After Aquaman blew the conch, he waited. Minutes passed. Then hours.
The sun has set, the stars filled the sky, yet—
No one emerged from the sea.
Arthur paced anxiously along the beach, his expression grim.
From the very start, he had told Batman and the others that his Atlantean friends usually arrived within ten minutes of hearing the conch.
But now—
Several hours had passed.
And the ocean remained silent.
"What's going on?" Arthur muttered. "Did something happen to Atlantis?"
Although he had never felt close to Atlantis, it was still his mother's homeland.
And he had friends there.
The thought that something terrible might have happened filled him with unease.
"Or... maybe try blowing it again?" The Flash suggested hesitantly.
Arthur snapped, "I've already blown it ten times!"
But despite his frustration—
He picked up the conch and blew into it again.
This time, it wasn't for Batman and the others.
It was for himself.
He needed to know what had happened.
A few steps away, Shin and Batman were whispering to each other.
"Could Atlantis be in trouble too?" Batman muttered. "The Parademons might have adapted to the ocean."
Shin shook his head.
"That's unlikely. Atlantis is a fortress. If something's wrong, I'd bet it has to do with the Mother Box."
"The Mother Box?" Batman's eyes narrowed. "You mean that teleporter device from Apokolips?"
Shin nodded.
"Yeah. After the last invasion, the three factions that repelled Apokolips—humans, Atlanteans, and Amazons—each kept one Mother Box."
"We lost contact with Wonder Woman… now Atlantis has gone silent."
"And the Parademons are already here."
"Something is definitely happening with the Mother Boxes."
For ordinary humans, Apokolips' invasion was ancient history.
Their lifespans were too short.
The war had happened thousands of years ago, and now, it was nothing more than legend.
To most of them, the Mother Box was just some alien technology, nothing more.
But the Atlanteans and Amazons were different.
Atlanteans lived 300 years, with their royal family living far longer.
Amazons were practically immortal.
[T/N: In the Wiki, it is stated that 'Themyscira is a homogeneous nation of women governed by Aphrodite's Law, which declared that the Amazons would be immortal as long as no man sets foot on their island.']
For them—
That war wasn't a legend.
It was personal history.
Some of them had fought in it themselves.
They knew the stakes.
And if the Mother Box was activating—
They would take action.
"Then the Atlanteans and Amazons should be our allies, right?" Batman asked.
Shin shook his head.
"Not necessarily."
"Even their gods—Poseidon and Zeus—were defeated in the last war."
"And without their gods, their civilizations have been declining ever since."
In theory, Atlantis and the Amazons were powerful nations.
But in reality?
They were relics of the past.
Atlantis once thrived under the sea god Poseidon.
The Amazons were once warriors of Olympus.
But now?
Their gods were dead.
And without them—
Their civilizations had stagnated for centuries.
Atlantis looked advanced.
But in reality, it was falling apart.
Many ocean creatures had mutated, losing their intelligence.
Entire underwater kingdoms had died out, their cities turned into deserts beneath the sea.
And while pollution played a role—
The truth was that Atlantis was dying long before humans ever built factories.
It wasn't just environmental damage.
It was a civilization in decline.
"In DC," Shin continued, "God is real, but he never intervenes."
"The real power players were the Olympian gods—Zeus, Poseidon, Ares…"
"But when Apokolips invaded, the Olympian gods fought—and lost."
"After that, they either died or vanished."
The Olympians in DC were a lot like the Aesir in Marvel.
Once, they ruled the world.
Then—
Ragnarök came.
Marvel's Aesir was destroyed by Hela, Surtur, and Thanos.
DC's Olympians were wiped out by Apokolips.
Now—
The Earth's greatest defenders were gone.
And the next invasion was about to begin.
"The last time Apokolips invaded," Shin said, "Earth barely survived."
"And that was thousands of years ago—when we still had the Olympian gods."
"Now?"
"The gods are gone, the armies are weaker, and Apokolips has only grown stronger."
"If Superman wasn't here, this war would already be over."
Batman's expression hardened.
"So you're saying…" he muttered, "the Mother Box is the key?"
Shin nodded.
"The demons appearing on Earth were probably an accident. They shouldn't have been able to teleport here at all."
"That means something is wrong with the Mother Box."
Batman crossed his arms, thinking.
"If the Mother Box is the gateway to Apokolips…"
"Then protecting it is our top priority."
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