Continuing from last issue, Garth was at Dr. Kyesha Salton's apartment, working on his ability to survive without the rebreather for longer than a minute. The pair discussed the Thorny Crown tattoo on his neck, which was tied to the Knights of Tethys out of Atlantean mythology. Garth couldn't uncover anything more about it, and Topo sneered over Poseidonis' ignorance about his people in Dyss. Everything was tied to Urlok, the sleeping god of Dyss that would eventually awaken to rule the world. Kyesha noted that Garth was probably supposed to have turned up with the tattoo in Poseidonis months earlier, where its significance and the prophesy Garth spouted would have been understood. His arriving instead in Sub Diego, where the tattoo went unnoticed, queered that plan. Still, Dr. Salton had a lead in mind on the thorny crown...
Black Manta gleefully tried out his new armor and ultrasonic blasters on Arthur Joseph, Cal Durham, and Lorena Marquez. "Sound propagates much better underwater, you know-- or maybe you don't. I imagine being an apprentice Aquaman is your summer job while you struggle with junior college, right?" A.J. thought he was nuts for chatting away while attempting murder, which Cal confirmed. Manta and his mercenaries took down Aquagirl, which led to the capture of the rest. This was not without casualty, but "Manta, Inc. pays generous survivor benefits. His kids will be taken care of."
At Tri-Dent Industries in mainland San Diego, Dr. Philip Curry saw video confirming that his dead son Arthur was living and adventuring. He struggled through his tears of joy and confusion. Krusivax, son of Kordax, scooped Curry up by the collar and demanded his assistance in recovering his heritage, all of Atlantis...
In the hidden kingdom of Dyss, Narwhal smashed up his room, then sat cradling his knees against his chest. He had received new facial tattoos and the commendation of the Pardoner, but was haunted by his killing of the Dweller and the secrets forever lost to him. Narwhal was comforted by Cryptid, a female who cared for him...
Manta's scientist Sydney had been murdering the elderly at his lucrative practice in La Jolla before the creation of Sub Diego saved him from prison. He was quietly lusting after Aquagirl while struggling to get a blood sample from Arthur before their scheduled public execution (local attendance mandatory.) Manta was furious upon learning that the "real" Aquaman had been killed by another, and was in a rush to do away with this lot. Aquaman tried calling for fishy help, but netting around the city kept large creatures at bay. This included King Shark, who wasn't willing to risk fighting Manta's men, but would bite the guy's head off to avenge his friend when the opportunity presented itself. Topo was trying to find a way to shut down the power grid, but to no avail.
At the moment of truth, Tempest used Cal's cache of weapons to stall the execution. Aquagirl kicked Manta in the nuts and swam away. Aquaman clotted the outflow valves on the tanks of Manta's men with millions of single-cell organisms, leaving them choking on their own carbon dioxide. Manta tried to reclaim the day with his plasma cannon, but King Shark arrived in time to bite his face off. Manta fled, covering his wounds with his helmet as blood filled the water around him.
In Poseidonis, Mera was shocked to learn from Rodunn that King Orin's body had converted to water, so soon after poor Koryak's body had been stolen...
"Blood In The Water" was by Tad Williams and Shawn McManus. One wonders just how true that title was, as this penultimate story arc rushed to completion with no shortage of exposition or foreshadowing. Pages were filled with dialogue balloons, which McManus handled better with his quirky, cartoony style than he did the action sequences. The inks are still missed at times, but the book looks good overall.
Brave New World
