The sound of beeping filled the room. J'onn watched the monitor as it displayed a heart rhythm, numbers indicating current vital signs, and even one monitor specifically set up for brain wave function. The test was called an electroencephalography and its sole purpose was to monitor brain activity.

The Martian felt that was necessary at the moment. Lying on a bed, restrains powerful enough to give even Superman pause when trying to remove them, was Girder. He was still unconscious, which was optimal for the EEG. Sensors had been placed in specific places on his head, wires connected to them and leading to a main hub for the data to be graphed and displayed. Telemetry had been set up with leads across his chest and abdomen.

Because of his metal features, there were no visible signs of damage, aside from some singe marks on Girder's face, the result of sparks erupting when John Stewert attempted to drill a construct into his head. Just the thought of it concerned the Martian Manhunter. While he had seen the Green Lantern use the construct before, he had never done it on a person.

For once, he could feel Batman's paranoia within his head and he could not readily dismiss it.

He had been in agreement that the Justice League could take over the world should the correct circumstances occur. The video file Batman had returned from the future with showed those conditions. However, as time had gone by, J'onn had felt such a scenario was becoming more and more unlikely.

But now, he was beginning to question his own perspective. Had he been naive, or willfully blind? He liked neither possibility.

The doors to the medical room opened and suddenly Flash was standing next to the Martian. "Hey, J'onn, how's—" the speedster cut himself off as he saw his metal rogue. "Oh, man," he murmured.

It was a testament to Flash's concern for a man he had readily done battle with. Where others may have written them off and saw them as simply evil, the Flash saw the gray areas, recognizing that nothing was as it seemed. J'onn had heard stories of the men Flash had fought over the years, even going so far as to help them however he could.

He was a good man and J'onn was proud to call him friend.

"What happened to him?" Flash asked after several moments. His eyes never left the unconscious Girder.

"Trauma to the face," J'onn answered him. "Powerful enough to render him unconscious. I am hesitant to say he is in a coma, but prolonged inactivity will lead me to such a diagnosis."

Flash was silent, a rather unusual state for him. "What is all this?" he asked quietly. He gestured a hand to the many wires and leads on the man. "I can see you have one of those heart monitor things, but what's all that stuff on his head?"

"An EEG. I wanted to monitor Girder's brain activity in the event brain damage occurred. It's mostly used to detect seizures, but it is allowing me to analyze his brain function and thus far he is only unconscious. More brain activity will occur if he is beginning to awaken, or something abnormal presents itself."

"How long do you think he'll be out?"

"I, unfortunately, do not know."

Flash grimaced. "Seriously, J'onn, what happened? You said Girder took a hit to the head, but that doesn't explain why Bats is so pissed off at GL. The two of them were practically glaring actual daggers at each other in the meeting."

"Are you certain you want to know?" J'onn asked him.

"I think I need to know."

It had been some time since Batman and J'onn had considered opening their ranks to people knowing of a rogue Justice League. Flash had been mentioned, but quickly dismissed as someone that wouldn't be able to keep such a secret to himself. Batman instead placed his trust that if given the opportunity, Flash would make the right decision. It was an unheard of extension of faith by the dark-clad man, but J'onn felt that it was well-earned. Though if he told Flash what had happened to Girder, it could very well influence his decision as well.

"I was there when it occurred, so I can confirm what happened," he began. "Girder was one of those we found guarding the lower level of the building where Superman and Hawkgirl were kept and Green Lantern fought him. It ended with him forming a drill construct and drilling it into Girder's head."

Flash's mouth dropped open. "You can't be serious!"

J'onn took a deep breath through his nose before letting it out. "Batman was the one to stop him. The tension between the two started there. I'm not certain what led to Lantern using such a construct, though I do believe it may have something to do with his emotions getting the better of him."

"So he decides the best way to take down a bad guy is to drill their head open?" Flash shook his head, clearly troubled by this news. "What was he thinking? Was he even thinking? Seriously, what the hell."

Flash suddenly began pacing the room at a rapid pace. "Girder isn't a bad guy, just someone in a bad spot. You know he helps his grandmother whenever he can? It's why he does any crime; he's just looking for a fast buck and that's always helped him in the past."

He stopped abruptly. "What the hell was GL thinking?" he repeated.

J'onn knew Flash could be impulsive. With superspeed, he was able to succeed because of it. However, he knew Flash's first instinct was to go confront Green Lantern, something that might create a rift between the two. Where John Stewart was confrontation with Batman, he was more willing to hear out Flash. Who knew what a change in that dynamic would create?

"I know you want to ask John about this," J'onn began, earning himself the red-clad man's attention. "But I highly suggest you be careful. Think your words through and choose them carefully. If you go now, you may upset the current balance in the League."

Flash seemed confused. "What does this have to do with the League?"

"Everyone is under stress about the Legion of Doom, the founding members especially," he explained. "The strain is causing us to behave differently than we normally would have. If you go with accusations against John, he may well become defensive and lash out. A suitable period of time for him to cool off would be advisable."

"John is as stubborn as Batman sometimes," Flash pointed out, "and they both have a stick up their ass right now. There's no telling when GL will cool down."

"That may be true, but we need to be mindful of each other and our emotions. One wrong word can create a rift that the League simply cannot have right now."

Flash seemed to consider this. "I guess there's something to that. Alright, I'll...think about what I want to say first. I just hope GL has a damn good answer because short of that and I'll have to wonder if he's right for the job right now."

As much as J'onn wanted to keep the League together, perhaps he had been mistaken in confiding in Flash. It seemed this wasn't something the speedster was willing to overlook and a small crack was forming. Had this been a mistake?

He hoped it hadn't been, but he dreaded the reality.

The meeting couldn't have gone worse if they tried. Oh, maybe if the entire League had ostracized them, it would've been worse, but right now it was clear as day that Batman was going to be a thorn in their side, as usual.

John could read a room. He had Shayera at his side to back him up and knew their biggest opposition would be the Dark Knight. J'onn had played peacemaker, which wasn't unusual for him. That Flash and Diana seemed to be on the fence was discerning, but John was certain they would come around with enough persuasion.

The most irritating part of this whole thing was Superman. He had remained silent the entire meeting until he effectively put an end to it. That he went with a neutral position was even more outrageous.

He was kowtowing to a man in a Halloween costume—admittingly an expensive one full of weapons, but the Batsuit was a child's plaything when compared to a power ring, an Nth metal mace, and a super-powered Kryptonian.

So how was it that a man with superstrength, superspeed, and fifty different vision powers acted so meek around this nutjob? John didn't understand it and honestly, he couldn't think of any suitable reason. Shayera at his side was steaming as well, but she wasn't wrecking everything around her at the moment. However, she was on a mission and he was keeping up with her.

They wanted answers and they were going to get them.

Superman had disappeared after the meeting, another reminder of his superspeed. However, the Watchtower was only so big and one could only hide for so long.

They found the Kryptonian in a hallway by himself. He seemed to be deep in thought at the moment, but that wasn't going to stop them. "Superman," John called out, gaining the dark-haired man's attention. "We need to talk."

"Certainly, John," the Kryptonian responded, turning to face them. "What can—"

"Not here," Shayera interrupted. There was a door right next to them, which she opened. She then snagged her arm around Superman's and pulled him into the room beyond. It was a simple supply closet, which would do for now. John made sure to close the door behind them to ensure their privacy.

"You mind telling us what that was about?" the Thanagarian immediately asked the moment the door slid shut.

Superman raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"You gave Batman exactly what he wanted," John said, making sure to keep things on topic. Shayera had a habit of going off the rails when angry and she was that. So was he, but he could keep his composure better. "To stop us from doing what we do best."

"To hunt down the Legion of Doom and put a permanent end to them," Superman surmised. "And what makes you think I'm not trying to accomplish that?"

"What, do you have selective super-hearing now?" Shayera growled. "John just said you gave into Batman's wishes. Why are you doing that when you could literally punch your fist through his head?"

The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes. It was the same look he made when he was challenged back in their time—the true time. The only difference was that he had his powers back and wasn't sitting on his throne, allowing the Regime to do his bidding.

He didn't need Diana to protect him anymore.

"Do I need to remind you that Batman didn't need special powers to take us down?" he reprimanded them. "He took us all down with his countermeasures—again. He even figured out that my powers had been taken away."

That caused both of their eyes to widen. That had been a heavily-guarded secret, even within the Regime. Only the original members of the Justice League knew of it; that Batman had discovered it…

"And now we're in a time where nothing is the same," the Man of Steel continued. "Where different decisions have been made; meaning the League is different. Diana isn't agreeing with us outright, or did you miss that?"

John hadn't missed it, but he was starting to get what Superman meant by things being different. "I wasn't agreeing with Batman for the sake of it; I was doing it so that I could learn how this League operated," he continued.

"So we know who we can trust," Shayera finished for him, her initial anger dissipating.

"And you two went swinging for the fences without even doing that much," Superman said. "The only thing you've done is alerted Batman towards your aggression; and if you think he's forgotten all of those fights with us, then you're sadly mistaken. This world is different because he made it so, our ultimate defeat in the sense that we never took control.

"That isn't a man to underestimate; that's a man we have to tread carefully and wait for the right time to strike. Right now he thinks I'm his Superman and I want him to think that for as long as possible."

John grimaced. He hadn't realized that Superman would ever choose subterfuge rather than taking the direct approach. Since when had he learned such tactics? John had to shake his head. It really didn't matter since both he and Shayera had blundered in and put the vigilante on high alert.

Why hadn't it occurred to him to use such indirect tactics?

"Here's what we know," Superman said then. "The League is intact with new members. What happened at the White House didn't happen. Diana isn't completely on our side; Flash is still alive and nearly the same person that we remember; J'onn is the same, except that he has developed some sort of comradery with Batman. The new members are a group of heroes we knew, some we even did battle with. Right now, we have a chance to convince many, if not all of them that our way, the Regime's way, is the correct path."

That was an excellent way to see it. Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning, had been one of the Insurgency's leaders; with some persuasion, they could recruit him this time instead of fighting him.

"So what's our next move?" the Green Lantern asked.

"What's done, is done," Superman replied. "We're going to need to operate on the assumption that Batman knows what we're up to. I don't think he knows our exact objectives, but we can't blind ourselves to his paranoia. He didn't become the World's Greatest Detective by chance."

"We'll need to figure out which newer League members are in lockstep with us," Shayera said. "See where their loyalties lie and keep them with us. Diana and Flash we can work on later. They're on the fence right now, but one wrong thing said and we could end up pushing them away."

"And what about J'onn?" John questioned.

The three of them went quiet on that one. J'onn had turned traitor on them once and now he was chummy with Batman. "He may be one to keep an eye on," Superman responded after awhile. "There's no telling where his allegiances lie. We may need to take steps."

Steps, right. They all knew what that meant.

"It's probably too late to correct the damage Shayera and I have done in front of Batman, but we can do some damage control with the others. If we say our emotions got the better of us, there's not a lot of people that would question us," John offered.

"Do what you can, but don't push it if it isn't working," Superman advised. "Just remember the world is different, so it stands to reason everyone is not the same way we remember them. For now, the only constants are us and Batman. If we play this right, we can re-established the One Earth Government with the Justice League intact.

"This time, we can truly build our utopia without an Insurgency."

They were all being so calm about this.

"So it's not just the language, but also all the words the guy, or girl, knows, right?"

"That is correct, Victor."

So very calm.

"So then if you need to learn any new words, what do you do? Like teach them? Does it also allow you to read the written language and not just the spoken?"

"It is simple, my friend. You just kiss another person. It is very common on Tamaran for Tamaraneans to kiss one another, regardless of relation to the other person. It happens that you may wish to pick up specific terms for the region you find yourself in. It is easier to do than to ask. It is normal."

Way too calm.

"Dude, so you're saying that everyone on your world just kisses any time they want, and nobody gets mad at them? And you don't get into trouble?"

"Why would you get into trouble if it is to increase your knowledge of the spoken word?"

It was starting to get onto Cassie's nerves how they were taking this whole thing.

She was keeping herself apart while the others were circling around Kori and asking so many questions. All of them were about Tamaran and Tamaraneans and everything having to do with the two. There was so much focus on kissing though, which was a big deal for any teen, admittedly.

But seriously, why were they not pissed off?

The couch was nearly full with bodies, most of it taken up by Galvor, or whatever his name was. Huge guy, scary-looking, but everything the blonde had seen so far painted him as a giant teddy bear. Kori was right next to him, looking so small when usually Cassie had to look up at her, literally. The guys and Terra were the audience, all over the place, sitting and laying, but all focused on the female alien. Raven was keeping her distance, but you could tell she was listening in.

So many questions had to be answered right now. Someone like Raven craved answers and the memory of the cloak-wearing girl getting kissed by none other than Kori was making a major return with so much more context to it. It had to be blowing Raven's mind, had to be.

But still, why was it that only Cassie was not happy about recent events? Why was everyone ignoring the elephant in the room that she clearly saw? Why were they ignoring it? It was a pretty big elephant, damn it. But no, there they were, chatting and being all happy about it and seriously. Seriously.

Worst of all, Kori… was she ignoring everything? Overlooking it deliberately? What caused her to even agree? It was frustrating, and while Cassie found herself frustrated on a regular basis, she hated being frustrated. So, this, this was off the charts.

So she was keeping her distance. Galbor seemed to be making Kori there happy, and the looks the two sent one another, those kinda hurt the blonde in the feels, and she had to look away from it, but she was of the opinion that nothing from the past was a good thing. They always seemed to bring trouble with them—big trouble.

A hand placed itself on her shoulder and her blue eyes glanced to the owner. Red, figures. The teenage boy tilted his head to a side, bobbing it in a direction that was away from the others. Somebody wanted to talk. Okay, fine, as long as it got her away long enough to get her emotions in check.

Because Kori seemed happy with Gabbor, or whatever his name was back there. For the life of her, Cassie could not and would not ruin it.

The two teens went into the hallway outside the...what was the name for that kind of room? You couldn't call it a living room, but it wasn't a rec either, and meeting? No, they hung out there on a regular basis. Hang out spot was a no go, so what to call it?

"You look like you want to set fire to something," Red spoke, interrupting her thoughts.

Cassie blew air through her lips, letting them flop while glance back to the room they had walked out of. It didn't seem like anyone had heard, or noticed them leave. If they had, they either didn't care, or didn't want to break the mood.

"Can you believe them?" It took an effort not to explode. Personally, the blonde felt she was showing a lot of restraint by not yelling, but you could hear some of her temper leaking through her voice. She gestured with a hand towards the closed door to make sure there was no mistake of who she was talking about.

Red glanced at the door before returning his gaze to her. "There's not a lot any of them can do about it."

If there was one person who could make her frustrated without trying, it was Red, but she was getting better. Right now, though, her control had been stretched. "But it's like they're ignoring it! Or forgot about it altogether!"

"And it wasn't any of our decision to make. It was Kori's and she agreed to it," Red pointed out oh so helpfully—not.

"Am I the one taking crazy pills around her?" she grumbled as she crossed her arms. "I swear, it's like I'm the only one who bothered to remember. I mean, Kori agreed to meet with the bitch that sold her into slavery! Gave her up to those aliens, whatever they were called! We had to fight them on their own damn ship to save her from them! And the person who made all of it happen is coming here!"

Cassie hadn't forgotten Kori's story. She hadn't forgotten how the Tamaranean had been on the losing end of a Tamaranean-style coup and that her sister had been the winner. That this sister, Ko-whatever had put nice and sweet Kori into the servitude of that arrogant ass of a...whatever the hell alien species he was. It had been so long ago and so much had happened since.

"I don't understand it," she finally admitted, her voice softening. "I just don't get it."

Red squeezed her shoulder, an attempt to try and calm her down and she would be lying if she said it wasn't working. "You saw her face, didn't you? When Galfore told her about what her sister wanted. I saw it too. I've seen it before. I agree with you, Cassie, but that doesn't change the fact that there's a part of Kori that still wants her sister back."

"But why? After everything!" It didn't make any sense and still didn't.

The dark-haired boy gave a sigh. "It's like those kids with abusive parents. Even though the parents are horrible, the kids still love them and want their parents to love them. They'll do anything, including overlooking the bad to get that one chance to see if things will get better. I know Kori is older than us, at least Earth years wise, but we know the kind of person she is. She's trusting and wants to trust. And when she trusts, she goes the whole nine yards and everything. It's just who she is.

"She lost everything. She lost her home, her family, her life, her freedom. I don't think anybody here could really grasp what she lost. She ends up who knows how many light years away from home, here, and she had to do what she needed to do to survive, until she met up with us. We're the only family she has had since she won her freedom back. But I'm willing to bet it's not the same, it's not the family she lost before. So here comes Galfore, her nanny, and here is a piece of what she's lost. And then he tells her that her sister wants to meet with her.

"Yeah, us, we'd have told her to take a hike, but we're not Kori. Or maybe we're not seeing the forest for the trees. Maybe Kori knows what she's doing. Maybe this is something else and we don't know what her game plan is, and she hasn't had a chance to tell us. At the end of the day, the only person whose choice matters is hers. We can only support it."

Cassie could only shake her head at that, her blonde hair whipping about. "I can't, Tim. That bitch hurt Kori. I know Kori can take care of herself. We both know she can fight. But she's my friend." Huh, she had thought that little revelation might shock her, especially with the ease in which it came out, but it felt so right to say. "I don't have a lot of friends, but I know that when someone hurts your friend, you don't let them get away with it. You give them a reason to go to the dentist."

"Which is why we're going to be at her side for the whole thing," Tim told her, boring his gaze in her eyes with an intensity that was almost hypnotizing. "I don't trust Kori's sister as far as I can throw her. She's going to need eyes that will see through the bullshit because that's what friends also do."

Damn it, why'd he have to be so right?

"So we just let...that keep happening in there?" Another gesture of her arm to the closed door.

"For now. And if things go south, you'll be the first to give Kori's sister a reason to see a dentist." Why'd that little smirk he was giving her look so damn cute?

Fine then. Time to play nice until she could get to be mean. She began to turn her back to Tim and head back in when something occurred to her, causing the blonde to come to a stop. Looking over her shoulder, she gave Red a look and said, "You don't know how to pronounce that bitch's name too, don't you?"

Giving a shrug of his shoulders, Red admitted, "I was hoping I wasn't being obvious."

The Legion of Doom had been summoned again. Shade, with his fellow Pantheon, arrived as the rest of the Legion made their entrance. It was the same room as before, when they had all been invited to join this little club.

"Thank you for coming," the Ultra Humanite greeted them, his arms behind his back as he gazed at them all. "The time is at hand for our next stratagem."

Great, another meeting for the Pantheon to be served up on a silver platter for the Justice League for another rumble. Shade was getting tired of these. He remained indifferent because he knew where this was going.

"Due to the recent capture of Girder, I believe we need to shore up our ranks," the albino ape continued.

"And how do we do that?" Metallo asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"It's simple, really. There are prisons all over the United States full of super-criminals and villains the Justice League has seen incarcerated. As you all can attest, such a situation would not endear any of them to the League. In fact, I have it on good authority there are many that are cheering on our efforts. I have no doubt none of them would refuse an invitation from us to join our cause."

That wasn't a half-bad idea, the Shade had to admit. Of course, that was when the other shoe fell.

"I would like Felix Faust, Dr. Alchemy, and the Shade to lead the charge on Riker's," Ultra Humanite said. "Along with Solomon Grundy for additional firepower. The subject—"

"Uhh, you might want to hold that thought," Shade interrupted, earning himself the attention of the room. "I'd like to address the growing elephant in the room."

The white ape frowned at him, whether it was out of confusion or irritation, that was anyone's guess. "I don't believe I follow."

"All of these little attacks of yours, these plans to fight the League, why is it the three of us are always the ones leading the charge?" the thin man explained. "Which puts us at the most risk while the rest of you wait to ambush the Justice League."

"Why are you complaining?" Killer Frost asked, lounging in a chair. "You got your role and its working. Just be glad you're actually useful."

"Then why don't you lead the charge this time?" Shade shot back. "The Justice League knows all of us are a part of the Legion of Doom. I'm pretty sure they'd show up if any of us poke our heads out."

"What we're doing right now is working," Star Sapphire countered, hovering in midair with that weird aura of hers. She was leaning back, one of her shapely legs crossed over the other. It seemed a little weird to pretend sitting in midair, but what did he know? "So keep playing your role like a good little boy."

Shade scowled and was about to say something rather unflattering about the bitch when Faust placed a hand on his shoulder. "What I believe my comrade is saying is that we are assuming most of the risk thus far in these encounters. If we are all true comrades-in-arms, it is time for someone else to assume the risk."

"Alright, you want to be wimps, so be it," Volcana said. "I'll go and burn everything to the ground. That should be enough to get the Justice Chumps' attention."

"No," Ultra Humanite responded. "The reason you three are the opening act is to ensure the Justice League intervenes. No one else has your profile to warrant their attention."

"Excuse me?" Volcana protested, clearly not liking the ape's implication.

"That's just a fancy way of saying we're bait," Shade pointed out. "And in case you weren't aware, at some point or another, the bait gets eaten."

"That is your assigned role," Humanite pressed. "And your continued membership is predicated that you play your role as needed."

"And we have made it quite clear that we will not be assuming the role thusly," Dr. Alchemy finally spoke up. "You claim our profile—which I assume you are referring to our previous encounters with the Justice League—are enough to draw them out, but surely the moment the Legion of Doom was announced has rendered that moot."

Yeah, that's what Shade had said earlier.

"And what did you actually do?" Star Sapphire countered. "You still ended up in jail like the rest of us. You're just like the rest of the Gotham filth, no more, no less."

"We are more than the criminals you look down upon," Faust retorted angrily. "The three of us were veritable gods at one time with powers beyond your comprehension."

"Oh, sure, right," Volcana snorted. "You three are so powerful, you kept getting in my way at the museum. I didn't see you three take down a single hero."

"That's because you kept getting in the way," Shade growled.

The redhead flared and looked as if she were about to try burning him with those flames of her, but the Ultra Humanite interjected, "I can see we are all being disagreeable for the sake of being disagreeable. Perhaps if we were—"

"No, this is happening, Ape," Volcana interrupted. "I gotta show these punks that they don't know who they're messing with."

"I can get behind that," Killer Frost agreed as she began to stand up.

"All of you, stand down," Metallo commanded. "Fighting against each other isn't getting us anywhere. Go cool off and we'll talk about Ultra Humanite's prison break plan when we are all not acting like upset children."

"That's easy for you to say," Shade said. "You're waiting in the wings like all these other schmucks. Why are you even here?"

Metallo tiled his head back haughtily. "I am one of the few people here that can fight Superman toe-to-toe, and have done so on a few occasions, so I'd say I'm one of the strongest people here."

"So what? I fought Superman and Wonder Woman at the same time and kicked their asses," Shade retorted.

"We don't have to take this from some arrogant has-beens!" Volcana shouted. Flames erupted around her hands as she held them up.

In response, Faust held his own hand up and snapped his fingers. In an instant, Volcana's flames vanished, surprising the redhead. "Lest you forget, I am a wielder of magic," he warned her. "I can render you powers moot should I wish it."

"Cute," Star Sapphire said. "I'd like to see your magic against my sapphire. It's one of the most powerful weapons in the universe."

"And yet the most powerful is in our possession," Dr. Alchemy returned, holding up the Philosopher's Stone. "An oversight on your part to return it to me."

"You want to challenge us with some glowing rock?" Killer Frost snorted. "You have to be—"

Dr. Alchemy glanced to the frigid woman and she was immediately cut off. Her eyes widened before she let out a gasp, her hands raising to clutch at her chest and shoulders. She damn near looked as if she were clawing at her pale skin, dropping to her knees as she continued to gag.

"What's—" Star Sapphire began before she too stopped talking, grabbing at herself much like Killer Frost was. In fact, the entire Legion, aside from the Pantheon, fell to the floor as they writhed on the floor, all except for Metallo as he stared at everyone in bewilderment. Oddly enough, Solomon Grundy just stood in place, staring straight ahead with an empty look on his face.

"It hurts, does it not?" Dr. Alchemy spoke then. "Your bodies are on fire, burning from the inside out. You don't know what's going on, or how it is happening, but allow me to educate you. I have changed the composition of your blood to potassium bromide, the same chemical used to kill death row inmates. If I so choose, I can allow you to die in excruciating pain."

"That's enough!" Metallo bellowed as he began to charge towards them.

Dr. Alchemy turned his cool gaze onto the robot man and suddenly his knees erupted into a cloud of dust. With a cry of surprise, Metallo toppled over backwards, landing on his back hard. The moment he tried to push himself up with his arms, his elbows giving out and causing him to flop back on the floor.

"And for one who boasts of strength equal to Superman, such strength is useless if it cannot be used," the green-cloaked man continued. "Case in point, the transmutation of your remarkable body into sand, specifically at your joints. Now, you are nothing more than a limbless torso, a threat to none."

The Philosopher's Stone then glowed and there was a collected gasp as the rest of the Legion sucked in precious oxygen. It seemed the doc was done torturing the others and restored their blood if Shade had to guess.

"As we have proven, we are your most powerful members," Faust stated. "And your utilization of us, we find, is underwhelming. While we can agree that gathering more forces would be beneficial to the cause, the three of us also need to restore our own powers to their full might. You may carry on with your own plots, but we will be stepping aside for a time. We will return at full strength and you will marvel in our splendor."

Well, Shade knew when it was time for a dramatic exit when he saw one. As he held up his cane, darkness flowed out of it. As the room darkened, Faust snapped his fingers one last time before everything went black.

The inspiration for Dr. Alchemy transforming the blood of each member into a very nasty chemical came from a book series I rather enjoy. In one of the books, a character is given a poison that forces him to consume more of it, or else it'll kill them. In order to remove the poison from his bloodstream, the character uses magic to turn his blood into the cure for several moments before returning it back to blood. I figured Dr. Alchemy could do something similar to make his point to the Legion on just how powerful he is.