Chapter Text
"We'll be home ASAP, Captain!" announced Kwazii over the intercom.
"Good, and no delays!" Barnacles laughed. "Today's our 5-year anniversary, and we need that kelp to make kelp cakes."
"Aye aye, capn'! See ya soon!" Kwazii flicked his ear and focused his uncovered eye on the horizon, carefully driving the Gup E. Peso sat next to him, peacefully watching the fish go by. It wasn't normal to have a little quiet moment with Kwazii; most of the time, it was either him telling spooky stories or a near death experience. So, Peso decided to make the most of it. He liked the quiet, he had since he was a chick. But he also liked Kwazii's stories, and sure, maybe the near-death experiences were scary, but he'd survived them, and was happy to say he had. Even though Kwazii was loud, and sometimes even frightened him, Peso still liked his company. The moment was nice. Until Kwazii went and ruined it.
“You wanna see how fast this baby can go?” the feline smirked, dilating his pupils gleefully.
“Kwazii! The captain said no delays!” Peso argued.
“Oh, pish posh! It doesn’t matter if we’re a few minutes late!” Kwazii sped up the gup a tiny bit.
“The captain told you not to, and frankly, I don’t want to be late!” Peso snapped. Not only was he annoyed at Kwazii for ruining the moment, he was also disobeying the captain!
Kwazii was slightly taken aback by Peso’s outburst, staring at him for a few moments. Suddenly, he grinned, his fangs shining in the light.
“What?” Peso frowned.
The cat chuckled. “I’m sorry, but I can’t take you seriously when you’re angry! C’mon! You know you want to!”
“Well, to be honest, I-” Peso was cut off by the gup’s engine roaring loudly, and he was swept back against the wall because of the speed. Kwazii yowled excitedly, while Peso let out a frightened squawk. Somehow, the cat was able so swerve through the many rocks and crannies despite the Gup E’s obviously more round appearance. Throughout the years of owning the Gup E, Peso had never known the maximum speed of his own gup (probably because he was always too afraid to try). But now, obviously, that changed. Without warning, the gup shot out of the water, flying into the air.
“YEEEEEEEEEEEOW!” screeched Kwazii. Peso screamed. It hurt his throat whenever he did that, but he still did it anyways. After what seemed like forever, they landed back in the water with a gigantic splash. It suddenly seemed quiet. The roaring engine has stopped completely, and Peso was breathing heavily.
“HAHA!” laughed Kwazii. “That was amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Amazing?! We almost crashed!” snapped Peso.
“Yeah, but you loved it really, didn’t you?”
“Hmmm…” Peso grumbled.
“Yeah, you did. Come on, lets go home.” Kwazii tried to start the Gup, but it wouldn’t turn on. It just sat there, bobbing on top of the waves.
“Oh, ¡Maldtio sea!” Kwazii cursed. “I think something’s jammed in the rudder.”
“Wooow, what a surprise,” sighed Peso sarcastically. Kwazii scoffed.
They got out of the Gup and swam to the rudder. A long strand of kelp was twisted between the blades, jamming the propeller.
“C’mon, we better get to work, then,” Kwazii sighed. Peso grabbed the kelp with his flippers, and Kwazii with his paws, and they pulled as hard as they could. It seemed like a lifetime before they finally felt a tiny jolt. Peso looked at the rudder. An inch. That’s how much it moved. A singular inch. Today’s gonna be a long day.
Sweat was running down Peso’s brow. It felt like days, maybe even a week, since he and Kwazii had begun tugging at the kelp. It’s all Kwazii’s fault, he thought. If he hadn’t been reckless like he always did, we wouldn’t be in this mess! Throughout the entire time, Peso had been completely focused on the task; but a few times, he could have sworn he heard the crackling of the radio. But he was too busy to go check.
Finally, after several long minutes, the kelp finally broke away from the rudder, sending Peso and Kwazii flying backwards. They floated there for a few moments, Kwazii wiping the sweat off his furry forehead and Peso panting. They looked at each other, an awkward silence piercing the air, before they burst into breathless laughter. All anger was melted away, and all problems seemed solved. That was, until, Peso opened his eyes.
The sky was dark and stormy, and thunder rolled in the distance. Had he really been that focused on the kelp? The crewmates swam back to the Gup E, drying themselves off. The crackling of the intercom was back, and Dashi’s worried face was just seen through the static.
“Kwa-…Pe…o, can you -ear me-e-e?” came the distorted voice of the dog. “B..g s-rm in -oming, come -ome now!”
“Dashi, we can’t understand ya, matey!” Kwazii cried. “Maybe the connections busted or something?”
The cat’s distressed chatter seemed to melt away from Peso’s hearing as he looked up at the horizon. His eyes opened wide as he saw a gigantic wave coming straight towards them, the biggest one he had ever seen.
“Dashi! Dashi, come in!” Kwazii yelled through the intercom.
“K-K-Kwazii…” Peso attempted to grab the feline’s attention, but he was too focused on trying to get Dashi back online. “KWAZII!” The cat jumped, and looked up along with Peso. He stared in horror as the monster wave came roaring towards them.
“Shiver me whiskers!” he exclaimed, flattening his ears in terror.
“Close the window, quickly!” Peso screeched. Kwazii clicked the button, but nothing happened. He clicked again, flicking his tail agitatedly. Still nothing. The cat began frantically clicking it over and over with anxiety.
“KWAZII, SHUT THE WINDOW!” Peso yelled.
“I’M TRYING, BUT IT WON’T GO!” Kwazii screeched. Too late. The wave was upon them.
“FLAPPITY FLIPPERS!” Peso whimpered. His flipper grabbed onto Kwazii’s paw, the cat squeezing it tight. An immense force slammed into his tiny body. Everything went dark.