A/N: Cheers to this update not taking another six months.
-DMC-
The Watchtower was in a state of uproar. Screens in the halls show thematic and topographical maps of the US, as well as the marked coastal cities under attack. On smaller screens, a rotating 3D image of a Trench creature was presented. The innovation was to avoid time wasted on debriefing, time that was crucial by the second where innocent lives were concerned. Heroes rushed through the halls to the hangar.
Hawkgirl speed walked through the hall, bypassing heroes as she adjusted her hawk helmet. She passed the surveillance room, the many workers aboard the tower gathered there with Cyborg to offer their support from above.
"You don't seem excited."
Hawkgirl turned to Dante walking up from behind. She kept her pace as he matched hers.
"Cities are being attacked," Hawkgirl said plainly, "and people are dying."
"We can't stop what's already done, but the good news is, we'll save who we can." Dante said.
Hawkgirl gave him a glance as they entered the hangar, "That's a… reasonable point of view."
Several boom tube portals were open throughout the room, allowing heroes instant access to the target locations.
Wonder Woman gave orders; she held her hand to one of the portals "Fire, Ice, Vigilante; assist Red Tornado in Newport." The two metahumans flew through the portal as Vigilante revved his motorcycle, the cowboy speeding through with a revolver in one hand. Wonder Woman continued, nodding her head in the direction of another, "Green Arrow, Black Canary, Supergirl; join with Captain Atom in Cape May. Hawk, Dove, Vixen; go to Ocean City, Shazam is already there." she pointed, "Power Girl, come to the Titan's aid in Virginia Beach."
The Amazon saw Dante walking into the hangar, Hawkgirl not far behind, "Dante, Hawkgirl," she grabbed the attention of both of them, "You'll come with us to Miami. The concentration is strongest there and we'll need your strength." She pulled her sword and stepped through the portal behind her. Chaos was audible even through the big blue portal.
A playful push from behind made Dante stumble. He turned to see Power Girl briskly walking past him, "Catch you on the flipside." she said smugly as she walked backwards through the portal.
Dante turned and pointed finger guns at her. He watched as she stepped into the portal that led to Virginia Beach. He stopped walking. He felt something on the other side of that portal. There was something beckoning him, like a faint, whispering voice far in the back of his head drawing him to the other side.
There…
Close…
Go…
She's near…
-DMC-
(Virginia Beach)
A teenager was on the roof of a building. She sent numerous Trench creatures careening off the roof she was on with just a thrust of her hands. Her face was concealed under a dark blue cloak, but what little could be seen was pale skin. She turned to her left, a storm of electricity going off in one corner of the city. She looked to her right, and saw fireballs erupting as well as blue energy blasts going off rapidly just several blocks away. She heard more chaos, and looked behind to see a green T-rex stomping through the road, roaring mightily at the creatures and stomping on the invaders. Its tail swatted away several more of them. Another teenager with gray skin rode on the back of the T-rex, shouting curses and swinging a hook chain at the creatures that got too close.
She looked to the road diagonal from her, just one street block away. A boom tube portal was open, and Power Girl flew out of it. The teen watched as the kryptonian quickly got to work, flash-stepping from place to place and taking apart monsters.
She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she eyed the portal. She felt cold. She knew this feeling.
But she couldn't believe it…
No…
Not him.
It couldn't be him…
Her fingers went to the jewel on her forehead. She couldn't hear his voice. He was long gone. But how could she feel this?
She took careful steps forward, before levitating off the building and down to the street.
-DMC-
"Dante." The son of Sparda turned to Hawkgirl, the Thanagarian nodding to the portal across from them, "Plenty of time to ogle Power Girl'sbackside. But not now."
Dante said nothing as he followed after Hawkgirl. Dante pulled Rebellion and Hawkgirl gave her mace a twirl.
"What are we killing?" Dante asked her, the hunter giving his neck a roll.
"The Trench." Hawkgirl said, "Monsters from Aquaman's home, Atlantis." she turned to him, "You have heard of Aquaman, right?"
Dante shrugged, "Fish guy? So what."
"To you they won't be much, but they've adapted to moving freely at the bottom of the ocean. They're strong, they're fast, they're fierce, and they're hard to damage." She and Dante stepped through the portal, "And they're very hungry." The two were immediately greeted by utter chaos.
-DMC-
Just before the teen could step through the portal, a tall orange-skinned woman flew up next to her,
"Raven!"
A gasp came from the cloaked adolescent who looked up to the woman, the leader of her team, "What are you doing?" Starfire asked, who without turning, fired a blast of green light from her palm at a creature several blocks away, "We need you here, there's too much going on for you to run off."
Raven blinked. That familiar feeling was suddenly gone. It vanished as soon as it appeared. She looked to her leader, and to the boom tube portal, suddenly feeling foolish, "I'm sorry. I-I thought I… It's nothing." she stepped away from the tube, passing it one more glance.
She prayed to God what she felt was just in her head…
-DMC-
Wonder Woman slashed away at the Trench creatures that stormed the city of Miami. Superman kept up high in the air, using his heat vision to fry the monsters. When one would get too close to a civilian or a soldier, he shot in to punch the creature out with his fists. One he punched so hard he sent it flying across the city. The military stormed through with tanks and helicopters to fight back the creatures, their artillery unfortunately not enough to kill the monsters.
Dante grinned, "Time for a fish fry!" He threw himself into the fray as Hawkgirl flew off. The trench threw themselves at their new prey, only to swiftly be cut down by Rebellion. Dante sliced the arm off one trench before swinging his sword and cutting it in half.
He whipped out his shotgun, slinging it around and blasting all trench around him in a display of fireworks. He finished by flip cocking the gun and reholstering it on his leg. He swung a kick and knocked one baddie to the ground. The devil jumped onto its back and kicked off the ground, using his fallen enemy to surf through the streets, somehow denying physics.
A helicopter pilot saw the display, before snapping his fingers at his copilot, "Hey, check this out."
The copilot looked down at Dante surfing through the streets and using an overturned car as a ramp to gain air, "Is this guy serious?" the man said in disbelief.
Kicking off the dead Trench in mid-air, Dante slammed down on the ground with his sword, splitting another enemy. He looked up and spotted Wonder Woman down Ocean Drive, the demi-god knocking a trench away with her forearm before slashing the chest of another with her sword. She grabbed the monster by the top of its head and threw it at a pack of others. Keeping up the assault, she slammed her bracelets together, forming a shockwave that blew away everything around her.
A roar filled her ear. Turning, she saw a hulking tower of a monster charge at her. She was more than ready to battle the creature before it went crashing to the ground. Dante's feet were planted on the monster's back.
"These things have a leader?" Dante said, whipping Ebony to shoot a monster from over his shoulder without looking at it.
"Yes, they have a king and queen, but if what I've heard from Aquaman is right, they'd be impossible to miss." Wonder Woman said, weaving and slashing the top of a sea monster's head off, "It's unlikely we would find them here."
A bulky Trench knocked one of its brethren aside to get Dante. Dante tossed his sword like a boomerang, letting it slice through other monsters. He cocked his fists, and blocked swipes from the creature. Diana could see a glow coming from the half demon's arms. She knew what he was planning.
Dante took a stance with Wonder Woman at his back. Superman landed down at their front. The kryptonian brought his arms out wide. Diana held her arms out and slammed her bracelets together as Superman clapped, Dante thrust his charged palm forward, the three sending out blasts of energy and shockwaves that hit the trench like freight trains.
Hundreds of creatures were still storming the beach like Normandy, getting into the streets and ripping into the military assisting there. The league set to act as a barrier between them and the town; Superman and Wonder Woman using their unfathomable speed to take down dozens of the monsters, and Dante summoning a doppelganger to even the odds with numbers.
A Trench got shot with a rocket launcher but was only knocked back, the monsters having skin just as tough as Aquaman. A helicopter that was jumped by several of the creatures spun out of the air and crashed into a building, erupting into a fireball. A tank was also rushed, the sea creatures ripping it apart to get to the soldiers inside.
Green missiles shot out of the sky and hit the ground, blowing away more of the hordes. It was Green Lantern. He piloted a green F-18 formed by his ring, the former military pilot flying the aircraft across the city and shooting away with his turrets. When he passed over Superman and Wonder Woman he dispersed the aircraft and landed next to them.
Dante was actually interested in the ring the man had, this being the first time he saw it in action. Hal formed a massive minigun that he wielded to shoot down dozens of the sea monsters.
"Yeah! Come on guppies, I got your tartar sauce right here!" Green Lantern said as the barrel spun on the gun. The Lantern took a glance at Dante who was firing away with his pistols. Lantern turned and shot up several of the monsters that Dante focused on, every bullet missing Dante but hitting their target. The devil hunter turned to Lantern, giving the space cop a blank look, "Scuse me." Lantern said with a smirk. He focused on one of the larger Trench running for him. Before he could fire, the Trench exploded from a demonically charged shot from Dante. Hal turned to Dante,
"Oh that was yours? Pardon me." Dante said cheekily, "I don't do so well with bright lights." He put a hand in front of his face to mock shielding his face from Lantern's shining ring.
Martian Manhunter appeared out of thin air to defend a man in danger of being eaten. He grabbed the trench and held it up by the back of its neck. J'onn's eyes glow red much like Supermans before lasers shot out and vaporized the fiend. His heat vision burned through and destroyed numerous other nearby invaders. He grabbed the stray man by his shoulder and carried him to safety.
A sparkle of yellow electricity flared from one end of the shopping district before a red blur shot through, the Flash appearing with all of the trench behind him on the road neutralized.
The Flash turned to a duo of police officers escorting a woman and a baby out of a hotel building a few dozen yards down. The officers fired shots at a trench that ran at them. Time slow around him as he summoned the speed force. He ran and got in front of the bullets, many of which were set to miss the monster. He grabbed the bullets out of the air and threw them at the fiend. Time sped up again, the 9mm bullets all hitting their target with an unnatural force and speed and taking it out. The speedster gave a salute to the policemen, "Good shooting officers. I'll handle your six."
Flash ran around in a circle, forming a tornado that sucked up more of the creatures and sent them spiraling around the city. He dashed over to the beach front along Ocean Drive to unite with the rest of the league.
Flash saw Dante glance at him before turning to a trench monster. Barry noticed Dante pull his sword and set his feet to charge at the enemy. Flash smiled slyly as time slowed around them to a crawl; Wonder Woman, Superman, Dante, and Hawkgirl nearly freezing. Flash ran at the fiend, but he felt a ripple within the speed force; a disturbance. Flash glanced at Dante as he ran past the gunslinger, only to gape in awe as Dante's eyes followed him…
Dante ran within the speedforce to impale the sea monster, narrowly beating Flash there.
Flash blinked, the speedster left dumbfounded, "How did you-"
Dante patted Flash's shoulder, "Keep up slow poke." before he fought through another wave, his body vanishing and reappearing at different areas. Dante grinned smugly. He was banking on Quicksilver helping him keep up with Flash's speed. It worked.
Hawkgirl caved in the head of a trench with her mace. She twirled around and smashed a sea monster away. When a larger one leaped at her she dodged a swing of its claws that would have cleaved her to pieces. She countered with a swing to its knee cap, shattering it and hobbling it, before flying up and destroying its jaw with an upward swing.
As she landed she swung her mace in a wide arc that was meant for another fiend, only for that very monster to be cut down by Wonder Woman.
Hawkgirl stared the Amazon down, "I didn't need your help."
Wonder Woman glared at her coldly as she continued on, "It wasn't my intent. If you're one of us as you claim, you should make more of an effort to help the civilians."
Hawkgirl seemed ready to argue but Wonder Woman was already gone. The Thanagarian knew there was no time to handle their issues, certainly not here. She spotted a duo of soldiers shooting at one fiend that was closing in on them, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the creature. Hawkgirl chucked her mace at it and nailed it.
"She chews my head off every other day." Dante said as he appeared by Hawkgirl's mace and tossed it back to her, "Do what I do, learn to laugh through the BS."
Shayera looked at him incredulously, "You… don't take anything seriously do you?"
"I'm easily content." Dante said before he kicked away a monster. He and Shayera continued the fight.
-DMC-
Hours went by, the heroes having fought nonstop.
"They're thinning out." Wonder Woman said, the Amazon receiving irrelevant damage through the scuffle; simple knicks and scratches along her arms. She kept up the fight against the odd trench that got near, though she turned to Superman, "Some of us will need to go to Atlantis. We need to find out what happened to Aquaman and why these monsters are invading."
"I'll need to stay." Superman said, "There's too much work to be done. You, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern can go."
"I volunteer as tribute." Dante said, earning him looks from those around him, "What? underwater city means there's bound to be mermaids. Can't pass that up."
"So be it." Wonder Woman said, deciding not to waste valuable time on arguing. Martian Manhunter called in a seacraft that dropped into the water from a portal. Dante got in with Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manter. The half devil hopped into a seat as Wonder Woman piloted the vehicle that fired down into the ocean.
-DMC-
The nautical vehicle cruised through the depths, Dante sitting at the window and looking into the ocean.
Wonder Woman's eyes were glued onto the ocean in front of her. A beep and flashing light came from the console. A screen show Batman, who himself was in the cockpit of an aircraft that was likely the Batwing. The sound of rapid firing turret guns could be heard through the speaker.
"Wonder Woman, how did Miami play out?" Batman asked.
"It's under control, but it's not over yet." Wonder Woman said, "I'm heading to Atlantis; Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, and Dante will be accompanying me."
"Anticipate the worst." Batman said. The line cut.
"Why so pessimistic?" Dante asked.
"The trench are kept at bay when they recognize Aquaman as their king." Manhunter said.
"Do the math." said Green Lantern, the space cop looking out the window himself into the sea.
"This doesn't mean that Aquaman is dead." Wonder Woman said, "This could mean that something managed to take control of them somehow."
"Then why wouldn't Aquaman give us a heads up?" Green Lantern asked.
"With preparing for the worst you hope for the best." Wonder Woman said, the tone in her voice spelling she would have no arguments.
The ship continued cruising, sailing deeper into the ocean at a speed that cleared miles in seconds.
Dante saw something in the distance, a structure of some sort.
"We're arriving on Atlantis." Wonder Woman said. Looking out the main window of the sea craft, Dante saw numerous aquatic structures approaching. All throughout the civilization were buildings made of marble and pearl, and various palace's with exotic bioluminescent plants and sparkling fish that kept the city as bright as any major city on the surface. Aquaman's main palace was in the distance, and despite the destruction brought to it, was humongous and expansive. A massive bridge was in the distance that led to the palace's main gates. "The kingdom is the size of a continent, divided under numerous city states."
"Well… must be in the backwater parts of Atlantis because it's rural and run down out here." Dante said.
Green Lantern scanned the area himself, the Atlantean structures empty and broken apart, "They had to have evacuated."
The seacraft delved further into the kingdom. Much of it was abandoned and covered in debris and floating wreckage. Manhunter rubbed his chin, "We're approaching Poseidonis, Atlantis's capital." Oddly, a dark mist enveloped much of the city. The castle was where the mist was heaviest. The castle suffered the most damage compared to the rest of the city. Its assault seemed personal.
Dante sniffed the air, his nose scrunching up. His neck itched, "Demons. They're here, somewhere."
The others looked at him, "How would you know?" Green Lantern asked.
"It's my job to know. I mind the business that pays me, sometimes." Dante said. He kept his eyes outside the windows, gazing on the underwater city, 'It's a powerful one too if I can feel it in here.' he thought.
Wonder Woman's eyes caught something that made her immediately start flipping switches on the control panel, "Trench, a lot of them."
The others looked down to the ocean, spotting hordes of the twisted monsters in the streets; hundreds of them. The lights turned off, the motor slowed, and the spacecraft cloaked to camouflage with the blue ocean above. Some of the Trench monsters looked up and saw nothing, continuing raiding the streets of Atlantis in search of more food. The last thing they needed was their ship being swarmed by these animals.
Princess Diana looked to the Martian, "Search for someone, anyone."
Manhunter looked back at her, "If I talk to all, the wrong person may hear."
"But if there's any survivors they'll need to know help came for them." Green Lantern said, "We'll take the risk."
Manhunter closed his eyes and reached out to everything telepathically, "Atlantis, the Justice League has come to help. Respond if you can hear me."
He heard nothing.
"Atlantis, Atlantis please respond. This is Martian Manhunter, accompanied by Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. We're here to help."
Silence…
"Manhunter, I hear you."
The Martian knew the voice. He turned to Wonder Woman, "Queen Mera, she's still alive." he focused again, "I know your location. We're coming." he held a hand to the wheel, "Allow me to take control."
Wonder Woman got up to allow Manhunter control of the vehicle. Manhunter drove east for several miles. He entered the Venturia, the sunken outpost of Atlantis. The seacraft was practically sucked into the massive crevices under the ground. The Martian struggled a bit to stabilize the vehicle, but he managed to land it on the rocky ground.
Green Lantern's ring glow as a thin barrier cloaked his body. Wonder Woman reached into a compartment and grabbed some odd device. She handed it to Dante, who looked it over. It was a mouthpiece with a filter, obviously to help him breathe.
"I won't be needing this." he handed the mouthpiece back to Wonder Woman.
"You can breathe underwater?" the demi-goddess asked.
"Or hold my breath for a long ass time." Dante said, "Either way, you won't have to worry about me."
Green Lantern formed a barrier from his ring that spread from the vehicle and around it, keeping the water away as the top hatch opened. They each hopped out. The hatch closed as they stood outside of the vehicle. The space cop dropped the barrier, Dante instantly getting soaked in sea water. Water filled his lungs but did nothing to choke him, though he tasted a hell of a lot of salt, 'Ugh, maybe I should have taken that mouth piece.' Dante thought. His hair, much like Diana and Hal's, float around his head in the water.
Manhunter turned, spotting Queen Mera approaching with two Atlantean soldiers at her side.
"Queen Mera." Wonder Woman said, regarding her with a respectful head nod.
"Princess Diana." Queen Mera gave her the same respectful nod. She looked among the others. She looked at the unfamiliar face among the group. She appeared apprehensive, "Who is he?"
"His name is Dante." Martian Manhunter said, "He's here to help."
Mera still seemed distrusting of this outsider.
"He's with us, Mera." Wonder Woman said, "He's an associate of the League. I wouldn't have allowed him to be brought here if he couldn't be trusted."
The Queen stared down the unfamiliar surface dweller. She wasn't her husband. She couldn't just give an unknown surface dweller the benefit of the doubt.
"Can you be trusted, air breather?" Mera asked Dante.
Knowing an insult when he heard one, Dante had to resist the urge to shoot back, 'No way I can trash this place any worse than the last guy, babe.', but he responded, "Yeah. You can trust me."
Mera nodded, "Please, follow me." she swam away, with her soldiers and the League following her.
"What happened here?" Wonder Woman asked, the demi-goddess swimming closest to Mera.
"We went to war with the Trench." Mera said, "We fought and held out the best that we could, but we couldn't stop them."
"Why didn't you warn us?" Green Lantern asked her.
"We sent but our messengers were killed." Mera said.
"Unfortunate because the Trench have attacked the surface world." Martian Manhunter said, "Hundreds have died and their attacks have yet to cease."
The Queen of Atlantis looked back to the surface dwellers, "I'm sorry."
Mera and the Atlantean soldiers led the League through the crevices that made up Venturia. As Dante swam he looked up, gauging that the bottom of these crevices were about 10 miles below the surface of Atlantis. There were ultra strong currents that passed up above that would have carried away almost anything that would have fallen below. It was a good hiding place.
Mera led the group to a set of double doors hidden behind a set of fallen rocks and rubble.
The guards pushed against the doors and forced them open, revealing to the League a massive courtyard that housed plenty of the surviving Atlanteans. There were tons of families and children crying in fear. Many of the soldiers that survived the battle had missing limbs and were heavily bandaged with seaweed.
Dante saw a man being patched up by a few doctors.
Diana turned to Mera, "He's still alive?"
"Yes." Mera said, "He barely survived the battle with-" She lost her train of thought when her husband began thrashing against the doctors.
"I'm fine, damnit! Back off!"
He was mad.
The doctors stepped away from the king as the League and Mera approached him.
Dante saw the barbarian-like man sitting down on the edge of a stone medical bed; shirtless with seaweed bandages covering his right shoulder and peck. His left hand was missing, the stump covered in bandages as well. The king of Atlantis also had a scar running over his right eye, barely visible through his messy, long blonde hair.
"Good to see you're still alive, Aquaman." Green Lantern said.
The king of the seven seas looked back and forth between the League. He spoke with a grumble, grabbing the stump of his hand, "I failed. Atlantis is in shambles. I've lost over two-thirds of our army and too many civilians. Now the surface world is at risk. This is on me, I'm sorry."
"You've suffered, but Atlantis isn't gone." Martian Manhunter said, "You still have a people, and you still have a kingdom that will rebuild. The surface can take care of itself."
"What happened, Arthur?" Wonder Woman asked, "What did you fight that did this to you?"
"We know it's not Orm, he's still in lockup in Belle Reve." Green Lantern said, his arms folded.
Aquaman looked down, "Black Manta." he said, fingers digging into the stone bed and cracking it, "He's come back, but he's changed. He's merged with the Abyssal Dark. Manta was a handful before, when he was just a man in a super suit, but now, after taking the power of the Dark, I can't defeat him. God help me, I tried." Mera kneeled down next to her husband to comfort him. She put her forehead to his shoulder, "He's faster, stronger, tougher, and he has the Trench under his command." he shook his head, "They fear Black Manta-Devil Ray-whatever, more than they fear me as their ruler."
"The Abyssal Dark," Dante spoke up for the first time, earning the attention of everyone else, "Is it a demon?"
"Yes." Mera spoke up for her husband, "It's an evil that has plagued Atlantis since its founding eons ago. It couldn't be destroyed so it had to be sealed away."
Dante smirked, "Well now, if Black Manta's messing around with demons he's stepping onto my playground."
Aquaman and Mera looked at each other before looking at Dante, "Who are you?" Aquaman asked.
"Names Dante, owner and sole proprietor of the Devil May Cry agency." Dante said, "I make a living laying a smackdown on the underworld and those with ties to it. Point me in Manta's direction and I'll exterminate him and the Abyssal Dark for a modest fee."
"Free of charge." Wonder Woman said.
"I have royal discounts." Dante said.
"Free of charge." Wonder Woman said dangerously.
"Alright, fine, free of charge." Dante relented, 'But I don't like it.'
Aquaman stared down Dante. He got up, standing before the Devil Hunter, "Free of charge, huh. I like him."
Green Lantern scoffed, "Give it time, you won't."
Arthur held his one remaining hand out, "You're hired." Dante grabbed and shook it.
"So how are we gonna go about Manta?" Green Lantern asked the royals, "You got any secret passageways that could lead us to him?"
"We could take a secret passageway, or we could walk out, make a bunch of noise, and let him come to us." Dante said, "Sounds a lot more fun."
"Sounds a lot more stupid." Green Lantern said, "But that's your forte."
"Space cop afraid of a few hundred sea cannibals?" Dante asked, "Thought that ring was supposed to be something special. Can't even handle things on the homefront."
"This ring has saved more lives than you could fathom, dirtbag." Hal Jordan said, his temper rising, "Tell me how many people you've gotten hurt and killed just because you're looking for a thrill?"
"I couldn't tell you." Dante said nonchalantly, "But I have an idea of how many I saved in the process. Tell me how many worlds you've saved from dem-"
"Enough of this." Manhunter told the two men, "There are bigger issues at hand than the two of you."
Green Lantern shook his head and turned his back to Dante.
"We'd have to know where Manta is first." Aquaman said, continuing on from the altercation between the two men, "No way he's left Atlantis. He knows I'm not dead."
Wonder Woman thought back, "I'm sure he sent the trench to the surface to draw you out." she looked to Mera, "The Abyssal Dark, it has to be connected to that black mist floating around Poseidonis." she then looked to Aquaman, "Now it makes sense why there's hundreds of the trench surrounding your palace."
"The capital." Aquaman nodded, "My throne room would be a good place to start. I'll take you there."
"As will I." Mera added, the tone of her voice showing she absolutely would not let her husband go alone.
"Alright then." Wonder Woman said before she turned to Dante,"Your typical posturing aside, you're certain you can destroy this demon?"
"10 minutes. No sweat." Dante said.
"Then we move in and get Dante to Black Manta." Wonder Woman told everyone else, "We'll hold off the Trench from the outside until you take care of him." she looked to Aquaman, "If what you say is true, that the Trench fear Manta more than you at this point, then they should submit again when he's out of the picture."
"Sounds about right." Aquaman said, "They'll fall in line like the rest of the sea."
Dante looked at Aquaman, and eyed the stump that was his left hand, "You sure you wanna dive into this all… asymmetrical."
"I need to see Black Manta die." Aquaman said. He turned and grabbed the Trident of Poseidon leaning on a pearl pillar. "I'm going." his brow furrowed as he focused, "Outside."
As the pack made to leave, a particular Atlantian swam after them with something in hand, "My king, my king wait!" Arthur turned to his underling, the man stopping and bowing his head, "We have prepared something that we hope will be of use." He held up a golden prosthetic device, a hook.
Aquaman picked it up, and examined it quickly. He attached it over his stump.
"We hope to develop something more advanced down the line, but we hope that this will suffice until then." The Atlantean blacksmith said.
Aquaman gave the hook a few swings, before he nodded to its maker, "This will do just fine. Thank you."
The group stepped out of the doors. Outside was a dolphin, an orca, and a great white shark.
"Pick your ride." Aquaman said.
Dante hopped on the dolphin while Aquaman took the shark and Mera the orca. Dante chuckled at the absurdity of the situation, "Guess these are lamborghini, ferrari, and bugattis of the seas."
"Manhunter, Green Lantern, and I can handle the horde of trench outside of the kingdom." Wonder Woman said.
"Everything inside the kingdom you'll have to handle yourselves." Green Lantern said, "We'll keep the three of you from getting swarmed."
"No problemo." Dante said.
"You go low, we go high." Aquaman said as they all shot off through the ocean.
They took off for the capital.
"So, I heard you talk to fish?" Dante asked Aquaman to break the silence.
"It's the water that does the talking." Aquaman said, the response automatic, as if he's had to give it a million times.
"So if you're the king of everything, that must mean you have, say, an emotional connection with them, you know what they're saying?"
"Dante…" Wonder Woman started.
"Mostly, yeah." Aquaman said.
"So what are your thoughts on SeaWorld?" Dante asked, "When you go is that like, visitation day for them, or conjugal visits or something?"
"Dante!" Wonder Woman snapped.
"He can't help himself." Manhunter said to the king and queen.
Atlantis was fast approaching. "See you on the other side." Green Lantern said as he, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter broke off.
Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Manhunter went low while the king and queen of Atlantis went high with Dante for an opening in the palace of Atlantis. The sea creatures they rode on rocketed through the water like torpedoes. Dante looked down and saw nearly every monster in the area instantly flock to the heroes. They practically disappeared within the horde.
He wouldn't admit it, but he was concerned for their safety. He would trust they were capable against these numbers.
Mera jumped from the orca and shot straight down to the castle, Dante and Aquaman following after.
They dropped down to the main hall of the castle, shaking the massive structure. The inside of the palace made for a good horror movie setting; unnatural darkness clouding the room, wreckage and death littering the floors and floating in the water, and monsters lurking every corner.
Screeches filled the air before the three were jumped by several trench that Dante and Aquaman cut through. One went for Mera and she simply held up her hand. The creature stopped and screeched horridly before it clutched its head. Its head spasmed as blood poured from its eyes and mouth, before it popped like a balloon. She took the blood in the water and formed spears with it, before launching them at the remaining monsters and killing them.
"That's hardcore." Dante admitted, surrounded by blood that lingered in the water from the slain fiend. Mera smiled triumphantly at the two men.
Aquaman grinned as he pulled his Trident loose from a corpse, "That's my girl." he nudged Dante roughly with his elbow, "Redheads, gotta love'em. Let's go."
They continued on.
"Tell me," Dante started, "This uh, Black Manta, or whatever, what's his beef? This one of those-kingdom blood feuds going back hundreds of years-type deals or what?"
"No it's not, actually." Aquaman said, fingers gripping his signature weapon as he thought back on years of strife, "It's one of those, you kill someone's dad, then they kill your son, then you nearly kill them, then they come back possessed by a demon type deals."
"Mhm, well, murdering someone's father would do it." Dante said.
"It wasn't like that." Mera snapped, "Arthur did not murder him."
Aquaman put the forearm of his stump on Mera's back as a gesture to calm her, "You could argue it was murder by proxy. See, Manta's father was a pirate, same as him. He murdered countless people, people who begged for their lives before he killed them. When I stopped him, he found himself trapped and in danger by his own actions. I left him to the sea's mercy."
"Black Manta murdered our child in retaliation." Mera said bitterly, "Our infant child. Suffocated him."
Aquaman's face twisted in grim fury, "He was barely a year old. Manta stole my sons life before he'd even had the chance to live it." he took a deep breath of the water to ease his temper, something he had gotten better at over the years, "This will only end when one of us dies, Dante." he shook his head, "It's not the way of the Justice League, but I rule the seas and that's my law."
The son of Sparda looked to the king of Atlantis, "I'll make sure that's not you who goes belly up." he said, "I don't hunt human beings, but from the looks of things, this Black Manta didn't sound much different from the fodder I usually cut through even before he sold his humanity."
They rounded a corner to find six trench feasting on dead Atlantean guards in the hallway, blood clouding the hallway. Shaking his head, Aquaman threw his trident and speared a monster through its head. It was pinned to the wall.
The monsters were so invested in their meals that they didn't even regard the new arrivals.
Mera slashed through two others with ultra dense water as Dante lunged in and stabbed another. Aquaman slashed into one with his hook, before throwing it down the opposite end of the hall.
Dante kicked the last one hard enough to kill it and send it crashing through a marble statue of Poseidon.
"Hope that wasn't expensive." Dante asked, stepping through the stone chunks and dust that float in the water and lay on the floor.
"We'll bring the artist who made it a millennia ago back to life." Mera said bitterly.
"Tell him to bill me." Dante said, "I'm good for it."
Aquaman walked ahead of Dante, "My throne room is around here. Be careful, I don't know what's beyond those doors."
The king of Atlantis swam up to the double doors and pushed, allowing the three of them to enter a massive room that held the exquisite throne of the king.
Devil Ray sat on the throne, the massive manta abomination casually leaning into it. It was obvious he'd been waiting. The bioluminescent bodies of two Trench the size of multi-story buildings were on either side of the demon; the king and queen of the Trench.
"Aquaman. What a disappointment." Devil Ray growled, "You fail to avenge your people. You hide behind your woman." He nodded to the outside, "An alien. An Amazon. A Green Lantern…" his eyes settled on Dante, the six gills lining his ribs flared open and shut, as if the demon were taking a deep breath. His head tilted as if drawing a conclusion, "And a demon." That was almost certainly the Abyssal Dark's influence at work.
Dante was surprised Aquaman and Mera didn't pay that last bit much mind at all. Aquaman stared down his nemesis, "Just using the assets I have that you don't… friends."
Devil Ray's eyes glow, "Friends. I have those… in abundance." and he held up his clawed hand that also glowed red.
On the surface, at the drop of a hat, all of the Trench turned tail from the cities, and seemed to retreat back into the ocean.
Flash smirked, "Guess they got tired of getting their asses kicked in."
Superman and Hawkgirl shared a glance. Something was odd about this.
Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter did battle with the trench that flooded Atlantis. This was a strain, but they could handle it, as long as it stayed like this.
Green Lantern flew more than swam through the water, leading dozens of Trench behind him in chase. The space cop held in his hands a massive green rocket launcher, one he fired off numerous shots to take out bundles of the monsters.
Manhunter had little issue keeping the Trench at bay with his heat vision and super strength. His ability to go intangible and invisible kept his enemies confused.
Wonder Woman deflected a claw swipe with her gauntlet, before stabbing through her enemies throat. She moved at hyper speeds to keep up with the numerous threats surrounding her, slashing and parrying with a level of skill that could only come from centuries of battle. She saw through the horde, and gasped in alarm at what was coming.
A wave of thousands of trench were coming for them all at once.
Green Lantern and the Martian saw, the two heroes sharing an equal amount of surprise.
"They better hurry the hell up." Lantern said. He glanced at his ring, "I don't know how much juice I have left."
Manhunter looked to Wonder Woman, "Dante said 10 minutes. Lets hope he holds true to his word."
Dante gave Rebellion a twirl, before holding the blade to Devil Ray, "Whoo-wee!" he waved his freehand in front of his face, a move to taunt the abomination, "You demons smell bad all on your own, you add in that nasty fish tank smell and that might actually be enough to kill me, you big bastard."
Devil Ray's face twisted in fury, "I won't tolerate your disrespect. I'll skin you alive, and then I'll finish what I started with Aquaman." Devil Ray said.
"Sounds like a fair deal to me." Dante said, "You kill me and you can have at Aquaman. Turn him to sushi, sashimi, whatever I'm not big on seafood." Dante said, earning him a glare from Mera, "I'll let you give it your best shot."
Devil Ray growled menacingly and stood up from the throne. The king and queen of the Trench stood alongside him, the predators baring their teeth and claws. Manta walked forth, every footstep shaking the ocean floor, "I'll oblige." Twin black blades slid from the forearms of Devil Ray, the weapons organic and long enough to scrape the floor.
Aquaman took a battle stance, trench in one and and hook for the other, setting his feet as he turned to Dante, "Well my man, lets hope you back up your attitude." He set his eyes on the king trench.
"He better." Mera said, forming numerous lancers and whips with the water around her, setting her focus on the queen Trench, "Or I'll find a way to kill him a second time."
"Enough with the pep talk, I can hype myself up." Dante grinned at Devil Ray, the demonic monstrosity and the monsters next to him ready to charge their prey, "This is what I live for, your highness."
'Been a while since I took out a big name.' Dante thought to himself, 'The Abyssal Dark, huh. I wonder what new toy I'll get from him.' he thought eagerly.
With a wordless signal, the opposing parties charged each other for a fight to the death.
-DMC-
A/N: And I end things here. I have a lot of fun writing chaos, and thus this chapter was fun to write. Ain't got much to say here so just lemme know your thoughts in a review. Till next time!
