Batman x Arc Reactor

Ch: 179 [Fish in a barrel]

[Inside the vault]

Bruce walked inside, ignoring all the treasures, and went straight to a metallic box placed at the far end of the vault. The elders following Aquawoman panicked upon seeing Bruce ignoring all the precious treasures. They tried to stop him, but Aquawoman stopped them. He scanned the box and found a round seal inside. He opened the box and saw a rune embedded in the seal.

"Do you know what this is?" Bruce turned back and asked.

Aquawoman shook her head. "No, it was left behind by our ancestors. It was handed down generation after generation, as a royal treasure. It belonged to the first king. An ancient relic."

Bruce chuckled, "I thought so. This my friends isn't just some ancient relic. This is the Healing Seal." He pointed at the round old rusty object as he began to look around the vault. He was looking for something round like an orb. But there were too many such things present in the vault, so he decided to ask Aquawoman, "You have another ancient relic like this in here? An old orb probably looked useless in your eyes..."

"Yes, we do have something like that." Aquawoman immediately answered. She knew Bruce wasn't here to steal their treasures. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ignored all the valuables. And there was no greed in his eyes. She could sense his calm heartbeat. She knew that he was on to something. She guided Bruce to a small metallic box, lying in the corner of the room, neglected for centuries.

Bruce opened it. He took out the orb and inspected it.

"The Orb of Transformation. Hahahaha! You clueless poor bas... Ahem! Sorry, couldn't help but laugh," Bruce started laughing after he scanned the orb.

"What's so funny?" Aquawoman furrowed her brows, "It's just an old relic. A big perl that lost it's light."

Bruce glanced at the elders who looked kinda pale, even underwater. He could see their heart beating faster than usual, 'Ah! These fucking old bastards! They knew, yet... What the fuck is going on here?!' He shook his head and turned to Aquawoman, "These two are ancient relics, true. But do you know, just one of these could have healed you poor sods from all the pain and misery you have endured till now, underwater? They knew..." He pointed at the elders, "I wonder why they didn't use it?"

A blast of shockwaves emerged as Aquawoman stomped her feet on the watery floor, creating a big enough crack.

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"Is this true?" She asked without looking back.

"Y-your highness... W-we don't know much about the artifact. It's too dangerous to use." The elders stammered in fear as they answered Aquawoman.

"The seal is a sacred artifact. We shouldn't mess with it." Another elder tried to defend himself.

Aquawoman gritted her teeth in anger. "Sacred artifact? Dangerous to use? How many of our people died in these treacherous waters? How long have our people dreamt of freeing themselves from this curse of never stepping on land again? All because of these sacred artifacts? How dare you?!" She glared at the elders, causing them to fall flat on their butts.

"Calm down. Your anger is justified. But it won't solve anything," One elder tried to pacify Aquawoman.

"Silence!" Aquawoman shouted angrily. "GUARDS!"

The guards rushed in after hearing Aquawoman's shout. They aimed their blasters at the elders. Well, considering they were just waiting outside, they had heard everything clearly.

"Guards, arrest them," Aquawoman ordered, pointing at the elders. "They are under arrest for treason. Their trial will be conducted shortly. The punishment for treason is death! Public execution is what you bastards deserve. Let the citizens of Atlantis decide your fate. I'm pretty sure that after hearing the truth, they will show you no mercy."

"Your Highness! Please! Mercy! Have mercy on us!" The elders begged Aquawoman, kneeling in front of her.

"Take them away. Beat them up well. Just make sure they are alive, rest I don't care. Cut their limbs or poke their eyes, it's up to you guys," Aquawoman signaled the guards to take the elders away.

Bruce quietly observed everything that happened. He took out both the healing seal and the orb of transformation and began to scan them. But he didn't get anything of use. There was no technology involved in them.

"How do we use these artifacts?" She asked Bruce, as she floated closer to him.

"Good question. Since your people make it, your unique magic should be able to activate it. But alone, nah! We are gonna need a lot more people. We need high Atlanteans. Together if you channel your power into them, they should activate." Bruce explained.

"What if it fails?" She asked.

Bruce shrugged his shoulders, "I got two more plans. So, no worries."

"Tell me those plans of yours," She urged Bruce to reveal his plan.

"Sure! Ever heard of Lady of the Lake?" Bruce grinned mischievously.

Aquawoman frowned after hearing Bruce. "Are you insane?"

"Ha Ha! Insane? Me? Nope. You have a connection to her, don't you? You'll just have to cut off one arm and she'll give you the Water Hand. With that, you should be able to cure them. If that's not an option, you can simply sacrifice your power and serve the connection with the Ocean God, in exchange you can cure your people. And finally, the slowest option that doesn't require any sacrifice or anything like that is my serum. Although it works on humans, I'm gonna need your blood sample and in a few months it will be ready." Bruce explained all three options to Aquawoman.

"I see... Let's see if these two seals work or not. But...The problem now is..." Before she could finish her sentence, Bruce interrupted her...

"Yup! We can't use it underwater or else if it works, everyone will suffocate to death or be crushed by the pressure of the deep ocean. And before you ask, let me tell you, I have a solution for that too. The Paradise Island. It's big enough to hold everyone and I'm sure Hippolyta won't mind accommodating all of you for the time being and you all will get the perfect chance to bury the old grudges and shake hands." Bruce finished his sentence with a grin.

"Haaa..." Aquawoman sighed, as she thought for a few seconds, "It would take some time to arrange everything. Let's do it. I'm putting my trust in you, Bruce Wayne. I hope I don't regret it."

Bruce smiled as he said, "Don't worry. I'll do my best. But you should raise your barriers and prepare for battle. A few annoying bugs have entered the waters." Since his nanites are connected to the satellite, and the fact he made sure to focus it on the Atlantic Ocean, he knows about the approaching fleet. They will reach the ocean surface within two hours.

Aquawoman frowned, "Enemies?"

"Yes. Reverse Flash, an annoying bastard from the future, Joker, a clown with a big ass poison bomb that would kill your people like bugs, and an old friend of yours, Black Manta. I knew about Reverse Flash and Joker, but Black Manta is good at hiding his tracks. I never imagined he would join these fuckers." Bruce's voice turned cold as he spoke about Black Manta.

Aquawoman was shocked to hear the names of the enemies.

"You knew?!"

"Yes. Blame yourself for creating such a mess. Had you not attacked the lands, these bastards wouldn't have had the chance to create a never-ending war between our people. And now, your people are suffering. We are gonna deal with them before they reach the kingdom." Bruce cracked his fingers, ready to rumble after a long time. "These chumps are just like fish in a barrel. Let's get rid of them together."

---

[Outside]

Black Manta's fleet was approaching the entry point. In the next two hours, they will reach the ocean's surface. His army of a hundred soldiers was armed with the latest weapons and armor. And above all, with Reverse Flash's help, they created suits, capable of going underwater and even fighting with the Atlanteans on equal ground. But their main weapon was the giant Nuclear Bomd they were carrying in that airship carrier.

Black Manta knew that even if Aquawoman used her barrier, it still wouldn't be enough to stop the explosion. The nuclear explosion will cause massive tsunami waves which will destroy all life near the ocean surface. Then there was Joker's poison bomb which would kill the remaining survivors. The end result, he could care less, as long as Atlantis suffers.

As for Joker and his goons on unstable thugs, well, they injected themselves with the serum Reverse Flash gave them, turning them into metahumans, capable of living underwater even under that extreme pressure. Joker, himself didn't take the serum but decided to kill one of Black Manta's men when he went to take a leak last week. He stole his suit and hid amongst the troops. He hid himself pretty well, considering his lunatic nature.

And then there was Reverse Flash, this time, he decided to join the fun too, in his new armor.

...

Inside the storage of the carrier, Harley was dragging the bloody body of one of Joker's thugs. His head was a pulp. She hid it inside a crate.

"Just you wait for me Puddin'. Lil' ol' Harl will kill you painfully for trying to kill Harl and steal her recipes. Just you wait! Harl will show you how angry she can get when betrayed."

-----[2 FLASHBACK NEXT FOR HARLEY]-----

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