Third Person

KrakenKid wasn't sure what it was about this "Kevin" guy, but he was off-putting.

His smile was twisted, his eyes were crazed, even the way he walked was jittery and crisscrossed. KrakenKid shivered when his silver eyes observed him, not like he was seeing what he looked like, but rather evaluating him, picking him apart, and more like a hunter after its prey more than anything.

Cody insisted on going to the lab before doing anything, and when they arrived there, they split off. Kevin was placed inside one of the empty glass boxes where the monsters were put. Cody made a beeline for Professor Pikalus, and KrakenKid found himself walking over to Tanith, who hid herself in the farthest corner away from Kevin.

Professor's glare didn't sway from Kevin, even when Cody was at his side. "What is he doing here?" He jeered, his arm flexing, but to Cody's relief, didn't grow in size or change color. At least he can hold back from going Hulk. Cody thought to himself.

"Did Tanith not mention him to you?" The king asked, piping up.

Professor scoffed. "Of course she did, she could hardly keep it in when she first walked through the door." His gaze shifted over to Cody, more annoyed than angry now. "But after everything that happened with that freak, I didn't think you'd bring him here of all places, or anywhere close to me. So, why is he?"

Cody glanced back in the direction of the prisoner before speaking. "He was a last resort, and I know you didn't call to report success but I was really hoping you had literally anything else that works. Having second thoughts here."

The mad scientist let out a huff and pulled out a GPS looking device. "If I had anything, you would've known by now. I made a special tracking device, but the problem is I couldn't get it to designish Ace from the Nexus' magic. And since even little, harmless bits of Nexus magic are sprinkled in the water to get it the way it is, and within everyone else since it has a hold on our souls-..." He snickered to himself, partially bitterly. He switched the device on and showed it to Cody. "See for yourself."

Cody blinked, staring at it. "I don't get it. The screen is just pure blue."

"Well, it was supposed to show a blue dot where the Nexus magic was."

Cody let out a low whistle, wincing to himself. "Right, it went horribly then. Last resort it is."

Meanwhile, KrakenKid finally decided to ask something he had been wondering for a while. "What's the deal with this Kevin guy exactly? He keeps giving me these looks and now apparently you and probably Pikalus are scared of him?"

Tanith glanced around quickly before talking back in a hushed voice. "Well, he kept a whole hospital hostage and was going to take away mine, Pikalus' and then Cody's magic so yeah, I'd say he's a freaky guy."

KrakenKid paused before his arms crossed. "I had the palace hostage once and took both the gauntlet and Cody's spear but suddenly I'm not scary?"

Tanith blinked, then smirked a little. "Wait... No way. Are you jealous of him getting all the fear from Pikalus and Cody?"

"No." KrakenKid hesitated, then looked away. "...Shut up. It's fun acting as the villain sometimes, okay? You get to be this intimidating and unpredictable enemy who seems to have all the cards and is just waiting to play them. It's nice being the one who's in charge and the one who is feared. Change of pace- all of that stuff."

Tanith nodded a little before he cocked his head in her direction. "What part of him is so creepy to you? I think it's his eyes for me."

"The fact that he can take away magic." KrakenKid gave her a 'Really?' look that made her huff. "Listen, magic is really important to my kind. From children you grow and learn it, and as adults, it becomes a part of your everyday life. You use it in little ways, it influences you in little ways, it all just works out. If something like that is taken away..." She shuddered to herself. "The result is too much to even think about."

KrakenKid put a tentacle on her shoulder but before either of them could say more, Cody called for them. He told them as quickly and as quietly as he could that Kevin seemed to be their only option. They exchanged a couple more words before visiting the person in question himself. Kevin's head twitched in their direction as they approached, but only Cody would get close enough to properly talk. Kevin rose his hands, gesturing towards the rubber on them that prevented him from using his powers. "Do you wish to get this on with, or are you going to waste more time regretting having to interact with me?"

Cody puffed out his chest, trying to appear stronger than he actually felt. "Those aren't coming off until you tell me how you're going to do this."

Kevin arched his eyebrow, leaning on one side. "Well, I do need to know what the difference between the Nexus and his energy is, so is there anywhere you take show me where he's used magic? The fresher the better, I need to be able to sense it before I can track it."

Cody glanced back at the others before nodding. "I might know a place."

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Tanith stared ahead, trying to think of anything other than the man who was currently staring her down. Just act like he's not even there and you can bare it. Not even there... Why hasn't he stopped staring? Is he still- yes he is, why can't he stop?

It took her awhile to build up the courage, but eventually, she blurted it out. "Can you stop that?"

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Kevin asked, though Tanith could hear in his voice he didn't truly care if she was or wasn't, and already knew that it was.

The hybrid just kept moving along as Cody and KrakenKid led the way. "What is wrong with you?" She mumbled to herself when he still didn't stop.

The criminal chuckled darkly to himself. "Oh, a couple things. Getting struck by supercharged lightning didn't help."

Tanith nearly stopped in her tracks from her thoughts derailing. "You... You got what?"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders a little, like what he said was a topic for your everyday casual conversation. His eyes looked to the pair in front of him. "There was this guy in the Overworld- that's where I came from- and he wanted full control over the city where I lived. So he generated a huge, man made storm that would bend to his will. He told everyone if they didn't surrender, he would make it very difficult to go outside. They didn't believe he could control it at first."

The silver eyes slided over to the blue ones, now finally looking at him. "He decided to demonstrate that he could be hitting this little boy who was so mesmerized by the storm."

"Oh..." Was the only sound Tanith could make out.

Kevin laughed, though the laugh was humorless. "People have been saying that for as long as I could remember. They had trouble keeping my heart beating, so they had to find a better hospital. Atlantis was the next best place and the fact that I was a child seemed to help the process of getting in and getting operated on."

Kevin then fell silent for a while, staring ahead again. His whole expression showed he was in deep thought, and it took a while to break him out of it. "My parents say I was different after that. After I got my abilities. They said that all throughout the first time I went to jail for getting a little angry and shocking a store clerk... They stopped saying it all the times after that when it wasn't accidental. Actually, now that I think about it, they stopped talking to me in general after that."

Tanith noted something in his eyes that she'd never quite seen before. A hatred and sadness, and a buzzing electricity that didn't go away. Wait... Had she seen that before? "They didn't want to admit their son had become a monster." Kevin's voice was cold and unfeeling, almost making Tanith shiver.

It took a moment, but Tanith finally spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Kevin suddenly acted like he said nothing at all. "It is what it is. Tanith, I would like to ask you something."

She paused but nodded along. He nodded towards Cody and KrakenKid, who were arguing a couple feet away from them. "I heard about the civil war between those two, and how when it came down to it, you nearly had to choose a side."

Tanith didn't respond right away but finally did with a small nod. "I... I suppose so." She admitted.

"And if you had to," Kevin kept going. "Which one would it be? Who has your loyalty?"

Tanith looked between them for a long time, but then shook her head. "Both, I don't sway from one to the other. They're both very important to me and I'm going to keep it that way."

Kevin frowned and was going to say more before he was interrupted. "We're here." Both the penguin and kraken shouted before giving one another a look.

Though Kevin had never been there, the other three knew the tunnel all too well, and were in no hurry to enter it after Kevin, but eventually did. Cody pointed him in the right direction before they reached the place. "He's been here?" Cody nodded. "Perfect. Mind taking these buffers off?"

Then, there was a long hesitation from all of them as they stared. The prisoner impatiently tapped his foot and rolled his eyes a little. "Do not chicken out on me now.

Cody flinched a little at the saying but looked to the others for confirmation. KrakenKid squirmed a bit. "Do we really have to?" He tried asking Cody privately but with Kevin right in front of them, it was difficult to do so. Cody nodded solemnly before looking to Tanith.

Tanith was biting her lip. "Maybe we can just have one on and one off? He doesn't need both, does he?"

"Are you KIDDING ME?" All of them jerked to see Kevin almost exploding with rage at them, though his eyes were locked onto Tanith. "I OPEN UP TO YOU AND THIS IS WHAT I GET?"

Tanith shrunk down before finally nudging Cody forward. "Sorry, sorry." She squeaked. "Cody, go ahead. It'll be easier with two hands anyways."

Cody didn't spare any time to obey and rip apart the blockers with his spear. Kevin flexed his hands with them off, a little spark coming off of them but did nothing more. He closed his eyes for a moment before they opened, and he had a wicked smile on his face. "I think I have a trail." He announced before beginning to walk out and lead the way.

Kevin made his ways towards the palace, walking confidently as he did so, but glanced back and began to slow down to walk with the others. Cody and KrakenKid sped up a little but Tanith couldn't due to Kevin's watchful eyes on her, clearly wanting conversation. "Any answer to my question?" He asked yet, his voice edging.

Tanith shook her head, making Kevin give off a little 'Huh' noise. His pace sped up before out of nowhere, his arms shot out and electricity shot out of them, hitting the unsuspecting penguin and kraken in front of them. Both fell to the ground, out cold. Tanith's hands shot to her mouth in shock, and her tail refused to move. Kevin then strolled over to them like nothing happened and stood between their now unconscious bodies, a hand hovering over each of them. "How about now?"

Tanith's eyes darted around as she searched for words. "What are you doing?" She yelled, her heart pounding and making her blood roar in her ears.

"Getting answers." Kevin tsked. His head shook. "You would not tell me after I opened up, and I doubted you would again. Here's your motivation now! You tell me which one you like better, and I will spare his life. However, I will kill whichever one you do not choose. Don't choose at all? Both will be killed!" He smirked. "Understand the game I am playing?"

Tanith stared at him, then at the other two. Her hand now trembled.

"Tick tock." Kevin tapped his foot impatiently. "Choose or they both die. Just make a choice. Which one do you like better? Will you follow to the ends of the Earth? Which one are you willing to watch die to save the other?"

Tanith's fist clenched. "No."

"No?" Kevin snickered. "Well that choice only leads to one thing."

Kevin was about to shock them until they both stopped breathing, but Tanith acted first. A dome appeared around both of them, and before Kevin could even attack that, a much smaller one came right for him, hitting him in the gut. He staggered back, blinking in surprise and looking up.

Tanith drew her staff, letting the gem glow with power as once again, she attacked him with her force fields. Kevin grinned, dodging them as they came for him and came out scot free. "You want to duke it out then?"

Tanith didn't say a word, glaring at him. He took that as a yes.

Kevin lunged at her, but she quickly blocked him with putting herself in a bubble, then expanding it quickly to push him back. He tumbled on the ground but was able to recover quickly and shoot lightning at her. She barely managed to get out of the way but did in the end, with it shooting past her. However, Kevin shot another couple bolts at her, making her put up a bubble to block it.

However, she could still feel a dimmed down version of the shock shoot through her body as the lightning still managed to hurt her through her bubble and her still being connected. Wincing not only made her drop the protective layer, but allowed him to hit her head on.

Tanith fell to the ground but rolled out of the way and behind on of the bubbles that still stayed up, protecting KrakenKid. From behind there, she kept throwing small, handheld force fields at him, hoping she was at least doing something before a voice spoke her in head.

You're gonna need to get more up close and personal if you want to do any real damage. Tanith paused. "Cece?" She whispered to herself.

No, I'm just some random voice in your head- yes of course it's me you idiot! He's not batting an eye at your shields. I know they work on other people, but your smaller ones aren't as good at your moving walls or anything else. Not to mention you look like you've got more muscle than him. Try attacking him head on, it'll do a lot more than just that. Oh, and combine those two bubbles into one, dang it! You're wasting magic!

"A bit rude but I'll deal with it." Tanith murmured before turning her attention to Kevin.

To her luck, he had gotten bored and was now starting to shock houses and anything living nearby. Narrowing her eyes, Tanith shot forward, tackling him right as he was going to shoot another one, making him miss horribly and shoot into the water above.

Tanith pinned him to the ground and bubbled them in. Kevin, however, just giggled and released more shocks from his body. Tanith might've taken full damage from it, but something else happened too. The stray bolts ended up bouncing off of the inside of the bubble, and hit Kevin. To her surprise, Kevin actually screamed, telling her the one thing she truly needed to know.

"You're not completely immune to your own lightning?"

Kevin's silver eyes flashed angrily. "Get off me or I'll do it." He didn't have to say what it was, Tanith fully knew what he was threatening. "I'll take it all away!"

But Tanith still hesitated. "Your powers still affect you if their reflected back. You'll only be taking away your own powers."

"But you'll lose it too."

Tanith didn't make any noise, until her eyes narrowed on him. "I don't care." Kevin's face dropped, allowing her to continue with more power. "If you don't have powers, you can't hurt them. They'll be safe- everyone will be safe... So go ahead."

The hybrid waited, but Kevin was frozen in place. She began to catch on. "I'll live through taking my magic away, I'll heal eventually, but you? You've been like this since you got them, are you really willing to risk your identity like this?" More silence from him. "Do it. I dare you, do it!" She began to scream at him.

Kevin only stared, now much more scared than before. Tanith pulled out her staff and wacked him in the head, successfully knocking him out. "That's what I thought..."

Tanith let all the bubbles drop, and though she tried to stand, she found herself having to sit back down, away from the knocked out criminal. Sustaining his lightning, keeping the bubbles up and attacking did exhaust her more than she expected. Not too far away, the leaders stirred, sitting up.

"What happened?" KrakenKid groaned and stretched.

"Long story." Tanith took in long breaths. "But Kevin wasn't willing to work with us."

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Much later when he was returned to his cell, Kevin got a surprise visitor.

He couldn't deny the hesitation he felt when he saw her, but then he played it off and smirked. "Back to finish the job?" He joked, though was interested if that was the case.

Tanith refused to show emotion to him, though against her will, her eye twitched with rage. "No. I'm giving you a warning."

"A warning?" Kevin rolled his eyes. "You can do better than that."

Tanith didn't budge and ignored his comment. "I'm here to say this: You can do whatever you want to me, but you ever touch them again, and I won't hesitate. Your sob story and the fact that I didn't want any more blood on my hands then there already is bought you mercy, but neither will give you another chance to do so."

Kevin raised his eyebrow as she went on. "Maybe there is hope for you yet, and maybe you're incurable, it doesn't matter to me. They do. They're everything to me, and the reason I don't pick sides is because I can't. I can't choose between my loyalties, and I might never will. They're my life, and I will do everything and anything to make sure they're okay."

Kevin waited until he was sure she was done before speaking. "And why should I believe you're going to be able to stop me next time?"

Her blue eyes iced over. "I once had a similar encounter with a man named Annon. Unlike you, I had no sympathy for him, so I shot him in the head without a second thought. I firmly believe that everyone shows their true colors when they're in danger."

She turned around, grabbing the door handle. "I showed you I'm willing to fight. You showed me you're just a coward."

There was a silence, but before she could leave, Kevin spoke out. "I know where I sensed Ace at that time." Tanith paused before looking over her shoulder. "He was right by the Nexus. Hard to spot him at first glance but I know he was there."

Tanith thought back to the information Cody told her right before she went to visit Kevin.

'The palace was attacked while we were gone. They weren't there for long, and we're still trying to fix the security cameras and we're waiting for the unconscious guards to wake up, but someone got in and did something.'

"For a moment, it was like they were blending together, or-"

"Was it like one was feeding off the other?" Tanith asked, recalling what Pikalus told her from after the civil war.

"...Why yes it was."

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FINALLY I DID IT

Surprisingly not that long but I've had a lot going on this week so it was hard to finish it.

Kevin was using his story to try and get answers out of Tanith. He gets so bored easily, he just wants a little entertainment, and when he doesn't get it, he takes more assertive measures to get it.

Magic is important to Tanith, but there are things she'd willingly give up in it's place. Priorities

The ending mentions Ace went for more power off the Nexus, but wasn't there for very long, meaning he'd need a bigger distraction to get what he needs.

Stuff is gonna go down soooooon~

Anyways, I hope you like this! Be sure to comment what you thought, and I'll see you guys later! Buh-byeeeeee!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter