The Underwater City of Atlantis, Throne Room

The hero formerly known as Aquaman sits on his throne frustrated. Being the king of Atlantis in these times has caused his hair to go grey early. The surface world is in chaos, ruled by a government that willingly makes its people into mindless workers. Arthur's deal with Vandal Savage was a simple one, don't disturb his kingdom and Arthur will not attack the world government. He even gave support to Vandal on occasion when it was mutually beneficial. Protecting his kingdom came before everything else, but that wasn't why he was greying despite his Atlantean physiology. His daughter was stressing him more than anything else. She just didn't understand the weight and responsibility of the crown.

Serenity Curry reminded him of himself and Mera. A perfect mixture of the two of them in almost every way. She had Arthur's blonde hair, that she usually braided in a long ponytail down her back and shared her parents blue eye color. She was an adult by Atlantean standards and the heir to the throne. However as of late she had used her standing for her own agenda that often had her speak against her father's dealings with the surface world. She called for Atlantis, in addition for all the other kingdoms in the sea, to rebel and join the resistance against the surface world. She condemned Vandal Savage for basically enslaving the surface world and trying to destroy his own people. Serenity implied that being in league with the tyrant made them complicit in all the gruesome things he did to maintain control.

Atlanteans have always been isolationist in nature, but not pacifists. If attacked they would call for hell and brimstone to be brought down on their attackers, no matter who they were. Serenity's calls to action in the surface world were ignored by everyone, but more importantly her father had silenced her. She gave no more speeches and met with no other dignitaries, either from kingdoms under the sea or above it. Now she had brought Vandal Savage down on Arthur's head for allegedly conspiring with the resistance, which was a direct violation of their pact.

"Are you calling me a liar Arthur? I thought we were allies." Arthur shakes his head.

"I have made no contact with anyone in the surface world besides you Savage, and I need no reminding of our deal." Vandal scoffs.

"So, you are either a liar or you are incompetent, and somebody is allied with the resistance under your roof."

"You will not speak to me that way! I am no sniveling underling for you to berate! I am the King of the Seven Seas and you would do well to remember that!"

"And I rule the world above your seas your highness, don't forget what I can bring down on you as well." Arthur is seething with rage at the threat.

"You dare threaten me!"

"Resolve this issue Arthur or my threats will turn into promises." The connection is cut. The King is irate, and he knows the princess is to blame.

"Mera bring her here now!" As if she knew her father would call for her, Serenity enters the throne room with a serious look on her face.

"I'm here father."

Arthur roars "What have you done!"

"Lower your voice Arthur, the whole kingdom can hear you." Serenity stops in front of her mother and father with her head held high.

Mera asks calmly "Serenity have you done something to earn your father's wrath?" Serenity produces the old JL communicator that she took from her parent's old things. She tosses it to Arthur and the message plays.

"I have only done what the king should have done years ago. I have received a message from Batman. He is calling ALL remaining members of the Justice league to reunite against the world government and Vandal Savage. I responded to his hail."

"Foolish girl! The destruction you will bring to us is beyond your comprehension."

"Should I wait till I am Queen and fight the surface world after your death? Should I pacify my brothers and sisters and tell them that the surface world wishes them no harm? After that tyrant has full control of the surface he will come for us next. I will not lie in wait for him to strike. I will join the resistance with or without your blessing and free us of this poisonous bond."

"You are not allowed to leave Atlantis Serenity. No Atlantean may journey to the surface world." Serenity looks to her father.

"Will you imprison me?"

Mera interjects, "We would never do that to you Serenity." She would need to calm the situation before one of them would do something they regretted. "We just- ".

Arthur interrupts her "If you leave now and join Batman you are banished from any kingdom under the sea. Forever!"

Mera yells "Arthur!"

"Then I am banished" Serenity turns to swim away "Goodbye Mother I wish you well for the rest of your days."

"No! Serenity! Wait!" Mera turns to Arthur "Can you not see that's what she wanted? That was a test and you failed miserably, again."

"She openly defies her King Mera. What would you have me do?"

"Be her father for starters. And maybe try to see that she is right. We cannot play this game with the surface world forever, you must know that Vandal's ambitions will turn to us eventually. Now you leave Atlantis with no future. I will go to her, then we will talk about this again. As a family." She goes to swim after Serenity.

"We are the royal family Mera, we have a duty to protect our people." Mera stops and turns to him before exiting the throne room.

"All these years have passed, and you seem to only remember your duties as King and not as a Father." She swims away, and Arthur stands to descend from the throne. He looks to the old JL communicator with a mix of rage and fondness as he crushes it in his hands.

If only he could make Serenity understand that open war meant no one would win. The world would be destroyed if he clashed with Vandal. The war would no doubt make the planet unlivable due to nuclear radiation and pollution of the waters they needed to survive. How could he help her to see what her defiance would cost every Atlantean? Her actions would cause the death of many. Arthur was lost in his thoughts and concern for his daughter. He was too distracted to notice someone emerging from the darkness behind him.

A mechanized voice calls out behind Arthur "Troubles at home your highness?" He swings around and readies his trident toward the voice.

"Whose there? Reveal yourself!"

"You mean you don't recognize me old friend?" A sliver of red appears before a beam shoots out of the darkness and hits Arthur in his chest and sends him backwards onto his back.

"You couldn't have forgotten me after all these years. I know I've left my mark on you in more ways than anyone else." Arthur uses his trident to get up on one knee as the figure stalks forward out of the darkness.

"Black Manta" Arthur spits out blood "it hasn't been long enough."

"That's alright your kingliness, you won't be seeing me again after today. Matter of fact, you won't be seeing anyone else!" Manta takes out 2 daggers and readies himself to fight.

"You will find yourself on the wrong end of my trident Manta and this time you won't survive."

The two mortal enemies prepare to faceoff for the last time.


Serenity swam to her room to collect the supplies she set out before she confronted her father. She adorned her custom Atlantean armor overtop her scaled green royal garb that matched her mother's. The armor allowed her to store water for when she emerged and walked on the surface. It was very useful for maintaining her strength and for forming hard water constructs with her hydro-kinesis. The light grey armor covered her body except for her left arm which was only covered by a golden forearm guard to allow her to channel the water from the armor for her manipulation when necessary. As she finished placing the armor on the reality of what just happened hit her. Her open defiance of her father had gained her banishment from the only home she knew. She felt sorrow at the thought of fighting to free Atlantis only to never be able to return.

Things hadn't always been this way between her and her father, they had been almost inseparable until he made his pact with Vandal Savage. He taught her everything he knew about the surface world and her home under the sea. He trained her on how to use his trident for when she was old enough to wield it. Now they were practically adversaries, they only met when Mera would bring them together. There would be no conversation without a fight and an outpour of rage. Neither would concede or bend for the other's viewpoint. Mera wished her husband and daughter could see just how alike they were. She silently scorned herself for not being able to find a way to get through to both of them. There was no disagreement that was worth destroying their bonds as a family

Serenity heard knocking on her door and became hardened again, she would live on the surface if it meant Atlantis would be free of Vandal Savage. Her sacrifice meant freedom for the entire world. Her mother entered, of course she followed her to try to convince her to stay and talk to her father. If she returned to that throne room, there would only be yelling and screaming. Perhaps even a fight would erupt.

"Serenity stop for a second and consider what you are doing." Serenity continues preparing to leave with her back turned to Mera.

"I have planned this for some time, Batman's message simply hardened my resolve. I won't stand by and wait anymore."

"Please just wait. At least till tomorrow. Let this calm down so we can discuss this further."

"The king has made his decree mother. And his word his law." Mera grabs her shoulder to turn Serenity toward her.

"We will meet as a family. As mother, daughter and father to resolve this. If you leave now without speaking to him on calmer terms you will regret it." Serenity is staring into her mother's eyes with determination and a little bit of sadness.

"No more words mother, no more admonishments and excuses. He sullies the crown and ruins our name because of his cowardice. The man who sits on that throne is no longer someone I would call Father or King."

"Please Serenity. For me? Just till tonight, we can dine and discuss this. If nothing will change then…." Mera hesitates. "Then you can at least say your goodbyes properly."

"How can you stand by him and fight for him when he shows such weakness in the face of tyranny? He brings dishonor to Atlantis with his actions."

"I love him Serenity, for his strengths and weaknesses. But he must consider his kingdom when doing anything. Perhaps tonight he will see where he should also focus, his family."

Serenity holds back her tears at her mother's words. She owed her mother this at least. One more night to try and convince him, to make him see the truth. Maybe they could go back to being a family if he could only see what was truly needed. If he could see that the world needed him to be Aquaman once more.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Serenity and Mera's embrace was interrupted by multiple explosions far away on the outskirts of Atlantis. Mera rushes to a window in the room and sees a multitude of submarines sieging Atlantis's magical shields. They are under attack.

"Mother! What is it?"

"We are under attack. Go to the throne and get your father. I will find Orm, so we can counter attack against whoever this is."

"It's Vandal Savage mother, you know it is. He has finally put his sights on Atlantis." Mera turns to her and smiles.

"Then he has finally lost his mind. Go now, your King needs you." Mera leaves toward the barracks to find Orm as Serenity goes back to the throne room. Mera and Orm catch up with each other as they rush toward their generals.

"It's the surface world Mera, the shapes bear Savages logo." Orm shows Mera a picture of the symbol on the subs. It is a simple circle with and emblazoned eye in the middle, all the world government's forces wear it proudly.

"Have they deployed any forces?"

"No, there subs keep hammering away at our shield. We should counter attack and flank them to end this quickly."

"They know they can't penetrate the shields, they would have to be inside to take it down." Mera turns to him as they approach the war chamber. The generals are there waiting for attack orders, but Arthur and Serenity haven't arrived yet.

"Even if they were inside, they would need the trident to destroy the generators or lower the shield." Mera's eyes go wide with realization.

"It's a distraction!" She makes to swim to the throne room and launches herself with a magic spell to go faster. The generals look to their commander in confusion and Orm turns to them after making the realization himself.

"To the King! NOW!"


Arthur and Black Manta clash trident against swords. Arthur's age means nothing while he's underwater as he is just as fast and strong as always. Manta is more reliant on his suit now, but underwater he relies on it completely. Titanium fused plating and tubes cover the armor he wears, and his manta ray packs a much bigger punch due to some improvements given to him by Vandal Savage. Arthur pushes Manta back and swings his trident toward Manta's head. He ducks the blow and counters with quick slashes toward Arthur's midsection that push Arthur back. Manta launches himself upward and unleashes another blast which Arthur evades. But Manta comes down on him with his swords and jets past him. Arthur avoids one but gets nicked by the other on his arm.

"Seems you have gotten slower Manta. Maybe you should consider retiring." Arthur suddenly gets tired.

"It's true, I have aged some. But I'm still god enough to get you good once. That's all I needed." Arthur's vision is getting blurry and he falls to one knee.

"That's poison your highness. The finest I could muster. I decided that you don't need to be alive anymore to suffer. Your death will be the first among millions."

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Arthur releases the trident and it falls as he is trying to keep himself upright with both hands. Black Manta walks over to him slowly, trying to savor the small moments before his adversary dies.

"In death you can know that Atlantis will burn by my hand. But, you won't live to see it like I planned all these years. Savage can be quite convincing when he isn't droning on about being immortal." He picks up the trident.

"He sends his regards and wishes you a painful death Arthur." He raises the trident to impale Arthur with it. "This, is for my father."

"Father!" Black Manta looks to the voice only to see a column of water right before it collides with him and pushes him into a throne room wall. Serenity holds the column and tries to restrain Manta before a bright red beam blasts through it. She hurries to her father's side to see him facedown and barely breathing.

"Wake up. Please wake up!" Manta laughs at her.

"His organs are shutting down. He's dying little girl and you won't be able to save him. Now hand me that trident, I have a city to destroy."

Serenity picks up the trident and points it toward him "Fiend! My father should have ended you years ago. I will not make the same mistake." She creates a hard water shield on her left arm and wields the trident in her right hand. She will defend her Father with her life.

"I guess neither one of you will live to see Atlantis DIE!"

He unleashes another beam, but Serenity blocks it with her shield and plants the trident into the ground, so she doesn't budge. Manta gets closer but keeps his distance while pelting her with multiple blasts. He clearly wants to get past her and finish off his kill before moving onto her. She waits for a pause in the barrage and finds her moment to knock him off balance. She throws her shield at his feet and he launches upward. She rises above him quickly, avoiding his reactionary manta ray and creates another shield to bash down on his helmet. He gets pushed back and she follows up by throwing the trident at his head which he dodges, but she also throws her shield again at his midsection and it connects.

Manta gets launched backwards against the wall as Serenity follows through to collide into him. The blow shakes the room and causes some rubble to fall. Serenity is punching Manta and the blows are staggering him, but the plating is protecting him too well for her to do real damage to him. Manta has dropped his swords as he tries to fend off Serenity's strikes and is starting to gain some separation between the two of them. A final punch with all her strength to his midsection collapses the armor and causes him to gasp for air and hunch over. Serenity grabs his helmet and brings it down to knee him. His head whips all the way back and he is pressed against the wall as Serenity clasps her hands around his throat. He struggles to get her hands off him and she picks him up and slams him to the ground before slamming him back into the wall.

"This is for my father, whose life has been polluted with madmen like you, and my brother who you slaughtered in his crib like a coward. I avenge them in Atlantis's name."

Serenity is trying to squeeze the life out of Manta and he is beginning to lose consciousness and stops fighting back.

"Arthur!" Serenity looks back to see her mother panicked and rushing to her father's side. Mera pulls Arthur into her lap, purple veins are going up his neck and he is very pale. Mera recognizes that he has been poisoned and needs a healer if he is going to survive.

"Serenity come here! I need your help." Serenity hears her mother, but she is still seeing red and trying to make sure Manta dies.

"Please, Serenity your father will die if you don't help me." She hesitates but drops Manta reluctantly and swims toward her parents. As she gets close Orm and the royal guard enter the throne room.

She points them to Black Manta "Secure the assassin, Atlantis is not done with him yet."

"What do you need me to do Mother?"

"Sit and focus. We need to stop the poison from spreading further and reaching his heart, so he will live long enough to make it to a healer. I need you to help me draw the poison out through his pores. Use that spell you learned to heat the water around his body, that will open his pores."

Serenity hesitates "I haven't practiced that one in a while, I don't know- "

"There's not time for self-doubt my daughter. I know you can do this. I know you are strong enough to save his life."

She reaches out to hold her hand and they both settle into the task. Mera's eyes start to glow and Serenity begins a chant. Arthur's body temperature raises and Mera begins drawing the poison out. She is straining, but they finally get enough for Arthur's color to return.

BOOM.

Orm and the royal guard have secured Manta, they are taking him out when a large orange portal opens in the middle of the throne room between the royal family and Orm with the guards. Droids begin pouring out of the portal and shooting at the two groups. Serenity forms a shield in front of her parents as Mera is too fatigued from removing the poison from Arthur and he is still unconscious. The robots are pelting her shield with lasers and she is holding. On the other side Orm and his guard are being pushed back and the droids are cutting them down to get to Manta. They retrieve him and begin ushering him toward the portal.

"NO!"

Serenity sees Manta about to escape and pushes her shield through the robots in front of her, crushing them. She forms her hard water shield again and blocks the firing droids fire while approaching and taking them out one by one however she can. The droid carrying Manta is at the portal and Serenity gets through the droids in front of her just in time. She forms a water whip and throws it forward around Manta as he is halfway through the portal. She is pulling and almost gets him all the way out with the droid, but a small red beam shoots through the portal and transforms into a giant shark that collides with her. She gets shoved through the throne, destroying it, and embedded into the wall behind it. Serenity loses consciousness and the last thing she hears is the booming sound of the portal closing.


Undisclosed location

Manta is dragged through the portal by the red beam, all the droids were destroyed or left behind. He is brought face to face with what some might consider the very incarnation of rage itself, Atrocitus. His hulking form was coupled with an organic bone shell armor that matched the red lantern's blood red coloring.

"FOOL! If you've cost me my red lantern I will turn you inside out!"

"That's enough for now, let us rejoin our allies. We will need to move soon." Vandal gestures to some nearby droids. "Take him to the infirmary and restrain him after his wounds are treated."

"I will not be denied Savage, I've felt this rage from the cosmos. It is the key to destroying the Guardians." Atrocitus tosses Manta's unconscious body to the ground and he is gathered by droids and taken away. Vandal walks out of the room with Atrocitus following him.

"Your concern is noted comrade, I promised to deliver the source of that rage to you for your cause. And you will have it." The red lantern grunts in response. As soon as he felt such a giant concentration of rage on Earth he came immediately but has been held up by this immortal who seemingly runs things now. Atrocitus was not known for his patience however, so Vandal would need to deliver soon if he wanted to keep his loyalty.

Vandal and Atrocitus enter the room where their allies are waiting for them. An assorted mix of immortals and rogues with a grudge. They were brought together for one purpose, destroy the heroes of this world.

"Allies! I call this meeting to attention. It seems Black Manta has let his impatience get the best of him and accelerated our plans. No doubt that the Batman has been tipped off to a larger scheme at play by now. So, we will need to distract him with something more urgent and catastrophic. Like the destruction of his precious city. Of course, first we will reveal ourselves and show our combined power."

"We have waited too long Vandal, they are stronger now than they have been since this started. Letting them rejoin each other was a mistake."

"Their numbers are much fewer than before, and they will be more than distracted trying to save their friends. This is the perfect opportunity to strike at them and wound them properly."

"Idon' 'vehadplentyofchances."

"A bit slower for those not gifted with the speedforce Zoom."

"If you just wanted to win this, you should have killed them a long time ago."

"But their deaths aren't as important as the destruction of what they represent. The symbols they have become are much more powerful than the men and women underneath. We will destroy the very idea of a hero by the time we are done. You all have your orders. Don't disappoint me." Vandal turns to walk away and Zoom speeds in front of him.

"I'm only here for one thing. To make the Flash suffer, so he can become as he should be. I've gifted you with my patience for too long Vandal and I'm done being a simple pawn in this. Now what are you playing at? What's the endgame?"

"Believe me Zoom, I understand just how important your patience is. For a man who lives in the seconds between seconds I understand just how valuable your allegiance to me has been. This will feel like the culmination of a millennia to you I'm sure. But what better way to make someone suffer, than to give them a glimpse of immeasurable hope, and then take it away with a snap of your fingers? This plan has all your agendas in mind, and you will all get what you were promised. Now get to work."

Vandal brushes past Zoom and journeys further into the facility, to his private quarters. Atrocitus leaves in a hurry bumping and brushing into different members of this alliance between villains, a little bit more angry than usual.

"I don't like him."

"I know Teth Adam, but it's because he reminds you too much of you. We will get what we desire from this venture."

Zoom speaks up "He's hiding something, he never mentions what the actual endgame is. Just that everything we do is of utter importance to it."

"Of course, this is the chief egomaniac on planet Earth. He thinks everything he does is on some godly level. We just have to make sure there's room for us in it. The bonus is that we get to see our nemeses fall to his new world order. I don't know about you two, but the mere opportunity to make Wonder Woman writhe and suffer at my feet was good enough for me to get involved." Black Adam stands to leave.

"Come then Circe, let us catch up with Atrocitus so he isn't left to his own devices." She stands with him.

"After you." He exits, and Circe follows.

Zoom speeds away before they could even recognize that he left. He didn't care about anything other than the Flash. And it was finally time to make him into the greatest hero Earth ever had. By destroying everything he loved.

Vandal remained in his private quarters, assured that everything was still going to plan. Years of meticulous planning, the culmination of his immortal life. Every detail heavily scrutinized and re-enforced with contingency after contingency. He knew the Justice League would reform itself and predicted they would free their ally the Flash. But the out lash from the United States losing its power would be used against them. No one knew where they were getting the power from, only that it was abundant and never ran out or stopped. The sudden blackout due to Flash's removal from the facility harnessing him as a power provider would be blamed on the "heroes", the Justice League. And after a thorough investigation, it would be found that the Justice League caused the blackout and any problems that occurred due to it.

All of this didn't mean much but turning the people against the League would be the first step in destroying heroes forever. No future generation would rise to unseat Vandal from his place power and the remaining heroes would die trying. Vandal's allies would hunt the Justice League down and they would be tried and found guilty for their crimes. Their punishments would vary and largely be kept secret, except for the executions. Those would be done publicly and cheered on by the whole world.

A perfect plan made up of giving his allies what they wanted in exchange for loyalty, money, power, technology, and dead heroes. With Black Manta's premature strike however, the plan would not be allowed to gracefully executed as it now had to be rushed to effective. Allowing the Justice League anytime to recover would certainly set his plans back. But he still had just enough time to punish Black Manta for his insubordination.


Atlantis, Healing Room

Mera sat between her daughter and husband reminiscing on the last time a room had been so silent with all of them in it. Arthur was recovering still from the poison Black Manta used, it was attacking his vital organs before they managed to get most of it out of him. The healers worked furiously using both Atlantean magic and any unique remedies they could think of for their king. He now was resting peacefully while Mera held his hand. The last thing to heal would be the site where the poison entered his body and there would likely be a scar. The room was now empty save for the 3 of them since the healers were needed elsewhere as a battle raged outside Atlantis's magic shield. She looked to her daughter who was resting not so peacefully.

Serenity tossed and turned despite Mera trying to console her and wake her up. Whatever dream she was having must not have been pleasant.

Serenity shot up from her resting position "Father!"

Mera calls to her "It's okay Serenity, you're okay. And so is your Father."

Serenity's eyes were wide as she turned her head and took in the sight of her Father resting with her mother by his side.

"What happened? Did Black Manta escape?" Serenity turns to put get up but stops when she feels an incredible pain in her head and touches the back of it.

Mera rises to help her "Calm down a second, you got hit very hard. Here, let me have a look at you." She brings Serenity's head up gingerly to inspect her.

"What hit me?"

"A giant red shark." Serenity's face turns bewildered in confusion.

"There aren't many things that could have saved made that shark appear, and I think I know who it is. We have learned much about our enemy from this encounter and they got nothing from us. A good day all things considered." Mera lets go of her and places a hand on her shoulder.

"You fought well daughter, you will carry Atlantis well in the coming days. Your father would be dead if it weren't for your decisive actions. And taking on Black Manta? I'm very proud of the warrior you have become." Serenity puts her head down at the last part.

"I only know how to fight so well because of Father. Yet I spit in his face at every opportunity and spite him with my actions. What a daughter I have been." Mera pulls her into a hug.

"The past is the past. You have done nothing that can't be forgiven, and in the end, you were right. Savage sent Manta to assassinate the King and destroy Atlantis. Now instead we will bring him to ruin with our King at the forefront leading us."

They walk over to Arthur's sides and hold his hands. His breathing is even, and he looks completely fine, no traces that he was ever poisoned besides the scar from the cut. Serenity stares at him with sorrow and doubt in her heart. Their previous encounters are playing back in her head. All the things she said in anger now mean nothing to her as she sees him lying unconscious on the table.

Orm storms into the room in a frenzy, blood lusted and raging from the battle outside. He sees his brother's condition and his anger heightens. Orm and Arthur's relationship improved after the King decided to spend all his time in Atlantis, forgoing the surface world and protecting Atlantis full-time.

"We have pushed the world government's forces back completely my Queen. We should declare war on the surface world and destroy Vandal Savage for his treachery."

"When Arthur has recovered we will make our move. We should not make such a big decision without our King."

"We cannot show weakness or cowardice in this critical moment. We must respond in kind, it it's a war they want than we will give it to them." Serenity is annoyed and points to him.

"You would do well to respect your Queen's decision General. Don't make her repeat herself."

Orm sneers at her "And the Princess would be wise to remember her place as well."

Arthur wakes up slightly while the argument ensues. Mera is patiently waiting for them to get the screaming out of their system when she notices Arthur stirring.

"Arthur!" Serenity and Orm turn to see their King's eyes open. The Queen embraces him tightly and kisses him long enough to take his breath away.

Arthur smiles as she pulls away "I guess I should get poisoned more often." Mera smacks his chest.

"It's not funny Arthur, if I hadn't sent Serenity to go get you our King would be dead, and Atlantis would be overrun." Arthur brings his hand up to caress Mera's face and she grabs it in response.

"I'm still here and I'm sorry. Help me sit up Mera, we should all talk." Mera helps him sit up with his back up against the wall.

"My King" Orm bows his head "the forces that attacked us were led by Black Manta, they were all sent by Vandal Savage. After his defeat they began to retreat, but we made haste and took out half of their forces. I suggest an immediate reattack."

"Not yet Orm, I feel your need to reattack hastily but if we attack them half-heartedly we will fall. We need the support of every kingdom in the sea. With the combined strength of the kingdoms under Atlantis's banner, we will stop Vandal Savage's reign of terror. Call a meeting for me, every leader under the sea must come to Atlantis and we will put aside our differences to destroy our attacker."

"Arthur that may take too long. We need to do something now to show our strength and dissuade any other attacks."

"I know Mera, that's what our champion will do. Serenity come here" They all look to Serenity.

"Father, I- "

"I pray that you never know the pressures of the crown as I have, that you will never need to make the decisions I have made. You are Atlantis's champion Serenity. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be your Father and teach you as much as I could. You are my pride and joy, I could not ask for a better heir to carry on my lineage and my name. You have already saved Atlantis once, now you will save the world."

Serenity tears up at her Father's words and reaches to hug him. Mera joins the embrace, this wasn't exactly how she wanted them to reconcile but it would have to do for now.

"Now, for your first mission as our champion" he pulls back and looks Serenity in her eyes "join Batman in his fight against the world government, tell him everything that happened here today. Join the heroes of the surface world and represent us in the Justice League. Mera hand me the trident." She hands it to him quickly.

"This trident was passed down to me from my mother, Queen Atlanna, and I now pass it on to you, Serenity Curry the champion of Atlantis. May it serve you as well as it has served me all these years."

He holds the trident out with shaky arms since he is still weakened from being poisoned. Serenity grabs the trident with both hands slowly and stares at it. She hadn't expected to be given the trident so early, it was a powerful weapon that belonged to the ruler of Atlantis. Now it was being entrusted to her. She looks to her father and mother.

"I will serve Atlantis well in the battles that come, and I will make you both proud. We will be free of our bond with that tyrant and I will bring Black Manta to justice for his crimes. I swear it." She places the trident on her back before bowing to the King and Queen. Serenity goes to hug them both again.

Arthur whispers to her "You have already made us proud, now go be as great as we know you can be. We will join you in the battle soon enough."

"Get your things Serenity, I will meet you at the exit to the palace. I have the perfect message for Batman that will tell him all he needs to know." Serenity gets up to leave the room and exits quickly.

"You did well my King, I'm proud of you." She kisses him again as positive reinforcement for his actions, and because she wants to feel his warmth once again.

"She is ready for this. And she won't be alone, I trust Batman will have a plan for this fight. I wonder if he expects the oceans to have his back?" He grins at the lovely redhead.

Mera exits to help send Serenity off and Arthur begins to plan his next move. He would need to recover but gathering the forces of the sea was his priority. They would need to join forces with him, and an attack on the King of Atlantis would be the catalyst to bring them all together.

"Come now Orm, we have much to do and not a lot of time to do it. Vandal Savage will feel the wrath of the sea after all."


Author's Note: Serenity revealed!(Get rekt Black Manta) My logic behind that fight was that Serenity was underwater and therefore at her highest strength level just like Aquaman(in his prime). Also more big bads are on their way to make things way more complicated for the batfam and Justice League. I name dropped some of them but there may be more…. Vandal's got lots of tricks up his sleeve which makes sense given the totality of his experience.

The timing for the chapters is all in sync now. Serenity will be on her way to Gotham while the League saves Wally and Linda. The villains are on their way to disrupt the League's well laid plans. I have been holding onto this Serenity chapter for a while and it took forever to develop. Let me know what you think of her. This is the longest chapter so far, but the next chapters may be even longer since they will basically include battles and events that are happening at the same time. I'm still working on how I want to split it up.

As always, thank you for the reviews, reads, favs, and follows. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!