Inspired by Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom (2023)
The Man:
"Oric--," Rusch stutters, "Oricho--Orich--what?"
"Orichalcum," I finish. "A dangerous and ancient mineral. It wasn't just poisonous, but also magic. During King Atlan's reign, we worked hard to destroy all traces of orichalcum. How Black Manta found any is--"
"Wait, wait, wait," Flash interrupts, shaking one of his hands left and right. "Did you just say King Atlan? As in Arthur's grandfather? The first ruler of Atlantis?"
"And you said 'we'," Oliver adds. "As in 'we'. As in you knew King Atlan?"
"Yes. Many years ago, I punched King Atlan."
When I say this, everyone looks at me with crooked eyebrows and invisible question marks above their heads.
"Calm down. It was justified. After all, King Atlan threw and almost impaled me with his trident."
"What?" Rusch yells out. The single question mark above his head, and everyone else's, splits into three.
"I'll explain it to all of you later. Right now, we need to find Aquaman and tell him what we've just learned. Come on."
I nudge my head and start pushing everyone out of the meeting room. However, before Kara leaves, I grab her hand and pull her back.
"Kara," I start. "Listen, while we're alone, I just wanted to say something really fast."
Kara turns and looks at me. Standing only a few feet apart from each other, I scratch the back of my head and clear my throat. My mouth bites my tongue, but I still force it open.
"I really, really miss you."
I feel like something, or someone, has just zapped me. Like someone just struck me with lightning and took away my soul. I feel numb, and at the same time, like some force is telling me to shut up, but I fight through all of it and go on.
"I don't know if it's just me or not, but lately, I feel like we haven't been as...'close' as we were before, and I don't want that. I don't know what it is you're thinking right now, but I'm really hoping that everything between us is oka--"
Before I can finish, Kara lunges forward and wraps her arms around my neck. She pulls me in, and our bodies press together. I think I can feel her heartbeat.
Supergirl:
As I hug The Man, I think I can hear his heart beating slightly. I don't know why, but as I hug him, it feels like he is warming up. Slowly, The Man raises his arms and hugs me back.
"I really miss you too," I start, "And no. It's not just you. I've been keeping my distance, but after some helpful words from Selina."
"Selina? Catwoman?"
"Yeah."
"Oh boy."
The Man shakes his head and sighs, but he's smiling.
"I guess I owe that woman now. I wonder if she would like some old gold coins I have. Probably. They are pirate golds. Literally sunken treasure I've found while exploring. Hmm."
I laugh hearing this. The Man laughs, too. Seeing him laugh, seeing how...different he is compared to before, I stop and start leaning in. The Man stops laughing, too. Slowly, he starts to lean in. Our faces come closer and closer together until I can feel his breath against my skin.
Closing my eyes, going on instinct, I think it was about to happen when, all of a sudden, a ringing cuts us off.
"Ahhh," we scream, jumping back. The Man, searching through all his pockets, pulls his phone out and answers it.
"Hello," he starts. "Who is this? What do you want? How did you get this phone number?"
"It's me," Anthony answers, "Higgins! I've been trying to reach you for ages! Are you okay? Is everything okay? Are you...by yourself?"
"I'm fine," The Man replies. "I'm fine, Higgins. I'm not by myself. I'm with...Kara."
"Kara? Supergirl?"
The Man rolls his head and brings up his phone.
"Hello, Anthony," I say. "Thank you for finding The Man. He's safe now."
"Oh, well, thanks for telling me! Geez. Here I am, panicking and worrying that The Man is alone and might blow up the world, and meanwhile, he is just fine and with his girlfr--"
"Bye," The Man shouts, ending the call. Clearing his throat and coughing into his fist, the Man looks at me.
"We should catch up with the others," he says, nudging his head. "Come on."
Following The Man, we quickly catch up with the others, and thankfully, none of them seems to have noticed we weren't with them.
We quickly find Aquaman, who thankfully is awake now.
"You have my thanks for saving me," Aquaman says while shivering, "And for taking care of my subjects, but that does not mean--"
"Anything," The Man finishes. "Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Listen, King Fish, we need to talk. Now! Follow me."
"Please hold on," Scarecrow says. "Aquaman's vital signs aren't properly steady yet. He's not ready for a fight."
"We're not going to fight," The Man says, "We're just going to have a little show and tell."
Eyeing something nearby, The Man drops down and digs through the medical supplies Selina brought earlier. Bringing up a white and yellow tube, The Man then pulls out one of his throwing knives.
"For the record, you were mean to us, so I'm not really sorry about this."
The Man then stabs Aquaman in the arm.
"Ahhh!"
"What?" Iris screams as she steps back.
"Why did you do that?" I yell.
Leonard chuckles.
"What are you doing?" Aquaman screams. He reaches for the knife, but The Man pulls it out and then stabs Aquaman with the tube.
"Relax, you morons. It's an EpiPen. I need Aquaman on his feet, even for a few minutes. The regular needle wouldn't have worked, so I had to break his skin another way."
"You could've given a warning," Scarecrow yells, breathing heavily and then covering his mouth.
"Come on, Crabby. There's something I need to show you."
"Fine," Aquaman says, grinding his teeth. "Guards. Follow me."
A small handful of guards follow Aquaman and The Man back through the hallway and back into the throne room. Aquaman drops back into his throne, and his guards position themselves around us.
"What is it?" Aquaman asks. "What is so important that you had to stab me? Twice!"
"Orichalcum," The Man says, his voice echoing in the throne room.
"Or--icha--lcum," Aquaman slowly repeats. "What is that? I've never heard of that before."
"It's what poisoning you, your guards, and your subjects," The Man goes on. He starts clapping his hands together before spreading his hands out and spinning around. As he does, the throne room disappears. The blue and green walls vanish. The lanterns fade away. Aquaman and his guards jump when they see a white and golden city.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking my men and me!"
"No way," The Man answers. "This is only a memory."
"A memory," I repeat.
"Yes. A memory of ancient times. Long ago, when the Earth was still young, and before Atlantis sank into the ocean."
"Before Atlantis sank into the ocean?"
Aquaman says this as he pulls himself up. Looking around the city, we see millions and millions of people wearing white robes and walking around. Hearing a horn somewhere in the distance, everyone turns their heads and sees an elderly man, wearing bright orange armor and green pants. The elderly man also has a crown and is holding Aquaman's trident. When the people see him, they all bow their heads.
"That is King Atlan," one of the guards says. "The first king!"
As King Atlan walks through ancient Atlantis, I see someone in golden armor and a pair of sunglasses walking beside him.