Namor: The Sub-Mariner #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Namor: The Sub-Mariner #1

Written by Mallet
Edited by Daniel Dyer

Summer 1944, France

He was, momentarily, hiding behind a wall as the sound of a Nazi tank approached from behind. The battle had been raging for the past three hours, and even a super soldier can start to wear down after that. Not Captain America, the hero thought. I’m not giving up until all these men are out! He wasn’t naive, he knew that only a small group of men were trapped behind those city lines and it was fool hardy to risk so many lives to get them out. But the Howlers were the bravest group of soldiers he had ever met, and he wasn’t going to let Fury and his men go down without him trying his hardest.

Still the Germans held the city tightly with so many men, and in the rubble of the outer city tanks. It was going to take everything the Army had to capture the city not the small band he was given.

Cap slowly picked his shield up preparing to meet the oncoming metal monstrosity, when the air cracked with the sound of metal twisting and tearing. The Captain looked beyond the edge of the wall slightly and smiled slightly. There stood a man wearing nothing but green swimming briefs, he was slender in build, a slight taller then the average man and slicked black hair, with tiny white bird wings coming from both sides of his ankles.

In fact if it wasn’t for his severely arched eyebrows, animal like pointed ears, and the fact he was holding the German tank above his head, he wouldn’t look nearly as menacing as he did right then.

Not that the Captain showed any fear as he strode confidently forward, “Namor I didn’t expect you here?”

“Would you have preferred the firebug?” Namor spoke, as he threw the tank to the side.

“It’s not that, just that I was told the rest of the Invaders were in the Philippines at the moment.” The Captain’s voice was soft even as his shield flew from his hand subduing the tank’s drivers.

“They are, but I was called back to Europe when it was discovered a rogue Atlantian mystic called Destim, was recruited by the Reich. I have information that suggests that he is hiding in this city and working with the Reich on a weapon to be used against America itself.”

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Summer 2006, New York

John Danvers had been slumped over the steering wheel of his car for the past four hours watching the shelter when the thought finally hit him that he might be too old to do this sort of work. He was a reporter for the Bugle going on his 30th year anniversary at the Bugle this month, and his 59th birthday next month. It might be time to get an assistant, he thought casually to himself. Some one to do the grunt work for me while I piece everything together.

He stopped himself and sighed slowly, he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t send someone else into harm’s way while he sat back in his office. Didn’t matter much anyway, he knew his time as a head reporter was almost up. Urich was on the rise and Robertson was practically Jonah’s go to guy for every situation. Still, he had one or two really good stories left and then he could coast by on the back pages.

But all the thoughts on his life were brought to a halt as a van pulled up to the shelter. It was what he was waiting on, there had been an anonymous tip that one of the homeless shelters had been “giving away” it’s occupants in the middle of the night. In a city as large as this it took some time, and exhausting his closest informants, but he had finally tracked it down. He quickly jotted down the plate number as two men rushed from the van and into the shelter. Moments later, as a light misty rain began to fall, they returned carrying a large, human shaped, bundle in a burlap sac.

He dusted some old wrappers off of his lap and started to get ready to follow when he noticed a commotion happening among the men. The body shaped lump had apparently woken up, and had started struggling. Suddenly one of the kidnappers was violently thrown into the side of the van, and with out his help the second robber dropped the body. Slowly the body rose and, as the sac fell away, turned into a tall heavily, black, bearded man in several layers of clothes. The second man leapt at the bearded man but he was caught in mid air and thrown across the street slamming into John’s car door, shattering the window.

The bearded man stopped for a moment and headed straight towards John’s car. Mouth wide, the only thing John could think was This is going to be a really good story.

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Summer 1944, France

Captain America and Namor had broken deep into the heart of the city before Captain America had split off. He was going to rescue Fury and the Howling Commandoes but Namor had a different objective, a rogue Atlantian mystic was working with the Nazi’s on making a weapon. He knew Destim, and the crux of his research, so he knew what this really had to be about, something had driven him mad. The Americans thought it was going to be used against them, but Namor felt no need to correct them.

Namor surged through the defenses, smashing tanks and “disarming” enemy combatants, straight towards the building being used as a research facility. Crashing in was easy enough, though the resulting chaos caused German scientists and mystics to scatter. He quickly surveyed those trying to run before spotting Destim, who stood calmly waiting. He wasn’t going anywhere as he was wearing a sort of reverse diving suit, complete with a big brass ball helmet on top, filled completely with water. Namor was the only Atlantian who could breath out of water, because he was half human, others like Destim had to wear bulky suits. Namor grabbed Destim and flew through the roof heading straight for the Atlantic.

As they flew, Namor silently pondered Destim’s actions, wondering how he could have been lured away. Destim was a member of one of the largest and oldest families in Atlantis and was very powerful as well. They were second only to the royal family, and in some circles they were dead even. Destim himself was a court mystic and was researching the Atlantian tales on destiny, then he disappeared. Several months later he was found far from Atlantis in a trance near the northern pole. He remained in that trance until two months ago when he vanished again. Finally, Namor thought hovering over the seas. I’ll have my answers, and he dived down.

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Summer 2006, New York

John Danvers had to use his passenger’s side door to exit his car, the other had been far too damaged. The bearded man walked slowly towards his would be kidnapper and grabbed him by the collar. The light rain had ominously stopped. The stare in his eyes told John what was going to happen, and despite his own feelings he tried to stop it from happening. “Stop,” he shouted and he tried to push the man away but it felt like he was trying to move an entire wall, not just one man.

The bearded man picked John up by his throat, obviously agitated at him now as well. John looked down at the man’s face, even as a gurgling sound came from his own throat but, all he could see was rage. But then suddenly this monstrous man’s eyes seemed to glaze over and he dropped John before falling himself.

The first kidnapper had recovered enough to grab his partner and hightail it to their van, before speeding off.

It was several minutes later before John woke, then another minute before the pavement reminded him of what happened. The van was gone, one side of his car had a huge dent in it and the bearded man was lying unconscious. John staggered to his feet, and started surveying his possibilities. He was certainly onto something with the kidnappings, but this bearded man threw a man across a street and destroyed a car door. He had the van’s plate number, it could wait.

He pulled the man into his back seat and climbed back in through the passenger’s side…

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Summer 1944, The Atlantic Ocean

Once under the waves Namor ripped Destim out of the containment suit and tossed him to the sea floor. “Your king demands answers, Destim!” Namor roared.

“Don’t we all?” Destim casually responded. “Well, I don’t anymore, I have all the answers I need.”

“Do not give me riddles, Destim. I want to know why you were working with the German surface dwellers!”

“Working with? Oh, hohoho! That’s rich. Me working with them… They were working for me.”

“For you!?”

“Of course… your Majesty. I contacted them in my spiritual form and arranged everything while I was in my most recent trance.”

Namor stood mouth agape, this was certainly more power then any other mystic had. Even Trodor, the lead mystic could not contain his spirit form for more then a few moments or go much farther then the next room.

“My dear king, is that surprise I see on your face? Oh where are my manners, let me explain. You see several years ago I was researching the ancient texts when I stumbled across a map. It was only a quarter of a page and most of it didn’t make sense, but it fascinated me. I sat and tried to decipher what it was heading to and why it was in our books on destiny and, after nearly a year, I figured it out. It was a map of time. Literally, the way time flowed how it was built, but it was incomplete.

“I surmised that there had to be at least three other pieces, to complete the page of course. But where could they be? I searched through every book in the vaults to no avail, when I realized, the surface world! And going back to the original page I found clues hidden in the map to their locations, it was only a matter of getting there now. After practicing I learned to latch my spirit form on to the energies of the planet, letting it lift and carry me and sustain my form. Then it was a simple matter of heading to where the strongest waves of energy emanated from, the northern pole, and riding them where I needed to go. I journeyed, found and read all the maps, I learned how time was formed and how destiny plays out.”

Destim stopped and stared at Namor, his expression was one of sheer arrogance. It was only then he noticed strange tattoos start to glow on Destim’s body.

“I contacted the surface dwellers because I needed them to gather the ingredients I couldn’t gather in my spirit form. They were more then willing to help so long as I led them on about what I was going to do with it. I had them draw the map on my body, then infuse the needed minerals into the ink itself…”

His entire body glowed now, so bright that Namor had trouble peering into it’s core.

“I baited you Namor, I wanted you to be here when I did this. I wanted my ‘King’ to watch as he looses it all. I’ll manipulate time and erase you and your lineage from history! My family will rule Atlantis and, with my power, the world!”

The light became even more intense, but Namor now understood and launched himself, however futile, at Destim. The light seared his skin and the water bubbled around him, but Namor pushed forward. The rightful king of Atlantis reached an open hand and grabbed Destim by the arm, gripping so powerfully the skin tore. Destim glanced down as the spell completed and gasped, Namor had ruptured a line of the map on his arm. But it was too late as Destim’s body exploded in pure power…

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Summer 2006, New York

It had been three days since John had pulled the bearded man into the car and driven home, and the man had still yet to wake up. John used the time to try and identify this new super-human, but finger prints turned up nothing. In fact he couldn’t find a description matching the mystery man anywhere.

He paced back and forth, a cool glass of water in his hand. “I don’t understand how he could just be a homeless guy? He’s too strong to just disappear somewhere-- Oww!” he yelled as he stubbed his toe, spilling his water all over the sleeping man. “God damn it!” He muttered and went to get a towel.

John dropped the towel on his return, the bearded man was looking at him and stretched out his hand. “Water…” he let out slowly, “More…” before finally passing back out. John quickly got more water and slowly poured it down the man’s throat, his eyes opening back up slowly. “Water…”

“Yeah o--ok.” John’s old bones were slow but he filled every glass he had, and started drawing a bath. By time the bath had been drawn the bearded man was standing. “I need more water. Immediately,” he spoke commandingly. All John could do now was point him to the bath, and close the door behind him.

John waited for hours before he heard the door open, and he stood up intending to lay down the law after being shunted out of his own bathroom. “Now listen here--”

“Silence surface dweller.”

John looked at the bearded man, who had obviously used his razor, he was no longer bearded. He had cut his hair and slicked it back and for the first time John saw he had pointed ears. He couldn’t believe that had escaped him, some reporter he was.

“You have my thanks, surface dweller.”

“My name is John Danvers, reporter for the Dailey Bugle, and yours is?”

The man looked at him and raised a severely pointed eyebrow, seemingly sizing him up.

“I am Namor. Known to the surface as the Sub-Mariner and Prince of Atlantis.”

John looked down for a moment at the ground and thought silently to himself, This is a really good story…

Continued...