Chapter  6
Far, far away from his father, Nemo was plunged into unfamiliar water, where he landed on a plant of some kind. He peeked from behind the leafy fronds and called out, “Dad?”
There was no answer.
He gazed at all the new sights around him. Small, strange objects were everywhere: a miniature pirate ship, a tiny treasure chest, some sort of hut, a volcano with red lights flashing along the sides to look like lava, and finally, three giant tiki heads.
Terrified, Nemo tried to swim away. But instead, he bumped into a transparent wall—then another, and another. He was in some sort of glass box!
Outside one glass wall, people sat in a waiting room. On the other side, a dentist approached a patient. Nemo heard them speaking, so he swam closer to the sound of their voices. The dentist, Dr. Sherman, saw Nemo and walked over to the tank. “Hello, little fellah,” he said to Nemo. Then he turned to his patient and told him, “I found that guy struggling for life out on the reef and I saved him.”
Nemo watched the dentist for a few more moments, then began to hear whispering behind him. Scared, he slowly backed away from the voices and bumped into the treasure chest. Hundreds of tiny bubbles poured out.
“Buuuuuubbbbbles!” cried a voice. A yellow tang fish charged at Nemo. Nemo dodged the fish. Then he watched the fish attempt to put the bubbles back in the chest.
“My bubbles!” cried Bubbles, the yellow tang, protectively.
Nemo raced into a nearby diver’s helmet. But as soon as he was hidden, he saw a dark figure approaching. It got closer and closer until it was looking at Nemo up close.
“Bonjour,” a tiny cleaner shrimp named Jacques said.
Nemo bolted out of the helmet and right into Bloat, a blowfish. “Whoa! Take it easy. Slow down, little fellah. There’s nothing to worry about,” Bloat said.
Nemo quickly looked around him and saw that he was surrounded by all kinds of fish. There were also a starfish named Peach, a black-and-white humbug named Deb, and a royal gramma named Gurgle.
“I wanna go home,” Nemo said to his audience. “Do you know where my dad is?”
“Honey, your dad’s probably back at the pet store,” Peach said.
Nemo looked at the starfish curiously. “Pet store?” he asked.
All the fish chimed in at once. “Pet Palace,” Gurgle said.
“Fish-O-Rama,” added Deb. “Mail order,” said Bubbles.
Nemo still seemed a little confused. “I’m from the ocean,” he timidly told the fish.
“The ocean?” Gurgle yelled.
The rest of the tank fish gasped.
“Wow. The big blue. What’s it like?” asked Bubbles.
“Uh…” Nemo faltered. “Big… and blue.”
“I knew it!” Bubbles exclaimed.
“Kid, if there’s anything you need, just ask your auntie Deb. Or if I’m not around, you can always talk to my sister, Flo.” Deb indicated her reflection in the glass. Nemo realized she thought it was her twin sister.
All of a sudden, Peach yelled out, “Root canal!”
The Tank Gang raced toward Peach to see the dental procedure that was in progress. They all watched with great interest, commenting as the dentist worked.
Just then, a pelican flew into the open window by the fish tank. “What did I miss?” the bird asked. “Am I late?”
“Hey, Nigel,” Peach said to the pelican. “Root canal, and it’s a doozy.”
Nigel looked over at the tank and noticed the new little fish. “Hello. Who’s this?” he asked.
“New guy,” Deb said.
As Nigel leaned closer to the tank to give Nemo a proper hello, Dr. Sherman walked into the room. “Hey!” he yelled. “No, no, no! Those aren’t your fish. Those are mine. Shoo!”
Nigel let out a loud squawk and flew away. As he took off, he knocked over some of Dr. Sherman’s things.
The dentist leaned down and picked up a picture in a frame that had fallen to the floor and cracked. “Hey, little fellah,” he said to Nemo. “Say hello to your new mummy. She’s gonna be here Friday to pick you up! You’re her present …”
As soon as Dr. Sherman walked away, the Tank Gang began to mutter, “Oh. Darla…not her…she’s bad news.”
“What?” Nemo asked. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Poor Chuckles,” Deb said.
“He was her present last year,” said Bloat. “She’s a fish killer,” Peach added.
Nemo was horrified. “I can’t go with that girl,” the little clownfish said. “I have to get back to my dad.”
Getting more worried by the second, Nemo began to swim wildly around the tank. He ended up stuck in the filter tube. “Help me!” he cried.
“Oh, no!” the Tank Gang yelled. “We gotta get him outta there.”
They all rushed over to Nemo but stopped short when they heard someone say, “Nobody touch him.”
They looked behind them and saw Gill, a moorish idol fish, come out of the shadows.
“Can you help me?” Nemo asked him, struggling.
“No. You got yourself in there, you can get yourself out,” Gill replied. He started to swim away, but decided to give the little fish a bit of helpful advice. “Alternate wiggling your fins and tail.”
“I—I can’t. I have a bad fin,” Nemo said. “Never stopped me,” Gill said, showing Nemo his own severed pectoral fin. “Just think about what you need to do.”
Nemo tried and tried, and with one last push, he freed himself.
The Tank Gang burst into cheers. “Pretty good, kid. You did it!” they cried.
Gill didn’t join in the celebration. He was in a corner, deep in thought.
Peach looked over at him and said, “Uh-oh. I’ve seen that look before. What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinkin’… tonight we give the kid a proper reception,” Gill said.