Tempest Quinn is right; Lugia is far too large to dive the wreckage.

I will lure them elsewhere.

Gavin looks to Temp, uncertain if her telepathic message could be heard by him alone. Just in case, he says, "She'll distract them to give us time to explore. I can go with just these two."

He taps the steel of his own Dhelmise's anchor, and gestures with the other hand to the Lanturn who chitters anxiously in response.

Lugia swims close to the Dhelmise, then quickly banks to lead them away. Expecting he's meant to lead, since this is his challenge, Gavin hesitates only a moment before kicking off from the Dhelmise and diving down toward the buried wreck.

As expected, the Dhelmise want the larger prey for now; they go after Lugia, which leaves the two trainers and their pokemon.

The Mantine are still scattered but a few still flit about. If they get too close, Bubblebeams are shot at them, the pokemon angry still. They don't have long to make their choices before the hoard of them are together and they're back to square one. Good thing Cillian Quinn has picked up on this task and is leading; other than maybe the sting of a bubble, they get the hole safely enough.

The inside if bleak and dark, the shards of metal still sticking out like a sharp toothed mouth. It's large enough for both of them to fit inside easily, they will just need to be careful of the sides.

Please use the Roll command in your next post

Temp flicks his flashlight back on and shines in the hole, lighting up what looks to be a fairly modern ship. This hole looks like it might have once been a kitchen. It is eerie and still, most of the surfaces farther in covered in a thick green algae. He heads on inside, expecting Gavin to follow. A few doors are along one wall, directly south of them; the ship was on it's side, after all, so things were a bit topsy turvy.

As the white of Lugia's spines is swallowed by the dark of the ocean, Gavin's suppressed anxieties return. He forces himself to focus on breathing steady and slow, not wanting to waste his air supply when they had no idea how long they'd be down here.

Dhelmise counters the bubblebeams of their Mantine adversaries using its own WHIRLPOOL, drawing in the attacks with its current.

Anxieties aren't displaced when Gavin sees the sharp edges of the wreck jutting out like hungry claws reaching to spill blood. He swims slower than he might have if they were out of such danger, careful to forge a path through what appears to be the widest zones.

Following Temp into the kitchen, Lanturn swimming behind to ILLUMINATE their surroundings, he points to one of the doors and swims down to open it. Should it offer resistance, Dhelmise would use its ANCHOR SHOT to assist.

0KbOvON0
Tempest Quinn

The door resists. It creaks and groans but does not open, rusted shut. The Anchor Shot is needed but the ship lurches, suddenly, and it strays wide- crashing more into a wall than the door itself. A hole is made, in the end. The ship is quiet.

Temp shrugs and swims over to the hole, flashing his light inside of it.

"I don't see anything... here, watch me." Against what was probably better judgment, Temp pushes his head through. he manages to fit his torso inside, which means Cillian Quinn is blocked from seeing past him thanks to his behind. Temp pauses, though, dead still at whatever he sees.

"We gotta- woah! No!" Frantic kicking and muffled sounds of distress, then Temp is pulled through the hole.

It leaves a black emptiness where he was before, the hole now a yawning maw.

Gavin is alone.

Temp goes still, quiet, and Gavin's concern rises.

"What is it?"

In the instant that Temp is dragged into the dark, the gym challenge is forgotten. The shift from challenger to concerned boyfriend is immediate, and he doesn't even think to hesitate before plunging into the dark opening.

Scrambling to recall his Lanturn and send it back out on the other side, should he make it through unscathed, Gavin fights to control his breathing. Words of advice from his diving instructor are a scrambled mantra in his mind as he casts his gaze around.

"Temp?"

Tempest Quinn

There is some noise from beyond the hole, but it is muffled and quiet, drowned out by the thousands of pounds of water pressing down above them.

And should Cillian Quinn peer into the hole, even briefly, large eyes would look back.

Temp, too, would be there. Wrapped and tangled up in the tentacles of a massive Octillery. One of the tentacles covered his mouth, which he let out a muffled noises. Temp seemed nervous- but his eyes were wide and glued to something just out of Gavin's sight at that angle...

As panic seizes in his chest, the brush of her presence against his thoughts acts as a soothing balm to his terror. Too far to assist in battle but close enough to remind Gavin that this is her domain, that she'd be damned if her chosen were to die down here in the cold and dark.

You have done this hundreds of times.

But it's the first time Temp has been in danger, the tentacles of a large Octillery holding him at bay. Gavin's instincts are to protect, to assault the threat, but sharp amber eyes don't miss the way his partner's eyes fix on something behind.

Gavin whirls in the water to face whatever Temp has seen.

Tempest Quinn

Algae, thick and green, spreads like rot over the side of the ship. It comes from an eye, closed, small and sleeping.

From behind, a large red tentacle tries to grip Cillian Quinn, wrap around his waist and pull him through the hole.

Temp manages to tug the one over his mouth away.

"Gavin we need to get the fuck out of here!" Is hissed, his eyes still locked onto the algae and the eye. "That's a seedling Dhelmise! If we wake it up, it'll kill us!"

A red tentacle lashes toward him, and Gavin's instincts see him exude his miasma in an attempt to evade. Only... nothing happens. For the miasma is gale given form, a corrupted fog, and there is no wind beneath the water to exploit.

Fear grips him in earnest, now, and so too does the tentacle. It curles around his waist and drags him close, driving the breath from him as it squeezes tight. He struggles, eyes wide, and then there is steel in his hand. Before he was an avatar, he was a soldier. A weapon for Rocket, the knife an extension of his arm. He lashes out at the offending limb, blood and ink darkening the water in tandem.

A sharp signal is given with his free hand, and suddenly the Octillery would find herself gripping not Tempest Quinn, but Gavin's Dhelmise as it shimmers with the psychic energy of an ALLY SWITCH. The anchor vanishes with PHANTOM FORCE, reappearing outside of the gaping wound in the ship's hull.

Gavin kicks toward his partner, heart hammering wildly in his chest.

If they can get to Lugia, they'll be safe. He'll be safe. She won't let him drown. He will not die like this.

But neither will he leave his partner behind.

He tugs at Temp's arm and points toward where his Lanturn's ILLUMINATE marks their exit. "You first," he mouths. "I'll follow."

Tempest Quinn

Temp is dazed, suddenly free and teleported into open water. He still struggles and kicks for a moment before he realizes what happened.

The Dhelmise appears and startles him, for a moment, before he recognizes it as Cillian Quinn's.

"Guess we know why the Mantine were so pissed off!" He calls back to his boyfriend, starting to swim towards the exit.

But like a monster in a movie, the now enraged Octillery isn't giving up. She grabs for Gavin's ankle when they reach the mouth of the ship.

Another sharp hand signal, this one directed toward Lanturn.

The light that she'd been CHARGING to ILLUMINATE the exit is DISCHARGED, a blinding flashbang to throw off the Octillery's aim long enough for Gavin to swim free of her tentacled clutches. It's too dark to see, now, but Dhelmise curls the long chain of its anchor around Gavin's arm and he gropes for Temp in the gloom.

"Dhelmise can lead us out."

There are cries behind them as Lanturn stays back to hold the Octillery at bay as per Gavin's command.

As soon as they're out of the wreck, Lugia is waiting. Gavin is running out of air, his panic increasing the rate of its consumption no matter how hard he tries to regain control. He feels too weak, down here, too human.

Lugia doesn't speak, but Gavin feels her presence first in his mind and then physically as she nudges him with her snout. Taking the end of the Dhelmise's chain between her teeth, the leviathan pulls her wings close and cuts through the water with practised ease, pulling them toward the surface.

Tempest Quinn

Lugia makes Temp feel safe. He could never have the same deep bond with her that Cillian Quinn has but she's familiar. A guardian in the way the older women in his village were; stern and demanding respect but caring in their own way.

"Are you okay?" His hand reaches for Gavin's, tangles fingers together and squeezes.

They breach and Temp tears off his respirator.

"Ugh, that was terrible. I'm picking safer challenges from now on."

Gavin is not OK. He doesn't speak, for he's already down to the last few breaths of air. As they near the surface, his lungs begin to burn with the effort of holding his breath and his head starts to swim. Dark spots dance in his vision.

And then they breach the surface, and he tears off the respirator to take in large, choking breaths of air.

Lugia tucks her wings against her and curls her tail, looking not unlike an oversized duck covered in white spines as she rests upon the waves. Gavin clambers onto her back and focuses on breathing, his hands shaking violently.

His powers don't work underwater. How had he never tried until now?

Because he's never had to. Because though Lugia's presence made him feel safer beneath the waves, the ocean's deep was still somewhere he tried to avoid, especially in situations of life or death.

He's shivering, teeth chattering, but his grip is like a vise upon Temp's hand. He had forgotten all about the challenge. As soon as he'd seen his partner in danger, the only thing at stake for him had been their safety.

"I can't — underwater —"

But now, in the safety of the warm tropical air, the miasma swells around him with a flick of his wrist. He leans his head against Lugia's neck in silent thanks for her help; she only stares at him with her dark red eyes, blinking slow.

"Dhelmise can take us back," he says at last, when he's gained control of his breath.

The spectral anchor pokes its compass-eye above the water, watching.

Tempest Quinn