The ship had, an hour ago, been full of unconscious people bound by their hands and feet. Now it was almost empty and half of the submarines that had been previously resting at the launch bay were also gone. Arthur had packed them all into the vessels and sent them to Coast City, with Kaldur to supervise them. Camille had informed nearby officers of their arrival, stating their crimes and insisting they be placed under arrest, but the rest was out of her control.

Kaldur had just returned from overseeig the last of Manta's troopers being taken into custody when Camille finally remembered something...or someone. She lost all colour in her face and felt her body tremble in dread. Guilt stabbed directly into her stomach and twisted its way through every layer of muscle. Camille turned towards the three Atlanteans, focusing more on Kaldur than the other two.

"Did anyone run into a cop during the fight?" Camille asked, eyes scanning the room for anyone that had been left behind. It was a futile hope though. They were the only ones left on the ship. "I suppose you wouldn't really know, would you? They were wearing the same pressure suits as everyone else..."

Arthur and Mera didn't respond. Obviously they had no idea what she was talking about. Kaldur, however, appeared a little less lost. "There was one guy, he said his name was John. He refused to fight. I sent him back to Amnesty Bay separate from the other troopers."

Camille breathed a deep sigh of relief. "You didn't encounter anyone else?"

Kaldur shook his head. "I'm sorry. Everyone else attacked us, they didn't stop to talk."

"That's alright. It sounds like Dean made his choice...as long as John's alright." Camille shrugged but felt something boiling in her veins. The fact that a police officer, someone trained to protect people and keep the order, could allow himself to become so corrupt was daunting. How could Dean join a group of terrorists? It was people like him that gave the rest of them a bad name.

A sudden twinge of pain jolted through Camille's arm. She yelped in surprise at the feeling and turned to see Mera dabbing at the wound on her arm with a wet cloth. It wasn't a severe injury, the laser had only grazed against her skin, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"You're lucky." Mera said, removing the cloth and giving her arm one final look. "The laser cauterised your injury immediately after making it. Looks like it will heal on its own."

Camille nodded her gratitude. "Thanks. That's good to know."

Mera granted Camille a small smile then directed her gaze back toward the two men. "This ship is a big advantage. We should focus our attention on freeing the rest of the resistance."

Arthur, who had been standing there in silence with his arms crossed for quite some time, finally reacted to the conversation at hand. He raised a thick eyebrow at the redhead who simply rolled her eyes.

"I told you that there were five of us. Kaldur, Garth, Tula, Vulko, and myself. The other three were captured near Atlantis whilst attempting to gain followers. They found a few people willing to join us but they were all caught and sent to Refojuner."

"R-Refojuner?" Camille asked cluelessly, completely mispronouncing the foreign word.

"It's a prison outside of Atlantis." Kaldur answered understandingly. "We don't approve of keeping criminals inside our walls."

Camille nodded. This made a lot of sense. Most large prisons on land were away from populated areas as well...Stryker's, for instance, was on a deserted island. It was only natural to not want murderers and abusers near innocent people. It sounded as if it was being used for the wrong reasons this time though - keeping people locked up for simply disagreeing with the leadership was a bit harsh.

"We've got to help them." Mera insisted. "We can't take back the city without them."

Her words sent Arthur into deep thought but he still didn't speak. Kaldur, on the other hand, was eager to help. "If we break them out we should observe the patrol times first and find an opening. The less guards we have to fight, the better. I don't want to be punching people for just doing their jobs."

"Good idea." Mera agreed. "We'll take a day to recuperate and head out tomorrow. I should take a look at the controls for this thing anyway. See if I can figure out how it works."

The ship swayed, only slightly, but enough to ensure that something big had just scraped against its outer hull. Camille shivered. There was no way she was staying down here all night. There was already a long list of sea creatures that Camille never wanted to encounter, adding ones that humans hadn't discovered yet wasn't exactly something she wanted to do.

"I'll take one of the submarine's to the surface and come back in the morning." Camille stated, pointing towards the remaining vessels. "I still have a job, after all."

Just as she was heading towards one of the smaller and more compact submarine's, Camille spotted Arthur standing on the platform. Mera had asked "Where are you going?" but he only replied with a huff. He obviously still wasn't in the best mood.

"You will return for the break out tomorrow, right?" Kaldur pushed for a reply but still didn't get one.

Arthur simply glanced in Camille's direction expectantly, waiting for her to board the submarine. The only exit was one that took the vessels through depressurisation, blocking it off from the rest of the ship before releasing it into the ocean. If he was going to leave, he'd have to wait for her to go as well.

Camille, with a reluctant sigh, sauntered into the submarine and activated the launch sequence. She could still see him as they were lowered from the ship, but the the moment they were released into the sea he had vanished. Whether this was because he had swam away at record speed or because of the pitch blackness that engulfed them, Camille couldn't be sure.

In the darkness the whole world could have blown away in a freak storm and she wouldn't know about it. Everything had dissolved like it was never there at all, like the universe hadn't even begun, or perhaps it never had. In the darkness she couldn't get a sense of anything at all. She was grateful that the submarine drove itself, Camille herself would have never made it out if it was manual.

Camille tapped on one of the buttons displayed before her and the flashlight outside flickered on. The first thing she saw made her squeal and jump so high up that she hit her cranium against the roof with a metal 'clang'. It was a large fish, dark brown in colour, and with a huge head. It had a wide mouth that extended all around the anterior circumference of skull, and bands of inwardly inclined teeth lined both jaws. The teeth were impossibly sharp and almost translucent, only made visible by the lure hanging from its head that had a small light on the end. Camille had seen one in a book years ago, it was called an 'Anglerfish'.

The sight alone sent a chill up Camille's spine. Behind it was a whole manner of different creatures. One looked like a silk blanket, floating around in the dark. It had small veins that branched through it, insinuating that it was a living thing. Some sub-species of jellyfish, maybe. Another was something she had never seen before, and never wished to again. A long snake-like being, perhaps more like an eel, that was completely clear. She could see every organ, every bone, every content of its stomach. She gagged. It was shocking to her that anyone would want to swim around here freely.

The submarine, thankfully, took her away from these things. Whenever one disappeared though, another would take its place. She saw animals she didn't know existed and others that she wished didn't. She had only just started seeing the water lighten when the submarine was pushed off course. Something had crashed it into a nearby rocky structure...something big.

Obviously a little shaken up by this encounter, Camille grabbed hold of the wheel - trying to steer it back into a clearing where it could continue on its voyage to the surface. That's when it happened. Something dashed in her direction, so fast that it became a blur of teeth. It attempted to latch onto the viewing screen, digging its sharp fangs into the glass.

"Jesus...!" Camille swore, all air exiting her lungs. It was a shark, at least that's what it bared the most similarities to. It looked nothing like any species she'd ever seen though.

It was about the size of a Goblin shark, just the height of a full-grown human. Despite this it had a strength to its bite that couldn't be compared to any animal. She knew this because after mere seconds the metallic glass began to crack beneath its teeth. Camille, who had been paralysed with fear, was forced to take action. She strained against the wheel, pushing it until the submarine was doing rapid flips - trying to shake the creature off. It seemed to work, eventually, but as it was flung away Camille saw two long legs. Her eyes widened. It was a person...a severely mutated person.

She would have screamed if she had the time to do so, but she didn't. That monster had broken through most of the glass layers separating her from the ocean. With each passing moment the cracks grew longer and deeper. She had to get to out of here, and soon. If water was to be let in at this depth she would either be crushed under the water pressure or freeze to death. Drowning would be the least of her concerns. It was a shame that the pressure suit Manta had given her had been damaged in the fight, otherwise she could have eliminated the 'crushed' option.

Camille grabbed the wheel and pulled upwards with all the strength she could muster. Getting to Amnesty Bay wasn't a priority anymore. Getting to to the top of the sea was, from there she could figure out which direction to swim. She just needed to make sure she survived long enough to do that.

The submarine made a growl of effort as it pushed through the Aphotic (or Midnight) Zone. Slowly she could see small speckles of light puncturing through the bleakness but it took another minute to actually exit the void. Now she could see her surroundings without the flashlight; the schools of fish, coral lining every flat space, and a few turtles moving above her. The viewing screen made a loud crackling noise. Camille gulped. She was nowhere near the surface yet, but at least the pressure was no longer enough to squash her...

The vessel only managed to get a few dozen feet higher before the glass completely gave way. The cuts it made in her skin couldn't be felt compared to the cold water that suddenly enveloped her. It closed in around her, temporarily pinning her to her chair. It took a handful of seconds before she was able to kick her way out of the submarine.

Camille's arms and legs cut through the water desperately as she tried to swim to the surface. The dark indigo water swirled around her, trapping her, keeping her from the oxygen she needed. The top layer of water was so far away that she couldn't see it. All she knew was dark blue - that had become her entire world. No matter how fast she swam it didn't make any difference.

The woman held her breath as long as she could, too long in fact. Red and black splotches danced in front of her and she couldn't remember if her eyes were opened or closed. The coldness she had felt upon entering the water was completely gone. A desperate hot wave had come over her, warming even her frosted fingers. Her heart was beating rapidly in panic. The urgency for air was more apparent than ever.

The edges of her vision had started vanishing when the shark-faced man appeared again. He opened his jaw, drawing closer to her as her body's movements ceased. She could feel his teeth scraping against her ankle, then piercing it entirely. Her skin was so numb that she didn't feel it, and her mind was too clouded to stop it. Her hand reached upwards, hopelessly trying to continue towards the top but it was futile.

The creature had barely started dragging her back down when something pried it from her leg. Something strong wrapped around her. It was firm, and inviting. Camille thought she was dead and that this was simply her minds way of letting her go in peace. This fortunately wasn't true. She did lose consciousness though, and recovered it not long afterwards.

When she woke up she thought she was still drowning. Water bubbled in her lungs and spewed from her mouth relentlessly. Her body was freezing, and it trembled with every upchuck of liquid. Blood oozed from her leg, beading from her time in the ocean. It pooled around her foot but she couldn't feel any pain, not while her body was so numb.

Something touched her back and she gasped her first breath of air in what felt like a lifetime. She flinched, but managed enough strength to turn around. She was met with a pair of steely blue eyes - Arthur. He had an expression she hadn't seen him wear since the robbery two years ago. When he saw that someone had died. It was a look of failure, and of concern.

Carefully, and without uttering a single word, he picked her up. It was so effortless that it felt as if she weighed no more than a leaf to him. Camille tried to speak but her voice was gone, swallowed up by the ocean. Somehow she knew that it wouldn't have comforted him regardless. He looked so concentrated on getting her somewhere safe, so disturbed by her injury. She could have sworn that his grip on her tightened a few times but could do nothing but ignore it.

A sour feeling intruded Camille's gut. She was becoming a burden...exactly as Arthur had predicted. It made her feel useless. As if all her determination was in vain. She was out of her element, in a world that wasn't her own. Perhaps her help was only weighing them down. This wasn't enough to convince her away from lending her assistance, but it was certainly enough to trigger a few thoughts of self-doubt. There was nothing that Camille hated more than being made to pity herself...