As much as some of y'all made convincing arguments, the majority vote was option A, split the chapter up (PlusIHadAGoodCliffhanger) SO HERE'S PART ONE!

Third Person

When a wave of calm passed through Atlantis, peace would take hold, even for a moment.

Soldiers, now losing the fire they needed to fight, dropped their weapons and not one gunshot was heard, nor a sword swung.

So when such a powerful spell entered Cody's mind and body, for the first time in what felt like forever for him, his mind was clear, and he could think.

There was blessings to this, but also a curse.

For thought at first, Cody could remember who he was and see the peace now in the land, it didn't last long. Because soon, came a deep panic upon a sudden realization.

Because as he began to remember who he is and was, he also remembered what he did. The manipulation of the people he loved dearly, the war raged without much thought of the consequences or much care of them and most of all, the damage he caused.

Not just to Atlantis, but to his friends.

Twisting Professor Pikalus' mind until it was putty in his hands, then throwing him away when he wasn't useful.

Pressuring Tanith into joining his side, and threatening to tear out KrakenKid's heart, fully knowing of her feelings for him.

Trying to trick Sam into thinking he was the same Cody she knew so she wouldn't oppose him, then lashing out when it didn't work.

And though he never saw her, Selena seemed to not even bare to look at him and had avoided him at all costs.

He used them all for his own selfish purposes. He was no better than the enemy he fought against. He felt even worse than Ace.

His eyes scanned the battlefield in horror. The ceasefire allowed him to see the dead, now littering the ground with blue, purple and red all over. His guilt only grew when he saw Tanith lying on the ground, motionless.

"What have I done?" Cody whispered in horror. He heard his weapon fall to the ground, but couldn't seem to feel anything, his body growing numb.

The penguin took shaky steps forward, trying to reach Tanith and make sure she was still breathing, but his foot hit something metal and he yelped. He glanced down and was met with a shield, the shine reflecting his own image back at him.

When he looked into his own eyes, he didn't see his normal brown ones, but rather electric blue ones, shining brightly and filled with hate. It was like staring right into Ace's eyes, but rather on his own face.

Cody stared, frozen in place, but the reflection blinked, looked at him, and gave a twisted smile.

Cody screamed, stumbling backwards until he fell to the ground. He tumbled a bit until he landed on his side, and luckily, not on anybody. Cody groaned and creaked his eyes open, and saw something completely new, and chilling.

KrakenKid, on the other side of him, was dealing with something much different.

He too, had dropped his weapon, but only to hold his head like it depended on it and crouched down, making him a lot small than Cody remembered. There were figures that surrounded him, all strangely faded. Cody recognized some them, seeing CannibalCrab, Blooper and Tanith among them, but another girl and a living tree were unknown to him. He could hear their whispers as they repeated "You failed us" over and over again.

Blinking, Cody glanced back at the collapsed form of Tanith and back again. There's two of them?

Cody hesitated as KrakenKid struggled to ignore them, but final he spoke out.

"K-Kranky!" He choked out, finding his voice hoarse, making it hard to raise louder than a whisper but he still managed to get his attention.

Cody silently pointed to Tanith's form laying on the ground, and KrakenKid followed where he was looking. His gaze paused on Tanith, and as he stared in confusion, the faded forms around him disappeared.

Cody sighed, knowing it worked. A wave of exhaustion passed over him as he yawned and his eyes drooped. He let his eyelids fall and his body settle on the tough ground.

Guilt never quite left him, but helping KrakenKid did relieve it a little, and untimely let him sleep in peace.

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

Professor Pikalus couldn't get what he saw out of his head.

He didn't leave the palace, guarding the Nexus heavily and becoming suspicious of every little movement. Only did he return to what once was the battlefield when a group of guards returned to check if it had been attacked. Professor ordered them to guard it and make sure nothing got too close to it.

They were confused, of course, but decided against questioning it. Professor wasn't even sure what he would say.

"Hey already panicked guards of Atlantis! Remember that guy we've vaguely told you about? Well, panic more because he was just here with the Nexus! Protect it or we might all die!"

Yeah, not something you want to say outloud.

Professor began the long journey back to the battlefield, but couldn't stop thinking about what happened, and trying to wrap his head around what he saw.

There was a couple things he knew for sure. He knew Ace was there and that he was with the Nexus, but it was what Ace was actually doing that his mind began to doubt itself.

It wasn't weaponizing the Nexus for it to blow up or otherwise- Professor had already checked it for that- and he certainly wasn't going for the crown or anything, the throne was untouched. It was more like he was... Consuming it. Getting it into his systems. Merging with it.

And though why exactly he wanted that was unclear, one thing was a bit too clear to Pikalus: The Nexus was known for being powerful and destructive and if Ace just got some of it, that only made him more dangerous.

But what does he- The scientists thoughts were cut off when he reached his destination and stopped in his tracks.

Now that it wasn't constantly moving with people, it was easy to see what Tanith meant by how big the body count would be.

Atlanteans and Tide Changers alike were all slaughtered on the ground, some in large groups while others scatter across the scene. Shot, stabbed and blown to pieces, it didn't matter who they were or what side they were on for Professor to feel sick at just seeing it.

The soldiers still alive were going through the dead, checking if they were alive, and if not, identifying them. A slow process of clearing the bodies out so they could be moved to be buried in a graveyard had started, but it would be ages before it was clear.

"Grim sight, huh?" Professor Pikalus tensed, but as he turned and saw normal eyes, he relaxed. However, once he realized who it was, his eyes narrowed, but more out of annoyance if anything.

"What do you want?" He grumbled, getting a laugh out of the crab.

"We just got out of what could have been a massacre, maybe even a genocide, am I not allowed to be happy it turned out okay?" CannibalCrab nudged him, still smiling, but Professor soon distinguished it as relief rather than joy. The crab was in good shape but had bandages around his waist and scratches all over his body, though none looked too bad.

Professor Pikalus sighed. He let himself settle in his presence. CannibalCrab wasn't going to try anything, not now. "I mean, you and I never even got along, why come chat with me of all people? You and I both know that you'd chose Cody over me."

CannibalCrab crossed his arms, amused. "True, but I'm-uh-" He faltered, the once true smile faded as he glanced towards the bodies and back. "We lost KrakenKid in the middle of the fight and I'm supposed to be looking for him but..."

He stopped completely, eyes dropping. Professor Pikalus didn't have to try very hard to fill in the blanks. "You don't want to find him dead." He guessed. Professor understood, he felt the same about Cody.

CannibalCrab nodded solemnly. "That or worse." The words almost choked in his throat but he forced them though. The mad scientist was the last person he wanted to talk to, but right now, it was all he got, and Professor's empathetic eyes helped a lot more than he would ever say.

Professor huffed, averting his eyes in case any more vulnerability would show. As his eyes drifted off, he stopped dead at a body lying on the ground. His eyes fixated on it, and as much as he knew he couldn't tell from the distance he was, he tried to see if they were still breathing.

CannibalCrab noticed his staring and tried to follow his gaze until he too saw it.

In the massive land in between the Fourth Sector and the heart of Atlantis, there was bodies all over. The colors of the two sides blended in, making it hard to find people like KrakenKid when all of his Illithids were purple too, but this form stood out.

A bright red, and though it could be passed off as blood, the tail gave it away. As far as Professor knew, there was only one serpent tailed hybrid in Atlantis, and she was right in the middle of it.

After spotting Tanith, neither of their eyes had to trail very far until both KrakenKid and Cody were located.

They might have had their differences, but as soon as they saw them, CannibalCrab and Professor Pikalus reacted in the same way by running as fast as they could to their aid.

Once at their sides, Professor quickly checked both Cody and Tanith and found they were both breathing, just passed out. Seeing as Tanith only had scratches here and there, he got help for Cody first, starting to examine him for fatal injuries. 

Cody had a slash across his chest, burns there too, and some bruises, the worst along his side. Looking over, KrakenKid's back was cut up and a bruise on his stomach as well as shock marks that only could have been Cody's lightning appeared all over him. It wasn't the injuries that made them pass out, they could have fought through much worse, but rather something else. Exhaustion perhaps?

CannibalCrab almost immediately started lifting KrakenKid, and the kraken shook himself awake, though his eyes were half lidded.

"Don't worry, Kraken. I got you." Cannibal grunted. "You're safe."

KrakenKid let himself relax but looked around, perplexed. "What-..." His eyes darted back and forth between people. "Where's Blooper?"

CannibalCrab stifled a laugh. He was back alright. "Blooper's fine. I had him in the back lines, and those survived. He's with Darrel last time I saw him. Not one scratch on him, I checked myself."

KrakenKid sighed in relief, his yellow eyes having a hard time staying open. "Good... Good, I'd slaughter everyone here if he got hurt, starting with the penguin..." He trailed off before his eyes shut and fell into a deep slumber.

CannibalCrab huffed and kept his grip on him. Professor Pikalus checked Cody, shook him a little though he didn't wake, before strolling over and checking on Tanith again.

The part snake was stirring, slowly getting up and moaning with pain. "Ow..." She mumbled, stretching her body and flinching as she did so.

Professor stopped right in front of her. "How you feeling?"

"...My whole body hurts." She answered honestly. "Feel like some ripped it apart, then stitched it back together." She looked down at her hands, wiggling them experimentally. "Also I can't feel my hands. The magic drain probably did that because that's a lot of magic to lose quickly."

Professor raised his eyebrows. "This has happened before then. When will you feel your hands again?"

Tanith paused before she started concentrating. Nothing happened for a long time, so she let out the breath she was holding in defeat. "Whenever my healing magic comes back, so a few hours. It's always the first to come back since it's kinda my core magic."

Professor went with it and offered her a hand, which she gratefully took to get herself back on her feet, or tail in her case. She flinched and held her head with one hand, but otherwise was fine standing up.

Then, her eyes scanned the battlefield, and Pikalus could already tell she was lost in her thoughts. Several minutes passed as she stared, but eventually the scientist snapped his fingers in her face and she was back, shaking her head.

"Wha-?" She asked half heartedly, swaying slightly and her tail curling below her.

"You spaced off." Professor explained.

Tanith nodded slowly, eyes shifting from him to the bodies and back. "R-right. Sorry Quintas, just trying to adjust."

Pikalus' heart stopped. "Quintas?" He questioned, grabbing her attention. "That's... That's not my name. You do realize that, right?"

Tanith blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Of course, General. My apologies, I thought you were someone else."

General? Professor frowned, beginning to doubt Tanith actually was okay. Though he technically was a general, Tanith only ever called him that during fights. "No, not that either."

Her blue eyes were clouded with confusion, blinking. Her eyes squinted at him. Could she not recognize me? "...Paul?" Her tone was uncertain.

Professor shook his head again. "It's Pikalus. Professor Pikalus."

"Right..." Her voice was breathless as she looked around wildly. "Pikalus, the mad scientist. Hulk sometimes."

At least she remembered me eventually... The scientist thought, though he still shifted. "Tanith, do you know where you are?"

Tanith opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated, suddenly gaining a lost look on her face. Then, before Professor Pikalus could do anything, Tanith whipped out a red dagger and stabbed it into her upper arm, squeezing her eyes shut for a second, then opened them wide and huffed. "I'm in Atlantis."

Professor gaped at her, astonished. "Tanith! What the hell was that?" He yelled, though Tanith didn't care too much.

Instead, she quickly took out the dagger and had her other hand hold the wound. "I needed some pain to remind me what's real." She answered simply. Before his eyes, Tanith pulled out some bandages and began to wrap her own arm casually, like she was used to doing it.

Professor held his gaze but scoffed in the end. "And stabbing yourself was the best way to go about that?"

"It's the only one with one hundred percent success rate." Tanith answered, finishing up with her arm. "I'm fine, just got a little disoriented for a second. That's all it was."

Professor raised his eyebrows, unconvinced. "A little?"

"It's been much worse, so yes, a little." Tanith brushed herself off before trailing off to where Cody and KrakenKid were laying. "What about them?"

"They'll definitely live."

"No-I mean... Are they... Them." Tanith asked, her tail flicking.

Professor thought for a moment. "It's hard to say right now, but KrakenKid was awake briefly and he was normal so Cody is most likely the same." His hand subconscious slipped into his pocket and fiddled with the needle inside. "Could the calming spell have gotten rid of whatever was inside of them?"

Tanith stared blankly at him for a while, deep in thought before shrugging, extremely uncertain. "Possibly? We're not even entirely sure what Ace exactly leaves in us. All we know is-how did Cody say he said it? It pushes us to the edge and then we do the rest?"

"That's right, he-" The scientist had a moment of hesitation, suddenly getting a twisted feeling. Why does that sound so... Familiar... Where have I heard that before?

"No, I needed to hit them where it would count, so I decided to give them a little... Push. Just exactly what they needed to send them over the edge."

His blood ran cold but he didn't say a word. He wasn't even sure of what to say.

"He what?" Tanith inquired but Professor shook his head quickly.

"Nothing. We should get Cody to the lab, just to make sure he's still functioning properly." Professor rushed back over to Cody and hoisted him over his shoulder. He paused as CannibalCrab began to walk back home but decided on calling out to him. "Hey! Crab boy! If you're willing to a truce, you can bring him back to the lab for a free check up."

"I have a perfectly good lab at home, why would I need that?"

"Has your lab dealt with people like that before? Our lab is the one who found the cure, they're experienced to it." He pointed out. CannibalCrab, though stubborn at first, eventually gave in and trekked after him, cradling the kraken in his arms.

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

Cody woke up to something slapping him in the face.

His eyes flew open as pain blossomed in his cheek and right eye and he shot up, then instantly regretted it.

His muscles were already sore and now the sudden movement just made them worse. He groaned to himself before reaching up and lightly touching his right eye. It took him a moment, but he soon turned to his right and paused.

Not only was he in a hospital bed, and though he didn't notice before, was hooked up to a couple machines, but he wasn't alone. Push up against his bed, was another one, but this one bore a long purple figure, sprawled out on it.

KrakenKid, fast asleep and seemed to have been that way for a while. His left arm was extended and on Cody's bed. It took him a while to realize it, but finally he concluded that KrakenKid was the one to hit him, most likely on accident in his sleep, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional.

Cody inched the arm back to KrakenKid's side and settled down again, grunting as he did as the pain didn't go away.

Cody found himself in the lab. They were both in one of the glass cubes that Pikalus normally used to keep his monsters in, but now there was a bunch of medical equipment all over the place.

As he scanned for anything that could tell him more, his eyes stopped as a blue-green tailed mermaid entered the room, the glass doors sliding open as she stepped in.

Cody shot up again, then nearly slapped himself as once again, he found himself in pain. Sam chuckled and swam to his side, dragging a chair that was off to the side, with her.

"I knew you'd be awake soon." She commented, sitting down. "You've been asleep for hours, and unless you go into a coma, it's never over eight or nine. You just always wake up then," She leaned back and crossed her arms. "Whether you like it, or not."

Cody snickered but it soon came to a halt. His mind was swimming with so many thoughts that it was difficult to hone in on just one. However, seeing Sam brought up some... Unpleasant ones.

Sam noticed his behavior but let the king gather himself before saying anything. "You're remembering, aren't you?"

Cody nodded, his eyes searching for the right thing to say. "Did I... Sam, did I try to manipulate you?"

Sam went silent, but it was her lack of words that told him everything he needed to know. Cody's chest tightened as he stared wide eyes at her. He gripped the sheets of his bed to keep his hands from shaking. "Sam-I'm so.." He had to take a breath when the words made him lose his confidence. "I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I didn't- I wouldn't-... That wasn't me!"

Cody stared at her with hollow eyes. How is she supposed to forgive me for that? I was horrible! I was manipulative! I used her! I was just like-

He stopped himself before he even could complete it, but it still lingered in his mind. Sam remained wordless, but finally smiled.

"I know it wasn't." She answered. She straightened herself up and took his hand, cradling it. "It was the same thing that happened to the rest of us, yours was just... Stronger. It's only because of your position."

Cody remained unconvinced. "That doesn't justify manipulation!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Tanith manipulated people when she did it. Professor went Hulk and tried to kill you. Both me and Selena attacked KrakenKid-the list goes on, Cody. And you forgave each and every one of us." She pointed out, lightly punching his shoulder. "So basically, don't be too hard on yourself. It's not your fault, you didn't have control."

Cody and Sam had another but more silent conversation when they stared into each other's eyes, but Cody was defeated, letting go of the sheets of the bed. "I'm supposed to be their king-someone these people can trust." His voice was soft and his face avoided hers.

Instead, his gaze was on his free hand, which he made spark with power briefly, then tightened it into a fist. "If I do things like this, how am I supposed to have their trust? I started a war, and I know it's over but that doesn't justify the damage I caused."

Neither spoke, but Cody raised his head after many minutes few by. "What are the citizens saying?"

Sam's eyes flickered with something he couldn't see. "They're confused and scared, but we're keeping it under control. Rasmus and Pikalus are under press duty, so nothing too bad will get out. I know we've kept this whole thing with Ace quiet, but these people do need to know at least something, or they'll panic." Her head shook. "We barely could explain the attacks last time, this was civil war!"

Cody could have made a comment to any part of what she said, but one part in particular really caught his attention. "Civil war?" The penguin cocked his head to the side, surprised by her wording.

Sam gave a slight nod. "Whether we like it or not, KrakenKid and his Tide Changers are a part of Atlantis. They are, by definition, Atlanteans." Cody went to protest but Sam predicted it. "And I know, "A true Atlantean is loyal, brave and believes in making peace"- or something but you've got some bias because you hate him." Another protest from Cody got an exasperated sigh from Sam. "Or strongly dislike I guess. Point is, you're not the best of pals."

Unable to argue with that one, Cody let it go. "So... Does that mean I need to tell the public exactly what happened?"

"One way or another, yes. They need to hear it from their king more than anyone."

"I thought so..." Cody sighed and let his body sink into the bed. His brown eyes fluttered, suddenly realizing how utterly tired he was.

Sam stood up, letting go of his hand that Cody forgot she was holding. "You should sleep. Powerful king or not, you do need sleep. Tanith proved that to all of us."

Cody was taken aback, gawking at her. "What? Too soon?"

Cody wasn't really sure, but still kept his look. Sam laughed a tad, and headed for the door. "Oh, and sorry for pairing you two up, there wasn't a lot of other places since the rest are all full of monsters. Don't kill each other."

"I'll try." Cody answered back before she was gone.

Cody settled down in the bed, staring at the ceiling for so long that he began to lose track of time. He tossed and turned before finally settling on his left side, looking around at all the equipment around him and caught eye of a metal tray on the ground, only one shot on it, and something told Cody that there used to be more on it. He checked his arm and finally noticed a white bandage that had previously blended in with his feathers. He shuddered just thinking about them taking blood samples, or sticking a needle in him at all.

Then, right as Cody's eyes passed over the metal tray, he tensed up when his own eyes were a bright blue. A short scream escaped his mouth before he was able to cover it up. However, it was just loud enough to startle the sleep kraken awake.

He looked around wildly before noticing Cody, then jumped and half fell off the bed, his tentacles still on it but his head and shoulders on the floor. Cody blinked and raised his head, trying to check on him. "Uh... You good?"

"Fine!" KrakenKid mumbled, pivoting his body until his many legs were on the floor with the rest of him. "What are you doing so close to me? Did no one ever teach you about personal space?"

Cody, who was previously going to be nice, decided to throw that out the window. He scoffed, crossing his arms as he did. "We're low on places to put people in the lab, so we're roommates."

KrakenKid let out an annoyed puff. "Perfect... Just perfect."

Cody shrugged his shoulders and laid back, closing his eyes. "Just let me sleep a little, 'mkay? Try not to kill me in my sleep."

KrakenKid rolled his eyes, but then had a thought and patted himself down, and slouching. "Couldn't if I wanted to, they took my weapons. And food. Everything I had, I'm everything-less." His bored gaze swept over their little corner of the lab, but out of the corner of his eye, noted something moving out of the way.

Interested, he got up, almost falling over but caught himself, and made his way to the door and got it to open. There, he peeked out, and found himself face to face with CannibalCrab.

He let himself relax at the familiar face. However, the crabs were narrowed and he bore his teeth at him. "Ah, Cannibal. I've been meaning to talk to you about something. I'm sorry about the-"

The leader of the Tide Changers never finished his sentence as CannibalCrab delivered a swift punch in the gut. KrakenKid felt the wind get knocked out of him, but still had enough common sense to dodge to the right for the next one that came at him. Cannibal swung a third time, but KrakenKid was already aware of his pattern and caught his punch, as well as the other arms when it came at him too. CannibalCrab was pretty strong, but KrakenKid held his ground.

"I was going to say I'm sorry!" KrakenKid hissed, hoping it would help, but it did nothing as the pressure didn't let up, and he still tried to push KrakenKid around. CannibalCrab growled lowly. "What is wrong with you?" The kraken grumbled, suddenly forcing his arms to twist before kneeing him in the gut, a move he remembered from fighting with Cody.

Almost as if he knew KrakenKid thought of him, Cody appeared at the door, but reacted in the same way a deer in headlights would, confused if this was something that he should stop, or let play out since it was none of his business.

CannibalCrab broke out of his grip and went in for a tackle, but KrakenKid sidestepped, wrapping his arms around him right as he passed by, trying to immobilize his arms and holding him in a firm hold. "Cannibal!" KrakenKid said through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, but you're being out of line! Don't make me neutralize you."

Scientists began to notice, but all of them were baffled to what was going on, squinting their eyes as if they couldn't see what Cody clearly could.

Cody was thinking about stepping in when a smaller purple form snuck up on the kraken and elbowed his back. In his pain, Cannibal broke free and snapped his claw onto KrakenKid's arm, and if that didn't hurt enough, finally got his punch in one of his yellow eyes, making it dim for a moment as he toppled over.

Cody finally realized the newcomer was none other than KrakenKid's son, Baby Blooper. One on one wasn't Cody's business, but two against one just wasn't fair. He quickly stepped in shoving both of them out of the way and pulling KrakenKid away from them until they were a good distance. "You alright?" Cody asked in a low voice, and KrakenKid nodded, slowly getting back to his strength.

Finally, one of the scientists stood up and carefully walked towards them, but still kept their distance. "What... What are you two doing?"

Cody gave them a weird look. "Are you people blind? We're fighting off his Tide Changers, which are attacking him for some reason. Is that normal?" He asked KrakenKid, just in case it was, but when his head shook, Cody's belief returned to its normal state. "See? Wanna help us out and call some guards or something?"

They didn't do anything, instead looking around in confusion. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. The only Tide Changer here is him, Professor Pikalus wouldn't let anyone through the doors without him being there to monitor them, or unless they were injured and needed to be scanned for what happened, like him."

Cody blinked rapidly. What are they talking about? They're right there! "Cody!" KrakenKid yelped, snapping him out of it. He was ready when the pair attacked them head on, ramming right into them. Though KrakenKid dodged, having CannibalCrab fixated on him, Cody let Blooper take the blow to him, but then took advantage of his close up to him and grabbed him to hold him in place. If he tried actually fighting back, KrakenKid would surely kill him.

The scientist jumped back as Cody was pushed against the wall by Blooper but still managed to hold him there. "What... What are you doing? More importantly, how are you doing that?"

"It's just self defense! Now a little help?" Cody grunted, trying to get out of what he realized was, Blooper trapping him.

But the scientists still didn't do a thing. More like them started to gather, all just as confused. "A little help with what? And how do you guys keep getting pushed around like that? It's like something is actually there, attacking you guys but... I'm not seeing a thing."

Cody stopped, now even more confused than ever, but his stopping made Blooper throw him to the ground and pin him there. The scientists jumped back, but the one he had been talking to waved their hand where Blooper was, but passed right through him. Cody furrioed his eyebrows, but when he tried to pass through him too, he felt all too real for it.

What is going on?

KrakenKid quickly rushed over and picked up Blooper quickly before setting him down off of Cody, but made sure he couldn't attack by holding his arms. Seeing his opportunity, Cody scrambled to get up, then had to evade a angry crab when he came after them.

KrakenKid pulled him away from everyone and started running to the other side of the lab. "Nobody else can see them!" Cody told him as they ran. "It's like they're not really there but-"

"How come we can still get beat up by them?" KrakenKid guessed, getting on his guard. "I'm not really sure. Are they invisible or-"

Cody immediately disagreed. "No, no. The scientist can't even touch them, but we can, and more importantly, they can touch us. Maybe it's an illusion?"

"I've never seen an illusion that could do this..." KrakenKid mumbled, searching around for any sort of answer.

KrakenKid finally laid eyes on a couple of scalpels and tossed one to Cody while keeping another in his hands. "But if we can touch them, maybe we can fight them." He then narrowed his eyes. "Try to resist the urge to stab me again, okay?" His tone half serious but also half humorous, throwing Cody off. Was he still mad or making a joke? Or both?

As the illusion like people caught up, they both noticed the numbers had grown and now, joining them was not only Tanith, but two others that Cody didn't recognize.

KrakenKid's chest tightened, but then he couldn't help but note something. "Wait, this is my illusion. Those are all people I know and care about..." He shifted his eyes over to the penguin. "You can see them, right?" Cody nodded. "How come it's targeting me? Do you have anything?"

Cody was about to say no, but the words didn't seem to want to leave. Had I seen anything? Cody's eyes darted around, half expecting people he cared about to pop up and attack, but nothing came. Frowning, he trailed once again, until he was staring into the glass and at his reflection.

A light bulb went off within his mind, and he slowly inched over to the glass, wanting to test something. KrakenKid switched between him and his advancing friends and family, starting to back up. "Penguin! This isn't the time to reenact Mulan! Get back over here, I'm way outnumbered!"

Cody barely heard him, stopping in front of the glass. As expected , his reflections eyes flashed a glowing blue and grinned. However, unlike what he thought before, its hands shot out and wrapped around him. Cody screamed and tried to pull away but its grip was iron strong and didn't let go.

KrakenKid saw all of this, but didn't have time to get to him as he was being surrounded. Though Cody didn't know some of the people, KrakenKid easily identified them as Larsa and Ena who had also joined him.

With the feeling of being backed into a corner making him want to lash out, he quickly spotted an opening in the circle closing in on him, and bolted for it, just barely making it. As soon as he was free, he whipped around and threw the scalpel in his grip, hoping it would hit something.

It did. It plunged right into Ena's back.

KrakenKid froze, but Ena still turned around and steadily took the knife out of her back. Her smile was twisted. "We're illusions, Kraken. We can't be dispersed by such physical things." She twirled the blade around in her hand before handing it off to the hybrid standing next to her.

"But you can." The fake Tanith's eyes glinted.

KrakenKid took a couple steps back before fully taking off, leaving Cody behind. He wasn't one to abandon someone when they're working together, but seeing as his illusions were going after him, not the penguin, and that the penguin could probably handle himself, he let this be the exception.

Cody on the other hand, started kicking at his reflection until finally, he let out a powerful shock and shattered the glass.

Two things made him tense when he did. One, KrakenKid and everyone in his illusion was gone, and two, Sam's words of all of the other glass containers being full of monsters made him regret what he did.

He looked up, ready to face whatever horror he released into the lab, but the monster didn't move. It was a huge wraith like creature, it's eyes transfixed on Cody, but it didn't move a muscle. Cody relaxed, realizing that this was probably more of Professor Pikalus' pet than it was his prisoner. He waved at it, hoping to appear friendly before walking away. Someone else could fix the cage, he had a more pressing matter to deal with.

Cody left the lab as quickly as possible and decided on a random direction before following it. He snickered when he realized how much had changed in a matter of days. KrakenKid was still his enemy not even a couple days ago, and now after both being under a physiological attack, Cody felt... Almost connected to him. Like their trauma brought them together.

Cody halted in his tracks to look around, having further realized he had no idea where he was going.

He glanced around but huffed, finally giving in that KrakenKid could have gone anywhere, and he wasn't even sure which direction he took.

"Oh good, we're alone." When Cody heard the voice, a shiver passed through him. Not of fear, but rather that hearing that voice speak to him was just plain unnatural. He spun around, and only confirmed his suspicions, though he wished he was wrong.

He stared right at almost an exact copy of himself, like looking into a mirror. Every single feather in place, the same bandage in the same place, and every injury that hadn't faded. The only difference between them was their eyes. Just like all of the other illusions Cody had been seeing, the eyes were glowing, blue and electrifying. Exactly like Ace's whenever he possessed someone.

Cody took a step back, trying to process exactly what he was seeing. The reflection had a wicked grin on their face, eyes shining with excitement, which Cody wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "What..." Cody felt himself trail off, mouth hanging open.

The other him bounced on his heels. "You shouldn't just leave that open you know! Might catch flies." The chilling grin never left their face.

Cody shook himself and swallowed his fear. "What are you?" He asked, his voice cracking though he tried hard to hide it.

His very question just made the reflection giggle. "Right, I didn't even introduce myself, did I? How very rude! I swear I'm not normally like this but I'm just so- Eeep!" They squealed before quickly collecting themself again. They still buzzed with joy, even then. "Sorry again, I'm just relieved we're finally alone so I can finally talk to you!"

Cody blankly gawked at them as they took in a deep breath, and somehow smiled even brighter than before. "Hello Cody Maverick," They beamed, eyes flashing with power.

"I'm your worst nightmare!"

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

Oh boy... I love cliffhangers

And that's part one, 6000 words or so! Don't worry, these "Illusions" will be fully explained in the next chapter!

Lots going on here, including a couple meet ups with various people! There's one part that I really want to know if you guys caught the symbolize.

"It did. It plunged right into Ena's back." Anyone see the significance of this line? I didn't add it in for no reason.

Anyways, much will be explained next time (Maybe even tomorrow if I'm fast!) Be sure to comment what you think so far, and goodbye!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter