Chapter 8
Shirai Ryu Temple
Jason is seen weaving through the crowd of assembled Ninjas, all present in the temple's main hall. The young Ninja is rushing towards Scorpion's lair, when suddenly he bumbs into Fox, who is standing at the doors entrance
"What's going on?" Jason asked, on seeing his friend. "Are we under attack?"
"Not us, Metropolis." Fox said, before leading Jason into the Lair. "Though they're not being attacked at the moment, but judging by what Grandmaster Hasashi said, it's only a matter of time." he said, as the duo walked through the lair
"He's back already?" Jason asked, before noticing Scorpion and an Elderly Shirai Ryu discussing, with Raven floating beside Scorpion.
As the duo got closer, Jason recognized the Ninja talking with Scorpion, who is none other than Madam Bo. Madam Bo was a former League of Assassin's member, who is currently in charge of training most of the Shirai Ryu.
"You're late." Raven said dryly, as Jason and Fox stood before the trio
"And you're early." Jason shot back
"Isn't that suppose to be a good thing?" Fox asked
"That's enough you two." Madam Bo scolded. "I swear you both act like married couples."
"We don't!" Jason and Raven yelled, before glaring at each other
"Grandmaster, what would you have us do?" Fox asked, while ignoring his allies bantering
"The three of you will accompany me to Metropolis, alongside some of our clan members to defend the city." Scorpion said
"Are things already that bad?" Jason asked, finally ending his argument with Raven
"At this point, they already are." Scorpion said
Star Labs, League Headquarters
A red alarms were beginning to blare in the Lab's building, alerting the resident heroes.
"Uh Batman? Still nothing from Cyborg…" Flash reported, "… But you should see this."
"I know. Get it on screen!" Batman ordered. Flash nodded, pulling the statistics up on the screen, "The mother of all tidal waves headed for the eastern seaboard."
"Straight towards Metropolis." Shazam piped up, his eyes on the screen.
Batman frowned. "Secondary confirmation?"
One the screen, the actual image of the huge tidal wave didn't help soothe their nerves.
"The hell…" Shazam muttered as even Batman tensed at the sight.
"ETA to impact?"
"Twenty minutes." Flash answered.
Batman was not pleased with this answer
"Wait…how are three of us going to evacuate entire cities?!" Shazam almost yelled
"We can't…." Batman sighed, "… People are going to die."
"Scorpion better hurry up with his clan." Shazam muttered
Sea Trench
Having being knocked unconscious by Orm's Trident, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Mera and Arthur all lay trapped in cocoons, as a certain creature started to pull the cocoons towards itself.
This ended up waking Arthur, who upon seeing the creature, was about to have a panic attack.
Until he remembered something that his half brother said before he fell unconscious.
"Only royalty can wield the magic of the trident."
What if he didn't need the trident?
Focusing on the water all around him, Arthur closed his eyes and imagined the current cracking the cocoon, weakening it so that he could break out.
With a mighty crash, the cocoon shattered, and Arthur was free… and face to face with a tentacled creature ten times his size. As this creature was dragging Mera towards him, the fear disappeared, only to be replaced by determination.
Arthur glanced around and spotted Superman in another cocoon, knowing that the hero would be a great asset. He swam over and smashed the orange cocoon, thankful that Superman could breathe(more like hold his breath) under water as he pulled the alien out.
Clark was instantly alert, quickly noticing how the creature was dragging his allies. Using his heat vision, Clark sliced several of the tentacles off, buying the cocooned victims some more time.
"I'll take it from here, Arthur." Superman said as he charged the beast, but was quickly grabbed and thrown against the trench walls.
Thinking fast, Arthur began telepathically calling to the ocean for help. Seconds later, there was the bellow of a nearby humpback whale, as it came rushing into the trench. To Arthur's mild surprise, the humpback scooped up the rest of the orange cocoons and carried them out of the trench.
Not having to worry about his friends, Superman was now really going for it. Using all of his strength, Superman grabbed the tentacles that were wrapped around him and swung the creature around, slamming it into the walls, before ripping off the offending tentacles.
Finally, with one massive punch, the creature was sent crashing through the wall, bellowing in shock and anger as it collapsed down upon it, the rocks crushing it.
As Superman made sure it was dead, Arthur broke Mera free of her cocoon, waiting anxiously until she woke up.
"Arthur…" she eventually whispered, gazing up at him, "… You're alive?"
"We both are…. Oh, and, funny story: I talk to fish now, and they actually listen. So, I'm gonna stop my evil half-brother from destroying the surface world. Do you... you wanna come?"
"It would be my honour."
Together, along with Superman, they freed the rest of the heroes.
"I'm still foggy on how you escaped." Hal winced, rubbing his head in an attempt to get rid of his splitting headache.
"Orm said only royalty could control the magic of the trident…" Arthur explained, "… Guess I qualify."
Before Hal could ask any more questions, Cyborg's communicator beeped, indicating that contact with the surface world had been re-established.
"Batman, this is Cyborg, do you read me?"
As he waited for Batman to reply
That was when Wonder Woman suddenly noticed a red stain on Superman's uniform, "Superman, are you okay?" She asked
Clark winced and smiled, "Fine… But I'm going to shove that magic shrimp fork down Orm's throat."
Then the bad news came through.
"You all need to get back…" Batman ordered, "… A tidal wave is about to hit Metropolis."
Metropolis
Up on the surface, people were screaming and running for their lives as soldiers poured in. The tidal wave itself might have stopped inches from the city, but the threat was still very real.
Orm had used the trident to split the wave in half, enabling his army to make their way onto dry land. They marched into the streets of Metropolis, until they came face to face with the human army.
"Atlanteans!" boomed a large man through a speaker, "This is General Sam Lane of the United States Army. I order you to stand down."
Sneering, Orm stepped forwards, "I am King Orm of Atlantis, general. And you are in no position to issue orders…. KILL THE HUMANS! FOR ATLANTIS!"
"For Atlantis!" "For Atlantis!"
"FIRE!"
The bullets had no affect on the hard, Atlantean armour as they continued to chant, "For Atlantis! For Atlantis!"
Once the bullets stopped, Orm raised the trident into the air, "My turn!"
He slammed his trident on the ground, sending bolts of lightning straight towards the tanks, causing them to explode with the force of the attack. The soldiers all ran, continuing to fire at the Atlanteans.
Before the Atlantean war-machines and the warriors could completely over-whelm the soldiers, there was a war-cry and Shazam smashed through one of the machines, before grabbing another and throwing it into another building, while the Flash was zipping around the city, knocking the Atlantean's off of their feet.
Meanwhile…
As the other half of the team, burst out of the water, Arthur watched in amazement as Mera controlled a large wave, directing them straight towards the main land.
The rest of the team flew towards the city, with Cyborg dropping a sonic transmitter in the middle of a large group of Atlanteans. Screaming in pain, they all dropped to the ground.
Mera was using water to block the laser blasts, as Arthur was holding his own against the Atlanteans… until he was back-handed to the ground.
"Half-breed trash…." Black Manta growled, "… I won't let you ruin my plans!"
The lasers in his helmet fired, blasting Arthur into a nearby building. "You will not win."
Meanwhile, several Atlantean soldiers were advancing on some construction workers, with one of the older worker falling to the ground.
When the younger men turned around to try and help, the older man scowled at them. "You guys run.!"
One chose not to obey the order, grabbing a large hammer and racing towards the Atlantean with a ferocious war-cry and knocking the soldier away from his friend.
And then three more arrived. Thankfully, before they could attack, they were slammed into a wall by a red and blue blur.
Superman turned to the man with the hammer and saluted him, flying off into the distance.
"… Well, I'll be damned."
…
As Hal used his ring to create a giant hoover and Mera sliced through the Atlantean soldiers with her sword, Lois Lane was on her own personal mission…. Along with a very reluctant Jimmy Olsen, who was taking as many photographs as he could.
When several Atlantean soldiers brutally murdered a human soldier, the enemy turned their attention to the civilians nearby.
"Run, Jimmy!"
As the Atlantean's tried to follow them, Diana dropped down in front of them, her sword already drawn.
"Your skills do you honour Atlanteans, but you face an Amazon!"
They didn't seem to hear the warning and attacked, quickly being taken out one by one.
Lois and Jimmy watched in amazement,
"I would not want to be on her bad side." Lois muttered.
….
"All this was my doing…." Black Manta chuckled, "…. With Orm's mommy issues and sense of entitlement, coaxing him into war was child's play…. Frankly, he irks the shit out of me. Once we've sunk the surface world...I'll slit his throat and claim the treasures of Atlan-AARRRGGH!"
As Black Manta was going through his bad guy monologue, Arthur was desperately trying to contact some more help from the ocean… and a giant shark popped up and grabbed Black Manta in it's mouth, taking the villain with it as it fell back into the ocean.
"That… was awesome." Arthur chuckled.
….
As Orm tried to make a 'tactical retreat', a swirling wall of water surrounded him, and in the centre, a column of water shot down, leaving Mera behind.
"Stop this madness, Orm!"
Orm sneered, "King Orm, traitor!"
"This is genocide. Billions will die. For what? So that Atlantis can feel safe again?"
"Victory is the only way to ensure our safety."
As Mera threw a blast of water at him, Orm slammed the trident on the ground, knocking his opponent to her knees and briefly stunning her, meaning that all her water defences disintegrated.
"Seize her." Orm ordered his soldiers, "Make her watch my triumph."
As Mera was grabbed and pulled to her feet, there was a sudden voice from behind Orm.
"Hey, fish head!"
Orm span around, and scowled at Shazam standing behind him. Shazam smirked and fire a large bolt of electricity towards the false King of Atlantis… who just seemed to absorb it.
"It seems we both call down the lightning." Orm sneered, "Let us see which is stronger?!"
Using his Trident, Orm summoned a massive bolt of lightning that reverted Shazam back to Billy. Seeing this, he picked the unconscious boy by his shirt
"These are your guardians?" Orm sneered, "You send children to fight me? This will be easier than I ever dreamed!"
As he dropped Billy to the ground, he heard someone else behind him, spinning around and firing a blast at the oncoming attacker.
Cyborg did try to dodge, however, the shot caught his leg and he fell to the ground.
Before Orm could go on the offense once again, there was a bellowing war cry and a golden lasso looped around his trident and it went flying out of his hands, and straight towards the Amazon who grabbed it mid-air.
Diana growled in pain, the electricity coursing through her body as she struggled to hold onto it.
"I admire your determination…." Orm sneered, "… But the trident is mine to command, Wench!"
As he went over to grab it, he increased the voltage… but that didn't stop Diana. Forcing the pain to one-side, she punched Orm in the face, forcing him to take several steps back, before he grabbed the trident and flung her to the side.
She skidded across the ground, coming to a stop beside Cyborg. As Orm came closer, she weakly pushed herself into a defensive position.
Before he could actually attack though, a flash of red knocked him to the ground, and continued to punch Orm until the Atlantean growled, carefully predicting where the next punch would come from and swinging his trident in that direction.
Flash grunted in pain, falling to his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
When Green Lantern launched his own attack, a blast of electricity sent him flying backwards into a building.
As Superman's lasers fired at him, Orm deflected them back at him using the trident…. Not that it really bothered Superman. He just came back stronger, increasing the intensity of his beams until Orm was propelled across the ground.
When Superman tried again, Orm stabbed the trident into his chest and threw him over his shoulder, sending bolts of electricity straight into Superman, as the Kryptonian screamed in pain.
"Clark!" Diana yells, as she charges at Orm, but his Atlantean soldiers intercept her.
….
"Lantern, I need information. We're not going to win by hitting him as hard as we can."
Hal groaned as he slowly came to, glaring up at Batman, "Bruce, do not turn this into a learning moment. I am really not in the mood to go through a learning moment."
Batman was unfazed, "Anything?"
"Ummm… He killed his own mother. Does that help?"
…
"This is going better than I expected." Orm thought, as he continued to electrocute Superman. "Soon the surface will be mine." His train of thoughts were instantly put on hold, as a massive portal opens up before his army.
Halting his assault on Superman, Orm along with his army of Atlanteans watched the portal with suspicion.
But that wasn't the case for Billy, as he instantly knew who was responsible for the portal. "You guys are so screwed!" Billy laughed
That proves to be validated, as Shirai Ryu warriors suddenly pour out of the portal, charging toward the soldiers with battle cries.
"No... no!" Orm growled in frustration. His soldiers immediately rushed in to face the Ninjas, but were all met with surprises as Scorpion's Shirai Ryu's started cutting them down with their enchanted weapons.
From the crowd, Jason leaps into the air and smacks a female soldier down to the ground. He finishes her with a stomp
that crushes her head.
Raven flew into air, before unleashing a wave of Dark magic that knocked out many Atlanteans.
Fox rushed in as he cuts down two Atlanteans with unwavering accuracy and sends a clone at another that was leaping at him. The clone rolls backwards, using his momentum to leg-throw the Atlantean over his head. As another soldier rises to attack Fox, Jason appears and shoots him once in the back with a fire ball and then another point blank blast in the face, effectively killing him.
Raven immediately flies towards Jason and sends two blasts into the chest
of another charging Atlantean, finishing with a headshot blast that actually makes his head explode.
Yet another soldier charges Raven. But before it could reach her, Jason grapples said Atlantean plugging his chest with a sword. Another Atlantean gets in range and tries to punch Jason, but he pulls out his whip and entangles one of his wrists and neck with it. He kicks him in the crotch to double him over and pulls hard on the whip, trapping his arm and wrist. Jason then vaults over the Atlantean, launching into a kick on another one who he shoots at point blank range with a fireball, blowing a hole straight through his stomach.
"You're welcome." Jason said, as he faced Raven
"I had them." Raven said
"Well, first come first serve." Jason smirked
"Insolent Surface dwellers!"
Jason turns to see Orm leaping at him with his Trident raised. He dodges backward just in time, before Orm is suddenly kicked
in the head by Fox, knocking him back.
"The both of you, focus." Fox scolded, as they all got ready to face Orm.
"I will have your heads for ruining my plan." Orm growled
"What ever you say fish face!" Jason bellowed as he raced towards Orm, punching him in the stomach and knocking him to the ground. Regardless, Orm used the trident to knock Jason's legs out from under him.
As Jason tried to recover, pushing himself to his feet, Orm stabbed the trident towards him. But Raven sent a wave of magic that struck Orm, sending him flying into a building.
As Orm tried to recover, three clones of Fox grabbed his ankles and threw him into another building. Despite Orm using the trident to slow his fall to the ground, he was still caught unawares when Jason tackled him to the ground, before slamming Atlantean's face into the side of an army tank.
Multiple times.
Orm swiped back with his trident to try and hit Jason, but the boy dived back before pulling out his sword. They battled ferociously, metal slamming against metal until Orm kicked Jason to the ground and stabbed the trident into his shoulder, sending bolts of electricity straight into Jason.
"Jason!" Raven yelled, as her demonic side took over. She was just about ready to kill Orm, before suddenly feeling a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Scorpion standing beside her, which made her calm down.
Jason resisted the urge to cry out in pain as Orm lifted him into the air, trident still embedded in his shoulder as blood dripped down the golden staff.
"I will enjoying killing you boy." Orm smirked. But that smile vanished as the boy on his Trident was suddenly teleported to safety by Scorpion. "What?!"
"You did well." Scorpion said, as he placed Jason beside Raven. "You all did well. But I'll be taking it from here." He said before rising to face Orm
"Heard that, I did well." Jason grunted, as he watched Scorpion approach Orm
"Stop talking." Raven said, as she started healing his shoulder
"You shall receive no mercy from me, in harming my student." Scorpion said
"I am not afraid of you demon." Orm said, as he got into a fighting stance
"You should be." Scorpion said, as he vanished before Orm's eyes
The Atlantean desperately looked around for his opponent, but his search ended as Scorpion suddenly appeared before him, driving his elbow into Orm's jaw, effectively shattering it. The Spectre didn't stop there, as he started to teleport and attack Orm from all sides, while also tying him up with his chains. Scorpion had successfully sent his opponent to his knees and was about choke Orm to death with his chains, when suddenly Batman jumped in
"That's enough Scorpion." The Dark Knight said. "It's over."
"Do you not see the army's around us?" Scorpion asked.
"It's already dealt with." Batman said, causing Scorpion to raise a brow.
"You killed her!"
"I did. I ran the sword through her myself as she mewled for peace. You can count yourself fortunate, bastard. At least our mother won't be the impediment to your life that she was to mine!"
Orm didn't know what was going on, until he heard the stunned gasps of the Atlantean soldiers all around him.
"You killed her."
"I did-"
"I see." Scorpion muttered, glancing at the TV screen that lined almost every building in Metropolis, with Orm's face on the screen as he confessed to murder.
"I ran the sword through her myself as she mewled for peace. You can count yourself fortunate, bastard."
"Orm killed our Queen?" cried out one of the soldiers, "We are betrayed!"
"Is this the king you want, Atlanteans?" Arthur's voice rose above the crowd, "A coward who lies to you? You need a light to guide you in the darkness, people of Atlantis… My people."
As the soldiers lowered their weapons, Mera stood by his side, a frown on her face. "What are you doing?"
"Becoming a beacon…. I was born of two worlds! Atlantean by birth. Human by instinct. Join me and we will bridge those worlds in peace!"
There was a brief moment of silence, before one by one, the Atlantean soldiers removed their helmets, dropping them to the ground before moving to kneel at their new King's feet.
As they were paying their respect, Arthur glanced over at Mera, wrapping once arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss.
"Guess it's finally over." Jason muttered from the sideline
"Guess you're right." Fox replied
"We totally kicked ass today though." Jason grinned, causing Raven and Fox to groan
Atlantis
"He looks happy."
Diana turned her attention away from Arthur's crowning ceremony, smiling at Superman. "He's found his place in the world."
"Are you free later?"
"If I can find my glasses."
On the steps a little lower than them, Shazam, Barry and Hal were chatting to one another.
"We're standing in the middle of Atlantis…." Shazam whispered in excitement, "… I am totally geeking out."
Hal just glanced over at him, "I don't know…. I think we just have a weird job."
In the middle of the stadium, Arthur was kneeling in front of an elderly priest, who was preparing to crown him as King of Atlantis. The ceremony was very similar to someone getting knighted back on the surface world.
"We need to consider solidifying this team." Bruce interjected, his customary scowl on his face.
"Like weekly meetings?" Shazam asked
Hal rolled his eyes at this, "Yay, we're a book club now."
"Batman's right…" Cyborg sighed, "... New threats are springing up daily."
Diana nodded, "Agreed. Someone should be watching."
"Funny you say that. I've been making plans for a Watchtower?"
Flash stepped forwards, "You can count on me. Hal?"
"… Yeah, all right. I don't wanna miss whatever weird crapola comes next."
Everyone then turned to Scorpion who had been silent the entire time. Noticing the stares he was receiving, Scorpion signed. "I'll make out time."
"We should invite Arthur." Shazam said, gesturing to the Atlantian
Arthur, who had noticed the signal, floated over, having heard what was said. "I'm in!"
"He needs a codename." Flash said
"Yeah?"
Shazam smirked at Arthur, "People online have been calling him, 'Aquaman.'"
"Hate that."
"Aquaman it is!" Hal smirked
Diana frowned, "You won't be too busy as king? I have seen the pressures of the crown."
"I'll make it work…. I should keep a foothold in both worlds. Besides, it'll help repair relations if I'm seen helping out."
"… Well said. You are a gifted leader indeed." Scorpion
Before Arthur could say anything more, Mera swam up behind him. "My liege, trenchers have been spotted at the edge of the city."
Arthur whooped in glee, "Finally. I've been itching all day for some action!" He turned back to the League, "Hey, let me know when the next meeting is. I gotta do some king-of-the-sea stuff!"
"I too should go." Scorpion said. "I have matters to attend to."
"Later grumpy." Hal said, before Scorpion teleported away
Shirai Ryu Temple
"Good, you're back." Madam Bo said, as Scorpion appeared Infront of her
"Is there a problem?" Scorpion asked
"While you were gone, we had a visit from an unwanted guest." Bo stepped aside, revealing a Woman who was tied up, while also being guarded by two Shirai Ryus
"Who is this?" Scorpion asked
"This is Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul." Bo said, as Scorpion narrowed his eyes at the name
"It's good to finally meet the legendary, Scorpion." Talia smirked