The Next Queen of Atlantis

The cries faded. A soft rustling took their place.

Two long vines unwound from Ivy's arms. Without their support, she stopped swaying and sagged against Damon. The vines withdrew, and the tree house began to pull back with them.

The rooftop returned to normal. Sunlight reached them again.

Perhaps it was the fresh "nourishment," but Ivy seemed to bloom more vividly than before.

Bang!

The rooftop door opened.

Catwoman stepped out, looked at the pair without expression, and said, "I'm going back to Star City."

"Don't you want to see Harley?" Ivy slowly sat up.

Catwoman frowned without answering.

Ivy stood and got dressed alongside Damon. Smiling, she asked, "Don't you want to keep her, too?"

He shrugged. "A wild cat is more interesting than a house cat."

"Enough. What happened was a mistake. Don't think you can ever..."

"See? That's what I mean. She's fun when she bristles." Damon laughed. "If you want Star City, I'll take you there. If you want to visit Harley with Ivy, I'll take you both."

Catwoman huffed. In the end, she stayed.

Damon smiled and took them back to the Disciple.

June Moone and Mera were there when he arrived. Mera opened her mouth, then hesitated. He waved her off and took Catwoman and Ivy to the collection room.

Both women stared as they entered. The room held treasures taken from A.R.G.U.S., along with Damon's personal collection and trophies.

Seven bizarre-looking creatures? An orrery? Catwoman's eyes lit up at the assortment of valuables and curiosities.

She hadn't had a proper look during the party.

"Come on. Photos first," Damon said with a grin.

"Photos? What photos?"

"These." He indicated the pictures on the wall. Each showed a beautiful woman holding an identification placard, with her name and codename clearly displayed.

Once Catwoman understood what they meant, she refused. Ivy, however, made no objection. She wrote her placard and posed openly for him. When Catwoman still wouldn't cooperate, Damon simply used mind control to take her picture. Then he shrank them both and carried them inside.

The Hellboy world.

He took them straight to Harley and her two companions.

Harley threw herself at Catwoman and Ivy, wrapping them in an excited hug.

"Catch up. If you need anything, have Harley contact me." He left them there.

After hanging the two pictures, Damon went to the medical bay. Tula lay unconscious on a bed, connected to treatment equipment. Her condition seemed stable.

Footsteps sounded behind him. He turned to see Mera approaching.

"Thank you." She glanced at Tula as she spoke quietly.

"Getting restless?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to deal with Atlantis first, or go after Steppenwolf?"

"Steppenwolf." Until he was dealt with, resolving Atlantis's problems would accomplish little.

"Come with me." Damon led her back to the collection room. It was her first time inside, and the sheer range of objects stunned her.

"Impossible. That's... it can't be." She stared at one particular item. "The Trident of Neptune? Is it real?"

"It's real." He took it down and tossed it to her. "Your queen gave it to me herself. In exchange, I let her see her son. Don't look at me like that. I'm the one who sent Arthur Curry away."

Mera stared at him in disbelief.

Anger began to rise.

"Thinking of attacking me?" he asked with an amused smile.

She hesitated, then shook her head helplessly.

"You accepted me as your master. I won't leave you empty-handed. Borrow it. Once Steppenwolf is dealt with, go back to Atlantis. I want you to become its new queen."

"And Atlantis... belongs to you?" she finished.

Damon neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply opened a breach. "I'll tell you where Steppenwolf is. Go alone, or tell the others. Your choice."

Mera tightened her grip on the trident and stepped through.

His phone rang.

She had barely left when the call came.

There was no contact name, but the number looked familiar. Mildly surprised, Damon smiled and answered. He walked over to a display cabinet and reached in to toy with the sleeping Blood Queen, who looked like a doll. "Well, you're calling me yourself. Decided how to thank me for saving your life, Talia?"

"I'm in trouble," she said quietly.

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Fuck!" She sounded furious and desperate. That surprised him. She must be in real trouble to lose her composure like this. "Get over here. My death won't do you any good. Don't you want to make him a cuckold? Don't you enjoy taking another man's woman? Don't deny it. I know you do, or you wouldn't bother with me!"

When Damon first came to Gotham, Talia had considered him beneath her notice. She was Ra's al Ghul's daughter. Without his interference, she would already have disposed of Batman and destroyed the city. But as time passed, Damon's power had only grown. Whether she liked it or not, he now stood far above her.

She was frantic. Even after saying all that, she got no response.

"Are you coming or not? If you wait any longer, I'm dead!" A grunt interrupted her. Something clattered over the line, as though her phone had hit the ground.

Damon smiled, dissolved into a stream of data, and entered his phone.

Clatter.

His handset fell to the floor. He emerged from Talia's.

Several figures in black were attacking her. They wore masks resembling owls and fought with claws. Even Talia couldn't hold them off. They were driving her back, step by step.