I sniffed, scowling. This place smelled like old fast food. A heavily fried meal covered in slimy grease. I didn't understand how some people dared to poison themselves with that stuff. The last time I had eaten fast food was three years ago coming back from a family reunion. My cousins were with us, and they had convinced my dad to stop at a McDonalds. I remember standing in the restaurant (if you could even call it that), debating whether I should be That One Person Who Orders Salads At Fast Food Places, or if I should just get some chicken fingers. I chose the second option.

But never mind all of that. This alley was disgusting. The grossest alley I'd ever been in, and I had been in quite a few alleys in my day.

Heh. Maybe I'll see one of my friends here. I thought with a smirk. Yeah, I know some pretty interesting people.

Well, I wasn't there to stand around and recall awkward moments from my life. No one would come to a place like this without a reason, and like everyone else, I had one. I poked around the alley, hoping it wouldn't be much longer until I found what I was looking for.

It's gotta be around here somewhere… I checked the coordinates for the fifth time, and I got the same answer I had received the other four times. I was in the right place.

Suddenly, I froze. I listened carefully. My sensitive ears had detected something. Someone was coming!

I could hear footsteps on the pavement, growing closer and closer. I quickly darted away, waiting to see who it was.

As I listened, I came to the conclusion that it was not one person, but many. I could hear them talking quietly amongst themselves. They were close now.

I watched as they appeared in the entrance of the alleyway. There were six of them, and I recognized them immediately. I remembered the pictures my boss had shown me…

Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Aqualad, Artemis and Miss Martian.

I smiled. They'll lead me straight to what I'm looking for.

I quietly crept closer, to see where they were going. I had to be careful, especially with Superboy. If I made one wrong move, he would be able to hear me. I breathed as quietly as possible, annoyed I didn't have as much gear as usual. Sneaking through this alley would have been much easier with it, but my boss had insisted that I travel light. He had said that I was getting 'soft'. I cringed, knowing he was probably right. Sometimes your senses are the best thing to rely on.

I was just about halfway across the alley, when I froze. Someone else was coming. I tilted my head to hear better.

One person. Adult. Decent size…

I looked up to see whoever it was appear.

Batman.

I would have growled if I wasn't trying to be quiet. I really hoped I wouldn't have had to deal with him until much later.

Mine as well quit the stealth act. I told myself. My orders were to find Batman and make sure a very important thing was safe. Looks like I'd finished the half of my mission I really hadn't wanted to deal with.

"They would have sent someone sooner or later," I said, stepping out of my hiding place.

The seven people froze in their tracks. The six younger heroes immediately prepared to attack, but Batman just frowned and came towards me.

"I responded to the message. Everything is under control; we don't need your help. Didn't your leader see?" Batman said angrily.

"Don't blame me. I just do what my boss says, and he told me to come here," I said, putting my hands in the air.

"Well you can leave." Came the stern reply.

I sighed. "Actually, I can't. See, my orders were to find you and make sure it's safe. And I'm not leaving until that's done."

Batman's frown deepened. I didn't know it was even possible to frown like that. "Fine. You can see it, but after that you are leaving."

I nodded. This went a lot better that I had thought it would. I followed Batman to a doorway on the wall. He opened it and went inside. I passed the younger heroes on my way. The confusion, and the bit of anger, they were feeling was obvious by their facial expressions. I entered the doorway Batman had gone through. He wasn't there anymore, so I assumed he had already gone. I had heard about this method of transportation. Zeta Beam or something.

Suddenly, the world began to fade away. I looked down; I couldn't see my feet anymore. I slowly disappeared, materializing, atoms scrambled.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing inside of a large area. There were lots of different doors and passage ways. In the center there was an arena type place that I assumed was used for training.

It appeared that this place was in some sort of mountain. Mount Justice. I thought to myself, reviewing the information I had received while being debriefed.

Batman was standing on the other side of the room, looking impatient. I guess I had been standing around for a few seconds too long. He turned and went through a door, and I quickly followed. Just as I went through the door, I heard someone shout from behind me.

"Hey!"

I quickly closed the door. Those kids had arrived. I began walking, looking around me. I was in a long hallway; doors lined the walls. Batman was already at the end of the hall. He stood in front of a large, metal door that looked kind of like a safe door. I walked towards him and stood in front of the door.

"Its back here?" I asked.

Batman nodded.

I knocked on the metal, listening. It was very heavy. Then, I cast a quick spell. Normally, this spell would have knocked the door down, but the magic bounced off the door.

"Just testing," I said to Batman. "Though, my magical powers are limited. How much can this door hold against?"

"It should withstand quite a bit of power," Batman answered. "I've had it tested before. There are two other identical doors after this as well."

I nodded. "Alright, well let's see it."

Batman pulled out a vial filled with something that was rapidly changing colors. Undefined magic. It had nothing to possess, nothing to give power too. Its strength and type were not yet decided, and if it were to escape, it would be quickly absorbed by whatever magical thing it was closest to.

Batman placed the vial into a slot in the door, and pulled it back out. The door opened, and we walked inside, only to be greeted with a second door. Batman repeated the process two more times. The last door opened, and we entered.

The room was filled with a glorious light. This light, like the undefined magic, was changing colors. It went from a deep, powerful blue, to an empty and enveloping black. Firey red to peaceful green. Sunny yellow to friendly purple. Angry orange to earthy brown. I shielded my eyes as I looked to the center of the room. There, on a golden pedestal, floated a strangely beautiful and awesome orb. It sparkled, and I could see the colors mixing and swirling as they changed.

The Power Orb.

Being in the presence of such a powerful object filled a person with terror and awe both at the same times. Hundreds of emotions flowed through me. Anger, happiness, sadness, fear, excitement… I can't list them all. This one object could destroy an entire dimension. And more terrifying, it could conquer an entire dimension.

Each main dimension had a Power Orb. These orbs kept the dimensions balanced. It kept everything running just as it should be. Without a Power Orb, a dimension would slowly deteriorate, until it disappeared, taking all of its inhabitants with it. And if one being could gain control of all of the Power Orbs, they would possess unimaginable and unquenchable power. And that's why I had come here. To ensure that no one would ever be able to gain access to these Orbs.

"I told you it was safe. You can leave now."

Batman's words caused my train of thought to derail.

"Well, see, that's the part of the deal that I didn't mention. My boss… Well, he kinda wants me to stay here for a few days to make sure that everything is under control," I said. "It's critical that these Power Orbs are safe. We wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands. I mean, you wouldn't want to slowly and painfully fade into unexsistense, would you?"

Batman scowled. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be as easy to persuade him this time.

I sighed. "Let me call up my boss."

Hey guys!

This is a rewrite of a really bad fic that I deleted. Hopefully this one will be better. I am currently on a mission trip so I'm using my phone to write and upload this. If you come across any strange errors please let me know. Also, I know it sounds weird, but the way I used awesome in this story isn't supposed to be like 'awesome bruh'. It's supposed to be mean full of awe, like how they use it in the Bible or old literature.

Yeah, don't know why I felt the need to say that. I was just contemplating how the word awesome has changed.

That's a normal thing to do, right?

Well, I'm just gonna go listen to more edgy music and think about existentialism. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you in the next one!