2013.05.25 - Monster Island Excursion

It was only a -theory-, Rene cautioned, but an interesting one. With all the appearances of the electric whalesharks lately, there -had- to be at least one locum where they were popping in from. Not unlike the Legion usually converging -around- Metropolis, the electric whalesharks were emerging from at least -one- location. The young man had even pointed out several likely locations.

"Are you sure?" Garth had asked.

"Cannot be certain, but at least 95.7 percent. The odds go down for specific locations, but overall..."

"Good enough, pick a location and let's check it out."

And thusly, Lightning Lad calls together a few Legionnaires together for an exploratory look.

And now... Monster Island. A desolate looking place, seemingly bleak and empty.

"Why -is- this place called Monster Island?" Garth comments, looking about at the seemingly empty beachhead.

"It's named Monster Island because there are huge monsters on it." Rene chuckles at the other. "So, keep that in mind." One wrist lifted, a little holo window hovering over it, the teen starts the first of his scans. "I can feel something strange here, but am not sure if it's natural, or this phenomenon you are concerned of, Garth." A touch shuts down the window, as the wind tugs at his short, dark hair. "There are many stories of strange things appearing here."

"Maybe it's like Easter Island. You know, not necessarily a descriptive name," opines Booster Gold, who is hovering with a tall to-go cup of Sundollars coffee in one hand. The plastic sippy lid keeps the liquid in place when he's flying around. "I mean, it was named after the holiday." He starts to take a sip, then pauses and clarifies, "I mean, Easter. Not... a monster holiday. Although, I mean, I wouldn't rule that out."

"Or because there once was monsters here, or because someone can't spell, or because someone wanted to keep others away and thought 'monster' might do it." Jazmin speculates as she comes along to, likely, attempt to keep the boys out of the worst of the trouble they may well find left to their own devices.

"The strange and unusual is part and parcel for us in the Legion, Rene," Kent says as they look over the beach. "And warning or hold over name, either way this sounds like a place to keep your wits about you while visiting."

"Whatever. We can't go around constantly trying to defend cities from being chewed on by electric whalesharks. We might as well try and find out -where- they're coming in from and maybe we'll find other things," Garth begins. "Rene, are you getting anything on your sensors?" he asks, flying towards one of the peaks on Monster Island.

"I'm sorry, Mr Shakespeare, but having grown up with Legion, that is hardly anything I don't already know." Trying to be polite here. Rene smiles at the man and points off where he's picking up something. "Whatever it is, that's the way." Not where Garth is going. "You are... flying right towards one of the creatures the island is named for." Kind of a bemused grimace for that one. He lifts into the air, again pointing at the way he feels something. "Although I suppose you could go say hello."

"How big are monsters, exactly?" Booster Gold wonders, with sincere curiosity. "I mean, size factors into whether you call something a monster, right? Are we talking ... cow sized or uh, I dunno. Airplane sized. One of the big ones." He looks at where Rene is pointing, then at where Garth is going. "...I want to see a monster," he states, flying after Garth.

"Well we /can/ go around constantly defending, but it would be all that we do." Jazmin disagrees with Garth a moment, a fiddly point. She takes to the air again, to sigh long-sufferingly as Garth and Booster head for monsters, rather than mission. She mutters softly under her breath.

Kent chuckles. "You needn't be so formal, Arcee," he says to the young man. "Let’s find us some electric whales then!" he says emphatically.

"We... what?" Garth draws up short, regarding the peak suspiciously. As he does so, he reaches out to try and stop Booster. Now that he looks at it, that ... that wasn't a -peak-, that was a -knee-.

"... uh... so... the other way?" Because if Booster -did- stop, Garth was heading back towards the way Rene indicated. Otherwise, uh... he'd have to stop Booster, and that -could- be very bad...

A nod to Kent, a grin at Jazmin, and Rene is glad Garth clued in. "We'll run into others, I'm sure." Trying to appease Booster. The Coluan isn't using his omnicom however as he begins flying off towards a certain direction. There's something niggling at his senses there. "I'm not sure we can avoid the inhabitants of this island entirely, but let's try to avoid a conflict. These are in general things that level cities." It's only a matter of time, isn't it?

"Whoah..." Booster stops abruptly, which causes him to squeeze his coffee cup slightly, and that makes the plastic lid pop off. He makes a quick grab for it with his other hand, because littering is unheroic, even if you do it in a place where there are probably no littering laws. The look he gives Garth is faintly hurt as if he'd been betrayed, ie: promised monsters and then thwarted. Rene's comment mollifies him somewhat. "Well, I mean, I don't want to beat up any animals here. They can't help it if they're monsters."

"Depends on the monster, but generally I can't argue there Booster." Jazmin mmms softly. "We should, generally, aim to all head in the same direction unless it makes good tactical sense to surround something. When we're trying to work out what we're facing, running off on a whim isn't going to end well."

"Usually, with true monsters, the only way to avoid conflict is to run away and that's not always an option," Kent says as he looks around for evidence of the island's inhabitants. He then asks, "What's the plan, Garth?"

"I think you're taking point, Kent. Head that way, see whether our big friends are coming over or not." Glancing suspiciously at the 'peak', Garth lowers his voice just a bit. "And be very, very quiet."

Rene's path is going to lead everyone to, well, a large cave leading to a series of twisty tunnels, all looking alike.

Rene gives Kent the occasional direction, since that one is going to take the lead, but for the most part it's a straight line. With everyone watchful, the island might even grow a little eerie as the creatures who do live here do make sounds. The Coluan teen ignores most of that, but does pause at the cave entrance. He extends his hands, and his senses to see what's inside. Holds there, concentrating then blinks, "Incoming." A strangely calm warning. "I think it likely one of those whalesharks Garth is looking for."

Booster is becoming slightly more perky than he usually is, which is saying something, although this is because he's been enjoying a be-sugared and caffeinated beverage. Thus, when Rene gives his warning, he actually jumps a little and looks around in a hyper-alert manner. "They don't live -in- there, do they? That would just be weird, I mean... in caves you usually get things like hodags. Trust me, I know that from personal experience."

"I'll take up the rear." Jazmin informs, rather than asking as she flies to keep the small group in her line of vision, scanning over them and the larger picture. "Incoming from where, exactly and how far?"

"Very good, Garth," Kent says, honestly sounding like he feels it is the best option. He moves to the front of the mini-formation he assumes the group will form behind him. He momentarily jumps up to the top of a rock to look farther ahead and then back down to the ground ahead of the rock.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Kent opens up and a large, leathery beak crackling with energy snaps around him and lifts him up into the air. From inside the creature's mouth he pushes the mouth open and leaps out of it, hovering a couple of yards above it and calls out, "Looks like they found us," he says as he wipes foul smelling goop off his forehead.

Booster might find this all too familiar, and Garth has seen enough of Booster's fight to know that a) he didn't want to be inside one and exploding his way out, and b) that he might not be affected by their lightning.

ZKKKKKKZZZKKKT!

Of course -they- weren't affected by -his- either...

Garth stares. "Okay, you know what... Booster, Kent, just hit'em hard! Rene, Jazmin, any ideas?" he calls out, drifting backwards as the electric whaleshark comes flying out of the cavern.

Sliding through the air, Rene gets himself out of the way. Something will be emerging soon after all. "From the cave. It appeared suddenly. If the cave is deeper I can't tell at this time, so it could venture deeper, but not likely." And not likely indeed! Kent meets one and the Coluan keeps scanning. "Do what you do best. You might attempt to drain it, Uncle Garth." Also calmly gets his omnicom going as he changes his mind and dives into the cave mouth once the whaleshark has cleared it, trying to get closer to the source of appearance.

Booster ends up dropping his nearly empty coffee cup when the whaleshark bursts out. "Yow!" His translucent golden forcefield glimmers like a thin glass coating against his body. "What if these things are intelligent?" Cupping his gloved hands around his mouth, he flies forward and shouts at the enormous creature, "HELLO PLEASE STOP TRYING TO EAT US!" He's already been swallowed by one of these things once, so another encounter holds few fears for the blond man.

"Can you ground it out Garth? Some of us aren't immune to getting zotted." Jazmin is already starting to gather up energy on her hands, while she hangs back, able to survey the big picture, and while Booster attempts negotiation. Which doesn't seem high on the critter's to-do list.

Beneath Kent the whale that tried to swallow him roars. In response, the Legionnaire flies down and throws a punch at the beak that had moments ago encompassed him. This causes it to slap him away which -- while it doesn't injure him -- causes him to go flying through the air. As the whale roars again another bursts up out of the ground... perhaps to investigate all the noise.

As the lightning megamouth whaleshark sparkles, Garth calls out, "On it! Steer the towards me and... Booster, mind keeping me from getting chewed on?" He'd already lost one arm. Better to not lose another limb. Or anything else.

The second comes flying out towards Booster and Rene, leaving Booster with a choice... And the roaring seems to be stirring up -something- as a corresponding roar echoes from deep within the cavern. Something that sounded much more guttural, nothing at all like the roar that emerged from the whaleshark...

His own force field isn't as nice as Booster's, but as a whaleshark heads his way, Rene attempts to dodge it at first. Then he seeks to come in contact with the rock wall to ground himself. A little bubble against the stone. That roar puts a nice stop to any idea of going down further! "There is something else here..." The Coluan warns. Since he doesn't have a flight ring his voice doesn't go as far as he would like. "Booster, warn the others, please?"

"Sure thing, Garth, I'll--" Booster is about to move in to shield Garth, but the second whaleshark seems to have other ideas. So he then says, "I'll try to keep its attention!" He flies to put himself between Rene and the incoming creature, glowing like a lure, and turns with his arms extended to fire a series of rapid golden energy blasts towards the other whaleshark--the one Garth is targeting. With a nod towards Rene, he relays over the ring's communication band, "Hey, something else is lurking under there and it might join up with Flotsam and Jetsam at any moment!"

"Yeah, one at a time, take a freaking number." Jazmin takes some of the choice away by sending her bubble of time energy off towards the second whaleshark, attempting to envelope with something to slow it right down to a bare crawl. "Something else? Hostile to us, or the whalesharks or both?" She flies around, over to be able to try and see what's coming.

It takes a moment for Kent to stabilize his flight though the air and another still to return to the fight. "Did I hear you say that there is something /else/ incoming, Rene?" he asks as he tries a full strength upper cut on one of the whalesharks, hoping to send it flying into the air where he hopes he'll have an advantage on it.

"Well, tell it to take a number and get in line, we're -busy- with Flotsam and Jetsam!" Garth retorts. "Kent, can you..."

The whaleshark is sent flying with Kent's uppercut.

"... Never mind." With Jazmin having slowed the second one down for Booster to blast it, that left Garth a bit of breathing room to look towards Rene. "Quick scan, Rene, can we seal off whatever's bringing these whalesharks here, or...?"

"I simply don't know." What's coming, or what it is. "I can't get a good scan of the creature, only can tell it doesn't sound the same." Since the one nearest him is distracted, the Coluan attempts to shift out of the cave. "Jazmin, you may be able to close the portal, but I have no idea if you can sense it from here. We may have to venture inside. I'd rather not seal the cave. Killing what's within isn't right."

"Um..." Booster is looking wide-eyed, although this is probably due to that coffee. "Well... I agree, I don't think we should kill it. Even if these are animals, that's still... you know, kind of a last resort." He brightens up a bit and lifts his hand. "I don't mind going in first. I'm pretty durable, if it tries to eat me it'll just get a stomach ache. And I promise not to make it explode, if that does happen."

"If I go in the cave, I probably can't keep the second one in check, just for the record." Jazmin points out as she flies around, keeping good sight lines on creatures. "I can go in and try to close the portal, however. Just be prepared to dance with two whalesharks. I don't want to seal the cave either, killing aside, it messes the ecosystem too."

Before the whaleshark he launched into the air reaches the zenith of its flight Kent zooms up into the air after it. He catches it by a ridge behind its eyes and, having to use both arms for this, keeps it above him where it wriggles and roars trying to get out of his grip even though that would mean that gravity would take over and send it crashing to the ground below... what was that about them being intelligent?

"So, what's the decision on these things... sapient? protected species? squashable if necessary?" Kent calls out to the rest of the party though the communication link built into the flight rings.

"I have -no- clue!" Garth calls out, as he grimaces. "Booster, can you, uh... cover the cavern and keep it away from whatever's popping out these whalesharks?" Buy him some time for Rene to do an assessment on the whalesharks, and uh, what to do with them.

"Jazmin, I'll feed what I can to your omnicom about the portal." As he pulls up and starts working a small screen. "We'll just have to deal with the two." Data is sent, and he shifts his attention to the whalesharks. Rene drops down to the ground to hopefully negate any electricity issue, and there he lifts his hands again. Concentrates on the whaleshark nearest him. If it draws the thing's attention so be it. "I'm not reading what I would consider intelligent thought, Uncle Garth. So far everything is fairly linear. Simple emotion and concepts." Making a quick, rough call.

"You mean like... plug things up? Yeah, I can do that temporarily but if there's more than one exit, that might be awkward." Booster flies to the cavern opening, as his forcefield expands into a sphere around him. He can make this larger, as a makeshift plug, with him hovering around at the center of it. "I mean, I'm not a Green Lantern." As he covers the cavern exit, floating upright with his arms lightly crossed over his chest, he adds, "Although I bet I -could- be one if I wanted to."

"Alright.. I'm going into the cave." Jazmin glances over the info on her omni quickly, nodding as she reads. "I'll see what I can do about the portal. Keep 'em busy, and hopefully nothing comes through to chew my face off." She dives down from where she's flying, to head into the cave. Once her attention is no longer even generally on the second whaleshark, the bubble of slow around it ripples and fades, slowly, but it fades, leaving both of them to keep the boys busy.

Up in the air above his companions Kent continues to struggle with the whaleshark as it wriggles in his grasp. Its frantic movements allow it to slip from his grasp and he has to dive to catch it as it falls. "These things live in rock so heck with it," he calls out as he catches it by its tail and swings it like a sock with soap weighing it down and then slams it head-first into the head of the other with centripal force augmenting the force of his strength as they crash into each other with a thunderous nose that echos off the rocks around the area.

When the creatures lay on the ground motionless Kent pulls out his medscanner and says, "You'll be glad to know, Booster, that they aren't actually dead," after analyzing the results from the device.