ic Only Monsters Left Alive (IC, open)

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

Iris had been excited at first, this was a new place to learn about, as well as a new culture! But the more she saw, the more concerned she was. Of course there was logically no harm that would happen to them on a planned trip like this, but the differences in the Deep One culture compared to what she was used to was jarring. It also did not help that they were on an abandoned Oil Rig, this looked like a setting for a horror movie after all.  As the twins wandered with the group, Iris would feel Daniel's hand wrap around hers. The young man looked brave but she could tell he was extremely nervous. 

Daniel was feeling a little off from the portal, maybe taking a pill might have been a good idea, so that did not help his mood as he gripped his sister's hand tightly. Though he was outwardly nodding along. 

[Poncho]

Michael did not like the sticky, wet, briney portal. He decided he did not like that at all. He was glad he had that pill, and he was realizing he was going to have to go through the portal again, which made him shudder. Unfortunate.

Then he remembered he was in an area around a bunch of Deep Ones. And now he had no idea where they really were. An Oil rig she'd said, he believed that.

 

He recoiled at the site of another deep one; it still didn't get easier, even after the first one, apparently. And then they started talking. That was...gross? He didn't know how else to explain it. The bellows and grunts and the hopping. It was all so inhuman in a way that disturbed him down to his core. He should have been better but he couldn't help it, these creatures were a primal fear to him, he'd seen their rampages. But he wasn't going to just abandon this. He forced himself to smile.

 

"Yes, Miss Innsmouth. Yes Ms. Harcourt." he responded promptly. He admittedly did look at the art, but he didn't find anything that special about it; it was just weird looking. Maybe he was looking at it wrong? He also didn't really smell anything bad. So he had a bit more confidence to him as he continued to walk, following Aquaria; if nothing else, he was being a great person to maybe give the others some confidence. Mostly because he had totally missed the signs of what was going on, though.

[Avenger Assembled]

Sea Devil 

 

"Who among you has ever hunted for food?" Aquaria asked the students as they reached the platform at the base of the rig, the sounds of the tribe's butchery song reaching them as clearly as the smell below. "Ah...some, good!" she croaked with satisfaction. "This will not be new!" She walked up to the railing and pointed down with her trident. "Behold!" She couldn't keep the satisfaction from her voice as she watched the hunters of the tribe, perhaps a score or more (it was hard to tell since sometimes they died) methodically tear pieces from the carcass of the dead whale with their teeth and spears, climbing up on the harness they'd used to drag it in. Soon the hunters would have their fill, and then let it sink below where the females and young would begin the real feast. 

 

"Before I was born," she croaked reverently, "hundreds of years ago, there would have been tribes like this across the waters here, and down out onto the abyssal plain below. Now there are few of us left." 

 

Boal croaked something at her - then tried speaking to the humanoids. "We strong. We kill. We eat!" Was there a tone of great pride in that voice? It was hard to tell - especially when something moved under her hat. Grunting, Boal reached up under the hat and took something in her hands that looked like a cross between a frog and fish and a baby, staring at them with a black, doll's eye expression in its round eyes. Boal was careful to keep to the shadows, holding the spawn in darkness and away from the light of the sun.  

 

"Deep Ones are - Deep Ones believe we are Hydra's children, born from the strength and hunger of the water." She stretched her hand out over the water below - then gave a whoop as the hunters finished their work and released the whale carcass, which immediately began the noisy and noisome process of sinking below. "Tribes like this want to hunt, and raise strong spawn, and - they know very little about the world but what their elders sing to them." Below, some of the Deep Ones who had fed on the whale were climbing up the sides of the rig's legs, heading straight for the platform where they all stood. 

 

"I have told them you are strong! That we are stronger together!" Aquaria added, the last words echoed oddly by Boal. "We will show them!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

In addition to his own teleportation portals, Lawrence had been through ones that took him across vast distances in space and time (including as far as CoVic Station). But none had been quite as unsettling at Sea Devil's portal. Still, the blond teen pushed the uneasiness aside as he took in the surroundings of the abandoned oil rig and then focused on the other Deep One Sea Devil was interacting with.

 

Heading Ms. Harcourt's warning, Lawrence regarded the various artwork from the Deep One’s without lingering on each part of it too long. It certainly appeared that Sea Devil had some important status in this tribe, but exactly how much, or how that might have changed the tribe’s behaviors was less clear.

 

Watching as the hunters began climbing up the rig towards the platform where the Claremont students were gathered, Lawrence glanced over to Sea Devil with a slight frown at her last comments. "Are you saying they are expecting some sort of display of strength?" He asked.

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt 

 

Vueriz had never hunted for food, she wasn't some savage, a judgement that was unshaken as she looked down at the Deep Ones eating the 'Whale', the black blood running everywhere. Miss Harcourt had warned them about the art being weird (which it was, granted) but this? Sure, she probably hadn't known before coming but what the hell?

 

Her head turned slowly to look at Sea Devil as she started talking about Mother Hydra and old tribes and strength and...

 

Were they about to be eaten? She looked between her classmates to gauge their reaction as she continued. As the Hunters climbed the legs. Stronger together, trial by combat or something, that was her guess. It seemed Lawrence agreed. If they lost, they were gonna be the second course, weren't they?

 

Thinking quick she switched her Universal Translator to translate to Deep One. "<Uh, my body is based off of chemicals that are highly toxic to earth animalz. All my classmates are probably contaminated. Eating us, or biting us at all will probably be very dangerous. Possibly fatal.>" She lied (well, about her classmates, probably)

Edited March 21 by Kaede Kimura

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

The twins listened to Aquaria and Boal. Of course both were grossed out at seeing the Deep Ones prepare their food, but they weren't going to say anything about it. After all humans can be just as brutal. No what really tipped them off was the words spoken by their guides. 
Daniel's eyes widened as he stared down at the Deep Ones as they slowly crawled up towards them. He then looked over at Vueriz as she started speaking...something...he had not idea what was happening so he took a few steps back.

 

Iris frowned and turned towards Aquria, instead of speaking she was going to attempt to read the Deep One's mind. After all that would give them a better idea as to what was going on.

[Poncho]

"Strong, huh?" Michael frowned. "I mean, we're still high-school kids. I guess we aren't weak or anything though." he said, looking around at his friends. He was pretty weak; at least to his assumptions. He knew he couldn't match up to Lawrence or Parker. Veuriz's intellect made him look like a child- Parker and Lawrence were also quite smart-, and the twins had brilliant mental powers. He was mostly just a weaker version of Parker, all things considered. But he wasn't going to just admit that he was weak, or let that get him down. So he looked at Sea Devil and nodded.

"If we have to prove we're strong, we can do it, I think...but you said 'together' right? So is this some kind of thing where they need our help? If we can help them, then yeah, we can definitely do that!" He said with a nod. Sure they were weird freaky fish people; even Sea Devil. But he was doing his best to keep his fear and disgust down; he wanted to be better than he was.

[Avenger Assembled]

A swirl of voices were shouting in Aquaria's mind. A glowing blue, translucent woman who declared "You are a bad teacher!" A round-faced, late-middle-aged African-American woman who declared "Maybe you should be back in a cage!" And worst of all from the emotional color of the moment, an athletic brunette woman, one who looked exactly like a picture Blue Bolt had seen hanging in the Claremont gym, who turned from a wildly daubed easel to declare "You are a bad friend!"

 

"Everything is fine!" Aquaria trumpeted, her throat throbbing as she made eye contact with Mrs. Harcourt, who seemed to be giving her a distinct Get on with it look to the eyes of the teenagers. "We are just meeting each other!" She extemporized quickly, trying desperately to think of how to explain normal things to the strange children of the Surface. "Deep Ones are - strong. And tough! We eat meat, we don't - grow things. I told this tribe, that we could be strong together! By meeting you! Deep Ones greet each other by being strong!" 

 

By this time perhaps a dozen Deep Ones had swarmed their way up onto the level of the walkway, each of them a hopping, frog-faced, fish-bodied abomination - but on closer inspection there was intelligence in those gold-black eyes as they studied the young heroes, keeping to the shelter of the shadows all around. They were all but nude and perfectly inhuman, with green and white bodies mottled with tribal tattoos like those above. Boal had meanwhile turned to Aquaria, clutching her writhing spawn against her chest, and declared, "<Grandmother that one is poison! What if it poisons the water?>" 

 

"<She will not poison the water!>" croaked Aquaria firmly. She was making introductions - the one with one eye was Cyclops, the one with the giant lamprey-like mouth was Larry, the one with the dangling, glowing light over its eyes was Isaac, and so on. "You see! Mighty friends!" she boomed. "Show them you are strong, and not weak!" 

[Poncho]

"Hello! Hello!" Michael smiled as broadly as possible. He had completely lost what attention he was paying to the area around him in order to introduce himself to the new deep ones; he reached out with firm handshakes and met their eyes, knocking down any sort of discomfort by instead going to what he knew; and he knew exactly how to introduce himself to strangers. So he stared them down and shook each of their hands with a strong, firm grip.

 

"I'm Michael Adon. Sophomore. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I'm glad to make your acquaintance. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us."

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz' ability to do a show off her strength was pretty limited unless by 'strength' Aquaria meant 'a two hour lecture on the unified theory of physics' she was pretty sure she had a solid nothing to show off, unless they'd be impressed by her pointy teeth.

 

Well, maybe they would be impressed, given they knew that she was toxic, maybe if she did a threat display? She knew some of the tricks animals used to makes themselves seem more threatening and to signal that they were dangerous. Hopefully...

 

She pulled her mask off, baring her teeth at the Deep Ones before slamming her tail into the deck before yelling vaguely threatening syllables in her native tongue (Lots of z and v sounds). She really hoped her purple blush just looked like a threat display rather than the embarrassment it was. She waggled her ears at them for good measure before affixing her mask again to breathe.

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

The twins looked at each other, then their classmates. They watched to others 'show their strength.' with Daniel even raising an eyebrow at Vueriz curiously. That was the first time he head heard her speak anything in her native tongue, and how strange it sounded...then again she was literally an alien so it made sense. While the male twin was contemplating an alien language, Iris was focused on impressing the Deep Ones so they don't possibly get attacked. So she would point her finger at one of the Deep Ones and lifted them up off the ground then gently put them back down before speaking. 

 

"My brother and I can do that."

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Show that they are strong so the Deep Ones don't try to eat them? Parker frowns. He is not fond of showing off. It feels wrong to use his powers like that, but it sounds like they have to. He could try many things. Vueriz bares her fangs, Iris and Daniel use their powers, Michael tries to be polite and talk to them. Parker could do that, too, but is that effective with the Deep Ones?

 

He walks towards a whale carcass. He doens't like the smell, doesn't like how it will feel to touch, but... Sea Devil wants strength? He can do that.

 

Reaching out with one hand, he grabs hold of the carcass and lifts it up over his head.

 

"Is this strong enough, Sea Devil?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Sea Devil watched, her trident held firmly in her left hand, and relaxed as the students abandoned their fears and actually approached the Deep Ones as equals. She'd been worried about the one, Golden Star, but the strength in his grip and his powerful, manly eye contact seemed to work. In fact, Bunzi, a young female who had not yet mated, was watching the boy with what was clearly interest in her huge green and black eyes. Good, good! Aquaria thought, though of course she'd have to make sure the young one was cautioned out of mating with Surfacers - a degenerate practice that led to degenerate offspring. 

 

From the shouts of the little alien to the psychic and physical might demonstrated by the mentalists and by Spaceman, everything was going well. Things would be easier if they would really shake them up and bruise a few, but things were still going well. She relaxed a little, so did their teacher, and it seemed as if everything was finally going well. Grunting and squatting, then hooting and hollering, the Deep Ones all seemed happy with what they'd seeen. "Good! Now we shall sing you the songs of our people - and there will be gifts! Who wants to hear the song of the stars!" At her words several of the smaller Deep Ones, including Boal's spawn, wriggled and hopped their way towards her, grunting and croaking with great enthusiasm. 

 

Spaceman and Timeout noticed something happening - a silvery vessel had appeared in the water at the horizon and was making its way fast towards the rig. Timeout recognized the design from what he'd seen traveling with his mother; that was an Atlantean submersible. But that was okay; Atlantis wasn't a hostile power as far as he knew. 

[Poncho]

Michael could not believe that this was working. Somehow he had managed to actually impress these Deep Ones just by smiling and introducing himself and shaking hands? Maybe he was better at this then even he knew. That one that looked like it was maybe a female- He couldn't really tell, but it did look a bit like Aquaria- seemed to be appreciative of his efforts in particular. 

 

Maybe this was good; cross-species friendships could be beneficial. Especially between younger generations. As they supplanted the elders, younger people with difference beliefs could move forward society, and he could start here with a Deep One who was maybe around his age. He smiled brightly at her and gave her a little thumbs up. 

 

He was actually still pretty uncomfortable, especially once they started hopping around and croaking, but he was admonishing himself at the same time for being so uncomfortable. So he gritted his teeth and doubled his effort of trying to be nice and inviting to them, trying to get over his own nerves.

"Yes! I would love to hear the song of the stars!" he said, thumping his own chest powerfully. "I am a Star myself! The Golden Star! I want to hear your songs!" 

 

Please don't let them drive him insane or turn him into a weird frog monster or something.

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence frowned slightly as Aquaria confirmed the expectation that they make some demonstration of "strength" and most of his fellow students used their powers in rather impressive ways (from lifting a Deep One to lifting the entire whale carcass). As the blond teen had previously told several of his friends earlier in the year, his powers were not particularly flashy, which made it rather difficult to put on a display of strength. Of course, he could try to freeze one or two of the Deep One's in time, but that could far more easily be taken as an attack than simply lifting one with telekinesis for a few moments, so it did not seem a viable option.

 

So, the teen instead opened up his mind to the cosmic senses he had recently unlocked. As he did so, his eyes went completely blue as they glowed with cosmic energy. Reaching out with those senses, the blond teen was able to sense the approach of a vessel he recognized to be Atlantean. While he was not alarmed by the approaching vessel, it still seemed something that their guide should probably be made aware of.

"Ms. Innsmouth," Lawrence stated as he moved up near her and turned in the direction he sense the vessel to be approaching from, "there is an Atlantean vessel headed this way."

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Parker can honestly do without hearing the Deep Ones' songs, but at least he can put the whale carcass down now. He still doesn't like the entire scene, but it is getting better, at least. 

 

Michael kind of seems to have a good time, or do better than Parker is, at least. 

 

Something is approaching. He looks up in the direction, there's a silver ship approaching. Moving over to Sea Devil, he can hear that Lawrence has already seen it. "That's Atlantean?" he asks. "How are things between Atlanteans and Deep Ones?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Sea Devil stared goggle-eyed at the approaching Atlanteans, turned and looked back at her ululating tribe, then looked at the teen heroes and their adult escort, and then back at the approaching Atlanteans, her grip tightening on her trident. She didn't answer the boy asking about Atlanteans and Deep Ones, not wanting to get into the details of a war that stretched back before the beginning of recorded history, or for that matter her own part in it. 

 

"I - have an idea!" she said in a rumbling voice. "Some of you can fly. You should go say hello to the Atlanteans. Atlanteans are the friends of surface people," she added. "The rest of us can stay here and learn more about each other's cultures!" 

 

She called in a quick bellow to the tribe - "The Atlanteans are here again! But our strong friends will not let them hurt you!" This caused quite a to-and-fro of bellowing along the Deep Ones, which the others only incidentally understood. 

 

"<But I want to hurt them!>" called Bunzi from where she stood admiring Michael, a cry that was by no means unanimous but was taken up by more than one throat among the welcoming party. 

 

"<Will there be guts?>" whimpered the youngling Boal was carrying. "<I want some guts!>" 

 

Sea Devil struck her trident against the metal of the rig and said, "<No one is having any guts! We will spill no blood of theirs if they spill no blood of ours! That is my law! Do any of you want to challenge me?>" she demanded. No one did, though a few did scamper away down the sides of the rig, down to where the rest of the tribe waited. 

 

After the bellowing back and forth, a bit like being in the middle of a large room full of giant frogs and elephant seals, Aquaria added hopefully in English: 

 

"Everything will be fine! We are all heroes here, and learning from each other." 

 

She gave a big thumbs-up to Mrs. Harcourt, who looked around among the teens for a moment before she said, "Who wants to go with the diplomatic party, and who wants to stay here?" 

[Poncho]

Michael was having fun with his new froggy friends, enjoying the brand new and unique situation he was in. But he had paid absolutely no attention to the approaching Atlantean ship, but now that others had pointed it out, he turned his attention to that, inclining his head to the side momentarily as he thought about it, then looked at his froggy friends again and smiled, giving them a thumbs up.

"Sure! I'd love to go and greet them! Getting meet new cultures is good!" he said without fear, having fun just in how out there his current experience was; he wouldn't have been able to do this if he was still a normal kid and his horizons were eternally expanding. So how could he not be happy about that.

 

"If that's okay with everyoen else, at least!"

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz looked between the Deep Ones as they spoke in their own language and Michael volunteered to go 'say hello'. Aquaria's assurance that they wouldn't let the Atlanteans hurt the tribe told her more than enough about how things were between the Atlanteans and Deep Ones.

 

This was about to turn into a fight and she didn't have her gear. 

 

Thinking quickly she slipped between a couple of the tribe members. As much as the Deep Ones scared her she couldn't stand by and let them or her friends get hurt. The biggest threat that came to mind was any weapons that might be on the ship. Her friends were tough, and she'd bet on them in a close up fight, but if the rig was blown up around them...

 

Well, Parker would probably be fine. 

 

She put her worries aside as she pushed a box to stand on and climbed atop it to strip out the wiring and bulbs from an old light fixture, hurriedly wrapping the wires around the sleeve of her left arm with her tail as she pried components from other broken machines, rapidly assembling a cludged monstrosity upon her arm. She tried to hide her worry as she worked and talked. "That sounds great Michael! I think I'll stay, I uh, wanted to show the Deep Ones a cool gadget, it won't be quite the same as back in Zirtimzar, but you know, I think it'll be cool enough regardless."

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

The Atlanteans where coming? This would have surprised the twins had they not learned a bit about them in their classes. Still Iris was a bit put off by how the Deep Ones were...talking(?) to each other. Was there something here that they did not know? It seemed like a fight could break out, needless to say she was growing more and more concerned by this. She would look at each other and their powers connected, allowing them to speak in each other's minds without anyone noticing...unless they had psychic powers.

 

Daniel, you go to the Atlanteans, I will stay here...I do not like this.

 

"Are you sure Iris...? I don't want you to stay alone-"

 

"I will be fine. We've gotten better at this...and I'll have the others with me."

 

"Alright...I promise  I will be back."

 

Daniel then raised his hand and spoke out loud. "I'll go with the diplomatic team haha..." Iris then followed right behind him. "And I shall stay here." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Boal boomed orders to the rest of the tribe, producing a clatter of squatting and leaping and hopping as the Deep Ones took up positions around the sides of the rig. Under Sea Devil's watchful eye, they armed themselves but did not seem to be preparing an attack; instead lurking in the shadows of the rig and its underbelly, taking shelter in the darkness and deep waters that were their home. Most of the tribe it seemed was still below, waiting. Their weapons were mostly spears and knives, wrought iron weapons that they licked or rubbed against their bodies, seeming satisfied to wait and watch. "Everything will be fine," croaked Aquaria hopefully, her grip tightening around her trident. "Atlanteans are friends to Surface-Men!" 

 

- 

 

The Atlantean craft resembled nothing more than an Art Deco speedboat, albeit one with a retractable roof. Some half-dozen warriors were crouched on it, armored in the orange-bronze metal of Atlanteans. They looked vaguely Romanesque, armored and bearing swords and spears. At the approach of Michael and Daniel, one of the Atlanteans flew off the top of the deck to greet them. 

 

Barefoot and less armored than his troops, he hovered in the air, arms folded, an imperious look on his face despite the way he zipped around like a hummingbird. "Greetings, drylanders. I am General Dalekos of the Atlantean Imperial Guard." He eyed the teens, then said, "Your presence is unexpected. What brings you to our waters?" 

[Poncho]

"General Dalekos. It's a pleasure to meet you." Michael said with absolute confidence and certainty. He'd never actually seen an Atlantean up close, but that was okay. He assumed Atlanteans were good people, I mean, that's what they always said. And he had a softspot for Art Deco So he didn't feel like he needed to be on guard or anything. He was just floating there in his Claremont uniform very casually apart from the Atlantean, then offered his hand.

 

"I'm Michael Adon, Sophomore at Claremont Academy in Freedom City. Me and several of my classmates are on a field trip to meet a group of Deep Ones, being chaperoned by Sea Devil, a Freedom City Heroine and Deep One, and Mrs. Harcourt, one of the teachers at our school. Me and my other classmates are having a fun, enjoyable time learning about their culture. We weren't expecting to learn about other cultures besides the Deep Ones. Are you also part of the trip? Will we get to see the inside of your ship and learn about your culture? I'm quite interested in the design of your ship in particular, it shares some similarities with human architecture, and I'm curious if that was convergent design or intentional."

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence watched as Sea Devil seemed a bit uneasy at the approach of the Atlantean vessel, which also seemed to cause a reaction among the other Deep Ones. Sea Devil's suggestion that some of the Claremont students go out to try to talk with the Atlanteans and insistent that the Atlanteans were friendly with surface dwellers did not help alleviate concerns that there might be some potential hostility between the Atlanteans and Deep ones.

 

But, the blond teen did not disagree that it was likely a good idea that a few of the students intercept the Atlanteans and try to talk with them. Not being able to fly, Lawrence himself was not the best choice for that group, so he watched those that could make their way out over the ocean to meet the Atlantean vessel before it reached the oil rig.

 

"Ms. Innsmouth, should we be concerned about the presence of the Atlanteans." He asked, making a more direct question than Parker had previously asked (and not received an answer to).

[Avenger Assembled]

Dalekos looked at Michael and smiled, a low chuckle going through his soldiers a few moments later. "Ah yes, the Surfacer academy. I'm very familiar with your school. You may know Artificer, the young man who would have been - oh a few years ahead of you? He was one of our people." Dalekos's accent was very good; his familiarity with English suggesting a long familiarity with the world above the surface. "We were planning to drop by and visit, ah, Ms. Innsmouth, but I'd hate to disturb her. How many of you are there?" he asked curiously. 

 

In his mind he reached out with his Atlantean strength and swatted Michael aside like an insect, and then slew the degenerate monsters crouching in the Surfacer steel tower, then returned to the Capital in triumph - 

 

- 

 

"Ohhhh," said Aquaria, "it might be difficult, with the war," she admitted frankly to the young man, "but not with so many of you here." She made a low sound in the back of her throat, and spoke with the air of one reciting something carefully learned. "Atlanteans and Surfacers are friends. We are friends to Surfacers! All are friends here!"

 

That prompted a great to-and-fro of croaking among the watchful Deep Ones, and Aquaria added, mostly for Mrs. Harcourt's benefit. "I have tried very hard to make peace here. So we will have it."  She bellowed something at the Deep Ones that perhaps meant the same thing. They quieted anyway, though there was a faint rumble of infrasonic sound echoing through the tower from these throats - and perhaps more. 

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz continued her feverish work to assemble the forcefield projector, the hardlight projector and ionization chambers already taking shape. The lights on the device were flickering as components were added at high speed, the static charges of the modified wires and bottles causing small activations, tiny wireframes of light and spurts of plasma coughing from the cludged piece of super tech. Not wanting to worry her classmates with whatever she was making she decided to try for a very subtle distraction. 

 

"So Iris, you've got telepathy with your brother right? Has Michael made a ship full of best friends yet?"