Multiverse: Deathstroke-Chapter 499: Villain

Stepping off the craft, Su Ming gave Arthur a hearty hug and pat.

Arthur was thrilled. Tempest had reclaimed his powers from Manta, restoring them. Though Poseidonis was wrecked, time would heal it.

Mera, bowing to the three goddesses, eyed Arthur warily, tracking his gaze.

"Hey, Arthur, you’re moving fast. We just parted, and you’ve made this much progress?" Su Ming said.

Arthur scratched his curly hair, laughing boisterously. "Haha, thanks to Poseidonis’s Arian modular design—what’s it called today? Modular architecture, I think. Makes repairs easy."

Su Ming, helmet under arm, scanned the area.

The city’s repairs were swift, but empty streets, claw marks, and bloodstains told of recent chaos.

"I need Atlantis’s help," Su Ming cut to the chase. Everyone was busy.

Arthur thumped his chest, muscles rippling. "No problem. You saved my life and Earth."

Mera sighed quietly. Arthur agreed without even hearing the request. Was that wise?

Seeing the goddesses behind Deathstroke, she suspected divine matters. After Poseidon’s betrayal, she distrusted gods.

"I had Barry deliver a theme park to Atlantis. I need to borrow one building for these three to live in temporarily."

Arthur didn’t hesitate. He wasn’t king—Mera was—but the park was a gift for him, via a League friend.

The owner wanting a room? No issue. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Of course. Barry told me. I haven’t thanked you yet. Poseidonis won’t be fun anytime soon. The goddesses can stay there."

Arthur nodded to the trio, familiar with Olympians from dealing with Poseidon.

"They’ve lost their divinity. No need for reverence—they’re just my spoils now," Su Ming said.

Chatting with Arthur’s family, they headed to the park at the island’s edge, mostly submerged but with parts above water.

A small temple would do. Egyptian designs offered better privacy than Greek.

The temple was bare, its skull and bone carvings removed by Barry to avoid scaring kids.

Su Ming approved. It was windproof, rainproof, and soon, the sea’s fish would be edible.

Arthur rubbed his hands, sheepish. "Still, they were goddesses."

Su Ming shook his head, addressing Arthur and the ex-goddesses. "Their power made them idols to humans, Atlanteans, Amazons—but it was coercion, worshipping their might, not them. Now, they should learn what earns human respect, to become truly human. That’s rebirth."

Arthur’s eyes swirled like mosquito coils, lost.

Mera got it, respecting Deathstroke more. Becoming respected humans? Noble.

Athena understood too. Did Deathstroke mean they should be superheroes?

But he and Hera had schemed, trading them like slaves from Olympus. How was that respectable?

Yet he was right. As near-mortals—stronger, tougher—they needed to learn human ways.

Millennia ago, Zeus and his "Prometheans" stole fire, splitting from humanity to become gods. Now, they had to reclaim humanity.

A cruel joke—all they’d had, gone like smoke.

Hera’s political marriages sought new allies, but could they save Olympus? Unknown.

Su Ming sighed at the trio. Hestia, the eldest, had a child’s common sense. Artemis, a hunter, killed animals, not people.

Athena, once an enhanced Diana, now a lesser Donna, was smart and combat-ready.

"Get my point?" Su Ming asked, helmet in hand.

"I do. We’ll help people, be heroes like Diana," Athena answered for them.

"Heroes? No way." Su Ming looked exasperated, sighing skyward. "With me around, you’re not fighting. Stay in the temple, study. In human society, knowledge and culture earn respect. Aim to be a ’girl group answering ten thousand whys.’"

"..."

Athena was speechless. Three ex-goddesses studying academics? What was he thinking?

"That’s it. No going out. Read and write daily."

Leaving the pained trio in the temple, Su Ming pulled Arthur outside.

"Got a copier here?"

"Yeah, what for?" Arthur asked.

Sea breeze tossed Arthur’s hair and beard, looking majestic. Mera trailed silently.

"I’ll have Barry grab a hundred Chinese college entrance exam practice sets from Asia for them."

Arthur’s eyes widened in fear. The goddesses were in a mental torture chamber.

Exams gave him headaches. School was rough; he couldn’t focus on books.

Asian exams were notoriously brutal.

"Won’t they go mad?" Arthur worried, not wanting Harley-level lunatics near Atlantis.

"They’ve got legs. They can leave." Su Ming smirked. "To the palace. I’ll contact Barry."

The palace stood intact, though stray fishmen wandered, docile but aimless.

The quantum comms room, soaked, still worked—League tech was waterproof.

A screen showed member avatars; tap one to connect.

Su Ming hit Barry’s smiling face. The call connected instantly.

"Arthur?"

"It’s me, Deathstroke," Su Ming grinned.

"You’re using Arthur’s terminal? In Poseidonis?" Barry’s breathing suggested he was running.

"Yeah. You sound mid-sprint. Where are you?"

"Myanmar—er, Thailand—no, Cambodia. Ugh, hard to say. Dinner invite?"

Barry’s无奈 was clear. The League’s subspace network synced with Flash’s speed force, but his pace was unstoppable.

Asking Flash’s location was pointless—he’d appear instantly.

"Come to Poseidonis for grilled fish. Grab a hundred Chinese exam sets en route."

"Uh, why so many tests?" Barry’s voice came from behind, holding damp papers.

Su Ming checked the stack. He hadn’t attended college, but the tiny, dense text screamed quality.

Volume guaranteed satisfaction.

"Someone gave me three beauties, but they’re uncultured. They’ll study." Su Ming closed the papers to dry. "Can you grab a Greek-to-Chinese dictionary?"

"Here." Barry flashed back with a library-borrowed dictionary. "But trading women’s wrong. Your client some Arabian feudal chief?"

"Farther north. Tribe called Olympus. Enough talk—let’s find edible fish. It’s getting dark, and I’ve got plans tonight."

Barry’s mouth twitched, recalling Athena.

Su Ming had no ill intent. Hera used them as pawns to manipulate him.

He saw through it.

Hera was set on trading them—to keep Zeus at bay and curry favor with the strong. If Su Ming refused, she’d offer them to others, maybe aliens.

Better to accept temporarily, let them adjust, then free them.

Like wildlife centers raising tigers, they needed time to adapt before release.

Simple release wouldn’t work—they might grow attached, causing future entanglements.

They had to see Deathstroke as a vile monster, never to return.

Hence, the exam papers—a push to flee.

Surrounded by a sea of questions, lax security, and Mera’s jealous glares (he’d seen her pinch Arthur with hard-water magic), they’d bolt.

Su Ming was sure. When they felt ready for human society, they’d escape.

Why "borrow" the temple otherwise?

If goddesses endured a week of exam hell, he’d flip Wilson Enterprises’ "W" and call it Golden Arches!

Athena would figure it out—escape meant freedom. Fleeing from Deathstroke wouldn’t strain Olympus’s alliance with him.

Torture or freedom? Only fools wouldn’t choose.

Never returning to Olympus or Deathstroke, living by their will and strength—that was truly living as humans.