Chapter 172 – Allen Reinforces Atlantis
"Eh… Your Highness, look at how kinky Bruce is."
Allen squinted, observing Bruce bound by the Lasso of Truth in a rather artistic shibari style, while a wriggling venomous snake dangled from the mouth of the Merciless.
"This is so humiliating. I never thought you were this kind of Bruce."
Allen's eyes sparkled mischievously as he grinned like a thief who had struck gold.
Diana looked helplessly at the now-ruined Merciless, who resembled a broken toy. She tugged at one end of the Lasso of Truth and retracted it to her waist.
Without the Helmet of the God of War, the Merciless was just an ordinary human—any Amazon warrior could defeat him with ease.
"Imprison him."
Hippolyta had wanted to deliver immediate judgment for the fallen Amazons, but realizing that the situation was far from simple, she settled for detention for the time being.
An invasion from the Dark Multiverse was no small matter—so grave, in fact, that even the gods of Olympus might choose to remain silent.
"Next target."
Allen manifested a fighter jet and called out, "Princess, your ride awaits."
…
Atlantis.
A civilization thriving beneath the sea.
At that moment, the bustling and vibrant city of Atlantis was in utter chaos as countless citizens fled their homes aboard submersibles.
The Royal Guard engaged the invaders head-on, equipped with various underwater weapons. But these enemies were far more terrifying than even the creatures of the Trench.
They were the Deathwater Legion, summoned by Brucie Wayne—an undead soul from Negative Earth-11.
With pale skin and pitch-black blood, the Deathwater soldiers looked like bloated, underwater zombies—natural enemies of Atlanteans. At the sight of any living being, they would attack like a pack of ravenous wolves.
"Mera, take the child and go! I'll hold them off!"
Aquaman Arthur had returned to the palace, now a battleground.
Mera, cradling their child, looked anxiously at her husband and asked, "What about you?"
"I can't abandon the people of Atlantis. You must protect our child."
Aquaman brandished his trident and signaled to the guards. At once, the royal guard moved to escort the queen to safety.
Boom!
Moments after Mera's departure, the palace gates shattered into splinters.
A drowned revenant wielding a trident stepped forward, locking eyes with the waiting Aquaman.
"Looks like you're ready to die."
Brucie said calmly, "In my universe, I already killed the Queen of the Seas. I'd be delighted to slay an Atlantean king next."
Negative Earth-11 was a mirror world where all heroes and villains had swapped genders.
Thus, the female version of Batman—Brucie—had a male counterpart of Catwoman as her lover.
After losing him to a metahuman criminal, Brucie developed an extreme hatred for superpowered beings, eventually clashing with Atlantean civilization and driving her world toward ruin.
"Stop this madness and surrender for judgment, or I will end your life," Aquaman Arthur warned.
Had this taken place on land, he would've handed the criminal to the Justice League without hesitation.
But the invasion of Atlantis left no room for moral restraint.
"End me? You?"
Brucie surged forward, her speed underwater rivaling a torpedo.
Thanks to genetic modification, she possessed all the abilities of an Atlantean—and more. She could spew seawater to summon the Deathwater Legion and manipulate water itself.
Boom!
Their tridents clashed, sending ripples through the surrounding sea.
Having fought the Queen of the Seas before, Brucie knew water manipulation was useless against Aquaman. The only way to win was brute force.
It made sense. Arthur had invested all his magical resistance into water-elemental defense but had no talent for actual water magic.
He relied entirely on the Trident of Poseidon to command the seas.
In truth, the tridents of Atlantis were advanced tech—weapons capable of both close combat and ranged energy blasts.
Though… they seemed like the brainchild of someone missing a frontal lobe.
In their first clash, Aquaman was sent flying, crashing heavily into the royal throne.
As he struggled to rise, a wave engulfed him, tossing him around like driftwood.
Wham!
A trident came slashing down.
Brucie, once Batman, had mastered every martial art on Earth and even devised a new fighting system. Coupled with her hydrokinesis, she utterly overwhelmed Aquaman.
Sensing the power gap, Arthur instinctively raised the Trident of Poseidon to block.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Three crushing strikes.
The floor beneath him cracked like a spiderweb, and Arthur's back sank deep into the stone.
"You think you have the right to kill me?"
Brucie mocked him, toying with her prey, in no rush to finish the job.
Arthur felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
If brute force didn't work, maybe he could summon sea creatures for backup.
But Brucie could just call more of the Deathwater Legion.
"Stop!"
Just then, Queen Atlanna—Arthur's mother and a former ruler—rushed in. Seeing her proud son beaten to a pulp, she launched an attack without hesitation.
"Mother, no—!"
Arthur's heart sank at her reckless move.
Bang!
Brucie met the strike with a cold smile.
As soon as their weapons clashed, Atlanna knew she was in trouble.
Her trident broke after a single exchange.
The next blow came faster than she could react.
Pain exploded in her chest as she was flung into a palace wall.
Cough…
Blood spurted from her lips as she gasped in agony, every breath stabbing her with pain. She couldn't even get up.
"You'll pay for that."
Seizing the moment, Arthur surged forward, his Trident of Poseidon glowing with radiant power—a reflection of his blazing will to fight.
"Pay?"
Brucie caught the attack with one hand, mocking him with every breath.
"You think you're worth my price?"
"Too weak."
"Too slow."
"You don't even excite me."
"What a letdown."
"…"
Brucie parried every strike with ease, taunting him coldly all the while.
Losing interest, she suddenly countered with a powerful swing.
Caught off guard, Aquaman lost grip of the Trident of Poseidon.
As it flew through the water, his gaze followed it in shock—only to feel a searing pain in his abdomen.
Brucie's trident had pierced him clean through.
Then, lifting him high, she held him aloft like a trophy kill—like a Predator displaying its kill after impaling an Alien.
Crash!
Suddenly, a submersible crashed through the palace wall.
"Your Highness, be honest—did you do that on purpose?"
Allen stepped out from the co-pilot seat, a glowing oxygen dome formed by his sinister green lantern ring over his head. With a knowing look, he asked, "You totally used this rescue mission to settle some old score from the days when Themyscira and Atlantis were at odds, didn't you? Smashed their fancy palace and everything."
"I did no such thing. Don't make stuff up."
Diana also wore a luminous green oxygen dome, but avoided eye contact the entire time—clearly too guilty to meet his gaze.