Chapter 10:

Giegue looked over the reports coming in from the fleet and listened to the transmissions coming over the comms from his chair on the bridge of his flagship. He listened as the captains of the fleet frantically screamed orders and told informed him as to the status of the fleet. "Their missiles are passing through our shields! We're…bzzzt." "The remnants of the second fleet have already been wiped out! Our fleet has already lost seventy-five vessels. My powers, there goes another one! And another! Help…bzzzt." That transmission abruptly ended in static as well.

Giegue turned to face the sensor station and witnessed what the fleet captains were already confirming by their screaming and cries for help. Humanity was launching an attack on their starships. And the entire Third Fleet was getting annihilated. In addition to the loss of the small Fourth Fleet, which only had a couple dozen starships, albeit powerful starships, and with the current loss of the Second Fleet, which consisted of a large number of small and medium capital ships, but only a few heavy cruisers and battleships. The First Fleet, which was the main fleet, was over three times the size of the other three fleets combined, and consisted of only the best starship designs, and had over five hundred battleships alone, and one massive super flagship. Only the first fleet had any PSI Lords present as captains or crewmembers. Not only that, but only a few other ships in the entire fleet besides the flagship had any PSI Lords onboard at all. The PSI Lords had suffered a great number of losses since they had first encountered humanity more than a century and a half ago. These losses came from numerous sources, but mostly from the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Project, which Giygas had been the focal point of. With the destruction of the Universal Cosmic Destroyer and all of the PSI Lords that had been fused to Giygas in the creation of the Embodiment of Evil, the PSI Lords were now an endangered species. If the main fleet were destroyed with no survivors, then their entire species would be destroyed, and all that would remain of their empire would be any straggling ships that were under the command of any Starmen or Faeries that had not caught up with the rest of the fleet. That was the real reason why Giegue had sent the Vanguard Fleet and the other two assault fleets ahead of the Main Fleet first. He wanted the fleets to wipe out all meaningful resistance to his forces before risking himself and his fleet. While he had believed that humanity was worthless and could not offer any resistance, his father had insisted that he send the other fleets in first, since Giygas was already on the ground.

Giegue continued to watch the monitor as the rest of the Third Fleet was wiped out by the humans' nuclear attack. He listened to the last transmissions of the forces, who were still trying to shoot down the incoming nuclear weapons and any Earth Space Planes that were launching nuclear attacks against the fleet. The stragglers lasted a bit longer, since the humans must have run out of the shield penetrator missiles and had to use conventional nuclear missiles, but several of the missiles launched were megaton level missiles, and they were horrifyingly effective against even the larger ships in Giegue's fleet, whose most powerful blasts were only low double-digit kiloton in power. Only the Flagship produced energy beams that rated in the low megaton level. What Earth's military forces lacked in technology, they more than made up for in power. And with the Third Fleet now destroyed, the ground forces were cut off from any orbital support. It would now be much easier for Earth to be able to root out the rest of the Starmen on Earth and attack them, taking back vital military bases and weapons. Giegue grimaced at that thought.

Giegue then thought of what he would have to do to make sure that what happened to Third Fleet did not happen to his fleet as well. First off, he would have to learn how the humans had managed to discover the shield frequencies of his ships. Though, he already had a feeling that he knew how they managed to get the shield frequencies and codes. Second, he would have to order the rest of his ships to change their shield frequencies, possibly telling the other captains to confer with each other so no two ships had the same shield frequency. Third, he decided that he was now directly in charge of everything, no middlemen. Once he had conferred with Miridhel, he would send the signal to Luna Base, Mount Itoi, and to the other smaller bases and hideouts that his forces had on Earth. It seemed as if they would have to take out Earth the old fashioned way once they arrived and psychically bombard the planet from orbit until nothing remained. With that thought, Giegue turned to the captain of the ship, an older PSI Alien, and said, "Take over for me. I'll be in my personal chamber." Giegue then left the bridge before the captain could get into his chair.

Inside his quarters, Miridhel waited for her master to come so she could wait on his pleasure. In the meantime, though, she gazed into the crystal ball on the stand next to the bed. She quickly saw the destruction of the Third Fleet and frowned. She also began to feel a little wary, since she knew that when Giegue entered that he would be in a foul mood. Indeed, when the door slid open to his quarters, Giegue stormed in with a scowl plastered on his face. He immediately went over to the beautiful High Star Elf and asked in a hard, commanding tone, "What do you see?"

Miridhel looked into the globe and responded, "I see many things. First off, I have seen the destruction of your fleet. I also saw the destruction of many of the patrolling assault forces in North America in an ambush set up by the United States military in the remains of the city they call New York. Close to a quarter million troops were lost in the fighting, including the second City Smasher that was flying over North America." She stopped there to let everything settle in.

Giegue only seethed even more at that news. "Can't you give me any good news for once?" he roared towards the young-looking elf.

Miridhel quickly glanced into her ball again. "I see that our forces are defeating the Chinese military forces in battle as of yet, but it is still relatively close."

"What about Russia?"

Miridhel shook her head. "Our forces there were defeated and have been forced to retreat. But they did inflict significant casualties on the Russian ground and air forces."

Giegue made note that he would have to send the forces that were retreating in Russia to assist in the battle against China. "What about our forces in the country known as Israel?"

"They are fighting to a stalemate, so far," the High Star Elf replied. "However, many of the most probable futures indicate that without orbital support, that Israel will emerge victorious against our forces there." She waited for that to sink in before she said anything more. "My Lord, just so you know. I have also scanned to see whether or not Giygas is working for us, or has betrayed us. So far, the future is uncertain on the subject."

Giegue nearly struck her at the mention of his older brother's name. "What the hell does that mean?" he roared.

Miridhel, while losing patience with her master's anger management problems, spoke submissively when she replied, "It means that there are almost literally an equal number of futures that show Giygas betraying you, as well as those that show Giygas remaining loyal."

"Well shoot those that have Giygas staying loyal," Giegue boomed. "You saw the destruction of our fleet. There's no way my older brother is still loyal to us!"

"I agree," Miridhel nodded. "Even I cannot fathom why the present and future is so uncertain with regards to Giygas's loyalties. Still, it is what it is."

Giegue then gave a sigh and sat in bed. Miridhel looked up at Giegue and asked, "Is there anything else that I can do for you, my lord?"

Giegue grinned. "Sure there is. You can wait on my pleasure." He motioned for the High Star Elf to join him in his bed. She did so, and then waited on his pleasure, carrying out each and every one of his orders.

Back on Earth, Ness and the others were flying out over the Atlantic Ocean, over the Bermuda Triangle, in the Sky Runner II. They had been flying for close to two hours straight, with Giygas at the helm, and there was no sign of the lost kingdom of Atlantis anywhere, though they figured that there would not be since it was under the ocean. Still, even the sensors were having a difficult time pinpointing the kingdom's location. Ness went back into the back cabin, where Paula and Poo were currently sleeping, and checked in the storage hold for the Atmospheric Diving Suits. Jeff was making some last minute modifications to the suits and to the air tanks that fit on the backs of the suits. Ness went over to him and asked, "Almost done?"

Jeff glanced up from his work and nodded. "So, what will these suits do once you're finished working on them?" Ness asked.

Jeff answered, "They'll be able to tie into the life support systems onboard the Sky Runner II. That means that you all should have a virtually unlimited air supply down to a certain depth. I'm still trying to connect the air tubes from the Sky Runners II's cargo bay to the suits, themselves. The suits will also be able to withstand the pressure of being under over a thousand meters of water as well without any negative side effects."

"Will that be good enough?" Ness asked in a concerned voice. "I hear that the Atlantic Ocean has an average depth of well over two thousand meters."

Jeff shrugged, a little embarrassed. "It is if Atlantis is close enough to the shores of any of the countries of the Atlantic Ocean. If not, we're in trouble since this is as advanced as I can make the suit. Not to mention the problem with air. If your air supply gets cut off and you have to swim back up to the surface, let's just say I hope you can teleport."

Ness nodded in agreement. He then looked over at the door that led to the cockpit. "What about Giygas?" he asked. "He's likely going to need a suit to survive in the water, too."

"Giygas said that he didn't need one," Jeff shrugged. "I guess his psychic powers allows for him to survive such deep sea pressures and gather his own air from the water."

With that, Ness then returned to the main cockpit and took his station in the copilot's seat next to Giygas. Giygas was completely silent as the group headed further and further out over the Atlantic Ocean. The ship quickly turned to its right and headed south. Giygas turned back to Ness and suggested, "Perhaps you and Jeff should get some rest. It'll be a couple of hours before we're over Atlantis. Atlantis is underwater and you are all far more vulnerable underwater than you are on land. You'll need to be at your best if you wish to beat Chimeron."

"I know," Ness said.

"Don't worry, Ness. I can pilot this ship alone," Giygas assured him.

Not too long ago, Ness would have been suspicious of that remark. However, given what the team had recently been through and how he had helped the United States military destroy a major surface assault force of Starmen, and how he had given the Earth the shield frequency for the assault fleet in orbit which allowed Earth to launch a nuclear strike that destroyed the entire fleet and left some nuclear weapons over for whatever else the PSI Aliens would send at them had eased Ness's feelings towards Giygas. He had to admit that Paula was right about Giygas. He truly did seem like he was on their side in this. With that, he went back into the cabin and lied down on the sleeping pallet next to Paula's. Before he fell asleep, he took one look at Paula and smiled affectionately.

An alert chime sounded approximately two hours after Ness had fallen asleep. The chime jolted Ness out of his sleep and he quickly rose from his small sleeping pallet. He was quickly joined by Paula and Poo as they too awakened to the sound of the chime. The three headed out of the cabin area and went into the cockpit. Sitting at the pilot's station was Jeff, while Giygas sat at the copilot's station. Giygas looked back at the psychic teens and casually told them, "We're here."

"Already?" Paula asked with a long yawn and stretch.

Giygas nodded. "Our instruments indicate that Atlantis is on the seafloor about a thousand or so meters below." He then paused before continuing. "Just so you all know, while we aren't likely to face any Starmen down there, there are still powerful creatures that you'll want to be aware of. There merpeople down there do have some advanced technology and magic as well. They are not pushovers Also, the Sanctuary Guardian, Chimeron, is a very powerful magic user. As such, psychic shields will be ineffective against the attacks and powers of Chimeron and his minions. Normal shields will have to be used instead."

"There's another issue," Jeff added once Giygas was finished. "One of us will have to remain up here to check on you guys while you're underwater. It can't be Giygas, Paula, or Poo, so that only leaves me and Ness. Since Ness is a powerful psychic and will be needed down in Atlantis, that leaves me. I'll remain behind to keep track of you and make sure nothing goes wrong on this end."

The others had no real problems with that. Jeff proceeded to go over the plan for the drop with the teens. "Okay, I'll lower the Sky Runner II until it's almost touching the ocean water. You'll be inside modified Atmospheric Diving Suits. These suits have been modified to be able to withstand the pressure of being more than one thousand meters deep. That's about the depth of Atlantis, here." Paula then raised her hand. "What is it?" Jeff asked.

"What about air?" Paula asked. "The dive will take quite a while, as will the search for the Sanctuary."

"Yeah," Jeff noted. "As for the air, your primary means of air will be a hose that's connected to the life support systems here onboard the Sky Runner II. Should you need to disconnect the hose, or it gets disconnected during battle, there are air tanks on the back of your suits. They should last for about two hours or so before you run out of oxygen. I've also added sound barriers and dampeners in your suits just in case the enemy also uses sonic weapons." Before leading them to the cargo bay, Jeff added, "Oh, one more thing. Keep a shield up at all times and be ready for anything. If these suits tear, then you're going to be on your own unless you get out of there."

Once the explanation was finished, Jeff led the party back to the cargo bay of the craft. The cargo bay was larger than the bridge and the rear cabin combined. Besides those areas and the weapons bays, the cargo bay took up most of the ship. That said; it was still quite small as cargo bays went. Still, there was room enough for the three Atmospheric Diving Suits that Jeff had managed to rig together. There were also several other boxes that likely contained several other weapons and items. Before directing the teens to get inside their suits, Jeff gave them one last bit of information.

"Oh, one last thing," he added. "You won't be able to take your weapons or equipment with you, save for your Sound Stones. You'll be restricted to your psychic powers, and these mini-torpedo launchers and spear guns that I managed to rig together while you were resting."

Jeff then proceeded to lead them to a crate that contained, among other things, spear guns and mini-torpedo launchers. Ness and the others went over and examined the equipment. There were also packs that contained spare spears for underwater use so that they would not be restricted to being one-shot weapons. The mini-torpedo launchers each had magazine that contained two torpedoes, each. There were no reloads for the torpedoes, though, so Ness realized that they would have to pick their targets very carefully. That said; chances were that they would be relying on their psychic powers a lot down there for the fighting. And by they, he meant Paula and Giygas since both he and Poo would be the designated healers for the duration of the mission.

Before putting on the suits or getting the weapons, Ness, Paula, and Poo received instruction booklets on how to operate the machinery from Jeff. They spent the next hour going over everything, making sure that they could recite every line in the booklet in their sleep and apply it to practice. Once they were finished going over the material, they went over to put on their ADSs. After they had changed and put on their suits, Jeff went over to the radio and asked them, "Can you breath alright?"

Each of the teens gave him a thumbs up. That also answered the question of whether or not they could hear him. "Okay, say something for me," he told them.

"Testing, testing, one, two, three," Ness said, which Jeff could hear. He gave Ness a thumbs up.

"I'm looking forward to this dive," Paula said cheerfully. Jeff smiled. "I hear you," he responded. "I wish I could go too, but I'm needed up here."

Finally, Poo said, "Everything seems to be working fine for me." Jeff gave him a nod, indicating that he heard Poo.

Once they were finished getting the suits on and testing the radios onboard, the trio went over to the crates and armed themselves with spear guns, with each diver taking an extra pack of spears, and a man-portable mini-torpedo launcher. The teens also looked at the displays on the visors of the helmets. They saw information pertaining to their current environment, their armaments, air supply, as well as information about the integrity of their suits. The teens looked over at Giygas, who was not wearing a diving suit at all, nor did he take any of the weapons. After a few more minutes, they were ready to take the dive. The cargo bay doors opened and directly below them was the ocean. Ness and the others walked over towards the exit, air hoses trailing the suited teens as they walked. Jeff had enough line for the maximum depth, but little more, so when they went to move around down in Atlantis, the ship would have to echo their movements. After one final check on the diving suit systems, the teens were ready to dive. Ness was the first to jump off of the ship and into the water. He was followed by Paula, who was then followed by Poo. Giygas psychically formed a bubble of compressed air around his body and he, too, jumped into the water, following the teens down to the lost city of Atlantis.

The teens began their slow dive towards Atlantis, taking in the sights all around them. Paula was the most interested in the sights since she had seen many television programs about ocean life but never got to see it first hand. She knew that her friends back at school would be highly envious of her right now…if she had not been going down to engage a powerful undersea king that had the power to kill them and had been sinking Earth seafaring ships. Ness also held an interest to see what was out under the sea. But he was more interested in what the fish and other sea creatures were doing, rather than just admiring the sights. Plenty of fish filled out the scene before the teens. Ness was hoping that King Chimeron was not able to mentally control all life under the ocean. If he could, then this would be a bad day. He glanced over at Giygas, who was surrounded by a bubble of air. As if sensing Ness's question, Giygas responded telepathically, No, I don't sense any external forces exerting any control over the fish or other undersea creatures in the area. I am, however, sensing another mind approaching.

Another mind? Paula asked telepathically. Her question took Giygas off guard. He had not realized that his broadcast to Ness was open to the other minds as well.

Yes, Giygas answered. The creature is coming towards us from the right, fast. Paula and Ness looked to their right. Indeed, a large creature was swimming into view. It was only a few hundred yards away from the quartet, and it was getting increasingly larger as it approached. Poo raised his guard, but did not prepare any offensive measures. I'm not sensing any hostile intentions from the creature, Giygas informed the others, sensing Poo's state of alertness. I'm not even sure if it is aware of us. And if it is, it doesn't care about our presence.

The group continued to descend and as they got deeper, they noticed that the creature that was approaching was a whale. When it got closer to the humans, they saw the distinctive black and white coloring pattern of a Killer Whale. The Killer Whale soon passed in front of the teens and Giygas. The Killer Whale then stopped for a moment and examined the party before giving off a click and a call. The others merely stared back at the whale. Giygas was amazed that something like that had some form of intelligence, even though he had read a lot about dolphins and whales on Earth during his time here. Not only that, but he began to wonder if there was something more than just a mere intelligence in that whale. The group then heard a series of clicks and a call echo through the water that all three human teens recognized as a whale song. The whale then sped off into the distance, producing more calls in what Paula felt to be an excited tone. It was then that they heard Jeff's voice come in through the radio. "Hey are you guys alright? Sensors picked up a whale moving close to you."

The teens replied, "Yeah, we're fine. The whale didn't hit us or attack."

Giygas then added telepathically, I did not sense the whale song being received by any of the Atlanteans. Its intended recipient was something else entirely.

While the others had not considered that possibility, they were relieved to know that the Killer Whale was not alerting Atlantis to their arrival. Jeff then broke in again, "I'm sensing a pod of Killer Whales approaching as well. You might want to get deeper so they don't take an interest in you. Even if they aren't working with King Chimeron, their presence and curiosity towards you could alert him that something's up."

The others agreed and they began to increase the speed of their descent. Giygas looked up overhead and saw the small pod of Killer Whales pass above not bothering to dive towards the humans and PSI Lord. Giygas also sensed the animalistic presence of a school of fish and he soon sensed that the only thing on the minds of the Killer Whales at the time was food. This was good. The whales posed no real danger to them.

The teens and Giygas continued their descent until the water got darker and darker. The teens activated their headlamps and immediately the area was illuminated once more. They could sense that they were getting closer and closer to the lost city of Atlantis. The minds of the mermen and mermaid guards were quite open to Giygas. Even Paula began to sense the presence of the merpeople. She did not perform a real scan on them, but their surface thoughts that were being projected in all directions. There was a sense of pure hatred that was borderline madness towards humans, even though, as it turned out, their own ancestors had initially been human, as Paula had learned from their thought projections. They had been bioengineered by an alien race worshipped as gods upon the sinking of the city of Atlantis. Their hostility towards humans was primarily because of humans polluting the oceans or waters of the world. Even after the invention of controlled fusion reactors and other clean energy sources and the decrease of pollution, they had continued to hate the humans, seeing humans as inferior. Part of that hatred was likely because the humans had rejected the gods that had made the merpeople as false gods and had driven them off the Earth millennia ago, despite humanity's lack of technology at the time. They had not understood why other intelligent sea creatures, particularly the whales, did not also detest the humans and kill them on sight. As such, they also viewed whales and dolphins as inferiors. In essence, they had a lot of pride and they were quite haughty.

The group continued to descend into the depths and the sensation of hatred that the Atlanteans held for humans, and other sea lifeforms, particularly whales only intensified. The only thing on their minds right now was the destruction of humanity and making them suffer for a long time. They would show no mercy whatsoever. They wished all the worst on humans, and any that dared to try to challenge their greatness. Not only that, but it seemed as if the Atlanteans seemed to revel in cruelty and slaughter towards humans. Should they manage to find survivors of a shipwreck, they would drag the humans down to drown, or do progressively worse things to the humans before letting them finally die. They were pure evil. The group could find no redeeming qualities in the Atlanteans at all. Whales and other smarter sea creatures knew to steer well clear of Atlantis.

It was not long before the spires of Atlantis were now visible to the party in the murky depths of the ocean. The wreckage of several ships, both old wooden ships and newer metallic ships were now visible. The metallic ships were rusted from having been down in the ocean for so long. Fish swam by the hulks as the group descended closer and closer to the bottom of the ocean. In addition to the sunken vessels, Ness thought that he could make out the wrecks of several aircraft as well. He began to think that the legends of the Bermuda Triangle were actually the Atlanteans shooting down aircraft and sinking vessels that passed over their kingdom.

Ness and the others did not dwell on the possible revelation as they slowed their descent before they touched down on the seafloor. They soon began to swim towards the city of Atlantis, which consisted of a massive palace with spires that looked to be almost as tall as the Empire State Building in New York. Giygas was in the lead so he could alert the group to any potential attacks without having to use his telepathic communication, which he feared the Atlanteans might pick up. After all, he was already beginning to pick up their telepathic communiqués to their commanders and to King Chimeron. As the group began to swim towards the palace, Giygas sensed the minds of several Atlanteans, both mermen and mermaids as well as other creatures, watching them from the wrecks below. He held up his arm, indicating that they were under surveillance. Paula immediately opened her telepathic senses and warned the others over her radio, "Guys, we've got activity near the wrecks. There are large concentrations of Atlanteans in the wrecks beneath us."

"Should we attack them?" Ness asked.

No, Giygas responded telepathically, shaking his head. He did not say anything more for fear that the Atlanteans might pick up on his communiqué. Unfortunately, it appeared as if his thoughts were picked up by the others as Paula sensed a sudden shift in behavior. "Crud, they're going to attack!" she warned.

Ness immediately raised a Shield Omega over the party as the Atlanteans began to open fire on the teens from the safety of the sunken ships and downed airplanes. Golden beams of energy erupted from lances and tridents as they fired on the teens. Poo began to initiate a counterattack by powering a Starstorm Omega. Giygas held out his hands, warning him off. Don't do it. You'll expend needed psychic energy for later, he cautioned. Poo then powered down the attack, taking Giygas's advice.

"So what do we do?" Paula asked exasperatedly. "We can't use our psychic attacks against these sentries, since then we'll waste all of our energy, but we also can't simply use our torpedoes either. First of all, we don't have enough to use against them, and second, there's no guarantee that they'll be a confirmed kill if they can dodge the torpedoes or shoot them down."

It was then that Ness got an idea. He radioed Jeff and called, "Jeff, come in."

"Jeff here. I hear you loud and clear," the radio in Ness's suit crackled in response. "I'm reading weapons fire. How can I help?"

"Could those missiles on the Sky Runner II take out a ship?"

"No," Jeff responded. "But I've already replaced our used missiles with anti-ship torpedoes. You'll have to get out of there pretty quickly since the concussion wave will travel quickly through the water, but I could take out the major threats. That'll leave you with only a couple minor annoyances to deal with, if that."

"Do it," Ness commanded.

The group then hoped and prayed that Ness's Shield Omega would hold out against the wave of attacks that were coming at them. So far, the shield was holding, deflecting the energy bolts launched at them by the mermen. Paula then called out to the others in warning, "Guys, we've got more bad guys coming in. They're riding some sort of underwater skimmer."

Sure enough, Ness turned and saw several skimmers, which looked like scooters with energy cannons, coming towards them. The riders did not seem to be mermen, though. They seemed to consist of other species. They looked like chimeras of some sort, with parts from fish, humans, and others, only they often had fish or whale heads with human torsos and arms, with fish tails, or even human legs. They looked to be a mishmash of various creatures that only had human, or rather primate, features so they could use technology. The skimmers immediately opened fire on the group by firing electrical beams at the party. Ness and the others immediately sensed the beams penetrate and collapse their shields. The group then scattered as the skimmers continued to open fire on the heroes.

Poo had decided that he had had enough of being held back. He knew that they would not get out of this predicament without using some of their powers. Poo immediately stopped fleeing and focused in on the oncoming skimmers. Poo knew the risks of using electricity in the water, and in such close proximity to his friends, so he decided to go with the more energy intensive, but powerful and accurate, PSI Starstorm, keeping it at its Alpha level so he did not use up too much energy against the approaching enemies. A dozen blue orbs of energy formed around Poo and Paula and Ness swam out of the line of fire as Poo targeted the eight skimmers that were approaching. He targeted each and every skimmer, and their pilots, and then unleashed his barrage of energy stars at the skimmers. The stars rocketed towards the skimmers and before the pilots could engage in evasive maneuvers, the stars struck the skimmers and exploded. The concussions produced from the explosions sent the teens flying through the water, and forced them to resist the force of the explosions in order to remain where they were. However, the concussion had turned out to be a blessing in disguise as a golden energy bolt flashed through the space that Paula had occupied scant seconds ago. The group turned around and saw more lances of energy coming from the wrecked ships. Those attacks, however, were soon to cease, for Ness spotted several gray objects falling down towards the sunken ships and planes. The Atlantean sentries did not bother to look above them as the torpedoes fell down towards the ships. Ness and the others swam away as quickly as they could in order to escape from the blast waves that would be generated by the torpedoes' explosions. The torpedoes soon struck the hulls and detonated, blowing apart the sunken hulks with single hits, killing the Atlantean sentries that had been using the ships for cover as they launched their attacks on Ness and the others, while being careful to avoid Giygas, for they had not yet learned about Giygas's betrayal. Debris rocketed through the water, though the water's greater resistance meant that the shrapnel was quickly reduced in velocity and posed no danger to Ness and the others as they fled. The concussion wave, however, would, but Giygas had erected a shield over the party in order to protect them from the wave. The shield flared as the concussion wave hit and washed over the shield harmlessly. After the ships and planes had been dealt with, Ness spoke into his radio, saying, "Thanks Jeff."

"Anytime, guys" came the response. With the enemy behind them having been dealt with, the group then proceeded forward to deal with the enemy inside the palace, King Chimeron.

As the party made their way towards the palace, they had been met with other enemy parties. Paula had taken point and used her hydrokinetic abilities to incapacitate the squads without killing them. This was not merely because of her merciful tendencies, but because she also wished to avoid wasting too much psychic energy against small fry. Giygas, however, had no qualms about killing the enemy sentries, though. In his mind, if this attack ended up causing the extinction of the Atlanteans, then he was all for it. He used his own hydrokinesis to crush the Atlanteans, killing them, though he did it in a way that made it look to the survivors as if Paula had done so of her own accord. Paula gave a small scowl towards Giygas, who did not react to her scowl in any way.

The party then continued on their way, not stopping to search for any treasures along the way, since they figured that there was nothing of worth to them down here. As they approached the palace, Paula began to scan for the mind of King Chimeron. As they were searching for him, two Atlanteans came up from behind and attacked. Believing that the humans were shielded, the Atlanteans decided to attack the air hoses and lines that were attached to the suits from above. The Atlanteans fired their energy bolts at the lines of the teens from behind and severed them. Before Ness could raise a shield over the party, the lines of each of the heroes was severed. They immediately ejected the useless chords and completely sealed the suits, now using the air tanks on the backs of the suits to breathe, and the propellers on the suits to swim. Ness and the others then turned to face down the two Atlanteans, a duo of mermaids with human heads and torsos and fish tails. The mermaids were naked save for some shells covering their breasts. Their lack of armor would prove to be their undoing, as Ness and Paula took aim with their spear guns. They leveled the weapons at the two mermaids, who looked to barely be adults, but whose faces showed all of the cruelty and malice of someone far older than they appeared, and fired. Two arrows rocketed from the guns and speared the mermaids in the heart. They immediately dropped their lances and slumped backwards, beginning to float up towards the surface, dead. It was then that Jeff broke through on the comms, "Guys, your air lines have been severed. You've only got two hours of air left."

"We know," came the response from the teens. The two humans then reloaded their spear guns and headed towards the palace, Paula continuing her scan. Soon, she found King Chimeron.

"I've found him," she announced to the others. "He's in the highest tower spire on the top level. Getting to him shouldn't be complicated at all. However, he's well protected by a quartet of guards and has several patrol skimmers patrolling the tower area."

"Then we'll just have to take down the patrols and take out his guard as well," Ness answered casually.

The group proceeded towards the tower, swimming as fast as possible towards the tower, hoping to be spotted by the guards and patrols. They wanted to face the guards and their patrols now, so that they would not have to do so while facing King Chimeron. Just as they had hoped, their charge towards the palace's central and highest tower got the attention of the other Atlanteans. A dozen skimmers in tight formation turned to face the heroes. The heroes knew what to do. Ness and Poo pulled out their mini-torpedo launchers and zeroed in on the approaching skimmers. The skimmers were already launching their own electrical beams at the heroes, though their shots were going wide. After locking onto the leader, Ness let loose with one of his torpedoes. The torpedo streaked towards the approaching skimmer. The skimmer adjusted the targeting of his craft and fired on the torpedo, but his fire went wide. The torpedo then slammed into the skimmer and detonated. The explosion obliterated the skimmer, killing its pilot. The concussion produced by the blast also sent several other skimmers sailing off course and also either killed or blew out the eardrums of the Atlanteans that had been piloting them.

Poo targeted the remaining skimmers in the formation and fired. A single torpedo leapt from his launcher and targeted the lead skimmer. These skimmers, however, did not bother to try to shoot down the torpedo or evade it. They just continued targeting the party and unleashing volley after volley of energy blasts with the same accuracy as Stormtroopers in Star Wars trying to kill Han Solo and Leia. The torpedo struck the lead skimmer head-on, and obliterated it, along with its pilot. The ensuing explosion sent the other skimmers sailing off course as well, along with killing or severely injuring the Atlanteans that were piloting them. Poo looked at his handiwork, as well as Ness's. Two torpedoes, a dozen neutralized threats. Once that was finished, they continued on towards the tower.

Not far along in their swim, they encountered another threat. Two spires next to the tower split open and revealed two magic cannons. Giygas immediately appeared in front of the party as the cannons opened fire on the teens. Golden lances of magical energy erupted from the cannons and zeroed in on the heroes. Giygas raised a shield over the party that managed to protect the teens. The energy lances splashed harmlessly against Giygas's shield. Ness and Poo then decided to open fire on the two towers with their remaining torpedoes. They took aim with their launchers and simultaneously launched their final torpedoes at the two towers. The torpedoes streaked towards their targets, leaving a trail of bubbles in their wake as they zeroed in on the towers. Just as with the skimmers and their pilots, though, the towers made no attempt to target and shoot down the torpedoes, nor did their operators try to abandon the weapons. Paula could feel that their hatred for the humans was so intense that they were willing to face certain death for the off chance of managing to kill a human. She viewed them as a pitiable people and she truly felt sorry for them. Ness and Poo, on the other hand, simply viewed them as stupid, and Giygas not only viewed them as stupid, but as people that deserved to be destroyed. He had no sympathy for them whatsoever, possibly because he knew that they were likely going to be targeted once the humans were dealt with, especially since they were the last of their kind. The torpedoes soon struck the towers and exploded. The explosions destroyed the cannons, but also weakened the towers' structures as well. Pieces of what looked to be brick, mortar, and coral fell from the towers at their midpoints and soon, the towers collapsed onto the rest of the palace. The fall of the towers also served to destroy several other smaller towers and most certainly crushed several Atlanteans that were swimming by at the time of their collapse, as well as any Atlanteans that were inside the other towers and buildings that were destroyed by the falling guard towers. With the defenses of King Chimeron gone, all that remained was his tower, along with his guards and himself.

Giygas quickly decided to take care of his tower and guards before they could reveal anything about themselves. Giygas also figured that if he managed to kill King Chimeron in the process, so much the better. Giygas powered a green ball of PSI Special in his hands. He pointed the ball of energy at the tower as King Chimeron was revealing a massive energy cannon. Giygas then unleashed the ball of energy at the tower and watched as it rocketed towards the tower and exploded. King Chimeron swam away up away from the tower as Giygas's psychic ball of energy struck the tower and obliterated it. Paula could hear the psychic cries of dozens of Atlanteans as they were vaporized along with the tower. The debris rained down onto the rest of the palace and inflicted more damage to the palace, killing and/or injuring more Atlanteans. The teens focused their gaze on where the tower had once been and they saw a white swirl of energy in the middle of the ocean, the mark of a Sanctuary. The teens then swam towards the Sanctuary. But King Chimeron would not make claiming the Sanctuary so easy.

King Chimeron held his lance high and soon swam into view. Ness and the others were shocked at his appearance, for he had a human head that looked to be Caucasian with a grey beard and hair that fell down all the way to his back, a green dragon's torso with highly protective scales for armor, and clawed hands, that looked to also be potent weapons, and a shark's tail which allowed him to swim at a high speed. He soon stopped when he was about a dozen yards away from Giygas, and a few extra yards away from the humans. The humans then formed up around Giygas. King Chimeron opened his mouth and bubbles came out. However, the teens and Giygas knew immediately that King Chimeron was laughing. It was then that he communicated to them through his telepathy.

So the great Master Giygas betrays us, he said. I should have figured as much. That human woman has corrupted you.

Giygas also responded with a chuckle. Look whose talking about corruption. I was the one who convinced you to fight with the humans.

And look what that got us, Chimeron seethed. Atlantis is all we have left. We have been exterminated everywhere else we have been. And even now, Atlantis is in shambles. We might not survive this!

I hope you don't! Giygas exclaimed as he powered a blast of PSI Special. King Chimeron, however, raised his lance high and erected a shield over himself. However, Paula managed to catch that it was a psychic shield that Chimeron had erected.

Wait, she tried to warn Giygas. That shield is a psychic shield! But it was too late. Giygas had already unleashed the attack on King Chimeron. King Chimeron laughed as he made no move to avoid the attack or launch any attack of his own. The green sphere of Special soon impacted the shield that King Chimeron had erected. The shield flared for an instant, generating a sphere of steam around the "merman" before being reflected back at Giygas. Paula had tried to erect a psychic counter shield around the others, but her shield had only managed to surround her friends. Since Giygas already had a shield bubble that contained the air he was breathing, Paula knew that she could not risk raising her own shield to protect Giygas.

Giygas's reflected ball of PSI Special struck Giygas and exploded, engulfing Giygas in a green sphere of energy. Giygas could feel his air bubble collapse and the air rush out of the bubble as the sphere expanded. Even worse was the fact that Giygas could not teleport outside of the sphere until it dissipated. He could feel his body burning away as the green sphere consumed him. Giygas immediately used Lifeup on himself to constantly regenerate himself and keep himself from being crushed by the intense pressure of the ocean. After the sphere of energy dissipated, Giygas tried to teleport but found that he was unable to do so.

Ha, ha, ha, ha ha! King Chimeron laughed. I've set up magical teleportation inhibitors so you can't escape this place. You always were overconfident, Giygas. I guess you're not really as powerful as everyone thought you were, he gloated.

Giygas was not dead yet, though. He was already using his psychic powers to take the oxygen from the water while simultaneously holding back the water pressure to prevent himself from being crushed by the massive water pressure.

While Giygas was focused on keeping himself alive and, thus, was unable to fight at the moment, Paula decided to launch an attack that would hopefully be able to inflict some real damage to King Chimeron. Paula took out her mini-torpedo launcher and took aim with one of her torpedoes. After she had locked onto King Chimeron, she pulled the trigger and a torpedo leapt out from the launcher, leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake. The torpedo streaked towards King Chimeron, who was too busy gloating over Giygas's current predicament to notice the torpedo headed his way. He soon noticed Giygas grin subtly and he looked to his left and saw the incoming torpedo. He tried to refashion his shield so that it would reflect physical objects, but it was too late. All he could do was use his lance to magically increase his durability and hope for the best. The torpedo struck the creature right in the chest, where his torso had been covered with dragon scales. The torpedo then exploded. The concussion wave stunned King Chimeron and he felt several scales buckle and collapse under the force of the explosion. He also suffered damage to his hearing, though since he did not use echolocation, this was a minor loss, and one that could easily be healed by his magic. Still, the loss of a few scales, while not that terrible at the moment, was much more severe and could come back to haunt him later on. He soon focused his attention onto Paula as he raised a counter shield to block physical attacks. However, she did not attack him. She instead handed her torpedo launcher over to Ness, who had discarded his once he had run out of ammunition. King Chimeron could not hear the conversation between her and the rest of the party. If he could he would have heard her ask the others, "Can you two handle King Chimeron?"

Ness and Poo replied, "Sure."

"Then you go fight him while I go and help Giygas," she directed.

Ness had no problems and he accepted her torpedo launcher as she went over to assist Giygas. Once she had arrived at the struggling Giygas, she stopped to monitor the situation. She could feel that Giygas was barely able to hold back the water with his telekinesis alone and get air, but if relieved of some of his current burden, then he could not only manage to form another oxygen bubble, he may even be able to return to the fight, assuming Ness and Poo had not dealt with King Chimeron already. After assessing the situation, she used her hydrokinetic abilities to literally push the water away from Giygas. The interior of her visor glowed, indicating that her eyes were glowing from drawing upon so much psychic energy. She knew that this would take a lot of concentration and power. However, she was surprised when Giygas was quickly able to reform his oxygen bubble and create a new shield. This did not have the same amount of oxygen that Giygas's initial bubble possessed, but it was good enough. Giygas then telepathically told Paula, It's alright. You can let go, now. Paula immediately stopped pushing the water away from Giygas and let its normal weight and pressure flow back in on the PSI Alien. The salt water flowed back in on Giygas and his shield and bubble flared as the water flowed back in on Giygas, did not break. However, they were showing signs of strain, since Giygas's shield had flared and was creating a small ring of steam in the water. Still, Giygas motioned for Paula to go rejoin Ness and Poo in the battle. He was able to handle his situation now.

During Paula's assistance of Giygas, Ness had targeted King Chimeron with another torpedo while Poo swam around the creature so that the creature was in between him and Ness. Ness then fired the torpedo at the King of Atlantis. The last torpedo in the party's arsenal erupted from the tube and streaked towards Chimeron, leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake. King Chimeron proceeded to cackle and raise a reflector shield over himself. Unfortunately, for the king, Ness and Poo had planned on that. Poo then did something that was incredibly risky, especially for himself, and also for Ness. He powered a blast of PSI Thunder. It did not have to be all that strong, just strong enough to collapse King Chimeron's shield. Still, since they were surrounded by water, and wearing metallic suits, the risk was there for a short circuit or other damage being done to their suits, and themselves, which would be disastrous if the air tanks suddenly stopped functioning or blew. Still, it was the only way to lower the Atlantean's shield. Poo then unleashed his bolt of psychic lightning at the king. As expected, the entire area was full of electricity as the current traveled all throughout the water. The current washed over King Chimeron and collapsed his shield. It also washed over Ness, but inflicted no damage, since the current was much weaker the farther from Poo it was. By the time it had reached Ness, it did not have sufficient power to injure Ness or damage his suit. Poo also suffered no ill effects from the attack, being able to control it enough to prevent it from damaging him or his equipment. The attack now left King Chimeron vulnerable to the torpedo that was about to strike.

King Chimeron felt a tingling sensation as the psychic lightning washed over him. At first, he did not know why they had launched such a weak attack. It was only when he saw the torpedo coming that he wondered if his shield was still up. He tried to sense his shield and found that it was missing. He frantically tried to raise his shield again, but it was too late. The torpedo struck him in the torso and exploded. As the torpedo hit and exploded, King Chimeron exhaled a grunt of shock and pain. Again, the concussion blew out what little hearing he had left, but that was not big loss. The bigger loss was the fact that several more scales were blown off his body, and others were now greatly weakened. There were now several bare patches of skin now on his torso, some of them leading to vital organs. Not only that, but his equilibrium was also disrupted. Still, he had his magical lance and other magical powers. He was not out of this fight yet.

The first thing that King Chimeron did was to use his magical healing abilities to restore his equilibrium. While he could not restore his scales, any shrapnel wounds that he suffered were instantly regenerated. The Atlantean then turned to face down the two armored psychic teens. His first move in his counterattack was to point his lance at Ness and fire on the kid. A golden beam of energy leapt forth from his lance and streaked towards Ness. Fortunately, Ness had managed to raise a Shield Alpha over his body. The golden bolt of energy splashed harmlessly against his shield. Poo then took this opportunity to target King Chimeron with a spear. He fired his spear from his gun and the spear quickly struck the king in the back. However, his dragon scales were strong enough to be able to deflect the spear. It glanced off the scales only leaving a small scratch on the scales, inflicting no harm to the king. The king then targeted Poo, but this attack did not come from his lance. Seeing no problems with using his magical powers inherent to himself, he powered the magical equivalent of a PSI Thunder attack. The Thunderspark, as he called it, charged all around his body before he unleashed it against the teens. Instantly, the lightning reached out to Ness and Poo and struck them, arcing across their bodies. The teens gave off muffled cries as the attack hit. The teens then remained perfectly still before beginning to float back up to the surface. They had been paralyzed. King Chimeron laughed. He had them. But the battle was not over yet.

Paula once again entered the fray and before Chimeron could hit the paralyzed teens with a subsequent attack, she used PSI Torrent to send a pulse of water right at the Atlantean. The pulse of water caught the king off guard and struck him, forcing him backwards as if he had been caught in a rip current. Even worse was the fact that the attack knocked off some of the damaged scales that he was now relying on to protect his chest. Not only that, but he lost his grip on his lance and while it automatically returned to him, it gave the teens precious seconds to use PSI Healing to cure themselves of their paralysis. With their paralysis cured Ness and Poo joined Paula in the fight.

Knowing that several of Chimeron's scales over his chest were missing, the teens quickly formed up directly in front of Chimeron. The king quickly recovered from Paula's PSI Torrent and he quickly powered a magical water attack of his own. Chimeron began to form a swirl of water that eventually congealed into the shape of a serpent-like dragon. Ness immediately raised a Shield Omega over the party. The dragon proceeded to send a pulse of water their way. The pulse of water almost instantaneously struck Ness's shield, causing it to flare and steam, and rebounded the blast of water right back at the dragon. The pulse of water struck the dragon in its center of mass and blew a hole in it. The damage to the water dragon caused it to dissipate. While they dragon had been attacking Ness and the others, the trio of psychics drew out their spear guns, Poo already having reloaded his gun, and closed the distance with King Chimeron. King Chimeron had sent out a second pulse of water, but like the water dragon's pulse, that too was reflected off of Ness's shield and struck the Atlantean, momentarily disorienting him.

Ness and the others used this opportunity to close to point blank range with the king. By the time he had recovered, the teens were scant yards away from him. While he could easily hit them with beams of energy from his lance, he did not know how much strength Ness's shield still possessed. If it was still strong, such an action would cause him more harm than good. Chimeron then considered using another Thunderspark attack. The problem there was the fact that Thunderspark took a couple of seconds to charge, and in that time, the teens would attack. Still, it was better than attacking them with an attack that was guaranteed to bounce back at him and inflict massive damage to the Atlantean.

As such, Chimeron began to charge his attack. As the electrical field was beginning to form, Ness, Paula, and Poo took aim with their spear guns and fired in unison. The spears launched from the gun sped towards their targets, a patch of skin that was now bare due to the scales having been blown off during the battle. Before Chimeron could unleash his attack once more, the three spears struck home, directly into the patch of bare skin. The spears punctured the flesh of the Atlantean and remained embedded in his body. If anything, the tough scales on his back were a curse rather than a blessing, since the spears were serrated and pulling them out would inflict even more damage than he had already suffered. A red mist was oozing out from the three wounds in his chest. It would not matter, though, since Chimeron's heart had been pierced numerous times. Blood was now leaking out into the water as Chimeron slumped backwards, an expression of shock and pain etched onto his face, an echo of his last thoughts before he died. The teens began to swim away when a green burst of energy came up from behind and struck the Atlantean, vaporizing his body. The others looked back and saw Giygas floating there. Just making sure he's dead, he told them.

With King Chimeron dead, all that was left now was to go claim the Sanctuary. The group proceeded to make their way towards the white swirl of energy where the tallest spire of Atlantis once stood. The few remaining Atlanteans fled back to their homes and stations in Atlantis at the sight of the teens approaching the Sanctuary. They figured that anyone who could kill their king like that was someone to be feared and avoided, no matter what race they belonged to.

Soon, the group made it to the white swirl. Ness stayed back to guard the others and make sure that no sneak attacks were launched against the group. With that, Paula, Poo, and Giygas swam towards the swirl, stretched out their hands, and made contact with the energy. Once they made contact with the energy, memories of the past came flooding into their minds. For Poo, he remembered a time back in Dalaam when he was very young. He saw the image of his parents looking sternly at someone. He knew it was not him, but he also knew that whoever they were focusing their gaze on, they were close to his parents. He then heard a female voice sing, "…and sweet harmony…" Then, the memory ended and he found himself back with the group on the bottom of the ocean, albeit feeling fully rejuvenated.

Once the group had recorded the Sanctuary melody to their Sound Stones, the group returned to Ness. When they regrouped, Paula said, "Job's done. Let's go," through her speakers. The teens then made their way up towards the surface, swimming as quickly as they could so that they would not risk running out of oxygen. Giygas remained behind for a little while, though. Once the teens were out of sight, he used his powers to block his presence, and gave the impression that he was right behind them. The reality was, though, that he wanted to tie up some loose ends before rejoining them, and he felt as if they would not approve of his actions. You Atlanteans have shown the worst features of a sentient species, he thought. You have shown cruelty, malice, and sadism towards the humans and other creatures, even of the sea. You even fought with us against the humans, and others of your kind who did not share your hatred of the humans. But what you never realized was that my people were always going to destroy you, too, when your usefulness had ended. Humanity's done a good job, so far, about dealing with you ever since you revealed yourselves as being hostile to them. I think I'll save them and my people the trouble. I can't have you nipping at humanity's heels after my people are defeated and humanity is saved. To that end…

Giygas then powered a ball of PSI Special in his hands and stretched out his arms and cupped his hands outward as the ball formed and grew to the size of a small boulder. Giygas then unleashed the emerald ball of PSI Special down upon Atlantis and its surroundings, but not before psychically sending out a warning to all of the fish, other underwater animals, and marine mammals in the area. Once the other lifeforms were clear, Giygas unleashed his ball of Special on Atlantis. The ball flew down to Atlantis and struck the city in the center of the grand palace. The ball then exploded and a green sphere of energy engulfed the palace and the surrounding area. After a few seconds, the entire area, ships and planes and all, were engulfed by Giygas's attack. Giygas could hear the psychic cries of the remaining Atlanteans as they were disintegrated by Giygas's attack. He did not care for their plight. They had brought this fate on themselves by siding with evil. He had no sympathy for them whatsoever. After a few seconds, the ball dissipated and all that was left was a barren crater. Atlantis was no more, and the Atlantean species was now extinct. With all traces of the Atlanteans now removed from the Earth, Giygas rose up to join Ness and his friends on their ascent, making sure that they were not aware of what he had done to the Atlanteans. In that regard, his primary concern was Paula, since she was the one who had the most trouble with war. He felt that Ness and Poo would understand why he had done what he had done, even if they did not approve of his actions. But what concerned him more was the fact that Paula was telepathic, so there was still a chance that she could have picked up on the Atlanteans' destruction. He decided to let it lie for a while. If their destruction came up, he would address it then and not until.

Giygas soon rejoined the group and they made their way towards the surface. After a while, they saw that they were getting close. They sensed the minds of a couple of Killer Whales in the vicinity, but the whales had hunting on their minds and did not view the humans as food since there were several large fish that were just begging to be eaten by the pod. As the group passed, though, a younger Orca turned to glance at the teens. Paula thought that she could sense a smile emanating from the creature. She paid it no heed as she swam towards the surface.

The group soon surfaced and the Sky Runner II was hovering above them. The boarding ramp lowered to the sea and Jeff walked down towards the heroes. He helped Paula onboard first, pulling her up onto the ramp. Next came Poo, followed by Ness, who used his telekinesis to help himself onboard without any assistance, and finally, Giygas floated onboard. Once the group was onboard, the boarding ramp closed.

Onboard the flying saucer, Jeff and Giygas were helping the others out of their ADSs. Ness and Paula removed their suits and soon asked, "Okay, that's four Sanctuaries down. So, where to next?"

"Scaraba," Giygas answered.

"Why Scaraba?" Ness asked.

"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "Besides, isn't Stonehenge closer?"

"I think that the Scaraba Desert is a good choice," Poo said, agreeing with Giygas. "Some of the refugees from Dalaam resettled there. Perhaps there will be some good equipment to buy there, assuming it's still intact."

"It is," Giygas confirmed. "I made sure no one learned of Scaraba's importance. Besides, even though I don't know the boss there, I do know that the new King and Queen of the Fae are very powerful. I doubt that the pyramid's boss is going to be that difficult. It'll be a relatively easy journey and, as Poo said, Scaraba will be a good place for us to resupply and even rearm."

Seeing Giygas's logic, Ness nodded, saying, "Okay. Scaraba it is." Jeff then nodded and headed towards the cockpit. The craft then rose into the air and rocketed off towards Scaraba, in eastern Africa.