It’s Greek To Me
| It's Greek To Me | |
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| Dates run: | August 3-22, 2015 |
| Run By: | Cai |
| Read the logs: | It's Greek To Me |
I say we hit the thing again and break it completely. This is not worth the trouble. Unless your moronic brother has discovered more than 'water is still wet.
Contents
Cast
Clinton Barton, Namor, Kitty Pryde, Matt Murdock, Molly Hayes, Kyle Gibney, Billy Kaplan
Timing
Plot Summary
Kitty gets a request from her former employer, Rue Birling, to look into acquiring an artifact that’s recently become available on the black market. Allegedly, the artifact (something that looks very like component pieces of the Antikythera mechanism, only far better preserved) was part of a private collection. Kitty initially agrees to acquire the item, but then her conscience kicks in when she finally sees it and realizes it’s not actually Greek. Thanks to a run-in with Namor earlier in the summer, she realizes the artifact is actually Atlantean and, instead of giving it to her old boss, she gives it to Namor.
Namor asks Clint to take a look at the item to see if he can make it work, since he, himself, does not have experience with menial items. Clint agrees to help with the attempted repairs and asks Molly to assist, since he knows she’s familiar with mechanics and also otherworld tech. He also asks Wanda to check it to make sure it's not doing anything weird magically, then he snags his suitemate Billy to keep an eye on the artifact while he and Molly get to work. He and Molly tinker and tinker and tinker, sometimes forgetting to do simple things like eat or sleep. However, nothing much happens. After weeks of attempting to make the artifact work, everyone says the mechanism is broken, but Namor swears it’s not; it’s doing something subtle that indicates it can be repaired. Turns out it’s part of a wide-ranging set of similar mechanisms that were, once upon a time, used to create and maintain transport portals between Atlantis and its many varied trading partners. If he can repair it, Namor can use it to get to some of those other locations. Then Namor, frustrated that it isn’t functioning, hits the mechanism and suddenly it activates.
Only the artifact doesn’t create a visible portal to take anyone anywhere. Instead, it opens an unstable wormhole that Matt, in the lab because he brought the tinkerers lunch, can barely detect thanks to his heightened senses. It also begins to drop deep sea fish into the lab. Clint alerts the mansion's various security personnel that something is going on in the lab, but that it's under control. Matt helps Billy, Clint, Molly, and Namor as they try to save the fish. They call Kyle, since they need an aquarium (or several) large enough to contain the fish until they can get them back to their natural habitat. Matt, giving in to his curiosity, attempts to touch the wormhole that only he can see. His hand disappears and, on the other side, he finds... water. He's appropriately scolded, but before anyone can really lay into him... four green men fall through the wormhole, much the way the fish did initially.
They are Lemurians, a race of people who were trapped when the Atlantean portals stopped functioning and have, for thousands of years, been going slowly mad. They attack. Clint manages to break the device, shutting down the wormhole, but the group has to fight off the Lemurians. Kyle alerts mansion security to the arrival of hostiles, but the group actually manages to hold off and defeat the Lemurians without any casualties thanks to a good deal of on-the-fly cooperation. Molly's battle experience truly shines here, as does Billy's ability to contain enemies using electricity. Namor reveals that ancient Atlanteans looked down on the Lemurians. Once defeated, the group contains the Lemurians and Clint calls Coulson.
Molly and Clint transport the Lemurians to a neutral location, meeting Coulson and handing the hostiles off to SHIELD/SWORD since they’re violent, and will not be reasoned with. (Also, a show of good faith from the mansion/Clint re: his unofficial agreement with SHIELD.) The artifact, once everyone has been assured that it’s not at all active, and precautions are in place to make sure it won’t accidentally be activated again, is placed in ballistics gel, placed in a lead-lined box, and given to X-Force's 'weird shite' division for safe keeping.
Related Links
External Links
Trivia and Meta
Trivia
Before she came back to the mansion, Kitty had established a working relationship with Rue Birling, obtaining antiquities for her, no questions asked.
This plot was part of the establishment of the eXcalibur team.
Meta
Plotrunner: Cai
