Light gave way to the old sight of the Watchtower. Batman walked off of the teleportation pad, ignoring the new faces he saw.

The League had really gone through with their recruitment drive. While he had thought that was a distinct possibility long ago when he had commissioned the Watchtower, he had reservations about it now. So much had happened in the intermittent time.

That was a thought for another time. He strode into a hallway, following the familiar corridor until he reached the Meeting Room. The door slid open and he saw the founding members of the Justice League sitting at the table. There was an empty chair between J'onn and Diana, the one he used to sit in.

It was like they had never removed it.

"Batman, it's good to see you," Superman greeted him, which earned the Kryptonian a nod of acknowledgement. The vigilante went to the empty chair, taking a seat in it.

"I'm sure you have been informed of what transpired in Gateway City," J'onn said.

"Only what the news has reported," he told him. He then looked to Diana at his side. "What happened?"

"John and I took a team there upon learning of a meta-human attack," the Amazon reported. "We discovered the former members of the Pantheon there: Dr. Alchemy, the Shade, and Felix Faust."

"Don't forget that they had recovered their powers," Lantern added.

"Now that's a neat trick," Flash remarked. "Didn't we cut their ties to whatever gods they were possessing? How did they get them back under ball and chain?"

"They didn't perform the Desmeftikós Theós," Diana answered. "Dr. Alchemy claimed as much. I believe what happened was that while they were gods, they created artifacts that helped them focus their divine powers. Though we severed their bonds to the gods, those artifacts were not destroyed."

Though he didn't show it, Batman couldn't help the annoyance he felt from that. It was just another loose end from that case, one he was certain J'onn would point out could have been dealt with if they had involved the League in their misadventure against Dr. Destiny. "Was Dr. Destiny there?" he asked pointedly. The last thing they needed was for that man to have some semblance of his powers as well.

"He wasn't," John answered for Diana. "We did a quick check on his incarceration too and John Dee is still locked up tight."

"Don't forget, Dee and the others weren't on good terms either," Hawkgirl pointed out. "I rather doubt they'd want to renew that bad blood of their alliance. That's just asking for trouble from the onset for them."

That was something at least. "Aside from causing destruction, what were they trying to accomplish in Gateway?" he then inquired.

"They summoned some kind of monster," John again answered. "They had been hinting at doing that during the fight and succeeded. Shade then used that darkness power of his and took them all away."

"And what was this monster?" Superman asked. "What could it do?"

"It didn't seem all that bright, but it's definitely strong. It landed one punch on Diana and sent her through a building. Three actually since they were right next to each other. If it wasn't for that, she'd still be flying."

"I would have stopped myself eventually," the dark-haired woman muttered. "But John is right, it is strong."

"It also talked funny. How familiar are any of you with Solomon Grundy?"

There were blank looks from the rest of the table, right until Batman replied, "Are you talking about the poem?"

"Depends. How does it go?"

Batman stared at the rest of the table before he recited, "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday. Christened on Tuesday—"

"That was it," Diana immediately interrupted. "It just said that poem up until it finished. What exactly does it mean?"

"It's just a poem detailing the life of a man that lives for a week," he said. "Like any nursery rhyme, it was just to teach young children the days of the week. Nothing too sinister when compared to others."

"Others like?" Flash prodded.

"Ring Around the Rosie, for one," John offered.

"What's wrong with Ring Around the Rosie?"

"We'll tell you later," Superman interjected. "So the Pantheon summoned this poem-reciting monster. Any idea as to why?"

"No doubt it'll have something to do with making them gods again," John said. "Your guess is as good as mine as to how."

"I'll do some research into the relevance of the monster as well," Batman volunteered.

"Do you need any help?" Superman asked.

The vigilante just gave the Kryptonian a look. "Alright, we'll let you handle that part." He then looked to Diana. "Is there a reason why they did this summoning in Gateway?"

The Amazon nodded. "I told John earlier, but it bears repeating. Gateway City plays host to a number of portals to different dimensions. I've used one or two to go to other realms, including Olympus and the Underworld."

"I would have thought you'd have to go to Greece for that," Hawkgirl commented.

"Greece has its own gateways; so does Themyscira. But there are other places throughout the world and Gateway is one of them."

"At least that explains the name," Flash joked. "Should we be expecting more of these gateways to be used?"

"It's not outside of the realm of possibility. However, without knowing what the Pantheon is up to, it would be incredibly difficult to guard each and every gateway in the world from them. Felix Faust was able to locate the portal for the Solomon Grundy monster; the way he spoke about it, he wanted to find that one specifically."

"I think we're starting to overlook something," John then brought up. "First off, how did these guys get out of jail? I haven't heard of them escaping recently. Second, how did they get their hands on these power artifacts?"

Those were excellent questions, all of which they needed to figure out before people started dying again. In spite of this mystery, the League had a second chance to get things right with the Pantheon, making sure they paid for their crimes. They needed to make certain they didn't mess it up again.

Slaughter Swamp, or Okie-Phanokie to the locals, was an isolated region north of Gotham City. Geography and terrain had conspired to make the area difficult to cultivate and develop. It was a common scam to sell promising land and real estate only to give a deed to the swamp instead. The embarrassment alone had the victim pulling the same scheme on another unsuspecting mark.

Yes, there was another new owner of the swamp, but no one cared to know his name. Or her name. The next rube was just around the corner.

That included the four rubes currently walking through it.

"This is where we were supposed to go?" the Shade complained, accidentally walking through yet another puddle that was deeper than it looked. Water had already seeped through his boots and his feet were starting to feel the chill. "Why on earth would we have to go here?"

"There's a reason," Alchemy huffed.

"What is it then?" Shade challenged. He wasn't nearly as patient like these two academics, so actually knowing why he was doing made things more acceptable.

The only answer Alchemy gave was the squelching of booted feet stepping into ankle deep mud.

It couldn't be called a groan, or a rumble, but the large pale-skinned...monster man was making some kind of noise, or sound. He wasn't saying that poem, at least not right now. His footsteps were heavier and sank deeper in the mud. Without the ragged clothing he, or it wore, the creature would have blended in with, well, everything.

This land was so dismal. There seemed to be a perpetual overcast that lightened when sunrays fell on them and darkened with rain. The trees were thin and pitiful, their foliage drooping. The water was scummy and who knew what else resided underneath the surface.

Up ahead, whatever dry path, if you could say there was any, seemed to end. Either that, or it veered in another direction. Everything else beyond seemed like a small lake with water so still it was like a murky mirror. Oddly enough, the large watery clearing was quiet. Yes, this swamp was quiet because there were four people walking through it, and perhaps the animal life was keeping quiet because it sensed danger, but that didn't stop random splashes from occurring, whether it was a fish jumping, or some branch fell from a tree and into the water. There were no splashes, or anything here.

"Dead end?" Shade remarked.

"This is where we were instructed to be," Alchemy stated, looking around at their surroundings.

"Were no other details given?" Faust spoke up, his hands bunching much of his robes and trying to pull them away from the water, if you could call it such.

"Nothing. Just these coordinates," their seemingly self-appointed leader said.

Glances resumed, finding nothing. Nearby, "Solomon...Grundy…" broke the silence, and nothing else.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Is that all that thing can say?"

"I don't know anything about this creature. Who knows if time plays any role on what it can do, or say," Faust remarked. "Its power is vital. That this, for lack of better words, Solomon Grundy is not attacking us tells me that we are not viewed as a threat."

"Anything that can take a hit and dish back what the Justice League can throw at us is going to be handy, provided we can use it as anything but a meat shield," the master of darkness said, taking another look around the swamp. "Heh, maybe it knows how to swim. Maybe there's something here…"

He trailed off, noticing a disturbance with the water. The murky liquid seemed like it was pulling away from its center, which could only mean something was about to breach. That more and more water kept pulling away from the center meant that whatever was beneath the surface, it was big. Very big.

The water began to rise, flooding up to their knees right before the breach happened.

It was a dome, dark in color that continued to rise up and up, towering over the four of them. It was easy to tell it was made from metal, because it gleamed despite the overcast above. As it continued to rise, an underbelly exposed architecture that gave the appearance of eyes. It shuddered to a stop, a dark monolith in a dreary and nearly lifeless land.

The quiet that resumed was oppressing.

Eventually, "So...I take it this is what we were supposed to find," Shade said, his voice starting to crack.

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his body from behind. A playful, "Hey, you," was warmly purred into his ear.

Green Arrow allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch up. "Hey, Pretty Bird," he returned.

The archer was currently sitting on a bench in some locker room off by the training room. He had no idea if it was a men's, a women's, or both, but it seemed like a good place to go and catch his breath after Gateway City. Now though, he had a feeling he'd be breathing a little harder soon.

"So how was it?" he heard Black Canary ask him, hugging him still.

"It was...different," he answered her, thinking about today's mission. "I got a few shots in."

"You sound tired."

"I am tired."

"It's been awhile since I've seen you this tired."

Arrow thought about that. He had been on a number of patrols, be it in Star City, or his sojourns in Gotham, some of which required that he stay on the move for entire chases. Yet, this felt different. Those patrols had a natural start-stop rhythm to them that he used to his advantage. Even chasing a suspect, he knew the landscape well enough to cut a few corners before it went on for long.

This trip to Gateway, he had been running nonstop. Once those god guys had teleported to a different part of the city, he had been left behind to scale buildings, running on foot while the others had flown there in a matter of minutes. He had missed the whole monster summoning thing, but did see the destruction of a building. He found out after the fact that was because Wonder Woman had been punched right through it.

He considered himself a fit guy, but running around a few blocks and crossing half a city were two different things.

"I gotta say, this Justice League stuff is next level business," Green Arrow said after awhile.

"We were expecting this," Canary reminded him. "We're out of the city and in outer space now."

That was true, but he wasn't some super-powered hero either. He just had a bow and arrow and the skills he had accumulated over a long career. At least Pretty Bird here had her Canary Cry. She could subdue Superman for a few seconds if she wanted to while he doubted a boxing glove arrow would do much of anything.

"Do I also need to remind you that you were the one that wanted to do this too?"

"After you told me about it," he grumbled back petulantly. "Not sure how I talked myself into this."

"I think it had something to do with Batman. What was it you said? Oh, right! 'If Batman can do it, so can I'!"

"I couldn't have said that. It sounds too damn stupid for me to have said that."

"I was there, Ollie, I heard you say that. If you'll recall, I tried to talk you out of it, but you refused."

Yeah, yeah she had, not that he'd admit it right now. He had his pride to think about after all. "Well, I did pass that admission process, right? Clearly these hero types think I belong here."

"I know you belong. So quit your bitching because we have jobs to do."

"You are a cruel woman, you know that?"

Arrow actually turned around to look at her, which caused Black Canary to draw back at him, a smirk never leaving her face. Damn, she was hot when she looked at him like that. "I don't hear you complaining about it," she teased him.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas on how to make this easier," he ventured then, a small smile on his face.

"I don't, but maybe Batman does. He's worked with these people off-and-on. He managed to keep up with them, so he should have some advice."

Now that wasn't a bad idea, though he had a feeling how that conversation would go. "I didn't ask you to join the League, so why did you?" That seemed to fit that old gargoyle.

Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Let me catch my breath here and we'll go hunt down ol' pointy-head."

"No need."

Both Green Arrow and Black Canary jerked their heads to a side. Emerging from a dark corner was the Bat himself, looking at the two vigilantes passively.

"Let me guess, you've been there the entire time," Arrow snarkily said. "Or the other classic: long enough."

"Feel free to pick," Batman responded. "We need to talk."

"Had a feeling you'd say that," Canary replied as she unwrapped herself from the archer and stood up straighter, placing her hands on her hips. Arrow rather missed the embrace. "What's the scoop?"

The sun was not warming this side of the planet, yet it was still quite warm and missing of any chill that would cause discomfort. If it were to enjoy the high temperatures, then this...night was exceptional for such an activity.

As it was, Koriand'r, name of code Starfire, could only experience it incidentally. Tonight she was currently engaged in an operation. She was currently residing in a vantage point on the edge of the settlement called Jump City, keeping vigil over an establishment where a great number of single individual, motorized vehicles she had been told were called motorcycles congregated.

There was this group, a gang, who were expanding their criminal activities in the area. They preferred using these motorcycles as their transport and tended to be loud with raucous noises. Also, these motorcycles were loud. She had been told that being loud and noisy was not a crime, or at least not severe enough to get any attention. It was the other criminal activity. There was some sort of transportation happening and the goods were declared illegal by the local governing officials.

The group had grown in its depravity with the rise of its current leader, an individual calling themself Johnny Rancid. She did not know if the name was appropriate, however the behavior that she had witnessed from some of the group's members certainly applied.

No action would be taken—only observing. Beside her, sharing vigil, was Red Robin, who would periodically speak, all content related to the activities at this establishment. There was a recording feature in his uniform now, complete with visual and audio devices. From her understanding, it was an upgrade following the move into their current living quarters.

The others were scattered about. Cyborg was recording the happenings opposite of their vigil. Raven had a different angle. Kid Flash was on the ground, using his speed to keep out of sight while listening in to the various rancid conversations occurring. The last three members of their team were assigned to infiltrate the establishment below. Wonder Girl and Terra were to don "civilian clothing" and try to keep a low profile. Beast Boy was to be a fly on the wall.

This was part of gathering evidence, and while she was not qualified to identify what was and was not evidence, she would still play her role regardless. There had been questions about why she herself would not be infiltrating and a big reason seemed that Johnny Rancid liked blondes. Her hair was of the red variety, so that seemed to eliminate her from the role.

There were a lot of details that the Tamaranian did not understand. There was a complexity that had her bowing to those with more knowledge. She had always been this way, stepping aside for those with greater expertise. Her father...this caused burning in the back of her esophagus, but her father had once told her she needed to be able to lead. To always follow meant she would reach a destination that only the other person would be guaranteed to be happy with.

But how does one lead when they are so far away from home and in a world that could be so hard to understand? She struggled with this and had found herself giving control of her life to another. To others. One of them was crouched next to her.

"Another ten minutes and they should be slipping out," Red Robin said, his voice a decimal louder meaning he had wanted her to hear him.

"What will we do once we reconvene?" she inquired.

"Depending on what our guys on the inside find out, we might find ourselves in a fight, or coming back tomorrow. We need some strong evidence if we want to break this gang up. That, and we need to be sure that there isn't a chance of a gunfight breaking out. We don't need to be getting anybody killed here," the younger human answered.

"And should we discover ourselves in combat?" the Tamaranian wondered out loud.

Red Robin shrugged his shoulders. "We do what we always do and fight our way out of it. Get the leader if nothing else."

She...hummed, that was the correct word? It was a verbal gesture to convey understanding, or so she had learned. There were many gestures she had learned on this planet and she found herself in error much of the time when she tried to use them.

"So," Red Robin began to say, a little surprising since the two of them were in the field, "what do you think about the Justice League? They started taking in new members. I think you'd be able to get in yourself."

There was a sensation she felt, warm and inside. At least a smile was something that humans understood and it retained the same meaning as it did on Tamaran. "It honors me that you believe I can include myself with those in the League of Justice. I do not believe I possess the skills, or abilities needed to enter such an organization. I thank you for the faith you possess in me."

"Why do you think that?" the younger male asked, looking up at her shortly. "You are the best fighter among us. You're teaching us how to fight better. Cas—I mean, Wonder Girl is fighting better than she ever has. You've gotten Kid Flash to learn some moves. I'm doing better and I know my own history."

"It is easier to teach," she remarked. "However, I do lack the skills. You are young, Red Robin. You have so much time to learn and grow."

"What about you?" His question was quick, as if to interrupt her? Why?

"I myself still need to learn and grow," Starfire admitted, gazing at the gang headquarters. "I need to gain more strength. More skills. More capabilities. I do not possess any desire to enter the ranks of the League of Justice...excuse me, the Justice League as I still have a goal that I have not accomplished yet."

She had the eyes of her fellow male. His interest in the gang lair seemed to be overpowered by her statement, though how was it more interesting? "What is it?" he inquired. "What do you need to do?"

A question that was so basic yet not so basic. That did not feel right, that sentence, but right now she could not care. Her eyes raised up to the sky that appeared so dark, the pollution of light erasing the sight of the stars above. Starfire could feel it burning inside of her, the want and yearning that could only come from feeling ill for home.

Yet, home had not been home for quite some time.

"There is the matter of my home planet, Tamaran," she answered. "I have learned nothing of its current state. I can only assume my sister remains in power. There is much she needs to answer for, the littlest of which is the bloodshed and lives lost during her coup. I need to know how my people have fared since then. Is she taking care of them? Is she hurting them? I do not know and I need to know. I need...I need to know what has happened to my family. My father. My mother. My brother.

"To accomplish any of that, I believe, will require much of my time and...and I may not be able to leave if I should enact my own coup. To return home, I will have to leave this planet, the Teen Titans, and the League of, I mean, the Justice League. I cannot venture a coup unless I know I can face my own sister and possess the skill necessary to subdue her because she will fight to keep that which she has seized. If I am successful, then...then I will have to assume power myself. That is what a coup entails."

She did not look down and away from the stars that she could not see. It was like they had lost their path and could not be found, no matter how hard she searched. Home felt like that, lost and unable to be located.

The Tamaranian's eyes closed and she had to apply force to remind herself that she had built a new home here—was continuing to build. It did not matter how much she yearned, or longed, without the means to return home, such desires would remain unfulfilled.

Red Robin was silent, detecting the melancholy she was radiating perhaps. When he spoke next, "Whenever...we'll help you. The others, me, whatever you need, we'll help you, Kori. I know this is important to you, and whatever you need to free your home, know that you have the rest of us backing you up."

She felt that sensation of warmth again, but it was not longing, or yearning this time. It was the sensation of knowing that you weren't alone and that could make an impossible task appear more possible. There was a need to express appreciation and some humble bakery.

There was a loud crash across the road, a large cloud of dust and dirt concealing much of the gang's lair. Many of the motorcycles had collapsed on their sides and towards one end of the parking lot, a leather-clad human laid in the wreckage and debris, staring up at the night sky much as the Tamaranian had recently done.

Red Robin gave a sigh. "Speaking of backing up, looks like we need to back up the intel team. Who the hell pissed off Wonder Girl this time?"

Nodding, Starfire levitated into the air and took flight. Cognitions of home could wait; her friends needed her aid now.