Third Person

When Professor Pikalus, Tanith, Selena and Sam were all called to meet with Rasmus, all of them could tell something was up. Of course, they didn't know this until they all got there and started to talk, realizing that they all got the same message.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long to find out what was going on because Rasmus filled in all the details.

"As I'm sure you all know, Cody's still absent." He began. All four instantly reacted. Selena started fiddling with her hands, Sam's face frowned and her eyes drooped, Professor looked at the picture above the throne and Tanith just looked away. "And I've been doing my best to fill in with his more kingly duties but with that on top of what I already do, it's becoming too much. That's where you four come in."

Rasmus took in a deep breath. "I want all of you to be king and queens for a while, just until Cody wakes up. You can split the duties however you want, just get them done."

They all paused, Professor was first to speak. "So, are you going to king us or anything? Do people now have to call us, 'My king' or 'Sir' now?" Tanith shot him a look. "What? Can I not ask?"

"Little insensitive!" She hissed quietly.

"I had to ask, okay?"

Rasmus sighed, shaking his head a little bit. "I suppose... You are all now temporary royalty. Better?" Professor gave a short nod, allowing him to continue. "Good. I have a list of all the duties that need to be done." He started to hand out long pieces of paper to them all, then spoke again once finished. "Right now, I'll assign you a job. Selena and Sam, if you could deal with citizens requesting favors right now, that would be great. Professor, Tanith, go down to the lab and check up on the military." All four nodded, and set off.

Rasmus began to wonder if he was making a good choice.

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

"Okay," Professor began as the lab came into sight. "You talk to PebbleTeen, I'll go check how the training and production of troops is going. Sound fair?" Tanith nodded. "Great, let's get this over with."

On Professor's half of the job, apparently all was well with training and production. After the short war, they were recovering really well. All of the Tokozalos that got into Atlantis weren't able to do too much damage, fortunately, but Professor couldn't shake the feeling that they still hadn't caught them all. After all, they had gotten seven, and there were well over fifteen that got in.

Other than that, training was prosperous. The troops were strong, and hopefully they'd be strong enough to endure any more attacks in the future.

Tanith on the other hand, got worse news.

"You remember the Tokozalos, correct?" Tanith nodded firmly. "We suspect they are still here, hiding out in the city. There are some reports of seeing strange things in the night, and of crops going missing in the fourth sector and unless KrakenKid is up to something--"

"Doubtful. Go on." Tanith interrupted. PebbleTeen gave a glare, to which Tanith immediately held her hands up in defense. "Sorry, I couldn't stop myself." She answered sheepishly.

"Anyways," PebbleTeen arched her eyebrows and started again. "We need to deal with them. Take Pikalus and go investigate the farmlands." Tanith nodded quickly before leaving. She didn't even say anything to Professor, simply just grabbing his arm without stopping, dragging him away from his spot.

Professor gathered himself before jogging to keep up with her, allowing her to let go of his arm. "What's going on?"

"We're investigating." She said. "Remember the Tokozalos? PebbleTeen thinks they're still here."

Professor mused to himself for a moment. "You know about them, what do you think?"

"... It's very possible. And if they are, I think I know why." Professor shot a look that said, 'Explain' so she went on. "Remember what I said about them holding a grudge? How they almost never stop until their target is dead? Guess who isn't dead."

The human caught on almost instantly. "Cody." He breathed. "They still haven't left or attempted to leave because they know he's still alive. We have to eliminate them, get them out of Atlantis."

"My thoughts exactly! PebbleTeen recommended the farmland. We better get there soon- just to be sure."

"Why didn't we just take a plane? The lab has plenty at the ready."

Tanith hesitated before quietly adding, "Not a fan of vehicles. I get motion sickness easily. Plus, my tails kinda long for those things." She flicked her snake tail trailing behind her as an example. Professor scoffed playfully and they continued in silence.

"Nothing much is down here." Professor mumbled. He was crouched down, trying to closely examine the patches of crops that were missing, but nothing out of the ordinary pointed to the creatures in question. "Maybe it was just pests."

Tanith didn't respond for a long while before suddenly gasping. "I think I got something!" Professor was quick to hurry over as she pointed down towards more patches. As it went on, he too began to realize it.

"The patches aren't random, it's a trail! Come on!" This time it was Professor Pikalus rushing the hybrid over, barely stopping. It was clear that they were heading out of the fourth sector and closer to the outskirts. They rushed past the tall crystals and more towards the coral.

"They must've had a similar idea to the Tide Changers and tunneled into the wall." Tanith commented, getting a nod out of Professor.

"Maybe! Let's see what-"

Professor didn't get to finish his sentence as pain shot through his body, Tanith soon felt that same pain.

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

"Ma'ams! I need some money for my-"

"Great, you'll get it. Next!" Sam answered quickly.

A confused look passed through the Atlanteans face but they quickly smiled and left, thanking them as they did.

The pair of sisters both sat on a throne, lounging in the as comfortably as they could get. Rasmus had put them on citizen duty, so that's exactly what they were doing. However, after an endless line of people, they were getting bored and fast. Luckily, there wasn't many left.

They quickly promised the Atlanteans that they would get what they wanted, finishing it off and let out a long breath. "Finally! How many people are there anyways? How does Cody do this anyways?"

Sam just shrugged sitting up. "He kinda has to so he's probably used to it by now." She pointed out and started to stretch.

Selena did the same, and after a couple minutes, Selena opened her mouth to say something when they were interrupted.

"Sneaky Sisters!" Rasmus stormed up and narrowed his eyes. "Do you know how much money you gave away?" The sisters exchanged worried glances. "The palace is not made of money you know! We can't give away this much! I've only just gotten a couple calls about the requests you two gave away but it's bad! At this rate, we're going to loose half our funds!"

The sisters grimaced. "Sorry." They immediately responded.

Rasmus' feathers smoothed. "It's okay. In fact," The smallest smile creeped onto his face. "Cody and Joe did the same thing their first time..." The look however, faded as quickly as it came. "I'll deal with it. I need-"

His voice faltered as he looked around. "Professor Pikalus and Tanith... They should have been back by now. It never took Cody move than half an hour. Selena! Sam! Go check on them!" He ordered before going back down the stairs, his faithful bodyguard, One Eye, followed behind closely.

"Alright," Sam started off, turning around. "Let's go check on where those two went." She started to move away, but stopped when Selena didn't follow. "Selena?"

The pink tailed mermaid whipped around suddenly. "You go ahead, I'll catch up I need to do... Something."

Sam didn't question any further.

Selena watched her sister leave before turned towards the thrones and looked up. Poseidon's eyes seemed to stare into her soul, making her self consciously gulp. It took her a minute to summon her courage. "Hey- uh- Poseidon." She started, starting to fiddle with her thumbs. "How's it going?"

He's dead Selena! What kind of question was that? She mentally cursed herself.

"Anyways, I need a favor. You give favors, right? You watch over us or... Something? That's what people always say and I really need a favor right now. I haven't asked a favor yet so please, grant this one. I need you to wake Cody up. He's your son, isn't he? Don't you want him to be okay?"

A long silence filled the room until it was unbearable. "For-forget it! Sorry, it was a stupid idea anyways." She murmured the last part before heading out to catch up with her sister.

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

"Shield! Shield!"

"Bit busy right now, deal with it!" Tanith hissed back, slamming her staff into another oncoming Tokozolo, beating it back, then twirled around to hit one that was planning to surprise attack her. "Ha! Thought you could get me, did yo-" She was cut off by one that straight up tackled her to the ground, making her land on the ground with an 'Oof!'. She quickly formed a shield around herself and expanded it really quickly, launching it off of her. She quickly spun around, using her tail to not only get herself up, but knock some off balance.

Professor grunted and had to perform a death blossom, spinning around and shooting everywhere. Lucky for him, it worked and his attackers had to back off. "Thanks for the help." He grumbled, shooting another one without looking.

"You had it covered! Now shut up and get the leader!" She nodded towards the biggest one, clicked towards the others and clearly giving orders. "They're going to strike left and hard! How many are there? He's acting like he has a whole army!"

"Doesn't matter! Brace yourself and get ready to put that force field of your up!"

The small army began to slowly slip to the left side before making a rush at them. Tanith readied her staff while Professor shoved another clip into his gun as quickly as possible. Both took a stance, but two war cries made them glance back.

The pair of mermaids came out of nowhere, striking fast and out of the blue. They managed to take down the edges of the ranks before the whole line of enemies turned tail and ran, soon to be out of sight.

The sisters smiled at their work and whipped around to the hybrid and the human, but their smiles fell.

Tanith and Professor Pikalus were not only breathing heavily but also glaring at each other.

"Thanks for your help, really a team player." Professor glared at him, which Tanith returned.

"You could handle it! I was trying to make sure you won't have to fight alone, buddy."

But Professor didn't stop, so Tanith didn't either.

"You know, I don't know why I'm surprised, you've always been so selfish about your powers. Why else would Cody still be in a coma?"

"I can't heal something like that, Professor. The only reason he's in a coma in the first place is because you couldn't protect him, stultus."

"You're the one with the force field!" He growled.

"You're the one with the super strength-mode! Do you know how powerful Hulk is? Oh, I guess not since you can't seem to control yourself."

"Like you can control all of your powers Miss Empath!"

Tanith bristled. "At least if I lose control, people just feel more emotions! You can kill people!"

The arguing soon just turned to latin, something Sam nor Selena could understand.

"Tu autem, furcifer!" (You are a villain/terrible person/jerk. Translation is weird, okay?)

"Silentium!" (Silence!/ Shut up)

Then, both stormed off in different directions. Sam and Selena weren't sure what to do.

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

Professor and Tanith quickly started to go somewhere to cool off. Professor marched towards the palace, his footsteps slowly softening until they were dragging across the ground, messing up the carpet. The royal guard gave strange looks but Professor just dismissed them. He was too tired to care about judgement right now.

"Guards, mind giving me a bit of privacy?" He called out, raising his voice as loud as he could manage at that moment, which was surprisingly quiet. They all nodded before moving to the edges of the room, giving him a bit of room to talk.

From there, he stared up at Poseidon, or at least the mural.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" He chuckled lightly. "Man, I haven't spoke to you since... Well since Cody came back to Atlantis all that time ago. It's been quite long, much longer than I would have ever thought. And to think, I used to come to you with my problems nearly everyday!"

He paused for a minute and began to muse. "I guess it's because of Cody in the first place. Talking to him really reminded me of you sometimes. I mean, he's a little crazier but he still has that twinkle in his eye. That he knows what's best, or at least thinks he does, and just wants to help people."

Professor's voice began to drop as he went on. "Remember when we first met, Poseidon? All those years ago? I was just a little tot but you took me under your wing. I had potential, that's what you said at least. Whenever I'd ask, always the same answer. "You have potential, Pikalus. Potential to be something extraordinary!" And I think you knew that's what I needed to hear. Now I'm the top scientist in all of Atlantis and helping your son get through this. Funny how these things work, huh? I always wondered if helping Cody was my way of saying thank you."

Professor's heart drooped and he swallowed hard. "Is it weird that I still miss you after all these years? I felt lost for so long after you were pronounced dead, and I hate to say it but I'm feeling that way again... I can't lose another king. So please,"

Professor looked up and sighed. "Please help us. If you can, please, from apprentice to master, I'm asking you to fix all of this."

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

"Hey Cody." Sam said as she came in, closing the door softly behind her. She paused a moment before sighing. "Still asleep... I don't know why I expected that to work. Anyways," She strolled over to his bedside. "On to business."

Cody was hooked up to a couple machines that kept him alive, as well as the heart monitor, which beep consistently. There was a chair already by his bed, most likely kept there by the nurses. He did get visitors every day.

The nurses and doctors always say that when someone is in a coma, you can talk to them and they'll hear you. Selena was the first to do it and everyone else followed in her footsteps.

"So today, me, Selena, Tanith and Professor all got assigned to be "Temporary royalty" as Rasmus calls it. Basically we get to perform kingly and queenly duties while you're away. It's already going terribly. Selena and I just spent ⅓ of the castles funds and Professor and Tanith got into a fight. We're honestly not sure where Tanith ran off to but she's somewhere. Professor's looking for the remaining of the Tokozolos and trying to improve his gun at the same time." She explained, then let out a light laugh.

"We're not fit for this life. Truth is..." She hesitated before placing her hand on Cody's. "We need you."

Moments passed, but nothing happened. Sam's heart drooped and though it took a while, she slowly closed her eyes.

"Poseidon, please! If the legends really are true about you still having power, then please, just bring your son back. I-we- need him." She spoke softer, a couple tears escaping her eye sockets.

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

The two sisters waited for a moment behind the Professor, who was doing paperwork, before speaking. "Hey, Professor?" He spun around, still holding parts of a gun. Selena held up a report, hand written by guards. "We think we have something."

Professor Pikalus brightened up. "Where they're hiding?" They nodded simultaneously, getting a wider grin out of him. "Well what are we waiting for? Come on, let's go! They won't sit around forever!"

He snatched his working gun off the table and tucked it away. He began to make his way out when the Sneaky Sisters blocked his way and didn't move. His eyebrows knitted together. "What?"

"There's quite a lot of them out there, we could get hurt pretty badly, killed even."

Professor didn't understand, it was like that all the time. "So?"

"So," Sam continued. "Don't you think that a certain war medic might be able to help with that?"

Professor blinked and then groaned loudly. "Really? Do I have to make the call?" Their look hardened, making him give in. "Fine, fine." He whipped out his phone and scrolled through the contacts. "But if she says no, we're going."

Finally finding the contact labeled "MEDIC" in all caps, he clicked the green button and began to wait for Tanith's familiar voice to answer.

"H-hello?" Someone answered, but it wasn't Tanith. Professor knew who it was in an instant.

"KRAKENKID?" He screeched, getting a yelp out of him.

"Hey! Sheesh! You don't have to be so loud! I like my hearing you know! And yes, it's great hearing you too Pickles but I have stuff to do so-"

Professor quickly cut in. "Wait, this is Tanith's phone. Why do you have her phone?"

He hesitated. "She can't come to the phone right now."

"Why?"

"Well-" He was cut off.

"INCOMING!" Suddenly gunshots filled the air, making the scientist's heart skip a beat.

"What is going on over there? Where's Tanith?" Professor demanded.

"She's fine! I promise! We're just... In the middle of a zombie apocalypse." He mumbled the last part.

"WHAT?"

"What did I say about the screaming? I swear you Atlanteans never listen! Everything's fine, just some dead who were buried on our grounds came back to life because of some stuff happening, so when Tanith came to visit, she was caught in the middle of it. Also, why was she so mad earlier? She just screamed something about you being infuriating, said some latin stuff and started shooting zombies? Seriously, she's out for blood right now!"

Professor huffed. "Long story. Can you just get her over here? We need her for some stuff."

Krakenkid hummed for a moment but gave in. "Yeah hold on- HEY TANITH!"

A muffled 'What' came from the other line.

"YOU DONE YET? YOU'VE KINDA KILLED A LOT OF ZOMBIES! TAKE A BREAK!"

Then something along the lines of 'I'll break when I'm dead' answered back.

"COME ON! ATLANTIS NEEDS YOU!"

There was a long pause before she said something back. "ALRIGHT, I'LL TELL THEM THAT!" The kraken cleared his throat before saying, "She's be over right away."

"Good." He didn't wait to say goodbye and just hung up. "She'll be here." He told the sisters.

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

"I can't believe we didn't notice this before."

Right in the middle of the wall was a gigantic hole, clearly unnaturally formed by the all of the jagged ends. It was impossible to see how far it went given that it descended and overall was just too dark to see.

"Well none of you found KK's caves until Cody stumbled across it. Or at least no one said anything and it wasn't known to the public." Tanith pointed out. They all gave her a look saying 'How did you know this?' which she shrugged. "I read up on Atlantis history, it's kinda a past time."

They shook their heads before facing the area in question. "Okay," Professor started, pulling out his black and pink gun. "We'll draw them out and then go bezerk. These guys aren't merciful, so don't expect any."

As they all drew their weapons, Selena could only ask one question: "Do you think they know we're here?"

It was answered quickly as they burst out of the cave to attack.

Professor charged head on with Selena going after him. Sam stayed back with her bow while Tanith took a mid stance, finding time to quickly put up shields or simple walls, a tactic she had been practicing with her training partner, while also healing when needed.

This didn't last too long as some of the Tokozolos broke off and started to make a break for the city, nearly stopping all of their hearts at once.

"I hate to break it to all of you right now but those guys will tear down anything in their path before making a beeline for Cody. They have pretty good smell!"

Professor glanced around. They could take them all out now or save the city. The leader wasn't too far away, just now emerging from the cave and narrowing their eyes on them. "Crap... What would Cody do?" He screamed to the others, trying desperately not to freeze up.

"Probably do a zappy thing with his spear but we can't do that so I don't know what to tell you! He'd probably would have come here with soldiers instead of insisting that we all come by ourselves!" Tanith pointed out, slamming her staff into the nearest one trying to get into the city. Professor shot a glare before turning to the other two.

"I don't know!" Selena admitted. "He never takes me out on these things! Protect the city? He seems to do that a lot!"

Sam glanced back before gesturing towards her sister. "We aren't Cody! Doing what he would is useless so let's split up! Selena and I got the city!" She called back before the sisters took off after the speeding creatures.

Professor might have protested if he hadn't been so busy already. He spared a glance towards the half serpent, who was being surrounded like he was. "Are you going to be a team player this time or is that still of the table?" He couldn't help how bitter his voice sounded.

"That depends, are you going to be fair?" He let out a silent groan, but took in a deep breath.

"Fine, fine, I'll be nice! Get over here as fast as you can!" Tanith nodded quickly and summoned a bubble around herself, expanding it quickly until it hit many of the approaching enemies in the face then let it drop. She swam over quickly before landing by his side.

"Shield!" He ordered and got one quickly, just in time to see more Tokozolos slam against it. They clicked angrily, making Tanith's eyes narrow.

"What did you just call me? Wow, the mouth on these guys is astonishing! Hey! Does your mother know you talk like that?" She was taken aback but a little snap from Professor made her focus again. "Sorry, go on."

"... Moving on, is it possible for you to move this?" She hesitantly nodded. "Good, get us closer to the leader!"

Tanith nodded again before holding her staff closer to her chest and starting to concentrate. Slowly, the force field began to move, not very fast but it was something. Professor followed its pace until the biggest one was nearby. It blinked fast before backing up slowly, finding it was best to stay away from the approching people. "Tanith!"

"On it!" She answered, dropping it down and then springing out of the way. Professor rushed forward and tackled the biggest to the ground and began to wrestle with it. It thrashed about but Professor was quick to take out his gun and pull the trigger before it could. It immediately stopped and went limp.

Professor and Tanith soon cleared out the rest of them, sticking to knocking them unconscious with the intent of letting them leave Atlantis and being escorted by guards. Sam and Selena managed to keep the city relatively safe with some exceptions but nothing that couldn't be fixed in a week or so.

Professor planned on visiting Cody alone, but found someone beat him to it.

Tanith was sitting there, a golden glow exiting her hands and onto Cody, but nothing seemed to change. Cody didn't even flutter his eyes at all. Healing wasn't working.

When she finally stopped a couple minutes later, her eyes dropped to the floor. "... I can't heal him..." She whispered sadly, looking over to Pikalus. "I try so hard, but nothing ever changes. I used to wonder if I wasn't strong enough or something."

Professor didn't reply so she decided to add more. "It's weird, his vitals are fine. He's experiencing normal brain waves, I healed his wounds three days ago and with all of the destructive Nexus energy out of his system, he should have woken up by now. But... He just hasn't. It's almost like he doesn't want to wake up."

She let out a long sigh before leaving. "Go ahead, I've already done everything I can."

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

Tanith was starting to feel a little better, but something deep inside of her was still unsettled.

Some unchecked emotions still layed deep inside her, and she was trying to figure out what but her mind blanked. Sadness? No, she already dealt with that, and it didn't feel that way. Guilt? Nope, not as much weight as that. Feelings of love for a certain someone that she hadn't dealt with yet? Well sure that was there but it wasn't what she was looking for.

She felt something nudge her tail and looked down and smiled at Larry. "Hey buddy! How's my favorite mimic?" Larry seemed to smile, but it was always hard to tell with him. Come to think of it, that guy always looked happy! She quickly started to pet him as he leaned into her hand, telling her it was working.

"What is it boy?" Larry stared at her for a long time, not doing anything. Only then did Tanith realize that maybe he was picking up on her mood. "Nah, I'm perfectly-"

The sound of her door knocking interrupted her. "Come in!" She offered, and they didn't waste a moment in complying in it. Her eyes narrowed when she saw who it was.

"Bartholomew." She greeted coldly.

"T." He nodded back, quickly adjusting his glasses. When Tanith gave him a 'What are you doing here' look, he sighed. "It's Thursday, T."

Her blue eyes widened, making his eyes roll lightly. "Honestly T, you'd think you'd remember it given we do it every week. Now come on, let your anger out. Surely you have some this week, it's been quite eventful."

"Quite eventful is an understatement, and I don't think I can." She answered, slouching down. Her neighbors eyes blinked in surprise.

"I was sure you'd need this week out of all of them..." He murmured.

"Well maybe you got it wrong!" She snapped at him, then muttered an apology. His eyebrows only raised higher.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" She gave a half nod, but was unconvincing. His eyes squinted. "Perhaps you need someone else to get anger at. Like I said when we first met, it's not healthy to not get angry, you need to allow yourself to feel free emotions."

"And you always have to be right, huh? Maybe I can't get angry at anyone right now... Who the heck would I-" Suddenly, Tanith perked up. "I hate to say it but Bartholomew, you're a genius!"

Tanith scrambled out of her house and down the street, getting a weird look from many people who saw her but she didn't stop until she reached the palace, then skidded to a stop.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE THRONE ROOM!" The guards began to whispered to themselves and question what she was talking about. Tanith cleared her throat. "As your temporary queen, please leave the room. I need to speak with someone." She said a little more politely, smiling as sweetly as she could. This time, they began to obey, starting to leave the room. "Thanks!" She said to them as they left, then slithered to the throne.

For the third time that day, Poseidon got another visitor, but this one narrowed her eyes at the painting. "Listen here and listen closely, I don't like you!" She said, venom poisoning her words.

"I know what you did and you know what, I happen to like krakens, so screw you! I could go on about your mistakes, such as leaving your son with a city that is cursed by you, but that would not only go on all day, but that's not why I'm here. Here's the deal: Cody, that guy who's in your bloodline, he's not waking up. If you would actually do something for once, that'd be great." A long silence passed through the room.

"You know what, I don't even know why I'm talking to you of all people, maybe Atlantis is getting to my head, but you won't do anything! You're dead! What can a dead man do, whether he had special powers or not? You had your chance, but now this cities destiny is in other hands! Cody's hands!" Her fists clenched. "And he's a much better king than you'll ever be!"

She finished what she needed to get out and started to leave. Her phone buzzed as she reached the entrance.

KK: You alright? I just got really mad for a second there and snapped at some now terrified guards

Tanith quickly responded.

Just taking care of something I've been needing to do.

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

This is probably the only time I'll have anyone (Besides maybe Cody) "Talk" to Poseidon, but I have reasoning for it.

Just because it's a little hard to pick up, here's my reasoning.

Cody in the group kinda represents leadership and with him absent, the others begin to panic because that obvious helping hand that guides then through battle and tough times isn't there like it normally is. When this happens, many people revert to their old ways, or maybe even turn to anything, desperate to get help. Cody isn't waking up, so they're trying to get anything, even someone they're not sure can do anything, because it's that bad.

Selena's unsure of what to do, crumbling under pressure because this is something so new to her. Professor is sad and soft, he's talking to an old friend, someone who changed his life and trying to get his best friend back. Sam is a little desperate, feelings are getting confusing so she gets help from anyone possible. Finally, Tanith is downright angry. She didn't grow up in Atlantis like everyone else so she doesn't have the same respect for Poseidon that everyone else does, plus she doesn't really believe in him and her relations with KrakenKid make Poseidon her least favorite person.

As a final note, in this universe, Poseidon is 100% dead and not in control of anything. Destiny will do what it will, just to clear things up.

Ta da

So way back when I made an episode guide to the planned chapters, it ended at this one meaning another one is coming soon! Look for that!

Anyways, I think that's all I need to say for now! I have tons planned! Be sure to comment what you thought of this chapter, feedback and other little comments is always welcome, and goodbye!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter