The Octonauts and the Pirate Ship Predicament (complete)

Chapter Ten

It was almost three hours later when Kan came back to the cabin where Tweak was locked up. Tweak looked up, anger in her eyes from where she was sat at the table, flicking halfheartedly through discarded designs. "Oh, so you finally decided to pay me a visit?" she asked with mock politeness. "How kind of you."

"Our plan begins," Kan said simply. "You will come with me."

They met Hector up on the stairs leading to the deck, where he flashed his bright smile at her. "Why hello, engineer. Are you looking forward to our new job role for you?"

"Not especially," Tweak said dryly. "You know, I'm not really a pirate crew sort of girl. I'm an Octonaut. I like how you took that into account when you kidnapped me."

"You haven't been gone long enough for them to notice anything. Your friends are still here," Hector said casually. "Now we shall make our big announcement."

"I won't do anything for you," Tweak said matter-of-factly.

"Come with me. Perhaps you will be persuaded," offered Hector icily, gesturing to the stairs leading upwards out of the dark.

Hector led Tweak up out to the deck once more, where she could see Dashi and Annabel looking around the east side of the deck, Annabel pointing out things in the horizon and Dashi snapping pictures with a delighted expression on her face. They were turned away from Tweak, but Hector whistled a tune softly and Annabel turned her head, not enough to alert Dashi.

"Now wouldn't it be terrible if Dashi just happened to - slip?" Hector inquired softly. "I happen to notice she has no helmet on at the moment. And of course, Annabel was too late to save her. Wouldn't that be an unfortunate accident?"

Annabel, from across the deck, mimed placing a paw on Dashi's back and pushed the air lightly, with an angelic smile.

"Annabel as well?" Tweak asked, dread pooling in her stomach, already knowing the answer.

Hector nodded. "Annabel as well. We do put on a convincing act, don't we? Annabel can be a very talented actress when she wants to be."

"But she was so -" Tweak said, hesitating as she tried to think of a description for the girl who had seemed so sweet and innocent, and now had a malicious smile on her face that twisted her pretty features.

Hector rolled his eyes, cutting Tweak off. "Did you really think that everyone was as "good" and as "kind" as you Octonauts? Perlease... You're living in a daydream. Pirates aren't "good". Pirates aren't "kind". You Octonauts were fools to think so."

"Kwazii's not like that," Tweak insisted. "And he's a pirate."

"He's untrained," Hector explained. "He will soon see our way of thinking. Soon he will see the true pirate life, and he will love it."

"Never," Tweak said softly. "Never."

"Now you will do what I say," Hector ordered. "And you will not alert your friends to anything. Or your friends will pay the price."

Tweak knew Hector wouldn't hesitate to make the order. She had no choice but to do what he wanted. She couldn't let Dashi be hurt.

"What do you want me to do?" Tweak said slowly, hating herself as she spoke the words.

Hector smiled icily. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"Octonauts," Tweak said into her radio a moment later, forcing her voice not to wobble. Hector had just instructed her as to what she had to do. If she made one wrong move, apparently there would be consequences for her friends. They needed Kwazii, but Hector had already made it perfectly clear that they had no need of Dashi. Surely they would see that something was wrong. Surely.

Her best friend didn't seem to notice as she turned around, Annabel flashing her a bright smile as she did so. "Oh hey Tweak," Dashi greeted in her soft Australian tones. "What is it?"

"There you are, Hector!" Kwazii said enthusiastically as he bounced up the steps at the other side of the deck. Tweak burned at the knowledge that she now had, that Hector planned to take Kwazii onto his crew. He was obviously besotted with the pirate crew life; would he even resist one bit if Hector invited him? Tweak hoped so, but she couldn't be sure.

"Tweak?" Dashi prompted again, sudden concern flashing over her face, and Tweak realised her face must be mirroring the sick feeling in her stomach. Kan held both of her paws tightly in a vice-like grip behind her back, as if to warn her even more.

"I'm joining the pirate crew." The words tumbled out of Tweak's mouth, and though the rabbit wished desperately for the poisonous syllables to have never been uttered, it was obvious that her two best friends had heard perfectly.

"That's right. Tweak has made the decision to join our crew," announced Hector, his eternally smiling features feeling even more ominous now Tweak's misgivings had been confirmed.

Dashi looked shocked and hurt, and Kwazii just looked confused. Tweak tried to beg them with her eyes to understand, to realise that she'd never just leave them like this, but the reminder of Kan holding her hands painfully behind her back warned her not to say anything. She'd just put the others in danger as well.

"Tweak?" Dashi said, her voice cracking slightly.

Kan squeezed Tweak's wrist tightly, so that her hands ached with the pressure being applied to them. "... It's ... it's true," Tweak said, wincing as the lie left her lips.

Dashi flinched noticeably, and tears began to collect in her eyes without her even noticing. Kwazii was staring at Hector, an unreadable expression on his face. Tweak could guess what he was thinking. Why her? Why her and not me?

"But the engineer isn't the only one we're interested in," Hector continued as if he could hear Kwazii's thoughts. "Kwazii, we believe you could be a great pirate, and we'd like to offer you a place on our crew. My crew. Hector Cat."

"Hector's crew," Kwazii mouthed, almost to himself, sounding slightly awestruck. Tweak wished she could shake her head, communicate in some way to tell him not to listen. But Kwazii was only looking at Hector now, deliberately avoiding her gaze.

Hector allowed a few seconds of contemplative silence. "So, Kwazii, what do you think?"

Kwazii's eyes flickered to Tweak's briefly, and Tweak saw pain in his green eyes before he looked away. "I'll - I'll have to think about it," Kwazii said in a choked voice. Tweak hated how she was making him feel like this, and internally she begged him to question Hector, to not leave her like this. Did he really believe that she would just leave the crew, after all they had been through together? Did he really think so little of her that she would do that to them? To him?

Hector gave a sympathetic smile, the image of concerned friendship. "Of course. I know it's a difficult decision for you. But just remember, Kwazii, you're a pirate. You belong on a pirate crew. You're blood of Calico Jack. We need you, Kwazii. I need you."

Dashi wasted no time in making her excuses and hopped down the tyre, iridescent tears glinting on her long eyelashes. Kwazii was next to go down, and his eyes flicked back to Tweak for a moment, still looking sad and confused. Tweak knew this was her last chance to make him know what was wrong, and made a split decision, taking a deep breath and beginning to yell to him. They couldn't hurt Dashi any more, anyway.

Hector realised instantly what she was trying to do, and Kan responded by giving a painful twist to her hands secured behind her back. Tweak couldn't help a cry of pain, and Kwazii's eyes widened for a moment as he saw this, before the tyre dropped beneath him and he was gone.

"Oh look, your friends have deserted you," Annabel sung sweetly. "Though the cat will be back. He'll only find out the truth when it's too late to save you or him!"