2012-09-24 Skirmish with Atlantis

It is early evening along Battery Park. The park runs along the bottom tip of Manhatten Island along the Hudson River side, but moving towards the East River. you can see the Statue of Liberty out towards the ocean and Staten Island not far off either. It is a cool day befitting the beginning of Autumn. There are runners coming down the path that runs parallel to the streets coming down Manhatten. The ferry to Liberty Island moves along slowly. A Carnival cruise ship is coming down the Hudson as it heads out to sea. There are people walking their dogs, and generally enjoying a bit of sunny weather before the cold of winter really begins to arrive.

Out in the water, the waves are small as the ocean comes up to meet the two rivers. It seems quite the tranquil atomosphere until there seems to be some disturbance about one hundred yards out from the park as the water begins to churn.

Laser was just banking around in a long, lazy turn, flying out over the bay, waving at the passengers on the cruise ship. He's not world famous, of course, but he's well enough known in New York, and he's glowing bright yellow in the early dusk. Apparently he hasn't noticed the churning at the shore.

Aqualad already happens to be in the water, so he's got a pretty good start. The boy seems to be out for a swim along the coast, sticking relatively close to short, occasionally surfacing from below the water to take a glimpse over his surroundings before he submerges again. The disturbance in the waves draws him from his route, attention shifting over that way. He diverts course, leaving a fairly obvious ripple in his wake as he cuts through the water.

Autumn! Witches love autumn! Or at least, this one does. Rain adores the season, smiling as she walks along. People are here, there, and she quietly tunes them out in favor of the scenery. She's even sipping a hot cocoa. Gotta have that cocoa. She watches the water for a moment, maybe with some fondness. There's fish! And cool stuff! She passes a few people and - is there a dude in the water? Huh. Maybe, maybe not. When not executing her vengeance against those bedamned pigeons, it's a lovely evening to while away between books.

The waters quickly begin to part directly in front of Aqualad very quickly now. As if on an elevator, blue heads suddenly are coming up. First there are a couple, but they are quickly getting more and more. They appear to be wearing some kind of armor with a nautical bent with the decorations of coral, sea shells, aquatic lifes, and tridents. Their heads are covered by helmets, but most have a face plate that allows the face to be seen but keeps the head inclosed. The armors are multi colored as the soldiers appear with all the colors of a bright coral reef. In fact, it could almost look like the Great Barrier Reef had come to New York City. The figures begin to head towards the railings that lead up to the park itself, but will have to cross paths with Aqualad first.

"Hail!" comes the voice from the lead soldier as Aqualad gets closer. His voice has an odd tone to it as it gets projected out of the enclosed helmet. The soldiers do appear armed with tridents, swords, and other gladitoral weapons. Even as one addresses Aqualad, others move to get around him and head towards Manhatten.

Laser is quickly distracted from the cruise ship as a phalanx of armed individuals start marching up into his city. Well ok, Laser doesn't technically /own/ New York, but still. His family has been here for generations. It sort of counts. Swooping down within 30 yards or so, he calls out to the leader guy, "Hail yourself, buddy!" He's trying to be friendly, but you know native New Yorkers. "If you're comin' in friendly, you'll want to put those weapons away in New York. If that's the case, welcome to the Big Apple, fellas."

"Hail." Aqualad has to be formal about it, after all. 'What it look like' doesn't go over too well in undersea monarchies, he's come to find. The boy slows to a stop in front of the man that greets him, treading water, a glance spared for the others moving around him before he voices, "My name is Kaldur'ahm, can you tell me what's going on here?" He is nothing if not polite. He peeks back at Laser when the man calls out, but seems to not have much to comment on that. At least until he learns more.

Rain was quietly enjoying her hot cocoa. And hey! Is that Laser? She waves, at least a little familiar with the fellow. She blinks owlishly at him swooping down and - holy noodles! It's a Marine tank hobbyist's dream. Corals! Everywhere! And maybe little clownfeesh and gobies and mandarin fish and sea horses and... She seems more happy than anything else until she realizes that ... those seem to be weapons. Oh. So much for gleeing. But wait. Didn't Snappy show up last time these guys rolled into town? Could there be multiple under the sea kingdoms? ... maybe she should take up scuba diving after all. She looks thoughtful, as she watches from the - oh, screw it. Time to get all Harry Potter up in here. Or at least, momentarily. For now, she's called her broomstick. Owl not included.

"We are Attuma's Vanguard," says the soldier to both Aqualad and with a quick glance up toward Laser. There is a slight tilt of the head as he regards Aqualad before addressing him directly. "You are not known to us and yet you move like one of us in the water. For that, we offer you a chance to join us. We offer a chance to make war and find glory under Attuma's banner."

At the edge of Battery Park, armed soldiers begin to climb up the railings and into the park or else diving into the water and then launching themselves up out and over to land in the park. "Surface World! Too long have you abused the world's oceans! Too long have you dumped your trash and dirt into the sea! You think Atlantis is your ally, but we no longer willing to put up with your atrocities." Out beyond the soldiers and the conversation with Aqualad, something else is coming out of the water. Something big and it has claws.

"Whoa there!" Laser calls out, crisscrossing two thick beams of yellow light to sizzle across the path in front of the advancing soldiers. "Nobody's invading anything here. Let's talk this out! I'm sure the United Nations would love to have a sit-down with you people. Plus, /I/ recycle!" Sure, Aloke, that probably makes up for the literal tons and tons of crap and trash dumped into the ocean every year.

"Oh." Aqualad has to consider that for a second, his eyes narrowing at the man he's speaking with. "I don't know if I can let you do that. This isn't something I've heard of. At all. I don't think your king has approved this." A hand moves to his back in the meantime, reaching to grip one of the weapons slung there. He doesn't draw it, but he seems fairly ready to. There's a big monster in the water too, which seems to be getting most of his attention.

Rain will hop onto her broomstick, riding side saddle. And liftoff! She might get pointed at, but hey. People are giving wizards and witches positive press, so as long as no one goes all inquisition out here, it'll be a-ok! She'll zip out to join the others and wave at the big thing. Good to be friendly? Or at least get eaten first. Being eaten first is a positively underrated plus. "Um. Well, he does kinda have a point with the dumping stuff but..." She rubs the back of her head. She seems torn. "But invading is really kind of bad..."

"We follow Attuma. We are to secure his arrival soon." The soldier addressing Aqualad watches his hand move to his back. "I suppose you do not wish to join us. A pity. I would think you would want to defend the oceans, but I suppose not." There is flurry of water as the Atlantean draws a sword and launches himself towards Aqualad.

Several of the Atlanteans on shore stop as Laser's beams cross in front of them. They turn and draw what appears to be some kind of hand held cannon. Two of the soldiers fire towards Laser. Spinning nets come flying at the glowing man. Another points out Rain as she begins to fly. Others coming out of the water are bringing their own cannons to bear.

The monster coming out of the water is a massive crab that is easily the size of an eighteen wheeler. It is apparently standing in the river and rising out of the surface now. Claws snap at the air as the monster begins to move forward towards the shore.

Laser blurs as he twists out of the way of the nets, probably more offended than anything else. Three silent beams glimmer from his hands to blast at that many net guns. Those just have to go, and then he's zipping around to go something like back-to-back with Rain. Teamwork! "Hey Rain, how ya been? Weird weather we've been having, right?"

Not crabs again! Aqualad looks briefly disgruntled by the crustacean war machine, but he has other things to concern himself with. Like not getting stabbed. Thankfully, he has two swords, which everyone knows is better than just one. The weapons are drawn off his back, the water around him rushing to the top of the hilts and hardening into solid blades and crossing together to block the strike of the other man. "I think," He grunts, "You're a bit misguided. Sorry." And then he shoves him back, water surging up to throw the Atlantean backward. "So desist!"

Crabs! Crustaceans are cool. While it's not Snappy, his cousin Clippy is fine! Or should it be Snippy? Hmm. She considers them, for a moment. "eep! Hey!" And then, nets! Suddenly! She doesn't seem to be the most fierce combatant here. Actually, she was kinda hoping to talk this one out - but then, there's Laser. She smiles as he goes back to back with her. "Hello. And yeah. I wanna pet the crab. Do you think he'd be okay with that?" Ponder. "Probably not. Um." She'll fight defensively for now, trying to keep out of the way. She shifts her jacket, to reveal twin holstered pistols. "I feel bad fighting these." Sadface.

The Atlantean that is attacking Aqualad is caught in the chest by the water and is launched backwards out of the water and a good distance away. As the lieutenant is thrown, others begin to swarm after Aqualad. Swords and maces come swinging towards him as the Atlanteans cut through the water to attack him.

The nets are shattered by Laser's beams. Bits of metal go flying about the area with some shrapnel hitting one dog walker that couldn't get away in time. He cries out, clutching his leg, and falling over in front of three Atlantean soldiers who don't seem to care about the civilians.

As Laser attacks the nets, Clippy is swinging a huge clawed arm towards Laser as it tries to knock the man out of the air. Atlanteans launch themselves out of the water to the crab's back and then jump at Rain. They cannot fly, but falling back into the water won't bother them much if they can't grab the flying witch.

"Damnit, call this off, you psycho, we don't want to hurt you people!" Laser jets backwards, trying to sweep Rain with him to get them both of out the range of Clippy's claws. Laser does not have non-lethal options here, and he feels terrible about the dog walker, but it's quickly becoming a moot point. With any luck though, driving off the soldiers will take the crab with them. He does /not/ want to hurt an innocent beastie after all. Laser starts flicking out half a dozen extremely low-wattage beams, but managing to blind several soldiers in the process. They'll even be ok by tomorrow!

This is probably not doing a whole lot for man/fish public relations. Aqualad does his best to make up for that, though. He's just as agile in the water as any Atlantean, it's what he was built for. He lights up in vibrant blue while he moves, eyes and arms aglow, the weapons in his hand changing shape with each fluid motion. He makes sure they aren't sharp when they catch on anything important, but they hurt nonetheless. The boy ends up with several gashes of his own from the efforts, but he seems fairly able to hold his own in his element. The crab, well, other people can deal with that guy. "If you surrender now, nobody has to get hurt!"

Flail! Crab attack! Rain gets swept out of the way. She grunts softly. "Um, thank you!" She appreciates it! Though, she'll move a little away as Laser fires so she can dodge the diving Atlanteans. "Um, I'm sorry! Please don't grab me!" Flail! She really doesn't want an Atlantean DEATH CUDDLE. She is after all, one of those whacky air suckers. A Magical Air Sucker, even. Still, she might have to kick one or knock one away. "I like your crab, by the wa." She's trying to make peace, even in the head of things, but if anyone is watching, she seems a little zoned out. It's castin' time. What she's doing is hard to visualize, but maybe a stiff breeze'll do. Still, it takes -time- for her will working to work, so she's quietly sitting and staring blankly. BATTLE STARE...?

The soldiers that were about to trample the dog walker are blinded by the attack of Laser's and cry out. The stumble to the side which allows the dog walker to slowly crawl out of the way of more soldiers. The park is quickly beginning to fill up with soldiers as they begin to empty out of the water. Sirens can be heard in the distance as the police have heard about this. The soldiers on the land turn and begin to threaten the civilians, but don't seem intent on the pillaging just yet. There is little honor in attacking some lady doing yoga in the park after all, but as the first cop car shows up, smiles can be seen in the helmets of the Atlanteans.

Soldiers are being knocked away from Aqualad like ten pins. Some seem a little unsure about attacking someone who is obviously at home in the water. The pause from them gets them cracked in the head by Aqualad's weapons. There is a crack as a helmet is split. Water comes gushing out of the helmet. Hands go the soldier's throat as he seems to gag without water around his head. He quickly dives back below the surface even as another soldier seems to appear to take his place. A mace comes towards Aqualad's back even as a sword chops down in at his front.

The Atlanteans dive back into the water as they miss grabbing Rain in flight. Clippy now seems to turn its attention towards her. The crab turns and both claws strike out towards her, trying to crush her, as this one is not playing like Snappy. It makes a strange clicking noise as it moves above the water.

Laser grunts in frustration, but he's also pretty sure he knows what Rain's concentration face might be about. Trying to jostle her as little as possible, he flies them both up quite a bit higher than Clippy should be able to reach. We hope. He says quietly to Rain, so as not to disturb her Battle Stare, "The helmets. They can't breathe..." Just in case that's helpful to her. Then he's off to the races, trying to blind another half dozen or so. Blinding Clippy just does /not/ seem like a good idea right now. -Blind and confused giant crab on a rampage! Thanks Laser- Nah, no thanks.

Aqualad is, at least, pretty good at this. Though he'd really like to go help out on the shore, he seems to realize keeping invaders from it is just as valuable. The slosh of water from behind alerts him to his problem there, as well as the rather obvious sight of the man in front of him. There are advantages, however, to fighting in water. Mostly being able to move on a vertical axis. Down he goes, the water funneling him beneath the surface, churning and dragging anything in his immediate vicinity down with him. There he'll remain, drawing off what forces he can.

Eek! This is definitely not Snappy's friendly cousin! Rain lets herself be nudged, and moved about without protest. She's still a bit blanked out, though she nods at Laser. Please leave a message for Rain at the tone of the beeeeeeep... Hmm. Actually, it seems Rain was drawing on her family's elemental command. Wind moves the seas, so maybe flipping the crab and soldiers over might encourage them to go home. Or at least, she'll try to nudge the crab back. She's never really drawn on wind before. If nothing else, her vengeance will manifest as the world's worst case of helmet hair for the Atlanteans. Take /that/.

The cops are showing up in force quickly. Sirens and spinning lights fill the air even as the ESU vans show up and armored police officers come out. Many of the Atlanteans turn but are blinded by Laser, falling backwards and back into the water. There is a cry, perhaps a battle cry, as some Atlanteans move to charge the Blue Line that is forming up at the edge of the Park. The cops are trying to keep the Atlanteans confined to the park, but the Atlanteans charge straight at the line.

The soldier with the sword strikes the man with the mace as Aqualad drops out of sight between them. As he races downward, the water rushes in to fill the void he is leaving. Many soldiers drop down into the spiral. More of the soldiers dive below the waves to support their comrades and continue the fight below.

Clippy swings ineffectively as Rain and Laser move out of its reach. It spins around, but now the wind is picking up. At first, it seems to do little. Bigger waves begin to hit against the thin legs of the crab. It moves forward towards the shore, but now a really big wave that has no business being this close to shore hits the crab. There is a clattering sound as it is shoved to the side. It turns only to be struck by another wall of water. The thin legs are not designed for that much punishment above the water. Two legs crack under the force and the crab lurches to the side before falling into the water.

Oh no, not the NYPD. The hardest working boys in blue anywhere! "That's it!" Laser shouts as the police are threatened. "I'm done playing nice. And then he begins systematically putting pencil sized holes clean through as many helmets as he can manage, cutting tangents through there so as not to actually brain anyone.

Rain eeps. "I'm sorry, Crabby!" She does feel bad. It is an animal, and well, y'know. At least there's some solace in the crabs' legs growing back in time. And thankfully, it's not likely to put the clamps down on cops. She watches Aqualad go under the waves. That must be so cool. She totally needs scuba do to that stuff. She does look pretty distraught over the crab. But now? Now it's fighty time. Time to try to um. Hmmm. Well, she'll try to kick one in the back of the head. Yeah!

"Steady! Steady!" come from the line of police officers as they try to form their line; bring their weapons to bare. "Fire!" The stacco of automatic fire makes the park into a mini war zone as bullets fire. Unfortunately, they do little against Atlantean armor. The wave of blue skinned warriors is about to plow into the line of officers when helmets begin to explode. Jets of water burst out in all directions as Laser's beams rip the helmets and shred the water tight integrity. The wave of warriors becomes a wave upon the shore. They collape and stagger as many suddenly cannot breath. Those that still have a working helmet turn to help those suffering, dragging them backwards. They begin to retreat over the edge of the railings and dropping back to the water.

Clippy collapses into the water as move waves continue to flow over it. It manages to get turned around, but it is in pain so is fleeing rather than fighting. It begins to move away from the shore line. With each wave crashing over it, less and less of it can be seen.

"Yeah!" Laser shouts, punctuated with a fist pump in the air. "/That's/ what happens when you mess with New York!" Ok, bud, lets maybe not antagonize the retreating army. He swoops low across the park, making sure none of the retreating soldiers gets any clever ideas about double back.

Poor crab. It's probably the dorkiest, silliest thing to worry about during a fight, but really. Bystanders and animals have a place in Rain's heart. Still. She seems relieved as those who cannot breathe get dragged backwards. They might be invading, but still. Can't really blame them TOO much what with all the crap humanity flings into their homes. People would so be cheesed if someone upturned a trashcan on their lawn, right? Right. And she did feel SOMEWHAT guilty about kicking the guy in the helmet. Still. "Is anyone hurt?" Rain looks to Laser and glances around. Time to at least make sure no one is bleeding out.

The police are unharmed as none of the charging Atlanteans got to them. There are some broken bones and minor injuries among the bystanders that were in the park during the attack but nothing major. The Atlanteans were not Viking raiders just destroying everything. They were soldiers, and they remain disciplined and organized even as they retreat back into the water. As they hit the water, they are quickly swallowed up by the waves and soon out of sight.