The celebratory party for surviving the attack of the invaders was brought to an abrupt halt when Clark was called in to MBI on an emergency. He had had big plans for the party as well.
"What's the situation?" He asked as he joined Takami as they walked through a long concrete corridor. In front of them, leading the way, were Yume and Musubi, behind them was Tsukiumi and Homura. They were his official guard for this emergency. Matsu was walking with Clark and Takami as this was her new project.
"We placed the Black Ship in one of the secure labs, full surveillance and sensor monitoring 24 hours a day." She explained. "Twenty minutes ago movement was detected and a black liquid like substance dripped off the bottom of the ship and headed for one of the drains."
"The laser grid didn't stop it." Clark deducted.
"The lasers just slid over it." Takami confirmed. "And now we can't find it anywhere."
They reached the end of the corridor where a solid blast door stood. The group held up their hands as if they were under arrest as their palms and eyes were scanned to confirm their identities.
The door slowly lifted up into the wall allowing the group to enter the large metal walled lab where the only thing inside was the Black Ship.
There were no tools, desks or guards on the inside… just the ship. Anything a scientist needed to use was brought in and checked before hand.
"Matsu, I'm sorry but we are going to have to move the ship off planet. Possibly out of this dimension." He told his Sekirei firmly.
"I understand." She said with a hint of sadness. "Can I try and visit and help out?" She asked hopefully.
"Of course. You will get the chance to play with all sorts of advanced tech and work with The Vision as I want his expertise on this."
"I had hoped that we were done with the invasion." Homura sighed. "Now it seems an infiltrator has made it onto the planet."
"We will need to warn the Guardians as well." Matsu said. "The Collector Ship will also need to be moved."
"I will contact Kilowog." Takami agreed.
"Right now I need to get to the Castle so we can do some more interrogations on the two Kryptonians." Clark said.
Kyla was splashing out of the beautiful Pacific Ocean and onto the beach with Uzume and Lois when she was suddenly confronted by three identical blondes with identical serious faces in identical white bikinis.
They were the epitome of little Emmas and she wondered how cute they looked when they were little girls.
"Your dream wedding." Phoebe said sharply.
"Start imagining it." Mindee ordered.
"Throw in some images of the honeymoon whilst you're at it." Celeste slightly begged. "Ow!" She rubbed her arm from where Phoebe had slapped her. "That hurts you too, you know!"
"Ok, I've got what we need." Mindee ignored her sisters. "Lois, you are maid-of-honour. Uzume, you get the rest of Clark's Sekirei and Lana and Chloe. You are all bridesmaids. Head back to Smallville with Jean and start working on dresses and outfits for the lot of you. Jean can get the images from Kyla's head."
With that the Cuckoos vanished.
"What just happened?" Uzume asked a slightly dazed Kyla.
"I think I'm about to get married." She frowned.
"Here's hoping they are planning Clark as your groom." Lois snorted.
"Alright children, let's get started." Xander grinned as he took a seat in front of the two Kryptonians that were bound to the table with magical chains. Harry had already drained them and sealed off the super powers they would have gained from Earth's yellow sun but it paid to be cautious.
"Release us human and we will make your death quick." The man snarled as he rattled his chains impotently.
Xander ignored the howling. "So, you are Nam-Ek and you are Aethyr." He pointed at the man and woman respectively. "According to my young friend who spoke to you earlier you are both Disciples of Zod. He got quite a bit of information from you but admitted you were able to hide stuff."
"The telepath." Aethyr spat. "Bring us Kal-El. We will only speak with him."
"Now, I want you to tell me everything." Xander said as he sat forward. "I want to know everything about the Black Ship and Brainiac." There was an exchange of glares for a few moments. "Interesting." Xander frowned in thought. "Was he on the ship with you?"
Both of them now sat there with lips firmly shut.
"He was." Xander nodded slowly. "So why would he want to land on the planet if he was also going to destroy it?"
Their eyes widened slightly at that.
"Oh? You didn't know about that part of the plan?" Xander smirked. "He tried to steal one of our major cities. Old Kal and I went up and took out what must have been a copy or something of Brainiac and stole his ship and all the other cities up there."
The two shared a look before they burst out laughing.
"No mere ape could defeat Brainiac. You have told a lie too big!" Nam-Ek smirked.
The door to the interrogation room opened and Neville walked in carrying a large canvas bag that he dropped on the table with a loud thud.
"Next time carry your own trophies." He said with a glare before he exited the room.
Xander ignored the departing Phoenix and began rolling down the canvas bag to reveal its contents: The head of Brainiac.
It had an exposed green brain that was clearly artificial. There were no eyes but had a strip like ski goggles that were pitch black. When Brainiac had been functional the eyes had glowed from behind it. The mouth was beak like, a cross between a bird and an insect.
But Xander sat there smirking at the looks of fear on the two prisoners. "You were saying?"
Whilst Aethyr continued to look nervous and panicked, Nam-Ek swallowed his fear and kept his head held high. "So you managed to kill one of Brainiac's avatars. You still have not defeated him completely."
"We will. We already have both of his ships, he is stranded on this planet and eventually he will slip up and we will find and deal with him.
"The question you two need to ask yourselves is: How much do you want to suffer until we do?"
"We are soldiers, we are trained to endure torture." Nam-Ek sneered.
"No, you're a terrorist. All terrorists are cowards at heart, that's why they strike from the shadows. They know they are wrong and they fear retribution. They also aren't mentally built to deal with their own pain and suffering because the underlying basis for a terrorist is a bully. Bullies intimidate and hurt others in a feeble attempt to prevent their own feared suffering." Xander lectured calmly. "I'm guessing you need a taste of what we can do to you."
Xander raised his hand in the air above his head and pointed at the two idiots opposite him.
Aethyr and Nam-Ek froze in a catatonic state for a brief moment before they suddenly started gasping for breath and looking around the room in fear. Sweat began pouring off their foreheads.
Aethyr began checking the palms of her hands whilst Nam-Ek was frantically checking his right wrist.
"You just experienced the torture my son underwent as a boy and what one of my daughters-in-law suffered as a young woman. We have plenty more memories lined up… want to try for round two?" Xander asked with an expressionless face.
Xander himself still suffered nightmares about finding Harry in the graveyard. When he had heard of Amara suffering a crucifixion he had nearly demanded that Barry send him back in time so he could get personal revenge.
And this didn't even begin to cover what they others suffered.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Nam-Ek croaked in a panic.
"Nam-Ek!" Aethyr gasped in shock as she continued to rub her palms. She knew she wouldn't last another round though.
"Glad to hear it." Xander smiled a smile that did not reach his eyes. "A young friend of mine will be in shortly to ask you some questions. You will find that she can compel you to tell the truth without even touching you.
"You see, you may get your powers from our sun, but some of us get our powers from your planet… and there is a lot of it lying around our slice of paradise here."
Xander turned to leave.
"Wait!" Nam-Ek called. "Why did you threaten to torture us then?"
Xander just smirked. "First, this session was a teaching exercise for one of my adopted sons. He's young and inexperienced so this helps him get what he needs.
Xander's smirk dropped. "Second, I wanted to teach you a little respect and humility. I don't know if you will be given the chance to be rehabilitated… but it doesn't hurt to lay the ground work."
Xander continued on out of the interrogation room.
"You really think they can be rehabilitated?" Ryan asked as he stood on the other side of the one-way glass with Emma.
"A little hope can go a long way." Xander said quietly. "Its like the saying about giving a man enough rope to hang himself. Give a man the glimpse of hope in the direst of circumstances and he will sell his soul for it."
"And we know someone who deal in souls." Ryan nodded.
Clark and Harry had decided that the best place to work on the Black Ship was in Harry's home dimension. To that end a special lab was created there based on the moon science stations in Clark's home dimension. A portal door connected to the X-Men's world was placed there and would be strictly monitored by the heroes in their world.
When they arrived back in Clark's universe they were immediately accosted by Amara and Dani who dragged them off to the local tailor in Smallville who began working his magic.
Literally… magic, he had it so now he would use it.
The clothes they were given were made of simple animal skins.
"What is going on?" Clark asked.
"I think you're about to get married… again." Harry grinned.
"Well I just wish someone would confirm that." Clark grumbled.
"Of course you are getting married." The tailor, Leonard, snapped slightly exasperated.
"To… ?"
"Kyla you big galoot! I swear if your skin wouldn't break them I would purposefully stick you with my pins for being so obtuse."
"But I didn't get a chance to propose." Clark argued. "I've still got the ring in my pocket, I was going to do it at the party."
Leonard wasn't a gay man but he was definitely flamboyant. It was a testament to the town that he was so easily accepted with very few instances of prejudice.
It probably helped that the few times it had happened Sheriff Miller, Jonathan and a few other of the towns more 'respectable' males had 'words' with the aggressors. For all his faults, Miller had cared about his town.
Leonard was the sort of person to make wide and over exaggerated gestures, even more so when performing magic. He would have been great as a stage magician.
It was clear to the two men he was working on that he was making a mental call when he put two fingers to his temple and scrunched up his eyes and forehead in concentration.
He opened his eyes and glared at Clark. "Go to the Kawatche Caves and don't be longer than twenty minutes, I am not finished with you."
Clark shared a confused look with Harry.
"Go!" Leonard ordered.
Clark vanished, slightly intimidated. Leonard was the sort of person who was completely unaffected by the fact that he had two of the world's most powerful people in his shop.
"Don't think you are getting off easy." He warned the smirking Harry. "My pins won't break on you and I still have to do your inseam."
Clark arrived in the caves to discover Kyla standing there waiting.
"Did you plan this wedding?" He asked curiously.
"No, I thought you did. The Cuckoos just grabbed me at the beach and began interrogating me." She said just as confused.
"Same here, but it was Dani and Amara and they just threw me at the tailor with Harry."
Kyla and Clark stood there nervously about three feet apart.
"Are we actually going to do this now?" Kyla eventually asked. "I knew it would be stressful to arrange what with the press and basic wedding stuff, but this is very last minute."
"Well, it might be last minute… but…" Clark took the ring box out of his pocket, opened it and presented it to her. "I had intended to propose at the beach this evening but then the whole thing with the Black Ship occurred. My guess is that the Cuckoos heard my thoughts and decided to speed things up.
"So, Kyla Willowbrook, will you marry me?" He asked with a soft, wry smile.
"Idiot." She said fondly as she took the ring from the box and put it on her own finger. "We've been married for ages, this is just to make it official."
There were no vows made between Clark and Kyla as they stood before her Grandfather on the Kent Farm. Instead, Harry removed their souls from their bodies and showed everyone the bond between them before declaring that anyone who tried to break it or interfere with it would suffer greatly.
Fortunately for Harry he remembered to give them both clothes as they were standing before the entire town of Smallville, all the superheroes, the full 108 Sekirei (109 according to Kusano) and their Ashikabi, the entire island of Amazons and most of the gods.
This event was as big as when Clark and Aphrodite had been joined.
Afterwards there was a simple gathering where a buffet was served by a North Korean catering agency and music was provided by musicians from all around the Alliance.
Although the Sekirei were not in uniform and the Amazons were not in armour, they were all on alert and utilising patrol patterns designed for crowd infiltration. Only trained observers would recognise what they were doing but anyone else just saw women mingling.
At the edge of the Kent Farm two rugged men with two separate sets of twins faced off against each other.
"You got an invite, Bub?" Logan asked calmly as he rolled his cigar to the side of his mouth.
"Call me a… new friend." The man said with a smirk in his eyes and a gravelly voice. "Got some matters to discuss with Kent."
"Lotta Kents on this farm. Wanna narrow it down?"
The man pulled a cigarette out and held it up to his mouth, blue sparks danced on his fingertips as he caused the little death stick to light. "Clark Kent. Might want to warn him about keeping me waiting."
"Man's a little busy right now. Getting married an' all. Why don't you let me see if I can't sort your business out?" Logan countered calmly.
"Kent's who I want." The man said with a bit more firmness as the casual banter left his voice. "Why don't you leave your pretty young girls here and get him. My boys don't get to spend much time around the fairer sex."
"You get one chance Bub. Leave peacefully… or don't."
The man conjured a ball of crackling blue electricity in his hands before laughing. "What you gonna do? Dance?" He threw the ball at Logan who just stood there.
As the ball hit him his entire Adamentium skeleton lit up and glowed beneath his skin.
Logan stood there calmly and popped his claws.
"I'm the best at what I do, Bub." He grinned as he stalked forward, the lightning dancing on his claws. "And what I do is a special kinda dancin'."
"How did you control the lightning like that?" Martha asked curiously as she looked down at the smoking pile of bodies.
Logan had easily dispatched the intruders with Hibiki and Hikari. The male twins never got to show what they could do as the Lightning Twins had zapped them as soon as Logan started walking.
"I would have thought lightning would be a bad thing for you." Tess remarked as she stood there with Lex, Helen and Ryan.
Logan had called the young boy to get a mental read on the intruders. Martha had been with him at the time and tagged along. They had discovered that they were part of Level 33.1. One of the most insidious projects of the Clone Lex.
"Long time ago a certain Aspect got fed up with me being tossed around the battle field by any one who controlled metal or lightning. He spent several weeks carving runes into my bones and claws and now lightning is my bitch.
"OW SON-OF-A Woman, I will put you over my knee and tan your hide one of these days." Logan scowled at Miya.
"And then the rest of the women will put you into a dress and make it so you can never take it off." Ryan grinned.
"And you need to learn some male solidarity." Logan told the boy glibly.
"I know it. But Xander and Dad taught me when to use that and male survivability." Ryan countered.
"He is being trained to be a perfect gentlemen." Tess smirked. "Nice work you and Jonathan have done." She complimented Martha.
"We can't take all the credit, he was a sweet boy when we met him. I think he has just had good role models since then." She said as she proudly put an arm around her youngest son's shoulders. Ryan was up to her nose in height now.
"So what do we do with these fools?" Hibiki asked as she kicked the smoking mound.
"Put 'em in the dungeon and let Harry deal with them." Logan said firmly. "That Electro rip-off is all bad but the twins might be redeemable. They were followers, need to find out why they followed this waste of space." He gave the cigarette smoking man a nudge with his boot.
Clark's wedding present to Kyla had been the expensive yacht that MBI had been developing as a proof of concept for green engines. The honeymoon was to be a week sailing around the ocean with Clark's other wives and soul mates as neither Clark nor Kyla wanted to be apart from them.
Lois wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She and Clark weren't intimate but they were dating and they definitely wanted each other. But she definitely didn't want to get in the way of Clark and Kyla's honeymoon.
The decision had been taken out of her hands by Kazehana who had already packed both their bags and put them in a room on the yacht. Everyone had their own rooms but no one was likely to use them.
After the first week, everyone else was invited to join them when they wanted to. The ship could easily handle two hundred passengers and he was expecting quite a few Sekirei to visit.
He had a sneaking suspicion that Mutsu might be a more permanent fixture if that was the case as although his Ashikabi was male and other Sekirei didn't appeal to him… the Ashikabi were very enticing. The female ones that is.
Except Yukari who had kicked him between the legs for trying to come on to her.
Lana, Chloe and Jodi had decided to look at Universities in Japan. They had considered western Universities but they realised they needed to have carte blanche to leave lectures as needed if the Amazons were called on deck.
Yukari was thrilled and was an eager tour guide with Shiina and Akitsu who they had tried to drag along to be included.
Back home they had to deal with a new threat.
"He just called you and told you to get the hell out of dodge?" Lorna asked curiously.
"Gabriel Duncan was a good student and a friend of the Torch as he fixed our computers when needed." Chloe explained. "I was happy to hear from him, I thought he was going to tell me what he had been up to, but he sounded stressed.
"I asked him why I needed to leave and he said he was going to destroy Smallville and wipe out the unclean witches and meteor-freaks."
"He just admitted that?" Xander asked with a small smile.
"I may have used a little of my special brand of persuasion." She admitted meekly.
"Little idiot had shot two soldiers and was attempting to fire a nuclear missile." Harry said as he appeared and tossed an unconscious Gabriel Duncan on the floor.
"That's it?" Chloe asked in disbelief. "I tell you someone is about to destroy Smallville and you somehow managed to find him in less than a minute?"
"Sure." Harry shrugged. "I can find most of the town if I need to. I can definitely find every student from the past four years."
"This has to be the most anti-climatic missile crisis in history." Chloe grumbled.
By the third week of the cruise Yukari, Shiina, Lana, Chloe, Jodi and Alicia were all permanent fixtures on the yacht.
Clark was beginning to get restless though as he had been forbidden from going off and patrolling. The Amazons and other Sekirei had it all well in hand along with the rest of the Castle residents.
His wives and Sekirei tried to keep him occupied even going so far as to spar with him. But he hadn't really had a relaxing day since before he started High School. The only thing that came close was the time he spent with Harry in Harry's home universe.
Fortunately he had a little experiment that Harry and Bruce Wayne had asked him to perform. Around a month ago there had been rumours of a man in a golden skin-tight suit with green boots and gloves and a trident foiling crimes in Boston.
The man seemed to come from the ocean and then return there. Batman had brought them other stories about a boy who was rumoured to be an Atlantean from around six years previously. The photos definitely matched.
So Harry had given Clark some communications equipment and technology from the Atlantis of the X-Men's world and asked him to use it and keep his ears open.
He finally caught a bite.
It was late at night and the yacht was docked some way off the coast of Boston. The primary reason for this was the girls liked to party… loudly. At bow of the boat Yukari, Lois, Uzume, Musubi, Kazehana, the Cuckoos and anyone else who enjoyed a marathon dance session was there.
At the stern of the ship Clark, Aphrodite, Yume, Homura and those who enjoyed quiet evenings relaxed on sun beds.
In the yacht itself there were various people enjoying games, television and idle conversation.
It was of course the bow that drew the attention of this strange orange and green clad man.
He dived out of the water and into the middle of the dancing men and women with his trident out and a rather displeased look on his face.
The music cut out.
The man was slightly taken aback when half the women morphed their clothes into a black uniform of sorts… the whole lot of them took on a defensive combat stance.
"So this is a trap then?" The man stated quietly as he took in the people looking at him.
"This was a party jerk." Lois snapped. "You just decided to crash it."
"Lois, stand down." Dani said firmly. "You must be Arthur Curry, Aquaman. Go to the stern of the ship. You will find a man there who has been looking to talk to you."
"I do not take orders."
"It wasn't an order. It was an offer. In about ten seconds the music is going back on. You can either leave or go and speak to Superman." Dani retorted.
Aquaman winced as the music blared back into existence and the men and women started gyrating. He jumped high into the air and back into the water.
At the stern of the ship Clark stood with Aphrodite at his side as he watched Aquaman through the ship with his X-Ray vision. He was swimming directly under the ship towards his location.
He took the time to catalogue the man's anatomy. He was seemingly human but his musculature was much denser, his brain far more evolved and he had gills lining the inside of his nose with some sort of valve system that protected his lungs from filling with water.
Clark had never seen this before… of course before the previous year he had never seen a Martian either.
Again the man jumped out of the water in a display of aqua-aero acrobatics.
"Aquaman, I'm Clark Kent, also known as Superman." Clark held out his hand.
It was ignored so Clark just sighed.
"You called me here… I do not recognise the technology but I recognise the call of the King of Atlantis." Aquaman said with a face of stone. "By what right do you summon the King of Atlantis?"
"I merely wanted to greet you face-to-face and offer you the opportunity to open a dialogue in the hopes of cooperation in the future."
"Cooperation? I have spent the past six years cleaning surface dweller's garbage from my oceans. When you can-"
"Stop." Clark said calmly. "I didn't come here to argue with you. I don't want to negotiate trade or anything like that."
Aquaman was a little peeved at being interrupted. "Then why call on me?"
"Let's get one thing very clear from the beginning." Clark said as Aphrodite moved back from Clark's side. "I do not represent the governments of the land based nations. I have no authority to speak on their behalf.
"I do however stand for the innocent civilians who will suffer if we are ever invaded again. You have already begun helping the innocent and average civilian by preventing and stopping crime in Boston. I just want to know if you are willing to stand with us if we are faced with another planetary threat."
"The people of Atlantis have remained hidden from surface dwellers for millennia. They will remain hidden from all surface dwellers, even invaders from space."
Clark conjured a floating image of the Earth. Something he got the chance to see a lot of in person. At least once a month he would take Kusano to the moon base so she could just gaze at her home.
Clark pointed to the North Atlantic Ocean and a dot of light appeared there. Clark just stood there in his Bermuda shorts with his arms folded patiently.
"Blackmail… is that your game?" Aquaman snarled as he grasped the shaft of his trident with both hands.
"We don't have any intention of approaching Atlantis without your permission unless you provoke us. I just wanted to point out that your people aren't as well hidden as you would like. If I can find it then so can others.
"If you want, I know a man who can literally shift the entire city out of phase with Earth and the only way to access it is if you tell them the secret of its location.
"Look, go back to your city if you want and have nothing to do with us. But the world is changing. Surface dwellers are developing more advanced technology everyday and soon they will be able to find you.
"You started them on this course when you revealed yourself as an Atlantean.
"The best thing you can do for your people is be seen as an emissary, an Ambassador."
Clark looked at him curiously. "Why are you so angry at the surface people?"
"Have you seen what they do to my realm?" Aquaman asked incredulously.
"Yes. They do the same thing to the surface world." Clark said calmly. "But you are talking about a minority who have all the power and wealth.
"If we were to actually investigate Atlantis would we find similar situations?
"Most of the surface people want a cleaner world. In case you haven't noticed this vessel has zero pollution. My company developed a device that allows for instantaneous travel between two points over any distance and again… no pollution.
"Within the next two decades we hope to have the number polluting land vehicles drastically cut.
"But there is a real problem." Clark said as he took a step towards Aquaman. "The Earth might not be here in two decades if we have to face another invasion."
Aquaman knew he was in a corner. He was well aware of what was occurring on land.
"I will consider your words." He sighed. "I will aid in the protection of my people, even from villains of the stars. How may I contact you?"
Clark handed him a small strip of transparent material. "Place this on the bone behind your ear. It won't come off unless you actually want it to. You can activate it by thinking about who you want to contact."
"I assume you can track me with this." He said dryly.
"Only if you turn on those functions. We don't need to plant anything on you to find out where you are. We have other methods for doing that."
"And I am just supposed to believe you?"
"You could always drop by Smallville. Find Harry Potter and tell him I sent you. He'll know who you are and he can answer any questions you have."
"Smallville? Your home in Kansas." Aquaman said with a hint of distaste. "A land locked location."
"We have streams, rivers and lakes."
Aquaman spared a curious glance at the beautiful blonde woman in a scant pink bikini with a gauzy see-through robe over the top. At first he had thought she was just arm candy for the rich kid. But he noticed that her eyes were far more intelligent… she was paying close attention.
"My other wife, Aphrodite." Clark explained as he deduced the glance from Aquaman.
"Surface dwellers do not believe in polygamy." Aquaman stated as he drew himself up. He wasn't sure if he was being misled but he didn't appreciate it.
"My brother rules two countries and heads the Alliance. I love both women and both love me. I could explain more but I don't think you are quite ready to listen with an open mind." Clark sighed. "I don't intend to push you and I am happy to just finish my honeymoon with my most recent wife.
The two powerful men stood there for a moment in silence as Aquaman looked at the strange strip in his hand. He then looked Clark in the eye and placed it behind his left ear.
"I will contact you when I have made my decision." With that he leapt off the boat and into the water.
"I hate politics." Clark sighed.
"Unfortunately you play them well." Aphrodite smiled proudly as she wrapped her arms around him from behind.
Clark manoeuvred himself so they were facing. "I doubt it will be long before we hear anything. Harry is fairly impatient."
She moved back and looked up at him curiously. "You think Harry will travel to Atlantis?"
Clark laughed. "My brother seems to forget that I can sense souls now. He was here the whole time. He just left with Aquaman."
"He was spying on us?" She asked dangerously. She was seriously considering a shopping trip with Emma to get some special footwear for divine kicks.
"No, he appeared when I warned him Aquaman had turned up."
The danger passed, but Harry was still in fairly warm water and needed to watch his step around the girls.
Aquaman swam home to Amnesty Bay, Maine. His home was the lighthouse his father had raised him in.
The home his father had been murdered in.
Now he hoped to build new memories there with his wife, Mera.
It was Mera who happily greeted him with a kiss as he entered his home.
"Did you find the ones who called you?" His red haired siren asked.
"It was Superman… who is actually Clrrrr…. Gllllrrr" Aquaman frowned as he found he couldn't say Superman's name.
"Are you well?" Mera asked worriedly.
"I-"
"Superman's identity is protected by magic. His name is Clark Kent."
Aquaman and Mera jumped from the sofa and assumed a combative stance as the infamous Harry Potter appeared in the nearby armchair.
Aquaman's trident was at the ready as were Mera's hard water constructs.
"You should really go and visit Clark, My Dear." Harry beamed at the redhead. "One of his wives has powers just like yours."
"Wives?" She couldn't help herself from asking.
"Why have you invaded our home?" Aquaman demanded.
"Because unlike my little brother, I am not very patient." Harry frowned as he conjured some tea and coffee. "My therapist says its because I spent millions of years in solitude. But I already knew that… especially as I taught her most of what she knows."
"Why. Are. You. Here?" He repeated.
"Because I am not going to let you get into a political power play with Superman and the other heroes." Harry said seriously. "I know you are a decent man just by looking at your soul. But even decent men can be fools.
"Clark made genuine offers and overtures and he didn't ask for a damned thing that he knew you wouldn't willingly give.
"I, on the other hand, want more from you. I want you to be open and forthright with Clark. I don't want you making him wait anxiously for your call. I don't want you trying to barter for your cooperation. If you are the man I believe you can be then you will contact Clark tomorrow and inform him that you will be available should your assistance be needed."
"You expect me to put the needs of the surface above the needs of my own people?" Aquaman snarled. "I am the King of Atlantis! I do no-"
"Hold up." Harry calmly interrupted the man. "Say that last bit again."
"Are you deaf? I said I am King of Atlantis!" He said angrily.
Harry tilted his head curiously and looked up at the towering man from his modest five foot eleven. "You're lying."
"How dare you!"
"I can see souls and souls can't lie to me. You are not the King of Atlantis. You may have been as it was only… half a lie if you will, but you definitely aren't the king anymore.
"Clark was completely honest with you. He even gave you his real name and all the information to find him when you needed to. You couldn't be honest with him about this?" Harry demanded heatedly.
"It is no one's business but my own!" He argued. "I abdicated the throne voluntarily so that I could protect Atlantis and my people from the surface dwellers directly."
"And who did you leave in charge?" Harry asked.
Harry's eyes widened as he saw the rather shameful look on Aquaman's face.
"You just left them?" He asked incredulously. "Did you even tell them you were leaving?"
"I am the king! I do what I must and they will not question me." Aquaman countered.
"You idiot! You aren't king if you abdicate. What if someone with less than honourable intentions attempts to seize control?
"Do you even have a way of communicating with Atlantis?"
That similar look on the former king's face made Harry jump and start pacing in an irritated fashion.
"You see?! This is why I am not as trusting or as patient as Clark. God love him, but he has a lot to learn." Harry ranted.
The pair was again startled as a group five Japanese men and women appeared in the room with one of the famous portal doors.
"We have come prepared, Potter-Sama." The lead man said.
"English please." He smiled at them.
They all bowed and cast a translation charm on themselves.
"Of course." The man stated.
"Right, Mera, you stay here and supervise where you want them to install the portal door. We recommend putting it in a wall. Once it is installed the team here will make it seem like a second door to another room, we recommend putting it behind the fridge, that way no one else will be tempted to use it.
"Orin, you're with me. We are going to head to Atlantis, reclaim your throne and install a second door so you can be king and fight from the surface."
Aquaman scowled at the use of his birth name.
"Who are you to de-"
"I AM DEATH! PROTECTOR OF THE MORTAL REALM AND YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENDANGER IT WITH YOUR PETTY FOOLISHNESS!"
Orin and Mera had no idea how it had happened but they were facing a massive dragon with molten flames dripping from its mouth… and that didn't even begin to explain how it managed to expand the room to fit it.
The two Atlanteans were frozen with looks of fear in their eyes. They were water dwellers and there was far too much fire in front of them to deal with.
"Who dares challenge our father?"
Now this was a new twist as several women appeared to the left of the dragon along with a massive being in wooden armour and a small girl of maybe six years old.
Forget the women who wielded water and ice.
Forget the woman who had plants sprouting through the floor at her feet.
Forget the wooden knight.
The glare on that little girl made the young couple take an involuntary step back.
"You leave Daddy alone!" She said sternly.
"Kusano, I think your Daddy was the one bothering them." The plant lady said gently.
The little girl levelled a similar glare at the dragon.
The dragon took an involuntary step back.
"Don't make me get Grandpa." She said warningly.
The dragon's massive shoulders slumped. "They lied to Clark, Ku. And that idiot over there abandoned his people." The sound of a massive dragon with a deep gravelly voice whining was… disturbing.
Orin and Mera could only watch in awe.
"Why?" It was an innocent question from such a sweet looking girl with bright leaf green eyes, Orin thought. If only it wasn't directed at him.
"I… " For the life of him he couldn't come up with a suitable answer for the little girl.
"You should never leave your people. Daddy left us but he was kidnapped. Were you kidnapped?" She asked.
"I was not." He admitted. "I left in order to protect them better."
"But you left someone good in charge, right?" The little girl asked hopefully. "Daddy and Clark always make sure there is an adult in case I get hurt or need something from a high shelf."
"I- I- " Why were little girls always asking the hard questions?
"I have failed." Aquaman admitted forlornly. "I have abandoned my people with no steward appointed in my stead."
The room was suddenly a lot smaller as Harry morphed back into human form. "Then lets go and correct this mistake."
Orin and Mera shared a look and nodded.
"I will miss our home here. I had only just begun to explore the surface world." Mera said sadly.
"You can visit us!" Kusano said happily as she grabbed Mera's hand and dragged her over to Pamela. "Let's show…" Kusano looked completely baffled as she looked around. She turned her large green eyes up at her captive. "What's your name?"
The beautiful red head laughed in delight. "I am Mera and that is my husband Orin." She indicated the tall blonde man.
"Oh, let's go see my husband then." Kusano said firmly.
"Ku, I need you and your friends to help me out." Harry said firmly. "You can bring Mera back to visit after, ok?"
The little girl pouted. "Ok. But they have to come for dinner."
Finding Atlantis had been a very interesting experience for the castle residents. As soon as Batman had informed them of the possibility of the lost city existing they had begun to throw ideas back and forth between them as to how they could locate it.
The telepaths wanted to use Cerebro of course.
Lorna wanted to use Ancient Runes.
Laura and Brunhilde wanted to use satellites and the like to scan the seas.
Amara was interested in using continental drift maps.
Ryan had glanced to his side where Ku was sitting and whispered in her ear.
A few seconds later he told Chiho who was on his other side and Ku to cover their ears as he let out a piercing whistle.
"Damn you Xander!" Logan scowled as he rubbed his ears.
"Yeah, I kinda regret teaching him that too." Xander said as he did the same.
"Kusano knows where Atlantis is." He said with a grin.
There was a lot of commotion until Ryan went to his fingers to his mouth again when everything went quiet.
"He is not making that god awful noise again." Logan glared as he countered his own wide area silencing spell. "Explain." He ordered.
"Even the ocean has plant life. I asked Ku to ask the plants if there were any cities or people that looked like humans on the ocean bed and where they might be." He smirked.
"Where is it Sweetie?" Martha asked from Kusano's other side.
"That way." She lifted her arm and point at the far wall.
"Not that Ku hasn't done a great job… but how is that going to help us locate it on a map?" Chloe asked curiously.
"What do they teach children in schools these days?" Ryan said mockingly.
"I will singe your as- bottom." Chloe said warningly, she sent a wary glance to make sure Miya hadn't moved. That ladle was in her hand though.
"Triangulation." Ryan said simply. "We take Ku to various places around the world and have her point at the direction Atlantis is in. Then by marking the directions on a map we can pinpoint where Atlantis is by where they cross."
"How did you come up with that idea?" Lana asked curiously.
"Ryan has been teaching Kusano since before I was rescued." Pamela smiled from her seat next to Neville. "Kusano had found several previously thought to be extinct plants already with Ryan's help. They are quite a team."
Needless to say, the group was very impressed.
But this had led to another discovery. Whilst Alec and Kusano couldn't use magic, Pamela could. Using her ability to communicate with plants she was actually able to use them as a beacon to teleport to.
Which was what greatly concerned Orin and Mera when they appeared outside the dome of the sunken city.
"You weren't bluffing when you claimed to know the location of Atlantis." Orin frowned.
"And Clark wasn't blowing smoke when he said I could hide the whole damned place so only people you tell about it can reach it." Harry shrugged as they moved forward. "Just like you couldn't tell Mera that Superman is Clark Kent."
Orin and Mera were thrown off guard as they weren't moving themselves and they were headed straight for the dome. They were shocked when they actually passed through the dome.
"How are you doing this?" Mera asked.
"Magic." Harry shrugged as he and Pamela began dispelling the bubble head charms and drying everyone off.
"This is a very nice place you have here. Very clean." Harry mused. "Where do you put your refuse?"
"Refuse?" Mera asked.
"Waste material, like a toilet, parts of the fish that are inedible, things that are no longer suitable for use."
"It is sent to an underground lava flow for incineration, the lava flow also provides heat and power for the city." Orin explained.
All around them people were bowing and watching in awe as their king and queen walked by with the most interesting entourage.
It took them twenty minutes to reach the throne room where they were greeted by an older man.
"My Liege, we were worried when you did not return." He said with a hint of sternness.
"I had some business to tend to on the surface. I will be sure to warn you before I embark on another excursion." Orin returned the sternness. "This is Vulko, my trusted advisor. Vulko, these are Surface Dwellers who-"
"You really shouldn't call us that." Harry said in a tiredly exasperated tone. This earned him a glare from all three Atlanteans.
"You are surface dwellers." Mera countered.
"Yes, but you make it sound like we have nothing to do the oceans. We are American, British and Japanese. Our homes are countries just like your home is a city."
"The oceans are our home." Vulko said heatedly.
"And planet Earth is our home." Harry said mockingly. "Guess who trumps whom?
"If you want equality on this planet then don't apply your own monikers to people. Use the names they have chosen. American, British, Japanese… or would you prefer they start calling you the 'Fish People'?"
Vulko and Mera looked like they were about to declare war.
"You have made your point." Orin said calmly. "But do not expect change to be so easy."
"Change comes easiest from the top. If people hear you calling us by our country names then they will follow suit. Soon, the only people using other terms will be racists."
"Perhaps we should discuss placement of the portal." Alec spoke up as he tried to get them onto safer topics. It was much easier dealing with Kusano. She had grown out of that annoying phase of always asking 'why'… but she still had a huge appetite for knowledge.
"Fine… I recommend placing it somewhere it can be guarded and away from important areas. The door is secure but it is never wise to tempt fate." Harry suggested.
"The entrance to the city would make the most sense." Mera offered. "It is already guarded and will require very little work to increase the guard and provide instruction."
"Sounds good to me." Harry nodded.
"Very well, we will head there and examine the area. How will you deliver-"
"Magic!" Vulko hissed as Harry waved a hand causing a new portal door to appear.
"That kind of attitude will make you absolutely no friends." Harry rolled his eyes. "Besides, you obviously have magic around here. This place is like a convergence of the stuff. The Homo-Magi are actually a product of humans living in and around Atlantis when it was on the surface according to the archives in the Hidden City."
"You know of the Homo-Magi?" Vulko asked in astonishment as they began walking in the direction of the cities entrance.
"Of course. I'm their ruler."
"You work as a doctor in Smallville." Orin said firmly, not believing him.
"Sure, but I appointed one of my Alliance teams to oversee the government. I just make sure they know the rules and protect them when necessary. I'm a fairly hands off person when it comes to ruling places. Too much paperwork." He shuddered.
"Aunty Gaia says that Atlantis was a continent… what's a continent?" Kusano asked.
"You remember what America looks like, sweetie? And Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia?" Harry asked. "Continents are massive areas of land that contain other countries, like France, China, Russia, Nigeria and India."
"Oh… Aunty says that Atlantis sank. How was it floating? Can we give it water wings and make it float again?" She asked hopefully. Then a face fell. "Aunty says we can't do that because it will kill most of the humans and animals."
"That's right. Always remember there will be consequences for your actions, Kusano." Pamela smiled.
"How does this Gaia know so much about Atlantis?" Orin asked.
"Because I was there watching as it sank." Gaia said as she appeared shocking Vulko. Orin and Mera where becoming a little jaded about people appearing out of thin air. "A horrific skull like meteorite that caused so much damage." She added sadly.
"But you got better, right Aunty?" Kusano patted the Goddesses' hand comfortingly.
She smiled down at the girl. "I did. And you will make sure I stay that way my Little Princess."
Kusano beamed back proudly. She loved the special names her family gave her. Sometimes she had to think long and hard to remember if anyone ever called her Kusano anymore.
"Meet the Goddess of the Earth: Gaia." Harry smiled. "Come to tell stories?" He asked.
"It seems only fitting that the Atlanteans should know their past so that they can understand their true place on the planet."
"Do you claim to be a god too?" Orin asked Harry sceptically.
Gaia gave a derisive laugh. "He is no more a god than you are a commoner. Harry is beyond all known life. Until such time as he determines otherwise, he is the highest of the high in all the universes and realities."
"But I do believe… more like hope and fervently pray… that there is someone higher than me." Harry said seriously.
"Why? Surely being recognised as the highest being in existence is the best someone could hope to achieve." Mera asked.
"Because it means that I am responsible for a he-" "Ahem!" "-a whole lot and that is something that scares me." Harry said, quickly remembering his language around Kusano at Tsukiumi's prompting.
They soon reached the entrance to the city that consisted of a set of massive doors that led to a tunnel through the dome.
Harry quickly had the door installed and gave a basic lecture on its use.
"Right, you are all set to go. Remember to call if you need help and to get back to Clark with your answer."
"You won't tell him yourself?" Orin asked.
"I could, but as far as I am concerned this is his lead. I handle things like healing, ruling and the like. Clark deals with protecting the world in an active manner." Harry explained. "Well, have fun and all the best with… being king." He said before waving goodbye and causing the non-Atlanteans to vanish with him.
"I will have the guard increased immediately, Sire. We will ensure that there can be no more intrusions!" Vulko said quickly.
"No." Orin ordered softly. "No. We will play this his way for now."
"But My Lord-"
"On his own that man is far too dangerous to make an enemy." Orin turned to his advisor. "He followed me to my home on the surface and I didn't even notice. He entered my home and turned into a dragon that would dwarf many of the largest ocean creatures… yet he did not destroy the building."
"An illusion then."
"An illusion that generated heat so intense that even now I still feel the soreness of the burns from the heat of his breath? No. It was no illusion.
"But his true power comes from his allies. Men capable of lifting the entire city of Atlantis off of the ocean floor and up to the stars. Men with the money and power to develop weapons and train armies to destroy Atlantis.
"We can not afford to anger him." Orin said solemnly. "We will wait. We will consult the archives for any mention of this man in the prophecies or the past.
"And we will pray that he is as honest as he claims."
A/N: Yes we are back!
Good news: We are back!
Bad News: This year only goes up to chapter 75.
Worse News: This will probably be the last year I add to this story for a very long time and will probably mark it as complete.
That said, it does have an ending I can live with whilst still leaving the door open for me to continue it if I want to. (Or for anyone else to do so.)
I've been writing this chapter since October last year and the whole story since February last year... I seriously though I had been writing it for a WHOLE lot longer... like YEARS longer.
But I found I was struggling a bit with this story and my all wasn't geared to it. Especially as I have plenty of other stories started and waiting to be finished.
I will post this story in my usual manner of a chapter a day, which means this story will come to an end next week or so.
I will eventually finish my other stories and start posting them and one day I may even come back to this one. For now... enjoy the final year of Death's Little Brother!
