Third Person

Selena and Sam laughed as they strolled through the empty streets of Atlantis. There wasn't a person in sight, nor a guard either, but the sisters didn't care much.

Sam twirled a potion in her hands which contained a bright yellow liquid within it. She had a smirk on her face, proud of their accomplishments. "I can't believe Jerold fell for that!" She chuckled.

Selena nodded quickly in agreement, trying to suppress her giggles but it wasn't working. "He sure talks a lot when you ask him about the history of the lab. He didn't even notice you!"

The sisters laughed again before high fiving. They didn't speak for a moment, but running coming from behind them did raise quite a few questions. Whipping around, Professor was the one rushing towards them, and he quickly stopped by their sides with a puff once he made it. "Do any of you guys know where Tanith is?" He asked quickly.

Sam and Selena exchanged a weird look but ended up shrugging. "Her house I think, why?"

Professor Pikalus didn't end up answering and just bolted in that direction. The mermaids followed after him, catching up with ease. "What's going on?"

"I'm... Feelings... Lots of things!" He puffed out between breaths while still running.

"So?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows. "Feeling things is normal, Pikalus. You're not a robot."

"Not... My.... Feelings!" He answered, pausing for a second before remembering the way.

Selena knitted her eyebrows together. "Not your feelings? Is it part of the bond or something? You guys bonded?" Pikalus nodded, making Selena frown. "Aww... How come she hasn't bonded with me yet?"

Sam elbowed her. "Stay focused, and it's probably because we haven't had quality girls time in a while. Pikalus, how bad is it?"

Professor didn't say a word, but both of the sisters understood what his silence meant. "I see..." Sam trailed off. She almost missed a flash of guilt in his eyes as they came up to the house with a red roof.

The three Atlanteans slowed down at Tanith's door before coming to a full stop. The house was deadly still, making them all a little worried on what exactly happened. Professor knocked on the door, but found it began to creak open just from it, as if it hadn't been properly closed by the last person to use it. A scuttling came from inside before Larry widened the crack in the door enough for him to slip in and doing his best to look up.

Larry perked up and quickly bit at Professor's pant leg and pulling it inside the best he could, making the scientist stumble before following him in. The sisters were right behind him.

Tanith was on the floor, her back pressed up against the back of her couch. Her eyes were wide glazed over, staring at the floor. Larry scampered over to her and started to nudge her, finally getting her attention to sluggishly shift to him and stroking him gently.

Professor Pikalus was first to attempt a conversation, clearing his throat before speaking. "You okay?" He asked hoarsely.

Tanith didn't say a word, but did pause petting Larry and kept her gaze down.

He took that as a no and found himself squatting down to her level. "What happened?" He asked simply.

"...It happened so fast." She said in a hushed tone. Selena and Sam soon joined the two by sitting on the floor to hear her better. "I-... I can't..." Tanith could barely hold a sentence before she started to hold her head in her hands, squeezing her eyes shut. "I don't understand... Did I do something wrong? Everything was going so well, I had to have done something..."

Selena frowned and put a hand on her shoulder. "Somethings just happen. Speaking of, what did happen? We kinda need to know to actually help."

Tanith went silent for a long time, but eventually took a shaky breath. "Cody visited." She gulped silently, carefully choosing her next words. "A-and he just go so angry and kept spitting about how I'm going to chose the Tide Changers and that I'm a spy and-..." She sucked in a long breath. "And it's happening. They're going to war and Cody says it's only going to end with one of them dead."

The other three all exchanged looks before Professor sighed. "Look, I might have told Cody about-" He hesitated, glancing back at the sisters. "That thing we talked about- but it's only because Cody was just twisting my mind over and over again until I couldn't hold anything from him. I promise, I will make this right. We can still-"

Tanith's hands tightened into fists as her body shook. Her head shot up, now fully showing her face, and the tears slowly leaving her eyes. "No, we can't. I know all of you think we can, but you don't understand war like I do. Being in wars in my profession, and do you know what I've learned over, what, roughly 900 years in war?"

Her eyes blazed with fury at first, but upon further examination, it was more frustration and being over it all. "It never stops. I'm living proof of that."

Selena looked down guiltily but Sam couldn't look away. Professor was stuck in the middle of them, unsure of what to do.

Tanith continued. "I've been in war after war since I was barely a young adult, and it just keeps going. Fighting, bloodshed, brother against brother against father and mother and endless hatred that plagues this world and makes you feel as if there is no good left. I don't know how I was able to keep going, but I did, and I barely ever saw a change. Pointless wars, wars with passion and wars with the fate of the world, it keeps repeating until you can't take it anymore. You either leave a war because it's over, or because you're too broken to fight on. I stopped for both."

Tanith punched the ground just thinking about it. "This war isn't going to be any different. One of them will die, or even worse, both of them will, and what's left of the city will be a shadow of what it once was. Passion, true joy, all that keeps the flame of the city alive, will vanish, and because we're so dependent to the flame, we'll break the most. Even if we do stop this war, which is the most difficult thing you will ever do, the death count will be beyond what you ever will imagine, and there's always a sacrifice. A person close to your heart, something valuable or something along those lines, and the worst part is, you can't control what it's going to be. You can offer yourself as a sacrifice, and it won't allow that! It will take, and take, and take, and nothing will ever satisfy its hunger."

Tanith shook her head. "And in the end, there's never a winner, not really. The winner is just who lost the least, because everybody loses in war, regardless of their side. My job was making sure the side I was on lost the least."

Sam stared at her in shock, never had she anticipated anything like that to leave Tanith's mouth, and certainly had she never heard her sound so... Hopeless. Selena's guilt only seemed to consume her heart completely, and Professor bore his eyes right into Tanith, gritting his teeth.

He couldn't take it anymore, grabbing her shoulders and making sure she faced him. "Hey! Hey! Look at me! Dang it, Tanith, look at me!" He shook her until she focused in on him. Professor frowned. "I'm really sorry I broke my promise but I will fix this!"

Tanith opened her mouth to object but Selena quickly butted in. "We all will!" She said, crossing her arms and forcing herself to stand tall. "This is our home too and I don't want it to be lost in a war!"

Sam nodded along. "You're not alone. We'll all work together to stop this before it gets out of hand, okay?"

Tanith looked at them all, her shoulders relaxing a bit but still wasn't entirely convinced. "You can't stop a war in one day." She stated.

"Well, you can't start one either, but something sped it up. Who's to say we can't slow it right back down?" Professor pointed out. "Just trust us when we say we're going to stop this before either of them die."

Tanith was silent for a last time before sighing deeply, like a huge weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. "Okay." She said at last. "But what's the plan? We can't exactly charge into this blind, that'll just make it worse."

Sam cleared her throat and took out a large, leather, lavender book, teetering it around in her hand. A smirk was planted on her face as she finally showed the cover to them, which read "Situation Book" in capital letters. "I knew this would come in handy one day."

Sam pivoted around until she plopped herself on the middle of the couch. The other three all stared and shrugged. Tanith and Selena took both of her sides while Professor peered from above as Sam opened the book carefully.

The first page was a table of contents, which Sam began to skim through, mumbling something under her breath as she searched for it.

Though the time was brief before the page was flipped, Professor, Selena and Tanith would all later compare notes on what they caught from it. Together, they found the chapters: 'The Alpha', which was starred; 'Undead And Unforgiving', one of the few that was crossed out in red; 'Hulk Hallucinations', which had the word "Under Construction" right next to it in bold letters and finally, 'The Snake Source', with many question marks at the end.

Sam had flipped to a page titled "Hatred As Old As Time" at the top. "This is what we need." She stated, smiling proudly. "You want a plan? I've been working on this one for months."

Professor Pikalus skimmed through it, now even more confused than before. "This... Makes sense... Sam, when did you come up with this? What's a 'Situation Book'?"

Sam smirked. "A side project of mine. At work, I always finish before everyone else and to avoid getting busy work, I made this. I come up with situations that might happen, then create a game plan. Most get modified when changes happen, but the original plan stays."

"So... 'Hatred As Old As Time'?" Selena echoed, furrowing her eyebrows.

"It refers to Cody and KrakenKid." Sam explained. "After all, the hatred has been going on for years, possibly since their parents have lived."

There was a long silence before Tanith even said one word, but eventually, she nodded along. "This could work. But we need more-"

"Step three." Sam interjected quickly, already aware of what she was going to say.

Tanith carefully read over the suggested step. "You have that so forget what I was going to say. This actually might work..." Tanith trailed off, her voice wishful.

Sam sat up straight, then relaxed against the couch cushions. "Of course it will, I've been working on this one for over a year, though it had to be modified several times since your arrival and relation to both sides, it's still solid. We do have to change it up because of the circumstances though."

Her eyes met Tanith's blue ones, then moved to her sister's. "You two will have to switch roles for one. Putting Tanith too close to the Tide Changers might do more harm than good if word gets out to Cody, and it definitely will because he'll be looking for it. Selena, you'll have to talk to KrakenKid."

Tanith's confidence wavered. "Are you sure that I wouldn't be better at convincing KK?"

Sam sighed. "I'm sure you would, but that'll most likely provoke Cody and that's the last thing we need right now. Trust me, it's best you take over as scout and spy on the forces they both have for us."

Tanith shifted uncomfortably at the word 'Spy' but nodded slowly. Professor felt a spike a fear but shook it off knowing it wasn't his feelings. "Okay." She said. The word 'Trust' repeated in her head like a broken record.

Selena blinked, staring at the book. "So I'm supposed to talk to KrakenKid?" Sam nodded. "Like, talk him down from war?" Another nod. Selena took in a long breath. "That's a lot of responsibility... I'll try my best!" She straightened herself up and put on a confident face, even though the thought terrified her.

"Great." Sam turned to Pikalus. "You need to get all the citizens in the splash zone out of there. I'm not certain Cody will have the sense to do that."

Before Sam could go on, something occurred to Tanith. "Wait! There's another change we'll have to be cautious of. Cody mentioned there's a spy who told KK the plans to attack him and it wasn't me!"

Professor groaned. "I almost forgot about that... We'll have to be careful who to trust then. It has to be someone who was in the council r-"

"That was me!" Selena blurted out, then covered her mouth almost immediately.

All eyes were on her in seconds, wide and disbelieving. The one except was Sam, who though a little surprised, shrugged it off once she thought about it. Professor turned his whole body in her direction. "...You did it?"

Selena nodded quickly. "I'm sorry but they were going to attack them! Blooper's my best friend and I'm pretty okay with KrakenKid! I wasn't going to let them die."

There was a long pause before Sam decided it was time to move on. "Well, since that's taken care of, we should go over the details of the plan, and the fall backs. Tanith?" She perked up upon hearing her name. "How much can you extend your calming spell?"

"How much do you need?"

"An entire battlefield."

Tanith grimaced. "It's possible but that's going to be very difficult."

"Last resort then, that's all I needed to know. Professor, don't Hulk up if you can avoid it. We need as many rational people as we can get. Tanith, you have any needles?"

Almost on cue, Tanith whipped out six from nowhere, greatly confusing Sam. "...I'm not going to ask why you have a needle with you, much less six, and just accept it." The teal mermaid decided out loud and took four from her hand.

She filled each with the antidote before handing them all one and keeping one for herself. "These should help whatever Ace is doing to them or what they're doing to themselves or whatever he said and snap them out of it. Hopefully it'll do the trick, and use it wisely. This stuff doesn't grow on trees."

"Of course it doesn't, it comes from people after they-that's an expression, isn't it?" Tanith stopped herself while she was ahead, already noticing the looks she was getting. A slow nod from Selena made her sigh. "It's not even one of the confusing ones, how didn't I get that?" She mumbled to herself.

Sam waited before continuing. "Moving on, we're going to need a little help, so when I'm talking Cody down and when Selena is doing the same to KrakenKid and if it doesn't work, we'll need to talk to the others and get their help. I might be able to get Rasmus and PebleTeen on our side. Selena, you see about CannibalCrab and Blooper. We'll need to meet up after we're all done. Everyone understand?"

"Loud and clear." Professor responded.

Sam nodded, but then a figure moving right outside Tanith's window caught her eyes. Though the curtains blocked her from fully identifying them at her distance, the shade of blue was unmistakably part of the Atlantis Guard.

She got up without making a sound and checked the window for herself, trying to do it without giving herself away. Sam found she was right, though the situation was strange. What was an Atlantis Legionnaire doing here? And why was he just standing outside the door?

A thought came to mind as she moved away from the window. "Selena, check the other one." She told her.

Selena speedily swam to the opposite side of the house and peered through the window. She paused, perplexed by her find. "There's a guard just... Standing there."

Tanith sighed, sinking into her seat. "Cody really did follow through... He told me he'd make sure I wouldn't participate in this war." Her eyes stared at the ground for a while before narrowing. She got up, now with a new fire in her eyes. "Which is exactly why I'm going to. Everyone, let's get this show on the road."

Sam went over everyone's part in detail before they were all prepared. "Wait, Tanith?" Professor stopped just before he reached the door so he could do his part. "If these guards aren't going to let you out, how are you going to scout for us?"

Tanith only smiled in response. "I have my ways. You do your job, and I'll do mine. See you on the other side, Prof."

Professor smiled back and slipped out the door. Sam was next, nodding and mouthing 'Trust me' as she left. Selena, the last to go out the door, tried to wave goodbye but Tanith grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards her. Selena nearly yelped but was cut off as Tanith hugged her tightly.

Too shocked to hug back, Selena was frozen in place. "Thank you." Tanith whispered. "Thank you for warning him when I couldn't. Now please, save him for me." She told her then quickly released Selena from her grip.

Selena shook herself out of it, and then smiled. "Of course I will. Don't worry, he's in safe hands."

And with that sentence, Selena left her.

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

To her luck, Selena got a warm welcome when she entered KrakenKid's camp.

It really wasn't too hard to find it, even without knowing where it was ahead of time. KrakenKid had managed to take the entire Fourth Sector for his arm. Rather than having to explain herself, the guards immediately took her to his tent, which was in the heart of it all.

KrakenKid was alone, but seemed to sense them coming in, whipping around immediately with a huge smile on his face. "Selena! So good to see you!" He exclaimed, waltzing right over to her and dismissing the Illithids with a wave of his tentacle. "I never got to properly thank you for the information you gave us! Truly a lifesaver, you know? So, thank you." He bowed a bit.

Selena hesitated but gulped and nodded. "Of course. I couldn't let you guys just die like that and I really didn't want Blooper to be in danger so-"

"No need to explain yourself, the information was enough." He smiled. "So, what is it now? More information?" Selena shook her head quickly. "What then?"

Selena took in a breath. "You need to stop this. All of this! We can't go to war!"

KrakenKid frowned. "Why not? Does Cody have some sort of weapon of mass destruction or-"

Selena kept shaking her head. "No, nothing like that but this war will tear Atlantis apart!"

KrakenKid held his gaze for a while before narrowing it. "Atlantis has never done anything for me. Oh wait, it has! It's killed most of my species and scarred me for life!" He said in a fake enthusiastic voice, then huffed. "Besides, he declared war on me, I'm just acting in self defense."

Selena gulped but tried again. "Come on, Kraken! Think about this! What will this bring other than sorrow and pain and-"

"Maybe satisfaction of avenging my kind, what I've always wanted and a whole lot of payback from every time I've been personally affected by it?" KrakenKid pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Selena tried to defend her point but KrakenKid waved her off. "You just don't get it, do you? None of you get it! Atlantis hasn't done anything but twisted and tortured me since I was a child!"

A low growl rose in his throat the more he even thought about it. "Constant nightmares always haunting me as a child, and they might be more sporadic now but they still happen. I've lost count about the number of dreams where Cody marches into the Conch Command, slits Blooper's throat and goes after me because he wants to finish his father's legacy, and do you know what the worst part is? It could happen. Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that Cody's obsession to live up to his father won't lead to that?"

Selena would have loved to say no, but with her inner doubt and with the way Cody was acting, she wasn't so sure he was far off the truth. In fact, there was a chance he was right on it.

But she had to try something. Clearing her throat, she stood up to the Tide Changer. "No, I can't, but this isn't going to help you! You're running into this blind, you'll get everyone killed! You can't let your emotions take over your act-"

"This talk again?" The kraken scoffed, crossing his arms. "I don't want to hear it. Leave me." When Selena hesitated, his eyes flashed blue for just a moment, making her flinch. "I said leave me!"

Selena backed out as fast as she could and scanned around. Though her job was mainly convincing KrakenKid, perhaps it wouldn't be in vain if she could get CannibalCrab and Blooper on her side.

Lucky for her, she spotted the pair off to the side, speaking with the blue bird she knew as Darrel. She swam right up to them and started talking. "I need your help! We all do! This war can't happen!"

The Tide Changers all stared at her. Darrel stepped forward, eyes skeptical but something about them told her he was desperate. "Explain." He said simply.

Selena took a deep breath, letting it out slowly until she could think straight. "We have a plan for stopping his war but we need some people on the inside. You just need to slow KrakenKid down from-"

"We'll do it." Darrel answered immediately, shocking the other three. "Whatever it takes. Just stop this."

Blooper gaped at him. "Just like that? I thought you were completely loyal!"

"I am." Darrel answered, narrowing his eyes. "And I'm doing what I've always done: Keeping KrakenKid alive. This war will most likely kill him, and I can't allow that."

Selena paused for a long time, but nodded firmly. "Good. Here's the deal,"

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

As soon as she walked in the room, Sam already knew this wasn't Cody.

Cody was silent, collected, and right when he looked at her, he seemed to examine her like she was a threat, checking for her weak points and never quite relaxing. Rarely did Cody ever get that way, and never was it ever to her of all people.

"Sam." He acknowledged her with a nod and a fake friendly tone. "Please, come in. Take a seat." He gestured to the large table inside the tent.

Sam, already forgetting about all the weapons she saw in the base Cody created and focused on the bigger threat in front of her, obeyed. Her shoulders never relaxed and her eyes never strayed from him. This wasn't the Cody she knew so well. Every little detail of action he did screamed that to her.

He sat on the opposite side of her, holding his hands in a calculated manner and gave a smile that betrayed all innocence that Cody had, and showed his inner malice without him realizing it.

Every single move he made made her sick to her stomach, but she couldn't back out now, even if she already knew her cause was hopeless.

Besides, this was something she needed. A confrontation.

"And what's the pleasure of your visit?" He asked, keeping his voice light, though she could already feel the cold chill behind his voice.

"Stop the war." She command, using the voice he wished he could, sounding cold and demanding. "Now."

Cody blinked, still holding onto his innocent act. "Now why would I do that? This was will bring us good. KrakenKid needs to be obliterated from this place, and this war will final put an end to him and all his silly, little Tide Changers." He blinked in a way to make himself seem more of a victim than he actually was. "Don't you want peace for Atlantis? For Selena? For us?"

He reached for her hands but she pulled away, narrowing her eyes. "Cut the crap, Cody. I know what you've become."

Cody was silent for a long time before his whole act dropped. His once slightly blue eyes now turned into a deep shade that covered the warm brown ones she was used. Now all she could stare into was a pair of cold and remorseless ones, lacking all kindness that she was used to. His body relaxed confidently, as if he already won, and his eyes glazed over her, like he knew every little detail to bring her down.

"Straight to the point, huh?" He grinned, showing off his cunning in one smile. "You know, that's what I always liked about you. Never beating around the bush, never avoiding a topic, just getting straight to it. You always were my favorite."

Cody leaned closer slowly, smiling almost seductively but Sam didn't fall for it. "Don't play with my feelings! Cody, stop this war right now!"

His eyes drooped, now becoming half lidded and tsked. "Sam, Sam, Sam..." He sighed, standing up. "How could you possibly stop me?"

Her fists clenched. "I have a plan-"

"And I have all of Atlantis on my side." Cody pointed out, unimpressed. "It's not really hard either. They all trust me so much, and it's so easy to switch to my "Loving King" mode that they all still think I'm the same penguin, just wanting to help them. Foolish Atlanteans, their loyalty to their king will be the death of them."

"Do you even care about them anymore?" Sam yelled, standing up as well.

"Should I?" Cody raised an eyebrow. "I'm in a war, there's going to be casualties, nothing will stop that."

Sam couldn't stop her body from shaking with rage. "What is wrong with you? Can't you see this war will tear us apart?"

"Oh Sam, don't you see?" Cody laughed, moving towards her and raising her chin with his fingers delicately before she pulled away. He began to pace around the room. "That's the whole point. With Atlantis broken down, it'll be so much easier to manipulate, even without the act. And with KrakenKid out of the way, I'll have no giant army to stop me either. It's so perfect, who cares if a couple thousand die along the way?"

Cody turned towards her, hands lightly holding each other behind his back. Sam was trying to catch her breath. "...I don't even recognize you anymore." She realized at last. "You're not even Cody, are you?"

Cody's eyes narrowed on her, but his lips smirked. "What are you talking about? We've never felt more like ourselves!"

Sam fire drained away by one particular word, and now was more worried if anything. Cody opened the tent flap and guided her to it. "Oh, and don't try to say anything to anyone, they wouldn't believe you." He added before closing it.

Sam stared ahead of her, mouth agape and focused on one word.

"...We?"

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

Tanith was trying to do everything she could to distract herself from the pure panic within her heart, but her job wasn't making it easy easier.

Tanith managed to slip out of her house, unnoticed and scouted out the battlefield, but the more she looked at what both sides had, she only lost more hope, which was already fleeting.

Tanks, hundreds of soldiers, prototyped weapons that weren't supposed to be used yet due to lack of testing and even bio weapons were all prepared. Every single one was ready to fire at any moment, given they were ordered to, and it scared her to death.

It brought her back to the grim reality that this world was. The reality full of death, destruction and vanquished all hope that sprouted within it.

Atlantis was supposed to be different. It was going to be safe, secure, and finally some place where she could settle down and maybe live a half normal life. Some place where maybe, just maybe, she could escape from the world above.

And yet, here she was, in the middle of two sides, and even worse, it was personal.

Cody, the Atlanteans, where she lived and where she loved. Her home was there, and she had her loyalties bound to them. Her services were to them, and were supposed to be to them alone. She normally would have gone with them, her employers, and helped that side alone, win.

But the Tide Changers, ruled by KrakenKid, also ruled her heart. If home was where the heart was, truly like that human metaphor, than it was with them. She grew so fond of the criminals, finding that looks can be deceiving, and they were not so different. She loved it there, though Tanith knew she could never truly live the life of a criminal.

Her head screamed at her to choose, but her heart remained conflicted. She knew how she felt about both of them, but never had she though about which was more important. Because they both were. They were like the yin and yang to balance her heart. So different, so alike, and perfectly balanced. Taking one away would upset not only the balance, but her heart.

Some wars got personal, but it was never about which side to take. She normally always knew which one was right, but looking back, maybe she was wrong. What if there really was no "Bad" side, and she was just looking at it from one view point.

Tanith clutched her head as she kept looking at the weapons. Weapons that would destroy each other, and could ruin her for good. Losing this would truly be something she couldn't recover from.

But her eyes flew open, and she stood strong anyways. "This will work." She told herself. "Just trust them... Trust this will work out. I'm not alone anymore."

It was that phrase that truly brought comfort.

"I'm not alone anymore..."

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

Professor's job of evacuating the citizens wasn't too hard, given many already saw the war starting to set up.

Left and right, he ushered them to get to a different sector until it died down. Some were reluctant to leave behind their nice homes and insisted in bringing their riches with them, but eventually he did get them to run.

"Go! Go! GO!" He screamed as they passed, pointing to the right way. "Just get out of here! Hopefully you won't have to stay there for long!" He told them.

But out of the mist of people, there was one who one stared at the war starting to form upon a hill. Professor sighed, another citizen in shock, and climbed up to them.

They didn't so much as flinch as he swam up next to them. The Atlanteans male just stared ahead, transfixed. "Hey buddy! You gotta go! These parts might be caught up in war so unless you want to die, I'd move."

They didn't move a muscle. "Isn't it funny?" Their tone was too clear and calm to be natural, sending Professor into a chill. "How you and the other five can all go crazy and Atlantis becomes stronger, but when you mess with the leaders, just a third of the rest of you, that's when it truly becomes vulnerable. Jaw dropping, isn't it?"

Professor didn't have to think twice about drawing his gun and glaring at the man. "Ace. What are you doing here? What have you done?"

"Ace... That's what you named me." Ace mused to himself, not bothering with turning around. "Ace, the skillful and having my own ace in the hole, but it's more than that too. It's a type of card. Either the highest, even able to defeat kings," Ace paused, sighing. "Or the lowest of them all, even considered bad luck. I think that speaks volumes of what you think of me." He finally turned and glared at the scientist.

Pikalus couldn't move for a while but finally snapped out of it. "Enough of this! What do you want? What side do you even want to win?"

Ace scoffed, crossing his borrowed body's arms. "You think I really care who lives or dies? This war could bring people back from the dead and I wouldn't care less. No, to me, it doesn't matter who wins or loses, as long as this war starts, I'll get what I want. Maybe even before it..."

Professor checked him up and down, suspicious of his motives. "What is it that you want?"

Ace returned it with a bored look. "Come on Professor, you're a smart guy. Figure it out, I've given you enough data. Just put the puzzle pieces together, and just try and stop me before it grows too late."

The eyes flashed blue before a blue trail left the bodies mouth and zipped away. Professor caught the young man before he could fall, and only growled.

"He's taunting me... I need to tell the others about this."

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

They all knew they failed to stop the war before it started when the first body dropped.

They tried everything they could, using their allies on the inside to try to sabotage some things or talk their people down, but it only got worse. Cody and KrakenKid were both hellbent on destroying each other, and it seemed though nothing would get in their way.

So when the first body dropped, along came Plan B, put into action.

The two armies clashed, so the people who wanted it to end as good as it could get sprang up to do what they needed to.

Professor worked on dismantling tanks and other mechanical weaponry left and right, destroying them if he really needed to, and doing everything he could to keep his hulk side down. The situation made his very blood begin to boil and want to take action, but he held it down and just kept moving.

Selena and Sam helped anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, get out of there as well as attack both sides so the bloodshed might lessen if they were asleep. To even it out, Sam only attacked Tide Changers and Selena attacked Atlanteans.

People like CannibalCrab, Rasmus, Blooper and PebbleTeen all did what they could to stop it, but no amount of talking or fighting seemed to work, though ordering and threatening was a lot better.

Then, there was Tanith. She was supposed to be protecting everyone she could, putting up shields to stop fighting and healing who was injured, but her heart and mind remained out of place. She couldn't help one side without helping the other right after, unsure of where her loyalties were truly at.

At one point, when a group of Illithids and military guards approached each other, she screamed at them and bubbled them all until they agreed to stop fighting. The pressure was getting to her head.

And it didn't stop either as Cody and KrakenKid advanced to the front lines. When their eyes met, there was no stopping them.

Cody, with his spear already drawn, charged right at him. KrakenKid had his gun out, but with two shots missed, he switched to his sword quickly and the weapons clanged loudly to each other.

Cody rammed his body against KrakenKid's making him lose balance and shocked him as quickly as he could. KrakenKid flinched but not before grabbing Cody and knocking him over, soon kicking him while he hit the ground and pinning him there.

KrakenKid held his ground, trying to get a good blow on the penguin but the king kneed him right in the stomach, then rolled out of the way when the weight was lifted and landed at hit across his back. KrakenKid whipped around, arm extended and slashed across Cody's chest before he could move away. He went for a stab but Cody defected it and used his no longer defensive position to flick the sword out of his grip and to the ground.

KrakenKid backed up, but at his close range, took his gun out and shot, hitting Cody's chest head on. Cody grunted and shocks flew off him, some of which, hit KrakenKid and caused him to flinch and back up even more. Cody stumbled back, holding his chest protectively but still held his spear.

Tanith, upon seeing all this, finally made herself seen. Both of them turned to her, both in shock at first, but it soon turned to chaos.

"Tanith! Help me finish him!" Cody ordered, pointing his spear at KrakenKid.

"Tanith, he's just using you! Help me, we can have a better life without him!" KrakenKid cried out, holding his gun steadily at Cody.

Tanith's heart quickened as she froze up. "I... I can't."

"Can't what? Attack him now! Or at least help me!" Cody screamed.

"He's a danger to Atlantis, getting rid of him will be the best for us all!" KrakenKid hollered.

"I am your leader! Obey me, Tanith! He's just using you!"

"We've been through so much! You have to kill him or he'll just hold you back forever! Only I have the key to your happiness!"

"I CAN'T!" Tanith wailed, clutching the sides of her head as if it threatened to split apart if she didn't. "Stop asking me to! I just can't!"

Cody's eyes narrowed. "If you can't secure your loyalty to me," Sparks began to fly off the spear as power charged up inside of both it and the king. "Then I'll just make sure I'm the only one left."

KrakenKid didn't say a word, but his gun began to hummer louder, also charging with a similar power, and aimed right where Cody was aiming his.

Tanith looked between them and tensed up. "Someone help me stop them..." She whispered and grabbed her staff. Though her breath was uneven at first, some power inside forced it to return to normal as something passed through her. An understanding finally got to her head, and she closed her eyes, trying to ignore how Cody and KrakenKid were charging attacks to kill each other, but instead focused on what made her calm.

Watching movies with Cody.

Trying whatever CrankyCrab would make with KrakenKid.

Chemistry with Professor Pikalus.

Girl's Night with the sisters.

And the slow learning of pop culture with Blooper.

It filled her with peace until that's all she was. Just a vessel for peace. She gripped the staff and raised it in the air before bringing it down to the ground and releasing her wave of peace. Performing a calming spell.

But this one would be different as it swept the land of Atlantis in a flash. The emotions came back, but they only seemed to break down and leave nothing, but peace.

Tanith opened her eyes to notice Cody's eyes were once again brown, and he frowned, lowering his spear and letting the power disappear. KrakenKid found himself doing the same.

Exhaustion filled her whole body as her eyes drooped down to the staff with all of its gems glowing, but she still smiled. Even as she passed out, a smile was on her face that maybe, just maybe, the war might've stopped.

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

When Professor was fighting the tanks and taking them out, his mind was still on what Ace said. It bothered him that he couldn't figure it out. What did he mean by he told him everything he needed to know? He barely said a word about it!

Professor growled, tearing apart the metal with his powerful gun, but when a blue wave swept the land and made him forget his bad feelings, his mind was clear and he stopped shooting. As a matter of fact, all of them stopped shooting.

He paused, but smiled. Maybe you could stop a war in one day. He thought to himself as soldiers began to drop their weapons, blinking.

With a clear mind, he thought of something he didn't before: The guards.

Cody took all of his guards with him to fight this war. He only left some to guard Tanith and make sure she stayed in, but other than that, that was it.

"How you and the other five can all go crazy and Atlantis becomes stronger, but when you mess with the leaders, just a third of the rest of you, that's when it truly becomes vulnerable."

When they all went crazy, Cody and KrakenKid teamed and had plenty of forces to spare, but now, they were limited and didn't even leave any behind, because their only threat was right in front of them. Atlantis was wide open, Professor realized, widening his eyes.

"No, to me, it doesn't matter who wins or loses, as long as this war starts, I'll get what I want."

"No..." Professor whispered, then shot up and ran to the castle, remembering the empty streets, even as they ran to Tanith's house.

"No! How could we do that? We left it right open!" He screamed through the air, not caring who heard him because it didn't matter anymore.

Our castle. The palace.

The Nexus.

Professor ran as fast as he could until he reached it, then froze in horror at what he saw.

There, a large electric blue form was right next to the Nexus, sucking in it's power and only now, stopping, knowing Professor was there. It was feeding off of the power.

The form, though twitching and not solid, undoubtedly took the form of a man, or at least it did the best it could. The large form of energy slowly turned to Professor, and seemed to smile, though it didn't truly have a face.

It soon moved back into it's wispy like form. "Too late..." Ace whispered.

Professor trembled until he couldn't take it anymore, launching himself at it, but it only dispersed, unable for him to touch it, but at the same time, unable to touch him. Instead, it flew out the window, escaping from his grip.

Professor tried to follow, but it was gone before he could even try. He breathed heavily as Tanith's words haunted him, now knowing she was right.

"Even if we do stop this war, which is the most difficult thing you will ever do, the death count will be beyond what you ever will imagine, and there's always a sacrifice. A person close to your heart, something valuable or something along those lines, and the worst part is, you can't control what it's going to be."

They stopped a war, but at the expense of leaving themselves wide open, and making their enemy to consume their most powerful energy, making him more dangerous, and powerful, than before.

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

"Two kings! Beat that!"

"Two aces, I just did."

And you guys thought that chapter was just about a card game... HA NOPE! FORESHADOWING BABYYYYYYYYY!!!! TWO ACES BEATS TWO KINGS

"Either the highest, even able to defeat kings,"

Seriously, I named him Ace for a reason. You know? That card in a deck? Either the highest or the lowest? Did anyone get that because I dropped so many hints in "Poker"

But yeah, this chapter was an absolute nightmare and it's almost 3 AM so editing will be crappy, I'm sorry but I got it out! I pushed myself, but I did itttttt!

7000 words, why do I do this

Why can't I write normal chapters like everyone else but noooooo

Everything has to happen in one chapter, no splitting it up for me

Anyways, lots happened, some of it was foreshadowed by that one chapter with the cards and there still is foreshadowing in that chapter but shhhh and Ace is now supercharged and stuff and... Yeah.

I bet y'all are thinking I forget something

But believe me, I didn't. Let's just say, somethings are still needed, even if they weren't used yet, and though the calming spell took care of a lot... Welll... Just check the chapter guide and you can maybe guess what happens ;)

ANYWAYS, I do hope you liked this because it was a PAIN to write! Be sure to comment, and seeee ya!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter