Underground Flood Tunnel – Moments After the Blast
Water roiled in churning waves around them. The floodgate had slammed shut with a grinding roar, sealing Scorch, Ben, and Hikaru inside the labyrinthine underbelly of Tokyo's flood control system. The sudden stillness aboveground had become a deafening vacuum below, broken only by the hissing of steam vents and the relentless splash of seawater against concrete.
"We're trapped," Ben muttered, voice echoing in the half-submerged corridor. He stood ankle-deep in icy water, hyperventilating as his chest heaved. The air smelled of salt and rust, and each breath felt like frostbite on his lungs. XLR8's swift form was gone now—he was just Ben again, vulnerable and tired.
Scorch pressed her back against a mossy wall, claws clenched tight. The dampness seeped into her white fur-like skin, chilling her to the core. Yet she felt nothing but the hot burn of guilt.
"This is my fault," she whispered. "If I hadn't pushed him so hard—"
Hikaru, still in Waterdrop form, hovered beyond the shallow pool. His fluid body shimmered blue-green under the dim emergency lights. He placed a watery hand on Scorch's shoulder.
"Hey," he murmured, voice steady through the ripples of his form. "We can't blame ourselves. We were trying to save him."
Scorch gave a wan smile. "Easy to say."
Ben kicked at the water. "We need to move. That gate isn't the only exit."
A Maze of Drowned Corridors
They stepped forward into the tunnel, following the faint red glow of a distant emergency marker. The water lapped around their knees and then their waists as they advanced. Every footfall sent ripples across the surface, whispering of unseen depths. Old pipes overhead dripped steadily, casting shadows that danced like skeletal fingers.
Scorch led the way, her claws leaving faint glowing trails in the damp concrete—visible only to her, guiding them through the pitch-dark passages. Ben and Hikaru followed close behind.
Ben: "Do you know where we're going?"
Scorch: "The maintenance junction—two corridors back, then left. It should lead us toward the surface drains."
Hikaru: "Surface drains are locked down too. But there's a secondary exhaust vent—smaller, but manually operable."
Ben: "Great. Swimming lessons through narrow pipes it is."
A sudden clang reverberated through the tunnel. All three froze.
Scorch (whisper): "What was that?"
Hikaru: "Not sure… energy readings spiked just now."
Ben: "Could be more anomalies from the nexus blast. Let's stay sharp."
Waterdrop raised an arm, scanning the archway ahead. He traced a line with his finger, and the water around him pulsed gently, reacting to residual kinetic energy. A faint trail—Sharim's unstable signature—rippled through the current.
Hikaru/Waterdrop: "His signature… it's close. Fizzling in and out. He's moving through here."
Scorch: "Then let's find him before this entire tunnel collapses."
They pressed on, water surging higher. Each step was a battle against the tide, a struggle to keep their balance on slick surfaces.
An Unexpected Threat
A shriek echoed from the dark ahead, followed by a wet, gurgling roar. Waterdrop stilled.
Hikaru: "That… doesn't sound like Sharim."
The emergency lights flickered, revealing a glinting form between two fallen support beams. Pools of oily water darkened the edges of the corridor. Shadows shifted.
From the black water, monstrous forms emerged—creatures borne from Dr. Animo's earlier experiments, swept into the flood tunnels when containment failed. Their slimy bodies were webbed, bulbous eyes pulsating with bioluminescence. Jagged fins and tentacles splashed as they lunged forward.
Ben: "Animo's mutants! Great—just what we needed."
He slammed his Omnitrix down—landing on Stinkfly. A blur of wings and toxic energy, he soared upward, evading snapping jaws and sending bursts of pestilent gas to incapacitate the creatures.
Stinkfly: "BZZZZZ!" (Toxic cloud deployed)
Scorch charged alongside Stinkfly, her claws slashing through tentacles like glowing pink blades. Waterdrop formed a watery barrier, absorbing mutant strikes and turning them into harmless spray.
Scorch: "Keep pushing forward!"
After a brutal skirmish, they managed to break through the horde. The creatures retreated into the deeper darkness, their gurgling curses swallowed by the water.
Ben landed beside them, panting. Stinkfly reverted to human. "That was intense."
Hikaru shook his water-drenched head. "We don't have time to hunt every freak in the flood tunnels."
The Maintenance Junction
Finally, at a branching junction, Scorch led them to a heavily corroded panel. She pressed her claws against special glyphs carved into the metal—Plumber runes that whispered back to her.
Scorch: "This way."
Behind the panel was a narrow staircase descending further into darkness. The water at their ankles became a rushing current at their hips. The staircase was half-collapsed; jagged rebar and concrete shards littered the steps.
Ben: "I hope this 'way' isn't a dead end."
Hikaru: "If we weren't here for Sharim—"
Scorch (interrupting): "We stay focused."
They descended, each step an effort, muscles burning against the resistance. The walls squeezed them inward until the staircase spat them out into a subterranean cavern—a vast hollow beneath Tokyo.
The Cavern of Currents
The cavern's ceiling arched high above. The far end was lost in shadow. A thin catwalk ran along one side, affixed precariously to the dripping rock face. Massive turbines lined the far wall, partially submerged—abandoned relics of an old power station. Water rushed through broken grates, churning into whitecaps before tumbling down sluices.
Scorch: "This is the old hydro pump. If we can cross the catwalk and reach that service ladder—"
A roar from the left: The water at the cavern floor convulsed as though alive.
Emerging from the swirling current was Cruelight—Sharim's mutated form, but stranger now. His obsidian flesh was fractured, leaking blue-white energy that faded in and out like dying stars. The tempo-loop on his wrist was dim and cracked. His eyes glowed with both pain and fury.
Scorch: "Sharim…"
He turned his hollow gaze on them.
Cruelight: "You... came."
His voice wasn't projected; it resonated in their bones.
Ben: "It's not over, buddy. We can still help you."
Hikaru: "Waterdrop can stabilize you, if you let us."
Cruelight's form flickered. He took a step forward—turbines shuddering.
The catwalk groaned.
Scorch: "Move! Now!"
Crossing the Precipice
Ben surged forward as XLR8, streaking across the slippery catwalk. He reached Cruelight's side in a heartbeat.
XLR8: "Hey! You're bleaching out on me again. We've got less than ten minutes until this whole cavern collapses."
Cruelight raised an arm, phasing it through the metal grate behind him. He tore it free—but the action dislodged a support cable.
The catwalk snapped.
Ben skidded sideways, kicking off one wall and launching himself through the air.
XLR8 (voice echoing): "Get ready, Waterdrop! Scorch, brace yourself!"
Scorch lunged for the broken ramp, claws anchoring into the rock as the catwalk plummeted into the abyss. She dragged Hikaru by the arm toward a narrow service ladder rungs.
Waterdrop melted into a fluid surge, catching Ben as he landed and then coalescing around Cruelight's feet, forming a miniature whirlpool that held him in place.
Waterdrop: "I won't let you fall!"
Cruelight's eyes flickered—surprise. The watery force held him, despite his shifting form. Yet the tempo-loop continued to fade.
A Momentary Standstill
They caught their breath on a narrow ledge, the rising water below roiling like a cauldron. A single service elevator shaft yawned before them—rungs leading upward to a sealed hatch painted with the Plumber emblem.
Ben: "That's our way out."
Cruelight stood on the watery boundary, backlit by stray shafts of light from cracks above.
Scorch's voice trembled. "Sharim, we can fix this. But you have to trust us."
He tilted his head.
Cruelight: "Trust... is a tether."
He raised one mutated hand, pain flickering in his tone.
Cruelight (quietly): "Tethers break."
Before anyone could respond, the turbines behind them groaned—massive blades shifting in the gathering surge of water. The cavern trembled.
Hikaru: "The flood is rising—and the turbines are kicking on. We have seconds!"
Ben tossed a hand to Scorch. "Go! We'll buy you time!"
Scorch: "No. We stick together. All of us."
Cruelight's gaze softened—just for a heartbeat.
Cruelight: "No more... tomorrows."
He phased through Waterdrop's barrier, leaving the water twisting into mist. Then, in one blur of motion, Cruelight vaulted off the ledge into the black flood below.
The wall behind them tore apart as the turbines whined to life. A pressurized wave slammed into the service ladder, wrenching it free.
Ben: "Climb!"
Cliffhanger- the Decent
Scorch, Ben, and Hikaru scrambled up the rungs as the floodwater churned beneath them. The hatch above was sealed tight, the handle jammed by rust. They shouted, slamming at the metal.
Above the roar of the water, a soft, pained whisper drifted down the shaft:
"Scorch…"
The tempo-loop's faint glow pulsed at the entrance to the cavern, just visible through a crack in the concrete.
Scorch (voice cracking): "Sharim!"
A final surge of energy rocked the entire shaft. The ladder trembled violently. The echo of tearing metal followed by a distant, hollow crash.
And then—darkness.
To Be Continued…