Never in Ollie's life had he relished in the sound of a police siren. When he was younger, they were more of a nuisance, interrupting his carefree life. Then they had become a signal that he needed to get out of dodge pretty quickly, what with vigilantism being illegal and all. For the last several years, he had to avoid the very sight of the squad car they belonged to since they were on an active shoot-on-sight order.

Now though, with all of the cop cars and military vehicles positioned outside of the Hall of Justice, Ollie was feeling pretty good about himself.

Standing before the steps of the Hall, he and the rest of the Insurgency stared at the wide open doors. Military personnel were personally evacuating—read: arresting—the guards that protected this place. Those who could walk had handcuffs around their wrists and were forced to either squad cars, or placed in the back of paddywagons. More times than not, however, the guards were carried on gurneys and stretches, wheeled out to ambulances and driven off to a nearby hospital.

Glancing to his right, Ollie eyed Mr. Terrific, Element Woman, and the newly-dubbed Blue Beetle. All three looked quite proud of themselves, and he could hardly blame him. He was a little leery of the Starfire girl, however, but Element Woman had explained the situation as only she could have. Something about coups, or something. It didn't make sense other than Starfire rejecting the Regime mandate of "kill, kill, and kill some more" for their side. She had even taken out Hawkgirl in the process. That made this Tamaranian someone he didn't want to cross just yet.

At least, not without a countermeasure on hand.

To his left, Dr. Fate stood, looking quite exhausted. He had been the one to ensure the Insurgency in its entirety had been brought here and that had exhausted whatever powers he had left.

That left only three others. According to Fate, Ra's al Ghul was dead, killed on Themyscira. He would not be coming for the after party fireworks, obviously. This left Batman and Batwoman unaccounted for and even Fate wasn't able to tell them much. Ollie suspected he was just too tired to look into it, to be honest.

Not that be blamed him. Turning his head around, Ollie spotted the one vehicle that was currently housing the worst of the worst. The Regime was in there, having been magicked by Fate here as well. The moment the military saw them, they had brought out this state-of-the-art transport vehicle and tossed them in there. Cyborg, John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Aquaman and Enchantress were in there. Shazam was missing from the group, but apparently he had been placed in police custody some time during the fighting without his powers.

That just left Superman and Wonder Woman to be accounted for. Considering the Hall of Justice wasn't blowing up, the archer took that as a good sign the two Bats had kept their end of the bargain.

Suddenly, there were some hushed whispers from the top of the stairs. Looking up to it, Ollie soon saw Batman emerging into sight. That was a good thing.

That all changed, however, when he caught sight of something—make that someone—in his arms. It didn't take him all that long to realize it was Batwoman, her mask and red hair gone to reveal the woman's true face. That was all he could make of her as Batman shifted her in his arms, one arm beneath her knees, the other at her back. This caused her head to tilt forward and to a side, lying against his shoulder.

"Oh, man," Terrific gasped as Element Woman and Starfire covered their mouths with their hands. Blue Beetle swore in something Spanish, but Ollie was pretty sure it was along the lines of "Dear God," or something. Slowly, Batman descended the stairs, moving towards them. He didn't even pause in his stride as he approached them, then pretty much shoved his way between Ollie and Terrific.

God...Goddamn it… Ollie knew a dead body when he saw one and...Jesus Christ.

"Hey!" he called out after the Dark Knight, causing the man to stop. "What happened in there?"

Batman didn't respond at first. He didn't even turn his head to look at them. Then, a low, raspy voice answered, "Superman and Wonder Woman are down. It's over."

"What about Batwoman?" he pressed. "We deserve to know."

A hand then pressed up against Ollie's chest, causing him to look down and see a golden glove. Looking to his right, Dr. Fate was returning his look. "She gave her life for our cause. That is all any of us need to know for now," the sorcerer told him.

"Got it," Mr. Terrific piped up. "We'll handle the rest from here."

There was no reply, no acknowledgement, or thanks. Instead, Batman began walking again, police and army men alike moving out of his way, parting like the Red Sea.

And to be honest, Ollie was sure he would be acting the same way.

It was going on a week since the fall of the Regime. Governments around the world were sending congratulations in at a record-breaking pace.

Yet, there was so much more work to be done. Currently, the U.S. Government was keeping the Regime imprisoned, which was alright. The other countries were constantly asking if the prison was secure enough for them, but they did everything they could to reassure their fellow countries.

However, there were new hostilities, primarily coming from Atlantis and Themyscira. Both were currently demanding the return of Aquaman and Wonder Woman respectively. The rest of the world was currently refusing those demands.

Which left the other still-living Regime members. Mr. Terrific had inspected the cells that housed them and he was positive none of them would be escaping without some sort of outside help. John Stewart was separated from his Lantern ring, which greatly diminished the threat he posed. The same could be said of Billy Batson, the boy without the power of Shazam. Apparently, Dr. Fate had severed that connection during their battle and he was now just a teenage kid going on twenty, just with a murder rap.

Speaking of Fate, he had done quite a number on Enchantress. The woman was practically in a coma, though the sorcerer reassured everyone she was alright. Apparently she had been given a huge dose of power and she hadn't been able to withstand it. Mr. Terrific hadn't minded the coma and even then, Fate had placed some sort of magical seal to keep her harmless.

Next up was Cyborg. The cyborg was currently cut off from any and all digital networks, not to mention having a computer program installed that prevented him from accessing his personal arsenal. Even then, the cell he was in was made to withstand Superman, so he couldn't force his way out anyways.

This was what also kept Hawkgirl and Aquaman restrained. Though they were stronger than the average human, they didn't have Kryptonian-level strength. Aside from the occasional bath provided to keep Aquaman hydrated, they were hardly any trouble.

Which left Wonder Woman. When she had been found, she had been tied up in her own lasso and no one had seen fit to remove her from it. She was still tied up, laying in her cell. It wasn't known if she could feed herself or not considering she never touched the food she was given. She had been lying on her side in her cell, not once moving, or attempting to get in a more comfortable position. It was as if she had completely shut down, or at the very least was on some sort of hunger strike. Holt found himself not really caring as to the why, so much as she didn't get any idea to escape.

Not that that was a possibility. She was currently residing in the cell made specifically for Superman, seeing as he wasn't going to be using it. There had been some shock as to the alien's death, but so far no one had taken credit for it. Not that anyone could, the only person around who could confirm what happened had vanished. Word was that the Bat had killed Superman and retreated into isolation.

From what he knew of the man, Michael Holt rather doubted that.

However, that did leave a very small problem. With Batman all but vanishing, there was no way to enact the second part of the Insurgency's plan, namely sending him back in time. With every passing day, it seemed less and less likely that trip would be made; if that was indeed the case, the Insurgency would need to continue on without him.

Life waited for no one man.

Which brought Holt to his current setting, seated at a circular table. Before him were the others that had helped bring down the Regime—minus Ollie. To be honest, they were all Holt really wanted to see at the moment. He had been in touch with the Emerald Archer lately and the two had come up with a pretty exciting idea. They had already spoken to Dr. Fate about it and he was actually willing to help them start it up too. Seeing as Ollie was preoccupied elsewhere at the moment, and Fate was recuperating at his Tower, it fell to Holt to make the proposition.

"Thanks for coming, all of you," the dark-skinned man greeted Blue Beetle, Element Woman, and Starfire as they entered the room. "Please, have a seat," he offered, gesturing with a hand.

"What's this all about?" Jaime asked, his real face showing. Since they had last met at the steps of the Hall of Justice, the boy had managed to get more control over his suit, allowing him to reveal his face. The same couldn't be said about the rest of his armor, but that would have to take some time.

"As I'm sure you know, the world has been ever grateful for what you've done," Holt began, leaning forward in his seat as he pressed his hands together, fingers entwining with each other. "And while I'm sure you all have been keeping busy, Oliver Queen, Dr. Fate, and I have been talking."

"Oooh, what have you been talking about?" Element Woman asked, clearly intrigued.

A small smile appeared on his face. "A long time ago, there was this group of heroes that banned together to help save the world and they did on multiple occasions. They called themselves the Justice League."

"Then they went bad and became the Regime," Jaime butted in.

"True enough," Holt admitted, "but their original idea still holds merit. While the League had its failures, they did have good intentions at one time. So did we as Insurgents. One thing the Regime did while in power was police the world and protect it from evil. Well, without them, evil has a chance to come back."

"That is a most likely outcome," Starfire agreed. "There are many people that desire power and will do whatever it will take to get it."

Holt nodded. "Exactly."

"Okay, I get where you're coming from," Jaime said then. "So what does this have to do with…" he trailed off. "Oh. Oh, I get it now. You want to us to reform this Justice League thing."

Element Woman looked right at the hacker. "Is that true? Is it, is it?"

"That's right, though we're going to be making some changes." Holt paused so that he could swallow. "As of now, Queen, Dr. Fate, and I would like to extend an invitation to reform the Justice League, with all of you as founding members."

"Oooh! Oooh! I'll do it! I'll do it!" Element Woman exclaimed, waving her hands above her head as she practically leapt out of her chair. "You can count me in, Mr. Terrific!"

Great, that was one. Now how about the other two?

"I would be more than happy to join your Justice League," Starfire said, smiling at him. "After all, we have been successful in our coup and it is now our turn to guard our new leadership role."

O...kay… Holt wasn't quite sure what the redhead was talking about, but hey, she was on their side. He'd take that. That just left Jaime.

"You know, I was hoping to go back to school and return to my family," the teen said, much to the hacker's disappointment. "But I really can't do that with the Scarab still attached to me. I mean, my family has been great about it, but the kids at school will just freak. So yeah, you can count me in, just as long as we change the name."

Holt frowned. "Change the name?"

"Yeah, I mean, if we call ourselves the Justice League, people will just think we're trying to become a new Regime. We'd just be setting ourselves up for a bad time is all I'm saying."

"No, you make a good point, Jaime." And he did. Already, Holt could see the various governments coming after them the moment they said the words Justice League. They needed a new name.

"So we get to pick our own name too?" Element Woman asked excitedly. "I know, I know! How about the Vengeful Six?" She paused. "No, sounds too Tarentino-y. Umm, what about the...Justice Six? Or should it be seven since Batman is still around?"

"The Adult Titans?" Starfire suggested.

"What about the X-Force?" Jaime chimed in.

"Nope, not that one," Element Woman answered. "I'm pretty sure we could be sued for copyright infringement on that one."

"Really?" Jaime asked with surprise. "How so?"

"Guys," Holt interjected then, hoping to stop the tangent they had gotten onto. "I think we're overthinking this."

"Then why don't you come up with a name?" the teen boy replied.

Holt raised an eyebrow at being put on the spot like that, but he let it go. "Alright, how about you guys tell me what you think of this one." He then leaned over the table, seeing the three copying his action. "What about the Justice Society?"

A gentle breeze blew by, causing the untrimmed grass to ripple. Tree branches swayed and leaves tumbled through the air.

This spot was becoming more and more melancholy with every visit he made to it. Underneath the tree, Bruce stared at the tombstone that read ALFRED PENNYWORTH. For the longest time, the marker had been all by its lonesome, a constant reminder of his faithful butler forever associated with the Wayne Manor grounds.

Now it had company.

Sliding his eyes to a side, a new tombstone had been placed. CASSANDRA CAIN, it read, the only thing in this world to acknowledge her existence now. One could travel the world in search of her, but no record would be found, no one person recalling her name. To the world, she was Batwoman and they would remember her as such.

He didn't want to do that.

Another breeze flew by, ruffling his hair and causing his black trench coat to flap with it. His hands were buried in his pockets more to put them somewhere than out of any real need. He had lost all sense of time here. He had no idea if it was morning, or afternoon. Faintly, he was beginning to hate this spot, more for what it represented to him than anything.

Failure: he detested that word. But if there was anything that physically represented that for him, it was these two graves. What had his vow been again? Oh yes, to prevent others from experiencing his tragedy.

Bruce snorted. He was doing a bang-up job on that one. Yessiree, he couldn't have done it any better. His stomach churned with bile, sickening him.

The sound of crunching gravel reached his ears, but he didn't bother turning around. There were only so many people it could be. "You're a tough man to track down," Oliver Queen called out from behind.

He didn't bother responding; there was no real need to. Queen didn't seem to mind as he came to stand at his side, looking down at the grave markers. Surprisingly, the man didn't say anything off the bat, instead soaking in the scene with revered silence.

He wore no mask, so the face of Oliver Queen was visible. His dark green trench coat was a match for Bruce's and even caught the same breeze that was messing with his own coat.

"You know, I never knew her name," Queen said softly after awhile. "All this time, and she never said a word." The blond man glanced to him. "You either, by the way."

"Then why are you here?" Bruce intoned dully.

"Luck, mostly. You could even say it was an accident." Queen returned his gaze to the graves. "After Superman outed me, I lost all contact and connection to my company. I don't blame them for it, all things considered. The others were still getting supplied and they were nice enough to include me. It didn't take me long to realize it was all Wayne Enterprises-supplied, so I did some digging. I found your tracks, what little there were of them. Kinda helps that I used the same ones as well, so I knew what I was looking for."

Bruce tilted his head slightly. He didn't verbalize the question, it was obvious. "Never told a soul either, not that I will now. It just helped me find you is all," the other man reassured him.

"Something you need?" he grunted.

"Yeah. When are you going back?"

Bruce swallowed deeply. He honestly hadn't thought about that in all this time. It didn't slip his mind, he just flat out didn't think about it.

Queen sighed. "Look, I get it. I went through the same thing when the others died, especially Canary...Dinah. I wanted to bury myself in a hole and let the world forget about me—you're doing a pretty good job on that, by the way. But right now, our job isn't finished."

"When is it?" Bruce asked, finally looking to Queen, their eyes meeting. "When does this ever end?"

"You know the answer to that," the blond man told him.

Yeah, he did.

"For what it's worth, you would've been proud of her. She really looked up to you and fought with your conviction. It was like you were a father to her and she wanted to make you proud. I doubt I'm qualified to say this, but in my eyes, she was a worthy successor."

"I am." The dark-haired man swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat. "Proud of her." He paused long enough to hold back a snort. "A fat load of good it did for her. She's dead and I couldn't do anything to protect her. All roads lead to this for her. What father would do that to their child?"

Queen's eyes dropped. "I can't say," he admitted after awhile. "I know she wasn't your normal kid, so for all I know, this was the only way for her to live. Or maybe she was just a thrill-seeker, a weekend warrior that took this on full-time—in that case, yeah, bad idea. You're the only one that really knows, though.

"But right now, it doesn't matter. All of this doesn't matter." Queen reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "You can still save her and the others. You can make sure none of this happens." His grip grew tighter. "You can still protect them all."

"And then what? Pretend that none of this ever happened? It did and I have the memories to prove it."

"I never said to forget this. You better remember this, all of it, so that if it starts to happen again, you can put your foot on its throat and end it once and for all."

They fell silent then, Ollie removing his hand after a moment. "Mr. Terrific has Ra's time travel thing ready. We're just waiting on you."

Bruce tilted his head up to the sky, eyes closed. He found feel the warmth of the sun on his face, despite how cold the wind was. Maybe it was time to start moving again. Something deep inside told him his work wasn't through, not yet.

It was time to get back to work.

With a sigh, Kent Nelson took off the Helm of Nabu, setting it down on the small table next to him.

He was exhausted, the battle with the Regime draining him of his power. That was alright considering that the overthrow of Superman's regime had been successful. He could live with the exhaustion.

Leaning back in his seat, Kent tilted his head up to regard the ceiling. He wasn't sure how long his role as Dr. Fate would be on hiatus; he was already being approached to form a new group of heroes. It wasn't a bad idea admittedly.

However, there was little point to it. It was only a matter of time before the forces that drove the Batman caused him to start his inevitable march back to his time. The man needed to grieve, of course, and grieve he would. Either that or his grief would consume him. A price was asked of all who thought they could change the world. Eventually, even Fate had to pay their due.

Soon, Kent tilted his head back down and regarded the smooth plains of the Helm. Its empty eyes were staring at him, judging him. He knew that look.

"You can stare at me all you like," he told the Helm. "That Fate had no reason for interfering. That we've unraveled ordered and descended the world into chaos. We both know it was the right thing to do; it was always the right thing to do."

The Helm continued to stare.

Kent chuckled. Surely he was losing himself to madness, speaking to an inanimate object as he was. Right now, he did not care.

"This world, it was not one worth protecting," he spoke again, though he wasn't sure if it was to the Helm, or more for himself. "Though they are messy, people must have the right to decide their own Fate. Even you cannot deny this."

And then he paused. What truly was Fate? Was it some predetermined future? Was the overthrow of the Regime only one link in a chain of perpetual chaos? Or was it fluid and ever changing? For as lone as he worn the Helm, he could see countless futures for all that he came across; yet, he knew what was in store for each and every individual. He could see their lives, their deaths, and everything in between.

Not so for the Batman.

As far as he could tell, the man's destiny—such as it was—was not available to him. He could sense a strangeness about him, something twisted and unique. He wasn't sure what, or why, or even how that had happened. There was no other mortal that was as mysterious as this one.

Where did that man's fate lie? He honestly didn't have a clue and for once, Kent was rather thankful. To not know something, that was truly a gift he had not received in quite some time.

Suddenly, he sensed something. Eyes sharpening, Kent leaned up in his seat, searching for the source of this change. He found himself eyeing the stone walls the comprised the Tower of Fate. White light began to seep between the cracks of each stone block, outlining them. First it was the wall, then the floor, the light seemingly being held back by the stones, though threatening to overwhelm them.

It occurred to the white-haired man a moment later the meaning of this. Batman, he had used the Demon's machine. That was the only sufficient reason for this.

"So this is how the world ends," Kent said to himself, even as the white light began to fill the room and wash over everything in sight, including—and finally—himself.

This is the price for those who meddle...

The door opened and Flash was through the doorway in an instant. It was here the speedster found himself in what must have been the ballroom, though it was too small for that, in his humble opinion. It was definitely a dining room and a large one at that. He imagined this was where the President wined and dined his important guests.

However, the room was clearly not ready for guests. What must have been a very long dining table had been tipped onto its side and shoved up against the wall, specifically the one with all of the windows. The chandelier was at least intact, but the ceiling had a lot of bullet holes in it. There was another doorway on the other side of the room, which must have lead to the kitchen, or so the speedster thought.

Seeing nothing worth hanging around for, he raced to the other side of the room, coming to a stop at the other door. However, before he could attempt to open it, the door was flung open and a yellow energy blast hit him right in the chest.

"Ahhhhh!" Flash screamed as he was flung backwards, landing hard on his back several feet into the room. That hurt! It really, really hurt! Tilting his head up, he noticed some smoke wafting from the lightning bolt symbol on his chest, though the symbol itself was darkened by soot.

Oh, this had just gotten personal.

In an instant, Flash was kneeling on one foot and knee, ready to show everyone who exactly the boss was. He first noticed four more of the combat fatigue-dress men, each holding plasma rifles. There was no telling which one had been the one to tag him, so he was just going to have to hit them all a little harder than usual.

Flash took off to his left then, just as the four men fired their Kalanorian weapons. The beams hit the floor where he had been kneeling, leaving a nice scorch mark on the floor. Before any one of them knew what hit them, the speedster dashed right in front of the group, his fist colliding with the leftmost man's face and knocking him clear off his feet. Flash kept on going until he reached the wall before he dashed back, hitting the rightmost man this time as he passed by. He repeated the same action again, taking out the guy in the back and then made one more pass to take down the last standing gunman. He then circled around to come standing right in front of the group of newly-unconscious men, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down on his handiwork with pride.

Now that was how you showed someone you were pissed.

Of course, things couldn't have ended just like that. The door he had used to enter the dining room was suddenly flung open, more of the gunmen pouring into the room. Turning to look at them, Flash didn't once lose his cocky smirk, watching as...whoa, that was a good eight guys there. It seemed they were ready to take him serious now.

"So, you guys want a beatdown too?" the red-clad man called out, shifting his hands to rest on his hips. "I know, I'm a popular guy and I'll try to share every bit of me."

"How generous."

The voice had come from behind Flash, causing him to frown. Whipping his head around, he caught sight of a dark blue ray coming right for him. The ray itself seemed to project an endless line of circles, ones that hit him and suddenly Flash couldn't stand. It was as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, crushing him down. His knees buckled and he dropped to the floor, shooting his hands out to catch himself from falling flat on his face.

What the hell is going on?! his mind shouted. Seriously, why did it feel as if the world was so heavy? He could barely keep himself up like this!

And then it stopped, though the feeling of being a hundred tons did not go away. Arms screaming in protest, Flash found himself dropping until his forearms were resting on the floor, his upper arms keeping him up. The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention and he struggled to raise his head up.

It was him, the guy on the television that announced his take over the White House—Vandal Savage. His black suit covered him from neck to foot, save for the bulky-looking gauntlet on his right hand, one that was pointed right at the red-clad man. "I must say, this is how I always wanted to meet you, Flash," Savage told him.

The speedster was pretty sure this guy was being condescending to him and he wasn't going to take it. At least, that was his plan as he began to force himself up; the moment he did, Savage fired that strange blue beam at him, the beam itself coming from the tips of his fingers to the bottom of his palm. Again, he felt like he was being crushed to the floor, the floor itself groaning from the strain of holding up his weight. He couldn't see it because of the carpet, but he could certainly imagine the cracks that were forming beneath him.

And then the beam stopped. "Marvelous, isn't it?" Savage remarked casually. "You're probably wondering what I just did to you."

"Yeah, you could say that," Flash grunted out through clenched teeth.

"What this gauntlet of mine does is dramatically increase the gravitational pull of its target—in this case, you. You may be the Fastest Man Alive, but you can't run if you weight a few tons."

Well, that certainly explained that. However, the effects had to be temporary; why else would Savage hit him with another blast? No doubt he would do it again the moment the speedster so much as twitched. He needed to stall for time, so that he could recover and get back to normal. Then he could use his speed to take this guy out.

"That's a pretty fancy toy," he remarked, keeping his eyes on the dark-haired man. "I'd love to know where you got it from."

A smirk appeared on Savage's face. "I invented it myself. In fact, I'm sure your friends are encountering many of my other inventions. Admittedly, they're modified versions of the Kalanorian weapons, but it would've been a waste to not upgrade them."

"So what? This was all a trap for us?"

"Partially," Vandal Savage answered him. "As of right now, I am the Commander and Chief of this country. I just knew the Justice League would come to stop me once I usurped the President, so why not take precautions? I can eliminate the Justice League at the same time I take on the mantel as the Leader of the Free World."

"Then what was the need for the Canidite?" Flash pressed. He could feel his body beginning to lighten, so the effects of that gravity thingamajig were starting to wear off. He just needed to stall for a little time for a little longer.

"Beneath the White House is a maze of tunnels," Savage droned on, "a relic from the Cold War. In order to breach them, a powerful explosive was needed—the Canidite in this case. I did have other uses for it, but your friends found my supply, so I was limited with what I could use."

C'mon, almost there. "Well, that is sort of what we do," the speedster verbally jabbed.

"Yes, it is." Savage then reached inside of his suit jacket and pulled out a rather bizarre-looking gun. It was shaped like a handgun, except its barrel was much longer, its circumference larger than normal, and it had metal rings encircling it at even intervals from one end to the other. "Now let me introduce you to another of my inventions. This is what I call a handheld rail gun. The shell that's in the chamber is quite heavy, but the magnetic rings help fire it at the same speed as a cannonball. Allow me to show you."

Flash tried to move, really, he did. But his body was still sluggish from the gravity beams he had been subjected to. He couldn't even vibrate his body with any success. All of this combined to leave him helpless as he watched Vandal Savage calmly aim his fancy rail gun right at his face.

A sense of dread welled up within Flash. He could practically see Savage's finger squeezing the trigger, all of it in slow motion. The bang was coming any moment.

Along with a strange whirring sound.

Suddenly, Savage's hand jerked to a side, a loud clang! ringing out as the man yelped. The goons at his side jumped, jerking their guns up as they started looking around. All the while, Savage gripped his hand, face wincing as he stared at it.

Flash just stared at the sight before him. That was...strange. And slightly familiar if he wasn't mistaken. Doing the same as the gunmen, the red-clad man soon spied something sticking out of the ground over by one of the men's feet. It was black, metal, and it looked a lot like a batarang…

No way…

Suddenly, the lights went off, bathing the room in darkness. Alarmed cries rang out, coupled with the cocking of multiple machine guns. Flash couldn't help but feel giddy.

That was when a rapid fire of explosions went off. Jerking his head around, he saw small little bursts of fire and light about where Savage's other gunmen stood. There were more yells as guns were dropped, though it was too dark to see what exactly was happening. He was certain it wasn't a batarang attack though; he had seen those before and this was most definitely not it.

That was when the lights flickered back on. However, Flash noticed the movement of a shadow over him and then to Savage. The man looked up, still holding his injured hand, letting out a yell of surprise before something big and black crashed down on top of him. As Savage fell to the floor, the form of Batman sprung off his falling foe, flipping and twisting his body in midair until he landed crouched on the floor with his cape falling down around him, Savage's prone body between him and his two guards.

Never had the speedster been glad to see the stony mug of Batman looking towards him. It was a very nice sight considering he had been staring down the barrel of an unpleasant gun. As Savage laid sprawled out on the floor, his men were staring right at the vigilante, unsure of what to do.

In a flash, Batman threw open his cape as he shot up onto his feet, a hand shooting out. Batarangs flew from his hand, one hitting each gunman in front of him in the head, dropping them immediately. "Flash!" he barked, causing him to jump where he laid. "Get the others!"

Well, that was easy for him to say, he wasn't the one being affected by a gravity ray. Still, that commanding tone made him want to do as told, so he pushed himself up, surprised to find just how easy it was.

Oh yeah, it was butt-kicking time.

In a red blur, Flash was on his feet and racing towards the larger group of men. All of them were moving in slow motion, reaching for their sidearms. Glancing to the floor, Flash could see their machine guns, their sides damaged beyond repair. Faintly he wondered what had done that, reminding himself an instant later those small explosions he had witnessed earlier. It seemed Bats had some new toys.

Ignoring that for the time being, the red-clad hero turned his attention to the gunmen. Running a circle around them, there was soon a blur of red surrounding them. Drawing close to one, Flash fired a punch at his head, dropping him in an instant. A second and a third followed soon after as he closed the circle lap by lap.

None of these guys were going to get a shot off, not if he could help it. Each and every one of them had a date with his fist and he was going to make sure they all kept their appointment.

A red tornado filled the other side of the room. Batman just watched the Flash at work, hearing fist-meeting-skull over and over. There was no doubt the man would get the job done.

Movement occurred in front of him, drawing his attention as he tilted his head down. A man with dark hair and a mustache had rolled himself to lie on his stomach, both arms pressed onto the floor, bent at the elbow, ready to push himself up at a moment's notice. From everything he head heard, this must be Vandal Savage. The man snarled at him before he pushed his upper body up with one hand, pointing the other one at him, which was covered in a strange gauntlet.

Immediately, Batman leaped into the air, just as a blue beam fired from the gauntlet. Flipping head over feet, the vigilante landed just by Savage's feet, right before he sprung up again, this time angling his body a side as he held an arm out, bent at the elbow. Gravity took hold and he dropped to the floor, ramming his elbow right into Savage's back.

The man cried out from the blow, even as the Dark Knight shifted himself to straddle the dark-haired man between his legs. Hand clamping down on the gauntlet and pinning it to the floor, he then grabbed Savage by his hair and pulled his head back. A moment later, he slammed the man's face onto the floor. He did it again for good measure to ensure Savage was out, confirmed when he noticed the dark-haired man's body go limp beneath him.

Calmly, Batman took the gauntlet off of Savage's hand and inspected it. Aside from its design, there wasn't much he could discern from it. He would just have to—

Suddenly, Batman was on his feet, though not by his own doing. A pair of arms were embracing him and he felt quite uncomfortable with it. "Bats! You're alive!" Flash exclaimed before pushing him away, though he kept his hands on the dark-clad man's shoulders. "Where have you been? We thought you were dead!"

Batman took a step back, making sure to not trip over Savage. This removed him from the Flash's clutches as he came to stand to one side of Savage's body. "Still as excitable as ever," he grunted, though it didn't wipe away the man's smile.

That was when the doors to the room were flung open, John and Diana rushing in. The two stopped the moment they got a sight of him and Flash looking back at them. Both Leaguers stared with wide eyes, John even blinking his as if he were making sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Batman," Diana whispered before she took off flying towards him, landing a few feet away, briskly walking the remaining distance towards him. Her arms were moving to embrace him.

With sharp jerk, Diana twisted Cassandra's head to a side, her neck snapping loudly.

Immediately, Batman took a step back, which caused a confused look to appear on her face. His stomach churned at the sight of her, but he did his best to make sure it didn't show on his face. "Batman?" she questioned hesitantly.

Thankfully, John stepped in. "Batman, how did you get here?" he asked, breaking the awkwardness. "We all thought—"

"I was dead," he interjected, turning his attention to the Lantern. He allowed his cape to flow over his shoulders, hiding his body from sight. That was so that he could clench his fist tightly without them even knowing. "So I've heard," he added with a brief glance to Flash.

"Well, yeah. What happened? I mean, I pulled your body out of that blown warehouse."

"A dummy," he answered. "When I found the last bomb, I realized all of this wasn't making sense. So I found a body belonging to one of the night security guards, put him in my armor, and let the bomb go off. I went underground after that so I could uncover Savage's plot."

"So you really did go undercover!" Flash exclaimed. "Man, oh man, was I right!"

"Lucky guess," John responded, smirking at the red-clad man. Then he returned his attention to the vigilante. "So I take it your investigation brought you here. How did you manage to get into the White House? I mean, you had to have gotten here just before we did and after Savage got in."

"That is true. I was having a difficult time getting to Savage when you all showed up. So I took up a vantage point and waited for you to draw him out."

"What vantage point?" Flash questioned.

At this, Batman tilted his head back and regarded the chandelier. In all honesty, he had gone straight here after his jaunt through time. By the time he had arrived, Savage had already taken over the White House and was fortifying his position. It made sneaking in all that much easier and hiding in the fixture until the time was right.

Not that they needed to know all of that.

"You know, every time I think you can't keep surprising me, you find a way to do it," the speedster commented, staring up at the chandelier. "So now what? Clean up?"

"I'll leave that to you," the vigilante responded. "I'm tired and need to get back to Gotham. I'll send you a report in a couple of days."

John nodded. "Sounds good."

Without another word, Batman brushed by them, all but ignoring Diana. She hadn't said a word since he had rebuffed her advance and that was fine by him. Right now, he could only see blood on her hands and he wanted nothing to do with it. One last thought crossed his mind, even as he left the room.

Finally, all of this was over.

To the first Guest reviewer: Yeah, Love conquers all is not a trope I buy into. It's in a lot of stories on FFN though, very popular in fact

To Shadow: Never said relationships don't change lol

To the second Guest reviewer: I'm guessing that's a good thing

To the third Guest reviewer: Thanks!

To the fourth Guest reviewer: Thanks. There's plenty more story left in this series, of that I can assure you