We exited through more Seaweed, and I heard fish talking about Big D. "Oh, hi, Big D." A female fish said as she swam over. "Hiya, cutie." Big D said. "So, um, how are we doing with the escape plan. Oh, if you don't mind me asking." She said quickly. "I'm workin' on it, sweetheart. You'll be the first to know. I promise." Big D said.

"I am counting on you, Big D." The female said before kissing his cheek. "So, let me get this straight, you're planning to get them all out of here?" Ray asked. "Each and every one of them." Big D said as the female fish chuckled. "Looks like you're getting the VIP tour. Big D must have something big in store for you four." Jimbo said as he appeared.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Sammy asked. "Big D, Big D." Jail Fish Jax said. "Now what?" Big D asked annoyed. "I'm losing my mind. We gotta talk." Jax said. "Settle down, Jax. Now, what's the problem?" Big D asked. "They're watching me." Jax said as we all looked towards the glass to see the humans staring.

"Yeah, so?" Big D asked a little confused. "Constantly. It's the faces. The faces." Jax said hyperventilating. "Now, here is what you're gonna do. You're gonna pull yourself together. You understand me, Jax?" Big D asked and Jax nodded before swimming off. "So, what's his story?" Chris asked.

"What can I say? Some fish in here just can't take the pressure. You never know who's gonna blow a gill next. Could be you, or you, or you, or could be you." He said pointing at the four of us. "I can't. I can't. It's the eyes. They're burning holes in me." Jax said before he slammed into the glass.

"Come on, let's leave this unsavoriness behind us, go talk some business. You four are gonna be very useful to me." Big D said. "We're not doing anything until we find the little ones." Sammy said. "What little ones?" Big D asked. "Our grandkids, and Izzy and Chris' daughter. Have you seen them anywhere in here?" Ray asked hopefully.

"Nope." Big D said. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Hey, they ain't in here. I'd know. Like I was saying, you and your large and tiny friends here are going to help us bust out." Big D said. "Now you're talkin' my language." Ray said. "And how are we going to do that?" Chris asked. "I'll let you know when you need to know. Capisce?" Big D asked us as he got in Ray's face. We looked at each other, before following after them again.

*3rd POV*

Ella, Ricky and Lily were swimming through what looked like dead coral. "Kind of scary out here." Ella and Lily said softly. "Yeah, that's for sure." Ricky said before Ella yelled out. "What's the problem?" Ricky and Lily asked. "Something grabbed me." Ella said. "Hey! Let her go!" Lily said as her and Ricky grabbed Ella and pulled her away.

"Did you see what it was?" Ella asked. "No, we didn't." Lily said as they peered into the crack. "Oh, look. That's a strange little creature." Ella said. "It could be dangerous." Ricky said as they saw eyes, but soon a pink octopus appeared out of nowhere and tried to grab them. Ella chuckles. "You're a funny-looking hatchling." Ella said giggling.

"I'm not a hatchling. I'm a otto-pus." The pink octopus said before Lily and Ella screamed as the two of them and Ricky got in the crack. "Ah! Fish!" The pink octopus said as they went deeper into the crack hiding. "How come they act so crazy?" Lily asked as she was struggling since she's bigger than the other three.

"They do that when they're scared." The pink octopus answered. "Scared? Of what?" Ella asked confused as Ricky and Lily stared up at the fish. "Big, ugly fish with giant teeth." The pink octopus answered as the four of them all made disgusted looks.

*My POV*

We were still swimming after Big D. We heard dolphins. "Wait for me here, I'll be right back." Big D said as he swam through the gate. "What do they do in there?" Sammy asked confused. "They fix you up when there is something wrong with you." Marco answered. "Oui, they do. The humans are not all bad, you know. Parfois, they help us." Philip said.

"Oh, I'm gonna regret this." I mumbled as I swam through the gate. "Izzy!" Chris said worried as I swam up and appeared next to Big D to observe with him. "Come here. Oh! How are we feeling? Oh, roll over. Let's take a look at that fin. Oh! Look at you. You are as good as new. We can release him tomorrow." The human girl said. 

"Ah, Perfect!" Big D said then looked at me and gestured to the fence. I nodded and dived into the water before swimming fast and jumped over the fence and dived into the other side quickly. I swam over to the others. 

We kept swimming through the aquarium. Till we came around a corner. "Oh, here comes this evening's entertainment. Why don't you go say hello to my cousin for me, huh?" Big D said before the two fish by Termaine hid. "Oh, hey, hey there, guys. What's going on over here?" Termaine asked nervously.

"Hello, Termaine. Long time no see." Philip said as him and Marco swim around him. "Hey, what are you crowding me for?" Termaine asked. "Termaine. What's with the trash-talkin'?" Big D asked. "Wait, wait a second. No, you got it all wrong, cuz." Termaine said as Marco and Philip snapped at Termaine slightly.

"Don't lie to me." Big D said. "No, no, no. I didn't say nothin'. I swear to you, on mother Pervacy's grave, come on." Termaine said. "Nobody ever does nothing. *sighs* Tell you what. I'll let it slide this time. Family. What are you gonna do? You gotta keep 'em in line. Okay, enough of this. Let's head back to my place." Big D said.

We nod and began swimming off. "Who does he think he is? He was nobody back home. I got all the ladies." Termaine said. "I heard that." Big D said. "Oh, no, no, no, no. I wasn't talking about you, I swear. Honest, I wasn't." Termaine said as we watched this place out. "Ice him." Big D said smirking. I gasped and covered my mouth.

"You're my favorite cousin. Come here, give me a kiss." Termaine said before Marco grabbed his tail. "This whole thing is a misunderstanding." Termaine tried to say as Philip grabbed his tail and threw him over the glass wall where the penguins were. "Ah, it ain't supposed to end this way." I heard Termaine say as he froze.

"You're tough, boss." Marco said. "Very drastic." Philip said. "Shut up, will you? He got what he deserved. Besides, there ain't enough room for the two of us in here. Let him just chill out for a while." Big D said as he was smirking. I hid my face in Chris' chest as he held me close, Ray and Sammy hugged us as well.

*3rd POV*

Lily, Ella, Ricky and the pink octopus were laughing happily. "Shh." Ella said suddenly. "What's the matter?" Ricky asked. "We don't want whatever's out there to come back." Ella said, when suddenly they all screamed seeing something. "Annabel! You have to stop wandering off by yourself, sweetheart." Margaret said. 

"But Momma..." Annabel said softly. "Oh, hush. You are running me ragged. You're disappearing all the time. And who are you?" She asked as she noticed Ella, Ricky and Lily peer out of the crack. "I'm Ella." Ella said as she swam out. "I'm Lily." Lily said as she followed Ella. "And I'm Ricky." Ricky said as he followed after both of them.

"Are you gonna eat us?" Ella asked scared. Annabel giggled. Margaret laughed. "Oh, no, sweetie. I'm sorry if I scared you. Now, what are you three little ones doing out here all alone?" Margaret asked. "We're looking for our grandfathers, and Lily's parents." Ella said as Lily nods. "They took them to the tank." Ricky asked. "The Big Tank?" Margaret asked worried. "Uh-huh." Lily said. "Can you help us find them?" Ricky asked. "Please." Ella and Lily said as they did the puppy eyes.

| Back at the Tank |

A waiter under covered two lobsters. While another waiter set them on fire. "Voila." The boss said. "Look! There's that nasty man. Let's move in closer, soldier." Lulu said as he began moving in closer. He saw how the humans were about to eat the lobsters. "There you are madam. Enjoy, sir." The boss said as the woman looked at her choice of utensils. 

"You seeing what I am seeing?" Lulu asked as he made his eyes look at each other. He saw both humans tearing apart the lobsters to eat them. "I can't bear to look. Suck it up, La Morte, and stop actin' like a blue-head in boot camp. I just can't do it. Your makin' me embarrassed to be in this here platoon." Lulu said between his claws as he kept watching. The two humans kept eating the lobsters, and throwing the shells into a bowl. "Assassins. Cold-blooded assassins, all of them." Lulu said as he ran off scared.

*My POV*

"I know what you mean. Hey, it took us awhile to adjust, too. But in the end, this place is not so bad." Alanna said before we heard a voice. "Murderers! Murderers! Assassins are what them their humans are. They're gonna eat us, all of us. We're doomed in here." Lulu said as he ran past us and disappeared.

"Pobrecito, must be lobster night." Alanna said. "That's one way to get out." Ray said. "Hey, nobody gets a free ride out of here." Alanna said. "Jimbo. You got out. How'd you do it?" Sammy asked him. "I died." Jimbo said simply. "Okay, that's it. You need to explain." Ray and Chris said. "Yeah, Jimbo, you need to tell us that story 'cause we all thought you didn't make it." Alanna said.

"It was an accident, plain and simple. See, humans come in here to clean these tanks up. I figured, if I played dead, they'd flush me back into the ocean. Easy as dead, flush, freedom." Jimbo said a flashback popped up in my mind. A human put Jimbo in a bag and dumped him on a table. 

"Everything was going fantastio. I'm thinking I'm home free. That is until..." Jimbo explained as in the flashback the human was holding Jimbo up before he heard a phone ringing causing him to drop Jimbo back on the counter. Jimbo opened his eyes and looked around. The man answered the phone.

"Hi, honey. Yeah, I'm almost done here. I should be home in an hour or so." The human said as he took his belt off, showing his belly. Jimbo looked around since he needed water. "Sure, I can stop. Can you talk a bit louder? I can barely hear you. All right, let me write it down. Shoot." The human said as he grabbed clipboard as Jimbo bounced over to the sink to get some water. 

"One shawarma, heavy on the hummus." The human said. "This guy's going on like he's stocking up for the end of the world. Meanwhile, I'm dry as a catfish on a hot tin roof." Jimbo explained "We were all waiting for Jimbo to show up, and then Big D found out that Jimbo made a break for it, and he went muy loco beans." Alanna explained. 

"Yes, Big D didn't like any of 'freelancing,' as he called it." Manuel explained. "What Big D didn't know. I was actually a few gasps from being a hand roll. Finally, this guy hangs ups. I'm like, 'flush me out of here already.' But, no." Jimbo explained in the flashback as he was getting a few drops of water from the faucet.

But he played dead again as the human came over and went to grab him but stopped and looked at the clipboard before sighing and going back to the phone. He dialed his wife's number as Jimbo moved around. "Hi, sweetie. It's me again. How many bottles of the mango lassi did you want me to pick up?" The human asked as he began writing down.

"It was now or never. I had to muster up all I had, make a move. All of a sudden, wham." Jimbo explained as the human in the flashback pushed the chair he was on towards the trashcan and when he hit it, it slammed shut, blowing his chance. He basically died and fell to the ground. "Wow. So, you were actually dead?" Ray asked. 

"Yes, that's what everybody thought." Alanna said. "Including me." Jimbo said. "So what happened?" Sammy, Chris and I asked. "Well, since you asked..." Jimbo said as the flashback showed Jimbo 'dead' and it showed everyone watching him float down to the ocean floor. As he bounced, he landed on something spikey.

That caused him to react. "Ouch!" Jimbo said in the flashback before it showed him jumping in the air like a dolphin as the flashback ended. "And that's my dead story." Jimbo said. "Ooh, you got some freaky powers, Jimbo." Ray said as he playfully hit Jimbo who was smiling. "Did you see anything that might help us get out of here?" Sammy asked hopefully.

"Careful, Sammy. Behind you. Big D is spying on us." Alanna whispered. We turned to see him, Marco and Philip behind us. "Hey, what's with the gabfest?" Big D asked. "We need to get out of here, now." Ray said. "Somebody's gettin' itchy. Follow me." Big D said, before we began following him. 

We were by the penguin's tank and were above the water. "Hey, see that pipe up there? Freedom, baby." Big D said. "Which one?" I asked. "Anyone will do. You're in charge. You decide. Get in there, check it out. Give me the skinny. Oh, and, um, watch out for them penguins. They cannot be trusted." Big D said. At least he's honest.

"And how exactly are we supposed to reach it?" Chris asked. Lulu suddenly jumped on Sammy's shell. "Volunteerin' for duty, sir." Lulu said which caused us to look at him, including Sammy. "There you go. Problem solved." Big D said before he went back under the water. "Hey, cuz, how are you holding up?" He asked Termaine before swimming off. 

We were walking on the ice, literally. Mine and Chris' tails turned back into our legs, and we were walking on the ice. We were all freezing. "This here white stuff is colder than shrimp on ice. It's making me claw-strophobic." Lulu said. "Let's go, Lulu, before we all freeze here." Sammy said. "I was thinking maybe we should all turn around. Turn around? Stop thinkin' you wimp. You ought to be ashamed of yourself." Lulu said as he followed us. 

Chris and I were shivering the worst, we're still part human. Penguins were screeching, but the thing was, they were all babies. "Oh, look, it's Big D's escape plan, take eight." Maurice said. "Uh, nine actually. Don't forget the sea slug, darling. He just shriveled away, didn't he?" Rosie asked.

 "Ah, quite right. It appears someone's taken a wrong turn." The Maurice asked as we went past them. "Oh, but of course. Males not asking for directions? What's new, my dear?" Rosie asked before both of them began laughing. We made our way to one of the pipes. "All right, Lulu, let's go. My flippers are freezing here." Ray said. 

Sammy got on his back, then Chris, then me. I picked Lulu up. "Let me help you up." I said, but we were all struggling. "I don't know about this here. Looks mighty tricky. Shut your mouth and focus, soldier." Lulu said before the baby penguins began climbing all over us. "No, kids, stay away now. Uh, little slippery here. Whoa! Whoa! I'm losing my grip." Lulu said as he was struggling on my back.

"I don't like this." Ray said as the ice started breaking. "We got to get off of here." Chris said. "Guys, the ice is breaking up." I said as I noticed the ice. "Oh, no, no." Ray said before we all yelped as we fell towards the water. When we landed in the water, the ice fell on top of me and I could feel my legs turn into my tail, but I was still stuck.

*3rd POV*

Ray, Sammy and Chris swam up to the surface and looked around. "Izzy. Where, are you, Izzy?!" Sammy shouted worried before the three of them went under water.

*My POV*

I was grunting as I tried to push the ice off me, but I couldn't get it off. "Izzy!" Chris said as he swam to me with Ray and Sammy. "Don't panic. We'll get you out." Ray said. I tried to push it but couldn't. "Hold on, sis, hold on." Sammy said as the three of them tried to push it but couldn't. They heard the pitter patter of small feet. 

They went above the water and saw baby penguins on the ice. "It's too heavy. Get off the ice. Now." Ray said before they went under the water again. One of the baby penguins pushed another off, causing them all to laugh. They began to try and push it, and I began to help. The baby penguins stopped laughing.

"Rather pathetic, don't you think?" Rosie asked. "To help or not to help?" Maurice asked. "I suppose if we want any peace we must. Tuna time." Rosie said as her and the male began jumping down till they landed on the other side of the ice, sending the babies into the air, which caused, us to be able to lift it off of me.

I swam out from under the ice and we went to the surface. We pant as mine and Chris' tails turned back into our legs as we got to the surface. I looked at my side and saw a gash, and another one on my leg too. "Close call, Izz." Sammy said. "Phew. Some plan. That was a suicide mission." Ray said. 

"Mission. Lulu? Where's Lulu?" Chris asked before we saw ice hit the top of a baby penguins head causing him to hit the ground. We looked up. "Yoo-hoo. Y'all still with us? What do you say we go down there and give them a helping claw? Stay with the mission, soldier. Continue recon duty." Lulu said before he flung himself down the pipe.

I gasped softly. "Medic!" We heard Lulu's voice echo. "Poor Lulu." I said softly as Chris, Sammy, Ray and I huddled together. "Oh, dear. That didn't sound very promising." Rosie said. "That makes 10. But then, who's counting?" Maurice asked. "What a way to go." Sammy said softly. I put my hand on his shell. "But at least he went down with honor on the battlefield. That sure beats getting eaten by some human." Ray said softly as we began making our way out.

*3rd POV*

A guard heard crashing. He grabbed his flashlight and began looking at the pipes as they were shaking. "What the..." He said confused.

*My POV*

"By the way, you should know none of Big D's plans have ever worked." Rosie said. "I hear you, loud and clear." Ray and Chris said. "Thank you." Sammy and I said as we heard the door open, and we quickly made our way under the walkway to not be seen. Maurice threw a fish skeleton at the human.

He caught it and pointed his flashlight at Maurice and Rosie. But then he went back inside. "Oh, you are so bad." Rosie said. "Yes, like taking sardines from a baby seal." Maurice said before they both started laughing.