A few moments later…
The cold hum of the submarine's dimly lit interior contrasted starkly with the chaos it had recently endured. Steel walls groaned faintly as the team descended deeper, boots echoing on metal flooring. Cracks along the hull and scorched surfaces told their story—this vessel hadn't gone down quietly.
Batman stood before a console with his cape barely brushing the floor, "Bring up the simulation," he ordered.
Victor complied, a shimmering blue hologram burst to life. Static blurred the edges, but the scene played regardless. Figures—fast, brutal, and inhumanly agile—emerged.
The attackers were humanoid, their necks lined with grills, their movements unnaturally swift. Then came the dagger—dark and ornate, with strange symbols etched across its blade.—stabbing into Cyborg's shoulder.
Diana's eyes narrowed. She stepped closer before narrowing her eyes on the image. "Where is the dagger?"
Without a word, Cyborg extended his arm and placed the dagger in her hand.
Diana held it delicately, her eyes narrowing as she examined the handle. Her fingers traced the intricate carvings, "This weapon bears the sigil of Atlantis," she said.
A murmur swept through the room.
Hal Jordan AKA the Green Lantern, scoffed. "You're telling me Atlantis—the city that supposedly sank centuries ago—is real? That's just a fairy tale."
Ethan replied with a raised eyebrow, "We've got aliens, cyborgs, and all kinds of weird shit walking around. What makes you think fairy tales can't be real too?
Besides, these are people living under the ocean—and if Diana's right, this is our only clue. And so far it points straight to Atlantis."
Victor turned from the screen, his mechanical parts whirring softly. "The missiles are what's missing. I barely escaped with my life. They attacked with overwhelming speed. I didn't even see them coming."
Lantern folded his arms before eyeing Ethan skeptically. "If what you're saying is true, then the Atlanteans are hijacking military submarines? What the hell would they want with ballistic missiles?"
Batman's jaw tightened beneath the cowl. "It's obvious," he said darkly. "They're planning something. And we're the target."
Lantern scowled. "This isn't good. At all."
"Genius observation," Ethan muttered from the back with his arms crossed as he leaned casually against a wall. "Remind me to give you a cookie for that insight later, Lantern."
The Lantern shot him a sideways glance. "Not the time, Ethan."
"Exactly," Ethan quipped. "Which makes your commentary even more useless."
Before the tension could escalate, Shazam raised a hand. "Uh, I know this sounds dumb, but… I once watched this show. Some professor guy—he was a total Atlantis nerd. Maybe he could help?"
Lantern blinked. "We're literally inside STAR Labs—the smartest people on the planet are in this building. And your grand plan is TV Man?"
Victor surprisingly nodded. "Actually… it's not a bad idea."
A hologram blinked into existence beside them—a middle-aged man, spectacles on his nose, standing before a chalkboard cluttered with Atlantean theory. The name Dr. Stephen Shin hovered beneath him.
"I've read his papers," Victor said. "Dr. Shin's one of the few surface dwellers who's studied Atlantis extensively. He could be invaluable."
Ethan stepped forward, his boots making a soft clang with each step. "If someone's done real fieldwork instead of lab fantasizing, then yes—might need him. I'd rather deal with someone obsessed than someone guessing."
Diana looked at Ethan, "You're surprisingly calm about this."
He leaned closer with a grin. "You keep standing next to me, Princess. That alone makes the apocalypse seem worth it."
She rolled her eyes with a suppressed smile, but didn't move away.
Batman interrupted the moment. "Superman and I will question Dr. Shin personally. If he knows anything, we'll get it out of him."
Superman raised an eyebrow as the two began walking off. "When did we vote him the team leader?" he muttered.
"Just follow the bat," Ethan called after them. "We all know democracy dies when Bruce is in the room."
Flash rubbed the back of his neck. "So… while they go strong-arm a scientist, what do we do?"
Ethan turned to Flash, "We find Atlantis."
...
A few moments later…
The room buzzed with soft digital hums and flickering blue light. Inside the research wing of STAR Labs, Victor Stone stood in front of a wide console with a cluster of cables running from his forearms into the system. His eyes flickered with data streams as he processed at machine speed.
Across the room, Billy Batson—currently lounging in Shazam form—sat on a metal examination table with a bag of chips crinkling in his lap.
"Munch munch," Billy said mid-bite. "So… what are you even doing in that corner, man? You've been standing there like a WiFi router on a deadline."
Victor's voice came out flat, "Cross-referencing every available piece of data the internet has on Atlantis."
Billy blinked. "That… sounds like the behavior of a workaholic. You're starting to sound like your old man, dude."
Victor's gaze shifted toward him like a laser scope. "Don't ever say that, Billy."
Before the tension could settle in, Ethan with his legs propped up on the table and arms folded behind his head—chimed in from his reclining position with a smirk.
"Careful there, Vic," he said, "Having too much data can make you dumber, not smarter. Internet's full of Atlantis theories that sound like they were written by drunk Reddit prophets. Trustworthy sources matter."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air.
Internally, Ethan's thoughts drifted for a brief moment. Internally, Ethan's thoughts drifted for a moment. 'Some of the fanfics I've read… man, those transmigrators lost it the moment they realized where they were. Just knowing too much messed with their heads. Always paranoid—like the Joker was gonna pop out of their cereal box or a Celestial would blink and wipe out their neighborhood. If they didn't get a cheat, most of them would break.
Honestly, I get it. This world isn't fiction anymore—it's real. And real means consequences.
Lucky for me… I've got enough power to roast Galactus and flirt with goddesses. No stress.'
Diana who is seated beside him with a sleek black tablet in hand, looked at him from the corner of her eye. "You're very calm about all of this," she noted.
Ethan tilted his head, "Well, Princess… panic never looks good on me. And you'd hate to see me stressed. All the muscles get tense."
She didn't reply—just raised an elegant brow, though the faintest amused smile curved her lips.
At that moment, the lab door slid open with a soft hiss. Dr. Sarah Charles stepped in while holding a datapad and a shy smile. "Victor," she began, "thanks for the field data. If you don't mind—"
"I can't talk right now, Sarah," Victor said quickly, turning only slightly. "Justice League business."
Her shoulders lowered as she looked away. "I'm… sorry for disturbing you." Quietly, she turned and left.
A crackle echoed across the room—zap—as a small jolt of lightning arced from Ethan's fingertip to Victor's ass. "OW! What the hell, man?"
"What's wrong with you?" Ethan said before sitting forward now and his voice laced with irritation. "You're bionic, not robotic. Try acting human once in a while. You're not Robocop. Take a damn break before someone installs Windows updates in your sleep."
Shazam raised his hand with a grin. "That's exactly what I wanted to say."
He leaned down before glancing comically between Victor's legs and added with a laugh, "If you want, we can also throw in a few metallic upgrades. Just sayin'—y'know, for dating purposes."
Victor flushed, shooting him a horrified glare. "Oh my god. I don't think I'll ever date anyone."
Flushed and flustered, he stormed off to the other side of the lab while muttering something about professionalism and privacy.
On the far side, Hal Jordan was projecting a glowing 3D globe of the Earth in mid-air. The map rotated slowly as Barry Allen leaned over it while observing.
"I'll tell you, Flashman." Hal muttered, "I've seen some weird shit in this job. Interdimensional squids, sentient black holes, Sinestro's fashion sense. But Atlantis being real? That's a stretch."
Flash chuckled. "Ethan took the words right out of my mouth earlier."
Hal shrugged. "What can I say? Real magic gives me the creeps."
Suddenly, one of the computer consoles pinged. A holo-image shimmered to life—Batman's face with Superman behind him in the frame.
"I've uploaded coordinates," Batman said. "There's a lighthouse near Amnesty Bay. Investigate it. We need to find Arthur Curry—now."
Flash snapped to attention. "On it."
The energy in the room shifted as everyone stood, Flash turned to Lantern, "Looks like someone beat us to finding Atlantis."
Ethan stood last while cracking his neck and flexing his shoulders. 'If things are playing out the way they did in the animated movie,' he thought, 'then it's about time I stretched a few muscles…'
.....
Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the ocean...
On a jagged sliver of Island, the wind carried the scent of salt and distant rain. Waves crashed gently against the surrounding rocks, their rhythmic dance the only sound until a figure shifted near the edge of a shallow pool.
A man crouched low, his reflection rippling in the water—blonde hair tousled by the breeze, sea-blue eyes lost in thought. He wore an orange-scaled armor top that shimmered like the sunlit sea and tight blue pants that hugged his athletic frame.
Arthur Curry.
He gazed at his reflection in silence before shaking his head and lifting one hand to his brow, fingers threading through his damp hair.
"You alright?" came a voice from behind—smooth, confident, and tinged with concern.
Arthur turned his head, meeting the eyes of the woman standing there.
She was striking—long, flowing crimson hair, piercing eyes, and the graceful poise of someone who carried both beauty and strength in equal measure.
Mera.
"I'm fine," Arthur said in a low but steady voice. "Everything just… suddenly makes sense now."
He stood slowly and his eyes began narrowing as he turned back toward the sea. "Now I get it. Why she left me. Why she left my father."
He looked over his shoulder at Mera. "Thanks for telling me, Mera. Really. But I'm not a king. And I'm not planning to become one."
Mera stepped closer, she opened her mouth to speak, but Arthur cut her off before she could.
"She left me before," he said, "And now, suddenly, she wants me back? Because there's going to be a war? If it weren't for this crisis, would she even remember I exist?"
Mera's expression hardened. "I already told you about her situation, Arthur. You're being a baby."
Arthur scoffed and turned away. "I get it. She was young. The Queen of Atlantis, falling for a lighthouse keeper and having a half-human son. Sounds like a romantic fantasy."
He clenched his fists. "But I'm not—"
Before he could finish, the ground beneath them rumbled—a low, unsettling vibration that made the rocks shift beneath their feet. Pebbles danced and skipped across the stone. Two birds that had been perched nearby screeched and flew off in panic.
Dozens of shadows burst from the sea with unnatural grace, scaling the rocks with swift, jerking motions.
Purple-scaled creatures—part humanoid, part deep-sea nightmare—landed around them, their eyes glowing faintly, mouths filled with rows of needle-like teeth.
They growled in unison, their bodies coiled like predators ready to pounce.
Arthur's eyes widened.
The ocean's peaceful rhythm had been shattered in an instant, replaced by the primal growls of beasts straight out of nightmare. He barely had time to register their full form before Mera appeared in front of him like a crimson streak of fury, pushing him back instinctively.
"Get down!" she commanded and her eyes flashing with raw determination.
From the surf, they emerged by the dozens—Trenchers.
Once Atlanteans, these malformed creatures had devolved after centuries of exposure to the crushing depths and the absence of light. Their skin was a slick, scaled purple, wet and glistening under the sun. Elongated limbs, hunched spines, and razor-lined jaws gave them the appearance of deep-sea horrors. Gills fluttered on their necks. Some carried jagged coral blades, others simply used claws sharp enough to rend flesh from bone.
Their yellow, soulless eyes fixed on Arthur like he was a prize to be hunted.
They moved as one—an unnatural swarm of claws, blades, and snarls.
Mera was the first to meet them.
With a battle cry echoing across the tiny island, she raised her arms and summoned a spinning vortex of seawater. With a flick of her hands, the vortex whipped into a slicing stream, cleaving two Trenchers clean in half.
Another leapt toward her with blade raised, but Mera twisted midair, caught his wrist, and drove a high kick into its chest. As it staggered back, she slammed her fist to the ground—water exploded upward, sending another pair of Trenchers flying.
Arthur didn't stay behind.
He turned toward the encroaching horde, his fists clenched and ready. A creature lunged at him, slashing its blade horizontally. Arthur ducked, drove his shoulder into the thing's chest, then lifted it and hurled it over the cliff's edge.
Another Trencher tried to flank him—too slow.
Arthur snatched its arm, twisted, and snapped the elbow backward. The creature howled before Arthur silenced it with a solid punch to the head.
Three more came, and Arthur met them with primal strength. He twisted, delivering a powerful backhand that cracked one's skull. He kneed the second and slammed the third into a jagged rock face.
They kept coming, but Arthur didn't falter. His body moved on instinct and he fought them all.
Until one of them got behind him.
A claw raked down his back, slicing through flesh and grazing his neck. Arthur grunted in pain, staggering forward. Without missing a beat, he spun around and drove his fist into the creature's head with a sickening crunch—the blow cracked its skull clean open.
The Trenchers smelled blood and closed in.
"Arthur!" Mera screamed, turning toward him—but it was too late.
A group of the creatures swarmed her from behind. She spun, trying to raise her water shield, but they were already on her. One pinned her to the ground, another slammed its fists into her side, knocking the wind from her lungs.
The third drove its blade toward her chest.
She caught its wrist. And her eyes blazed with fury.
With a snarl, Mera twisted her body and used the momentum to flip her attacker overhead. Her foot caught the jaw of another. She rolled, escaped the pile, and slammed her palms together.
A shockwave of pressurized water erupted outward.
The force knocked five Trenchers back, shattering bones and sending blood flying into the air.
She stood, bruised but unbroken, and conjured two whips of water. Like twin serpents, they wrapped around her arms. She lashed out, slashing through her enemies with precise, sweeping arcs.
More creatures lunged at Arthur, snarling and snapping, trying to drag him down with claws and teeth. He gritted his teeth, muscles tensing—then he roared.
A deafening sound that rippled through the island. His muscles flexed, his body surged with power, and he threw the beasts off him in a single, mighty burst of strength.
But the Trenchers kept coming.
More and more climbed the cliffs and erupted from the sea.
Then—
Zzzzz-KRAKOOOM!
A blur of red and yellow lightning tore through the battlefield. Trenchers near Arthur vanished in an instant, flung across the shore in a blur of speed.
A red-suited figure skidded to a halt beside Arthur, "Arthur Curry, right?" the man grinned. "I'm the Flash."
Arthur blinked in surprise. "You're… fast."
Flash smiled, but before he could respond, the sky darkened.
Thunder cracked. Lightning arced across the heavens like divine wrath. The wind howled as clouds spun into a dark spiral above the battlefield.
And then, from the storm itself… he descended.
Ethan Carter.
His eyes glowed with flickers of raw lightning. Arcs of electricity danced along his body, crackling through the black coat that draped behind him like wings. His entire form was veined with glowing lightning cracks—evidence of the divine storm coursing through his veins.
He looked down on the battlefield with narrowed eyes.
Without a word, lightning surged from his body and struck the horde of Trenchers. Bolts rained like meteors, targeting with terrifying precision. Every blast turned a creature to ash, leaving only scorched marks on the rocks.
The air smelled of ozone and death.
He lowered slowly to the ground, his boots touching the earth as lightning danced around him. His coat settled behind him, but the storm didn't.
It followed him.
More creatures leapt from the sea—but they were met by steel and fire.
Wonder Woman landed with her sword gleaming, slicing through Trenchers with amazonian precision.
Superman blurred across the battlefield, fists crushing the enemy like paper.
Green Lantern hovered above with a massive construct of spinning blades decimating dozens in an instant.
Shazam laughed as he landed beside Arthur, grabbing two Trenchers by the heads and smashing them together like coconuts.
Cyborg dropped from the sky, his arm cannon charged. "Area suppression mode," he muttered. A barrage of energy pulses wiped out everything in a wide arc.
Soon, only one Trencher remained.
It looked around, saw the carnage, Realizing it was alone, it let out a shrill shriek and dove into the ocean, disappearing beneath the waves.
Silence followed.
Arthur stood with his fists still clenched, breathing hard. A shallow cut bled on his forearm and neck.
Mera rushed to him. "Are you alright?" she asked softly.
"I'll live," Arthur said with a weak smile.
They shared a brief moment of peace—just a look, full of unspoken words.
Then Ethan stepped forward. "Sorry to ruin the moment, lovebirds, but we've got a situation here."
A sleek, black jet hovered above the scene, its VTOL engines humming as the ramp lowered.
Batman stood at the edge of the ramp, "I saw the footage. Who are you?" he asked Mera. "And what the hell were those things?"
Mera nodded to Batman. "I've heard of you all. And those things… are called Trenchers. They were once Atlanteans—mutated by the deepest parts of the ocean. After Atlantis sank, these were the predators left behind. The royal court sent them here."
Her gaze turned to Arthur. "To kill him."
Arthur's jaw clenched.
"You have to come with me," Mera said firmly. "Now."
Arthur glanced around—the battlefield, the fallen creatures, the storm above.
"Before anything else," Batman said in a low and firm tone, "we need to know what's going on here." He looked directly at Mera.
Mera stepped forward with a serious her expression as she addressed the League. "Let me explain what's happening beneath the waves."
She quickly laid out the situation—the rising tension in Atlantis, the missing submarines, and the whispers of a faction preparing for war.
"The balance between the surface world and Atlantis is deteriorating. The Queen—your mother, Atlanna—believes Atlantis must evolve. That it needs a ruler who understands both realms. Someone born of land and sea."
She turned her eyes to Arthur, her voice softening just slightly. "She needs a beacon, Arthur. Someone who can light the way for our people… maybe that someone is you."
Arthur clenched his jaw, the muscles in his neck tightening. His gaze drifted to the ground, to the bloodied trench remnants and the dark ocean beyond.
The League stood in silence, letting the moment breathe.
The waves crashed in the distance, a natural rhythm echoing the turmoil within Arthur.
Superman finally spoke. "I'm the last of my kind," he said, "Krypton is gone. Everything I am is built from fragments of memories and stories. If there was a way to connect with my people—even if it were just one—I'd take it without hesitation."
Arthur sighed heavily and turned away, running a hand through his blond hair. His shoulders sagged slightly, the tension in his muscles waning.
"I didn't ask for any of this," he said quietly. "But maybe that doesn't matter anymore."
Mera stepped beside him. "The throne isn't about power, Arthur. It's about responsibility. Atlantis needs someone who won't choose sides but will build a bridge between them."
Arthur looked toward the ocean, then, he straightened his back and took a breath. "Alright," he said. "Let's go meet the Queen... no—my mother."
---------------
Author's Note:
Sorry for the two-day delay—work's been keeping me busy. Also, after going through some of your reviews, I noticed a few inconsistencies in the early chapters. I've gone back and fixed some of them.
Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for the feedback and continued support!