The sewers of Bludhaven were an uncomfortable and unwelcome place for the rats and insects that made their home there. It was a precarious ecosystem thriving on the waste of the city above. Areas of explosive or toxic gas or inhospitable water kept visitors to a minimum. Usually.

Aquaman swum angrily about the small pool that could soon be his tomb. He had chased an escaped Atlantean criminal into these sewers only to fall pray for a crudely designed death trap. A flare had been triggered igniting the lair of oil atop the drainage pool the sea king was in.

A short distance away, down the far corridor across the now flaming pool, Wight 'Shark' Bisbet listened carefully. Every nerve in his body told him to run far and fast away but he had to know if his trap had worked. He could not afford to live in fear and his curiosity demanded satisfaction.

The flare had gone off perfectly. Getting the supplies on the run had been tricky but the harbor he passed when he entered the sewer had everything he required.

Bisbet smiled. He had won. Aquaman was either burning or effectively drowning in water. He felt the urge to laugh manically. Then he heard something behind him.

"You should have kept running while you had the chance," a gruff voice said.

Bisbet spun around. A very dirty Aquaman rounded the corner into the enclosure Bisbet had hidden in.

"But… but you're supposed to be dead," Bisbet said, amazed and barely choking out the words with the enclosure adding a strange echo to his voice. "There was no way you could have survived the blaze."

"You're new at this so I won't hold the flaws in your trap against you," Aquaman said, walking into the room. "I just covered myself in the mud in the bottom of the pool. Shielded me from the fire."

Bisbet thought about that for a second. "Damn. Hadn't thought about that. Looks like it’s Plan B instead." He quickly reached under a nearby pipe and pulled out a large gatling gun. Aquaman stopped in his tracks. Bisbet was too far away to risk tackling. He dove backwards around the corner he came from.

The mini-gun sprang to life releasing a blaze of flame from its six rotating barrels as bullets tore apart the walls. Brick chips and mortar flew in every direction as lead sprayed the room. "This is so much fun!" Bisbet called over the roar of the chain-gun, "No wonder everyone uses tommy-guns in the movies." Aquaman stood motionless, covered by the wall as several bullets blew though his shelter missing him by scant inches.

Bisbet released the trigger and the spinning barrels slowed to a stop. "I love this gun. Over 100 rounds a second. 7.62 caliber. Surface dwellers sure know how to make guns," he said happily. "You know normal humans can't even use one, they're for mounted combat only. The recoil would take their arms off. Good thing I'm strong enough to survive several miles of pressure."

"You know something?" Aquaman growled. "It's obvious you were a teacher. You love the sound of your voice."

He rolled out harpoon first. The golden weapon fired like an arrow out from his hand. Bisbet tried to adjust the aim of the unwieldy weapon but the harpoon struck first, lodging itself firmly into the machinery. Bisbet squeezed the trigger hopefully. The motor squealed in protest before something gave way and the gun semi-exploded sending Bisbet onto his ass. The ruined gatling gun fell to the floor in a crash of metal, smoke pouring from the twisted electric motor.

"You were talking when you should have been finishing me off," Aquaman said, closing the distance between the two of them, "You might make it as a super villain yet, Bisbet."

"I am Wight Shark!" Bisbet snarled, "And I am already a criminal mastermind.”

"You're a teacher with delusions of grandeur."

"I was smart enough to position myself to deal with the likes of you!" Bisbet cried melodramatically while raising his right hand threateningly.

Aquaman's eyes flew open and he ducked to the side. His mind felt the sudden psychic feedback as Bisbet unleashed his telekinesis. The mental force rushed past him like a wave of heat and struck its target on the far wall. A large pipe cracked, buckled, and shook before exploding outward. Steam tore through the weakened metal like it was paper and boiling hot water vapor filled the room. Aquaman was thrown against the far wall by the force of the jet blast.

He groggily fought against the burning steam that filled the room, stinging at his skin. His eyes streamed with tears and all he could hear was the hiss of the steam and Bisbet's laughter.

"I was a professor. That means I'm not stupid," Bisbet called out, his voice echoing in the room.

Aquaman spun around trying to find the source of the voice. The steam parted for a second and Bisbet's fist connected hard with Aquaman's left jaw. Pain blossomed through his face. Bisbet continued laughing and moving, "I've memorized the area so I don't need to see to hit you. And as I'm Atlantean I'm as strong as you are!" he said, punching Aquaman hard in the kidneys. The Sea King smirked confidently to himself. The average Atlantean was strong. Bisbet could probably bench-press a ton. But Aquaman was not an average Atlantean.

Aquaman spun around looking for his opponent. He smiled to himself. "You don't know how strong I really am. And as I reminded one person today I don't need to see you to know where you are!" He quickly found his target and his harpoon shot out and buried itself deep into Bisbet's shoulder.

Bisbet's howl of pain became a mental cry as a blast of psychic force hurled Aquaman against the wall. Bricks cracked from the force of the impact and the wind was blown out of his lungs. Bisbet cradled his wounded arm and sprinted off down the corridor Aquaman had come from.

Ignoring the pain, Aquaman grinned. He had found the flaw in Bisbet's power. He was a powerful telekinetic but could only loosely control the power. He could only use it like a club, not a scalpel. Getting quickly to his feet Aquaman took off in pursuit. As he ran his harpoon switched to the default prosthetic hand.

He caught up to Bisbet by the still burning pool, the flames just beginning to die down. The injured criminal frantically lashed out with his mind. The mental push swept the top layer of burning sludge back down the corridor directly at Aquaman. Sprinting forward, the sea king quickly crouched down and leapt over the wave of smoldering gunk. The flames licked across his belly, only stinging his flesh.

The jump easily spanned the distance between the two and Aquaman collided hard with Bisbet, tackling him and knocking both into the pool. Aquaman drove his right fist hard into Bisbet's belly while hooking his metal hand into the fugitive's face. Bisbet went limp.

Tossing the dazed criminal on the sewer floor Aquaman pulled himself from the pool. He picked up Bisbet and slammed him against the wall. "I want to know how you got the TK and you're going to tell me, Bisbet," he growled through clenched teeth.

The criminal coughed hard and blood flecked on his lips. "That's Wight Shark. And I'm no stoolie."

Aquaman brought his face inches away from Bisbet's. "Surface dwellers can afford to not be 'stoolies'. They have rights. But Atlantis is a monarchy and my will is law. You are nothing if I say you are! And you will tell me what I want to know!" To emphasize his point he placed his harpoon to Bisbet's temple. "How?"

Bisbet began to sweat, "You… you wouldn't!"

"Try me," Aquaman scowled moving his face closer to Bisbet's while making a growl he had picked up from a certain Dark Knight.

Bisbet's will broke. "It was a chemical. Some new drug. I don't know who makes it. Smuggled in. Supposed to give people psychic powers. They wanted to see what it would do to someone who had latent psychic powers…"

Aquaman snarled. He hated drugs. Another example of the surface world tainting his own. "Who smuggled it in? WHO?!"

Bisbet told him. Aquaman's grip slipped slightly from memories of pain and anger, loss and hate. "What?" he gasped.

Bisbet blinked and repeated what he had told Aquaman. "I said the drug was smuggled in for me by Black Manta."

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To Be Continued...

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