The Dark Mother (IC)

[Electra]

Erin leaned against the motorcycle, watching and staying out of the way of the first aid efforts. "I can't breathe underwater, but I can hold my breath for a long time. Midnight, have you got any rebreathers or scuba tanks or whatever on you?" She wouldn't have been at all surprised to find that he carried them on the Night Cycle, for just such an occasion. Trevor was nothing if not prepared for all eventualities. "Really though, if these things are coming, won't we have an advantage if we wait for them to get to shore?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I have...aquatic tendencies," replied Fusion. "And I've worked with Atlanteans. Poor kid..." She'd worked with Nereid's father when Thetis wasn't much older than her own daughter was now, and it wasn't easy to see the girl like this. Frowning, she looked out at the depths. "There are some old, old things down in the deepest parts of the Atlantic, and barely 100 million Atlanteans from the colonies in the Azores up to Greenland. They don't have the space to cover everything, and they never have. Something old could be there..."

She hmmed, listening to the others talk and was about to speak before Nereid whispered intently, "Have to hit them first, destroy their army while it's still building." She coughed again, but was evidently beginning to stabilize under Midnight's ministrations: going out of shock, at least. "If they fail here, they'll be a threat to the oceans as well. Since the warlords made peace a generation ago, the armies of Atlantis are positioned to defend our cities against surfacers. If the vampire armies attack...we'll be defenseless."

Fusion muttered a curse. "Even if Atlantis mobilizes, people will die. If we can figure out a way for all of us to function underwater, it sounds like going into the trenches, with Atlantean backup, is the best thing we can do. If we cut the head off the sea snake, we can stop a war before it starts. Either one here, or below."

[Gizmo]

With Thetis in stable condition, Midnight indicated an exposed spot on the side of the Atlantean's swimsuit costume to Fusion. "Keep pressure there. Don't move," he instructed the wounded girl, briefly placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder before standing up and moving back toward the Night Cycle. Along the way he retrieved a small cylinder from his belt and tossed it to Gaian Knight. "Rebreather," the masked man explained brusquely as he replaced the first aid kit in its compartment and withdrew was appeared to be a spare matte black bodysuit. As he adjusted something along the collar, a small ripple of electricity surged through the outfit, leaving its proportions altered and it colour scheme changed to a familiar blue and gold pattern in its wake. "Know a good tailor," he deadpanned, handing the suit off to Wander complete with a cowl with built in goggles that was reminiscent of the one a certain lizard-themed teammate wore and a another rebreather designed to clip into place over the rest of her face. Regretfully, he unbuckled his jacket, storing it in the Night Cycle's hidden compartment as well, along with his weathered fedora and pants, leaving the youth in an inky dark body suit marred only by luminous red eyes vaguely similar to the tentacled horror they'd just beaten back. Toggling his mask's built in filtration system to its underwater functionality, he reflected that although he would be without the bulk of his devices, he would at least be able to move about unhindered.

[Supercape]

Turning to fusion, Supercape spoke. "Er. Where exactly are we going? Atlantis?"

He paused, judging the situation serious rather than jocular.

"Erm. In that case, do we know where aforementioned city is? I mean... have you been there before? sounds awfully swish. And how are we getting there?"

He could go pretty much anywhere of course, and probably manage to take most of the team with him. Of course, there was that irritating magnetic anomaly to contend with. He wasn't entirely sure that was a natural phenomena, if he was honest himself - but he had been too distracted to apply himself to a thorough analysis.

[Fox]

Gaian Knight tried the rebreather out, though he didn't actually use it; he figured he'd be needing every ounce of air it could provide. Removing it, he held it one hand for inspection. "Hm. Thank you - I wasn't keen on the idea of a diving bell of rock getting cracked open by something like that squid...thing. Though it might have been neat to see if it would work at all."

"And how are we getting there?"

He scratched the back of his neck, shrugging. "I guess I assume we swim, or teleport, or...well, fly, for all that it's underwater. As long as someone's willing and able to be our guide, we ought to make at least fairly decent time. I hope. It sounds like there's a bit of pressure to make sure we get to Atlantis or the...vampire armies," I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth, "before they get to Atlantis."

[Electra]

"I'm not even surprised anymore," Erin muttered with a half smile, slipping the cowled rebreather over her head. It didn't do anything good for her peripheral vision, but her hearing was surprisingly unaffected. She wondered if there were speakers built in, or if that was just some property of the fabric. "Teleporting is probably going to be the fastest way. I can get a teleport for me and maybe one other person, but it would take too long to get the equipment to move everyone."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Can you reach the king's throne room?" asked Fusion, giving Supercape a doubtful look. "It's in the lowermost level of the old palace in Triton City, about fifty miles south of Tristan da Cuhna. It's winter in the Northern Hemisphere, so he'll be in his southernmost palace." In happier times, she'd have reminisced about her times in Atlantis, when she was so alone and frightened by the changes in her body, and when the Atlantean men were so very muscular, and wore such little clothing by surfacer standards...she shook off that brief, unwelcome distraction. "There's a clinic there, and if the king is there, we can give the news straight to him."

[Supercape]

Supercape furrowed his brow. Distance was not relevant to teleportation via quantum entanglement, but other factor could come into play. "Interference" from indeterminable sources.

Churning seas and ancient magical cities might qualify.

"I think I can" he said after some concentration. "Forgive me if this is not exactly pinpoint, but I can sense the a city fitting your description, in a location you describe, and I would Imagine the world is not exactly riddled with such places..."

After a few moments more, he continued "and I am not going to be precise with the architecture, either, but I'll take my best guess at a palace in the south."

Stretching out his hand to the other heroes, he furrowed his brown still further, until the two points in the multiverse locked together in his mind. There was a wobble in the dimensions around them, and more than the conventional three. The wobble suddenly jumped to a massive distortion, and the group promptly vanished from Freedom City...

[Avenger Assembled]

Even with the help of Midnight's wetsuits, the sudden transition to the underwater world of Atlantis was disorienting for the surfacer heroes: the enveloping feeling of water all around them, the shift from artificial electrical light to the glowing fungal-infested rock that Atlanteans put in their buildings, and the inescapable knowledge that they were thousands of feet below the surface of the Ocean! It didn't help that they'd appeared in a crowded room, some dozen or so well-dressed Atlanteans starting as people simply appeared in the room with them.

Luckily, there were two people in the party who had been in this very room before! Being back in her native environment seemed to revitalize Nereid, the princess finding her feet within seconds of arriving under the water. As for Fusion, Joan Collier unhesitatingly curtsied...well, half-curtsied, anyway, she had her all-American pride to the only king on Earth she really respected. "King Theseus! I bring your daughter with grave news!" For her part, Fusion took to the water without hesitation, her tentacles drifting out somewhat as the water supported the weight of her whole body. It felt really, really nice to be here...nicer than she'd even remembered.

Theseus, a powerful man with a chiseled physique, smoothly trimmed beard, and wearing a tightly-clinging shirt of pale green mail, stepped down to study them. "Thetis? Child, you're hurt!" He put his hand on his daughter's arm, all fatherly concern. "What's happened?"

Nereid looked up at her father, and suddenly her eyes turned black and her teeth turned to a pointed lamprey's maw. "You are overthrown, my loving father!" And with that, she leaped straight for her father's throat!

[Electra]

Erin reacted instantly, instinct guiding her motion much faster than her rational mind ever could. She leapt between the slavering Nereid and the king of Atlantis, shoving the two apart, then pushing the king behind her and drawing her bat. That was probably some terrible violation of international etiquette, but she could always apologize later. "Somebody grab her!" she called to the others, hoping that she wasn't going to have to beat up the crown princess in the middle of the throne room.

[Gizmo]

As Wander knocked the suddenly violent Nereid back, Midnight was quick to step forth, deftly pinning the Atlantean's arms behind her back using a pressure point thankfully shared with baseline humanity. Tightening his grip as the girl thrashed, the black suited hero grimaced behind his featureless mask. "Should have anticipated. She's infected." The situation had just become far more grave and potentially delicate.

[Fox]

Gaian Knight moved like he was going to say something, and then realized that was probably not a very good idea - his mouth was pretty occupied keeping his precious air supply in place, and he somehow doubted he could make it to the surface if he lost the little thing. Though he could always go down through the floor...and then apologize for it later. What was the social etiquette for putting a hole in a monarch's floor, anyway? Sighing a few bubbles, he reached into his pockets and pulled out a small collection of rocks. I really hope they can speak and read English, 'cos I don't know...er. Atlantean?

At a mental command, the rocks floated up into the air and remolded themselves, stretching and rearranging to spell out the best summary he could manage without 'borrowing' some of the surrounding room.

Vampires. Armies. 'Dark Mother' - cultists? Thetis came to warn, get help.

Really mean squid.

[Supercape]

Supercape bobbed up and down underwater. He wasn't used to being submerged in fluid environments, although he had no particular difficulty - his could breathe easy enough with his modified costume, and lack of light was no difficulty.

It was actually rather pleasant, in an embryonic, regressive way. He was a little ungainly in such circumstances, however.

Goodness me... it really is Atlantis... he thought to himself, and was momentarily lost in wonder until their injured companion leapt at her King and Father in a possessed rage.

Goodness me! he exclaimed again, to himself, in shock.

"Is it infectious as well?" he exclaimed, quickly examining his own body for any possible wounds... and the bodies of his comrades.

[Avenger Assembled]

The spectacle of the fanged and toothed daughter of the king attacking his royal personage in his royal chamber was enough to briefly stun the Atlantean guards into submission, leaving the heroes to grapple with the hissing, spitting princess. Though Fusion entertained a brief, horrifying vision of a vampiric water monster, her tentacles lashing out to help restrain the ferocious princess about the arms and legs, but luckily Nereid seemed unable or unwilling to take her more slippery form. Theseus gave a cry of surprise at his daughter's assault, but luckily the quick reflexes of the assembled heroes stopped her from sinking claw or fang into his bare-skinned torso.

"The shadow-death!" he cried. "Quickly, take her to the orichalcum chamber! She may yet be saved!" The burly Atlantean guards went into action then, by main force grappling Thetis and carrying her out of the throne room as she shrieked murderous defiance and foul oaths. Shocked, the room was silent before the king addressed the heroes. "Tell what has happened. Quickly." As she was the best grappler in the room, Fusion had gone to help deal with the princess, and down the hall helped seal the now vampiric (though hopefully not vampire, that poor little girl!) Thetis inside a perfectly sealed golden sphere that would 'purge the infection from her.' Frowning, Fusion shot a glance down at her left undertentacle and the deep bite mark left there by the squid monsters she'd swept aside with it. She hmmed, and pulled her tentacles back inside her body (at least as far as they would go), before she headed back to rejoin the others.

[Supercape]

"Ah there you are!" exclaimed Supercape at the sight of Fusion.

"What news? Any clearer? Vampires? The Shadow-Death? It all sounds terribly exciting... and, err... dangerous now I come to think of it"

He paused. "Ummm, so are we actually dealing with vampires? their bite infects you or something? it looked like the young royal there got possessed, or something. Some kind of communal mind?"

"You know, if this gets loose, we could be looking at some kind of zombie apocalypse, you know, like in those films. Very contagious. Nasty business. Bitey Bitey lurchy lurchy thing".

He couldn't resist examining his costume again to look for any bite marks he might have missed.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Quite," said the king, shooting Supercape a fierce look. "The shadow-death has threatened my people since before the Sinking. It is a transformation of the flesh and soul, one that turns good men, women, animals, and even plants into the living dead. All that live may die before the power of the Great Mother." He muttered a surfacer curse. "I had never thought to equate them with the vampires of the surface, but now that I think on it...yes, perhaps they spring from the same foul venom, but changed by Mother Ocean." He stroked his beard. "Only immersion in a pure chamber of gold will transform the cursed into what they once were. And that, only if it is applied within a few hours or days. Those who have been with the Dark Mother and Father long enough cannot be saved."

"Are they just another variety of Deep One, then?" asked Fusion, returning with her arms folded around her. "Or do they carry a special curse beyond Serpent blood?" Her tentacle ached, but no more than any similar hurt would have. Surely it was nothing: her physiology was barely human these days, and certainly not Atlantean. She was fine, she was sure: this was hardly the first time she'd been exposed to a toxin like this. _Stupid way to get bitten. I've fought hundreds of undersea creatures like that, and one of them managed to get lucky..._

"They are doubly-cursed. I have seen legions of the Deep Ones bare fangs beyond fangs, and feast on the flesh of even their living worshippers." He hissed at the memory. "But they have not been seen since my mother gave up her post years ago. Their destruction, or what was thought to be their end, was what brought her retirement." He drove his fist into one hand. "We must go below! To the very depths of the Great Rift, where once they dwelt, with the armies of my people at our back! If they have returned, together we shall destroy them!"

[Fox]

Bitey-bitey-lurchy-lurchy sounds like a bad thing. Gaian Knight stuck his hands in his pockets - his very, very wet pockets, he realized, glad he didn't carry much paper with him - and frowned behind his rebreather. Bad enough while it's still down here - even worse if these things make a run for the surface! Not that it'd matter...these people seem like they could use a hand. And even if they don't, a hero's course is pretty clear.

Still floating around him, his little rock words rearranged themselves.

Count us in. We'll help however we can.

[Supercape]

Supercape nodded at the sight of Gaian Knight's Rocks. "You can indeed, your majesty!" he said, with a bow that ended up being somewhat clumsy due to the drag underwater. On reflection, he decided that a magnificent and huge cape, whilst of course very spiffy and everything, was not very practical underwater, what with the drag and everything. In the twinkling of an eye and a shimmer of sparkling light, it promptly folded itself up into the rest of his costume.

Hmph. I'll just be Superbowl or something then he thought, thinking of the transparent bowl surrounding his head.

[Gizmo]

Midnight regarded Fusion with a detached wariness which was difficult to distinguish from his default behaviour. The aquatic heroine either knew more than she was letting on or was hiding something. Either way, the youth resolved to keep a close eye on his similarly attired ad hoc ally. "Vulnerable to gold?" he asked Theseus, his gravelly tone making for an unsettling mix with the submerged acoustics.

[Avenger Assembled]

As the king shouted orders to his generals to plan for an invasion of the Great Trench, he told the assembled heroes all he knew about the vampires down below: their worship of the Dark Father Dagon and the Dark Mother Hydra, how they'd raided Atlantean settlements for generations, and how their ancient history was at least as old as the sunken island itself. "True sunlight may well burn them, but powerful sorcery would be needed to bring such a light to the depths of the Trench. The purity of orichalcum is required to strike at the core of the beasts, but sheer power may rip all but the strongest apart." He promised to make sure they all were equipped with at least some of the precious metal, and that they'd be fighting alongside Atlantis' best.

They had some time to make plans when the generals returned with their staff, the King excusing himself with the simple words. "I'm going to see my daughter." Fusion knew most of them coming in, at least by sight, but of course now wasn't the time for pleasantries. The trip to the Trench, as displayed for them on a map made of an Atlantean parchment that kept its shape even miles below the surface, would take perhaps half a day aboard a fast submarine, and from there down deep into the Trench where the volcanoes blossomed, to the old Temple of Dagon. Fusion offered some advice about the trip, remembering her own voyages in the area some years earlier. The water all around them was cold, the lights in the room the only source of light they could see, providing edges of darkness to their vision. With the immediate crisis over, even as they planned, it was easy to tell just how far down they were.

[Supercape]

Supercape examined the map. He wasn't a geologist, by any means, but he could see they would be going deep. Very deep. It would certainly stress the quantum structure of his costume beyond the parameters he had previously tested. It should hold up, he thought, if he had made his calculations correctly. Fortunately, he didn't often make such errors.

At least Fusion had some experience down in the depths. In fact, she looked more comfortable down here than on land in some ways. Quite at home. He didn't know the heroine well, of course, but the way she floated around on those tentacles indicated she was made for underwater life. Unlike himself.

One question needed asking however. "By true Sunlight, what do you mean?" he asked politely "ultraviolet radiation? light? or is it some, um... mystical"...he was uncomfortable with the word "quality?"

He could quite easily nudge a few atoms around to stimulate the release of the former. The latter was well beyond him.

[Avenger Assembled]

The king explained to the heroes that sunlight from the surface was indeed necessary to damage the vampires of Atlantis; he'd heard of both scientific and sorcerous ways to accomplish this goal. After that, though, it was time for their journey to the Ridge! Even Atlanteans used vessels to travel to waters so deep and cold, for all that they'd be able to survive easily enough outside them, and so the heroes all found themselves aboard a magnificent sea vessel designed uniquely for water-breathers: the 'submarine' was really closer to an Atlantean airplane, humming along through the seas as they headed for their goal.

The craft was full of the royal guards and the King himself, Theseus's anxiety about his daughter's condition making him a gruff martinet as he paced the metallic walls of the military craft. Peering out the windows, it was easy enough to make out the Great Ridge as they approached: the great mass of volcanoes rising against the black of the sea behind it, and just beyond it the ever-falling cliffs that went down deep into the Earth's mantle. If they fell here, burdened by their suits or by the monsters around them, they could fall very far indeed. Suddenly, the whole craft shook, then again, as they came under attack. But from where?

That question was answered quickly as one of the pilots came running down into the compartment where the heroes and the king had been meeting, a frightened look on his face as he shouted through the water "Manta rays! Thousands of them...and all of them with the fangs of the beasts! They've taken us from above and-" The ship shook again, this time worse, and abruptly came a great concussion that nearly staggered everyone. "The engines! They've jammed the engines with their own foul corpses!"

"We have to get out!" called the King as he led the way to the hatches. "We cannot fail our mission!"

[Supercape]

"Oh dear" remarked Supercape under his breath, before collecting his courage "We are right behind you, your majesty!" he shouted "Or indeed, before you! your safety is paramount!"

Every sense at the alert, he flew (as well as he could, underwater) after the King. It was getting slightly easier, moving underwater, once one got the hand of utilizing hydrostatic forces. Anticipating danger, he formed the quantum lattice of force around his body that served as a protective field. He had no desire to get chomped by vampiric manta ray's again.

[Fox]

Hand on his sword, Gaian Knight wasn't far behind; he waited for the King and some of his forces to rapidly abandon ship before jumping out himself, falling in slow motion for a moment before rocks and debris from the ocean floor swept up to form a platform under his feet. A few extra rocks just floated in the water behind his shoulders, a small army of earthen soldiers ready to be sent into battle.

He grimaced behind his rebreather as he watched the manta rays assault the ship, and the aftermath of the ones that had suicided into the engines. That's...honestly pretty horrifying, he mused. Vampire squid vampires, vampire mantas...what in the world are we going to have thrown at us next?

[Gizmo]

Pausing only to reflexively make sure Wander was alright as the underwater vessel shuddered, Midnight moved deftly after the Atlantean monarch toward the hatch. The submerged exercises his grandfather had put Trevor through had been more about functioning in a zero gravity environment, but the skills they'd developed were even more relevant now. Slipping through the water like a sleek, black shadow, he quickly placed himself in a better position to assess the forces arrayed against them.