The lost city of Atlantis was predominantly city structures, but a good chunk of it was woodland, an area of nature. A place filled with terrestrial wildlife and unhindered brown trees that spanned miles and miles.

The shield's damages narrowed, but Arthur squished into it as his body scraped against the dim white energy that radiated as it repaired itself. He fit through, slamming onto the wet grass floor, but he quickly stood up, finding himself near a woodland area — not inhabited by any Atlanteans.

Void looked at the once broken shield that was now clear. "You didn't need to do that. I could have just made another hole..."

Arthur was the only one wet. The others were dry or became dry, thanks to Void's ability to repel entities, objects, Tuam, and even women.

"Oh," Arthur said as water dripped off him, his clothes all drenched.

Zoork scanned the area. "We'll split up into two. Group one will recon the area while the other will venture near the city and search for the king's location."

Void started moving without saying a word; he seemed to be ignoring everyone.

Zoork followed Void but looked behind and pointed at Vanilla and Arthur. "You two will recon the area."

"Sure thing, boss," Vanilla said, saluting.

Void and Zoork ran into the forest, leaving Vanilla and Arthur behind. The forest was vast, so getting to the city while running would take a sizable chunk of time.

"Uh," Arthur whispered, looking at Vanilla. "Now what?"

"The game plan is simple." She placed her hand on Arthur's shoulder and nodded her head, rubbing her chin with her free hand. She took a second to arrange her thoughts when she suddenly opened her eyes, looking at Arthur with a serious expression. "I have no idea."

Arthur nodded, getting ready to agree with her, but he tilted his head and opened his mouth. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NO IDEA?"

"I don't know," Vanilla said, smiling and shrugging.

Arthur stared at the floor and then at Vanilla. "Please say you're joking."

"I'm joking," she declared without hesitance.

"Thank god... So what's the plan?"

"I just told you I didn't know."

"Then why did you say you're joking?"

"You're the one who said please. It would be pretty rude of me to not accept a request."

The duo used their one brain cell to understand that they were getting nowhere, so they took a minute to solely think about a plan.

"Okay, what are your powers?" Arthur asked.

"I have a type of X-Ray vision, so I can look through objects but see it in color. It's not really an X-Ray, but it emits radiation. So yeah..."

"You know what, that's actually kind of useful for recon."

"There's just one slight problem," she said, smiling and placing her hand on her head. "I can only see stuff at a resolution of 144p."

Arthur didn't reply and ignored her, walking forward. "Whatever, just guide us to anything interesting you see."

"Right away," she said, her blue eyes turning into a mix of black and white, just like the static of a "no-signal television."

"What now?"

Vanilla slammed her head into a tree and fell to the floor, but she quickly got up and sighed. "Actually. Could you guide me? I only see living things, not plants and trees..."

Arthur grabbed Vanilla's hand and speed-walked forward, stepping over the many fallen leaves, guiding her wherever she said.

"There's no mistake." She narrowed her eyes, gazing around the forest. "I see animals, even insects, and really far away, I can see people, but there's one person running towards us as we speak. He's still far away, but it almost seems like he's heading where we are."

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"Should we regroup with Zoork and Void?"

"No," she said, affirming her voice. "They're in a bigger mess."

Arthur looked at her and stopped. "Then we have to go help them."

"They're nearing something... not human. I can't tell what it is, but that thing is scary. It's like a monster out of a horror movie."

"Damn it, what do we do?"

"We'll deal with the person coming towards us, and then we'll rejoin the others. If we bring more problems to the others... we'll all fail."

Arthur gripped Vanilla's hand tighter. "Let me know where to go, don't worry about hitting anything. Just sprint and talk."

Vanilla took a deep breath and nodded. "Take a right."

Arthur yanked Vanilla and sprinted through the forest, moving wherever she told him. The area was packed with thick brown trees that obscured any image of anything else — their leaves covered the sky, forming an ultimate shade. Despite this, plants still thrived on the ground, with many bushes and flowers growing. The duo made their way through the woods at astonishing speeds, so fast that Arthur's clothes were partially dry from the wind blowing on them.

"Left!"

Arthur turned left and continued plowing through the untouched wildlife. Whenever there were bushes or branches from trees in his way, he'd break them with his glove by simply brushing them off or hitting them.

"He's almost here!"

Arthur nodded and huffed as he continued running.

"He's not moving..." Vanilla skidded against the floor, not moving.

Arthur was forced to halt running. "Why did you stop?"

"Because he's looking at us."

"What are you talking about? No one can see us through these trees. That'd be impossible," Arthur said as he looked around at nothing but trees and greenery.

"I hope so..."

The duo continued running towards the man. They were only a few minutes away from whoever this mysterious figure was, but it was pivotal that they didn't let this person interfere with Zoork and Void since their task was much more critical.

"We're almost here!"

"Got it," Arthur said, focusing on his surroundings.

The duo was soon to encounter the mystery man. But little did they know, the mystery man was waiting for them near a cliff on a road path. Since Atlantis was a lost city, there were roads and standard structures. The hill the man was on had an abandoned roadway; it was a few feet above the forest level but not high enough to be inaccessible. If someone really wanted, they could free-climb it without difficulty.

"Get ready," Vanilla yelled, turning her X-Ray vision off and letting go of Arthur.

They both made it past the end of the forest and a rocky area, where an Atlantean wearing armor stood on a hill, a few feet above Arthur and Vanilla. The Atlantean had a fish head with wide eyes that were a foot apart, and he had dark blue scales around his body — quite an ugly creature.

"Introduce yourself to him," Vanilla whispered, looking at Arthur.

Arthur tugged his lips to the left as he looked at Vanilla in confusion.

She nudged Arthur with her elbow. "Aren't you guys like cousins or something? You both are fish."

"That has to be racist," Arthur said, looking at the creature in disgust. "I refuse to-"

The Atlantean threw a spear at Arthur's face, but he caught it.

He smiled as he held the weapon. "Nice to meet you too."

The Atlantean jumped down the cliff, landing on the floor. He was in a squat position. "Declare your identities!"

Vanilla held her hands up and calmly spoke, looking straight at the Atlantean. "Mr. Fishhead, we mean you no harm. We are from The Wanderers."

The Atlantean gritted his razor-sharp teeth against each other. "You dare mock a royal guard?"

"Idiot," Arthur whispered, dropping the spear, and as soon as he dropped it, the spear turned into water. He seemed surprised at first but re-concentrated on the royal guard, keeping a straight face. "That woman near me is Vanilla, and I'm Arthur Penfish."

"Another joke?" The guard asked, water bubbling on his hand as a spear shape formed.

"I don't like going hard, but I guess I have to," Arthur said, holding his left hand in the air. He pressed his butt cheeks together and thought of his skin becoming rock-hard. 'Come on, come on, get hard!'

The royal guard felt as if he was being mocked. He pitched another spear.

Arthur tried to grab the spear, but the spear cut his hand. Before it penetrated deep enough, his hand grew tough orange scales, breaking the weapon in half and causing it to become water.

"See." Arthur held his left hand in the air. "We're probably like lost cousins or something."

"I told you. You should have said that before," Vanilla said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

Arthur ignored her and looked at the guard. "It's been a long time since I've met one of my own kind. Let's just calm down and take it slow."

"Why are you here?"

Arthur eyed Vanilla and fake smiled. He wasn't sure what to say, so he improvised. "I'm acquainted with your king."

"You are?"

"Yeah. Yeah, me and the king go way back. Wayyyy back."

"I find it odd that you call him a king and not by his name. You are his friend, are you not?"

'What is his name?' Arthur thought as he turned his head at Vanilla and awkwardly smiled, hoping she'd say something, but she didn't. He sighed and looked at the Atlantean. "Fish..." He then glanced at himself. "... Man... and I are friends?"

"So you know, Fishman? Why didn't you say so?" The royal guard approached the duo. He extended both his arms and offered a hug. "Welcome, my brother."

"I've never been more at home." Arthur stepped towards him, extending his arms in the air, and the Atlantean closed in around him, but while they both neared for a hug, Arthur sucker-punched him, knocking him unconscious. He stood over him, looking at the creature's face as he breathed through his nose. "Ugly fish bastard."

"Arthur, we have a problem," Vanilla said, her eyes flashing with black and white static. "I was trying to see where Void was, but... I caught two more Atlanteans coming towards us. This isn't good."

Arthur turned around towards Vanilla and clenched his gash fist. "When are they going to reach us?"

"In a few minutes. One looks like the fish you knocked out, but the other is significantly bigger. Much bigger."