Hey there everybody! Hope y'all are ready for more, because here's a new chapter! In this new chapter, we briefly cut back to Atlantis to see how things are going for the King of Atlantis in their war against Trident and his Trench army. Sound worth a read? I certainly hope so! I also hope you read, review, and enjoy!

A/N: But first, let me remind you that I do not own Teen Titans or anything else explicitly included in DC canon. That being said, onward with the fic!

Chapter 9:

A Last Resort at the Ready

Aquaman slammed his fist on the right armrest of his throne, snarling in frustration. "Blast it all," he growled.

"I take it you are not pleased with the news Topo has given us?"

The king of Atlantis pinched his nose, sighing heavily. "No, I am not."

Over the past two days, Trident and his army of Trench had, as Aquaman had feared, proven quite dangerous and formidable opponents. Naturally, they had so far only continued to be that way for the entirety of the current day. Unfortunately, even Aquaman hadn't fully expected them to turn out to be quite as tough as they'd ultimately turned out to be.

Over the last few days, Trident had rarely done any direct attacking himself. Instead, he'd largely left the heavy lifting to be handled by his Trench army and the naga he now used as a mount. The naga itself also very rarely ever took direct part in the fighting, only coming into action whenever the Atlanteans reached a point where they were making progress in successfully fighting off the Trench warriors and driving them back. But every time the naga did come into the picture, the end result always turned out to be several Atlantean soldiers losing their lives and the rest being forced to pull back from their assault on the Trench warriors and possibly even retreat from whatever position they'd taken before the naga's arrival.

The Trench warriors were hardly any less difficult to deal with, even by their usual standards. Naturally, the fact that they were always fighting in groups added to their formidability; a fact that the Poseidonis soldiers did not find at all surprising. However, what had ultimately caused the Trench to turn out far more difficult to deal with then expected was a strange factor that allowed Aquaman to even now suspect that there was someone else providing some form of unseen aid to Trident.

With every fight that had occurred, Aquaman's forces had started out seemingly with an easy shot at victory. But then, by the end of the first few minutes, the Trench warriors would suddenly glow with an unnerving blood red aura. And from that point onward, the fight would rapidly turn around in their favor as they suddenly gained a massive boost in strength, toughness, and similar athletic attributes while encased in this aura. Every time this happened, the battle always ended with Aquaman's forces being overwhelmed and forced to flee by the practically victorious Trench warriors attacking. And even when it seemed like the Poseidonis soldiers would perhaps pull through and successfully fight off the Trench warriors despite the odds, the Trench warriors would still end up getting the last laugh by receiving unfair aid from Trident's naga.

Halfway through the 2nd day of the conflict, Aquaman had started to grow sick of this humiliation, and had sent his faithful octopus companion Topo to scout behind the enemy lines and see if he could figure out the source of the unexpected powerup. Now, halfway through the 3rd day of conflict, Topo had finally managed to return to the home side with answers. Unfortunately, not only was the answer something that would ultimately prove similarly difficult to overcome, but it had also come at the cost of yet more humiliating forced withdrawals unfolding in the time that had been spent waiting for Topo to return with the information.

As Topo had telepathically revealed to the king of Atlantis upon his return from his spy mission, the unnatural boost in strength and similar physical abilities that the Trench warriors kept receiving were being provided by a corporeal anchor. After various tries, Topo had eventually managed to get in a position that finally allowed him to see undeniable proof and confirmation. He had used his natural camouflage to blend in against a large rock in between the cliff where Trident and his naga mount were positioned and overlooking the conflict and an area where a squadron of Trench warriors and a similarly sized squadron of Poseidonis soldiers would end up fighting.

When the two squadrons of warriors had started fighting, the octopus had initially kept his gaze on the battle, but had turned his head to face Trident's direction upon catching sight of movement from Trident out of the corner of his eyes. As it turned out, Topo had ended up looking in Trident's direction just in time, for the villainous Tritonian had drawn out what looked like a small circular red gem stone and lifted it above his head. Topo had only had a few seconds to wonder what the gem stone was before said gem stone had begun to glow with an unnerving bright red light. Topo's eyes had instantly widened in recognition upon sight of the gem starting to glow, and he'd looked back in the direction of the two battling squadrons just in time for the Trench warriors to become encased in the distinctive aura that he could now see was the exact same shade of red as the aura that had surrounded the gem. From that point onward, the octopus had only continued to stay in the area long enough to verify a final set of details before making his way back to within the city limits of Poseidonis.

Immediately after Topo had broadcast the news to Aquaman, the king's faithful advisor, Nuidis Vulko, who had been present in the throne room alongside him and Mera, had deduced that the gem was being used as a means to channel a strength boosting spell. Unfortunately, as helpful as this information was, it had also revealed even further difficulties for Aquaman's forces to deal with in order to defeat Trident.

Vulko nodded in agreement with his king, and then looked to Mera. "Of the three of us, you are the most knowledgeable when it comes to Atlantean magic. We all know that Trident has no natural magical power of his own. Yet he is channeling a magical item to further his goals right now as we speak. How might that be possible?"

The queen of Atlantis thought to herself, going through everything she remembered from her days of learning Atlantean magic at the academy. "It is true that a single talisman like the one Trident currently appears to have in his possession is capable of being used to channel appropriate spells in the hands of a magic user. However, such a talisman can also be used in such fashion in the hands of one without magic if it is bound through sympathetic magic to another talisman or similar item that already has natural magic stored inside prior to use."

Her husband raised his eyebrow. "Sympathetic magic?"

"It is a form of magic in which the essence of a target is bound to the essence of something else."

The king made a silent 'oh', thought to himself, and then nodded. "I see." He looked back to Mera. "Continue."

"That being the case, in light of how Trident himself, the naga he rides, and the multiple Trench warriors he has fighting for him are the only hostile beings present within the area around Poseidonis, and none of them have the kind of magical power needed for such a spell naturally available within them, it is most likely that your suspicions about them receiving outside aid from an unknown 3rd party are indeed correct Arthur."

Her husband nodded somberly, as did Vulko. "And most likely, whoever this 3rd party providing aid is has holed up somewhere outside the immediate area where the battle is occurring and so is the artifact that Trident's spell channeling talisman is tied to. And with that being the case, and Trident and his immediately present forces keeping us from leaving the immediate area around Poseidonis . . ."

"Then our only viable option right now would be to somehow steal the talisman from Trident and either use it for ourselves, or destroy it." The king sighed. "But of course, that leaves us with the problem of actually getting ahold of the talisman in the first place."

"Which, naturally, leaves us still at square one," said Vulko. "And that's before we consider a certain other matter. This detail may seem minor, but considering how the rune symbol used for spells that involve defense against magical attacks is styled in the form of sea turtle's shell, I strongly suspect that those sea turtle shell images Topo said were tattooed on the chests of the trench warriors in Trident's army could yet prove just as big of a thorn in our side in the near future as that strength boosting talisman."

Aquaman face-palmed, sighing in exhaustion. Vulko had brought up another valid point, and one that, if correct, would indeed make things even more difficult for him and his forces. And the fact that he himself hadn't even noticed that detail without Topo's help did not make him feel any better.

Mera placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Do not despair Arthur, hope is not lost. There may yet be another way."

"If there is, we haven't found it yet." Aquaman shook his head side to side. "And to top it off Garth still hasn't made it back. At this rate, I fear that, even if there is another way available for us without having to pay some sort of high cost, we may yet be running out of time to even find it, let alone use it. And if that is indeed the case, and we don't use some method or other of high cost, we could yet be defeated within the next few days."

"No."

Vulko shook his head, slamming the blunt end of his sharp war scepter on the throne room floor. "We cannot give up now. Especially not you." He pointed his finger at Aquaman. "I didn't spend multiple years of my life teaching and training you in the ways of Atlantis when you were a child just for you to give up now. And I most definitely did not allow myself to be slandered with trumped up accusations of treason just to still be alive as your advisor at a point where you'd willingly allow Orm to look as if he'd have been a stronger and more capable ruler then yourself."

"Vulko is right my love."

Mera nodded her head. "We may win. We may be defeated. But regardless of what happens in the end, we cannot afford to give up hope now, while there may yet still be equal chance of either fate to befall us."

Aquaman looked to his wife, then his advisor, then his wife again, and then nodded as he realized that they both had a valid point. "You are right," he admitted. "Both of you are." He turned his head to face Vulko, an exhausted smile on his face. "What you have now said? Stuff like that allows me to remain thankful that you were indeed still trustworthy enough for me to accept your counsel after my brother's downfall."

The old and grizzled Atlantean advisor let a tired smile of his own come on his face. In the earliest years of Orrin's rule, Vulko had initially served directly as the then newly crowned king's advisor the same way he was now doing this very day until he'd ended up managing to eavesdrop on Orm and several guards on his side plotting to have him killed as the first step in a long and carefully planned scheme to eventually overthrow Orrin.

Vulko, having known full well that he'd have had no chance of surviving what they'd planned for him if he allowed even the slightest chance of him getting caught in it, and not wishing to risk triggering the final step of the plot to early, had chosen to quietly flee from Poseidonis and go into hiding while trusting his former pupil to be able to eventually foil his treacherous brother's plot himself. Orm, naturally, had chosen to turn what would have otherwise been a serious setback back in his favor by using Vulko's unannounced absence as a means to paint him as a traitor. But thankfully, after Orm had finally initiated the final stages of his coup and ultimately been defeated, Orrin had recalled the search parties Orm had arranged to go looking for Vulko and relayed the message of pardoning to his old teacher through telepathic communications with various sea creatures. And since his return, Vulko had only continued to prove exactly as reliable as he'd been since before his temporary departure.

Mera smiled as she too remembered Vulko's temporary departure. Much like her husband, she was all too happy that the ever so reliable old advisor had truly not been the traitor that Orm had tried to paint him as and ultimately been able to return home after the entire mess with Orm and the doomsday reactor had been dealt with.

Aquaman nodded his head one more time, and then cleared his throat. "All that in mind," he began as he began to rise from his throne, "we shall continue fighting as we are for now. With luck, either Garth will return alive in time to help, and possibly even bring aid with him, or we will find a way to adequately defeat Trident and his forces without Garth, and preferably one without having to pay an uncomfortably high cost." He paused, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Nevertheless, I now believe it is best that I tell you of an idea I have at the ready that would truly come at a high cost, but will only use if there is truly no other option left."

Mera and Vulko looked each other in the eyes, and then back at Arthur. "A last resort you say?" Vulko asked. "What exactly do you have in mind for such a situation?"

Aquaman took another deep breath. "Before I went to sleep the final night before this conflict began, I was able to successfully call in a last ditch form of backup. An entire small pod of Joppa whales are on standby within a cave several miles to the west of Poseidonis awaiting my call right now as we speak."

At the sound of this information, Mera's eyes widened, and Vulko seemed to turn white. "Joppa whales?" Vulko asked. "Surely you cannot be serious?"

"I'm afraid I am."

Mera and Vulko looked each other in the eyes. Even by the standards of most sea monsters, Joppa whales were not to be taken lightly. Just a single Joppa whale alone had both the power and the ferocity to send at least five battleships to the bottom of the ocean at once without any survivors. The only individual known to have directly battled one and come out as the victor was the legendary surface dwelling hero known as Perseus, and even he had only managed to do so with help from a magical pair of sandals given to him by the god Hermes and the decapitated head of the gorgon Medusa herself. The same ferocity that these beasts were renowned for also made it very rare for more than one to be together in the same area outside of mating season. Even with the telepathy and apparent affinity for sea creatures that Aquaman had, it would almost certainly take Herculean level of luck to keep even one under control, and he'd now claimed to have secured aid from an entire small pod.

Mera looked back at her husband. "You said you have secured the aid from a small pod. How small exactly is this pod?"

"There are exactly 10 Joppa whales awaiting my signal."

"10?" Vulko gulped, and then shook his head as if to get his thoughts back together. "This is already sounding even worse than I thought." He looked back at his king. "True, a pod that size would definitely be more than enough to devastate Trident's forces and send any that miraculously manage to survive fleeing. But the sheer savagery of the resulting attack they'd unleash would be enough to potentially put the entire city of Poseidonis in ruins." He frowned as he thought of another unpleasant detail. "And I have a bad feeling that not even that would be enough to discourage Trident from coming right back immediately after the Joppa whales have finished their attack and departed back from whence they came."

"Indeed." The king nodded. "But I already have something planned with that in mind." He opened his eyes. "In the event that I call upon the Joppa whales, I plan to have the entirety of the city evacuated and placed into safe hiding within the very same cave that the whales are currently using as their temporary dwelling. And once everyone is safe in there and the cave is sufficiently hidden via glamour to keep Trident and his forces from finding them, I plan to make my way posthaste straight to the nearest altar of Atlan. And upon arrival, I plan to call upon my final trump card that will almost certainly put a stop to Trident's terror upon Atlantis for good."

This new information, surprisingly enough, was enough to leave Mera and Vulko even more stunned. "You're saying that . . ." Mera began.

"Yes," her husband confirmed. "In the event that things truly get bad enough for me to have to invoke this last resort, I intend to call upon the Karathen."

It took all of Vulko's willpower not to scream. "You do realize what you are saying, right? Yes, I know that this could yet qualify as a situation where we may yet truly need her aid if it worsens sufficiently enough. And yes, it is quite guaranteed that she'd win against Trident and whatever forces he might be able to scrounge up following the Joppa whale attack you have planned for him to undergo prior to summoning her. But the simple fact is, even a victory through her would cause untold damage. Even the furthest of the other six Atlantean city states would feel the shockwaves, regardless of whether the battle is able to stay contained within the area that the Karathen would appear in upon being summoned. And who knows how much drama we'd have to deal with to get things back in order once the whole mess is finished and the Karathen has returned to her home afterword."

"Indeed." Aquaman nodded his head, sighed, and then directed his gaze straight into the eyes of his queen and advisor. "Which is precisely why, even now, I once again hope more than anything that I won't reach the point that enacting this last resort plan will truly prove necessary."

At this point, Mera and Vulko looked at each other one more time, then back at Aquaman, and then nodded reluctantly. As one, the three high ranking Atlantean figures turned their head to face the doorway to the throne room, the sound of conflict ringing from outside and clearly heard by them even from within their current location. At this point, it sunk in just how much was now at stake. Even now, they all had no choice but to hope that things could yet turn around in their favor before it reached the point that they'd truly have no other choice then to enact the truly last ditch doomsday-level plan that Aquaman had currently decided necessary to keep on standby.

And just like that, another chapter done! I really hope you enjoyed this new chapter and that you leave plenty of feedback (remember, an exact minimum of one review is required for this new chapter before I can allow for the next completed chapter to be posted). I also hope you think I did a good job so far in incorporating Vulko and Topo. Admittedly, Vulko never appeared in the CN DCAU as far as I am aware (single appearance in the comics based off JLU notwithstanding), but I just had to include him after seeing him in the Aquaman movie and finding out just how huge of a role he plays on the Atlantis/Aquaman side of DC comics. Hope I came up with a sufficient/appropriate spin to cover his not being around to stop the events of the DCTTAU version of the JL episode of the same name as this story. Furthermore, I also hope that you are happy to know that Topo is at least in existence in the DCTTAU (as far as my fanfiction and I are concerned at least) and will be willing to see him make a physical appearance I plan for him to make later in this story. And speaking of Topo, quick bit of trivia for those who were introduced to him via the YJ cartoon. In the comics, he's not a humanoid with an octopus for a head. In the comics, he's a 100% octopus. Granted, his incarnation from the New 52 was more like a kraken-like beast. But before the New 52, he was an ordinary octopus who served as a loyal ally to Aquaman (and he may very well have reverted back to his old ordinary octopus incarnation as of Rebirth). In fact, remember that drum playing octopus in the Aquaman movie? That octopus was, at the very least, a nod to Topo (if not actually Topo himself!). All that in mind, yeah, it looks right now like Atlantis is in a real fix. Trident appears to mysteriously have magical aid on his side despite not being capable of naturally wielding magic himself, and is using that aid to boost the power of his Trench army (and could yet end up allowing them to have boosted resilience to magical attacks). It's even now reaching the point that, if things get bad enough for Atlantis, Aquaman could yet be at risk of calling upon the effective (but also rather destructive) aid from both a pod of the same species of sea monster that (in this universe anyway) nearly ate Andromeda before being killed by Perseus AND from the Karathen! Can the Titans make it to Atlantis in time to help and stop such a last ditch scenario from unfolding? And for that matter, one might also notice how there is absolutely ZERO mention of a certain messenger squad. Did something bad happen to said squad? Or was there never such a squad even sent in the first place? Sounds suspicious, does it not? All that said, once again, I hope you all enjoyed, and that you leave plenty of feedback!

Coming up Next: We return to the Titans in time for Aqualad to do some late night investigating to figure out just what (if anything) their supposed current allies might be hiding from them. What will he find over the course of his investigation? Find out next time!

P.S: Bearhow, I apologize in advance for not including any scenes with Tula in this chapter. I genuinely considered doing so after how much you expressed a desire for more scenes of her after what you saw of her in the last chapter to focus on Aquaman. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I found myself unable to find a way to fit her in this chapter that felt organic as opposed to just shoehorning her in. Hopefully, the scenes where she appears later in this story that I already had planned will be enough to satisfy your desire to see more Tula.