Aquaman

Aquaman's life began to flash before his eyes. Not really surprising seeing as he was mere moments away from a messy death. The day had begun with a trip to rescue his friend and team mate, J’onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, from where the alien was imprisoned by a secret society masquerading behind the front of an environmental organization known as O.G.R.E. The Oceano-Graphic Researchers and Environmentalists. J'onn had been ambushed and defeated because O.G.R.E. knew who he was and knew his weaknesses.

Together, the Justice Leaguers had tracked down the society's skyscraper headquarters in Metropolis where Aquaman found his half-brother, Orm, aka Ocean Master. Orm and Arthur shared a parent; the wizard Atlan was the father of both. Unlike Arthur, whose mother was an Atlantean queen, Orm's mother was an Inuit woman who raised Orm in a household of loathing, anger and hate.

Orm had repeatedly tried to kill Aquaman and take over Atlantis. He had even gone as far as to sell his soul to the arch-demon Neron in exchange for power in the form of a magic staff that unlocked his mystic potential. The catch was horrible facial scars, which he used magic to conceal, and the fact he could not let go of his staff without suffering crippling pain. It was generally agreed upon that Neron had gotten the better end of that arrangement.

After discovering his half-brother was responsible for O.G.R.E. and an attack on a US submarine the two entered into a brief struggle which ended when Orm tossed his brother out of a window atop the skyscraper.

Needless to say things were not looking up for Aquaman.

Orm looked out the window then reached into his belt and pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number on memory. "Hello," he said into the receiver as the familiar voice answered on the far end. "He's here. Or was. He just stepped out for a minute."

"Is he dead?" the voice on the far end of the electronic signal asked. The voice was strong and commanding but with the forgotten accent of another time and place long since passed on.

"Of course not."

"Fool," the voice said on the far end. "Can you not even be trusted to kill one second rate hero?"

Ocean Master sneered. "You are one to talk about failing to kill heroes. What is your excuse? Besides, you tried and failed to kill him once yourself."

There was silence on the other end. "Why are you calling me?"

"Things need to be accelerated. Start the process, if you haven't already, and push it to maximum. I want it to be up to my knees here by tonight."

Ocean Master's phone hung up and the oceanic terrorist smiled. Of all the people to antagonize, the person who he had just been talking to should be low on anyone's list. But some people were just asking for it. He turned around and looked out the shattered window.

Aquaman continued to hurtle to the ground. At times like this he wished he could fly. He was forever being carried in green energy constructs or wrapped around golden lassos. Flying would make things much easier. Especially after being thrown out of buildings. But he couldn't so he just had to make do.

Several options flickered through his mind, little easily dismissed mental moths. He could fire his harpoon at a building but with most being constructed out of steel, concrete and glass he could not be guaranteed to latch onto anything solid or it could conceivably hit someone. Likewise he could not simply control his ship, the Flying Fish, by remote and get it to him in time. He had triggered the remote already and above him he could see the ship following after him but the VTL mode was tragically slow.

He could see himself reflected in the speeding glass to his left. He was traveling too fast to see into any of the windows but his hearing could hear the gasps from inside as he fell past. For a second he wondered if people though of him as a suicide or a sign the stock market had taken a hit. Aquaman clenched his teeth and did what had to be done.

He raised his golden hook and drove it in through the glass. The thin but reinforced sheet gave way instantly. The glass shattered and splintered as he continued to fall carving a scar into the building. Fragments and shards of glass scattered about. Aquaman could feel it cutting and scraping into his skin.

His arm hit the concrete divider separating the floor of one story from the ceiling of the next. He spun around hard as his body was flipped about from the bone-jarring impact. Shockwaves rattled up his arm and violently shook every inch of his frame. His back slammed into the glass of the next floor and sent a spider's web of cracks spreading across the window. He continued to fall.

It took him forty feet to adjust his body enough to do it again. He rammed his harpoon into the glass again. He knew this wouldn't stop him, every story he would just hit the floor again and be spun around, flailing like a Stretch Armstrong doll. He would never slow down enough to survive the fall. He was just delaying the inevitable.

Delaying enough for the Flying Fish to get close enough to reach. Above him he could see it closing in. But so was the ground, and it seemed to be moving much faster.

Aquaboy crossed his arms and looked at Vulko with a look that said 'this history stuff is the single most boring event of my life, and I've had super-villains tie me up and go over their insane schemes for hours and hours.'

Vulko hadn't noticed and continued his lecture on Arion the Immortal and ancient Atlantis. "He did much on a small peninsula of the continent that stayed above the waves for longer before it too finally sank beneath the waves. Then he had a child known as Kara, who, according to legend, was supposedly sent through time in a crystal vessel to become the hero known as Pow… I sense you are not paying attention..."

"Who gives a crap?" Aquaboy muttered. "I know as a king I should know this stuff, but how does it relate to me? All the people involved are long dead and buried and this stuff has nothing to do with today!"

Vulko thought a second. "What of Kordax? That took place in the very far past and has relevance in the present. You are blonde and suffer his 'curse.’ Has no one ever told you about him?"

"He was evil. And controlled sea-life."

"He was more than that. At the time of the sinking there were two brothers. Orin, who your father is named after, and Shalako. Orin was a technocrat and helped create the formula that let Atlanteans breathe underwater. He was also responsible for the dome over the city. His brother was a member of the religious order and eventually turned to the dark gods of Atlantis. He was the one who cursed the Tritons with fish legs. They killed him for that, and his family. Except for his son, Dardanus."

"And this has to do with Kordax how?"

Vulko ignored him. "Orin had a daughter named Cora who took over the throne from him. On her wedding night, the vengeful Dardanus came to Poseidonis and raped her."

Seren gasped. "But their father's were brothers! That would mean they were cousins! Ewww!"

"Their son was Kordax. Green scaled and able to force fish to obey his will. Your father asks for help, he does not order. He declared himself king at the coronation of Cora's second child, her first with her actual husband. This led to a war that engulfed all of Atlantis. It pitted Poseidonis against Tritonis. Many were killed. He was banished and had his left hand cut off."

Seren blinked. "I heard he came back or something. A few years ago."

Vulko nodded. "He had himself frozen in time and awoke a year ago during a dark time of recent history. Your father faced him down and proved his will was stronger than Kordax's - that Aquaman's mind was the stronger."

Seren nodded. "Okay. That'll keep my interest going for another hour or so. What happened after the war?"

Ocean Master's phone hung up and the oceanic terrorist smiled. He knew what he had to do now. He didn't like it but he still had to do it if he wanted to claim victory. He turned around and looked out the shattered window.

He looked out and saw only a sleek Atlantean cruiser shooting up the side of the building with the King of the Sea crouched angrily on the tip of the ship. Ocean Master backed away from the window as the Flying Fish sped upward. It curved back into the building and made a smooth turn to face directly at Orm. The large flying submarine cracked and shattered the few remaining windows as it forcibly entered. The curved metal front sped forward at the villain at lethal ramming speed. Ocean Master quickly raised his staff and focused his magical energy around him in a bubble of power. The ship crashed into the energy barrier like a cement truck into a beach ball. The field held as Ocean Master smashed through the far wall of his office. He tore through the drywall and ripped through three walls before he came to a stop. Employees scattered in every direction away from the impact zone. Ocean Master shakily rose to his feet. The air was thick and heavy with drywall dust. All he could see was the billowing gray cloud. He looked about franticly for his brother. All he saw was white, and then the shadow materialized. The Flying Fish smashed through the building heading right for Ocean Master. Aquaman leapt off the front and tackled his half-brother at a hundred miles and hour. The collided hard into the far wall and shattered through like it was made of dead leaves. They slammed into a desk in the far room sending a computer crashing to the floor in a shower of sparks and shards of former desk wood.

Ocean Master spun around and fired a blast of crackling magical energy out of his staff. Aquaman twisted to the side and the energy took out the far wall with an emerald explosion. Aquaman pulled out the Trident of Poseidon and thrust the three points at his archenemy. Ocean Master threw up his own staff to block the deadly blow. The twin metal staffs struck with a thunderous sound of metal striking metal. The two magical weapons flared with energy as they struck. Two opposing energies crackled with power like vinegar mixing with baking soda.

Ocean Master twisted to the right and pulled the trident to the side and slammed his fist into Aquaman's unprotected side. Aquaman ignored the blow and backhanded his brother as hard as he could.

Ocean Master was flung hard across the room where he scattered cubicle walls like dominos. He slid across a desk scattering papers. Aquaman dashed after him and leapt at his foe. Ocean Master rolled to the side at the last second and the Sea King landed on the desk, reducing it to a splintered memory.

Ocean Master swung his staff at Aquaman's legs and caught him behind the knees, knocking the Atlantean over. Aquaman flipped as he fell and landed in a crouch. He pushed off the floor and tackled his opponent. They rolled across the floor punching and kicking, scattering disturbed pens and pencils across the floor.

Ocean Master got his foot up and slammed it hard into Aquaman's chest with a surge of magical energy. There was a brief aura of energy and with a blast the Sea King was sent flying across the floor. He connected with a filing cabinet, knocking it over and denting the thin steel like it was an aluminum can.

Ocean Master concentrated his power again as he ran forward and punched Aquaman in the gut. The physical blow was paired with the magical and Aquaman was lifted so high into the air his spine connected with the roof, shattering the plaster ceiling tiles. He fell the eight feet back to the ground with a thud.

Ocean Master raised his fist and swung it down at the injured hero. Aquaman pushed off to the side and the blow grazed his head, catching only hair. The dark stench of burning carpet filled the office as Orm's fist blasted through the rug and concrete floor.

Aquaman stood up, backed a safe distance away and brushed himself off. "You can't win, Orm."

Ocean Master flicked powdered drywall off his dark purple cloak. "I beg to differ." He noticed a long rip in his cape and he sighed loudly.

Aquaman rubbed his left arm. It was covered with long shallow cuts and crimson blood ran from it dripping on the carpet. He could feel the shards of glass under the skin of his arm and back and all throughout his hair. "What do you hope to accomplish, especially from the attack on the submarine? War between Atlantis and the surface?"

"Oh please, dear brother," Orm said snidely. "Nothing quite so boring. I intend to rule the oceans, as I always do, but this time I plan to take out any competition on land first."

"How exactly do you plan to do that? A revolution led by stoned hippies?"

"By flooding the world."

Aquaman blinked. "You're not serious."

"I am quite serious. All the major cities in the world are by the coasts of seas, rivers, or oceans. For trade purposes, sources of fresh water and the like, originally. Flood the world and you lose Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles and many, many more. The rest of the world of man will fall soon after."

"You have no base though, no where to co-ordinate events. And no subs to co-ordinate; I saw to that earlier. It's all under Atlantean control now."

"No underwater base. The majority of my fleet was constructed on what is currently land. I have the largest fleet of submarines in the world. Using pirated advanced Atlantean tech, of course. They will easily crush your armies and what remains of the surfacer's forces and quickly seize control of the world's oceans. You've already lost."

Aquaman leapt forward as Ocean Master fired another energy blast. The bolt sheared through the air and impacted harmlessly on a storage closet. Aquaman slammed his metal fist hard into Orm's chest, sending the villain staggering backwards in pain. Ocean Master raised his staff and filled the room with a blinding light. Aquaman attempted to shield his eyes from the sudden visual assault.

He staggered backwards, suddenly blinded. Orm smiled beneath the tinted lenses of his helmet. "I am not in this venture alone either," he said as he took careful aim at the stunned hero and fired and point-blank energy blast that sent Aquaman sprawling backwards. "Someone who is funding my operations and paid for the construction of the ships as well as donating his own advanced technology. He had the resources to set this up and build the replacement to the nuclear powered device I wanted to use to flood the world." He fired again knocking Aquaman back down to the ground. Aquaman tried to see Orm but all he saw was a spinning gray blur. "That's why I attacked the sub. I needed its reactor." Orm stood over the fallen hero and put the tip of his staff to the back of Aquaman's head and fired again.

With blinding speed Aquaman rolled to the left and dodged the final blast. He could smell his hair singeing from the bolt. "You always did talk too much!" he snarled as he leapt forward and struck Orm with an uppercut to the face. Orm flew backwards into a photocopier, cracking the plastic device with his impact. The villain spat blood angrily and felt his face. His nose was shattered and sticking to an impossible angle at the side.

Aquaman sped forward, closing the gap between them in a fraction of a second. Ocean Master dived to the side to avoid the sudden assault. Aquaman spun around and looked for his foe. He blinked a few times to help clear his vision, he was already beginning to get a blurry view of the devastated office space. He could just make out the purple blur in the middle of all of the gray.

Ocean Master straightened himself up. He could feel the power that flowed through his veins, power he was impotent to tap and use without a tool or focus, such as the staff that increased his power to its maximum potential. Ocean Master began to focus his thoughts through his staff. A green glow surrounded him as he spun his staff around himself. The energy flowed around him like water and spun around him like a satellite. His staff stopped and he clicked the end on the carpeted floor with an audible tap. There was a flash of light and five more Ocean Masters stepped from the light and surrounded Aquaman.

The Sea King looked about and saw he now faced six identical foes. He turned and slowly spun around to examine each. He smirked. "You weren't satisfied with one beating? You want a half-dozen more?"

The Ocean Masters smiled beneath their curved and jagged helmets. "Only one of us is solid," they all said in unison, "but we can all hurt you." They finished as their staffs collectively began to pulse green and form a circle of death around Aquaman.

The staffs released their paranormal payload in six lethal blasts. Aquaman ducked to the ground and rolled to the side. The blasts followed him, cutting and arc of destruction and fire through the floor and carpet.

Aquaman ducked to the side and tested the claim. His harpoon shot through the head of one of the phantom Ocean Masters. He ducked and felt the heat from the return fire scald his back.

"Stand still and die already," the Ocean Masters deadpanned. "You can't win. We're an unstoppable mystic force. A magical many armed being. Like a Karaken."

Aquaman leapt between two of the Ocean Masters and dived behind a large desk. The Justice Leaguer quickly flipped over the desk onto its side. Blasts struck like hammer blows shattering into the wood. Energy bolts blasted through, easily sending debris and splinters flying.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the villains said taking a semi circular position around the desk. Aquaman flipped over the desk and landed in a crouch.

"Shut up and fight," he said grimily. The Ocean Masters smiled and took careful aim at their target. Aquaman adjusted his ears and listened carefully. Echolocation works through sound reflecting off of solid objects. It was more accurate underwater but in a tight spot Aquaman could use it on land. Only one of the Ocean Masters bounced sound back.

All six fired as one. Aquaman pushed off the ground as hard as he could and struck the ceiling. He twisted his body half a second before he hit the roof and pushed off the tiled roof with all his might. He slammed into the real Ocean Master like a bowling ball off a building. The concrete and drywall floor gave way and they fell down a story to the next floor. With a loud crash they landed uncomfortably on a large fax machine, shattering it and the desk it was on.

They lay limply side-by-side as bits and pieces of the ceiling rained down on them in a hail of plaster, drywall and fragments of tile.

Aquaman rolled to the side and quickly hopped to his feet. Ocean Master grunted and rolled over. He limply held onto his staff with weak and tired hands and used it to push himself to his feet. His magic flowed through him, slowly healing him as it went. He would be fine in a few minutes…if he had a few minutes, that was.

Aquaman struck him with a right hook, slamming him back to the ground. The blow cracked Ocean Master's jaw like a rock striking a coconut. The helmet flew off and slid across the floor. Aquaman hauled his half-brother up to face level by the cape. "How are you flooding the world?" he snarled.

Orm smiled through red teeth. "Melting the polar ice caps, of course," he said slowly through his wounded mouth. He casually triggered the wrist-mounted dagger built into his bracers. He rammed the thin point as deep as it would go into Aquaman's side.

Aquaman howled in sudden pain and fell backwards, letting his brother fall. Ocean Master slid to the side and scooped up his helmet and put it back on. Aquaman pushed hard against the small wound to stop the bleeding. It wasn't large but it was deep.

Ocean Master made a sudden lunge forward, aiming for Aquaman's head. Aquaman's hand shot up and caught the blade. He brought his other elbow down hard on Ocean Master's arm. There was a loud wet snap as the bone snapped followed by a metallic crack as the blade broke off.

Ocean Master howled in sudden pain and jumped back, clenching his arm tight against his chest like a bird nursing an injured wing.

Aquaman half watched as the staff glowed green softly and Ocean Master's arm began to heal while he watched. A force dome quickly appeared over the villain. Aquaman punched it a few times with all the effect of beating a bank vault with a steak. Aquaman backed away and picked Poseidon's Trident out of a pile of debris.

Ocean Master blinked in disbelief as the triple pronged weapon slammed into the field. Aquaman pushed harder and the artifact began sliding slowly though. Electrical energy crackled around in all directions from the damaged field.

"You can't do this!!" Ocean Master protested.

"Watch me!" Aquaman snarled and gave one last push. The field collapsed in a bust of light. Aquaman staggered backwards as all the hair was singed off his arms.

Ocean Master collapsed, weakened from the loss of energy. He smiled to himself.

Aquaman rose grimily and tightened his grip on the weapon. "This ends now," he said.

"Yes, it does," Ocean Master said. "I've delayed you long enough. The polar ice caps should be melting already." He focused what was left of his strength though his staff and pushed himself through space.

Aquaman rushed forward when he saw his foe fading away. He thrust his hands out but they passed through the teleporting body.

He saw the grin widen on his half brother's face as he transported away.

Aquaman cursed loudly and put his fist through the nearest wall. It didn't matter though. He would have another chance. Ocean Master was never away for long, and his scheme was still in motion.

Aquaman rose and brushed the dust and dried blood off his skin and made his way back to his ship. He didn't know how much time he had before the ecological damage would be irreversible, before the water level rose too much and the flooding started.

To Be Continued...

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