Chapter 3 Aquaman's tale

After Shawn left the room, Batman sat thinking to himself. I can't help but feel sorry for them. After all, we share some of the same history. A mugging, gone wrong. He sighed, a little more audibly than he realized, because Diana looked at him.

"Something wrong, Bruce?" she asked in a tone only audible to him. He shook his head almost imperceptibly. She nodded and turned back to the conversation, Aquaman had begun to talk.

"The prophecy was something I considered a load of mud, until I was flipping through a baby name book the other day. Myra needed my opinion on a name she'd picked out for the new baby. I flipped idly through the 's' section, and came across the name Shane. It meant 'beautiful'. Something clicked, as you main landers would put it. I turned to Shawn. It meant 'Jehovah gave'. Then all the details of the old prophecy came back." Aquaman pulled a slip of paper out of his belt and read it aloud.

"When Land meets the Edge of the Sea, the skies opened and Jehovah gave Beauty. Uniting shadows with light ,together they will save the world, in only one way; thru destruction."

Aquaman looked at the League's puzzled faces. Only Batman's showed his usual dark glower.

"Don't you see?!! Their mother's name was Marina, it means 'Edge of the Sea'. Their father's surname was Lance, it means 'Land'. You can't all possibly be so blind to this!"

Batman blinked, thinking carefully. "It could just be an old wives' tale." Aquaman started to protest loudly, but Batman kept going. "Let's just suppose that it is true. Tell me how two kids could destroy the world, while we are here to save it?"

Superman looked at Batman. This wasn't like him. Usually, he was all action, all facts and logic. This was just - optimistic.

At this moment, Flash, Shane, and Shawn walked back in. They looked from one face to the other, confusion clear on their faces.

"Did we miss something? You're all looking at us strangely." Shawn said, his gaze flickering over to his uncle.

"Not really," John said. "We were just talking."

"Yeah," Shawn muttered. "About us."

"How was that?" John asked.

Shawn shook his head. "Nothing."

Shane took his arm. "Shawn, keep your head. They're entitled to their opinion. Free speech and all that jazz." she blinked at her brother as he looked at her.

They went to sit on their still-vacant seats. On the way, Shane stumbled and fell against her twin.

He caught her arm and helped her into a seat. "Hey, you ok?"

She shook her head. "I feel - dry, I guess. I don't know why. Just felt funny for a second. I'm fine."

Shane's uncle had walked over, and looked at her with concern. "Dry, you said? Like your skin is a little less hydrated than usual?" She nodded weakly. Aquaman turned to Superman. "Do you still have the water tank you put in for me to use when I visited? She needs water. Now."

Flash was the one to answer. "Yeah, we've still got it. So she needs to get in it? Is that it?" Aquaman nodded pertly.

Flash went over to Shane. "Mind if I carry you? It'll be quicker than walking." he asked her softly.

"No, go ahead." When he picked her up, she put her arms tiredly around his neck. Shawn blinked at this. But he agreed, faster was better.

As soon as he had a good grip on her, Flash took off running. He didn't use the elevator, the stairs were quicker for him.

When they got to the room that housed the large, deep pool, Flash bent to drop her in. "No, wait. I can't swim in this, it'll shrink."

Flash looked at her like he couldn't believe where this was going. "But what else is there to wear?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Do I look like I wear the same outfit all the time?" Shane fumbled with a zipper at her throat. As the jumpsuit came off, Flash realized she wore a swimsuit underneath. A pretty one-piece light lilac swimsuit.

Shane dove into the pool gracefully, and swam to the very bottom. Flash had gone to the observation room a level below. That room housed all the water temperature controls, the obstacle course controls, a thermometer and other random gadgets. Flash watched Shane swim through the glass window that looked out into the pool. He leaned his elbow on the control booth. Unbeknownst to him, his elbow rested on a button and pressed.

A small green LED flashed on and off, and Flash, watching Shane, didn't see it. The water temperature began to rise.


I tried, I REALLY did, to keep Batman in character!! Don't hate me and don't sue me. I don't have any money. lol