The air was filled with the sound of blasts. The only things Captain Flint could smell were gunpowder and blood. Raising his sword above his head he pointed to the fat merchant ship ahead of him. "Fire!" He yelled, his command quickly followed by a cacophony of cannon shots. He smiled in grotesque amusement as he heard terrified screams, the sound of wood splintering and the sweet sound of metal against metal. It was time that he joined the fray.

With a battle cry, the feared Captain Flint swung from his ship to the larger one. He landed like a cat, immediately blocking a weak parry from one of the guards. He swung his titanium blade down and under, cleaving the poor man in two. Rich red blood spurted out of the man, indicating that he was of the Mer. Flint's smile grew even wider. If it was one thing he hated more than profitless raids, it was the Mer. They had no right in the world; they were abominations and not human. Flint's prejudice stemmed from his human nature: whenever approached by someone different than he, the initial reaction is disgust and contempt. It was no different than the Europeans and the Africans, Indians, Hispanics and Asians, as well as the many other racial brackets there were thousands of years ago. It was easy to hate, but even harder to accept.

Slicing through another guard – this one human – Flint made his way to the belly of the ship. He stormed past the captain's lavish quarters into the room behind the closet. Tapping the wall and satisfied by the hollow sound, he gestured to two of his men. They immediately placed the nano-bombs on the walls and stepped way. Even though technology has developed a way to contain the nanos, one could never be too safe. With a click of a button, a small pop was heard, spreading the nanos, and the wall immediately started to disintegrate. When the wall was mostly gone, Flint clicked the button again, halting the progress of the nanos. His smile was triumphant. The safe hidden behind the closet was larger than they expected, and fortunately for them, the nanos had already eaten through a portion of it. All they had to do was grab the gold inside.

With a gleeful cackle, Flint gathered his gold and boarded his ship. His ship spun in the water and with a bright green flash, disappeared. Once again, the notorious Captain Flint vanished without a trace, leaving destruction in his wake.

James Hawkins stared at the party around him and sighed. All the court parties in Montressor were the same: young women in their dresses tittering in the corners, young men loudly boasting of their latest achievements, mothers staring at everyone with judgemental eyes and old men slurring their words as they argued with each other. The shallowness of his own people disgusted him. There were real problems out in the world and yet they went on with their lives, chasing after trivial pleasures and lounging in luxury. His hands tightened into fists at his sides. If they only knew that all their wealth was made off the backs of-

His train of thought was interrupted by a polite cough. He spun around and immediately stiffened. "Prince, isn't it too early in the night to be wearing such a dark face?" The man behind him teased. Jim relaxed and cracked a smile at his best friend and head of guard.

"That's why I have you, Eric. You can charm everyone while I scare them away."

The handsome man laughed. "Jim, c'mon. It's your birthday party! Try to enjoy it."

"I did." Jim replied sulkily. "I can't help it if I don't like social events."

"You better get used to it, becoming the King and all." Even though Eric's voice was light, Jim's mood became even darker. "Damn it, me and my motor mouth. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Jim mumbled. "I'm only here to hear what my exploration is going to be about."

"As is everyone." Replied the guard solemnly.

The two men stood in a sombre silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts. While Eric's focussed on a red-haired young woman, Jim's wandered into the untraveled parts of the never-ending ocean he would have to traverse.

A pounding on the stage ceased the meaningless chatter, and everyone's heads turned to the esteemed Dr. Delbert Doppler. Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he fidgeted and fixed his glasses, mumbling something under his breath. His floppy brown hair fell into his face, and the man behind him sighed. Grimsby pushed the doctor out of the way and onto the floor of the ballroom. Jim had to hide his smile. "As that blithering idiot was trying to say, it is time to announce the Prince's expedition. For this, everyone knows-"

"B-blithering idiot!" Protested Dr. Dilbert. "I'll have you know that I have a degree in astrophysics!"

Grimsby ignored the man stuttering at his feet. "- the Crown Prince has to go on an expedition on his eighteenth birthday to prove his worth. Prince James is charged with finding Captain Flint, bringing the pirate and his men to justice, and retrieving the lost treasure." Finished with the announcement, the butler bowed, spun on his heel, and walked stiffly off the stage.

His announcement was met with a tense silence. Everyone knew that no-one who saw Captain Flint and his men came out of there alive. "What are they thinking?" Whispered some. "Especially after we lost our last prince to this stupid tradition." Others mused. "Are they trying to kill off the royal family?" Cried another.

The only one who had not said anything was the prince himself. When Eric turned to see the young man's expression, he was instead met by the sight of the prince's pet. Morph giggled and changed into a large, neon arrow pointing to the balcony. Eric grinned at the small blob, patted its head, and walked in that direction.

He found the prince leaning against the balcony's rail, staring out at the vast expanse of calm water.

"What's it like?"

They have had this conversation many times before. Eric linked his hands behind his back, and faced the sea as well. "It's peaceful. The sounds are more muffled than they are here, but everything is crystal clear. It's nice to drift around instead of being bound to the ground, but sometimes I prefer the ground than the water."

"May I ever visit Atlantis?"

It was the first time he had ever asked that, and Eric paused. "I don't see why you won't be able to, but no-one has ever wanted to…"

"Because they are all ignorant of the price their wealth comes at." Replied Jim bitterly. "I'm not. I want to know."

"I'll have to see what King Triton says…"

"Eric, I don't mean after I come back. I mean now."

When Ariel was a child, she would curl up on her father's lap and have him tell her stories. Unlike the children of the surface, the Mer's children were brought up with the stories of their ancestors, their oppression, and the reason why they had to work so hard on the underwater farms that supported the surface dwellers. She was told of the first evolution of man with fins and gills, and eventually a tail. She was told that the humans were scared of it, and killed the child. When more children were born with this 'deformity', which only showed when the child was placed in water, these children were separated from the 'normal' ones. These children, called the Mer, were raised differently. They were beaten, forced to do hard labour and lived in the most despicable living conditions. When it was found out that they could stay underwater for an indefinite period of time, the royalty of Montressor built another city for the Mer. This city was under the water, connected to the city of Montressor by a glass tube. Atlantis was on the ocean floor, a bubble of air with exits into the wide, open sea. When a child is found to be a Mer, he or she is brought down to Atlantis to be cared for.

Many Mer, tired of their treatment, left Atlantis. They were never seen again. No-one knew if they died or found a better place. They were too scared to follow.

When the surface dwellers realised that they were running low on their food supply, they made a deal with the Mer to start farms under the water. In exchange, Montressor gave the Mer their freedom. However, the Mer was continually discriminated against. They were not allowed to work on Montressor unless it was a guard position, and even then they were paid minimally. The Mer began to accept their roles and even prefer it. Being part fish, the Mer were more comfortable with the water around them than under them. If Montressor did one thing right, it was to put the Mer underwater.

Now that Ariel was seventeen and had already explored every inch of Atlantis and the surrounding areas, she began to thirst for more. It was this thirst that had her twenty miles away from Atlantis, much further than her father ever wanted her to be, swimming through a ghost town. Ariel had a bag slung over her shoulder, into which she would put random items. She loved looking at these ruins. It was a nice reminder that people also once lived on this land, that there was something else here before them. That the world wasn't always covered in water.

"Ariel, I really think that we have to go." Flounder's voice was whiny and Ariel sighed. Honestly, couldn't her little brother get some guts? She spun around and put her hands on her hips, in the exact place where her tail met her stomach. Flounder was a frail boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had the same eyes she did: turquoise blue, but their similarities ended there. Where Ariel was adventurous and had no boundaries to her curiosity, Flounder was timid and a scaredy-cat. Where Ariel was a red-head, Flounder inherited their father's light hair.

"Flounder, you promised me that we could spend an hour here."

"Yeah, and it took us fifteen minutes to get here, and it's been thirty minutes. So if we want to get back in time, we should leave. Now." Retorted the younger boy, looking around him nervously.

"Oh, you're such a killjoy." Nevertheless, Ariel turned away from the ruins and started to swim in the direction of Atlantis. Flounder released a sigh of relief, the bubbles spiralling to the surface in a languid manner. Ariel's eyes followed the bubbles' path, an indiscernible look in her blue eyes.

"If only…" She whispered. She set her jaw, and before Flounder could protest, Ariel shot off to the surface.

"Ariellllll!" Cried Flounder, as he struggled to keep up with the girl. "Ariel! You know father forbids us to go to the surface!"

"Oh, Flounder, where's your sense of fun?" Laughed the older girl, doing a loop around the boy. "I just want to see the sun."

Ariel burst through the threshold, taking a gasp of air. She couldn't get enough of it. The air on the surface was so much cleaner than in Atlantis. Atlantis' air was recycled from the surface and from the oxygen from the water, but this…this was different. And the feeling of the sun on her face! It was amazing. She took another deep breath, and floated. She flipped her tail in the air, splashing her face with droplets of the salt water. She heard Flounder surface next to her, but she didn't bother look at him. He said nothing, possibly just as amazed as she by the purity of the air. No wonder Eric prefers to work on the surface…

The thought of Eric made Ariel think of Montressor. Montressor! The city above them, full of surface dwellers. She sat up quickly, her tail splashing Flounder in the face. How could she have not seen it before? Montressor was so much grander than she thought.

It was a larger city, propped up above the ocean and her tempers by pillars that Ariel knew stretched to the ocean floor. She could see many ships docked at the surface of the water, about a storey under the base of the city. The city itself was an architectural wonder, all the buildings made of white marble and glass. In the centre was a high tower that reached for the sky, as if wanting to touch the stars. It was so much larger than Atlantis! While Atlantis was made of the same materials, the people of Atlantis decorated their houses and building with what they discovered on the ocean floor – pieces of coral, ancient knick knacks and so on dangled from windows, doors and walls. Atlantis is a more colourful city than Montressor, but Ariel couldn't help but feel awed by the surface city.

"Ariel, it's time to go." Flounder's voice cut through Ariel's speculation.

"Yeah…" Giving one last look at the city, Ariel dove back under the water.

"Prince, I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Why not?"

Jim and Eric were in the elevator that connected the two cites, travelling quickly through the leagues of water that separated the two. Eric looked at the young man next to him. Jim was a man of average height, his brown hair cut in the customary bowl cut, with the small braid at the nape of his neck. His blue eyes were serious, too serious for a boy his age. Thrust with the responsibilities of a prince from a young age, the prince had had to grow up quickly so he may assume the position of King. He didn't have the years of training as he should have, but despite that he had risen admirably to the occasion and easily surpassed his tutors' expectations. Jim was a smart boy, developing and installing the solar panels that were now placed on every citizen's home. He was also insatiably curious about Eric's people, disgusted that his ancestors were so ignorant that they would oppress the people who had mutated to this new world's needs.

"King Triton isn't the most…welcoming of men. Especially when it comes to surface dwellers."

"I just want to meet him."

"That's the problem." Muttered Eric, as they reached the bottom level. The two men stepped off the elevator, and Jim was left to gape at the lively city before him. It was so much different than Montressor. Where Montressor was regulated and generally quiet, Atlantis was loud and colourful. Children ran underfoot, women chatted with their neighbours and men guffawed at the corner. The women wore slim fitting clothing, and the men wore fitted shirts or no shirts at all. While the people of Montressor wore mainly dark colours, the people of Atlantis were not afraid to match a purple shirt and bright green skirt, or a yellow pants and a light blue tank. Jim didn't know what to expect of Atlantis, but he knew it wasn't this.

As his eyes roved the crowded streets, he was distracted by a vivid shot of red. Before he could look more into it, Eric called for him. Nodding absently, Jim followed the older man.

A/N: So what do you think? I'm not usually a fan of crossovers, but the youtube video "Ariel & Jim Broken Road" by rosh7again really changed my mind :D It also kinda inspired this…

Any thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Like it? Hate it? Love it?

r.e.v.i.e.w

please?

;]