The smoke cleared as Dan, Cap and Phoenix swam/trudged over. The water level was getting too to walk, and so they relocated to yet another one of the nearby tanks. Dan and company recovered their friends and together, they got on one of the submarines.
"I think Lightning shorted himself out," Colress said. "Magnezone, can you give him a boost?"
"Zzzzonneee..." the Magnet Area Pokemon cried weakly.
"I suppose he's not the only one," the scientist commented. He returned Magnezone to its Poke'Ball, and then pulled out two others. "Klinklang, Metagross, we need you now."
"Klinklang-klink-Klingklang!."
"Me-TAAAAgross!" The two new Pokemon appeared and immediately were apprehensive of the water, both surrounding them and falling on them. Steel-types, like Rock, Ground and Fire-types were not the biggest fans of getting wet.
And Dan wasn't a fan of holding back. "You've had two more and it just occurred to you now to use them?"
The scientist sighed. "I have an answer to that question, but I doubt you'll like it."
Dan shrugged. "Fair enough." After that, a moment of silence followed, before everyone realized, starting with Applebloom, that,
"*Gasp* Dan, did you just... not-argue with someone?" His friends slowly turned to him, some in curiosity and others in disbelief.
"Why are my responses always so fascinating to you people? WHY DON'T YOU ANALYZE YOUR OWN LIVES FOR ONCE?!"
"Aaaand, he's back," Phoenix said, checking his watch. "Almost twelve seconds. That's a new record."
"Congratulations, Dan!" The fillies- the CMC and now Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon- gave him a hardy series of back-pats together. Dan waved them off.
"Don't remind me. It's been kind of a long day, involving more cardio than I'm used to. I'll be back to yelling violent, furious obscenities every five seconds once we get back to Ponyville. Starting with REDFIELD!!"
"You can just call me Chris if you-"
"Did you open the door exiting the room?"
Chris looked back at the double doors. Water had almost completely engulfed the doorway, pouring out of it and into the room rather than the other way around. "Yeah. You told me to."
"Wrong," Dan said, gesturing at the taller, muscular human like he was a peon. Which, because Dan, he was. "I told you to watch the non-combatants. Nicky!"
"Enlighten the rookie?"
"Bingo. Proceed."
"Right," Phoenix spun Chris Redfield around and pointed him back at the doorway. "All right Chris, let me explain. Crusaders, where are we?"
"Evil underground-"
"-weird, creepy, wet-"
"I have no idea," were the three simultaneous answers he received.
"Precisely," Phoenix said, turning to Chris. "Mr. Refield, you broke Dan Plan E protocol U- Underground."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, that when you're trapped in an evil, underground layer, the PRIORITY is always with the highest routes," the lawyer pointed up. "And you had one you neglected."
The fillies nodded. "And he broke general guidance rule five and nineteen," Sweetie Belle added.
Redfield shook his own head in disbelief. "General guidance... what? There's rules now?"
The ponies plus lawyer, plus scientist, even the Pokemon nodded. Lightning Claw, who had been revitalized by Klinklang's electric attacks, nodded as well.
"Rule Five: Always thoroughly evaluate all options before proceeding and Rule Nineteen: Always check beyond doors before opening or closing, especially in a rapid-exit scenario," Scootaloo explained. "It's in the hand/hoofbook."
"There's a handbook?"
"Hand/hoofbook," she corrected.
Captain America popped up from the hatch. "With this whole place flooding, our best bet of getting out of here is in one of these subs. It looks like when FIST evacuated, they took these tunnels all the way out to sea, so we should be able to follow them."
"Wait, out to sea?" Dan asked. "So the underground base connects to an UNDERWATER base?"
"Canterlantis," Silver Spoon said. "The sea ponies and the Arcane Gears are there building Phase 3."
Springer rolled her eyes. "They don't know what any of those things are. Spinner, you speak bipedal idiot, explain it to them."
"Okayyy... uhh, so Canterlantis is like Canterlot. But underwater. And it's freaking huge, like a giant starfish-shaped city built out of this really cool coral reef and there's all this stuff and they have a really great restaurant that-"
"Spinner-"
"Sorry, sorry. So anyway, the sea ponies live there and their society is like super-super high-tech and futuristic. They found this city a long time ago called Rapture and it had all this stuff there and they've been using that to build ever since. Oh, and the Arcane Gears are like really big battleship Magic Gears but there's only two of them and Phase 3 is a the focusing lense on the surface," Spinner said, squee-smiling at the end. "Am I on the good guys side now?"
Dan rubbed his temple. "You're gonna have to say that again and... slower, when I'm not tempted to just rip the silver one's limbs off and beat her into a carpet with them."
They heard something loud clank from overhead. Colress, among the others, turned to the metal Pokemon. "Klinklang?"
"Kling?"
The Pokemon looked back, curious at its scientist master. It was clear neither Pokemon had made the noise.
"Oh crap, what now?"
"Above us!" They saw the silhouette before they really could confirm, but they all knew what it had to be.
"How the heck is that thing still kicking?!"
"Did you miss me? Well, I've got a little news for you."
"Oh, crap." Swinging down from the ceiling came Magic Gear VOLCANUS. Not only was she unscathed, she was now wearing an oversized top hat and wielding a piece of metal debris as a cane. And she started singing.
To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat would be something majestic
It would be the most delicious thing that the hopeless could taste
With each bite, they'd forget every time that there mouths went neglected~
How could anyone tell them that this free meal was going to waste?
In a single swoop, VOLCANUS snatched them off the deck of the sub with its claw.
With incredible power, I was constructed with singular purpose
Every moment I'd spend underground to accomplish this goal
But I know I can do so much more than to complete this focus~
Yet forever with my mind programmed, I am bound to this role!
I can build anything I could ever want and there's nothing I don't own!
But I'm stuck underground in this warehouse, completely alone!
If you thought I was some Legend of Zelda boss, consider yourselves corrected!
Any hope of victory you had by now is certainly misplaced
And although my armor, weapons and design are far from perfected
I'm still nothing like anything else that you fools ever have faced!
"AAAAhhhhhHAAAA!!"
She swung around, pirouetting on her insect/crustacean legs during the interlude, spinning and twirling while holding them captive. The speed of her spins and dips was like a rollercoaster to Dan and the gang, the force of which they all felt. They could barely even struggle against the tight metal pincers holding them in place, the dizzying pace at which they were whipped being too disorienting.
To see a light at the end of this tunnel would be awful majestic~
It would be the most beautiful thing that this place ever produced
Like flies drawn to anything bright, you would run to inspect it
And before long, you'd realize it wasn't like you had deduced!
If you're searching my frame for a weak spot, we'll you've probably missed it~
There was never anything there, in the first- *BRRRAAAAAAAAAMMM*
VOLCANUS was blasted by another torpedo. The bug bot was flung backwards, dropping her prisoners into the water.
"Gah... uhh... ugh," Dan grunted and groaned as he scrambled to climb onto yet another Soviet tank.
"Why... why do they always sing?" Phoenix asked.
"Vice Grip... built them to both destroy... and construct a new Equestria... when he finally blows up Earth," Lightning Claw answered. "The Director, she... added singing. So that they'd have something to do... while they worked. More productive."
"Sorry that took so long," Captain America said, helping them back onto the submarine. "We ran out of torpedoes. Had to reload them... manually. With Blast Powder. And actual blast powder."
"Alright, everybody, into the sub," Dan announced. "Let's get the heck out of here before it comes back. With any luck, we can just ride the submarine out of here and the bug won't chase us again... underwater."
"So we're retreating?" Phoenix asked.
Dan nodded. "For now, Nicky. We'll get Knight and then bust this place apart from the outside. With any luck, that's the last time we'll see the bug until we-"
"There! She's there, up high!" Apple Bloom pointed. Magic Gear VOLCANUS, seemingly damaged, but difficult to tell, was struggling to pull itself into the tube near the room's ceiling.
"SHE'S TRYING TO GET AWAY!!" Dan yelled. "STEVIE! Get more torpedoes, everyone else man a station!!"
"We're not retreating now?" Redfield asked. "Just a second ago, you said-!"
"GET IN THERE, ROID MONKEY!" Dan stuffed his friends through and into the submarine. He grabbed the hatch, yelling "DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!" before shutting it. The remainder of the massive room quickly flooded and the submarine rose to the top. Carefully, Captain America piloted it through the tunnel and out. Magic Gear VOLCANUS was heading back to the core.