The three adventurers set out for the Light Tower in Shin's submarine, each occupied with their own task. Making idle conversation, Shin asks about the Mirror, and he discovers Pezci and Scypho are being hunted by the billionaire heiress, Madam Louv. Saying it adds an element of excitement, Shin declares it's neat. Pezci disagrees. She wants no more excitement, like, ever. Shin is horrified and tells her that, right now, there is no excitement.
The moment the words leave his mouth, a brand new maelstrom forms in front of the ship. Just as Shin assures the others his ship is indestructible, a derelict sub is lifted from the seafloor, and it impacts the control room's window, doing no damage. Shin wonders how these storms are reaching so deep, then he puts the sub into a steep dive, pulling away from the maelstrom. Just as they think they're safe, the storm catches them again and tosses them about, causing damage and hurting the occupants of the sub.
The maelstrom has taken on definition and tone, and it looks even more like a tornado now. Shin decides the only way his ship, and themselves, can survive this unnatural storm is to drive into the eye of the storm and settle to the bottom. It doesn't go as planned, and the sub gets caught in the vortex wall. The current there drives them in a counter-clockwise spiral until they collide with the ocean floor, barbed-prow first, becoming embedded in the mud of the seabed.
Cast of Characters[]
Gallery[]
Synopsis[]
Shin's submarine cruises along beneath the ocean waves on a heading towards the Light Tower, leaving the Dohrnii's base, and the maelstrom,[1] behind them. Shin is sitting comfortably in his captain's seat at the helm, his fingers laced behind his head. Pezci and Scypho are also sitting comfortably, each on a large disk-shaped cushion set inside of a giant, transparent, lounging globe, filled with water and fastened to a short metal post, looking not unlike a goldfish bowl. Pezci is wrapping a cloth bandage around her left hand to cover the Key she sports, and Scypho is cleaning the Mirror with a rag. Shin watches the jellyfish with an unsatisfied frown, and he asks how Scypho got his hands on that crazy demon staff. The Mirror displays a giant sparkle of cleanliness on its glass, while Scypho relates that he stole it from his old boss as revenge for being a horrible person. Curious now, Shin asks what kind of person his boss was, to own something like the Mirror. Scypho responds with indifference that he used to work for Madam Louv, saying she always had weird, antique stuff lying around. He tells Shin he figures the Mirror is just some fancy heirloom or something. Surprised by this revelation, Shin asks if he means Madam Louv, the insanely rich billionaire lady who is heiress to forty different top companies. When Scypho confirms he does, Shin delightedly says that Scypho's not as much of a bum as he thought. He also adds he'd heard that working for her has a lifetime of benefits, putting a frown on Scypho's face. Pezci just quietly continues to work on bandaging her hand. Scypho says to trust him, it's not worth it. The Mirror displays a big, red 'X' on its glass.
Still tugging on her bandage, Pezci says she hopes Madam Louv doesn't find them again, because she's scary. Now Shin has a worried look on his face, and he asks if she means Madam Louv is hunting for them. He comes to the conclusion that now that they're with him, she's hunting for all of them, just because of some lousy mirror. Pezci starts to quiver at the thought, and Scypho simply confirms it with a smile. For a moment, Shin looks unhappy, then with a fist-pump of excitement, he loudly declares that it's neat, they have an element of excitement now. Pezci moans that it's not neat, declaring she doesn't want more things to happen, that it's bad for her health. Shin cheerily tells her you can't have nothing happen, because then nothing would happen. She spreads her arms and exclaims, "Exactly." He asks if she wouldn't get bored of that eventually, and she replies that, nope, she's had enough excitement for one lifetime. Smiling brilliantly, she says that when she gets to the Light Tower, she wants nothing to happen to her all the time, so she can finally feel at ease. She has a vision of herself resting in a chaise lounge, wearing a shear lilac cape, holding a latte and saying she's safe. In her imagination, Scypho asks if all those weapons really put her at ease. Shin scoots his chair on its casters across the control room floor, away from her, horrified by her words. He crosses his arms and smugly tells her he has good news. He tells her nothing is exactly what's happening right now, that there's not even any strong waves today.
The moment those words leave his mouth, a proximity alarm starts beeping stridently at the same time as a storm starts brewing in their path. Quivering with fear again, Pezci cries out that she thought they had escaped the maelstrom. Tapping on an instrument on the helm, Shin announce this is a different one that has newly formed. Scypho complains that now there's more showing up. Shin looks away from the helm to assure his passengers that his ship is indestructible, which is a good thing as he doesn't noticed the derelict submarine being thrown his way by the approaching storm. The wreck makes violent contact with Shin's submarine, startling a yell from him and getting him to turn back to the helm. His sub lives up to its reputation by shrugging off the impact with no damage. It does force Shin to react, and he asks how do these waves reach down so far. Pezci is hugging her globe's cushion with both her arms and her tail, crying she doesn't want to go through this a third time. The Mirror chimes in with a stylized display of cresting waves over a down arrow pointing to the depths. Scypho demands that Shin tell him they can swim out of this. Looking both excited and determined, Shin bears down on the ship's wheel and tells him not to worry, telling them his ship has the latest advancements in diving technology.
The submarine angles downward and begins a rapid descent toward safety, getting out of the storm's immediate vicinity. Pezci is still hugging her pillow tightly, and Scypho just sits and worries. The Mirror shows the trace for a steady heartbeat on its glass. With a wave of his palm, Shin starts to assure them that he knew they would be fi— A tremendous BANG! echoes through the control room. Both lounging globes are tossed like billiard balls, spilling their occupants and contents everywhere. Shin is tossed from his chair, and everyone is yelling; even the Mirror displays a snarling mouth on its glass. Just that quickly, the maelstrom has reached out for them and has taken the submarine into its grip, tossing and rolling the ship, and throwing its occupants all over the room. Now the sub is upside-down. The two lounging globes slam into the bulkhead and crack but do not break. The people all hit the ceiling, which is now the deck, and they get crammed into the corner where ceiling and bulkhead meet, with the corridor hatch now way above their heads. The Mirror comes sailing in above them and stabs into the bulkhead with its trident and gets stuck. Standing up and looking around, Shin quips that he guesses he should've installed those seat belts for this room. Another resounding THUMP! and the sub turns rightside-up again, slamming the people and globes back to the deck, evincing an ow! from someone. The alarm on the helm starts up again.
Looking up from where he's laying on the deck, Shin announces he's never seen that happen before. The maelstrom, seen through the forward observation window, shows the vortex has taken on definition and tone, and it looks even more like a tornado now. He jumps up and runs to the helm, grabbing hold of the ship's wheel and trying to reclaim control over the submarine again. Dragging themselves up behind him, Scypho begs for Shin to tell them he can drive out of this, and Shin tells them that's probably not going to happen. He tells them their best bet is to ride it out in the middle of the vortex. Pezci and Scypho each grab a control panel pylon at the base to hold on, and Pezci naturally complains that he's bringing them closer to the maelstrom. He explains the inside will form a vacuum that will pull them towards the deep sea. He says that's their best chance of escaping the storm, or else the waves will get so powerful that it'll rip them apart. Scypho yells that he thought Shin said his ship was indestructible. Shin yells back that it is — against natural disasters, but there's nothing natural about this storm. Unseen by the others, the Mirror works itself free from the bulkhead and falls hard to the deck.
The submarine aligns with the vortex wall as Shin announces they're going in. Both merfolk look panicked, and the Mirror shows only a question mark on its glass. Shin sets the throttle to all-ahead full, and the submarine slams into the rushing wall of water. The sub gets caught in the circulating currents of the vortex, and they travel around inside the wall counterclockwise. Hugging her control pylon, Pezci screams that the depths are swallowing them. In the eye of the storm now, the submarine is pointed toward the depths and spirals through the water liking going down a drain. With a solid THUD! the sub collides with the seabed, and the barbed prow of the sub becomes embedded in the mud of the ocean floor.