ic Adventures in Aquatic Babysitting (IC)

[Thevshi]

GM

Down in the murky depths of the Centery Narrows, a large dark metallic shape slowly glided a couple dozen feet above the bottom of the straight.

"Freedom City is in sight sir." Stated one of the crew members of the medium sized submarine to the imposing figure that stood in the centre of the bridge.

The six foot tall figure was dressed in what appeared to be some sort of reinforced black and green wetsuit with a number of hard composite plastic sections. A green helmet covered his head, designed to resemble a snake with an open mouth, in which there was an opaque faceplate.

"Continue on course towards the mouth of the South River and the aquarium. We will be holding position fifty yards off the end of the pier." The figure stated, his voice cold and distorted by the faceplate of his helmet. Keying a nearby intercom, he then spoke once more. "Assault teams, gather in the launch bay."

With that, the figure turned and walked off the bridge to make his own way down to the launch bay.

[Thevshi]

Giang had a feeling that Kat was somewhat bothered by the Deep Ones being in an exhibit like that, but was unsure what could be said, or even done about it. It certainly seemed to be a difficult situation that the aquarium found itself in, on one hand being one of the few places that could handle the aquatic creatures, and on the other having to deal with the cost of doing so, which was likely to only increase as they got older and larger. There was of course the question of how sentient they were.

"So, you were about to say something about a pizza place you know?" The Asian teen asked as the two started making their way back towards the entrance to the aquarium.

They were not quite halfway there when suddenly there was a boom *BOOM*, just as the entire building seemed to shake. Almost immediately, the fire alarm system inside the aquarium sounded, with flashing white lights and a high pitched whine. Naturally, this very quickly led to screaming babies, crying children and panicked mothers and school teachers as they started trying to start towards the exits.

[Curious Key]

Kat felt her lips curl up into a little smile as Giang brought up pizza again, the Deep Ones behind them, grateful for something else to think. "Well, there's this nice old-fashioned place up on Lantern—" A deep thrum of an explosion made the ground tremble beneath her feet.

Her head snapped back around toward the screaming and mouthed a word that would have gotten her into trouble. 'Course, nothing stayed regular here for more than two hours at a time. Warp waited for the first knot of people to run by, and then her eyes began to glow. A clingy darkness ran over her body, swallowed her civvies and left her hero's uniform in its place. "Pretty sure aquariums aren't supposed to keep explosives in their basement," Warp tugged her glove a little more firmly on and clenched its fingers into a fist. She started running in the opposite direction, deeper in the aquarium, looking for staff who had some idea what went wrong or at least staff-only doors that might take them there.

[Thevshi]

Giang had stopped when there was the faint boom and the floor beneath them shook. Seeing Kat stay in place as most of the other visitors started by the pair, the teenager stayed in place herself, just moving out of the middle of the hallway to give more room for those trying to get out.

The Asian teen raised her eyebrows slightly as Kat instantly changed into her costume as Warp. When the other teen started running back away from the exits, Giang moved to keep up with her, though she was still in her normal clothes. "Do you have a way to store other things where you sent you regular clothes?" She asked, as she took of her small backpack to hold in one hand.

As Giang spoke, Warp spotted a staff member not far away who was currently directing a group of women and their small children towards the nearest emergency exit.

[Curious Key]

"Oh yeah," Kat said, eyes still searching for something, someone that might give them a hint as to what went wrong. She bit her lip for a moment so long it seemed that that was all that she was going to say. "I can lock away a whole bunch of stuff. Anything that isn't fighting back, really. There's a limit on it . . ." Kat remembered sitting in a room with weighted cubes while people made little notes on their tablets. Can you hold this? What about this, or that? ". . . but I can hold more than a semi-truck. Hey!â€

Warp spotted the staff when she turned the corner and waved her down. “I'm here to help. What just happened?â€

[Thevshi]

GM

"Can you do that with this then please?" Giang asked, holding out her small backpack. "It will just get in my way." It was then that Warp noticed water was beginning to gather around the Asian teen, an in seconds, a swirling sheen of water surrounded most of her body.

The staff member, who was up on the second floor balcony overlooking the main central tank seemed slightly surprised by the appearance of the two teens at first, but only hesitated a moment before she responded to Warp's question. "There has been some sort of explosion down in part of the facilities above the underwater habitats for the animals when they are not up on exhibit. No one is quite sure what caused it right now, or if there is a fire that triggered the alarm."

[Curious Key]

"Huh," Warp blinked up at Giang as water started bending around her. That's why her codename's Tsunami. Of course. She nodded, grabbed hold of her friend's backpack and disappeared it. "Can do."

When they got to the staff, Warp's first instinct was to get below, find out what went wrong. But she still wasn't sure how to do it. Eyes glowing red, Warp made a cutting motion with her hand, opening a hole in the world. "This ought to be the quickest way out right now." She nodded her head toward the portal, giving what Warp assumed to be a teacher and her students a warm smile. "It'll take you right out to the steps. How do we get downstairs?"

[Thevshi]

GM
 

The nearby teacher gave Warp a small smile and a quick "thank you" as the teen created a portal to help expedite her and her students exit from the aquarium.  The students, who all looked to be in about second grade or so, were clearly nervous about what was going on, and somewhat apprehensive of the portal that suddenly appeared in the air.  However, their spirits seemed somewhat uplifted by the presence of the two teenage girls who clearly had superpowers.
 

As the teacher sent her assistant and the first of the children through Warp's portal, the aquarium employee pointed towards either side of the building.  "There are main stairwells on each side of the building that lead all the way down into the lower levels, though you will need an access card to go beyond the main floor."  Reaching up around her neck, she took off a cord she had around her neck from which a couple of cards and a few keys hung.  "It's the red card."  She stated as she held it out towards Warp.
 

Just then down on the main floor, a door along the far wall opened up and a half dozen men dressed in what looked like black and green wetsuits emerged, pistols or sub-machineguns visible in their hands.
 

One of the men glanced around briefly before rushing a short distance forward, coming up behind a security guard who was directing people towards the front exit.  The man slammed the butt of his weapon into the back of the security guard’s neck, knocking the guard down onto the tile floor and into unconsciousness. 
 

Another of the men in wetsuits rushed forward, passing by the first and stopping between him and the central water tank.  Aiming his pistol forward, he fired a shot at some target which was obscured from Warp and Tsunami’s sight by the tank.  The sound of the gunshot caused a number of screams and cries, and the two men had effectively cut off part of the path towards the front exit that visitors on the main floor were trying to use.

 

[Thevshi]

Seeing the men appear down below, Tsunami moved into action, taking a few running steps over towards the railing of the balcony before vaulting over.  Her leap angled her towards the central tank, her feet contacting the tank about halfway down to the floor below.  The Asian teen rebounded off the tank, breaking her downward momentum some as she executed a sideways flip to land ten feet from the tank in a low back stance, her arms out to either side behind her.

 

Lifting her torso up slightly, Tsunami brought both hands together in front of her as a twisting jet of water shot forth from her hands towards one of the wetsuit clad men who had not moved from near the doorway yet.  The powerful blast of water slammed the man square in the chest and sent him sailing backward where he collided with one of his companions.  The force of the water blast was enough that both men continued back another five feet before they slammed into a wall before falling into a heap on the floor.

[Curious Key]

Warp took the key ring. "Thanks," She said, tucking it in a pocket on the inside of her vest and opened her mouth to ask more when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye as the badies stormed the room, guns out. She stared for a moment; not very long, but it was more than enough. "I'll keep this portal open as long as I can." She said, turning back to the teacher and staff. "Get somewhere safe."

She ran toward the ledge and vaulted over the safety railing, holding into a tight ball and flipping once in the air before she fell in an arc toward the ground. Warp hit it in a roll, spreading the impact of the hit across her back over a few seconds rather than taking it in her knees and breaking them.

Pressing against the tile with a hand, Warp used the leftover momentum to spring herself back to her feet, right in front of oen of the raiders. Her hand was a blurr as she drove a palm into their face, sending them staggering back into the aquarium's side before collapsing in a heap.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The last of the wetsuit clad men near the door they had emerged from took a slight step back at the sudden appearance of the two teenage superheroines, somewhat shocked by the easy at which they had tore through half the group already.

 

"Security group two has encountered metas."  He spoke out loud, apparently into some sort of microphone.  "Half team down already, need back up!"  Even as he spoke, he raised his pistol towards Warp and fired off a shot.  Warp was already dodging, hearing a faint crack as the bullet zipped by to strike a support beam for the main tank that was behind her.
 

There were more screams from visitors that were back near the main tank, having been cut off in their attempts to use the main exits by the arrival of the men in the wetsuits.

 

The other two men who had moved further into the room turned to react to the arrival of Tsunami and Warp as well.  The one who had knocked down the security guard turned back towards Warp, brining up his sub-machinegun as he fired off a burst in her
direction. 
 

The teen rolled across the tiled floor, the cracks of the passing bullets even more faint than the previous attack.  The bullets impacted on the wall Kat had knocked one of the men into, sending bits of plaster flying, but otherwise causing little in the way of harm.

 

The man armed with a pistol that had previously shot towards someone the teens had been unable to see turned back as well, taking aim at Tsunami.  He fired a shot, but fared no better than his two companions, the bullet impacting on the floor beside her as she dodge aside.

[Thevshi]

Turning her head slightly towards the man who had taken a shot at her, Tsunami ran forward some, stopping a short distance from Warp.  As she came to a halt, she turned back towards the man and brought her hands back up in front of her once more.  Another twisting jet of water shot forth, slamming squarely into the chest of the wetsuit clad man.  As with Tsunami's previous target, the man was knocked completely off his feet, flying back more than ten feet before he slammed into the side of the main water tank. Bouncing off hard, he landed on the floor unconscious. 

 

[Curious Key]

It seemed to Warp that each of the baddies took lessons from the stormtrooper school of gunfighting, but there was more to worry about than that. There was a huge tank, full of water, right there! If one of them missed too far in that direction, then everything was about to get a whole lot wetter.

They were all bad, but whoever was spraying the submachine gun was more trouble than the whole lot of them. Warp singled him out and closed the distance fast, clenched her fist and smirked. She swung her fist, aiming for the gut, but he put an elbow in the way just in time, cleanly deflecting the hit away from anywhere that might leave lasting damage.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The man who had called for reinforcements and previously shot at Warp lifted his pistol slightly as the teenage heroine moved into melee with his companion wielding the sub-machinegun.  Glancing over at the other teenage girl that had knocked out yet another gunman, the man brought his arm over to level his pistol at her.
 

Another gunshot rang out, but once again the man missed his target, as Tsunami weaved slightly, causing the shot to fly well wide, glancing off the thick glass of the main tank.
 

The gunman with the sub-machinegun grunted slightly as he managed to shake off Warp's hit.  "Nice try."  He commented with a sneer as he swung the weapon at the teenager.  But his cockiness quickly turned out to be misplaced, as Warp was easily able to duck under the clumsy attack.

[Thevshi]

Seeing the man with the sub-machinegun engaged in melee with Warp, Tsunami focused on the gunman who had just shot at her.  Turning slightly, her arms shifting in a flowing motion, she released another powerful blast of water from her hands.  As with the previous two, the twisting jet of water slammed square into the gunman, knocking him off his feet and back some twenty feet until he collided with a support beam and the toppled to the ground unconscious. 
 

Turning in place slightly, the Asian teen scanned the area, looking for any other potential threats as she remained in a ready stance.  Not seeing any immediate threats, she waved the various mothers, children and student groups that had been trying to make for the front exit forward, hoping they could all get clear before any more trouble arrived.

[Curious Key]

Small mercies, Warp had tied up the man with the machine gun anyway. He took a wild swing at her, and Warp just ducked side to the side and spun so she was leaning on her other foot and lashed with her other, catching the guy in a wetsuit sideways across the face with the heel of her boot. He fell sideways and skid across the floor.

She kept her legs bent, turning and listening for more gunfire and signs of evil henchmen before taking off toward the civilians who'd been cut off from escape. Warp let the portal upstairs linger for a little longer; she'd need to shift it down here soon unless she missed her guess. "Who did they try to shoot?"

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Warp did not have to look far before she saw who one of the gunmen had been shooting at before she and Tsunami became the focus of their fire. Over near the main entrance, there was a wounded security guard, who was currently being assisted by some of the other staff now that the gunmen had been taken care of.

 

But no sooner had Warp taken out the last of the gunmen than a voice called down from up above. "Very nice work girls." Glancing up, Warp and Tsunami saw man standing at the edge of the third floor observation balcony for the main tank. He was similarly dressed to the other gunmen, save that his black and green wetsuit had several hard composite plastic sections, and the helmet that covered his head was designed to resemble a snake.

 

"Let's see how well you deal with this." With that, he raised a speargun and fired it down towards the main tank.  The spear struck just above the second floor, sinking into the heavy glass of the tank.  Then it exploded, blasting a hole more than four feet wide in the side of the tank.  Water stated pouring out of the tank and down towards the visitors gathered below, while cracks began to spiderweb out from the hole, threatening to break appear and create a larger opening.
 

With that, the man stepped back away from the railing, disappearing from sight.

[Thevshi]

Tsunami watched in shock as the man in the stylized wetsuit blew a hole in the side of the main tank that was quickly threatening to become a much more massive problem what would flood water down onto the various children and other visitors gathered below.  Stepping forward, the Asian teen focused on the hole in the side of the tank which was gushing water.  Bringing her hands up, she concentrated on the water just inside the tank, reaching out with her powers. 

 

The flow of water from the hole began to slow, then sputter, before it completely came to a halt.  Just inside the hole, the water had taken on a solid, silvery appearance, which was spreading out in all directions.  In a few moments, a section of “solid†water had completely sealed off the hole, and covered enough area that the area around the hole was no longer being weakened by the pressure from inside the tank.

 

Glancing over at Warp, the Asian teen stated, "I am not sure how long this will hold.  We need to get everyone out of here."

[Curious Key]

Gunshots could be bad, bad news. If an arrow could kill someone, then a bullet could do it faster. It was enough of a crisis before they got ambushed by the big, bad scuba diver. Warp hissed a word that her parents would disapprove of and raised her hand, not sure how to stop it but sure she must.

It didn't come to that, though. Tsunami brought up her hands and closed the hole in the tank with . . . well, water. it seemed to her that every second was an effort, better spent chasing the psycho with exploding harpoons.

Warp nodded. "On it." She cut the support to her portal above and felt it shut. She made another surgical cut through the world with entropic will and a fissure of darkness opened between her and the civilians. If it were transparent, they'd have seen the sun and the sign in front of Freedom Aquarium. "Everyone get in!" She waved toward the entropic gate. "Before the glass breaks and this damn whole place floods!"

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Though the various mothers, infants, school children and teachers were clearly quite frightened by all the events, they only hesitated a moment before they started through the hole in space Warp had created on their way to safety.

 

But then the evacuation became more complicated, as the door the first six gunmen had emerged from sung open once more and three more wetsuit clad gunmen emerged.  The first through the door levelled his pistol at Warp before firing.  Twisting as she saw the motion, the teenager heard the crack of the bullet pass disturbingly close to her ear before striking a support beam near the main tank.

 

Another gunman moved off to one side, bringing up a sub-machinegun which he fired at Tsunami.  However, the man apparently rushed his shot, as the bullets from the burst all impacted along the floor off to one side of the teen. 

 

The third gunman moved through the door, heading to the other side of the lead gunman, and also took a shot at Warp.  The bullet ricocheted off the floor between the teen's feet.

[Thevshi]

Turning to regard the new threats a moment, Tsunami looked over at Warp.  "I should be able to deal with these three.  You should probably go see what is going on up above.  I will catch up when I can."

 

With that the Asian teen rushed towards the gunman with the sub-machinegun.  As she drew close, Tsunami leapt into the air, executing a flying scissor kick.  With a twist of her body, she sent the man flipping over to slam hard onto the ground, knocking him unconscious.  The teen rolled way as she landed on the ground, and with a quick kip-up, was then back on her feet in a defensive stance, facing the other two gunmen.

[Curious Key]

BIting her lip, Warp hesitated for a moment, weighing the options. What were the odds of no one getting hurt in a room full of gunmen and a superhero? Not good. What were the odds of someone getting hurt with a maniac with exploding harpoons running around, with no one trying to stop him? Much worse. "Give 'em hell," Warp said, turning around and dashing across the tile and up the stairs two at a time, unwilling to cut support to her portal quite yet, when so many people were stuck on this side.

 

She cleared the stairs only to find three other mystery gunnmen, standing—Warp realized with a chill—where the kids and the staffer who'd given her the key ring had been standing not five minutes ago. Could Tsunami get back up here in time to keep them from shooting down into the melee? Not without giving them a chance to hurt more people. Gritting her teeth, Kat closed the distance and did her best to keep the closest gunman between herself and the others. Maybe they'd hesitate if it meant they might hit a friend?

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Down on the first floor, the two gunmen both draw long combat knives as they square off against Tsunami.  The first gunman rushes towards the teen, swinging his knife in a manner to deliberately make the teen sidestep to her right.  The second gunman followed closely behind, taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the first.  The second man’s combat knife aimed straight at the teen, but at the last minute she was able to twist slightly and the sheen of water surrounding her deflected the blade harmlessly away.

 

Up on the second floor viewing balcony, Warp had moved towards the three gunmen she spotted up there, closing with one of the three that had a sub-machinegun in his hands.  As she came to a halt next to him, the man swung his weapon at the teen, trying to force her to move into a position that would make her an easier target for one of his companions.  However, the teen easily dodge away, moving in a different direction than the gunman had intended.

 

The next closest gunman still closed with Warp, drawing his combat knife at he moved.  Even with the teen's agile manoeuvring, the man was almost able to stab Warp, if she had not twisted aside at the last moment to avoid any significant injury.

 

The third man up on the balcony was also armed with a sub-machinegun, though he kept it aimed away from the melee as he stayed a good fifteen feet away.

 

Then there was the sound of another muffled explosion, this time from somewhere up on the third floor.

[Thevshi]

As the shimmering layer of water surrounding Tsunami deflected the blade of one of the gunmen, the teenager stepped forward to her left and to one side of the man.  As she did, she swung her right foot back behind her, arching the leg up and slightly off to her right, allowing her to slam the bottom of her foot into the man's face as he was still lunging for his attack.

 

The force of the blow knocked the man off his feet and he landed unconscious on his back on the hard floor.

Swinging her foot back down behind her, Tsunami spun to her right as she sifted her weight back to her right leg as it came down behind her.  Her left hand was extended out in front of her and her right hand pulled back to her chest as she focused on the last standing gunman on the main floor.

[Curious Key]

Wager won, Warp guessed, though her winnings turned out to be a knife in the side. It cut into her, but her costume wasn't just for show; it was resilient, took the edge that should have cut through into her vital and turned it aside. Warp grabbed hold of the offending wrist and used it to hold him in place as her knuckles made acquaintance with his face. Before he he had a chance to fall she was in the air, brought her leg up high so she could smash heel on the last one's head, slamming him into the ground.

She moved in on the last one, put herself in arms reach and stood between him and the balcony to keep him from trying any cheap shots out of spite. "You guys are kinda crap at this." Warp smirked and made a beckoning gesture. Come get me.