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As the Silver Bullet swooped low over the Mediterranean Sea, Nemo and Marlin dove out. Their bodies cleaved through the water with only the slightest of splashes. They swam underwater for about a hundred yards. Nemo had expected the Silver Star to need to surface, but Marlin continued to keep pace with his enhanced speed. He was even more surprised when Marlin spoke to him through the water.

"Do you know where you come from?" she asked.

Nemo saw her lips move. This was not some telepathic communication. This was the mode of speak that Atlanteans used. "Actually, from an underwater laboratory. What about you? Where do you come from?"

"I have no idea," Marlin said sadly. "I don't remember anything of a childhood. As far as I can remember, I've always lived in the sea, although I can live on land as well."

"Hmm, maybe you come from the Atlantis on your world," Nemo suggested.

"If I do, nobody's ever found Atlantis on my world. It's a myth." Marlin fell silent again.

Nemo found the otherworlder fascinating. From her few words, she sounded like someone with the same type of life experience as himself. He was also intrigued by the fin on her back. "I don't want to pry," Nemo said. "But that fin, is it real or part of your costume?"

"It's real." Marlin seemed loathe to admit it. "It kind of makes it difficult to fit in on the surface."

"I see." Nemo's strong eyes could see the coast they would be in Istanbul shortly. "Istanbul is just up ahead. That device of yours ready?"

Marlin reached into her glove and pulled out a small prism. It pulsed with a blue-pink color and its color was growing stronger. "Yes. This chronocrystal that Tim gave to each team should help us zero in on the Comrade Future chronal clone."

"Clone." Nemo smiled. "I know that term all-too-well. I'm a clone of the greatest warrior from Atlantis, Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner." He looked into Marlin's eyes. "And Atlanteans don't like clones."

"I see." Marlin smiled in return.

The Aquatic Avenger and the Subsea Silver Star emerged on the shores of Istanbul. The prism was pulsing even faster and stronger now.

"I guess we won't have to look far from Comrade Future. He has to be very close," Marlin announced. "I was so hoping to see what your Const … Istanbul looked like."

Nemo pointed over towards some large rocks on the shore. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is there something going on over there?"

Turning her attention that way, Marlin looked and pointed the prism to the giant, moss-covered boulders. "I can see some kind of glow behind it, and the prism says that's definitely the way."

"Let's go!" Nemo proclaimed. "I'll take the point." His angle wings fluttered and he took off into the air.

Running quickly behind him, Marlin was astonished that those tiny wings could carry Nemo so quickly through the air. "I guess those little wings aren't part of your costume."

Marlin and Nemo reached the other side of the boulder at nearly the same time. Nemo had gone over the top while Marlin had gone around the side closer to the water. When they arrived, there was no doubt that they had found their prey. There was a somewhat faint version of Comrade Future standing there with his arms outstretched. Pinkish energy seemed to be materializing out of the air and flowing into him, suffusing him with a similarly colored glow.

"Bozhemoi!" Comrade Future yelped. "I should have figured Tim Zeit would discover a way to track my chrono-clonal selves."

Nemo shook a fist at him. "Give it up, Future. We're not going to let you drink up any more temporal energy."

"I, however," Future countered, "will not let you stop me." He brought one of his arms down and extended a finger. "Here's a little known fact about time travel." Pinkish energy burst forth from his finger, but not at the Marlin nor Nemo, but rather right in front of them. "Travelers from other times leave a sort of chronal shadow when they come to an era not their own." His energy burst grew into two vaguely humanoid shapes. "One with sufficient skill, and temporal energy to spare, can bring those shadows to life."

The forms that Comrade Future generated now coalesced into two striking figures. One was the armor-clad Dr. Doom. The other was the youthful form of Bucky.

"Did I mention that I can control these chronal shades as well?" Future laughed. "Kill them, my minions!"

Dr. Doom extended a gauntleted hand and fired an energy burst. Nemo and Marlin scattered to avoid getting struck.

"Do you know either of them?" Marlin asked as she continued to avoid Doom's fusillade.

"The kid's Bucky; which one, I don't know," Nemo responded. "The armored guy is a mystery to me."

"We meet again, Namor!" Dr. Doom called out. "You shall fall before the power of Doom!"

"It seems that he thinks he knows you," Marlin noted. She was about to rush towards Dr. Doom when Nemo pushed her aside.

"You go take care of Bucky. None of them had any powers." Nemo took to the air once again. "I'll mix it up with Dr. Doom."

Marlin thought about taking Nemo to task for his chauvinism (or was it affection?) but decided that it could wait until after the battle. She closed in on Bucky. "I'm told that you don't have any powers."

Bucky avoided her attack and stunned her with a karate chop to the abdomen. "Maybe not, but Namor ought've told you that I've got some pretty good combat skills."

Meanwhile, Comrade Future continued to soak in the ambient temporal energy. He was hopeful that his creations would hold off the interlopers long enough for the absorption process to complete itself.

Swooping down, Nemo avoided Dr. Doom's energy barrage and crashed into the armored villain. The two tumbled to the ground.

"You dare attack Doom?" Dr. Doom raged.

In between hammer-like punches to Doom's armor, Nemo replied, "Look Dr. Doom, I don't know you from a sea urchin, but you attacked first." The armor was standing up to his blows, but just barely. "You may not be real, but you're certainly real tough."

"Let's see what you got, sister." Bucky launched himself at Marlin, but the Wonder of the Waters dodged his flying kick.

"My sea-trained reflexes are pretty fast, boy!" Her tone was decidedly taunting in nature.

Dr. Doom had managed to wrestle Nemo off of his chest. A panel opened on his gauntlet and a miniature flame-thrower rose out of its housing. "I remember your dislike of heat." A stream of fiery plasma arced towards Nemo.

"Merciful Manta-Rays!" Nemo barely got out of the way of the blazing stream. He scooped up two fistfuls of sand and tossed them at Doom. The sand got into Doom's eyes before he could close his eye-slits. Doom turned wildly, the plasma streaming all over the place. Where it struck, the sand hardened into glass. Nemo launched himself at Doom and leveled the Latverian Leader with a powerful right-cross.

While Marlin could avoid all of Bucky's skillful attacks, she could not get past the boy's guard either. She was becoming frustrated. Then an idea struck here. This 'Bucky' was not real. He could not drown. She launched herself at him and tackled him. The impact took both of the them into the water. Marlin's powerful legs propelled them away from the coast and down to the bottom of the sea. There she left the sidekick while she returned to shore.

No more energy flowed about Comrade Future now. "I have all the power I can gather from this place. Dos vedanya." His body shimmered and disappeared.

"Great," Nemo sulked. "He got away. I'll call Marvel Boy via ICR and let him know to pick us up to get back to Iceland."

"No need," Marlin responded. "We Silver Stars have a neat little trick. She rolled back her glove to reveal some kind of thin metallic bracelet. "It's a Flashback Band. It'll take us back to wherever the Time Elevator is, namely Iceland." She extended her other hand. "Take my hand."

Nemo grasped her hand. "My pleasure." Before he knew it, Marlin had activated her band and they disappeared.