Third Person

When Cody's body went limp, Tanith suddenly couldn't move.

About a million things went through her head, millions of commands such as run away, cry, scream, but none of them could get her to react.

So she just stared.

Professor Pikalus rushed to pick up his body, quickly checking for a heartbeat, but Tanith could only watch. That's all you can do in the end, isn't it? She told herself. Just watch as everything you love dies.

Of course, what did you expect? Suddenly, a little voice in the back of her head began to speak. You know your kind. They don't die from age, ever! That's why nobody in your village, heck, nobody in your species ever gets close to anyone that isn't a snake person. You get too close, they'll be ripped away before you know it. That's why being easily attached was such a curse, because now that you've gotten attached to things like the penguin, he'll die before your eyes. You can't control it.

And something inside her broke.

"Oh." She whispered to herself, fist clenching. "But I can."

"Tanith!" Professor's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He quickly waved her over, the black and white body was in his arms. "Get over here! Heal him!"

Her tail suddenly gained control again and she could move. So she obeyed, her thoughts still lingered in the back of her mind.

Hours later, the human and the hybrid both waited in the lobby of the hospital for results. Both were impatient but it was understandable. After all, it wasn't everyday that you found your good friend in the hospital in a bad condition. Possibly dying too.

The results came back. They weren't exactly happy to hear it.

"Cody will live for now but... He's in an unstable position. The power of the Nexus is still flooding his system and messing with his heart. A heart attack is a likely possibility." Doctor Gray told them. A darkness flickered over both of their faces before they left without another word.

Doctor Gray's eyes followed them out, and she sighed. She knew they wouldn't take it well, and right now she knew they were dying inside. In fact, later when she found out that they had to walk home after their car was destroyed, she began to worry even more.

The next day it only got worse. Professor and Tanith both got a phone call from the hospital and went down together. Guards were everywhere and PebbleTeen was there to fill them in.

"Cody was stabbed during the night." Her eyes avoided them, not wanting to see the look on their faces. "We don't know who did it."

PebbleTeen expected a million things, crying, screaming or even hulk and prepared for each, but there was one thing she didn't expect. Cold gazes. Glares even, like they blamed everyone around them, including themselves, for not being able to stop it. Professor gathered information while Tanith checked out the crime scene. They were quick to leave, like the smell of death was too much for them.

PebbleTeen didn't blame them, but was still too shocked to do anything about it.

Professor had rage issues and Tanith was emotional, but getting little reaction out of both of them with news like this?

It chilled her right to the bone.

"We have to find out who did this." Professor's voice was filled with venom. The two of them stared down the computer at the lab, even though nothing was on it. "And make them pay."

Tanith nodded, saying nothing else. Now that Professor thought about it, she had hardly said anything for the past two days. He didn't blame her, he himself was freaking out but refused to show any emotion.

After all, what was the point? That was the question going through both of their heads.

"I can build a machine." He said, ideas starting to flow in his mind. "A machine that could show us a window of time, to see who was in the room when he was stabbed! That way, we can track them down a lot easier."

Tanith raised an eyebrow and gave a skeptical look. "Can you do that?"

"Try and stop me." It was a humorous remark, but rather a challenge. One that no one would take, out of fear or in Tanith's case, agreement. Nothing was going to stop them.

*****************************************

Selena sighed while laying in bed.

Of course, she got the news not long after it had happened but hadn't left the house. She didn't want to see the body, that'd be too real for her. No, she just wanted to stay in the safety of her home, where nothing could hurt her.

If only that were true.

From downstairs, she heard her door open up. Though frightened at first, her eyes went to the clock and relaxed. Sam was just getting home, that was it. She always did get home late anyways. "Hey Sam, mind bringing me up some ice cream?" She called.

"Why not get it yourself?" Sam's voice called back, reassuring her it was indeed just her. "I need to feed Endy. Which reminds me, mind if I raid your fridge? I haven't shopped in a while!"

"You're already at the fridge, just get it!" She argued. Sam grumbled to agreed anyways. Selena just grinned to herself and waited.

But nothing happened.

Sam didn't leave, Selena would have heard her, so why was she taking so long?

She waited a couple more minutes before sighed and throwing the blankets off of her. Going down the stairs, she called out to her. "Sheesh Sam, what's taking you so lon-" Her voice cut out and her hands went straight to her mouth to stop her from screaming.

A limp mermaid with a green tail was on the ground, blood was everywhere. If that wasn't already bad, suddenly there a voice whispering in her ear.

"Sorry, but Sam can't bring you ice cream right now." A pain exploded in her stomach and something plunged right into it. "But I doubt you'll need it anymore."

Selena's tail gave out and she collapsed on the ground. Darkness slowly descended all around her as a figure stood over her.

****************************************

"I think I may have it." Professor mumbled, screwing in the last part. "At least, I think so."

Tanith leaned against the wall, her face showing no emotion. "You think so?" She echoed. "Not very reassuring."

"Well, I've never built something like this before..." He huffed.

"Fair enough..." The war medic paused for a long moment before asking a question. "What if the killer already left Atlantis? The portal is broken right now, it is possible..." She didn't wait for him to answer and instead came up with her own idea. "I guess we'd have to chase them and go on... "An Atlantean's Journey" I guess."

He nodded along, then smiled for the first time in a while. "Speaking of, what should we name this thing?" Tanith blinked in confusion. "Well a lot of scientists name their machines, so what should we call this?"

Tanith paused for a long time, but grinned in the end. It had been awhile since Professor saw that smile. "How about... Serra? Lily? Christian?"

"Hmm..." Professor thought to himself for a moment before turning back to the machine. "What about Cody?"

Tanith stared at the machine for a long time. A single tear finally escaped, flowing down her face before dripping onto the floor. "Yeah." Her voice was soft. "That's a good one."

Professor nodded before stepping away. "It should be done! Ready to try it out?" Tanith nodded and he flipped the switch.

The machine was huge, having tons of wires and tubes all around it, with a computer in the middle. When the switch was flipped, tons of coding ran down the computer but in the end, it slowly powered down and the word 'Error' filled up the screen. The pair sighed.

"I guess something went wrong." He mumbled. "Let's go somewhere private and work on it. All these interns talking is driving me crazy."

As they moved along, they went into Professor's secret underground lab. When PebbleTeen came looking for them, she couldn't get in, and sighed.

In a sense she was relieved. Having to tell the pair that the Sneaky Sisters were killed, on top of Cody's death, just seemed like too much.

******************************************************************

After eight times, Professor finally grinned. "I think I did it." He said in disbelief. Eight times of trial and error, and twice they had to remake the whole machine, but Professor Pikalus finally would know who killed Cody.

"Are you sure?" Tanith asked, staring at the contraption.

"Only one way to find out." He said, before pulling the lever.

A million things started to flash on the screen and his grin only became wider. As it started to slow down, he strode forward until he was only a foot away from it. Suddenly, when Cody's body on a hospital bed flashed on it and Professor knew one thing: He did it.

He would have celebrated if not seconds later, the window started to open on the screen. Finally, he would know. A figure entered the room, holding a knife.

His heart stopped at who it was.

If that wasn't bad enough, a gun cocked behind him.

Slowly turned around, he was face to face with a girl he no longer knew.

"You..." He took in a deep breath but he could barely get the words out. Shock filled his mind. "You killed him."

Tanith didn't respond. Her eyes wielded no emotions.

A million commands went through Professor's head, hulk up, scream at her, pull out his gun, but he could only do one. "Why?"

Never did she respond, but instead she pulled the trigger.

A gunshot ran out, and Professor's body hitting the ground filled the air. A hole in his head.

"Too nosey for your own good." Was all she said before leaving the room.

Tanith stood below the crystals, looking up at them and sighed. Slowly, her gaze turned until she faced it. The screen. She stared at the person on the other side, even though they couldn't physically stare back.

She knew that they best they could do to "Stare" right back was read a bunch of words on a screen. In the distance, a wall stared to break.

"I'm sure you have questions." Tanith knew you couldn't hear her voice physically, but the words on the screen would tell you it was monotone. "And I know what many may be, so let me explain."

She began to pace around. "All my friends will die one day, and I can't control when it happens. That's a thought, right? Except, if I kill them myself, I do control when it happens and how it happens. That way, I won't have to go through so much pain." She spoke in a way that seemed distant.

Suddenly, she faced the person on the other screen again. In other words, you.

Her mouth twitched into a smile, one that could send a chill down one's spine. "No more pain." She whispered. Tanith suddenly took out a gun and said two simple words.

"April fools."

Suddenly, Selena, Sam, Cody and Professor all came from behind a rock and joined in a group half hug, laughing. Tanith herself was laughing hysterically. "Gottcha!" She laughed, and looked back into your eyes. "Come on, that was good!" Cody agreed, wiping away some tears as he did. Professor tried to cover his mouth to stop him from giggling as the sister high fived.

"I mean after all," Tanith said, smiling and stepped forward, never breaking eye contact with the reader.

"You didn't think I'd really kill all of my friends like that," Her eyes turned pure white, glowing as darkness suddenly descended upon the land. Her smile never changed.

"D  I  D     Y  O  U  ?"

*****************************************************

EHEHEHEHHEHEEH
APRIL FOOLS BUDS

You didn't think I'd NOT do this, did you?

I considered not, BUT HOW COULD I RESIST?

Before you ask, NO THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL CHAPTER. The real, "Shocked" will be MUCH DIFFERENT. THIS WILL NEVER BE REFERENCED IN THE STORY AGAIN.

Also, did you catch the references I made? I was so proud when I thought of them

Anyways, that's enough of "Creepy Tanith killing everybody but not really?" with a questionable ending. I hope you liked my personal version of "Let's Prank People On Wattpad!" Be sure to comment your reactions, I'd love to see them, and goodbye! :)

--JustAnAtlantisWriter