{*}

Just wanted to get a quick apology out of the way first. No, they don't rescue Robin in this one. Curse my name all you want, and I wouldn't blame you, caue I hate braking promises. Longer explanation at the bottom.

{*}

A few villains, who had helped to apprehend the Shadow and Robin, now stood before blue screens with fuzzy white shapes. The distorted figures being the rest of the members of the Light.

"So she escaped?" Vandal Savage growled out, annoyance and rage displayed with each word. They all knew dealing with cross-dimensions was dangerous, but they had only meant the incident as a practice test of sorts. They had not expected for their creation to actually work. The machines had not been equipped to handle the surge of power yet, causing the whole thing to blow up and a massive flickering blackout on this hemisphere of the world. Not to mention that the sidekicks popped in, preventing them of regaining what information the fire hadn't destroyed.

The Light were trying to remain as far away from the public and League's investigations, while also trying to hunt down their unexpected victim. They were delighted to finally find her in Gotham, but dismayed when she was with Robin, Batman's number one bird. Any other sidekick wouldn't have been as much of a complication, but this was the Batman's first and, consequently, most experienced sidekick. If he went missing they would have the fury of the world's number one detective hunting their hides! This is why they tried separating them and have Shade capture the girl, but they had underestimated her powers. They had watched as Shade's shadows seemed to feed into her strength before she easily overtook him and Wizard, who was supposed to only distract the boy.

So they had to send in everyone available, which infuriated the Light, and now the Shadow had escaped! She'd left the building as a massive wreckage, inflicted damage to many of the Light's members in ways they didn't think possible, and had left behind the boy!

This led to their unscheduled emergency meeting to try and figure out how they were going to fix this mess.

"How did they even escape?"

This time it wasn't Vandal Savage, it was Klarion. The Witch Boy was in a mix of rage and glee. He literally lived for chaos and this was a nice cup of it. However, when the chaos messed with his plans to cause people panic, this thrust him into a state of child-like rage. He couldn't decide whether to cackle or snarl, as a result, so he went for a mix of both. The resulting tone he gave was a grotesque sound much to the annoyance of the others.
Queen Bee tried silencing him first. "Klarion, you must pull yourself together and help us think of a way out of this mess."

"I can't help it," Klarion snorted. "I live for this type of chaos."

Then his voice changed into that of anger. "But messing up my fun isn't okay!"

"Calm down Klarion." Savage ordered, having been able to set his anger aside, temporarily, and think clearly. "What is the state of Professor Ojo, Brain, Mallah, Ivy, and Scarecrow?"

He inwardly seethed at how many members were on the injured list, but attempted to not show his rage, lest he give his fellow villains a means to point out a weakness. Wizard was in attendance, a bruise visible on the left side of his face. Shade was also there, seemingly unharmed. Finally, Joker (who had a nasty slice going across his cheek) was sitting across from Savage, his maniac smile plastered to his face and trying to keep from bursting with pleased laughter as he spoke.

"Well which question do you want us to answer first? How she escaped?" He asked raising his left hand palm up. "Or are our fellow comrade's condition?"
He raised the other hand, then fell backwards in his seat letting loose his infamous laugh.

The others just glared, as Wizard cleared his throat, making his report. "We managed to get a decent amount of blood from the specimen. One before she woke up and the first test was performed."

Queen Bee interrupted. "And what exactly were these 'tests' that you performed? I have not seen anything like them before."
"I believe that would be courtesy of me," Ra's al Ghul said, sounding a bit pleased with himself. "If you remember, Queen Bee, that both I and Mr. Savage have been communicating with others who share this vast galaxy of ours, as was demonstrated when we gained access to much of that valuable tech."

They all remembered Bialya, and how they lost the Sphere..., but also the Apokolips people. Ra's continued. "We manged to obtain some of their advanced science works and this is what those tests were, Wizard, you may continue."

Nodding and hating that he had to respond to a command like a dog, Wizard complied. "The tests gave us everything we needed; from her exact physical measurements to her cellular structure and even...her brain patterns."

This initiated some approving "hm's", and he continued. "After the test, Professor Ojo took another blood sample while Brain studied the results. It was when he looked at the second sample that we discovered it."

"Discovered what?" Savage asked intrigued, and eager to hear more, yet his skepticism remained.

"A gene, or some strange DNA strand, is in her. Apparently the test had somehow...enlarged it, so it showed up on our monitors."
Wizard nodded to Shade who started typing on a nearby computer. Data was sent to each of the members of the Light, and all was quiet as they read.

"Enlightening, isn't it?" Joker said and threw himself into another fit of chaotic laughter.
Everyone ignored him, Savage spoke before his sceen flicker off. "If you will excuse me for a moment."

"What was that?" Shade asked, voicing what everyone else thought.

"Maybe he didn't like my joke?" Joker responded, in a somewhat whiny voice.

"Doesn't matter," Queen Bee started, wanting to discuss this new gene they had found. "This is very interesting, but I'm still not sure how it can help us and our cause."

Lex Luther, who had been silent for the whole meeting, finally had something to say. "Unless..."
He trailed off for a minute, knowing that what he was about to propose may sound preposterous. "What if this is the link that all super-powered humans share?"

Everyone froze at the thought. Black Manta was the first to voice his opinion on the matter. "It seems too far-fetched, how could one gene in one girl, help us at all?"

Before anyone could answer Savage's screen came back on.
"Ladies and gentlemen," He immediately announced. "As you know we have been communicating with the other beings in out galaxy, and I believe now is a good opportunity to inform you about them."

"You've been keeping secrets from us?" Klarion hissed.

In order to stop a huge argument from breaking out, Savage continued. "Yes and no. See these aliens are looking for some...test subjects that have a certain quality in their genetic traits."

"But how can we be sure that it is in other super-powered people?" Black Manta asked.

"Not just in other supers," Savage smiled, though they couldn't tell the possibilities this lead up to. "But in other plain people as well, you see they know a little of what this is, but they need more. Our Earth hosts over six billion people which fits their needs nicely."

"So they want to search for more of this gene?" Queen Bee inquired, wanting to clarify.

"Exactly," Savage said. "I've sent them a sample of this and will hopefully get a reply back soon."

He couldn't help but grin, sure it would take some time to get everything going, possibly five to seven years, but he knew that this other alien group, that this Reach, could change the world forever.

{*}

So, did you like seeing what the Light was thinking? On another note, I am really sorry about them not getting to Robin, that chapter is still under construction, but luckily I think my inspiration is finally kicking in gear! I didn't like going all Christmas break without posting anything, so think of this as a late New Years present.

Lastly, I can not take all credit for this, over Christmas I got myself in gear and hunted down for a beta reader. So I am proud to introduce Aurora Shadowglenand BeingWhoIWishIWas.

Next chapter, I'm working on how they will save Robin. Merry Christmas :)