A/N: As I said in my author's note last week, this story will be a series of moments that happened before, during, or in between the main stories. The moments vary in length, tone, subject matter, etc. Some moments will only be a chapter long, others will be multichapter arcs. Before each chapter, I'll let you know where it fits in the timeline so, if necessary, you can go back and read those chapters to add some context. If there's a moment or scene you have been wanting to see, let me know in the reviews.

This first moment happens after chapter 34/35 of In Shadows.

Untold Stories

Avenge

February 8, 2014

New London, Connecticut

It was close to midnight the day after the tragic disaster in Stamford, Connecticut. The country was still reeling from the loss of close to 150 young school children at the hands of the villain, Nitro. SHIELD vowed to exhaust every possible resource they had at their disposal to bring him in and make sure he paid for his heinous, unforgivable act.

The first day, however, bore no fruits. Nitro had long skipped town in the hours following the incident, and had been traveling the Connecticut coastline. He didn't know where he was going, so long as he found some place where he could lay low until everything blew over. The thing was, things like what he did rarely, if ever, blew over.

Kids and heroes – who were still kids themselves – had been killed. The authorities weren't going to stop looking for him until their either find him or found his corpse. Either way, he knew that he had to keep running.

In a perverted kind of way, his was a tragic story. Never again would he be able to let his guard down, to truly be able to enjoy all life had to offer, as he had been able to just twenty-four hours ago. He knew that if he was ever captured, he was done for. His friends – Coldheart, Cobalt Man, and Speedfreak – were all killed in the blast. He was the only one of the supervillain quartet left.

Their deaths weighed heavily on his heart. Just theirs, not those of the New Warriors or the schoolchildren. That wasn't his fault. It was that bitch Atlantean who rammed him into the school bus. If it wasn't for her, all those kids would have still been alive and his life wouldn't have been effectively over.

Nitro turned the truck he stole in Stamford off the road and onto a harbor. The dock was void of life, as most everyone had gone to bed; the nightowls were in no mood for a late night fishing expedition in the Block Island sound. Dozens of ships of varying shapes and sizes were docked for the night. It would have no trouble for him to hijack one and disappear. His intention was to sail the coast until he got to Canada, then he could really disappear.

It was a half-assed plan, but it was the best he could come up with, given the strenuous circumstances.

After killing the security guards on duty, he chose one at random – there was no time to get picky – and undid the moorings. He started the engine and carefully guided the ship out of the harbor and out to sea. "I think I can make it up to Rhode Island by the morning. Then, they'll never find me."

In his mind, it was foolproof. The authorities likely thought he was going to head inland, since they would have thought that heading out to sea was too obvious. They outsmarted themselves, he thought.

And they did. SHIELD and local PD were focusing the bulk of their search inland. But, it wasn't for the reason that he thought. He thought they would think it was too obvious. They knew that there was no need to search out to sea. It was already being taken care of.

News traveled fast in the present-day world. Technology was capable of transmitting information at a staggering speed, seconds after something happened, or even as it was happening. This included on land, and under the sea.

News of Namorita's death reached the deepest depths of the oceans quickly. Namor, King of the Seven Seas and ruler of Atlantis, was understandably incensed. Everyone, including Nitro, knew that Namorita was his cousin, and they all knew not to agitate him. Someone who controlled 70% of the planet was not one to be trifled with.

Unfortunately for Nitro, that was exactly what he did the very second he killed Namorita. The very moment news of her untimely demise touched Namor's ears, Nitro's fate was signed, sealed, and delivered to the Grim Reaper. All that was left was to find him.

That was no trouble, since he was foolishly traveling by sea. SHIELD knew he would, and concentrated their search inland to lure him there. They had no intention of making an example of him, as they already had theirs in the form of Speedball, who had miraculously survived the blast.

In seemingly an instant, the water became choppy and turbulent. The ship nearly capsized on three separate occasions. "The hell? Why's the water so choppy?" Nitro tried his best to regain control of his stolen boat, but steering a sea vessel was not his strong suit. "I'm gonna sink!"

Fifty foot waves bombarded the small ship, nearly sinking it. Yet, miraculously, it remained afloat. While he didn't usually suffer from motion sickness, the constant, violent rocking was making him sick to his stomach.

Suddenly, there was a loud screeching noise. A massive squid monster rose from the depths of the strait, its tentacles whipping through the air like giant freight trains. It was a Kraken, a sea monster that dated back to millennia ago. There was an entire race of them hidden away at the ocean floor.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Nitro tried desperately to steer his ship back to the harbor. Nothing doing; a single tentacle wrapped around the ship and lifted it out of the water with ease. Nitro screamed for help, but it wasn't coming.

While the Kraken could have crushed the ship and sunk back below, it stayed its hand. Two substantially smaller figures rose out of the water. One, he immediately recognized as Namor, King of Atlantis. The blonde woman beside him was dressed in a leather bathing suit of sorts with a plunging neckline. Even from the distance between them, Nitro could see the pure rage emanating from her striking blue eyes.

Suddenly, she shot forward, gliding through the air as easily as she did in the water. She smashed through the ships hull and grabbed hold of Nitro, and carried him through the ship and into the air. "I will make you suffer!" she snarled.

"Crazy bitch! Let go!" He struggled in her grip, but found it to be vice-like. There was only one way to get out of this tight spot, and that was to explode again. He would reform in a few minutes, then swim back to shore and hoof it on foot.

He never got the chance. The woman grabbed his jaw and tore his head from his shoulders. Her hand crushed his skull like a grape, sending gray matter and bits of bone and hair raining down into the water like a bloody rain shower.

Namor gestured, and the Kraken tossed the ship toward the harbor. It landed on the shore, nothing more than a pile of splintered wood and twisted metal.

"She has been avenged," the woman said. "But, I still don't feel any better."

"It will have to do for now, Namora," he said soothingly. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and spared the surface world a single, scornful glance. "First Rogers, now Namorita. How many of my loved ones will this damned world take?"

The question hung in the air like a black cloud of smoke, choking any sympathy he may have had for the loved ones of those Nitro also killed. He only cared for Namorita; and with her death avenged, they could return home, to Atlantis.