It had been some time since Green Lantern's trial with the rest of the League having now been informed of Tobirama's encounter with Koriand'r after they had arrived back home. It was then that Kori had told the heroes the full story of how she had arrived on Earth. She spoke of her coming from a planet named Tamaran where she is the second daughter of three in the royal family with her older sister Komand'r as the first in line of succession, however her sister was unfortunately crippled by a childhood illness which robbed her of the ability to convert ultraviolet light into flight energy and so had lost the right to become queen with Starfire being handed the right. Sometime later, they were taken to be trained by a group called the Warriors of Okaara in the arts of combat but Komand'r ran away in the middle of their training only to return years later as an ally of their people's enemy, the bloodthirsty race known only as the Gordanians who were able to easily invade Tamaran due to the information provided to them by Komand'r. The Tamaraneans fought back with everything they had but it was a losing battle with their numbers dwindling and close to complete annihilation, Starfire's father King Myand'r made the bitter decision of offering her to the Gordanian slavers as a way of a truce to spare his people from extinction.

She then went on to say how she had to endure six years of torture and sexual abuse until she and Komand'r were handed over to a group of sadistic scientists called the Psions who performed deadly experiments to see how much energy a Tamaranean can absorb before exploding from overload just to sate their sick curiosity. During the procedure, forces loyal to Komand'r broke into the Psion ship to free her. Starfire took the Psion's distraction as the opportunity to break out of her bonds with use of her newly discovered destructive blasts of solar energy called starbolts as a result of the experiment, she sought to free her sister who was in the same situation, but instead of being grateful Komand'r actually struck her down with similar but stronger starbolts and had her restrained to be executed later. Despite this, she was able to find a way to escape from her captors through brute strength alone and managed to find a way to Earth.

Needless to say, everyone was shocked and disgusted at this. Hashirama clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white, feeling utterly livid at such a betrayal between siblings. Tobirama kept his emotions in check but inside, he felt nothing but rage. Diana and Hawkgirl were angered at how she had been maltreated and betrayed by her own sister, Flash and Superman weren't happy in the least bit, J'onn's eyes glowed in silent anger, and Batman was as stoic as usual.

"This is going to be a problem if the Citadel were to find out that she's here on earth and would try to get her back and let's not forget about her sister out to get her too," said Green Lantern.

"As far as I can tell, Starfire returning home would render the truce null and void for those creeps to attack her people. So all we need to do is have her stay here incognito and problem solved," said Flash.

"It's not as simple as that Flash, we could face a potential threat even greater than that of the Imperium if the Citadel were to learn of her presence here,"

"Then we just have to make that they don't know she's here, and we would be prepared for them if they do find out. She's safer with us here than anywhere else," said Hawkgirl.

"Even so, we would need someone to keep an eye on her most of the time. I feel that my former partner Nightwing and his team the Titans can help Koriand'r adjust to life on Earth as they are the same age as her, but we would also need to set up an identity for her," said Batman.

"I am alright with that," said Tobirama with Koriand'r smiling happily at him, she was feeling rather nervous about all this but is now joyful at how many want to help her "Me and my brother can also teach her how we do things around here,"

"Then that settles it, we'll be leaving her in the Titans' care though we will be checking in from time to time," said Superman, getting nods of approval from the rest of the League.

"Thank you very much for your kindness, I will never forget what you all have done for me," said Koriand'r while bowing to them.

"No need for thanks, we're more than happy to help," said Wonder Woman with a sisterly smile.

"Yeah, what she said!" Flash spoke up with a smirk.

Afterwards Koriand'r took the time to get to know the heroes while Hashirama and Tobirama both had a small talk with Batman and Superman concerning a few things and also vouched for the alien princess's story due to the Second Hokage's own ability to detect lies which links to negative emotions. Hashirama also brought up the topic of whether Wonder Woman has a civilian identity to get around, Batman offered to create one for her as well as another for Kori which will be ready in a couple of days. Hawkgirl and Diana were having a conversation with Kori and learnt that she was well trained in terms of combat which perked their desire to spar with her in good time. Of course Flash was trying many ways to impress her which was nothing more than baby steps in his case.

Several Days Later

Deep in the ocean over a rough stormy day…

A US submarine was currently on a routine scanning patrol of the ocean floor. This sub however was no ordinary naval combat vessel. It was one of the submarines tasked with carrying a small but no less lethal array of nuclear armed missiles used for intercontinental attacks. The sub captain knew that this was a new patrol route that he had been assigned to but he was hoping that this trip would not become a major pain in the ass…and just be another mission run even if they were in international waters though this was a new path selected by the head honchos back home.

However, his hopes were going to be proven false as one of his crew, a sonar operations officer called it in.

"Con-Sonar, I am picking up an incoming contact."

"Out here? Do we have any idea who it is?"

The officer listened and was quickly surprised by the fact that the sonar signature…DID NOT match any signature that was recorded in the US Navy records.

"Negative sir! Unknown contact's sonar signature is not known on records!"

Any other comment was thrown out the window as they now found themselves under attack as the unknown ship rammed them. The Captain immediately orders all hands to man battle stations and to send word of the sudden and unprovoked attack by unknown hostiles.

Outside of the sub, the other submersibles come into view, and it's perfectly clear that the subs were NOT built by any of the known navies in the world itself. Their designs were utterly different and they were not alone as human like figures were seen moving along with what resembled jet-skies though these moved in water.

Normally any human without some form of personal protection or in a submersible would have died from the sheer pressure and lack of oxygen in such depths. These people on the other hand had no problem dealing with both and seemed to be more at home in the environment that they were now in.

And for good reason…they were not human…but Atlanteans.

In the main vessel, the Atlantean crews worked on their consoles as a shadowy figure who sat in what obviously was the command chair of the vessel looked on. Soon it was clear that they were going to deal with the vessel without even bothering to state their intentions. The commander however was pleased to hear one of the officer's speak.

"The surface ship has been disabled your highness."

"Good, then let them sink."

However, the call had managed to make it through to the surface and backup was on the way.

The Watchtower

Tobirama Senju was back in the Watchtower, sitting on the bridge level learning more about the culture and history of this world.

Suddenly, the sound of beeping and the Watchtower raising a notification alarm got the Hokage's attention. He got up and quickly got to the terminal and control panels. The doors behind him opened and in came Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern.

"Tobirama? What is it?" Superman asked as he flew towards him to help out in the panels, along with Diana and Lantern.

"Looks like a radio call?" Tobirama said, unsure of what to do at the terminal.

"Here let me." Superman said, Tobirama stepped aside and let the Man of Steel to respond to deal with the control panels.

"It's from a nuclear sub. It's under attack." Green Lantern said. "We have to go."

"Sub?" Tobirama asked.

"A Submarine. Deep in the oceans." Green Lantern explained.

"I'm betting Aquaman may have something to do with this if it is that deep underwater." Superman added.

"Aquaman?" Combating deep underwater was not something that Tobirama had done too often in his previous life, but right now there were other matters he had to attend to. Such as gathering more intelligence.

"Maybe I will stay here. I will let you know if something else happens." Tobirama suggested.

"Alright, we can handle things from here. Keep us informed Tobirama." Wonder Woman said.

"I wish you all the best of luck." The old shinobi nodded and then the other three heroes headed for the Javelin, leaving the Senju back on the bridge.

"Aquaman huh?" Tobirama tried to search up the name within the Watchtower's database, all the information about this 'Aquaman' was brought up on screen, with information provided by both Superman and Batman.

"Arthur Curry. King of Atlantis?" Tobirama raised an eyebrow as he continued reading. "Atlantis. A city deep in the Atlantic Ocean, with its people, the powerful water breathing Atlanteans."

The likes of Amegakure and Kirigakure may have been villages in the rain and mist, but a city deep in the ocean with its people being able to literally breathe under water? This new development just made this whole world a lot more interesting for the Second Hokage.

Some Time Later

It wasn't too long before the notification alarm sounded off again as Tobirama quickly rushed back to the terminal.

"Tobirama?" He heard Superman's voice through the com link. "Do you hear me, Tobirama?"

"Superman." The younger Senju responded. "I am here."

"Anything happened while we're gone?" Superman asked.

"No, not at all." Tobirama answered.

"That's good. Tobirama, we're in the Javelin closing in on the Watchtower, we are now opening the hanger bay." Wonder Woman's voice came into the com.

"Very well." Tobirama answered and waited for them to come up soon. After about a minute or so, the doors behind him. He turned to see the three League members coming back from their mission.

"Hello everyone." Tobirama greeted them.

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern flew in to join the shinobi, but Superman hung back, where he was on the phone explaining to the military why they left the submarine behind when they rescued the crew members.

"What has happened?" Tobirama asked.

"A nuclear sub got hit by Atlantean army, apparently for getting too close to Atlantis." Green Lantern explained, his face clearly showed he was not too fond of the encounter.

Wonder Woman then added. "We got the crew out but the vessel still remained there."

"Yeah, along with the nuclear weapons stored in there." Green Lantern said.

"I understand your concerns admiral but there was nothing that we could do, lives were at stake." Superman explained on the phone.

"The Admiral's right! We never should have left that sub down there. Now it's in the hands of that madman." Green Lantern states still very much upset that they left the submarine behind.

"Aquaman's no madman. He's a king. He only wants to preserve and protect his own kind." Wonder Woman said being from a royal background she understood where Aquaman was coming from.

"So who's going to protect us from him?" Green Lantern questions still not convinced that this was a good idea.

"You know it's very dangerous to treat a ruler of a foreign nation as if he was some common criminal." Hashirama stated rather forcefully surprising the League besides Tobirama who weren't expecting to see him.

"Hashirama? I thought you were still busy in Los Angeles?" Superman says in surprise after he had finally managed to get off the phone.

"I had some personal business to take care of." The elder Senju explained. "It sounds like you all had an interesting day."

"Had to rescue a navy crew from a sinking submarine." Superman explained.

"While leaving the nuclear submarine behind." Green Lantern says forcefully glaring.

"There was nothing we could do we had to save the crew! That's what we went there to do." Superman states glaring back at him.

"We could have fought for it!" Green Lantern gave the last word in before walking away, leaving the rest of heroes shaking their heads.

"Now Green Lantern has left the Watchtower," Wonder Woman asked Tobirama. "What do you think he is going to do?"

"Knowing him, he's probably going to something very rash like seeing if the Atlanteans did anything to sabotage the submarine." The Second Hokage answered with a look of disapproval on his face.

"That's only going to aggravate Aquaman." Wonder Woman said. "Should we go after him? Or at least go with him?"

"No." A voice got their attention and they turned to see Batman coming up to them. "Let's see if he can get any information out of his search." Batman said. "It would settle a question I have in mind."

"Batman? When did you get here?" Wonder Woman asked, a little surprised he came out of nowhere.

"Moments ago. Saw John leaving on the way." Batman stated.

"You think Aquaman's going to negotiate for peace at the World Assembly like I've advised him to?" Superman asked them.

"If he does, it most likely won't be a fruitful negotiation, considering what he would ask." Batman gave a blunt answer.

"And then, distrust will grow." Hashirama spoke up, "These…nuclear weapons sound rather important."

"It is, they are very dangerous in the wrong hands and also potentially catastrophic. That itself would put Aquaman in a very bad position among the world's leaders since he's not going to let anyone near it." Batman replied.

This new information, about weapons of mass destruction, distrust among different groups of people, it reminded both Senju a bit when there was much tension and distrust between the Senju and Uchiha clans to the point of conflict and even war.

"We just have make sure that both sides won't blow up badly." Superman sighed.

"Things used to be so much simpler back home." Wonder Woman said. "Now in times like these, you see there's so much sitting on the world's shoulders."

Some time had passed as Green Lantern had returned and he looked rather angry. "I knew we couldn't trust that fish man! The sub's been stripped and the plutonium is gone!" He said marching up to Wonder Woman and Hashirama.

"And you think Aquaman's responsible?" Diana asked.

"Who else princess? We got to go back to Atlantis and get some straight answers." Green Lantern said sternly.

"Those Atlanteans would most likely take our intrusion onto to their land as an act of war. I would figure that someone with your background would be well aware of such a possibility," Hashirama pointed out with a glare. Green Lantern didn't necessarily have a response for that as he simply looked away.

"Besides, if its Aquaman you want he's not in Atlantis." Superman said as he was watching a screen on the window showing the live news regarding Aquaman in the World Assembly.

"Well this is getting better." Green Lantern sarcastically said.

"We have to move now." Superman said and everyone headed for the Javelin, except for the Dark Knight.

Inside the World Assembly

The people in the Assembly were busy trying to make sense of what was happening in where they were working. The day had been focused on dealing with the recent loss of said submarine and now they find the one responsible of said loss of sub in front of them. Aquaman was naturally making his move and his intentions clear to everyone in sight range and earshot as well.

His demands in his mind were fair and reasonable.

But to the others? Not so much.

Many of the people in the World Assembly made their own disgust with the demands leveled to them by Aquaman very clear as one man, who no doubt represented the French Government spoke.

"You and your people have the audacity to sink a nuclear sub and then barge in here to make demands for peace like this? Who do you think you are?"

Aquaman replied in the same serious and calm tone as before.

"I am the sworn in and sovereign ruler of the kingdom of Atlantis."

"A country that is not recognized and as such has no right to make demands!"

Aquaman glared at each member of the Assembly, making sure to focus first on the French representative as he replied.

"These are the final terms of peace between your nations and mine; discard and ignore them at your own risk."

The speaker then replied as he tried desperately to keep things in the hall in order, the last thing he wanted was a riot in the hall itself.

"But those demands of yours are outrageous and impractical! What you are proposing seriously undermines not only the security and defense of our respective nations, but out economic security as well!"

Aquaman looked at the man and replied.

"Those are your concerns and problems, they are not mine."

That did it as the whole Assembly rioted and the leaders and officials were all standing up and were hurling threats and insults at Aquaman. And while he remained calm, he could not help but feel some level of disappointment. He had arrived to air his grievances and set his terms as Superman suggested, and now it seemed that he had wasted his time.

"Aquaman!"

The leaders turned and so did the Atlantean as Superman came along with John Stewart, J'onn, Hashirama, Tobirama, and Diana herself. As Superman landed in front of Aquaman, the Atlantean king spoke bitterly to the Kryptonian.

"I came here and offered them a chance for peace between their nations and mine, and this is how they respond. This was a waste of my time."

Superman replied to that, hoping to try and salvage this situation before it turned ugly.

"Please try to be patient about this, things like this takes time."

"I have wasted too much time already."

As Aquaman shoved aside Diana and in not a gentle fashion when she was in his way, the Second Hokage clenched his jaw in anger as he resisted the urge to impale this arrogant fool with Raijin, but one look from his brother told him that would only make things even more worse than they already were.

"A real prince charming this guy." Green Lantern said.

Hashirama nodded as he and the others decided to move out and try to convince Aquaman to at least try again and find a compromise. They knew that unless he found a way to work with the people, it was not going to end well.

However as the man came out of the building, he was quickly beset by the media who asked him all manner of questions. And a fair number of said questions were not all that flattering either. He was more than willing to ignore it and also the calls of the League to slow down and try to take the diplomatic route again. That was soon changed however when he was suddenly attacked by what appeared to be a missile.

It missed most of the bystanders nearby as well as the media who had been following the Atlantean but it nearly clipped him. However before another attack could be made on the obviously injured Atlantean the League stepped in. Hashirama reached out with his Senjutsu senses to track the attacker and pin him down, and he managed to sense a faint signature fleeing the scene, but right now getting Aquaman to medical treatment was high priority. Thus he had to cut any attempt to chase down the man, besides seeing that Tobirama was already in pursuit of Aquaman's assailant, he decided to let his brother handle this matter himself

In Atlantis…

The news of the attack on Aquaman had spread quickly as they had, despite their less than stellar liking for the surface dwellers, they found it prudent to monitor them. That naturally meant that they were also tuned into the news and the fact that their king had been attacked had been really alarming. In the command center of the Atlantean military, junior officers were still trying to figure out what the next move was while the senior ones were now on the move to try and work on dealing with the news.

However before they could make plans, someone else got into the act and carrying the Trident that symbolized the Kingship of Atlantis, and the person in question is none other than Aquaman's brother Orm.

"We cannot spend what time we have left in mourning, we will make the surface dwellers pay for their crimes. Muster our forces!"

While some of the younger officers were smiling at the chance to avenge their fallen king under Orm, the more senior ones nearby spoke.

"Lord Orm, even if you are indeed the brother of our King, you do not have yet the authority to command the military to rise up in arms. We have not yet confirmed the status of the king and the next in line is your nephew due to the rules of succession..."

"Who is yet a baby General, I am acting as regent until this crisis is dealt with as he cannot rule in his current age. Until we make the surface dwellers pay for the attack on our king, I will lead our people in this dark time."

Any other discussion was cut short when Mera came to the room, the military saw the distraught look on their Queen's once calm face and decided that it was best that they wait for a better time than to discuss their next plan or what the current state of the king was.

"Orm! Is it true?! Was Arthur attacked?!"

"I am afraid so Mera…the news is grim."

Mera was shocked but she was not breaking down at that exact moment since she was aware of her husband's resiliency and strength.

"We must find out if Arthur is all right Orm! We have to know if he is all right!"

Orm gave a sad look and replied.

"I wish that it can be done Mera, but Arthur's been taken by the surface dwellers to one of their facilities. They say that he is being taken for medical treatment, but I have not forgotten the fact that Arthur had been taken in the same pretense as before, but while he escaped that one, I am afraid that we may very well be too late."

"No…we cannot give up like this Orm…"

"No…we won't Mera, I will need to work on our response to this mess…please Mera, let me do what I can for our people here in this dark time."

Mera left with her thoughts in a mess, all focused on the state of her husband. She wanted to feel being in his arms again and to be assured by his presence and his voice that all would be all right. But she knew that she had to deal with their son and keep him safe. Thus she headed off to see to her son…unaware that as she left a smile was appearing on Orm's face.

In the Hospital…

Aquaman's situation was anything but ideal in his view as Hashirama and the others watched for him to recover. The doctors in this place had little to no idea on how to treat him since his skin was as tough as a rhino's as many needles were broken a number of times. It was all bad until Batman came in and began to work with the Doctors to house Aquaman into a specialized tank that used Seawater that was conditioned to his situation. Thus they had to be nearby to observe his recovery progress, which seemed to be going rather well, proving that Batman's calculations and recommendations were spot on.

And sure enough the very second that the doctors assured them that Aquaman was going to be all right, Lantern made his move and proved he was just as diplomatic as Aquaman was, needless to say it did not end well. Finally the elder Senju had run out of some of his patience and decided to act now. And besides while the two were arguing away at one another, he decided to observe Aquaman and what he had seen was enough to convince him to get serious with this whole thing.

"WILL THE TWO OF YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!"

Hashirama had enough of the arguments between Stewart and Aquaman, they were not going to resolve the issue of how to deal with Aquaman's attempted killer and what happened to the nuclear material if these two were going to argue like mad over the whole thing. The two looked at him and Hashirama glared back and spoke to Stewart while using his own immense chakra to intimidate them while doing so.

"Listen here Lantern, I took the liberty of reading Aquaman's own body language and he was not lying in the least that he had given those strict orders to have that submarine secured and not to be tampered with. And he also had no idea who did take them so that means that we now have a potential problem on our hands since that means someone went behind his back and defied his orders. I am more than experienced enough to know when someone is being deceitful and Aquaman is clearly telling the truth. Weren't you ever taught to keep a cool head and try to find all the answers before foolishly jumping to conclusions?"

John stared back at Hashirama but agreed that he did have something going for him. But that did not mean he was going to cool off just yet. Those nuclear weapons were still a major issue in his mind and unless they dealt with it now and got answers, this was not going to end well. Still what the Hokage mentioned got his attention as well.

Hashirama then turned to Aquaman and replied.

"You are acting more like a petulant child than a so-called king right now."

"What?!"

"You heard me, a king is supposed to remain steadfast during times of turmoil and try to find all the possible angles and solutions to a problem, and acting like you are right now only adds more fuel to the fire. You said you want to avoid war for your people? Then stop acting like an immature brat and actually listen to others for a change. You are not doing your people and yourself any favors by what you've just done in that meeting earlier. You're a king and that means acting like a diplomat when peace is you main objective, but what I saw in there made me shake my head in frustration since you acted more like a war monger than a negotiator. I know that you were not lying about what you just told Lantern, but your arrogant attitude is only going to make you look all the more guilty."

Aquaman looked at the man though he had long since suspected that his he was wise beyond his years. And that action was enough to prove him right and somehow his words had a ring of truth in them so he sighed a bit and decided to reign in his impatience and anger for now.

"Very well, I'll listen."

Hashirama sighed in relief and began to run through what they know thus far.

"That assassin who came after you, I sincerely doubt that it was mere coincidence, how did he know you were here, what you were going to do, and the weapon he used tells me that he had a quite the bit of intelligence on you. You never told anyone about your little trip to the surface since from what I know of you thus far, you and your kin do not like being on the surface world as you call it up here?"

"No…I only spoke to my wife about it."

Hashirama nodded and replied.

"That rules out the idea of your assassin being hired by people that live on the surface since no one knew about this with the exception of us. That only means…someone from your own kingdom told him about your plan."

Aquaman's eyes widened at the implications of the First Hokage's statement. That also got the attention of the League, John Stewart most of all since he could easily see just what Hashirama was getting at.

"Are you implying that one of my own people…"

"Hired that assassin to kill you and may be a traitor? Yes I am."

"That's preposterous, it's very obvious that what you are suggesting is that of treason and in Atlantis the punishment for that is most severe."

Hashirama shook his head at that and he had good reason to do so. He had his fair share of experiences with the situation Aquaman was in throughout his lifetime.

"You might think it's preposterous, but I've had enough experience to know that it can be a very glaring possibility. Think about this carefully, if this was an attack by someone of the surface world, how could they have gotten their hands on an assassin on such short notice? Why in the world would they use that kind of a weapon to kill you? And how did they even know where you were going when you only spoke to your wife and we were in our headquarters and never told anyone else? Someone had to have hired that assassin only when your own intentions were revealed to them, and the only way that could happen is if they were eavesdropping on the conversation. And let's not forget there are always dissidents in any nation, yours is no different since I can suspect that some of your own people don't exactly agree with your methods."

Aquaman frowned at that as despite his desire to defend his people's honor and reputation, this warrior did raise a valid point. His thoughts went to Brak and his recent speech against launching an attack on the people of the surface even coming to the point of openly defying him in front of his wife and brother. And he also kept in mind that if that was the case, then there would be other dissenters as well. But he was not going to accept that right away until he saw it for himself.

"You cannot expect me to just agree with you on this, even if your argument does possess some merit. I need more proof in order to accept that what you say is the truth."

Hashirama nodded and replied. "Like I said before, it is one possible theory on how you were nearly assassinated, it's up to you if you accept it or not. There's bound to be others to be sure, but you'll never know which one's the truth and which one's a lie. And there is an old saying…sometimes the worst enemies to a nation are not from the outside…but from within."

Batman then spoke next. "We'll work out those details later, I managed to pull some data on who your attacker was, the man's name is Deadshot, a highly skilled mercenary marksman which can explain why he nearly took you down even if he was using certain weapons not normally used by assassins. And knowing him, the news of you being alive is not going to sit well with him. He will try again both to finish the contract and protect his reputation in the process."

Aquaman spoke next. "Very well, what exactly do you suggest?"

"Nothing. Because I already took the liberty to capture and subdue your so-called assassin." The voice of Tobirama said aloud as everyone turned to see the Second Hokage himself appear from out of nowhere dragging an unconscious Deadshot who was now wrapped up in wire strings much to the heroes' shock and surprise while Hashirama could only smirk in amusement at his brother's pragmatism.

Later…

Superman wasted little time as he knew that they had to hurry since he knew that the longer this went on, the higher the chance Aquaman would try and inflict his revenge on Deadshot which would make the situation worse.

"You were trying to kill Aquaman, why?" He said while he interrogated Deadshot in a separate room.

Deadshot decided to take the more sarcastic route in this matter, "Oh, that's a good question there. Why would a hired gun try to kill someone? Simple, I was paid to do it."

Diana was the one to speak next as she looked at the captured mercenary Deadshot.

"Then who gave you that order?"

"Aw come on babe you know I can't tell you that, professional ethics." Deadshot said. "But then again, if you make it worth my while."

Tobirama bristled and was about to put him in a Genjutsu, but Batman simply grabbed Deadshot by the shoulder and dragged him away from the team. With his back facing the team, Batman said some knowing words to the assassin, Tobirama was not really bothered by what was really said as he would have no doubt have made similar threats if he were in Batman's position

"Okay! I'll tell I'll tell!" Deadshot gave in.

"What did he say?" Diana asked Superman.

"You don't want to know." He replied.

Batman and Deadshot returned to them. The truth came out from him, "I don't know. I don't ask questions."

"Not good enough. How were you paid?" Batman stepped up.

Tobirama the stepped up, "It would be more preferable for everyone here that we not resort to less than civil method of interrogation."

"In gold." Deadshot quickly turned his head to a box of spilled gold from the van that the League had brought in earlier. "See?"

Batman inspected a coin from the box. "Spanish doubloons."

"Where can someone get coins like this?" Wonder Woman asked the team.

"From the one who hired Deadshot who is most likely a member of Atlantean high society…or even one of the royal family, if Aquaman is indeed king which means that if he goes back…he is walking into a trap." Hashirama deduced.

"Well then, we better go find Aquaman and inform him about what we found, and stop him from doing something rash." said Tobirama

"Good luck with that."

The others turned to see none other than John enter the room with him rubbing the back of his head.

"The impatient royal pain in the ass knocked me out and left already while you guys were interrogating Deadshot. No doubt he's gone back to Atlantis right now."

Hashirama groaned and slapped his forehead in exasperation, "Wonderful…now he's walked right into a trap he doesn't even know about."

The others also felt greatly worried by all this and it was Diana who spoke out what she felt was most appropriate, "Hera help him."

Tobirama said. "If Aquaman is caught in Atlantis, whoever is behind this will know we are coming."

Batman and Superman then laid out a plan. "Tobirama you're with me. We're putting Deadshot in police custody." Batman said.

"The rest of us will try to get into Atlantis and help Aquaman." Superman said.

In Atlantis…

Hashirama and the others were right to be worried as Aquaman walked into Atlantis, the whole situation for him felt wrong. There was a lot of grief and anger towards the surface dwellers, far more than even he had expected when they caught the submarine nearly two days ago. He also was surprised to learn that the Atlantean military was being given a full mobilization order to go to war with the surface dwellers. That really made him concerned as he had left no such order to the generals when he left.

What doubled his worries was the fact that some of the soldiers he met were stunned to see him alive, one of them even had the gall to demand him to halt and explain why he would dare take the countenance of the recently slain king. That surprised him immensely and he demanded who had stated that he had been killed. The answer that it was Orm who had made that response made him quickly realize that something was horribly wrong, even more so when the words of the one in the League called Hashirama came back to him.

The words that implying that there was indeed a traitor in the ranks of his people and possibly the one who hired that assassin to kill him when he had gone to the surface.

"Can he be right? Can there really be a traitor in my kingdom? Is Orm a co-conspirator…or is he the one who was the leader of this…insurrection? No! I cannot make such a judgment until I know more."

But as he got to the throne-room he listened into what seemed to be someone rousing others in a martial speech…and he recognized just who was speaking.

"The time has come brothers! The time to finally bring the surface dwellers to justice for all of their crimes! We shall invade the surface and make them regret angering us, and soon they shall be our servants!"

The cheers coming from the throne room filled Arthur with absolute shock and horror so he decided to quit hiding and burst through the door, the cheers quickly died down as many people looked at his direction as he spoke.

'What is the meaning of this Orm?!"

Orm then spoke as Aquaman came closer.

"Brother, I was doing what I felt was right…I had thought that you were…"

"Dead?"

He marched towards his brother, angered at the sight of his half brother wielding the Trident of Poseidon and wearing the crown as if both were his. The line of succession in Atlantis was clear to all and, as he could now see that his brother had not even taken the time to learn his true condition and tell their people that he was not dead.

"As you can see brother, I am not yet dead, and now I want answers!"

"Answers to what brother?"

"You ask me of that? Why are you ordering the mobilization of the fleet and our soldiers?"

"I am doing what I feel is right, this affront to our people by the surface dwellers must be avenged! And what better way to do it than by using our technology and manpower to end the threat forever of the surface dwellers who pollute our seas, and encroach our borders with impunity."

Aquaman could not help but feel his anger and worry build, and he made that clear.

"I may have been injured in my time on the surface brother, but I am not dead, I am still king Orm. I did not give any order to start a foolhardy war with the surface! I gave the both of you and Brak strict orders to…"

Orm glared at him and replied.

"You don't seem to get it brother…I am now the one giving the others around here."

"Orm, you are forgetting that I am alive and I am still king! And as King I am ordering you to stand down! Or else I shall mark you as a traitor!"

Orm glared and replied darkly at his half brother.

"You say that I am the traitor? It is you who is the traitor here; you sold us out the surface dwellers when we could have easily overpowered them with our technology. We have the manpower and weaponry to end their blight once and for all, and all you have done is avoid it! You are a coward and a true traitor to the power of Atlantis brother, and you're wasteful and weak reign is at an end!"

That was more than enough to finally push Aquaman over the edge as he could not stand hearing this from his own brother of all people.

"Enough of this! Guards! Arrest the traitor!"

Aquaman looked at the men who were there in the room alongside him, Orm and Brak, he then recognized them to be Brak's men. He hoped that even with his war hawk like nature, Brak and in turn his own men would still remember his and their sworn loyalty to his king and that was him by right and choice by their father, and not some pretender even if it was Orm. But that proved to be all for naught…

Orm spoke in an arrogant and utterly satisfied tone to the soldiers with him and Brak.

"You heard him…arrest the traitor."

Aquaman was shocked even more when instead of arresting Orm as was ordered, the soldiers of Brak followed Orm instead! They aimed their weapons at him and before he could react, the others nearby grabbed him and held him fast, rendering him unable to fight back without increased force. There and then he realized that he had indeed a traitor in his kingdom…and the traitor was not alone, nor was the traitor without power and resources.

"That one known as Hashirama was right! I have been betrayed! And by Orm and Brak as well!"

"YOU TRAITOR!"

"Say what you want brother, but your time as King has passed, soon, I will accomplish what you have been too cowardly and cautious to do! To end all threats to Atlantis' greatness! And when I am rid of you and all of those who follow your weak rulership…everything that should have been mine will be mine!"

With that, Aquaman was forced away by Brak's men and he could only watch in ever increasing fury at his traitorous sibling who now had taken the throne. That fury was matched by the shock at the discovery of the fact that he had been fully blinded by his worries towards the surface world and the surface dwellers, that he had not watched out for the enemies who were under his nose the whole time.

He managed to free himself and fought off the people restraining him and tried to attack but he was electrocuted by the Trident and before he fell to unconsciousness, he saw his brother smiling darkly at him before darkness claimed him.

Orm smiled darkly as his brother was led away, he might be alive and his surface world hired assassin had failed him, but that could soon be remedied. Once his half brother was gone, then he could finally begin his rule and bring not just Atlantis under his rule, but the surface world once it was purged of the surface dwellers.

And soon all of the world shall be his to rule as was his right as the true king of Atlantis, and any surviving surface dweller shall learn their place…under his rule as slaves for the glory of Atlantis.

And despite his actions, he had to thank his brother for he had the means to do so…as he now possessed the materials so provided by his unwitting brother and the surface dwellers.

AN: Hello everyone, I'm so sorry that this took so long but there so many real life issues I had to deal with these past few months like signing up for a new insurance plan which I won't go into detail right. But I hope I can have a more consisting writing schedule from here on out. As for this chapter, I want to point out a couple of things like how the Titans are a thing in this story, but the roster is significantly different that the show you're familiar with, you'll see who's on the team in future chapters. On another note, I'm going to include elements from the Batman: The Adventures Continue comic as characters like Deathstroke, Red Hood, and Azrael are now apart of the DCAU. Also it's confirmed that the Court of Owls will appear too, so look forward to when they debut in this story. That being said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you guys in the next one.