The Acolytes of Zeus

by sinisteruto

Born of both Royal houses of Atlantis and Xebel, blessed by both Zeus and Posseidon, and raised by Queen Hypollyta of the Amazons but forced to leave Themiscyra at the age of sixteen, Kaldur forms his own organisation of warriors of Justice. But will the Justice League approve of not only their methods but their existence as a whole? How will the Light respond to this new threat?

5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own DC or any other series I might use for inspiration.

Response to Reviews:

Radioshac: Thank you! I hope the story continues to meet your expectations.

Shadowdragondanny: Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Darkness292: His time to shine is fast approaching. His true power will be revealed.

Guest: It should be no surprise really, even though it is. Super heroes by their very nature operate outside the scope of law, but their treatment of Wonder Woman really was terrible. Still, it was a blessing in disguise don't you think?

edboy4926: Glad you liked it. I hope you will stay tuned for more.

jlee0799: I totally understand how you feel, and it can be frustrating. I myself have read such stories and got pissed when the author left it unattended for years. I however do not foresee myself abandoning this particular one. This one, along with Bloodline, you can at least be sure that they will be updated from time to time.

Sultan Asil Arslan: Thanks for the review. Yes, the plan was to add a fourth one, and now we have her, The Godess of Light, Wonder Woman.

I'm hungry010: There is much more still to come. Glad you enjoyed it.

Prepare for War

"Stay inside the boom tube for now, I cannot guarantee that you will be able to survive if you leave this warp space." Darkseid said to his subordinates, who also happened to be his children, namely, his first born biological son, Kalibak, his only daughter, Grail, and his third born biological son, Greyvan.

"What? Greyvan and I have inherited the omega effect, just like you. We can survive whatever defences these backwater Daxamites have." Grail, Darkseid's daughter, argued vehemently.

Grail is unique in her appearance in that she looks both like a majestically beautiful godess and something straight out of a horror movie at the same time, possessing blood red glowing eyes like her father and grey skin along with long black hair. She is also wearing an outfit that seems to be a hybrid between new god and amazon warrior attire and carries with her a sword forged by Haphaestas himself that was left behind by her deceased mother. The sword has since been modified with motherbox technology.

"Do not be silly, sister. Father himself has not left the warp space, there must be a valid reason for that. Besides, if you read your history, you would know that apart from New Genesis, Krypton and Daxam were the only other civilizations who rivalled Apokolips in strength. Their technology is not to be underestimated." Greyvan countered.

He, like Grail, inherited much of his father's physical traits in the same way that he inherited his father's omega effect. He has long white hair and purple-grey skin and his eyes are blood red just like his sister and father. He has a very muscular and balanced physique, a physique perfectly designed for combat. He is wearing gold and red Apokoliptan armor and has a technologically advanced sword on his left hip.

"N-no way! We have advanced technology too, and we have divine powers. There is no comparison here. Why are you hesitating, father?" Grail asked, incensed by her father's apparent cowardice.

"Daxam and Krypton had technology even more advanced than ours. Typically, their main defence mechanism was that they had unfathomably powerful energy barriers surrounding their airspace. The barrier has information of every terrestrial lifeform, and will only incinerate extra terrestrial objects or organisms that breach their airspace. Any extra terrestrial object or being attempting to breach their airspace needs permission granted to them by the King of Daxam. If not, then prepare to be incinerated." Darkseid explained, taking a momentary pause to allow Grail to digest the information.

"I once sent the previous incarnation of the furies to mount a siege on Krypton. The four furies, along with a billion parademons were instantaneously incinerated upon airspace entry, not a trace of them remained. That is the power we are up against. So you see, Grail, it is not fear that holds me back, it is common sense. Daxam's time will come, it just isn't today. Besides, if I get my hands on the anti life equation, for which Earth seems to be key, then we won't even need to fight the Daxamites." Darkseid explained his plan to his daughter.

Honestly, if she wasn't so young, and she wasn't his daughter, he would have murdered her on the spot for daring to question him. However, he understood that her only mistake was her ignorance, and even that was due to her youth, having not been born yet when those events happened. However, if she continued to question him after he went out of his way to do for her something he would never do for anyone else, then he would go ahead and destroy every living atom of her on the spot. No one questions Darkseid's will, not even his own children.

"Instantaneous incineration? That is insane." Grail thought warily.

"And that was thousands of years ago, sister. How strong is their technology now? Not to mention, there is a yellow sun in their new planet, two yellow suns actually. They do not even need their technology anymore to be a threat. The problem is not that we couldn't win a war against them, the problem, is the cost of winning that war. New Genesis is always a lingering threat, if we go to war with a powerful Empire like the Daxamites, we'll be too weakened afterwards to stop New Genesis from destroying us, and you best be assured that they wouldn't miss that opportunity for anything." Greyvan explained the delicacy of the situation to his sister.

"That isn't even the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario would be if Daxam and New Genesis joined forces against us. We would end up fighting a war against two civilizations that are almost equal to us in power. We have father as our trump card of course, but New Genesis has Highfather and The Daxamites have the power of the Yellow Sun. Hard as it is to swallow, but the truth is that we can only take on them one at a time." Kalibak added in support of his brother.

"So what are we even doing here if we're not here to fight?" Grail asked incredulously.

"Silence Grail! Here comes the King and his Cavalry. Be on guard." Kalibak said, finally understanding why his father didn't tolerate his actions or words being questioned, because this shit is annoying as hell.

"My my if it isn't the Dark Lord himself." Lar Gand greeted with a little mirth in his tone, although there was also a hefty amount of seriousness as well, because not only was this spatial intrusion unexpected, but it was also very disconcerting given the timing of it, and especially given who the perpetrator was.

He, along with his queen and elite guard were flying, which was quite surprising to Darkseid and his entourage given the fact that the information they had received was that Daxamites, unlike the Kryptonians, could not actually fly.

"King Lar Gand, and his beautiful queen, Rhea. You are no doubt honoured to finally meet me." Darkseid replied, Rhea and Lar Gand both looking at each other with quirked eyebrows.

"I'm sorry but didn't you mean you are honoured to finally meet us?" Rhea asked incredulously.

"No." Darkseid deadpanned, Rhea internally seething at the arrogance of this New God maniac, thankfully Lar Gand interceding before his hot tempered wife lost her cool.

"Thank you, Lord Darkseid, no doubt you are honoured to meet us too." Lar Gand quickly quipped, not giving either Rhea or Darkseid a chance to react before getting straight to the point.

"I find the timing of this visit quite peculiar Lord Darkseid, we just recently found ourselves a new planet to rebuild and there you are, checking up on us. How thoughtful of you." Lar Gand said with a grave undertone.

"Curb your insecurities, King Lar Gand, I'm not here to destroy you…yet." Darkseid deadpanned.

"Then why are you here? Why bother coming here when you don't even have the courage to step out of that boom tube?" Lar Gand asked, not pulling his punches at all anymore.

"I'm here to discuss the Earth Colony that you falsely advertise to have a claim over. The Earth Colony has and will always belong to Apokolips." Darkseid said, not beating about the bush either.

"Really? Why am I not aware of this, why is no one aware of this? Surely the earth God and protector Lord Stormbreaker would have made mention of this if it were true." Lar Gand retorted.

"Storm who? Who is this ant that you speak of? I know all the earth gods, and there is no such person." Darkseid retorted, a deep frown appearing on his already chiselled facial features.

"Oh? For someone who claims ownership of the Earth colony, you sure do not know a lot about them." Rhea replied disrespectfully, causing Darkseid to narrow his eyes at her as his eyes began to glow dangerously.

Following that action, something weird and unexpected began to happen, as not only Rhea's eyes began to glow red but also Lar Gand's and the Royal Guards' eyes, which further confused Darkseid and his own elite guard as their information appeared to have been completely false.

"How are you doing this? How are you exhibiting Kryptonian meta physical traits? Daxamites cannot fly or use heat vision!" Darkseid finally snapped, demanding answers immediately, and with authority, authority that he didn't really have at all, at least not in this airspace.

"Oh, so you noticed? The combat suits we are wearing are designed to absorb the energy we produce from converting solar radiation and allow us to use that energy to project a gravity field around ourselves, granting us the ability to fly." Lar Gand explained.

"You designed a suit to that mimics the Kryptonian gravity field manipulation? But you've only been aware of these powers for less than two weeks!" Greyvan exclaimed, shocked to the core by the genius intellect of this race.

"So what? I hear you guys have similar technology with your aero disks and what not." Lar Gand countered.

"You are well informed about us." Kalibak said warily.

"As are you about us apparently, although your information does seem to be outdated." Rhea retorted on her King's behalf.

"And what of heat vision? Surely your combat suit is not responsible for that too?" Grail asked, intrigued, and wary.

"Contac lenses, specifically designed, like our suits, to absorb the meta physical energy that we produce after absorbing yellow sun UV rays and produce the effects of heat vision." Lar Gand explained clearly and concisely.

Most leaders would be wary of sharing the secrets to their power with the enemy, however, Lar Gand was a much better strategist than that, and a much greater leader. A small nation perhaps might want to keep their true power a secret in order to have the element of surprise, but Lar Gand had come to realise that the opposite must be true for a Great Empire.

A Great Empire, more than the element of surprise, needs fear and respect. If your colonies and your enemies fear you, then they are less likely to start revolutions and stage invasions. So for a great empire, flaunting your power is even more important than having secret trump cards. Trump cards are used in war, but flaunting overwhelmingly superior power dissuades people from even starting wars in the first place.

'In less than two weeks they have rebuilt their civilization and air space defences, and invented technology that maximises their combat potential. Ridiculous!' Greyvan thought, not really sure whether to be impressed or concerned about the technological prowess of the Daxamites, similar thoughts going through the minds of his siblings, and of course, the mind of the Dark Lord himself.

"Impressive. However, I did not come here to listen to you brag about your meagre accomplishments, I came here to tell you to stay out of earth and its affairs, earth was my colony long before it was yours. I conquered earth millennia ago, and their leader, an immortal earthling by the name Vandal Savage, handed the planet over to me after I defeated him and his armies. You owe me reparations for this transgression, King Lar Gand." Darkseid said sternly.

"Perhaps what you say is true, Lord Darkseid, however, I seem to recall that you and your armies would later be repelled by the Celentials, who now identify as the Old Gods of earth, fighting alongside the Atlantians, Amazons, and humans. Earth forces galvanized and staged a coupe against you, and succeeded too. Therefore earth was no longer your colony when it became a Daxamite Colony." King Lar Gand countered.

"You are making a grave mistake, King Lar Gand. There will be consequences for your actions!" Darkseid said angrily.

"We shall see about that, Dark Lord. Now, get out of my airspace before this becomes an intergalactic incident. We do not wish for war, but we are also not afraid of it. If we must, we will attack you…with prejudice, and without restraint." King Lar Gand said dangerously.

"……"

"Kalibak, teleport us back to Apokolips, and make preparations to invade planet earth." Darkseid said much to the shock of, well, everyone, including his own children, none of them able to understand what Darkseid was thinking.

Sure, the Daxamites didn't have anywhere near the billion strong army that they once did, but that didn't mean they were weaker, not with their newfound power of the yellow sun. Fighting the Daxamite Empire alone would take everything that Apokolips had to win, but fighting them, along with earth, and with the threat of New Genesis lurking, was downright suicide. What on earth could the Dark Lord be thinking?

Nevertheless, it wasn't their place to question the Dark Lord, especially not in front of the enemy, so Kalibak did as ordered and signalled his motherbox to take them back to Apokolips. He would have to later find a way to enquire about his father's plans without sounding like he was questioning the Dark Lord's judgement, lest he find himself atomized by his father's omega beams.

"How brazen, and foolish of him to declare war on us right in front of our faces." Rhea thought out loud. If it were her, she would have just pretended to back off and then unexpectedly attack in full force. To declare his intentions like that, quite foolish indeed.

"No, Darkseid is arrogant and conceited, but not stupid. He has some sort of plan, he didn't come all the way to beg for us to give him permission to take earth, he knew what the answer would be. He came here to assess our defences and to confirm whether to go along with his plan or not." Lar Gand replied.

"His plan? You think he had a plan already before coming here? A plan to go to war with us, your majesty?" Sodam Yat, the general of Lar Gand's army and elite guard, asked warily.

"Yes, he probably started formulating a plan as soon as news spread about Earth's colonization. We have to warn Mon El about what's about to happen." Lar Gand said with trepidation.

"No, husband! Mon El is infatuated with those earth cretins. If we tell him, he will want to fight and die for them. I will not lose my son to that backwater planet and its subspecies!" Rhea said erratically.

"So as opposed to warning him you would rather he be caught off guard?" Lar Gand asked incredulously.

"Of course not! Do not patronize me! We must lure Mon El here and contain him until whatever happens on earth is over." Rhea explained.

"Contain him? You mean to imprison him until the war is over? Rhea, need I remind you that Mon El is our heir? How will he ever become the leader he is meant to be if you continue to coddle him? Fighting and winning a war to defend one of our colonies is exactly what he needs to earn the respect of his people. It is his duty as prince of Daxam. You cannot protect him from his legacy, you are doing more harm than good, and you are acting out of selfishness." Lar Gand argued.

"Selfishness? How is it selfish to want to protect my one and only child?" Rhea asked, incensed.

"It is selfish because you are not protecting him but yourself. You are protecting yourself from the fear and worry that you will feel for him when he goes to war. In order to soothe yourself, you would rather he be locked up then receive the experience he will need in order to one day take over for us. Beloved, I am worried too, but do not let your fears and insecurities hold our son back from his destiny, not after he has already grown and matured the way that he has both as a warrior and a leader." Lar Gand argued.

"….."

"I….I cannot believe you! So you would leave Mon El to fend for himself against that monster?" Rhea asked incredulously.

"Mon El has powerful and resourceful friends on earth, and naturally, we will avail our forces to aid him in his battle. Earth is still universally recognised as our colony, it will send a bad message if one of our colonies is taken from us. We cannot stand by and do nothing." Lar Gand replied.

"So you will be going to the front lines then?" Rhea asked, a little hope and relief seeping into her tone.

"Of course not. I know what you're thinking Rhea. You're thinking you will feel more at ease knowing that I am there to protect him. However, you are wrong. Mon El is a leader of men now. He will lead the garrison that we send to planet earth, and like a true prince, he will seize victory with his own hands. Rhea, you need to have faith in our son. He is our son, our son, Rhea. He is not weak!" Lar Gand pleaded with his wife to see reason.

"Alright fine! But I want a meeting with this so called God Stormbreaker. I demand that he come here to meet with us. I will not accept anything less!" Rhea demanded.

"Why would you want to see him?" Lar Gand asked, confused.

"Those are my terms. I won't accept anything less. I will not allow Mon El to fight on earth until I see this so called God that he speaks so highly of." Rhea said stubbornly.

"I hope you aren't going to try and kill him, Rhea. I know you well, beloved. I know what you're thinking. You think Mon El has been brain washed and that if you get rid of Stormbreaker, you will somehow liberate him from his alleged brainwashing. However, be careful that your actions do not cause you to lose our son forever." Lar Gand said as he began flying back down to his castle.

"You haven't answered me, husband! Do you accept my terms?" Rhea screamed in anger and frustration.

"Of course I do, when have I ever denied you. Now stop making noise and come and join your husband for lunch. I am quite famished." Lar Gand responded much to Rhea's annoyance.

0000000

"I must say, Lord Darkseid, this is quite an intriguing turn of events. To think that you of all people would pay me a visit. You know you're my role model right? Lets just say I have a very strong appreciation for your leadership style." Maxima spoke words of gushing praise to the Dark Lord, who only smirked slightly at the words of the queen of Almarac.

Maxima is a very beautiful, sexy, and voluptuous red haired woman with green eyes and slightly tanned skin. She is wearing a form fitting, green, custom made combat suit and does not appear to have any visible weapons on her. She has red lipstick and has an aura that is oozing sexuality, strength, power, and grace, like a true woman of royalty.

"I am not displeased by your reception, Queen of Almarac." Darkseid replied simply.

"So, what brings you to my domain, and without your elite guard too?" Maxima asked curiously.

They were in admittedly the most beautiful dining room Darkseid had ever laid eyes on in his life, with all sorts of delicious foods some of which the immortal Darkseid himself had never even heard of. In fact the entire City, while not as technologically advanced as that of the Daxamites, was quite clearly the most beautiful place Darkseid had ever laid eyes on. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't enjoying himself right now, for the first time in a long time.

"Last time I took my elite guard for a diplomatic venture, the act was mistaken to be an attempted invasion. I thought it better if I come alone this time." Darkseid replied simply.

"I see, and the answer to my other question? What brings you to my domain exactly?" Maxima asked warily.

"I'm here to propose an alliance. My goal is to invade and conquer planet earth. However, the Daxamites are in league with that planet as the news have no doubt reached your ears. I cannot have them interfere, so I will need you and your Almarac forces to keep them occupied for me." Darkseid said, as always, not mincing his words and speaking plainly.

"You want us to go to war with the great Daxamite Empire? I'm sorry, but we do not even have the technology to breach their airspace, and even if we did, or you did and would share this technology with us, why would we help you? What do we have to gain from this alliance?" Maxima asked incredulously.

"You are still interested in Superman are you not? Did you not identity him as the perfect mate for you in order to advance the Royal Blood and therefore the blood of your species? When my invasion succeeds, I will deliver Kal El to you on a platter. He will be all yours, to do as you please with him." Darkseid said confidently.

"Superman…" Maxima trailed off, a deep longing permeable in her tone of voice, her eyes, and her facial expression.

"You will deliver him to me alive and without maim?" Maxima enquired.

"Of course." The Dark Lord said with a sinister smirk.

"Alright, I'll admit, you have me intrigued, but I'm still not sure that even Superman is worth going to war with Daxam, and may I remind you about their unbreachable airspace." Maxima retorted.

"You do not have to fight the Daxamites. You only need to park your warships just outside of their airspace. As long as you are not within their airspace, you will not become incinerated, and the Daxamites cannot officially declare your actions as that of war if you have not entered their airspace." Darkseid explained.

"I see. So we prevent them from coming to the aid of planet earth because of the uncertainty caused by us parking right outside their airspace." Maxima thought out loud.

"Precisely. The Daxamites will not leave their home undefended, even for one of their prized colonies." Darkseid said, his gigantic hands clasped together with his elbows on the table.

"I see. Hehe! Okay it sounds like a very easy job. Lord Darkseid, I would be honored to pull this bluff on your behalf. You have yourself an alliance." Maxima said diabolically.

"That…is what I wanted to hear Queen Maxima." Darksied said with a diabolical smirk of his own, the two dictators toasting their new alliance as they discussed plans and ruling philosophies throughout the evening.

Back on Planet Earth:

"Powerman, this is the first time that you have appeared publicly since the Daxam invasion. Why is it that you only surface now, a whole week later?" Louis Lane asked curiously.

They were in a Daily Planet studio, Louis having booked the studio for a live broadcast when Powerman contacted her about debriefing the public about the events of the previous week that almost resulted in another full blown invasion from an alien race with godly powers and futuristic technology that surpasses that of even the most imaginative sci fi movie.

Naturally, Louis was not going to miss the opportunity to get the scoop of a lifetime, and just as importantly to her, she wasn't going to miss the opportunity to put Powerman under the microscope and give the public the real truth behind the scenes, as was her duty and moral obligation.

"I felt that the news would be better received if Superman was the one who initially delivered them. Superman is not only better with words than I am but he has put in the necessary work to earn the trust of the people. I am still a long way from that, especially with my race, lead by my own parents, having been on the verge of invading the planet not so long ago." Mon El replied.

"Superman is an alien himself, and his people actually invaded the planet. What makes you think the people trust him? Why should they trust him, especially when he is so secretive about his true identity and denies us access to Kryptonian technology, technology that could help us protect ourselves from these extra terrestrial threats." Louis asked distrustfully.

"I think you are confusing the people and the government, Miss Lane. The Governments of the world do not trust Superman, nor does Superman trust them. Its not even a question of whether the Governments are trustworthy or not, its really common knowledge that all earth Governments are littered with corrupt and warmongering leaders."

"The real question here Miss Lane is, why on earth would Superman share his homeworld technology with such people? Even if you dispute the fact that there is corruption in every level of Government on planet earth, there is also the fact that the harnessing of Kryptonian technology lead to Kryton's destruction in the first place. Should Superman then condemn the planet he loves and calls a home to that same fate? Would any reasonable person do that?" Powerman asked rhetorically, Louis Lane finding herself as a dear caught in headlights, not having expected such an aggressive and yet well structured and most of all, factual response from the young alien hero.

"Okay, fair enough, and enough about Superman. Let us talk about our status as a planet. We are now a colony. You and Superman went and surrendered the planet to your people. Sure, you delivered on your promise to resolve the conflict without any casualties on either side, however, I'm sure you would not have been given that authority had the higher ups known that you would go and surrender the planet to your family. Not only does this make you a traitor but it makes Superman a traitor and a liar too. Isn't he supposed to stand for truth, justice, and freedom? Aren't you?" Louis Lane piled on the pressure.

"Anyone who is displeased by what Superman and I did, is well within their rights to be. However, it is important to look at the entire context of the situation, and to recognise earth's position in the intergalactic stage."

"What do you mean by that exactly?" Louis Lane asked curiously, confused slightly as she didn't understand any of what Powerman was talking about, also realising that Superman was really not all that forthcoming with information, even if it could potentially get him out of a tight spot.

"Earth is essentially…nothing, in the intergalactic stage. That is the reason why alien civilizations feel so confident in invading earth without any consequence. That is also why there is a high influx of illegal alien fugitives and immigrants on planet earth, because after all, who would bother to look for them here?" Mon El explained, taking a momentary pause to allow the information to sink in before carrying on.

"Daxam on the other hand is one of the greatest Empires in the Universe, alongside the likes of the former Krypton, the existing New Genesis and Apokolips of the New Gods, The Citadel Empire which includes the Gordanians, Ranxians, and Psions, The Tamaran Empire, the Almaracian Empire, The Golden Dragon, and The Guardians of Oa. In other words, Miss Lane, becoming a part of the Daxamite Empire means instant protection from any form of invasion. Out of the billions of civilizations in the universe, only the ones mentioned above would even dare to challenge the might of Daxam, and even then, it would only be under extreme circumstances." Powerman explained clearly and concisely.

"So you traded our freedom and resources for safety? Some might agree, it certainly does seem like logical reasoning, however, you do not know what it means to be human if you think the people of earth or their governments are okay with that!" Louis Lane said passionately.

"On the contrary, Miss Lane, I know the people of earth very well, and I know they are smart enough to realise a couple of truths. One, Daxam is now, thanks to Lord Stormbreaker, praise be his name, in possession of a planet identical to earth except more than six times the size of earth. Also, this planet has not one but two yellow suns. In other words, Miss Lane, unlike most colonizers, they have no need or desire to pillage our resources, and therefore have no need or desire to enslave us. That was part of the deal, we give them Planet New Daxam, and they leave us to our devises whilst also offering us their protection as one of their colonies. Therefore should anyone dare to invade planet earth, they will face not only us but also the wrath of King Lar Gand and his armies. It is a win/win arrangement, Miss Lane." Powerman replied confidently.

"Are you sure about that Mon El? You say that Daxam will not pillage us because they already have an abundance of the resources we have, however, doesn't that also mean that they have very little motivation to come to our aid should we be invaded? After all, if they don't gain or profit in any way whatsoever from this arrangement, then why on earth would they risk the lives of their own soldiers to protect us?" Louis Lane asked suspiciously.

"You underestimate the importance of the image of an Empire, Miss Lane. If anyone attacks a Daxam Colony, no matter how unimportant that colony may be, if there are no consequences for that then what does that say about the Daxam Empire? Does it not make them look weak? And if the enemy thinks that Daxam is weak, then so will the colonies. Enemies and colonies alike would begin to think that it is okay to defy Daxam, because the Daxamites are weak and cowardly. So you see Miss Lane, Lord Stormbreaker, his name be praised, has thought of every possible angle. This decision was made with the interests of earth and its people at the forefront of Lord Stormbreaker's thoughts and desires, his name be praised." Mon El replied competently, closing down every possible angle that Louis Lane could possibly use against him.

"Okay, shameful as it is to admit, I find myself having no counter arguments to your reasoning, at least not logical ones. However, I would now like to delve on earth's so called protector. This Lord Stormbreaker you speak of, you speak of this person as if it is a he, but I have it on good authority that he is in fact a she, and that she is a former member of the Justice League who has gone rogue. Is there any truth to that claim, Powerman?" Louis Lane asked.

"Aaah…you are talking about Catherine Cobert's announcement from a short while back, about Wonder Woman's defection from the Justice League." Mon El retorted with a knowing smirk.

"Catherine Cobert is the Justice League's public liaison is she not? If she said it, at a Justice League conference specifically held to announce those news, then it must certainly be information that came from Superman himself, as the official chairman of the league." Louis Lane retorted.

"True. You can rely on information that the Justice League distributes most of the time, but you must remember that even they can be misinformed. Wonder Woman is not Lord Stormbreaker, but they are siblings. They were both raised by the queen of the Amazons and they share a blood connection through Zeus. Lord Stormbreaker, I assure you, is not a female, which means he is not Wonder Woman." Powerman replied.

"Okay, I'll bite, but she is a member of the Acolytes of Zeus is she not, just like Catherine said she was? She worked as a double agent for the Acolytes, infiltrating the Justice League in the process?" Louis Lane applied more pressure.

"Incorrect, for the most part at least. Yes, Wonder Woman is now a member of the Acolytes, however, that is thanks to the Justice League falsely accusing her of being a traitor and a spy. Wonder Woman only found out about the existence of Lord Stormbreaker and the Acolytes at the exact same time as the rest of the Justice League did. She and Lord Stormbreaker had never met before. The Justice League mistakenly accused her of being Lord Stormbreaker and attempted to detain her. Seeing no other way, Wonder Woman escaped. It would only be later, not more than a week ago in fact, that Wonder Woman would officially become one of us." Powerman replied.

"I see. And how did this misunderstanding between Wonder Woman and the Justice League come about?" Louis asked suspiciously.

"I'm afraid you will have to ask the Justice League for those answers, however I think we can both guess it had something to do with Wonder Woman's sibling bond with Lord Stormbreaker."

"I see. So how many members do the Acolytes of Zeus have? Catherine Cobert revealed Captain Marvel, Stormbreaker and/or Wonder Woman, seeing as at the time they were thought to be one and the same. We now know about you? Who else is there?" Louis Lane asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. Understand that Super Villains do also watch television. We would prefer not to disclose too much information about us to them. The Justice League were not supposed to even reveal our existence, we had thought that we had struck a mutually beneficial agreement with them, but they changed their minds after mistakenly accusing Wonder Woman of being our spy." Powerman replied.

"So you won't even let the people know who you are? Sounds like you have a lot to hide to me." Louis asked suspiciously.

"Of course we do. As I said before, Super Villains also watch television, Miss Lane, and they read the news too." Powerman retorted.

"…."

"But how do you expect the people to trust you when you hide in the shadows and keep secrets from us? You won't even tell us who you are for heaven's sake." Louis Lane asked incredulously.

"This might come as a complete shock to you Ms Lane, but the trust of the people is at the bottom of our priority list. Our main concern is the survival, safety, and prosperity of the people. What good is trust if you suffer in misery and die at the hands of villains and invaders?" Powerman asked rhetorically.

"So you do not care at all about the trust and love of the people? Sounds like what a tyrant would say." Louis said with a deep frown.

"As opposed to what? A politician? Because to covert the minds, hearts, and love of the people is what politicians do, with their lies and deception, while secretly doing the opposite of what they promise the people that they will do. We are neither dictators nor politicians Ms Lane, were are protectors. That is our only agenda, to protect and inspire the people to find the greatness within each and every one of them." Powerman deadpanned.

"I hope that is indeed the truth, Powerman. For all our sakes." Louis retorted.

"It is, but time, and time alone reveals all truths. In time, the people will know the truth, and they will know just how kind and benevolent Lord Stormbreaker is, praise be his name." Powerman replied.

"Okay, we have reached the end of our allocated time slot. A pity because I have so many more questions to ask you. Nevertheless, people of planet earth, you have all heard the alleged truth from the Prince of Daxam himself, Mon El, also known as the Super Hero Powerman. Please let us know on our social media page what your thoughts are on the interview. We would like the people themselves to share with each other their thoughts and perspectives on the recent events involving the Daxamite Empire, and of course, on this particular interview with the Prince of Daxam. Good evening to you all, and God Speed." Louis said her goodbyes to the audience.

"Any last comments from the prince of Daxam?" Louis asked.

"Yes I have a few actually. Earlier, I mentioned that earth is essentially nothing in the universal stage. However, I have seen great potential here. The earth people, humans, meta humans, Atlantians, Amazons, homo magi. In each one of these races I have seen a most wonderful spirit, a spirit of goodness, kindness, and care, but also a fighting spirit to defend that goodness. I believe Lord Stormbreaker, Superman, and others have also seen the same potential, and that that is why they, as all powerful as they are, have chosen to be the protectors of the planet, the planet's guardian angels so to speak." Powerman said, taking a momentary break before carrying on with his explanation.

"Coverting power is not a bad thing, but how you conduct yourself in that pursuit of power, and how you use that power when you have it is what will ultimately define who you are and what your legacy will be, as individuals, and as a people. I know earthlings are not perfect, far from it actually, but I believe there is enough good here to inspire and create a most noble and powerful legacy. I believe in all of you, I believe in the Justice League, and I believe in Lord Stormbreaker and the Acolytes of Zeus. May the Storm Force be with you all." Powerman said with love and passion, so much of it that it touched almost everyone in the planet, almost everyone.

Two Days Later:

"You went off script a little there, Powerman." Kaldur said after they, they as in he and the rest of the horseman, including Wonder Woman, re-watched the interview that Mon El had with Louis Lane, Mon El being the only non horseman who was present at the meeting.

"Did I displease you, my Lord?" Mon El asked warily.

"Nothing you could do would displease me, Powerman. I may not have hand picked every single member of the Acolytes, as some members were hand picked by some of the Horsemen themselves, but I trust the judgement of each Horseman, and therefore have complete faith in every member of the Acolytes. I know that whatever decisions you make, you make out of the goodness of your hearts, and also because you believe it is the right thing to do. You did not speak a single lie in the interview, that is something that I am proud of, something that you should be proud of." Kaldur replied.

"Thank, Lord Stormbreaker, you do me great honour with your words of praise." Mon El replied.

"So what now? Word is out about our existence, and Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and Powerman's physical appearance is publicly known by the world. If any of us are seen working with them, people will automatically know that we are also members of the Acolytes of Zeus. How are we going to navigate our way around that?" Damian asked warily.

"What are you suggesting Batwing? That you won't respond to my call for help just because you don't want the world to know that you are associated to me?" Diana asked with an accusatory tone.

"That's not what he is saying, Wonder Woman. Damian is a meticulous person, if he is asking you that question it is because he only wants there to be certainty in our actions." Raven came to the defence of her crush, although her assessment of Damian's actions was in fact accurate.

"I…I see. Forgive me Damian, its not fair of me to assume the worst of you. Its just, I guess I'm too used to dealing with Batman, and you kind of look like him." Diana said apologetically.

"Its alright. He is my father after all. You know what they say about the sins of the father and what not." Damian said, casually waving his hand dismissively, but nevertheless accepting Diana's apology.

"Batman is your biological father?" Diana asked, eyes wide in shock, and realization as she started to see the resemblance, besides the obvious bat theme of course.

"That is indeed true. I will fill you in after the meeting. I realize now I have taken some things for granted. I will therefore brief you properly about the organisation at the conclusion of this meeting." Kaldur said to his sister.

"O-okay, I would love that, brother." Wonder Woman said with a smile that brightened up the whole room, an infectious smile apparently as Kaldur gave her a warm smile of his own.

"….."

"Okay, now that that is cleared out, what business did you call us here for, Lord Stormbreaker?" Damian asked curiously.

"I have been called to a meeting by King Lar Gand, or rather Queen Rhea. I will be leaving tonight to meet her in New Daxam. I asked if I should bring Prince Mon El with me and the request was denied. I felt I should inform you all in person." Kaldur deadpanned.

"I do not like it, Lord Stormbreaker. From what we got from Powerman's shared memories of his mother, she is the one who specifically asked for you, not King Lar Gand, and for her to insist that Powerman not come with you is very strange given her obsessio…uh…love, given her love for her son." Captain Marvel said cautiously.

"I agree with Captain Marvel." Batwing said, Diana and Raven also voicing their agreement with Captain Marvel's assessment.

"I see. And what about you, Powerman? She is your mother after all. Nobody here knows her better than you." Stormbreaker asked curiously.

"She is my mother, and I love her, unconditionally, but I also cannot turn a blind eye to her faults. My mother is in all likelihood up to something sinister. She probably resents you because I look up to you for guidance and wisdom instead of her, she has probably even convinced herself that I am under your control or something, or that you have stolen me away from her. She has a great love for me, but it can be a toxic love as well, a possessive, suffocating love." Powerman explained, his training in the art of separating emotion from reality taking full effect as he was able to critically and objectively analyse his mother's psyche.

"I see." Kaldur said, his hand on his chin as he thought about his next move.

"Tell me, Powerman, what is the Daxamite formality for Royal foreign dignitaries? As son of Queen Hippolyta, and heir to Zeus and Posseidon, I am a person of Royal Heritage, and therefore should have the full rights and obligations of Royalty upon my arrival on New Daxam." Kaldur asked while also partially explaining the reason behind his question.

"Brother! You cannot possibly be thinking about going along with this farce? You could be walking into a trap!" Diana said worriedly.

"And yet I must go. To refuse the Empress of the Daxamite Empire would qualify as a great enough insult that it could even be quantified as a breach of the treaty we have with New Daxam. There is no other way, sister, but do not worry, I promise to return in one peace." Kaldur said with a kind and reassuring smile.

"I know you will, because I am coming with you." Diana said, returning Kaldur's smile with a mischievous smirk.

"So will I." Batwing quickly added.

"And I too/it is the same for me." Raven and Captain Marvel each said respectively.

"That actually sounds perfect. The minimum number a Royal Dignitary can bring to Daxam on a friendly visit is four guards. The maximum is ten guards. Anything beyond that can be taken as an insult, or even a declaration of war." Mon El explained.

"Why would it be an insult to bring extra protection?" Raven asked incredulously.

"It implies that the Daxamites are not worthy of your trust. Royal Dignitary bring their own security for travelling purposes, in case they are attacked on the way to their allied nation or organization. However once you have arrived, the understanding, in principle, is that you are now under the protection of your hosts. If you bring a more than necessary amount of guards, then you are essentially telling your hosts that either you do not trust them at all, or that you consider their defences to be inferior or inadequate." Damian explained, having been taught said principles during his time in the League of Shadows.

"I see. So if we, the Horsemen, accompany my brother, then that will be four elite guards, the bare minimum. That will convey my brother's total trust in the Daxamites, while on the other hand he would have the strongest members of the Acolytes with him." Diana said elatedly.

"Sounds like a brilliant idea to me. It would be the best plan of action." Mon El replied.

"Unfortunately I will not be taking any of you with me. For one, sister, you and your team are all very new to each other and to the organization. You need to spend as much time as possible preparing yourself and your team for the upcoming war. Speaking of the War, you all are the generals of our army, should Darksied invade while I am away, you will need to lead your respective factions to war. The planet cannot afford to have its greatest protectors hundreds of galaxies away in its time of need. You all need to stay here until I return." Kaldur explained his reasoning.

"You can't go to that place alone. I…I won't allow it." Diana said authoritatively.

"Hey wait a minute, who died and made you leader? You're the boss's sister, and a great warrior too, but do not presume that gives you the right to give any of us orders, especially the boss himself, who happens to be your boss too!" Damian quickly checked Diana, who half expected something like that from the Batwing and was therefore not caught completely off guard this time.

"I am his older sister, and as my younger brother, I cannot and will not allow him to go to that place alone!" Diana said firmly, causing Damian to open and close his mouth repeatedly, but without any words coming out as he didn't quite know how exactly to deflect Diana's argument.

"Then fear not sister, for I will not be alone. I will be taking The Storm Troopers with me." Kaldur said firmly.

"The Storm Troopers? You say that like we are supposed to know what the hell that is?" Damian asked incredulously.

"The Storm Troopers, I met some of them when I was at The Heart of Infinity, but I haven't met all of them. I only met Firestorm and Ragman. They seemed lìke nice people." Diana said.

"The heart of infinity? Never heard of it." Captain Marvel said in dismay.

"The Heart of Infinity is my own personal dimensional pocket, similar I suppose to this place, The Grimoire. It is where I…well, it is where I live. The Storm Troopers are my personal guard, and the members are Firestorm, Ragman, Manchester Black, Hat, and Kuasa the Godess of Life. We also have a new member, Pamela Ferrera. She was attacked by an alien symbiote that took over her body and tried to take over the world. Firestorm defeated her and brought her to me. With just a little difficulty, I was able to reverse the bond she had with the symbiote so that she controls it instead of the other way around" Kaldur explained as he shot lightning geo constructs from his eyes to show the other members exactly what his Storm Troopers looked like.

"The symbiote had referred to itself as Menagerie when it was in control of her, Pamela has decided to use that name as her alias." Kaldur explained.

"What are the powers of this symbiote?" Damian asked, his mind already on overdrive, trying to figure out counters to this woman's powers.

"The symbiote appears to be an eel-snake hybrid of alien origin. It has the ability to replicate itself in a number of different sizes, from as small as slug to as large as a big house. The replicas are extensions of itself that it controls, that Pamela now controls, and they have the ability to shoot acid blasts that melt things on contact or slime balls that solidify and subdue enemies. It also, due to its eel-like qualities, has the ability to use electric charge as a weapon, either by shocking and paralyzing or killing enemies on contact or shooting lighting bolts from itself. The replicas are also extremely fast in movements and reactions, they can attack in an instant." Kaldur explained.

"On and, she has limited telekinesis. Not enough to move objects, but enough to levitate herself and fly." Kaldur concluded his explanation.

"Wow, it sounds like she is really powerful. How did Firestorm even defeat this woman?" Captain Marvel asked curiously.

"You just want to know all the powers of the Storm Troopers don't you?" Raven said, rolling her eyes at Captain Marvel's lame attempt at deception.

"I suppose I must tell you everything, you are my most trusted Generals after all." Kaldur said.

"You sure have a way of showing that. Seems like these Storm Troopers are actually your most trusted generals." Damian said angrily.

"That's not fair Batwing. We all have our own teams. You have the Shadows Elite, I have the Justice Patrol, Raven has the Demons of Justice, and Captain Marvel has the Sentinels of Justice. My brother trusted you, trusted us all to not only have our own teams but to run them as we see fit, with zero interference from him. How dare you question him for exercising the same privilege he has afforded you by having his own team?" Diana came to the defence of her brother.

"You…! You….! You're right. I'm sorry." Batwing finally said when he was unable to master a retort, hanging his head in shame.

He had to admit that he initially didn't trust or even want Wonder Woman to join the Acolytes. Just a few weeks ago this woman was a full fledged founding member of the Justice League, and now she was sitting in on meetings with them as if she had been here the whole time. He didn't like it, it was way too dangerous and careless of Stormbreaker to just trust her like that he thought.

However, time and again she was actually proving herself to be more loyal and trusting of Lord Stormbreaker than even he was. In Damian's defence, he was raised in a cult of assassins where his own mother and grandfather had turned out to have been using him for their own ends the whole time, planning to essentially kill him by having his grandfather take over his body. How was he supposed to have the kind of unconditional trust and loyalty that the other Horsemen, and in fact the entire cast of the Acolytes had when he had known nothing but abuse and betrayal all of his life

Of course, he was also aware of the fact that he couldn't use that as an excuse all his life, and he also understood that Stormbreaker was completely different from his mother and grandfather. However, getting over his demons and learning to trust again was a lot easier said than done.

Damian didn't know this, but Stormbreaker was acutely aware of his dilemma, which was partially why he was so understanding and patient with Damian. In Stormbreaker's opinion, the potential love that was blooming between Raven and Damian was the key to healing Damian's heart and getting him to open up more, which is why he was content to let things played out on their own instead of having an intervention of some sort for Damian.

"……"

"I agree that Damian was wrong to doubt your word and your integrity. Honesty and sincerity have always been at the forefront of both your actions and your teachings, my Lord, but why did you not tell us before about the Storm Troopers? We recently had a get together for all the factions of the Acolytes and the Storm Troopers were not there, why?" Raven asked.

"The reason the Storm Troopers were not there was because they were off planet at the time on a mission. I sent them to evaluate some planets that I found, in case we might need another planet to bargain with in the future, and in case of thee worst case scenario." Kaldur replied.

"Thee worst case scenario?" Raven asked warily.

"The worst case scenario is in the event that we have to evacuate the citizens of planet earth to another planet either because we lost a war or even if we won the war but the planet suffered irreparable damage." Kaldur replied.

"A reserve planet in case of emergency? What a brilliant idea. I cannot believe the thought never even crossed my mind." Damian said, in awe of Kaldur's intellect and strategic aptitude.

"Originally, I intended for new Daxam to be that reserve planet, but the Daxamites came and we had to trade in New Daxam in order to prevent war. In any case, I apologise for not telling you about the Storm Troopers earlier, but the team was still a work in progress, it still is now that we have a new addition to the team. In future however I will share information more freely and in a more timely manner." The Leader and founder of the Acolytes of Zeus apologised humbly.

"No! You do not have to do that. I was out of line. You are our leader and you have always been true and faithful in your conduct. I had no right to question your intentions, and there was no just cause to doubt your words. As leader, you must do as you deem fit." Damian said with an uncharacteristic subdued tone.

"Nonsense. Damian, you must understand that you are not just my subordinates, I consider every member of the Acolytes to be my family, and I consider the Horsemen in particular to be my council, in other words, to give advise when necessary. You cannot fulfil that function if you are forbidden from airing your grievances or questioning decisions that you do not understand or agree with." Kaldur said kindly, but firmly.

"Yes, as you say, sir. I am humbled by your eternal wisdom." Damian said, speaking truly to his heart and mind, as he really was humbled by Kaldur's ability to see so far beyond the surface of everything, a trait that he wished to cultivate for himself too.

"Good. Now, beloved sister, your loyalties are about to be tested, because now I need you to give us some information about the Justice League." Kaldur said, staring his sister directly into the eyes and seeing a little fear and wariness in her eyes, feelings that he never wished for her to have towards him again because they didn't make him feel good at all.

"W-what do you want to know, brother?" Diana asked, internally cursing herself for the slight crack in her voice.

"The location of the base of the Justice League proteges, if you don't mind." Kaldur asked.

Of course, he already knew where the location was as he had used the all sight to find it, and naturally, he trusted his sister wholeheartedly. So why ask her like this, why put her on the spot one might ask? Well, for the sake of the other Horsemen of course, and for her sake. None of them had outright said it, but he knew that they had doubts about Wonder Woman, about his sister. She didn't need to prove herself to him but she needed to prove herself to them.

"Its…" Wonder Woman trailed off, looking around the round table, making eye contact with everyone as they all looked at her expectantly.

"Its at Mount Justice, the former Justice League head quarters." Diana finally said.

"….."

"You're not going to ask why Lord Stormbreaker wanted you to give up that information?" Raven asked curiously.

"I am curious, but I know that my brother would not ask me for this information without just cause. I trust my brother with every fibre of my being, and because he trusts all of you, then I trust you too." Diana replied, Kaldur smiling lovingly at his sister in response.

"Thank you sister, and if you must know, I have a mission for the members of the Young Justice, and I want you to deliver a message to them." Kaldur said mysteriously.

"A mission? Since when do the Young Justice take orders from us? If the Justice League think of us as the enemy, then so do they." Captain Marvel retorted.

"Yes, but I would like to believe that my sister still has some sway over there. No one is more genuine a hero than her, and no one has more love and compassion for all of life and creation than my beloved sister. She will be able to reach their hearts and convince them to do what is right. Nevertheless even if she cannot, they will have no choice but to act on the information she will give to them." The God of Storms retorted.

"What information?" Damian quickly asked.

"Have any of you ever heard of the grand mother boxes?" Kaldur asked, Captain Marvel, Raven, and Damian all shaking their heads in the negative.

"I have learned about them extensively in Themiscyra, in fact, the amazons have guarded one of the three grand mother boxes for millennia." Diana replied.

"What is she talking about?" Damian asked, really more like demanded to know, as lack of information was something that he disliked almost as much as incompetence.

"This would not be the first time Darkseid invaded this planet when he inevitably attacks as we suspect that he will soon. It will be the third time. The first time he did, he succeeded and conquered the earth, striking a deal with Vandal Savage upon Savage's surrender of planet earth to him. That was thousands of years ago." Kaldur explained much to the shock of everyone present, everyone except Diana of course.

"Vandal Savage? Is that like the ancestor of the current Vandal Savage?" Captain Marvel asked.

"No, it is the same Vandal Savage. It is a long story, but put simply, Vandal Savage is immortal. In any case, some time after Darksied's conquest of earth, the Old Gods came to earth, Zeus created the Amazons, and Posseidon created the Atlantians. The presence of the Old Gods on planet earth didn't sit well with Darkseid as he felt that they were encroaching on his territory, he was also suspicious of their interest in this planet in particular, and so he attacked, with the intention being to eradicate the Old Gods and their creations, the atlantians and the amazons, and to find out exactly what the Old Gods had discovered on this planet." Kaldur explained, taking a momentary pause to allow everyone to digest the information.

"War broke out, and man, amazon, atlantian, and Old God alike fought together and were able to defeat Darkseid. Darkseid was arrogant, he didn't bring his entire militia because he had the grand mother boxes. Once the three grand mother boxes are synchronised and the unity is formed, Darkseid would be able to eradicate everyone on earth and terraform the earth whilst also changing everyone into his army of parademons. Even the Old Gods were not sure what effect the unity would have on them, and even if it had none, everyone and everything else on earth would be lost."

"So what happened next?" Captain Marvel asked with both curiosity and excitement.

"Darkseid was defeated, and forced to retreat or carry on fighting and die at the hands of the Old Gods. He chose to flea, but in doing so left the grand mother boxes behind. Long story short, the Amazons kept one box, the atlantians another, and humans kept the last one. They were each supposed to hide or protect their respective boxes." Kaldur explained.

"So what does this have to do with the Young Justice team?" Damian asked with a deep frown, unable to understand at all what Stormbreaker was thinking.

"The Justice Patrol is in possession of one of the grand mother boxes, Cyborg was able to track it down and find where it was buried, not a very safe place at all where humans hid it, but I suppose humans from back then were not very advanced technologically, and they are not immortal like the amazons either, so the best they could think of was to bury it." Diana replied on her brother's behalf.

"And the one protected by the Amazons is very safe. I have prepared the Amazons for intergalactic battle. They are ready to defend against an invasion. The other box however is not very safe. Atlantians are powerful and are technologically advanced, but that is why they underestimate the threat of Apokolips. There are only four guards watching the sacred shrine that houses the atlantian grand mother box, and the shrine is so far away from Atlantian civilization that it is not possible that reinforcements would arrive in time." Kaldur explained.

"Just four guards, watching something so valuable and powerful? Are they insane?" Damian asked.

"Like I said, Atlantians are powerful, but I would feel more at ease if they had reinforcements. That is why I want Wonder Woman to tell the Young Justice about the Grand Mother Boxes. There are two Atlantians in the Young Justice now, Largan aka Lagoon Boy, and Aquagirl, otherwise known as Tula. They also have M'gann M'orrs aka Ms Martian in the team. She can adapt to underwater conditions by morphing gills onto herself, Blue Beetle can also adapt easily to underwater conditions thanks to his scarab and Beast Boy can transform into any aquatic creature, and they have a bio ship that enables them to be able to cloak themselves quite effectively." Kaldur elaborated.

"You want them to secretly watch the shrine without the Atlantians on Guard knowing any better, so that they can provide back-up should anyone attempt to get the grand mother box, or more specifically, should an Apokiliptan force go after it." Damian surmised.

"Precisely. This will enable us to focus on our own tasks and not have to worry about that particular grand mother box, it will also get the Young Justice charges to trust us more. They are the future Justice League, earning their trust and respect might be worth something in the future. If the current Justice League won't trust and co-operate with us, then maybe we can get the future Justice League to do so." Kaldur retorted.

"It's a risky strategy, but it is worth the shot." Raven said.

"Why do we need the Justice League to trust us? Why should we care?" Damian protested.

"Our planet is too divided. Most planets have almost a sort of hive mentality where the entire planet has one finite structure of law and rule. I think my brother recognises that and is taking steps to potentially unify this planet as well in the long run." Diana replied.

"Unify the planet through trust, peace and co-operation? It's a bit of a stretch, but its not impossible. I like it." Raven said with a small smile.

"Its childish, and naïve. You cannot possibly think you can trust everyone, no matter how much you have in common." Batwing argued.

"Not everyone, only those who have earned it." Kaldur replied.

"And those who aren't interested? Those who are only interested in their own dark, twisted, and evil desires? What about them?" Damian asked.

"You already know what we do with people like them, after all, you did a pretty good job with Penguin and Scarface, not so much with the Joker though, but I hear you were close." Diana replied with an almost malevolent smirk.

"Well, I try." Damian said with a casual shrug.

"You know about that? And you're okay with it?" Raven asked, surprised by Diana's nonchalance about the genocidal acts of the Legion of Shadows.

"If it were up to me, men like Joker, Penguin, and Scarface would have been slayed a long time ago. I understand giving people second chances, but third, fourth, and fifth chances? Ridiculous. And how many people die and suffer at their hands meanwhile? I was trained all my life to be the sword that eliminates evil, but my sword has been sheathed for far too long." Diana said sternly.

"….."

"Then we have an understanding? No objections, right?" Kaldur asked, looking everyone in the eye, his gaze lingering a little longer than it did with the others when it reached Damian.

"……"

"Very well then. Wonder Woman will head straight to Mount Justice while I rendezvous with the Storm Troopers and prepare to head out to New Daxam. May the Storm Force be with you all."

Later: Mount Justice Cave

"What the…? How did you get in here!" Superboy exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise as he stared disbelievingly at the Godess of Light, Wonder Woman, not understanding at all how on earth she had bypassed all of their defences.

'Did Batman forget to revoke her access codes for the zeta beam tube? No! No way! Batman doesn't forget anything, least of all something this important. But then how did she get in here?' Superboy thought in a panic.

"Hello to you too Superboy. Tell me, where are the others? If you don't mind, could you gather everyone around here so that I can brief you on your next mission?" Diana asked with her usual kind and compassionate tone, acting as if her being here was nothing out of the ordinary, which of course, it was in fact extremely out of the ordinary, heck, it would have been out of the ordinary even if she was still a member of the Justice League and hadn't allegedly betrayed them.

"Our next mission? Did you fall on your head or something? You know what, never mind, I'm taking you in to face justice!" Superboy exclaimed as he shot at Wonder Woman at a ridiculous speed, at least for a normal human, or even a meta human who didn't have super speed, Superboy putting everything in his punch just like Black Canary taught him, using not just his arm but also putting his entire body behind it for maximum leverage, from his shoulder, his back muscles, the pivot of his hip, and all the way to his legs and calf muscles.

However, he had only been training for months at best, whereas Wonder Woman had been training in the combat arts since she was six years old, and she was over a thousand years old. There was also the matter that she was fast enough to easily keep up with Superboy's speed and was stronger than him too. So for her, subduing Superboy was almost literally as easy as taking candy from a baby, Diana leaning her head slightly back and slightly to her left from the southpaw stance in order to slip Superboy's right handed punch whilst simultaneously delivering a sound barrier breaking right hook to the exposed liver of the Superboy.

The counter sequence took place at such lightning speed that Superboy didn't even know from which direction the counter attack came from, or that it in fact had taken place until he was already on his knees, gasping for air as he had the air knocked out of him, feeling like his liver was about to literally shrivel up and expire from the pain caused by Diana's precision strike. Still, being a Kryptonian, or part Kryptonian, Superboy had impressive recovery abilities, as he had already recovered in a matter of seconds, but by then, Wonder Woman already had him tied up from neck to bottom with her lasso of truth, and in fact had him slung across her back as if he was some kind of trophy from a hunting trip.

"The impact of my attack was loud, as expected from a collision between your super dense muscles and my super strong and super fast punch. It shook the entire cave, everyone inside the cave will have heard it. What I mean to say is, thank you for your assistance in calling the others down here." Diana said with such a genuine and sincere tone that Superboy was convinced that she really had gone nuts.

"What the hell happened to you? Why did you betray the Justice League?" Superboy asked angrily.

"That again? Earlier you said that you would bring me to justice. Justice for what? What crime did I commit? If it were true that I had in fact betrayed the Justice League, why would that require me to face justice? Is betraying the Justice League a crime in itself? Which law book, statute, case law, or indigenous law says that betraying the Justice League is a crime?" Diana asked.

"W-what? I….I don't know any of that! You work for a villain organization, that's a crime by association, or something!" Superboy argued haphazardly.

"A crime by association? Is there even such a thing? Okay let us say there is such a thing, but are the Acolytes of Zeus a criminal organization? Last time I checked the Acolytes of Zeus saved the planet from the Daxam Empire, and last time I checked, Powerman and Captain Marvel, members of the Acolytes, are well known and popular super heroes. In fact, Powerman's popularity has risen considerably since he saved the planet from alien invasion. Who knows, he might become as popular as Superman in the future." Diana counter argued.

"I…did you just come here to paint yourself in good light? Because the Justice League saw through your treachery, you think we are an easier target to deceive and manipulate? Well, its not gonna work!" Superboy argued as he continued to try and break his restraints but to no avail. It was also however at just about that moment that the others arrived, the others being Artemis, Robin, Blue Beetle, Beastboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Aquagirl, and Lagoon Boy.

"I have a hostage, so do not make any sudden movements." Diana quickly said.

"I don't think so!" Miss Martian said as her eyes glowed a bright red, using every ounce of her telepathic powers in order to deep fry the traitor's mind, but to no avail as she couldn't even sense the mind of Diana, never mind to read or scramble it.

"I…I can't sense her mind, just like Captain Marvel!" Miss Martian said with trepidation.

"The leader of the Acolytes has gone to great lengths to protect the minds of his subordinates. I guess this means she truly has betrayed the Justice League for the Acolytes." Blue Beetle said with disgust.

"You're wrong. I did not betray the Justice League, the Justice League betrayed me. Nevertheless I am not here to convince you of my innocence, quite frankly I no longer care for your acceptance, because I now have people who love, respect, and accept me unconditionally. What I am here to do is to give you your next mission, a very important mission, end of the world kind of stuff." Diana replied.

"Who the hell would take a mission from you, traitor? You're not the boss of us." Beast Boy asked incredulously.

"I have to agree with Beast Boy. You must be completely out of your mind to think that you could just waltz in here and start barking out orders. You wouldn't have had the authority even if you were still a member of the league." Robin said incredulously.

"My thoughts exactly!" Superboy exclaimed from his awkward position on Diana's back.

"You will go on the mission once you hear what I have to say." Diana retorted.

"Neptune's beard! Like hell we will listen to anything you have to say!" Lagoon Boy exclaimed angrily, getting ready to pounce on the dishonourable traitor.

"Wait Lagoon Boy, wait! We do not know what she will do to Superboy if we act out of haste. We cannot assume she is a super villain without assuming she might take a super villain course of action. Let us hear her out first. Information, no matter the source it comes from, is important at times like these." Robin said warily.

"You have a very wise head on your shoulders in this kind of situation, no doubt the influence of Batman, even though the head on his shoulders is not always wise…"

"Just get to the damn point! Why are you here?" Robin asked impatiently.

"In order for you to know with certainty that I am telling the truth, I will bind myself with the lasso of truth. This will ensure that I cannot lie to you even if I wanted to." Diana said as she bound her left arm with the other end of the lasso of truth.

"Now listen carefully…" Diana trailed off as she began to explain to the young heroes everything she knew about Apokolips and their plans for invasion, and of course, about the grand mother boxes before explaining to the team what Lord Stormbreaker expected from them and why exactly it was them that he had chosen in particular.

"T-that's insane. We just thwarted an invasion from the Daxamites and now we have to deal with another invasion from an all powerful alien species? What are we, like, the hottest girl in school? Seems like everyone wants a piece of our pie." Kid Flash said, his right hand on his forehead as he tried to process the fact that he might actually have to fight super powerful aliens.

"She could be lying! This could all be a trick to lure us into a trap!" Lagoon Boy snapped.

"Or she could be under mind control. For Stormbreaker to put up mental defences strong enough to thwart not just mine but also uncle J'onn's telepathy, he would have to have gained access to their minds first. He could have done more than just set up mental barriers." Ms Martian said in support of Lagoon Boy's assertion that they couldn't trust anything that Wonder Woman has to say.

"Its not possible. When Wonder Woman defected, I studied everything about her on the files that Batman has about her, those files include information about the Lasso of Truth. No matter how powerful the spell or meta power used, the lasso of truth can break any form of mind control. It does not allow you to lie no matter what. She's telling the truth." Robin said, the stress permeable on his facial features as he tried to process the implications of all of the information that Wonder Woman had just dumped on them.

"But this Darkseid fella doesn't seem all that to me. I mean, yeah, he is powerful, but if the Old Gods were able to whoop his ass, then Superman, with the help of the Justice League, can beat him too. Even if they can't do it alone, Captain Marvel has the power of several Gods, Wonder Woman is the daughter of Zeus, Powerman is probably as strong as Superman, and there is also Stormbreaker. It sounds like Stormbreaker might be the most powerful being on the planet from everything I've heard about him." Blue Beetle argued, and it really was a compelling argument Robin had to admit to himself, and so did the rest of the Young Justice.

"Darkseid was indeed defeated comfortably by a combination of Ares, Zeus, and Artemis. However, Darkseid is far more powerful than he was back then. I have it on good authority that, sometime after his loss on earth, he either developed or somehow came into possession of a powerful divine force known as the Omega Effect. It has made him exponentially more powerful and he now wields unimaginable power. Also remember that he came along last time with just an army of parademons. He won't underestimate us again, it is certain that he will bring his generals and his battalion of New Gods this time around." Diana counter argued thanks the information about Darkseid that she had received from Mr Miracle and Big Barda.

"These generals. How powerful are they? How many does he have?" Robin asked warily.

"About twenty, give or take. However, even the average New God is pretty powerful, stronger than the average amazon or atlantian, hopefully not as skilled." Diana said gravely.

"This is nuts! How are we going to win?" Beastboy said frantically.

"As someone raised by a warrior race, with over a thousand years of experience, I can tell you this, nothing is impossible. You have to compartmentalize, don't worry about anything else except the task that you have to perform. If everyone focusses on their own task and leaves everyone else to do theirs, then everyone will have the highest chance of success. And if everyone succeeds in their mission, then, we will win." Diana said sagely.

"I see. That, actually makes a lot of sense. Thank you." Beast boy said, a lot calmer than he was just a few seconds ago.

"I have a few more questions. One, does the Justice League know about any of this? Two, why did you betray the Justice League? And three, if we accept your mission and go to the Atlantian sacred shrine, what will you be doing while we do that?" Robin asked consecutively.

"We have not alerted the Justice League yet. If the Justice League begin preparing for war, Darkseid will realise that we are on to him. Stormbreaker believes that Darkseid has agents that are already here on earth, in fact, we know that he is Intergang's benefactor and we also know of an actual New God of Apokolips that has infiltrated the media industry. Nevertheless, we know that Batman has been investigating the issue. He will probably have already taken steps to ensure that the League is prepared. He doesn't have the detailed information I just gave to you though." Diana explained, taking a momentary pause to let the others digest the information before answering the other questions.

"As for my alleged betrayal of the Justice League, that did not happen. I was the one who was betrayed by the Justice League, and Batman was the instigator of that betrayal. Even Superman turned against me." Diana said sombrely, everyone's eyes widening in surprise as they couldn't fathom how that was even possible.

"Wait, no way! The Justice League? How did they…"

"No Lagan, that's a story for another day. Right now we need her to answer the third question more than we need her to answer yours. Wonder Woman, what will you be doing while we are risking our lives at the bottom of the ocean?" Robin asked again.

"The Justice Patrol and I will be watching over and protecting the other grand motherbox that is in our possession." Diana replied.

"You have a grand motherbox?" Beast Boy exclaimed in surprise.

"And what is the Justice Patrol exactly?" Ms Martian asked curiously, and warily.

"The Justice Patrol is a super hero team under my leadership. My brother put it together for me and I have been training and preparing them for the war with Apokolips." Diana retorted.

"What? You have like your own Justice League? So cool!" Beast Boy exclaimed excitedly.

"I mean….uh…that's uh...not good…?" Beast Boy tried to retract his statement in the lamest way possible when he saw the disapproving looks of everyone of his teammates.

"Who are the members of the Justice Patr…" Robin trailed off when he saw Diana removing the lasso from her left arm.

"You are now starting to ask confidential information. You're fishing, instead of focussing on the monumental task ahead of us." Diana said disapprovingly.

"I apologise for that. However, I can't help but wonder, if you have your own team now, does that mean Captain Marvel and Powerman have their own teams too? Does Stormbreaker have his own team? If so, just how many of you are there? And if I am right, and all of you have your own teams, then you don't really need us for this task do you? So what's your end game?" Robin asked suspiciously.

"You underestimate the task at hand if you do not think that everyone will have their hands full when Darkseid comes. Perhaps Lord Stormbreaker overestimated you, Robin." Diana countered.

"….."

"Fine, we'll go on your mission, but we will have to tell the Justice League everything that you just told us." Robin said uncompromisingly.

"What? But if you tell them they might not allow us to go on the mission!" Lagoon Boy protested.

"I know. However, it is our obligation to share this information with the league." Robin retorted.

"Neptune's beard! I don't like it!" Lagoon Boy said angrily.

"You're not the only one Lagoon Boy, trust me." Robin retorted.

"Do as you wish. I'm sure that my brother already foresaw this turn of events anyway. I will be taking my leave. I wish you all the best, young and brave heroes. May the storm force be with you." Diana said as she swung and threw Superboy at the Young Justice members, all of them thankfully managing to get out of the way, well, thankfully for them but not for Superboy as he was sent crashing into the far wall, Diana quickly pulling out the sword of light and using it to open a shock tube and proceeding to walk through it, the shock tube closing long before anyone got the chance to try and follow her, an attempt that would have had potentially fatal consequences as the shock tube only teleported people and items that the person activating the technique intended to be teleported.

"Wait! You didn't even tell us where to find this sacred shrine…!" Robin trailed off as a much, much smaller shock tube opened up in the space where the last one was, a USB popping out of it before it closed shut again.

"Show off!" Kid Flash said petulantly.

"Why did you stop me from asking my question, Robin? If the Justice League really did betray Wonder Woman then we have a right to know!" Lagoon Boy said, the humanoid puffer fish once again displaying his almost perpetual state of anger and agitation.

"You have to answer his question Robin, and you have to answer with honesty, because if you don't, not only will the team have doubts about the Justice League, but we will have doubts about you too. Our chemistry and therefore efficiency as a team will suffer, and that is especially not good at a time like this. We cannot go on such a dangerous mission unless we are a solid unit." Artemis spoke for the first time since the whole ordeal began.

"Batman told me the story of Wonder Woman's betrayal, well, he didn't just tell me, I nagged him non stop about it until he caved in. When he told me, I remember thinking that he and the League could have handled the situation much better, and that it was possible, not likely, but possible that Wonder Woman was the victim in all of this." Robin began, going on to explain everything that Batman told him about what happened in the days leading up to Wonder Woman's so called betrayal.

"So Wonder babe is not an evil psychopathic traitor after all? Well that's a relief. It also doesn't seem like the Justice League are the bad guys either, their just the bad guys in this situation, maybe… depending on whether Wonder Woman was actually a spy or not." Wally West said.

"Even if she was, there was no concrete evidence. The Justice League played judge, jury, and executioner on their own comrade without giving her the benefit of doubt, or the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty." Ms Martian argued.

"And it was all because of Batman. He instigated the whole thing. I know he can be a control freak but I never expected him to go to these lengths." Robin said in disappointment.

"Well, at least Wonder Woman believes that she was betrayed by the league and not the other way around, we know that with certainty thanks to the lasso of truth. So maybe she hadn't been collaborating with or working for the Acolytes at the time." Blue Beetle said.

"I still believe in the Justice League. Did they make a mistake in dealing with Wonder Woman's relationship to Stormbreaker? Yes, probably, but one mistake doesn't all of a sudden turn you into a super villain. No one's perfect. Besides, none of that is important if the whole world is taken over or destroyed by a species of literal Gods. Lets just focus on protecting the grand motherbox for now and saving the earth. We'll revisit this when its all over." Aquagirl suggested.

"I for one agree with that sentiment. Robin, contact the Justice League, tell them everything Wonder Woman told us, but make it clear that we aren't asking them for permission to go on this mission, we're telling them that we're going!" Superboy said with an uncompromising tone, having managed to dust himself off after Wonder Woman threw him head first into the wall on the other side.

"Does everyone agree with Superboy?" Robin asked as he looked around at his comrades, all of them giving him firm nods of approval.

"Very well!"

End of Chapter

Hope you all enjoyed it. The plotting has begun, from Darkseid and from Stormbreaker. Soon the battle will leave the chess board and manifest in reality.

What awaits Stormbreaker in New Daxam? Stay tuned to find out what happens next.