8 Chapter 8: The Watch Tower

Acnologia woke up to find himself in a hospital-like bed. He lifted his upper body to sit on the bed when he realized that his hands were bound by a small metallic cage that extended from the tip of his fingers to the start of his forearms. He could not even see his hand as the cage covered everything with the intent to completely restrict his movement.

He shrugged his shoulder upon seeing this. It might have stopped him from using Alchemy before but now he had a philosopher stone and a very big one to boot. All he needed was a thought to disintegrate his shackles but he did not due to what his Haki was picking up.

Nothing. After spreading his rage outside the place he was in, he felt nothing, not even the ground or air. He was intrigued by where he was and thus decided to allow whoever shackled his hand to keep stay in the delusion of him being powerless.

Acnologia stopped thinking about the shackles on his hands and closed his eyes. He had been too absorbed in his surroundings and the shackles on his hands that he did not notice the power dampener that was on the table beside him. Batman had put it on him when they placed him on the bed but Orin disagreed and took it off. After what had happened, they agreed to follow Orin's advice concerning Acnologia.

When he closed his eyes, he was trying to feel the philosopher stone inside him. He needed to know the full amount of its power before attempting a transmutation. Whatever that weird boy was, had a lot of life force and did not die. He could bring his mother back from the dead without doing anything she would condone.

What he did to the weird boy was not something Atlanna would condone since the person in question had tried to kill Acnologia with her appearance. Acnologia spent ten minutes gouging the power of his philosopher stone. His instinct told him that it had enough power for a transmutation. Now all he needed was Orin's blood. He could bypass the needed ingredients necessary for an Atlantean transmutation but he needed the blood of the person he wanted to resurrect or a close relative that had his or her blood.

He left his bed and walked to the door. It opened and Acnologia saw Orin accompanied by Superman and Wonder Woman. Before any of the three heroes open their mouths, Acnologia spoke first.

Acnologia: Orin, give me your blood.

It sounded like an order because it was. Superman and Wonder Woman looked at Orin who was rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. If they had not met Aqualad, both heroes would have started to doubt that Orin was the actual king of Atlantis. Even if Acnologia had diplomatic immunity that did not explain how he was able to talk to his supposed king in such a manner.

Orin sighed before speaking.

Orin: *Sigh* Why would you want my blood?

Orin had lived with Acnologia long enough to know that there were some words he needed to avoid if he wanted to have a civil conversation. If he had asked, "Why do you NEED my blood?" Acnologia would not have answered but simply took it by force at some point in the future. Orin had enough problems with his duty as a hero of the land, king of the sea, and husband to want to add Acnologia's prideful tantrum as he would call them into the mix.

Acnologia looked into Orin's eye and spoke.

Acnologia: I want it to bring mom back to life.

This shocked Orin.

Orin: Back to life?! But didn't you say that people would die if-

Acnologia: That was before that bastard stabbed me and I siphoned his... energy from him. I don't know what he is to survive that but now I have enough to bring her back to life safely. All that is missing is her blood.

Orin instantly understood. Acnologia would never defile Atlanna's grave no matter how much it was essential to acquire her blood, the last piece to bring her back but Orin was right in front of Acnologia. He had his mother's blood inside him thus it could work. Orin missed his mother. He would not dare say he missed her as much as Acnologia out loud as previously stated he had enough problems to deal with.

Orin: How much of my blood would you n- I mean the procedure require?

Acnologia: The procedure would require just a few drops of your blood.

Orin was ecstatic after hearing this. His mother would be brought back to life and most importantly Acnologia would no longer be his problem. He could not count the amount of time he wished his mother was alive so that she could deal with Acnologia. He was sure that Orm would cry tears of joy when he tells him this news.

Orin was correct about one thing, Orm would cry if he learned that his mother was brought back but they would not be tears of joy. He wanted the throne of Atlantis, and Atlanna being alive would guerpodize that. All she needed to do would be to ask Acnologia to help find Ocean Master as his telepathy with marine lifeform was greater than Orin's telepathy. Orm was even partially sure that Acnologia knew that he was Ocean Master but did not care enough to tell anyone as Ocean Master had not attacked him.

Orin: Great! When do you want the drops of blood?

Acnologia: Right now but we are moving to a bigger place to perform the transmutation.

Orin: I know the perfect place.

Orin led Acnologia to the tree garden of the watchtower while Superman and Wonder Woman were looking at two metal sculpture that was flipping them off on the ground. The Watchtower is an orbiting satellite and the true headquarters of the Justice League. Yes, they were in space and that was the reason Acnologia could not sense anything outside the watchtower. He would understand that when he arrived at the tree garden.

Acnologia looked at the earth for a minute. Orin thought he was being mesmerized by the scenery but Acnologia was thinking of something else.

Acnologia: 'Oh we are in space. I guess this makes sense. It still isn't going to affect the transmutation but now that I think about it. How did that philosopher stone battery know what mom looked like?

Only the people of Atlantis know what she looked like and very few people from the palace knew her mannerism well enough to fool me even if I was shocked for a second. Someone was after my necklace whether it was for the Kryptonite or something else is a mystery to me for now but what I know is that whoever is behind this will pay!'

Acnologia finished his thought and looked at Orin who had just bitten his finger. Blood was flowing out of his bite wound but instead of falling, it started to elevate between both of them. Acnologia clapped his hand. He had removed his shackles when he saw Orin and transformed them into his response to whoever put them on.

As he was about to start the transmutation, a translucent green-skinned alien phased through the floor between Acnologia and Orin in an attempt to stop them. Both Atlanteans knew who that Alien was. It was none other than a founding member of the justice league, J'onn J'onzz A.K.A Martian Manhunter

J'onn: Wait! I don't know what you are doing but it would not be wise to do it here where any mishaps could endanger not just you but everyone in the Watchtower.

Acnologia: So you wish to stop me?

J'onn had heard from Wonder Woman and Superman what Acnologia had told Aquaman. He also knew how much the late queen of Atlantis meant for Acnologia. Any negative answer would lead to a fight that he did not wish for. All J'onn saw in Acnologia was a grieving child that was in the process of grief. He picked his next words carefully.

J'onn: No, I just think it would be better to change the location of what you were about to do for example on Earth.

J'onn's goal was to buy some time for the league to question Aquaman on the safety of whatever Acnologia was attempting to do. Acnologia looked at J'onn for a few seconds before looking at the Earth on his left and thinking to himself.

Acnologia: 'I would rather do the least amount of tries. I should use the philosopher stone a few times to get used to it. that would decrease the chances of transmuting something I did not want into this world. This is about bringing my mom back to life, I can't let my ego cloud my judgment.

I know they are going to be wary of me trying to bring her back to life. I mean in any fiction this is the part where things would go wrong and someone unleashes chaos or evil upon the world. I know this is going to work because I have the philosopher stone but being careful does not hurt. Odds are they are going to try to trick me into waiting until they determine it is safe.

I can use that to my advantage. I need two things to further decrease the chance of an accident happening during the transmutation. I need to learn what that weird boy is while I get familiar with using the philosopher stone and I need to learn about the surface's magic.

I am sure if I show that I am interested in magic someone will use that as a reason to postpone the transmutation and limit my encounter with Orin if possible. I am sure Batman will be the one to do that but that will work to my advantage since I only need the blood of a biological son of mom, Orm is always on the table.

I hope the magic from the surface world is more diverse than the one from Atlantis. If that is the case I can replicate Superman's physiology without risking his life. I heard that Kryptonian grow stronger by absorbing the rays of the sun. I could finally be able to recreate Sunshine with that. It won't be much at the start but with time it will be just like in the anime after I tweak it a little bit.'

Acnologia looked at the Martian.

Acnologia: Now that you mention it, the procedure could be upgraded. Orin, do you know where I can learn magic from the surface world? 'I can't ask about the weird boy just yet.' He thought.

While Acnologia was having his internal monologue, J'onn had calmed down Orin. He now realized that it was dangerous to attempt resurrection without proper measure. The fact that Acnologia accepted to postpone the resurrection of their mother was already a godsend to him. That would have been the hardest part.

Orin had just remembered that Acnologia never let his ego get in the way of things whenever they were linked to their mother or better himself. The funny thing was that the league had just welcomed new members into their ranks, one who was a renowned magician recommended to Wonder Woman by the retired Kent Nelson A.K.A Doctor Fate himself. If this was not a sign he did not know what it was.

Orin: Yeah, there are multiple places where you can learn the magic from the surface world and it turns out that one expert in such a field is in the league, I'll ask if he can teach about the surface world's magic.

Acnologia nodded and left the tree garden. He spread his haki and noticed that someone disappeared. He concluded that was the exit to this place. He walked toward there. on his way, he met Wonder Woman, who was heading towards the tree garden.

Wonder Woman: Where might you be going?

Acnologia: I'm hungry thus I'm leaving to eat something.

Wonder Woman: *Chuckle* You don't need to leave to eat, there is a cafeteria here. I am also hungry would you like to come with me to grab something to eat?

Acnologia nodded and let her lead the way. As they made their way to eat, Wonder Woman tried to start a conversation.

Wonder Woman: I am quite intrigued by the moves you displayed during your fight with Superman. I heard it was a unique Atlantean martial art. Do you have a name for it?

Acnologia: I do and it wasn't just one martial art.

Wonder Woman: Oh, care to explain?

Acnologia: No. I am not naive enough to explain my skills to someone I do not trust. Even if I do not sense malice from you, I do sense that you have an ulterior motive.

Wonder Woman: Aquaman was not exaggerating about your senses. Though I do not have an ulterior motive. I just wanted to propose an offer to you if you were interested in it.

They arrived at the entrance of the cafeteria and Acnologia stopped upon hearing Wonder Woman.

Acnologia: An offer?

Wonder Woman: Yes, I would like to offer a mentor-mentee proposition to you.

Acnologia brought his right hand on his chin as he started to think.

Acnologia: 'From what I've seen she is the most dangerous of the league since Superman pulls his punches. Batman would be the most dangerous due to his willpower if he actually went for the kill. I feel like she would go for the kill and that is what I need to increase my skills as well as my haki.

I have yet to acquire internal destruction, future sight, or Haoshoku coating. I need to be pushed to my limits for that to happen.'

Acnologia: I accepted.

Wonder Woman: Great!

Acnologia: But be warned I won't go easy.

Wonder Woman: Huh?

Acnologia: My training will increase at random whenever I feel that the limits have been breached.

Acnologia started to walk into the cafeteria leaving a bewildered Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman: Huh? D-Did he just- *Sigh* By Hera, this isn't going to be easy but an Amazon never quit.

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[Unknown Place]

Footprints could be seen being made in the sand but what was weird was that no one was making them. What was even weirder was that a grey robbed man who had chains attached to his wrist and who was holding something under his grey rob walked following those footprints. The weirdest part was that when he stepped on those footprints, they would disapear when he lifted his foot. He continued to follow those footprints leading him to somewhere only he knew.

???: All is as all should be.