There was something special about the beach in the early morning. Something so utterly mystifying when the sun slowly ascended to its place in the heavens, its divine radiance cascading down to the face of the waters below, and igniting them from a deep blue-violet into a sparkling mixture of red, gold, and orange. It was probably the closest thing a person would ever get to seeing the dawn of creation itself. As Azurine Montague walked along the shore, snapping photos of that spectacular view with every step, she couldn't help but think to herself about how, other than the breathtaking views from the shore, Stone Canyon didn't really have much in the way of… anything. It was a quiet little city with a bunch of quiet little people living their even more quiet lives. And to be quite honest, it was a breath of fresh air for the 23-year old photographer. She'd lived in a lot of places; New York, Tokyo, and even Paris. Big cities; beautiful cities! But none of those places ever really felt like a true home; they weren't somewhere she felt like she belonged.
But Stone Canyon just felt different. Like something magical had called her to it. The young woman chuckled to herself while she captured snapshot after snapshot of the dazzling coastline with her camera, reveling in the memory of her parents' faces when she had told them that she was planning on moving somewhere so normal and making a living on her own. Of course, her father had very nearly had an aneurysm at the very thought of his "baby girl" leaving, and so begged and pleaded for her to stay in the family manor, and just marry herself off to whichever one of his business partners' sons had the prettiest face and deepest pockets. Obviously, that was a hard "no" and she stood her ground. And there she was four months later, using her remaining bit of family cash to pay for rent and food while trying to get her foot in the door as a photographer.
"If only Dad could see this," she said as she snagged the perfect shot of a wave crashing onto some far away rocks. "Then maybe he'd realize that there are more things to life than money."
A swift breeze of sea air swept past her, sending a chill down the intrepid brunette's spine. She fully zipped up her icy blue windbreaker before making her way further down the shoreline. Maybe if she was lucky she'd catch a glimpse of some sort of sea life; a shark, dolphin, or even a whale! Sadly, she wouldn't get her wish. Instead, she was treated to the sight of an oil rig jutting out above the ocean, and what turned her stomach even more was that she knew who it belonged to: her father.
There was no way it was an accident or a coincidence; he'd never so much as heard of Stone Canyon until she mentioned it. Azurine hated it; not only the idea of her father trying to control and monitor her life, but the impact his company was leaving on the environment. And now here he was, ready to damage even more of the Earth all just to keep tabs on her. She let out a huff of frustration and, in an effort to take her mind off her family problems, combed the shore with her camera. It didn't take long for something to grab her attention.
She had noticed some tide pools to her left, but even more interesting than that were the two people already there; a man and a woman. The guy looked slightly older, and he was definitely taller; he had deep tan skin, white glasses, and a mess of black curls flowing down the back of his bubblegum-colored polo shirt. The woman was about the same age as Azurine, if maybe a bit younger, and was of Asian heritage. She had pale skin, dark hair done up in a ponytail with bangs, and wore navy overalls over a bright yellow t-shirt; her overalls were also decorated with a bunch of chibi anime pins and buttons. The guy was standing over her inputting data on the tablet in his hand while she was picking up and examining tiny starfish dispersed throughout the pools and rocks.
"Specimen A has recovered up to 95% of total limb regeneration within a span of only 2 months. Specimen B has similar results with approximately 91% regeneration after experiencing critical damage while Specimen C has only 15% limb regeneration after the same amount of time."
The guy started grinning from ear to ear and exclaimed, "Then the starfish native to Stone Canyon really do heal faster than the other species I've been examining. This is huge for our research!"
CLICK!
The unmistakable sound of a camera shutter and the accompanying brief flash of light suddenly shifted the pair's attention to the woman in a blue jacket and white shorts standing just a couple yards away from them. Upon being discovered she blushed a bit before walking over and introducing herself.
"Sorry for the candid shots. You guys are, like, the only living things I've seen all morning."
"It's all good as long as you got my good side," laughed the man. "But if you're looking for some more active beach life, you'd do a lot better going a couple miles up the coast."
"Sounds great. But I kinda took the bus here, and it doesn't really go that far."
The girl stood up and chimed in, her voice was soft but it had a charming bubbly aura surrounding every word, "You could always come with us! We're actually heading there to do some more research anyway."
"Umiko, you can't just ask strangers to tag along with us on research trips!"
"Come on, Indra!" she whined in reply, "We're just helping her out. It's not like she's a crazy hobo or something. She's got freckles for goodness' sake! You can't be evil with freckles!"
Indra scoffed, "One, we don't know that for sure. And two, you most certainly can be evil with freckles; I've got two ex-girlfriends as proof of that. And thirdly, I am not an Uber."
The two girls looked the man right in his face with their best puppy dog eyes. Try as he might, Indra just couldn't withstand their combined girl-power. Soon enough, he cracked under the pressure and before he knew it, all three of them were piled into his car and travelling down the road to their destination.
"So, wanna tell us about yourself?" asked Indra.
"Oh, um… I guess I never did tell you guys my name. I'm Azurine."
"Nice to meet you, Azurine. I am the soon-to-be famous Dr. Indra Malik and the girl in the overalls here is a robot I made using some old laptops and a couple DVD players. Pretty realistic, huh?"
Umiko delivered the young doctor a playful dig in the arm and shot him a look.
"Or she might be my totally human assistant, Umiko Kaiba. Whichever you want to believe really."
"So, you from around here?" said Umiko.
"No, I'm still pretty new to town actually. What about you guys?"
The other woman shook her head.
"I'm from Hokkaido. And Indra's from LA. But SCU offered me a really great scholarship, and gave him a ton of funding for his research."
"SCU?"
"Stone Canyon University. I'm a sophomore working toward my Bachelor's and Indra's working on his doctorate in biology."
Indra added, "I've been focusing on the regenerative properties of starfish to see if one day we can use their genetic code to develop a way for humans to regrow our limbs in a similar manner. And the starfish around Stone Canyon seem to heal much faster than anywhere else I've ever done research."
"Wow, that's pretty damn cool."
"Glad you think so. If I was talking to my family about this, they'd look at me like I had grown a second head or something."
Azurine let out an exasperated sigh, looking up at the car's ceiling as if looking for guidance from on high. "Believe me, I get how hard it can be when family doesn't really get you. My dad's pretty overbearing. He'll do just about anything to keep an eye on me. Even if he ends up just making a bigger mess because of it."
"So you buy that rumor that the big wig in charge only set up this rig as a front so he could spy on his kid?"
"Hell if I know or care. All I know is that our paychecks are gonna be extra fat come payday!"
"Haha, damn straight! Now let's get this show on the road."
Two older men in hard hats and beige button-up shirts with the words MONTAGUE OIL CO. plastered across the back. They were standing on the main platform of the oil rig just offshore from the beaches of Stone Canyon; one of them, a heavyset man by the name of Eric, had a large silver tablet in his hands with a complex computer program of some sort on the screen. In front of the pair was a futuristic vehicle atop a lowering platform; it was a sleek silver machine vaguely reminiscent of a stereotypical flying saucer with its rounded body and domed cockpit. Unlike a flying saucer, however, this piece of tech was very much manmade; the latest in oil drilling technology hot off the engineering floor. Eric's companion, a lithe twig of a man named Steve, walked over to it and popped the cockpit dome open. He seated himself inside, acquainting himself with the controls, while Eric activated the vehicle via his tablet.
"Alright, how's it looking in there?" asked Eric as he looked over the diagnostics of the machine.
"Bit cramped, but hot damn is she pretty! Can't wait to handle her in the water."
"Don't worry about a thing while you're down there. It's air-tight in the cockpit to keep the pilot safe. I'm about to engage the manual controls. Get ready."
A few taps of the screen, and Eric relinquished manual control over Steve. Eager, the pilot began to activate the oil driller in its splendor. Suddenly, the body of the craft lifted up from the floor on four crab-like limbs. Slowly but surely, it and Steve were lowered in the waiting embrace of the ocean below them. It floated gently to the frigid floor of the deep blue, and upon contact with the ocean floor began moving in a manner so mechanical and yet so uncannily organic at the same time. Back above the water, Eric was closely monitoring the machine's status while it explored the shadowy depths of the sea. Steve was slightly hesitant about taking the position as a test pilot, but the $100,000 bonus was just too good to pass up for a man with four kids to put through school. And even if being so far under the sea did make him uncomfortable to a certain degree, he wasn't going to let something like fear get in the way of his well-deserved pay day. Plus it was pretty interesting getting to see the kinds of things that lived so far down in the dark bosom of the ocean. It truly was another world down there.
"How's she handling, Steve?"
"Pretty smooth, boss-man, pretty smooth. Says I'm only a few meters from the target spot."
"Yep, and once you reach it you'll deploy the automatic drilling unit. Just keep on course and you'll be up in a few."
"Yes sir."
A few more moments of creeping along the seafloor, and Steve had finally reached his designated drilling spot. The whole point of these fancy new drilling units was supposedly mitigating the threat of major oil spillage by automating and streamlining the entire process. Whether or not Steve believed that himself was up in the air, and frankly rather irrelevant in the matter as whole, as he was more than willing to be a guinea pig for the pay out.
He began the process of switching the driller into its "collection mode". The thing extended each of its four legs out, embedding them into the seafloor in order to properly anchor itself down before the main body lowered down while a huge drill deployed from right beneath the cockpit. The drill was made from some… self-replicating nano-whatevers… Steve didn't really know the science behind it since he wasn't being paid to do so. All he knew was the drill was really sturdy and it could drill up a ton of oil really fast and avoid a mess.
"Man. And I was afraid for what? This has been the easiest buck I've ever made!" he proclaimed in his head.
Things continued to go smoothly as the drill bit started spinning rapidly as it made its way down. But what awaited Steve below was not the normal seabed. Had he been able to see it, he still wouldn't have known what it was; a sizable stone disk, not much different from a manhole cover, firmly secured into the sea. It was carved with letters and symbols that Steve would not understand, nor would he ever have the hope of understanding.
Had he known what would happen next, he would have stopped it. But he didn't know, and so he didn't stop. The drill met with the stone disk and it instantly began cracking and breaking. An odd, powerful light blue glow illuminated the water. It caught Steve's attention enough to bring up to his superior.
"There's something… glowing right under me."
"Glowing? Maybe you stirred up some weird fish or something. You're fine."
"I don't know. It's really damn bright, like sun bright. Wait, what was that?"
Steve's focus suddenly shifted as he saw a black substance floating around the machine. Under normal conditions, there'd have been no way he could have seen it but the beaming light allowed him to separate the ebony gunk from the water. Whatever it was, he knew it wasn't oil; it was somewhere between smoke and sludge; the way it floated and… swam through the water, almost as if it were alive, was rather unnerving. Steve was about to alert Eric about what he was seeing when the blue light abruptly stopped shining, and a massive tremor shook the seafloor. Steve found himself completely surrounded by the black smoke, the machine now engulfed in it.
"W-What the hell?! What was that?" he screamed out in panic. The man's heart was practically in his throat by now.
"Steve? Steve, can you hear me?"
Up above, Eric was also beginning to panic. Not only from the force of that tremor, but also from the fact that the status of Steve's craft showed significant damage to two of its legs as well as to the cockpit. He needed to get him out of there ASAP. Unfortunately, what Eric didn't realize is that the radio on Steve's had also been damaged, and so every message sent to him was coming out as little more than garbled static.
"Screw this!" Steve cried out as he frantically tried to make the vehicle move. His attempts were for naught though. As the legs of the craft tried to move, they were swiftly and violently grabbed by the floating mass of darkness. It began to constrict and mangle the limbs of the craft, crushing and tearing them apart as if they were tissue paper.
"NONONONONONO!"
Eric could hear every one of Steve's terror-filled screams along with the sounds of creaking metal as the craft began to show more signs of damage. All the blood drained from his face when the signal from the craft went dark. There was a terrifying atmosphere of silence as Eric tried desperately to get back in contact with Steve. He wanted to run for help, but he didn't even get the opportunity as the rig lurched left then right, then left again, as if being grabbed and shaken from below.
The rest of the workers on the platform began to panic, running in a mad dash to save their lives; emergency alarms sounded as an equally sonorous partner to the frantic screams of terrified men with nowhere to go. Their cries were only heard by the merciless ear of the sea; and when the platform collapsed into the frigid, unfeeling waters below, those same screams served as fuel to the darkness that lurked below. And then, there was nothing except empty silence and the lapping of the waves.
The newly acquainted trio got out of Indra's car and stepped out onto a new section of beach. It was a more rugged, craggy piece of coastline than their previous location; as if God had taken a massive chunk of obsidian, shattered it with a sledgehammer, and froze it right in the middle of the impact.
Still, it was gorgeous, and even better it was teeming with life. Azurine could make out a pod of dolphins playing a game in the water; they leapt out of the sapphire sea so majestically as they playfully chased and nudged one another. It hadn't even been a full two minutes before Azurine ran to the shoreline, whipped out her camera, and started taking pictures. Indra and Umiko followed swiftly behind her, not wanting to miss a chance to see such beautiful animals in the wild.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Indra prompted from the photographer as she captured the perfect shot of a mother dolphin and her calf breaching the water.
"Is that even a question? They're amazing."
Umiko looked out at the pod with a sense of longing and a twinge of oddly-placed envy. To see a family being united by the sea while hers was currently separated by it was a unique pain for her. She released a forlorn sigh as she sat down on the shore and watched.
"I was always jealous of dolphins as a kid."
Azurine, touched by the spirit of curiosity, asked, "And why's that?"
"They have all the brains of a person with none of the baggage. No worries about money, or bills, or pollution."
"What about sharks?"
"Dolphins bully sharks."
"Huh, the more you know."
Once Azurine got her fill of pictures, she looked around to see if anything else on the beach would make for a good subject. That's when she spotted the mouth of a large beach cave not too far from where she and the others were standing. It was made from a rougher stone than the rest of the beach, covered in a thick layer of algae and barnacles, and connected to the sea via a small stream of seawater that cut its way through the sand. In front of it was a plethora of yellow caution signs with DO NOT ENTER and DANGER KEEP OUT written across nearly all of them.
Azurine tapped Indra on the shoulder and pointed out the signs. "What's up with that?"
"City ordinance. Those caves are apparently really unstable, and the mayor's office would rather nobody ended up trapped inside them so they made them off limits. $500 fine and all that."
She nodded before noticing a group of kids (teenagers, really) approaching from the other side of the beach. They were your typical edgy high school kids; piercings, e-cigarettes, edgy rock band t-shirts, the works. Except for one of them, that is. This unique kid was skinny, but had a decent bit of muscle to him; If the sleeveless Mexican flag-themed hoodie was any indication, he must have been Latino. He removed the green hood on his head to reveal his curly mop of rich auburn locks that stood in stark contrast to his deeply tanned skin. He alone walked over to the cave, glanced at the signs, then back at his friends. They jeered him on, so he took a deep breath and rushed inside the cave.
"That apply to kids too?"
"Ah, to be young and rebellious again."
Umiko stood up and laughed a bit. "You had a rebellious phase?"
"Hey, I'm still a rebel. I just wish I had the youth part."
"You're only 26!"
"Don't remind me!" Indra replied in a faux-thespian dramatic voice as he feigned swooning.
The two of them gleefully bickered back and forth when they were interrupted by a violent shockwave that rocked the earth. All three of them lost their footing and fell to the ground as the tremor subsided after a minute or so. As they were getting themselves back up, Azurine noticed that the group of kids standing outside the cave had run off but there had been no sign of the kid that ran into the cave having come out. She ran over to the cave entrance with Umiko and Indra catching up to her and begging her to get the hell out of dodge with them.
"Azurine, we gotta go!"
"He's right! There could be another earthquake any second now!"
She fought them off, yelling back, "And there's a dumb kid that could get himself killed if he doesn't get out of there!"
With that she pushed them aside, and ran into the cave herself. The pair of research students just looked at each other agasp that she'd done something so bold. They had intended to make another run for it when another quake rocked the earth. Umiko looked up to see huge rocks from the cave ceiling had broken off and begun to fall. Instinctively, she grabbed Indra and the two of them rolled out of the way of the crashing pile of debris into the cave. While they were happy to be alive, they quickly realized that their fears had been realized: they were trapped in a cave-in. It was pitch black, but luckily they had their phones to serve as flashlights.
"Thanks for the save. You're a lot stronger than you look."
Umiko blushed slightly and turned her head to make sure he didn't notice.
"I… just didn't want you to get hurt. But it's my fault we're stuck in here now. Got a signal?"
"Nope. Looks like I should've sprung for that cave coverage bundle after all."
"So how are we getting out of here?"
"First, we go find Azurine and this kid. And then we can all find a way to get the hell out of here," Indra said with an exasperated sigh as they started making their way down the shadowy cavern. "Let's just hope those earthquakes were the worst of it."
Deep below the waves of the sea, an archaic evil was stirring from a centuries long slumber. Beneath the ocean, where once stood a proud, towering monument of modern human industrialization, was a titanic creature the size of a medieval castle. It was somewhere between a coral and tick with its six gigantic tentacle-like limbs and a green body in similar appearance to a typical brain coral. Thankfully, this titan of the deep was surprisingly docile and contently attached to the seafloor while feeding off the floating bodies of the rig workers. The true horrors lay within this beast; much like your average coral, this one also served as a home and vessel to creatures that lived within it. They had only just begun awakening from their sleep. The first to awaken was a being that looked much like a classical knight; his body was shiny, metallic, and glittering with every color of the rainbow. His head was shaped like a cross between a seashell and knight's helmet; this shell perfectly hid his face in shadow as the only feature that one could see clearly were his orange eyes; they burned like lava flowing down the side of a volcano.
"I… Am I awake? It's been so long. How long? I can barely even remember the war…"
He looked around to see that surrounding him were statues of soldiers. His soldiers. The ones who were meant to fight at his command on the battlefield. They too were quite monstrous; humanoid abominations with the features and traits of various sea life added onto them. Upon closer inspection he realized they were not, in fact, statues. They were his men. Frozen solid, still under the effects of… what was it? A spell? Yes! The sealing spell that had been used to imprison them. It still had yet to fully break on every single member of his forces. Could it be that he was the only one powerful enough to break free?
"It appears that my prowess and power shine forth even now. I will graciously carry on in our mission to prepare this world for the ascent of our lord! As his most gracious and perfect soldier, I, Avalon, will stand alone to—"
"What're on about, ya sparkly git?"
"Ugh. It's you."
Entering into the chamber through a pair of doors was a new monstrous figure. He was a good bit shorter and stockier than Avalon, clad in clothing one would think a classical pirate would wear (albeit a rather tattered set of said clothing), and five swords of various styles and length hung haphazardly from his waist. His head, which didn't appear to be supported by a neck of any kind, looked like a large octopus set atop a pair of shoulders; he had long, squirming tentacles dangling off his face that gave off the vague appearance of a beard. They also served to cover his mouth that was essentially invisible if one were to look at him head-on.
"Did ya miss me?"
"Like a sword in the back."
"Aye. The feeling's mutual there, Avalon. Out of all the Abysall soldiers to get stuck with, I get the pleasure of being stuck with the most prehensile."
"The word is 'pretentious' you debauched ignoramus. And believe me, Hapaloct, I am no more enthused by the idea of working alongside your ilk than you are me."
The pair's squabble was interrupted by a rather distinct slimy sound that entered into the room. They turned to notice a smaller, sleeker entity making its way into the chamber. It had no legs, rather it possessed a soft, serpentine body that oozed a viscous lavender slime that trailed behind it as it slithered towards them. Its upper body was just as skinny as its lower half, though with the added feature of a pair of webbed, four-finger hands, and clad in a raggedy hooded robe that obscured the face. Both Hapaloct and Avalon took a knee in the figure's presence.
"Greetings, warriors," she hissed. The voice was soft, hoarse, and dry. It had a slight air of femininity to it, but you'd sooner think it was the voice of the Grim Reaper than that of any woman. "It has been a long time. Too long."
"High Priestess Xini. We should have known that your powerful magic had broken the Atlantean spell placed on us."
"Roight, what he said."
A sinister grin stretched across Xini's slimy face as she gestured for the two to rise. They did so, and she explained that their faith in her sorcery was misplaced.
"I am not the one responsible for our reawakening. That is the folly of the surface-dwellers. It appears their primitive technology has advanced over the centuries we've been sealed, and in their carelessness they set us free."
Hapaloct nodded his disgusting head as if he understood anything coming from the witch's mouth.
"S'pose that makes sense...wait a minute! Centuries? WE'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR BLOODY CENTURIES?!"
Avalon covered his ears and scoffed, "I don't think anything's asleep anymore after that incessant noise!"
"Avalon is right. Calm yourself, Hapaloct. This timing is actually quite fortuitous."
"How so?"
Xini used her hands to conjure up two groups of magical puppets made of energy. The constructs battled back and forth, with each side losing members with every clash until only a select few remained on either side; both sides appeared tired, beaten, and battered.
"During the war, the Atlanteans were able to match us blow for blow. Only they held the power to stop us, and by the climax of the confrontation, even they were scarce for soldiers."
"But what of the sacred five?" Avalon interjected.
"They, along with the rest of their empire, have been reduced to nothing but dust by the passage of time. The Abysall Empire now stands uncontested as the victor, and now we shall reap the spoils of war…"
Xini manifested a miniature facsimile of the Earth between her slimy hands. Holographic tentacles slowly wrapped their way around the globe until it was completely engulfed by them. She let out a malicious giggle at the thoughts forming in her mind of conquering the surface. With a CLAP! she crushed the magical construct between her hands.
"This world is now ours for the taking. And without the power of Atlantis to protect them anymore, the humans will fall and the Abysall shall rise! Avalon, I've begun to hatch a brood of Krilton in the lower chambers of the Coralium Maximus. The sealing spell still binds itself to many of our more elite forces. Until I can break it, you'll have to make due with them and Hapaloct."
"Oi! I'm plenty elite!" argued Hapaloct. He used his tentacles to unsheathe the swords around his waist and expertlessly slashed them around as if he were fighting off multiple enemies at once. "'Specially if ya want some killing and mayhem done."
"Beggars can't be choosers, unfortunately. Come along, Hapaloct. We have a world to conquer."
Indra and Umiko seemed to finally be arriving at what seemed to be the end of the cave. They hadn't seen any signs of Azurine or the mystery kid she had run in to save outside of a few footprints. There wasn't so much as an utterance of sound besides their footsteps and the silence was quickly becoming as crushingly overbearing as the surrounding darkness. That was until they found themselves stepping into something right out of a fairy tale. Standing right in front of them were Azurine and the mystery kid, but the odd part came in when they realized what they were standing on: water. They were standing perfectly on top of a large pool of water;
"Azurine!?" they both cried out in unison.
The photographer ran across the water to run over and meet them. With every step, the water underneath her feet would glow a different color; red; yellow; green; pink; blue; it would alternate between them at random. She embraced the two in her arms, much to their shock.
"Thank goodness you guys are alright! I heard the rocks fall and I was so afraid something had happened to you."
"We're fine," Indra reassured her. "But if it weren't for Umiko, I'd be a pancake right now. We're glad you're okay, too. You and him."
Indra looked over to see the kid in the hoodie looking at something in the middle of the water. Reluctantly, he placed a foot onto the surface of the water and was flabbergasted when it didn't sink immediately. He placed his other foot down, and marveled as he stood atop the glowing water alongside Azurine. Umiko followed suit, sharing in the absurdity of walking on water. The three of them made their way over to where the teen boy was standing in the dead center of the pool. There, placed on a circular stone platform jutting out from the water, was a statue of a man.
It was carved from a material much like that of a pearl; smooth, white, and reflective. The man was tall, even taller than Indra who was the tallest in the room at 6'1" and this thing had at least five inches over him, possibly even six. His abs were perfectly sculpted and defined, his shoulders broad and imposing as he stood straight up. Even the statue's hair was captured perfectly; curly, but tied up into a bun. The only part of the figure not made from pearl was a little black and gold buckle affixed to its waist. It looked to be a stylized trident with the two outer tines slightly bent outwards and the barb of the middle tine replaced by a diamond-shaped red jewel.
"You and your friends some kind of weird art club or something? You know, I'm pretty sure there's a museum in town," Azurine said to the teen while admiring the statue. For a guy made of rock, he was kind of cute.
"Those pendejos aren't my friends. I don't see any of them here in this cave looking for me. I thought they could have been…Guess I was wrong."
"Hey, don't be like that. They could have run to get help."
He just laughed that idea off. "Those guys? Talking to the cops? You should be a comedian, lady."
"Don't call me 'lady'. I'm not that old. My name's Azurine."
"Me encanta. I'm Rider," he told her with a flirtatious wink and smile. "I can show you why they call me that if you're interested?"
"I might not be old enough for 'lady' yet, but I'm definitely still too old for you."
"Puedo soñar, chica. Puedo soñar."
"I am seriously starting to feel the oxygen levels in this cave getting lower," declared Indra. "We gotta find a way out of here. Maybe this statue is like a… I don't know, a secret switch or button."
Indra started to twist and pull and poke at nearly every point of the statue's body. Eventually he pressed down onto the red jewel on its belt, and that certainly triggered something. The jewel erupted into bright light as the water beneath them rapidly switched between the five colors without them even having to move. All four were blinded, but they could feel themselves being lifted high into the air as the sounds and sensations of swirling wind and water surrounded them.
It was silent for a moment, but then the sound of waves and seagulls became more and more clear. They could feel sand beneath them, hear the waves rise and crash against the shore. Rider was the first to get to his feet; even though his head was still killing him, he walked over to Azurine and helped her get her bearings before they moved onto helping Indra and Umiko.
"Feels like I got hit by a truck," Rider moaned as he clutched his hands to his head.
"Or got struck by lightning," suggested Umiko.
"What the hell even was that?" Indra asked. "And how did we end up back on the beach?"
While the others were getting over their migraines, Azurine noticed someone was standing directly in front of them, already knee deep in the ocean. He was shirtless, just standing there with his arms outstretched like a tree, basking in the light of the sun and getting drunk on its warmth. Soon, the others noticed him as well. It was clear he wasn't just some normal beach-goer as he would've had to wonder how four random people miraculously appeared on the beach from thin air. No, this guy was different in some way. And yet oddly familiar at the same time. After a few minutes of him wading in the water and absorbing the sun's rays, he turned around and started walking towards the group.
"Who is he?" whispered Umiko.
Indra shrugged. "No idea. Don't remember seeing him in the cave."
"I think I'd remember seeing someone that ripped without a shirt on," said Rider.
"Yeah, no way I'd forget someone that cu…" Azurine cut herself off when she realized what she was about to sound incredibly thirsty for their mystery man.
But dammit, he was hot! Olive skin, washboard abs, messy brown hair… Wait, his hair. A messy bunch of curls tied up into a bun… That plus the super-shredded muscles… No, it couldn't be...! She looked up because… well, she had to. The guy was tall. Really tall. His jawline was sharp and chiseled, smooth as velvet, and his eyes were a piercing emerald green. When she looked down at his body, she noticed it: the trident belt buckle. It was turning into a really weird day.
"H-Hello. You're… You were that statue, right? Back inside the cave?"
"I wasn't a statue," he corrected her. His voice was deep, but soft and kind. Friendly, but still capable of commanding respect. "I was… hibernating. Frozen so that if I was ever needed, I could be revived."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out. Hold up. Flag on the play," cut in Indra. "You honestly want me to believe that this guy was that statue? And that he magically made us walk on water and teleported us out of his magic cave? Seriously?"
"No sé. But it's not like we have a lot of other answers at the moment, dude."
"So… who are you?" Umiko inquired of the statuesque man.
"I am Daok. Firstborn of the seventh royal guard captain of the Empire of Atlantis. One of the chosen of Poseidon. Leader of the—"
"Atlantis. ATLANTIS!? That's it! I'm out!" yelled Indra as he threw up his hands in defeat and fell backwards onto the sand. Daok raised an eyebrow at the man's antics but Umiko gestured for him to continue.
"As I was saying. I am the leader— No, I am the only remaining member of my team of warriors. We were known as the Power Rangers."
Rider's face lit like a Christmas tree. "You're a Power Ranger?"
"Yes. My teammates and I valiantly fought in the name of Poseidon to protect the Earth from a horrible fate. I was the only one that survived the war."
"The only Ranger?"
"The only Atlantean. We were forced to do battle against an army of inhuman creatures who called themselves the Abysall Empire. They were monsters through and through; selfish magic users who traded away their very souls for a power far greater than they could hope to achieve on their own. They dedicated their accursed existence to preparing the Earth for their master's arrival. At the time, only the Atlantean Empire possessed the technology and weapons strong enough to fight them off. It was a battle that raged across the planet. In the end, our empire fell as did my fellow Rangers, and the remaining Abysall forces were sealed away. Until now."
"What do you mean 'until now'?" asked Azurine. "You mean to tell us that some evil monster cult from thousands of years ago is back and now they're going to take over the world?"
"Sadly, yes. I can sense it through the ocean that the seal has been broken. It won't be long before they mount an attack on the nearest city. That is to say if they're not already launching an incursion as we speak."
The talk of world-conquering monsters was enough to draw Indra out of his stupor and back into the conversation. The quartet of humans looked at each other with immense levels of concern in stark contrast to Daok, whose face was quite calm as he simply began to walk away.
"Hold up, where are you going?" Indra called after him.
"To stop the Abysall once and for all."
"Alone?! A whole empire couldn't beat them! How can you hope to do it alone!?"
That line managed to make Daok stop dead in his tracks for a moment. He clenched his fists and the group noticed a tremble of silent fury go through his body. He turned his head briefly and gave his answer through clenched teeth. Azurine could swear she saw him fighting back tears.
"Because hope is all I have left. And I'm the only hope any of you have left. Goodbye."
Daok's body transformed into a sphere of red light that floated up and through the sky. This left four bewildered humans on the beach, more confused and afraid than they'd ever been in their entire lives. Rider dug into his pockets and pulled out his phone; A live news feed from downtown Stone Canyon was front page across nearly every social media page. He gathered the others so that they could tune to it. It was chaos; Stone Canyon was being overrun by an army of bug-eyed freaks with transparent skin and claw hands. Leading them into the streets were a shiny guy in armor and some weirdo with an octopus for a head. They were laying waste to the city streets, destroying or attacking whatever was in their path. The police were trying desperately to stop them, but Stone Canyon had never dealt with a threat like this before and they were running out of options.
"Now what? The city's overrun with mutant shrimp and walking calamari!" Rider proclaimed in disbelief.
Azurine shook her head. "There's no way one person's winning that fight. Power Ranger or not."
Umiko started to pace back and forth. "But if he can't stop them, then what happens to the city?"
"We can't just sit here and do nothing. These freaks are showing up in our city. This is our fight," declared Indra while he pulled out his car keys. "Alright, everybody in the car."
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to save the world. Or try to, anyway."
"Oh, how I've missed this!"
Avalon and Hapaloct were proudly leading their forces through Stone Canyon. The metallic warrior outstretched his hand at a series of buildings and fired an arc of multicolored lightning from his fingertips, causing untold devastation onto them. Horrified shrieks filled the streets as everyone ran for their lives. Hapaloct sent the Krilton to hunt down any fleeing humans while he himself came face-to-face with a police officer pointing a gun right at his head. This was going to be fun.
"H-H-Hands in the air, f-freak!"
To the man's utter shock, Hapaloct complied. He raised both hands aloft and stood perfectly still. The officer slowly began to approach, only to feel something cold and slimy wrap around his ankle. When he looked down, he saw a tentacle attached firmly to his leg. He didn't even have time to scream before it dragged him to the ground, lifted him up into the air, then tossed him into the side of a building like a bag of trash. Hapaloct then unsheathed two of his swords using his tentacles, proceeding to chop the cop's car in two. He effortlessly picked up the pieces of it and tossed them as if they were pebbles. The resulting explosions triggered a new influx of screams which only fueled the bloodthirsty swordsman appetite for destruction even further.
"Ah, ya humans. No matter how far ya come, everything ya make breaks so easily!"
Meanwhile, Avalon had found his way into the remains of a jewelry store. He sifted through the wreckage and adorned himself with all of the gold and diamonds he could affix to himself. Admiring his reflection in the window of another adjacent store, he posed in various positions while ordering a batch of Krilton to pick up what he couldn't wear.
"...Don't scratch any of it! It has to remain in pristine condition! Like yours truly!"
As the crustacean-like grunts blindly followed the orders of their vain leader, a bolt of red energy streaked across their bodies, causing them to limply fall to the floor. A familiar scent found its way to Avalon. He turned around to see Daok standing triumphantly among the bodies of his fallen soldiers.
"ATLANTEAN!"
"It's been a long time, Avalon. But this time, I'm putting the Abysall down for good!"
"You'll join the rest of your damned empire in Hell! Die!"
Avalon fired several beams of light at Daok. The resulting explosion sent the warrior flipping through the air. He used the momentum to his advantage by attacking Avalon with a flying kick. The pearlescent knight was sent tumbling, but he quickly got back to his feet, summoning more foot soldiers to his aid. They threw themselves at Daok, who eagerly engaged them in battle; he was able to grab their claws with ease, toss them like ragdolls, flip them onto their backs and slam down on their chests. He grabbed two of the Krilton by their necks and crashed their heads together before casting their bodies aside.
"You're going to need more than this to defeat me, Avalon!"
"Then try this!"
Avalon released a set of small, thin tendrils from the palms of his left hand and used them to ensnare Daok by his limbs. With a flick of the wrist, he sent bolts of crimson lightning into Daok's body. The trapped warrior howled in pain as he was viciously electrocuted. Avalon dangled him like a puppet in the air, taking a sadistic pleasure in torturing his helpless opponent. He pulled Daok in just inches from his face; he wanted to savor the moment.
"How tragic, isn't it? That you returned to this world as its savior just to die like a fool," Avalon taunted. "But before you go, I want you to know just how much the surface world will suffer. And how powerless you are to stop it!"
Daok felt his body weaken; he was struggling to keep his eyes open or even make a sound. Avalon stared right into his prey's eyes, excited to see the light of life drained right out of them. So excited that he had no hope of notice the bright red Toyota Prius headed right for him at 100 mph. It was only when the car was just about to him that he turned his head, only to get sent flying down the street. Daok fell to the ground; he was grateful to be alive, but he was in a ton of pain. Azurine, Indra, Umiko, and Rider all rushed out of the car and came to the Atlantean's aid.
"It's you again," he muttered, confused as to why they had followed him. "What are you doing here? Why did you save me?"
"Maybe because we didn't want you to die?" suggested Azurine.
"After all, you're humanity's only hope," Umiko reminded him.
"I don't know," Rider said as he scratched his head. "After seeing him get the crap beat out of him, you sure there isn't some kind of... special back-up hope or something? Like, for emergencies?"
The group's attention shifted from Daok to Avalon as he had regrouped with Hapaloct and the remaining Krilton into a standing battalion. There they stood, five to nearly 25, with nowhere to run and no one else to help them. Still, the humans swallowed their anxiety as best they could and stood their ground. Daok could sense the determination coming from them; their bravery was not because they lacked fear, but because they took up this fight in spite of it. These humans, these strangers, were risking their very lives to stand alongside him and fight for their home.
"Guys, we're down to the wire. And whatever happens next… we go down swinging."
They shared nods as they readied themselves for battle. There was little to no chance of them winning, but then again: Even the smallest chance of victory was enough reason to keep on fighting. The jewel on Daok's belt started to glow, but not just its normal red. But blue, yellow, green, and pink as well. Four orbs of colored light fired out and immediately adhered themselves to one of the humans present. For Azurine, blue; Rider, green; Umiko, yellow; and finally Indra got pink. They became buckles identical to Daok's, though with the centerpiece jewel reflecting their respective colors.
"Atlantirisers? The blessing of Poseidon has deemed you all worthy! The power has accepted you. Now, it is time for us to accept it. Follow my lead."
The group stepped forward as a unit; their arms raised up above their heads with one wrist over the other; their index fingers and thumbs also extended outwards as they slowly lowered their arms down in front of their faces.
"Guardians of Atlantis! Poseidon Power, surge!"
They swiftly transferred their hands to either side of their Atlantirisers, folding the outer tines of the trident inward as to create the stylized shape of the letter "A".
A large wave of multicolored energy washed over their bodies like water. Their civilian clothing was now replaced by skin-tight suits. They were all practically identical in terms of appearance. Each jewel's respective color was reflected on the arms, neck, upper part of the chest, and lower back side while the rest of the outfit was a shiny black. A golden wave pattern was wrapped around the waist to give the illusion of a belt connecting the Atlantirisers to the suits. There was also patterned gold trim going up the sides of the legs, separating the color and black sections of the chest, a small version of that stylized "A" in the center of the chest, and a fin-like pattern located on the wrists. The boots and gloves of the suits blended into them seamlessly with the gloves being colored on top and black underneath, and the boots simply being black like the rest of the body. Massive droplets more energy appeared around their heads, popping like a bubble to reveal a unique helmet for each Ranger.
Daok's was themed after a tiger shark with fins, fangs on the edges of his opaque black visor, and banded with three black stripes on either side; Azurine's was modeled on a walrus with the tusks extending down the her visor and a snowflake pattern around a silver "nose"; Umiko's motif was a seahorse complete with its "crown" and small snout; Rider's helmet was themed after a sea turtle with mottled pattern of green and gold as well being a bit angular to reflect a turtle's beak; And lastly, Indra's was dolphin-themed with smaller, rounded fins, round teeth along his visor, and a blowhole-esque indentation on top. Aside from their unique motifs, each helmet also had a silver plate over the mouth.
"Swirling fury of the sea! Tiger Shark Power! Tsunami Surge Red!"
"Hearty strength of the sea! Walrus Power! Tsunami Surge Blue!"
"Graceful beauty of the sea! Seahorse Power! Tsunami Surge Yellow!"
"Ancient wisdom of the sea! Turtle Power! Tsunami Surge Green!"
"Playful spirit of the sea! Dolphin Power! Tsunami Surge Pink!"
"SURGING WITH THE POWER OF THE OCEAN! POWER RANGERS…TSUNAMI SURGE!"
Avalon commanded his forces to attack. The battle was fully on as the forces of good and evil clashed in the streets. The newly morphed Rangers were overflowing with power that hadn't seen action in centuries; it was ready to make up for lost time. The team split up during the course of the battle; The Red and Blue Rangers engaging with Avalon while the Green, Pink, and Yellow Rangers handled Hapaloct; and of course, there were plenty of Krilton to go around.
If Rider had to describe what being a Power Ranger felt like, he'd probably say that it was something along the lines of being wrapped inside of a cloud while lightning courses through your system. And with every jolt, you feel strength and speed rush through your body and make you feel like you can do the impossible because you are the impossible. He blocked a Krilton's attempt to swing at him, delivering a swift palm strike to its face in retaliation, then grabbing it and using the mook as a makeshift club to batter its own allies with. Elsewhere, Indra was struggling to fight them off. Even with the enhanced strength, he just wasn't used to being in a fight. Something in the back of his mind told him to reach for his Atlantiriser, and so he did. In a flash of pink, a metal triton shell with a handle appeared in his hands.
"A friggin' shell? Are you kidding me?!" he screamed as he narrowly escaped a swipe at his head.
He instinctively thrust the shell out at an incoming Krilton, The tip of the shell shot out, revealing its true nature as a rapier-like weapon, and stabbed right through his enemy. Indra got a second wind as he slashed and pierced through the Krilton, weaved through their attempts to strike, and cut them down like straw dummies. Focusing his power through the blade, he gave it a powerful pink aura. Dashing forward, he made one more slash at the group of Krilton in front of him.
"Triton Saber, Surge Slash!"
In an instant, they were cut apart and exploded. Umiko had seen Indra's technique and followed it accordingly. While the Triton Saber was excellent for running these things through, she felt there was still more potential in their arsenal. Reaching down to her Atlantiriser once more, she summoned a strange looking pistol that took the form of a shrimp. Squeezing the trigger, released beads of aqua energy that took down any Krilton unfortunate enough to be at the end of the barrel. Rolling under an attempted hit, she shot down three then took two behind her with a spin kick. When even more of them tried to gang up on her, she leapt up into the air and held down the trigger, creating an ever-expanding orb of energy at the end of the gun.
"Alphe-Buster, Surge Shot!"
The orb shot out, breaking apart into a hail of smaller blasts that culminated into a large explosion. Umiko twirled her Alphe-Buster on her finger, playful blowing on the barrel through her helmet. After dealing with their share of the grunts, the three Rangers moved in on Hapaloct. Though a drunkard, the Abysall general was no slacker. He unsheathed each one of his five swords and expertly used them to battle the Rangers from a distance; they couldn't get close enough past his tentacles. His reflexes were as sharp as his blades; with every move they made, he had a counter move. Their blades would clash, but nothing in the way of an opening was made for the Rangers to take advantage of. And to make things even worse: Hapaloct played dirty. He focused his blows mainly on Indra, who was the one struggling most to keep up with his rapid attacks, which prompted Umiko to rush to his defense. He then took the opportunity to move his attention over to Rider, slashing him three different times and causing a flood of sparks to fly from his Ranger suit as he fell to the ground.
"Shouldn't leave ya mates open to attack like that, luv."
She and Indra rushed to Rider's side as he balanced himself on his own Triton Saber.
"Rider! Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, kid. You okay?"
"I'm fine," he grumbled as he stood back and readied his sword. "Suit took most of the damage. But that doesn't mean that this pinche pulpo isn't getting some payback!"
The three Rangers nodded to each; a plan brewing in their minds as to take Hapaloct down. Rider traded Umiko his Alphe-Buster in exchange for her Triton Saber and rushed back in with Indra to do battle with the cephalopod swashbuckler. They focused on trying to aim for his legs, thus causing him to keep most of the swings low to the ground and closer together. Feeling invincible, the jaunty bastard let out a swarthy guffaw at the Rangers' inability to hit him.
"That the best ya little brats got? Pathetic!"
"Says the guy who forgot about the color yellow!"
"Color yellow?"
It was too late. Hapaloct raised his head to find Umiko with two fully charged Alphe-Busters in her hands. He gulped right as she released the triggers and rained down death from above. Several miniature explosions cascaded across his body; not enough to kill him, but definitely enough to keep him down for the rest of the fight. The Rangers took some time to celebrate their victory with some well-deserved high fives.
"Whoo! ¡Estamos chidos!"
"What he said!"
"Is it weird that we're having fun right now?"
"No weirder than a grown man in bubblegum pink spandex fighting evil fish monsters. Come on. Let's go see how the others are doing."
As the three of them ran off to go assist Azurine and Daok in their fight against Avalon, Hapaloct tried to raise a finger and speak, but he could only mutter a single word before falling limp.
"B-B-B-Booze…"
"Power Rangers or not, I'll still destroy you!"
Azurine and Daok were dodging and weaving through Avalon's lightning bolts, never missing a step while several explosions went off behind them. Daok leapt into the air with his Triton Saber extended, and landed a blow on Avalon's chest. The Abysall paladin staggered backwards, a rainbow deluge of sparks flowing from his body, but retaliated by generating a massive amount of radiant light via his armor. Azurine and Daok were completely blinded, and left completely unprotected when Avalon blitzed them in the confusion. When the light finally dissipated, the red and blue Rangers were racked with pain and prone on the ground. The other three Rangers quickly came to their aid and picked up their fallen comrades. Regrouped, the Rangers stood together in front of Avalon.
"Face it, Avalon," declared Daok. "Even if you topple empires or campaign the most brutal wars in history, there will always be people willing to fight against evil!"
Azurine placed a reassuring hand onto his shoulder. "You got that right! Now let's fry this shiny freak!"
The Rangers all pointed their Triton Sabers skyward, imbuing them with their respectively colored energy then readied them to strike.
"TRITON SABERS, SUPER SURGE SLASH!"
They each simultaneously released a crested wave of energy that coalesced into a gigantic breaker of power that washed over Avalon's body. He screamed before erupting into a massive fireball that the Rangers majestically posed in front of.
"W-We did it?" Indra muttered as he hugged onto Umiko and the two started jumping up and down and shrieking in disbelief. "WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WHOO-HOO! WE DID IT!"
"Something tells me he's happy," snarked Rider.
Azurine gave Daok a friendly pat on the back. "Not bad for a guy who's been a statue for a few thousand years."
"Well, I can say as much for you four. Your potential as Rangers is great. To lead and fight alongside all of you is both an honor and a privilege. I just hope I can do so in a way that honors the legacy of my people."
"They'd be proud of you. I know I'd be."
The two of them shared a look for a few moments until Rider came in, cheering and jumping for joy, and slung his arms around them. They were soon joined by Indra and Umiko in the celebration, but the good vibes stopped when they noticed Avalon's battered and damaged form rising up from the flames. Hapaloct also hobbled his way over to ally; both of them were clearly battered and fatigued. Still, the Rangers readied their weapons.
"You're wrong, Red Ranger. You, these pathetic little humans, and the rest of this city will be washed away and dragged into the depths! This is but the calm before the storm. And while you may have won this battle, this war is far from over!"
In a flash of light, the two monsters vanished and left the Rangers standing there. It was then that they truly realized that their lives were never going to be the same again. They and they alone stood as the defenders of Stone Canyon from the evil that had chosen to plague it. The five Rangers stood in silent reflection; unaware of what the future would bring, but brave enough to face it. Together.
"Ay-yai-yai-yai! I can't believe it! New Rangers!"
"Huh, here I used to think only Angel Grove had all the fun. These kids are going to have one hell of a road ahead of them. Explosions, monsters, giant robots. It's going to be a lot to adjust to."
"Do you think they'll need our help?"
"Maybe. And if they do, we'll lend a hand."
A man standing inside a dimly lit room surrounded by high-tech computer monitors leans back his red and blue striped chair as he surveys the footage of the Tsunami Surge Rangers battle in the city. A robotic voice in another room is speaking to him as its user controls the video feed. The man reaches into a pocket on his shirt and pulls out a silver buckle. Held within it is a shiny gold coin with the words POWER RANGERS written in white within a red border around it. He smiles to himself while gazing at his reflection in the metal. He's reminded of simpler days; of roller-skating, juice bars, and an unfortunate encounter with a pachinko machine.
"But I'm excited to see what they can do first."