Atlantis: The Game of Snakes

This is an Atlantis fanfic in which the Atlantis gang travel to India and Milo fights to save Kida from the evil snake god Naga. It was published on Fanfiction.Net on May 11, 2005.
==Plot==
It was morning in the jungles of India. Two men, Raju and Sanjit, entered the ruins of an ancient city.  Raju was short and fat and wore a blue shirt, beige pants and sandals. Sanjit was tall and thin and wore a white shirt, brown pants and brown shoes. They walked through the empty streets. "Are you sure this is safe?" Sanjit asked, nervously. "Of course it is!" Raju scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. He looked around and whistled. "Whoever lived here must have been the richest man this side of the Ganges!" he exclaimed. Sanjit looked around and he saw a group of rhesus monkeys staring down at them, chattering nervously.
The two men approached a small shrine. It was filled to bursting with treasures. Raju grinned, a look of pure greed in his eyes. "Feast your eyes, Sanjit!" Raju laughed. He rubbed his hands together. "I'm not so sure..." Sanjit said, a bit dubious. "Where's your courage?!" Raju yelled. "Think about it. Just one handful of this treasure will make us richer than the ancient kings! Our families will never go hungry again!" Sanjit through his hands up in surrender and proclaimed, "Might as well." The two men started to get stuck in, like kids in a candy store. Raju shovelled handfuls of treasure into his pockets. Sanjit went further, shoving treasure up his shirt! Suddenly, the ground shook. The quake only lasted a couple of seconds, but Raju and Sanjit were nonetheless surprised by the freak occurence. 
"What was that?" Raju wondered. Another quake occurred and the monkeys who had been watching the two men ran off screaming into the jungle. "I wonder what spooked them?" Raju asked. A terrified yelp from Sanjit revealed it. The two men were being approached by a gang of snakes. Cobras, pythons and vipers among them, the vicious serpents were hissing and snapping ferociously. Sanjit and Raju backed up in fright. "I've got an idea," Raju whispered. "And that would be?!" Sanjit replied. "RUN!" Raju cried.
The two men ran as though they were in a marathon. Suddenly, a peal of cruel laughter pierced the air and resonated throughout the ruins. Raju and Sanjit stopped dead in their tracks. "Hello?" Sanjit whimpered, on the verge of soiling his pants with fright. "Who's there?" The steely voice replied, "That would be me." A tall, thin man approached Sanjit and Raju. He had black hair and a goatee and was dressed in long black and green robes as well as a turban that bore an uncanny resemblance to a cobra's outstretched hood. He was armed with a cobra headed staff, similar to Jafar's from Aladdin. The man grinned as he approached his terrified quarry. "It appears we have a pair of intruders." "Intruders?" Raju asked. "N-no, we were just..." He turned to Sanjit, who looked as though he were about to pass out. "Passing through?!" The man laughed at Raju's pathetic answer. "You don't know who I am, do you? I am Naga. The king of snakes. And I don't take kindly to thieves!" He spat the last word out like it was deadly venom. Sanjit answered, "Well, we're sorry for arriving unannounced, but if you'll show us the door, we'll be leaving right away." He and Raju seized their chance to run away, but then, to their amazement, Naga's staff materialized in front of them, then the man himself followed. "Oh, I doubt you'll be going anywhere anytime soon." Raju and Sanjit looked at each other, puzzled. Suddenly, Naga's staff seemingly melted out of his grasp and then it transformed into a hissing monocled cobra. Then, Naga appeared to grow until he was the size of an apartment block. He transformed into a huge cobra and Raju and Sanjit were simply dumbfounded. A group of soldiers approached, spears at the ready, and then they melted into a mass of hissing snakes. They wrapped themselves around their quarry and engulfed them. Naga simply laughed wickedly as his terrified prey let out their final screams of, "They're biting me! Ow! They're all over our bodies!" The serpentine mass eventually subsided and revealed their prey's empty clothes.
Some distance away, Milo and the gang were riding through the jungle on the back of an Indian elephant called Amara. They were accompanied by both a local mahout called Rajiv and by Dr. David Hopper. He was a tall, thin man with black hair who was dressed in a brown leather coat, black trousers and shoes and was writing in a journal. All around the gang saw and heard the sights and sounds of the jungle's wildlife. Monkeys swung high in the trees. A sloth bear stood at a wrecked termite mound, looking for lunch. A herd of chital deer grazed nearby. Parrots flew overhead. Peacocks called out to one another. A pack of wild dogs fed at a freshly made kill. A leopard slept in a tree, ready for the night's hunting. Crocodiles lay on the riverbank, warming up to get ready for hunting. Kida was simply amazed at the diversity of animal life around them. "Where are we,  Milo?" she asked. "We're in India, Kida," he replied. Suddenly, the gang turned around. A group of Hanuman langurs had noticed David's notebook and were teasing him with it. "Hey. Give me that, monkeys! Milo, tell these filthy apes to hand me my journal." "Alright. Here goes." Milo tried by asking, "We need book. Can we have it?" When that failed, Milo tried again by chattering in monkey language. The tactic worked, but the monkeys only begrudgingly handed the book back before they retreated into the jungle. David mumbled, "Filthy primates. Anyway, Milo. Why are we in India? Surely Whitmore didn't send us here to be robbed by monkeys." Milo laughed. "No. We're here to find the city of Chandrapur." "What?" "Chandrapur," replied Sweet. "It's an ancient Hindu city. Bit like an Atlantis in the jungle."
The gang stopped at where they would camp for the night and they dismounted. "Ah, yes," said Rajiv, as he started unloading the cargo from Amara's back, "my father told me of the legend." As they started to set up camp, Milo walked over to Amara and patted her enormous grey head. "Hey, girl," he said. Then, Amara wrapped her huge trunk around Milo's waist and lifted him onto her back. She then trumpeted and the sound echoed across the forest, and any animals that happened to be in the vicinity ran for cover. Milo chuckled then got off Amara's back. David approached and patted him on the back. "You certainly have a way with animals, Milo. You could be Dr. Dolittle in disguise. Anyway, let's get camp set up. The gang soon got started setting up camp for the night, while Rajiv cooked their evening meal. The sun was setting and the sky was an explosion of scarlet and orange hues.
Meanwhile, in the ruins, Naga was watching the whole scene from a crystal ball. "Intruders!" he hissed. "They may try their hardest to get to Chandrapur, but they'll have to get past me!" Then, he saw Kida and all at once, Naga was riveted to her appearance. "Who is this beauty? She must be my queen." He turned to two snakes, a spectacled cobra and a python, respectively. He snapped his fingers and they transformed into a pair of soldiers armed with scimitars. "You two will find the girl with the travellers and bring her to me!" The soldiers nodded and ran off into the jungle. "Everything is going according to plan." Naga grinned sinisterly and his eyes glowed yellow.
Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, the night had truly set in. The crickets called out to one another as the gang sat around the campfire eating their evening meal. "This is," David proclaimed, "wonderful food. Could somebody pass the mustard?" The gang laughed. Milo took a swig of water and asked, "Rajiv, could you tell us more about Chandrapur?" Rajiv took a deep breath in and began his story. "Chandrapur was once a thriving city. It was filled with incredible riches, stockpiled throughout the ages. It was more powerful than the empires of Rome, Greece and Egypt together. The city was ruled by my distant ancestor, King Daljit. Then, 2000 years ago, the city was abandoned." Sweet asked, "How?" Rajiv responded, "Nobody knows. After the city was abandoned, the jungle reclaimed what was rightfully hers." After that, the gang decided to hit the sack for the night. They got into their tents and started falling to sleep. This was only momentarily, because from outside, Amara began trumpeting wildly and rearing up. "What's going on?!" Vinnie cried, as he tried to calm the panicking elephant down. "Easy, girl, easy," Rajiv said soothingly. Milo soon saw a man and a woman cradling a baby run towards them. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Attackers..." the woman panted. "Intruders...after us." The rest of the gang came running and then the woman and man's eyes glowed yellow and then disappeared. In their place stood the two soldiers, swords at the ready. The gang looked around and several hundred half-snake soldiers appeared, seemingly melting out of the trees.
"Give us the girl and nobody gets hurt," the soldiers hissed in unison. "Milo, what do we do?" Vinnie whispered. Then Milo let out a battle cry and started fighting the soldiers. The rest of the gang followed suit. David fought two of them with a cry of, "Don't move! I'm a black belt in taekwondo!" He let out a martial arts cry and floored the soldiers. The rest of the gang continued fighting. Kida fought well, until one of the soldiers grabbed her and held her at swordpoint. "Don't move and you might live through this," he rumbled as Kida struggled and kicked. "Kida!" Milo yelled, running towards her. The soldier drew out a vial of bright green liquid and threw it like it was a hand grenade. The vial shattered and a cloud of green smoke was emitted. "K-Ki-Kida," Milo faltered as he lost conciousness. The rest of the gang started dropping like flies as the soldiers vanished into the jungle, taking Kida with them.
Many hours later, the gang regained conciousness. "What happened?" Audrey groaned, rubbing her head. "Where's Kida?" Milo asked in desperation. Rajiv answered, "I believe she was taken by the snake-men." "What?!" Milo gasped. "We have to find her!" "I have something that could help." Rajiv reached into his pocket and fished out a map. It looked ancient-possibly hundreds or thousands of years old-and it was covered in several landmarks; the river, a huge banyan tree, a rock formation shaped like a roaring big cat, a lake, some huts and the ruins. "This map leads to Chandrapur. It may be the place where Kida is," Rajiv proclaimed. He clambered onto Amara's back. "Grab all the supplies we need and let's go!" The gang gathered their rations, clothes, tents and sleeping bags and mounted Amara. "Hut hut!" Rajiv called out and they set off into the jungle.
Meanwhile, Kida woke up. She saw she was in some sort of royal chamber, which was lit by candles. She was also wearing a black, red and gold bikini top and skirt instead of her blue one. "Where am I?" she wondered. Just then, two Indian women-possibly Kida's age, maybe younger-approached. One of them had her hair scraped into a bun and wore a red and gold sari. The other had her hair out and was dressed in a green and gold outfit. Both women were barefoot and wore exuberant jewellry. "You are in the palace of Lord Naga," one of the girls said. "Who are you?" Kida asked. "We are your servant girls," replied the girl in red. "I am Sunetra." "And I am Gita," replied the girl in green. Suddenly, Kida stood up and knocked the girls over with a candelabra. She then ran off, while Sunetra and Gita got to their feet and took off after her. Kida ran down a hallway where two muscular guards approached her. One held a huge mace over his head and the other was armed with a spear, however, Kida managed to incapacitate them. Sunetra and Gita approached the fallen soldiers. "If you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself," she grumbled as she picked up the guard's spear. Kida, meanwhile, was in another part of the hallway and was climbing up a rope as a means of escaping. Unfortunately, she wasn't counting on Sunetra and Gita making an appearance. "Run all you will," Gita cried, "but you won't get far." She picked the scimitar of one of the downed guards and threw it. The weapon sailed through the air like a razor-sharp boomerang and cut through the rope instantly. "No!" Kida yelled as she hit the ground. As she stood up, Sunetra and Gita had changed from beautiful women into horrendous looking half-cobra women. Kida tried running away, but Sunetra grabbed her. "Lord Naga wishes to see you," she and Gita hissed. 
"Put me down! Now!" Kida struggled as her captors dragged her into the palace's throne room. The focal point of the room was a huge throne, shaped like a cobra's head. Naga was sitting in it, resting his staff on the floor. "Well done, girls," he smiled. Sunetra and Gita reverted to human form and let Kida go. She asked him, "Are you Lord Naga?" "Why, yes I am!" Naga sneered. "And who would you be, my beautiful lotus flower?" "Princess Kida of Atlantis." "Atlantis?" Naga blurted out. "The city under the waves? I've heard the story. In fact, you could say that the story of Chandrapur is much like Atlantis." He began his story and pointed to a staute outside. "Thousands of years ago, the founder of this city, Anuj, built Chandrapur right in the heart of the jungle. It grew from a village into a thriving metropolis. It was ruled by many kings, including the very well-known King Daljit." He then pointed to a mural depicting the Hindu gods. "Lord Vishnu and the other gods watched over the citizens of Chandrapur, but I wanted them to pay for trying to destroy the jungle." Naga then gestured to a tapestry. It depicted him with flames pouring out of his sceptre destroying Chandrapur while fighting Lord Vishnu. "Of course, Lord Vishnu won. He and the other gods then banished me from his kingdom. I grew stronger because of this." He then gestured towards another tapestry, depicting the people of Chandrapur running through the streets in panic as buildings crumbled around them. "Then, Chandrapur was ravaged by an earthquake. The people fled south and this what I'd been hoping for. The jungle, well, she did all the rest. With the humans gone, I took over Chandrapur with my army."
"Why would you do that?" Kida asked, horrified. Naga sighed. "Humans are selfish creatures. They will try and exploit nature. Destroy her. Use her for their needs." He strongly emphasised the last word and said it with unflinching disgust. He then turned to Kida and held his sceptre to her face, its eyes glowing red. "You, on the other hand," he whispered, "are not one of those humans. You are the image of perfection." He leered at Kida and she flinched. "You will be my perfect queen." Naga cackled wickedly. 
Meanwhile, the gang had reached the river. "How do we cross this thing, eh, Milo?" asked David. "I'm assuming we swim?" Milo shrugged. David picked up a stone and threw into the water. "You expect me to get in a river full of those things?!" he screamed, pointing to a group of crocodiles who were in the water, waiting for any unwary animals to come past. Audrey soon got an idea. "Wait there," she said. She came back a few seconds later with a handful of reeds. She handed one each to the gang. "Good thinking, Audrey," nodded Sweet. "We'll use these as snorkels." 
The gang dove into the water and only their reed snorkels were poking out for them to breathe. Amara climbed into the water with Rajiv on her back. Most of them reached the other side, except for Mole, who was close to being washed over a waterfall. "Milo! Help me! Someone!" he blubbered. Then, Milo got an idea. It was a gamble, but it would have to do. "Amara, can you get into the water and save Mole?" That failed, which led to Milo resorting to a different strategy. He trumpeted like an elephant and amazingly, this seemed to work. Amara slipped into the water and emereged a short time later carrying Mole on her back. The gang cheered as the massive beast lifted the short man off of her. Mole panted, "Merci, un elephant." Rajiv clambered onto the elephant's back. "That's the river taken care of.  Let's move out." They headed off into the jungle.
Meanwhile, from his throne room, Naga was watching the scene from his crystal ball. "Hm," he scoffed. "They think that was the easy part. Let's what else the jungle can throw at them." Kida was chained up by the throne, struggling against her restraints. "My friends will come her and fight you!" she called out. Naga simply laughed at this. "If they think they can come here so easily, they've got another thing coming." Naga grinned and, like a scene from a horror film, his face slowly contorted until it was scaly and reptilian. His face had transformed into that of a cobra's and his tongue was flickering in and out. Then, it reverted back to a more humanoid appearance until the skin was no longer scaly.
Many miles away, the group had reached the banyan tree. It was huge and its branches were outstretched. "OK," Milo said, "we've arrived at the banyan tree. Looks like a good place to restock." The group had eaten the majority of their rations and so it was a good idea to restock. They started to pick fruit and Milo started collecting some figs. Then, the group heard an all too familiar sound. "I think we've got company," David murmured. They looked up and saw hundreds of monkeys sitting in the branches of the tree. They were, to say the least, intrigued by the arrival of the group. David then asked, "Would these be Semnopithecus entellus, Hanuman langur, by any chance?" Rajiv confirmed, "They are." The monkeys soon began taking an interest in the group and were starting to pick through Milo's hair. "Hey! That tickles!" The monkeys soon climbed into the tree and began feeding. Underneath the tree, a huge herd of deer had gathered. The deer were grazing peacefully, until something stalked the shadows. The deer started calling out and the monkeys started screeching. Then, without warning, a Bengal tiger came charging out. The huge cat roared and was eying up a potential meal. It turned its attention towards the gang. As it moved in for the kill, something extraordinary happened. The monkeys began throwing fruit at the predator! The tiger roared in anger as it was pelted with fruit and took off into the jungle. The monkeys cheered and they climbed to the ground. Milo thought of how to thank them, and then chattered in monkey language. The monkeys screamed in excitement before they headed off into the forest. David then enquired, "Milo, you're a linguist. Maybe you could translate animal languages?"  "Probably."  
The following day, after resting near the banyan tree for the night, the group continued their journey. They approached the rock formation as pictured on Rajiv's map. Milo gazed up at in awe. "What's the name of this place?" Rajiv answered, "Tiger Rock." "And why would they call it that?" Audrey blurted out. Then, as if to answer, a huge Bengal tiger leapt out, snarling and getting ready to attack. Speak of the devil, Milo thought to himself. The tiger was advancing towards them, licking her chops. Amara trumpeted and reared up fright, throwing the group off her back. She then took off into the jungle. "Great. Just great," David yelled. "The Jumbo-mobile ditched us and we're gonna be mauled to death by a tiger." Milo then had an idea. "Everybody, get some stones and defend yourselves." The group picked up several rocks and a few sticks and began throwing them at the tigress. However, they might as well have been trying to take a bone off a Rottweiler for all the good it did. When they ran out of ammo, the tiger moved in to attack. It looked like their fate was sealed, until they heard the familiar sound of an elephant trumpeting.
The gang looked up and, out of the blue, Amara came charging out of the undegrowth accompanied by a herd of elephants. Amara trumpeted and she and her fellow elephants knocked the tigress off her feet. The cat snarled at Amara, who was twice her height, and ran off into the jungle. The other elephants moved off after trumpeting farewell with Amara. Milo ran up to the elephant and patted her head. "Good girl, Amara!" he praised. The elephant trumpeted happily. She then lifted the gang onto her back and they continued on their journey. Naga, meanwhile, was continuing to watch the scene with a look of rage on his face. "NO!' 'he bellowed. He picked up a goblet and hurled it at the wall. '"This is turning into a walk in the park! Too easy. Let's see what else is in store for them." Naga laughed maliciously as he stared into his crystal ball.
The group had reached the lake. They had also used up much of their water and it was a sensible idea to replenish their stock. The lake had attracted animals in abundance. A group of deer drank their fill whilst monkeys sat in the trees, keeping an eye out for passing predators. "What do we need to look out for?" Milo asked. Rajiv pointed and saw a leopard stalking nearby. The huge cat had its eyes on the travellers and leapt out snarling. The leopard was almost in at the kill, until Amara charged it, sending the cat fleeing into the jungle. The group then camped near the lake for the night. "Milo! I can hardly sleep with those darned monkeys!" Vinnie complained, trying to catch a few 40 winks. "The monkeys are just keeping an eye out for any predators," Milo sighed. Vinnie raised his hands in surrender and fell asleep. The next day, they set off again. Eventually, they made it to the huts as pictured on the map. They group looked around for any signs of human life. Odd, Milo thought. Where is everybody? Then, as if to answer the question, the group heard distant chanting in Sanskrit. They decided to investigate and saw a group of men. They were all dressed in long, orange robes and had their hair tied back into high ponytails. The men were gathered around a sacred fire. They approached the men and they were surprised to see the gang.
The men approached the visitors. "Wha-who are you people?" David choked out. "Welcome to the hermitage," one of the men replied, surprisingly stoic. "We are always welcome to the weary traveller." The group sat down and ate with the hermits. "We're searching for Chandrapur..." Milo finally said. The hermit replied, "We will take you to Ramesh. He has all the answers." They approached Ramesh. He was an unusually thin man whose robe seemed to sag off of his spindly frame. His skin was like a leaf that had dried out in the sun and his hair was bleached white. He sat down and consulted the gang. "You are heading to Chandrapur," he wheezed. Milo nodded, "We are. And Kida, the woman I love, was captured by Naga." Ramesh gasped. "Naga is a powerful and dangerous entity. However, with the help of the gods, you can defeat him." He presented a piece of parchment with Sanskrit printed into it. "Recite these mantras," he said. "They will help you find the way to Chandrapur." He then chanted in Sanskrit, and the gang copied. This continued like a call and response song. Then, as the mantra drew to a close, Ramesh's sunken bloodhound eyes glowed white and he said to Milo, in Hindi, "With the gods as your guide, you will conquer Naga." As the gang prepared to depart the next morning, they waved goodbye to the hermits. "We wish you luck on your quest. May the gods be with you," said Ramesh.
The group travelled through the jungle on Amara's back, and then they reached their destination. Chandrapur. The forgotten city of the jungle. They dismounted and walked into the city's streets. The streets, which formerly were abuzz with activity, were eerily still. This left the gang on tenterhooks. "Hello?" Audrey asked. The question echoed across the ruins. "Talk about a ghost town," she muttered. Then, Milo whispered, "Someone's coming!" The gang saw Sunetra and Gita approaching them. "We welcome you to Chandrapur," said Gita seductively. "Yes, well...Have you seen a woman by the name of Kida around here?" Sunetra pretended to think hard about this. "We did see a young girl around here with white hair." "That's her!" "Well, if you're trying to get to her, you're going to have to get past us," Gita said. She and Sunetra advanced towards the gang menacingly, but Audrey delivered a swift kick to the back of Gita's leg, causing her and Sunetra to fall over. "Run!" Milo cried. The gang seized their chance and took off. However, Sunetra and Gita were gaining on them. Milo, Audrey and David were cornered by Gita. She was flanked by an army of skeleton soldiers, weapons at the ready. "Going somewhere?" she chuckled. She then motioned to the skeletons. "Finish them off!"
The skeletons charged, but the gang fought back. One of them threatened Milo with a spear but he wrestled the weapon-and the skeleton's arms-away from him. Another skeleton tried to attack Audrey with a mace. She snatched it off him with a cry of "Take this, bonehead!" Then, she knocked off the skeleton's head using the mace like a baseball bat. The skeleton's headless body stumbled about disoriented and crashed into its cohorts. They ran off as Gita gave chase. Milo, Audrey and David then caught up with the others elsewhere in the ruins. "We got company!" Sweet yelled. He pointed at Sunetra and Gita who had transformed into their serpentine forms. "You can't run forever," Sunetra hissed, her voice serpentine and almost metallic. "You're trapped like rats," her sister added. The two snake women advanced on their quarry, but their would-be prey wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. Milo climbed up the wall of a ruined building, however he was being weighed down by Gita-now back in her human form-grabbing onto his foot. She screamed, "Give up! You will never find your loved one!" Milo looked down and yelled, "Sorry, but this is where you get OFF!" He kicked Gita hard in the chest and they both fell screaming to the ground. Milo landed, amazingly, with nary a scratch, however Gita had fallen and taken the brunt of the landing. Milo crept over and found that she had been killed on impact. He went to join the gang, who then turned around to see Sunetra. And she had the fury hell hath no equal to. "NO!" she screeched. "You killed my sister!" She picked up a sword and ran towards the gang shrieking blue murder. She swung the weapon around and the gang ducked to avoid getting their heads lopped off.
Milo wrestled the weapon out of her hands and she laughed seductively as he threatened her at sword point. "You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?" That comment, to Milo, was like a red rag to a bull. He knocked Sunetra off her feet and threw her into a wall. She was alive, but the force had left her so badly injured she was fighting for her life. The gang ran up to see the skirmish. "WHERE'S KIDA?!" Milo exclaimed. He was like a Rottweiler mauling a terrified victim. "TELL ME NOW!!!!" "I d-don't know," Sunetra whimpered, shaking like a blancmange. "Tell him, now," Vinnie threatened, albeit much more calmly than Milo. Sunetra, with her final breath, managed to choke out through her tears, "She's in the palace of King Naga. He's holding her captive. Please leave me." "Thank you," Milo snarled through gritted teeth. He dropped the terrified Sunetra to the ground and headed off to find Naga's palace, leaving Sunetra to die of her wounds next to Gita's corpse. "I'm sorry for being so aggressive, but Kida's life is at risk," Milo apologised. "It's fine. You were just angry." "I suppose." Meanwhile, at the palace, Naga had been watching the scene from his throne room. "NO!" he exclaimed. "They made it to Chandrapur?!?" In anger, Naga kicked over the pedestal on which the crystal ball stood. It shattered into hundreds of shards on the ground. Two soldiers came slithering into the room. They were carrying the corpses of Sunetra and Gita. "No," Naga whispered, as if he'd lost his firstborn children. He felt Sunetra's hand. It was as limp as a leaf. He did the same to Gita. "Dispose of the bodies," he ordered, hushed and subdued. The soldiers exited the room with the sisters' dead bodies.
Naga then turned to Kida, who was still chained to the throne. "So, my little trinket," he sneered, "your friends are looking for you. Let's see if they can get past my palace's defences." Naga chuckled. The gang had reached the steps of the palace. It was guarded by a pair of serpent soldiers, both armed with threatening axes. "How in the world are we gonna get past them?!" David asked. Milo had an idea. The gang put on long burlap robes to disguise themselves as monks. This way, the guards were none the wiser about the intruders entering the building. As soon as they were in the clear, the gang threw off their disguises. "OK, let's split up and search for Kida," Milo whispered. The gang split up into two groups; Sweet, Vinnie, Audrey, Cookie and Mole searched one side of the palace; Milo, David, Packard and Rajiv searched the other side. Milo climbed up a tapestry and he and the others hid in the rafters. They looked down and saw Naga reclining on his throne. Chained up next to him was Kida. "Don't worry, Kida. I'll save you," he mouthed. Suddenly, the beams started giving way. Then, they collapsed and Milo, David, Rajiv and Packard fell to the ground. "What was that?!" Naga snapped, his staff glowing red. The debris shuffled and Milo and the others came clambering out. Kida unchained herself and ran into Milo's arms. "I missed you," she said. Then the rest of the gang entered. "Are you alright?" asked Vinnie. Naga laughed. "Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in. Intruders. You think you can get past my defences and enter here?" Milo growled, "I'd risk my life for Kida a hundred times over!" "Oh, would you now?" Naga asked sarcastically. "In which case..." He clapped his bony hands together and the serpent soldiers slithered in. "Finish them."
As the soldiers slithered towards their prey, David asked, "What was that thing Ramesh said? Gods as your guide or something like that?!" This gave Milo an idea. He dropped to his knees, which caused Naga to ask, "Surrendering already? This is too easy!" Then, Milo began chanting in Sanskrit. A burst of light emitted, near blinding everyone. Then, the light began separating and taking shape. They transformed into the Hindu gods themselves: Vishnu, Lakshmi, Rama, Sita, Ganesha, Hanuman, Shiva, Krishna, Indra and Lakshmana. Naga smirked, "Vishnu. After all these years, we meet again." "Don't look so excited, Naga," Vishnu commented. "We will fight you and this time you will be permanently defeated." "So what are we waiting for? Let's kick some snake hiney!" Hanuman whooped, before screaming in monkey language. Then, the fight began. Milo teamed up with Rama. "These arrows are what I used to fight the demon Ravana," he said. He fired three times and incapacitated three of the soldiers. The others continued battling and Naga started shooting flames out of his staff. The fight spilled out onto the streets and the fire continued to spread. That's when Ganesha replied, "Hey, hothead. You need to cool down! Bring in the big guns!" Then, the ground started to rumble as Amara came thundering through the ruins. She sucked up water from a pool into her trunk and Milo cried, "Fire!" Amara blasted water out of her trunk like an oversized squirt gun. It doused the flames and left Naga soaked to the skin. He was also thoroughly enraged. He transformed into his cobra form and yelled, "How dare you insult me! Naga. The snake king!" He slithered through the streets and chased the gang through the ruins. "You can run, but you can't hide!" he hissed. "Yoo hoo!" a voice called out. It was Hanuman standing on top of a building accompanied by an army of monkeys. "I'm not in the mood for monkey business!" Naga proclaimed. "Look!" Hanuman yelled. Then, he and his fellow primates began throwing stones at Naga, who yelled in pain. He reverted to human form and Naga then turned his attention to Milo.
"Give up, boy!" he laughed maliciously. "You will never defeat me!" He fired lightning out of his staff and Milo started dodging the bolts. Kida intervened, but Naga pushed her aside with a cry of, "Stay out of this!" "Are you alright?" Milo asked, rushing to her side. "I'm fine," Kida groaned. "You help the others, I'll take down Naga." Milo tried to grab the staff out of Naga's grasp, but the powerful snake king wasn't going down without a fight. "Nothing can stop me, you puny mortal!" he snapped. He knocked Milo to the ground and threatened him with his staff. "Face it, boy," he hissed sinisterly. "Your days are numbered." Just as Milo closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, there was a cry of, "Look over here, you overgrown earthworm!" Naga turned around and saw that it was David who said it. And, before you could say knife, David floored Naga, causing him to drop his staff to the ground. Milo seized the opportunity to grab it, and as he raised it over his head, Milo's eyes glowed white and pupiless. "My staff! No!" Naga protested as Rajiv and David restrained him. Then Milo began chanting in Hindi and his clothes momentarily transformed into an orange robe and sandals, similar to those worn by the hermits. "No! Not the mantra!" Naga yelled, struggling to break free from his captors. When Milo finished his mantra, he brought the sceptre crashing to the ground, shattering it to pieces. A burst of light eminated from the staff and spread through the ruins. Milo dropped to his knees and his robe and sandals reverted back to his normal clothes. Kida's outfit also changed back to her blue uniform. Naga's soldiers then slowly reverted into their normal serpentine forms. Naga eventually broke free from his captors and rushed over to the remains of his staff. "No!" he yelled. He tried fixing his beloved sceptre, but it proved to be in vain. The remains crumbled into dust in his palms. Then Naga suddenly cried out in agony. Then, to his horror, his hand appeared to be melting into several hissing serpents. "NO! A CURSE UPON YOU ALL!"  Naga proclaimed as his body crumbled into a mass of serpents which slithered off into the jungle. The last one, a king cobra, hissed, "Infidels!" before slithering off to join its fellow snakes.
The ground then rumbled as buildings began to collapse. Milo said to Vishnu, "Thanks for all your help." "We're always there for those in need," Vishnu replied. Hanuman chipped in, "You might wanna leave now!" The gods vanished and the gang climbed onto Amara's back. They ran through the collapsing ruins and finally made it back to the safety of the jungle. They looked back at the collapsed wreck that had once been the mighty city of Chandrapur. "Gone," Rajiv whispered. "But, this time, it's gone for good." "Don't look so downhearted," David replied. "I got us some souvenirs." He produced from his back the most amazing treasures. "Wow! Where'd you find those?" Audrey asked. "Well..." David paused. "It's kind of a long story. But I won't bore you with all the details!" "Come on," Milo replied. "Let's go. A new adventure begins." As the gang headed off into the jungle, David chattered, "Milo, do you remember how I said you were good with animals? Well, I am too. This one time, I was on safari in Africa and then..." "Man! He can talk the hind legs off a mule!" Audrey whispered. Milo simply rolled his eyes as David continued to ramble on about his exploits. "...Another time, I was on an expedition in Borneo. This orangutan had stolen my notes and I had to coerce him to give it back. I said 'Look over there! Bananas!' And I got my notes, leaving him none the wiser. I mean, I outsmarted a monkey!"
The end
==Cast==
James Arnold Taylor-MiloCree Summer-Kida Don Novello-Vinnie Jacqueline Obradors-Audrey Corey Burton-Mole, Vishnu Phil LaMarr-Sweet Jeff Glen Bennett-Raju, Hermit, Rama Jeremy Irons-Naga Frank Welker-Amara, Monkeys, Elephants, Tiger, Snakes, Peacock, Parrots, Deer, Jackals, Leopard, Bear, Hanuman Billy West-Sanjit Joe Whyte-Rajiv Jim Cummings-Ganesha Brian George-Ramesh Grey DeLisle-Gita Kate Micucci-Sunetra Jerry Orbach-Dr. David Hopper
== Notes ==
* The first of four Atlantis fanfics that take place in India. 
* The actors who auditioned for the role of Naga were Patrick Stewart, Alan Rickman, Tim Curry, Paul McGann and Christopher Lee. Jeremy Irons beat out all of them for the role.
* Naga's design is based off that of Jafar from Aladdin.
* Chandrapur is based off Anandapur, part of the Maharajah Jungle Trek attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
* This is a posthumous release for Jerry Orbach, who died a few months before this was released.
* Jeremy Irons, the voice of Naga, also voiced the character of Scar in The Lion King.
* Naga mentions the citizens of Chandrapur having fled south after the city was destroyed by the earthquake. This suggests the city is located in northern India, presumably in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand or Bihar.
Category:Fan Fiction
Category:Disney Fan Fiction