Ultimate Aquaman: The Savage
- Entertainer13 -
Part One: The Storm
The waves crashed gently against the sides of the small vessel as it plowed its way through the ocean. The wind was brisk and clean, the smell of salt almost being forgotten. Marine biologist Miranda Greenwood looked over the edge of the S.S. Derringer, staring thoughtfully into the cold depths of the water. Her dark brown hair flew behind her, and her green eyes sparkled.
All her life, Miranda had always been captivated by the sea. What was within and what could be deep below. Raised on the coast of North Carolina all her life, she had gone to the University of Miami to study marine biology. She loved anything having to do with the water, and the creatures within held a great interest themselves. As much as the human race was working its way towards the stars, Miranda wanted to explore the sea.
"Are 'ya going to spend all day staring off, Ms. Greenwood?" a gruff voice asked her.
Commander Raymond Beck walked beside her and leaned on the edge of the ship. He was a tall man, having well over a foot on Miranda. His sandy hair was hidden under a Marlins baseball cap, and his black skin glistened with the spray from the sea. A large tattoo of a dragon stared straight at Miranda, seemingly glaring into her soul. She smiled at the man.
"I'm hoping to do just that, Ray," Miranda laughed, "I love being out here."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Beck replied, removing a pack of cigarettes from his jacket, "Ever since I was a small tike I knew I wanted to be a sailor or something close. Course, I always pictured myself fighting pirates or the like, but hey, I'm kinda there."
Beck pulled out a lighter, igniting the small, roll of paper between his fingers. Slowly, he brought the tobacco to his lips and sucked in gently. After a few moments of savoring the flavor, he let the smoke gracefully glide forth from his lips. Miranda held a look of disgust on her face, but she stayed quiet.
"Well," Miranda grinned, "It was always what was beneath the water that interested me. There's such life down there! We're in such a hurry to get off this planet sometimes, that we don't even stop to think about what we haven't seen right here at home. There's such diversity in creatures out here."
"I get what your saying, Ms. Greenwood," Roy said, letting some of the ash from his cigarette fly into the ocean, "But to most folks, there isn't anything exciting about a fish. Y'know?"
"That's true," Miranda admitted, "But I don't see what's so exiting about rocks and gas. Out there, in space, that's mostly what we've found. Sure, there have been a few new found discoveries as of late, but the ocean has just as many things to offer. No one has seen a live giant squid before. There have even been reports of humanoid beings living in the Atlantic, and-"
"Sorry to stop ya," Ray said, flicking his cigarette into the sea, "But the captain apparently wants to see me."
Miranda turned and saw Captain MacIntyre motioning for Beck to come on over. The Captain was a slightly older man, a few gray hairs peeking through his obsidian black beard. He had a completely bald head and was wearing only the formal jacket of a naval captain and a pair of jeans. Despite his odd appearance, he had been an enjoyable man to travel with. As Beck passed her, Miranda decided it might be time to check on their cargo.
Going the opposite direction of Commander Beck, Miranda headed towards the tail of the ship. With a curt turn, she found a door leading down to the main hold and entered. She flicked on the lights and slowly made her way down the narrow stairs. Various tanks surrounded her as she looked around at the numerous samples that the crew of the Derringer had collected over the past two weeks. An octopus clung to the side of its tank and various fish glowed enchantingly in the faint light of the hold. Her hand seemed to caress a tank as she looked at a strange eel swimming by.
She had been sent by a branch of STAR Labs to collect samples from the Caribbean. With the rise in metahuman activities, they wanted to see if anything had been affecting sea life. Another crew was sent to Africa, and others to South America. These breeding grounds for animal life would show some of the earliest signs of change. She smiled as the eel seemed to stare back at her. A loud crack of thunder stopped her from this strain of though.
Running up to the deck she turned towards the source of the sound. A large collection of storm clouds were bearing down towards the Derringer, and various crew members were beginning to pull down some sails and tie everything up. This must have been what Captain MacIntyre wanted to see Beck about. She hurried towards the area where the two men were still standing, alternately barking out orders and having a conversation.
"Captain MacIntyre," Miranda asked as she approached, "Are we actually going to try and make our way through that?" The clouds seemed to darken with menace.
"'Fraid so, Ms. Greenwood," Captain MacIntyre sighed, "It's too large to go around and its just barreling down on us. If we want to make it back to Florida in one piece we're going to have to try and weather it out."
Miranda gave a look to Ray and he just shrugged. Annoyed, she turned around and looked behind them. A ship was following in the distance, barely with eyeshot. It had been there for the past two hours. She frowned.
"Have we figured out yet who that is?" she asked, referencing the ship.
Looking out towards the other vessel, Ray grumbled, "They still won't answer radio calls. I looked at its name with my binoculars, but it was blank. The men working on it seemed American, though."
"I don't like it," Captain MacIntyre said heatedly, "There have been reports of piracy around here, but mostly on ships coming from Cuba or Venezuela. Still can't believe that shit's going on, this day in age." Wiping the sweat from his head, he turned to yell some more orders out to the crew.
Ray turned to Miranda, saying, "You should get below deck and do something to secure those tanks. Get the other brains you dragged along. I'll send a man down to help."
-
Everything was tied down or padded up for security. It had all taken just a few minutes, and now Miranda stayed huddled up in a corner of the room she shared with two other scientists on this mission. One was a representative of STAR Labs, as well as the mission leader, Dr. Edmund Graise. He had a shock of bright red hair on his head, but that was usually hidden under a plain black baseball cap. He had a hawk like nose and a spot covered face. He sat wrapped in a lab coat he had brought along, across from Miranda, on top of a cot.
The other scientist was a good friend of Miranda's, Stacy Holland. Short cropped blonde hair topped her head and a pair of pink rimmed glasses sat on her face. She had dressed very casually throughout this mission, doing a lot of the underwater work, much to the annoyance of Dr. Graise. Miranda laughed it off, having been used to her roommate's legendary exploits on campus. If it wasn't for her alarmingly creative intellect, she would no doubt have been removed from the class of every professor at Miami. The two were working towards their doctorates, and as part of an intern position with STAR Labs, they had been on various assignments such as this.
"I hate the sea," Graise moaned, shuddering, "I knew something like this was going to happen. I specialized in geology, not fish."
"Complaining isn't going to help, Eddy," Stacy smiled, "Let's try to not to make this worse than it already is."
"For the hundredth time, Ms. Holland," Graise said to Stacy, reproachfully, "I am to be addressed as Dr. Graise."
The two went back and forth, arguing the importance in having a chain of command when another loud crack of thunder chimed in. The Derringer had just entered the edge of the storm, rain falling down upon it. These noises had become so common in the last minute that the sound didn't even faze Graise or Stacy. The door to their cabin burst open, however, ending their argument. Wind and rain circled the room, and the large form of Commander Beck entered, shutting the door behind him.
"Would you please be more careful next time?" Graise snapped. Beck ignored him.
"Everyone in here all right?" he asked, looking around as if expecting to find three dead bodies.
"We're fine, Ray," Miranda smiled.
"You give this much attention to all your passengers?" Stacy questioned Beck, batting her eyes. Miranda shook her head, not entirely surprised that Stacy would flirt with a man during a storm like this.
"I'm checking on everyone," Ray said, not appearing to notice Stacy small advances, "We're going to try and keep our course, but MacIntyre has spotted an uncharted island. We may try and get in a bay and wait things out there."
"Did that ship follow us in?" Miranda asked about the unresponsive carrier that they had seen before.
"We think it may have tried to turn and outrun it," he answered, flipping his raincoat's hood on, "'Course, we're not exactly giving it our undivided attention. Anyway, you three stay put."
"Don't worry," Stacy smiled, "We will." Giving Stacy a smirk, Beck then left the cabin the same way he came in.
"You think he likes me, Mira?" Stacy asked, excited.
"Will you shut up!" Graise yelled, "I don't understand how you were allowed into a graduate program."
Another burst of thunder rocked the ship. This bolt was frighteningly close to the Derringer, and Captain MacIntyre was worried as he stood at the helm of the ship.
"Head towards the island," he yelled over the howling wind to the man steering, "If we can make it there, we may survive this!"
Black clouds circled over the ship like scavenging vultures. Lighting crackled down almost as often as each raindrop. The Derringer slowly plowed through wave after wave towards the island. Bolt after bolt came close with each strike until finally one struck the mast of the ship. A burst of light shone out and wood started on fire. The ship seemed to shudder and begin to fall apart.
-
The sun shone down on the washed up wreckage of the Derringer. A few birds flew overhead, squawking their displeasure at the unwanted intrusion to the island. The bow of the ship had dug its way neatly into the side of the island, while other pieces lay strewn about. No one seemed to be within sight of the ship. That proved to not be the case, however, as a large figure rose from within the bow. Tall, muscular and still wearing a Marlins cap, Commander Raymond Beck had survived the accident.
He had awoken lying beside the pieces of the ship only an hour ago. For that past hour he had been waiting patiently to see if anyone else had survived. No one else had come out from the jungle's edge and Beck feared the worst. Taking a long, good stretch he looked out to the sea. In the distance an object came into view. Slowly bobbing along the waves, it neared the island. Not wanting to give himself too much hope, he squinted his eyes to try and make out a human body. Minutes passed, and with not much else to do, he waited. The shape slowly took form every second until Beck could confirm the facts. There was someone clinging to a piece of wood.
Tearing off his shirt, Beck ran into the ocean and dived the moment his feet could no longer feel the sandy floor. Arms pounding like pistons, he made his way to the figure and floated along side it. Brushing a clump of brown hair off of the face, he smiled. Miranda Greenwood had survived. Her pulse was strong, but she had passed out for one reason or another. Carefully wrapping his arms around her lithe upper torso, he slowly carried her back to shore.
-
A lightning bolt streaked across the sky. Demonic waves formed, smiling a crooked smile. The fell down upon Miranda with fury, trying to knock her off of the wood she clung to. Water filled her lungs and she began to gasp for air, but with every gasp a wave fell upon her and more water came in. She began to black out, and she swore she could hear laughter amongst the thunder...
Miranda Greenwood awoke with a jolt, letting a small gasp escape her lips. Her chest heaving, she looked around and saw that she was no longer in the water. Looking around, she found herself surrounded by the same two people she had last seen: Dr. Graise and Stacy. Had the storm been a dream. Looking to her left she noticed the tropical trees waving in the wind, and she felt the sand beneath her feet. No, it had not been a dream. She had weathered the storm, somehow. Looking behind her, she noticed she was leaned up against a piece of the ship, proudly proclaiming that it was once the Derringer. Stacy and Dr. Graise were seated upon two logs, with Graise attempting to start a fire of some kind. Stacy tried her best to hold in her chuckles.
The sun was beginning to set, and Miranda began to wonder if anyone else had survived. Slowly, she began to rise from the ground. Stacy's head jerked in her direction, surprised.
"Mira, you're awake!" she squealed, running over and giving her friend a hug.
"Yes," Miranda choked out, trying to pry Stacy's arms off of her, "Thank you for noticing."
After successfully removing herself from the confining arms, Miranda continued, saying, "Um, did anyone else survive?"
"Sure," Stacy smiled, "Ray made it. Actually, he's the one who found you. Me and Eddy over here floated in on a table. We had to be floating around, trying to get to this island for at least three hours."
"The worst three hours of my life, I can assure you," Graise growled, frustrated as he quickly spun a stick in his hands. He couldn't understand how a man like him, with a doctorate in biological anomalies, could start a fire.
"Anyone else?" Miranda asked Stacy, trying to get back on the positive.
Stacy shrugged, "Ray's out looking for anyone who made it here. He's staying on the beach, though. He's pretty certain that anyone in there would be dead by now." Stacy motioned towards the bleak looking jungle. Odd noises echoed from within.
"Only an idiot would go in there," Graise interrupted, throwing the stick down in disgust, "And they'd deserve to die if they were that moronic."
"You're a ray of sunshine," Stacy smiled, crossing her arms and turning towards Graise, "You know that?"
"I don't see what I've got to be so cheerful about, young Ms. Holland," Graise sneered, "We're shipwrecked. Does your pea brained mind even comprehend that concept?"
"Moaning won't-"
"I'm allowed to be bitter, I think," Graise interrupted, rising from the ground and wiping sand off of his pants, "I didn't even want to be on this ship. I don't even like the damn ocean! If that brain dead captain hadn't gone and gotten us-"
"Dr. Graise!" a deep voice growled, "It's not polite to speak ill of the dead."
Everyone turned to the voice's source. Slowly walking towards the three came the figure of Raymond Beck, carrying something large. It was wrapped in pieces of cloth as well as Beck's shirt. To all present, it was quite obvious what it was.
"Captain MacIntyre?" Stacy gasped.
"Went down the way he'd have wanted," Beck smiled, carefully setting down the body of his friend, "It may sound cliché, but going down with the ship wasn't too bad of an idea, 'cording to him."
Silence fell among the group, and Beck slowly removed his cap. They all knew that Captain MacIntyre wouldn't be the only loss. From the edge of the jungle, however, a pair of blue eyes watched intently.
-
"There's some wreckage over at that island, sir," a stout, clean shaven man announced, lowering a pair of binoculars. Layers of fat flopped around his chin, and his gut hung over his belt.
He was a member of the Nameless Ship's crew. The Nameless Ship. That's what some had come to call the vessel that had been robbing a few shipments around the caribbean. The truth, though, was that the crew had been too lazy to give the ship the name, and more importantly, their leader thought it was unnecessary. A man covered in scars and wearing army fatigues walked up behind the large man.
"Webber," he said lightly, "Do you see anyone bodies around it? Alive or dead?"
"None that I can make out," Webber replied
"When we reach the shore," the man smiled, "If you find any survivors, kill them."