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"We're here, Captain." Dashi reports.
"Good. Octonauts, we are at the Persian Gulf." Barnicals turns to his mostly engaged crew.
"What's our mission, Captain?" Kwazii asks.
"Uh," Inkling sneaks a glance at his more distracted crew member. "What's wrong, Peso?"
"It's really hot.." he replies in a quiet voice.
"Ah," The octopus drives his chair over to Barnicals, tapping him on the shoulder.
He whispers something to him, both glancing at the uncomfortable penguin. After a moment, the polar bear turns the heat down in the Octopod. He clears his throat to gather the attention of the crew.
"Alright, I know we all want to get out there, but I have some news." He pauses. "Peso will not be able to come with us."
"What?" Peso asks, eyes widening.
"It's too hot in the Pursian Gulf for a penguin." Inkling explains. "You're already overheating in the Octopod. If you go out there, you'll be in even more danger."
"B-but-"
"We'll send any injured creatures here, immediately, if we find any." Barnicals cuts him off, already knowing what concern he was going to voice.
"Don't worry, matey, you'll be fine in here."
~Time Skip~
"ARRR!!" Kwazii yells, front flipping out of the gup.
"Kwazii!" Shellington scolds. "Peso's here."
"Sorry," he apologizes. "I forgot."
"Uh," Tweak looks at Shellington after checking the security cameras. "I think Kwazii is fine being loud, right now." She points at the screen. "Peso isn't here!"
"Did he leave the Octopod?" Dashi asks in a panic.
"I can't find him on any of the security cameras!"
"Spread out and search for him, or clues." Barnicals orders. "Dashi, look through the security videos and see if you can find out where he went."
~Time Skip~
"Captain!" Dashi runs through the halls, calling out for the polar bear. "Captain!"
"What is it, Dashi?" He asks when she finally finds him.
"I found out what happened to Peso!"
"What?" He sounded shocked.
"On the cameras, I saw some people come and take him!"
"Did he try to put up a fight?"
"No," Dashi shakes her head. "He didn't fight back. He pulled away, tried to reason with them, but never tried to fight. They beat him pretty good before he stopped struggling." She sounded scared for her friend.
"Dashi, sound the Octoalert!" Dashi runs to an alert button quickly, pressing it. "Octonauts, to the Launch Bay!"
As soon as everyone is in the Launch Bay, the captain briefly explains the situation. He calls for Tweak and Kwazii to get into the Gup-A.
"What do we need, Cap?" Tweak asks, grabbing her tools and a few parts she may need.
"Something to break chains. He might be locked up somewhere."
"Luckily, I don't need to build anything new for this." She smiles. "I already have a pair of Octopliers that should be perfect for breaking chains."
"Great. Let's go."
~Meanwhile~
"W-what do you want with me?!" Peso asks the tall figure who had kidnapped him.
"Quiet, Peso!" They snap back, tightening their grip on his flippers.
Peso breathes heavily. This wasn't ok. Whatever they were going to do to him, it wasn't ok. The bruises under his feathers ached, and the tight grip from this stranger wasn't helping.
He looked around the dark, stone, cold building. He ruffled his feathers. This was a creepy place.
What if his friends never find him?
The dark thought clouded his mind. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time for what-ifs.
The figure throws Peso into a cell, walking over to the chain on the wall. He puts the clasp around the penguin's neck, despite the panicked shouts that emitted from his beak.
"Shut up!" They tighten the clasp, effectively making him very quiet.
Peso tries to breathe, but it's hard with the metal clasp. Instead, he holds his breath, hoping he could hold it for a long enough time for his crew to find him.
The figure leaves, closing and locking the door to the cell.
If the clasp hadn't been put over his helmet, he would radio the Octopod. But he couldn't. All he could do was wait.
~Time Skip~
It had been a long time since the figure had left Peso alone in the cell. It constantly got harder and harder to breathe. His energy quickly drained as time went on, and he knew that wasn't good. He had given up holding his breath a while ago. There wasn't any point. He was going to die in this place due to lack of oxygen, anyway. Why even try to prevent the inevitable?
"Peso..?!"
Peso's eyes snap open at the familiarity of the voice.
"C-captain..?" He mutters weakly.
"Peso, where we you..?!"
Peso realises the voice was coming from his nearly crushed helmet collar, the voice muffled by the thick clasp.
"I-i don't..know.." Peso struggles to get a breath in. He makes a choking noise in his struggle.
"Peso..!? What happened..!?"
"I-i can't.." His voice cuts out from the lack of air in his lungs.
"Can't what..?!"
"B-b-breathe..." Peso finally manages, closing his eyes.
"Just hold on, Peso, we're on our way..!"
"P-please...h-hu-ury.." Peso clumsily grasps at the clasp, desperately trying to make it easier to breathe.
The radio turns off, leaving the penguin in pure silence.
~Time Skip-In The Gup-A~
"We need to hurry!" Tweak twists her ears together. "He said he can't breathe!"
"His voice was so weak..." Kwazii comments, uncharacteristic fear coating his features.
"I know." Barnicals replies, speading the gup up. "Tweak, activate the Peso finder.(ya know, from the episode where he got sorta eaten by the comb jelly)."
Tweak does just that, instantly pointing out which way to go.
"Hold on, Peso, we're on our way." Kwazii mutters to himself.
The three were each scared for the penguin. The way his voice sounded and what he said was scary. They all wanted to find him. To take him home to the Octopod. To make sure he was safe.
"It was a bad idea to leave him alone.." Barnicals speaks.
The other two don't say a word. It wasn't necessary.
"Cap, it says he should be in there." Tweak points to a stone building on the shore.
They all get out of the gup quickly, Tweak taking her Octopliers to cut whatever chains they would have to get rid of to get Peso home. They walk into the building, careful not to be seen.
"Where's Peso?" Kwazii asks Tweak.
"In there." She replies, nodding towards a cell door after checking her tablet.
"Then let's go." Barnicals motions for them to move forward.
They approach the door, the captain peaking in. He sees Peso sitting against the wall, but he can hardly make him out at all.
"We need a key." Kwazii points to the door lock.
"No we don't." Tweak smiles, pulling out two special-looking sticks.
She starts picking the lock, noises coming from the doorknob.
Barnicals hears a weak coughing sound being cut off by a small gasp coming from inside the room.
"Hurry, Tweak." Barnicals' voice is low and wavery. "I can hear him. He's weak."
"Almost.." the doorknob makes a clicking sound. "Got it." She smiles.
Barnicals opens the door, a gasp escaping all three of their mouths.
"Peso..!" Barnicals whisper-shouts.
The three run up to the penguin, the captain knealing down. Dark bruises could be seen through his feathers and the thick metal clasp was extremely tight around his neck. None of them have ever seen him like this.
"Are you alright, matey..!?" Kwazii asks in a panic.
Peso shakes his head, putting a flipper to the clasp around his neck.
"C-c-can't..." Peso takes in a breath, though hardly any air enters his lungs. "Breathe..." he coughs a little.
"Tweak." Barnicals turns to the bunny.
Tweak nods before taking out her Octopliers and attempting to put them up to the clasp. She pulls them away.
"The clasp is too big for the Octopliers.." She frowns.
"Then cut the chain. We'll have to figure something out back at the Octopod."
Tweak does what she was told, though Peso doesn't move.
"Here, matey." Kwazii gets down and helps Peso stand up.
He puts an arm around him and slings his flipper over his shoulders.
"All right, let's get going before they find out we're here."
They all make their way toward the water, quickly making it out of the building.
"He can't go into the water with that clasp cutting of his air supply." Tweak points out to Kwazii when he tries to walk Peso into the water.
"I knew that."
"Stop right there!"
3 tall figures, cloaked in black, run out of the building.
"Give us back Peso!"
"No way!!" Kwazii shouts back, causing Peso to flinch.
"Just look at what you did to him!" Barnicals gestures to the clasp. "He can't breathe with that thing!"
"He deserved it!"
"How would you know what he deserves?!" Tweak asks in anger.
"Duh, we grew up with him!"
The three figures take their hoods off to reveal the heads of adult penguins. They seemed quite a bit older than Peso.
"C-carlos..!?" Peso gasps. "L-l-luis..!? E-elena..!?"
"That's right, shorty!" The female penguin, who everyone assumed was Elena, grins.
"Did you miss us?" One of the male penguins asks mockingly.
"Shut up, both of you!" The penguin who appeared to be the leader of the three snaps.
"Sorry, Carlos.." the other male looks down.
"Who are you?!" Kwazii yells, again making Peso flinch.
"I'm sure you've been told of his, tragic past." Carlos grins.
The Octonauts' eyes widened at that.
"You're his bullies?" Tweak asks in disbelief.
"Bingo." Luis points a flipper at her.
"Hand him over and no one else gets hurt." Elena takes a step toward Peso and Kwazii.
"Absolutely not!" Barnicals shouts.
"C-captain.." Peso speaks up. "D-do it..i-i know how to...h-handle them..i-i'll be..fine..."
"Are you sure, matey?" Kwazii whispers.
Peso gives the best nod he can with the clasp. He slips from the cat's grip, stumbling a little. He shakily waddles over to the three penguins.
"That's right, Huérfano," Carlos chuckles darkly.
Peso stops walking at the name. Elena scoffs.
"C'mon, already!" She waddles up to him and grips his flipper in her own. She tugs him back into the building, beginning to laugh at whatever she had planned for him.
The other two look up at a large stone lookout that stretched over the water. The Octonauts follow their gaze and wait for something to happen.
Eventually, the two penguins can be seen waddling slowly across the lookout. Whenever the shorter penguin stops walking, the taller one yanks on his flipper harshly. Soon enough, they approach the edge.
Much to the horror of the Octonauts, the taller pushes the smaller off the end, sending him crashing to the sea below. Hardly any scream comes from Peso as he falls.
"Go." Carlos waves a flipper. "Save him. But I don't see the point."
Ignoring him, the Captain, lieutenant, and engineer dive into he water to retrieve the gup and get Peso before it's too late.
"Captain, he's sinking fast!" Kwazii points to the sinking penguin. "That clasp must be really heavy!"
Barnicals races the gup to catch him, missing by an inch. They see Peso's eyes close and what little breathing he was doing stop. The polar bear let's out a loud gasp, eyes widening. He sends the gup into a nosedive.
"Gotcha!" He yells when he opens the gup's glass to let Peso float in.
"Peso!" Tweak takes him to sit in the chair in the back. "Peso, wake up!"
When the penguin doesn't even stir, the bunny sighs deeply, looking at the floor.
"Tweak.." Kwazii walks up behind her. He looks at his small friend with sorrow.
"He's gone!" She shouts.
"Tweak-"
"Gone!" She shouts again.
"It'll be alright, Tweak."
"No it won't, Cap! He's gone! And he isn't coming back!"
"No, no, Tweak," Barnicals turns his head to look at her. "Penguins can do that! They can stop breathing for a while if they need to! He'll be fine, he just needs to be able to breathe when his body needs it again. So when we get back to the Octopod, you need to find a way to get that, thing off of him."
Tweak nods, wiping away fallen tears.
"Alright, Cap.."
~Time Skip~
The Gup-A drives into the Octopod, the rest if the crew already waiting anxiously in the Launch Bay.
"Did you find him?" Inkling asks, leaning forward in his chair.
Barnicals just nods before walking to the back of the gup. The four emerge from the gup, Kwazii helping Peso walk.
The crew gasps at the sight of the penguin's bruises and metal clasp.
"What happened!?" Dashi exclaims, rushing to the other side of Peso to help Kwazii. "Peso? C-can you hear me..?"
"He can't breathe.." Tweak informs them. "Not with that clasp around his neck. I need to get it off with the blowtorch."
The others nod and Shellington grabs the mentioned tool from the toolbox. He hands it to Tweak, looking at the clasp.
"Be careful, matey," Kwazii warns, putting Peso down on a barrel. "Don't hurt him."
"I wont hurt him like they did.."
Tweak inches the blowtorch toward the clasp and turns it on. She runs it up and down, turning a strip of metal a glowing red. As she keeps using the warm object, Inkling makes sure the flames don't touch any of the black and white feathers.
"I got it!" The bunny exclaims, pulling the blowtorch away from the clasp.
She carefully grips the clasp and pulls it open. The sight of the crushed helmet collar wasn't surprising for anyone.
"W-why isn't he breathing?" Tweak ask, backing up with he clasp in her paws.
"His body doesn't need it, yet." Shellington explains. "Penguins often sleep under the water, so they can stop breathing for a period of time. But only as a last resort. Peso's body used this as the only way to stay alive."
"So.." Dashi glances at the still penguin. "He'll be alright?"
Shellington nods, relief washing over the crew.
"We just need to wait for him to-"
The otter is cut of by Peso taking a huge gasp in. His eyes snap open and his flippers tense up. He takes heavy breaths, understanded by the others.
"Breathe, matey." Kwazii reminds him, patting his shoulder.
After many deep breaths, the crew saw Peso sigh in relief.
"You're alive!" Shellington translates for the Vegimals, who all had run up to the barrel.
"L-looks like it.." Peso looks at the clasp still held in Tweak's paws. "W-what, happened..?" He tries to remember the event, but it was all a dark blur in his mind.
"These three penguins tried to kill you.." Barnicals answers.
"C-carlos, Elena, and Luis.."
Kwazii, Tweak, and Barnicals all nod.
"They were your bullies." Kwazii looks at Peso with pity. "Weren't they?"
Peso looks away from the cat, nodding.
"What does 'huérfano' mean, Peso?" Barnicals asks out of nowhere. Peso looks at him in confusion. "Carlos - the leader - called you that. Is it Spanish for something?"
"The way you reacted to it.." Tweak adds. "What was that all about?"
Peso takes a deep breath. It felt good to be able to breathe again.
"I-it is Spanish.." Peso answers with a stutter, though it seemed more out of anxiety than weakness. "It means..'orphan..'"
This sent chills down the crew's spines. Peso, the penguin with the biggest family they've ever seen, and the one who is most engaged with his family, an orphan? It didn't make sense to them. They've met his mother, and little brother. They've met his cousins, Adeli and Emperor. No way he was an orphan.
"But why would they call you an orphan if you aren't one, matey?" Kwazii voices the question everyone had.
"Gr-growing up, everyone thought i was an orphan.." Peso explains. "I-i don't know why.."
"Well, we're going to find them and make sure they won't hurt you, or anyone else, ever again." Barnicals states.
"I'm going with you." Peso states with a new found strength.
"No, you're not." Barnicals retorts. "You've only been able to breathe for not even 5 minutes, you can't go on a mission, yet."
"Trust me." Peso tries to get up. "I'm fine."
Barnicals pushes him back down, shaking his head.
"I understand you want to help with those guys, but you're too weak."
"B-but-"
"Peso, stop." Barnicals cuts him off. "It would be safer if you stayed here, far away from them."
"Uh," Dashi speaks. "Captain, you said that last time..and, look where that put him.." she gestures to the clasp still in Tweak's paws, then to the bruises on the penguin. "Maybe, he should come with us. Leaving him alone again wouldn't be a very good idea.."
"She has a point, Captain." Kwazii rubs his arm. "I don't know about anyone else, but...i was really scared..i don't want that to happen again.."
The crew all nod in agreement. The chance of losing someone so close to them wasn't anything any of them wanted to ho through again.
"Alright," Barnicals sighs. "He can come. But he needs to stay away from them."
"Why didn't they go this far when you were a kid?" Inkling asks, giving Peso a look.
Peso just shrugs. He honestly had no idea. They hated him so much. And went so far as to physically and emotionally harm him. But he never knew why they never tried to kill him. The way they talked to him, it all just screamed at him to die. But they never took it into their own flippers to do it. Until now.
"Do you need help, me'hartey?" Kwazii asks, hovering his paws over the penguin as he slides off the barrel.
Peso stumbles a little, but he seems to do just fine standing on his own.
"He seems fine now." Shellington comments.
Everyone gets into their own gups, ready to stop these penguins. Barnicals and Peso all got in the Gup-A, Kwazii got the Gup-B, Dashi got the Gup-C, Tweak got the Gup-D, Shellington got the Gup-E, and Inkling and the Vegimals got the Gup-X. They all agreed the Gup-F was to be left behind.
They leave the Octopod in a V formation. As they go, Barnicals steals glances at the medic beside him, trying to make sure it was a good idea to bring him along, and that he really was 'fine.'
"Are you sure you're alright?" Barnicals asks, making Peso look up at him. "I know you're the medic, and you would know, but these penguins are on a more personal level for you than the rest of us, and you want to stop them more than anyone, but if you aren't actually ready to go out on a mission, then you shouldn't push yourself, and-"
"Yes" Peso cuts off his ranting. "I'm sure I'm ready to go on this mission."
Barnicals sighs to calm himself.
"Alright.."