Aphmau's POV:
"We're underwater." Those two words caused everything to stop.
"Oh no." Uni whispered. "No, no, no, no-" He began breathing faster and then started hyperventilating.
"Snap out of it, you're gonna waste our oxygen supply!" Greenie slapped him.
"That is not the way to-" I was interrupted as Uni somehow calmed down.
"Thanks." He nodded at Greenie.
"Everyone calm down," I raised my hands. "Let's just try to figure this out before we run out of air-"
"I'd say that's the least of our worries." My head snapped to Kyle and saw he was staring at the corner under the control panel in panic. "Look," I straightened as I saw water filtering in through the gap where the floor met the side.
"Oh no.." Greenie muttered.
"Back here too, see!" Uni shouted and pointed at the water coming in through the top.
Only a little was getting through, but it was getting in fast.
"Things aren't looking good from down here," Kyle had leaned forward to try to see through the front windows. "I can't even see the surface. It might just be too dark to see, but I don't like our odds of swimming."
I gulped and looked down.
"Phoenix, you alright?" He turned to me and his eyes widened. "You're bleeding!" He looked alarmed as he went to touch my head, the same place that was hurting earlier. I moved back before he could touch it, though.
"I'm fine, don't worry." I assured him. "Besides, that's not my biggest issue."
"What?"
Sighing, I raised my head.
"About swimming.."
"You can't swim, can you?" Greenie groaned.
"I can!" I snapped at him before mumbling, "I'm just not very good at it.." When nobody said anything, I reluctantly continued. "I can float fine, and I'm okay at hovering- or whatever it's called -but actually swimming..." I huffed. "Not so much."
I jumped when I felt something cold rush past my feet. The water was now high enough to reach my ankles. Another leak had sprung to my right, this one bigger than the last.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spent so much time talking to Ivan. Then maybe I would've figured out you were on the catwalk, Pug." I apologized. "And then Greenie wouldn't have had to save us and we'd be back at Headquarters by now with the others."
"No, it's my fault for getting a bad helicopter thinking it would last long distance. Ivan likes to play games, he could've hurt you or one of the others if you didn't go along with it." Kyle argued. I smiled at him and, since it was probably our last moments to say anything, decided against bringing up the fact he was the reason Ross blew up Logan's office.
The water was rising fast as more leaks were opening up. That was when the whole thing jerked to one side. We were thrown against the right side of the helicopter and the water swooshed towards us. The impact of whatever had hit us cause one of the shields to go down a bit, causing the last remains of water to come rushing in. My head got closer to the ceiling and I angled my neck to keep it away. But with one last gulp of air, as it was inevitable, I found myself being submerged by the water.
At first it wasn't so bad, like how you'd probably hold your breath a swimming pool.
But then I was running out of breathe. I felt the uncomfortableness growing in my chest, each second making it harder to hold back the reflex of gasping for air. I clenched my jaw and my hands tightened into fists, nails digging into my palm. Not breathing on its own was a challenge, but I knew about drowning.
Out of all the ways to die, drowning was probably one of the worst. It was basically suffocation, plus the burning when water filled your lungs. At least when you suffocate you can try to breathe. It won't help you in any way since there'd be no air, but you could at least try.
Here I was not just trying to hold my breath even though I desperately needed to breathe, but was also trying to go against the reflex to breathe.
My chest constricted and waves of pain spiked through me, almost causing me to gasp.
If I'm going down, I'm not making it more painful for myself.
The water was making things blurry enough, but everything started to get hazier. My body seemed to be relaxing but I used every ounce of strength to not inhale the water. Barely realizing the helicopter shook again, and again, I tried to keep my eyes open. I could only make out splotches of color along with dark silhouettes. The lack of light didn't help either.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard crashes, although they sounded far away. Noises muffled by the water echoed in my skull as I could make out movement. A moving figure swam in, going straight for me.
I didn't realize that I stopped holding my breath, just starting to breathe in water. My lungs burned as all I could feel was pain and uncomfortableness.
Without even registering it, something was slipped around my mouth. With the small, shallow breathes I took through my nose, the still barely conscious part of me realize there was no burning. No water. Only the sweet relief of air. As I felt my arm being over someone and a hand supporting my waist, I gasped.
Taking in breath after breath, only stopping to cough up water. My head was spinning, the tightening pain in my chest had decreased, now only slightly there. I managed to angle my head to see who had saved me and gave a weak smile as I came face to face with a familiar crown.
My eyelids still felt heavy, but it was easier to open them wider.
Shelby's ombré hair flowed underwater as she had something glowing in her mouth, a green glow stick flashlight. She took it out from between her teeth and waved it above her head before placing it back in her mouth.
Grabbing onto a rope that I hadn't noticed before, she tugged it and we zipped through the sea.
If I hadn't still been in a daze, I would've wanted to cheer at how fast we were going, it was like an underwater rollercoaster. Only a few seconds after it ended, I felt hands around my upper arms, pulling me. I felt the water rush down me as I surfaced, being propped up against the wall. The thing around my mouth was slipped off me and I coughed again.
"Get her-"
"EMERGENCY!"
"Let me go!"
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"
Voices floated by as I seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. It was like my brain couldn't decide whether it wanted to be helpful for once and get up or just let the emptiness take me entirely. That was when, for the first time since I had been in the water, I had a clear and actually understandable thought.
What if I don't wake up?
That motivated me to keep my eyes open, except I couldn't. Everything was becoming numb, I could barely feel my self being lifted up and placed onto a moving object. The shouts and yells seemed so far away. But as I felt yet another mask of some kind being held to my mouth, I found my brain had made its decision and let go of my grip on reality.
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Greenie's POV: (A/N: Yup, time for any fanfic detectives out there to keep an eye out for clues)
I searched the sides for any way to get out.
I was running out of air, and I knew Phoenix- I think her name was -was on the verge of passing out. The guy with the Pug mask was already out cold along with the other guy. I stuck my hands above the shield which was slightly open and tried to pull it down more, so we'd be able to swim out.
I'm running out of time.
My chest was starting to tighten and ache, it felt like something was squeezing my heart. That was when the helicopter shook again and I was slammed against the side opposite the open shield. Something white and pointed with blades coming out of it appeared in the gap. In one swiped, the shields fell. It hadn't been cut through however, instead there were cut wires above the shield.
If I wasn't so busy drowning, I would've been worried about being electrocuted, or at least confused why we hadn't been electrocuted the moment they were cut. Someone swam in. They were wearing black clothes and it was too dark to see the specifics, but I could make out a white crown and flash of ombré hair.
How did the crown even stay on?
I figured they were a girl as I caught if glimpse of her face, she had goggles and a mask connected to the oxygen tanks strapped to her backs on. She took off the mask and strapped it onto Phoenix, still carrying the oxygen tanks.
She helped her out and then another person swam in. They had a black jersey jacket on. I remembered him being called Tech back on the Island.
Tech swam to me and passed me his mask. I strapped it in and sucked in a breath. My vision was blurry, but I could slightly see his eyes widened in surprise, maybe because I was still pretty conscious. He grabbed my arm and helped pull me out. I saw metal claws had sunk their tips into the roof of the helicopter, ropes connected to them. That must've been what caused us to shake.
We had to avoid the wires as we swam out, me going first, and I realized the guy was slowly running out of breath. I noticed his movements were slowing, like he didn't want to lose energy. At the same time though, it was keeping him underwater longer. He swam out of the heli and tried to swim up to reach me, but he didn't move. Looking down, Tech jumped slightly to see his foot was stuck in the coral. There was a gap that was easy for his ankle to go through coming out of the helicopter.
Getting out of it however, not so much.
For a second, his mouth opened, probably as a reflex to gasp, but then he remembered he was submerged.
And the moment we realized it, it was too late. He managed to keep the water getting in his mouth, but a lot of air would have already been lost. I could see the his cheeks puffed up from the air he was holding. But now all he had was what was left in his lungs. As he struggled and kicked I pushed myself off the helicopter towards him. I was near the front and he had gotten out from the back, plus he was lower. And the helicopter was big.
Thank Irene I'm good at swimming.
Reaching him in a few seconds, I looked around for something. I spotted a rock further up the reef.
Reef? Coral shouldn't even be down here, we're too deep.
I dolphin kicked instead of freestyle because my arms were aching, probably from all the climbing I did earlier. It also was easier to push through the water that way. Snatching the rock, I swam back to Tech and saw bubbles coming out of his nose.
'Hold on', I wanted to say. But I doubted he could hear me underwater, especially with the mask on. I gripped his calf and brought the rock down on the coral repeatedly until it broke off. Blood was flowing around his ankle, now in the water. Taking one last breath, I slipped off the mask and strapped it around him again. I had him practically hang onto my back like a monkey as I reached for the rope on the helicopter.
Watching as Crown-girl took Phoenix, I copied her actions and gave the rope a yank. After a few seconds we were sent flying through the water I saw where we were headed.
It looked like normal Ocean, but just how it would look over a fire with the gas in front of it. The image was shaky, flickering almost. And as we neared it I saw a faint outline that disappeared the moment I blinked.
Once we stopped moving however, I the image cleared and I saw a big square above us. Instantly I could see there was no water in it meaning it was airtight. I pulled myself towards and pushed up, finally surfacing. As I did, hands grabbed me and pulled me up further as I helped Tech. But when I turned around, I didn't get a warm welcoming.
It was the DIVINE from the Imp's Agency. All of them, except for Tech who was barely conscious and crown-girl propping Phoenix up against the wall. They were pushed aside by a man with blonde hair and purple-blue eyes. He had that kind of face that made him look constantly angry.
"Who the hell are you?" Grabbing a fistful of my collar, he dragged me to my feet.
"Relax, Commander." The assassin girl from earlier pushed him off me. "He's a rogue agent. Greenie, Commander. Commander, Greenie." She introduced us.
"Guys!" Crown-girl got their attention. "She's bleeding out and lost a lot of oxygen. She needs medical care!"
"Get her a doctor!" The guy with fire gloves- I'll call him Firebender -Firebender shouted at a guy who I think was named Dino. Dino nodded and ran off down the hall.
"EMERGENCY!" His yelled quietened as he ran. "EMERGENCY roo.." Eventually we couldn't hear him any more and just as I tried to go up to Phoenix, a girl with red hair grabbed my arms.
"You never answered the Commanders question." She muttered, moving her arms in a way so she could break one of mine if need be.
"Let me go!" I struggled and kicked to get out of her grip.
Man she's strong.
"Blue," The only other adult in the room, a woman, spoke up.
"Who are you?" She growled.
"He's trustworthy." The guy from the Island, the one with the yellow mask that had a huge smile on it, held her back.
"What happened, Greenie?" He asked me. Ignoring the fact they stilled called me by that stupid nickname, I explained the situation.
"I found them hanging from the wall. After getting them down, we ran to leave. Kyle came in with a helicopter, but he didn't check its condition to see if it was safe. We were fine, but eventually we crashed." I began. "I also heard them talking about someone, right before the water came in."
"An Imp called Ivan." I knew who he was, he was the General of his army. But judging the way all of the Agents acted there, I doubted any one of the besides Assassin and her partner knew the place well.
Maybe the ones who were trapped there, but I couldn't be sure.
"Ivan?" The room froze. Kyle and Pug face had been pulled out and were laying on the floor, the agents who had gone underwater were still dripping. But the moment I said that name, all time stopped.
"Ivan." I looked back to the person who was talking, they're voice was calm yet deadly. Funny enough, I had expected one of the Agents, or maybe even the grumpy guy who had been so close to punching me.
But no, the owner of the voice was none other than the calm, seemingly sweet woman who had tried to stop Blue from holding me back.
"Donna.." The blonde commander tried to reach for her as she let out a forced laugh.
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" She stormed out of the room, completely furious, and blondie ran after her.
"Donna!"
The tension in the room started to drown me- yeah, real funny -and I was thankful when the paramedics burst through the door. They all rushed in, hooking the others up to machines to test them for different things and placed them on the gurneys. Most of the Agents were right behind them, but the ones who stayed back immediately cornered me.
It was Assassin, Blue, Smiley and Crown-girl.
"How did you hold your breathe for so long?" Crown-girl asked first. "The others were either passed out or, in Phe's case, barely conscious. But all of them were on the verge of death."
"It was a miracle Phe stayed awake for that long." Blue nodded. "So how the hell are you perfectly fine?" All their voices were hard. I could tell they were trying to hide the fear they had for their friends' lives and knew they had to make sure I was not a threat before going to them.
"What can I say?" I shrugged innocently while smirking. "I've got great lungs."
"We need to go to them.." Smiley mumbled to them. They hesitated before agreeing.
"Try anything, and I won't go easy on you." Blue threatened me.
"Oh he wouldn't, would you Greenie?" Assassin slung her arm around my shoulders and the grin in her voice was clear. But as she looked at me expectantly I could also notice the underlying threat in there.
I gulped, "Yes, ma'am." I gave a salute and as Blue rolled her eyes she walked away.
"What's your name anyway?" Smiley asked. "Doubt it'd be something as stupid as Greenie."
"Uh.." Shoot. I hadn't thought of a code name. Working by myself, I didn't need one. Now, however..
"If I tell you my name will you stop calling me Greenie?" I asked.
"Depends." Assassin girl shrugged.
"Rick," I started, acting like I hadn't just gotten that off the top of my head. "Just call me Rick."
"Nah," She dismissed. "I rather call you Greenie." And with that, she skipped away humming to herself.
"Is she in her right mind?" I asked once Assassin was gone.
"M? Yeah, she's sane if that's what you're asking." Smiley nodded.
"She just likes people to think she's crazy." Crown-girl shrugged and walked away.
Smiley turned to leave but paused and looked over his shoulder.
"Unless, of course, she just acts sane to trick us."
And with one last smirk, I was alone.
A/N: Alright, so I'm made Ashlie's codename Blue Rabbit (Blue for short) because in Cory's BULLY series she voices Gertrude. And Gertrude always wears blue, rabbit ears
Also, I had thought of a code name for Greenie, but thought it was too obvious so it now changed to this.
You now have three clues, two are obvious but one is more subtle.
And when I say obvious I don't mean they're obvious what they mean, I meant it's obvious that they're clues.
I bet if someone really wanted to they could figure out who he is right now.
And until next time,
I'll catch you guys on the Interweb,
-Onci <3 [Edit: Actually edited, for once]