(-Slaughter Swamp One Hour Later-)

Located in Somerset, several miles away from the outskirts of Gotham City, lies an old marshland region called Slaughter Swamp. According to the old Gotham residents, this whole gloaming swamp has a gruesome history of being the resting place of one called Cyrus Gold, a mobster in the nineteenth-twenty who committed horrendous crimes throughout Gotham for years until finally gunned down by a rival gang.

Cyrus's body was disposed of in this swamp and remained there for hundreds of years. But after recent times, stories would spread that the swamp had mystically altered Cyrus's body over time, granting him semi-life as a soulless walking corpse. A corpse that gave itself a new identity, well-known to the world as Solomon Grundy.

But now, in current times, Slaughter Swamp is being criminally exploited of its resources by a band of mercenaries as they continue carrying cargo to the nearby dock. But despite their current progress, one mercenary seems to be growing incredibly impatient with every second that passes.

"Can they move any faster? I don't need Grodd taking my head off cuz your boys are too slow." Says the slightly anxious man with his voice modulated thanks to the white metal mask with a scanning laser on the right side. His outfit consists of a red armored body suit with gunmetal accents and pauldrons, gray and red cargo trousers, red knee pads, and combat boots.

To many, he is known as Floyd Lawton, also known as Deadshot, one of the world's deadliest assassins, able to hit any target without missing. But due to forceful persuasions now, he is Grodd's private hitman.

The person the deadly assassin speaks toward is another member of Grodd's society. A man in a formal suit while wearing a lab coat, and on his head is a burlap bag he wears as a mask with a built-in gas mask. He is once known as Dr.Jonathan Crane, a former psychologist of Arkham Asylum, and now known as the self-proclaimed master of fear, the Scarecrow.

"Fear not, Deadshot. We'll be ready for tomorrow's attack." The former psychologist assures Lawton in a surprisingly deep voice as he delicately pats one of the many crates.

Despite Scarecrow's assuring words, Deadshot still impatiently grumbles as he has to wait longer until the men finish loading up the toxins.

But unknown to them both, an unanticipated third party of three, Harley Quinn, Black Canary, and Green Arrow, had been listening in on their conversation from behind an old wooden cabin. What they just overheard them say was both surprising and concerning.

And Black Canary would be the one to address it to her close friend and husband. "Tomorrow?"

"Cheeky monkey…" Harley quips in regards to Grodd about how he treats his henchmen.

Speaking of henchmen, one named Scarecrow comes to Harley's mind when she turns and looks at him suspiciously. The last time she checked, Joker killed Scarecrow after he helped them, which Harley regrets to this day, producing a kryptonite-infused fear toxin for Superman, deceiving him into killing his wife Lois seven years ago. So how is the burlap-masked man alive? It shouldn't be possible, right?

Those questions continue through Harley's head while Black Canary and Green Arrow continue to spy, unaware of the numerous thick vines, which look slightly metallic-like, slithering like a snake behind them until it's too late. Before they could realize it, the vines snap around the blonde trio, greatly surprising them, before it raises them off the ground upside down.

They struggle to free themselves from their capture for the next few seconds. Though Harley continues to try to free herself along with her friends, she suddenly halts her endeavor when someone familiar approaches her with each seductive step until they are close to each other's faces.

This woman in question is one that Harley knows all too well, Pamela Isley, known as Poison Ivy. However, Ivy seems to have some new characteristics that Harley surprisingly noticed. For starters, Ivy's green skin has now taken up a slightly more silverish tone. Her mid-back length curly hair, which was once red, now supports a new natural dark violet color instead. Due to her new appearance, her whole outfit is also composed of plants, also constituted of the same natural metallic structure as the vines. And her outfit is consistent with that of a dominatrix, with a corset that divides up to her chest while wearing high-heel boots.

"Fancy meeting you here, Harley." Ivy casually greets her blonde pigtailed friend before she playfully pushes her back.

Despite her and her friends's current predicament, all Harley does is smile while blowing another bubble from her bubble gum.

Upon noticing the sudden commotion of their unwelcome visitors, Scarecrow turns to Deadshot. "Keep them moving. I'll see what that's about…" the former psychologist notifies the assassin.

"Red! Or Violet…! I haven't seen you in forever! You look great!" Harley excitedly greets her long-time friend/lover while taking in Ivy's new look.

Appreciating the compliment, Ivy smiles a bit as she pats Harley on her cheek. "Well, my evolution wouldn't have been possible had it not been for your friend Aaron for providing the Green with new life," The now violet-haired woman explains with grand affection when she refers to the young Gardian of his people's technology that changed the world.

"Aww, I knew Spike Head would gain your approval, Ivy." Harley happily remarks despite her current upside-down dangling dilemma. "So does that mean you're here to help take down these punks?"

As soon as Harley asks, Ivy's smile immediately falters with contempt, much to the reformed pigtailed woman's confusion about her friend's sudden change. And it would soon be revealed when Scarecrow makes his appearance known as he strides toward the apprehended blonde trio.

"Quite the catch, Ivy." The former psychologist praises the phytokinesis-powered metahuman as he lets out a sinister chuckle.

An unfortunate reality now catches up to Harley as she soon realizes what Ivy is truly here for. "Violet? You're with them?" The pigtailed woman questions as she's startled and saddened to see her best friend/lover on the wrong side.

But what makes this even worse is when a now disdained Poison Ivy doesn't bat an eye at seeing Harley's stunned reaction. "Unfortunately, unlike Earth's new champion, your other friend Bruce hasn't been doing much better in caring for the Green." She explains her distrust toward the Bat-themed hero before continuing. "All he has done is remodel the concrete jungle of Gotham and Metropolis."

With her back turned from her captives while continuing with her monologue, Ivy is unaware of the concealed dagger Harley managed to get from her back pocket and uses it to cut her down.

"Where I sit," Ivy turns around to contempt the Blonde trio. "There's not much difference between him and Superman."

Green Arrow scoffingly grunts out due to the tight discomfort and listening to the violet-haired woman's monologues. "You're a few cones short if you think your new friends care about the Green." He remarks on Ivy's companions in Grodd's Society organization and their apathy for the Green.

But the plant-powered metahuman didn't look concerned at the least of the Emerald Archer's comment. "Grodd will keep his promise, or he'll be my next victim."

With that comment said by her now former friend/lover, Harley is deeply saddened. "Oh, Violet…why you makin' me do this?" But despite this upsetting outcome, Harley has a mission to complete.

With that in mind, Harley finally cut through the vines, freeing her from her restraints before she passed the dagger over to Dinah's free hand to free herself and her husband.

With the blonde trio now freed, they get ready to fight Ivy. As for Scarecrow, he quickly conceals himself within the gloomy swamp.

Without warning, two metallic-like vines shoot out behind Ivy before propelling toward the heroes. Fortunately, the trio manages to jump out of the way before Green Arrow quickly counter-fires with one of his flame-burst arrows at Ivy.

But the said female metahuman summons another vine to catch the the incoming arrow before it ignites. But instead of being burned, the metallic vine somehow resists the flames, much to the heroic trio's surprise.

"Ok, plants that can withstand fire, that's new." The Emerald Archer remarks as he readies another arrow to his bow.

Ivy lets out a smirk from Ollie's comment about one of her newly enhanced abilities. "Trust me, they can do more than just that." She ominously declares as the tips of the metallic vines suddenly sprout blossoms. Without warning, each blossom immediately fires electrified spores at the three heroes, which they quickly avoid again before taking cover inside the cabin.

"And they can shoot spore electricity, terrific!" Green Arrow sarcastically exclaims as he, Dinah, and Harley continue to use the wooden house for cover. "It's official she's definitely not the same Ivy from my world."

Black Canary silently agrees as she glimpses at a broken window to see the new violet-haired plant metahuman approaching them while the vines slightly flaunt out. "But one thing hasn't changed is that they're too in love with their powers."

"Yeah, that's what makes Pammy so special…" Harley sadly expresses before she turns to confront her former friend again. "Come on, girl, Let me get you out of here." She pleadingly tries to persuade Ivy to join them. "We can team up again. Drive all the boys crazy. Ya know? Like the old days…"

As she makes her plea, Harley silently makes hand gestures to her teammates, which they understand about a plan she has against Ivy. But before taking something from her belt compartment.

But the desperate pleas only fell to death's ears as Ivy shrugged them off. "The old days were fun…" the violet-haired woman unfortunately admits as she readies her many blossomed vines for another electric spore blast. "But these days, I'm all business."

"Glad we understand each other then." Dinah sarcastically declares before she quickly comes out of the cabin to confront Ivy. And what comes next is when the Black Canary opens her mouth.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Canary's sonic cry blows the numerous metallic vines away, giving them the opening they need for their next attack. "Ollie, now!" Dinah quickly signals for her husband to take the next turn.

Hearing his cue, Green Arrow shoots another arrow at Ivy. But the violet-haired woman merely employs one of her vines to catch the incoming arrow before it reaches her. Ivy smirks at the repeated folly of Emerald Archer's attack as she expects another explosive arrow to combust soon.

Boom

But the arrow bursts out a thick smoke right in front of Ivy. She coughs out as the dense cloud affects her breathing, and sight unable to focus. But her hearing isn't distorted when she picks up running footsteps and a familiar voice.

"Sorry Pammy. But this will hurt me more than it'll hurt you!" And that voice happens to be Harley when she lunges toward Ivy, who shockingly turns to see her approach. But she fails to react when the Clown girl delivers a kick to her face.

Surprisingly, Harley's well-delivered kick propels the violet-haired plant woman off the ground and crashes into a nearby abandoned truck, denting her in the side. The result of the sheer impact has the dented Ivy painfully groaning before unconscious finally succumbs her.

"No more sleepovers for you." Harley jests out to her knocked-out friend as the smoke soon clears up. But looking at the woman she loved, still loves, Harley feels sad that it'd come to this.

In truth, she truly never wanted to hurt the person she grew to love all those years ago. With all those fond memories they had together, Poison Ivy was the one to help develop her self-esteem whenever Joker belittled her around. Harley was grateful for that but also saddened that Ivy was on the enemy's side.

But what's done is done. Harley needs to focus on the task at hand. And that's helping her new friends, who helped steer her to become the hero she is today.

Speaking of friends, Harley turns to see Dinah and Ollie suddenly on the ground, coughing as they're forcefully breathing in a whitish fog. And before she realizes it, more whitish fog is sprayed toward her.

"Face your fears…" Scarecrow says as he continues to spray more of his fear toxin toward Harley.

But instead of succumbing to the toxic gas like her friends, Harley smiles before willingly breathing in the fear of gas and pretending to sneeze it out. "Oh, Please.." the pigtailed girl playfully scoffs. "I used to huff this stuff for kicks."

But to her confusion, Scarecrow didn't seem concerned at the least. "Then you'll appreciate my new formula." From that, Scarecrow sprays even more fear gas directly at Harley. She resists the gas's effects with no trouble for the next few seconds. It was no problem for her.

But then she slowly starts to feel woozy and dizzy before she becomes light on her feet, indicating that Scarecrow's new formula is now affecting her. "Hey…" Harley slightly groans before weakly kneeling to the ground.

But the clown heroine still musters the little strength she has to stand. She turns to see Scarecrow's whole body warp into something demonic, a combination of a skeletal scarecrow corpse with eyes and mouth glowing bright orange. He looks like something he crawled out of a nightmare.

"You have a high tolerance…" the now demonic Scarecrow remarks in a new devilish tone while he gazes down at Harley. "But everyone has something to fear."

Before Harley realizes it, the devilish Scarecrow sprays out even more fear gas, completely enveloping her before she slowly feels light-headed.

"Asshole…" Harley weakly groans before darkness takes over her vision.

(-Harley's Mindscape-)

Groaning from the sheer headache, Harley slowly opens her eyes to take in her new environment. She wasn't in Slaughter Swamp, but she readily recognized this place. This place happens to be the old Gotham Carnival, which looks abandoned due to a sinister influence that holds within it.

But the new area was not what got Harley fearfully jumpy, but rather something else. It was laughter, but not one of joy or happiness. But rather filled with sinister and wickedness. And it continuously echoes throughout the whole carnival. There was only one person who could laugh like that. And Harley knew who that said person was.

"Puh…Puddin?" Harley stammers out as she looks up one of the ride entrances. The foyer in question happens to look like the head of a clown from a horror movie. Harley can't help but shiver as its yellow-glowing eyes glare down at her while its gaping mouth continues, spewing thick mist that spreads throughout the carnival.

"Harley, darling!"

As terrible as this was, it'd only get worse for Harley when she saw a familiar figure emerging out of the entrance as well. With his bleached skin, green hair, purple jacket and pants, and blood-curling smile, there was no doubt who he was to Harley. The Joker.

"Look at you! Such a big girl!" Joker scorns, which Harley visibly flinches as he moves toward her with each intimidating step. "Cosplaying a superhero. LARPing in the Batcave." The more Joker mockingly scolds the blonde girl, the more it makes her take a step back out of fear. "But you hear it, don't you?"

"Hear what?" Harley fearfully asks.

"The real you, buried under the floorboard," Joker answers as he gets within close quarters in Harley's space. And he makes scratching gestures to entice her. "Scratch, scratch, scratching to get out." The green-haired clown takes out a knife. "The one who cut her friends's throats…" he then imitates an act of slitting someone's throat. "…and laugh about it."

It's true. Harley did do all those horrible things. And she did smile and laugh about them every single time. Heck, she's even smiling now when she turns over to see Batman. He hopelessly struggles against the chair bondage while watching Harley, who pictures herself in her old diamond pattern black and red jumpsuit, approach him with a knife in her hand.

Seeing this, Joker lets out his signature psychotic laugh. "That's my girl…" he praises Harley as she raises her knife over Batman as he watches helplessly.

Yes, she can do it. Harley can finally be what she was meant to be. Not a psychologist, not a hero, just Harley Quinn, Joker's Harley Quinn forever and always. And she can prove it here and now by killing Batman.

But was that all she wanted to be her whole life?

That questionable thought suddenly causes Harley to freeze in position. What was she doing? Then it hit her like a hammer to the head. Batman has never treated her like she was trash but rather the opposite of that, an equal. She made friends, good friends like Dinah and Ollie, who helped her become something other than Joker's plaything. And others like Aaron and Eric never judged her for her past, despite having every right to do so, and she accepted their camaraderie.

They made her a better person. And she was never regressing to the punching bag ever again.

And so, without hesitation, Harley drops the knife, much to the Joker's anger. "Oh, Harley! Always a disappointment!" he mockingly scolds before pulling a gun out and aiming it at her back head. "Why do I even bother?"

With a glaring look, Harley swiftly turns around and knocks the gun out of Joker's hand. And what came next to the clown prince's surprise was a substantial left hook to his face, knocking him to the ground.

"Ain't no slick fella with a cheap suit and cheaper grin telling me who I am ever again!" Harley exclaims as she outstretches her hand. And to Joker's surprise, an enormous mallet materializes within her hand before gripping it. "We had mad love once upon a time. But now that's over, Mister J!"

With that, Joker puts up his head from the ground to watch Harley raise her signature mallet over him. He realizes now he no longer has any influence on her. And that she's finally outgrown him.

He couldn't move due to the sheer surprise of the girl's new liberation from him, wanting zero connection with him. And there's nothing the clown crime prince can do to stop it. After all, he is just a mere mirage in her head.

"Oh, cra—"

Wham

But Harley beats him to the punchline with her mallet slamming into his head. But it doesn't stop with one swing as Harley comes in again with another.

Wham

And another

Wham

Another

Wham

And another

Wham

Finally, Harley ceases her continuous onslaught as she sees her 'Puddin' look like putty as he is now unconscious.

"Nobody put Harleen in a corner," Harley determinately professes as she looks down at her 'Puddin'.

Seeing the Joker's impaired state brings a smile to Harley, comprehending that she finally stood up to him after all these years of abuse. It helped her realize that she had indeed moved on with her life. She's finally free.

With those personal fears resolved, Harley can get back to reality now.

(-Slaughter Swamp-)

Harley immediately snaps back to reality just in time to see both Black Canary and Green Arrow similarly snap back. They soon realize that the enemy has used their temporary distraction as an opportunity to escape with Scarecrow's fear toxin.

"Let's go before it's anchors aweigh!" Harley urgently lets out as she, Dinah, and Ollie rush over to the boat dock, where they see the enemy's boats begin to depart the swamp.

Without a moment to waste, Green Arrow aims his bow, armed with an explosive arrow, at the leading boat. With his highly accurate precision, the Emerald Archer directly fires the arrow right at the crate.

Boom

An explosion erupts the entire boat into flames. And that explosion would reach out to the rest of the fleet.

Boom

Boom

Boom

Like a chain reaction, the fleeing boats have been left virtually destroyed. Each one set in a fiery blaze, leaving nothing to salvage for anyone to make fear toxin.

Seeing this outcome occur in front of them, the heroic blonde trio proudly smiles at what they did. They did it, mission complete. All there is left to do now is deal with the stragglers.

Rumble

But suddenly, a slight tremor is felt around the blond trio as they see something emerging from the murky river of the Slaughter Swamp. The team prepares themselves for the incoming being as it makes its appearance known to them.

"This Swamp is protected!" The humanoid being angrily declares to everyone in the swamp. The heroic trio is greatly surprised as they realize who this is. Dr. Alec Holland, a former chemist/botanist, is now known as the Green's guardian, Swamp Thing. But something was different about him. Instead of being composed of green plant matter and swamp moss, now the Swamp thing is comprised of metallic-green plant matter with blazing orange eyes.

"Swampy? I heard you were dead!" The pigtailed clown shockingly exclaims upon seeing the humanoid plant before her. The last time she heard about Swamp Thing was when he died years ago when Trigon tried to take over the world. But it appears not as his newly evolved form says otherwise.

"I guard the Green. The plant life of Earth…" he continues monologuing as he menacingly approaches the three. "As long as it lives, I cannot die!"

With that, Swamp Thing attempts to slam his arms on top of the blonde trio. But fortunately, they managed to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed by the humanoid plant.

"Swampy, wait!" Harley tries to appeal to the Green's guardian as she and the others quickly get back on their feet. "It ain't us you wanna bash—we're the good guys!"

But her persuasions only fell to death's ears as Swamp Thing continued his approach toward the three blondes. "Good? Bad? I care little for humanity." He emotionlessly states out. "But I do care when the Green is threatened."

Green Arrow groans at all this talk about the Green. "You know, after all that Aaron has done for Earth's geological environment, you'd think they would show great appreciation for it."

At the mention of the young Gardian's name, Swamp Thing suddenly halts his approach toward them before questionably looking at the trio. "Aaron, King Aaron?" he asks as if he is familiar with that name.

"That's right." Black Canary comes in saying regard to their Gardian friend. "You know, Earth's new champion, who kicked Superman's ass and saved the world two years back, that same Aaron."

"I am aware of the the boy." The humanoid plant monster knowingly states as he shrinks to normal. Well, for him, he remains a giant over the blonde trio. "The actions of his people have aided The Green in its leading evolution, ultimately correcting the balance of mother nature."

"That's great to hear." Harley happily praises. "Because We're best buddies with Spike Head. And it would be in your best interest if you hear us out of what's happening here in your backyard."

Harley's persuasion seems to have accumulated Swamp Thing's inquisitiveness, encouraging the pigtailed girl to continue. "It's Scarecrow and his goons you want. They're the ones who are exploiting the Green to make more toxin gas. And we came to stop 'em!"

Once Harley finishes her argument, Swamp Thing ponders on the matter. There was no lie in her statement. He can sense the toxins in this whole swamp, slowly contaminating it.

"I see…" He firmly says in acknowledgment before he turns his wrath on Scarecrow's remaining forces with his arms rising upward.

The hired goons are ensnared in metallic vines, virtually incapacitating them of any movement. Unfortunately, Scarecrow, Deadshot, manages to avoid capturing vines thanks to Poison Ivy before they get one of the surviving boats and flee the musky Swamp.

Seeing their immediate departure, Swamp Thing lets out a satisfied grunt. "If they return, I will be ready." The humanoid plant vowed.

"Aw, Swampy, you are ah-mazing!" Harley cheers, playfully patting the said name on the shoulder. "If you ever want on the team, we'd love to have ya…"

"I would consider that should our interests align again." Swamp Thing says, politely declining the open invitation. "For now, go. This Swamp must heal." And with that said, Swamp Thing turns back to the boggy rivers. But not before turning to them one last time. "If you were to meet Aaron Grant, give him my gratitude for his people's effort in protecting The Green."

"Will do, Swampy, will do!" Harley happily assures the request made by the Swamp creature, who nods in appreciation before he departs back into the river.

It was fortunate for Batman's team of three to learn that a powerhouse like Swamp Thing would be on their side when the time came. And they had no one but the world's new champion himself, Aaron, to thank for preserving Earth's entire ecological system.

And with Scarecrow's fear toxin now cut off to Grodd, it was now time to take the fight to him and his Society.

(-Metropolis Thirty Minutes Later-)

Aaron's eyes scope around his surroundings as he continues to wander through the recently opened Stadium of Metropolis. This stadium will hold itself as one of the first landmarks monumented since the reconstruction of the City of Tomorrow commenced two years ago. It's also constructed to help commemorate the losses of its previous citizens by the Joker when he nuked Metropolis.

During his time in the opening Memorial Stadium, Aaron encountered numerous citizens and political figures who also attended this opening ceremony to commemorate his triumph in liberating them from Superman. And the Gardian would wave it off, telling them words like 'It was no big deal.', 'I didn't do it alone.', and 'Batman deserves the credit.'.

Because that last sentence is true, Batman and his Insurgents should be the ones to deserve it. After all, they fought the regime longer than anyone else. And all the young Gardian did was finish the fight. But he can only guess why people think he made such an impact on them.

It's that very guess of why Aaron stops his step when he realizes where he is at. And that happens to be the main center of the Memorial Station. Metal-like statues are seen throughout the room. But there was one statue that had Aaron's attention, one that became the reason for him being here.

A statue of himself, standing tall as he holds his great sword, his Omni-Blade, in front of him. This gift for him by the people of Metropolis to show their appreciation was surprising to the Gardian. He knew they were thankful for what he did for them, but he never expected this kind of appreciation from them. And he couldn't help but admire them for that, but it was unnecessary for them.

But there were statues behind his that seemed to attract the young Gardian and irritation as well.

Each of those statues helped depict the history of Earth's former champion up to the day of his downfall. Seeing those statues of the imprisoned Kryptonian displayed in front of him makes the young Gardian silently growl as his eyes flicker with green energy before quickly evaporating to black.

And it also brings back a recent memory of a discussion he had between himself and his Father, Soran, from the Inner Sanctum.

(Flashback)

Soran finishes telling his son about the history between Gardia and Krypton. How the war began all those years ago and the everlasting fights that cost both tremendous lives. Not to mention their resources waning as well. And finally, how the conflict ended with both species making peace with each other to save themselves from their extinction.

But Aaron was already aware of this because his Father told him this story a long time ago. But that's not what got Aaron to look incredibly shocked. It was what Soran told him after he told his son what happened during negotiations.

When a rogue Kryptonian named General Zod intercepted negotiations, kidnapped his mother, Aurora, and unseated his people so he could rule Krypton with an iron fist. But only to be met with King Soran, and within his blind rage, massacred almost the entire Krypton military rogue fleet, leaving them virtually vulnerable to one enemy, the Skull Ship, to finish the job of destroying Krypton.

After hearing what happened to Zod did to his mother, Aaron felt no sympathy for him when The Camazotz bat creature devoured the Kryptonian after escaping from the Phantom Zone two years ago.

But being reminded of that one enemy sends shivers up the young Gardian's spine. He recalls the nightmares of the Skull Ship when he was a child. The moment it appears, everything around him soon disappears, leaving Aaron alone in the darkness until he screams himself awake. And being reminded of that day sends even more shivers up his spine.

But hearing how his Father phrased his words about his final confrontation with Krypton had him confused.

"But…why?" Aaron slowly begins to say as he gets over his shock to look at his Father. "…I mean, Zod and his followers were the ones who attacked first. You had no choice but to attack to rescue Mother from them."

"Perhaps so." Soran admittedly remarks as he looks back at his son. "But that's not the issue I want to talk about."

"What's the issue then?"

"It's your deep grievance with Kal-El." The holographic Gardian reveals to his son before continuing. "Do you recall the moment you bested the Kryptonian in your final confrontation?"

Aaron does recall that moment. The day when he felt his rage had finally shattered his limits, pushing him to higher levels than he had before. With that rage, Aaron was able to overpower Superman and defeat him. And if he was being honest with himself, feeling all that rage and power felt good to him.

Seeing his son nod to confirm his question, Soran continues. "Then you need to know that your rage against Superman was the same for me when I attacked Krypton."

"Ok, Father, where are you getting with this?" Aaron now asks with a slightly impatient attitude.

The holographic image of Soran keeps himself calm and firm. He knows Aaron is smart enough to understand what's right and wrong. And what the world expects him to do. "My concern is your anger against Superman will have you blind to everything else around you."

"What, Are you worried about me going berserk and attacking people when they try to piss me off?" Aaron incredibly questions as he couldn't believe his father would think that of him. "Because I seriously doubt that."

"Calm yourself, Son," Soran tries to alleviate Aaron's increasing anger. "I just want you to know where this path will lead you."

"And where will this path lead me toward?" The young Gardian inquires. And Soran readies to tell him.

Ring

Ring

Ring

But then, Aaron's phone suddenly rings, interrupting the conversation between father and son. It signals the young Gardian of what he's supposed to be doing right now.

"Look, Father, can we talk about this later?" The young Gardian urgently asks as he needs to head toward Metropolis soon.

Seeing his son's haste to meet his responsibility to the people of Metropolis, Soran admittedly sighs. "Very well…"

And with that, Aaron quickly proceeds to leave the Inner Sanctum. But not before Soran calls his son out again, prompting him to turn his head around.

"But I want you to keep something in mind, my son..." he begins to say as Aaron listens. "Despite your control, Anger is still a powerful weapon. If you lose control, consequences are dire for you in the future."

Aaron looks at his father for a few seconds as if contemplating his words. But since he's in a hurry to meet up with his Mother in Metropolis, Aaron gives Soran a quick nod of validation before he departs from his Inner Sanctum.

(End Flashback)

Aaron grumbly sighs as he continues to glare at Superman's statue. "Seriously, it's not my anger that's the problem here. It's all Superman's fault…" He grumbles to himself. Besides, if anything, his anger helps him become a stronger fighter.

After all, Superman was the one who provoked him by going after the people he cared about repeatedly. Not to mention that he released a mindless monster, Doomsday, that nearly killed him. And that he and his regime cronies plotted to destroy the world just because the people didn't want him ruling over them anymore.

So no, it's them that's the problem, not Aaron. And it's already bad enough they were discharged because of diplomatic status reasons or managed to escape prison.

No, that's enough of that.

Aaron shakes his head to shake off those negative thoughts of those loose ends. He's here to have a good time, not sulk on what's happening out there. After all, Bruce already has some team sent out to handle the problems ahead of them.

"Aaron, if you plan to sneak out of sight, you could've at least told me." A familiar voice from behind speaks to the Gardian in a scolding but gentle tone.

Turning to the source of the voice, Aaron is not surprised by the person who caught him leaving. "Sorry, mom." He sincerely apologizes to his adoptive mother, Betty Grant. A woman with long brown hair while wearing a knee-length red dress with matching heels, along with a few jewelry accessories.

Betty's green eyes soften as she already knows Aaron is sorry for not telling her of his whereabouts. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I guess..." Aaron says, admitting his time here has been a bit enjoyable despite his little complaint of not coming earlier today. "…The food was great, at least."

"I noticed, everyone did." Betty slightly jests as she recalls the unfortunate circumstance of the buffet, made for over a hundred guests, being devoured in one go by one ravenous Gardian.

"Yeah, sorry about that. But there's still plenty left."

"Plenty?" Another familiar voice comes in to say as both Aaron and Betty turn. And they see two people approach them. "Dude, you barely left nothing but crumbs in your wake.".

"Hey, Eric." Aaron greets the technopath, who wears a similar black suit. He turns to the dark-skinned man, also dressed in a suit. "Hey, J'onn," Even though the green Martian was in disguise for the event, Aaron could easily sense his energy signature, helping him tell the difference between shapeshifters.

The dark-skinned man, known as J'onn, nods before he returns the gesture. "It is good to see you again, Aaron, and to you as well, dr.Grant."

"Likewise." Betty greets back the disguised Martian. "I'm surprised to see you two here. I thought you two would've been with Mr. Wayne to help with his 'other job'."

Aaron perks up when he hears the mention of the 'other job' that Bruce discreetly formed. "Oh, yeah, how's the team been doing?" he curiously asks about the team's current status.

"They're doing fine, Aaron." J'onn stoically answers the Gardian's question, assuring him of the team's condition. "They've managed to prevent Scarecrow from delivering his fear toxin to Grodd."

"And Brother Eye informed me they're confronting the Kong rip-off in his kingdom, Gorilla City." Eric relays the two of what his ultimate spy satellite updated him on before he turns to address Betty. "And to answer why we're here is the same reason Mr. Gourmand world champion is here."

Not just for that, Eric also came for personal reasons. And that was to visit one of the names engraved on the memorial pillar and pay his respects to those he knew, Those like his friends and his teachers from high school. And most importantly, his parents, Edward and Miranda Jones, were the two people who sacrificed their lives for him.

Seeing their names inscribed into those pillared stones helped remind Eric of his reasons for creating Brother Eye. It's a way to help prevent what happened in Metropolis from ever happening anywhere in the world. And he's sure as hell will not let anyone take that away from him.

"Don't blame me for having a high metabolism," Aaron grumbles before he smirks at the new S.T.A.R Lab's director. "At least I don't have to worry about unnecessary weight gain."

Now Eric is the one to fake-hurtful grumble. "Ok, what a way the make the rest of us jealous."

J'onn couldn't help but let off an amused smile from witnessing the interaction between these two young heroes before he turned over to see Betty. But to his confusion, he noticed a peculiar look form on the woman's expression as she stared at her son and Eric almost intently.

"Dr.Grant, is there something wrong?" The disguised Martian concernedly calls out to the brown-haired woman.

The moment she hears J'onn's voice speaking to her, Betty blinks out of her awkward trance before she turns to smile softly at the Martian. "Oh, everything is fine, J'onn. It's just something important just came to my head." She assuredly explained before she suddenly made her leave.

"Wa-Wait, hey, Mom!" Aaron confusedly calls out to her when he and the others notice her premature departure from the Stadium. "Where are you going?"

But his calls fell to death's ear as Betty made her way out of the Stadium, leaving the rest of the group even more confused.

"Ok, what's her sudden rush?" Eric raises a question to the Gardian.

"I don't know," Aaron honestly retorts as he continues watching the direction his adoptive mother took to leave. "She's been acting weird since this morning."

"Since this morning?" J'onn now asks Aaron for more details. "What was she doing?"

The young Gardian turns to the dark-skinned Martian with perplexity on his face. "Again, I don't know. Something about 'taking care of a few things in Gotham' somewhere, that's all." He helped clarify J'onn's question before asking his own. "Why?"

"It's nothing, I was just inquisitive." He patiently answers.

"Huh, never implored you to be the nosy one here, J'onn." Eric quips as he never took J'onn to be curious about anything due to his native's ability to read people's minds.

The disguised Martian doesn't immediately say anything at first as his stoic look slightly shifts to a suspicious. For a brief moment there, J'onn mentally detected something unusual about Betty before she left the area.

Whatever it was, it was too foreign even for him to identify. It means that the next time J'onn sees Betty, he needs to investigate the matter.

To be continued…

Chapter Complete!

Well, it looks like things are starting to formulate some new interesting developments. Thanks to the Gardian technology that helped change the Earth's entire ecological system, it appears people are taking advantage of its evolution. Some such as Gorilla Grodd and his Society. But thankfully, so are those who are fighting for the good of Earth as well.

And now, it looks like Batman's team is about ready to confront Grodd and his Society right at his doorstep in Gorilla City. Who will they meet? But more importantly, what will happen next? Find out in the next chapter.

Also, once again, I do not own anything, and I mean ANYTHING, related to the DC universe and its Characters. Only the OCs are mine, nothing more.

Goodbye, for now.