I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Exploration
Tyler stared out the window as they passed over the wreckages. It wasn't just broken ships, it was an entire seabed of nothing but broken pieces of wood and glass with metal sticking out here and there. There were broken masts, a chunk of metal hull, a broken smoke stack. But it was all well beyond broken, crushed into bits was more accurate, or maybe blown up from the inside.
Tyler sighed, resting a hand against the glass as he leaned forward, looking down at the ships. For a half a second, he could swear he saw movement, but then he blinked and there was nothing but broken ships.
"Did you see something?" Lightning asked as she stepped up beside him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I thought I saw something move," Tyler said.
"Commander, I think you should hear this," the old woman running coms said from off to the side, getting no response. "Commander. Commander. Commander. Commander."
"Yes Mrs. Packard, what is it?" the commander asked finally.
"I'm picking something up on the hydrophone I think you should hear," she said.
"Put it on speaker," the commander said.
A moment later, Tyler turned to stare at the speaker as a deep, angry, vibrating, almost mechanical roar began to ring from it. Tyler swallowed, turning back to the window, watching the massive stone pillars they were passing through. As the commander was listening to the continuing sound, Tyler stared out into the dark water, clearly seeing movement behind the pillars, Lightning also staring.
"You see that?" Lightning asked.
"Yup," Tyler nodded. "Commander! There's something moving on the left side!"
"All lights to the port side," the commander ordered, all of the sub's lights swinging that way.
For a moment, there was nothing but dark water and stone. Then, a massive wall of dark greenish grey metal shot through the light. An alarm began to blare through the sub instantly, crew members scrambling to get to their stations and prepare for what was likely to be an attack. A moment later, a gigantic metal lobster with glowing red eyes shot out of the darkness, five times the size of their sub, and smashed a claw into it. Almost half a second later, several torpedoes launched out of the sub, exploding against the side of the lobster, earning another roar. Then, a dozen smaller subs, big enough for two people each, launched from the main sub's sides, all firing smaller explosives of their own, the main sub continuing to fire as well.
"I kind of want to help, but I doubt my keyblade would be much use against that thing," Tyler said.
"Agreed," Lightning nodded.
The lobster grabbed the main sub with the small arms on either side of its head, each arm still larger than the sub itself. It also had two larger main arms that made the two it was holding them with look like whiskers. The moment the sub was in the lobster's grasp, several torpedoes blasted it, making it release them. The sub surged forward, trying to escape while the smaller subs struggled to hold the lobster's attention, several being destroyed. Then, an energy beam shot out of the lobster's mouth, punching straight through the sub.
"Shit!" Lightning swore. "This might not go so well for us."
Tyler nodded, clenching the railing tightly. "Old subs like this were explosion risks if water hit the boilers."
Lightning nodded as the commander got a status report from Audrey saying about the same thing. Then, Mrs. Packard went over the intercom.
"All hands, abandon ship," Mrs. Packard said, sounding bored.
Tyler and Lightning were off instantly, following everyone else to the escape subs, piling in. They all began to scramble for seats, Tyler remaining standing since he arrived last and was the odd man out.
"Lieutenant, get us out of here!" the commander ordered.
"Working on it!" the blonde shouted, struggling to shove a lever forward, eventually kicking it.
They back of the main sub exploded outward, allowing the escape subs to shoot out of it mere seconds before it exploded with another blast from the lobster. They all shot away from the Lobster, which chased them instantly. Tyler clung to the wall, but after a moment the ship lurched and he was flung sideways into a metal strut running up the wall, grunting in pain before the ship dove sharply, hurling him into the ceiling then back to the floor, where he bounced and rolled forward. He managed to catch one of the crew's feet, stopping himself as he felt the crew member's knee pop out of place, accompanied by a shout of pain. Then, the ship lurched again and Tyler lost his grip being flung into the wall in a gap between Fang and Lightning's seats, both grabbing him, Lightning by the hand and Fang by the foot.
"You just have all the shitty luck, huh?" Fang asked.
"Please don't let go of me!" Tyler pleaded.
Then, the ship lurched again, Fang's arm swinging back and slamming into a strut, her elbow breaking and her hand letting go.
"Shit!" Fang swore as Tyler's feet swung toward the middle of the boat, Lightning and Tyler both grabbing each other's free hand as well.
Then, the sound of an explosion echoed from beside the ship and it jerked first one way, then the other rapidly. There was a snapping sound as Tyler was whipped to the side and back rapidly and Lightning shouted in pain, but held her grip. Tyler grit his teeth as he felt his shoulder strain from the motion. Then, finally, the ship jerked downward, swinging Tyler up into the wall before dropping him to the floor beside Lightning. Finally, the ship was steady, save for a slow bobbing motion.
"We've stopped," Tyler groaned, letting go of Lightning's hands and seeing her reach up to her shoulder, yanking and relocating it. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Lightning said. "Fang, we'll deal with your elbow in a bit."
Fang nodded. They all unbuckled themselves, climbing out of the ship through a hatch in the top as the ship was steered toward shore, a rock outcropping ahead of them. Up the incline a bit was a statue of some creature's face with a road leading into the cavern's wall, starting at the creature's mouth. Once on shore, the front of the ship opened and several trucks and transports were unloaded from it. Aside from that ship, the only other thing to survive the escape was a single fighter sub with Mole and Vincenzo in it. Nothing else had made it.
Within minutes, Sweet had a candle in a bowl floating out into the water as the commander gave a eulogy for the hundred fifty or so that had died, everyone that had survived, except for the one guy whose leg Tyler had broken, standing at the shore. Lightning had healed both her own shoulder and Fang's elbow, and both girls had changed back into their original outfits, since they had been found anyway.
"Alright, everyone saddle up!" the commander said. "Everyone drives, everyone works! No exceptions!"
Tyler walked over to one of the trucks where Milo was playing with the truck's air horn. He pulled Milo's hand off of it and Milo glanced at him. "I'll drive."
Milo nodded and Tyler climbed in behind the wheel as the commander walked over to him.
"Are you sure you're rated for this class of vehicle?" the commander asked.
"Yes," Tyler nodded. "I can drive a truck."
The commander grunted and Tyler started the truck up as Lightning sat beside him.
"What's this stick do?" Tyler asked her, receiving a shrug.
He shrugged as well and pressed the gas, nothing happening. He squeezed the lever at the top of the rod and pushed it forward and the truck began to idle forward. This time when he pushed the gas, the truck began to accelerate. He smirked, driving along the road, the rest of the vehicles falling in after him.
"I feel like this might me a very long drive," Tyler said, Lightning nodding in agreement.
As time ticked by, they drove along the winding road, passing areas where it was cramped enough that the truck scraped the walls, and areas where there was a sheer drop on one side. More than a couple of times, Tyler thought the truck might get stuck, or fall off a cliff, but he managed to avoid it. He and Lightning traded off every couple of hours, and eventually they came to a spot where the truck had to be lowered down off a cliff to a lower section of the road. After that, they drove until they reached a fork in the road and stopped. Milo pointed to the path on the left and Lightning started down that trail, only for a gigantic green caterpillar-like creature to burst out of it. Tyler and Lightning both leapt out instantly, Lightning shooting the creature in the face with her gunblade before Tyler leapt to the creature, slashing downward as he fell and splitting its front open. It dropped to the ground beside the truck, dead, and they turned to Milo, who held the journal the other way and smiled sheepishly, pointing at the other path. Lightning sighed, rolling her eyes and pulling the metal rod backward, backing back along the path before heading the other way, Tyler climbing in as she passed.
"You can use magic, right?" Tyler asked as they drove, Milo waiting up ahead.
"Yes why?" Lightning asked.
"Can you teach me after this?" Tyler asked.
"Sure," Lightning nodded. "Mickey said that the keyblade should give you the ability to wield magic more easily than most people can, so sure."
"Thank you," Tyler smiled just as Lightning slowed to a stop, letting Milo climb in.
They continued along the road in silence for hours before, finally, the commander ordered them to stop for a rest. After a few hours of rest, they were off again. After nearly a day, they came to a pillar a half-mile tall, which Vincenzo blew up to make a bridge. The vehicles carefully drove across it before continuing. After that, the temperature began to drop until they reached an area where it was as cold as winter, complete with snow. Then after that, it began to warm up again. Finally, on the fourth day of travel, they stopped as they reached a stone wall blocking their path. The drill began to dig through it, only to break down and backfire, halting.
"Shit," Tyler sighed. "Now what?"
"Looks like Audrey's working on it," Lightning said, the pair watching as Milo went to see if he could help.
After a moment, Audrey walked away and he turned two valves before smacking it with a wrench, the drill roaring back to life. A moment later, they were on the move again, following the drill this time. After a couple hours, they finally broke through the wall and continued as before before reaching a long, narrow bridge with a glowing chandelier like rock formation in the roof of the cavern.
"We'll make camp here," the commander announced.
"Finally," Tyler sighed. "I'm getting tired of driving."
Lightning nodded as they set up the tent that they would be sharing with Fang. "I agree. My back's killing me."
"Lucky you," Fang said. "That drill has no padding or shock absorbers. My ass feels like it's broken."
Tyler snorted, shaking his head as Lightning arched then twisted her back, groaning in annoyance as she failed to relieve any tension. "Um, if you want, Lightning, I could give you a massage. I'm not great, but I was taught a little by my friend who was taking massage therapy."
"Really?" Lightning asked. "That sounds excellent." She narrowed her eyes suddenly. "You're not going to try to make me take my shirt off are you?"
"No no," Tyler said, holding his hand up in front of himself. "I can do it with the shirt on just as well."
Lightning smiled and nodded just as Cookie called everyone for dinner. The three of them ate quickly before retreating into their tent for the night. Fang lay down on her sleeping bag and mat as Lightning lay on her stomach, Tyler kneeling beside her, beginning to massage her back. For a moment, Lightning's face scrunched up in discomfort before the nots began to unwind themselves and she sighed in relief and comfort. After a few more minutes, Tyler sat back and Lightning smiled up at him.
"You're pretty good at that," Lightning said. "Shame you can't massage heartless to death or you'd have no trouble at all."
Tyler rolled his eyes. "Hah hah. I know, I know. Both of you can easily beat me in a fight."
"Say, if you're handing out free massages, my ass still hurts," Fang said, grinning as Tyler's face turned scarlet.
"I only do back massages," Tyler said. "And I'm going to bed anyway."
He quickly kicked off his boots and climbed into his sleeping bag, lying facing away from the two women. Both laughed before also climbing into their sleeping bags. Tyler sighed quietly and burrowed deeper into his sleeping bag. After a few minutes, he drifted off to sleep.
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