*Aquaman's costume is the exact same as in the game, Injustice: Gods Among Us. It's no longer the stupid spandex that he's previously worn as for the modern age, it's now Atlantean armor painted dark shades of yellow and green. The trident is of a dark gold color and dark red rubies cover the handle. It was Aquaman's grandfather's trident who ruled Atlantis with it when he was the king centuries ago. As you will see in this chapter, Arthur has a very short temper during times of stress and is trying to control it. For all of you who think Aquaman is stupid or useless, once you read this chapter, you will think otherwise I'm sure.
Mason's thugs tossed Arthur into the ground in the fishing warehouse and Arthur groaned in pain. Mason jumped from the speedboat and wiped his mouth, ready to give the fish lover the worst beating of his life. His mercenaries loaded their weapons and kept an eye on the unconscious Arthur while he began to wake up. He groaned in pain as blood poured down his forehead, seeing two of the men casually swinging the heavy trident around like a toy. He shook his head as Mason grabbed him by his hair and tossed him into a tuna carcass hanging by a hook in the cold warehouse.
"You know how much money you've cost me already?" Mason yelled, punching Arthur in the face as he stood up weakly.
"Millions of damage after you took out my oil tanker just off the coast! You blew up two speedboats, killed dozens of my men, men who were fathers and brothers!" Mason continued, blocking Arthur's strike and kicking his stomach.
"Those men decided to openly destroy these oceans and have killed many more men than I ever will! It's always about money with you criminals!" Arthur replied, spitting blood from his mouth and tackling Mason as seven men approached him.
"What are you worth? Nothing!" Mason yelled in his face as two guards dragged him away and punched him repeatedly in the chest.
Arthur remembered those words he had heard long ago...
"What are you worth, Curry? Nothing!" Benjamin Brown yelled as his goon swung his metal bat against the shelf beside the register and busted the food bags and packages apart.
"I have a family who loves me, Ben. That's worth more than anything you could ever damaged." Donald said, holding Arthur back as the man continued to bust up Donald's shop.
Donald and Molly Curry owned a small boat shop in their hometown of Amnesty Bay in Maine where they fixed up all types of boats and made their own to sell. Benjamin Brown was the town boss, rumored to be the leader of a Mafia-type group and he hated the Currys. While most other business gave a small cut to Brown's honest business, Donald refused and made a huge effort to keep him away from Arthur especially. He knew of Arthur's true origins and was afraid that Arthur's secret would be revealed.
"Really?" Brown asked with a laugh, taking the bat and slamming it against the ceiling fan above, watching the blades fly around the room and the glass from the light bulbs crash to the floor.
"Are you sure?" he yelled again, taking the bat and nearly hitting Donald and the bat hitting Molly in the back.
"No!" Donald yelled, jumping over the counter and attacking Brown, throwing the bat in the opposite direction and punching him in the face.
Brown jumped up and tackled Donald, the two grappling each other and flying into the wall as the thug grabbed Molly who cried on the floor. Arthur punched the man's back with all his might as he tossed Molly over the counter and dragged her out of the store. He smacked her face and she kicked his throat, slamming his head into the van they arrived in. The two other men in the van grabbed her and stuffed her in the back while Donald got his head slammed into the wall. He turned around and elbowed Brown, making him stumbled over a broken shelf of wax jars. Donald broke his nose with one punch and the driver grabbed his neck, tossing his into the ground.
"Let him go!" Arthur yelled, running up to Brown who grabbed his chest and threw him into the empty fish tank behind him, water splashing everywhere on the floor as Arthur tried to get up.
He watched his father fight against the two men, hitting them with brutal punches and screaming in fury when he saw his wife's face through the window, bloody and bruised. He looked at Arthur and let out a single tear.
"No!" Arthur screamed as his father was knocked out and Brown spit in his face, dragging him into the van as they started it up, leaving the injured Arthur inside the destroyed store.
Arthur struggled to lift the heavy glass off his back and cried in pain and anger as he saw the van start to drive away. At only thirteen, Arthur had little muscle and was of short height. He closed his eyes and felt the water surround his body, literally feeling the bubbles of liquid traveling over his back and on the floor. As he heard the tires squeal, he felt the water lift the heavy glass pane off his body and slide onto the floor. Arthur stood up and felt more powerful than ever, eyeing the van that was driving away at top speeds. Arthur ran out of the store and noticed that water was on the road from a rain earlier that day. Only able to see with the help of the van's lights, Arthur concentrated on the water below his feet and heard a calm, soothing voice in his head as he tried to concentrate.
"Orin..." it said.
Arthur looked around and suddenly felt his head drift to the ocean that was a 100 yards from him and he suddenly felt hypnotized by it. The moonlight shining on the waves looked so beautiful and Arthur began to see the faint image of a woman dressed in ancient garb that reminded him of Roman garb. He walked slowly to the water and walked into the waves until they completely overcame him. He saw the white image of the woman with her finger out, signaling for him to follow. He didn't even hold his breath as it seemed that all time stopped as he swam further below the depths. For the first time, he didn't struggle to see underwater and looked around the peaceful surroundings, taking his dark sweatshirt off to have more mobility. He followed the woman for what seemed like hours until he reached the bottom, seeing a large cave. He saw the woman disappear and looked inside the cave, seeing a golden knob on a slab of rock. He turned his head and grabbed the rock, seeing it move sideways and hearing the rock grind against itself. Arthur swam through it without fear, knowing it was the only way to find out the truth behind his past.
"Actually..." Mason said, comb his greasy hair out of his face as he stopped punching Arthur for a moment.
"I can believe you're EPA. You don't even try to fight." he continued with a laugh.
Arthur looked at Mason with a bruised face and watched as his henchmen laughed and made fun of him. His mind kept flashing back to the night he figured out who he was and he gave a scowl as he watched the latest shipment of weapons about to be delivered to the warehouse. A henchmen bowed down beside Arthur and flipped out a switchblade, holding it close to his bloody eyes.
"Really...who would take you seriously? You're wearing a gold and green costume and acting like a superhero. It seems like you can't do shit outside of water so what's your purpose?" the man laughed.
"You are ignorant." Arthur mumbled painfully.
"Maybe... but at least I'm not a fish out of water." the man said loudly, making his friends laugh as the shipment truck of missiles pulled up to the garage.
The men laughed and Arthur felt the rage inside him grow as the laughter increased and the truck stopped. Arthur turned his head and saw five men unload the giant missiles crate and saw Mason slap the driver on the back. He hated watching Mason reveling in victory but knew he had to wait until the right moment. He watched Mason point to him and look at his main man, holding a giant M60 machine gun.
"Blow his head off and dump him." Mason said quietly as the truck sped off into the waning light.
"You got it." the man said with a nod.
He grabbed Arthur by his shoulder armor and groaned when the man punched him in the chest with the butt of the M60. Arthur decided the time was right and before he could deliver another blow, he grabbed the gun and made the thug pull the trigger, bullets spraying out into the warehouse, making the twenty-plus men aim their weapons and surround the two. Arthur yelled in anger and punched him in the face, making him stumble back. Arthur grabbed the gun and fired it into the air, bullet casings ringing onto the cold floor as bullets pierced through the metal roof. The men began to fire and he fired back, killing two men instantly as blood shot from their chests and their bodies hit the walls. Arthur broke the M60 machine gun in half and did a front-flip in the air, dodging bullets and sliding on the floor, splashes of water suddenly appearing below his feet as his grabbed his trident leaning against the wall. He grabbed the trident and swung it around, another large splash of water suddenly appearing in front of it. The men raised their eyebrows as they fired and he deflected the bullets with his armor.
"Stop! Stop!" Mason yelled, firing his high-powered revolver in the air and making his men stop shooting.
Arthur stopped spinning his trident and looked in Mason's direction.
"How are you doing that?" Mason asked, pointing the revolver at his head.
"There is water vapor in the air. Were you not aware?" Aquaman asked.
Water droplets began to appear at his fingertips and the men panicked in fear.
"Kill h-!" Mason began before seeing a giant wave of water shoot out straight from the air and fill up the entire warehouse.
The men screamed in fear as the wave busted through the walls and all the henchmen were washed out, slamming into the ground and vehicles outside. Three men along with Mason fired at him and he blocked them with another giant water vapor blast. Bullets were no match against the giant wave as Arthur screamed with power and the men desperately tried to stay afloat. Arthur made a burst of water shoot upwards, making one man fly through the metal roof and hit the ground from twenty feet. The other men fired their SMGs and pistols at him, bullets bouncing off with little harm. As water filled the warehouse up to ten feet, Mason leaped on the floating frozen tuna and groaned, firing the last two bullets at Arthur's head, one bullet slicing off a small bit of blonde hair. He stood on top of the carcass as Arthur stopped summoning water and leaped on top of him, trying to choke him to death. They sunk to the bottom and were swept out when the walls gave out, over six thousand gallons of water spilling to the dock.
Arthur calmly hopped off a wave that carried him to Mason's wet body and swung the trident around proudly. He bent down to Mason who began coughing up large amounts of water and vomited on the road as the rest of his men struggled to stand up.
"I know you're wondering how a man like me can defeat a bigshot like you. But I must remind you..." Arthur said.
"But I'm the King of the Oceans." he continued, knocking Mason out with one sucker-punch to the nose.
"Where am I?" Young Arthur asked as he looked into the face of the woman before him.
"Atlantis... my son." the woman replied.
Arthur looked around and saw the beautiful underwater city beneath him. It was swarming with people and creatures of all kinds. It was bright with underwater lights and the buildings were Greek-like in style and he was reminded of a futuristic city. He followed his mother into the city streets and swam with her as she lead him to a giant cobblestone palace that was covered with sand-dollar shells and small rocks. The people who swam past him stayed still and put their heads down. Arthur gave them a look as he swam by and the woman opened the door, shutting it behind him. Immediately, water rushed out of the room and he was breathing fresh, salty air again. He felt the woman hold him tight and tears stream down her eyes.
"Orin. It's felt like years since I've held you." the woman said, staring in Arthur's eyes.
"Who...are...you?" Arthur asked, somehow feeling at home with the strange woman.
"I...am your mother, Atlanna. Your father, Donald Curry, met me 13 years ago when his ship was overturned during a violent hurricane. I saved his life and we fell in love briefly. When I found out I was with child, I wanted him to experience the human world for himself before choosing his path. He married your adoptive mother and I can tell they raised you well, Orin." Atlanna explained.
"Why do you keep calling me Orin?" Arthur asked as he looked around the Atlantean palace.
"That is your birth name." she replied.
"Atlanna? Like Atlantis? This is Atlantis?" Arthur said, the impact of discovery finally hitting him.
"Yes. And you are the heir." Atlanna said, holding her hands up to the ceiling.
"I am?" Arthur said, a small smile on his face.
"Yes, my son. I can read that you've begun developing your powers." she said, returning a smile.
"So, you mean the water tank and the road... that was my powers?" Arthur asked.
Atlanna nodded and closed her eyes sharply, a searing pain in her head.
"What's wrong?" he asked, holding his mother's shoulder as she fell to the ground.
"It's... your father and mother... they are in danger." she said painfully.
"I have to help them. I'll be back." Arthur said, hugging his mother before running out of the palace and swimming to the surface with all his might.
"I'm not sure who to take care of first. Him or the bitch?" Brown laughed, sliding the sharp knife down the side of Molly's face.
She screamed through the rag in her mouth and Donald groaned as well, trying to break apart the zipties around his wrists. He was going to kill Ben Brown tonight. He had left Arthur all alone in the store, hurt and confused. He felt warm blood fall from the zipties as he tried to pull them apart with all his might. He looked at Molly with sympathetic eyes and nodded in her direction. He would make sure they would be alright.
"What the hell is that?" a guard asked as he looked into the waves.
"Is that a tsunami?" another man asked, starting to back up.
Ben looked out to the waves behind him and saw a fifty-foot wave in the distance. It kept inching closer and closer to shore and he began to walk backwards, leaving Donald and Molly tied up on the dock. Molly looked backwards and saw the gigantic wave, screaming at Donald, nudging him with her elbow. He looked behind her and quickly got up. He shoved Molly ahead of him and ran as fast as he could, the wave about to hit the dock. Don tripped over a loose plank on the dock deck and grunted in pain when he hit the wood. Molly looked behind her and tried to help him up but the wave went over top of them both, the roar of it overcoming the sound of Brown's van engine.
"Run!" Brown said as he hopped on the back.
Before the van could move, the wave crashed on them, making Brown slip from the back, being sucked under the van as the wave made the dock its own little ocean. One of Brown's front teeth were knocked out when his head hit the front bumper and he saw something he couldn't believe. It was Donald and Molly's boy, standing in the water like it wasn't even there. Arthur's face looked more mature and anger than ever. While sea water rushed all over Brown and his henchmens' bodies, Arthur grabbed Brown's collar and headbutted him, letting him recede back into the ocean along with the van as he commanded the wave to recede. Once all water was back in the ocean, Molly opened her eyes as she held herself close to Donald. They were completely dry and they saw no sign of Brown or his men. Only Arthur, his shirt gone and pants soaked, looking like a man who was grown up.
Donald opened his eyes and saw his son and he smiled. Arthur ran up to them and untied them and taking their gags out.
"Oh my God! Arthur!" Molly said, hugging Arthur and crying into his arms.
"Dad..." Arthur said quietly.
Donald looked up, knowing what his son would say.
"I know the truth now."
Arthur sat on the edge of a rock near the coast of Comstock Island and watched the police take the missile crates into evidence vans and arrest Mason and his surviving men. He gave a smile as Mason yelled out slanderous words and saying he was framed. He slammed his trident into the sand below and waited for a moment before his dolphin warrior appeared through the foamy waves and gave a quiet squeak at Arthur.
"You know what?" Arthur said to his dolphin.
"People have been calling me Aquaman. It might be a little cheesy..." he continued, the dolphin sending up a harmless splash of water.
"But I kind of like it. Let's go." Arthur said, hopping on the dolphin and shooting to the bottom of the sea.
THE END...