Aquaman

The large grey metal depth charge exploded with a force capable of destroying a building. Luckily there were none around, just dozens of innocent fish and Atlantean submarines. Another charge floated down through the debris of the first. The Atlantean pilot gripped the weapon controls of his ship and fired a precision blast at the next charge. His sub shook violently and he was batted about from the resulting explosion. He saw red float past his head from where his temple had connected against the window. He swore and looked for another depth charge. The pilot grabbed his knife and carved another notch on his dashboard. One slit among many. The Atlantean military subs patrolled the area defending the cities from the US Naval fleet as best as they could. But it was easier to drop bombs than it was to shoot them down.

Another explosion rocked the pilot’s world, this one closer; he tasted the iron flavor of blood in his mouth. Another ship had detonated one just above him. He swore and tried to move. The ship sputtered and jerked clumsily through the water. Finally he flicked on the COM system.

“General Rodunn! I can see the belly of the surfacer’s ships. I have a clear shot. Let me return the favor!!”

The general fried at a depth charge of his own. “Save your ammo for the charges. The King wants the surface dwellers left unharmed.”

There was a loud explosion as a depth charge detonated too close to a sub, taking out the underwater vehicle. Its pilot floated limply through the crimson water.

“This is suicide!! They attack us but we can’t fight back! Our King should think more of his subject’s lives and less of the air-breathers’!”

Rodunn snarled his reply. “It is not our job to question our Monarch’s orders! We obey.”

The pilot swerved to the side hard to avoid a charge; the explosion cracked his windows and blew out his navigation systems, his ship began to float slowly down. He shook his head to clear his vision. “Dammit! If we weren’t so undermanned we’d at least stand a change of getting all the charges! But the King wants a fifth of the fleet to blockade some island speck on the map to prevent the air-breathers from poisoning themselves…”

Rodunn radioed for a medi-sub. He might have had that pilot under court-martial for insubordination if… if he didn’t agree himself. Why were they getting involved with matters that were none of their business? He turned and fired again and watched another explosion light up his vision reducing his sight to blackness for endless seconds. When the dark faded he looked at his remaining ammo and sighed. He gazed at the dark bellies of the destroyers above him, longing to adjust his gun sights.

Contrary to popular belief inspired by television and poorly written comic books, an air duct will not support the weight of a fully-grown adult human being. A skin and bones war orphan is one of the only humans capable of fitting, and not crashing through, these small ventilation systems. A 300+ pound Atlantean built like a brick waterproof outhouse has less of a chance.

Aquaman ducked down a side corridor at the sound of footsteps - hard metal floors and military style boots were his biggest allies right now. He looked around and jumped up, grabbing hold of the pipes that crisscrossed the ceilings. He held on firmly and pulled himself tight against the roof. At the last second he remembered his hair, twisted, and pulled it up. Three men in uniforms walked below him oblivious to his presence. Their uniforms were similar to the suits the captured submarine pilots had worn. Aquaman swung down and continued on slowly, vowing to remember to trim his hair.

He mentally checked on Tempest. The young hero ducked a volley of energy blasts and swum round firing blasts of his own. The youth’s purple eyes flared as he let loose his optic blasts at the rudder of the ship sending it swerving through the water out of control. That was four down, only three dozen left to go. He sighed.

Aquaman slid down the emergency ladders bypassing the too-public elevators. The base was impressive in size and continued several levels under ground. He hurried to the lower levels to see what he could find the bottom. He cracked open the security doors and slipped into a large room sticking to the shadows at the sides. He ducked down a slope and turned a corner and was almost knocked of his feet by surprise.

He stood at the entrance of a colossal chamber carved out of the rock of the sea floor. Several large groups of miners were digging downward expanding the chamber and hauling away the loose rubble. Several large automated drilling machines lay to the side and looked incredibly advanced for humans. Aquaman snuck down sticking to the shadows. He was used to feeling small, a spec in the boundless ocean depths, but this chamber still struck him as large. What had they done with all the ore they pulled out? he wondered. Was all this just some strip-mining operation?! All this built just to rob the oceans of its resources? He hadn’t really wanted to believe it before, or that it was just a minor operation, but the sheer immensity of the complex and resources put into the digging. He gripped his hands into fists. He though of who had the resources to fund an operation of this magnitude.

He crouched down and snuck farther into the room. This changed his plans slightly. He had to think quickly. He eyed the large drilling mole-machines and smiled. He had a plan.

The man sat at an impressive desk in a darkened room; the sole light came from a large window behind him obscuring his features in the glare. The sun was setting now creating more shadows in the room than light. There came a knock on the door.

“Enter,” the figure behind the desk monotoned.

A single figure in a business suit entered hesitantly. “Sir, we have a problem.”

“What is it?” he asked straightening in his chair.

“The undersea base has come under attack.”

“Aquaman?”

“No. It appears to be Tempest. Our submersibles have him outnumbered but…”

“Yes, yes. But he has them on the run. He would not have come alone. Aquaman must be in the base itself,” the man behind the desk said coldly. “Alert the security patrols and get everyone armed. Alert everyone in the base. Kill on sight.”

“Yessir,” the underling said, snapping alertly and running out of the room.

The man behind the desk frowned and tugged absently on his beard. He knew Aquaman would have gotten involved sooner or later, he had just hoped it would not be this early and that he would not have discovered the base until it was too late. Hopefully the base could be salvaged later, and they still had the scans they had gotten during the sub attack. He just wished his partner would stop underestimating Aquaman, he was too dangerous a foe. He loathed the idea of a partner but they needed each other. And now they could not be stopped. He stood up and looked at the sun setting behind skyscrapers. Soon, he thought. Soon all this will be gone.

The Security Chief flicked on his belt-radio as he ran to the armory. “Got my best men with me, Captain. We’ll soon find the fish-man in whatever puddle he’s hidden himself in.”

The Captain stood on the bridge several floors above and watched the icons on the main screen representing his subs slowly flicker out one at a time. “Be careful, Chief; remember what the boss has said about him. He's dangerous.”

The Chief sneered and keyed in the security pass-code to the armory. “He may be strong and tough but he ain’t bulletproof and as fast as he is he can’t out-swim a hollow-point.”

He laughed to himself and watched as the armory doors swung open revealing a large puddle on the floor. “Captain,” the Chief muttered. “I think he’s been here.”

The Captain frowned. “Don’t get paranoid on me. Anything missing?” He began to pace the bridge.

The Chief walked in; “Naw, looks like it’s all here. Guns, ammo, grenades, body armor, blasting caps… wait what are they doing here?!”

“What? I thought nothing was missing.” The Captain checked the base’s motion sensor and security cameras anxiously.

The Chief looked around; “I don’t see anything missing… except… except the pins…”

“Pins?”

“... from the grenades…” The Chief said running out of the room. “EVERYONE GET BACK!!!” The Chief bolted down the hall. The guards scrambled away as fast as they could. There was a thunderous explosion as the room went up in a fireball igniting all the blasting caps and setting off all the ammunition. Pipes burst and the gas main ruptured by a stray AP bullet. Floors above the Captain felt the entire base shake.

“Dammit! What else could go wrong?” he muttered watching every alarm go off at the same time. The sprinklers slowly kicked in.
Steam and smoke mingled through the hallways. The Chief limped painfully to the bridge, his body felt like it was on fire. It wasn’t, he had just finished putting the flames out. He heard motion behind him in the fog. Swearing, gunshots and punching. One of his best men flew out limply, his face already swelling. The Chief gritted his teeth, “Aquaman.”

The Captain nervously checked the clip on his berretta. This wasn’t what he had signed up for. He just wanted to make the world a better place.

There was the sound of metal bending and straining behind him as Aquaman forced his way onto the bridge.

The Captain looked at the angry Atlantean and his hand twitched toward his sidearm.

Aquaman frowned and shook his head. “That will just piss me off more.”

“Anything I can do to prevent you from beating the living crap out of me?”

“Nothing springs to mind,” Aquaman said striding forward. “With the possible exception of telling all your men to stand down and surrendering the base to the Atlantean people.”

“What do the Atlanteans want with an air filled base? They wouldn’t be able to brea…” the Captain’s protest was interrupted by a second rumble in the base that vibrated through the floor shaking everyone. “What was that?!”

“The automated drillers I turned on and aimed upward. They just reached the seabed. I imagine the lower levels are flooding quite quickly. I’d sound the evacuation warning if I were you.”

The Captain ran to the controls and bellowed into the mike. “All hands, evacuate now! Abandon ship!” He turned and looked at the sea king, “I’ll need to leave now too.”

“The base is only half flooded, can you seal off the lower deck to prevent the water spreading further?” Aquaman asked studying the schematics.

“Sure,” the captain said pushing some buttons. “That should keep the water for getting any higher. But I thought you’d just flood the entire place. Why?”

Aquaman glared at him; “I have my reasons. Now, about your bosses: who do you work fo…”

A loud crack broke the silence and Aquaman fell over. The security chief lowered his weapon, angry red burns covering half his body, his left arm hung limply and uselessly by his side. “That’s for my face you sunovabitch.”

Aquaman cradled his wounded shoulder and snarled. He rolled onto his feet and sprinted across the room in less than a second. The Chief raised the gun and fired again. Aquaman quickly twisted his body to the side, the bullet screaming past him missing by millimeters. The Chief froze, he had just dodged a bullet! Aquaman continued forward and slammed into the Chief, ramming him against the wall.

The Chief rammed his knee into Aquaman’s gut and swung a right hook for Aquaman’s jaw, using the butt of the gun as a club. The sea king’s hand blurred and caught the fist in a bone-crunching grip. He stood up and lifted the Chief off his feet by the hand. The Chief looked down and kicked Aquaman again in the ribs. The sea king didn’t even flinch.

Twisting, Aquaman tossed the Chief across the hall and into the far wall with a loud thud. The Atlantean strode back into the room. “Now, as I see it your men are bobbing about the middle of the ocean in escape pods. Limited food and water, potential exposure from the sun. Bad time for a pack of sharks to start swimming around wouldn’t it? All the blood in the water from the wounded in the subs would sure work them into a frenzy. Care to make a deal?”

The Oval Office smelled of lilac today. A different scent was lightly steam cleaned into the carpet every night. Lex Luthor sat behind his desk looking over expense reports on the current military action and the latest public opinion polls. He smiled to himself. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

His secretary poked her head through. “Um… sorry to bother you, Mr. President, but there is someone here to see you.”

“How many times have I told you I do not wish to disturbed?”

“He’s quite insistent. It’s about… urk…” she said as she was pulled gently out of the doorway.

Aquaman threw open the doors and strode angrily into the room. “Luthor!” he bellowed. He stood there dripping slightly, his shoulder still bleeding.

Several members of the secret service ran from down the hall while the black-clad members in the office reached for guns. Lex Luthor just smiled and raised his hand.

“I’m sure that if he wanted me dead I would already be that way.”

Aquaman glared at Luthor. “I want to speak with you. Alone.”

“There’s nothing you can say to me alone that you can’t say in front of the secret service.”

“Alone,” the sea king repeated. “I want to talk with you. Man to man. Forget this president/king business and all the billionaire/Leaguer baggage. Just the two of us.”

Luthor shrugged and waved his darkly dressed bodyguards out. “My personal bodyguard Mercy stays. We can talk freely in front of her.”

“Fair enough,” Aquaman said, waiting until the secret service left.

Luthor stood up and walked to the other side of his desk, “That carpet cost several hundred thousand dollars and you’re dripping all over it.”

Aquaman’s eyes never left Luthor.

Luthor looked up at the sea king and at his cold unflinching eyes staring coldly back at him and suddenly felt warm. Luthor shrugged it off and smiled calmly. “I put a hold on the assault when we received word of the base. We picked up the terrorists, although none of them are talking. But the technology these and subs match the description of those that attacked the U.S. Vern so Atlantis is off the hook this time. There is still the matter of Santa Prisca. Many vessels used it as a port to refuel and it’s costing a lot of people a lot of money to have to go elsewhere. I’m under a lot of pressure to open it up again. I trust we can come to some arrangement…”

Looking back Luthor couldn’t even remember seeing Aquaman’s arm move but the result was the same. The punch sent him sprawling across the desk sending papers flying everywhere. Lex landed with a thud face first on his chair that toppled backward onto the floor.

Mercy leapt across the room and prepared to tackle the sea king. Aquaman just turned and glared at her. She froze for just a second.

Luthor pulled himself up and wiped a thin trickle of blood from his mouth. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Mercy. He’s a little out of your league.” The president turned to Aquaman. “I could have you arrested and shot for that.”

“I’m a foreign dignitary subject to diplomatic immunity and a founding member of the Justice League. You can’t touch me. But as I said earlier, I’m neither now. Just a man responding to another average man who tried to hurt my friend and family.”

Luthor straightened his suit and tried to regain his composure. “Yes, yes. When things go bad you hit people. You have spent too much time with super people, haven’t you?”

Aquaman ignored his comment. “If you ever try anything like this with Atlantis again…”

Luthor grinned. “You’ll what? Kill me? Declare war on America? Blockade us from the oceans? We use planes so often we’d never notice except all those people who can’t afford them. Fishermen and the like. You’d only be hurting the little people here. The office door is that way,” Luthor said righting his chair.

Aquaman stormed out slamming the door behind him.

Luthor waited until he left before he rubbed his aching jaw, he was not about to give the bastard the satisfaction. He sat down, smiled, and began to reorganize his papers. Then he noticed the red stains on his chair blatantly standing out from the pale leather. “Damnation.”

Tempest entered the throne room of the royal palace and looked around for Aquaman. He found him on the balcony/entrance looking out at the city.

“Hey. We got out of that one pretty smoothly. Normally Poseidonis gets a few holes knocked in her when someone attacks,” Tempest said floating over.

Aquaman just leaned on the railing looking outward at the skyline.

“C’mon. Smile. Or get as close as you ever do. Only a handful of people were killed on either side. Almost none, actually. Doctors say they can help all but one or two of our troops,” Tempest said smiling.

“Except…”

“Except what?”

“I’ve seen how the soldiers look at me. Questioning my orders about the blockade and not firing back. Uniting Atlantis with Cerdia and the surface. My ruling on the O.G.R.E. sea base.”

“What did you do with that?”

“Turned the air-filled half over to S.T.A.R. labs for their underwater division. And our scientists are using the other half. Working together to help each other live in the other’s environment.”

“Why?” Tempest shrugged, hopping up to sit on the rail.

“Because Atlantis can no longer stand alone. The world is changing, it always is. If we don’t stop hiding under the water we’ll be forgotten and thought of as myth again. And no one else seems to realize this.”

“I see what you mean. All this was a result of someone trying to smuggle drugs here. I know we can’t ignore the surface.”

“And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men…”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s… it’s just something my father, the lighthouse keeper who raised me, used to tell me. A nursery rhyme.”

“Oh, Humpty Dumpty. Flash… Wally… used to tell me those. The egg man who fell off a wall and couldn’t be put back together.”

“A metaphor for things falling apart and being unable to stop them or fix them.”

Tempest looked off the balcony railing and no longer felt completely safe. He slid back on the floor, “I believe in you, Arthur. If anyone can do this, you can.”

“Yes.” Aquaman looked at all the buildings and all the reconstruction still being done to the beleaguered city. “You know in the original version, it was never mentioned Humpty Dumpty was an egg. That was just a creation of illustrators later on.”

“Ugh. That tale just got a lot more gruesome,” Tempest said grimacing.

“Yes. It would be hard to put Humpty together, wouldn’t it?” Aquaman said, forcing a smile.

The End...

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