The Zenko of the DC

Chapter 10: Turning the Tides

Aquaman looked at Orm in anger, he never would have even thought that his brother of all people would have betrayed him, he realized also that the mercenary must have been hired by Orm to assassinate him. Seeing has proved to him that Zenko was right all along.

"For years, I've stood in your shadow and watched while you led Atlantis to the brink of ruin. I'll stand no more, and neither will your generals," said Orm with contempt.

"This is a battle we should have fought years ago, but you betrayed us by siding with our enemies," said Brak.

Aquaman gritted his teeth in rage at their words, not wanting to listen to any more of their nonsense, he pushed the soldiers roughly out of his way and lunged at the two to silence them painfully before restoring things to their proper order. However Orm aimed the trident at Aquaman and fired a powerful blast of energy which sent the rightful ruler flying back and crashed to the ground to lay there unconscious.

"Take him away," said Orm, the guards went to pick up Aquaman before dragging him out of the throne room "General Brak, ready your troops at once,"

"Yes milord," Brak then left the room along with the remaining soldiers.

Orm went to sit on the throne and smiled at the comfort it provides, once his plans are successfully carried out then he would be sitting on it more frequently as the sole ruler of Atlantis. He heard footsteps and turned to see Mera running up to him with a look of concern.

"Orm! They said that my husband has returned, is it true?" asked Mera desperately.

Orm frowned inwardly at how close his plans were to being foiled and stood from the throne "I wish it so…but it was an unfounded rumor,"

Mera looked to the ground in depression "I tried to be strong, but without him I…," she felt Orm place his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't worry Mera, I'll take care of you…and your son,"

Those words confused Mera as she turned to look at Orm "My son?"

"I have already take the precaution of placing him under my protection,"

Mera took several steps away from Orm with a growing sense of fear before running into the private chambers and approached the cot where the baby was sleeping only to gasp in horror upon seeing that he wasn't there.

Orm approached her from behind "These are dangerous times Mera, we can't be too careful,"

"Where is he?" asked Mera worriedly.

"The prince will come to no harm as long as you cooperate,"

"How could you do this?"

"I assure you, I am only doing what is best for Atlantis," said Orm before walking away, Mera could feel it in her heart that this is all wrong and wished that Aquaman would appear to make everything right again.


Meanwhile, Naruto and the other members of the Justice league were aboard the Javelin and moving through the water as fast as they could to meet up with Aquaman to warn him about the plot against him.

"We're almost there, Atlantis is just beyond that reef ahead of us," said Wonder Woman.

"Don't expect them to welcome us with open arms," said Green Lantern.

"Set the ship down here, maybe we can slip through their defenses," Superman suggested.

*Boom*

The ship suddenly shook from the shockwave of an explosion, they looked ahead to see one of the Atlantean Warships along with a squad of Atlantean soldiers riding on waterbikes.

"It's too late, they have already seen us!" said J'onn.

"I doubt that's the only thing we're late about," said Naruto once more activating the jutsu to breath underwater.

"If they want a fight, then they got one!" Green Lantern stood up with his ring glowing with energy.

Wonder Woman placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him "Wait! Remember the reason why we came here!"

Green Lantern frowned but complied nonetheless, they all exited from the Javelin and went to confront the Atlantean soldiers as Superman went to speak.

"Hold your fire, we come with an urgent message for your king!" said Superman, but the response received was in the form a cannon fire. Green Lantern was quick to defend by using his ring to form a shield which deflected the incoming projectiles.

"There's your answer," Green Lantern retorted before he scattered to engage the hostile soldiers with the rest.

Naruto was swimming away from one of the soldiers who was firing at him with an energy rifle as the ninja swam round a corner with the soldier going after only for his eyes to widen upon seeing a golden chain ahead which knocked him off the waterbike, Naruto popped up from behind a rock while smiling mischievously behind his mask before going to assist the others. J'onn was also being pursued by one of the Atlantean soldier when he suddenly stopped and waited for the soldier to get closer before turning intangible for him to pass right through before reverting and reached out to grab the soldier then pulled him off the waterbike for it to crash into the rocks, Green Lantern was alternating constantly between forming shields to defend against the torpedoes being fired at him and launching concussive blasts of energy to knock the soldiers off their waterbikes.

Wonder Woman was evading the shots being fired at her and reflecting several to destroy their modes of transportation, but she was unaware of one bearing towards her from behind. He was about to fire a torpedo when something wrapped around his neck and yanked him off the waterbike and the next thing he saw was a fist barreling for his face and there was pain followed by darkness. Wonder Woman looked back to see a knocked out Atlantean soldier floating to the seabed and Naruto was there which gave her an idea what happened and nodded in gratitude with the ninja responding with a thumbs up.

Suddenly they were assailed with a volley of projectiles from overhead and they looked up to see the Atlantean warship approach and opened fire once more with their turrets. Superman went to pick up a large piece of rock from the seabed and used it to grind against the undercarriage of the warship to rupture a hole, causing it to sink to the bottom of the sea

"Well that takes care of them, now to head over to Atlantis," said Naruto.

"This way!" Superman took the lead with the others soon following after him, it didn't take them very long till their destination was within their sights "There it is!" they swam closer when suddenly hidden cannons revealed themselves from within the reefs and launched multiple grey spiked cannonballs in their direction but they were able to avoid them.

"Not even close," Green Lantern scoffed at the attempt, but Naruto wasn't fooled at this and his suspicions were soon proven true as the cannonballs collided with each other to trigger powerful explosions which knocked them around.

"They're depth charges!" said J'onn before being knocked away by another explosion.

"Damn, this is not looking good!" Naruto grunted from another explosive shockwave.

"You better think of something fast or we're done for!" said Kurama urgently.

Naruto's mind raced for an idea to get himself and the others out of this situation but the explosions proved to be too much as they were knocked to the seabed and laid there unconscious. He later opened his eyes to see that he was on his knees and hands were handcuffed to his back and noticed that he was wearing some sort of headgear which was sending jolts of electricity into his brain, making it hard for him to focus properly. He looked to see that Superman and the others were in the same situation before looking ahead to see a man in regal clothing along with the Atlantean soldiers.

"Worthless surface scum," said Orm with loathing, Naruto immediately frowned behind his mask as he sensed the hatred and negativity within him and suspected him to be the one behind all this.

"Where's Aquaman?" asked Superman albeit struggling to speak.

"I thought your kind already took care of him?"

"No, he came back here," Wonder Woman calmly refuted the claim.

"We came here to warn him about a plot against his life, an Atlantean plot," Superman continued, Naruto noticed a twitch in the man's eye and his suspicions became clearer.

"Lies and deceptions!" Orm pointed the trident at Superman and blasted him with enough energy to knock the Man of Steel to the floor "I consider this incursion as nothing less than an act of war. You will executed as enemies of the crown then I will wipe out the surface world forever,"

"That settles it, he's the one who set this all up and is hiding the truth while using us an excuse to attack the surface," thought Naruto as he glared at the man, then he noticed someone above glanced to see that she was a red-haired woman dressed in royal clothing along with a crown and he noticed a look of worry in her eyes before being dragged away along with the others.

The guards dragged the league members into a chamber and shackled them to the walls before exiting with a screen door sealing them inside, one of the soldiers pulled a lever and water began pouring, giving them an idea of what was going to happen. They tried to free themselves but the shackles held strong.

"J'onn, can you phase free?" asked Diana urgently.

"No, can't focus," J'onn replied, having already attempted to do so but failed.

"Me neither, these headgears must be some kind of synaptic discharger," said Green Lantern who wasn't able to make any progress on his end.

Wonder Woman looked down to see that the water has already risen to their knees "…then we'll drown,"


Over at the docking bays, General Brak was currently in charge of preparing the soldiers and other weapons of war for the upcoming engagement with the surface dwellers as he had desired all these years and was denied due to Aquaman's refusal to go into war with them until now. He saw Orm approach while on a waterbike and bow along with his men in respect.

"Your troops are almost ready to depart, milord," said Brak.

"Proceed general, I will join you after I attend to some 'unfinished business'," said Orm.

"Of course, milord,"

Orm then rode away with the general resuming command, they were unaware that someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation and it turned out to be Mera who was frowning at what she had heard. She had been suspecting that Orm is up to something which he doesn't want her to know about and apparently General Brak is also involved, their plans must have something to do with her husband and son being missing, and the surface dwellers must know something he doesn't want anyone to hear hence why he's executing them so soon. Mera came upon an important decision and began making her way through the hallways when suddenly a voice called out to her.

"Excuse me, but are you the wife of Aquaman?" a male voice whispered out.

"W-Who's there?!" asked Mera while looking around for the source of the voice.

"Please calm down miss, I'm one of the surface dwellers and I'm here to rescue my friends,"

"Then do you know of what happened to my husband and is it true that there's a traitor in Atlantis?" asked Mera.

"We suspect that he was captured the moment he arrived by the traitor whom I now suspect to be Orm, but we can explain later as my friends don't have much time left," said the voice urgently.

"Very well, I will take you to where they are," Mera rushed over to where the league members were being held and arrived only to gasp upon seeing that the chamber was almost full and the members were holding their breath for as long as they can "Oh no, they'll drown at this rate!"

"No they won't!"

The guards were taking bets about which of the heroes would drown first when they suddenly felt something grab the sides of their heads and forcefully smashed them together sufficiently enough to knock them out. Mera was momentarily surprised but quickly snapped back into focus and ran over to push the lever which drained the chamber of the water before opening the barrier. It was at that moment that a figure appeared, revealing to be Zenko much to the surprise of everyone who turned to the one shackled that disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I should have known, you created a decoy and went into hiding," said Green Lantern.

"Yeah, I used a transparency jutsu to hide myself while having a shadow clone take my place so that I can sneak in and rescue you, and I was lucky enough to meet Aquaman's wife along the way" Naruto explained as he took out a kunai from his ninja pouch and channeled wind chakra through it to increase sharpness before cutting through their shackles while Mera unlocked the other shackles with a key which she took from the guards.

"Not to mention that you're using a jutsu for its true purpose unlike that perverted Toad Sage," said Kurama with bemusement.

"Tell me about it," thought Naruto while rolling his eyes at the memory.

Mera then spoke "Your companion told me that someone had betrayed my husband and he suspects Orm to be the traitor,"

"His actions certainly prove it, probably explains why we were attacked and that Aquaman is nowhere to be seen," said Superman.

"We'll need to take the queen to safety then begin our search for Aquaman," said Wonder Woman.

"And my son as well, Orm has hidden him somewhere when all this began," said Mera with a look of worry, Naruto clenched his fists in anger and made up his mind to punch Orm real hard for her.


Elsewhere, Aquaman was struggling to free himself from the chains which shackled him to a rock face precariously over a crevice where underwater lava flowed along at the bottom. He had woken up to find himself there and since then struggled to break free so he can return and make Orm and Brak pay for their betrayal.

"Enjoying the view?" Aquaman looked up and glared at Orm who was approaching on a waterbike with a smile of arrogance.

"Getting rid of me won't make the people of Atlantis serve you," said Aquaman.

"I know, that whole lineage thing can get messy," Orm got off and walked over to the front of the vehicle "Fortunately, I have a solution,"

"What do you mean?" Orm opened up a compartment and reached in to bring out a red bundle which started crying, Aquaman recognized the cry with a sense of dread which solidified when Orm revealed the bundle to be his son "No!"


Naruto and the others were currently accompanying Mera through the city towards the throne room to make sure that she was safe, but he couldn't help but admire the sights of the city as they walked along a bridge. It's the very first time in his life that he's in a place like this, no doubt that something like this exists back in the Elemental Nations.

"Wow, this place is amazing," said Naruto as he continued to look around.

"You're right Zenko, it's no wonder why Aquaman protects it so passionately," said Diana.

"Unfortunately, there are those whose ambitions would destroy it," said Mera.

Naruto's eyes suddenly narrowed as he swiftly positioned himself in front of the group and took out a handful of shuriken which he channeled wind chakra through before throwing them, the others were about to question him when they saw the projectiles slice through the firearms of the soldiers who were positioned ahead of them and were about to fire until Naruto intercepted them.

"There's a couple more coming up from behind us, protect the queen!" said Naruto before facing the ones in front of him and sped through a set of handsigns "Wind style: Wind Cannon!" he reared an arm back before thrusting forward to launch a blast of wind to knock the soldiers off the bridge and into the water below them. he looked back to see Superman and Wonder Woman defending Mera from the shots being fired at them and Green Lantern formed a battering ram to knock the soldiers off the bridge as well and into the water.

"I am grateful for your help," said Mera.

"No thanks necessary, but we need to hurry since they're targeting you now," said Superman.

"Indeed, this fight is far from over," said J'onn,

The group continued on their way but with more haste in their steps as the situation was getting direr by the minute.


Aquaman growled in anger as he watched Orm hold his beloved son before him with the chains being the only thing preventing his 'brother' from suffering the worst pain imaginable for this dastardly act.

"A pity, the prince will be yet another innocent victim of the surface dwellers aggression," said Orm as he watched Aquaman struggle against the chains "Sadly, that would also make me the rightful heir to the throne," Orm went to stab a dagger into the rock face and hung the child next to Aquaman before swimming back to the waterbike with the trident in hand

"You won't get away with this!" said Aquaman.

"That's wishful thinking brother, now I'll be off to 'avenge' your deaths against the surface dwellers," Orm aimed at the bottom of the rock with a blast from the trident to send it sliding towards the lava below with Aquaman and his son in tow, then he smirked evilly before riding away.

"ORM!" Aquaman roared out in outrage of it all, he began to struggle more than ever before so he free himself to save his son as the boulder drew closer to that lava. He managed to rip one of the arms free of the chains before pulling on the other one but time was running out for him and his son, Aquaman took out the triangular belt buckle and hacked at the remaining but realized that it won't shatter in time…so he made an unchangeable decision as he raised the buckle and brought it down with a roar towards what he was aiming…which wasn't the chain.


Back in Atlantis, the group had managed to secure the throne room before going out to search for Aquaman and the baby while Wonder Woman and Green Lantern guarded Mera and Naruto was using Sage Mode, at first he wasn't detecting their presence within but now he is but noticed something wrong and called out right as Superman and J'onn flew into the throne room to give their report.

"Guys, we need to get a medic in here right now, there's something wrong," said Naruto urgently.

Everyone looked at the ninja in confusion and were about to ask why when they heard the doors open and turned to see Aquaman walk in with the baby held in one arm, Mera went to embrace them in joy but the gasped in horror upon seeing the bloody stump of his left arm which gave everyone an unpleasant idea of what might have happened.

"Your hand…," Mera muttered in worry.

Aquaman didn't respond to that immediately and speak sternly despite the excruciating pain "Where is Orm?"

Everyone stared in silence as they watched the surgeon work on Aquaman's left arm by surgically attach an artificial limb to replace the one lost, they had gotten the full story of what had happened which earned their respect especially Naruto who has many people like him who were ready to do just about anything to protect their loved ones. He even recalled how A the Fourth Raikage sacrificed his own hand when fighting Sasuke and yet was still capable of going up against Uchiha Madara along with the other Kages despite the lack of an arm.

"I can't believe it…his own hand," said Superman in wonder.

"I told you he was a mad man," said Green Lantern.

Naruto turned to glare and spoke sternly "Protecting a loved one isn't madness Green Lantern, parents treasure their children far more than anything in the world that they would offer up their very lives so that they could live on. I've met many who went to such measures, even my mom and dad sacrificed their lives to protect me on the very day I was born. So I advise that you don't go calling such people mad,"

Green Lantern looked away but couldn't help but feel ashamed of what he said as he recalled how protective and caring his parents were, seeing the truth in the ninja's but he and the others noticed something else in Naruto's statement.

"So he's an orphan, and such at a young age," thought Diana as she stared at the blonde ninja.

"Now we need to figure out what's Orm's next phase of his plans," said Naruto thoughtfully.

There was the sound of beeping from Superman which he opened the channel to communicate then Batman's voice was heard from it "Superman, a situation has developed over at the North Pole. Thermal readings show temperatures increasing rapidly,"

"If that continues, the ecological effects could be catastrophic," said J'onn with concern.

"Then we should go check it out," said Green Lantern.

"But what about the crisis here?" asked Wonder Woman.

"There may be a connection," said Aquaman, piquing the interest of the others.

"What do you mean?" asked Superman.

"It's the doomsday thermal reactor, we designed it to create a polar meltdown,"

"What?!" Green Lantern was taken aback by what he just heard and he wasn't the only one.

"I had it built as a weapon of last resort, to protect Atlantis should the surface world ever attack…but I never armed it,"

"Then Orm must have, using the plutonium stolen from the submarine," said Green Lantern.

"If the polar cap melts, our world will sink beneath the waves. Everything will be destroyed, Orm must be stopped," said Superman.

"And he will be…," Aquaman got off the table to reveal the artificial limb which happens to be a hook "…I'll see to it personally,"

"But not without help and before you complain, this situation involves the surface world which means that we are to work together on this," said Naruto sternly before the King of Atlantis could refute.

"…very well then, just don't get in my way,"

"A real friendly one, isn't he?" asked Kurama sarcastically, getting a shrug from his partner.


The group had set out for the North Pole with Green Lantern carrying Naruto within an energy bubble from his ring as he flew along with the others, Aquaman decided his own method of travelling being by swimming with speeds being nothing to scoff at. Batman had contacted them earlier to inform them that he was currently en route to their destination. They looked ahead to see several Atlantean warships ahead and apparently had seen them approach as General Brak pointed his sword towards them and called out a command.

"Soldiers of Atlantis, attack!" General Brak commanded, the soldiers charged at the heroes on their waterbikes and firing rapidly with their rifles.

"Here we go again!" said Green Lantern.

"Yeah, but this time we're doing this for keeps. Drop me off here!" said Naruto, Green Lantern dissipated the energy bubble for Naruto to drop towards the ocean and land atop its surface before dashing at the soldiers. He dashed from side to side to evade the shoots fired at him while using a chakra coated kunai to deflect a few before weaving through a set of handsigns "I wanna see your reactions to this! Water Surfing Strike!" he stomped the surface to channel his chakra through it to form a large wave crashing towards the gobsmacked soldiers as he proceeded to ride on top of it with a loud "Cowabunga dudes!" the soldiers attempted to steer away but were too late as they got caught in the wave and were knocked off the waterbikes "Ha-ha! Total wipeout!" he turned around to see another squad of soldiers heading his way and firing their rifles "Guess they want some too eh?" he weaved through another set of handsigns "Water Style: Tri-Water Dragon jutsu!" three mass columns of water shot up into the air and took on the shape of serpentine dragons before Naruto mentally commanded them to attack as the dragons lunged at the soldiers with loud roars and repeatedly slammed into them. The Atlanteans couldn't believe what they were witnessing and experiencing, a surface dweller is using the very element that they live in against them…it's unprecedented!

"Watch how you're throwing those jutsu around, you won't know what's ahead of us," said Kurama.

"Sure spoil my fun why don't ya, but you got a point though," thought Naruto before moving on to engage the next squad.

Green Lantern flew low above the water's surface as he projected a wall of energy ahead of him to defend against the bullets and at the same time serve as a battering ram to smash through the soldiers' vehicles and knocking them into the water before changing into a crossbow to fire bolts of energy at the waterbikes to impair their functionality before moving on ahead. Wonder Woman and J'onn were working in tandem as they used the lasso and ghostlike power respectively to knock the soldiers into the oceans and were gradually gaining the advantage. Superman was currently occupied with disabling the turrets from the warships and was almost blasted by one of them.

"Superman, the glaciers are already starting to melt," said Batman as he piloted the Batplane over the icy region towards their location.

"I know, but we're kinda busy here at the moment," Superman replied while using his heat vision to melt the remaining turrets before looking around and noticed an oddity "Where's Aquaman?"

"I sense that he's moving away from the battlefield and in direction of the icy mountain ahead of us," said J'onn after using his telepathic power.

"That must be where the thermal reactor is. Green Lantern and Zenko, I need you two to meet up with Batman and head on over there to provide backup,"

"Got it!" said Green Lantern.

"I'm on my way!" Naruto flipped off the water dragon which he was riding on to land on the ice before running in direction of where he was sensing Aquaman's energy signature.

Meanwhile, Aquaman had already arrived at the mountain and went in through the entrance, he could see droplets of melted ice falling around him and the gradual rise in the temperature as he carefully walked across the iced bridges till he arrived at the room where the thermal reactor was situated. He walked up to the control panel and was about to input the command to shut down the reactor.

*BZTTTT*

"Argh!" Aquaman was struck from behind by a blast which came from a visibly annoyed Orm who had apparently been alerted of his arrival along with the surface dwellers.

Orm approached the downed Aquaman with the trident radiating with energy "Apparently I underestimated you brother, a mistake that I won't make again!"

He raised the trident over his head and brought it down to finish his brother, Aquaman quickly jerked to the side to avoid the killing blow then kicked Orm strongly in the chest to knock him back so as to quickly recover to his feet before engaging him in close combat. Aquaman made good use of his new artificial limb to contend against Orm and the trident as he would use the hook to redirect or block any incoming strike due to being well versed in the art of wielding a spear before losing his arm which is not to say that Orm wasn't as competent with the trident in hand. Aquaman blocked a stab then countered with a knee strike to the stomach to make Orm stumble back in pain then followed it up with a nasty right hook to the face, which knocked him down to the ground before approaching with a frown.

"It's over for you now Orm," said Aquaman sternly.

Orm glared back with hatred "You're right…and you've lost!" Orm quickly picked up the trident and fired a blast at the Thermal reactor's control panel, effectively destroying it much to Aquaman's shock "The tide is against you brother, the reactor can't be shut down!" he fired a blast with Aquaman jumping out of the way before engaging him in combat once more.

Aquaman continued to lay on the pressure on Orm as chunks of ice fell around them, enticing him to defeat his brother quickly so he can figure out a way to shut down the reactor before it's too late. He saw Orm about to fire another blast from trident and quickly moved forward and hitting it to the side to disrupt its aim and strike the ceiling overhead before punching him to the ground, he lunged to knock him unconscious but Orm launched another blast which sent him flying out of the room and almost fell into a bottomless pit had he not stabbed his hook into the icy wall.

Orm appeared on the edge with a smirk on his face "This time brother, I will make sure that you die!" he took aim with the trident and was about to fire.

*Whack*

He felt something hard hit the back of his head which made him turn around to see one of the surface dwellers with the mask standing there with his arms crossed.

"Hey buddy, want you have a round with me?" asked Naruto while doing a 'come here' gesture.

"Worthless surface scum, I'll eliminate you along with your kind!" said Orm as he turned towards Naruto with the trident pointed at him.

"Let's skip the monologue and just get down to the fight, let's go Byakko!" Naruto held out his hand for a spear with two side blades pointing down like an upside down crescent before taking a stance.

Orm charged towards the ninja and launched a stab, Naruto parried the incoming strike then took a step forward to attack with a jab of his own but it was parried to which he used the momentum to twirl it around for a swing, forcing Orm to back away with Naruto somersaulting forwards to maintain closure and launched another swing for it to be blocked again then quickly swung the butt end of the spear the right side of Orm's chest. This angered the treacherous Atlantean to retaliate with ferocity as he constantly attacked Naruto in an effort of gut him, but the blonde ninja was rapidly defending against the strikes with short dashes and twirling Byakko to deflect.

"Damn worm, perish for the sake of Atlantis!" Orm began firing blasts of energy to destroy the enemy before him.

"Byakko, calling forth the cleaving wind!" Naruto proceeded to twirl the spear around himself with great speed which formed rings of razor sharp purple winds to slice through the incoming blasts before dashing forward in a zigzag pattern to evade more of the shots fired his way till he was right in front of his opponent and struck with a chakra enhanced uppercut to send Orm crashing into the ceiling overhead before falling down only to be sent flying by a blast of wind from a swing from Byakko "I promised myself to punch you hard for kidnapping Aquaman's child and making a mother worry so much, consider it a promise kept,"

"The matters of Atlantis are of no concern to you surface dwellers!" Orm retorted with anger.

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders "In a way it's true, which is why I'm not using my full power to knock you around like a pinball. Plus your brother called dibs on beating you black and blue,"

"What are y-"

*Wham*

Orm was dealt a nasty right hook courtesy of Aquaman who had climbed back out to the top and didn't waste any time going after Orm once more. Naruto chortled for a moment then headed over to the thermal reactor where he saw Batman and Green Lantern already there.

"How bad is it?" asked Naruto.

"The controls are completely destroyed with no time to fix it," said Green Lantern.

"I will have to go inside and manually shut it down," said Batman, surprising the other two.

"Inside?! But that's too risky!" said Naruto.

Batman turned towards Green Lantern "Can your ring protect me?"

Green Lantern looked at his ring for a moment before responding "We'll find out," then he used it to form a layer of energy to enshroud the Dark Knight from head to toe before he opened a hatch and went inside.

"There they are, stop them from deactivating the reactor!" Naruto and Green Lantern turned to seek a group of Atlantean soldiers enter the room and charge towards them with swords raised.

"I'll cover you, just stay focused on your side!" said Naruto before charging towards the soldiers while switching Byakko out for Inazuma the draconic three-section staff. He held one end and swung it in a wide arc like a whip to force the soldiers back before performing a jumping roundhouse kick before rolling out of the way of a slash then retaliated with another swing to bash a soldier's head strong enough to knock him out, Naruto saw a soldier rushing from behind to stab him in the back and quickly stepped sideways to launch a backhand to clothesline him to the ground "I'm ending this quickly! Come on, Inazuma!" the draconic three-section staff glowed an orange aura as he charged towards the remaining soldiers and began lashing out at high-speeds with ferocity to send them crashing into the icy walls, putting all into an unconscious state.

The fight between Aquaman and Orm was getting more intense as the latter had tackled the former onto one of the ice bridges and was trying to impale him with the trident, Aquaman managed to divert the trident's path to embedding onto the ground next to his head and kicked Orm away to effectively disarm him of it. Aquaman approached to make sure that Orm stays down when said person suddenly lashed out with a dagger to inflict a wound across his chest, forcing him back as Orm swung the weapon about wildly having lost all sense of reason.

"You don't deserve to wear the crown, I do! I will be the one to lead Atlantis to its true glory!" Orm raved madly. In his rage, Orm failed to notice a part of the ice bridge crumbling beneath his feet until it was too late as he grabbed onto the edge with eyes wide in fear before looking up to Aquaman "Brother, please help me!"

Aquaman looked at Orm silently then he reached out…to pick up the trident much to the latter's horror "I believe that this belongs me,"

Orm could no longer maintain his grip as he began to fall into the dark bottomless pit "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Aquaman looked on without any emotion for some time before walking away to meet up with the others.

Naruto and Green Lantern nervously waited as Batman was still inside the reactor and they haven't seen any change yet and more pieces of ice fell around them due to the temperature still increasing. Soon they noticed that the humming sound of the reactor was beginning to die down, signaling that the shutdown was successful, Batman soon emerged from the machine and landed on the ground before them.

"It's shutting down, you did it!" said a relieved Green Lantern as he retracted the energy into his ring.

Batman shook his head "No…we did it,"

"You're right, it was a team effort," said Naruto with a thumbs up.

"Quite surprising to hear a brooding type of person actually admit to something like teamwork," said Kurama.

Aquaman then walked up to them "Then the threat is over,"


Later on, everyone had returned to Atlantis and were in the throne as Aquaman had rounded up those that conspired with Orm especially General Brak who was currently pleading with the king that he and his men were forced to listen to Orm's order, Naruto rolled his eyes at the obvious lie and didn't even need Kurama's emotion sensing ability to figure that as he had met those type of people back in the Elemental Nations and they were dealt with accordingly. Superman and the other league members were just as disgusted at the blatant lie, apparently Aquaman had had enough of all this as he stood up from his throne to glare at them.

"Get them out of my sight," the loyal soldiers immediately complied with the order and jostled the betrayers out of the throne as Aquaman sighed to himself "I can only blame myself, my fear of the surface dwellers blinded to those I should have feared most…and it cost me dearly," he looked at the hook replacing the hand he had lost.

Green Lantern spoke up "Don't be too hard on yourself, maybe we've all misjudged,"

"Maybe so, but all I have ever wanted is peace and security for Atlantis,"

"After what's happened, it won't be easy," said Superman.

"I know…," Aquaman turned towards Mera holding their sleeping child in her arms "…but some sacrifices are worth it,"

Naruto smiled in nostalgia as he recalled the past Hokages and their common desire to protect the village just like he wanted to. He hopes that Aquaman would give the negotiation idea with the World Assembly another chance after everything has settled down…although he's suddenly having a craving for seafood as of now.

"Seriously? That's what's on your mind right now?" asked Kurama in disbelief.


This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, I'm now done with the Atlantis arc and soon moving on to the Injustice arc though there might be an OC chapter to serve as a partial opening to it. Sorry I took so long to update as I was busy with other stuff but I'm back on track now, be sure to read and review like you always do.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out.