The Mermaid of London

Chapter 9

The next morning at the AtlaRes base, everyone was up and about having some breakfast. The place had an all-around positive atmosphere. Bluto was lifting a barbell, Cyclone was sitting in the recliner watching TV, Leya was sitting at the coffee table drinking coffee. Tommy's damaged arm was removed, revealing only his left arm stump. Terry had a shower last night, as she hadn't bathed since her kidnapping and was given fresh change of clothes (mainly a white T-shirt and jeans) and sneakers. She also had a good hearty breakfast, having not eaten much given recent events. She was affectionately playing with Tommy on the floor, while Miles sat on the floor with them and Owen was joining in on the fun as well. As while all this was happening, Laguna sat at the kitchen table, sipping on her coffee, and watched on with a smile on her face, happy to see that she accomplished her mission of completely reuniting her grandson's family. Meanwhile, Adrianna and Adrien were sitting on the couch. The merman had bandages wrapped around his lower torso, covering his stitches.

"I'm so relieved to hear you survived, Adrien," she confessed to her twin, "After losing Dad, I was afraid Barracuda took you, too."

"Y'know what's funny, sis?" Adrien replied, "While I was unconscious, I had this dream where I was seeing Dad in Elysium. I wanted to reunite with him because I missed so much. You wanna know what he said to me?"

"What?"

"He said, 'Son, it's not your time yet. I may be gone but you still have your mother and your sister to look after. But rest assured, Adrien, the day your time comes, I will be waiting for you. You have my promise.'"

"Whoa...that's pretty neat. I'm sure Mom would be interested in hearing that when we get home."

Mira walked up to the Adrianna and Adrien.

"Excuse me, you two," she greeted them.

The twins turned to see Mira.

"I just wanted to apologize for any confusion I caused regarding my thing in the Marapax. I was just doing some undercover work for Laguna, since Ceto hired them as mercenaries. I should have told you about it sooner."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Adrien assured, "It was just a misunderstanding."

"And we're sorry for accusing you of being part of them, Mira," said Adrianna solemnly.

"Aw, it's all good, hon," Mira replied, "and my deepest sympathies for what they did to your pa."

Mira gave the two a hug. Galeena walked up to the Fishbach family, holding a new cybernetic arm for Tommy. Although adhering to the same basic design as the original, it was noticeably more sleek and streamlined; it had no visible rivets and lacked a line through the arm. It maintained the white color scheme, but now had a light grey trim, and the pauldron was much smaller, made to resemble a proper shoulder. Finally, the fingers were now light grey.

"Excuse me, Tommy," Galeena spoke up.

Terry and Tommy immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at Galeena, who presented Tommy the new arm.

"Your new arm is ready."

Tommy and Terry got up to their feet. Terry took the arm and she and Tommy examined it. They along with Adrianna and Miles, were very pleased with the craftmanship.

"Whoa-oh!" retorted Adrianna, "Super sleek!"

"Excellent!" Miles declared.

"Wow, this looks even better than my old arm," Tommy remarked.

"And I bet it will feel just as good as it looks," Terry added.

"It will," the medic assured, "The interior is lined with a silicone coating just like the original."