JLU 2001 Fanfiction - Aquaman #9

King of the Seven Seas.....

"Akisaqtuq"

Aquaman #9 - September, Year One

by Mark "Puff" Anderson

The South Atlantic;

A wake on the surface betrayed Arthur’s presence. He swam at his top speed towards Hy-Brasil. He neared the Devil’s Deep. The spot had many names the Devil’s Trench or the Devil’s Abyss, where Leviathan’s great dead body lay. The quickest route from Atlantis to Hy-Brasil was across the Deep.

As the sea floor dropped away below him, he could feel the regard of Leviathan from far below.

“Soon, you bastard,” Orin projected. “Soon you are going to get yours. So swears the King of the Sea.”

A distant voice whispered back to him, “Sooner than you think, little sea king.”

Hy-Brasil;

A crystal ball sat on a table in a dark room with walls of dark-veined stone. Ocean Master sat at the table while Black Manta stood off to one side. Both villains stared into the depths of the ball.

Leviathan’s voice issued directly into their minds, “The time is ripe. Finish this.”

The Ocean Master nodded and dropped a cloth over the globe lest some wandering servant see the unholy light and wonder what his new master was up to.

Manta moved across the room pulling a cord to summon a servant.

An ornate gilded door opened. “You rang, Lord High Guardian?” the servant asked bowing toward Orm.

The Ocean Master looked the dapple-skinned mantoid over. “Bring me the prisoner. Then, clear the palace,” he commanded.

“By your command, Lord High Guardian,” the servant responded bowing his head as he backed out of the room.

Manta looked down at the cloth-covered globe, and then glanced at the Ocean Master.

Orm regarded him. “What?” He questioned.

“We are creating a threat that will vie with us for supremacy, ” Manta said.

Orm shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he said. “This will strike at Orin’s heart though. In a way that hasn’t happened since you killed the child.”

“The enemy of my enemy…” Manta began and trailed off.

Orm nodded as the two master villains stared at the shrouded globe as they pondered what the future may hold.

Atlantis;

The Royal Council Chambers were resplendent. Vulko had had them dressed in full coronation and celebration fashion. He stood to the side of the throne in the full purple cloak of his office as Royal Advisor.

Dolphin entered in response to Vulko’s official summons.

The two Atlantean marines who had escorted her stopped at the door taking up positions to both sides of the entrance. They shut the doors as she passed through into the chamber.

“Mistress Dolphin,’ Vulko intoned stepping forward and offering her his hand.

She took his hand. “Lord Vulko?” She responded uncertainly.

“The King has requested that I extend a request and royal appointment to you,” he said. “King Orin is away on a mission. He requests that you take the position of Regent Absentia of Atlantis to rule in his stead whenever he is beyond the walls of the city.”[1]

Dolphin goggled briefly. “I… I…” she said then swallowed.

Vulko smiled a grandfatherly smile. “I will be here to help you,” he said. He clasped her hand between both of his. “Always.”

She took a deep breath. Her hand squeezed his. “Yes,” she responded.

The Temple of Shalako;

The wizened old High Priest stared at a small screen. The micro-camera planted in the Council Chamber told him what he needed to know.

He shook his head. “She is unacceptable as well, Vulko,” he rasped out angrily as he spied on the offer taking place. “She has the taint of the surface world upon her.”

A voice from the shadows asked, “So, we will go ahead?’

“Aye, Crom One-Eye. I summoned you and my reasons are still right. The Church of Shalako will place you upon the throne, with the stipulation that from this day forward you resume your Atlantean visage,” the old priest paused, “Karshon.”

Crom’s multi-layered teeth gleamed as he smiled. He stepped forward morphing his features as he did. When he stepped into the light, he appeared as a brown-haired, blue-eyed Atlantean male of about 35. A purple tunic covered his frame. A large silver shark emblem adorned his chest.

He smiled a toothy grin. “The House of Karshon accepts the invitation of the Priests of Shalako,” he said.

The old priest regarded him for a moment and, then spoke the treasonous words, “Welcome home, my king.”

Hy-Brasil;

Koryak was dragged into the chamber and dropped in a heap on the floor.

Ocean Master motioned the Hy-Brasilian manta men to leave.

“By your command,” they responded leaving the room sealing the door behind them.

Koryak weakened from the many tortures he had undergone at the hands of the two super villains struggled to raise his head. Sitting back on his haunches, he managed to glare at Orm.

Orm sat at the table. His hand rested lightly on the cloth-covered crystal ball. The other held the staff that caused him such great pain whenever he let it go, a gift from Neron when he amped villains the world over.

The half-mantoid Black Manta loomed behind the Ocean Master. [2]

“So what this time, dear uncle,” Koryak spat. “More fun and games with the mystical staff. Or will the fake Hy-Brasilian beat on me some more.”

“No, my nephew,” Orm responded grimly. “I’m afraid the games are at an end.”

He twitched aside the cloth covering the crystal ball.

An unhealthy green light radiated into the room. A scabrous, rheumy great green eye glared out of the globe.

“Ah,” not a voice but a thought that penetrated all three of them emanated from the ancient entity.

A bright pulse of green energy struck from the eye mashing Koryak flat. Green energy danced in lightning bolts up and down his torso, before flaring so brightly that both Orm and Manta had to look away.

When they looked back, Koryak sat with his face in his hands still down on his knees where he had fallen when the convulsions shook him.

The crystal globe on the table had gone dark. Globules ran across the table where parts of the globe had melted away.

Manta stepped around the table. “Koryak?” he asked.

Slowly, the hands dropped and the head rose. Glowing green eyes stared at him. “No more,” a deep voice answered.

The two super villains drew back. They recognized this new voice though they had never heard it speak aloud.

Koryak’s body flexed its hand turning it to look at the veins in the back.

“Forevermore, I am Akisaqtuq, the Living Revenge,” he said. [3]

The South Atlantic;

Aquaman neared the far side of Devil’s Deep.

He had felt Leviathan voyeuristically staring up at him all the way across. He half-expected a pseudopodal tendril to reach up and drag him into the depths, but it never came.

He felt Leviathan’s oppressive psychic stare blink off. He felt instantly lighter as if the sun had just broke through heavy clouds.

As he crossed the edge of the Deep over onto the higher plateau of the surrounding sea floor, he telepathically sent, “Better keep an eye on me, Leviathan. You never know what we short-lived beasts may be plotting.”

Orin glanced over his shoulder furrowing his brow. He had expected a response. The creature seemed to live for someone to speak to it, acknowledge it, and argue with it.

Shaking his head, Aquaman bore on toward Hy-Brasil.

BACKSTORY:

1. Orin tasked Vulko with this last issue, JLU-2001 Aquaman #8.

2. Both, the Ocean Master and Black Manta, were modified by Neron in the Underworld Unleashed storyline in the mainstream DCU.

3. Pronounced A-kiss-ka-tuck. It’s Inupiat for revenge.