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Titans Stop Plot to Destroy Barcellona.

Group behind Deep Night responsible?

Buddy Barker frowned at the paper in his hands, his eyes skimming over the front page article. When did superheroing get so complicated? He mulled. I thought I had it bad dealing with the Kingdoms, but these new kids have to deal with things like this. It was times like this that he found himself pining for the good old days when it was just cops and robbers. Well, he wasn't delusional enough to actually think that those 'good old days' were real, but he pinned for them just the same. Maybe then he wouldn't be using his vacation days for hunting down a new form of life.

It was why he was currently sitting at a table in a nook of a cafe, in a quiet little part of Harlem. It had been months since Swamp Thing had told him about the unknown Kingdom, but it hadn't been until that moment that he had the free time to do anything about it. The movie he had been working on had finally wrapped up, so now he was taking some 'vacation' to do a bit of traveling. And reconnecting with some old friends of his.

His attention was pulled away from the paper as he heard the front door of the cafe chime open. Looking towards the door he saw a woman step in out of the winter cold, wearing a leather jacket with a hood over an orange-red pantsuit. She glanced around before her gaze settled on him, and she pulled back her hood to reveal an angular, brown face with a warm smile before walking towards him.

Well, 'walk' was a somewhat bland way of putting it, as Mari McCabe had an almost subconscious habit of sashaying everywhere she went. "Well well, Buddy Barker. It's been an age."

He smiled back at her. "Definitely longer than I would have liked." He said as she sat on the other side of the table from him, unzipping her jacket. Buddy's eyes were drawn to the necklaces she wore, a tribalistic band lined with claws and an amber amulet of a fox head in the center. Looking at it still gave him the strange phantom growling sensation he remembered, something other yet also familiar.

Buddy had first met Mari (Vixen back in those days) when he was learning about just where his power actually came from. She had come to him for help with dealing with an immortal African witch doctor, and his life got more complicated from there. It was a funny sort of coincidence, if only because their powers were rather similar. Mari had always stayed on the more mystical side of things rather than dealing with the elemental Kingdom directly, but the two had kept in touch ever since. Though it had been two years since they got the chance to meet in person.

As they settled in they started to catch up, discussing pleasantly mundane things while having a light lunch. Buddy talked about how his stuntman career was going and how his wife and daughter were doing. Mari told him about how she had officially started her own modeling company and how hard it was to get things off the ground. However, as much as Buddy enjoyed the simple pleasure of talking with an old friend, he eventually had to broach the reason he had contacted her in the first place. "So, I hate to ask, but during the Deep Night…"

Mari waved him off. "Me and mine came out fine. Harlem made it out fine too, for once. All the heavy stuff happened in midtown. I headed down there as soon as the light show started, but even with my speed I was only able to pick off a few stragglers before the fight was over." She glanced at him as she took a sip of her coffee, and noticed that he was still tense. "Not that I don't mind catching up like this, but when you called me I got the impression that this wasn't just a social visit."

Buddy nodded grimly. "How much contact do you have with the Red?" He asked in a low tone.

Mari arched an eyebrow. "That serious, huh?" She asked before she set her cup down "Not as much as you do, but Anasai shows up anytime he thinks I need to know something. He had a few cryptic things to say about those fish people, but nothing substantial. Why? Are they going to be a problem again?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not about them. Not directly, anyway. We need to talk about what pushed them back into the ocean. There's a high probability that a new Kingdom has developed."

"...What?" Mari stared at him in bewilderment. "What are you talking about? It was the Titans who beat the fish people back. And what do you mean a new Kingdom?"

"Swamp Thing told me that some of the plant spirits living in the city felt the presence of another Kingdom during the attack. They were the force that actually defeated the Blue- er, deep ones. The Red and Green at large don't seem to know about it yet, but it's only a matter of time, and we're trying to find out as much as we can before a conflict can start."

Mari was silent for a minute, her finger tracing the rim of her cup as she processed this. "Let's say you're right. What do you know about this Kingdom?"

"Nothing." Buddy said with a sigh. "They appear to be deliberately laying low, which is… unusual to say the least. Swamp Thing told me that he's been looking into something at Yellowstone, but hasn't confirmed things one way or another. It's part of the reason I came to you. New York's the only lead we have right now. If you know anything, even just felt something off within the city, I'd greatly appreciate it if you let me know."

Mari opened her mouth to respond before she paused. Her brow knit together, and her head tilted as she seemed to consider something. She hesitated a moment longer before she spoke. "You know how I like to say there's a rhythm to the city? The people going about their lives, to and fro, it has a beat to to. Sometimes when I let go and listen, I can hear it." She settled back in her seat and looked around her, a small smile on her face. "Each of the Burroughs is a little different too. Manhattan's has always been the most complex, had the most different beats mixing together."

Her face fell a little. "Until that night. After that attack Manhattan's rhythm was a mess, though it's been getting better. Thing is, I thought after everything was fixed up it'd go back to normal, but the rhythm has… changed."

"That's ominous," Buddy said. "You think something's trying to take over?"

Mari shook her head. "No, it's not 'bad', it's different. It feels more layered, like a leitmotif complementing the normal beats. Organizing them, almost. Sometimes it feels like…"

"Like what?"

She searched for words for a moment before she let out a breath. "It feels like techno."

Buddy blinked. What did that even mean? Considering that he was looking for a new form of life he was trying to keep his mind open, but he was at a loss how to interpret that bit of info. And yet something about that tickled his memory. Something that happened during the Deep Night-

He sat up straight, his eyes going wide. "Robot Rock…" he muttered. Could… it really be possible that the new Kingdom they were looking for was artificial? He never would have thought such a thing would be possible a year ago, but the Louisiana incident had shown him that humans could manipulate elemental powers with technology. Was this an extension of that?

Mari managed to pick up on what he was thinking. "Wait, you can't seriously be thinking the new Kingdom is some kind of AI?"

"It's not that out there, AI's been getting better every year." Buddy pointed out, his mind going through the possibilities. "Besides, it does make a sort of sense if machines pushed the fish people out of New York. It wasn't just them fighting for the hell of it, they'd be defending their territory." A frown crossed his face. "Though… if it is AI, I have no idea how to proceed from here."

Mari hummed. "You know, I actually met a few of the Titans?" She said, "It was at a Halloween ball their leader had organized. They seem like good people, and oh my Starfire…" Mari purred out. "I am going to have to get that girl on a runway at some point."

Buddy was a bit confused at the non-sequitur, and she shook her head. "In that case, I think your best bet is Machina. Met him at the ball too, and he's the one the Titans say drove back the leader of the deep ones. He's also been helping out with the reconstruction effort. Considering what he is, if the machine man isn't already involved with this Kingdom business, he's probably the best for figuring it out."

Buddy nodded. There certainly was a precedent for superheros being involved with the Kingdoms. Honestly he was a little surprised he hadn't thought of it sooner, but to be fair, robots are not the first thing that comes to mind when he thought 'Kingdoms of Life'. But there was a slight problem. "Do you know how to get in contact with him? I'm sure the Titans have an email, but that thing must be constantly swamped. And they don't have a headquarters I can just show up to, as far as I know."

Mari thought for a moment. "You might have better luck if you head down to the Hall of Justice in DC. I'm sure the League has a more direct way to contact them."

Buddy groaned and leaned back in his seat. "I really don't want to have to jump around the east coast for this…" He muttered. That said, he had been planning to get in touch with the League about this, depending on what he found. He didn't know any of their members personally, but they'd probably take him seriously if he showed up in costume…

Then there was a sudden smashing sound, and the two of them looked out the cafe window to see an SUV had smashed into the front windows of a building across the street. Buddy had a brief moment of panic that someone was hurt before several men poured out of the vehicle with guns and rushed into the building. Buddy then looked above the broken-in glass to confirm that, yes, said building was a bank.

"Really?" Mari growled, standing up and glared at the mess. "It's barely even been a few months since the blackout, and they're at it again…" She looked at Buddy with an apologetic look. "Sorry, gonna have to cut this short. Seems a few heads are harder than I thought."

Buddy was almost surprised to hear himself reply "Want some help?" He reached down to the bag at his side and unzipped it, pulling out the blue hood and yellow goggles he hadn't worn for years.

Mari's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed, a cat-like grin forming on her face. "Oh? I thought you left that behind?"She pulled off her jacket as she spoke, and he saw a faint flash of light from her amulet. There was the roar of a leopard at the edge of his hearing, and the woman's stance became something more fluid and dangerous.

Buddy couldn't keep his own grin off as he pulled his mask on. "Well, considering what I'm getting into, I think I could use a warm up."

I need to get a new chair, John Stewart thought, looking around the assembled Leaguers to see if they were just as uncomfortable in their own seats. The Watchtower conference room was completely full for the first time in a while, but there had been a lot of parietal meetings in the past few months. Those meetings were never pleasant, and he felt like he had been sitting in it so much that he had worn down the cushioning. Though, this time the meeting was about something a bit more hopeful: recruiting new members for the League.

It certainly wasn't the first time they had expanded their membership, but this new round felt particularly needed for John. The past couple of years had seen a marked increase in the number of threats superheroes had to deal with all over the world, stretching their attention thin. Oddly enough the fact that there seemed to be an actual organization behind it all made him feel a bit better about it. That meant there was a target they could focus on.

Now if only they could agree on the type of candidate they were looking for. "I'm not sure about Blue Devil," Hawkwoman remarked, gesturing to the holographic figure of said hero in the center of the room. "Sure he can handle himself and he's more flexible in operations than other superheroes, but he's a bit conspicuous."

"I'm sure he can change his outfit to blend in, if he really needs to." Green Arrow replied flatly. "Besides, weren't you the one who wanted us to pull in more 'flexible' people?"

"No, I wanted us to create our own covert team, or at least hire one. I'm settling for recruiting heroes with the appropriate skill sets."

That was the current argument the League had been going back and forth over. With the Titans doing their own thing, the League had lost having a group handling cover operations. So a few of their members thought it was high time to start recruiting for the League in that direction instead. John had mixed feelings about it himself. As a former military man he saw the sense in it… but at the same time he didn't want the League to become a military. But there was no denying that they needed a new approach to handle a threat that wouldn't reveal itself.

Batman interjected. "We are not creating or hiring a covert team." He said firmly. "Even with the Titans managing public perception, there is still scrutiny over us using their members previously. People will be watching if we attempt to do something similar."

"And it would be against our U.N. Charter." Wonder Woman spoke up, looking at Hawkwoman but very clearly speaking to someone else. Batman just grunted.

An awkward silence followed, which Green Arrow capitalized on to get everyone's attention. "If we're considering someone like Blue Devil, then I'd like to nominate Red Arrow." With a few button presses on the table in front of him, the hologram changed to the young man in question. "We know for a fact that he has the skills we're looking for, and he has plenty of experience to boot."

Hawkwoman considered this, but Aquaman was doubtful, though. "I'm not sure. His attitude towards us has left something to be desired. Do we really want to reward such behavior?"

"He's gotten better." Green Arrow insisted. "He just needed some time to cool down. I think spending some time with the Titans might have helped with that."

John chose to speak up. "I wasn't aware that he had joined the Titans."

"He hasn't, he just helps them out sometimes."

Wonder Woman hummed. "Curious, Starfire hasn't mentioned that," She remarked. Though she didn't have any obligation to, Starfire would make regular visits to the Watchtower or Wonder Woman in particular to share information.

Green Arrow shrugged. "I think he mostly spends time with the old sidekicks, rather than all the Titans."

"Speaking of the Titans," Hawkwoman said, looking at Wonder Woman. "Why aren't we considering the obvious candidates? I know at least you wanted to bring them on."

The Amazon smiled slightly. "Well, I suppose we should at least address it then." She said, and pressing a few buttons in front of her brought up a new pair of images, Starfire and Machina. "There's no denying Starfire's abilities, both as a hero and a leader. She's strong in body and in heart. And her time leading the team has shown that she's capable of leading covert operations, as much as I don't care for it."

There were some nodding heads around the table, and John had to hold back a laugh at how all the female Leaguers were among them. He couldn't blame them for wanting to get more female coworkers, though he still felt the need to speak up for the other candidate. "And what about Machina?" he asked.

It was actually Batman who answered. "Machina has developed massively compared to where he started, and he is still growing. His combat abilities are substantial, but his technical and support abilities would be an even greater asset to the League." The man leaned forward in his seat. "And the matter of trust is somewhat moot, as he already knows a good number of the League's secrets."

Superman let out a small chuckle. "As scary as that sounds, I think his record speaks for itself. Both of them have done great things in only a few months. So, if we are actually considering it," He looked to both Wonder Woman and Batman, "I am willing to nominate both Starfire and Machina for League membership."

"There's just one problem." The assembled heroes turn to look at Black Canary, who wore an odd expression. "They'll never join."

There was a beat before Captain Marvel said "Wait, you really think so? I mean, I know things have been kinda rough with the Titans, but I didn't think-"

Canary shook her head. "That's not the issue, exactly. In other circumstances, I don't think they'd have a problem joining us. But they're with the Titans, and them being both Titans and Leaguers would split their loyalties."

"And they would never give up being Titans." Superman finished.

"No, they wouldn't." Canary paused for a moment. "Both of them had lost everything else in their lives when they got here. They've made the Titans their new home."

"...Are you sure we can't just hire the Titans to-" Hawkwoman started to say.

"No." Batman cut her off.

Hawkwoman grumbled, but didn't say anything else. Black Canary continued "While it's not necessarily a bad thing, I am concerned that they may become too inwardly focused. Regardless if they join us or not, we should keep things as amiable as possible."

"Agreed." Batman looked at Green Arrow. "Is Red Arrow still interested in joining the League?"

Green Arrow rubbed the back of his neck. "We don't talk too much, but… I'm sure he still is, yeah." His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"We've talked about having good relations with the Titans. Recruiting someone closer to their age and who already has a rapport with them would make it easier."

"Not happening." the other man said flatly. "We're not going to bring Red Arrow on just to have an… informant on the Titans."

"It wouldn't be a deciding factor in his recruitment." Batman responded. "Red Arrow has plenty of merits on his own to be considered for membership. This would be a possible benefit after recruiting him."

The meeting continued on like that, the various Leaguers going back and forth on their prospective recruits. It was a long process, but eventually they had a list of five names that everyone could agree on. There was still the matter of reaching out to them and informing the U.N., but that wasn't John's problem. He was just glad to get out of that damn chair.

John was on his way out of the conference room when he did a check of the Watchtower sensors. It was a sort of reflexive habit he had gotten into the past few months, ever since Koriand'r and Jacob had arrived. Extrasolar visitors were rare, but the last two who had shown up had made quite the impact. He wasn't actually expecting anything of course, but-

John stopped where he was when the data came back, and his ring popped up a screen in front of him. It showed a section at the edge of the system, and a small blip approaching inwards. He was about to ask for more information when the blip… vanished. He blinked, and tried to get the Watchtower sensors to get a fix on what he just saw, but there was nothing there. He then went into the sensor logs to see what had just happened… but there was nothing there.

Hal, who had left the conference room next to John, noticed how his fellow Lantern had stopped in his tracks. "Something wrong?"

John gestured at the projection. "Double check quadrant 25-4, will you?"

The other Lantern pulled up the feed, scanner data scrolling in front of him. "I'm not seeing anything."

John frowned. "I know I saw something there. It was a blip, but before I could get a better reading it just disappeared."

"You sure? I'm not seeing anything in the sensor logs. Does your ring's local memory have something different?"

John checked before shaking his head. "No, but I know what I saw." John insisted. "It could be a ship with some kind of stealth tech or ECM, interfering with our rings' systems."

Hal frowned. "Stealth systems that could best a power ring are rare enough, but something that could remove data from one? You'd need to be able to spoof top-level access for that. You probably just misread the data."

John grunted, his environmental shield covering him as he lifted off the ground. "Maybe, but I'm going out to take a look, just in case. Try to find some non-Lantern scanners to point in that direction, Hal. I don't want to take any chances." With that he sped off down the halls to the hanger. It was possible Hal was right and he just imagined what he saw.

But the fact that the blip appeared to have come from the direction of the Vega system made him feel like he should make sure.

"Everyone, there's something I need to tell you."

Koriand'r looked up from the holographic screen in front of her to see M'gann standing a short distance away. The Titans were gathered in the Mountain's main hall for their regular training, most of them having already assumed positions along the central circle. She and Jacob were off to the side going over some data, and Connor had been running a bit late. She now saw why as the boy was standing behind M'gann, hand on her shoulder.

"Oh? What is it?" she asked as she turned to them fully. She hadn't expected M'gann to be here today, as the girl hadn't been to training since their last mission. She had been getting better since their late night talk, but Koriand'r felt it was best not to push. At the least, M'gann had been spending time with Connor again, and that had helped the process along, so Koriand'r was optimistic.

Wally was less optimistic. "Please don't say you're leaving the team." Koriand'r had to suppress a sigh. Wally had a talent for being overly direct, but she couldn't deny that a few other Titans had the same worry.

Luckily, M'gann shook her head. "No. Well, kind of, but not permanently. I've decided that I need to train my psychic abilities more, and my uncle is the only one who can really help me with that." She shifted a little. "After what happened… I can't risk hurting you all again."

"That wasn't your fault," Kaldur insisted. "Psimon's powers were amplified by that device-"

"But what happened afterwards was." She insisted. "My mind is still… unbalanced, I think is the closest term, and that can cause discord to anyone connected to it. J'onn should know some techniques to help recenter myself, but that will take time." She held up her hands. "This, this doesn't mean I'm leaving though! I still live here and we can still hang out! It's just… I'm not going to go on missions for a while."

The team looked at each other for a few moments before Donna spoke up. "If that's what you need, take all the time you have to." She said with a warm smile. "We'll be here when you're ready."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, and M'gann gave a slight smile. "Thanks, though… that was actually the second thing I wanted to talk about." M'gann said hesitantly. "There's something I need to show you. It's not… directly related to what happened, though it's been something I've been afraid of you seeing ever since we've met. But after what you saw of me on the mission… I guess it doesn't seem as important anymore."

Behind her, Superboy started to protest. "That wasn't you-"

M'gann held a hand up "I know, but it was a sort of ugly reflection of the worst parts of me. And all of you still want me around, even after seeing it." Her smile brightened a little before it fell. "I want to show you what I actually look like. My real martian form."

"...That's it?" Koriand'r looked back at Jacob, who had a confused expression on his face. "I mean, we know you don't actually look human in your base form. Hell, there are pictures of J'onn in his base form in the database."

M'gann flushed a darker shade of green before she said "It's not quite the same."

Without another word, M'gann changed shape. She grew much taller and wider at the shoulders, and she hunched forward as her arms reached the ground. Her limbs were lanky and made of corded muscle, with a membrane under her arms. Her head broadened and distorted to become a flat, lipless thing with an expanded cranium that extended all the way down the back of her neck.

And her skin, save for parts of her belly, arms, and neck, had turned chalk white.

{This… is what I actually look like.} M'gann said in their heads as they reeled from the surprise. {I'm a White Martian. I faced constant rejection back on Mars because of what I am. So, I was afraid you would do the same if you saw me like this.}

"...Did you really think we were that shallow?" Kaldur eventually asked.

{I couldn't take that risk.} She said, and Koriand'r could feel the anguish the other girl was experiencing. Connor reached out and took M'gann's large, three fingered hand into his own and smiled up at her reassuringly. From the way she relaxed, it was clear that she had shown him this earlier, and he was supporting her.

Koriand'r herself was… more surprised by M'gann's appearance than she would have liked to admit. It's just, the girl had just been so adamantly human in her behavior, she just always assumed that Martians were fairly close to Tamaranians, just like humans were. Not that it mattered of course, it was just surprising was all. At least I'm not alone in this, she thought as she looked over her team.

Except when she looked at Jacob, she suddenly wondered why his eyes were wide with surprise too. Didn't he just say that J'onn's true form was in the database? He should know what it looked like, so why was this taking him off guard? Was it the fact she was a White Martian? What difference did that make to him?

Right around the moment she realized that he wasn't able to hear M'gann's explanation, he started to walk up to her. M'gann noticed this, and realized the same thing as he came to a stop in front of her. {Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot you can't- I should-}

She cut herself off as, after staring into her eyes for a moment, his hands reached up and pressed the sides of her face.

"Smoosh."

There was a long silence that filled the Mountain hall before M'gann started to squirm in his grasp. {J-Jacob!} Everyone present couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the embarrassed Martian, and Koriand'r knew that all was well in her house again.

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A/N: And we're back. Normally I wouldn't put two interludes next to each other, but M'gann's bit needed it's own part.