AdamYJ
01-25-2006, 11:52 AM
Hey folks, it's time for the next chapter in AdamYJ's Mighty Max saga. This one is based on the "Man Eater" playset from the original toyline. I think it turned out okay. I think it'll also seem pretty different from the version that people remember from the cartoon. The main thing I have a problem with is the title. I decided to go with "The Inky Depths" because there's stuff about both the ocean and squids in the story. Originally, I was going to call it something along the lines of "Deep Trouble", but I remembered that that was the name of a Goosebumps book and I didn't want to copy that. Anyway, here's the first part. It's more of a teaser than anything. Max and friends don't appear until part two.
Part One
The ship called the “Sea Nymph” looked like an old, rusting heap on the outside. Despite appearances, it still navigated the waters rather well. In fact, it was surprisingly good at evading pursuers. This was proven by the number of times it had escaped the pursuit of law enforcement vessels in its long career on the open waves. In fact, the Sea Nymph had developed quite the dubious reputation among various coastal authorities, local, national and worldwide. The crew of the Sea Nymph was about as infamous. There was rarely a group of mercenaries and treasure hunters more slippery or dangerous than them. The worst of the bunch was their captain, James Skragge.
It was a cool, dark night on the Caribbean Sea. The Sea Nymph had just come back from one of its more successful and illegal treasure hunting missions. The crew sat in the galley around a large, locked chest. It was old and aged by both time and water. What was inside could still be worth a fortune.
“Why don’t you open the damn thing, Smitty,” a crewman named Bootse said, “it’s been sitting here forever. There’ll be no harm in taking a little look.”
Thomas “Smitty” Smith looked at his crewmate with contempt. Too often he had worked with men like Joe Bootse. Men who didn’t trust his instincts about these sorts of things.
“I told you before, Bootse. It’s bad luck. I opened a chest while still at sea before and we lost the whole thing overboard. I’ve been having a bad feeling ever since we took the thing anyway. You should trust me on this.”
“Bad luck. Feh. I want to see the loot.”
“Smitty says no and he means no,” Skragge suddenly spoke up.
The two men looked up at their captain. He was an ugly cuss with a face that looked like it had taken a few too many punches. A long scar went down the right side. Needless to say, James Skragge was not the type of man you’d want to meet in a dark alley.
“See. Even the captain agrees with me.”
Bootse crossed his arms, sat back in his chair and fumed.
“I’ve been feeling like someone’s been following our ship since we salvaged this chest. If that’s not bad luck, I don’t know what is.”
“Could be US Coast Guard. The salvage was in American waters and the area was protected.”
“Why would anyone protect a sunken Spanish ship in the middle of the ocean?” Bootse asked, still fuming.
“Something about it being an unnatural reef that supports rare species of animals or something,” Skragge said, “Some sort of tree-hugging nonsense. You ask me, a few stupid fish aren’t worth much.”
“Well, that ship probably won’t be much good for fish now that we’re done with it. We damn near ripped the thing apart to get this thing,” Smitty said, indicating the chest.
Suddenly, the ship lurched.
“What the hell was that?” Skragge asked at the surprising sudden movement.
“We couldn’t have run aground. Hayes and McKee are topside to steer and keep watch,”
The ship lurched again. The three ran up to the deck. The dark sky hung ominously around them. It was an overcast, starless night. They could barely see in front of their faces.
“Hayes!” Smitty shouted.
“McKee!” Bootse shouted.
No answer from either.
They shouted a few more times and there was still no answer.
“Over here!” Skragge shouted to them.
They ran over to where the captain was shouting for them. On the ground was a gun and a few bullet casings.
“Hayes’s gun. He was shooting at something,” the captain said.
“But what could he have been shooting a . . .”
With those last words and a sudden splash, Bootse was gone.
“He was pulled over the side!”
“What could possibly do that?” Smitty asked in disbelief.
“I have an idea. Just keep a sharp eye out, Smitty. We probably can’t escape this thing, but we can go down figh . . .”
Another splash and the captain was gone. Now, Smitty was alone. The ship lurched again. Smitty pulled his lighter out of his pocket so that he could possibly see what he was dealing with. He ignited the lighter and held it up in the dark night air. He could just barely make out the thing that had claimed the lives of his crewmates.
“Holy crud!” Smitty said, incredulously.
In just a moment, the Sea Nymph was pulled down into the inky depths.
AdamYJ
01-26-2006, 09:44 PM
Okay, here's the next part. I think this one may be a little long. Anyway, the biggest thing in this part is that I decided to give Bea and Felix last names. Since I gave Max a last name and gave both his parents names, it only seemed right. Virgil and Norman don't need any name alterations though. They make the whole single name thing work. Anyway, enjoy.
Part Two
Max Miller stared into a tank filled with crickets.
“Thor likes the brownish ones and the gray ones, but he hates the really dark black ones.”
Behind him, Bea Cunningham rolled her eyes. She was holding in her hands a sun lamp, and a bag of wood chips used for lining lizard cages. She had agreed to come to the pet store to help Max pick up some stuff for his pet iguana, Thor, but she should have figured he’d get like this. She also hadn’t anticipated playing the role of pack mule.
“I swear, Max, you spoil that lizard something awful.”
“It’s his birthday, Bea. Everyone deserves to be spoiled on their birthday,” Max said.
“Just pick out some crickets and let’s get going.”
“Fine,” Max said as he used the net to scoop some crickets into a bag.
“Hey, guys!” they heard a familiar voice cry out.
Max and Bea ran over to the aisle where the tropical fish were kept. Their friend Felix Parker had come with them to the pet store and had wandered off into the fish aisle to look around. When Bea and Max got there, they saw a rather strange sight. The floor was covered with fish. They were flopping around as if they were trying to get somewhere fast but couldn’t do it.
“Felix, what have you done?” Bea asked, seeing the mess before her.
“I didn’t do it. At least I don’t think I did.”
At that, a catfish leapt out of one of the tanks and hit the floor, trying fiercely to swim on the linoleum floor.
“That’s weird.” Max said.
One of the store employees ran up to the aisle.
“Oh no! Not again!” the employee said as he started trying to gather the fish up and put them back in their appropriate tanks.
“This has happened before?” Bea asked.
“Third time this week,” the pet store man replied.
“See, I told you it wasn’t me,” Felix said.
“Let’s just get this stuff paid for and get it back to Max’s,” Bea said, heaving the bag of wood chips onto one shoulder.
“Sounds good to me! Thor is going to be so surprised when he sees all this cool stuff I got him,” Max said, leading the way to the front register.
“He’s a lizard. How can you tell?” Felix asked.
At the front register, the girl distractedly rung up the items.
“The total will be thirty dollars,” she said with a yawn.
“Here you go,” Max said, handing her two twenty dollar bills.
“Your change will be ten dollars and . . .” the girl looked at the receipt, “Are you Mighty Max?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Max said.
“Then I think you should take a look at this,” the register girl said, handing him the receipt.
On the receipt was a note, it read:
Mighty Max,
Please go to the portal next to the drinking fountain at the north end of the mall.
Virgil.
“Well, I guess duty calls. I just wish he’d cut it out with all this ‘Mighty’ stuff,”
Max handed the bag of crickets to Felix and the rest of the stuff back to Bea.
“Bring this stuff back to my house, would you? And tell my mom I’ll be a little late for dinner,” Max said as he headed for the door.
“Oh no you don’t, Max Miller!” Bea shouted after him.
But before she could yell any more, Max was already out the door.
Max ran as fast as he could through the mall, hoping not to be stopped by any security guards along the way. After a few minutes of dodging shoppers and outmaneuvering the “survey lady” toward the center of the mall, Max finally found one, lone drinking fountain and a portal directly in front of it. Taking a deep breath, he jumped in and landed somewhere else.
Max landed on his feet and looked around. He was standing on a sidewalk somewhere. The sun was shining. There were palm trees. If he didn’t know any better, he might have thought he had never left California. He looked around a moment and then spotted Virgil and Norman walking up to him.
“Ah, Mighty One! I see you got the note I sent you,” Virgil said.
“Yeah, though I’m not sure how you got it to me,”
“I have my resources,”
“Anyway, where are we?”
“We’re in southern Florida, about a block or two away from our destination,”
“You’re kidding me? How is it that sometimes I have to go twice around the world just to get from point A to B and other times I’m dropped off right in front of where I’m going?”
“The portals are arranged in a specific network conducive to the travels of the Mighty One. It’s very complicated,”
“In other words, you don’t know,”
“Hmmph,” Virgil replied.
“And another thing. How is it that you get to these places to meet me when you can’t travel by portal without the cap?”
“As I said, we have our resources,” Virgil said, dismissing the question offhand, “Mighty One, I believe we should focus on the task at hand,”
“Right, so what’s my Doom Zone this time?”
“If we don’t stop it, the entire ocean could well become a Doom Zone. Come along, we will talk as we walk,”
“As usual,” Max mumbled.
The three started walking down the sidewalk.
“You see Mighty One, the natural world exists in a unique balance. When one thing is changed, it effects everything else whether we know it or not. Of all parts of the natural world, the seas are one of the most closely interconnected,”
“Okay, I think I get you so far,”
“Good. Not long ago, something happened that threw the oceans out of balance. Predators started changing their diets. Crustaceans and other beings capable of walking on land attempted to evacuate the sea. Strange behaviors of many kinds have been observed,”
“Hey, I think I know what you’re talking about! The fish at the pet store started to jump out of their tanks for no reason just a little while ago,”
“It seems the phenomenon has reached even your hometown,”
“So, what are we doing walking around Florida?”
“As best we can tell, the root of the phenomenon is here,” Virgil said, indicating a building in front of them.
The building before them was large and official looking without being very imposing. The building was surrounded mostly by sand, as if it had been built onto a beach. The back of it opened onto an ocean dock, that Max assumed was part of the building’s property. In the front was a sign. At the top was a picture of a spiraling nautilus shell. Beneath it, it read: Nautilus Oceanic Institute, research institute and aquarium.
“Hmm. The Nautilus Institute, huh. It doesn’t seem too scary. Now, I’ve just got to get in and look around,”
Right then, a school bus pulled up to the Institute. Kids of about Max’s age started to file out of the bus.
“Ask and you shall receive,”
Within a moment, Max had snuck up to the crowd of kids and blended in. The teacher was just now taking a headcount.
“ . . . twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six. Huh. One more than before. I must have miscounted earlier,”
Max walked through the front doors, hitching along with the school trip’s group admission. The teacher was starting to speak again.
“Okay, people! The Institute was kind enough to allow us this tour and your parents were kind enough to let you take this weekend field trip. So, I want you all to pay extra attention. There will be a quiz and a discussion on this trip on Monday,”
“Glad I don’t have to take part in that,” Max thought to himself.
A woman dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a name badge clipped to her shirt walked up to the group. She appeared to be in her late 20s, with light brown hair.
“Class, this is Dr. Maria Sandoz, one of the founders of the Nautilus Institute and a top marine biologist. She’s kindly offered to show us around the institute,” the teacher explained to the assembled group of kids.
“Hello, everyone. If you would please walk this way, I’ll explain the Institute and our work here as we go,” Dr. Sandoz said.
The class started walking after her.
“The Nautilus Oceanic Institute was founded by myself and two other scientists, Dr. Koji Kishimoto and Dr. Nick Kalamaris, to study different ways the ocean and the creatures that live in it may help to better mankind. We study everything here from disease prevention, to food production to the possibility of training dolphins for rescue missions. The Institute also serves as an aquarium and teaching center to show people how important the ocean and ocean life are to all of us,”
They stopped in front of a huge tank. It had a number of different kinds of animals inside it, including a few sharks.
“This is our central tank. A number of the species that we study and display live here. If you look up to the top of the tank, Dr. Kishimoto is getting ready to give some of our residents their weekly check-ups,”
At the top of the tank, Max could see a Japanese man in a wetsuit waving down to them. He put on his mask and dropped into the tank.
“Now, are there any other questions before we move on?” Dr. Sandoz asked.
Max figured now was as good a time as any. He raised his hand.
“Yes, you,” Sandoz said, pointing to Max.
“Um, is there any evil around here that needs to be stopped?”
Everyone was just looking at him now.
“Evil?” Dr. Sandoz asked.
“Yeah. Evil. Bad stuff. Stuff you need a destined hero to stop,”
The entire class’s glares were on him.
“Who are you? What class are you in?” the teacher asked.
“Um, I’m actually not from your school. I’m actually from California. I just snuck in with you guys so I could come in and . . . fight evil,” Max said, realizing how ridiculous he sounded.
“Why don’t the rest of you go on ahead? I’ll catch up with you later. Mr. Simmons should be able to fill you in on some spots,” Sandoz said, indicating the school teacher.
The class and teacher walked on and left Dr. Sandoz and Max alone.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Okay, my name is Max Miller but people have taken to calling me Mighty Max, though I don’t want them to. I’m a destined hero who uses this baseball cap to travel around the world through portals. I do it to fight evil. My guide, a talking chicken, told me there was evil to fight here,”
“You realize that’s a pretty tall story, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I know,”
“Who are you really? What are your parents’ names? I may need to give them a call,”
“I’m really who I say I am. And calling my mom would be long distance because, like I said, I travelled here through a portal from California,”
“Okay, so, what sort of evil do you fight?”
“Oh, evil like . . . that!” Max said, his eyes wandering up to the tank.
Dr. Kishimoto was in trouble. He was being circled by a group of large sharks. They didn’t seem like they were eager for their medical check-ups either. In an instant, Max bounded for the stairs. He raced up the stairs to the top of the tank, took a deep breath and jumped into the tank. The salt water stung his eyes, but he swam down to where Kishimoto and the sharks were. One shark stopped circling and came toward Max. Max struck out and hit the shark in the nose with his fist. The shark turned and swam away. Max was just glad it had worked. The other sharks started to break formation as if the blow to the snout had upset all of them. He motioned to Kishimoto that they would have to swim up fast. Kishimoto understood and they both started heading for the surface. As they were swimming up, another shark came toward them. Max gave it a kick in the snout and it also turned and swam away. In a moment, they had reached the top of the tank. Dr. Sandoz was waiting at the top of the stairs.
“That was a pretty dumb move you pulled, kid!” Sandoz said to the dripping wet Max.
“Yeah, well your buddy was about to become fish food,” Max answered.
“Speaking of that, what happened in there?”
“I don’t know,” answered Dr. Kishimoto, “I did nothing to provoke them. They’ve been fed and I’ve interacted with the sharks before for various studies. They usually just accept me as part of the environment. I know that nature can be unpredictable, but that was just plain strange,”
“Well, it’s a good thing I showed up and saved you,”
“By nearly getting yourself killed,” Dr. Kishimoto said, expressing the same anger as Dr. Sandoz.
“Look, kid, I don’t know what you really want, but I’ll cut you just a little slack for trying to help Koji. You can look around the institute on your own for a while. Just stay out of the restricted areas and leave before closing. Also, if I catch you near that tank again, you’ll be out of here so fast your head’ll spin,” Dr. Sandoz said.
With that, Dr. Sandoz and Dr. Kishimoto left Max alone.
“Mighty One?” asked a voice behind Max.
Max turned around to see Virgil and Norman.
“Hey! Virg! Normie! How’d you guys get in?”
“We paid the admission,” Virgil said.
“I guess that figures,” Max said.
“You’re sopping wet,” Norman said, observing Max’s current state.
“Yeah, I just fought a shark,”
“Y’know, I should try that sometime,” Norman said, looking like he was seriously considering it.
“Did you discover anything about our current situation?” Virgil asked.
“Well, I met Dr. Sandoz and Dr. Kishimoto. They’re hiding something. That’s plain to see. They’re trying hard to act like they’re not hiding something, which is why they let me stay and look around. What they don’t realize is that they gave me a free pass to snoop around by not kicking me out on the street,”
“Then I suppose we had better start looking,” Virgil said.
Not far away, Dr. Kishimoto and Dr. Sandoz met in Dr. Sandoz’s office.
“We’re going to have to deal with what happened eventually, Maria,” Kishimoto said.
Maria Sandoz leaned on her desk and closed her eyes like she had an intense headache.
“I know. I know,” Sandoz said.
“What happened to Nick was awful, but it can’t just be swept under the rug,”
“You don’t think I know that?! This whole thing is bringing everything down around us. Our personal lives, our work, everything. The people out there know something happened here. We claimed it was just a break-in, but they don’t believe it. Have you seen just how empty this place is lately? We were lucky to pull in that school trip,” Sandoz said, settling into her chair.
“Speaking of which, who was that kid?”
“Max something. He’s certainly got an overactive imagination. He claimed he was here to fight the evil, or something,”
“Are you sure he isn’t? He swam surprisingly well and faced those tiger sharks like they were nothing,”
“He’s just a kid,”
“A kid who’s still wandering around the institute,”
“What was I supposed to do? Kick him out because he saved someone’s life and told a wild story. Besides, I don’t want it to look like there’s anything wrong here. If the kid wants to look around the aquarium, let him. He’ll be less likely to tell his parents or anyone else if we treat him nice,”
Dr. Kishimoto walked to the door and opened it. He was about to walk through the door when he turned back to Dr. Sandoz.
“Maria, you have to stop beating yourself up about what happened to Nick. It was something he brought upon himself. Besides, he’s still out there somewhere,”
“Thanks, Ko’,”
Dr. Kishimoto walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Dr. Sandoz picked up a picture off the desk. It was a picture of herself and a good-looking, dark-haired man at an amusement park. They were standing hand-in-hand and smiling from ear to ear. Dr. Maria Sandoz started to cry.
Max, Norman and Virgil had split up to search the Institute. Other than a few cool-looking fish that were on display, Max had come up with nothing. He walked back to the central tank. Norman was already waiting there.
“I found nada. Any luck, Normie?”
“Nope, but Virgil might have found something,”
Norman led Max down the halls and right to the side of an outdoor tank. There, he could see Virgil sitting next to the edge of the tank talking squeaks and squeals to a couple of dolphins.
“Virgil, you speak dolphin?”
“A little bit. I’m not fluent. It’s a difficult language to master. I also know some conversational orca, but it rarely is of much use,” Virgil explained.
“Never mind that. Did you learn anything about what might be going on?”
“Yes. Wavebreaker and Longsnout here, mind you these are their dolphin names and not their human-given ones, say that there was some commotion around here a few weeks ago. Shortly after that, one of the doctors stopped showing up. Also, they’ve had a strange buzzing in their heads for the longest time and can’t get rid of it,”
“Hmm. We know that Sandoz and Kishimoto are still around. That leaves the other guy. Kalamaris, I think,”
“Kalamaris?” Virgil asked, with a puzzled look on his face.
“Yeah, he was the other guy who helped found the Nautilus Institute. Poor guy had a weird name, though. It sounds like he was named after an item on an Italian restaurant’s menu,”
“Well, I suppose that settles it. This Kalamaris guy is the one I have to hit,” Norman said, punching his fist into his hand.
“I think maybe we should find out a little more, first,” Max said, much to the Guardian’s disappointment.
In a few moments they were in the Institute’s restricted area at a door labelled “Dr. Nikolas Kalamaris”. Max had taken the opportunity to jimmy open the lock to the door with his library card. The trio went in and found a rather well appointed laboratory. It was very clean and had some rather important looking equipment inside. Vials of what appeared to be specimen samples were on one counter. On another counter was an aquarium populated by, strangely enough, small squids. Max spotted the computer on the desk and ran over to see what he could do with it. The first screen that came up asked for a password.
“Password? Oh man, I wish Felix were here. He’s better at this computer stuff than me,”
Max looked around the desk and spotted a framed photo. It appeared to be of a good-looking man, Max assumed that was Dr. Kalamaris, and Dr. Sandoz holding hands at an amusement park. There was a sticky note on the frame that read: “Note: Buy flowers for Maria,”. Max typed “Maria” into the password field and hit enter. Dr. Kalamaris’s desktop immediately popped up.
“Okay, let’s see what we have here,” Max said, clicking on an icon that was marked “project diary”.
A window immediately popped up that listed files labeled one through four. Max clicked “file one”. A video window popped up and some footage started playing. It was of the good looking man in the photo. Max had guessed right that it was Nick Kalamaris.
“Video diary of Dr. Nick Kalamaris, entry one,” the video image said, “Um . . . I’m Dr. Kalamaris and I’m making this video diary to keep track of my progress in my work here. Though my notes are filed away as usual, I intend this to be a more personal record of things. Anyway, things have been progressing well so far. My studies of the genetics of marine organisms as it relates to human disease prevention is taking great strides. The work I’m doing with cephalopods is the most intriguing. I certainly have some interesting material to work with. Can you believe that I have an actual DNA sample from a giant squid? I’ve been wanting to study one of those since I was in high school. They’re one of the rarest creatures on the planet. Then again, with a name like Kalamaris, I suppose I have a strange connection to squids. I even managed to bring my little buddies into the lab here,” Kalamaris said pointing to the aquarium, “Anyway, I’ll keep this video up to date of any new developments. So, I guess that’s it. Oh! By the way, buy some flowers for Maria,”
Kalamaris reached toward the camera and turned it off. The video window closed.
“The guy seems like a bit of a dork. I don’t see how he could really be that dangerous,”
Max clicked on the next file. The window and Kalamaris popped up again. This time, Kalamaris looked a lot more tired than he did in the last video.
“Video Diary. Entry two. My work is progressing well. I’m almost . . . oh, to hell with it. I did intend this thing to be more personal, didn’t I? Basically, the prognosis isn’t good. Not on the project. On me. I don’t feel like repeating all the details again after I heard them repeated in my head so often, but the words terminal and inoperable came up once or twice. I still can’t believe I’ve got this thing at the base of my brain that’s going to kill me before long. I can’t tell Maria. It would just kill her. I’ve been thinking about it and I may have one chance. It’s a crazy risk, but I don’t have much other choice. Nick Kalamaris signing off,”
The video ended. Max clicked on the next one. There was Kalamaris again, looking more dishevelled, more tired and just a little crazy.
“I found it. I found it. I knew it was there. It’s hidden right there in the DNA of the giant squid. Invertebrates always had a rare knack for handling disease. I think it’s quite possible that I can develop a serum that can get rid of this thing. I’m so happy I could cry. Once this is over, I know just what I’ll do. I’ll ask Maria to marry me. We’ll be happy together, forever. Yeah, that’s it. Signing off with high hopes, Nick Kalamaris,”
Max clicked the last one. This one looked very differently. It was clearly shot at night. The laboratory was torn apart and Kalamaris didn’t look like himself. His skin looked a little purple, actually.
“It’s been a week since I took that serum <wheeze> and I think it may have been <wheeze> a mistake. I don’t know what’s happening to me. My skin has changed color and <wheeze> I can’t seem to breathe. I also have this terrible pounding in my <wheeze> head. I think I may be dying already. Perhaps the serum sped up the <wheeze> cancer’s growth. I’m sorry about this. Oh God, Maria, if you’re watching this I’m sorry. Aaaaagh!”
Kalamaris doubled over in pain. The camera continued rolling. Max watched as the man on the tape started to change before his eyes. His head was lengthening. His eyes went solid black. Strange protrusions started to extend from his lips. Kalamaris was being transformed into something that wasn’t human. Suddenly, Kalamaris struck out at the camera. It hit the ground and then went to static. That’s where the tape stopped.
“Oh my God,” Max said, still staring at the monitor dumbfounded.
AdamYJ
01-27-2006, 10:27 PM
Okay, here's the next part. I tried posting it before, but it didn't take. Keep your fingers crossed. I'll talk more about this part of the story afterward.
Part three
“Max, what is it?” Virgil said, running up to Max and the computer as fast as his little fowl legs could carry him.
“I just saw what happened to Kalamaris. He was sick and dying. But he took some kind of serum he made and instead of making him better, it turned him into some sort of creature,”
“Hmm. So it seems like this Kalamaris may be the one that we’re looking for,”
“It was so intense watching what happened. He just seemed like some dorky scientist until he found out he was sick. Then he started to act all crazy and driven. Then he turned into that . . .thing,”
“I’m afraid this lesson was going to come forth eventually, Mighty One. The line between what is a human and what is a monster can sometimes be a bit blurry. This refers to both physical and emotional qualities,”
“Okay, so this Kalamaris guy’s been messing with the oceans. What now? What could he want?” Norman asked.
As if on cue, a female scream of pure terror ripped through the air.
“I think I can guess,” Max said.
The trio ran out in the direction of the scream. They found Dr. Kishimoto standing on the docks outside, looking very alarmed.
“What happened?” Max asked.
“Dr. Sandoz was standing on the dock and got pulled under the water by something,” Kishimoto said, staring at the water, his eyes agog.
“Well, I’m going to have to go down there and get her back. But first, we’re going to need you to work with us. You haven’t been straight with us from the beginning. We know almost everything. We know it’s Kalamaris,”
“Oh Nick, what is it you’re doing now?” Kishimoto whispered to himself, then he straightened up and said to them all, “Wait a minute, I’ll get everything you need,”
Kishimoto ran off and came back with armfuls of stuff. He dropped a tank, mask and other diving gear at their feet.
“There’s enough for all of you,”
“I don’t need any of that stuff. I can hold my breath for a really, really long time,” Norman said.
“I won’t be going. I’m better suited to dry land,” Virgil said.
“Then, there’s one more thing you might want,” Kishimoto led them to the dock where there was a device that looked like a robotic manta ray.
“What is it?” Max asked.
“A PAPD. Personal Aquatic Propulsion Device. Something we’ve been developing here at the institute. We just call it the Manta for obvious reasons,”
Within moments, Max had put on a mask, tank and wetsuit and had taken the handholds on the back of the Manta’s fins. Norman had just stripped off his boots and shirt and tucked his sword into his belt.
“Are you sure you don’t need any gear?”
“I once won a swimming race against Beowulf in the cold seas off the shores of Norway without any gear. I think I’ll be alright,”
Kishimoto stood near them on the dock.
“There’s an underwater cavern that leads to an air-filled chamber not far out. It’s the only place I think he could have taken her,”
Max kicked on the Manta’s engine and headed off. Norman simply dove in headfirst and started swimming. The two swam deep into the clear ocean water. Despite having the extra boost of the Manta, Norman was keeping up right beside Max. Max tried to keep his head in the game, but he was a bit distracted by how beautiful thing were in the warm water around him. There were all sorts of colorful fish and strange creatures. Max started to understand how people like Sandoz and Kishimoto could devote their life to the ocean. Within a few moments, Max spotted the entrance to a cave. He figured this had to be the place he was looking for. Max looked around to see if Norman was with him. That’s when he spotted him in a fight a few yards off with two huge squids. They must have been sentries posted outside the cave to ward off intruders. Norman motioned for Max to head for the cave. Max turned the Manta in that direction and headed in. The cave led to a long tunnel that then angled upward. At the end of the tunnel, was a cavern where the water stopped and a roomful of air began. Max could see Dr. Sandoz lying on a stone shelf nearby. He couldn't see Kalamaris, but he knew that he couldn’t be far away. Max turned off the Manta’s engine and moved to hide behind a rocky outcropping. Max watched as Dr.. Sandoz started to stir. Then he heard a voice.
“I see you are awake, my beloved,” the raspy voice said.
Then, onto the rocky shelf walked the creature that Max could only assume was Kalamaris. His skin was purple and slimy. His eyes were large, round and black. His head came to a very pronounced point and had two small fins protruding from the sides. Over his mouth, there was a series of fleshy tendrils that looked like modified squid tentacles. Kalamaris’s arms looked like the long whips of a squid. They were long and thin, but rounded out into pointed structures at the end. Each had a sharp spike protruding from them. In his “hands”, Kalamaris carried a large chest. Strangely enough, he was still wearing a scientist’s lab coat. He walked up to Sandoz and dropped it in front of her. He then opened up the lid and revealed it to be filled with gold and jewels.
“This is for you, Maria,” Kalamaris said in his raspy, inhuman voice.
The still groggy Maria Sandoz looked at the chest of treasure.
“Where, where did you get this?”
“I took it from a group of troublesome treasure hunters. They had destroyed a reef with their hunting. I punished them and took their spoils to give to you,”
“Punished them?”
“I had a giant squid pick most of them off and then sink their vessel. You see, it seems that combining the brainpower of a human being and that of a cephalopod has created a rather unique . . . gift. I have developed a rapport with the creatures of the sea. I simply need to ask and they respond,”
“More like he forces his will on them. It would explain why the seas have gone completely nuts,” Max thought, remembering what the dolphins said about the buzzing in their heads.
“Nick, you can’t do that!” Maria said, “Even if you have the power, it’s not right,”
“Why can’t I? All we ever wanted was to protect the oceans and keep them in balance. Now I can. The treasure hunters’ ship will become a new reef for the ocean’s creatures, to replace the one that was lost. Everything once again in balance,”
“Nick, you’ve turned yourself into a monster. I’m not just talking about the physical part either,”
“You’ll think differently soon enough. Things will be different once you’re like me,”
“What?!”
Kalamaris turned around to show a syringe gripped in his deformed hands.
“The serum that caused my transformation. Soon, we’ll be together forever. King and Queen of the oceans,”
“No!”
“It won’t be so bad,” Kalamaris said, opening up his lab coat and revealing a strange modified wetsuit beneath, “This suit I developed even allows me to walk on land for a time, by pumping seawater over my gills. You won’t miss out on anything,”
“No!” Maria screamed again, grabbing a handful of coins and throwing them into Kalamaris’s face. Kalamaris was taken aback.
“You’ll pay for that,”
Max had heard enough.
“The lady said no!” he shouted from atop the rocky outcrop.
Kalamaris turned suddenly to look at the intruder. Max took the big, heavy air tank that he had unstrapped from his back and flung it at Kalamaris, hitting him square in the chest. Max dashed over to Dr. Sandoz and helped her up. He took a small rebreather that was strapped to his leg and handed it to her. Then he grabbed his tank. Strapped it back on and they both headed back to the Manta and freedom. Max and Dr. Sandoz held on for dear life as the Manta dragged them at maximum thrust back to the institute. Max looked over his shoulder just once to see a huge school of fish and marine creatures chasing him with Kalamaris at the head. Before long, they found their way back to the dock of the Nautilus Institute. Max and the doctor hurried out of the water. They ran up onto the sand outside the Institute. Max glanced back for a second to see a rather startling sight. Kalamaris rose out of the water standing on the backs of two great white sharks! With one mighty leap, he jumped onto the sand not far from them.
“You will not escape me!” Kalamaris said, stalking toward them.
Max tried swinging his tank at him again, but this time Kalamaris was ready and deflected it. Max and Dr. Sandoz started stepping backwards when Max’s bare foot struck something sharp. It was a jagged piece of clam shell. It had cut Max enough to make his toe bleed. Max suddenly got an idea. He grabbed the little shell and dashed toward Kalamaris, slashing at him with it. Kalamaris grabbed him by the arms and held him.
“Was that supposed to hurt me, boy?”
“Not right away, it wasn’t,” Max said with a grin.
“What <wheeze> is that <wheeze> supposed to mean?”
That was when Kalamaris knew something was wrong. He looked down at the special suit he was wearing. It was leaking water out of the gashes that Max had made. Max hadn’t been trying to cut him, he had been cutting the suit. Kalamaris ran toward the water, but collapsed just short of it. He wheezed a few more times and then his breathing ceased. Max walked up to the now lifeless Kalamaris and looked down at him.
“It’s amazing. He was turned into some powerful monster and yet he did all this for some girl,”
“It’s one of the sad truths about monsters, Mighty One,” Virgil said as he walked up behind him unexpectedly, “Many of them still seek to be loved and accepted just like everyone else. In many ways, monsters can be as human as anyone,”
Norman had started to climb out of the ocean. He ripped a tentacle off his chest and threw it back into the ocean.
“Personally, I’m just glad this is over. Fighting squids is no fun. They’re all slimy and squishy. I’m happy those dolphins came along to help,”
“Dolphins?” Dr. Sandoz asked.
“I saw fit to free the dolphins that were being held in captivity here. I thought they could be of help. Besides, they said they’d rather take their chances out there than continue staying here after what happened,” Virgil explained.
“Well, I guess this Doom Zone is wrapped up. It’s about time that I headed home for supper,” Max said.
“Very good thinking, Mighty One,” Virgil said.
“So, how many portals is this going to take me?”
“About eight,” Virgil replied.
“I guess that figures,” Max said.
Epilogue
Deep in an air-filled underwater cavern, the dead body of Dr, Kalamaris lies. Not knowing what to do with it, Dr. Sandoz and Dr. Kishimoto decided that this cave would be the most appropriate tomb for their mutated and misguided friend. Suddenly, something stirs within the waters and the huge tentacle of a giant squid rises out of the water. It reaches out and grabs the body of Kalamaris and drags it back into the water, disappearing into the depths.
The End?
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