Issue #27: “Adrift, Part Two”

Poseidonis, a once-great city dwelling at the bottom of the seas, a symbol of just how far the people of Atlantis had come, and one of the amazing marvels of the world…now lay in ruins.

Where the once-powerful city had rested at the ocean floor, there were now only ruins of what had once been. The life of the city had vanished after the war led by one of its residents; a usurper who wished to take the city’s throne for himself. However, with him, this usurper brought a wild card, a man from the surface world above with revenge boiling through his very bones. And it was this man that destroyed Poseidonis, ripped its heart, its king, away from it.

There was nothing left but a pile of leaderless rubble.

And so it would remain, ever to be buried in the dark depths of the sea.



“It’s over, my queen…”

Vulko, aide to the throne of Poseidonis, rubbed his wrinkled face while looking over the remnants of his home. Mera, the once powerful queen, swam beside him, her infant child, Thomas, bundled in her arms.

“Yes, Vulko. But why did Orm have to do this? Why did he have to destroy everything we’ve made? Everything we’ve worked so hard for? It just…doesn’t seem like him to do this,” Mera said.

“I seriously doubt this was Prince Orm’s doing, my queen. He wanted to rule Poseidonis. I don’t believe he ever intended to see it destroyed,” Vulko said solemnly in deep thought. “After all, he’d betrayed his own people in order to take what he believed to be his. He would not have let Poseidonis fall after fighting so desperately to attain it.”

“But that wasn’t the Orm we used to know that you’re talking about. The Orm who took the throne from my husband…was different.”

Mera looked down at the crowds of stranded Atlanteans swaying aimlessly in the water, without a home and without the security they used to have. Amongst the crowd swam a blur of orange and green, which Mera seemed to always mistake for her husband before realizing it was Thanatos, a clone of him. Thanatos had fought them, then had a change of heart and aided them in defending their kingdom.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it, Queen Mera? How quickly our entire worlds can change before our eyes.”

Vulko sighed and, for the first time, Mera saw his old age reflect on his face. The wrinkles seemed more profound than ever and his eyes much more lifeless than usual.

“Some things haven’t changed.”

Mera held Thomas tightly against her chest, happy that her baby was safe from any further harm. It had felt like ages since she’d held her son. During the crisis with Orm’s invasion, she had been kept away from her boy and it had killed her to be apart from him for so long. But now she finally could hold her child again.



“You’ll be okay, right, Garth?”

Garth held his ribs with his right hand, wincing at the pain of the touch. The young Javen floated in front of him, worry in his bulging eyes while his mute friend, Tramm, watched in his usual silence, his scaly arms folded over his chest.

“Yeah. Just in a little pain right now. That’s to be expected after going head to head with a witch,” Garth said, a weak smile stretching across his face. “So don’t worry about it, alright, guys? I put up as good a fight as I could but it just wasn’t enough. That’s bound to happen sometimes.”

“But we didn’t know you were that good with magic, Garth! You almost beat that old hag into the mud! You almost had her!” Javen cheered triumphantly, throwing his fist up. “If that guy with the sword hadn’t gotten in the way, you would’ve won for sure!”

Garth’s violet eyes glanced over at Thanatos who was helping clear bodies out of the water, his brilliant sword hanging off his belt. He looked so much like King Orin, but those eyes…were as black as night.

“You think so, huh? Honestly, I probably would have been dead if he hadn’t saved me. Maybe this guy isn’t that bad after all,” Garth said grudgingly, his pupils still fixed on Thanatos.

“Well I still don’t like him,” Javen muttered bitterly under his breath.

“Garth!” Tula, Javen’s sister, came tumbling into Garth, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him warmly, to which he let out a small groan of pain. Before he had fought the witch, Merganys, Garth and Tula had shared a moment and, in that moment, they had kissed.

It was something he had never thought about really but, looking back, it only seemed inevitable. She had been there since he first arrived in Atlantis. She was the first to welcome him and the one who would never give up on him in any circumstances. And now he knew why. Their bond was strong, stronger than anything Garth had ever felt before.

The one thing he knew for certain was that when Tula was around he was happy.

“You’re okay!” Tula said, her face buried in his chest.

Garth patted her gently on the back before wrapping his own weak arms around her.

“I’m fine, Tula. Just a little beat up but, besides that, I’m doing okay.”

“Good,” Tula said with a smile.

Tramm nudged Javen, pointing toward the crowd of Atlanteans which now seemed much more crowded than it had been just minutes earlier.

“Yeah, what is it?” Javen asked.

Tramm reaffirmed where he was pointing and Javen followed his finger to the crowd where he now could see large fins where some of the people’s legs should be. The mer-folk of the neighboring city of Tritonis had returned, after fleeing when the Ocean Master’s forces had first arrived.

“COWARDS!” The voice of Duncan, a Poseidonis general, echoed through the sea. Garth and Tula looked at each other worriedly while more screams followed. “You should have been here! Not running away to watch your own damn fins!”

“We did what was best for our people!”

“Oh yeah!?” Duncan shouted.

Duncan was being held back by two of his own soldiers who were struggling to restrain him from attacking the mer-folk. Garth and the others hurriedly swam over to the crowd, trying to push through, but to no avail.

“You see all of those bodies, merman!? Those were our people!” Duncan hissed, throwing one of the soldiers off of him. “So come on! Let’s see if you have a backbone, fish!”

“That’s quite enough!” Mera, the Trident of Neptune held firmly in her hand, stepped in between the two opposing forces, her emerald eyes staring hard into Duncan’s face. He looked back at her, his reddened face growing into a look of shame.

“I’m sorry, my queen.”

“The people of Tritonis are not our enemy, Duncan. And my husband may not be here right now but we will not turn into animals just because we are without a leader right now. Understood?” Mera said, her voice strong and commanding.

“…Yes, my queen. Understood.” Mera was seconds from swimming away when Duncan spoke once more. “But I expect to see some kind of punishment for them abandoning us and leaving us to die,” Duncan said coldly before swimming away.

“Queen Mera! Queen Mera!” a voice of one of the soldiers shouted while he swam toward them, an object clutched in his right hand. “We found something floating amongst the wreckage, my queen.”

The soldier held out his hand, showing the queen what he had found. Mera’s eyes widened at what she was seeing. A mask was swaying in his hand; it had fin-like sides and large eye holes, and in an instant, she knew exactly what she was examining.

The Mask of the Challenger.

It was what had been worn by Prince Orm when he had taken on the name Ocean Master and launched his assault on taking the throne from Mera’s husband. It was the very embodiment of Orm’s betrayal and the very sight of it disgusted the queen.

“What should I do with it?” the soldier wondered.

Mera looked at the mask for a moment more before turning away.

“It’s part of our people’s history now. Just don’t misplace it. We’ve lost enough relics of our past today,” Mera said uncomfortably.

“As you wish, my queen.”



It had been quite some time since Aquaman had felt this level of exhaustion.

Sprinting through the tree-lined jungles of the enormous island, where he had been held captive only minutes earlier, with his rescuers, the Sea Devils, a group of human mercenaries, at his side.

“This is just great, Dane! Not only have we been searching for days for Aquaman without any sleep and without eating even a decent meal, but now that we found him we’re up against a whole crap load of bad guys!”

“I can see that, Nicky.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? It’s Nick.”

The Sea Devils and Aquaman continued to rush through the forest of trees, sirens and screams blaring in the distance. Aquaman wasn’t exactly sure why these people were even helping him, keeping him suspicious.

“Where are we going?” Aquaman questioned.

“For now, someplace safe. These people who captured you, they have a bit more manpower than we thought they had.”

Dane, the leader of the Sea Devils, remembered what had only happened minutes ago - a group of ships had landed on the beaches of the island they were trapped on. Counting Dane, there were only three other Sea Devils; his wife Judy, his best friend Biff, and Judy’s brother Nicky. They would never make it back to their ship alive. Luckily, this island where Aquaman’s captors’ base resided was quite large.

“So who are these guys, anyway?” Dane turned to the still wounded Aquaman. “And why is it they decided to turn you into a lab rat?”

“They’re called O.G.R.E. A top secret group that is trying to turn the world against Atlantis and destroy my people,” Aquaman replied. “They think we’re a threat to the rest of the world.”

Biff, large and bulky, chuckled at this.

“Who isn’t?”



“You lost him? How is that even possible? My reports say that the last time you checked in, only hours ago, you told us he was restrained and you were performing your tests.”

Peter Mortimer stood on the docks of the island, his trench coat swaying in the winds of the shoreline. He could feel a surge of anger flow thorough every inch of his body, except for his right hand which no longer existed and was replaced with a prosthetic one.

“That’s right! I was in the middle of performing my procedures when these people burst into my lab and took him!” the O.G.R.E. operative who had been torturing Aquaman yelled in protest.

“You just let someone stroll right on in and take him?” Mortimer growled.

The operative pointed at a large cut by his eyebrow angrily.

“I tried to stop them! Who are you to even talk to me like this anyway? I’ve never seen you before!”

“I was brought aboard only a few days ago and already the leader likes me more than you. You know why that is, right?” Mortimer hissed.

The operative did not respond and Mortimer moved in close.

“I’m an actual part of this organization and not some buffoon who is only given one simple job to do and can’t even do it. You may not know me, but I can assure you I am in the leader’s inner circle already. But I’m not the only one.” Mortimer tilted his head a bit, glancing behind himself. “Right, Kraken?”

Emerging from the docked ship, a huge monster of a man, over seven feet tall and abnormally broad, stepped onto the sands of the beach. He was dressed in an old metal deep-sea diver’s outfit with a helmet that shielded his face completely. Two glowing green circles on the helmet covered his eyes but even the operative could feel the intensity behind them.

“I believe you’ve heard of King Kraken. The muscle of all of O.G.R.E. itself. Much like the leader, I met him only a few days ago. And also, like the leader, he likes me more than you,” Mortimer said.

The deep breaths from Kraken echoed behind his iron mask as his huge hand curled around the operative’s throat. He lifted the gasping man off of his feet and held him suspended in the air while Mortimer stood proudly.

“I’ll be taking over this operation. I brought all of the necessary supplies and men with me so, as such, it seems you’re the odd man out. My most sincere apologies.” Mortimer gave a sarcastic sigh.

With a twitch of his wrist, Kraken snapped the operative’s neck with ease, feeling the man die in his grip. He then dropped the corpse to the ground and turned to Mortimer, deep breaths still echoing through his helmet. Mortimer glanced down to the body and then up to Kraken’s face with satisfaction.

“Alright, Kraken. Now to find our good friend, Aquaman.”



Night had drawn over the island and Aquaman could still hear the shouts of the O.G.R.E. agents echoing across the jungle terrain. All four Sea Devils sat in the underbrush with Aquaman, silently, waiting until some of the noise from the O.G.R.E. troops subsided. The undersea hero examined them before speaking.

“I remember you all. What you did.”

Dane turned to face him and they both looked into one another’s eyes. There was something Aquaman could see behind Dane’s withdrawn face. Guilt.

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t after the mess we made,” Dane said darkly, brushing his short black hair with his hand.

“When Lex Luthor hired you to wipe out a whole village of Atlanteans. That toxic spill killed many,” Aquaman said coldly, his knuckles whitening, but he knew he was too weakened to pick a fight.

“It’s not something we’re proud of,” Dane said, his face growing more pale, breaking eye contact with Orin. “In fact, I think that whole situation helped teach us something we’d never known before; limitations.”

“I’m glad to hear you’ve learned the errors of your ways, but why exactly is it you’re the ones that saved me? I’d have thought my own people would have been the ones to do it.”

“Everyone around the globe heard about that war you had down below. The US military even got involved, but, from what I heard, all of their troops that tried to intervene got wiped out. We heard about Poseidonis’s destruction and that you were MIA so we decided to join in on the search. We were just lucky to be the ones to find you,” Dane explained.

“A group of mercenaries helped me. Mera’s going to laugh at that one.” Orin smiled weakly through his scraggly beard.

“Ex-mercenaries. We’ve turned over a new leaf. Gone into the hero business,” Biff, the largest of the four, said.

“Yeah. I’m Dane Dorrance, that’s my wife, Judy.” He pointed to the blonde woman, the only woman of the group. “That’s Biff Bailey.” He nudged the tall, burly man beside him. “And this is Judy’s younger brother, Nicky…” But seeing Nick fold his arms he continued, “I mean…just Nick.”

“And what brought on this change in career styles?” Orin wondered.

“Like I said, that chemical spill incident changed us a lot. We realized that we just weren’t cut out to do things like that. It wasn’t worth the money we’d get, if it meant we’d be hurting innocent people for no good reason other than to make a few bucks.”

“Good to hear. And I guess I should thank you for the rescue.”

“No prob, A-man. We were glad to help,” Nick said cheerfully.

Orin’s expression suddenly shifted to seriousness and he looked at Dane plainly.

“Have you ever heard the name O.G.R.E.?”

Dane clicked his tongue before gazing up at the ceiling in thought. Biff and Nick turned to one another, not exactly sure why they were even being asked this question.

“Can’t say I have,” Dane finally answered after a lot of thought. “Or at least, I don’t remember if I have.”

Orin nodded disappointedly.

“I think I have before,” Judy said out of the blue.

Everyone shifted their attention to her and Orin noticed she turned a little red as they did. She pushed her blonde hair back a bit before biting her lip.

“I remember when we were working for Luthor…he mentioned it once or twice. Some associates of his or something,” Judy said.

“According to the man who captured me, Luthor used to be part of the old O.G.R.E. They’ve reorganized with a new leader and a new agenda. Said they were trying to stop the ‘Atlantean threat’.”

“This wouldn’t be the first time the government’s thought about taking your people down. Back when the Justice League was on the most-wanted list, I remember you were definitely not the most-liked person on the planet.”

“Am I ever though?” Aquaman coughed out a dry laugh. “I can’t wait to at least touch some water. I haven’t felt this weak for a long time.”

“I hear something!” Nick whispered, shushing them.

They all crouched down in the leaves of the bushes while the darkness of the night kept them well-hidden.

The sound of branches snapping was coming closer, accompanied by voices.

“We have sensors implanted all around the water near the island’s shore, Kraken. If they had escaped, we would know,” Peter Mortimer’s voice said from not too far away.

A deep, booming voice replied to him.

“What if that dead fool has messed up the sensors too? I wouldn’t be surprised. The only good he did was brighten my mood when I felt his bones shatter in my hand,” King Kraken said through exhales beneath his helmet.

Aquaman crouched with the others a little lower in the bushes.

“We have to get out of here,” Dane muttered to them all. “They’re getting way too close.”

Aquaman slowly climbed back to his feet, still keeping low cautiously. He took a few steps back while the Sea Devils did the same. He swung around to begin moving in the other direction when a great pair of circular emerald eyes met with his.

King Kraken towered over him.

Aquaman instinctively threw a punch that, when he was at full strength, could punch a hole through a wall, but Kraken intercepted the punch with his own enormous hand. He caught the fist and a low laugh sounded from behind his helmet.

The Sea Devils all stood stunned, reaching for their weapons, when O.G.R.E. agents appeared, guns raised and flashlight beams fixed on them.

“Don’t move,” Peter Mortimer said, standing among the other operatives.

Kraken bent Aquaman’s hand back causing the king to let out a roar of pain while he tried to swing his free hand at the villain. Before he had a chance to throw another punch however, Kraken, using incredible might, tossed Aquaman through the jungle. He crashed through one tree trunk before slamming against another, this time getting knocked unconscious on impact.

The last thing he felt was pain. The last thing he heard…were Kraken’s breaths.



“We’ve searched far and wide but there is no sign of your husband.”

King Shark and his shark-men soldiers all floated before Queen Mera. Their black beady eyes were waiting for her reaction, but she said nothing, staring up at the small image of the moon on the ocean’s surface high above.

“Thank you for your help, King Shark. I hope your aid during the war is a sign that we can put our years of hate and violence behind us,” Mera said hopefully.

King Shark gritted his many rows of teeth, unsure of how to respond.

“We shall see, woman. I’m going to be taking my brothers home now. I’m not sure how much longer they can hold off their hunger and desire to consume every single creature here with all of this blood floating around. I am glad we could be of assistance. Farewell, and tell your husband, if you find him, that we’re even.”

With that, King Shark and the shark-men swam away from the ruins of Poseidonis, leaving behind a shattered queen and her decimated kingdom.



“Time to wake up, fishman.”

A hand slapped against Aquaman’s cheek and he awoke with a start. His vision was spinning and blurred but the image of Peter Mortimer standing in front of him was beginning to clear.

“Yes, you’re alive. But don’t get too used to it. It’ll only be for a little while longer.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Aquaman scanned his surroundings. He was in a white room with metal walls and the four Sea Devils were tied up on the other side of the room. King Kraken remained still as a statue in the doorway while Peter Mortimer, his trench coat draped over his high-tech-looking wetsuit, crouched in front of him.

He could feel the rocking of the floor and he could even sense the presence of sea life below. He knew exactly where they were, a ship.

“We’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do,” Mortimer said, his prosthetic hand reaching up and grazing Orin’s cut cheek. “For years I told the Pentagon how huge of a threat you disgusting fish posed. And you know what they did? They laughed. They said Atlantis could never be a danger as long as the ‘all-powerful’ Aquaman was in charge!”

Mortimer paced in front of Orin who was being restrained by handcuffs to the wall.

“They thought you’d always be the head of Atlantis, but the events that transpired only days ago proved otherwise, didn’t they? You weren’t in charge, were you? You were overthrown and suddenly everything I had warned those bastards about was coming true!”

“You can’t blame them for not knowing my brother would try and take over. No one could have known!” Aquaman yelled.

“People say to expect the unexpected. To always be prepared for the worst and that’s exactly what I was doing. Those government morons were living in their happy little bubble but I knew the truth. Atlantis was a threat. And I thought they finally could see that too. Instead of letting me use my technology to finally get rid of you all once and for all, do you know what they made me do instead?” Mortimer sucked in a long breath, as if disbelieving in what he was about to say. “They forced me to try and help you.”

“You were part of that military squad that went down to Poseidonis, weren’t you?” Dane asked from across the room. “You all died though!”

“No! I was part of that strike force but the funny part is, I was no soldier. I developed these Scavenger diving suits to combat you fishmen.” Mortimer motioned toward the suit he was wearing beneath his trench coat. “Then the Pentagon made me use my own creations to try and save your people. It was a suicide mission though, the government knew this. We were attacked by a sea serpent, something you’d only think existed in stories!”

An image of Lord Ladon, the ferocious sea serpent that he had battled and barely defeated, flashed through his thoughts.

“I watched all of those young men die, all of my suits that I had developed be destroyed and then…I had to watch myself get ripped apart!”

Peter Mortimer lifted up his sleeve to reveal his plastic prosthetic arm. He put it right up to Aquaman’s face.

“That snake showed no mercy, no hesitation to slaughter us all. My suits were designed to be equal in strength to that of an Atlantean but that monster was far beyond us. And if dangers like that exist in the ocean…then you are only the start of a much larger problem.”

“If you’re so adamant on getting rid of all threats that the sea, nature itself, imposes, then why is it I’m still alive?” Orin said.

“Because we need a weapon against you fishmen. We need something that will give us a true fighting chance. And we know that you know where it is, Aquaman.”

The king raised a brow in confusion while Mortimer just smiled wickedly.

“We need you to help us find the Eye of Kordax.”

To Be Continued!


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