The room Starfire was in seemed lonely, dark, and unfriendly.

She was not too sure if she was supposed to like it.

Her good friend Cyborg had taken her in under his wing, just like she knew he would. They were good friends after all. Though his new friends seemed guarded around her, which she was unsure as to why, they had accompanied them to this Hall of Justice for introductions.

It was a big introduction too.

Even across the cosmos, the exploits of the Kryptonian called Superman were nothing short of legendary. Seeing him perched on his throne was like some sort of honor she had not expected to be given. As if his presence alone was not enough to overwhelm, so was Wonder Woman, the Amazonian Princess whose reputation was as great, if not equal to Superman's.

This was a great day indeed.

"Superman, Wonder Woman," Cyborg greeted them as he nodded to both in turn. "I'd like to introduce you to Starfire, a close friend of mine. She's here to help us out."

The dark-haired woman's eyes lit up upon seeing her. "I was unaware we had a Sister who wished to help uphold our hard won peace. It pleases me to meet you, Starfire."

"It is a pleasure for me as well, Miss Wonder Woman," the Tamaranian returned joyously. "This is a great day for me to meet all of you. It is a shame we had not been introduced when I was on Earth previously."

There was a warm smile on Wonder Woman's face. "I hope you don't mind if I ask you as to why you left."

"Oh, not at all. You see—"

"Star had to deal with some matters at home," Cyborg interrupted suddenly. He then whispered to her, "They aren't aware of how Tamaran governs itself so if you tell them everything, things won't go down so well."

That caused her to blink her eyes owlishly. "Whatever do you mean, Friend Cyborg?" she asked bewilderingly.

"Most people on this planet don't view coups favorably. If you tell Superman this, he might think you'll try to overthrow him."

"But of course I will," she announced loudly, which caused confused looks to appear on everyone's faces aside from Cyborg's, who looked at her in horror. "Does your planet not hold scheduled coups? When I was last here, you had one that took place every four years, where two groups of people would pick their representatives and they would fight it out until the end of the year. Whoever won, power would be bestowed upon them until the next coup."

There was silence before Cyborg questioned, "Are you talking about elections?"

"Yes, I believe that is what you call them. I am sure the next one is coming up soon, yes?"

"Is something wrong, Victor?" Wonder Woman asked as she took a couple steps towards them.

That shook Cyborg out of his stupor. "Oh, nothing that important, Wonder Woman," he told her quickly. "There was just an error in translation that needed to be corrected."

"And what error is that?"

"Umm, well," her friend stammered before ultimately answering, "She was confusing elections for coups. Her home planet has multiple...uhh, 'elections' a year and she was hoping to...uhh, participate."

"Oh, I see." The Amazon came to stand next to the Tamaranian Princess. Placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a friendly squeeze, she said, "You do not have to worry about any elections. With Kal governing us, there is no need for them anymore."

What? "What do you mean?" Starfire exclaimed in confusion. "There are no more elections?"

"That is correct."

"But...but I liked that about your planet! It is why I would consider settling here if my banishment were to continue indefinitely!"

A frown appeared on Wonder Woman's face. "Banishment?" she questioned as she looked to Cyborg.

"Star lost her last election," he explained. "They sort of take things pretty personally there, so they exiled her."

"And this is common?"

"It is," Starfire assured her. "In fact, the first time I had come to Earth, I had been sold into slavery to Gordonians by my opponent."

"...I believe I must become more knowledgeable about the election customs on your planet," the dark-haired woman said after awhile.

"Which you can go into later," Cyborg spoke up hastily, then added under his breath, "much, much later."

That was when Superman entered their conversation with his deep, friendly voice. "It would please us very much if you joined us," he said to her, which earned him a large smile from her. "I'm sure Cyborg can show you to some available quarters here in the Hall."

"I would very much like that. But first I must meet the others. It has been too long since I last saw Friend Raven and Friend Red Robin."

There was an immediately change in the room. Starfire, as optimistic as she naturally was, could feel the change in the air around her.

"Yeah, about that, Star," Cyborg began. "We need to have a talk."

"I'm...not exactly sure what you want me to do…"

Batman stood in an empty room, his arms crossed over his chest. The room used to be an interrogation room for suspicious travelers, but due to a lack of maintenance and the Bat Underground's need for space. It was now wide open with pieces of broken bricks creating a circle in the middle of the room, going up walls and across the ceiling and floor. That was where the double-tinted glass window had been.

Emily Sung was standing on the other side of the ring, arms behind her back, and looking very uneasy around him. She had been that way since they had entered here. The confidence she had walked with seemed to have abandoned her once they were alone.

He tended to have that effect on people.

"I want you to show me everything you can do," he told her succinctly. "If I'm going to fight with you, I need to know what you can do."

"Like what?" she asked nervously.

"The others said you could shape-shift when you met. Show me what you did there."

"Okay!" She then held her right arm out, changing it to a sleek, metal one. It had happened practically instantaneous.

"Is it only the arm?" he questioned.

"Oh no! I can do this with the rest of my body." He then watched as the metal seep up the rest of her arm and then her shoulder. The rest of her body followed suit until she was a standing statue of steel. "See?" she said, her voice sounding hollow.

"What else can you change into?"

"Anything I want."

"Show me."

What followed was a montage of just about any solid substance known to man. Steel gave way to tree bark, then stone, rubber, marble, and so forth. In fact, she became five different substances at once before returning to her original form. "What did you think of that?" she asked hopefully.

"Impressive," he acknowledged. "So are you limited to only solids?"

"Oh no, I can do anything down to the compound state." If there was any question to what she meant, it was answered the moment she became a figure of water. Batman could see right through her, seeing the small strings of air bubbles flowing from her feet and up to her head.

Then, she lost her form and fell to the floor, forming a puddle. That puddle then moved across the floor rapidly, dividing itself down the middle to move around the vigilante on both sides before rejoining together behind him. By the time he had turned around to look at her, her watery state had become more viscous. In fact, she began to bubble up until her color had become a bright red, giving off intense heat.

Was that lava?

The lava then burst into flames, a roaring fire that forced him to step back, holding an arm in front of his face as his other hand grabbed onto his cape, ready to pull it in front of him at a moment's notice. The material was fireproof, so it would provide some protection against this blaze. All the while, smoke wafted up to the ceiling, blanketing it as it filled the room.

The fire then died out, revealing the lava to have completely vanished. Batman blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. And there was still no sign that Sung was still there aside from scorch marks on the floor. Had she burned herself out?

"Up here!"

Jerking his head up, the vigilante watched the smoke hanging at the ceiling being to concentrate itself. A column began to lower until it stopped in front of his face, Sung's head forming until she was a ghostly apparition before him.

"See? I can do solid, liquids, and gases," she bragged. "I can be your everything and more."

Well, that was definitely unexpected. She was indeed a shapeshifter, but taken to the pinnacle of such talents. He had seen shapeshifters before, fought them, devised strategies against them, but right then he was having a hard time coming up with one for this one. There wasn't a single trap he could devise that could account for every possible form she could take. He'd have to make it airproof, waterproof, heatproof, chillproof, acid proof, and the list went on. Theoretically, there was nothing on Earth that could contain her.

The rest of the smoke floated down from the ceiling, reforming her body. Her bizarre color scheme filled in a moment later until she was back to normal. "So what'cha think? Huh, huh, huh? Pretty awesome, isn't it?"

Awesome, incredible, there weren't too many words to describe her power. It was pure luck that Batwoman and Queen recruited her when they did. If the Regime had known about her, they would've released her long ago.

While he would've been reluctant had he been in any of their shoes, the fact that her mentality was that of a young girl would've helped keep her in line. He could practically see whoever was able to gain control of her, feeding her what they wanted her to know, and keeping her isolated so that she never found out the truth, they would have a powerful weapon. Yet, just as she was easy to control, she would also be impossible to stop if she felt betrayed.

However, though her mannerism were strange, the fact she knew she could create compounds at the molecular level hinted at a greater level of intelligence. "Tell me something," he said as she looked at him expectantly. "If I were to tell you the formula for thermite plasma, could you—"

Immediately, her body took on a gelatinous look. Her color became a bright orange that looked as if she would become lava again, yet the yellow-tinted air bubbles bubbling through her body indicated otherwise. "I know that one," she said proudly. "I did a research paper on it back in school."

And suddenly he thought there was a Ph. D behind Emily Sung's name.

"Alright then, here's a challenge," he said as Sung returned to her normal state.

Jaime felt like he was in a Kung Fu movie. There wasn't a fight going on, but it was at the point in the movie where the sensei was teaching their student about focus and control. You know, they would be doing that meditation stuff and suddenly have that moment of clarity that defined the main character.

So far, he hadn't had that eureka moment.

Batwoman sat across from him, cross-legged, and stared him down. Jaime was in a similar pose, but he wasn't blatantly looking at her. In fact, he was doing his best to keep his eyes closed, figuring that would help him focus, though it wasn't. Mr. Queen was standing up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and looked as if he were falling asleep.

"Your mind is wandering," Batwoman said calmly, which caused him to stiffen. Somehow, someway, this red-haired woman seemed to know what he was thinking and when without him so much as uttering a peep. It was freaky.

"Remember how you grew wings?" she asked rhetorically before continuing, "use that to control your armor. Clear your mind and concentrate."

"That's easy for you to say," he grumbled lowly, not meaning for her to hear it. "You don't have a second mind in your head."

Of course, she heard every word. "What is it telling you to do?"

He sighed internally. Might as well cooperate since she seemed to have his best interest in mind. "It's telling me to ignore you. And there's something about not liking the light."

"Ah, the Scarab," she mused. "So it is sentient. Why don't you ask it how to use its powers?"

Jaime opened his eyes mostly so he could blink dumbly. Why hadn't he thought of that before? It seemed so logical that he could've slapped himself. "I, uhh, don't know how," he said lamely.

"You appear to be able to read its thoughts, so it should be both ways."

"I don't know what to say though."

Apparently, Mr. Queen's napping was a ruse as he spoke up then. "Just say 'hey, buddy, I'm Jaime and you're sharing my body. Can you tell me about yourself?' That's pretty straight forward."

That sounded way too contrived, yet the teen really couldn't think of anything else. Sighing, he then shifted on the floor to get comfortable before he reached out to the Scarab's presence in his mind. "Hi," he said to it, "I'm, Jaime. Can I talk to you?"

A sensation flooded his brain then, something that felt...well, startled. It was as if the Scarab hadn't expected contact from him. In fact, he could feel the Scarab squeeze its legs against his back, as if it were afraid it would be pulled off in an instant. "Is everything alright?"

There was confusion now. Huh, who would've ever thought a mystical bug would be socially awkward? Still, this was progress, even if it was a tiny baby step. He'd take it. "Not to be nosy or anything, but I've noticed you can do things, like grow wings and make blaster things out of my hands. Is there anyway I can do that?"

Apparently, that was too much for the Scarab as the confusion in the boy's head became more profound. Maybe he needed to make it simpler. "How can I make hand blasters?" he asked this time.

The image of a question mark filled his head, meaning his question wasn't being understood. So Jaime thought about how he was supposed to talk with this thing when it clearly didn't understand words. When he had been in El Paso, he had just thought about wings until some grew out of his back. Faintly, he recalled having that blaster on his hand and firing it at Cyborg.

A sense of realization hit him then. Hey, maybe the Scarab understood pictures!

"Uhh, Jaime? Would you mind not pointing that at us?"

Opening his eyes, Jaime found his right arm extended out in front of him, his hand being replaced with the blaster. The same blaster was pointed right at Batwoman's face, who didn't seem all that taken back by it. He knew if he were in her boots, he'd be pretty nervous having something that could sear off his face being pointed at him, yet she was as calm as can be. In fact, it had been Mr. Queen that had requested he be careful.

Which he did, immediately dropping his arm down, the end of the barrel tapping on the floor. Batwoman just continued to stare at him until she asked, "So how did you make it?"

"I just showed the Scarab a picture of what I wanted," he answered her. "It didn't seem to understand words, but it definitely did pictures."

"What else can you make with it?"

That was a pretty good question. Before he could answer, the redhead prompted him. "Try something else. Anything at all."

Well, that was pretty broad. He really wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to do something lame, but he didn't want to do something incredibly dangerous either. So a cannon was out of the question, the same for a gun, his blaster notwithstanding. So what about a knife? Oh, what about a pincer!

Immediately, Jaime pictured a lobster claw in his mind, but this time he kept his eyes open and stared at his hands. His right hand soon began to change, losing length, but growing wider. Then right down the middle it separate and right then he had a pincer for a hand.

This was so cool.

"I did it!" he exclaimed as began opening and closing the claw, a tapping sound ringing out every time the pincers closed. "I can control this thing!"

"Now the real training begins," Batwoman said, not the least bit changing her face or tone. "You need to be able to make these changes instantly, instinctively. Any hesitation can mean death."

And suddenly it felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured all over Jaime. They...they were just beginning?

"Aw, c'mon," Mr. Queen said then. "Give the kid a moment. I'd be excited too if I just figured out how to use a superpower. Let him bask in it for awhile."

Batwoman looked to the blond man. "We don't have that sort of time."

"Sure we do. We just have to make it."

Right then and there, Jaime felt like Mr. Queen understood him. He was like the fun father when compared to Batwoman's strict mom. Not that he saw them as parents, but they definitely acted like it. "You two have known each other for a long time," he remarked.

"Some would say too long," the archer quipped.

Jaime got the feeling Batwoman was rolling her eyes now, an actual emotion from the previously stoic woman. "I feel that way sometimes."

"How long have you been doing all of this?" he asked then. He got the feeling they had a bunch of stories to tell and there would be some good ones.

Instead, he got a long, tired sigh from Mr. Queen. "Too long, kid. Way too long. Sometimes it feels as if life has always been this way."

That wasn't an answer he was expecting. But then, now that he thought about it, the Green Arrow had been an enemy of the state for as long as he could remember. The same with just about anyone that put on the Bat Symbol. He wondered why. "Why have you two been fighting all this time?"

Mr. Queen looked thoughtful at that. "Well, I can't speak for the lady here, but for me it started as principle. Superman and the Justice League got it in their heads that they could do whatever they wanted to make sure there was no crime or war and the methods they used were extreme. It got to the point where they were lobotomizing anyone that disagreed with them, then went full on killing them. Those aren't the actions of heroes, Jaime; they're the actions of despots."

That was profound, or so Jaime thought. He then looked to Batwoman. "What about you?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "I was around people that followed the example of Batman. No killing, ever. You could say I was indoctrinated into it."

Then her smile disappeared. "Then Superman lobotomized me because I was too much of a threat to his rule."

That got Jaime's attention. "I'm sorry," he sputtered out hastily. "I didn't know. I just…" he trailed off as he realized a small, significant detail about what the redhead had said. Mainly, how could someone be lobotomized and still be functioning? Wasn't that the same as making someone brain dead? "How are you here then? I mean, doesn't a lobotomy destroy your brain?"

"Someone gave their life to restore me," she answered succinctly. "And I was the last one he did it to. Now, I fight for his memory and those that were taken too early by the Regime."

This was a lot to take in. Both of these people were personally invested in this and Jaime just realized that they were entrusting him with the completion of their mission. The weight of that burden slammed down on his shoulders.

A part of him wanted to run away, get away as far as he could. It wasn't right, or fair that he was being forced into this! Yet, just as he had done minutes ago, he actually had power and he could use that power for the betterment of everyone. Those two sides were warring inside of him and he wasn't quite sure who he wanted to win.

To distract himself, he then asked, "If there's someone you want to fight, who would it be? You know, when we actually...go fight?"

"Wonder Woman," Mr. Queen immediately responded. He hadn't even needed to take a moment to think of it.

"Why her?"

The blond man took a moment to pause before he answered. "Just before the Regime revealed my identity, there was a woman I loved. Her name was Dinah and she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met. You would've liked her." The entire time, he was looking wistful, as if imagining this woman was right in front of him. Then his expression soured. "Wonder Woman chopped her head right off her shoulders with her sword."

Suddenly, Jaime didn't think this was a good question to ask. However, Mr. Queen wasn't about to let the subject end. "What about you Bat-lady? Anyone you want to fight?"

She shook her head. "I don't care who I fight. All I care about is taking each and everyone of them down. If I have to fight Superman to do so, you bet I will."

"Bull," the archer retorted. "Everyone has a wheel to grind with one person more than others. Who's yours?"

Batwoman leveled him with a cool gaze. "There's not a single person in the Regime that hasn't taken someone close to me. Superman lobotomized me, Wonder Woman killed Dinah and Zatanna, Green Lantern killed Black Lighting—the list goes on."

Yeah, this was a really bad question to ask.

Maybe John was okay with letting things lie, but Shayera wasn't. There was too much going on lately for it to be all coincidence.

That was the big reason she had come to Gotham on her own. The others were currently fawning over the new addition of Starfire and that was fine. She didn't have any real issue with adding more hands—they just had to be the right ones. While the Tamaran seemed friendly enough, whether she could stomach their rule remained to be seen.

They would be finding that out pretty shortly.

It had been a long time since she had flown along this particular part of coastline. Sure, she had been in Gotham, even as close to the harbor during the Red Lantern Invasion, but she hadn't been in this particular area in years. It reminded her too much of what used to be and she was a gal of the present.

Up ahead she saw the silhouette of a house long since forgotten by the world. There was a small line item in the budget that kept the place maintained, mostly for nostalgia. No one had actually lived there in years and no one with a brain in their head would come here to loot it.

Shayera ignored Wayne Manor. Instead, she made her way to a familiar, unused cave opening in the cliff's face. Angling inward, she flew down the tunnel, noting the tunnel looked much the same as it had the last time she had been here. That didn't mean much. All it meant was that no one had walked through here, which no one really had. Anyone could fly through the tunnel without leaving a trace, much like she was currently doing.

Eventually, the tunnel opened out into the main cavern and the Thanagarian found herself in the Batcave. Immediately, she frowned as she noticed the lights were on.

She knew for certain that the lights should have been off.

Soaring through the cave, she came to land by the supercomputer. Moving to the keyboard, she made to activate it, watching as it began to boot up. That at least was good. This hadn't been used in years.

Turning away, she began exploring the cave until she found the medbay. It was here her eyes narrowed as she stared at an actual bed, and an unmade one too. On a nearby table was a grocery bag filled with discarded food wrappers and crumpled paper bags.

Someone had been living here.

Had it been this new Batman? Or maybe someone else? Regardless, someone had been here underneath their noses this entire time and a cold fury was welling up within the Thanagarian.

Moving away from the medbay, she went right for the armory, following the path by the staircase to the house and going into the small tunnel. She found the door sealed shut, but that didn't matter to her. She knew how to open it.

Once the door was open, she was in the airtight room, staring down all of the gadgets and gear Batman had stored here. Adding to her ire, she noticed quite a few shelves were empty when they should've been full. However, what really got her attention was where the batarangs were kept. There were still the ones Batman had used, but next to them were ones she recognized as the ones Batwoman used.

She was the one living here.

Which meant that in order for her to know of this place, she had to have previous knowledge of it. No one just stumbled upon this place, not without activating the security protocols that had been put in place by the owner. She would know, she had activated them when the League had made to seal this place off from some random explorer.

She needed to think. Clearly Batwoman had used this as a base of operations. So where did this so-called Batman come into play? Had she trained him here? If that was the case, then they were expecting to come back here.

Except, what about the computer?

If there was a resource the Insurgency could use, it was that computer. While it wasn't as advanced as, say, Cyborg, it was a powerful tool. The fact that it was off meant they hadn't used it, or were intending to be away for awhile. Batman allowed the computer to go into hibernation mode when he went out, expecting to return later on. Considering this place ran off of its own generators, no one would've known if the computer was on; hell, no one knew it was still in use.

Leaving the armory, Shayera returned to the main cavern. This wasn't so she could go searching for further evidence, she had all she needed. She did so for a better signal. Activating her comm link, she called for her husband. "John, come in."

It took a moment before John answered her. "Shayera, where have you been?" he demanded.

The redhead rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for his protectiveness. "Following up on a lead. How soon can you get to Gotham?"

"Now's not a good time" he replied. "The Insurgency struck again, this time at Stagg Industries in New York. Looks like they got their hands on the 5-U-93-R."

That caused Shayera to scowl. Just great, now the Bat Underground had super pills on their side. This was going to be a headache for them. If only she was there to pick up on their trail.

No, no wait. Stagg Industries was meticulous in keeping track of all of their products. They usually kept tracking devices on everything. A smirk appeared on her face. It seemed the Insurgency had finally messed up.

"John, see if you can't activate the tracers on those containers," she said. "If I'm right, then they'll be taking those boxes to their headquarters and we'll know exactly where they are."

There was an approving tone in her husband's voice as he replied, "You got it."

"I'll alert the others to what's going on. I'm sure they'll all want a piece of this." She paused for a moment. "And we better bring the new girl too. This is going to be a good opportunity to see what she can do."

To the first Guest reviewer: If the end of this chapter is any indication, that's coming quite soon

To the second Guest reviewer: Depends on the princess you're looking for

To the third Guest reviewer: The super pill is based off of the ones in the Injustice comic and video game. The pill the previous story mentioned is for something else entirely