58 SS - Surging Current

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming

Everybody knows that it's moving fast

Everybody knows that the naked man and woman

Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead

But there's gonna be a meter on your bed

That will disclose

What everybody knows

********

Mindful of her image, even with only a few onlookers, Artoria only ordered a light snack.

"A blueberry muffin, a breakfast sandwich, a slice of banana bread, and a kiwi smoothie." It wouldn't do to seem like a glutton, after all.

"Of-of course, ma'am, your majesty," the poor waitress stuttered, writing the order down with a trembling hand.

"I will just have a Flat White," Robin interjected with a kind smile, taking pity on the poor woman who was clearly nervous in their presence.

"And I will have the same, thank you," Wonder Woman, the local version, said as well.

"Right away, princess," the young woman hurriedly nodded up and down as if a bird picking at the ground before scurrying off to complete their orders.

Despite the small scene the trio had caused, there were few other patrons in the small cafe this early in the morning. It was barely six thirty in New Zealand, and the only people up and about at this hour were few and far between.

So when Nico Robin, Artoria Pendragon, and Wonder Woman walked into the cafe after an eventful night, the teenage waitress, the cook, and an elderly couple were the only ones present. All four were shooting the women looks while trying to be discreet, but none of the trio were bothered. The smell of freshly ground beans after the chill spring air was invigorating after their long night.

"Thank you for your aid," Diana said to Robin as they waited for their orders.

"It was no issue," the former pirate said with an easygoing smile. "I was in the area, and search and rescue comes relatively easy to me."

"There is no need to denigrate your accomplishment," Artoria chided gently. "You saved a number of lives that would have been lost had you not stepped up."

"We may be able to lift a ship, but even we cannot be in multiple places at once," Diana agreed. "That is a powerful and helpful ability you possess. I am envious."

"It is quite rare for me to be thanked, so I will simply accept it this time," Robin smiled wryly. "For the longest time, I was unable to swim despite spending most of my life at sea. Rescuing drowning people. Being thanked. People jealous of my power rather than scared. It has been a night of firsts."

"If you wished, it would not be the last," Diana said persuasively. "The world always needs more heroes. You could do a lot of good."

"I don't think I can be a hero. I'd have to share my meat," Robin giggled.

"Meat?" Diana asked, confused by the non-sequitur.

"Sorry. An old joke from my old crew," Robin waived it off. "They did great things in our world, but we were not heroes. Never wanted to be either. We were just dreamers, and any good we did was tangential to our own goals. Our captain, in particular, hated being called a hero. He always said that heroes share their meat, and he refused to share any meat, so he couldn't be a hero."

"That is... one definition of a hero," Diana said, still looking a bit perplexed.

"He sounds like a wise man," Artoria nodded, understanding the deeper connotations of Monkey D. Luffy's words thanks to the numerous times Robin had spoken of her former friends. To be a hero was to sacrifice.

"Uh... Pardon me," the waitress spoke up hesitantly, holding a tray of drinks and food. "Your orders."

"Thank you," Diana received her drink with poise, and the other two did the same, Artoria digging into her food with efficient movements. At once classy, as it was horrifically quick.

"That actually brings me to why I asked you here," Robin continued after sipping her drink lightly. "I do not know if the others have told you, but I am an archeologist."

"I did not know that," Wonder Woman responded. "Your family is notorious for keeping each other's secrets. I should not be surprised, though. I suppose we all thought you were warriors rather than people with jobs."

"While we all possess combat capabilities, only about half of us use it in our day-to-day lives beyond standard training to keep in top form," Robin explained.

Medea was a researcher. Tsunade considered herself a medic before a kunoichi. Emma was a businesswoman. Thanks to the lack of Grimm, Glynda felt herself more of a teacher than a huntress. Priscilla, a 'bard.' Even Ranni thought of herself as more of a 'ruler' or mage than an active combatant. Melina was still finding her place in the world. Yoruichi straddled the line thanks to her spy work, but it was only Scathach, Artoria, and Diana that actively sought out combat situations.

Mikael considered himself 'the greatest hobo to ever live.'

His words, not hers.

"I've been in New Zealand for the WWI exhibit at the local museum," Robin continued. "It holds an artifact relating to my current field of study."

"Atlantis?" Artoria asked in between bites.

"The local curator claims it to only be a photo of soldiers, but I believe one of them to be an Atlantean," Robin nodded before looking at Wonder Woman. "Please tell me everything you know about that civilization."

"I am afraid I don't know much. The name is familiar, of course, but that is it. I have made no study of it nor remember any of my sisters speaking of it at length. I simply thought they were even more reclusive than my people."

"They weren't," Robin shook her head and sighed. "They actually had a robust trade system with civilizations on land, likely due to limits of material found underwater. Then all traces of them disappeared between thirty and forty years ago. I am trying to uncover why. Nothing sticks out to you?"

"Apologies, but nothing does. What makes you think I could help you," the Amazonian asked with a curious frown. "And why not ask my counterpart?"

"Because she knows about the Atalantis of her world, not this one. In her world, the city continued to exist in the ocean until the end, whereas, in this world, there is no proof of its survival past the 20th century. Their reclusivity can explain the lack of evidence, and Mikael's efforts in the ocean tragically removed any ruins that might still have existed."

"But why me?"

"Wonder Woman is well known to have fought in WWII. In fact, there is a photo of you at the exhibit," Robin replied with a raised brow. "I had hoped you had met with an Atlantean during your time. Also, the deities of your religion are reported to be the ones to have cast it down in mythology."

"My mother held the title of Wonder Woman at that time. We look similar," Diana explained. "I am one of the youngest amazons, and I did not leave my home until slightly before the turn of the millennia. I, unfortunately, cannot help you."

"Truly," the King of Knights asked in surprise, finished with her food and sipping at her smoothie. "Diana, our version, first left her home to aid in the world war and continued to act as a hero for the next century."

"As Robin said, there are differences between worlds," Wonder Woman smiled wryly.

It was a constant point of confusion ever since her 'twin' had shown up. For every threat she had told them about ahead of time that managed to pay off, two more were either completely unknown to her or were different in this world.

"And your home has no records of Atlantis?" The archeologist pressed. "No trade passed between your lands? Invoices? Records? No diplomatic envoys? What of your mother? May I speak with her? Or your gods? According to Diana, Atlantis venerated Poseidon, your deity of the seas. Would he know?"

"I imagine Lord Poseidon would know something, as might my mother," Diana allowed. "The former, I am afraid, I cannot aid you in contacting. It is not up to us to dictate to the gods. On the other hand, my mother should be willing to answer some questions on the subject when you visit."

"Visit?" Artoria asked.

"She wished to speak with my counterpart as well as her 'husband.'" Neither of the other women at the table commented on how the amazonian said the word oddly. Both could imagine how disconcerting it was to meet a version of yourself in such an unusual relationship as theirs. "It is why I wished to speak with him yesterday, to tender a formal invitation to Thymescria. I do not believe my mother or the rest of my people will begrudge a few more members of your family visiting as well. Despite our isolation, they are quite curious about the outside world."

"You invited Mikael to your home," Robin asked in disbelief. "Your home filled with strong, opinionated, religious, women who have had barely any contact with the rest of the world for millennia. Our husband, the god killer in a polyamorous relationship with a dozen women, Mikael? "

"Yes?" Diana squirmed in her seat at the intense look the other two gave her. "Should I not have? He promised his best behaviour, and my counterpart vouched for his conduct."

"That will either end in a comedy or tragedy," Robin giggled behind her hand.

"What my friend means," Artoria said with a slight glare at the former pirate. "Is that Sir Mikael will do his best to honour his word. But he is... opinionated. And his sense of humour is an acquired taste. He is also not one to suffer injustice against himself and his family without reprisals."

"He is a petty man who likes to mess with people, is too fond of puns, cannot stand gods, and, in his words, 'is a firm believer in gender equality,'" Robin 'translated.'

"You believe I should rescind the invitation?" Diana asked, her frown deepening. "My mother will not be happy. She was quite insistent on meeting with him and my counterpart. If he believes in gender equality, I fail to see how that would be a demerit."

"The gender thing is a joke of his. Means he doesn't look down on women. He treats them just like men."

"And that is a bad thing?"

"No," Artoria denied firmly.

One of her favourite aspects of Sir Mikael was how he did not try and coddle any of them despite being of the opposite sex. Modern 'chivalry' might mean particular courtly behaviour towards the fairer sex, but she had lived as a man for too long for her to be comfortable being on the receiving end of such actions.

"If we take last night as an example," Robin elaborated. "If a ship is sinking, it wouldn't be 'women and children first,' it would be 'children and parents first.' He just doesn't care about gender. Mikael is apathetic about many things most people find a concern, and sometimes that clashes with people who do care about such subjects. That is why I said it would be a comedy or a tragedy."

"I see," Diana idly ran her finger along the rim of her cup. "So I should not worry about him, but how my sisters would react to him."

"If he promised to be on his best behaviour, he will be," Robin nodded. "He keeps his word as best as he can, even if he can twist it to his favour. He'll still make jokes and be himself, but he won't deliberately antagonize anyone, nor will he denigrate your beliefs so long as they are not thrown in his face. Just warn your mother and your people that he gives what he receives."

"He will meet insult with insult, violence with violence," Artoria nodded. "But he will also repay hospitality, aide, advice, or support just a surely. No greater foe or trustworthy ally have I ever met." No matter how much he claimed to be a monster, Artoria only had to look at his actions to know who Sir Mikael really was.

"I will keep it in mind," Diana said thoughtfully.

"I thought men were not allowed on your island," Robin asked curiously as she finished her coffee.

"That was the law until my mother left and saw how man's world had changed. Since then, she has been more lenient. No man can live on the island or come uninvited, but in unique circumstances, they may spend a day or two as a guest. Superman, for example, has visited once before. Thanks to this policy, some of my more... extreme sisters have relaxed their harsh views. Please ensure your husband does not make my mother regret her leniency."

"We'll make sure he has a minder," Robin said with a smile as she stood from her seat and went to pay.

"We'll both be there, as will Diana and perhaps Lady Ranni," Artoria decided. "She is one of the best at navigating his moods and humour to ensure he maintains decorum."

"I will have to consult with my mother and our oracle before I can say she will be allowed past the barrier. This is the first time a foreign deity will visit, so I am unsure of the procedure," Diana said as she thought of the blue goddess. Then another thought came to her. "Medea will not be with you, will she?"

"She will not," Artoria declared. As much as she loved the Caster and respected her advice, she could think of no poorer idea than bringing the witch to a seat of power for the Greek gods.

"Good," Diana let out a sigh. "I have nothing against her personally, as I do not know her. My people, on the other hand, have met my world's version of her before Thymescria was founded as a haven. She was... cruel in their stories, and I do not wish to open old wounds."

"Don't worry about Medea," Robin said, returning to the pair and leading them out of the cafe. They passed a pair of early-morning joggers who stumbled to a stop at the sight of the trio. "She won't be there. If I were you, I'd be more worried about Mikael seducing your mother."

"What?" Diana blinked in confusion, wide-eyed at the thought. Then she turned to the blonde king. "He wouldn't dare, would he?"

"There is nothing Sir Mikael doesn't dare do," Artoria said with a tight smile. "But he will never cheat on us. Of that, I have complete confidence. So, no, he will not seduce your mother."

Diana sighed in relief, only for that sigh to become a choke as the air caught in her throat.

"Deliberately, at least," Artoria continued as her smile fell, her face neutrally blank. "Sir Mikael did manage to unintentionally seduce a dozen women. And he has expressed multiple times he prefers independent women, those in positions of power, and maturity in demeanour and age. He is quite like my knights in that manner. He may subconsciously do his best to worm his way into her heart and bed."

"Please tell me you are joking," Diana almost begged, looking from the blank blonde to the smirking brunette. "There is no way that is going to happen. She will not fall for a man in a relationship with other women."

"Funny you should say that," Artoria said blandly. "Our Diana said something similar to me once when I asked if she would ever fall in love with him."

There was a beat of silence.

"I-I have to go. I will see you later." Wonder Woman took off in a hurry, flying as fast as she could.

Another beat of silence.

Then Robin could hold it in no longer and had to cover her mouth as she started giggling. Artoria allowed her blank mask to fade into a slight smile and a few chuckles to escape.

"That was cruel," Robin said, still laughing as they opened a Door to the Island and stepped through. "Funny, but cruel. She's going to warn them now about his 'lechery.' It's going to make things worse when he visits."

"You started it," Artoria defended with a smile. "And nothing I said was wrong. Technically."

"I thought you'd deny it, not play along," Robin disagreed. "Mikael is a terrible influence on you."

Artoria didn't bother to deny that. The pair was silent momentarily before the King of Knights asked the question on her mind.

"...You don't think he will, right?"

Just because Sir Mikael wouldn't cheat doesn't mean she wanted the drama. If something of that nature did happen, it would alienate their new allies fast. It was issues like this that led to the fall of Camelot.

"As you said, she sounds like his type," Robin's smile was sharklike. "A Greek comedy or a Greek tragedy? How exciting."

Artoria was feeling decidedly less excited than her friend.

********

This was it, Sinister thought as he stared down at the blood sample.

His eyes panned over the small group of cages with mice in them. They all looked hale and healthy, though one was naturally larger than the others. Its beady eyes met his, its scaled tail waiving behind it in agitation, and he smiled.

This was what he had been searching for all this time.

Humanity's next great leap forward.

The next rung on the ladder of evolution.

For so long, he had been focused on mutants. Those with the x-gene were so obviously superior to baseline humans that it was obvious they had been the next step. Unlike aliens, which went through entirely separate evolutionary lines or those whose powers derived from a random stroke of fate thanks to the presence of a brain tumour, mutants were consistent. Scientific.

While their powers varied, it was in their genes that the future would be written. Occasionally, a mutant parent would produce a dud offspring, but with each year that passed, more Super powers appeared in this world. It was becoming increasingly clear that baseline humans would be bred out.

A common misconception about evolution was that it was the strongest that survived.

That was wrong. It was the most prolific breeders that passed on their DNA. That usually meant the stronger member of the species as they had the most advantages, but not always. Numbers, mating tactics, or even bad luck could see the most robust or most intelligent members of species fail to pass on their genes.

It didn't matter if an individual was born with opposable thumbs if that creature never had descendants to inherit the trait.

But there came a tipping point. Where a particular gene was spread so wide and offered such a significant advantage that even if the new 'genus' was outnumbered, it became impossible to stop the spread. Then nature would take its course, and the old species would be extinct.

Nathaniel Essex didn't even have to do anything but sit and watch as humanity died and their superiors took their place.

Once he realized this, he ceased his focus on eliminating humanity and focused on his true goal.

Pushing the species forward.

Humanity would be gone in a generation or two, and mutants would be the baseline. Thus, he focused on producing the next step.

It had taken hundreds of thousands of years for mutants to supplant homo sapiens.

Sinister, as his dead wife once called him, was hoping that through his efforts, the next step in evolution would be in a few centuries. A millennium at most.

To do that, his first step had been to create the perfect mutant.

He had some initial success through selective breeding, focusing the most desirable traits into a few families he carefully monitored. The Summer-Grey lines were supposed to be the pinnacle of the coming generation. A mutant unlike any other before.

Then Jean Grey died.

A hitch in the plan, but not an insurmountable one. Madelyn Prior, a clone of Grey, had been able to take the original's role quickly enough at his direction.

Their child wouldn't be the messianic figure Sinister had hoped and planned for, as children of clones were always slightly inferior to those produced naturally and tended to be infertile. Still, the scientist hoped he could learn from the children the couple produced. Enough to make up for the loss of Jean Grey.

The first of such children would be born soon too.

Which left Nathaniel Essex some time on his hands.

Time he had used to check up on a few other genetic projects in the world.

With all his money, investing in research and development had helped him in unexpected ways over the years. Other people's work might be inferior to his, but it could give him some inspiration if nothing else.

Cadmus had, initially, been only one of a dozen experiments he had helped fund. Their focus on cloning had been... cute. Behind his experiments by at least a decade, but novel. The knowledge they gained on Kryptonian DNA had been interesting, at least.

Then they had managed to snag a few drops of the Elden Lord's blood. After watching the Revival Video, as it was called, Sinister decided to kill a few months studying it while he waited for the next phase of his mutant messiah plans.

And he had found the holy grail of genetics.

Sure, he could not get any information from the sample itself, and it had proved immune to all cloning attempts, even from his own more advanced tech, but the effects it had on other organisms had been worth it.

It made everything more than it was before. Better. No rejection, no exceptions.

It was a universal donor in the greatest sense.

And he needed more!

So he had nudged the PRT head to get more samples, and the results were everything he had dreamed of.

"What do you have for me, Essex?" Amanda Waller asked as she entered his lab.

It always amused him how people thought positions equalled power. They could be useful, certainly, but it didn't matter if you gave a monkey a title.

It was still just a monkey.

"It has been a complete success, Director," Sinister responded, not hiding his glee at his discoveries. "The samples we've received are exactly what we were looking for."

"Explain," the head of the PRT ordered with a frown. "I was told the deliveries were not producing results."

"They were fascinating and can produce results in the long run," the mutant defended. Sure, the creatures' blood had been nowhere near the Elden Lords' own in usefulness, but their genetics were worth the study. The director didn't seem to think so as she frowned at him. "If we manage to breed the batch of lizard-like creatures, we can have a functionally infinite supply of crystal, but you are correct that the first two deliveries were not what we were searching for. "

"And the most recent delivery?"

"At first, another failure," Sinister admitted begrudgingly. "Five creatures, all from the Sus-genus based at first appearance." At her blank look, he rolled his eyes, dumbing down his language for his audience. "Pigs. Three small ones, the size of our domestic breed, one the size of a small SUV, and one large enough to pass for a train car. Despite the gigantism, testing on the first four yielded little of interest."

"And the fifth?"

"You can see it," Sinister pointed and led the woman to the armoured glass that looked out over a vast, barren room.

The boar was massive, twice a man's height and over fifteen yards long. It was equally as disgusting. Fat rolled its skin in bunches, and its bloated gut hung to the floor. The dozens of round pustules covered its face to the point that Sinister suspected it couldn't see. No matter how much those boils looked like eyes.

The animal was gorging itself bloody on its latest meal, four whole cows they had delivered to the pen through a secure containment tube.

"That is your 'complete success?'" Waller said with barely disguised disgust. "A sick, fat pig."

"Pigs are remarkably similar to humans on a genetic level," Sinister didn't hide his derision at her ignorance. "To the point that insulin for treating diabetes was originally made from their pancreas and modern organs are grown from them for human transplantation."

"How does this help us?" Waller pressed, not taking his tone lying down. "It has none of the traits of the mouse you showed me. No draconification."

"While its blood lacks the reptile strands the Elden Lord's contained, the 'dragon-trait,' if you want to be crude, it does share one trait with it. Its blood is also a universal donor that enhances any organism that is injected with it."

"Really," the woman said, staring at the eating boar with renewed interest. "So...?"

"Early testing suggests that recipients of its blood grow stronger over continued injection. Not only that, the injection of blood heals wounds and diseases. All of them."

"All of them?" Waller asked, a look of genuine shock overcoming her.

"All of them," Sinister's grin was wide and feral. "Cancerous cells. Amputation. Diabetes. Muscle atrophy. The common cold. It fixes it all. The amount of blood is proportional to the amount of tissue it needs to repair, but so long as we have enough blood, we can cure everything."

"And the enhancement element?"

"Lesser than the Elden Lord's blood," Sinister admitted, nodding over to the group of cages with the lab rats. "But still present and noticeable. And with this creature's vitality, we can extract tens of litters of blood a day without killing it." Of course, he didn't say that most of that blood went to his own supply. Cadmus didn't even notice the discrepancy. "Our current working hypothesis is a diversity of creatures is the basis for his strength and size. Beasts like this boar strengthen and empower him through continually ingesting their blood. Then he uses others, possibly draconic, to further that empowerment. Over millennia, he reached his current size and strength."

"That would fit with what he described in his interview about being born weak. Assuming he wasn't lying. Either way, do everything you can to keep that pig alive and healthy," Waller ordered. "We have no way of connecting with the team gathering samples, so we cannot count on receiving more."

"We will progress to human testing within the week," Sinister informed her. It was way earlier than recommended, but he wasn't bothered by potential losses. They were just humans, after all. "Will you send in another team now that we know what to look for?"

Sinister briefly considered inserting some of his cloned forces before dismissing the thought. There was no need to risk attracting the Elden Lord's attention when the PRT proved such a useful tool.

"Possibly," Waller said with a frown. "But not for a few months, at least. The squad was chosen after careful deliberation. In the meantime, keep that pig alive and producing blood."

"Very well," Sinister planned on doing so anyway, but making humans feel like they were in control was important to ensure they did as told. That, and it amused him. Like a small dog yipping at large ones.

"I want to be updated on any other delivery," Waller ordered as she left. "Especially any discoveries of anything draconic. If we assume your idea is true, the wider our sample base, the better our results."

"Of course," Sinister nodded, not bidding farewell to his 'boss.'

As soon as she had left the room, he turned back to look at the draconic mouse in the cage. Its eyes had never left him.

If a few drops of blood could turn an ordinary lab rat into such a creature, what would it do to the pinnacle of mutant kind?

Nathaniel Essex's original plan would have been to create the perfect mutant and then, from there, ensure they bred. Over centuries, regular mutants would be replaced by their superiors. Then he'd repeat the process, over and over, driving evolution higher with each successive species.

Until it could go no higher. The pinnacle of evolution.

It was a dream that would take thousands of years at a conservative estimate.

Unless he could speed it up by taking the current population to a new height. By making them more. Greater.

Essex would keep his plan regarding the next step for mutant kind as it was still the most reliable, but now he had another option. As far as he could tell, this blood did not change the underlying being. Just made them better. What would that mean if that was applied to the strongest mutants?

Ascension.

But first, more experiments. It would not do to waste this opportunity because he was rash.

With one last look at the eating boar and a shake of his head, the geneticist returned to work.

Those pustules really did look like eyes, now that he thought of it.

********

"You know, I am usually fine with your plans," Clark said as he held up the small pill to the light. "But you're going to need to walk me through this one. How is poisoning ourselves going to help?"

"Mikael absorbs the blood of those he kills. That is how he grows stronger," Batman said, pulling up a short clip on his Batcomputer. Taken during the Trigon incident, it looped over and over, showing the subject they were talking about standing on a beach covered in blood. "It is not poison for us, but when mixed with blood and exposed to air, it combusts. Preventing him from absorbing any power from us. It will stay in your system for a month before you need to take another."

"Dragon vampire, right," Clark nodded slowly before sighing and swallowing the pill. If nothing else, it would hopefully stop all those crazy scientists trying to get Kryptonian DNA.

"Poisons do not work on Mikael or his retinue," Batman continued. "The 'Defences,' according to Glory Girl, are extensive. Combined with his intangibility, it makes any potential conflict with him difficult."

"But not impossible." Clark was familiar enough with his friend to understand the subtext. "You have a plan."

"To strike, he needs to release his intangibility. It is why he did not confront Trigon with his dragon body. He can be dimensionally shifted and safe or physically present and attack. Not both. His speed is also nothing to worry about without a lead-up. He could not stop you from taking the jug of alcohol from his hand. It is why his speed slowed as he approached earth. He can travel faster than the speed of light if given enough time and momentum, but before then, you, Diana, the Flash, or a few others will be much faster."

"So we can theoretically win if it came to a fight with him alone," the Kryptonian nodded, following his friend's train of thought. "But if it comes to that, we have already lost. The earth will be gone. And he won't fight alone."

"I am still working on the contingencies for the other members of his family," Batman admitted grudgingly. "Too little is known about them. But you are correct. Confronting Mikael at this point would be foolish."

Clark smiled to himself as he looked at his surly friend. He believed these little threat assessments and planning sessions were helpful and had saved their lives numerous times. Still, he did wish they didn't include potential allies. It felt unfair to expect everyone to turn into an enemy, not giving them a chance to be forces for good.

Still, Bruce had been... better since talking to his parents.

He was still Batman, calculating, dour, paranoid, and cautious to a fault, but to those who knew him and truly understood the man under the cowl, it was obvious something had changed.

Alfred had put it best; 'I glad to see you smile again, Master Wayne.'

As Mikael predicted, the caped crusader still did not trust the dragon, but it was no longer an obsessive drive to uncover every secret and weakness. Batman, for the moment at least, was content to let things play out.

The fact he had the basis of a contingency plan also helped, as he probably felt less helpless.

"Will you be attending the gala?" Superman asked.

"Bruce Wayne will be there with his donation," Batman nodded. "How are you going?"

"As Superman," Clark said. "Lois won't be attending. She'll be with Jon. Might as well gather larger donations."

While the Kryptonian preferred to help people directly, he understood that encouraging philanthropy from the wealthy went a long way to helping feed the poor and destitute who were left after an Endbringer attack. A night talking to wealthy guests was little sacrifice compared to the potential benefit it brought the victims.

"Will you bring a date?"

"No," Batman denied. "Bringing Selina would be too risky and tempting. Both for her and the guests' valuables."

Clark's smile turned into a grin. It was stuff like this that showed the change. Bruce Wayne was a notorious playboy, and Batman usually maintained that cover with arm candy for the night. Going stag would set the rumour mills and tabloids running. The only reason he wouldn't bring a date was if he was actually trying to make things work with the former burglar. Something Clark had been trying to get him to do for years.

"How's Dick?"

"Training," Batman responded bruskly. "He is part of the PRT, not the League."

As if that would stop him from keeping an eye on his former protegee and his teammates after the traumatic events at Diamond Heights. Or when he was being trained by Glynda Goodwitch.

Batman might be playing ball with the Elden Lord, but he was a serial worrier. The fact that he was so terse on the subject meant there was nothing for him to criticize.

"Anything else today?" Clark asked instead of continuing that line of dialogue.

"Zatara got back to me," Batman reported. "All divine communication has been cut off. With Thor's continued absence, some threat has likely necessitated his remaining on Asgard. Shazam is also awol. Many of his powers are divine based. I have a few other agents investigating, but be on your guard. We'll alert the League when we know more."

"Got it," Superman grimaced. Dealing with magic or divinity was always a pain. Hopefully, whatever the issue could be solved soon. Thor and Shazam were two of their greatest fighters against the Endbringers.

"I also heard back from Captain Marvel. She is still looking to learn more about other civilizations Mikael has interacted with, but she has heard some disturbing rumours. The Pheonix is on a rampage which has the Shi'ar worried, and an unknown military force is active. They appear on a planet, ransack it looking for something, then disappear. That's all I have for now, but she'll keep her ears open for more."

"It's one thing after another," Clark sighed. Knowing about potential threats was always better than remaining ignorant, but it could be disheartening. The sheer size and population of the wider universe ensured there would never be a time when Batman would tell him 'everything is peaceful.' "After the next Endbringer attack, I'll try and find Lobo. He likes to know everything and everyone."

All he could do was work hard to make it slightly better than the day before.

"If they follow the pattern, the earliest time will be after Thanksgiving next week, and the latest will be mid-December."

"And if they do, it will be Behemoth," Superman grimaced. The largest and first Endbringer was a sore spot for him. Its ability to manipulate energy meant it could replicate Kryptonite radiation as well. He'd be on rescue duty rather than help in the fight. "Whatever Mikael did to kill the Simurgh, let's hope he can do it again."

"Unlikly," Batman said grimly. "The only reason he could eat it was because it was outside earth's atmosphere. If he tried to do the same to Behemoth or Leviathan, he would destroy more than they ever would. But their aid, if they choose to give it, will go a long way to reducing casualties. Especially their healer."

"They'll help," Clark said with surety.

They might not be heroes, but they were good people.

He was certain of that.