Chapter 2

Donna and Zatanna walked back up to the Conservatory. Mareena and Harry went off, to hunt down Hila and hopefully bring her to justice. She might just be more dangerous than Manta himself.

"I've heard. Black Manta killed himself."

Donna and Zatanna locked eyes with Tula, who came down from the conservatory. She had the look of someone who had to wrangle up a bunch of children and teenagers who were in hysterics. The rumors which would have come from tonight's events did not help anything. Everyone had lost all sense of themselves.

"He did," Zatanna said. "Mareena came close but he wouldn't go out that way. And Mera's sister, she was there as well."

"So, the rumors are true," Tula said.

"The truth is much stranger than any….."

"The Queen will fall. If we can only take care of them as well."

"Patience!"

Those sounds caused Donna to stand up straight, and she was not the only one. Several supposed royal Atlantean guards, at least five or six of them, were talking in undertone with each other. Unfortunately, for them, it had been much too late. Donna saw what they were doing.

"They're plotting against the Queen," Donna said.

The dire situation hit all three of them.

"Damn," Tula murmured. "I thought that Black Manta would have people on the inside, but the royal guard. Mera could be in some serious danger."

"That's not all," Zatanna said. "I can feel it. Someone's messed with the magical defenses around the palace. Security is down and I don't know how, but someone's managed to find their way inside."

Tula, Donna, and Zatanna could tell this was going to be bad. They had to do something and quickly.

"Harry, just a heads up," Zatanna said. "You might be delayed finding Hila. There's some members of the guard who aren't acting on the level. They're supporting whatever plan Black Manta and Hila has. And The Queen's next on the list."

To say this had not been surprising to Harry, would be an understatement.

"We'll get to them," Harry said. "How did you…."

"We overheard some of the guards," Donna said.

"Follow them, I'll be in touch," Mareena cut in shortly.

"Of course," Donna said.

As if she would argue, when Mareena was in the state of mind she was in. It would be safer trying to molest a manticore Trifling with the Princess at this point was very, very dangerous. She wanted Black Manta's blood and technically she did not get it tonight. There would be further problems, further difficulties if she did not.

"Mareena and Harry want us to keep on them," Donna told them.

Tula firmly nodded. Zatanna, Donna, and Mareena followed the rogue guards from a distance, so they could determine what they could find out, if anything else.

They had not slipped up. Not yet at least.

Every time they squabbled as children, Mera got the upper hand on Hila. Mera always won their little fights. She always had been the more favored child The Queen of Atlantis could see how this caused resentment to bubble over. Hila's eyes, flashed with fire, only increased when she rose up and smacked Mera down to the ground with one of the most violent attacks imaginable. Mera fell to the ground and crumpled, like a puppet having her strings cut out from underneath her.

At the last second, Hila's attack had come back. Mera blasted her sister back with another beam of magic.

"You have a lot to learn," Mera said. "I'm curious to see how you escaped. Because, once I put you back in your jail cell, you won't be escaping again."

"Well, your first mistake is not killing me!" Hila shouted. "Your second mistake is not keeping a close eye on your guards."

The royal guards made their way into the room. Three of them turned and stabbed the other four. The guards looked towards Hila with a smile.

"All hail our new Queen! All hail Queen Hila!"

Mera had been distracted momentarily by this treachery. Which allowed Hila to pull out a knife and stab Mera right in the ribs with it. Slowly, Hila wrenched the knife a little bit differently.

"The first cut is always the deepest!" Hila growled in her sister's ear. "And the last cut is the most fatal."

"And you should know one other lesson, "Mera gasped through the aching of her ribs. "Talk is cheap."

A rune cage manifested off of the ground and trapped Hila. Of course, Mera had to deal with three rogue Atlantean guards. She pulled herself up and prepared to fight them off, only she did not need to.

Mareena snapped one of the guards back down to the guard with a sickening force. A chain saw-like attack knocked another guard back.

The final guard pulled out an energy staff and blasted it at the Princess. Harry appeared behind him and grabbed the staff in his hand. A lethal dose of energy poured into Harry's hands from the staff. Harry ripped it out and with a thunderous smack, sent the royal guard crashing down to the ground. Harry turned around and bounced down onto the back of the head of the guard to knock him down to the ground.

Mareena turned to face her mother. Mera pressed her hand to her side to try to stave off the bleeding.

"Mother!" Mareena yelled.

"It's merely….a small wound," Mera said.

Mareena healed it instantly, using some of her life energy to do so. She was a bit woozy. While Mareena and Mera recovered, Harry reinforced the rune cage. Hila was not going to be getting out of it any time soon.

"What did you intend to accomplish?"

Hila just smiled. It seemed obvious.

"I tried and failed to kill my sister," Hila droned. "I tried and failed to kill you. But, on the bright side, all of Atlantis is going to fall. It's a pity I won't be alive to watch the horror sink in."

"Yes," the guard hissed. "We did it. Planted a bomb. It will go off any minute now."

Mareena and Harry knew without any pause, they would have to find it. Mera took one of the weapons the guard had used and armed herself with it, as Harry and Mareena moved off.

"Donna, stealth time's over," Harry said. "Time to strike. They've planted a bomb."

"Of course they have," Donna said. "Right, Tula, go to the left, Zee, go to the right. I'll take the one in the middle."

"The most well armed?" Tula asked.

"That doesn't scare me."

The sounds of a brief struggle echoed and Harry and Mareena scanned the area. Wherever the bomb was being kept, it was being well hidden. And time was running low.

They had to find it. And now.

"Alright, I have it!" Zatanna yelled. "Hila's old cell, it's planted underneath."

"Of course it is," Mareena grumbled.

They made their way down to the basement area with plenty of time to spare. There was a thunderous sound of something going off in the background. A small army of Hila loyalists appeared. These rebels blasted Mareena and Harry. Harry deflected the attack.

"I'll hold them off!" Mareena yelled. "You need to find the bomb and disable it."

"Let me clear the hallway for you first!"

Harry whipped his hand back and sent them down. Mareena took advantage of the opening to fight the traitors. She was out for blood tonight and since she did not get a chance for Black Manta's, someone would have to pay in his stead. A small part of Harry pitied them.

An even larger part of Harry figured they got exactly what they deserved

The closer Harry got to the cell, the more prominent the heat coming off from the bomb was. Harry ripped the floorboard up and gently and very slowly levitated the bomb onto the bed. Harry noticed the core which was glowing and shifting through several colors.

"If the core turns blue, the bomb goes boom!" Mareena called.

One the guards grabbed Mareena by the throat. She struggled against the man's grip. Mareena cracked his arms against the wall. Another attack was avoided as Mareena blocked the guard from getting to Harry and preventing him from stopping the bomb.

"Are you people really such fanatics you would go out with the bomb as well?" Harry asked. "Fine, fine."

Harry sealed the cell shut. He really hoped that protections would contain the blast, on the off chance that things didn't go as well as he planned. Harry lightly drummed on the bomb and broke it open ever so slightly. The glowing core flashed in front of Harry's eyes and it was green, which was way too close to blue for Harry's liking.

He closed his eyes and carefully disengaged the core from the bomb. The heat would have burned the hands off of a normal human being and even it caused Harry pain quite similar to an unshielded Kryptonian trapped on an island full of nothing but Kryptonite.

Steady, easy does it. If Harry dropped the core, none of them would be alive long enough to regret the mistake made.

Harry edged it out, slowly, slowly. Mareena, now finished with the guards, watched him. He opened up a portal to a barren world and with one super fast throw, Harry lobbed the fastball through.

The portal closed just as the core turned blue. Harry felt the radiation building before he closed it. He collapsed down onto the ground and took a deep breath. Every inch of his body pounded with agony.

"Just give me a minute," Harry said.

"You can take all the time you want," Mareena said. "You saved the day, again."

Mareena threw her arms around Harry and kissed him in celebration. She would have done more to him, if there was not work to be done.

Mareena crouched down and closed her eyes. She reflected on the events of this evening. Along with how everything could have turned around.

"Mareena?"

The Princess broke out of her stupor. She had gotten past the stage of anger and grief set in. Along with a sense of duty and responsibility for the people in her Kingdom. Mareena walked, in a silent stupor as she approached her mother. Every second which passed caused a chill to rise through her spine.

"Several treasures have disappeared tonight," Mera said. "I fear that some of them joined forces with my sister out of greed."

Sex, money, and the lust for violence, the great motivators for most people. The trinity of terror and this caused a chill to erupt through Mareena's spine. It was all about greed. They did not care about anything other than the riches.

"We'll track them down, get them back," Mareena said.

"No, I'll get them back," Mera said. "You should rest tonight. For tomorrow, there's a huge responsibility on your shoulders."

As for Mera, she would have to face her demons. With the help of Zatanna and Harry ,she fashioned a stronger cage. Common sense dictated she should execute Hila, for inciting a rebellion and for comparing with Black Manta. There was just one thing holding her back. She could literally feel a taunting voice echo in the back of her head, mocking her for her moment of indecision.

Hila reclined in the cell. No guards, because Mera had no idea who she could trust. There were terrorists who supported the destruction of their own people.

"I should execute you for treason," Mera said.

Hila flashed her sister the type of smile which made it very hard for Mera not to lash out and murder her.

"You should, and if I was in your position, I would," Hila said. "Because, you have betrayed your people, Mera. And you are in the end, a soft-hearted fool who will be on the wrong side of history."

"Only those who win in the end will be for sure," Mera said.

"You can't stop what's coming," Hila said. "You've put all of your hopes in Superman. But, he's flown too high. He's going to end up flying a little bit too close to the sun. Cherish the time while you can."

"I hope you have a chance to reflect on what you've done," Mera said.

"You stopped me from saving you," Hila said. "But, there's no saving you. You are stubborn and self-righteous as ever. You believe you are correct."

"That is a trait which unfortunately appears to run in our blood line."

"Apparently."

The two sisters locked eyes with each other. Neither was willing to back down nor were they willing to concede any kind of defeat. Time would only tell how history would judge this moment in time.

Mareena stood at the edge of her bed chambers. A knock on the door caused her to perk up.

"Come in."

Harry and Donna stepped inside to join Mareena. She took a deep breath and considered the armor which laid on the bed. It signified so much and yet Mareena did not know where to begin with her journey.

Most likely, it would begin with a single step.

"I'm the heir apparent to the throne," Mareena said. "I will have to rise and become Queen. All of the hopes and future prospects of Atlantis fall upon my shoulders. And to stop the unrest. War's coming, and I'm going to have to deal with that."

Mareena smiled, trying to find some humor in this situation, although it was very dire for many reasons.

"No pressure or anything," Mareena said.

"You'll do great," Donna said. "You're more well-equipped to deal with this than I would."

Blood ran cold in Donna's body. If something happened to her mother, and Donna had been forced to lead the Amazons, she had no idea what to do. With Diana in space, if something did happen, Donna would be the one in charge. She had great shoes to fill many times.

"You managed to team," Harry said. "I have faith that you're going to do it."

"You always believed in me more than I can believe in myself," Mareena said. "My father managed to keep Atlantis together. There were always people who questioned his rule, but he stood proud."

"And you'll stand proud as well," Harry said. "Trust me."

"I do," Mareena said.

"And I'll be there to help if you need me."

Donna just smiled and put her hand on her long time friend's shoulder.

"We all will be. Not sure how much of a Team there's going to be. And the Justice League has been disbanded, but….we are still going to back each other up."

"We will," Harry concluded.

"I know," Mareena said.

Mareena leaned in to Harry and kissed him. The kiss lingered for several minutes as Harry tightened his arms around Mareena and pulled her in. The kiss deepened.

Donna tapped her foot and hummed impatiently.

Never one to leave Donna out of the fun, Mareena turned around and planted a very hungry kiss on her lips as well. The trio were about ready to join each other and if Zatanna showed up, she could join on the fun.

Revelations and tragedy tonight had required them to burn off some steam. For tomorrow, the real work will begin. With this darkness coming, Harry needed to figure out

Harry just hoped Claire and the others knew what they were doing, because they essentially put themselves at the mercy of the Kree to uncover this conspiracy. While he knew of a plan, many times, plans had a tendency to go completely off of the rails.

Regardless, Harry had his role to play. Kara and Karen would both be there to back it up. And with careful maneuvering, Superwoman and the rest of the League six would be brought home.

The League Six, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superwoman, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, and Hawkwoman, all were brought down to a Kree holding cell. The cruel Kree, known as Kasius, walked before them and lead them

"This will be your new home," Kasius said. "Your final home. Before the Supreme Intelligence decides your ultimate fate."

Kasius looked reflective and smiled.

"If it were up to me, the League would burn for being weak of mind. Pleasant dreams."

The nastiness in the air lingered long after Kasius left.

"Real peach, that one," Shayera commented.

"The Kree normally are," John solemnly said. "They've caused even more destruction than we did while under the influence of the Light."

"We're in position," Batman said. "Harry will do his part on Earth and we'll work from here."

"I find something very curious," Claire said. "Kasius said we will burn being weak of mind."

The other members of the League responded with nods. Batman and Superwoman locked eyes.

"You're learning," Batman said.

"That is a bit strange," Diana concluded.

"Which is why we need to let this play out," Batman commented. "Stick with the plan."

They knew something was rotten from the beginning and now the role the Kree was playing in this plan, well, it was beginning to come to light. No pun intended.