Steppenwolf Arrives

Boom!

Tula felt the disturbance in the water behind her without looking back.

She swam faster toward the city. Once she reached the guards, they could deal with the surface infiltrator together.

He had to be a spy.

He must have come to scout Atlantis and sabotage it. Trouble in the capital would undermine the war effort. If she hadn't happened across him, his plan might have succeeded. At first, she had only wondered why anyone was returning now. Then his reaction had alerted her.

He didn't seem to recognize her.

Atlantis had ordinary citizens, but they weren't taking part in the invasion. Only selected warriors had gone to war, and those warriors should know her. Tula's strength and standing were hardly obscure. If someone had been sent back for reinforcements, it wouldn't have been a man who didn't recognize her.

Closer. Almost there.

She was about to call out when brilliant light flared in the city. A tremendous shock wave struck before she could understand what was happening, hurling her backward.

Thud!

Her back hit something broad and solid. Arms caught her and turned her around.

The spy!

She started to attack, but he spoke first. "Hold still unless you want to be swept away. You can't withstand a hit like this."

"You're... helping me?" Her surprise turned to anger. "What have you done?"

"This? Nothing to do with me. Or anyone from the surface." The pressure wave continued, crushing rocks and structures around them. Damon seemed untouched. He glanced over his shoulder. "Your real enemy has arrived."

"Our real enemy?"

"Who did you think it was? Surface dwellers? Don't be ridiculous. Orm started this war." He saw her preparing to object and cut her off with a smile. "Because they killed Atlanna? Please. Orm was the one who attacked her."

"Where's your proof?"

"Where's Orm's?"

Tula sneered. "He's the prince. Why would he kill the queen?"

"Know why Mera's so angry? The queen had a son by a surface man, and Mera was responsible for protecting him. Then he disappeared. She thinks she failed. Now consider Orm. He wants to wipe out the surface. His proposals to invade keep getting rejected. Then he discovers he has an older brother. Think he might do something rash?"

"Ambition can make people lose their heads."

"Why hasn't he held a funeral? Why can't he produce real evidence? Why hasn't any of you seen the queen's body?"

The questions left Tula speechless. She wanted to argue, but couldn't find an answer.

She couldn't explain any of it.

"The shock wave's passed. Let's meet your real enemy." Damon turned and swam toward the city.

She hesitated. She didn't know whether to believe him, but she decided to follow for now.

"What's your name?"

"Damon Keller," he answered with a smile.

Soon they reached the city.

Silt clouded the water. Countless buildings had been destroyed in the blast. Soldiers and civilians alike had suffered terrible casualties.

"God... how could this happen?" Grief and fury swept over Tula. Instead of stopping to help, she headed toward the center.

"That's... the treasury?"

She accelerated. The treasury's roof seemed to have been sheared away. Beside a stone pedestal stood a huge man in armor and a horned helmet. He held an enormous axe in one hand. The other rested on a box atop the pedestal.

A Mother Box.

"Stop!"

Tula charged with her fist raised. The stranger leaned back slightly, a contemptuous grin spreading over his brutal face. Then he punched her in the stomach.

Thud!

She had never felt power like it. For an instant, it seemed to tear straight through her. She shot away like a cannonball and vanished into the distance.

She traveled so far that it took a while for her body to begin slowing.

In the open water...

Her limbs twitched, then drifted outward as she began to sink.

One punch.

That was all it had taken to leave her gravely injured and unconscious.

Around the treasury, the sea churned and pulled back into an immense barrier. Water raced through it with the force of a high-pressure jet.

Then the barrier parted.

Damon stepped out onto the treasury floor.

"Steppenwolf." He shook his head. Studying that face too closely would be an act of cruelty. One look was enough. Somehow the man was uglier than he had been in the movie.

"Submit or die." Steppenwolf mistook Damon's supposed kindness for fear. He thought the human couldn't bear to look at him.

"Kneel!"

His command rang out with arrogant certainty.

Damon walked toward him, chuckling. He glanced at the Mother Box, now in Steppenwolf's hand. "Atlantis was your first stop? Where next?"

"This is the second."

"So you've already been to the Amazons?" Damon frowned slightly. Diana would be devastated when she heard.

He shook his head and met Steppenwolf's eyes. "What was that you said? Kneel?"

"Go on, then. Kneel."

Steppenwolf stared for a moment before understanding who Damon meant.

"If you want to die, I'll oblige. Once you're dead, I'll slaughter every Atlantean!" Roaring, he swung his great axe at Damon.