Author's Note: There's a flashback in this chapter, that might be a little dark but this isn't exactly a light story. Let me know what you think

Crassius Stormfin was slowly stirring in his Gotham Manor bedroom. His wife Koriand'r (Kori) who was also known on Earth as the Tamaranian Starfire was lying on his chest was still lightly sleeping. He could hear the tapping on the window from the rainfall that had been going on for sometime. Crassius took a deep breath and Kori who was 4 four months pregnant with their daughter exhaled and slowly rolled onto her side. Crassius yawned and heard a yell of "HAPPYYYYY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAAAY!" Crassius winced as Kori's wake up call had scared him fully awake. He pushed his shoulder length hair out of his face to get a better look at the love of his life. Kori was far more beautiful than the women of Earth's standards. Kori's hair was the color of a burning wildfire, her skin was the color of the ripest peach, her voice was like a running waterfall though he would never in life as her to sing because he had made that mistake once. What Crassius had found the most fascinating about Kori was her eyes that were the brightest of green that he had ever seen. He kissed her and then sat up in the bed.

"What plans does the birthday boy have," she asked him.

"Well," said Crassius. "There are no Resistance missions for me today so I am all yours today."

"No brotherly plans?"

"Tejay is out of town wiping out a nest of Vampires, and our birthday has never been the same since Uncle Kaldur was killed. He hates the day and acts as though it's just a regular day. Normally if he's not here, I'll get a call or a video message but he must be extremely busy today."

"I swear if he wasn't your brother I wouldn't put up with the way that he treats you honey."

"Kori-"

"Honey I'm serious for him not to even call or message you this morning, that really pisses me off." Crassius didn't respond because he was trying to let her get it all out of her system right now. "Sometimes Tejay acts as like he doesn't even have a brother until he wants you for something."

"Koriand'r-"

"I mean for goodness sakes Crassius you guys are called the Twin Dragons for a reason," she said pointing at his tattoo of a white dragon. "You shouldn't allow him to treat you the way you do."

"Kori enough please," sighed Crassius. "I don't want to talk about my brother any longer. He is my twin and your brother-in-law and whatever hiccups you have about him, and that he has about you because trust me I get an earful from him about you as well, I need you to let them go. I love you but I love my brother too. And his father, the man who basically raised me from the time I was born until my father came back into my life, was killed on our 8th birthday. From there life got a little harder for the both us as well as the rest of the world. Uncle Kaldur was dead and the world slowly but surely went to the dogs after the invasion of the four began."

"I was here for it Crassius," she said. "I fought in battles just as you did, and I've lost people just as you have."

"Yes my love but you were already an adult, and you're over 100 years old. You've had time to come to term with your emotions, but my brother and I were children when those bastards invaded Earth. We were children when we lost both Superman and Superboy on the same day in Russia during that sneak attack. We were children when that Skall attack in Paris forced Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow to sacrifice themselves for the Resistance in order to get that orphanage of children to safety. I saw Billy Batson get his throat slit killing the spirit of Captain Marvel at the same time, I had to hold Shayera Hol's hand while Zatanna cauterized the wings stubs on her back after they were hacked off by the Vampires after she was captured saving her son, and I was the one who had to give Kitana's mother Kelly an emergency C-section with Tejay after she went into labor and was having complications."

"You never told me about that story."

"I never had any intention to tell you that story."

"Why?"

Crassius stared into Kori's green eyes the and sighed deeply. He had promised Tejay that he'd never tell this story to anyone, because Tejay didn't want Kitana to know the events of her birth, but Kori was his wife, and he didn't like to keep secrets from her because she didn't keep any from him.

"It's not my favorite memory," he croaked. "And it's when I realized that shit was going to truly hit that fan in our world. But you deserve to know."

Flashback

Crassius and Tejay were hiding in a shoe shop in the abandoned Gotham Mall. This is exactly why Crassius never listened to Tejay because they were on the run for their literal 8 year old lives. They were exhausted, the mall was all but deserted except for one Skall and two Vampires and nobody knew they were even here. Crassius looked down at his hands and they were soaked in golden Skall blood. A Skall was a reptilian creature that was a force of destruction that just lived to destroy. Sharp teeth, sharp claws, and colored scales that replaced the skin of the humans that were mutated into them. What made these creatures even more dangerous was that they could breathe water which was why the Atlanteans were in the fight for their underwater lives, but thankfully his people were successfully holding them at bay. He snapped back into reality as Tejay raised a hand.

"Listen Crass," he whispered. "We have to reach that laptop over there." Tejay pointed to a dead asian man on the ground with his eyes open. He was laying in a pool of his own blood from his skull but they could see a blue laptop protruding out of the bag that was around his waist. "If I can get his laptop I can send Batman a message and he can come and find us. You just need to distract them with another spell."

"I don't have the energy to use a spell that big again," Crassius snarled. "I cast a spell that big again, I'll be useless to you because I'll either temporarily go blind or collapse all together."

"Crassius I can't do this without you please I need your help or we're both going to die."

"AND WHOSE GODDAMN FAULT IS THAT?!" They both got quiet as they saw two pairs of feet pass them. Crassius then changed his tone to a quiet whisper. "We were safe in the Manor, but you decided that we should try and go out and pick up formula for your sister who isn't even born yet by the way. This is a job for someone like Vixen who could be in and out in a second, or Flash because he's so fast. This world is dangerous now my brother you can't just make a dumb decision and think you'll be okay. We're two little boys, and you know what happen to little boys who make dumb decisions now, they die."

Tejay looked at his brother and didn't respond at first and then he said," are you going to help me or not? I'd cast the spell myself but you know my attack and defense magic isn't as strong as yours yet."

Crassius looked at his brother angrily. Tejay had decided to switch over from the Engineer Academy to the Conservatory of Sorcery since Kaldur had died. Crassius was still the stronger of them in magic, but Tejay was right behind him and was learning faster than any pupil Queen Mera had ever seen. Crassius looked at the dead man, and the spell he needed to use came to him. He gave Tejay the okay nod, and slowly and very carefully they came out from their hiding place. The dead man was thankfully only a few steps away, and while Tejay opened the laptop Crassius was on alert. If they were attacked, they would have time for one spell and one spell only.

"Oh sweet Goddess," said Tejay.

"Nothing good has ever come from you saying that," hissed Crassius. "What's wrong?"

"There's a password on it."

"Aren't you a hacker?!"

"Not Batman and Oracle level yet." Tejay put the laptop down, and put his hands together. He began chanting in Atlantean and Crassius felt the air go a little bit colder and he sensed evil but it was coming from Tejay. Tejay touched the deadman on the head, there was some swirling black energy and he closed his eyes and continued his chant. When he opened his eyes they were bright neon white for a split second and then they returned to his color of sea green. Crassius was now beyond confused as to what was going on. He then watched as Tejay picked up the laptop, typed something, and then replied, "I'm in."

"What did you do," Crassius said in a horrified voice. "What the hell did you just do?"

"Spirit magic," replied Tejay. "I spoke with his spirit and learned the passcode to his laptop."

"You mean necromancy? Are you out of your mind Tejay?! That's dark magic."

"And dark magic just saved us because Batman's on his way and he's bringing help so we are done talking about this."

"I'm telling Bruce when I see him."

You'd better not," said Tejay putting the laptop down. He turned around and yelled, "TEORADOM!"

A purple flaming ball shot out Tejays hand and flew past Crassius. It collided with a female Vampire and sent her back about six feet where she crashed onto the ground. She sprung up laughing and barred her fangs at them. Crassius wordlessly levitated a popcorn cart and flung it at her hitting her blind spot. She flew into a window and shattering the glass. The enemy would know that they were here now. The twins turned and headed the opposite direction of the female as fast as their little legs would take them. Before they had gone two hundred paces she appeared before them with a sadistic smile on her face.

"Greetings boys," she purred. "My name is Luna...what's yours?"

"Get away from us," spat Crassius.

Luna struck Crassius quickly with a backhand and he fell to the ground. Tejay took a step back and flung a red knife at her as hard as he could. She caught it and laughed and a second later it exploded and sent her flying back over a railing. Crassius got up and the he and Tejay turned around, and there was a the Skall. It had obviously once been a man, but no longer. It was a scaly purple colored reptile now with one thing on it's mind: killing. The beast smashed its purple tail on the ground, roared, and then went for the boys on all fours. It was far too fast to outrun and Crassius had already made up his mind on the spell he would use. His arm tattoos lit up dark purple as he channeled the magic.

ION GRAVEREI," he roared. A powerful wave of gravity magic crashed onto the Skall as it got within their range. The spell smashed the Skall down and ultimately it went through the ground falling from the second level to the first. Crassius fell to his knees but Tejay supported his body and they moved as fast as they were able to. It was taking all of the power Crassius had to stay awake because that spell had spent nearly all of his power. He couldn't defend them again if they were attacked. As they came upon an exit, they were suddenly tackled into a wall. Crassius tried to open his mouth to yell but a hand clamped onto his mouth. When he looked up he saw that it was Batman. He mouthed the words "be quiet". Outside the door was the purple Skall and the Vampire Luna and another unknown male. Batman pressed a button on his utility belt and raised his cape up shielding the boys. There was a large explosion afterword completely decimating the mall exit and obliterating the male Vampire. Batman pressed another button and then scooped Crassius up in his arms and made Tejay get on his back and he ran. As he was running they saw the Batmobile turn the corner heading towards them. Despite being weighed down, Batman made a jump through the air and landed on the car. He placed Tejay and Crassius in the backseat, and in the front seat a very pregnant Kelly, was sitting there fuming. The doors to the Batmobile closed and sped off.

"What the hell were you two thinking," growled Batman. "I said you weren't to leave the Manor unsupervised. You could've been killed by them."

"I'm so disappointed in you Tejay," said Kelly angrily. "Put your damn seatbelt on."

"I did this for you," Tejay replied not looking at her.

"You did what for me? Almost get killed?!"

"Crass and I went to the mall to get formula for your baby."

"Well I didn't need you to do that."

"Please stop fighting," Crassius barely said above a whisper grabbing his stomach.

"You are so ungrateful," Tejay said venomously. He pulled out a lump of clay out of his backpack and ran his finger over it in a complicated motion. The clay expanded and then there was a pop. The back of the Batmobile was full of infant formula. There were at least ten cans of it and a large box of it. "Crassius and I got all this for you and my sister and you can't even say thank you. Two little words and you can't even say them."

"I'm too mad to say thank you."

Unfucking believable."

"Watch your goddamn mouth and put your seatbelt on!"

"I don't have to listen to you. You're not my mother and you never will be. All you'll ever be is the woman that my dad got pregnant before he died."

"But you do have to listen to me," interrupted Batman. "Put your seatbelt on now."

"I'm so sick of your attitude," shouted Kelly. "I've been taking care of you since your father was killed and you're just rude and nasty to me. You have no right to speak to me tha-"

"You've been taking care of me," Tejay cried in shock. "How dare you speak such lies?! No I don't think so! Bruce, and King Orrin have been taking care of US since my father died because they feel bad for ME! I don't need you to take care of me, I can do that all on my own."

"Oh Godddess spell nausea," groaned Crassius grabbing his head. "Bruce I think I'm gonna puke."

"We're almost to the Manor just wait another three minutes," Batman said.

"BRUCE I'M GONNA PUKE!"

Batman stopped the car, the roof opened, and he snatched Crassius up and dove out, and not a moment later Crassius ran and puked in a bush. He could hear Tejay and Kelly continuing to argue in the car, and amongst their shouts he heard a twig snap. Crassius looked up from the bush, to see Batman had heard it too. He looked up and saw a small Skall the color of orange autumn leaves camouflaging in the trees. It jumped from the trees on to the Batmobile and destroyed the hood of the car. Because Tejay wasn't wearing his seat belt he went flying through the Batmobile windshield and crashed into a bush passed out. Batman flung an explosive batarang at the Skall but it dodged and headed for them.

"Jikir," chanted Crassius raising his hands. His tattoos lit up bright green as the wind picked up and began to blow harder as Crassius created a storm. The beast couldn't get to Batman because of Crassius' wind attack. But Crassius was still tired from that earlier gravity and couldn't hold that spell up for much longer.

ZAKER!"

A bolt of lightning flew through the storm and struck the Skall in the neck and it dropped to the ground. Crassius stopped the storm and saw that Tejay was on his knees his hand exteneded and it was smoking from the attack. Tejay's face was slightly bloodied but he seemed to be okay. Batman rushed to the vehicle and they heard him mutter," dammit." Crassius walked over to the car and saw Kelly was pierced through and bleeding from her shoulder and from the looks of her sky blue jeans she had wet herself.

"Crassius run to the house and find Zatanna," ordered Batman. "It's about five minutes from here, run as fast as you can and tell her that Kelly is about to have the baby."

Crassius nodded his head and ran but he heard Batman cry out 30 seconds later. He turned and saw that Tejay's lightning attack hadn't killed the Skall only knocked it out briefly. As he ran back he saw Batman on the ground unconscious, Kelly crying out in pain, and Tejay still gathering his breath.

"Give me your power," Tejay said into his head. Atlantean twins were telepathic and this ability was one of their greatest traits especially in battle. "I can beat him but I need your strength Crass."

"You're gonna beat him with dark magic Tejay," barked Crassius. "You can't keep using it."

"If I don't use dark magic, Batman is going to become lizard food and so will the rest of us. I have the spell that can stop this thing but I need your power."

Crassius looked over at Batman and saw that the Skall was getting closer to his unconscious form. He ran over to where Tejay was and clenched hands with him. He felt his remaining energy leave his body and go into Tejay. Crassius collapsed onto the ground as weak as a hamster as his brother stood strong as an ox. Tejay began to rub his hands together super fast and until black flames appeared. He ran at the Skall and jumped onto its back and with his fists he punched a hole into its spine. The Skall let out a whine of pain like nothing he'd ever heard and stood up with Tejay on its back, trying to grab him. But it was futile. A second later Tejay yelled and slowly removed his hands from the Skall's body and holding onto a grapefruit sized heart. The Skall roared weakly before falling over dead and lifeless. Crassius saw Tejay run over to the Batmobile and gasp. He was falling out of consciousness when he felt warmth and energy retuning to his body. His magic was somehow being jumpstarted to him and he looked up and saw Tejay's palms glowing golden over his body.

"Like I told you brother, spirit magic not necromancy," Tejay chided at him."Our methods may be different, but we're at war and must do whatever is possible to save our home." Crassius didn't respond he just stood up and walked over to the Batmobile by Kelly. She was sweating and her complexion had become very gray. "Crassius we have to get the baby out."

"Doesn't she just... I don't know push the baby," asked Crassius. His heart was beating very fast at the moment. "What in the world can we do to help?"

"The baby isn't coming out Crassius," moaned Kelly. Her usual coffee colored skin was now clammy and gray looking and she was sweating profusely.

"Why not? Are you not pushing hard enough?" But before Kelly answered Crassius saw why pushing was not an option. Her pants weren't just wet anymore, they were covered in blood that was coming from her.

"I've been trying to push and nothing is happening. Something must have happened when the Skall crashed onto the car because I jerked really hard and after that my water broke and shortly after that the bleeding started."

"Okaaaaaay so how do we get the baby out?"

"We have to cut her open."

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Crassius looked at his brother with his jaw dropped. He couldn't have heard Tejay correctly. "Are you insane?!"

"It's the only way Crassius."

"He's right Crassius," Kelly gasped out. "I need you guys to do this."

"No he's talking about killing you," shouted Crassius. "And we don't know anything about cutting people open. Just let me run to the Manor and I can get Zatanna or Batman is right here we can try to wake him up-"

"Crassius Dorian Stormfin," Tejay said in the exact voice his Uncle Kaldur used to use. Tejay put his hands on his brothers' shoulders. "Listen to me carefully my brother: we are out of time. If we try things your way we'll lose the both of them, but if we try it my way, we may just lose Kelly."

"We can't cut a woman open Tejay."

"If you have another option tell me right now, otherwise this is the only choice. Now I've lost my mother, Aunt Dinah, and now my father, I don't want to lose my sister too... please I can't do this without you."

Crassius exhaled and ran his hands through his hair and finally nodded his head yes. The door on the Batmobile and been damaged during the accident and they couldn't pry it open. So they had to climb into the Batmobile, and Kelly lowered the seat all the way back as much as it would go. Both boys quickly used a magic cleansing spell removed all dirt, germs, and blood from themselves and the Batmobile, and finally they were ready to begin.

"Okay Crass," said Tejay. "You're gonna have to do it."

"WHAT," roared Crassius. "WHY ME?!"

"Because I'm going to have to use my spirit magic to keep her pain level down as much as I can, but I can't control healing spirits and use a magic blade at the same time."

"Please Crassius," whimpered Kelly weakly. "Please?"

Damn thought Crassius. He closed his left fist as Tejay began to mumble words in Atlantean. Golden wisps of light the size of tennis balls began to appear inside the Batmobile and the air grew warm. Crassius opened his hand and around it was a white light of energy that was sharpened and could cut through most metals so human flesh was going to be simple. He could see where the baby was kicking occassionally and was going to do his best to avoid that area. He slowly inserted the blade and waited for a scream but nothing which mean that Tejay's magic was working. Crassius made the incision large enough to the point where he could get both his hands in and canceled the spell out. There was blood spilling all over the car but thankfully Tejay's wisps of light made things a little bit easier to see. Crassius reached in until he finally felt the baby and thankfully he had her head and didn't have to try to turn her around. Crassius gently grabbed her and slowly pulled her from Kelly's womb. The baby was the color of caramel with a mess of blonde hair but as Crassius was holding the baby he realized she wasn't breathing and Kelly had stopped breathing as well. Crassius had heard that newborns had fluids in their mouth and nose. He pressed his hand gently on the baby's face and then with magic willed the liquid from her mouth and nose, and was expecting a cry but there was still nothing from her. Crassius looked at Tejay with a somber look on his face because he was out of ideas. The baby still wasn't breathing, they had to do something fast or this day was about to become truly horrific. Tejay grabbed one of the wisps about the size of a tennis ball with his hand and pressed it into onto sister. The light faded into her body and not a second later baby coughed and finally began to cry.

"Oh wow it worked," said Crassius as he cradled the baby. "Kelly it worked." Crassius looked over at Kelly and her eyes were closed and her head was slumped on her shoulder. He had been so focused on getting the baby out that he forgot about her. Then he looked at the seat and it took everything in his being not to release a curdling yell. There was blood everywhere: the seats, the floor, on Kelly, and on himself. Tejay's spell had kept Kelly comfortable and pain free but didn't protect her from her own mortality. "Tejay... is she-"

"Yeah...I sensed her spirit leave her body... it was the one I pressed into the baby. She's gone."

"Master Bruce," came Alfred's voice through the Batmobile's computer. "Master Bruce are you alright? Sir speak to me. I'm sending someone to your location sir the Batmobile has been un-mobile for nearly an hour."

"Crassius promise me we'll never speak of this," asked Tejay.

"Everyone is gonna wanna know what happened," Crassius said. "We're in the car with a dead woman and a newborn baby."

"I don't care just promise we wont talk of this ever."

"Tejay-".

"It's my fault she died and you know it."

"Tejay stop."

"No Crass," he cried. There were tears pouring from his eyes. "I'm the reason my sister is never going to know her mother. I just did to my own sister what my grandfather did to us. I'm the reason she's dead Crassius. Kelly didn't even get to hold her. I killed her."

"You didn't Tejay-."

"But I did because it was my idea to get the baby formula, then it was my idea to cut her open. If I hadn't come up with this stupid idea Kelly would still be alive." Crassius looked at his twin and could see how shattered he was right now and couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. "Promise me we'll never speak of this again."

Crassius sighed as they saw the Blue Beetle and his father, Garth approaching them and finally he conceded. "I promise."

End Flashback

"And all this happened the first year of the invasion Kori," he said. "I was 8 years old and I cut a woman open and that is how Kitana was born. By all means I should be a raving lunatic with the shit I've seen but I'm still normal because I had my brother who at times has made tough decisions because no one else would."

"Sweetie I just wished he treated you better."

"I know how my brother feels about me Kori regardless of the fact that he doesn't always express it. That's enough for me my love regardless of what you think."

Crassius climbed out of the bed and walked over to the curtains and pulled the curtains open and his heart dropped. It was storming outside. "AWWW SHIIIIIIT!" Crassius grabbed a pair of gray sweats put them on and sped out of the bedroom. He nearly ran over Alexa Luthor as she was coming out of the bathroom in a magenta colored robe. She shouted Happy Birthday but he didn't care. Crassius ran down the hall, down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out the back door and rushed into the rain shirtless to the gardens. Crassius kneeled in front of his flower garden that was on the verge of drowning. He clapped his hands together and nearly all of the water spilled out of the flower bed onto the already muddy grass and then he erected a barrier so that the rainwater would no longer damage his flowers. These flowers were very important to the Resistance. Their seeds had been soaked with different potions to create different effects: Roses petals could cure most ailments if a tea was drank with the petals, Begonias made powerful a morphine, Tulips made excellent poultices for burns, and Daisies were excellent for making one temporarily immune to poisons. Crassisus checked the remaining flower beds while he was in the gardens and placed small barriers around all the flowers to only allow the minimal amount of water to pass through the barriers. He turned around, soaked and muddy, and walked back into the kitchen and quickly grabbed a towel to dry medium sized towel to dry off with. Crassius grabbed an apple and walked into the living room as Damian Wayne walked out of the Batcave from behind the sliding clock holding onto a folder. The Young Wayne looked like holy hell from another night of no sleep. He was the spitting image of Bruce Wayne with a far shorter fuse, and no tolerance for his enemies because a good portion of them were dead.

"Your brother is a pain in my ass," he sighed running a hand through his wavy jet black hair. He sat down and stretched across one of the sofas before letting out an enormous yawn.

"Well tell me something that I don't know," said Crassius sitting on the couch arm biting his apple.

"We have a problem birthday boy."

"And what kind of a problem do we have? No cake this year?"

"The big guy hasn't checked in for almost a week now."

"Well I'm sure that he's fine."

"You don't know that for sure."

"He's 6'5, 225 lbs all muscle, a skilled black belt in Shotokan Karate, a triple blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do, oh and if all that didn't make him dangerous enough, he's half Kryptonian. You're being a mother hen for no reason Damian. We both know that James can take care of himself."

"And you know as well as I do that if James is killed it's going to set our efforts back years Crassius. We have some heavy hitters but none hit heavier than a fully grown Kryptonian. He hasn't checked in with me for over 7 days when he was consistently doing it every 15 hours night or day; I'm telling you that something has happened to him."

"So how do you propose that we free him?" Damian didn't respond right away but it was obvious what his answer was and Crassius rolled his eyes. "Oh hell no! You want me to go and save him?! On my BIRTHDAY?! The day you promised that I wouldn't have any kind of missions at all today.?

"If I could go myself I would, but I have to stay here because of a meeting with the leaders of the other Resistance cells."

"The other cell leaders hate you."

"Only Gladys hates me."

"Even if what you say is true, have you ever seen a pissed off pregnant Tamaranian? Because I don't want to come home to that shit. I'm not supposed to do any missions today."

"I'll deal with your wife, you just save James. Take Alexa and Rex with you, they're briefing right now if all goes according to plan we'll find him alive."

Crassius nodded his head yes, and finished his apple, and headed towards into the Batcave. Damian hadn't changed much of anything since he became the new Batman after his father had died in the Battle of Africa. If anything, the Batcave seemed much darker. Many of the former Gotham villains were either dead, MIA, or in prisons. Some of them had renounced their ways since the invasion of the four and joined the resistance whether as foot soldiers, or spies. Others did what villains did best and joined the enemy in hopes to live better. Crassius walked over to his costume which consisted of a red and black leather wet suit that didn't have sleeves mainly so that his tattoo of his white dragon could be seen. He changed quickly and soon after Alexa Luthor and Rex Stuart made their appearance. Alexandra or Alexa as she preffered to be called was the daughter of criminal Lex Luthor. She was fair skinned with auburn colored hair, rosy cheeks, and blue eyes like sapphires. Much like Luthor, Alexa was brilliant in nearly every aspect, proficient with several weapons but she specialized in 9mm pistols and always had at least two on her. She was also the girlfriend the of James Kent, which many people found to be ironic, the daughter of Lex Luthor and the son of Superman in a relationship. Rex Stuart was the son of the Green Lantern John Stewart, and the Thanagarian warrior Shayera Hol. Katar Hol was Shayera's husband who left during the beginning of the invasion to assist Superman in Russia to try and defeat the enemy once and for all, but everyone who attempted to assist with Russia was ultimately killed. Alone and abandoned, she eventually found comfort in John Stewart and four months later (Thanagarian pregnancies were fast) Rex was born. He looked exactly like his father but of a lighter complexion, with piercing green eyes, and he'd been born with wings which according to Shayera was a rarity in half-Thanagarian children. Rex normally wore simple jeans and under T-shirts that he hulked out of for simple missions, but for the hardcore stuff he dressed in battle armor. He was pretty strong, and carried a pouch of electric Nth metal daggers which he could throw with extreme accuracy. Rex's specialty in battle was poison, whether it was crippling or a sneak attack.

"So," asked Alexa once they were flying in the Batwing. "Are you girls ready to kick some ass today?"

"Was that a shot at me because I'm gay Alexa," asked Rex in his deep voice.

"You are the manliest gay man I know Rexxie, and you make an excellent banana cream pie."

"Just because I can cook better than you, doesn't mean I'm going to bake you a pie."

"Rexxie don't be that way-"

"Where did Damian send the big guy Alexa," asked Crassius.

Alexa blew a bubble of gum and popped it. "James said Damian was sending him to a fanger plant to gain info," she explained. "Apollo said that he's getting close to a breathrough on Vampirism and he needs whatever he can get his hands on when it comes to Vampires."

"A breakthrough?"

"Yes it turns out that despite us thinking Vampirism is a permanent affliction, it's actually just a virus and like any virus, it can be combated and maybe even cured."

"I've been bitten before though," said Rex. "I wasn't turned into one of them."

"No according to Apollo, the process of turning is far more complex but we've never actually captured one of them. All we ever do is kill them to prevent people from getting bitten especially metas like you guys."

Crassius nodded his head silently in agreement. Getting bit by a vampire could either be a simple bite, or in some cases very bad. For example, the first time he was ever bitten was when he was 17 and it happened in a raid that forced him to abandon a small town with a population of 150 that he was supposed to be evacuating to safety to the Vampires. The Vampire who bit him not only drained some blood from him, but he gained Crassius' magical powers permanently. The first human or meta a Vampire drained, that Vampire would permanently have access to that combat abilities or powers. He had fought several meta powered Vampires over the last 14 years: Human sorcerer, Atlantean sorcerer, super strong, super fast, and some far smarter that Damian Wayne. Thankfully there weren't any Kryptonian powered Vampires others the efforts of the Resistance would be futile. That Batwing landed in the abandoned city in New Orleans. The buildings were cracked and covered in moss, the ground was covered in overgrown grass and there were rusted cars.

"Well," said Rex looking around. "This is a nice place."

"No need to lie Rexxie," replied Alexa. "This place is a shithole. Hard to believe that this was once the party capitol of the South."

"Concentrate" ordered Crassius. He was holding onto James' cape and whispered a locator spell over it. There was a white aura glowing around the cape as it floated through the air attempting to locate its owner. The threesome began to walk up Bourbon Street following the cape when they noticed a man step from the shadows.

"Y'all don't look like you belong here," he drawled with a thick Southern accent stepping towards them. He gave a wide smile and expose a very fangy grin. "How bout I show y'all a good time here?"

"Tell me you aren't going to do this," sighed Alexa putting a hand on her head and the other on her hip. "We're looking for a friend, and you're bothering us. So take your backwoods fanged ass somewhere else before we kill it."

"Hold on there cher, ain't no way to speak to a kind man like meself. You'll upset me friends y'know." Crassius looked up and saw that more Vampires had begun to expose themselves: some from the shadows, others standing up on the roofs of buildings, and some exiting the stores through shattered glass windows. There were at least seven of them and fighting one Vampire in a group was bad, but seven was a nightmare. "Now, looks like I got yo attention."

"Who are you," asked Crassius.

"They call me Bubba, and this here be my territory. Now I don't know why the White Dragon Crassius is visiting me, but I don't fuckin like it." The Vampires edged closer, and Alexa drew a pistol. "Girlie you better calm down, ain't no way you can stop us if we start fighting."

Crassius was scoping out the enemy while Bubba continued to speak. Two Vampires levitating meaning they could fly, one was holding onto a sword which meant she might be a problem, three were staying close to Bubba which meant: they were either freshly turned, had no powers of their own yet, or had heard of Crassius' reputation and wanted no part of him.

"Where's the Kryptonian," growled Rex twirling a dagger in his fingers.

"That big country lookin bastard," chuckled Bubba. "He's not here, we didn't want no fight wit him."

"But you would risk a fight with us? You know what Crassius can do and that makes him dangerous enough, but you don't know what Rex and I are capable of."

"But I'm sure you know what me and my kind can do especially when we're really thristy... so I tell you what boy, y'all leave ya valuables, and we'll let you go this one time. Think of it as a lil Southern hospitality."

"Bubba unlike my brother Tejay, I'm usually very patient," said Crassius calmly. He raised his fists and pointed his index and middle fingers two different directions. Alex drew her second pistol, and Rex pulled out a second dagger. "But once my patience runs out, then I start to get pissed the fuck off. Now in a second I'm gonna unleash magical hell on you and these baby Vampires you got with you and odds are you wont survive it. Now LAST TIME: where is the Kryptonian?" Bubba didn't answer and his Vampires all barred their fangs. "Suit yourself."

A female Vampire charged Crassius and he saw her out the corner of his eye. The first lesson in combat was you should always be acting and never re-acting. He adjusted his left arm to the side and cried out,"Ganzu Gikor!" Crassius' tattoos lit up blue and spears of ice flew from his hand impaling the female in her leg, shoulder, and finally her skull ending her. Rex flung a knife at his enemy and with extreme accuracy hit the enemy in the neck. The Vampire pulled the dagger out but the poison had already entered his bloodstream. The Vampire immediately began to vomit bile nonstop until it turned from bile to blood. Once he was vulnerable with a dropped guard, Alexa put four bullets in his face. Rex then spread his wings, and took to the air holding onto two knives as long as his forearms, and he did battle with the two male Vampires in the air. The remaining three Vampires on the ground were Bubba, and two females. One of the females went for Alexa believing her to simply be weak but Alexa was the daughter of Luthor and strived for nothing less than perfection inside and outside of battle. She was nearly as fast as the Vampire and could dodge most of her attacks and the ones she could dodge she countered. While they fought Crassius focused on Bubba and the spare female.

"You've gotten two killed today Bubba," growled Crassius. "Is this worth it? Give us James and you at what remains of your nest can live." Bubba moved faster than the eye could see and punched Crassius in the face. Crassius fell and felt and blood on his lip. That was meta speed for sure that he definitely wasn't prepared for at first. "So you wanna hit people in the face? Well c'mon you son of a bitch I'm right fucking here!" Bubba roared and charged again but Crassius was ready. His tattoo glowed dark blue and he roared," GIGANO FREEZUDO!" Crassius smashed both fists onto the ground and a wave of ice spread throughout the ground as Bubba ran towards him. The country vampire slipped on the ice. Crassius shouted for Rex who had defeated one Vampire, and the young male threw him a dagger fast. As Bubba was sliding towards him, Crassius caught the dagger and slammed it down into Bubba's forehead killing him instantly. Seeing Bubba killed the remaining Vampires surrendered immediately and got on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Alexa walked up to the only male left put her gun to his head and immediately pulled the trigger blowing his head up.

"Okay," she said flipping her head. "That was so the rest of you know we aren't fucking around. I want answers and I want them right now. WHERE IS MY GODDAMN BOYFRIEND?!"

"My god woman calm yourself." The threesome turned around and saw James walking out of a shop that used to sell drive through Margaritas. Alexa ran up to him and dove into his arms and he caught her and gave a quick kiss. He was a little worse for wear because being half Kryptonian he had limited invulnerability. "I told Damian I had it under control. You all get outta here before my loving girlfriend decides to put bullets in the rest of you." The young Vampires not wanting to die immediately sprung up and fled away. "Damn that Damian he even made you come out here on your birthday Crassius? I'm so sorry that you came all the way out here for me."

"It's fine James," sighed Crassius. "What have you learned?"

"Well let's get home first because Damian is going to want to hear all of this."

Crassius watched as Alexa jumped into James muscular arms again and planted a wet one on her. "You two know your fathers are turning over in their graves right." He walked away with a smirk knowing he was receiving a middle finger from the both of them.