it. If he was really, really lucky, that would all happen before the whole cavern decided to collapse on him.
"Jeffrey," Ant said nervously to his fish companion. "Why didn't I take the Swamp Knight?"
He knew, of course. The Swamp Knight wasn't nearly as quick and agile as the Shadow Knight that Ant preferred, but it would have such an easier time with the pile of rocks ready to collapse on top of him.
Jeffrey blew a nervous stream of bubbles and swam up to push against the rocks. Ant smiled at him.
"Thanks for the help," Ant said, laughing a bit at the fish's seeming pleased expression.
Ant studied the rocks that had lured him out alone. The family had noticed the glowing veins of yellow and blue the previous night, but his parents had insisted on waiting until morning to investigate the unfamiliar cavern.
Ant had waited until morning. Just barely. Was it his fault that excitement had woken him way before anyone else? He'd decided to get a head start on the studying. At least he'd gone in a Knight, Ant figured. The cavern had turned out to be extremely unstable, and had started to collapse when Ant had pulled out a rock sample that was apparently holding up the entire place.
Which was how Ant had ended up in his predicament. The Shadow Knight was holding up the wall, but just barely. The Knight's engine was getting overheated from constantly running to push against the stones. And in his scramble to catch the stones when they shifted, one of the legs had jammed into a gap and gotten stuck when the rocks settled.
"Shadow Knight to the Aronnax," Ant said. When all that he got was static, he glanced at Jeffrey. "I think the rocks must have damaged my comms. I sure hope nothing else is damaged…"
Jeffrey blew some bubbles.
"Don't worry, life support is still online," Ant assured his worried fish. "All we have to do is wait for everyone to notice I'm missing," Ant commented.
Ant passed a couple more minutes with idle, nervous chatter. Exactly how much earlier than the others had he gotten up? His father was an early riser, surely he would have noticed… no, not necessarily. Even people outside the family knew that Will could be slightly… oblivious at times. It would be up to his mother to notice that Ant hadn't started nagging to check out the cavern yet. Or Fontaine.
"Oh, please don't let it be Fontaine to find me," Ant pleaded to no one.
A slow beep started, distracting Ant from his thoughts. He looked at the in-suit screen and groaned when he saw that the engine was dangerously hot.
"Time to go, Jeffrey," Ant said.
Considering the fact that three of the Knight's limbs were all that was holding the wall up, Ant had preferred staying put over risking not being fast enough to get out of the cavern. But, it looked like the Knight had decided for him.
First off, free his leg. Bracing the Knight's arms, Ant jerked his leg. It moved a couple inches, then caught. Stone ground against stone as the wall settled further. Ant heard a distinct crunch. A rush of cold water against his leg warned him of what had happened before the Knight's alarm blared in his ear.
"Gah!" Ant yelped, jerking his head away from the speakers.
Ant looked down, feeling water rapidly filling the inside of the Knight. Locking the Knight's arms, Ant pulled his own arms free and scrambled to grab his re-breather.
He looked up, already feeling water around his waist, to make sure he knew in which direction to swim. His eyes widened at the sight of the entrance collapsing.
Another shift of stone dropped the Knight sharply into an angle. Ant slammed against the side of the compartment. He sputtered when water splashed into his face, but didn't have time to pause. He jammed the re-breather into his mouth, and slammed a hand on the eject button.
The compartment lid could only open halfway due to the boulder, so Ant had to squirm out. As he freed himself, the rock sample that had still been in the Knight's claw dropped. Ant automatically grabbed it, determined to at least get something out of getting stuck.
The wall ground again and dropped. The shifting was finally enough for the roof, which started to crack. Ant kicked quickly backward and treaded water as he spun around.
Between the glowing of the Knight and the walls, Ant was able to take stock of his grim situation. While he'd been freeing himself, the entrance had closed completely!
Ant spun around, trying not to panic. His eyes fell on the hole where the wall had broken away. There was a tunnel behind it! It could lead out!
Waving Jeffrey along, Ant swam toward the hole. Halfway there, Ant flinched away from a chunk of stone, then felt something large and heavy hit his back.
Ant was shoved down several feet before he was able to shove free and turn to see the boulder that had hit him. If it hadn't been for the water, he'd have been crushed! The thought vanished, though, as Ant put a hand to his mouth and discovered something else. His re-breather had fallen!
Before Ant could decide whether or not to risk searching for the re-breather, movement caught his eye. He beamed as Jeffrey swam up to him, re-breather held carefully in his mouth. Ant gratefully took it back and replaced it, trying not to cough as he swallowed the little bit of water that had ended up in his mouth.
Ant turned and swam away from the collapsing cavern. He pulled himself into the dark tunnel and moved as quickly as he could down the pitch-black tunnel until he couldn't feel the shaking. Only then did he dare pause.
Ant held up the dully-glowing rock sample. It didn't even provide enough light to see to his elbow, but it was a comfort. Especially when Jeffrey swam into the dim glow.
"Okay, we're out of danger," Ant thought. "Now we just have to find a way outside… in the dark… does this tunnel even lead out?"
Shaking away the concerning thought, Ant forged onward. He only made it a couple feet before his head hit something. Reaching a hand out, Ant found a solid stone wall ending the tunnel.
Ant felt a surge of panic, but he determinedly pushed it aside. Panicking wouldn't help, only slow him down.
Ant carefully felt the walls around him, getting a better feel for the tunnel. It was tall enough that if he put his feet to the floor and stretched, he could barely touch the ceiling. The tunnel was wider than his arm span.
Ant turned to search for another tunnel he might have passed. He noticed a yellow and blue glow further back, though he knew there hadn't been any glowing rocks between the cavern and his location. His confusion only grew when he realized the glow was moving.
Ant backed away, then felt his back hit stone. Right, dead end. With no way to escape from whatever was coming his way, Ant clutched his stone more tightly and tensed.
The glow came closer, until, ten feet away from Ant, the boy was able to make out features on the glowing creatures. He nearly laughed before remembering and clenching his lips.
Two young dolphins clicked at Ant as they circled him curiously. Markings on their heads and sides were the cause of the glow, and were bright enough for Ant to see their whole form. One dolphin had blue markings, while the other had yellow.
"Cool!" Ant thought. "Mum would love these guys!"
The dolphins' presence also meant that there had to be some way outside! Dolphins couldn't breathe underwater, so they had to get outside somehow. As if on cue, the dolphins squeaked and turned to swim away.
"Lead the way," Ant thought.
Ant and Jeffrey followed the dolphins back the way they had come. Midway to the collapsed cavern, they turned into another tunnel that Ant had gone right by.
"Score!"
Ant followed the dolphins for several minutes. The tunnel twisted and turned, and often had other tunnels connected to it. If it hadn't been for his guides, Ant would have been quickly lost. Finally, the dolphins swam up a tunnel toward light, and the four of them burst into open air.
Except… it wasn't outside. Ant groaned in dismay when he saw that they had emerged into a cave with an air pocket. The glow was simply more glowing rocks.
Ant pulled out the re-breather and took a hesitant breath. Surprisingly, the air was fresh and cool, not stale like an underwater air pocket should have been.
"Where's the air coming from?" Ant asked aloud.
The blue-marked dolphin clicked.
"Right, I guess it doesn't matter to you guys where the air comes from," Ant said, shrugging "Well, this is good, but I have to get out of here." He lifted his communicator. "Ant to the Aronnax, does anyone hear me?"
A moment of silence passed, then Ant lowered his arm with a sigh. Either the communicator was damaged, or there was too much stone above him.
"Well, at least there's air here," Ant said gratefully. He studied his rebreather. "I've only got two hours to swim. As much as I'd love to explore these tunnels, how do you guys get out?"
The young dolphins clicked at him. Ant clicked back, making them squeal and bob in the water. Ant laughed as they ducked under the water and swam around him, then looked at Jeffrey.
"What do you think, Jeffrey? If I wait, maybe Dad or Mum can dig us out. Or, should we trying and find a new way out ourselves?"
Jeffrey blew some bubbles.
"Find our own way out!" Ant said, as if Jeffrey had spoken. "Great idea! Hey, what are you doing?"
The last part was addressed to the yellow-marked dolphin. It had started nibbling on Ant's rock sample. Ant pulled to the stone away and held it out of the water. He blinked and looked closer when he realized that some of the glow had vanished!
"Did you… just eat the rock?" Ant asked.
The dolphin clicked, revealing specks of yellow stuck in its mouth.
Ant studied the rock more closely. He scraped a nail on the glowing surface, causing some of the glow to flake off and fall into the water, where it was eagerly eaten by the young dolphins.
"It's not the rock that's glowing!" Ant said. "It must be some sort of bioluminescent algae. Woah, Mum is going to love this!"
It explained why the tunnels were so dark. The dolphins were so fond of the algae, they must have eaten it all. Although, that was a lot of algae for two little dolphins...
"How many of you are there in here?" Ant asked, starting to suspect that there was more than the curious pair in the tunnels.
The dolphins clicked and ducked under the water to swim away. Ant replaced his re-breather, then he and Jeffrey followed.
After a few more minutes of swimming, Ant caught sight of more glowing movement. He swam eagerly forward, then found himself emerging into an underwater cave to large for the young dolphins' glow to light up. Ant could tell that it was massive, though, from ten more dolphin glow-markings moving around.
One of the new dolphins moved closer, clicking. It was larger than the pair and had yellow markings.
The younger pair swam closer, squeaking excitedly. The trio swam in circles around each other, obviously happy. Ant wondered his companions were the elder's kids.
The blue-marked dolphin turned to Ant and clicked. The older dolphin swam closer and around Ant while the boy treaded water. After a couple circuits, the older dolphin stopped and squealed. Immediately, the other dolphins swam closer to swim around Ant as well.
"I think I just got introduced to the family," Ant thought with a grin.
Jeffrey, overwhelmed by the sudden company, wasn't as enthusiastic. He swam to hide under Ant's arm. A very young dolphin swam close to Jeffrey and squeaked. Jeffrey blew some bubbles, making the dolphin make excited clicking noises. Jeffrey hesitantly moved into the open. The dolphins clicked and turned to him, causing him to hide again.
After another couple minutes of "introductions," the dolphins began to swim up. Ant followed them, and was unsurprised when they emerged into an air pocket lit by algae.
Ant removed his re-breather. "You guys must live here, huh?"
The younger pair clicked. Ant clicked back, causing an excited burst of noise from the others. Ant laughed as the dolphins nudged him.
"Okay, okay, what did I say?"
Ant's smile faded a bit as he watched the dolphin family click to each other.
"My own family will be missing me," Ant told the young pair. "I need to get outside, to my family. Is there a way out?"
Ant held his breath as the dolphin pod clicked amongst each other. Dolphins were smart, but were they smart enough to recognize his request?
The parent dolphin swam in front of Ant and stopped, obviously inviting Ant to grab on. Ant hesitated, then shrugged.
"Have faith in the fish." Ant paused in putting his re-breather back. "Well, mammal."
Ant made sure Jeffrey was floating in the crook of his arm, then grabbed onto the offered dorsal fin and was pulled under the water.
The dolphin swam much faster than Ant ever could, even pulling Ant's weight. Aside from the dolphin's kids, the other dolphins were soon left behind. Ant was pulled into a new tunnel, where seaweed coated the tunnel floor. Small fish darted around in the seaweed and crevices in the tunnel walls.
Ant stared back at the seaweed and fish as he was pulled into another, empty tunnel. There was enough in the tunnel to feed the whole pod! No wonder they had taken up living inside the tunnels.
After several minutes, the dolphin pulled Ant to the surface of the water and clicked. Ant let go and studied the new air pocket.
It was about ten feet in diameter. The walls were worn smooth from the lapping water, except for a part of the roof where the water didn't reach. There was a slight glow coming from one wall.
Ant pulled out his re-breather. "Just stopping for some air?"
The three dolphins squeaked. The young yellow-marked dolphin bumped the glowing wall with its nose and clicked, urging Ant to swim closer.
Unlike the rest of the air pocket, there was a section of wall that wasn't solid. The glow wasn't coming from algae, Ant realized as he peered closer, but from gaps in the wall!
"This could be the way out, Jeffrey!" Ant exclaimed.
Ant put in his re-breather and ducked under the water. He felt along the crumbled wall for a larger gap. The crumbled area was about the size of the White Knight, but none of the gaps were bigger than Ant's fist.
Ant wriggled his hand into one of the larger gaps. The hole went straight, but it was hard to tell how thick it was besides being longer than his arm. He carefully extracted his hand, not wanting to get a limb stuck again.
Ant tugged and pushed at the stone, but it didn't budge. Ant groaned as he kicked furiously in the water, then had to give up and return to the surface.
"Is there any other way out?" Ant asked hopefully.
The adult dolphin squeaked and didn't move. Ant thought back to the mass of seaweed and fish, dread filling him as realization struck.
"You're all stuck in here, too?"
The younger dolphins squeaked, seeming none too concerned with their predicament. Who knew, maybe they'd spent their whole lives there. There was air, food, plenty of water, and no predators.
"Ant to the Aronnax, please come in!" Ant called.
Again, he got no response. Starting to get frightened, Ant replaced the re-breather and dove to shove at the stones anew. The dolphins even pitched in, but the effort didn't budge the stones.
When the dolphins had to surface, Ant slumped on the tunnel floor. He was stuck. How long would it take for his family to dig out the cavern and get him out? Ant loved the water and swimming, but he didn't want to be stranded away from his family!
Something tickled Ant's nose. Ant lifted his head to see Jeffrey batting him with his fins. The fish swam over to one of the larger gaps and floated beside it. Ant shook his head and returned to the surface to talk.
"I can't fit, Jeffrey," Ant said, exasperated at his fish friend. "I'm not as small as…" Ant beamed. "Wait, you can get Dad and Mum! They could clear out the stone with the Knights."
If a fish could smile, Jeffrey was sure doing it. Ant laughed.
"You're a genius! Okay, Jeffrey, fetch! Go get Dad and Mum!"
Jeffrey ducked under the water. Ant followed him to a gap and watched the fish squirm out of sight.
"Be careful," Ant thought.
Ant surfaced. The dolphin trio was waiting for him, and clicked curiously at him.
"Don't worry, guys," Ant said, grinning. "Jeffrey's going to bring help."
The dolphins squeaked, sharing Ant's excitement. Ant laughed. There were definitely worse ways to pass the time than with a bunch of friendly dolphins.
"I wonder if you're an undiscovered species," Ant mused, running a hand over glowing markings. "You guys will need a name!"
The dolphins clicked.
"Hm, glowing dolphins… How about…" Ant snapped his fingers. "Glophins!"
The dolphins fell silent, staring at Ant.
Ant shrugged. "No good? Yeah, not my best idea, but let's see you come up with better!"
The blue-marked dolphin squeaked.
"When we learn what that means in human words, I'll consider it," Ant allowed.
Time passed quickly as Ant played with the dolphins. He didn't dare leave the cave, but he was having the time of his life diving and splashing with the carefree mammals.
Ant was so distracted that it took him a moment to register the purple-and-yellow blur that swam in front of him. As soon as he did, though, he surface with a huge grin.
"Jeffrey!" Ant cupped his hands around the fish. "Did you get Dad and Mum?"
Jeffrey responded by diving. Ant and the dolphins followed him. Jeffrey swam out the gap, then back a moment later. At the same time, a bright light shined through the gap.
The dolphins squeaked and darted down the tunnel. Ant looked at them, then back to the gap. He looked down at his wrist communicator as it flashed slightly, wishing that he could talk to whoever was on the other end.
Ant stayed in front of the tunnel, hoping whoever was outside could see him. After a minute, he heard his mother's voice amplified from a Knight's external speakers.
"Kaiko to Ant, can you hear me?"
"I hear you," Ant thought.
Ant shoved his hand into the gap and stretched as far as he could go. Something smooth touched his fingertips, then he heard his mother.
"I see you, Ant! Are you okay?"
Ant gave her a thumbs-up.
"Is there another way out of there?"
Ant turned his thumb down.
"Okay, Ant, we'll get you out," Will said, also over a Knight's speakers. "Can you move back?"
Ant gave an eager thumbs-up and pulled away. He ducked down into the tunnel with Jeffrey, where the dolphins waited.
"They don't like the light," Ant realized. "Maybe they have spent their whole lives down here, in the dim light."
"Will to Ant, we're coming in!"
Scraping filled the tunnel. Ant braced himself against the wall, silently cheering as light flooded the cave. He turned to the dolphins, who were acting uncomfortable in the bright light.
"Go on, you guys," Ant thought, running a hand over their heads. "My family can take it from here."
The elder dolphin clicked and swam away. The younger pair squeaked and nudged Ant before swimming away more slowly. Ant waved at them, then turned up to watch his parents' progress.
After a few minutes, Kaiko called to Ant to come out. Ant and Jeffrey swam into the cave, where they found half the crumbled section cleared out. Ant eagerly swam out, where he was greeted by his parents, his dad in the Swamp Knight and his mother in the White Knight.
"Ant!" Kaiko exclaimed, taking Ant gently in the Knight's arms. "Are you alright?"
Ant smiled and nodded, then threw in a thumbs-up for good measure. Kaiko's relief was clear on her face through the clear dome of the Knight. Still holding Ant, she moved slowly to the surface of the ocean.
"The prodigal son returns," said Fontaine's voice.
Ant looked up and saw that she was leaning over the side of the speedboat. While her statement was teasing, Ant could see the relief on her face as well.
Will opened the dome of his Knight. "What happened? We had just realized that you and the Shadow Knight were missing, then Jeffrey appeared in the Moon Pool alone. He led us all the way here."
Ant removed his re-breather. "Well… remember that cavern last night?"
Ant's family made a collective noise of realization. Fontaine, Ant noticed, was smirking.
"Yeah, there. Anyway, the cavern collapsed, and Jeffrey and I were trapped in an underwater tunnel system that we found," Ant explained. He looked at Kaiko excitedly. "I think we discovered a new species of dolphin! I call them… glophins!"
"You're deluded," Fontaine informed him, reaching a hand down.
"They weren't fond of the name, either," Ant admitted as his mother raised him out of the water. With Fontaine's help, Ant scrambled into the boat, still talking. "But the point is, they glowed! And, the whole pod is trapped down there, but I think it must have happened a long time ago. They didn't like the bright lights."
"Glowing dolphins?" Kaiko repeated. "That's incredible."
"Yeah, it's because of the algae that they eat," Ant explained, holding out the rock sample for his mother to take. "Hey, did you bring the Jorange?"
Fontaine handed over the mobile fish tank. Ant positioned it so Jeffrey could hop inside, then smiled at the fish.
"Jeffrey's a hero!"
"Why didn't you dig your way out?" Fontaine asked. "The Shadow Knight should…"
Ant winced as Fontaine trailed off.
"Ant," Kaiko said. "Where's the Shadow Knight?"
"Um… still buried in the cavern," Ant said, shrinking in on himself.
Kaiko and Will exchanged looks, seeming more bemused than upset.
"We'll have some digging to do, then you'll be helping put the Shadow Knight back into commission," Kaiko said. "Until then, no using the Knights, got it?"
"Yes, Mum," Ant said sheepishly.
Kaiko gave him a smile. "I'm just glad you're alright."
Ant leaned to the side and dared to request, "Could we block up the tunnel again? The dolphins seem pretty happy to be alone in the dark."
Kaiko nodded. "We can."
"I'll make it so that they can push the rocks out of the way if food or space become an issue," Will added.
"Great!" Ant said. "They know that the tunnel leads out, so they'll be able to figure out how to get outside if they need to!"
"And there are dolphin lovers at a nearby island," Fontaine said. "They can keep an eye on the dolphins."
Ant grinned at his family's quickly formed plans. Will closed his dome and ducked out of sight, while Fontaine started up the speedboat. Kaiko drifted alongside them.
"Along the way, why don't you tell me about the dolphins' home?" Kaiko suggested.
Ant eagerly agreed, rapidly launching into descriptions of the tunnels and seaweed beds as the Nektons headed for the Aronnax.