Kymaera in Fortunate Soldiers Prelude:

New Warriors Spotlight 2

"Fortunate Soldiers" - Prelude: "Undertow"

By Corey Blake

Seldom had she felt such serenity. As much as she loved the surface world, she couldn't deny the lure of her underwater home. It was here that she felt peace of mind, a balance. As she swam along the coral fields outside Atlantis, a multitude of beautiful and exotic fish indigenous to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean frolicked around her. She missed playing like this. She still had some memories of playing with the fish before her mother died. Sometimes, her mother would join her. But the day came when she didn't feel like playing anymore. Her life soon became trapped in manipulations, murder and violence. Eventually, she left that tainted world for the protection of the surface world. But the manipulation, murder and violence just followed her. She learned she could not escape it, so she decided to beat it. The girl became a woman. She would no longer be the victim.

But, as tough as she decided to become, sometimes it wasn't tough enough. She could not fight her past, a past that had been unknown to her. A secret that had lasted some thirty years was at last revealed to her. She truly wasn't the daughter of the mother she loved. She was nothing more than a copy of her, a genetic creation to fake her mother's pregnancy. She thought her world had crumbled, until she realized that she was still the woman she had become. She was still the life and spirit of her 'mother'. If only it had stopped there.

The science used to create her was less than perfect. Her body changed to a hideous reflection of her people's descendants. The strength and beauty she flourished on had been stolen from her. How could she be respected or loved by the surface world as a freakish creature of the sea? Once again, she realized her beauty and strength had survived within her. The depths of her soul could shine through the surface of her skin. And it did. The surface world that had become her home respected and loved her just as before, in some cases with newfound respect.

If she had learned anything else, however, it was that life is a series of forever increasing challenges. Just when she had found a balance within her, it was stolen away from her. After so long, she became the victim again. Kidnapped and controlled, she became a soldier for a cause she did not believe in. She wished that it was her own strength of will and spirit that broke her free. Instead, she was given her freedom. The monster behind her enslavement was captured. She wished it was by her own determination and skill. Instead, she was told of his defeat. Her body was hers to control once more. But, had she become the victim once more? After all these years, had she forgotten how to be the woman she had fought so hard to become?

Her name, loosely translated from the Atlantean language, was Namorita. She called herself Kymaera, after the legendary ghost-shark fish she had come to resemble. It was time, she decided, to take charge of her life again. And an unexpected visitor would give her the perfect way to begin.

The exotic fish that surrounded her helped to alleviate her heavy thoughts. But, her new friends would not stand with her against a stranger, like her friends on the surface world. They quickly darted at the approach of someone unfamiliar.

"At last! I finally found you!" The voice spoke with confidence.

"Undertow!" Kymaera spun around in the waters, still feeling the rush of the fish's departure. The word still disgusted her. She looked upon this man, and instantly recognized him. He was not the right-wing extremist organization that had taken control of her body. He was a fellow Atlantean. And a fellow mutant. The two had met several years ago.* He and his group of outcast mutants helped to save Atlantis. "Where have you been? What happened to you?"

"I was wondering the same thing about you. I thought you had forgotten about us." There was a bitter edge in his voice that neither could deny.

"No!" She could begin to feel the waters around her begin to churn, a result of Undertow's mutant abilities. "I was kidnapped during the war!** After I was freed, I tried to look for you, but no one seemed to know you even existed! Even Namor!"

"But... when we asked the guards to let us see you, we were told you did not know us and requested our departure, forced if necessary!" His bitter anger was giving way to frustration and desperation. She could see how betrayed and abandoned he had felt. "Why would we be lied to...?"

"I... I don't know. Probably the same reason I feel more comfortable out here then in Atlantis' city walls. The people of Atlantis don't take well to creatures borne of science."

"As has been my experience, as well. You have changed since last we met. I would not have recognized you had it not been for the surface structure we found."

Kymaera paused for a moment before saying, "Think I could see it?" As Undertow's currents pulled them along at a speed nearly twice as fast as Kymaera could swim, she watched the ocean floor pass by below her. They were approaching an area that no Atlantean would ever approach. It was inhabited by the rejected and scorned. Atlanteans had been mutated by the surface world's undersea nuclear testing, and never allowed back in the walls of Atlantis. She had met some of them several years ago.*** These outcasts were very much like her, unaccepted among her people. For them it was because of their genetic mutation, for her it was because she was a clone.

Undertow continued to move them across the Atlantic Ocean's floor, passing beyond what he had to call home. His long light green hair flowed through the waters. He said very little to Kymaera. He knew she was a caring soul. But, he couldn't help but resent her for her royalty. She knew of the condition his people lived in. How could she do nothing?

Before he could work up the courage to ask her, they arrived at the outcropping of rock Undertow had discovered. "I stumbled upon it nearly two months ago while searching for food to last the winter." He wanted to make sure she was aware of the desperate condition they lived in. "Whoever lived here left in a hurry. There was food to last us a good month, just abandoned. I've since spent my spare time investigating this place. The technology is beyond me, but I did see images of you," Undertow said, as they entered the structure through a carved circle in one of the windows.

Once inside she recognized it instantly. It was the Undertow Headquarters. The hole they had just passed through was created by friends of hers to rescue her.**** They approached what Kymaera knew as the Command Center. He swam towards a computer console separate from the others.

Kymaera stopped short and said, "Undertow, I don't know what you saw, but I was not in control of my actions, then."

"Please, Princess. I do not understand the surface language, but I was able to comprehend that much. I do not blame you for what you did. Neither should you."

"I'm trying," she nearly whispered. The two floated in the stale water for a moment.

"Tell me. Who are they?" He pointed at the monitor screen which had finished loading a new image. Kymaera looked and saw the Soldiers of Misfortune staring back at her. That was the name given to her and her teammates. Their real misfortune was in being forced to work for a cause they all would have gladly fought against, given the opportunity. But that choice was taken away from them by the ultra-conservative organization that controlled their every action. Now, they were gone. When her cousin, ruling Prince of Atlantis, captured Undertow's extremist leader, Protocol, he also had the entire submarine crew killed.*****

If only she had asked Namor to save their lives as well. The Soldiers of Misfortune were victims, just as she had been. "Those were my teammates, I guess. They were being mind-controlled just like me." She placed her hand on the monitor, and began to wonder who they really were. As slaves to Undertow, they never spoke and their actions weren't their own.

"What are they doing, now?"

"They were killed." Death was becoming a theme in her life recently, and she did not like it. One of her teammates on the New Warriors had just given her life.******

"I am sorry. I must have misunderstood the purpose of these flashing lights."

"Flashing --? Let me see." The icon read 'Comm-link transmission'. "Undertow, you were right! They are still alive! We were all injected with these devices so that they could keep track of us. I have to free them! I have to give them their lives back!"

To Be Continued...

* New Mutants Annual #5, part of the 'Atlantis Attacks' 1989 Annuals event.
** Namorita was kidnapped behind-the-scenes of the 'Atlantis Attacks' event. Her rescue was depicted in the conclusion, Fantastic Four Annual #22.
*** Nita first met them in Marvel Comics Presents #12. Namor met them much earlier in Sub-Mariner #54.
**** See New Warriors #74 for Kymaera's rescue thanks to fellow New Warriors, Night Thrasher and Rage.
***** See Chapter 3 of NEWS. This Spotlight story takes place after Chapter 4.
****** Silhouette saved all of New York City for a high cost indeed in Chapter 3.