Potomac calls to Chesapeake: Team Water

[xp_loa]

Amanda, Topaz, Megan and Clea get caught in the citywide fight against the crabs, and make a snap decision to involve others.



"I've always hated seafood."

The words were almost too casual considering they were currently hiding in a bus, exchanging blows with a giant grab through the back door and windows. "I think-" She paused, throwing up a shield to stop an incoming leg from stepping on their shelter and using the wall of energy to push it back. "I think it was something about my food being able to look at me." The crab stumbled back, making a weird, disconcerting hissing sound, claws clacking loudly and menacingly. "I don't think holding them off is going to be enough."

A purple magic bolt sailed past Topaz to hit the crab again, "I don't like the idea of dying in a bus either. If anyone has a suggestion that would be bloody fantastic," Clea said, letting another magic bolt knock down a smaller, but not by much, crab back from rushing the bus.

"What do you want, Spirit?!" Megan was unsure about using her dust on the crabs, not knowing how it might affect the magical creatures. Will O' Wisp wasn't appearing to have much of an effect on the giant adversaries.

"You know, I wish Meggan were here," she said, suddenly thinking of her coworker. "She's smart, magical, and I think she has a degree in Marine Biology."

"And she can breathe underwater," Amanda added. Normally she'd never even countenance putting Meggan in danger, but things were definitely Out of Control. "I'd settled for a bloody flamethrower, to be honest." In lieu of that she went with a fire spell instead, blasting a wave of flames from the back of the bus (she'd kicked the emergency window previously) at the advancing sealife."These things are just getting bigger and bigger!"

"I hate to suggest dragging more people into this-" Topaz cut herself off abruptly to block another flailing crab pincer, wrapping it in magic and squeezing until it cracked. "Especially since we already have SHIELD's attention." She nodded to a couple of nearby, distinctly robotic-type figures flying through air. "But having more people who can get into the water might not be a terrible idea. We have Alani, too. Anyone else?"

"His Royal Highness, King Namor of Ab-lantis?" Amanda suggested with a snort. "If he deigns to get off his royal bum."

"Yes and yes!" The flier exclaimed, nimbly dodging a pincer and aiming a counter-spell at it's owner's eye stalk. "I don't like being trapped in this coach, and I've spent enough time being wet and damp."

"Alright put them on speed dial and get their bloody arse here!" Another purple magic bolt when flying as Clea looked back at the other girls. "I don't want to be fish food."

Topaz cast a larger shield to cover the bus as she ducked back inside, keeping one hand out and getting her phone out with the other. "Three swimmers, coming right up."




Namor, Meggan and Alani take on the task of trying diplomacy with a nature spirit. They make some headway in rough waters, but only manage to negotiate the spirit into not actively making things worse. She will call off any more crabs, but perhaps not stop the ones already calling down destruction.



The little dock out by the Inner Harbor was meant for paddle boats and the occasional Aquarium Staffer. The water was murky, with litter and the occasional dead fish clinging to the pilings. The smell did nothing to improve the scenery.

"This smell offends Our royal sensibilities and does nothing to improve this..." proclaimed the floating, chiseled figure who stood before said dock. This was accompanied with a dismissive wave that took in the harbor and city as if it had personally been responsible for sinking Atlantis. "... This. The real crime is how this 'Baltimore' has not been ended by murderous sea-life earlier."

A snort quickly turned to a cough in a very poor attempt to cover Alani's amusement as she moved down the dock. "Ah sorry, your Highness, I don't think that's the mystery we're here to solve but if you can talk to fish or something, maybe give them an ask when we get under the water. Which.... looks gross as fuck up close, ugh."

“Maybe the sea-life just weren’t great at being organized enough to revolt until now,” Meggan mused only half-jokingly. She wouldn't have expected it to start in Baltimore. And oh, it really did look bad. Hearing about the state of something was different from actually getting a good look at it up close. She gestured at Namor with a tiny grin. "Royalty first?"

The floating man seemed to puff up a little in self righteousness. "I assure you, I did have to be bribed to act as your protector and guide. I am my word." What word that was was anyone's question, but Namor's considering gaze shifted intently toward the water as he processed Alani's suggestion more seriously than intended. But... no. "The time for diplomacy has passed. Let us return war upon these crabs in kind."

With that, he dove into the muck.

"At least he's fun to look at, eh?" The dark haired woman winked, trying to ignore that what he'd said made her feel like the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Brought in to fight the war on crabs, hilarious. Shaking out the feeling, Alani lept after him, allowing herself to sink beneath the grimy waves.

Meggan couldn't entirely disagree with Alani, even given the dire situation that was unfolding. With a faint huff of a chuckle, the blonde promptly formed gills, before she dove head first to follow them into the murky depths below.

Murky it sure was, as was their goal — how did one track crabs beneath the waves?

“Crabs are not a noble creature of the sea, and why hunt what the people of Atlantis could trap?” Namor added helpfully as they failed to find crabs camped out near the port.

“Maybe they aren’t as adorable as porpoises, with their little claws waving about and pinching, and maybe they are the spiders of the sea for a bunch of people, but they can still have their own purpose,” Meggan returned as politely as possible, while she brushed away what may have once been the remains of plastic holding together a six pack of some brand of beer.

She made a face, knowing how that sounded a little weird right about now. “When their task isn’t trying to lay waste to the human population, anyway. Usually it’s a little tamer when migration happens.”

"They definitely have their purposes, I mean spiders or bottom feeders, we need either... both, even." Alani mumbled, frowning at the human debris. Of course she could swim around it, but there was so much of it and this was far from the best water she'd forced herself to dunk in.

"I think if I could talk to crabs, I would terrorize politicians." Oops, that was out loud.

“Crabs,” offered Namor once more, distastefully. This was after they'd found an intriguing konga line of crabs that seemed especially devious, but it turned out that they were just swarming a cargo container that had been toppled into the water. Several of the crabs now had knives.

Soon, though, they found themselves far from the human occupied portion of the bay, and as their strategy cleared up so did the pollution (minimally) and the detritus of human civilization (again, minimally). What didn’t lessen, however, was the stream of crabs flowing out from what looked to be a massive underwater cave like it was their corporate headquarters. Ridiculously large crabs, tiny crablings, pinchers galore — a regular blue crab bounty.

“Crabs.” This time it was a bit derogatory.

"Crabs," Alani agreed in a quiet dread. There was no way they'd be able to fight all of those. Well, okay, maybe His Royal Highness could make mince-crab out of a lot of them. But why did it have to be a cave? "They said something about a spirit, right? Do you think these spirits bargain?"

“Yeah, they did,” Meggan assured her. “Maybe this one will? We just have to hope that this crabby spirit is up to opening the cave floor for negotiations,” she pointed out. And that they would not just be inundated with wave after wave of crabs, in lieu of laughter at their audacity for trying, and then be pinched to death.

"Tell me," Namor squinted at the two, the undersea light making him look as if he, with his sharp teeth and sharp ears, fit better down here than above, "Bargaining involves having something each party desires. We bring only the threat of retribution. Would you trade this creature another city? It has not offered peace on any terms."

Alani sighed, blowing out a stream of bubbles as she did. She didn't like the implication, but it was hard to argue with the fact that if this spirit wanted to fuck shit up, they couldn't rightfully offer another place. "Just because it hasn't been offered, doesn't mean it wouldn't accept some terms if we can find them. We just... need to figure that out. Right?"

“Right, we’ll have to find some sort of middle ground for that,” Meggan agreed, even as she shook her head at the thought of threatening retribution before they even met. “And once we figure it out, making ourselves crystal clear, since there’s got to be a smidge of a language barrier in all of this. We can’t just rush in and threaten or fight him or her and expect the one in charge to stand down.”

"Mmm." This was an odd lack of reply on the king's part, but his gaze somehow combined all of the grace of an eyeroll and a stony stare of disbelief. Namor extended a hand toward the cave mouth, beckoning. "Try the soft way then. Lead Us down this middle path."

With that, they entered the cave.

Even if she wasn't home, there was still something about caves that made Alani feel a cold fear in the pit of her stomach. At least right now she could also attribute that to the nature spirit currently regarding them. "'O Alani ko'u inoa -- Oh! I mean, my name is Alani, and I, uh, we," she glanced quickly at Meggan, before swallowing thickly, "are here to reason with you. We can't let you destroy Baltimore or any other cities."

Meggan was just as nervous under the scrutiny of this grand creature. Was there some sort of etiquette one had to stick to when faced with such a situation? She had no idea, and so many things could go wrong. “And I’m Meggan Szardos,” she stated from her place just behind Alani. “Yes, we...we’d like to try to reach a compromise; a truce. We’ve never meant any harm to come to you. We weren’t aware it was like this.”

“There’s got to be a better way than doing things like this,” Meggan delicately pointed out. “If you destroy cities, well...it makes things worse for everyone. More get hurt that way.” She took into account the many crabs scattered about the area, and nodded towards them. “And you wouldn’t be risking your favored crabs, then, if you stopped everything.”

"My soldiers would rather die than continue choking to death on the trash you pathetic mortals insist on clogging our homes with," the spirit boomed, following her words with a splash of murky grey water containing bits and clumps of trash. "Already they die. Trapped, poisoned, suffocating. Why should I not return the favor to those who forget they have abundance only because they were once in MY favor?"

Alani grimaced at the trash. The water was terrible, they'd all agreed when they'd had to start breathing it, so she couldn't argue that point. But...what the spirit was saying, she couldn't stop herself from frowning at. "So what you're saying, if I understand correctly, is that they'll die either way so why not die now? Instead of trying anything else? Instead of letting us help? Then what? If you destroy the city, more pollution is bound to come into the ocean and things would just get worse for anything else that lives down here! Wouldn't you rather fight to make things better, if not for the now for the future?"

Realizing that she'd yelled the last statement, Alani slapped a hand over her mouth. Once again, she looked to Meggan, a little more panicked as she tried to think of any logical next steps.

Emotions were running high on both sides, even as the muck swirled about them. Meggan reached over to squeeze Alani’s arm in support, before she tried again. “She’s not wrong,” Meggan softly pointed out to the spirit. “Please, listen to us now. Everything could get a lot worse down here if human hands aren’t there, alive and able to push buttons and pull levers to stop them, or if—if you just topple things over in retaliation, and more comes out into the sea, as Alani pointed out. There’s consequences to consider for everyone!”

She was thinking of things going nuclear, and irradiating the crabs, killing them. She couldn’t think of anything else to say that might get through to the spirit. “Those you love are in danger; the same goes for us. Please.”

Namor sat imperiously silent all through this exchange, studying the spirit creature with an intrigued eye as he waited for these diplomatic shenanigans to reach their inevitable conclusion. With the light of the dark cave and the ghostlight of the spirit's presence, there was almost something sharklike and predatory to his features.

The spirit let out a shriek of rage, swaying in a way that brought to mind agitated pacing. "Have I not been giving warnings for years? Decreasing the population of my companions, storms, flooding. And yet you mortals never know when to quit," she spat, "bloated, hideous, taking and taking. It ends here. I will not extend my largesse for the grasping greed of those who would fill the world with their poison." Her glowing visage settled on the one she'd classed as haughty-sharp-regal. "And you, son of the seas? Does this poisoned water not fill you with rage as your body filters it? Have you no kindness left for your lesser brethren, who cannot rid themselves of the toxins and so must suffer at the hands of these mortals?" She swooped closer, form solidifying as she held out a hand. "Would you not like to turn their poison back on them?"

Namor smiled back, teeth and eyes sharp. "We would revisit the sins of humanity back upon them one hundredfold. I hold no harbor or fondness for the sons of apes, but these passing centuries have seen them set their mark on everything across the land." He moved closer to her, appreciatory. Perhaps, even, flirting. "Humankind is too brief to ever learn or change. I can assure you, however, despite the glory of your army and the pleasing curve of your features, that they will only bite back ten times in retribution. These children, these girls, hold a short-sighted hope for change given their species does not live long enough to suffer for their own crimes. My recourse, though, is that you must either have either the strength to completely drown the land or the cunning to fight more slyly."

He took her hand then, caressing the manifested seaweed and barnacles as he met her gaze. "Tell me how you plan to win. Tell me how you plan to fight back against what they toss against you."

The spirit's eyes narrowed at his pretty words, gaze cooly assessing as she looked over the girls. "I suppose these daughters of nature could be spared, if they pledged themselves. But the other mortals in this city... no. They have had their chances, broken their pacts threefold. They have no further recourse, unless new guardians renew the pact and honor it." Her free hand moved up to the man's face. "And you, son of the sea? Do you propose to make this pact for these mortals? Be bound to making them keep their word, should they get a final chance?"

Namor, expression laughing, openly scoffed. "Humans cannot keep promises. They are liars, the lot of them, with only the follow through to keep a promise until something shiner comes along. You need to adopt more modern strategies, or be the tidal wave that eats them whole."

That was what snapped Alani out of her shocked stupor. She turned to glare at Namor, hands balling into fists at her side as she worked to center herself and not gutpunch him like she wanted to in that moment, more than she ever wanted to fight other kids on the playground when she devoted herself to nonviolence. "Your experiences are not universal." Though she also knew she couldn't pledge herself to the spirit or her cause. Still turning the matter over in her head, she turned back to plead. "I... can't offer myself to you, not fully. I've already made myself an instrument of other forces. But either way he's wrong, some people might be bad and have knowingly allowed this pollution to get to this point, but I've known more people who care about the earth, about each other, and, most importantly, who want to make things better. It would take time, but please -- PLEASE -- call back your crabs and let us start making that effort with you. If not for us, for the love you have for them and their future."

Meggan closed her eyes for just a moment after giving Namor an appalled look; she knew that kicking the man now would be a very, very bad idea, but she was so tempted that it was ridiculous. Yeah, maybe she would have bitten him, too, once upon a time when she was tinier and fuzzier, but it wasn’t really a good thing to contemplate under the circumstances. She didn’t know if she could pledge herself with anything to this spirit, but there might be no other options left for them. She also wasn’t certain what sort of consequences that might have if she did.

“That’s right,” Meggan added softly. “I’ve seen better things than Namor, even if there are some bad cases out there, too. And I don’t know what sort of pact I could make, either, and I’m sorry. All I can say is that there are so many more out there, too, that are making the best of very large efforts to correct their mistakes. There are so many others out there. Please? Call them off. For everyone’s sake, human and crab and everything else under the sea.”

"You sons of the sea always bring me the most pleasing maidens." The spirit's words were idle, but her grip on Namor's face tightened. "Young, full of hope. These two, at least, have been aware enough to not pledge themselves blindly." Sharp teeth glinted in the ghostly light. "And you, not willing to offer yourself as pact-holder because you are aware how fickle and faithless these mortals are, yet not willing to just have them crushed beneath my might, either. Tell me, son of the sea... what do you propose. If not service, if not making them fully aware of my might?" She dropped her hand, drifting out of reach. "Convince me, you and these daughters of land and sea, and perhaps I will reconsider my path."

Namor's eyes narrowed in all seriousness. "The people of the land are like the fish of your waters: they move with the flow. Crushing the entire school for one shark's actions is a needless waste. We, as what remains of Atlantis and its Ancient Promises to the Sea, suggest that you adjust course. Those who guide the flow of humanity's greed and adoration — the policy makers, their rich and fat, their 'super-heroes.' Use your claws to prune those who would violate you most so that the rest of humanity will learn."

His tone sobered then as he leaned forward to add, "I would personally desire to see what fine work your claws could do."

The spirit guided back into range, said claws brushing over his lower lip. "Pretty words from a pretty son of Atlantis, but perhaps there is something compelling behind the gloss." She turned to the girls. "And you, younglings? Would you put me off this course as well?"

"This course, yes." Alani returned the spirit's gaze as calmly as she could muster, trying to shove back her annoyance with Namor because yet again he had a point. "If you attack everyone, it's not spreading a strong message. If you targeted -- if we could bring up the information of waste materials being dumped by business and government officials, we could start working towards getting things cleaned up."

“This is the way we’d suggest; yes,” Meggan confirmed with a nod; while she wouldn’t have phrased it like that, maybe Namor’s words were the best way to get this taken care of, and hopefully get them a better outcome than annihilation of their entire planet. “Gradually, through those subtler channels, we could make it better.”

"You've given me much to think on. Very well, I will not send more. And, perhaps even a small blessing for the two younglings so brave to challenge me." Cool lips brushed over the foreheads of the two women before a lazy gesture had them gliding through the waters to surface near the dock they'd started from.

The spirit turned to Namor. "And you, son of Atlantis." She pressed against him. "I've no time for dalliances, even for a specimen as fine as you. Consider that, next time you call on me." A brief press of lips and a wave of her hand had him propelling through the waters to join the younglings.

She had thinking to do, and perhaps better targets to take her offense out on.