In the depths, the palace of Atlantis thrummed with a bellicose energy. Orm, now styling himself Ocean Master, paced the throne room, his black and silver armor gleaming with a sinister light. Before him, Corum Rath, though loyal, made one last attempt to reason with his new sovereign.
"My lord, if we launch an open war, the casualties among our people will be immense," argued the general, his deep voice filled with concern. "The surface-dwellers have protectors. The Justice League. They will not be overwhelmed without a fierce defense. Their technology, while primitive, is vast in number."
A cruel, arrogant smile stretched Orm's lips. He turned to a liquid crystal screen displaying the schematics of an ancient machine, with complex, organic forms.
"Your fears are understandable, Corum, but obsolete. I have discovered a relic from our distant past, a marvel of Atlantean technology our people forgot out of fear of its power."
He enlarged the image, revealing a geo-acoustic generator capable of influencing tectonic plates.
"This machine can generate tsunamis of a cataclysmic scale, directed against any coastline we choose. It will give us a decisive, overwhelming advantage. We won't even need to engage our armies. A single wave will be enough to wash away the shame of the attack on our king and remind the surface of its true place."
His gaze grew distant, almost ecstatic.
"The tests were conclusive. Very conclusive."
---
On the Surface, New York.
In a state-of-the-art medical unit, the atmosphere was tense. Aquaman lay unconscious on a reinforced medical table. Doctors bustled around him, looking frustrated and worried. Conventional scanners and surgical instruments were useless against his unique physiology. His skin, of superhuman density, resisted scalpels and needles.
"I can't even draw a blood sample!" exclaimed one of the doctors, helplessly.
The door to the room slid open, admitting Batman, followed closely by the rest of the League—Superman, Wonder Woman, Utopian, and Hawkgirl. Their faces were grim.
"How is he?" Superman asked, his voice low but charged with an intensity that made the doctors turn.
"Stable, but that's all we can say," replied the head of the medical team. "We can't assess the extent of the internal damage. His natural defenses... are an impenetrable barrier to our medicine."
Batman approached the bed, pulling a scanner from his utility belt. He passed it over Aquaman's torso.
"His cellular density is such that it blocks radiation. It's like trying to see through lead," he murmured, more to himself than the others. He turned to Superman. "We need to get him to the Watchtower. Atlantean or Kryptonian technology in the med-bay is our only hope to treat him and understand what really happened."
Suddenly, a wall screen displaying news feeds changed. A red alert flashed, showing abnormal seismic readings off the Atlantic coast. Predictive models simulated the formation of a monstrous wave, apparently targeting the East Coast.
"By Poseidon..." Wonder Woman whispered, voicing everyone's thought.
Utopian looked at the screen, then at Aquaman's pale face. He understood now. The earthquake in Japan... it wasn't just a natural disaster. It was a test.
"They don't just want war," he said, his fists clenching. "They want genocide. And they're using the same weapon that nearly killed millions in Japan."
Batman's gaze met Superman's. The mission had just changed. It was no longer just about saving a king. It was about preventing a massacre and a total war. And time was running out.