The group entered a long, dark hallway, partially flooded, several broken pipes up ahead being the probable cause. As the group hurried on, Atlas called over the radio, sounding worried.
"I'm right outside the submarine bay, but I can't get in!" Atlas updated the group in frustration. "I need you lot to open the door from inside. My family can't be more than a hundred yards away!"
"The Bay is just through this hallway. C'mon, we're almost to Atlas's family!" Johnny added, leading the group there.
"Hey, I'm just spitballing, but wouldn't Andrew try to stop us from getting to Atlas's family?" Kazuma asked.
"Yeah, I don't think he's gonna stop just because we're near our destination." DJ said. "We'd best get ready for a fight. He'll be sending every Splicer he can after us."
"Hopefully we can get this done long before he sends the crazy brigade." Neumann said.
The group then arrived in the Submarine bay.
"Go to the control booth, hit the switch and let me in. I think it's time we all shook hands and got properly acquainted." Atlas said.
As they did, Ryan radioed in.
"You've all had your fun but enough is enough… if you press that button, you'll learn what it truly means to be my enemy." he threatened.
"It's not like you've been friendly with us up 'till now!" Nemo responded, even knowing that Ryan wouldn't respond.
The party reached the control booth without trouble, seeing the switch in the middle of the room. After a quick scan to make sure nothing was waiting to jump out, Ethox ran up to the switch and pulled it. The lights flickered and died as a door in the bay open, letting a man who was undoubtedly Atlas run into the room.
"Hey Atlas, up here!" Ethox waved. "Hi!"
"You blow a fuse up there? Can't see a damn thing in that booth." Atlas noted. "Give me a tick, and I'll be up there. Moira! Can ya hear me in there, darlin'?"
As Atlas walked over to what appeared to be the controls to the sub, Legolia became alert, ears twitching. "We have company! A lot of it!" the elf warned.
"So dark in here…if only your friend look up and see you." Ryan spoke over the radio, as the group saw multiple shadows descending into the bay. "Maybe you could warn him. If only you could so something…anything…except just stand there and watch him die…"
Then the bay descended into chaos, a wooden beam falling and blocking the group's view as multiple Spider Splicers started crawling down the window.
"Atlas! You've got Spider Splicers in there with you! A whole group of 'em!" Ethox said.
"They're everywhere!" Atlas shouted, gunfire being heard. "I can't hold 'em, got to fall back! Get me family out, and we'll regroup in Arcadia! Just go out the way I came in!"
"Legolia, you're the fastest on foot! Get to the sub!" Tanya said.
"Right!" Legolia said as she raced out of the room, putting a quick arrow into a Spider Splicer, and ducking through gunfire from several Splicers.
"We're right behind you, long-ears! Don't worry about the Splicers!" Gimilor said.
Legolia dashed her way to the stop, the group on her heels, who found an audio tape belonging to Frank Fontaine, the man who has been referenced before. They played it as the elf archer went ahead.
"Spent the morning jawing with that Kraut scientist. She's damaged goods, all right. Just like all those chumps they scraped out of them prison camps. But she's no crackpot… she's gonna make me the kinda scratch that'll have Ryan look like he's runnin' a paper route. She just needs some supplies to get the ball rolling… and a friend to watch her back."
Taking note of it for now, the group hurried to join Legolia, who had found herself in combat with several Spider Splicers.
"Legolia, hang on!" Ethox said as the group attacked the Splicers with a fury of attacks.
Legolia was free to move close to the sub, before she heard a sound. "Oh no…" she said, running away from the sub. "Get away!"
"Legolia, where are you…?!" Kazuma started before…
*BOOM!*
The sub exploded, right in front of everyone's faces, taking the Splicers with it.
"The sub! NOOOOOO!" Atlas yelled in despair.
"No!" Ethox yelled at the same time, trying to move towards the flaming wreckage before being held back by Seiya and Darkness. "Let me go! We gotta get them! We gotta-!"
"Ethox, It's too late!" Ultra said. "They're dead, there's nothing we can do!"
"If we can get the bodies, somehow put 'em back together, then Aqua could-!" Ethox argued.
"It only works in Axel, Ethox! You know that!" Mirror Match said. "There's…there's nothing that can be done."
"Dammit…. All of that for nothing…!" Ethox said. "Now…Atlas's family…!"
"You and those Dark Ocean thugs ooze in like assassins, but where they steal all they can, you only take things you can use. Who are you, Fatebreakres? Why have you come here? If it was just to destroy my city, why come inside instead of doing it from the safety of the outside…? There's two ways to deal with a mystery…. Uncover it, or eliminate it." Andrew Ryan spoke enigmatically before he hung up.
"...I think we're all in agreement about one thing." Tanya said. "Andrew Ryan is insane. Killing a man's family is one thing. But all but right in front of him… that's a step too far, even for me."
"Yeah… I think we have an additional course of action on top of investigating and destroying Rapture." DJ said. "We've gotta kill Andrew Ryan."
"You're damn bloody right we do." Atlas said, his tone a mixture of grief and rage. "Get out of there, and meet me in Arcadia…Jesus Christ…"
"...I'm sorry, Atlas." Ethox said in shame as the group exited the submarine bay, Seiya looking back at the sub, and its controls, narrowing his eyes before he turned back around and followed the group.
Apollo Square…
"You know, water is pretty dangerous when you think about it." Pressure Washer said as he paced in front of a cage full of Little Sisters. "You get too much in your lungs, and it stops you from breathing. It can burn or freeze your skin, depending on the temperature. Yeah… There are plenty of ways that water can kill you. Oh, here's my favorite way."
The man pulled out a hilt and pressed a button on it, causing a stream of water to shoot out and shape itself into the form of a blade.
"Ever heard of a waterjet?" Pressure Washer grinned. "Basically, it shoots out a stream of water that's pressurized 30 times stronger than hoses at a car wash. It can cut through steel. This blade here? It's 100 times more pressurized."
He swung the blade dangerously close to the bars, causing the Little Sisters to cower back.
"All I'd have to do is flick my wrist in your direction, and BAM!" he laughed, swinging the blade again to emphasize the point. "You'd be gone. Oh, but I wouldn't be so fast, of course, no, no, no. I'll need to be nice and slow, so I don't destroy the slug that's keeping you alive. And trust me… you will be in pain every second, up until I rip that snail right out-"
Pressure Washer found his hand being clasped by Admiral Whirlpool, who looked annoyed and displeased.
"Pressure, what the hell are you doing?" the admiral asked. "I told you to keep an eye on the sisters, not psychologically torture them."
"Oh, don't lose your flow, I'm just having some fun." Pressure Washer replied.
"Your idea of fun is not what we need right now." Whirlpool said. "We're on a Code: Eclipse mission, with the Fatebreakers on our heels. I need you to be serious."
"If you wanted me to be serious, you'd let me carve up the little brats and be done with it." PW sneered. "Guess that's why your brother left you in the dust. You can't stomach the-"
PW found himself being slammed against a wall by a giant hand made out of water, Admiral Whirlpool looking enraged.
"Don't. Talk. About. Alex." Whirlpool uttered in fury, his whole body barely able to contain his hate. "If you EVER mention that Akainu fanboy to me again, I will pop you like a goddamn water balloon. UNDERSTOOD?"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I forgot we don't talk about him!" Pressure Washer said in fear.
Whirlpool released his subordinate. "Good. Now, I need you to send some men down to Arcadia. The Fatebreakers are heading there, and we need to finish looting what we can before they arrive. Take the sub and enter through the Farmer's Market. That way, Ryan won't be able to lock us."
"Gotcha." Pressure Washer said.
"And above all else, don't engage them." Whirlpool said. "No going rogue like you usually do, got it? It always ends with us losing something."
"Never cross my mind." PW smirked as he walked out to get a group together and head to the Farmer's Market.