The Kraken didn't attack with teeth or claws. It attacked with gravity.
As the massive, ink-black eye opened, the water around us became heavy as lead. My violet thrusters sputtered, unable to fight the crushing force. My HUD flashed a warning: EXTERNAL PRESSURE: 20,000 PSI. ARMOR INTEGRITY FAILING.
"Leon! We can't move!" I choked out, the green light of my armor flickering like a dying candle.
"It's not the Kraken!" Leon shouted, struggling against the current. "It's the Abyssal Scepter! My brother is here!"
Out of the darkness emerged a troop of royal guards, their armor made of jagged obsidian and glowing coral. At their center was a man who looked exactly like Leon, but his eyes were filled with the same red void as Doctor Science. This was Prince Kaelen, Leon's older brother.
He held a scepter made of a dark, crystalline material-a Gift from Dementra. He pointed it at us, and the Kraken's tentacles wrapped around the Manta-1 and our team like massive, fleshy chains.
"Welcome home, little brother," Kaelen's voice vibrated through the water. "And thank you for bringing the Outlander. The Queen has been waiting for her 'Battery' to be delivered to the deep."
The Capital of Shadows: Atlantis
We weren't killed. We were dragged through a shimmering portal of bubbles into the heart of New Atlantis.
The city was beautiful and terrifying. Buildings carved from black pearl rose toward the surface, connected by bridges of solid light. But the streets were empty, and the citizens were huddled in their homes, their eyes glowing with a faint, sickly red. The "Dark Infection" had taken the city.
We were thrown into a prison cell made of Harmonic Water-walls of liquid that vibrated at a frequency that canceled out our powers.
Avan tried to spark, but the water absorbed the charge and sent a painful jolt back into his body.
Elizabeth reached for her bow, but it had been snapped in half by Kaelen's guards. She sat in the corner, her face a mask of cold fury.
Leon stood at the edge of the cell, his hands pressed against the water wall. "Kaelen has sold our souls to Dementra. He thinks the Dark Multiverse will give us the power to rule the surface. He doesn't realize she's just going to consume us all."
The Interrogation
The water wall parted, and Kaelen stepped inside, flanked by two guards. He ignored Leon and walked straight toward me. He grabbed my chin, his fingers cold as ice.
"The Watch," he whispered. "It pulses with the rhythm of two worlds. Dementra says if I feed it the blood of an Atlantean King, it will unlock the Abyssal Gate. It will turn this ocean into a bridge for her legions."
"You're insane," I spat, my violet visor reflecting his twisted face. "She's using you. Once that gate opens, you're just a footnote in her conquest."
"Perhaps," Kaelen smiled thinly. "But a footnote that ruled the world for a day is better than a Prince who lived in a trash can."
He turned to Leon. "Tomorrow, at the solar eclipse, we sacrifice the exile. And the 'Last Daughter' will watch as her power is used to drown the sun."
The Spark of Rebellion
As the guards left, the cell went dark. I looked at the Watch. It was scarred from the battle with the Kraken, but deep inside, I saw a tiny flicker of Purple and Green.
"Elizabeth," I whispered. "How's your tactical belt? Did they take everything?"
She looked up, a small, dangerous smirk appearing on her lips. She reached into a hidden seam in her boot and pulled out a small, high-tech needle-a West Corp Sonic Disruptor.
"They missed the backup," she said. "But I can only use it once. It'll shatter the water wall for three seconds."
"Three seconds is all I need," I said, the armor beginning to creep back over my skin. "Leon, get ready to lead us out. Avan... get ready to be the loudest lightning bolt this city has ever seen."
The V-Team was down, but we weren't out. We were in the heart of the enemy's territory, and it was time to show the Queen that even in the deepest darkness, the Twin Rivers still flow.
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