Disclaimer:

After the tension of watching the 'Golden Globe Awards Show' and awaiting the best comedy movie's winner, chaos begins. Dot rants.

"It's an outrage! I mean, how one of the brilliant movies of the year could lose to a cheap movie which is filmed about Japan?!"

JC is sitting on the sand bed, resting his head against his fin, patiently watching his companion darting forth and back, her eyes ablaze. She can take things too seriously, sometimes. "Yeah." It is his only answer for this moment.

Dot's lower lip quivers in wretchedness. "Our movie is beautifully animated, demonstrating wonderful themes of love, friendship, and trust, cleverly displayed with well-timed comedy. And - and . . . that piece of film . . ."

"Uh-uh," JC warns with a wave of his fin. "Easy. You can't personally criticize 'Lost In Translation' yet. You haven't seen it."

The Damselfish pouts and sniffles. "It's not fair."

The Blue swims up to her and pats her back. "It's alright, Dot. We can't always win. No matter who wins the award, to the FN fans, 'Finding Nemo' is the winner."

Dot sighs, disappointed with the results of the winner. Then an idea forms in her head, and she smiles. "Hey . . . we can award it with our personal award!"

"How?"

"With this!" Dot swims out the screen, and finally carries a life-size Golden Globe stature. Don't ask me where she gets it. Maybe she steals it? Probably from Charlize Theron. However, it looks different in coloring. Instead of the glimmering gold, it's painted with some kind of silver coat. "See? I call it a Silver Pearl Award!"

The Regal Blue Tang's two responses are an amazed gaze and a whispered "Wow".

"Impressive, huh?"

"Yes, very." JC then crosses his fins in curiosity. "So . . . how will you send this to Andrew Stanton?" He likes to question her to see if her actions have some credibility. You will have to when you hang around with an imaginative Damselfish that likes to prove her credibility by biting.

"Easy. Snail mail!" Bearing the Silver Pearl Award (copyright) over her shoulder, Dot swims off to find the Tide Office.

JC is about to follow her, then stops. He turns to you and grins. "Oh, right, the disclaimer. We don't own anything expect ourselves. So. Ciao."

Chapter Three: The Tank Gang

Coolness and cleanness.

These were the first things he experienced as he was dropped in the water. The water was tasting very clean, perhaps too clean to him. The coolness wasn't very comfortable at first, but then he slowly accustomed to the coolness. Opening his eyes, Nemo found himself in a very strange, new world. He was sheltered by a kind of plant that didn't feel real. The large leaves with pinkish lines running across was good enough for him to hide from any possible predator and allowed him to see everything.

"Daddy?" Nemo voiced quietly. He didn't see anything familiar, and he began swimming backward, still baffled at the sudden change of his surroundings. His tail brushed against something, and he looked around in alarm. It was some kind of coral with faces engraved on it. Three faces had huge mouths, contorted into twisted grins. Frightened, Nemo darted away, searching for an anemone to hide in.

But then . . . he was stopped by an invisible wall. He didn't curiously inspect it. He wanted to find his dad and be safe under his fins. Turning fin, he hurried off. Tap. Tap. Tap. Four invisible walls . . . He was in a kind of box? Panting with jitters, Nemo glanced here and there, but those strange things laying just beyond the walls he seen, he didn't have words for them. He did see a couple of Divers there, swimming in the dry water. They didn't look much like the Divers who took him away, didn't have the weird flat eye or the bubbles coming out from their mouths. But their bodies were the same.

"Barbara?"

Nemo whirled around at the male voice. From between the plants, he saw a Diver swimming past another Diver, who was laying on his back on a support. Its - no, his - mouth was open, and the Diver seemed impatient about something. Slowly, the Clownfish swam closer toward the wall - he knew it was there because of his reflection upon it.

"Uh-huh?" answered a feminine voice.

"Prep for his anterior crown, would you, please? And I'm going to need a few more cotton balls."

"Ok."

He didn't understand what was happening to him. First, he was taken away by those Divers and now he was in this strange box with unseen walls and Divers swimming around it. What was going on? Why was he here? Where was his father? He began to feel an ache in his throat and chest and realized that he was missing his father. He now regretted to voice the hateful words to him, his last words before the Divers took him away. Nemo wondered how did his father feel now. Would he search for his son or . . . was he too afraid of the ocean to search? Nemo felt tears coming to his eyes and blinked them in annoyance. No, he will find a way out of here and he will get home. He knew he can.

"Hello, little fella."

Nemo looked up at a new face that appeared unexpectedly beside him. It was so large and weird, with huge blue eyes and grinning white teeth. The Diver looked nothing alike to any fish he'd met and it frightened him. He darted into a hollow barrel and, trembling, peered out.

The Diver was laughing, so loud that it nearly shook the box. "Beauty, isn't he? I found him struggling for life out on the reef and I saved his life." He then stood up and turned to the other Diver. "So, have the Novocaine kicked in yet?"

"I think so. We're ready to go."

As the strange voices faded into the background, Nemo kept on watching the Divers, now curious of the weird creatures that lived out of the ocean, that swam in dry water. He carefully backed out from the barrel. Suddenly, the familiar sound of bubbles startled him from behind and he whirled around to see a small chest, which was spitting out bubbles.

"Bubbles!"

At the new, agitated voice, Nemo again turned. A fish! Here in this glass box! It was a Yellow Tang, a bit bigger than him and much older. His scales were bright yellow whenever light touched them, and there was a fidgety characteristic in him. He was swimming wildly toward him, muttering with such a frenzy in his voice. Nemo swerved to avoid the Yellow, thought that the strange fish wanted to attack him, but to his astonishment, the Yellow seemed trying to grab on the bubbles. The bubbles, of course, floated out his reach, and finally, the Yellow shut the chest. He hugged it tightly for a moment, then glanced to Nemo with wide eyes that shone deep pink. "My bubbles."

Distracted, Nemo hurried upward, not looking where he was going, then he felt a wet, floppy thing landing upon his back. It was surprisingly warm, not cold, as he thought. He looked up and saw a Starfish, one of her arms on him. She was clinging on the wall, causing the illusion of floating in the water on her own. She was pretty in coloring, soft pink and dark orange mixed altogether, and her beady black eyes were gentle as she said, "He likes bubbles."

Even that she seemed nice, the newness of the box, the strangeness of the fishes frightened Nemo. He darted away from her and blindly entered into something that appeared a bit like a Diver's face with bars in front. Inside, it was hollow and small, and he felt that it was a good place for him to hide. Safe from all the strangeness. In the darkness, Nemo peered out through the closed cage with fright. From around the plants, he could see shadows, bigger than him and almost menacing, moving closer and closer. The shadows' voices were muffled, but oddly, they sounded friendly and faintly worried.

Nemo was too scared. He just wanted his father!

"Bonjour."

Nemo screamed at the two eyes that suddenly appeared beside him. He wanted to get out! He wanted to find his dad! He darted out from whatever the eyes were, past the shadows before they could grab on him. Then a gigantic brown fin went in front of him, stopping him. A booming voice laughed, "Slow down, fella. Take it easy. There's nothing to worry about."

Nemo took a good look at the voice's owner and was surprised to see a Blowfish grinning at him. He was plain-looking with his dark umber scales and black spots upon his body. It was also covered with spines, his natural defense, making him dangerously terrifying. But he seemed mellow; his large bronze eyes glinted with richness.

"He's scared to death," added another feminine voice beside the Blowfish. A black-and-white Humbug. She was as small as the Yellow, her pretty scales dark blue-black and pearl-white in stripes. Her azure eyes were bright with genuine concern.

Nemo looked around and saw the other shadows that were actually fishes. He was astonished that different species were living in the same area. There was the Yellow Tang, now swimming beside a Royal Gamma, both peeking at him with timid curiosity. The Royal Gamma was rubbing his fins nervously, quietly watching with alertness behind his soft mauve eyes. He was the brightest of all the fishes beside Nemo, his small scales rich purple from waist up and golden yellow down to his tail.

Nemo gazed back to the Humbug and said, "I wanna go home. Do you know where my dad is?"

"Honey, your dad's probably back at the pet store," the Starfish answered him from her place on the wall.

He looked at her with puzzlement. "Pet store?"

The Blowfish nodded, "Yeah, you know, like, I'm from Brad's Fish Mart."

"Pet Palace," the Royal Gamma joined in.

"Fish-o-Rama," the Yellow added.

"Mail order," the Humbug grinned.

"Ebay," the Starfish finished.

Nemo was totally confused. So . . . those fishes weren't really from his ocean at all? They were from those 'pet stores'? He wondered what kind of oceans were those.

He turned to the Royal Gamma, who had his fin placed around him, smiling. "So, which one is it?"

"I'm from the ocean . . ."

"Ah, the ocean . . . the ocean?!" The Gamma panicked, jerking his fin away. "He hasn't been decontaminated! Jacques!"

Two eyes peered out from the helmet - the same upside-down ones Nemo saw - and a teeny tiny voice chimed out, "Oui?"

"Clean him!"

"Oui." Nemo saw that it was really a Cleaner Shrimp. He was as small as Nemo, colored dark red and white, along with whiskers that were twice as long as him. He was quiet as he swam straight for Nemo and landed on his back.

"Ocean," the Gamma pointed.

Jacques's eyes glinted with delight as he crooned, "Oh, la mer. Bon."         

Nemo tensed up, wondering what will the Shrimp do to him, then, suddenly, he went into a rapid spin that dizzied him. He felt the tiny sucking mouth cleaning his scales. In the result of the cleaning, his scales began glowing brighter. The Shrimp halted him in the spin, upside-down. "Voila. He's clean." Nemo moved into the correct position and watched as Jacques swam for the helmet, turned, and blew him a smack before he shut the cage.

"Wow, the big blue," Nemo heard the Yellow said with glee, then he was serious. "What's it like?"

"Big and . . . blue?"

"I knew it."

The Humbug made a amused chuckle and spoke to Nemo, "If there's anything you need, just ask your auntie Deb, that's me." She then held on his fin and led him to one of the walls. "Or if I'm not around, you can talk to my sister, Flo." Nemo didn't see any other Humbug, then realized that Deb was talking about her reflection on the wall. She waved, grinning. "Hi, how have you been?" She then whispered to Nemo, "Don't listen to anything my sister says. She's nuts!" She ended with a giddily laugh.

The Starfish had her face on the wall and was saying something, but it was muffled.

"Can't hear you, Peach," the Blowfish grinned.

Peach twisted from the wall and repeated, "I say we got a live one."

Nemo stayed where he was, watching the fishes getting all excited and floated up to Peach. He was still worried about himself being stuck in the box, but the fishes seemed undisturbed about it. Most of them looked happy and contented around each other, and he was astonished about it. He never knew that so many species, one of their kind, can live with other species in one place without getting touchy to each other. The fishes were obviously good friends. They were now watching the two Divers with excitement.

He was then confused; what was so excited about one Diver having his hand inside the other's mouth?

"What do we have?" Deb asked Peach.

"A root canal, and from the looks of those X-rays, it's not gonna look pretty."

Nemo jumped as the laying Diver screamed. It was an agonizing, horrible scream. Yet the fishes were watching with new interest.

"Dam and clamp installed?" Bloat questioned.

"Yup," Peach responded.

"What did he use to open it?" Gurgle asked.

"Gator-Glidden drill."

"He seems to favor that lately."

Deb was fuming at her 'sister', trying to peer over the reflection. "I can't see, Flo!" 

The scream rose an octave.

"Now, he's doing the Schilder Technique," the Starfish announced.

Bloat chuckled knowingly. "He's using the Hedstrom file."

The Gamma grunted in disagreement. "That's not the Hedstrom file. That's K-Flex."

An exasperated glance toward him. "It has a teardrop-cross section. Clearly a Hedstrom."

"No, no, K-Flex."

"Hedstrom."

"K-Flex!"

"Hed-strom!"

Abruptly, the Blowfish bloated up into a perfect sphere of water in his inhale of irritation, startling the nearby friends. Helpless, he began to roll away, muttering, "Here I go. A little help here."

Deb rolled her eyes before she headed for Bloat. "I'll go deflate him."

A moment later, the tank water billowed at Bloat's deflation, gently brushing at the fishes' fins. Gurgle, Bubbles, and Peach unconcernedly returned to watch the Divers. The laying Diver seemed pale, but better without pain. Now he was spitting out water into a small hole, Nemo guessed. A flicker of disgust came across his face, and Gurgle expressed the same.

"Oh, the human mouth is a disgusting place," he shuddered.

Nemo started at a crash from near. He inched closer to the barrel, uncertain, and just then, he caught a glimpse of a feather floating behind the window. A giant Pelican came in view, seeming to try to open the window - and succeeding - and landing on the counter. His black eyes were wide with wonder as he gazed around. He had the look of an awkward gentleman, his brown and white feathers neatly groomed and shiny, although a bit ruffled from his ungraceful landing. There was nothing scary about the Pelican, but Nemo couldn't help but be at guard. He knew that birds who lived by the ocean did eat fishes. He wouldn't be surprised if that Pelican had came to watch the tank fishes with hunger.

The other fishes reacted with no fear, but with friendliness. "Hey, Nigel," Peach was greeting the Pelican as he tried to balance himself.

"What did I miss?" Nigel asked eagerly. "Am I late?"

"Root canal - a doozy."

"Root canal?" the Pelican frowned with thoughtfulness. "What did he use to open?"

"Gator-Glidden drill."

"He's favoring that one. Hope he doesn't get surplus sealer at the portal terminus . . ." His eyes noticed the little Clownfish and formed a wide grin. "Hello. Who's this?"

Nemo flinched timidly under the gaze, but the other fishes quickly surrounded him, perhaps to give him comfort.

"The new guy!" Deb laughed.

"The dentist picked him off from the Reef," Gurgle added.

Nigel's grin widened. "Ah, an outie. From my neck of the woods, eh?" Then his grin softened and Nemo found himself receiving reassurance from the Pelican. "Sorry if I ever snap at you. Fishes gotta swim, birds gotta eat." He added with a friendly wink that tugged a shy smile on the lad's face.

The gang and the Pelican abruptly looked up at the startled voice of the standing Diver. He looked upset as he stomped over to the window. "No, no! They aren't your fishes. They are my fishes." Nigel squawked in astonishment as the Diver grabbed on his beak and shoved him backward. The Pelican flapped his wings, knocked some things off the counters, before he departed. The Diver shut the window and frowned down with unhappiness at something in his hands.

"Aw, the picture broke." He turned to the other Diver, continuing, "This here is Darla. She's my niece. She's gonna be eight this week."

Around him, Nemo sensed the nervousness and tension from the fishes all of a sudden. They slowly circled around, their eyes locked on the Diver, seeming to wait for something. He tried not to let the tension affect him, but he began to feel an uneasy sensation. Did the fishes know something that he didn't?

"Hey, little fella," the Diver came to the tank, grinning. At that, the fishes departed with a sudden flick of their tails, like they were scared of him. Nemo didn't move, listening to the merry voice, growing confused by the minute, "Say hello to your new mummy. She's gonna be here Friday to pick you up. You're her present. Shh . . . Don't tell her that." Nemo tried to take a good look at the thing in the hands, but the Diver then stood up.                                                                       

"Well, Mr. Tucker, while that sets up, I'll go see someone about a wallaby." Before he left, he placed the thing in front of the tank.

Nemo slowly swam toward the picture. The glass covering it was broken, either from the Pelican's wings or the Diver's hands, but the picture remained untouched. It was a young Diver girl standing with a creepy grin that shone like metal. Her fiery red hair was tied into two pigtails, and she was holding up something. Nemo was disgruntled to see a Goldfish floating in the bag, but there was something wrong with him. He was floating on his back . . . and the only time that the fishes did float on their back was when they were . . .

"Oh, Darla . . ."

Nemo looked up at Bloat, who spoke. He had a remorseful look in his eyes, as well as the others who came close. He didn't understand why they look so sad and was frightened at the sudden change of the moods. "What? What's wrong with her?"

"She couldn't stop shaking the bag," Gurgle answered, glancing at him with sorrow.

"Poor Chuckles," Bubbles muttered.

Deb sobbed in her fins. "He was her present last year."

"Hitched a ride to the Porcelain Express," the Blowfish said.

Then the words Peach uttered shocked Nemo. "She's a fish killer." A killer that kills fishes? This little girl? He wondered what that girl would do to him once she got here. The horrible thought didn't stop there, disturbing him - shaking, shaking, his tiny body bounced off the bag, blackness filling his mind . . .

Nemo shook his head. He couldn't go with her. He needed to find a way out. He needed to find his dad. His voice was shaking with horror that was barely contained. "I can't go with that girl." He turned fin and aimlessly swan for somewhere safe to hide from that girl. "I have to get back to my dad." He knew he couldn't escape from the box, but he wanted to get out! He wanted his father back! He didn't want to leave his side again.

Almost unnoticed, a sucking movement happened around him, and Nemo gasped as he was yanked backward into a tube. The sensation of being swallowed, his head barely out, made him lose his composure and he cried out, "Daddy! Help me!"

The fishes rushed to aid him, but a voice stopped them.

"Nobody touch him."

Nemo slowed down in his struggles, mesmerized by the voice, and looked at where it was. The voice was deep and somewhat mysterious in tone. It also carried the tone of stone. Soon, the voice's owner came in his sight. A Moorish Idol floated beside him, mildly looking at him. Nemo felt a sense of authority from him, so quiet and yet very commanding. Even the fishes backed up in respect. His stripes of yellowish-white and black were magnificent and beautiful, along with the long dorsal fin that swayed like a sea fan. Beautiful and stern altogether.

"C-can you help me?" the lad pleaded.

The Moorish Idol's eyes landed on him and Nemo felt coolness from it, the ruby irises glistening. Then he spoke, "No. You got yourself in there. You can get yourself out."

"Gill . . ." Deb was voicing.

The Moorish Idol glanced at the Humbug briefly. "I want to see him doing it." Then he shared a gentle tone to Nemo. "Calm down. Alternate wiggling your fins and tail."

Nemo felt like crying, but he bit his lip from allowing tears to leave his eyes. Instead, he said, "I can't. I have a bad fin."

Gill gazed at him for a moment, then a faint dry smile came on his lips. "Never stopped me." Then he turned aside so his right side faced Nemo. The Clownfish was surprised to see that the beautiful scales were horribly scarred. Two scars smeared his right side, one running down from the top of his snout to his chest and another across his eyes, deepening as it came to a stop around the joint of his right fin. His fin . . . Nemo's eyes locked on it, amazed. While Gill's left fin was long and elegant, his right fin was nearly destroyed. Black scales tightly surrounded fin bones, severed and torn. Crippled. Like him. The Moorish Idol was crippled.

And yet Gill showed none of remorse, anger nor pride toward his scars. Nemo realized why he did that, showing his fin to him. Gill showed that even though he was crippled physically, he wasn't crippled mentally.

Gill turned toward Nemo, his eyes now showing encouragement. "Just think about what you need to do."

What I need to do . . . I need to get out. Not cry or yell for Dad. Just get out . . . Nemo closed his eyes and focused on his efforts to get out. His tail began flapping powerfully while his fins - both his fins - pushed on the smooth glass. He barely heard the voices of encouragement from the fishes. He just wanted to get out and . . . prove to himself that he can do it. All by himself.

With a last slap of his tail, Nemo was out of the tube. Surprised, he glanced at the tube, surprised that he got himself out on his own, and then he grinned triumphantly at Gill and the fishes. He got himself out!

The Moorish Idol finally smiled lightly. "Perfect."

The fishes thrilled to see Nemo free, circling him, praising. The Moorish Idol stayed back, drifted beside Peach, both watching the group silently. Finally, Peach whispered with interest, "Wow, from the ocean." Her black eyes shifted to Gill. "Just like you."

"Yeah . . ." Gill was eying the Clownfish with intent, a new light coming in his eyes.

Peach chuckled softly, drawing another smile from Gill, a smile that he rarely showed to anybody else except to her, for both have grown close. "I've seen that look before. What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking . . . Tonight, we give the kid a proper reception."

Nemo felt very happy, the first time since he was taken away from his father, the first time since he uttered the hateful words to him. He knew that it would be very difficult for him to leave the box, but he wasn't worried right now. He had new friends, friends who would take care of him. He already felt a bond connecting to each of them.

Bloat was laughing as he tugged at Nemo's tail, "So, kid, do you have a name or what?"

The Clownfish grinned blithely. "Nemo. I'm Nemo."

A/O:

What a nice introduction of the Tank Gang. I loved the idea of using the tank as a 'mental institution', which is really like one to the fishes, who have to live in the same place everyday, being controlled by those humans. If it doesn't make you insane after a couple of days, I don't know what will. I love every one of them. 

Gurgle is hilarious with his fear of germs, and man, is he a beauty! Two-tone, purple and gold, my school colors! *laughs* Yeah, moving on.

Deb is nothing like me, lemme tell you. ^_~ She's adorable along with her reflective sister.

Bloat strikes me as a Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black) fish, for some reason I couldn't figure out. :p

Bubbles is the funniest fish ever with his obsession of bubbles. I would watch him all day trying to catch bubbles.

Poor Jacques, not having much screen time in the movie, but I already have a soft spot for him. :)

Peach is very sweet and reminds me of any mother I've met. I can see Nemo bonding to her like a son hungering for a motherly touch.

Nigel . . . *giggles* I don't have much to say about him, except that he is so cool to hang around with fishes that he would choose to eat, but didn't.

And Gill. Heck, even I like the sternness, the bluntness, the bonding he made with Nemo. I think that Gill does have a heart of gold, somewhere under the soot.