Aquaman

Jackson Smyth was cold. To him it seemed like he had been cold for as long as he could remember. Sometimes he would even forget what it was like to be warm - to feel his toes as ten individual digits and not a single numbed mass.

He pulled his sleeves farther over his wrists to cover the thin strip of exposed skin between his gloves and his parka. The wind always managed to squeeze through that gap and chill his body to the bone. He shivered and smiled to himself as the wind picked that moment to increase in a blast of air and snow. Just in time, he thought to himself as he wiped the clinging dust like snow from his goggles and proceeded on his rounds. He hefted his rifle up to a more comfortable resting-place on his shoulder as he peaked over the top of an ice dune.

He had been wandering about the arctic northern polar region for the last four days on patrol of the new complex. His bosses at O.G.R.E. hadn’t even filled him in on what the base was for. Just that it was part of the grand scheme of taking back the globe from pollution and corrupt corporate rape of the Earth.

Smyth was all for that. His parents had been hippies and had raised him right. To care for the planet. But after forty years of failing more drastic measures sometimes had to be taken, Smyth thought to himself as he rechecked the clip on his weapon. It was designed to work in the cold environment but he had seen other guards’ weapons jam up on them. The snow got into everything.

It was his turn on guard duty, a position he tried to avoid. There was some panic about an intruder so they had increased security today. Smyth looked up, in the distance he could see his replacement coming. About time, he thought. I’m beginning to lose feeling in my soft organs.

“Sorry I’m late,” Hans said with his heavily accented voice. “The door on my barrack was frozen shut.”

“It’s the heating exhaust. Melts the ice on the roof which just freezes elsewhere,” Smyth muttered angrily.

Hans shrugged. “So have you heard who we’re on the watch for?” the Dutchlander said, skidding down the slope to Smyth.

“No,” he replied. “Who is it?”

“Aquaman,” Hans said with a laugh. “The Yankee water hero.”

Smyth smiled. “Well there are lots of fish for him to talk to here.”

The pair shielded their faces as the wind picked up with another sudden blast sending the powdered snow flying and dancing about the air in a fine mist. Hans waved his hands vainly a few times from habit to clear the air. “The boss said he’s coming. Aquaman bashed up some offices good and beat up that other guy, Ocean Master.”

“Most of those capes seem to just stand up for the man and the money,” Smyth growled. “But I always had the Fishman pegged as an alright guy. Protecting the seas and shit like that. Never thought he’d try to stop us.”

Hans laughed his trademarked belly laugh. “Well it no matter,” he said, hefting up his gun. “He’s a water man and this is ice country. He’d freeze in the time it would take to… to… to do something really fast.”

Smyth laughed and pulled his hood tighter, the wind was refusing to die down. “Brain frozen?”

“Maybe,” Hans said with another laugh. “I just take my time at life. No need to… rush… hey!”

“What?”

“Do you hear that?” Hans asked. He could have sworn he had heard footsteps.

Smyth spun around a few times. “I can’t hear much over this wind.”

“Would swear I heard someone.”

The wind slowly died down and the snow slowly settled fresh on the world. “See,” Smyth said waving his hand. “Nobody there.”

“Yeah,” Hans said. “I guess so.”

Then the ground began to shake under their feet. They looked down in shock and Smyth tried to aim his gun with shivering fingers. A gold hand smashed through the snow and grabbed Smyth by the leg and tossed him aside. Hans looked down as Aquaman tore his way out of the snow bank.

Hans frantically muttered, “OH- bummeln! Schlagen Sie mich mit einer Soße und rufen Sie mich Schwein an!” and raised his gun at Aquaman who just glared at him.

“I’ll…” Hans stammered, “I’ll shoot you where you stand. Kill you dead.”

“I’m sure you’ll try,” Aquaman said in perfect German while striding forward. “But you would have better luck pulling the trigger if you were not wearing such thick gloves.”

Hans looked down. No wonder he could not get his finger on the trigger. Hans swore and tried to brain Aquaman with the hilt. Aquaman slapped the gun casually form the thug’s grip and grabbed Hans by the collar and hauled him to eye level. “I have something to say to you and I want you to listen close. Understand?”

Hans frantically nodded. “Firstly I can survive in the cold very well. There is no sun at forty fathoms and it gets quite dark and cold.”

Hans nodded again in response and Aquaman continued. “And I am not a ‘Yankee water hero’. I’m Atlantean, not American.”

Aquaman tossed him aside and continued to the base.

Tempest swam as fast as he could one handed and with a limp unmoving body behind him. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Aquaboy said from behind Tempest as the older hero dragged the youth along.

“Don’t worry. When I was with the Titans we always ran off chasing villains at your age.”

“Yeah,” Aquaboy said trying to extricate himself from Tempest’s grip. “But how many died painful deaths?”

“We’re all still alive.”

“So you all never died?”

“Well… we never stayed dead.”

Aquaboy yanked himself free from Tempest. “Okay. Thanks for the offer but I think I’d rather be with Vulko studying about people who died thousands of years ago.”

Tempest stopped. “Look, I’m sorry to be dragging you along on this but I may need some back up.”

“Well then tell me the score. All of it!” Seren protested.

Tempest sighed. “Ocean Master escaped from Aquaman. Arthur is busy saving the world and can’t go after him, but we can.”

“Uh-huh. So this is all about some grunge match and brown nosing up to dad?”

Garth sighed. “It’s more than that. Last time Orm showed up he kidnapped my daughter before we even had time to give her a name. And now he’s free and out there scheming again. With my magical senses I can track him when he teleports. More or less. Especially at times like this when he’s hurt and in a hurry. If we rush I’ll still be able to hone in on him before he hurts anyone else.” Tempest’s hands balled up into fists.

Aquaboy shrugged. “As long as I’m in the loop I’m happy. Save Dad the trouble of having to track him down.”

Tempest smiled and the two swam off.

Aquaman stood over the unconscious bodies of four guards and examined their clothing. A few of them were his size.

He walked up to the door and checked the reinforced titanium entrance. It was built to be bombproof and would take several minutes of pounding to break through and definitely attract the unwanted attention of everyone in the base. The access lock was designed to require simultaneous presentation of passkeys to unlock the door. Aquaman picked up the key-cards and looked at them then at the readers ten feet apart.

He placed one card up against the reader and held out his other hand. He focused on his liquid metal hand and it distorted and stretched outward. He pushed it as far as it would reach and held the key-card up to the second reader.

There was an audible beep and the door clicked open. Aquaman dropped the keys and opened the door. Before it swung shut behind him he dragged the unconscious guard through.

Aquaman quickly pulled the uniform off the guard and slid it on. As a final touch he pulled his hair up into the toque. Leaving the guard nestled in a corner, Aquaman stealthily crept through the base.

The base itself was a large single storied square with a single thin tower protruding upward from the middle that radiated heat outward. As Aquaman worked his way closer to the middle he began to feel the vibrations through the floor and notice the increase in heat.

Aquaman stopped for a second and listened. He could the air being circulated but couldn’t make out the sound of heating vents. The tower itself was heating the complex. Strange, Aquaman thought to himself. If it is heating the base then what is heating it?

Down the metal corridors he heard the sound of several boots clicking hard against the metal floor. Aquaman looked about for a place to hide. No air ducts, no pipes on the roof, and no conveniently placed hall closets for cleaning supplies.

He only had one option. Bluff. He pulled himself up and straightened his stolen uniform. It was too early to risk being discovered. He had no idea how many guards there were.

Five people rounded the corner and walked officially towards him. Aquaman continued along and stepped to the side to let them continue. The quintet walked obliviously onward, the hard soles of their boots rhythmically clacking on the ground. Aquaman took a careful note of their uniforms. Half of them wore the same jumpsuit he was wearing that he had seen earlier in the first O.G.R.E. base he captured. The other two were wearing a different set of clothes that look familiar but that he just could not place. He knew he had seen them within the last six months, if not less.

The Sea King turned and continued along. One of the officers stopped for a second and raised his hard, motioning for the others to slow as well. He turned slowly and watched Aquaman walk down the hall. “Excuse me soldier,” he called out to Aquaman.

The Atlantean stopped. He inhaled deeply and carefully said “Yessir? What can I do for you?” in a perfect American accent.

The officer walked back and looked Aquaman up and down, “I was just wondering. You sounded different.”

“My voice?”

“Your walk,” the officer said, looking down. “Where are your winter boots?”

Aquaman followed the man’s gaze. He hadn’t bothered to put the other man’s boots on. They wouldn’t have fit over his own. He looked up and shrugged. “Funny story…”

With speed that would make the Flash blink Aquaman slammed the heel of his hand into the man’s temple, picked him up, and tossed him hard at another of the quintet.

The remaining upright three reached for weapons as Aquaman leapt forward. ‘Oh well,’ Aquaman thought as he snap-kicked one in the ribs. “Sneaking around was never really my style.’

Orm rolled his helmet about the desk a few times. He walked it spin around and around the large metal desk in the office of his submarine HQ. Months back, before he had powers, he had used the helmet to supply him with air underwater. Now it was just decorative.

He stopped the helmet where it was and picked it up in a ‘Yorick’ pose. It was almost not worth the time it would take to hammer the dents and dings out.

He looked down at his costume and the rips, tears, and bloodstains. For a minute he really envied Green Lantern. Then he felt his ribs for a bit. His magic was healing them nicely; they were almost completely patched up.

Ocean Master got up and stretched somewhat slowly and painfully. He thought it was a good time to take off for a vacation. Somewhere tropical. It had been established long ago that the best part about being an evil super villain was being able to set your own hours.

Orm sat down in the captain’s chair and powered up the engines. Then the entire sub pitched sideways.

“Damnation!” he exclaimed. “If I did not know better I would think that was my meddling brother. But he should be out saving the world!”

He ran to the nearest porthole and looked out. He reached it just in time to see the sperm whale making another charge. The sub rocked again and tilted onto its side.

Ocean Master picked himself off the wall and pulled his helmet on. Someone was asking for a fight.

The main hatch tore open with a surge of water that quickly flooded the main compartment of the submersible. Tempest slid in.

“Hello, OM,” he said with a grin. “Beat on any defenseless children lately?”

“No,” Orm replied with a grin. “But I get the feeling I’m about to.”

Tempest fired off an optic blast and dove quickly to the side, sending a wave of mystic energy out to freeze the water around the villain.

Ocean Master ducked to the side and focused his own magical energies in a counter-spell. He pushed off the ceiling and swam in the direction of the weapons locker.

Tempest bolted after him and with a wave of his hand raised the temperature of the water to near boiling levels. Ocean Master swore and fired off and energy blast backwards. Tempest ducked to the side and fired a blast back.

The purple bolt caught Ocean Master on the side, knocking him into the floor. Tempest shot forward and grabbed Ocean Master’s staff with a quick snatch.

Tempest twirled the staff around lazily as Ocean Master doubled over and fell down. “From what Arthur told me, without this you’re wracked with severe pain,” Tempest said with a grin.

Aquaboy swam up beside Tempest. “Is it over already? Did I miss it?”

Tempest shrugged. “He’s over-rated,” he said as he broke the staff over his knee. The golden rod crackled with green energy as it easily snapped in two. All the hairs on Garth’s hands stood up as the energy flowed softly about him. Ocean Master continued to writhe and moan of the ground.

Then he stopped suddenly and rose up. Tempest blinked in disbelief. “Oh the pain. The pain of it all,” Orm said slowly with a sly grin.

“But your staff…” Tempest stammered. “I have it.”

“Oh that.” Ocean Master said waving at the weapon. “I cut a sliver from the base ages ago. Had it surgically implanted in my abdomen,” he said, pulling up his shirt to show a thin fading scar.

Tempest looked at the base. There was a tiny notch cut from the bottom. “But…”

“Now I’m never without my staff. Even when someone else is holding it,” Ocean Master said, holding out his hand and making a fist. The two fragments of the staff exploded with jade energy and crackling green lightning bolts arced around Tempest. The young hero screamed in sudden pain as it felt like every inch of his body was being struck by flaming whips.

“What you are feeling is a counter rhythm being generated by my weapon. An energy pattern that was designed to cancel out your own magical powers like two waves crashing together,” Ocean Master explained, brushing himself off. “Something I cooked up in case I ever encountered you again. You will have to tell me what it is like, it did take long enough to figure out how to do.”

Tempest just howled in supreme pain unable to let go of the staff.

“Yay,” Ocean Master said with a grin. “I win.”

“Not while I’m here!!” Aquaboy said slamming into Ocean Master and smashing his right fist into the villain’s jaw.

Ocean Master sprawled backwards in surprise as the energy field around Tempest faded and the hero collapsed. Aquaboy pushed off the wall and rammed his left as hard as he could into Ocean Master’s belly.

“Ooof,” Orm muttered as his breath shot out. “Who the heck are you?”

Aquaboy pulled out his trident and extended it. “I’m the cavalry,” he said, knocking Ocean Master’s feet out from under him with a quick swipe. He raised the trident high. “Any last words?”

Ocean Master raised his hand and fired an energy blast straight into Aquaboy’s face. The youth screamed and staggered backward. Ocean Master rose and fired another point blank blast that sent Seren flying into the far wall.

“Be thankful I did not have my full staff. I can channel more energy the more of it I posses.”

Aquaboy just whimpered and clutched his face and ribs.

“And for the record, only villains are allowed to gloat before finishing someone off. It’s trademarked. You’ll be hearing from my lawyers. In the afterlife.”

Aquaboy rolled on the floor slightly and reached for his fallen trident. Ocean Master stomped on the youth’s hand and picked up the fallen weapon. He twirled it around a few times. “Nice heft. I suppose this is the part where I explain my evil scheme giving you time to recover and defeat me,” he said, walking over to Tempest and giving the unconscious hero a savage kick to the head.

“Oops. But I don’t have an evil scheme at the moment. You attacked me. Guess I’ll just have to kill you,” Ocean Master said putting the points of the trident against Aquaboy’s exposed neck.

The electro-net settled over the tentacles with a surge of electricity and a hail of sparks. Aquaman shielded his eyes from the exploding coils. He waved his hands to clear off the smoke and pulled the poison darts out of his leg. He was feeling slightly dizzy but that was to be expected. Luckily the poison was derived from puff fish which he was almost immune to.

He continued on towards the center of the complex. He made it three meters before the lights went out. ‘Too delayed to be a short in the power grid. They’re hoping to have an advantage in the dark.’ He thought.

He heard soft footsteps behind him and heard the faint hum from the nightvision goggles. They attacked quickly from all sides. They obviously had the advantage. For the ten seconds it took for Aquaman’s eyes to adapt to the near total darkness.

Six sharp blows later and Aquaman continued on. He stopped for a second and sniffed at his attackers. He stopped at the third on and searched the man’s pockets. Triumphantly he took his prize and continued on in darkness.

He reached a large metal door. With a kick he unlocked it and hauled it open. It opened to a large dark room. He heard them first. The click of a shell being chambered. He ducked to the side as bullets flew through the doorway. The projectiles hammered into the thin wall separating Aquaman from his assailants.

Aquaman growled to himself. They were well trained, firing in order so as to not let up, so someone was always firing while the rest were reloading. Aquaman pulled out what he had taken from the guard and flicked on the cigarette lighter.

There was a sudden howl as the attackers clutched at their eyes as the night-vision goggles amplified the light into a blinding brightness.

The Atlantean dashed across the room and tackled the nearest person. As he quickly moved to stun his foe he watched the other five staggered about pulling their goggles off and firing blind. Aquaman flipped over a spray of automatic bullets and tapped the reckless soldier quickly on the back of the skull. It took about as long to take out the other four.

Aquaman looked around the room and immediately saw the large double doors. He walked over and ran his fingers down them. It felt like three-inch titanium. He dug his fingers into the groove and began to pull. His muscles stretched and protested loudly as he slowly pulled the locked doors open. His fingers curved into the metal leaving twin rows of finger imprints. Inside the walls the door’s mechanism screeched metallically and shredded into loose springs and cogs. Light leaked out from the illuminated main room into the still black chamber. Aquaman gave one final tug and slipped through the crack between the doors and into the main room.

The heat struck him like a wave. It felt like warm water rolling out and embracing him. The heat was almost solid. It was a large circular room with a towering ceiling high above and catwalks crisscrossing the roof. Rows of computers, some Atlantean in style and other surfacer, filled the room. The main feature of the place was in the middle the chamber that was dominated by a large pillar that went from ceiling to floor.

Aquaman looked at the pillar. It entered a large hole in the center of the room boarded off by a thin railing. It continued down into the rock beneath the base. “Hmmm,” Aquaman muttered. “They’re using geothermal energy to melt the polar icecap. Less risk of radioactive fallout than my brother’s plan. How Eco-friendly and considerate of them.”

“Glad you approve,” an accented voice said from behind. Aquaman spun around. He had not heard anyone enter behind him. A metal blade shot towards the Sea King. He dived to the side as the rapier missed him by a fraction of an inch and instead struck into a computer desk.

The silver blade flashed again and Aquaman sidestepped as quickly as he could. The metal point scraped by his skin, cutting a thin papercut.

“So you’re behind all this,” Aquaman said, finally getting a look at his opponent.

“Surprised?”

“Mildly.” Aquaman replied, “I should have guessed. Someone would need as much reach and ‘limbs’ as a squid. Or an octopus. ‘Limbs’ like your experience, technology, and resources. They’d be essential to pull off a plan like this off. A plan that would eliminate most of mankind and leave you free to seize control of the globe.”

“And let the planet return to nature. Free from humanity’s rape,” the man said, raising the rapier in a formal fencing salute. “I believe this is the first time we have met face-to-face.”

Aquaman bowed his head slightly, “I believe it is. High King Orin of Atlantis. Aquaman.”

His opponent bowed with a flourish. “Ra’s Al Ghul. The demon’s head.”

Aquaman shifted his metal hand into a long thin blade. “I believe this is the part where we try to kill each other.”

“Yes. I do believe so,” the immortal said, assuming a dueling pose. “May the best man win.”

To Be Continued...

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