Dr. Alchemy studied the materials. Each one was contained in either a large jar, or burlap bag. He looked over each ingredient before he gave out his response.

"I believe we have everything we need," he announced. "Thank you, Shade."

The Shade stood off, leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "You're welcome," he grunted.

"Marvelous," Maxie Zeus praised. "How soon can we begin the proceedings?"

"Not too long," Desmond answered him. "I will begin the crafting of the stone immediately."

Maxie turned his attention away from the alchemist god, looking to Eris and Phobos. Both gods were keeping to their side of the room, Eris looking smug while Phobos seemed to not care one way or the other. He chose to lurk in the shadows once more. "I do believe I owe you thanks for your contributions," the bearded man said to them.

"You're most welcome," Eris replied. "After all, we are a team and we must do what is in the best interest of the group. Hopefully this proves our sincerity."

"Oh, it does, it does," Maxie was quick to say. There was no need to cause further tension within their Pantheon. It was not lost onto him that two sides had formed the moment Eris and her brothers arrived. They were gods by birth while the rest of them were attempting to join in them in such a position. Uncertainty had driven a wedge between them.

Hopefully this would help repair it.

However, Maxie could not help but frown. "Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't someone missing? Deimos, I believe?"

Eris looked around her before shrugging. "I suppose he is. He is an adult so I see no need to keep an eye on him at all times. He should be along shortly."

"I hope he has not befallen an unfortunately fate. Now is not the time for us to lose one of our brethren."

Eris raised an eyebrow at him, but spoke no more. Maxie felt that perhaps he had stepped too far with the goddess and wisely chose to focus his attention on something else. The rift between fractions was mending and there was no need to further entrench it.

As fate would have it, the missing god chose at that moment to return. "I hope I'm not causing too much trouble for our generous host," Deimos spoke as he seemed to appear right out of a shadow. Maxie had to blink his eyes many times to make sure he hadn't seen things.

"See, I told you he would be here," Eris said. "Your concern, while appreciated, was not needed."

"Oh? Was our leader here worried about me? How thoughtful," Deimos responded. "He heh! I knew there was a reason I liked mortals!"

Eris frowned and glanced at her brother god, shooting him a questioning look that Maxie found odd. Deimos seemed oblivious to the look though, the god reaching behind him. "And for your hospitality, I thought I'd bring you a gift. I think you might recognize it."

With ease, Deimos hauled something out of the shadow and plopped it on the floor. Lying bound and gagged was John Dee, his body stiff and rigid. It was like he didn't even need to be restrained.

"I found this one wandering the streets of this fair city and I couldn't pass up the chance to return him to us. After all, he is one of us," the God of Terror explained. "Though for whatever reason he didn't seem to be willing. Any thoughts as to why?"

"This is a mighty gift indeed," Felix Faust praised as he walked up to their bound brother. "And he's been using his powers, I sense. How ever did you restrain him?"

"As much as I would like to take credit, I have to hand it to my host. He had this lovely concoction that induce paralysis on our wayward brother. He's been this way ever since I exposed him to it. I am rather curious as to how long it will last."

"Professor Faust," Maxie then spoke up, earning himself the attention of the room. "See to it Mr. Dee doesn't leave our company again. I rather not have Deimos' hard work be for naught and we may need to use the fugitive some time in the future."

"Consider it done," Faust replied as he snapped his fingers. Mr. Dee began to levitate off of the floor and the scholar led the man from the room.

"Well, it seems we have no need for the Philosopher's Stone," Maxie surmised, relaxing in the seat of his chair. "A pity, really."

"Are you saying I went around stealing all of this crap for nothing?" the Shade demanded as he shoved himself off of the wall he was leaning on. "You have to be joking!"

"I believe our beneficiary spoke quickly," Dr. Alchemy interjected then. "It would not hurt to have the stone at our side, especially when we come up against the Justice League—and we will. The more power we have, the better the odds will be in our favor."

"Good," the thin man grunted. "I rather not have all of my work be completely useless."

"Understandable. Now, if everyone would please remain silent. I am about to commence with the creation of the stone," Desmond announced. At some point he had drawn a circle on the floor, odd symbols drawn within it. Maxie wasn't sure when he had done it, but thankfully the circle was smaller than the ones they used for the rituals.

Eris and her brothers moved closer following the announcement. Each one had a look of curiosity on their face, indicating just how interested they were in this. Maxie let this pass as he too was fascinated.

And then Desmond began.

There was something different about this meeting. Following the arrival of Eris in Gotham, Diana had called for the rest of the League to debrief so she could inform them of what she had discovered.

The others looked strange. For such personalities gathered around this table, everyone seemed subdued. It was strange and discerning.

Yet, they were incomplete. J'onn was not present and he was usually a fixture at meetings. No matter what was going on, he was usually there to help guide the meetings until their conclusion. His absence was keenly felt. When she had tried to contact him, he hadn't answered, which was even more out of character. The only thing she could think of was that he had his full concentration on something.

And if J'onn needed to focus on one thing, it must have been a massive undertaking.

So Diana felt that if this meeting was to be underway, she was going to have to be the one to kick it off. "Seeing as everyone that is going to show up has arrived, I have some most distressing news," she began. "I encountered one of my Gods in Gotham tonight, the Goddess Eris."

Heads perked up at this. "Isn't she the one that threw that golden apple that started some war?" Flash questioned.

That was a surprising quarter to hear such information, but Diana rolled with it. "Yes. Eris was the one responsible for the Trojan War, using her Apple of Discord to start strife between the goddess of Zeus' court."

"I'm surprised you know that much, Flash," Hawkgirl remarked.

"Hey, I know things," Flash defended. "Do you know why she was in Gotham, Wondy? I'm pretty certain out of every place in the world, she really couldn't cause more discourse than there already is in Gotham."

Before Diana could respond, it was John that spoke up. "Hawkgirl and I had our own run-in with someone calling themselves a god. Know of the name Phobos?"

The Amazon snapped her head towards the Lantern. "The God of Fear, Phobos?" she clarified.

"Yeah, that's what he called himself." John then held his ring up, the circle of it looking quite dull and lifeless. "He managed to drain my ring in an instant."

First Eris, now Phobos. Diana did not like where this was going. "Correct me if I am wrong, but fear is your power's opposite, yes?" After receiving a nod, she continued, "Phobos is the embodiment of fear, so it's very possible his presence, or even power, sapped your ring of its power. You could even see him as the very source of fear."

"Well that's the first thing that's made sense," John muttered.

That's when Flash and Superman shared a look. "You want to tell them, or should I?' the speedster asked.

"Don't tell me, you had your own run-in," Hawkgirl responded.

Both heroes nodded their heads in unison. "Yes, he called himself Deimos," the Kryptonian informed them.

"The God of Terror," Diana supplied.

"That's three of your gods," Hawkgirl summed up. "And that isn't taking into account the ones you said are being imprisoned in normal people." A thoughtful look appeared on her face then. "Anyone else think this might be linked? Like maybe these three new gods are responsible for the imprisonment of their fellow gods?"

That caused the Amazon Princess to frown. "How do you mean?"

"Who else would know about this binding ritual you told us about?" the Thanagarian pointed out. "Surely they do. Who's to say they didn't, I don't know, inspire someone to use it? Or just flat out told them."

That caused the dark-haired woman to shake her head. "They wouldn't be able to tell mortals directly. When the Greek Gods left this world, Zeus decreed that none of them would have direct influence on this world."

"That hasn't stopped them before," the redhead countered.

Diana knew exactly what her colleague was talking about. The two of them have had previous encounters with her Gods, one of their first team ups being the result of a hydra being unleashed. However, "They cannot influence directly, but they can indirectly."

"Oh, I see, they had to find a loophole," Flash said sarcastically.

"But haven't you actually fought them?" Hawkgirl pressed.

"I have, but all of those battles took place off-world, in the Gods's realm."

"But now you have three of them directly acting in our world," John spoke up. "Apparently they're flat out ignoring Zeus' degree now."

Diana could not argue that. She could only imagine what was allowing the three lesser gods to forsake their king. It had to be worthy in their eyes.

A frown appeared on her face as she thought. "Perhaps it is because they have new powers?" she suggested.

"What kind of new powers?" the Green Lantern questioned.

"When I encountered Eris, she had the power to control plants. She never had that power before. I suppose it could fall under her persona for causing discord, but she has never seemed all that interested in cultivating life. That was usually Demeter's providence."

There was a moment of silence before Superman sighed. "There's something else when Flash and I met Deimos. "He looked exactly like the Joker, only that he had snakes growing out of him."

That caused the entire group to go ramrod straight. "Terror, huh?" Hawkgirl muttered. "Then he chose the right form to cause terror alright. Nothing's more terrifying than the Joker."

"At first we thought it was the Joker," Flash said. "That was right up until he tied me up in a light pole and I couldn't get out."

"Can't you just vibrate your way out of that?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. But I don't think you get what it was like fighting this guy. I couldn't think straight, I was so scared. It wasn't until after that I even thought of it."

"That's what terror does," Diana said comfortingly. "It robs us of our rational minds. In the presence of the terror's form, I am not surprised by this."

"Thanks," the speedster replied awkwardly.

"That wasn't the end of it though," Superman interjected. "The Joker—or Deimos—had all of the Joker's toys. The joy buzzer, the guns. They were just...different. And some of the things he said, like improving them."

A dreadful chill ran up Diana's spine. It was not a thought she particularly enjoyed, but in the interest of transparency, it had to be voice. "What if that was the Joker, but Deimos was possessing him?" she ventured.

"How would a god possess someone like the Joker?" Hawkgirl questioned. "You said they can't affect anything directly."

"I've had a thought. We know there are people that are binding gods to themselves. What if something went wrong during the ritual? An incantation wasn't said correctly, or a rune wasn't drawn right, or the process of binding went askew. It could be possible that Eris and her brethren took advantage of this lapse and instead of being bound, they possessed their vessels."

"Which would give them their loophole to attack Gotham," John finished.

"So you're telling me that someone talked the Joker into becoming a god? Seriously?" Flash jumped in. "That's crazy talk. Who the hell would want him as a god?"

That was admittingly a weak point in the theory, but Diana couldn't think of any other possibility. In fact, she was willing to bet that was what was going on. Hell, with the Joker's history, he could have stumbled upon these people and taken over. That was more in line with his style.

Unfortunately, they didn't have any other leads to follow at this time. After confronting Eris, she had vanished; the Amazon imagined that was the same with Deimos and Phobos as well. This case was becoming more and more complicated with every passing day and she was beginning to dread just what was coming from it all.

Batman held the security pass, studying the photo of John Dee, analyzing the letters and numbers next to the picture. He flipped it over to look at the backside, doing the same thing before returning it to the front.

He had been doing this for the last several minutes. He wanted to know everything he could learn from this badge before he stumbled into an awkward situation. He didn't need to run into Dee himself without recognizing him.

Of course, there were other matters that needed to be attended to. Point of order was the Birds of Prey. They had called him specifically to inform him of tonight's eventful night.

Naturally the first words thrown were from Huntress. "Why the heck is the Justice League here?"

The very question set the Dark Knight's teeth grinding on themselves. It seemed Green Lantern and Flash hadn't heeded his warning. "I didn't invite them," he replied stonily.

"Well, that's a load off of my mind," the purple-clad woman snarkily shot back. "We need details here and I want to know why they're barging in on our turf."

The dark-haired woman's eyes darted to one side before returning back to Batman. He didn't need to think too hard as to why. J'onn was present and Huntress' glance was directly towards him. She clearly was including him in her inquiry.

"The League is tracking down a few criminals that have been committing crimes in various cities. They believe they're using Gotham as their base and they want to discourage the notion there are certain places in the world they won't go to," he explained.

"Well, if that crazy bald guy Katana and I ran into is one of those criminals, then they were getting their asses kicked," Huntress responded. "I thought these guys were good, but Katana and I handled him easily."

"At least one of us had an easy night," Manhunter added. "Black Canary and I ran into Superman and Flash having their hands full with the Joker."

That got Batman's attention. "Where did this happen?" he demanded.

"East side of town, near the projects," Black Canary answered. "But the Joker wasn't himself. Yeah, he was doing the laughing bit and all, but he had super strength and was vomiting this weird green crap. He even vanished into a cloud of smoke when he left."

A super-powered Joker? This did not bode well. Yet, Batman found himself frowning. When he had last encountered the clown, the man didn't have any sort of superpower. He was his insane self right up until John Dee attacked them. According to J'onn and Batgirl, they had only found him unconscious with no sign of the Joker anywhere. So between that attack and now, the madman had changed.

That was a very quick turn around, even for him.

On top of that, Poison Ivy was on the loose too. Her plants wrecking downtown were a calling card of hers, so now he had two metahumans on the loose directly out of Arkham. And that wasn't including the people the Justice League were after. This town was attracting all sorts of wrong people.

"This is too strange to be real," Huntress muttered then. Then she directed her attention to him. "And what about you? Where were you when all of this was going on?"

"Looking for Dr. Destiny," Batman told her. "The same reason you were called in to help."

"Did you find him?"

"No, but we did find his hideout." Batman raised up the security badge. "He's an employee of Maximilian Shipping Lines, real alias: John Dee. I'll be following the investigation there."

"Do you need us as backup?" Black Canary asked.

"For now, no. Back to you, is there anything else you can tell me about the Joker and his new powers?"

"Aside from being able to subdue Superman and Flash, no." The blonde vigilante frowned. "I did feel uneasy when fighting him though, but I chalked that up to just being in the Joker's presence. It was like I was feeling fear or something, but stronger."

"I felt the same way," Manhunter was quick to add.

Huntress and Katana then shared a look. "As much as I hate to admit it, I felt afraid of that creepy guy too," the dark-haired woman said. "And he called himself something crazy. Like, the God of Fear, or something."

Black Canary and Manhunter jerked their heads up too. "Yeah, the Joker called himself a god as well," Manhunter responded. "The God of Terror, I think."

This caused Batman and J'onn to glance towards one another. Dr. Destiny had called himself the God of Dreams. That was too coincidental. "I think I'm going to need that backup after all," Batman said. "I'll keep you all posted, but tomorrow night, we're going to be doing some snooping at Maximilian Shipping Lines."

The Birds shared a look with one another. "You know something about this, don't you?" Huntress pressed. "If you're going to involve us, we need to know what's going on."

That was a fair point. "From what J'onn has told me, there are certain people that are gaining powers. From what we've been able to gather, it involves some sort of blood ritual." The image of the dead man inside of the bizarre circle flashed before his eyes. "The people that we've encountered so far have all regarded themselves as gods. What the connection is, we're not sure yet, but one of them, Dee, we at least have a lead on."

"Is that why the Martian Manhunter is here? As some sort of liaison, or something/" Huntress inquired.

"Not exactly. We had other business we were discussing when an opportunity to capture the Joker presented itself. He's been along for the ride ever since."

"So we shouldn't be expecting him to become a fixture here."

"I have no intention on remaining in Gotham following this case," J'onn reassured her. "In fact, I believe these cases are linked together."

"Why not tell the Justice League about this then?" Manhunter asked. "They're here anyways, we might as well make use of them."

She makes a fair point, J'onn pointed out inside Batman's head.

Instead of responding to the Martian, Batman answered both of them verbally. "We only have suspicions right now. Once we have more concrete evidence, then we can consider bringing them in."

"Because if we can handle it, why bother them, right?" Huntress finished for him.

Well, when you were right, you were right.

The light slowly began to fade away. Maxie Zeus was getting rather tired of that effect. He understood that what they were doing required quite a bit of power, so one of the natural side-effects was the creation of light. Yet, did it have to be so eye blinding?

Having never moved from his seat, he saw Desmond hunched over the place he had made his spell circle. Because his body was in the way, Maxie could not see what was on the other side, which annoyed him slightly. He wanted to see the fruits of his right-hand man's labor and he made for a better door than a window.

The Shade had a better angle from where he stood and his head perked up at what he saw. "Well, I'll be damned," he murmured, his gaze firmly focused on what Desmond was concentrating on.

Based off of that reaction, Maxie could only deduce that the creation of the Philosopher's Stone had been a success. Stupendous! Now if only Dr. Alchemy would move so that he could see it for himself.

Eris, the Goddess of Discord, moved closer to his associate, her eyes captivated by the sight. "My, my, what do we have here?" she breathed. "I can feel its power all the way from here. I never knew mortals were capable of such feats."

That was when Dr. Alchemy stood up and then turned around. In his hand was a rock the size of a large man's fist. It was blood red, its polished sides giving off the impression that it was a cut gem. There was an incandescent light that shined from its core, giving it an aura of sorts.

It was beautiful.

Yet, in spite of this great feat, Dr. Alchemy did not look proud, or vain. He still kept his cool composure, though it did appear that he was searching for something. His gaze soon settled on the table. "I believe a test run is in order," he announced.

He then held the red stone out to the round table. Its glow increased substantially, causing nearly another eye ache for Maxie. However, he found he could not look away, not as the table changed.

At first, it seemed to take on a rather liquid appearance. That was before it sucked in on itself, gathering into a large ball of molten steel. It changed color then to a bright yellow, red, and orange, looking very much like lava. Steam wafted off of the sphere before it went blue, the translucent appearance of water. There were bubbles running from the bottom to the top.

Then the water expanded outward, forming a large disk that encompassed much of the room. The others moved back until they were close to the wall and still the edges of the watery disk nearly touched them. The Grecian columns did not even prove much resistance as the watery substance encircled them, making them a part of it.

Then it shrunk in on itself until the table was reformed in its original form. Once it was finished, Maxie could not help but clap. "That was incredible!" he declared, his clapping growing louder. The Shade added some of his own, though much softer. As for the three Olympians, Deimos was the only one to clap enthusiastically. Eris seemed to be besotted with the stone and Phobos appeared weary as he clung to his shadows.

"Well, that was a success," the Shade remarked. "So what's next?"

"We use that little stone to cause some mayhem, that's what," Eris responded eagerly. "Just imagine what strife I can cause with that."

Dr. Alchemy looked to the goddess coolly. "That was not the intent of my making the Philosopher's Stone. It was supposed to be our substitute for Mr. Dee's defection."

"But Deimos retrieved the traitor," the red-haired woman was quick to point out. "Now there is no need for us to use it in such a manner."

"You're assuming Mr. Dee will cooperate with us despite his present circumstance as a prisoner. He will be looking for an opportunity to escape."

"Oh, I believe we can get his cooperation with the right persuasion," Deimos replied, flexing the fingers of one of his hands.

"Or we can use the power of the stone to force him to comply," Desmond noted. "Regardless of his preference, I can use the stone to force him into his role in our next—and final—ceremony. He will have no choice but to participate."

Eris and Deimos shared a look. "Well, he does have a point," the terror god admitted.

His sister goddess was not as enthused by this admission. "Very well," she reluctantly agreed. "But we must learn the full extent of what that trinket can do."

Maxie had to agree with that point at least. It was clear to him that Desmond did not trust these Olympians and he could see no fault with that. He had noticed their clear interest with the stone and it made him feel uncomfortable. They were going to have to keep a close eye on them in order to keep the stone out of their hands. Each Olympian was a slave to their inner impulses, such as Eris' need to cause discourse. She craved it much like an addict did whatever they could to score their next fix.

"Agreed," Dr. Alchemy said with a nod. "But for now we must make preparations. This next ritual will not be like the others. It will require all of us to ensure its success. Once we have succeeded, then we can begin the next phase."

This caused Maxie to perk up. Was it indeed his turn? At last! He began to tremble in his seat from excitement. How he had waited for this day to come and he was so close he could taste it!

"Then be about it," he declared. "Our Pantheon is nearly complete. All it needs now is a king. Soon, I will be happy to call you all my brothers."

For the first time in quite some time, Maxie Zeus felt giddy. He could tell the others were as well as a small smile graced Desmond's lips, the Shade raised his eyebrows as if impressed, and the Olympians merely smirked.

Oh yes, they were excited for him, he could just tell.