In this chapter, our antiheroes are going under the sea!

Can they find Cyrus and Luna before Peanuts finds them?

I got a favorite for this fanfic so I figured I should continue.

You already know where the Heroes of Light are.

They're at Mystery Island. How our heroes are going to stop Deluge is a mystery in itself.

Chapter 16: Under the Sea

Fortunately for our antiheroes, the four of them knew where to get underwater breathing potions.

Unsurprisingly, they were located near Maraqua.

Someone was selling them...though Jennifer was careful to check whether they worked as advertised.

They would last for 24 hours.

Theoretically, it would be enough time for them to finish their quest, even if Rocky decided to stop to get some snacks. The Mynci had an appetite.

Otherwise, they would be sleeping with the fishes. Or they would have to leave, anyway.

In the outskirts of Maraqua was a singing Crabby.

"Why is that Crabby singing?" asked Snotty. And why did he have a band?

Perhaps Petpets were smarter than he thought.

Perhaps he should consider getting one of his own.

A Drackonack would suit him just fine now that he thought of it.

"I don't know why he can sing, but he sure has a powerful singing voice." remarked Redtooth.

He couldn't help but feel a bit envious. How could a Petpet sing better than him? That crab had probably been on better Than You once or twice.

Personally he thought that the Kyrii host was obnoxious.

Was he giving out singing lessons? He wasn't sure what he would sing about. He could sing about being evil but the Maraquans probably wouldn't enjoy that.

A Water Faerie was listening to his song.

Strangely, she wasn't a redhead, but a blonde.

Apparently, being underwater was better than being above water.

But Snotty disagreed.

Perhaps he should have a talk with that Crabby. See if he could change his opinion.

Then again, he probably wouldn't listen to someone with a known criminal record.

But for now, perhaps he should have a talk with the civilians.

But they didn't seem in the mood to talk right now.

It seemed they were worried because of a Slug Monster.

"These civilians won't talk unless we deal with the Slug Beast." noted Snotty.

Redtooth sighed.

Still, it felt better to be a hero than a villain.

Besides, on the way there, they encountered someone they had been looking for.

"Cinder, is that you?" asked Snotty.

It was a bit hard to recognize him, as he was wearing a diving helmet.

And yes, the irony of a fire Neopet being underwater was not lost upon him.

"It's nice seeing you again." remarked Cinder. Now finding treasure would be easier.

He figured maybe he could make a honest living for a change by treasure diving.

However, he did not have a treasure map.

So finding treasure was kind of difficult.

Still, being underwater seemed like the perfect place to hide from cops.

"Can you help us?" asked Snotty.

Cinder nodded.

"We're heading to the Slug Monster's cave." noted Redtooth.

"The Slug Monster cave? Why would anyone want to head there?" asked the Fire Tonu,

"It's causing a lot of problems." noted Jennifer.

Cinder decided to comply...though he wasn't sure if he was going to make it in one piece.

Unfortunately, the path to the Slug Monster's lair was dangerous. Nobody said that the journey would be easy.

"Ow! I stepped on an Urgoni!" exclaimed Redtooth, clutching his right foot.

He rubbed his foot, which was now sore.

"Whoops." remarked Snotty.

There were Jetsam swimming in the water.

"Is this worth it?" asked Rocky.

He was worried that one of the Jetsam would bite into him. Though he did probably taste like a boulder.

They didn't have the jaw strength of a Krawk...but being bitten by one wouldn't be fun.

Snotty showed Rocky that there was a submarine searching for them.

It had a picture of Peanuts' face painted on it.

If they didn't prove their innocence, Officer Peanuts wouldn't let them be.

"How did they manage to find us?" asked Jennifer.

"Those submarines probably have a radar system." noted Snotty.

"I guess we're not above the law down here...or should we say below it?" asked Redtooth.

"Either way, we're probably going to have to destroy those submarines if we want to get through." noted Snotty.

One of the submarines launched a torpedo at them.

From his office, Officer Peanuts smirked in satisfaction.

"Thought they could hide from me in Maraqua, did you? Think again!" exclaimed Officer Peanuts.

"Boss, I'm not sure if they can hear you." remarked Lenny.

"Whatever!" exclaimed the aggressive Elephante, slurping his coffee.

"You have the audacity to step foot in my lair? Prepare to be slimed!" exclaimed the Slug Monster.

He was cranky because two Neopets had stolen the Water Stone he had been guarding. It had been resitng on top of a hoard of treasure.

And yes, the Slug Beast was acting like the Snowager.

Sure enough, the monster spewed slime at them.

"Ugh..." remarked Snotty. That was really gross. Good thing he was in Maraqua so he could wash himself off quickly.

The Slug Beast then attempted to bite them.

Rocky whacked him with his club.

"Ow!" exclaimed the slug.

In retaliation, the monster bit into him.

Redtooth clawed into the monster.

The Slug Monster fell over.

"Looks like we win." remarked Snotty.

The Villains of Darkness cheered.

Wait, were they villains now?

Perhaps they should reconsider changing their name. Though it probably wouldn't stop Officer Peanuts from hunting them.

As soon as the antiheroes got back, the citizens of Maraqua cheered.

The monster that was threatening them was gone.

Maybe now they could get some answers.

Apparently, the temple wasn't located far from Maraqua.

However, according to the locals, they had witnessed a Scorchio and Acara going in.

It seemed Cyrus and Luna were at it again.

They would likely have to deal with them.

Hopefully things would go better this time.

The citizens said that the temple was normally off-limits, but if they were trying to stop the thieves, King Kelpbeard would likely make an esception.

"You think we can clear our names?" asked Redtooth.

"If we catch them, maybe. But we'll need to avoid the submarines." remarked Snotty.

Otherwise, they could end up being overwhelmed.

At the temple...

Two Maraquan guards were standing guard outside the temple.

One was short and one was tall.

They were both wielding spears made of maractite.

"This job is boring." remarked the short guard.

It seemed there was no need to guard the temple.

One of the guards (the short one) was a Maraquan Mynci.

Another was a Maraquan Kyrii.

Suddenly, a fireball was shot at the Mynci.

He collapsed on the floor.

And yes, it was weird that Cyrus could light fires underwater.

"And he says this job is boring." remarked the Kyrii.

Fortunately, the fire and ice duo didn't need to cause chaos to create an evacuation to make their jobs easier this time.

They just needed to incapacitate the guards.

"Well, this should prevent King Kelpbeard from finding out about our break-in." acknowledged Cyrus.

"There's bad news, Cyrus." noted Luna.

It seemed that perhaps they wanted to clear their names by turning them in to the authorities.

They did cause trouble at Meridell after all.

Though in their defense, some of the villagers were annoying. There was a Kacheek with an unhealthy obsession with counting potatoes.

"In that case, I'll deal with them myself. They've been annoying and I want to teach them a lesson." noted Cyrus.

He would introduce them to his fire breath...which could melt through a glacier.

"No statue this time?" asked Luna.

"That didn't work the last time." remarked the Scorchio. He wasn't going to try that again.

It seems that the Neopets pursuing them were stronger than they thought.

Besides, fighting them directly would be more fun.

"Are you going to...fight them solo?" asked the Acara.

"The way I see it, fighting them as a duo would be a snoozefest." remarked the Scorchio.

"Seems fair." nodded Luna.

He sure hoped they would make things interesting for him.

He happened to enjoy a challenge...much like Snotty himself.

Meanwhile...

"Deluge has clearly been here." noted Bloony.

"I can see that!" nodded Ursula.

There was slime on the ground in several places.

It seemed that the residents of Mystery Island were in hiding.

They had to find him as soon as possible.

But where was he?

For now they needed to warn Shuriken.

Otherwise he would be eaten.

And then Deluge would be more powerful.

The less powerful the monster was, the better.

The panicked residents gave them an idea as to the monster's location.

It was heading straight towards the training school.

However, they also warned them that Deluge was making copies of everything it assimilated.

Perhaps he was doing so to find more victims.

It looked as if they would be fighting other Neopets.

Though that was something they were used to.

They did go to the Battledome sometimes, after all.

Sure enough, an evil Krawk attacked them.

"Better not let him bite us." remarked Marvin. Those fangs looked sharp.

That would be unpleasant. Though maybe if he was lucky this Krawk would be using dentures.

For some reason, beating the Krawk caused him to dissolve into a slime puddle.

It was kind of gross.

However, they were instantly reminded that the Krawk wasn't real.

Which was good, because there were more evil Neopets approaching.

It was doubtful they had good intentions.

Bloony was reminded a bit of the time that he fought Blumaroos on his home island. It wasn't exactly a happy memory, and he hoped that he didn't have to relive it.

As part of his plan to erase goodness from the world (as he could only really thrive in an environment that was evil, as he was made of evil), he corrupted the residents of Roo Island.

Lucky for Snotty and Redtooth, they were immune...because they were already bad.

He felt bad for the poor Neopets, being forced to serve the embodiment of evil.

But at least he didn't have to hold back against these slime Neopets this time.

Unfortunately, our heroes encountered something bad.

It was the Tiki Tack Man...but there was something off about him.

He was wearing a mask that made him look evil. It had glowing red eyes.

"What happened to the Tiki Tack Man?" asked Cherry.

"I'm starting to think this isn't the real deal." remarked Bloony.

The real Tiki Tack Man wasn't evil. The booby prizes he got whenever he failed at tombola would indicate that.

Sure enough, the Tiki Tack Man threw a Tiki Bomb at him.

"Aah!" shouted Marvin.

That bomb had almost hit him.

Fortunately, Gary the Grarrl showed up.

It seemed he had been on vacation in Mystery Island, judging from the shades that he was wearing.

He had enjoyed it there...though sometimes he had been worried that the locals would eat him.

Did Neopets really taste that delicious?

Shortly sfterwards, our heroes saw Deluge.

Gary whimpered. This was his first time seeing the monster.

Nearby, a member of the Petpet Protection League (a green Skeith) was trying to stop Deluge from eating Petpets.

"Stop! This is Petpet cruelty!" exclaimed the Skeith.

He wasn't going to put up with that.

Deluge looked at him, and opened his mouth.

"I might have not thought this through." remarked the Neopet.

Sure enough, he was swallowed.

Our heroes gasped.

Deluge let out a loud burp.

He hoped it didn't attract Shuriken's attention.

"Now then, where was I?" asked the giant slime.

It was time to get back to the task at hand.

He could smell Shuriken.

He was nearby.

"This is almost too easy." noted the slime monster.

However, he also smelled the Heroes of Light.

Had he met them in a past life?

He wasn't sure.

But he got the feeling that they would oppose his plans.

Perhaps he should be prepared for a fight with them.

Meanwhile...

"Is this the Secret Laboratory?" asked Snotty.

"Looks that way." nodded Redtooth.

"Hahahahaha! Welcome to my lab!" exclaimed the mad scientist.

"So this is the crazy scientist I've heard so much about." noted Jennifer.

They said he had designed some sort of ray.

"With this lab ray you can become whatever Neopet you want!" exclaimed the scientist.

"We should leave. This guy's crazy." noted Snotty.

The five of them left.

"You sure we shouldn't have used that lab ray to disguise ourselves?" asked Redtooth.

"Good idea, but I'm not sure that lab ray is safe." noted Snotty.

"This guy has a huge electricity bill." remarked Jennifer.

"I'm sure the electric company is mad at him." spoke Redtooth.

"Uh-huh!" nodded Rocky.

Suddenly, the Maraquan Royal Guard showed up.

Quickly, the "Villains" of Darkness hid behind a rock.

"You're under arrest for unethical experimentation!" exclaimed the royal guard.

The Scorchio scientist groaned,

He could have sworn that he would be safe down here.

Then again, pieces of his laboratory map always seemed to show up in random events.

The Scorchio scientist was hauled away.

"By the way, did you hear about that officer whose looking for those Neopets?" asked one of the guards, who was a Peophin.

"I think that guy might be as crazy as the scientist we brought in." noted another guard, who was a Nimmo.

"Yeah. Didn't he hear about what they did for Maraqua?" asked the Peophin.

"He seems to think it's all a hoax." noted the Nimmo.

Snotty rolled his eyes.

The two guards left the scene.

Suddenly, several police officers ambushed them.

They had consumed Maraquan potions for underwater breathing.

"Get 'em!" exclaimed the police.

Fortunately, Jennifer remembered there was a lab ray nearby.

She used it to turn the police into babies.

"Wah wah wah!" exclaimed a Shoyru, who was now an infant.

Above water, Boochi felt a strange sense of deja vu.

Afterwards, the antiheroes decided to move on.

Hopefully the two villains were still there.

It was time for payback.

One can only hope they find Shuriken before Deluge does.

And yeah, I decided to feature the mad Scorchio scientist in this chapter.

That would be bad, right?

In the next chapter, our heroes will fight Deluge...again. And the antiheroes will fight Cyrus.

It's going to be a bit climatic.