Like holy cow people! I don't understand! WHY AM I SO HORRIBLE AT UPDATING!?
Love you all, you are great, and I am sorry you have to deal with an author like me.
I had never heard someone curse so much in Atlantean as I had with La'gaan. They were shooting out of his mouth like a machine gun, and at one point, despite not knowing what he was saying; I felt the urge to cover my ears.
The rest of the kingdom weren't far off from his state of mind. Aqua Man was in a terrifying dead set rage, saying only a few words that were short and simply, very unlike his usually boisterous and kind tone.
His Queen was like a hurricane- barking orders, pushing aside full sized pillars like a behemoth, demanding every able body to go out and search for Black Manta's trail and trying on multiple occasions to simply go out herself. This woman was a BEAST!
I had to duck in cover when she swam by. She would have torn off my head, I swear.
"What do we do guys?" Rocket was asking the team.
"We help find the heir of course," M'gann said simply
"But where would Black Manta take him?" Conner folded his arms.
"With it being the ocean, he could be anywhere. But he could only move so fast, so he can't be too far from the kingdom." Robin insists.
"The longer we stand around talking the farther away he gets." Roy reminded us. He gave me a look, "Guess this is as big as a distraction as I could get."
I frown at him, glancing at my hands, "Yeah well…" I sigh and glance at Kaldur. "Any ideas?"
He is rubbing his chin, looking perplexed. Garth approaches him, as if he senses what that look might mean, "You have a lead."
"Perhaps." Kaldur moves towards the shattered remains of the table. Examining it, he looked towards the kitchen, "How did a weapon of such magnitude make its way into the meal of the royal family? The guards of the palace are very thorough."
"Are you suggesting a traitor?" Tula's eyes widened.
Lori covered her mouth at the mere suggestion. "That is a very heavy claim Kaldur." She says.
"Perhaps." He rose and started towards the kitchen. The rest of us quickly followed, watching Kaldur curiously as he approached a few of the chefs. I couldn't quite hear what he was saying to them, but I assumed it was inquiring who had been the ones to make the meal.
"If there is a traitor within our midst, there shall be no mercy for them." La'gaan swore darkly.
"Calm yourself La'gaan." Garth placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.
Moving to the side a bit to let the others ask their questions I glance down at my hands, opening and closing them.
("You are troubled." Ari noted)
…I should have stopped him. I could have- I dunno, teleported to Black Manta. I could have teleported the baby.
("You've never even attempted to teleport another without you holding onto them. Not to mention the only objects you've managed to teleport at a distance are spoons.")
I still could have teleported to them. All of this is my fault.
(Perhaps, but Arinna, do not be foolish. None of this is on you. You've still only recently discovered these abilities, and no one is turning to you to blame. For now we must focus on simply getting the heir back.)
Okay… Okay, yeah, you're right Ari. Thank you.
Straightening, I took a deep breath. Realizing everyone was making up some kind of plan with no real leads since no chief seemed to know anything and seemed clean, I leaned against the wall. While within my own thoughts, the sound of two young men who were cleaning dishes were talking.
"To think this would happen." One said softly.
"I hope they find the heir soon." The other nodded back at him.
"I heard Freya was close to the room of the blast. Hurt her leg." One frowned.
"Is she alright?" the other was startled.
"Yes. Yes. She is with the healers as we speak. It was almost lucky that Ronal went home early."
My ears perked up at that. Ronal… the jerk we saw when we got here. Moving towards the two I tapped the shoulder on one. "Excuse me."
They tensed at my appearance, looking puzzled, "Oh…" they glance at each other, "The surface dweller in Kaldur's company. Can we help you?"
"Just now, you mentioned Ronal." I say, "He works here?"
"Yes." They nodded, "Started a few weeks ago. He usually sets up the table. He was not feeling well."
I could feel Ari's curiosity perk up at that. (Seems very convenient, doesn't it?)
You think it was Ronal?
(No way to know that for sure unless we went and asked him. Something about him always seemed off, and he was oddly pleased with himself today.)
Not really enough to persecute someone.
(Enough of a reason to go visit.)
Touché.
….I feel like a detective.
(Stop smiling like that, you are freaking people out.)
"Well thank you." I nod my head to the two workers who nod back nervously before going back to what they were doing. Turning away I swam back to the others. Zatanna smiled at me when I got close.
"What were you doing?" she asked.
"Talking to those guys over there." I say. "Remember Ronal?"
"I dislike Ronal." Lori said simply.
The others glanced at me, "What of Ronal?"
"He was here." I tell them. "I guess he left right before everything happened. Supposedly he wasn't feeling well."
"Well that doesn't seem suspicious." Artemis sniffed.
"What are we waitin' for? Let's go give good old Ronal a visit." Rocket smirked.
Kaldur glanced at Garth, who frowned, "He has been rather… odd, lately." Garth admits.
"Odd?" Tula folded her arms, "I would say he was more than that. He hardly comes to his classes anymore and is never at home either."
"Maybe he'll be home today." Robin smirked, "I say we go visit."
"Then we should return to the last place we saw him." Garth suggested.
Arinna?" Conner turned to me. "You remember where his house was?"
"Ooh." I perk up, feeling useful suddenly, "I remember where that was." I extend out my arms. "Grab hold!"
"Why would we do such a thing?" La'gaan inquired, confused.
"Just do it, dude." Wally reached out and grabbed my wrist while the others grabbed my hands and forearms.
"My name is La'gaan, not this 'dude', of which you speak.' La'gaan grumbled. Wally made a face at him.
"We all holding on?" I ask.
"Yup." A few say. Lori and La'gaan still look questionable at the request but nod.
Beaming at them I thought back to the small pearl colored building towards the edge of Atlantis. It had two square windows and a lamp that glowed in front of it-
Then, I click my teeth and the water shifts around us. Lori shrieks in surprise when we appear in front of the building. Ripping her hand away she looked around wildly. "H-how- when-?"
"Great Seaweed!" La'gaan gasped turning around in rapid circles to locate where we were.
"Incredible." Tula says in awe, "Is that your gift?"
"One of them." I drop my arms and the others do the same. "Teleportation." I remind Lori.
"Right… Right!" she nods wildly, "I was just so surprised. I have never experienced anything like that."
"I understand. Surprised me the first time it happened too." I chuckle.
"Truly an amazing gift! Can you teleport anywhere at will? How far can you go? How many people can you take with you?"
"Thank you!" I gush, "Well, usually anywhere if I have an idea of what is around the location. Sometimes the teleportation isn't exactly spot on if I've never been there before. I can go anywhere that I can survive. I say that as in I cannot teleport into a volcano- that wouldn't end well. And I can teleport who ever is holding on to me. Haven't really figured out how to teleport anyone or anything at a distance yet."
"Can we focus here?" Artemis motioned to the door.
"Yes, we are short on time." Garth nodded in agreement.
"Oh, yes. Yes yes." I chuckle nervously and we move towards the door. "I'll tell you more about it later." I whisper to La'gaan, who grins wildly.
Making a move for the door, the team steps back to let the Atlanteans handle most of this. Kind of hard to do too much while in these suits.
"A few of us should circle around in case he tries to make a run for it." Roy says.
"He might not be within the building as well so-" Garth begins to say, trailing off when Kaldur pushed past him to the door.
He didn't bother to knock and kicked his leg into the door, crashing his way inside. I held back the urge to gasp like a love struck teenage and instead internally cheered at the performance. He was a man on a mission for his king and nothing was going to get in his way!
"Ronal!" he bellowed.
"Or… we just go in kicking." Roy's shoulders slouched a bit in shock of Kaldur's actions.
"And we are going about this the B and E way." Zatanna declared
"The what?" M'gann questioned as we cautiously made our way inside to follow Kaldur's violent, if not really cool, lead.
"Breaking and entering~" she wiggled her fingers.
"Don't we always do that?" Conner questioned.
"This is different." She insists.
"Nah girl, it feels the same as every other mission we've had." Rocket disagreed, picking up a few different objects and tossing them out of the way to examine her side of the room. We couldn't seem to find Ronal within this mess of a house, but there were plenty of clues to go by.
"For a sick guy, he doesn't seem too keen to stay in bed." Robin said.
"Indeed." Garth grumbled. "Where would he have gone?"
"Ronal!" La'gaan started to flip over the table. Perhaps on land it would have been more dramatic, but it just kind of floated upward in the most undramatic way ever. "Ronal! Ronal show yourself!" he demanded.
"Doubt he'll come out if you ask." Zatanna lifted up a few books to examine them. Realizing they were magic books, she smiled and turned away to look more closely, her interest peaked.
"He doesn't seem to be home." Tula concluded. "From what I can tell however, it was not too long ago that he departed."
"Should we split up?" Roy suggested. "Could cover faster ground that way."
Kaldur frowned, sighing, "That might be best." He agreed.
Watching the two talk, I shifted my weight back towards the wall and rested my head against the glass window. So much for turning things around. I gave us a lead, but we can't guarantee that Ronal knows anything until we find him. This all might be just a waste of time for all we know.
("Arinna-")
What if we can't find the heir in time because of this?
(Arinna-")
I just doomed a poor innocent baby because I thought one guy was suspicious for being sick! How stupid is that-
("Arinna, you fool! Silence yourself and look out the window.")
"What?" I asked aloud, turning to peek out the window with a slight gray tint. I spotted him then, not too far away and making his way as fast as he could through the street. Blond hair and a familiar green color armored plating.
Was that Ronal!?
Oh! Oh no! Roy was right, he made a break for it!
This just turned into a B and E and… Flee!
B, E Flee?
Beflee?
Beeflee?
Beelee!
"HE'S BEEFING!" I shriek
I could faintly hear Conner murmur in confusion, "What the fu-"
"Language! Ronal! Window! That way!"
(Don't let him get away!")
"No, I just planned on letting him escape! Of course I'm going after him!" I lift my hand to snap my finger. Zatanna barely made it close enough to grab the back of my suit before I snapped my fingers and we were shot forward to the edge of the street, directly in front of Ronal.
"AHHH-HAHA!" I scream in victory to him as Zatanna mostly screams at the whiplash kind of feeling. Now that I think about it, I probably should have grabbed the others too, but they can catch up. I could already see them barreling through the doors of Ronal's house in the distance.
Ronal, on the other hand, gasped, his body stiffening slightly until he realized who we were, "You two again?" he scowled, "Where are your surface dweller friends?"
"They'll be here in a second-
"We aren't in the mood to chit chat. We have some questions for you." Zatanna folded her arms.
I correct myself, feeling awkward, "I mean yeah, cut that shrimp out. Not shrimp. Nothing about a shrimp. No answers for you. Only answers, for us, because we need answers and you got the answers and answers are potent to our task and-" my back straightened a bit, "(Good lord, Arinna shut up)." Ari spoke up between me.
Rude.
Blinking once, then twice, not sure what just happened, Ronal spat at us, "I have nothing to say to a bunch of un-pure land livers."
"Dude, do I look like a liver to you?!" I demand.
"(I… I think he meant dweller. As in we live there.")
"But he said livers!"
("Well we live there, so we are livers in a way… shut up.")
"We you look like a guppy!" I point at him.
("Did you just say 'We you'? What do that even mean?")
"…" Zatanna leaned towards me, "Arinna I'm not sure if that insult really works here. It doesn't really- I mean it doesn't really fit the situation."
"It doesn't?" I glance at her.
"No." she shook her head, "Well I mean, we are in the ocean, so maybe?"
"…" Ronal glanced at the open street to his left then back at us. A second later, using our distracted banter as his chance, he dove down the road. Zatanna almost choked on her own spit.
"H-Hey! Come back here!" Using the box as leverage, Zatanna shot towards Ronal. I followed her lead, firing at him like a bullet. He was quick to swim to the left to avoid us.
Not fast enough though to avoid me snapping my fingers and grabbing him from above. "Target grabbed!" I yelled.
He shrieked in shock, "Get off of me!" we hit the sand below, wrestling wildly. He would have gotten away form me if Grath and Tula hadn't appeared a second later, tearing us apart and holding Ronal down by his arms. "Release me!"
"Not until you answer our questions." Roy glared at him.
"Alright, interrogation time." Wally cheered.
"Are we sure we wanna do it here, in the middle of the street?" Artemis questioned.
Conner stepped forward, extending out his arm, "I got this." He grabbed Ronal by the hem of his shirt. "Where's the baby." He punched him. It didn't even sound like a question. "Where's the baby." Punch, "Where's the baby." Punch, "Where's the baby."
He wasn't even giving him time to answer.
"..." The rest of us stared in dumb confusion.
"Should we, like, do something about this?" Rocket asked as Conner continuously repeated the question and slammed his fist into Ronal's face.
"Conner-" M'gann spoke up softly.
"Where's the baby." Punch
"Conner wait-"
"Where's the baby."
"Conner you have to give him time to answer-"
"Where'sthebaby. Where'sthebaby."
"Oh my god, Conner stop." Wally snorted.
Realizing I hadn't heard Roy in a while, I took a peek at my surroundings. I spotted him near the mass crowd of Atlanteans who had come to see what the commotion was. I think he was getting a good handle on the crowd, waving his arms, shouting out orders to stay back, and overall being a general menace. You do you Roy. You do you.
"Conner this is not working. This is the opposite of working." Robin says.
Conner froze, and then glanced at us. He slowly lowered his fist and straightened, "You're right." Then he grabbed Ronal by the front of his jacket and lifted him above his head, "I was going too easy."
"Oh god, Conner no-!"
"WHERE'S THE BABY!" he bodily threw Ronal into a nearby fruit stand. It shattered with a crack. The crowd that had begun to form around us watched in awe as Conner moved to repeat the motion.
"Is anyone else thinking of the weird little dwarf babysitter guy from Shrek 3 but, like, on steroids?" Rocket asked quietly.
"Oh my gosh I was just about to say that." I cackled.
"…The surface is awesome." La'gaan said to Garth.
"Conner. Conner! Conner, no!" Kaldur wrapped his arms around Conner in what appeared to be a bear hug, or a Russian sleeper hold, one of the two.
Conner struggled against him, "Where… is… the… baby!" he got one last kick in before Kaldur dragged him away.
"Right. Okay then, back to business." M'gann stepped forward. "Okay Ronal, tell us what you know."
Sprawled out on the ocean floor, Ronal groggily looked up at her, "I do not know… what you are talking about."
"You went home sick today Ronal, exactly after you were done setting the table for the King's dinner." Garth moved forward. "So I will ask you only once, did you set the bomb in place?"
Ronal grit his teeth, grinding them together, "There is no evidence on this. You are attacking an innocent civilian."
"An innocent civilian who ran when he saw us coming." Robin pointed out.
"Guys, seriously, why are we beating around the bush?" Artemis asked, "If the guy says he doesn't know, he doesn't know." Surprised Artemis would just give up on this so easily, we stared at her. "But, I'm sure Conner will want to get in a few ending questions before we leave." She motioned to him.
Conner lifted up a saw, "I know what to do."
You know I've seen things go from green to pale, but I've never seen someone so pale turn green.
Looking ready to go belly up, Ronal let out a shrill barely audible cry before scrambling to his knees, "Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!"
We ignored Conner's sad sigh. "Tell us." Kaldur demanded.
"A few of Black Manta's soldiers approached me a few weeks ago. They inquired if I wished to join them, to go against the surface dwellers."
"Will simultaneously betraying your king?" Tula growled.
"A King who cares more for the surface than his own people." Ronal spat back. "So yes, I did. I agreed to help them and set the bomb in place. I did not realize Black Manta would take the infant. That was never my intention."
"Well aren't you a saint." Rocket snorted.
"You think Black Manta would have simply overlooked the King, his sworn enemy's, only son?" La'gaan bellowed, "You are a fool Ronal!"
"You are the fool." Ronal frowned, "Hanging blindly by these un-pure monsters."
La'gaan moved forward to attack him, but Lori held him back, "He is not worth it La'gaan!" she yelled. La'gaan huffed angrily, but stepped back. "Tell us where Manta is so that we save save Arthur." Her gaze could pierce stone at this point.
"Tell us where Manta is so that we save save Arthur." Tula stepped forward suddenly, her gaze able pierce stone at this point.
Ronal lowered his head reluctantly, "Ender's trench. He has a station set there."
"Ender's trench?" Kaldur turned to Garth, "A very odd location to set up a base and go undetected."
"Why is that?" M'gann inquired.
"The trench is a straight passage. Anyone going through it would notice a base within if there was." Garth explained.
"So then- he's lying about where the baby is." Conner was slowly lifting up a large sledge hammer- where in the world does he keep getting these things?
Ronal tensed, "I-I speak only the truth, I swear!"
"I can confirm it." M'gann spoke up. Why hadn't we just had M'gann read his mind in the first place?
"We have nothing else to go off of." Tula reminded everyone, "Might as well take a small team to look that way."
"Agreed." Kaldur sighed, "We shall return to the King to inform him, and place Ronal in the hands of the royal guard before we leave."
000-0000
After that was said and done, Aqua Man had decided to come with us to Ender's Trench. Kaldur had tried to convince him against it in case there was nothing to be found there, but Aqua man refused, saying that Ender's Trench felt like the perfect location for Black Manta to pick.
So with my assistance, we teleported over to it, messing up at least 3 times within the teleportation because the ocean has a lot of trenches- don't judge me.
It was hard finding the right one because they all looked the same to me!
Anyway, we began our decent into the trench, going until we reached the bottom of its structure and making our way straight through. Robin had clicked on the light placed on his shoulder to help guide us.
"Sure is dark down here." Artemis said softly.
"Scared?" Wally teased.
"Depends on what you are referring to, this murky blackness or the dim light within your helmet that makes your skin look a weird purple?" she smirked.
"Purple skin would not match my hair, so that one." He grinned.
"How long does this trench go?" Roy spoke up.
"A few miles." Lori, who had been very quiet during this whole time, explained. I think she was a little nervous to be travelling with the King to save his son. Kind of a big step in her life.
"At least a big base shouldn't be too hard to spot, right?" Zatanna suggested.
"Perhaps." Aqua Man agreed darkly, his tone gruff, "But if Black Manta had originally set up a base here, many Atlanteans would have seen it and reported it by now."
He sounded so angry.
So hateful.
I couldn't help but blame myself for not saving little Arthur Jr. and putting us in this mess.
I'll have to make sure I don't make the same mistake as before.
("Can you stop bringing that up please? You seem to be obsessed with what happened.")
My swimming slows a little and I frown. What do you mean?
("You made a mistake, big deal. You could have teleported to the prince, sure, but you froze up. That happens sometimes. Stop stressing over it too much, you are giving us a headache.")
Feeling a little annoyed at her tone, I grit my teeth. What is so wrong with it? I messed up. I shouldn't just ignore that. We are here because of me.
( "We end up in a lot of places because of you. How you've managed even this much amazes me. In all honestly, I truly believe you should have died from your foolishness a long time ago. You being here today is just dumb luck.")
Dumb luck?! No it isn't. If anything I would say it is more of destiny than dumb luck.
(Ari sputters, "Destiny? Destiny?! You have got to be kidding. In what way does any of this seem like 'destiny' to you?")
Well, I think everything that has happened was supposed to happen for starters. Like, me meeting the team, finding Nicole and the others, meeting Kaldur~
("You were lucky they found you at Cadmus. They had no idea anyone was there.")
Exactly, fate lead us together.
("Arinna, none of your life has happened because of fate or destiny.")
You don't' know that.
("Shall I list the moments you've pushed through with the grace of luck?" she cleared her throat, "Being discovered in Cadmus. Learning you had powers. How about that time you got a second wave of amnesia and were stuck in a desert? Do you have any idea how extremely lucky you were that you even ran into one member of your team?! In a desert?! I don't want to even bring up Match. He would have strangled you to death if you hadn't magically discovered you had teleportation powers and brought him conveniently to Nicole, later reuniting with us.")
"…I call that destiny." I sniff.
"What was that?" Robin inquired.
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud." I wave off quickly.
("My point is, you've made a lot of mistakes but they have always worked out. Stop freaking out about this.")
Sighing, I lean back against the wall of the trench. As I put my full weight against it, something shifted, and as if the wall itself had disappeared, I fell back.
Wally gasped before me at the sight, "Dude! Secret entrance!" he pointed at it, "Sweet find Arinna~"
Dumbstruck, I struggled to paddle myself back up straight to examine the secret tunnel. "Way to go Arinna." Rocket cheers.
I grin at her, then at myself.
("Dumb luck.")
"Destiny~" I pump my fist upward.
"Guess this explains how no one found it." M'gann peeked inside.
"Everyone stay alert." Kaldur commanded as she shuffled inside. Trying to be as sneaky as possible by swimming, we followed Kaldur through the maze of turns through this secret tunnel.
After a while, the rock walls around us began to change, revealing metal. "Definitely looks like a base to me." Zatanna grimaced. "What do we do?"
"Keep low, and prepare for anything." Aqua Man replies. Nodding, we froze when something shifted around the corner. Pressing to the wall, Aqua man and Kaldur peeked around the corner to see what it was; a Black manta foot soldier. We were in the right place.
A second later, an alarm began to sound over our heads.
"We have been discovered!" La'gaan gasped.
"Everyone, move!" Kaldur called and we shot around the corner, hoping to cover as much ground as possible before the too many troops could head our way. Heading straight into a battle with the foot soldiers, I used my teleportation as my main ally.
It was so hard to move within the water!
"Finally! I shall take all of you one!" La'gaan grinned as he shot forward.
"La'gaan wait-" Garth extended out his hand, but was too late to stop him from tackling the closest guard, his body… enlarging? Like a puffer fish, La'gaan's chest and overall figure seemed to expand, making him appear so much bigger than before.
"Could fish boy always do that?" Rocket blinked rapidly.
"…" Tula, Garth, and Kaldur all shrugged together.
With that we followed La'gaan's lead into a large open space. Scanning the perimeter, we could see Black Manta above, standing on top of a tall tower like structure. Arthur Jr. was behind him, placed within an odd glass sphere.
"Manta!" Aqua man roared venomously.
"So you discovered my location, and in such short time." Manta mused, "I expected no less from Atlantis' oh so great king." He gave him a golf clap.
"Return the royal heir at once!" Tula yelled.
"If you want him, come and claim him." Black Manta extended out his arms, and his soldiers swam forward. We moved to meet them.
The next set of minutes went by in a wild blur consisting of; punch, kick, teleport, shield, punch, punch, admire Kaldur as I pass him, kick, kick, teleport, and so forth.
Through time, Garth had found his way to the top of the tower, attacking Manta. Black Manta's brute strength over powered Garth in an instance, but I don't think defeating him was Garth's intention.
It wasn't until I saw Tula appear from the back of the structure to Arthur Jr. that I realized he was simply the distraction. Black Manta caught on as quickly as I did, turning to lung at Tula, who had barely been able to click the button and open the sphere.
Arthur tumbled out as the two barreled into each other. He wailed and wailed, his little form tipping over the side of the tower and sinking quickly.
I twirled when the baby began to sink deeper and deeper. I wasn't worried with the decent since it was so slow he would hit the bottom without any injury, but then Black Manta turned to him.
He lifted a spear, extending his arm back. The muscles in his arms began to bunch, showing the immense power he was about to put into this single throw. His target; the heir of Atlantis.
"NO!" Aqua Man wailed.
He threw it, and I snapped my fingers. Not this time…
Appearing behind the infant, allowing him to float into my arms, I lifted my hand. A shield was around us a second later. A sickening sound of metal scratching against my shield made me flinch and I watched the spear ricochet in the other direction.
"I got you." I assure the sobbing infant.
"You-!" Black Manta roared in rage.
Feeling a sense of relief wash over me, I grinned at the villain. I didn't react quick enough to stop him last time, but I had this time.
"Take that!" I cackled.
Black Manta made a wild charge in my direction, making it close enough to slam his fist into my shield but coming short when Aqua Man slammed into him like a torpedo. "How dare you lay a hand on my son!" he said with such ferocity that I the impact of his fist on Black Manta's helmet made me flinch. I snapped my fingers to teleport out of there, appearing behind Kaldur.
"Arinna." His eyes widened, "You have retrieved the heir." He says, relieved.
"Yeah, and Aqua Man is finishing off Black Manta." I tell him.
He nods, "I do not want to risk anything more with this fight. We shall finish things here, return the heir to the Queen back at Atlantis."
The request startled me and I felt like arguing, but the look he gave me was a stubborn one. He wasn't going to change his mind. With a sigh I nod, "Okay fine, just hurry back."
"We will." His hand squeezes mine and he steps back. Giving him one last look, I thought to Atlantis. From there, I was back within the dining area. They had almost cleaned his place up at that point, but some of the walls would have to be rebuilt for sure.
"Queen Mera?" I call, swimming out into the halls. "Queen Mera!" I try again. She appears a few minutes' later, eyes wide and searching. She sees her son before she sees me.
"Arthur!" her eyes swell and she extends her arms. I place her child within them, stepping back. "Oh. Oh my child." She sniffed, hugging him close. "My precious child."
The sight is touching and I rub my arm, feeling almost jealous and lonely. Jealous of never being able to have a mother like that, and losing the only parental figure I'd ever loved.
Closing my eyes at the thought, I clear my throat, "W-Well, we found Black Manta… obviously. The others are finishing the battle now and should return soon."
Mera smiles at me, her eyes beaming with joy, "Thank you." She reaches out, placing a hand on my shoulder, "Thank you, my friend. I am forever in your debt."
"Oh. Oh no, no need." I try to insist, feeling flustered, "Just doing my job. You should have seen Tula and Garth. They were the ones to get him away from Black Manta."
"I see." She is smiling back at Arthur, who is giggling and smiling without a care in the world. "I must thank all of you then."
-0000-
The celebration to welcome the return of the King and his prince was grand. The entire kingdom was screaming with joy when Aqua man swam above them to return to his wife and child.
I had never seen Aqua Man hug anyone so tightly as he did them. "My wife, my child." He says. "I should have protected the both of you, but I failed."
"You did no such thing." Queen Mera insists. "You rescued our son and defeated Black Manta."
"He escaped." Aqua Man turned away.
"Then let the coward run. It is all he is good for." She hugged him again. "The true man stands before me, victorious."
Smiling lovingly at her, Aqua Man takes Arthur Jr. into his hands, holding him high.
Watching the two for a bit, I gush at the team, "Way to go guys." I high five a few of them.
"A pretty successful day if I do say so myself." Robin agreed with a smirk.
"So much for relaxing though.' Roy snorted
"Eh, I relax through high-risk situations." Zatanna wave it off. We laughed at that.
"I am happy that I was able to aid you all." Lori spoke up, "I apologize for not being overly useful."
"Nonsense Lori." Tula insists, "You did well. Your spells are coming along perfectly."
"Indeed." Lori and La'gaan straighten when Aqua Man appears behind us, "You all did very well." I am thoroughly impressed."
"T-T-Thank you, your highness." Lori and La'gaan stammer wildly.
"Atlantis could always use more heroes such as yourself." Queen Mera agreed.
Tula and Garth glanced at each other, beaming. "This has been quite the day."
"It reminds me of old times." Kaldur and Garth shake hands.
"Indeed my friend. You have grown quite strong since we last saw one another."
Kaldur smiled, "The surface world is full of many trials."
"Actually, I am quite interested to see the surface world myself." Tula admitted.
"As am I." Garth nodded.
Kaldur blinked a few times, glancing at Aqua Man. His King nodded kindly to him, grinning. Kaldur smiled back, "Then perhaps, if you two would like, you could join our team? We could always use more allies."
"Yeah!" M'gann agreed, "We would love to have you!"
"Oh hey yeah!" Rocket says, "It isn't often we get new team mates."
The two chuckle, "We would be honored."
"That means we have to give them hero names!" I exclaim.
"Hero names?" the two blink
"They obviously have to be something like water." Wally concludes, "Like… the sea urchins!"
"And that is why Wally isn't allowed to name anything or anyone." Artemis shakes her head. "How about we pick something that is actually cool and doesn't make them sound like a rock back?"
"Well, there is the obvious go-to of Aqua girl." Robin points out, "We already have an Aqua Man, Aqua lad, Aqua baby, we just need that one and we got a whole set."
"You would know a lot about a set, wouldn't you?" Zatanna chuckles,
"Hey, I'm not Bat boy at least." He smirked at her.
"Aqua girl would fit nicely." Aqua Man nodded. "What do you think Tula?"
"I would be honored to take the name." she smiles. "What of Garth?"
"Aqua Lad is already taken." He hummed, "I do not believe there is any other 'Aqua' name I could go by." He takes a moment to think about it, "Perhaps-" he smiles, "Tempest."
"Tempest?" Tula repeats.
"A powerful name.' Aqua Man notes, "Very well picked, Garth."
Garth grins brightly at that, "I am happy that you approve."
"Then I guess that settles it. We have two new team mates." Robin grinned.
We all cheered, happy to have the two.
Though it would take a few days to get everything in order, they would meet us back up at the surface when they were ready. For the mean time, the rest of us headed home, giving one last good bye to our new friends.
"I too wish to join you some day." La'gaan announced brightly, "I am still inexperienced however. I shall complete my training though and speak with you again."
"You speak wisely my friend, I hope for you to join us one day as well." Kaldur smiled kindly.
"By Lori!" I hugged her tightly, "I'll come visit again but satisfied in a good days work.
"I'll await the day. I will also inform Toppo that you stopped by." she smiled, waving good-bye to all us, "It was nice meeting all of you."
We waved back and head home, exhausted but satisfied in a good days work.
"Saved the prince of Atlantis~" Wally hummed, "Good day if you ask me."
"Got that right." Rocket high fived him.
"It was something alright." Roy snorted, sounding a little sarcastic, but he was smiling. I was glad to see it.
As we arrived within the cave, Bat Man was there to greet us. We explained to him everything that happened and he nodded, "Good work team."
"Can't say we did too much with those big suits." Zatanna admits, "But going there was awesome."
The others turned to the kitchen for some grub. I was going to join them, but Kaldur took my hand, "A word?"
"Oh. Of course." I follow him to the other side of the room. "Is everything okay?"
"It is fine." He assures me, "I just wanted to inform you of the team you would be on. You were not present when I informed the others."
I snapped my fingers, "Ah, right." I sigh, "Which team am I on."
Kaldur looks relieved suddenly, "Gamma."
"Gamma? Like, officially?" I repeated.
"Do you mind Gamma?" He raised his eyebrow.
"I figure you have many reasons for putting me on Gamma so no, I don't mind." I tell him. The look his gives me is suspicious. He is too happy to tell me this. "I'm assuming you want me to always be Gamma."
"It is the safest team."
"You are way too over protective." I inform him, "Like, seriously. I can handle tougher missions."
"I am not saying that you are incapable, I simply- my mind would be more at ease if I knew you were always on the safer side of things." There was a look on his face suddenly, and I had the feeling that wasn't all he wanted to say.
"What?" I tilt my head.
"Gamma requires a leader." He trails off.
I blink a few times, "Oh. Well I'm sure a lot of people could do it. Robin, M'gann, or-"
"I wish for you to be team leader."
I freeze, my face growing pale, "WHAT?!"
The room draws silent as the team glances over in our general direction. Seeing that I was waving for them to mind their own business they turned away. "... Can I point out how bad of an idea that is?" I hiss quietly. "Isn't there anyone else? Who else is on Gamma?"
"Rocket and yourself."
"Just two?"
"You have seniority over her." Kaldur chuckled.
"(Irrelevant. I can't lead.) I don't know how to lead!" both Ari and I are oddly on the same page here.
"Gamma is the perfect training grounds to start then, Arinna." He took my hands into his own, "You two will never go on top level missions as Gamma, and if you go on anything above that, it will be with another team and their team leader will take control. The risks of danger are small and filled with plenty of room for mistakes."
"Makes it sound like you expect me to fail." I say, though I know in my heart that I will definitely fail at this. Many many times.
"I expect you to do the best you can do."
"And what about Rocket?" I ask, "She can't be happy being saddled with Gamma."
"She wasn't at first, but with her recent school hours being filled she will need to be in Gamma if she wants to keep her grades up." That implies that there are also lest missions Gamma goes on.
"Ah…" I sigh. Struggling to see how this was a good idea, I glance at Kaldur. His eyes are calm, and certain. He thinks I can do this.
Can I do this? "So…" I huff, "What will Gamma entail of fully? Like, what will I need to expect?" I inquire.
"You will receive mostly Intel gathering missions. Nothing too risky." He was way too pleased with this idea, "And new members to the team will most likely be joining Gamma.""
"Newbies?" I felt sick, "You want me to be in charge of newbies too!? That is like being in charge of a class of Freshman."
"Arinna." He chuckled."
"It's true! It is!" I slouch into him. He pats my back reassuringly, "So, I- uh, new members. Tula and Garth just joined. They are pretty well trained though. Will they be a part of Gamma?"
"They are. However, seeing that they are indeed new, they may not be officially Gamma. They will join you on a few missions to see how they respond to teamwork, missions and the surface world. From there we will decide which team they will be apart of."
I huff, "…I don't like this."
"May I request you at least put in an effort to try it?"
"… No. Yes. Yeah." I groan into his chest, my voice sounding muffled, "You are lucky I adore you so much because I wouldn't say yes to anyone else."
"Then I am honored." He kissed the top of my head.
With that said, I… I guess I was the leader of Gamma now. Cool. Kind of.
I hope I'll still have the time to finish my Zombie finger season.
And it is done. I just- Ugh, I don't know what it took so long to get this out but it did and I'm sorry! I hope you like it though!
As always, if you have any suggestions for what you would like to see happen or characters you would like to see introduced, go ahead and send me a message or review!