Ultimate Aquaman: The Savage

- Entertainer13 -

Part Three: Savage No More

Nine Years Ago

Dr. Thomas Curry looked out over the ocean, watching the sun set. His face held a solemn demeanor, scarcely hidden underneath his thick, brown beard. He was a tall, built man with a bald head. His right arm hung around his wife's shoulders, and he gently squeezed her arm. She turned her face towards him, forcing a small smile. His short, brown hair flew in the breeze.

"It's a beautiful view," she said quietly, looking back towards the sun set, "It always is." A small tear rolled down her cheek. Her husband looked down at her, sadly.

"Sara," he said quietly, "We can try again. Just give it time."

Sara shook her head, and said with surprising strength, "No. I don't think I could go through losing another child. It's such a horrible feeling." She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to console herself.

Taking Sara into both of his arms, Thomas kissed her on the forehead. "We'll worry about this later," he said afterwards, "Let's just go back inside." Sara pulled away from Thomas.

"Just a while longer," she insisted, walking towards the railing of their deck. The two lived in a beach house, overlooking the Atlantic. "It's been awhile since I just watched a sun set." Thomas smiled and turned to go back inside. She needed time alone.

Sara looked out towards the ocean, leaning slowly on the railing in front of her. The waves crashed on the shore as she watched the lighthouse in the distance light up. She would have to go inside soon. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, preparing to do just that. As she opened her eyes, she looked down towards the beach and saw the oddest sight. Her eyes went wide. Lying on the shore was a child with short, blonde hair. He was face down, evidently washed up.

"Tom!" she screamed, running down the stairs of their patio, towards the surf, "Tom!" She ran towards the figure, motionless on the sand.

-

His mind was a blur. Flashes of a previous life cascade before his eyes. Deformed men charging, spears in hand; a large, liquid form gives its hand; a pair of warm, green eyes look off in a distant direction; a large burst of electricity flies forward. He hears a voice off in the distance. A song is being sung... a soothing song. He then hears a name.

Arthur.

-

"He's not a dog, Sara," Thomas said to his wife as he looked out a window. His hair was a mess and there were bags under his eyes. The sixteen year old boy in the next room had kept him up the past two nights. Constantly needed water, violent spasms crushing the furniture; there were a lot of strange things about this boy. "Besides, he's not exactly normal. He seems normal, now that he's woken up, but still."

"Do you want to report him to the government?" Sara laughed, walking up to her husband, "Let them cut him open!"

"There's been odd people in the past," Thomas replied, turning to look her in the eyes, "The government never turned them into experiments."

"Well, those they didn't became soldiers," Sara continued walking in circles. Finally, she took a stance and continued, saying, "Let's just test the waters. Keep an eye on him, and you can use your contacts in the Bureau to find out what might happen to him."

"I can't believe we're arguing about this!" Thomas growled, throwing his hands up in the air, "He's not ours. We have no clue what he's capable of. He could be some monster waiting to strike-"

"A monster?" Sara laughed, cutting him off, "He doesn't even remember who he is. Besides, with eyes like those? They're as blue as the sea. They remind me of my father's."

"That's why you call him Arthur," Thomas said shaking his head, knowing he'd lost the argument. His shoulders slumped in resignation as he walked over towards Sara. He put his arms around her and held her back close.

"My dad loved the sea," Sara smiled, "You know that."

"I thought he was just some nut who lived in a light house," Thomas laughed, smiling. A sharp elbow to his gut kept him quiet.

"Stop it!" Sara giggled. The two stood quietly, enjoying the moment. After the moment had passed, she asked, "So, we take care of him?"

Thomas sighed, and replied, "Yes. We'll take care of him."

-

Now

Arthur peered through the tall weeds, watching as the small search party passed by. There were five of the men that he'd beaten the day before, this time armed with enough ammunitions to take over a third world country. Between the grenades and automatics, it seemed like overkill to him. It wasn't a big problem, though. He'd just have to be more careful. He waited until the last man had passed before running back towards the cave.

After saving the people yesterday, he had taken them to one of his many homes on the island. It was a small cave in on the southern tip of the island. It was behind a waterfall and hard to find. A U.S. Coast Guard patrol always came by about every other day, so he would hopefully be rid of all these people soon.

-

A man crawled out of the hole in the ground, covered in mud and weeds. He looked up straight into the face of Walter Helmsly, fisherman turned mercenary. His scarred features sent a shiver down the man's spine. This was only worsened when the image was joined by Helmsly's gruff voice.

"Well?" he demanded, grabbing the man and pulling him up towards his face, "Did you find anything?"

"There was a bed of cloth and stuff," came the response, "But it seems old."

Satisfied, Helmsly dropped the man and walked off towards the edge of the group. He had ordered his men to split into two groups patrolling the coast. If this savage man came from the water, he'd likely live there. No matter how well hidden it may be, he would find the lair of this creature and sell him off to his employer.

"Come on!" Helmsly barked out, "Let's move!"

-

The four of them sat around the damp cavern, sour looks on their faces. The last crew members of the Derringer sourly thought about what had brought them to this point. Mira and Stacy sat together on a rock, near a small pool in the center of the cave. Graise, glasses cracked and hair covered dirt, sat with his back turned towards the rest, high upon a rock. Beck watched the waterfall, pouring in front of the entrance. He leaned against the wall, staring. His face was contorted in concentration, his eyes bloodshot. He'd gone almost twenty-four hours without a cigarette, and he wasn't happy.

"Damn," Beck muttered to no one, "Dumb ass gunmen, jungle freaks." He winced, leaning on his injured ankle the wrong way. He continued to stare off into the water.

Stacey watched Beck closely, concern on her face. Miranda, in turn, watched her. Emotions were running high, and their lives seemed to be at risk. This wasn't exactly a happy situation. Miranda looked down into the pool, watching her reflection ripple in the water. She couldn't get that man out of her mind. He was so wild, yet seemed composed of a calmness. It was in his eyes.

"What was it?" Graise's voice suddenly asked, breaking the reverie of Miranda. Stacy and Mira looked towards Graise, seeing he was looking straight at Beck. Beck spat on the ground and turned.

"What was what?" he asked, as if he was being challenged. Graise rose from where he was sitting. He stood strong and firm, trying to look as intimidating as possible.

"That 'artifact' that those Cro-Magnon's were looking for," Graise replied, "The one that almost got us killed." Beck smirked and turned back to his original position.

"Hell if I know," he said simply. Graise's eyes bulged.

"Don't hand me that garbage!" he screamed, his hands clenched in fists, ghost white, "We deserve to know what we almost got killed over!" Stacy tried to say something, but Mira motioned for her to stay silent.

Beck continued to keep his back towards Graise, merely replying, "It was a shipment that STAR Labs lost on an earlier run like this. One of the boys from your crew picked it up. I thought you knew."

"Obviously I didn't" Graise said bitterly. Beck started chuckling. Fuming, Graise walked over towards Beck and grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around. "Don't laugh at me!"

With lightning quick reflexes, Beck grabbed Graise's arm and twisted it hard. He bent it around to Graise's back, who in turn let out a silent whimper. He doubled over as Beck continued to hold his arm. The larger man finally bent over and whispered, "I'm not in a good mood. Don't ever yell at me, or touch me again, got it?" Graise nodded and Beck let go of his arm. The STAR Labs scientist slowly walked over towards his original sitting place, protectively holdings his bruised arm. Stacy rose as if to yell at Beck, when Mira pulled her back down.

"It's resolved," she whispered to her friend, "Let's just leave it alone."

Stacy looked at Mira in shock, answering, "They're going to kill each other!"

"No they won't," Mira said, closing her eyes, "We have a common enemy, and they're just both angry. No one got hurt."

"Tell that to Eddy," Stacy said, looking over at the scientist with sympathy.

"He deserved it and you know it," Mira said simply, looking back at her reflection.

Stacy didn't respond. She picked up a stick from what seemed to be a make shift bed near the pool. She started poking at some rocks, board. Turning her attention towards a large rock embedded in the ground, she tried to pry it loose. Much to her surprise, it quickly gave way and popped out of the ground. The rock flew over into a corner, knocking into a wall. Stacy looked down in shock at the hole before her. A small, tattered book lay wrapped in some red cloth. She reached down and picked it up.

"M... Mira?" she said quietly to her friend. Miranda turned around to see what the matter was. She spied the book and her eyes went wide.

"What do you have there?" Beck asked, limping over towards Stacy. He bent over and reached for the book, but Mira grabbed it from before either one of her friends could react.

"This is obviously our host's," Mira said, cradling it in her arms, "Let's leave it alone."

"Our host?" Graise laughed, not moving from the corner he was in, "That savage is no host. He's probably going to eat us when he gets back."

"Shut up," Beck said plainly Graise as he grabbed the book from Miranda, "I don't think it'll hurt to just see what it is."

Miranda gave up, and walked off towards the cave entrance where Beck had been standing earlier. Beck opened the book as Stacy watched. A tattered, old picture fell out of the pages. Beck picked it up and looked at it closely. A teenager stood next to what seemed to be his parents. The teenager looked very similar to someone Beck had seen before.

"Whad'ya know?" Beck chuckled, "Tarzan wasn't raise by any apes."

"My name is Arthur," a voice broke in, "And I would appreciate it if you put that back."

Beck and Stacy spun around to see Arthur, still crudely shaven, standing in the entryway next to Miranda. Miranda just watched on with a sad look on her face.

"Hey, man," Beck said, quickly putting the picture back and wrapping up the book, "Sorry. We're just-"

"Just put it back," Arthur said, walking over to where the two were. He grabbed the small volume and put it back in the hole, covering it up with some more rocks. He looked straight at Beck. "We have other problems to worry about."

"Don't tell me," Stacy interrupted, taking in a small breath as she looked behind Arthur, "Those guys with the guns are back." Arthur looked at Stacy with a confused look, when he suddenly heard a cough behind him.

Spinning around, he saw Captain Helmsly holding onto a terrified Miranda, his hand covering her mouth. A gun barrel was placed at her temple, and a sneer adorned his face. About ten men stood behind him, various weapons in their hands. Arthur rose up and looked Helmsly in the eye.

"I told the earlier men not to come back," he snarled, "You didn't listen."

"When I could capture a prize such as you?" Helmsly laughed, "Of course not. I know many people who would love to carve up a savage meta-human such as yourself, so unless you want this pretty lady to die, please, surrender."

Arthur looked around the cavern. Graise sat frozen, his arms straight in the air. Stacy had sheltered herself in Beck's arms. He then looked at the men in front of him. He then looked at Miranda. Their eyes met, and a familiar shiver went down his spine. His eyes then met Helmsly's. They were cold and deadly.

"You win," Arthur said, "I surrender."