Chapter 2

The bus drove through the city, as the kids chattered and Mr. Ray talked about where they were going, which was a park near an airfield. Nemo looked out the window, amazed by the sights and sounds of the city, the bright colors and the various people, all different in shape and size. Eventually, the bus made it to the park, which was an open field with various trees and pathways.

"Okay, the airfield!" said Mr. Ray, as he and kids exited the bus. "Alright kids, feel free to explore, but stay close!"

The kids obeyed, exploring the park but staying in Mr. Ray's sight. Then, when Mr. Ray spotted a rare plant, he called the students to gather around it, and began telling them interesting facts about the specimen they found. But, while he was doing that, Sheldon, Pearl, and Tad left the group, and began trudging through some bushes. Nemo saw them and, wanting to be with the kids who had talk with him on his first day, quickly galloped after them.

"Hey guys, wait up!" Nemo called out, as he rounded a large tree.

He then stopped by the trio, and when he saw what they were looking at, it amazed him even more than the city! Right in front of them was an old, grey colored, chain-link fence. And past the fence was the airfield: a large, paved strip of land with several buildings, vehicles, and airships set up on it.

"Whoa…" said Nemo, upon seeing it. "Cool…"

Tad walked up to the fence, reached out and, after a dramatic pause, grabbed it! He began letting out a yell, causing Nemo, Pearl, and Sheldon to scream, as they thought he was being shocked! After a few seconds, he stopped, and gave an obnoxious grin!

"That's not funny…" said Pearl, her tone embarrassed.

"That was great!" Sheldon laughed, before saying, "Hey, look!"

He then pointed to a hole in the fence, which was large enough for three kids to fit under. He then went to it, and slipped under the fence.

"Look at all this!" said Sheldon, his tone amazed. "Come on guys! Let's go check out that giant truck over there!"

"Okay!" Pearl replied, climbing underneath the fence.

Tad climbed under next, and then he said, "Come on, Nemo! You coming over or what?"

"Uh…" Nemo spoke, his tone hesitant. "My dad said it's not safe, so I don't-"

"NEMO! NO!" Marlin yelled, suddenly appearing from behind the large tree.

"Dad?!" Nemo asked, his tone shocked.

"You were about to go out into a restricted area!" said Marlin, sounding upset.

"No, I wasn't!" Nemo replied, sounding genuinely regretful.

"It's a good thing I was here!" Marlin continued, not listening to his son. "If I hadn't come, I-"

"Sir, wait, he wasn't going to go!" said Pearl, as she and her friends climbed under the fence.

"Yeah, he said it wasn't safe!" Tad added.

"This does not concern you, kids." Marlin replied. "And you're lucky that I didn't tell you parents you were out there! And Nemo, you know you can't run very well!"

"I can run fine Dad, okay?!" Nemo fired back, now sounding annoyed.

"No, it's not okay, you shouldn't be anywhere near here!" Marlin continued. "Okay, I was right. You know what? We'll start school in a year or two!"

"NO, DAD!" Nemo yelled, pulling his arm free from Marlin's grasp, who was about to drag him away. "Just because your scared of the world-"

"Clearly you're ready, and you're not coming back until you are!" Marlin finished, not letting Nemo get a word in. "You think you can do these things, but you just can't, Nemo!"

A hurt, angered, and rebellious was on Nemo's face, and he growled out, "I hate you…"

The upset look on Marlin's face turned into one of shock; instantly, he was reminded of what he asked Coral when they first had kids…

"Uh, excuse me?" Mr. Ray, who, along with the rest of the class, had suddenly appeared from behind the tree, asked. "Is there anything problem?"

"Uh, yes." Marlin replied, turning to Mr. Ray. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt things. He can't walk, and I just don't think it's safe for him to be out here."

"Well, I can assure you he's quite safe with me."

"Look, I'm sure he is. But you have a large class of kids, and you could sight of him when you're not looking. Not to say you're not looking or anything, but it could just happen, and I don't-"

"OH MY GOSH!" yelled one of the students: a rather homely looking girl with bucked teeth. "NEMO'S OUT ON THE AIRFIELD!"

Everyone looked and saw, much to their horror and amazement, Nemo was galloping across the airfield! He was heading towards the truck that the kids were planning on checking out, and he was carrying something in his hands!

"Nemo!" Marlin yelled. "What do you think you're doing?! You're going to get stuck out there, and I'm going to have to get you before the security does! Get back here!"

But Nemo wasn't listening, as he was too focused on getting to the truck. And even if he was listening, what Marlin said wouldn't have worked; he just patronized his son, and that would've made angrier.

"I said get back here NOW!" Marlin roared, pressing his hands against the chain-link fence. "STOP!"

Nemo did stop, right by the front of the car, and he turned around to face Marlin. The look of hurt, anger, and rebellion was still on his face.

"Take one more move, mister…" Marlin growled, pointing at Nemo.

Nemo then held up what he was carrying: it was a large stone, one that required to be carried with both hands!

"No, don't you dare!" said Marlin. "If you put one dent in that truck, are you listening to me?! Don't touch the-"

With one quick move, Nemo turned on his good leg, and toss the stone as hard as he could! The stone flew into the air and hit the windshield of the truck, shattering it completely!

"NEMO!" Marlin yelled, sounding like he was about to blow a blood vessel.

"He smashed the truck's windshield." said Tad, his tone shocked.

With a smug look, Nemo started limping back towards the fence. He was going to be locked in his room for the rest of his life, but he was fine with that; he showed that he wasn't helpless.

"You just march yourself back here, Nemo!" said Marlin. "You are big trouble, young man! Do you hear me, you are-"

He suddenly stopped himself short, as from out of nowhere, a humongous mech dropped out of the sky! It was huge, about three stories high, was colored a steely black and a neon green, and it was being driven by a pilot who's flight jumpsuit and helmet were colored the same as the mech! It landed with a crash, right behind Nemo, sending him flying! Nemo turned, saw the mech reaching for him, and let out a scream of fright!

"Daddy!" Nemo yelled, trying to crawl away. "Help me!"

"I'm coming, Nemo!" Marlin yelled, slipping underneath the fence.

Suddenly, another mech dropped down in front of Marlin, causing him to be knocked to the ground! This one was just like the other one, except it was colored blue and black! Meanwhile, Mr. Ray and the other students quickly retreated back into the trees, not wanting to be seen by the mechs!

When the kids went near the fence, the airship, which could carry two mechs, was called in to investigate! Then, when Nemo broke the windshield of the truck, that was the sign for the mechs to drop down and move in! Now, the green and black mech picked up Nemo in one of its large claws, activated the rockets on its feet, and began flying away, back to the airship that it came from!

"Dad!" Nemo yelled, his tone panicked and scared. "Daddy!"

The other mech, the blue and black one, raised one of its arms towards Marlin, who was pinned against the chain-link fence! Suddenly, a flash of light appeared from its finger, blinding Marlin and disorientating him!

"Nemo!" Marlin yelled, trying to regain his vision. "Nemo! Nemo, no!"

He then blinked, regained his vision, and saw, to his horror, the two mechs flying back to the airship! They then locked up with it, and the airship began flying away! Marlin, looking around, saw a discarded pedal-bike, which had been left behind by an unfortunate cyclist, who was caught in the airfield. Marlin got it and began pedaling for all that he was worth, across the airfield and after the airship!

"Nemo! Nemo!" Marlin called out, as he pedaled furiously.

On the airship, the pilot in green and black had gotten out of his mech, had taken off his helmet, and was now putting a whimpering Nemo into the prisoner bay of the airship. Fortunately, there were no other prisoners in there, meaning that Nemo was going to be alone. After he tossed Nemo in there and closed the door, the ship hit a spot of turbulence, causing the pilot to fall back.

"You alright?" asked his fellow pilot, the one wearing the blue and black jumpsuit.

"Yeah, I'm alright." The green and black pilot replied. "But we better hang on, or we might fall out."

But what the two pilots didn't know, was that the green and black pilot's helmet had rolled off the airship, thanks to the turbulence. And when it was to be found, it would be of great importance to Marlin, as it would give him the location of where his son was being taken.

Marlin had been pedaling for ten minutes straight, and he was now on the outskirts of the city. He had been pedaling in the direction of the airship, but unfortunately, it was long gone!

"It's gone!" Marlin said to himself, his tone desperate. "No, it can't be gone! No! No!"

Now distraught by his son being lost, Marlin went onto the streets of the outskirts, which were heavy with traffic at this time of day! As he rode out in the middle of the road, in between the cars, he began yelling out for help!

"Has anyone seen an airship?!" Marlin asked. "Please! A small, black airship! They took my son!"

Unfortunately, the traffic goers weren't responding to him. Some rolled their windows up, while the more violent would use their car doors to hit Marlin and try to knock him off his bike!

"They took my son!" Marlin continued, sounding desperate. "Help me! Please!"

"Look out!" A female voice yelled.

Marlin looked, but it was too late, and a female cyclist, who was also riding in the middle of the road, slammed right into him! Marlin was sent flying off his bike, hitting the side of the road, and then rolling and crashing right into a ditch! The female cyclist, who had also been knocked onto the side of the road, quickly got to her feet.

"Oh, oh, sorry!" The female cyclist yelled, climbing down to survey the damage. "I didn't see you there! Sir, are you okay?"

The female cyclist was thirty one years old. She had long black hair with yellow and blue streaks in it, a fair complexion, and magenta colored eyes. Her clothing consisted of a blue bike helmet, a dark blue t-shirt, a light blue undershirt, yellow fingerless rider gloves, black yoga tights, and white sneakers.

Marlin mumbled and muttered while getting up, still desperate to find out what happened to his son. The female cyclist then came over to him, trying to help him to his feet.

"There, there, there." said the female cyclist, her tone calm and soothing. "It's alright, it'll be okay."

"No, no, they took him away!" Marlin replied, getting up quickly. "I gotta find the airship!"

"An airship?" The female cyclist asked. "Hey, I've saw an airship!"

"You did?!"

"Yeah, it passed by, not too long ago."

"A black one, with two mechs in it?"

"Hi, I'm Dory."

"Marlin, nice to- OH! Where, which way?!"

"Oh, um… this way!" The female cyclist, Dory, replied, pointing in the direction that the airship went. "It went this way! Get on your bike and follow me!"

"Thank you!" said Marlin, grabbing his bike and getting on it, his tone grateful. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem!" Dory spoke casually, getting on her own bike.

The two began pedaling down the road, staying to the side of it to avoid oncoming traffic. But, after a few seconds of riding, Dory seem to float off into her own little world. Then she turned around, saw Marlin, and a scared look came over her face, much to Marlin's confusion. Suddenly, she turned off the road, going off and into an empty, barren field! Marlin followed, having to pedal for all that he was worth after her! A couple twists, a couple of turns, followed by going down a wild looking hill, and then Dory stopped!

"Will you quit it?!" Dory asked, her tone annoyed.

"Huh?" Marlin replied with a question, his tone confused.

"What, the world isn't big enough for you or something? You gotta problem, buddy? Here I am minding my own business, and you're tailing me for no reason! Quit doing that, okay?!"

"What are you talking about?! You're showing me which way the airship went!"

"An airship? Hey, I've saw an airship! It passed by, not too long ago. Oh, um… this way! It went this way! Get on your bike and follow me!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! What is going on?! You already told me this!"

"I did?" Dory asked, before facepalming and groaning out, "Oh no…"

"If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny!" Marlin snapped. "And I know funny; I'm a comedian!"

"No, no, it's not funny, I'm so sorry." Dory replied, her tone apologetic. "I'm usually on medication for this, but I think I forgot to take it today. I suffer from short term memory loss…"

"Short term memory loss?" Marlin replied with a question. "I don't believe this…"

"No, it's true; I forget things almost instantly. It runs in my family, or… at least, I think it does, I… I don't know where they went."

The two were silent for a few seconds, before Dory looked at Marlin and asked, "Can I go with you?"

"Look, I really think you should see your doctor, if you haven't forgotten who he or she is." Marlin replied. "I don't have time for this; I gotta find my son."

Marlin was about to begin pedaling away, when a black pickup truck suddenly pulled up to the two! He was going to pedal around it, when out-stepped the largest human being that Marlin had ever seen! To make matters worse, he had one a threatening smile!

"Hello…" The huge man snarled.