Chapter 84: Rebellion
Just off the coast of Bludhaven
New Jersey
May, 2006
Annoyance. I have not felt annoyance in years. I did not feel it when Zeus humiliated me since that was just rage that is very much still burning to this day. I did not feel annoyed when I had to deal with mercenaries sent to kidnap or assassinate me or a member of my family, rather it was clear disinterest and pity for the fools. And I certainly did not feel annoyed when I failed to achieve mushin, rather it was a small amount of disappointment mixed with a bigger hunger to achieve it. Annoyance is an emotion I have not felt in years, not even when that fool of a principal attempted to blackmail me. However, in this moment, facing this army of atlanteans led by that fool Orm, I genuinely feel annoyed.
Being the King's brother and a member of The Light, Orm should know that our very existence is at stake now. He should know that Earth is currently under heavy scrutiny by every single pair of eyes that have any form of divinity attached to it. Earth is quite literally caught in the crosshairs of Darkseid, Highfather, and now Zeus. Were I a betting man I would bet every piece of wealth that I own that every other pantheon is also watching this spectacle with no small amount of amusement. Orm should know all of this. Yet here this fool stands before me, with this division of combative atlanteans ready to wage war against Gotham and Bludhaven. One does not need to be a genius to figure out that Orm is responsible for Orin's injuries. The power hungry imbecil no doubt planned for his brother to die by that curse so that he may use it as an excuse to become King of Atlantis and attack the surface world. I also wouldn't be surprised if he attempted to marry Mera himself, he was alway a jealous younger brother.
Yet here is the fool leading an army of atlanteans to wage war with the surface world. What could he possibly get from this pointless attack?
"What is the meaning of this attack Orm? The surface world has not done anything to warrant such an invasion." I question him as I slowly walk towards him while ignoring the countless guns pointed in my direction by the trigger happy atlanteans.
"You dare say that this attack is unwarranted?!" screams a hysterical Orm with bloodshot eyes no doubt due to excessive "crying". "When you polluted our oceans we did nothing. My brother, our King, was far too kind for you people. He advocated that we seek peace through diplomacy, and like the fool I was I believed him." says Orm with a heartbroken voice. "I believed him when he said that he would come to a mutual and peaceful understanding with the surface world's leaders. How could I not believe him when, true to his words, pollution was reduced by a large percentage? Unfortunately that outcome was too good to be true and your people had MY BROTHER, OUR KING, ASSASSINATED!" exclaims Orm, rousing the atlanteans into a furious roar, causing my left eyebrow to twitch a bit in annoyance. "AS SUCH, I SAY NO MORE! THE SURFACE WORLD WILL PAY FOR THEIR CRIMES AGAINST ATLANTIS!" with that roar Orm lunges towards me, trident in hand, aiming for my skull.
With ease I tilt my head slightly to the left, dodging the thrust while my left hand comes up and grabs the shaft of the weapon to pull him towards me. Caught off guard by my maneuver, Orm was unprepared for the kick that struck his chest once he was close enough, sending him flying back into the ocean while I control part of the wave so send his division of atlantean soldiers back with him.
"Ambrosius, can you please explain to me why there is a wave hundreds of feet tall simply standing there a few miles short of colliding with Gotham and Bludhaven?" comes Batman's voice over the communication array behind my left ear.
"Aquaman's brother became power hungry and quite bloodthirsty." I reply as I begin to feel a massive creature coming from the ocean, where I threw Orm, towards me.
"Do you need any help?" he asks me.
"No, but it would not hurt to have members of the league situated in Gotham and Bludhaven just in case the division facing me is actually a decoy to allow others to sneak into the cities." I tell him while examining the approaching creature for a hint of its identity and purpose.
"Very well. Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, John Stewart and Superman are available. Scáthach is already in Gotham with me so we should be fine. How is Aquaman?" he questions with a hint of worry that only those who truly know him would ever be able to detect.
"He should recover easily. Morgan is tending to him." I answer him just as a massive sea serpent emerges from the wave.
"Merde." I whisper under my breath while my left eyebrow twitches a bit.
"French? Interesting, I knew you spoke latin and a slew of other languages. I didn't expect french." he casually comments as if he could not see the massive sea serpent facing me from his surveillance systems.
The serpent is at least two thousand feet tall without counting the rest of his massive body that I can feel lingering in the sea, it possesses glistening blue scales, a head shaped like a dragon with a mouth full of massive teeth bigger and taller than even Superman, two big horn coming from its skull while a singular sharp fin travel from the back of its head all the way down its body. The most impressive feature of the beast is not its size however, nor is it the fact that the trojan sea serpent itself, a creature that Heracles supposedly killed, is alive. Rather it is the amount of intelligence that I can see in its eyes and the fact that it recognises me as a son of the sea yet still chooses to face me.
"Batman, I am going to need you to clear the beaches and to prohibit any traveling by sea until I say so." I tell him as I slowly let the wave go, allowing it to envelop me and to return the ocean back to its natural state.
As soon as I let the wave go completely however, the sea serpent lunges towards me with its mouth wide open to swallow me whole. With my enhanced speed I easily outmaneuver around its head while my previously casual clothes morph into my atlantean armor. Surprising me with its agility, the sea serpent's head easily turns to follow while it once again opens its mouth. Instead of attempting to eat me however, the beast decides to spit out a highly pressurised jet of acid, forcing me to shield myself in a hardened construction of a water bubble before taking control of the poison and sending it back to the serpent's face. With a pained roar the creature retreats its head as the acid burns its flesh before fizzing out of existence. Surprisingly instead of completely retreating, the beast now stares at me with a baleful glare while its head easily heals in seconds
With a roar the beast once again lunges at me while I dodge to the side and slash open its temple as the head passes me by. Like with the acid, the wound closes quickly without even slowing the beast down as it turns its head and once again spits acid towards me. With ease I send it back towards the beast but miss this time as the creature dodges the acid this time.
"What are you?" I ask it with an annoyed expression as I swim towards it and stab it in the forehead while sending lightning into the wound in hopes of doing more damage, but to no avail as it easily heals over while he attempts to shake me off his head.
No where in legend does it state that the trojan sea monster could spit acid, nor did it state that it was so big. Yet I know that this is the beast's identity, just like I instinctively know what my location is based on longitude and latitude, or what type of sea animal I am facing. It is simply something a son of Poseidon can do. A side effect of our greater range of powers, those very same powers that are currently telling me that this is the trojan sea monster.
Stabbing my weapon back into the creature's skull, I begin to swim down its body in a circular motion while dragging my trident, still lodged in its body, along with me in the hopes of bleeding it out with a wound large enough. As I travel down its body, the beast roars in pain and begins to thrash about in the water with the hopes of shaking me off of it. Unfortunately for the sea serpent I plan to finish this battle here and now with having to resort to any more of my powers. Zeus already suspects that I am more powerful than I let on, there is no need to confirm that theory for him. Otherwise he might just do something smart for once in his life and smite me before I become any more powerful.
As I near its tail I notice the resistance that my trident faces increase, but with a bit of added effort I am able to easily overcome it and split its tail wide open. Turning to face the creature, I expected it to be dead, or at least bleeding out. Instead I come face to face with it as it lunges at me with a furious roar and spitting acid in an attempt to finally rid itself of my existence.
"*Enough!*" I roar at the beast while reaching out with both my telepathy and divine powers over sea creatures. "*You are a creature of the sea, created by my father with no purpose other than to serve his whim when he decides who you are to destroy, and as such you WILL obey my orders!*" I exclaim while with a concentrated effort I force my will upon it.
Sure enough the beast stops its attack and simply floats there while observing me with its intelligent eyes.
"*What is your name beast?*" I question it while floating close to it, only stopping a few feet away from its face.
"*I have none*" he replies with a deep voice in my head.
"*None? My father has never named you?*" I ask him with a frown.
"*Of course not.*" scoffs the sea serpent, earning it a raised eyebrow from me. "*Why would he? He is the great Poseidon while I am a mere beast.*" comments the sea serpent with a growl.
"*You do not like being called a beast?*" I ask him.
"*I have no qualms with being called a beast for that is what I am. A sea serpent is merely a type of beast after all. However, there is nothing mere about me. I am one of the greatest sea serpents to ever exist.*" he says with pride.
"*Very well. How would you like to be called?*" I ask it.
"*You may call me Bahamut.*" he answers nonchalantly.
"*Last I checked, that name was taken.*" I reply with a raised eyebrow.
"*So? I do not care.*" he casually replies as if he did not just take the nickname of an already existing sea monster.
"*Very well. Now that this is out of the way, we need to talk. I cannot allow you to attack those cities.*" I inform him.
"*You think I want to? I would rather be sleeping than doing this.*" he replies with a scoff. "*But somehow that mortal's trident allowed him to command me.*" he says with a low growl.
"*You mean this?*" I ask him as I use my telekinesis to drag Orm's discarded trident to me.
"*Nooo, I meant the one you used to carve me up with.*" he answers with a sarcastic eye roll before answering seriously. "*Of course I meant that one.*"
"*Sassy and lazy. What an interesting personality you have for a sea monster.*" I answer him as I store the trident in my storage rune. "*What do you say to becoming my familiar?*" I ask him.
"*What are the benefits?*" he asks me with interest.
"*You will get to sleep as much as you want except for when I need your help with something.*" I answer him.
"*I don't really see you needing my help with anything, so sure.*" he nonchalantly answers.
With a smirk on my face I inscribe a set of runes on his forehead. This array will not only make him my familiar, but it will also boost his intellect while granting him the ability to utilize limited magecraft and the ability to take a human-like form.
"*You should go to sleep now. The changes that this array will bring upon you are best done while sleeping. We will talk more when you wake up.*" I tell him as I finish inscribing the array on his scales and he swims off towards the depths of the sea.
"An interesting display of power my son." says Poseidon as he materialises in front of me in a swirl of sea water with his trident in his left hand.
"Poseidon." I say as I greet him with a bow of my head while slightly tightening the grip on my trident.
"No need for formalities son. You may call me father." he says with a genial smile reminiscent of his counterpart from the PJO world.
"How may I help you father?" I say reluctantly.
"Simple. Cease your protection of the surface world and join me." he says as he extends his right hand to me. "Even as we speak, King Orm leads part of the atlantean army to ravage Gotham and Bludhaven."
"I cannot." I tell him with a frown.
His smile falls for half a second before quickly reappearing on his face. This time far less genuine than earlier.
"And why not?" he asks me as he retracts his hand. "What tethers you to them? Is it power? Or perhaps a woman?" he questions with a raised eyebrow. "Worry not. Join me and you shall rule the seas and bed any woman you wish!" he declares with a laugh.
"No. I will not join you." I answer him. "Not even with your offer of power and women."
"I do not understand why you cling to these mortals. They are beneath you and not trustworthy. They do not and will never understand you. Join your family son." he says with a frown.
"And our family is trustworthy?" I ask him with a laugh, causing him to frown. "Please father, do not insult my intelligence. Our family is anything but trustworthy. Even now you betray your wife and eldest son, Triton, for power. I can see it in your eyes, the willingness to cast them aside for the more powerful son." I tell him as I swim closer to him with a glare before pointing towards Bludhaven. "These mortals however would rather die before casting aside one of their own. I would rather put my life in their hand one hundred times rather than ever trusting ANYONE from our wretched 'family'."
"YOU DARE!" exclaims Poseidon as he explodes with power, blowing me hundreds of feet backwards. "I AM YOUR LORD AND FATHER AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!" he roars out as the sea churns around us and begins to exert an extreme amount of pressure on me.
Maybe I went too far. I'm not powerful enough to face him yet, especially not in the sea where he is most powerful, besides I can endure bowing down to the gods a bit longer until I'm powerful enough to do otherwise.
Yet even as I doubt myself, a voice deep within me refuses to back down. Listening to Neptune and Salacia back during my days as a legionnaire was different from this. They actually treated me like family. I was a son to them first and a soldier second. These gods are not the same. They do not understand the importance of family. Instead all that matters to them is power, power, power. Squabbling with each other for more power like a bunch of children. No, I am done bowing down to them. I will never bow to them. Not now or any other time in the future.
"No." I calmly answer him even as I begin to feel fear envelop my being. "You are NOT my father. You are a shadow of his every weakness and flaws and I refuse to obey you." I tell him as I draw on my power like I have never before, not even when I sunk that monster filled island. "I am Ambrosius Malphas, son of the sea and war, slayer of Titans, bane of Giants!" I declare as my power burst forth from my being and I am enveloped in a blood red and sea green aura. "I have traversed through Tartarus fearlessly, led legions of heroes to victory, and I am tired of bowing down to you WORTHLESS gods. I will die before I ever do so again."
"THAN DIE." he roars as the waters encompass me all around.
Unfortunately for him I have no plan of dying yet. So with a roar I channel every ounce of power within me, divinity or otherwise, and send it through MY trident before blasting with a beam of raw divine power.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone