Showcase #79

THE FANTASY AT 14 FATHOMS!

Eighty-four feet beneath the South Pacific Sea, the U.S. Navy has detected the wreck of the U.S.S. Arabesque, sunk during World War II. The navy has dispatched Chief Petty Officer Chris Landau and Seaman First Class Ben Harkey to recover documents from the sunken wreck. Believing themselves alone as they arrive at the sunken wreck, both sailors think they see someone out of the corner of their eye. They investigate, and find footprints. The footprints lead into the ship, and to a beautifully decorated room. Once in the room, the two divers are startled to find a beautiful woman. They take a quick picture with their camera, but she disappears. When the return to their ship, they get the photographed developed, and their story is confirmed. The captain, however, cannot believe a woman would be living under the sea without the need to breathe air. More divers descend to salvage the ship, and come across the beautiful white-haired woman. They hold her, and bring her aboard. Chris Landau realizes she does not speak English, but teaches her his name. He also gives her a name: Dolphin. Dolphin starts to feel ill from oxygen deprivation, and jumps overboard. The ship’s doctor believes that the slits he found on her neck were gills, and that she needed to breathe water to live. As the salvage operation continues, Dolphin returns and befriends Chris. Over the course of the operation, Chris teaches her more English. The operation runs into a snag, though: a typhoon is heading towards the wreck, and the papers the navy need is in a magnetically booby trapped vault. Chris realizes that Dolphin can get in without using scuba gear. Dolphin goes in, as the typhoon causes the wreck to topple over the edge of a cliff. Dolphin is successful, however, and returns to Chris’ arms. However, Dolphin realizes that their love could never be, and leaves Chris before things get worse. We leave with Chris shouting into the sea for Dolphin to come back. The Kid from Atlantis!...

THE ORIGIN OF AQUALAD

One day while on patrol, Aquaman comes across a small boy sleeping in a craft, upon waking the boy, he finds that the child is scared of sea life. Calling his undersea friends away, Aquaman finds that the boy has purple eyes, marking him as one of the people of Atlantis. Aquaman soon learns that the boy was rejected by the society of Atlantis because he was deathly afraid of marine life. Aquaman then takes it upon himself to teach the boy that he has nothing to fear from aquatic life. The boy --dubbed Aqualad -- finally overcomes his fear when he helps Aquaman land a plane with the aid of luminous fish. Cured of his phobia, Aqualad is brought back to Atlantis to rejoin his people. The next day, Aquaman finds that he misses the boy, and is soon shocked when Aqualad reappears, explaining that he much prefers living with Aquaman as his sidekick to returning to Atlantis.