While all the all craziness of the past twenty-four hours occupied most of the world's attention, the sight of a large orange and green metal cicada still might have warranted some attention. Venom, self-appointed leader of the Insecticons, made sure however to avoid large groups of people.

Landing in what he assumed was an empty field, the insect transformed into a large humanoid robot. An antenna rose up from its head and wiggled as Venom scanned various frequencies. "No more chatter…Shrapnel! Shrapnel must be trying to undermine me again. If I go to Megatron, he'll fix him for good, but the rest of the Insecticons won't listen to me anymore..." Venom started to pace, his large flat feet leaving tracks in the dried dirt.

-B

With all of the aforementioned events occurring, orders in the super hero community were coming in fast. For Metropolis, most of the heroes there rushed to defend the city or headed to DC to assist with the defense. For Gotham City, however, the orders of Batman were a bit clearer: Defend Gotham.

With the insanity of time melting around, things grew murky. People, animals, all things past and future were mixing and crossing each other. The Justice Society was quite surprised to find their headquarters occupied by their younger selves.

Back in Gotham proper, however, two young women set out. Sprinting across the rooftops was the Black Bat; formerly known as Batgirl and on occasion Cassandra Cain, daughter of the two greatest killers of the planet.

Behind her on a customized motorcycle was Batgirl; formerly known as the Spoiler and briefly Robin, Stephanie Brown was currently trying to keep up with the Black Bat's speed. "Seriously, how is it you're faster than me?"

"Training." Cassandra was not the most talkative sort, even when she wasn't on the job.

Batgirl increased the speed as she rounded a corner. Two figures in the road before her made her jerk the cycle to the side.

Two women stood in the street. One was dressed in a mostly purple outfit while the other was clad in all black with only a faint yellow outline of a bat on her chest. "Oh boy…" Batgirl pinched her nose.

-D

Venom had moved from the field to a more industrialized area. He was still muttering to himself. "Shrapnel is the key. He's taken over my Insecticons, therefore he must be destroyed!"

Stomping along in his thoughts, Venom walked through abandoned building and found himself staring at six strangely dressed humans. Thoughts of plots slipped away as he drew his gun and aimed.

-A

Twin Twist was a Wrecker. He was an Autobot as well, but he considered himself a Wrecker first and foremost. That was eating at his mind as he drove under the Dinobot Swoop. "Orders are orders, but babysitting this oversized dimwit? How bad did I tick off Roadbuster?"

Swoop, for his part, was not aware of his partner's complaints. "Me glad Grimlock order us Dinobots to separate. We do more damage that way!"

Twin Twist would have sighed if he had the lungs. A familiar beeping on his sensors roused him from his depression. "A Decepticon, thank Primus!"

-D

Putting aside the differences of two versions of her past self running around, Batgirl managed to take the lead fairly well. She tried talking with Venom, but when he blasted a hole in the street all three Stephanies and Cassandras decided to put aside their questions and focus on fighting. Hitting and running was the only strategy that was working at the moment. The plainclothes Cassandra was a mystery as well, as Stephanie wasn't sure when she was around, but she fought hard.

"Bat, any readings on this thing?" Batgirl ducked behind a section of wall.

"Hard to tell, movement's weird." Black Bat rolled to her side.

"Wonderful," Batgirl slipped a batarang free and aimed at Venom's antenna. It exploded, coating the robot's head with thick goo. To her younger selves, she shrugged. "Gooperang, ask Oracle about it."

"Filthy humans!" Venom staggered back. Batgirl (the younger one), Black Bat, and Cassandra leapt forward and punched him at full strength at one particular point. Metal joints crumbled with a shriek, sending Venom collapsing in the street.

Before Batgirl could comment, a blinding flash filled the street. Suddenly she and the Black Bat were the only humans in sight. "Any idea what just happened?" There was also a faint odor in the air. It was slightly sour, but Batgirl couldn't quite place it.

Black Bat shook her head. The street under Venom rumbled and cracked as a strange machine with two drills broke out before transforming into another robot. "What, the fight is already over?" The voice was deep and annoyed. A robotic pteranodon swooped out of the sky before changing into another robot.

"Me Swoop!" The dinosaur robot thumped its chest. "That Twin Twist! Him Wrecker!"

"He did a good job on the street, but who or what are you guys?"

"We not guys, we Autobots!" Swoop said proudly.

"What my friend is trying to say is we're the good guys here." Twin Twist poked Venom before binding him with an energy cuff. "Impressive takedown, which one of you did this?"

"You could say it was all her." Batgirl jerked a thumb at Black Bat. "We were on a way to a meeting with some friends of ours. Could you come with us and explain what is going on?"

"Prime would be ticked if we skipped off to hang with the locals…we'll do it!" Twin Twist stuck out his hand. Both ladies shook his little finger.

"Me not know…Prime say it important…me think."

"Swoop, why don't you take Venom here back to the rendezvous point? I'll go with the locals here and explain on the way." Twin Twist inwardly thanked the maker for the Dinobot's low intelligence. "No more babysitting and I might get to see some actual combat on this world! If these two Earthlings can take one Insecticon, the battle may be over before I can do anything!"

Swoop nodded as Twin Twist transformed and rode off, Batgirl and Black Bat atop him. As Swoop slung Venom over his shoulder, and ignored the Insecticon's protests, the Dinobot spotted something. "What this?"

Gently picking the object up, Swoop brought it up into the light. It was a canister. The side was ruptured. The contents, whatever they were, had spilled out. The lettering was faint, but Swoop could barely make out the design. "'Titan'? Titan mean big, not small!" he casually crushed the canister and tossed it over his shoulder. "Stupid can, even Swoop know that!" Transforming, he carried off Venom in his claws.