More advantage chapters on [email protected]/Saintbarbido. Got new shit there too if interested.
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(1 week after New Elites Debut)
(General P.O.V)
"—oxygen levels dropping below 5%."
The voice crackled over the intercom like the dying breath of a ghost.
Inside the sunken submarine U.S.S. Halberd, panic and prayer mixed in the air as red emergency lights flickered against steel walls groaning under the pressure of the Pacific.
The sub had slipped beneath the continental shelf days ago during a classified patrol mission. Then it vanished from the grid. Not even its distress beacon had made it to the surface—until five hours ago.
Now, a thousand meters below sea level, the surviving crew huddled in the control chamber.
34 minds. 34 lives trapped in a metal chunk with water leaking through hairline cracks. The walls trembled. Ice formed along the corners.
The captain, a grizzled man named Decker, was gripping the console with white-knuckled fists.
"This is Captain Harold Decker of the U.S.S. Halberd," he said into the comm. "If anyone can hear this—we're losing power. Structural integrity is down to 18%. We don't have long before this pressure turns us into paste."
The crew around him were silent. No tears. No screaming. Just grim acceptance.
The lights dimmed again. The final backup generator sputtered and gasped.
Decker closed his eyes.
"Goodbye, boys," he sighed, pressing the transmission button one last time. "If this makes it topside—tell Command… we did our job."
Then, for a beat—
—static.
Then—
"Negative on the goodbye, Captain."
The voice came through clean, young confident, and very slightly robotic.
Decker's eyes snapped open. His crew straightened, disbelief washing over them like a second oxygen tank.
"Sir," one of the crew whispered, "Did… did he just say—?"
Decker pressed the receiver again, heart racing. "Whoever this is, we're over a thousand meters deep. No vessel can reach us in time."
The voice returned, tinged with a smile. "Good thing we're not a vessel."
Then came the faint sound of metal groaning—not from within the sub—but from outside.
And suddenly, light poured through the leaking crack in the hull.
Hot Scarlet light reminiscent of Superman's heat vision quickly sealed the crack.
"Captain," Cyborg's voice spoke through the comms, "Hold on tight. Cavalry's arrived."
Then the hull gave a shudder—not from pressure—but from hands gently gripping the reinforced steel.
(Jon's P.O.V)
The ocean was silent around our descent. Heavy — not just with water, but with the weight of lives balancing on the edge of death.
My ears rang with the echo of the submarine captain's final transmission, a calm resignation that barely disguised the panic underneath. I couldn't let that be the last thing anyone heard from him. This was why I'd formed the New Elites.
We were nearly seven thousand meters down — deep enough that sunlight had long given up. But I hadn't.
Supergirl and me hovered in the pitch-black stillness, enduring the heavy water pressure while holding our breaths. Our capes trailed like shadows in the ocean currents.
A massive chunk of metal loomed ahead — the U.S.S. Halberd — buried in the seabed and split nearly in two from its impact. Parts of the hull creaked like it was groaning from the pressure, preparing to crumple in on itself.
("Superboy, you've patched up the worst of it but it's only a temporary measure. You need to carry it out in the next 5 minutes or it's over.") Cyborg spoke through the mindlink connecting the team.
("All right,") I mentally spoke to Kara, pressing my fingers into the seafloor for leverage. ("We do this together. Remember what I showed you — you have to wrap your bio-aura around the sub like a second skin. Visualize it as a membrane, not a shell. Flex with it. Let it move with the strain, not against it.")
Kara gave a tight nod, her eyes glinting with the glow of Xray vision as she adjusted her posture in the water. Her hands hovered just above the buckled metal of the sub.
("Right,")she thought. ("Just like stretching saran wrap around a broken egg. Like Lois does.")
("Exactly." I grinned briefly. ("Only a hundred tons heavier and under crushing pressure.")
We reached forward together, spreading our bio-electric fields in thin layers around the submarine. I felt every bolt and seam as if it were my own spine threatening to snap. I whispered to it. Not in words — in willpower. I told the metal to hold. I told the ship to breathe.
Our tactile fields overlapped in a barely visible blue aura. The submarine groaned, lurching slightly as the water shifted around it. I dug my feet deeper into the muck.
"Now."
Together, we lifted.
The seabed resisted, clinging to the ship's ruptured frame, but we rose anyway, hauling the crippled vessel inch by inch. A cloud of silt swirled up like a ghost. My whole body trembled from the effort of stabilizing the aura field across the uneven surface.
A sudden hitch in the pressure warned me a moment before Kara faltered.
She was staring at something.
I turned my head, following her gaze — and saw it. Through the cracked porthole of the forward cabin, three bodies floated limp. Cold. Still. Gone.
Kara's expression shifted — pain, grief, then guilt. Her aura flickered for a heartbeat, just enough that a section of hull creaked in warning.
("Focus,") I said sharply, tightening my grip. ("They're gone. I'm sorry, but right now there are thirty-four lives still holding on by a thread.")
She blinked, then nodded, jaw tight. Her aura stabilized again, locking around the fragile structure of the sub.
We kept lifting.
Above us, the light of our approaching rendezvous ship began to filter downward like a promise.
We weren't losing anyone else today...
Suddenly, the submarine creaked as Kara and I strained against it's weight, bringing us to a stop.
I looked around for the issue. Turns out the vessel was wedged deep into a rocky ridge.
("Almost there,")I muttered, adjusting my grip. ("On my count—three… two…")
With a synchronized push, we dislodged the sub from the ridge. It lurched upward, but the movement dislodged a massive boulder above us. I saw it too late.
"Kara, look out!"
The boulder crashed down, pinning her against the seabed. Her aura struggled to hold back the crushing weight.
("I'm stuck,") she gasped, straining against the rock.
("Hold on!")
I reached out, focusing my psionic telekinesis. A purple light enveloped the boulder as I channeled my energy, lifting it just enough to free her. With a final push, I hurled the boulder away.
("Thanks,") she said, catching her breath.
But our relief was short-lived. The boulder crashed into a nearby chasm, triggering a deep rumble. The seabed trembled as a fissure opened, releasing a swarm of creatures with obsidian-gray skin and glowing red eyes.
"The Trench," I whispered, recognizing the monstrous sea dwellers. Once Atlanteans, they had devolved into savage predators, adapted to the ocean's darkest depths.
They surged toward us, their screeches muffled by the water but no less terrifying. Kara and I exchanged a glance.
("Take the sub and go. Get them to safety.")I instructed, handing over the weight of the Submarine to her.
She hesitated, glancing at the damaged submarine. ("Jon, I can't leave you alone with them.")
("You have to,") I insisted, standing in between the incoming horde and the Submarine. ("The crew's lives depend on it. This is me buying you time.")
Supergirl finally nodded, her determination evident. She enveloped the submarine in her full bio-electric aura, reinforcing its fragile structure.
The vessel, already weighing thousands of tons, felt exponentially heavier under the immense pressure of the deep sea. Her movements were slow, deliberate, as she began the arduous ascent, pushing it towards the surface.
As she left, I turned to face the oncoming horde. The Trench moved with terrifying speed, their red eyed, obsidian-gray forms slicing through the water. There were millions of them, a relentless tide of hunger and fury.
I braced myself, channeling every ounce of strength and focus. The battle for survival had begun.
(General P.O.V)
High above the churning Pacific, the Kryptonian-designed New Elites Jet hovered silently, its sleek form a testament to advanced alien engineering.
Inside, Cyborg, Raven, and Icicle Jr. monitored the unfolding crisis deep beneath the ocean's surface.
Cyborg's eyes scanned the holographic displays, his internal systems processing the data at lightning speed. "Jon's holding off the equivalent of millions of Aqualads down there," he remarked, referencing the Trench creatures' formidable strength and durability, comparable to Atlanteans due to their adaptations to the ocean's depths.
Icicle Jr. leaned in, trying to make sense of the readings. "But it's Jon—the miracle worker. He can handle a million Aqualads easy, right?"
Cyborg shook his head, his expression grave. "This isn't a simple 100 men vs. 1 gorilla scenario. It's more like 1 King Kong vs. a million gorillas, and the gorillas have the home advantage. Plus, King Kong has to protect one human girl, putting him at a disadvantage."
Icicle Jr. frowned, concern etched on his face. "Should we jump in to help?"
Victor glanced at him, his tone serious. "The pressure alone would crush you instantly. We're not built for those depths."
Floating nearby, Raven opened her eyes, breaking her meditation. "I have an idea," she said calmly.
Cyborg and Icicle Jr. exchanged a glance. Cyborg asked, "What do you need?"
Raven's gaze was steady. "Just one question: how many people can fit within the ship?"
Deep within the abyssal gloom, Superboy fought with relentless determination. His heat vision carved through the Trench creatures, their remains swiftly consumed by their own kind. Spinning, he tore through another wave, only to see more advancing toward Supergirl and the submarine. With a blast of ice breath, he froze the attackers, momentarily halting their advance.
Jor-el's AI warned, "After that stunt, your breath reserves are down to 50%. Another ice attack is not advisable. You need a plan of action."
Ignoring the caution, Superboy telekinetically seized the frozen mass of water and slammed it into the chasm from which the Trench emerged. "There's your plan," he muttered, clapping his hands.
But the ice shattered, and an even larger swarm erupted out of the hole, engulfing him.
Determined, Jon reached into their primitive minds, attempting to shut them down mentally. A piercing psychic scream retaliated, causing him immense pain and disorientation.
("Jooonn!!")
Supergirl watched in horror as he disappeared beneath the swarm.
As she prepared to intervene- Submarine be damned- a blinding explosion of White Light magic and Green radiation Ki erupted, obliterating the horde and sending a geyser to the ocean's surface.
A prone Superboy floated amongst scorched trench remains, unconscious.
Moments later, Supergirl, having ensured the submarine crew's safety via Raven's portals, slammed the now-empty vessel into the Trench chasm, sealing the hole.
Aboard the New Elites Jet, tension hung thick. Then, Supergirl's voice crackled through the mental link, ("Rachel, don't worry. I've got him.")
A weak voice followed,("Coming home, babe.")