I am so totally diving with an eleven-foot nurse shark tomorrow afternoon. Heck. Yes. XD I am so amazingly flippin' excited, I might just have to upload another chapter afterwards. ^^

In the meantime, enjoy the next installment of The Corporation. I incorporated another deleted scene into it (you can have ice cream if you spot it), and I did some research to discover what the bottlenose dolphin's Latin name is. And I left out the "you made me ink" joke, because I am, like, human-waste-a-phobic and absolutely despise potty humor. Ah, well.

On a completely different topic, I was watching some show on Animal Planet, where they were demonstrating a mako shark's attack methods (mako shark = Chum, fyi). What innocent fish was used to show the mako's biting strength? A palette surgeonfish. Chum frikkin ate Dory. XD

---Two---

Nemo couldn't take his eyes off of the window.

He was aware of the excited chatter of his fellow students, as well as Mr. Ray's song about the various species of sea animals. But Nemo was far too fascinated at the panorama outside of the bus: rolling past, far too speedily for him to truly focus on the details, was the city he lived in. The buildings dwindled in number, until all that was left was the Texas countryside, where cows and horses grazed lazily, enjoying the sunshine. The plains soon melded with the salt marshes, hailing the approach of the coast (or so his dad said; since his dad was a marine biologist, Nemo figured that he would know such things). The bus took a left turn, headed towards the island…and, for the first time, Nemo saw the ocean.

He had to strain his eyes to see the water over the sand dunes, but it was visible. Not too impressive; then again, he wasn't next to it. Surely, up close, the ocean looked much larger. Although this was a mild disappointment, it did not abate Nemo's excitement. As soon as they got to the beach, Nemo was going to run down to the ocean's edge and let the waves tickle his toes. He couldn't possibly have been more excited!

Marlin, meanwhile, couldn't have possibly been more worried, anxious, or upset. He had been stopped at every red light, held up by a construction site, and forced to stop when a cow escaped from its pasture and decided to take a nap in the middle of the read. Now he was stuck in a mild traffic jam…mild, that is, when compared to rush hour in Houston.

Marlin tried to keep his composure, which was currently far more difficult for him than normal. He hoped to high heaven that Nemo wouldn't do something drastic before he arrived.

---

The waves tickled Nemo's toes, which made him smile. Yes; the ocean was far more impressive up-close.

Wandering about on the Galveston beach, Mr. Ray's students collected shells, splashed each other, and chased seagulls. Tad, Sheldon, and Pearl were wading along with Nemo, laughing and joking and wrestling; any bystander would have thought the four of them had been best friends for life.

"Okay, kids!" Mr. Ray's shout caused the students to come scrambling back to him. Mr. Ray continued, "Stay close, you guys, and let's see what we can find…"

Mr. Ray scanned the horizon; any ill-educated person would surely have missed the familiar, triangular fin of a lone bottlenose dolphin that cut the waves some distance away. A grin spread across Mr. Ray's face; he had seen thousands of dolphins in his lifetime, yet each one still gave him the same joyous feeling.

"Look!" he shouted, pointing, "A Tursiops truncatus! They're common in Texas oceans. You guys may know them as bottlenose dolphins. They're not fish, but mammals…"

Nemo was the only one in his group of four that was paying any attention to Mr. Ray's lecture. Pearl spun slowly in one of her ballerina circles while the boys stared blankly at the teacher. Tad, finally, took the initiative. He whispered to his three friends, "Come on, let's go."

Taking his cue, Sheldon and Pearl turned and ran, following Tad away from the group. Nemo was a bit slower to react (after all, he had never run away from a teacher before; never mind he had never been to school before), but was quick to follow.

Running on the sand was such a sweet taste of freedom. Instead of the hard concrete or soft carpet, giving him a firm footing that could be painful if he stepped too hard, the sand cradled Nemo's feet, working with his stride rather than against it. Nemo quickly forgot about this observation, however; he noticed that Tad, Sheldon, and Pearl had gotten farther ahead, almost out of side.

"Guys, wait up!" Nemo shouted. As soon as the phrase was out of his lips, his three friends stopped; however, it wasn't because they had heard Nemo's request. Nemo immediately saw the reason for their halt.

The beach house stood on tall pillars in the water, its wood rotted and ugly. The house had obviously not been lived in for years; it was the image of a haunted house, filled with ghosts and memories of the past. The strangeness of the building struck awe in the hearts of the children.

"You know what I heard?" Tad interrupted the silence. "There was this huge family that lived in there, but Stalkers came, ate them all, and threw their bones to the sharks!"

"There's no sharks here," Nemo muttered, "the water under the house is too shallow." Nemo was not entirely sure of what he was saying; for some reason, the house seemed…familiar…

Sheldon grinned mischievously, hopping towards the house. He put a foot on the first stair that led up to the front door. "Oh, look at me!" he jeered, "I'm gonna go explore the spooky beach house!" His allergies betrayed him, causing him to sneeze so powerfully that he fell onto the stairs. With a shriek of startlement, Sheldon scrambled to his feet, removing himself from the stairs. The gangly boy's movements caused Nemo, Tad, and Pearl to laugh at him.

Sheldon frowned at their teasing laughter. "I bet you guys can't go any further than that."

Pearl, shy little Pearl, was the first to take Sheldon up on his challenge. She skipped to the third stair, proudly striking a ballet pose. "Beat that!" she challenged.

Tad did not hesitate; he couldn't let a girl show him up! He pushed past Pearl, coming to stop on the sixth stair. He grinned at Nemo, shouting to him to join them on the stairs. "How far can you go?"

Something in Nemo's gut told him that there was something amiss here. He took a step back, his eyes on his feet. "Uhm," he muttered, "My dad says it's not safe…"

Unbeknownst to Nemo, Marlin had pulled his car onto the patch of sand behind them just as Sheldon had touched the stair. Marlin recognized the house instantly, a feeling of nausea hitting his gut. What was Nemo doing here? And, when it seemed as though Nemo was about to actually touch the house…Marlin couldn't stand it any longer. He flung the door open and barged out.

"NEMO!!!" he bellowed, as only an angry father could, "COME HERE!!!"

The blood drained from Nemo's face. "Dad?!" What was his father doing here, embarrassing him in front of his friends?

Marlin didn't wait for Nemo to follow his orders. He crossed to Nemo as quickly as possible, grabbing his wrist in anger. "You were about to go into that house, weren't you?"

"No!" Nemo defended, stubbornly trying to free himself.

"It's certainly a good thing I was here, young man," Marlin snapped, "You shouldn't be anywhere near here! You could get hurt!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Mr. Ray and the rest of his class had finally found the missing students. I'll have to report him, Marlin mused, Letting his students wander off.

"Excuse me, sir?" Pearl's voice piped up. She and the other two boys had approached him, wanting to defend their friend.

"He wasn't gonna go!" Sheldon said.

"He was too afraid!" Tad added; Nemo shot him a glare that said simply, You are not helping!

"This," Marlin snapped, "does not concern you, kids. In fact, you're lucky I don't even tell your parents you were out there." His attention returned to his son; what if he'd been hurt? He said, "Nemo, you know you can't do things as well as the other kids can."

Being reminded of his lack of an arm in such a way disappointed Nemo; Marlin was his father! He should know better than to say his handicap weakened him! "I'm just as strong as all the other kids, okay?!" Nemo defended, his voice losing its defensive plea and gaining a rageful tone.

Marlin was not listening to his son; this was the perfect excuse to take him home, where he was safe. "Look, I was right," Marlin said, beginning to lead Nemo towards the car, "we'll start school in a couple of years."

"No, Dad!" Nemo snarled, yanking free of his father's iron grasp. "Just because you're scared of everything --!"

"You are not ready for school," Marlin snapped, "and you are not coming back until I know for sure that you are. You think you can do these things, but you just can't, Nemo!"

Nemo was fiercely irritated and angry at his father now. So upset was he, that he clenched his teeth together, angrily, and uttered that taboo statement, the one that any child can use to startle or freeze the heart of any parent: "I…hate…you."

Just as Nemo had hoped, the words hurt his father. Deeply.

Mr. Ray chose that moment to step in. Clearing his throat, he said, "Excuse me, Mr. Clonish? Is there anything I can do to help? I am a scientist, after all."

I doubt that can help our situation any, Marlin thought; the animosity towards the teacher was no longer there, as it had vanished with all of his other feelings of anger and bitterness when Nemo, his own flesh and bone, had told him he hated him. Marlin tried to explain his fears, but he couldn't. How could this scientist/teacher ever understand what he had been through?

Marlin stopped trying to explain when a buck-toothed little girl made an astonishing announcement. "Nemo's going inside the scary beach house!"

Marlin whirled around; Nemo had snuck away from his side, marching up the stairs to the front door of the house. "Nemo!" Marlin gasped, "Young man, get back here!"

Nemo stood at the front door and cast a glare of anger over his shoulder at his father. He didn't budge an inch.

Marlin continued, cautiously approaching the bottom of the stairs. "You're gonna get trapped up there, and then I'll have to get you before a Stalker does! Now, if you are not down here by the count of three, you will be in big trouble, Mister!"

You won't do anything, Nemo thought bitterly, you're scared of this stupid old house. But I'm not. He turned around, ignoring his father's slow and deliberate counting, and opened the door with surprising ease. As though the house had been expecting him.

The furniture inside the house was covered with a thin layer of dust and cobwebs. Spiders and geckos skittered across the wooden floor as Nemo crossed it, ignoring the angered shouts of his father outside. He poked his head inside a doorway; years ago, the hinges had rusted off the door, which had collapsed inside the room. It was a nursery; the walls, now grimy with mold and dirt, had once been pale yellow, with friendly dolphins and whales leaping from the blue, ocean wave border that circled the walls. A large crib, large enough to hold at least six babies, had been placed at the opposite wall; a red stain covered it, caked into the covers.

Nemo backed away from the foreboding sight, stepping on a rectangular object as he did so. Curious, he stooped down to pick it up. It was a picture frame, a photograph of a newly wedded couple inside. The bride was absolutely beautiful; and her groom was young and dashing. Terribly familiar, too. Hang on…that looked…almost like…

Nemo's hand shook as he held the picture. That's Dad, he realized, looking at the smiling man, and that must be Mom. That means…this is their old house. After the attack, Dad never wanted to come back…and he didn't want me to come back, either. That room…was my nursery. And that red spot, on the crib…that must've been when that Stalker…hurt…wait. What if…what if there are still Stalkers here?

The crash that sounded behind Nemo caused him to drop the picture in surprise; the frame shattered as it impacted with the floor. Nemo felt the cold hands grab him torso from behind, covering his mouth. He couldn't scream for help…

Marlin was continuing his berating speech. "Young man, you are in big trouble! Big…! Big…!"

His voice trailed off as he saw the horrid sight. His son had finally reemerged, yes…but he was in the arms of a lean man. The man's eyes were glassy, like a deranged pit bull's. His eyes met Marlin's, and a snarl of anger parted his lips; the man's teeth were yellow and plaque-covered. A shudder traveled down Marlin's spine; it was a seventh-series Stalker, more human in form (the eyes and teeth were slightly less animalistic), but the same animalistic nature.

And this monster, almost the same species as his wife's murderer, had Marlin's son.

Marlin was aware of Pearl screaming in fright; he was also aware of Mr. Ray grabbing as many of his students' wrists and leading them away. He saw Nemo wrench his mouth away from the Stalker's hand.

"Daddy!" Nemo shouted, "Help me!" That was all he managed to shout before the Stalker placed his hand back over Nemo's mouth. With a mighty leap, the Stalker jumped from the balcony into the wet sand, two stories below. The jump didn't faze the monster at all; he simply began running away, taking Nemo with him.

The shock of what was happening to him wore off, and Marlin found the use of his legs. "I'm coming, Nemo!" he shouted, running after them.

Marlin had never seen the second Stalker; where it had come from, he was not sure. She (for this one was obviously female) stood in front of him, growling threateningly and blocking his way. This Stalker was giving her pack member time to escape with his son. And Marlin? He was, ashamedly, too frightened to try to fight or run past this Stalker.

A white truck appeared, sleek and gleaming. The she-Stalker darted towards it, not giving Marlin a second glance, leaping into the bed with inhuman grace. Just before the truck zoomed down the beach, kicking up a cloud of sand, Marlin saw his son's face through the window. Nemo beat his hands against the glass, his face scrunched in an expression of fear. The truck vanished down the stretch of sand.

"No!" Marlin screamed, as though his shout would reverse the horrors of what was happening to him. Marlin began to act entirely on instinct; in a moment, he was at his car, jettying the door open and hurrying to start the car. The engine sputtered once, twice…then died. Of course. Sand had gotten into the engine.

Marlin hit the wheel in frustration, then jumped back out of the dead car and began to run in the direction the truck had gone. A whisper at the back of his mind told him he would never catch up. Logic, however, had no hold on his mind. He could think of absolutely nothing else, except for his son.

That was all Marlin could see, all he was aware of…the Stalker taking away his son, taking away the only person he had left…taking away his only son…

He kept running.

And so, the actual finding of Nemo begins!

Feel free to (politely) review. ^^