^^ Mutt Leo ^^

--- Leo ---

We dove into the water, which was a trial in pain management right from the start. My new 'Gills' felt like I was breathing through a fire, but soon numbed from the cold water, which I suppose was a good and bad situation.

I tried speaking, and after the first few tries, (which involved lots of hacking and coughing, and me nearly drowning, and the Atlantean receiving no small amount of amusement,) managed it. "So am I supposed to be numb from the cold?" I asked.

He shook his head. "You're not numb from the cold. Your body needs fuel, to complete your transformation. At the moment... you're incomplete. I've seen this happen before, and there's a specific way it needs to be done, to provide favorable results."

"Results where I'm not a homicidal Berserker?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes. That's the best scenario, and the one we're trying to reach... here." He snatched a fish out of the water near him, and killed it with a snap of its neck.

I blinked, and hummed. "Well... I do love sushi... just think of it as Sushi, you wuss..." I snatched it, and thought of nothing but the texture of sushi as I ate the meat off the fish.

He nodded again. "Well done. Now you catch your own. You need quite a few."

I sniffed, (or, pulled air through my Gills, which held extremely sensitive oratory glands,) and turned, catching the shark that was trying to eat me by the jaws. Then I smelled it again, and discovered it smelled like grilled Mahi-Mahi, my favorite type of simple grilled fish.

My vision went red, and I took a bite out of the shark's nose, making it balk. It tried to swim away, but I grabbed it, and began methodically devouring it, one full bite at a time.

The scales crushed under my teeth like aluminum foil, the bones ground to a chalky dust. I finished, after maybe half an hour, and dropped the intestines, the only part I couldn't bring myself to eat. Other Sharks, curious about the blood, but not yet feral, got within arms reach, and they, too, were eaten.

While I'd been eating, my body had begun to assimilate the material, turning it into the biggest and tastiest protein shake of my life.

My already-bulked muscles swelled even more, before gaining density, while retaining flexibility and speed.

My Gills stopped hurting, and instead got stronger, pulling in water easier, and without any excess, pulling massive amounts of oxygen out of even a single breath.

My bones hardened, taking pure Carbon into them, and then spreading to my ligaments, and tendons. Even the Soft Tissue of my body densified, becoming like steel, while the rest of my body was like diamonds.

I breathed deeply, and felt my lungs expand normally, despite the fact that they were now about 300 pounds a piece.

The final step, it seemed, was tiny pockets of air, filling my body's cavities. Whereas before, I felt like I was an anchor, now it felt like I was simply sinking slowly. If I did nothing, I'd sink forever, but the tiniest kick held me in place. Even full lungs did nothing for my buoyancy.

My vision faded back to normal, and I looked at the Atlantean. "That... was a horrible case of hunger pains."

He nodded, completely fine. "I've seen worse. Once knew a guy who ate a Giant Squid."

I blinked. "Eesh... the whole thing?"

"Whole thing. One sitting." He nodded.

"Wow... you know, we haven't told each other our names yet. Is there a reason?" I asked.

He blinked. "Oh! I'd forgotten, in the midst of everything. I'm Issa-An, but most people call me Issa. You?"

"Leo Oro." I nodded, and dusted off my shirt, to find that the blood wasn't sticking to it, it was simply clouding around me. I swam out of it, and nodded when it all stayed there.

He hummed. "An interesting name. Who gave it to you?" He asked easily.

"My... mother?" I said slowly, slightly confused.

He blinked. "Oh! That's actually your birth name! That makes sense now! I thought that was your Warrior name... though, I suppose you wouldn't have one. Never mind. Anyway, Atlantis should be only around this bend." He started swimming.

I chuckled and followed him, swimming to his left, while keeping a lookout for anything that wanted to eat us. It should've been darker, I realized belatedly, and reasoned that I had enhanced night vision now.

"Handy poison, this Berserker stuff, huh?" I chuckled.

He glared at me. "That's not funny. Hundreds of Atlantean's fall to that poison every decade."

I nodded. "Sorry... but for me, it worked out very well, didn't it!? Super strength, Gills, night vision... super-hunger? Well, that last one is rather random."

He nodded slowly. "True. But the body density came from me, actually. Berserkers are super strong, but also stupid, so doped up on adrenaline that they lose their minds, permanently."

I hummed. "Thanks for that, by the way... I don't know if I thanked you for saving me like that."

He chuckled. "It was no big deal. But you, a Human, went into that Nest with me, and held your own. I'm impressed. I think King Arthur will be as well."

We reached a wall of blue energy, and he placed a hand on it. Immediately, a ball of energy wrapped around us, and the wall opened.

We swam forward, and I spotted six small figures swimming towards us. "Who might they be?" I hummed.

"Guards." He spoke up in a different language, and I realized his voice was traveling extremely quick.

At first that puzzled me, but then I remembered that sound passed through normal water 1.4 times faster than air, and condensed water at this magnitude 2 times the speed of sound.

They halted, and moved out of our way, speaking the same language as him, and saluting.

I hummed. "I need to learn that language..."

He chuckled. "It would make things easier, true, but don't worry about it."

I nodded and looked up, only to stop swimming in shock. "What happened here?" I asked softly, looking at the massive holes in buildings, the blood on the pavement, and so much more destruction scattered around us.

"The EMP that knocked your plane out of the sky? It hit us too." He growled, and started swimming past the rubble.

I followed, seeing signs of rebuilding already, and soon we reached a giant building, that I assumed was a palace.

He spoke with a guard swiftly, and he opened the gate, saluting again. We swam through at a more reasonable pace than before, and I halted, seeing something that shocked me.

The most beautiful woman in the world was sitting on a balcony, spinning a knife on her knuckles. Her clothes and hair were in disarray, as if she'd just gotten out of bed.

Mocha skin, black hair, and gorgeous golden eyes were prominent features, but when I looked at her rationally, I couldn't think of anything that made her special.

Her chest was of an above-average make, as were her hips, and even her face was well crafted, but I'd never seen a woman able to literally stop me in my tracks... so why couldn't I look away?

Issa noticed my hesitation, and followed my gaze. Then he punched my shoulder, growling. "Avert your Eyes, Human. That woman is my Kin."

I blinked slowly. "I can't."

He narrowed his eyes, and realized I was serious. I couldn't look away. He grabbed my chin, and forcibly made me look at the ground, and the spell was broken.

She scoffed gently, and said something in a beautiful, lilting voice, to which he responded angrily. She huffed gently, and turned away, swimming inside.

"That was Dana-In. She likes using sorcery to trick people... most Atlantean's have a natural defense against it. She must've known you were human." He shook his head dismissively.

I nodded. "Probably written on my face that I've never been here before... now what? We can't just barge in on a king, right? We wait to be summoned?"

He looked at me oddly. "No. he will likely be in his Throne Room, and we'll report there. Follow me. And don't start talking until I've given my report, I don't want him to think I brought you here for ill intentions."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ill intentions like?..."

"Experimentation, Autopsy, Execution, so on and so forth." He shrugged.

I chuckled. "I see. Yes, I'd be happy if we didn't do any of those. Though some experimentation is needed."

He started swimming, and spared me a glance. "I suppose a little bit is necessary, but nothing extreme. The Kings chamber is close. Watch for my cues on when to salute."

"Why? I'm a guest, not his subject or his Knight. I don't salute him, it would be sarcastic, and therefore rude. I will do my best not to offend him, don't worry." I assured him.

He nodded slowly, and stopped in front of a set of large doors, speaking Atlantean to the guards. They greeted him amicably, and were apparently curious about me, but at his icy expression, they simply opened the doors, saluting.

We entered slowly, and stopped next to a large table, around which sat a number of people, extremely varied in their makings. One Mer-Woman even had a tail, like a Mermaid, though the rest had human legs.

Issa saluted, and spoke in his language at length, exchanging communication with the blonde man in orange armor, who I took to be the King.

When he finished, the man leaned back, rubbing his beard slowly, and staring at me. Then he spoke in English. "So, boy. You survived a Trench Nest?"

"Obviously." I grinned, gesturing to my still-beating heart.

He hummed. "So tell me what happened, in your own words."

"An EMP knocked the plane I was on out of the sky, and I made an emergency landing on what I assumed was an island. Instead, it turned out to be a Nest for the beings that Issa informed me are called 'Trenchers', or 'The Trench', he uses them interchangeably." I looked over at him.

"Indeed. And?" The king asked.

"And, he jumped in. I wasn't planning on going into the pit, but when he jumped, I reflexively tried to help him, and sent us both into the pit. I pulled the cord on my parachute, and we landed safely."

"Parachute? At that height?" He chuckled.

"It was half a mile tall... so yes. At that height." I raised an eyebrow.

He blinked slowly. "I see... much bigger than I thought."

"Mm. Well, when we landed, we got their attention, so I went into the plane for a weapon, and killed the single trencher who came in after me, while Issa slaughtered most of the rest of them."

"How do you know he slaughtered them? Was he not wounded, did you watch the battle and simply not help?" Another person spoke, a woman.

"I glanced out the windows a few times, but I was busy making weapons from what was on board the plane... and from what I saw, I'd only have gotten in the way, and gotten myself killed, at that point." I shook my head.

She hummed, and the king spoke again. "He said you were a capable warrior."

"Once armed, and fighting disoriented, massively reduced numbers. They have a hive mind, from what I observed, and with their queen incapacitated, their reactions were slow, and the risk was easily mitigated." I shook my head again.

The woman grinned and spoke in that other language, to which the king chuckled, and spoke English. "Okay, so what were you making? In the plane."

"Bombs. I needed a weapon that would burn them, because I thought that fire would be a weakness of theirs. I wanted to kill them all, even the ones we missed, or never found." I shrugged.

He nodded. "Good plan. So... safe to say that you're skilled at making bombs?"

"I'm a Chemist and a Retired EOD for the Army, so the easy answer is yes." I grinned.

He blinked slowly. "I see. Aren't you a little young to be retired?"

"I'm 26, I started at 17, so... no, not really. I served a six year contract in the Middle East and Guam, and then got out for the private sector." I nodded.

"Why?" He asked simply.

"Better pay, the right to quit when I want, refuse contracts I think are fishy... lots of reasons to leave, less to stay." I shrugged.

"Alright... so, you get into the tunnels, what then?" He kicked his feet up lightly, the picture of Zen, if not for his eyes.

"Issa tossed me a sword, and started hacking away at anything that came at us. He let a few weaker ones get to me, ones missing limbs, or blinded, or something debilitating, so I started out slow, and when he saw me deal with those relatively well, he started letting more through, with less injuries." I explained truthfully.

He blinked slowly. "I see... continue."

"Then we reached the Queen's Chamber, and he left me with ten healthy, very angry Trencher's, trying for the Queen." I nodded.

"And this is when you killed the Berserker?" He asked, gazing at me critically.

"No, he fought it while I killed the ten he'd left me with. Then I saw the queen getting up, so I knew he had to get around the Berserker sooner, rather than later. While he had it distracted, I got it's knees, and stabbed it through the heart. I wasn't fast enough, though. Neither of us were."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"The queen used the time we were fighting to regain all of her strength. She put Issa into a wall before he could blink, and then turned her attention to me... and I sort of lost it, I guess. I taunted her with everything I had, and tried to throw my sword into her eyes." I sighed.

A third person, a man with Obsidian skin, snorted derisively. "An Idiotic move. Destined for failure."

"I wasn't going to do much better stabbing her ankles, ye wee twat, so keep your judgement between your fucked up eyebrows!" I snapped, and Issa smirked, covering his mouth.

The king stood, a hand on the man's shoulder. "That's enough! Though I agree, to a point. He was human, weak, tired, and had just been in a plane crash, devised a plan to eradicate an entire Nest, killed a Berserker, and he managed to power through his fear and attack the Queen, several times. These are no small achievements, and I won't have anyone belittle them." He snapped.

The people around the table shifted uncomfortably, but nodded their consent.

"Wasn't all that. I was just surviving. It's something I'm good at." I shrugged.

He nodded and sat down. "Alright... so safe to say you pissed her off... and?"

"She swung at me a few times, but I just dodged what I could, until she lost interest, and re-focused on Issa, who'd just peeled himself out of the wall... so I cut her Achilles' tendon, to try to stop some of her movements. She kicked me through the wall, and next thing I know, I wake up with a fireball coming out of the tunnel we'd escaped from." I nodded.

He tapped his hands slowly. "Interesting... Issa paints you in a much more glorious light, but I think he is simply dramatic. Your story has no such embellishment... but your achievements are still to be commended. Did any other humans survive the crash and battle?"

"No. the Trenchers fed them all to the Queen immediately." I clenched my fists, fighting the image of the little boy who'd sat next to me and done nothing but talk about his 11 pet turtles for the entire 10 hour flight.

He nodded. "Did you have any family among them?"

"No. I don't have any family." I shook my head.

"Alright... Issa, well done. You achieved your mission, and also managed to save a human, then bring us a new Warrior. He is well received." He looked at Issa, grinning.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Issa gripped my shoulder. "Now is not the time, Leo Oro."

The king looked between us. "What's wrong?"

"Respectfully, sir... I don't work for you. I doubt you pay as much as my current employers, and while I thank you and your Knight very much, and I do admit a Debt is owed, I already have a job, and I'd like to return to it. I'm about 4 hours behind, by my count, but I think I can make up the difference." I nodded.

He blinked slowly. "You realize you can't leave Atlantis, yes?"

I chuckled. "And why is that? Am I Quarantined?"

"... in simple terms, yes." He nodded. "You have, in your system, Berserker Venom from a Trencher Queen. I don't want that to get into the hands of Cobra, or any other people who want to build a Super-Soldier Serum."

"Annddd... I should do as you say... why?" I asked slowly.

Issa gripped harder. "Please be respectful."

"Respect is earned, and reciprocated. Besides, I'm not going to give up my entire life on the orders of some guy I just met, and have no affiliations to! I follow orders only when they are given with the proper authority behind them." I crossed my arms solidly.

The king stood up. "I could make you stay, you know."

"I'm sure you think so." I smirked.

He narrowed his eyes. "I know so."

"Bite me, blondie." I shrugged.

Issa gripped even harder. "Do not let this get ugly, Leo Oro..." he said softly.

The king walked around the table slowly. "That's enough, Issa. If he wants a fight, I'll give him one." He cracked his neck slowly.

"Alright, old man, just don't throw out your hip while we're dancing." I smirked.