ic Shark Week: Terror Beneath

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

If the shark understood Tsunami's warning it wasn't clear.  As it remained too busy attempting to hold onto the railings of the ship.  Clearly relying on them for support as the creature was battered.  Looking down at the water below there may have been a moment in which the creature hesitated.

 

One of the other Sharkmen reached down to pick up his buddy's unconscious buddy.  Launching him in the air towards Tsunami as she flew around the ship.  She didn't have to take any extra effort to avoid the large mass of manshark.  The throw wiffing completely with the samebito's body floating harmlessly in the water.  It was safe to assume the creature would not be drowning any time soon.

 

The remaining unharmed Sharkman leapt through the air.  Biting down with its teeth directly onto the Glamazon's shoulders.  Thaelia screamed out in pain as the sharkman sunk his teeth into the demigoddess.  Holding on tightly with his maw, the creature held on tight.

---

 

As Myrmidon entered the interior of the ship the sound of the commotion upstairs had clearly attracted the attention of the Shark men.  There was loud shuffling around in the lower deck.  But, his current floor seemed to be completely unguarded.  Directly in front of him was access to the stairway to the lower deck.  But, he also had immediate access to various cabins on the middle deck (which also meant the possibility of a sharkman remaining on the floor just inside a cabin instead of in the halls lingered).  Able to move about unperturbed the cloned super soldier was free to act in whichever manner he pleased.  Including joining the commotion upstairs or causing more mayhem below.

[Thevshi]

Tsunami had little time to feel much disappointment over the sharkman failing to heed her warning, as she easily dodged the improvised projectile from another of the creatures.  She felt a slight feeling of worry as one of the sharkmen bit Thaelia, but the Atlantean teen was very durable, and remained on her feet even as the sharkman remained its bite. 

Focusing on another of their opponents as she continued to circle the vessel on her water spout, the Asian teen sent a blast of water toward another of the sharkmen.  The twisting coils of water slammed into the creature with tremendous force, but it remained on its feet, appearing to suffer only minor damage from the powerful blast.

[Brown Dynamite]

Glamazon pushed forward ignoring the surging pain in her shoulder..  The bite was shallow, at least by what Thaelia considered shallow.  Certainly something she could easily recover from.  Charging forward the Atlantean swung as fiercely with her mighty fists.  Hitting a Samebito square in the face.  Its head swung back.  The creature stayed standing.

It growled, unimpressing the Atlantean who actually growled back.  "Snap thy jaw shut.  Lest the Daughter of the Seas tear your teeth out one by one creature!."  She was starting to understand how the shark-men seized the ship with such ease.  It would be hard for her to imagine a human fishing crew winning such a confrontation.  Even Atlantean soldiers would have had some difficulty. 

They are no mere beasts.

Edited May 20, 2015 by HG Morrison

[trollthumper]

Temperance called up another brace of ice, trying desperately to dance out of the way of the encroaching shark-men. The barrage of frozen missiles flew out, aimed at targeting the shark at multiple points. They hit on all fronts; the stomach, the arms, the legs, and - drawing from something she'd seen on the Discovery Channel once - right on the cartilaginous snout. The shark seemed to reel a little, but Temperance still wasn't sure if she was making much of an impact. Nor was she sure how much longer this would rage on, or what they might learn from it. 

"Is there any way we can try to get some intelligence out of them?" she called to Glamazon. "Maybe try to catch them off their footing before we knock them out?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

Perhaps taking Temperance's question of interrogation as some sort of insult, or perhaps due to the fact that the young woman had just finished knocking out a Samebito,  one of the Samebito rushed for her.  Mouth wide open it attempted to bite her directly in the face.  With such telegraphed movements, it only took slight measure for the teen heroine to pull her head back out of the way.  Easing out of the way of any danger.

The other remaining Samebito began swiping wildly in the air towards Glamazon screaming in Japanese while it attacked.  A departure from the first that seemed to speak some sort of traditional shark language.   <"The world will see you great sorceresses' fall at our feet.">  Glamazon simply caught the shark's arm in mid swing and pushed it backwards.  Avoiding the motion with strength rather than agility.   Staring confused as she didn't actually speak Japanese, and as such wasn't sure if she was just largely insulted or not.

[Thevshi]

Tsunami continued to circle around the ship on her waterspout, watching as the two remaining shark men rushed Temperance and Glamazon.  Luckily both the other women had little difficulty avoiding the attacks, as the one facing Thaelia spoke in Japanese. 

Moving to a spot where she would be able to attack the shark man facing Temperance without any risk of knocking the creature into her friend, Tsunami turned slightly and brought both hands up in front of her and sent a blast of twisting coils of water toward the shark man.

The powerful blast slammed into the creature's side, knocking it off its feet and sending it sprawling on the deck a short distance away. 

The Asian young woman then glanced over at the remaining shark man as she replied in Japanese, <"When boasting, it would be wise to ensure you can follow through with your claims.">

[Brown Dynamite]

The shark's head turned towards Tsunami.  Surprised that it was responded to.  But, likely not as surprised by the fact that yet another of its allies had fallen.  Glamazon wasted no time tapping on the shark's shoulder.  When its head turned she slammed her skull directly into the shark in front of her.  Slamming the Samebito backwards into the floor.

"By the gods.  I was supposed to save him for interrogation, was I not?"  Thaelia smacked her forehead at the realization.  Too caught in the moment to consider simply grabbing the sharkman and holding him tightly.  "Perhaps I could slap him awake?"  The question was asked with absolute seriousness.  Having seen it done on a surfacer comedy television program, the Atlantean princess had wondered if it were a legitimate medical technique.  Even with her level of strength.

[Thevshi]

After Thaelia dealt with the last of the sharkmen, Tsunami guided her waterspout over the deck of the research vessel and agilely hopped off the moving water, which continued past and over the side back into the ocean.  It took only a brief moment to adjust her balance to the faint movement of the vessel in the water, before Tsunami moved over closer towards her former roommate. 

"That is unlikely to be an effective way of reviving him."  The Asian young woman replied to Thaelia.  "Besides, our primary purpose was to create a distraction, which we have done.  Shall we make our way below to see if Myrmidon needs any assistance?"

[trollthumper]

"I suppose we could try dumping cold water on him," said Temperance, "but somehow, I doubt that's going to have much effect." She looked at one of the shark-men. "Still, just in case..." She waved her hand, drawing up a cage of ice around the unconscious Samebito. "There. In case he wakes up and we want to keep the trouble to a minimum." 

She looked around. "I suggest we make our way down," she said. "At the same time, we should also figure out a plan for making our way down to the depths. That's supposedly where they're concentrated - odds are they may have found a way to drag the hostages down there." 

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

Making their way down to the second deck the trio found eight knocked out Samebito in a pile.  A note on the top of the pile of bodies reading:  Interrogated them.  There are explosive in the bilge compartment.  Carry on without me.  The note was quick and to the point.

There were two statesrooms on the floor.  One of which was opened, no doubt Myrmidion's doing, a bunk area, a tool room, and finally a window view in the forecastle.  A stairway led to the lower decks.  Aside from the one statesroom, there was no immediate sign that indicated whether the rest of the deck had been cleared.

The door to the lower deck was closed, albeit not locked.  Indicating that the mercenary likely was moving stealthily throughout the ship on his way to the bilge compartment.

 

[Thevshi]

Tsunami could not help but smile slightly as they came across the unconscious sharkmen.  "Well, I would appear Myrmidon has been busy."  She stated as she looked over the sharkmen. 

The Asian young woman looked back up toward the other doors visible from where they currently were standing.  "But it appears that he will be preoccupied with other things for the moment, so it is left to us to find and rescue the hostages." 

"We should start by clearing the nearby rooms before moving through the rest of this deck, starting with the closed stateroom door."

[trollthumper]

"I agree," said Temperance. She had to admit, her surveillance skills weren't the best in the world - but she did at least have some special insights. She tried opening her eyes to the ephemeral to see if any spirits had taken root on the ship and paid witness to the sharkmen making off with the hostages. As she scanned, she turned to the others. "We should also keep our eyes open for traps. I don't know exactly what these sharkmen are working with, but the ocean's where they have the advantage. As long as we're on this ship, we may have a slight edge - and if we get too far, they may be willing to correct that by laying out something that will do hideous damage to the bulkhead." She shrugged her shoulders. "Then again, this is just conjecture. Maneuvers on a ship isn't exactly my area of expertise..." 

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Stepping forward Glamazon pushed the door Tsunami had pointed to open.  The Stateroom was simple in its design.  The furnishings included two sets of bunk beds, two wooden tables complete with lamp sets, and a four person coffee table.  Two paintings on the wall had been slashed apart.  The culprit a shark man standing directly over three crew members.

 

This samebito was clutching a three pronged shark tooth sword.  Pointing each blade a different crew member from above.  <"Back off!">  It warned in Japanese.  Once again not matching the universal tongue the first shark pirate spoke in.  Snapping its jaws menacingly at the girls.

 

The hostages were three japanese men appearing to be in their mid forties.  All of whom looked simply terrified by the creature looming overhead.  Their clothes and flesh showing no signs of obvious lacerations.  Implying that the samebito saw fit to intimidate them into submission rather attacking them.

[Thevshi]

Tsunami had stepped through the open door, stopping as she spotted the sharkman with the sword as he threatened his two hostages.  The young Asian woman raised her hands up to her sides, palms toward the sharkman as she responded to him in Japanese, <"do not take any hasty action.  We have already subdued your comrades up on deck, so it would be wise to surrender without brining any harm to these men."> 

<"What is it you are hoping to accomplish by attacking this ship?">  She then asked, her gaze locked on the sharkman as she hoped to avoid any possible harm to the crewmembers.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

<"This vessel will serve as a warning.  The Samebito do not welcome the presence of humans.  We may may swear fealty to Atlantis.  But, we do not share the king's disgusting habit of intermingling with you monsters.  We protect our own.">  The Samebito warned.  Holding his position he clenched tighter on the grip of his blade.  <"Subdued my comrades?  Do you think you're fast enough to repeat the act before I take their heads?">

 

The sharkman jerked slightly.  Scraping the necks of the crew members below.  Forcing them to scream out in fright.  The creature's motivation was clear as day.  It was a warning.  Telling the three girls to back off, lest it kill the hostages.  Something that even the Japanese challenged Glamazon and Temperance were clear on.

 

 

[trollthumper]

Temperance understood. She realized she did not understand a lot about the situation, but she had at least seen Jaws. She knew just what kind of damage a shark-person could do to the human body, and how fast it could happen - and that she was not close enough to get the shark-man away from the hostages, nor was she entirely sure she could keep it imprisoned and away from its targets. She raised her hands in a gesture she hoped would imply surrender, slowly moving back from the fray. She kept her eyes open, darting at all sides, just to see if the shark-man was trying to get them to back into an ambush position. Tsunami would have to handle negotiations, but that didn't mean she couldn't make sure they weren't being herded towards an assault. 

[Brown Dynamite]

"I could take him off his feet."  Thaelia offered as an option.  Tapping her feet expectantly.  It wasn't an act of subtlety.  Of course, Thaelia was anything but subtle.  Her go to solution in the situation was to cause a small tremor after all.  A risky endeavor when people's heads were inches away from blades.

 

This was why Glamazon deferred.  Temperance or Tsunami could call their play with more forethought.  Whereas the Atlantean princess was more of the figurative bull in a china shop when it came to dealing with her obstacles.  Perhaps making it fortunate that Tsunami had settled into their diplomat position at the moment.  At least comparatively to if Glamazon were the one having to calm down the attackers..

[Thevshi]

Tsunami kept her gaze focused on the sharkman as she listened to him, holding her arms down to her side, her hands open and palms away from the creature.  But while she was focused on the Samebito, she was also reaching out with her powers to the ocean surrounding them, pulling water up the sides of the ship and down the passage to where they were, running along the ground in a thin layer. 

<"Making an example out of those aboard this vessel will hardly be the deterrent you wish to achieve.">  She replied in Japanese, hoping to keep the sharkman's attention on her.  <"It will only serve to increase hostility with those of us from the surface.  There are other ways to achieve your goals which will not result in open conflict.">