The experience of countless battles surged through old Aquaman's mind.
Then he sped up.
The trident's trajectory became denser. The intervals between each withdrawal and thrust shortened, and the speed of the prongs increased as well. Smallville Superman continued moving within his attack range, always maintaining a steady gap between his footsteps and the trident's path.
Old Aquaman's breathing remained steady, but he had already realized he was nearing his limit. After maintaining his assault for a while, noticeable changes began appearing in its rhythm—the intervals grew longer, and the time it took to reset after each thrust shortened.
Smallville Superman still did not attack. He merely moved within old Aquaman's attack range, as though waiting for him to finish that sequence of attacks.
Or perhaps waiting for him to realize that the gap had never once been breached.
During the gap when old Aquaman pulled back his trident again, Smallville Superman took a step forward. It was not a large step, and it did not land off target, but after taking it, he had entered the distance old Aquaman had been trying to maintain. At the end of that step, he extended his hand. The motion was small, but at that distance, it was enough to neutralize the trident's effective range.
"Damn it!"
Old Aquaman tried to pull back his trident, but at the end of that step, Smallville Superman's hand had already gripped the shaft near its head. The trident stopped there. Old Aquaman did not let go immediately. He tried to pull it back, but the shaft did not move at all.
Then Smallville Superman's hand slid slightly forward along the shaft, twisting old Aquaman's wrist a little. The trident fell from old Aquaman's hand and hit the ground with a dull thud. Old Aquaman stood where