Underneath the water, a predator lurks.
Unchanged by evolution for 35 million years, nature's perfect eating machine silently stalks its prey. There, up above where the light touches, a pair of legs belonging to a young girl idly kicks as she treaded water. Her friend hovers above the ocean just next to her, a Judas in disguise. Said young girl had recently developed a little bit of an attitude after training and had forgotten her place in the pecking order.
I can hear the jaws theme now!
A shrill sound cuts through the air as Miss Naught blows a gym whistle she had found somewhere. She's wearing a bikini with a bullseye pattern while lazing in a deck chair with a lifeguard float across her lap. When she had heard about your expedition to find Rakeem's emergency supplies—and that it involved being out at sea with little to no expectation of danger—she had literally gotten on her hands and knees and begged to tag along. She was "making herself useful" by serving as your lifeguard.
Oh my god, she's amazing. She'd also probably get along well with Medicant.
Rakeem had hidden his cache in the shipwreck of the ironically named S.S. Unsinkable, which was located on the edge of the continental shelf of Marajó. However, the seismic activity caused by the Leviathan's activity had dislodged it and sent it into the continental slope. Your boat was currently docked at the Unsinkable's last known location as you tried to discern where it ended up. A task that has taken longer than you would have cared for, leading the members of your team to grow bored.
The Unsinkable! It's very sunken.
While the junior members carry on, Châtelet and Wolong diligently pour over bathymetric maps to determine where the Unsinkable had come to rest
Those two and Leizi are probably some of the sanest people we have, ngl. And Chauncer, but he's not here rn.
His embarrassment at his subordinate's actions had persisted until you went below deck yourself and changed.
Then he was embarrassed for an entirely different reason.
Why is Lady Leizi so hot? We don't know.
It is your favorite shade of purple and it has been sitting in your closet for years. Wolong had nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw you in it, Miss Naught had let out a wolf-whistle and cheered, and you've caught everyone but Menagerie Witch sneaking peeks at you.
Now I can't help but think of Rhys being "ok, I'm gay,
but…"
"Hnn," Adamant grunts, not looking over, "No. Valiant Silver's in charge."
That makes you sit up. "Oh? Why the change of heart?"
He reels in his line a bit before speaking. "We had it out in the training room. She put a railgun in her armor and shot me with it. Wasn't much to argue after that."
"So that's what happened to the Bastion's gymnasium," you muse, "So, that's all it took? She beats you in a fight and you agree to let her be in charge?"
"No," he says, "She's in charge because she's the best person to lead. The fight was just something I asked for."
Yeah, Nora could just make railguns. Ok! That's fun.
"Dad wasn't around much when I was a kid. He and my mom never got married, and I lived with her in the OID. He spent his time with Global Justice in the Foot."
Aw man. That's sad. Not having a parent around must fuck you up…
"Lessons would be learned. And I would get arrested. It was after the third or fourth time when Dad brought me out here for a 'real father-son talk.'"
You find yourself trying to imagine your father doing such a thing, and the image is so absurd you have to stop yourself from laughing in disgust.
"Well, did your father correct your errant path?"
"No. I wound up punching him in the jaw. Like I said, I used to have a temper."
This time you do laugh out loud. "How did your father take that?"
It's like punching a brick wall! If the brick wall could punch back!
Wolong has [Analytical Precognition]
We now know that, yes, Wolong has a synergy.
To your horror, you find that Adamant—Rakeem—is actually fairly charming when he isn't doing his best impression of a statue. What you had initially taken as arrogant standoffishness, you now realize was simply a reserve that was missing from most people. It wasn't that he didn't wish to speak with you. Rather, he just naturally never said more than was necessary.
The strong but silent type.
He shrugs at your tone. "Is it better to be born good or to choose to do the right thing? I'm not sure, but one is harder."
You're left speechless at that and you fall back into the quiet between you. Then you say, "Oh, so you enjoy admiring me, darling? I thought I caught you taking a long look earlier."
Man, people like Rakeem were definitely the type of people that separated JU from ND.
The area on the continental shelf is deeper than nearly all of you can easily travel, so it is just Black Swan—who doesn't need to breathe and is immune to decompression sickness—and Handyman— in the shape of a shark-octopus hybrid—who disappear beneath the surf to find the Unsinkable.
Shark-octopus hybrid. Hell yeah.
"Silver-Rank Behemoths," Handyman explains, "A bunch of them swarming around the boat. Look like overgrown cuttlefish. Nothing me an Black Swan couldn't handle though. I swear, thank God she's on our side, 'cuz yeesh did she destroy these things. She stayed behind to make sure she didn't miss any."
POW! That's a very quick fight.
DC 15
Stat Check: OPERATIONS 25. Justice Unlimited has OPERATIONS 26 + 6 (Miss Naught).
You rolled: 16.
16 + 3 = 19. Success!
Oh nice!
"Just blow it up," Miss Naught interrupts.
". . . excuse me?" you ask.
"Just blow it up, guys. Come on. If I'm reading this thing over Wolong's shoulder correctly, the stuff we care about is in the captain's cabin. So, blow up the rest of the ship, send Châtelet down to keep the part we care about from sinking, have Handyman squeezes inside, he grabs the goods, and everyone gets out. Duh."
Explosions! The best part of anything.
"If I die—" she squeaks, and then coughs into her hand, "Sorry, still working on vocal training. Ahem. If I die under there, make sure Gwen doesn't get any of my stuff. Or Ophèle's stuff. Or speak at my funeral. And please make sure they get my name right on my death certificate—I'm still waiting on the judge's order to make everything official."
Don't worry Chatalet, voice training takes time.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure we're already dead set on making sure that Gwen doesn't get your stuff.
"Nora and Yazmin have been sleeping together."
"Is that news, darling? I assumed everyone knew. They're hardly subtle."
"Yes, but they're sleeping together again after their last breakup."
"My goodness," you laugh, "Did I miss an entire "breakup and get-back-together" cycle? They're positivity accelerating."
"Hopefully they'll wait until after this upcoming trip to the QZ to fight again," Rakeem says, "Yazmin always rushes out of formation, when she's upset
The situationship of all time, ladies and gentlemen.
That night was the first of many between you and Rakeem. It wasn't a permanent arrangement —you two preferred to leave things unsaid and eschewed regular labels. Goodness knows, everyone didn't need the drama of two intra-team couples. Sometimes you two were close, sometimes you drifted apart, but Rakeem was always there.
You even met his mother on a few occasions. Rebecca was a delight.
Still, sometimes Rakeem's gaze would linger or his touch would be particularly delicate. Sometimes you hold him tight for just an extra second, trying to take all from the moment you could. He never pressured you or expected anything. He was happy with what you were and waited for if and when you wanted something more. For you to decide you can be more.
It was just a pity you waited too long.
Regrets. The bane of our existence sometimes. But it is what it is.
Oh sweet! Money.
You hum again and, perhaps stricken by the memories this trip has evoked, you pull Miss Naught into a hug.
"Hey," she says, "I got a kid. He's eight. If anything—"
"The Apiary's doors are always open to him. And you. Always."
"Thank you," she whispers, "It makes me mad how hot you are."
"I've been told before."
It's nice seeing LL be more emotional sometimes.
+ 3000 Income!
+1 healing symbiote!
+3 shield generators!
+1 goldnine!
Let's go!!! Adamant put SO MUCH STUFF in there!
Name: Fast Track, David Rhodes
Keywords: Self-Enhancement, Ally Enhancement, Enhanced Speed
Sweet.
Name: Golem, Samson Road
Keywords: Elemental Manipulation, Invulnerability, Enhanced Strength
Faction: Independent
Potency: 5
Author: wing101r
Oh, that's nice. We can get Wolong's synergy and FFM with this, I think.
Name: Frostbite, Randolph Lindstrom
Power: Elemental Manipulation, Enhanced Strength, Invulnerability
Faction: Independent
Potency: 3
Author: ScorpioSting
…oof, keyword overlap. That's gotta suck.
Name: Féth Fíada, Saoirse Brennan
Power: Elemental Manipulation, Clairvoyance, Invisibility, Ally Empowerment, Mental Manipulation
Faction: Independent
Potency: 6
Author: Suleverf
Add another one to our list of "grab bag powers that'll get better once we know more synergies.
Name: Solferina, Linh Nguyen
Power: Energy Manipulation, Ally Empowerment, Mental Manipulation
Faction: Independent
Potency: 4
Author: Kermie
Linh! I've been waiting for her for a while.
"Zixuan, hopefully I dove back down here and retrieved this so I could give it to you myself. If not, I just wanted to make sure you had no questions about how I felt."
You hold up your hand and admire his gift on your hand.
A diamond ring, sized to perfection.
Aww… so cute!🥰