I made my way across the ship, killing Red Trident militants as I went. Some I shot, others, others I smacked, and yet others I brutalized, but as you already know those that didn't drop on their knees and beg for their miserable lives died. What irked me was the sheer number of them: not because there were many of them, but rather that there were few, fifty at most, counting those I had already killed before going inside.
Which still pissed me off, because that meant that for every bastard I killed they had already murdered ten people each. Just to give you an idea, your run of the house serial killer kills three, four people in a period of several months.
The Red Trident, on the other hand? They murdered over two hundred civilians in less than fifteen minutes. And yet there weren't that many of them.
Fortunately, they were not expecting a demon slaying space marine to do worse to them. As a matter of fact, they had to be very confident, because they lacked critical things like communicators to tell their fellows about my presence, something that made my job even easier.
And for the record, their screams of agony and horror were muffled by the walls of the ship.
Soon, nearly every last Trident grunt was either dead or alive but mutilated and in Fort Bragg/Atlantis. All that was left was to get to this Krios guy and the last of his mooks, who were on the bridge, and take them out... but without actually killing Krios himself. After all, Aquaman would love to get his hands on him and rip him apart for what he did.
Yes, he would get to live despite directing everything, but don't get me wrong, he would end up getting what he had coming, just not at my hand. I think I need to explain.
Aquaman would be the one who would punish him personally.
Yea, you read that right. He would do it not just because he was still a good man at heart who didn't like seeing the innocent getting hurt (and one more than willing to string someone on his trident), no matter if they lived above or below the water, but also because he knew what could happen when the news of the massacre reached... well, everywhere in the entire damn planet: the world at large wouldn't stand by at the deaths of hundreds of people at the hand of atlanteans, nor their (foiled) plan to cause even more destruction. The atlanteans' belief of being capable of wipe out the surface in a conventional manner was more of a thing the more xenophobic ones told themselves before going to bed, that they could do so in time before a surface response (from a conventional invasion to the capitals to plain ol' torpedo barrages) fucked them good.
Something that could very possibly happen if I didn't intervene. I had appointed myself as protector of Earth and its inhabitants, remember? That included those who lived under the waves. Plus, that kind of war would definitely screw the entire planet, or at least the ocean... which would still screw the entire planet in the long run.
And yes, the atlanteans still had that 'doomsday reactor' in Antartica that could melt the ice of the poles, which if activated would raise the water level to a whooping... seventy meters. That's 230 feet for you imperial measurers. And yes, the rising of the ocean would be worse for the Seven Seas than the surface. Much, MUCH worse.
If vindictive officers that lost either their homes or their families didn't hijack nuclear submarines to fire nuclear torpedos at them, that is.
So, what did this have to do with me? Aquaman's response to the event and... punishment to the perpetrators I sent to him, would have to be recorded so that the world would realize he did not, in fact, have a hand in the attack.
And how did I know Aquaman would do something? For the simple fact he had, in fact, done horrible things to people in the past, whalers and such, though to be fair those had tried to kill him first.
All I had to, of course, was to take Krios to Aquaman.
Incidentally, he also had the last hostages with his group, possibly to stop any attempt to dislodge him from the bridge.
Krios was an older man, over his sixty at least. In case they were stopped, he had his mooks bring a bomb to the bridge so that in case their attack was stopped somehow, they could still be able to kill people.
How unfortunate for them, then, that despite it being powered by water like their guns, VEGA could still hack into the explosive. However, I did not ask him to completely deactivate it.
Imagine the shock on Krios' face when the door to the bridge was kicked open and saw a 7.5 feet tall armored individual tromp inside with one of their rifles in his hands, them and taking out his cronies with non-lethal shots because everything else would have killed them horribly, and there were witnesses there.
That said, I said 'non-lethal', not 'non-crippling': hydro-pulse rifles were more than capable of harming armored atlanteans, and I was a mean shot; those two would never be able to move again.
"I killed the others. You are the last." I told him.
Understandably, Krios did not like what he heard, his shock gaving way to momentary horror, then rage. "You... you murdered them!" He screamed at me as he shot at me, too furious to see his last hostages fleeing behind him through a portal or to realize his shots weren't doing a thing.
I didn't even flinch as he kept firing at me until his ammo ran out. "You scum started it."
"The surface started it!" He screamed at me, instead of actually being stupid and trying to get close, like others would have done. "With their defiling of the oceans with their dirty ships, like this one, and the deaths of millions of creatures to feed their hunger!" He kept ranting about something about 'teaching them a lesson' and 'making them feel the pain the sea feels'.
As if, I didn't give a single shit for the Red Trident's motivations. He and his cronies were nothing more than murderous extremists, rabid dogs that needed to be put down.
His anger then turned into that smugness that comes from the villain when they think they have won anyway. " Doesn't matter. This bomb is more than powerful enough to destroy this damned ship and everything around it in a mile! So long, murderer of my kind!" The bastard then looked at me with a smug grin before activating the bomb. He probably expected me to be unable to stop him in time.
Why allow this deluded moron think he was still able to do anything at all?
He didn't expect his precious explosive device to actually explode... but only with enough force to break apart and send some shrapnel right into Krios' side. VEGA did his job right.
Taking advantage of his shock and pain, I charged at Krios and inmobilized him by grabbing his throat. With that, the Red Trident was rendered completely destroyed. I would not brand him, however: wanted to give him relatively fresh to Aquaman. But first...
"VEGA, inform Fort Bragg that the ship is clear of hostiles."
"Already done, Slayer." What would I do without VEGA?
Atlantis, capital of the Seven Seas and the only city of the 'kingdom' where an air-breather like me could move around without diving equipment thanks to the shield around it.
And in the place I ended up, the plaza, there was a small crowd gathered around eight people moaning or crying in fear, all of them with a trident carved on them. Everyone looked upon them with either horror, shock, confusion, or a combination of the three, not knowing what happened to these eight poor devils or not realizing what the symbols on their torsos meant.
At the head of the crowd were Aquaman, his wife Mera, and his brother Orm. Mera looked at the, while Orm was either disgusted or just as horrified. Aquaman, on the other hand, was glaring at the Red Trident.
Again, imagine their collective reaction when they saw me stomp towards the pile of moaning Red Trident and adding two more. Obviously everyone reacted at my sudden appearance there with shock and fear, some even with terror by the fact a surface dweller was down there with them; Aquaman, however, went straight for us with trident in hand... but not for me.
"These are all of them?" He asked me, gesturing to the pile. Blunt, straight to the point, and not caring that there was a bunch of mutilated people mere yards away from him. I liked that. His attitude also made me remember I went overboard with him before. "And how many were there? I couldn't exactly interrogate them."
I shook my head. "There were fifty at most; most of them are dead, the rest under custody of the U.S National Guard. You'll have to speak with them if you want them returned to Atlantis."
He scoffed. "They can throw them into Arkham for all I care." Aquaman then dropped his trident and grabbed Krios by the neck "How many? How many people did you and your henchmen murder in cold blood for something they had nothing to do with?"
Instead of letting Krios say something thing like 'not enough', I spoke "Two hundred eighty two passengers, half as much that in crew."
Aquaman looked away from me and back at Krios, with a glare that would have atomized him if looks could kill (or if he was a kryptonian).
And then began to beat Krios. The strength difference wasn't that much, and he didn't want to actually kill him, but Aquaman was still a large, muscular man on his prime fueled by anger, letting that anger out by beating the fuck out of a much smaller and older man.
By the time he was done beating the life out of Krios, the poor devil looked like he had tried to take on the Hulk and was curbstomped.
However, instead of letting him execute Krios with, say, his trident. After all, I wanted to help.
So, I gave him the plasma rifle. Shot by shot it was the third weakest gun in my arsenal just after the pistol and the burst rifle, but as you already know, it still fired ultra-hot plasma bolts of ionized energy, and therefore were quite painful, and even that understates their destructivity. As for why the rifle, two reasons: first, every other weapon would have broken Aquaman's wrists, at the very least, no matter how strong he was. Second...
Because plasma burns like Hell, even for the five seconds you get to live before your blood flashboils inside your body and expands, ripping you apart even with open wounds. And last time I checked, Aquaman knew how to handle a gun.
Imagine the surprise I got when the king didn't actually kill Krios... but did something arguably more meaningful.
Aquaman eyed the rifle for a moment, before grabbing it without hesitation.
"Will this kill him no matter where I shoot?" He asked me.
"Not if you shoot the limbs." I replied, actually surprised by his question, and what he had planned. "But he will if shoot at either his head or torso."
He nodded. "Hold him up."
I did as he asked, holding Krios by the scruff of his neck like the trash he was. Yes, I tore his skin apart doing so; no, he didn't scream, and neither me nor Aquaman cared.
"Brother?"
"Arthur?"
Aquaman ignored his queen and brother. "Krios... for the death of over three hundred people, children included, and with the power bestowed upon me as King of Atlantis, I condemn you to imprisonment... and I give you something that you will never forget."
The aforementioned Red Trident leader could not talk his way out, beg, rant or whatever extremist villains do at their last moments by virtue of his body being smashed to a pulp before the King of Atlantis and Master of the Seven Seas disintegrated his knees.
Everyone else reacted with horror at his actions. Well, that and the utterly inhuman screech Krios gave, what with having his throat crushed. Apparently they expected him to just beat Krios half to death and be done with it, instead of shooting his legs off and crippling him for life.
Aquaman himself, though? He glared at the screaming mass of tenderized meat that had previously been a fellow atlantean, before punching him in the head, knocking him out (and also breaking whatever teeth were left), and then spitting on him for good measure. Then, he turned to his guards. "Throw all this... trash to the prison! And throw his legs to the sharks, or the hagfish! Just them out of my city!"
Several guards then grabbed Krios and his mooks to drag them away, while a single one grabbed Krios' legs (with clear disgust in his face) to do as his monarch told him to. Then, Aquaman-Arthur, handed me the rifle back and went to talk with his wife.
Suddenly, my respect for him grew significantly. I seriously expected him to just kill Krios and the others then and there, but this was better, more meaningful than a mere execution.
I walked up to him. His men didn't even bother to stand between him and me, since they already knew it'd do nothing, but still gave me wary glances.
It was time for me to do the only thing I could think of, not just to show the respect he earned, but also to make amends for what I did to him less than an hour prior.
Apologize for making an ass out of him and his boys back at the beach.
"Your majesty?" I asked, startling Arthur and his family, who didn't see me walk towards them.
"What is it?" He said after composing himself.
"I regret the humilliating way I treated you and your troops with before." I apologized, even giving a bow to emphasize the point. "I was anxious at the moment, and when I found out what the Trident was doing... you were too close, and I was angry."
He looked at me, then at Mera, then at me once more before crossing his arms over his chest.
"This still doesn't make up for what you did, you know." His gaze then softened. ", but it is a beginning." He then sighed. "Now, if only the surface world were to be just as lenient..."
"Arthur, this wasn't your fault!" Mera said as she held his arm, tried to comfort him.
But Arthur just sighed before rubbing his face. "It is. I have been too lenient with those bastards, and this is what happened. Knowing the surface, they will start pointing fingers at me. I may loathe them, but they're still my people, which means that at least some blame lies in me."
"Well fight them off! They're primitive and barbaric!" Orm stated. Poor little idiot.
I made my opinion clear. "You'll lose, badly. However, there's no need for violence between good people."
Naturally, this picked up Arthurt's interest. "What do you mean?"
"Recorded the beatdown you gave to Krios and the crippling. Even the most hardliners up there will have to admit you cannot have a hand on their actions. That should clear things up a bit. Still, you might want to speak with United Nations about this." I then extended my arm. "I'll help you."
Arthur eyed my hand, still unsure, before grabbing it and giving it a shake. "Thanks for the offer, soldier boy."
"Doom Slayer." I told him, earning a raised eyebrow for it. It was the first time he heard my name. At least he didn't say it was metal or something.
My job done, I went back to the Fortress of Doom to prepare myself for what was coming, something that needed lots of preparation: the public's reaction,.
.........
Sorry for making you wait for so long. As for why the absence of Krios' POV in the chapter, him and the Red Trident are just a means to an end, one that I wrote explicitly to die gruesomely. As for Aquaman's cavalier attitude towards the Red Trident, which are technically his people, two things:
-The Trident didn't take well the fact a surface dweller is their king.
-In this story, 'atlantean' is more of a demonym than an actual race, much less a species: some are more fishlike, others are crablike, some are mermaids, and others are... the Trench. The Red Trident, though? They're all atlanteans from Atlantis proper, aka humans that can breathe underwater.
So, yeah, they're not just eco-terrorists, they're also the KKK of the seas. And like many people in real life, myself included Aquaman/Arthur Curry, despite (shamedly) sharing some of their ideals, would rather wipe them all out and be done with it, but hasn't done so out of pragmatism.
Overall, was the chapter okay-ish at least? Did I make Doom Slayer speak too much? Don't want to reveal the existence of VEGA yet. Was it consistent with the 'canon' I imposed?