Chapter 32: Aquaman
Beneath the coastal cliffs on the outskirts of Metropolis, a silver-white escape pod was wedged securely between two massive rocks.
Luka sat at the open hatch, organizing a bundle of fishing gear and several bottles of homemade sauces he had scavenged from Tom's abandoned cabin.
"You're just carrying extra weight with all that stuff."
Rachel sat on a rock being battered by waves, her fair feet, stripped of their boots, immersed in the sea water.
Her deadpan gaze followed Luka's busy figure. "You've been catching fish by hand every day for the past two days. Those nets and rods are completely useless. They're just taking up space."
Luka didn't reply immediately, focusing on his task until everything was neatly sorted. He then set the fishing gear aside.
He reached over and gathered the pile of firewood collected yesterday. Although the seaside air was humid and the firewood was damp with moisture, Luka still carefully arranged it into a crisscross pattern.
Pinching his thumb and middle finger together, with his index finger pointed at the firewood, Luka frowned and pondered for a moment.
Then, a few indistinct murmurs came from his lips.
Snap!
Accompanied by a snap of his fingers, a nearly invisible spark landed on the pile of firewood. Then, the wooden frame, which was clearly damp with moisture, defied logic and emitted a wisp of smoke.
"Ha! I do have a talent for magic after all."
Looking at the pile of firewood, which had gone from a mere wisp of smoke to a small flame, Luka happily gave himself a high-five.
Then, a gust of rising wind directly extinguished the malnourished little flame.
Rachel stared, mouth open for a long moment, before closing it again with visible resignation.
In fact, Luka didn't possess even the slightest bit of magic talent.
Yes, thanks to the absurd physique of a Viltrumite and that strange resonance with the emotional spectrum, he had absorbed the power contained in the golden apple that day.
But from Rachel's perspective, his body was like a sealed slab of steel. She couldn't find where those magical and divine powers had been absorbed.
Luka eagerly sought guidance from Rachel, believing that since he had magic inside him, he should at least be able to learn a couple of minor spells.
Unable to withstand Luka's pleas, Rachel taught him a few incantations.
These were the kind of low-difficulty, playful spells that magic users' children would play with.
Luka memorized the incantations quickly.
But without the ability to channel magic, he couldn't actually cast it.
The tiny spark he'd produced earlier was purely due to his physical strength.
When he snapped his fingers, the friction between his fingertips generated a small amount of heat. Combined with the wood shavings clinging to his hand and the incantation, this ignited a minuscule spark with faint magical properties.
It was barely enough to ignite the damp wood, and the slightest breeze extinguished it.
Rachel raised her hand and pointed, not even bothering to chant the spell. The recently extinguished firewood pile erupted into flames with a "whoosh", the firelight illuminating Luka's now-vanished smile.
Moments later, the two were sitting around the fire, shaking fish out of the fishing net.
"It's good to change things up sometimes," Luka said, belatedly answering Rachel's earlier question. "We can't rely on brute force to catch fish forever. And these seasonings are pretty good. Grilled fish smells better with them."
Of course, the fishing net was merely a container. Luka had jumped into the sea and caught all the fish by hand, tossing them into the net.
Rachel sat cross-legged by the campfire, her lips twitching as she watched Luka pull out the vibrantly colored sea fish.
"No matter how good they taste, they're still fish. I'm about to throw up from eating fish every day."
She rolled her eyes, her voice laced with exasperation.
"Your lifestyle is so primitive that I'm starting to miss the days of stealing bread. At least back then I didn't have to stare at fish all day."
Luka retrieved a fish knife from Tom's stash and chuckled as he scaled the fish.
"I don't plan on living like this forever. Yesterday, while diving, I discovered an underwater ruin. It looks like a lost Atlantean outpost, and it's full of jewels."
"So where's the jewelry?"
Rachel's dull eyes brightened a little.
Jewels meant money.
Money meant real food in a real restaurant.
Luka skewered the cleaned fish, placed it over the fire, and shrugged.
"Well, for some reason, the jewels crumbled to dust the moment they hit the air. Completely useless."
He shook his head regretfully.
The jewels had glowed brilliantly in the deep sea. He'd hoped to exchange them for a fortune from Bruce Wayne, but they turned out to be too fragile.
The light in Rachel's eyes faded, her deadpan gaze returning to the dead fish roasting over the fire.
Just as Luka reached for a jar of unidentified sauce to drizzle over the fish...
The communicator Luka had been sitting on suddenly beeped urgently, its screen lighting up to display the Justice League's emergency communication logo.
The two exchanged a glance. Luka quickly retrieved the device and pressed the answer button.
Batman's deep, grave voice crackled through the communicator, clear and resonant in their ears.
"Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira has sent a distress signal to the Justice League. Wonder Woman may have been kidnapped and has been out of contact for two days."
The connection severed, leaving the campfire in sudden silence.
"Your teacher... was kidnapped?" Rachel asked casually, her gaze fixed on the roasting fish.
Luka stood up, his eyes filled with confusion.
Wonder Woman, kidnapped?
He'd only been on Earth for less than a month. How could he stumble into such a major crisis so soon?
The communicator beeped twice, and Batman switched to an encrypted channel only Luka's device could access.
"Luka, this may involve you both. Queen Hippolyta says the kidnappers are from the God Realm. They left a parchment demanding that the sinner who stole the Golden Apple personally come to the God Realm to atone for their crimes."
Luka's confusion vanished instantly.
This wasn't some grand crisis after all. Just a bunch of self-proclaimed gods looking for a fight.
He replied into the communicator, "Understood, I'll come over too. Is it the Hall of Justice in New York?"
"No, the Watchtower. Bring Aquaman along too. He can't fly."
What?
The communicator cut off abruptly. Before Luka could even process the confusion, Rachel, who had stood up at some point, patted his shoulder and nodded toward the distant horizon.
A white wave surged from the horizon, rapidly approaching the sea cliff where Luka and Rachel stood.
Seconds later, a man gleaming entirely in gold shot out of the sea, bringing a spray of water with him.
Aquaman landed with a heavy thud on the rock Rachel had just been sitting on. He planted his golden trident beside him, looked up at Luka, and gave a somewhat teasing smile.
"Hey kid, you wouldn't happen to have visited an underwater ruin yesterday, would you?"
"Oh, great. Didn't get the money, and now the owner's come knocking," Rachel commented.
Before Luka could reply, Aquaman waved dismissively.
"Those jewels are enchanted by Atlantis. They're meant to circulate beneath the sea. Exposed to oxygen, they'll crumble. Judging by your living conditions here, you've already got it rough enough."
Aquaman casually tossed two glittering objects. Luka caught them and examined them: a black pearl and a pink pearl, each the size of a thumb.
"Consider these travel expenses. Just try to keep steady when you fly me up. I might be a bit afraid of heights."