A/N: Missing Atlantis is gonna be interesting ;) Also, there's no shipping.
"It's nice to have you over, Alice," Mighty Penguin said, grinning at me. We were seated on his couch, in his sleek, modern house. The walls are pale blue and the floor is soft, grey carpet. The couch is big, red and fluffy, with a wooden coffee table in front of it. A TV, naturally, is on the wall. It was playing football, I think. "I mean, the last time we saw each other…"
"...we had to save the world," I finished, sighing. "I know." I took a sip of the lemonade Mighty Penguin allowed me to have. "Um, recently… I set this psychopath's house on fire. I know he's bad and all, but… I can't help but feel… guilty."
"I kinda agree that's a bit extreme, even for a psycho," Mighty Penguin admitted, shaking his head. "But… is he in jail?"
"Yeah. Fierce Fox told the police he tried to kill us." I explained.
"Well then he won't need his house anymore." Mighty Penguin laughed. Then he looked serious. "Still, Al… y'know. But I think you've done worse, right? With the whole Zeus and Louisa business. Yet again, just apologize to him or something. I dunno. You'll figure something out. I'm not so good with the whole forgiving and apologizing thing."
"Okay," I said, tapping my chin. "Thanks, Mighty Penguin." I eyed him. "So, were you born here? On Time Tangled Island?"
"Uh-huh," Mighty Penguin replied, smiling. "Because of this island, I'm never late for anything… And I care about timezones a lot, heh."
"I saw all those clocks in your room." I sighed, shaking my head.
"Just a thing growing up here." Mighty Penguin said, shrugging. He flipped his baseball cap around on his head. "So, what about you? Where did you grow up? Aren't you, like, supposed to be from another world or something?"
"Um… yeah," I told him. "This place called Earth. It's sort of like here… but sort of not. We don't have island quests, medallions, super powers and adventures. We just have… lives. Going to school, working, and so on."
"Oh," Mighty Penguin said, looking away. I saw a glimmer in his eyes. "Sounds… boring."
"For a thrill-seeker like you, it would be," I laughed, fingering my scarf. "But for me… it's half my life."
"Mmm," Mighty Penguin replied, daydreaming. "Boring, yeah."
"Yeah…" I said, feeling awkward. It seemed Mighty Penguin wasn't telling me something. But what? I'd felt that way with Fierce Fox, too. It seemed everyone was hiding things from me.
Fierce Fox and I landed on a large, silver, oil-coated boat in the middle of the ocean. The sun's high above our heads, sprinkling sunlight upon us. There are various boat materials onboard, such as ropes, donut holes, and so on. A famous film director called Cam Jameson was in front of us. He had an anxious expression.
"What's going on?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow.
"I need help filming some underwater footage of these fish," Cam explained. He handed us a file full of descriptions. "Find the key to the sub and we'll make the greatest fish story ever told!"
"Probably won't be able to top Finding Nemo," I told him. "But we'll do it anyway." I gestured Fierce Fox to follow me. I led her over to a dark green, dirty, pole. It and some others held up the hoists to the ship. On one was a silver bucket full of water. With my instruction, Fierce Fox removed the water by tipping it onto some vain guy's helmet. She then filled up the bucket with oil and repeated the process. The guy was so disgusted he dropped the key to the sub, since it was locked in a crate.
Fierce Fox picked up the key. We went over to the crate which held the sub. Cam looked overjoyed.
"Success!" he exclaimed. "One of you take the sub-"
"Only one?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow. She gazed at me.
"I'm afraid so," Cam nodded with a frown. "One of you can stay here with me and we'll keep touch by radio."
"Well?" Fierce Fox asked, staring at me.
"Do you want to go?" I asked, chewing my lip. I lowered my voice. "I can tell you what to do via the radio. We'll still be connected that way. If there's anything wrong… or you see something, I can help you."
"You don't really feel up to doing this, do you?" Fierce Fox asked, snorting.
"Well, truthfully…" I laughed nervously. "After that MVB thing, I… I think I could use a break."
"Fine." Fierce Fox sighed. She smirked. "Well, I'm always up for an adventure." And, with that, she climbed into the small, yellow, pod-shaped vehicle. She disappeared under the sea.
~THIRD PERSON~
"How do I use this thing?" Fierce Fox grumbled under her breath, pressing buttons on the monitor.
"Just… move left and right." Alice's fuzzy voice came from the radio. Fierce Fox sighed and obliged; the sub moved left and right. The Poptropican shrugged her shoulders and continued her descent. The blue waters surrounded her pod, crowded with various fish. As she headed further down, she saw colourful coral sitting on thick rocks. A red and green sea dragon approached her.
"There's a sea dragon. Track it down and record some footage!" Cam's voice buzzed from the radio.
"Take a picture of it." Alice translated. "Use your ship's camera. Make sure everything stays still."
"How do you know what to do?" Cam asked Alice. He sounded inquisitive.
"I work with ships a lot." Alice lied quickly. Fierce Fox waved it off and hovered nearby the sea dragon, taking an image of it.
"Good work, but the really good stuff is down a lot deeper!" Cam told the Poptropican.
"Go down some more." Alice added. Fierce Fox nodded and drove down, discovering more rocks and sea life. She drove into a rocky, maze-like area, which is full of plants, geysers and strange fish. "Look for the Barreleye," Alice instructed. "It's in a tunnel thingy. You'll need to flush it out using the geysers before you can take a picture of it."
"How do you know that?" Cam asked, sounding slightly suspicious.
"I… just know things." Alice answered, her voice wavering.
"Wait… you're the prophesied hero, aren't you?" Cam asked, now excited.
"Uh…" Fierce Fox didn't bother to listen to Alice's response. She covered a geyser blowing out hot bubbles using her pod. The force pushed the strange-looking fish inside a rock tunnel downwards. Fierce Fox repeated this process a few times before the fish was out in the open.
"Y-you got the shot," Cam was in the middle of laughter. "G-good job!" He snorted afterwards. Alice giggled in the background. Fierce Fox bared her teeth.
"Where next?" she asked, clenching her fists.
"Left," Alice answered, snickering. "Find a few small, red fish around those rocks, then go to the Angler Fish's cave. Take a picture of it while it's eating."
"I can't believe your uncle actually went to that school," Cam laughed, talking to Alice. "I mean, when I was a boy..." Fierce Fox blocked out their silly conversation and focused on finding the Angler Fish. She explored the rocky maze, finding small, red fish, hiding in various places. They seemed to like her and stuck nearby her. She almost felt guilty for leading them to their demise. But Alice and Cam chit-chatting in the background was driving her up a wall. She grumpily escorted the small, red fish to the Angler Fish's cave. The Angler Fish, with its sharp, pointy teeth, snapped up all of the fish. Fierce Fox stood still and took a picture, enjoying the satisfaction.
"Great filming," Cam commented, still laughing. "We got her!" His voice changed; he was obviously speaking to Alice. "And then my dad ran out of the house-"
"What next?" Fierce Fox interrupted. She needed to find a way to silence that irritable radio. She had returned to the area where she caught the Barreleye. Just past it is two walls, covered in various seaweed. Most of it is purple. One cluster of seaweed is red. There are a few red cuttlefish hiding in the seaweed. There is also a purple one.
"There's a purple cuttlefish you need to take a picture of," Alice explained. "Just get it into the red seaweed by swapping the order of the cuttlefish." Her voice lit up. "Go on, Cam. Was your dad chasing the dog again?"
"Of all people to get distracted…" Fierce Fox grumbled, tightening her fists around the controls. She neared the red cuttlefish, forcing them to swap places. Eventually, the patch of red seaweed was free. Fierce Fox directed the purple cuttlefish to sit in it; she took a picture.
"Good job!" Cam quickly congratulated.
"Now go down and see the Stonefish," Alice quickly instructed. "Just hide in some coral and take a picture." Her voice changed again. "So, what did your grandma do again?" Fierce Fox's face flushed red, but she didn't speak. She drove downwards. Indeed, near a small cave covered by coral, a Stonefish lurks nearby some stones. Fierce Fox hid in such coral; the Stonefish came right out. Fierce Fox filmed the large, grey fish, a grin plastered on her face. Cam didn't even bother to congratulate her this time.
Instead, he exclaimed, "Look, a Hydromedusa!" Alice stopped laughing immediately. "That's definitely a fish we should film. Don't let it get away!" With that, Fierce Fox used full power, and chased after the fish.
~ALICE~
Fear, for the first time that day, prickled my skin. I knew Fierce Fox would be fine in the end, but I knew she wouldn't be prepared for now. Game physics apply, I soothed myself, taking a deep breath. My new friend Cam eyed me cautiously.
"Are you okay, Alice?" he asked. I nodded quickly. Cam and I had formed an acquaintanceship after I told him about me being the prophesied hero. Cam said something about his nephew who goes to a fancy private school learning about me, then I told him about my uncle going to a fancy private school when he was young, and it all started from there. Fierce Fox had looked slightly irritated about something. Probably us. I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.
"Great, now keep him in front of the camera to finish the shot." Cam instructed Fierce Fox. Suddenly, I heard a scream from her end.
"What the heck is that?!" Fierce Fox screamed. Then the radio blacked out for a few moments.
"Fierce Fox?!" Cam asked, acting panicked. "Is she okay?!"
"I… think so." I attempted to stay determined. I tried booting up the radio again. Cam was peering over my shoulder; we watched the radio in intense silence. Then we heard a muffled voice.
"You are not gonna believe this," it was Fierce Fox's voice. "I wish I could describe it… but…"
"Hold on." Cam turned the camera for the sub on. It showed a crashed, alien civilization. It was completely black with glimmering, pink windows. "Oh… we've got something, alright."
"I think we'll need a bigger lense." I added, swallowing. Especially when I saw something dark moving amongst the shadows.