A/N: I had a ton of fun rewriting this part, even if it came out much longer than I planned. XD
Response to Random Fan: He did. XD
The Aronnax was running out of oxygen too quickly. While her parents blamed the malfunctioning electronics, Fontaine knew the truth. Kaiko was calculating the air for four people, unaware of a fifth person in the ducts. Because of Finn, they were using air too quickly.
"No," Fontaine thought, shaking her head. "It's not Finn's fault."
"Fontaine?" Kaiko said. "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine," Fontaine said, smiling at her mom's image on the console. "Just focus on the servos."
It had been nearly an hour since Kaiko started working on the engines. At least the oxygen levels were still holding steady.
Until Ant tapped the console.
"Ant!" Fontaine and Will screamed as the oxygen levels abruptly dropped.
There was a click over the comms, then Kaiko said, "Trying the engines now."
Fontaine held her breath as the Aronnax shuddered, then hummed to life. Everyone cheered.
"Nice work, Kaiko," Will said.
"Way to go, Mum!" Fontaine said.
Fontaine shoved the joysticks forward. The Aronnax jolted, then moved forward. The tentacles across the main view port loosened.
"They're letting go!" Ant said.
The main port was completely clear in seconds. Fontaine let herself smile, then Kaiko was suddenly yelling.
"Back off the throttle! Back off!"
Fontaine jerked her hands away from the joysticks.
"The engine's overheating -thermostat's shot. We can only run them at minimum speed or they'll seize," Kaiko said in a rush.
At Kaiko's orders, Fontaine carefully nudged the Aronnax into motion with as little power as possible. She frowned when she felt the Aronnax's direction.
"We've stopped climbing," Ant said.
Worse, they were going down.
"At minimum power, the squid are going to drag us down," Fontaine said in frustration.
"Kaiko," Will said. "We have to get the engines back up."
"Working on it," Kaiko said, sounding frazzled. "We should be fine, as long as nothing else goes wrong."
"I really think we should ban sentences like that on this submarine," Ant warned. "Every time we-"
An alarm cut Ant off, followed by Kaiko saying, "We have a fire!"
"There it is," Ant said, closing his eyes and pointing at the speaker.
A chilled silence fell over the bridge. The past few hours had been a series of, "hope nothing worse happens" and it seemed like the absolute worst thing had just happened.
Fontaine looked away from her slumped brother. "That fire is going to eat up the last of our air!"
"Kaiko, I'm coming!" Will said, then darted to the door. He stopped abruptly and pointed at Fontaine and Ant. "Both of you, get to the Moon Pool room. If this gets any worse, I want you ready to abandon ship."
"How?" Fontaine asked. She turned the chair to fully face Will. "We can't go outside with those squid! We wouldn't last two seconds!"
"We'll find a way to draw them away," Will said.
"We" being Will and Kaiko. Fontaine and Ant traded fearful winces. Neither moved.
"Get to the Moon Pool, now!" Will ordered fiercely, then ran down the hall.
Fontaine groaned, but stood and followed Ant when he ran after Will.
While she ran behind Will, Fontaine remembered Finn. Had he been listening? She had to make sure he knew to get to the Moon Pool room! She didn't know what she'd tell her family, but she didn't have a choice anymore.
Fontaine slowed to turn down a hall to take her to the ducts closest to Finn, then realized that Ant had slowed as well. She turned as she passed Ant, both kids slowing until they stopped. Ant stared thoughtfully to the side.
"What is it?" Fontaine coughed. "We have to go, Ant."
Already, Fontaine could sense how thin the air was getting. Will's heavy breathing vanished around a corner, and Ant's rapid panting took its place.
"I left something on the bridge," Ant blurted, then turned and ran.
"Ant!"
Fontaine coughed harder as she struggled to make a choice. Go to the Moon Pool room? Retrieve Finn? Or go after her brother?
Fontaine groaned and ran into another hall. Ant would have to take care of himself. She was going to the Moon Pool room, after a short detour.
The air steadily grew worse as Fontaine crawled through the ducts. Surely Finn would have realized the Aronnax's plight by then and left, but something told Fontaine that Finn was still in the hideout.
Fontaine pushed aside the cloth covering the vent entrance and peered inside.
The hideout was a mess from the jostling of the whale and squid. The cot had slid to the opposite wall and the bedding was on the floor. Books and clothes were scattered everywhere. Somewhere, a bottle of water had spilled. Finn sat on the cot, eyes closed.
"Finn!" Fontaine tumbled into the hideout. "Finn, we have to go!"
Finn opened his eyes. Fontaine was given pause by his vacant stare. Luckily, Finn blinked and his eyes returned to normal.
"What's going on?" Finn asked in a quiet voice. He gestured to the darkened tablet at his side. "Cameras cut out an hour ago."
"Everything's gone wrong. The engines are dead, we have no power, and we're running out of air." Fontaine gulped air. "We need to get ready to abandon sub."
Finn stared at her for a long moment. Fontaine wondered how he wasn't panting like she was. He was breathing just…
Finn wasn't breathing right, either. His was more subtle, but no better than Fontaine's. Each breath was a little too fast, a little too shallow.
Fontaine grabbed his arm. "We're making a run for it."
"Don't you have back-up power?" Finn asked, again in that quiet tone.
"I don't know, we've never had an issue like this," Fontaine said. "Come on, we have to go. I've got to grab Ant from the bridge now, too."
"What about the generator that used to be here?"
Fontaine blinked as a thought came to her. "We keep it in the hold because it's too small to power the whole sub. Fiction keeps meaning to take it out, but forgets every time. Why?"
"Help your brother." Finn stood with a quickness that belied his poor breathing. "He must have a plan, right?"
"We don't have time!" Fontaine exclaimed, then coughed.
"I'll get you air," Finn said, grabbing Fontaine's shoulder.
"How?"
"Just trust me. Please."
Fontaine stared into Finn's eyes. "Fine. I didn't want to leave Mum and Dad, anyway. I'll help Ant. Don't get yourself hurt."
Finn just grinned at her, then hauled himself into the duct. Fontaine sighed, then followed.
Both teens crawled to the nearest opening and tumbled out. Fontaine straightened and tried to ignore her aching lungs.
"After we fix this, we should tell my parents," Fontaine said.
Finn blinked at her, then shook his head. "Not yet."
"But if you-"
Finn held up a hand. "We can talk later."
Fontaine stared at Finn, panting. His eyes were weird again. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Finn said. "We don't have time. Just go help your brother."
Finn spun on his heel and ran. Despite his weird breathing and eyes, he didn't waver. While he ran, Finn flipped up his hood over his cap and pulled gloves from his pockets.
Fontaine shook her head, then turned toward the bridge.
Fontaine found Ant in Kaiko's chair, struggling with the controls. In panting half-sentences, Ant outlined a plan to get the whale they were tracking to scare the squid away.
It was an insane plan, but it was their only shot.
"Move over," Fontaine said, taking the controls.
It was very slow going. They seemed to be getting pulled down even faster now. Ant, hands braced on the main console, directed Fontaine.
"We're not… not going to make it!" Fontaine gasped.
"Just a bit closer!" Ant urged.
The next second, the screens went dark.
"No!" Ant wailed. "We just lost all our detection systems! Sonar. Tracking… We're blind!"
It was too late to turn back, so Fontaine just kept pushing the Aronnax. There wasn't any time for any other plans. There wasn't time to do anything but hope.
Will's voice came over the comms. "Ant! Fontaine! What's going on? Are you in the Moon Pool room?"
"We… we, ah…" Ant stammered.
Ant looked at Fontaine, confusion clouding his eyes. Fontaine could see him struggling for breath just as much as she was.
Fontaine scowled. "Ant has a plan!"
"Whatever you're trying, it hasn't worked." Fontaine could hear Will's breathlessness. "We're almost out of time. Please, kids, get to the Moon Pool room."
Fontaine closed her eyes and lowered her hands from the controls. "Wrong, Dad. We are out of time."
"Fontaine?" Ant asked.
Fontaine opened her eyes and pointed to a flashing gauge on the console. They had minutes at most.
Fontaine pushed herself to her feet, only for her legs to give out. She fell to her knees, but caught herself on the console before she could fall further.
"Fontaine!" Ant yelped.
"We're coming, Dad," Fontaine whispered.
"Kids?" Kaiko asked, voice uncertain.
A moment later, Will yelled, "Kaiko!"
At the same time, a long, low sound filled the bridge. Fontaine didn't think anything else could sound more beautiful to her just then.
"Whale song!" Ant called as he dropped into the chair. "They're leaving!"
Fontaine grinned weakly as the view port cleared. Her smile dropped a second later, though. Why were the squid heading toward the whale song?
"Oh, no," Ant whimpered. "They're… they're gonna attack the whale!"
"No," Fontaine whispered.
Not only were they too late to save themselves, they'd brought an entire squad of giant squid to their whale friend! He was going to die… because of them.
"Wait." Ant sat up with obvious effort. "They're… coming back?"
Fontaine squinted, then murmured, "He brought his friends."
Fontaine slumped against the console. All she could do was grin as the whale pod swept gracefully past the Aronnax in their hunt, their singing revertabrating in the bridge.
The bridge door whooshed open. Fontaine turned and saw Will and Kaiko, both covered in smoke and Kaiko leaning on Will, stumble onto the bridge.
Will stared at the port. "What's going on?"
"We're being saved by the whales," Ant said with a loopy grin.
The Nektons watched the pod vanish from view. The force of their massive tails shook the Aronnax in the slightest, then they were gone.
For a moment, everyone was quiet. Fontaine stared at the gauge. Finn had said he'd get them air while she and Ant freed the Aronnax. She and Ant had succeeded, but where was Finn?
"What now?" Ant asked.
"Fire's out," Will said as he helped Kaiko to Fontaine's chair. "But the engine's still dead."
"Doesn't matter," Fontaine said, waving a hand at the gauge.
The gauge on the console had ceased flashing. It glowed a solid red, completely empty.
Fontaine felt a hand drop onto her shoulder. She turned to look into Kaiko's sad, proud smile. Kaiko slipped to the ground and grabbed Fontaine in a hug. Will leaned against the seat, one arm looped around Ant's shoulders. Will and Kaiko grabbed each other's free hand, joining the family in a slumped, haphazard group hug.
Fontaine closed her eyes and leaned into her mom's chest. She could feel Kaiko's racing heart and heaving breaths.
"I love you," Kaiko whispered.
"Love you, too," Fontaine struggled out.
"Best family ever," Ant murmured. Somehow, one of his hands found Fontaine's.
"I'm so proud." Will gasped. "Of all of you."
The following silence was broken by a distant hum. Something in the room hissed.
Fontaine didn't think much of the sounds until she took a breath. Fresh air replaced the stale, carbon dioxide-full air. Her senses returned in a rush, and she jolted upright.
"We have air!" Fontaine cried.
"How?" Kaiko murmured as she straightened.
"Let's not question it," Ant said. He'd already bounced back. "Let's just get to the surface before you-know-what happens!"
"You don't really think anything else could happen, do you?" Kaiko asked.
Ant groaned. "Mu-um!"
"Okay, okay, not another word." Kaiko stood, but didn't move toward her seat. "The engines are still dead, though. The fire caused the whole thing to overheat. It could be hours before it's safe to move."
"The squid are gone. What if we just took the Knights and Rover to the surface?" Will suggested.
"We might have to…" Kaiko's eyes drifted to the console. "Or…"
Kaiko nudged Fontaine away from the console, then knelt. She pulled her abandoned toolbox closer and peered under the console.
"Mum?" Fontaine asked.
"Maybe it's the thin air, but that little lightbulb started this whole mess." Kaiko pulled the faulty bulb from the toolbox. "Maybe it can fix this?"
The rest of the Nektons shrugged. The day had been absurd enough for Kaiko's plan to work. And even if it didn't, there would be time for everyone to safely abandon the sub.
Kaiko pulled a screwdriver from the toolbox, then Will stopped her by lifting a different tool.
"Here, use this," Will said.
Fontaine wondered if her parents had recovered from the lack of air. Why did Kaiko even have a can opener in her toolbox, anyway?
Kaiko, though, just smiled and took the offered tool. She opened a panel under the console, pried out the working bulb, and replaced the faulty bulb.
The Nektons waited. Unfortunately, the only thing to happen was that the humming of the air scrubbers stopped.
"And there we go," Ant groaned.
Thunk!
Fontaine jumped, then a familiar vibration filled the bridge. The lights returned to their normal brightness, and the darkened consoles lit up. Kaiko let out a sigh of relief as the chirps of rebooting Aronnax came from around the bridge.
"We have air!" Fontaine said as she felt the renewed stirring from the vents.
"Engines are online," Will reported.
"Fridge back on!" Ant happily said.
Kaiko sat in her chair and said, "Little blinky light, I will never be mad at you again."
Fontaine shook her head. Kaiko definitely needed time to recover.
"Let's get out of here." Kaiko pushed the joysticks forward, but nothing happened. "Er…"
A/N: Oops, something else happened. ;P
This chapter was originally longer, but I thought this would be a funny place to end. XD
