Third Person

Cody remembered feeling like he was floating. He wasn't asleep, he wasn't awake, just floating. He could feel so much hate within him, but something told him it wasn't his rage.

Then suddenly, he could feel.

Cody sat up quickly, giving himself a head rush but still attempted to scan everything when doing so. It took a while, but finally he could process it.

He was in a cave of some sort. Dark gray stone lined the walls and floor, but the cave itself wasn't too big. It was shaped like a bean would be and though it could probably fit a small family, Cody still felt so small inside of it. Looking around, he did manage to find some cans, a can opener, sticks, flint, steel and a small, beat-up pillow. The more he looked around, the more it dawned on him that there was not only not exit, but he had no idea how he got into the closed off cave in the first place. The only light was from a lantern in the middle of the wall in the middle of the room.

But then he saw it. On the other side of the cavern, a purple being stirred and slowly sat up, just as dazed as Cody was. He too started to looked around but eventually landed on the penguin, and glared. Cody sent one right back.

"Penguin." He spat.

"Kraken." Cody returned it.

"What did you do?" He demanded, getting up but heavily using the wall to support him as he tried to make sense of where they were. "Is this some sort of jail? DID YOU CAGE ME?"

"No!" He held his hands up in defense. "Why would I lock myself in a cave with you of all people? I hate you."

KrakenKid thought to himself for a while. "... Well, that is true. You do hate me and I despise you with every fiber of my being," Cody rolled his eyes. "But that still doesn't explain where we are. Or why we're here..."

Cody began to examine the walls closer, feeling them and searching for anything that might reveal a secret door or something. Something told Cody he had been playing too many video games and it was starting to mess with his logic, but with no other ideas, he kept trying it. A loud thunk and then the sound of something hitting the ground hard, following by a loud groan made him whip around. KrakenKid laid on the ground in the middle of the room, winched in pain. A couple scratches formed on his body.

Cody stared at him for a moment before finally asking. "Okay, what could you have possibly done to get hurt so quickly? Seriously! I turned my back for two seconds!"

KrakenKid pointed to the ceiling above him, arm trembling slightly. The part he was pointing to was a little higher than the rest of the ceiling. "It looked weaker." He croaked out. "I thought if I slammed my body against it, it might give away and we'd get out of here."

Cody face palmed, carefully controlling his patience. "And if it did, all the rocks would have fallen directly on you."

The kraken went silent, staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't think that far ahead." He admitted. "I saw a chance to escape you and I took it."

"Oh my-" Cody groaned, covering his face completely as he tried to keep his cool. "Do you ever actually think things through? Really though, how could you possibly think that was a good idea, even with that kind of desperation? You don't see me trying to body slam everything to get away from you! Think for once in your life!"

KrakenKid's mouth twitched into a smug smile and he side glanced at the penguin. "I do think some things through. I invaded Atlantis and kidnapped you, didn't I?"

Cody stared at him for a long time as KrakenKid started to laugh, knowing he had won this battle. Eventually, he came to a conclusion. "I know why someone locked us here together." The Tide Changer perked up as he continued. "Obviously, someone wants us to strangle each other and the easiest way to do that is put us in a room together with no one there to stop us."

KrakenKid snickered for a little bit before sitting up and starting to look around, slowly getting into deep thoughts. "What was the last thing you remember before you woke up here, because I sure don't even remember falling asleep in the first place."

Cody thought back, eyebrows knitting together. "I remember going to my room to sleep but... I never even remembered reaching my bed. Just suddenly feeling weightless and..." His voice trailed off. There was something else he remembered happening, but what was something locked deep within the depths of his mind. Just out of his reach.

When he looked to the kraken for answers, he noticed an alarmed look on his face. "Okay, that's just creepy!" KrakenKid exclaimed. "I was going to talk to Bruce about some things and I got the same feeling right as I turned the corner!"

Cody stared at him for a long time. "That is really creepy."

After an hour or so of trying everything they could, the pair still couldn't find any way out, and the tension was slowly rising. Even over the simplest of things, the two would snap at each other.

They sat against the wall, a couple feet away from each other. If anyone else had seen them, they probably would have called them toddlers pouting in the corner. KrakenKid tapped against the stone floor lightly, bored out of his mind. Cody just huffed, staring ahead blankly. As seconds passed, the kraken's tapping became more apparent and loud, getting Cody tense up, but still managed to keep his cool.

This wouldn't last for long as a couple seconds later, he finally snapped. "Would you PLEASE stop that! It's annoying!" Cody shouted, whipping towards him. KrakenKid paused, locked eyes with him and started tapping even louder. "ARG!" Cody groaned. "This isn't working out!"

Cody hastily stood up and marched to the other side of the room to grab one of the loose, large, stone rocks and placed it in the middle of the jellybean-shaped room. He pointed to it. "See this? This is the line. The side I'm on is my side, your side is where you are now! Do not cross the line, capeesh?"

KrakenKid stared at it for a while and stood up. Cody instinctively took a couple steps back as he approached the "Line" and kept staring. Suddenly, he shook his head. "It's not quite fair." He insisted and picked up the rock. He started to walk forward, pushing Cody back as he did until he finally shoved Cody to the wall and put the rock down a foot away from him. He smiled triumphantly. "That's more I like it!"

The penguin king sputtered in anger. "You took most of the room!"

"Exactly. It's perfect." He grinned, starting to walk away.

Cody, understandably, was having none of it and moved the rock back to where it was before, making the two sides even again. He was tempted to make his side bigger, but managed to resist. Being the bigger person seemed in his best interests. If they were to escape from the cave, they had to not kill each other first. "There." He placed it down. Kraken moved for it, but Cody shot him a glare. "Don't. You. Dare."

KrakenKid didn't for a moment, but then decided to test his limits. "Why shouldn't I get more land? You get most of Atlantis anyways, why can't I take the bigger half for once? All I get is tunnels and a small area for my ever growing community."

The penguin groaned. He couldn't catch a break, could he? "Are you really comparing this to Atlantis and your tunnels? These are two completely different things! Besides, we're sharing half and half! Isn't that better than doing what we normally do?"

KrakenKid could have easily let it go, and for any other person, he might have. But this was Cody. He was not backing down and he wouldn't stop pressing his limits. "I'm just saying, since I normally get the smaller side, why don't I experience what's like to have the bigger side? You can handle a smaller side, can't you?" When it looked like Cody wouldn't give in, he said one thing that brought the conversation to a whole new direction. "Plus, you should be nice to me after what you did."

His words were like glass shattering, sudden, shocking and cracked within Cody's mind. His head jerked around to the kraken's direction and surprisingly found how serious he turned in a couple seconds. KrakenKid didn't mean it, but he suddenly ruined his own mood just by bringing it up in the first place. "Are you talking about when I almost killed you?" Cody knew that it was, but he had to be sure.

KrakenKid's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't say almost. My heart did stop for a while there, you're just lucky that my son got it beating again." The slightest pride leaked into his voice at the mere mention of his son.

Cody wasn't sure what it was, KrakenKid's insistence to argue with him, his stress crashing down on him or the fear of never getting out, or all three, but he couldn't say sorry at that moment. He returned the hateful gaze. "You were a menace, KrakenKid. I did what I had to to stop you."

"Oh, is that what you say to yourself to help yourself sleep at night?" The yellow eyes burned with hatred. "So that you can tell yourself that you didn't cross your morals."

Cody felt his words strike his heart. Words from a nightmare echoed in his mind. "But no, you let your emotions control you. You decided to do what you thought was right instead of what clearly was the right thing to do." He knew that those words were just something his mind created in guilt, but it still felt so real and right then, it truly felt as if he were back in that dream again.

But Cody knew it wasn't a dream, and he had to stand his own ground. There would be no Tanith breaking into the palace to wake him up and telling him it was all a dream. He would have to deal with it himself.

Cody took a step forward, eyes narrowing. "I'm not the one who terrorized a whole town! You put Hulk into a coma! You're a criminal! You've killed innocent people!"

"And you're such a saint? Let's go down the list of your crimes against my people! Murder on several accounts, mine included, destruction of property, terrorizing my people and even damaging CannibalCrab's vocal cords! He had to get them completely replaced you know! But do you know what the biggest crime of them all was? KIDNAPPING MY SON!"

Cody hesitated then. He had to admit, he regretted all of those things, and he could never justify what he did to Blooper. True, Professor was the one to do it, but Cody didn't stop him, nor release Blooper when he found out. It always felt like it was his fault. Cody broke eye contact with KrakenKid and sighed heavily. "Okay look," He took in a breath and finally met his guarded gaze once again. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to take it that far."

"'Didn't mean to-'" He growled, unable to finish his words. "You started the war in the first place! What did you think was going to happen? A peace treaty?"

Cody's mistakes crashed down on him like a tidal wave. KrakenKid might have called him and his little group "Tide Changers" but right then it felt like he really was and could command the great tides of guilt to consume Cody.

"I know!" He shouted, then let out a breath to soothe himself again. "I know, and that's on me. Just- I want to let it all go." The brown eyes mixed with the yellow eyes as they met. "I forgive you for what you've done. Atlantis might not, but right now, I do. All I ask is that you do the same for me."

The yellow eyes widened and didn't move. Cody was hopeful for a while, but that hope drained away when he saw how the gaze hardened. "No. I don't forgive you. You've done unacceptable things, how could I?"

"I know, I know! But Kraken, I know killing you must've damaged you, and that building your "Empire" back up again must've been one of the most difficult things you've ever done-"

Cody was cut off by a short and cold laugh. "You think that's what I still care about?" His eyes glinted with rage. "Things I could fix? My emotional state can heal and my kingdom could have been repaired either way, and even if I did die, I would be too dead to care, but do you know what I would care about?" KrakenKid marched right up to the rock that showed the border of the two sides and crossed it. He pointed accusingly at Cody, and his face was filled with a emotion so twisted that Cody started shaking.

"I care about what you did to my son!"

Cody stuttered for words but finally found them. "I never would have hurt your son! He would have been fine, I swear!"

"You say that, but can't believe you! YOU ALMOST MADE MY SON AN ORPHAN!" He screamed, tears swelling up in his eyes. "HE WOULD HAVE GROWN UP AN ORPHAN, JUST LIKE HIS FATHER HAD TO!"

That's when the world stopped.

Cody could feel nothing but his own heartbeat and shock running through his veins. He was frozen in place. KrakenKid couldn't believe what left his mouth, and subconsciously covered it a little with his tentacle. Tears left his eyes, and he didn't even know why. Maybe his own words hit him harder than he thought they did. Maybe it hit a little too close to home, and brought back memories that he had long since repressed.

He backed up, allowing Cody to relax a little more but still couldn't believe what he heard. "Wait... You're an orphan?"

KrakenKid remained in a shocked state for a little longer before groaning. "Yeah, though I didn't want to be telling you of all people that."

"... How? What happened to your parents?" Cody couldn't stop the words from slipping out of his mouth, but he regretted it instantly as he did.

The kraken shot a glare at him. "Yeah, no. I'm not having this conversation with a stinky penguin of all people. Just assume they're both dead and leave it at that." He wiped his eyes of any evidence that he had cried and backed off, heading back towards his side of the room.

Cody called out to him one last time. "Kraken." KrakenKid stopped at the mention of his name. "Do you think you'll ever forgive me?" Cody asked. He hated to ask now, but he needed to know if he would ever get the rest he needed.

KrakenKid didn't turn around and just said one thing. "Never lay a hand on Blooper again and I'll think about it."

His answer was good enough for Cody.

Cody and KrakenKid had no idea what time it was, but both were getting tired. The lantern that provided light in the cave was dimming. Cody had found that KrakenKid's eyes truly did glow in the dark, even with no light reflecting off of them.

There weren't many materials in the cave, but they did split up what was there. KrakenKid got the beat-up pillow while Cody had all the supplies to make a small, controlled fire. Cody already had done that and now used it for warmth. Surprisingly enough, the caves were a lot colder than the normal Atlantis water, making Cody wonder if it was because it was isolated from the rest of it.

The penguin started to find himself drifting off to sleep the more he stared into the fire, eyes getting heavier and heavier by the second. The fire certainly did its job, and acted as a blanket for him and his arms were like pillows. It wasn't as comfortable as his normal bed back at the palace, but he didn't mind as much as he thought he might. Oddly enough, having anything at all seemed like a blessing in its own.

Soon, his eyes closed and he just focused on what he could hear. The crackling of his fire and his breath were all that was there for a while, but then came another sound. It was soft and almost something he overlooked, but there was a slight sound of teeth chattering. His eyes flung open and he sat up.

Cody then leaned over to get a good look at KrakenKid. His eyes must've been closed because the glow was no longer there but he did make out his figure in the darkness. It shuddered slightly, and soon, Cody couldn't bare it any longer.

"Hey! Junior!" The eyes lit up as they opened and filled with confusion. Cody jerked his head towards the fire. "Get over here, you look freezing!"

The kraken soon shook his head. "I-I'm f-f-fine!" He insisted, but his shivering gave it away. Cody's eyelids drooped in annoyance.

"That wasn't even a good lie. Now get over here or I'll make you!"

KrakenKid didn't move until the penguin started to get up. "Okay, okay! Sheesh, I'll come over! Just chill!" He held his tentacles up in surrender and swam across the room to where he was at sat down on the other side of the fire. He didn't speak for a while, but his shivering slowed and stopped all together after mere seconds. Finally, he said something. "Thanks."

"No problem." Cody yawned and laid down. "I didn't exactly want to wake up to frozen calamari, now did I?"

The Tide Changer blinked. "I don't see what my special chicken has to do with anything."

Cody sighed, realizing that it was hopeless and let it go. "I... Just think of it as a metaphor and go to sleep. Don't die on me, I'd rather not see that in the morning, alright?"

The kraken rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. No dying on my part... Can't say the same to you."

"WHAT?"

KrakenKid smiled deviously. "Sweet dreams."

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

There was a little trick that Cody remembered late at night. One that Professor Pikalus used on him.

After KrakenKid's little creepy comment, Cody found himself a little too on edge to sleep, wondering if he did, that he would never wake up because someone- KrakenKid- would kill him in his sleep. The Tide Changer was fast asleep and curled up in the corner, but Cody still felt suspicious.

The longer he stayed up, the more he started to be alone with his thoughts. He found himself thinking about something KrakenKid said before.

"HE WOULD HAVE GROWN UP AN ORPHAN, JUST LIKE HIS FATHER HAD TO!"

"Yeah, no. I'm not having this conversation with a stinky penguin of all people. Just assume they're both dead and leave it at that."

One part of Cody just wanted to let it go and let Kraken be, but the other part of him wanted answers. Why did he never know this before?

That's when he remembered something that could help get the truth out of KrakenKid.

A long time ago, Professor Pikalus conducted an experiment. He wanted to know if you could get someone tired enough, if they would be so loopy and tell the truth to anyone who asked. Professor decided to test it on Cody himself, and as it turns out, it was true. At the dead of night, Professor woke the king up and asked him really personal questions. Cody answered without hesitation and forgot all about it in the morning. He only found out about it when word got around about Professor's results.

At the dead of night, anyone could act as if they were under truth serum. Cody just had to test it for himself.

Shuffling to the other side of the now low fire, Cody prodded KrakenKid's side until the yellow eyes fluttered open and lazily gazed at him. "Oh heya penguin." He yawned, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "What'cha need?"

Cody hesitated before asking anything. KrakenKid's gaze was surprisingly friendly, something he had never seen before. "Is your real name "KrakenKid" or is that just something you tell the public as a villainous name or whatever?"

KrakenKid blinked a couple times before shrugging. "I think it's my real name. Me momther always called me it, plus everyone else so I assumed it was. Not sure what's on my birth certificate... Wherever that is." He giggled to himself.

Cody raised an eyebrow. Maybe it really was true, but just to be sure before he asked the wrong questions, Cody asked more. "Why do you hate Atlantis?"

His eyes narrowed sleepily. "Whyyyy? Because they've never brought me anything but pain! Why shouldn't I do the same to them? Just screwww them! Screw Atlantis and everyone in it!" But then, the kraken paused for a moment, eyes drifting down. "Well... Maybe not everyone in it. Some of you are pretty okay. I've seen a couple good beans in the batch." He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "If only they'd come to the dark side! Everything would be so much easier but... I can't ask. That'd put them in a bad place if I did and they'd find it hard to say anything and it might ruin everything and- well, you get the point."

Cody raised his eyebrows at his response. It felt awfully like he was referring to one person but who was something he couldn't quite place his finger on. "Huh... Alright, who's your best friend?"

"Male, female or in general?" Then he snorted. "Heh, general."

"In general." Cody responded.

"CannibalCrab. That guy has always been by my side the second we let him into the family."

Cody nodded, and soon found the courage to ask one question. "What happened to your parents?"

His eyes opened a little more and met Cody's. There appeared to be no emotion in them, just totally blank. "War." He responded, his voice like a whisper. "I lost them both in the war. Dad went MIA but it's doubtful anything survived in the attack he led and Mom was vaporized by the Nexus' power." His eyes drifted down. "I barely was past a toddler stage when it happened. I had to learn to make it on my own."

Cody nodded slowly. He could have asked anything else in the world that he ever wondered about KrakenKid, but after all the answers he got, he couldn't bare to get any more information than he already had. "Oh... Thanks KrakenKid."

He just yawned and closed his eyes again. "No problem Cade."

"... It's Cody."

"Sorry, Cole."

Cody shook his head and decided to just let him sleep. He crawled back to his side and laid down, now his eyelids started to fall faster than before. He might have drifted off right away, but a voice called out and said something that made him perk up. "You know, you kinda remind me of this one woman I met once. Cerebia or something? Very kind woman, really liked krakens. Not sure what happened to her."

Cody would have questioned him about her until dawn, but not even a second later, he heard his light snoring.

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

KrakenKid blinked as the world wavered slightly before solidifying. The second it did, he realized he was in a dream. It was strange, it hardly ever felt like he had dreams where he knew he was in one the second he entered it.

He was in a dark tunnel, the only light he had came from a lantern that he held. His arm lowered slightly as he blinked in confusion. The caves were cold and filled with vines, crystals and moss, clearly untouched by anyone for quite some time. There was a small path were it did look like a couple people took, but that was it. He could feel some pains on his body, scrapes all on his back and his upper right arm was bandaged for some reason.

The real question was, why was he here? He had never seen this place in his life.

"KrakenKid?" He whipped around to see Cody staring at him. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the penguin was concerned. "You alright?"

Why was he here with him of all people? If he had a chance to come here alone, wouldn't he have taken it, or did he have no choice at all? Most of all, why did the whole dream feel so... Real?

It nearly hit him like a truck full of bricks: Prophetic dream. He was having a prophetic dream. But why now? He hadn't had one in ages, why did he suddenly get one now?

Suddenly, the penguin's gaze became much more apparent. "I'm fine." He insisted under his breath. "Just spaced out for a second." Cody didn't question any further and the pair started started to walk a little more.

Not even two seconds in, KrakenKid felt suddenly unsettled and stopped again. Cody did the same, turning back to him. "Uh... KrakenKid? Come on, we gotta go! I don't mean to rush you but whatever texted us came from down here. Do you want to find out or not?"

KrakenKid blinked and tilted his head. What was he talking about? He opened his mouth, but choked when he saw a pair of glowing, blue eyes from behind Cody. Cody noticed and whipped around just as it stepped into the light.

It was Hulk, but he was different. There was something about him that was so much more controlled, and his glowing, blue eyes didn't help his case that he appeared different. He didn't even look too angry at all, just peering at them and did nothing.

Cody took a hesitant step forward while the kraken took one back. "Professor?"

Then, Hulk launched across the tunnel, past Cody and slammed into KrakenKid head on. The kraken was forced into the wall and had the wind knocked out of him. He heard his gun and lantern clatter to the floor, dropped by the sudden attack. Hulk didn't stop there and nailed a hit right into his face, making him crumble to the ground. Cody yelled something and though KrakenKid's eyes were closed, he felt Hulk's presence leave him as he slouched on the ground.

KrakenKid let himself rest for a couple more seconds before opening his eyes and searching around before he found it.

Cody was carefully dodging Hulk's swigs. He dunked under his arm and scraped and scratched him with his spear when he could. Just when KrakenKid thought he might be able to last long enough to wear him down, Cody didn't react fast enough to drop under Hulk's punch and earned a direct hit right to his gut. He flew across the room before painfully connecting with the wall. He let out a groan when he hit the floor, now sprawled out.

KrakenKid felt pity for him, but as Hulk grew closer to the penguin, the kraken had to do something. He scooped up his gun from the ground, took careful aim and shot, directly hitting Hulk's back. He howled in pain and turned around in rage.

KrakenKid wanted to slap himself for acting before thinking.

Hulk stormed over to him and soon loomed over him. KrakenKid tried to aim quickly but the gun was back handed slapped out of his hand before he could. Before he could react at all, a hand closed around his windpipe and lifted him in the air.

Of course KrakenKid did what he could to break free, desperately gasping for breath as he kicked and slapped his hand, but Hulk didn't budge. The world around him began to go black as the grip tightened and nothing could get into his lungs, and he felt himself going limp. Yelling came from... Someone, but it sounded so far away.

Soon, there was no world left and he felt himself fade...

KrakenKid sat up suddenly and gasped for breath, cradling his throat like he was afraid he'd lose his breath again.

He was back in the cave again, the fire in front of him was starting to go out but still held on, just barely. He looked around wildly, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Everything that was there before was still there and the penguin slept peacefully across from him. He let out a sigh of relief that he didn't just die or something, but his heart still pounded. "Where's that hybrid when you need her?" He mumbled as his dreams still echoed in his mind. But then something occurred to him.

The dream felt exactly like a prophetic dream would, so did he just have a death dream?

Before he could panic, the penguin stirred and slowly but surely, sat up. "Oh... You're up." He blinked. He nodded and it took a while for him to ask something else. "Do you remember anything from last night?"

KrakenKid's head tilted and he slowly shook his head. "You mean other than falling asleep? No, why? Did I sleep walk? I don't normally do that but it does happen..."

Cody hesitated about something but finally shook his head.

"Nah, it's nothing."

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

Once the presence faded, Cece could finally breathe.

She took in long deep breaths for what seemed like hours before finally standing up and processing what just happened.

Though it was strange. She had no idea what exactly happened, but something got into their systems and shut her down. Shutting a conscience down should have been next to impossible, she wasn't a human being really, just thoughts, energy and emotions that were given the gift of life. Or curse of life, depending on how you saw it.

It was like a virus, hitting so fast that she didn't even notice it got in until it was too late. Whatever it did, something bad happened to Tanith. She lost all control of her own body.

Tanith. The mention of her made her remember to check up on her. No doubt she'd surely be awake by now, now that it was gone.

Right?

Cece searched the corners of her mind, high and low until she finally found where Tanith was hiding. She was on the floor and unmoving. Cece blinked but tried to shake her anyways. "Up. Come on lazy tail, we're back online." She didn't budge. "Tanith? Hello?" No response. Her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "Are you going to get up or not? Do I have to do everything around here?"

But Tanith didn't so much as twitch.

It was strange. She wasn't dead, if she was, Cece would be too but she still wasn't exactly all there either. Cece stood there for a while before sighing. "Fine, I'll just run a check up on what we can do while you rest."

Cece rushed off, a little panicked that something was deeply wrong.

She managed to access Tanith's bonding power and tried to connect with the people she knew would have worked, but neither responded at all. It was like KrakenKid and Cody were being blocked off from the rest.

Tanith's conscience let out a frustrated yell and huffed angrily. "Why is nothing working? Tanith decides to sleep on me, no help from the kraken or penguin and I can't exactly reach out to Larry and tell him what's going on, he can't speak!" Then she paused. "He can't... Right?" Her head shook. "I am losing my mind here! What else am I supposed to do? It's not like Tanith has any other-"

Then, she felt another presence. Cece quickly accessed Tanith's bonding powers again and felt it more, now dumbfounded. "People she's bonded with?..." She finished her previous sentence and couldn't help but feel surprised. "I didn't know they bonded... Well, it's all I got."

She let the bonding take over and soon, a swirling, green, energy portal formed before her eyes. "Let's see if your mind is any better." And she dived right in.

Cece popped out on the other side of the portal and immediately felt the presence again, but this time in his mind. Lucky for her, she was mostly unaffected and could actually move around. She suspected it was because she wasn't in her proper mind.

Shaking it off, she rushed to find him, and finally did after a while.

He was standing in the middle of an empty room, staring blankly ahead. "Professor!" Cece called, getting him to slowly turn around to her. He just blinked.

"Tanith?"

Cece paused. "... Sort of. Listen, what's going on? Are you... Yourself?" She looked him up and down but still wasn't sure.

He gazed at her for a moment before staring ahead. "Destruction."

"Huh?"

"Destruction." He said again. "It's all I see. So much destruction and... Hate. So much hate. It was strange, I held back so much rage before he came but now I feel so free."

Cece took a step forward, eyebrows knitting together. The conversation was strange but she gulped and just asked, "Before who came?"

He smiled, but it was so utterly unnatural and twisted that it unnerved Cece. "Him, the parasite. You might think he's a parasite that needs to be removed, but I see it now. He's what we need! What I need! He can bring out that side of us that we all hide!"

Cece tensed. "You're sort of freaking me out, Professor... What's going on?"

Then, it all happened so fast that Cece didn't get to react. Something placed its hands on her shoulders and she froze. "You're not in the right place, are you?" It whispered in her ears. "No... I can't have that."

Suddenly, Cece felt nothing. Nothing, but hatred that wasn't hers.

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

KrakenKid struggled with the can opener for a solid four minutes before Cody sighed and held out his hand. "Hand it over, let me."

The kraken shot a glare. "I know how to do this, it's just being difficult!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just give me the can and let's get this over with." The villain begrudgingly handed it over for Cody to take over. Though he had some trouble with it, eventually the lid came off and he peered inside. "Huh... You wouldn't happen to like peas, would you?"

KrakenKid shrugged. "They're okay. Not something I'd chose to eat if I had a choice but I haven't always had the choice of eating at all so I'll take it." Cody handed it over and let KrakenKid start to eat it as he opened another one. This time, the king smiled.

"Tomato soup? Now that's more I like it!" KrakenKid looked a little disappointed that he didn't get that can but didn't argue.

They eat in silence for a long time.

"You know," Cody said as he finally gulped down the rest of the cold soup. "I know some cooks in Atlantis that make the best tomato soup I've ever tasted! Nothing will ever compare to it!"

KrakenKid just rolled his eyes. "Oooo! Look at me! I'm king Cody and I get all the best things in life handed to me on a silver plate!" He said in a mocking voice.

Cody immediately retaliated. "Ohhhh! Look at me! I'm the great KrakenKid and I pretend to be the strongest person in all of Atlantis but really I'm a wimp hiding behind my troops!" Cody spoke in a high pitched tone. The kraken growled.

"I'm king Cody and I think I know everything about everyone but truthfully I know nothing because I'm too rolled up in my own pride to notice anything else!"

"I'm KrakenKid and I couldn't beat Atlantis with the best armies in the world because I don't think what I do through enough!"

The two both ran towards the other and attempted to make themselves look like the bigger person. "I stink!" KrakenKid mimicked in Cody's voice.

"I'm slimy!" Cody returned the insult.

"I COULDN'T RUN MY EMPIRE EVEN IF I TRIED AND HAD ALL THE HELP IN THE WORLD!" They both screamed in unison. As soon as it was said, the pair retreated to the corners of the room and stared each other down, glaring like a couple of toddlers in time out.

And hour later, KrakenKid found himself a lot calmer, but he couldn't say the same for the penguin. Cody himself was freaking out, trying anything to get out and even throwing stray rocks at the ceiling in an attempt to get a budge. It never did anything.

"Don't you think you should give it a rest? You said it yourself, that ceiling comes down, it could doom us." KrakenKid called out, now bored of watching him freak out.

Cody whipped around, eyes wide and movements were twitchy. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" He shouted and shrank down. "We're slowly decaying in here! We'll never live long! No one probably even knows we're here! We'll just slowly decay faster and faster until there's nothing left!" He grabbed his face and screamed in agony. "I'M GOING TO DIE DOWN HERE WITH YOUUUUU!"

KrakenKid huffed. "Calm down you psycho. Just relax for a moment and actually use that brain of yours. If you have one at least."

Cody took in a staggered breath before saying, "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" Picked up the rock that was being used as their border and threw it at the ceiling.

When it hit, a huge thump made the whole room shake. Both of their eyes widened and KrakenKid stood up. "Did... I do that?" Cody asked uncertainly.

Then it came again, harder this time and caught both of them off balance. "No, definitely not you." KrakenKid told him. The shakes kept coming, more frequent and heavier this time until both of them found it hard to even stand up.

"Is this an earthquake?" Cody called to the kraken.

"I think so! Do something! You're Dad was the "God of Earthquakes" right? CONTROL THEM!"

"I DON'T THINK I CAN DO THAT!"

KrakenKid was going to yell some encouragement or something along the lines of "Just do it!" but cracking shut his mouth before he could. The stone above him, specifically the very spot KrakenKid had tried to attack earlier because it looked weaker, gave in and rocks fill down on them.

Cody remembers seeing a look of sheer terror on KrakenKid's face before he lost him in the rumble.

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

FIFTY CHAPTERS SPECIALLLLLLLLL

6,000 WORDS MORE OR LESSSSSSS

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

man I'm a little burnt out right now but ENJOY THIS! I JUST ATE TWO HUGE PIECES OF FUDGE IN CELEBRATIONNNNNN

Okay, fifty chapters is a crap load and I have no idea how many more I'll make? Depends how long it takes to finish up what I have planned and stuff but I'll at least make it to 80! I should probably thank people or something? That's what people do, don't they?

Well, anyone who has made it to fifty chapters deserves a reward because this has been chaotic! Hopefully y'all enjoyed it though!

On to what happened in the chapter that I should address: In order, we got much salt from both Cody and KrakenKid, some fluff here and there, bit of backstory information, truth serum?, a little view on how Tanith and Professor are doing (Hint hint, not going too well and neither is anyone else), I referenced an episode from Atlantis Endeavors and finally, a cave in! It's been a wild ride!

I believe at one point I made a reference to Chapter 3- Return of the Nightmares in case you didn't catch that, it was back when Cody and KrakenKid were arguing over sides.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this special chapter! Feel free to comment what you thought of it, and farewell!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter