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"Clark did say your powers were malfunctioning, i just didn't expect them to be able to activate on their own," Bruce frowned, not liking the tone which Ray spoke to him with.
However, he was Batman after all, so he quickly focused on the task at hand.
"Anyway, I've analysed the technology used in making the bracelet and i must say, i didn't expect you to be capable of such a genius device Clark," Brucw stated, truly feeling impressed.
Clark smiled, saying nothing. He possessed a superior brain which Bruce couldn't compare to, but it was just that he never really activately seeked knowledge like Batman who had dedicated his entire life ever since his parents death to studying, training and learning from the best of the best. Batman can be said to have fully utilised his genius-level intellect to the peak of what it could accomplish.
Clark had untapped potential greater than Batman's, but Batman was like a wise old man, full of knowledge and experience.
Whenever there was antlantean technology, he would study it, whenever there was Kryptonian technology, he would study it, whenever there was any new kind of technology the Justice League discovered, he would study it.
"Do you really think you can build a better version of the bracelet? I mean, that's advanced Kryptonian technology," Ray questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I've studied tech from many alien civilisations, even tech from Braniac, I think I can manage to create an upgrade of your bracelet, though, there seems to be a problem," Bruce said, frowning as he observed the data analysis shown on the Bat Computer.
"And what's that Bruce?," Clark asked showing a look of curiosity.
"You see, to create an advanced version of Ray's bracelet, I would need a power source more advanced than the one you used to create this one and there is hardly any such material on earth," Bruce said, rubbing his temples in distress.
"What about on other planets?," Ray asked, his eyes sharp.
"None of the planets In the League's database possess something like that either," Bruce replied.
"Is there really nothing in the Universe capable of acting as the bracelet's power source?," Clark mumbled, frowning in disbelief.
Bruce shook his head, before abruptly frowning. He seemed to have gotten an idea, suddenly jerking his head towards the Bat Computer as he quickly typed away at its keyboard.
"I recall going through the historical records of Atlantis a few months back, when I saw this," Bruce said, pointing to the large screen of the Bat Computer.
Ray and the others looked at the screen, only to see the image of what seemed to be a multi-colored stone which kept throbbing like a human's heart, projected on the Bat Computer's screen.
"What's that?," Barbara asked.
"That is the Zarthium Ore, the greatest artifact of Olympus, it is said to be hidden by Poseidon in a region of the city of Atlantis after Atlantis drowned," Bruce explained, his face serious.
"Atlantis? That's Aquaman's territory," Alfred commented.
"Seems like we need to pay a visit to Aquaman," Clark said.
"Let's get going then," expressionless, Ray said.
"Wait! I hope you both know that if you really take the Ore, you might attract the anger of the gods of Olympus," Bruce warned them.
Boom!!!
With a loud sonic boom, Ray turned around and supersped to face Bruce — his blue and green eyes glowing brightly, he said, "Let them come, i'll show them a GOD!."
Bruce fell silent, he could feel an unbelievable power emanating from Ray, something he'd never felt from any alien, metahuman or god he had ever met. He truly believed that if the gods of olympus antagonized him, Ray would eradicate them all from the face of the earth.
Seeing Batman fall silent, Alfred and Barbara also kept quiet. Ray then turned around and swagered off, Clark sighed before going after him.
_Outside the Bat Cave_
"Ray, I know your power —You can stop the gods of olympus if they come for us, but what i really want to ask you is... are you really ready to draw attention to yourself like this?," Clark asked. He knew how much Ray hated being in the spotlight while growing up, which was difficult since he had white hair and heterochromic eyes.
Ray had always had that depressed emo character because of the severe depression he had in his last life and only a few times did he really let his power go to his head and act fearlessly.
Ray said, thinking back to his vision, "I have no choice Clark, I have no choice."
Boom!!! Boom!!!
That was enough of an answer for Clark as the two brothers flew into the sky at supersonic speed, disappearing into the dark clouds of Gotham.
_Antlantic Ocean_
KaBoom!
Splashhhhh!!!
With an explosive sonic boom trailing after him, Ray flew over from the horizon, unhesitatingly speeding into the waters of the ocean.
Boom!
Splashhhhh!!!
Seconds Later, Clark followed and dashed into the ocean, struggling to keep up with 0.9% of Ray's speed.
He eventually caught up with Ray who was already in front of the giant force field protecting Atlantis. It was fortunate that oxygen wasn't a neccessity for the two of them, so they could survive underwater indefinitely.
The city of Atlantis within the force field was splendid to look at, it was futuristic and magical. There were countless tall strangely shaped buildings, multiple underwater hovercrafts, countless underwater creatures swimming all over the place and antlanteans swimming everywhere as though it were second nature to them.
Whoosh!
With his snow-white hair flowing elegantly in the water, Ray clenched his right fist, ready to punch the force field and destroy it when Clark suddenly swam in front of him, quickly waving his hands to signal for him to stop.
Bubble... Bubble... Bubble....
Ray tilted his head in confusion at Clark who then waved at Ray to follow him, before swimming right through the force field. Raising an eyebrow, Ray unclenched his fist and followed after Clark, also easily swimming through the force field.
"The force field is a magical one, it only blocks people who have evil intentions against Atlantis from entering and it also allows the people within it to be able to speak underwater," Clark explained.
"That's good and all, but let's not forget why we're here Clark, where's Aquaman?," Ray asked.
"He should be there, in his palace," Clark answered, pointing at a very tall majestic golden palace located in centre of Atlantis.
"What are we waiting for then?," without waiting for an answer, Ray swam at supersonic speed towards the palace with Clark right behind him.
They soon reached the entrance of the palace which was guarded by two atlantean warriors. As Ray and Clark approached, the guards immediately placed their spears in front of the two to stop them from advancing further.
"Speak Surface Dweller! Who are you? What business do you have with the King's Palace?," the two guards spoke in union.
"I'm a Member of the Justice League and I have come to meet with your king, aquaman to discuss an important issue," Clark announced.
The guards looked at each other before nodding, "Wait here, I shall inform the King of your visit," One of them spoke, before swimming into the palace, leaving the other guard standing at the entrance, glaring at the surface dwellers before him in disdain.
A few minutes later, the guard who had went in to inform Aquaman returned and hurriedly ushered both Ray and Clark in.
_The Throne Room_
"Clark, Is everything alright? What has brought you here?", Aquaman, swimming up from his throne, asked when he saw Ray and Clark swimming in. Besides him in the throneroom, there were Kaldur aka, Aqualad, Norm, Aquaman's brother and Mera, Aquaman's wife, who was currently pregnant.
"Sorry to intrude Arthur, this is my younger brother Ray. Ray, meet Arthur, Kaldur, Norm and Mera," Clark introduced.
"Are you a kryptonian, little one?," Mera asked, a little shocked.
"No, he's adopted," Ray answered with a blank facial expression, pointing at Clark whose face twitched slightly.
"What business have you brought your brother for in Atlantis, Kryptonian?," Norm questioned abruptly, swimming over from his seat to meet Ray and Clark.
"Well, we were kinda hoping you could give us the.. Uhm.. the Zarthium Ore?," Clark replied, sounding unsure.
"The Zarthium Ore? How do you two know about the Zarthium Ore?" Aquaman asked, frowning.
"Batman," Ray replied immediately.
"Batman," Aquaman groaned.
"May we ask what you need it for?," Kaldur, who had kept silent, suddenly spoke.
"Does it matter? You guys aren't even the owners, so can you just tell us where it is?" Ray asked rather seriously.
"What a spoiled little child!!," Norm roared and raised his hand, intending to slap Ray.
Bam!!!
Ray didn't hesitate to punch Norm in the face using superspeed, sending him flying across the room and slamming against the wall, unconscious.
"What is the meaning of this?!," Aquaman demanded, getting quite angry.
Clark also turned to Ray in shock, the little brat didn't even hold back a little. But he didn't know that Ray held back a lot, it was just that his powers were getting too unstable.
"I'm sorry Clark, but we need to hurriedly, I seem to have miscalculated the amount of time we have left," Ray said grimly as he showed Clark the bracelet which had now started blinking between blue and red a lot more rapidly.
"By my estimate, we have about 24 hours left or we're all toast," Ray continued. They had to get the Zarthium Ore soon, because it would take roughly about 20 hours for Batman to build the bracelet and connect it to the Zarthium to make it its power source.
"What the hell's going on?," Aquaman asked, anxiously. These two were going on about '24 hours left' and 'we're all toast' and he couldn't understand a thing.
"Arthur, you'll just need to trust me, can you do that?," Clark asked, looking into the eyes of Aquaman.
"Sigh! I can," Aquaman sighed and replied.
"Kaldur follow me, we'll take Clark and his brother to the location of the Zarthium Ore, Mera stay here and get some servants to attend to Norm's wounds when he comes to," Aquaman stated, before swimming away with Ray, Clark and Kaldur following right behind him.