3427/It Returned To The Deep: Fish & Ships

It Returned To The Deep: Fish & Ships
Date of Scene:	19 September 2020
Location:	Atlantic Ocean
Synopsis:	Spoiler and Orphan hop in Batsub and accompany Wonder Woman and Aquaman into the briny deep to recover the artifact knocked away from Cheetah during an illicit auction
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Diana Prince, Arthur Curry, Cassandra Cain

---

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The word had gotten to Aquaman and Wonder Woman from a certain caped crusader in Gotham. One of his entourage had infiltrated an auction in international waters off the coast of Nova Scotia. Run by a woman with the appearance of a Cheetah, the auction had been attended by any number of villains, including bosses from Gotham's underworld (which is how the Bats had found out about it), and even Slade Wilson. The yacht had been attacked mid-auction by aquatic creatures, the descriptions of which were given to Arthur and Diana.

Now is the day to try to recover the item up for auction that had been knocked over the side of the yacht during the fight. Two of the younger Batlings have come in place of Batman. Spoiler is sitting behind the wheel of a submarine with an obvious bat-motif to the shape of the vehicle. It's floating on the surface at the moment at the coordinates where the small ichthyic statue had been lost overboard. She's wearing a rendition of her costume that has been equipped for underwater operations, with a mask that can cover her face completely, and a rebreather.

Though at the moment she's fiddling with the Batsub's controls. "I completed the training course. Late last night," Spoiler is telling Orphan. "But... yeah, I got this. I'm sure," she says, the last part added as if it needs to be said to convince Cassandra. And herself. "It practically drives itself. Sails itself? Wait, what's the verb for a sub- oh nevermind," Stephanie says, interrupting herself asking the rarely-speaking Cassandra to play the role of thesaurus.

"Like I said. We got this!"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana had brought the invisible jet, the alien morphing disc variety, to the location out sea where she met with the Gothamites. The Jet remains hoveirng over the water, after the initial meetingas had taken place about all of this, and the Princess of Themyscira had soon dove gracefully out of the Jet's interior into the waters, knifing her way into the blue ocean depths.

Wearing a modern helmet over a black and blue wet suit, the plastic face shield is illuminated by internal lights. Diana could/can survive under water without this, but wearing it makes it easier to communicate with others over team comms.

She swims with ease, simple arm motions and leg sweeps allow Wonder Woman to cover great distances in the depths of the ocean's waters. "Do we have any information how deep this section of the ocean goes?" She asks, her voice filtered over comms, as her face glances toward the Bat-sub.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "It bloops itself," Is the answer on the comms that is heard from the gravelly voiced man of the sea, floating alongside the submarine as it whirs its way through the ocean. It can be difficult for some to reconcile the sharp spoken grim-looking Atlantean with the image of him outside that underwater vessel. Resplendent in the golden armor, holding the ancient trident in his hand that all of Atlantis would find a staggering amazing symbol of the birth of their homeland, he seems like a figure out of legend with his wild features and almost barbaric mien.
    And then he says something like this, "Isn't that right, Bloop?"
    And Bloop, the tremendous Kraken that had taken part in the action against the under lurkers some time ago, floats along with its gigantic tentacles flaring. One of its great yellow eyeballs sloooowly rotates in the socket to focus on the little ship, and the heroes outside it as inside the minds of those nearby they will hear the telepathic creatures 'voice' in their heads as it says simply...
    << Bloop. >>
    "If things go bad," Arthur's voice on the comms again. "You kids keep back from me and the Amazon. Immediate retreat to the vessel. There's no room for error down here. So don't screw up."
    There, that'll shore up morale. That said he glances sidelong towards Diana, "Super deep." He tells her. A scientific term assuredly.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Orphan is watching everything that Stephanie does. She's learning, her eyes shifting left and right and taking it all in. Of course she isn't really grasping it all, but her pattern recognition has always proven to be superior. She can probably get them to safety in an emergency.

She turns, in her partial swimsuit, to Stephanie then. The light tension in the blonde gets a smile, and a touch on her shoulder. Cassandra apparently thinks that this is a good adventure, because she isn't showing even the slightest worry. Arthur's voice on comms though gets her frowning. She isn't fond of that tone of voice apparently.

On her side, she's been prepped with a deep-dive suit. Not the bulky, horrible type from the movies. She's here as combat girl, and the suit is appropriate for the job. It ain't no bikini. Though what she's wearing NOW certainly would qualify; she'll have to suit up real quick if things go to deep water combat.

That being said she keeps turning to look out the porthole. Because this is freaking awesome!!!

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The Bat-sub submerges, moving through the water gracefully, the propellers far more quiet than one would think for the speeds the vessel is able to manage. Spoiler looks over to Cassandra, giving her a grin as she sees how calm her friend is. It helps. So too does having Wonder Woman and Aquaman here to help.

"Let me see," she says to Diana's question. "Sonar shows we're right over a canyon called 'The Gully'. Which if it went in there, we're talking 3300 feet or deeper." She looks away from the sonar display and then says, "Wait, do Themyscira and Atlantis use the metric system? Because I can, here, let me convert-" she says, hitting a button on the console.

Within the Bat-sub a voice responds to the changed control, "Opening ports, arming torpedoes." Spoiler gasps and quickly flips that switch back to where it was, causing the torpedo tube doors to close again. "Ah, let's stick with 3300 feet then," she says.

She glances out the window and over at Arthur's 'friend'. "I'm just so reminded about a few sayings about meeting someone on their turf, about now," she comments to him. She nods though at their instructions as the quarter descend ever deeper. The lights on the front of the sub come on, illuminating the way ahead of them better.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes glance over to the Kraken with Arthur, and even though she's done battle with creatures of that variety in the past, she trusts in Arthur's friendship with this particular one. At Arthur's scientific response for her, Diana just smirks to him. "Nice." She quietly says as she kicks her feet, subsequently zipping forward even further.

Her eyes are on the depths ahead, her helmet's side lamp shining a bright beam of lumens into the dark blue below.

"The Gully?" She asks. "Well that is a lovely name..." Which somehow makes her expect it is a very undeserving name, if it goes so deep. "We are familiar with both measurement systems. Thank you for the answer, how is Orphan doing? This can be an unsettling experience for those new to deep diving."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Indeed, Arthur's voice is the bane of many people. And with no normal physical cues to play off of, it comes across as just gruff and grumpy. But Diana's probably used to it by now. At least.
    Floating alongside the small vessel, he continues to shepherd the crew. Behind him as the ocean darkens, Bloop floats along, taking long and ponderous flares of its tentacles to help push it through the water but only perhaps once a minute. It might be reassuring in some ways for the creature to drift along with them, if only it didn't block out most of the light from the surface above.
    "So this thing we're looking for. Squat ugly statue. Bluish turquoise thing. I'll see what I can find out." Which apparently means he continues to swim along beside the vessel as he extends his senses outwards, those amber eyes of his glowing faintly as he puts the word out. A word that, essentially for most of the sea creatures means, 'Get to work.'

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra takes careful note of how to fire the weapons, as Stephanie courteously shows her how to do the important things. She's so nice! She doesn't have a LOT of room to move, but with that lovely bubble to look out of there's always something to see. I mean, even if it is getting quite dark.

The unfortunate negative right now is that she hasn't much to offer. A touch of her hand to any button could spell disaster, though she's at least been briefed. Don't hit that button, the one with the chair and the popping bubble. It will eject you and that's bad. Don't hit this button, it dumps the ballast and that's bad. Don't hit this one and that's bad, blah blah. Like she's never been in a high-tech gadget before, sheesh.

She fiddles with the dials for the oxygen levels to see if Steph is paying attention a little, but not too much. Mostly because she's fond of teasing her friend, and has no idea who the other voices are. At least they sound like they know what they're doing. Would be a nice change from dealing with civilians.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The Bat-sub continues whirring quietly down into the depths alongside the pair of Justice Leaguers and Arthur's... pet? Friend? Confidant? Stephanie has SO many questions for later!

The blond looks over towards Cassandra, smiling at her calmness. "She looks like she's doing good. She's very martial. And she communicates by reading body language rather than by understanding spoken words. With only a few exceptions. So, hand motions to her are better than comms."

Stephanie casts a sideways glance at the controls to the oxygen levels as Cassandra toys with them. "Either that'll give us more air or..." she says, trailing off and scrunching up her face as she tries to remember the training module that Bruce put her through. "No no, I'm pretty sure that's what it'll do. Probably make our ears pop a bit," she says to Cassandra, spotting the other girl's expression and reading it herself, knowing she's being teased. Stephanie gives her a tiny elbow then grins.

Up ahead, the canyon can be seen. It's not a narrow thing like people on the surface would call a canyon. It's just a drop off into a wide, deeper area. And down below, the lights from their helmets and from the submarine, are showing something is moving. There's a darkness, either something big, or a LOT of littler somethings.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Yeah?" Arthur's voice crackles across the comms as the Atlantean continues swimming along, answering Spoiler's statements about Cass. He then asks, "Ask her what I'm saying right now." Which might be hard to discern since he's just simply swimming along. But maybe he's just curious.
    Then they continue their descent and the half-blood prince frowns at the sight of all of what lies below. His features darken as he scowls a little, drawing up short and extending a hand to the side as if to stay them. "Hold up, tons of something down there."
    He spins around and floats backwards slowly, nodding to the crew. "Stay back here, I'll go check it out, if it's them then the raucous cries of my screaming in pain should be enough to summon you. If not then I'll let you know."
    And without waiting for an answer he spins around and then /shoots/ forth, moving at a tremendously greater speed than the sub is capable.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana smiles softly at Stephanie's words about Cassandra, she can hear the caring relationship inside the pitch and tone of the young Spoiler's voice. Arthur's request for Cass makes Diana glance in his direction and softly roll her eyes.

She too stops her descent when she sees what Arthur had saw first, his eyes being more accustomed to what lies this deep below. Diana watches him swim forward, her sword and shield on her back, with her lasso on her hip as she's wearing her weapon harness over her wetsuit, but she keeps the items all still where they are.

Instead, Diana watches Arthur swim forward. "Be careful." She warns him quietly before she looks over to the two young women in the submersible beside her. She stays with them to keep watch, and protect them... they are very far down now... it would be bad to let anything happen to their vehicle.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Unfair as the question is, Stephanie does pass it on to her silent partner. And partner she is, because every motion that Stephanie makes gets Orphan's attention, and she never once touches anything that's actually serious. She is ready, waiting, and aware that Steph sees something up ahead the instant that it's spotted.

She pauses, the question taking her a bit unawares. Then she thumbs at Arthur, a question in the tilt of her eyebrows. When Stephanie answers, the slightest motion being all she needs, Cassandra does as well. She thumbs at Arthur again, then puts her fingers together at her stomach. She fidgets nervously, she looks around as if horribly worried. He, no she, looks like she's trying to stand up tall but glancing behind her, over and over. Then she drops the act and shrugs, starting to smile.

And turns to pull off her shorts so she can get into her deep water gear, motioning out the bubble. The deep water outfit is restrictive, but worth the time if things go sideways.

She pauses though as she pulls on the bottoms, then motions another direction. Toward Diana, where she gives a gentle smile. Then reaches a hand toward Stephanie, firm and warm. We'll get through this.

I've got your back.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie looks over to gauge Cassandra's response to Arthur's question. "I'd say she senses your nervousness, Mr. Curry, and she wants you to know that she's got your back so there's nothing to fear," Stephanie says in a voice that does not conceal the amount of joking and teasing behind the response. The blond's enormous smile can be heard in those words without even looking at her.

Spoiler looks back over to her friend, seeing her change into the suit that she'd need if they go outside. At this depth, conventional scuba gear would not be safe, and most people would be in a very heavy suit. Thankfully the two young women have a benefactor with slightly better technology than the regular scuba market.

A soft pat is given to Cassandra's leg as the deep water suit is put on, Stephanie's expression carrying her approval for the choice. Stephanie is already in hers, knowing as she's piloting the submersible craft that is more like a speed boat than a traditional sub, that she may not have time to make a change.

"Your Highness, I think you're also making a friend," Stephanie says, looking over towards Diana to indicate which noble she means. "Be safe Aquaman. We've got your back," she promises. She looks down at the console. Which one was that for the torpedoes? Oh yes, that one.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Hey. It's me." Are the words given to Diana as he shoots a half-grin her way. Yet as he swims and hears the explanation given about Cass' thoughts, the voice that answers back has an inflection of amusement to it, but then in a tone that might be befitting of a certain space smuggler, Arthur replies to Spoiler as he swims. "I feel better already." Perhaps there's a theme there.
    He continues his descent, drifting steadily downward and quickly fades from view even to the sensors on the submarine. One hand extends to the side drifting over the rocky walls of that valley that drops down into the abyss with no sign of ending. Down and down, as he listens to the comms.
    Then his voice crackles, "Arthur." He corrects Spoiler's designation of him. "Aquaman is what the..."
    Then he stops talking as he abruptly draws short, seeing the tableau before him. A part of the deep crevasse has caved in, falling in a rockslide along a /large/ portion of the depths, creating a long ramp that aims back up toward the edge of the other side of that underwater valley. On the floor of it, amongst the debris are various shiny-spined creatures, their pointed barbs glowing faintly in the water with sickly yellow light, their claws flashing red when they open and close like malevolent lobsters. They seem to be digging through the debris, all sorts of shiny objects apparently being collected and piled into a mass of netting near the wall of the valley.
    "I think... we've found the local scavengers." As he says this he's counting under his breath then murmurs, "There's... a good hundred of them. Maybe more, and some sort of vehicle lying at the base of the far wall."
    That said he starts forward, "Going to try and make contact."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes look over to the submersible, she looks inside of it and sees Cassandra changing attire. "Are the two of you coming out here?" She asks Stephanie, well aware that the young women are capable and able to defend themselves... in Gotham... but down here? Diana has a wealth of concern for their wellbeing. She doesn't stop them, however.

Her eyes glance back to 'Bloop' above them, with his appendages waving around in a fairly unsettling way, but it's Arthur's voice that draws her stare forward (down?) into the darkness before them.

"I am coming to help you then." She states as she starts to swim. "Tell Bloop to guard the Submersible."

Her right hand goes up behind her shoulder, her left dips back around beside her hip. Her sword and shield are drawn as she starts to sweep her legs to propel her body forward toward Arthur's position.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The kiss on the back of Stephanie's neck is perhaps unexpected, but the approval of how well she'd translated...or perhaps other things she'd done well...is something that's between the two of them, alone in that submarine while the two Royals swim on ahead.

By the time that Stephanie turns back though Cassandra is starting to put on her helmet. The featureless black semi-glass is shaped to minimize water drag, and as Cassandra tightens the seals the whole suit compresses to fit. With protection on joints, it looks as if she's wearing something otherworldly. She looks like Stephanie's looked all this time, sans the helmet.

The body is a dark pearlescent, with shifting tones on top and bottom to help to camouflage; if one is looking at either of them from the bottom, they blend in light because that's where the light would be. From the top, darker. Protections upon protections. And the epidermis is based on shark skin, designed to let them MOVE.

Something that Cass would be ready for, flexing her joints, as the reports come in on targets. She pauses, then nudges Stephanie. Thumbs behind. She's suspicious, this seems too easy.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie grins to Cassandra's reaction, but then she's hearing Arthur. "Hundreds of scavengers, on the bottom of the ocean? Ok I really need to see if we have an undersea civilization tutorial when we get back," she says.

She looks around outside, trying to see deeper. "I think we can zoom..." she says, calling up a video display and then zooming it in further. "Still tough to see from here. Bringing the sub down nearer but we'll hang back a bit to not provoke them. If it's a fight, probably best we stay in the sub as much as possible. But, ah, don't be surprised if Orphan comes out there," she says.

She looks over the various buttons and then chooses one. The console display shows a selection of different weapons. Harpoon guns, ink smokescreen, electric stun field. The little icons help tell what each one is. She doesn't select any, just leaves them up for ready access and then slowly brings the submarine down deeper.

Not provoke them? The deep sea critters that look a bit like lobsters don't even need to see the sleek sub to be provoked. They spot Arthur and their claws start to click and clack underwater menacingly, the sound of nearly a hundred of them doing it at once is probably a bit intimidating to a normal person. A few of them pull something off their backs, difficult to make it exactly what, but the sharp pointy barbed edge in front suggests it's not a bread maker.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    The clacking is expected, that much is for sure. The lobster-like scavengers seem entirely displeased with the idea of this Atlantean floating down into he depths before them, lightning upon the prow of an old wrecked ship that had likely been there for hundreds of years. He holds up the trident which shines brightly as a beacon, enough to guide his friends in if they wish, but more perhaps to gain the attention of those monstrosities.
    His amber eyes shine brightly for a moment...
    Which has all of the creatures rear back slightly, each of them hearing Arthur's /voice/. It causes some to clack more, while others tilt their heads one way and then the other.
    On the comms, << They say this is their place. >>
    Bloop, meanwhile, floats along near the submarine and seems to do as Diana wishes, curling its long tentacles over and around the ship to provide some sense of protection but leaving enough room for the ingress and egress of those within should they so wish.
    << Everything here is their's, and I am their's too since I'm there now. I told them that's not the case, and we'd be leaving soon if they'd give us a hand. Right now they're talking about it. >>

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana arrives from behind Arthur around the time of his shining beacon light. She glides up to his left side, her sword and shield gleaming in the light before her eyes look forward to the 'creatures' that are 'arming' themselves. "This... looks unsettling." Diana admits, as she's not the most experienced at deep sea combat, but... the basics are mostly the same, right?

The Princess' eyes scan the creatures, the canyon of the Gully, and ultimately glance back tot he Bat-vehicle (and Bloop). "Well, not everything is theirs. Whatever we came for fell from above, and we are here to take it back."

She glances to Arthur then. "I do not wish to harm these creatures, however, as this is their territory. We do come in peace, ultimately."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra is leaning forward intently as she can finally see the enemies. She frowns inside her mask, trying to figure out what they're saying, since Arthur is talking with the comms and making no real sense. She seems to be making some headway, her eyes shifting around. At least there's lots of examples.

A few sparkling lights off to the side gather her gaze though, and she points that way to get Stephanie's attention. It appears that the ones gathered ahead are not the only ones, and they might be about to have company of their own.

Turning one of the lights on the craft would show a gathering of the crablike creatures, armed and prepared and not happy to have been spotted. The sudden stillness of Cass' hands tells a story. This is the moment just before war.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
When the story is related later, Stephanie will say of the moment, "And that's when it got real." The arrival of the beautiful Amazonian with the dark hair that floats about in an ebon wave like a pretty anemone causes even more excited click-clacking of claws. Arthur may or not may not wish to translate how delicious they think his Justice League teammate looks. The first dictionary definition of the word rather than the slang term.

The lobster start forward. It's like a wave of darkness moving across the ocean floor, though some of them seem to have spotted the arrival of one of their oldest nemeses, and a fair number peel off that way in a show of aggression.

The crab-people? Having nothing of it. Suddenly there are jets of bubbles lifting from their mounts as compressed air shoots out a number of spear-like weapons at the lobsters. Not just at the lobsters, but at the Batsub!

Stephanie grabs the controls and slams the steering-wheel like column hard over to the left. The whole sub does a barrel roll as the side thrusters fire, turning upside but getting the sub out of the way!

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Hey," Arthur turns his head to the side, his own helmet and oxygen reservoir providing enough so he can speak on the comms, "I don't either, but if it's important we get this thing then we..."
    His head tilts back and he grimaces as he looks at the gathering half-circle of creatures that seem to be arranging themselves around the new arrivals. There are a myriad of discussions going on somehow between Arthur and the lobsterians, between the lobsterians themselves, and apparently between the creatures and something else...
    "I get the vibe they're talking to an authority figure of some sort. Like I'm hearing this echo." Which isn't very helpful really considering none of the others realize how Arthur perceives this facet of the world.
    But then perhaps in the same instant Cass is noticing them, so do the lobsterians as some of them flash through the ocean, swimming towards the crab-creatures with a rush of movement. Others near the net start to secure it...
    And if one were to pay attention to that net, they might well see a particularly squat and ugly carving of turquoise deep amongst all the other purloined loot.
    But then the moment when things get real arrives. The lobsters rush forward, their claws raised and some drawing or readying weapons. A great many heading toward Arthur and his companion while the ones above suddenly cause the great Bloop's eyes to widen in alarm as its tentacles abruptly tense...
    Then there's a /FWOOSH!/ as more and more of the creatures shoot at Stephanie and Cass in their vehicle. A fwoosh that causes a great cloud of black ink to discolor the water all around them, buying them an instant or two to evade and get clear while the Kraken moves forward.
    On the comms Arthur's voice is heard, "This shit never is simple." And suddenly he's amongst the lobsters, trident slashing from side to side.

Diana Prince has posed:
There's a lot going on down here under the sea.

Life doesn't appear to be better, when you are wetter.

Disney lied. And... nobody is surprised.

"I see it." Diana says, her eyes locking on to that net as it's being drug, away, of course. "They have it there." Her sword comes up and points across the distance, the blade shimmering in the darkness with what ambient light there is down here.

But as the attacks begin, her sword sweeps down and her shield up. "I am going for it. Try to draw as many off of that net as you can!"

Soft and quiet *thuds* start to echo around the Princess, her metal round shield taking impacts from their attacking enemies, and as they seem to be surely 'too much' for her, the Amazonian Warrior suddenly lunges forward at tremendous speeds, shattering her foes in all directions around her as she lunges through the darkened ocean toward the 'loot net'.

Her sword begins to swipe and sweep, stab and strike! She cuts her way forward, while they try to block her with their onslaught of attacking appendages!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
This is when Cassandra shows that she's been paying attention. Not only is she there, steadied and ready, when Stephanie throws the sub into a looooooop (@_@) she is on the weapons while Steph is on the controls. Leaning past her partner she jabs at the ink smokescreen, sending out a wave of darkness that sends the side-attackers into an ink of their own.

They may or may not be affected by the tactic, but it's better than sitting on her laurels while Steph does all the work. Also a bit of a show of solidarity with their current multi-armed teammate never hurt. She's diplomatic!

She also hasn't got a target for the harpoons, so is more hanging on for dear life than actually working at the moment. She points toward the most immediate threat, helping guide the sub. Torpedoes and such aren't aimable, you gotta steer into the threat in order to shoot at it! Thinking about that now it seems like a design flaw..

The frustration gets to her though, and a moment later the airlock is cycling. And Stephanie is alone, with Cassandra outside, the suit's swimming assistance devices helping her move through the tentacles, in the dark, toward the goal. She saw a cue and took it.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"You can target the torpedoes-" Stephanie gets out, just in time to hear the FWOOSH! as Cass heads out the air lock, "... like this."

Stephanie grabs a joystick in the middle of the two seats and the video screen in the dashboard of the sub aims in on a large group of the lobsters to one side of the net. A torpedo launches out of the Batsub, and then she aims again, to the other side of the net and launches another!

The torpedoes home in those spots. The lobsters see them coming and scatter, clearing out far enough that when they hit, a number are stunned, but none seem to have been outright killed given they are moving. It has cleared the area somewhat for Wonder Woman though.

"Ok Bloop, let's show these guys what a girl from Gotham and a Kraken from... ah... I'm going to guess Ancient Greece? Can do." She slams the throttle forward and the sub darts forward, heading right for one of the mounts that the crab people are on. She steers at them on a collision course, then turns at the last second to sideswipe them and cause a bunch of the crab to go tumbling off and fall to the ocean bed below, where lobsters are waiting to engage them in the fiercest such fight since Surf and Turf day at Luby's.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "You get the thing, I'll keep them distracted!" Arthur's words come across the comm lines, hectic and intense but focused on the matter at hand. Those brilliant amber eyes /shine/ abruptly as he turns his head and proceeds to speak with the many creatures around him, the monstrosities abruptly turning their heads to the side and /shooting/ angry looks across the distance.
    Around the sub, Bloop continues to move protectively, doing his best to make sure his charges get what aid he can offer. Which, to be fair, is considerable. Those giant tentacles weave around and grasp many an aggressive creature and sends them hurtling into the silt-covered ocean floor or the walls or with such force that they fly out of the valley itself. Sometimes they are smacked together, but the heat starts to lessen on the other heroes.
    "Ok, think I've got them coming after me." Words heard as Arthur shoots upwards, trailing a great stream of lobsters that are chasing after him. "I told them their mother was a sea gull and that cheesed them right off."
    He swirls a few more times, darting and dashing and dipping and ducking and diving. At times he lashes out with the trident and ends up scattering parts of those creatures that attack.
    Only for in the moment of the wildest part of the engagement, the great large crawler that seemed to be their home vehicle at the other end of the valley, it seems to come to life, starting to slowly rise as it uncurls its spine to gain its full height of a hundred feet tall, giant claws sliding out from underneath it as tentacles flare from its face. It lets out with a loud sonic shockwave that would be a roar upon the surface, strong enough to send Arthur loop-de-loop.
    "The fuck is that?" He asks on the radio.
    Then realizing how the lobsters are 'speaking' to it he scowls. "Oh. That's their mother."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana carves her way to the net as the torpedos from the Bat-sub fly past her to help break the numbers around the loot net, while Arthur calls those broken-off 'warriors' to him. This buys the Princess enough time to land upon the net and charge her way down it to where the infamous item they came for is visibly tucked inside the lining of the net.

With a slicing chop! The Sword of Athena slices through the net of scavenged items, and Diana's foot dips down into the junk, wiggling its way beneath the relic she draws it up sudden out of the stack and looks up just in time to see an attack to her helmet!

A lobsterian attack smashes into the clear cover of her mask, shattering it and filling her helmet with water, causing the Princess to sweep her head side to side and yank the mask off. Her dark hair spills out loose into the ocean around her as she drops the mask, and sweeps her sword up to stab the creature that struck her!

Unable to communicate vocally now, Diana looks to Cassandra and lobs the relic toward the approaching Orphan, with a well guided 'thrust kick' like a Football pass! Passing the item off toward the approaching Cassandra!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
For all Cassandra's skill in a fight, she's not a complete imbecile. She left the submarine, certainly, leaving Stephanie alone. But it's not long before the blonde would hear the airlock cycling again, a dripping form being revealed once again, holding onto something.

---

A few moments before though, she was outside. The darkness engulfed her and she was cold. Alone in the dark her senses heighten; she had to leave, she wasn't able to focus in that bubble. It was loud, it was bright. The darkness is home. And she knew from the way Diana moved what her plan was. She needed to be in place, the wide receiver getting into position for the pass. Her eyes met Diana's, far away in the dark, and she made an impossibly tiny target.

Luckily, this team is all about doing the impossible. Twice before breakfast. The mystery object in hand, she reeled in her line to the sub, vanishing inside with a salute. To Diana, to Arthur, and to Bloop.

---

"Good," she'd say to Steph, unmasking. And holding the 'thing'. Because there's really no other name for it. Wow, it be ugly.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie brings the submarine to a halt, aiding Cassandra in getting back inside. "Hellooooooo ugly," she says. "I mean, that not you," she adds for Cassandra with a grin, though Stephanie is already causing the sub to lurch forward.

A pair of crabs try to land on the sub from above as it passes beneath them, but just as their wicked spears are about to stab at the canopy, tentacles grab them and smash them together! "Way to go Bloop!" Spoiler yells as she banks the nimble submarine over and heads towards Wonder Woman.

"Her mask is gone, don't know that she can hear us," the blond Gothamite says. She looks over the panel and says, "Ok this will either electrocute her or..."

Or give her a line trailing out the back of the sub to grab hold of and be rapidly towed out of the midst of the battle as the Batsub zooms past just overhead of the Amazonian. That's when she notices the gigantic lobster. "Ah, who ordered the jumbo crab!?" she asks, knowing it isn't a crab but it was the best she's got. Stephanie dives the sub hard as a giant pincher reaches for them just missing as it clangs closed right above them. The Batsub dives beneath the giant crustacean and comes out the far side before turning for the surface.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Ah dammit." Arthur's voice is heard over the comms as he abruptly stops his flight, floating there in the water as a dozen of the creatures rush him. He tucks in close into a ball as he focuses, and then suddenly around him a sphere of ice explodes into being and then lashes outwards with hundreds of spines, impaling the entire mass of creatures around him... then exploding into shards thrusting all of the monstrosities away.
    It's a small number of them, but enough to buy him a few seconds to /rush/ through the water in a flash bubbles cavitating all around him in that blur of speed as it halts right near beside Diana.
    Quickly he gestures point at her, then pointing up at their path to flee, aiming her in the sub's direction as he starts to float back up, even while the other lobsters start to slash down toward them, yet a good chunk of them distracted by the crab creatures as well. If she'll accept he'll even help her with an arm under hers to lend some of his speed.
    Above them, Bloop continues his work, and if one were to float close enough to him as he smashes lobsters and crabs alike, they'd hear the simple steady thoughts of the ancient Kraken as it almost seems to be humming to itself, << Bloop, bloop, bloop. >>

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is rushing up the net, using it to keep her feet grounded which makes it easier to swing her sword and shield. When Arthur arrives beside her, she's putting her weapons away. She looks to follow his directed indication to look at the sub, and it's then that she sees the line that the sub had dropped. She nods once to him and motions for him to go.

She turns back around to their enemies, standing atop of the net with the scavenged items in it, as the line of creatures rushes toward her, Diana's eyes sweep over them she cans them and prepares herself. Just before they reach the Princess, her arms sweep up and she slams her bracers together!

In the darkness of the depths of the ocean, a brilliant bright golden shine fills the shadowy environment, pushing back against the darkness as the kinetic blast from the Themysciran Princess's Bracers of Submission, send a rolling wave of pure energy outward from her forearms!

All the incoming attackers are sent scattering backwards, sent tumbling away into the depths from which they came!

And that's when Wonder Woman lunges upward, and grasps the line from the Submarine, her bracers still glowing hot with the power that just erupted from them!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Dripping all over the place, Cassandra puts the ugly-ass thing where it belongs; in a safe. She plants her right foot on the far wall as Stephanie angles and cants the ship to maneuver, bending as needed to seal the safe to keep the thing, well, SAFE!

She comes back up, plopping into her seat, and lets the crash harness grab at her again. She leans up to take over some of the controls, mostly defensive weapons, and is thusly braced against the multiple shockwaves of both ice and light. Which do make her turn her head, she may never see them again.

She whispers, "Sorry," as Stephanie guides the submarine, by hook or by crook, toward safety. Not a lot, but to her, a speech.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
With Diana holding onto the line, and Arthur propelling himself through the water at speeds the sub even can't match, it isn't too long before they have made the 3300 feet climb to the surface.

That's about 1000 meters. Stephanie finally found the metric conversion button.

The Batsub now floats on the surface, the canopy over the seats retracted fully so it's more like a convertible sub now. Spoiler pats Cassandra with a smile, congratulating her on the outing. "So, Arthur, is this best left in your hands?" she asks, as they get the small statue back out again. "Or would it be better to get away from the water entirely? Turn it over to SHIELD or someone like that?" she asks, willing to follow the lead of the two Justice Leaguers.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Floating on the surface, Arthur rises up and plants a hand upon the edge of the submarine and then pulls himself out of the sea. The water sluices off his armored body, and when he pulls the helmet off it lets his wild hair free albeit a bit frizzy as he scowls a little. A mountain of a man, but a scowly grumpy one to be sure.
    "I could take it, see if I can get it destroyed. Or we could have Superman throw it into the sun, he likes to do that sort of thing."
    That said he sets his trident down upon the ship and scowls at himself. "Think we did not make any friends down there." Or rather... he didn't. The jerk.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana doesn't float on the water, or leap out of it, nay she simply walks right up out of the water as if she's scaling an invisible set of stairs or something.

Because she is.

Her dark hair is soaked thoroughly, and laying down the back of her head, down behind her shoulders as she reaches the top of the stairs and turns around to place a hand on the edge of the invisible jet. The Jet itself shimmers and fades in to view, solid white like a cloud shaped like an arrowhead, Diana standing in a side hatch of the craft's underbelly.

"I did not enjoy having to fight them." Diana speaks of the natives down below. "But they gave us no choice." She glances to the item in question that the rescued. "Let me know if you need my help with it. I can take such things to Themyscira for protection as well." She says in her husky hued, accented English.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra, her head peering over the edge of the submarine, is looking down toward where they just fled. She has this inscrutable look on her face, eyes scanning, and then suddenly she extends her right hand in a fist. She waits, a patience on her that few have seen, until...

A moment later, while the others are talking, a tentacle slips up from below. It just touches her fist, a smile blossoming on her stoic face, and then she turns back to the group, as Bloop returns underwater. Fistbump from the Kraken. I'm done.

Then she looks at everyone, with an expression that can only be seen as 'What?'. And waits for them all to decide about the ugly thingie. Ridiculous. Just toss it into the ocean, it'll be gone forever.

Oh wait.