ic Hydra The Queen (IC)

[Amelia]

Octoman

 

Quote

"...They took his left arm below the elbow."

 

"Oh man they TOTALLY ate it didn't they? That's rough, Dude. Do you guys have, like, nanobots or, I dunno, magic or something to grow it back? Or is it just, like, GONE? I mean, I'm pretty sure I can grow stuff back if it gets bitten off, so if you guys think you could, like, do something with my blood, have a pint on me, it's all good! Just, y'know, be careful when you cut me open, 'cause this stuff comes SHOOTIN' out like a...wait, you guys live underwater, you don't have hoses...like a...no, y'all don't have fire hydrants either...or geysers...it's under really high pressure, OK?" He waved a hand toward one of the walls of their transport craft. "One little prick, and it's just SPLAT all OVER the place. STICKY, too. NOT easy to wash out. That's part of why I don't even bother wearing clothes anymore. We should probably wait until after we're done kickin' fish-face ass so I'm at a hunnerd percent ass-kickin' potential. Then again, if I get killed you lose your shot, so maybe I should pour some out now..."

 

[Dr Archeville]

"My father has always had the tenacity of a barnacle," Heroditus said solemnly.  Of course losing a limb would not stop him from his duties.  I hope I show such-

 

And then their guest spoke.

 

"I appreciate your offer, Squadmate Ben," a wide-eyed Heroditus quickly replied, eyes darting about nervously to the others Atlanteans, "but it is not necessary.  My mother, Yrdoste, is a skilled medical engineer, specializing in medical devices and prosthesis.  I am not certain if she has any that can reliably regrow limbs," he said carefully, always uneasy to reveal what Atlantis had lost over the millennia, "but if not, I know she can provide him with a prosthetic that will function as well as his original arm."

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue

“I am not keep on you adopted the blessing of any kind of higher power, it not the thing to be done.” for the benefits of the other the small cube that was the Grue AI Mother Unit was speaking in her vaguely British accent.

 

“If they ask if you’re a god you say yes!” Daphne smiled at her own personal little joke, standing from the pilot seat.

 

“But I can do better than that. Baby full transparency on the front panel.” a good portion of the front faded until they could see the ocean below them, Daphne then gestured towards the seat

 

“Baby can fly herself so you can be seen as being in control of the whole mission.”

[Avenger Assembled]

Aquaria sat in the front of the ship, careful not to touch anything as she didn't actually know how the starship worked. As they flew, she sang an old song in a low nearly subsonic rumble, one that the ship translated for Wraith a little bit like this: 

 

"Hear mighty Dagon 

and Hydra too 

The blood of sacrifice 

washes clean, the Deep One brave and true..." 

 

She fell silent when the vessel descended below the waves out in the North Atlantic, putting her hands on the front window as they went. "I can hear them," she breathed in English, her voice full of awe. "There must be very many..." As they went lower and the light above faded, the others could hear too; a deep rumble like an underwater earthquake that went on and on. They let the ship fill with water as they descended, the better to protect it from the pressure outside, and so they could all get used to what lay out there. They went lower and lower, until Mother Unit began to worry about just how low the ocean's bottom actually was - until finally about a mile down, they found what they were after. 

 

The first thing they saw as their ship descended was movement - the wriggling, writhing mass of Deep Ones below that turned out to be much larger than they'd first thought. Baby's lights showed them what had to be a mass of thousands of Deep Ones, a horde as vast as the one that had attacked Freedom City years ago. They were arranged in a shape a bit like a three-petaled flower, one that Mother Unit recognized as being used by the Grue Arcane as well. From above, an awestruck Aquaria guessed there must be a dozen tribes there, maybe more. 

 

At the center of the 'flower' was their destination - a vast, cyclopean temple as big as a small skyscraper and as broad as a city block, its stonework vast and infamous in the gloom, all black marble like wrought iron, vaguely resembling the trident slung across Aquaria's back. None of the Deep Ones below rose to meet them as they landed amid the surging crowd beneath the steps of the temple, but the songs outside seemed to die as legions of gold-black eyes turned to stare at them. Aquaria rose, trident in hand, a fierce look in her eye. "Ia!" she called, before hitting the button that opened the front of the ship. 

 

She strode out boldly amid the crowd of Deep Ones and tried to keep down her awe. So many! Dark Brothers, coastal dwellers like herself, armored warriors and swarming spawn, all of them watching her. Was she like them? She was - and in some ways she was not. Holding her trident high, she swam forward with powerful strokes and drove it into the ground. "Behold! The Water-Bearer comes! Of the tribe of Dagon and Hydra!" They were bold words to declare herself an unashamed outcast, and something like a gasp went through the crowd. "I have traveled among the Sea of Stars and across the Surface! I have slain my foes and heard Hydra's song! I have taken what I will and done Dagon's deeds! Will any dare challenge me - or my companions?" To an outsider, it looked a bit like she'd bared her teeth and bellowed loudly at her fellow Deep Ones, some of whom were now bellowing back. 

 

-

 

"I'm sure your assistance will not be necessary," said Dalekos smoothly. "I do appreciate your presence here as a sign of cooperation between Surfacer and Atlantean against our common foe." 

 

In Atlantean, he said to Heroditus, "<If you think him necessary, then let him be your remige. But his life below is in your hands.>" It was not quite a chastisement - but it was certainly the most serious Heroditus had gotten from the elder general. "<Your sister's magic - I will need to know what she can do.>"

 

At the embassy, they joined up with a party of armored warriors who Heroditus at first mistook for barbarians before recognizing several of the soldiers who had come with Heroditus on their first trip together, some of whom gave him respectful nods, and even sympathetic comments as he passed. "We play the part of a barbarian warlord and his vassals, come to parlay with Deep One chiefs." The tone of disgust in his voice told Heroditus what he thought about that. "Come, let us make sure you are dressed appropriately," he said, divesting himself of his Surfacer garb and donning silver armor that did more to accentuate his muscular physique than actually conceal it. They were standing at the Embassy's floating dock, alongside a submersible craft that looked like a barbarian design to Heroditus but to Ben looked a bit as if someone had hired Leonardo da Vinci to build a submarine with its brass-and-iron-looking frame, visible wheels, and vague suggestion of a technology he barely understood.

 

Octo-Man didn't speak Atlantean - but he could read the skeptical looks in the faces around him and the vaguely contemptful body language of these muscular, armored warriors as they looked him over despite Dalekos's short introduction.. One exception turned out to be one of the women in the dozen-strong group, who with her relatively slight frame and white-colored armor stood out amid the iron-and-silver crowd. "You," she said in accented English, shouting a little as she caught his attention by all-but-turning his head to face her. "You magic?" she asked seriously, staring at Octo-Man with green-tinted eyes. 

 

 

[Fox]

Indira stole a bit of air as the ship filled with water, which distended her torso rather noticeably until she'd managed to even herself out and just be slightly larger; she was not much of a fan of keeping anything inside her own mass, uncomfortable as it was, but she was somewhat heavier than her companions (at least, without the armor?) and she'd be glad for the ballast if she had to swim or surface quickly. Or if there were pockets of especially deep sand; she was not a fan of sand. It was a traitorous substance.

 

Aquaria's entrance was, she was sure, a deeply impressive one - though she didn't pretend to follow it all, she knew a challenge and an introduction when she saw one. She strode out of the elevator as confidently as she could manage, bipedal form falling forward to hit the ground on four thick arachnoid legs, torso slimming to support not just her sea-worthy appendages but a new pair of arms, long and multi-jointed and wickedly-scythed. Her more traditional arms she kept clasped in front of her, impassive as she turned an elongated head to eye the crowds.

 

She had no mouth; she hoped her three obsidian-black eyes betrayed nothing. If this all went very very badly she was not sure she could defeat everyone assembled. She was fairly sure she could make them regret the attempt.

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue

Designed to, and having grown up, in the vacuum of space Daphne didn’t need to breath though she quite enjoyed doing so and for appearance sake grew a set of gill slit on her neck that looked quite fancy if she said so herself. She was quite pleased with the cloak she’d recently added to her costume as it floated quite nicely in the water.

 

Not really being on for water, another side effect of growing up in space, she didn’t really know how to properly move around in the water at all. So instead she used her telekinesis to float behind the other two, trying very hard not to outshine Aquaria, it was her people after all.

[Dr Archeville]

Heroditus nodded at Dalekos' words, and OctoBen could tell he'd been given a stern talking to.  "As you know, General, my sister," he began, in English so his squadmate could understand, "is a highly skilled sorceress.  She possesses mastery over water, and a lesser control over air, earth, and sound. I have seen her project bolts that damage or ensnare, create defensive shields or other crude shapes, and propel herself at fantastic speeds.  I know she had also dabbled in mental effects, communicating with animals, or with other spellcasters, but her tutors had urged her to focus on her elemental studies.  She had also tried her hand at transmutations -- trying to upstage me," a grin crept onto his face, then quickly faded, "but she could only manage such with water.  Salt to fresh, liquid to ice, and so on."

 

He saluted the gathered soldiers, and thanked them for their condolences.  He eyed the submersible warily (and wondered if -- hoped that -- it was sturdier than it appeared) as he was escorted to the changing area.  When OctoBen saw him again, he looked like something from a fantasy art calendar, all thongs and straps, with his pouch-belt and bandolier nestled among them.

[Avenger Assembled]

Down Below 

 

Both Miss Grue and Wraith were objects of attention by the Deep One crowd, all big eyes and teeth, but not the sort of attention their look would have gotten on the Surface. Wraith might not have spoken Lemurian, but she knew enough Deep One body language from sharing space with Aquaria that she could see the mix of awe, pleasure, and fear as the Deep Ones watched and sang at what she'd made of herself. It seemed they liked what they saw! 

 

Daphne could understand the words but it took her a moment to realize exactly what she was hearing - this great assortment of Deep Ones was not merely talking to itself but singing. She could hear elders teaching the young, warriors singing songs of the hunt, the young at play; all the sorts of things she might have expected to hear from a gathering of hunter-gatherers. None of them seemed to know exactly what to make of her; it sounded as if several of the watching adults in the little 'square' before the temple thought she was some sort of mammal! 

 

It seemed no one was going to challenge Aquaria's threat display - so she took out her trident and held it with her side with casual ease. The sight of Hydra's trident brought the exciting singing from the crowd she'd hoped for, even as it occurred to her that she was not exactly being subtle. "I am Hydra's champion!" But of course, subtlety was never really required among her people. "Where are those of the Steel Mountain tribe?" 

 

"Behold!" bellowed a voice. "One comes!" The female that strode forward out of the crowd looked more than a little like Aquaria - more frog than fish, like a noticeable majority among the Deep Ones. She was dressed in a loose assortment of sealskins that covered very little, a long spear clutched in one hand, and looked a bit more of the undersea hunter than some of those around - the fishy Deep Ones seemed to be the wealthier ones, dressed in dark leather studded with metal. She was surrounded by a small crowd of young, some half-dozen or so, who darted about her like a school of fish. Aquaria and Naia looked at each other, mother and daughter held apart by time and culture, struck their polearms on the ground together - and said nothing else. Deep Ones really weren't much like Surfacers. 

 

While mother and spawn greeted each other (and Aquaria made introductions), the young took a great interest in Daphne and Indira. "Got any meat?" one begged Daphne in a voice like a human toddler, staring at her with big black eyes as it swam around her quickly, a few siblings joining in the song, baring mouths full of tiny, razor-sharp teeth. "Meat! Meat!" Another one, braver than the others, floated over and began circling Indira, swimming out of immediate reach of her limbs. 

 

Naia looked at the others and took one of her necklaces in her three-fingered hand, speaking slowly and distinctly. As she did, her voice a low rumble, the necklace flashed and - and spoke itself. "This. Work? Took it from - Atlantis-Man. Can understand you." 

[Amelia]

Octoman

 

Quote

"We play the part of a barbarian warlord and his vassals, come to parlay with Deep One chiefs."

 

Ben grinned nodded appreciatively when the armored warriors walked in. "AW YEAH. Man, no kidding, straight-up rockin' it BORIS VALLEJO style! Dudes just walked off the cover of one of my dad's old HEAVY METAL CDs! Damn, y'all keep it TIGHT. MAD respect."

 

Quote

"Come, let us make sure you are dressed appropriately."

 

Erroneously assuming that Dalekos (or anyone else) was talking to him, Ben shook his head. "Nah, Man, it's cool, I'm all set." His flesh rippled, contracting and expanding in a thousand places, and suddenly he was wearing his Octoman costume. "I mean, unless you think I should go INCOGNITO?" More rippling, and then he looked like one of the ersatz barbarians. "Y'know, ELEMENT OF SURPRISE?" His form shifted back and forth a few more times. "I mean, I'm cool either way..."

 

Quote

"You," she said in accented English, shouting a little as she caught his attention by all-but-turning his head to face her. "You magic?" she asked seriously, staring at Octo-Man with green-tinted eyes.

 

Octoman's face spread into a cocky grin at the woman as he leaned against a nearby wall. His voice lowered. "If by 'MAGIC' you mean that special somethin' that can't be taught, makes a guy stand out from the crowd, that spark you just can't define but you can't get him outta yer head..." Suddenly the smile vanished from his face and he looked away for a moment, like he had just remembered something. He sighed, turned back toward the woman, and shook his head. "Nah, no soy magic, no tengo magic." He waved his hand up and down his torso. "Magic-free zone up in here. 'Human mutate,' that's the TECHNICAL term for it. Retroviruses, radiation, all part of a complete breakfast. Oh, my blood's radioactive, so if I, like, tripped a sensor or somethin', that's why. RELAX." He pinched his thumb and index finger together. "Teeny tiny amount, couldn't give a BABY cancer." He chuckled. "Drives the Homeland Security guys NUTS, though."

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Ben demonstrating of his powers had sometimes gotten a negative reaction from onlookers - after all, there was a lot of losers and haters out there. But the reaction of the Atlantean warriors was something else, a sudden inhalation of breath and a tension like the cocked string of a bow. Not an adolescent's fear of something new, but the sudden response of trained warriors to an enemy in their midst as all eyes turned to him. No actual blades were drawn, but it gave some context to his interrogator's question about magic. 

 

"Good." Said interrogator didn't seem to mind his display of power at all - she smiled as the other Atlanteans went back to their preparations - they must have arrived in the last minutes before departure. "You like our surprise for Deep Ones then!" She laughed, and introduced herself as Doctor Galena. She looked older than anyone else there, even Dalekos, perhaps why she was wearing battered white body armor rather than the somewhat-scantier clothing on the others - and was unarmed, save for the long white staff she carried, which looked a bit like mother-of-pearl on closer inspection. "Don't mind Guard. They never see Surfacers before." She winked at him. "I been 'around the street.''" 

 

Once all surface preparations were ready, the group climbed aboard the submarine, which on closer inspection looked like a military vehicle from Heroditus's grandfather's day. There wasn't much room inside, but nobody seemed to mind. It helped that the ship filled with water as they descended, letting corridors turn into three-dimensional working spaces as soldiers swam above and around each other rather than around. The flooding also meant the ship could have windows, and from its forward compartments the assembled group could watch the sun fade as the waters closed around them and they descended into the depths. 

[Fox]

Indira's head turned to watch the little frogling swim...and kept turning, swivelling a full 360 degrees on its neck. She was, briefly, homesick - little flashbacks of playing hunting games with some cousin's young children, when they were too young to know words but old enough to be released from the nursery, not completely feral anymore. All half-formed mimicry and naive ambush tactics.

 

Three long, soft grasping tendrils snaked out of her back, lazily swishing through the water to feign grabbing at the child. Never fast enough to reach, always fast enough to encourage swimming just a little faster, darting out of the way just a little more strategically. Good hunters learned how to be fast and clever. Good teachers knew how to make teaching a game. Her grandfather had taught her that, and since he hadn't taught her obscure underwater Earth languages or diplomacy, she settled for keeping a metaphorical ear on the necklace's translations.

[Dr Archeville]

Doctor Galena?  I have heard my mother speak of her.  Blunt and unconventional, stubborn and intense, but unquestionably skilled.  Though I also recall something about her disdaining most mechano-mystical devices, and favoring older, simpler medical techniques, such as herbalism and direct spellcasting.  But why is she here?  Wait, there was something else about her, an interest in Deep One culture... is she here in a diplomatic capacity?

 

Heroditus had seen many ships like this before -- even been on a few, as a child, with his father and grandfather -- but always in dock, and usually incomplete.  He'd never been in one with active engines, and when it thrummed to life, he placed a hand on one wall to feel the vibrations through the hull.  While doing so, he did his best to stay out of the soldiers' paths, which wasn't too difficult given how well-trained they were in moving about the cramped vessel.

 

Hrm, seems a bit out of alignment.  Nothing too bad, not now, but in a few months that could become an issue.  Once this mission is over, and my sister is returned, I shall have to bring this up with the arcanengineer. 

[Amelia]

Octoman

 

Quote

"Good. You like our surprise for Deep Ones then! Don't mind Guard. They never see Surfacers before." She winked at him. "I been 'around the street'."

 

"It's cool. Most 'surfacers' haven't seen a guy like me before either. One-in-a-million type deal. You could say I've got a UNIQUE package. You probably SHOULDN'T say it like that, too bad we're live, DEFINITELY shoulda gone with the second take on that one. But, like, I can do this, too." Octoman suddenly vanished, appearing again just as suddenly a moment later. Then he faded from view and re-appeared a second time, but slowly, gradually. "So, y'know, if you guys want me to take point on the breach, make a bee-line to the hostages while you guys distract 'em, I can do that." Nearly a dozen tentacles sprouted from his arms and torso with a loud, wet slurping noise, and his "costume" rapidly changed colors and patterns for a few moments, switching from yellow to red and changing from polka-dots to vertical stripes and back. "Or I can be the distraction. Easy to keep their hands full when I got more hands than they do. Whatever you guys need, I gotcha. So what're we talkin', full breach with flash-bangs? Or quiet-like, chloroform to the face kinda deal?"

 

Once the ship filled up completely with water, three folds appeared in the skin on either side of Octoman's neck. They flexed open, revealing their true nature as gills. "NICE. Been outta the water too long. Gotta LIMBER UP, stretch the fins, know what I mean?" He zipped around the compartment like a billiard ball, sometimes sending a tentacle surging forward and then retracting it to pull himself along, sometimes blowing a few air bubbles out of the orifices in his hands and feet to propel himself directly.

 

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue

With a smile, though she thought best not to show any teeth, Daphne kneeled down so she was at the same height as the spawnlings and lent in as if she was sharing a big secret with the little ones.

 

“Not sure if I should tell but I believe Lady Aquaria hides some meat on the ship, in case she feels a little peckish when flying. Why don’t you all go see if you can find some of it? She’s more than happy to share with everyone.”

 

Baby bring online the food synthesisers and produce whatever they desire. Though not synthetic humanoid that would just get awkward. She commanded Baby telepathically as she spoke

 

She’d didn’t need food, though she loved her sugary treats, but for passengers she’d made sure that the food synthesisers were working properly.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Clever! The prisoners from Atlantis," croaked Aquaria, letting the necklace translate for her too when she touched the gem. "Where are they?" She sniffed the water, hoping not to taste Atlantean blood. Naia put a cautionary hand on her arm. As they spoke, her spawn were infiltrating Baby at an alarming rate, wriggling their way through the open door after the smell of meat that was now filling the water around them. 

 

"You bring meat! Good. You know our ways." That was a mother's approval for Daphne. For Indira, the frogling obviously wanted to play but was torn between the new toy and the smell of meat now wafting out of the ship. It swam towards Indira, then towards the meat, then when it was sure Indira was watching it swam more slowly towards the smell of beat coming from the ship. "Those that live are in the temple, awaiting what comes. Get away from them or I will eat your guts and void them out!" she suddenly shouted at a small group of adults who were also investigating the new source of food. 

 

At Naia's warning croak, Aquaria turned her head slightly to take in her friends. "You have to watch adults from other tribes," she said seriously before turning back to Naia. "Who guards them?" 

"The one I told you of, and his vassals." 

"_He_ is here?!" Aquaria croaked, alarmed, her voice a bass in harmony with her spawn's. "Why didn't you say that?" 

 

-

"Oh, a great flash-bang indeed," said Dr. Galena with another chuckle. "We know they are in big Deep One, uh, church?" She shrugged, then said, "We'll chase off those clinging to sides like barnacles, then grab our people from inside." 

 

Dalekos sat stock-still in the captain's chair in the middle of the ship's small command center, looking every inch the barbarian warlord he was pretending to be. With his casual muscular ease, it was hard to believe this was an Atlantean general of high birth. "Benjamin, wasn't it?" he asked, leaning back to look at Octo-Man. He evidently knew how to catch an octopus's attention, tapping his foot against the deck to send noticeable vibrations through the water. "This will be difficult work. Did you mean what you said a few months ago? About fighting them to the last?" 

 

 

[Fox]

Indira's eyes turned up in a smile, and her grabby tendrils made a shooing motion before she reeled them in. At any hesitation, she turned her head up and to the side, giving the little frogling the best view possible of her face - her mouthless, toothless, meat-impervious face. There was no meat-eating to be had here.

 

She was fairly touched by the offer, especially in context.

 

Still, the job at hand. She returned her attention back to her friends, eyes furrowing at the worry in Aquaria's voice. "Someone dangerous?" she hummed, flexing a scythe-tipped arm. "We should know what trouble to expect."

[Avenger Assembled]

Aquaria shifted uncomfortably, looking almost exactly like she had that time that Jessie had asked her where the steaks for the party had gone. Before she could answer, the gates of the temple behind them flew open with a boom. Out stalked a Deep One, great across the chest and back, broad enough to make nearly two of Aquaria. It moved forward, padding on front and back legs that stuck to the stone surface beneath its feet. Raising up on its back legs, it called in a bass voice so deep that it rumbled through the water around them. "BEHOLD! HE COMES!" The cry went through the crowd as well, Naia's echoing of it coming through her translator. She shot Aquaria a fearful gaze, and Aquaria joined the cry of "HE COMES" before the speaker on the temple platform called "THE FATHER OF OUR VICTORY!  DAGON'S CHAMPION! THE HARBINGER OF THE FAR TIDE!" 

 

Flanked by a Deep One on either side, followed by a hooded figure whose face and limbs were invisible, the Harbinger strode out - looking decidedly odd to Aquaria's eyes. Oh the marks of blessing were on him; the great tentacles that arose from his muscular back, the sound he made as he moved as if the gods Below were giving voices, the blue skin - the gold jewelry and what must have been a war trophy, an Atlantean's hand hanging from a gold chain around his neck, but the hair! The mammalian features! This was clearly a Surface-Man! 

 

The Harbinger raised his arms and called below "My friends! My followers! Behold, the mark of Dagon's glory!" He stood aside and let his 'guest' join him in the front; who threw back her hood to reveal a face much like the Harbinger's, a humanoid form warped and changed by eldritch power but still clearly not one born of the children of Dagon and Hydra. A cry went through the crowd, some in anger, some in joy; and the woman and the Harbinger raised linked, suckered arms together. "Behold! Hydra's Chosen!" Aquaria had not joined in the follow-up cries, and was now standing as she looked up at the temple and growled in disbelief "That-that-" 

 

"He came some months ago, from the Surface," croaked Naia under the sound of the ululating, hooting, bellowing crowd. "He killed chiefs, and showed his power - now he has changed Atlanteans. Now you see why I have summoned you, flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone," she croaked to Aquaria. "To save us all." 

[Amelia]

Octoman

 

Quote

"Benjamin, wasn't it? This will be difficult work. Did you mean what you said a few months ago? About fighting them to the last?"

 

"Uh, BenICIO, actually. But, y'know, whatever. Ben, Benny, no wait, not Benny, don't like that, plus there's this other kid at school who goes by 'Benny'...anyway, when I'm SUITED UP like this, the code name is..." He slowly moved his open hands in opposite directions along an invisible arc in the water in front of him. "...OCTOMAN! And yeah, TOTALLY. I'm not gonna, like, do WAR CRIMES or anything. I'm not gonna bust a cap in the back of a kindergartener's head or blow up a hospital, nothin' like that. Oh wait, you know what I'm talkin' about, right? You guys have, like, schools and hospitals and daycare and stuff? Y'all look plenty advanced, but like, in that Tolkien-elf everything-is-magic-crystals kinda way, so I never can tell. But yeah, if you got freaky fish-monsters pillaging and burning..." He glanced around at the water surrounding him and waved his hand back and forth through it. "Well, pillaging, anyway, then yeah, damn sure I'll put fist to face and foot to ass, and probably face to fist and ass to foot if I'm bein' honest. Like, I don't really GET scars, but MAN, if I DID, this face would look like a freakin' ROAD MAP. Wait, you guys don't have roads...like a...oh, a CORAL REEF! Wait, does that just make it sound like I got a buncha STDs? OK, look, point being, ask anyone, I don't run from the good fight, even when everyone else says I should. They kidnapped Squaddy's sis, right? Well, I'm comin' back with her or I'm not comin' back, you feel me?" He pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then at Dalekos, then back at his own eyes again.

 

[Dr Archeville]

"General Dalekos said Theodora had gone missing," Heroditus interjected, "after the attack.  That does not automatically mean she was kidnapped," he said defensively, "she may well have pursued them as they retreated.  She is not some coy damsel to be rescued, she is a... a..." his eyes darted around a bit as he searched for the proper English word, "a firecracker, very active, aggressive-"

 

Some would say too active, too eager to prove herself.

 

"- and I can easily see her moving to take the fight to them.  But she may have rushed in where prudence would be more advisable."  He shook his head, made a few whistle-click Atlantean murmurings.  "If we are very fortunate, we shall catch up with her as she readies an assault.  If we are less fortunate, we may find her as she retreats from a failed attack."  He was clearly considering other, more dire options, but did not voice them for fear of giving them power to manifest.

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue

Whilst that wasn’t her own culture, and programs on Deep Ones were pretty rare, it wasn’t difficult to figure out how this all worked. It was High School cliches just with more gills and marginally more blood and guts.

 

“I don’t recall seeing him in the Leagues files but I’m guessing he’s not exactly the hug everything out kind of person!”

 

It didn’t really matter if he was hurting people, and that always included everyone including Deep Ones, then she wanted to do her best to protect them.

 

“So it’s your call how do you want us to handle this Aquaria?”

[Fox]

Indira watched on with passive disapproval. She wouldn't say that the standard for power and authority was low in this underwater society. That would be terribly rude, and it wasn't her society to judge.

 

She'd think it, though.

 

"I do not trust their intentions," she mused. The noise of the crowd made her want to armor up, and her legs rippled with heavier, plated designs as she fought the urge. "I do not know where they may have come from, but I do not think most people who would visit a foreign people and seize power and authority there do so for good reasons." She moved to glance at her companions, pointedly scanning the crowd as she turned. "I am not sure I advise fighting here, if we are to fight. There is advantage in numbers, and they do not all seem pleased. If there was a riot, many would be harmed unnecessarily. But I will follow your lead."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sea Devil considered Wraith and Miss Grue's words, her eyes wide pools of gold and black as she stared up at the ritual aftermath at the top of the stairs. "You will not fight. If the two of you enter the temple, you can free the ones within. _I_ will make the challenge." And then, pushing her way out of the crowd of Deep Ones in which they stood, she swam in powerful strokes to the temple steps. The crowd had gone silent now, whispers flashing through the crowd and above that sounded like "her!" When she reached the temple steps, she struck them with her trident and began striding up them towards the Harbinger and his party. "Behold! The Sea Devil comes!" she boomed. 

 

The icthyoid priest at the Harbinger's left hand spoke, pointing at her with a three-fingered, clawed hand. She bellowed, "You! Apostate! Lone female!" Some in the crowd shouted this too. "You dare come among us in this holy place? We should take your life and leave your bones for the Atlanteans you love!" 

 

"I come as Hydra's champion!" bellowed Aquaria, turning to the crowd. "Does Dagon's champion so fear me?" 

 

The Harbinger approached, his tentacles surrounding him like the wings of an angel, his tone sickeningly reasonable to Aquaria's ears. "Sea Devil. I know your story - how you sang the Mother into the world when Destruction came. We need not be adversaries." He smiled, showing disgusting flat teeth this close. "The last of my vassals comes. Won't you join me in greeting them?" He gestured off to where the sound of engines told Aquaria what was coming - an Atlantean party. They were potent words - a Deep One would not fight another before an Atlantean's eye. 

 

"They sing of youuu," said the female at the Harbinger's side, addressing Aquaria as the submarine came into view. Her eyes were bulging black and gold, her skin blue-white, and there was something familiar about her that Aquaria could not quite place. "The Gods Below."

 

"As well they should," croaked Aquaria firmly, glad that the mutated Atlantean was at least reasonable. "I am, ah, sure they sing of you, too." 

 

- 

 

"Well well well!" Dalekos was on his feet in the bridge, animated with excitement as the old-fashioned crystal display before them magnified the scene below. The horde of Deep Ones below was frightening, the barbarous temple intimidating, the small group at its top a mystery. "The Harbinger _and_ the Surfacer's pet, all in one place." The view didn't let them make out the words, but they could see the blue-skinned humanoid and the small cluster of deep-dwelling Deep Ones, as well as the armored figure of the Surface 'heroine' Sea Devil. "Perhaps we have a greater opportunity here than we thought." The Harbinger turned his body in the direction of the submarine's 'cameras' as they approached, showing the grisly trophy that hung from his neck. The female that was with him didn't quite face the camera, her tentacles waving as she spoke to the Sea Devil. 

"And you have word," said Galena, in English for Octoman's benefit as she spoke to Dalekos. "Nothing more than is required?" 

"Yes, of course," said Dalekos with a dismissive wave, speaking in the same language. "Only if it is necessary to release the prisoners. And whatever is left, we will add to your collection. Boys," he said, turning to Artificer and Octoman as their ship landed on the temple's front portico, "are you prepared?" 

 

 

[Tiffany Korta]

Miss Grue

Watching the Deep One interacts made her think of one those show about primitive humans, normally with a title about the culture they were from. Though at least she could more or less understand, and appreciate the drama of the whole thing. Though as interesting it would be to watch it all play out like the ultimate interactive play they had people to help rescue right now.

 

“So how do you want to play this? Should be do a stealth mission or try and shapeshift and bluff out way in?”

 

She knew Wraith had more experience than her in these kind of circumstances, maybe she should have gone to superhero school rather than current studies in film and media.

[Dr Archeville]

While Heroditus' eyes were directed at the viewcrystal (is he wearing my father's hand as a...?!), his ears were focused on the conversation between Dalekos and Galena.  What are they up to?  More 'military secrets'?  What is 'it'?  And what 'collection'?  There is always more going on under the surface, but which is more dangerous: the things out there, or the things in here?

 

He turned and nodded to the general, hoping his expression did not betray his inner turmoil.  "I am, General," he replied with a sharp salute, then began going through the components in his pouches.  "I have blasters of various elements and energies, and my alchemical gauntlet to reshape matter in the battlefield, both tried and tested devices.  My image caster may be less useful," he pulled two strips of metal half out of one pouch, which OctoBen recognized from their time in tech club, "but I am sure I can repurpose it for the coming engagement."

[Fox]

Wraith wavered back and forth, chitinous-seeming legs shifting in the sand as she thought. "...stealth, I think," she said, finally, "and bluff if we are caught, and awe if we cannot bluff, and fight if we cannot awe. I would very much prefer to bluff," she admitted, casting her eyes toward her friend, "and I am open to debate, but I fear our ignorance. We do not know this place or its people, and we risk...what is the term. Faux pas?"

 

She shook her head, already back to pondering the temple from their distance; water was useful, and opened some options, but closed just as many. Her blades withdrew,  body collapsing into something multi-legged and agile, better at slipping and sneaking through crowds and corridors. It was...not ideal to do so in a crowd, but hopefully more eyes were on Aquaria...and few eyes would follow. "We may have to re-evaluate once we reach them. I do not know that we can bluff or sneak them all, but hopefully by then we will have options better than open war. Even we cannot protect so many at once. Shall we go?"