AN: Still introducing characters so no action until the next episode, though this entire first part just sets up the newbies and overall problem. Sorry if this and the next chap seem slow but it will get there.

Combat Engineer – Thanks.

Gordhanx – More of the Titans will be seen later so I hope you enjoy more of how they interact when the story gets there. And by the time of this chap, Eddie's funeral has been held but I wanted to mention the League doing that, so glad you liked it. And also, M'gann's not pregnant but more on that next episode.

DarkMgc – Nope, M'gann's not pregnant and wee baby Carter will be appearing next episode.

GoddessofCongeniality – Thanks for that, made my day. For your questions, I haven't decided if the Outlaws (all of them) may appear or not. As for Damian Wayne…maybe you should read this chap. You might be pleased.

Ben A – Lilith Clay was in the comics and had precognitive powers. I thought she would be a god fit for what I have in store. As for Magic or Majicks, I read somewhere (most likely a fantasy book) that magic is the art illusion while majick as actual magic in the use of powers and it's stuck with me ever since. Yes, Supermartian has been born and will be talked about next episode. As for a time frame, I know I've posted this as one year after Darkseid, but I messed up. This is around fourteen to fifteen months after Darkness Falls.

Zeta Marz – Thanks. I can neither confirm nor deny BB's dark side coming out. But there is the fact Queen Bee hasn't answered for what she did to his mom…

Riley 000 – I was thinking of having the power rings simply reflect the user's imagination so it would be a bit of both. That's why I made Kyle a teen cause the adults used more down to earth constructs for the lack of better terms. As for Conner's TTK you asked about in another story, it will be making an appearance in this one and will be similar in nature.

The Darkman – Oh yeah, I had this planned out in my head and have written plenty of notes on what I have planned so I hope you enjoy the upcoming twists and turns. I really don't follow futball but I do follow football. I've only seen one or two games, including that shootout between Chili and Brazil that was nuts. I'm just not really a soccer fan.

Eric – Glad you liked the references and little jokes from the comics and show. And I had to add that part about Guy with the way Hal and John responded in season one about him joining the League. The other members of the Light will be coming up next chapter so all your questions will be answered in due time, and boy will they be answered. Also, wee baby Carter was just visiting Mars with John for a bit. He's back home and will be make his intro next episode.

Okay, that's it, from now on; I will address Carter as 'Wee Baby Carter'. It's an Archer thing. On with the story…

3.

Palto Alto

April 22

09:56 UTC

"Too early, too, too early."

Laying on his back on the floor, the former Kid Flash, Wally West, had his daughter on his stomach for a bounce ride. It wasn't the fact it was before seven when he woke up to Isis crying, it wasn't the need to change and feed her, and it wasn't the need to literally run to the grocery store for more boxes of her special food he was complaining about, it was just his wife, Artemis, was right yet again. Never bounce a two year old so soon after she's eaten, the results will be messy.

"How in the world can you be my daughter and spit up all your oatmeal...on my face?"

Setting his daughter down, the red head young man used his shirt to wipe off what regurgitated oats he could and went to clean up completely in the kitchen. Tossing his shirt in the laundry basket by the laundry room door, he quickly made use of the hand soap and was soon smelling of 'lemon sunrise' instead of 'raisin oats'.

"Why is it you never spit up on mommy and always spit up on me?"

"Because I'm her favorite, that's why." Exiting the hallway in a pair of scrubs, Artemis tied her long, blonde hair in her usual pony tail then picked her daughter up who called for her.

"No fair," Wally playfully moaned. "She'll come around, she has me all day while you go to work."

"Only because Sandra called in sick. I'll be taking her place at the front desk for Doctor-"

"Zeaus?"

"No, fool. Doctor Zeals. His office is shorthanded this week from that throat thing that's been going around."

"Just as long as you don't bring it home."

"Whatever. What time do you go in tomorrow?"

"Dale want's me there around ten so we can work on the AC units with two other volunteers. So wish it was our date night."

"Soon enough, Speed stick. Mom's looking forward to spending the night with our little archer."

"You mean speedster, right?"

"Only on how she eats." After smoothing her daughter's strawberry blonde hair, Artemis kissed her on the forehead. "Mama will be back later, okay? Be good for daddy."

"Kay," the toddler replied. "Love you mom."

"Love you too, Irey."

Taking his daughter, Wally saw his wife to the door and waived as she drove off. He then turned to Isis and sighed. "Am I the only one who calls you Isis anymore? Why is it every word Dick comes up with sticks?"

Wayne Manor

April 22

11:27 UTC

In another typical day at Wayne Manor, things were going as normal as could be. The large mansion overlooked the city of Gotham like an ever seeing eye on the lookout for any disturbance whatsoever. Unknown to the citizens of the city who only saw the tall trees and well-trimmed grass of the estate, things were not what they seemed, especially when it came to the underground structure no one but a handful of people have ever seen with their own eyes.

Within the Batcave, The Lord of the Manor, Bruce Wayne, watched as a young boy ran an obstacle course designed to test one's acrobatic abilities. It was a course designed by the first Robin, Dick Grayson, and was the gold standard by which all of Batman's partners were judged by.

Truth be told, Bruce had not expected the boy to be as skilled as he was. Every move he made was fluid and transitioned into the next flawlessly. There were times Bruce even thought the kid was Dick by the way he moved until he saw the youth flip from one bar to another with his eyes closed when he saw himself when he was younger. There was no obstacle too hard for the boy who seemed to fly through the air and land with such grace, Bruce himself couldn't believe it was possible for someone so young. Then again, the child was trained by The League of Shadows since birth. As if that were not enough, there were the genetics to be considered as the boy was the son of Bruce Wayne, the Batman.

"Very good," Bruce said as the boy walked toward him.

"Good? That was perfect." Standing tall, as tall as a prepubescent boy could stand, the splitting image of Bruce Wayne eyed the older man with something reminiscent of the infamous 'Bat Glare'.

"You missed sliding down the pole and using the trampoline to reach the trapeze to swing across the chasm."

"It was unnecessary. After the third round of rotating overhead bars, I could use my momentum to bypass the chasm."

"That is not the point of this exercise. The point was to test you on your endurance and stamina as well as you athletic ability, not to see if you can bypass obstacles."

"The League has honed me to my peak form. I am more than capable of beating whatever tests you throw my way and don't need to use all of my skills."

"You sure about that?" Walking back over to the massive system known as the Batcomputer, Bruce typed in a few keystrokes with one hand. "Would you like to test that theory?"

"Mother said you would be unable to believe I can do anything you can, or better," the kid said with an air of superiority. "The League of Shadows does not train failures, they train only-"

"Has your mother told you how many Shadows I have put a stop to? Or how many my colleagues have foiled?"

The boy's eyes narrowed at the remark.

"Talia may have had you trained to be in peak physical form for your age, but I still have my doubts."

"You just saw me make a mockery of your last training area. What else is there?"

With a grin, Bruce pressed a few more buttons, causing the entire training area to change as more obstacles were added and the length doubled. To the average, everyday person, one look would have made them give up and run away in fear. To the boy, he only did a double take as Bruce actually smirked at his reaction.

"Damian, you may have passed the first stage of the first Robin's training course, but let's see how well you do on the second stage."

Upstairs in the mansion itself, the faithful butler to Bruce Wayne went about preparing lunch. It was nothing major, roasted rabbit with a cream sauce and scalloped potatoes with a fresh batch of croissants. The entire downstairs was filled with the smell, which enticed anyone to drool without a second thought.

As Alfred exited the kitchen to place the food on the table, a silent presence made their way across the second floor railing and flipped over to hang upside down and spy on the older man. Predatory eyes recorded every move he made and waited for him to make his way back into the kitchen. Once the presence saw the butler disappear around the corner, they dropped silently to the ground and swiftly made their way into the dining area.

Without making a sound, the figure grabbed a fork and stuck it in each plate of food. Raising the utensil to their face, they smelt then lightly tasted what was on each plate. The next was the elaborately decorated basket of bread where they tested each croissant followed by the butter and pitcher of water.

"Excuse me, Miss Cain," Alfred interrupted as he reentered the dining room with a thin plate of apple butter. "By now, you must see I am not attempting to poison Master Damian," he then switched to a mumble as he approached the table, "no matter how much worse he is than the bloody Queen of England."

After placing the butter down, he looked the girl over he referred to as Miss Cain who was put in charge of Damian's safety by the League of Shadows. She was a striking young Asian woman with a very toned, athletic body. Long black hair cascaded down her back and was done in a simple loose braid. But the characteristic that stood out most about her, besides her large, dark brown eyes, was a scar running down from her lip to her throat. It was all that was left from an injury, which left her a mute.

"Now, lunch is just about ready to be served officially as soon as I call master Bruce and his son up here. Of course, as Master Damian's body guard, you are more than welcome to sit beside him but rest assured, we, and especially I, will never try to harm anyone in this house unless they are here for less than noble purposes."

Looking a little embarrassed and unsure at the same time, the teenage Miss Cain stood at attention and clasped her hands behind her back before bowing.

"Now, since you are here first, please help yourself to the salad in the place of your choosing. Should the others come up here after I call them, they will just have to eat their lunch cold while we enjoy it fresh from the oven."

Looking her over again, Alfred let out a sigh. "And I still wish you would reconsider wearing the other clothing we have acquired for your use instead of the black sweatpants and tank top."

To this, the teen girl simply shrugged.

Watchtower

April 22

17:17 UTC

Coming out of one of the medical rooms within the space station, Martian Manhunter, in his John disguise, finished trying to speak to Lilith. The Brazilian woman still showed signs of weakness from what she had been through and was slow in showing trust to anyone despite how they came across to her. Those watching over her kept Batman in constant contact and recorded what she did in her room as well as whatever she should say.

"How was it this time?" Kaldur asked as he neared the room with a tray of food for the woman.

"Kaldur," John said as he lowered his hand from the back of his neck. "Miss Clay still has some reservations on speaking to us about all she has went through. From what I have picked up, without entering her mind, she may have been mentally abused by those who have captured her. She has asked about Blue Devil, so hopefully she trusts at least one person."

"Good. I will attempt to work with her as well. If you can, check on Blue Devil first thing in the morning when you arrive and notify me. Doctor Palmer will begin to bring him out of his coma and I would like the opportunity to speak with him about Eddie."

"Will do, Kaldur. I will contact you once he is fully awake and able to communicate."

As the disguised Martian left, the Atlantean straitened himself up and rounded the corner into Lilith's room. Standing in the doorway, Kaldur watched as she fiddled with her hospital gown in an attempt to close the back when she saw him and grew stiff from nervousness.

"Evening." Slowly entering the room, Kaldur placed the food tray on a table and rolled it over towards the bed. The entire time, Lilith watched his every movement as he maneuvered the table to where it was in front of her with the food tray within easy reach.

"I have asked our chef to prepare something other than oatmeal for you tonight. Though, I am afraid the Jello is mandatory." Backing up slowly, Kaldur pulled up a nearby chair and sat down close enough to get her anything she may need but far enough away as to not seem he was smothering her.

Looking down at the blue plastic tray, Lilith's eyes ran over the slices of ham, scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy, serving of corn, and the large square of cornbread beside the water bottle and plastic silverware. She immediately forwent the silverware and grabbed the ham with her hands. If the way she stuffed her mouth was not evident she was hungry, the noises she made were. She even dug her fingers into the potatoes and shoveled them into her mouth shortly after.

Reaching out, the hungry woman grabbed the bottle water and struggled with opening it. Snapping back to his senses, as he had never seen anyone, including Wally, eat like that, Kaldur stood and slowly made his way over to her. Growing still with her eyes locked on the dark skinned Atlantian, she watched as he carefully reached out and motioned for the bottle she was having trouble opening.

"It is okay. Let me help." A moment later, Lilith carefully handed him the bottle and watched him open it. Once it was back in her possession, she drank nearly half of its contents and stopped only because she began to choke.

"Easy. You still need to be careful on how quickly you eat and drink." Taking a step back, Kaldur gave her room to feel comfortable and watched as she began eating with her hands again.

"Lilith, if you do not mind, could you tell me about what you went through?"

The woman looked up at him but continued to eat.

"The ones who saved you, Blue Devil, Kid Devil, they...they were my friends. Kid Devil, Eddie, he...he was a member of the team of young heroes I am in command of. His loss has been hard for us to endure, as with any we may suffer. I just want to know what happened. What did you go through to make them risk and give a life to save?"

After a few moments of silence, Kaldur let out a sigh. "Lilith, please. Eddie...he was not with the team, my team for long and yet, we came to treat him as a brother. I allowed him to accompany his mentor on a two person mission to investigate missing people in Brazil. It was my responsibility to look out for him and make sure he was prepared for whatever may happen to him. Any information you have will be most helpful and will go to aid us in bringing his murderers to justice."

Lilith only stared down at the left over food on her tray, which was only crumbs by this point, and let her long hair cover most of her face.

"I understand if you wish not to speak about past events. But please, if you remember anything, I would like to be among the first to know." After a moment, the black ops leader let out a breath and reached out to move the table and empty tray away when he heard the slightest squeak from the woman. "Excuse me?"

"I...I..."

Moving the tray away, Kaldur took its place and moved to the side of the bed. He tried to get a better look at her but could not, due to her hair concealing her face. At first, it appeared as if she was a brunette, but after a thorough washing to get the caked n dirt off, her hair came out as dirty blonde. Slowly, he reached out and moved the right side strands away to expose her dark skinned features. "Lilith?"

"I...it's useless." Her voice was weak and somewhat shaky.

"What is useless?"

"Everything."

With a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Kaldur bent down slightly to get to eye level with her. "What do you mean by that?"

Still staring straight ahead, Lilith did not move in the slightest. Unknown to Kaldur, a long string of images flashed before her eyes without her ever showing signs of what she experienced. "Life. Once he arrives...all will be consumed. And he will reign supreme."

"Who is he?"

Moving her eyes to look at him, but not her head, Lilith gave him her answer. "Death."

Metropolis Airport

April 22

20:56 UTC

In one of the country's busiest hubs, planes went on about their daily routines as normal as a small aircraft approached one of the private tarmacs. As the aerial craft approached its final run, the pilot switched its lights off before it began its decent. Nothing could be seen in the near pitch black night sky with none of the ground based lights able to penetrate the darkness.

"This is tower control to unknown craft, unknown craft, do you copy? Over."

Within one of the large towers responsible for directing all aircraft coming and going from the airport, several men were trying to get a reading on the small plane entering their airspace.

"Again, this is tower control to unknown aircraft, why are you not answering our hails and have turned your lights off?"

Nothing came over their radios as they opened all channels to speak to the new pilot. "You are not authorized to land here and all tarmacs are closed to you."

"They're still not answering," another of the traffic controllers said.

"This is insane," a third one said. "No lights, no hails, no aircraft identity. Who is thi-"

Before he could finish, a large fireball erupted on the landing strip before them. The darkened area lit up as pieces of the plane tumbled across the ground. Everyone in the tower could only look on as a tragedy unfolded before them. Emergency vehicles responded rapidly to where the plane crashed with men and women quickly locking down the area.

No one could have survived that ill-fated landing.