by K T Kaye
“How are you going to get to the portal?” I asked, “There are zombies everywhere!”
“I’ll work something out. You three stay in here. No matter what happens just stay in here. This forcefield, even if the portal explodes and the teleportation doesn’t work., it might still save you. So stay here.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll be fine,” Angel smiled.
Before anyone could stop her, Angel exited the forcefield and ran through the chaos of zombies. The zombies attacked Angel. They grabbed onto her legs and sliced their swords in her direction. But Angel didn’t stop. She kept running towards the portal. As she got closer, more and more zombies attacked. They grabbed her ankles, forcing her to the floor. Angel kicked and struggled, desperately trying to avoid getting bitten.
When she got close enough, Angel pressed the timer on the bomb and threw it into the portal.
“Now Becks!” Angel shouted.
Becks quickly pressed a button…
As the portal exploded!
29
‘FRED THE DEMON’
JASON
We landed with a loud crash. My body hit a strange green table then fell onto a hard mosaic floor. As I pushed myself up, Angel landed on top of me, her back (she had a very bony back by the way) squashed into my face. I couldn’t see the others, but Fern’s loud voice told me that they had also arrived.
“Get off me!” Fern shouted, “Danny! You have three seconds to…hey! Danny? Hey! Guys, I think Danny might be dead!”
“I’m not dead,” I heard Danny groan.
Angel pulled herself off me. She stumbled over to Danny, who had landed on top of Fern. Rowan, who had landed on top of a bookshelf, quickly joined them and the pair healed Danny’s bloody chest. I looked around. Willow and Clover had landed right in the centre of the green table, squashing the lovely flower centre piece. Sophie, Becks and McLean had landed in a heap on a small pink stairway that was covered in strange light blue flowers. Alexander and Araminta had landed close to me. Araminta walked over to me and held out her hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. My body ached so much! It was like someone had run me over with a bus a few hundred times…just, you know, without the dying part!
“Are you alright?” Araminta asked.
“Yeah. You have gills!” I exclaimed as I noticed the fish gills that were attached to the vampire’s cheeks.
“Of course I have gills. We’re underwater.”
“What!? Then how am I breathing?”
“Because you also have gills.”
“What!?” I touched my cheek. She was right! I had gills. Fish gills!
“We’re in Atlantis,” Araminta explained, “Luckily for us, Atlantis has a protection spell which gives any airbreather gills upon entering the kingdom.”
“But why don’t I feel wet? And how come I’m standing not swimming?”
“Magic Jason!”
“This is so weird!” I said touching my gills, “Aww it’s a seal!”
Right next to me was an adorable grey seal. It had large brown eyes that stared up at me and whiskers sticking out of its chubby cheeks. It was treading water, its little flippers flapping against the waves. It was strange to see the creature swimming so close to me, especially given that I couldn’t even feel the water that surrounded me. To me it felt as though I was on dry land. Had I not just survived a zombie attack (the thought of which was occupying a rather large part of my mind), I would have probably freaked out about the fact that I was breathing thousands of miles below the surface, that I had gills, and that I was stood next to a seal. However I didn’t, instead I simply stared at the seal in awe of its adorableness.
“Oh it’s so cute!”
“I’m not cute!” the seal barked.
“You can talk?”
“Of course I can talk, you idiot!”
“Have I suddenly gained the ability to talk to animals! Oh that’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to have a conversation with a duck! Wait,” I recognised that voice, “Sue!? You’re a seal!”
“I’m a Selkie! Human on land, seal in water. I did explain this to you!” Sue (the seal) snapped.
“That’s so cool! Rowan, you have a tail!”
“I’m a mermaid. Of course I have a tail,” Rowan, who had a green mermaid tail, laughed as she helped Danny to his feet.
“Is everyone okay?” Angel asked as she helped Fern up. It was at that moment I noticed that Angel’s shoulder was bleeding.
“Angel, did you get bit?” I asked, “Your shoulder is bleeding.”
As Angel desperately tried to get a better look at her injury, Alexander asked, “Bit by what?”
“A zombie.” Alexander was by Angel’s side in an instant. He examined the wound carefully.
“It’s okay. It’s not a bite. You must have been cut,” Alexander dropped his head onto Angel’s shoulder in relief.
“Jason don’t scare me like that!” Angel exclaimed as she slapped me.
“Hey, I was just asking! Loads of zombies were attacking you,” I stuttered.
“Zombies?” Sophie rushed over to Angel, she pushed Alexander away and grabbed Angel’s arms. She studied the shapeshifter closely, then took hold of her face, “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Are you having flashbacks? Do you need anything? Are you…?”
“Sophie I’m fine,” Angel reassured.
Sophie nodded then pulled Angel into a tight hug. Sophie’s sudden outburst of questions had surprised me. Since joining Lightning Squad I had rarely heard Sophie speak, in fact that had probably been the most I had ever heard her say. People had told me that Sophie and Angel were close friends but, until that moment, I had never seen them together. The fey continued to study Angel long after the hug ended.
“Where’s Roxy?” Angel asked stepping away from the fairy.
“Dead,” Sophie explained, “Soul Sucker. Joel and Fredrick too.”
Angel swore and covered her face with her hands.
There was silence.
Before I had time to process Roxy’s death, Fern asked, “Why are we at Atlantis?”
“That’s exactly the question I was going to ask,” came a booming voice.
We all jumped at the sound.
We turned around to find that we weren’t alone. In fact we were far from it. There was a semi-circle of mermen guards pointing tridents in our direction. Behind them were twenty important looking mer-people, who were stood in front of two large coral thrones. Sat on one of the thrones was a mermaid with a long scarlet tail. Her shirt matched the colour of her tail and she wore a golden band around her long ginger hair. On the other throne sat a merman. He had a purple tail and long grey hair which was covered by a crown.
“Have you just been sat there watching us this whole time!?” Fern exclaimed, “That’s just creepy! You should…”
“Fern,” Angel warned sharply.
“Father,” Rowan bowed, facing the thrones. Father? Then it clicked. The man and woman in front of us were Rowan’s parents, the King and Queen of Atlantis! I was stood in front of royalty, and not just any old royalty, mermaid royalty!
“Rowan darling! Drop your weapons that’s my daughter!” the Queen exclaimed as she rushed over to Rowan. The Queen hugged her daughter, but Rowan didn’t hug her back. Instead she just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the embrace to end.
“Did the Colonel send you?” the King asked.
“Not exactly,” Angel explained, “Demons were smuggled up to the Polar Base. We were sent there to deal with the situation. However when we got there, we found that the gateway portal had been re-looped. Mr Jet was using the portal to send an army of demons to Atlantis.”
“The demons. They have taken most of the lower town.”
“Is that where your portal is?”
“Yes.”
“Have any reinforcements arrived?”
“No. No one has been able to teleport in or out. You’re the first to arrive. How were you able to get in?”
“Err possibly. I might be able to reroute the portal, but I won’t know for sure until I see it in person,” Becks muttered.
“Which would mean going through the army of demons.”
“Angel you know how you blew up the portal at the Polar Base,” I thought aloud, “Does that mean that no more demons can get into Atlantis?”
“It should do…which means that the portal room should be pretty empty. Demons aren’t known for being clever. They’ll probably just head straight into the city, not thinking to guard the portal. You said no one can teleport in or out, right?” Angel asked the King.
“That is correct,” the King replied.
“Is this place protected against teleporters?”
“No. We rarely get teleporters in Atlantis, apparently it’s hard for them to use their powers underwater.”
“Hard but not impossible.”
“Mr Jet might have put up another forcefield,” Alexander warned, “Like he did at the Polar Base.”
“He might, or he might not have expected us to make it out alive,” Angel muttered. She glowed white then with a POP she vanished. Moments later she reappeared.
“How did you teleport!? No one has been able to get in or out. How did you do it?” the Queen asked aggressively (the queen was a very scary mer-lady).
“I can’t teleport out of Atlantis, but I can teleport to other parts of the city,” Angel panted.
“You can teleport us to the portal,” Alexander said catching Angel’s train of thought.
“Yes, there were a few demons there, so I’ll teleport myself and...”
“Your highness,” at that moment a merman crashed into the room, he bowed to the King before saying, “The demons have almost reached the palace.”
“Right,” Angel turned to us, “Alex, I need you and the squad to buy me some time.”
“Yes Cap.”
“Danny, me and you are going to teleport to the portal room. We’ll get rid of any demons, then I will teleport back here for Becks and McLean. Once you two have begun working on the portal, I will teleport back and forth taking your highnesses, the council, and any other survivors to the portal. Sue, I want you to stay here and just swim around the palace, make sure we don’t miss anyone.”
“Yes cap,” Sue the seal barked, “But Angel are you sure you’re going to be able to teleport that much? Teleporting underwater is…”
“I’ll be fine. If you find any survivors tell them to head to the palace. I’ll take everyone from here first, then I’ll try to teleport into the city and find others. We need to save as many people as possible.”
* * * * *
We reloaded our weapons then headed down to the lower town. The buildings in Atlantis reminded me of pictures I had seen of Ancient Greece. They were built with white stone and coral, with tall columns and large archways. Once Atlantis would have been beautiful, however now it was a wasteland. Demons had rampaged through the city, knocking down buildings and killing people as they went. The sound of screaming pierced our eardrums. We found survivors being chased by a gang of ugly demons.
The demons had skinny milk white bodies with sharp black fangs and long tails. Dressed in rags, these demons were quick and deadly. Upon seeing me, one of the demons picked up a wooden stick and swung it repeatedly at my face. Each time I blocked the stick with my sword. After realising that the stick wasn’t an effective weapon, the demon threw it to the ground and pounced on top of me. I stumbled backwards and fell. The demon knocked my sword from my hands and scratched at my face. Just as it was about to take a nice big bite out of my ear, I opened my fist and the demon exploded.
“Nice trick,” Alexander complimented as I got to my feet.
“I’ve gotten quite good at…”
“Watch your back,” Alexander said as another demon tried to kill me. Alexander quickly blocked the demon’s sword. The vampire kicked the demon’s chest then cut off its head.
“Nicely done,” I nodded as I tried not to throw up at the sight of the headless body. I was trying to stay calm and collected in front of the super cool vampire, even though on the inside I was panicking. I was fighting against a demon army in a city that shouldn’t exist! This was a lot to try and process!
“Oi you two!” Fern ran over to us, “Stop talking and start helping!”
“Right,” Alexander zoomed off leaving me alone with the mad witch.
“Get down!” Fern yelled, she grabbed my collar and dragged me behind a pillar, just as a fire ball whizzed past.
“How can it throw fire!? We’re underwater!” I exclaimed.
“Magic Jason! Magic!” Fern snapped, “The gills, the underwater fire, the demons, it’s all because of magic!”
“I know but...”
“Magic Jason! It’s very obvious and the fact that you didn’t realise it yourself just shows how much of an idiot you are!”
“You know I really don’t like you.”
“The feelings mutual,” Fern muttered as she turned to stare at the demon that had thrown the fire ball.
It was huge.
It had two stumpy legs, dusky pink skin, and one large eyeball. I dragged Fern down as a second fire ball was thrown in our direction. Fern pulled out her wand. She peaked around the pillar and flicked her wand towards the demon. A purple lightning bolt hit the demon’s fat belly. The seabed shook as the demon stamped its heavy feet in anger. I opened my closed fist and the demon exploded into tiny pieces.
“You should have done that to begin with!” Fern snapped.
“Well I…Oh no,” I muttered as the tiny demon pieces began to stitch themselves back together and the demon returned to life.
It roared loudly.
“Oh well done Jason, you’ve made Fred angry!”
“Who the hell is Fred!?”
“Oh that’s what I named him.”
“You named the demon?”
“Yep.”
“How do you know it’s a guy?”
“I don’t. I just thought it looked like a Fred.”
“I don’t think he likes his name,” I pushed Fern out of the way as the demon charged at us.
We ran down the street as fire balls chased us. We slid down an alleyway and came out by a large pool of water. The demon raced after us. Fern flicked her wand and the water burst upwards hitting the demon. The fireballs hissed into steam. The demon roared as it was pushed backwards into a wall. Fern flicked her wand again and sent a large electric blast at the demon. The demon’s body shook and twisted as the electricity ran over his flesh. The demon screamed. Fern flicked her wand once more and from the tip a soft purple mist floated towards the demon. The mist floated into the demon’s gaping mouth, muting the creature.
“Why is there a pool of water…?” I began to ask but instantly regretted.
“Magic Jason! Once again!” Fern exclaimed, “It’s a pool that links the outside sea world to Atlantis. It’s so that the normal fishes can come and play with the magical ones!”
“I was just…never mind! What are we going to do about the demon?”
“Yes…why Fred will you not just die?”
“I wish I could just blow it up,” I sighed, “But my powers don’t work on it.”
“Your powers don’t but this might,” Fern pulled out an object from her pocket.
“What’s that?”
“A bomb. It’s filled with really powerful magic.”
I stared at Fern, trying to resist the urge to strangle her, “You’re telling me that all this time you had a bomb in your pocket!”
“Yeah. Maybe I should have mentioned it earlier.”
“You think! If you had, we could’ve dealt with this demon ages ago!”
“Alright calm down. Here’s the plan. You’re going to run up to the roof of that building and throw this at Fred. All you have to do is press t
he red button. After you do, we’ll have about a minute to get to safety, this thing is pretty powerful,” Fern explained as she handed me the bomb.
“And while I do that, you’re going to distract it, right?”
“It has a name.”
“Fine,” I hissed, “While I do that, you’re going to distract Fred?”
“Exactly,” Fern smiled as she raised her wand. Fred was lifted upwards. Fred fought against the magic, roaring silently in frustration. Fern then dropped the demon. Fred hit the sandy seabed with a bang.
While Fern continued to beat up Fred, I ran up to the roof of a nearby building. I think the building had once been a house. It was hard to tell. The orange coral furniture inside had been so badly ripped apart that it was difficult to make out what it had once been. I waited for the demon to get close. I carefully held the bomb, not wanting to set it off accidentally. Internally I was panicking. I had a bomb in my hands. A bomb! A real life, powerful, scary bomb! And I was going to have to press the big red button! I was both terrified and slightly excited. When Fred got close enough, I pressed the red button and threw the bomb at the demon. I ran back downstairs, grabbed hold of Fern, and jumped into the pool of water.
BANG!
Tiny demon pieces rained across the seabed. We swam up to the surface and climbed out of the pool of water. Rotting flesh splattered the walls of the remaining buildings and thick black blood coated the sand.
“Oh this is disgusting!” Fern cried as she cleaned the demon remains from her glasses.
“Yep,” then for some reason we both burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
30
‘THE FALL OF ATLANTIS’
Araminta was pushed to the seabed as a wolf-like demon jumped on top of her. It stood on four spindly legs and had large white fangs. The demon bit into Araminta’s arm. The vampire hissed as she reached for her knife. She grabbed hold of the handle and in one fluid movement she stabbed the demon’s heart. The demon whimpered and flopped. Araminta pulled her arm from the demon’s fangs and pushed the dead weight off her.
Willow was forced into a headlock by a large red two-headed demon. Willow elbowed the demon’s ribs and wriggled from its grasp. She ran towards her fallen gun, but the demon got there first. It punched her then grabbed her waist and threw her to the ground.