The day after the League's arrival on War World, each of the rest of their members were scheduled for arena combat. Batman's graceless return the night before, and subsequent news about Mongol claiming Robin had died, combined with the anger each of the heroes already felt, and led to every single one of them winning their assigned fights. Green Arrow nearly spent his entire arsenal, Flash dropped from exhaustion the instant his combat was over, and Superman ignored his guilty conscience in favor of downing the three opponents he was pitted against almost instantly, but they all won. Hawkman's fight was perhaps the most alarming to hear about, as he too had gone up against one of the creatures Batman fought and came out with even greater injuries, but none of them could say they hadn't put on a proper show.

As such, Mongol allowed them to visit the four remaining kids.

Escorted into a room filled with red sun radiation, the first thing Superman did was sweep his little cousin into a massive bear hug, relieved to see her upset but none the worse for wear. Flash had a bit trickier of a time embracing his nephew, as the redhead wasn't released from the awkward position his restraints kept him in. Speedy didn't even get a chance to grin at his mentor before Green Arrow glomped him.

The pair of Bats, though, reunited with a bit less enthusiasm. Batman did hug his startled partner, but then held her at arm's length to deliver the bad news.

"It's not true," Batgirl whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"I wouldn't put it past Mongol to have lied," her mentor said in a rougher than usual voice. "But until we know for certain one way or another..."

"He can't be dead-!"

"Barbara, listen to me! We don't know for sure! For all we know, Robin managed to escape from the infirmary and Mongol didn't want to encourage us to fight back by revealing that information."

"That has to be it." The teen stated desperately. "He's gotten off the grid, maybe even gotten started on his own plan to help us escape."

"Maybe so." Batman didn't bother to inform her about Mongol's seemingly endless forces, or how the alien appeared to have just about every inch of his monstrous spaceship watched. "We'll just have to play it by ear."

-C-

To be honest, Hawkman had only expected to be left behind in the group cell when his fellow League members were escorted out. He was greatly surprised, then, to have a pair of guards gesture for him to step out into the hallway. While the other heroes went one way, Hawkman kept his eyes peeled as he was directed to the other, led away from the individual and group cells, finally arriving to a much larger room. The guards shoved him in and then sealed the door just as his wings cleared.

Inside, dozens upon dozens of alien warriors halted their own actions to stare at him.

"Ah..."

One nine foot being, a Forser if Hawkman guessed right, slowly stood and approached him. "Greetin's, mate. Yer th' Thanagarian Katar Hol, right?"

"Yes, that is my name." He replied cautiously, observing how others deferred to this gladiator. "And you are?"

"Kozomin." The Forser crossed his arms in a gesture meant to appear intimidating, but Hawkman could see the nervous tension behind it. "I'm a friend of Kendra's."

Instantly, all of his attention was zeroed in on the alien being. "Kendra? She's really here? Alive?!"

"I take it you thought she wasn't."

"No," Hawkman murmured sadly. "Not until that monster Mongol said otherwise yesterday. But the footage he showed- it was years old- is she still...?" The words died unspoken when a few gladiators shifted where they stood, revealing one previously hidden behind them.

Her armor had been worn and patched, but underneath the added layers was a traditional Thanagarian design. The mace at her side had seen more service than that of any military cadet two years her elder back home. And though her expression attempted to remain passive, the nervous flutter of the carefully tended wings upon her back belied how much anxiety had to be tormenting the girl.

"Father," Kendra said cooly, with no sign of stumbling upon the term.

Hawkman didn't bother with saying a thing. He launched into flight, startling everyone with the speed with which he got to the younger Thanagarian. Then the man grasped his long-lost daughter in a tight grip, hugging her close.

"Kendra, hatchling, I'm so sorry I never came for you," he whispered in her ear, overtaken with both grief and joy at seeing the young woman she'd grown into. "I didn't know. Ancients help me, I didn't know..."

A pair of thinner arms tentatively returned the hug, and for a while no one disturbed the tearful family reunion.

-C-

Robin hissed in pain and irritation as another of his cuts reopened, forcing the boy to halt in his path and rip off another section of his tights to wrap around the injury. At the rate he was going through cloth, he'd soon be wearing shorts.

As with most large ships, Robin had been right in his assumption that there would be a system of ventilation shafts connecting decks and levels. So far he'd been working his way downward, avoiding the stink that warned of garbage chutes or the high-pitched humming of electrical conduits - also known as the most likely spots for security cameras or sensors to be placed. The method meant he'd had to do a fair amount of backtracking, but anything was worth not getting caught at this point.

He really didn't want to think about what kind of punishment would be in store for him from the owner of this place.

Bandage in place on his arm, Robin set out again, continually searching out the route to the holding cells where he hoped to find the others.

-C-

"Dead? I doubt it," Kozomin said bluntly. "Mongol's evil, not stupid. If yer boy managed t' give him th' slip, he'd rip his own tongue out before tellin' ya th' truth."

Outwardly, Batman's only reaction was a slight slump of the shoulders. On the inside though, hope and relief had wrestled back the looming despair. "I'll take your word for it."

The two of them were off to one side of the crowd that had gathered around the rest of the League. Upon the Earthlings' arrival in the gladiatorial cell, Hawkman had excitedly introduced them to his teenage daughter, followed by Kendra acting as mediator for the various fighters with questions for the newcomers. Kozomin, knowing that the darkly garbed human would be in a tense state worrying about his wounded charge, took him aside to avoid the influx of curiosity. Then Batman brought up the news he'd been given by Mongol after his first fight, causing the alien to try and deliver some assurance.

"We can see about getting someone t' check with the medics, if ya want." He offered, to which the human nodded firmly.

"I need to know for sure, one way or the other."

"Understandable."

The two of them would have continued to speak further, were it not for Superman and a couple of the gladiators with more sensitive hearing suddenly looking upwards and calling for quiet. Kendra shouted for the crowd to shut up, and in the newfound silence, nearly everyone could pick up the light tapping sounds coming from the ceiling.

"Please tell that ain't another quantum rat infestation," someone muttered, followed by several others hissing at her for speaking. Superman ignored them, flying up the twelve feet or so to place his hands against the cold metal.

"I think... It sounds more like a person crawling by..." He told the gathered people. "Is there a ventilation shaft or something similar above this room?"

"Revak's Horns, there's vents and garbage chutes and water pipes all through this monster!" A tentacled gladiator called out. "But most of 'em aren't near big enough to fit a body-" He was cut off by a solid thump right by Superman's hands. Two more sounded after it in quick succession, then three with longer pauses in between, and finally three more at the faster beat.

"What the frukas...?" No one except the five new arrivals from Earth recognized that particular signal.

"Please tell me that's who I think it is." Green Arrow grinned. Superman just shook his head in awe, throwing a fist upward to punch through the ceiling.

"Are you crazy?" Kendra blurted out. "Mongol's systems will sense that, and then we'll all be in for it-!" She cut her own protest off as the Kryptonian ripped open a hole large enough for a dark haired boy to tumble through, landing right in his arms and appearing rather worse for wear.

"Everyone," Superman announced as he descended back to the floor. "This is Robin."

"Hi," the kid croaked, pushing himself upright, just in time for Batman to sweep forward and take hold of him.

"What happened?" He demanded, taking in the sloppily bandaged injuries and bloodstains. "How did you escape from the infirmary?"

By the brief crinkling of his mask, it was clear that Robin blinked at him. "Hit the doctor. Walked out." Several people snorted in disbelief.

"Why would you do that when you were still hurt?" Kendra demanded, fists on her hips. The boy didn't even look twice at her.

"Had to find Batman." Then, exhaustion finally catching up to him, Robin pitched face-first into his mentor's chest. Seemingly faster than even Flash could move, the Dark Knight pulled off his cape and cowl to wrap around the unconscious twelve year old.

"You said that Mongol's forces will know about this soon enough?" He asked, shifting his gaze from the child in his arms to the female Thanagarian.

"Y-yes." Kendra couldn't help but stutter under the intensity of Batman's fierce expression.

"Good. I think it's about time they learned not to mess with people's families."

To be continued...