Owner	Pose
Clarice Ferguson	The King's Sword. A luxury cruise ship that usually paths about the atlantic, visiting both European and African coasts. It was just returning from one such successful trip when tragedy fell, a day having went without any kind of communication from the ship by and it having drifted to international waters. Taken by pirates? Terrorists? The explanation may be a lot more sinister. Earlier rescue teams were sent without success and those that came out speak of nightmares, of monsters. A call has been sent to those heroes who may help in this, a call answered by those who have been made aware of the problems brewing in the depths of the sea..., horrible monsters that had been waiting for an opportunity to lurk up to the surface and create chaos. Would this be another one of those occasions? The ship is visible from afar due to the red emergency lights that 'beep' up each couple of seconds but there is noone visible on deck, only what's left of some kind of struggle. Broken ship parts, a lifeboat that someone clearly tried to disengage having been sliced apart and now lying in two-halfs ... But the silence, it's deafening.
Arthur Curry	Something had been rumbling deep beneath the ocean. But then again something is always rumbling beneath the ocean. The world below is often a wild one and rarely does it rear its head to draw the attention of those above. But when it does... something like this happens.     It's hard to quantify a bad feeling. And for Arthur Curry it's a little harder because he has /many/ bad feelings. Though at this moment, as he moves on the top deck, near the captain's bridge and around the side of that testament to modern engineering, The King's Sword, that feeling's gotten worse.     Visible perhaps from a distance. Little more than a dark shape stalking across the walkway that leads into the bridge proper, from afar he looks like some swarthy pirate type that might have been left behind if the ship had been taken by raiders. Tall, wearing canvas shorts, grim of aspect. He disappears into the bridge, though his silhouette likely still visible.
Scott Summers	Today Scott is not piloting the Blackbird. But that is okay, there is still a Summers in the pilot's seat. Scott is co-pilot. He is perhaps the worst co-pilot ever. "You are going too fast. Engage the rear thrusters now. We are going to miss the boat by half a mile," those are some of the not very helpful comments. But he has not evicted Hope from the seat, so that is actually pretty damn good. Scott has taught most X-Men the basics of piloting the Blackbird, and still doesn't let most anyone touch 'his' plane. They can steal his bike as much as they want, the Blackbird is another thing.
Lorna Dane	Lorna rolled her eyes from her seat in the Blackbird as Scott co-piloted and by that, took over like every parent trying to teach their kid how to drive a car.. but on a micromanaging level. She unbuckled before was strictly safe, but she didn't really care. Her steel toed boots were magnetically riveted to the floor and she wasn't about to fall over anytime soon. "Right, can hurry it up? I have a bad feeling that we're gonna end up with another horror story that makes the chaos in Kittery the other night look nice." She drawled, crossing her arms as she leaned forward to peer out the window, as if she could actually see anything. "It might be more effective for me to flip the ship upside down and shake out whatever is inside it..?" She offered, arching a brow hopefully, and only half kidding.
Hope Summers	"Scott. I've literally flown this thing myself. Multiple times. //And// I know I can fix it if it gets broken. Say, by a short, angry, beer-loving Canadian stowaway." The nice thing is, Hope isn't the least bit off-put by Scott's worrying over her shoulder. It seems like she's old hat at it. Granted, he's not wrong. She does fly it like she stole it. The Blackbird actually whips around tail-first as she flips a few switches, bringing her in to hover cloaked over the ship like she whipped into a parallel parking space. Leaning over, she checks the readings for the ship below them. "Hey, were we expecting backup from anyone else?" she asks, pointing to a thermal reading on the bridge.
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney double checks her gear as a way to pass time and because she's tired of hearing Scott nitpick poor Hope. She bit her tongue for most of the ride though. Body armor? Check. Sword? Check. Flare gun with extras? Check. Claws? Well, yeah. "That might not be good Lorna. I mean, there could still be people alive hiding somewhere. Lots of places on a ship to hide, right?" She reasons with a hopeful grin. "So let's find them and kick some ugly squishy sea monster butt while at it."
Kitty Pryde	Kitty Pryde is seated at one of the consoles in the plane, working the Blackbird's sensors. "Doesn't look like any other ships or radio signatures in the area anymore," she comments before rising out of her chair by phasing through her harness once Hope has brought the Blackbird in to hover over the ship. Lockheed is riding shotgun on her shoulder as Kitty moves to look over Hope's shoulder at the thermal scan. "Good guy, bad guy, we'll figure it out," she says as she goes over to hit the button to retract the hatch. She glances down at the makeable drop to the ship. "Squishy sea monster butt coming up," she says, offering Gabby a fist dap while she tries to visually spot the heat blip over on the bridge.
Clarice Ferguson	There is noone inside the bridge that Arthur can see, but there are signs of fighting. Blood sprays that bring another kind of decor to the interior but no souls, either living or unliving. In-between those red emergency lights as they go on and off there are trails of blood visible which lead further down the ship. Whatever bodies there were here they appear to have been dragged in ... So the possibility there is still someone, or SOMETHING in here is high.. With the Blackbird now hovering close to the ship after Hope's maneuver it doesn't seem like it will be too difficult to get down onto the deck, or closer to the bridge and from up there it's noticeable how quiet and empty the whole ship feels.. Well, quiet to the exception of the heat signature felt of someone actually INSIDE the bridge. Friend or foe though, who knows?
Arthur Curry	For a time the heat blip inside the bridge is still, not moving too much beyond a few feet at a time. Within the ship, Arthur looks around slowly, expression darkening as he kneels for an instant to take a closer look at the pattern of the gore. A single short shake of his head is given before he rises.     There's a shift in the air pressure, something causing him to frown as he steps forward to the main viewing area that looks out across the bulk of the ship and the great sweep of ocean before that giant ocean liner. His eyes narrow as he looks out, his tall form darkening that large viewport, but the Blackbird's stealth fields are very effective.     Stepping back he moves to find the ship's communications logs, the captain's notations, any of the paperwork that's made on a ship of this size that might give some hint as to what happened before he begins the expedition into the depths of the ship.
Scott Summers	"Disengage the holocloak befor... okay, good," notes Scott reluctantly. It wasn't bad, really, he is a little proud Hope pilots like a -real- Summers. He is just not going to admit it today. "It is possible Namor has sent his people to investigate," comments Scott. Glance to Lorna for confirmation. "We better check that quickly. If it is a hostile, I will take point. Polaris, cover me. Shadowcat, some scouting please."
Hope Summers	Unbuckling herself, Hope keeps an eye on that blip on the sensors as she slings a comically oversized gun over her shoulder. Sure, it looks cool when Cable does it. It's a little bit harder to pull off at a scrawny five and a half feet. Still, she carries it with surety enough to make any special forces proud. "It's got a stun setting," she announces before Scott can object to it, swinging it in front of herself to show a hand-made sharpie scrawl of two squiggly lines on one side of a switch. The other side has what looks like a starburst. Or an exploding target. Could go either way. The switch is currently on the explodey side. Noticing the setting, she carefully avoids eye contact as she flips over to stun before slinging it over her shoulder again to rappel down to the decks.
Lorna Dane	Lorna grimaced as she shook her head, "We could pick up people out of the sea. I still say it's a better game plan." She grumbled. She hated enclosed spaces. It was dangerous for her, and despite all her training with Logan she wasn't entirely sure her hand to hand combat would be useful here. Sure, she could rip a hole in the side of the ship or repair one.. but if something was inside it? She exhaled a rough breath, glancing at Kitty as the other woman made to depart through the hatch and she shrugged, making to depart once she was sure Scott wasn't about to lecture them further. Or perhaps to avoid it rather. But she sighed heavily. "Namor hasn't told me anything of his troops movements." She muttered, barely restraining the urge to roll her eyes. But she made to float down after Scott regardless, "Yeah. Yeah.. got you covered.."
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney glances around as everyone starts to depart... though she does gaze longingly at the gun that Hope has. It was way bigger than she herself would be able to easily carry but it was nice that someone got to use one. "Hey, my guns can be non lethal too. It's called aiming below the belt." The urge to grump a bit is foregone though as she braces herself for another night like the one before last. This time it was far more dangerous though: They were in the Lurker's home turf. After Hope heads down she follows suit, wrapping one gloved hand around the rappel line in front and one in back to help slow her descent. Zipping down she lands nimbly on her feet on the deck and quickly moves to the side to avoid anyone else that might be coming the same way.
Kitty Pryde	Kitty Pryde gives Scott a little salute. A casual version of the military one, rather than the single digit-variety that Logan might have chosen for the moment. She steps out of the plane into the air as if she were stepping onto solid ground. Shadowcat quickly air-walks the distance to the ship's superstructure where it juts up above the bridge. After sticking her head through the metal for a quick peek, she and the purple dragon step through and out of sight. A moment later her head sticks down through the roof of the bridge just enough to see. What she sees surprises her a bit, and she leans down through the ceiling well past her shoulders, her ponytail hanging down towards the floor below as she regards Arthur. She says aloud into her comms, so Arthur can hear her too. "Bridge contact is one Atlantean. Who I'm going to call a friendly." Kitty dangles a hand down and gives a finger wiggle towards Arthur along with a smile as she hangs there upside down through the ceiling. She keys off her comms to say to him privately, "Not sure I got to thank you adequately. But, that can wait. Any idea what's going on?" she asks the Atlantean.
Clarice Ferguson	There isn't much in terms of communications logs here. At least.., not to someone that isn't versed in computer wizardry or are into the advanced instruments they use on these cruise ships. But Arthur's own expertise of the sea and ships enables him to find just a small snippet, out of the captain's log. The last entry which is still on display in a blood-splattered monitor. "Receiving reports ship is veering off-course. I gave no such order. Going to ask the first mate what's going on. - Captain Jenkins." As the X-men begin to descend towards the ship they will notice the same. The eery silence, the on and off lights. The dried of blood of bodies being dragged across the bridge and down to the depths of the ship.. And the Atlantean of course.
Arthur Curry	Across the deck of that bridge, Arthur stands there flipping through some of the actual paper pages of the comm logs and furrows his brow. His amber eyes narrow, expression sharpening to an edge. And, to be fair, that tall man with the long hair pulled back into a pony tail and a beard long enough to braid, not even to mention the elaborate tattoos, he doesn't look friendly /at all/. Especially when he first glowers at Kitty rather sternly.     But then he straightens up, still dripping water down the lines of his form, puzzlement settling into his gaze before his face is transformed with the curl of a wry smirk as he points at the upside down heroine.     "The beach."     Which doesn't exactly narrow it down, yet somehow serves. "Hey." His attention is then drawn outside, to the arrival of the others as he gestures with the log in his hand. "Was trying to find what happened. Looks like someone subverted command. But I got nothin'. Beyond that." He takes a few strides towards her and offers her that printout before he starts to push around a few things on one of the terminals.     "I... am no good with computers."
Scott Summers	"Is that Intergang ordinance?" Says Scott, glancing at Hope's gun. Yes, much disapproval there. And he did recognize the design. "The D.E.O. reported those weapons are unsafe knockouts of alien tech." In an internal memo, top secret. How it ended in Scott's hand is a tale for another day. "You should instead copy Lorna's or my power-set," he suggests quietly. Quietly because they are moving towards Aquaman's position when Kitty reports he is an Atlantean and probably friendly. Okay, very good. "Lets talk with the Atlantean, then. It seems likely he is the only other person still on board." Those trails of blood on the deck are unnerving, but Scott hides his apprehension well.
Hope Summers	As soon as Hope's feet hit the deck, the gun is at her shoulder at the ready. "They were unsafe," she agrees with Scott. "I had to modify the power source and the supply lines, plus swap out the focusing mechanism to allow for an adjustable range of fire. And install a safety. Totally safe now, though." She moves smoothly to one side, taking up a flanking position where she can watch out for threats to the group. "My powers've been off ever since I got here," she admits. "If I pick up anything it's probably going to be Gabby or Kitty to keep me in one piece. Besides, I made it through a whole bunch of things without powers. So did Nathan." She tips her head over to her comm. "Does the friendly know what's happened, Shadowcat?"
Lorna Dane	Lorna's eyebrows furrowed sharply at Kitty's remarks on the comms. "An Atlantean? Only one?" She was confused. She hadn't met Aquaman yet, and as far as she was aware, most of their people couldn't breathe air. She didn't comment further as she landed on the ship and lightly pressed a hand against the ship's deck. She sent her senses outward, deeper into the ship, following the path of electrical signals and searched for the little sparks of life that most living things gave off. She frowned deeply, looking around and back. "Cyclops, I'm picking up on something alive in the ship. Feels like it's not too far from the bridge. It seems to be moving forward and back?" She tilted her head, confusion rioting in her expression. "Might be a survivor that's scared. Doesn't feel like an Atlantean, or a lurker." She added, "Things in the sea give off stronger electrical signals generally.." She offered in answer for how she could tell the difference. Fish used the electromagnetic spectrum for many things, and Lorna could feel them when she concentrated.
Gabby Kinney	While everyone else starts to examine the deck, Gabby goes for the bridge where the Atlantean and Kitty were. It leaves the seemingly really young girl standing in the doorway while staring at the blood spattered around. Her smile slips off her face as she tips her head upward to see some of the blood spattered on the ceiling as well. Unfortunately RIGHT where Kitty was phasing through the ceiling. "... No one survived this," she says in a grim, assured tone. "Whoever was here died. A couple of someones judging by... everything." A slow deep breath is drawn, and she looks back over to Hope offering a hand out. "Maybe you should copy my powers right now, Hope."
Kitty Pryde	Shadowcat gives Arthur a finger-gun back to acknowledge he is correct. She pivots, the rest of her body appearing through the ceiling like a gymnast tumbling, clad in a black uniform with deep blue trim and an X on her belt. She drops quietly to the floor. Lockheed came with her, having been clinging to her hip that was out of view on the other side of the metal ceiling. Over comms she replies to Hope, "No, he's investigating same as us it seems." She then says to the group, "Lots of blood up here. Drag marks of bodies being taken from the bridge into the rest of the ship." Kitty taps her ear, telling Arthur, "Have a team with me. X-men." She takes a look at the printout he offers, reading it aloud for those on comms, before saying, "Ah, I might be able to help out a bit there," with a glance to the computers. Kitty moves over and starts working, taking just a few seconds to familiarize herself with the system before she's working her way through it. "Still logged in, that takes the fun out of it," she mumbles. As she works, Lockheed sits on her shoulder, staring at the Atlantean with a yellow-eyed stare. After a brief period of work, she's skimming down some logs. Arthur can easily read them over her shoulder, though she starts summarizing them aloud over comms anyway. "In the bridge logs. There are reports from multiple places on the ship of hearing sounds or music they couldn't find a source for. And disputes, arguments breaking out. Here's mention of a fight in the engine room. Another on deck. And looks like... final entry is someone climbed on board the ship over the side. A beautiful woman... guy got poetic here. 'Beautiful as the deepest sea'. That's the last entry."
Clarice Ferguson	The jolts of electricity sent throughout the ship detect other, very faint traces of energy deeper inside the ship. But the distance makes it difficult to discern how many they may be, yet they seem to spark as normal too. More worrisome though is that it also appears to have made whatever is down there to awaken. Or to become 'aware'... They won't have too long it seems. As Hope sets to cover the others and peeks down towards one of those corridors where the blood trails lead to she will be able to see a small silhouette. That of a child? It's peeking..., then retreating.., then peeking again.. May just as well be whoever Lorna was mentioning. Whoever was that woman who climbed aboard, it does seem as if she is still down here.., lurking.
Arthur Curry	Sidelong, Arthur's eyebrows rise as he witnesses the Shadowcat's casual drift through the ceiling, then makes a small grunt as he murmurs. "Nice trick."     He then motions towards the front of the deck without looking and asks, "They're with you?" Meaning the other X-men that are in transition from one point to another. Then his head bobs, "X-people, cool." As if the name sort of meant something to him, but might not as well.     Then he points at her again, "Wait, they were at the battle of New York. Yeah... good folk." As far as he's aware at the least.     Then she starts reading what she's found and he frowns to walk over, leaning over her shoulder as he peers at the text she's summoned up, but then gives Lockheed the stink eye. "What now?" As if he didn't trust what she was telling him, but then he takes a deep breath. "Sirens, or Syrenes. That's... they don't normally do stuff like this. At least this day and age. I mean..."     He straightens up, frowning. "Unless they're..." He turns to Kitty and murmurs, "Tell your people they're going to need ear protection, you have any telepaths with you?"
Scott Summers	"Heads up," states Scott. "We might have a survivor, or one of the culprits. Take positions," he requests, quickly climbing to the bridge. "I am Cyclops," he tells Arthur. "We are five mutants and..." glance to Lockheed, "a dragon. Someone else is in the ship, though. Moving closer. Might be one of the attackers and... ear protection?" He frowns behind his visor. "None of our telepaths came with us, why? Do you know what caused this?"
Hope Summers	"Some kind of siren maybe, like from the Odyssey?" Hope's education is spotty, but apparently the Odyssey made it into the litany of ways to pass the time when there was no one but her and Nathan. She looks around the group, grimacing faintly. "Too bad we didn't bring a psychic to link the team, but...might be smart to plug our ears just in case." Handy thing about guns: they're loud. Which means that Hope actually //does// carry ear protection, for just in case she gets stuck in a firefight. She reaches into one of the pouches at her waist, thumbing a pair in for herself before starting to pass them out to others. Before they can put them in, she speaks in a lower tone. "Movement, three o'clock. Looks small. Gabby, maybe?" It sounds like it took her effort not to order Gabby to check it out, but instead looks to Scott to give the order. "Thanks, Gabs," she murmurs with a flicker of a smile as she passes ear protection over to the other girl and lets her power sink in. There's nothing for anyone else to feel, but...it's at least reassuring to //her//.
Lorna Dane	Lorna's frown deepened and she kept her hand grazing the surface of the ship, running her senses out into it and seeing beyond what her eyes could tell. Her head tilted this way and that as she sent out testing, prying pulses of electromagnetic energy through the ship, confused by what her senses continued to tell her and judging.. if something answered back it couldn't be human in nature. She'd sensed all kinds of fish that hunted with electrical currents in Atlantis before, and it had been an interesting trick. Kitty's words were only partially listened to as she sank more of her senses into the magnetic fields, testing and playing with the currents to see what she could pick up. "I'm picking.. something.. it's.. it's..." She licked her lips, confusion still playing over her features. "There's a lot of somethings.. I can't tell. It's deep in the ship." Frustration leaked into the edges of her voice. Before with twist of her lips Lorna got irritated and sent a sharp spike of electromagnetic energy into the hull of the ship, her fingertips crackling with her power. At least hoping to juice the ship to turn over the emergency power briefly to full lights again.
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney smiles in return to Hope as she copies her own powers. It was the first time she'd let something like this be done so it was a unique experience... Not that it did a lot to her besides reassure her that her friend would be able to heal if injured. Even with her own healing ability she doesn't hesitate to take the offered earplugs. They're pinched and rolled together before she lifts her hands to tuck them into her ears. "I can go look," she offers as well with a nod to the others. "If it is a siren, they don't really affect women do they? Or maybe it's just because sailors were typically men." A thoughtful frown creeps over her. "Yeah that's probably more likely. No reason they wouldn't do the same to others if they're some kind of predator of the sea." Lifting her head she does glance to Hope in confusion. "Though you'd think they'd be Atlanteans themselves wouldn't they? And not these Lurkers?" Then again what did she know of Atlanteans overall? Besides the fact that they all apparently need to learn to wear shirts. The chattery musings are left behind for now as she edges toward the stairs, glancing around to see if there are other access points to either escape from or enter from to get the jump on whoever this was.
Kitty Pryde	The brown-haired young woman gives Arthur a nod at the question about the rest of the team. "Yes, we were at the Battle of New York," she confirms. "Stupid Frost Giants," she adds with a little shake of her head as if recalling a memory. Shadowcat looks up as Scott arrives. "From what he said, sounds like they are real, these Sirens," Kitty confirms with a glance towards Aquaman. She asks the Justice Leaguer, "Anything else worth knowing about them? Any weaknesses?" She rises from the computer and walks through the bridge, looking around the room. "Here we go," she says, opening up a metal box emblazoned with a red cross. Kitty pulls the contents of the first aid kit out, dropping them on a counter. "Ok, between the cotton balls and the bandages we can make a few makeshift ear plugs if there aren't enough of those to go around," Kitty says with a gesture towards Hope's ear protection. She gets to work crafting them tying them off to help them keep their shape just outside of where they go into the ear. They get passed out to Arthur and the rest of the team.
Clarice Ferguson	When Gabby makes her way further down the stairwell she can note it's mostly a straight corridor, some doors to technical rooms, another to the captain's ... But then... The sharp rush of electricity coursing through the ship is both a blessing and a curse. The lights do indeed turn on, no longer that red, eery emergency light but what comes next is unexpected. A deep, primordial scream from the depths of the ship, echoing throughout the whole place and beyond. Terrible and despairing. Whatever was done it -didn't- like it. It does help Gabby in fishing out the 'lurking' observer though, which in this case is a kid, clothes looking the expensive type but ragged most likely from crawling around the ship, dirty and very, very frightened when it spots Gabby. He starts to gesticulate wildly in what is clearly sign language. << People went crazy! Who are you? Help! >> his fingers a rush of motion, franctic and panicked. That primordial scream appears to have been fully ignored by the kid, not having heard a thing. Which may also explain why he's still ambling about. And then an insidious sound begins to fill the air, muffled from the protection they are now wearing, clearly not able to affect them fully.. But there's a lure there, one that wants to attract them further in..
Arthur Curry	Straightening up and looking at Scott, Arthur gives a nod, "There are some merfolk, Syrenes in part, usually live far from here." He looks at the others, then back, those that have come onto the bridge. "You hear the tales about poor sailors getting pulled over the side of their ships, or seduced to fall into the waves. Well these ones are more..."     He starts to walk toward the way most of the bodies seem to have been dragged, "The kind that make fishing villages disappear in the night. And if families come looking for their loved ones..."     He grimaces and looks at Hope then, "They find them, dead, but still moving." Which is all sorts of unpleasant. Though he does spare a glance for her rather large weapon and points at it, "Nice gun."     Then there's that insidious sound, that whisper of promises and delights and wanting to bring them further in. Which causes Arthur to scowl, shake his head... and stuff those ear plugs into his ears as he turns and starts to head off in Gabby's direction.     Once everyone's got their ear protection he shouts, "Watch out for zombies!" And with that he heads on down and into the depths of the damn ship.
Scott Summers	Scott grunts in agreement about the earplugs. Sonic attacks are something he can understand and intensely dislikes. "If we find survivors, bring them to the Blackbird. I'll keep it hovering over the ship," he offers. Zombies and sirens? Sure, he has seen weirder. Or maybe just as weird. And then Lorna gets to poke the sleeping bear with the cattle prod. "Wish you had given use a thirty second warning, Polaris. Alright, get moving. Stay together."
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney was near the bottom of the steps when the lights flash on. Her hand grips the railing tight as her eyes dialate in reaction to the light. Even if the red emergency lights were the least jarring it still startled her. Then she spots the boy coming out and gesturing around causing her to lift up her own hands with a sad shake of her head. "Sorry I don't know sign language. Besides a few," she admits. Though it's obvious by the frightened actions of the boy what he might be asking. "I'm Gabby, we're here to help. We've got a way off the ship to safety but..." Here she winces, reaching up to nudge one earplug a bit further in at that sonic shriek. "There's this *really* loud noise that's making people weird, but you're safe from it aren't you? We should get you out of here pronto before we deal with anything else." It's here that Gabby pauses, and gestures pointing to him, then her, then up the flight of stairs with one of the few gestures in sign language she did know as it would help with missions: We go. Hurry.
Lorna Dane	Lorna glanced up briefly as Kitty came up with cotton balls and she winced slightly as she stood to shove the cotton in her ears. Not that it well and truly blocked the sound from getting through but it muffled it slightly. As her energy pulse light up the ship and turned on the full systems again she grinned reflexively at the shrieks that followed. "Sorry! I was working off instinct. The lurkers attacked a night and are from the deep. I thought maybe whatever it was might react badly.." She winced at the shout of zombies and her eyebrows shot upward. "What the actual hell? Seriously?"
Hope Summers	"Thanks." Hope raises the gun slightly with a flash of a grin in Arthur's direction before the sound starts to waft toward them. Scott retreats, and she barely even waits for him to get back to the ship before she apparently decides she's in charge. Gabby gets hand-signs - she trusts the other girl to know what they mean. You take one flank, I'll take the other. Then there's a non-standard gesture, but the gist is...Puncture your eardrums and mine if you have to. Moving closer to Kitty, she raises her voice. "Sound is vibration! See if it hits you the same if you're phased!" Dropping Gabby's power for just a moment, she reaches out with Lorna's to tear a hand railing from the wall and start...twisting it to elicit a shriek of strained metal before 'tossing' it in Lorna's direction with a pointed nod. Make louder noises! Then she's off to one side, nodding and ready to move forward.
Kitty Pryde	Kitty finishes getting the ear plugs ready. She tilts her head a little bit as Arthur talks, trying to catch what he's hearing. "ZOMBIES!? I THOUGHT YOU SAID ZOMBIES!" she says, talking extra loud because her ears are muffled. And that's what you do when your ears are muffled. Her phone buzzes and she pulls it out of a pocket in her uniform. It's far from a regular cell phone, the whole device engineered and programmed by her. In this case it's not connect to some aquatic cell phone tower, but instead to the Blackbird. The map image that Cyclops sends is pulled up, a compartment lower down in the ship indicated. "OK!" Kitty says loudly. "I CAN PHASE US DOWN THERE AND TRY TO AVOID... YOU KNOW. ZOMBIE HORDES!?" She looks towards Gabby and Hope. "THE BOY CAN GET TO THE PLANE, SCOTT CAN TAKE HIM?" If the phasing thing gets nods, Kitty tells them, "JUST GRAB HOLD OF ME. HOLD YOUR BREATHE WHILE GOING THROUGH SOMETHING SOLID." She looks to Arthur. "IT'S FUN. TRUST ME!"
Clarice Ferguson	With Scott now having gone back to the Blackbird for backup the rest of the X-men and Aquaman are left to their own devices. And there seems to be no other way but forward... At least for the heroes.. Because the kid is sure to follow Gabby's gestures once it does seem like she is not one of the bad guys.. Hopefully!.. To go back out there? For sure! The large Atlantean makes those small eyes go wide though ..., and then this small girl with a BIG Gun... What a bunch of weir--- And is that a DRAGON?! And while Scott gains a new friend up on the Blackbird the rest of the team goes down the cruise ship. CHEATING through the whole dungeon and past every meanie... Still, it's quite the .., different feeling to be getting phased through material like that, at least for those that never did it. Fun? Eh..... They emerge on a large, ample salon. The dinner hall. There is blood here still. Even more than up there and figures. So many figures. Standing and looking towards an entry way that leads in from where they originally were. They are dressed as they were when they died. Rich clothing, some torn, officers, crew mates... And behind them is a woman. At least from the torso up, white as a perfect pearl, long black hair and eyes. Lips are crimson red, fangs visible and bloodied while it sings alluringly.. As for her lower torso it is that of a mermaid, now resting on an ample sofa as if she was a queen upon her palace.. The entrance is noted though and a screech is heard, the zombies turning to start advancing towards them.
Hope Summers	You know what? This seems like a //really// good time to not be solid. And apparently Hope's instincts are right there, because as soon as they emerge into the dinner hall, she reaches out for Kitty's powers and goes intangible. She actually sinks a few inches into the floor before she gets her equilibrium back. With her gun set on stun, she moves to get a clear line on...Well. Anyone, really. Solid once more, she starts firing off headshots at the zombies like she's at the target range. PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW!
Arthur Curry	At Kitty's... loud and many words Arthur sort of nods along, brow furrowed in concentration as he agrees with that plan of action, sparing a glance up to the ceiling as if perhaps trying to observe if the area where Kitty passed through was susceptible to anything horrible. But it seems like it was relatively painless. That said he rests a hand on her shoulder and gives her a thumbs up as he readies himself for that ghostly transition.     Which ends up being a crazed elevator ride downwards, falling through the floors, shifting between decks, steadily descending through flickering lights alternately bright halogen or crimson emergency. Down past scenes of horror and gore, past smears of blood and ichor. Until they reach that bottom parlour where the Merqueen exults in her wickedness. It's in that moment that Arthur steps away, as the zombies squeal and rage, as she trills her song. He only has long enough to say, "You chose the wrong ocean, lady."     And then he starts walking forward into the crowd of zombies, taking point and raising his arms as he breaks into a jog, then a run and starts to /slam/ into the vanguard of the zombie critters in the way between him and the Merwoman.
Lorna Dane	Lorna shrugged as Kitty made the motions for moving them all through the floor. She knew what to do, she'd done the training sessions Scott had drilled into them all. And mentally she groaned. She //hated// enclosed spaces. She wasn't claustrophobic per say.. just not happy either. She was most effectively when raining terror from above. Still as they settled on the floor of choice and her gaze took in the mass of zombies she realized the sparks of 'life' she'd felt weren't exactly alive per say. She made a gagging noise at the back of her throat, and floated up as high to the ceiling as she could to put space between her and the hoards. And then she stretched out her hands and //shoved// the zombies back by whatever metal might be on them: zippers, belt buckles, snaps and metal buttons. She shoved them all back as hard as she could from the X-men and Arthur. And then promptly turned her focus to searching for the metal legs of the dining hall tables, and ripped them from the screws that held them from the floor, effectively pulling loose a dozen or so metal stakes into the air.
Kitty Pryde	Kitty takes everyone touching her intangible and moves them down through one floor after another of the ship in search of their quarry. They emerge into the large dining room and Kitty says, "7th floor. Appliances, Hunting Supplies, Zombies and Sirens. Watch your step please." She lets the others head off, charging forward of flying, or just blasting zombie heads like it was a carnival game and there was a 5' tall stuffed animal plushie dog to be one for enough bullseyes! Shadowcat? she looks about for a weapon, grabbing a chair and smashing it to retain a chair leg as a club. Lockheed takes wing as some of the zombies start to charge towards Shadowcat. A number are suddenly pulled away by their clothing as Lorna thins the herd for her teammate. Others don't have metal or the it rips away rather than pull them with it, and they charge the brunette X-man. Lockheed takes wing and begins nimbly darting in and out of the group of zombies, distracting some into swinging arms at the elusive little dragon. Kitty jumps forward, swinging the chair leg like a baseball bat. "Get your own dragon!" she yells as she clubs a zombie's head and takes it down. Two more amble towards her and Kitty kicks one in the stomach and smashes the leg of another with the makeshift club.
Clarice Ferguson	With them being so close it means the murdermaid's powers (Short for murderous mermaid), are that much stronger to affect them... There is a slam upon their minds as her voice is clearly heard. Beautiful and terrible at the same time. <<Atlanteans. Your time is done. We will rise again!>> The creature seems to exult and revel in this confrontation, as if it had spent centuries locked and just waiting to destroy and kill once again.. Hope's shots find their targets even if the stun setting MAY not be as effective..., but it's doing work. It's just like one of those simulators where the mooks just keep on coming and hard to miss those shots too.. Of course that these creatures were once actual people. Human beings, now pale in undeath, empty stares even if aggressive expressions and sharp teeth. They move with the purpose of their Queen's mental commands, jolting them into a flurry as they try to find limb to hold on to, to bite, trying to get atop Aquaman while he continues his charge forward. They haven't stopped him but ..., there's a lot of them now getting in the way. At least until a few of Hope's shots start taking some out of the way.., along with ... Is that a table flying through the air?! Suffice to say that it begins to open holes in their defenses, a cacophony of zombies being tossed around like they were ragdolls or shot down. And really, a club is strangely effective in knocking those down as well! But the murdermaid gets impatient, hissing. She launches herself from her 'Royal' chair to attempt and hit Aquaman.. He is the closest afterall! She is fast, incredibly fast, her tail swinging, sharp and deadly..
Arthur Curry	At first Arthur's charge had slowed, more and more mass as the zombies hurl themselves in their efforts to protect their mistress. Until the Atlantean is forced to stop some fifteen feet from the Murmaider Queen as he handles the hurtling forms of shrieking zombies.     One is slammed hard into the ground with a heavy hand crushing it to the ground. Another gets a backfist that sends it sailing into its cohorts, crashing the horde of them into the wall where they shuffle and try to regain their posture. A step is taken further, straight toward the evil Queen as another zombie rushes him, only for it to be caught in mid-leap and swung around to smash into another group of creatures. All in the effort of closing that distance, of getting to grips with that vile fish woman.     Only for her to close that distance herself, leaping off of that lounge with the speed of a snake, tail lashing across his mid-section. A sliver of blood is sliced open, spattering upon the ground as he winces and staggers back a step. "Son of a..."     While the evil syrene lashes out again, Arthur ducks beneath it, narrowly avoiding the second slash as he /rushes/ her, leaping to tackle the creature and try and get it under control as he shouts, "Let these people go, you maniac!"
Hope Summers	It's hard to tell if the zombies have a chance of recovery. With the siren gone, will they be people again? Hope...isn't sure. So for the moment, she sticks with the stun setting. Still. They're persistent little buggers. "Not an Atlantean, lady," she mutters, then solidifies as she reaches for another power in the room - Lorna's. Ships are //full// of metal. Heating, air conditioning, venting, pipes...so many options. Still keeping her gun at her shoulder, she wrenches a length of pipe through the ceiling to wrap like a constrictor around a group of zombies. Get friendly, zombies!
Lorna Dane	Lorna clung to the ceiling out reach of the zombies below as she made to plunge the metal stakes through several of them, and magnetize them to the floor with it. But the problem with hanging from the ceiling was that the cotton balls shifted //just// enough. Enough that the pleading song of the siren could gain a foothold. She shook her head once, twice, before her eyebrows furrowed and she yanked the cotton balls out fully with a snarl and a curse. With push off the ceiling, she flew over toward the murderous mermaid, pulling metal table tops with her to make a protective barrier to try to block the others off from the puppeteer of it all. "Back off!" What she saw or heard wasn't clear, but had a driving need to protect the mermaid. She was SO defenseless. Even as Hope copied her power, she snarled and pushed back, shoving another electromagnetic spike through the room.
Kitty Pryde	Thunk! The chair lag smacks into a zombie's arm as it is reaching for Kitty, while Lockheed swoops down on a second one attacking Kitty and blows a plume of smoke into his face, blinding it for the moment. A third zombie lurches up behind Kitty, reaching out to grab her and sink sharp, pointy teeth into her neck! Only the zombie's hands, mouth and body go through through her, falling to the ground when the girl's body unexpectedly turns as solid as a ghost. Kitty jumps back then kicks the fallen zombie in the head. "HEY, I THINK THEY GOT POLARIS!" she shouts, and then ducks as a metal spike flies past where Kitty is standing. "OK YEAH! I'D SAY IT GOT HER!"
Clarice Ferguson	Aquaman was soooo close.. The tackle sends the MerQueen stumbling back. She -is- strong, but Atlanteans are just another level. It hisses, those beautiful dark eyes widening in desperation and .... Saved by the bell? Or in this case .., Lorna. A field of metal appears in front of her, protecting from the advancing heroes as her newfound protector interposes herself between the threats to the mermaid's life. With those copied powers Hope will be able to feel the opposing wave of magnetism, the one that appears to want to push them back, pressing against that copied ability ... But the spike appears to change things..., once again that primordial shriek is heard, she clearly not an appreciator of those electromagnetic spikes... It also makes it so the mind control is disrupted momentarily.., confusion abating. But also showing that there is quite the weak spot to her as well. And yes Kitty. It is quite confirmed that Polaris is now Team Murdermaid! Temporarily one would hope! Lockheed seems worried...
Arthur Curry	That spike of pure /power/ that slashes across the distance from Lorna to the others is a strong thing, lashing across them and over Arthur's form as he holds an arm up. His beard and head of hair /frizzes/ out making him look like a truly insane wild man beset upon all sides by the mass of zombies now, further attacks on the MerQueen no longer feasible with the whorl and lash of that barrier of metal risen between them.     "Kid," Arthur shouts sidelong towards Kitty, even as he grabs a crippled wooden tabletop and holds it up as a shield, just in time for several metal pipes to /slice/ into it, seeking to impale the Atlantean as he roars, "You need to handle your friend, I got some options but none of them are gentle!"     He breaks to the side and /slams/ the tabletop into a pile of the zombies that had been starting to rush toward him, then he spins around and sends what's left of the wooden object flying toward Lorna and the Mermaid from the side, likely not expecting to smash through the barrier. But at best... to distract them.
Hope Summers	"ON IT!" Hope calls back to Kitty, shooting a couple of zombies as they get closer. Her eyes dart across the scene, picking out a path, until something else occurs to her. And she grins. That's never good for anyone. Swapping out powers again, she sinks through the floor, disappearing from view. A few seconds later, she reappears...on the other side of the Siren, trapping the creature between herself and Lorna. "HEY LORNA!" she shouts, firing a shot over the green-haired woman's shoulder. "WANNA TRY THAT AGAIN?!" Solid again, she switches back to Lorna's power set, firing off a matching pulse of electromagnetic energy like it's a challenge.
Lorna Dane	Lorna was protectively hovering beside the murderous mermaid, her metal tables a continued, spinning, floating shield between her and the others. The magnetic pulse' impact on the siren earned a returned flinch and head shake from the green haired woman as she cringed in response. Briefly her hands clasped at her ears and she shuddered, clearly struggling. Her head pounding as her mind struggled against the fog of the song that kept her there. But then her hands outstretched as she twisted her grip on the tables to block the wooden object that flew toward them. Which is about when Hope phased in behind her and grabbed her powers to copy with a taunt. Polaris rapidly shifted her polarity to the same as Hope's, and pushed back against the woman as she registered on the electromagnetic spectrum with a snarl twisting her lips.
Kitty Pryde	Shadowcat gives a wave towards Aquaman to show she heard, or at least thinks she is guessing, what he wants. Because her ears are stuffed with makeshift ear protection. But first she needs to get these zombies off her back. Kitty swings the chair leg, smashing one zombie and then whips it back the other in a follow through that cracks bone. Two zombies rush at her from either side, but Kitty just holds her hands up above her. Right as they reach her, Lockheed sweeps in and grabs her hands, lifting her just as the zombies collide together! Lockheeds lifts Kitty in an upwards arc and then the X-man lets go, flying through the air. Eat your heart out, Piotr and Logan! She flies towards Polaris as Hope provides the distraction that Kitty needs. Shadowcat grabs hold of Polaris's leg and then both women fall away through the floor as Kitty lets gravity assert itself on them fully. They fall through three levels of the ship in seconds, the decks flash past and the next thing either woman knows they are in the murk black of the ocean below the ship. The good news? The Siren's song can no longer be heard by Lorna. The bad news? Kitty can't safely unphase their bodies in solid water. If they don't get back to the surface before they run out of air, they'll drown.
Clarice Ferguson	As Hope and Lorna starting going at one another with their magnetic powers it appears like it will turn into a duel for the ages! Who is stronger?! Who will--- And then Kitty comes and YOINKS Lorna down and out of the way.. It's awkward too because now it's the murdermaid, Hope, AQuaman and a gaggle of zombies inside... There's a brief silence that falls in the room, the murdermaid hissing and assessing the situation but then launching itself towards Hope! It is one of the sources of the electromagnetic pulses afterall! <<Die!>> It slams into their minds while it launches through the air, tail lashing about dangerously... As for our two friends who went swimming beneath the ship it's .., quite dark. But worse that it's also very very cold under the water. The faster they can get out of there the better..
Arthur Curry	That respite is just what is needed for as Kitty and Lorna disappear from view it leaves that barrier to drop, to leave the Murmaider Queen vulnerable as she may well be distracted as well by the sudden surge and rush of events. It's a wild flurry of motion, the debris cracking underfoot as he rushes across that distance, trying to close the distance in a speed faster than most.     It ends with him as close to her as possible, arms lashing out to try and gain control by the neck and tail if possible, something to try and keep her from lashing him with that vicious edged spine. His features darken as he clenches, fingers digging in as he tries one last time to reason with the creature despite the horrors it's committed here.     "Shut the fuck up. No singing. And let the dead rest. Or so help me..." The man with the wild hair and frizzed beard looks like a madman freshly escaped from the asylum.     And definitely not one to be trifled with.     Yet in the ocean below, the depths and darks of the deep are entirely horrible and intimidating for someone sloooowly floating beneath the gigantic hull of that cruise ship. Little light, less warmth. And it feels entirely isolated...     Until there is a deepening to that darkness. A feeling that grows stronger yet seemingly impossible as if whatever light source there was under the water somehow grew even darker, as almost half of the waterscape below seems to shift toward a vanta black.     Then two gigantic glowing eyeballs open, strangely sapient in some way, despite being almost five feet in height, each of them. But the light from the eyes gives enough to see the enormous Kraken-like creature, a giant squid or octopus of immense proportions that floats there and extends tree-sized tentacles towards the two of them, clearly with the instinct to grasp and hold.     And somehow, within the minds of those near, they'll hear the creature's single thought as it moves to... help? Somehow conveyed in one word.     // Bloop. //
Hope Summers	The problem for Hope is that with Kitty and Lorna now beneath the waves, they're no longer in range. Which means she's in the middle of the fight with...a shrinking reserve of magnetic power. And a gun that looks like it's about to have some more problems. Remember when Scott said it was unstable? Well, it //wasn't//. But then it got caught in the middle of an electromagnetic shoving match, and with it not being an entirely familiar power to Hope, she didn't know enough to protect it from the side effects of such a challenge. The gun starts to spark, glowing a definitely disturbing shade of blue that pulses brighter - and faster - with each moment. "Oooooh, crap crap crap crap crap," she mutters, moving it away from her shoulder just in time for the Siren to lunge at her. Thankfully there's no one to hear her undignified squawk before Arthur catches the Siren and Hope's brain catches up with her. Catching Arthur's eye, she holds up the gun pointedly in front of herself. "COVER. IN THREE. TWO." One the count of one, she shoves the gun at the Siren, trusting in instinct that the creature will grab it, and dives for cover before lashing out with the full force of her remaining reserve of Lorna's electromagnetic power, causing the unstable power source to explode spectacularly.
Kitty Pryde	In the deep, dark water, Shadowcat is trying to figure out how to communicate with Polaris, to get her to lift them up out of the water. That's when the creature rises from out of the depths. Kitty's eyes bulge as it moves towards them. But then somehow she senses it doesn't mean them harm. As it reaches for them, Kitty lets molecules on their skin phase back into reality. It's how she stands on a floor, or even air, while phased, and it's just enough to be able to ride along on the tentacles as the Kraken moves through the water.
Lorna Dane	It took time for the siren's song to escape Lorna's mind, and she struggled the whole way down until the cold shock of the water punctured through the haze in her mind. But by then she was gasping and air was rapidly escaping her in shocked bubbles and she was inhaling the shockingly cold sea water. Her hands clawed against hull of the ship, unable to puzzle out where she was or what was going on quickly enough to not start drowning immediately. Panic lanced through her in the dark and she twisted against Kitty's grip in utter fear... right up until the tentacles gently pulled them up and out of the depths and to the surface.
Arthur Curry	There are drawbacks to having ear protection.     As Hope shouts and hurls the sparking sizzling weapon, Arthur turns his head quickly, focused almost entirely on the Murderous Mermaid, trying his best to keep the hissing lashing creature from getting its fangs or blades into anyone else even as his mid-section still bears the mark of her treachery.     But the shout from Hope, it causes the Aquaman to turn his head and shout right back at her.     "WHAT?!"     Just as the weapon lands right at his feet and behind the evil Siren.     The explosion compresses at first, a crunch as it implodes, then a very brief pregnant pause before it surrenders to physics and /explodes/ with a hearty deep and bass-loaded /WHOOMPF!/ that blasted flame and energy across the Syrene. And Arthur as well.     The mermaid _burns_ slithering and lashing as it contorts and twists and then curls up to die. The Atlantean is sent /flying/ through the air to impact _heavily_ with the wall with a loud clang, leaving a strong dent roughly Arthur sized as he's embedded there... and stuck for the moment.
Clarice Ferguson	The fusion of those electromagnetic pulses along with the weapon's own manufacture are a deadly combination and as it explodes there is a large crashing sound throughout the ship. It's enough to send people flying... Zombies and people alike .. There are zombie cushions available though so it's not like Hope will be getting too bruised, or at all... Yet as one last shriek is heard the beautiful, yet terrible murdermaid ceases to be, charred beyond recognition... And as it falls so do the rest of the zombies ... They cease their struggle, falling back to how they should be. Dead.. Silence falls again on the ship, just the sizzling sound of burning flesh heard..
Hope Summers	Hope manages to get half-way behind one of the fallen tables before the gun blows, but it's only thanks to some zombie cushioning that she doesn't end up getting crushed by it. It takes a minute for her to catch her breath, then another to mourn the loss of one very good gun. Finally, she pulls herself together enough to peer up over the edge of the table and see what's happened. She winces when she sees Arthur stuck in the wall, digging out the ear plugs as she jogs over to check on him. "Sorry, I tried to warn you!" she says, reaching out to help peel him free.
Arthur Curry	The sound that comes from Arthur is one you might hear in the early morning after a long binge of drinking at one of the worst bars on the East Coast. It's a low groan of such discomfort that one can almost /feel/ it in their abdomens as he slowly opens one eye, then the other. Amber eyes that narrow and focus on Hope as she draws closer and moves to help him. Which is likely done by her taking his hand as they both move to extricate himself with the creak and groan of metal being twisted as he draws himself free. Only to rise and grimace.     And then take out the ear plugs.     He points at Hope and tells her, "You girl, you are a caution."
Kitty Pryde	As Kitty's head breaks the surface of the water, she draws a deep, gasping breath of air. She reaches a hand above water, letting it become fully tangible again so she can give the Kraken's tentacle a few gentle pets. "Thank you. Thank you so much," she tells the beast. Kitty helps pull Lorna up above the water, getting them fully out of it so she can unphase them safely. Which results in them falling back into the water unless Lorna does her thing and keeps them airborne. Either way, once her head's above water Kitty will say, "I never thought I'd say this... but I kind of miss Juggernaut instead."
Lorna Dane	Lorna was in no shape to be floating anywhere as she came up to the surface coughing up water and needing a few pointed jabs to her back to cough up the rest. It had been a near thing, a few beats more and she might not have been even coherent. She inhaled ragged breaths, looking more like a drowned cat than anything else as she shivered and sucked in air rapidly. "Never again." She gasped out, "I hate boats." She groaned.
Clarice Ferguson	With the murdermaid finally having been taken down it won't take them too long to find a few survivors, those 'dots' that Lorna had detected earlier when they were still up on the bridge. A scarring experience for the survivors but at least there was some good to take out of this. The rescue of many that would had otherwise turned into food for the MerQueen or zombies.. The boy inside the Blackbird will be quite happy when he sees some of those hostages start to pour out, giving a tight hug of thanks to both Gabby and Scott and rushing out, apparently having found his parents alive... Yes, at least some good had been found in the depths of the King's Sword. But what more awaited our heroes as more evil continued to lurk under the sea?