ic Shark Week: Flying Sharks? (IC)

[Raveled]

Saturday, March 4th, 2012

2:42 PM

Freedom Aquarium

The parking lot of the Freedom Aquarium was rather crowded for so early in the year, but the blue and chrome bus with FCTA printed on the side pulled up to the curb in front of the main entrance, and two dozen young men and women of every description piled out. Moving among them, keeping order, where two older gentlemen. Leeroy Hawke was taller than most of the other people on the bus, and dressed in slacks and a turtleneck he still had an air of quiet power around him. He seemed to have an eye everywhere, reaching out to stop a bully from flicking spitballs at an underclassman one moment and the next, catching a young woman as she was knocked off her feet by the press. "Watch yourself, Kirsten," he said to the girl as he set her back on her feet. "Everyone, just take it slow! We'll have time to see all the exhibits, I promise."

Jesse Perry was almost the exact opposite of his coworker. Short, with a paunch, and wearing a tweed-with-leather-patches outfit straight out of Ben Stein's closet, he has been seated near the back of the bus with Leeroy but was somehow out of the bus and on the sidewalk before anyone else. He kept both eyes on the students as they filed out of the bus, making sure no one wandered too far off. "Everyone, just keep together. We need to make sure everyone gets off the bus, first." He spotted a junior in a pea coat and jeans. "Morgan Crowe! Make sure the underclassmen don't wander off!"

[Quinn]

Morgan looked up over the lip of the science fiction novel he was reading (and silently flipped closed the old journal on the interior), moving through the crush with almost eerie ease. Although he was somewhat off-center in his movements, likely the fault of the pristine new backpack he'd had to pick up about a day before the trip itself. And what was worse?

It was pink.

No.

It was worse than pink.

It had Hello Kitty on it.

But then, his options had been incredibly limited at the time. He wasn't permitted to bring his duffel along, and given his distinct need to keep his coat and costume close by...he'd had to improvise. The fact that said improvisation meant wearing something like that, he was quite accepting of. That, and the fact that Victoria or the others were not coming along on this trip. Soon as this trip's over, I burn this. And roast marshmallows over it. Then hit an army surplus store with John. Find a green and black camo one. With bullet holes in it. And metal bits and bobs around it. Yeah, that's real manly.

Meh. He shrugged the bag's strap back over his shoulder and stepped out from the crowd, almost lazily waving an arm; speaking in a clear and carrying voice. "Oi, underclasspeople! Over here, you heard the chief! No wandering off - anyone outta line will not, I repeat, will not get a cookie!"

[Ari]

Subito had arrived wearing a light, horribly beaten blue denim jacket over his usual t-shirt and jeans ensemble, though in a bow to the school colors his shirt was a rich gold, which did a great deal to hide the flag he kept in the sleeve he'd cut nearly identical twins in for every short he owned. His baseball cap bore the Claremont colors as well, and fit neatly on his head.

He had spent the ride over alternately chatting with other students about school life and the animals kept at the aquarium, and trying to recall if he'd ever read the book Morgan was reading, in the hopes of striking up a conversation with the junior, who he felt no little awe towards after learning from Victoria Knight that he was an Irregular.

Debarking rather later than most due to being in the third quarter of the bus, he eagerly glanced around, recalling a time years ago when he had come here as a child of nine. He realized himself in time to avoid causing a pileup and sheepishly stepped to the side, muttering apologies. Hearing Morgan's call he quickly strode over to join him, the Hello Kitty! backpack merely getting a casual glance and an offhand "Didn't know you liked that show" as he waited for the tour to begin.

[Airon]

Luke wanted to have a good time. Really. But among the downsides of getting back to school after two years in a collective body, sharing minds with your teammates around the universe, there was the issue of getting up to par with your lessons. He used to sit in the back, making jokes with his friends and talking to the cute girls: now he was forced in the front seats with the biology textbook open in his lap, trying to remember what he read about gills and lungs, cartilaginous skeletons, orders classes subspecies and whatnot.

The voice of professor Hawke awakened him from his thoughts. He put back his book, buttoned his jacket and got off the bus. He looked for the few schoolmates he had already met with, but he was still preoccupied by the studies and crashed into another student he was pretty sure was named Paul. Or Parker … no! Peter. Yes, definitely Peter.

“Sorry, Pete†he apologized smiling.

“I’m Thomas, dude.†the guy scowled at him.

Great, I’m doing just great. Luckily his eye fell on Subito and Kristin. Those two, he was sure about “Hi guys!†he grouped with them as the junior got them in line “Hey, that guy sounds familiar! Can’t mistake that Boston accent.†he commented as Morgan spoke.

[Scuffles]

Kristin had been uncharacteristically quiet during the bus ride, with her nose buried in a maths textbook. The school year was different in Australia because of the difference in the seasons, and as a result she was ahead in some subjects but far behind in others. Especially maths, which was hardly her strong point to begin with.

As the bus pulled into the car park she tucked the book into her backpack with obvious relief and then slung the bag across her shoulder as she bounded out of her chair with her usual evident energy. She adjusted the fit of her familiar gray hoodie and then stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans as she filed off the bus with her classmates.

Her grin widened as she followed Morgans directions and fell into line with the other juniors, then caught a glimpse of the backpack he carried. As she passed the older student she couldn't help but have a dig at him. "Cute bag Morgan!" she said with as straight a face as she could manage. "I always wanted one that colour, could you tell me where you got it? Oh I know, you just nicked it from Vicky right?"

She didn't manage to stay deadpan for long, giggling and then shooting him an apologetic look as she fell into place next to Subito and Luke, giving each a smile. "Sorry!" she chuckled. "What's this about cookies though? Where do I have to stand to get one?"

[Quinn]

Morgan gave two of them the Evil Eye, taking exaggerated care to point most ominously at Subito and Kristin. "You. And you. On my List."

Still, he took a moment to rack his brains as to what he knew about the two of them - Subito was, if his memory was right, a genuine nice guy (though for some reason he was still meaning to get vengeance for something - heck if he could remember what...), and he'd heard good things about Kristin from Vickie. The other guy, though...yeah, he didn't know him from Croesus.

Following the grim eye of doom, his expression suddenly turned cheery - almost eerily so. "And you have to stand on your head. And repeat 'Morgan is awesome' ten times. Singing it." Big grin, and he extended his hand in a friendly manner. "Hah, just kidding. So...Subito knows me, and I s'pose Kristin here knows me by rep; eh, I'll introduce myself anyway. Morgan Crowe, nice to meetcha."

[Airon]

“Well, nice to hear a bit of the Hub’s accent down here.†Luke extended his hand to shake Morgan’s. “My name’s Luke Perrin, very nice too meet you. And… I swear I won’t make any joke about the backpack, my lips are sealed.†He covered his mouth with a hand and squinted in a passable imitation of the Hello Kitty face “Ok, that one slipped, sorry.â€

He was technically older than Morgan, but he was well aware that the last two years of his life weren’t likely to count; he was still a year behind him, he remembered, so maybe he should’ve dialed down the snark. “Seriously though, I don’t know your “rep†but I can’t wait to hear it†he bit his lip.

Wow, way to suck up after a bad joke, Perrin. Real smooth! he thought to himself. How come he felt more at ease dealing with Lor Starfleet admirals than with high school?

[Ari]

"Glad to see you again Kris, Luke" Subito echoed, smilingly happily at the other two newer students. He had no idea why Morgan would bring a backpack along, let alone such an instantly recognizable one, but he kept his thoughts on that score to himself. He noticed Luke's discomfort though, and couldn't help but speak up "Morgan's a part of the Irregulars, a group of Claremonters who might even be stronger than New-Gen, if Rick's not making a lot out of nothin', which in this case I doubt. They've got Mr. Smith among them, you know that guy Luke? I pointed him out a day or two ago, blond and blue-eyed, looks like some kind of soldier? He's awesome" from the way he said it, and the look of deep admiration on his face, he clearly meant the word in the old-fashioned way.

He glanced between Luke and Morgan "The 'Hub'? Does that mean Boston? You guys both sound a lot like people from there I've met" to Kristen he added, jerking his head in the direction of Hawke "Is your name really that hard to recall? I don't think I've mis-said it once, and I somtimes can't say my own cousin's names right"

[Raveled]

GM

It took some minutes to get all the students off the bus. As they milled around in front and Jesse kept order, Leeroy had a few words with the bus driver. As the vehicle pulled away in search of a parking space, he clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Alright, folks," he called out. "Remember to keep your eyes open and be on your best behavior. You're representing Claremont Academy while we're here."

The group proceeded into the Aquarium where they met with a small woman with dark hair and a dark complexion. "Welcome to the Freedom Aquarium, folks! If you'll follow me, we can start the tour." The lady led them through the complex, past manta rays and frolicking dolphins. In no time at all they were walking straight towards a massive, toothy maw. "This is a reconstruction of the jaw of a Megalodon shark," the tour guide said, walking backward while she spoke. "Opened fully like this, it's almost five feet between the top and bottom rows of teeth. Some experts believe that the total size of the beast could have reached near a hundred feet. If you'll just step through the mouth -- watch your head! -- we can look at some sharks that are still alive today!"

[Scuffles]

Kristin grabbed Subitos arm with an expression of mock terror on her face. "Oh no! The list! his list! Whatever shall we do?!" she exclaimed, then stuck her tongue at Morgan cheekily. The headstand-for-a-cookie challenge sounded like fun too, and she was just about to shrug off her own backpack to at least try a handstand version when Leeroy interrupted to get the group moving.

"Seriously," she said, sidling up next to Morgan as everybody started to move into the Aquarium. "Do you want me to carry that for you for the day? You're going to have so very many people give you grief for it. You can carry mine around instead."

It's not like I'm going to need my costume and stuff in here anyway, and we can swap them back at lunchtime..

[Quinn]

Morgan froze for a moment, racking his brain, then plastered an amiable smile on his face; though he did resist the urge to grab one of the backpack straps protectively. The huge shark head did make his eyebrows raise, though; and he almost idly flicked one of the shark teeth on his necklace.

"Aaah...no thanks. Made my bed and I'll lie in it, y'know; should've gone bag shopping earlier than yesterday." Then the amiable smile turned wry. "Plus, I get enough grief from Archer and the others each morning. I'll survive. If anything, they'll be nicer than Vicky or Brian'll be if they saw this thi-"

As they passed under the Megalodon's mouth, for a moment he seemed to tense. Strangely, the teen's head whipped around to look up, eyes narrowing.

Something was...off. Almost unconsciously, his hand drifted towards one of his pockets before he caught himself. Then he remembered who he was standing beside, and the amiable smile reasserted itself.

"Sorry about that, been a bit jumpy lately."

[Airon]

Luke was enthralled by the magnificent reproduction in front of him. It reminded of grander things, such as the ones he witnessed in space – it was enough to get his mind off the bad start he had with Morgan. He walked respectfully into the open maw, careful about not cutting himself on the teeth. Only once inside the ribcage he shook himself from the childish awe.

He elbowed Kristin “Yeah, you wish you had a mouth like this when there’s chocolate involved, don’t you?†he kept walking under the model, but was distracted by a stretching sound – he looked up “I could swear I saw those cables move. This isn’t some kind of interactive model that starts chewing, right?†he asked to Subito and Kristin, both apparently unaware of the wires' motion.

He was convincing himself that he was paranoid, when Morgan’s nervous reaction seemed to confirm his doubts “What, did you see the wires swing too?â€

[Ari]

For his part, Subito was wholly unaware of the slightly moving shark jaw replica.

"Pro'lly just a weakening wire" he suggested casually to Luke as he strolled after Morgan "makes no sense to me, putting animatronics inside a replica. It would just encourage jokers to fiddle with it. I know I would want to" he added the last sentence under his breath, looking around in awe at the reconstructed corpse. It would be an incredible thing to have seen one alive he commented internally.

Remembering himself he quickly removed his cap and ruffled his shortened hair to get it back into its proper position. He at least knew enough etiquette not to wear hats indoors. To Kristin he whispered "Say, how many of those things do you think you could carry at once?"

[Raveled]

GM

As the rest of the class stepped through the toothy portal, there was another odd keening above the group. It was undeniable that something was happening up there -- and that something soon became apparent as the huge skeleton ripped its way free of the moorings and took flight, snapping at the Claremont teens! There was a few shrieks as it circled the ceiling, and more than a few as it dove towards the group once again!

[Quinn]

It was widely known at Claremont that Morgan Crowe was a bit of an oddball. Either he was running laps around campus, training like mad in the school gym or (to those who knew about it) the Doom Room, or doing strange things in his room that usually involved flashing lights and lengthy litanies of Gaelic curses. In between classes and homework, of course. It was also widely known at Parkhurst that Morgan Crowe was a bit of a bookworm. Either he was perpetually studying in the library, or secluded in one of the workshops with the aforementioned flashing lights, lengthy litanies of Gaelic curses, and the occasional highly-contained explosion. In short, Morgan Crowe kept some very odd habits.

The benefit to those habits, however; habits that involved either avoiding hologram enemies who would frequently come from all directions and sides, or running like mad from a catastrophically failed rune experiment, was that one rapidly developed a very swift reaction time to the unexpected. Case in point:

Morgan's reaction time wasn't quite up to his usual Doom Room equivalent, but in this circumstance the difference was fairly slim. His hands shot to his pockets, and he nearly fumbled to get the gloves around his hands in time - it was the space of a second to get his fingers in and the straps pressed closed (something he'd spent inordinate hours practicing), and when he brought his hands out from the pea coat pockets it was with six throwing knives between his fingers. Throwing knives that were soon flying upwards towards the skeleton in a rapid barrage.

"Get clear! Run!"

[Airon]

As the wires snapped and the horrifying model came into life, Luke thanked his senses honed by two years of continual struggle and battle. He didn’t move very fast, but then again, the enemy seemed like a slow pachyderm – surely he would be able to anticipate him (It? What was that? Undead, maybe?).

His hand flew to the rip in his jeans, to rub the starmark which activated his powers – only this time he wasn’t in a dark movie theatre. He was smack in the middle of a very well lit room, and if that Morgan could probably get a pass for throwing knives out of his pockets… Luke would have a lot more of trouble explaining his transformation in a beacon of cosmic energy enclosed in a jet black bodysuit.

Oh, well - you can’t make an omelette… he pointed at the door and screamed “Let’s go let’s go! Over there, come on!†hoping to shake everybody form their moment of panic and have them turn towards the door. He instead stood in the room, running behind a huge cardboard cutout depicting an apparently world-renowned marine biologist with a text balloon about sharks.

He wasn’t exactly out of everyone’s sight. Oh, whatever he touched the mark and felt the cosmic energy rising from his body, fizzling on his skin as the bodysuit appeared to contain it.

“Hang in there, Hello K… ehr, Morgan! We’ll make this thing extinct once again!â€

[Raveled]

GM

Crow's many knives flew up and scored along the shark's exposed ribs. It gave a sound that traveled straight to the hindbrain and told it to run, and most of the Claremont students took the hint. The students scattered, with Hawke and Perry trying to herd them all in the same direction. It was a terrifying sight, but four who stood their ground as it stooped and dove at them. Its oversized jaws snapped at Morgan Crowe, razor-sharp teeth closing around his shoulders and chest as it lifted him up and nosed back towards the ceiling.

[Scuffles]

"Morgan!" Kristin screamed as the enormous skeletal shark snapped its jaws tight around the older student hand lifted him clear off the ground.

As her classmates scattered and ran for cover she held her ground, her telekinetic defenses snapping into place and giving her skin and clothes an eerie green tint. Her expression was terror mixed with determination as she just let herself react without thinking, and pointed both hands towards the undead beast.

Light flared brightly around the mighty jaws of the beast, then began to collapse inwards towards Morgan, as she instinctively wrapped him tightly in a cocoon of telekinetic might. With a groan of effort she gathered her strength and then shoved as hard as she could, trying to force the jaws open.

"Morgan! Fight it! Get out of there!" she yelled, a hint of desperation in her voice.

[Quinn]

It took a moment for the pain to register with Crowe, although it wasn't as bad as it could've been - fortunately the backpack got in the way of the teeth, although the vise-like grip was enough on it's own. The teen struggled like a madman as he felt himself lifted off the ground, pushing and pulling in equal measure; but the jaws wouldn't move!

Then he heard Kristin scream. And then things started to move.

Morgan could feel the power flowing around him, and his eyes went wide - bracing his hands against the teeth, he pushed with all his might; literally powering the shark's jaws open with a mighty roar. All the teen could think about was - ...this is what my dad felt. This was his gift. Power. Raw strength...superpowers... His eyes were as wide as dinner plates as he saw precisely the situation he was in. And they went even wider as he simply propelled himself out with a laugh and a yell - "Kris, I could kiss you!" Of course, it was at that point he noted the rapidly approaching floor. And the power around himself slowly dispersing. ...Oh, that's not good.

Once again, his reflexes paid off; not even bothering to hide it this time (not that he had the time!), a pair of throwing knives materialized in his palms, and he threw them upwards; these, however, had one fundamental change. Onlookers could (barely) see light glinting off of wires attached to the ends of them, wires the teen expertly manipulated even as the ground rushed up to meet him...and wires that the shark barely flew out of. Loops hung in midair, and Crowe's face fell. Along with the rest of him. Albeit for a moment.

No, no, nononononono - "Oh, no you don't!"

With a speed and flexibility born of desperation, Morgan twisted his body in midair, yanking on the wires in his hands. The twin knives that had shot past the shark each found purchase, bouncing off of the roof and a nearby pillar, and looped over the shark, barely catching and spinning around it. The ground was mere inches away from his skull when they finally went taut, and Crow swept over the tiles with a wild whoop!

[Ari]

Subito had been completely floored by the sudden attack of the megaladon skeleton replica. Simply put, it had never occurred to him that something like that could even happen. He had been frozen to the spot while Glow, Crow and Saiph had acted, and a quick glance around him showed there wasn't anywhere he could hide for his transformation. He was about to simply attack the shark when he realized that he could at least cheer the others on before racing off to hide his identity.

Leaping forward several steps, he cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered "Whoever you guys are, you can beat this thing! Don't let up! I'll go get help!" throwing a fist-pump for good measure he turned to dash for the secluded area he had caught sight of. "Man, I hope this works" he muttered to himself as he took off for the architectural anomaly he had spotted.

[Airon]

Saiph was more than ready to act as support for the far more experienced – and apparently, well renown – Morgan, who had jumped to action as a professional as soon as the beast moved. The junior didn’t bother with personal issues of identity and dove right in, something that Saiph respected greatly.

But when he finally found himself ready to act, Morgan had already escaped the beast’s jaw and entrapped it masterfully – and Subito, as was his costume, didn’t waste any moment in rallying up his teammates – something in that guy’s voice always gave you a ton of energy and extra confidence.

“Great job, guys! This thing is going down!â€

Trying to make the best of the advantage his schoolmates handed to him, Saiph gathered cosmic energy in both his fists, flied eye to eye with the shark and discharged all the power he could gather on it, trying to destroy the neckbone linking its body to the head.

[Raveled]

GM

Saiph's cosmic blast rocked the skeletal shark and rattled its vertebrae, but didn't seem to faze it in the least. It continued to fly around the room, trailing Morgan on his wires. It tried to stop and start suddenly, wiggling through the air in a serpentine pattern, and even jerking him up and down but the hero's magic wires held up to the abuse. It returned to its starting place and, with no other options, let loose another bowel-shaking roar.

[Scuffles]

Kristin ducked away and covered her ears as the skeletal Megalodon unleashed its terrible roar, then dashed to the side and ran for cover near the edge of the room as Saiph's blast of energy rattled its bones. Skidding to a stop near the wall she spun back towards the still ensnared shark.

Rattled by the terrifying visage of the monster, she nonetheless set her feet and summoned every bit of willpower she could muster and unleashed a vicious telekinetic hammer blow into its jaw bone. The attack landed truly, but the mighty creature shrugged it off, not even appearing inconvenienced in the slightest!

[Quinn]

Morgan swung and swore as the skeletal beastie tried to shake him off, ignoring the earsplitting roar and yanking on the wires desperately to avoid being slammed into this exhibit or that pillar. Gotta keep this thing from moving so the others can turn it into a pinata! But how...wait! That's it!

With another whoop, he let one arm go slack and yanked on the other with all his might, sending himself spinning towards and around the pillar itself. Then, trusting to his own momentum and pulling with every ounce of strength in his muscles, he (by dint of pure luck) hauled the shark downwards, winding the wires around the pillar and turning it into an ersatz anchor. The second his boots hit the ground, another pair of knives had materialized in his hands, attached to the wires - and he slammed the two of them into either side of the stone edifice where they stuck fast. ...Karma's so going to bite me in the butt for this later...

He shook his head and sprinted for the exit, calling to the others; "Take it down or buy some time! Don't let it get away from here!"

[Ari]

Subito skidded to a halt as he reached the small enclosed corner of the museum, where a selection of deep-water coral gleamed wetly behind their cases, their water tastefully dimmed to give visitors an idea of the darkness these fantastic creations dwelt in. Barely even panting from the sudden exertion, Subito flung up one hand, placed his other hand over his heart and thought fiercely

Oh Blue Dame, I need your power to destroy that ghost skeleton thi- he paused and admitted I have no idea what that is. Can you help me fight it?

A faintly amused voice answered It is granted and in a moment, Subito Sondo was transformed into the glowing and dashing figure of El Heraldo!

With a tap of a booted foot, he took to the air in a blaze of golden light, a flag waving in a gilded fog about him. Slipping back onto the main hall, he gave every impression of having come from somewhere else entirely, soaring straight for the shark with a cry of "Attack visiting students, will you?! I'll teach you some manners you fatuous fish!" and swung a powerful right hook at the shark's skeletal body.

Sadly, he wasn't expecting it to shrug off his attacks nearly so blithely as it did. A sharp jarring sensation ran up the bones of his arm from the futile impact.

Oh, come on! he raged internally How the blazes did that not even dent it?!