Chapter 3: Kroloteans

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"The astronomer will believe that the most erratic comet will yet accomplish its journey and revisit our sphere; but we give up those for lost who have not wandered one-half the distance from the center of light and life."

Charles Spurgeon

Chapter 3: "Kroloteans"

(Sunday-January 3, 2016)

Plasmius hummed to himself while he worked. Only his glowing eyes lit up the darkened container in which he hid. Undeterred, he expertly moved his hands through the wires around him to redirect their inputs. Once he was satisfied with his changes to the original makeup, the oldest half-ghost reached into a pocket to pull out a small, square box which would release a jamming signal. With his alterations complete, he turned intangible and invisible so that he could leave the machine to return to the open air.

He flew up and glanced around to make sure that none of his foes had noticed his presence. The sight of a few dozen Kroloteans continuing their work made him smirk. Despite their advanced technology, the little, green creatures didn't have the equipment to detect ghosts. None of the bases he had visited had been prepared for him. Still, he didn't want to test his luck, so he continued to fly out of the underground shelter.

Flying high into the sky, Plasmius looked back down to the forest. Everything looked completely calm. Passerbyers would never know what was happening below the dirt. It was a perfect hiding spot for the Kroloteans. In fact, most of their bases were nearly unnoticeable. He completely understood why it took another alien to uncover them to the populace. Fortunately, he caught them before the little ones could do any lasting damage.

The halfa pulled out his phone to examine the map which listed all of the locations which hosted their bases. He had already been to most of the Kroloteans Zeta pads. Fortunately, he had studied the tech enough to hack the destination. When the invaders tried to flee, they would be sent to a secret location under one of Vlad's many homes. Unfortunately, that was all he could do. Some of the bases had human hostages. If he tried to save them, then the aliens would realize what he had done.

Luckily, the League would likely intervene and save the civilians before too long. Knowing them, they would find the Zeta signals soon enough. Once that happened, everything would fall into place. Plasmius didn't exactly know what he would do with the captured aliens, but he preferred to have too many cards to use rather than too few. Still, he had to wonder about their usefulness. The Light obviously didn't care about them if they weren't prepared for ghosts.

Plasmius shook his head. No, at the very least, they would be nice sources of information for a bit. The Krolotean which he already interrogated was low ranking. Higher ranking Kroloteans might know even more about the Light's plans. After all, the Light never would have bothered with them if they had absolutely no value. Shaking his head, Plasmius turned to fly away. There was still one more base with Zeta teleportation that he had to deal with. Then, there was the issue of gathering the one left behind.

As he flew, a buzzing from his phone drew his attention to an alert. Oh, it seemed as though the League was right on track. Lifting his phone to his ear, he activated the listening bug that he hid in the League's software in order to hear their activity.

"See? See? The big alien rips open the phony Secretary Tseng and pulls out the little alien. Oh, I know what you're saying, folks. Good old G. Gordon's lost it. What's this? The eight billionth time he's run that clip? But that's because I'm trying to wake you up! Turn and look at the person next to you, my friends. How can you be sure he or she is even human? When is the old mighty Justice League going to find a way to scan for these aliens? Who exactly are they trying to protect? OK, sure Superman and the Manhunter from Mars seem to be on the side of the angels, but that's two aliens in the good column and two in the bad. Let's see if we can get some answers!"

Spirit scoffed and shut off her phone to get rid of the image of the pompous blonde in a cheap suit. As a member of the Phantom Family, she had a general distaste for most journalists. G. Gordon Godfrey held a special place in her heart, though. Ever since her brother first made a name for himself as Danny Phantom, the loudmouth wouldn't shut up about them. Sometimes, he was kind. Other times, he slandered them into the dirt. Either way, he made her skin crawl.

The positive of watching his smug face was that he was well connected and knowledgeable. He often gave useful strings of information such as the knowledge that Zatanna and Rocket were on their way to the Watchtower. Pocketing her phone, Spirit turned to the meeting which was starting, "Z and Raquel are on their way."

"Then let's get everything set up," Captain Atom declared. He was a muscular man made up of a silver suit which covered everything except his crimson boots, gloves, and eyes. "Green Lantern, if you would."

Nodding, the African American Green Lantern covered in an emerald body suit turned away from the metal hall filled with other heroes. Once able to see a clear view of the satellite base's view of the planet below them, he waved his hands to summon the video of Spirit interacting with the aliens. As he spoke, the computer called out the arrival of Zatanna and Rocket. Glancing back, Spirit got a good view of the new members of the Justice League. Zatanna was a raven haired beauty wearing a magician's outfit which did nothing to hide a body which many men across the world lusted for. While just as good looking, the darker skinned Rocket's thicker and heaver uniform hid her trained physic from the world.

"This guy, Lobo, he's an intergalactic bounty hunter. Extremely dangerous, but not likely to return." Green Lantern's words drew Spirit's attention back to the meeting. "But little guy's another story. That's a Krolotean, and Kroloteans always travel in packs.

"Meaning, more of them are on Earth," Batman growled. The Dark Knight wore his usual black cowl and cape over his gray uniform with the infamous Batsymbol and utility belt adding a bit of variation to the body suit.

"I believe my friend may have vital information on that point," the green skinned and bald headed Martian Manhunter gestured to the blonde man in a white lab coat. "Some of you have not met Adam Strange, of STAR Labs' Erdel Initiative. He is the scientist responsible for maintaining the Zeta-Beam technology we use for teleportation."

'I was wondering why a stranger was on the top secret Watchtower.'

Spirit didn't even flinch at the mental voice. She was far too used to mental conversations to react in any way other than acceptance. Her green eyes drifted over to the speaker. Superboy was an extremely handsome young man with a body that looked like it was carved out of stone. His jeans, black gloves, and long sleeve shirt hid his vigilante status. The only thing which hinted to his status was the famous shield on his chest, 'Ha. Me too. I'm surprised that I'm allowed up here even if this directly involves me.'

Before they could continue their mental conversation, Martian Manhunter spoke again, "And he has a story to tell."

Adam Strange spoke, "Uh it's a little involved I wish I had visual aids or something."

"I can assist you," Manhunter's crimson eyes began to glow. Strange flinched as he was mentally connected to the vigilantes. "We are all linked, Adam. What you remember we will see."

Strange blinked, 'Uh great? Well, I was performing a routine Zeta-Tube upgrade, when something went wrong and I found myself transported halfway across the Galaxy, to a planet called Rann. There was a scientist there, Sardath. He was conducting his own experiments in enhanced, very enhanced, Zeta-Beam technology. It took weeks to establish even basic communication. But Sardath eventually made me understand some of his Zeta tech had been stolen.'

"Fits the Krolotean M. O. Their entire culture revolves around stolen tech," Green Lantern declared.

"Sardath detected transmissions between a single location on Rann and multiple locations on Earth. He was attempting to trace those when he accidentally transported me to Rann. He gave me this." Strange showed a device which presented a holograph representation of Earth. "It detects trace of Zeta radiation and can pinpoint all the locations where Kroloteans have beamed to Earth."

"Then I'm ordering a two-prompt attack," Captain Atom stated. "We'll stage simultaneous raids on every Krolotean target on Earth, while a contingent of Leaguers travels to Rann, with Strange here, to cut the Kroloteans off at the source."

"Uh, we might have a problem with that second prompt. Totally unclear on the 'why,' but Earthlings are personae non gratae in Rann's corner of the Galaxy." Adam's holographic device shifted to show wanted posters for the founding members of the Justice League. "And these six Leaguers are wanted criminals."

"What?" a tall man once known as Robin spoke. He wore black armor with the symbol of a blue bird sprawled across his chest. His domino mask hid his eyes but not his handsome face or slicked hair. "Batman! It's the missing sixteen hours!"

Batman nodded, "Agreed. Five years ago, Vandal Savage took complete mental control of the entire Justice League. These exact six Leaguers went missing for sixteen hours.

Green Lantern eyed the holograms, "Never even occurred to us that Vandal might have sent us into space. I'll alert Hal. He and Guy are on Oa, with the Green Lantern Corps."

"Meanwhile, we have fifteen other active Leaguers to send to Rann to investigate," Captain Atom decided.

Strange shook his head, "You're not getting it. There's a planetary watch alert out on Rann for every Leaguer."

"What about Danny Phantom?" Spirit rushed forward before Nightwing could speak up. "He went missing too at that same time. Is there a watch out for him?"

"No, but um there is something for you," Adam answered.

Spirit's eyes widened, "Me? I've never even left orbit."

"Not just you," Adam shifted the hologram to show images of her, Dusk, and Plasmius. "All of Amity Park's most famous ghosts. Oddly enough, it has nothing to do with a government watch list. Sardath seemed scared when he tried to explain it, though. Something about Apokolips."

"Apokolips has them on their wanted list?" Green Lantern's eyes were wide. "And they're actually wanted alive?"

"I take it that this is bad?" Nightwing sighed.

"You have no idea," Green Lantern shook his head. "If there was ever a big bad of the universe, it would be Apokolips. Why would they want you all, though?"

"No idea," Strange shrugged. "There was a limit to what we could communicate. Based on Sardath's reaction, though, I doubt anyone on Raan would actually try and capture them, though."

"Very few people would be willing to sully their reputation by dealing with Apokolips." Green Lantern noted. "Usually, their wanted lists are just warning to not get in their way when trying kill them. Wanted alive means that they want to recruit people."

"Recruit us?" Spirit chuckled. "Good luck with that. I want to find out what this is about."

"I do too," Nightwing stepped forward. "None of Young Justice are Leaguers. Let me set up a squad with Spirit and some other members of my Team to handle the Rann end of things, and to find out more about those missing sixteen hours without causing an intergalactic incident."

Captain Atom nodded, "Do it."

Strange stopped Superboy as he tried to walk away with the other young vigilantes, "Uh if you're going, don't wear that shirt."

With a stern look on his face Superboy turned to join his friends. As they moved, Zatanna spoke up mentally, 'You know that thing about you not being Leaguers. You three still have an open invitation to—'

Spirit ignored the conversation that followed. She wasn't interested in Nightwing, Superboy, or Miss Martian's reasons for not joining the Justice League. Not everyone was given the option to even turn them down. Such was the fate of being a ghost. Despite its heroic nature, the League had to dabble in politics. Allowing ghosts in the League at this point, even with Spirit's fame, would hurt them politically at this point in time.

'Not to mention personal grudges,' Spirit thought to herself in a portion of her mind which she knew no one else could hear. 'Hate and paranoia don't ever die it seems. Ghosts can't catch a break anywhere in the universe, apparently.'

Plasmius let out a hiss as he tucked his phone away. That was just perfect. Every still functioning half-ghost was wanted by what was supposedly the greatest force in the universe. The Krolotean which he captured feared more than before anything else. He should have dug more into the topic when overshadowing the little one, but it didn't seem too significant at the time. Of course, that wasn't the case. This Apokolips place wanted to recruit them too. So many questions popped into his head. The biggest inquiry was why, though.

Why would aliens care about them? While powerful, there were still forces on Earth more dangerous than the half-ghosts. Perhaps they were interested in life after death, but if that were the case then why were the halfas specifically targeted? Did the Light use Danny to attack them like the League attacked the other planet? The ascended ectoplasm they forced him to use at the time would definitely leave an impression. Yet, there was still the issue of the bounties being for the other halfas instead of Danny Phantom.

He could only shake his head. More and more questions were presenting themselves as he continued to investigate. The only certainty that he had right now was that his family was in incredible danger. His first instinct was to contact Dani, but that would force him to reveal his bug in the League's database. There was a significant chance that he would need that later. No, it was best to leave Dani be for now. She could take care of herself for the time being.

They would need to meet seen, though. The same thing with Dusk and Danny. Plus…Vision and his unborn child. Somehow, the aliens identified that half-ghosts were different. The baby might be targeted as well. Apokolips might attempt to raise a living weapon.

"Goddamnit!" Plasmius's energy surged. The aliens were proving to be more of a threat than he thought. He needed info immediately. Capturing the Kroloteans was a fine first step. Clenching his fist, Plasmius increased his flight speed. His next steps could be decided once the little green creatures were defeated. He could only hope that the situation didn't get even worse.

Joel sighed as pocketed his phone into his dark hoody. He rubbed the right side of his forehead which had a lifetime old scar in an attempt to alleviate the headache which bubbled beneath the surface. His normal blue eyes swept from the pact city street to the man by his side. Like him, Mal had forsaken his vigilante appearance to appear in more civilian attire. While Joel's heritage gave him a look which blended in with the packed city of Tokyo, his friend easily stuck out. Many of the passer byers pointed and whispered at the sight of the buff, black man.

"What do you think they're saying?" Mal questioned.

"How am I supposed to know?" Joel shrugged. "But this is Japan. Few of them have probably seen too many black guys in real life."

Mal chuckled, "So I'm more interesting than the alien news? Should I be flattered?"

"Huh..." Joel looked away from his friend to eye the busy streets. Even more than most cities that he'd been to, Tokyo was filled to the point that it was impossible to move without bumping into someone. The constant distraction of phones and screens playing the familiar footage of Spirit revealing the alien only furthered the packed feeling of the metropolis. He was almost shocked that no one around them was getting run over in the busy streets. "I wouldn't say that interesting. A world leader turning out to be an alien, and of course it had to involve my sister."

"Your family always causes the most trouble," Mal smiled.

"I know," Joel's annoyed appearance only intensified as more people bumped into him. "Alright, I'm sick of sightseeing in the city. Let's just head to the meet up spot."

Mal hummed in though, "So you don't like city life? No wonder you left Amity Park."

"Comparing Amity Park to Tokyo is like comparing a hill to Mt. Everest," Joel shook his head. He began to lead Mal into an alleyway. "And would you stop bringing up my home?"

Mal calmly followed after the younger man, "Sorry, but I thought your family's involvement would at least peak your interest."

"It does a bit, but not enough to worry about it." Joel sighed as he stepped into the more isolated alley. "Dani's not hurt or anything, and she'd call me if she needed help. Kind of like how your girlfriend's been texting you."

Mal's eyebrows rose, "You looked at my phone?"

"No, but it's been going off every five minutes. Who else would be contacting you like that?" Joel stopped once they were halfway through the path. "You've become way too laid back, you know that?"

"And you've been more high-strung," Mal argued as he stepped next to the halfa. "That's odd considering that you went on a journey of enlightenment."

"Well, not everyone gets to Nirvana on accident," Joel barley stopped himself from snapping at the other man. "Whatever. Let's just agree to let the alien and family stuff drop for a bit. I need to meet Cassandra soon, and she always seems to know when I'm in a bad mood."

"Very well, but I don't believe that we'll be able to ignore the alien thing for long." Mal turned his gaze upward to the heavens.

"True, Cass will probably bring it up." Joel sighed.

"That's not what I meant," Mal eyes the darkening sky. "The flow of the universe has become unusually fast today."

"Sometimes, you sound like you're high," Joe pointed to shadowy spot behind a dumpster. "Come on. We can get there faster if we change."

Mal nodded. He waited to speak again until they discretely transformed into their vigilante forms and were high into the sky, "By the way, why did we have to wait so long in the city?"

"Because your teleporting killed off the day I planned to travel here. I swear, your trumpet and the Zeta Tubes spoil everyone. Normal people still need time to move around the world."

"You're not exactly normal, Dusk."

"You know what I meant."

Plasmius made quick work of the remaining Zeta platforms. The last one was perhaps the largest one. Hidden beneath a junk yard in New Orleans, the massive metal base was filled with Kroloteans. A massive green power source tube emitted a green light that reminded the halfa of horror movies. Smaller tubes branched out from the main devise in order to transfer power to the rest of the base. It really gave off the invasion feeling. Yet, once again, none of them detected him. His plans went off without a single issue.

Before he could flee and allow the Kroloteans to unknowingly teleport themselves into his grasp, he stopped when the entire base went on alert. For a brief moment, he assumed that one of them spotted him. Surprisingly, they didn't turn their attention to him. A quick glance to the screen on the main core revealed that some of the heroes from Dani's group had been spotted. The Kroloteans quickly rushed to deal with the threat.

Silently sighing, Plasmius waited to see if they would need his assistance. Fortunately, he did not need to give away his position out of obligation to his daughter's friends. They proved to be extremely efficient in combat. He recognized one of them immediately as the only member of the squad which he had met personally. Lagoon Boy was an Atlantian who would have a hard time blending in on the surface. He was covered in green scales and dark fins. His red eyes almost seemed to glow in the green light of the base.

Blue tattoos began to glow across Lagoon Boy's body. His muscles expanded to make him grow from what looked like a mutated human into a full on muscle. The 'puffer fish' mode increased his size and strength significantly. He easily batted the tiny enemies away. From what Plasmius could remember, La'gaan was somewhat of a brash young man that could often come off as rude, but he was very kind to Dusk.

The second of the trio of young heroes did look familiar to the halfa, even if they had never been in the same room before. He wore a red and black suit with three yellow rectangular fasteners on the front and a stylized yellow "R" symbol on the left side of his chest. A domino mask and clean, cut hair complimented his professional features. Dani wasn't very talkative about her friends in Young Justice anymore, but she did reveal that the third Robin had gained his role by deducting Batman's real identity.

Detective work must have been this Robin's greatest strength considering how he had been detected by the aliens, something the first Robin would never had allowed. His combat skills with his retractable staff were perfectly refined, yet lacked the raw brutality of the second Robin. Still, Plasmius felt impressed by the young man considering his lack of experience. Part of the eldest half-ghost had to wonder how Dusk would feel about having his best friend replaced like this, though.

The final member of the squad was not someone that Vlad was familiar with. Based on the black and blue armor which acted like a second skin and the massive scarab on his back, Plasmius could only assume that he was Blue Beetle. While technically the third person to use that title, he lacked any real connection to his predecessors and was a rookie by almost every standard. His suit seemed to make up for his inexperience, though. Wings burst from his scarab to gift him with flight. His hands shifted to sonic canons which easily dismissed the Kroloteans.

"Raaaaaaaaaa!" some of the aliens screamed in terror while pointing at the newest hero. The other Kroloteans took notice. Their features shifted in fear as they all turned to flee.

Plasmius's eyebrows rose. Now this was an interesting turn of events. They weren't afraid of the intimidating Lagoon Boy, yet the obviously still training Blue Beetle had them close to pissing themselves. Yet another question to answer. Luckily, this was an answer that he could find out soon enough, though. The Kroloteans rushed to Zeta off planet. With that done, he could leave the young vigilantes with a clear conscience.

Before he could retreat, though, the aliens initiated an obvious self-destruct sequence. This time, Vlad did audibly sigh. He would have to stick around to make sure that they didn't get killed. Just like he suspected, they decided to try and save the hostages. Oddly enough, Blue Beetle discovered the captured civilians by talking to a Krolotean. What took Plasmius days to do, the rookie achieved in seconds.

Once again, Plasmius was intrigued. Blue Beetle could talk to aliens. He also seemed to detect the ghost's presence based on the periodic glances in Plasmius's direction. The final oddity was the strange way in which his armor moved on its own. All signs pointed to alien technology which the Kroloteans feared. Interesting.

Fully intrigued, Plasmius followed the young heroes as they rushed to a deeper potion of the base. He watched as they rescued the terrified civilians. Their reaction to Lagoon Boy ripping open their cage, while understandable, was humorous. Upon freeing the captives, the heroes rushed them out of the base and into the water which surrounded it. Plasmius found himself being impressed by their ability to get all the normal humans free of the base's explosion.

With everyone safe, Plasmius slinked away while hidden beneath the water. Once again, Blue Beetle seemed to glance in his direction as he left. The boy did nothing to stop him, though. Plasmius had to wonder if Blue knew who he was. Once far enough away from the youngster, the halfa floated back to open air. Glancing back, Plasmius gained a good view of the remaining members of the League and Young Justice arriving the scene.

Not wanting to get caught, Vlad turned to invisibly fly away. He didn't need to see some hero back patting meeting. Still, watching the young heroes proved to be more interesting than expected. Blue Beetle was now a significant bleep on his radar.

Spirit adjusted the emergency bag on her back. With one final sigh, she glanced at her phone to see that there was no update from Joel, Danny, or her father on her departure. Vision did send a text asking her to remain safe, but that was it.

"Were you thinking about telling your family about the intergalactic bounty on them?" a feminine voice drew Spirit's attention up from her mobile. Like Martian Manhunter, this woman had green skin and wore a black body suit with a red cape. Unlike the other alien, the woman's skull was covered by a short mane of crimson hair. Miss Martian's freckles and kind features shifted with concern as she eyed the ghost.

"Not right now," Spirit pocketed her phone. "Trying to explain this over the phone without all the info would be impossible. It's not likely to be an issue in the one day that I'm gone, so I'll just wait to tell them. I was checking to see if they responded to my message that I'll be gone for a day. Well, unless I can get texts from halfway across the galaxy."

Superboy snorted, "Not likely."

"Then I guess I'm not going to see their response until I get back," Spirit turned to look down the rather unorganized laboratory to see their technician finishing adjustments to the Zeta Tube. "You ready, Strange?"

"Just about," Strange stated as he finished typing onto the keypad.

"Alright," Superboy swung his arms around to prep himself. "Any specific advice, M'gann? You're the only one to have been off world."

"From experience? Don't gawk at other worlders," Miss Martian noted. She remembered her times being flustered around the Kryptonian when they first met.

Spirit eyed the duo, "Are you two going to be okay? I mean…"

"We know what you mean," Superboy grunted. "We'll be fine."

"Yep," Miss Martian looked away. "Perfectly fine."

"Hmm," Spirit sighed. "If you say so."

"Let's just go," Superboy curtly stately.

"Yes," Miss Martian stepped forward to lead them to the Zeta Tube.

"Alright. We're all set. You'll love Raan. It's beautiful ," Strange smiled at them. "Don't worry about the air being poisonous or anything. After all, I'm perfectly fine."

"As far as you know," Spirit snorted. "Give it twenty years and then we'll see."

Upon seeing Strange's pale complexion, Miss Martian decided to have mercy on him, "She's just joking with you."

Superboy smirked, "But she might have a point."

Adam Strange rubbed the back of his head, "P-Perhaps I should get a gas mask…"

"I got you covered," Spirit reached into her bag and tossed him a gas mask. "Now, let's go."

Miss Martian raised any eyebrow, "Why did you pack that? Ghosts don't need to breath."

"I was coming prepared," Spirit nodded at her wisdom. "I watched the Alien movies. I don't want a situation like that happening."

"As half an alien, I feel insulted." Superboy playfully pushed. "But as half human, that's awesome."

Miss Martian smiled as she recognized Spirit's attempts to lighten the mood from before, "Let's just avoid telling them about movies where deadly aliens kill Earthlings. Don't want to give them any ideas."

"Ehem, on that note, we should be going," Strange stepped into the Zeta Tube. The young vigilantes followed the scientist into the tube. In a burst of yellow light, the surrounding metal shifted into a wide open area. They now stood on a Zeta pad on a slick, metal deck surrounded by purple and pink leaves. The sprawling, metal architecture leading up to pointed tops awed them as everything glowed beneath the light of the planet's two moons.

Strange smiled, "Welcome to Rann."

Vlad took a deep breath as he looked into the living room. Vision sat on the couch while reading a book. He had informed her that he would be late, but she seemed to have waited up for him. Dread filled his stomach as he tried to figure out how he would deal with this situation. His mind rushed with possibilities. The information of all the intergalactic danger surged to the front of his brain.

While the Kroloteans were captured already, he had yet to interrogate them. There were so many unknowns and threats. He doubted that he could deal with everything on his own, despite his original desire to do so. His family was in serious danger. They deserved to know, especially Vision. If Apokolips decided to go after their child…

Clenching his fists, Vlad stepped into the room. As he moved, he grabbed a chair and pulled it so that it was in front of his wife. Without hesitating, he sat down and gave his love a hard look, "I've been keeping a secret from you."

"I figured that out," Vision slid a slip of paper into her book to keep her place. "You were acting different."

"Are you mad?" Vlad felt his heart ache at the thought of worrying his wife.

Vision shook her head, "I know you, love. You would only keep secrets from me if it were something world shattering."

"It kind of is," Vlad sighed. "I didn't want to worry you. The stress of having a half-ghost…or whatever part our child will be…can't be easy on you or the baby. I wanted to try to deal with this on my own, but the threat is too large now. You deserve to know, and I think that I'll need your help."

Vision frowned, "You're that concerned? What is it?"

"Aliens."

"Aliens?"

Vlad nodded, "Aliens."

Vision sighed, "The one thing stranger than ghosts. Does it have to do with the little green man that Dani found? Because I got the feeling that the Justice League could easily handle them."

"It's not them that I'm worried about. The Kroloteans, their name by the way, are basically dealt with right now," Vlad shook his head. "Not completely, but I'm not worried about them. The Light was just using them, and there's a good chance that they'll ally themselves with a far more dangerous threat. Perhaps even one that had a direct interest in ghost/human hybrids."

Vision moved a hand to her stomach, "Is that so? What is the threat level?"

"It could be on the level of the Light's previous plans," Vlad remembered the numerous times that the Light had caused untold suffering to their family and friends. "But it could be far worse. Perhaps even to the point of rivaling Nekron…"

Vision's clenched her fist, "How do you know?"

"I bugged the League," Vlad knew that his wife would have no problem with such an actions. "Plus, I interrogated one of the Kroloteans."

Vision slowly nodded. "I understand. At least we have a starting point by having one of the aliens as a captive."

"Well…more than one."

"Oh? How many?"

"Try a few hundred."

Vision couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping her mouth, "You did all that without me knowing? Well done."

Dusk leaned back into his chair and eyed the door to the shabby apartment. Besides the seat he crafted with his Matter Make ability, the only other furniture in the tiny room were two mattresses. Mal levitated in the corner in order to meditate. The only light in the hideout besides his supernatural glow was a filthy window which only allowed the smallest slivers of brightness into the base. While he was completely certain that there was more hidden in the room, he knew better than to search for anything. Cassandra was paranoid at the best of time and would find many ways to make traps which would hurt ghosts.

Bored, he pulled out his phone to see that Cassandra was late. That was unlike her. She had always been eerily punctual. For the briefest of seconds, worry fluttered into his chest as he wondered what delayed her. Right as he began to imagine her dying at the hands of an enemy, his head whipped up in alarm. Pocketing his mobile, he pulled his chair up to the side to block the shuriken which were being thrown at her head. Upon hearing the solid thunks of the metal hitting the wood, he quickly absorbed the chair allowing the weapons to drop to the wooden floor.

Just as the seat transformed back into ectoplasm, another flash of metal swept to his head. Ducking under the blade, he unsheathed his own sword to block the follow-up attack. Giving a grunt, he pumped energy into Soul Shredder to unleash an arc of ectoplasm at his assailant. His attacker flipped over the wave and threw a few smaller knives at him. After calmly blocking the tiny blades, Dusk rushed forward to the dark figure.

The fighter pulled out a second short blade. In a blur of motion which no normal human could follow, the two fighters began a dance of sword fighting. Ignoring the clanging of metal, Mal continued to silently meditate in the corner. He only opened his eyes when the noise stopped. Both Dusk and the newcomer were holding their blades to the other's neck. With the fight finally over, he greeted the dark figure, "Hello, Black Bat. It's been a while."

With a sigh, Dusk pulled away. Once untangled from the woman, he eyed his attacker. Cassandra Cain was completely covered in black armor. The only flashes of color in her uniform were the yellow of the bat symbol on her chest and the utility belt at her waist. A dark mask with pointed ears hid all of her features. Only the white lenses at the eyes gave humanity to her face, "Really, Cass? What was that about?"

"I wanted to test your skills," Black Bat answered. "You haven't rusted at all, but you also haven't improved."

"Yeah, well not all of us like assassin training," Dusk sheathed Soul Shredder.

Black Bat scoffed, "It took you a full minute to realize that I was in the room. If I took this seriously, you would have been dead."

"You think that I went all out?" Dusk frowned. He looked to the smoking burn mark which his energy arc caused. "I can do a lot more than that."

Black Bat shrugged, "I know, but you lack the killer instinct to use it."

Dusk rolled his eyes, "Yes, I'm well aware that you think that I'm the biggest hippy in the world."

Black Bat glanced to Mal, "More like second biggest."

Mal frowned, "I'm not a hippy."

"Dude," Dusk chuckled. "You talk about the flow of the universe on a regular basis. There's nothing more hippy than that."

"Hmm, fair enough."

"Not to be rude, Mal, but can you step out for a few minutes?" Black Bat questioned. "I need to speak with Joel alone."

"Very well," Mal nodded. "I have an errand to run anyway."

Dusk and Black Bat watched as Herald used his horn to create a portal. Once he disappeared and the energy faded, the halfa spoke again, "So what do you need?"

"I'm at an impasse," Black Bat sighed. "I've exhausted all of my leads and options. There is no way for me to get to Ra's Al Ghul without ending up dead."

"This again?" Dusk shook his head. "I want nothing to do with your plot to kill my father."

"Idiot!" Black Blat glared at him. "Don't you realize the position that you're in? You are the key to taking down the League of Shadows. If you would just commit to this, then Ra's could be taken down in an instant. Just agree to take his spot."

"But then I would have to kill him," Dusk frowned. "I refuse to do that. It doesn't matter if it's you or my sisters asking me. I will not kill him."

"He wants to die, moron, but only by his successor's hands. There's only three options. You, Batman, or Talia's kid. Going down the Batman path is impossible, and Ra's grandson could be worse than the Demon Head himself," Black Bat pushed the halfa back. "Like it or not, you're the only option we got. You can only run from this for so long. Especially with the Light regaining their members and power."

"They're back to full strength?" Dusk questioned.

"From the whispers that I heard, Klarion and the Brain's spots have already been filled. I don't know by whom, though," Black Bat looked to the window. "Ocean Master is likely to be replaced by Black Manta soon too. With all the positions filled, they'll start scheming again, and I think it involves the alien shit that's been on the news for the past two days."

Dusk nodded, "They would definitely have known about it at the very least."

"Look, we need to take the Light down, and not just to avenge my parents," Black Bat argued. "Look how many people suffered and died because of them. It will only get worse. We need to take down every member of their organization, and you're the only way Ra's won't be resurrected."

"Oh yeah that will solve one of the problems. What about the other six?" Dusk scoffed. "You don't even know two of them. One of them is immortal. Two of them are borderline untouchable politically, and one of them can hide in the deepest depths of the oceans."

"That's why we need to build a force specifically designed to take them down. Ravager and I aren't enough," Black Bat explained.

Dusk looked around, "Where is the psycho anyway?"

"I asked her to stay away. She would only make this harder," Black Bat admitted. "Don't change the subject."

Dusk shook his head, "Look. I get where you're coming from, but you know that this is a useless idea. Taking down the entire Light all at once is impossible."

"You're wrong. We have the pieces to take most of them down. But it all starts with you and your family," Black Bet explained.

"Of course it does," Dusk turned his back to her. "Haven't we given enough?"

"I…I know that it's not fair, but the world needs a bit more," Black Bat gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Dusk shrugged it off, "We don't have anything left, though. If it all relies on us, then we're doomed."

Before Black Bat could argue that point, she was silenced when the room began to shake. Both of them were forced to deepen their stance to avoid falling over. After a few seconds, the trembling stopped. Dusk turned to his friend with a raised eyebrow, "What did Rose do?"

"Why do you have to assume it was her?" Black Bat moved to open the window. Upon glancing out into the street, she saw smoke in the distance. "Something blew up in the city."

"Oh joy," Dusk shook his head. "Fine. Let's go investigate. We'll talk more later."

"Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice," Danny smiled to his guest across the table.

The guest returned the smile. His chocolate skin was only outdone by his pure black armor. A large mantis helmet sat on the table. With his head uncovered, the graying hair and signs of wrinkles showed his entrance into his twilight years, "It was not like I had much a choice when my superior calls me for dinner."

"Superior?" Danny took a sip of wine. "I wouldn't say that. We'll be equals in the Light soon enough, Black Manta."

"Oh?" Black Manta raised an eyebrow. "Is this my formal induction into the inner folds?"

Danny chuckled, "More like informal. The decision to bring you in is almost unanimous. All you need to do is complete one last mission for us."

"Oh yes…" Manta stroked his chin. "Dealing with the Kroloteans. Not exactly a difficult task."

"Nope, but I don't like leaving things up to chance," Danny narrowed his eyes. "In a few days, the cultivation of all of the Light's plans will begin, yet we are still missing our final member. If your ascension to your role is delayed, it might cause some issues, so I wish to offer the assistance of some of my most elite guard."

"Hmm…" Black Manta took a bite of his food. "Should I feel insulted that you doubt my capabilities?"

"I wouldn't take it that way," Danny shook his head. "But I apologize if that's how you feel. I'm sure the other members of the Light feel the same way sometimes. I've far younger than most of you. My perfectionist tendencies might come off as being the arrogance of youth."

Black Manta chuckled, "Do not worry. I am flattered by your desire to help me. There are many stories about you, Daniel Fenton. Most of them imply a swift brutality to anything in your way, yet a strong loyalty to those beside you. If you are willing to off your assistance, then it must mean that you already consider me one of the Light. As a sign of alliance, I will gratefully accept any help that you can give. Truth be told, I could use an elite lieutenant…"

Danny drummed his fingers on the tabletop, "Considering that you brought it up, might I ask about a rumor concerning you? Did you really keep that spot open for you wayward son?"

Manta released a tired sigh, "Unfortunately, yes. I always hoped that one day Kaldur would join me by my side. Unfortunately, his duty to take over for the fallen king has become his life. I am proud in a way. He achieved what every one of the original Aquaman's enemies strived for with ease. Your generation is really something."

"What if he continues to stand in the Light's way?"

"…Then he will be dealt with."

"I see," Danny nodded. "I can't say that I understand the struggles of fatherhood, but I do know what it's like to want a lost family member to return despite the impossibility of it."

Manta's lips twitched, "Indeed. Very few do not know of your story, Phoenix."

"At least the beginning of it," Danny agreed. He pushed himself up from his seat and moved to the other end of the table. "The end, though, is still up in the air. I want direct control over it, unlike with the rest of my life. I'll do what I can to keep your son alive, but I don't make any promises."

"Thank you," Manta watched as the younger man extended out a hand.

"As replacements for the original members of the Light, we might feel a bit outed from the others, so I want to make it perfectly clear," Danny gave a friendly grin. "I want us to be friends along with allies. We're going to make the world a better place so families don't have to be divided anymore."

Black Manta firmly shook the hand, "Agreed. For the betterment of mankind."

"For the betterment of mankind," Danny gained a sheepish look. "Oh, and you weren't the only one that I invited tonight. I figured that you would want to meet the third replacement."

"Oh...her."

"Yes, don't worry. She grows on you. Now let's go meet Thorn. Whatever you do, though, make sure to avoid describing your role in a way that would remind her of a pirate. In fact, don't even talk about conquering the seas or Atlantis."

"Why?"

"I don't even know how to begin explaining."