Chapter 25: Under siege Underwater

Today, Sidney and her friends were relaxing on the beachy Location near the Namean Sea. Verlina was with them too, given that she showed them the Location. Minnie and Robbie had just constructed a sand sculpture shaped like the statues at Ravanaugh Ridge. Verlina inspected it. "The statues of Ravanaugh Ridge, claimed to be alive somehow by my Uncle Arias." She said. "Are they really?" Minnie asked. "Don't know. The only one who believes him was Aunt Katarina." Verlina said.

Meanwhile, Gisele and Nika were getting their skin tanned. "Ah, sunlight does such a wonder for my skin." Nika said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were as hot blooded as the UnderWorlders." Gisele said. "Oh, now wouldn't that be something." Nika said. Both girls had a laugh.

Sidney however was staring out at the Namean Sea. "Hey, Sid! Wanna see our sand statues?" Robbie called. Sidney just continued to stare out at the sea. "Sid's really focused out on the Namean Sea. But why?" Verlina asked. Minnie walked over and tapped Sidney's shoulder, causing her to jump. "Sorry. Why exactly are you staring out at the sea?" Minnie asked. "Well, I just have a feeling that something's happening down there." Sidney said. "Something like what?" Minnie asked. "Something like that." Sidney said, pointing out to sea. Something popped out the sea, getting everyone's attention. It was a submarine, heavily damaged "I know that sub. It's the Nemesis! Antideon's ship!" Verlina said, rushing to the sub. On cue, Antideon came out through the hatch, and he was supporting Nauthilax. "That's Nauthilax!" Nika cried.


(Intro)


Antideon rested Nauthilax on the beach. "What happened to Nauthilax?" Minnie asked. "I'm not sure. I found him like this out in the Cuvian Caves." Antideon said. "I think he's coming around." Gisele said. Nauthilax was groaning. "Nauthilax! What happened to you?" Verlina asked. "Ugh. My memory's a little fuzzy, but I think someone attacked me." Nauthilax said. "Attacked you? Underwater?" Robbie asked in confusion. "But most of the Creatures who live in the water are loyal to the Tribal Alliance." Gisele said. "I don't know if it was a Creature. But from what I can remember, it was driving some kind of underwater travelling BattleGear." Nauthilax explained. "A BattleGear that travels underwater? You mean like the Nemesis?" Sidney asked. "But that's impossible. We have the one working model." Antideon said. "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that this has Chaor written all over it." Sidney said. "I was thinking the same thing." Verlina said. "Then we must stop whatever it is." Antideon said.

Sidney and her friends joined Antideon and Nauthilax on the Nemesis, diving into the Namean Sea. Antideon was showing Sidney and Nika how to drive the Nemesis. "This modulates the engine. Speed is measured in Numa, indicated on this gage." Antideon explained, handing Sidney the steering wheel. Sidney carefully steered the Nemesis through the water. "I so gotta get me a scan of this thing." She said. "How much further is it?" Nika asked. "We should be close by now. I've travelled these waters numerous times during the war." Nauthilax said.

Just then, something came up on the radar. "Guys! Something's on radar!" Sidney called. Antideon came over and took a look. "That must be whoever we're looking for. They're moving fast at 27 Ras." He said. "But which way?" Nika asked, looking through the porthole. "There!" Robbie called, pointing out. There was a faded silhouette moving in the distance. It launched an attack towards the Nemesis. "Brace for impact!" Antideon shouted. The attack connected, sending the Nemesis into a spin. Everyone struggled to hang on. Soon enough, the Nemesis stopped spinning. Everyone groaned from the spinning. "Boy, that was…stomach turning." Gisele said, clutching her stomach. "What was that?" Nika asked. "Not what. Who. And it was a Creature I know all too well. Covadra." Nauthilax revealed.

Covadra was a maroon moray eel Creature with a red pointed fish tail, purple lionfish spines and big raptor teeth. He fired another Riptide attack from his mouth, hitting the Nemesis. Everyone inside grunted as the attack caused them to fall about. Antideon brought up a button panel. "Stand by to fire." He said. Sidney aimed her finger for the red button. "Fire!" Sidney pushed the button, firing torpedoes at Covadra, scaring him away. "Well, that got rid of him." Gisele said. "For now. Covadra doesn't give up that easy." Nauthilax said. "Nauthilax, how do you even know such a Creature?" Sidney asked. "He's an UnderWorlder who knows the waters of the OverWorld just like me. And we were as close as brothers." Nauthilax started to explain.

[Flashback]

"We patrolled the Nemean Sea for many years, looking for any secret tunnels for us to launch secret assaults on the OverWorld during the war." Nauthilax and Covadra swam throughout the tunnels. "He always had my back when I was in trouble. Especially when Antideon paralyzed me with the OverWorld Mugics Sidney's parents found on Kor-Bek Island." Covadra pushed a paralyzed Nauthilax back to the UnderWorld.

"But all that changed the day Tom spoke on behalf of Tangath Toborn. When I joined the UnderWorlders who abandoned Chaor, Covadra saw me as a spineless pacifist." Covadra furiously growled at Nauthilax. Nauthilax tried to calm his friend down, but Covadra just slapped his hand away and slunk back into the water. "And that was the end of our friendship and our brotherhood." Nauthilax lowered his head with sadness and shame.

[Flashback End]

"And to this day, he and I have been hated enemies ever since." Nauthilax finished. Sidney put a comforting hand on the sea beast's shoulder. "It's not all your fault, Nauthilax. Covadra is just misled. He just needs a chance to see the light in the darkness of himself." She said. "Sidney's right. A lot of you UnderWorlders did. Surely Covadra can too." Verlina agreed. "I hope you're right." Nauthilax said.

Just then, the radar started beeping again. "Covadra! He's coming back!" Minnie called. Antideon looked over the radar. "Wait. There're 2 targets. Both coming fast." He said. "If one of them is Covadra, who's the other one?" Nika asked. "I'm guessing it's the bloke in the big submarine beside Covadra." Robbie said, looking out the porthole. Sidney, Gisele and Nauthilax looked out with Robbie to see Covadra and a big metal barracuda-shaped submarine coming towards them from a nearby tunnel. "Wait. That's it! That's the BattleGear that attacked me!" Nauthilax revealed. "And look who's driving it." Sidney said with a sneer. In the driver's seat, sat the former UnderWorld leader himself, laughing maniacally as he fired torpedoes. "Brace for impact!" Antideon called. The torpedoes hit the Nemesis, causing everyone to hit the floor.

"Well, that was uncomfortable." Nika said. "What now?" Sidney asked. Nauthilax glared out through the windshield at Covadra. "Time to end this." He snarled, walking towards the airlock. "Nauthilax, you can't take on Chaor and Covadra by yourself!" Verlina said. "She's right. It's near suicide." Antideon said. "I won't be alone. You guys give me some cover with the torpedoes." Nauthilax said, closing the airlock door. Everyone looked out through the windshield as Nauthilax swam out to confront Covadra. "Well, you heard him. Let's give him some cover." Sidney said. Antideon steered the Nemesis to follow Nauthilax.

Chaor saw his former servant coming and aimed at him. But then, a few torpedoes shot past his sub. He turned to see the Nemesis ready for battle. Chaor smiled with a sneer and turned his sub, ready to fight. "Been a long time, Antideon." Chaor said through a speaker. "Too long, Chaor." Antideon said through his own speaker. "I see you've kept my old BattleGear in tip-top shape after all these years, Antideon." Chaor said. That shocked Sidney. "His old BattleGear?" She asked. "Yeah. This BattleGear originally belonged to the UnderWorlders. Nauthilax was gonna use it to attack Rellim until my father snuck aboard and used it to scare him off." Verlina explained. "And he gave it to me as a thanks. Even after all these years, I still haven't found a way to repay Maxxor." Antideon said. Sidney nodded in understanding.

"This can be all over quicky if you just surrender, OverWorlder." Chaor offered. "Maybe, but that would be the coward's way out. And I'm no coward, Chaor!" Antideon said. "So be it." Chaor growled, firing his torpedoes at the Nemesis. Antideon steered out of the way and fired back. The torpedoes his Chaor's sub, but it wasn't even scratched. Everyone was shocked by this. "Like the armor? This little number was one of Khybon's latest inventions before he betrayed me. I was able to snatch it and finish it up. I call it the Turbedo Sub." Chaor explained, firing more torpedoes.

Meanwhile, Nauthilax had just swam up to Covadra. The 2 just glared at each other for a few minutes. "Long time, no see, Covadra." Nauthilax said. "Indeed. How's life in the Alliance? Treating your new friends better than you treated me?!" Covdra asked. "Covadra, I gave you every opportunity to do the right thing. But if this is how you want to end our long-time rivalry, then it's your choice." Nauthilax said. "Then I choose THIS!" Covadra said, firing Power Pulse from his mouth. Nauthilax dodged the attack and threw Ice Disks, hitting Covadra dead on. Both UnderWorlders snarled at each other and continued to attack each other.

Chaor laughed maniacally as he fired more and more torpedoes at the Nemesis. "We can't take much more hits!" Antideon called. "What do we do now?" Gisele asked. "We need to break through the armor of that sub somehow." Sidney said. "Like what? We can't even make a scratch with our torpedoes!" Minnie said. Sidney looked up at the tunnel ceiling. "See the tunnel roof over Chaor? What if we can direct our attacks up there and start a rock slide?" She suggested. "Sounds like an idea. But the rock slide could also damage us too." Verlina said. "Not necessarily. The Nemesis can easily repel rock slides. Sidney's idea could work. Where do you need me to aim?" Antideon asked. "Aim for that crack over his sub." Sidney said. Antideon fired a couple torpedoes at the crack. Chaor was amused and confused. "What was that supposed to accomplish?" He asked. Just then, he heard a cracking sound. He looked up and saw the roof crumbling and causing a rock slide. The rocks started hitting the sub, causing Chaor to spin out of control.

Nauthilax and Covadra continued to batter each other with attacks. Covadra managed to bash Nauthilax into the wall. "Look at the this! Look at what Chaor's madness had wrought us! You still think I'm a spineless pacifist, Covadra?" Nauthilax asked. Covadra looked at the battle between the subs and the rock slide. Then he pulled himself away simply said "No." "You see? There's no shame in calling yourself a UnderWorlder who joins the Tribal Alliance. The tribes fight together to protect all of Perim." Nauthilax said. "It's too late for me. I've already done so much damage during the war." Covadra said. "No. You can still make right. And we can do that. Together." Nauthilax said, holding out his hand. Covadra looked at the hand, then he took with his tail and shook it.

Chaor's Turbedo Sub had finally stopped spinning and fired a special torpedo. It hit the Nemesis and shut down its power. "What happened?" Minnie asked. "That torpedo shut down the power!" Nika said. "It was an ion torpedo. It'll take a while before we can get the power back on." Antideon said. "I'm afraid that's not gonna be enough." Sidney said, pointing out. Chaor had them locked in his sights. "One less OverWorlder and 5 less humans in my domain." He said menacingly. But before he could fire the torpedoes, 2 Riptides hit the Turbedo Sub from afar. Everyone turned to see Nauthilax and Covadra swimming towards them. "WHAT?!" Chaor asked in shock. Covadra fired Frostblight, hitting the sub dead on. Nauthilax followed in with a barrage of energy starfish blasts. Both UnderWorlders continued to attack the Turbedo Sub. Minnie and Nika watched from the Nemesis. "Wow! That Covadra is so awesome!" Minnie said. "I know! We should get some scans of him when this is all over." Nika said. Chaor growled and fired back with his torpedoes. The torpedoes hit the tunnel walls, causing the 2 UnderWorlders to be pushed away.

Covadra recovered, but found himself held at bay by Chaor. "You will be the last UnderWorlder to ever betray me, Covadra. Now I must make an example of what happens when someone betrays me." Chaor said, preparing to end Covadra. But then, the sub got blasted. Chaor turned to see that Antideon managed to get the Nemesis' power back on. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Chaor decided to turn around and retreat back to Gothos Tower.

Afterwards, everyone regrouped onto Kor-Bek Island. There, Covadra gave his best chance to apologise. "I don't think I could be anymore sorry than I feel like I should. But if you can ever find it in your hearts to forgive me, I respect whatever decision you choose." He said. Antideon walked up to Covadra. Verlina, Nauthilax, Sidney and the others looked on with concern. Antideon then put an arm on Covadra's shoulder. "You have no need to apologize, Covadra. You made up for it all yourself." He said. "He's right. And I know my father will say the same thing. If you consider joining the Tribal Alliance." Verlina said. Covadra looked at Nauthilax, who nodded. "Then I shall ask for a meeting with the Tribal leaders to negotiate joining the Alliance." Covadra said. Antideon and Nauthilax smiled, seeing that was doing the right thing.

Sidney, Verlina and the others relaxed back on their beach just as the other 3 left for Kiru City. "Well, we had an amazing adventure, Minnie, Nika and I got some cool new scans, and the day's not even over yet." Sidney said. "Well, what do we do now?" Verlina asked. Gisele and Nika laid back down on their beach towels. "Do not disturb. There's not much sun left." Gisele said. "And we still have lots of sand. What say you, Min? Najarin's Castle?" Robbie asked. "How about the Eye of the Maelstrom?" Minnie suggested. "Done deal." Robbie said as they walked back to their sand pile.

Sidney, however, was staring back out into the ocean. "Hey, guys. See that island out there? Looks kind of funky." She said. "You know, if we build a raft-" "Are you kidding me?!" Gisele asked. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no." Robbie said as everyone charged for Sidney, laughing. "Hey! Wait! Come on! Quit it!" Sidney tried to protest as Robbie and Verlina grabbed her and tossed her into the water.


New cards:

Creature: Covadra (Name inspired from the COVID)

UnderWorld Strategist Scout

Courage: 45

Power: 60

Wisdom: 35

Speed: 60

Elements: Water

Mugic:

Energy: 45

BattleGear: Turbedo Sub

Adds 15 Power and Speed to equipped Creature

If equipped Creature has Water, Creature gains 15 Energy