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That Was the Panic Button...

Like a frisbee, the clock was launched out of the submarine into the Sea of Science, swum through very fast as there was not much to see, and the next sea would be a major doozy. 

It's a miracle everyone was back to normal and ready for anything, as here we all were for the Sea of Monsters. Sure, we all had a bit of a headache, but after it passed over, our stance of "ready to fight and ready for anything", at least mine, had returned. Everyone else? Well, let's just say that they're around for it too. 

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see Martha alive. For those few seconds when she was dead, decaying on the floor of the submarine, it was shattering my heart. 

John must have felt a clutter of emotions when Sean grew up in front of his eyes...and when he didn't even exist. Speaking of Sean, he has returned to his toddler state, to the relaxed one of his parents. He crawls around on the while tile, babbling nonsense like babies do, playing with the toys that his mother brought for him to keep her little child occupied during these "nothing" moments like these. It was absolutely precious to see John acting all fragile with his son, playing with him and his toys. 

That is, until something hit the back of the submarine...

The shock of the knockback landed everyone in different places...aside from all of us. Me and my mates were sent right on top of each other, limbs scattered all around, pushing and shoving. Remind anyone of anything? 

Still, no matter what that one thing was, this monster was on our tail, and wouldn't get off of it no matter what we would do. In fact, with its teeth attached to the back of the sub, it nearly sounded like we were about to sink. Who knows, we could've. And for a few members' first time boarding, that's not a good sign. 

Martha kept running in circles as to chase her tail, but no, she was terrified out of her mind. I had never, in the nine years I had stuck by the sweet sheepdog, seen her do that. 

"Martha, sweetie!" I cooed, in an attempt to calm her, but it was no use. Her heart was racing. Not even the soothing sounds of her father's voice could ease her worries. 

"WAIT!" John shouted, putting everything to a halt. There is a very confused look on his face as he just stares at the control panel on the submarine. A twinge of fear runs down my spine. He's the last person I want messing with the controls. Doesn't he know that-

"There we go! All fixed!"

A few rumbles later, and the submarine begins to move at top speed. I take a look and it's clear that John had pressed the orange turbo button, which here, was a very good thing. 

Sean was bouncing around and giggling happily on the floor from the high, amusement park like speeds that the submarine was traveling at now. He clung onto his father's leg for support, slowly climbing up to his shoulder and resting. "Hi, Daddy!" "Oh, you little monkey, Sean." 

However, the speedy nature of underwater bubbles whizzing by was almost too much for some. Ringo had to sit down, at the risk of what happened to him last time. He looked as though as he was about to throw up, and the only remedy was for him to rest, lay down on the freezing cold tiles as the sub was still splishing and splashing throughout the sea. 

And unfortunately, Martha's dilemma from earlier was not over. She had stopped running around to chase her tail, and now was simply staring out the window to gaze at whatever monsters lurked beyond the glass. She places a paw on the the window, whimpering in fear, looking back at her team briefly...when her eyes widen and barks loudly. 

"Hmm? What is it, girl?"

She goes back to circling, all around Sean's toys this time, almost taking one in her mouth. When she does manage to do so, she tries her best to take it to the window with her, but that was where I drew the line, yanking the toy out of her mouth harsher than I've ever reacted towards my beloved pup. 

"No, Martha. Those belong to Sean. I brought your ball, and you know where that is."

She tries to give me puppy eyes, just like I normally would. I sigh, she always tries to steal those from me. I do my best to resist my own aurora, taking out her leash and tying it to a pole to keep her safe from any further harm. She lets out a low grumble, but obeys her papa and chews on her blue ball to keep her occupied, even if her hypothesis turned out to be correct...

It seemed like everyone was sorted out after John's monster escape, but alas, that was not the case. Somebody just had to be impatient...

"Oh, I'm done with all of this. Be gone, you stupid monsters! There has to be some sort of button to get us out of here if one of them can at least makes us faster..." 

My heart leapt out of my chest when Yoko found her way over to the control panel. As an inexperienced passenger, there is no way she knows what she's doing, and I highly doubt John's educated her...

"Yoko, wait! Just whatever you do, don't press that button!"

I pointed to the clearly glowing and flashing red one, but it was too late. With the accidental elbow leaning onto the forbidden button, there she went, launched into the monstrous sea. Here we have Yoko in the Sea with Monsters, I'm afraid. 

"That was the panic button...again."

Everyone was left with a look of shock on their faces. Nobody truly knew what to say, in fear of saying the wrong thing. Yet the silence is broken by the tears of Sean's missing mommy and John's tension in the room...he could just feel how happy everyone was now that his wife was out of the picture. 

The jumble of arguments made it hard to focus through the mix of monsters. Some were familiar, but oddly enough, some looked familiar in a different sort of way...too familiar. 

I tried to let it go, but that's a bit hard to do when the constant sound of Sean's crying is ringing through your ears. 

"Sean, buddy, shh..." John cradled him in his arms, tenderly offering him a teddy bear to calm him down. It worked, but only slightly. His muffled tears were instead all hidden in the fur of the teddy. "Mama..." He whined. 

It was a cute moment, but a chill struck down my spine as I realized it...the entire reason why Martha had his toys in her mouth in the first place: 

She was right. These monsters are just like those toys. They're shaped just like them. They act just like them. It's outrageous. How is this possible?

But of course, there is one monster that is unique...one that is reoccurring...

One that really sucks, if you know what I mean.

Mr. Vacuum. Or, a smaller version of him, at least, but no matter what he is, he's still big enough to cling onto us and suck every bit of our power up, leaving us with nothing. 

This was the point where I started to hyperventilate. Sure, we've done this before, but it's never fun being essentially eaten by a monster, and who knows where we'll end up this time?

Was this the end? 

Or is this vacuum just like the last...