Tomb of Namor: Part 02

[OOC-All dialog and scenes come from Ultimate Fantastic Four #24. Dear god I'm deep in the Land art now...help me.]

Cramped as the sub is, Ben is doing his best not to move. Accidentally hitting Reed or Sue while they steer would be bad enough but if he upset the center of balance and sent them spinning? No he'll just sit here quietly, in the gradually darkening tight closet and try and make himself as small as he can.

"Twelve hundred fathoms and starting to feel the pressure, Doctor Storm. Even with Sue's force field…" Reed reports.

"You can turn back any time you want, Reed. If it all gets too much, you only have to say the word." Doctor Storm replies through the radio static.

"We can handle it," Sue replies calmly.

Five minutes–and two hundred fathoms–later, the headlamps of the deep sea submersible start to illuminate shapes. Nebulous at first but soon they become clearer; pyramids, obelisks, columns, buildings and towering above them all a massive sphinx nearly three times the size of the greatest pyramid at Giza.

"WOW!" Ben says forgetting himself and leaning forward. The whine of the motors increases as they automatically adjust for the pitch his shift in position has caused.

"Are you getting all this? Are the cameras still working?" Sue calls out.

"Recording everything you're seeing via the sub's cams." Doctor Storm says from the surface.

"I'm so proud of you, Susan. You've no idea how proud of you I am for this. I'd give anything to be down there with you right now. Anything…" the other Doctor Storm says. Ben looks over at Sue to gauge the affect of the praise from her long lost mother as he's still not convinced Sue is okay.

"We're suiting up now. Back in five minutes," is Sue's only reply. Once they are all suited up in the specially adapted deep sea suits (well Ben's suit is special but Reed doesn't really need one–aside from oxygen–and Sue is fine in standard issue), Sue switches on her helmet's radio and cam and reports, "Suits active, are you receiving?"

"Loud and clear."

They cycle through the pressurized chamber and turn on their helmet spotlights. As they decent into the water, Ben can't help but wonder at the near weightlessness he feels. It's almost like being in the space of the N-zone again and he can't help the thrill of excitement which takes him.

"Disengaged from Discovery Eight and following the signal to its source, Doctor Storm. Force fields are working fine, all instruments fully functioning." Reed reports.

"Roger that."

They follow the signal to the base of the sphinx and search around until Sue spots a blinking light. Carefully brushing away the sediment they study what appears to be some sort of electronic lock.

"What's the problem?" Dr. Storm says, impatient with the silence.

"I know this sounds weird, but there's some kind of digital lock on the door…like the ones we use for secure areas. I can't believe this thing's still working after nine thousand years." Sue says.

"Ben?"

"Already on it, doc. If you guys could clear a little space…" Ben says before he punches through the stone door. Who puts an electronic lock on a stone door?

"We're inside and getting some weird feedback. The signal's getting stronger, but the electronics are flickering on and off and I'm starting to feel a headache coming on," Sue says once everything settles.

"Defenses, most likely," Reed says. "Stick together and everything should be fine."

They continue past a few chambers, past walls covered in hieroglyphs and statues of seated pharaohs (with oddly pointed ears which remind Ben of Elrond) until they reach another locked doorway. Reed studies the writing and deciphers a cartouche as,"Namor?"

The last thing Ben hears before the whirlpool engulfs them is Sue screaming, "REED!"

Tomb of Namor: Part 03

Ben comes to and the waters are calm though the silt is still clouding the area. He feels an immense pressure and can barely lift himself but once he does, the block of debris rolls off him and he stands. Breathing is hard. His face plate is cracked and water is seeping in but that shouldn't matter as his suit is pressurized. Oh wait, if there's a crack that means it's not pressurized so much anymore. yeah, that migth be why he's having trouble breathing. Where are Reed and Sue?

"Reed? Sue? Anyone hear me?" he broadcasts and gets intermittent static for his trouble.

He looks around and finds them both knocked out (he hopes it's just knocked out) and their suits seemingly in good condition. He picks them up and carefully makes his way back to the sub. With his suit compromised he'll need to decompress before entering the cabin proper. He should probably decompress Sue and Reed as well, just in case their suits were damaged. Ben had studied the dangers of deep sea diving and the articles on rapid decompression really made an impression.

Ten minutes later and he pulls Reed and Sue into the cabin to strap them into the seats. He tries to fit himself into the pilots seat but won't fit. Crap.

Bending down he examines how it's anchored to the deck and then pinches off the nuts holding the bolts in place, careful not to damage the hull, and then lifts the chair to stow it in the pressure exchange chamber. Grabbing the joy stick, he experiments a bit to get the feel of the sub before activating the engines and beginning their accent. About four hundred fathoms later it occurs to him that the sub's radio might not be damaged and so flips it on.

"May day, may day. We are under attack by a super powered individual." the radio crackles.

Ah Hell, he thinks and carefully pushes the broadcast button. "This is Discovery Eight. Calvary's coming!"
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[OOC-The following dialog and scenes come from Ultimate Fantastic Four 25.]

By the time they've gotten to where they can see the hull of the boat, Reed and Sue have woken and the radio has been giving a very one sided rundown of Namor and Johnny's fight. And just in time to, as Johnny's body plunges into the ocean. Reed hits the autopilot homing signal, pops the emergency hatch and yells out, "Let's get Johnny. Forget about the sub, it'll find it's way home." He then stretches to catch Johnny's until Sue wraps him with a force field and melds it to the one with air she and Ben are rising in.

"Easy, little brother," Sue says as they continue to rise. Breaking the surface into a nasty squall of rain and wind, they can see Reed has engulfed a struggling body which is safe to assume is Namor. "Big, deep breaths…"

"Ben?" Reed calls out casually like they do this every day. Sue has already formed stepping discs for Ben and is moving him into position.

"I know, I know…" Ben says pulling back. "Clobberin' time." Namor goes limp and Sue pulls them all together into one large disc which floats to the research ship.

"Over here. Just a little closer. C'mon, hurry up!" Doctor Storm is calling to the deck hands.

"Don't worry, Professor. We managed to disable our royal friend without doing any permanent damage." Reed calls out.

"Never mind about him. It's you guys I was worried about." Doctor Storm says as he leaps across to Sue's force field to hug her and Johnny.

"Never scare me like that again. You hear me? Never scare me like that again."