ic Only Monsters Left Alive (IC, open)

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

Daniel narrowed his eyes for a moment as his mind reached out to this General Dalekos and caught a climpse of his surface thoughts. Had Iris come instead of him then she would have dug into his mind a little deeper but Daniel was different. Just those surface level thoughts was enough for him. His eyes shifted to Michael briefly and the other teen and hear the male twin in his mind. 

"The General means harm. Be careful." 

Then he turns to Dalekos with a smile. "Nice to meet you sir. I am Daniel, another student from Claremont, as for your question, there are about two classes on the trip, and we are being overseen by a member of the Freedom League, Velocity. We do hope you can understand why we want a peaceful Ocean for today." 
He was lying through his teeth. Hopefully Dalekos didn't pick up on anything.

 

Meanwhile, Iris looked over at Vueriz curiously, she had very little interaction with the little alien, maybe this would be a good time to attempt to make another friend. "Well not yet...we still have to be able to see each other to communicate telepahtically. But who knows what will happen when our powers grow...might I ask what you are making?" She did notice the other's hand fidgeting with some kind of device and the female twin was extremely curious about this.

[Poncho]

Michael was about to say directly exactly who was here, but Daniel stopped him with his mental message and Michael frowned momentarily before smiling.

 

"Something like that. As for Artificer..." he paused for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Oh right! Yes! I remember. I'm in the Yearbook club, so I've looked through all our previous yearbooks; I do remember their name, but I've not talked to them personally, unfortunately. There was one moment if I remember where we were at the same party last year, but some other issues cropped up and the adults were dealing with their own issues...or maybe he wasn't? It's been quite a while since that party and I talked to quite a few people."

 

Then he continued being diplomatic, floating around the ship as he took it in, enjoying the designs. "So yeah, Art Deco is what this style is called in our surface text books. Like I said, huge fan. Several of the buildings in New York still have large art deco influences since they were put up in the late 20s or early 30s...almost 100 years ago. I have wanted to go to the Radio City Music Hall for years, maybe I'll get to go soon. So are all your ships this beautiful? Such an excellent mix of form and function..."

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Parker had remained with Vueriz, Iris and Lawrence, opting to stay behind rather than fly up. Despite his own admitted prejudice and misgivings about the Deep Ones, this all just sounded like trouble, and he would rather stay back in case Michael couldn't make friends with them.

 

Vueriz seems almost frantic, the way she is building the machine. She is hard to read, being different from the rest of them, but Parker thinks he is getting the right idea about her, at least.

 

"Expecting trouble, Vueriz?" he asks, his tone making it clear that he agrees with her, without saying it outright.

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz winced internally as the question she had been trying to avoid got asked, her fingers quickly building the intake for the ionization chamber while her tail kept the device steady. She chuckled nervously, "Oh this little thing, it's a Hardlight Projector, it creates a large platform that floats in place. They are quite common in my home galaxy. This one has a small addition of my own design, it's core is filled with charged particles at high pressures so that if it is breached it will expel them and stop whatever penetrated the..." Vueriz paused, realizing that she had come dangerously close to straight out saying that she was building a shield generator. Which she was, but-

 

Parker's comment causes her racing thoughts to grind to a halt as she rubs the marble she'd found against her shirt to polish it into a lens. With a shaky exhalation she dropped her pitch to a whisper, leaning in to talk to the pair without being overheard. "I don't think things are gonna stay peaceful, no matter what the One Pertaining to Water wants. I don't have my gadgets, but with this I can project barriers to protect everyone. I'm hoping Michael and Daniel manage to defuse things, but just in case. Right? We don't want to get caught in a warzone-" She cut off before she said 'again'. Her hands shook as she inserted the newly polished 'lens' into its place, eyes scanning over the assembled Deep Ones. 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence frowned slightly as Aquaria mentioned things possibly being difficult because of a war between the Deep Ones and Atlanteans. He simply gave the Deep One hero a small nod and moved over near Parker and Vueriz.

 

"This may go south pretty quickly if Michael isn’t able to calm tensions with the Atlanteans." The blond teen stated before listening to Vueriz describe what she was working on. "That sounds like a good plan Vueriz, hope you can have it ready in time."

 

He then made his way back over to Aquaria and Ms. Harcourt. "Hopefully Michael and Daniel can defuse things with the Atlanteans. If not, we will try to keep everyone safe and prevent either side from getting injured."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Atlantean art and architecture is the finest in the world," said Dalekos cheerily, his hands folded behind his back. "Far grander than anything you'll find in a dryland city. Perhaps I'll give you a tour someday. After all, Atlanteans and drylanders have been friends for nearly a century now." He eyed the distant tower, then said, "Well, I'm sure you can understand that this is a difficult situation for all of us. Why don't you guide us over to the Deep One colony, so that there isn't any - trouble?" He smiled at that, all avuncular warmth. "It'll be a pleasure to see Velocity again." 

 

-

 

"We were under the impression that Atlanteans avoided this area, Ms. Innsmouth," Ms. Harcourt said to the Deep One heroine, her voice cool and professional in front of her students. The words seem to cut the frog-fish abomination to the quick. 

 

"Y-yes," agreed Aquaria, sounding as embarrassed as any of the kids might have been if called out by Ms. Harcourt "and they do! They know Surfacers come here, because we are strong, and make powerful friends, and they will not fight in front of you! And neither will we!" To her people, she spoke in a sound like a deep croak. 

 

"<I think they are weak! We will show them we are strong! Let them strike us if they dare!>" The chant of <Strong! Strong! Strong!> went out among the Deep Ones, and everything seemed to be working - it was a better chant than <Blood! Blood! Blood!>, anyway. 

[Poncho]

"The absolute finest in the world!? Incredible!" Michael said cheerfully. "We have great artists above ground, but to think there was even more under the ocean...where could we even start with such masters? How much could you show us just with what you deem as refuse or garbage? Could your children put our own masters to shame? Is your education curriculum intense? I'm actually doing a report on different ship designs across different countries. It's just a little extra credit I'm doing for history class, figured it would be fun so I signed up for it. I would love to include some Atlantean history in my notes; though obviously I'd need proper citations...but I bet a video would suffice. Are you okay being interviewed on my phone camera so I can cite our discussions later? It'd be great for me. I could even get extra credit maybe? That'd be great...I only got a 95 on my last history test, it was one of my lower scores, I'm really concerned about my grade to be honest."

He was kind of babbling, but that was the point; just suddenly saying Velocity was on the platform without her actually being there meant he had to come up with some sort of plan to resolve this. But his friends had a lot of different talents, right? So they just needed time to prepare.

 

"Okay, you want to go to the Platform? We can probably manage that, but I can't do it. I mean, I'd need to carry you, after all, and that's a bit awkward. But someone on the platform can open portals, so how about Daniel goes and gets them to open a portal. That'll work out right? Meanwhile maybe you can tell me a bit more about this amazing boat? Or maybe the designer. if this is a work of art, surely it's designer must be famous. How is it powered? It's not powered by like oil or gas or whatever, right? And I'd assume not solar power...so is there some sort of crystal power energy source?" He glanced at Daniel. Someone needed to come up with a definite plan to deal with this; a fake Velocity or something, and he wasn't the person who could do it, but Daniel could at least tell the others to give them time to prepare and maybe come up with something.

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Parker looks up at Michael, when Vueriz and Lawrence both agree that things might go bad soon. He can't say that he disagrees. He has faith that Michael will do his best to talk them down, and he is usually good at it, but the Atlanteans and the Deep Ones are different. Not human. Who knows how they will react?

 

"Sounds like the platform might come in handy. It's better to have it ready, anyway," Parker praises Vueriz. "How about we join Sea Devil and Ms. Harcourt again? It's probably better if we all stay close."

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt 

 

Vueriz' tail dug through some debris as the others praised her idea (She definitely didn't preen or blush) fishing out an old stereo. That would be useful. The antenna could be used to assist in the projection process while the speakers would let her counter any resonant buildup. She quickly she started disassembling the contraption as she nodded at Parker's suggestion to go back to their chaperone and he heroine.

 

She hoped her project was done before things got out of have hand.

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

"Of course sir. Let me just go and talk to them, better to be ready for your arrival after all." Daniel smiled and looked back at the Oil Rig where everyone else was. He was looking for anyone that got closer to them...

...meanwhile, Iris was watching Vueriz for a while before looking out over the ocean. She had a bad feeling about this, the others weren't back yet...

[Avenger Assembled]

"Thank you for your courteous offer," said Dalekos with a pleasant smile. "But by Poseidon's blessings, I can travel on my own." He gave an order to his men who nodded, the boat beginning a notably slower journey towards the tower. And then he rose in the air to the faint sound of the fluttering of invisible wings, previously-barely-visible sigils on his armor glowing with a power Michael and Daniel didn't recognize but could certainly feel. "Now to answer your question about architecture," he added as he flew slowly, almost conversationally over towards the Deep One colony, "I consider myself a minor specialist..." 

 

- 

 

Back at the tower, the mood got tenser as the flying duo approached. Sea Devil busied herself with drill among her assembled people, reminding her people that they would not spill any blood unless theirs was spilled, that they would show how strong they were by not fighting. Iris could feel the emotions popping around her; Aquaria's concern and palpable embarrassment, the suppressed anger of the other Deep Ones, and all the rest. The Deep Ones under the water were playing coy, but she could tell they too were preparing for - something.

 

Meanwhile, something peculiar was happening somewhere else... 

[Poncho]

Michael was not expecting this, and he really had no counter to Dalekos suddenly revealing he could fly. He wasn't going to get into a fist fight with an Atlantean, especially when he hadn't really done anything wrong. But he also wasn't going to let this guy just do whatever he wanted to. He really wished that Daniel hadn't suddenly lied to him; it would be in an easier situation now if the guy wasn't expecting Velocity to be there. Or more likely, expecting her not to be there. Maybe Lawrence could have opened a portal to bring his mom around, but that didn't seem likely; she was probably handling something else equally important, it's not like the adults just waited around for when the kids needed help. Instead he slowly followed Dalekos, drifting through the air.

 

"Please, do go on, Sir. I'm quite interested. Tell me everything you know, I'd love to write my paper on it." he said, reaching into his pocket and starting an audio recording openly; he was interviewing him for his class paper, after all. "So did Atlantean architecture inspire the art-deco period in North America? Your kingdom far surpasses the United States in age, after all, so it would make sense that the US was inspired by your architecture if there was any cross pollination."

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum
 

Daniel regretted lying about Velocity as in his mind he had sealed their fate. He had thought just the mention of such a hero such as her would scare the General off. In hindsight he should have known that it wouldn’t have worked.

 

The young man flew next to Michael, his eyes trained on the Rig. The first student he saw was going to get their minds blasted with information as he would explain what was going on using his Telepathy.

 

He would make it clear that Dalekos meant harm.

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence opened himself to his cosmic senses, his eyes glowing blue as cosmic energy seeped from them. Carefully studying the area around the group, the blond teen he sensed something that seemed to tap into temporal energy located higher up on the oil rig. Closing his senses off again, the cosmic energy dissipating, he glanced over towards the others. "There is some sort of temporal effect high up on the oil rig, possibly the very top."

"Iris, you up for heading up there see what it might be?" He asked as he prepared to move himself through time and space towards the upper levels of the derelict rig.

[Avenger Assembled]

A great many things happened at once. 

 

General Dalekos didn't actually land on the Deep One-occupied structure, evidently aware of the diplomatic difficulties of such a gesture - or perhaps because he could see the Surfacer super-powered teens watching him. "Why hello there, Ms. Aquaria!" he called to the wary erstwhile Deep One chieftan. "And the others. You've certainly attracted a great deal of attention today!" 

 

"You," said Sea Devil, her face hidden behind her armor's helm, her voice turned to a mechanical boom. "Come and see what we do!" she called, earning a rapid-fire series of croaks and bellows from her kin, scattered here and there throughout the tower, that might have been laughter. "Unless you are afraid." 

 

"So I can die like the other Atlanteans you've killed?" taunted Dalekos. "Or perhaps you'll put on a show for your Surface masters, hm? Let them see what tame Deep Ones look like." The crowd of Deep Ones, those that could understand English, anyway, didn't seem to like that idea - the crew outside could see several of their number hefting weapons as if considering a throw. 

[Kaede Kimura]

Blue Bolt

 

Vueriz' breath quietly hissed between her teeth as the last component of the Shield Generator- a pair of bike pedals acting as hand cranks to generate power- clicked into place, letting loose a small jolt of static electricity that stung and caused the whole thing to flash theatrically. Immediately she settled down to one knee so that she could awkwardly start pulling the pedals with her tail while she entered parameters into the calculator that served as the keyboard and screen.

 

But she didn't activate it yet, hand hovering over the big red button on the side. The exchange between Aquaria and Dalekos making her hesitate, while Lawrence's comment about something temporal happening had her questioning what was happening. Had the Deep Ones brought them here to use as a distraction long enough to launch an attack? What would happen after, when they had served their purpose? Her heart was pounding in her chest as she looked frantically between the ship, the Deep Ones and their leaders.

 

"This whole thing smells. Splitting up seems like a bad idea, but I don't like not knowing what's going on, either with what you're sensing or what's happening down here." She paused to think, tail still slowly cranking the pedal. "I think investigating is the right move. I'll stay down here and use my shield generator to break up any fights. Stay safe, okay?"

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

"There's too much we don't know about the politics here," Parker says, agreeing with Vueriz' statement. As much as he doesn't like the Deep Ones, something about Dalekos is just off putting, and he is clearly taunting them. "Things are going to keep escalating until they blow up."

 

He looks down at Vueriz and the device. She seems ready in case she needs it. That's good, but it would be best if she didn't need it, wouldn't it?

 

"I'll try to talk to them, but get ready, I doubt it'll be much help."

 

The Deep Ones are rattling their weapons, the Atlanteans are provoking a fight... and Parker shifts his distance, flying up towards Dalekos, putting himself in between him and the Deep Ones. 

 

"Hi, I'm Spaceman. Is there anything we can do to to try to keep this from escalating into a fight?"

[Poncho]

Michael had been about to do the same thing as Parker, but the other flying student got there first. He always did, especially in situations like this; acting while Michael was thinking. 

 

He liked that about him.

 

But that meant he didn't want to try and pile on or distract from what Parker was doing in the moment, since negotiation usually worked better if you were bringing the focus to a single point. 

 

So he floated close to Dalekos, keeping an eye on the Atlantean. It wasn't like the Deep Ones weren't also threatening him, it sounded like; not that Michael could understand what they were saying, but it wasn't like Sea Devil was helping here either. This was long simmering racial tension that the students were caught in the middle of.

 

He looked back and forth between the two in frustration, hoping Parker could handle this. But he also was now wondering why Dalekos had even shown up in the first place if not to attack, which he wasn't exactly doing. This was all very tense and strange. He reached out towards Aquaria and the Deep Ones.

 

"It's okay, let's uh...let's not panic here, okay Miss Aquaria? And all the others. We're going to sort this out peacefully, right? No one really wants to start a big fight in the middle of this." he raised his hands as softly as possible.

Edited September 2 by Poncho

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum
 

Iris turned to Lawernce to answer him, she was also curious about these Temporal Effects too...however before the female twin could get a word in. Everything happened at once! While Dalekos and Aquaria were speaking. Daniel would float straight towards Iris and landed by her side. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him." He apologised to the others. Then turned to Parker and spoke in his mind. 

"The Atlantean wishes to slay the Deep Ones." 

Meanwhile. Iris would agree with Vueriz and whisper quietly. "We need to split the two factions up somehow....but how?" 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

The situation on the rig had been rather tense, and before Iris could respond about going to investigate what Lawrence had seen, the leader of the Atlantean's arrived with Daniel and Michael in tow. The Atlantean's response to Aquaria’s greeting did little to ease the tension in the air, and the Parker went up to try to talk with the newcome.

 

Taking advantage of the distraction of the arrival of the Atlantean, Lawrence was surrounded by temporal energy that collapsed in upon itself, leaving the space where he had just been empty. At the same moment, a new temporal distortion appeared on a walkway on the upper level of the rig as Lawrence stepped out to see what he could discover.