Shadow Monarch in DC-Chapter 172: Salt, Sun, and Surveillance

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The ocean stretched endlessly around them, sapphire waves gleaming under the late morning sun. Kara floated easily on the surface, arms folded behind her head, her blonde hair all wet now, eyes half-lidded with amusement.

A sharp wave cut through the water from the shore fast. Monstrously fast.

Arthur.

In seconds, he breached the surface beside her in a surge of white foam and sea spray. His arrival disrupted the calm so violently that Kara was nearly knocked off her balance.

"You’ve been getting slow, Arthur," Kara teased, brushing salt water off her cheek. "What took you so long?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes, hair soaked and wild. "That was me trying to be slow. Human like."

"Uh-huh."

She swam around him slowly, circling like a shark sizing up prey. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and something wilder beneath. "So, wanna do something fun?"

"I thought this was the fun part," he said, floating lazily with arms behind his head, mimicking her earlier posture.

Kara drifted closer until only a few inches separated them. She leaned in slightly, her voice soft but sly.

"How about a spar, Arthur?" she whispered. "Here. In the ocean."

His eyes flicked open.

"You’re serious."

"Dead serious." Her grin widened. "Unless you’re scared of losing to a girl in saltwater."

Arthur stretched, letting his body drift toward hers with casual confidence. "Middle of the sea... fine. But I won’t hold back because I know you can take it."

Kara’s eyes glowed just faintly, lips curling. "Oh I sure can."

She struck first.

A sudden blur of motion, her fist came toward his jaw, fast and precise. Arthur ducked, the water parting around them as he twisted beneath her and swept her legs out from under. Kara spun mid-air above the waves and retaliated with a downward kick that cracked the surface like thunder.

Arthur caught her leg mid-strike. Their bodies collided briefly, chests pressed as the momentum drove them both under the waves in a swirl.

Underwater, the fight changed.

The ocean muffled everything, but not their movements.

Arthur wrapped his arms around her waist, twisting to pin her against the rocky seabed.

"Too easy," he mouthed, bubbles escaping his lips.

Kara smirked and suddenly headbutted him, hard.

Arthur reeled back, dazed. She kicked off the seafloor, spinning upward, fists aiming for the sky. She exploded from the water like a missile.

Arthur followed bursting out behind her, water trailing from his shoulders like a shroud.

High above the surface, their bodies collided mid-air. Kara landed a clean hit across his cheek. Arthur returned it with a strike to her ribs that sent them spiraling. Her laughter echoed through the sky.

"This is the most fun I’ve had all trip! It’s so hard to just act.. normal." she shouted.

"Same here," Arthur grunted, shadow energy curling around his arms. "Though this might ruin the beach for everyone else."

From the villa

Waves surged violently, crashing higher than before. Spray reached the edge of the pool.

Starfire shielded her eyes with her hand, looking toward the ocean. "They seem to be attempting to kill eachother."

Robin leaned forward, squinting. "No. I don’t think they are Star..." freewёbnoνel.com

Cyborg stepped out saying "Do they realize that they can send a tidal wave through here!"

Beast Boy, now a seagull, flapped away from the shoreline. "I’ll stay away from shore for now.."

Jaime pointed at the rising swells. "I’m getting Justice League training flashbacks. This is above our pay grade, I’m not going to stop them."

And Raven

She lay reclined on a lounge chair, black sunglasses over her eyes, long legs stretched out. She sipped her drink without looking up.

’Is this Kara’s way of flirting ?... Arthur does seem to enjoy it..’ she muttered to herself.

A tremendous splash answered her words like a geyser ripping from the sea, followed by a sonic boom of Kara chasing Arthur across the sky again.

"Really violent.." Jaime muttered.

Back over the water

Kara caught Arthur’s wrist mid-swing and spun, locking his arm behind his back. "Give up yet?"

"Give up what ?" he answered. with a surge of Ruler’s Authority, he reversed the hold, pulling her flush against his chest.

Kara flushed, breath short. "This wasn’t part of the spar."

Arthur smirked. "There is no rules."

Then they both crashed into the sea together in a flurry of waves, limbs tangled.

****

GOTHAM - BATCAVE

The glow of the Batcomputer cast an eerie light across the cave, cold and mechanical against the natural darkness that filled the cavernous depths. Endless data streams rolled across multiple screens heat signatures, biometric data, satellite feeds.

Seated at the main console, Bruce Wayne leaned forward slightly, cowl off, eyes hard and unwavering.

On one monitor, a live feed played in muted clarity: the private Waynetech island.

There was Arthur, moving like a torpedo through the water, Kara trailing behind him in mid-flight before plunging in again with a wave-crashing impact. In the background, the others lounged under sun umbrellas Dick laughing with Victor and Jaime, Beast Boy transformed into a pelican before squawking at a startled Cyborg.

Moments like this so rare. So human even if not entirely so.

Alfred stood beside Bruce, arms folded behind his back, a steaming cup of tea, probably drugged one, in one hand. His gaze followed the screen, then flicked to Bruce’s face. He waited.

Bruce broke the silence first, voice low and contemplative.

"Sometimes, when I watch them like this... I forget."

Alfred tilted his head slightly. "Forget, sir?"

Bruce’s jaw tightened, but his eyes remained on the screen. "That they’re not exactly normal humans. That none of them are."

He gestured faintly to the image of Arthur and Kara creating whirlpools in the sea.

"They laugh. They fight. They tease each other. You could almost mistake them for ordinary youngsters on a break from college. Arthur... even now... the way he carries himself you’d think he was just another young man trying to enjoy his summer." He paused. "Minus the flying, the ocean sparring, and the power to crush continents."

Alfred exhaled lightly. "Sir..."

Bruce leaned back slowly in the chair, eyes finally leaving the screen. "But that illusion doesn’t last long. It never does. Because deep down, I know what they’re capable of. I’ve seen it. We all have. one wrong day and..."

He turned toward Alfred now, voice quieter.

"I want to believe it’s safe to trust them completely and blindly. But something... always keeps me on edge. Especially with that person recently."

Alfred studied Bruce with a mixture of concern and weariness.

"Master Arthur is dangerous, yes. That much is undeniable. But if I may, monitoring his and the Titans beach day like a hawk from a cave in Gotham is perhaps... overreaching."

Bruce’s brow twitched faintly. "He destroyed a drone there."

"I imagine he would," Alfred replied dryly. "You did send it without telling them."

Bruce returned his eyes to the feed. "It was a precaution. I’ve placed a few more surveillance cameras along the palm trees."

Alfred raised an eyebrow, the cup of tea pausing near his lips. "You’ve hidden cameras in the trees, sir?"

"Only the trees," Bruce said. "Not in the villa. I have limits."

"Some might argue that hiding drones in foliage while your former ward tries to sunbathe stretches those limits, Master Wayne."

Bruce didn’t answer right away. The screen flickered for a moment as Kara and Arthur burst out of the water again, laughing this time, before submerging once more in a geyser of foam.

Alfred sighed and placed the cup down on a nearby tray. He looked at Bruce more directly now, a rare edge in his voice.

"Even gods deserve a moment of peace. And you, you need to learn that you can’t always be the one watching the gate. One day, you’ll look up from these monitors and find that the world moved on without you sir."

Bruce stood slowly, the chair rolling back with a faint metallic creak.

"And when that day comes," he said softly, "someone has to be ready when peace ends."

Alfred didn’t answer.

Because he’d heard this before. The words change, the images shift, but the man beneath the armor stays the same. Always watching. Always preparing for the war that might come even when surrounded by proof that, maybe, just maybe, there’s more to life than preparing for war.

The Batcave dimmed slightly, screens going into idle mode, but Bruce remained standing there half in shadow, half in light. A silent sentinel, even while the rest of the world danced in the sun.

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