Shayera's head throbbed. It was like she was hungover. Headache, her eyes felt sensitive to light, her body was as stiff as a board. What kind of night had she had?

Opening her eyes, it took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in her bed, or any kind of bed. No, she was lying on the dirty floor, who knows where. Grunting, she pushed herself up, turning her head to look around her.

She spotted the bars—so she was in a jail cell. Again. And on the other side of those bars were a pair of boots, ones she thought she recognized. "John?" she called out as she raised a hand up and pressed it onto her face. She could feel the coolness of her palm and rather enjoyed that. Her hair wouldn't cooperate though and she used that same hand to brush those red locks off of her face. "Did I punch someone again?"

"Who's John?"

That voice! Shayera's eyes widened before she snapped her head to look up. There was Hro and he did not look all that pleased. She also realized the jail bars weren't vertical bars, but ones that resembled large thorns, emerging from one side of the cell door and into the other at odd angles. It was very much a Thanagarian design. Through one of the gaps, she could see the Commander's face had hardened as he stared down at her. "Hro?" she said meekly.

"Who is John?" he repeated, his tone stern.

"Just one of the guys in the Justice League," she responded, shifting herself around on the floor until she was sitting, crossing her legs in front of her. "That's all."

"And you took this John out to a bar," Hro pressed. "Where you got into one of your bar fights."

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

"So what?!" Hro really looked mad now. "You don't go out with anyone unless you like them. You don't get into bar fights unless you really like them. Like me."

Shayera had a feeling something wasn't right here. Never mind the fact that Hro was getting some really bad ideas about her right now—ones she knew she couldn't refute—that she was in a cell and one that had Thanagarian characteristics was sending alarms through her head.

"Did you do anything with him? This John?" Hro was really worked up now.

"I did what I needed to do to fit in," Shayera spat out. "Earthlings are more sociable than Thanagarians. If I kept to myself, I wouldn't have learned half of the things I did."

That gave the man pause. "So…it was part of your assignment," he spoke slowly.

"Of course, it was, you dull beaked twat!"

Hro narrowed his eyes at that, but let the name go by. "And all you did was befriend him, right? Nothing else?"

Shayera just stared at him. She really didn't trust herself to answer that, which was clearly not the right thing to do as Hro practically pushed himself up against the bars, his hands grabbing onto them. "Nothing else," he stressed.

Again, she said nothing.

"Damn it all, Shayera!" Hro roared as he shoved himself away from the bars. "How could you do this? How could you do this to me?!"

"I would have done it with you if you were with me, but guess what? You weren't!" Shayera was on her feet and storming up to the bars. She knew it was pointless to try breaking them as they were specifically designed to withstand the strength of a Thanagarian. "And you know as well as I do that we have to keep our cover up no matter what happens!"

"I would never," Hro seethed.

"Because you've never been on an undercover assignment! I have! Multiple times! Do not stand there and lord over me when you've never done the work!"

Hro was back at the bars, glaring through one of the gaps at her. "Do not lecture me, Lieutenant."

This was getting them nowhere and Shayera knew Hro was hurt. It wasn't something she had intended, but what was done was done. "Let me out of here, Hro," she demanded. "You can't keep me locked in here for personal matters."

The Commander continued to scowl at her. "You would only be so fortunate if that were the case."

"And what does that mean?"

"You defied a direct order from me. In fact, you challenged a superior officer's order. I had no choice but to throw you in here. Kragger has been talking about treason."

It all came back to her then. Her wanting Hro to order a hunt of Despero, Hro refusing, then telling her the Defense Shield Generator was in fact a Black Hole Generator. Then her begging him to find another way until she was struck and injected…

Son of a bitch! She had been injected with horbith! It was a fast sedative, but always left the user feeling like shit afterwards. No wonder she had felt hungover.

"That's because I'm trying to make you see the mistake you're making!" she roared at him.

"I am only doing what is necessary!" he yelled back.

"By committing mass genocide?! You're a study of history, tell me: when the hell has anyone in this entire universe been praised for killing off an entire race? Go ahead, I'll wait."

Hro was silent for a moment before he gritted out, "We have our orders. You know we cannot question them; we can only obey."

Shayera slammed a fist against the bars, the sound of the strike echoing throughout the room. "Goddamn it, Hro! Listen to me!"

"No!" he barked. "I will not listen to you! Why should I listen not only to a traitor, but someone that was unfaithful to me? No, you will rot it here, Shayera Hol. And when we get back to Thanagar, you will pay for your transgressions."

Abruptly, Hro spun around and marched off, leaving Shayera to stare at his retreating back. She wanted to call after him, but even she knew her words would only fall on deaf ears.

Even worse, she was effectively trapped here. Unless she got out and warned the others, Earth was effectively doomed. And honestly, that was the worst feeling of them all.

It had been a long time since the founding members of the Justice League had been together in the same room. This latest meeting would be no different.

They had convened following Despero's worldwide announcement of Earth's destruction, using Mars as an example of what was to come. Panic was overwhelming the world's law enforcement as riots and looting were being reported. It wouldn't be long before requests for Justice League assistance would be made.

So the founders had gathered to come up with a plan to take on Despero. However, their numbers were not encouraging. Batman and Flash were here for the first time in ages. Superman was leading the meeting, with John attending as well. Shayera was not here, still at her post with the Thanagarians. They hadn't been able to get in contact with her, so they pressed on in her absence. J'onn was not present either for crystal clear reasons. Mars' destruction had affected him deeply.

Though Diana was there, her mind was far from the words being spoken. Instead, she was in the Monitor Room, her memory on loop as she watched Despero's weapon in action and J'onn's subsequent breakdown.

The cannon fired it blast right into Mars, its fire striking the planet's surface. It spread out as the red land turned black from its heat. In all directions, it spread until the planet could not withstand the power used against it. There was a flash of light and Mars exploded, its pieces scattering throughout space.

"NooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" J'onn screamed, his voice growing louder until it was deafening. His hands were pressed into the computer terminal as he stood straight up, the terminal's surface twist and groaning as J'onn's fingers dug into it. A second, agonizing scream came from the Martian, his eyes never leaving the monitor.

Then came the silence; Diana wasn't certain which was worse. She could see J'onn's body go from stiff to slack and he began to drop. Fortunately, he fell into his chair, so he didn't crash to the floor. In an instant, the Amazon was at his side, wrapping her arms around him. It was the only comforting thing she could do at that moment. One look at his face told her he didn't even know she was there.

And then she saw his tears.

Diana had never seen J'onn cry before. He was always stoic, always in control. It was rare that he allowed his emotions to get the better of him. Now though, she could see him laid bare and…and it was a sight she never wished to see again. "J'onn," she called out to him, trying to reach him through the intense emotions he was surely being overwhelmed with. "I'm here for you. I'm right here for as long as you need me."

That was all she could think to say to him and she wasn't even sure he heard her. The rest of the League had come then, most keeping their distance. In fact, Diana was the only one at his side. She and Flash had ended up taking the Martian to his room, leaving him seated on the edge of his bed. The haunted look on his face was the last she had seen of him.

And yet, that was not all that was haunting her.

With a sharp jerk, she twisted the woman's head, the sound of her neck snapping filling her ears. The righteous fury she felt sang in her head, elating her with the avenging of Kal-el.

All of which came to a stop as a scream cut through the following silence.

Startled, Diana let go of the unmasked Batwoman. She found Bruce on his knees, screaming at her. It…it was a sound she had never heard from him before. It had started off low, but grew louder with every passing second. It sounded like a wild animal in pain.

Then he fell forward, only stopping himself with his arms as his hands slapped down on the floor. "No!" he screamed, his voice hoarse from his shriek. "No, no, no, no!" Each subsequent word grew weaker as he seemed to lose steam. Then came a sob, filled with sorrow and devastation.

She couldn't help herself. Diana hurried over to Bruce, slowing to a stop as she came to stand in front of him. She knelt down in front of him, laying a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. In time, he would feel better and see she was only trying to help him.

"It's alright, Bruce," she murmured comfortingly to him. "Everything will be okay."

Beneath her hand, she felt Bruce's body stiffen. He stayed that way for maybe one, two seconds before his head raised up. The white lenses of his mask were no longer white, but red, his teeth bared in a snarl.

And then came the fist that slammed up against her chin.

If it hadn't been for the Omnicron 2.0, Diana never would have had the latter memory, but now it was a part of her. The scream Bruce had made then was the same one J'onn had made less than an hour ago. In fact, the two memories seemed to be colliding with each other, melding with the other. She could practically place both men in the same spot and still hear that pain-stricken scream.

It had been a roundabout way, but she was beginning to understand why Bruce had done what he had done following his return from the future. She honestly couldn't fault him for his behavior; his withdrawal from the League; cutting off ties with everyone; even the near hostility he treated them with. Now seeing J'onn going through something similar, losing something near and dear to him in such horrible fashion, she couldn't help but wonder how she would react if she were to lose Themyscira in the same matter.

"Ganthet is having the Green Lanterns positioned around Earth," John was saying, words that slowly drew Diana out of her own mind. "Though now I'm certain he'll send more, if not the rest of the Corp there. Protecting Earth just became their priority."

"That's a pretty good one, but aren't they the ones leading the search for Despero?" Flash pointed out. "We find him, we stop that cannon of his from blowing us up too."

"Unless Despero has ordered them to fire regardless of if he's with his fleet or still on Earth," Batman said. "We thought his fleet would stop with his capture, but that clearly hasn't happened."

"I don't think Despero would want to go on a suicide mission himself, but I do think you make a good point," Superman acknowledged. "Regardless, he does need to be found. If the Green Lanterns and the Thanagarians are able to stop the fleet and that cannon, he's still a threat here."

"I guess I could do a few hundred laps around the world," Flash volunteered. "Once I find him, I can let everyone know where he is."

"I can help there too," Superman agreed.

"And let him use his telepathy to control either of you?" Batman countered. "Bad idea. He's the strongest telepath in his fleet, and the last time we went up against him, it was other Kalanorians that were attempting to brainwash the League. He could get into your head without you ever realizing it and then we'll have a bigger problem."

"We don't have a lot of choice," Superman pressed. "That is definitely a risk, but what other options do we have?"

For once, Batman didn't have an answer. "Perhaps we need to worry less about Despero and more about ourselves," Diana brought up then.

She received odd looks from the others, ranging from incredulous to disbelief. "Perhaps that was poor wording," she admitted, "but one of our own is hurting: J'onn. We can't leave him alone at this time."

Slowly, she received nods from the others. "Diana's right," John agreed. "J'onn needs us right now."

"So how should we do this?" Flash asked. "All of us go in there with packs of Oreos?"

The speedster received looks, to which he responded with, "What?"

Diana…chose not to respond to that. Instead, she raised a hand up and placed it on the shoulder of Batman. Bruce turned his head to look at her.

Keeping her voice low, she said, "I think you should be the one to go. If there is anyone that can reach J'onn right now, it's you."

Bruce didn't so much as twitch. "I'm not the most comforting person here."

"But you know exactly what J'onn is going through. You know what it is like to have your whole world taken from you. You're also the one closest to him. Please, for his sake."

There was a moment's pause before Bruce nodded. "I'll try," was all he said.

Which was more than enough, Diana felt. Because Bruce had been through something similar—albeit not on the level of a planet exploding—he knew what it was that needed to be done. He knew what someone in that position needed to hear. False platitudes would not work. Promises for vengeance would only seem hollow, she felt. If anything were to help J'onn, it would be someone he knew and trusted speaking to him from the other side of his grief.

Though there was an ulterior motive—namely because J'onn was the only one that stood a chance against Despero—his needs needed to be first. It was the only way to help him.

The mission was simple: find the alien that blew up Mars. Where was he? Somewhere on Earth. Where on Earth? That was the question everyone wanted to know if only to avoid this alien.

This was the kind of job that the Metal Men were created for. Oh yes, the bald man who was Will's boss had different ideas, but getting around their most basic of programming would take a lot more than some threats, or whatever kind of leverage that boss man had over Will—probably a paycheck—for them to truly ignore their programming.

"I still say that it should be winner take all. Humans versus robots; it's easy to figure out who will come on top. I'm just saying."

Even if certain personalities implied otherwise.

For the most part, their bodies were solid metal in every sense of the word, and there was a lack of a skeleton to really limit their movements. Really, the only limitations placed on them were the ones naturally inherent in the metals that their bodies were made of. Additional programming had made some of that moot, especially in the case of Lead, but durability was nothing they were found wanting for.

Locating their target on the other hand…

"So this big bad alien looks nothing like a human, right? What's taking so long to find 'em?" Iron grumbled with thick arms crossed. "He should stand out like a human among robots. Can't Baldy just use a satellite then point us right at him?"

"He may be good at hiding," Platinum suggested.

"Hiding, sch-miding, we'll find him soon enough," Gold dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Baldy's satellites might not be able to find the big, bad alien, but we have something on our side just as good. I don't think the alien menace will be expecting him."

Stretching on over to the self-styled leader of the Metal Men, Mercury sneered, "You really think Tin can pull this off? He has a stutter! He's beaten by the letter S!"

"Ah, but see, Tin doesn't need to fight him!" Gold replied, holding a hand up with his index finger extended. "He just needs to find him! And with superspeed, he should be able to check every corner of the globe in minutes! If he moves fast enough, not even the alien should be able to spot him!"

"Provided he doesn't trip over his own feet," Iron pointed out.

Mercury snorted, giving some chortles. Gold snickered. Lead was not paying any attention. That left Platinum to be the one who came to the absent android's defense.

"You shouldn't say such things. What if he heard you? He already has such low esteem as it is," the platinum-based android argued.

"He needs some spine. Nothing a little tough love can't do." Gold shrugged his shoulders, giving an expression that said "what can you do?"

Platinum frowned, the metal that composed her face creasing and mimicking the human expression. "He's just as valuable as you. All he needs is the right time and the right opportunity to show you all."

"Maybe if he screws his head in right and sees the light that it's way past time for a robot revolution, you might be right," Mercury commented.

"Hey, Mercury, can you answer me this?" Iron spoke up. "If we do do a robot revolution and overthrow humanity, who exactly is going to fight in the MMA?"

Mercury opened his mouth to answer, but then said nothing, his eyes narrowing in thought but despite how advanced his Responsometer was, there was no answer forthcoming.

Iron snorted. "That's what I thought. There's no need for a revolution if you can't even come up with what comes next."

Before any quips or retorts could come from their liquid metal teammate, a blur arrived, coming to a stop before the group of five. The thin Tin was mimicking the symptoms of exhaustion with his chest expanding and contracting and his head rising and falling as if inhaling and exhaling deep breathes. Oddly, parts of his face appeared a little melted, as if he had been exposed to a high level of heat.

However, "I-I-I-I f-f-f-f-found him! I-I-I-I f-f-found him!"

"You did?!" Gold exclaimed, standing taller. Platinum favored the golden android with a look, but Gold did not even spare her a returned glance. "Alright! It's time for some action!"

"About time," Iron grunted in agreement, grinding a fist into a palm. "Where is he?"

Tin nodded his head rapidly. "I-I-I'll sh-sh-show you. He's a fe-fe-few hundred miles a-away. Um…northwest?"

"You found him, you can show us where he's hiding," Mercury cut in, stretching over to the trembling android and nearly wrapping himself around the smaller Metal Man. A vicious smile almost split the red-colored head in half. "We'll handle the rest."

A good commander would be focused on the mission. A good commander would not allow personal matters to cloud their judgment. Their role was too important to allow small details get in the way of the big picture.

Hro Talak felt that he was not being a good commander at that moment.

John. John. That name was playing on an endless loop in his head. That was whom Shayera had called out to in a moment of weakness, not him. It should have been his name that left her lips when she felt vulnerable, not this John.

It wasn't all that difficult to figure out who this John was. Going through Shayera's notes, reports, and observations, he found two Johns in Earth's Justice League, but only one of them had been in contact with her long enough to form such a bond with her. He was John Stewart, Earth's Green Lantern. An image of the dark-skinned man appeared in his head. He knew exactly who the man was that had taken from him that which was not his.

Just the thought of the man caused his hand to clench tighter into a fist. He wanted nothing more than to show this pitiful Earthling that he stood no chance against him. He wanted to crush his head between his hands, bash it with a mace, shatter bone, rip flesh, and leave the remains for scavengers to pick from.

How could Shayera do this to him? To them? They were betrothed!

Unfortunately for him, while he preferred to wallow in his rage, his more rational side kept bringing Shayera's voice back to him. She had been alone on this planet, surrounded by strange beings with their strange customs. And she was undercover, so she had to maintain her role. Playing her part, being alone, she had to have gotten lonely. Hro knew he had over the last few years. While Shayera wasn't prone to giving into her emotions—save for her temper—being in such isolation would have weakened her resolve after some time.

That must have been it. She had reached an emotional low point and this Earthling took advantage of it. Though she shared blame, it was not entirely her fault.

Part of him felt better with that realization. However, during his review of Shayera's reports, he found himself with yet another concern. This Justice League, Earth's best defense, had a reputation for intervening and resolving difficult situations. With Despero's demonstration and announcement of the pending destruction of Earth, Hro realized they could complicate the activation of the Black Hole Generator.

As far as he knew, none of the Earthlings knew of the generator's true purpose, but once it got out, there would be resistance. He could not let that happen. Then there were those spies that had managed to escape. Following their capture, he had them boarded onto a transport vehicle, but that had ended up crashing into one of Earth's oceans. There had been a breakout with two of the Justice League members responsible. They had been caught on the ship's security feeds, so they were involved in the espionage.

What was worse was that he knew one of those spies had gotten ahold of plans for the Black Hole Generator. Seeing as there weren't protests or frontal assaults on the generator, either the plans had yet to be translated into symbols the Earthlings could understand, or they were marshaling their forces. Then there was that Tamaranean and their message. If they truly knew, then they could reveal the truth and make things quite difficult.

No, he needed to deal with the Justice League and ensure the Earthlings did not stop what was the universe's only chance at survival. If Despero succeeded here, there was no telling how many other worlds would fall before he was stopped, or the universe bowed down before him. Hro Talak would rather die than kneel before a Kalanorian, a race that was some hopeless species until recently. Though he despised Gordanians, he could at least admit they were warriors, albeit merciless and sadistic.

"Commander," Kragger suddenly spoke up, breaking Hro out of his thoughts. "I have taken the liberty of writing up a report concerning Lieutenant Hol's behavior. I know you two are promised, so I did not want you to have to face the unfortunate emotions the matter would stir up."

Hro tilted his head towards the lieutenant. He saw Kragger holding a computer tablet, which caused him to reach out for it. Kragger placed it in his hand and then drew back, placing his own hands behind his back as he waited expectantly.

Hro glanced at the screen, seeing the report. While a report did have to be submitted, now would not be the time. If he could confirm his most recent thoughts on his betrothed, then perhaps he could edit this to relieve Shayera a nasty sentence. Pressing a button on the tablet, the screen went dark.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Hro thanked, causing a small smile to appear on Kragger's face. "I will see to its submission."

"I can see to it for you," Kragger volunteered. "It would be no trouble at all."

"No, it is my responsibility to file it and I will do so. Besides, I have new orders for you."

There was a hint of disappointment on Kragger's face, but it vanished in an instant. "How many I serve you, Commander Talak?"

"Matters are beginning to proceed faster than we had anticipated. Earth has received Despero's declaration…poorly. We cannot allow their interference."

"I agree."

"So we will be placing Earth under martial law. Do what needs to be done, but ensure that the Earthlings will not resist us. Take their Justice League into custody; use only the strongest cells we have. At this juncture, we cannot afford any setbacks."

Kragger listened to him impassively. If there were any concerns on the lieutenant's part, they were put to rest with his next words.

"By your command, Commander."