Super sorry this is a little late! I've been unwell with a cold and have been really lethargic so I haven't had the energy to do anything!
I'm on the mend now so here you go!
Fisher stared at the blank instruments on the control panels that lay in front of him. He was waiting to ascertain the lightvessel and buoy information which hadn't come through yet, so was trying to find something to do in the meantime to occupy himself with.
For the past few moments, the young lieutenant had once again been trying to contact the lost submarine for his own peace of mind. The commander had left the tower for a few minutes to call Atlanta, leaving Fisher alone on duty, where he'd tried the radio again.
Tugging at his collar, Fisher checked the data from the underwater scanners near the Greek islands which had recorded Stingray's last position just half an hour before their final radio transmission. He then listened to the faint audio feed provided in the data, which had Troy calling up routine checks. The Captain had reported that there were no threats around the Greek coastline and that they would be back in a few hours after they'd completed their final observations.
Tiredly, Fisher rested his elbows on his desk and and held his head in his hands as he continued listening to the tinny audio, hoping something would come up.
It soon did.
"Hey skipper, take a look at this. What do you make of it?"
"Huh? Oh, I see. Hey, that's pretty odd current behaviour. Were we expecting any turbulance around this area?"
"No, I don't think so. Marina?" A pause. "She says the waters here are usually calm."
"We'll keep an eye on it."
Fisher looked up with wide eyes.
Virgil felt as though he was losing his mind.
Being cooped up in his Thunderbird for a long period of time with absolutely no communication from his brothers was something that rarely ever happened on rescues.
The boys usually maintained pretty good contact with one another to keep each other informed of their positions and the goings-on around the rescue zone. Even if there was a radio failure or power outage, the boys still had their transmitter watches to talk to each other. But this type of situation…
This type of situation was completely unheard of.
Virgil was now starting to understand how stressful a truly contactless situation could be. It had been several hours since he'd lost contact with Gordon and he was beginning to feel like his brother was dead, along with the submarine crew he was supposed to have been rescuing. He knew the crew's air would have expired hours ago and Gordon's air tanks couldn't hold out forever, meaning they were doomed to drown.
Don't you even think like that, Virgil Tracy. Gordon's fine. Do you hear me? Your brother is fine.
Pushing the stern voice of his mother to the back of his mind, Virgil slipped his green airship onto autopilot, then stood up and walked to the back of the cabin. His fingers hovered over his wrist and he fought hard against the urge to call Gordon again. He ultimately resisted and strolled over to the tiny shelf making up the kitchen area of his cockpit, switching on the tiny portable kettle.
The artist leant his head against the rear panel of the cockpit as he waited for the water to boil, watching the jagged lightning blaze through the ominous dark clouds. He stared through the murky skies down to the black water below, seeing no sign of his favourite submarine popping up through the waves.
"Oh Gordon…" he sighed, eyes dropping to the dark, churning waves crashing against other crests.
Troy raged on the wooden bench, desperately trying to undo the rope knots lashing his wrists together. He was angry because he couldn't get free, he was irritated because Phones was unhelpfully commentating on their struggles like he always did when they were in a predicament, and he was enraged because his dear Marina was being forced into an unlawful ceremony that she wanted no part of, and he didn't want her part of.
It made him sick.
"There's no point in struggling, Troy. Even if you do manage to get free and get to Marina we can't exactly go anywhere." Phones piped up from beside him, staring at the guards.
"I don't care! I can't let her get married to that creep! We have to stop this!"
"But Troy-"
"No buts, Phones! We have to act. NOW."
Gordon exhaled slowly, trying to push Troy's irate mumbles to one side as he observed the ceremonial hall, trying to seek another exit. All of the windows lead to open ocean, meaning they would soon drown after opening them.
With nowhere to go, escape seemed hopeless for the men.
"It's starting."
Gordon looked up at Sequalibra's words. A musical melody began pouring into the hall, echoing around the church like a powerful voice.
Troy's struggling increased at this point, so much so that he furiously stood up, causing two of the guards to run over and jab their weapons into his side to pause his efforts.
"Get that spike out of my hip, you underwater freak!" Troy hissed at the creature in question, who just garbled at him in response.
"Calm down, Captain." Phones lulled, trying to cool his friend's temper. "You're just making things worse."
"Don't tell me to calm down! We've gotta get out of here!"
"We can't do anything right now. Sit down and try to relax, you big goon!" Gordon hissed, fed up with Troy's unhelpful ways.
Troy relented and sat down heavily, causing the creatures to leave his side.
A train of humanoid sea creatures soon stepped into the church through one of the rear doors. Gordon's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets on seeing just how many of them there were. There were creatures with long, stringy hair like seaweed. A few had bulbous eyes and frog-like necks. Some had the beauty of traditional mermaids and others were ugly as sin.
Gordon's shock turned to annoyance when he realized none of the creatures were coming in through the rigged door, causing his heart to sink.
Shortly, the underwater being known as X-20 stepped through the nave of the church, making his way to some sort of royal booth beside the altar. As he passed Troy and Phones, he grinned toothily, loving the pain the situation was bringing them. Once in position, the creature held an open parchment scroll aloft and began reciting the long title belonging to his superior.
"Presenting his royal highness King Titan of Titanica; grand conqueror of the seven seas and esteemed enemy of the surface world."
Gordon turned his head back to the door, waiting for the tyrant to make his grand entrance.