"Crossover, The Abyss: The Wraiths Of Eden/Astro Boy 2009

"The Wraiths Of A Lost City

"Chapter 1/ A World Known But Forgotten

Astro's POV

"I was terrified. Not that being terrified was a bad thing, I was just worried mostly. I was in a submarine-powerboat hybrid. Sitting next to me was Cora; who was studying to became an exobiolgist(The study of life in the universe), she had picked it up in her senior year of high school. Zane, who was helping Dr. Elefun navigate the submarine, he was studying to become a mechanic at the Ministry of Science. My dad, Dr. Temma, sat in the other seat beside me, he was the Head of the Ministry of Science. Sitting opposite of us to the right was Ken, short for kennedy. He was studying sports mostly, but recently he started studying a little bit of the underwater life and its biology. In the middle was Alejo, who was studying mathematics and robotics. Last was Reno, who was studying robotics mostly. I was studying Environmental Studies than like my dad with robotics. We all needed each other on this mission. I still remember, 2 weeks ago, when Dr. Elefun and my dad asked all six of us if we would go. At the ministry of science, me, Cora, Zane, Reno, ken, and Alejo were all sitting at a table in a conference room. Dr. Elefun was explaining the mission to us. "This mission is going to be sort of like a field trip only much more dangerous, we think."

"How dangerous?" I asked out of concern.

" Usually I was the one who handled the dangerous situations. Maybe once in a while, everybody would join in when a town was in danger, a kidnapping, or something or someone was stirring up trouble. We never gone on "dangerous" missions before. Usually the "missions" that Dr. Elefun took us on were educational or helping us with our school studies.

"On this mission, we going to travel into the ocean, going about 400 meters deep. Between the continental rise and the continental slope. And by 'how dangerous,'I honestly don't know."

Cora asked. "What do you think your going to find down there?"

Dr. Elefun looked to her, his eyes crinkling in the corners producing crows feet. He looked like he hadn't slept for a week. "He sighed. "Hopefully nothing." We didn't know what we were going to find down here, but I had my suspicions that my dad and Dr. Elefun knew more than they were telling. Diving to the bottom of the ocean in a submarine made me a little bit claustrophobic. I had to keep reminding myself to calm down and breathe in and out. I wasn't used to being in tight places mostly. Dr. Elefun thought with all the different fields we're all studying could help us experience some training. I was brought out of my thoughts when a hand grabbed mine. "Are you okay?" I turned to Cora with a small smile looking into her eyes. Concerned, beautiful, sapphire eyes. "Yeah, I'm just thinking."

"You're worried, aren't you?" I smiled, she knew me so well. Somehow she always knew what I was thinking, Knowing that comforted me. I squeezed her hand and said, whispering. "I just don't know what we're going to find down here and mostly I'm just worried about our safety. I mean what if we don't make it out alive, Dr. Elefun said it could be dangerous."

"We're all worried and scared too, Astro, but we have to keep faith that everything will be alright. No matter what happens, At least will all be together." Cora said, looking at me with reassurance and determination. My smile brighten. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She rested her forehead on my shoulder and squeezed my hand.

"Ugh! They haven't kissed each other fully and they already making me sick!" Zane said this as he looked back at the two of us and smiled. I smiled back and said. "Zane, would you like to enjoy the view from behind the submarine?" Everybody's laughter echoed off the walls of the submarine. Zane would sometimes tease us whenever Cora and I shared a kiss or whenever we were caught up in a moment. Cora would always give him a death glare or give him a punch in the arm. I'm not kidding you when I say she has a strong arm because she has a strong arm. Ive seen her bad side and it's not the prettiest. Well, it's kind of cute when her nose twitches or when her lips go into a pout. Whenever we have an argument or when she's mad, I have to turn my head or I start smiling non-stop. Zane smiled and raised his hands in the air. "Nope, I'm good, I'll stay right here."

"That's what I thought." Everybody calmed down and the silence returned. The submarine had been diving for about to 200 meters to almost 1000 meters, making that about 45 minutes. Entering the Mesopelagic or known as the twilight zone, was losing light from the sun. There was still light but going down further made it darker, making me feel uneasy. Zane and Dr. Elefun directed the submarine into a canyon that went further downward. The canyon was a little bit narrowed but Zane and Dr. Elefun managed to get through without even a scratch. I was both shocked and amazed. They seemed to know where they were going out in the middle of the ocean. Looking through the 5 to 10 inch thick glass, I could see the ocean before me. Fishes of all kinds swam in front of us or away from us. Some were clownfish, barramundi, angelfish, panther grouper, and the billfish. There were many other fishes that I couldn't name, ken would probably know most of the fish due to his recent study of the ocean than me. I was surprised some of the fish could survive this deep.

We came upon a land formation in the continental rise about 800 meters above the abyssal plain. Rock formations came into view looking like mountains underwater. The next thing I see is a unfinished steel railroad bridge. It's steel trestles with plate girder Spans and double-bent steel towers held the bridge 200 feet off the ground. "What is that?" Reno asked. Curious like the rest of us, we all leaned forward in our seats. My dad leaned forward and pointed ahead. "Land the sub underneath the bridge at the end the cliff. We'll explore more when we get out." Zane nodded his head in response. Dr. Elefun pushed some buttons to his left on the control panel.

"Are you sure that such a good idea?" Elefun turned back in his seat and looked at my dad with uncertainty. My dad sighed and pressed forward. "Right now, we don't have a choice." My dad never lost his bravery or determination when something needed to be done. My dad leaned toward Elefun and whispered. "We need to find out if anything's changed and... if anything survived after all this time." Elefun sighed and agreed.

"Alright."

If anything survived after all this time? What did they mean by that? What were they hiding that they wouldn't tell us. I was getting frustrated with the lack of information I wasn't receiving. I leaned my head back against the head rest. Two weeks before we started this mission, I would ask my dad what could be possibly be down there that we desperately needed to find. He would answer me by saying. "Nothing probably, jus... just a precaution." I knew it was something more than just a precaution. Every time I asked him about it he would get nervous and stumble on his words. It was not like him at all. The ocean was 120 miles from Metro City. The closest city to the ocean, 2 miles away was, "Caraval." It's been abandon ever since Metro City was built and lifted into the sky. Some people say that the people from Caraval deserted their homes to come to Linken, the town that Cora and Zane grew up in. Linken and Metro City were being built the same time the people deserted Caraval. In June, after a month Toby was born, a group of people were coming from Caraval into Linken. The town folks described the group as rather astonished. The group was astonished at how bright the sun was, how it was easier to breath, how different the smells were. It confused the town folks into thinking these people were crazy. Where were these people from? It was confusing and mysterious at the same time. It didn't make any sense. Zane landed the sub underneath the bridge, steading it with all the strength he could muster, landing it with a thud. Elefun turned to Zane with a smile of proud ness.

"Job well done, Zane!" Zane's face flushed in embarrassed.

"Thank you, Doctor." Zane was known to be a goofball from time to time but at his heart he was kind, hardworking, and always willing to help another. Dr. Elefun and my dad unbuckled their seat restraints, stood up, and faced us.

"Alright, lets stay together. Everybody have their earpiece in?" We all nodded our heads in agreement. "Good. Everybody suit up."

Everybody unbuckled and followed Elefun and my dad to the back of the sub where we retrieved our scuba tanks and flippers. The only thing I had on was a black wetsuit and my red boots on. Since my body wasn't effected by the water like a normal humans I didn't need a scuba tank or flippers. Holding my breath up to 30 minutes made it easier for me to explore. With technology these days, Elefun and My dad had built a wetsuit to accommodate to the water pressure without crushing us to death. I turned and helped Cora with her scuba tank. My fingers brushed her black mid-length hair to the side as I eased the tank onto her back. Making sure her tank was full on air she turned around and thanked me. I reached behind her to grab her diving mask when she asked. "Have your sensors picked up anything yet?"

I sighed and answered. "Nope, nothing yet. I feel weird though, like, I've been here before or I'm revisiting one of Toby's old memory's or... I can't describe it really." Nothing familiar surfaced from Toby's memories, but the feeling of belonging was still there. Cora nodded in understanding and took a step closer to me. "What did your dad say to Elefun?"

I looked over to my dad. His face was masked with worry, his hands were slightly shaking holding the diving mask. I wanted to be there for him as his son. I would of gone over to his side and asked him what was the matter, but I knew he would shrug it off. I looked at Cora. Her blue eyes looking into mine. "He said, We need to find out if anything's changed and if anything survived after all this time." Cora furrowed her eyebrows as she listened. "What do you think he means by that?"

" -who means by what?" Zane overhearing our conversation walked over to me and Cora, his arms folded across his chest.

"My dad and Elefun." Zane nodded his head as if understanding what was going on. "I heard what he said to Elefun, something seems off. The last two weeks I never seen elefun so distracted, I mean I seen him stare off into space sometimes when I work with him but not like this." Zane shook his head, his eyes scanning the ground. "I'm worried about him."

"Same with my dad, too. Every time I ask him about it he just shrugs it off and doesn't tell me... "

"What is it, Astro?" Cora asked.

I hesitated to say it. "I think he's been here before."

Cora had just finished putting on her diving mask when Elefun turned to us and said, "Everybody ready?" We looked over each other to make sure we had our diving equipment properly secured. We walked into another room to our right. The decompression chamber was small, holding up to 9 people, there were 8 of us so we had to squeeze together. Locking the door behind him, Elefun turned toward a handle and put his hand on it. He turned his head back toward the group and locked eyes with me.

"It would be safer if you went ahead Astro." I nodded my head in response and stepped between Elefun and my dad. I had grown in height over the years coming up to 6'2', while my dad stood at 6'8'. It honestly unnerved me how much I had changed since I was...created. Just one small reminder that things were different. I looked up at my dad. In his eyes I saw pain, loss, anger, and grief. My circuits twitched. "You're not Toby. You're a copy of Toby. You're not my son, and I... I don't want you anymore. I remember that night; feeling confused, hopeless, lonely, and... lost. A son feeling lost without his father. A father feeling lost without his son. Toby's death changed my dad from the inside out. I knew it pained him everyday. My dad still had nightmares of the day Toby died. Screaming and tearing at the sheets like... a shield. I knew that it wasn't only Toby's death that weighed so hard on my dad. It was also Madeline. Toby's mother. After she died giving birth to Toby, my dad swore he would never lose love like that again. But not soon after, he closed himself off from Toby and lost him as well. It was unbelievable that he managed to hang on to that sliver of hope inside him. Creating me was his sliver of hope.

My dad gave me a small smile. The chamber started to slowly fill with water, past our knees, chests, and finally above our heads. Air bubbles coming out of every bodies diving mask, except mine. I nodded my head toward Elefun to open the door. Elefun let go of the handle and instead pushed some buttons. An alarm sounded and the door opened slowly. I stepped out of the submarine onto the ocean floor. The water pressure had dropped dramatically down here. I looked back at the group to make sure everyone was okay. Everyone was swimming right behind him with air bubbles around them making their way to the surface. I knew when We walked off that submarine, we were heading into something much bigger.