The Airship

The vast ocean is a thing of splendor, such beautiful sights to behold in it's shady blue majesty, such as the crew saw on their ascent back to the world of fresh air. The Amphibian flows gracefully through the watery wonderland at a steady pace. Inside of it, Corry was sitting at the control table, watching the world go by. Chris and Pool were sitting against the wall, still with fish tails in the place of what would normally be legs. In the back of the vehicle, at a lab table, Noland was working hastily to create the concoctions that would turn Chris and Pool into humans. There were two different sets of beakers and vials on the table, some of the beakers boiling fluids, one of them being a light blue and the other being a reddish color.

"Jeez... It's a lot harder to pay attention to making two of these formulas at the same time..." Noland sighs.

"Then why don't you just do one at a time?" Corry asks from his seat.

Noland looks back at him with a face of slight annoyance.

"Because I've already started on them both, and if I just focus on one of them, the other one may sit still for too long, or it'll boil for too long, which would ruin it." Noland explains.

"Then why didn't you just wait to start the second one?" Chris asks, crossing his arms.

"Would you stop antagonizing me!?" Noland shrieks, quickly turning back to his project.

Pool had been turning her head back and forth, listening to the debate between the crew members.

"Is... This uhh... Normal for you three?" Pool asks shyly.

"Perfectly normal, we're friends." Chris states.

"Friends get into arguments?" Pool asks, slightly doubting this to be true.

"We're not actually arguing, we're just playfully messing around with each other!" Corry says gleefully.

"Oh... Yes, I see. That does make more sense." Pool says, grinning lightly.

"Playfully he says... Hardee har har..." Noland mutters under his breath.

After about 20 more minutes, the Amphibian finally reaches the water's surface. It was now nighttime, the moonlight shines like a silvery mist over the ocean's vast expanses. Back inside of the Amphibian, Noland was now pouring the two liquids in different vials using a pair of tongs and heavy duty gloves. Once finished, he removes the gloves and picks up the vials, shaking them a bit before walking over to Chris and Pool.

"Alright, they're finished. However, I must warn you, go to the bathroom before drinking them, and you must immediately put pants on, alright?" Noland tells Chris and Pool, handing the blue one to Pool and the red one to Chris.

"What are pants?" Pool asks curiously.

Noland, Corry, and Chris all stare at Pool before looking at each other. An awkward silence hangs in the air before Noland looks back down at Pool.

"Uhhh, it's these, the things we're wearing on our legs-" Noland says, pointing to his jeans.

"But why do I need to wear them?" Pool asks with the most innocent look ever.

The boys look at each other again, seemingly mentally asking each other who would tell her what they do. Pool looks at all of them, tilting her head curiously.

"You use them to cover, uhh... You know what." Corry hesitantly says.

"I don't know what actually... What are you talking about?" Pool asks.

"Your genitals!! The stuff you use to piss and something else which I will not say!" Chris blurts out, trying to clear Pool's confusion without making things even more awkward.

"Ohhhhh, yes, I do know what you're talking about!! I remember seeing yours, Chris!" Pool says innocently.

The air hangs heavy over the group for a solid minute. Noland and Corry stare daggers at Chris.

"Pool- Why would you-" Chris starts.

Chris immediately starts getting beat up by Corry and Noland.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING-!?" Noland shouts.

"THAT IS VERY INAPPROPRIATE, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Corry yells.

Pool watches, shock spread across her face.

"W-What are you talking about-?? I had to unclothe him before turning him into one of us... Wet cloth is very heavy you see, that's why we use such light materials..." Pool explains nervously.

Noland and Corry look at Pool before ending their onslaught on Chris.

"I-I was unconscious... I had no control over what she did..." Chris moans through the bruises on his face.

"Is that really so bad?" Pool asks.

"It can be-" Noland states, rubbing his temples.

"Chris, why don't you go change back first? You're already used to having legs." Corry says.

"Alright-" Chris mumbles.

He grabs his clothes and uses his hands to slide across the floor and to the bathroom, closing the door. Noises can be heard inside of the bathroom, before a short yell of surprise is projected through the door.

"....You alright in there-?" Noland asks cautiously.

There was no response for about two minutes before Chris walks back out of the bathroom, fully clothed and with his legs back.

"Heh, it feels good to be able to walk again! I do feel a bit wobbly though, I was swimming for too long-" Chris says, chuckling.

"Could you please respond when I ask stuff?? You had me scared that it failed!" Noland scolds Chris.

"Yeah yeah, sorry!" Chris says in an exaggerated tone.

"Alright Pool, are you ready to become a human?" Corry asks enthusiastically. 

"U-Um.. I am, but... I don't know what to expect..." Pool says nervously.

"Don't worry about it, it's more or less the same as how you are now, you'll just be walking instead of swimming." Noland assures her.

"Are you sure...?" Pool asks.

"Positive, ask Chris, he's already been both races." Noland says.

"Yeah, it really isn't all that different, you'll just have to get used to using legs, just like I had to get used to using a tail for swimming, even if it was for a short time." Chris says in response to Noland.

"Well... Alright then... Oh yeah, umm... I don't have any pants."

Noland begins to speak, but is cut off by a joyous Corry.

"Not to worry! I packed this vehicle with a lot of spare stuff! Noland, open that closet!" Corry says valiantly.

"This one?" Noland asks, walking towards a door that was on the back wall.

Famous last words. Noland opens the closet only to get buried underneath a pile of junk. Only his hand was sticking out of the smorgasbord of items, a pair of light grey sweatpants conveniently landing in it. Both Chris and Pool look at Corry with unamused faces.

"Ehe... Uhh, I may have forgotten to organize it... But hey, there's some sweatpants for Pool!" Corry says, laughing nervously.

Chris walks up to the pile of miscellaneous items and takes the pants.

"Thanks Noland." He says casually.

Noland's hand gives a thumbs-up to Chris. Chris walks to Pool and hands the sweatpants to her.

"Oh... Thanks-" Pool says, a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead.

She slides to the bathroom, and raises the vial up to her mouth to drink the solution. Chris and Corry frantically run up to the door and close it before she changes into a human. There was silence for a short bit before a crashing sound is heard in the bathroom.

"You ok in there??" Chris calls out.

"Yes... I just... Can't seem to figure out how to use these... Legs..." Pool says, audibly struggling.

"Just crawl over to the toilet, the big porcelain thingy with the seat and put those pants on." Corry suggests.

Silence again.

"....Mine is different from Chr-" Pool begins.

"DON'T SAY THAT-" Chris shouts frantically.

Noland now had his head poking out from the junk pile, watching the situation unfold. After a little while, the door opens again. Pool now had legs, they still had some pastel green scales on them due to the fact that she was a natural mermaid being turned human. The sweatpants were somewhat big on her, but she was able to fit into them pretty well. She tries taking a step forward, but face plants into the floor, causing all of the boys to run up to her, helping her back up to her feet.

"Ow... Legs are much harder to use than a tail..." Pool whimpers.

"Well, it's not like you've been using legs your whole life, it'll take some time to get used to them." Chris tells her.

"I suppose you're right..." Pool says softly.

"Hey, why don't you guys help Pool walk to the ship? I'm gonna get this big thing back into the vehicle hangar." Corry says, a wide grin on his face.

"Alright then, come on Pool, Chris." Noland says, pointing for Chris to open the door while he held on to Pool.

"On it." Chris replies, walking over the door and twisting the wheel, causing the airlock to disengage.

A hissing comes from the door before it pops open, revealing the beach outside. Chris walks back to help Pool with Noland. Together, they walk out of the Amphibian, going slowly so as to let Pool get the hang of walking. As they leave, Corry drives the Amphibian back towards the ship. The ship was reflecting moonlight off of it's titanic hull, giving the effect that it was genuinely glowing a bright silver sheen.

"T-This... Is where you guys live!?" Pool asks, her mouth agape.

"Yeah, we actually got on this thing pretty recently, it beats paying taxes and having to take crap from the HOA." Noland says.

"That's for sure, it has it's downsides, but it's a lot better than it could be." Chris says gruffly.

Pool continue to stare in awe at the metal behemoth in front of her. This is where she would be staying with the people that helped protect Atlantis from what otherwise would have been the end of their peaceful civilization. It was as if she was living in a dream, a wonderful dream that she was starting to wish would never end. She smiles brightly.

"The surface world... Really is beautiful..." Pool says softly.

Chris and Noland look at her happy face before looking at each other. They both smile and nod their heads towards each other. They continue helping Pool with her walking, going ever closer to the The Airship.

Meanwhile, at Techway HQ...

Headmaster Bellows was sitting in his chair, tapping his fingers against his desk impatiently.

"...No word yet. They must have failed their mission." Bellows says angrily, slamming his fist onto his desk.

"Patience, Headmaster. Your time will come, success never comes right off the bat, you know..." A sly voice says from Bellows' computer monitor.

The Headmaster freezes before looking at his computer, there seemed to be a video call going on. There was a hooded figure on the screen, the hood was covering his face with a thick darkness.

"Y-Yes, you're right... My apologies... Grandmaster." Bellows says, fearfully.

"You will get what you want in due time, Headmaster..." The voice chuckles, bright red eyes now glowing from the darkness of the man's hood as a large ominous smile spreads across his shadowed face...

TO BE CONTINUED...!