The Savage Aquaman
Atlantic Ocean, Cargo Ship: Wayne's Cause, 9:09 PM
“I really need to reconsider my career choices.” Kitrina Falcone thought, as she felt herself being dragged up the steep steel steps. Her face was covered over with a black hood, so she couldn’t see where she was going, but judging by the smell in the air, and the strong breeze. She could venture a guess that she was being brought up onto the main deck of the ship. It was amazing how things had went south so fast, not like she had ever really been north of the crap line of life anyway.
She was a long way from Gotham, and if she ventured her second guess about this whole ordeal, she was in the middle of the Atlantic somewhere. She sure had picked a hell of a place to get caught, and she started to feel a bit nauseous. She had no clue how to get out of this one.
After she had recovered from her ordeal with Hush, and her bastard of an uncle a year ago, she began investigating just what happened to the Falcone fortune. A lot of it had been mob money that had been used to fund her family’s not so legal business ventures. Turned out the majority of it had been seized by the G.C.P.D. and a lot of it was being siphoned off by the joke of a bureaucracy that made up the Gotham City Council. That money, she would be unable to touch for some time, but she had also found out that some of her grandfather’s old lapdogs had managed to run off with some of the goods. Turned out those goods were over a quarter billion dollars in fake gold.
Though the actual product itself was worthless as far as it’s physical value was concerned, but from a monetary standpoint, but if you sold the stuff to the right buyer, you could make off with enough money to buy up at least fifty-five percent of Gotham. By the time the guy you jipped found out that the gold was fake, the feds would be banging down their doors instead of your own. It wasn’t a bad plan, but when Kitrina found out she had come all the way out into the middle of the Atlantic for some fools gold, she immediately started wishing she had took up Selina on her offer to head back to school.
The guy heading the operation was one of grandpa’s old hired hands. A creep name Christopher Castillo. Castillo wore too much gold, and and used too much hair grease, but when it came to getting his hands dirty there was no one better. He had once been known as one of the best hitmen out of Italy, but a run in with Selina a long time ago hurt his reputation pretty bad. Back then people called him “the Blond”.
She had only seen him once before when she was a little girl, and when she first realized that it was him heading the smuggling operation on the ship she had been afraid that he would have recognized her, but during the whole entire week she had been on the ship he had not once glanced in her direction. It wasn’t till an hour ago that she thought she might be able to trace the shipment to its destination, track the payment, and walk away with what rightfully belong to her. She had been careless though, and she didn’t notice when someone had walked up behind her.
Her head was still reeling from where the she had been hit. This was turning out to be what happened with Hush all over again. She wouldn’t let that happen again though. She would find a way out.
There was all kind of commotion going on around her now, and she heard Calisto speak.
“Hang her up, where I can see her.” he said. Kitrina felt herself being lifted up, and the ropes that bound her hands hung on what she could only guess was a hook, and she could hear the waves of the ocean crashing against the side of the ship below.
“What is it about my life where creepos like to tie me up and dangle me over water?” she thought to herself. “Do I look like the damsel in distress type?”
“Take the bag off.” Castillo spat.
Good they weren’t going to cut to the chase and drown her. That gave her some time to figure a way out of this, and maybe even give her time to figure out the quickest way to give the boss man a very unpleasant face lift.
The hood was ripped off her head, and the one of the lights on the ship blinded her temporarily. When her vision came back she quickly picked up on the fact that she was outnumbered, and outgunned. There were at least ten guys all armed with assault weapons, and Calisto himself was packing a cannon.
“I thought I recognized your face.” Castillo said as he walked up to the side of the ship, “You’re old Carmine’s grandchild. I never expected to see you here, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are. Now do you mind telling me why you’re here, signorina?”
“I’m running away with the circus, isn’t it obvious?” Kitrina teased. “From the looks of things, it looks like I’ve hit the jackpot. This some kind of hazing ritual? What’s next going to hang my panties from the flagpole?”
“You think you’re being cute,” Castillo spat, and put the barrel of his forty-cal ruger up against her head, “, but I am not amused little girl. Now tell me why you’re here, or I’ll just go ahead and throw you off the side now.”
“Alright, since you asked so nicely.” Kitrina groaned and rolled her eyes, “After gramps and the rest of the fam bit the dust, the cash sort of went all over the place. Well, you see a girl like me can’t live off scraps, so I just came to get what’s rightfully mine. Happy now?”
Castillo stood silent for a moment, a puzzlement covering his face, and then suddenly his face twisted into laughter.
“Signoria, are you stupid or something? You really expect me to believe that you came all the way out here, and actually planned to run off with my money?”
“I don’t know you tell me, or has all the hair gel you’re using in that outdated mop on your head has soaked into your brain.” Castillo pulled back his hand and slammed the butt of his gun against the side of her head.
“I wouldn’t do that again.” She growled as she shook off the hit. Suddenly, Castillo grabbed her hair and pulled her forward.
“What was that?”
“I said,” Kitrina said through gritted teeth, trying to block out the pain, “why don’t you indulge me. Where are you guys heading with the shipment of gold. You’re about to kill me anyway, so why don’t you grant me this as a last request.”
“How about I don’t.” Castillo pulled back the slide back on the gun, and placed it up against her forehead. It was time to apply the waterworks.
“Wait!” She screamed, “Please just don’t kill me.You look like you like a young girl. I’ll let you do whatever you want with me. Just please don’t kill me!” She cried frantically, but on the inside she felt her skin crawl, and the words tasted like bile in her mouth. She had no idea how Selina could pull of the skanky sleaze thing so easily.
“Nice try, but I prefer a real woman.” Castillo said, and at this Kitrina cut the desperate girl act off like a light, and her look was replaced sheer annoyance.
“Oh this is just, bullshit” she spat. Little did Castillo know, Kitrina had been wearing gloves that had diamond cutting tips that shredded the ropes holding her. As soon as her hands were free she grabbed Callisto and twisted him around, and manipulated his hands and arm where he fired off three rounds into two of his own men. She ripped the gun from Castillo’s grasp, pushed him away from her towards his own men. and left four gashes across his face. A customary cat gesture she had learned from Selina.
Her next moves had to be done quickly or the escape attempt would be futile. She pulled smoke pellets from inside her pockets, and threw them down obscuring her from view, and ran off towards the shipping crates to hide. She would have to take them all out one by one if there was any hope of getting through this. Of course there was the fact that she just so happened to be in the middle of the Atlantic, and it was probably just her against the whole entire ship. She had seen Under Siege though, and if Steven Segal could pull it off then she shouldn’t have any problems.
Suddenly the ship rocked violently, as it though the several thousand ton vessel had been brought to a sudden and complete stop. Kitrina was thrown from her hiding place up against the wall. Chaos was all around her. Screams came from all over, and some of the cargo was falling over the side of the ship. Alarms blared all across the ship, and it appeared that Castillo’s men were no longer paying attention to her. When the search lights came on and shined out she could see why, and what she saw next sent chills across her body. Giant pillars of water towered above the ship, roaring as the water gushed up and fell back down over the crest.
Another pillar rose up above the deck, but it looked like someone was standing on top of this one. At first she thought all those hits to the head earlier were messing with her, but when a man leapt from the water and onto the deck, she knew that all of this was actually happening. The man was dressed in some kind of strange violet armor that reminded her of fish scales. He also wore a helmet that covered most of his face, and a trident was in his hand.
“Great,” Kitrina thought, “Aquaman’s here. Well, there goes the money, and I’m being saved by fishman. Man, Selina’s never going to let me live this down.”
At first she was about to sit down, and wait for everything to play out, but what happened next caught her attention.
“You are trespassing in Atlantean waters!” Aquaman shouted. The helmet on his head began to separated and collapsed around his shoulders revealing cold blue eyes and dark hair, “Turn your vessel around and leave now, or you shall face the wrath of Atlantis.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” One of Castillo’s men spat.
“You think we’re afraid of a little water fish boy?” Another chimed in and leveled his rifle at him, “Light him up!”
The gunman didn’t even have time to open fire before Aquaman closed in on him and grabbed his arm, and lifted it up where the rounds passed harmlessly overhead. Aquaman was inches away from the gunman’s face and glared into his victim’s eyes.
“Surface-Dwellers.” Kitrina heard Aquaman groan, and then her eyes went wide as he ripped the man’s arm off. Blood went everywhere, and the gunman’s screams filled her ears. Kitrina was frozen to the spot. She couldn’t move. All she could do was watch as the carnage unfolded.
Aquaman threw the arm away, and then grabbed the screaming man and used him as a shield as the others opened fire. The trident came soaring out from behind the bullet ridden corpse and impaled one of the other men in the face. Aquaman’s helmet reformed itself around his head, and suddenly the ship began to shake violently. Water washed up over the sides and began washing everything off the deck. A wall of water slammed into Kitrina, and she had to grab a hold of the railing, so she wouldn’t fall over the side. The water was ice cold, and she was soaked to the bone. She started to shiver, but she forced herself to move anyway despite the cold. She knew she had to get as far away from this ship as possible, because everything told her that this place was completely screwed.
She looked around trying to find any kind of emergency life raft, but she wasn’t having any luck. The ship screeched as the water pounded against it’s side, and suddenly the deck exploded as a jet stream of ocean water came bursting through the floor. It rocked the boat so hard that it threw Kitrina over the side, but she managed to grab hold railing. Unfortunately she had not been able to keep herself from looking down. The ship wasn’t even in the water anymore, but was instead above it.
Jet streams of water were rising up out of the ocean like tentacles, and they had wrapped themselves around the hull of the ship. Some of the tendrils had pierced the hull, and were working themselves through the insides of the ship ripping it apart. Kitrina hauled herself back over the railing, and onto what was left of the deck. Then she caught sight of Aquaman again. Those who were still hanging onto the ship that got in his way were mercilessly beaten, had their bones smashed, their necks twisted and broken, or were grabbed and thrown through the air like pebbles.
Kitrina’s felt her legs and hands start to tremble. She looked into the black eyes of Aquaman’s helmet, and knew right away that this wasn’t Aquaman. Aquaman was a hero. Heroes didn’t do things like this. Suddenly it became hard to breathe. This evil savage Aquaman was just a few feet from her and looking right at her. She was about to die. He was going to walk right up to her, and kill her. She was going to die. She fell to her knees and tears started to stream from her eyes. She didn’t want to die.
“Please. Please no.” She began to beg. This was nothing like Hush. This was even more terrifying than anything Hush had done. At least with Hush there had been pain, but with this creature that now stood directly in front of her only inches away, granted her only terror. Then all of a sudden the dark lenses retreated back into the helmet revealing the piercing blue eyes of the man behind the mask once more. The eyes were still cold and piercing, but unlike before they were no longer empty. Though, she couldn’t explain how, she stopped shivering. As a matter of fact the entire world seemed to stop as Aquaman gazed down at her. Then she knew that this monster, despite what he had done to those other men, would not to kill her.
“Hmph,” Aquaman snorted as he turned his back to her and looked up at the top deck of the ship just above the bridge. He squatted down and in one solid leap jumped all the way to the top of the ship. She saw him stand up and hold his hand up to the dark night sky. From the darkness his trident soared into his hands. The star lit sky began to darken with clouds, and thunder began to rumble. The wind began to pick up, and lightning began to arc from the sky. Aquaman gave a loud roar as the lightning descended from the heavens and struck the trident. Lightning flew from the trident and began tearing at the ship and burning the men left alive..
It was because of the load roar of the thunder and waves, that Kitrina never heard the gunshot. Her body rocked violently as the the bullet ripped through her abdomen. She looked up the see the crazed face of Castillo pointing the gun directly at her. He grinned from ear to ear, as he fired off four more shots. Each one of them ripping through her chest and stomach.
She couldn’t feel anything anymore, and her body fell backwards over the railing. The last thing she saw was a lightning bolt vaporize the Blond before she blacked out. She never felt her body hit the water, nor saw the water around her turn crimson as blood poured from the five bullet wounds. She didn’t feel any pain, or sadness. She didn’t even feel the angels come and take her. It was funny how dying and going to heaven sure felt a lot like nothing, if that was where she was going.
Then there was a brief moment, where she saw the angel that took her up out of the darkness. She couldn’t remember much about the angel except that it had blue eyes.
Unknown Island, 9:49 PM
“That’s it…” a deep voice echoed just outside the darkness. Llight began to pierce the veil “Come now…Breathe...Fight it. The deep shall not claim you this night.”
Suddenly Kitrina felt life race though her again, and pain racked her entire being. She couldn’t control her body. Spasms raced through every limb. She gasped for air, but despite her efforts air would not fill her lungs. She lay there twisting and turning trying to breathe.
“Stay still!” A voice shouted, and then suddenly something slammed into her chest, and the air came rushing in. The coughs shook her entire body, and the cold night air entered her lungs, but as soon as it did the pain came. She cried out, and tears streaked down her face. She had no idea what was going on, or where she was. Everything hurt, and it wouldn't stop. All that there was to reassure her was the voice of a man, and though she could not quite explain why his voice seemed to comfort her.
“The bullets are still inside. I have to get them out. This will hurt. A lot.” he said, and then the pain intensified and Kitrina no longer wanted to be in her own skin. It felt like she was being ripped apart. She could taste blood in her mouth, and feel it in her nose. Her eyes were wide open now, staring up at the night sky. She screamed out so loud that the only thing that filled her sense where her own screams. The pain seemed to go on and on; like it would never end when all of a sudden it eased.
Her entire body still hurt, but nothing like it had been. Her arms and legs trembled. She began to breathe normally, and though it hurt to a point she could now do so without feeling like her chest was going to explode. All of a sudden she felt really tired, and it was starting to get really hard to hold her eyes open.
“You’ll live. Try not move, help shall be here shortly.” The man spoke up again, but suddenly it was no longer comforting, but deep and gruff, like it belonged to someone who was annoyed and very, very angry.
This man, whoever he was, saved her. Brought her back from the dead, and she could hear him walking away. She moved her head trying to find the man who had saved her, but all she could see were the waves crashing up onto the shore.
Her entire body throbbed, and she couldn’t hold her eyes open any longer. Though she couldn’t see them, she heard the sound of running feet rush up to her, and and move around her. One of them knelt down next to her and touched the bullet wounds. Kitrina winced in pain and the person touching her drew their hand back quickly
“By Hera,” A woman shouted, “She’s only a child, what kind of monster does something like this?”
“Who is she?” Kitrina heard another woman nearby ask, “Do you think she’s from the outside?”
“I’ve never seen her before, but right now it doesn’t matter. She’s badly wounded, and she needs help. Quickly, go and inform the Queen, I’ll get her to the healer.” Kitrina felt herself being lifted up. The pain from being moved caused her to open her eyes once more just enough to see one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen, and for some ridiculous reason she was wearing a toga. Kitrina smiled even though it hurt to do so, because the way she saw it, she must have died and went to heaven after all, but as she felt herself being whisked away to whatever fate awaited her, her mind once again returned to the hard voice of the man who had saved her, and then she knew there was something more behind the monster that had been the Savage Aquaman.
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