"Mister Wayne."
Bruce, standing at the bow of the stealth speedboat armed with automated navigation, turned back to look at Claire, who was looking down at the sleek, dark blue tactical suit she wore, and noticed the confused look on her face.
"You really went all in, huh? Included me in the group costume and everything."
"Next year we're going as the Ninja Turtles!" Barry piped in, albeit looking slightly pale while he was slightly leaning over the railing... just in case. Barry was not a fan of these ocean trips.
"Just tell us if it looks like we're getting close," Bruce replied dismissively, though there was a near-quirk of the corner of his mouth upward. as he turned away. "You know these waters a little better than the rest of us."
"We're getting closer to something," Diana called out from the enclosed cockpit area of the sleek boat, her eyes planted on the multiple display screens in front of her. "We've been tracking this frequency since we left land and it's getting stronger."
"So, I have a question," Barry said. "Why didn't we bring... you know, the big guns?"
It was an obvious question to ask. Why of all people was Clark Kent - Superman - the one absent from this gathering of heroes? Bruce tensed visibly. The deep nuances that still existed in this alliance of heroes were, they all knew, something that would ultimately need to be addressed, but the response to this was always to put it off. But, they all wondered, until when? Would the outcome of what amounted to a fight for the survival of the world really be driven by Bruce Wayne's pride?
"I don't think we'll have any shortage of chances for Superman to flex the big guns," Claire quipped. "We're getting close - this place looks familiar."
Claire had, admittedly, seen a lot of these waters in her time as a ward of Arthur Curry and a fledgling with her abilities. She had seen them in daylight, at night, and everything in between, and she knew when something felt unusual. Something about the waters felt... disturbed. She glanced over at Diana and Victor, and the three shared a meaningful glance knowing that they were more sensitive to these differences than the others.
"Alright, Little Mermaid, you and Her Highness are our best swimmers. Get down to Arthur, scope out why he sent the call for help - we'll watch your back from up here," Victor said as he and Diana approached the side of the boat. To exhibit his readiness, he readied the cybernetic extensions on his arms equipped with sound canons. Claire gulped slightly at being paired with Diana. Wonder Woman. A literal goddess.
"No pressure. Great," Claire said with a weak chuckle, stretching her arms and shoulder and glancing at Diana. "Ready when you are."
Both taking the plunge into the cold ocean, Claire found herself immediately forcing herself to swim faster than she was accustomed to, both to keep up with the metahuman next to her and to keep her limbs from fully feeling the frigid water around her. Deeper and deeper they dove, swerving through rocks and marine life, with Claire following slightly behind, unsure of what they were looking for. For all her familiarity with these waters, she admittedly knew very little about actually finding Atlantis.
She would soon learn, however, that for a secret kingdom below the sea, it was surprisingly easy to know when you had found it. Rounding the corner of an accumulation of marine plant life and stone, Claire's gaze was met by what looked fully like a complete city, lit up and sprawling and not under the water at all but visibly glowing as though protected by some kind of shield, or encased in glass. Standing at the end of what appeared to be a bridge was Arthur, who appeared to be waiting for them.
He raised his hand as if to summon them over, and Diana gestured in greeting as she swam, but as Claire moved to do the same, a blur of black jetted past them on one side - another soon followed, and another, until they realized that it was a half-dozen strange masses of black that had darted past them towards the entryway to Atlantis, ramming against the barrier while Arthur, with his abilities, raised his hands so a wall of force in the water held the assailants at bay.
Without hesitation, both Diana and Claire jetted forward as quickly as they could to engage with the creatures, along with a flurry of other - Atlantians approaching to come to Arthur's aid - to engage with the creatures. When they drew near enough, it became more clear what these things were: grotestque, black-armored creatures with sleek blade-like wings and features that looked part-human, part-insect with bright red eyes.
Engaging underwater proved a disadvantage, even for individuals of Diana and Claire's superhuman strength, and even their breath was beginning to run short. There was a sudden rumbling set of violent ripples through the water coming from a bright glow on the surface, visible even at their depth, and when they were blasted aside, they knew that Victor had taken a chance, firing a targeted sonic blast through the water in their direction. The handful of winged creatures were struck violently by the blast, slammed against the stone formations around them, and motionlessly, they sank to the bottom. Diana and Claire, feeling that they could finally stay underwater no longer, made a mad rush for the surface, seeing the surface draw nearer and nearer. The sound of the voices of the others on the boat became audible, first as a low incomprehensible rumble, and finally, as they broke the surface, loud and clear.
Clearly exhausted from the engagement, they tread water briefly while Barry jumped into the water to help the pair of women back onto the boat.
"What are those things?"
"You can call them Auntie if you want, I don't think it matters," Claire said, pulling herself out of the water and back onto the boat and falling onto her back on the deck next to Barry, who was also pulling himself over the railing, sopping wet. Markedly more short of breath than Diana, who appeared recovered and composed again almost immediately, Claire grimaced as she panted to catch her breath again, squeezing the water out of her hair. "They just showed up out of nowhere. I don't see what these things want from Atlan -"
But Claire froze when Arthur emerged from the ocean surface on a pillar of water, holding a familiar object that caused her quickly recoil when immediately she recognized it. A Mother Box. There was a palpable rise in tension with all eyes on Arthur Curry and the object in his hands as he joined them on the deck of Bruce Wayne's boat.
"You... you've had that thing all along?" Claire stammered, her eyes fixated on the Mother Box, unable to help herself from feeling a deep sense of discomfort even looking at another one. "I can't -"
But before she could finish, Bruce had taken a few menacing steps forward so he stood toe to toe with Arthur, his jaw clenched in anger. "You've kept that goddamn thing from us knowing that half of the galaxy is willing to blow this entire planet to bits over it?" he snarled. "For what? For power? Because you wanted -"
Before his tirade could continue, Bruce too was interrupted by a lance-like projectile of water knocking him backwards, away from Arthur, and the red-haired woman known as Mera emerged from the sea as well, stopping gracefully on the deck. "For our son," she said, her upper lip curling slightly in disgust. "He was ill, and weak, and whatever that thing is, it kept him alive -"
"So why be honest now? Why come out with it now?" Bruce roared, leaping back to his feet apparently unswayed. "Why not keep it a thousand leagues under the fu-"
"Because they didn't have a choice. Did you?"
Victor's deep voice boomed over the growing ruckus, causing things to fall still. He glanced over at Diana first, who drew in a breath as though somehow, just the glance from Victor caused her to understand as well.
"Those creatures were able to trace the Energy from the Mother Box because it was no longer being consumed. The Energy had nowhere else to go..." Diana's voice trailed off as she looked over and locked eyes with Mera, walking over and gently grasping both of the woman's forearms. "What has happened to your son?"
"He... he..."
Mera's eyes flooded with tears that she quickly wiped away, replacing her anguished expression with one of rage. "The Black Manta is responsible for what has happened to my son, and as payment for delivering this thing to you, Arthur and I demand the opportunity to make him pay," she hissed. "Take this thing and do what you want with it."
But the woman quickly departed, no doubt to return to their own kingdom under the sea before she could be further interrogated about their loss, and no one felt it necessary to pry further. There was a brief silence as they stared amongst one another, processing the new developments.
"We have to destroy it," Bruce immediately replied.
"Destroy it? Do you even remember what it took to destroy a half-functioning one last time?" Barry chimed in. "What are we gonna -"
There was a shrill, shriek-like noise as again, one of the strange winged creatures that had been attacking the underground city earlier seemed to appear out of nowhere, diving towards the Mother Box in Arthur's hand. Immediately, the team sprang into action - the Mother Box was sudden, in a blur of bright red, transported across the boat to the other side, while with a forceful gesture, Arthur caused a column of water to rise and meet the creature, knocking it out of the sky, only to see when the seaspray settled that a practical army of others was descending upon them.
"Barry!" Claire called out, and reflexively, he handed off the Mother Box to her as she dove back into the water, where the creatures were considerably slower and she, considerably faster, able to keep the Mother Box out of reach while the team kept the creatures occupied. However, as she watched the dark, blurred silhouettes above the surface of the water continue to engage, another large shadow - another boat, moving quickly, approached the scene. Unsure of what it meant, Claire again swam up to the surface, and was greeted by the sight of a familiar speedboat, and a pair of familiar faces - Lex Luthor, and what appeared to be his henchman, Leonard Snart, who lurked silently at the controls.
"What a coincidence," Lex smirked, nonplussed by the sight of the metahumans being attacked by the dark winged creatures. "All of us at the same party again, what a trip! I see the Parademons are giving you a rough time -"
"We don't have time for you, Luthor," Bruce snarled, dodging the attack of another of the creatures. "Why don't you -"
There was a loud, vicious crackling sound, and a strange object like an electrified bolo shot out from a blaster gun that Lex produced from his coat, wrapping around the neck of one of the creatures and bringing it to the ground.
"Now, now," he said, wiggling the finger of his free hand chidingly. "I wouldn't speak that way to someone who only came to help. Metahumans or not, I imagine the Parademons will prove to be a handful."
"Parademons?" Barry asked. Lex merely smirked and tapped his index finger to his temple - this, it was evident, was one of the many things buried in his mind that he had learned from his time on the Kryptonian ship. There was no time to dwell on the implications either, however, when the same sound amplified tenfold echoed through the sky, piercing the cool evening. When they looked up, they saw a flurry of the winged creatures diving in their direction now that the Mother Box was in the open.
Barry and Claire locked eyes briefly, and the strategy was understood - he went into motion in a blur of bright red while Claire darted and dove to the other end of the boat, her arms clutched close to her chest as the creatures divebombed straight for her - a pair of loud booms shook the boat and the waters around them as Victor shot two sonic booms at the creatures that had Claire outnumbered. As they drew near, Claire turned and leveraged her momentum, kicking off of the side of the boat to meet one of the parademons in the sky striking it straight in the chest, knocking it backwards out of the sky.
As Claire and the creature fell to the ground, she revealed that she was in fact no longer holding the Mother Box - Barry had taken it from her, and while the Parademons were all concentrated in one space, the others engaged with them. Finally materializing after circling the perimeter above water, Barry handed the Mother Box off to Arthur, who in turn dove down with it underwater.
Three of the remaining creatures dove down with Arthur, and the team on the surface looked down, unsure of what to do next - the waters, no doubt influenced by Arthur's powers, grew violent with waves and almost impossible to see down into, let alone swim in. Diana hurried back to the controls to try and keep the small boat stable.
"He's outnumbered down there -" Claire began, holding onto the side of the now violently rocking ship. "We have to -"
"He's got all of Atlantis when he's down there -"
"But he needs to get there first," Claire retorted at Bruce, her brow furrowing.
"And he better do it quick - look!" Barry said, gesturing at the water where they were greeted with yet again another strange sight: a huge number of dead fish beginning to float to the surface of the violent waves. Diana's face looked immediately concerned, and it took Claire a moment to realize why. But she knew this area, these waters and the islands that surrounded it. There were small offshoot islands, small coastal fishing towns not too far from where they were. Killing off the fish would destroy them. THe violent waves, if they kept this up, would decimate their homes.
There was a loud splash, and suddenly, a lone Parademon burst to the surface with a loud shriek yet again, shooting up into the sky and flapping violently with a clearly injured wing. Arthur Curry, looking enraged, quickly followed to the surface, and a quick glance between the two figures confirmed their fears: the Parademon had managed to get the Mother Box away from him.
"Victor!" Bruce roared. "Shoot that thing out of the -"
"No! Don't fire - pull back!" Diana roared over the winds. "It's too dangerous -"
"We can't let them have the Mother Box -"
"Innocent people are going to be hurt, pull back!" Diana again bellowed over Bruce's resistance, and after a moment of tense, tight-jawed glaring, he lowered the aim of the weapon, stepping back resentfully. They all stood gathered on the black speedboat, staring up at the sky as the Parademons made away with the spoils of their victory, an ominous disappointment settling over them. They had lost, and had done so at what had to have been the worst possible time.
"We gotta take the L," Victor said, shaking his head. "We need to figure out what else we can do to stop Darkseid -"
"The Anti-Life Equation."
Now, it was both Lex and Claire who spoke up in unison from the decks of each separate boat, with the others glancing back and forth between them. Claire cleared her throat and was the first to continue. "I remember something. Something I heard," she nodded, drawing up a memory from the seldom-discussed time during which her body was a vessel for Darkseid - one that seemed to have been buried until now, when it was something she was actively trying to retrieve. "Once he has the Anti-Life Equation, he can't be stopped."
"This again? What kind of Math is Power hooey is this?" Barry asked. "The Anti-Life Equation?"
"It's some sort of ancient mathematical statement that proves that life is meaningless and futile."
"It sounds like all of the emo bands I listened to in junior high."
"Well, if My Chemical Romance has helped you enslave entire planets, then by all means, show us how it's done, Barry."
"Just trying to lighten the mood..."
Bruce couldn't help but smirk at the tension between the pair, knowing that it was good-natured and how very secretly, he hoped that it would last even if only to leave a modicum of normalcy as they began their descent into what he knew would be perhaps the most difficult fight of their lives. The glimmer of levity, however, was short-lived as he stepped into the center of the group.
"I don't think there's anything left for us to do here. We head home, we try to see how close Darkseid is to finding this Equation..." he began. "Then..."
"Then we save the world," Diana supplied, catching the hesitation in Bruce's voice. He paused, locked eyes with her, and nodded.
"Then we save the world."
"Wonderful. Brilliant, concrete planning from my favorite heroes. Glad we've got all that squared away," Lex quipped with a smirk, making a show of dusting off his hands before locking eyes with one person in particular. "Claire," he said, raising his eyebrows gently. "Shall we?"
There was a long pause, during which Claire could meet no one's eyes, angry in the pit of her stomach that Lex would choose this moment to put her in this position. But the pair of them knew that this was a crucial point, a crossroads. This would be the moment she could prove that she could be one of the heroes, that she could fulfill the mission set before her, and at the end of the day still have a choice where or whom she called home.
Didn't I tell you before that playing both sides this way would be a bad idea? Claire remembered Bruce Wayne roaring at her. Didn't I tell you that you couldn't keep this up?
But, just as Claire had insisted in that moment, she knew that now was the moment she could prove to them that she always had a choice.
"Coming," Claire said, jogging off to join Lex on his boat, back to Metropolis, leaving the crew of metahumans led by Bruce Wayne speechless... yet somehow unsurprised.
"...and the girl saved the day and ran off with Carrot Top, the end."
"Barry!"
A/N's
Hey everyone! Guess who's back! I know it has been an extremely long time, and I hope some of you are still around. It has definitely been some hectic times, but I finally wanted to circle back and continue this story. I am feeling a little rusty and just regaining my bearings. But, I do want to get back into things because we are drawing close to the really fun stuff in this story arc. I had mixed feelings about including Mera, and needed to imagine a non-movie version of her for her cameo for reasons I will not discuss here, but there will be further exploration of what she hinted at happening to their child as well! (Or, at least, I have it planned for a later chapter!)
In the next chapter, we will learn more about the Parademons and the Anti-Life Equation, which I am super excited to finally dive more into! Until next time, cheers!
