Hunters of Justice

by trestwho

Remnant has fallen, its cities captured and its greatest defenders defeated at the hands of the alien conqueror, Brainiac. In the aftermath of his victory, the people of Remnant's last hope lies in the hands of two teams of students, whisked away to another world. A world where Gods walk among them.

70. Being Human

Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)

Chapter 52: Being Human

December 26th, 5:02 PM (Gulf Time)

USS Samuel Lane, Arabian Sea

When Luke Fox was brought into a top secret government black ops team, he honestly expected things to be much more intense. Soldiers always liked to speculate about the activities of special operations troops, the missions they completed, the targets they were up against, the tools they got to use. They were the closest thing the military had to actual superheroes, and they captured everyone's attention. It seemed as though every deployment had at least one guy claiming that either he went on or knew someone who went on one of these missions. Their claims were always pulled out of their asses. Half the time the stories sounded like something out of a James Bond movie. The other soldiers got a kick out of it, though, and from time to time even he joined in on the speculation, just in a more realistic way. But now that he was actually part of one, he was finding it far off from even his wildest expectations.

Mostly because, so far, it was incredibly routine and almost boring.

"Now then," Colonel Rick Flagg spoke up, addressing the rest of the A.R.G.U.S. team as he stood in front of a projected screen on a wall, "as I'm certain all of you are aware, Bagram Air Base was not the only location where US troops were attacked by the Grimm on December 8th. We suffered attacks across the entire region. Fortunately, the other incursions weren't as intense and concentrated as they were at Bagram, and as such we were able to mount a more effective defense from the onset. This reduced casualties and allowed the Pentagon to obtain highly valuable combat data about our weapons and their effectiveness against the Grimm. Data they have shared with us."

The screen behind Flagg changed, prompting Luke and the others to open their specially marked manilla folders that contained copies of the data shown. Flagg continued, "Unfortunately, it appears that the standard-issue M4A1 carbines and their 5.56 NATO cartridges are largely ineffective against the Grimm. Particularly their bone armor."

"I can attest to that," Luke spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "I emptied an entire magazine into one of those camel-things, Dromedons you called them?"

"Correct," Flagg confirmed. "According to the information we've gathered, Bagram Air Base was attacked by a horde of Dromedons, Sulfur Fish, Nevermores, and Ravagers."

Luke nodded, then added, "Yeah. In any case, regular bullets didn't do a damn thing to them. Had to blow them up with grenades or explosives. Either that or break through their armor with concentrated fire. Our weapons were more effective against soft-targets, but not by much. Honestly, Violet and her halos were the most effective thing we had against the Grimm. Without her, we'd all be dead."

Sitting next to him, Violet shrunk under the praise and the attention everyone was directing towards her. When Tatsu Yamashiro gently placed her hand on her shoulder, Violet seemed to calm down, allowing the meeting to continue uninterrupted.

"By all accounts, that was a common experience with soldiers outfitted with our standard kit," Flagg stated. "But, fortunately, not all of our soldiers were equipped with standard-issue gear. As part of the Army's ongoing Next Generation Squad Weapons program, experimental weapons chambered in 6.8mm rounds were sent out to our soldiers for battlefield testing. One of our battlegroups was completely equipped, and we were moving onto the second when the Grimm attacked. We never had time to get to yours, Lieutenant."

Colonel Flagg gave Luke a stoic, sympathetic frown, and Luke nodded back. That was when Christopher Smith raised his hand, and when Flagg nodded towards the Peacemaker he asked, "Am I correct in assuming that the new rounds were more effective?"

"Correct, as were the specialty Anti-Grimm munitions developed by LexCorp," Flagg revealed. "There was a noticeable increase in armor-penetration capabilities, thereby increasing the weapons' lethality against the Grimm. Larger targets, such as the Dromedons, still required a combined arms approach to take down quickly. In any case, given the purpose of our mission, the Pentagon has seen fit to outfit us with prototype NGSW weapons. They arrived this morning, and we will be familiarizing ourselves with these weapons until our first deployment."

"What about stopping power? The Grimm don't have any internal organs. Ones that do anything, at least," Yamashiro pointed out. "That makes it more difficult to kill them."

"Luckily, even though the Grimm don't have any biological systems that we are used to, their bodies are only able to sustain so much damage," Flagg revealed. "You pump them full of enough holes, they go down like everyone else. Just don't expect them to care about wounds all that much. Or bleeding out, or toxins, or anything of that nature. Basically, you don't stop shooting them until they turn into mist."

"I can get behind that," Smith noted with a crisp nod, writing notes on a piece of paper with a pencil. "What's the best place to shoot? Head, heart, glowing bits…their butt?"

Luke and Yamashiro groaned and hung their heads at Smith's question. Flagg was noticeably annoyed, but Violet was just perplexed. She looked at Smith then asked, "Why would their butts be a weak spot?"

"I don't know, they're aliens. Technically," Smith declared as though it was obvious as he looked around at everyone. "Aliens have a butt thing going on."

"They do not have a butt thing," Yamashiro countered as she slowly looked up to give their fellow teammate an unamused glare, but Smith shook his head.

"Superman does," he revealed, then he leaned over to look at Luke, smiled, and said, "Word is Superman's an ass-man, and he's an alien."

"He is?" Violet innocently asked, and when Smith eagerly nodded Luke decided to step in.

"First off, I'm fairly certain that's not true," Luke began. "Second, where did you even learn that?"

Smith almost seemed offended at Luke's questioning, then he confidently answered, "Google."

Luke and the others stared flatly at Smith, except for Violet who just looked unsure. The room was silent, then Flagg coughed into his fist and regained everyone's attention. Taking a deep breath, Flagg picked up where he left off and said, "To answer your question, Smith, head and chest shots appear to be the most effective at putting down the Grimm."

Smith nodded, jotting the information down before letting the others keep going. Luke kept staring at Smith for a few more moments, then returned his attention back to Colonel Flagg. As he listened to all the information being given about the Grimm, the tactics, weapons, and equipment they would be using, and their targets, Luke also thought about the people he was working with. It had only been a few weeks, but being stuck inside a single Zumwalt-class destroyer for all that time meant he had plenty of opportunities to get to know them. Both the ground team and the support personnel that would be assisting them from the confines of the Samuel Lane.

Colonel Rick Flagg, so far, had proven to be someone worthy of Luke's respect. The man was a legend in the US military community. Served in the Darkseid War, Afghanistan, Iraq, and dozens of other places that they weren't even allowed to talk about. Flagg was one of the most decorated soldiers Luke had ever seen, and while he had this air of professionalism around him, Luke was also able to tell that he was genuinely a good man. A man more than willing to get his hands dirty in the service of his country, but one who cared about his team and protecting those in harm's way. Luke was looking forward to serving under him. Couldn't say the same thing about his boss, though, but Flagg seemed to share that opinion about Amanda Waller.

Tatsu Yamashiro was actually someone that Luke was fairly familiar with before this mission began. Not personally, but he had heard of the infamous Katana and her exploits against the criminal underworld. Yakuza, mobsters, drug cartels, Katana had carved a bloody path through all of them and left only bodies in her wake. One time she even found herself in Gotham City, where she ended up coming into conflict with the Batman when she started going after Salvatore Maroni. Luke didn't know how, exactly, that conflict turned out nor who won, but by the end the two of them wound up as allies and helped shut down Maroni's entire drug smuggling operation before she left on relatively good terms. How she and Colonel Flagg met remained to be seen, but Luke had no issues with having her on the team.

The same could not be said for Christopher Smith, the so-called Peacemaker. The man was certainly skilled enough in combat to earn his position. He was the best shot in the entire team, and the specialized weapons and tools he brought to the table were highly effective. Smith also had a keen tactical awareness. In all honesty, Peacemaker was probably the most physically imposing member of the ground team. There were no doubts that he could hold his own in a firefight, but it was his personality that Luke took the most issue with. The man was, to put it plainly, an arrogant douchebag, completely full of himself and lacking the self-reflection to realize how annoying he was to literally everyone else. Not out of malice, but the sheer ignorance that he casually displayed was almost awe-inspiring, such as his outrageous claims about superheroes that had no basis in reality. Luke also got the sense that he wasn't entirely all there, making Luke stay on guard when around him.

But Luke couldn't focus on that. While he had his misgivings, he had learned to put up with people he didn't necessarily like all throughout his military career. This was no exception. He'd learn to live with Peacemaker, and perhaps in time his opinion might change. He doubted it, though, but only time would tell.

Soon, Flagg dismissed the team from the conference room, directing them to the armory so that they could get their hands on the newly obtained weapons. They passed by several technicians and engineers, respectfully giving them enough berth so as to not impede their progress. At first, the walk was in relative silence, which Luke was perfectly fine with. But, after a few moments, Smith decided to speak up.

"So, Katana, I have to ask," Smith began as he eyed Yamashiro, who idly shifted her gaze to look at him, "are you planning on going out there with just that sword of yours, or are you actually going to use the guns we're getting?"

"Why do you ask?" Yamashiro asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Don't get me wrong, it's a badass sword, but…don't you think it's a bit limiting?"

Yamashiro scoffed, then declared, "I have fought with Soultaker by my side for many years. Never once has it proved inadequate in dispatching my foes, either living or otherwise. There is no reason for me to believe that this will be any different."

Smith looked at her for a moment with a contemplative stare, then nodded and replied, "I can respect that. It's kind of the same for me with my pistol. The little guy's helped me take out more bad guys than I can count."

Yamashiro glanced at him as she kept walking, but otherwise didn't respond. Not wanting the conversation to end, Smith cleared his throat and revealed, "One time, I was going after these terrorists in Iraq. They'd been responsible for a series of suicide bombings in the region over the past few weeks. Maybe thirty of them, in total, armed with AKs and RPGs while I just had my pistol. Just strolled in there and took them all out without breaking a sweat."

Yamashiro nodded at that, while Luke was somewhat disturbed at the satisfaction Smith exuded from the loss of life. She then replied, "In Tokyo, I investigated a yakuza group for months. They were engaging in human trafficking, robberies, extortion. One night, I snuck in through the skylight and took down every single one of them without them even knowing I was there."

"Stealth op, impressive," Smith said with a crisp nod. He then added, "Done that a few times. Once I had to infiltrate this far-right militia group in the Pacific northwest. Stayed there for months gathering evidence that they were planning on some insane attempt to overthrow the government. Up until I blew up their entire compound, they never suspected a thing."

When Yamashiro began to reply to that, Luke couldn't help but let out a groan as he realized what they were doing. Violet, watching the back and forth with confusion, tugged at his arm and asked, "What are they doing?"

"They're trying to one up each other," Luke answered as he shook his head and sighed. It wasn't the first time this had happened between Smith and another member of the team. Luke got the sense that Smith genuinely believed that this was a form of team bonding, but he could see that Yamashiro was simply humoring him.

"I use a bunch of different types of ammunition for my weapons, all for different tasks," Smith boasted. "Incendiary, explosive. Tried making a shock round once, didn't turn out too well."

"I don't need any of that," Yamashiro dismissed. "Soultaker trapping the souls of those I kill is more than enough."

"Yeah, well…" Smith struggled for a moment, then claimed, "my…helmet does that."

That caused Flagg to finally look in Smith's direction, and with no small amount of amusement in his voice, he asked, "Really? Your helmet takes the souls of your victims?"

"…Yes," Smith confirmed, but it was obvious to everyone that he was just talking out of his ass. The others chuckled in amusement, and Smith looked away in embarrassment. Eager to change the subject, he looked around and made eye contact with Luke.

Before Luke could turn away, Smith said, "Fox, I couldn't help but read your file. Have to say, I wouldn't expect a rich kid like you to join the Army. Most of the ones I've come across are content with letting others fight their battles for them."

As much as he wanted to refute it, Luke knew that Smith was right. He nodded, then replied, "Yeah, well, I wanted to give a little back. Been living my entire life in an ivory tower. Least I could do is go out there and earn it."

Smith nodded in approval, then added, "I noticed that your older brother did the same thing. Joined the Marine Corp a few years before you signed up. Following in his footsteps?"

That caused Luke to pause, and much to everyone's surprise he glared at Smith and nearly growled, "No, I didn't sign up to follow in Jace's footsteps."

That caught Smith off guard for a moment, then he seemed to realize where he had gone wrong. Rather than apologize, though, he said, "Oh right, that. Well, if it makes you feel any better…the guy he killed had it coming."

"That's not the point!" Luke shouted, causing everyone to stop and stare at him. Without waiting for anyone else to respond, Luke stormed off, pushing his way past the others. Smith watched him go, a dejected look on his face that fell further when the other members of the team gave him disappointed stares.

"Word of advice, Smith," Flagg spoke up as Yamashiro went after the upset lieutenant. "Some things are off-limits. Family is usually one of them."

With that, Flagg walked away as well, hoping to diffuse the situation before it could get any worse. Smith stayed still, watching them go. When they rounded a corner, Smith grimaced to himself and ran his hands through his hair.

"God dammit, Chris," he chastised himself as he began to pace back and forth. "Why'd you have to bring that up? Learn to read the room, you asshole. Now they're all going to hate you. God, I'm such an idiot!"

Smith stomped hard onto the ground, creating an echo that ran down the metal hallway. He hung his head, taking a few deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. Finally, he looked back up and prepared to walk after them, then realized that he wasn't alone. Turning around, he saw that a confused and concerned Violet was standing there, staring up at him.

"Oh…you're still here," Smith said, and after a moment a nervous Violet nodded.

"You…seemed upset," Violet pointed out. "Are you okay?"

Smith looked at her, then regained his composure. Wiping the underside of his nose with the back of his hand, he answered, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine. Just, you know, a bit of a…misunderstanding. We'll clear it up, don't worry."

Violet could tell that Smith was lying, but she felt no need to pry further. She then quietly said, "If it makes you feel better…I don't hate you."

That caught Smith off-guard, and he whispered, "You…you don't?"

Violet shook her head, replying, "No. I mean, you're a little intense sometimes, and I don't like how casual you are about killing, but...I can tell you're doing it for the right reasons."

Smith stared at her for a moment, then vigorously nodded before declaring, "Exactly. It's why I call myself Peacemaker. I love peace with all my heart, and I don't care how many people I have to kill to get it."

That caused Violet to recoil slightly, and Smith hastily added, "But only if they're bad people! I don't kill good people. I protect good people. It's why I'm a superhero. Not like my dad. He's an asshole, and a racist. Misogynistic, too."

"He…doesn't sound like a nice guy."

"Oh, he wasn't. Turned out be a supervillain who called himself White Dragon. But he's my dad and taught me everything I knew, so I just ignored it for a while," Smith replied, and after a moment Violet nodded in understanding. Smith nodded back, then quietly revealed, "He, uh, tried to have me killed a few years ago, actually. Was disappointed that I was honestly trying to be a hero for everyone and not a white supremacist murderer like him. He was in charge of the militia group I infiltrated. When he found out what I was doing…he didn't take it well."

Violet was appalled, then quietly asked, "Did…did you kill him?"

Smith was quiet and looked to the side, then slowly nodded and said, "Yeah, I did. He didn't leave me any other choice."

Violet stood there silently for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He deserved it," Smith dismissed while shaking his head. "If nothing else, he taught me one more valuable lesson. Peace is worth any cost, and it doesn't matter who threatens it. Not even family."

Violet supposed there was some logic in that, but she couldn't help but ask, "But what if what you think is peace isn't actually peace? That all you're really doing is pushing the problem back without actually solving it? If you keep doing that, doesn't it just make the problem worse?"

Smith didn't have an answer for that, and the two stood there for a few moments. Finally, an uncomfortable Peacemaker cleared his throat, then said, "Come on, we should rejoin the others."

Violet nodded in agreement, and together they resumed walking towards the armory. Neither of them spoke, but the young girl could tell that Smith was appreciative of her company at the very least.

---

Watchtower, Geosynchronous Orbit

12:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time)

Qrow carefully stepped through the ruined street, Harbinger raised out in front of him in its sword configuration as he kept his senses peeled for any sign of danger. Logically, he knew that everything around him, from the shards of broken glass that lined the cracked pavement, to the burnt-out cars and shattered military vehicles, and even the partially destroyed skyscrapers that spewed smoke and fire into the night sky were all holographic simulations. Hardlight projections meant to create the perfect training environment, with this one being representative of Metropolis in the immediate aftermath of the Darkseid War. It reminded him a lot of what Vale looked like after Brainiac's invasion, which was an unwelcome comparison to say the least.

But, at the exact same time, it was vastly more enjoyable than the testing he had been forced to conduct for Brainiac. The Justice League had wanted to see what he was capable of, and since he was sufficiently recovered from his ordeal Qrow saw no reason to object. He had taken part in dozens of tests over the past day, pitting him against projections of common criminals, metahumans, alien invaders, and of course the Grimm. All of which he passed with flying colors, even when taking into account the no-kill handicap that the League placed upon him during the first few tests. Qrow didn't quite understand why the Justice League was so insistent on not putting down the criminals they faced, but if those were the rules of this particular engagement then at least he could comply. Besides, it wasn't as if this was the first time he'd had to manhandle idiots without Auras in his long years as a Huntsman.

Now, Qrow was taking part in what should be his final test. This time, he wasn't being pitted against robots or holographic enemies. Things that didn't stand any real chance of actually beating him. Instead, he was facing off against someone far more powerful, and after only a few minutes of combat, Qrow could confidently say that she was the strongest and most skilled opponent he'd ever faced.

An assessment Wonder Woman immediately supported by bursting out of a wall right beside him, her shield out in front with her sword raised back, poised to strike. Turning on a dime, Qrow parried her sword thrust, but her momentum carried her to drive the face of her shield into his chest. He was sent flying back, flipping in mid-air so that he landed on his feet. Digging his heels and Harbinger's blade into the street, he slowed himself to a stop, then shot his head forward to stare at Wonder Woman as she approached.

Breathing heavily and feeling sweat trickle down his brow, Qrow looked at his surroundings to estimate how far he flew, and he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head at the distance. With a single blow, Wonder Woman sent him flying nearly fifty feet, at least. But he was far from done, and with a yell he launched himself towards his opponent as she did the same, their swords clashing against each other with enough force to crack the pavement beneath their feet and send a small shockwave away from them.

"Yeah! Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheered from the observation room, watching as Qrow and Diana dueled each other. Beside her was the rest of team RWBY, along with Weiss' family and the Justice League Founders. Undoubtedly more were watching through the many camera feeds scattered throughout the training room, but only they were in that particular room.

"I have to admit," Weiss noted as Qrow and Diana clashed blades, dodging or parrying as needed before retaliating with their own attacks, "he's doing a lot better than I anticipated."

"What, you thought our uncle was just going to be a pushover?" Yang accused in a half-teasing tone, smirking at her teammate while Ruby continued to enthusiastically cheer and holler.

"Wasn't saying that," Weiss clarified while shaking her head. "All I was saying was that, well, this is Diana we're talking about. All of us combined, teams RWBY and JNPR, wouldn't stand a chance against her in an actual fight. Your uncle is holding his own. No matter what, that's impressive."

Yang tilted her head for a moment, then nodded in acceptance before wincing as Qrow was punched in the face by Wonder Woman. She said, "Ooh, that's going to leave a mark. Anyway, who do you think's going to win?"

"This is just a sparring match," Blake pointed out. "There's no competition here."

"I know, but still," Yang replied with a cheeky grin. "Come on, it's fun. Like watching a Vytal Tournament match."

"Well, who do you think's going to win?" Blake asked, and Yang scoffed and waved her hand in a haphazard motion.

"Uncle Qrow, obviously. I'm going to root for the home team, come on. Why is that even a question?" Yang asked, and Blake nodded before giving a shrug.

"I think Wonder Woman's going to win," Blake admitted, prompting Yang to dramatically gasp while bringing her hand to her chest. When Weiss nodded in agreement, Yang gasped again, this time joined by Ruby who had a genuine look of betrayal on her face.

"Weiss, how could you?" Ruby accused with tears coming to her eyes.

"I stand by my choice," Weiss replied, returning her attention to the window where she saw Qrow and Diana scaling a ruined skyscraper while continuing to fight each other at the same time. "We'll just have to wait and see who ends up winning."

Ruby narrowed her eyes, then said, "Yes, we will."

She turned back to watching the fight, then cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Let's go, Uncle Qrow! You can do it!"

If Qrow could hear them through the glass, he didn't respond as he focused all of his attention squarely on his opponent. He jumped into the air, firing a pair of shotgun shells at Diana who blocked the pellets with her bracelets. She then threw her lasso up, wrapping it around his waist and pulling him down towards herself. Before he got within arm's reach, however, Qrow suddenly transformed into a small black crow, allowing him to slip free from the lasso. He then flew straight towards Diana, transforming back into his human form to punch her square in the nose.

As the audience winced, Flash crossed his arms over his chest and remarked, "You know, it's ironic that a guy named Qrow can turn into an actual crow."

"That's not what irony means," Hawkgirl replied absently, mentally gauging the performance of the sparring match.

"And, apparently, his sister Raven can turn into a raven," Flash continued undeterred.

"Uh-huh."

Flash paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you think Ozpin did that on purpose?"

Hawkgirl had to pause for a moment to think it over, then shrugged and admitted, "Maybe, but it doesn't really matter."

Flash nodded at that answer, then went back to observing. Thanks to his enhanced perception of time, he could choose whenever he wanted to watch the fight in slow motion, letting him see every muscle movement in crisp detail. It was a huge benefit while in the field, and there was no reason not to use it now. Especially since it could really help identify flaws in a superhero's performance. From what he could see, Qrow didn't have many of them.

Batman was also observing the fight, standing by himself off in the corner with the Bat-Family who had decided to come up to the Watchtower after hearing the news. Alfred wasn't able to join, disappointing all of team RWBY, but they also knew he had responsibilities of his own to take care of. The Bat-Family mostly stuck to themselves, with Nightwing occasionally striking up conversation with either Qrow, Willow, or Whitley as he was the most personable out of all of them. The rest of the Titans, except for Cyborg who was still working on Penny, had gone back to Metropolis with team JNPR, helping their sister team with renovating the apartment for their new guests.

"I wonder how the renovation's going?" Weiss wondered aloud, and briefly the rest of team RWBY's attentions were broken as they tried to figure out what was going on back home.

---

"Nora, put the hammer down!" Jaune shouted at the top of his lungs.

"But, Jaune! We need more space!" Nora protested with Magnhild raised high overhead.

"Not by breaking a wall!"

---

"Eh, I'm sure they're fine," Yang dismissed, then went back to watching the fight.

Every so often, Yang would glance in Batman's direction, frowning slightly. She knew what he was doing. All of them did. At this very moment, Batman was undoubtedly observing Qrow for any strengths and weaknesses he displayed. Information he would then compile into a report, which would then be used to create a strategy on how to take him down if need be. The fact that Batman was still doing that even after what happened to team JNPR infuriated Yang. It was as though he didn't learn his lesson. But she knew it was pointless to convince him otherwise. That and, deep down, she knew his heart was in the right place.

Still pissed her off, though, and that was unlikely to change anytime soon.

"So, remind me again of how the Justice League operates?" Whitley asked, and Superman nodded.

"Of course," Superman replied. "As you know, the Justice League is the UN-sanctioned governing body that oversees most of the world's superheroes. There are government-sponsored heroes that answer directly to their respective countries, but the League is a private entity that answers only to ourselves and UN oversight."

"That sounds complicated. Why not simply work for your government instead?" Whitley asked. "Atlas did that. Most students who graduated from Atlas Academy joined the kingdom's military to serve as Specialists. Every single need was met and more, allowing them to protect our people from the Grimm better than any other kingdom on Remnant. Up until Brainiac arrived, it worked extremely well for us."

"The Justice League believes in protecting and serving the entire world, not just one country," Superman pointed out. "If, for example, we got our authority directly from the United States, like the Justice Society, we could only do the things we want to do if the government lets us and only in the US' borders. Any other country would be outside our jurisdiction. The government could even compel us into doing something purely to advance national interests that would destabilize the rest of the world. We wouldn't be superheroes; we'd be super soldiers, and that isn't what we wanted to be. That being said, we do have members who actively serve in a country's military, like Captain Atom. He divides his time between the League and the US Army."

"I've met him around here, actually. He seemed like a very nice man," Willow remarked, while Whitley scoffed and shook his head.

"I still don't understand how any country would agree to that," Whitley admitted while crossing his arms, only for his mother to gently pat his shoulder.

"I mean, it doesn't sound all that different from the Huntsmen system that we used," Willow pointed out. "The League just sounds a lot bigger and more centralized."

"It's a similar concept, yes," Superman admitted. "Most countries in the world have accepted the Justice League's charter, allowing its members to operate internationally as needed. Except for a few countries like Russia and China who require explicit permission for specific League activities. Their countries' governments like to have a much tighter grip on what goes on in their territories. Even when they let us enter their borders, they require us to work with state-sponsored heroes as an escort."

"While I'm not blind to the similarities between Huntsmen and superheroes," Whitley began, "they're not the same. From what I can see, the Justice League has enough power and resources to rival the strongest countries on Earth, with no real oversight. No Huntsman, by themselves or in small groups, could ever get that powerful. Which, again, begs the question: why would countries on Earth agree to that?"

"A fair question," Superman said. "On the matter of oversight, the Justice League accepts UN oversight but is trusted to police itself. Each member of the Justice League is held to rigorous ethical standards. Should a member start breaking those standards, such as going on a mass killing spree of any suspected criminal they come across without due process, they are immediately expelled from the organization, losing their protected superhero status and thus at the mercy of local law enforcement. Depending on the severity of the act, we'll even send members in to apprehend them."

"Has that ever happened?"

"Luckily no, and I pray to Rao that we never have to," Superman revealed.

Whitley nodded at that, then quietly asked, "But what if the entire League goes bad? And don't say that the UN will make you disband. I think we both know the Justice League is too strong for that."

Superman grew quiet, then looked at Batman and remarked, "Well, there's a reason why Batman has all those contingencies made."

That created an ominous feeling in the air, one that left both Whitley and Willow slightly uncomfortable. Especially knowing what Weiss told them about why Batman started making those contingencies in the first place. But Willow didn't want to think about existential questions about her place in the infinite multiverse. She was far more concerned with the world she'd be living on from now on.

"Anyway," Willow began, tapping into her limited business knowledge and trying to relate it to what she was learning, "how does the Justice League organize itself? Are all superheroes independent and answer to the Watchtower?"

"Yes and no," Superman answered, just as eager to change the subject as she and Whitley were. "The entire Justice League organization is split into different hierarchical tiers, to put it simply. At the top, centered here in the Watchtower, is the Justice League International. From here, all superhero activity in the world is monitored, all resources consolidated then allocated, along with anything else related to performing our duties.

"Underneath the Justice League International are the various regional bodies that oversee superheroes in different areas of the world," Superman continued, capturing both of the Remnantians' rapt attention. "The first, largest, and arguably most powerful, is the Justice League of America, centered from the original Hall of Justice in Metropolis. In fact, the JLI was originally an extension of the JLA. It was founded in the immediate aftermath of the Imperium Invasion, overseeing Justice League activities in the United States of America."

"What about other countries and continents?"

"There's a branch of the Justice League in every continent, except for Antarctica," Superman answered. "The Justice League of Europe oversees all European superheroes from its base of operations in Paris, France. The Justice League of Asia does the same for all Asian superheroes from its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. There's the Justice League of Africa, centered in Cairo, Egypt, and the Justice League of Oceania, centered in Sydney, Australia."

"I read something about there being a Justice League of China?" Whitley pointed out, and Superman nodded.

"There is, but technically they're not a part of the Justice League International," Superman clarified. "The JLC is a Chinese government sponsored superhero team that operates purely in the People's Republic of China. They intentionally made and trained copies of founding members of the Justice League International to have under their control. Officially, they have no relation with us."

"And in practice?"

"We coordinate with them heavily under the table. Turns out they copied the League Founders a bit too well," Superman said with a smirk. "There's been some tensions, and at one point the Chinese Ministry of Self-Reliance attempted to forcibly disband the group after losing direct control of them, but they lost that conflict and their own crimes were exposed in the process. Things have been improving ever since."

"Oh, that's good to hear," Willow replied, but Whitley didn't seem convinced.

With the discussion on the Justice League over for the moment, they went back to watching the fight between Qrow and Wonder Woman. Both of them were on their last legs, their bodies drenched in sweat as they traded blows. They were breathing heavily, exhausted from their ordeal, but still going. Neither of them were using their weapons, as they were long since discarded in favor of their fists. Not that they needed their weapons to be combat capable. If anything, the fact that they were still going was a testament to how skilled both Wonder Woman and Qrow actually were.

But, at the same time, it was clear that the difference of centuries of experience would determine who would come out on top in this spar. They watched as Qrow and Wonder Woman threw punches at each other, with Qrow ducking underneath then proceeding to slam the top of his head into her nose. Wonder Woman retaliated by moving with the blow to cartwheel kick him in the chin, launching him upward. She grabbed his ankle and slammed his body into the ground, cracking the floor. To their surprise, the crack spread wildly, dislodging a piece of rubble hanging over Diana and causing it to fall straight towards her. She dodged at the last second, giving Qrow the opportunity to pick himself up, grab the fallen beam, then hurl it at her like a javelin.

Grinning to herself, Wonder Woman spun in mid-air, grabbing the projectile as it passed then spun around to redirect it right back towards Qrow. He was barely able to jump to the side, the beam scraping against the flap of his jacket. Anticipating this, Wonder Woman angled herself to where she hit the wall feet first, then rebounded with enough force to crater the entire wall. She launched herself right into Qrow with her arms outstretched, driving him through the ground and into the story below. Qrow continued to resist, throwing punch after punch as they kept going. Finally, they broke through the side of the building, landing on the street and carving a deep trench in their wake. Only then did Qrow falter, and his maroon aura flickered.

Immediately Diana let go of him and stood up, with Qrow laying on his back and staring up into the sky as he breathed heavily. As the holographic city began to disperse, he mumbled, "Dammit, I almost had you there…"

"You fought well, Qrow," Diana said with a genuine smile on her face as she offered him her hand. He graciously took it, then patted himself off as she continued, "I haven't had a spar that fun in quite some time."

"Same here," Qrow agreed. He then glanced at her and pointed out, "Couldn't help but feel like you were pulling your punches."

"Only a little. I wanted to see how far you could go," Wonder Woman confirmed with a confident smirk. As someone used to ridiculously powerful women, all Qrow could do was laugh and shake his head.

Soon they were joined by League attendants, giving both fighters towels to clean themselves off along with bottles of water. They walked back to the observation room, talking the entire way about each other's performance in the spar as well as anecdotes about their careers. Wonder Woman's was certainly much, much longer than his, but no less strange in his opinion.

When they finally reached the observation room, Qrow was immediately met by Ruby and Yang, with Ruby exclaiming, "Uncle Qrow, that was so cool! You were like, pow, and then bam! It was awesome!"

"Yeah, too bad you lost, though," Yang remarked while shaking her head. She held up her hand and pinched her fingers, remarking, "You were this close to beating her. That's gotta sting."

"A little," Qrow admitted as he looked towards Wonder Woman as she talked with the rest of the Justice League, "but I think I can handle losing to someone like her. Might ask for her to spar with me again sometime."

Both Ruby and Yang immediately knew exactly where Qrow's head was at, and much to his surprise, Ruby gently grabbed his arm and shook her head, saying, "No, Uncle Qrow."

"What? Why not?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can't handle her," Ruby answered to which Yang nodded along in complete agreement. Qrow stared at his nieces for a moment, then reared his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

Blake and Weiss, meanwhile, watched the family converse with each other, discussing what they thought about Qrow and Wonder Woman's spar from their perspectives. It was heartening, with both easily noticing how Ruby and Yang were looking happier than they had in quite some time. Although pangs of jealousy shot through Blake's heart, she was happy for them and Weiss.

Before either of them could say anything, though, Willow suddenly walked over and stopped in front of Weiss, saying, "Weiss, Diana's been telling me that you've been trying to get your summoning down."

Confused for a moment, Weiss nodded then answered, "Yes. I haven't gotten it working yet, but I'm making progress."

Willow's smile brightened, then she brought her hand to her chest and suggested, "I've actually become much more proficient with my summoning. Since the training room is open, how about you and I work on your summoning together?"

Weiss had never seen her mother so enthusiastic about something. Most of her memories had her mother wallowing in her depression, so seeing her genuinely happy and excited threw her for a loop. It was a good loop, though, and a much better look for her mother. Weiss quickly nodded in agreement, and Willow's smile widened as she clapped her hands together.

"Ooh, yes! This will be wonderful!" Willow exclaimed, then turned towards her son who was sulking by himself. "Whitley, do you want to join us?"

To Willow's surprise, Whitley slowly turned his head to stare into their eyes, then answered, "I have no desire to train my Semblance any more than I already have."

Taken aback, Weiss said, "Whitley, I know things were hard for you, but your Semblance…it's a part of you."

"Yes, a part that has brought me nothing but pain and misery, and I want nothing to do with it," Whitley pointed out, causing both Weiss and Willow to wince. "If you want to keep playing superhero, and not get paid for it for whatever reason, by all means. I'm not going to stop you. Mastering your summoning would definitely help in your line of work. But leave me out of it."

With that, Whitley got up and brushed himself off, saying, "I'm going to get some more food."

Everyone watched as Whitley left the observation room, with Weiss and Willow looking on sadly alongside the other heroes. Most of them seemed to completely understand where the boy was coming from, but Damian almost seemed offended. He didn't say anything, though, continuing to mindlessly eat his salad. When his fork hit nothing, he stared at his empty plate for a moment, then he too got up, politely dismissed himself, then walked towards the cafeteria to get more food for himself.

Weiss prepared to go after her brother, but a resigned Willow gently grabbed her shoulder and shook her head, saying, "Don't. Whitley…he's had it rough ever since Brainiac captured us. I'm not surprised he'd rather leave that part of his life behind, and frankly I don't blame him."

Weiss' face fell, and she released a sigh and admitted, "I don't know what to do."

"Neither do I. I'm still new to this, and I've been your mother for the past seventeen years," Willow replied, half joking and half self-deprecating. "Just give him time. Maybe he'll come around one day. Even if he doesn't, Weiss, I want you to promise me one thing, okay?"

"Of course," Weiss immediately replied, and Willow stared deeply into her daughter's eyes.

"I know that you and Whitley didn't get along, but please try to reconnect with him," Willow begged. "You and I are all he has left. This is a new start for all of us, and with the Gods as my witness, I'm going to make the most of it."

Weiss stared at her mother, feeling tears begin to pool up in her eyes. She sniffled, then nodded and said, "I—I promise."

"Thank you," Willow said, then her personality seemed to completely flip as she moved away from Weiss and announced, "Alright, onto the training arena. Before we do, though, it now occurs to me that I need a weapon. Is there an armory anywhere on the Watchtower?"

"There is, my Lady," Shining Knight answered as he gave the Schnee matriarch a polite bow. "I will be more than happy to escort you to it. It is not too far."

"Perfect! Thank you so much," Willow joyously said, then together the two walked out of the observation room. Weiss shook her head in amusement, then walked down the stairs and into the training arena. Myrtenaster was waiting for her, hanging on a weapon rack next to the door. She simply grabbed the rapier as she walked past, confidently striding into the center of the arena before stopping.

"Weiss, what would you like the setting to be?" Martian Manhunter asked through the intercom, and an answer sprang to mind immediately.

"Amity Colosseum," Weiss requested.

"Of course. Parameters set. Projection will begin momentarily," Martian Manhunter announced, and Weiss nodded as she idly rotated the chambers of her weapon. They were filled with the Dust replacements she had been utilizing for the past few months, materials that she had gotten quite proficient in. But they were never the same as Dust.

Before, she would've been resigned to continue using the inferior versions, but significant progress had been made in Wayne Enterprises' Dust research. They were already finalizing a prototype that could theoretically accumulate life energy from an environment and create raw Dust. Something that would've been unthinkable on Remnant, but now it was about to become a reality. Weiss could hardly contain her excitement, and neither could the Wayne engineers who directly reported to her and Lucius about the project's development.

But that was for later. Right now, she had far more personal concerns to worry about. She patiently waited for her mother to arrive, and despite the thick metal doors separating the training room from the rest of the Watchtower, she could hear her mother and Shining Knight arrive after just a few minutes.

"Lady Schnee, I must insist that you select a more suitable weapon!" Shining Knight begged.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Sir Justin. This is perfectly fine," Willow dismissed as she approached the door with an odd grinding noise accompanying her.

"It does not fit your stature! A short sword or a falchion would be much more suitable for you!"

"Nonsense! Besides, my father used a sword just like this one. We can make something more suitable for me later."

"But-!"

"Not now, I need to start training with my daughter," Willow interrupted, completely opening the door and confidently walking out to join Weiss. A befuddled Shining Knight stared after them, nervously wringing his hands together.

Weiss didn't focus on him, though. Instead, she stared with wide eyes at her mother, astonished at the massive claymore she as dragging behind her. Up in the observation room, she could see Qrow and Yang hysterically laughing alongside Flash and Hawkgirl, with Diana giving Willow an encouraging thumbs up. Ruby, Blake, and the rest were just as flabbergasted as Weiss was, but Willow didn't seem to care or notice.

"Now then, shall we get started?" Willow asked.

"Um…" Weiss mumbled, then shook her head to regain her senses and replied, "Yes, I'm ready."

"Splendid. However, before I begin, I'd like to get a handle on using this claymore first," Willow requested as she moved the heavy blade around to hold in front of her. She did so at an awkward angle, causing her body to shift and nearly stumble, but she was able to keep her footing. Willow awkwardly chuckled as her youngest daughter silently stared at her, then she cleared her throat and looked up at the observation room.

"Mr. J'onzz, would you mind forming a Beowolf for me, please? Solitas variant?" Willow asked. A moment later, a holographic Beowolf was projected into existence right in front of both Schnees.

Unlike the Beowolves common throughout the rest of Remnant, the Grimm native to Solitas had adapted to its harsh frozen environment. It was bulkier, covered in more fur and spikes of ice protruding from its arms, knees, and spine. Neither Weiss nor Willow were nervous, particularly since the inactive Grimm was simply standing there.

Scrunching up her face, Willow took in a deep breath and hunched down slightly. Tensing up her muscles, she swung her claymore overhead as hard as she could, cleaving it down from the Grimm's shoulder to its sternum. As it neared the end of its arc, a small glyph suddenly appeared, causing the tip of the claymore to rebound and carve its way through the Grimm's side. The projection fizzled out of existence, and a satisfied Willow smiled while planting the tip of the weapon into the ground.

"Oh, what a rush!" Willow exclaimed, resting her left hand on her hip. "Reminds me of the Grimm hunts my father used to take me on. We should go on one, Weiss. It'll be fun."

Weiss stared at her mother for a moment, then couldn't help but smile and shake her head before pointing out, "That does sound fun, but we're trying to prevent the Grimm from getting to that point on Earth."

"Oh, right. Yes, that would put a damper on that," Willow remarked, briefly wincing before regaining her composure. She turned to face her daughter, and began to explain, "Now, the first thing you have to understand about summoning is that you can't just summon anything you want. It has to be an opponent you've personally defeated in an encounter you've attached significance to, positively or negatively."

"Alright," Weiss replied, vigorously nodding along. She wondered if that was purely limited to Grimm, but before she could ask the door to the training room suddenly slammed open. Both Weiss and her mother shot their heads towards the door, and to their surprise saw a furious Whitley stomping towards them.

"Whitley, what you are doing in here?" Weiss asked, then noticed how disheveled he now looked, with what looked like bits of food stuck to his hair and staining his white clothes. "Oh my God, what happened to you?!"

"Never mind that!" Whitley dismissed, preventing his mother from fussing over him. "I changed my mind! I demand you teach me how to fight!"

Weiss and Willow were taken aback for a moment, then Willow's smile returned as she idly used a glyph to hold the claymore for her above and behind her shoulder, then held her hands together and cried out, "Wonderful! I'm so happy you decided to join us! What made you change your mind? Did you want to connect with your heritage?"

"No, I want to put that punk Damian in his place!" Whitley answered, causing Weiss and Willow to stare at him blankly.

Weiss then glanced up at the observation room, where an unrepentant Damian was staring at the three Schnees while pointedly ignoring the disappointed glares the rest of his family was giving him. Unlike Whitley, he looked completely fine, with only a small scuff mark on his cheek.

It wasn't hard for Weiss to figure out what happened, and she hung her head and sighed.

"I don't even want to know how that started," Weiss muttered to herself, then slowly looked up to stare at her younger brother.

"Why do you seem disappointed?" Whitley asked, and Weiss shook her head.

"I'm not. I just…I understand," Weiss admitted. "Now, we should probably get you a weapon."

Weiss prepared to call out to Shining Knight, only for her to blink in surprise as Whitley held up a hand, and the object he'd brought with him. After a brief second of thought, she realized that he had it on him the entire time, just tightly pressed to his side until that very moment.

"No thank you, that won't be necessary," Whitley refuted, shifting the weight of his metal pole made of alien alloy up and down in his hand.

---

Typing into a monitor, Cyborg scrunched his face in concentration. Beside him were Kilowog and Mr. Terrific, all working in concert on the same project. Ever since the Lanterns arrived on the Watchtower and let him know the situation, Cyborg had put everything else to the side in order to give his complete attention to the patient he was given. Briefly, he glanced over to a table in the center of the room. There he saw Penny's body, completely devoid of any skin or artificial flesh. Her limbs were spread wide, wires attached to ports and openings on her body, allowing Cyborg and the others to access her corrupted code and personality matrix.

It only took one look for Cyborg to be grateful that the machines they were using were completely separated from the Watchtower's main systems. Over ninety-percent of Penny's code was, in some way, shape, or form, corrupted by Brainiac's virus. It had inched its way into every vital system. Movement, sensory, anything he would need to take control of her. It would almost be impressive, if it wasn't so evil and barbaric.

"How's it going on your end?" Kilowog asked, cutting into the silence.

"About as well as you could expect," Mr. Terrific admitted. "Brainiac's code is just too deep and intertwined with hers for me to make any real headway with it. Frankly, I'm surprised there's anything left of Penny."

"That's the thing, Michael," Cyborg spoke up as he continued to type into his monitor, going line by line in an attempt to clear the virus and repair the damage left in its wake. "She's not just code. Penny's got a soul, just like us. Take it from me; it doesn't matter how good at coding and programming you are, there's no overriding that."

"My thoughts exactly," Mr. Terrific agreed, glancing over in Penny's direction. "I've never seen anything like her before. A fully autonomous gynoid with an embedded human soul. Whoever designed her was a genius."

"She's still a person, not something to be prodded and studied," Cyborg chastised, briefly squinting his eyes as he stared at his fellow human superhero, but Mr. Terrific quickly raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Just making an observation, that's all," Mr. Terrific clarified, then clenched his fist and began to seethe. "Penny's a person like anyone else, and what Brainiac did to her…to all of them… There are lines meant to be avoided when doing any research, and Brainiac didn't just cross them, he leapt right over them."

"That's because Brainiac isn't an actual scientist, he just thinks he is," Kilowog pointed out with an audible scoff. "He's nothing more than a tyrant trying to play God."

Noticing that Kilowog was typing into his computer more forcibly, a concerned Cyborg looked over and asked, "Are you okay, man?"

Kilowog paused, then hung his head, sighed, and admitted, "Not really, no. The other Lanterns and I…we threw everything we had against that poozer. Had him on the ropes. Hell, I had him pinned and at my mercy. But he still got away, and killed or wounded nearly two hundred of my comrades. Many of them were my students and friends. Damn him!"

The Bolovaxian slammed his fist into the monitor, causing a dull thud to echo around the room. Both Cyborg and Mr. Terrific could only watch silently and sympathetically. They couldn't imagine being in his position. The only thing Cyborg could even think of to compare would be if somehow all of the Titans perished in battle. He could barely even consider the thought, and with a shudder Cyborg pushed it out of his mind.

"I'm sorry, Kilowog," Mr. Terrific gently said. "I know this must be hard for you."

Kilowog took a few deep breaths, then nodded and replied, "It is, and thank you."

"How are the Green Lanterns recovering?" Cyborg asked as he went back to typing into his monitor.

"Most of the wounded only suffered comparatively minor injuries," Kilowog reported, "so they should be back in the field after about a month or two of recuperation on Mogo. Some of them, unfortunately, were more seriously wounded. We're doing what we can, but there might be a few early retirements coming up."

"Damn. That's a lot of manpower lost," Mr. Terrific noted with a wince, and Kilowog sadly nodded.

"It is, and it's going to take time to fully recover our strength," Kilowog added. "Not just with finding the Lanterns to replace the ones we lost, but to train them, acclimate them to their sectors and responsibilities. The Green Lantern Corp is going to be bogged down for a while."

"And there'll be a power vacuum in the meantime," Cyborg noted, and Kilowog nodded.

"Exactly. Pirates, smugglers, interstellar warfare. It'll all go up without the Green Lanterns around to keep the peace. But that's not what worries me the most," Kilowog said, and the other heroes in the room could guess what he was talking about. Or, rather, who he was talking about.

"You think Sinestro will take advantage of this?" Cyborg asked, and Kilowog gave a strong, affirmative nod.

"He'd be stupid not to," Kilowog confirmed. "The Green and Yellow Lanterns have been in a cold war for years, and he'll gladly take this opportunity to expand the number of systems and sectors under the Sinestro Corp's umbrella."

Cyborg scowled at that. While the Justice League and Earth had never come into direct conflict with the Sinestro Corp, they were more than aware of the danger he posed. Once the Green Lantern Corp's most respected member, Sinestro turned rogue sometime after the Darkseid War, creating a Yellow Lantern Ring of Fear and striking against the Guardians of the Universe. Perhaps something in that conflict changed him, or maybe he was always like that. Either way, Sinestro and his Corp represented the biggest threat to universal stability in years.

The worst part, in Cyborg's opinion, wasn't that the Sinestro Corp was some radically different entity than the Green Lantern Corp. In fact, their mission statement was the same: utilizing an army of Lanterns, each wielding Rings of Power, to safeguard and preserve the universe against any threats. On the surface, it would appear that the only real difference was that Sinestro used the power of Fear while the Guardians use Will. But it was more than that. Sectors patrolled by the Sinestro Corp did typically display greater levels of stability and less crime overall, but it came at the cost of sapient rights that weren't respected much if at all. Authoritative and outright tyrannical governments were almost encouraged. So long as they kept their populace safe, sheltered, and well-fed, they could get away with a lot of abuses and the Sinestro Corp wouldn't bat an eye.

"With greater levels of fear and uncertainty, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to start looking at the Sinestro Corp and taking their offers of protection seriously," Kilowog noted.

"Do you think another Lantern War might start up?" Mr. Terrific asked.

"I hope not. The last one only had two Corps to worry about," Kilowog answered. "Sure, the Blue Lantern Corp is allied with us, but the Star Sapphires are unreliable at best, Atrocitus and his Red Lanterns are liable to attack anyone, there's no telling what the Indigo Tribe might do, and Larfleeze…heh, that greedy bastard would gladly take advantage of the chaos to build up his hoard even more."

"Sounds like a second Lantern War might just turn into a War of Light," Cyborg noted, and Kilowog nodded in agreement.

"Before he died, Abin Sur talked about that very thing," Kilowog revealed, scowling as memories came back to the forefront of his mind. "He was the most perceptive of all of us, seeing the rise of the other Lantern Corps years before we did. Sounded rather neutral about it, actually, saying that it could be a good or a bad thing depending on how it went. But whenever the idea of all the Lantern Corps fighting each other was raised, though…he got scared. Terrified, really. Never told me why, but I assume it was due to the devastation such a war would bring. Billions if not trillions of people across the universe would die. That would scare anyone."

"I don't think I want to be around anyone who wouldn't be scared of that happening," Cyborg noted with a shudder, and both of the other heroes in the room nodded.

The room fell silent again, and all three heroes went back to focusing their attention onto Penny. But, try as they might, none of them were able to make much headway. Brainiac's corruption was just too deep and intertwined to be removed through conventional means, which frustrated Cyborg to no end.

"Dammit, this is taking too long. We've been working on this for over a day and haven't made a dent," Cyborg noted with a scowl.

Mr. Terrific growled in frustration, then released a sigh and replied, "It seems that way, yes. Based on our current progress, I'd wager it would take us years to repair Penny in a conventional sense."

"We don't have that kind of time, and neither does she," Kilowog pointed out. "Any ideas?"

No one said a word, but slowly Cyborg began to nod. He began to say, "Actually, I do have one idea. Been thinking about it for a while now, and it'll definitely work."

"I sense a 'but' in there," Kilowog stated, and Cyborg nodded before looking right into his eyes.

"I can interface my mind directly with Penny's, allowing me to repair the damage personally from the inside," Cyborg revealed, and the others' eyes widened.

"Absolutely not," Mr. Terrific refuted. "It's too dangerous."

"You think I don't know that?" Cyborg said. "I know it's incredibly dangerous, both to Penny and myself. Why do you think I waited so long to bring it up? But, as far as I can see, we don't have much of a choice here."

"Now, now. Let's think about this," Kilowog butted in as he walked away from his station towards the others. "Let's pretend for a moment that I don't know why this is so dangerous. Mind explaining your plan to me in thorough detail?"

Cyborg nodded, understanding where Kilowog's head was at. He began to explain as he gestured towards his chest, "My body and mind are connected at a molecular level to machinery created by a Mother Box. I don't need to explain to either of you just how powerful that is. To put it simply, unless someone knows exactly what safeguards they need to keep me out or it's simply not connected to any network, I can get in and work my magic."

"Meaning you can get into Penny's mind," Kilowog noted, and Cyborg nodded.

"Exactly. Might even be easier for me since I'm part human. It would be like telepathically connecting mindscapes. From what I've seen out here, Brainiac's virus is good, but not good enough to keep me from cutting it out like a scalpel," Cyborg added, then raised his hand. "But, at the exact same time, if something goes wrong in there, we're both screwed. I could accidentally merge our minds together or, even worse, get infected by Brainiac's virus."

"What are the chances of either of those things happening?" Kilowog asked.

"About ten percent, give or take."

"That's too high," Mr. Terrific countered as he cut his arm through the air. "Especially you getting infected, Victor. If Brainiac manages to take control of you, the amount of damage he could do would be astronomical."

"I know," Cyborg firmly replied, then pointed at Penny. "But if I don't do this, she's never going to wake up, and we can't count on her being stuck in this coma forever. All it would take is a single slip up, a brief power outage, or anything outside of the careful tightrope her life is walking on right now, and she's gone. We might be able to save her core, but without knowing how to reactivate her soul, there's no bringing her back."

Mr. Terrific stared at Cyborg unflinchingly, then shot his head over to the side when Kilowog gently placed his hand on his shoulder. With a heavy look on his face, Kilowog said, "Michael, the kid's right."

His eyes widened in surprise, then Mr. Terrific stammered, "But…the risks…"

"Are unavoidable at this point," Kilowog finished for him. "Face it, this is the only way to actually save her. And it's not like the kid's going to be doing this on his own. We'll be here, too, making sure nothing goes wrong."

The chances of failure that Cyborg gave them already considered their assistance, he mentally noted. Without their help, the chances of something going horribly wrong would be much, much higher. But Cyborg saw no reason to let them know that, so he stayed quiet in favor of giving Mr. Terrific a pleading look. Finally, after a few moments, the older hero sighed and hung his head.

"Dammit. Fine," he relented, then went back to his station as he sharply tilted his head towards Penny. "Go do your thing. We'll be watching over you from here. The instant something goes wrong, we're pulling you out."

Cyborg nodded in agreement, then looked over at Kilowog. The Bolovaxian nodded as well before returning to his station, giving Cyborg the room he needed to work. Taking a deep breath, Cyborg walked over and stood behind Penny's head. Closing his eyes and rubbing his hands together in an attempt to calm his nerves, Cyborg brought his hands apart then hovered them beside Penny's ears. After a moment, thin cables weaved their way out of his limbs and into Penny's body, searching for her central core. He could feel the cables snaking around, carefully peeling back and pushing aside bits of metal and machinery.

Before long, he felt the cables connect with Penny's CPU. At first, nothing happened, then his eyes shot open. The world seemed to flash into a bright light, and soon he no longer found himself in the Watchtower. Instead, he found himself standing in the middle of a large street, tall buildings on either side that stretched on as far as the eye could see. Rather than feel alarmed, instead Victor felt at ease, particularly when he looked at his arms and found that they were flesh and blood. Glancing at a nearby reflective surface confirmed what he already knew.

Victor didn't look like Cyborg. Instead, he looked exactly like he did the day of his accident, complete with his Gotham High School Hawks football jacket. That meant he was safely in his mindscape. Logically, he knew that his mind didn't actually look like this, it was just what his brain was able to conceive. It probably looked more like something out of The Matrix, but he didn't particularly care about that. For a brief moment, Victor smiled, but that soon vanished as he remembered the reason why he was there in the first place.

Immediately the city of Victor Stone began to shift and part ways, spurred on by the will of its master. Soon Victor found himself at the edge of his mind, a vast distance larger than any single city in the real world given how each and every building represented another system that he was able to interface with. Normally, the edge of his mind was a blank abyss, with new streets and buildings being added with each new connection unlocked. But that wasn't what Victor saw now, and it made his eyes widen in horror.

"Jesus Christ…" Victor mumbled as he stared out over what he had to assume was Penny's mindscape, if it could be called that.

Whatever it used to be was completely corrupted, consumed by a thick growth of metallic vines and tentacles. Each root was representative of a strand of Brainiac's virus, and now more than ever he could see that the comparison made earlier with cancer was spot on. It was horrifying. Even now he could see the corruption attempting to spread, twisting and piling on top of each other while simultaneously trying to get into his mind. Luckily Victor's mental defenses were more than enough to keep the virus at bay, with the vines being disintegrated as soon as it came into contact with a translucent blue shield that stretched high into the heavens above. He knew that, if he stayed like this, he would be perfectly safe.

But he also knew that he couldn't do that. Narrowing his eyes, he peered deep into Penny's mindscape, and to his relief found that in the center was a single untouched location. It appeared to be a cabin of sorts, and despite the corruption's attempts to break inside, it was unable to.

"That must be Penny's soul," Victor said to himself, then took in a deep breath. He looked down at his right arm, then materialized a cannon around it.

Steeling himself, he stepped outside of his mind's border and into Penny's. The nearest vines immediately shot towards him, but Victor instinctually fired his cannon into them. A white-blue beam disintegrated the metallic corruption, leaving behind what appeared to be patches of tall grass. Keeping up his assault, Victor continued to make his way towards the cabin, carving a path through the corrupted brush so thoroughly that it was unable to reach him. Much to his disappointment, though, he soon realized that the path he was making wasn't staying clear, with the tentacles slinking their way back in not long after he was gone.

"Looks like I'm going to have to find the source nodes," Victor noted, then continued walking forward.

Before long, he found himself at the edge of the cabin. As he stepped onto the lush golden grass, he could feel a change in the air. It felt purer, more peaceful. Victor liked the feeling, but knew he couldn't bask in it. Dissipating his arm canon and straightening his jacket, Victor walked to the front door of the cabin, then politely knocked on it.

"Penny? Are you in there?" Victor asked, but no one answered. He knocked again, saying, "Penny? It's okay, I'm a friend."

Again, he got no response. Releasing a sigh, Victor reached for the doorknob and slowly began to twist it. It was unlocked, allowing him entry. Stepping inside and closing the door behind him, Victor looked around the small home. It was a very rustic building, with wooden and leather furniture, thick wool rugs, and a blazing brick fireplace on the back wall. But his attention immediately went to the only other figure in the room, a young girl blankly staring out the window with short, curly orange hair with a pink bow on the back of her head, freckles on her cheeks, and wearing a green dress over a white frilly blouse.

"Penny," Victor greeted, and was once again met only with silence. Slowly, Penny turned to look at him, and her green eyes appeared to be dull and nearly lifeless.

"…Hello," Penny replied, making Victor wince at how devoid of emotion she sounded. She then continued, "I knew you would be here someday."

"You did?" Victor asked, slightly surprised, and Penny slowly nodded.

"Yes. It happens to everyone, right?" Penny pointed out. "I did wonder if you'd come visit me. I'm not exactly like normal girls, so part of me wondered if it was even an option. At least I know I share that with everyone else."

Penny's eyes glanced up and down Victor's body, and she added, "I must admit, though, I didn't think you'd look like that."

"Look like—what do you mean? What did you think I was going to look like?" Victor asked, concern rising with every word.

"Most depictions of Death on Remnant show you as a dark, hooded figure wielding a scythe," Penny answered. "Sometimes you're a man in a dark suit, or a woman in a black dress, or even a Grimm in the shape of a human. I didn't think you'd look like a griffball player, though."

Victor's eyes widened in realization, then he quietly asked, "You…think I'm Death?"

Now Penny was confused, and she nodded before replying, "Yes…? I mean, I'm dead aren't I? That's why you're here, isn't it? To lead me to the afterlife?"

Victor fervently shook his head, then revealed, "Penny, I'm not Death, and you're not dead."

"I'm not?"

"No. You're in a coma, essentially," Victor clarified, but Penny didn't seem quite sure. He continued, "What do you last remember?"

For a moment, Victor was worried that Penny wouldn't remember a thing, but instead she scowled and nodded before looking out the window towards the corrupted vines. She answered, "I remember…feeling trapped in my own body, unable to break free as Brainiac…controlled me like a puppet. No matter what I did to stop him, he just powered through it, until finally the connection was cut."

Victor nodded in slight relief, then said, "Penny, a little over a week ago, Brainiac was attacked by the Green Lantern Corp. They were attempting to stop him and rescue any trapped people and cities they could."

"I remember them," Penny spoke up, nodding slightly. "I was forced to fight two of them, and they both looked strangely human and could speak my language. Why is that?"

"That's because they are human, just not from Remnant."

"What do you mean?"

"I can go over the details later, but long story short, we're from a planet called Earth and we, coincidentally, also called ourselves humans," Victor answered. "As for how they were able to talk to you, their Lantern rings had your language installed into them."

"Oh…" Penny paused as she tried to process this information. "I…suppose that makes sense. Kind of. Not really."

She then looked at him and quietly asked, "Did…did the Lanterns win?"

Victor nodded and answered, "Yes, they stopped Brainiac from preserving that planet and rescued quite a few people trapped on his ship, including your friend Qrow, but Brainiac himself managed to get away to lick his wounds."

Penny's eyes widened in surprise, saying, "Qrow got out?"

"He did, thanks to you," Victor confirmed.

A relieved smile blossomed across Penny's face, then it fell as she looked out the window again. Staying quiet for a moment, she asked, "Then…if Qrow got out…what happened to me?"

"You were damaged during your fight against the Green Lanterns," Victor confirmed. When she briefly had a panicked look shoot across her face, Victor hastily added, "Don't worry, Kyle and Guy are fine, but you…somehow your cables got wrapped around your limbs. They got pulled and…cut right through you."

"Oh…I remember that now," Penny admitted, looking away dejectedly. "I didn't mean to do that. I was just trying to kick him out of my mind."

Victor nodded and whispered, "I know. It was an accident. After it happened, we were able to keep you alive, but the damage Brainiac did to your code was…too severe to wipe away from the outside."

"…I see," Penny muttered after a moment of silence. "Then, if you're not Death…who are you, and why are you here?"

Victor nodded, then answered, "My name is Victor Stone. I'm…kind of like you, in a way."

"You're a machine?" Penny asked as her eyes widened in surprise, but Victor shook his head.

"Not exactly. Most of me is mechanical, but parts of me, including my mind, are organic. That makes me a cyborg," Victor clarified.

"You don't look like a cyborg," Penny innocently said, and Victor couldn't help but laugh.

"This is just how I think of myself. It's what I looked like…before," Victor revealed. Penny looked like she wanted to prod further, but politely decided against it. Relieved, Victor cleared his throat, then continued, "Anyway, since I'm a cyborg, I was able to connect my mind to yours. That way I can clear Brainiac's corruption from you directly."

"Really? You can do that?" Penny asked, and Victor nodded.

"I may not look like it right now, but I'm made of some pretty powerful stuff," Victor boasted.

Penny nodded at him, then asked, "Then why do you need me?"

"It's your mind, Penny. I need your help to fully go through it," Victor answered. "Besides, I'm not one to rummage through people's things without their permission."

The young gynoid stared at him for a moment, then whispered, "So…you can help me?"

"Yes, I can," Victor said without an ounce of hesitation. "All of us are."

"'Us?'" Penny repeated, and Victor smiled while nodding.

"There's a lot of people out there rooting for you," Victor revealed. "Including your friend. She's been worried sick."

It took a moment for Penny to realize who Victor was talking about, but when she did her eyes widened and she gasped, "Ruby's here?"

"They all are," Victor answered, "just waiting on you."

To Victor's surprise, a suddenly energetic Penny bounced off her chair and fast walked to the door, saying, "What are we waiting for? Let's get moving!"

She was already out the door by the time Victor could turn around and face her. He stared at the open doorway for a moment, then heartily chuckled before walking after her.

Penny hadn't gone far when Victor exited the cabin, closing it behind him. Penny was at the edge of the clear circle, staring out at all the metal coils with a solemn, heavy expression on her face. Her hands were clenched tightly, but out of fear or nervousness Victor couldn't tell. He supposed both would be accurate.

"This is…my mind, isn't it?" Penny asked, and Victor silently nodded. She paused for a moment, then continued, "It's funny. I've been staring out that window ever since…well, you know. But only now do I see all that he did."

Victor nodded, muttering, "Yeah."

"How are we going to fix this?" Penny asked, almost sounding hopeless. "Can we fix this?"

"We can, and we will," Victor declared. "From what I can gather, Brainiac's virus has a self-repair function. If you attempt to delete individual lines of code, or burn away these tentacles—"

"Why do they look like tentacles, anyway?"

"It's how your mind is interpreting the virus' corruption. I'm assuming this is supposed to be a farm?"

Penny paused to look around, both at the cabin she had mentally sequestered herself in and the patch of golden grass around them, then nodded and replied, "Yes, actually. Now that I think about it, this is my father's childhood home. He grew up in Atlas' agricultural district. Even though the cabin was gone by the time I was made, it was one of the first places I was allowed to visit when Atlas let me leave the lab. I always liked it here, it was the first place I saw living things other than people."

Victor smiled, saying, "It's a very nice place. Natural, serene. Unfortunately, Brainiac's virus is the opposite of that. Ergo, you get metal vines and tentacles consuming everything."

"…Oh, I suppose that makes sense. Kinda," Penny remarked, briefly tilting her head to the side as she scratched her cheek. She then looked back up at Victor, pointing out, "But that doesn't answer my question. How are we going to get rid of all of this?"

Victor lifted his hand, and a holographic display materialized before him and Penny. Her eyes widened in wonder as she looked upon it, and Victor began to explain, "Brainiac's virus is centered around several distinct clusters of code, spreading out from there. If we find and destroy them, it'll weaken the virus' ability to repair itself, allowing me to rip it out."

Penny nodded slowly, then looked up at Victor and worriedly asked, "Then how do we destroy the clusters?"

"That's where you and I come in," Victor said as he turned around to face Penny. Holding up his right arm, he materialized a blocky, pulsating aura which completely enveloped the limb from his hand to his elbow, and he added, "While my anti-virus protection is strong enough to delete any lines of the virus we come across, your soul is the only thing that's going to keep them at bay."

Penny began to understand where Victor was going, then she nodded and continued, "So, while you clear away the virus, I expand the reach of my soul over my mind."

"Exactly, but we have to be careful. One slip up, and we can both be consumed," Victor firmly said. "This is going to be a fight for our lives. Are you up for this?"

Penny closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The air was silent for a few moments, with Victor only staring at Penny. Then the wind began to pick up ever so slightly, and Penny's back opened. From it, attached to thin wires, came ten grey swords with glowing green power symbols on their round bronze hilts. They spread out from her to form a circle, and when Penny's eyes opened, green jets of flame emerged out of their corners.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny declared, and Victor smiled as the aura around his arm dissipated, forming his trademark sonic cannon.

"Attagirl," Victor said, then with Penny by his side they stepped out from beyond the clearing. Immediately the virus' corruption shot towards them, hungry and eager to sink its tendrils into their bodies.

But Victor and Penny were ready, with him blasting them away with his sonic cannon. At the same time, Penny scorched the clear area with a green cleansing flame, preventing the metallic roots from regrowing. Satisfied, the two made their way further into the brush, going in the direction of the thickest roots. The thicker they were, the closer the two of them were to one of the data clusters. A belief that was soon validated as they came across a large mound of twisted tentacles, squirming and twining around each other like a den of snakes.

"That's gotta be it," Victor declared, then aimed his sonic cannon towards it. "On my mark, fire everything you have into it. Ready?"

Penny thrust her arms forward, Floating Array moving with her as they formed a spinning circle right in front of her. A green glow began to form between them, and she replied, "Ready."

Victor nodded, then began to count down, "Three…two…one…Fire!"

At once, both he and Penny fired their weapons into the data cluster. It and all the tentacles seemed to let out an unholy shriek, not unlike that of a banshee, as it shriveled under the assault. Any attempts at resistance was futile, and soon it was gone. The green flame of Penny's soul expanded rapidly from the center, revealing a large portion of farmland that went all the way to the border of her mind. Victor and Penny could now see his mindscape, but before either of them could remark on it, their environment shifted.

"What the…?" Victor mumbled, watching the farmland turn into a cityscape. The sounds of seagulls and water crashing against the walls told him that they were near the docks, but he had no idea which city this was. There was nothing on Earth that matched this layout, and he was aware of all of them.

Then Victor remembered that he wasn't alone on this little trip into the mind. Glancing at an incredulous Penny, Victor expanded his search parameters to that of Remnant, and immediately found a match.

"This is Vale," Victor noted, and Penny slowly nodded.

"Yes, it is," Penny noted as she slowly began to walk around. "I remember this place. This is—"

Penny was interrupted as, to her surprise, she saw herself skipping along the sidewalk. Her doppelgänger was humming to herself a jaunty tune, a nameless piece of music that neither she nor Victor recognized.

"That's…me," Penny gasped. "But…how?"

Victor's face hardened, and he answered, "I see now. Penny…this is a memory."

"A memory? Of what?" Penny wondered, then her eyes widened as they saw a young man with messy blond hair, an opened white button-down shirt that exposed his bare chest for the world to see, and a long golden monkey's tail jump and run across the street. The faunus boy was being chased by a pair of police officers, yet he didn't seem concerned. If anything, he seemed amused.

Neither of them acknowledged Penny, the memory or the actual, with them even running through Victor like he wasn't even there. Penny's memory watched them go, then prepared to keep moving as it wasn't her concern. Then they heard a series of rapid footsteps, and both Penny and Victor watched as the memory of Penny was run over by Weiss, with the rest of team RWBY right behind her.

"No, he got away!" the memory of Weiss yelled in frustration as the faunus boy jumped onto a building and out of sight.

"Uhh… Weiss?" Yang's memory noted as she pointed to Penny's memory, still pinned underneath Weiss.

Weiss looked down, and as soon as she saw that she was on top of past Penny, who was still smiling like she didn't have a care in the world, she hastily got up. Penny remained on the ground and announced, "Salutations!"

Ruby's memory paused for a moment, then mumbled, "Um…hello."

"Are you…okay?" past Yang asked in equal parts confusion and concern.

"I'm wonderful!" Penny's memory happily answered. "Thank you for asking."

As the real Penny and Victor watched the rest of the meeting, she whispered, "This…this was when I first met Ruby and her team."

"I was afraid of this," Victor muttered as he rematerialized the holographic panel. He began to type into it, then dematerialized it with a swipe of his hand. As soon as it went away, the environment returned to the farmland of Penny's mindscape, and the confused young gynoid turned to face him.

"What was that?" she asked, both nervous and confused.

"A corrupted memory. A strong one, too," Victor surmised. "Looks like Brainiac's virus has been spring-boarding off of strong data points in your CPU. Memories, feelings, any event that you formed a strong connection to. It latched onto them like a leech, and from there the infection spread. Clever bastard. No wonder we couldn't get rid of it from the outside. Trying could've destroyed what made you…well, you."

Penny's face flashed with righteous fury, then she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths in order to calm herself. After a moment, she reopened them then looked at Victor, and she asked, "Will each destroyed cluster show a memory?"

"It would, but I just modified my anti-virus' programming to redirect the feedback," Victor revealed. "You don't have to worry about me accidentally violating your privacy anymore."

"Oh. That's…good," Penny replied with a thankful smile, but it then went away as she looked at Victor and pointed out, "But…what about you? You said that your mind is connected to mine, right?"

"Yes, it is," Victor confirmed with a nod. "We saw one of your memories this time, and while I was able to partially close your connection to the program, I can't do the same for me. If I do that, then the risk of this failing would go up."

Penny slowly began to connect the dots, and her eyes widened as she gasped, "That means…we'll see your memories."

Victor nodded after a moment, then said, "That's right."

"But, I—I don't want to see your memories. It's not right," Penny refuted, but Victor shook his head.

"Penny, I appreciate your concern, but it's fine," Victor placated the distraught girl. "Trust me, if it means giving up a little bit of my privacy to save your life, that's a sacrifice I'll make any day of the week."

Penny looked like she wanted to argue further, but decided against it. She awkwardly looked to the side, rubbing her left arm, and muttered, "Sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Victor pointed out, then threw his thumb over his shoulder. "Now come on. We've got more data clusters to delete."

Penny nodded at that, her face scrunching up with determination. Together the two of them strode back into the twisted brush of metal, blasting away any bits of corruption in their path. As they did, Penny couldn't help but look at Victor's mind scape, comparing the massive city to her relatively diminutive farm.

"Your mind is…big," Penny noted. "Much bigger than mine."

"Don't worry, it's fine," Victor replied. "I'm twenty-three years old, so I have more life experience, and while I'm not one to brag I am in the top one-percentile of the world's IQ scores. From what my friend Raven tells me, the older and smarter someone is, the larger their mindscapes. You're…how old are you, exactly?"

"My father designed me with the mental capacity of a sixteen-year-old girl, but I only finished construction three years ago," Penny answered.

"So yeah, you're young. Give it time, your mindscape will grow," Victor pointed out. Idly, Penny noted that, even as they spoke, several streets and buildings were being added onto Victor's mental city, with the already built skyscrapers growing taller and taller. Something told her that age and intellect didn't explain everything she was seeing, but she decided against prodding further.

Soon, they came across another data cluster. Once again, they blasted it with a combination of Victor's hacking and the power of Penny's soul, burning away the mass of twisted metal roots and freeing another section of herself. Now Penny was able to feel a sense of relief coursing through her as though a weight was being lifted off of her shoulders and back. It became easier to breathe, her emotions grew sharper, and a sense of hope began to spring up. Hope that she actually would be able to make it through this.

Then, as before, the environment around them shifted. This time, Penny and Victor found themselves in a grassy field with white lines drawn on the grass to form a rectangular field with lines drawn side to side. On one side of the field were metal bleachers, and on both ends were tuning fork-like metal structures. Two teams of young boys, no older than nine, wearing red or blue uniforms with numbers on their chests and back, layered over thick pads along with helmets equipped with face masks, were facing each other. A long, pointed ball was between them, with both teams leaning towards each other. Then, with a quick yell by one of the boys, a red player picked up the ball and handed it to another. The children crashed into each other, the red team attempting to keep the blue team away as the boy with the ball searched for an open teammate to throw the ball to. When one was spotted, he threw the ball, but it went wide and flew out of bounds.

Suddenly a man on the other side of the field blew his whistle, and he yelled, "Nelson, that's the fifth time!"

"I'm sorry, Coach!" the boy apparently named Nelson replied, but the frustrated coach wasn't satisfied.

"No one can catch the ball if you keep throwing it out of bounds," he pointed out, then snapped his fingers at another boy wearing a red uniform. "Swap out with Parker. You're going back to receiver."

"Aw…" a dejected Nelson sulked as he walked away, with a eager Parker rushing over to take his teammate's position. As they continued to practice, a confused Penny leaned over to look at Victor, who was looking on with a happy expression on his face.

"What is this? Griffball?" Penny asked as she tilted her head. "Where are the foam hammers and swords?"

"Nah, this isn't griffball," Victor corrected. "But, from what I've been told, it's similar."

"If this isn't griffball, then what is it?"

"This, Penny, is football, the most popular sport in the United States. My home country," Victor revealed, then pointed to a young boy with curly hair, wearing jean shorts and a blue t-shirt that had a red-lined gold diamond with a red "S" on its chest, sitting on the bleachers while reading a book. "That's me over there."

Penny looked at the young Victor. He was burying his nose into his book, furiously scribbling in its margins with a pencil. She expected the book he was reading to be something geared towards children, with simple words and pictures, but instead the pages of the book simply titled Plato were filled with complex words and sentences. Things that should've flown right over the child's head, yet somehow Victor understood it enough to take detailed notes at such a young age.

"See, I told you I was smart," Victor noted with a smirk, and Penny slowly nodded. Suddenly, the young boy was interrupted as yet another football was thrown wide, crashing right into him and nearly knocking him back.

"Sorry, sorry!" Parker, or rather the memory of Parker, called out as he ran over. "The ball slipped out of my hand. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Victor's memory confirmed, then leaned over to pick up the football. Holding it up, he asked, "Do you need this back?"

"Yes, please," Parker said as he prepared to walk up the bleachers to get it.

But, much to his surprise, Victor stopped him and prepared to throw it back. Parker barely had time to react before Victor threw the ball in a perfect spiral right into his chest. The stunned boy stumbled back, then stared up at him with wide eyes along with the rest of the practicing football team. The young Victor smiled and shrugged, then went back to his reading. As the other boys continued to stare at him, their coach had a curious look on his face, then began to walk over.

"Hey, you're Victor Stone, right?" the coach asked, and Victor looked up and nodded.

"Yes, that's me," Victor confirmed, and the coach grabbed the football out of Parker's hands.

"Do you want to try out? We have open slots," the coach said. A curious Victor looked at him, then shrugged, closed the book, and began to walk down the bleachers.

"Sure, why not? It looks like fun," the young Victor replied. As they joined the boys on the field, the memory faded, returning Penny and Victor back to her mental farm.

"That," Victor began to explain, "was the first time I ever played football. As you can see, I was a naturally talented athlete."

He had a proud smile on his face, which Penny couldn't help but return. They couldn't stay there for long, though, and together the two began to move once again. Carving through the metal brush, it wasn't long before they came across yet another data cluster. Burning through it like the previous ones, its removal had the same effect. Another swath of Penny's code was freed of Brainiac's corruption, followed by yet another memory. This time, Victor looked to be a few years older, eleven if Penny had to guess. He and another group of students, all wearing middle school football uniforms, were walking down the hallways of their school. They were handing Victor pieces of paper, which Penny quickly realized was their homework.

"Sorry, man. You didn't divide this right. Should be by two-and-a-half, not just two," the young Victor corrected as he handed the homework back to his teammate.

"Darn it! I worked all night on this thing. I hate algebra," the young boy complained, and Victor patted his shoulder in order to comfort him.

"Don't worry about it, man. Algebra's easy once you get the hang of it," Victor noted, only for his friend to scoff and roll his eyes.

"Easy for you to say. You're top of our class! Everything's easy for you," he complained, and the young Victor couldn't help but chuckle. "See? You don't even deny it!"

"Trust me, I work just as hard as you," Victor replied, then paused and tapped his chin. He then corrected, "Actually, I take that back. I do work harder than you, if only because both of my parents are doctors and they'll kill me if I get so much as an A-minus."

"Really? I've met your mom, Vic. She's nice," another of his teammates noted.

"I'm mostly talking about my dad. He's always harping on me about keeping up my grades," Victor noted, a sour look on his face. "Never mind how I have straight-As…"

His friends paused, and one of them noted, "Your dad sounds like a jerk."

"Hey, that's my dad," Victor defended. "Sure, he's busy a lot and hard on me, but only because he cares. Plus, he said that he's going to come to the game tonight. Gonna get off work early."

"Uh-huh," the first friend scoffed. "You really believe that?"

"I mean…yeah. He promised," Victor pointed out, but despite the conviction on his face, even he sounded unsure. Penny didn't like the sound of it, then her attention was taken away by the sight of a scrawny boy wearing glasses suddenly getting knocked to the ground, his books dropping by his feet and papers going everywhere.

"Oops! Sorry about that. I didn't see you there," an overweight, acne-ridden boy with braces on his teeth said in a mocking tone as he and his friends looked down on the boy. The kid looked up and glared at him, pushing up his glasses on his nose before deciding to simply pick up his belongings. As he reached for the papers, however, the bully quickly grabbed them and brought them up to his face.

"Hey, give that back!" the boy protested, but the bigger kid ignored him.

"Oh, this is today's homework. Thanks, man. I forgot to finish mine last night," the bully said in a mocking tone.

"That's not your homework! It's mine!" the victim protested, only for the bully to pull out a pencil and hastily erase the other kid's name to write in his own.

"Really? Because my name's on it," the bully pointed out.

"You…you can't do that!"

"Oh yeah?" the bully darkly said as he walked up to his victim, pinning him against the lockers lined up on the wall. "You going to do something about it?"

"I…I…" the kid stammered. The bully smiled, and his friends began to chuckle as none of the other kids did anything but watch, too scared to intervene. But not everyone.

"Give it back," Victor demanded, causing the bully and his posse to stop and slowly turn to face him. Victor was by himself, with his friends looking on in fear.

"Well, well. If it isn't the King of the Nerds himself," the bully declared as he turned towards him, dismissing his first victim who slumped to the ground.

"Give it back, Butch. It doesn't belong to you," Victor repeated his demand, and Butch scoffed.

"And if I don't give it back? What are you going to do then, huh?" Butch sarcastically asked.

"I'm going to make you," Victor declared in the utmost seriousness. Butch and his posse simply stared at him for a moment, then doubled over to laugh.

"Hah-hah! That's rich, coming from you," Butch dismissed, then gestured towards Victor with his thumb as he looked at his friends with a smile on his face. "You hear this guy? Just because he's been made quarterback, suddenly he thinks he can take me on."

His posse sycophantly laughed harder, only to stop when Victor corrected, "No. I meant all three of you. It's not like any of you are actually that tough."

That caused the laughter to stop, and now the three bullies stared at him angrily. Butch hissed, "What did you just say?"

"You're not tough. You're big and strong, sure, but all you do is pick on people weaker than you," Victor dismissed. "You're nothing more than a bully, Butch. A stupid one, too."

That made Butch incensed beyond all reason, and with a yell he reared his fist back to throw a punch. But Victor was ready for it. Dodging the blow to the side, he quickly retaliated by throwing a single punch directly into Butch's nose. The bully stumbled back, allowing Victor to grab him by the shirt then throw him face-first into the locker. A painful crack was heard as Butch's nose broke, followed by a wail as he fell to the ground, hands hastily clutching his face now covered in blood.

As Butch cried pitifully on the ground, his fellow bullies looked down at him in shock and surprise. They then timidly looked up at Victor, who looked more than ready to deal with them as well.

"You…you'll pay for this!" one of them yelled as they turned tail and ran, but Victor wasn't intimidated.

"Go ahead, I'm not scared," Victor declared, then looked down at the defeated bully by his feet. Scowling, he leaned down and ripped the homework from his hands, then went over and handed it back to the astonished victim. Smiling, Victor said, "Here, I think this belongs to you."

The memory faded, returning Victor and Penny to her mindscape. She looked up at him, smiling at the kind and brave act she just witnessed. Victor was smiling proudly as well, and he answered the unasked question, "I got suspended for a week, but it was worth it. Mom raised hell with the school about it, then she took me to Disney World. When I got back, Butch and his little clique never bothered anyone again. Goes to show you the truth about bullies. Once you start standing up to them, they're suddenly not so scary anymore."

Penny nodded in agreement, saying, "You did the right thing."

"Damn straight I did," Victor remarked.

With the area cleared, the pair moved onto the next. It was becoming routine now, almost monotonous. But Penny refused to let her guard down for a moment. Despite the ease with which they were working, it was still incredibly dangerous. If they slipped up for a moment, all the progress they'd made would be for naught. As such, they moved through the metallic landscape slowly and carefully, blasting apart the tentacles with surgical precision. When they once again reached a data cluster, they immediately destroyed it by firing on it together in concert.

As the cleansing flame repaired the damage, Penny was once again greeted by one of Victor's memories. She had come to expect it by now, and part of her was almost eager. That eagerness was immediately cut short as she was treated to a vastly different landscape, one that reminded her immediately of Remnant's final days. The sky was inflamed, with colossal, blocky ships hovering over the city, firing thick columns of energy which consumed everything underneath. Coming from the ships were a seemingly endless horde of winged humanoids, carrying strange weapons that they used to fire on anyone in their path.

"What…what is this?" Penny asked, her eyes widened in horror. When Victor didn't answer, she turned to face him, only to suddenly see an enraged look on his warped face. He was seething at the sight before him, but when he noticed she was looking at him, Victor forced himself to calm down. He took a few deep breaths, then looked right into her eyes.

"Remnant wasn't the only planet that was turned upside down by an alien invader," Victor revealed, turning back to look at the burning city. "This is the Battle of Gotham City, one of our only real victories in the Darkseid War. Pyrrhic as it was."

"Darkseid…" Penny muttered. She didn't know who what that name meant, but the way he said it sent tingles down her spine.

Her attention was then drawn to a family of four running down the street, away from the chaos behind them. The father was carrying a young girl, no older than five, while a teenage son was running behind his mother. A flight of jets flew overhead, firing their machine guns and missiles into the alien hordes. But they were quickly shot down, spiraling out of control and crashing into the ground or Gotham City skyscrapers. The young girl screamed in fear, with her father desperately trying to calm her down by gently whispering into her ear. Penny couldn't hear what he was saying, as the outside noise was too great.

That was when she noticed that the flying insect-like aliens were drawing closer, allowing her to finally get a good look at them. The aliens had vaguely human-like characteristics, with two eyes, a nose with two nostrils, and a mouth in the same place and shape that a human would. But the eyes were glowing a fiery red, whether from the goggles attached to their helmets or from the irises themselves Penny couldn't tell, and their teeth were all razor sharp canines. Their skin was a deathly gray that had the texture of cracked rock. Worn over their bodies was a bright gold and green suit of armor, with two pairs of wings fluttering out the back. In their hands were small, stockless rifles, from which they fired plasma bolts at anything that moved.

"What…are those things?" Penny asked, horrified as she watched several of the creatures take potshots at the family and others around them.

"Those are parademons, Darkseid's foot soldiers," Victor answered through a scowl.

"There's so many of them," Penny noted, and Victor nodded.

"When Darkseid conquers a world, he enslaves their entire population," Victor clarified. "Most of them get converted into parademons for his army."

Penny's eyes widened as the implication began to dawn on her, and she muttered, "Meaning…"

Victor nodded when Penny trailed off, and he revealed, "Many of these parademons used to be human."

Penny felt her throat constrict, and her body began to shake. Both from the horror of what she had just learned, as well as the sheer anger coursing through her veins. Knowing that someone could stoop to such depravity, depriving people of themselves and turning them into monsters just to further their own ambitions and lust for power, it went against everything Penny believed in. One look at Victor's face told her that he felt the same, probably even more so given how he personally lived through this.

Just as she was beginning to wonder where Victor was during this 'Battle of Gotham City,' the family she and Victor had been following were suddenly intercepted by a parademon. The family screamed in fright, with the father protectively placing himself in front of his wife and children. His daughter whimpered and buried her head into his shoulder as the parademon, its plasma rifle raised towards them, hissed and clicked orders in an alien language that none of them, not even Penny, could hope to understand. Its advance forced the family to step back more and more, and from the gleeful, wicked smile on the parademon's face, Penny got the sense that it enjoyed the torment it was fomenting in its victims.

That was when the sound of an engine suddenly roared, drawing both the parademon's and the family's attention. Before the parademon could react, a pick-up truck suddenly plowed into it, crashing into a brick house. The alien was driven through the wall, collapsing under the force of the impact. Soon the hood of the vehicle, and the alien pinned under its grill, was buried under an avalanche of wood and brick, and the family could only stare incredulously at their savior. When the driver-side door swung open, Penny's eyes widened in surprise as a thirteen-year-old Victor Stone jumped out and ran towards them.

"Are you guys okay?!" Victor asked. The family was stunned for a moment, then the mother nodded.

"Yes, we're fine. Th…thank you," she said, but the young Victor shook his head.

"Don't thank me yet, we gotta get out of here!" he yelled, turning around to lead them away. "Come on, my family's-!"

Victor was suddenly interrupted by a loud, heavy impact right behind him. Slowly, Victor turned around and directed his gaze upwards as he looked upon a massive brute of a man, wearing a dark green tunic with golden bands on his chest, belt, shorts and gauntlets. His muscular left arm was completely bare, while the other held a golden mace and was covered in a green sleeve. He looked more like a gorilla than a human, with a thick mane of black hair around his head that connected with his beard. Pointed ears could be seen coming out of the sides of his head, and he was looking down on Victor with a gleeful smile.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" the alien asked rhetorically as a terrified Victor backed away. "Bunch of little humans crawling around in the dirt."

A pair of parademons landed beside their commander, and as the family behind him whimpered, Victor steeled himself and raised his fists in a defiant display.

"Leave us alone!" Victor demanded, but the alien wasn't intimidated at all. Instead, he began to laugh hysterically.

"Oh-ho! This one's a fighter! I like that," the alien declared, then smiled and leaned towards Victor. "What's your name, child?"

"Vic-Victor! My name's Victor Stone!" Victor answered, and the alien smiled before patting his palm against his broad chest.

"My name's Kalibak, first son of Darkseid," Kalibak declared with an arrogant, boastful tone in his voice. He then spread his arms wide, and offered, "I'm feeling sporting right now, so I'll let you have the first blow. Come on, now. Don't be shy."

Penny watched silently in horror as a terrified Victor took a step back, then her eyes widened in surprise as the young boy steeled himself and let out a yell before running at Kalibak. He slammed his tiny body against Kalibak's leg, hurling punch after punch into the limb. But it did absolutely nothing, and Kalibak could only laugh.

"Hah-hah! I think I like this kid! He's got SPUNK!" Kalibak declared, then lightly kicked Victor away. The blow was nonetheless powerful enough to send Victor flying back, and he landed on the ground in a heap. The air was forced out of his lungs, and he found it hard to breathe. As the family he tried to protect came over to try and help him, a smug and victorious Kalibak began to walk forward, shifting the weight of his mace up and down.

"You're going to do well in my father's army, I can already tell," Kalibak said, pushing the family back and preparing to pick Victor up. Before he could, however, the sound of another engine could be heard coming around the corner, drawing everyone's attention. It was followed by a spurt of heavy gunfire, instantly killing the two parademons flanking Kalibak.

"WHAT?!" Kalibak shouted, turning around to face the intruder, only for him to be immediately run over by a jet black vehicle that strangely, to Penny at least, had fins in the shape of batwings on it. The glass canopy of the vehicle was shattered, and both Penny, Victor, and his younger memory could see a young boy around his age wearing a bright red and green outfit, a black domino mask that completely covered his eyes, and a stylized "R" on his right chest, driving the vehicle. As the car drove down the street, it drew the attention of every single parademon in the area, leaving Victor and the other civilians free to recover and escape.

As the memory began to fade, Victor chuckled despite himself and remarked, "I didn't know it then, but I met one of my best friends that day."

It took a moment for Penny to figure out who he was talking about, and she asked, "You mean that kid?"

"Yep," Victor confirmed with nod. "The kid driving the Batmobile was Robin. I met him in person five years later when he was going by the name of Nightwing."

"I'm confused, is his name Robin or Nightwing?" Penny asked.

"Neither, that's just his superhero name. It's not proper etiquette to reveal a superhero's secret identity without their permission," Victor clarified. "Mine's Cyborg, in case you wanted to know."

"'Superhero?'" Penny repeated, then her eyes widened. "Wait, you're a superhero?"

"Yep. Don't worry, we'll go over that later. Long story short, superheroes are to Earth like what Huntsmen were to Remnant."

Penny was able to easily grasp that, but before Victor could lead them away to what appeared to be their last data cluster, she stopped him and said, "What you did back there… It was very brave."

Victor looked at her with a faint smile, then he nodded and said, "Thanks. Honestly, during that moment…I was terrified out of my mind. But I couldn't just sit there and do nothing. When I saw that family about to be killed, or worse…my body just acted and, before I knew it, I hotwired a nearby truck and ran the damn thing over."

Penny nodded in understanding without saying a word, for nothing needed to be said. She took a moment to look around her mindscape, and much to her relief it was much clearer than before. Fields of golden grass were stretching out towards the horizon, as far as the eye could see. The cabin in the center was visible throughout it all, jutting above the tallest stalks like a protective sentry. A faint, gentle breeze was also flowing through the air, brushing up against Penny's hair and skin. There were still areas consumed by Brainiac's corruption, but it was much smaller now. Victor's mindscape could also be seen, with streams of light-blue data flowing from it into the liberated data clusters.

There appeared to be a section remaining, but it also seemed to be the thickest. If Penny had to guess, based off of what they already knew, that was likely where the bulk of Brainiac's virus was located. Once they cleared it out, Penny would be completely free. She was excited, but also incredibly nervous. If something were to go wrong, that would be the most likely place for it to happen.

Nevertheless, both Penny and Victor walked forward, passing through the sea of grass before entering the twisted piles of metal. As she suspected, it was taking considerably more and more effort from both of them to clear their path, slowing their progress to a crawl. But they refused to relent, straining themselves as much as they could as they continued to advance. At the same time, much to Penny's surprise, they began to hear voices echoing in the distance, and the sky above began to display a new event. They were inside a school again, with Victor sitting on a leather chair just outside of an office, where a man and a woman Penny assumed was Victor's mother were talking.

"Mrs. Stone," the bald man began to say, whom Penny assumed was a principal of some kind based on the decoration of his office, but she couldn't stop to look.

"Doctor. Doctor Elinore Stone, please," the woman corrected, and Penny saw Victor briefly flinch at the voice of his mother before continuing to move. She glanced upward and noticed the principal nervously flinch and swallow the contents of his throat before continuing.

"Dr. Stone," the principal started again. "I wanted to talk about your son's latest actions."

"What about them?" Elinore asked, her tone of voice betraying how unamused she was.

"Well…he hacked into the school's database and changed another student's grades. That's a serious offense," the principal revealed. Rather than express shock, however, Elinore Stone merely crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back into her seat.

"Is that so? May I ask why?" she asked, but Penny got the sense that Elinore already knew the answer.

"It was one of his classmates, Susan Jones. She missed an entire week's worth of tests, and Victor submitted new ones and changed the grades to perfect scores," the principal pointed out, causing Penny's eyes to widen in shock.

"Ah, Susie. I remember her," Elinore said with a quick nod as she pinched her chin. She then asked, "Tell me, which week of tests did she miss?"

"Finals week, from December 12th to the 16th."

"Right, right. That is an important week to miss," Elinore noted, and dramatically paused. She then narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, then said, "If I remember correctly, didn't the Jones' house burn down in an electrical fire the week before? They lost everything, didn't they?"

Taken aback, the principal sputtered and tried to reply, "Y-yes, and that is a horrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go to her family, but—"

"So, with that terrible loss in mind, I think it's safe to say that Susie had other things on her mind. I mean, who can blame a kid for not focusing on school when they're trying to figure out if they'll have a roof over their head?"

"That does not excuse your son's academic dishonesty!"

"What dishonesty? I watched my son help Susie catch up on everything she missed after her house burned down, including taking the very tests she missed as part of their tutoring sessions. I even graded them, and she earned those perfect scores."

It all fell into place for Penny, as it did for the principal as he said, "You…you knew your son did this?"

"No, I learned about what he did when you called me in here," Elinore answered truthfully. "But, unlike you, I don't think he did anything wrong. Rather, you and this school did when you ignored the plight of one of your students. Maybe he shouldn't have hacked into your precious database, but you left Susie no other option. Had those grades remained where they were, she would've failed her entire year."

"But…we would've…" the principal tried to argue, but Elinore Stone was done with this conversation.

"Do what you want, but if you plan to punish my son for doing the right thing, then I'll take this matter all the way up to the superintendent if I have to!" Elinore declared, then got up from her seat and walked out the door. When she rejoined her son, Victor had this satisfied grin on his face, while the principal could only stare in silent contemplation.

The sky returned to normal, and throughout it all Penny noticed that they had made considerable headway into the brush. Victor was silent, and Penny thought about speaking up, but she decided against it. From the way he was hunched over, Victor almost seemed upset, and she didn't want to pry.

They continued burning their way through the brush, eventually finding the data cluster. It was the largest one they had seen yet, the thick mass of twisted roots and tentacles rising high into the air. How they didn't see it before now was a mystery to Penny, but she didn't particularly care about that. Instead, all she wanted to do was burn it to the ground.

"Ready?" Victor asked as he hefted his arm cannon, and Penny nodded as she aimed Floating Array.

"Ready," Penny confirmed. A moment later, they simultaneously fired their weapons into the data cluster, which shrieked and thrashed under the assault.

As they burned more and more of it away, shutting down its repeated attempts to strike back at them, once again the sky changed. Victor ignored it entirely, but Penny couldn't help but be drawn towards it. This time it was displaying a snow-covered football field inside a grand stadium, roaring fans filling the seats, as two teams squared off against each other. One team was wearing black and gold uniforms, while the other used red and white. At the back of the football field was a scoreboard, saying that it was the fourth quarter with ten seconds left on the clock. One team, the Gotham High Hawks, had twenty-seven points on the board while their opponents, the Metropolis High Falcons, had thirty-two.

Victor, as the Hawks' quarterback, was hunched down behind his linebackers. He was looking around at his team, all of whom had scrunched up faces, their teeth grinding against each other as the pressure built around them. Penny watched him look forward, then lowered his hands.

"Hut!" Victor yelled, and the football was suddenly thrust into his hand. He stepped back rapidly as the two teams of footballers slammed into each other. Receivers ran out, trying to get enough space for Victor to throw the ball towards them and then run into the endzone.

But Penny could see that no one was open, and the past Victor knew it as well. As his defensive line broke and a pair of Metropolis players rushed towards him to attempt a sack, he noticed an opening they left behind. He decided to take it, and charged forward. He rolled by one of his attackers, pushing away another as he broke through the line. As the Metropolis players realized what he was doing, they rushed to try and stop him, but he would not be deterred. He powered through, staying on his feet even though players had latched onto him. His teammates swarmed him, pushing the enemy team off and granting him room. Finally, as he neared the goal line, he dived forward, landing in a heap in the endzone.

Suddenly, a loud buzzer followed by fireworks could be heard, quickly drowned out by massive cheers as the Gotham fanbase erupted into applause. The bleachers were emptied as the entire Gotham High football team swarmed the endzone, rushing towards a jubilant Victor Stone, who had taken his helmet off and was holding it up in the air as he roared to the heavens.

"The Gotham High Hawks have done the unthinkable! They have just beaten the number one Metropolis to become the National Champions!" the announcer declared, but Penny was barely able to hear what the man was saying over the crowd.

Then, much to her surprise, the noise began to fade as the celebratory Victor looked into the stands. There he saw his mother, standing and cheering along with everyone else. College recruiters and NFL scouts could be seen behind her, taking notes about his performance. But he didn't care about that. Instead his attention zeroed in on the empty reserved seat right beside his mother, one labeled "Elias Stone." His smile faded, and even though he was surrounded by his excited friends and teammates, he didn't even seem to care.

The scene shifted, and Penny briefly noted that the cluster was still up, albeit significantly diminished even as it struggled more desperately to infect them. Victor, the real one, had started using both of his arm cannons in an effort to remove it as fast as possible, with blue lines edging across his body. Penny doubled her efforts as well, wanting to take the burden off of him.

That was when, once again, the sky changed. This time it showed Victor and his mother in a car, driving along a snowy road at night. Victor was clearly depressed, resting his cheek on his hand against the doorframe. Elinore Stone was glancing between him and the road, a sad frown on her face as well.

After a moment, she began to say, "Your father wanted to come, but—"

"Don't. Just…don't," Victor cut her off. Elinore went silent as she pursed her lips, and she continued to look forward. Clearly her son couldn't handle the silence for long, and he began to shake his head and say, "It's just…every time. Sports, father-son day, career fair. Every single time, he doesn't show. Shame on me for thinking he'd at least show up for the championship game."

Elinore sighed, then replied, "I know. Your father…he's a very busy man, with very important work."

"What, so I'm not important? Or does he care more about that stupid box than me?" Victor accused, and didn't flinch when his mother shot him an angry look.

"That's not true and you know it, Victor," Elinore refuted, then softened her face and released another sigh. "Look, your father…he's never been very good at showing his emotions."

"You can say that again," Victor said with a scoff and a roll of his eyes, but his mother continued.

"But he loves you, just as much as he loves me," Elinore declared as she faintly smiled. "Just give him time. He'll come around."

"I've given him eighteen years," Victor pointed out as he looked at his mother one last time, barely able to fight back tears. "How much more does he need? I mean, you're just as busy as he is, yet you make the time. Stop making excuses for him, please."

Elinore didn't have an answer for that, then she gently reached over to cup his face. She said, "I know things seem hard right now, but I know this. Your father is proud of you, we both are. After what I just saw today, I can't wait to see what you'll do tomorrow, and he'll see it, too."

Victor took a small amount of comfort from that, but before he could even begin to respond, his eyes widened as a bright light emerged from right behind his mother. He desperately reached out to try and protect her, to no avail. In that instant, their car was struck from the driver's side by a massive semi-truck, and the world went black.

Penny released a small gasp as she finally realized what she was witnessing, as did Victor. She wanted to look away, but found herself unable to as the world around them once again shifted. They were now in a hospital room, surrounded by doctors and nurses. A visibly scared and flustered Dr. Elias Stone was ushered into the room, followed by a doctor.

"Where are they?" he begged as he looked around, his attention immediately drawn to a blue curtain. He prepared to make his way to it, only to stop when he noticed a gurney carrying a body next to it. A blue sheet was drawn over the corpse, and Penny's eyes widened as she realized whose body that was.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Stone. Your wife…she died on impact," the head doctor revealed. Elias visibly hitched and barely fought back tears, then shifted his gaze to the curtain.

"Wha—What about my son? How is Victor?" he asked, dreading the answer as the doctors nervously looked at each other.

"We were able to save your son, but…" the doctor paused, nervously wringing his hands together. "Most of his body was damaged beyond repair. We had to put him on life support just to keep his heart beating. He's…he's not going to make it."

Elias' face fell, and he slowly reached out towards the curtain. Before he could reach it, the doctor stopped him and added, "Doctor, I have to warn you. Your son's condition…"

He trailed off, unable to find the words. But Elias could, and he steeled himself before saying, "I don't care."

With a single motion, he threw the curtain to the side, then he and Penny gasped as they saw Victor's mangled body lying on a table, hooked up to several monitors and medical equipment. Everything below his chest was gone, alongside his left arm past his shoulder. His left eye was destroyed, and what remained of his head and torso was covered in bruises and sewn-together scars. Most alarmingly, he was conscious, his only remaining eye shifting towards his petrified father in pain and terror. Gone was the image of strength and power that he displayed his entire life. Now he lied there broken, shattered beyond repair.

All of the doctors simply stood there and watched, many of them barely able to fight back tears. None more so than Elias Stone, who covered his mouth with his hands. As he shakily went over next to his son, the medical staff backed away to give them space. He tried to touch his son, but his hands were shaking so much that he was unable to.

"I'm…I'm so…I'm so sorry," Elias sobbed, his control over his emotions finally breaking. Barely supporting his body by pushing off of Victor's bed, Elias continued, "Victor…I swear to you, you're going to be alright. You're not going to die. I…I won't allow it…"

Elias' sobs and the sound of Victor's medical equipment were the only things that could be heard in the entire room. The scene faded to white, and a heartbroken Penny glanced over at Victor. More of his body now was visibly mechanical, covered in glowing lines with several clustered around his left eye.

When the scene changed again, this time centering on a laboratory, Penny's attention was drawn in as she continued to wear down the final cluster. Victor, unconscious and barely breathing with the assistance of machines, was laid out over a vertical table, with dozens of cables connected to various spots on his body. The cables were woven together along a rail, sprouting from an apparatus on a nearby table. Elias was carefully positioning a large metal box between two poles, making sure nothing could break the connection he was trying to make. Once it was in place, he looked at his son, then steeled himself.

Elias walked over to a nearby station, then pressed a button on the display. Electricity pulsed through the box, which began to pulsate and glow. Power surged through the cables, following the path of least resistance before converging into Victor's body. The boy suddenly shot awake and let out a bloodcurdling scream as agonizing pain shot through his body. Penny could only watch in horror as the energy cascaded around him. A metal skeleton began to grow out of the missing parts of his body, sprouting cybernetic components which continued to spread and grow. Soon most of his body, except for a tiny portion of his face, was covered by a light grey metal, blue lights glowing from various spots on his chest, arms, and shoulders. That was when Elias shut the machine off, and Victor ceased his screaming in favor of breathing in and out harshly on his own power.

Once again the scene cut, and Penny slowly turned to look at her savior. Victor no longer looked like the young man she had seen previously. Instead, he was now truly his namesake: a cyborg unlike anything she had ever seen before, beyond even Mr. Ironwood's extensive prosthetics. He wasn't even looking at her, instead firing everything he had into the cluster. Penny had so many questions, but was unable to ask them. Instead, she once again redoubled her efforts, and as they burned away the final portions of the cluster, once again the scene around them changed.

"Victor, please. Let me just—" Elias tried to explain, but a furious Victor refused to listen.

"No! You don't get to speak! Not after what you did to me!" Victor shouted, stuffing various clothes and other items into a bag.

"I was trying to save your life," Elias defended himself. "I did save your life."

Victor paused, then turned to look at his father and dramatically lowered his hood, then said, "You call this living? I'm a freak, a monster!"

"You are not a monster," Elias emphatically declared. "You are my son."

"You have no right to call me that," Victor angrily refused. "Don't you get what you did? You didn't save my life, you subjected me to an alien device we barely even understand."

"The Mother Box was the only thing I could think of," Elias said. "We both know how powerful it is."

"Oh yeah, and I got a firsthand taste of it," Victor sarcastically replied. "Now I can barely even sleep as my mind connects to every single thing around me. Traffic controls, banks, security cameras, hell even the TV and microwave, and I'm connecting to more and more every single second!"

"My body keeps changing, too," Victor added, shifting his arm into a sonic cannon. "Couldn't do that yesterday, and the day before I found out I could fly. There's no telling what else will happen to me, or what I'll turn into. Does that remind you of anything, or anyone? Someone who also used Mother Boxes or devices just like them?"

Victor glared at his father, then declared, "I can't even leave the house without people screaming at me. My friends stopped by to see how I was doing, since all they knew was that I was let out of the hospital. They got one look at me then ran. You did this to me. I'm no longer human because of you."

Elias sadly stared at his son, then hung his head, sighed, and admitted, "You're right. I did this to you. I used an alien device I barely understood in a desperate attempt to save your life. It could've done anything to you, turned you into anything, and I'm sorry I subjected you to that. If you can't forgive me, and you want to leave, I don't have the right to stop you."

"But I do know this," Elias declared. "You are not a monster, Victor. You're still human, just…more now."

He reached into his pocket then pulled out a tape recorder. Handing it to his son, Elias explained, "I've been giving it some thought. Over what the Mother Box did to you, and what you can do with your new abilities. Please, if nothing else…just give it a listen."

Victor stared at his father, then without saying a word took the tape recorder from him. Walking over to the window, he opened it and stepped out onto the fire escape. He looked one last time at a despondent Elias Stone, then said, "Goodbye, Dad."

With that, Victor closed the window, then climbed down the fire escape and into the pouring rain. Throwing his hood over his head, with just a blue light shining out of his eye, he chose a random direction away from his home and began walking. Clutched in his hand was the tape recorder. At first, he considered ignoring it, but after a few moments he decided to press play. Penny was able to hear and see it all, even as she continued destroying the last cluster alongside Victor.

"Victor," Elias' voice began. "Your powers, your abilities granted to you by the Mother Box…in all my years of research, with everything we have seen in just the past fifteen years alone, they are unlike anything I have ever seen before. I know that you have noticed your body changing, getting stronger, developing weapons, connections, and more. But that is not just the tip of the iceberg, it's the tip of the tip."

Elias paused, and Victor continued to walk down the rain-soaked street. His father then continued, "In this technological world controlled by information, you are the master of all of it. No firewall, no antivirus, no encryption, nothing can stop you. Power grids, telecommunications, weapon systems, banking. Every single thing that controls our entire society is at your mercy. The fate of the entire world will, quite literally, rest in your hands."

Victor paused to look at his hand, and as he passed by a Gotham National Bank building, Elias said, "But choosing what to do with your power isn't the question…no, challenge. It's what not to do. I know, Victor, that you never asked for this responsibility, but how you choose to use it will define you for the rest of your life. A lesser man would let this power go to their head and become a god, but I know you. There's no one else on this planet more worthy, more deserving of it, than you. In time, I know—"

Victor angrily turned the tape recorder off. He looked tempted to crush the device, but decided against it. Penny watched as he looked around, trying to determine where to go next, when his attention was drawn to a young woman with two children messing with an ATM. She was trying to withdraw money, but her balance wasn't big enough for what she needed. The woman was desperate, scared even, with her children unsure of what was going to happen next. Victor stared at them, then Penny saw several holographic displays form around him. Whether they were real or simply projections in his mind, she couldn't tell. But through those displays, Penny saw the woman's life with her children through social media and security cameras. How she did everything she could to make ends meet, trying her best to provide for her children but unable to give them the lives they deserved, and how that morning she had been cruelly evicted. Now all she had was cents to her name, and Victor could already see the hard, shortened life that awaited all three of them.

Without hesitation, Victor hacked into the GNB computers and directly accessed her account, moving a hundred thousand dollars into it. The ATM screen momentarily glitched, and to the woman's surprise she saw that she had been awarded a GNB Most Valued Customer award, and she began to cry in surprise. Pulling some of the money out, she hugged her confused children tightly, and Victor warmly smiled before turning around and walking away.

That was when the scene ended, and with it the last of the corruption was destroyed. At once, Penny felt a complete sense of calm and peace wash over her, but she didn't really care about that. Instead, she focused all of her attention onto Victor, who was breathing heavily. Green sparks were faintly jetting around his limbs, but they didn't seem to be causing any discomfort. Slowly, he turned to look at her, and the two robotic heroes stared into each other's eyes.

It all fell into place now. The size of Victor's mindscape, it's constant expansion. She wasn't connected to just another cyborg. Victor Stone was, for all intents and purposes, a technological god. One who was more powerful than even herself with the power of the Winter Maiden. Yet, at the same time, he wasn't just a god. He was a man, a young man defined by strength and resilience in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. More than anything, he was a good man, one who risked his life to save her even though he didn't even know her.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Penny suddenly wrapped Victor in a hug. Surprised, he looked down at her then asked, "What's with the hug? It's nice, don't get me wrong, but…why?"

"I don't know. You just looked like you needed one," Penny answered, continuing to hug him. Victor chuckled, then returned the hug as well.

"Thank you, it's very nice," Victor said, then pulled away. "I'm sorry you had to see all that. If I'd known it would've shown you that much… Hell, I probably wouldn't have changed a thing."

"No, it's fine. I'm grateful, immensely," Penny said, then awkwardly began to shift the weight on her heels back and forth. Glancing at the massive city, she couldn't help but ask, "It's overwhelming, isn't it?"

"Sometimes, yeah," Victor admitted. "But I've learned to compensate."

"How?"

"Deep in the reaches of my mind, I developed something called the Grid," Victor answered. "It allows me to sequester away anything I'm not directly looking at. Keeps things focused."

"Right," Penny replied with a nod. "What about Brainiac's virus?"

"I can't detect any more traces of it," Victor declared. "You're completely clean."

Penny smiled in relief, then had a look of worry shoot across her face. As she glanced back at the city, she asked, "What about you? Are you okay?"

"That last one did attempt to get into my systems. It's why it took so long, and I'd wager that the other memories we saw were its attempts to latch onto a new cluster," Victor revealed, and Penny's eyes widened. He then hastily added, "But don't worry, I stopped it."

"Are you sure? How?"

"I pulled it into the Grid. It's where I keep my best anti-virus protections. Brainiac's code got annihilated," Victor answered with a confident smirk. "Hell, I even managed to save a bit of it for study."

"Is that safe?"

"Perfectly safe. With it, I can find a hole in his security if he ever attacks Earth. Give him a taste of his own medicine," Victor confirmed. Penny looked at him, then felt his confidence wash over her and she nodded.

"That's good to hear," she said. "What now?"

"Now? Well, now we get to work on actually fixing you," Victor confirmed. "With the tech and resources we have on hand, we can make you good as new in practically no time at all, and that's only if we bring you back up to your specs from before you got damaged."

"Right, right," Penny said with a nod.

"But," Victor added as he formed a holographic display above his palm that showed Penny's schematics, "as we've been going through here, I've come up with a few ideas for upgrades. If you want, we can go over them, and decide what you'd prefer."

Penny looked at Victor for a moment, then smiled, nodded, and said, "I'd like that."

Victor smiled back, then began to explain exactly what he had in mind.

---

December 27th, 5:35 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Ruby paced back and forth in front of the lab. Inside, Cyborg, Kilowog, and Mr. Terrific were putting on the finishing touches to Penny's repairs. Beside her was the rest of her team along with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Qrow, Willow, and Whitley. All of them were just as invested as she was in Penny's recovery, even Whitley despite trying not to show it. Ruby wished that she could see what they were doing, but the room they were in was completely isolated and windowless. A precaution, due to the nature of Penny's repairs. Luckily she had been cured of Brainiac's virus the day before, but that did little to alleviate Ruby's concerns.

"Kid, calm down," Qrow gently said as he placed his hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby paused her pacing to look up at him, then hung her head and released a sigh.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I can't help it," Ruby admitted. "I'm nervous."

"Don't be," Superman spoke up. "Penny's going to be fine."

"I know, but still," Ruby added. Qrow faintly smiled then held his niece close, the two of them patiently waiting in front of the door.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long, and soon the door was opened. Ruby immediately burst through in a cloud of rose petals, surprising both Mr. Terrific and Kilowog at her sudden appearance. Cyborg, however, was not and instead began to chuckle.

"You owe me twenty bucks, Michael," Cyborg joked. "I told you she was going to do that."

Mr. Terrific grumbled something under his breath before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a twenty dollar bill. As he handed it to Cyborg and the others entered the room, Ruby asked, "How's Penny? Is she alright?"

Cyborg smiled and nodded, replying, "Yes, Penny's fine. In fact, she's better than ever."

Moving to the side, Ruby finally managed to get a good look at Penny. The gynoid was standing motionless, her eyes closed as she was currently in a powered-down state. Ruby couldn't help but look at her from head to toe, and immediately noticed a few distinct changes. For one, she was slightly taller and more mature looking, representing how she should have aged since they'd last seen each other. Penny's orange hair was now much longer and bushier, reaching well past her shoulders and onto her upper back. Her clothes were in the same general color scheme, but the green dress was longer and darker, with a black band with four golden buttons wrapped around her waist. Her legs were covered in a black metallic boot with green lines running from top to bottom, and her pink bow was replaced by a black one.

"Penny and I went over all sorts of upgrades before I started implementing them," Cyborg began to explain. "A few she even came up with herself. To start, her skeleton was remade with depleted promethium-titanium alloy. It's now virtually indestructible. In addition, her Dust power core was replaced by a micro-fusion power cell, courtesy of Doctor Palmer. The same type that powers the Watchtower, actually, just a lot smaller."

"The Atom put a star in her chest?" Weiss asked incredulously, and Cyborg nodded.

"Yep, with enough juice to power her for the next hundred years. Now she can go anywhere she wants, including space, without having to worry about her power source shutting down," Cyborg declared. "We also modified Floating Array. While the cables connecting them to her body did have some practical applications in combat, the nature of her injuries deemed it too much of a risk."

"Because the cables could wrap around her or someone else," Wonder Woman noted, rubbing her fingers across her chin.

"Exactly. The last thing we want is for that to happen again," Cyborg said. "As such, we redesigned Floating Array to connect to her wirelessly, with the swords remade with Nth metal cores in the hilts. Thanks to its anti-gravity properties, and microjets linked directly into her mind, she can manipulate them like she could before."

"Wouldn't the Nth metal interfere with her Maiden powers?" Superman asked, but Cyborg shook his head.

"That's why the blades are made of depleted promethium, and the Nth metal is encased in a layer of lead. Her magic isn't going to interfere with it at all."

"What about hacking? Wireless connections are inherently more vulnerable, especially with her remote access function," Batman prodded.

"Yes, which is why I did exactly what you told me to do and got rid of the remote access function entirely. Was already going to do that, by the way," Cyborg revealed, surprising team RWBY who briefly shot their heads towards the Caped Crusader. Hearing Batman willingly give up such a valuable tool to potentially put down a 'gone-rogue" Penny was not something they expected.

"Would've thought you'd have wanted to keep it around, just in case," Yang mumbled under her breath, but Batman heard her.

"Given how Brainiac used that function to take control of her last time, it's too much of a liability. Someone who knows her code could likely use it to take control of her again. It's safer to get rid of it entirely," Batman declared, and Yang huffed while crossing her arms over her chest. Part of her was grateful that Batman had at least enough dignity to not cross some lines, but the rest was still annoyed. Ruby looked a little more thankful, while Weiss and Blake were simply focusing their attention on Penny.

"Can someone still take control of her?" Weiss asked, and thankfully Cyborg shook his head.

"I gave her the best anti-virus and software protection I could," Cyborg revealed. "As her swords are directly linked to her mind, they did represent a slight vulnerability, so they automatically self-destruct if they get more than a hundred meters from her, or on demand if she so desires. Unless you're using another Mother Box directly, you're not getting in there. Even then, if that happens we have bigger issues."

"No kidding," Blake muttered, then squinted her eyes as she looked at Penny's exposed skin. She then said, "Her skin looks different. It's…squishier, somehow."

"That's because Penny's frame is now coated in a layer of synthetic flesh," Cyborg explained. "No internal organs, but she does have blood vessels to carry synthetic blood around her body along with muscles and skin. It feels and behaves exactly like the real thing. If you didn't know any better, you couldn't tell the difference. I even gave her tear ducts. Because of that, however, we couldn't use any of the ideas for integrated weapon and movement systems. Although based on what this Maiden magic is supposed to be capable of, she probably won't need them anyway. While she does have rocket boots, they literally are boots over her legs. Whenever she isn't using them, she can take them off. Floating Array has to be launched from an external backpack as well. Sadly, while her synthetic flesh does have haptic sensors, it's not the real thing."

"Meaning she can't truly feel anything?" Willow sadly asked, and Cyborg nodded.

"While we've made tremendous strides in that area, trust me when I say there's a difference," Cyborg noted. "Also couldn't give her a digestive system, but she didn't really want that. I tried to tell her that going through life without eating a burger isn't really living, but she wouldn't budge."

"Of course," Weiss replied, a faint smile gracing across her lips.

Ruby looked at the others as the room fell silent again, then she nervously wrung her hands together and asked, "Well…what are we waiting for? Let's wake her up."

Cyborg smiled and nodded, then stood behind Penny to pull a switch on the wall. A brief surge of energy made Penny's body jolt, and they heard a faint whine as she fully came online. Superman, thanks to his enhanced vision, couldn't help but notice a warmth erupt from Penny's chest, spreading throughout her body like a flickering flame.

Slowly, Penny stood fully upright, then blinked her green eyes open. She looked over everyone, who all waited with bated breath for her response. Ruby, now more than ever, was nervous. There was no telling what would happen next, nor what Penny would say or do. When Ruby felt Penny's eyes zero in on her, she wondered what was going through her friend's mind.

---

Power Systems: Online.

Ocular Sensory Input: Enabled.

Identifying…Identifying… Ruby_friend identified.

Salutations_exe initiated.

---

Before anyone could react, Penny hunched down, activated her jet boots, then flew towards Ruby while yelling, "Sal-u-tations!"

"AAH!" Ruby screamed while flailing her arms, then she was tackled-hugged by a rocket-propelled Penny. Everyone stared at the entangled girls now lying at the other side of the room for a moment, then all but Batman began to laugh. Even the Dark Knight, stoic as he was, couldn't help but let out a small smile.

---

Lex Island

Atlantic Ocean, 50 nautical miles off Eastern Seaboard

Ever since they had discovered the source of the Grimm interference, the timetable for the mission had been pushed back tremendously. Lex had expected many things waiting for him on the other side, but never once did he foresee that the source was coming from a gargantuan whale the size of an aircraft carrier. Simply going on like nothing was wrong would've been foolish, so instead they delayed the expedition in favor of gathering as much data as possible. He even had half a mind to simply launch a nuke towards it and be done with the problem entirely, but it was only his insatiable curiosity that held him back. Regardless, he was ready to pull the trigger at a moment's notice.

His fleet of drones, swarming around the whale for the past three days, had gathered plenty of information about their target, which was far more than initial appearances would suggest. For one, the creature was hollow, filled with an atmosphere. The sealed ports for several hangar-like structures were seen on the sides, possibly allowing for entry or exit, and growing out of the back were towers of what appeared to be a castle-like structure. It may have actually been a castle. Given how organically interwoven the structures were with the Grimm whale, Lex suspected that it was formed around the castle itself.

While the information was fascinating, it wasn't necessarily enough to alleviate the concerns he had. He was fully prepared to launch the missile into its bulbous head, but two things stopped him. For one, it quickly became obvious that the whale knew they were there. More than once had his drones caught the eye of the Grimm following them. Yet, despite acknowledging their presence, it did nothing more than float and swim through the vacuum of space. Second, and far more importantly, Lex managed to detect the heat signatures of three creatures inside the core of the whale. Grimm didn't have any heat signatures at all, so they stood out like a sore thumb.

Those heat signatures meant only one thing: there were people alive in that whale, perhaps even more that his drones couldn't see. One of them had to have been the source of the interference on his Grimm, and he had to confront it. Either to destroy it entirely, or bring it under his control.

With that in mind, he finally gave the go ahead to launch the expedition. They weren't taking any chances this time, arming themselves with their most effective weapons and armor. Piling into the Lex-Wing, they felt the launch forward on powerful rocket engines, the G-forces quickly pushing against their bodies. It didn't last long, and mentally Lex noted that the inertia dampeners needed to be improved so that they didn't feel the G-forces at all. Soon the Lex-Wing was flying through the void of space, carefully maneuvering around the shattered remains of the planet and cutting through the dust.

"Take us in there," Lex ordered, pointing at one of the covered hangars they had seen earlier.

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," his pilot replied, tilting the spacecraft in that direction.

When they approached the organic hangar, they slowed the Lex-Wing down and came to a stop just outside of it. They shined a bright light over the giant barnacle-like structure, only for all of their breaths to catch as it silently bloomed open, as though to beckon them within. Their guns and rocket launchers were powered on and ready to fire on anything that came at them. Luckily, or suspiciously depending on how you looked at it, there was nothing inside. So, with the coast clear, the Lex-Wing was brought inside then landed on a bony pad. Of course, the outer 'airlock' then irised closed behind them, before the empty bay was filled with a rush of air from somewhere.

As soon as the rear doors of the craft opened, the Lex Security soldiers piled out, their weapons raised as they secured the area and their scanning flashlights further illuminating the dim luminescence filtering through the meaty walls and rib supports of the chamber. Lex, Mercy, and Deathstroke calmly walked out after them, with Deathstroke chambering a round in his weapon before taking point.

"Bravo Team, secure the hangar and arm that nuke," Deathstroke ordered.

"Yes, sir," Bravo Team's leader replied, directing his men with a thrust of his arm to grab the heavy nuclear ordinance and plant it firmly into the ground. As the soldiers set up defensive positions, Deathstroke activated the enhanced vision of his helmet, zeroing in on the heat signatures they detected before.

"Alpha Team, with me," Deathstroke demanded.

At once, he, Alpha Team, Lex and Mercy began to carefully make their way through the bowels of the whale. As they approached the valve-like door, it spun open for them automatically with a wet squelch. Some of the soldiers visibly recoiled, but none of them lost their composure. Instead, they were the epitome of professionalism, which was in line with Lex' expectations. After all, that's why he was paying them so much money. Anything less simply wasn't allowed.

"God, this place is creepy," one of them, an Israeli woman, couldn't help but note. "Feels like something's watching me wherever I go."

"That's because something probably is," another spoke up with a thick Russian accent. He shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly, adding, "I feel like I'm in one of those children's movies. The one about the puppet and the cricket. What was its name again?"

"Pinocchio?" a German answered, and the Russian nodded.

"Dah, that's the one."

"As interesting as this conversation is," Lex sarcastically noted, "now isn't the time. Keep your guard up."

"Yes, Mr. Luthor. Of course," the soldiers responded at once, then went silent once again.

They were moving at a snail's pace, carefully checking each and every corner for any sign of danger. A few times they noticed a Grimm rush past, sometimes even stopping to hungrily stare at them. But they didn't do a thing, instead backing off and slinking away just out of sight. Their actions were yet more evidence to Lex Luthor that the Grimm were being controlled by someone on this ship. Someone who knew they were there, and wanted to meet with them.

Eventually, the organic maze of the whale was replaced by stone structures. It was the castle he had seen from the outside, once again confirming Lex' suspicions. The whale was formed around the castle. From how haphazard the boundaries between the stone and Grimm mass were, he suspected it was a rush job. Someone was in a hurry, and it wasn't hard to figure out why given the shattered planet right beside them.

A massive wooden door was blocking their entry, and the expedition team carefully made their way up the stone steps towards it. Taking position by the door, Deathstroke and another soldier began to push it open, with the rest of the team keeping an eye out for any hostilities. The door groaned and creaked as it ground against the cracked stone floor, but soon it was opened enough for Lex and his team to walk inside. They found themselves in what appeared to be a banquet hall, with a long stone table in the center. Black crystal chairs were arranged around it, with shattered windows behind them. Melted wax candles were lit, casting an eerie, flickering glow about the room.

But Lex didn't care about that. Instead, he focused on the three men and a woman currently seated at the table, all staring at him silently with slight confusion as well as curiosity. While they appeared to be human, he knew that they weren't. Assuming that the shattered planet they were floating around was indeed Remnant, that meant these men were Remnantian. One was a sharply dressed man wearing a grey and gold-lined jacket with a maroon undershirt and golden collar. His black and grey hair was slightly disheveled, with a thick, bushy mustache across his upper lip. Another was a large, muscular man wearing a sleeveless green vest that exposed his bare arms. He was covered in scars, and had a thick brown beard that connected with his sideburns. The last was a young man with a crazed look in his eyes, a scorpion tail coming out of his lower back and curled around him. Large scars were strewn across his chest, and unlike the others he was perched on the chair. All three of the men looked to be in relatively good shape, but clearly were suffering some malnutrition.

It was obvious, though, that the woman, seated at the head of the table and on the most extravagant throne, was the most important person here. Besides Lex himself, of course. Unlike the others, she did not look human, not fully. Her skin was bone white, with red veins stretching across her arms and face. Her eyes were bright crimson, with pitch black sclerae around them. Her white hair was stylized into a thick bun with six spokes, each wrapped with obsidian-colored ornaments. She was studying Lex and his forces immediately, boring her eyes into his own as she idly stroked a black and red crystal ball which was attached to the armrest of her throne with red tendrils.

Working off of the assumption that they were Remnantian, he adjusted his suit's speakers to immediately translate into Vytalian, then Lex began to speak, "My name is Lex Luthor. Who are you?"

His speech momentarily caught the Remnantians off guard, but the woman immediately answered, "Welcome, Lex Luthor, to my home. My name is Salem. These are my compatriots, Arthur Watts, Hazel Rainart, and Tyrian Callows. Please, have a seat. I'm certain we have much to discuss. You can also take off your helmet. As you can see, the air is perfectly breathable."

She gently waved her hand towards the open seat, but Lex refused. He was immediately suspicious of the woman and her motives, and there was no telling what tricks she might pull. Besides, doing something at her beckoning might send the wrong message. That he was beholden to her whims. That was not what Lex wanted. He wanted to make it clear who was actually in charge. So, instead of sitting down in the open seat, he activated his suit's hardlight generators, materializing a chair for him to sit down on. He also pointedly refused to take off his helmet, even with his suit confirming Salem's words. Just because it was breathable now didn't mean it would stay like that forever, and now was not the time to let down his guard.

"Yes, we do," Lex declared. "Particularly about your interference with my Grimm."

Salem immediately squinted her eyes, realizing the game that Lex was starting, then decided to play along as well. Leaning forward, she intertwined her fingers together, then said, "Yes, that. I suspected that was why you came here."

"How do you even know what the Grimm are?" Arthur asked, squinting his eyes as he stared down at Lex. "For that matter, how can you speak our language?"

Lex shifted his gaze towards Arthur. Realizing that he was just a mouthpiece for his master, Lex returned his attention to Salem then answered, "Before I start, am I correct in assuming that the planet whose remains we are currently floating near is Remnant?"

"That is correct," Salem confirmed, not showing the surprise that her subordinates displayed.

Lex nodded, then continued, "Four months ago, a wormhole known as a Boom Tube was opened on my planet, Earth. From that Boom Tube came eight teenagers, along with Grimm tar which led to a brief incursion. We were able to eliminate them, but not before I was able to acquire some samples."

Salem slowly nodded, then said, "Those teenagers…were they by any chance Huntsmen-and-Huntresses-In-Training?"

"They were," Lex confirmed while narrowing his eyes. "Those children shared with Earth everything they knew about Remnant, including its languages which I have incorporated into my suit's translators. More importantly, they told us what the Grimm were, and what happened to Remnant. How Brainiac destroyed it in just two days."

A brief flash of anger coursed through Salem's face at the mention of Brainiac's name, and the shadows stretched as the air grew heavy. But while everyone else flinched from nervousness, Lex maintained his composure and continued to study her, idly noting the response. It lasted for only a moment, and Salem calmly went back to staring at Lex.

"Yes, that is correct," Salem confirmed. "My fortress was actually one of Brainiac's first targets. He was after an artifact I discovered."

"The Mother Box," Lex said, and Salem nodded.

"So that's what its name was," she softly told herself as she briefly glanced up at the ceiling as though in remembrance. "I found it a month before Brainiac's invasion, buried deep underground in my domain. I immediately recognized its power, and had Arthur here begin working on it to uncover its secrets."

"I was able to activate it," Arthur boasted, but Lex was unimpressed.

"Which alerted Brainiac to your planet's presence like a dinner bell. Am I following that chain of events correctly?" Lex replied. Arthur recoiled and scowled in anger, but Salem, Hazel, and Tyrian merely continued watching. Lex took that silence as confirmation, then continued, "That's what I thought, not that I blame you. A Mother Box is one of the most powerful objects in the universe. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, it can and will spell disaster."

"I take it that means you know what you are doing, then?" Arthur accused, and Lex briefly redirected his attention to look at him directly in the eyes.

"How do you think I got here?" Lex pointed out, and Arthur growled slightly but didn't reply.

"Intriguing. Tell me, how much experience do you have with these 'Mother Boxes?'" Salem asked.

"My people have known about them for over a decade, and I was one of the first they reached out to in order to study them," Lex answered. "To be more specific, I've had Remnant's Mother Box for two months, and I used it to track your location here."

"Clever," Salem admitted. "Others did arrive after Remnant's destruction, but you were the first one to actually notice me."

"If you're trying to flatter me, it's not going to work," Lex declared. "I'm not here to make small talk. I'm here to find out why and how you've been interfering with my Grimm."

"Your Grimm?" Tyrian repeated, frowning towards Lex. "Watch your tone, Mr. Luthor. You are in the presence of a Goddess, and these are her Grimm, not yours."

"A Goddess?" Lex repeated, tilting his head back slightly as he looked at Tyrian. He then glanced at Salem before replying, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe in gods or goddesses."

"…What?" Tyrian asked, his golden eyes widening in shock.

"Let me rephrase," Lex clarified, not caring at all that he offended the obvious zealot. "I acknowledge the existence of beings that, for all intents and purposes, are powerful enough to be considered deities. Earth has had dozens, if not hundreds of pantheons over the millennia, all of which existed in some form and were worshipped. We were even invaded a decade ago by the self-proclaimed New God of Tyranny, and he more than lived up to that title with his power and cruelty. But to place my accomplishments or humanity's progress solely at their feet is to take away our own agency, our power over our destinies. So I refuse to worship gods or goddesses, particularly false ones."

Lex pointedly stared right at Salem as he said this, and the message was received. Watts was surprised at how brazen Lex was being, while Hazel and Salem were simply matching Lex' gaze with their own. Tyrian, however, had grown more and more enraged the longer Lex had spoken, his blasphemous words cutting into the faunus' soul like a serrated knife.

"…You…DARE?!" Tyrian shouted and, unable to control himself, lashed out and thrust his scorpion tail straight towards Lex' head. Hazel immediately moved to stop his comrade, with Deathstroke and the Lex Security officers preparing to fire onto Tyrian. But Lex remained perfectly still, not even flinching as the tip of the tail rapidly approached.

Just before it could make contact with his force field, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the tail. Surprised, Tyrian shifted his gaze towards the interloper, and saw that it was Mercy Graves who had stopped him. She was scowling, then she tightened her grip on the tail with enough force to make Tyrian gasp in pain. Then she grabbed the tail with both of her hands and swung to the side, lifting Tyrian off of his seat. He was flung around like a flail, and soon was thrown hard into the wall with enough force to dent the stone structure and cause one of the wall mounts carrying candles to fall off and shatter on the ground right next to Tyrian.

"Hold your fire," Lex ordered as his men surrounded him and prepared to fire on Tyrian. The faunus warrior, dazed and confused, picked himself back up and stared at Mercy as she approached, cracking her knuckles and fully prepared to continue the fight. With a disturbingly excited grin, Tyrian unfurled a pair of wrist-mounted blades, but just before he could charge, Salem calmly spoke up.

"Tyrian, that's enough," Salem ordered, her eyes never leaving Lex'.

"…My Queen, but he—" Tyrian protested, but Salem quickly interrupted him.

"I appreciate your attempts to defend my honor, but it isn't necessary at this time," Salem pointed out, then leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, intertwining her hands togethers. "Besides, I agree with everything he just said. Gods are arrogant beings who do not deserve half of the attention and none of the praise that we give them. So sit down, and let us continue this discussion in a calm, civilized manner."

Lex carefully listened to her words. On the one hand, he recognized that Salem was simply attempting to influence him. On the other, he detected no lies in her words. From what he could tell, Salem legitimately believed what she was saying, and the fact that it suited her own objectives in the game she was undoubtedly playing with Lex was only icing on the cake. After a moment, he nodded in understanding, leaning back into his holographic chair. The atmosphere was slowly defused, and while Mercy continued to place herself between Lex and Tyrian, everyone knew that there wouldn't be any further outbursts.

"How are you that strong?" Hazel suddenly spoke up, staring right at Mercy. "You don't have any Aura. None of you do."

Mercy narrowed her eyes at Hazel, then glanced at Lex. Without breaking his attention away from Salem, Lex answered, "Mercy is what my homeworld refers to as an Amazon. They are a race of warrior women hailing from an isolated island, each bestowed with incredible strength and everlasting life by the gods and goddesses who favored them, to where they are almost immortal."

"They then proceeded to squander that gift and look down on everyone who wasn't given what they had handed to them on a silver platter, preferring to hide away rather than actually do anything with their strength," Mercy scoffed. "They're nothing more than backward barbarians."

"I see. I take it then, Mercy, that you were raised differently from these Amazons of yours?" Salem asked, and while her frown never left her face, Mercy nodded.

"Yes, I did not grow up among them," she answered.

"If I offended you, I do apologize," Salem said in a deceptively calm tone, which Lex could immediately tell was a lie. Whether partially or fully, it was hard to say. "I was simply trying to better understand you. But I can see that you and your party, Mr. Luthor, prefer to get straight to business."

"Indeed," Lex confirmed, bringing his hands together. Looking her over once again, he continued, "You're clearly connected to the Grimm. How?"

"A curse bestowed upon me by Remnant's gods for daring to prove that they were not infallible," Salem answered. "Tell me, are the gods of your world petty and cruel?"

"Tales of divine cruelty permeate all of our cultures, yes, some of which were confused by the masses as acts of mercy or grace," Lex confirmed, and Salem nodded.

"The Brothers of Light and Darkness were the same. They created our world and viewed its people as nothing more than an experiment, their playthings," Salem explained, her face hardening in anger, and Lex could detect no real sense of misdirection from her. "They pretended to be perfect beings, yet they were nothing more than bickering children who demanded that their creations be perfect and live in harmony when they themselves could do neither."

Lex slowly nodded, then said, "Hypocrisy does appear to be a universal trait among so-called gods."

"That it does," Salem replied. "When I proved their hypocrisy to their faces, they cursed me with immortality, then killed the entirety of Remnant's First Humanity when I led a rebellion trying to seize their power for ourselves. Only I was 'spared,' cursed to wander the world alone and unable to rest until I met their impossible standards. In time, another hidden facet of the curse turned me into what you see now, a perfect combination of human and Grimm."

"If Remnant's gods killed all of humanity, how did they come back?" Deathstroke asked, noticing the same holes in Salem's story as Lex did.

"Truth be told, I don't have an answer for that," Salem admitted.

"You lived through it, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I only discovered them long after their establishment. This second humanity looked and behaved like the people from my time, but they were nothing more than pale imitations of the greatness we used to have," Salem clarified. "For thousands of years, I have been trying to bring humanity back to what it used to be, trying to obtain four relics of vast, unimaginable power with which I could remake the world entirely. Humanity would enter into a new golden age of prosperity and strength, yet I was opposed at every turn by a man I used to love and trust with all my heart. A man who chose to be the gods' slave and throw away everything we had built and accomplished together despite suffering a curse thrust upon him similar to my own."

There was obviously more to that relationship with this man than Salem was letting on, Lex knew. She was also clearly leaving out some very important details. But, at the same time, he could tell that she was telling the truth, a least a partial one. Despite the grandeur of the story Salem was describing, her tone was oddly listless, as though she were reciting an oft repeated tale by rote while her focus lay on other matters.

Knowing that, he sympathetically nodded, then replied, "This is why gods do not deserve worship. They'd prefer we be slaves and not our own masters."

"I couldn't agree more," Salem agreed. "In any case, I've learned to take what they intended as a curse and turn it into a strength of my own."

"To which you have my respect," Lex admitted, then leaned forward. "But what, exactly, is it that you can do, and how does that benefit me?"

"Benefit you?" Watts asked, and Lex nodded while once again refusing to move his attention away from the only other truly important person in this room.

"Yes, my benefit," Lex confirmed. "That is why I am here. The only reason why I didn't just destroy this Grimm fortress of yours with the power of a sun is because I was curious as to what it might offer. If there's nothing to offer, I am fully prepared to destroy it entirely and walk away."

Watts' perpetual frown deepened, as did Tyrian's rage, but Hazel and Salem remained calm. Tyrian then accused, "You're bluffing. Monstra is indestructible."

"'Monstra.' Quite the name you've chosen," Lex said, then narrowed his eyes and declared, "Planted in one of Monstra's hangars is a nuclear bomb armed with a one-megaton warhead. I doubt it, and you, could survive that. So please, keep wasting my time."

Lex' threat washed over Salem and her party, with the unspoken addition of what would happen if they struck out against Lex again easily understood. While Tyrian and Watts got visibly angrier, Hazel slightly frowned and tensed up slightly. Salem, however, remained utterly calm and seemingly unconcerned. She was staring at all of them with a calculating gaze, convincing Lex more and more of the true threat, and potential, she offered.

Finally, after a moment, Salem nodded then said, "Of course. Well, to start I can offer you my complete assistance, as well as those of my subordinates. Arthur is a masterful computer engineer and programmer, one of the best Remnant had to offer, while Hazel and Tyrian were among the deadliest warriors and assassins on the planet. I'm certain a man, such as yourself, can find a use for them."

"What can you offer that I can't get myself on Earth?" Lex immediately replied as Salem's subordinates briefly shot a look of surprise towards their master, and Salem smiled.

"For one, I am immortal. Nothing can kill me," Salem boasted, then looked right at Deathstroke. "I am willing to demonstrate, if you wish."

Deathstroke looked at Lex, who immediately nodded. Without missing a beat, Deathstroke pulled out a pistol then shot Salem right between the eyes. The advanced but low caliber shot dug into her forehead, but didn't manage to penetrate her skull, and the pale woman rolled her eyes as she chided him, "I am Grimm, you'll need better than that."

The mercenary hid the irritation he must have felt with aplomb as he switched to his rifle and fired again without a word. This time the bullet passed through her skull, spraying black ichor onto the back of her chair. But she herself remained upright, a satisfied smile on her face as the pulsating red and black wound healed before their very eyes. Unsatisfied, Deathstroke clicked his rifle to automatic then emptied half a magazine into her face, completely turning it into pulp. Yet, once again, it was ineffective, and the wound quickly healed. Finally, Deathstroke pulled out his sword and walked over to Salem, then sliced her head clean off with a single stroke of his blade. Lex half expected that to finally do her in, but Salem's body continued to stay upright. Her old head turned into black mist, while a new one grew from the stump of her neck.

Throughout it all, Salem continued to smile, yet Lex could easily recognize the quick flashes of pain she expressed. Clearly she still felt the blows inflicted on her but could power through it. It was yet another piece of the puzzle, which Lex filed away for later analysis.

"Impressive, but I know a caveman who can do the exact same thing," Lex rebutted, causing Salem to raise her eyebrows slightly in curiosity. "What else?"

Salem immediately nodded, then added, "I am also extremely powerful in magic with nearly limitless reserves. In fact, I have been keeping my servants alive and sustained for all this time with just my magic. The atmosphere and gravity inside Monstra, along with water, light and heat. Anything that Dust can do, which I'm certain you are already aware of, I can accomplish alone."

"My company has been researching ways to recreate Dust," Lex admitted. "Would this magic of yours be able to help with that endeavor?"

"Correct," Salem assured, smoothly using the new hook Lex offered. "More importantly, we are all skilled and knowledgeable in the applications of Dust. Our expertise would be a great boon to your work. In addition, we have extensive amounts of Dust as part of our supplies. We would be willing to give it all to you."

Lex hummed and nodded. One of the biggest problems with LexCorp's Dust Research Program was that, unlike Wayne Enterprises, they didn't have any foundation to start from. No prior knowledge about Dust, no samples, nothing. He tried to send agents into Wayne Enterprises to get what he needed, but unfortunately Lucius Fox ran a tight ship and his efforts failed. Normally it was something that Lex tremendously respected about the man, but at the moment it was a source of frustration. Then here comes someone who can give him everything he needed for free. It was almost too good to be true, and Lex could immediately sense that Salem was finding some way to benefit from this. Either way, he decided to keep pressing for more.

"That is, indeed, tempting," Lex admitted as he leaned forward. "But what about the Grimm?"

"Before I answer, what have you been using the Grimm for?" Salem pressed, and Lex saw no reason not to answer.

"The Grimm have proven to be extremely effective weapon platforms, and I have been selling them to interested parties around the world as well as weapons to counter the Grimm to others," Lex answered, and he immediately noticed the brief flash of anger on Hazel's face. He filed it away for later, then continued, "All of the Grimm on Earth are under my control, and I don't appreciate it when someone else changes that."

"Of course you don't," Salem replied with a calm smile. "If it makes you feel any better, my manipulations of the Grimm was simply me trying to determine the source of the disturbance I felt two months ago. Was that you, I suspect?"

"No. A party I sold Grimm to utilized them in a thaumaturgic ritual, attempting to bring a demonic god into our world."

"…I see," Salem replied as she narrowed her eyes, clearly not expecting that answer. "I take it this attempt was unsuccessful?"

"They were stopped by a team of young vigilantes stylizing themselves as superheroes," Lex confirmed.

"'Superheroes?'" Watts repeated in an incredulous tone. "You can't be serious."

"Unfortunately, I am. They are my world's equivalent to Huntsmen, and have practically brainwashed the world into thinking that they are incorruptible and infallible gods among them," Lex declared. "The Grimm have been eating away at that reputation, but my problem is that I don't have enough."

"And so we come to your true desire," Salem replied, then gestured towards herself. "Luckily for you, I have mastered the ability to create and manipulate the Grimm. Monstra is perhaps my greatest achievement, a mega-project repurposed to extricate myself and my dominion from Remnant's destruction on very short notice. This includes the gathered Pools of Destruction, from which an infinite amount of Grimm can be spawned. You will be given control over all of it, and if you desire something specific, I can make it for you."

Lex carefully studied Salem, recognizing the potential for danger in her offer, yet it was just too tempting to resist. But there was one more question he had, which was perhaps the most important of all.

"If I accept your offer," Lex began, "how do I know you won't attempt to destroy my world like what you were trying to do to Remnant's world order before Brainiac's invasion?"

Salem paused, then looked out the shattered window. The pitch black of the Grimm flesh which covered it somehow turned transparent like dispersing smoke, and through it she and everyone else could see the remains of Remnant. After a moment, an infuriated Salem calmly answered, "Everything I fought for was on Remnant. For countless lifetimes, through the rise and fall of entire civilizations, my struggles, my plans, all of it was for Remnant. Then Brainiac arrived and made everything I had ever done pointless. You do not need to worry about me attempting to overthrow or conquer your Earth, for that does not interest me."

"Then what does interest you?"

Salem turned to look at Lex, declaring, "Brainiac's head delivered to me on a pike. That is all I desire, and nothing else matters."

Lex stared at Salem for several moments, contemplating her answer as well as trying to determine if she was lying. But all he sensed was utter conviction. She was not lying, at least not about her motivation. That in and of itself could be a problem, but as he saw it, it was one he could use. Slowly, he began to perform a cost-benefit analysis in his head, and finally he nodded in agreement.

"Alright," Lex said. "If you and your compatriots agree to work for me and share your knowledge and resources, I will take you back with me to Earth. Your vessel will be more difficult, but I'm certain we can find an arrangement."

"How generous of you," Salem replied with a faint smile, and Lex nodded.

"My men and I will return to Earth to draw up a contract," Lex added, then stood up and the holographic chair dissipated. "We'll return within the day."

With that, Lex Luthor turned around and walked away, leaving Salem and her coven behind. She watched him go with analytical eyes, both her own and through the Seer Grimm she had carefully placed around Monstra. Each and every movement he made was tracked by her, and it would be so easy to swarm him and his little soldiers with what she had. She could've done it as soon as he got onboard, but she didn't then and she wasn't going to do it now. It didn't suit her interests to, even after his rather unwise threat of his 'nuclear bomb.'

Even now, the eyeless gaze of her latest experiment watched Lex' party return from where it had been hidden in the shadows of the bay's ceiling directly above the device, unnoticed by the soldiers tasked with arming and defending it the entire time since their deployment. As the humans boarded their craft, the inky figure slunk out of the hangar with unnatural flexibility, before the chamber opened to the vacuum of space once more.

When Lex' spacecraft departed from Monstra to return from whence it came, and a pack of Beowolves had sniffed through the meeting room to ensure no listening devices had been planted by their guests, Watts finally spoke up and said, "I hate him."

"You've known him for less than ten minutes," Hazel gruffly pointed out.

"And that's all I need to recognize that he's an arrogant son of a bitch with an ego the size of a planet," Watts retorted. Hazel resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and the childish part of himself wanted to say that of course an egotistical asshole would recognize and hate another egotistical asshole, but he resisted that as well.

"We should've killed that blasphemer right then and there, not prostrate ourselves before him," Tyrian declared with an angry scowl, gently rubbing his sore tail. He then glanced at Salem and muttered, "Calling you a 'false god,' threatening and extorting us. How dare he…"

Hazel looked at his compatriots, then shrugged and said, "His arrogance was obvious, and more than a little irritating, but like it or not he had the upper hand here and he knew it."

"Upper hand?" Tyrian repeated, aghast at the declaration.

"Yes, he did," Hazel confirmed with a quick, firm nod as he crossed his arms over his chest. "While Salem has been able to keep us alive with enough water, heat, and air with her magic, we only have enough food to last us another two months. That's if we cut our rations again, and that's assuming that our Lady can keep herself going. Her magic is not limitless."

Hazel looked at his master in concern, and while Watts shared his expression, Tyrian looked almost despondent. He whimpered, then asked, "My Lady…have you truly been suffering this much on our behalf?"

Salem was quiet for a moment, then nodded and confirmed, "Hazel is correct. I may have modified Monstra itself to easily survive in the vacuum of space while keeping us all sealed from its hazards, but Grimm are creatures of destruction, and cannot be made to produce a living environment. Keeping you all alive and sustained requires the constant use of my magic."

"For…forgive me. Had I known—"

"It is no issue, Tyrian," Salem interrupted. "Remember, so long as you serve me, I have promised to protect you. Unlike Ozpin, I have no intention of breaking that promise."

A rapturous look erupted across Tyrian's face as he clasped his hands together, then Salem got up from her chair and walked towards the shattered window. Stopping right before it to stare at Remnant's shattered remains, she continued, "Regardless of his weapons or the strength of his subordinates, the only thing that truly mattered in this negotiation is the opportunity for us to escape this castaway purgatory and return to a living world. Lex Luthor is holding that card. Yes, we could have gone on the attack, seized his bomb and overwhelmed his protectors to seize him and attempt to force him to take us back to his world. But why go through all that effort and risk, when we can simply convince him that doing so is in his own interest?"

"Men like him are all the same in the end. Simply promise them power and the illusion of control, and their greed and arrogance will do the rest. I mean really, a contract?" Salem chuckled and slightly smiled while shaking her head in mild amusement. "How droll. Still, like it or not, we are not currently in a position to act as we did before. If we are going to establish ourselves on this new board, have to play by his rules for the time being."

"So we're actually going to work for him and not stab him in the back as soon as we get to Earth?" Watts asked, more than a little disappointed, and Salem shook her head.

"No, at least not until we learn more about our present situation and the players in this game we are now a part of," Salem answered. "We will not work for Lex forever. His arrogance and ego betrays him, and in time we will use that weakness to either control, or if need be, destroy him."

"And these so-called 'superheroes?' What about them?" Hazel remarked.

"There might be a use for them," Salem responded. "Lex did not outright say it, but it is clear that these superheroes are far more than a thorn in his side. I got the sense he's been trying to take them down for years, to no avail. They just might be the key to getting what we want."

All of her servants understood what she saying, and Hazel growled, "Brainiac…"

"Indeed. In all my years, I never once thought I'd encounter an enemy worse than Ozma and all his reincarnations. I was wrong," Salem hissed.

She glared at Remnant, feeling the rage of a thousand lifetimes build in her black heart. Salem had been trying to destroy this world and all of its inhabitants for more millennia than she could count. Countless schemes, lives exploited and ended, kingdoms burned to the ground through conflicts between men that she fostered or Grimm she threw upon them. All of the pain, all of the suffering she had endured, all of it would've been worth it in the end had she finally managed to accomplish her one and only goal: finally being able to rest.

Then Brainiac showed up and proved that her life's work had been completely pointless. Here she gazed upon the destroyed remains of her homeworld, which should have ended her curse, yet she still stood. Of course that golden bastard had been using arbitrary rules while speaking in metaphor, why had she expected anything else? Her curse endured, and had she not managed to create Monstra, she would've been stranded in the void of space, cursed to suffer endlessly from all of its torments until the end of time. That infuriated her more than anything else.

Only Tyrian truly knew why Salem hated Brainiac so much. He was such a devout follower that she didn't need to deceive him to get what she wanted. To him, destroying the world was simply the best way to finally give his goddess the peace and salvation she desperately craved, to finally end her suffering. Hazel and Watts needed to have the truth twisted for them, convinced that they were truly trying to make a better world for humanity, with themselves on top as an added bonus. The former was emphasized for Hazel, with the latter for Watts. Either way, they were all united in despising Brainiac with every fiber of their being.

"You were telling the truth, then? You have no larger designs for Earth?" Hazel asked. Salem was silent for a moment, then turned around to face him.

"The only thing that matters to me is killing Brainiac. To make him pay for what he did to me, to us, and to Remnant," Salem declared. "It does not matter what I have to do, or who I have to work with. Ozpin himself could walk through that door, and if it meant I could kill Brainiac I would take him into my chambers with open arms!"

The air grew heavy, the shadows grew larger, and Castle Evernight shook with each and every word coming out of Salem's lips. Enraged and not caring about how frightened her subordinates were getting, she continued, "The only interest I have in Earth is whether or not I can use it and its people to kill Brainiac. Nothing else matters. So we will work with Lex for the time being, gathering information, resources, and allies from the shadows. Then, when the time is right, we will strike and rip the floor out from under him. Until that time, we will support Lex Luthor, and make sure that he is front and center of it all."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice. Special thanks to NaanContributor and Jesse K for their help in bringing this chapter to life.

Lots of things happened here. We got to see what ARGUS is currently up to, and the team dynamics held within. Qrow managed to catch up and get some proper training in, along with a friendly spar against our favorite Amazon. Cyborg and Penny have finally met face to face, as well as letting us learn more about Victor Stone's life leading up to him becoming Cyborg. Most importantly, Lex and Salem have finally met, and things can only escalate from here. Both Lex and Salem know that the other is using them, so it's a race between them to see who can backstab the other first.

Let us know what you all think. If any of you have a TV Tropes account, please feel free to update the page. I'd really appreciate it. Hope you all enjoy!