Third Person

Rasmus sighed as he found the king asleep on his desk instead of in his bed.

This had been happening all week, and it showed Cody was ignoring him when Rasmus advised him to go to bed early, or even at all. Time and time again, he instead worked himself until he passed out, leaving the councilor to find them in the morning.

Gently shaking him, Cody sputtered as he woke up, shooting up in his seat. He blinked rapidly before rubbing his neck, groaning. Glancing over, he acknowledged his uncle‍. "Rasmus, hi." He gave a wave before letting himself settle.

Rasmus gave him a stern look, smoothing his feathers over. "I thought you were going to get some proper sleep." He scolded.

Cody stifled his groaning. "I was going to- I swear," His eyes moved down to his notes. "But there's been sightings of a blue haired man all over Atlantis, and I think Ace might be doing something."

Rasmus looked over the notes, raising an eyebrow. "And how long have you been sleeping?"

"Uhhh..." Cody flicked his phone on briefly, then winced at the time. "Five minutes apparently."

"Cody-!"

"I know!" The penguin lifted his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "I'll get some sleep now."

Rasmus smiled, satisfied before moving on to what he was planning on saying in the first place. "I'll be in the market all day if you need me. Since the truce, I've been meaning to speak with one of the Tide Changer's core members for a while." He huffed, smoothing his feathers out more to appear as professional as he could be. "Hopefully it'll go well, the Tide Changer's aren't exactly the most friendly people, nor the most polite."

Cody laughed, waving him off as the rooster left, then swiveled his chair towards the bed and fully planned on getting to sleep. However, he was rudely interrupted when his phone rang. Cody sighed a little, but picked it up and hoped it was just a sales call that he could just ignore. Seeing that he didn't recognize the number, he thought he struck gold and answered it.

"Listen, I-"

"Hello King." The voice stated. "Remember me?"

Cody went silent, trying to recall whose voice it was, but couldn't. It was familiar, but nothing came to mind. "No? Who is this?"

They paused. "You... You really don't know my voice at all?" They coughed awkwardly. "Oh, uh... It's Ace. You know, that one guy?"

It instantly clicked in his mind. "Oh! Sorry man, I-" Then he froze, the gears in his head beginning to turn to process it. "Oh. Ace. You're calling me? Since when do you have a phone? Or my number?"

"Not important right now, but it's not mine and I got it from others. I'm going to send you some coordinates, I suggest you meet me there, and don't come alone. Leave the armies, but bring the others. Come quickly, I'm not going to wait all day and not cooperating will cost you." He told him before hanging up.

Cody stayed in place before groaning. "No rest for the weary..." He mumbled before calling up his friends and new allies, telling them the coordinates when he got the message.

————————

It was almost surreal but Ace was truly there, standing in front of him. It had been a while since they were face to face, no puppet strings attached.

Cody had gotten there first, something he secretly hoped so that if they were walking into what was probably an attack, he'd know first and make sure none of the others got hurt. As much as he still had a grudge against KrakenKid and didn't care too much for CannibalCrab, they were allies, and he wasn't going to let anyone get hurt.

At first, Ace seemed a little far off, not focusing on one thing, but then as soon as they drifted and noticed the black and white being, they snapped back into reality. The coordinates lead to the outer rim, nearby the barn for one of the farms. Ace had perched himself on the roof of the farm, crouching down and gazing upon Cody with ice cold eyes.

In many ways, Cody was reminded of a cat. The glaring, getting on high spaces to feel better or superior- Cody could never tell what it was- and lashing out when attacked. The last part hit a bit too close to home, but the penguin dismissed it.

"Why'd you call us here?" Cody called to him, trying to appear relaxed despite the fact that his heart was beating quicker than he could process.

Ace did a quick scan, then shook his head. "You'll need everyone here for this task, you can't complete it alone."

Cody gulped silently. He didn't like the sound of that, and taking on Ace alone didn't sound like a good idea, given his several tricks in the past, and advantage of the high ground.

Luckily, the rest of them came in two swarms that made him feel better, one being Pikalus, the Sneaky Sisters and-to Cody's surprise- Baby Blooper was with them. The other was KrakenKid, CannibalCrab and-not as much as a surprise to him give her feelings- Tanith.

Once they were all there, Ace finally spoke up. "I have a challenge for you. All of you."

"And what if we don't want to take it?" Professor growled, eyes flashing at him.

Ace's eyes shifted towards him, examining him for a moment. "Well then, I guess there'll be a lot of death on your hands." He shrugged a bit, narrowing his eyes on him. "Your move, Scientist." The last word was spat like it was venom to him.

Standing up on the roof now, Ace created a small orb out of energy, and held it there. A couple people tensed, mostly Cannibal and Pikalus, while Selena and Blooper were more curious. "I call this a pulse." Ace stated, still holding it delicately. "They're unstable bits of power, and they only hold so long before," The orb was tossed in the air, then exploded before it came down. It emitted a wave, one that disrupted the water, and when a nearby fish that was curious enough to hastily swim over to it was met with it, it was shocked, and dropped, stunned or dead, none of them really could tell. However, some fish that swam above or below it appeared to be fine.

"The bigger, the more powerful." Ace stated. "But, also the bigger, the more time you have to get them. Understand?"

There were hesitant nods. "And what exactly do you want us to do with this information?" KrakenKid rose an eyebrow. "Because it sounds like we're going to be defusing bombs."

Ace nodded. "Essentially, yes, you will be. Each of you need to find and disarm three pulses."

There was a long pause before Cannibal spoke up. "So we're just supposed to find them from literally anywhere in Atlantis? A wild goose chase? No mysterious clues or anything?"

Ace nodded slowly. "No, you do get one. It's this: All the bombs are in somewhere important."

Cody listened to his words carefully, knitting his eyebrows together. "Somewhere important? Like the hospital or something?"

Ace shook his head, sighing. One hand was now beginning to pick at the fuzz on his blue jeans. "More important to you than anything. Not a hospital, but think more like..." He paused, eyes flickering all around. "Somewhere close to home?"

Professor's eyes narrowed, with Cannibal's soon following, but KrakenKid flinched, eyes dropping down before his eyes closed briefly. Cody blinked, thinking to himself for a while, but found himself distracted when Ace took a couple steps back. "Three pulses for all of you. Go find them." He told them before running and jumping, going behind them and then soon left their sight.

"Well," Cody sighed, narrowing his eyes. "It's pretty clear we have to split up to do this... Is that a part of his plan? He rarely does anything without reason... Why is he doing this in the first place? And why tell us?"

KrakenKid spoke up after being silent for a while. "I don't know and right now, I don't care. We need to find all of them before they explode and I'm not wasting time. Go somewhere important to you and figure out a way to disarm them." KrakenKid began to move away from the group without a second thought. "Cannibal, make sure Blooper stays safe." He told him, rushing off in a different direction.

Tanith watched him, frowning. "That's not the direction of the Conch Command... What's more important than there?" Her mind wandered, but then thinking of what her place would most likely be, her heart stopped. "Oh! I gotta go!" She called to them before leaving as well.

Cody watched, faltering as he tried to call after the pair that left. "I don't know if separation is a good idea but we don't have much of a choice, do we?" He racked his brain, trying to figure out a place important to him. The palace? But that has the Nexus, and I doubt he'd risk that...

CannibalCrab shook his head. "I don't know about the rest of you, but Blooper and I are heading for the Conch Command. I can't think of anywhere else it would be." He gestured for Blooper to follow him, who waved to Selena before doing so and speeding ahead of the general.

Cody tried to think straight but seeing how others were figuring it out so easily made him feel a tad insecure. It's supposed to be easy, why can't I think?

It only was made worse when both Selena and Sam gave each other a look. "Is it Dad's place or the Tunnels? It's possible he could've done both, there are two of us." Selena pointed out.

Sam nodded along. "I've got Dad's, you take home, alright?" She nudged her playfully. "I don't want to come home to find out our tunnels are nothing but debree." And with that, the sisters were gone.

Professor was silent, staring in the direction of the lab and even started to head that way when he stopped in his tracks. Cody heard him curse loudly before bolting in a different direction. In the end, this left Cody alone.

He stood still for a while, and when that didn't work, he started to walk towards the palace. Almost halfway there, Cody still couldn't figure it out. "Where I was born? Grew up? School? I don't remember any of those things... Maybe I can ask Rasmus wha-"

His heart stopped. RASMUS! "He's at the market!" Cody yelped, immediately changing course and setting his sights on the path he knew too well.

Arriving, his eyes darted around before landing on Rasmus. He was outside a cafe, sitting at one of the tables owned by the place and talking to a blue bird intently. The pair seemed to give each other mildly annoyed looks but otherwise looked civil. Cody didn't hesitate to run up and grasp at Rasmus' shoulder to get his attention. The councillor's face changed from confused to troubled in seconds flat just by looking at him.

"Cody?" He asked uncertainty.

"You need to get out of here." Cody lead with, ushering him to stand up. He spared a glance at the blue bird sitting across from him, starting to remember that KrakenKid had his very own helper on his side. "It's Darrel, right? You need to get out of here too. Clear the area, make sure everyone is at least twenty feet clear of this area, more is recommended. Get the guards down here as fast as possible!"

The pair gave each other a look but nodded. Cody sighed in relief as they quickly moved through the shops, warning people and getting the attention of Atlantean Guards. Cody couldn't help but wonder if the maximum amount of Illithid Guards allowed in Atlantis needed to be raised before focusing on the task at hand.

"If I were hiding a... Pulse thingy- where would I be?" Cody hummed, starting to search through the shops but barely finding so much as a spark or trace that Ace would've even been in there. All the reports made sense now, Ace was basically planting bombs all over the city, of course he was traveling everywhere.

Cody questioned how Ace knew where all of them valued, but then it occurred to him of the time when Ace wasn't mostly human. When he was only a wisp looking creature, who stalked their every move. Ace had been watching them for a while, so it was likely that he saw what places or people they kept close their hearts. How did he find out about Rasmus meeting here with Darrel? Cody suspected that maybe he revered back to his old ways of sneaking around and got the information from Darrel himself- there were a lot of possibilities.

But, the king couldn't afford to try and Sherlock Holmes everything to figure out, he needed to save the people first.

The brown eyes cast up, searching around until the upper parts of the market-which normally was used for storage- caught his eyes. Particularly, the soft, blue glow that came from it.

The king raced right up to it, immediately finding a floating ball of energy about the size of a soccer ball waiting for him. A pulse as Ace called it, that seemed to be slowly becoming more unstable. Going with his gut, Cody rushed to it and grabbed it, finding it was a little more solid than he thought, and pulled it close to his chest.

A shock sparked pain in him, but it was brief, and soon the 'Pulse' was gone altogether, the Nexus energy it possesed now resided in Cody. The penguin whispered a wish under his breath that it wasn't going to explode inside of him before continuing on.

The second was harder to find, hiding inside one of the empty barrels that normal held food. Had it not been for the light it produced, Cody would've walked right past it. Soon, that one was absorbed to, and yet, the penguin was finding himself rather winded.

The storage was long and twisted, and the thought of running out of time only made Cody more anxious. Right as he rounded the corner, a pulse that spazzed with instability caught his attention, but before he could release it, it exploded.

The penguin's arms shot out as it began to destroy the objects and walls closest to it, tearing into them like it was nothing. Then, as it spread like a ripple in a pond, Cody manage to connect with the Nexus energy, and squeezed his eyes as he struggled for control over it.

The signature was different than he was used to, but when nothing happened, he opened his eyes to see the pulse had stopped midway of its path to destruction. Using himself as a magnet, Cody drew all of the energy closer to himself, and though his body tended at the pain, it wasn't long before it was gone. Absorbed by him.

Cody dropped to his knees, lazily gazing at the broken shelves and half broken wall, light now shining through the cracks and showing the damage, but given the pulse would've spread to the outside and hit buildings, sending them tumbling down on civilians, it was a better alternative.

"My king!" A voice called, one that Cody distinguished as one of his top generals. He cracked his head around to catch a glimpse of the blue armor with wings poking out of the back, flapping in rhythm and the face of PebbleTeen, whose voice did sound concerned, but she hid it well. No need to worry the troops, that was a common motto of several of the generals, including both PebbleTeen, and Cody himself.

"PebbleTeen," Cody said breathlessly. "You got here fast." He eyed the guards behind her and huffed, forcing his legs to stand.

"It's my job to get to the scene fast, though apparently I missed some of the action." She nodded at the mess behind him. "What was that? Bomb?"

Cody paused, hesitating. "...Sort of. It's called a pulse. Similar to a bomb but it has a wave effect. One that doesn't stop for much and cuts down anything that tries."

He moved forward, almost stumbling until PebbleTeen subtlety provided support when walking with him. "We need guards to make sure civilians don't get hurt by it."

"Where?" She asked.

"I... I don't know exactly where they are, but make sure people are away from densely populated areas." Cody sighed. "Call all guards to do this, we need maximum ground support."

"On it." PebbleTeen told him, moving him closer to the wall before breaking off and shout orders.

Cody huffed, still feeling the energy bubble inside of him, but it seemed to be calming down and blending with the rest. Almost like it was matching up with them, changing its signature again.

As Cody let his body rest for a moment, knowing he needed to help out in some way, his mind wandered. "What was this for, Ace?" He mumbled to himself. He attempted to find reason, for so often Ace seemed to have one, but only seemed to fall flat. Am I missing something?

——————

Ace found himself quite proud at predicting the penguin's moves.

Ace was starting to understand how most of them worked. Tanith rushes to protect her friends above all else, Cody valued the civilians, Professor could be tricked into anger, the list could go on.

So using a distraction such as pulses that would threaten them would cause him to recall all of his forces to do so.

Leaving the Nexus unguarded.

There were other reasons to it as well, Ace wanted to test some of their abilities and reflexes. How they would react of something they loved was directly threatened, and what lengths they would go to make sure they stayed safe.

Cody he watched briefly, since Ace already knew the penguin's feelings well. Now, since the guards were recalled, he could go for the Nexus, then resume.

The easy part was walking in, and Ace didn't expect it to be much more than that.

He was wrong.

Since Ace had a similar feel to the Nexus, only more screwed up, all he had to do was call for it, and the Nexus energy would think him as one of its own and flow to him. It was steady, all going as planned.

Then, there was a sudden burst of power, Ace nearly lost his footing and pull. At first, Ace thought it was just a reaction, nothing more than the Nexus spazzing because of the king.

Then a feeling made him doubt. A sudden pull towards the Nexus, urging him to fall inside and let himself get consumed. His body stripped away and his soul merging back with it once more.

It was hypnotizing. For just a moment, he took a step forward, the urge taking control, until realization hit him and he stumbled back, falling on his butt and eyes going wide.

Silence filled the air before he put his hands in his face, taking a deep breath. "Stop it." He said firmly. He let his hands fall and narrowed his eyes on the Nexus. "I know what you're doing."

Then, all of his suspicions were confirmed when she spoke in his mind. "You've done enough. Come back to us. You'll be welcomed, you can stay with us forever."

Ace gritted his teeth. "What If I don't want to?"

"You'll be safe with us!" Her voice pleaded. "You know you're supposed to be with us, you always have been!"

Ace shook his head firmly. "That's in the past, I'm no longer apart of you. I can think for myself now."

"...Is that really true?" Ace stiffened at her words. A brighter glow from the Nexus made another appear from his chest. He glanced down, seeing his soul and the darkness that was wrapped around it, making it seem like it was cracked.

"It's still holding you back. It's still in control. You might've found a way to keep it from killing you now, but we both know the second you don't complete whatever twisted desire it wants, it will. And even indulging in its hatred can make you lose yourself."

"I'll be fine." Ace snapped. He quickly hid his soul again, putting a protective hand over his chest. "I know what I'm doing."

"And yet, you're so lost inside." Her voice danced in his mind, only making him feel more self conscious. This whole time, she was reading him. Talking to him didn't just allow her to reason with him, but to get inside his head. "I can feel it, you're split in two, a part of you believes that all these Atlanteans are liars and cheaters, the scum of the Earth. All of that cynicism... And yet, you still feel something else."

Ace shook his head, groaning. "Stop it." He warned, even if he wasn't sure how he could stop her.

"Because not everyone is so bad, right? You have gotten a taste of what Love feelings like. For someone to care. For someone to be your friend for no alternative reason. They have nothing to gain out of you. They like you. And that makes you feel something much different."

Blood roared in his ears as Ace's heart pounded. "I-... Stop!"

She didn't. "You're different now. You're starting to feel guilt. To feel love. You've got a heart."

"I SAID STOP!" Ace screamed, clutching his fists as her words made him feel even worse than before. The Nexus did stop, much to his joy, and he was able to catch his breath.

She waited until he seemed ready. "Come back to us, Ace. I can help you."

Ace shot a glare at her. "You had your chance. You chose to push me away."

He stood up, straightening out. Ace absorbed more energy until he felt like he was going to burst before stopping. "This is my path now. There's no strings on me."

Ace turned to leave, but she called after him. "I'm sorry."

"...I don't blame you as much as I do the penguin. This was his fault."

"He didn't mean to do this to you, this was never his intention. He was hurt and angry-"

"I know." Ace grumbled. "I have his feelings. His brother-"

"His Brother was someone he held dear to his heart. Someone he valued above many others. He'd do anything for him. Wouldn't you?"

Ace rolled his eyes a little. "Don't have a brother."

"Family isn't always blood. Family can often be people who look out for you. People who care, and that you care for. You would do anything for Chester, would you not?"

Ace whirled his head in her direction. "Keep him out of this!" Then there was a pause. "And of course, that's why I'm not letting him get involved. He's got a life ahead of him, he doesn't need someone holding him back."

As Ace left for good this time, the Nexus only said one thing. "I'm always waiting with open arms, Ace."

To which Ace didn't reply out loud, but thought in his head, I don't need them.

———————

Sam had gotten to the Rich District as fast as she could, but only stopped in hesitation at the door. It took her longer than she was willing to admit to get past it and knock on the door.

Moments later, it opened, and Sam was standing face to face to another mermaid wearing dark blue plad. He had short blonde hair, a blue tail and blue eyes. Despite Sam having different colors, you could still see they both had the same look in their eyes when they looked at people, a similar facial structure, and even expressions when they saw each other.

Moments passed before he smiled a little. He never smiled wide, nor did he smile often, but it was always genuine and warm. Sam loved that about him, and though she wished he'd smile more, those few times that he did was always rewarding.

"Hey Dad." Sam smiled back. "I'd love time to catch up, but I need your help."

The smile faded, and he gave her a more serious nod. "Anything for my girl. What do you need, Sammy?"

Sam quickly told him a brief version of what she needed to say, and he nodded in understanding. "So you need to find these pulses? Anywhere specific they would be?"

Sam sighed. "Somewhere we care about. Selena has the tunnels, and I figured this would be the other place."

He nodded. "Of course. I'll get right on it, we should check the house fir-"

He was cut off by another voice. "Bohi! Where did you put the flour? I need it to-" A woman came up behind him to ask, but then faltered when she saw Sam.

She was another mermaid, having a pure white tail and hazel eyes. Her hair was strawberry orange, and was up in a bun, though Sam knew if it were down it would be almost down to her waist. On top, she had a lavender dress shirt.

Sam couldn't deny that she too tensed up when she saw her, but then let herself relax. "Ofilia, nice to see you again."

Ofilia broke into a grin, a glimmer in her eyes. "Sam! You're visiting!"

"Unfortunately, She needs help." Bohi told her. He shot a glance towards Sam. The aqua mermaid knew all too well what he was asking of her, and she nodded firmly. He turned his attention back to Ofilia. "Tag along?"

If the white mermaid wasn't happy enough, she was ecstatic now. "Really? Of course! Anything for family!" She squeaked, clapping her hands together.

Bohi bit his lip. "We're trying to find pulses. They're essentially bombs."

She froze, her smile more nervous now but kept it up. "Uh... Well, we should get started! Before they- y-you know? Explode?"

Sam snickered. "Yeah, probably." Her smile linger, even if it was half faked before she swam inside, suggesting that they look around. Sam took the upstairs, but when they found nothing inside, she began to search the outside. Sure enough, there was one on the roof of her house.

Given it looked fairly stable, Sam guessed it wouldn't go off for a while. Hesitantly, she reached out, only to find she got shocked when she touched it. Not deadly, more like a static one than anything. Something told her it might not have been the same if it was unstable.

Her father and Ofilia caught up to her right as she quickly grabbed it, gritting her teeth and bearing the pain, and swam high enough so it was far above any building, and left it there. "It won't hurt anyone if it goes off up there." She told them. "We need to move all of them, there's two left."

"We need to search the Sector then," Bohi nodded along, his blue tail swishing lightly in the air. "If there was one placed here, the rest are going to be within this area." His eyes trailed over to Sam, who nodded in confirmation.

The three of them managed to alert many of the people, though Sam rolled her eyes at some of the more snobby folk who began to carry all the expensive things out of their house as they cleared out, and gave a smile to those who fretted about their kids playing in the street. She always liked how not everyone living there was a jerk.

The more she walked up and down trying to find more pulses, she noticed little things like the tall trees she used to climb on with Selena and have contests about who could reach the top before the owner of said tree got grumpy and kicked them out. And the carvings in the street when the sisters would leave their mark, their names written in stone and since it was difficult to remove, was left there. She even noticed the dog that was now much older than when she was young, still barking at them as they passed. Nostalgia filled her heart, almost feeling like it would break.

Sam was brought back to reality when her father nudged her, pointing to a glow coming from one of the newer houses that wasn't quite sold yet. "Is that one?"

"Yep. I'll-" Sam offered but her father stopped her, insisting he could do it. She let him, but as he swam up, she caught eye of a golden chain around his neck, one that was hidden by his shirt before. She sighed deeply to herself, knowing exactly what laid on it, and all the memories it brought up.

Her eyes drifted to Ofilia for a moment, but quickly looked away when the white mermaid noticed. Sam might've been quick, but she still noticed and frowned. Her white tail slowed in movement, something Sam almost missed before speeding back up. It took her a moment, but she still said it in the end. "Look, I know I'm not her," Ofilia started, fiddling with her hands nervously. "And I'm never going to fill her place- nor am I trying to!- but I'm..." Her voice trailed off, eyes dropping. "I'm sorry."

Sam was silent for a long time. "I never understood why people ever said that."

Ofilia blinked, eyebrows knitting together. "...What do you mean?"

Sam crossed her arms, watching as her father twitched but still held onto the pulse and swam up. "It's not like you could've done anything anyways, nor did you have any part to play in it happening in the first place. I just did."

Sam tuckered her braid back behind her ear. "I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... That's all people said after it. Even after funeral, anytime she was brought up, it was all they ever said. I didn't understand it for years, and for some reason, I said the same thing when someone close to me lost someone."

Sam finally met her eyes. "What I'm trying to say is, you don't have anything to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's, she had a disease, it couldn't be cured."

Ofilia still frowned. "Doesn't make it seem any better. I guess I'm just sorry I'm not the same as her, and that I can never be like her for you."

"You make my Dad happy." Sam said insistently. "And I know I can be cold sometimes, but that doesn't mean I don't approve. I'm just... Getting used to it. I'm not a fan of change."

Ofilia nodded, looking down. Sam noticed the tension, and added in, "I think Selena likes you."

Her eyes lit up. "You think so?" Sam nodded along. "Tell her she can visit anytime! I'm not a great cook but I can sure bake!"

"I'll pass the message along." The aqua mermaid gave a small smile, making her face light up.

Finally, Bohi came back, looking between the two. "You two seem to be getting along." He commented, nodding at them, then turned his attention to Sam. "How many left?"

"One. Let's get going."

While they were all walking, Ofilia got an idea where the next could be, rushing ahead of the pair, leaving them to talk it out. Bohi turned to his daughter. "Thank you for letting her come along, it means a lot to me."

Sam nodded, giving him a smile. "You deserve to be happy too. I swear I'm trying to get used to it, and it might take me awhile, but Ofilia is a good woman. She's perfect for you, I've seen you smile more with her since..." Sam's voice trailed off. She knew she could say it, but whether Bohi could hear it, she wasn't sure.

But the blue tailed mermaid only chuckled a little. "It's okay. I've healed." He looked into her eyes and smiled. "You are so much more like Olivia than you will ever know. Not just your looks either. It was you and Selena that gave me the first push in getting over your mother's death," His eyes drifted ahead. "But it was Ofilia that helped close the wound for good."

Sam hummed to herself. "The best way to heal a wound is through love, huh? All those cheese movies were right."

They both laughed, but it was cut short but a bright light that stopped their hearts. They rushed ahead, only to see that Ofilia was coming down from putting her's high in the sky, grinning. "I did it!" She announced, arms up. "Just in a nick of time too!"

Bohi let out a sigh. "Honey, never scare me like that again, I don't want to have a heart attack."

-------------------

Selena was having more trouble on her end.

Not with actually finding anything, but more actually trying to get Endy to cooperate with her.

"Endy! Come here, Endy!" She kept calling with a smile, but the dragon didn't so much as stir from his nap. She groaned. "Endy! ENDY! ENDY, WE NEED TO GO! THERE ARE BOMBS!"

Endy stirred a little, staring at her but still didn't look like he wanted to move. Selena groaned, swimming over to the cupboard and taking out a cheese burger. Endy perked up. "How about now? Want to listen?" Endy seemed to think for a moment, before nodding, moving to her side in seconds.

Selena began to explain what was going on to Endy, and though a part of her felt silly for telling all of this to a dragon of all things, but given Endy seemed to have some sort of sentient and understanding, she told him anyways. Not to mention that by the end of it, Endy was more awake than ever.

"So we need to get rid of these bomb things." She finished. Endy nodded his head slightly and trotted to the door. He paused before leaving, gesturing for Selena to come along, and with a roll of the eyes, she did. "I'm supposed to be in charge." She mumbled.

The first was easy to find, given it was just in the lower levels of their houses. Selena was at a bit of a loss at what to do at first, but Endy stepped forward and began to breathe fire at it. To her surprise, the energy dwindled away until there was nothing left. "Nice thinking, Endy." She said to encourage him, but he just seemed to walk along, going deeper into the tunnels and ignoring her.

She let out an angry huff and followed after him. "Hey! We need to work together, don't just ignore me!" Endy rolled his eyes. "I might not be Sam but that doesn't mean I should be dismissed because of it, I'm just as capable as her!"

Endy paused, and gave her a look. One that she saw as a sarcastic, 'Really?' which made her narrow her eyes. "Yes really! Shut up, I'm quick and smart!" Endy's eyes only got more skeptical at the last part. "You are one judgemental dragon."

They swam along, but Selena couldn't get her mind off of it. "And I'm tough!" She told Endy firmly. "Like when Atlantis was invaded, I stood tall and helped PebbleTeen get out of there! I fought against the Illithids just like Sam! And when Cody and KrakenKid went to war, I didn't let Cody walk all over me like most of the others, I told KrakenKid he was going to be invaded! Not Tanith or Sam, me! Neither of them were going to say anything, they were too scared of Cody!"

Selena's mind began to realize everything that had happened in under a year. "And I know Blooper and I can be childish with our pranks but... But it's so serious all the time, okay? Cody's brother died, KrakenKid is the only full kraken left in Atlantis, Tanith has PTSD, Professor is starting to think of himself nothing more than a soldier for Cody and the crown, Sam's been working to distract herself and Blooper doesn't feel like he can live up to his father or any expectation at all... And I'm just... Here. Staying strong."

A long sigh escaped her as she started to play with her braided hair. Endy now was more intent on listening to her, glancing over to her over and over, and seemed interested, if not concerned as well. "Okay, maybe I'm not as smart as Sam but... I have to stay strong. I always have to keep this up. For everyone else. When Mom died, I was the only one who could smile and get the others to do the same. Dad worked at the time and was moody, and Sam will deny it but she was too. For a while there, it was just me, solo pranking the town and it wasn't the same. So I brought them up with anything. I learned to cook different things and also learned that I was vegetarian after taking them both to the fair and seeing all those cute and innocent chickens- how could anyone eat them? I feel so guilty doing it. Is it just me? And the cows and-"

Selena shook herself. "Point is, animals are too cute to eat so I'm not going to eat them- but Sam and Dad... They actually smiled at the fair. Because for once, Mom was gone but that was okay. Everyone has to go eventually, and of course I missed her every day but I knew she wouldn't want me to just mope over her- she doesn't want that for any of us!" Selena didn't even realize she was undoing her braid and re-tying it. "Mom was unpredictable, and smart, and kind, and everything I want to be! So... Without realizing it, I took her role to make the rest of the family happy..." She stopped in her tracks, glazing over the pulse. Endy quickly got to work taking it out. "Someone had to..." She sighed as she watched him, then when he finished, she gave a, "Good work." nod towards him.

Selena went silent, looking over to Endy, and then back on the ground. "I'm sorry, I rambled and-" Endy gave a snort to get her attention, and shook his head. "Right. Thanks." She told him, continuing on.

Pausing at a crossroads, Selena began to chose one side, but then froze when a intense blue light from the other suddenly started to glow. She swam forward, reaching another cross of two tunnels, but didn't have to go much further as there was a pulse in the middle of them.

It then went off, letting out a wave that began to tear apart the walls. Selena swam above the wave's reach, taking Endy with her, but couldn't do much to stop it. Endy however, began to quickly 'fly' around the room, spitting fire at the wave and dampening it until it broke and the destruction stopped. Selena paused at first, but let out a squeak when the roof came down. She dived for Endy, managing to tackle him out of the way, sending both of them tumbling back into the tunnel they came.

Selena didn't let go until everything was silent, and more importantly, still. Endy shook his head, reminding her much like a dog would, and sat up. Selena looked back, noticing the pulse had created a much larger space, both length and height wise. Luckily, it didn't create a hole out of the tunnels, which she sighed in relief from. Not to mention the pair of tunnels that were there before still stood.

"Don't tell Sam." She quietly added to Endy. "We need to clean this up before she sees it."

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So this chapter was a lot longer than I could handle, so I'm splitting it into two! Here's part one!

Notes!

--Ace takes a particular disliking to Professor being a scientist for... Well, remember Ace's Interlude? That's why

--The Pulses are all to distract them, so A: Ace can get to the Nexus and get even more energy than before, and B: So he can watch them react to certain situations. Though some he might miss, (Cody's and Selena's) those are the one's he's more certain that he knows better so he's not worried about. People like Sam and many of the other's you'll see in the next part are the one's he wants to watch. Specifically, one person.

--Ace actually just chose the market because he originally knew that Cody would want to protect all the people, and he needed a place that wasn't the palace, since that's where he needed to be. Rasmus was more of an added bonus

--Since 90% of them don't have Nexus powers, they all have different ways of getting rid of the pulses. This will continue in the next part

--In case you forgot, Sam and Selena's mother is dead from cancer, something they all took hard. Her father also remarried, but still years their late mother's ring around his neck. 

--No matter what, if you take all the families initials from the Sneaky Sisters, they spell BOSS

--Endy generally prefers Sam over Selena... Actually, scratch that, Endy prefers Sam over everyone. Though Larry is a close second

--Selena is a tough cookie

Anyways, that's all I got for today! Editing is kinda bad so sorry, I'll fix it later when I'm not supposed to go to bed. Be sure to comment, and farewell!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter