The Octonauts and the Octopod Breakdown (complete)

Chapter Three

When the Octonauts had finished clearing away all the boulders around the reef they all swam back inside. The Captain noted with anxiety how beaten up the Octopod was looking. The garden pod was still hanging off the Octopod and the outside of the ship was beaten and bruised by all the strong waves and debris that had hit it. Inside the Launch Bay was a mess especially, and with all the moving about lots of furniture had shifted around.

"Everyone lets help clear up this mess. Lets get the Octopod straight again," the Captain suggested. "Tweak are you all right to work on the outside while we clear up inside?"

"Sure thing Cap. The Octopod will be all fixed up faster than you can say 'bunch of munchy crunchy carrots'," Tweak enthused, grabbing her toolbox and jumping inside the Gup D. She drove it outside while Dashi opened the OctoHatch for her. The lever for the OctoHatch was more difficult to move than normal and Dashi had to struggle to pull it down.

All the other Octonauts ran off to their separate areas to clear up. Shellington went straight to his lab where things were lying around on the floor. He picked up his magnifying glass on the floor and noted with a sad sigh that the glass was cracked. "I'll have to take that to Tweak later to get it fixed up."

Tweak outside was holding the garden pod in the Gup Ds strong pincers.

"How many times have I needed to use the Gup D today?" she muttered to herself in her Southern American accent.

The Gup D rose holding the discarded garden pod out in front of it. Tweak moved closer, trying not to bang the pod against the Octopod. Twice she missed the gap where she would have to screw the pod in.

"Steady there..."

The third time she got it in place where it had to go. She pushed it in further, attaching it fully back onto the Octopod.

"Now to weld it in place, then it'll stay there." Tweak swum out of the Gup D and, taking out a tool and goggles to put over her eyes, she began to weld the crack between the pod and the main ship together.

Back in the Octopod HQ, Dashi and Captain Barnacles were putting the tables and chairs back in place. Dashi was checking the ship computers to check for any errors.

"There, all done. HQ looks better now," Captain Barnacles said in satisfaction.

"And there's no sign of any damage to the radar or any of the cameras sir," Dashi said efficiently.

"Thank you Dashi. Hopefully the others have been able to put things back where they're supposed to go."

"We're lucky nothing more happened to the Octopod. It could cause total failure of engines." Dashi looked worried.

"Don't worry. Tweak designed this place to be strong in storms. So far it hasn't completely broken yet." The Captain got his octo compass out from his belt and touched the screen.

"How are you doing, Tweak?"

Tweaks face looked up at him with goggles obscuring her face.

"Nearly done Cap. Just need to check the engines and the bubble engine then we should be good to go." She flipped her goggles up off her face and got back into the Gup. "I'll do the checks now."

"Thanks Tweak." Captain Barnacles walked over to Dashi.

"I'll just go and check nothing's broken in my room. Can you keep an eye on the HQ for me?"

"Of course Captain," Dashi replied smiling.

Down in the Launch Bay tank Tweak was underwater checking the bubble engine functions. She pressed buttons and watched as the engine spun slowly one way, then another.

"Hmm. Right, that's all fixed up." Tweak swam back up to the surface and climbed into her room, setting her console back in its place and munching a carrot she found on her bed. While she was doing that, the engine room suddenly let out a cracking sound, sparks coming out of one of the green engines and surprising the rabbit. She gasped and ran over to the engine room, looking at the steam coming out of the engine.

"Oh me oh my!" As she watched, the engine suddenly gave out another loud crack and stopped running - just as the lights went out.

Down below the bubble engine stopped running and jammed. Around the Octopod every hatch or sliding door jammed shut. In the launch bay all the entrances to the Octo Chutes shut suddenly. Up in the HQ both entrances shut. In Captain Barnacles room the entrance to the Octo Chute in his room shut. He looked around hearing the slam and seeing his lights dim and go out.

"Huh?" He ran over to the door and waited for it to hiss open smoothly like normal. But it stayed obstinately shut. He pressed the button, but still it refused to open. Using his paws he attempted to pull it open to no avail.

"I'm trapped!"