Four of the missing former Lords had come back, but how or why is the question in mind for both Cadmus and Ra's as it complicates the situation at least to him. However Ra's once learning who is not among them sees an opportunity to potentially bring that missing one in on his especially with the inventions of Vandal Savage. Of course Vandal knows he is bargaining with an enemy of the former Batman, but a deal is a deal, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, he laughs at it because he had known Nietzsche, the man behind that kind of philosophy. The Lords had sabotaged his World War Two era plan, but they got lucky that time, he did not believe the reports and put too much stock in the technology that he was given by his future self. Likewise now if Ra's manages to recruit the Kryptonian to his side, he gains an unexpected asset as the alien even without his powers is on equal footing with his mortal ex-comrades. If all went well it would be an apocalypse to remember, he inwardly laughs at the dark humor as he works on a new inter-dimensional gate while Ra's commands Talia to operate the scanners to track down the quantum signature that would identify the ally they are looking for. The idea was novel, but Superman had been used against allies before albeit under Darkseid's machinations except this time, he had have cause to be malevolent as he probably sees the former Batman as the architect of his current miseries, such denial made him dangerous to align with so if they had to they would kill just as readily.
"I give you the reality you were looking for," murmurs Talia.
"Excellent, now bring it up on the screen, and Savage establish the portal directly into his cell if you can," says Ra's.
"As you command, but this will be tricky," responds Savage.
Ra's crosses over to meet the enemy of his enemy.
"What do you want?" grumbles Kal-El.
"I offer you a chance to kill Bruce Wayne, your Bruce Wayne and others," answers Ra's
"I'm listening..."
"I'm the Ra's Al-Ghul you know."
"I never liked you either."
"Remember the offer, you don't have to like me, you don't have to do anything, but do you want to age and die in this place?"
"No, but how are you going to get me out?"
The portal activates behind him.
"Stole his machine eh?"
"I had one built with some help."
Ra's and Kal cross back over to the waiting Talia and Vandal.
"What is he doing here?" growls Kal.
"He is the one that gave me the doorway to bring you back as well as the means to track you down."
"I guess I owe him too, so what happen while I was gone?"
"The world is relatively as it was before you took your so-called stewardship."
"Great, but I'm powerless now, no amount of sunlight will fix that."
"I'm working on a device called Eris, its purpose is to reverse the effects of the Achilles."
"Now you are talking, suggest you get it working quick as you can."
"I always do my best, so I have work to do my compatriots."
As Ra's goes off to trade bodies again and Vandal goes off to inventing, this leaves Kal alone with Talia.
"I remember you the daughter of Ra's."
"I remember you too, Super..."
"Don't call me, I'm not that anymore, I'm only Kal-El or Kal."
"As you wish, Kal-El."
"So have you seen Bruce?"
"Yes I have, I suppose you are aware the other former Lords are also back in this reality, probably with him now."
"They were too forgiving for what he led us into."
"He did seem to feel mixed about what might have been the fate of the other Lords including you."
"Not enough to stop the League from getting out, heck, I think he let them out."
"He told me their Flash faked a heart attack and that got him to go into that one's cell to check on him."
"He was afraid he killed Flash, killed Wally, well last time it was Luthor, this time it almost was Luthor again though yes I am almost did try to kill the pipsqueak for using his speed against me. I have done a lot of things I thought I would never do, but some times you have to cross lines to stop the cycle."
"My father always says the same things and of course Bruce disagrees."
"He would because he is too weak to do those things without remorse or regret."
"He remains father's chief candidate to replace him or for father to take over his body."
"If he did that, I'd probably kill him because even if it is not, it looks like him."
"His other eventual candidate is my unborn offspring. He is looking out for his own immortality because his original body could no longer hold out. The man you met is just one of many bodies he has jumped into in his pursuit to stay alive."
"The man is afraid of one thing, afraid of death, I however lost that fear when I burnt Luthor to a crisp."
"It became a pattern, a precedent to burn holes into their heads."
"Yes... so who is the father?"
"I'm afraid you would kill me if I told you."
"Bruce... of course, you are in love with him, but that I can accept because he wants nothing to do with kids not anymore."
"I think you are wrong, but that's my judgment."
"It is... well good luck with fantasies that Bruce might actually return to that kind of person who stood by and let me burn holes in their heads. That kind of Bruce, of Batman hardly deserves the name, but that's just me."
As he walks away, she realizes that this thing is getting out of hand, the once benevolent alien is now little above someone with a vendetta against his adoptive race specifically towards her beloved. Of course even if Bruce dies, her unborn child is his legacy albeit not one he would wanted, but still him, just not the him he believes to the true extension of him. She realizes as she watches her beloved in the company of the Amazonian, that she lost his heart to her, but with Diana being power sapped like Kal-El, she could still die, however she realizes that she would die to protect Bruce from anything even Kal-El. If Diana dies then Bruce would surely go after her killer with a vengeance. He wouldn't let harm come to her, not with the way they seem together. The video feed betrays much about their rekindling relationship. She is jealous of the Amazonian that much she understood aside from other things. She feels a pair of hands on her, it is Kal-El, he roughly pins her, and the rest is a blur. It was different from the tenderness of Bruce, at least he knew enough about women to know that rough is not always the way, but she realizes that Kal-El doesn't exactly care who gets hurt anymore, so long as he comes out on top.
"Lois was always better at this intimate thing though i never got this close to her."
"She actually wrote an article not long after your disappearance, A World Without, it sold like mad."
"Figures, she always knew how to sell anything, and of course Bruce probably gave her the exclusive."
"You two turn out to be the worst of enemies here, but if I understood the stories about your others, they were quite different."
"If by different you mean stupid, weak, ineffective than yes, if you mean otherwise well I'm prepared to teach you the difference."
"Unhand my daughter Kryptonian."
"As you wish it."
The eager for a rampage Kal leaves them to their rituals as he decides to have a long chat with Savage about the past few years of his absence. He learns that Lords are officially kaput, that some new organization called The Outsiders is acting in their place, but in what some call a more benign way. However benign is useless to him, but there a difference what can be done with a close fist and an open shake. He learns that the old Watchtower is now under government control and the Outsiders have a lunar outpost, which makes him laugh too. You can't just on your hands he argues with Savage, but Savage counters saying waiting is part of the trip too It would eventually be time to put Eris to the test yet until then he will will awhile longer. He would have to have his powers, but make sure none of his former allies get near the device As he knows in mind, Bruce Wayne aka Batman, will be the first dead of a new era.
No one would challenge his rule again, this is where he takes control in his mind.
Meanwhile Ra's gives the order to jump the next body then directs the plan to advance again.
A/N: Ra's and Vandal are both relatively immortal so one wonders what might motivate an alliance yet just the same a depowered Kal-El is back in the Lords reality in the service of Ra's Al-Ghul so until his powers are back, he'll follow whoever brings him closer to killing Bruce, or at least try to do it. I figured Vandal had shown quite a level of technical expertise so probably he could duplicate a facsimile of the the portal used by Lord Batman in A Better World. This assumption is based on the alternate future version of Vandal that Superman meet in Hereafter Pt. 2.