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Ianos dropped Scene Notes.
TL;DR - What's Going On: In the sky
- After warning from Heimdall, Thor shot into Earth orbit to combat star-sharks. The past few hours have been spent chasing them over the Pacific.
- Scarlett took down a star-shark and carried it back to Captain America. Newsworthy item here.
- Following radar sweeps and alerts, Cap and Scarlett are inbound.
In Chichen Itza
- The Inhumans snuck their way into the temple of Kukulkan (el El Castillo) via secret entrance Crystal located.
- Stone death balls chased them until the Inhumans jumped 30 meters down into a cenote.
- They discovered a hidden submerged Inhuman-Kree city.
- Nexus woke up the system and they had a lovely recording telling them the ancient Inhumans retreated with the freed slaves.
- They left a way to reach a refuge: "They promise… across the sea… and we go on our craft. Menalao and Rangi have left their stores at the sacred Eye. Seek the core and it will carry you swiftly."
- Lockjaw is splashing around in the Well of Sacrifice.
Kamala Khan is very happy to explore the dome. "This is the archaelogical find of the century, if my teachers could get ahold of this they'd pass their last baby. Did anyone bring note paper? A camera? I have to try to take some of this information home with us." She is looking at all of the everythings. Trying to do it all at once.
Steve is high above the clouds, grasping to Rogue as they fly along, and somewhat embarrassed as to how this might look. "Never thought I'd be carried across the threshold." Pause. "Never thought it would be on the way to fight some sort of flying shark." He looks back to her with a tilted head, "You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?"
Thor flies down from the sky, punching a shark. It's a bigass shark the size of a school bus, and he's punching it like a boss.
"Friend Steve!" Thor roars, waving his hammer at Steve in greeting, then hitting the thrashing shark with it, while literal lasers erupt from the shark's head like a Pink Floyd show. He punches and wrestles the mighty beast with one hand and kicks at his with his feet.
"I am glad to see friend Scarlett has you safety in her custody! Tis a goodly way down, my friend…!" Thor calls, as he and the epic heavy metal shark he's fighting plummet downwards in a cacophany of violence.
OVER THE PACIFIC
The lonely stretches of water traversed by the odd cargo ship, sub or airplane miss a spectacle beyond words. Only telecommunications satellites tracking their dismally remote routes capture hints of flashes crackling through the upper atmosphere. Clouds churn into tiny gyres where they failed to exist before. Miniature hurricanes twist into rapid spirals spotted on a long arc someone might easily think as a series of stepping stones trekking east to west.
Vela-1 and Vela-2 watch with pitiless eyes. Military counterparts catch signals while great radar assemblies online from Chile to Australia triangulate an impossible stream of data. That ends up parsed by confounded analysts and shot up the line to one Steve Rogers, Captain America, via communicator device of some kind.
"Six bogeys heading due west over the Pacific. Nearest point of land is Johnson Atoll. 16.7295' N, 169.5336' W," reports Lieutenant Dan Tanner. His pleasant afternoon of golf is thoroughly spoiled. "We stopped nuclear testing there last year. An airstrip there but nothing of geological or strategic value of miles."
Crystal wasted no time once they were sure that the dome was secure enough for them to take a break. "I need to rest," she informed Karnak. "Not knowing what escape might drop us into, there's too much chance I might not be able to help. Best I rest up for just a little bit. Just in case." Which was when she moved away to find a relatively quiet corner, laid down, and promptly passed out for the next few hours.
Karnak nods, "Prudent decision, Princess. I will keep watch." And she sits in a meditative lotus position on the floor, contemplating things so far. Which is just as restful for her as anything else as she doesn't allow meditation to keep her from being aware of her surroundings.
IN CHICHEN ITZA
Several hours spent within the safety afforded by the sonically-infused dome has its benefits. Nexus remains largely lost in a trance state, his pulsing white circuitry adding a friendly light. He'll be the one to decipher where the way out is: "A tunnel dead north through there." The tunnel in question is, unfortunately, filled by the freshwater of the rest of the cenote. There might be air pockets but they're too distant for Crystal to detect effectively. Kamala is sure to have a good idea of all nine entombed Inhumans in their crystal pods, aware how some have headfins, one has wings, the man with the scroll looks an awful lot like certain Greco-Roman statues. There isn't any food here, alas. For Karnak, the meditation gives an indelible impression she'll be able to summon from memory of the drowned settlement's layout.
The jellies circulate around, terribly interested in eating the living. Some lack a few tentacle bundles thanks to sharp jolts severing their hungry tentacles.
Scarlett can achieve rather frightening airspeeds when compelled to do so, but rarely when carrying people less impervious to the perils of windshear and g-force than herself. For the most part, she skims the stratosphere backwards, blocking the worst of the screaming winds and frigid heights from Captain America. Stars, a compass bracelet, and landforms aid her navigation, but she relies as much on him to inform her when to turn north or south. "Typical day for me," she replies without a trace of irony. "I dance on the cloudtops." Such sentiments end up interrupted by the lightning and pyrotechnic display revealed to be a god punching a shark. "Thor!" Not any shark.
A gigantic horror at least forty feet long, with the general sleek shape of an ICBM. Its face is where the warhead analogy ends, for the metal spikes embedded into its head and the plated steel armour - what remains - are not normal. Nor is the face, a triple row of hugely serrated teeth spreading out. The lower jaw has in effect a buzzsaw wheel of teeth with which to bite, though Thor has made this nonfunctional.
Once Crystal wakes, she goes to inspect the path up to the cenote, standing at the edge of the water and extending her senses to get a feel for how long she'll need to hold things back. "If we all stay together, I can move the water out of our way," she decides with a nod, stepping back and looking to the others. "Then it's just a matter of getting Lockjaw's attention again, and perhaps we can decipher where we need to go next."
By this time, Kamala has come to a decision: she wishes she were someone more useful. "I have this impression," she says as she returns to the group, "that a literature nerd is probably not the best choice for your quest. If there's trouble I'll do my best to help out though." She doesn't sound overly hopeful about it but it's been a while and the adrenaline has had time to …dim slightly. Take more than several hours in a hole to put her light out. "I haven't found any way out by the way. So that's probably best, yes."
Karnak looks at Kamala, and nods to Crystal, "The faster the better, yes." Then she turns her attention back to the young Inhuman, "You have shown great courage to this point, it would be a shame if you didn't finish to see it through to the end. Besides, think of the story you can write about this." Well, that's about as much as a pep talk that Karnak can give, but on the bright side, she sounds like she means it.
Nexus would normally have a pithy comment to make, but the information overload he's wresting from ancient systems is particularly difficult. He tells Kamala, "Make sure to take that. Everyone has use." He sluggishly points at the pod where the metal fragments in a circle were held.
"He won't tell anyone, will he?" Steve says to Rogue as the Asgardian soars away and does battle with the shark. "Guess this is what you brought me for. Promise me you'll come catch me if I miss." He looks to her. "If you can get me close to the mouth," he begins…
Thor falls from the sky, plummeting with a whistling noise; he gets the shark under control with a last, mighty swing of his hammer, smashing it on the nose so hard that violent aftershocks ripple from snout to tail and its spine ruptures in multiple places. A shark the size of a whale is a lot of mass; it goes limp and rubbery, and Thor kicks away from the plummeting beast and flies to parallel Scarlett's course. He's scratched and bruised, and his heavy armor bears many dings and scratches from what must have been an epic fight in the upper atmopshere.
CHICHEN ITZA
Travel through the chilling waters of the cenote is not precisely enjoyable, and Kamala's adrenaline rush might begin the moment the quartet assembles to push through the barrier. Immediately four floating jellies start to flash ruby, their tentacles seized by epileptic excitement to zap the living. Whatever preparations Crystal takes to push the water out of the way, they're off and swimming fast as possible. A dark, ragged tunnel full of buildings and shattered metal speaks to some kind of exodus, especially where they can see shattered double hulls or dead, drifting sails. Why yes, those /are/ bones, Virginia. The jellyfish shoot after them, and snaking eel-like shapes rush out from the cliffside faces.
Swim for your lives.
The tunnel narrows and widens, but it's a good kilometer of raw swimming. Light shines in the deep plunge of the sacred cenote where the Mayans dutifully threw living sacrifices in for centuries. Fifteen yards before the entrance to the Well of Sacrifice is a submerged cave, the thin spire of a hull visible.
Occasionally turning to wave some kind of weapon she found at the jello-fish that are trailing them, Kamala swims like her life depended on it. She is very quickly stuffing that weapon into her pants though, as swimming is once again not an exercise that she is proficient in and she is using every bit of her heart to keep aching muscles moving at all. The fact that it's likely to be a priceless artifact doesn't change the fact that it's creeping in her butt crack right now and making it not only hard but awkward as well. As she emerges from the water, her gasps of pain are like a breaching whale.
For as long as the path is horizontal or a walkable angle, Crystal pushes the water away from them, allowing a chance to walk. Once the path grows too steep, though, once they're into an ascent, each traveler has an air bubble just like before, necessitating the tiring swim. The hull near the entry is of interest, but it's been there for centuries - they can always come back. Right now, getting everyone to air is the goal.
Scarlett's grip on Steve is firm enough, though the modified double-jump harness used with the X-Men helps him too. "You won't touch the water, I swear," she replies, an encouraging smile briefly rendered. Those distant eyes seek more proof of sharks falling from the sky. The heavy weight of the dead star-shark will break with nary a splash in the open ocean below them, no evidence of land anywhere. "We seek the rest of them!" she shouts to Thor. "How many are left?" This, Captain America is responsible for.
Karnak supports Kamala, swimming close as she makes sure the girl doesn't fall behind. When the boat is seen, she doesn't bother with subtlety, nearly tossing Kamala into the boat, then ascending herself. The monk doesn't look too winded, but crouches over Kamala, "It's alright. Deep breaths. You did very well."
Nexus is /not/ going to the centre of the cenote, nope. He gestures frantically at the entry and hauls Crystal that way. "That's how - the woman, the Inhumans - left. She said it was for us." His circuits are flaring dully under the water in their bubble. "Get Lockjaw. Then go."
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d20 for: 15
"Six, I think, unless I missed a couple," Captain America says as he judges one below. A hand comes between them that, under other circumstances might be awkward, but he's releasing the strap. A second later he's falling, hurtling towards terminal velocity, and against all odds he seems to be in line with one of the sharks!
Thor shakes his head in response, and follows along with Captain America's glitteringly patriotic descent; just in case Cap needs a hand, because he's so terribly squishy.
"I know not, my friend! I saw a half-dozen in orbit while I fell to Earth, and mangled at least two quite badly; but 'tis possible the rest of their pack roams elsewhere, and I did not see them!" the God of Thunder roars. "They are mighty and most redoutable, though— strike them as hard as possible, and aim for their eyes if nowhere else!"
"Onto the..boat.." Kamala says, being helped up and in. And thank Allah, because her arms are refusing to…oh hey, that's interesting. "Thank you," she says with renewing force as she looks at the boat itself, intensely curious and poking at things with her 'dead' arms. Girl's a phenomenon. She's also apparently come back with souvenirs, but only tiny stuff compared to what was back there.
Crystal peers toward the ship when Nexus draws her attention to it, giving the man a long, searching look before she nods. "All right. You prepare it, we'll be right back," she agrees. Breaking the surface, she swims back to the shore to find the waiting Lockjaw, giving the dog a good scratch behind the ears and a brief hug. "Well done, Lockjaw," she murmurs before she looks back to Karnak and Kamala. "Nexus waits below. He says the ship we passed on our way to the surface is our next step. Luckily, Lockjaw can make the trip much quicker. Hands on, please." Once everyone has a hand on the dog, it's a quick teleport down to the cavern, where Nexus waits with their ship.
CHICHEN ITZA
How long can an Inhuman hold their breath?
As long as it takes Crystal to surface, recover a soaked, wet Lockjaw and come back to a submerged catamaran. Within seconds the boat slides out from the cavern with Nexus jabbing at a luminous interface that scans over him in an eerie aquamarine light. Jellyfish lash at the hull ineffectively. The sweeping forcstays and forward mast angle back with a rush of bubbles to let the craft free. When the sails unfurl, their ghostly fabric spreads as wide as possible, sparking blue on white. Everyone might want to hold on because they're fired straight into the open-aired cenote.
Embedded greenstone plaques hidden under the Well of Sacrifice's heavy greenery come alive. They'll see electrified plates and hear the high, C-sharp melody the great machine in Thule played. To Kamala, it sounds like the standing stones in Brodgar 'speaking' like when she first arrived. Power keys up, and flings them at high speed westward into the Pacific, covering eight thousand kilometers in about five minutes of time.
The elder Inhumans might remember the way the floor fell out under them in Thule. Imagine being shot out of a cannon in a boat, it's similar.
Instead they hit the water near a massive volcanic outcropping, black as night.
The boat: http://tinyurl.com/yca9daqf
Karnak doesn't blink, because otherwise she would miss it. Then she looks back at Crystal, "How much… I wonder /where/ we could be now?" She frowns, looking at the volcanic outcropping. "Looks like we have a destination, though."
"Mind the teeth," Scarlett adds with the hardwon wisdom of someone caught in single combat with something about the length of a bus eager to completely devour her. "The single-minded savagery is driven by intelligence. A kind of malevolence, as far as seeking out anything alive to fight and devour goes." Her body shoots up at least twenty feet when Captain America releases himself, the difference in weight jettisoned in a heartbeat. Dropping like a falcon, her rotation puts her face-up to Thor. "Let us ride into battle! For Midgard and the glory of Mjolnir!" No longer impeded by strict speed limits, it's so easy for her to swandive at supersonic speeds, the shattering boom overhead an exclamation point on her challenge.
There's another sound as the ship shoots out into the world. It almost overpowers the power keys, and sounds like a …well, it sounds like a girl screaming in delight. People might look and see Kamala holding onto something and making the first ever epic 'squee' of nerd history, as she rides the howling wind into adventure! She waves her right arm in the air, a lovely engraved hook-shaped pendant dangling from her wrist, and her heart in her teeth! (Not really, that's disgusting.)
IN THE PACIFIC
The Johnson Atoll sits in the middle of literally nowhere. Hence why the U.S. navy happily used it for nuclear tests and some little ol' thing called Agent Orange. Empty seas for 1,500 kilometers to Honolulu, 4,000 kilometers to Tahiti, make it lonely. Some horrified lookout might wonder why the sea started foaming.
Seamounts not formally charted on any ship simply are above the ocean surface. No gazetteer contains proof of a rather large island, multilobed, crowned by shining black basalt pinnacles. There's a narrow entrance from a lagoon behind its reefs where the surf breaks miserably, and it singularly might look like one of the least hospitable locations imaginable. The high mountainous cone stands up like a spike on the left side of the notch into the harbour, whereas the surrounding valleys and raw-edged cliffs aren't quite smoldering. Faint smoke trails into the air.
There is an island no one has seen.
But then, Attilan is a city no one has figured out for 25,000 years, either.
It so happens a flight of six star-sharks are arrowing directly for that black, smoldering landmass suddenly appearing due northwest of Thor, Captain America, and Scarlett. The frenzy fan out, rather than approach one by one, the first of them dropping behind a certain outrigger canoe with a sail moving terribly slow compared to them. The others might well be aiming to get ahead. And unlike normal sharks, these ones have no issue with air or land, it seems.
Crystal isn't close enough to grab a rail, so instead it's Lockjaw who gets her reflexive death grip when the ship takes off into the sky. "Another corner of the world, it seems," she answers Karnak ruefully, looking to Nexus to see how progress goes with the ship. "Nexus, are you all right?" she checks in with the other Inhuman. Of course, turning to look at him means she catches sight of the next shark, eyes going wide. "KARNAK WE HAVE A PROBLEM," she calls, firing a fireball at the shark.
Nexus is still trying to pull together some kind of direction for the ship. He does not have time to answer anyone, much less put up with a shark. There are people called Shatterer for 'punch that shark.' His directive is to not end up impaled on a reef and drowning a thousand miles from the nearest outpost of civilization. It makes him grumpy.
Captain America is hurtling downward at high speeds, but you'd never know it by the look on his face. He's calm and determined. He trusts Rogue entirely. You have to have that if you're going to rely on someone to have your life in their hands. Up until the very last second he's thinking about strategy. So much so that when he hits the shark he's not quite ready for it. He begins to slide along the back and his hand is lucky to hold on by the end of the laser. Rather than thank his lucky stars he moves quickly to get a better grip.
Karnak glances over at Crystal, then blinks as she sees the star-shark approaching. She then looks over at Kamala, "Stay down!" She then waits for the fireball's impact, and… well, presuming the shark keeps coming, she leaps into the air, focusing as she sees the weak spot in its skull. And punches with her full power.
Worst case: She dies. Best case: Sushi for everyone.
|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d20 for: 6
|ROLL| Karnak +rolls 1d20 for: 5
"Ware them, Scarlett!" Thor booms at his redheaded ally. "They are strongly armored and quite tough; strike the eyes or gills, or the tip of the snout!" he advises her. "But ware their tongue, I fear it would cut thee in half with but a flickering of motiong!"
He goes left while Scarlett goes right, nodding at her to get the timing just right; he abruptly veers towards the shark and hits it hard behind the gills, hoping Scarlett's impact coincides with his on the opposite side.
Kamala does her simplest thing ever. She gets down and hangs on. Because her powers are not currently of a lot of use. She somehow doubts being able to quote the Silmarillion is going to dissuade these particular enemies. Spends some time counting teeth. Wow, Karnak is cool. Hey, Crystal threw a fireball. Wow, my fly's been undone all this time.
The star-shark has an advantage as it closes on the boat from behind. It can see Karnak rising over the back of the canoe, and its speed adapted for traveling betwixt stars and planets. Its supple body thinks little of waves! Luminous devices implanted along its sides start to sparkle and then orient, flashing little dots this way and that. Finding the woman leaping, the lasers converge and send a powerful blast at the Shatterer before she lands. But hey, lasers don't blow people out of the water, so she does indeed land among many a nasty spike.
Right as the fireball comes flying up behind her.
Maybe not sushi.
Crystal trains like she means it, because when you fall into trouble, you rarely have the time to stop and think about what you're doing. In this moment, it pays off. She turns quickly, shoots off a massive fireball, and the white-hot flames shoot right down the shark's gullet.
Karnak flies in, then sees the blast coming and doesn't do anything yet, punching it square in the snout as bones crack and shatter. And then the blast hits her, knocking her flying backwards as she tries to roll with the impact, her clothing scorched rather strategically as 1964 is still under the guidelines of the Comics Code Authority.
And that's when Karnak notices where she's going. The island. The rather spiky island. And then Karnak braces herself for the impact, looking like she's trying to figure a way to roll with the impact…
Don't need to tell Scarlett twice. Her violent descent threads around the boat, though she kicks up a rooster's tail of ocean water and a few mahi mahi, an immature marlin, and one upset albatross flapping around in confusion. Strategies and tactics change with someone literally falling from the sky for a tactical strike. That strike meant to take the shark in the tail. That's right before flames pass that cylindrical sawblade mouth. She plows into Captain America, grabbing him solidly around the waist to get him off. Unfortunately her hand misses a good hold on Karnak.
Steve is just about to slam his shield into the laser when he sees the flames rise up and aiming right at the shark he's on. Well, this is a bad start. He's still thinking about how to get out of it when Rogue snags him out off the shark and back into the sky. "I guess we could have skipped the skydive and just got here the easy way," he deadpans.
Thor barrel rolls around the crashing, titanic monster; he accelerates at the sight of Karnak grasping for Scarlett's hand, and missing. Thor's not as agile as Scarlett but he's a powerful flier and he pours on the speed, intercepting Karnak neatly and snatching her in a fireman's carry, cradled in both arms and soaring after the rest of the pack.
"Hang on to me, I must keep a hand free!" he calls to Karnak, tucking her against the side of his powerful frame and gripping Mjolnir's haft.
"We must intercept the rest of the sharks!" he shouts at Scarlett. "I cannot use my lightning so close, 'lest I injure the others!" He builds up speed and holding Karnak still in his arm, whips Mjolnir at one of the sharks with an awkward, underhanded toss.
Fortunately, a weapon with near-infinite mass doesn't need a lot of velocity.
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d20 for: 8
These sharks have not learned from the frenzy whom Thor and Scarlett visited in the upper atmosphere. At least not the one who sees a hurtling hammer and opens its gaping maw, clearly intending to devour Mjolnir. It will not be the first or the last time the short-handled uru artifact suffers the indignity of being gnashed on, though it swings away from being swallowed to smack the shark hurtling over and over against the high black basalt cliffs. On the other hand, the laser beams that come firing back at Thor and Karnak are sure to at least put a fresh burn mark on the Aesir and knock off a boss from his armour.
Kamala is mostly hanging on and trying not to fall into the drink. She pulls herself up the side of the ship, waving her hand at the passing Thor in the air (big fan) and then putting the pendant around her neck so she can have both hands free. Then gets the sight of the island up ahead.
"Allah be praised."
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d6 for: 2
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d6 for: 2
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d6 for: 4
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d6 for: 1
In the narrow lagoon fringed in forbidding black cliffs, the star-sharks mount their attack. Proof they are not stupid: two of the sharks converge their fire on the boat as it approaches, and those flaming lasers strike hull, sail, and rigging in a wild contortion. One of those holes on the bottom allows in seawater and Nexus' shouting probably raises a concerning storm. Crystal and Kamala are sure to be thrown around as the craft beaches on the reefs. Wild undercurrents and sharp, bare coral do not promise happy times in the near future. For now they're in place, but not getting any further.
More of those bright red and gold streaks fire through the air at Crystal from the nearest shark (A), while the further beasts fly higher in the air and take out their rage on Thor for being too good looking and Karnak for their sass. Captain America and Scarlett evade notice for the moment, surprisingly.
Karnak winces as her leggings are on fire from the latest blast. She then looks at Thor, and says, "Thank you for the catch. I need to put this out." And then she slips out of his grasp, leaping away while her pants are literally on fire. Angling down, she strikes the shark attacked by Crystal in a weak spot on its spine, then tumbles off and falls towards the lagoon. It's not a long drop… which is good, because the lagoon is rather shallow. Karnak doesn't cry out, but she does wince… on the bright side? Pants are put out.
Crystal takes aim at the next nearest shark when the first falls, but the ship is rocked by the waves and the attacks. Not just the ship, either. One of those lasers strikes out across her side, bringing a surprised cry from the princess before she fires back. The rocking of the ship shakes her aim, though, and the fire skates along the side of the shark, heating the metal plates more than the shark's skin. She curses softly at Nexus' cry, extending a hand toward the hull as she tries to hold the water at bay. "What are the others doing here?"
Captain America yanks out his shield and puts it in front of he and and Rogue as both hurtle towards the shark in question. He covers up, careful to get his body behind the shield. "Throw me, Scarlett," he says to her. "Right down its throat."
Thor grunts in pain, taking the hits from the lasers. They do burn holes in his armor; he's tough and his armor is immensely durable, but the point of armor is to take a hit before it does more harm to the bearer.
Ignore the small hits; make the big ones.
Thor nods at Karnak, dropping her loose so she can dive into the water.
Hearing Steve ordering Scarlett, Thor waves his hammer to acknowledge he'll help— he watches and waits for the two of them to dive towards him, then swoops low and flings his hammer upwards at the shark's belly, to force the maw wide open so Steve can attack the giant monster from within.
"And not live to the fullest? Nay." The redheaded bohemienne threads around the troubled ship, pulling Captain America higher to avoid a collision with the island's steep black-rock shores. Their quarry might be up for taking an opportunistic snap at her, and that's the whole point, sufficient to give the First Avenger his desired giant maw of doom. "Don't make me regret this!"
Scarlett swings and flings him at the star-shark hemmed in. The clatter of very sharp teeth including the 360' spiral gnashing at him can't break through vibranium. Flesh, yes. Her own movement carries her to smash onto its head, tipping it forward onto Steve. Well, can't say she isn't committed about letting a man wear a space-faring horror!
"Well, that's a thing," says Kamala, admiring the upcoming beauty of the island. Of course, the fact that they're under attack doesn't go unnoticed; she's just starting to get used to it. "Um. Miss Crystal? Minor detail here," she says as she peers over the side, holding on for dear life amidst chaos and destruction. "We seem to be taking on water, captain." She doesn't think she can actually swim all the way to shore, but hell. Do what you gotta I suppose, and the backstroke is the easiest stroke. Maybe dogpaddle a bit.
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d2 for: 1
Kamala Khan jumps off the side.
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d3 for: 2
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d6 for: 2
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d20 for: 20
Star-sharks are dreaded on planets. There are good reasons, their frenzies being legendary. The shark under assault from Karnak and Crystal turns to bullrush Karnak using that steamroller full of teeth, biting the living menace out of the Shatterer. Let it be said those teeth are a definite weakness, and they also hurt. While it's in a hangry rage, the shark unable to eat Mjolnir proceeds to wing past Thor and bite a vicious chomp off the tail of the other vertical forty-foot behemoth worn by Captain America.
One more floats higher, and then grins toothily at Kamala from on high. Meanwhile, the one hanging out near the cliff sends a bolt of laser energy to the boat. The lovely ancient Inhuman craft simply explodes to pieces, throwing debris in a wide circle. Metal, wood, cloth, and crystal erupt in all directions.
The metal, Crystal can hold off. The rest takes a concentrated counter-blast of air to protect herself, Nexus, and Kamala when the ship is destroyed. "Why," she shouts (toward Thor, because this seems like his sort of thing), "Are there giant, laser-armed, flying SHARKS near the ANCIENT INHUMAN STRONGHOLD?!" Air and water combined are enough to lift herself, Kamala, and Nexus, guiding the trio toward secure land.
Any remaining sharks are going to be very sorry when she's free to be angry with them.
Karnak doesn't scream, but she does bleed. She does, however, rip OUT the shark's tooth that bit her, causing the shark to cry out first. In the wake of the loosened grip, she then drags the tooth edge-down into its hide, causing blood and gore to pour out as she slides down to the main laser cannon. Grinning ferally, she jams the tooth and leaps clear onto the now water-platform Crystal made.
Behind her, as Karnak walks towards Crystal and Kamala on the generated platform, the laser cannon on the back of that shark sparks, then suddenly explodes, annihilating the shark in a fireball of gore. Karnak, for her part, looks a bit battered, but still able to keep going. Not that she'd ever admit anything else anyway.
Hammer-throw and striking, very, very frightening; whee! Scarlett has seconds to dodge aside from being crushed between one star-shark colliding with the vertical celestial behemoth in hopes of eating its tail. Steve Rogers is in there, she is altogether aware of this. The explosive shockwave further knocks her off her feet. She skids through the shallow aquamarine lagoon water, revealing bare black rock, turning sharply to go airborne again. A pointed shout, "Thor! Can you open a path? They're too large for the rest of us!"
Truer words may be spoken considering her trajectory angles back to slam into the one gloating shark considering eating Kamala. Apparently she can rush a thrashing, angry beast up the mountainside opposite the volcanic cone.
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d100 for: 37
Mired in blood and gore, the star spangled outfit of Captain America is smeared but it's still recognizable. There's a metaphor in there about the song somewhere, but he's too busy to think about it as he explodes out the top of the shark in question. Despite grime in his face he recoils with all of his might and fires his shield towards the gills of a shark across the way, hoping he's able to get enough on the throw before he falls towards the sea.
Thor whirls to catch Scarlett's words. He rolls his eyes.
"Can I open a path," he snorts, muttering darkly under his breath. He grips Mjolnir and whips it in a circle, floating to the proper location; he squints, tilts his head, and gauges the lead on the shark at the head of the pack as it thrashes and swarms forward. He flings Mjolnir like a streaking meteor, shatteirng the air and setting it afire with the velocity of the weapon.
Not bothering to see where it goes, he dives downwards, making a red-caped beeline for the fallign Captain to intercept him.
Kamala waves to the shark as it's taken away. Riding the nice …whatever it is she's riding, she sits down crosslegged to try and wrap her head around stuff. Well, at least they're going somewhere interesting. She tilts her head, checking out the building she sees, and says, "Give 'em hell, team," not really having contributed anything this entire trip. "Crystal, set us down there. You can go back and fight."
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d6 for: 2
|ROLL| Ianos +rolls 1d20 for: 20
Two sharks but remain; one being scoured over volcanic rocks hardly seems to notice, for they aren't nearly sharp enough to pierce its armoured hide. The battle for Scarlett to pin it down turns full circle when it starts to writhe and shake the redheaded woman like a particularly obnoxious seal. Two aren't equally matched; it has lasers and huge teeth, and Scarlett has the advantage of being tossed in the air, bitten, and slammed into the basalt pinnacles. Pin the human is a popular game.
Taking what inspiration it can, the last star-shark by the same headland decides to shift course. The meal of Thor is not an ideal target, and Mjolnir has left bruising, jarring marks. It goes into a streamlined frenzy, a burst of superhuman speed bashing through the four Inhumans gathered on the south side of the lagoon. In the twinkling of an eye, Kamala is gone into that maw and it's shooting for the mountainous peaks separating it from open ocean. Mu: HAHAHAHA! indeed.
"That is the plan," Crystal assures Kamala as she sets the trio down on the shore of the volcano. Although she doesn't have long to do it, and the shark gets to Kamala before she can set the girl down, even. She cries out as she sees the girl disappear down the gaping maw, changing the course of the flame at the last moment to hit the shark's tail.
The flaming meteor-shark is at least very visible in the clear sky!
Karnak looks over at Crystal, and says, her voice concealing no small amount of rage, "Throw me there. I'll get her back." Normally Karnak is scary on a small scale, but right now, after seeing the shark just narf Kamala and sail off…
Karnak looks angry now. Which is probably the first time she's looked anything like it as she gauges the shark, simply adding for emphasis. "Now."
Hysterical screams of pain aren't forthcoming from high on the cliffs, in part because that requires breath. Caught between a rock and a hard shark place, oxygen proves rather limited. When a Pink Floyd show takes place up close and personal, Scarlett covers her face. Flaming lines sliced into her clothes leave welts in their wake to say nothing of the volcanic sand all over her. Her kicking and twisting doesn't much avoid teeth snatching at her, but the star-shark makes a near-fatal error by tossing her up to bite her with those great teeth. A bare hand grabs onto its rough hide for purchase. The Soul-Thief's curse does not care about man, beast, or divine: it rips into the offered lifesource without hesitation while they both bounce back down to the lagoon.
Steve's thought just as he's about to hit the water is that Rogue is going to get it, but he's intercepted easily by the Asgardian Prince, getting way too much shark goo all over the son of Odin. Steve winces, "Sorry about the cape."
"Mind not the cape, my friend! We must intercept the lastmost of the sharks!" Thor pours on the speed and swings Cap out to catch his shield mid-rebound; it'd take FOREVER to find the thing if it fell into the lagoon.
Mjolnir, much more conveniently, simply reverses course and flies back into Thor's waiting grasp, and they pour on the speed.
"I think 'tis far enough out that I might smite it more readily, my friend— but to be safe, best raise your shield in defense!" Thor says, with a roaring, booming laugh.
Lightning echoes and a thunderstorm whips up, squalling winds and rains battering everyone around. Thor starts winding up the 'pitch', as the electric tension grows in the air; he grips the sky with a clenched hand, and power literally thrums from his person.
Far away and fleeing fast, the shark can't know what's about to hit it until multiple bolts of lightning walk down from the clouds, pass through the shark, and dance across the ocean like glowing fingers of a giant, stirring the surface.
Back to Kamala for a second.
Sunshine, then teeth and darkness and fear. Then…
The smell. Oh god the smell. Kamala has a flash-forward, her very awesome self realizing for an instant what Lucas was saying in a movie that hasn't been written yet. Because what an incredible smell she's discovered.
Kind of tight in here though. She thinks that stomach acid might be an issue. Side effects include death and poor feminine hygeine. She might, actually, finally be afraid.
Crystal gives Karnak a brief look, gauging if she's serious, then nods. She can't physically fling the other Inhuman that far, but she has other means of achieving that end. Next to Karnak, a waterspout rises along the shore, starting to spin and spray until it's picked up velocity, at which point it picks up a Karnak as well. It whips toward the shark, the Shatter's path further eased and guided with a hurricane gale of wind.
Bastard shark, eater of Kamala, is definitely considering that wonderful path of sky desirable, burning tail or no burning tail. Water is still a newfangled notion, and it zips away having marked its evil prize. Little does it know a damn storm-force wind is brewing and blowing it further, faster, with monsters at its back.
It spares not a thought for its companion landing with a comatose splash into the lagoon, rolling to a stop like a discarded warhead with the black-eyed human beside it. Nope!
Karnak lets the waterspout take her most of the way to approach the shark, not saying a word as she then leaps off, closing the distance as the fight has revealed all sorts of numerous weak spots in the armored hide of the space-shark. Spots that Karnak is perfectly willing to exploit, her punch shattering through the armor on the monster's snout, sending plates flying as she then snarls, raising her fist to break the skull even as thunder crashes around the monk and the flying shark.
"Fair point," Steve says to Thor as they soar along. "I think I got a shot," he mutters. "I'm going to take it." Cap aims a shot at the fleeing shark, again aiming for the gill area in an attempt to hit it at what he considers the weak point. He may regret not using it as a defense like Thor mentioned.
One sprawled star-shark lies entirely on the black, hot rock foaming by the waves, a last survivor only by default. Scarlett lands beside it, breathing too heavily for comfort, her ink-dark eyes vast and ancient in that too young face. She watches the rest of the group unblinking in their convergence in revenge, soaked to the waist, uncaring of the surf. For the moment, they best pray they don't bleed too heavily near her. Her nose wrinkles slightly as she rises out of the waves.
Cap's shield hits the shark square in the gills, stunning it in midair. The shark weakens, gasps— and then lightning hits it full bore as its tail dips towards the water.
The monster screams, whines, shriekds, and shakes, and by the time the electricity finishes discharging, the shark is mostly seared ahi tuna and it's sinking into the lagoon, dead as a doornail.
Thor dives once more to retrieve Cap's shield before it disappears forever, aiming Cap so he can intercept it.
"We should find you a returning spell for that, my friend. Or tie a rope to your belt!" he booms, laughing easily.
Karnak dives through the air. A few seconds after she lands upon the shark, the winds driving her down and forward with such precarious detail. The star-shark attempts to roll, the lasers flashing and zapping in a mad dance, but then a metal disk comes cutting through the white-hot plasma rebounding between the stirring swirls of sky that some poor meteorologist on Oahu or Johnson Atoll will be hard-put to every explain. Karnak might need to worry.
Vibranium is excellent as a conductor. Kamala? Not so much.
Karnak blinks as she sees the lightning, and leaps off just before it hits the shark, the blast knocking her clear back as she tries to roll with it, landing safely on Crystal's updrafted wind. She then looks at the fried shark, and her eyes harden, fists clenching tightly enough that blood can be seen seeping from her palms. Of course, she's bloodied and battered enough, that might be hard to notice.
Yon vibranium shield does its job of attracting lightning and dispersing it into very dead shark brain well. Likewise in keeping the person trapped inside the shark body from being zapped. Not much stops Kamala from being bruised after smacking into the water and rolling away, but at least she can say she survived a fall from an impressive height. And she's one of two people who have worn a space shark today!
No real oxygen. The air we breathe is about twenty percent oxygen…at one breath every fifteen seconds, more in emergency…Kamala is losing consciousness. She can't move. Something keeps jolting her, and it hurts. Stinks. Can't do anything. Stuck. Nothing left. Nothing.
One thing left.
Kamala prays. la ilaha illa'llah, there is no god but God. I have nothing left but you. Help me. Sakal bun phool rahi sarson, the yellow mustard is blooming…
Kamala begins to pass out, clutching the Maui's Hook to her chest.
…
Fight, girl. You're not done. There is more inside you than this. Allah, if you won't help me, I'll do it myself.
There's movement in that shark, since it's not obviously having death throes when turned into a lightning-fricasse.
Crystal catches Karnak, spinning a much smaller wind to carry her voice to Thor. "I have a person inside that shark, Thor," she notes. "On the off chance she's still alive, would you mind recovering the body without electrifying it?" Just how she manages to sound calm about that shall forever remain a mystery.
Thor looks to Crystal, and a funny look crosses his face; it's been a while since they saw one another.
"Er… yes, Princess," he tells the woman, nodding at her. He floats towards the shark and tosses the hammer aside. How do you cut a shark with a hammer? Badly!
He grabs a piece of broken, sharp armor plate and gets some elevation, then with a grunt of force flies sharply downwards and swings it like an awkward, giant crescent axe. It slashes into the shark's exposed underbelly, laying intestines out on the beach.
|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d100 for: 41
The girl who swallowed midnight looks curiously at her hands, flexing her fingers. She strides through the surf, wading into the deeper water, and splashes a double-handful over her arms to cleanse herself of the worst of it. Blood and gore are easily diluted even here, and Scarlett removes some of the volcanic dust from her face. Dripping hands fling drops wide. The moment that broken metal cuts into the shark's belly though, her head whips around. And her hands go over her mouth, skin pale as alabaster. It's at that point she ducks under the water.
Kamala Khan is literally killing her way out of the shark when she's found. Working entirely on willpower, her brain isn't even functioning anymore. The only thing she knows is that her hand is grasping a knife and it needs to be swinging. Which is why she tried to stab Thor, your honor, and that's her story and she's sticking to it.
Oh. Air. Well, that's nice too. She takes some of that, eyes dilated and covered in every type of gunk that was inside that thing, her clothing almost gone and her hair plastered to her head. Might have tried to stab Thor. Not sure.
When Kamala emerges, Karnak descends from the airflow, landing down near the gutted shark. Ignoring Thor, the monk easily disarms Kamala without hurting the girl, then actually does something that Karnak probably hasn't done. Ever. Namely… she hugs Kamala, holding the girl close as she says, "Good… you're alright." Okay, she looks like she needs to work on the emotional expression a bit. Also, she looks a little pale from blood loss, near-electrocution, and being beaten on a lot by laser sharks. Oh, and diving into a shallow lagoon, and…
Bottom line, shortly after she says that, Karnak's body decides that while her will is strong, the flesh, not so much, and she teeters over, falling to the ground with a most ungraceful thud.
"Thank you," Crystal says politely as Thor complies, carefully catching Karnak when she starts to collapse. "I am beginning to hate our ancestors," she mutters in an undertone to Nexus. And then, in the moment that the immediate threats are resolved, she registers the fact that she has an angry red and black burn across her side from the first laser strike. "All right, triage. And…Captain, Thor, Scarlett, I'm incredibly grateful for the assistance with these creatures, but…what are you all doing here?"
Thor's wearing the sort of armor meant to guard a god from injury; Kamala's knife is little more than an annoyance at which he frowns. He offers hands to help extricate her from the gory mess, shaking his head at her.
Karnak collapses, and he's stuck, because he can't reach for Karn without dropping Kamala, who seems much more likely to hurt herself if she falls the wrong way.
"Er… perhaps the young lady has a friend who can calm her," Thor rumbles, not quite sure what to do with Kamala.
"I 'twas flung here by fate," he tells Crystal. "Heimdall sensed I was needed and I flew across the void of worlds through the Bifrost. What are -you- doing here?"
"Fate," says Kamala, managing to get out words already. Considering the fact that she's just been down the gullet of fate itself and chose life, she wonders who's holding her up. Peers. Karnak hugged me. Oh hey, Thor. Big fan, did I say that? No, words aren't coming out of my mouth. Activate muscles. Try again. "Guh." Good girl. Now again. Deep breath.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I GOT EATEN! I'M BEING HELD BY THOR AND I LOOK LIKE ASS! Why did I get eaten? Did I kill it? I was killing it. Wait, hi Thor." She almost collapses, realizing that she looks like a corpse warmed over and is being held by the hottest male in the universe (possibly, there are a few on my list) and might want to crawl back into the fish.
Eh. What's the worst that could happen. "That was fun."
"I'm pretty sure you killed it, kid," Captain America says as an aside.
Karnak groans slightly as Crystal holds her up, "Good job, Kamala." She smiles faintly, barely conscious as she leans rather heavily on Crystal, looking over at Thor, "We are here to look for an artifact of great import for our people." Which is true enough in general, if the specifics are a bit vague.
About two minutes after the initial submersion, Scarlett emerges out of the water, shaking her braided hair wildly. She blows out a mouthful of water and holds up her hand to her skull, headed towards the others ever so slowly. "No other sharks in the vicinity except that one." A gesture made errantly to the one washed by the sea follows. "I think you thoroughly warded them off for now. The place reeks of warnings." She squeezes out the excess water from her plaits, eyes still black as spilled ink, and no less welcoming.
"They have large mouths. You fit inside." Some of that logic in play is more direct than her wont. "You looked like prey."
"Following a centuries old trail of slavery and freedom," Crystal sighs to Thor, as if it's the sort of thing you might not do every day, but have to do every few weeks or so, just to keep things in check. Kamala's state is definitely a matter of some concern, which can at least be partly fixed - she summons another much smaller waterspout, which proceeds to whirl around the girl like a small, sentient roomba, sucking up blood and guts and the sharks only know what.
"How is everyone?" she asks, taking a head count. "What sort of injuries are we looking at?"
Laser burns on Thor and Karnak, Nexus being sluggishly stunned from the explosion, debris everywhere, many cuts and small bruises to all, stomach acid on Captain America and Kamala, Scarlett's tumble down the cliff-face, and Crystal's hair being home to a rat's nest of small wooden bits might round out the obvious things.
Thor senses Kamala swooning, and mistaking her excitement for anxiety, pulls her into a fireman's carry in case she collapses due to stress.
"Some burns and the gnash of doughty teeth scraped my flesh, but I live yet," Thor assures Crystal. He checks her out, too, while she's giving orders.
checks her out for -injuries-, he's being very professional. "Er, an ancient trail? An artifact?" he inquires. He flashes a grin at Scarlett as the ginger approaches the strange little coterie. "I am pleased to see you, Scarlett," he tells his friend. "Your timing was excellent."
Kamala Khan is tempted to fistbump Cap. Brothers in fish. "I killed it," she accepts. Then gets treated to a car-wash of epic proportions, and realizes that she's probably unconscious and hasn't realized it. So she decides that if her body hasn't figure it out yet, it must not be important. "Cool. Ready for more, let's go." She doesn't notice when the world tips over and the horizon goes sideways, but her eyes close anyway and she falldown into Thor's luggage.
Captain America is making a face behind his mask as he wipes the goo in a downward fashion. A second later there's a splat as it hits below. "Anyone have a towel?"
The barren black island is full of wonderful sights, such as burning slopes, deep valleys, and beaches devoid of anything but black sand and several shark carcasses. Beyond the cliff and the high peak to their relative left, the lagoon gives way to a beach and a narrow defile that leads into more forbidden territory. Somewhere has to be an open lava vent, right.
Mind, Kamala knew otherwise…
The blown up boat once had sails. Small bits might be around.
Crystal has a nasty burn across her side, but she seems to be pushing on for the moment. "All right, let's…" The weary and wounded get a look, then she subjects Cap to the carwash treatment as well. "Let's see if this ship and its systems can still tell us anything." And keep Nexus from the stress of being entirely disconnected again. Reaching into the water with his powers, she starts bringing the husk of the ship ashore next to them.
Karnak pauses slightly, "I'm… fine, I think." She staggers a little, but manages to stay upright. Barely. She then moves gingerly towards what's left of the ship as Crystal brings it close, seeing if there's anything else that can be of use there.
"Soon enough ready for mead," says Scarlett. Her clothes have taken the brunt of a dive into the water, a bite from a shark, and other various minor issues. She weaves a simple bandage around her bare hand from a strip of her shirt torn from under her jacket, woven and tucked material affording considerably better protection. "Nothing done that will not pass with time, Crystal. Forgive that entrance. And no towel, but I imagine we could all make some lovely lamellar armour out of shark's teeth. And I will never think that again." A shudder rolls over her shoulders.
The ship, being blown entirely to pieces by the laser assault, is little better than spars and bits. Its contents were largely intended for transportation. Ropes flap off the shattered mast and there probably might be some kind of box on it that's partially submerged.
To be continued…