2013.03.24 - Beware: The Squid

Every so often, things get chaotic out there on the seas. Humans only know the tip of what truly happens down there. There are vast worlds and majestic sights to be seen. There is also danger.

A rogue, semi-sentient, brand of Giant Squid has decided to take out its frustration on an ocean-tanker carrying grain from the United States to Africa. The large red squid erupts out of the water from nowhere, not even giving the tanker's sonar a chance to warn the crew.

The vessel shakes madly, nearly capsizing with the first smash. The captain is knocked from his perch and desperately tries to call for help. Finally, after crawling across the floor, with the bridge shaking madly, he's able to radio.

People tend to underestimate cephalopods. Most think that they're only good for eating or predicting superbowl outcomes but those 'in the know' know that they're actually quite intelligent. No doubt this one got pissed off that all these tankers were bothering his home and decided to do something about it.

It's a familiar feeling.

However, the ship going down would be far more trouble than dealing with the actual squid itself, so it's certainly something for Aquaman to see to. Although, he can do far more than talk to fish, albeit even giant ones.

o0O That's enough! O0o is sent, telepathically, to the giant squid as he arrives on the scene. o0O Do you really want all of their dead floating and sinking about your home? They wouldn't even make good meals. o0O

Sometimes, one just needs to talk on their level to really get through.

Just as Orin's thoughts come to the squid, its giant arm smashes through the middle of the tanker, sending things out into the water and making things far more treacherous for everyone. As Orin's command comes to the squid, it behaves as if it is a scolded puppy, lowering its head and backing away. It lets go of the boat pieces which is at the same time good and bad. The cries of the crew erupt in the air and pieces begin to break off in the waves. The ship will be sinking quickly.

Orin actually facepalms under the water even as the squid moves away. o0O Good boy... O0o is sent, but now he has two halves of a tanker, crew, and countless pollutants to deal with. Might as well deal with the people first. He can always move the pollutants to the port of origin's shore.

There's an actual sigh from him before he starts to pull up a few of the crew who already began sinking. When he finally surfaces, he bellows to the crew, "You have lifeboats, don't you? Use them!"

"Getting to them is the problem!" says one of the wet sailors. "Wait!" He holds his hands over his eyes. "Look! Up in the sky! Is that a bird? No, I think it's a plane!"

Superman hits the water making a gigantic splash. It's clear he wasn't going for points on his dive. When he comes back to the surface, he's holding two more sailors. "Aquaman! Another vessel, a cruiseboat, go their distress call. It'll be here shortly."

Orin would roll his eyes, but...he's tryiing to be somewhat helpful here even if it means more mess in his seas to clean up. Instead, he nods to the sailor before watching Superman's approach, dive, and surfacing. "A cruise ship is out here?" Is nothing sacred? "All right...they can't seem to get to their lifeboats now that the ship's broken in half."

There's a moment where he looks past Superman and a few moments later a pod of dolphins show up. He looks to the closest wet sailor, "If any of you as much as scratch one of these dolphins, I -will- hunt you down." Now they have something to help bring them closer to the cruise ship, even if the dolphins will need to make multiple trips.

Finally, back to Superman, he can't help a smirk, "What were you going to do? Punch the squid?"

Superman smiles in surprise as the dolphins come to work as lifeboats. Lifeboats but better. They reach out to grab the fins, very carefully, doing their best to heed the warnings of the King of Atlantis. Meanwhile, Superman tilts his had at Orin and can't help but smirk on his own. "Punch the squid? It was an option. Farther down on the list, but it was an option."

Orin arches an eyebrow before he actually starts to laugh. "I don't even want to know what was on the top of the list. Want to help me get these two halves of a boat back to its port? Maybe push some of the leaked oil and gasoline that way too?"

Superman nods, "That I can do. With minimal fuss, even." Superman dips under water and when he rises, he carries half the tanker above his mighty arms. Water spills away from his suit and down back into the sea and the suit seems to dry pretty quickly. With a large exhale he begins to blow the oil on top of the water back towards the west and the New York Harbor.

New York. Figures. Aquaman doesn't have the sheer strength that Superman does, but he'll push the other half back in the same direction. The oil on the water heading back to the harbor...well, he'll admit that's impressive. Once there, he can lift it off and put it back on the boat-halves. It won't be attractive, but it'll be out of the water.

The journey takes a little bit; the pair of heroes were way out there. Superman doesn't do much talking do to his desire to keep all the oil moving in a way where it's corralled. Finally they reach the harbor. Behind them, a group of sailors ride dolphins pretty darn majestically. Superman lowers his half of the tanker on top of a parking lot and quickly looks for a large container. He disappears for a while, and reappears with large shipping containers he attempts to start collecting the oil.

The dolphins will bring the sailors to the cruise ship, but no further and Aquaman won't ask them to go into the New York Harbor. The other half of the tanker is shoved into a commercial port and left there.

Once Superman has the large container, Aquaman starts to lift the oily water to pour into it. Any marine life that might get caught in that is quickly rescued for healthier environs. When they're all done, he offers, "Thanks. I bet the appearance of that ship in the parking lot will cause quite a stir."

"No more of a stir than it would have created in your part of the world," Superman says with a smile. "How are things for you down there, King Orin?"

"We wouldn't have let it get that far," Orin points out, his tone serious for a moment. But his crooked grin returns quickly, "Things are going well. No real complaints...besides the UN thinking that water is 'free reign'. I'm trying to change that perception. You? How are things up in the skies?"

Superman winces and shakes his head, "We had a few meteorites that fell out of the sky last week that were very concerning. They carried small pods with alien scanning equipment. Caused a lot of damage and some injuries."

"Alien? Well, it's been made clear that there's life beyond our planet, but...you think these meteorites were from hostiles? I mean, sometimes we can't control where things land." Orin watches Superman for a moment, "Was the equipment destroyed? Or is it being held for research?"

"It's Kryptonian. But not from this dimension. It's...advanced. More advanced than Krypton was when it exploded." Superman looks to his friend. "It appeared just outside the atmosphere. It's sublight engines don't have any sort of hyper-speed capability. The only conclusion I can come to is it came through a dimensional warp of some sort."

Orin huhs. "Interesting. You think it's something looking for you? Or Supergirl? I mean, you're the only two Kryptonians I know." Not that it excludes anyone else, of course. "So you're saying that in another dimension, Krypton survived? Maybe it's something easier for the scientists to think about, but that's just plain creepy."

Superman shakes his head, "I really don't know if it survived there or not, but from my words I think you can tell I'm pretty sure it /is/ in fact from another dimension. And yes." His eyes falter as he nods, "I think it was looking for us."

"I try not to think about other dimensions, honestly. It's enough to deal with the one I'm in." Orin watches his friend for a long moment, "Let me know what I can do to help. I do leave the water every now and again, you know."

Superman nods thankfully. "I appreciate that, your Highness. I know you often don't like to interfere with affairs of the land, but I'm sure if things are dire, we could use your help."

Orin clears his throat, "Majesty, technically...but between you and me," when they're not having conversations that can be overheard by others, "You don't need the honorific." He pauses a moment before offering, "This is out of friendship. Sometimes that trumps interfering with 'affairs of the land'."

"Thank you, your Majesty," Superman smiles. "I'll let you get back to your people. Thank you for helping these citizens. Thank you for everything."