Chapter 27: Breaking Point 4; A New Era

AN: The important parts of this chapter are the first two. The last one was me trying to be funny. This fic will not have Harry Potter elements, just take that conversation as a joke. 

At the end, I leave a chronology of the events in order in case you get confused with the dates. 

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"Talking"

'Thinking'

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Atlantis, September 15, 17:38, 2015 (4 months after the fight)

"Brother, what's so urgent, perhaps the Kraken wants to attack again, or perhaps an invasion of the flesh eaters?"

Aquaman had arrived in a hurry, after asking for permission from the Justice League. His beloved brother had asked him to come as an emergency. And that only happened, if Atlantis, was in serious trouble.

"Nothing of the sort, brother. Please, have a seat. This needs to be explained, slowly" Orm, his half brother, tried to calm Aquaman and urged him to sit down. Which Arthur did. There were only the two of them in the room.

Suddenly, a servant came in bringing a couple of drinks. It was a seaweed tea, very popular in the city of the sea for its soothing properties and its sweet but not cloying taste, besides being Arthur's favorite. Which he appreciated, as a good drink was not denied to anyone. As Arthur began to calm down due to the drink and began to relax, Orm continued.

"Brother, I called you because we have a pressing situation. A new enemy has risen in Atlantis. One who seeks only your destruction"

Aquaman looked solemnly at his brother and asked.

"Who is that menace, brother?"

"It's me" a voice was heard from around the corner. Out of nowhere, a man dressed in a black submarine suit, and a stingray helmet appeared. He had been camouflaged in the corner, waiting for the moment to strike. He was Black Manta, someone who absolutely hated Aquaman.

Black Manta launched a powerful laser from his visor, which Aquaman quickly dodged, jumping out of his seat.

Aquaman didn't stand still and taking his trident, threw it as a projectile towards the man in black. Black Manta, not expecting this, could only try to move to avoid being impaled by the weapon. But in the end, he was hit in the shoulder, injuring him.

Aquaman quickly arrived at his place, and began to hit Black Manta severely. Blow after blow began to dent the helmet. In The Light's files, it was said that Aquaman was quite strong and fast, but these moves and attacks he had made were totally unexpected. Aquaman seemed stronger than the files said.

"Brother, call the guards. This intruder needs to stand trial" Arthur requested his brother. Black Manta had practically been bludgeoned by the aquatic superhero. However, what Arthur expected never came.

He was surprised when he felt a sharp pain in the side of his stomach. Looking around, he saw how he had his trident, which he had previously thrown, fully inserted right in the middle of his stomach. Blood was rushing out of the wound. The culprit of it all?, his brother who was there holding the trident.

"Orm, cough, cough, why?"

"Brother, when you were elected ruler by our mother, I hated you so much. I was the eldest and you were just a half-breed. It wasn't fair. But, you won over the Atlantis people with your charisma, strength and power. Not only that. You took the acid test, a test that no one had ever passed, even me, and Poseidon's trident recognized you as its master. From then on, I knew I would never be king, that I would always be in your shadow. But no more. You have forgotten your duties brother. You prefer those on the surface and favor them over us"

Orm tightened his grip on the trident and inserted more of said weapon which caused Arthur to let out a grunt of pain.

"Consider this, a coup d'etat"

"Cough, this is nothing brother. This wound won't be able to kill me" Arthur said. As much as it hurt to be inserted by his own weapon, he knew he had been hurt more severely by other things. A good example was when he fought the Kraken. He almost lost his hand that time.

"I know. That's why I had to use other means, brother"

Out of nowhere, Arthur felt a sharp pain in his chest. It seemed as if his heart had stopped completely. Gradually, he began to feel more lethargic.

"what did you do to me?"

"Thalassia poison, brother. Any Atlantean would have been killed by now, but you, it's just going to put you to sleep heavily"

"Cough, the trident will never recognize you" saying this, Arthur fainted. The wound plus the poison had already taken effect. It would take time for him to heal and detoxify.

However, Black Manta did not care. He got up, and although his helmet was completely destroyed due to the strong blows Arthur gave him, this did not stop him. Taking a knife from his arsenal, he approached the half Atlantean and wanted to stab him in the neck, but Orm stopped him.

"Don't kill him. He's still useful" Orm stopped Black Manta from killing him. However, Black Manta who completely hated Aquaman, didn't want to stop.

"Why should I listen to you, he is already here, in front of me. My revenge will finally be fulfilled" Black Manta accused Orm. He didn't care about anything but his revenge.

"Because he is right. The trident only recognizes my brother. My royal blood allows me to wield it, but I cannot use its power. Perhaps, at most, I can use 30% of its power. I need to figure out a way to get the power my brother has, and killing him won't do that. Don't worry, the promise I made to you will not change. Your revenge will come soon"

"You better Orm, or I will direct my wrath on your beloved people"

"DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN ME. Atlantis is not a town that will go down easy for an outsider!"

"Mmm, we'll see" with that said, Black Manta took off, making himself invisible. Orm didn't trust him, but he was pretty good for someone from the surface. He was still useful at this point to Orm.

A man, with red hair and beard entered just at this moment. He was King Nereus, father of Aquaman's wife, Mera, and ruler of Xebel, one of the seven kingdoms affiliated with Atlantis.

"Is he ready?" Nereus asked. Between him and Orm, they had made this plan to take down Aquaman. They knew that a direct confrontation would only bring their loss, more so when the other 6 kingdoms, were in favor of said ruler.

"Yes, please lock him in the pit. May he never see the light of day, ever again"

"Fine" with that, several Xebelian guards entered, taking the sleeping Arthur into the pit. The pit was full of sea monsters. And it was the deepest part of the ocean. It was not uncommon to say, that those who were there, never see daylight again.

"Okay, but we have a problem" Nereus said.

"What, did the other kingdoms hear about our coup?" Orm asked. For this to work, he needed to slowly entrench his power. Now, without Arthur, he could do that easily. But, still, he needed to gain the power of Poseidon's trident, so that the seas would recognize him as their ruler.

"No, they are unaware, of such an occurrence. The cover up that his majesty is ill will soon be revealed. The problem is, my daughter eavesdropped on the conversation I had with my generals regarding this issue, and escaped to I don't know where. By this point, I fear it will be impossible to trace her. Vulko is with her, too"

"DAMN IT!"

Mera was trouble. That's why he had asked Nereus to hold her captive. He was her father, so she could easily hear him. But he didn't expect, that the said woman was very astute, and knew something was wrong. Her escaping would bring trouble to his plan.

"Send several guards loyal to you to look for her. If she makes it to Arthur's surface friends, we'll be in a lot of trouble"

"Understood" Nereus nodded. He quickly departed to meet with his generals and plan the route to track down his daughter.

Orm was furious, but managed to calm down thanks to a few deep breaths. Finally looking at his brother's golden trident, he thought.

'Very soon I will become the ruler of all the seas, and without spilling a drop of blood of my people. All thanks to The Light'

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Lair of the League of Assassins, Nepal, December 17, 19:22, 2015 (two days after the dissolution of the Justice League)

"You've lasted a long time to come to see me. I thought you would do so immediately when you found out I killed Mr. Stone" a man with graying hair and beard spoke as his hands brewed jasmine tea. He was Ra's al Ghoul, member of The Light and leader of the League of Assassins.

"I've been busy" a serious voice came from the corner of a wall. A shadow materialized as a man dressed as a bat.

"Really? the League was just disbanded, but that shouldn't matter to you anymore. You were already out over a month ago"

Batman just looked at him, and said nothing. Ras, however, continued making his tea. When he finished he poured two cups and passed one to Batman. Batman began to drink. Ras was anything but someone who would use poison to kill his enemies. Drinking the tea was fine. Finally, Batman asked him.

"Did your spies tell you that?"

Ras smiled stronger because of this question. He knew it was impossible for Batman not to find The Light's spies, but already at this point, it didn't matter. The plans were almost done.

"It doesn't matter anymore. Soon, there will be a new order in the world, and we will be the center of it all"

Ras put down his tea and looked solemnly at Batman.

"Join me, Bruce. You are my heir. It is your duty to rule by my side, alongside my daughter. Think about it, Bruce. You don't owe the world anything anymore. Stop playing the hero, and start using your skills for what you were trained for. To rule everything!"

However, Batman just looked at him and said.

"I refuse"

Ras, though disappointed, had anticipated this response.

"Fine. This time, I'll let you go without any trouble. Take it as this old man's kindness for his old pupil. But the next time we meet, we'll be enemies... oh, and Bruce, don't come to this place anymore. We'll dismantle everything soon, and move to a new place"

"Why are you telling me this?" Batman asked. It was fine that he wants to recruit him like he always did, but telling him that he's moving and such, didn't suit the old leader.

"Because it doesn't matter what you do with that information, Bruce. In the end, all resistance will be snuffed out by The Light. All of our plans are so well laid out, that it's impossible for you to do anything to prevent it"

"Are you sure about that?" Batman pulled out a red button, and pressed it. Ras was not alarmed by this, as he knew Batman was not in the style of leaving bombs or sneak attacks. When several seconds passed without registering anything, he finally asked.

"And that was going to accomplish-"

However, Ras could no longer ask when, a voice came out of The Light's intercom. It was Poison Ivy's voice.

"Ras, cough, cough, cough, damn it, you sent us into a trap. We wanted to get Batman's files on the League and stuff from his damn cave, and when we got there we saw that a self-destruct sequence had been initiated. Damn, we barely made it out Catwoman and I, cough"

Ras couldn't even answer when another communication came in.

"The Thinker to The Light. The Watchtower, it's been destroyed. Total loss. Now it's destroyed pieces flying out of space"

This was The Light's idea. To take as a base the old base of The Justice League. Their facilities were modern and large for the core members. But The Thinker, who was trying to set up the Boom-Tube to get in, was unable to accomplish anything, as the structure had been destroyed. Clearly, Batman had planned the whole thing.

Ras, instead of getting angry, smiled wider. He thought his old pupil was cornered and defeated, but again, he was pleasantly surprised to see that he was not yet defeated. The Light, and more specifically, Vandal, had a strong opponent in this great game of chess.

At this point, more than anything else, Ras was sure that Bruce was the perfect heir. So much intelligence and skill in one person. So much perfection in one simple man. When he turned to see him and say something, the man had already left without a word.

Actually, Ras had been given a mission to capture the Bat. Vandal did not want to kill him because, to him, he was useful. In fact, many members of the Justice League were useful to him in the future. Vandal did not want to lose so much potential. Therefore, Ras had to capture Bruce, just to prevent resistance from the former heroes.

But Ras decided to ignore this mission. Because for him, there were two paths, well defined.

If The Light won, he could realize his dream of creating an empire and leave his name in history.

But if The Light lost, even if the odds were small, Ras would go happily to his grave knowing that there was a completely perfect heir to continue his mission.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter if The Light won or lost. Ras would be the winner.

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Location unknown, December 31, 23:50, 2015

"Ras!"

Ras was going over said event in his head. At this moment, he was sitting in a chair with a marked L3. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was so slow and rhythmic, it would appear that he was asleep.

"Ras!"

Reviewing the last moment he saw his former student, he almost regretted letting him go so easily. At almost the end of the year, Bruce had been a complete thorn in The Light's side. The worst part was that he was so well hidden, that neither magic nor technology had been able to track him down. He could expect nothing less from his heir apparent.

"RAS!"

"WHAT?" he finally opened his eyes, when he registered an annoying voice calling out to him. It was the voice of Poison Ivy, who was sitting in a chair registered as L13.

All the members of The Light, minus Zazzala (L9), Vandal (L1) and Lex (L2) were present in their boardroom, sitting in their respective seat. 

"I don't know why you let Batman go. He's ruined so much of our plans, up to this point"

"Mmm, you wouldn't understand my motives" Ras tried to justify himself.

"Actually, I'm still surprised that Batman, is Bruce Wayne's hottie. Fuck, he's hot" Killer Frost, the one sitting in the seat, L15 interrupted. Poison Ivy, nodded at these words. Certainly, Bruce Wayne was one of the most attractive men in the world. The one who spoke, however, was the millennial sorceress, Circe.

"Mmm, I don't know him. But I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that nice flesh of his" Circe (L4) said, while smiling lasciviously. However, that expression changed to one of anger, when she heard the sound of disgust from Mordru (L12).

"Buagh, how disgusting. Damn it, you're an old woman. How could you possibly think of doing that with these brats, Buagh"

"Shut up, you damn smelly spirit. You don't understand that we divine beings are ageless"

"Divine my ass. In my prime not even your titan father could give me a scratch"

"You want to fight, damned spirit?"

"Come on then, old witch"

They all had bored expressions on their faces listening to this discussion. Whenever they had a meeting, the two of them, they always argued. They were both sorcerers. They were both powerful. But most of all, they both behaved quite childish despite their age. In the end, it was Ras who had to intervene before the fight escalated.

"That's enough. Are you children?"

"You shut up you brat. I still can't understand, how you can use the fountain of youth left by that brat of Nicolas Flamel to revive, over and over again. To me, such a method is disgusting" Mordru spoke. He didn't like these brats interrupting his discussion with the old witch.

"Yes, shut up Ras. Even for me, your methods are considered a taboo in my village" Circe also lashed out at the leader of the League of Assassins.

Ras used the so-called Lazarus Pit, as his way of reviving, whenever he died. Actually, this Pit came from an old alchemist named Nicolas Flamel.

Alchemists were 'scientists' who wanted to explain the arcane art of magic. They used arcane methods to perform magic, although they could not perform it by their own means.

Nicolas Flamel was a man obsessed with immortality. He had managed to make a pit, which could revive him if he died. Only, in doing so, he had murdered thousands of innocent children, and was persecuted by the authorities of the time, so he had to flee to Asia.

There, he performed the same method again, to make the famous pit where Ras used to revive. Although a legend says that, in reality, he made another pit, being a total of 3. Although Ras still does not know if it was true or not.

"Nicolas Flamel... isn't that name in a movie called Henry Petter, the one about the boy wizard, who goes to that wizard school where they have those sticks that do magic" Doctor Polaris interrupted. The name Nicolas Flamel reminded him of that movie he had seen some time ago.

"Yeah, the kid with the scar on his forehead" Count Vertigo nodded. "It bored me, though. I fell asleep watching the 5"

"4 is the best. Humans have a good hand at making movies" Ultra-Humanity interrupted. Even as an ape, he had seen human movies. His favorites were the Star Wars ones, but that he would never admit.

"I didn't watch them all, but there was a character named Umbitch, who I just watched, and it made me want to impale her with my ice" Killer Frost spoke up, totally killer. Just remembering that wrinkled toad dressed in pink made her sick. 

"It's Leviosa, it's not Leviosar" Black Adam, who was with his eyes closed and arms crossed even said. He was also a fan of the movies.

At this conversation, the ones who had a look of utter disbelief because of this were the millennial wizards, who were previously arguing. Circe and Mordru had only one thought in their heads.

'Wizard boy, magic school, stick who makes magic... who did such a heresy?'

Circe and Mordru had an unspoken agreement to seek out the culprit of such works and make her pay. In England, a middle-aged woman writer felt a sharp chill down her back. But, she simply thought it was the cold winter winds.

"ENOUGH" a loud voice interrupted. It was Vandal Savage, who had entered along with Lex and Zazzala. They had already entered, and were completely numb to the conversation they had overheard. At this point, Vandal was sure he had recruited children to his cause. 

"Okay, it's time to start the main event"

Everyone stopped arguing, and became serious. Finally, it was all going to begin. Everyone was there for their own reasons. They didn't all get along, but they had a common front. Finally, all their collective efforts, had paid off.

Vandal, Lex and Zazzala, sat in their respective seats. The place where they were was a platform with the 15 chairs located in a crescent. The platform was rising as Vandal sat down.

Finally, the platform reached a place where many people were waiting for them standing. The number was in the thousands. Some were ordinary men, others were metahumans, there were even known villains. But they all had one thing in common. They all had a suit with an embroidery on the arm of a raised fist.

Vandal stood up and began his speech.

"My brothers. For a long time, I had a simple thought in my head. That chaos, was the only way to obtain evolution. And I was certainly not wrong. Every time one empire fell, another one rose. Every time a disaster occurred, we became stronger and overcame it. Today, however, with all that has happened, my thinking has changed. My brothers, at the rate we are going, we will destroy ourselves before an outsider does. Wars over ideological disagreements, global pollution, overpopulation, rampant crime stemming from extreme poverty. The world... is in total chaos"

Vandal looked at everyone present. A deep silence hung over the room.

"BUT NO MORE. I have given myself the task of saving the world, NO, I have given myself the task of WE saving the world. We will lead the world into a new era. A more technological and advanced one. A more powerful one. An era where merit and talent will be rewarded. Talent that anyone in this room has plenty of. Earth will become a superior entity to those outsiders who threaten us. They will fear us. They will praise us. We will no longer be the weak link to anyone. No longer will we see darkness. Now we will only see THE LIGHT"

"THE LIGHT!"

"THE LIGHT!"

"THE LIGHT!"

"THE LIGHT!"

[00:00, 2016]

A new era was about to come....

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AN: 

Chronology of events

-Edgar vs. Justice League fight

-Vandal Savage talks to Mordru of Ghost Rider

-Justice League first meeting after the fight. Problems begin in the group. 

-Batman's conversation with Green Arrow

-Diana leaves with Doctor Fate

-Aquaman is taken prisoner by Orm. 

-UN accepts Vandal's proposal 

(between this time, Superman is captured)

-Dissolution of the Justice League. 

-Batman talks to Ras 

-Celebration of The Light 

- Batman recruits allies and brings them to Lian Yu