Aquaman #17: “Crimson Tides, Part Two”

The world is red. Red with the blood running through the veins of the innocent and weak. Blood that boils with fear and paranoia. It’s astonishing what a little bit of destruction can do to a society. They lock themselves up nice and packed together, hoping they can protect themselves through sheer strength in numbers. They’re wrong. They cannot escape me. No one can. I will see the red.



“How far away are we?”

Orin, King of Atlantis and known to the world as Aquaman looked to his left to see his half-brother, Orm swimming at his side as they ventured through the open ocean. They had been traveling for what seemed like hours towards King Shark’s kingdom. Orin was sure the recent attacks were his doing; the markings left by the terrorists were those of sharks. King Shark had to be involved.

“We’re getting close. It’ll be another ten minutes,” Orin said.

He could hear Orm’s quiet groan and a smile crossed his face.

“Getting impatient, brother?” Orin snickered.

“Perhaps.”

After a few more minutes of swimming, the atmosphere seemed to grow very different. The water felt colder and the surrounding area seemed to become darker. Orin felt a chill go up his spine and come to a sudden halt. Orm had also sensed the disturbance and floated beside him, his fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sheathed sword.

“What is this, Orin?”

“We’re about to find out,” Orin said and caught, out of the corner of his eye, a shape flash by. “Show yourself.” There was complete silence. “SHOW YOURSELF!”

Six shapes emerged from the darkness and Orm drew his blade in defense, back to back with his brother as the figures closed in.

“What business do two Atlanteans have in the realm of the sharks?” a deep booming voice growled.

“We’ve come to speak with your king.” Orin remained utterly calm and unimpressed.

The owner of the booming voice, who appeared to be the leader of the group and was also the largest, entered into the dimly-lit area. He was a shark-man and was around nine feet tall, incredibly muscular, gray-skinned, and to, Orm’s surprise, he had no teeth but an enormous mouth.

A whale- shark-man. Wonderful…

“And what do you intend to speak with King Shark about, Orin of Atlantis?”

Orin winced as the shark-man’s small black eyes met his own. Orm gripped his hilt tighter, his sword still pointed upward, defensively.

“There have been recent attacks on my people. I think Nanaue is involved,” Orin said sharply, well aware of King Shark’s hate for that name. The shark-men seemed to harbor the same distaste for it.

“Impossible. Turn back now. If you disobey, we will not hesitate to use lethal force,” The whale-shark-man growled through his toothless mouth.

“No. We will speak with him.” Orin did not as much as twitch, standing right up to the giant shark-man.

There were snickers from the squad of shark-men as they moved a bit closer. Orm glanced at his brother, whose sword was still held high.

“A shark-man murdered two noblemen of Atlantis. That cannot go unpunished,” Orin said forcefully.

“And what did this shark-man look like?” the whale-shark-man asked, suddenly intrigued.

“He’s brown. A tiger shark. Wore a purple suit,” Orm answered, recalling how Javen had described the creature.

“Karshon…” the whale-shark-man muttered under his breath.

“What?” Orin said.

“Follow me.”



The people of Poseidonis were silent. There were no more whispers or murmurs. There weren’t any children playing in the streets or vendors selling goods. There was no activity in the dome housing the palace at all. Everyone waited quietly and patiently for their king to return.

Garth stood on the palace steps, looking up at the darkness of the metal that surrounded the domes. Tramm sat on the step beneath him, still in partial shock over what had happened to Javen. Garth glanced down at his mute friend in silence.

“Javen’s okay, right?” the youthful Koryak asked from behind Garth.

Garth turned around and Tramm looked over at the young boy. Garth stood high above him, the two of them seeming worlds apart in their understanding of what was going on at the moment. Koryak saw the world as a beautiful place full of adventure. Garth knew that the world had its dark spots too. And this happened to be one of them.

“Javen’s going to be fine.”

“Are we?” Koryak stared up at Garth with his great big eyes.

Garth sucked in a breath for a moment but then nodded. He continued to hope that everything was going to be fine but he couldn’t be sure. Not with a madman like The Shark just outside the door. Tula stepped outside the palace door and sat down beside Koryak.

“Where did King Orin go to anyway?” Tula wondered.

“King Shark. They’ve fought before. Vulko told me once that King Shark has always held a grudge against Orin, ever since he defeated him years ago when they first met. King Shark is the son of ‘the Shark God’ but only a few people believe that. He rules over a whole village of shark people. I personally think they were all created by a radiation spill. They believe they were sent here by ‘the Shark God’,” Garth explained to his friends.

Tula listened to Garth’s story closely but then spoke up.

“The king thinks King Shark is in charge of these guys?”

“Yes.”

“Do you?”

Garth pondered the question for a moment. The attacks were committed by shark-men but something didn’t add up. There was no motive for King Shark to send forces to harm Atlanteans other than to get under Orin’s skin. But that didn’t seem like a thing the arrogant King Shark would waste his time with.

“No.”



“Keep up!” The whale shark-man barked at Orin and Orm.

The brothers had been looking around at their new surroundings. The entire area was surrounded by large sharp cliffs. Small houses of stone were settled in the valley of rock between the cliffs. Shark-men hissed and glared at the two Atlanteans as they were being escorted to King Shark’s ‘palace’, a larger hut made of stone.

“I don’t like the looks of this, sire. And you and Nanaue aren’t exactly pals,” Orm said.

Orin chuckled. It was true that King Shark and Orin had never gotten along well. The fight they had been in years ago had left King Shark’s pride scarred and he had hated Orin ever since.

They finally reached King Shark’s lair and were stopped in front of the wide entrance to the stone hut. The whale-shark-man towered above them both, imposingly.

“Remove your weapons,” he boomed with his low voice.

Orm hesitantly untied the sheath from his belt and handed his cutlass over to the shark-man. The shark-man then turned his attention to Orin. Orin simply folded his arms and gave a wide smile.

“I’m already unarmed.”

“You’d better be,” the shark-man growled.

Orin and Orm were grabbed by two guards and practically dragged into the throne room. King Shark was perched on a hard rocky throne. His skin gray and his body well-built, he was not as big as his whale shark guard, but he was enormous to an Atlantean. His rows of teeth were clenched with disgust and his grip tore even into the stone armrests of his throne. His vision shot into Orin’s and they locked into each other’s eyesight.

“You’d better have good reason to enter my kingdom with your filth. Or else I will have Rhin and his men rip you to pieces,” King Shark snarled.

The whale-shark-man stood at his king’s side with a toothless grin, cracking his knuckles. Orin ignored the threat and took a few steps closer to King Shark.

“It’s interesting that you should mention ripping people to pieces. That’s what I came here to talk to you about, Nanaue,” Orin said boldly.

“MY NAME IS KING SHARK!”

There was silence in the throne room. Orm looked around cautiously at the group of shark-men guards surrounding the room. Orm knew that, if things got messy, he’d have to jump into action right away.

“There’s been recent murders of Atlanteans by a shark-man. He calls himself simply The Shark, but from the descriptions he’s probably one of yours,” Orin announced.

“Impossible. I have ordered no such attack on Atlantis. My people are ordered not to go anywhere near your disgusting country,” King Shark said smugly.

“Well one of them didn’t seem to get the message.” Orin clenched his fist.

“My lord, the Atlantean king told me what The Shark looked like. He’s a tiger shark,” Rhin whispered to King Shark.

King Shark’s expression grew more concerned and he gave Orin a questioning stare. Orin flinched, but not from the stare, but due to the fact that, for the first time since he had known King Shark, he saw fear in his eyes.

“Karshon,” King Shark said, gripping the armrests so tightly that they began to crack. “Karshon is the one you are speaking of.”

“Who is he?”

“He was a member of my kingdom. A tiger-shark-man. He was once a resident of this village. However, he became a criminal and a murderer, killing some of our own people for sport. I banished him and two of his companions from the kingdom. We have not heard anything of them since…until now.”

“And now he’s attacking Atlantis. Any reason why?” Orin asked.

“All shark-men are raised hating you and your kind. I actually pity that you are now Karshon’s target. He’s a monster, an unstoppable monster that will kill all of your people for sheer enjoyment.” King Shark sighed.

“Will you help us then?” Orm blurted out, now impatient to get back to Poseidonis and stop The Shark.

King Shark’s gaze shifted to Orm and he shook his head firmly.

“No. He is now your concern. Not ours.”



“Why are we all just sitting here hiding?”

Hundreds of citizens of Poseidonis stood in the courtyard of the palace. All communication with the other domes of the city had been cut off when lockdown had begun. People were beginning to get on edge.

“Why is this happening, Vulko? Why is this man trying to destroy everything we’ve worked so hard to protect?” Mera asked, standing beside Vulko on the balcony overlooking the courtyard.

Vulko, sadness etched into his wrinkled face watched the crowds growing more and more restless. In all his many years, Vulko had never seen a monster like The Shark. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer Mera’s question so he decided to say nothing at all. It was a dark time though. That was for certain.



“I can’t believe he won’t help us!” Orm shouted, his cutlass once again at his side.

“I’m a bit more surprised that he isn’t behind all of this” Orin said.

“You think he’s being truthful?”

Orin stroked his beard thoughtfully and then silently nodded. Orm shook his head with disbelief.

“Come on, Orin! You’re not serious! You most of all should know that he’s lying!” Orm said in protest.

Orin shot his brother a glare and Orm immediately backed down.

“Apologies, sire. It’s not my place to go against what you say…”

“Right now, we just need to focus on getting back to Poseidonis and figuring out our next move,” Orin said.

The two brothers blasted through the water and into the distance, leaving a trail of bubbles in their wake.



“I don’t get it, Karshon. Poseidonis is sealed up, so big deal. Let’s just go to Tritonis. It’s right over there.”

Oharu was lifted up by a large hand clutching his throat.

“Don’t call me ‘Karshon’. I am The Shark. Understand, Oharu?” The Shark hissed.

Oharu gulped and then nodded.

“Sure. Whatever you say, boss.”

The Shark threw Oharu onto the hard rocky bottom of the ocean with a thud and then stared at the city of Poseidonis, now covered with metal plating. He desperately wanted to smash through those defenses and feed…oh how he longed for it. But he knew better. They would be patient and wait.

“And to answer your question…we aren’t going to go to Tritonis for one reason. Merfolk taste terrible,” The Shark said, his bloodshot eyes still staring intently at Poseidonis.

Oharu was about to chuckle but wasn’t entirely sure if his leader was joking or not so decided it was best to remain silent.

“Someone’s coming!” the voice of Kunaha shouted from around the rocky hill they were perched on.

The Shark and Oharu zipped above the ocean floor and next to Kunaha who was looking out into the distance at two shapes approaching at great speed. The Shark’s mouth was open with surprise, but then stretched into an anxious smile, his rows of teeth clenched with anticipation.

“Better lay out the red carpet, boys…the king has returned.”



Orin and Orm could make out Atlantis up ahead and began to quicken their pace. Orin focused his thoughts on Mera and Garth, pushing his body onward, not even thinking of stopping. The images in his mind of his beautiful wife began to shift...and change. He could see her screaming out his name, being dragged deeper and deeper down into the depths of an abyss.

NO!

Yes. You’re too late, Orin of Atlantis.

The Shark appeared seemingly out of nowhere and tackled Orin onto the rough terrain of the ocean floor. Orin roared like a beast and pried the creature off himself. The Shark leapt back a few feet as Orin got steadily to his feet.

Orm turned around and bolted towards his brother, but Oharu and Kunaha intercepted him and floated in front of him, snickering. Orm drew his blade and held it at the ready.

“Let me guess…Karshon?” Orin said, fist clenched.

“It’s The Shark.”

“Just like Nanaue, I see. Wanting to give yourself a bigger name than what you have to make yourself feel more important.”

“You should talk, ‘Aquaman’. Ha,” The Shark replied arrogantly.

Orin looked past The Shark’s head and at Poseidonis, still shielded by the metal of the lockdown protocol. The two opponents circled each other silently, eyes interlocked. The Shark licked his lips wickedly.

The whole ocean seemed to grow silent. Orin blinked and The Shark dashed forward, propelling himself through the water. Orin raised a fist but The Shark proved to be much faster than Orin expected. With a spin, The Shark’s leg shot forward and his knee smashed into Orin’s face. Orin stumbled back, disoriented. The Shark opened his mouth wide and lunged forward. Orin ducked, narrowly avoiding The Shark’s bite and then landed a hard punch into Karshon’s gut. The Shark gasped as Orin put his hands together and knocked his opponent over onto his stomach. The Shark coughed for a moment and got onto one knee, holding his chest. He glared up at Orin bitterly.

“Not too bad for an Atlantean. I can see how you beat that fool, Nanaue,” The Shark said. “But I lack something King Shark has…”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

The Shark jumped forward with a roar.

“A heart!”



Garth sat quietly in the king’s meditation chamber. Orin rarely used it so Garth didn’t think Orin would mind if he borrowed it. Garth sat, legs crossed, with a bucket of water he had gotten from the rivers that flowed through Poseidonis’ domes, placed in front of him. He began to chant to himself. After a few moments, the water in the bucket began to rise and splash back and forth. Garth concentrated harder and the water left the bucket completely, spinning into a sphere of water. He was getting better…this was becoming easier! He could…

“Garth?”

Garth’s eyes popped open to see Tula standing in the entrance to the chamber. She looked confused and scared. The water sphere dropped and splashed onto the floor. Tula took a couple of steps closer.

“Garth…what are you doing?” Tula asked, worry in her voice.

“I...”

“Garth, please tell me.”

Garth closed his eyes and turned around, bowing his head. Tula came up to him from behind and put her hands on his shoulders.

“You can tell me.”

“Tula, you know how I’ve been able to heal people for a while?”

“Yeah. You’ve saved my brother’s life twice now with your ability.”

“Well…I’ve been learning more about my abilities. Like, you know I wasn’t raised here in Atlantis. I was born to the Idyllists, a pacifist group of sorcerers.”

“Yeah, Garth. I know. You were born cursed and that’s why you have those beautiful lavender eyes.” Tula turned his face towards hers, beaming up at him.

“I’m the only person who carries on the magic of my ancestors. I used to only know how to heal but lately…I’ve been learning other things. Ancient magic that I had never even heard of, old magic of the Idyllists,” Garth explained.

“Why?”

“I’ve been visiting the surface world more and more often. I’ve been using my new abilities to help people. I can control water to a certain degree. Move it around, change its shape, its density, but it takes a lot of concentration.”

“That’s great, Garth! Why aren’t you telling anyone about this? Everyone has accepted your healing powers, why should this be any different?”

“You don’t get it, Tula. The Idyllists were shunned by Atlantis because of their sorcery. Magic has always been something no one here understands or likes. You have to keep this secret!”

“Okay…but you won’t be able to hide it forever.”

“I can try.”



Orm Marius was a great warrior. He had been in many battles and fought off legions of foes. Trained and practiced in the use of dozens of different weapons and fighting styles, he was a force to be reckoned with, and that earned him the right to be the head of the military of Poseidonis.

Unfortunately for him, he had never encountered opponents with the great speed Oharu and Kunaha possessed. They darted around him, avoiding his sword swings without a problem.

“You fool! We’re mako-shark-men! The fastest sharks in the sea!” Oharu cackled.

Orm blocked Kunaha’s sharp talons as he sped by, nothing more than a blur to the Atlantean. Orm suddenly turned around and shot through the water as fast as he could go towards an enormous cliff that Tritonis was perched on. He glanced back and couldn’t see Oharu and Kunaha anywhere.

“Yoo-hoo.”

Orm looked forward to find Oharu and Kunaha swimming backwards ahead of him, arms rested behind their heads. Orm growled, starting to get angry at being toyed with. He was Prince Orm of Atlantis. They would remember that.

Oharu and Kunaha came to a sudden halt and Orm zoomed by them and made it to bottom of the cliff. He stood there, his back against the cliff side. Oharu and Kunaha approached him, cracking their knuckles.

“What do you say brother? Should we finish him off?” Oharu asked.

“Let’s.”

The shark-men, giggling barbarically, rushed forward. Orm’s serious expression shifted into an arrogant smirk. He clenched his fist tightly and then punched the cliff with all of his strength. There was a loud cracking sound across the cliff and boulders began to descend more and more rapidly from the cliff. Orm leapt out of the way, dodging the two shark-men as they flew by. The rockslide tumbled down the cliff and Oharu looked up with horror pasted on his monstrous face.

“Look out!”

The rocks smashed down onto the brothers, burying them. Oharu was crushed in an instant while Kunaha managed to get the top half of his body out of the way but was unable to pull himself out of the pile of rocks.

“I can’t feel my legs…”

“Of course you can’t.”

Orm stepped forward toward him, sword gripped tightly. He pointed the cutlass at Kunaha.

“Who’s the fool now?”

“Please…”

Orm raised the blade high above his head.

“Don’t do th-!”



Aquaman and The Shark collided into one another and spun through the water wildly. The Shark reached out for Orin’s neck but the King of the Seas caught The Shark’s wrist and broke it with a hard pull. Karshon snarled in pain, being thrown by Orin into the muddy ground. The images of Mera in pain returned to Orin’s mind.

You’re too late, Orin. They’re all dead.

Shut up! You’re lying!

A king without a kingdom. What a pathetic creature you are.

“SHUT UP!”

Orin pulled The Shark out of the mud.

“You’ve hurt too many people already! I won’t let those lies become reality!” Orin hit The Shark repeatedly in the face with a flurry of punches.

The Shark crumbled to his knees, spitting out some blood. He looked up at Orin, hatred in his eyes. The Shark used his remaining strength to lunge forward with a bite but Orin kicked him back to his knees. The Shark stared at the ground, dazed.

“You’ve hurt so many people already…it ends here.”

Orin remembered a movie he had seen, when he was a teenager growing up in Atlas Point. A movie that made everyone scared to go in the water. Everyone…but him. Orin raised his arm and formed his hand into a fist.

“SO SMILE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Orin’s uppercut collided into The Shark’s jaw, breaking and knocking out the majority of his teeth while cracking the rest. The Shark crashed onto his back, blood on his face and his teeth spread out on the mud around him.

Orin stood tall above the unconscious villain. The murderer was finally down.

“Wasn’t that a bit…melodramatic?” Orm said, approaching his brother, red water rising from his sword.

“The surface-dwellers would call it corny.”

“Corny…” Orm muttered the word, finding it strange to say.

“And I don’t know…I kind of liked it.”

Aquaman looked past his brother and at a headless shape mostly covered in rocks. He then looked his brother in the eyes. Orm just shrugged.

“He asked for it.”

“Well done, Atlantean,” a deep voice boomed.

Orin turned around and Orm raised his blade again. Rhin, the whale-shark-man towered above the brothers. He picked up The Shark with his enormous hand.

“The exile will be dealt with by us.”

“I thought it ‘wasn’t your concern’?” Orin said in protest.

“King Shark has had a change of heart.”

Orm took a step forward but Orin put a hand out in front of him, holding his brother back.

“Fine. But he owes us.”

Rhin looked hard at Orin for a moment, then let out a loud laugh from his wide toothless mouth.

“Very well.”

Orin nodded in agreement and then led Orm off with him back towards Poseidonis, exhausted from the battle. About two hours later, the metal plating was removed from the domes and the city seemed to return to normal rather quickly. But Orin had a strange feeling…something bad was going to happen and he’d have to be ready to stop it.



“We retrieved The Shark for you. Just as you requested, sire.”

“Any casualties?”

“We killed all of the shark-men escorts except for the leader, a whale shark who fled.”

The Shark’s unconscious body lay on the stone floor of the Ocean Master’s headquarters. A well-built Oceanic with a more brownish body and a scar cutting across his left eye bowed before the shadowy silhouette of the Ocean Master.

“Very good, General Gorgan. He is integral to our plan. Make sure he gets back into fighting shape.”

The Oceanic got up and threw The Shark over his shoulder and carried him outside the ancient ruins. The Ocean Master turned his head slightly towards the shadows; the Prophet of the Dark God who was once his mother stepped out of them, her white blonde hair running down her shoulders.

“We have a problem. The people of Atlantis will follow Orin’s orders no matter what the situation is. That could be a problem for us,” Ocean Master said.

The woman put her soft hand on Ocean Master’s face and he stared at her through his mask.

“Don’t worry, my son. We foresaw this. And we have prepared.”

A door to the chamber opened and a young man stepped in. He wore solid orange armor over his torso and green scale-mail pants. A beautifully crafted sword was held tightly in his hand by his side. Long blond hair fell close to his shoulders and he looked at Ocean Master with black, soulless eyes.

“You created him?” Ocean Master asked, impressed.

“Yes. Hagen and I forged him using magic even advanced for us.”

Ocean Master stood close to the man and looked at him carefully.

“He looks like a younger Orin. But the black eyes…”

“A side effect of the magic. It will not be a problem.”

“I hope you’re right. If Atlantis wants an Aquaman…we’ll give them one.

To Be Continued…


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