The Tides of Blood: Atlantis Invades

March 6, 2015: The Atlanteans Invade! Can our heroes turn back the tide?




  • Orm

Mood Music:

The Metropolis Shore: 9am, Thursday Morning.

The beech in winter isn't exactly a populated place, at least not heavily. The snow sees to that most of the winter, and the salted sea spray that ices anything to close to shore for to long… How unfortunate then that today was an otherwise beautiful day. With the nearly constant looming threat of Atlantean invasion, schools have been shut down and beaches have been mostly barren… But today the sun can be seen clearly glittering off of the sea just beyond the long lasting cloud cover, and the novelty of waiting for an invasion has worn off. In short, it hasn't happened yet so why worry about it? With the Internet being so limited and intercontinental communications still being spotty at best, most people are only working half days and the strain has proved to be to much. Cabin fevers set in and this morning, of all mornings, families sparsely dot the snowy sandy landscape, braving the cold for a chance to get outside and /do/ something. The laughter of children and parents carries well over the light breeze as snow men and castles are formed in equal measure and an impromptu snowball fight becomes all out war.

Perhaps a poorly chosen turn of phrase.

The laughter and overall frivolity of the families on the beach begins to die away as the thick carpet of clouds over head rumbles ominously, various dark masses lighting up from inside in strobe like fashion as they play catch the lightning bolt amongst one another. Parents gather up children, trying to put a stop to the playful attitudes as they recognize the beginnings of a storm. Their eyes are sadly pointed in the wrong direction. No one notices the almost perfect lines of soldiers marching their way up from the water, power armored men and women who's faceless helms give away no sign of humanity. The black armor glistens, wet with sea water as the Atlanteans crest the surf with no visible sign of trouble. One of the women in the front ranks shoulders her rifle and fires, the energy sheathed hard water projectile punches a fist sized hole through a man shepherding his family before him and dropping him instantly to his knees. The round continues, digging a similar sized hole in the concrete retaining wall that lines the beach. That's when the screaming begins. And the firing. A column of water rises from the ocean and at it's head stands a man in purple and black armor, his face hidden away behind a silver finned helm and a trident with a circular blade held in his hand. He waves an arm forward imperiously and the seas respond, a hail of spear sized shards of ice explode from the water and rain down across the entire expanse of the beach like arrows from an old fashioned army, for nearly two hundred yards in either direction they falling like rain slashing through people, sand, even the parking spaces beyond are not saved as cars are turns into pincushions and a life guard stand simply disintegrates under the barrage, exploding into fragments of wood and steel leaving a mass of frozen spikes and corpses in their wake. "Atlantis has come for war." Orm says, his lips forming into a hard unforgiving flat line.

Kara and Zatanna had finally got a much deserved girls night out in Metropolis the evening prior to the invasion, there was no telling what mischief the two of them had gotten up to the prior night but even Kara; a Kryptonian was EXHAUSTED.

Having stayed the night at Zatanna's she had hoped for another day of relaxation away from all the business of being a superhero when the Atlantean invasion was upon them.

Thinking back to the night before she grins at Zee, "No rest for the wicked?" She pauses, asking, "Did I use that expression right?"

Sue Storm was in Metropolis for a conference. Unfortunately, the conference was canceled due to the continuing Atlantean threat, which left her…at loose ends. In no hurry to get back to New York, she decided to take a walk along the beach. Today of all days.

When the lightning starts, she's already summoned up a small field over her head, just enough to keep off the rain. But apparently there's a different kind of rain scheduled for today. As soon as she sees the army up ahead, she pulls out her phone, trying to get a call through to New York and the Baxter Building. "They're coming, Reed. These coordinates. Send anyone you can."

As soon as the call is made, she makes herself a disc, stepping up and sending it flying toward the chaos.

Lunair is exploring. She moves in bursts and fits, still hiding away from HYDRA. They seem less likely to bother her in Metropolis, where the nearby friendly cop might have FREAKIN' LASERS or something. She's currently poking about a tide pool, picking up a shell.

She even has on a cute, long vintage set of clothing to keep herself warm and dry while she pokes at things. It's a bit tough to get used to a peaceful life, but she's trying being peaceful a little while (no double tapping…).

When suddenly, ATLANTEANS. Her eyes widen as people start dropping. "Oh shit." While she has no qualms in killing in a fight, this is like target practice (do the Atlanteans know about that awful dog that giggled when you missed…?). Armor covers her instantly, and she puts the little crab she looked at down. "Be free, my friend." Pause. Wait, no. She picks it back up, puts it on her shoulder, and then finds cover. No crab left behind.

Midtown Metropolis, two minutes ago:

"I'm tellin' ya, Cam, you gotta think bigger for yourself. I mean, sure, you're helping out, you're doing the job and bless you for it, but you could be doin' so much more. You should be joinin' up with one of those groups or something.I know, I know it's not your thing, but seriously, what're you gonna do when I retire? And no, I ain't doin' that any time soon you ain't gettin' rid of me that easy." Eric Johnson, a twenty year veteran of Metropolis Fire and Rescue, was back on the 'coffee break rant' again. Seemed like every time the grizzled African American veteran of the EMT cadre got on this,he and his partner would get a call.

Without fail.

And today would be no different.

There was a brief burst of static over the ambulance radio, like someone had keyed a mic and held it down forlonger as a panting voice could be heard wheezing through words "…attack… beach… offi *SPLUTCH*…"

The tall woman reached over for the ambulance mic. "Columbia, releasing, inbound. Priority One. Clear channel.Alert SRD!" Her transmission doesn't make it through though… too much atmospheric interference. Well. Only one thing for someone to do in a situation like this. With paramedic bag draped around her shoulder she takes two steps and launches herself skywards, punching it towards the beach.

Please get there in time… c'mon…

Zee was more than exhausted, she'd tried to keep up with the Kryptonian… something she won't be repeating anytime soon,but she'd had a ball of time. She's convinced Kara to join her for a walk, the fresh air will do them both good "Yes, you did" Zee grins at Kara, and then becomes serious. "Looks like we have work to do…"

~~ gnikroW sehtolC ~~

Zee's street clothes morph to her stage costume: Swallow Coat, Unitard, Thigh high boots, Fishnet Stockings, Top Hat and a diamond encrusted collar. "Shall we then" she murmurs as she heads towards the beach.

Mikial is around, he has a few large bags around him, one full of fishing gear, the other, filled with god knows what as far as weapons and his vigilante gear. He notices the Atlanteans march up, from his spot in the trees along the beach, he rolls out of the hammock and breaks into the vigilante bag, armoring up and lock and loading, he takes his largest calibre sniper rifle he has in his inventory, a 50 cal, and assembles the barrel onto the rest of the body, slaps a clip in, and loads a round in the bolt-action. Spearhead moves along the treeline with his bag and gear, minus the hammock and fishing gear, to a better spot to take out the warmongering Atlanteans. "Well, welcome back assholes…" He mutters as he sights in the scope….

Orm continues to stand upon the living dais of water as it surges up the beach and slowly lowers him down to the sand.There's an almost casual motion of his arm and he plucks a small boy up from the beach by his winter coat and holds him at eye level. The boy was crying over his dead mother, a woman pinned to the earth by three arm thick shards of ice. He sneers slightly, "The time for tears has passed child, the time has come for you to-" and the boy slaps him in the face. Orm is silent for a moment before he grins and nods once, "Good." he says evenly, "You learn fast." he tosses the child with a flick of his wrist, sending him into a small arc that lands him sliding amid the snow until he comes to a sudden jarring stop against one of the ice spears. "Leave what children you can." he says as he spots one of his soldiers pressing a little girl down into the sand with his foot and aiming with the rifle, "They are not to blame for the arrogance of their parents." he turns his gaze to the land beyond, "If they are old enough to have survived the Change, then they've no excuse." Behind him in the distance, as more ranks of Atlanteans rise from the surface, something larger, much larger, is causing the ocean to bulge upwards before breaking.

A half dozen whale like creatures, only larger still, glide into the air over the water, each is armored and covered in gun platforms. They resemble nothing so much as living Helicarriers, complete with launching bays but minus engines. The manner in which such creatures remain aloft is anyone's guess, they merely appear to swim slowly through the air. Beyond them, as they begin to pass by the last ranks of infantry, their gun mounts glowing a disconcerting shade of blue, something else makes the water surge upward higher still. This is not a small group of rebels. This is the invasion. One cannot say they weren't warned.

Kara was glad she tried to keep her costume with her even if she wasn't wearing it, as Zee is using magic to change she is using super-speed. Except there's no phone booth, no alley or anywhere else and she calls out, "Come on!"

She flies up to the top of a building when she is sure nobody is looking, ditching her clothing in her bag on the roof where it's likely safe before returning to Zatanna's side in full Supergirl regalia!

"Tag team on the nearest whalecarrier thing sound like a good plan?" Magic & Kryptonian power, it was a deadly combo, "I'll try to get in close, maybe together we can crash a few of them into one another."

This…is more than Sue was bargaining for. And it isn't getting better, as word trickles back from the Baxter Building:This isn't an isolated event. These invasions are happening all over the world. Back up? Probably not coming.

"Enough!" she shouts at the first group she encounters, slapping an airtight dome around them and holding up a shield to guard the people they were attacking. "Run!" she calls back to the humans. "I won't be able to hold this for long. Get away from the shore, get to some shelter."

Atlantic Ocean Several Miles Out And Further South

Namor though not without his informants is unprepared for the massive fleet that now invades Metropolis. He watches from a distance below the surface of the ocean from his flagship the Dako by means of view screens and high-tech monitoring systems.
"Warlord Jian, are you seeing what I am seeing?" The Sub-Mariner in his 'captain's chair' (looks like a large throne)inquires of a watery projected 3D display of his most trusted (and youngest) war leader. Jian himself is likewise miles away in his own flagship with the rest of the Quatro Legion. Last location the Caribbean islands.
"Yes, sire."
"How exactly did this miss our scouts notice?"
"It didn't… "
Namor's jaw clenches, a vein appears on his brow and he stands upright, "Then it was intentional that I was not informed?"
"That is what I am being told. Our scouts are being rounded up for questioning as we speak."
"For execution you mean?"
"My liege?"
"Have them ready for me when I return."
A portal on the Cetaceo-class warship's belly opens up and the self-proclaimed King of New Atlantis and Monarch of the Southern Atlantean Tribes is in the depths and making his way towards the warfront at speeds very few on this Earth can match.

No crab left behind. The little critter clacks a bit, confused. It's really too bad. A whale-friend would be so great. Chat about stuff, have nice, long soaks, do whale and girl stuff. Alas, this is probably the wrong soul for befriending the wildlife. But Lunair has a pet dinosaur and now a crab commando. Maybe she's learning about dealing with things without rail gunning them into next week. Nevertheless, Lunair's got no time to think about the kindly, albeit ferocious Atlantean woman she met the other week. No, no time.

It is, however, time to pop out like an extremely ill tempered badger and try to take a potshot with a rail gun. But would a rail gun in and of itself be enough or is Lunair going to have to really push the envelope?

The appearance of the airborne units is the first thing that catches Columbia's eye, and she shoves her ID and a few other items into her bag before tossing onto the top of a nearby building as she rapidly decelerates. That… is a bit more than she's equipped to handle on her own. With no response from MetFireResc or the SRD, she's pretty much on her own at the moment, or so it seems.

Despair may have been close to the top of her list until she saw the fatalities, as well as one spirited young local take a slap at the enemy leader. Charging into the midst of that enemy force is NOT the way to go. Mom would have a literal cow if she did something that stupid. There's a brief estimation of the 'hoverwhalegunship' firing arcs and she punches herself up towards the upper limits of her endurance before tipping herself to aim downwards at the top of one of them at full tilt. Either she's going through it, or she's going to be pushing it back down into its proper environment!

Nodding to Kara, Zee looks grim "Sounds like a plan. I'll use the water and air around them, plus anything else I can access. Just be aware that I'll be doing that, ok?" Chewing her bottom lip, Zee looks around "I can cast from a distance,and from relative cover." looking sheepish "I remember what happened the last time." Putting her phone earpiece in, Zee nods to Kara "Phones on. Ready when you are, I'll teleport." and she points to a copse of trees several hundred feet from the beach, that still gives her a good line of sight to the whale-ships.

Spearhead aims at an armored Atlantean. Then, whales start floating…. "Yeah, lets keep quiet…" He says as he leaves the gun and looks for a silencer inside the bag, "There, wouldn't wanna get messed up in the initial wave. That would be pitiful!" he spins the silencer onto the sniper, then readies a wire guided rocket. Yeah, not likely this is a confiscation, has to be the black market ties he has blackmail on….Yeah, let's go with that one….Clean cop? NAH!
Spearhead sets the wire-guided next to him as he aims back down the scope and sights in on the eye of a whale…He fires.

Orm's head swivels around and his eyes narrow behind his helm as Sue's bubbles appear. His people, finding themselves trapped, react like well trained soldiers, activating the air filtration systems in their armor and pulling out weapons o fan oddly shimmering metal. They attempt to cut and slice the bubble to small avail, though Sue will feel the blows, it's not unlike trying to trap one of the 'heavy metal' villains under a bubble, whatever those weapons are made of it's not simple steel. "You!" Orm says, the trident raised into the air, "You are worthy." he says, nodding once at Sue as if he appreciated her, and then the clouds over her head literally writhe before a thunderbolt slams down upon her with all the force lightning can muster, instantly melting the sand of the beach to glass.

Namor, Prince of Atlantis, terror of the surface, has never dared to mobilize this level of force before. Possibly because the Empire as a whole is larger then his Kingdom, or maybe because the toll in innocent lives would be… catastrophic. Orm has no such qualms. Namor's mad dash for the surface allows him to see what the surface worlders only begin to see as the waters of the ocean begin to split apart and slide clear of it. That… is one big fucking crab. Over fifty feet tall it's exoskeleton appears to be reinforced at any weak spot with armor of it's own, and where the flying whale creatures look like helicarriers, this thing is a mobile fort, an entire base worth of artillery, the most notable of which is a thirty foot long weapon atop it's back that glows so hot steam is pouring from it as it breaks the surface. It's every 'step' can be felt as it begins to rise from the water. A Neptune Class siege engine has been brought to the surface where it's projectiles don't have to worry about water resistance. The big gun begins to hum and anyone on the sandy beach can feel the hairs on their arms stand on end.

Lunair's rail gun round hits an Atlantean square in the stomach, picking the man off of his feet and tossing him like a rag doll in a spray of blood and armor. Atlanteans are tough, dense, and armored, but a rail gun? Yeah. It's not unlike the technology they themselves use. Sadly, firing the round and popping up to do so draws attention. Dozens of hard water rounds begin to slam into Lunair's cover, and as if proof of their own weapon capabilities were required, the rounds largely /ignore/ her cover, punching neat clean holes through sandy mounds and concrete alike. They hammer the area around her, hoping to accomplish with shear overwhelming fire what they cannot manage with a well placed shot. She is still, after all, hidden from sight.

Columbia's impact with the Whale… is not as devastating as she had hoped. The Armor Is Real. The 'ship' is pressed downward, back towards the water it just came from, it's metal armor denting suddenly and BONGing loudly just before it impacts the water. Atlanteans running about it's back are thrown into the air, hurtled about aimlessly and begin splashing into the ocean as well. Sadly for her, this does put her smack in the middle of a large number of quickly recovering soldiers to whom water is less impediment and more advantage.

The problem with aerial platforms built for war? They have air defenses of their own. Spearhead's rocket sizzles it's way towards one of the carriers and suddenly the gun emplacements upon it's back stir to life and begin firing intercepting streams of something that looks like small burst chaff at into it's path. Dodging them is… difficult. Impossible once the rocket is super close. It impacts a cloud of defense chaff and blows, but inertia is inertia and the chaff and rocket shrapnel alike pepper the side of the whale's head and it suddenly lists to one side, shirking away from the blinding pain as blood and burnt flesh begin to rain from the sky. The animal's cry of agony causes every Atlantean near it to wince,then turn angry eyes skyward, their collective gazes following the rockets exhaust trail back to it's source. Hell follows that gaze in the form of dozens of screaming charging super powered soldiers who lead their charge with a barrage of firepower. One Atlantean in particular looks different then the rest, a man with a pair of long serrated fighting blades,one in each hand, covers the ground between his people and Spearhead faster then is humanly possible, and he does it while keeping up a serpentine like path that makes drawing a bead on him very difficult.

Kara double-checks her earpiece, smiling at Zee despite the grim situation, "Let's do it!" When the teleportation happens she flies straight into action, she wasn't intending to stay still at all taking advantage of the chaos to be nothing more than an extremely fast moving bullet.

Her first flight path is aimed towards several of the whale-carriers, intending to smash through them like a bullet; taking down vital systems or organs without stopping. She isn't just relying on her own force though, her eyes are glowing red as beams of energy shoot forward in front of her; she wasn't holding back at all. Without Superman around, someone had to pickup the slack!

She doesn't care what her handiwork may have accomplished, she's looking for the biggest baddest threat on the battlefield to attack. She had learned something of battle strategy and one of the best strategies was to cut the head off the enemy army.

Orm seemed like the big boss and he was just striding through the chaos calmly, that was who Kara wanted to fight, "Zee,I'm pretty sure their leader is the cocky guy walking along like none of this bothers him!"Then the weaponized crab mech appears, it presents another target but it seemed like Namor and his army might be able to deal with that; she had no idea who they were but they were fighting and that was enough for her.

Abandoning the whale-carriers she races towards Orm, screaming loudly, "Get back to the ocean you jerk!" Her screams aren't just for show, she's letting loose with sonic waves of energy from her lungs directly towards Orm and the beach around him.

Too much to hope the Atlanteans wouldn't be carrying their own air supplies. But as long as they're behind her fields, they aren't shooting civilians, so she keeps holding them as the soldiers pound against them. Right up until Orm's thunderbolt cracks against her personal shield.

That hurt.

The dome over Sue flashes bright as the lightning, denting the sand around her until there's a compressed spot surrounded by the slag from the strike itself outside of the dome. She instinctively shifted power to her personal shield, though, and those around the soldiers start to crack, spiderweb fractures spreading out from points of impact.

"Then call off your soldiers!" she calls back toward the Atlantean, ears ringing from the strike. "Until you and I are finished! Or are you afraid to face me without distractions?" It's a losing gambit. She knows it. But if it can buy a few minutes for a few hundred lives…

"By Proteus!" Namor exclaims seeing the Neptune Class war machine from behind. A mere handful of these have ever existed and all of those but one have been in the hands of the Atlantean kingdoms, the Avenging Son believed them to be decommissioned or re-purposed for non-war means but that appears to be untrue.
The Sub-Mariner races through the rear echelon, "Stand aside worm-food that I may confront your leader! Namor son of Fennand rightful ruler of all Atlantis commands!" Those who do not part before him amongst the Atlanteans are being swatted aside or violently thrashed in to one another.
His voice drops and he speaks in to his own communication channels, "Argos, send Septe forth behind me, tell Octo flotillato take their position. The seas are soon to bleed and boil. " A trident is yanked free of one of the Atlanteans who had not moved fast enough out of the Sub-Mariner's path, the man's arm half ripped free as well, bursting forth the Hybrid is charging the giant mecha-crab.
Surely the machine bars his path to the leader of this invasion force.

Poor whales. On one hand, aw, whales. On the other hand, OH WHALES! WELL ARMED WHALES. The NRA would be proud. And a giant crab! The one on Lunair's shoulder - well, she creates a little dome for him. Armored crab dome. No crustacean left behind.Then it turns into the world's most lopsided nerf gun fight. "Oh man." These dudes are serious, and it seems like a shame.They seem intensely fascinating. Lunair hasn't forgotten, after all. Still, holy shit. She's gonna have to flail harder than a 6 year old who fell into a dump truck of unpackaged pixie stick dust.

There's no time to think and she's going to have to play balance carefully. Portal gun! Drop to the next cover before she has more holes than the plot of Lost. Feeling the water gun shots pinging nearby? Watching it go through cement? Yeah, no good. But what IS good is plasma and rocket launchers. Hello, souped up rocket launcher! And this time, Lunair double taps.

Well. That could have gone better.

The orange-haired woman blinks as she watches the Atlanteans start to approach her. They don't look like they realize that it was HER that was the projectile that brought down their transportation, so back up into the air she launches, but this time she's dodging quite a bit more as she loops around and through the remaining carriers in an effort to get them to turn their weapons on each other as they track on her.

Her paramedic outfit is holding up pretty well, though the left sleeve has been shorn completely off and a slight trickle of blood trails down said arm. Nothing major to write home about, it builds character, right?

It looks like the mission of today is to buy time for other local forces to arrive, and keep the enemy distracted long enough for them to be caught off-guard by said arrival. If convenient on-board fuel supplies, ammo storage or the like happen to be along her way, well, that's what she's going to draw the fire unto, at least for the next few moments…

Zee appears, as far back from the chaos as she can, using the copse of trees to provide some level of cover. The young magician responds to Kara "Then, I'll target him instead… " Watching her friend head towards Orm, Zee smiles grimly "Nice one, Kara"

~~ yfilpmA dnA sucoF saraK lleY tA heT redaeL ~~Concentrating hard to control and direct her spell, the young magi, focusses solely on Orm.

Spearhead tosses the launcher to the ground in the bushes in front of him, hoping it may buy him enough time to get his best blades out, the best any for any service to have in the nitty-gritty of extended Hand-to-hand combat, gut hook and serrated back of the blade, a blood groove, extremely sharp and strong blade, he pulls out two of these and positions himself for one hell of a fight!

Rowan had feared this day would come. And when the fighting starts he's on the wing in only the time it takes to get airborn and in from Gotham. There's an ear splitting screech and a small red spec in the sky peels off to get larger, and larger, resolving quickly into the form of a six winged dragon awash in arcing electricity. It passes over the battlefield high, once, then swoops low to unleash a literal storm upon the Atlantean soldiers on the beach before speeding Orm-ward.

As much of a relief as it was for Mera to see Arthur alive if not yet hale and hearty, their reunion ends up having to be short-lived. Mera realizes that Orm would take her disappearance as reason enough to attack the surface, tells her husband as much, and they hurry back toward Atlantis as quickly as they can. But even with their accelerated mode of travel they are too late.By the time they arrive at their home city, Orm and his generals have already left to begin their invasions. Cursing rather harshly in her native language, Mera rushes to prepare Arthur and herself to head up to the surface to confront Orm. They send Rowan ahead to try and slow the general down if possible. Attired in their flashiest (and most protective) armors,Mera rushes them both toward the surface and the shoreline of the city of Metropolis, where it's said that Orm himself is leading the attack.

Attacking the carriers first was a mistake. As they are hit and subsequently die, a trio of them in fact, they begin to fall from the sky, their death cries alerting every Atlantean in miles. People think Aquaman is protective of his oceans…they have no idea how restrained he can be. The screams of the whales are ear piercing, heart rendering, and as they fall from the sky, Atlantean faces under Atlantean helms are wet with tears. Sorrow quickly gives way to rage. What was a controlled careful invasion gives way to emotional battle lust and Kara's attempt to take out the air support makes fearless committed beserkers out of a few of the Atlanteans. Orm is not one of them. He doesn't allow his emotions to rule him, not like his men. He was prepared for this, he expected the Kryptonian would come, he headed up the attack in Metropolis for just this reason. He needed a statement, he needed a known champion. He needed to steal the surface world's hope. As Kara descends on him screaming, he shifts his trident in front of himself and a shield like bubble appears, it's surface rippling with waves and it's edges crumbling as the magically amplified sonic scream chips away at it. By the time her cry is done, there is a small trickle of blood slipping from beneath his crown, but Orm still stands, his lips twisting into a grimace. When Kara nears Orm moves with shocking speed and the blunt end of the trident snaps upward, slamming her in stomach with enough force she can /feel/ it. This isn't like when the other Atlanteans were beating on her, that was…that was felt, and a few of the weapons could poke her, tiny insignificant paper cuts. This was so much worse. The trident doesn't break or bend on her skin and the man that swung it is clearly /not/ one of the ordinary soldiers. He holds the trident in place as her forward momentum pushes him backward, his heels carving twin streaks into the sand and then eventually up onto the concrete of the road beyond. He doesn't seem worried as when the slide stops he lashes out with afoot, kicking at Kara's face viciously. At the same time he snaps out his hand in Sue's general direction, a dismissive motion and the lightning comes again, once, twice, three times, each slamming down upon her and turning the sand around her into a bubbling boiling cauldron, "You shall have your turn!" he informs her imperiously, "For now I wish to show your world what good their champions are against the might of Atlantis!" Oh yes. He's ready for this… though he always suspected Superman would have less boobs. Bigger arms too. Surface people are so weird.

The cannon atop the siege engine fires and there's an audible WHUMP sound as the air around the weapon is turned into plasma from the shear friction caused by the discharge. There is no delay, no 'travel time', there is merely sudden deafening explosion inland where a skyscraper of the Metropolis skyline begins to smoke, then crumble in on itself in slow motion, spewing forth metric tons of debris, raining death and suffering down around anyone unlucky enough to have been within a city block of it. Then comes the sonic boom. The pressure wave kicks up sand and causes a rooster tail of water to rise from the weapon's firing. Namor's impact with the armored behemoth causes it to stutter, it's slow forward progress grinding to a halt and it's aim suddenly thrown well off. The secondary shells from the weapon's lesser cannons pepper the beach, the parking structures, the small businesses and whatever houses are unlucky enough to be near the water bringing clouds of ash, smoke, and massive concussive shock waves with them. It is not unlike the consequences of unloading a company of US Army Paladins recklessly across the water front realty. It could have been so much worse. The shells could have hit where they were aimed, downtown.

Columbia is not only the target of the soldiers, she's the target of the Atlantean air force… which is shockingly good at it's job. They come from a world of 360 degree combat, those on the surface do not. They do not shoot their allies by accident, they keep tight controlled fields of fire, and when the opportunity presents itself, they use missing her as an excuse to send barrages inland, just cause that's a 'safe' direction to fire recklessly. Their 'planes' are meant to function underwater, and so in the air they're remarkably agile and the men flying them aren't susceptible to the g-forces most human pilots are. In short, they maneuver in manners that would be impossible for any air force Columbia's ever seen before. In short order she finds herself in the areal fight of her life.

Kang, Namor's traitorous soldier, comes at Spearhead fast enough his footsteps kick up sand and his arms weave a blur of motion as he closes the distance, using the flashing of the blades to cover a shoulder check that if it hits would land like a slow motorcycle wreck. This guy clearly knows his craft, the orrichalcum blades in his fists weaving intricate careful patterns.

The lightning is supposed to be on their side! Rowan's pass sends Atlanteans skyward as the impacts of the jolts blow small holes in the sand and beach. Some of the soldiers stay down, their armor sparking, smoking, others stand and turn their eyes skyward. «OUTWORLDER!» they're not all telepathic, none as powerful as Mera, nor even Arthur, but as a group the cry of rage is clear enough for even Rowan's almost non-existent powers to pick up as an enraged mental whisper. The last remaining whale carrier, now divested of it's fighters who hunt Columbia, turns it's attention to the dragon, and the air around Rowan is filled with antiaircraft weaponry, the guns spitting out clouds of death in the dragon's path.

Kara had not realized that her charge through the carriers would cause so much devastation, if she was paying attention tothe cries of anguish she had helped cause she might have even cried along with many of those Atlanteans; a people she knew as little more than enemies of the surface world she had sworn to protect.Her ceremonial battle armor or what most people referred to as a costume was already ripped and torn from her rampage through the carriers, her tattered cape hanging behind her as Orm slammed into her with that trident.

It was the worst injury she had felt in her entire life, her costume shredding like paper beneath the powerful weapon; the Kryptonian battle armor had likely been all that had saved her from that strike, there was blood seeping from a wound on her stomach.

The kick from Orm hits her hard, she feels it in her weakened state far more than she should have her head snapping to the side rather violently. It would have killed anyone else, thank Rao she was Kryptonian.

She was struggling to stand, blood spattered upon her lips as she tried to attack Orm again, "The champions of this world are stronger than you think. There's more of us then you and we work together!" She hoped Zee would be ready to help her,that was the closest thing to a cue her pain and rage filled mind could muster.

Kara charged fruitlessly towards Orm, red blasts of energy searing out from her eyes even as she attempted to snap kick him directly in the chin; a move that would kill most if it connected.

Lightning crashes down again and again, and Sue's shield starts to falter under the force of it. On the up side, it's starting to look like the cavalry has arrived. What there is of it. "Fair enough," she says quietly to Orm's response. If he's occupied with Kara, then that gives her another option.

Flashy isn't really Sue's best skill set anyhow. That's Johnny's thing. While Orm beats on the Kryptonian, she goes invisible, making another disc to lift her over the bubbling, liquid glass of the sand around where she stood to take her closer to the would-be king of the world.

Biology is Sue's talent. And she may not know all about Atlantean physiology, but she's willing to take a few gambles. Somewhere in the core of the body there must be lungs. A heart. Concentrating carefully, she aims for what she thinks should be a lung, then carefully tries to form a force field inside Orm's chest, trying to block a major blood vessel.

The death song of the whales only bolsters Namor's rage to berserker levels, the spear being used to stab in to the colossus and peel upwards, it snaps but that doesn't stop the man there as he peels off that leaf of Atlantean metal with his ownhands and uses it to slam edgeside in to one of the cannons.
"Miscreants! Misguided fools!" The Sub-Mariner is salivating at the jaws as he freaks out atop the mecha-crab, that slab of steel pulled loose in a spray of sparks, liquid and shrapnel only to go sailing like his old WWII comrade Captain America's shield in to swath of hostile Atlanteans.
Moving like some hopping vicious sea-ape Namor leaps weapon-appendage to weapon-appendage in his assault on the siege machine ripping it apart in a frenzy.

Enroute But Still A Distance Away

Argos at the head of Septe flotilla calls his troops to a halt as they have a force incoming at a remarkable pace fromtheir flank, a troop of Tridents (what Namor calls his elite soldiers) forms a horseshoe around Mera and her companion,weapons outstretched, "Halt!" The leader demands. A massivly muscled and towering blue-skinned Atlantean with amagnificient black beard. These Atlanteans are obviously not hers nor Arthur's their blue skin the first indication, the intricate tribal tattoos another also their general style. Similar but not quite.
"Wait, you are Mera of Xebel!"
The weapons hesitantly lower and they make a path, the big man, does a short bow, "I am Argos, Namor's gaurd captain. Itwould be our honor to escort you… "
The men around him look confused but their weapons all ease off and they form a protective circle around their 'cousin' Atlanteans. "Lead on."

Well, Lunair is keeping her crab under a little bit of armor. Maybe she should've shot something bigger? Oh well. There's a sort of sadness. Those poor whales. She genuinely likes the whales. And the crab. She's keeping her crab. But, for now,maybe - well, there's a request. Lunair is sensitive to the cosmos. And the cosmos dictates nudity and dancing. There's little to no protection to nudity and sonic weapons, one supposes.

Lunair says, "Also I would imagine they kinda have helmets or reverse scuba if they're serious about invading."

Really, it's a nudity ray and they're Atlanteans. It's abs for miles.

Columbia's mother came from a future where women were the ultimate combatants. Even the least of thosee leaders was capable of recognizing tactical forms, fighting in unconventional and conventional means, and in general, the best*surface* combatants.

As has been noted in the past, she isn't her mother.

When it goes from 'playtime' to 'OW F***' when she gets plastered across the back by one such tellingly tight-grouped shot she goes to unconventional. The keening of the whales is bothering her, too, truth be told. She's a paramedic and a healer, not an outright murderer. Sure, the whales looked organic at first but…with guns and weaponry she automatically assumed that they were some sort of robot or the like.

With one of her jinking dives she drops onto the gunwhale that she'd impacted so dramatically at the start of the fight and reaches out with both hands, placing them against the injured area in a desperate gambit to try and save the leviathian. She could be doing so much more damage to the enemy forces right now, and it's leaving her wide open for allsorts of attacks, but… she couldn't… no. She's not a murderer.

"C'mon, stick with me. You're going to make it. Just hang in there, okay?"

Okay, she's never tried healing a *whale* before, but… the principle should be the same, right? Lungs, spine, nerves, circulation…

C'mon. Please let this work.

She'll take the shots as they come.

Under the first barrage a good chunk of her clothing simply vaporizes.

Under the second scorch marks start to appear on her skin.

Under the third, her hair manages to start smoldering, and blood flows from a dozen slices.


What if any effect has will remain to be seen…


Thank goodness Kara's phone has withstood the assault. "Yes, we do Kara. I've got your back… get clear of him, what I'm going to do may hurt you." Zee is ready to help her friend.

Blue eyes harden and she focusses again, drawing on the static energy in the air. "Get out of there, Kara, I'll let this spell go when I see you get clear. Once it hits, you can beat on him again." Holding the spell for as long as possible, the raven-haired magi lets the power build, until Kara is somewhat clear of Orm.

~~ yticirtcelE ekirtS ehT redaeL ynlO ~~

Rowan hears the collective psychic scream of the Atlanteans though it's increasingly hard to think of them as such. The Atlanteans he knew were fierce, proud, honorable combatants that stood tall despite decades of war. They wouldn't have attacked a virtually defenseless city with war machines meant to level fortresses. The dragon twists and weaves about as flack bursts around him. Some pings off his scales. Some hits him and draws blood, clips his wings. Fortunately no hits solid enough to knock him out of the air… yet.

The ground troops, those still in the water, anyone sensitive enough may feel the Blue's rage at this turn of events andthe atavistic instincts of a dragon pushing on his mind which latches on to a surface phrase of contempt: "Die in a fire."

The phrase echoes around his mind, becoming louder and louder as he directs more lightning onto the gunwale. His form begins to warp, his scales darkening, his six wings fusing into two, fethers falling off to reveal leathery skin. He snarls his rage and surges toward the beast with talons outstretched as the electicity around him fades altogether… and his roar echoes over the waters as his blood drops into the sea, steaming and sizzling.

Even still on the approach to the surface, the death cries of multiple whale carriers is disturbing on a level Mera has never experienced before. And she was raised to be an assassin. She forces herself to travel even faster, pulling Arthur along so he doesn't aggravate his injuries travelling under his own power. She then has to make use of her cohesive water ability to stop rather suddenly when their progress toward the surface is blocked by a group of Namor's troops. The 'solid' water she just used to stop Arthur's and her forward momentum suddenly turns into a veritable wall of jagged spear-likespikes aimed at the men blocking their path while Mera herself brandishes the Trident. "Move, or I will move you." But then instead of trying to stop them, the leader of the troop introduces himself and offers to escort them. She looksfrom the blue-skinned men to Arthur as the wall of spikes returns to normal water. "Try to keep up." And they're off again, as fast as Mera can propel herself and her husband toward the battle.

Spearhead meets the charging warrior, blades positioned to both defend and attack, he blocks one strick, it slams into his arm, Spearhead feels, getting a hit on this one will be tough, if not immpossible, 'Lets try this tactic…' he thinks….Spearhead leaves an obvious opening for the combatant to hit him with, once the blades are stabed into Spearhead, Spearhead smirks under his helmet, and buries his blades into Kangs neck!

Orm smirks at her, "Champions?" he asks, a sneer on his lips, "You are enablers, coddling a pack of spoiled children that consume with a largess that destroys the very world they require to sustain their numbers." he rolls the trident like a staff, blocking her heatvision with the shaft and the weapon glows red suddenly having absorbed the energy. He continues the roll as he steps to the side, using the length of the trident in a graceful arc block that pushes her kick almostgently to one side, though as soon as her skin touches the metal it releases her own heatvision's energy back into her in a surge. the same rolling arc brings the trident around, it's end sweeping the legs out from under Supergirl and knocking her flat. The trident's arc comes around full circle and without preamble he thrusts the curved blades downward, through Kara's stomach and out her back, pinning her to the street like a butterfly in a display case. "And Atlantis is tired of your shit." he informs her, pulling the weapon free with a squelching noise. "I hope I used that word correctly," he offers flatly, "your language is tedious." The lightning strikes, not his own, but instead of hitting him it arcs and connects with the trident itself, infusing the weapon with power. Orm glances at it, then about curiously, "Lightning?! You think to strike me with /lightning/!? I command the storms themselves!" and the skies overhead rumble as if in responce to his anger, "I will find you little wizard, and I will show you true magics." he turns to walk away, leaving Kara with a massive gut wound to bleed out in the street focused on a new threat.

He makes it a full ten steps before he stumbles, a confused look crossing his face. Most 'invulnerable' types are that waybecause of forcefields or impervious skin, Atlanteans aren't like that, they're just made of sterner stuff all the way through. It's why Sue has difficult, the blood pressure is insane, the strength of his lungs, his heart, they're well beyond human. He slowly slides down to a knee, a soft cough causing blood to splatter from his mouth and he reaches up to touch his lips. "Clever." he wheezes, his eyes slowly looking about before locking on Sue's location, invisible or not. "But two can play at that game." And Sue becomes intimately aware that her body is mostly comprised of water… and Orm controls water. Mostly because she feels her lungs filling up without explanation.

The massive war platform rights itself after it's initial stumble, so many legs help with the balance issue, though the sudden loss of thousands of pounds of metal cause it to move again. And again. Namor lays waste to the guns on the siege engine, ripping them free and hurling them about in his rage. But his rage is not unique, and the crews that man the crab leap upon the self-proclaimed prince, attacking him with blades, fighting tooth and nail, unleashing their own equal fury against a superior foe. The word 'traitor' is hurled at him with reckless abandon.

The airmen do not stop their assault on Columbia as she ceases her flight and moves to try to heal the gunwhale (I couldn't resist), the weapons landing on and around her powerfully. But there is only the one pass, one from each of the fighter wings, and then it's done. Soon sailors who flew the whale surround her, battered as she is, weapons at the ready. They opt for more hand to hand weapons, no wishing to fire into their beloved friend by accident. They advance cautiously, having seen her in action. Cautiously, but with intent.

The dragon's assault on the gunwhale causes Atlanteans to seethe…and also to fall. Stunned, many free fall, smoking and sparking, to the ocean below, but not enough to leave the creature unmanned. As he impacts it, the two bodies whale and dragon crash with the sound of a thousand car wrecks at once, armor and talons screaming, what sailors remain leap from the whale and to the Dragon, spears, tridents, and blades leading the way. They are a people very accustomed to fighting monsters from myth. Dragon's are fairly new to them, but the process is not. The battle of the sky is joined ferociously.

Mera may be a stronger telepath, but no one is as connected to his people as Arthur is. No one. He can hear the sounds of battle echo through the minds of hundreds of soldiers, feel the death screams of the whales as they flounder in the sea,bleeding out from the holes punched through them by Supergirl, he can hear the warplatform's distress as Namor does battle with it and dozens of his own people all at once. He can hear it, and it breaks his heart. "… no …" he says softly,looking up at his wife. He still does not look well, his beard is no longer trimmed, his hair unkempt and slightly to long. He meets Mera's eyes and offers a silent apology for what comes next. A fleeting thought he hasn't the time to spare to speak aloud. And then he's gone. Namor is stronger than him, Mera and Orm are arguably more powerful then Arthur, there are dozens of Atlanteans who possess skills and abilities beyond their King. None are faster. The backwash from his sudden exit casts Narmor's poor escort into chaos as they fight to remain in formation and with a glance downward Mera notices her hand is empty.

On the beach, over the roar of explosions, the screams of pain, the din and clamor of battle, a single sound echoes greaterthen them all. "THAT IS ENOUGH!!" the bellow cuts through ears and minds alike, the command carried by more then just his lungs. Aquaman bursts from the water like a rocket, sailing a hundred feet through the air in a long arc before coming to a crashing end in the street just beyond the sandy beach only a few dozen yards from Orm. His arrival is accompanied by the Little Something that every Atlantean feels when Arthur holds The Trident, the Something that's been missing for weeks, the lack of which has filled thier collective hearts with small fears and bitter resentments. Arthur stands from the crater his entrance created, steam and smoke and dust blowing away lightly in the breeze. His armor glints brightly, the battle helm flashing in the dim shadows cast by Orm's ever present storm clouds overhead. The King has returned.

Part of him, a small part he'll address at a later date, choses to ignore why a good portion of this landing force is naked and dancing in the sand.

Much later.

Kara took the beating from Orm with stoic calm, doing her best to hide the pain she was feeling until tears joined the blood that was on her own face; her own blood. Her body begged her to relent, to flee; it was the sensible thing to do.

She had not been sensible, she had wanted to do whatever she could to buy time for the people of this city and the other heroes. Had the cost been too high?

As the trident pierced her stomach and came straight through her back she lay on the ground motionless, bright blue eyes starting to dim as she stared up at Orm before he left her there like a discarded piece of trash.

The death songs of the whales were something she became acutely aware of as blood seeped forth from her wound, she found them hauntingly beautiful.

She felt unsure if she was going to survive, she had expended so much energy fighting that she didn't seem to be rapidly healing, "Zee, stop him please." She manages those words to her friend as she begins to fade into unconsciousness.

Sue coughs, trying to draw a breath only to find that her lungs are otherwise occupied at the moment. Focus. Have to focus. Have to find a way…

Stubbornly, she holds the force field inside of Orm, expanding it carefully. Even now, even in this, she doesn't want to push too hard and actually kill the man. That's not how she works. In the meantime, she tries to funnel the water out of her lungs, sending it pouring from her mouth in racking coughs.But she can't maintain invisibility while she does it, and moving? That's not happening, either. She goes to her knees inthe sand, watching Orm through a fall of fair hair.

It is a sad day for Namor when he must slay any of those the very Oceans call son or daughter but he does not hesitate in laying waste to those of Orm's camp when they assault him.
"You dare lay your hands upon me!?" The bellow is loud, almost as loud as a man's scream as the Mutant-Atlantean-Human-Hybrid pries the unfortunate individual's jaw from his skull. This is war, there is only action and reaction right now,emotions and ethics have no place at this moment in time. This is not to say the Sub-Mariner has not suffered slices, cuts,wounds and injuries, he is covered in lacerations, contusions and all manner of physical ailments he is simply not letting them slow him down, the Scion of the Seven Seas is made of much sturdier stuff than the majority of his kinsmen. That detached jawbone is tossed aside and Namor rights himself as a voice bellows forth, apparently it has weight and effect on some of these lessers here.
"About time you show yourself and correct this great mess." A snarl from the man and he wipes his cheekbone with a fist,blood smearing along it. Namor's flotilla will also be arriving behind Mera and Aquaman, the vessels surfacing with weapons primed. They are prepared should Arthur's commands go unheeded.

Lunair is totally innocent. Really. 100 innocent. So innocent, she and her crab are now zapping Atlantean soldiers into nudity and dancing from inside an box. DOUBLE ARMOR. But then, she sees Mera and Arthur and they seem to be -reining things in. And really, when the King yells like that (No, not the white suit wearing, guitar wearing king - thepitchfork having one), she stops. Yup. Just a helpful Amazon box with a young face, who peels her visor back to peek. Whoa. Trident. And then there's Namor, her eyes wide as plates. Even the crab on her shoulder looks surprised.

"You are bested mammal." Warlord Krang taunts and his ego gets the best of him, a talented and vetern fighter like himself should never make a mistake like this but he does, though, the blue-skinned Atlantean had not expected Spearhead to let his weapon land in such a fashion, a grin turns in to an O face as a blade slams in to the aquatic general's shoulder and throat, slicing inwards. A stumble backwards and the man is covering his neck, liquid burbling forth.
As he is about to spring forward still on the assault of Spearhead he instead topples to a knee. His air-rebreather having burst in that, the man is suffocating on the ground. Suffocating on oxygen.
"Pink fleshed trash… " A final gasp and Krang goes down losing consciousness and two more Atlanteans step forth, warding Spearhead back with spears as they grab their fallen kinsman. They do not seem to be attacking the vigilante only keeping him at a distance while they gather some of their fallen and forming a sort of shield wall against the responders.

Battered, beaten, but still moving, still healing. This is something that Mom could never in a million years teach her, nor her father. She opens her eyes and looks at the Atlantean crew approaching her. Well, they aren't paramedics, ordoctors as far as she can tell, and there may even be a language barrier involved too.

Each attacker gets a finger point as she keeps one hand firmly planted on the whale, feeling it come around…Better… hang in there, your people are here… "Splints. Bandages. Towels. Help her!" she insists as she points atthe gunwhale. Some refuse and stab her, the blades drawing deep gouges as she slumps a bit.

Then her eyes catch Kara's nearly disemboweled condition and she grits her teeth for one last big jump to take hernear the injured Kryptonian.

"Hang on! I GOT YOU!"

And in a motion that would spark a hundred YouTube videos if someone were recording Cameron attempts to place her hands on the jabbed Kara.

Hang in there, I got you… I… She wobbles a bit as she pours everything she's got into healing Kara now.

And for those with the Columbia Clothing Betting Pool at home… barely legal at the moment…

If Arthur wants to strike her down for Doing Her Job then that's his call.

"Damn…" Orms words are barely heard through Kara's headpiece and Zee grimaces "I really messed that up… Kara!!!!" Zeewas just about to teleport to her friend but stops herself "I'll try, Kara…" not realising the blonde had already passedout.

Biting her bottom lip the young magician steps out from her cover, she needs to see the beach in it's fullest "If you command the storms, then command this one…" she mutters and raises her hands She might just be able to slow him down…or not.

~~ yruB miH nI dnaS dnA dnuorG tuO siH rewoP ~~

Rowan is not quite beyond reason. He's getting close though the essence of the dragon pushes at his already enraged frame of mind. As Arthur and Namor and Mera arrive, the now flame wreathed dragon-blue glares down at where Kara lays andOrm stands over her. He looks ready to burn everything he can get his talons on at the slightest offering of violence.Those who can read his mind (like Mera) will be able to feel the rage directed against the Atlanteans below him inparticular. He'd have already started but for the fact that the still sane part of his mind recognizes that Arthur's reappearance is likely to make it unnecessary.

As fast as Mera can travel, Arthur is a whole magnitude faster than she is. So by the time she breaks the surface, he'salready bellowed everyone to a standstill. Thus, her arrival just ahead of Namor's flotilla is positively anticlimactic.But really, that's okay with her. With a spear in her hands that looks like it's made from something clear like glass orpossibly water, she uses a section of cohesive water to snake past all of the combatants and end up standing next to herhusband facing Orm. And, even though her eyes stays focused on her brother in law, she takes a moment to reach out to Rowantelepathically. ~Rowan, it is time to return to calmness.~

Spearhead shouts Russian curses at Kang, "Suka! Vy chertovski ryba!" Yes angry as hell, as he steps forward almostpsychoticly and tries to find a way to get at Kang through the spears. Then, he snaps to, he retreats back a few paces andlooks at the knifes still buried inside his flesh, "Chert!" he swears again. He leaves the blades in, pulling them outwould likely cause him to bleed out, which isn't a good idea. Spearhead picks up a pair of Desert Eagles and Rages at theretreating Atlanteans, a farr off look in his eyes hint at what had left him long ago that had only recently came back, itmay have left him again, that feeling of being 'Human'….

Arthur turns to look at the battlefield and his expression is pained, sorrowful, and when his gaze finally comes full circle to Orm, it grows still. "Brother?" Orm says, a bit of blood bubbling from his mouth, his expression curious, confused. Sue's attempt to cough the water out doesn't work, because Orm doesn't want it to leave. She coughs it up but instead of falling, it plasters her mouth, crawling up towards her nose, sliding inside. Drowning is a terrible thing, panic isn't just ordinary, it's involuntary in nearly everyone. Arthur glances over at Sue, then at Orm, "Mera." Arthur says simply as his hurt, pained expression becomes like steel, his visage settling into a flat unyielding iron that he's growing more and more accustomed to wearing. Orm coughs again and finds himself pitting his control of water against the Queens. Perhaps a fight better served for a time he's /not/ choking on a lung. Slowly. Arthur's gaze then moves two Namor, his face still flat, impassive, "Namor," he says, his tone conversational, "Take our people," he says 'our' not 'his' nor 'yours', "and return to Posiedonous. When I have," he looks around, "finished here I will come and find you." his voice is soft, but not weak, his tone patient but not forgiving. "Much will be changing soon and I think it is past time you and I spoke on the matter. At length." he pauses, then adds to make it all sound less like a command, "Agreed?" The pair of men stare at one another for long moments before eventually Namor nods with a small sneer and turns around to march towards the water. He barks orders, cuffing those that don't move fast enough on the head helping spur the others along.

Aquaman lets out a slow breath, and turns back to his brother. The sudden surge of earth beneath his feet causes Aquaman to move with speed, and he crosses the distance between Orm and the wave in a single leap and spins low in an upward arc, the trident's head cutting the sandy concrete wave in half around them. He then pushes his brother away from him in annoyance, "I SAID ENOUGH!!" he clarifies, the words once more carrying command across the battlefield like a hammerblow. He turns to look at the devastation again and hangs his head, "You fool." he says to Orm, "You stubborn fool." Orm stands and growls, "They wou-" Arthur's hand comes up, halting Orm mid word. He looks Orm in the eye, "I know brother." he says simply, softly, "I know." Orm blanches slightly, then steadies, "Don't." Aquaman says even as Orm's eyes narrow behind the mask, he's not fast enough. The skys rumble and lightning strikes, knocking Arthur to his knees. Orm snarls, "You are so /weak/ brother! I love you like no other, but you see what they do? To themselves! To their home! TO US! And you would have us stand by and die, suffer, while they live like a virus, killing all around them!"

Arthur, steaming, pushes himself to his feet and eyes Orm, "Yes." he says, the single word hard edged and steady. "Because we are not them. We are stronger. Better. They are weak and do not understand. They can learn, slowly, but they can. They are." "LIAR!" the thunder strikes and Aquaman is blasted into the rubble of a building this time. "How can you be so blind!?" Arthur stands, pushing what looks like a kitchen sink off of himself and rising to his feet, "I am not blind. I am hopful. I know what you did Orm, I know. And you ask me about weakness?" his tone is hurt but his face is not, it remains stoic, calm. When the sky rumbles again Aquaman moves in a blur and there is a sparking flash and a staccato rhythm of metallic clashes before the two men slide apart, the tridents whirling in a lock of combat to fast for the human eye to follow.

They reengage in the time it takes onlookers to realize it ended, and then it's over. That fast. Orm hurtles backward, skipping across the pavement like a stone tossed by a child. He slams through the burnt husk of a car, through a tow truck, and ends embedded in the brick wall of a one time gymnasium. Aquaman stands in his place, Orm's mask in his hand, which shatters with a metalic sound under a sudden flexing of Aquaman's fingers. "I pass judgement upon you Orm, once Prince of Atlantis." the Trident he holds carries his words to the ear of every Atlantean on the globe, the Judgement enforced by deeper things then mere law. "For your crimes against her people, against her peace, and against her sovereign, Atlantis's rightful King exiles you. You will find no peace nor succour in her waters, you will find no rest or solace with her people. You are banished henceforth from Atlantis. If you return…" his voice falters, "Do not return brother. Please. Just go." and Arthur turns, bending down to scoop up his brother's fallen trident and turning to eye his wife, "Mera, will you…" he motions at the wounded Supergirl and Sue, "I need a moment."

Kara dreams of Krypton in her unconscious state. She saw her Mother and her Father. The room was bright. She wanted to runto them but they waved her away, she was confused.

Then her eyes fluttered open slowly, blinking as she felt Cameron healing her. She had never been injured enough to requirehealing and she could almost feel like she was draining the other woman. Her hand grabs Cameron's wrist, it's weak; even byhuman standard and says barely above a whisper, "Thank you but I'm fine. The others."She wasn't fine but she clearly wanted Cameron to expend her energy helping the less fortunate, she had done enough bygetting her conscious.

Aquaman is going to have to deal with Orm on his own, because Sue can't hold the force field inside the Atlantean and keepherself from suffocating. Frantically, she tries to push the water away from her nose, coughing violently. There areprobably more clever ways to deal with the issue. If she didn't have lungs full of water, she might be able to think of away to alter her fields to keep pushing oxygen into her blood. But right now? Right now, her lungs are overriding herbrain, trying desperately to suck in air.

Holy snaps. Lunair watches it all from beneath her oversized Amazon box. The crab, too. Its eyestalks even wiggle a little."Yeah, I totally feel you, crabbro." Pinchbro? iPinch Nano? Hmmm. Nevertheless, the two seem sad and sympathetic. Thatcan't have been easy. "Oh." They notice Spearhead is injured. "Hey, wait." Is there a healer coming around? And whileLunair's not zapping anyone else, there's still a now sad, dancing, naked legion of soldiers. It's abs all the way down.

That… wasn't a normal reaction. Usually folks don't wake up halfway through being critically injured like that.With a bit of a stumble Cameron nods to the fallen Kryptonian and stands up, shuffling her way to other nearby injured,healing the most critically injured yet still viable folks, though clearly her inertia and stubborness is carrying her, hergait becoming more and more zombie-ish for lack of a better term until after about the tenth patient — the number may ormay not include Spearhead — she finally falls to the ground.

Not lifeless, just passed out so hard that even jostling her doesn't seem to be waking her.

Someone may want to give her a blanket or something, though…

Rowan sets down near Kara. Still a large, thirty foot, ruddy red lizard with a glowing maw. He doesn't look like he's aboutto burn all the things anymore though. It's only now that he has a look around, watching as soldiers begin to withdrawand… wait… over there.

"She needs help." He says to Zee and Cameron, indicating Sue.

Mera looks at Arthur hesitantly, but at his second admonition to her to check on the injured surfacers, she nods and movesto put a seemingly gentle hand on Sue's shoulder. And then, no, the woman is already panicking. She abruptly removes all ofthe water clogging She's lungs, even if that means leaving the woman rather uncomfortably dehydrated.

Zee doesn't waste any time once Orm is taken care of and teleports to beside Kara and see's Cameron stumbling off andfalling down… Since Mera is caring for Sue, Zee checks Columbia and starts to channel some healing to her. "Anyone got ablanket?"

Spearhead finally feels Aquaman's words, and he stops, letting the guns fall to the sand. He falls to his knees, then tohis palms, coughing blood up then pushing himself back up onto his feet and walks to the others around Kara, and see's ifthere is anything he can help with , and hands a blanket from a pouch to Zee to give to Kara. a bit dazed and zoned, butSpearhead still tries his best to help, he can't just not help! he looks around, then looks down, and pulls out theoffending blades from his gut, stuffing guaze into the wounds quickly, and begins moveing to his guns, and slowly gathersall his crap off the beach, and gathers it into a pile.

Aquaman walks over to Kara and lowers himself to a knee. He eyes her costume and his expression cracks a little around theedges. He looks up at the sky and whispers, "come on…" softly, as if the words themselves were magic, the dark cloudsthat have blotted out the sun for the better part of a month begin to break apart. It will take time, a day perhaps forthem all to fade, but the signs are there. "Get her into the sunlight." he says to Rowan, nodding at the downed Kryptonian,"gently." he adds. "The nice dragon here is going to get you into some light," he offers Kara a small smile, "your cousinwas a good friend of mine. I'll see to it you get what you need." then he moves away from the group, watching as they seemto begin getting things in hand. He climbs to the top of some rubble and stands there, looking out over his people as theyretreat, his expression calm and strong… at least as far as they can see. Namor escorts the wounded and has the livingcollect the dead while Arthur watches, his armor glinting in the slowly growing light. He finds himself almost entirely ata loss for words as he gazes upon the devistation.

Kara stares up at the sky, a hand moving to her stomach where the massive wound had been. It hurt like hell even withouther touching it. She felt cold and that was when she realized she couldn't feel any of her enhanced abilities, her strengthwas gone along with everything else.

A weak cry of pain escaped her lips as she tried to get up, she notices Arthur, the Dragon that is Rowan and the others.Lucky Aquaman had some clue of what she needed to recover, "Is everyone ok?" It seems to be her only concern.

Time would be the only way of knowing how long it would take for her to recover, it would likely be a lot more than a dayor two.

Sue draws in a gasping, coughing breath once Mera pushes the fluid out of her lungs. It takes a minute for her to catch herbreath, careful not to hyperventilate, before she manages a hoarse: "Thank you." She's not rushing to get up out of thesand, but she at least moves up to sit back on her heels, focusing on her breathing.

Lunair looks around, finally emerging from her box. The crab rests on her shoulder. "Poor saps. We really do kinda take agiant, metaphorical dump on the ocean." She gently 'pets' the crab with an index finger. "C'mon. We should leave them inpeace." And they will. The nudists will stop dancing, but they are still naked. Lunair will meander away, as she does.

Rowan flares his wings and accepts the injured Kara… well actually like he's carried people before. "Shall we take thiselsewhere then?" He's offering the others present a chance to join him (ride him, if necessary) somewhere that this can betalked about without prying ears. If they like that, well and good. If not, he'll take Kara up to get some sun. Above theclouds.

Spearhead tosses the last of the crap he had strewn around ontop of the pile of his bag and guns, he straightens up toofast, mouth moveing to form 'Done' but nothing escapes as he blacksout and hits the sand, which flies up.

Mera stays next to Sue for a moment longer to make sure she's going to be okay, then stands and looks aat the various otherSurfacers still in the area. The man over therehas visible injuries. She steps over toward the just-fallen Spearhead,letting go of the 'glass' spear in her hand to let the water it was made from splash to the ground harmlessly. "This onerequires a healer as well." Really, the best she can manage is to force the blood from his stab wound to become a makeshiftbandage by leeching enough water out of it to speed the coagulation process. She can only hope it's enough to keep himalive.

Cameron doesn't require a lot of Zee's power and she breaks off the healing spell to take the blanket from Spearhead,laying it over the downed woman. Spearhead hitting the sand, has Zee moving towards him "His turn I guess…" and shestarts the healing process on the young man. Rowans question gets an absent response, she's focussed on the task at hand "Ithink we should, just let me ….. do this."

Once all of the injured Surfacers have been seen to by the black-haired woman, Mera moves to stand next to Arthur and lookat him a bit concernedly. ~How are you doing?~

Aquaman stares not out at the sea, but at the city behind him, the smoking ruin, the flashing lights of the cop cars thatare set up a quarter mile out and the Metro SRD troops that are just then moving in. «Not… well.» he tells his wifesilently, his gaze lingering on the smoke rising far in the distance, his expression cracking at the edges again. «So manylives lost because of one fools lack of patience, of hope. How many of our people fell so easily into step with thatideal?» his words are layered with anguish, not only at the loss of life, but at the fundimental lack of decency in hisown people. «I feel that for all my efforts I have failed. The surface continues to ignore us and Atlantis continues tofear and hate the surface. I'm… lost, love. I don't know where to go from here.»

Mera looks at her husband for a moment, then takes a step closer to him to lean her forehead against his shoulder. « Wewill figure it out, Arthur. That I promise you. » Then, she speaks aloud without lifting her head, addressing Zatannanearby. "Healer, may I request a moment of your time after you have helped that warrior?"

Rowan hovers for a moment with Kara in his talons and glances over. Most of the others seem to have things well in hand. "Ican take the injured warrior back to medical aid if you wish." He says of Spearhead to Mera and Arthur. Then glances overto Sue. "Do you need a, um, ride anywhere?" He's going to be soaring for a while, might as well offer. He'd offer to Zeetoo but Mera just called her.

Once she's caught her breath, Sue carefully stands, pushing a hand back through her hair with a weary smile for Rowan'soffer. "Your Majesty," she says, looking to Arthur, then clears her throat again, her voice coming out like a croak. "YourMajesty, while I can't support the idea of waging war against the surface world, it seems as though your people have somelegitimate complaints. I'm Sue Storm, of the Fantastic Four. I'm not the ruler of anything, but if you'd like to send somepeople to the Baxter Building, I know we would love to help find a way to coexist more peacefully."

Zee's done all she can for Spearhead and she calls a blanket from Shadowcrest to cover the warrior. "That would be good,thank you Dragon. I've done all I can for him." Rising, looking a little tired, Zee approaches the two monarchs offering asmall curtsey as she gets near. "How may I assist, Queen Mera?"

Aquaman's expression stiffens at Mera's words, "No." he says firmly, "My wounds will heal in their own time." he ignoresthe trickle of blood leaking from beneath his armor, "My people's blood has turned the sand here to mud, it is only rightmine mingles with theirs." he glances at Zee, "Continue in your work magi, I will not drop dead any time soon." he doesn'thug Mera, not now, not here, but his arm does slide around her lightly, keeping her close. "Thank you Rowan." he says,eyeing the people as a whole, "take as many of them as you can. I need to speak with the authorities and it would be bestif I were not surrounded by the dead and dying while I do so." he shoots Sue a look and quirks a brow before a smile pullsat the edges of his lips, it's a tired wornt hing, but there none the less. "After this I imagine I will not be welcomemany places on the surface… but I will take you up on that offer. When the healing has begun I send someone to set atime." idly he wonders if Namor would like to be part of a peace deligation… he seems to remember something about the manliking blonds. "You should all go, quickly." he glances down at his wife and doesn't even bother to tell her to leave.Wasted breath. "We," cause she's a bit stubborn about leaving him and frankly he could use her presence for what comesnext, "need to deal with this."

Kara was going to be riding on a dragon, how awesome was that. As she's lifted up on the Dragon she waves weakly towardsZee, "Fun girls day out, wouldn't you say?" She coughs after this, she couldn't recall ever coughing since being on Earth.

A pat is given to the Dragon Rowan before asking, "What's your name? I'm Kara."

Mera huffs in faint annoyance at Arthur refusing the healer's assistance, but she knows beter than to argue with him aboutit here and now. Maybe later, when they're home and in private she'll rail at him. But not now. He is correct in that sheis stubborn and will not leave his side. Definitely not now, and very likely not for a good long while to come. Theserecent events have scared her badly in ways she never thought she'd experience fear. And she REFUSES to let it happenagain.

"The others are dealt with, Your Majesty. They will recover and my skills are yours." Zee knows Arthur will refuse, he hasonce before. "Please allow me to do this…" Kara's comment gets a slight smile "Totally… and we'll have to do it again."the cough gets a slight frown.

"Rowan." The large dragon rumbles. "And don't worry, we'll get you sunned up soon as I've dropped these others off." Hepicks up Spearpoint with his rear talons and hovers for Zee and/or Sue to climb on if they're going to get home that way.Once everyone who is coming is aboard he's off, winging up and out of sight at a fairly good speed.

Aquaman shakes his head and waves a hand at Zee, "Go." he says simply, "You don't wish to be linked to what comes next."besides, a king bleeding on the news is better then one unblemished. He needs the blood, for more reasons then just tosooth his aching heart.

Sue nods once to Arthur, then again to Mera. "I'm going to go speak with the police," she informs them, voice even."Hopefully we can not start another war." A faint smile curves, exhausted. "I don't think I have one in me at the moment."And with that, she turns to walk toward the police cars.

Aquaman watches Rowan disappear into the distance, letting out a little breath when he breaks the clouds. «Orm almostkilled Supergirl.» he thinks to his wife, his mind reeling. «Clark… god. What would Clark have said to that?» hecloses his eyes for a moment and his shoulders slump, taking this last second or two to let the walls down while he's alonewith his wife, just for a little bit. He takes the moment for all it's worth. When he straightens the softness is gone, thestoicism is back. He begins to walk towards the approaching SRD troops in their power armor, advancing on them with atrident in each hand. He ignores shouts for him to get on the ground, to freeze, "Find your commanding officer," he says tothe man who was yelling the loudest, "and tell him that Aquaman has returned and needs to speak to someone about what hasoccured here. I would suggest someone who's payscale matches the politics of the situation. It would appear Atlantis andthe surface world have much to discuss."

Back to: RP Logs
