"Honestly!"
"Grounded again!"
Inside the royal palace of Xebel, the underwater kingdom.
Mera sulked alone, having been personally brought back and confined by her father, Nereus. It was always about being grounded, or constant fraternizing with Atlantis. Recently, even an engagement had come about. She, Mera, Princess of Xebel, was officially the fiancée of the King of Atlantis.
While she didn't particularly dislike the current King of Atlantis, having such a lifelong decision used as a bargaining chip by her father still irked Mera. Especially the words her father spoke when he brought her back today, pushing Mera's annoyance to its peak.
"You're grown up, Mera. You need to learn to discern right from wrong."
He said it as if her saving someone was some great offense. That robotic cat was clearly so interesting... Mera, who had listened to Woz tell stories every day for the past seven days, was quite familiar with it.
As for Lothar, not so much. To her, Lothar during these seven days was just a stranger soaking in a medicinal vat. Though she did admire his act of "fighting all of Asgard alone for the person he loved."
Was it a romantic... love story? Anyway, with Woz's embellishments, it certainly became a romantic love story.
Mera sat by the window, gazing out at the night view of the royal palace, lost in thought...
How enviable, a life full of grandeur...
Though she now had no worries about food or clothing, held status and position, possessed considerable power, and enjoyed boundless wealth, this wasn't the life she wanted...
Twenty minutes later, a handmaiden who came to knock on the door let out a gasp: "Oh no! Princess Mera has snuck out again!"
On the coast, Lothar, having dispelled the energy isolation on his body, stood on the soft sand, bathed in the gentle moonlight, looking around in confusion. All were unfamiliar sights.
"Woz."
"Woz is scanning the environment, Your Highness Lothar."
Invisible detection waves spread outwards from Lothar, gradually populating Woz's newly established map database with unfamiliar streets.
"Your Highness Lothar, data generation complete."
Woz reported, and all data concerning the small fishing village around the beach appeared before Lothar.
"It's useless. This place is still very far from the nearest Kansas. You absolutely won't find any records of Norse mythology here."
A clear female voice, mingled with the sound of waves, broke the silence.
Lothar turned to look. Under the moonlight, Mera, the Princess of Xebel, clad in a tight suit, stood directly in Lothar's line of sight. The innate nobility emanating from her caused even the usually wild waves to recede at her feet.
"You're familiar with this?" Lothar narrowed his eyes, looking at the woman who should have been grounded.
"Of course. Not only that, I have a map." Mera raised the item she'd brought from the palace in her hand.
"Weren't you grounded?"
"Worst case, I'll go back and write a self-reflection, just like you." Mera shrugged.
Lothar's gaze then shifted to Woz, who appeared to be minding his own business.
"Never mind that for now, can you drive?" Mera put away her map, expertly walked to the parking lot by the beach, and turned to signal Lothar to follow.
Then Lothar saw a perfectly ordinary tin box. Its quality must be very poor; one punch from him would likely scrap it, it was no match for his warship.
Controlling the water to flow into the car to open the door, Mera took the lead, sliding into the driver's seat and deftly performing a "keyless start."
The exhaust pipe and engine roared in unison, headlights illuminating Lothar's expressionless face.
"Hey, sit in the passenger seat."
"Otherwise, my father's men will catch up."
Mera tilted her head towards the passenger seat, gesturing for Lothar to get in quickly.
...
The old, beat-up pickup truck spewed black smoke as it sped down the empty road. The chilly sea breeze caressed Mera's fair face; only now did Mera feel like she was truly living.
Whenever she got tired of the undersea life, she'd come up and do this, only to be brought back by her father's men before reaching her destination in Kansas City.
"This thing is called a car. In our world, it's a very common mode of transportation."
"Created by the humans on the surface, it's very fast." Along the way, she introduced him to some aspects of this world.
"If you want to learn about Norse mythology, there's a big library in Kansas. It should have what you need."
"Not only that, but that library also has a lot of information that can help you familiarize yourself with this worl—"
SCREECH!!
Mera's voice abruptly cut off. She slammed on the brakes, and the screech of tires against asphalt pierced the silent night!
"Are those... members of my father's guard?!"
Under the bright moonlight, the guards who, as usual, were waiting for Mera at their usual rendezvous point, were being devoured by sixteen winged monsters.
"How could this be... those monsters..."
Mera was certain she had never seen monsters like these before. Not in royal secrets, nor in any human records or documents.
"Jie!"
Perhaps the large headlights bothered the monsters' eyes. The six creatures, blood still clinging to their mouths, flapped their wings and flew towards the horrified Mera. As Steppenwolf's minions, they would devour any animal that showed fear upon seeing them.
"Oh no!"
"Run!"
Silent water currents, manipulated by Mera, condensed into a wall. Facing this multitude of—
Whoosh!
A silvery-white energy shockwave grazed Mera's cheek. Her eyes widened, filled with disbelief. The sixteen grotesquely winged monsters were annihilated in an instant. Not even ashes remained.
Mera looked back. Lothar's right hand was held out, pointed directly at where the sixteen monsters had been. The pure moonlight fell upon his shoulder, shimmering...
...
Meanwhile, in Gotham, it was another night of drizzling rain.
Batman, active at night, wrestled for dozens of minutes before finally defeating six previously unseen monsters. He had intended to keep one as a specimen for study, but unexpectedly, these six winged creatures chose to self-destruct upon defeat.
"Alfred, new enemies are coming."
On the rain-soaked rooftop, the hoarse-voiced Batman spread his wings and leaped down.
With the invincible Kryptonian fallen, those who once feared him could no longer restrain their restless hearts. Bruce Wayne's instincts were always accurate.
The vanguards of chaos had arrived.
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