Chương 49: Chapter 43: Leveling the game 5

AN: I'll leave them long, less difficult for me.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

<writing/mental power>

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Atlantis

In the throne room of Atlantis a secret meeting was brewing. There were Orm, Nereus and other dignitaries from three other kingdoms of Atlantis ruling their respective territories.

"As you see, my brother is very ill and does not have much time left. I suspect it is the same unknown disease my mother contracted some time ago. But don't worry, with me as your future king, your kingdoms are guaranteed to become prosperous. A toast is in order. To the Alliance!"

"To the Alliance!"

And with a toast of Atlantic liquor, they closed the deal. Since Orm had locked Aquaman in the pit, Orm had not been idle and, in addition to seeking to make the trident recognize him, he also sought to form alliances with the other kingdoms of Atlantis.

There was only one problem. Excluding the capital, and the kingdom of Xebel of Nereus, the others were in favor of his brother. But little by little, with his charisma and a little bribery, he began to win over the different kings of each kingdom

At this moment, with this alliance, he had won 3 allied kingdoms, having 5, already in his pocket. Only the other two that remained were the most difficult. One was the kingdom of valor. The best warriors were there, and they only recognized the strong, that is, they recognized Aquaman as the strongest Lord of the Sea.

And the other was the realm of fishermen, a peaceful realm, full of learned people and poets of the sea. However, they were well versed in science and magic and it was difficult to fool them into illusions, as the others had been fooled by showing them a false and sick Arthur.

Everyone thought he was really sick. Only few knew he was in the pit, locked up. Among them, Nereus, Black Manta and the troops loyal to Orm who were stationed in this city.

When the other dignitaries left, only Nereus, Orm and a Black Manta who did not care about any of this, and who just stood there, unmoved by the situation, stay in the place. However, Orm, who already knew about the Manta's personality, did not care in the least about this. Manta was a valuable asset. Even if he wasn't an Atlantean he was a skilled combatant and with his weapons enhanced by The Light and Atlantis, he was practically the perfect soldier.

"Nereus, tell me the situations today"

"Everything is in order. There is nothing new to report, other than some surface fishermen who did not abide by our rules and caught whales. But they are already dead and their boat has been confiscated to be used in the manufacture of weapons"

"Perfect... and the prisoner?"

"As usual. He hasn't shown any change"

"Mmm, that's fine. The chains that rob him of his life energy are working wonders. I feel my control with the trident has improved to 60%. A few more months and I will soon be able to fully control the ocean. The missing kingdoms will have no choice but to recognize my absolute monarchy"

"You are right, your majesty. However, I think it is best if we make contingency plans to address the missing kingdoms. Perhaps something more... harsh"

"Mmm, I'll think about it-" However, Orm was unable to continue speaking when a slip of paper magically materialized before him.

This did not alarm him, as he quickly knew whose paper it was. It was Mordru's. Mordru was someone who disliked technology, and, as such, he communicated with others by sending these papers with his magic. That is why he was the only one able to communicate with Circe in Themyscira. Although that he could is not to say that he wanted to.

What did alarm him, however, was the contents of the paper, which read.

<Orm, you have unwanted polysons in the east cargo area in your beloved city. I recommend you activate the emergency alarm. Love, Mordru>

'Shit' was all Orm could think. He quickly pressed a button and Central communicated with him.

"You called, sir"

"Activate emergency protocols. There are intruders in the east zone, I want you to go and capture them. DO NOT KILL THEM, I'll be the one making an example of them. And I want the ships deployed immediately to the pit. I want them to attack as soon as they see strange movement there"

"Understood, sir" with that said, an alarm began to sound throughout Atlantis, alerting every soldier stationed there to go defend their beloved castle.

"wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo, ATTENTION. INTRUDERS IN THE EAST ZONE. REPEAT, INTRUDERS IN THE EAST ZONE"

Nereus was not idle either, and quickly grabbed his trident and headed for the spot with his men. He was the king's advisor and therefore also had a duty to help govern the kingdom.

Orm turned to look at the one man who never moved in this whole situation. Black Manta.

"Manta, if you help me capture the intruders. I will allow you to cut off a part of my brother's body, as payment"

"Mmm, okay, I'll help you this time. But my patience is wearing thin, Orm. Soon I will decide to act on my own and Aquaman will die by my hand"

"Patience, a few more months and everything will be ready. Now go and help my men against those outsiders"

With that Black Manta stood up. His visor glowed red due to the great laser power it contained.

-----------

While all this was going on, Edgar was already swimming at a great speed driven by his fire. Little by little, he was descending into the deepest part of the pit, where the pressures could even crush the Atlanteans who had adapted bodies accustomed to the depths of the sea.

However, Edgar who had the powers of a fallen angel, had almost absolute endurance. Sure, he could be damaged, but his skeletal body allowed him to be in extreme conditions of temperature, or lack of oxygen like the one he was going through because of the great amount of time he spent without breathing in the water.

When he reached more than 9000 meters deep, he finally 'saw' its first difficult prey. The flesh eaters. Beasts that Orm had put there to protect future escapes of his brother. And they were not few in number. From the number that Edgar's sensors sensed he could feel that there were thousands in the place.

When these beasts noticed someone coming, and illuminating the whole area, they moved. They quickly attacked Edgar with all their speed. But what could they do against a being with a fire that simulated hell itself. As soon as they approached Edgar, these monsters were burned to ashes.

Soon, although their instincts told them to attack him, their little rationality told them they would die if they did, so they quickly stopped attacking and let him swim past. Of course, some let their instincts go and died due to Edgar's fire. Edgar didn't care and continued his rapid pace into the depths.

Finally, almost at the 15,000 meter depth barrier. He could see what he was looking for. A pale man, full of wounds and cuts all over his body could be seen. His long blond hair was floating in the ocean, and his beard, grown out due to the lack of shaving in all this time, was disheveled. Every time he moved, even an inch, his chains glowed red, indicating that they held magic and were stealing his life energy, slowly killing him.

This was the only solution Orm saw to gain the power of the trident. As much as it pained him to admit it, he knew that the trident would never recognize him as its owner. So the only way he could carry it was to trick it into thinking he was Arthur.

Little by little he was stealing its life force and imbuing it so that the trident would think it was Arthur, however, he had to do it slowly because if he did it fast he could kill it and prevent it from achieving his goal. Even so, Arthur's regeneration was so incredible that the life force that Orm stole from him, he recovered it quickly.

Arthur who felt someone coming to see him and thinking it was his brother, as he was the only one capable of withstanding such pressures, slowly opened his eyes. However, when he saw that it was a flaming skull he was quite surprised. Though he quickly recognized this being from the League's records. He only hoped it was the boy Diana liked and not another who wanted to come and kill him.

However, his fears were unfounded, as Edgar quickly took the chains and began to burn them with his power. The magical chains began to vibrate due to the increased temperature. Even the water was beginning to boil, making Arthur feel a little uncomfortable. But he didn't complain. He could feel the grip of these chains was weakening. The human skull was helping him escape.

After a good 10 seconds of using his power, Edgar broke the chains freeing Arthur. Arthur nodded his head in thanks. He couldn't say more, they were in the water and couldn't communicate. Edgar nodded in response. Although seeing a flaming skull nod frankly was a funny sight to see.

Arthur, who was weak, motioned for Edgar to follow him. So they quickly began to propel themselves toward the surface.

There, Edgar could 'see' the difference between the two. Even if he used his fire to propel him faster through the water, it was nothing compared to the great propulsion an Atlantean had when swimming, let alone someone like Arthur.

Arthur was practically moving at a speed that even exceeded sound. Even Edgar could swear that Arthur was going faster in the water than his bike.

When they passed the flesh eaters, they attacked Arthur, but Edgar quickly summoned his power and threw a flare at these scavengers and burned a large number, which made those who wanted to get close think twice.

They finally surfaced and made their way to some destroyed ruins. It looked like a small Greek temple, but only the columns were in sight, the roof and the rest was completely destroyed. However, when Arthur arrived, he put his hand on one of the columns and it caused an air bubble to be generated. Making them finally able to talk to each other.

These were an outpost a long, long time ago. But, considering that the pit was a dangerous place, it stopped being used and became these ruins that were in this place. The ruins were caused once the Kraken attacked. It was a reminder of how dangerous it could be, and the terror it could cause if left unchecked.

In fact, it was because of the Kraken that Arthur was unable to attend the fight against Edgar. At that very moment, it had attacked and Arthur had prevented Atlantis from being consumed. When it was over, the fight was practically over and the heroes were wounded.

"Thanks are in order, friend Ghost Rider" Arthur spoke gratefully.

Edgar left his transformation and asked.

"Ghost Rider?"

"Yes, on social media there was a movement about you, calling you Ghost Rider. That was the last I heard before I was captured. The truth is that been locked in there, one doesn't hear about recent news anymore"

'Ghost Rider... I think I like it' thought Edgar. That was information he didn't know, and that Doctor Fate hadn't provided him with in his memories. But he liked the name and it was very much in keeping with who he was. Surely he would adopt it in the future.

"And good thing you don't know about it, Aquaman... pretty much the world is in chaos. Even if on the surface everything looks fine. Your brother, he's a big part of that happening, since he allied himself with powerful individuals. Now he rules Atlantis in your absence..." Edgar continued the thread of the conversation. He wanted to explain the situation in detail, but there was no time, so he chose his words well to explain as best and as quickly as possible.

"I understand... I figured. My brother was always ambitious. My mother even asked me to take care of him. But I didn't think his ambition was so great as to let his own blood die. I guess I was too lenient with him. So...what do we do now?"

"I have a group of men now infiltrating your kingdom. Their mission is to retrieve your weapon and disable the protective barrier"

"A group of men… you're talking about a team?"

"A makeshift team, which also includes your wife and your advisor, Vulko"

"Mera... her?"

"Relax, she escaped and didn't let herself be captured. I can't explain everything in detail right now, but she asked us to help you. She is on another mission, with my girlfriend, Wonder Woman. Relax, I'm confident they will be able to handle yourselves well"

Arthur was surprised by this conversation. He thought his wife would be captured by Orm, but he was glad that didn't happen. But the most surprising thing was that this man was Diana's boyfriend, he obviously remembered that Diana liked this man, but he didn't think they would move forward so quickly in the relationship. A congratulations were in order for that.

"Then I must thank you for many more things. For taking care of my wife, and for Diana. From now on, as long as I remain king, you will be considered a friend of Atlantis. But hey, you're right. Let's focus on taking back my kingdom. Your group, do you think they've accomplished their task yet?"

"I don't-" however, Edgar was unable to speak as many ships began to arrive on the scene. All of them pointing their weapons at them.

"I think that answers my question, my friend"

"...I want to clarify, the group was makeshift"

"I noticed. Well, raising arms before your king is only paid for by one thing...death"

With that Arthur, still weak, swam at supersonic speeds and used his strength to attack the ships. Each blow he delivered dented the metal armor, and destroyed part of their weapons. At this moment, Arthur was an unstoppable force of nature.

Edgar did not stand idle. He activated his power and went on the attack. With his chain he grabbed the different ships and crashed them into each other, generating great explosions because of this. Soon, between the two of them, they began to decimate the powerful forces that had arrived.

Of course, the ships were also attacking. But Edgar, with his powerful senses, and his great battle instinct taught by Lagertha and the others, skillfully dodged every attack of the plasma cannons towards his person. And Arthur... well Arthur didn't even flinch from the attacks. He would let them attack and he would carry on as if nothing had happened. A force of nature, and a force of nature that was in his element.

The king was back...

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Cairo, Egypt

Black Adam was watching in amusement the whole show that was going on in the Egyptian sky. It wasn't yet time to move, so he was letting the kids have fun with each other.

Well, practically Martian Manhunter, and the pair of Hawks were beating up Cyborg Superman. Which frankly amused Adam to no end. This robot man felt superior just because he had gained a little power, but he could never quite grasp absolute power. The power that Adam DID possess.

The time limit he gave was about to run out, so he was about to move quickly and attack everyone, but a transmission on his communicator rang out. It was the voice of The Thinker.

"Adam, tell me your status"

Adam looked at the situation. Martian Manhunter had used his strength to throw Cyborg Superman into the sky, and Hawkwoman had returned him to the ground with her sledgehammer.

"All right, here"

"...I understand. Adam, all of this. It's a trap-"

"I know" however, Thinker almost short-circuited when Adam interrupted him. He couldn't understand how this man who expressed no emotion most of the time, and who seemed to have everything under control, could know it was all a trap.

"Wait, how is it that you knew, I can't figure out why you could know"

"It's simple. They attacked a city of little importance to me. If they really wanted to hurt my forces, they would attack Kahndaq, where the weapons and important things are. They're only here to buy time. It's obvious"

"...I understand"

If Black Adam knew, Thinker didn't understand why he hadn't warned of his findings. But well, he didn't want to argue with this man anymore.

Along with Modru and Circe he was the most powerful force in the group. He was not someone who could be easily controlled. He only followed Vandal's orders, as he respected him. But well, Thinker continued to tell him what he had come to tell him.

"Well, I already sent reinforcements to help Polaris with the prisoners. But I need someone to reinforce Superman's prison. It's our most valuable asset. And you're the only one capable of doing that. Vandal is asking you to"

Adam looked at this scene. He took a deep breath and said.

"I'm on my way to the prison"

'You got lucky, heroes'

With that thought he flew off at a speed that even rivaled Superman at his top speed.

-----------

When the heroes, who were there, saw Adam depart, they knew the entire plan had been compromised. They quickly contacted Batman and the others.

"Guys, we've been discovered. Black Adam left for Superman's prison. Time has run out"

"Can you follow him?" Batman asked in reply.

"Negative, his speed is too much, at this point following him will be useless"

"Well, let's give them another couple of minutes, and hope for the best"

"Good"

With that, the heroes continued to fight (crush) the robot man. After having him pretty much beaten up, Martian Manhuter used his mental power and said.

<Sleep>

Cyborg Superman, tired and exhausted, could offer no resistance and quickly entered the world of Morpheus. Although his mind was enhanced, he was still human. He was no match for the Martian's mental power.

They quickly handcuffed him, and took him with them towards Lian Yu. At least one good thing came out of all this. A great asset of The Light had been captured.

--------

Siberia, Russia

Right now, in Superman's prison, the Teen Titans, were defending themselves and attacking as best they could. They knew this place was a fortress, but they didn't expect that much.

Their plan was simple. There were only two places to enter the place. From the east and from the west. From there, they had to go down the different levels, since they had disabled communications, and, therefore, the elevators did not work.

Nightwing, Supergirl, and Artemis, were the ones who had to distract the great force through the west zone, while Kid Flash and Miss Martian had the task of approaching the other zone and sneaking in to free Superman. But Sivana, being the genius that he was, did not eat their trap and sent men to protect the two zones.

So each had not been able to make much headway. Nightwing's group was on floor 4, and Miss Martian's group had reached floor 6, but there were 8 floors and each floor had more security than the previous one.

Not only were the soldiers elites among elites, but their guns and cannons were configured to even damage Kryptonians. Then as if that wasn't bad enough, the various rooms simulated an environment less than a red sun, which prevented Supergirl from using her full strength.

Also, for the group that snuck in with their speed and intangibility, the rooms had heat sensor that, as soon as they sensed external signatures in the area, the room generated an electromagnetic and sonic field that incapacitated those who entered. And, from what Kid Flash and Miss Martian's bleeding ears showed, that did it hurt.

They were cornered, and time was pressing.

"Let my cousin out!" Supergirl said angrily as she threw and punched the soldiers standing there with great force, knocking them unconscious. However, she was unable to continue attacking as another sonic boom sounded, which made her ache for her super senses.

"AGGGGGGGH" Supergirl screamed in pain, as she grabbed her bleeding ears. The frequency was so high, it made Supergirl's super senses dizzy. Clearly, it was a safety precaution in case Superman tried to escape. That she didn't faint only showed how much willpower this Kryptonian girl had.

Artemis quickly disabled the devices with her arrows. But this had already pissed Supergirl off, and she attacked with more anger.

The young heroes had it tough if they wanted to get to Superman.

-----------

While this invasion was going on, Sivana had arrived in the room and picked up his communicator. He quickly returned to the central panel, while communicating with Thinker. This was because he was concerned about Superman's situation. He had left two idiots to revive someone whose heart had stopped. Clearly, he didn't feel safe at all with that.

"Thinker, we have a problem. They want to get into the prison-" Sivana wanted to say, but was interrupted by The Thinker's robotic voice.

"I know, I've already sent reinforcements. My estimate is he'll be here in less than five minutes. Everything will be fine, as long as you hold out that long"

"Don't worry, this place is a fortress for any known race. We have it set up that way. The prisoner will never be released unless-" he could no longer continue because what he was seeing had left him with a lump in his throat.

"Unless..." Thinker wanted to continue. But it was too late. Sivana had no words to describe what he saw. He could only say hardly.

"Unless he escapes on his own...Thinker, tell the reinforcements to hurry, please" with that said he cut off all communication.

At this moment, Sivana couldn't even speak because he was looking through the window of the central command at Clark Kent who was floating with red eyes, and had a look of hatred on his face. He looked thin, but, even so, from his demonstrated power, Sivana knew that even in that weakened state, his strength was superior to any human.

He quickly wanted to run to grab some of the kryptonite needles he had in the drawer, but Superman was faster, and, breaking the glass, he flew, grabbing the bald scientist by the neck.

'Shit' was all he could think, as he was pinned by the neck by this Kryptonian.

Sivana, with his eye that could see energies, could not understand what he saw. The superhero's bioelectric aura was growing by leaps and bounds. No research, No theory explained this phenomena. Everything was outside the established parameters. Even without the red sun, his power should not return so quickly since they were many meters underground. The incoming sun was practically nil. And yet, here was Superman, proving the complete opposite of scientific theory.

"How...?" he could only ask. He didn't understand anything. How he had escaped. How he was becoming strong in such a short time. His genius couldn't explain anything.

"That's none of your business. The important thing is that I'm out"

"I... I... I, I give up"

In the end, Sivana chose to surrender. He knew that this man had unquestionable morals. Power this great and he did not abuse it. Killing was not in his philosophy. Or so he thought, until he began to feel his neck tightening, slowly depriving him of the oxygen he needed to breathe.

"Agh, agh, air, agh" he wanted to beg. He was futilely trying to punch this hero's arm, but Superman's strength was not diminishing.

As this was happening, Superman was recalling a memory of something his father told him when he was young. When he was demonstrating his power. When he was most afraid of being different from others.

"Son, someday your powers will grow so great that the world will worship you... or fear you. At that time, you have a choice to make. Rule with your power or, prove that power is not what makes a man, but his ideals. Prove that even with so much power, you choose to do good and justice, as we have taught you"

While locked up, Clark had been debating in his mind what Justice was. True justice.

Locking up villains, then having them escape and repeating the process... that's not justice. Now he understood. There were bad people who no matter how much the law operated, how much they tried to reform the villains with their words. There were people who just wanted to see the world burn. And Sivana was one of them.

Clark made a decision. Little by little, Superman squeezed the neck of Sivana. Until...

"Crack" an audible crack was heard as the scientist's neck snapped. The life was draining from his eyes.

'I'm sorry, Dad'

All the while, Clark was shedding tears of sadness. Even though he knew he did the right thing, it didn't sit well to the hero. He didn't kill not because he couldn't, but because he chose not to.

Sure, it was inevitable not to prevent people from dying. He lamented every time he couldn't save someone. But, this was the first time he killed someone with his hands, and frankly he didn't like the feeling.

He quickly wiped away his tears. He would cry with his mother and ask for forgiveness. But for the moment, only one thing mattered. Escape.

He quickly used his laser vision to destroy the entire control command, which completely disabled the security systems. Then he flew up and used his strength to slam the metal doors.

He was weak, but, even so, he was slowly gaining strength and after many hits, the doors were beginning to decay and dent, allowing Clark to move from level to level.

When he reached level 6 he stopped when he saw the young heroes trying to incapacitate the great forces at hand. With a trademark grin, which still showed well on his gaunt face, he said.

"Hey, guys. Need some help?"

"Superman!"

The forces saw the prisoner escaping and quickly took up their weapons against him. But Superman showed that his speed was absolute and quickly incapacitated everyone in the blink of an eye.

Kid Flash, who saw all this, was just amazed. Maybe only his uncle Barry could match and surpass Superman with that speed.

(AN: here I take Kid Flash from Young Justice, where his speed was slower than Barry. But he will improve later)

"Let's go, let's get the others and let's get out of here, reinforcements are coming"

"Yes, Superman"

However, at that Superman started to get dizzy. He even stopped flying, but Miss Martian stopped him.

"Are you all right, Superman?" she asked worriedly. She could sense with her power that this hero was suffering. And not from the physical, but from something else. She was feeling immense guilt, but she didn't probe further. She did not want to be rude. Kid Flash, was concerned too, and quickly came to him. Superman just smiled and said.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll be fine. I'm just tired, let's go"

The small group arrived at where the other heroes were and together they incapacitated everyone. They quickly left the place and headed towards where the ship was. As they entered, Nightwing turned to Central.

"Nightwing to Central. Active A, recovered. Mission was successful"

Immediately after that, he heard on the comm.

'Aqualad, to Central. Assets B, C and D, recovered. Mission successful'

This only made the group of heroes smile. They had made it. The mission had been a success.

Flying quickly they activated a device that generated a portal and entered Lian Yu. They had arrived in the ship in case Superman needed medical attention, and although he was weak, physically he had no injuries worth mentioning.

Superman was finally free and safe.

----------

Just as they departed and the portal closed, a loud "BOOOM" was heard in the sky. Like a projectile, Black Adam arrived at full speed. He had no finesse and entered destroying every part of the place.

There he could see, how the prisoner had escaped. How the entire work force was incapacitated. And how Sivana... was dead.

"Thinker, the prisoner has escaped. Sivana.... is dead"

"...I see. Sivana was the main asset there. Without him, there's no point in leaving the place. No witnesses, Adam"

"I see"

Adam flew out of the place and stood right in the center of the place in the sky. His body began to generate power, while golden lightning flashed from it. His eyes also glowed golden as a sign of power. The whole sky began to darken, as if a storm was approaching. NO, it was not approaching, the storm was already there.

When he finally amassed enough power, Black Adam shouted.

"SHAZAM!"

A great golden bolt of lightning, much more powerful and potent than those launched by Shazam struck the entire subway structure of the place. As the lightning struck, everything disintegrated in a huge

"BOOOOOOOOM!"

If Shazam was powerful. Black Adam was on another level. His years of experience and training made him take his power and make it his own. Something Billy had yet to achieve and perhaps, could never achieve. At least not with his childish mentality.

This was why Zarathos labeled Billy so dangerous. This power demonstrated by Black Adam was dangerous to anyone. And that had not been his ultimate power. He could summon more powerful lightning bolts if he wanted to.

Finally, after that great lightning bolt, everything was destroyed. And the bodies there, charred.

With that done. Black Adam departed for his realm generating a loud "BOOOOOM" from his power of flight.

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AN:

My P@treon

TioIroh99 (10 chapters ahead)

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