Being chased by those residing in the region, Meditat’s body glides deeper in the dark sea, his white locks floating underwater as he moves with a faint blue propulsive trail. With hardly any external light sources, the main source of light is his own body, which exudes a blue glow over the water to illuminate the way for Ekitai, whose swimming past him in a similar glide.

Nowhere around them are traditional structures of a society such as houses and facilities, but rather behind them is the blank abyss, as though they were trapped in the endless void with nothing in any direction. Stubbornly the two keep swimming, albeit seemingly to nowhere, for they have no destination in sight. With just how vast the deep waters are and how dark, they appear nearly similar to space, with their key difference being the utter lack of any sights like stars and nebulas, for instead there was nothing but darkness in the distance.

A domain in Earth itself, the home of humans, yet somehow more terrifying than the alien cosmos that looms above its atmosphere. For as much as the oceans are part of home, they themselves are alien, housing infinite possibilities both extraordinary but terrifying too.

Unexplored to the fullest with such depth that even given adequate technology it was still such a great quest to discover it all, the deep waters were home to many mysteries and secrets, secrets that differed from world to world.

However, this Earth in particular had even greater twisted truths about its second world below the surface.

“Wait up!” shouts the familiar high pitched female voice that causes Meditat to spin backwards, still floating in his same path but now facing the other way. Ekitai also comes to a stop curiously, spinning around to face behind himself, seemingly able to breathe just fine without any visible support.

In front of both Meditat and Ekitai swim the one who spoke, Kokei, next to Dana, who similarly to Meditat has a trail that illuminates the water, although gold rather than blue. Both of them make their way towards Meditat and Ekitai while panting tiredly. Although primed for combat, Dana’s forearms and hands as well as her knees and feet have been previously transformed into her golden form, and off her back are several tentacles which fortify them from behind with wide shields while other tentacles remain on standby, facing past the defenses as if prepared to fend off an incoming horde.

The precautions are warranted however as trailing both of them is an enormous fleet of what at first appear to be fishes of varying sizes, some the same size as them but others colossal like whales.

In the distance among the fleet shouts a noticeably human voice although in a thick German accent, which commands powerfully, “Die Oberflächenbewohner fliehen! Sie sind Feinde unserer Partei und müssen beseitigt werden! Offenes Feuer!”

Chasing the four in the deep sea, a mob of human-sized beings swim towards them, their bodies waving as if slithering underwater. In the brief few moments of Meditat’s and Ekitai’s pause, the beings make great strides towards them, to which both Kokei and Dana turn to face the source of the voices that had urged: ‘The surface dwellers flee! They are enemies of our party and must be eliminated! Open fire!’

From the deep darkness beyond, several of the beings reach close enough that their bodies are illuminated from the gold and blue lights of their pursuits, revealing their upper bodies to be that of a human male, with a human torso and human arms dressed in a black blazer-styled uniform. On each of the left upper arms is a bright red band with a white circle housing a black swastika, and on their human German heads is a black cap with the icons of an eagle above a skull gleaming from the light.

However, the lower half of their body entirely differs from that of human, but instead is one long scaly fish-like body although far larger to be similar to the size of the torso in width, which at the end has a wide fin. The scaly halves of their bodies are all a turquoise color, and they flap up and down to provide them greater speeds for chasing the four.

At the front of the charge, the human-like creatures wield in one hand a dark metal weapon shaped similarly to a Mauser C96, which they aim forwards. Further back however the beings are armed with larger weapons, as the ones right behind the front line carry firearms resembling MP 40s and others even further back cling to weapons designed intimately to StG 44s. All of the weapons regardless of shape and size are trained on one set of targets ahead, and upon the order they received, they were finally able to use them.

On the order, several of the pursuers press tightly on the mechanical triggers on their firearms, which begin firing teal bolts out of the barrels as the weapons jitter from recoil. They chase forward relentlessly, those in front rapidly firing while the ones further back hold their triggers to spray on their targets.

Behind the strange beings is a horde of larger entities the size of jets, but rather than truly being jets instead they more closely resemble sharks. Yet even then that description does not match perfectly, for while the bodies closely resemble sharks, their faces instead resemble that of wolves, which bark aggressively while swimming towards the group speedily.

Behind the odd wolf sharks are far greater entities the size of entire battleships, more terrifying from sheer magnitude as they were many lengths greater than the humans escaping. Yet similar to the sharks they were not genuinely battleships but instead great whales steadily coasting in the waters in chase. Again however they were not simply categorizable by only ‘whales,’ for while their bodies were similar to such species they had long trunks at the front for their faces were that of elephants, which trumpets deeply, even more menacing with its sharp tusks long enough to pierce an entire body laid flat, its huge black eyes stalking the escapees.

Among the wolf sharks and elephant whales were many other species of aquatic life chasing the small group with varying shapes and sizes, their bodies also similar to common marine life such as stingrays and dolphins but with unsettling upper bodies resembling common land life including birds and horses. Such a great quantity of such unique life, yet they were all chasing after the four with impressive speeds only reasonable for native life accustomed to living underwater, amalgamating into an entire army all in pursuit.

From the sudden cognizance of the pursuers catching up, Meditat begins moving faster again, gliding further down but while doing so he extends his hand to Dana and Kokei where he then projects two cables off, each grabbing onto the right hand of the two.

Both Dana and Kokei accelerate, being reeled in by the lead of the group who guides them further into the darkness, away from the fleet.

Kokei clings onto the cable reeling her in, her face clearly terrified as she faces behind herself, gulping while her pink hair drifts behind her like a cape on her head.

Behind Kokei, the front line of human-like creatures accelerate closer to them, as even with the reeling and acceleration of the leader the creatures still manage to close the distance between them, their tails flapping rapidly as they reach their hands out to try grabbing Kokei and Dana.

Noticing that they are being reached for, Dana glances back and aims her right hand towards the fleet. Her hand then morphs into a similar shape, extending into a conal form with a grated surface filled with holes like a vent. After the full transformation, the shields in front of the arm are then pulled to the side from the tentacles bending outwards, creating an opening that seemingly makes her vulnerable and puts her in a spot of danger.

Devoid of fear however, Dana releases a constant volley of rapid golden bolts out through the aperture and into the front line of the pursuers, causing them to immediately freeze and for their eyes to shut and bodies to fall limp. They then slowly begin to rise to the surface, indicating that they’ve been neutralized.

Among the tentacles wielding shields, those that do not instead take aim at the fleet, bending independently before firing golden bolts out of its hollow tip to help fend off the chasers who show no sign of slowing down regardless of their casualties.

On the other end of the cable pulling Dana away from the horde, Meditat coasts down beside Ekitai, his head constantly swiveling as he seeks for any avenues they could take, but alas ahead of him all there appears to be is uninterrupted water, an empty canvas with no structures to take refuge in. His keen blue eyes remain sharp, peering through the darkness to seek without end, yet none of his efforts seem to pay off.

He then glances behind himself, only turning his head to face the army chasing after them, getting ever closer as even with Dana’s defenses they don’t seem to be slowing down. He notes how since they’re heading down, the army is above them, meaning they’re closer to the surface thus have a better ability for interception.

Understanding the dire circumstances of the situation coupled with the failure to formulate a plan that wouldn’t be so easily collapsible, Meditat tsks in dismay, returning his gaze back ahead of himself to continue meditating on tactics.

Next to Meditat, Ekitai takes a quick glimpse at the army chasing them, specifically the front line most resembling human beings yet still so unique from what would be found on Earth 50. He then faces forward again, keeping pace with his handgun held but holding off from using it at the moment.

He groans before grouching, “Come on, I knew that there was a mermaid species, but why did we just have to get males?”

Perplexed by the absurd grievances displayed by the man beside him, Meditat tilts his head before prompting, “Wait, that’s what you’re focusing on?”

Ekitai shrugs his shoulders, and during the gunfire back and forth behind him he explains, “Well, yeah, mermaids are one of the most attractive human variant species. But I don’t see a single lass in sight, just a bunch of angry men.”

“They’re literal Nazis, Ekitai, their genders should be the last of your worries. Dammit, you need to stop messing with me when you recommend these Earths,” argues Meditat, discontented with Ekitai’s bizarre topic of conversation.

However, Ekitai only doubles down, “You don’t understand, have you ever gotten with a human variant before? It’s like nothing out there, even including exhumans. Come on, don’t act oblivious, they can’t hear us from back there so you can say whatever you want!”

“‘They’ are getting chased by an army wielding lethal weaponry, ‘this’ is not the time for immaturity. And besides, biologically speaking, I doubt an offspring could be produced with most of these human variants, especially ‘mermaids’ as you call it. So this should not be a topic of discussion, so please: focus!” attemptively commands Meditat, trying to extinguish the strange conversation that simply won’t die.

In the back, the fleet pursues forward, firing constant volleys of teal bolts into Dana’s shields, which manage to absorb the energy although with minor recoil from the force of the strike.

In retaliation, the projectile-based tentacles fire golden bolts at the mermaids, successfully neutralizing a handful of them, however as more from the front are picked off it merely invites those with greater firepower to get cleaner views.

Behind the shield, Dana grits her teeth while feeling the intense pressure of the whole army, her short amber hair flowing in the water as she faces the shield before turning to Kokei beside her, who exchanges glances and gulps with uncertainty.

“Well, the childbirth debate means nothing since I don’t even want a child, I mean god do you know how horrible of an investment it is to deal with a child? I mean, decades of my time, hundreds of thousands of credits, child support is a horrible beast. I’m just saying, you’re being too negative about this, and besides the others seem fine!” continues Ekitai while waving his hands, still managing to drag the conversation far beyond what should’ve been its lifetime.

“FIND SOMEWHERE SO WE CAN HIDE, THIS IS NOT FINE!” shrieks the voice of Kokei from behind, to which both Meditat and Ekitai glance back before exchanging glances, Ekitai’s being attemptively innocent but Meditat’s entirely deadpan.

Resuming his search and letting the conversation fizzle out, Meditat peers down, but once again no structures are visible around him.

After turning his head to look around, it is again confirmed to him the lack of naturally occurring areas to hide in, to which he groans. His eyebrows scrunch in apprehension as he glimpses back at the trailing army before then facing forward.

Alone with no naturally occurring structures to hide in, Meditat squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to hone in his thoughts and formulate a plan to the best of his ability with the limited resources around him. He tunes out the distant shouting, the gunfire, Ekitai’s voice, everything that distracts him until all there is in his head is silence.

Within the dark silence, he ponders to himself, meditating in battle, acknowledging the open space, the simple escape route yet the difficulty in rising back up when so intimately trailed by forces who wield ranged weaponry, thus would make tight maneuvering around them nearly impossible without being struck,

He then considers the current technological prowess of the enemies, and the current arsenal of their forces. Only a portion of the army resembles creatures with the intelligence to see through cunning human behavior, yet that portion also does not appear to be given technology surrounding tracking, for they had only caught the group for they were in plain sight.

The current complication was reaching the surface without being tracked, thus why a natural structure to hide in would function nicely, however that was clearly not an option.

Then, the idea presented itself.

Finally Meditat opens his eyes, and upon doing so he instantly jerks back the hand projecting the two cables while amplifying the reeling force, in turn suddenly pulling both Kokei and Dana multiple times faster than prior after they were only few feet away from the mermaids at the front, to which they scream and shout in confusion and terror to the sudden change in velocity.

Meditat spins around to face both Kokei and Dana as their bodies are flung towards him, and in perplexion Ekitai spins around as well, facing Meditat with an intrigued expression as he was unsure what he was scheming.

That is when Ekitai notices that Meditat’s eyes are shining an azureus light, brightest at the pupil and illuminating the whole iris in distinct streaks. Both of his arms are also over his chest now that he had pulled it back.

Both Kokei and Dana are pulled further from the front lines of the pursuers, now by tens of feet as opposed to by the skin of their teeth. In seconds they approach Meditat, seemingly about to collide into him as he accelerates the reeling force with apparently no end.

Right as the two females fall five feet from Meditat’s body, three actions by one man flashing blue are taken as he vents out a labored scream.

Meditat detaches the two cables on his hand.

Meditat throws both of his arms outward.

Meditat releases a burst of azureus flames out of his body.

At an instant the enormous blaze in the shape of a ball of fire rapidly expands to consume the other three around him.

Experiencing the sudden flash, the front line of mermaids halts and leans upright, and following suit the rest of the army comes to a stop, facing the anomaly. They continue to grip their firearms tightly, but show intrigue and confuzzlement to what occurs before them.

The mermaids at the front watch how not a full second after the fireball consumes the four, it vanishes, for the flames disperse immediately.

Through keen brown eyes, the mermaids peer through the dispersing flames, watching it fade away, but as it does their eyes widen in astonishment as some of them gasp in disbelief.

In front of the fascist mermaids, where the four once were before being devoured in fire, no longer was there the fire but also no longer was there the people. Too with the flames were they gone, as though they had been disintegrated to such an extreme that it left not a trace left.

Staring in awe at the nonexistent remains of the group, one of the mermaids murmurs, “Hat er sie einfach alle verbrannt?”, asking ‘Did he just burn them all?’ in reference to the one who released the fire over his supposed comrades.

Another fascist among the horde mutters with stupefaction written in their voice, “Sie würden lieber sterben, als gefangen zu werden. Oberflächenbewohner, was für ein wildes Volk,” for they were observing, ‘They would rather perish than be caught. Surface dwellers, what a savage people,’ for it appears they have interpreted the act as one of bold sacrifice in rejection to being put at the misery of their pursuers.

At the head of the chase, one of the mermaids remains silent, peering with a skeptical gaze, staring straight ahead at where their targets once swam.

His keen brown eyes glare at that one spot for seconds, analyzing the sight he just received, formulating thoughts on what truly had transpired. His pupils train on that one spot without wavering, as though he was suspicious and put off by the strange disappearance.

Something wasn’t right.

Perhaps, the truth wasn’t so simple.

Perhaps there was more that they initially did not realize.

Just then, the mermaid at the front raises his arm, immediately silencing all others behind him. All conversations cease, and all subordinates raise their heads to face the leader at the front, waiting on his word. Whereas they initially had let their guard down and become relaxed, they were tightened back up and put on alert.

The grand army all faces the leader at the front in anticipation, waiting for the striking revelation to be delivered to them, one that would decide the fate of how they would advance forward.

In front of the subordinates, the leader keeps his eyes forward as he then declares boldly, “Tod in einem schrecklichen Feuer, ein passender Untergang für die Oberflächenbewohner. Noch besser, sie haben es sich aus Angst vor unserer Macht auferlegt. Der Führer wird unseren Bericht zu schätzen wissen.”

The words of the leader were: ‘Death in a terrible fire, a fitting demise for the surface dwellers. Better yet, they took it upon themselves out of fear of our might. The Führer will appreciate our report.’

Behind the leader, the rest of the mermaids roar and cheer, raising their fists and firearms in the water in pride. They shout phrases such as, ‘Sie waren uns nicht gewachsen’, ‘Ich hoffe es hat wehgetan,’ and ‘Erbärmliche Oberflächenbewohner!’

Even past the mermaids, the sharks howl deeply in delight, and the whales trumpet triumphantly in victory.

During the victorious celebration, the leader begins swimming upwards, away from where the group once were, and behind him the mermaid legion follows up. Their firearms still in hand and the bands on their arms, they swim up and lead the rest of their forces, the sharks and whales circling back up along with the rest of the mob.

The fleet is long as there were many members that had to follow up, for they truly had amassed a horrific force that could’ve likely defeated the four if they hadn’t done so to themselves.

As the fleet swims back up and away from the scene, the space of water where the group once were before vanishing into flames remains still and silent, for it appears there was no presence left, but instead they had perished so horribly.

Ignoring the final spot of the group, the last of the fleet make their way back up and away until there is none left, and once they all swim far away the entire region becomes quieter, descending in sound until reaching the floor.

Not a single voice, not a single grunt, not a single spec of life.

All there was left was silence and emptiness.

A tragic end.