8
City Submerged
Esak looked at the monitor as the enormous blasts of energy tried to rip through space. There was a visible bend in fabric of space and time, as the stars themselves seemed to stretch out and curve. The blasts intensified, and a brightly colored ripple emerged. Slowly, it grew, first into a sphere, and then into something like a ring torus. However, what was seen through the torus' aperture was not the space that surrounded it. Within the torus Esak could see stars that did not match with the stars outside of it. It was all very clear; the instruments indicated that those stars were made entirely from anti-matter. Esak smiled. He had achieved the seemingly impossible.
He had opened a gateway to another universe. The deformed hands of the renegade New God touched the console, and the image on the monitor zoomed in on the discovered universe. Esak's smiled widened.
Before him, he saw a planet; an ugly, rough-surfaced thing, unsmooth and not at all the near perfect spherical shape, like any other planet of similar size. The planet seemed to be a made up jumble of rocks that had been haphazardly glued together. It was an ugly world.
The lights throughout the control room began to flicker. Esak began looking about, his irritation growing.
"I need more power!" he yelled at the nearest assistant. Everyone within the control room worked hard on their consoles. But the inevitable happened. The beam that kept the wormhole open lost strength, and soon, the torus collapsed upon itself.
Esak banged his fist furiously against the console, as he waved his other fist at his assistants. "You incompetent oafs! We were almost there! Which one of you failed me?"
All of the assistants cowered before the disfigured form of their master. Esak picked one to bully and grabbed him by the neck.
"What did you do you wretch?" Esak asked.
"Nothing I swear!" the assistant pleaded in terror "The War World needs more power"
Esak let go of the assistant with a snarl. "You are lucky that I need you" he said. And he silently admitted that the assistant was right. Despite its power, the War World did not have the energetic capacity to open a gateway between universes. At least not for now. The disfigured New God scowled. He had hoped that this vessel would be powerful enough to do the job, that it would only need a few minor adjustments. It was clear that he was wrong. But then, what would one expect from something that belonged to Mongul – a creature Esak viewed as a bastardized copy of Darkseid. At times, Esak thought that Mongul was something worse – that he was nothing but the copy of a copy, if that were possible.
As he returned to his console to try and discover what new modifications he needed to perform in order to make the death machine that was the War World truly efficient, he felt a shadow fall on him.
Through the corner of his eyes, he could see his assistant prostrating on the ground. He lowered his head and slowly turned.
"My lord Darkseid" he said in a humble tone.
"It seems that you have still not achieved your goal" the dark god said as he stood over Esak.
"No my lord" Esak said, "This pathetic War World does not have the power to open up a rift for more than a few seconds. I have however found the world of Qward. It should make things easier once we make this vessel more energy efficient"
A low rumble came out of the dark god.
Darkseid crossed his hands over his chest and looked at the monitor. "Make it so. As for the power, I will give it to you"
He left the control room. Esak sighed with relief, and continued working over the console, making sure that nothing else went wrong. Something always went wrong. But he would be very happy when everything went right.
Bubba Rut waved his AK 47 in the air, pulling the trigger. Pieces of the hallway ceiling fell upon his head, and the students ran into their classrooms in a panic, hoping that he wouldn't come in. Not much good could be said about Bubba Rut; he wasn't a nice boy who had been mercilessly bullied by the jocks. He was just a jerk that everyone avoided, and who blamed others for his misfortunes. The contempt he had for others was obvious to any who spoke to him; only those who believed that the Earth was six thousand years old had his respect – and he still thought of himself as their superior. This violent explosion was not unexpected. What could have triggered it was a mystery.
He walked along the hallway, moving slowly on purpose, thinking that he was himself an invincible horror monster, cooler than the ones he had seen so many times at the movies. He grinned in a horrible way that would be the pride of a certain citizen of Gotham City.
"Come on! Why won't anyone come out to play?" he said. He shot at the ceiling again. More debris came down; more dust came down on his head, coloring part of his hair white. He felt that he was on top of the world.
Slowly, he moved towards the closest door, making sure to step on the debris and crunching them under his boot. He smiled wickedly.
"Oh Ms. Day? I was wondering if I could have a word with you" he said, giggling maniacally. He tapped his fingers on the knob, and then grabbed it. He turned the knob, but as soon as he tried to push the door open, it wouldn't give way. "Really? Ms. Day, I just want to talk to you, express my feelings for you; you know, those feelings I get whenever I see you? We should have a conversation"
"Bubba, you need help" Ms. Day said from behind the door.
"Okay then, why don't you help me? Just let me in and we can help each other" Bubba Rut said.
"I'm not going to let that happen" Ms. Day replied. It was clear that she was shaken. Other students could be heard from within, speaking between themselves. "Bubba, we've already called the police. Just give up now before you make things worse for yourself"
Bubba Rut let out a maniacal cackle. "They're not going to be here on time Ms. Day. Not until we have a little conversation" Bubba Rut then aimed his machine gun at the door, and pulled the trigger. There was an explosion of noise and the door lock was shattered.
The insane student smiled and pushed at the door. It didn't open as far as he had expected; it was barricaded with the Ms. Day's desk.
"Are you trying to stop me? It's not going to work!" Bubba Rut said. He then madly charged at the door. The desk budged a few centimeters inwards. Someone pushed it back towards the door.
"Okay, fine. You want it this way? I'm glad. I want to shoot my pretty little gun" he said, taking a few steps back. He shot his gun, and he could hear the screaming amidst the gunfire. "Here I come, and I better be well received!"
He started kicking at the door, furiously. It was almost as if he were unaware of his surroundings; as if tunnel-vision had focused his attention on that one door. He certainly didn't notice the red and blue figure approaching, clung to the wall.
Bubba Rut was still kicking at the door, when Spider-Man dropped to the ground and landed on his feet. And Bubba Rut continued kicking at the door even after Spider-Man had landed in a most audible manner. He didn't notice the web-slinger's presence until the arachnid hero shook his head in disbelief and raised his hand. A web came out of his wrist and hit the AK 47. With one slight tug, Spider-Man ripped the gun off of the student's hands.
Only then did Bubba stop attacking the door and looked to his side. He saw Spider-Man standing in the hallway, with his machine gun in his hands. Then, effortlessly, Spider-Man broke the AK 47 into two pieces.
"Okay Bub" said Spider-Man, who never thought that he'd say bub like some unwashed Canadian, "What's your problem with that door? What did it do to hurt your feelings? Feel free to talk to Dr. Spider-Man here. I'm a science major"
Bubba jumped up, startled. Nervously, he pulled out a glock from inside his pants, and pointed it at the wall-crawler. His hands were shaking, and it didn't seem that he wouldn't hit anything but the ceiling.
"I'm gonna kill ya man!" he said, trying to sound tough. He pulled the trigger several times. Spider-Man dodged each bullet with ease, simply stepping to the side or shifting his torso about.
Spider-Man moved quickly and snatched the gun from Bubba Rut's hand. With one squeeze, Spider-Man crushed the gun.
"I don't think so man!" the wall-crawler said in response to Bubba Rut. Before the disturbed teen could do anything more, Spider-Man punched him in the face, knocking him out. He then quickly webbed the teen up against the wall.
"Thank goodness!" Ms. Day said, peeking through the openings that Bubba Rut's gun had made in the door. "You saved our lives!"
Beneath his mask, Spider-Man smiled. It wasn't everyday you got a reception like this.
"It was the only thing I could do miss. Have you called the police?" the web-slinger asked.
"Several times" Ms. Day replied. And as she said that, the police sirens were heard, and they were getting louder.
Spider-Man looked at Ms. Day and gave her a salute. "I better leave. Stay out of trouble, you here?" he said, and then he disappeared.
By the time Peter Parker arrived at the Elliot Shapiro High School in New York City, the police were surrounding setting up a security cordon. Ambulances could be seen, and Peter was sure that he saw a few bomb squads nearby.
Ah, New York. The differences between this one and the one he had left behind were quite minimal.
Even though he knew that the danger had passed, Peter approached slowly and warily. He walked towards the nearest cop. "Excuse me officer, but what's going on here?"
"Are you a student in this school?" the police officer asked.
"Yes sir. I'm a bit late. Because I study hard" Peter said, clumsily. The youth was fortunate that the police was too busy, and didn't notice his tone of voice. Or maybe he thought that Peter had been partying the previous night before.
"Son, one of your classmates started a little ruckus here. You have nothing to worry about. You just might not have school today" the officer said.
"A shame" Peter replied.
"Of course it is son" the policeman snidely said as he turned his attention elsewhere.
"Hey Pete!"
Peter turned towards the direction of the call. Ronnie Raymond was there, waving his hands in the air. Peter looked around and once he noticed that the cops weren't looking in his direction, he walked under the police tape.
"Pete! Where were you man?" Ronnie asked. When Peter had first met Ronnie, he thought that the teenager must have been this universe's version of Flash Thompson, but in just a matter of a few days – actually, just one – Ronnie turned out to be a good friend. A good friend who introduced him to others, like Jason Rusch. This was something unusual for Peter. He never had good friends at school. The closest people to him were his Aunt May, Betty Brant – who was now out of the picture – and that idiot, Johnny Storm.
"I got up late. I was up all night studying" Peter said as he lied through his teeth. He had actually been out in the street as Spider-Man and beating up thugs.
"Why do you need to stay up all night to study? You're the smartest guy I know" Ronnie said. And that was probably because Peter had spent a lot of time absorbing the more exotic scientific theories this universe had to offer, making sure that he knew more than many. He had been warned about studying too hard by everyone in the Watchtower, but in the end, it had worked out well. Peter had high marks on his exam, which allowed him to come to New York and attend Elliot Shapiro High School, one of the best High Schools in New York and known to be funded by Wayne Enterprises, Lexcorp, Kord Industries and S.T.A.R. labs, each wanting to recruit the world's next genius into their fold.
"I like to study" Peter said, trying hard not to dwell on the subject. He immediately turned to what was going on around them "What's going on here?"
"That jerk Bubba Rut – you know, that guy you shoved into the trash by accident the other day – he brought a gun and started shooting up the place" Ronnie said.
"What?" Peter said, feigning surprise "Did anyone get hurt?"
"No one got hurt – we all got really lucky. That new superhero that's been on the news took care of him – you know, Spider-Man" Ronnie said.
Peter tried his best to look shocked and surprised. "Really? That's just my luck to miss out on seeing a superhero beat up the bad guys. This always happens to me – I'm never there when something interesting happens. So, did he have any problems?"
Ronnie let out a laugh "Heck no! He took care of Bubba in just a few seconds. Broke his two guns and punched him in the face before he could do any harm. The only thing he did do was creep out Ms. Day"
"What did he do to Ms. Day?"
"He tried to break into her classroom. You can guess why. That's when Spider-Man cleaned his clock. It was amazing man" Ronnie said "Anyway, Ms. Day's a real trooper. She's being checked out right now"
"I hope she's alright" Peter said. But he knew that Ms. Day wasn't going to let this bring her down.
"I think she'll be okay" Ronnie said "Anyway, school's out. Jason, me and the girls are going to the Monster Mash. Want to go?"
Peter smiled. He was taken back to the time before he was Spider-Man, asking the kids in school if they would like to go to a science exhibit with him, only to be shot down. This was a welcome change.
"Groovy! What's showing?" Peter asked
"How appropriate that you should say groovy – Army of Darkness" Ronnie said.
Peter's smile nearly occupied his entire face. "That's really groovy. Count me in"
"Not so fast mister" a woman behind Peter said.
Peter turned and saw a blond Eurasian woman staring at him.
"Are you Peter Parker?" she asked.
"Yes I am" Peter said.
Ronnie jumped forward. "And if you don't like him, I could be Peter Parker"
The woman squinted at Ronnie in such a way that the carefree teen backed off.
"She's all yours Pete" he said, standing behind Peter.
"Thanks" Peter said. "But I think that that what you're thinking of is sort of against the law"
The woman looked at Peter with a severe expression. "Mr. Parker, I'm not here to play games. I need to have a word with you" she said. She looked at Ronnie with irritation. "And I only want to talk to Parker. Not to his stupid jock buddy."
Peter and Ronnie shared glances. "Okay, I'm going. See you Pete" Ronnie said.
Peter frowned. His spider-sense however, wasn't going off, so she wasn't a threat – at least for now. "What do you want me for? And who are you?"
"I'm Artemis Crock, and I need to have a word with you" the woman said "or is the itsy-bitsy spider afraid of me?" she said the last part of that sentence in such a charged manner that Peter had no doubt of where she was from. He thought about all of the women he had met on the Watchtower, Batgirl, with her red hair, Wondergirl, whose face was never covered, along with several others. The most likely person this woman might be was Tigress, whose face he had never seen.
"Fine. I'm going with you. But don't try to be funny" Peter said. They walked away from the school, towards a parked car. Artemis remotely opened the car; the door to the back-seat opened. Artemis pointed it. Only then did Peter notice someone else in the car.
"Get in" she said.
Peter looked at her quizzically.
"Are you deaf?" she asked as he wasn't in a hurry to get in.
"Only cautious" Peter replied, trying to see who was in the front passenger seat. He entered the car and let his tuckus fall upon the seat. Finally, he had a good view of who was in the car, sitting directly in front of him.
The woman had long dark hair. She turned to look at the youth, and Peter recognized her, even if he had only spoken to her a few times. A face like hers was hard to forget. As was her legs.
"You're Zazanna, right?" Peter asked.
The woman frowned. "It's Zatanna." she said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Sorry" Peter said, smiling awkwardly.
Zatanna turned back to look ahead as Artemis entered the car. Zatanna turned her head back again.
"Better buckle up Peter" she said.
Peter did as Zatanna said. He usually didn't wear seatbelts when he was in the backseat, but he was aware that it was just as important for a passenger in the backseat to wear them as it was for those in front.
"Where are you taking me?" Peter asked.
"Back to your place. Ted asked us to pick you up." Zatanna replied. Peter nodded slightly. That did sound like something old Ted would do. The old man probably wanted Peter to practice his punches.
"And then we have a little pow-wow" Artemis said.
Peter somehow didn't like the sound of that; he saw Zatanna leaning forward. A second later, the car radio was on. Instead of music, Peter heard a teenaged voice speak:
"… infamous vigilante Bueno Excelente was tasked with escorting Dr. Light to Belle Reve Prison. Amanda Waller has stated that whatever Bueno Excelente did to Dr. Light was alright by her. While that's going on, Queen Bee of Bialya and her new boyfriend, Victor Von Doom…"
The radio was quickly turned off "I'm driving." Artemis said.
Peter wished that she wasn't. Although he would rather not have anything to do with Dr. Doom, the man was too dangerous to ignore. Especially now that he had a face. That really surprised the wall-crawler. Richards had told Spider-Man that Victor Von Doom had once been a handsome man, before his face was scarred. The face that Peter had seen on the news was unscarred; the face of a charming douche. But the name, voice and manner were the same as the man he had fought with in the Baxter Building.
"Could you please turn the radio back on?" Peter asked "What was on could be important"
Artemis seemed to turn her head slightly. "We'll hear it later. Billy tends to repeat the news anyway"
Zatanna turned to Peter "Artemis is not in a good mood. The last time we were in this city, we got into this fight with a super-villain who had killed his own sister" Zatanna said.
"Please don't remind me of that freak Harm. I'm glad he's still locked up" Artemis quickly replied.
For the next following minutes, an awkward silence reigned. Peter wondered if he should say something, but he was getting the impression, especially from Artemis, that whatever he would say would be grossly inappropriate.
But he did really wish that she hadn't turned off the radio when Dr. Doom's name had been mentioned.
Ocean Master stood atop the submarine's hull, looking at the horizon before him. One of Black Manta's men stood by him.
"I can smell it" Ocean Master said.
"My lord" the man said, his head lowered "Your sense of smell must be better than mine. I can't smell the stench of the Big Apple from here"
Ocean Master turned to look at the man. The man expected to be slapped in the face. But the Atlantean simply shook his head slightly.
"I'm not smelling New York" Ocean Master said, raising up his spear high in the sky. It was an old thing, powerful and arcane. The shaft itself was long and knotted. The blade was sharp, triangular, and as long as a short-sword; a flame engulfed it. At the bottom, the spear had a strange cubic pommel which glowed with an eldritch, yellow light. "I'm smelling the egg. Is it still there?"
Manta's man opened a laptop. The monitor showed the view of one of the security cameras from the Museum of Natural History. The security systems had been boosted since the Sword of Beowulf had been stolen by Harm – and that worked to Ocean Master's advantage. Thanks to the upgrade, there were new and undetectable ways in which to hack the system.
Standing on a pedestal, encased within an exceptionally strong Plexiglas casing, was a bright blue orb. To the curators of the Museum, it was the Rock of Arion. Ocean Master seemed to be the only one who knew what it was.
Hadn't it been for the spear, he wouldn't have known what it was. The surface dwellers had named the egg improperly, associating it with Arion. Not only had it belonged to Arion's brother, and enemy, Garn Daanuuth – it had been the evil wizard's creation.
The spear, another one of Garn Daanuuth's artifacts, had witnessed its creation. He knew of the powerful creature that lied within, ready to be controlled whoever nursed it first, like ducklings to a farmer, because the spear had seen it made.
Ocean Master walked away from Manta's man. "Prepare your men. It begins now" the villainous Atlantean said, leaping into the water.
The water parted easily as the Atlantean dived into it. No surface dweller could dive so easily as he. As soon as he was completely submerged, Ocean Master swam to the bottom; he didn't bother to look over his shoulder to see the submarine submerging as well.
As soon as his feet touched the bottom, he stabbed the blade of his spear into the Earth. He could feel the rippling of the water around his body; his Atlantean followers stood a few feet behind him, wary of the spear's power.
Ocean Master clasped his hands tightly around the spear's shaft. He closed his eyes, and poured all of his will into it. He grunted, and tried hard to stifle the screams that wanted to come out of his throat. So much of his will had to be poured into this spear; more so than what a green lantern was expected to do. It was a huge strain on Ocean Master's mind and his body. A few of his followers had noticed his pallor and his craggy looks.
Nonetheless, Ocean Master continued pouring his will into the spear, forcing its magic to work for him. It had said, in the old scriptures, that only the strongest mind could make the spear's magic work. Ocean Master would not admit to any weakness.
Still, Ocean Master found himself slipping, until he was down on his knees. He still held the spear, and he was satisfied with that. He gritted his teeth. Beneath his mask and the lenses that covered his eyes, red-blood tears began to pour out.
A soft wail came out of Ocean Master's gut. The ocean began to churn. He could feel the currents shift – the water itself was changing its natural course. Ocean Master smiled, blood billowing from his mouth. He had achieved what he wanted. He was truly a master of oceans. Now, the ocean's path would not be stopped. But he needed to give the ocean another push. It was moving too slowly.
Suddenly, he let out a yell. His Atlantean followers rushed to attend to him, as Manta's men just stood by, watching with some interest and curiosity. Before the Atlanteans could reach their lord, the Ocean Master, he had collapsed.
The ocean moved along as Ocean Master had wanted, but it was so slow. It was unstoppable, but it was too slow for it to be truly as dangerous as it could have been. Ocean Master would have been displeased if he were awake to see it.
Weakened by the collar around his neck, Peter managed to dodge a right hook from the old man, but he failed to block a punch to the gut. The youth quickly responded, giving the old man an uppercut. It hit the old man in the chin, but the old man didn't go down. Men like Ted Grant, former boxing champions weren't going to be felled so easily – especially by such a weak punch.
Peter began nodding his head this way and that, feeling the inhibitor collar rubbing against his neck. Old Ted Grant had insisted that as long as Peter was living under his care, in the apartment he had over his gym, than he would be trained properly in the manly art of boxing. That of course meant that Peter had to be brought down to normal – with an inhibitor collar. He was having a hard time of it without most of his spectacular strength and his spider-sense.
Ted launched another punch, this time an upset punch to his solar plexus. Peter luckily saw it in time and blocked it, only for old Ted to jab him in the face. Peter was knocked against the ropes – Ted approached and before he could throw a punch, Peter gave him a shovel hook. The old champion winced, but didn't buckle; he began delivering a series of jabs at Peter that left the youth winded and on the brink of falling on his rear.
And then, old Ted stopped. "I think that's just about it. You need your rest" he said "You're getting better by each day son" he said, untying his gloves with the help of Zatanna.
"That's very nice to hear" Peter said forcibly pulling the headgear off of him. He certainly didn't feel that he was getting better. The old man, much to Peter's chagrin, always had the upper hand – at least whenever Peter wore the inhibitor collar. But there was some merit in what the old man said. It was strange to admit it, but Peter was certain that even without his powers he was stronger than he was before the radioactive spider had bitten him. Most likely, this was due to all of the superheroing. It made you stronger regardless.
"Let me help" Zatanna said, walking up to Peter, and helped to untie the boxing gloves. Peter wondered silently how it was that Zatanna had come to this city without causing a riot – she was a famous stage performer. And then Peter remembered that she was a stage performer. No one would know who she was. As soon as the gloves were off, Peter's freed hands went immediately to the inhibitor collar. He took it off, and felt his strength returning, and the buzzing of his spider-sense.
"I know why you feel like this is necessary Ted" Peter said, and he meant it. When Ted first told him that he wanted Peter to learn boxing with an inhibitor collar on, the youth knew why; at any point in time, a super-villain could concoct something that might weaken him. It was not likely to happen, but it was a possibility. And Peter would have to be prepared to fight without his spider-sense "But do we have to spar every day?"
"If you were training to be a champ like I was, it wouldn't be necessary, but son, you're putting your life on the line every day and every night, and although most of the people you take care of aren't much to write home about, others are more devious. You always have to be prepared" the old man said. "Being prepared saved my life several times. If I hadn't hit the gym every day, Per Degaton might have been wearing my skin years ago.
"And what about your nine lives?" Zatanna asked, looking at the old man smugly.
Ted just frowned. "That's a bonus, given to me because I was always prepared"
"You actually have nine lives?" Peter asked Ted, not knowing what the old boxer and Zatanna were talking about.
"It's a long story" Ted said "I'll tell you later. But first, you got to hit the showers, and tend to your wounds"
Peter waved the collar in the air. "Don't need that anymore. The collar's off. But I will hit the showers. If you ladies won't mind" Peter smiled at Zatanna and Artemis. Zatanna returned the smile, but Artemis was inexpressive. She hadn't liked what Peter had told her. As soon as they arrived at Ted's Gym, Artemis began asking him questions – about Doom, and about some cube. Peter had already told the League about Doom – telling Artemis that someone should be keeping an eye on Doom in Bialya. He certainly didn't know much about a cube. He did remember Reed Richards talking about a cube when discussing cosmic energies, but that could mean nothing at all.
All in all, Peter had little to give Artemis. He had no idea why she was bugging him. He had asked, but she had responded in a gruff manner.
Her arms were crossed over her chest. As Peter passed her to get to the showers, Artemis said, "I'm sure you know something about what I asked you"
Peter just stopped and looked at her. "I already told you everything I know"
"Are you sure Peter? Think – and think hard. You know more than you think you do" Artemis said.
"Easy Artemis" Zatanna said, placing her hand over her friend's shoulder. She looked at Peter "If you do remember anything else of significance, tell us immediately" the magician said.
The youth nodded. However, he doubted that he could be of any more help. What Artemis had told him was garbled and made little sense. He understood very well that Dr. Doom was dangerous, but everything else was a mystery to him.
Peter continued making his way to the lockers that lead into the showers. Before he could strip down, he was suddenly stopped by the strong, sharp feeling within his skull. He rushed out into the gymnasium itself.
Ted looked at the youth, puzzled. Peter hadn't told him about his spider-sense, but the old man was close to Batman, and the dark knight detective was good at figuring things out.
"Is there anything wrong son?" he asked.
Peter looked at Ted, and then at Zatanna and Artemis. Both were looking at him in a quizzical manner.
"I just need to see go outside" he quickly said, running towards the exit. Artemis quickly followed after him; Zatanna and Ted werenh't far behind.
Peter opened the door, and a thin film of water came pouring into the gymnasium.
"What's going on?" Peter muttered.
"That's a good question" Zatanna said. She walked past Peter to the outdoors. She looked at the ground, and then lifted her head up towards the sky. Peter noticed that everyone else outside was puzzled. He also noticed that the water was rising. Just a few seconds ago, it was just a film of water that was barely a millimeter high. The water was now about to rise over the soles of his shoes and reach his toes.
"Zatanna, you'd better be quick" Artemis said.
"Do you know what's going on?" Peter asked.
Artemis gave him a sharp look "Something magic, and that's bad"
The water was rising quickly, beginning to reach Peter's ankles. People were already beginning to scream while others grabbed their cellphones to record everything that was going on.
"I'd better put on my longjohns" Peter said, running inside.
"That's a good idea. But I don't wear longjohns" Artemis said. In response to the odd look on Peter's face, Artemis quickly replied, "You know what I mean"
"Sure" the youth said.
In an instant, Spider-Man dropped from the sky and landed near Zatanna. Tigress wasn't far behind. The wall-crawler wondered where she had come from. Both had obviously come out to the street in ways in which not to throw suspicion on Ted Grant and his gym – that is to say, none of them came out the gym's door. Spider-Man came out through the back window and had to circle around the gym. Tigress probably left through the back door, although, knowing who Ted Grant had once been, there was probably a secret exit. Spider-Man took note to ask the old man.
And as if thinking about the old man was like speaking Black Jack's name out loud, Wildcat himself came rushing towards Zatanna; where he had come from, no one would see. Despite his many years of life, Wildcat seemed spryer than many men in their twenties.
"Okay honey, what's wrong" the old man asked, sloshing his feet against the rising water.
Zatanna took a deep breath. "We're being attacked by an arcane and alien form of magic" she said with a frown.
"What do you mean Zee? There's a Martian wizard somewhere out there filling this city in water?" Tigress asked. The water was already reaching her knees. "I'm getting wet" she grunted out.
"You should try standing on high ground" Spider-Man said, as he clung to the wall of a nearby building.
The only response Tigress gave was a glare. The web-slinger just shrugged.
"You can stand on top of a car. All of you can, actually" Spider-Man said, as the water continued rising. Many of the surrounding New Yorkers had begun to do that, or they ran indoors, to a building with more than one floor. "Boy is this going to get ugly" he remarked. If the water began to rise any further, people wouldn't have many places to hide. And emergency workers would have a hard time doing their jobs. Spider-Man was sure that they would have to do most of the work.
"Can you stop this Zee? I don't want to end up like a prune" Tigress said.
"I'm already a prune, and I don't like being wet" Wildcat added.
Zatanna closed her eyes and she cleared her throat.
"Tcetorp wen kroy morf retaw" she said. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and then Spider-Man saw a golden barrier rise around the city. It began to curve until the entire city was covered in what looked like a dome made of magical energy.
The water continued to rise, but it no longer entered the city. To the horror of many New Yorkers, they could see the water rising further still through the semi-transparent magical barrier, until the dome itself was covered in water.
"Niard retaw morf ytic" Zatanna said. The water that had seeped in before was suddenly disappearing, until there was little trace of it besides the wet concrete and a few puddles in the asphalt of the streets.
Zatanna said something which to Spider-Man sounded inaudible, and she was surrounded by an opaque whirlwind. The whirlwind quickly dissolved, and Zatanna stood there in her current superhero costume. Spider-Man had been told that she had other looks.
"I know that you might not know who did this, but, do you know who did this?" the web-slinger asked. "And was he a Martian?"
The magician shook her head. "When I said that this was alien magic, I didn't mean magic from a different planet"
Zatanna looked at the sky, at the top of the dome, and at the water above.
"What did you mean?" Tigress asked.
Zatanna didn't say anything for a second "I feel like this magic should never exist"
Spider-Man was also looking up at the ceiling of the magic dome. From what little experience he had with magic, he understood that such spells depended on the strength of the spell caster.
"Are you going to be able to hold that thing up for very long?" he asked.
Zatanna took a deep breath. "I don't know"
Spider-Man remembered what his teacher had taught him once in history class, about what had happened just before World War Two and the Nazis had turned the Sub-Mariner into a hero.
"You don't know any flaming androids made from Horton cells, do you?" Spider-Man asked.
"The only guy I know who matches that description is Red Tornado – and I don't think he's available to help us." Tigress said. She pulled out a cellphone from her utility belt, and placed it near her ear.
"Who are you calling?" Zatanna asked
"Kaldur. This is his turf." Tigress said.
"The girl must have good coverage. My phone stops working under a bridge" Wildcat curmudgeonly said.
Slowly, Ocean Master opened his eyes. Two of his lieutenants were standing by his side, trying their best to help him on his feet. The villain shook them off. The last thing he wanted to do was show weakness. Not while he held the spear in his hand.
"Stand back, all of you! Only I have the strength needed to tame the Naiad!" he commanded to all of those present.
"There may be problem with that" one of Black Manta's men said. Ocean Master looked at the armored man, bewildered that he was present, and then remembering that Manta's men were under his command.
The man's audacity did offend Ocean Master. If he hadn't been so exhausted from his previous effort, he would have backhanded the man.
"What do you mean by that wretch?" growled Ocean Master "The city is submerged and she should be hatching now"
"The city isn't submerged" Manta's man said.
Ocean Master swam towards the man, and grabbed him by the armor covering his throat. "What do you mean? By the sheer strength of my will alone, I commanded the water to submerge it!"
"There's a magic barrier around the city" the man said.
Ocean Master turned to look in the general direction of New York City. He easily noticed the unnatural glow.
Quickly, Ocean Master made his way there, followed by his people. Soon enough, he saw New York City submerged, if not for a golden magical dome over it. Ocean Master felt the bile rising from his gut.
Like a shark, he charged at the city and the dome that protected it. As soon as he was just inches away from it, he began attacking the barrier with the blade of the ancient spear. He didn't notice several people within the city looking at him in terror, as well as recording everything with their cellphones and digital cameras. He hit the barrier as hard as he could, but it wouldn't even buckle.
"My lord, please! You are overexerting yourself" one of his Atlantean followers said. Ocean Master gave the Atlantean a swift backhanded blow to the face. He glared at the barrier, and the people of New York who were watching him, and he swam away.
Once he was at a comfortable distance from the city, Ocean Master turned to another of his lieutenants.
"I want the city surrounded" he then turned to Manta's man "And I want your people to help. Shoot at that thing with your weapons until it falls apart!" Ocean Master's hands clasped the spear's shaft tightly, and the blade's blaze intensified, although it seemed as if the pommel glowed the brightest. He could see success before his very eyes. With the Naiad, he could disrupt Aquaman's control over the denizens of the deep, and finally take what was rightfully his, and stop pretending to be a kind, caring brother.
"Surface dweller!" Ocean Master yelled out towards Manta's man.
"My lord?" the man in armor asked.
"Give me your computer" the aquatic villain commanded.
In a quick gesture, Manta's man gave Ocean Master his tablet. The Atlantean snatched it quickly from the former's hand, and he began tapping at its surface. An image soon appeared of a princely man in his early fifties, grizzled, but quite active.
"L-5, to what do I owe the honor?" Ra's al Ghul asked, clearly in a disrespectful tone.
"Don't trifle with me Ra's. Do you have any people in New York?" he swiftly asked.
Ra's al Ghul just stared at Ocean Master for several seconds. "Why L-5? Are you not satisfied with just drowning them? Perhaps you would like to burn – of course that would be difficult under the sea"
"How dare you be disrespectful to me! I am the one true master of every ocean and sea on this Earth. My territory dwarves any little bit of land that you could ever possess!" Ocean Master growled.
Ra's al Ghul glared at Ocean Master. "You are the master of nothing L-5! It is only because of Black Manta's current incarceration that the light has bothered to return you to your old position! We thought that you might be of some use, but it seems that you have not changed at all – or perhaps you have changed, for it seems that you are more of a bungler than you were before. Tell me L-5, what is the purpose of your attack on New York?"
"That is my business L-2, which would benefit you and the Light greatly. But if you wish for the Light to continue as a failed organization, than by all means, do nothing at all." Ocean Master snarled.
Ra's squinted his eyes at the Atlantean. "For the sake of the Light, and our common enterprise, I will make a few calls. However, you would do well not to fail. I don't know what foul magic you're toying with, but I can see its affects on you. Take care Ocean Master, take care. The price for failure will be heavy, and you have already disappointed us once before. And I would appreciate it if you never contacted me again."
Spider-Man swung amidst the buildings of New York, helping wherever he could. So far, no one had been seriously hurt, but the situation was tense. That was natural considering that several tons of water hung over everyone's heads. The wall-crawler's spider-sense hadn't stopped buzzing since the water had first made its appearance; luckily, he could still use his spider-sense.
One unexpected consequence of New York's submergence was that several buildings were beginning to teeter over. Spider-Man was shocked that the foundations could be so weak. He would swing by, making bridges out of webbing to carry people out of the more perilous edifices, while using more webbing to try to keep them standing until the authorities could solve the problem in a more permanent manner.
Making things worse, your garden variety of thugs decided to come out of the woodworks to assault people and steal whatever they could. Spider-Man, as well as Wildcat and Tigress usually had to resort to violence for those cases. This course of action wasn't regretted.
Spider-Man swung over a police cordon, when one of them – clearly a plainclothes detective, waved his arm, and called out for him. "Spider-Man, wait up! Super-villains are attacking the Museum of Natural History!"
The wall-crawler for a millisecond stared at the police officer. Having an actual police officer ask for his help was something of a rarity. "I'm on it!" he said, shooting out another webline and changing directions midair.
Even though this New York was within a different universe, he still knew the streets and alleys well. Spider-Man arrived at the Museum of Natural History in a matter of seconds. The place was a mess. Apparently, ever since the Harm incident, the people financing the Museum had placed within it security robots meant to stop intruders and thieves who tended to be more dangerous than the common thugs one would expect to see in a dark street. However, the robots had done little to protect the museum; several could be seen lying near the entrance, completely broken apart.
They hadn't all been finished off yet. Spider-Man could hear the sounds of battle within the museum. Beam weapons were being fired, while slicing sounds could be heard. Spider-Man aimed for a nearby building and shot out a web. He swung into the museum.
He came just in time to see the last security robot get cut down by a man with a hook. Behind him, stuck to a wall, he saw a strangely familiar figure dressed in purple and black; it was almost like looking at a distorted image in the mirror.
"This is bizarre. I haven't been in this city long enough for people to start ripping me off" Spider-Man said to the purple man in the spider-suit. He turned to the man with the hook prosthetic "You should stop that. Johnny Depp killed the pirate routine"
The man with the hook swung his arm, and the hook shot out towards Spider-Man. The web-slinger easily dodged the sharp object, which returned to its owner.
"Don't kill him Hook! He's mine!" the look-alike said. Spider-Man turned to look at the man.
"I'm sorry, but you're really not my type. It's your hair – it looks stupid" Spider-Man said.
The look-alike growled. "You want to know what's worse than rotting in prison? It's rotting in prison and finding out that some dumb punk has stolen your gear and is just screwing around. No one messes with Black Spider and gets away with it!"
"Hey!" Spider-Man said "Watch your language! And secondly, I stole nothing" Spider-Man tapped his chest. "This is one hundred percent me! The best me there is!"
Black Spider stretched out his arms and a purple web shot out of the bracelets he had on his wrists. Spider-Man remembered that Batman had compared him to a Black Spider when they first encountered each other. Spider-Man could see some resemblance.
Black Spider shot out a purple web. Spider-Man leapt out of the way, and stuck on to the other wall. He looked at the purple web. He decided right there and then that there was absolutely no resemblance between himself and Black Spider.
"Are you color-blind?" Spider-Man asked "No spider worth his or her salt has purple webs. Do you know how stupid this makes you seem?"
"Are you going to finish him off or not?" Hook howled at Black Spider.
Black Spider turned his head slightly in Hook's direction. "I have something special in store for this punk" he took out something that looked like a cellphone. He pointed it at Spider-man and pressed a button.
Since his spider-sense didn't go off – even though it was already buzzing from the water above – Spider-Man didn't move. Indeed, nothing happened. For a painful moment, all three just stood there looking at each other.
Spider-Man broke the silence. "Was that supposed to do something? Was it going to fry my brain? Or give me a root canal"
Black Spider, judging by his body language, seemed confused. "What? Your suit isn't deactivated. How is that possible?"
"Wait, what?" Spider-Man said "You thought that I was wearing a suit? That's cute precious." Spider-Man launched himself towards Black Spider. The surprised villain tried to web the youthful hero up, but the web-slinger easily avoided the villain's attack, and landed on his feet, on the very wall Black Spider was clung to. Black Spider tried to hurl himself at the wall-crawler, but his speed and strength could not compare to the hero's. Spider-Man punched him and then webbed him to the wall.
Just in the nick of time, Spider-Man's spider-sense had him avoiding Hook's attack. Hook had hurled his prosthetic limb at the web-slinger. Again, with a difficult to match agility, Spider-man leapt down and webbed the villain's arm. Then, in a quick sprint, he punched Hook in the face, knocking him out. Spider-Man's muscles were still tensed; his spider-sense was still detecting another foe.
Spider-man's spider-sense once again saved the wall-crawler's bacon, forcing him to dodge an incredibly powerful blast. There was another blast, and Spider-Man jumped up towards the ceiling, and he had a chance at seeing his attacker – a man with a duffel bag wearing a strange helmet with a single large lens where the eyes should be. The lens glowed, and another blast came out of it, which Spider-Man again dodged. The wall-crawler aimed and shot a web at the man's face. The web however did not get to hit him, as one blast was enough to vaporize it.
"Were you ever called four-eyes as a kid?" the web-slinger asked.
"I am Professor Ojo fool!" the man said, and another blast came out of his eye-lens. Spider-Man dodged the blast again; however, it was apparent that the blasts were taking their toll on the museum. The walls now had brand new holes. And the blasts themselves were keeping the web-slinger from approaching the villain and punching his lights out. Professor Ojo blasted again, and Spider-Man leapt to dodge his blast again and landed behind a chunk of wall. Things were getting kind of complicated.
"Spider-pest, I'm going to" the Professor started to say, but something had stopped him mid-sentence. Spider-Man came out of his cover – his spider-sense was not warning him of any immediate danger. He saw Tigress standing over Professor Ojo, her sword unsheathed. The professor's helmet had been cut, although not enough to show any gore. Tigress resheathed her sword coldly.
"Have you had enough fun?" she asked Spider-Man.
The wall-crawler looked at his fallen opponents. "I haven't even begun" he said.
"Web them up then. I'll call the cops" Tigress said. She looked at Professor Ojo's duffle bag and opened it. She pulled out a bright blue orb.
"Isn't that the rock of…er… Airon?" Spider-Man asked, trying hard to remember the rock's name as he webbed up Hook and Professor Ojo. He had seen the orb in the news. It was seemingly a big deal, and a point of contention with Aquaman.
"The rock of Arion. Yeah, Aquaman's been bitching about this. I'm pretty sure this is connected to what's going on now" Tigress said. She took out her phone and took a picture of the orb. She contacted the authorities.
After having done that, she pressed another button on her phone. It apparently seemed that she had been immediately answered.
"Kaldur, can you now tell us why this thing is so important to you and Aquaman?" she asked. She frowned, and Spider-Man wished he had the power of super-hearing. It was, at this time, more practical than super-weaving.
After a few seconds of conversation, Tigress hung up. "We can't let this thing touch sea water" she said "Or else things could get a lot worse"
"How so?" Spider-Man asked, not liking where this was going.
"Let's just say that if this rock does touch water, drowning will be the least of our concerns" she said, carefully wrapping up the orb within the duffle bag.
Even before Artemis had called him, Kaldur'ahm knew that what was happening to New York could only be the work of one man: Ocean Master. It was a mad plan, one which Kaldur himself could make no sense of, but the intention was clear. Ocean Master meant to release the Naiad, a horrible creature created by Arion's brother, Garn Daanuuth, a creature, which according to the ancient scriptures, could destroy minds and lock the spirits of its victims in a world of eternal nightmares. Arion had locked it into its old egg, but even then, it was known that water from the ocean could break the Naiad's spell and free her.
Aqualad had to hurry, little time was left. He wished that Zatanna hadn't raised the magic barrier around New York; it made the Zeta-Beam impossible to use. But Kaldur understood why she had done it. Otherwise, Zatanna and Artemis would have had evacuated everyone in New York, even if it was at the expense of the secret location of the Zeta-Beam entry point. But the flooding had been too quick, forcing Zatanna to raise the barrier. Kaldur couldn't blame her.
Through the corner of his eye, Kaldur could see La'gaan swimming by him. The young Atlantean was eager to fight Ocean Master.
"Finally, we have a chance to take care of Ocean Master once and for all!" the young green Atlantean said.
Kaldur nodded. "It would be a great victory. One that our king would certainly welcome" and the defeat and capture of Ocean Master would certainly lift Aquaman's spirits. His brother Orm's state of health was bothering the monarch, even though he never expressed his concerns. Kaldur had noticed Orm's failing health and had managed to gather a skin sample from the prince. Nothing had been detected, and King Orin was greatly concerned. The recent reappearance of Ocean Master only made things worse, along with prince Orm's occasional disappearances.
The two Atlanteans quickly came into eyesight of New York City, covered in a golden bubble of magical energy. Kaldur's eye also caught the sight of his father's men and Ocean Master's men blasting at the bubble, trying to open a crack in it.
Kaldur motioned for La'gaan to take cover.
"By Neptune's beard! We should be charging them head on!" the young Lagoon Boy said.
"Right now, we are outnumbered" Kaldur said. He spotted Ocean Master easily enough, and he saw the villain jab the blade of his mystical spear into the force-field. Kaldur added, "And we don't know what magic Ocean Master is using. That spear's power feels odd"
La'gaan had no choice but to agree. He looked at the spear himself. "Why did he replace his trident for that?"
"There must be a reason" Kaldur said. He felt the water ripple behind him. He turned and smiled as he saw Aquaman's forces arriving. They weren't as many as Manta's men and Ocean Master's people, but they were enough for a daring charge.
"I think we can attack now" Kaldur said. The only option they had now was to attack. Zatanna's barrier wasn't going to last for very long under the continued assault that Ocean Master had submitted it to.
La'gaan smiled, and was the first to leave his cover. Usually, when attacking an enemy armed with projectile weapons, common wisdom would dictate that one should seek cover. However, in this case, Manta's men and Ocean Master's Atlanteans were occupied trying to destroy the magic dome over the submerged New York. Aquaman's forces, under Aqualad's command were swift in their charge, and silent. The besieging forces were taken by surprise.
The first to notice was Manta's man. He turned to look and see an Atlantean soldier swimming straight at him like a torpedo.
"We're under attack!" he managed to yell out, before the Atlantean had rammed him. The others had heard the warning, but by then, it was too late. The Atlantean forces were upon the renegades, and the weapons stopped firing on the city.
Ocean Master was perhaps the one taken most by surprise. He was still trying to open a crack in the dome when La'gaan, his body puffed up, swiped at his face knocking him around in the water.
Angered by the assault, Ocean Master snarled. "How dare you attack me you green freak!" he said, trying to jab at the young Atlantean.
La'gaan growled and swiped at Ocean Master again, this time striking his mask and cutting it off. The mask slowly floated down on the watery ground. La'gaan stood there in shock as he saw the face of Prince Orm.
"How could…" La'gaan never had the chance to finish the sentence. Ocean Master, enraged at the teenaged Atlantean, clenched his spear tightly in his hand, and swung at his foe. La'gaan was cut in half, from groin to head. Blood came floating out in large bubbles as the two halves slowly came down to the watery ground, and the innards floated about in the same manner as seaweed.
Ocean Master just snarled.
Kaldur however, had seen it. "La'gaan!"
Aqualad hit several renegade Atlanteans with massive war-hammers shaped out of his water-bearers, and made his way towards the renegade prince. He had many questions in the back of his mind as to why the royal prince, who had been so kind, was the hated Ocean Master, but foremost in his mind at the moment was vengeance. La'gaan's gruesome death could not go unpunished.
In a second, like a torpedo, he had reached Ocean Master. Sharp sabers came out of his water-bearers, and Aqualad hacked furiously at prince Orm. The renegade prince tried to block as many hacks as he could, but Aqualad's fury was unabated. Orm found himself moving backwards in the water, struggling to survive the young hero's onslaught. Ocean Master poured his will into the spear, in a last ditch effort to save himself. The pommel glowed, and a wave of energy pushed Kaldur back.
"You stinking little whelp. Do you think you can beat me? I remember the last time we fought, and you were on your knees boy! When this is over, your skin will decorate my palace halls" Ocean Master said in such a rage that his face was red.
Kaldur's rage was equal to his enemy's, but his expression was more controlled, seemingly more serene. "I was a boy when we last fought, and that I have ceased to be for quite some time now. You on the other hand, my prince, have degraded considerably. You were a royal prince of Atlantis, a man of the highest status, second only to King Orin himself. And now look at you. Your scheming and conniving – your betrayal, have earned you nothing. From this day forward Prince Orm, you will be an outcast. What did you hope to accomplish?"
"I will not be mocked by an impious boy. I will have what is rightfully mine!" Orm held up his spear before Kaldur. The pommel glowed, as did the rest of the spear.
"What you had was more than many could hope for, and you still wanted more?" Kaldur said. He let out a laugh "You are such a fool my prince. You are the prince of fools, but I will give you what's rightfully yours. Me, and all of Atlantis."
It was then that Ocean Master realized that he was surrounded. His forces had been defeated. There was no escape. Ocean Master's lip curled in a snarl.
"I am more powerful than you realize" he said. Ocean Master lifted his spear upwards, and there was a sudden surge of energy. Ocean Master was set ablaze – nothing within the ocean had ever witnessed such a flame. He yelled out, and his body burned away to nothing, as did the spear's shaft and blade. All that was left behind was the cubic pommel, now a perfect, glowing cube with a gradually weakening luster, slowly floating down to the ground.
There was an audible banging noise. Kaldur turned to see in horror as the dome began to crack, and open apart.
Spider-Man's spider-sense was still nagging at him. He didn't know if it was because the city was still submerged, or if it was because of the orb which contained within it a sealed horror. Even though he had webbed it into a tight container – something like a spider's egg sack – he was still bothered by the fact that just a few ounces of oceanic water could release the horror within it. And the city of New York just happened to be surrounded by sea water at that very moment. And to make matters worse, several aquatic chuckleheads were blasting at the magic dome. The wall-crawler wondered if Zatanna had the strength to keep the barrier up, as well as evacuating people, which she had been doing simultaneously.
Although Zatanna was whisking people away with her magic, there were still plenty within New York, and Spider-Man kept on swinging along the streets, using his webs to seal any refuge that still had people within.
Below, Spider-Man could see Wildcat fighting off street thugs who were trying to take advantage of the situation to loot a few abandoned mom and pop stores. Even in this universe, scum was stupid enough to loot in the face of impending doom. They outnumbered the old man and they were surrounding him, but they all seemed too scared to approach. Spider-man couldn't blame them.
As the old man gave a devastating uppercut to one of the thugs, Spider-Man landed right next to him and jabbed another in the face.
"Mind if I join you?" the wall-crawler asked.
"There's more than enough to go around" the old superhero said as he gave a knife wielding tough a powerful left cross. Spider-Man was quick, and in a series of kicks, punches and miraculous web-slinging, had dominated his share of the thugs. Wildcat used only his fists, and that seemed to be enough. The wall-crawler knew that the old man was spry for his age, but he could now see how truly agile the former champ was. Shortly after Spider-Man had dealt with his thugs, Wildcat gave a jab to the last of his, knocking the poor ruffian to the ground.
"So son, did you finish your chores?" the old man asked, not even taking a breather after the fight.
"Every place I could think of is webbed up. How's Zatanna?"
"She's holding" Wildcat said "She's tough. Tigress is next to the barrier wall. It seems that things are looking up for us"
"Really? Too bad that we're still here. Under the sea" Spider-Man said with some frustration. He still wished that there was a flaming android to solve all of the problems. That would be nifty.
"We got to be patient. Besides, we're in good hands; that Aqualad knows what he's doing" the old man said "let's go join Tigress and see how they're doing"
"I read you loud and clear" Spider-Man said, leaping into the air. He caught the old superhero in a web and began swinging about the city with him in tow.
"This is not what I meant!" the old man yelled out, unnerved.
Wildcat's ordeal was soon over, as Spider-Man quickly made his way to the magical wall that separated New York from the sea. Tigress stood there, with her arms crossed, as the spectacle unfolded. The good guys seemed to be winning, but the horrified look on her face – which not even her mask could hide – told Spider-Man and Wildcat that something horrible had happened.
"Tigress dear, what's wrong?" Wildcat asked.
"Lagoon Boy" she said. She seemed to try to find more words, but they didn't come out. Tigress turned her attention back to the fight that was occurring within the sea, outside of New York.
Spider-Man hadn't known Lagoon Boy for very long; they had said hello, and that was it. But it was unnerving to know that a superhero could die. He then spotted Lagoon Boy's cut up corpse, and then he felt sick.
And still the fight proceeded, with Kaldur attacking Ocean Master furiously. This was the first time Spider-Man had seen the villain, and without his mask to boot. Oddly enough the man seemed familiar.
"I've seen that face somewhere before" Spider-Man said.
"That's Prince Orm. Aquaman's brother" Tigress said flatly.
Spider-Man wondered if Aquaman had more than one brother, because the Atlantean always spoke highly of his. He decided to not press the issue, and turned his attention on the gruesome spectacle before them.
It was odd, but Spider-Man felt that something near Ocean Master was calling him.
Ocean Master was surrounded, and then he did something that super-villains usually do – he let out one last blast. Spider-Man knew those too well and the way in which it made his spider-sense tingle was always the same.
"We have to get out of here" Spider-Man said.
"Of course we do. Where should we go?" Tigress asked peevishly.
Spider-Man's head suddenly turned upwards. The dome ceiling was cracking, and water was already sifting into the city. The crack quickly widened and allowed a steady stream to fall down upon the street.
"This is not what we needed right now" Tigress said.
The crack soon turned into a hole, and the stream turned into a cascade that was comparable to Niagara Falls. Spider-Man quickly grabbed Wildcat and Tigress and hugged them closely.
"We ain't dead yet son!" Wildcat said.
"I know" Spider-Man replied, as he began to weave a spherical cocoon around them. Soon, all three were within an airtight capsule while the water gushed outside, hurling them this way and that.
"Now would be a good time to call for help" Spider-Man said.
Tigress already had her phone in her hand and looked at the wall-crawler with a scowl.
"Do you really think that I'm new to this?" she asked, annoyed. Her fingers moved quickly on the device. And then, the spherical capsule stopped moving about, and it began to downwards, towards the ground. The pounding within Spider-Man's head suddenly stopped.
"Is it over?" Wildcat asked.
"I think it is" Spider-Man said. He looked at his two companions "Hold your breath just in case" he tore a small hole within the capsule.
If it hadn't been for the lenses in his mask, Spider-Man would have been blinded by the sunlight. He stretched out his arm, and the only water he felt were the drops dripping from the cocoon.
Quickly, Spider-Man increased the size of the hole and he stepped out. New York was once again on dry land. The web-slinger stretched out his arms and took in the sunlight. "Come on out. It's safe"
"We figured that out smarty-pants" Tigress said as she came out of the cocoon. Wildcat followed her, letting the webbing cocoon crumble to the ground.
It was a strange scene; New York seemed abandoned, and everything was wet, as if there had been a violent rainstorm. But all now was well, and the sun seemed to show that for the rest of the day, everything would be alright.
They weren't alone. Kaldur and Zatanna approached; the magician seemed exhausted and was leaning heavily on the Atlantean's shoulder. Kaldur didn't seem that much relaxed. He was worn, and his fist was clinched. It took a while for the friendly neighborhood web-slinger to notice that he was holding something within his hand. Tigress rushed towards Zatanna; Kaldur released the magician into Artemis' care.
"It is done." Kaldur said "We will not have to worry about Ocean Master anymore"
"We know. We saw the whole thing" Tigress said. "What about La'gaan?"
"My people will deal with his remains" he said with sorrow, "Take care of Zatanna. Pushing the ocean back has left her exhausted"
Spider-Man's attention however, was on Kaldur's closed hand. He could still hear something calling for him, something which made his spider-sense buzz in a bizarre way "I'm really sorry to ask this, but what's that in your hand?"
Kaldur opened his hand, revealing the cube that had been the spear's pommel. It glowed faintly with a sickly yellow light.
"This is all that remains of the spear Ocean Master was using as a weapon" he said.
Artemis noticed it, and quickly snatched it from Kaldur's hand. Everyone present looked on aghast.
"That was rude Artemis" Zatanna said.
Artemis looked at Kaldur; clearly, she was embarrassed. She was also quite adamant in her intent. "I'm sorry, but I need someone to check out this cube. Wally told me about it. Please Kaldur."
Kaldur stared at Artemis for a second. "Very well, it would be best if it were to be studied by the League"
"Thank you Kaldur" Artemis said. As she turned to go to the nearby Zeta-Beam entry point, Spider-Man could feel the cube whispering in his head. It was as if a relative were trying to speak to you.
Doom was studying a father box, when his own laptop began ringing. The Latverian opened the computer, and the monitor immediately turned on. The monitor was playing a video feed; there was no sound attached. Doom recognized the codes immediately. It was coming from the A.I of one of the Doombots. Although it had clearly lost its body, it had probably managed to download itself into the nearest computer.
It didn't take long for Dr. Doom to find out where the video footage had come from: a hiding place for this universe's – this Earth's – superheroes. It could even be the famed Watchtower that he heard about from Queen Bee. Doom wondered how the Doombot A.I. had managed to infiltrate within this computer. Without a doubt, certain irregularities would have been detected. But that didn't matter. He had to accept the gift that had landed on his lap.
Doom recognized the figures within the video easily enough. One was Tigress, who had once pretended to be a member of the light, one of Black Manta's henchwomen. The other was the scientist called the Atom. Tigress was handing the scientist a cube. Doom recognized it. He knew that glow only too well. The last time he had heard of something like it, Captain America had hurled it into the bottom of the ocean so as to keep it off of the hands of the Red Skull. Was this the same cube?
With interest, Doom saw where the Atom had placed the cube – on a non-descript shelf next to other nonsensical items. With nimble fingers, Doom typed out a command that would not be detected by any computer specialist – not even the best hacker. It was now a matter of time.
Content with his lot, Doom closed the laptop. With a smile on his face, he entered the bathroom. Queen Bee was inside, taking a shower. There was no shower curtain to hide her form.
"My queen, I've had a very busy day. I was wondering if I could join you in your bath?" he said with a smirk.
"You are always welcome darling Victor" she said.
Endnote: Well, this one took much longer than I thought - again. My apologies for the delay, but I've had to answer to a few personal obligations. I also need to alert anyone who's interested in this story that from the twentieth of November onward, I might be a bit more occupied than I usually am, so there might be some delay with new chapters.
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter (I was trying to have Artemis be wary of Spider-Man, but I don't know if I succeeded - this was how the story ended up). And my apologies to anyone offended by the imagery of Bueno Excelente and Dr. Light. It's just something that's been haunting my imagination since Identity Crisis.
Anyhoo, I hope to bring you a new chapter as soon as I can.