Marvel: Scientist reborn as Superman

I was lying on the soft, warm yellow sand of a private beach near the villa my mother had rented, enjoying every moment of my holiday. A light breeze carried the faint salty scent of the ocean. Salty spray gently touched my skin as the waves of the Pacific Ocean washed over my feet with warm water. I closed my eyes and felt a wave of pleasant bliss wash over my body. The bright, hot sun filled every cell of my body with power and strength, as if recharging me. It seemed that nothing could cloud this serenity. My family and I had been here for almost a week, and I tried to spend most of the day in the sunshine, bathing in the streams of life-giving light. My Kryptonian nature rejoiced with happiness, receiving the boundless energy of the sun and filling me to the brim.

Not much time had passed since that ill-fated incident with the terrorists, but all my worries seemed to have dissolved into the Hawaiian air. On the day I met young Phil Coulson and helped save our plane, my father, as promised, arranged a private charter within a few hours. We landed in Hawaii, and soon the endless ocean and silky yellow sand opened up before us. The whole story with the terrorists ended surprisingly well for us: no one in my family was hurt, and I managed to save everyone on board without revealing my abilities. My parents quickly recovered from the shock and now, like teenagers, were rediscovering the joys of life: they spent their days walking along the shore, holding hands, laughing and fooling around, just like they did in their youth. I tried not to interfere with their innocent fun.

I had a lot to think about. Watching my parents, I remembered my past life as an old scientist, which had long been in the back of my mind. But now, it seemed that my childhood was finally over. The merging of my present self with my past memories had reached its logical conclusion. I looked at myself from the outside and realised with a slight smile that not long ago I could behave like a naive child, doing silly things without properly considering the consequences. Now, although I still had a boyish thirst for adventure, I tried to consider each of my actions more thoughtfully, using all the experience and knowledge I had gained in my past life. I had become a better version of myself — a combination of youth and wisdom.

Raising myself up on my elbows, I looked into the distance, where the blue expanse of the ocean merged with the horizon. And suddenly an idea struck me: what if I tried to dive underwater and explore that world in all its glory? I remembered from my past life that Kryptonians could stay underwater indefinitely without oxygen, and the pressure of the ocean depths could not harm them. I was overcome with curiosity: what would it be like to wander the seabed, see the beauty of coral reefs and perhaps find some ancient treasures or sunken ships?

I got up from the sand and looked around. My parents had disappeared into the depths of the beach: judging by their voices, my mother was laughing at some of my father's jokes. I smiled and allowed myself to feel a warm wave of gratitude that we were all alive and well. Then I slowly made my way towards the water. The closer I got, the more I felt a pleasant excitement, as if anticipating something thrilling.

The water was a pleasant temperature: not too warm, but not cold either. I waded in up to my waist and froze for a moment, feeling the gentle waves wash over my skin. Taking a deep breath of the sea air, I took my first step forward and plunged beneath the surface of the ocean. Inside, everything was turning upside down from a strange mixed feeling: on the one hand, I knew for sure that I could breathe without any problems, but on the other hand, my body's protective reflex stubbornly insisted that it was impossible to breathe underwater.

With my head submerged, I reflexively took a deep breath... of water. However, instead of drowning, I suddenly realised that my body was automatically extracting oxygen from the water, and the water itself was not flooding my mouth and lungs. It was amazing. I should have been pushed to the surface, but the force of gravity, combined with the peculiarities of my body, allowed me to walk along the bottom as if I were walking on a normal road.

After taking a few leisurely steps, I realised that I could perceive the world around me underwater with complete clarity: the water did not obstruct my view, and the bright rays of sunlight refracted around me, creating impressive patterns of light. It seemed as if I had entered another dimension, where the familiar logic of life on Earth did not apply. It was unusual to see these shimmering reflections dancing and gliding across the sand and coral. I was enveloped by a huge mass of water above me, but I did not feel fear or claustrophobia for a moment — on the contrary, I was overcome by a magical feeling of freedom.

Soon, an entire underwater city appeared before my eyes — coral reefs. They rose up in bizarre towers, stretching out in all directions, forming picturesque labyrinths in which it seemed possible to get lost for eternity. Some corals resembled intricate lace with tiny holes, while others resembled grandiose stone sculptures. It seemed as if nature itself had created these wonders to adorn the underwater world no less than great architects adorn cities on the surface.

Shoals of small colourful fish swam by. Their scales shimmered in all shades of blue, green, gold and red, and their fins fluttered like graceful ribbons on carnival costumes. Some of the fish were curious and fearlessly approached me, as if they saw me not as a threat, but as something new and interesting. One particularly brave fish with patterns on its sides and a bright tail seemed to stop in front of my face, fluttered its fins and disappeared behind a coral outcrop, leaving behind a light trail of bubbles.

A little further away, a large sea urchin, resembling a black ball with spikes, moved slowly along the bottom. A blue starfish clung to the ledge nearby, stretching its arms across the coral. Further away, I noticed graceful stingrays, seemingly hovering in the water, their large, flowing "wings" echoing the overall quiet harmony of this underwater kingdom. Somewhere above, several large parrotfish swam by, grinding the coral with their powerful beaks and releasing white clouds of limestone particles. It was like a slow, majestic dance of life, where every creature had its place.

Algae of various shades, from bright green to deep emerald, swayed gently, forming entire underwater meadows. A tiny clownfish suddenly emerged from under the large leaves and instantly disappeared into the tentacles of an anemone that looked like an exotic flower. Every corner of this underwater world seemed to hold its own little secret, waiting for me to discover it.

I stopped to savour the magic once more. Looking up, I saw the sun's rays piercing the water and refracting, creating a real light show in which dust particles and microorganisms sparkled and shimmered. 

Let's continue the experiment," I thought with a joyful smile, and at that moment my whole body was filled with anticipation of new discoveries. Straining, I made a dash forward: in an instant, I had covered dozens of kilometres along the ocean floor. Bizarre underwater landscapes flashed before my eyes, and almost complete darkness reigned around me. But this was no obstacle to my vision: I could see everything as clearly as if I were on the shore.

However, what I was doing was just running fast underwater. I wanted something more — to really fly in the ocean depths. Taking a couple of steps, I pushed off the bottom slightly and forced myself to literally "hover" in the water. It worked! I was floating in the water, as if weightless, watching small algae and fish rush by. It was incredible, I was smiling from ear to ear, unable to hide my delight at my abilities. The world seemed to open up, showing me what seemed like magic, but for me it was becoming a natural reality.

"Well, let's try flying," I muttered to myself and concentrated.

Plucking up my courage, I decided to speed up, but not by running, but by "gaining speed" in the water. At that moment, an underwater vortex swirled around me, and I shot forward, feeling the streams of water parting to the sides. It reminded me of the flights of genies in Eastern fairy tales, where an air vortex seems to emerge from the lower part of their bodies. I felt powerful, felt a hidden energy coursing through my body, giving me unprecedented freedom of movement. I rushed into the depths, where the darkness became almost absolute, then soared closer to the surface, where the sun's rays cut through the water, playing with sparkling glints. At times, I spun in a spiral, as if dancing in the embrace of foamy jets.

Soon I wanted to stop to catch my breath and feel the world around me in all its fullness. I slowed down abruptly, as if I had hit an invisible wall, exhaled and closed my eyes, listening to the silence of the ocean depths. But there was no silence: my super hearing instantly picked up a whole symphony of marine life.

I heard the long sounds of underwater currents, the soft crackling of corals as tiny crustaceans scraped in their labyrinths, the rustling and whispering of algae rolling under gentle waves, and the barely audible signals of large fish communicating with each other on their own frequencies. Somewhere far away, there was a dull echo, like the reverberations of an underwater eruption or a distant rockfall. At that moment, it seemed to me that I was listening to an amazing concert, where every sound was part of a grand orchestra performing an infinitely complex melody of life.

And suddenly, among the multitude of voices, I distinctly heard the shimmering squeaks and clicks characteristic of dolphins. They were quite far away, but my ears easily distinguished their lively, friendly, "chatty" singing. Intrigued, I latched onto this thread of sound and rushed in that direction to find out what they were discussing. It was easy to pick up speed, and within a few seconds I saw a whole pod of graceful silver dolphins going about their business.

As I approached, I slowed down and found myself in front of them, as if wanting to say hello. The animals stopped and began to swim in smooth circles around me, cheerfully "chirping" and "clucking" as if arguing about something. Their curious eyes examined me — a creature that moved underwater in a way completely different from ordinary people. It seemed as if they were trying to understand who I was and where I had come from.

"Hello, guys!" I said silently. 

However, the dolphins' curiosity was mutual. Concentrating, I began to pick up the slightest changes in their sound signals. Thanks to my Kryptonian abilities, my brain was able to quickly analyse multiple frequencies, tune into their waves and literally "translate" their conversations. With every passing second, it became clearer to me what they were "telling" each other, and soon I realised that they were, in fact, greeting me in a friendly manner! My heart leapt with joy when I realised that I could communicate with them.

"Hey, what if..." flashed through my mind. I tried to reproduce their signals, tuning into the frequency range they were using. And lo and behold! I made a funny squawking sound, sending them a greeting in return.

The pod immediately came to life: the dolphins began to circle around me even faster, some jumping out of the water, others poking my hands and feet with their noses, obviously trying to understand who I was and why I was speaking their "language." It was like the good-natured mischief of children who had met a new friend. Suddenly, one of the dolphins let out a long call, and the whole pod began to play happily, diving under me and surfacing very close to my face, as if inviting me to play.

I didn't refuse. After exchanging a few more "phrases," we began a real underwater relay race: they swam ahead, I caught up with them, then we switched roles — in short, we played tag. I swam among them, experiencing a feeling of pure joy and freedom. At some point, I realised that the dolphins were starting to get tired — although they are excellent swimmers, they are, alas, no match for me in speed and endurance. So I slowed down to let them rest and joined them in their lazy swim around the huge reef.

After a few minutes, the pod seemed to gather for a "council": they made special sounds that I gradually learned to understand as "come with us" or "let us show you something." Delighted that I understood them, I nodded and followed them. The largest dolphin — apparently the leader of the pod — swam closer and gracefully presented its back, inviting me to grab hold of its dorsal fin. I easily hooked onto it and let the dolphin pull me forward through the underwater expanse.

We swam for quite a long time. Judging by my inner feelings and sense of time, it must have been at least a few hours. The dolphins couldn't swim fast enough to prevent me from enjoying the surrounding landscape, but I was already bursting with curiosity about where they were taking me. At times, we encountered other sea creatures who followed the pod with curious glances. It seemed that the underwater kingdom had its own hierarchy and system of signals, which I had only just begun to discover.

Finally, we began to rise closer to the surface. I felt the sunlight getting brighter and the water around me getting warmer. Rising a little higher, I noticed the shore: an island surrounded by a strip of sand with dense jungle. It looked like a tiny speck in the vast ocean, but looking closer, I realised that the island was not tiny at all — there was enough space for lush vegetation and even, perhaps, various animals. As we approached the shallows, I saw a secluded lagoon framed by rocky outcrops and exotic trees whose branches hung over the water. Brightly coloured birds circled above this corner of paradise, uttering loud cries.

In the lagoon itself, I noticed a figure in the water near the shore. Looking closer, I realised it was a girl, but not quite like a normal human. Most of her body was submerged, with only her face visible above the surface. 

My dolphin transport, as I had already christened it, stopped, allowing me to dismount. I let go of its fin, quickly swam to the shallows and stepped onto the wet sand, heading towards the girl. The closer I got, the more clearly I noticed the unusual shade of her skin: pearlescent blue, as if tinged with silver. She looked chiselled, slender and surprisingly graceful, and when I could see her face, I couldn't help but admire it. Her long black hair was braided with shells woven in, giving it a whimsical, exotic look. Her bright blue, seemingly glowing eyes gazed at the sky. They seemed bottomless, reflecting the mystery of the ocean depths.

"Hello!" I greeted her, trying to smile as friendly as possible.

She flinched, instantly opening her eyes wider and, fluttering out of the water, straightened to her full height. Now I could see that her figure differed from that of a human only in small details: light patterns on her skin in the form of scales that glistened in the light, and slightly elongated ears. Her face expressed fear and confusion. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but did not utter a sound. I noticed her gaze dart to the pod of dolphins, then return to me.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," I said as calmly as possible, raising my hands with my palms forward to show that I had no weapons and no bad intentions.

The girl stood warily, looking around as if fearing a sudden attack. Her pearly blue skin reflected the soft glints of sunlight filtering through the trees near the shore. She still didn't seem to fully understand who I was or what I wanted from her.

Trying to calm her down, I slowly pointed to the dolphins circling nearby, clicking happily and chatting in their underwater language: "See them? They brought me to you."

I was standing knee-deep in the warm lagoon water. The small pebbles of the island pleasantly massaged my feet, and the sand moved under my toes as the gentle tide rolled in and out. The same dolphin that had pulled me along the ocean for so long now swam closer and nudged my hand with its nose in a friendly manner. I ran my hand over its smooth skin, and it happily slapped its tail, sending a spray of water into the air.

The girl seemed to open her eyes so wide in surprise that she looked like an anime character who had stepped right out of the screen. I even thought her lips parted in a silent "oh" — she clearly wasn't expecting to see such a scene. To establish contact, I pointed to myself: "My name is Bruce. What's your name?" I asked, extending my hand towards her and hoping that the gesture would be interpreted as friendly rather than threatening.

However, the girl gave me a tense look, turned to the dolphin and emitted a series of short clicks and piercing sounds. Judging by the intonation, she was clearly asking him something about me. I was already beginning to understand how dolphins "talk," so I caught some of the meaning: she was trying to find out who I was and where I came from. The dolphin seemed to explain to her that I was a friend. He "told" her that she was also his friend, which was why he had brought us together. Hearing this, the girl looked at me again, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

Then she shook her head, causing her black braids to scatter wildly across her shoulders, and said quite clearly: "I speak English, you don't have to look so surprised, human. I don't understand how you managed to befriend dolphins so much that they brought you here. But I warn you: don't make any sudden movements, or you'll regret it!

Her voice sounded unusual: there was strength and firmness in it, and she pronounced the word "human" as if it were a curse. I had to suppress a smile so as not to look completely foolish in her eyes. "Calm down," I said, raising my palms in a conciliatory gesture. "I'm not attacking you, and I have no intention of doing so. I just... didn't think I'd ever meet a mermaid. By the way, where's your tail?" I finished with a chuckle, although I realised it probably sounded stupid.

Hearing my remark, the girl sighed as if she couldn't breathe from indignation and opened her mouth, desperately searching for words: "I'm actually an Atlantean, human! And my name is Kamara. Remember that. I am the daughter of King Namor of Atlantis. And don't call me a mermaid!"

Realising that I had said something stupid, I tried to make amends immediately. After all, when you're standing in front of a real princess of an underwater kingdom, it's best to be tactful: "Very well, Princess Kamara," I smiled softly. "Nice to meet you. Honestly, I didn't mean to offend you."

My sincere remorse seemed to calm her down a little. The tension in her gaze eased, although she was still on guard. She sighed silently and asked, looking away from me to the pod of dolphins: "All right, human," she said in a slightly less hostile tone. "But how did you even end up here?" 

I shrugged involuntarily: "You don't have to call me 'human' every time you address me," I asked. "Just call me Bruce. And I ended up here because... I swam here. Literally. See those dolphins?" I pointed to the creatures frolicking nearby. "We've come a long way together, and here I am."

Kamara frowned involuntarily, narrowing her bright blue eyes in disbelief. "You say you sailed here? All right, let's assume that's true. Where is your ship? Is it moored somewhere nearby?"

"There is no ship," I replied calmly. "Actually, I came from Hawaii. My parents are vacationing there, and I wanted to explore the underwater world a little. I didn't expect to end up so far away, but here I am.

"You're lying, man. It's hundreds of kilometres from the Hawaiian Islands to here. You couldn't have swum here on your own," Kamara's voice sounded harsher, and the blue skin on his cheekbones changed colour slightly. 

"I'm a pretty good swimmer," I replied, putting my hand behind my head and watching the clouds in the crimson sky. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm here, right in front of you."

The sun was sinking towards the horizon, the colours of the sky becoming more intense, from golden yellow to deep purple. A warm sea breeze ruffled my hair and swayed the leaves of the palm trees on the shore. I noticed that the girl was listening intently to every sound.

"This is all very strange," she admitted, shaking her head so that the shells in her braids jingled. "I've been coming to this island for over forty years, but I've never seen anyone here before. Did someone send you here for me? But why send a human?"

Her words alarmed me. Forty years of coming here? That meant she was much older than she looked. I involuntarily widened my eyes, choked on the air, and blinked, asking again: "Wait, forty years? That means you must be fifty. Wow, you wouldn't look it — you look sixteen or eighteen, no more."

"Ha!" she snorted, clearly offended by my bewilderment."Don't you dare compare us Atlanteans to your short-lived species. We live much longer than humans. I was born in nineteen forty." There was a note of pride in her voice, as if she were emphasising her superiority.

I involuntarily opened my eyes wider, trying to imagine how old she must be by human standards: "Come on... during the Second World War? Wow... That means you're older than my father."

The girl just sighed heavily, and her bright blue, shining eyes flashed with obvious irritation. "What am I supposed to do with you?" she muttered, nervously biting her lip. "I don't know how you got here or why the dolphins brought you here, but you won't be able to leave this island. There are no shipping lanes here, and you won't see any ships by chance. So there's a good chance you'll die here, human."

"And you're not even going to help me?" I asked, tilting my head slightly to one side, examining her pearly blue skin, which was becoming more visible in the last rays of the setting sun.

"Why should I?" she replied coldly. "You're a human, and I'm an Atlantean. If you die here, why should I care?"

I narrowed my eyes: "That's cruel, you know. I think your dolphin friend would be upset if something bad happened to me."

The girl snorted and raised her chin: "He's not just a dolphin, he has a name — Coral. And next to him is Shell. They're a couple, and the other dolphins

are their children." She said this very seriously, as if listing the members of her family.

"Wow, so you gave them names?" I asked in surprise, glancing at the dolphins, which were still swimming nearby and occasionally clicking as if to ask if everything was all right.

"Of course. They're my friends. Friends have names. Is that so strange? You have a name, don't you?" she said indignantly, frowning.

"Yes, I do have a name. But it's funny that you don't seem to be in a hurry to call me by my name. All you ever say is 'human' or 'man'. Maybe I should call you 'fish' then?" I said with deliberate thoughtfulness and added, as if in passing: "Although, they say fish have very bad memories and forget everything after a few seconds..."

"Hey!" the girl exclaimed indignantly. "I have an excellent memory, don't you dare say such nonsense!

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow with an ironic smile. "Well, let's check. What's my name?"

She raised her chin haughtily, but a second later she deflated: "Bruce. Your name is Bruce. See, I remembered.

"Very nice, Camara," I replied, trying to sound friendly. "And since you call your friends by their first names, does that mean we're friends now?"

The girl paused for a moment, thinking about what I had said. Giving in, she exhaled, "All right, Bruce... But let's be clear: we're just acquaintances for now." She said this with a look that seemed to condescend to both herself and me at the same time.

I chuckled, glad that the tension had eased a little. We both continued to stand in the water, which still retained the warmth of the day. The sun was almost touching the horizon. 

"Tell me, Kamara, why don't you like people so much?" I asked, looking at her intently. 

As soon as I uttered these words, bitterness flashed in her eyes. The girl pursed her lips and, moving away slightly, replied with cold anger in her voice: "Why should I love you humans? You are parasites who thoughtlessly pollute the seas and oceans. You build your factories, dump your waste directly into the water, throw chemicals, plastic and oil products into it. Fish and dolphins have nowhere to live, corals are dying because of your interference. You hunt sea creatures beyond all limits, you destroy the reefs... Not to mention the experiments you conduct, detonating bombs underwater as if to see who can cause the most damage to nature." With each sentence, her voice grew harsher, and her face seemed to darken with indignation. "So tell me, Bruce, why

 should I love the human race?

I felt my soul shrink with shame for humanity, even though I had never really thought about the global scale of the damage humans were doing to the ocean. "I understand your outrage," I said cautiously, choosing my words carefully so as not to hurt her even more. "But not all humans are the same. There are those who sincerely love the ocean and strive to protect it. Scientists, environmentalists, volunteers — they create nature reserves, clean up beaches, organise rescue operations for marine animals..."

"And you consider yourself one of them?" Kamara suddenly interrupted me, coming very close and staring intently into my eyes. Her gaze shone with a mixture of scepticism and curiosity.

"I won't lie," I admitted, trying to remain calm under her penetrating gaze. "I never used to think much about ecology or how much the seas suffer from human activity. In fact, I never thought I'd find myself at the bottom of the ocean and see it all with my own eyes. But after today, everything has changed. I felt all the beauty of the underwater world, its vulnerability. And now I can say with absolute certainty: I love the ocean. It may be recent, but this feeling is already deeply rooted in me. And I want to protect what I've seen.

The corners of her lips lifted, revealing a fleeting but warm smile. It seemed that my words had earned her trust — even if only a tiny bit: "You know, Bruce, that sounds... sincere," she whispered, softening a little. "Maybe not all people are equally terrible."

We were both silent for a while, enjoying the calm water rippling around us as the first colours of evening began to appear in the sky above the island. I felt a cool breeze approaching the shore, carrying away the last heat of the fading day. It was time to go, or my parents would surely start to worry.

"Kamara, it's getting dark, and it looks like night is coming. Will you be here tomorrow?" I asked, looking around and noticing how the shadows on the sand were getting longer.

"Yes," the girl replied, shaking her head. "I wanted to spend some time away from... from home," she paused for a moment, as if remembering something important. "So yes, I'll stay here for a while longer. Why do you ask?"

"Because it's time for me to go back," I admitted, getting up and shaking the water off my hands. "But I'll be back tomorrow, if you don't mind. I'd like to talk to you some more."

The girl bit her lip and looked at me with a mixture of emotions — distrust, curiosity, or perhaps a slight anticipation of our next meeting. But she didn't have time to answer because I had already taken a step back and plunged into the water.

"How are you going to..." she began, but I interrupted her:

"See you tomorrow, Kamara!" I smiled and waved goodbye. The next second, I was gone. 

"I can imagine the look on her face right now," I thought as I stepped onto the shore near a familiar villa and picked up my towel from the warm sand. "I'm sure she wasn't expecting me to disappear like that."

***

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