"You know why I came here," I said softly. "But the fact that you're Latias' study buddy changes things significantly."

I leaned back against the limo holding a cup with some water inside, having refused Luthor's generous offer of alchohol. I didn't waste time trying to seem brave or defiant, simply looking at him as I sipped my water. Next to me, Chesnaught glared down at Mercy. Mercy glared right back up at him.

I took a moment to hope that this version wasn't a rogue Amazon like in some universes, otherwise Chesnaught would be a lot less useful in a fight.

"I don't see why," Luthor said with a slight twitch of his lips. "After all, she told me you were looking for a way to your universe. So am I. Why don't we work together?"

"Because I'm coming into this with a certain view of you," I sipped at my water. "I may not know you personally, but there is a wide multiverse out there. A lot of Lex Luthors, both good and evil. You have the resources, and unless things have gone completely wrong, you have the smarts to figure out how to travel between universes," I looked him over, and his bright eyes crinkled a bit in a smile. "But any help I give you with traveling to the Pokemon universe would be followed by a lot of danger for the people of my 'home' universe."

"Do you truly believe I want to travel there to hurt anyone?" Lex Luthor asked.

"No," I admitted. "But anyone who has seen me, my team, and my items can see how valuable the Pokemon universe is. A world full of meta-animals capable to fighting with this worlds most powerful, all tamable by normal humans like me? It's way too valuable."

"And yet, I would argue that is why you should work with me," Luthor said, waving one of his hands as he paced briefly. "Think about it. With you helping, I'll have someone watching my every move. You can guide my people through the world of Pokemon, tell us where to go, who to negotiate with. More than that, you also have knowledge and ability with fighting any threats we may face. If I do anything you disapprove of, well, you'll be right there to stop me," He stopped pacing, turning to smirk at me. "On the other hand... if you don't join me, I'll simply continue on my own. I have the calculations Latias already shared with me, as well as resources to technology that will let me travel the multiverse already being built. Of course, this endeavor is more dangerous without help... for both our worlds."

Chesnaught and I narrowed our eyes at him. Luthor smirked a bit more at our anger.

"You'd have a lot more problems than you think if you try to pierce through the Bleed without my help," I warned him. "Ignoring the Pokemon universe, there are darker ones than that. Universes where evil, actual, vindictive and horrific evil, exist. Places where murder, rape, and torture are the norm of interaction."

Luthor smiled. "Then I suppose I'd have to be careful."

"...I'm going to talk to my benefactors. I need to decide on what I want to do next."

"Please do," Luthor said. "I'm sure your decision in any case will be interesting."

I rose up from my seat against his car and extended a hand out. Mercy seemed to teleport in front of Luthor, her gaze protective, but he gently pressed her aside and stepped forward to take my hand. "Regardless of how I decide, it's been nice to finally meet you Mr. Luthor," I admitted reluctantly.

"Likewise. And please," his smile was wide as he stepped back into his limo. "Call me Lex. And if you need me, Latias knows my personal email," he smirked. "Don't take too long.

PYJ

August 11th, Maimi, Florida, 11:00 am

I'm sorry, Master Latias said softly as we floated high above the city of Maimi's beaches. I sat on her back as the warm sun beat on us, the two of us watching beachgoers enjoy the water.

"It's not your fault," I admitted. "I should have warned you. But I suppose I didn't think Lex fucking Luthor would show up out of the blue and offer you help with math," I sighed. "Just, be more careful on the internet. But your intelligence to work defending yourself online as well as on your project, okay?"

Yes, Master

"Now... Lex Luthor is trying to find a way to the Pokemon universe..." I tapped my fingers on my arm thoughtfully. "We can't let him get there, or at the least not first. The Pokemon universe lies in a perfect zone for him. It's both civilized enough that Luthor won't get torn apart like if he got to the Warhammer 40K universe, and yet has enough useful tech and possible manpower that he can use that is easily accessible due to the Pokemon universe lack of a true government, at least a government in the way this world understands them," I scoffed. "Hell, the fact evil organizations are able to so easily establish bases in every town says enough there."

It's the same in this universe, Latias grumbled in annoyance. I had to agree. It's apparently true in any universe with superpowers that making a evil base is just a matter of capitol.

"Regardless, the fact is Luthor running around in Pokemon is bad news no matter what," My comm unit began to blink, and I adjusted my seat on Latias. "Come on. We need to talk to him."

PYJ

August 11th, Happy Harbor, Mount Justice, 1:37 pm

I stood in the massive room Heatran had created across from the other men. We were around the small Oasis the Team and my Pokemon had created, our boots digging into the sand. I finished telling them what had happened, and simply watched them as Latias floated far behind me.

Batman didn't speak afterwards. Superman stood next to him, frowning in worry. When Batman didn't speak, Superman looked over at him.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"Luthor knew too much about Trainer Red," Batman immediately said. "Even if he was getting some of his information from Latias, there were too many specifics."

"A leak on the team?" I asked. "We had Superboy checked for any listening or spying devices implanted on him, right?"

"Yes, with regular checks in the form of physicals in case he can somehow be induced to 'grow' them as new organs." Batman replied. Superman blinked at that as Batman shook his head. "It's possible Luthor has some other way to access the information."

"Than we should treat all the info I've given you as though it's compromised," I said sadly.

"Agreed. All our files on Pokemon have thankfully not been uploaded to my computer, and I only have physical versions, but it's possible he wants them." Batman said simply. "Keep any information about the Pokemon universe need to know from here out."

"What about Luthor himself?" Superman asked, looking over at me. "We can't trust him. He'll go to your world and try to take anything he thinks is useful."

"We have an opening there," Batman suggested oddly.

Superman's eyes widened. "Bruce, you can't be serious!"

Batman nodded. "Luthor wants to bring in Red. If Red is there, he can monitor Luthor. Maybe even find something to incriminate him. And if Luthor does get there, Red can let us know as well as prepare the proper authorities when they get there."

"If we land on the right continent maybe," I grumbled. "The Pokemon World is massive guys. I know my way around maybe six of the locations, and that's a small number of them," I sighed. "Still, every continent has a group of strong Pokemon Trainers called the Elite Four led by a Champion, or at least an equivalent. If I can find them, I should be able to get them to have Luthor back down... I guess."

"It's too risky!" Superman declared.

"So is leaving Luthor," Batman said quietly. "If we give him time, he could end up with an army of Pokemon capable of fighting even you in hand to hand combat. We need to watch him somehow."

"We have a few days to plan it out for now," I grumbled. "Sorry guys. Seems like I'm bringing a lot of issues."

Superman shook his head and smiled kindly. "Well, maybe a few. But I can't imagine we wouldn't have a few of these problems anyways."

"In the meantime," Batman said softly. "I'll see about getting Waynetech involved in this project as well. The Berry and Potion project is already going well, I can start our own work on the Pokemon Portal project. Have Latias send me all of her work. And talk to her about her internet usage, immediately."

"Yes, sir," I said sadly at the disappointed look on his face.

PYJ

As Batman and Superman continued to talk in Heatran's additions, I left to go to my room in the caves. Of course, I was waylaid on my way there by the members of the team that now lived in the cave.

So I found myself sitting in my room with Superboy, M'gann, Kaldur, and Pele.

"Lex Luthor," Superboy said softly once I'd finished explaining the situation. He was leaning on the wall beneath a Wonder Woman poster I'd placed to make the place brighter. I looked over at him. I hadn't yet approached him about the possibility of Luthor being his father, something I knew was true in several universes and as such a possibility in this universe. He didn't know about my suspicions, but he clearly knew about the rivalry between the S-Shield's and Luthor.

"It seems you've found even more trouble, Mahmoud," Kaldur said from his seat on my computer chair.

"Yeah, lucky me," I said softly. "I guess I know how you guys feel. Seems like the bad guys are seeing me as both a threat and a possible resource."

"Is this Luthor such a threat?" Pele asked. She was dressed in her usual loincloth and wrap top, sitting on the floor cross-legged. I tried to ignore how much of her long legs were on display when she did that.

"Depends on the Luthor," I said with a sigh. "Lex Luthor is always dangerous though. He's smart. Scary smart. There are universe's where he's killed the entire Justice League. Justice League with more experience and power than our versions."

M'gann shuddered next to me on my bed where we sat facing the others. "Uncle J'onn..."

"That said, he's also a savior in some universes," I added. "But yeah, he isn't to be underestimated. Lex Luthor is a dangerous opponent with nothing more than his intellect and ruthlessness. It's one more on the pile of stuff I've got going on."

"We've, got going on," Kaldur said. "You aren't in this alone. I'm certain your Pokemon and the others would agree. Whatever is coming, we will face it together."

I blinked at Kaldur. A hand rested on my shoulder, and I turned to see M'gann smiling at me reassuringly. I felt myself warm inside at the show of support. Superboy stepped forward and he hesitantly patted me on the back.

"Anyways,"I finally said, trying not to show how choked up I was. "That's all a later problem for now. In the meantime, Superman and Batman told me that your father is going to be one of the God's to join the League," I told Pele.

She nodded, fierce pride in her eyes. "Indeed! He'll be an excellent edition."

"Who else?" Superboy asked.

"Well, they wanted to stick with five members for now," I told him. "So we have Kane-milo-hai first. Second is Thor, God of Thunder in Norse Myth. Diana, the Goddess of Hunters in Roman Myth. Hephaestus, God of Smiths in Greek Myth. And last but not least, Isis, Goddess of Magic in Egyptian Myth."

I shrugged. "I know there are other to come, but they're looking into inviting other heroes onto the team as well. However, I think the current deities they've chosen are a good mix. Hephaestus and Isis will be good for support, Thor and Kane will be strong heavy hitters, and Diana's skill in stealth will be valuable. Not to mention they made sure to keep a mixture of the pantheons, so that way they don't end up alienating other pantheons. I think they'll be adding some Hindu ones soon, since the Hindu gods have a lot of power due to the fact they still have a lot of worshippers."

"I hate them," Pele pouted. "Always so arrogant because they still have followers..." She crossed her arms with a huff. "Kali is the worst of them."

We all had to take a moment. The idea of the Pantheons having pissing contests over who was most worshiped was both hilarious and strange. I dismissed the thought of a multiple armed giant and Pele arguing with each other to focus.

"I guess in the meantime we should do some training or something?" I asked hesitantly.

"I believe that we've all had enough of work for now," Kaldur said gently. "I've heard that Superboy and Pele have yet to watch some of the surface worlds entertainment. How about we take a day off to watch together?"

M'gann perked up. "Oh, I'll get the popcorn!"

As she got up and walked out with Kaldur, I shared a glance with Superboy and Pele, who looked as thrown as I was by the sudden change in topic. "So uh... any preference for what you guys want to watch?"

"Not really," Superboy said with a shrug.

"I have a particular love for romance and drama," Pele said earnestly.

Huh. Well that threw me. I guess you can't judge books and all that.

A sudden thought filled me. I'd been thinking of a certain cartoon series ever since meeting Lex Luthor. Hell, why not introduce the pair to some quality entertainment, right? Besides, the cartoon had to hit some points for Superboy and Pele right?

Feeling like I was somehow doing something very ironic as I reached to release my Pokemon and let them join in the fun, I spoke. "You guys ever hear of 'Gargoyles'?"