Sea Star - Orm Marius

The Sunken Citadel - 2022

"So where are we going?" Claudia asked, feeling pretty darn giddy, from the back of their manta ray-like ship. She stared out the window in pure wonder - she had never been at these depths before. 

"Ask Blondie."

"We're actually already here. Welcome to the Last Frontier: the Sunken Citadel. This is the one place where the scum of the land and sea meet."

"Sounds nice."

"It's really not."

"Ever heard of sarcasm?"

Orm ignored her and continued. "They scavenged ships from all over the world to build this place."

"It's a full on graveyard of ships," she noted. 

"How come I've never heard about this place?" Arthur asked.  "Seems like something the King of Atlantis should know about."

"It's not meant to be common knowledge. It's a pirate haven."

This got Arthur's attention. "Hey, I'm not sure if you know this about me but I'm not very popular with pirates."

Lights suddenly blared into the ship, halting them - they had been caught, by someone. 

A sly smirk crawled up Orm's lips as he turned to his brother.  "Oh, I'm well aware."

"He played you," Claudia hissed.

He certainly had. They were ordered out of their ship at gunpoint and forced to leave it behind. Then each was chained to a small vessel led by humanoids with heads like hammerhead sharks. 

"Okay, dudes with hammerheads, this is more than I signed up for," Claudia muttered.

Arthur kicked at the chain around his ankle, clearly pissed. 

"Relax," Orm urged. "It was the only way to ensure we all got in."

"You could have at least given me a head's up."

"Me too!" Claudia piped up.

"Would you have gone along with it?"

"Hell no," Arthur growled.

"See? So put a hook in it."

The vessel was guided forward by their captors, and they were taken into the heart of the Sunken Citadel. 

Claudia was back to staring with wonder. There was a bar, a stage where a lady was singing, a gambling table, and more. There was so much going on it was overwhelming, on top of it being her first visit to the depths.   "Whoa - is all undersea life like this?"

"No," both brothers said at the same time, causing them to exchange a glance and then  look away just as quickly.  The first time they had likely been united on anything. 

"There, there is my contact, King Fish," Orm said, nodding to the far back of the space. "He is the one who originally put me in contact with David Kane." 

Arthur eyed the contact, who, true to his name, was a very large fish man. "I'm going to go pick a fight."

"Just let me handle this," Orm hissed. "This is our only lead, and we won't get anywhere if you go in there flexing your muscles at him."

"Works for everyone else," Claudia put in.

"Not helping," Orm hissed back. 

"Well, well, well," said the fish. "This is a surprise. I wasn't aware you had been released from prison." He was lying on a throne-like seat surrounded by ladies, soaking up the attention.

"Okay this guy is gross," Claudia mumbled. 

"It is a recent development," Orm explained. "We are here about David Kane."

"You're too late I'm afraid. David Kane is no longer for hire. He is working only independently now."

"Well do you know where to find him then? In exchange for this information, I offer a favour from the King of Atlantis." Orm turned to face his brother. 

"Oh, he really played you." Claudia gulped. 

"Oh no, I am not playing footsie with someone with that much blood on their hands," Arthur stated. 

"I don't have hands - or feet!" The fish gave a hissing sort of laughter that grated on her nerves.

"This guy is giving me the creeps." 

"Me too," Arthur agreed.  Then he turned back to the fish with a forced smile.  "How about you give us the information we need, and in return I won't immediately come back and tear this place apart."

Orm heaved a sigh - this was clearly not the development he had planned on. But hey, siblings. 

The fish's eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a sickening grin at this. "Oh that's too bad. You see, previous kings turned a blind eye to our dealings here - now it looks like we will have to blind it for you."

The hammerhead guys had never left  their sides, but now stepped closer, raising their weapons and baring their teeth. 

"Fine," Orm heaved a sigh.  "Go ahead, flex your muscles."

Arthur grinned at this and wasted no time in slugging the nearest hammerhead shark-man. He broke free of his ankle chain, but Orm and Claudia were not as quick, and instead got dragged backwards when the machine sped away. The chains twisted and tangled, slamming the two together and into each other. Damn, it Arthur!

She felt a tug and turned to see Orm had ripped the chain off her ankle.  "Go! Swim for the exit!"

She wasn't about to abandon them. Not that she could, for someone had grabbed her ankle and was dragging her backward. She kicked wildly, flailing for freedom. 

BLAST!

Orm had commandeered a gun and was firing away at their pursuers. 

"Whew, thanks!" 

"I told you to go." 

"I'm not leaving you two! That wouldn't be fair!"

He didn't seem pleased but turned away from her and to where Arthur appeared to be dealing with the fish.  "We have what we need, let's go!"

Arthur finished off with a punch to the fish's face before swimming after them and catching up. Armed guards were still in pursuit. 

Topo, always there when they needed him it seemed, and for that she was thankful, swam in from the sidelines, inking the last of the guards following them. They swam hard and didn't stop until they were far past the gates and back in the ship graveyard. 

"Whoo!" Arthur whooped between panting.  "That was awesome!"

Orm was bend over, trying to catch his breath.  "It was not. It was a disaster."

Claudia was nodding.  Looks like they actually agreed on something this time.

"Claudie, you good?" Arthur asked her.

"Yeah, that was wild. I guess the Surface isn't the only place with corruption." He nodded.   "So now where are we going?"

"Well, Little Bro's contact actually proved quite helpful, with some persuasion: an island called Devil's Deep."  

Of course that was what it was called, and of course that was where they had to go next. "Also sounds fun."

Orm opened his big mouth but she cut him off.  "Again, sarcasm! Read the room, dude!"

(I loved that Sunken Citadel scene so much! The sibling moments were so good in this movie!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) Next up: the cockroach scene! ;))