Rain pelted the faces of Chris, Sean, and Jake as they stood in both shock and awe at the beast before them. They struggled to keep their footing on the slick deck as wind and sea battered the vessel. The monster let out an ear-piercing howl and arched its glistening body towards them, opening its maw to engulf them.

"Swerve, SwerveSWERVESWERVE!" Jake shrieked.

Sean jerked hard on the wheel as the creature suddenly picked up speed, diving down at them. Chris screamed, gripping the rail as the boat swerved out of the path of the creature's plunge. He could hear the monster hiss as it went past, he could feel the electricity between its teeth sizzle in his blood and raise every hair on his body. As it smashed into the water, a huge wave smashed into the side of the boat, soaking the three clean through. Chris barely managed to keep his grip on the guardrails.

"We all good?" Sean calls.

"For now!" Jake answers.

A flash of lightning illuminates the beast as it streaks through the water, twisting around them. Chris took in the magnitude of the beast's massive scaled body below the surface.

"We have to run!" He yelled. "Get back to the island!"

"You really think we can outrun this thing?!" Sean shrieks.

"The way that thing swims?" Jake yells. "No way in hell! Besides, I never back down from a good fight! And killing that thing's the only way to get off this island!"

"Jake's right!" Sean says. "And if we don't stop that thing now, it'll come for our friends next! We gotta fight it! For them!"

The choice before them was like being caught between a rock and a hard place. They could either try and run from the fast-moving sea monster, or make the attempt to fight the monster, like ants fighting a megalodon. Both Jake and Sean look at Chris, silently asking his permission.

"I don't know what you guys are looking at me for! You're right! There's no running, either that thing goes down, or we do!"

The creature rises once again and begins arching towards the boat for another attack. Sean swerves at the last moment, barely dodging the blow. The vessel shakes and rattles, and another massive wave soaks the trio.

"Okay, so what are we supposed to fight it with? Don't suppose anybody's got a giant fish hook!"

"I've got this flare gun," Jake says. "But it won't make a dent against Nessie over here."

"I'll check in the back and see if I can find something!" Said Chris. "Just hold that thing off!"

Chris grab his knife belt, which has somehow avoided being flung overboard, and strapped it on as he went. While Sean concentrates on evading the creature's jaws, Chris was rummaging through the small storage space at the back of the boat. He managed to find some fishing tackle, an empty jerry can, a life jacket... and...

"Uh... guys...?"

Chris turned around and hold out his find: a bundle of wires, crammed into a yellow plastic casing and messily wrapped with duct tape.

"...Is that what I think it is?" Asked Sean.

"If you think it's a half-kilo of Semtex..." Jake said. "Then yeah."

"What?!" Chris yelped.

"You're holding a bomb, Boy Scout."

"...The boats at the marina... they were all blown up..."

"...That bomb must have had a bad detonator." Jake continues. "Failed to go off."

Chris looked over the rails and see the creature moving beneath the raging water, orange flickers of lightning pulsing around it. He sucked in a breath sharply.

"Guys... I have an idea."

"Lay it on us!" Sean says, preparing to swerve again.

"Sean, if we got up close to it... real close... could you put those football skills to use and throw the explosive into the monster's mouth?"

"That's one hell of a long throw at a moving target, but... yeah. I can do it."

"And if it was in... Jake, could you detonate it with a shot from the flare gun?"

"I was the best damn shot in my deployment, in or out of the cockpit. If anyone can do it, it's me."

"Chris, this has to be the single most insane plan I have heard in my entire life." A hundred feet away, the creature rears up, gathering strength for another attack. Sean sets his jaw. "Let's do it. Chris, take the helm. Keep the boat steady. Get us up real close. And when I give the word, swerve."

"Aye-aye, captain!" Chris grabbed the steering wheel, passing the bomb to Sean. Jake readied the flare gun. "...Here we go..."

Chris aimed the boat straight at the creature and began to close the distance. His grip on the wheel tightened. Every nerve was on edge. Every instinct screamed at him to get out of the way, that this was suicide, but he held steady. Suddenly, the monster reared back and sent a spray of seawater their way.

Chris sputtered and blinked the water out of his eyes, but he still kept the wheel steady.

"Keep 'er steady..." Murmured Sean

The creature roared the loudest of roars, Chris bit back a terrified whimper. He had to focus. This is his part in the battle. The monster sucked in air, lightning pulsing all around it. The boat was racing closer and closer, streaking like a missile towards its target. Chris grit his teeth with both determination and fear.

"You got this... you got this..." Said Jake, in a calming tone.

"I'm trying..." Croaked Chris.

The creature opened its maw wide, electricity crackling between its teeth.

"Now!" Yelled Sean.

Chris pulled down hard on the steering wheel, jerking the boat to starboard, swerving out of the monster's path. Its gaping maw streaked towards the spot where they had been.

"Sean! Go!"

Sean winds up and flings the plastic explosive in a perfect arc. It sails through the storm and sticks against the monster's teeth.

"Jake! Do it! Shoot!"

Through the raging storm and surging waves, as the monster roars and swivels towards them, Jake stands calm as a gentle breeze. He levels the flare gun, taking careful aim.

"...Don't forget to floss, asshole," Jake growled, and he squeezed the trigger. The flare streaked toward the monster, toward its teeth, towards the explosive... "Everyone get down!"

All three dive for the deck and cover their heads, soon, a deafening explosion rips through the air. The air was felt to get briefly hotter. The creature's piercing shriek of pain makes Chris' blood run cold. Then, after a moment, Sean and Jake stir around him, and soon all three climb unsteadily to their feet.

"...Everyone okay?" Sean asks.

Chris looked out at the place where the monster had been. There was blood in the water. He could see the creature's tail as it retreated back towards the depths from which it came.

"...We did it..." Chris whispered. Then, he turn to the other two men with him, grinning. "We did it!"

"We...we did..."

"...That actually worked... Huh."

We look at each other for a long moment, then burst into peals of wild, exhausted, exhilarated laughter, hugging and patting each other on the back. Sean grabs Jake in a headlock, ruffling his hair.

"Damn, flyboy! That was some good shooting!"

Jake shoves him off and punches him lightly in the arm.

"Couldn't have done it without that power arm, QB." Jake lunges at Chris, pulling him into a great hug. "Boy Scout, you were AWESOME!"

"Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that we just blasted the hell out of a goddamn sea monster?!"

Then, there came wild yelling from across the marina. In the course of the battle, they had lost a bit of distance, floated back towards the island, but at that moment, they were all too thrilled to care. Back on shore, their friends were cheering, waving, and screaming at the tops of their lungs.

"Dudes!" Raj yells. "Duuuuuuuuuuuudes!"

"Unbelievable... you did it!" Shouted Aleister.

"Sea monster hunters for the win!" Diego shouts. "Badass!"

"Not half bad!" Called Estela.

Even Blizzard was jumping up and down, barking up a storm in elation.

Just then, the water under the boat starts to rumble. I look over the side and see a light forming under the hull, a strange, unearthly glow.

"...Guys...?"

"What's happening...?"

"I don't kn-"

A light surges towards them in a blinding pillar of white. It shoots up through the water and suddenly the boat was gone from under their feet. They were airborne, with the sky below them and the sea above, with the sea coming down fast to meet them. Chris could hear himself scream. Then he crashed into the water, the surface stinging his skin like a swarm of hornets.

The chilly water rushes around him, pushing and pulling, batting him around like he was nothing more than a twig. He fought against the rip current, clawing desperately at the water, but he couldn't seem to shake it.

"The shore..." Chris wondered. "Where is the shore...?"

He had to swim parallel to the shore... he had to get to the surface and tread water. But something in this water didn't want him to reach the surface. It was as if he was being consumed by a sentient sea that wasn't too keen on letting him go.

It was getting harder for Chris to hold his breath, he began to look around, desperate... It was then that he saw two figures sinking down near him, it was Jake and Sean. He was scared, scared to die this way. He thought about why they didn't try to run, they could have made it back to shore, if only he could have convinced them to run back and not make a fight out of it. His strength was leaving fast, it was getting harder and harder for him to regret, at last, he decided. He closed his eyes, if he was going to die, it would be on his own terms.

With one last thought of his life, the life he could have had, he closed his eyes and sank down into the depths, letting the darkness claim him...


Distantly, there was the sound of someone coughing. There was something solid, rough, and warm underneath Chris' body. Saltwater sprayed his face, carried on by a balmy, fragrant breeze. I felt his eyelids flutter. Then, as the tightness in his chest registered, he realized that he was the one doing the coughing. He sat up sharply, his body spasming violently, barely managing to roll onto his hands and knees as he choked up seawater. When his lungs were clear, he collapsed on the sand again, gasping and trembling. As the spasms settled, he carefully rolled onto his back, taking in his surroundings.

He was on a quiet, unfamiliar beach. Soaking wet, with seaweed tangled around one leg. His clothes, skin, and hair were covered with sand. ...But he was alive. It dazed him to realize it, but he was still alive.

"Son of a bitch... I am this island's punching bag." Chris croaked to himself.

"Chris!... CHRIS!"

Chris turned his head to see Jake and Sean running down the beach towards him.

"You made it! You're okay!" Shouted Sean.

"I guess we all are by the look of things." Chuckled Chris.

He let out a deep breath and rubbed at his face, in an attempt to try and brush off some of the sand. Jake offers him an arm as he got carefully to his feet. Chris then looked out over the water, crystal blue and shimmering beneath a clear sky. There is no sign of the monster, there was no sign of the storm.

"...But what the hell happened?"

"Last thing I remember is getting pulled underwater..." Sean says.

"Me too..." Jake adds. "But then... nothing."

"...And then we just woke up here..." Chris concludes.

"Doesn't make any damn sense," Jake mutters. "Not that I'm complaining, but reason suggests that the three of us should be dead about now."

Chris then remembered, his medallion, he looked and he saw it around his neck, as it always had been. He took it in his hands and looked out at the ocean once again. All was calm, there was no giant sea monster attacking them, they were all battered and bruised, but alive and well. He looked down at the Saint Michael's medallion that hung from his neck and concluded that this was not just luck or some miracle.

"...I think it's fate," Said Chris. "I mean, no way this was just us getting lucky, right? This has to mean something. I don't care how weird this island is, you don't just go from being dragged into the ocean to waking up unharmed on a beach."

"Not without something looking out for you," Sean agrees.

"Or someone," Jake adds.

"...So... what now?" Sean asked. "Either of you know where we are?"

Jake shades his eyes and squints at the sun.

"...West side of the island, I think. Hard to get more specific than that. Trees are too thick."

"We should fan out and look around. See if we can find our way back."

They split up, but make sure to stay in sight of each other. Chris wandered down the beach, letting the waves roll over his bare feet. The rushing of the breeze in my ears mingles with the whisper of the breaking waves. He could almost imagine he heard them making words.

"Koshtak... zarr... ballo... Koshtak... zarr... ballo..."

He froze. That was definitely not his imagination. That was a man's voice, whispering. He looked for Sean and Jake, but they were both too far away for it to have been them. Then something caught his eye, something colorful jutting out of the sand. A large multicolored conch shell. I approached it carefully, bending over to fish it out of the sand. For a moment, he stared at it.

"It couldn't be... right?" He wondered

He pressed the shell to his ear, and again heard the voice.

"Koshtak... zar... ballo..." A man whispers in his ear. "Koshtak... zar... ballo..."

"What the hell?" Chris muttered.

"Whatcha got there?" Chris looked behind him to see that Jake has wandered over with Sean.

"This seashell... this is gonna sound crazy, but I swear, it sounds like it's saying the weirdest thing..."

He held out the shell to Jake. Except now it was Chris' own voice coming out of it.

"What the hell... what the hell..." the voice of the shell murmured.

"Wait a minute... That's not what it was saying before!"

Jake eyed the shell suspiciously.

"...Please tell me you're some kinda ventriloquist."

"You're some kinda ventriloquist... you're some kinda ventriloquist..."

"That's incredible..." Sean breathes. "Hang onto that thing, Chris. It might come in handy."

"Will do. If nothing else, Raj will get a kick out of it."

"I think I've got my bearings..." Jake says. "The resort should just be a short hike this way. Let's get moving."

Sean and Chris follow Jake, and the three of them trek along the shore in silence for a little while. Finally, Chris broke it.

"So... what was that thing in the ocean, anyway?"

"Besides a huge-ass sea monster?" Jake says wryly.

"I gotta say, I was all about dinosaurs as a kid, but I don't think I ever saw anything that looked like that."

"I'm pretty sure I've never heard of a Crabbus Giantus either," Jake retorts. "You want my theory? I think those things were man-made. Experiments or biological weapons."

"Come on, man..." Sean laughed. "That's a little tin-foil even for you. I mean why would R-" He stops talking as Jake raises his fist sharply in the air. "...What?"

"Listen..." Jake whispers. "In the trees. Someone's coming."

Chris tipped his head and listened. ...And he heard it. The sound of approaching footsteps. Reading Jake's body language, he froze, keeping his mouth shut. Jake nodded approvingly. The two of them crouched down low beside a large rock. Sean joined them. It was not nearly enough to hide all three of them, but it did make him feel slightly less exposed.

"Am I missing something?" Sean whispered. "Shouldn't we let our friends know we're here?"

"Assuming those are our friends..." Jake whispers back.

"Aren't you?"

"...I never assume."

The trees begin to rustle, and the ferns part as something, or someone begins to walk out. Out of the brush appear a pair of tall figures emerging from the jungle.

The two, a man and a woman, dressed in scant clothing made of leaves. They appear to be shaped like humans, but their skin gleams in impossible shades and the tips of their ears are pointed like Tolkien elves. The woman had skin the color of emeralds, while the man was pale blue. Their skin is marked with tattooed vines twining around their legs and arms. Strange, ornate masks hide their faces. On the man's is an owl. The woman wears one that looks like a skull. They hold weapons that look like they are made out of amber. The man holds a long sword. The woman carries a dagger in each hand.

"...Who... who are..." Sean whispers.

"...Should we run...?" Asked Chris.

"Too late for that..." Muttered Jake. "Face it, we're not exactly hidden."

"So what do we do?"

"Hope they're friendly. Fight like hell if they're not."

The woman turns back toward the jungle.

"Varyyn!" She called. "Zhartell mishtok. En zallar."

Another blue-skinned man emerges, taller and more muscular than the others. Chris' breath caught in his throat, this one wore a lion mask. He was the man Chris had seen in his vision from the ballroom.

"Khell..." he murmurs.

"...How... how can this..." Chris was agape, he was so lost in what was going on.

The man in the owl mask strides over to where we're huddled behind the rock, pointing his sword at us.

"Marr nost, koh?" The man growled. "Koh?"

"Khell." The tall one answered. He shoved past the others and marched over to the three. Chris felt a strange... tingling in his head. Like an itch in his brain. "Dell ast partico. Dell... ast... partico."

Chris knew that he was trying to talk to him, but he couldn't understand, suddenly, he began to feel the tingling again. He drew in a sharp breath as a set of images began to flash through his mind.

An open palm... a sheathed sword... a knee in the sand...

"Dell ast partico!" Barked the tall one in the Lion mask.

"Look, Legolas, we don't speak your damn language!" Jake snaps.

"Wait..." Chris said. "I... think he wants us to surrender."

"You serious?" Asked Jake.

"Trust me."

He raised his hands into the air, and dropped to his knees.

"Dell ast partico," He repeated.

Lion-Mask nodded.

"Dell ast partico,"

"Someday..." Jake says as he kneels with him. "You're gonna have to tell me how you knew that."

"Never doubt Chris." Sean smirked.

The two both step out and surrender, kneeling on either side of Chris. The other two masked figures joined their leader. The woman raised her daggers and began to scrape them together.

"Arkhala tell mishrap, nostaron..."

"Mishrap..." the leader murmurs.

Another image flashes in Chris' mind. ...He could see his own body, lying wide-eyed on the sand, his throat slit. He cried out, doubling back, he was now lying in the sand.

"Chris!" Sean gets up, rushing to his side. "What's wrong?"

"I…" He could barely speak. Chris' heart was in my throat and he could feel all the blood drain from his face. "I think they… they want to…"

The leader stepped toward Chris, cocking his head curiously. "...Anlashokk."

The strange feeling in his brain was growing stronger, crossing the line from tingling into pain... and pleasure all at the same time. There was something probing deep inside Chris' head. It was... as if the lion-masked man was there... inside his mind. And he was trying to break through the barrier. Chris could feel himself trembling, his breathing getting more and more shallow. He wanted to run, he wanted to scream again, but he felt as if he was frozen in place.

"Say the word, Chris..." Jake growled.

"Hold on..." Replied Chris.

Chris did not want to be anywhere near... whoever or whatever these people were. But if they did not cooperate, they would kill them. The man in the Lion-Mask stepped forward and reached out a hand toward him.

The static began to overwhelm him, and somehow, he knew… he knew that the man in the Lion-Mask was trying to communicate through each other's minds.

The Lion-Masked leader approached Chris carefully, as if he were a stray dog or a skittish horse. Chris stretched out his arms, making sure to keep Jake and Sean back.

"It's okay... It's going to be okay. Just stay where you are."

Chris closed his eyes and drew in a breath as the man's hand touched his forehead. Searing pain suddenly shot through his entire body, starting at the spot where he touched. It was hot and cold all at once, sizzling and electric. Chris seized up violently, then pitched forward towards the sand.

"CHRIS!" Jake caught his as he collapsed. "What did he do to you?! I'll kill him if he hu-"

"No! ...Wait... wait... I'm okay..."

Visions flash through Chris' mind, as clear as anything he had ever seen. ...A city built into trees, held together by vines... a withered crone, her face hidden behind a veil... a figure in a battered red spacesuit, walking across a blackened beach...

The leader steps back and speaks again. But this time, when he spoke, he spoke with two voices. One with his mouth in the strange language, and another inside Chris' head. With his mouth, he says, Anlashokk. But in Chris' mind, he says...

"Mind-Talker..."

"That's… that's me?" Chris asked, getting up.

"This should be impossible…"

Despite the situation, he chuckled.

"Well... Nothing about this oughta be possible…"

"I'm sorry," Jake speaks up. "Did I miss something? Do you understand these guys?"

"I can't explain it," Chris answered. "It's like… he's in my head…"

"That doesn't sound good..." Sean frowns.

Skull-Mask whispered something to Lion-Mask, who shakes his head and gestured to Sean.

"The Eagle."

"Say what now?" Sean asks.

Lion-Mask gestures at Jake next.

"The Wolf."

"Go lupus yourself, Papa Smurf!"

He then looks at Chris.

"...But who are you?"

"...I'm Christopher... Chris..."

He shakes his head.

"No. Not what I meant."

The woman barks something angrily, thrusting her dagger in Chris' direction. Again, he could see his own dead body, this time with the hilt of a dagger sprouting from his chest.

"Listen... whoever you are... we don't mean you any harm..."

"All men of the Hydra bring harm." The leader scoffs.

"We're not... we're not with the Hydra... whatever that is..."

"You following this, Q.B.?" Jake murmurs. "Because I'm lost."

"I don't know, but I trust Chris."

"Yeah, fair enough. If anyone can talk our way out of this, it's him."

"Look," Chris says, "Whatever you want... whatever I can do to convince you... just tell me..."

The leader studies him for a moment.

"...You must come with me."

"M... me...?"

"All of you."

Chris swallowed hard, knowing his fear is plain on his face, but unable to do anything about it.

"What did he say...?" Sean asks worriedly.

"He wants us to come with him. All of us."

"No way in hell..." Jake says flatly.

"I don't know if we have a choice, Jake," Sean says grimly. "Something tells me that woman is good with those knives."

The woman notices Sean's gaze on her.

"Lash camaa!" She growls.

"Yes," The leader says. "You must come with us, or you die here."

"Why? Why is it so important that we come with you?"

He steps back, pressing two fingers to his temple. Chris' world flashes white. And suddenly, he is suspended in space, looking down at the earth, a beautiful marble of mottled green, brown, blue, and white. He could hear the Lion-Masked leader's voice echo across the void.

"If you do not come..."

Suddenly, everything was burning. The earth is burning. The flames explode from one place and spread over the globe, staining it hellish shades of orange and red. Then everything flashes white again. He jerked out of the vision with a feeble cry.

"What is it, Chris?" Sean asks. "What did you see."

"I... it was... I mean..." He swallowed. "I think we should go with him. If we don't... I think something really bad will happen."

"How bad?"

"Like... Cold War gone hot, bombed back to the stone-ages, apocalypse bad."

The men exchange a glance. Then Jake exhales slowly.

"Okay. It still seems crazy to me, but I'll follow your lead."

"Same." Sean agrees.

The dagger woman folds her arms and turns away with an angry huff. The leader stretches out a hand to Chris and he reaches out to take it.

"Get away from them!"

Chris looked up to see Craig charging down the beach from the jungle, clutching a large rock.

"No!" Chris screamed. "Craig, wait!"

The rock had already left his fingertips. It flies at the leader with the power and precision of a football player's throw and strikes the mask from his face. The leader turns a handsome, alien face towards me, golden eyes flashing with fury. The dagger woman lets out an enraged battle cry and flings one of her daggers at Craig. It flies through the air with fearsome speed, and slices open the side of his arm. He cries out in pain, clutching the wound.

"Craig!"

Seeing his friend hurt, Sean dives forward, grabbing the woman by the waist and tackling her down into the sand. Her other dagger tumbles out of her hand as she hits. The man in the owl mask swivels to help her, but now Jake moves. In one fluid motion, he rolls across the beach, grabs a driftwood log, and smashes it across the owl-masked man's head.

"Traitor!" The leader snarls at me.

"No!" Chris cried frantically. "Listen, it's not like that!"

Jake suddenly grabs him by the arm, and before he knew it, they were running into the jungle.

"Come on, Chris! Run!"

Sean springs up and runs after the others. Behind him, the masked woman scrambles to her feet.

"Go go go!" Sean yells.

They rush into the trees, joined by Craig, clutching his bloody arm. Raj and Michelle are waiting for them just past the treeline.

"Come on!" Michelle shrieks. "Run!"

"Before they catch up!"

They race through the jungle, sprinting towards the resort, ducking branches, and leaping over roots. Behind them, they could hear the strange trio shouting, hearing their footsteps trailing ours.

"Who the hell were those people?!" Craig cries.

"Ask Chris!" Jake snaps. "She's the one who mind-melded with them!"

"He what in the who?!" Raj yelps.

"Shut up and keep running!" Michelle snarls.

They all slam through the thick brush, slapping aside the foliage, and emerge outside The Celestial.

"Chris!" At hearing his name, Chris looks up and see Diego and the others just inside the iron gate into the courtyard. Blizzard is at his feet, yipping frantically.

"The gate!" Sean screams. "Open the gate! Now!"

Estela and Lila dive forward, pulling the gate open. They rush past the gate, and Chris throws himself at Diego, who crushes him in an embrace.

"Close it!" I hear Jake shout. "Close it now!"

"Oh, God, Chris!" Diego whispers, trembling. "Oh, God, you're alive..."

As the sound of the gate slamming shut and locking registers, He realizes that the last Diego saw him, he was being thrown off the speedboat, disappearing under the stormy waves. He clutches him tightly as he begins to collapse from exhaustion. Sean and Jake collapse on the steps of the Celestial.

"Are we good?" Raj asks. "Are we safe?"

"Safe from what?!" Quinn asks. "What happened out there?! We thought you three were dead!"

Chris turns back to look out through the bars. In the thick jungle, I can just barely make out a man's shape, glowering at me with cold fire in his eyes. In my head, I can hear his voice.

"You cannot hide. You cannot run. We will take you. We must."

But when he blinks, he's gone. He stands with the others outside the hotel, panting, gasping, and staring out into the jungle.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on here?!" Grace cries.

"The enemy is out there," Jake says grimly.

Chris nods.

"...And they're coming for us."