Chapter 9

***Aquaman pov***

I was standing in our makeshift arena, of course, it wasn't the ring of fire from the old Atlantis, but we would just have to make do.

The pretender floated Infront of me, his trident that resembled so much that of my half brother in his hand, soon enough he changed to a battle stance, and I immediately recognized it, it was my own fighting style when I fought on land, the one I modeled using both Atlantean and Hawaiian martial arts, combining both of my heritages to one fighting style.

But it was evident that he was still learning and wasn't prepared to fight me, but he held his ground, and that I could absolutely respect.

We were standing off, the crowd was gathering to bear witness to this event, I shifted my battle stance to better fit the environment we were fighting in, the water itself.

The pretender was baffled when he saw it, he wasn't expecting this it seemed, and I asked, "Are you ready?"

He shook his head and then said, "no, let's do this."

I had to give it to him, at least he was honest about it, then the drums began to play, we both began to swim around each other, each of us sizing each other, then, the pretender struck first, trying to hit my side, of course, I blocked easily, but then I noticed that he seemed to be a little stronger than before, he tried to land several more hits, which I parried easily.

Then when I had enough, I started to hit back, of course, he managed to block my first two, but then with the third strike, I flung his trident to the side, I was about to hit him when suddenly, I felt like I was blocked, then I noticed that the water in front of me looked distorted somehow, then it hit me, 'he made the water thick enough to become a wall.' I thought to myself.

Then I withdraw my trident, and took a different approach, it was now evident that the pretender had now some form of Hydro-kinesis, but it was still unclear if it was intentional whether he used it on purpose or not.

Then he had lowered his hands, and looked at himself in awe, "what the hell?" he asked aloud, giving away that he had no idea what he was doing.

I took advantage, and with a battle cry I jumped on him, and with a yelp, he fell to the bottom of the arena.

I was now holding my trident to his throat, and then, the pretender did something that made me pause, he cried.

I looked at him and asked, "why do you cry? You chose this, I did warn you."

He whimpered and said, "you didn't really give me much of a choice man, 'either die or cut off my junk' what would you have chosen?"

I arched a brow at that and said, "I was not going to do that, haven't you heard of chemical castration?"

"Of what?"

"Chemical castration, you could still have sex, you just can't procreate with anyone after, that's it."

After that he cried again, and then, looking at him, I didn't feel the anger I felt before, just sorrow, the guy clearly had some mental issues, he had no one to relate to, no one to really give him guidance, 'well, that's going to change.'

I lifted my trident off of him, and then I extended my hand towards him and said, "get up."

He was hesitant, but then he took it, and as I lifted him up, I looked at my people and I spoke aloud for everyone to hear, "People of Atlantis! Your King had made his judgment!"

I can see the pretender- no, the Deep shrink in his place before I continue, "this man you see before you had stood his grounds, he did not run away and took the easy way out, but… he did commit some serious crimes on the surface world, but, I decided to give this man a chance!"

Murmurs of astonishment were beginning to sound, and in the corner of my eye, I noticed the Deep straighten in his place, and looks at me with wide eyes.

Then I continued, "he will stay here with us, and he will try to change his ways, as long as he expresses true regret over his actions." I turn my head towards him, and he nods fast, and then he says, "I am truly sorry over my wrongdoings, I am willing to make amends in whatever way you see fit!"

I nod my head, and then continue, "he will learn our ways, and the ways of the sea, but none of you are to harm him, unless he seems to lapse to his old ways, all the while, he is not to return to the surface, until given the order from me, your king! So declares, King Arthur!"

"hail to the king! Hail to the king!" everyone begins chanting, and then I turn to him, and I say, "If I see, or even just hear that you have returned to your old ways, I will finish the job, and trust me, it would be even worse then before."

He gulps, nods his head fast, and says, "yes, your majesty!"

I smile and then we return to getting the city built again, all the while I felt a strange hum coming from my trident.

***Clark pov***

I was now making my way to the Vought orphanage Kelex had told me about, it was called 'red river assisted living for the gifted child', it was for kids Whose parents had dumped them after they'd discovered that their child had received a bad superpower, but one that his drawbacks are way too cumbersome to their liking.

I was with two of my ships, both of them on autopilot, and in camouflage mode, a new feature I had developed, remembering the Young Justice TV show and just how handy it was in the field.

I was in my hero attire, I went in there, and as soon as I entered, the nurses saw me, but before they could ask what I was doing, all I said, was, "Mr. Edgar had sent me here." And that seemed to shut them up.

Then I asked them to gather all the supes here in the yard outside, where it seemed to be a training area, as well as a hangout spot.

I waited for about 10 minutes before everyone was gathered, and when I looked at them, my heart was filled with sorrow and pity for them, and even more anger and resentment towards Vought.

I turn to the nurses, and I say, "would you please leave us here?"

They looked at each other, then they shrugged, it seemed they didn't really care what was about to go down with those supes.

After they had left the area, I had turned towards the supes and said, "well hello there, and how are you all feeling today?"

At first, it was quiet, then a guy that seemed to have boobs for eyes had said in a muffled voice, "we're alive, if that's what you wanted to ask."

I shook my head, and then said, "No, I meant how are you all feeling? How are you all feeling?"

"They all seemed to look at each other speechless, instead of for this one-person Superman noticed, who was in a wheelchair, this, of course, was the narrator, the supe with the power to tell everyone what was going on.

Then superman crossed his arms at the narrator and politely asked, "could you please-"

"be quiet, this is quite distracting."

He then shrunk in his place, gave a weak smile, and said, "sorry." And then I began talking again.

"I know you all had received a bad lot in life, when it comes to it, you all had drawn the short straw when it comes to superpowers, but I am here to tell you that I can help you."

One of them, a guy with a green Mohawk and chin beard scuffed, and spoke with a British accent, "really? Help us? That is impossible, and you know it. Cut the bullshit mate."

I looked at him and smirked, then I said, "what if I would tell you that you were not born with these powers? But in fact, are manmade?"

That, had made them curious, and then the one named Ghost asked, "wait, what do you mean?"

I then proceeded to explain everything I knew about compound V, and towards the end, I said, "if you would all come with me, I believe I can help you all, either get rid of your abilities or improve the ones you're already have to a manageable degree."

They all seemed to think about it, when the one called Fang, "ca you reary hep us?"

I nodded my head, and answered, "I can do my best, I don't want to give you false promises that I won't be able to fulfill."

I chose to be honest with them, it was evident that they had enough of liars making them promises, they seemed to think about this for a moment, before Ghost said, "do you mind if we take a moment to think about this?"

I nodded and said, "sure, just don't take too long."

They all huddled up and started to talk to each other in hushed whispers, not knowing I had super-hearing.

"Can we even trust this guy? He just comes here and tells us stories and makes us promises, if you ask me."

"Kingdom has a good point, how can we know he is not lying to us?"

They were quiet for a moment before Ghost spoke, flashback can you?"

Then they were quiet for a moment, but after that, they all turned around to face me and Ghost said, "we have decided to go with you Superman."

I smiled at them and said, "good, now, if you please follow me, and grab those who can't keep up."

Soon enough they were all on board of both my ships, Big and human tongue was at one with aqua agua since they needed the extra legroom, while the others were with me on the other ship.

I saw them all looking around in awe, and I smiled and said, "if you like this, wait until we get to our destination."

They were all in awe at what I said, and the one called Kingdom said, "wait, there is more?"

I grinned and said, "Much more."

It took us about two hours to reach our destination, as the ships were descending, we entered through the protective shields my fortress had, and as they all exited, they looked around wide-eyed.

Soon, Kelex had greeted me and said, "hello Kal-El, I assume these are the children from the institution you have with you?"

"correct Kelex, please prepare the lab for them, we will need to examine them all before we begin helping them."

"Understood sir, oh and sir?"

"yes, Kelex?"

"young master Ryan had asked when you two would train today, what should I tell him?"

"Tell him to be ready in two hours in the training room, and to make sure he wears his training outfit."

"yes sir." It answered and then hovered away.

I turn my head and see the expressions on the group's faces, well… most of their face, and I laugh by saying, this was Kelex, the A.I that help me run this place, and by the way, welcome to my fortress of solitude." I finish as I start making my way to the labs as they all follow me.

***Stan Edgar - third person pov***

Stan Edgar was not having a good day, with Vought's stocks at an all-time low, and with the bad news he had received on both the Clark Kent front and the Bruce Wayne front, he was contemplating his next actions.

Coupled that with the news he had received a few days ago of the sudden disappearance of Rebecca butcher and her and Homelander's son, he was starting to become desperate, even though he wouldn't dare show it.

Not to mention that after Superman's appearance almost every major superhero contract was almost canceled on the grounds that he was making double the work for practically nothing, as much as he hated to admit it to himself, they were now very much reliant on Homelander as the face of Vought.

He was now looking at the front page of today's New York Times that read, 'Aquaman- and his magical weapon'.

It was the article he was sure he manages to silence Mr. Kent from publishing, but as it turns out, he was not intimidated enough, he would have to rectify that soon enough.

He was putting the newspaper down, when he had received a message from Madelyn Stillwell that said, "contact with Deep was lost, and Translucent is still M.I.A."

All bad news, he would soon have to plan ahead on how to counteract that, for the sake of Vought.

***Clark pov***

After we were in the labs, the drones had been working on ways to help the Orphanage Supes, but now was my time with Ryan, and this time his mom came to watch us train.

Like I promised, after the first hour, when Ryan had adapted enough to the increased gravity in the room, we had started to train, we had tossed the ball several times, and even played a little bit of soccer.

Ryan was laughing and having a good time, which was great since we wanted him to remember these times fondly.

After an hour of us playing in the heavy gravity, I did something else, without any of them noticing, I had Kelex Lite up the room with Solar energy.

Of course, I didn't tell them, and they simply chalked it up to being something in the fortress is broken, so I said, "don't worry, I'm sure the drones will take care of that." And we resumed our training.

After we were done, Ryan ran to me and gave me a big hug, since I was the only one who could take what he was dishing, and he said, "thank you, uncle Kal."

I was taken aback by this, but then I smiled as I returned the hug, I guess that I had taken the role of a father figure for young Ryan, and if I was being honest with myself, I had grown to cherish the kid."

"It's nothing buddy, now, go take a shower, but I want you to return right after with your training suit on, there are some people I want you to meet."

He smiled and then ran to his room.

I looked at his mother and then asked, "well? Was it to your approval?"

She smiled at me and nodded her head, and then said, "it was, I can't thank you enough for what you have done for the both of us Superman."

"Please, call me Clark. That is my earth name."

She was taken aback by this and said, "you would reveal your secret identity just like that to me?"

"Why not? You both have been living under my roof, and besides, young Ryan is family at this point."

She seemed to contemplate it for a moment, and then smiled and said. "alright… Clark, again thank you."

And then she turned around and walked off.

After she did, I had brought up the data from Ryan's suit, and it showed something interesting, "it seemed my theory was correct yet again, his cells had started to slowly absorb the solar radiation, although not as fast as my cells are, still… this is progress." I said to myself as I was making my way to labs.

In the labs, I saw the results of all the tests the supes had gone through, on several of them, I had put some of the power dampening bracelets, and they were thrilled, none other there Jarome, or as he was previously known as Mo-slow, since now he could move at regular speed, I went to each and every one of them and said, "I have your results, I'll start with you, Jarome."

He looked at me, and said, "Y-yes sir."

"it seems your power has you out of sync with the time stream, I'm afraid I have nothing here that can help with that."

He was crestfallen at that, but then I added, "but, there is something we can try." I add as I pull out a note, write something on it, and then say, "usually, this requires someone with a certain gene in order to work, but I believe that the compound V in your system would be a resendable substitute." I finish as I give it to him, and after he takes it, I tell him, "if I were you, I would exit before reading it out loud."

He arches a brow at me and then asks, "and you're sure this will help me?"

"Not a hundred percent, but it can't hurt to try," I answer, and he shrugs while walking outside of the lab, and outside of the fortress.

Soon, I move to the next one, Jason Moro, A.K.A Big, I then say, "Mr. Moro, yours is something we most certainly can treat, but I must warn you, it most likely hurt like hell at first, but if you want, we can have you Under anesthesia while the process is taking place, same goes for you, Sarah." I said as I turned to Sarah conners A.K.A. The human tongue.

They looked at each other, and then Big had spoken for the two of them, "do it, and put us both under."

I nodded my head, and then went on to the next one, the one called Ben Tanner, otherwise known as Kingdom, "as for you Mr. Tanner, yours is a simple case, I can inject you with something special that will help you retain your human mind while in animal form, as well as help you gain more control over your ability to transform."

He looked at me shocked and asked, "you can do that?" I smiled and said, "yes Mr. Tanner I can."

He was about to answer when I noticed them all looking to the entrance of the labs, and when I turned my head, I saw that they were looking at Ryan and Becca, I smiled at him and said, "it's ok buddy, come here, I said as I extended my hand towards him.

He was hesitant but complied as he walked closer and closer to me, when he had reached me, I had put one hand around his shoulder and said, "everyone, this is Ryan, you could say he is my ward, say hello Ryan."

Ryan had waved his hand and said a weak, "H-hello, I'm Ryan, it's very nice to meet you all."

They all looked at him, smiled, and Waved as well, then I turned towards him and say, "these people are going to stay with us for a while, I'm going to help them." Then I turned towards Becca who couldn't help but stare and then I say, "they are what you might call, Vought's failed supes." She nodded in understanding, and then she turned towards them and said, "it's nice to meet you all, I'm Ryan's mom, you can call me Becca."

They all smiled and said, "hi Becca." It was endearing.

Just then the place shook, and then we heard massive thunder, they were all panicked, and I quickly ran out of the fortress, with Ryan behind me, I soon found him, Jarome was on the ground, smoke comes out of his clothes, he was spasming, and then I noticed it, the Brace was glowing blue and red as is it was trying to stop something from happening.

I soon took it off of him, and then red lightning began covering his body and he tenses up, it was a minute before his body relaxed.

Everybody held their breath, then, he gasped and opened his eyes, we all let out a sigh of relief, then he asked, "what are you all staring at?"

I smiled and said, "well, why don't you see for yourself?" as I showed him the power dampener in my hand, his eyes were wide, and then he asked, "it worked?"

"well, why don't you try to run?"

He slowly got up on his feet, and then before he knew it, he vanished in a second, leaving behind him nothing but a trail of red lightning bolts, then he returned, looking at his hands with shock and amazement, and then said, "wow! I'm fast! No longer will I be Mo-slow!"

Then Ghost asked, "Then what will we call you from now on."

I smiled and said, "call him, The Flash."

A.N hay there everyone, I'm back with yet another chapter.

The idea for this chapter was thanks to noahrosas289, thank you for reminding me of them.

Now for those of you who keep asking why I didn't make this Superman an OP it's simple, it's not an OP-type fanfic, it's a heroic mc type fanfic.

Now most of you had made the valid point that the deep was with mental issues and should have a redemption arc, and I have listened to you, but it would be gradually.

Now, please review this story, constructive criticism only, and let me know what you think in the comments section, and if you have any ideas to improve the story be sure to let me know.

Until next time, you guys are awesome!

Bookwormjohnny2 out!