Titans of Justice Unlimited Chapter 27 - “Atlantean Adventurs - Whirlpool Rising Part 2”
Written By: Arin of Atlantis
Edited By: Power Guy


The underwater kingdom of Atlantis…

“Whirlpool! Wake up! WHIRLPOOL!”



Arin awoke suddenly, jolting up and breathing heavily. He pulled his sleek, black hair behind his ears, and looked for the person that had so loudly awoken him. Tula was sitting up on the bottom of the bed, listening to Air Wave talk hurriedly. Kai Ro was peering out of the door, constantly looking left and right. Lieutenant Atom was pacing up and down the large chambers, muttering inaudible words under his breath.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Whirlpool asked, as he grabbed his gloves and blew a wild strand of hair out of his face. “Wait…where’s Black Adam and Isis? And where’s the White Wraith?”

Lieutenant Atom stopped pacing, and Kai Ro shut the door to the chamber silently. Tula turned to face her brother; she was dressed in a light brown dress that went to her knees. She stood in black boots, and her short, brown hair was tied back in a bun. He had never seen his sister in a costume before in his life.

“We think they have been taken by the Supreme Guard,” Lieutenant Atom explained, as Whirlpool finally stood up. “I heard a door slam this morning, and Black Adam muttering that he needed to use the bathroom…”

“And I saw a body moving across the room really silently. I think it was Isis following her husband,” Air Wave continued. “I was half-asleep, and I thought that they were…you know…”

“On the job?!” Whirlpool exclaimed, as Air Wave turned a dark shade of pink.

“But then White Wraith disappeared too!” Kai Ro added, “it was only me who thought to stop them in their tracks!” he smiled bravely.

“Yeah, and you did a great job too!” Tula smiled falsely, “because now they’ve been gone for an hour, and -”

“Nobody’s bothered telling me this?” Whirlpool shouted.

Tula gasped at her brother.

“Look, there’s no time for arguing,” calmly said Lieutenant Atom. “All we know is, they’ve probably been kidnapped by the Wave Lord, and we’re probably going to be next…”

“Yeah, and guess what?” Tula added, as Kai Ro opened the door to stand guard again, “Lorena sent me a message about ten minutes ago! All I got was the word ‘armoury,’ but I don’t get what it means…”

“He’s keeping them there, it must be like a mile below the castle!” Whirlpool explained to the remaining Titans. “It’s where we keep our most precious weapons.”

“Uh, guys, no time to play Batman any more!” Kai Ro intervened, grabbing an anitque spear from a case with this powers. “We have company!”

Kai Ro backed into the room, the spear floating two feet ahead of him. Tula’s hands glowed with an indigo aura, and Lieutenant Atom charged up an energy blast.

“How many, Tula?” Whirlpool whispered, slowly growing a ball of pressurised water in the palm of his hands.

“A hundred, at least,” the young princess replied. Suddenly, the wall collapsed, and a swarm of soliders ran into the room, swords at the ready.

“NOW!” Whirlpool commanded, thrusting his palms forward. The Supreme Atlantean Guard were met with a fury of attacks. Some were hurt as sharp puffs of water hit their eyes, and some were sent flying backwards by indigo bolts of magic. Five Guards all fainted as a high pitched sound reached their ears, and some were harassed by a giant spear whacking their legs.

“We can’t hold them back forever!” Air Wave shouted over the loud noise of energy and sound mixing with screams of agony and thuds against walls.



“Whirlpool, get out of here!” Lieutenant Atom roared loud enough so everybody could hear him clearly, “I’m a body full of energy, I can handle them!”

“Are you serious?” Whirlpool replied loudly, grabbing a shield from a fallen guard, and ramming it into another’s shoulder.

“JUST DO IT!” The lieutenant cried at the top of his voice, running forward. Whirlpool glanced at his ally, and nodded to himself.

“You heard the guy, he can handle it! C’mon, let’s get out of here!”

Whirlpool ran back through the small army, punching his way through. He spotted Tula surrounded by them, and with a thrust of his hand, had knocked most of them backwards. He grabbed her by the hand, and dragged her forward. They quickly shoved through the battle, Air Wave flying overhead, heading for a small window overlooking the grounds…

SMASH! The window broke, and Air Wave was half flying, half swimming through the ocean. Tula followed, as Kai Ro appeared behind Whirlpool, throwing them both through as a sword stabbed the wall where they were just standing. The prince of Atlantis looked back one more time at the Lieutenant, who was taking on the Guard easier than he thought he could. Tula squeezed his arm, bringing him back to the current mission. He led the way southwards, swimming over the sleeping city.

As the group progressed around the back of the castle, the sound of war from Whirlpool’s living quarters slowly drowned. The prince reached the large grate first; using his limited mystic powers, he managed to tear away two screws holding the grate in place. Tula nudged him out of the way, and instantly, the screws all loosened, and the grate floated off. The boy smiled at his smug sister, as he dove into the long pit ahead.

They swam downwards for the best part of half an hour, squeezing through tight holes in the long tunnel down, and fighting off poisonous fish that lurked in the darkness. Whirlpool stopped abruptly, causing Air Wave to bump into him.

“What is it?” He asked, staring beyond his shoulder.

“Booby trap. Heh, I set this one up myself,” Whirlpool explained, staring ahead. The tunnel didn’t look any different than before. “As soon as I make one more step forward, we all have ten seconds to swim the next ten meters. Because if we don’t…” Whirlpool trailed his finger to small crevices in the wall. “Poisonous gas and spears lunge out of these disguised holes. The only way to shut it down, is to cross the path, and press the red button on the other side.”

“Wait, couldn’t I use my invisibility powers to just pass through the path undetected?” Kai Ro piped up, swimming next to Whirlpool.

“Uh…it’s worth a try, I guess? But remember, try and make haste…”

Kai Ro nodded, and suddenly, he wasn’t there anymore. There was a faint noise and a ripple, as the invisible hero swam through the path. The trio watched eagerly, trying to make out where he was. Suddenly, a glint of red swam into the path.

“Dammit, that’s a poisonous fish!” Whirlpool breathed, and Tula wrapped her hands around her mouth in shock.

“Let’s just hope he’s already seen it,” Air Wave guessed, “I mean, can’t he just dodge it slowly?”

Tula jumped, as Kai Ro suddenly appeared halfway through the path, screaming loudly. There was a loud siren noise, and Whirlpool quickly dived into the path.

“Come on! Hurry! That siren’s going to alert the whole castle!” Whirlpool cried desperately, as Kai Ro was chased by the red fish.

“Leave him alone!” Whirlpool barked, and the fish swam into a small corner.

Air Wave followed suit, paddling as fast as he could, as Tula bought up the rear. Suddenly, a huge rock rose out of the ground, trapping the duo in the middle of the path.



“Swim back! Swim back!” Tula exclaimed, doing a clean one hundred and eighty degree turn, banging her head on another rock.

“Crap, we’re stuck!” Air Wave shouted, hammering on the wall. Suddenly, the two rocks began to move inwards, slowly squashing the pair.

“Arin! Arin help me!” Tula shouted, and there was a loud snapping noise. The girl screamed in agony, as the crevices opened up to reveal tiny holes. Blood poured from her wrist, and shocking pain surged through her body. Air Wave was wrapped around her, protecting her before himself. The walls were closing in fast, the siren ended, and there was a sound of metal scraping against rock; Air Wave breathing heavily; Tula closing her eyes tightly; and then nothing.

She opened her eyes slowly, not daring to move. Blood impaired her vision, but she knew she couldn’t move; one slight twitch, and her head was going right through five, very sharp spears. Her arm was crushed underneath Air Wave back, who had his arms wrapped around her. His legs were up at a ninety degree angle, balancing dangerously next to even more spears waiting to poke through his legs. There was a loud crash, and a cry from her brother; the sound of clanging told her that he was fighting through the spears. He banged against the wall of rock, and there was a loud crash as small shards of rock pierced her bare arms and knees. She bit her lip; it was all she could do to stop herself from crying out in pain. If the siren hadn’t awoken the population of Atlantis, the scream she was dying to let out certainly would. Air Wave was dragged out from underneath her, as Whirlpool tried to grab both of them and maneuver them out safely. After five minutes of insane balancing skills and careful paddling, the quartet were regrouped just ahead of the path.

“My wrist, Arin, it’s so sore!” Tula whined, sobbing into her brother’s chest uncontrollably. Air Wave was thankfully unharmed, but he was quite shaken.

“You designed that, Whirlpool? Are you mad? Did you ever think that you might have to use this stupid tunnel?” Air Wave shouted angrily.

“To be honest, Air Wave, when I designed this, I never thought I’d be a Titan, and I could have just used the personnel only entrance to get through safely!”

Kai Ro and Air Wave looked at him angrily.

“There’s a safe route? So why are we taking the trip through the River Styx?” Kai Ro growled, pounding the wall in rage.

“It’s heavily guarded, and…and…not again!” Whirlpool breathed, as the walls shook around them vigorously.

“This is not happening! An earthquake on the day we save a city? It’s so ironic it’s not even funny!” Air Wave shouted, but Whirlpool had already picked up Tula and was swimming away at full speed.

“Hey, wait!”

Kai Ro and Air Wave panicked, as the booby trap completely collapsed.

“Come on!” Air Wave shouted, swimming through the tight path as fast as he could go. There was a sudden pain in his side as he was pushed into the wall - Kai Ro squirmed past him desperately, leaving him alone as he turned a corner. The younger Dan Jordan followed him quickly, barely escaping a whole boulder from crushing his legs. The tunnel began to crumble faster and faster, in bigger chunks that trailed behind Air Wave closer than a shadow. Up ahead, he saw two people struggling with something. As he swam closer, he swore he saw Kai Ro push something out of the way, then completely appearing down a hole. The thing was Whirlpool, who had shoved aside by the selfish teenager. The long haired Atlantean glanced at Air Wave, then swam through the hole. A ring of light appeared as soon as he had dropped, and one with quick boost, Air Wave was sailing through, just as the tunnel completely collapsed.

The quartet floated into an enormous room made of stone. Every wall was covered in weaponry of gold and silver; and on the furthest wall, about half a dozen chains were suspended from the ceiling. Below the chains was a large pit, full of dark red fire. Whirlpool knew it was mystic fire; it gave off a near-unbearable heat that only the creator could withstand.



Hanging from the chains were seven very familiar people. On the far left, Garth swung by his fingers; his face was bright red, and he was groaning with pain. Next to him, the White Wraith hung by his wrists, his cloak in a mess on the floor. Lorena Marquez, also known as Aquawoman, was passed out as she hung from her ankles, her long, brown hair dangling dangerously close to the fire. Aquaman, the King of Atlantis cried out as chains dug into his armpits, and next to him, but much lower down so she was sweating furiously, Queen Mera cried silently. Isis had her mouth taped shut and, like Aquawoman, was dangling from her ankles. On the far right, Black Adam shook and screamed ferociously, trying to snap the ropes that held him by his arms.

“Oh, great Poseidon…” Whirlpool breathed, as he examined his father’s chains.

“Son…get out of here…Wave Lord…Cerdian…they’re….com….comi…..uhh…”

Garth passed out in pain, and up closer, Whirlpool could see blood sticking soaking through his father’s gloves. His fingers were broken, and he guessed it wouldn’t be too long before his arms snapped with the pain and his legs fell into the fire.

“I’m going to get you out of these chains, father! Then I am going to kill Wave Lord and the traitor Cerdian!” Whirlpool screamed, as Air Wave stepped forward.

“Is there anyway to put that fire out?” Air Wave asked, looking at the chains. “If you can get rid of it, I can use my powers to snap those chains.”

“Brother, I think I can get rid of that fire. Dad’s the only one here who can create this sort of fire, so it’s gonna be tough extinguishing his flames,” Tula informed, “but if you give me some time, I can do it.”

There was a loud snap, and a loud hissing noise startled the group. Black Adam rubbed his armpits, then flew over to his wife’s chains.



“Isis! Don’t worry, I shall get you out of this!” Black Adam roared, grabbing the top of the chain. He yanked them with such force and determination, that they fell clean off. He caught his wife in his arms, and set her down. He slowly tore off the tape around her mouth. Whirlpool guessed that she was screaming for help when she was captured.

“Oh Teth, thank you! I was so worried that I was going to fall off and burn to death!” Isis grabbed her husband’s cheek, and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Uhh…not too interrupt or anything, but there’s still five people hanging on chains up there…” Kai Ro intervened.

“Sorry to interrupt the party, but I have a score to settle!”
A large, grey door flew open, clanging against a huge shield, echoing around the room noisily. Black Adam and Isis split, and prepared to battle, as two men walked into the room.



“Wave Lord! Cerdian!” Whirlpool shouted, grabbing a sword and shielf from the wall. Tula gasped, as she tried her best to extinguish the fire. “I’m going to kill both of you!”

“Arin, Cerdian is under his control!” Queen Mera shouted in agony, “destroy Wave Lord’s helmet!”

“Oh, after what you tried, Queenie?” Wave Lord cackled, flicking his wrist majestically. There was a loud pop, and another section of the Supreme Atlantean Guard appeared in front of the heroes. “You’re not going to get this helmet off my head because it’s stuck on magically! Now, let’s fight!”

Cerdian, the tall, bulky, older brother of Whirlpool shouted out his favorite war-cry, and rammed into the crowd.

“That boy needs to be taught a lesson!” Black Adam roared, using his powers to move through the water like a missile. He slammed the prince into a wall, and a whole army’s worth of weaponry rained down on them.



Isis rose through the water, watching the fight closely. “How dare you challenge the leaders of Kahndaq! Hail!”

The guard shouted, as large hailstones came out of nowhere, and struck them hard.

Whirlpool raised his shield above his head, as he dove through the mini storm. He whacked a soldier in the back of his head, making his way forward to the man that started the whole battle in the first place.

“Air Wave, cover me!” Tula cried, as she used all her mystic energy on the fire. It was slowly vanishing, and at the rate Tula was going, she wasn’t going to be able to finish it off. Air Wave stood in front of her, as a dozen men cricled the fiery pit.

“If you can, cover your ears!” He warned, letting off a low pitched sound that drilled through the soldiers’ ears. They all battled the sound, moving forward slowly. Air Wave concentrated hard, lowering the pitch another 5 decibels.

‘If I go any lower, I might deafen everybody in this room!’ Air Wave thought to himself.

As if she had heard his thoughts, Tula shouted over the noise, “Don’t worry about the good guys, half the family have healing powers!” She reminded, and Air Wave nodded. He lowered the pitch again, stunning the soldier’s.

Meanwhile, Kai Ro grabbed five swords with his powers, and swung them about him furiously. He threw one into a soldier’s neck, killing him instantly. He commanded another two to chase after a soldier ready to strike Whirlpool with a mace. He grinned, as all of his attacks hit his targets. Suddenly, a scream louder than any other echoed through the room, just below him. The whole room seemed to grow quiet. Kai Ro glanced down to see Air Wave clutching his arm, which was spurting out blood in every direction.

“Kai, help me! Kai! Kai! Please! Help me!” Air Wave screamed, thudding onto his knees in pain. Kai Ro moved ahead, pretending not to hear him. Isis flew past him, and shouted out something that the protégé of the Green Lantern couldn’t hear. There was another, higher scream; Isis had most probably fallen too.

Whirlpool was getting close to his target. A few seconds back, he heard the familiar cry of Air Wave, but he couldn’t stop now, he had to finish off the leader. Up near the ceiling, Black Adam continued to trade throws across the room with Cerdian. Wave Lord was straight ahead, laughing in Whirlpool’s face.

“You evil monster! You are going to pay for what you have done!” Whirlpool promised, swinging his sword at Wave Lord. His enemy just laughed, as he used the helmet to disarm his foe. With a blink of his eye, Tula was standing right beside them, surprised at how quickly she had moved. Her arm was still bloody, but she had managed to get rid of the pain whilst trying to stop the fire. Her face was covered in blood, and the fire had left her sweaty, and her knees singed.

“Ooh, that wrist looks mighty sore! Say, aren’t you the one that barely escaped my grip? Oh well, we’ll have to rectify that!” Wave Lord cackled, holding Whirlpool back. He grabbed Tula’s elbow, and bought it down on his knee. Tula screamed silently, as her elbow snapped. Whirlpool cried, as his eyes were forced open to watch her shoulder snap. She fell to the ground in a messy, bloody huddle. Whirlpool screamed, breaking through Wave Lord’s hold. Almost as fast as the Flash, he grabbed Wave Lord’s sword, and stabbed it through his helmet. Suddenly, the Supreme Atlantean Guard had fainted after being released from the control.

“You’re reign is over, Wave Lord.”

Whirlpool kicked his arch-enemy onto the ground, and forced all of his strength into a stamp which broke the villain’s ankle.

“Not quite, Whirlpool,” Wave Lord replied through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the pain. “You didn’t think I’d be able to drop so quickly, did you? Your brother, Cerdian, he specialises in brute strength, which is why he makes such a good soldier.”

Black Adam screamed, and Whirlpool spun around. One of Atlantis’ finest swords ripped through Black Adam’s chest, and Cerdian let out a high laugh.

“Tula specializes in magic, look at what she did to the fire,” Wave Lord continued. Whirlpool stole a glance at the once blazing pit; now a few flames licked the soles of his relatives’ feet.

“But you, Whirlpool, you were different. Your father claimed that you excelled in water manipulation, which, quite frankly, is no use when we’re battling in the ocean. However, you were a bit of an all-rounder, not good, but not bad. You could smash down your average house, you could perform a mind wipe on your average person, which is maybe what makes you the most powerful of the three potential heirs to the throne. And I knew that it would be you that would get so far to stop my plans, because that’s what you do. You ruin everything!” Wave Lord growled, as Whirlpool stared at him angrily.

“So I prepared. I used up the majority of my mind control powers on your brother, who I knew could perhaps be the only one that could defeat you. A close call the battle would be, but I believed in him. And, his mind control isn’t set to wear off for another six hours. Right now, he is still my little puppet on a string, Arin! Cerdian, kill your brother!”

Wave Lord cackled as he hobbled along and fled the room, as Cerdian landed in front of his brother. He raised his fist, and with a loud, angry roar, Whirlpool was flying through the water. He watched Cerdian through bloody eyes, slowly making his way over. He stood on top of Kai Ro, who was groaning, and kicked Air Wave out of his way. The brave hero was bleeding from a large wound in his arm; a few minutes more, Whirlpool guessed, and he would be dead. Cerdian picked up Black Adam, and threw him into his brother. The sheer force combined with the weight of the famous former villain must have snapped at least two of Whirlpool’s ribs. He couldn’t stand, no matter how hard he wanted to - and now, Cerdian was walking forward, glassy-eyed and staring straight forward. There was a loud scraping noise, and a small grunt. Out of the corner of his eye, Whirlpool saw his father had come to, and was concentrating on Tula…

‘Wait a minute, where’s Tula?’

Whirlpool had no time to ponder, as Cerdian was standing over him, a bloody, ragged sword in his hand, high over Whirlpool’s heart.

“Prepare to die, brother,” Cerdian said in a robotic voice quite unlike his normal one.

Whirlpool kept his eyes open; he wasn’t going to flinch at his own death. He breathed in as well as he could, as Cerdian rose the sword up higher and higher…

Then, a glint of silver ripped through his brother’s chest, and as it impaled all the way through, Whirlpool realized that it was a sword. His brother’s own weapon floated through the water, and landed on the floor with a dull thud. He tipped over, and fell next to his brother, blood flooding around him.

Tula stood over Cerdian like a Ragdoll, her left arm mangled, her right still clasped as if she was holding the sword.

“T-Tula…” Whirlpool coughed, as his sister fell on top of him. As they both fell unconscious, Arin swore that he saw a smile flicker across his father’s face, as the chains fell off. A shout belonging to Lieutenant Atom was the last thing he heard as he slowly drifted away…

***

“Arin, thank goodness you are okay!”

Whirlpool opened his eyes to the familiar hospital ward in Atlantis. Around his bed sat Tula, Cerdian, Lorena, his father and his grandparents. All of them were fully healed.

“Father! Tula!” He cried out, and to his surprise, his ribs were fully healed. His sister hugged him, and he noticed that her arm was fully healed.

“Welcome back, Arin,” Arthur Curry smiled, as his sister let go of him. “I’d only just recovered from the whole Black Orchid mess…it was only a matter of time before trouble arose for this family again.”

Arin nodded to his grandfather, as he examined his grandson carefully.

“I’m just so proud of all of you,” Arthur smiled, hugging his grandson tightly. Cerdian stood up angrily, and stormed out of the room, as Tula was congratulated by her family.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Arin said, jumping out of his bed, and running out of the ward. On the way, he passed his fellow Titans, all looking very much alive and well.

“Cerdian, wait! I -”

“Forget it, Hero Boy,” Cerdian spat, keeping his eyes well away from his brother. “Spare me the gloating…”

Cerdian marched away gloomily, slamming a door behind him. Whirlpool bowed his head, as his team-mates joined him in the corridor.



“I still can’t believe I got any of the action!” White Wraith moaned, as Black Adam led the way. Air Wave shushed him, as they met up with their friend.

“Are you okay, Prince Arin?” Isis asked, putting her hand on the young boy’s shoulder.

“I’m fine. Come on, let’s go back to the Hall. There’s no point in sticking around.”

Isis let go of his shoulder, as he walked ahead slowly.

“You can’t win every battle you fight in…” he added to himself in a soft whisper.


The End