A/N
Well here we are - finally - so hopefully with a bit more time on my hands, I can reliably upload chapters of this. For those interested, I'll be updating my profile with a new schedule of when you should be expecting more parts.
Thanks for taking the time to read, and please leave a review so I know what needs to be improved/what you think.
Episode VI: Visiting an Old Friend Part I
Whenever Robin comes up with an idea, it's usually the job of the team to scrutinise and then ultimately agree to the plan, since none of them can come up with something better. Turns out, this might be one of his worst ideas.
"You know, you could've got Zatanna to let us breathe underwater," Artemis sighs, "She didn't have to actually turn us into Atlanteans, and not the good-looking kind."
Looking around her, she stifles a grin as the people around her look absolutely amusing. Just seeing Conner float around as a giant pufferfish-esque creature is making her question just what the actual reasoning behind Robin's plan was. Then again, with those chubby cheeks, it's going to be quite unlikely that anyone would believe it's actually the Boy of Steel, despite having on the same t-shirt he wears to every function, hero or not.
Zatanna even made KF's ginger hair spike up on the top of his head, making him a very ginger fish. Even where magic is involved, Wally can't escape his genetics.
Despite all of this, the very lucky M'gann has the ability to not be ridiculed in such a way, instead simply adding some gills to her body; Robin was the least affected by everything, probably due to his burgeoning relationship with Zatanna. She wouldn't want to turn him away by making everyone laugh at him like us, or at least that's why she turned him into a relatively normal looking Atlantean, adorned with gills and the sorts. If anything, she's just made him more muscly.
"What are you smiling at?" Conner grunts, his cheeks swelling to double their size, though this makes her even more amused. "You're the one who has a tail."
As for herself, Artemis doesn't mind her magical transformation too much.
Just a simply change of hair colour and a very quick change into a mermaid, though Zatanna assured them all that the transformation was temporary and would wear off after a few days- at least without her magical interference to manually reverse the change- so Artemis isn't too worried about her future as an Atlantean. If anything, she's more concerned with the fact that they have never actually been to Atlantis apart from a few short trips and are more than likely going to be exposed or get lost.
"Okay, I think I know where we have to go," Robin finally announces after a few minutes of careful deliberation.
Wally is the first to respond after what seemed like a moment they were potentially lost already, "You know, there are many things which are wrong about you, but thank everything which is good that you have a half-decent memory."
"Did any of you doubt me?" Robin raises an eyebrow, looking at the team in disbelief.
A collective eh gave Robin his answer, though not one which he expected. He shakes his head, pointing in the direction which he believes is the one they should be heading in.
Wading through the water, the fabled lost city soon comes into view, it's bright, powerful lights piercing through the relatively dark depths. Robin briefly turns around to give the team a knowing smirk, though he quickly refocuses himself in typical Robin fashion.
It doesn't take them an eternity to actually reach the entrance to the city, and after several rounds of diplomacy- and Superboy almost punching holes through the guards- they eventually allow the extra-ordinary group into the city, though begrudgingly. From what Robin appears to have learnt from Kaldur himself, Atlanteans are generally suspicious, even of their own kind. To gain entry, Robin simply had to try and downplay their complete lack of knowledge in regards to Atlantean customs and mannerisms.
Still, he somehow managed to gain them entry, and with that, the team hurriedly moves into the city, clearly astounded by the fact they were even allowed inside.
"Don't know how you do it," Wally gives Robin a friendly smack on the shoulder. "Then again, you somehow managed to get Zatanna to fall in love with you."
Robin flashes a shockingly menacing gaze towards Wally.
"Dude," the Boy Wonder hisses, obviously annoyed by something which Wally shouldn't have brought up at this particular point in time.
Wally simply shrugs in return. "My bad."
Hilariously spinning into a circle to face the team, Robin begins, "Okay guys, here we are. Everyone needs to be on their a-game tonight. Who knows how many Atlanteans are secretly on Black Manta's side, and to be perfectly honest, we don't need that type of exposure right now. Our plan is simple: find someone who knows where that traitor Kaldur is... are we good?"
"I can't wait to finally get that spineless coward!" Conner exclaims, smashing his fins together.
"M'Gann," Robin's attention drifts to the Martian.
She nods. "I know, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"See you all here in an hour," Robin says, gesturing goodbye to the team and swimming off with Wally at his side.
"Good luck everyone, and remember... we know why we are here," Artemis states, making a point to stare into the eyes of every last team member.
Taking off an a completely different direction, both M'Gann and Conner speed off, with M'gann already struggling to keep the Kryptonian from smashing into the side of every building in his path.
Finding herself standing alone in a city filled to the brim with all forms of strange sea life, Artemis looks around, not entirely sure where to begin. After all, Robin warned them to be careful about who they speak to, and she's confident the standard rules of human etiquette apply down here, so she might just end up making enemies of everyone.
Trust has always been an issue for Artemis, and that issue has just got ten times larger.
Hey, I thought the guy seemed pretty dependable, Kid Flash communicates his thoughts to the rest of the team as they are beset upon by multiple Atlanteans inside of the market square, civilians rushing around the avoid the fighting and ignoring the multiple stalls flying across the entire square.
It turns out that Black Manta's forces had already deeply infiltrated into Atlantis, and Kid Flash had inadvertently announced their intention to find their leader to every single agent inside of the market region.
There are times when Wally's ability to make friends which anyone becomes much more of a liability than a helpful skill.
This is one of those times.
CLEARLY THEY AREN'T, Artemis telepathically groans, hand reaching for her specially-modified bow and unfolding the mechanism. With a satisfying click, the bow extends to full size and before anyone could notice the sudden appearance, Artemis had already loosed an arrow into the nearest assailant; configuring her arrowheads to have their own mini-propellers was a nuisance, but one which has definitely proven fruitful.
Feeling quite sorry for the beautiful market as Superboy cannonballs into a group of villains, Artemis has just enough time to let another arrow off as she's grabbed from behind and thrown forwards.
Luckily, M'gann manages to telekinetically catch Artemis before the nearest wall becomes one with the archer, before being assaulted herself from all directions.
Black Manta has trained his soldiers well, as the ambush in itself was quite sneaky, utilising the main strengths of his soldiers to good use. Little did they know that the various stalls they passed upon entry to the square were operated by Manta's infiltrators.
Instinctively pairing up with Robin and placing themselves back-to-back, Artemis returns to her shooting posture and attempts to keep as many of the soldiers off M'gann as possible.
Although the soldiers caught the team by surprise, the team quickly begins to gain the upper hand as Superboy and Wally speed and crash around the market, taking out multiple target at a time. Despite all the times Artemis has witnessed the destructive capabilities of Conner, there's something amusing about watching the Kryptonian soar around, inflated and angry.
In a different situation, Wally would also be funny but it's annoying to be accidentally smacked in the face with his rear-end every time he passes by. The speedster clearly hasn't gotten used to being inside of his body yet, though it's equally as interesting that the speedster still has the ability to move at super-speed, swimming around at ridiculous speeds.
"Let's finish these up and get out of here," Robin grunts, throwing something at one of the soldiers, "We don't want to be around when the Atlanteans come and see why their market is destroyed."
Artemis agrees, "We should take one of the soldiers with us and see where their camp is. Might as well find something useful to make this worth our while."
Despite their combined efforts, the ambushing Manta minions were unable to do much to the team, if only inconvenience them. Black Manta may have a formidable fighting force, but the team doubt anything can be much more formidable than Superboy as of late. The Kryptonian really seems to be taking his training up a notch, and it's creating a beast worthy of the name 'abomination'. Of course, none of the team would dare state as such in the open, or anywhere remotely near to where Conner might be.
Super-hearing can be an annoyance when trying to gossip, especially when it's about him.
With unconscious bodies strewn across the once peaceful marketplace, Robin spots one of the soldiers slowly crawling away. The soldier is good at it, creeping at a miniscule rate and making no noise whatsoever, but not good enough to escape the attention of the Boy Wonder.
That one over there, Robin points out the soldier and Wally quickly crushes any hopes the trooper had of escaping the situation, a well-placed boot pushing down on the centre of the soldier's back.
Superboy takes the initiative and grabs the soldier, holding him up by his clothes for the more discreet members of the team to get what they want out of the Atlantean.
"So.. how are you?" Artemis gives the soldier a fierce tap - more akin to a slap - to his face, before carrying on, "Never mind, probably aren't doing too good considering we just took all of you out."
"There's more of us.. many more," the soldiers ominously retorts, though it earns him more of a chuckle than fear.
Robin interrupts the Atlantean's villainous posturing, "So, that's exactly what we wanted to hear, well done. This is the easiest interrogation we've ever had. Now, all you have to do is tell us where all of your buddies are hanging out, and you can go on your merry-way."
"Really?" Wally raises an eyebrow but then gets the gist of what's going on when Artemis shoots him a dangerous smirk. "Uhh.. yeah.. that's right, you get to go."
Conner's grip tightens on the uniform as the soldiers take a break to consider the situation, and with a quick glance at the Kryptonian's annoyed face, the soldiers wisely decides to give up the location of the base.
"Outside of Atlantis, inside the trench to the east." the man reveals, to the approved nods of Robin and Artemis.
"East? We are in the ocean, how are we supposed to tell which was is East?" Wally asks, confused as always.
Shifting uncomfortably with Conner's iron grip, the soldier looks at the team. "Do I get to go now?"
With a nod to Conner, Robin smiles. "Sure."
The last thing that soldier saw before the deep black of unconsciousness was the powerful fist of a clone.
"Only a couple of guards," Conner comments at the state of the camp, clearly disappointed by the developments.
"No," Robin responds, surveying the trench for anything which could provide some context. "They have already gone. Look at the size of the camp, no way that Manta creates this large of a camp for just a few patrols."
Black Manta must have been preparing this camp for a very long time, judging by the way the command structure and living quarters seem to be organised and secure. With the base arrayed into three clear levels, each one going deeper into the trench, it's clear that Manta was also anticipating some form of reprisal from Aquaman, with the most important building hemmed into the walls of the trench at the bottom level.
All in all, an impressive base of operations, though severely lacking in activity. Being patrolled equally, Conner's eyes spot around three or four guards on each level, each patrolling in a section pattern.
"Surprised that Aquaman hasn't even found this," Wally brings his part to the conversation.
"I don't suppose many of the residents of Atlantis come out this way," Miss Martian offers, nodding towards the armed guards as they patrol the camp and it's perimeter. "Those guys sure look ready for some action."
"Best way to figure out where the rest of them are is getting inside this camp," Robin speaks, quickly adding, "undetected Superboy, we can't risk them destroying any information we need."
Though nodding, Robin can definitely sense the frustration coming from the clone as he takes a position behind KF. Conner might enjoy smashing things a lot, but he can relied upon to not screw up when Robin asks him to; Wally is the opposite, wanting to do as asked and then does something completely else through being himself.
Deciding it's best to keep some of the more indiscrete members of the team behind, Robin commands, "Artemis, take the first level. M'gann take the second; I'm going right down to the last. Be careful."
Turning to the two remaining heroes, he gives an apologetic shrug.
"Stay here and be silent?" Wally returns, clearly understanding the situation.
"Good speedster," Artemis jokes, slapping the redhead on the shoulder and delving into the trench.
The Martian follows suit, though opting to disappear instead of sneaking in the old-fashioned way. Robin takes a moment to wish that he had such abilities before swimming down into the trench.
First to reach her target, Artemis quickly dispatches the first guard on her level, using her bow to whack the soldier on the back of the head with enough force to knock him out. An easy target turns into a difficult task as one of the guards randomly decides to veer of his patrol path and almost stumbles onto a slumped body, without the intervention of a boot from a particular blonde archer.
The other two don't decide to become sporadic and follow their designated routes, allowing Artemis to take them down easily and search the level for anything which could pinpoint the location of the army which should be here.
Nothing, Artemis announces over the telepathic link. Any luck on yours?
Give me a sec, Miss Martian responds, testing out a theory of hers and toppling one of the guards through a very concentrated psychic blast. The guard doesn't make a sound before falling to the ground, his body still twitching from the activity going on inside of his brain.
Impressed by her own ability to incapacitate the guard, M'gann forges forwards, all of the guards on her level falling to the ground before her powerful mind.
Similar to Artemis, a brief search of the level- which was scattered with various emptied armouries and weapon-making facilities- yields no results.
They really took everything, didn't they, the Martian speaks, annoyance travelling across the link to the other members of the team.
Not everything. Everyone, get down here, Robin answers, and it only takes a few mere moments before the team regroups together and joins Robin in his spying.
Unlike the other levels, this one has all of it's guards guarding one singular structure at the far end of the trench. Three guards are littered along the outside of the building, and if the pattern follows the other levels, it means that the last is presumably inside of the building.
"Looks interesting," Kid Flash says. "You think this is the place?"
"Duh," Artemis groans. "Nothing get's past you, does it?"
"Guys," Robin warns, "play nice."
Before taking a moment to ensure that the tension has dissipated adequately, Conner questions, "So, how are we doing this?"
Robin doesn't answer, instead flashing a smile at the clone.
"Guard duty," the soldiers shuffles around the room he finds himself protecting, attempting to ignore the side of him which thoroughly hates the idea of standing around a room whilst the rest of his buddies take on the King of Atlantis himself. "Why do I always stay behind?"
"By the end of the day, Manta will take his place as ruler of Atlantis.. and all of those who show loyalty shall be rewarded," the soldier recites the words spoken to him by his commanding officer as he was assigned this duty. "Yeah.. don't think so."
His bored musings are rudely interrupted by large banging coming from outside of the building.
"Knock it off!" the soldier yells, once more irritated by the idiotic pranks played by his comrades outside.
And another bang sounds out, this time leaving a noticeable dent in the wall.
"What are you doing out there?" the soldier gasps, shaking his head.
Taking off in the direction of the door, mind filled with ways of scolding the idiots stationed outside, his annoyance turns to shock as he opens the door to the view of four beings floating ominously outside.
"Oh."
The soldier manages to sound his surprise before fading to black.
A/N
Thanks for reading folks, hope things are going well for all of you. As stated earlier, I'd very much like to know your opinion on this chapter as I was wondering whether I did a good enough job.
See you in the next one!