She remembered everyone getting out of their seats and going to the nearest exit. She remembered the life-jackets being discarded for something much more desirable—parachutes. Not one to take risks, Piper took both. It was why she and Andrew were still floating even after their safe descent.

"Oh my god." She gasped when the plane crashed on an island just meters away from them. "Oh my god, Andrew! There were people in there!"

"I know," was his reply. "We need to get going; the air in these life-jackets will keep us afloat for two hours, but dehydration and exposure to sun could still claim us." He started swimming, but Piper didn't. She was horrified by their situation and just floated there, numb.

"Piper."

"You think they survived?"

Exasperation radiated from his voice. "Piper, we need to swim."

"I told them to stay in their seats. I told them not to reach for the life-jackets because we'd be fine."

"Piper—"

"Andrew!" the prep yelled, and Andrew finally shut up and let her talk. "We were in a plane crash! As far as I know, we're the only ones who got out!"

She told them to stay, even as they were plummeting down to their deaths. Of course, everybody ignored her. Seeing how stupid she was being, Piper removed her seatbelt and headed for the life-jackets everybody was fussing about. That was until someone found parachute bags stashed in the compartments. It must've been mob mentality, but everybody went for those instead. It was just her luck that Andrew gave her a bag for a life-jacket.

The exit was jammed. The others tried to open it—Piper tried telling them that there was another one she found mysteriously ajar. Nobody listened. Fearing for her life, Piper had dragged Andrew with her and jumped off the plane.

She saved them.

But I could've saved everyone else.

"We aren't."

Piper blinked. Andrew pointed at the sky, at the other parachutes descending.

"We need to go," he said, softly. "To meet them."

Natalie loved Marvel, DC and the occasional Archie comics. From a young age she had always wanted to feel the threat of a bullet past her cheek and an explosion rock her bones. Which was funny considering she experienced the latter just 30,000 feet from the air.

That would've made her excited—Natalie admitted that her love for superheroes made her a bit obsessed—but gasping for air after nearly drowning in seawater was hardly a place to start fangirling. She spat the salty water from her mouth, her bun miraculously still intact. Natalie observed her surroundings and spotted a shore. Good, I can swim there.

But then she heard gurgling, the kind associated with someone screaming just before they drowned. Natalie turned to the noises and found Grant and Issac's heads just disappear from her view. Cursing, Natalie expertly swam towards them. She managed to grab Grant by his arm, but she had to dive to get Issac. The two were heavy, but that didn't stop the agent.

This is all part of your training, Agent Johansson.

She finally reached land after a tiring swim. Dragging Grant and Issac with her, Natalie collapsed onto the gritty sand and tried to catch her breath. All part of your training, she thought before the ache in her legs increased tenfold. Gah, who am I kidding? Those two better thank me when they wake up, if they aren't already dead.

They weren't. Natalie found two pulses and thankfully didn't have to initiate CPR.

"Smoke," she muttered. Indeed she found a tail of smoke coming from the east. "Must be the plane. The others could be there."

She glanced at Grant and Issac, frowning. Should she wake them up or drag them herself?

The last thing Sebastian witnessed before he blacked out was a dragon in the sky.

He told himself it was just his mind playing tricks, just like how stars would appear after he'd been punched. But when he opened his eyes and met pure blue, he realized he was sinking.

No, he thought, watching the bubbles escape from his mouth. He thrashed and screamed even though it was only doing him more harm than good. No no no! Damn it! I need to swim up! Up! DAMN!

He probably should've taken swimming lessons when he was young, but his parents would've disagreed. His parents. Sebastian was hit with a memory where he was also in the water, soapy with suds and unable to breathe. He wasn't sinking.

He was drowning.

Sebastian felt hands grip his arms. For a moment he thought they belonged to his parents. But a wave of oxygen overwhelmed him as he was pulled from the ocean's depths. Sebastian coughed and saw his rescuer's face bathed under the sunlight.

"H—How?" he stuttered.

Madison held him up with her arm. "You're not Hawaiian if you can't save someone from the ocean."

He had saved someone. He didn't mean to, but it was worth it if it would earn her trust.

Mathias held Maureen bridal style as they went ashore. He lay her down carefully on the sand and checked her pulse. It was faint. Since she was still alive, Mathias leaned forward to give her air. But his rescue was cut short when Maureen rolled to her side and coughed.

Oh well, thought the handsome man as he slipped off his parachute. He looked back to see a pair trudge from the water. Maria Santiago and Jake Astin, if he remembered correctly.

"T-That was the scariest thing I've ever done," Jake stuttered, eyes darting around. Beside him Maria rolled her eyes.

"But you survived."

"Yeah, but you pushed me! I was so scared I almost didn't pull the cord!"

"No es mi problema," was all the Hispanic said before noticing Mathias. "You okay, amigo?" she asked him.

"Si," he replied. "I'm not so sure about Maureen though."

"She dead?"

A cough.

"Nope, she's fine."

When Maria went to check on Maureen, Mathias decided to look around. The island had a jungle and a looming volcano at the distance. Something told him that it wasn't dormant. "This island... it's a tropical one."

"There must be people here, right?"

"Yes," Mathias said to Jake, "but we might be those people."

The plane was a sight to behold. It was half-buried in sand, smoke filtering out of its engines and flickers of fire licking the air. The clean, white plating was dirtied with sand. It lay teetered on one side, the suspended wing giving shade to April.

She was glad that Hunter had helped her. Without him she would've been screwed, especially in the water. It wasn't even that hard—she just asked him with her puppy eyes and that was it. Even gave me the life-jacket and everything. How nice.

April watched as Allison climbed out of the plane through the exit, the same one that wouldn't budge until they opened it at the last minute. "Find anything?" she asked.

The wannabe scientist shook her head. "Nothing. And the door to the cargo hold is really tough. I'm gonna need an axe or something to open it."

"Maybe you could ask Hunter to make one."

Allison chuckled. "Just 'cause he used to be in the military doesn't mean he's some Bear Grylls. Besides, he's gone into the jungle to look for other survivors."

"In that case, we should too." April stood up, hating the way seawater clung to her skin. She shivered when she realized just how cold she was.

Allison must've noticed because she slipped off her lab coat and offered it to her. "It's fine," she said when April declined. "I'm dry and you aren't."

Thankfully, April took the coat from her. Wow, that was easier than I thought. "Shall we get going then?"

"Not so fast."

The pair were enveloped in the shadow of something large, something who spoke with a deep, guttural voice. Slowly, April and Allison turned around, eyes wide.

Far away, a certain pilot watched as his friend transformed into his beast form. "That's the signal," Chef said as he braced himself for his own transformation. The amulet strung around his neck glowed a deep blue, the engraving on it resembling that of a legendary sea monster. Chef's limbs grew and multiplied into turquoise tentacles tipped with arrowheads. He swept them across the ocean, creating tides that headed for the island.

The plan? To drive those brats towards Chris and provide a little entertainment.

Smirking, the Leviathan disappeared under the water.

"This is so not cool!"

Natalie ran for her life upon seeing plenty of palm trees crashing against a cerulean hazard. Thankfully she managed to get Issac and Grant awake, otherwise she'd been slowed down with two ball and chains.

"How close is it?!" Grant yelled. He was exhausted like Issac, but adrenaline kept him on his feet.

Natalie looked back. "Um," she said, "it's pretty close so HURRY UP AND MOVE!"

She slapped her hands on their backs and urged them to go faster, faster, faster. Like the Flash! Oh how she wished for a superpower right now.

They'd been swimming in silence to the shore when he spoke.

"Thanks."

Madison faced him with an unreadable expression on her face. It was something she'd perfected back in Hawaii, because blushing meant you were interested in that guy whether he had an ugly heart or not. "You're welcome," she said.

"I mean it," Sebastian added. "I could've died."

And he did mean it. Madison saw nothing but sincerity in Sebastian's eyes, not the usual sarcasm she picked up back at the plane. She smiled, soft yet meaningful.

They dragged themselves up on the beach, Sebastian removing his life-jacket to get rid of the extra weight. He turned to Madison, wanting to know if they were somewhere she knew, but he looked away when he saw her wet tank top. "You, uh, wanna wear the life-jacket?" he asked, flushing.

Madison nodded. She knew why he asked; in fact, she was grateful that he did.

"I knew there were others."

Sebastian and Madison turned to the unknown voice, but relaxed when it was just Hunter. The blue-haired teen then told them of the plane and April and Allison and all of it meant nothing when he saw what was behind them.

"Hey, what's wrong—?"

He looked back and cursed their luck.

Piper and Andrew were frantically swimming for their lives. They were so close to land yet so far, the last vestiges of their energy already fading. Andrew pulled the prep close to him and swam, dammit, swam! "It's not possible," he huffed, kicking his legs and wishing they had flippers. "A tsunami doesn't just happen like this! The weather and timing are all wrong!"

"No offense," Piper said, "but shut up and save your breath!"

So close, Andrew thought, exactly ten meters away. We'll make it!

But while a last-minute escape was known to garner ratings, inevitable death was a better plot twist.

All efforts of escaping the tsunami were futile for the two teens.

Maria was a natural runner. She knew the right terrain for running—what made it easy and what made it challenging. She was sure that when she took a step, sand didn't just tremble that much. "Something's wrong. The sand, it's weird."

"I've noticed," Mathias replied. "It's been doing that the whole time."

"You sure we should follow the coastline?" Maureen asked. Beside her was a deflated Jake, who had stopped chatting when Maureen told him that 'it was the wrong place, wrong time'. Maria didn't mind her amigo chatting. It sure kept her mind off other things, like the plane crash.

"We'd get lost in the jungle. It's much safer, amiga."

"You say that and yet the sand is weird," Maureen deadpanned.

"Does not mean we are in danger."

"Does it? I can feel sand bouncing on my feet."

"Chica loca."

"Hey! I know what you said! I'm just saying that we shouldn't take any chances!"

"Girls, calm down," Mathias said as he stood in between the two. "We shouldn't be fighting when there is a dragon around."

Maria and Maureen looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What?"

"¿Qué?"

"If you don't believe me, you can look behind you. Jake is currently being held captive along with April, Natalie, Grant, Piper, Issa—"

"Sebastian. Sebastian, wake up!"

He coughed several times before he could reply. Sebastian briefly recalled a giant wave before he had blacked out, again. Madison looked concerned when she helped him up. "Where are we?" he asked, vision blurry. "Where's the other guy?"

"Hunter? He's... the others..."

Sebastian blinked a few times, adjusting himself to the light. He could see a large beast perched above a plane, people crowded underneath it like they were its dinner—wait.

"I'm so glad you've finally awoken," said the beast.

"You." Sebastian didn't bother hiding his emotions behind a mask; he was absolutely terrified. He wasn't alone. The others from the plane were either confused or utterly speechless, and he could feel Madison shudder beside him. "I—I saw you in the sky. Were you the one—?"

"Yes," the dragon interrupted, "I did crash the plane. But it was all part of the fun, you see. Come on, give yourselves some shade. I will explain everything." The way it spoke seemed friendly, but Sebastian knew better. He had gangsters use the same tone to him once.

Nevertheless, he and Madison joined up with the others.

I was going to write more in Chris' POV, but I decided I'd do that for the next chapter (because I switched POVs a LOT here). At least you guys got some action, right?

Forever8Phoenix, sorry about that. I also wanted Natalie to provide some comedy :3

Everyone, thank you for the reviews! It certainly helped with the writing. Next chapter should be up next week since its just Chris explaining and doing the amulet ceremony :D

/terminated