Justice League #38

“Beast of the Deep”

by Lightshear


The size of the kingdom of Atlantis is a subject of some dispute. The statements of its diplomats and of Aquaman, its King - that their kingdom is essentially that of all underwater territory - are generally dismissed as ridiculous. After all - what King ever ruled every continent of the world at once? And how could such a kingdom be maintained?

No, scholars insist that Atlantis is in fact a swath of land or lands spread about through the northern Atlantic Ocean. The size of it, though, has been debated ever since the first recorded Atlantean rose from the waves and set foot on land. We called him Aquaman, and he tore asunder centuries of accepted belief; Atlantis was real, and it was not one city but a whole kingdom underwater.

Some maintain that it actually is just a city. A large one, to be sure - like Rome or Constantinople of old - but still essentially a big city. Perhaps, they suggest, it could be comprised of a small group of city-states - three to five or so - united under one banner. Others propose that it is a larger nation, perhaps rivaling Spain or France, but certainly not as large as Russia or China.

The largest projections set Atlantis at a theoretical area comparable to Australia and a population just north of twenty million. Few believe these estimates to be probable, but little concrete information has been made available and we have few available ways to do much looking for ourselves.

The truth of the matter, one which weighs mightily on the shoulders of those who know it (including their King) is that Atlantis’ total area, if all the scattered regions under their flag were to be conjoined, would exceed three times that of Russia. Their population numbered in the billions. The original Atlantis sank into the ocean in 9600 B.C.E. They had had considerable growth since then.

And there were the other races to consider as well - Merfolk, Naiads, Oceanids, Selkies, the list went on and on, and all were united under the common banner of Atlantis. All answered to her king, the half-human scion known by three names in three and a half decades. Arthur the lost, Aquaman the hero, Orin the king.

Atlantis had always been content to allow the surface dwellers to underestimate their population. They preferred peace and solitude, and feared both would be lost if the surface decided they were too dangerous or if, Gods forbid, they saw weakness waiting to be exploited for profit in the world underwater. They had machines and magic dedicated wholly to the purpose of keeping themselves hidden, and it would continue that way for as long as they pleased.

Naturally, however, since the discovery of species of life that existed above-water, Atlantis had kept their armies prepared. Should the day come that man made war, they would have such a war as they had never experienced in all their years. Woe betide the age when Atlantis strides the lands of man once more, for these are the days when darkness and blight shall cover both realms. It shall be below as it is made above, so say the Gods and mighty Posiedon above them.
________________________________________

King Orin had several royal retreats scattered through the oceans. His favorite, though, was Villa Praeclarus. Built over four thousand years ago, its architects designed the roof of the elaborate home to stimulate coral growth. The top of the Villa was the foundation for the deepest growing coral reef in the world, and the coral grew and entwined with the Great Barrier Reef, expanding its area into waters it never would have reached otherwise.

It had always captivated him, this place. During his earliest days as King, his chief advisor Vulko had seen that he needed rest from the strains of his title, and knowing the boy more than a little he introduced him to Villa Praeclarus. Young Orin was instantly smitten with the place. He spent long hours swimming the length of the coral and meeting all the fish and sea creatures that lived there. It was the perfect escape, as beautiful as it was quiet, and he came here often when the weight of the crown became overwhelming.

Usually that meant he came alone, though with a small retinue of guards and usually with Vulko in contact should he need to be alerted of major developments elsewhere. He and Orm had come here together on a few occasions, when they were still young men and excited at having a brother in their lives. But Orm had grown even more distant and bitter than usual over the last year and their relationship seemed like it might have become strained beyond repair.

Mera would come with him when they were married and after they had learned to love each other. It had taken time - arranged marriages were rarely emotional affairs, and both of them bristled at the fact that it had happened. Oddly, it was their mutual distaste for the tradition of arranged marriage that began thawing the ice between them and allowed their friendship to grow. But she had been dead for so long, now, and he hadn’t had anyone with him to this place since. He had only come once in all that time - there were too many sad memories in this happy place.

But now he swam the warm waters with a friend. They wove through growths of coral so beautiful they seemed to have been sculpted for that purpose. They swam with dolphins - Orin’s adopted family - and among schools of fish so dense that one could almost relax and let the tide of tiny, sparkling bodies carry them along in their current. The rebreather Orin had provided allowed his friend to breathe underwater in much the same way he did, and without any bulky equipment to weigh her down.

He couldn’t help but smile at the wonder and beauty of Diana of Thymescira, smiling and laughing at the feeling of clownfish surrounding and rubbing against her body with curiosity at this strange intruder to their home. His presence alone calmed them, and his aquatic telepathy assured them they were friends and could be trusted implicitly, but she was the only person he knew who shared his ability to communicate with the creatures of the world.

Artemis had gifted her at birth with her amazingly heightened senses, but also with the ability to talk with all forms of life and sooth raging beasts. It worked with aquatic life too, she discovered later, though her range of communication was a fraction of the distances Orin’s telepathy could reach, but it still connected the two as being among the scant few able to know the literal truth that all life had thoughts and feelings of their own. The result at the moment was that the normally skittish fish were instead overwhelmed with curiosity and seemed to find the most contentment nuzzling every ticklish spot on her body.

To see Diana laugh was enough to make even the coldest of hearts melt. Orin was no exception.

They rode the backs of leatherback sea turtles, holding the edges of their shells as they caught a ride back to where the Villa was located, and arrived to see a group of female sperm whales almost a dozen strong who were guiding their young in a migration. Though they had planned to be finished with their swim, Diana gave him a look that said it would be a great and deep insult not to let her play with the whales. Seeing the look on her face, he laughed out loud and led her to them, calling out to them telepathically in greeting. The baby whales came eagerly to greet them and welcome them into the group, squeaking excitedly in conversation with Diana as they swam together.

It was much later before they finally left the group and returned to the Villa. They swam into the entry chamber where the water was drained and pressure normalized before they passed through the particle boundary that separated the wet beyond from the dry interior. As a bonus, the permeable wall dried the surface of anything that passed through it, making a large rack of fresh towels inside the entrance thankfully unnecessary.

They talked together about all they had seen during the swimming tour of the reef as they walked to one of the relaxing window-rooms. There were several throughout the villa, and each was a large, very tall room with one wall that was completely transparent and showcased a breathtaking view of the tropical waters beyond. Diana settled into one of the very comfortable, exotic seats in the room while Orin went to a cabinet nearby.

“Drink?” he asked as she sighed in relaxation. “They keep this place well stocked at all times. Probably costs a fortune in wine alone, so we might as well enjoy it while we’re here.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she smiled at him. “I like the taste of your Atlantean wines - so very unlike anything we can make on the surface.”

“Probably comes from us not having grapes down here,” he deadpanned, pulling out a very old bottle. “There’s a bottle of Estelchie’z… a ’63.”

“Where would that be from?” she asked as he poured them glasses. “I mean, which of your people? Where a wine is from says so much about its character.”

“This would be Merish wine,” he said, handing her a glass and sitting in a seat nearby. “The merfolk make the finest wines in Atlantis, no question. Sparkling or otherwise.”

“Really?” she said with a smile, smelling the bouquet in the glass. “I don’t know why, but I wouldn’t have expected it.”

“And that’s where you’d have been wrong. The merfolk are notorious lushes. It’s why there were so many legends of them in the old days - nobody messed with the surface dwellers more than young merfolk.”

“You aren’t serious!” she laughed.

“Oh, I am. Believe me, you get a few teenaged merfolk around and add alcohol to the mix and it’s like-- like American college students on Spring Break.”

“And the adults are like this, too?”

“Oh, they calm down as they grow older. Never quite leaves them completely, though. I suppose it’s enough to tell you they have almost as many temples for Bacchus as they do for Poseidon.”

“I’d wager Bacchus’ temples are much more entertaining,” she smirked, sipping her wine. “Oh, my-- oh, this is good.”

“I told you,” he smiled, raising his glass to her and taking a sip of his own. “I can hardly fault them for their habits - if the rest of Atlantis could get this as cheap as the merfolk, I shudder to think what would happen to our society.”

She laughed out loud at that, and so did he. “I like this,” she said. “It is good to see you laughing. I haven’t seen you happy in so long…”

They smiled together, looking out at the ocean and enjoying the wine until he sighed and set his glass down.

“So tell me,” he asked, long after she knew he was going to ask. “You wanted to talk to me. What about?”

“I think you know,” she said softly; noncommittally.

“I really don’t.”

She sighed heavily and took a long sip from her glass. “Orin… There is something between us that needs to be sorted out.”

“Look-- Diana… I don’t know what it is you’re getting at, but I promise you there’s nothing--“

“Orin, please,” she interrupted him with a look. “I’m uncomfortable enough being… so uncomfortable. I’m used to being able to-- put words to my thoughts more easily than this. But it would be much easier if you didn’t pretend you didn’t know that something has happened between us.”

He just looked at her. Though he didn’t say anything in return, his eyes changed almost imperceptibly. It was as close to an admission that she was likely to get at this point, so she took it as leave to continue.

“Honestly, I think it began when I returned to the League during Deathstroke’s mercenary campaign. It’s… strange to think how long ago that was. But you were different around me. Our friendship had changed; you were throwing yourself at our enemies to put yourself between them and myself. I chastised you then that I didn’t need protecting, but it was so unlike you that I kept thinking about it afterward.

“I thought that maybe-- maybe it had to do with Mera. You had lost her so recently, I thought you were perhaps using our friendship as a way of coping with that loss. Maybe even transposing your longing for her onto me.”

“I was never…” he started, looking as uncomfortable as a boy awaiting a teacher’s rebuke. “It was never about Mera, Diana. I may not be very open about my feelings, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know what they are - or that they are so easily confused.”

“That’s just it, Orin,” she smiled softly, eyebrows lifting in sympathy. “I think you are open. To someone who knows you as well as I do, you wear your emotions on your sleeve. We have been friends for so long, and we’ve said often that we can understand each other better than any of the others understand us. Both outsiders in foreign lands, both… different from human beings, both royalty, both trying to balance sometimes conflicting responsibilities.

“We’re the same, you and I. That’s why I was so glad to have your friendship back again when I returned to the League. But I could tell it was different, and I needed to understand why. You would be so open with me - so vulnerable. I’d never seen you that way. And then you would retreat and be so very distant. You ran hot and cold, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“I’m… sorry, Diana. I wasn’t a very good friend. I’ve had so much in my head since the Manta War-- since Mera and my baby…” He stopped short, his throat trembling slightly and his jaw clenching tight. “I never meant to take anything out on you. That-- isn’t what it was about.”

“I know,” she said, moving along the couch to be nearer to him and placing a hand softly on his knee. “It took me a long time - I’m embarrassed at how long, actually - but eventually I went from trying to understand why you were acting so inconsistently to trying to understand why it was troubling me so deeply. And when I realized what had changed, it wasn’t in you-- at least, not only in you. It was in me.”

He looked up, a lock of his hair hanging over his forehead as his piercing teal eyes met hers. She smiled at him, wondering if her expression gave her away.

“Orin, I think something has changed in the way we look at each other. I think our friendship has changed, even if neither of us wanted to admit it. And I wanted to be here with you so that we could--“

He stood up suddenly, turning from her and walking to the glass wall. He leaned forward on his hand and hung his head. When he turned back, he was framed by the most beautiful view of the ocean depths, but it was as a reflection of his own soul. Light filtered through in brilliant sparkling patterns, but the farther and deeper you went, the darker it became. She could see the conflict in him, and her heart broke to see him this way.

“Diana, don’t,” he said. “Don’t say something we can’t pretend wasn’t said.”

“It is too late,” she said, standing herself. She seemed to struggle with what she was going to say, and he could see the internal conflict playing out in her face while she thought.

“When… I’m sorry, Orin. I had hoped not to have to tell you this way, but you need to know. It isn’t fair that you don’t know. When Eclipso possessed you, he-- told me things. He told me about what you are feeling--“

“Stop. Don’t…”

“He told me what you feel for me,” she pressed, walking toward him. “And that it was tearing you apart to feel it. And in that moment, it put words to what I already knew. It was the reason why you were so hot and cold-- loving one moment, distant and unapproachable the next. You don’t have to bear your emotions like a burden…”

“You don’t understand, Diana,” he said, his face falling and his bearing breaking down from strong-willed defiance to that of a weary, exhausted man trying to fight back the tides with nothing but his fists. “I can’t. I just… can’t.”

“You can,” she smiled cautiously, reaching her hand out gently. “We can. Eclipso meant his words to hurt me, but they didn’t. I already knew, Orin. I’ve known for so long, but I never said anything because I didn’t want you to run away-- and because I knew I felt the same way and if we both knew then we would have to do something about it.”

Her fingers brushed his cheek so softly that it was like the wind. He closed his eyes and her fingertips were the first gentle caress of the ocean air when he looked up to the sky and realized he could breathe. His eyes squeezed tighter and her presence was the sun on his wet skin, the warm sand beneath his back, his heart racing fit to burst from his chest as his throat swallowed hard at the promise of the unknown - a new world that lay before him offering hope, exhilaration, and terror in equal measure.

“Diana,” he said, and couldn’t continue. His tongue was dry and thick. He hadn’t felt this way in so long. So very long…

“When Kal died,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I swore to myself that I wouldn’t ignore my heart anymore. Our time together is too short, and we could be lost at any time. If Superman can fall, we are all vulnerable. It’s all so precious… it’s too important to let it slip away because I’m afraid of what you might say.”

“Please…” he whispered. He opened his eyes slowly, his eyelids so heavy. Had he always been this tired? Had the weight been this heavy all along, or was he only feeling it now that the truth was being pulled to the surface? He looked into her eyes and saw his heart reflected back at him. Her smile was like a whisper afraid to speak in full voice. He blinked away his hope, refusing to let it grow in the warmth of her tenderness.

“We can’t,” he closed his eyes and looked away.

Rather than respond, she pulled his face back and kissed him. Her lips were soft and full and sweet like the first strawberry he’d ever tasted. She was gentle, but there was no doubt in her. He felt himself letting go and kissing her, and in that sweet release he tasted a dream he’d never let himself have. He was floating, his heart so loud he was deafened by its beating, his throat so tight he couldn’t breathe. His vision went white behind his closed eyes and he was overwhelmed and swathed in serenity all at once.

He loved her. For the first time since they met, he said the words aloud in his own mind. An admission of a feeling as profound as it was forbidden; as true as it was hopeless. He loved her. Not because he had to, or because he chose to - it had chosen him. And he could no more reject that truth than he could hold the world on his shoulders. His hands raised to her, feeling the soft suppleness of her shoulders under his palms, her skin flushed and warm to the touch.

It only made pushing her away that much harder.

“We can’t,” he said, unable to look her in the eye. “I-- am sorry. You can’t know how sorry I am. Or how much I wish…”

“Then let yourself wish and do not be sorry,” she said, taking his hands. “Your whole life you’ve refused your own happiness, taking on the responsibilities of the world and never letting them go. Your whole life you have been alone even among friends. You don’t have to be, Orin. I am here. I’m right here, and I’m telling you--“

“You don’t understand,” he said, letting himself hold her hands for that moment. “It isn’t-- this has nothing to do with me or you o-or us. There are… I have… I am King of Atlantis, but I’m half human. Do you understand what that has meant for me?”

He pulled away from her and took a few steps away, turning his back. “I am constantly doubted. It took me nearly a decade to earn the trust of my advisors, my cabinet, my generals-- I still have rivals who quote ancient prophesies about the blonde-haired Halfling that is supposed to bring ruin and destruction to Atlantis. They look for any excuse to doubt my leadership and elevate their own station.

“If I-- if we were together, it could tear my kingdom apart. They’d say the half-human B#stard-King chose a surface woman over one of their own. I could name at least three royals that would want to lay claim to the crown - maybe even my own brother.”

“It wouldn’t matter to them that the Amazons are favored by Poseidon as well?” she asked, taking a tentative step towards him.

“Poseidon would probably see me die for choosing a daughter of Athena,” he said darkly. “But whom the Gods would destroy, they first drive mad. You and I are among the few who know the Gods of Olympus exist in literal truth - and you know how their petty in-fighting can ruin mortal lives.”

“So you have to live your life alone? Are you so afraid of happiness that you’ll wall yourself off to love behind a wall of duty?”

“The wall isn’t mine, Diana, but I stand on it nonetheless.” He turned to her and she could see he had the emotionless mask of the King on his face again. “The safety of my people is my responsibility. Letting myself… For me to have what I want could spur a civil war of epic proportions. It could even bring the wrath of the Gods.”

A brief flicker of hurt and loss flashed over his face. “I have to be strong enough to live without the things I want most. If I’m to be King below the water and Aquaman above, the price I pay is my heart.”

“What will you do?” she asked sadly, hiding her breaking heart only just. She already knew what he was planning to do - she only wanted to hear it from him.

“To keep the kingdom strong, I’m going to have to marry again. Atlantis needs a Queen. And she will have to come from either an ally we cannot lose or an enemy we need to turn. I won’t l-- I won’t love her, Diana. I…” he swallowed hard. “It’s just what has to be done. It is my burden and I must bear it alone.”

“And we both pretend we aren’t thinking what we’re thinking,” she said, eyes lowered. “Pretend we don’t feel what we feel. There will never be a time for us.”

“Not while we’re awake,” he said, almost a whisper.

She walked around him and her stride grew more determined with every step. Standing before him, she lifted her head and stood tall. He looked away, watching the inner wall of the room as the lights of the ocean beyond danced over his body.

“Look at me,” she said. He did, slowly, and when his eyes met hers he seemed to draw strength from her confident posture. He straightened some, himself, and drew up to his full height.

“You are stronger than this,” she said calmly; impassioned. “You are better than the fears of petty men and small minds. You need only…”

Her speech slowed as she saw his eyes growing wide. She turned to see an immense shadow racing toward the windowed wall from the oceanic depths. She recoiled in surprise, and Orin grabbed her and leapt to the back of the room only just as great, black-scaled tentacles burst through the glass and opened the room to a the powerful rush of water from outside.

He covered her body with his when the water hit them, and she quickly put her rebreather back into her nostrils. It took her a moment to reorient herself and get her bearings in the roaring, swirling waters, but Orin didn’t leave her for a second. Steadying herself in the water, he pointed ‘up’ for her and said a single word:

“Kraken.”

“What?” she shouted through the water. Both of them had heightened hearing and he was certainly used to deciphering underwater speech, so though she always felt out of sorts when saying her first words, she was able to adapt.

Instead of responding, he pulled her out of the way of a blur of black. The tentacle struck the wall beside them, and as it withdrew she saw a gaping, fanged maw at its tip. The tentacle was almost hydra-like - long, thick and ridged with spines, and at the head there were rows of teeth and a sucker-like mouth. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and she looked past Orin’s shoulder to see the Kraken itself.

It looked like a cross between a dragon and a giant squid, though as large as any beast she’d seen on land or in the water. The beak caused whirlwinds when it opened, and it gnashed in the water as the head forced its way through the broken glass of the wall.

To either side, Atlantean guards rushed in to defend their king. Some were immediately snared and killed by the tentacles, brought back to the serrated beak and devoured. Smokey trails of red soon filled the water.

“The Kraken was killed,” she said. “Long, long ago-- Perseus killed him.”

“That assumes there’s only one,” Orin shouted back. “Perseus killed the Ceto, a group of Norwegians killed one in the 13th century, some d#mn pirates in the 17th, Captain Stormalong in the 19th-- Poseidon’s deep is lousy with them.”

“They just run loose?”

“No-- not usually, no. And generally they stick to deeper waters than this,” he said, calling his men in to form up against the beast. “But we’re actually lucky.”

“Lucky?” she asked, joining the formation. “How, exactly? This is a beast of divine magic - neither of us can command or calm it.”

“Yeah, that’s true - but it’s actually quite small. You know, compared to what Krakens can usually get up to.”

She looked at him, slightly stunned at his cavalier attitude. He smirked back - actually smirked. She smiled against her will, put almost at ease by his seeming excitement at matching himself up against a creature of myth. Maybe he was just glad to have avoided the rest of their conversation.

Shaking her head, she was silently reassured by him being so typical of himself. He always did come alive when given a nearly impossible challenge to overcome.

“I will try and find the comfort in that,” she said.

She needn’t have worried. He was already leading the charge.
________________________________________


The Justice League:

V Icn Wonder Woman - 127
R Starro Aquaman - 70
Jason (R Atlantean Warrior) - 35
Tethys (R Atlantean Warrior) - 35
Hector (R Atlantean Warrior) - 35
Chryses (R Atlantean Warrior) - 35
Basil (R Atlantean Warrior) - 35

Total: 372

Vs.

The Kraken:

1) Body (Sentinel Alpha 3) - 150
2) Tentacle [Brown] (E Metamorpho) - 70
3) Tentacle [Black] (E Metamorpho) - 70
4) Tentacle [Red] (E Anaconda) - 53
5) Tentacle [Blue] (E Anaconda) - 53

Total: 396


Map: The Mall

Battlefield Condition: Atlantis Rising, Debris

Scenario Rules:

--> The Kraken and its tentacles are all part of the same creature. The Body is the base, and is the only piece that can move independently. Neither the body nor tentacles may make ranged attacks.

When moving the Kraken, special rules apply:

- If the body moves, the tentacles do not need to roll for breakaway. However, when the body reaches its new destination, if the tentacle head (the part which attacks) can remain adjacent to the opposing character they began the turn adjacent to, then they must do so (although they may be in a new square).

- If a tentacle moves, the first square of its length must remain adjacent to the body at all times, though they may swivel freely around its circumference (i.e. - there is no designated spot on the body each tentacle is assigned to).

- Movement for the tentacles is calculated based on the starting position of the tentacle head (the numbered circle.

The Tentacles have the following special rules:

- Only the head can be used to attack. The other sections (represented by colored blocks) must remain adjacent to each other at all times, and represent the length of the tentacle.

- Opposing characters must break away from any square of a tentacle’s length as if it were the head.

- The tentacles are considered to have the Aquatic movement type.

Awww....from the title I thought this was Starro

Nah - we've had enough mind controlling hero vs. hero stuff for a while, I think

Awesome story. I'm tempted to pick up villain duties for this one even though I'm also villaining the Giant Size X-men game at the moment. If no one else grabs it I just might.

I'll take this one, looks very promising.

Do the tentacle heads still have the same powers and team abilities as the characters they're represented as?

Also, can the lengths of the tentacles cross themselves, or other tentacles?

While it's not my scenario, I would assume they do- except for they have no range.

Hmm, and if the body dies does everything else?

And when the body moves up a square, do all of the tentacles?
Or do they stay in their current spot until they're forced to move by the stretch of their length?

So for my first movement, would all of the tentacles move up forward a square, or would they hang back behind the body until they're absolutely forced to move?

And can they cross themselves and eachother?

1) Yes, the heads have the same powers as usual, just no range (no range for the body, either).

2) The tentacles CAN cross themselves. They also stay stuck to the body, so if the body moves, the tentacles have to stay connected. If moving the body requires you to move tentacles that are adjacent to an enemy figure, they need to break away for the body to move. Most of them have plasticity on purpose, as they can snake away from prey fairly easily.

3) If the body dies, the heads have enough life left to continue the fight. They may die before long, but they'll live long enough to finish this game. Though they can't move away from the body, so they're much less mobile.

Init: 4 (2,2)
Obj: 9 (5,4)

I'm going to be leaving town Wednesday for a flight to North Carolina to set up a table at the Heroes Convention for the weekend, so I probably won't be able to get much good gamin' in until next week. Just a heads up

Alright, gotcha.
By the way I send the rolls to myself, in case you ever need forwarding.
Like rolling three critical hits in a row or something.

Init: 1,6.
Obs: 5,3.

So with Debris, how are the extra objects added on?

*Sneaks in and looks around*

...Hello?

*blows dust off game board*

Hope this thing still works...

I'm all set. You place all remaining objects (2 HO, 3 LO) and take your first turn.
________________________________________


The Justice League:

1) [] V Icn Wonder Woman (10/10)
2) [] R Starro Aquaman (7/7)
3) [] Jason (R Atlantean Warrior) (4/4)
4) [] Tethys (R Atlantean Warrior) (4/4)
5) [] Hector (R Atlantean Warrior) (4/4)
6) [] Chryses (R Atlantean Warrior) (4/4)
7) [] Basil (R Atlantean Warrior) (4/4)

Vs.

The Kraken:

1) Body (Sentinel Alpha 3) (11/11)
2) Tentacle [Brown] (E Metamorpho) (7/7)
3) Tentacle [Black] (E Metamorpho) (7/7)
4) Tentacle [Red] (E Anaconda) (7/7)
5) Tentacle [Blue] (E Anaconda) (7/7)


Map: The Mall

Battlefield Condition: Atlantis Rising, Debris

Scenario Rules:

--> The Kraken and its tentacles are all part of the same creature. The Body is the base, and is the only piece that can move independently. Neither the body nor tentacles may make ranged attacks.

When moving the Kraken, special rules apply:

- If the body moves, the tentacles do not need to roll for breakaway. However, when the body reaches its new destination, if the tentacle head (the part which attacks) can remain adjacent to the opposing character they began the turn adjacent to, then they must do so (although they may be in a new square).

- If a tentacle moves, the first square of its length must remain adjacent to the body at all times, though they may swivel freely around its circumference (i.e. - there is no designated spot on the body each tentacle is assigned to).

- Movement for the tentacles is calculated based on the starting position of the tentacle head (the numbered circle.

The Tentacles have the following special rules:

- Only the head can be used to attack. The other sections (represented by colored blocks) must remain adjacent to each other at all times, and represent the length of the tentacle.

- Opposing characters must break away from any square of a tentacle’s length as if it were the head.

- The tentacles are considered to have the Aquatic movement type.[/quote]

End Post:

The ensuing battle was harrowing and drawn out. Aquaman felt his stomach sink each time one of his royal guard threw themselves between him and the kraken. Every time those gnarled jaws bit down, water being forced out in a rush, and he watched as a fresh gout of red drifted through the water, he rededicated himself to driving this beast out, if not killing it outright.

Diana was a vision. She was poetry in motion. Taking to the water as if born to it, she used the three dimensions of the room to her advantage, pushing off from walls and ceiling alike to propel herself missile-like through the water and into the openings in the defenses of the kraken that she could somehow always find. He didn’t know how she could do it, but it mattered little. She was breathtaking; as a hero, as an ambassador, and as a warrior. She had no equal in this world or the gods’.

His own style was much less artful. Rather to the point, he tore up pillars and drove them like spearheads into the beast at various points. He drew a blade from a fallen guardsman’s scabbard and hacked at the neck of one tentacle until the draconic head split free of the body in a torrent of crimson mist. Using the fog of gore as cover, he slipped in even closer to the body of the beast and drove his blade in deep.

“Tethys,” he told himself, naming the slain owner of the sword he now held. “I live because of Tethys. And you will not, monster. Back, d#mn you! Back to the hell that spawned you!”

He twisted the length of the sword’s blade inside the flank of the kraken. It wouldn’t be enough-- not yet. But that was alright, Aquaman told himself. He was almost looking forward to venting himself on this creature. He dug his bare fingers into its hide. He slid them along and underneath the thick, armor-like scales, ignoring the slices that opened on his hands from their razor-sharp edges. Then he began to push into the skin with his fingertips until he felt the flesh yield, buckle, and split.

Red filled his eyes, but he didn’t care. At that moment, he wasn’t fighting a mythical beast spawned by magic and cruel intent. He was seeing every malicious twist of fate in his life; all the loss, all the anger, all the hurt. Everything he’d given up and everything he’d had taken from him - and all of those who did the taking and the denying. And he saw himself.

His hands burst through the skin of the kraken and he felt its spine in his fists. He couldn’t see through the blood spray that filled and blackened the water all around him, so he couldn’t watch as Diana pressed her advantage, using the beast’s distraction and pain to slip in beneath and loop her divine lariat around its hind fin. She swam to the edge of the building and out the broken window, planting her feet on the wall on the other side. Then, with all the strength the gods had given her and all that she had given herself, she pulled. It was slow at first, but the kraken could not fight both Aquaman’s vicious attacks and Wonder Woman’s iron will all at once. It was simply too much.

Royal guardsmen continued to spear the beast even as it was wrenched backward with increasing speed and ripped out from the room. Aquaman felt the movement of water around him, but assumed it was just more thrashing of the desperate, distressed kraken. He was thus unprepared when the beast was hauled through the window and cast downward to the depths. Nor did he see the massive, jagged chasm that had opened in the ground below from which the kraken had emerged. He just kept tearing at the gaping wound in the kraken, beating back the gnashing, biting jaws of the remaining heads as they snapped and clawed at him.

Wonder Woman watched as the kraken tumbled down deeper and deeper into the blackness of the earth from which it came. She turned to go back inside when something caught her attention and she turned to look back over her shoulder again. There was movement down in the blackness, amid the swirling curls of blood and ichor drifting in large, looping spirals down deeper and deeper, like a tornado of black gore being swallowed by the abyss. Something dark swam against the downward spiral.

She gasped through her rebreather as Aquaman’s form emerged. His shirt was gone and pants badly torn, and he was bleeding from several slash wounds over his body. His face was grim.

He paused as he approached her, taking stock of how he looked, imagining what she must think of him. He looked her in the eyes, unable to stay. He didn’t speak until he had swam past her.

“Kraken are Poseidon’s pets,” he said. “Either a god unleashed this on us or one of his men. I intend to know which.”

“The amazons have some ties still with our patrons,” she said, coming to him and wanting to be helpful. “I can try to entreat Athena to find out if anything can be known.”

“Fine,” he said, then his shoulders tightened just slightly and his head turned, regretting his sharp tone. He softened and looked at her again. “Thank you. For your help. I need to bring the fallen home and see to their funerals. They died for me, and I intend to honor them.”

“That is good of you,” she nodded, smiling gently. “They died for me as well. What will you do about the Villa? The damage done…?”

“This place…” he looked around, then clenched his jaw. “Is ruined. I’ll not return. I won’t destroy it, but it will be left for the creatures to have. It is theirs, now.”

“But Orin,” she said, such sadness in her eyes that it hurt him to look there, though he could not look away. “This place-- I know what it meant to you. It was your respite, your sanctuary… it was... serenity.”

“Then serenity ends,” he said, hiding his heartache behind ice-green eyes.

He didn’t look back when he walked away.

The End.