“Woo-hoo!” shouted Crush, Marlin’s sea turtle friend. He wore a huge smile as he cruised through the choppy water carrying Dory, Marlin, and Nemo on his shell. “Righteous! Righteous chop! Righteous chop!” he yelled, laughing. A crew of little sea turtles swam expertly along with them.
Marlin clung to the front of Crush’s shell. “Totally sick! Totally siiiiiick!” he said.
Crush turned to Marlin and smiled. “I know. Isn’t it great?”
“No!” said Marlin, his face turning green. “I’m gonna be totally sick.”
“It’s the California current, dude. Got some gnarly chop! SURF’S UP, DUDE!” said Crush.
Marlin screamed as Crush quickly rose and fell, riding each ripple of the choppy water. Marlin then made a horrible gagging noise as he hung on to the turtle’s shell for dear life.
“Hey, dude, if you’re gonna hurl, just do me a solid: head to the back of the shell, lean out, and go for distance!” said Crush.
One of the small turtles, Squirt, said, “We call that feeding the fishes!”
“Correctomundo, slightly older Squirt!” said Crush happily.
At the back of the shell, Dory was telling some of the younger turtles her story. “Now we’re looking for my parents at the, um, the ... Brooch of the Atlantic? Or the — no, no — The Bauble of the ...”
“The Jewel of Morro Bay, California!” said Nemo proudly, reminding her.
“Exactly!” said Dory.
“But how are you going to find your parents?” asked one of the young turtles.
“Do you remember what they look like?” asked Squirt.
“I’m a bit new to the memory thing, so I can’t say for sure, but something tells me they were mostly blue with a little bit of yellow,” Dory answered.
“That sounds right,” said Nemo, smiling.
“Also, I’m pretty sure they’re going to be looking for me, because they said they’d never forget me,” said Dory.
The turtles rode the waves as the current helped to carry them across the ocean.
“Morro Bay, California’s coming up, dudes!” shouted Crush.
“WOO-HOO! LET’S FIND MY FAMILY!” Dory cried excitedly.
“Go! Go! Go!” shouted Crush.
“Just go, Dad!” yelled Nemo.
“Don’t push me, Nemo —” Marlin screamed as he fell off Crush’s shell.
Dory and Nemo eagerly jumped off, cheering and laughing as Marlin groaned, feeling extremely sick. They tumbled out of the current and watched as the turtles continued on, swimming into the distance.
“So long, Dory-dude! Hope you find your parents!” shouted Squirt.
“And good luck feedin’ the fishes!” said Crush as he sped away.
Marlin slowly picked up his head. “Too late,” he moaned. “Already fed.”
The three floated for a moment as they looked around their surroundings. It was oddly still and quiet. An enormous sunken container ship seemed to rise eerily from the sand, like a ruined city. Its containers, pieces of junk, and trash were scattered around the ocean floor, covered with years of coral and algae growth.
“This feels familiar,” Dory said. Then she raced off, calling out for her parents: “Mom! Dad!”
“Dory, Dory, Dory. Wait!” said Marlin, chasing after her. But she continued to shout. “Dory!” Marlin said again, firmly. “Stop yelling for a second. Do you really think your parents are just going to be floating around here, waiting for you?”
“Well, only one way to find out,” she said, then shouted, “Mom! Dad!” at the top of her lungs, searching.
“Yell louder, Dory!” said Nemo.
“MOM!” shouted Dory, even louder. “DAD!”
Various pieces of trash littered around the ship rustled and came to life as a chorus of whispers demanded quiet. “Shhh!”
“What was that?” asked Nemo, looking around fearfully.
It was a community of hermit crabs! But just as the friends caught a glimpse of the crabs, they disappeared, hiding beneath the rusty cans, warped pipes, and plastic cups on their backs.
Dory’s mind raced as she experienced a strange feeling. “Wait, I’ve heard that before,” she said. “I remember somebody saying, ‘Shhh.’”
“Yes, well done,” said Marlin sarcastically. “That was me, one minute ago, telling you to be quiet —”
“SHHHHHH!” the hermit crabs whispered forcefully, popping up long enough to urgently shush them again.
FLASH! Another memory rushed through Dory’s mind!
She could see herself as a young fish, swimming by the sunken container ship. The very same hermit crabs shushed her! She asked the hermit crabs for help. “Have you seen my Mommy and Daddy? Their names are Jenny and Charlie.”
“SHHHHH!” the hermit crabs said.
The memory left as quickly as it had zipped into her mind: Dory was back in the present moment. “Jenny and Charlie,” she said to herself.
“What?” asked Marlin.
Dory’s eyes widened with excitement. “THOSE ARE THEIR NAMES! MY PARENTS ARE JENNY AND CHARLIE!” Dory cheered. She darted ahead, swimming deeper into the containers, calling for her parents as loudly as she could. “JENNY? CHARLIE? JENNY? CHARLIE?”
“Dory, wait!” said Marlin, chasing after her. “Again with the frantic yelling. Can we just take a moment and come up with a plan?”
The hermit crabs jumped out of hiding and shushed them again as they swam past, but Dory continued calling her parents’ names.
“Are you crazy?” asked one of the crabs.
“Sorry,” said Marlin. “She’s a little excited.”
Marlin and Nemo caught up with Dory, who was still screaming as loudly as she could.
“Dory, stop yelling for a second!” said Marlin. “It’s not a good idea to come into a new neighborhood and call this much attention to yourself. These crabs are locals, and I get the feeling they’re shushing us for a reason —”
Grrrrrrr! A loud roar sounded from the shipping container, and all the crabs dropped down, disappearing once again beneath their cans, pipes, and cups.
“Aaaand there’s our reason,” said Marlin.
“Mommy?” asked Dory, turning toward the container.
An enormous eye popped open and stared at them through a porthole window in the container. The deafening roar sounded again, and a giant squid rose out of hiding! Dory, Marlin, and Nemo screamed and swam as fast as they could.
“That is definitely not Mommy!” shouted Dory.
They turned abruptly, swimming as fast as they could to escape the giant squid. They ducked into a different container, dipping and dodging various obstacles. There was trash everywhere, including a six-pack ring that entangled the three of them. While they tried to escape, the ring hugged their bodies, making it difficult to swim. Marlin and Nemo managed to escape the plastic, but the ring was still wrapped around Dory as the squid chased them through another towering stack of containers.
“Swim for your life!” screamed Marlin.
They slipped through a crack in one of the containers, but the squid squeezed through, right behind them. The friends squished themselves through a hole that was too small for the squid, thankfully. The squid wrestled with the container, causing a pile of them to start crumbling. One by one, the containers came crashing down. But in the scuffle, the squid reached out a giant tentacle and grabbed Nemo!
“Nemo!” Marlin and Dory screamed, clutching him tightly.
“Dad!” Nemo shouted. The squid was bringing him toward its mouth!
“Nemo, hold on to me!” Marlin urged. “And don’t let go!”
Finally, the squid lost its grip. At the same time, the container hit the ground. The impact propelled Dory, Marlin, and Nemo into the safety of a kelp forest.
Marlin rushed to Nemo. “Are you all right?”
Nemo was crying and trembling with fear.
“Oh my goodness, Nemo!” said Dory, concerned. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Marlin held up his fin and stayed focused on Nemo. “Not now, Dory. Please.”
Dory paced, swimming around in a big circle. When she came back and saw Nemo, she was concerned all over again. “Oh my goodness, Nemo! Are you okay?”
“I said not now,” Marlin uttered, his jaw clenched. “You’ve done enough.”
“But I can fix it. I’ll go get help —” said Dory.
“You know what you can do, Dory?” said Marlin, frustrated. “You can wait over there. Go wait over there and forget.” Then he muttered under his breath,“It’s what you do best.”
Hurt, Dory backed away. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly.
“No, Dad,” said Nemo. “I’m okay.”
“I’m gonna get help, okay? I can do that.” Dory swam off and called back to them, “It’ll be all right, Nemo!”
As Marlin and Nemo continued to recover from the scary encounter with the squid, they didn’t see Dory swim away. She swam around, searching. “Hello? Someone? Hello?”
Swimming upward, she heard a voice echoing from above. “Hello,” said the voice.
“Hello?” Dory continued to swim toward it.
“I’m Sigourney Weaver,” said the voice.
“Oh! Hi, Sigourney! I need your help,” said Dory, swimming closer.
“Won’t you please join us ...,” said Sigourney Weaver.
“Oh! Great!” said Dory, swimming up to the surface, searching for Sigourney.
“... as we explore the wonders of the Pacific Ocean and the amazing life it holds within. Witness the majesty of the beluga whale ...,” Sigourney continued.
“Sigourney? Sigourney Weaver, where are you?” asked Dory, frantically looking around.
★★★
When Marlin and Nemo realized Dory had left them, they raced off to find her.
“Dory!” shouted Marlin when he spotted her. “There you are!”
“Guys! I found help! Sigourney Weaver’s gonna tell us where we are!”
“Look out!” shouted Marlin as Dory was lifted out of the water by a pair of human hands.
The humans gently brought Dory into their boat. “Oh, look at this!” said one of them, eyeing the six-pack ring, which was still strung around her.
“No respect for ocean life,” said the other, disgusted.
Nemo and Marlin watched in horror as the humans inspected Dory and removed the plastic.
“Marlin! Nemo!” Dory shouted.
“No, no, no! Not again!” said Marlin.
The humans put Dory in a cooler and shut the lid. “Let’s take her inside and see how she does,” said one of the humans. Then the boat took off and headed toward shore.
“Don’t worry, Dory!” yelled Marlin. “Stay calm! We’ll come find you!”
As Marlin and Nemo called after the boat, Sigourney Weaver’s voice echoed in the distance: “Welcome to the Marine Life Institute, where we believe in rescue, rehabilitation, and release.”
And just like that ... Dory was gone.