A/N: - Here it is; the penultimate chapter for you – I really hope you like it and please review for me and I will be very happy and probably be driven to get the last chapter up even quicker!

"I'll kill him!" Marlin was furious. So, they were going to use Dory and Nemo to get to him. The cowards!

"Who?" Dory whispered, because the four evil fish were still there.

"Linus, of course – who else?"

"Oh – Okies," Dory seemed to have no problems with Marlin killing Linus which was a good sign that she hadn't completely lost the plot.

"And I'm gonna get him soon."

"Let's go to their home. Take the army and take hostages – only killing when it's absolutely necessary." Linus commanded as he led his evil hench-fish away from the cave.

"Phew, that was way too close for me – and Flo would agree if she were here." Deb was almost laughing and Dory sniggered at the mention of Flo and soon the two females were laughing about nothing in particular. Marlin and Gill glanced sideways at each other; why did their friends have to be so crazy? Not that they didn't like it, of course!

"We've got to get back to the reef,"

"Why?" Dory asked. Marlin slapped himself in the head. Dory really could be extremely dense sometimes – most of the time – 99% of the time, in fact.

    They got back to the reef and everyone was trying to evacuate as quickly as possible from the advancing clownfish army who were moving forward in a savage attack mode to anyone who stood up to them, but capturing anyone who didn't resist. Only Mr. Ray and his class had got out without being caught.

"Nemo," Bloat swam hurriedly over as he spotted the young fish, "where are the others?"

"I don't know! We all got separated – they were here a moment ago – we just got back from the cave."

"Come with me,"

"Marlin?"

"Gill?"

  Deb and Dory were also on their own. As soon as they arrived on the reef they had been separated from the others by masses of frantic fish so they had made their way to the drop-off to hide as it was the one place that clownfish were afraid of because of what happened to Coral.

    "Dory? Deb? Marlin, I think we lost the girls! And Sharkbait's gone too."

"What?!" Marlin spun round. 'Oh great' he thought, 'now what are we supposed to do?' he looked round for an answer and spotted Linus…and he instantly chased after him. Gill followed close behind his friend.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Marlin found himself screeching. 'Oh my goodness,' he thought, shocked, 'did I really just say that?'

"Dory?" Deb sniffed, trying to stop the tears so Dory wouldn't see them, laying a fin on her friend.

"What?" Dory jumped and turned to face Deb. She was crying too, "Why are we here? Where are we? What happened and why do my jellyfish scars hurt so much? And where's Marlin? I can't remember…"

"Short term memory loss?" Deb asked feeling stupid. Dory just nodded, "how does Marlin cope?" she muttered, not expecting Dory to hear – but she did.

"I remember stuff loads better when I'm with Marlin – he's a memory trigger – I wish he was here."

"We'll find them as soon as the chaos dies down, ok?"

"Ok – ooh! Look!"

"What? Where?" Deb swam round in a circle to try and find out what was so interesting. Then she saw Dory leaving the cave having spotted Nemo and most of the Tank Gang…but Marlin and Gill were nowhere in sight. Dory cheerfully greeted her friends but the smile evaporated off her face when she spotted Marlin and Gill heading towards them.

    The two male fish looked exhausted and it was almost impossible to tell who was supporting who. Dory began rushing over to them but felt a jolt in her tail and had to stop. Marlin reached her and gave her a tired smile. Gill also flashed a quick smile but was soon surrounded by the Tank Gang. Nemo thought he'd better let Dory look after his Dad so he hugged Gill and tried to stop the Tank Gang completely overpowering their weary leader. Dory hugged Marlin so tightly that she could've suffocated him had Marlin not been ready for it. Normally, he would have told her he was fine but this time it just wasn't true. He was shaking and just let himself be hugged by his best friend.

"Mar? What's up?"

"Morris is dead."

"But – how?"

"Linus killed him. He sacrificed himself so me and Gill could go free and Linus said he would leave the reef if Morris died." Marlin was in shock, so Dory fulfilled her duties and did what any best friend should do in such a situation; she just let him empty his system.

  After Marlin calmed down and let go of Dory, the group dejectedly swam back to the centre of the reef. It was in ruin. There were children wailing and frantic parents, relatives, partners, mates, and friends all searching for those they held closest to them. Dory couldn't stand it and was leaning on Gill while Marlin's lust for revenge burned more deeply than ever – now close to boiling point. He was not wounded too badly so he just swam off. Dory made to follow him but was restrained by Bloat. She agreed not to go after him and Bloat eventually loosened his grip on her – and that was when she shot off after her best friend. Gurgle and Bubbles were sent after her to provide back-up and a distraction if anything went wrong as both had willingly volunteered, as they were both feeling rather worthless in the whole scenario and wanted to do some good. Dory was still in no state to fight anyone, least of all Linus, but she was determined to help Marlin. Even if she couldn't fight much, her amazing optimism worked wonders and was deemed priceless. She knew this all too well and decided to make good use of it.

    Marlin reached Linus' hideout and entered cautiously but Linus was waiting. He came face to face with his arch nemesis and they began fighting, neither one noticing the Regal Blue Tang that was sneaking in on the sidelines, well hidden in the shadow of the cave.

   The fight was long and painful. Twice Dory tried to go and help and twice she was held back by Gurgle and Bubbles. They were under strict orders and were going to follow them – no matter what happened in the fight.

   In a gripping climax, Marlin grabbed Linus by his left fin, swung him round, and hurled him into a wall. Linus was out cold and Marlin tied him up. The women's fish army, sent to keep the peace, arrived and dragged the evil fish responsible for so much pain and trouble, away to be sentenced. Marlin wasn't too badly hurt but he was shocked. Had he really fought like that? And why hadn't he managed to kill Linus? After all, that was what he'd set out to do, wasn't it? As if reading his mind, Dory answered for him in the most honest way there was.

"Because if you'd killed him then you would have stooped to his level and would be just as bad as him – and that sort of behaviour isn't in your nature. Anyway, look on the bright side – at least if he's in prison then it's a longer period of punishment than death and he'll never bother us again. He'll be imprisoned for life for what he's done." Dory beamed as if it were the simplest thing in the world. She didn't understand why Marlin still looked upset and troubled, but then she'd never remembered anything long enough for her to be able to hold a grudge or want revenge. In her eyes, the whole thing was sorted.

A/N: - That's the penultimate chapter. There is now only one more to go which is my Epilogue. I will be back soon.