It was the next day, and Barnacles was at the end of his rope.

He was playing another game: fantasize how many ways and manners in which he could die. He imagined with a knife, drowning himself, hanging. It was gruesome, but he was too tired to fight off the thoughts. He just didn't want to be here anymore.

"How 'bout a round of ping pong?" Kwazii asked him. The cat needled, "Bet I'll beat ya this time!"

Ping pong was the last thing on Barnacle's list. Truthfully, he'd rather much be alone. But that wasn't normal. The normal him would be out and about. He had to fix himself. If he acted normally, he should start getting back on his feet, right?

He had already spent enough time in his sanctuary as it was. He had already scratched himself countless times this morning. The sting still lingered on his arms, a mess underneath his fur and sleeves.

But it wasn't enough.

He took an inconspicuous breath, trying not to think about it. He focused on the game. At least, as much as he could.

Kwazii started, whooping a loud yell. That made Barnacles quirk a small smile, but it didn't overcome him. He hit back, and on they went. The volley was short, though. The ball whizzed past Barnacles as he stilled for a moment.

The windows were staring at him. They didn't move, but they somehow seemed to get bigger. Looming. Overwhelming.

His chest became tight.

He served, focusing on the ball. As it flew to the other side, his eyes lingered on Kwazii's look of pure delight-

He saw eyes of pure darkness, eyes that accompanied a large mouth, coming towards him-

The ball sailed past him again.

"C'mon, Captain, you can do better than that!" Kwazii laughed. It shouldn't have, but that stung him.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Barnacles jested. He made sure it sounded genuine.

He hit again. And again. And again.

He kept missing.

His heart sunk.

Kwazii changed from a smile, to a confused expression, to one Barnacles didn't understand.

Barnacles hit it again. It sailed, went over the net-

And completely went past Kwazii. The cat's arms hung limply at his sides. There was silence, except for the sound of the ball rolling, rolling, then stop. (Thank goodness there was noise, the noise of the cat's breathing. It was close, but it wasn't that overwhelming quiet.)

Kwazii looked at him, really looked at him. Barnacles eyes started to sting, but he forced himself to keep it in. He was not going to cry in front of anyone.

He'd rather die.

"Captain, why are you holding back?" Kwazii said quietly, in a way that was clear there was a double meaning.

Barnacles was about to speak, but the stupid lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything.

Barnacles was sure that the events of last night did something to him, broke some dam. That unnatural loneliness had corrupted him more. Now he was at a deeper level, deeper in this brokenness.

His mind screamed in frustration.

He didn't know how to fix this!

"What's wrong?" Kwazii pressed. He rounded the corner of the table but stopped when Barnacles took a step back.

Get away. Get away. Get away.

"You've been acting weird today. Ya haven't been yourself."

Getawaygetawaygetawaygetawaygetaway...

"What is going-"

"Get away!" It roared from his lips, this feral cry. Kwazii stopped short, completely shocked.

He had to get out of here.

Without looking back, he ran as fast as he could to the Octochute. Down the tubes, through the Launch Bay, in the Gup, out the door.

Getawaygetawaygetawaygetawaygetaway-

Next thing Barnacles knew, he was out in the open ocean in the Gup A, several miles away from the Octopod.

His paws loosened from the controls, horrified.

What had he done?!

He lost control. He always loses control! He grabbed his head, not caring that his claws dug into flesh. He barely registered when blood dripped from his head onto the dashboard.

What's he to do now? They'll know he left. Not only did Kwazii see him go, they would be able to track the Gup A down. Should he swim out of the Gup? Should he go to land, just give up and leave the Octonauts?

No, he made a promise to protect others with his life. This was where he's needed the most. He couldn't back out. That wasn't how he was raised. That wasn't how he was supposed to live. And he knew, if he did leave, he wouldn't be able to handle the guilt for the rest of his life.

...But... If he didn't live anymore...

He felt weak in the knees. He leaned against the dashboard. The Gup had been parked a few feet above the ocean floor.

If he didn't live anymore, he wouldn't feel this, the pain sadness regret fear he would be free from all of this he doesn't have to deal with expectations-

"Get a hold of yourself!" Now he was on his knees, eyes unfocused. First the emotional breakdown last night, now this. This was happening more frequently.

...Was this insanity?

He didn't know.

"Dashi to Captain Barnacles," the radio sprang to life.

"Stop calling me that!" he cried. A part of his mind wondered where the other half had gone.

The radio link wasn't opened; she couldn't hear the last slip up, the last mistake.

"Dashi to Captain Barnacles. Please, answer me-"

The radio cut off with a crackle and spark. Barnacles pulled his paw back, palm filled with wires. Another gouge. The tracking device was destroyed as well.

He was alone, finally alone. He sank down to the floor again.

What should he do now?


Kwazii was livid.

"If we don't get the Captain back soon, I swear that I'll-"

"I'm working on it!" Dashi snapped. Everyone huddled around her in the HQ. After the Captain left, Kwazii's cries stirred up the entire Octopod. Everyone came to him in a hurry, but the only thing he could tell them was that Captain Barnacles left.

"I don't know what happened. We were just playing ping pong, and he wasn't doing as well as before. Then he's yelling at me to leave him alone and ran off."

Dashi pressed a couple buttons. On the map appeared the Gup A. "I have a visual on him," she said. "He's a few miles away."

She pressed a button. "Dashi to Captain Barnacles." She waited a few moments. Nothing. Her anxiety spiked.

"Dashi to Captain Barnacles. Please, answer me-"

Everything erupted in static. A second later, the Gup A disappeared from the map.

Dashi frantically pressed buttons. It was all in vain.

"I lost visual on him!"

"Did he just..." Peso stepped forward. He was in total disbelief. Dashi couldn't blame him.

"Could something have happened to him?" Shellington asked.

"No, it doesn't look like it." Coming from the engineer, that was as good as fact. "I think..." Tweak paused, then swallowed. "I think he doesn't want to be found."

The Vegimals huddled together, talking to each other quietly in distress.

"But why!?" Kwazii cried. "Did I do something wrong? Is something bothering him?"

Tunip saw Codish wring his flippers and look away. The pink Vegimal opened his mouth, then shut it.

"Codish, do you know anything about this?" Tunip asked in Vegimalnese.

Codish stilled, tense. All of his brothers' eyes were on him. He felt so confused.

"I'm... not supposed to tell anyone..."

Shellington overheard and looked over, furrowing his brows.

Tunip asked, "Tell anyone what?"

"What is he saying?" Kwazii demanded. Codish flinched.

"Hold on," Tweak raised a paw to shush him.

Shellington got closer to the pink Vegimal. "Please," he said softly, "Tell us all you know. It could help him."

That seemed to do the trick, because after a few more moments of uncertainty, Codish took a deep breath. He then spoke a long dialogue, and Shellington translated. Shellington condensed everything, sharing the most important parts.

"Codish says that he was hearing him practice his music, and the Captain roared. When Codish looked into the room, the accordion was broken."

"I thought he had thrown it," Codish said. "That he was angry because of his lessons. But he said he just dropped it, that it was an accident, and not to tell anybody." He looked down. "I know I'm stupid and don't understand things, so of course I believed him."

"You're not stupid," Grouber cut in, putting a flipper on his back.

"But I had a bad feeling," Codish continued. "He seemed strange, different."

"He wasn't eating as much as he used to," Tunip added. "But he was acting normally, so I didn't think much about it. I kept an eye on it, though."

Shellington translated, then said, "Last night, I heard a scream and shuffling, but didn't find anything. I thought it was a creature that stowed away on the ship but…" His brow furrowed, as if he didn't know what to think "... could that have been the Captain? The voice had sounded familiar…"

"I also noticed that his behavior was off," Dashi added. "Recently, he wanted the knives in the kitchen to be locked up-"

"What?" Kwazii suddenly felt cold.

His fear must have seemed like anger, because Dashi took on a defensive tone, "He said he was afraid that outsiders could come in and accidentally hurt themselves."

"That's not an unreasonable concern," Peso said, wringing his flippers.

"Yes, but it was his demeanor, his eyes..." Dashi said. "Besides, it's been so long since anyone had snuck in here; it rarely happens. The timing of it all seemed off."

Kwazii got a sinking feeling, a dawning realization that what had happened to Calico could very well happen again. That history would repeat itself, and that the curse of the Bánaithe Serpent would continue on in the Captain.

They were running out of time.

He headed to the Octochute.

"Where are you going?" Tweak asked, surprised.

"I'm going after him."


Kwazii entered the Gup with all senses on high alert. Thankfully, the Gup hadn't moved an inch from where he had seen it on the map. Kwazii blinked, then suddenly felt nauseous. The Captain sat in a fetal position, head against his knees. There was blood on his head, dripping down onto the ground. Kwazii could see it on the dashboard too. He was about to run to him when the Captain peeked up at him with one eye.

"Please, go away."

He then put his face back down, acting like he wasn't bleeding everywhere. Kwazii stood still, feeling completely at a loss again. This situation was the most delicate that he ever had to navigate through. He wasn't good with emotions. But, he couldn't just leave him there. Calico's journal came to mind.

"I'm not going anywhere, Captain," Kwazii said. For some reason, the polar bear curled even more into himself. "If ya don't want to talk, that's fine. I'll just be here." He glanced at the blood between the fur on the Captain's head. It honestly scared him. "Just making sure nothing happens." With that, he took a seat himself, sitting against the wall furthest from the polar bear.

There was silence for several minutes. The Captain didn't move from his position, only occasionally tightening his arms or rubbing his face against his knees agitatedly, as if he was restless. Kwazii had never seen him like this before, and it made his blood turn cold. But he was staying there no matter what.

Kwazii had no idea what went through the Captain's mind, if the polar bear forgot Kwazii was even in the room, but the pirate leapt forward even before he could comprehend what was happening.

"Woah, woah! Stop!"

A couple orange paws grabbed his arm before it could land another blow. If Kwazii was scared before, he was terrified now.

Captain Barnacles immediately stopped moving his arm.

"Why are you hurting yourself?" Kwazii's voice was an octave higher. With blood still on him, he was hitting his head. It was the most messed-up thing Kwazii had ever seen. And the Captain was doing it.

There were a few tense moments, but Captain Barnacles didn't answer. Kwazii lowered the polar bear's arm. "We need to go back," Kwazii muttered, making his way to pushing his radio collar.

Now it was the Captain's turn to hold onto the cat. "No, don't do that! They'll kick me out of the Octonauts!"

"And that's better than you going off the deep end!" Kwazii said. He stood up and pressed on his radio collar. This needed to be dealt with now.


Barnacles was limp, letting him go without a fight, gazing dully as the cat paced on his call, asking for reinforcements.

They all know. A sinking feeling landed in his stomach, keeping him from moving. He had failed. There was no use fighting anymore.

He got his answer.

He needed to die.