SBS Time!
M.G: When will you update Memories of Easiness Past?
Game2002: When I feel like it.

Chapter 3
Answers From Both Sides

The battle against the Abyssal had just ended, and all the ship girls present had gathered at and around the islet the Justice League members were on. Fubuki had been helped to stand up by her comrades and given a piece of cloth that wrapped around the stub that once used to be her arm. Her severed hand was wrapped up in another piece of cloth and in Akagi's possession. Black liquid seeped through the piece of cloth wrapped around the stub on Fubuki and even leaked to the ground. The ship girl was clearly in great pain.

"We have to get her back to headquarters and patch her up quick," Akagi said in concern.

Cyborg scanned the black liquid that leaked from Fubuki and said, "This is oil! She's leaking oil from her body!"

"Oil runs through our veins after all," said Yuudachi.

"Just who are you people?" the Flash asked them. "You call yourself ship girls, right?"

"Have you never heard of ship girls before? Everyone nowadays know us, including he Abyssal," said Tenryu. "No offense, but have you people been living under a rock all this time?"

"Well, we can say the same to you if you say you've never heard of the Justice League," Cyborg said to her.

"Can't say we ever heard of the Justice League," said Kaga. "I guess that makes us equal..."

"We'll explain to you everything you need to know, but for now, I think we better treat your friend..." said Green Lantern while looking at Fubuki.

"Right, we should," agreed Akagi, and then she turned to the other ship girls and told them that it was time to report back to headquarters. She then turned to the league members. "I suppose that you people would like to come back with us."

"We do not have anywhere else to go, so I guess that would be the only option left..." said Cyborg.

"How are we going to take them back?" asked Inazuma.

"We can carry them!" said Kongou. "Carrying heavy stuff is nothing for us ship girls!"

"Actually, we have that covered," said Green Lantern holding up his ring finger. "You girls can go on ahead without burdening yourself of carrying us. We'll just follow you."

"How are you going to follow us?" asked Kaga.

Green Lantern pointed his ring at the sea and created a construct of a boat, much to the surprise of the ship girls. "Did he just create a boat out of thin air?!" asked a ship girl named Maya. The four young Destroyers got close to the ship and poked in curiously. Even though the ship appeared to be made of energy, it felt like solid plastic when touched.

"The three of us can just swim," said Aquaman, referring to himself, Mera, and Aqualad.

"I'll change into some kind of fish or dolphin and follow you guys," said Beast Boy.

And so, they all left the islet to head back to the ship girls' headquarters. Green Lantern flew in the air and used a beam of light shining from his ring to tug the boat, which was carrying Batman, the Flash, Vibe, and Plastic Man. Cyborg flew using wings that sprouted from his back. Beast Boy changed into a dolphin and swam alongside them. Aquaman, Aqualad, and Mera swam at a fast speed after them.

After several minutes of traveling across the sea, the group finally reached land. A massive building could be seen built there, and there were harbors all around it. Several women could be seen on the shore, waving at them and welcoming their homecoming. When Fubuki came on shore, some of the women immediately came to her aid and took her away into the building to be treated.

"We would like you to come see our admiral," Akagi said to the league members. "We will hear your story when you meet him."

"That would be a good idea," agreed Batman.

The ship girls then went their own ways to do their business, while Akagi, Kaga, and Kongou led the league members into the building. As they traveled through the interior of the building, they noticed that everyone present were women, aged from children to adults.

"This place is popular with the ladies, isn't it?" asked Plastic Man.

"You'd be surprise to learn that our admiral is the only man here!" Kongou told him in English.

"Wow! He must be a pimp living in a place like this!" commented Vibe. "Wait a minute, you speak English?"

"Of course! I was built in England!" explained Kongou

"So you girls are androids after all!" said Vibe.

"We're more complicated than that!" Kongou said to him with a wink.

"Here we are at the admiral's room," said Akagi as she stopped in front of a large door.

"My beloved admiral!" exclaimed Kongou happily as she rushed into the room and threw herself forward. She flew over the admiral's table and... crashed onto the floor. Getting back up while rubbing her nose, she looked around and asked, "Where's my beloved admiral?"

"He went to main headquarters for a meeting some time after you left," replied a ship girl named Ooyodo, who was seated in front of another table, doing paperwork. "It was rather urgent, so he left in haste."

"Awwww... He should've at least leave behind a farewell note..." grumbled Kongou.

"So I guess Nagato is in charge in the meantime, right?" Akagi asked Ooyodo.

"Indeed," said a voice coming from behind. The league members and the ship girls turned around to see a woman with long black hair and another one with short brown hair. "Akagi, may I ask who these people are that you brought here?"

"Nagato!" Akagi said to her. "We found these people at the base of the Abyssal. They were fighting against them, so we lend them a hand. It was with their help that we were able to destroy all the Abyssal there."

"What were they doing there?" asked the brown-haired woman named Mutsu.

"They agreed to explain everything to us once they come here with us," said Akagi.

"So who exactly are you people?" Kaga asked the league.

"This is going to sound weird and unbelievable to you girls," the Flash told the girls. "So... have you ever heard about the multiverse theory?"

"Multiverse theory?" said Akagi curiously.

"It's the theory that there exists several different versions of Earth, each of them in a different reality," replied Ooyodo without looking away from her paper, not even stopping to do her work. "A infinite possible amount of Earths exist, a new one created whenever an alternative decision is made."

"Someone did her homework," commented Green Lantern.

"Ooh! Sounds interesting!" said Kongou with interest.

"What does that have to do with you people?" asked Akagi.

The Flash was going to explain, but Kongou raised her arm while jumping up and down excitedly. "I know! I know! You people come from an alternate Earth, right?"

"Yep! We come from an alternate Earth, one where there is nothing such thing as you ship girls!" said the Flash.

"That's absurd!" said a skeptical Mutsu.

"The fact that we have never heard of each other should prove it," said Batman. "Whether you believe it or not, that's the truth. We come from an alternate universe where you people do not exist, and I'm sure we do not exist in this Earth as well."

"Then how did you people get here?" asked Nagato.

"We were fighting one of our enemies, and I had the idea of creating a portal to suck away him and his army," replied Cyborg, "but an accident happened, and we all got sucked into the portal and ended up here."

"Oh yeah, I was just reminded..." said the Flash in English. "If we ended up here, what are the chances of Ocean Master and the Trenches ending up here as well?"

"I've been worrying about that," said Aquaman. "It's possible that they ended up here as well."

"Who's Ocean Master? Is he the enemy you were talking about?" asked Kongou.

"Yes, he's the one we were fighting, and he has an army of Trenches, savage monsters from deep under the sea," Aquaman told her, and then she translated what he said to the other ship girls.

Also, by now, outside the room, several ship girls had gathered there, as words of these strange people coming to the base was spread throughout the place at a fast speed, so filled with curiosity, they came over to the admiral's office to see them with their own eyes.

"We are worried that they might have come over to this place," Batman said in Japanese. "If that is the case, we will not leave this world unless we dealt with them. The troubles of our world should not become your trouble."

"How are you going to return to your own world anyway?" asked Kaga.

"That won't be a problem," Cyborg said to her. "Traveling to other worlds isn't new to us, and I'm usually in charge of this sort of thing, so we can definitely return without a problem!"

"You make it sound so easy..." said Mutsu.

"Trust me when I say that all this is part of our everyday lives!" Cyborg told her.

"Now that we've told you our side of the story, you should tell us yours now," Batman told the ship girls.

"Very well; since you went through the trouble of telling us your story, even if it sounds bizarre, it's only fair that we tell you ours," said Nagato. "For starters, we are all ship girls, beings made possible through the combination of science and magic."

"You girls are created through science and magic? I never thought those two could mix..." said the Flash, and then he translated to the other league members what was said.

"We were created for the purpose of combating the Abyssal," continued Nagato. "They are dangerous beings that have terrorized the sea for a long time already, and we ship girls are the only ones strong enough to take on them."

"What exactly are those Abyssal?" asked Green Lantern.

"There's still a lot about them we don't know, as attempts at communicating with them all failed," said Nagato. "All they do is destroy anyone who cross their paths. The most we know about them is that they are the physical embodiment of the hatred and grudge of ships that sank."

"A tsukumogami, right? That's a myth originating from Japan since the ancient days, how if an object has stayed around for 100 years, it will gain a life of its own," explained Batman.

"Yeah, you can say that," said Nagato. "Bottom line is that our world is currently at war with the Abyssal, and for a while already. Despite our attempts at getting rid of them, their numbers don't seem to be decreasing. On the bright side, they're not anywhere near taking over the oceans of the world either, so I guess both sides are equal."

"Question: you said you girls are created. How exactly are you created?" asked the Flash.

"Maybe we can show you something if we take you to our workroom," said Nagato. "Come with me." All the ship girls gathered outside the office then made way for Nagato as she led the league members away.

As they traveled around the base, the league members also got a tour of the place. No matter where they looked, the league only saw women. "Wow, this place really has women and no men!" commented Beast Boy. "Looks like the kind of place for Wally!"

"My kind of place too!" said Plastic Man as he eyed some of the ship girls that walked past them. "Their admiral must be one lucky guy!"

The group arrived at a room that resembled an infirmary. The league members also noticed tiny girls wandering around the place, mostly on top of tables. "Those are some really small girls... What's with them?" asked Aqualad.

"They're fairies," replied Kongou. "They help with various tasks, such as fetching things, arranging, cleaning, and repairing. They also help us scout the seas for anything."

"Fairies, huh? said the Flash. "Never seen one back in our world before..."

Just then, Fubuki came out of a room ahead of them. Her arm was connected back to her using bandages. "Commander Nagato!" she said to Nagato when she saw her.

"How is your arm?" Nagato asked her.

"It's... It's all right now! It'll fully heal in a few days!" Fubuki told her.

"Good! You did a great job out there! Be sure to be more careful next time!" Nagato told her with a smile.

"I will no disappoint you, commander!" Fubuki said to her while saluting.

Another ship girl came out of the room, and she had pink hair. "Commander Nagato! I'm happy to say that Fubuki is as good as new! Let her arm remain covered like that for a couple of days and it will be one piece again!"

"Good work, Akashi!" Nagato said to her. She then pointed to the league members with her hand. "These people are guests to this place and would like to know more about the biology of ship girls. I'm sure this place has some info they can look at."

"Sure! C'mon in! I'll show them whatever I have!" said Akashi. After they went into the room, which was an operation room, Nagato told Akashi the details regarding these guests. "Okay, that's certainly interesting... Not something you hear everyday... Just a sec..." She then went to a wall and pulled down a poster that had been rolled up and hanging there. It was a diagram of Nagato, with her right side showing her interior.

"Wait a minute... You used a picture of Nagato for this?!" said Mutsu in surprise.

"She said yes when I told her about it," Akashi said to her.

Cyborg and Vibe, being scientists, took a close look at the diagram and noted as many things as possible. The first thing they noticed was that the organs were all colored blackish-gray Their designs also differed from normal human organs a bit, and though it was just a 2D picture, they could tell that the texture was slightly metallic in appearance.

"We, ship girls, are what I like to call techno-organic beings made possible using the combination of science and magic!" explained Akashi as she used a long stick to point at the diagram. "Our muscles and organs are made using substances similar to that of steel used for making battleships. It's as hard as steel but at the same time as flexible as real flesh. Our heart is like a combustion engine divided into several compartments in order to pump oil all over our bodies. Our stomachs is capable of digesting both normal food and materials normally inedible to people, such as oil, bauxite, and iron ore!"

As she explained, Batman gave a quick translation of what she said to the league members who didn't understand Japanese.

"Wait a minute... You eat oil, bauxite, and iron ore?" asked the Flash in surprise.

"Yep! They're like food to us! We need them in order to stay strong and healthy," said Akashio. "We even consume ammo in order to replenish our ammo supply."

"That sounds... unhealthy..." said Beast Boy. "How do you even bite through them?"

"It's easy as biting a piece of cookie for us!" explained Akashio. "Anyway, it's not shown here, but our skeletons are also made of steel-like materials, thus making them very durable and capable of withstanding extreme impacts. This is necessary, as Abyssal fight back with powerful firepower." She then pointed at the picture of the brain, a large gray mass. "Our brains are basically storage devices for computers. It is capable of hooking up with computers in order to transfer data of what we know and see onto the latter."

Akashio eventually explained that ship girls were brought to life using the spirits of battleships of the past, mostly ones from World War II. Hearing this, Green Lantern said, "I knew your names sounded familiar! When I heard some of your names, I couldn't shake off the feeling that's it's no coincidence that all of you seem to be named after battleships from that time!"

"You're a military man, so I assume you recognize all these names?" Aquaman asked him.

"Mainly on the American side, but I do have some knowledge regarding the Japanese as well," said Green Lantern.

"If it interests you, we have an American battleship named Iowa here! I'll take you to meet her later!" Kongou told him.

"The USS Iowa? That's a surprise!" commented Green Lantern.

Cyborg and Vibe were the most amazed of the bunch after the lesson about ship girls were over. "Incredible... This is more advanced than anything I've ever seen..." said Cyborg. "Even artificial beings from our world are nothing like this... This is an in-between of flesh and machinery, something I've never thought possible!"

"You tell me! I'm still trying to process everything I've heard!" said Vibe. "Imagine how far we can progress in science and medication if we have this technology back home!"

"The Abyssal have the exact same biology as us," Nagato told them.

"You said the Abyssal have been terrorizing the seas for a long time?" asked Aquaman, and Batman translated what he said.

"Indeed," replied Nagato with a nod. "But thanks to us ship girls, we were able to keep their threat level at a low level. They have never come close to being a disastrous threat, at least for now."

"Being the king of the seas, I feel like I cannot sit back and allow beings like them to threaten the ocean and all those who use it," said Aquaman. "It's true that we won't be staying here forever and will leave after we've dealt with Ocean Master, but so long as we are here, we will do our best to help you fight the Abyssal."

After Batman translated what was said, Nagato said, "We thank you for your willingness to help, but this is our problem, and we ship girls are the best chance against them, so we will handle this ourselves. Furthermore, you have your own problem to deal with here, right? In that case, you should focus on finding this Ocean Master and bring him to justice rather than wasting your time on things that doesn't concern you."

"We're the Justice League, and saving the world is what we do best!" the Flash told her. "It doesn't matter what world we're on; so long as there is trouble, we'll leap into action!"

"Our world needs us, but until then, we will do our best to help you," Batman told her. "We can help each other. That way, we can resolve this problem sooner."

"Great idea! With our powers combined, the Abyssal will never see what's coming to them! I agree that we should work together!" said an enthusiastic Kongou.

"I wouldn't oppose extra help," said Mutsu. "But I still have a hard time believing who these people are..."

"Very well, since you are determined to lend us a hand, we will also do what we can to solve your problem," Nagato said to the league.

"I'm glad we can work together!" Green Lantern said to her, and then they shook hands.

A ship was traveling out at sea, and the people on board were in panic, as they had spotted a group of Abyssal heading in their direction. They sailed as fast as they could away from the Abyssal, and at the same time, they gathered whatever weapon they could find to use against them. Even though it wouldn't help much, at least it was better than nothing.

The Abyssal were closing in on the ship when suddenly something leaped out of the water and onto one of them. It was a Trench. One by one, the Abyssal were attacked by the monstrous Trench when the latter jumped out of the sea suddenly. The pale-skinned women screamed in terror as they got pulled underwater and torn apart, dying the sea with their blue blood. They also tried to fight back, and while they were successful in shooting down some of the Trenches, the latter was for the most part too fast to be shot.

The people on the ship were confused as to what had happened, but they decided that this was the perfect opportunity to escape. Their feeling of safety disappeared when some Trenches climbed up the sides of the ship, however.

What followed was a bloody massacre, and screams filled the ship as the people on board were killed one by one by the Trenches.

TO BE CONTINUED

In my headcanon, ship girls are something like androids. It makes them a lot more interesting than simply people possessed by spirits of ships or spirits taking the form of humans. Hope you agree!