Right as Barry was fighting Captain Cold, Catwoman and a number of Grodd's underlings were taking Harley away to their prison – she would be interrogated and possibly experimented on in the near future.

At least, that's what Harley and the gorillas all thought.

As they walked onto the bridge that would soon lead them to the prison, Harley popped some gum in her mouth and took a good look at the giant ship that continued to hover over them. She had no idea what was going on, and even though she looked like she didn't care about anything, she was getting really worried. She had no idea what happened to Green Arrow or Black Canary, but in general…that ship could not have been good news.

Catwoman put her hand up, signaling for the gorillas to stop what they were doing. Harley was confused – she had no idea what Catwoman was up to. Her confusion was soon clarified when Catwoman turned and winked at her before using the claws on her gloves to free Harley from her cuffs. Harley laughed before grabbing a large stick lying on the bridge and bashing some of the gorillas with it. The gorillas that weren't taken out by Harley's bat were knocked out by Catwoman's whip. The feline-based woman even used the whip to knock one of the gorillas off the bridge.

Harley repeatedly bashed one of the gorillas – when he was finished off, Harley let out one or two pants before turning her attention to Catwoman. "Thanks, kitty! I was hopin' you was Bruce's mole!"

Catwoman, however, wasn't as happy. "For all the good it did me. Grodd never trusted me enough to share the whole 'alien invasion' plan."

"We gotta help Dinah and Ollie…"

Catwoman turned her attention to the ship in the sky, worrying about the carnage this invasion would bring to the world. "We will. First we need to get back to Gotham. If there's anything left of it."

Catwoman and Harley walked away from the scene, hoping Gotham was still intact.


It was a weird day for Barry. On the one hand, the world was dealing with a massive alien invasion – and if it wasn't stopped soon, everyone would suffer for it. On the other hand…Hal Jordan was back. After all these years, Barry's best friend was back in his life, to which the Flash was overjoyed by. He didn't feel so alone in the world anymore.

Barry had contacted Batman, and they were set to meet him in a warehouse not too far from the Batcave. But he remembered Jay's final moments as they walked through the warehouse. And now, he had a friend to confide his doubts in.

"You know….before you showed up, Thawne said that Jay would've been ashamed of me for the path I went down after Metropolis. And it kills me so much…because he's right, Hal. I failed Jay."

Hal started at the wall for the moment as they continued to walk, and he let out a deep sigh. "Alan and Jay…yeah they wouldn't have been proud of us for our choices. But now that I think of it, they might've actually talked us straight and prevented us from going down the path we did."

He wordlessly signaled for Barry to stop, and placed his hand on the Flash's shoulder. "Look, Barry, it's best to just not worry about that now. Don't worry about what Jay would've thought of you joining the Regime. Redeem yourself, and fight the good fight in a way that would make him proud."

Barry couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Hal."

Hal patted Barry on the shoulder before the two continued to walk. Eventually, they entered the main room, just as Batman had asked of them. Before them lied a sea of crates and messy papers, and at the center of the room was Batman himself.

Batman walked up to Barry and Hal, but he had a scowl on his face. While he never looked happy, he seemed particularly angry in this case. He gave the Green Lantern a death glare before making eye contact.

"Barry, why the hell didn't you tell me you were bringing Hal?"

Barry only rubbed his neck and let out an 'uh' to which Batman narrowed his eyes. "Come with me, Barry. We need to have a talk. Hal, stay there."

Batman and Barry walked to a table in the corridor, while Hal remained by the entrance. When they stopped, Batman shot a dirty look at the Flash. "No."

Barry, taken aback, raised his shoulders in bafflement. "We need help, don't we?"

"Not his." Batman and Barry were both oblivious to the fact that the wire holding the crate above them was slowly coming undone.

"You gave me a second chance."

Batman turned to face Barry entirely, still disapproving of Hal's presence. "Because you got your head straight and helped take down Clark. If he was still in charge, he'd still be wearing yellow."

Hal had enough of this. He began walking up to the two, frustrated at Batman's last remark. It was lucky for Batman that he did, for the wire came undone and the crate fell. Just before the crate fell on top of Batman, Hal caught it with a giant green hand and put it by the table.

"I'm not that guy anymore." Hal said, finally expressing his frustration. "Look, I get why you don't trust me, but you should trust the Guardians" he held up his ring hand to further emphasize the point he was about to make. "This ring means something. They put me through hell to get it back."

Batman looked at Hal disapprovingly. He didn't have to say anything – Hal could see that Batman wasn't going to go through with an alliance. He didn't have time for this – he truly believed it would be easier if he worked together with Batman, but the Guardians had tasked him with bringing Brainiac to them to stand trial. If he had to work alone, so be it.

"Fine. I got my orders. I just thought it'd help if we cooperate."

As Hal walked away, Batman suddenly remembered his conversation with Lucius. He remembered what Lucius had said to him about at the end – Bruce, consider widening your circle of trust. He could hear it as if Lucius had just spoken it at the moment, and as he sunk into thought, he came to a realization. Lucius was right.

"Lantern." Batman said, and Hal turned around in curiosity. "Maybe it's time I widened my circle of trust."

Hal was quite glad to hear that – he was happy he wouldn't be alone in taking down Brainiac, and he was happy to be accepted by other people besides Barry. He walked back up to Bruce. "What can I do?"

"You're going to Atlantis. Our circle of trust needs Aquaman and his Marines."

This seemed fine to Hal, as he hadn't been on Earth since the Regime was defeated and didn't know that Aquaman cut himself off from the surface world. Barry, however, was well-aware of the sea king's isolation, and made his surprise known. "You think he'll help? He's been off-radar since the Regime fell."

Then Hal remembered how the King of Atlantis actually felt about the Regime – and he was beginning to have second thoughts on the whole idea, raising his hand up as he was about to voice his own opinion. "Um, he didn't like getting roped into the Regime by Superman. He sure won't be happy to see me."

Batman was indifferent to Hal's uncertainty. "Get used to that." he walked away, and Hal and Barry just stood there for a few moments, unsure of what to say.

Barry was partly wondering just where Batman was going, and what he was supposed to do at the moment. Hal began to ready himself to depart for Atlantis – Barry would help him locate it since he actually went there years ago. But then, Hal and Barry heard a voice they didn't recognize.

"Yo, Batman!"

From the entrance to the warehouse flew Firestorm and Blue Beetle. Barry and Hal were completely taken aback, as they had no idea who either of them were. Batman heard Firestorm and turned around to see what the two younger heroes came for.

As they got closer to the Flash and the Green Lantern, Firestorm split back into Jason and Professor Stein, to which Hal and Barry could only stare at with amazement. "And I thought I had seen everything…" Hal lamented.

Jason, Martin, and Blue Beetle were all surprised to be in the presence of the Scarlet Speedster – and even more surprised to see one of Earth's emerald knights back in action. "Hal Jordan?" Blue Beetle asked, just as confused to see Hal as the latter was to see him. "So you've gone back to wearing green, huh?"

"…Yeah, kid. I have."

Batman walked up to Jason, Stein, and Blue Beetle, and the trio's attention was now on the Dark Knight. Jason began to make motions with his hands as he tried to figure out what to say. "What do we do about this invasion, Batman?! About a dozen cities have vanished off the face of the Earth!"

"All we know so far is that a being named Brainiac is spearheading this invasion, and he's after Superman. It's not much, but it's enough for me to give you two and Jaime a task."

Stein adjusted his glasses and came closer to Batman. "What can we do?"

"I need you, Jason, and Jaime to go to the Lex Luthor Prison for Metahumans and guard Clark. We can't risk the chance of Brainiac getting to him."

Stein was content with such a job, but Jason was less pleased. "This is some bullshit." he whispered to Blue Beetle just quietly enough that Batman couldn't hear him, which was an achievement. "We can help out with the invasion! Come on, Batman – you'll let Jordan help, but we have to guard Superman?"

Stein was quite frustrated with the other half of Firestorm. "Jason!" he said, pointing at the younger man. "We should trust Batman's judgement. Now is not the time for talking back!" Blue Beetle was used to this, but Hal and Barry could only watch as the two came to blows.

"That's enough!" Batman said in a voice even sterner than usual, trying to quell Jason and Stein's argument. "Trust me, Jason. It's for the best."

Batman walked away, leaving the other five just standing there for a bit, before Blue Beetle decided to break the silence by reaching out his hand to Barry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Flash. I'm Blue Beetle."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, two" Barry said as he shook Blue Beetle's hand out of politeness. Blue Beetle only took a quick glance at Hal and let out an 'hmm'. Jason, meanwhile, stared at Hal. His return to Batman's side had gotten Jason wondering.

"I hope Hawkgirl turns good again!" he said with a big smile on his face. "I would love to work with her."

Stein raised an eyebrow at Jason's remark, and Blue Beetle and Barry looked pretty confused themselves. "You didn't hear, Jason?" Stein said as he placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "Hawkgirl…she did feel guilty about her actions, but…she found a different way to deal with it."

"What do you mea-….oh…." Jason's eyes widened as the realization hit upon him. It clicked with Hal right afterwards, and he let out a deep sigh. Upset now, he decided that he would just like to go to Atlantis.


Green Arrow and Black Canary struggled furiously to get out of the cells Brainiac had imprisoned them in, but it was no use. Canary motioned for Arrow to cover her ears, and she let out a Canary Cry at the top of her lungs, but to no avail. The glass containing them was still there. As for the archer, none of his trick arrows could get them out here. They had no idea what Brainiac wanted to do with them – and though they didn't want to admit it, they were terrified at the possibilities.

Brainiac walked up to them, that eternal stoic look still on his face. Black Canary gritted her teeth and banged on the cell.

"It is futile to try and escape, Mr. and Mrs. Queen. This cell would be able to hold Superman himself. You will not be getting off this ship, so do not bother trying."

Just then, Grodd walked up to the cell – what little doubt Green Arrow and Black Canary had that Grodd wasn't affiliated with Brainiac was gone. Grodd beat on his chest. "As a matter of fact, you two are my insurance." Grodd chuckled sinisterly, and Arrow and Canary could only wonder what he meant.