[Book 2] Chapter 16: Outsiders Insiders (Part 2)
[Clock - 09:43 | 09:43 AM]
[Calendar - 20/07/2010]
[Location - Beastialis Empire - Skypelago, Menagerie Island, Central Region, Pyramid Palace of Cycles
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3rd Person POV
"Ah, that's pretty easy to answer." Atlas hummed to himself as he looked at the kids- Adam's team was surprisingly polite and respectful, not at all what he expected from teenagers with superpowers, but when they received a lecture from their mentors about where they were going-
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[Flashback]
[Calendar: 19/07/2010]
[Location: Watchtower, Earth's Outer Atmosphere, 3rd Justice League Headquarters]
[Clock: 20:55 | 08:55 PM]
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It happened after the whole debacle with Doctor Fate and the Tower of Fate.
Atlas simply appeared in the middle of the Watchtower with the entire team and his beloved husband in toe. It was a huge spook for the entirety of the Justice League that he both knew the location of the League's secret base and that he could go there whenever he wanted while the Justice League couldn't easily locate the Beastialis Empire Skypelago floating in the sky with the use of satellites. In a simple moment, he appeared right in the middle of a meeting they were having, with the entirety of The Team. The majority were simply tired, Abra Kadabra was wrapped by a bunch of ropes, and Adam was safely being held by Waylon like a kid who went to sleep in the car and the father was picking them up to bring them to their bedroom.
"Am I interrupting your very important meeting?" Atlas stood still, his eyes focused right towards the big fucking table that they were all siting before. With soft metal clicks of his feet touching the ground, Atlas walked towards the table before throwing the now empty golden helmet that was once used by the one and only Doctor Fate: "Because you see, I just came back from saving my student's life and soul." As he reached the table, he leaned back and literally sat on solid air, nonchalantly looking Batman in the eyes as he snapped his fingers. Waylon was immediately beside him as a seat ot pure gold materialized beneath him, conjured by a simple snap of his fingers: "This golden bitch just tried to possess my student, so I had to destroy him, you know how it goes." Atlas simply shrugged.
"Empress." Batman greeted him, eyeing the children behind him for a moment before his eyes focused on the teen on the Emperor's arms: "...Explain-" He wasn't very surprised when the Empress of the Beastialis Empire simply appeared in the middle of their hideout, mostly because the Empress himself has declared that he is able to find anything he wants to find, so Batman already assumed Atlas had the exact location of the Watchtower. "-what exactly happened?"
"Well, little fast boy here-" Atlas pointed towards the pathetic looking red and yellow kid: "-was there when it all went down. All I know is that my boy saved his ass and got the worst bits and pieces... Then I come in, destroy the Lord of Order, and take his spot as the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme- how does that sound?" Twirling his finger, Atlas easily casted a [Major Image] spell above his head that made this enormous red arrow that read "Vote for President Sorcerer Supreme" that kept flashing this bright golden light every second. "I mean, if this was a contest of strength and magical prowess, I would've taken the seat by now..."
"Love, you'd make yourself an entire new seat just so you could be above the title. Don't pretend to be humble right now." Rolling his eyes, Waylon huffed as he settled Adam on his arms, taking a look at the people on the table- He quickly eyed his maybe future opponents and began thinking about who he could take on a fight: "Wonder Woman! Down for another spar? Demigod versus Demigod, sounds fun huh?" She simply shook her head a little, the serious atmosphere was enough to quell the flames of rivalry he kinda had with her: "Shazam! Kiddo! What about us, heh? An avatar of the gods against another? Maybe I'll even let Wonder Woman join too, so you both can have the advantage- make it a match between the Greek Pantheon and the Egyptian Pantheon... My pops kinda has some words to throw at Zeus' face, after all." His grin widened when Shazam simply shook his head, looking a bit intimidated: "Still scared of me? I mean, I just broke your arm-"
"-tore it off, and ate it. Yes." Atlas rolled his eyes at his beloved, poking him with his finger: "That's how we learned his secret after all. After I grew him a whole new arm, yes."
"...I still feel bad about that, just so you know." Waylon, grumpy as he was, took Atlas' hand that was poking him and pushed his face against said hand, a purr-like sound creaking out of his open maw: "Sorry again, by the way. If it makes you feel better, you can pull out one of my arms and eat it."
"... That won't be necessary dud- Waylon." Billy almost cursed- He almost called Waylon dude! "I forgave you a long time ago, Waylon." Shazam chuckled, a bit nervous that the majority of the Justice League was looking at him with either curiosity or concern, after all, they just learned about the fact that he had his arm torn off and eaten by the man before them: "I just... You're kinda scary, so sorry for getting a bit traumatized?"
"Never apologize for that, kiddo." Atlas rolled his eyes- he elbowed Waylon, who huffed and rolled his eyes, and their silent communication went on for a few moments as they kept eye contact, the [Telepathic Bond] spell easily transferring their thoughts to one another -before he simply turned to look at him and say: "You're welcome at Beastialis at any time, if that makes you feel better?"
"...sure?"
"In fact-" Atlas turned around, eyeing the little group of heroes that were friends of his student: "-I'll bring these with me back to Beastialis too." With a grin, he crackled his fingers with energy. He was already opening an [Arcane Gate] when he felt a foreign energy try to get closer to his own, so he batted it away with the swat of a soul with 9 rings and 450 stars, the pressure he could exercise upon the world was something only gods could ever hope to achieve. It was a weight akin to divinity, but also purer somehow, a pure and powerful magical soul. "-and a bug just tried to look at my magic... isn't that right, Zatara?" Narrowing his eyes, Atlas flared his presence- Immediately, it was like gravity had increased by a lot. The very ground groaned as the weight of his presence seemed to blaze the air with crackling silver-white light as these sparks of energy floated around him.
It was pure power.
"Love." Waylon sighed, a little annoyed: "You're leaking."
"Ah, fuck-" Immediately, everything reverted. The only ones not entirely affected by his show of magical prowess were Waylon, Shazam, Wonder Woman, and (not surprisingly) Batman. These people were the only ones he knew that were pretty much born with (or acquired) an innate magical resistance (well, one had the willpower to rival gods themselves) that was powerful enough to resist his very presence: "-didn't mean for that to happen, sorry."
He sheepishly looked at the fallen heroes that could not withstand his magic might, so he suppressed it enough that he would feel like a completely ordinary person that just happens to have cybernetic legs powered by both technology and magic. "Anyway- Batsy, you mind if I take these kids back to Beastialis? You wouldn't mind, would you? After all, they're worried about their teammate, who I will take home because he needs to rest."
"Now, wait a moment-" Aquaman tried speaking, only for him to get a glare from Atlas, but even so he didn't stop: "-we do not trust you-"
"Like what?" Waylon grumbled, his tail slapping hard against the metallic floor beneath him and even denting it a bit by the sheer weight and strenght of his tail: "We will kill them all? Skin their corpses and tear of their heads? Only to brag about it to our closest friends who happen to also hate people that are different than us?" Scoffing, Waylon rolled his eyes: "We're not Atlantis." Yeah... that is one of the things that happened. When the Atlantian Civil War happened, the members of the Pure Blood Atlantians captured every single Homo Beastialis or resembling Homo Mermanus that had even the slightlest resemblance to a Homo Beastialis. They brutally killed them, tore their bodies to shreds, and then used their corpse as a display. Heads, skin, appendages, and even phalluses.
"..." There was nothing that Aquaman could say to make it better. He did, after all, gather every Homo Beastialis and resembling Homo Mermanus to protect them... But a procession from Poseidonis to a hidden place was attacked and everyone was killed, and there was also the "Culling of Poseidonis", an event where a massacre happened on the streets, with thousands dead and even more hurt. This contributed to the migration from many of his citizens to the Beastialis Empire. "...Kaldur, are you willing to go with the Empress and Emperor?"
"...Yes, my King." The boy answered, nodding, after hesitating for a little bit.
"Come here, let's talk."
And like that, every single one of The Team was called by their mentors, so they could have a talk.
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[Flashback Ends]
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-it seemed that they got a bit more... respectful.
Maybe it was fear of him? Regardless, they made him a simple question- or rather, Superboy did. "If I'm not wrong, there were about... A few people of the House of El in Krypton that have survived?" Under the disbelieving eyes of the group of people before him, Atlas hummed as he opened his book.
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[World Book Encyclopedia - Living Beings | Stories of a Future Never Here and a Past Long Gone
House of El
Kal El - (Living) [Location]
Kara Zor-El - (Living) [Location]
Superboy (???) - (Living) [Location]
Jor-El - (Living) [Location]
Lara Lor-Van (Living) [Location]
Lor-Zord (Living) [Location]
...
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And the list went on. The majority was marked as deceased, however. "Huh, that's surprising." Atlas lifted one eyebrow. He softly selected the [Location] for Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, narrowing his eyes as he read their whereabouts: "Oh? That's surprising." Humming to himself, Atlas pondered for a moment if he should share this information with the Man of Steel... On one side, it was his parents and he deserved to know that they were alive! But on the other, this could be good leverage against Superman should he try something... Atlas has seen the Injustice Universe, and he has a little bit of Batman's paranoia, so he considered it before dismissing such idea entirely.
"What is it, love?" Pushing his nose against Atlas' neck, Waylon huffed as he watched his love think: "Something wrong?" He softly bit Atlas' skin, his teeth sinking softly into Atlas' pale flesh that was used to Waylon's sharp teeth. "You good?" He curled his tail around his love's waist, who just leaned back against him as he hummed: "Something happened?"
"No... Not exactly." Atlas blinked, looking back up at Superboy and the other members of the team, he placed his finger on his chin as he thought about the right words to use: "Well... It seems like your grandparents- Or parents, if you consider Superman your brother or your son? Well, technically you have his DNA, so that would make him your dad-" Noticing he was getting sidetracked, Atlas shook his head: "-Anyway! What I mean is, Superman's parents are still alive." He softly glided hisbhand across the book as he casted [Major Image] to show the list of people he was reading, but floating before him: "See?"
There was only silence after that revelation.
"...what?"