Call it what you want. Chaos, hysteria, pandemonium, but all it was to be expected the second an alien military commander declared martial law on the whole planet. Nobody was having it, and the first to be the loudest were the ones threatening this latest alien menace with the use of nuclear weapons.

Specifically, Russia was the first to be loudest with its threats. It was also the first to backtrack when the Thanagarians paid them a personal visit with the threat of their weaponry. China didn't get the memo, though, and tried to marshall its armed forces for an obvious seizure of the global defense shield under construction in the Gobi, but the rout there was so efficient that current intelligence agencies were making reevaluations of Chinese military might as a result. At least the President's advisors kept him from making his own threats before that went down, otherwise America would have had its turn.

Oh, their citizens were making their objections, either through protests or online comment sections. The protests were broken up horrifically quickly, and with a speed any dictator would envy. Guns were inevitably brought up, and those bearing them soon found them melting in their own hands.

No good guy with a gun was going to save the day this time.

But if you thought these various methods of putting humanity down and underfoot was brining everyone to a standstill, think again. Director Bordeaux was under no illusion that every single agency in the country was hard at work trying to figure out a solution to overthrow this unlawful and down right criminal act that Hro Talak was enacting. A.R.G.U.S. was scrambling, and at least their agents had the common sense to keep their heads down while they secure all their most sensitive sites.

Within the hour, she had heard the confirmations that the Red Room, the Black Room, and even the Circus were all secure, no Thanagarian effort to seize these locations reported. With their most valuable assets secure and the other confirmations to be coming in at any moment, the A.R.G.U.S. director set about giving her agency a new task.

"First and foremost, ignore any and all chatter coming from Washington, especially if they had the title of Secretary, Senator, or Representative. I will handle the President. Second, I want everyone working on how to resolve this martial law situation. I highly doubt our benevolent savoirs here are going to be willing to negotiate their new position."

A fist slammed down on the conference table, and everyone was looking to the man responsible. "They can't do this!" Gunn roared loudly. "They have no right! This is our country, our planet, Goddamn it!"

"And they don't care," Trevor cut in, his voice even and calm.

"How about we get our own damn nukes—"

"And end up like Russia? Yeah, that really worked out well for them." There was some snark from Trevor there, but that didn't mean he was wrong. "We gotta be smart about this, otherwise we're the next example. Let's not do that."

"We need to do an inventory," Bordeaux stated. "With the Red Room secure, we can start there. What technology do we have that can give the Thanagarians pause and give us a position to negotiate?"

"Is that smart?" Now Trevor was turning his objections to her. "We don't know everything that tech can do in there. It's all still being researched and tinkered with. Some of it isn't even from this planet."

"But we've been getting interesting results. The last time someone went in there and used that technology, we got the world's first cyborg," Bordeaux retorted. "Right now, we don't have the luxury of learning every single detail of that tech. All we need to know is what it does, how to use it, and will it make the Thanagarians blink."

She scanned the boardroom, looked over each and every person who was able to make it, then glared into the various monitors where those who couldn't physically be there watched. The gravity of the situation was clear, and action was desperately needed.

"How about we take out that World Engine? Wouldn't that make them blink?" someone asked.

Bordeaux zeroed in on the individual who had spoken up. "According to the last report, we're just beginning to figure out how to turn it on. Second, the Thanagarians also want it; just because they haven't been bugging us doesn't mean they've changed their minds about it. Putting it out into the open as is would just be inviting them, or the Green Lanterns to take it."

Turning to one of the monitor screens, she continued, "Make sure it remains secure and push that green alien as much as you can. We need to know everything about it."

She didn't wait for a response. Waller would take it from there.

"We don't have a lot of time. Get to work. If anyone comes up with any idea to resolve this, speak up now or as soon as possible. Effectively, the United States is under foreign occupation and will be treated as such. Our jobs now will be to correct this. Now let's figure out how we're going to do it before it gets worse."


This was unexpected.

Being able to enter the minds of every living being gave Despero the ultimate advantage. He always knew what others were thinking, so he was never surprised. When it came to assassins, he could sense their malicious intentions and ready himself.

That he wasn't able to detect these newcomers was most unexpected and irritating.

As he stood outside of his ship in the wooded clearing, six figures emerged from the forest, each one a different color.

"Despero!" a gold-colored human proclaimed, pointing a finger at him. "Your reign of terror comes to an end!"

"Way to lay it on thick, Gold," a metal-colored man grumbled, which caused the gold one to look annoyed.

"Not now," a female reprimanded. "We have our target in sight. If we work together, we can defeat him."

"And what devilry are you?" Despero questioned as he faced…six of these creatures. He was already probing their minds, but for whatever reason he could not. There were no thoughts, no emotions to sense.

The gold one puffed out his chest. "We are the Metal Men! Designed for the sole purpose of defeating you!"

"B-b-b-but I-I-I t-thought we-we-we w-were de-de-designed for r-r-rescue o-operations," a frail-looking boy stammered.

"Shush," a red one hissed. "The adults are speaking, Tin. Now get with the program and let's kill this guy."

"Of course," Gold agreed. "Lead, if you would do the honors."

A gray one, this supposed Lead, suddenly charged at Despero. He was the largest of this humanoid group, though the look in his eyes were glazed and dull. Closing in on the Kalanorian, it raised a fist and then threw it at his head. In response, Despero raised up his own arm and blocked the blow.

A force hit him, surprising the large Kalanorian. His feet dug into the ground, leaving small trenches in their wake as he slid across it. There was some strength behind that punch, as astonishing as it was to admit it. Using his blocking arm to shove away Lead's fist, Despero threw his own punch, landing it on the dull man's head.

Incredibly, it didn't flinch. In fact, Despero's fist ricocheted right off of it, a pounding sensation throbbing through his knuckles. It didn't even look fazed.

"My turn!" the red one shouted as its torso suddenly stretched, causing its upper body to rise up into the air. Holding one arm up, flames erupted all over it before it pointed the appendage right at the Kalanorian. The fire then blasted towards him, washing over his pink flesh. Instinctively, he raised his closest arm to the blaze and used it to shield his face.

Which left him wide open for the punch Lead slammed right into his face. Unlike his punch, Lead's knocked Despero back, causing him to stumble. Wincing it from it, Despero did his best to keep his eyes cracked open, which allowed him to see Lead throwing another punch at him. Thankfully the fire stopped at that moment.

As the punch was thrown, Despero reacted. Lashing out with his hands, he grabbed onto the wrist of Lead's arm, his other hand cramming itself into this humanoid's axillary. Pulling down on the wrist while lifting up at the underside of the shoulder, he lifted Lead off of the ground and then threw him through the air, sending the dull being flying headfirst into the trees. It crashed into the first one it hit, breaking right through it, and causing the tree to begin falling down towards the other colored humanoids.

Immediately, the frail-looking one bolted, though much to Despero's surprise, it used superspeed. The others watched the tree fall towards them, right until the iron one raised a hand up and a green beam fired from it. The moment the beam hit the falling tree, it stopped it, a green aura wrapping around it.

That…that was just like the Green Lantern ring. Despero narrowed his eyes. What the hell was going on here?

Without warning, the iron one swung his arm and sent the tree hurling towards Despero. Scowling, the Kalanorian bent his knees before he launched himself up into the air, leaping on top of the glowing tree. The moment his feet touched down on it, the red humanoid suddenly stretched up in front of him. "Surprise, meat bag!" it shouted as it launched fire right into this face.

Despero roared as he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the searing pain on his face. The coordination of these attacks were getting better, or perhaps he was just realizing them. However, he was blinded so he didn't see so much as feel the tree beneath his feet disappear, only to be hit by the same tree. Apparently the humanoid with the green power ring had lowered the three down before swinging it straight up.

The force that hit him sent Despero flying high up into the air. Forcing his eyes open, he was just in time to see the female shooting above even him. She held both hands in front of her, a bright glow appearing before them.

Then a blast of energy was fired and Despero was carried by it back down to the ground. The moment he hit the dirt, the blast detonated, exploding with a concussive force he had not expected. His ears were ringing from the explosion.

That did not stop him from hearing the voice of Gold call out, "Great teamwork, guys. Now let me get in on this." Smoke was blocking his vision as Despero laid in a small crater. Shoving himself up, he felt himself wobble before regaining his balance. This was most unexpected.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed before his eyes, instantly stocking him. Despero couldn't help but cry out as the voltage overwhelmed him. Then, as suddenly as it struck him, it stopped, allowing him to drop to one knee, smoke wafting off of his body.

"We've got this in the bag!" the maniacal voice of the red humanoid cheered. "Let's kill the meat bag! Let's kill all of the meat bags!"

Slowly, the dirt and smoke around Despero dissipated, allowing him to see his attackers. Anger was growing within the Kalanorian. It wasn't often he was forced to one knee, but he found himself in that position now. "What are you?" he growled.

"As I told you, we are the Metal Men!" the gold one replied. "I'm Gold, the leader. My teammates are Iron and Platinum, Mercury and Tin, and the one you threw into the tree was Lead."

Despero's eyes darted from each humanoid. Those were all metals, so based off of that, he was able to figure out which humanoid was which. These powers though; they weren't the strongest he had ever encountered, but when used in conjunction, they were quite potent.

This would be interesting.

The iron one went on the offensive then. From its forehead, a violent beam was fired. Seeing it coming, Despero clasped his hands together and held them to one side. Waiting until the right moment, he then swung them from one side to the other, striking the beam and redirecting it.

The beam was heading right for the tin humanoid, but without much trouble, it darted out of the way, leaving the beam to blow a hole through a tree. At that moment, Mercury rushed towards him, his upper body stretching at its mid-torso to close in on him while its legs held its ground.

Seeing it coming, Despero fired a beam from his third eye, seeing it hit the red being right in the chest. Like so many other times, the beam ripped right through its body, causing it to stop. However, Mercury just looked down at the hole in its chest before jerking its head up to glare at the Kalanorian.

Much to his surprise, the hole began to fill in removing any sign of damage that had been there. "That wasn't nice, meat bag," it seethed before it held up its other arm and a blast of ice fired from him. It hit Despero on the forehead, ice forming all across it and his third eye.

"Gyahhh!" Despero cried as he felt the chill invade his head. Platinum took advantage of this by firing another powerful beam at him. Seeing it at the last possible moment, Despero shot both of his arms up, crossing them in front of them, his only defense as the beam hit and then exploded all over him. Thrown backwards, Despero hurled through the air.

And right into the sturdy body of Lead. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere—even with it being in a completely different location to begin with—Lead was suddenly behind him, Despero crashing into him. It was like hitting an unbreakable wall, the Kalanorian bouncing off of the humanoid and crumpling to the ground. Wincing, he turned his head to look up at the towering man, spotting the Tin man nearby.

So that was how it was. Tin had used its speed to bring Lead to this location. This coordination was truly impressive.

Lead then raised both of his hands above its head, clasping them together. He then swung them down, a jackhammer blow ready to pulverize. Despero quickly rolled onto his back so that he could cross his arms once again to block the blow.

The moment it hit, the ground crumbled beneath his back, causing him to sink into it. Undeterred, Lead brought its clasped hands above its head before swinging it back down. Over and over, it pounded on him, forcing Despero deeper and deeper into the earth.

Alright, I've had enough of this.

Purple flames erupted around Despero. The ice on his forehead broke into pieces before evaporating in an instant. This caused Lead to hesitate in its attack, staring down at him with its hands over its head.

Uncrossing his arms, Despero pointed his hands point blank at Lead. Py'tar's flames flowed forth, blasting right into Lead's body. It was lifted right off of the ground, carried high into the air. A dull cry came from the humanoid's lips as it was sent away. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." The moment Despero stopped the flow of purple fire, he was able to watch Lead flying further and further away until it began to fall, dropping out of sight thanks to the top of the trees.

Forcing himself back onto his feet, Despero glared at the Tin man. Immediately, it bolted away—a wise decision.

Suddenly, electricity struck him from one side, but unlike the first time, the bolts danced across the Py'tar aura surrounding him, not even touching his flesh. Turning his head to regard Gold, he then raised a hand up, purple flames racing out towards its target. Seeing them coming, Gold dove to one side to avoid them, going into a roll that ended with him on his feet. As for Despero's attack, it struck a tree, enveloping it as it was set on fire.

Iron then attacked, firing a large green beam at him. Seeing it coming, Despero then surged forward, allowing the blast to swallow him whole. He kept running through, not slowed down in the slightest as Py'tar protected him.

Parts of his body erupted out of the beam the moment he reached Iron. Though his head, shoulders and arms were visible, the majority of his chest was still bathed in the green beam. Iron looked alarmed as Despero emerged from his attack on scathed, throwing a fist right for his face.

Unlike the punch to Lead, the one that struck Iron went exactly how he expected it to. Iron's head snapped to one side before he was launched backwards through the air. He slammed into a tree, bursting right through it. The trees behind the first one met the same fate as Iron crashed through them without seemingly slowing down. It was several moments before a large cloud of dirt was launched high into the air, indicating where Iron had finally come to a stop.

"You're wide open, meat bag!" Mercury shouted as it suddenly wrapped itself around him. Coils of its red body spun around before they tightened, pinning Despero's arms to his sides. "I hope you're ready for a high dose of mercury poisoning!" he crowed.

In response, Despero flared his aura, which forced the coils of mercury to pull away from his body. Immediately, Despero threw a punch, one that sunk right into Mercury's body. It surrounded his fist much like a liquid, which the Kalanorian found surprising.

And then he felt something solid brush against his knuckles.

Immediately, Despero grabbed at it, feeling something the size of a ball against his palm. Mercury's eyes widened as fear graced his face. "Let go of that!" it screamed. "That's not—"

Despero yanked his hand out, pulling out a metal orb. In an instant, Mercury lost its form. Red liquid rained down on the ground, staining every blade of grass and clump of dirt it touched. For a moment, Despero felt puzzled at the sight of it before he looked at the device he held.

"Mercury!" Platinum cried out. "He killed Mercury!"

Despero ignored the anguish as he studied the device he held. It wasn't anything he had ever seen before, but he was starting to realize that these humanoids were not entirely human. Artificial life was the best to describe it.

"I wonder," he spoke loud enough for the rest of these Metal Men to hear him. "Do all of you have this same device within you? How hard will I have to hit you in order to drag them out of your bodies?"

"R-r-run!" Tin cried out before it raced away.

"We can't run!" Gold shouted after his fleeing comrade. "We must complete our mission!"

"We just lost Mercury!" Platinum shot back. "We need to regroup! While we still can!"

"Assuming I let you go," Despero amended for them. "Here is your chance to try."

Gold glanced from his female comrade to the Kalanorian and back. Finally, "Retreat! Everyone, get out of here!"

The present Metal Man bolted into the woods. Despero watched them before he held up his empty hand. A rush of purple flames launched out, washing over the trees, and setting them on fire. If they were able to survive this, then they could live. If they didn't…well, that was their fate.

Once more, Despero found himself glancing down to the metal orb he held. It seemed he had found something intriguing on this planet at long last.


Thanagarians soared through the air. Their space vessels passed overhead every so often, lights flooding out of lamps on their bottoms. On the ground was Thanagar's version of a tank. They honestly looked like their flying counterparts, except they only hovered over the ground perhaps a couple of feet and had a long cannon turret. Thanagarian guards perked on the roving hovercrafts as they drove up and down city streets.

As Diana peered around the corner of an alleyway, keeping herself hidden in shadows, she spotted an approaching tank and immediately signaled for the others to take cover. Seeking cover behind a nearby set of trash cans, she crouched behind them.

Light soon flooded the alleyway, holding still for a couple of moments, then moved on, filling the alley with darkness again. Peering out from her cover, Diana quickly moved to the alley's mouth and looked out, seeing the tank moving further away.

Looking behind her then, she saw Superman, Green Lantern, and Flash emerge from behind a dumpster. Superman and Flash seemed to stumble, their footsteps heavy, almost difficult for them. John, on the other hand, was at her side in an instant. "Is it clear?" he questioned.

"Almost," the Amazon replied. After being teleported off of the Watchtower, this was how her and her fellow comrades had been spending their time, ducking in and out of alleyways, avoiding the Thanagarian patrols. Her skills as a huntress were allowing them to stay one step ahead, but it was only a matter of time before they were spotted.

If it came to a confrontation, only she and John could put up a fight. Superman and Flash had been hit with what they were assuming were a gravity ray gun. That's how Flash explained it anyway since he claimed to have felt such effects before. It made sense since the two men were moving so sluggishly still.

They were battling a ticking clock, however, and they needed to find some sort of shelter, one that would allow them time to rest and figure out what the hell they were going to do. Most of the League had been captured, Shayera was out of communication, or doing as her people told her, and Batman and J'onn were missing—at least she hoped they were missing. As far as she knew, they had been on the Watchtower when it had been invaded. Whether they got off or not was debatable, but she trusted that between the two heroes, they would have found a way off.

"Go, go!" John hissed and Diana darted out into the street, leaving her thoughts behind her. She positioned herself halfway through the street, John taking the lead into an alley directly across the street from the one they had just exited. Superman and Flash tried their best to hurry, stumbling the entire way, but thankfully reached sanctuary. Diana followed right behind them soon after.

"Damn, I'm getting tired of this," Flash moaned. "How many different alleys are we going to duck into?"

"As many as it takes," John retorted as he ventured further into this new alleyway. Eventually, it forced them to take a sharp left turn; however, when John made the turn, he came to an abrupt stop. "Damn," he cursed.

"What is it?" Superman asked as he lumbered towards him. Diana maneuvered her way around her slower moving friends, reaching the Green Lantern first.

She quickly realized what had caused John's response. The alley's turn came to an abrupt stop a short distance away—a dead end. There were a couple of doors that led into the surrounding buildings and a fire escape at the very end of the alley that led up to a roof. They were going to have to hope that one of those doors was unlocked so that they didn't leave any evidence behind of them breaking in.

Heading to one door, the moment she turned the door handle, she knew it was locked. That was one down. She then promptly headed to another, spotting John heading to the last one. Unfortunately, all of the doors were locked.

"So now what?" Flash asked. "Do we force a door open, or do we head back the way we came and find a different alley?"

"We're not going back," John declared. "We'd just risk more exposure that way." Returning his attention to the locked door he had checked, he raised up his ring. He formed a lock pick construct, inserting the pieces into the lock and began trying to pick it.

"Better be quick about that," Flash remarked. "That green light is gonna give away our location if this takes long."

"Sorry, I'm out of practice with lock picking," John grunted with annoyance.

"Bats would have been done by now."

"Enough, Flash," Superman interjected before a heated argument began. Though Flash was right that Bruce would have successfully picked the lock in short order, he wasn't there to do it, so it was a moot point. "We're all on edge, but the last thing we need to do is pick on one another."

"Almost…there…" John spoke, still hard at work.

"Yeah, I know," Flash replied. "I just hate all of this, alright? I feel like we're being hunted down like animals."

He wasn't wrong. For someone that usually tracked down criminals, it was a reversal he was unfamiliar with. Diana could relate. However, before she could attempt to pacify the speedster, a bead of light suddenly appeared on the wall of the alley's dead end. Had she not been looking in that direction, she would have missed it.

For a moment, it just glowed an incandescent light. Then it began to grow bigger, the light taking on a blue tint as it swirled larger and larger. It was almost as if it were making one long coil that wrapped around itself, widening its border with every pass. Eventually, it stood as tall as a man and as wide as one as well. The light dimmed for a moment as the silhouette of a person suddenly appeared within it.

"Oh, great, what now?" John growled as he stopped his lock picking, moving to take point between the League and the glowing light. "This we don't need."

Diana was of the same mind, a hand already grasping her Lasso of Truth. In an instant, she was ready to lash out with it.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you guys?"

That voice! Diana recognized it immediately, relief flooding her. It took a moment for the person's figure to become more substantive, but soon she was staring right at Zatanna Zatara, her top hat and fishnet stockings a sight for sore eyes.

"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you," Flash greeted. "Please, tell me you know how to pick locks."

John sent a scowl over his shoulder at the red-clad man, Zatanna just smiling at him. "I can do you one better," she told him. "I can take you all to a place none of these Thanagarians will find you. It's not as isolated as the Tower of Fate, but it'll do in a pinch."

"Then I for one am all for it." Flash began to stumble over towards the magician. "Are you going to snap your fingers and teleport us, or what?"

Zatanna just took a step to one side, placing a hand on her hip while the other she gestured to the light behind her. "Step through my portal and we'll be on our way."

There wasn't any need for further convincing. The remaining Justice League members walked to Zatanna's portal, passing through it as they entered a world of bright light.

That world darkened until they found themselves standing outside of what was best described as a haunted house. It towered over them all, dark, gloomy, and gothic. Rows of windows covered the buildings' face, though it seemed the glass was either cracked, or broken. It was clearly in a state of disrepair as the brick and mortar was chipped and cracked. Surrounding them was an overrun courtyard, vegetation trying to reclaim every last square inch. An iron gate separated them from the surrounding forest that gave off an ominous feel.

"Sooo, why are we standing in front of the Addams Family house?" Flash asked as he stared at the building.

"You're not that far off," Zatanna responded as she closed the portal behind them, sauntering towards a stone staircase that led up to a set of wooden doors. "Everyone, allow me to introduce you to the House of Mystery."


It had been a spontaneous thought, really. The Titans had needed a place to hide, and unfortunately, there hadn't been an effort to put a safehouse or two in the city itself. Oh sure, there was that little niche Oracle had set up for him a long time ago, but to fit eight people in there for an indefinite amount of time? No way.

No, what they needed was a place that eight teenagers could be fed and housed with a minimal amount of disruption. Easier said than done, but if you took out the disruption part…

What had he been thinking? Seriously. What had he been thinking? Obviously he hadn't and from the looks Cassie had been giving him, it seemed everything had gone full circle.

Practically all available couch space was taken up. The TV was on, practically every channel talking about Thanagar's declaration of martial law, Despero on the lam, and the Justice League nowhere to be found or being of help. So many bodies were tense, and for once there wasn't a lot of noise from them.

"If I had known you all would be coming, I would have stocked up some more groceries. You kids still like chicken nuggets, right?" Janet Drake asked mildly.

Only one of three not standing, Victor gave a sigh and answered, "Nuggets are fine."

From where he wasn't slumping on a couch, instead leaning forward with his elbows planted on his legs, Garfield looked up hopefully and asked, "Do you have any made of soy?"

"I'll have to check," the Drake matriarch said.

The only adult that wasn't standing was Jack Drake, and his recliner was the only seat that no one else here was going to claim merely because the Drake patriarch was using it. "None of this is going to fly," the man said, his eyes trained on the TV. "Those aliens have no idea what can of worms they're opening. Also, I don't think we keep any vegetarian stuff here. You might have to make do."

Terra patted the sullen shapeshifter, and it was a mild distraction for Tim, who was pointedly not wearing his uniform. His parents still had no idea what he was moonlighting as a vigilante, and he meant to keep it that way. The T.I.T.A.N. Initiative was paying dividends; his folks only saw him as an intern who kept the various superpowered teens down to earth, which was why there were not a lot of questions when he suddenly showed up with the team in tow.

Then again, by then, the martial law was the talk of everything, and no one could say a Drake wasn't smart.

The only other person here who wasn't costumed was Cassie, also using the intern position as a guise, though how helpful it was, who could say. So far no one had made the connection yet, and her pictures as Wonder Girl hadn't found their way to the internet either. That last one was no accident.

Oh, he had been given knowing smirks, someone enjoying the turnaround. Tim was reminded how he had crammed everyone into her house once upon a time, in another lifetime it felt.

From where she sat, Kori looked guilt-ridden. "I am most terribly sorry about these events. This is not giving the extraterrestrial reputation on this planet a good appearance."

"It's not your fault," Tim told her. "These are new as…new aliens who probably were hiding their true intentions this whole time. We'll figure out how in time, but for right now we need to keep a low profile."

Dad shifted in his seat, his eyes finally off the TV, but now on his son. Not the kind of attention he wanted right now. "You're not thinking about picking a fight with these aliens, are you?"

Tim successfully stifled a sigh, though now he had several other pairs of eyes on him. The ones that seemed to burn into him the most belonged to Raven, and he did his best to ignore it. "Dad, this is the kind of thing…they are preparing themselves to fight. It's what the Initiative's about, you know." It had taken an effort of will to say "they" instead of "we." That would have brought up a lot of uncomfortable questions.

"Kids your age should be enjoying life," the Drake patriarch remarked, shifting back into his recliner. "But I do understand that when you hear the call of duty, you step up or you don't. Are you sure any of you can fight off an alien occupation? If the Justice League couldn't stop it, perhaps the best thing any of you can do is to lie low."

"It's not so bad," Bart said dismissively, waving a hand flippantly. "I've seen a couple things like these before. No real biggie."

Jack Drake frowned, then looked to the young speedster. "Since when have you seen anything like this?"

"Very long story," the speedster answered. "Short version, from the future, and there's a lot going on in the future if you ask me."

This was the time to tell Bart to shut up—shut up!—but Tim was one of the ones standing, and he was placed practically on the other side of the living room. Fortunately, Raven happened to be sitting right beside the blabbermouth, and with a casualness that implied this was not her first or even hundredth time, she jabbed an elbow right into Bart's ribs and got an interesting, twisting reaction out of the teen from the future.

"Perhaps you should keep that to yourself," she drawled.

Blinking dumbly at the hood-and-cloak-wearing girl, Bart asked, "Why?" Then the proverbial lightbulb lit up inside of his head. "Oh yeah, space-time continuum thing. Gotcha."

"You're a very interesting lot, aren't you?" Dad remarked, an eyebrow raised.

"You have no idea," Victor confirmed.

Awkward. This was so awkward. What had he been thinking? Oh wait, he hadn't. This had been a spur of the moment idea, and no wonder Raven was on his case about stepping up to be a leader. This, on top of everything else.

"So…Tim," Cassie began, leaning up against the back of his dad's recliner and he could practically feel the shit-eating grin aimed right at him. He could also tell she was holding back from using his nickname, Red, thus the pause. "How are we going to do sleep? Is your bedroom big enough for all of us?"

This was payback, and he was really beginning to empathize with the early days Cassie right now.

"We'll get something figured out," Dad said, coming to his rescue. His old man then glanced upwards to the blonde teen and continued, "Say, since you're an intern as well, maybe we can spread out the load. Some stay here, some stay at yours. What's your mother's number? Maybe we can come up with something."

Instantly Cassie's schadenfreude evaporated. Huh, so that's where Tim got it from.