Summary:Koa, Keiko, Mera and Hercules defend a Naval base against rampaging hybrid Atlanteans and stranger things still. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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The first thing that everyone on the east coast woke up to this morning was a little bit of rock and roll. Literally. An earthquake, though a small and distant one, rumbled the northeast, though it wasn't enough to do more than make lighting fixtures sway and wake people up. That had been noteworthy, after all it's far from an everyday occurrence, but that had only been the beginning. Increasingly more noticeable shakes had rolled across the coast for the next few hours, with the source seemingly located far out to sea, prompting bemused speculation on the airwaves.
Then two hours ago all hell broke loose. The water just outside of New London Connecticut began to boil and within 20 minutes a 900 foot tall volcano had risen out of the sea. And that's when things started to get REALLY weird. Bodies started to wash up on the shore. Atlantean bodies armed for battle and many of them with signs of having been killed in it.
And then something else started coming out of the sea. Blue skinned humanoids that LOOK very much like atlantians until you get close. And then they have maws of shark like teeth and vicious talons on their hands and feet. They immediately attack the naval submarine base which, coincidentally, the volcano is blocking.
Koa was already on scene when the mayhem began. He runs toward the mouth of the harbor where scattered gunfire is coming from as a wave of blue skinned Shark-lanteans tries to push past Naval security forces and move inland. Several of the buildings near the harbor mouth are already compromised, their walls torn down by powerful claws and their roofs starting to cave in. One of them is on fire. The naval folks here are very hard pressed and MOST of the SHIELD contingent was scientific, not tactical, so they're not much help.
Fortunately this weirdness may have attracted other forms of help.
Say, what's that whistling sound? Like an old time bomb dropping?
At that point, onlookers see a man dropping from the sky, having -leaped- for best distance and height… his trajectory aimed right at the greatest concentration of Sharklanteans. When he hits, it -craters- the ground around him, the impact slamming the sharkmen back around him in a circle as Hercules straightens up.
Deliberately, he cracks his knuckles, and smiles hugely. "Rejoice, spawn of the deep! For it is your unparalleled honor to receive the gift of battle from Hercules of Thebes!" And then it is ON. Herc just picks a direction and dives in, every swing sending sharkmen flying like tenpins as the godling's laughter rolls across the battlefield.
Keiko had been roused by the Earthquake and had found care for Elena by the time Koa had picked her up. The small, tattooed woman, barrels behind Koa "When did you get so fast …" she says to him as she extends the short metal rod she carries into a quarterstaff.
"And that guy is here again …" Hercules, she means. Good thing she's not easily distracted. Well, too easily distracted.
As she tumbles into a group of shark-lanteans, a huge spirit demonic grey wolf appears. The wolf leaps for one of the creatures, as Keiko rolls to her feet and sends her quarterstaff swinging towards him.
And here comes more help - of the righteous fury type. Mera may be a mutant as far as other Atlanteans are concerned, pale skin rather than blue, but she is still an Atlantean. And when her country calls, she answers.
Arriving atop a wave that crashes down upon the battle scarred shore, she steps gracefully to drier land with purpose. The sound of sporadic gunfire seems to suggest where the action is but, technically, she's not here to help the humans. She is here to find out what is going on. And that means capture and interrogation.
It is, in fact, on like Donkey Kong. The number of Sharklanteans present isn't massive. There's only perhaps a hundred of them. But with each of them being both tougher and stronger than your average human by a long shot, a hundred is still quite a lot to deal with.
"I exercise!" Koa calls back. "Keep up!" He makes a small group of naval security with Keiko and begins to lay into the creatures attacking them with his sidearm and chain. Keiko's help will be welcome here. "Plug that breach in the perimeter over there!"
Not far away Hercules fights. He is more than a match for any one of these creatures. Hell he's more than a match for any TEN of them really. But he is getting the attention of more than that. Realizing that he wasn't as squishy as he looks, the Sharklanteans now swarm him while a small group set up a short distance away, kneeling and taking aim with beam rifles that are common to the undersea nation. Those'll hurt. They'd fry a normal human which they just won't do to Hercules but they'll still hurt.
Mera is… very obviously a noble of her people. She's quite unmistakable. People know who she is. Which makes it possibly somewhat galling that these altered Atlanteans attack her on sight. The good news for the humans is that between Mera and Hercules they're diverting most of the attention of this wave of attackers. The bad news? Well Mera has a dozen or so to deal with and they're rushing at her FAST.
"So do I." Keiko retorts in an aggrieved tone. Of course Keiko's exercise is normally beating the crap out of SHIELD agents in the gym. The quarterstaff twirls as Bella leaps for the back of one the shark-lanteans, her strong jaw clamping down on the creatures neck as she drives it to the ground.
Keiko follows, driving the end of her staff down and into its neck. "What do you think I'm doing?" That's to Koa. "Having tea and crumpets over here?"
Herc knows he's a distraction, but that's the point — to pull the weight off the base guards. Trying to swarm him isn't a great tactic, but it does prevent Herc from immediately dealing with the beam-rifle infantry. After a couple hits which scorch his skin, Hercules grabs one of the sharkmen and uses it to block the next shots. Meanwhile, his other hand peels a sharkman off his back, and just flings it in the general direction of the sea… sending it soaring over the battlefield. "Bah! You should bring bigger guns, denizens of the deep! I was burned worse when I traveled the desert to find Geryon's cattle!" He's moving inexorably towards the beam-rifle infantry, despite sharkmen hanging off his ankles like obstreporous toddlers.
Mera should have known that subtlety wouldn't work when she arrived on a wave - but one must make an entrance appropriate to their station. A little smile at being recognised so violently before realising that this could mean trouble. "Surrender!" she booms out at the Sharklanteans - that was fair warning.
A deep breath as she reaches out for the moisture around her - which just happens to be in the bodies of the charging enemy. They made her do this. Her eyes becoming bright white orbs as she draws the water out of their very bodies - which may be doubly threatening to aquatic creatures. All the water twenty feet around her now at her command and rising free from the charging bodies.
It takes nearly three straight minutes of nothing but wall to wall hand to hand combat but Koa and Keiko clear the end of the naval base and the security personnel there begin bringing up heavier weapons from the armory and piling rubble into makeshift barricades.
"Alright I think we-" Koa is cut off as the volcano roars and spits flaming boulders into the air. One of them comes down almost on top of the WAND agent, making him dodge forward in a blur that lands him not too far from Hercules.
Keiko is unlucky enough to have one come down near her as well. She needs to get out of the way and that'll necessarily take her closer to Mera.
Herc's prayer for a bigger challenge is heard by whatever whimsical deity of fate is responsible for this kind of thing because out of the corner of his eye he sees crabs the size of small cars lumber onto the beach, each one of them with an articulated turret mounted on the back that houses a scaled up beam weapon. One of them points at him and starts to charge. It takes a split second to actually come to full power before it fires and that does give Herc enough time to react though… he is still being swarmed albeit by a much smaller swarm than before thanks to his godly strength and the enemy's lack of care about friendly fire.
Mera just drops the ones near her, dehydrating them. No one actually reaches her and like Hercules someone decides to try to deal with her from a distance. That crab however gets crushed by a falling molten rock and suddenly Mera finds herself in the center of a shower of such things as burning, molten boulders fall down all around her.
Hercules barely notices Koa land near him, because his attention is caught by the crabs stalking up onto the beach. "Did someone offend Atlantis again? I know they are prickly at times but this seems excessive!" A sweep of his arms clears the sharkmen away for critical moments, and he grabs Koa and leaps away as the crab-turret's blast explodes where he was standing a moment ago. Landing closer to the naval base barricades now, he kicks away a sharkman before setting Koa down. "That eruption seemed awfully convenient," he comments.
"What in Limbo…." Keiko swears as Bella trots back to her side - the wolf nudging Koa's leg as she does. There's a yelp as lava hits the spirit wolf. It disappears into smoke and large burns appear on Keiko's shoulders. The small woman doesn't make a sound though she grits her teeth as she rolls.
… And comes up next to the redhead in the green body suit. Or is it armour? Keiko's not sure. Now she, and the redhead, are surrounding by lava meteorites. Which makes Keiko growl, her yellow slitted eyes looking even more lizard like.
Unfair! Someone is not playing by the noble rules of combat. How can Mera dehydrate molten rocks? And now it seems she has a Keiko to be concerned about. "These rocks are aimed deliberately" she asides to the 'human' while skipping and dodging around the falling objects. "We need to move." This being Mera, she does not mean 'move out of the way', more a 'move towards danger', as she starts in the direction of the volcano. "We need to find out who is operating the volcano." Operating the volcano? Thankfully, she doesn't hear Hercules or there would have been words.
And it's official nobility armour…not that she needs it.
"Eeep!" That is Koa's words of wisdom as he realizes the cannon that is aimed at him moments before he is whisked to safety by Hercules. "Very convenient and I'm not aware of anyone offending them recently but you never can-"
"TREMBLE BEFORE THE WRATH OF THE EARTH!"
That will get everyone's attention. Someone or rather someones have appeared at the top of the volcano. Four people who look like two sets of identical twins, male and female. They're all dressed in vaguely Polynesian garb and they launch themselves into the air, hovering down toward Koa, Herc, Keiko and Mera. As they do more shark hybrids emerge from the sea.
"Destroy the surface sea base, true sons of Atlantis!" The volcano-demigods instruct them. "We will handle these…"
Herc wanted a challenge? Keiko wanted something to punch? All four of the polynesian-dressed people fly down, one targeting each of the available heroes as the sharklanteans try to rush past them. Herc finds himself the target of a flying haymaker. Koa has to dodge out of the way again, seemingly throwing a ghostly image of himself out and then pulling to that location. Water begins to swirl around him as he calls it to himself.
Keiko is attacked by a fiery woman wielding two wooden knives that are also on fire and Mera… well. Someone saw what Mera did. Her opponent just turns sand into molten glassy knives and launches them at her.
Off to the side someone might hear… "LADY MERA!" A group of suited, trident bearing Atlantean guard have arrived on scene and they are looking to her for some kind of clarity.
"
Keiko looks at the falling lava and then at Mera. "Get us there and we will." She says in that mutt of a latin accent of hers. There's a growl in her voice and her tattooes - except the wolf - are writhing. A dragons head lifts itself from her shoulder. "Patience my friends. Not yet." the WAND agent growls as she starts to stalk towards the volcano.
It makes *perfect* sense to her that this is where they should be heading, and not away from it.
"Do you recognise that?" She asks Mera when the volcanic figure appears at the top of the mountain. "Or them?"
With a feral grin, leathery bat wings appear at Keiko's back as her skin becomes obsidian like scales. "It will take more than your toys to hurt me." It's a taunt as she tumbles towards the woman, trying to come up inside her guard so she can punch her.
There's a sound like someone slamming two hams together, as the haymaker gets halfway to Herc's handsome face before the son of Zeus catches it in his palm. Fingers clamping down on the fist, as his gaze locks with his opponent. Then his other arm shoots out, and it's -wrestling- time as the Polynesian finds himself grappling with the very creator of pankration! "Before I tie you into a pretzel, I would know your name, sir," Herc remarks, his muscles creaking as he steadily puts more and more force into this tactic. His feet seem rooted to the earth, and despite the state of his clothes (completely shredded by the sharkmen), he smiles as bright as the sun.
If they can't make it to the mountain, then it seems the mountain will come to them. At least they know who is controlling the volcano now. A shake of Mera's head to Keiko's question. "Pacificans" is about all she can come up with, taking that from the Polynesian look. Definitely not Atlanteans causing trouble, Hercules.
The arrival of proper Atlanteans has Mera feeling a little better about things. It seems the battles that have happened over this day have yet to end. "Destroy their soldiers!" she yells to the troops with a gesture towards the Sharklanteans. "Do not attack the humans. Capture some if you can, eliminate if you cannot."
Mera has her own battle to fight. The obsidian knives washed away by a rush of water drawn from the nearby ocean. "Surrender!" she booms out at the pair threatening herself and Keiko. "Or at least let us know who we are duelling." Have these people no manners at all?
"I am Kainoa, inheritor of Pele!" The man wrestling Herc calls out. He is not anywhere near as strong as the Olympian but he is - and this takes some doing - significantly more limber. Without the option of matching strength to strength he tries to slip around and get on Herc's back so he can apply a choke. The other thing the man is is very, very hot. Molten, in fact. Like, oh, he just came out of a volcano.
"I am Lani, inheritor of Pele!" Mera's attacker answers almost haughtily. "And I will not surrender to you. Your people have come to us and we shall lead them into a glorious new age. Join us or be swept away by the tides!" As she says that she melts more sand and just blasts it at Mera in a stream of liquid glass.
The one near Keiko well, she doesn't answer. She just screams in fury when she is punched and tries to knife Keiko in the gut. The knife is hot enough to melt metal but may not get through those demonic scales. Despite her rude lack of answer to Mera's challenge it's likely given the powers that she is displaying that she is also an 'inheritor of Pele.'
Koa in the meantime is caught up in something that looks a lot like something out of a wuxia film or maybe the animated Avatar. Water swirls around him, fire around his opponent as both use it to block and strike. If the ones fighting Mera, Keiko and Herc are quick and agile - and they are - then Koa is even more so, repeatedly slipping strikes that SHOULD hit him were he a mere human and attacking back with a grace that calls him out as something more than human. The two are deadlocked for the moment. Behind all of them a battle breaks out between the Atlantean Guard, Naval security and the Atlantean Hybrids. The ground rocks with explosions and the air sings with beam fire as the battles between the superhumans intensify.
Hercules can actually smell his hair starting to crisp a bit from the heat, though his body seems very slow to scorch and burn even under this kind of treatment. As Kainoa slithers around, Herc gets an arm up to block the choke, fingers latching onto Kainoa's wrist. "You face Hercules this day, Kainoa. When you regain consciousness, take pride in your courage to face me." Then, with both hands clamped around Kainoa's arm, he whirls, swinging the hapless 'inheritor' at the next nearest 'inheritor'. Smoke rising between his fingers, and Herc gritting his teeth as he tries to use Kainoa as a melee weapon on his comrades.
The knife melts the scales, causing burns to Keiko's stomach. That just makes the small WAND agent *mad*. She can hear those around her asking for names but really, she doesn't care. This is a threat and there's only one way to deal with threats - show them who's boss.
"Now." She growls as the spirit of a huge black Barghest with demonic features appears beside her and her dragon, Glydril appears in the air.
"Connor to Koa …" The barghest leaps for the other agent, looking for the opening that he knows will come.
Which leaves Keiko giving the other 'inheritor' the evil eye. "Like to play with fire? Play with this…" Her quarterstaff rounds as the knife continues to melt the armour. It's one smooth movement as the small WAND agent tumbles backwards. "Now, Glydril…"
The dragon belches fire on the spot where the two had been standing. Keiko … has forgotten about her wings and gets tangled in them.
It's a bit difficult to join someone when they are flinging blades at you. They may bounce of Mera's toughened skin (and armor) but she prefers not to take the chance, summoning a swirling wall of water around her to knock them away. "A mistress of the tides cannot be swept away by them" she smirks to Lani before addressing her with a little more respect. Just a little.
"Atlanteans would never come to a lesser being, Lani of Pele. And if these shark people are what you have done to my people, then you will pay for your evil." Mera's eyes narrow as she strides towards Lani, water swirling around her in an even more agitated state. Someone one needs a punch that will have their children inheriting broken bones.
"They have achieved apotheosis. They are but one of countless forms your people can take. Consider it, Mera of Atlantis! Your people should not be held back by the surfacers. This world is a world of water and you could rule it!" She pauses a moment in her attack. "Your leaders are weak. You know this. That is why your people came to us. And others like us. Once we ruled the seas and will again, with your people leading the way. Those of you who can see what is before you."
Fire begins to swirl around Lani - who it should be pointed out is quite pale for someone with a Hawaiian name. She gathers molten sand and flame about her in preparation for one final strike.
And is then distracted by the sound of Hercules using Kainoa as a club. He hits the one fighting Koa creating that opening for Connor but also an opening for Koa. The water in his control shapes into a massive column which he drops like a pile driver onto the flaming 'inheritor.' A gout of steam goes up and momentarily conceals them but Herc can see just fine as Koa swings that water like a baseball bat now for the one in his hand. "Let me help you with that, God of Strength."
The fact that Glydril's fire burns the one attacking Keiko seems to catch the woman off guard and she reels back, dropping both knives and just staring down at her charred, burned flesh in disbelief. Which means that, if Keiko can get herself untangles, she has an opening to finish this.
Keiko stumbles in her wings and then straightens, glancing around to make sure no one saw that. Just like a cat.
That just serves to annoy her more so when the woman drops the knives, Keiko pounces. Literally. Picking up one wooden blade and ramming into the womans shoulder - whether it's burning or not.
With a snarl, the quarterstaff rounds to take the woman in the temple "Glydril. SIT!"
The dragon descends to pin the woman beneath her.
"You are mine…" Keiko snarls, yellow eyes ever so bright. That's right isn't it? She bested the woman in battle.
Now … what are the others up to …
Hercules seems perfectly happy, even if the water stings on the burns forming. Of course, if Herc's happy, it means Kainoa's going into the ground — repeatedly — and every time he brings Kainoa up again, it's right into Koa's watery bludgeon. This is repeated until Kainoa is properly unconscious, at which point Herc will drop him. The god turns to face Lani next, and grins tightly. "Your allies crumble, 'inheritor'. If you surrender I might even be able to keep her Majesty here from pulverizing you."
"No Atlantean would choose to become a beast such as these, Lani the Pale. If they came to you, then you have tricked them. If they came to you, then they were not worthy Atlanteans. We already rule the water. You are the enemy, attempting to subvert and overthrow the Kingdom."
It may be too late for Lani - nice try Hercules. With the woman distracted, Nera reforms her water shield into a pulverising downpour. Not so much to hurt the woman, more to drench her heat. Steam rising in huge clouds that enable Mera to use it as a smokescreen and land a super-strong punch to her jaw. To be fair, Mera came from a direction that won't have Lani flying into the sea, but more flying at Hercules. Catch!
That is indeed what happens and Lani won't be quite unconscious when she reaches Herc though her bells have been well and truly wrung. She does surrender at that point though or at least… that's a reasonable interpretation of her looking up and then going limp. She's dazed.
What few Sharkhybrids are left stream back into the water to get away. They've lost here. The volcano goes dormant and Koa hears SHIELD call out that the source of the seismic activity has been located elsewhere and stopped.
And that leaves a bunch of Atlantean soldiers, a demigod, Atlantean nobility and two WAND agents standing on a battlefield that used to be a beach and naval base.
"Nice work." Koa says tiredly. SHIELD will be along shortly to start arresting and processing people. If the military doesn't get to it first. And doubtless the Atlanteans will drag off some hybrids to ask pointed questions to. And Herc…
Somewhere somewhere in the distance he can feel something. Something very… Greek. And sealike. Someone far away invoking a LOT of Posidon's power. It's there for just a moment and then it's gone.
Glydril looks… smug. Koa looks over at Keiko. No, she can't keep the 'inheritor' but he'll deal with that later. He motions for her to come over and help him secure the ones he's got over here.
"Good thing we had actual Atlanteans here. Not to mention heroes of old."
Hercules looks… well, even with the burn marks that are starting to mend, he looks pretty good despite his outfit being a complete writeoff. He may need to go home in a bathrobe, as his garments are in scorched tatters. He frowns, looking out to sea, his brow furrowed. What is… no, it's gone. But that bothers Hercules, quite a bit. When he looks at Koa, he says, "Don't run away until I've had a chance to talk to you, friend. Something is… afoot. That's the right word, yes."
Herc offers Mera, and the assembled Atlanteans, a genial smile at this point. "It is good to see the sons and daughters of Poseidon again, even in such times as dire as these."
Connor, the Barghest, trots up to Koa and Hercules, licks Hercules hand as he sits on the inheritors chest.
"Well fought." Keiko says to Mera, the obsidian scales remaining - melted as they are on her stomach.
When Koa gestures, Keiko moves over glancing at Connor who's sitting on the inheritors chest. Secured? Right?
"Of course somethings afoot." She says to Hercules as she looks around. "We were attacked from the sea … and there was an earthquake. Those things don't happen, not even in Limbo."
"I will take her" Mera informs Hercules of the dazed Lani before gesturing to some of the Atlantean soldiers to take her into custody. And, yes, they will be taking some shark people too. Alas, she can't look at Hercules too long because his clothes are in tatters, so she offers a wave at his groin area in a 'cover that up, please' fashion.
"We have been fighting these creatures for some time" Mera explains. "I have been asked to determine who is behind these attacks. They are trying to cause war between the surface and Atlantis. And there have been times when humans have been involved. I believe that we have traitors on both sides trying to detroy us both. I would ask that you ensure that your rulers know that this is not Atlantis' doing." Captives assembled and restrained, Mera offers a polite bow to the others. "It has been a pleasure. Hercules, drop by Atlantis…when you are dressed." And then she is leading her party back to the sea. Never one to stand around and chat afterwards.
"Hope to hear from you soon, Lady." Koa nods to Mera as she retreats and then he turns to Hercules. "Afoot? You felt something?" Hrm. "Well, I'll be here for the next several hours so we'll have a chance to chat. I've got to get some teams onto this beach though so I'll be a few minutes. Keiko…"
He glances to the tattoo'd demon-woman. "Get Hercules some pants, please? I'm sure one of the marines around can provide some. And don't get distracted on the way."
With that done Koa goes to manage the SHIELD teams arrival. Then it will be time to talk with a hopefully clothed Herc and a hopefully not distracted Keiko.