𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐒 》 MILO THATCH

𝔅𝔯𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔫 𝔈𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔲𝔪

𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗘𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗠
𖣔𖣘𖣔

(NAME)'S EYES WERE CLOSED AGAIN. Milo was staring at them from a distance as if, any moment now, they would open to reveal the (eye colour) he had grown fond of. She hovered above the ground in some sort of metal container. A guy in a hazmat suit, against Milo's protests, reached to hold onto Kida's shoulders. Nothing happened. Shocked, Milo's arm hung in mid air, mouth open as no words formed. It was only when the guard tugged Kida backwards, and her and (Name)'s hands separated, when the reaction happened.

Their body's withered and the gaurd was flung back by a strong force, hitting the ground with a moan. Neither moved to connect their hands again, and an awful thought of them not being able to control their bodies, or not even being in them anymore, crossed Milo's mind. There was a zap between their fingers, and it's direction set the course for what was to happen next.

Kida crumpled to the floor, her origional brown skin bleeding back onto her body as she turned back to normal, knocked out on the floor as her chest rose and fell shakily. (Name), however, had been the one to receive the zap, and so all energy was transferred into her now that there was no longer two carriers. Her eyes remained closed, and her skin see-through, but her face showed pain as her body convulsed and shook where she hovered, inches above the metallic floor.

''Well, that solves that problem,'' Rourke said, flicking his toothpick carelessly to the side, where it landed in front of Milo's knees. He was on the floor, having pulled Kida away from the scene, trying to see what was wrong with her.

The door lifted up, and through a small window he could still see (Name)'s pain-strucken face. Audrey, having finished tightening the bolts, hung upside down over the containers roof ever so slightly, fingertips grazing the cold glass as she gulped, her friend about to be sold for their fortune. Well, Audrey was sure to think of something on the trip back to the surface, so for now she sent Milo a reward-winning and rather convincing look of boredom before she hopped back into her truck, leaving her friend to be pushed onto the back of the vehicle.

Milo didn't understand - was the message wrong? No, (Name) wouldn't lie to him, she hadn't done so far. It had taken him a few minutes, but he had pieced it together, (Name) had tried to warn him, but he was too carried away in all the excitement to pay any attention to the hidden meanings behind her tone and voice. Even though he had thought she had been, (Name) was yet to lie to him, so, what? Has he misunderstood? And even if there was some other being possessing (Name)'s body, he couldn't find any motivation it had to lie.

'There are no traitors among your ranks' - Audrey was his rank, right? They all were, save for the commander and sergeant, he was sure of it. Dismissing it as a problem for future him, Milo turned back to Kida, shaking her slightly. If she would just wake up, then maybe she could explain to him what the hell was going on.

''So, I guess this is how it ends, huh?'' Milo said, just loud enough for everyone to hear, forcing them to strain their hearing in order to actually decipher the loud whisper he was giving them. An adult, one he had seen at the meal that felt like a whole eternity ago, came forwards to take Kida out of his hands, fussing over her with his wife and allowing Milo to take a challenging step. ''You're wiping out an entire civilization, but hey... You'll be rich. Congratulations, Audrey, I guess you and your dad will finally be able to open up that second garage, after all. And, Vinny, you can start a whole chain of flower shops. I'm sure your family's going to be very proud. But that's what it's all about, right? Money.''

''Get off your soapbox, Thatch,'' Rourke said as he came forwards, none of the others daring to so much as glance at him. ''You've read Darwin, it's called natural selection. We're just, helping it along.''

''Commander, we're ready!'' Helga shouted from the doorway of a truck. 

''Yeah, give me a minute!'' The commander said before lowering his voice, scratching his chin as he watched a few birds in the horizon fly above Helga's head, relaxed. And that was the part that annoyed Milo. He wasn't even slightly worried. ''I know I'm forgetting something... I got the cargo, I got the crystal, the crew...'' He held up five fingers, putting one down for everything he crossed off the list until he only has a fist left. ''Oh, yeah...''

Spinning around with a crazy grin, Rourke punched Milo in the face, sending the poor boy flying, his glasses leaving his face and an old photo falling out of his bag.

''Look at it this way, son,'' Rourke said, leisurely cleaning the glasses he had caught, stepping on and crunching the photograph just before Milo could reach it. ''You were the man who discovered Atlantis, and now you're a part of the exhibit.'' He threw the glasses back.

Catching them, Milo wiped the trail off blood off his mouth with the back of his hand. Slowly, he moved the glass out of the way, prying the picture out of its frame as he gazed at his grandpa's old face sadly. 

''Let's move, people.''

''That was an order, not a suggestion. Let's go!''

Audrey's hand stopped just as she was about to slam her door shut, and she risked a glance over her shoulder, anxiously chewing on her bottom lip. Slamming it shut, Audrey gripped the wheel before letting out a loud sigh, turning to kick the door open. She jumped out, gaining the stares of Vinny and Mole. Shrugging, Audrey shoved her hands in her pockets and took a hesitant step forwards, almost instantly making a break for Milo. Wrapping her arms around his upper, she hoisted him to his feet, where he thanked her quietly, rubbing his face.

Audrey looked back over to Vinny, glaring at him as she nodded her head away from him, telling him to get his backside over there now. Smiling slightly, Vinny took a glance towards (Name)'s container and proudly furrowed his brow, marching to Milo's side where he wrapped his arm around his shoulder, just as he did for (Name). They looked over expectantly.

Cookie more than eagerly jumped out of the passenger seat and hurried over to join them, Mole on his side. Packard took a long drag of her cigarette before tossing it away. ''We're all gonna die.'' She joined them too.

Adjusting the side-view mirror, Rourke looked at them all before turning around, making an exasperated gesture. ''You can't be serious.''

''This is wrong and you know it!'' Audrey yelled.

''We're this close to our biggest payday ever, and you pick now - of all times - to grow a conscience.''

''We've done a lot of things we're not proud of: grave robbing, plundering tombs, double parking, but nobody got hurt. Well, maybe somebody got hurt, but nobody we knew.'' He wasn't really making the best argument, but Milo was thankful for him to be on his side.

''Well, if that's the way you want it, fine. More for me,'' climbing into the drivers side, he mumbled under his breath 'P.T Barnum was right', before glancing over at Helga. She looked tense, gripping onto her wheel like her life depended on it, but, nevertheless, she started her engine and drove off with him in tow.

𖣔𖣘𖣔
You're all so encouraging 😭