The Airship

(......Where am I.....?) Chris's voice echoes through his head.

 He seemed to be flowing along a current under the ocean. He was half conscious, barely making out the sunlight above as it slowly fades to a deeper blue, he was sinking, he was going even further down into the ocean.

(I'm underwater.... I-I can't breathe....)

 Chris chokes under the water, but then realizes something. He slowly looks towards his feet, noticing a fish-like figure pulling him down.

(No... I'm not sinking... I'm being dragged... What is this creature...? It's beautiful... Yet, it's going to be the death of me...) He thinks.

He coughs, bubbles flowing out of his mouth before his eyes roll into the back of his head. He had lost all consciousness...

Meanwhile, on the beach...

Corry was looking out at sea with a pair of binoculars, Noland was standing behind him with a worried expression on his face.

"How did this even happen-!? Chris has proven to be an extraordinary fighter, how'd he end up all the way out there in the ocean-!?" Noland asks frantically.

"He took a pretty big blast for me, it's a miracle he didn't get hit directly, but now he might drown..!!" Corry panics.

"Might!? I wouldn't be surprised if he has already!!" Noland says, stamping his foot.

"Don't shout at me, it's not my fault!!" Corry shouts.

"You're just standing there though!! Isn't there anything we can do to go down and find him!?" Noland yells into Corry's ear.

Corry plugs his ears, his head starting to hurt from Noland's shouting before he remembers.

"There should be a bunch of smaller vehicle modules, let's see if we can find something that can go under the water!!" Corry states loudly.

"Y'know, you could have thought of that before Chris was under the water for over 5 minutes!!" Noland says angrily, running back to the ship.

Corry looks down, sighing, before running behind Noland to find a vehicle suited for the bottom of the ocean.

Somewhere, at the bottom of the ocean...

Chris's vision starts to return to him. He slowly opens his eyes, blinded by a light, but it didn't seem to be coming from the Sun...

"Rrgh.... God... My whole body is in pain..."

He sets a hand on his chest, realizing that he was shirtless.

"E-Ehh-!? Hey, who took my clothes-!?"

He quickly gets up, but.... Doesn't get up? He looks around, he seemed to be in some sort of fancy bedroom, something you'd see at a mansion. It clicks in his head that he's not on land or in the air... he was still under the sea! The windows were open, and they showed a wide ocean landscape covered in coral and mutated rocks that gave off light illuminescent glows.

"Wait.... If I'm here... How come I can breathe... and talk for that matter...?"

He looks down... and almost screams at the sight that beholds him. His legs were gone, replaced by a large blue fish tail!! He stares at his new body before feeling at his neck. There were little slits in his neck.

"G-Gills-!?" Chris yelps.

He notices a mirror in the corner of the room, recklessly swimming over as he wasn't used to the tail. It was true, he had gills and a large tail, but his face and parted blond hair looked the same. Christopher had effectively been turned into a merman!!

"H-How did this happen-!? Where am I-!?" Chris asks in a wild panic.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, causing Chris to try getting into a fighting stance, but he fails, floating backwards softly.

"Who's there-!? Show yourself!!" Chris calls out, trying to cover up the caution in his voice.

A woman's voice calls lightly through the door.

"P-Please lower your voice, I don't want anyone to hear you..." The voice says quietly.

Hearing the voice, Chris eases up, staring at the door.

"....Who are you...?" Chris asks, swimming a bit closer to the door.

The person behind the door hesitates before slowly opening the door and swimming in. It was a mermaid, a beautiful mermaid at that. She had light turquoise eyes and sky blue hair that flowed behind her as she swam. She had a pastel green tail and had a white strap as a bra that wrapped around her chest and back.

"M-My name... My name is Pool..." She says nervously.

Chris stares at the mermaid, utterly entranced by her beauty.

(W-What is this...!? A beautiful mermaid... Pool...!? I-I must be hallucinating right now, I must have drowned-!!) Chris thinks, several thoughts flying through his head.

"Ummm... I'm sorry... Did I do something bad...?" Pool asks, looking to the side.

"I-I.. Well uhh... No... I don't think so..." Chris stammers, scratching the back of his head.

Pool nods and closes the door before swimming over to Chris. She seems to inspect him, looking his body up and down. A light blush spreads on Chris's face as he watches her examination.

"Ummm.... Ms... Pool, was it..? What are you doing..?" Chris asks nervously, but full of curiosity.

Pool jolts and looks back into Chris's eyes.

"U-Um... If you don't mind me asking... Are you a bad man..?" Pool asks, her voice lowering.

"Ehh? Bad man?" Chris asks, tilting his head.

"Mhm, they come in the big machines and wear the grey uniforms..." She says.

"Grey uniforms...? Techway? Is that who you're talking about?" Chris questions.

"Is that what they are called..? Such an interesting name... Are you with them?" Pool asks again.

"No, I'm not. My name is Christopher, I ended up in the ocean because of a fight with them..." 

Pool gasps before covering her mouth.

"Y-You fought them..!?" Pool asks, flabbergasted.

"Yeah, but they overtook me in the end, my friends probably defeated them already and they're most likely looking for me now... How did I end up here though? Were you the one pulling me?" Chris asks Pool, looking into her eyes.

Pool seems to stammer for a bit, fidgeting with her fingers.

"W-Well... I... Umm... Well, yes... B-But... My father doesn't want humans in here... S-So I'm sorry, I had to use my magic to turn you into one of us..!" Pool says, almost seeming a little ashamed of herself. 

"So you made me like this, huh..? You said your father doesn't allow "humans" in here? Who's your father?" Chris asks.

"....King Pozaiton of Atlantis." Pool responds reluctantly.

Chris's jaw drops to the floor, he stares at Pool, dumbstruck by the information she has just disclosed to him. He pulls his jaw back up and shakes his head.

"S-So... You're telling me... We're in the lost city of Atlantis... and you're the princess-!?" Chris asks loudly.

Pool swims up close to him and covers his mouth.

"S-Shhh, keep it down..!" Pool whispers in a panicked tone.

Chris's face turns a bright red as she gets close to him before she removes her hand.

"...So.... How come humans aren't allowed in here..?" Chris asks, his tone having softened.

"My father was treated horribly by humans and has decided to keep them out... He told me that humans are greedy and only want to fulfill their own selfish desires... Defense has been tighter ever since this "Techway" started attacking..." Pool says sadly.

"...They're after something called the Life Generator, right?" Chris asks.

Pool gasps, looking up swiftly at Chris.

"H-How do you know this-!?" She asks, backing away.

"No need to worry, I've been spying on them, I just know this stuff..." Chris says reassuringly.

Pool takes a few deep "breaths" before getting closer again.

"Well... Yes... That's what they're after. The Life Generator is a limitless source of energy that powers the entirety of Atlantis and keeps the surrounding ocean life alive. Without it, Atlantis and its neighboring wildlife would surely perish..." Pool says grimly. 

"I see.... I have another question, kind of going back to what we were talking about before... Why did you take me?" Chris says curiously.

Pool's face flushes lightly, she looks to the side.

"W-Well.. I.. Originally took you in because I wanted to study you and ask you questions... But it turns out you're not with the bad guys, so... It was pointless..." Pool mumbles, looking down.

Chris watches her head sink, his body loosening.

(She seems so sad... Maybe there's something I can do...) Chris thinks before deciding.

He takes Pool's hand and squeezes it. She looks up at him, her eyes dilating.

"C-Christopher-!? What a-are you doing-!?" Pool asks, caught off guard.

"I want to talk with your father." Chris states suddenly.

Pool's eyes widen, she starts to tremble, looking at Chris with a look of apprehension on her face.

"M-My father-!? No, you can't-!! You can't imagine the trouble I'll get into if Father finds out I've brought a human onto the grounds, and converted him for that matter!!" Pool panics.

"I want to show you that my visit here won't be pointless, and thank you for making this possible, Pool." Chris says, nodding his head at her.

Pool just stares into his deep blue eyes before sniffing and wiping her eyes.

"O-Ok... Ok, I'll take you to my father..." Pool says, a light grin forming on her face.

"I promise I'll make it count." Chris says, a powerful look in his eyes.

Pool grabs Chris's arm and opens the door, swimming out with Chris behind her.

Back on the beach...

The hangar bay of the Airship opens and a big vehicle rolls out onto the sand. It had a tinted viewing glass and ran on treads, the sunlight shines off of it's silver sheen. Corry and Noland were inside of it, behind a control panel.

"An amphibious vehicle, what a lucky find!!" Corry says happily.

"It'll probably be too late though, we might as well just be recovering his dead body..." Noland says hopelessly.

Corry glares at Noland.

"Would you stop that!? Have some hope, we're not gonna forget Chris, he won't die!" Corry proclaims.

"Well I've also never seen someone survive under the water for 20 minutes, so good luck with your positivity!!" Noland says angrily, walking to the back of the vehicle.

Corry sighs, feeling powerless. He sends the vehicle moving forward before it rolls into the ocean, eventually becoming submerged. Once underwater, the treads flip onto their sides as two air jets open on the back, propelling the vehicle through the endless blue of the ocean.

"Alright... He sank around here, so all we have to do is go down around this spot right here." Corry says.

As he moves the submarine down, some lights catch his eyes. He looks over and sees multiple vehicles floating down towards the bottom of the ocean... They all had the Techway symbol on them. 

"Ummm.... Noland?" Corry says.

"What, is Chris dead like I told you he was?" Noland says in a jerky tone. 

"No... It's Techway, they're coming down too..." Corry says, a concerned look on his face...

TO BE CONTINUED!!