Octonauts Oneshots

Planned disasters part 4

The Octonauts rushed out of HQ, save for the Captain and Tweak. Kwazii dashed down to the launch patrol, naturally taking the role of patrol. The Vegimals hurried off to the kitchen, Professor Inkling to the aid of the library, Shellington to his lab and Peso to the sick bay.

"Cap?" Tweak asked, having no natural workspace to protect (the launch bay was very, very well guarded). "What should I do?"

"Lock down the Octopod," he commanded firmly. "Take this as a real emergency. Lockdown is usually our first step in such a big storm, so let's do that."

Tweak nodded and obliged, hopping off to the dashboard with her usual "faster than you can say buncha muncha crunchy carrots" and pressing a few buttons. There was a metallic grinding noise as steel sheets slipped over all the most delicate parts of the Octopod. 

All things considered, the emergency was going remarkably well.

***

The ship's marine biologist stood precariously on a stool, locking up the final specimen shelf, fitted with Tweak's brilliant padded cushioning to prevent damage coming to any of Shellington's most precious valuables (other than Dashi of course).

Yet he was still worried. 

Not about his lab equipment or the animal parts he had gathered over the years, those were replaceable, no matter how hard they were to find. He was worried about his girlfriend. She was irreplaceable, beautiful, a once-in-eternity kind of girl, and she was out there somewhere.

Despite his best efforts, Shellington could not keep one question out of his frantic, frantic mind.

What if it isn't a fake emergency?

He shook his head as if that would help clear it, checked over the lab once more to make sure everything was secure, and then went up to HQ.

***

Almost disappointed that the storm was really imaginary and that a massive typhoon wasn't about to strike the Octopod, Kwazii shot back to HQ, the Gup B naught but an orange flash in the calm blue water. He slipped into the Octohatch just as it opened, nearly scraping the fins on the expanding opening, and ejected out of the gup as it surfaced in the launch bay.

He landed with a flip and his customary "YEOWWW!" 

Unconcerned that there was no one to see his feat of remarkable skill and bravery other than Tunip, still at the Octohatch, he acrobatically leapt up the ladder in almost one step, and up the lift into the Octopod's HQ. There, Shellington was talking to the Captain. He sounded anxious.

"I'm just worried that with all the steel and the lock down and everything, that we can't see that there's a huge storm outside. There might be, for all we know. And Dashi's out there. What if she's in danger?"

"It's perfectly calm," Kwazii interrupted, strolling almost nonchalantly into the conversation. "Pretty obvious that it's a fake emergency. Barely a ripple."

"That settles it," the Captain said with a certain sense of finality to it. "It's a fake emergency."

"The storm tracker, Captain?" Shellington asked, almost desperately.

"No use," said Tweak, dusting off her hands and coming up out of the lift. "I checked it one more time--no different to last time--and then I manually put the radar dish back into its little slot. That big storm's still showing, Dashi didn't have time to program it to move around. Standard lockdown protocol."

The Octopod suddenly lurched, just as Peso came up the lift, stumbling slightly on his little flippers.

"What was that?" he asked worriedly. 

"See?" Shellington said with a wave of his paw to the frightened penguin. Tweak just laughed.

"Gup D. I thought it was weird that she picked that specific gup. She doesn't particularly like it usually. But it's the only one that can shake the Octopod like that. Remember the time with Slippy the sea cucumber when I kept accidentally offsetting the ship?"

"Yeah," Peso nodded wistfully. "It was a nightmare getting her back where she belonged."

"But thankfully, today's mission is much easier," the Captain said. "We know it's fake, but still treat it like it's real. Go to your stations."

Kwazii sighed. He hated strapping in for a storm, especially if it was a fake one. There wouldn't even be any or real danger! Unfair.

***

Shellington Sea Otter was facing a moral dilemma as he stared at the launch bay. He should have been strapped in--heck he was trying to get himself to strap in--but his body wouldn't move, still frozen at the launch bay. He told himself he didn't know why, but he knew exactly what he was contemplating.

Should he go out?

It could be harmless, and all he'd get would be a reprimand from the Captain. Or it could be serious out there, and Dashi could be in trouble.

Well when you weighed it up like that, there really was only one option.

Without any hesitation, for fear that he would stop as soon as he considered what he was doing, Shellington walked over, opened the Octohatch and got into the Gup C, namely, the only one he could drive. Sort of.

Too late now, Shellington thought, engaging the boosters and pushing the Gup C out into...

Absolutely nothing.

***

Tweak, almost hopping with anxiety about the Gups, couldn't hold it any longer. She unstrapped herself, out of her barred-up little bedroom/workbench, and...

Shellington. Getting into the Gup C and leaving.

Oh shi....zzleberries.

***

Shellington wasn't shocked. Just... Regretful, almost, of the disappointment the Captain was undoubtably about to show as soon as he turned the Gup around and headed into the Octopod.

A bit of tumbleweed drifted by, right under the nose of the Gup C. Shellington claimed not to know why he stopped, but deep down he did.

Kwazii said barely a ripple. That looks pretty strong.

He sighed. He was overestimating things. Any other day and he would have just shrugged it off. Kwazii was right. It was barely a ripple. Time to go-

The strongest easterly swell Shellington had ever been out in hit the Gup C, all in a matter of moments.

The controls were nearly wrenched out of his hand as he pulled back against the current.

So strong!

Suddenly, Shellington saw the truth. The storm tracker had been right all along. There had been a huge storm. A hurricane. Kwazii had been right. There had been barely a ripple. In the eye of the hurricane. And now, there were two Octonauts stuck out in the storm.

Jumping Jellyfish. Flappity Flippers. Shiver Kwazii's whiskers. 

This was not going to be good.

(A/N Heyyyyyyy I'm back everybody! K so I can't promise regular updates on anything but I'll do my best okay?)