Chapter 4
Marlin and Dory ran through the halls of the downed airship, as Bruce chased behind them like a madman! They turned corners, hearing Bruce slide across the floor in a furious attempt to attack them; three weeks of not attacking anyone really was doing a number on his mentality!
"Just one punch!" Bruce roared.
Marlin and Dory dodged one of Bruce's swipe and dove through a doorway! In a manic motion, Marlin dropped the helmet and quickly slammed the door shut, just as Bruce charged straight into it! Over and over, Bruce began slamming his fists and body into the door, trying to break it down!
"We gotta get out!" said Marlin, his tone panicked. "We gotta look for a way to escape!"
Dory, who had picked up the helmet, went over to the door and asked innocently, "Who is it?"
"Dory, help me look for a way out!" Marlin yelled.
"Sorry, you'll have to come back at another time." Dory replied, her tone nonchalant, as she walked away from the door. "We're trying to escape here."
Marlin, who was looking around the room wildly, then said aloud, "There's no way out! We're trapped in here!"
"Hey, here's something." Dory spoke up, looking at a sign that had the same strange language as the helmet. "Funny, but I think it says that this ladder is the way to the airship's roof."
"Let's go!" said Marlin, grabbing Dory's arm and pulling her towards the ladder.
Dory, still holding the helmet, quickly climbed up the ladder with Marlin following. And it wasn't a moment too soon, as Bruce had broken his head through the door, a villainous grin on his face!
"Here's Brucey!" Bruce announced.
The sky had grown dark, and the light was fading, as Marlin and Dory climbed out onto the roof of the airship. After Marlin closed the hatch door behind them, he realized what Dory was able to do.
"Wait a minute, you can read the language?" Marlin asked.
"I can read?" Dory asked, before replying excitedly, "Yeah, that's right! I can read the language!"
"Well then, here!" Marlin replied, grabbing ahold of the helmet that Dory was still holding. "Read this now!"
Suddenly, the hatch busted open, and Bruce broke out, causing Marlin and Dory to let out yells of fright! The two took off running, as Bruce pulled himself out and chased after them! Anchor and Chum also climbed out, but they got stuck in the hatch, as they both were trying to climb up!
"Don't take it personally!" Anchor yelled. "He never knew his father!"
"Don't fall off the wagon!" Chum added.
Marlin and Dory jumped down onto the wing of the airship, as Bruce attempted to jump at them and missed. Then Bruce followed them down, causing the duo to quickly slipped through an opening and into a missile nest; it was a domed area where soldiers would fire missiles using a special launcher. In fact, there was a missile that was still stuck in the launcher; it was in there when the ship went down hundreds of years ago.
"Oh no, we're stuck!" said Marlin, trying to open the door of the missile nest, but finding it locked.
Bruce tried smashing his way into the dome, but despite it being rusted and broken, it was still holding. And, he couldn't fit through the opening; he was too large. Anchor and Chum suddenly came up, trying to hold Bruce back and knock some sense into him.
"Bruce, focus!" Anchor yelled, pulling on Bruce's shoulders.
"Sorry about Bruce, guys!" Chum added, holding Bruce's waist.
"He's really a nice guy, but not fighting has driven him around the bend!" said Anchor.
Chum and Anchor got shoved away, and Bruce continued trying to break his way in!
"We gotta get out of here!" said Marlin.
"You want to get out?" Dory asked. "Okay!"
Dory pulled the trigger on the missile launcher, and the stuck missile fired and rammed into Bruce, knocking him back! With Bruce distracted, Marlin and Dory quickly climbed out the opening of the missile nest, and made a run for it! Bruce, meanwhile, grabbed the stuck missile and threw it, sending it flying into the air!
"Oh no… Bruce…" said Chum, his tone worried.
"What?" Bruce asked, suddenly snapping out of his fury.
The three thugs turned, and saw the missile sailing through the air, about to collide with one of the air mines! Upon seeing that, Bruce let out a gasp of fright!
"Run away!" Bruce bellowed, as he, Anchor, and Chum took off. "Run away!"
"Aw, is the party over?" Dory asked, as she and Marlin stopped running and looked back.
The missile flew through the air, collided with one of the air mines, and-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!
Somewhere, a man and a woman were lying on their backs in a forest, both resting on the ground and looking up at the stars. Suddenly, there was a faint farting sound, which caused both the man and the woman to look surprised. A scowl then appeared on the man's face, much to the woman's confusion.
"Nice…" The man muttered, getting up from the ground. "I'm going for a walk."
"What?" The woman asked, her tone confused, also sitting up. "What?"
Nemo awoke with a gasp, not knowing where in the world he was. He was no longer wearing his civilian clothing, but was now wearing an orange prison t-shirt, orange prison sweatpants, and he was barefoot.
"Dad?" Nemo whimpered. "Daddy?"
Panting in fear, Nemo got up and began looking around the environment; he was in a large room, with blue tile floors, barred windows, white colored walls, a white ceiling, and a large air vent that had no cover. Judging from the black and yellow warning tape that was put around it, the air vent was currently under repairs. There were also several bunk-beds that were put around the room, and a large glass window.
Cautiously, Nemo limped to the large glass window, so he could get a better view as to where exactly he was. But looking out the window only gave him more fear, as he saw rows and rows of more cells. There was no doubt as to where he was; he was in a prison!
Nemo looked around some more, when one of the prison guards suddenly appeared at the window! He was an older man, with greying hair, aqua colored eyes, and pale skin. His clothing was a black t-shirt, black cargo pants, and heavy black boots.
"Hello, little fella!" The veteran prison guard spoke.
Upon seeing him, Nemo let out a yelp of surprise and hid behind one of the bunk beds. The prison guard chuckled, as another prison guard came over to him. This prison guard was younger, had black hair that was spiky looking, fair skin, grey eyes, and he was wearing the same uniform.
The veteran prison guard chuckled and asked, "Cute kid, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he's cute alright." The younger prison guard replied. "How'd he get in this mess?"
"He went into restricted territory and broke the windshield of a truck."
"Into restricted territory, and broke the windshield of a truck? Little guy's got guts."
"Yeah. So, is prisoner ready for interrogation?"
"Oh yeah, he'll talk; we're getting the dentist tools out…"
The two guards walked off, and Nemo backed up into a bunk bed. The sound of something clattering gained Nemo's attention, and he went over to where a device had fallen on the floor; he knocked it off when he was backing up. It was some kind of small generating device, was colored black, and it had several different buttons on it. Nemo slowly bent down and pressed a button on it, causing streams of bubbles to suddenly start emitting from the top of it, much to his confusion.
"BUBBLES!" A voice yelled, followed by wild gibbering.
Nemo turned and saw the owner of the voice running at him, making him jump back and let out a yelp in fright. The owner of the voice had wild blonde hair, a long face, pale skin, and violet-colored eyes. He was wearing a yellow scarf, an orange prison t-shirt, orange prison sweatpants, and he was barefoot.
The strange man came over to machine and began gibbering at it, until he had pressed a button on it and it had shut off. He then quickly put his body over the machine protectively, panting like had run a mile.
"My bubbles." The strange man said, his tone defensive.
Nemo backed away cautiously, until his back was against the glass window. He then looked down, seeing a woman who was sitting against the wall. She had reddish-pink hair that was short and fluffy looking, fair skin, and grey eyes. She was wearing an orange prison t-shirt, orange prison sweatpants, and she was barefoot.
"You have to excuse him; he like bubbles, hence his nickname." said the woman with reddish-pink hair.
Upon seeing her, Nemo let out a yelp of fright and quickly retreated to underneath a bunk bed against the wall! As he hid underneath there, he heard murmurs and footsteps, and started noticing the several figures that started approaching the bunk-bed to get a good look at him. Whimpering, Nemo began drawing himself deeper under the bed, hoping that the people out there would leave him alone.
"Bonjour." A French voice rasped out.
Nemo turned and saw a pair of blue eyeballs staring at him, causing him to let out a yell and fly out from underneath the bunk-bed! But before he could run, A large man who came over caught and stopped him!
"Slow down there, little man." The large man chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about."
The large man was bald, but had a brown beard, tanned skin, and grey eyes. His body type was somewhat overweight, he stood at an imposing height, and an orange prison t-shirt, a white long-sleeved undershirt, orange prison sweatpants, and he was barefoot.
"Oh, he's scared to death…" said another woman, her tone motherly and kind.
The woman had dark blue colored hair that was long and swept back, fair skin, and blue eyes. She wore a white bandanna in her hair, along with an orange prison t-shirt, a white long-sleeved undershirt, orange prison sweatpants, and she was barefoot.
"I wanna go home…" Nemo whimpered. "Do you know where my dad is?"
"Honey, your dad's probably back in the city." The woman with reddish-pink hair replied.
"The city?" Nemo asked, his tone confused.
"Yeah you know, like I'm from Mart-Town." The large, balding man replied.
"Palace Lands." said a man with blonde hair that had purple highlights in it.
This man had blonde hair with purple highlights in it, pale skin that looked like it had been scrubbed clean over and over, and aqua colored eyes. He wore the orange prison t-shirt, orange prison sweatpants, and was barefoot, but the color of his clothes were paler than the others, like they had been washed over and over, and he was wearing green surgical booties on his feet, the kind that doctors where when they are operating.
"Rama." The strange man, who's nickname was 'Bubbles', added.
"Orderville." The woman with dark blue colored hair said, her tone cheerful.
"East Bay." The woman with reddish-pink hair spoke.
"So, where is it?" The man with blonde hair and purple highlights asked, putting his arm around Nemo in a friendly gesture.
"I'm from… Ocean City." Nemo replied, his tone hesitant.
"Ah, Ocean City… OCEAN CITY! AH!" The man with blonde hair and purple highlights suddenly yelled out, pulling his arm off of Nemo. "He hasn't been decontaminated yet! Jacques!"
The French sounding person, Jacques, emerged from underneath the bunk-bed that Nemo was previously hiding under. He was extremely short, had dark reddish colored hair, a goatee, thick eyebrows, pale skin, and blue eyes. He wore a blue beret, the orange prison t-shirt, orange prison sweatpants, and was barefoot. He also wore a brown toolbelt that had cleaning supplies in it, yellow cleaner gloves on his hands, and he carried a wooden turntable under his arm.
"Oui?" Jacques asked, his tone serious.
"Clean him!" The man with the blonde hair and purple highlights, who's nickname would be revealed to be 'Gurgle', ordered.
"Oui." Jacques replied, coming over.
"Give him the 'Ocean City' treatment." said Gurgle, pulling out some hand sanitizer from his pocket and squirting it on his arms and hands.
Jacques said something in French, put down the turntable, and made a motion for Nemo to step onto it. Nemo obeyed, and Jacques spun it rapidly, pulling out a spray bottle and a sponge. He scrubbed Nemo rapidly for several seconds, before stopping the turntable and helping the dizzy kid off.
"Viola, he is clean." Jacques spoke, picking up the turntable, before returning to the bed and slipping under it.
"Hey, the big blue, what's it like?" Bubbles asked, his tone inquisitive.
"Um… big… and blue?" Nemo asked, his tone confused.
"I knew it!" Bubbles said, his tone affirmative.
"Kid, if there's anything you need, just ask Auntie Deb, that's me!" said the woman with dark blue colored hair, who's name was 'Deb', her tone cheerful. "Or if I'm not around, you can talk to my sister, Flo. But don't listen to anything she says, she's nuts!"
Nemo looked confused; Deb's so-called sister was actually her own reflection.
"Hey, we've got a live one!" said the woman with reddish-pink hair.
"Say that again, Peach?" asked the large man, who's nickname would be revealed to be 'Bloat'.
"We've got a live one!" The woman with reddish-pink hair, who's nickname was 'Peach', replied.
The prisoners let out cheers and raced to the glass window, which they began looking through. Down on the ground floor, there was a prisoner who was strapped to a gurney, and had a thing in his mouth that forced him to open it. The two guards, the veteran and the younger, were standing over him, both having dentist tools in their hands. But from the look of things, they weren't planning on doing any helpful dental work on the poor soul.
"What've we got?" asked Deb.
"Information extraction, and by the looks of his records, this isn't going to be pretty." Peach replied.
The veteran prison guard began drilling in the prisoner's mouth, causing him to let out a loud and muffled yell of pain! Meanwhile, the younger prison guard was preparing another tool, which looked like a mini screwdriver!
"They've been hitting him with loud music before this?" Bloat asked.
"Yep." Peach replied.
"What are they using to open?" asked Gurgle.
"Gator-glidden drill." Peach replied. "They've been favoring that one."
Deb let out an annoyed groan at her reflection and said aloud, "I can't see, Flo!"
Suddenly, there was a knocking sound coming from one of the windows. The prisoners turned and saw a person standing out on the ledge, outside of the iron-barred window. Peach went over to the window and opened the glass part of it, the iron bars now being the only thing preventing the prisoners from escaping.
The person who was on the outside had white hair, light brown skin, and grey eyes. He wore a brown pilot helmet with goggles, a brown flight jacket with a tan collar and tan lining, tan cargo pants, and brown boots. On his back he wore a silver colored jetpack, with black straps on it.
"Hey Nigel." Peach greeted.
"Hey Peach." Nigel replied. "What did I miss?"
"They're doing some information extraction on one of the prisoners."
"Information extraction, huh? What'd they use to open?"
"Gator-glidden drill."
"Yeah, they've been favoring that one." said Nigel, before noticing Nemo and saying in a kind tone, "Hello, who's this?"
"New guy." Deb replied cheerfully, putting an arm around Nemo's shoulders.
"The kid's from Ocean City." Gurgle added.
"An outie, huh?" Nigel asked, his tone good-spirited. "From my neck of the woods, eh? Sorry if I ever flew by and left smog on ya; people walk, us jet-packers fly."
"Any other news from the outside?" Peach asked.
"Some bad news…" Nigel replied, his tone darkening. "Rumor from the guards say that Darla is coming, and she's looking for prisoners…"
"Hey!" A guard from down below yelled up. "You with the jet-pack, it's against the rules to converse with the prisoners! Hit the skies, go on, shoo!"
Nigel quickly activated his jet-pack and took off, as Peach quickly closed the glass window. Unfortunately, having heard the news, the looks on the prisoner's faces turned dark.
"Oh great, Darla…" Bloat snarled, sitting on a bunk-bed.
"What?" Nemo asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's a mad scientist, that's what." Gurgle spat. "She experiments on us poor prisoners."
"Poor Chuckles…" Bubbles spoke, his tone saddened.
"He was the victim last year!" Deb sobbed, putting her hands to her eyes.
"Hitch the ride through the dam of no return…" Bloat added, pointing out the window at a large dam that was fenced off from the prison.
"She's a people-killer!" said Peach.
Nemo panicked and yelled out, "I can't go with that lady! I have to get back to my dad!"
He then began trying to run to the window, but he moved by the large air vent that had no cover. When Nemo stepped near it, the sucking air made his foot slip on the tile floor, and he was suddenly sucked into the air vent, getting himself stuck!
"Daddy!" Nemo wailed. "Help me!"
The prisoners quickly ran forward to try and save Nemo, when a voice yelled out, "Nobody touch him!"
The prisoners froze, and turned to see the owner of the voice come out from behind a bunk-bed. He had black hair that was long and shaggy, light skin that was somewhat wrinkled and scarred, a stubble beard, and mahogany-colored eyes. He was thin, and he wore a red colored bandanna around his forehead, an orange prison t-shirt, black hand wrappings like a boxer, orange prison sweatpants, and he was barefoot.
"Nobody touch him." The owner of the voice said again, this time quieter.
He began walking towards the vent, as the other prisoners move away. He then stopped by the vent and took a knee, right beside the struggling Nemo.
"Can you help me?" Nemo whimpered.
"No." The owner of the voice replied. "You got yourself into this mess, and you're going to get yourself out."
Deb let out a small groan and said, "Gill…"
"I just want to see him do it, okay?" The owner of the voice, who's name was 'Gill', replied, his tone annoyed.
Nemo began whimpering, to which Gill said, "Calm down. Now, use your legs to push yourself out, and your arms to pull yourself out."
"I can't." Nemo whined. "I have a bad leg."
Gill let out a mild scoff and replied, "Never stopped me…"
He then stood up straight, and what Nemo saw made him gasp: the right pant-leg of Gill's sweatpants was cut away to the length of a pair of shorts, exposing his right leg. His right leg was heavily torn and ragged looking, covered with several deep scars and lacerations; the damage was so bad that he could never heal from it! He was also limping, just like how Nemo did whenever he walked!
"Just do what you need to do…" said Gill, stopping in front of Nemo.
Inspired by what he saw before him, Nemo began pushing with his legs, and pulling with arms! After a few seconds of doing this, he was able to pull himself out of the vent and to safety!
"Perfect…" said Gill, his tone pleased as he helped Nemo up. "Good job, kid…"
Gill then stood to side with Peach, as the other prisoners came forward and congratulated Nemo. They complimented him and playfully patted him on the shoulders and head, all laughing and carrying-on about what a good job he did.
"Wow, Ocean City." said Peach, her tone amazed. "Just like you, Gill."
"Right…" Gill spoke, his tone thoughtful, as he stroked his chin.
Peach chuckled and said, "I've seen that look before; what's going on in that head of yours?"
"I'm thinking…" Gill replied, putting his arm around Peach's shoulders. "Tonight, we need to give this kid the proper initiation into our group."
"So kid, you got a name or what?" Bloat asked.
"Nemo…" Nemo replied, a smile on his face. "I'm Nemo…"