As the submarine continues further down into the depths of the cold, dark sea, you and Milo decide to rest up.

???: "Attention. Tonight's supper will be baked beans. Musical program to follow.

Milo made himself comfy on the bottom bed... until a familiar dirt expert made himself known to him and you. As he turned on his head lamp, Milo got startled and hit his head on the bottom part of the top bunk.

Mole: "You have disturbed the dirt."

Milo: "Uh, pardon me?"

Mole: *panicked* "You have disturbed the dirt! Dirt from around the globe!" *pulls blankets off, reveals dirt stacks* "Spanning the centuries!" *yelps* "What have you done? England must never merge with France!"

Y/N: "I've never seen someone so gung-ho about a few patches of dirt."

Milo: "What's it doing in my bed?!"

Mole: "You ask too many questions! Who are you? Who sent you? Speak up!"

Milo: "Me? I'm, uh..."

Mole: "Bah! I will know soon enough."

The dirt pro then takes Milo's hand, who then tries yanking it away, but Mole kept holding on tight and pulled out a speck of dirt hidden underneath Milo's finger.

Mole: "Aha! There you are." *adjusts micro goggles* "Now, tell me your story, my little friend. Parchment fiber from the Nile circa 500 B.C. Lead pencil, number 2. Paint flecks of a type used in government buildings. You have a cat, shorthaired Persian, two years old, third in a litter of seven. These are all the microscopic fingerprints of the mapmaker." *licks speck of dirt* "And... *scowling* linguist."

Y/N: "Oh, he's good."

Mole: "This is an outrage!" *proceeds to shove you both out* "You must leave at once! Out, out, out, out, out!"

But you're both stopped by a big guy.

???: "Uh-oh. Sat in the dirt, didn't you?" *to Mole* "Moliere, now what have I told you about playing nice with the other kids?" *pulls out bar of soap* "Get back. I've got soap and I'm not afraid to use it."

He puts it in his face and his hisses in a disgusted manner.

???: "Back, foul creature! Back to the pit from which you came!"

And the little dirt mole retreats under the covers on his top bunk.

Y/N: "Hah! Nice one."

Sweet: "Thanks. The name's Sweet. Joshua Sweet. Medical officer." *shakes your hand and Milo's*

Y/N: "I'm Y/N and this is Milo Thatch."

Sweet: "Milo Thatch? *realizes* You're my 3:00. Well, no time like the present. *gets out saw*

Milo: *shocked* "Oh boy."

Sweet: "Nice, isn't it? The catalog says that this little beauty can saw through a femur in 28 seconds, I'm bettin' I can cut that time in half. *brings out small popsicle stick* Now, stick out your tongue and say "Ah."

Milo: "Oh, no, really. I have a--"

But Sweet just opens Milo's mouth anyway and proceeds with the check-up and while they're doing their business, you head on up to the deck with the rest of the crew.

Y/N: "Heh, not gonna lie, I like Joshua Sweet."

You have a good chuckle until you hear the same elderly voice over the speaker once again.

Packard: "Will Milo Thatch and Y/N L/N please report to the bridge?"

Y/N: "Oop. As a famous superhero with strength once said... "Showtime."

Soon, Milo catches up to you and the two of you soon head up to the bridge just in time to be greeted by... Rourke.

Rourke: "Welcome to the bridge, Mr. Thatch and Mr. L/N." *to the crew* "Okay, everybody, I want you to give Mr. Thatch and Mr. L/N your undivided attention."

Milo: *Steps up, nervously* "Good afternoon."

Y/N: *walks up normally* "Pleasure to meet you everyone. Now then, my associate and I would like to go over a few things for this expedition, something you'll need to be aware of."

Milo: "Right, umm... how about some slides?" *sets them up* "The... the first slide is a depiction of a creature. A creature so frightening that sailors were said to be driven mad by the mere sight of it."

But when he puts in the slides, it shows pictures of him on the beach... waving to the camera, wearing a striped bathing suit, goggles, dino floaty, holding a fishing rod in his hand with a small fish he caught at the end of it and his cat is playing with said fish.

Packard: *unamused* "Hubba hubba."

Everyone else laughs.

Y/N: "Uh, Thatch... wrong slides."

Milo: "Uh... oops." *scrambles to put in right ones*

Audrey: *rolls eyes* "Geez, I used to take lunch money from guys like this."

Y/N: "I heard that. And just so you know, pequena dama, I used to eat bullies like you for breakfast for picking on others."

Audrey: *deep glare* "Call me pequena dama again, puto, see what happens."

Y/N: *smug troll face* "Pe.. que...na  dama!"

Milo: *steps between you two* "Whoa, easy now! Let's not veer off track with violence, okay?"

Y/N: *calm, backs off* "Very well then. please continue." *thinks* "Hah! Take that, musculo para el cerebro."

Milo: *clears throat* "Anyways, this, uh... Okay. *puts in slide* This is an illustration of the Leviathan, the creature guarding the entrance to Atlantis."

Vinny: "With something like that, I would have white wine, I think.

Y/N: "Except, you're forgetting one thing. It's described as a mythical sea serpent in The Book of Job. The bible says "Out of his mouth go burning lights, sparks of fire shoot out."

Milo: "Yeah, but more likely, it's a carving or a sculpture to frighten the superstitious."

Rourke: "So, we find this masterpiece. Then what?"

Mole: *pops up* "When do we dig?"

Milo: "Actually we don't have to dig. *draws up pictures on board* You see, according to the journal, the path to Atlantis will take us to a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean and we'll come up a curve into an air pocket right here."

Y/N: "And there we will find the remnents of an ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis."

Milo: "Exactly. Kind of like the grease trap in your sink."

Helga: "Cartographer, linguist, plumber. Hard to believe these two are still single."

Y/N: *thinks* "You'd be surprised of what my life is like."

Mole: *to Helga* "You said there'd be digging."

Helga: "Go away, Mole."

Worker: "Captain, you'd better come look at this, sir."

Rourke: "Okay, class dismissed." *to the worker* "Give me exterior lights."

The lights turn on and what you find even now still sends chills down your spine.

Helga: *astonished* "Look at that!"

Milo: "There are ships here from every era."

Y/N: "I can only imagine the millions of casualties... so many lost lives who never got to see their friends and families..."

The ship continues to onward, shining the lights on the wrecked ships on the ocean floor. Little does anyone, minus you, suspect that within the wreckage... a terrifying creatures has been awakened from its deep slumber and now has a new target to crush.

Compared to the Ulysseus, the creature has got to be at least 3 to 5 times bigger... and much more deadly.

It doesn't take long for Packard to hear it.

Packard: "Commander, I think you should hear this."

Back on the bridge, you and Milo and reading the journal together to Rourke with you reading it in its native tongue.

Y/N: *reading in Atlantean* "Enter the lair of the Leviathan, there you will find the path to the gateway."

[I'm not familiar with how to write in Atlantean, but when he's speaking in Atlantean, the sentences will be bold.]

Milo translates what you said to Rourke.

Packard: "Commander."

Rourke: "Yes, Mrs. Packard. What is it?"

Packard: "I'm picking up something on the hydrophone I think you should hear."

Rourke: "Put it on speaker."

Flipping the switch, the mechanical wailing of the creature can be heard and everyone is standing still, listening cautiously. Your body felt the chills coarsing through.

Y/N: *eyes shrink, but remain calm* "It's found us."

How right you are. Outside the ship, the leviathan is seen circling around, biding its time just right so it can strike. While it's doing that, Rourke and Helga head to where Packard is and try to distinguish what kind of creature they're hearing.

Rourke: "What is it? A pot of whales?"

Packard: "Uh uh, bigger."

Helga: "It sounds metallic. Could be an echo off one of the rocks."

Packard: "You wanna do my job? Be my guest."

Milo: "Is it just me or is that getting louder?"

Y/N: "It is getting louder. Whatever's out there it knows we're here. It's circling around us, waiting to attack."

The others continue to keep their ears peeled until the wailing stopped all of a sudden.

Helga: "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now."

Rourke: "Helmsman! Bring us about. Tighten our search pattern and--"

Y/N: "HIT THE DECK!!!"

You held onto one of the bars just as you felt a crash shake the ship. The monster has begun its attack pattern. Alarms were blaring left and right and everyone was scrambling.

Audrey: "Out of the way!"

The creature goes in for another attack, bashing the ship around like it were a mere toy. While everyone's evactuating and/or preparing to counterattack, you help those who might not make it in time.

Rourke: "Lieutenant! Tell Cookie to melt the butter and break out the bibs. I want this lobster served up on a silver platter."

Helga: "Load the torpedo bays! Sub pod crews, battle stations!"

The leviathan attacks again, rattling the ship. Meanwhile, the sub pod crews were getting ready to deploy and counterattack.

Rourke: *on intercom* "Steady, boys. Don't panic.

But the creature kept going, only this time, it grabbed the ship tightly, trapping it in its claws.

Milo lost his balance and landed on the window of the ship to get a closer look at the legendary guardian, Leviathan.

Milo: "Jiminy Christmas! It's a machine!"

Y/N: "I was told Atlanteans had advanced technology, but I didn't think they'd advanced THAT far with their tech!"

The Leviathan had the ship in its grip, forcing it to look dead into the eyes of the monster. But you had no time to stick around. You resumed your duty of getting everyone out. Audrey sealed the hatch just in time for everyone to escape.

Rourke: "Launch subpods!"

Ensign: "Subpods away!"

The teams launched out into the underwater chasm and circled back around, then fired the torpedos at the mechanical lobster.

This distracts the mecha-lobster enough to let go of the ship. Now freed from its grip, the ship continues onward while the subpod crews keep it distracted. However... it's taken out two of the subpods and anyone who was inside them.

More torpedos were fired from the ship and landed on the Leviathan, but none of them did anything to damage it, except make it retaliate with a piercing blue energy beam. The ship then takes a serious hit and it's only a matter of time before the inevitable.

Audrey, who was in the boiler room, stopped what she was doing and evacuated once the bolts from the ship started popping out and ricocheting off the walls. Luckily, she used a metal plate to shield herself before climbing out of there safely.

Audrey: *towards 2 of the workers* "Get me the bridge!" 

Packard: *unamused, reading a magazine* "Sir, it's engineering on four."

Audrey: *on intercom* "Rourke! We took a big hit down here and we're taking on water fast. I don't want to be around when it hits the boilers."

Rourke: "How much time do we have?"

Audrey: "Twenty minutes if the bulkhead holds." *hears it break* "Better make that five."

Rourke: *to everyone* "You heard the lady. Let's move!"

Y/N: "Let's go, Milo!"

You grab Milo and head down to the escape pods with him and all the others.

Helga: "Packard! Sound the alarm!"

Packard: *as calm as can be, talking to someone else* "He took his suitcase? Marge, honey, I don't think he's coming back."

Helga: "PACKARD!"

Packard: *still keeping her poker face* "I have to call you back... No, no, I'll call you." *puts out her cigarette*

You and Milo don't stop for anything, making your way to the pods.

Packard: *intercom, still calm* "All hands, abandon ship."

Helga: "Move it, people! Sometime today would be nice!"

Everyone makes haste jumping in and then straddle themselves in.

Helga: "Come on! Everybody grab a seat and buckle in!"

Rourke: "Lieutenant, get us out of here!"

She sits beside the commander and prepares everyone's escape. The ship continues to sink further and further down onto the ocean floor, taking on more of the sea water. Helga has a bit of trouble with one of the levers, but doesn't give up.

Rourke: "Lieutenant!"

Helga: "I'm working on it!"

The Leviathan goes in and launches one more energy beam at the ship and deals a critical blow. But Helga pushes the lever down with her foot just in time to get everyone out of there.

Helga: "Hang on!"

The 3 escape pods launch from the main ship just before the Ulysseus explodes, meeting its ultimate demise. Thankfully, it was empty and no casualties occurred on the ship... except for the few who lost their lives in the two subpods.

But this doesn't stop the Leviathan. It chases after you all with indiscriminate fury. 

Rourke: "Where to, Mr. Thatch?"

Milo: "We're looking for a big crevice of some kind."

Rourke: *spots it, points* "There! Up ahead."

Helga: *using comms* "All craft, make your mark 20 degrees down angle.

Worker: "Roger! 20 degrees down angle."

Mole: *determined* "Right behind you!"

The remaining subpods and the 3 big escape pods make their way for the crevice with the Leviathan still hot on their tails. It catches up fast and blows up another pod.

Mole: "Sacre bleu!"

Subpod pilot: "WE'RE GETTING KILLED OUT HERE!"

Everyone still keeps going and eventually dive down into the crevice, but not before the Leviathan blasts another pod to smithereens, along with more people.

But it doesn't end there. Two of the big escape pods hits the rocky walls too hard and veers off course, exploding and killing all who were inside it, leaving only 1 of the escape pods and 1 subpod left in the wake of the destruction and carnage.

Milo: *trying not to panic* "It's only a grease trap. It's just like a sink. It's only a grease trap. It's just like a sink!"

Eventually the team managed to escape the Leviathan and make it into the air pocket and resurfaced themselves. For the moment... it was over and the team had finally reached the ancient ruins of Atlantis... but... it was a hollowed victory for everyone. An even heavier weight felt like it fell on you hard. While you did save everyone from the main ship's explosion... a large handful still died on the escape pods.

Some time after exiting the pods and shaking off their nerves, the remaining people gathered by the water, holding a memorial for all those who lost their lives out in the sea.

Y/N: *thinks* "Why... Why couldn't I change their fates? Why did so many people have to die? They had... families, damnit! So why... Why... WHY?!?!?!"

Rourke: *somberly* "Seven hours ago, we started this expedition with 200 of the finest men and women I've ever known. We're all that's left. I won't sugar-coar it, gentlemen. We have a crisis on our hands. But we've been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here on in, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works." *to you and Milo* "Looks like all our chances for survival rest with you Mr. Thatch and Mr. L/N, you two and that little book."

Packard: *doesn't care* "We're all gonna die." *tosses cigarette*

Rourke: "Okay, people. Saddle up. Lieutenant, I want this convoy moving five minutes ago."

Helga: "Moliere, you're on point. No, Vinny, Audrey's taking the oiler. You know the rules. I want you 50 yards behind that truck at all times. And Packard, put out that cigarette."

As everyone's getting their vehicles started up and ready to go, Rourke turns his attention to Milo, who's fooling around with one of the truck's horn while you're taking your seat in the driver's seat.

Y/N: "Milo, play with the horn later."

Milo: "Aww, come on, it makes a funny sound."

Y/N: *slams fist on seat, trying to keep calm* "Milo... I understand you're trying to have fun, but... I just... *inhales deeply, exhales calmly* ...I can't stay happy, not after we've lost so many lives right now. Those... were people... more than half the crew lost! Maybe some other time, you can honk the horn, but right now, we've got work to do."

Rourke: "Your friend's correct, Mr. Thatch." *approaching you two* "Son, I understand you feel upset for the loss of our comrades and I deeply appreciate your sympathies. But if you want to honor their memories, then you do what any strong man would do. Stand up and walk, keep moving forward. You've got two good legs, so use 'em."

Though he is secretly your enemy, his words cut deeper than any blade and you plan to take those words straight to heart.

Y/N: "Yes sir."

Rourke: "So, can you handle driving a truck."

Y/N: "Yes, sir. And don't worry, I'll be fine now."

Moments later, you're leading the expedition team, driving down the pathways of the ancient civilization, traveling further and further down into the caverns. Eventually, the teams comes to a stop at a fork in the road. 

Right now, everyone is stopped at a monument that looks like a skull. You and Milo read the journal to see which path is the right one. Milo points to the path on the right, but...

Y/N: "Hold on, wait! *double checks* It says we're supposed to go down that path *points to the path on your right*, I'm double sure of it."

Milo then leads everyone down that path and pretty soon, they'll figure out they're not alone. But right now, they're stopping to take a short break, so Milo goes and guzzles down some fresh water from his cantine, then gets approached by Vinny.

Vinny: "You didn't just drink that, did you?" *Milo nods* "That's not good. That's nitroglycerin."

Milo looked horrified and gags a bit, but you don't say anything and just let it play out.

Vinny: *worried* "Don't move. Eh, don't breathe. Don't do anything, except... pray, maybe."

Mole: *pops up* "BOOM!!!"

Milo: *jumps* "AAAAAAAAAH!!!"

You laughed it off with Mole and Vinny.

Y/N: *mid-laugh* "Okay, not gonna lie! That was good!"

Vinny: "Eh, I got a million of 'em."

Much later, the team continues onward, venturing deeper and deeper into the caverns, then would stop once more just to rest up their tired bones while you and Milo did some more research about Atlantis, searching for clues of any kind.

Later on, the team moves onward again, trekking deeper and deeper, reaching closer towards their goal until they've come across a roadblock in the shape of an Atlantean column.

Milo: "Good night! Will you look at the size of this? It's gotta be half a mile high, at least. It... It must've taken hundred... No, psst, thousands of years to carve this thing."

Vinny, who wasn't even bothering to listen, planted some explosives around the column, then pulled Milo aside. Once they were at a safe distance, Vinny pushed down on the detonator.

*KA-BOOM!!!*

The column falls forward from the blast and lands perfectly on the edge of the other side.

Vinny: "Hey, look. I made a bridge. It only took me, like, what? 10 seconds, 11 tops."

And the blast didn't go unnoticed for whoever was lurking in the shadows of the cave. A few mysterious figures continue to observe the travelers from afar, studying them for a bit before trekking on ahead and you and Milo continue to guide the way on the right track.

Unfortunately, another obstacle blocks your path and it's hundreds of times bigger than anything you've ever seen.

Rourke: "Looks like we have a little roadblock. Vinny, what do you think?"

Vinny: "I could unroad block that if I had about 200 of these." *shows dynamite* "Problem is, I only got about 10. Plus, you know, five of my own, and a couple of cherry bombs, a road flare. Hey, too bad we don't have some nitroglycerin, eh, Milo?"

Mole laughs it off hysterically.

Y/N: *chuckles* "You're never gonna let him live it down."

Vinny: "Nope."

Rourke: "Looks like we're gonna have to dig."

Mole: *gasps happily* "It will be my pleasure."

Mole starts the driller and slowly drills a hole through the stone monument, but not 5 seconds in and the driller comes to a smoking halt after it backfires. Mole tries to start it back up, but it won't work, so he frustratingly bonks his head on the steering wheel, honking the horn.

Audrey opens up the back of the driller to see what's wrong.

Audrey: "I don't understand it. I just tuned it up this up morning. *to everyone* It looks like the rotor is shot. I'm gonna have to pull a spare from one of the trucks."

Milo: "Can I..."

Audrey: "No toques nada! I'll be right back." *heads off*

Y/N: *whispers to Milo* "Now's your chance. Do your thing."

Milo acts quickly and tweeks the boiler in the driller and then gives it a little whack with a wrench, bringing the driller back to life.

Mole: *gleefully* "SHE LIVES!!!"

Audrey: "Hey, what'd you do?"

Milo: *tries acting cool* "Well, you know, the boiler in this baby is a Humac model P-54 stroke 813. Now, we got the 814 back at the museum--"

Y/N: "So basically this boiler is similar to the one at your old museum, so you were able to fix it with the same tweeking method."

Milo: "Uh... yeah right."

Audrey: "Fine, thank you very much. Now shut up." *closes door*

Her pride partially shot, she turns to Milo, ready to punch him, but she doesn't... at first, but the moment he flinches...

Audrey: *sternly* "Two for flinching." 

And she gives his arm the one-two punch southpaw style while Mole just laughs it off and the gang resumes drilling through until they reach the other side, but now... they must tread cautiously as they're now unknowingly in the territory of some new enemies.

Milo: "This is it. It's gotta be."

Rourke: "Alright, we'll make camp here."

Audrey: *looking up above* "Why is it glowing?"

Y/N: "I don't think it's the stone that's glowing, but rather whatever lives in it that's glowing. Whatever you guys do, do not provoke it for any reason."

Mole: "Pah! It is a natural phosphorescence."

Vinny: "That thing is going to keep me up all night, I know it."

Y/N: "Maybe not. As long as we don't bother it, it won't bother us."

But we all know what's gonna happen. And no one is gonna be prepared for the eminent danger of what lives up above in that stone hive or the blazing fury that will follow.

[A/N: Here you go. Part 2 of your favorite arc. I've got plenty more chapters for you all, so I hope you're ready. And with the votes all tallied up, I hope you're all excited for a trip to Wonderland after this arc, so as always... STAY TUNED!!!]