Batman x Arc Reactor

Ch: 178 [Bruce meets Aquawoman]

Bruce kept going down until everything turned dark. The sunlight from above couldn't reach this far down. His Kryptonian DNA evolution, allowed him to see in the darkness of the ocean. As he got deeper and deeper, he saw different types of underwater creatures swimming past him.

'What?! Are those?' Bruce spotted giant squids, weird-looking sharks, and many other dangerous sea creatures that he had never seen. 'Amazing. Just by coming down here, I'm already seeing rare species that haven't been discovered yet.' The further he went down, the greater the pressure became. 'Interesting. Don't feel much different than before.'

Bruce soon reached the vortex, which acts as the gateway to Atlantis. The vortex was located at the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean. He flew through the vortex and was pulled into a water tunnel, maintained by an artificial mechanism that led him directly to the underwater city of Atlantis.

"Woah!" He let out a surprised shout as he passed through the tunnel. The view of the city was simply breathtaking.

The city of Atlantica was a marvel of bioluminescent architecture, with structures that seemed to grow organically from the seabed, illuminated by natural light emitted by the city's flora and fauna. A transparent barrier surrounded the entire city. Two guards were waiting for him at the exit. Upon seeing him, they swam toward him and signed Bruce to follow them.

'The Dome of Light,' Bruce thought as he followed the two guards to the surface level. Just like the previous vortex, they entered the dome through another vortex. He quickly began to scan the dome. It was made of some kind of unknown metal which wasn't in his database. But from what he could gather, it protects the city from the crushing pressure of the ocean and refracts sunlight, creating a perpetual twilight within the city.

They swam past a floral garden and a bunch of big towers. Some Atlanteans were going in and out continuously. It was like an underwater travel port. After a few minutes of swimming down, they entered through yet another vortex to the next level.

The Upper Level, also known as the Citadel of Wisdom, is Atlantis's administrative and cultural heart. Here, the city's leaders, scholars, and diplomats reside and work. This level is a place of grandeur and pomp, filled with soaring spires and sparkling crystals. Bruce was guided to the Royal Palace of Atlantis, where Aquawoman was waiting for him.

He was led to the Audience Chamber, a large hall with vaulted ceilings and walls made of marble and mother-of-pearl. In the center of the room was a golden throne, upon which Aquawoman sat, dressed in a gown of blue and gold. She looked at Bruce with interest, her eyes roaming over his body. Although she was interested in knowing how a human can survive underwater without any difficulties, she didn't forget the humiliation she felt during their first meeting.

Bruce looked around and saw twelve elders of the council sitting, six on both sides of the throne. They appeared to be quite old. Their skin was wrinkled and their hair was white. Bruce assumed that they must have lived for hundreds of years.

"Welcome, Bruce Wayne to the city of Atlantis. I'm glad that you could make it." Aquawoman greeted Bruce with a smile.

Bruce looked around a bit, "You are welcoming me, yet I don't see a place for me to sit. Oh, well..." He released his nanites from his body, creating a crude metallic throne, and sat on it, "Much better."

"You..." Aquawoman gritted her teeth, annoyed by Bruce's behavior.

"Now, let's cut the chit-chat and come to the main topic. I'll help cure you all, and you lots will be able to live on land again, without any problem. In exchange, stop whatever little plot you developed in your mind about attacking the land. Then, you will form an alliance with the Amazons. You must have seen the motherbox reacting, right? Darkseid is coming for Earth, alone I doubt you guys will survive all by yourself," Bruce said bluntly.

"How dare you?! Who do you think you are?!" An elder on Aquawoman's right side shouted at Bruce, "You are just a mere human, yet you talk to the Queen like that!"

"Allying with those Amazons?! IMPOSSIBLE!" Another elder shouted in anger.

"You'll cure us, a human as young as you? Don't kid yourself. Even our brilliant minds failed to come up with a cure and are still working on it even after thousands of years!" The one beside Aquawoman laughed mockingly.

"As for Darkseid, we aren't weak. We haven't been sitting on our butt all these years. We have been preparing for his invasion! We won't lose to an alien tyrant." The last elder standing near Aquawoman spoke arrogantly, "For that, I doubt we need to ally with the Amazons."

"Haaa... What the fuck are your old coots of the past babbling on about? I wasn't asking, but stating what you idiots would do." Bruce sighed annoyingly as he rubbed his forehead.

"Preposterous! How dare a mere human raise his tone before us in our kingdom?" The burly one from the right, who was silent all this time, finally roared in anger. "Kneel before the queen, you insolent fool!"

He took his blaster and was about to fire at Bruce, but before he could do that, Bruce blinked before him and twisted his head backward, "How dare a mere fish raise his voice in front of me." He then turned around. The other elders and the guards were about to rush at him, but he stomped his feet on the floor, creating a massive shockwave, "TAKE ANOTHER STEP AND YOU'RE ALL DEAD!"

Bruce slammed his fist on the wall, creating another shockwave.

'Good, that arrogant bastard finally died. I'll take over his territory soon enough. I guess, I should thank Bruce for getting rid of a thorn from my side,' Aquawoman thought as she smirked in her heart while maintaining a cool and composed expression.

All the elders and guards stopped moving due to fear. Aquawoman clenched her hands tightly as she too was feeling scared of Bruce. Although she wanted to test Bruce's strength, she didn't expect him to be this powerful. The entire palace shook as if an underwater volcano was erupting. Ripples of shockwaves emerged from his voice and swept through the watery surroundings, pushing them backward.

'A metahuman of this caliber?! Impossible!' Aquawoman thought as she stood up. "Enough." She raised her hand and signed the elders and the guards to fall back.

"Good girl," Bruce blinked before Aquawoman,

"You should have done this from the beginning and could have saved that poor bastard. There's a saying, don't believe everything you hear unless you see it with your own eyes. Well, I guess you took that saying too seriously. Now, I don't want to destroy your world, neither can I let you destroy mine. Darkseid has near unlimited supply of Parademons, those nifty bastards are not that strong, but they are endless. To counter them, you Atlanteans and Amazons need to work together, or else, this planet will be doomed." Bruce explained as he looked into Aquawoman's eyes.

"If what you say is true then we Atlanteans will have a hard time fighting on the land with our condition. I can breathe and live on land, but not the others. If their masks are destroyed outside, they will perish. That cure you spoke of, tell me. What is it? How are you going to cure us? If you can indeed cure us, then I give you my word that we will never attempt any attack on land and we will form an alliance with the Amazons. We'll bury our old grudges and start anew." Aquawoman stared at Bruce, determined to help her people.

"See, was it that difficult?" Bruce smirked.

Aquawoman felt her heart beating faster. His smirk gave off a mysterious charm that she couldn't explain. He's strong and confident. The fact that he knows none can stop him, made him even more attractive to Aquawoman.

"Take me to your treasury," Bruce ordered.

"Follow me," Aquawoman nodded and got up. She ordered only two elders to follow her and asked the rest to stay behind. She took Bruce to the Treasure Vault, which was heavily guarded by soldiers. There was also a big mutated octopus sticking to the vault's main door. Bruce activated his X-ray vision and scanned the entire vault. He noticed there were a lot of unknown metals, jewels, and ancient artifacts.

Aquawoman spoke something. Her voice waves rippled through the water, activating some kind of mechanism on the vault. The octopus stuck to the vault's main door removed itself from the door and swam away. The vault opened, revealing all the treasures inside.

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