A sea serpent at large [Dyses, Seagirl, Scientia]

"Why don't you just swim there? Or ride a dolphin?" The thick air of the sea did nothing to soften the questions Hanna always hated answering from everyone, including the captain of this ship.

In a few more minutes the ship would meet up with the voyage preparing to take them to find the fabled Sea Serpent. In all honesty, Hanna did not really believe in any mythical beast, but her expertise, and the fact someone actually wanted it, brought her to just off the coast of the United States. "Just because I can doesn't mean I should. Also, why are you turning down--"

"You call yourself Seagirl--"

"I get called Seagirl; I'm thinking--"

"But there are no seas in Australia." This statement from the Captain dug under her skin, because her whole life people talked to her about it; she really hated the publicist who said it was catchy and no one would correct it.

"I was actually wanting to change it to--"

"Hold up, end of the line Seagirl."

A ship appeared off the horizon. It still looked several hundred yards away, but Hanna needed time to warm up. "I'll see you in a few days. Maybe sooner." Hanna zipped up her wet suit over the bikini top and jumped over the side of the ship with her bag of goodies. It only took her a twenty seconds to swim the two hundred meters and come to the side of the ship where a ladder awaited her. She pulled herself up and threw her bag onto the ground. "So, who's up for a hunt?"

A car making a odd grinding noise drove up to the end of the dock before shutting off sigh what could almost be taken for a relieved sigh. Scientia stepped out of his beaten-up old car stretching and trying to rub a bit of the night before out of his head, not quite sure of what he was up against he had gone on a bender to recharge his magical batteries after stocking up on his herbs and such. Deciding to prep up he started by slinging his bastard sword over his shoulder followed by a backpack containing most of his usual items like a first-aid kit and some whiskey. Finally over his body he threw on his black cloak which while made it look like he had a bit of a hunched back he would rather have than not. Last thing to grab was a large dufflebag that he stored whatever items he thought that he might need for whatever might come his way, mostly it was herbs and other ritual items which Scientia hoped he really wouldn't need but would rather be safe than sorry.

Deciding he had everything that he planned on bringing with him he patted the hood of the car and walked up the gangplank onto the ship. "Permission to come aboard?"

A glossy red 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer rolled down to the wharf, parking in one of the few spaces left outside of the ship docking area. The car was beginning to age, but it had served its owner well, and would continue to do so until it made its way into that automobile heaven in the sky. A lone man, appearing to be in his mid-to-late twenties, emerged from the vehicle and gazed up at one of the larger ships in the vicinity, that matched the description he had been given.

Nathaniel stretched his legs, glancing around about him. It had been a rather long trip from New Orleans, his current place of residence, but if all things went according to the plan it would be well worth it. There was supposedly a reward to be offered for the job of...removing the so called “Sea Serpent” that was plaguing these waters. As he began his almost leisurely stroll towards the ship, another male, this one of a larger body frame, walked into him,and remarked with a growl the rather cliche line “Watch where you’re going punk”. Nathaniel replied with a smile, “My apologies sir, I hope I didn’t inconvenience you”. The man’s scowl softened by a fraction of a degree, and said “Make sure it doesn’t happen again.” They began to walk again in their respective directions, and, after a few dozen yards, the man yelped out in surprise, for his shoes had frozen solid around his feet.

Nathaniel smirked as he boarded the ship, and the man’s protests died behind him. He nodded to the other people already on the vessel, and looked towards the man in the white suit, as he appeared to be in charge of this venture. “Reporting for duty, Cap’n”.

"Yeah, I have a question that should be fairly important..." Hanna raised her hand to about shoulder length. "How exactly do we capture a sea serpent?" A big net sounded dumb, but it could come to it. "Do we want to take to shallow water so I can try and snare it with kelp, or do we try something else?" Nothing from Australia would ever make it across the ocean, so these people could actually hold some uncertain respect for her as a superheroine, so she did not want to throw all the distinction away in the first five minutes of meeting everyone.

"So, who am I working with?" Working with actual heroes would be a first for her, but so would fighting something outside of the realm of normal humanity. This caper needed some delicate work and open information for a strategy. "I've got smoke bombs, but I'm not sure what we can do with those underwater. I think the most important thing I've got are goggles that can see in deep water for several hundred meters. Tack on a pretty good swim time and I've got scouting under control.  We need to be able to see what it is we are trying to catch, or else it eats us." Hanna pulled out her goggles and pulled them down to her forehead, allowing her eyes to stay focused on the men around her. "So that and controlling kelp are what I'mm bringing."

The others she came with seemed like an odd collection, but she did not fit the normal standard herself, so she could only guess at to just how dangerous what awaited her really could be.

With permission to come onto the ship Scientia stepped aboard and put his dufflebag down to see the woman who had climbed up onto the ship wearing a wetsuit. He found himself doing a second take before getting back to what he was doing just in time to hear a man yelp, looking over he saw a rather burly man with his feet frozen to the docks. I didn't do that. Seeing another man walk away from the man then stepped onto the boat answered most of Scientia's questions. "I hope you plan on thawing him out."

Listening to the man in the white suit Scientia had a few questions of his won but first decided to answer the woman's questions first. "You may call me Scientia if you wish. As for my abilities there is no other way to say it, I have magic." He almost expected a laugh from the crew not knowing what the others knew about actual magic. "It allows me to throw a fair amount of damage as required but it also allows me to heal others if injury does occur." Scientia decided to not mention the possible side effects on himself partially because he hoped it would not be an issue but also because he did not know these people yet and did not know where things could in fact go.

Turning back to the man in the white suit he decided to ask a few question of his own. "I do sir, first and foremost who are you and why do you have an interest with this creature?" Scientia removed his backpack allowing his frame to straiten out better underneath his cloak. "Also how do you intend to attract the creature? You seem to know about where it is do you more about it then it's a creature of some sort that seems to have a thing for attacking boats?" Knowing you enemy is often half of the battle and they were quite close to walking into the unknown, anything information that could be glean ahead of time could be very useful.

“I do believe I have a question yes, and it is of utmost importance; where did you get that suit, and could I afford one with the reward offered for catching this overgrown snake?” This was (mostly) in jest, as anyone with an intelligence beyond that of the average third grader could tell, and was intended for both  slight comedic purpose and to gather information, for Nathaniel knew not the exact price upon this sea serpent, only that it was rather substantial. So was the result of being informed of such a venture by a friend of a friend, who you had met once at a tavern for French warlocks.

“Ah, but my good man, where would be the fun in that? He is still capable of movement, and his feet will naturally thaw within an hour, albeit soaked and sore.” Dyses said to the man with the duffel bag; while not fashionably appealing, at least it implied he had come well prepared, unlike Nathaniel who had not but the clothes upon his back and his “abilities” with him.

Addressing the woman, who looked almost vaguely familiar, he stated “The name is Nathaniel, Ma’am, and as I’m sure you will soon find I am quite a cool man, though after that slight display the fact may not be overly shocking”, and grinned at his own jokes, for which the reasoning behind would soon be, if not already, apparent.

His eyes widened at the man with the cloak, as he made what Nathaniel assumed to be a television reference. “Aha, a fellow fan of Merlin I see? While they got several things wrong, it is still an amazing show, and maybe we could reminisce about it after we make sail. Speaking of which, I assume we will be departing soon?”, the last part directed at Mr. White Suit.

Speaking now to the youngest member present,  “And, as you look not to be this man’s son, one could infer that you are a part of our fantastic little group. If so, if I may be so bold as to state, then I do so hope you bring a lot of power for your age, or at least how young you appear to be”, for one could never tell when dealing with those not of the plebeian variety.

"The wetsuit is one of a kind, mainly because I'm the only one who ever asked for it to be made. And, it's miss, not mam." Hanna said with no real hint of condemnation in light of the distraction coming out of the lower decks. "Is the little guy going to be our bait?" Standing over him by a good six inches, the question begged upon Hanna to ask.

Each of the other members all came up with good qualifications for their arrival on the ship, but the man running it seemed aloof. Saying you want something for purely scientific reasons normally goes the exact opposite way in the long run. But, for now, Hanna needed to stay focused on the two problems at hand: the first being the monster attacking innocent ships, and the second from not wanting to become the next meal for the monster.

"Well, we have something of a plan now. When do we set out?"

Scientia was skeptical of the man in the white suit's motive, humans as he found in general never just wanted to study something and somehow study always seemed to involve something being taken apart. Turning to Nathaniel when he mentioned Merlin confused, he had no had much time to watch television and so had no idea that he had even made a reference. The further comments suggested to Scientia that the man he was talking to was quite old for his appearance, something Scientia filed away for later. "Well yes I guess you could say that I am quite fond of Merlin's work and would enjoy discussing it with you if time allows."

Soon another member joined there hunting party, a young almost eager man with odd silver eyes and claims of being able to use dark energy. This was a concern for Scientia, when one cannot explain what kind of energy they were using it often was dangerous for those around them if not the person wielding it. "You wanna go into any greater detail on what 'weird dark energy' you may be using around us?"

Someone new had joined this oddly matched group of people, and, even though he did not appear to be very much, what with his small stature and choice of attire, any help they could get would probably be very beneficial to this venture. Because while Nathaniel may present a somewhat cocky image, he was not entirely sure that, based on what he had seen, they could capture the beast.

As such, he approached the newcomer and extended his hand, a formality not shown to any of the others aboard (though not as a display of disrespect). The newcomer simply seemed as if he would be the most receptive to the gesture; White Suit was too stiff, the kid appeared too quite, the man who claimed to have “Magic” was too creepy and the woman too...professional, almost, as if she had been at this for a while. “Glad to have you along; never know when you might need something punched”, Dyses said as he awaited the stranger in shorts to shake the extended hand.

"Wearing pink gets you not-eaten? Too bad it isn't Wednesday or I would've worn a better wet suit."  It would take more time than she thought. She in all honesty could just swim in the time it took them to get there, but getting to where a sea serpent was alone seemed foolish, and what did that kid say about 'dark magic'?

Maybe in a few stories from script writers they threw in some magic, but this guy should be on their side, and why would dark magic need to show up? Whatever may happen, Hanna wanted to make sure she took every precaution, so she prepared to enter the water behind the biggest guy and make sure there was someone behind her at all times.

You know, hero business.

Once in the water, Hanna would activate her goggles to try and spot a beast moving in the deep blue. Finding a cold blooded fish could take a while, but with no definite time table, Hanna assumed they could spare it. She continued to survey the area looking for any trace of the beast.

Scientia noted the snappy retort with a slight grimace but not much more, if the man did not want to share they may find out soon enough anyway. With all of the introductions out of the way and the ship headed out (plus an odd discussion of colors Scientia did not understand) Scientia began to try and work out the best way to deal with the situation at hand. Seagirl seemed well suited for the water but the rest were questionable once in the actual water, Scientia himself could swim but not faster than a hungry serpent. This meant that keeping the ship afloat would be important, however the possibility that the serpent would have some element of surprise with which it could damage the ship was within the odds of occurring.

As Seagirl entered the water Scientia formed what he hoped would be the best static defense with what he knew was available. "Nathaniel if you and the newest member of our little hunting party head down into the hull I think that would be most effective if the serpent attacks the hull directly. Your ability to freeze things can both patch up the ship if a tear occurs and can slow the serpent down which then I am sure our newest addition can land some solid blows against it. I'll stay up here, with any luck I can hold off its attacks long enough if it attacks head on for you two to come up and support me." The plan seemed solid enough and as an added bonus it kept the man with his "weird dark energy" at least a layer of steel away from him, he had nothing personally against the man but Scientia did not want to risk the man's dark energy causing his magic to cause any additional drain on his life force.