Warning! This story will have lots of swearing, violence, and blood/gore. If you don't like that, then this probably isn't for you and you shouldn't be reading this.

"Yes, I am Zero." = Regular speech

What is he up to? = Thoughts

"Where are you young one?" = Telepathic speech

"Hello, I am your PDA." = The PDA is speaking

I don't take any credit, nor do I own Code Geass or Subnautica. This story is purely for fun and my entertainment only.

Hehehehehehehe. Chaos chaos all around. Let's get started.

Ch. 2: Stranded, Confused, and Bitten

Zero would have taken advantage of the knight's stupor if he hadn't chanced another glance at the sky.

What he saw floored him in his tracks, because he was pretty sure there wasn't a giant red planet revolving around Earth alongside the sun during the day and the moon at night.

That's when his back crashed against the surface, the sound of it smacking was loud and it felt like his back was broken into two and lit on fire at the same time. Even Suzaku cringed at the sound, who took no damage due to Zero's taking the brunt of the blow. The air was pushed out of his lungs in a rush, and barely any of it was brought back in with a wheezy squeak of his lips.

Water rushed around them both and filled his vision.

Suddenly, Zero realized he wasn't on Earth anymore.

. . .

Once a bit more oxygen entered his lungs, Zero let out a small scream at the pain that was muffled by the water. Bubbles floating away from him and up into Suzaku's face, who finally released the masked man like he had been burned to back away. The knight looking down at himself in confusion, before turning to his surroundings with fright.

If the look on his face wasn't enough, the aura Suzaku was giving off showed that he was rightfully scared.

While the knight was properly distracted and not choking him. Zero tested his fingers and legs to make sure he didn't break anything when hitting the water's surface. Thankfully, nothing was broken or damaged besides a very sore back. The masked terrorist let out a relieved sigh at that, before snapping his mouth closed and his eyes widening in startled realization.

He was underwater.

His mask should have been filled up with water by now. So why was he still breathing and why wasn't there any water getting in his face and stinging his eyes?

Treading in place underwater, the masked man took a quick look down at himself to realize that his earlier assumption was correct. His own clothes had been altered when being transported into this strange world. His own suit was modified with plastic armour around his arms, legs, chest and back. The armour wasn't that heavy, and there was none of it around his joints that could prevent any movement. The armour itself was black while the suit's fabric was mostly a royal purple with a dark gold color outlining his sides, feet, and hands. His own shoes had turned into long fins that were black with dark gold on the edges and his black gloves had webbed fingers as well.

Looking behind him, Zero noticed that he had gained an O2 tank of his own, though it was shocking that it didn't break when he hit the water. The tank was black with a gold outline and writing, simple as that. What caught Zero's attention after that was his cape, or what was left of it. While it was still there, and his cape and its color scheme stayed the same, it seemed to have become mechanical. The two parts of his cape waving back and forth gently in rhythm with his legs kicking. Almost as if they had become an extension of his legs.

It was certainly different from Suzaku's suit, and to test the theory out Zero gave a swift kick with his left leg. His cape's left extension soon followed the action with a powerful sweeping motion, making the masked man spin around in a circle twice.

That was certainly interesting.

The only thing left that Zero knew for certain was different was his mask. His vision was clear if only tinted purple around the edges. The revolutionary patted around the sides of his mask to feel for anything different. While the sides and chin were different, they were more slim than his usual oval shaped mask, the top of his head still had its five spikes to resemble a black king chess piece. He could also see that there was a black mouthpiece connecting him to his oxygen tank placed over his nose and mouth.

Dammit. I hope he can't see my face. Zero wished desperately in that moment that he had a mirror just so he could find out if Suzaku could see his face. That, and the fact that he couldn't use geass on the stubborn burnette since he already used it on Suzaku at Shikine Island made Zero more uneasy than before.

If Suzaku could see his face then this situation was about to go down shit creek, and he didn't have a paddle.

Hell, no wonder Suzaku had looked so terrified. If Suzaku could see Zero's face. Then he had just realized he was trying to choke his own best friend to death.

Judging from the expression Suzaku gave him before they hit the water, Zero was eighty five percent sure he had seen his face.

Shit.

"W-where the hell are we?!" Suzaku's voice was somewhat muffled by the water, but Zero could still hear him rather clearly. The masked man snapped his head over to Suzaku to give him a harsh glare. The knight himself still had a very frightened expression on his face as he looked everywhere around them. "Where the hell did you take us?! What did you do!"

In that moment, a bout of rage coursed through Zero's veins at Suzaku's words like none he had ever felt before. So it was HIS fault that they were here? Suzaku was the one who pushed them through that strange door of light! If there was anyone to blame for this predicament it was the Eleven Britannian soldier!

Bits of dark, rich green kelp brushed against his left side, the water was tinted green and the sun shined down on them as if nothing was wrong when it was clear everything was very wrong.

Instead of even bothering to give Suzaku an answer, the masked man instead lunged at the teen with his arms outstretched, intent to harm clear in his actions. Zero's cape extensions giving him a big boost that had the masked teen slamming into his best friend and sending them tumbling forwards head over heels over each other.

Punching and kicking was out of the option since the water slowed them down too much to give much damage, so Zero resorted to what Suzaku was doing before they hit the water. He wrapped his gloved webbed hands around the burnette's neck and hissed darkly. "Even now, after all that's just happened. You STILL blame me for everything that has gone wrong with your life! Somehow it's always me. Somehow Zero is always involved in your strife. Get over yourself!"

With strength that was greater than Zero's own, Suzaku grabbed Zero's arms and forced him to let go of his neck. A pain filled frown on his face as he averted his olive green eyes away from Zero's face and instead at his chest. The knight gave a light kick to Zero's stomach and pushed away from him.

"This wouldn't have happened if you just surrendered like Prince Schneziel asked!" Suzaku cried back. The teen grabbing a hold of some kelp to help steady himself in the water. "Instead you went and did some strange supernatural shit that summoned some demented light monster that ended with us wound up wherever the hell we are!"

"Ah yes, because I enjoy the idea of most certainly being tortured and beaten to a pulp for information only to get a bullet to the head once it's all said and done. My idea of a perfect cup of tea really." Zero bit back sarcastically. "I did absolutely nothing that caused this to happen! If you hadn't been so STUPID as to tackle me INTO the light we wouldn't even be here having this arguement!" With a few kicks and the help of his cape extensions, Zero quickly went up to the water's surface and breached to get a better idea of just where the hell he was. Suzaku looked up at the terrorist before deciding to follow his lead and at least replenish his oxygen for now.

Once Zero's head breached the water, his tank let out a loud hiss as it began to refill itself. This allowed the leader of the Black Knights to take a good long look at his surroundings. To which he noticed four things

One, they were completely surrounded by water for as far as the eye could see. Not a single drop or hint of land visible, just rolling blue waves and endless blue sky.

Two, there was an enormous ass ship that easily made the Avalon look like a gnat far out in the East. It's bow seemed circular in shape and was facing North, while its stern was facing South. The top of the ship was completely white while the bottom was a dark grey, with a thick yellow line separating the two colors. The ship's stern had four huge engine thrusters, one on each corner, and a bunch of smaller ones in the middle. It was also extremely obvious that the ship had just recently crash landed, since there were a bunch of multiple fires still licking both the insides and outsides of the ship. Black smoke thick and tainting the blue sky with its ugly black.

Three, besides the huge ship and endless blue waves, there was what seemed to be a lifepod floating in the distance. It was circular in shape and mostly white with orange flotation units all around it. There was a huge red number five painted on its side and it had cyan blue lights that glowed making the lifepod look like it had eyes.

Four, they were completely surrounded by water EVERYWHERE.

"Fuck." Zero summed up the situation they were in rather well with that one word.

"Dear Kami." Suzaku said hoarsely, causing Zero to whip his head towards the Honorary Britannian. The masked man didn't even hear him surface, nor did he notice that he was treading water right next to him until now. "Where the hell did we go." Suzaku breathed out.

"For once, I have no idea." Zero growled darkly before harshly swinging one of his cape extensions to push the Eleven away from him and his personal space.

"Ow!" The burnette cried out, hugging his left shoulder in pain before glaring up at Zero with an expression that of actual hurt. "What the hell was that for?!" That had actually hurt rather badly. There was most certainly going to be a nasty bruise.

"Don't even think of getting close to me Kururugi. We are still enemies." Zero hissed. "If it weren't for the situation we were in now I would be trying to kill you myself for all of the times you've gotten in my way."

Another, deeper look of hurt flashed across the Eleven's face before it turned into one of irritation. "Your methods and what you're doing are wrong!" Suzaku snapped back defensively. His own anger flaring back up again. Olive green eyes kept an eye on those cape extensions warily in case they would strike out again.

Zero, despite his urge to cause more harm, took in a deep breath and counted to ten before giving a large exhale and speaking once more. "We can bicker about whose methods are worse and who is really responsible for getting us in this, or we can figure out how the hell to get out of here and back to Earth."

Suzaku blinked, eyes widening. "What do you mean we're not on Earth?! Then where are we!"

"Well, obviously we're not in fucking Kansas anymore! Just look up in the sky at the giant damn red planet revolving around us!" Zero barked back at Suzaku's rising volume. With another growl and mental count to ten, Zero ran a hand down his masked face before raising both of his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Look. What I'm trying to say is that we can fight and most likely end up killing each other on this strange planet, or we can work together and get shit done." With that, the masked man held one hand out towards his best friend off of the battlefield. "So, truce?"

Suzaku looked down at the hand and Zero's offer like it was a snake just waiting to bite him, before finally looking back up directly into his eyes. After a brief moment, the knight's shoulders slumped down in defeat or relief Zero would never know, and the brunette reached out to shake Zero's hand with a firm grip. "Truce."

Once their handshake was finished and their temporary alliance made they calmly tread the water for a few silent minutes. Each side taking in the sights before Suzaku spoke once again with a burning question that needed to be addressed.

"So, what now?"

"What now indeed." Zero hummed lightly.

That's when a high pitched, distinctly feminine and rather familiar scream filled the air.

And it was coming from above them.

Both boys' heads snapped up towards the sky and watched as a red figure began to spiral down towards them. Thinking quickly, Zero grabbed a hold of Suzaku's arm, this time without the intent to harm, and used his cape extensions to push them away just as the figure landed into the water with a loud smack and a huge splash of salt water. Their war cry turned scream being cut off short with the smack. While the smack certainly wasn't as loud as his back smack was, Zero still gave a wince of sympathy at the sound before he looked to Suzaku.

The burnette seemed to have the same thought, because he looked back at Zero with another shocked expression, one slightly filled with fear. "Was that-?"

"Kallen?" Zero asked, and Suzaku nodded his head as the masked man finished his question. "If it was who I thought I saw. Then yes, that was Kallen."

It took a moment to process, but both boys realized it at the same time with a sharp intake of breath.

Kallen was here.

With them.

In this strange water planet that they hadn't had the slightest clue of what to think of.

"Kallen!"

Both teens cried out at the same time and dived back under the water to see if she was alright. Their oxygen tanks closed automatically the moment their mouths were in the water. Bubbles blocked their vision for a moment before everything cleared.

Now that he wasn't trying to strangle Suzaku, Zero took in the sights of this underwater world with his jaw hanging open in shock and wonder.

There was kelp everywhere first of all. The thick rich greens tendrils of kelp flowing gently with the current in a near mesmerizing dance. Thick strong stalks that easily towered and went far past his own height stayed strong and rooted to their spot. The kelp seemed to be the most thick at the top, while as you went down it got thinner until it was just the stalk and a few stray strands.

Every few feet there would be another huge kelp stalk that easily matched the other's previous height. There would be occasional ones that were taller than the rest sprouted here and there with a thicker amount of kelp that was practically tangled in itself, or there were some that were thin with less kelp and shorter than the rest.

On some of the kelp stalks though, there were these strange bulbs that glowed yellow and were filled with a strange yellow liquid. Something which Zero wasn't going to be touching with a ten foot pole unless he knew it was safe and wasn't toxic. The kelp that had these bulbs would have them in a huge abundance of clusters.

The masked man tried looking down to find any ground beneath him as he swam towards the red figure that was amidst the kelp. While he saw glimpse and pieces of white sand with green seagrass occasionally, the rest was blocked out by the sheer amount of kelp.

It was very hard to see anything else that was farther out because of said kelp blocking his vision.

The perfect environment for a predator to attack out of nowhere.

Gritting his teeth and having enough with sightseeing for now. Zero pushed forward towards his ever loyal Q-1.

I can't believe she followed me here.

As he thought that, concern bubbled up from within his being at Kallen's health. He knew hitting the water from the height they were at wasn't any fun, it most certainly had to hurt like a bitch. Hopefully she would be alright, and nothing in her body would be broken. That where she was hurt would only bruise and sting like his, because Zero wasn't sure they would be able to fix anything worse than that since they were stranded at sea with no supplies whatsoever besides his automatic pistol. Even then, the salt water probably destroyed it and made it useless.

Zero moved faster than before, leaving Suzaku to literally eat his bubbles with the help of his cape extensions. Though it left him panting a bit from the exertion it was worth it since he finally managed to grab a hold of Kallen's shoulder. The ace Black Knight having remained stationary and drifting ever since landing in the water, which made Zero's worry grow even more.

"Kallen?" Carefully, he turned Kallen over onto her back in the water to get a good look at her face to see if she was conscious. "Kallen, are you alright?"

It wasn't a shock to see that her red pilot suit had changed just like Suzaku and his own suit. The girl having a red O2 tank with a light lilac outline. Her suit had similar plastic and armour just like his, but with a bit more bulk like Suzaku's own. The armor alongside most of her suit was a vibrant red with occasional lilac and black lines going down her sides, arms, and legs. Her shoes were replaced with fins that were red with black around the edges, and her red gloves had webbed fingers and silver claws attached to the ends, one claw for each finger.

Unlike both Suzaku and Lelouch, her forearms seemed to have small silver colored serrated blades welded to the back of her arms' armor. The blades went from just a few inches underneath her wrists all the way to the backs of her elbows. If she were to elbow anyone it would most certainly be a fatal blow.

Kallen's helmet was the same fierce metallic red as her Guren's with two silver streaks on either side of her head. She had a black mouthpiece connecting her to her oxygen tank over her mouth and nose. The thick glass of her helmet was tinted orange, but that didn't stop Zero from seeing Kallen just now beginning to groggily open her sapphire blue eyes.

"Oh thank God." Zero remarked to himself at the sight of her eyes opening. Albeit she was showing rightful confusion at the sight before her and with all of the water surrounding her. The masked revolutionary didn't realize how nice it was to have an actual ally stuck here with him until now. Suzaku was a forced alliance that would be broken once they returned home, an enemy begrudgingly turned ally. Kallen was a loyal ally that would stay by his side and stick with him through thick and thin. "Are you alright? Besides hitting the water of course."

Dazedly, Kallen nodded, and accepted Zero's help in getting her in an upright position. As the seconds passed, the ace Black Knight was beginning to become more aware by the second, and with it more confused and frightened as she began to frantically whip her head all around to gather her bearings and surroundings.

"Kallen! Thank Kami you're alright." At the sound of Suzaku's voice, Kallen snapped her head around towards him with aggressive apprehension. Why the hell was he being so nice all of a sudden despite me being his enemy? Her eyes narrowed into slits as the Honorary Britannian swam to a stop by her side and to Zero's right. Just treading the water and looking her up and down for any sign of injuries without attacking her leader on sight.

"Okay. Good. Now, don't freak out on me here. Hey!" Zero held a hand in front of Kallen's face, gathering her attention with a snap of his fingers that you could barely hear even if it was right next to your ear because of the water. "I need you here, with me, in the now. Alright?" At not hearing her respond he asked again. "Alright?"

"Yeah!" Bubbles flew up from around her head towards the surface, but that didn't direct her attention away from her leader. "I'm with you Zero…" The redhead trailed off as she began to get a real good look at Zero's face. Her sapphire blue eyes widening in shocked horror as her brain began to put two and two together.

At the sight, Zero's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "What's wrong?"

Just as Kallen's expression finally settled onto one of rage, and just as she was about to open her mouth and yell all the way up to the high heavens. A loud snarl that turned into a roar at the end echoed throughout the suddenly silent ocean, causing all three new occupants to the strange planet to tense up in nervous unease.

Then something big and heavy slammed into the three and sent them tumbling with another loud snarlish roar. Sending Kallen, Suzaku, and Zero tumbling and swimming away, each with screams of terror rushing out of their throats as they were attacked.

Once settled and in an upright position, Kallen's head swivered to and fro for any sign of their attacker, but they were gone just as fast as they had arrived. Most certainly having retreated into the dense kelp which wasn't difficult to get lost in.

Her own breaths were so loud alongside her heartbeat it made the situation all the more worse.

Kallen just now realized after a few seconds of being on this planet, that having people she was familiar with being by her side was a Godsend.

"What the hell was that!?" She screamed out. Still looking everywhere for any chance of an attack while being confused as all hell out of her mind. "Where the hell are we?! Can anyone hear me!"

"Kallen!" Suzaku tried to push some kelp away from him, but it hardly budged an inch, so he just swam through it instead to reunite with the redhead. "I'm over here, and I have no idea what the hell that was. I only saw a glimpse of white, I think? As for your second question, I have no clue either, but Le-" The knight of Britannia visibly cringed before continuing as if he didn't stumble. "Zero says we're not on Earth anymore."

"Not on Earth-!" Kallen cut herself off. "What does he think-" The redhead let out a loud groan, running her hands over her masked head in frustration. Her blue eyes opened to glare at the world around her. "What the hell are you thinking Zero?!"

At Kallen's yelled question, the world remained quiet and unaware around them. The kelp gently shifted in the water without a care.

The ace pilot's eyebrows furrowed. "Zero?" Together, she and Suzaku began to look at the area around them with rising alarm. Only to be met with green kelp gently waving in the current and green tinted salt water. "Zero!" Kallen's voice tinged with panic at a startling realization.

Zero was gone.

"This isn't funny anymore Zero! Come out." Suzaku called out next as he carefully swam to investigate through some kelp. "Where are you?"

"Oh of course you would think that Zero was pulling a joke. He doesn't do that!" Kallen yelled furiously at Suzaku to cover her fear. Feeling anger was better than being scared. "Zero?!"

"Let's go up to the surface." Suzaku suggested calmly instead of giving a retort, already beginning to swim up towards the sky and air. "Maybe he got pushed away too far and can't hear us anymore. He's probably up there looking for us."

Kallen gnashed her teeth at the idea and crossed her arms under her rather large chest. "Like hell I'm following you! I'm going to look for Zero myself, so you better stay the hell away from us."

Suzaku swung his head around to stare at Kallen, gobsmacked. "Are you kidding me-!"

Whatever Suzaku was about to say was cut off by the distant sound of a scream that was muffled by the water. Judging from the familiar tone, the sound was coming from none other than their missing occupant Zero.

It sounded like he was in pain.

Suzaku swam forward a few feet and looked around wildly, trying to discern where the noise was coming from.

"Zero!"

"Lelouch!"

Kallen's shoulders bunched up as Suzaku called out the man's real name. Sapphire blues shedding a few tears as she swam through the kelp that was blinding her vision wildly. "Zero!" She cried out again, refusing to connect the two different people together and sticking with her leader's proper name. "Zero answer if you can- Oh my God!"

Having decided that staying together was the best option rather than become separated in this unknown world, Suzaku followed Kallen's frantic movements just a few feet behind her. At hearing the redhead's sudden exclamation Suzaku tensed, ready for a fight. "What? What is it? Did you find him…" Suzaku looked over Kallen's shoulder, and his words quickly began to soften before they died off in his throat completely. His own green eyes turned into terrified pinpricks.

Swaying side to side in the current and quickly spreading in the water was a dark red substance that got lighter as it moved with the water and spread. The kelp around the red substance turned a sickly yellow brown when looking through the red water, and the strange bulbs on the kelp had gained an eerie dark orange hue. The red water was bunched up together in a huge spot before seemingly splitting off and going in a serpentine direction further away from Suzaku and Kallen. The red water weaving between the multiple kelp stalks before beginning to descend lower.

Blood.

And there was a lot of it.

"Holy shit." Suzaku breathed, his voice giving a crack at the end.

Tears freely ran down Kallen's cheeks now as she screamed much more frantically. "Zero?! ZERO! Oh my God please answer me! Zero!"

.

.

.

Nothing.

"LELOUCH!" Suzaku forced his eyes away from the fresh blood to take another look at his surroundings.

"Dammit! Zero!" With a shuddering breath, Kallen began to swim forward, following the trail of blood before it became too murky to track. Her strokes like that of a dolphin that allowed her to go faster with the use of her fins.

"Wait, hold up! Kallen!" Suzaku raised an arm out towards Kallen's quickly shrinking frame before shaking his head and giving a curse of his own. "Damn, wait for me!" With that, the knight followed the Black Knight ace, copying her swimming technique while occasionally using the kelp to help pull himself forward. "Kallen!"

The redhead ignored Suzaku's cries, and instead intently focused on the trail of blood. It led to a rather big and thick mountain of limestone that jutted out over the rest of the twisting and turning stone structures beneath it. It had a rather big dip in the middle that went farther down and into the ground. White sands, limestone rocks, and lots of tall green seagrass that went up to her hips surround the spiral and dip on all sides. Halfway down the dip the area became overshadowed by the walls surrounding it, and it was so dark Kallen couldn't see through its shade even when squinting. Though she could notice multiple other, smaller holes sticking out of the sides of the mountain of stone, so she figured that it was all one big system of inner caves with twists and turns.

Blood kept gushing out of the main cave entrance with every wave that passed.

"Zero! Answer me or else!" Kallen yelled down into the dip, body tense and ready for anything. "You better not be dead or so help me I'll revive you just to kill you again!"

"Kallen be careful! Whatever grabbed and dragged him down there is obviously dangerous." Suzaku warned. Nearly catching up with Kallen and taking in the sights himself whilst keeping an eye out for other attackers.

At first there was nothing. No sign, no loud roar, not even a peep or flash of light. Just deadly silence and murky red water. The Guren pilot ignored Suzaku's warnings and began to advance forward despite his rising protests. Just as Kallen was about to swim down in there herself, a shift in the shadows to her left and away from the dip caught her attention. It was coming from one of the many smaller entrances.

Then Zero came swimming out of the entrance like a bat out of hell, blood trailing behind him in a steady stream. His cape extensions going into overdrive and sent him off like a bullet. Zero's motions were flurried and his breaths were coming out like pants from a dog that was overheat.

"RUN! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HERE!" The masked man screamed as loudly as he could whilst trying to suck air in through his mouthpiece. The other two teen's jumped out of their skins at his voice, and began to slowly swim backwards whilst keeping an eye on their injured third party.

"Oh thank God." Suzaku breathed at seeing his best friend alive and well. Albeit he was still hurt. "What the hell grabbed you?!"

"Where are you bleeding?" Kallen demanded, straight to the point. Though she was taking Zero's words to heart and started swimming backwards a little faster than before.

Then there was another loud roar that echoed through the water. It sounded close.

"Shit!" Instead of answering their frightened glances and questions. Zero rammed into them like a train and grabbed a hold of one of their arms before starting to swim forward and away again. Any direction besides where they were now being okay in Zero's book. The sudden weight addition drastically slowed him down however. "Go. Go. Go. Go! GO!"

Then the creature responsible for creating that noise burst forth from the same hole Zero came out of seconds before. Heading straight for them.

The first thing Suzaku and Kallen noticed was its extremely long jaw filled to the absolute brim with thick, strong, and extremely sharp serrated teeth. Some of its teeth poked outside of its mouth in a lopsided manner like that of a crocodile's. The thing also had a thick, smooth hide that was green with thick purple stripes on its back and a white underbelly.

That was all they saw before the thing's jaw opened widely with the intent of killing them. All three teens had front row seats to the second loud, and extremely angry roar that made their ears ring. It drowned out their own screams tearing up their throats and hurting their vocals cords.

Now Kallen and Suzaku were frantically kicking their legs in hopes that they could out swim the monstrosity that was hunting them. Both frantically grabbing onto Zero's arms with newfound purpose. It jostled the bleeding wound on the masked man's right arm, making him hiss through his teeth and bite his tongue lest he scream and lose concentration. The sudden frantic movements from Suzaku and Kallen also jostled Zero out of place for a moment before he regained his balance and swam for his life once more. The masked terrorist's lungs on fire and his legs burning from the exertion, but his grip on his two occupants was stronger than that of steel.

"Oh shit!" Suzaku swore, unable to tear his eyes away from the thing's mouth. A burst of bubbles flowing out of his mask and towards the surface to emphasize his panicking. "Holy crap! What the hell are you? What is that! That thing can't be real! There's no way something like that can exist. What is IT?!"

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! OH MY GOD!" Kallen's own screaming mixed with Suzaku's in a frantic gibberish that could only repeat the same three words.

The three were weaving to and fro the kelp stalks close to the ocean's ground but above the jagged rocks. White sand lifting off of the ground at the sudden change in the water as they passed. The strange creature's body moved up and down like a dolphin's, keeping up and steadily gaining on the three terrified and defenseless individuals. It had four fins, two pectorals and the other two pelvic, to help move its body forward and do a few sharp twists and turns, but had no arms or legs to speak of. Instead, its body thinned out into a flattened tail like that of a whale's. Along its spine and in the middle of its snout were long, dark purple dorsal plates that looked like they could crush the rocks below them.

It was also bigger than all of them when going from it's snout to the end of its tail. Suzaku, who was the tallest in the group, was half of his own body length shorter than the thing.

The creature had two eyes, one on each side of its head, that glowed a creepy yellow and had slitted pupils. A third eyelid covered the sensitive sensory organs as it once again opened its jaw and boosted forwards.

"Up! Up! Swim up! Swim UP!" Kallen and Suzaku screamed together at the same time towards Zero. Zero, who with as much effort as he could give in his exhausted and physically weakened state, just barely managed to pull all three of them up above the predator's jaws as they snapped closed with a loud crack, giving a scream at the strain.

Pained violet eyes cracked open to look up at all of the thick kelp blocking the surface from view. Rays of sunlight filtering through the green strands to give a marvelous picture that Clovis would have shed a tear painting. It was a shame they couldn't enjoy the sights since they were being hunted down by an alien predator.

Through these cluttered thoughts passing through his brain that most likely came from blood loss and decreasing oxygen, Zero came up with an idea. It wasn't much, but anything was better than where they were now.

With another pained cry, Zero began to ascend towards the thick kelp as fast as he could. It was only his cape extensions that were doing the kicking now, because it hurt too much to even twitch his legs now. The feeling from his shins down being numb.

That wasn't a good sign.

"He-" Zero panted, swallowed his own spit and bile back down his throat, and tried again. "Help me swim. Go up. Into the kelp." Suzaku and Kallen, through sheer force of will, the urge to survive, and by falling back on their military training, swallowed their fear and quickly did as the weakening masked man ordered. Working as a team, the three stranded humans kicked in near unison that helped gain a few precious feet away from the monster still tailing them stubbornly. "If it can use the kelp to ambush us, we can use it as cover to get away."

"But your arm-" Suzaku started. The burnette began to look over towards the injured appendage before Zero interrupted him quickly and harshly.

"We can't do anything about it yet until we lose this thing!" The masked man huffed out, winded. "I know it can probably smell my blood and track us, but once we get far enough away it'll become too murky and spread out to track. Besides, we're screwed either way if we can't get away, so just do it!"

"Right." Kallen nodded, though her grip on Zero's arm shifted into a better hold and tightened to show she was still afraid.

Together, and with instructions coming from Zero on which way to go and turn. The trio got themselves ridiculously lost in the seemingly endless thick kelp that not only blocked their vision, but the creature's vision behind them as well. As their manovors got more complex, the three humans gained more and more distance from the monster much to their beating hearts' relief.

It was after they dove under a huge piece of scrap metal tangled in the kelp that they heard a roar roll out across the waves. Another, final roar sounded that was much farther away than before. It was a few minutes later of silence and single worded orders from Zero before they finally started to slow down. All three panting and exhausted from the hell of a day they had and the near heart attack level of adrenaline finally leaving their system.

It had worked. They had finally lost whatever the hell was back there.

Still, no one spoke again except Zero, who kept giving out one worded directions that began to get more slurred as seconds passed. Each trying to process just what the hell happened and how they just barely managed to survive that encounter by the skin of their teeth through their brains.

Zero's wound was still weeping blood, but not as much as when they had first reunited.

That needed to be fixed, immediately.

Wordlessly, the trio began to swim towards the surface now that they were safe and in the clear at the moment. All three breached the water with loud gasps of relief, and their tanks all popping open with a loud collective hiss. Zero nearly went back under the water if it wasn't for the collective effort of Kallen and Suzaku holding him up above the waves. The man's breathing coming out like a wheeze from a dying animal, which wasn't too far off of a description. His masked head lolled to the side and against Suzaku's shoulder like a doll cut from its strings.

"I-" Zero panted a couple of times. "I-" Another couple of short breaths as the masked leader of the Black Knights tried to regain control of his breathing with only minimal success. "I can't- make my body- move- anymore. It hurts- too much." He gave a full body shudder and a couple of gut wrenching coughs before sagging into the water once again like a lead weight. His tongue felt thick and rough like sandpaper. "Itzz cold." Zero slurred softly, unable to speak any louder.

"Dammit. I don't-" Suzaku cut himself off as his eyes searched the surface around them frantically. Tears began to build up in his eyes as blood pooled around all three of them now, staining their suits red. "I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go to help you. There's only fucking water!" The burnette screamed the last sentence as if someone else would hear and suddenly give a damn. "We don't have any medical supplies."

"What about that huge ship, over there?" Kallen pointed towards the ship that crash landed into this hell hole. "It has to have something."

"It's way too far. We would never make it there in time, HE wouldn't survive the journey there." Suzaku looked at the water around them wearily. "Besides, who knows what else is out there."

"At least I'm trying to throw out ideas!" Kallen yelled, before it turned into a hiccup as the stress started to get to her. "Oh God." Her blue gaze turned down toward her masked messiah's right arm.

The injury was on his upper bicep, with four puncture wounds of varying size. Two were concerningly big, like the size of a metal rod, and one had a huge white tooth lodged into his arm still while the other two were the size of nails. The suit gained multiple puncture wounds and tears from that monster lurking in the ocean. The wound was red and completely covered in blood now that it wasn't in the water. The puncture wounds glistened with fresh dark red blood. Pink muscle was torn straight through like it was paper, and if she stared hard enough she could see a tiny speck of white signalling that the wound went all the way down to bone.

Suddenly, the wounded pink muscle tensed and flexed before giving a spasm in time with another of Zero's full body shudders.

The sight made the redhead somewhat green around the gills, but she managed to hold the urge to vomit at bay.

"Therr." Zero slurred near incomprehensibly. The two unharmed teens having to lean in to hear just what he was saying. "Cn make it- ovr thrrr." He nudged his mask forwards in a direction and they followed his line of sight.

It was the small circular life pod Zero had taken notice of before all hell broke loose. Somehow, in some form of miracle, when they were swimming for their lives they had unknowingly swam closer to the very small vessel.

Kallen and Suzaku tensed, eyeing the distance and doing calculations in their heads.

"Can we make it?" Kallen whispered. Her grip on Zero not loosening in the slightest even as his breathing got weaker, quieter. "All of us?"

"If we go straight for it without stopping, somehow find medical supplies, and immediately give him the proper medical attention he deserves which I have no idea how to do. Then yes, we can make it." Suzaku ducked his head underwater for a moment before popping his head back up. "The question is can we make it without anything trying to follow and kill us."

The redheaded female took a deep breath, and gathered up the rest of her courage for a final burst of action. "Then let's get moving now before that happens."

"Agreed."

Right away the two started swimming towards the white and orange lifepod with the big red number five on it. The floating vessel like a ray of hope in the dark abyss they had fallen into unprepared, and their only lifeline.

With a little push, Kallen and Suzaku turned Zero until he was floating on his back, arms and legs spread out to help keep himself afloat. Each person grabbing a hold of one of the masked man's cape extensions and tugging it along carefully. Every other stroke, Kallen would occasionally look back to see how Zero was doing while Suzaku looked under the water to check for any possible predators planning to try and stop by for a snack.

The journey to the lifepod was dead silent. The ocean waves crashing into each other and the sound of their strokes in the water the only noise that can be heard throughout miles and miles of water. As they got closer, Suzaku and Kallen became more and more tense and rigid. Waiting for something to happen or for someTHING to come out of the water with a loud snarl and tons of teeth.

Yet nothing jumped out to attack them. Their journey to the lifepod went off without a hitch, and when they finally arrived at their destination everyone breathed a sigh of relief at some good fortune.

"Hurry and find the hatch!" Kallen told Suzaku as she gathered Zero into her arms and hugged the side of the lifepod.

"On it." Suzaku swept his green gaze over the strange lifepod meticulously. Handing off Zero to the loyal redhead and going to swim around the pod. After a moment Suzaku spoke out loud from the otherside of the hull. "There's a ladder leading up. Let me check to see if anyone or anything is inside then I'll help lift Lelo- Zero- Oh to hell with it! I'll help lift Lelouch into the pod." The burnette emphasized his best friend's name, before grabbing the yellow rung ladders welded to the side of the pod and climbing up.

Once he reached the top, there was a big hatch with a latch that was grey and white in the form of a circle. Grabbing the latch, Suzaku used what strength he still had to give it a firm tug and open it with a grunt.

Smoke immediately flew up into his face and vision.

The knight instinctively reeled back and nearly fell off of the side of the pod if it wasn't for grabbing onto the ladder rungs at the last second. The burnette bursting out into a fit of coughs and waving one of his hands over the hatch to try and clear the smoke away. "Wh-what the hell?!"

"Are you okay? What's going on up there?" Kallen asked from below, having moved until she and Zero were holding onto the ladder rungs below Suzaku. "Is that smoke?!"

"Yeah. One second let me just- Oh dear lord it smells like something died and burned to a crisp in here." Once the smoke had fled the lifepod completely, Suzaku finally looked back inside to see what the hell had happened.

His assumption wasn't that far off. In fact it was rather spot on.

The right half of the pod and its walls were scorched black from the fire that had happened inside the lifepod. The small space reeking of burned blood and flesh, but the smell of smoke thankfully overwhelmed most of it. There was a fire extinguisher abandoned on the floor and thrown from its place on the wall. Right below the hatch was a yellow ladder in the middle of the pod. Behind the ladder was another hatch on the bottom of the pod. There was a storage unit locked up tight on the scorched side of the pod, alongside a strange white and orange machine, a giant glass screen that was offline, and a panelling of the metal wall was missing so it's wires were exposed and sparking occasionally.

A medical kit with its classic red and white colors was on that side of the pod.

There was also what seemed to be a radio on the left side of the pod and two seats with heavily padded harnesses. Only one of them was unoccupied.

"Oh dear Kami." Suzaku lurched forward, a hand flying to his mouth to try and quell the rush of vomit that wanted to leave his stomach. Yet, by sheer force of will and the sight of seeing dead people since he was ten years old kept it down with a harsh swallow.

"What? What is it?" Kallen asked from below.

"You don't-" Suzaku croaked. "You don't wanna see it, but there's a dead body in here." At Kallen's rushed gasp Suzaku continued. "It's burned to all hell and I can't even tell their gender. There's a hatch underneath the pod as well. Go under the pod and I'll open the hatch for you and get Zero in here. Then I'll go and… take care of the body."

By 'take care' he meant chuck it out to sea since they couldn't do anything else with it. More than half of the corpse was burned down to an ugly black and dark red crisp. Their left side's arm and leg near nothing but bone, stubborn soot, and bubbled flesh melted with their own diving suit. The right side was filled with deep red bubbles and burns with the flesh and hair having been stripped away because of the heat to attack the muscle and flesh underneath. Putrid smelling puss leaked down from the corpse's side and made it all the bigger priority to dump the body.

If there was anything good to take from it. It would have to be that the missing metal panel from the right side of the pod was firmly lodged into the corpse's skull. An instant, peaceful kill that was infinitely better than burning to death or dying from smoke inhalation.

Doing what he set out to do, Suzaku took a deep breath and entered the pod carefully. Being weary of anything still hot to the touch. Though from what he could gather, the fire had long since died out once the pod ran out of oxygen. The smoke aimlessly drifting and blocking his vision, which he now figured out was glass on the hatch instead of grey metal.

Disregarding the corpse with training only the military and long since numbed trauma can give you. Suzaku went around the ladder, got down on one knee, and forced open the bottom hatch with a loud grunt. It popped open with a harsh hiss, bits of salt water flying into the pod from the action.

Seeing the bottom hatch open from the other side, Kallen first pushed Zero up into the open hole. Once Suzaku got a good grip under the masked man's arms he heaved Zero up and into the pod gently. The man was weighed down by all of the water pouring off of him, and it took a moment to adjust Zero until his back was leaning against the wall right by the medical kit.

As Kallen pulled herself up into the pod, Suzaku spoke warningly. "Don't look at the left side of the pod. I'll take care of it in a second once I get Zero situated."

For once, Kallen followed the burnette's advice and kept her eyes on the ground, closing the hatch behind her and speaking quietly. "Right." Her gaze went up to her masked leader, and once Suzaku moved out of the way she practically lunged across the pod to get to the medical kit hanging on the wall. "Oh God I hope these supplies weren't damaged."

The pod rocked gently at her jerky movement before righting itself and riding the waves once more. Suzaku set out to dispose of the body by opening the bottom hatch and dumping the corpse through first. The metal sheet in its head got stuck on the way out, being too big to fit through. So while biting his lower lip, the Eleven soldier ripped the metal sheet out of the corpse's head with a heartfelt tug. He tossed the sheet like it was still burning hot, the clattering noise it made echoing in the rushed silence, before going out into the ocean to move the body a good ways away before returning.

No need to attract any new predators here with it. They all already had enough for one day.

Meanwhile, Kallen was thanking God and the heavens high above. Whatever the lifepod was made out of, the metal was strong enough to keep the medical kit inside safe and untouched from the flames. With near violently shaking hands, Kallen began to quickly take off Zero's newly modified diving suit piece by piece.

Before that even started though, she went for the large tooth lodged into his arm. "Okay. Okay, okay, okay. I'm going to have to pull this out okay?" Zero didn't reply, his purple and red eyed gaze glassy and half conscious. Sweaty raven black hair plastered across his forehead and making his pasty white complexion look like a ghost. The man still focused on keeping his breathing even as they had first sternly instructed him when he was floating on his back. "Sweet. Cool." Kallen answered her own rhetorical question. "I'm going to do it on three. One." Her grip tightened on the tooth and Zero's arm. "Two." Without warning, she sharply pulled the tooth out with one quick motion. A spurt of blood dripping onto the ground sounding like gunshots in the silence.

Zero only managed a small whimper instead of the full body scream and curse he should have yelled.

With a keen coming from deep within her soul, Kallen worked quicker after that, starting with the mask. With tightly closed eyes and trembling hands she took off the mask as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry." Muttering past her lips multiple times since it felt so wrong to take the mask off without the wearer's permission.

At least for him it felt that way.

Then she got the clunky O2 tank off next, which was fairly easy thankfully. Next was the suit itself, since it seemed like his cape extensions were a part of the suit. She managed to get it down to the teen's shoulders before she couldn't go any further. Something was stopping her from pulling the fabric off the rest of the way.

With a growl of panicked frustration, Kallen tripled checked everything to see what it was that had caught the fabric, even checking the wound. When she looked onto his back for a fourth time she finally saw what it was.

It was his cape extensions. They weren't attached to his suit.

They were embedded into his back.

"What the…" She couldn't even finish her own sentence. Kallen just stared, dumbfounded with her mouth agape.

She would get back to that can of worms later, right now the redhead needed to attend to his arm. Right away.

With a shake of her head and a mumbled curse under her breath. Kallen instead gently eased the wounded arm out of the suit's sleeve and into the open air to let it breath. Suzaku having wisely decided to leave the top hatch open to let all of the smoke out and fill the pod with air. Once that was done, Kallen dug through the supplies straight to the antiseptic. Taking a white rag from the kit, the redhead shakily poured a generous heap onto the cloth until it was soaked through. Once that was done she closed the bottle, set it aside, and carefully raised Zero's arm before meticulously cleaning around the wounds first. The white rage quickly turned pink, before becoming a bright red as she went further and further. From around the wounds, to the edges, to the wounds themselves. Once the puncture wounds had been cleaned out to the best of her ability, Kallen tossed the rag beside the antiseptic and went for the needle and thread.

Just then, the bottom hatch opened once again, and Suzaku sluggishly climbed through. "The body has been disposed of." The teen looked dead on his feet with exhaustion. Yet his tired olive green eyes went straight over to Kallen and Zero before he spoke, his voice filled with fatigue. "What do you need me to do?" How can I help?

After taking a moment to see who had opened the hatch, Kallen went right back to work. "Take whatever clean clothes are left in the medkit and staunch the blood. I'm about to stitch him up to, well." She gave another near hysterical laugh. "The best of my abilities. I'm not a doctor, so I'm positive it'll be shoddy."

"Whatever you do, it'll be better than nothing." Suzaku spoke quietly, before crouching down onto his knees and following Kallen's orders. "Where did you even learn how to do this anyway?"

"Black Knights are taught basic medical training for scenarios rather close to this one. Minus the planetary transportation, supernatural entities, and alien monsters in an endless ocean." The Black Knight ace shook her head and clicked her tongue in derision. "Rhakshata taught me a few extra things as well after we checked the Guren for maintenance, but it wasn't much." Just as she thread the needle, Kallen turned her eyes to Suzaku with a raised eyebrow, her words tinged with mockery. "What about you? Is medical training beneath the so-called 'Knight of Britannia?'"

Suzaku's gaze darkened, but he kept any insulting retorts at bay and focused on his job. "No actually. Honorary Britannians don't go through that kind of training when joining the military. They just give you a bunch of drills and strict orders before they send you out on missions."

"Oh please! I'm sure it's a lot worse than what you're describing. I'm certain things like harassment, racism, beatings and unjust punishments are commonplace in that hell hole you call a military… It figures though." Kallen growled, but her actions and movements were gentle as she began stitching the wounds together. "Just throw those who are Japanese out towards the frontlines for fodder. I can't even fathom what came across your mind to willingly join those Britannian pigs in enslaving our people and beating them down into the ground even more. It's one thing to become an Honorary Britannian, lots of people do that out of desperation and hope for a better life than those in the ghettos. But to go so far as to join their military. To willingly serve them on the frontlines like that…" The redhead violently shook her head for a moment, causing her to mess up her stitching before quickly fixing it and moving on with a curse. "Dammit. I just can't understand it."

"Hmm." Suzaku hummed. "How about instead of trying to understand what goes through my head we focus on patching up our friend up here and then take a nice long break." The burnette sighed heavily. "Because I for one don't feel like having this conversation when we are obviously exhausted and so cranky we'll end up biting each other's heads off by the end of it. That sound good to you?"

"Heavenly." The Black Knight ace replied back sarcastically before moving on to the final puncture wound.

"Good, because that sounds really good to me too." Suzaku blinked his bleary eyes, not even realizing that Kallen was being sarcastic in her remark because of his weary state. The redhead only silently shook her head softly before finally finishing her shoddy stitching patch job.

"There." She breathed, putting the needle in the pile of soaked rags. "Now all that's left is to clean it again, put gauze around it, and then bandage the wound. Let's pray that's all at least, and that nothing vital was injured by that… thing." Both fully conscious yet tired teens cringed at the mere image of that monster they barely escaped from. "Hopefully Zero will wake up soon."

Seeing that his job was done and Kallen was shooing him away, Suzaku went to the other side of the pod and sat down in the seat that did not have a corpse once sitting in it. A heavenly sigh rushing out of his lips at the surprisingly comfortable and cushy seat. The teen nearly conked out right then and there, but there was still one question nagging in the back of his head.

"Why do you-" Suzaku gave a big yawn before shifting in his seat to get more comfortable. "Why do you still call him Zero?" Kallen suddenly froze, pausing in wrapping bandages around said masked man's arm. "We both know who he is. What his real name is, so why?"

The burnette's eyelids drooped, and his voice got lower and lower until it was softer than a whisper. Suzaku's head slumped down against the back of the chair as sleep began to overtake him. He barely managed to hear Kallen's response, and even when he would later wake up he couldn't tell if it really was from her or something his mind cooked up in his worn out state.

"Because I can't believe that Lelouch is Zero."

The creature's in Subnautica are actually a bit downsized because of the player's view when looking through your screen. Things like stalkers, the leviathans, and even crashfish are bigger than they seem in the game. I'm going to be reminding everyone of that a lot in this story. Humans aren't at the top of the food chain here. Never were and never will be.

If you have enjoyed the story so far leave a REVIEW, Follow, and Favorite the story so you can keep track of when chapters pop up. Because FYI, I don't have a posting schedule and I just post whenever I feel like it.

Until that next chapter everyone! -MoonlightWright