Green Arrow:
"Hmm...," I say. My finger scrolls along the page as I keep reading the Seahorse's manual. "I knew it! I called it! EMP explosives. Ha!"
Tapping the page, my finger directly underneath the words EMP explosives, I keep reading the section.
"The Amelloan 'Seahorse' submarine comes with an extensive list of different EMP explosives. Oh, come on. How many different grenades does one submarine need?"
I shake my head and start reading the list.
"There are the basic EMP grenades which can disable all electronics in enemies' systems, the heavy-duty EMP grenade which can permanently disable all electronics in the surrounding areas, the virus EMP grenade, which will infect enemies' systems after rebooting---"
My eyelids begin to fall as I keep reading the list.
"Aww...," I moan, rubbing my eyes and then shaking my head. "I haven't done this much reading since college."
I close my manual and check the screen. According to the on-screen map, Atlantis is less than 50 miles away.
"Computer," I say, putting the manual to the side. "Do another scan. Are you sure Black Manta isn't chasing me anymore?"
The map showing the distance between Atlantis and me disappears. It's replaced by another map, with a bright-red dot at the center and a green line extending from it. The green line runs around the whole map multiple times before stopping and changing back.
"Confirmed," the Seahorse's computer answers. "No enemy seacraft detected within 30 miles of Seahorse."
"Thank you."
A familiar panel then flips over. On the panel is a bright red soda cup and a straw already placed in it. The panel moves itself up until the soda cup reaches my shoulder.
"Please enjoy the soda," the computer says.
"I already told you," I sigh, shaking my head. "I am not thirsty. Please stop offering me a soda."
The platform lowers itself, the panel flips back over, and the soda cup disappears. Looking out the window again, I almost cry when I see the familiar glass domes and black and blue buildings. Gliding through the water and back into the dock, the Seahorse slowly swims up before stopping.
"Finally. Ahh. No offense or anything, Seahorse, but I really hope it's a long time before you and I have to see each other again."
"Agree," the Seahorse computer replies. "Now please get out."
"Wait, what? Nope. Nope. Don't even want to know."
The second the glass window flips over, and I climb out, everyone jumps me.
"Oliver," Barry yells, "You're back!"
"Are you okay?" Selina asks.
"Where is The Man?" Kara asks.
"Did you find the orichalcum?" Martin asks. "Did you bring it back?"
"Hey," Harleen starts, "Now that you're back, can I have a turn?"
"Hey, hey, hey," I say, pushing everyone back. "One at a time. One at a time!"
Looking around, going from head to head, I spot one beautiful head with long blond hair. Running through the others, she pushes her way through and charges toward me. Opening my arms, she throws herself at me, and we embrace in a hug.
"Are you okay?" Dinah asks after pulling back.
"More or less," I answer. "I do have some bad news, though."
"Wonderful," Leonard scoughs. "We're already dealing with a plague in a kingdom full of people who hate us. What else can be thrown our way?"
I open my mouth, about to answer, when a light appears beside us. We all jump back. Slade and Jason Todd pull out their weapons. Cheetah raises one of her hands and claws jump out of her fingertips.
"It's a portal," Kara yells, jumping forward. "It's one of ours."
"Is it The Man?" Reverse Flash asks.
For some reason, no one appears through the portal. It opens, then closes itself, and if that wasn't weird enough, the teleporter that also came through the portal vanishes into thin air.
"Okay," I say. As we look at where the portal and teleporter were, we hear a loud splash and turn to look at the water. A massive white arm bursts through the surface and grabs the dock. It pulls itself up, and we see a giant, towering monster man with huge teeth and what looks like white rocks for armor.
"Oh no," Kara says, "It's The Man. He turned again!"
Kara rushes toward the transformed man, but he shoots out one of his hands, making Kara skid against the floor before coming to a full stop.
The Man raises his two stony arms and slams them together. The shockwave almost knocks all of us off our feet. Raising our arms and steadying ourselves, we look again and see the white armor cracking. A few seconds later, it all breaks off, and we see The Man in Sunglasses, in his human form again.
"Ahhh...," The Man moans, dropping to one of his knees, surrounded by his broken armor. Kara rushes to his side. She kneels beside him, placing one hand on his arm and a second on her back.
"Are you okay?" Kara asks.
"I'm...fine," The Man says between coughs. Still moaning, The Man places a hand on his head. Shaking it, Kara slowly helps him back to his feet.
"Oliver," The Man says. "The orichalcum? Do you have it?"
"Yeah," I say with a nod. "It's in the Seahorse."
"Thank you."
As The Man looks at the Seahorse, he then looks around at everyone else.
"How is the situation here? Has Superman attacked?"
"Surprisingly," Harleen says, "No. Minus the coughing, sniffling, and occasional throw-up, things have been really quiet around here."
"Odd. Superman hasn't attacked since the first time. Why?"
The Man shakes his head and looks back at the Seahorse.
"Never mind. For now, I need to focus on studying the orichalcum and making a possible cure."
The Man looks at Kara, who is still holding onto him.
"Thank you," he says before pushing himself off. The Man walks toward the Seahorse. He pulls out his cell phone and, with a few taps, the Seahorse begins moving by itself. It pushes itself closer to the Junker submarine. The mechanical arms then quickly extend. They reach into the Seahorse's storage bay and pull out the orichalcum container. A door I've never seen before opens on the Junker's side. The Seahorse slowly places the container on the door.
"Go back and help take care of Aquaman and the other Atlanteans. I'll move as fast to study and synthesize a cure, but I won't lie. It will take some time."
"Time may not be possible," someone says. Looking behind me, I see Dr. Crane and Iris running onto the dock with us. In Dr. Crane's hand is a clipboard with sheets of paper.
"I ran some tests on Mr. Aquaman and a few of the Atlanteans. It's bad. It's really, really bad."
Dr. Crane gives The Man the clipboard. While The Man reads over the paper, Dr. Crane explains it to the rest of us.
"Their vitals are dropping fast, like a rock in the water. Apologizes about the comparison, but at the rate they're dropping, they'll...they'll be dead in 3 days."
"3 days?" The Man repeats.
"3 days," Iris answers with a heavy nod.